Birds chirped as he walked down the street, sky still a light baby blue as the sun just began to peek over the horizon.
He didn't hear Sakura walking up behind him until she tapped him on the shoulder and spoke.
"Hey there, early bird. Sleep good?"
She punctuated her sentence with a yawn.
"I did, actually."
Naruto had slept from the moment he was in bed right up until his alarm yanked him violently back into consciousness.
'Getting woken up and ready was like pulling myself out of frozen molasses, but at least I'm not so sleepy anymore.'
Sakura looked a little shocked as they spotted both Sasuke and Kakashi as they entered the training ground.
"Kakashi is actually here on time for once, whoa..."
Their sensei spoke when they stopped a few feet away.
"Alright, now that everyone's here, shall we begin?"
Naruto ducked to avoid a low hanging branch as he walked, carefully stepping over the tripwire set up right underneath it.
Kakashi's words from earlier floated through his brain.
"While we were waiting for you two, Sasuke went ahead and handled his part of this training. He rigged an area of the forrest with traps, and it's your job to make it to the other side and avoid them,Naruto."
The only sounds in the forrest were his own breathing, and the twigs snapping under his shoes.
He hated the quiet.
Hated the defeaning loudness of the quiet, the way it left him alone with nothing but his thoughts, anxious and wondering .
The temperature was already beginning to rise with the sun, humid heat swelling.
Naruto tugged at his shirt collar, feeling the first droplet of sweat sliding down his temple.
'I wonder just how hot it's gonna get today...'
He didn't even notice the tripwire under his shoe until he heard the fuse light.
His head snapped to the right, catching sight of the paper bomb strapped to the tree beside him, just a couple of feet away.
Every muscle in Naruto's body twitched, survival instinct screaming at him to move.
He forced himself still.
He watched the fuse as it burned, edging closer.
It felt like the world, and his heart, stopped as the fuse ran out.
Something rammed hard into his side, throwing him to the ground.
The explosive tag went off, his ears ringing from the explosion.
The tree it had been attached to snapped and fell.
Naruto stared into the grass and dirt from his place on the ground.
Fingers gripped at his shoulder, flipping him over to his back.
Sasuke was on his knees in the dirt next to him, breathing heavy, shocked face staring at him.
It was more emotion on Sasuke's face than Naruto had seen in a long time.
"What the fuck was that?!"
"I...didn't see it until I'd tripped it. I don't-"
"You were just...fucking standing there."
"I just, I froze, okay?"
"You saw it, and you just stood there?!!"
"I said I froze, now back off!!"
Naruto stood up, walking off back the way he came quickly.
"Naruto! Naruto, wait!"
Naruto's heart pounded as the trees lessened, the forest thinning out.
He stepped out onto the open field of the training ground again, walking towards Sakura and Kakashi.
Sakura spoke up as he got closer.
"What happened, Naruto? We heard an explosion."
"I missed one, didn't see it until it was too late. I guess that means i failed this test, so if you don't need me for anything else, I'm going home."
Kakashi watched him for a long moment, eye locked on him in a studying stare.
"As long as you're sure you're okay, yeah, you can go on home, Naruto."
Naruto barely waited for him to finish speaking before he was walking off towards the edge of the training ground.
He could hear Sakura following behind him, calling his name, but he kept walking.
Naruto was brought to a stop as her hand caught his jacket.
She turned him to face her.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Sakura, will you just-"
"Naruto, are you alright?"
The serious tone of her voice shut him up.
He opened his mouth reflexively, to spit out an empty platitude.
He paused at the look on her face though, the genuine worry and concern there.
'Just tell her. Say the words. No, I'm not okay, I need help, Sakura. Just say it! Why is it so hard to say the words?!'
"I'm...i'm okay, Sakura, really. Don't worry."
His heart clenched at the upset look on her face.
She spoke with a sad sigh.
"Okay...okay, Naruto. Be careful on your way home. You know where to find me if you need anything."
Her fingers slipped from his shoulder, and she walked away.
'Why couldn't you tell her...why couldn't you just say the words, you fucking coward...'
He turned and started the walk home.
Sasuke stared at his back from a distance, fighting the urge to run after him.
He didn't go straight back to his apartment after he left the training grounds, the thought of being stuck in the hot emptiness of it making him itch.
Naruto walked instead.
He walked, going nowhere in particular, letting his mind run with thoughts.
The fuse burning down on the explosive tag, Sasuke's stunned face, the sad look in Sakura's eyes.
'It was...almost all over.'
His heart sped up at the thought of just how close he'd been to death.
Naruto stopped, leaning his back against the wall of a shop, his head in his heads.
'Fuck, what is wrong with me.'
His jacket scratched at the brick as he slid to the ground.
'I feel like I'm one big exposed nerve, skinned and lain open. It's tortuous.'
His eyes throbbed with the desire to cry.
'What am i gonna do...'
Naruto's eyes came open slowly in bed.
His mind was pleasantly foggy and unaware for a moment, until the events of the day before flooded back.
He rubbed at his eyes with a groan as his head throbbed.
"Shit."
He'd ended up walking around aimlessly for hours after training came to a halt so disastrously, finally crawling into bed after the sun had set, laying awake for a while before passing out.
'Ugh, what am I gonna do today?'
Even though it had been stressful, waking up the past couple of days knowing he had to go to training was nice.
Good to have something to do, at least.
'But today, we are back to our regularly scheduled program of boredom, loneliness, and crushing depression...'
"Guess I might as well start with breakfast."
Naruto was stretched out over the couch, small rubber ball bouncing off the wall and returning to his hand, then repeating.
He wiped away the sweat accumulating at his hairline with his free hand.
A knock at the door shocked him out of his rhythm, the ball flying past his hand and over the couch.
'Who the hell...'
Naruto swung his feet off the couch, rising to his feet and stepping towards the door.
"Who is it?"
"It's me. Open the door."
He was sure the expression on his face must've been ridiculous.
"Sasuke?"
"Yes, obviously."
Naruto cracked open the door, shocked at the sight of Sasuke actually standing in front of his door.
"Is...is everything alright? Sakura and Kakashi are okay, yeah?"
"Yes, they're fine."
Naruto tried looking everywhere except at Sasuke.
"Then...what are you doing here?"
"Isn't it normal for people to visit their friend's home?"
"Um, friend...uhh."
Sasuke actually started to look a bit pissed off then.
"Yeah, friend, sure. Okay, you wanna..."
Naruto barely finished speaking before Sasuke was muscling through the small crack in the doorway.
"No, come right in, please, be my guest."
Sasuke had to lightly kick a few empty ramen cups out of his way as he walked inside, stopping to stand in the middle of the floor, eyes roving over Naruto's apartment.
Naruto coughed as an embarrassed flush rose to his cheeks.
"Hmph. Well, it's...cozy."
"Thanks."
The awkward silence lasted for far too long after that.
He didn't really want to mention what had happened the day before, but it was the only topic that came to mind.
"So, uh, how was training after i left yesterday?"
Sasuke's shoulders stiffened almost unnoticeably.
"...it went well. Sakura has improved a lot, and Kakashi remains impressive."
"Ah, good, that's good."
Naruto tapped his toes against the floor, and his fingers against his shoulder.
He felt the urge to whistle right before Sasuke spoke again.
"Why is it so hot in here?"
"Oh, yeah, my uh, air conditioner is broken."
"Why haven't you had it fixed?"
"Well, I only had enough money for either the A/C, or food and a place to live, so..."
Sasuke seemed to fidget a bit, something Naruto didn't think he'd ever seen him do before.
He looked around suddenly, like a thought had hit him hard.
His eyes locked on the refrigerator as he walked over to it.
Sasuke paused as he went to grab the handle and open it, fingers roving over the dented metal.
He shook his head slightly and opened the door, bending down to look inside the fridge.
"Is this all you've got to eat?"
"Er, it's plenty. it'll last me until I get paid for our next mission."
Sasuke made a considering noise, looking in the fridge for several more long seconds before he shut it.
He walked towards the apartment door.
"You're leaving?"
"We both are. Come on, we're going to the store."
"What?"
He stood there with the door open, waiting.
"I'm cooking us dinner, and you don't have the proper ingredients, so we're going to the store."
"...what?"
Sasuke rolled his eyes and walked out, talking over his shoulder as he did.
"Let's go, Naruto, keep up."
"...what?"
"This is ridiculous."
Naruto was still sure this was some elaborate joke, prank payback from all the times he had screwed with Sasuke.
"Will you quit being difficult and just pick something to eat?"
"Look, I already told you I'm broke, and I don't come in this store even when I do have money, it's too damn expensive."
"And I've already told you, I'm paying. So. Pick. Something."
Naruto gave him a withering stare.
"Fine."
He grabbed the most expensive things off the shelf, tossing them, slightly violently, into Sasuke's small carrying cart.
Naruto readjusted the sack of groceries in his arms as he and Sasuke walked down the street.
He wasn't sure if Sasuke could actually see over the two bags he was carrying.
'Which would explain why we just walked past the way back to my place...'
"Hey, this isn't the way back to my apartment, y'know."
"I know, that's because we're going to my house instead."
Naruto sputtered.
"You're joking."
He could see Sasuke's eyes roll over the top of the bags.
"Do I look like I'm joking?"
"A little bit, yeah."
"I'm not cooking in somewhere with no AC, so we're going back to my place. You have a problem with that?"
"Uh, no. Lead on."
Naruto felt almost tempted to smirk at the weary sigh Sasuke let out.
