FLUFF ALERT! Yeah, I promise that they will eventually leave Konoha. Also, that the chapters will get longer again. Ugh, school.
Soba's breathing had become deep and even, and Naruto tried to look down to see her face. She was completely asleep, sprawled across him on the couch, mouth agape. The clock read 3:34, which explained why she had passed out mid-sentence. The blonde nudged her gently awake.
"Soba-chan. Hey." One bleary eye opened to assess the situation and the offending person.
"Nngh." The kunoichi made a few non-committal sounds and buried her face in Naruto's undershirt. He choked back a laugh when she tickled him, returning to his gentle nudging.
"You should go back to your place."
"You should go back to your place."
"We're at my apartment."
"Lies." Her voice was sleep-thick, and stubbornness even more so.
"Sobaaaa-chaaan. Your brother will hurt me."
"He can't." Soba yawned out the words. "He's a weenie." She blindly pulled a blanket from the back of the couch on top of her, the soft fabric falling to obscure part of Naruto's face. He shoved it off the both of them.
"You have to leave soon and you need to get your things."
"Nnnno." What Naruto was about to experience was the exhaustion-induced petulance that made Soba an absolute nightmare to wake up.
"Soba-chan."
"Nnnnno." The blonde was torn between laughing and being frustrated. He wasn't in a position to complain, what with an attractive woman asleep on top of him, but he knew that she was lacking in rest. It was reluctantly that he lifted her by the shoulders, giving himself more of an abdominal strain than he was ready for at that particular moment, and shook her. "Stop it. Stop."
"Soba-chan. You need to get up! You have to go back today and I don't want you to be tired."
"I don't wanna."
"Soba." Naruto tried to use his best stern voice to his advantage, but it sounded harsh coming out of his mouth.
"Say my name again like that."
"Ehh?" Her head lolled on her shoulders; she had fallen back asleep. Naruto looked up to the ceiling, wondering if he was going to have to carry her back home, and why she wanted him to say her name again. Nobody had ever accused Naruto of being quick on the uptake.
The stalking party had broken up a half-hour previous, but not before Iruka had given a stern, yawn-punctuated lecture to all the men (and ninken) involved. Kiba and Dai slowly walked back to the lodgings Dai and Soba were sharing, now appreciably more in control of their limbs and brains.
"Well, if I happen to survive Soba's retaliation, I'll come back to visit. I think there are still people in the village we haven't offended."
"If I ever have a mission that takes us your way, I'll drop by. We can see how many times I can embarrass you in front of your village family."
"Deal." Out of the corner of their eyes, both shinobi caught sight of movement. Turning towards the misshapen figure hopping from the rooftop adjacent, they both inclined their heads in confusion. Naruto landed next to them, an apparently asleep Soba slung over his shoulder. The blonde didn't look impressed.
"She's heavier than she looks, isn't she?" Dai bit his lip, hard, to stop the laugh bubbling up his throat.
"I HEARD THAT."
"You're AWAKE?" Naruto clumsily dropped her to the ground in his attempt to turn his head quickly. The kunoichi sat at his feet, rubbing her hip and wincing.
"Ow." She flashed a coy grin at him.
"You made me carry you...and you were awake."
"It's not like you were complaining at having my butt so close to your eyeballs." Naruto attempted to splutter out a protest, infinitely thankful for the darkness hiding how red he had become. "It's not like I was going to complain about the view, either."
"Imouto, really?" Dai really had no chance of even trying to admonish his goofy sister when his voice was filled with amusement. The kunoichi shrugged, making her best innocent face. Naruto then realized that both Kiba and Dai were staring at him, chuckling. His shoulders slumped in resignation.
"I'm gonna head off, though. I'll drop by in the morning and say bye if I manage to wake up on time." Kiba rubbed his bleary eyes and ran a hand through his hair.
"Enh, don't worry about it. We don't all have to be zombies tomorrow."
"See you, Soba! Bye, Naruto." The kunoichi and Naruto waved, smiling.
"Say hi to Akamaru for us!" Dai and Kiba did some bizarre performance-art-turned-handshake, and then the latter walked off.
"So, uh, Naruto, do you need to be heading back?" Soba shot a look at her twin. Dai shrugged.
"Uh, not really, but you two should get some sleep, ne?" The blonde seemed reluctant to head off, and kept throwing glances to the kunoichi still sitting on the ground by him. He offered a hand, and she pulled herself to her feet, dusting off her skirt. Dai did not miss the palm Naruto delicately pressed to her lower back when she stood up.
"WELL, I am going to go to bed, and the two of you can just stare at each other until sun-up, for all I care." He waved a dismissive hand at the two and disappeared into the building. Naruto made to walk up the stairs after Dai, but Soba stopped him with an arm across his chest.
"Wait until he goes to bed, at least. I guarantee he'll be out cold in about five minutes, and then we won't hear his childish giggling."
"Ahh."
Once sufficiently many minutes had passed, Soba led Naruto up to their small apartment. The door opened to a small kitchen on the right, a living area straight ahead, and a short hallway on the left. As the kunoichi had predicted, her brother's snores were rattling the windows in their sills.
"How do you sleep with him snoring like this?" Naruto whispered, wincing.
"I'm used to it. At least he doesn't always snore like this anymore. He was that loud when he was a kid, and I used to pinch his nose to stop him."
"Wouldn't that just wake him up?"
"It did, but then I would be asleep by the time he began making those awful sounds again."
"I can't hear my thoughts right now."
"I'm pretty sure that I'm not hosting any to begin with." Soba strode into her bedroom and dropped down to the mattress. "The couch-thing feels like you're sitting on a bag of sharpened rocks." She offered by way of explanation.
"I'm so tired." Naruto mumbled, stifling a yawn. Once they had sat back down, both became acutely aware of the fatigue in their muscles and the slowly fading will to keep their eyes open.
"Me too." The two slumped against the wall behind them, and Soba let her head rest on the blonde's shoulder. "'M gonna take a quick nap. Wake me up in ten minutes, okay?"
"Uh-uh." Naruto breathed, patting her gently on the thigh. He idly wondered whether the fading sound of Dai's snores meant that he was getting used to them, but his brain failed to come to a conclusion before he nodded off.
Every muscle in his body protested movement as the sunlight pouring through the window crossed his face. Naruto became aware of why he was so sore: he had slept sitting up, slouching. Once the initial sleep haze had faded, he sat up with a start. Soba wasn't next to him anymore. He reached out a hand to the indentation she had left and found it warm; she couldn't have left too long ago. He got to his feet, stretching in several directions before achieving that much-needed crack along his spine. The blonde regretted not having taken off his sweater before going to bed, or at least emptying out his pockets. He had brought a little going-away surprise for the kunoichi, but had failed to sneakily plant it in her little pouch when they had first arrived at the apartment. The lump had made sleeping that much more uncomfortable.
The apartment was silent, but when Naruto stepped out into the hall, he saw that Dai was still asleep, face-down in his pillow. Upon further inspection, he saw furry pink triangles protruding from his head, but the blonde wasn't sure whether he was just imagining things from exhaustion. Padding quietly through the apartment, he realized Soba wasn't anywhere to be found. A momentary panic overtook him before he sensed her chakra a short distance away. Figuring she could use some company, he stepped out of the apartment and walked towards her location. Unsurprisingly, the kunoichi was buying snacks for her journey, now dressed in her travel-appropriate fatigue pants and cloak. The late fall morning air was crisp and Naruto's breath came out in little white puffs; his jacket now seemed like a great idea. Soba spoke before he had a chance to approach her.
"Figured you'd come looking for me." In contrast to the last time he had followed her on her morning routine, her face broke into a smile as she paid the vendor. Soba looked up at him after grabbing her apples, wide-eyed and rosy-cheeked. Naruto's eyes crinkled with happiness.
"You could have told me you were going somewhere! I was worried."
"But you looked so cute while you were sleeping that I couldn't bring myself to wake you."
"I'm not cute! I'm a man, not a kid!" Soba giggled, linking her arm with his and guiding them back towards the apartment.
"I know you're a man, but it doesn't stop you from looking all innocent when you're drooling in your sleep."
"Drooling?!" Naruto slapped his palm against his forehead. Soba nudged him in the ribs.
"Just kidding. You were still really cute."
"I'm not cute."
"Yes, you are."
"Little kids are cute! Puppies are cute! Little bowls of ramen are cute! And delicious. But I am not cute."
"Yes, you are."
"I'm not!"
"Yuuuup." The more the blonde protested, the more Soba laughed, holding his arm close to her body. His face was red from his huffing, but the color deepened when Soba kissed him on the cheek to distract him. That was all that he needed to entirely forget what he was mad about. "Yep. Confirmed. You're adorable." He remembered.
"I'm not adorable, either! No!" The kunoichi sported an amused facial expression the whole way back to the apartment while Naruto waxed poetic about his manliness.
Dai awoke while they were gone, and was kneeling by the table eating breakfast when they returned. A laugh exploded out of Soba when she saw her stone-faced brother chewing slowly, furry cat ears affixed on his head. Naruto stopped mid-sentence and stared at the accessory.
"I didn't know you had more pairs of these, imouto."
"I did. The tail's a bit nicer than the other one I had, right?"
"Hm. What's the timeline on my fabulousness this time?"
"I think 48 hours ought to do it."
"Soba-chan, you did that?" Naruto was coughing to cover laughter.
"I did. This was part two. Niisan, you should consider yourself lucky that I was so focused on my retribution that I left the opportunity to snuggle this handsome man-," the blonde puffed his chest out minutely, "-to exact my revenge."
"How does that make me lucky?"
"That makes no sense." Naruto agreed.
"Whatever. Either way, I got you back for your spying. Be thankful that I forgot the hand seals to make you meow at the end of sentences."
"Where did you even learn these jutsus?!"
"A kunoichi never shares her secrets." Soba traipsed off to the bathroom. Dai and Naruto made eye contact, one unimpressed, the other choking on his giggles.
While Soba was showering and Dai was getting dressed, Naruto took the opportunity to tuck his little going-away present into her satchel. Though it looked tiny on the outside, he found the hastily-folded gift slipped in without any trouble.
Soba peeked her head out of the bathroom, her wet hair partially plastered to her face and gestured to Naruto. He hesitated for a moment, wondering if she was even clothed, but walked over anyway. She reached out an arm and dragged the blonde in, shutting the door carefully behind him. He exhaled a breath he didn't know he was holding when he saw her fully dressed.
"What, did you think I was gonna let you see me naked?"
"I-uh-well, no, but you know I-"
"You really need to relax! I was kidding. In hindsight, the bathroom wasn't the best place to do this."
"Do what?" Soba threw her arms around him and hugged him as closely as she could within the laws of physics. Naruto put his arms around her, tangling one hand in the wet strands of her hair. A small part of his brain figured that getting that hand back later may be difficult, but that part was quickly overwhelmed. He could smell her shampoo and feel the soft skin of her cheek against his neck, and it was all he could do to not steal her away for another few weeks. She murmured something quietly against his shoulder, but Naruto's brain was lost in sensations and wasn't about to redirect any function elsewhere. Dai's tentative knocks jarred both back to reality.
"Hey, Soba, we should really leave soon. I packed your absurd romance novel in your utility belt, and I think you should give it back to the Hokage. Naruto, you better not impregnate my sister."
"DAI, WOULD YOU LIKE MORE FURRY ACCESSORIES?" Soba's voice went up an octave while Naruto blanched.
"KIDDING, IMOUTO. Jeez, you're so sensitive. Can't I make inappropriate jokes around you and your main squeeze?"
"I will murder you in your sleep."
"Be quick about it - with this hangover, I may not last til bedtime." His steps receded. Naruto was still sheet-white, one hand snarled in the hair at the nape of Soba's neck.
"Wet hair isn't good for touching. My bad."
"How do I get my hand out?"
"Slowly and with much difficulty."
"Thanks." With minimal pulled hair, the pair salvaged the blonde's hand. So much for romance. He pushed the kunoichi gently until her back was pressed against the humid tile. She looked up expectantly.
"I guess this is it, huh?" Naruto didn't know what 'that' and 'it' meant in that sentence; it was too vague for him. The cogs in his head worked to process possible responses. Soba caught on and elaborated. "I guess this is the last time we see each other."
"For a while, maybe! I'll see you again."
"My missions don't often bring me around here, and vice versa. You know that."
"So? I'll write!"
"You know how to do that?" He shot her a look that he meant to be furious, but softened somewhere on the way. "Kidding." He poked her in the side, and grinned devilishly at her yelp.
"You're mean, you know that?"
"I do, actually! You've mentioned it a few times. I feel like I could be nicer, but then that would require this thing called effort, and I'm just too lazy."
Dai didn't really want to cut the two lovebirds off, or anything, but it was getting high time for them to depart for home. Their trip was a long one, and both Soba and he knew there were likely missions waiting for them when they got back. Given the village's size, there weren't that many jounin available for higher-ranked missions, and Dai and Soba were particularly sought-after. The older of the twins sat on the steps outside, idly twirling a kunai. He really hoped his sister wouldn't be too sad leaving, but at least he had gotten a glimpse of the girl she used to be while they were there. He squinted in the early morning sunlight, replacing his kunai.
"Silly imouto. I never figured you'd complicate your life by finding someone in another village..." He muttered to the birds on the rooftop, who fluttered off in search of food.
Thanks for reading and reviewing! :)