Naruto adjusted his grip on the bag full of food in his arms as they walked up to his apartment door.
On their way home after finishing up dinner at Ichiraku, they'd stopped and gone into the expensive grocery store that Sasuke had begun insisting they buy all of their food items from.
Sasuke was a few steps ahead of him, his arms also occupied with a bag full of groceries.
The Uchiha managed to free an arm, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the spare key he'd been given.
Naruto cast a glance at Sakura and Kakashi behind him as the tumblers clicked open.
'Theymusthave figured out what's going on between me and Sasuke by now, but they haven't said a single word about it..'
The door came open and Sasuke stepped through, Naruto beginning to follow him in as Sakura spoke.
"Hey Naruto, do you mind if we come in for a few minutes? To help put the groceries away and say goodnight properly?"
"Oh yeah, please, come on in."
Sasuke flipped the kitchen light on, illuminating the pitch black apartment.
Naruto sat the sack of groceries beside the other already on the counter as Sakura and Kakashi walked in.
The Uzumaki reached for the bag, but Sakura slid it across the counter to where she stood.
She smiled at the blond.
"I'll help Sasuke put the groceries up, you can go ahead and relax if you want, Naruto."
"Um, sure thing."
Naruto kicked his sandals off gently, walking over to the couch and flopping down onto it.
Kakashi stepped up, sitting down next to the Uzumaki.
Neither of them spoke for a moment, the sounds of grocery bags crinkling and Sakura and Sasuke chatting drifting over from the kitchen.
Kakashi unzipped his flak jacket, reaching inside to an inner pouch.
"I should probably go ahead and give this to you before I forget."
Naruto looked over as Kakashi spoke, a small book gripped in his sensei's outstretched hand.
"Is that..."
"The newest edition of your preferred reading material, if I remember correctly."
Naruto took the book gently, looking it over.
"Wow, uh, thank you, Kakashi-sensei. Why.. why are you giving it to me, though?"
"It's a gift, for you being such an exceptional student."
Naruto smiled at the compliment, though his eyebrows furrowed as his brain worked over where the book had come from.
"They... only sell these at one place in town."
Kakashi nodded along.
"That is true."
Naruto watched his sensei more closely now.
"Did.. Sasuke tell you what happened?"
"He did."
Naruto ran his thumb over the cover of the book, letting out a breath.
"When?"
"Earlier today, when he came by to tell me to meet up with the rest of you. I managed to convince him to let me handle it. I didn't think he'd be able to use the same amount of restraint that I did."
"..well, what'd you say to the guy?"
His sensei looked over at him.
Kakashi sidestepped to avoid some people as he walked down the street, trying to ignore the quickened pace of his heart.
'It's funny...'
He could face down ten enemy shinobi without his heart skipping a beat, but introduce a little rage into his system, and it would send his heart fluttering, and set his fingers twitching towards his kunai pouch.
His fists clenched at his side as the conversation he'd had with Sasuke rattled around in his mind.
"... he actually said that to Naruto?"
"Yes! I'm gonna go down there and-"
"No, you aren't. You're too worked up to deal with this, Sasuke. Let me handle it."
'And now here i am, marching down the street with violent ideas sending my heart racing. Like you're any less susceptible to anger, old war dog...'
Kakashi slowed his pace as the shop he was looking for came into view.
He stood still for a brief moment, shaking his hands out and taking a deep breath.
'Just need to keep my cool, and I'll be fine...'
He opened the door and stepped inside, a small bell jingling above the doorway.
There was a young woman behind the counter, idly flipping though a magazine.
She smiled politely and gave a little wave as he walked in.
"Hi! How can I help you, sir?"
Kakashi returned the smile as much as he could through his mask.
"I'd like to speak with the owner of this store."
Confusion passed over her face.
"Um, okay. He's.. in the back right now."
Kakashi's eye crinkled with a smile.
"I can wait."
Her eyebrows lifted, and she opened her mouth to speak, but she closed it again after a few seconds.
She turned around, facing towards an opened door leading to the back.
"Mister Yukimura! A customer wants to speak with you!"
She looked back to Kakashi with an offput smile.
After a few moments, an older man walked out of the opened door, stepping over to the counter.
Kakashi noticed the slightly bitter bent to the man's facial expression, but his voice came out plain as he spoke.
"Is there something I can help you with?"
"Yes, I'm here to talk to you about a friend of mine, a young man. He came in here the other day, and you were quite rude to him."
The shop owned looked unsure, but as the seconds passed, his face settled into something angry, nasty.
"Oh, so you're "friends" with the demon, then?"
Kakashi gritted his teeth as his heartbeat sped up.
"Don't call him that."
The young woman backed away from the two of them as the tension thickened in the room.
The older man's voice came out soaked in derision and spite.
"You fucking Ninja, you think you can do whatever you want, have free reign over all of us. You're wrong."
Kakashi's fingers dug into his palm, and he could feel his patience slipping.
"This is My shop, and I don't have to serve anyone I don't want to! And that includes your little monster frie-"
Kakashi reached forward and wrapped his hands around the man's throat, dragging him across the counter as the girl's scream rang out in the store.
Choking noises left the shop owner's mouth as Kakashi drug him along the floor, his legs kicking out and knocking over a magazine display before he was lifted into the air by his neck and slammed against the wall.
Kakashi's voice came out calmly, but his hands trembled with anger.
"Listen to me, you piece of shit. That young man has more integrity in his pinkie finger than you do in your whole body."
Mr. Yukimura gasped, his legs kicking slightly as he was held up off the ground.
"I don't know if my friend will ever come in here again. In truth, you don't deserve his business, so I hope he doesn't."
Kakashi tightened his grip on the man's throat as he dangled against the wall, rage creeping into his tone as he spoke.
"But, if he does, if you ever see him in here or on the street, you will treat him with respect. Because if you don't, if you ever give him one wrong look again, I will come back here and I will cut your fucking eyes out."
Kakashi took his left hand away from Yukimura's throat, holding him in place with just his right.
He reached up, lifting the headband covering his eye, exposing his Sharingan as its tomoe spun.
"And that won't be anything I haven't done before."
Kakashi's stare was unblinking, even as the older man choked and gasped against the wall.
"Do you understand?"
Mr. Yukimura strained to speak, his face turning red as he gagged.
"Then fucking nod!"
His head shook up and down desperately, and Kakashi finally released his grip, Mr. Yukimura dropping down and collapsing to the floor in a heap, gagging and gasping.
Kakashi stood there as the older man squirmed on the floor, a vicious sense of satisfaction settling into his chest.
After a moment, he reached up, pulling down his headband to obscure his Sharingan once more.
The shinobi took a deep breath as he turned around, beginning to walk away before he paused to look at one of the books that had been scattered across the floor.
He leaned down and picked it up, reaching into his pocket as he stood back up straight.
Kakashi placed the money for the book on the counter, eye crinkling with a smile as he waved to the girl cowering behind the register.
"Have a nice day!"
He opened the door and walked out, the bell above the doorway jingling.
Kakashi tapped his finger on the arm of the couch as he spoke.
"I just told him that I didn't appreciate him being rude to my student, and that if he mistreated you in such a way again, I'd come back, and he and I would have a much bigger problem."
Naruto's blue eyes watched him closely, but he looked down to the book in his hands again after a moment.
"Thank you, Kakashi-sensei."
He waved his hand gently.
"Ahh, I was happy to he-"
Kakashi's words cut off and his eye widened as Naruto wrapped his arms around him tightly.
The Uzumaki spoke against his shoulder.
"You standing up for me... that means.. that means a lot to me."
Kakashi hesitated for a brief few seconds, but he brought his arms up and curled them firmly around Naruto.
"I'll happily fight for you any day, kid."
Naruto tightened his embrace, and Kakashi smiled underneath his mask.
Sakura glanced over her shoulder as Naruto and Kakashi embraced, but she looked back to the groceries sat out on the counter after a few seconds, feeling like she was intruding on a private moment.
She looked over to Sasuke where he stood beside her, as he reached up to pack cups of ramen into the cabinets.
She let her voice drift out quietly.
"Thank you. For telling us what was going on with him.."
Sasuke paused his movements, nodding after a short moment.
He went back to his task and Sakura didn't expect him to reply.
She was a bit shocked when his voice slipped out softly, as he tilted his head towards the blond on the couch discreetly.
"For someone who wears his heart on his sleeve, he's always been.. too good at hiding his own pain from the rest of us."
Sasuke went back to sorting groceries, and Sakura kept her eyes on him as he worked.
'He's not the only one like that, Sasuke..'
The comic he'd been reading slipped from his fingers and smacked on the floor, Naruto's eyes snapping open.
A sleepy hum left his throat as Naruto realized he had leaned his head onto Kakashi's side at some point, his sensei letting out a quiet laugh as the blond lifted his head to look around confusedly.
"Feeling pretty tired?"
Naruto blinked a few times and shook his head gently.
"Nah, 'm just resting my eyes.."
Kakashi gave a soft snort.
"Okay, well.. Sasuke and Sakura are finishing up putting the groceries away. Maybe you should get up and go on to bed."
Naruto rubbed at his eyes and nodded along, settling his head onto Kakashi's side again.
"I'll get up in.. in a few minutes."
Kakashi laid his hand on Naruto's messy blond spikes, patting gently.
"If you say so.."
Naruto was unconscious again in seconds.
Soft-spoken chatter and gentle movements of his sensei/pillow disturbed his sleep.
His eyes drifted open when he was lifted off of the couch into a pair of arms.
Pink hair and green eyes filled his vision.
"S'kura? Why're you carryin' me?"
She smiled fondly down at him as he spoke sleepily.
"Because you're stubborn, Naruto."
"Oh... that is why you usually end up carrying me.."
She agreed with an amused hum.
Sakura stepped into his bedroom, adjusting the positioning of him in her arms to ensure he didn't bang his head against the doorway.
She walked up to the bed, setting him down gently.
Sakura draped the covers across him, leaning down and planting a kiss on his cheek before she leaned up.
Naruto's cheeks flushed as he grinned up at her from the bed.
She grinned back, letting out a giggle.
Kakashi stepped over next to the bed, Naruto's eyes widening as his sensei reached up and pulled his mask down past his jaw.
Kakashi leaned down, his lips landing on Naruto's forehead with a smooch.
His sensei pulled away after a few seconds, standing back up straight with an unmasked smile.
Naruto's eyes were wide with surprise and locked on Kakashi's face.
His sensei's smile was covered by the mask as it was slipped back into place.
Naruto's cheeks got even hotter as Sasuke stepped up, leaning down and kissing him deeply, their lips sliding together.
He felt concern over Sakura and Kakashi seeing, but it lasted for only a brief second before he mentally waved it off and enjoyed the feel of Sasuke's lips.
Sasuke leaned back, a small strand of saliva between their lips before the Uchiha's tongue darted out and severed it.
Naruto noticed Sakura's beet red face and Kakashi's wide grin, visible through his mask.
His attention was pulled to Sasuke as the Uchiha spoke.
"I'll walk them to the door, and be right back, okay?"
Naruto nodded along, eyes still a bit wide and lips wet.
Kakashi gave a wave as he walked out of the bedroom.
"Goodnight, kid."
Naruto returned the wave as Sakura followed behind Kakashi.
She smiled, a faint hint of red still visible on her cheeks.
"Sleep tight, Naruto. I'll see you soon!"
"You too, have sweet dreams, Sakura."
Sasuke walked out the doorway with them, the sound of their footsteps on the floor quieting.
Naruto laid there, reaching up to let his fingers drift gently over his cheek, his forehead, and his lips.
He smiled to himself in the darkened bedroom.
After a minute or two, Sasuke came back through the doorway, closing the door behind him softly.
He crawled into bed, laying down beside Naruto closely.
They both leaned forward to let their lips meet, kissing slow and unhurried.
After a few minutes, Naruto pressed his forehead against Sasuke's, speaking softly against the Uchiha's lips.
"Thank you. Thank you for knowing that I.. that I needed this. That I needed...today."
Sasuke matched Naruto's quiet tone, reaching up to brush his thumb across the Uzumaki's lip.
"You deserved it. Every second of a day like today.. you've more than earned every single one."
Their lips brushed together.
"There will be more days like today, Naruto."
Naruto agreed with a quiet, determined whisper.
"I know. We'll make them happen."
