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: I'm still so sick you guys ;_; it's taken me ages just to have the brainpower to post this! I really hope you like it though!


Enter Naruto

Chapter 32: Small Victories

Neither of them moved particularly quickly. After the last day and a half, coming back here felt like...coming back from a dream. Falling back down to reality.

It was awkward—stilted—and Sasuke wasn't sure how he had managed to expect anything else. Too much optimism, he supposed, after everything had been going so well…perhaps so much time with Naruto's family had spoiled him.

He sighed, pushing his door shut behind them.

Naruto was immediately in his arms.

"I'm sorry," the blonde muttered into his neck—Sasuke blinked in surprise as Naruto pulled back—

"I didn't think Kakashi would try to pick a fight. I really didn't—if I had—"

"It's alright," Sasuke said quietly, and it was, really. "He did...warn me."

He hadn't realized it, at the time, but—

"What d'you mean?"

"He said something about...not being as forgiving as me—when I mentioned coming here today." He gave a soft shrug. "He knew me at the...start, you know. I wasn't in a good place."

He felt Naruto's soft touch on either side of his arms.

"I mean—I get that," he said quietly. "I read your writing back then, too, y'know—" and Sasuke jolted, because he had forgotten, "but it's not my place to be mad at them—and it's not his either. It's yours."

Naruto leaned against him, pressing him further back against the door.

"So I'm sorry. And I'm gonna make him say it too." He pulled back, fishing his phone out of his pocket—

"You don't have to do that," Sasuke muttered, grabbing at it, even as Naruto dodged—

"No, I do." Naruto frowned at him, eyes flashing. "We're the ones who have to stay here now—and now he's, like, primed your dad to be mad at us. He could've at least waited until tomorrow if he was gonna try and start something—"

"He didn't say that much." Sasuke gently grabbed his wrist. "He could have said much more."

Naruto's hand loosened, his phone flittering back to a black screen.

"And if my father's going to get set off at something like that, then this would have never worked out." He sighed, letting go of Naruto.

"But he didn't though," Naruto pointed out.

"No, he didn't," Sasuke said softly. His father had been...quiet. Watchful—wary of something Sasuke didn't know. Maybe it had been justified, with the way Kakashi had come ready for a confrontation.

"Mm," Naruto moved past him, catching his hand on the way, "c'mon. I never got to explore your room properly last time."

"There's not much to explore," Sasuke muttered, dutifully letting Naruto lead him nonetheless. "I told you."

"Maybe not for you." Naruto grinned. "Where'd you spend the most of your time?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"It was your desk, wasn't it? I bet you studied more than you slept, class president—"

Sasuke let go of Naruto's hand to swat at his head—it only made him laugh harder.

"C'mon, asshole," he grabbed Sasuke's hips, nudging them backwards, "go sit there. I wanna get the full effect."

He gave Sasuke another soft shove, and he stumbled back, rolling his eyes as he made his way to the desk.

He sat in the chair, flipped an ankle to rest on his knee, and turned to give Naruto a look.

"Happy?"

Naruto stood still for a moment, grinning at Sasuke, before he flopped right onto Sasuke's bed.

"Perfect." He laughed, rolling to kick his feet up behind him. "I feel like this is how we would've hung out if I'd known you in high school."

Sasuke let his elbow rest on his desk so he could lean against his fist.

"I thought you said you would have hated me?"

Naruto giggled.

"Oh yeah," he sat up, "class president, soccer captain—I bet you were top of every class too, weren't you?"

Sasuke snorted, but didn't reply.

"Uh huh," Naruto's grin was wide and knowing, "and completely fucking gorgeous, to top it all off. You know how much more infuriating a cocky bastard is when they have the goods to back it up?"

"...You're an idiot," Sasuke muttered, turning away as his face flushed.

He heard the bed shift for a moment.

"I wouldn't've left you alone for a second."

Sasuke glanced back—Naruto was sitting up, now, legs swinging out over the edge—

"That doesn't sound like hate."

Naruto's head tilted, watching Sasuke with piercing eyes.

"Nah," his grin widened, "more like my sexual awakening."

Sasuke bit down on a laugh, shaking his head instead—

"You're so fucking pretty," Naruto spoke up again, leaning casually to one side as if all he wanted to do was just watch Sasuke—

Sasuke's face flushed.

"It drives me crazy." Naruto didn't seem fazed. "It's taking everything I have to stay this far from you right now."

Sasuke met his eyes, letting himself relax into the chair further.

"What's stopping you?"

Naruto made a pained noise, stretching his arms up so his shirt lifted just a little—

"I'm pretty sure your parents wouldn't appreciate us skipping dinner."

"Dinner isn't ready yet."

As if on cue, there was a knock at Sasuke's door.

"Dinner's ready," Itachi's voice filtered in. "Please be decent."

Sasuke's face burned, but Naruto only laughed.

"Come in, Itachi!" Naruto rolled back, flopping onto Sasuke's bed again. "If we weren't decent, you'd know."

"Please spare me the details of my little brother's sex life," Itachi muttered, letting the door swing open.

Sasuke put his face in his hands.

"I was talking about me." Naruto laughed. "Dinner's ready?"

"Ah," Itachi gave a small, pained sigh, "...yes."

"'Kay!" Naruto gave them a sparkling grin, and rolled off Sasuke's bed.

"Ready, Sasuke?"

Sasuke sighed.

"As I'll ever be."


All things considered, Naruto thought he was doing a pretty good job at convincing Sasuke his insides weren't a jumbled mess of nerves right now. Not the best job—Sasuke kept glancing over every time Naruto took in a deep breath, and it was making Naruto realize just how often he was doing that—but a good enough job to make Sasuke look a little less tired.

Small victories. (He was still kinda mad at Kakashi, though.)

They followed Itachi down the stairs—Naruto trailing behind Sasuke because he wasn't totally convinced Sasuke wouldn't just slow down to a full halt if he didn't—to the dining room. Naruto had been so frazzled, last time (when his nerves had been made out of dread instead of hope) that he hadn't really appreciated the place properly.

They reached the entrance, and Naruto tapped Sasuke on the butt just because he could. He grinned as Sasuke gave him a look—almost a glare, but softer (softening the longer their eyes met)—and the door opened.

Naruto's jaw dropped.

When Sasuke had said a lot of food—he hadn't realized he had meant Mount fucking Everest

"Holy shit," he breathed—as quietly as he could, but Sasuke made a small noise and he knew he heard—and then Itachi turned back with a look and Naruto knew heheard too—

"This is—uh, I mean—this looks awesome!" He threw Sasuke's mom a smile, but his eyes darted to Sasuke's dad for a second, too—they both looked so stoic, it was freaking him out—

"Thank you." Sasuke's mom's eyes were just as kind, though—and maybe Naruto could pick out the worry in them, now—

They weaved around the table, and Naruto was immediately distracted by every single thing on it. Thank god he had Sasuke to pull him to his chair—

"Hey," he whispered, nudging closer as he pulled his chair in, "that looks like the stew you made me! What—tomato...?"

"Tomato nabe," Sasuke answered softly. "It is."

Naruto paused, glancing at Sasuke as Sasuke threw him a tight smile.

"You'll see what it's supposed to taste like now."

Naruto laughed and squeezed his hand.

"As far as I'm concerned," he said, "yours is what it's supposed to taste like."

Sasuke snorted and shook his head, but Naruto saw his smile loosen, just a little. He straightened back up to see Sasuke's dad staring at them, but as soon as Naruto caught his eye, he looked away—

"Ah," Sasuke's mom barely lasted a second in her chair before she went to stand again, "do you need a fork?"

"Oh, no—I can use chopsticks." Naruto nodded quickly.

Sasuke nudged him softly, obviously fighting a smile. "...Can you?"

That asshole

"That was one time!" He hissed, nudging his elbow into Sasuke's side—the only thing it seemed to do was make Sasuke laugh at him more

"Yes, I can use chopsticks. Don't listen to Sasuke." Naruto waved a hand over Sasuke's face—which he immediately caught (and pulled under the table without letting go). "I'm good—ah, thank you. This really looks amazing."

Had he said that already? He had probably said that already. Crap—he was just so nervous

But Mikoto only smiled and nodded, settling back down into her chair. Naruto shifted in place—

But then Sasuke's parents mumbled something, and Itachi mumbled with them—and it took Naruto an extra second to realize Sasuke had mumbled too and god damn it Sasuke this was exactly the kind of thing he should have warned him about—

"What was that?" He whispered, pulling on Sasuke's arm—

"What was what?"

"That—what you said. What did everybody say?"

"Itadakimasu," Sasuke muttered, and it sounded every bit as gibberish as the first time Naruto heard it—

"Ita—what?"

"Itadakimasu," and now Itachi was talking, "you are grateful to receive the food."

"Itadakimasu," Naruto repeated—

Sasuke snorted—Itachi shook his head.

"No—itadakimasu."

"Itadakimasu," Naruto said again—but everyone only shook their heads again and what the hell, he swore he was saying the exact same thing—

"I think that's as close as you're going to get," Sasuke muttered, hiding his smile behind his hand.

"Buh," Naruto groaned, putting his face in his hands. His cheeks were on fire

"It's typically said before all meals, in Japan," Itachi spoke up again, and Naruto peered up through his fingers, "but we only tend to say it around special occasions."

Sasuke nodded, eyes still laughing at Naruto—

"Well, then," Mikoto's voice was just a little stronger than before, "shall we?"


It wasn't the fact that Sasuke was with a man. No; Mikoto didn't fully understand that, but her discomfort was growing with each time they interacted and that...wasn't the reason why.

She topped up her husband's drink.

No, it was more...a feeling of exclusion. Yes—that was it. Exclusion, because the two boys—men, now—in front of her seemed to have a language of their own. A language she wasn't privy to. It was another part of her son's life that she was missing—that she had missed, over the past few years.

Because she hadn't known. Not even before he left. They had hardly known he...wrote anything more than essays for school before he had announced it was what he wanted to do—so something as sensitive as this…

She bit down on a sigh, taking a sip of water instead.

She wondered how long Sasuke had known. How long Itachi had, even, because it was him who had introduced Naruto to her...how long had Sasuke actively chosen to keep himself hidden from them?

How long had he felt like he had to?

And Sasuke laughed, then, at something Naruto said that no one else could catch, and it was almost as if he was a child again. He had been such a bright child—so full of light and happiness and optimism, and then…

And then he had grown calm. Stoic. A quiet man with no great affection for anyone in particular. Itachi had been much the same, but that hadn't been a change—he had always been a quiet child. Mikoto had thought that Sasuke's indifference had grown out of the admiration for his brother's, but now—

Now, she wondered if it had been forced upon him.

Sasuke's eyes met hers, and his smile tightened back to the one she knew well. Closed and restrained—a look that was little more than neutral.

Mikoto looked away. Back at the food, as if she had gained her appetite back, instead of losing it entirely—as if the lump in her throat wouldn't stop her from swallowing anything of any weight—as if her eyes hadn't begun to burn, along the edges—

She swallowed—once, and then again.

Here she was, again—passive. Looking down at the table, away from her son—passive. Keeping quiet to keep the peace—passive.

She looked back up.

"When did the two of you meet?"

Her voice didn't waver.


Naruto tried to share a glance with Sasuke, but Sasuke seemed too busy blinking in surprise to respond. Naruto ran his teeth along the side of his lip.

"Um," Naruto scratched the back of his neck, "like, the last week of August? School had just started—"

"September 8th. You had your baseline exam the week after."

"Oh, yeah…" Fuck that exam. But then, they had had that party afterwards...Naruto felt his smile widen. Sasuke's thoughts must have been somewhere similar, from the way his eyes scanned over Naruto—

"And then I met Itachi!" The morning after the party—

"The day after your exam, yes." Sasuke rubbed at his mouth—Naruto could pick out the barest hint of a smile—

"You had—when you met me, you had only known each other for two weeks?"

"Yeah," Naruto grinned, "only one week of actually talking, though." He paused—Sasuke's mom was still staring at him, as if waiting for more—

"We met at the café across from the university. It was really full and I needed a table and Sasuke is niiice—" He threw Sasuke a grin—

"You literally bumped into me in greeting." Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I was stationary."

"I bumped into your chair 'cause somebody shoved me! I take it back, you're not nice at all," Naruto muttered, shoving at Sasuke's arm. Sasuke only snorted, a soft smile breaking his face as he shook his head—

"Usuratonkachi."

Naruto's smile widened.

"Teme."

Distantly, he heard Sasuke's mom make a small noise—Sasuke's dad, too, then, and it made him immediately turn—

"Those are their pet names," Itachi said casually.

Naruto blinked. Sasuke jerked back.

"They are not!"

Naruto sealed his lips together as the laugh bubbled up in his chest—

"Naruto—" Sasuke's glare was immediately on him, but Naruto just couldn't help it—

"I mean," he laughed, waving a hand over his face, "they kinda are…"

"We don't have pet names! I called you that before we were dating!"

"Yeah and you liked me, didn't you?" Naruto's grin widened as Sasuke's face flushed a bright, brilliant red—

"Were you dating the second time I saw you?" Itachi seemed entirely unfazed.

"Oh—that—yeah." Naruto scratched the back of his head, ducking down a little. "Yeah, we were."

That had been...after Naruto had pretty much chased Itachi down—and from the rapidly widening smirk Itachi was giving him, he remembered it pretty well. Naruto met it with a grin, even as his cheeks flushed—

"Stop that," he said, pointing at Itachi's stupid smug expression—

"What? It was rather admirable—as if you were defending my little brother's honour, really—"

"I wasn't defending his honour, oh my god—" Naruto shook his head, slapping at Sasuke's arm as he heard him snort. "I was just trying to get you two to communicate like normal people instead of just scowling at each other for like twenty minutes—"

Naruto's sentence cut short—in absolute shock—as Sasuke's mom laughed. It lessened, after barely a second, but something about the room still seemed lighter—

"They get that from their father," she told him, eyes hesitant but glittering (almost like the way Sasuke's did, sometimes, when he was feeling particularly playful)—

Naruto leaned over the table, closer to her.

"Okay," he whispered conspiratorially, "how do you deal with it?"

Sasuke whacked the back of his head.

It didn't hurt—not even a little—but Naruto still made a show of rubbing at it as he leaned back in his chair. Sasuke was smiling, though—and so was Mikoto, and even Sasuke's dad looked kinda amused—

This was...actually going pretty okay.


That had...actually gone pretty well, all things considered. Naruto had done what he did best—brightening the world around him and everyone in it—and Sasuke had finally figured out that he had been adding the extra tomatoes way too early and letting them cook. His mother added them at the end. He should have remembered that…

He found himself following his mother back to the kitchen, dirty plates in hand, almost without a thought. He didn't even question the motion until she jumped, just as he moved to stand beside her—

"Ah, sorry." He moved away, immediately feeling awkward. He had thought Itachi would follow them too—or maybe Naruto—but as he turned back towards the entrance he realized that it was only him and his mother here and he really didn't—

"That's alright." She gave him a soft smile. "You just startled me."

There was a pause. Sasuke glanced back at the door again, even as he leaned to load the dishwasher—still, no one else came in—

"That Naruto," she said quietly, moving over to the sink, "you two seem like you're great friends."

Sasuke blinked, straightening up. It wasn't how he had expected her to start—he had hardly expected her to talk to begin with—but he found himself bristling, just as he had when his father—

"I am dating him," he said firmly. "We aren't just friends."

"Oh," she turned around, hand paused on the pot she'd been scrubbing, "yes, I—I didn't mean to misconstrue your relationship."

And Sasuke blinked, then, because it was only then that it occurred to him that his mother had obviously already known, and whether it was due to Itachi or his father was something he desperately wanted to know—

"But I—just meant," she turned back to the pot, scrubbing so softly that Sasuke thought she might be just making herself look busy, "that it's important. To enjoy your partner's company—to truly like them, as well as love them. Am I making sense?"

Sasuke swallowed, reaching for another plate.

"Yes," he said quietly. "He is…my best friend."

He straightened just as she turned back to him, hands now dry—

"It certainly seems so." She placed the towel on the countertop, watching him with soft, hesitant eyes. "You two make a good match."

Sasuke immediately blinked down at the floor. He wasn't sure what it was—maybe the simple acceptance that she was showing him, not a comment on Sasuke being gay or Naruto being male—maybe it was the tension, in her body, as if ready for him to lash out at her simply for speaking—maybe it was being here, in the kitchen, innocently doing dishes as if nothing had ever happened at all—

"Oh, my son, oh no—" Sasuke took a step back as she moved forward—he had been so emotional recently and he had really been hoping to fucking hold it together tonight, but then—

"I'm so sorry, Sasuke," his mother held him close—voice as shaken as Sasuke was sure his would be, "I'm so very sorry."


Naruto doubled back from the entrance, pile of plates still in hand. Sasuke and his mom were talking—like actually talking, and if he went in, he would probably ruin that—

"What's wrong?"

He turned back towards Itachi, stuttering in place—

"Um," he whispered, taking a step back, "they're—I don't wanna interrupt."

He twisted back, cutlery clattering around the plates as he caught Sasuke's dad's eye—just for the briefest second—

"They're actually communicating, are they? Not just frowning at each other?" Itachi raised an eyebrow as he spoke.

Naruto laughed, maneuvering back to the table so he could shove it all back before he broke everything. Itachi was still smiling softly as he glanced back at the door, but he moved away too, following Naruto's lead—

There was a pause.

Naruto bit his lip.

"Um," he started, glancing back at Itachi before he moved just a bit closer to Fugaku, "I wanted to thank you—for inviting me. For specifically inviting me."

He clasped his hands together, tight, behind his back so that he wouldn't fidget too much (but then, all that really did was make him want to bounce on the balls of his feet instead)—

"It means a lot," he continued quietly, "so thank you. Like really—thank you."

He vaguely registered Itachi shifting, behind him, but he kept his gaze locked with Sasuke's dad's. The fact that he had gone out of his way to invite Naruto—not just Sasuke, but Naruto, too—was huge. It was almost like—not approval, but...acceptance. Acceptance of Sasuke, as he was, and whatever came with him; maybe it was just wishful thinking on Naruto's part, but—

"You are welcome." It was quiet, gruff, and low—and Fugaku turned away from him as he spoke, but it didn't stop Naruto's smile.

This was good. This was working. He was gonna make Sasuke's parents like him if it was the last thing he did—

His phone vibrated in his pocket, then, and it made him pause. Fugaku was still looking out the window, and Sasuke was still in the kitchen—so this was probably his best chance to check it all night.

He smiled a little.

Kakashi and Iruka were at the restaurant, now, but that hadn't stopped them from blowing up Naruto's phone. From the sound of things, Iruka was somewhere between being mad at Kakashi and absolutely agreeing with him—a feeling Naruto could easily empathize with. It's not like he could really blame him, but…c'mon. Timing, Kakashi.

He sent a quick text—just that everything was fine, for now (and he'd deal with Kakashi later, too)—before he glanced back at the doorway. It was still quiet, but quiet meant that no one was fighting—so he wasn't gonna go in there yet. It didn't stop him from wanting to, though...

He moved back, around the table, refreshing his emails just out of habit. He couldn't quite pace, but he could move a little, and he had been so filled with nervous energy for so long now—

He froze.

'Sannin, J.'

On his phone—on his phone—there was—

'Found some photos.'

Naruto couldn't breathe.


A/N: Dun dun dunnnnnn! I'm too sick to say anything more coherent; let me know what you guys thought!

See you tomorrow,

- Kinomi