Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or any of its associated characters!
Summary: COMPLETE (new chapter up everyday - total of 35 chapters!). Sasuke's a writer whose been writing the same words for years. He's tired, he's annoyed, and his money situation is...pretty messed up, even by student standards. Enter Naruto. Modern AU (College/University), Sasunaru/Narusasu. Posted for Sasuke's birthday!
A/N: One of my favourite chapters! I hope you guys enjoy :)
Enter Naruto
Chapter 7: Spices
Sasuke was fucking impossible to get a straight answer out of. Four o'clock had rolled around, and Naruto had started fishing for dinner ideas, only to be met with absolutely nothing. Sasuke acted like he had no preference at all—about anything!
Which was obviously not true, given how violently the guy had reacted to the thought of cotton candy. He knew Sasuke hated (well, he said he didn't hate them but it really seemed like he did) sweet stuff, and that he liked tomatoes, but that was all he had. He couldn't just bring him salad—that'd be lame and boring and Sasuke had brought him ramen, which meant that he needed to bring him something equally as awesome in return!
Naruto groaned and clutched at his hair. He had no idea what to do. Maybe Kakashi might know something? He couldn't think of anyone else that Sasuke knew well—well, other than Itachi, and Naruto had no way of contacting the guy.
Naruto bit his lip, scrolling through the contacts on his phone, as if one of them would—
Chouji!
He immediately hit dial. Chouji's family ran a restaurant, but he'd started a food blog for fun that had actually kind of taken off—Naruto read it, sometimes, and would get really confused at some of the stuff Chouji would nitpick at—but if Chouji found something good, then Sasuke was bound to, right?
"Hey! Chouji—d'you have a sec? I need your help."
Sasuke would never admit to the spike of excitement that shot through his body when he heard the knock on his door. Honestly, he was a bit surprised Naruto had managed to find his place on his own.
The blonde stood at his door holding two plastic bags and a large grin. Sasuke didn't even feel his own smile in response, too busy trying to fight the inane urge to kiss Naruto's cheek in greeting.
"Hey!" Naruto held up the bags. Sasuke took one and moved to the side so Naruto could come in.
"What did you end up getting?"
"A bunch of stuff." Naruto grinned. "You good with sharing?"
"Sure."
Sasuke was honestly impressed. He didn't have much of an appetite most days, but this was…this was really good. And Naruto was obviously hoping for that to be the case, with the way he kept staring Sasuke down—
"I want the leftovers of this one." He tapped the container closest to him with his fork.
Naruto sat up straight.
"Wh—really?"
Sasuke rolled his eyes.
"Yes, really. It's good."
The resulting grin was dazzling. Sasuke didn't even make the attempt to look at it—it was glaring enough from the corner of his eye—
"And," he said quietly, eyes intently on his food, "I'm going to see them."
He didn't know why he felt the need to tell him. Sasuke was never one to spill secrets—especially in person, but—
"Huh?"
"My parents." Sasuke cleared his throat. "Well—my mother, I mean. I'm going to start with her and…see how things go."
The fact that Naruto ducked his head did absolutely nothing to hide his smile.
"That's—that's really great, Sasuke." He sounded almost—breathless. Sasuke wasn't sure with what—maybe happiness, or relief, although why Naruto would be feeling either of those was far beyond him—
"It might not amount to anything." Best not get Naruto's hopes up. "I don't know if it's a good idea." In fact, it was very likely a bad idea.
Naruto nodded, biting his lip.
"You have a lot you want to say, don't you?"
Naruto blinked up at him and Sasuke could distinctly see the moment the blush spread across his cheeks—
"Is it that obvious?"
"You look like you're holding your breath."
Naruto let out a laugh—sounding about as full of air as Sasuke had expected.
"I—" He laughed again, but it sounded more like a sigh. "Yeah—no, I…okay, I haven't even met your parents or anything," he rubbed at his face, "so for all I know they could be super awful and you have every right to never speak to them again, but…I would really hate for you to have to do that. And I hate that they did this to you. It was really shitty of them. But I'm really glad that you're giving them a chance to make it up to you. I dunno. Sorry."
"Why are you sorry?"
Naruto ducked his head again, cheeks just as flushed and smile just as bright—
Sasuke covered his smile with his fist. Naruto was just so...
"Stop laughing at me," Naruto mumbled, shoving his fist against Sasuke's arm—but he was still smiling, and Sasuke felt the feeling inside him grow and twist—
He let a breath, trying to gather his thoughts. He felt as if he could barely keep it together when Naruto was around. He had never grown so attached to someone so quickly. He had never trusted someone like this so quickly—let alone been this...comfortable with them. Talking about his parents was always the absolute last thing he wanted to do—and yet, with Naruto's eyes on him, the words flowed so naturally—
"I blame them for a lot of things." He stretched his feet out ahead of him and leaned back, staring up at the ceiling. "I'm very bitter."
He heard Naruto shift, but he stayed silent. Sasuke examined the small, yellow stain on his ceiling that he still couldn't manage to get rid of—
"The writing program wasn't what started it. We were always fighting." He sighed. "Once I actually started standing up for myself, I…"
He swallowed the rest of his words, a lump settling in his throat.
There was a pause.
"I ran away from home when I was thirteen," Naruto offered.
Sasuke's head jerked to stare at him.
"What?"
Naruto snorted. "I know, I know. I was dumb. At the start—when Kakashi and Iruka first got me, I mean, it was like…all we did was fight. I dunno. I know a lot of it was my fault, but it was also like…we needed to…figure out how to deal with each other. And I was convinced they didn't actually want me there. I was just waiting for them to prove me right."
He let out a puff of air.
"But it wasn't like…at the end of the day, I still really wanted them to like me. Even though I pushed them. Even though I was angry. Even though we kept fighting…"
"You knew they loved you."
"No." Naruto shook his head. "I didn't know that. That was the problem."
He looked at Sasuke. Sasuke couldn't hold his gaze.
A week later, Naruto was walking home from class, and still talking to Sasuke. He had run out of excuses to hang out with him ages ago, but Sasuke had never asked for them, so—
"You can't? Can I come over then?" Naruto paused, pressing his phone closer to his ear as he dodged a couple on the sidewalk. "I won't distract you, I promise!"
He heard Sasuke snort.
"Yes, you will," Sasuke said, "but it's not that. I'm about to go grocery shopping."
"Oh!" Naruto froze in his step, nearly causing the couple he had just passed to run right into him. "Uh, sorry—I need groceries too! Are you going to the one that's right by your house?"
"Are you apologizing to me? To the one behind it, yes."
"No," Naruto laughed, "I nearly took some people out on the sidewalk. Can I meet you there?"
He heard the soft, distinct sound of Sasuke's laugh.
"Try not to take anyone else out on your way."
Naruto viciously suppressed the urge to jump up in victory.
"Jerk! I'll be there in ten."
"Hey, Sasuke!" Naruto waved his arm over his head, as if Sasuke wasn't staring directly at him—
"That was fast," he commented, just as Naruto trotted right up to him—too close, according to Sasuke's heart. "...Why did you bring your backpack?"
"I came straight from class!" Naruto moved away to punch at his arm. "Don't make fun of me!"
"I wouldn't dream of it."
"Asshole!" Naruto laughed, following him into the store. "I gotta carry these all the way home, too, y'know—the backpack's part of the strategy."
"Is it? With all of your books?" Sasuke reached out, just as Naruto slung the bag off his shoulder. He tossed it in the cart as Naruto took hold of it.
"All part of the plan," Naruto grinned at him, nudging the cart forwards, "you'll see."
Sasuke rolled his eyes.
"Usuratonkachi."
Naruto's grin nearly blinded him.
"Teme! Where are we headed first?"
"Vegetables."
They were about two minutes in, and Sasuke was already yelling at him.
"No, Naruto—you don't need three dragon fruit!" He slapped his hands away from the pile, even as Naruto laughed. "Do you have any idea how quickly they spoil?"
"I could eat them fast!" He threw Sasuke a cheerful, laughing grin, but dutifully went back to their cart—no fruit in hand. Sasuke rolled his eyes, following him—
"You've only bought fruit! Buy a cucumber for god's sake." He tried to grab at the cart, just as Naruto was turning it away—
"Cucumbers don't taste like anything—" He called back.
"Then make a salad." Sasuke brandished the cucumber at him.
"With a cucumber? It's like adding water!" Naruto laughed. Sasuke shoved the cucumber closer.
"Then you're obviously doing it wrong."
"Oh yeah?" Naruto leaned forwards, a glint in his eye. "You gonna show me how it's done?"
Sasuke eyed him for a moment, and then dropped three cucumbers into the cart.
"You're buying these," he informed him, turning away.
"I figured." Naruto grinned, slouching over the cart. "What else am I buying?"
Sasuke only threw a smirk over his shoulder, already walking over to the next aisle. Naruto pushed the cart after him, shaking his head.
Sasuke was so...
"Spices?"
Naruto's voice broke him out of his thoughts—Sasuke immediately schooled his face into a neutral expression.
"No—I was just...looking."
Naruto blinked at him.
"What? You can get spices if you want. I'm not gonna judge."
Sasuke rolled his eyes with a quiet, "moron."
They paused. Naruto didn't seem to intend on moving their cart any time soon.
"Spices are expensive," Sasuke said finally. Not just one, but together—it was something that he just...couldn't justify buying. Cinnamon and pepper, he had allowed himself, but other things—like pans that cooked evenly and stupid flavoured tea packets—were just...It wasn't like Itachi wouldn't pay for them—of course he would—but this was the part of his money that Sasuke could actually control. And he was already taking advantage of—
"So? I'm paying."
Sasuke pinned Naruto with a glare in record time.
"No, you're not." He had thought that was obvious. The few greens that Sasuke had managed to get Naruto to agree to were for him, not Sasuke—Sasuke would never—
Naruto crossed his arms over the cart, throwing him a lopsided grin.
"Well, not for everything—but I thought you were gonna show me how it's done. You didn't think I'd be impressed with just salad, did you?"
Sasuke's anger drained from his grasp.
"C'mon, Sasuke," Naruto moved around the cart, past him, running his hand along the shelf, "my idea of seasoning is salt. What am I dealing with here?"
Sasuke watched him for a moment longer, before he let out a soft, resigned laugh.
"Moron," he said quietly, "am I making you dinner?"
Naruto grinned.
"You bet your ass you are."
Naruto, predictably, bought too much. Even his backpack hadn't saved him—not that he had really expected it to. Between his laptop and his books, it had been pretty much full to begin with.
Still, Sasuke's place was way closer than his own, and he was infinitely grateful that he had pretty much annoyed Sasuke into cooking for him.
"Buh," he collapsed in front of Sasuke's fridge, "can I keep my stuff here until I get my breath back?"
"Well it's either that or have it melt all over my floor." Sasuke stepped over him. "What options."
Naruto snorted, rolling over onto his stomach.
"So what're you making me?"
"What we are making," Sasuke responded, nudging him with his foot, "is basically a stew. Get up; you're blocking the fridge."
Naruto laughed, picking himself back up. He ought to actually help Sasuke put the groceries away—
"Wait," he paused, "I'm helping you cook?"
Sasuke nearly laughed at him right then, he knew; it was the way he shook his head and turned away, as if to hide the smile—
"Obviously, idiot." He gestured towards the cabinet with his head. "There's a cutting board in there—start chopping."
Naruto gave him a two-fingered salute and a brilliant grin.
"Yes, sir!"
"Oh man," Naruto groaned, rolling around on his couch. Sasuke looked at him, eyebrow raised.
Naruto gave him a pained look.
"It smells so fucking good..."
Sasuke snorted, shaking his head.
"I'm so hungry..."
"Stop whining, moron."
"Hey—I haven't eaten since lunch! And I only had a shitty little sandwich then 'cause I barely had a break between classes—"
"Stop talking about food," Sasuke muttered, feeling his own stomach protest. "You're making it worse."
He wandered back over to the pot, watching it boil. He could probably turn the heat back down to a simmer, now—he knew he was supposed to add something more to it at this stage but he couldn't remember what his mother had—
He swallowed, killing the thought as it came.
"How's it going?" Naruto hovered over his shoulder.
"Almost," he answered quietly. "We could probably have the salad now, if you wanted—"
"Oh fuck yeah."
Naruto was gone in a heartbeat.
"This was your plan, wasn't it?" Naruto muttered through a mouthful of lettuce. "Get me so hungry that everything tastes fucking amazing—"
"Stop eating all of the salad," Sasuke called back, taking the pot off the stove. They had already spent far longer making this than Sasuke had the patience for—
"Mm, you're gonna have to c'mere and fight me for it." Naruto's voice was entirely muffled. "I take back everything I said about cucumber—"
"Come here, moron. It's ready."
"Wh—" Naruto was beside him in a flash. "Yeah? Actually?"
Sasuke glanced at him.
"You have dressing on your face."
"O-oh," Naruto flushed, rubbing at his lip, "sorry."
Sasuke passed Naruto a bowl as an excuse to look away. He hated how expressive Naruto could get—it just got to him so easily—
"Oh, thanks." Naruto held it out as Sasuke tried to get an even portion of everything without it splashing all over his kitchen. "So what is this, actually?"
"Tomato nabe." He hadn't had it in years. He probably wouldn't even have it now—not the way he remembered, at any rate. Maybe it was a bit too ambitious, but Naruto seemed thrilled nonetheless—
"Come on, hurry up!" Naruto looked as if he was bouncing on the spot. "Where can I eat? I don't wanna spill all over your couch."
"Then don't spill all over my couch." Sasuke filled his own bowl, surreptitiously holding it so it wouldn't burn his hands too badly—
"I'll just sit on the floor," Naruto muttered, making his way to the front of the couch.
Sasuke raised an eyebrow as he promptly did just that.
"What?" Naruto looked up at him. "I couldn't even manage the salad without making a mess. You really gonna trust me with this?"
He gestured down at the bowl. Sasuke snorted—internally debating whether he ought to do the same, because Naruto had a point, really—
"Sasuke, I'm gonna start chewing on you if you don't sit down soon—"
Sasuke put his bowl down beside Naruto's.
"It's too hot right now, moron."
"It's too hot—you asshole!" Naruto groaned, ducking his head between his knees. "You are evil! Evil!"
Sasuke only sat in front of him, resting his back against the couch.
"Evil," Naruto muttered again.
"It's only a few minutes," Sasuke rolled his eyes, "stop being so dramatic."
Naruto peeked up through his fingers.
"Distract me, then."
"Distract you?" Sasuke rested his arm over his propped up knee. "How?"
"I dunno—you come up with something."
Sasuke thought for a moment.
"...Tell me more about your research."
He heard Naruto let out a breath.
"Like—my thesis? What about it?"
"Yes. All I know is that it's about meditation."
"Mm," Naruto lifted his head up enough to run a hand through his hair, "well, like—it's kinda—positive psychology. Y'know about positive psych?"
"You mentioned it in one of your essays." He vaguely remembered the term, and he could probably piece together the meaning, but—in the interest of distracting Naruto...
"Oh—yeah." Naruto licked his lips, straightening up further. "Yeah—I guess I'm always kind of on about it. I've been in psych for a while, y'know, and everything is so...we're always so focused on the negatives. Like knowing what went wrong when something goes wrong. Which—don't get me wrong, it's important. It is. But I think there's a lot to be learned from studying when things go right, and I don't think enough people do that."
Sasuke tilted his head a little, smiling.
"Ever the optimist, hm?"
Naruto laughed.
"It's not optimism—it's logic! It just makes sense! Look at things from every point of view, not just one—I dunno why more people don't see it!"
Sasuke narrowly avoided the arm as Naruto flailed, as if waving his arms around was going to emphasize his point—
"Moron," he muttered, shaking his head. Naruto only laughed, rocking in place as if he just couldn't sit still—
"Oh—yeah, so—basically I do a mix of mindfulness meditation and yoga. I might've told you that—I dunno. But if you brand it as both you get more people," Naruto waggled his eyebrows, "and we have a twelve week program that people go through, and we do data collection before, during and after. So like—it's a bit much for an undergrad thesis, especially 'cause we do focus group interviews on top of the typical questionnaire stuff, but I dunno—I really like it, I think."
"It seems so." Naruto was anything but subtle when he was excited—and he was definitely excited.
"Yeah?" Naruto bit his lip a little, bouncing in place. "I've been debating, y'know, I think I've told you—like if I should stick with it after school, but I dunno if I'm just doing that 'cause it's...it's what I know—what I'm comfortable with, or—"
"Is your work going to be finished?" Sasuke cut him off.
Naruto gave him a blank stare.
"After you graduate," Sasuke elaborated, "will you feel like your work here is done?"
Naruto blinked for a second.
"Well—no, of course not. You're never really—"
"Well, there you go."
Naruto stared at him for a moment longer, smile slowly growing wider.
"You obviously care about it," Sasuke continued softly, "so if you don't feel that you're done with it—then—"
Sasuke gestured towards him—Naruto laughed.
"When you put it that way," he leaned back, biting his lip again, "s'a good point, Sasuke. Thanks."
Sasuke shrugged. He could feel Naruto's gaze on him—and he could definitely feel the way his face was flushing under it—
"How's your writing going?"
Sasuke glanced at him.
"...Better." Better than when Naruto had been reading it, it seemed. At the very least, he was writing a lot more now, and he hadn't managed to get nearly as stuck as he had felt before—
"...Am I still in it?"
Sasuke had a moment—a brief, panicked moment—where his entire body seemed to freeze, and no response came to his mind—
He nudged Naruto's bowl closer to him, rolling his eyes as an excuse not to meet Naruto's.
"Eat your food, moron."
"Oh my god, finally!"
A/N: Ahhh I love this chapter :) I've always wanted to write a grocery shopping scene, haha. I can't believe we're on chapter 7 already though! The scenes are just flying by.
What did you guys think? Let me know!
See you tomorrow,
- Kinomi
