Chapter Three
By the third the day, Sasuke knew it was only a matter of time before more people discovered he and Naruto were living together. He expected it. If the last two days were any indication, half of Konoha would be aware of it by the end of the week, as well as his relationship with Naruto, which he and Naruto had somehow managed to keep a lesser known secret for almost two years. Not that many of the villagers cared much for anything that had to do with Sasuke anyway. Even so, he could ignore the scrutiny. It was a learned skill that seemed to only better with time.
Yet he didn't anticipate the fact that he and Naruto were taking care of an unknown child, possibly maybe even taking him in as their own in the future, would garner such...positive attention from someone like Kakashi or cause such a reaction from someone like Iruka, who was currently hunching over, sagging in one of the living room chairs. While Kakashi seemed impervious, sitting comfortably in the other chair, Iruka's head was his in hands, probably in an attempt to seek some kind of futile refuge. Because to Sasuke, who was stuck sharing the couch with Naruto, Iruka looked as if he thought the world would end at any given moment.
At least this was a chance to give Iruka those papers and lesson plans. It was one less thing to worry about, no matter how insignificant it seemed compared to the current situation. And then there was his upcoming mission delivering that scroll. It wasn't as if he was going to be a high-ranked ninja again anytime soon. With his limited used of chakra, he was nothing more than an errand boy for the time being, but he still had some semblance of pride not to take it. However, Sasuke was beginning to feel more apprehensive about it now that there was a kid sleeping in his room, seemingly taking up more than half the space in the bed despite only coming up to a little over Sasuke's knees.
Of course, Kakashi was apparently beaming and taking the information of the kid very well. Too well for what was left of Sasuke's sanity. Iruka still may have had qualms about Sasuke and Naruto's relationship, but Kakashi was more or less indifferent and sometimes disturbingly supportive.
"I think he's still reeling from the shock," Kakashi said, trying to explain Iruka's reaction and patting Iruka's back none too gently.
Sitting up, Iruka placed his hands on his knees, shrugging off Kakashi's less than helpful hand on his back. "You're more excited about this than you should be," he said, narrowing his eyes at Kakashi. Unfortunately, it was doing the opposite of intimidating Kakashi, who only seemed to be enjoying Iruka's apparent discomfort.
"But it's such a happy time," Kakashi said, a hint of enthusiasm Sasuke immediately deemed as inappropriate creeping into his voice. "And it's also the most ideal time to explore important matters. For instance, something I think we should discuss is whether I should play the role of uncle or the very good family friend."
"Neither," Sasuke answered without hesitation.
Naruto nodded his head in agreement. "For once, I agree. The kid doesn't need a perverted figure like you in his life."
Sasuke shot a deliberate look at Naruto. The memory of the kid shamelessly groping Tsunade was still too fresh in his mind. "You mean another one."
Naruto bristled and turned to Sasuke. "What's that supposed to mean, huh?"
"Hmm...that is true, isn't it," Kakashi said, placing a finger on his covered left cheek. "Be that as it may, I think I prefer the role of uncle."
Closing his eyes, Iruka pinched the bridge of his nose. "I cannot believe you."
"But aren't uncles more likeable?"
"Kakashi..."
"Don't tell me you're not at least curious," Kakashi said, his visible eye closed. Sasuke could imagine that ever-present, irritating grin hiding beneath his mask. "It really must have been quite the pregnancy."
Sasuke knew better than to give credence to Kakashi's teasing. However, he also found it hard to ignore the twitch in his right eye when he saw Kakashi blatantly staring at him, eyes roaming up and down Sasuke's figure and decidedly settling on Sasuke's stomach. In addition to the intermittent twitching, the increasing desire to hit Naruto clashed with what little patience he had left when Naruto burst into laughter, reminding Sasuke of Naruto's mindless accusation earlier of him being pregnant.
Naruto reached to touch Sasuke's stomach, but Sasuke grabbed Naruto's wrist and squeezed it hard, somewhat enjoying the small but still noticeable wince from Naruto.
"Do not," Sasuke said darkly, "touch me."
However, despite the brief display of pain of his face, Naruto had yet to stop laughing, which in turn further encouraged Kakashi.
"And honestly, Sasuke, I wasn't convinced you'd ever find a wife to take care of you, much less one to give you a son."
Naruto looked at Kakashi, laughter quickly ceasing. "Hey, are you calling me a girl?"
Sasuke squeezed Naruto's wrist a little tighter but let go when the action was no longer affecting Naruto. It was easy to tell Kakashi was doing this on purpose, yet Naruto seemed to be missing the point.
Sighing, Iruka, the seemingly only other sane person in the room apart from Sasuke, somehow found the patience to speak. "This is definitely not the time to joke around. The situation needs to be taken seriously."
Naruto straightened on the couch. "But we're not—"
"I'm not sure I even know where to begin. Mindful of the fact that no one knows how this happened and has no clue as to how to explain it…" Iruka held up one hand, stopping Naruto before he had a chance to interrupt. "You two being together isn't any of my business, I know. But I think...I think you're both too young to take care of a child."
Sasuke withheld from making any remark and nudged Naruto to do the same, anticipating his need to speak. He and Naruto were 23 and 22 respectfully, and while he'd admit that Naruto's grand introduction of "Don't wake the brat because he's sleeping—I mean kid, don't wake the—stop hitting me, Sasuke, I didn't mean to call him brat again" with an accompanying extension of Naruto's arm toward the bed where the kid was sleeping, wasn't the best way to make a good first impression on their relationship with...the kid, it'd been a considerably long time since either of them saw themselves as children.
"And Sasuke, I know you do well with children. I've seen you—but your own?" Iruka shook his head, but Sasuke didn't allow himself to mistake the gesture for pity. "You don't even know his name. You're not even sure he has one, and you call him kid. Among other things," he added pointedly while looking at Naruto.
"Iruka-sensei…"
Sasuke nudged Naruto again, hoping Naruto could refrain from being defensive just this once. Although Iruka was being the voice of reason and Sasuke could almost say he appreciated the concern, he just wanted Iruka to finish so he would leave. He couldn't recall asking for a lecture and didn't need yet another person to look down on him.
Naruto, unfortunately unable to infer any of this, ignored Sasuke. "We didn't even know about him until Saturday."
"It's Monday," Iruka said. "You're telling me the two of you changed your minds that quickly in a couple of days?"
"Yeah, well…" Naruto scratched the back of his neck. "At least he's already potty trained."
"Which brings me to my point that neither of you is ready for such responsibility," Iruka said in exasperation. "You can't even take care of yourselves, and you're prepared to take care of a child suddenly thrown into your lives?"
"Then what do you suggest we do?" Naruto asked, his own frustration about the situation beginning to the get the better of him. "Give him to someone who doesn't want him, people who don't even know him when he already has..."
"Naruto…"
"Regardless of what our situation is, we both know he doesn't have anywhere else to go, and obviously he doesn't want to leave Sasuke. That wouldn't be fair to the kid, and it definitely wouldn't be fair to Sasuke," Naruto said, looking to Sasuke for confirmation.
With the attention drawn to him, Sasuke froze at the words, finding it one of those rare occasions where he couldn't meet Naruto's eyes. He agreed with Iruka that the circumstances were sudden; though, in such a short period of time, maybe he'd more or less subconsciously accepted responsibility for the kid. But had Naruto really seen that much into it? Or was it that Sasuke had dropped his initial apprehension about the kid so quickly?
On some level Sasuke did acknowledge there was something wrong about how easily the kid was making the transition into their lives. It was like revisiting an obviously wrong puzzle piece that suddenly fit. He couldn't say what, but the more time he spent with the kid, the more fleeting the feeling became, and truthfully, he couldn't be sure if it was anything all.
That was even more unsettling than his obligation to the kid, but if that wasn't the case…
Sasuke turned his head away slightly, catching Kakashi watching him with a calculating expression on his face. He felt Naruto's gaze, as well, Naruto's eyes narrowing in concern, but otherwise Naruto didn't say anything about Sasuke's lack of response.
Wryly, Naruto said, "Do you think we should give him up, Iruka-sensei?"
"You know that's not what I meant, Naruto," Iruka said, picking up on Naruto's annoyance. He reached to put a hand on Naruto's knee but then retracted the hand as if it were a misplaced gesture.
It was a touchy subject for Naruto, for all of them to various extents, and something Iruka understood too well.
"Maa, maa, Umino-san," Kakashi said, purposely referring to Iruka by his family name when he knew Iruka wasn't too fond of anyone close to him doing so. It figured he would take that exact moment to break the palpable tension, which, for once, Sasuke was grateful. "Don't you think you're worrying about this a little too much?"
Iruka spluttered, trying to come up with a suitable response. "I'm worrying too much?"
"If you think so." Nodding his head, Kakashi tried to placate a dumbfounded Iruka with a gentle pat on the shoulder. "Besides, Naruto and Sasuke have a tendency to make things work out. Don't you two agree?"
There was a burgeoning smile on Naruto's face. "Yeah," he said softly, reaching to hold Sasuke's hand. Sasuke put a little more space between himself and Naruto but didn't brush off the soppy demonstration. He couldn't, not when he could see Kakashi still watching him carefully. "And you wouldn't expect any less from us, right?"
"And yet again, you make me the bad guy." Iruka sighed. "Since when has pointing out the truth been such a disagreeable thing?"
"I never said it was," Kakashi said. "Actually, I agree with you."
"Oh?"
"Of course, to be so young and to have the responsibility of taking care of a child, your lives suddenly no longer ahead of you." With a cheerful gleam in his eye, Kakashi turned his attention toward Naruto and Sasuke. "Ah, I wonder how that's going to work out."
Releasing his hold on Sasuke's hand, Naruto looked at Kakashi in abject horror. "That's not a very inspiring thing to say."
...
After Iruka and Kakashi left, Naruto had gone outside. Not that he needed the time to think, but it was obvious Sasuke was going to be tight-lipped about whatever was making him more pissy than usual, and Naruto didn't feel like trying to drag it out of him. Not now. Things were already tense between them, having to deal with the kid and all, and since Naruto couldn't actually engage in one of his preferred outlets to vent his frustrations for the time being, he'd rather take a walk than get into a fight with Sasuke.
They hadn't had one in a while, nothing that didn't have to do with words anyway, and any past physical confrontations Naruto didn't want to think about. Disagreements about small stuff that they'd both forget about the next day sometimes, but that was part of any relationship. The last real fight had been about Naruto blurting out that he wanted to move in with Sasuke while they were having sex. Although that probably had more to do with a badly timed confession, which Sasuke responded to just as badly if not worse, and Naruto's hurt disguised as irritation because of Sasuke's reaction. But this time…
Putting his hands in his pockets, Naruto sighed. He was almost back home, but maybe he did need to think alone after all.
For being the supposed emotionless bastard people called him, Sasuke carried a hell of a lot of excess emotional baggage. It took a long time to get Sasuke to let Naruto in, let him get closer than arm's length, and it was tricky for Naruto to know when to push and when to back off so Sasuke wouldn't try to drive him away. Far from being easy, Naruto had put a considerable amount of effort into making Sasuke see that he didn't have to rely on himself all the time—that he could rely on Naruto, too.
So it only made sense that Naruto was concerned about Sasuke being so subdued earlier and saw it as a possible setback. Or maybe subdued wasn't the right word. Not really, but just harder to read than usual. Despite not being sure about how Sasuke felt about the kid, Naruto still considered himself pretty well-versed in picking up on the slight shifts in Sasuke's emotions, and yeah, it bothered Naruto that this was another example of when he couldn't.
Sasuke had yet to make eye contact with him since their conversation with Iruka and Kakashi. The avoidance was subtle, Sasuke not refusing to look at him but always looking past him, and Naruto was still trying to figure out what he did this time. If it was about what Naruto said to Iruka, that it wouldn't be fair to separate Sasuke and the kid, he couldn't see what the problem was. The kid had already attached himself to Sasuke. Iruka might have seemed against the idea of Sasuke and him taking caring of the kid, but Naruto knew Iruka could see the connection between Sasuke and the kid, too. Naruto was only stating the obvious.
He didn't think Sasuke could have been embarrassed about that, though. There was nothing to be embarrassed about, and if Sasuke thought otherwise, he was the kind of person who would be short-tempered when he was. Or at least Sasuke would more short-tempered than he normally was at any rate. No, it was something more than that.
Naruto admitted he hadn't figured out all of Sasuke yet, but he knew the one thing that always gave Sasuke away. No matter how cold and standoffish Sasuke tried to be, Sasuke could never hide behind his eyes, and regardless of what Sasuke said, Naruto was able to see a hundred different things Sasuke couldn't say with words. Those eyes were the most expressive thing about Sasuke. Dark and bleak against Sasuke's too pale face, they were how Naruto learned to gauge the emotions a lot of people just didn't want to see. That was why Sasuke wouldn't look at him, was avoiding him, because he knew Naruto would see whatever Sasuke was trying to hide.
It was also why Naruto felt justified of the fact that he had essentially snuck into his own house and was now casually leaning against the wall outside the doorway of the kitchen to eavesdrop. Somehow, it'd come down to spying on Sasuke and the kid, although he didn't feel too bad about it. A little guilty maybe, but he couldn't help it. Not when Sasuke actually let Naruto get away with holding his hand. It was something he wouldn't normally let Naruto do even when they were by themselves, much less in front of someone like Kakashi, who was more likely to tease Sasuke for it.
And asking Sasuke about it directly wouldn't get him anywhere; it was the same as Naruto trying to wrestle an answer out of him, which was what he didn't want to do.
Instead, Naruto was shielding his chakra and hoping Sasuke not saying anything meant he wasn't aware of what Naruto was doing. He'd admit it was a lot easier to do with the seal on Sasuke's chakra because it dulled a lot of Sasuke's abilities, but Naruto still had his doubts about it.
A restricted chakra supply didn't stop Sasuke from training, didn't stop him from pushing himself beyond his limits, nor did it stop him from challenging Naruto every once in a while. It didn't need to be said that Naruto was holding back, yet each time they fought, Naruto noticed a slight but relatively significant improvement in how Sasuke could keep up with him. Honestly, he suspected the seal was never as effective as it was supposed to be. The seal was slowly being chipped away and it made Naruto wary of what Sasuke was really capable of, but there was no way he was the only one who'd noticed.
With Sasuke's upcoming mission dealing with the scroll he wasn't allowed to talk about, Tsunade had to have known in order to send Sasuke in the first place. She had to be confident Sasuke would be able to travel alone and fend for himself, even if the mission was only supposed to last for a week. And since Kakashi liked to visit in order to check on Sasuke, there was a good chance he was aware of it, too.
It was a matter of why anyone hadn't said anything about it yet. Even Sasuke hadn't mentioned it to him, but it wasn't as if Naruto had brought it up, either.
If the seal really was slipping, and Sasuke could sense Naruto no more than three metres away, Naruto could say it was worth the possibility of Sasuke maiming him in the near future when he got a funny feeling in his chest—the one that came right after listening to the kid offering a strawberry to Sasuke.
"Another one?" Sasuke said.
"Two strawberries for Sasuke."
"What about the apples?"
"One apple for me," the kid said, taking a few seconds to reflect on the decision. It was probably the most Naruto had heard the kid speak since the time he'd been here, but he spoke pretty clearly for a kid his age—whatever that was. "And one apple for Sasuke."
"What about the tangerine you have left?"
"One tangerine for..." the kid began, continuing after a slight pause, "I'll give one tangerine to Naruto."
Naruto blinked, surprised to hear his name come up in the conversation. He almost wondered if the kid knew he was there.
"And that's how many altogether?" Sasuke asked.
"…that's five. Is it five?"
"It's five," Sasuke assured the kid.
"Does Naruto like tangerines?"
"Sometimes."
"Sometimes?"
"He doesn't eat tangerines all the time."
"Oh." For some reason, the kid sounded disappointed. "I know Sasuke likes me, but Sasuke…does Naruto like me, too?"
"I…"
Stretching his arms above his head, Naruto entered the kitchen with a loud yawn. Sasuke jumped slightly, the movement barely noticeable if Naruto didn't already know what to look for. "I'm back."
"Naruto," the kid cried excitedly. "Do you want one?" he asked, holding out a tangerine for Naruto to take.
"Why not?" Naruto took a seat at the small round table. He sat across from Sasuke, placing himself next to the kid, who finally seemed comfortable enough to sit in his own chair instead of in Sasuke's lap.
"That didn't take long," Sasuke said, eyes not quite meeting Naruto's. He kept his gaze on the wall as he finished the partially eaten strawberry in his hand.
"I was gone an entire thirty minutes. Isn't half an hour a long time?" Accepting the tangerine from the kid, Naruto grinned. "Thank you."
Sasuke wiped his hand on a napkin, the red juice on his fingers seeping into it. "Long enough."
"Naruto." The kid tugged on Naruto's shirt. "Does Naruto like apples?"
"Yeah, I eat apples."
"I eat apples, too," the kid said shyly. He looked at the small plate of strawberries and sliced apples in front of him, his eyebrows scrunching in thought before he peered up and smiled at Naruto. "But I like strawberries better."
"Strawberries are better?"
The kid nodded but didn't hesitate to pick up an apple wedge and place it in his mouth.
A few seconds after the kid began chewing, Naruto said, "So, I was thinking…" He trailed off, turning his gaze on Sasuke. "Do you think we should redecorate the guest room?"
"For what?" Sasuke asked carefully.
"Well, the kid needs a room, right? If we're going to keep him—"
"He's not a stray you pick up from the streets."
"I didn't say he was, but I meant that we're going to take care of him from now on."
"You're only saying that because he stopped crying around you."
"Yeah, there's that, too, but I'm serious. I really have been thinking about it."
Sasuke looked at Naruto from the corner of his eye. "A thirty minute walk changed your mind."
"Not when you say it like that."
"Then what are you trying to say?"
"I guess…I know it seemed like I was against it from the beginning, but it's the same thing I told Iruka-sensei. The kid isn't old enough to live by himself, and since he's already so attached to you—not that I want to admit that Tsunade was right or anything, but he really doesn't have anywhere else to go."
"I know, Naruto."
"Even if he doesn't like me as much, I think we might be all he has," Naruto added quickly, almost as if he was trying to convince himself more than Sasuke. There was a lot of bravado in his words to Iruka earlier, and despite overhearing the kid asking Sasuke about him, he wasn't that confident in his ability to raise a child.
"Naruto…"
"And I know it's a lot of responsibility. Having him here will mean a lot of changes, but it's not like we had the time to prepare for something like this, right? He's already comfortable here, so that's why we don't have a choice. It wouldn't be right. Because we can't just dump him off somewhere and hope for the best. Even though it's going to be a lot of work, we can't just abandon him. Not if—"
A warm had was placed over his mouth, and then he saw it—saw what Sasuke didn't want him to see, but Naruto did his best to ignore the uncharacteristically vulnerable look in Sasuke's eyes.
"…I know."
...
Sasuke massaged his temples, his fingers drawing circles into his skin and doing nothing to calm his nerves. "Naruto…"
"Are you sure this is a good idea? Isn't this a little too much too soon?"
Sasuke couldn't believe Naruto was putting him through this, not when they were already pretty much close to getting it over with anyway. "Was this or was this not your idea?"
"I can't say this was exactly what I had in mind."
"It was still your idea."
"But it's not like I expected to you to actually go through with it. Or at least make me go through with it." Naruto frowned, his next words coming off as more of an afterthought. "Not to mention, I don't think this is a natural course of action for someone like you."
"If you're going to do it, just do it."
"The one time you take me seriously, Sasuke."
Sasuke sucked his teeth. "Okay, then don't do it. I'm taking him out and putting him to bed before he gets sick or something. You," he said, pointing a finger at Naruto, "can stay here."
"Wait, wait, wait—not yet."
"Make up your mind."
"When I ask for something, you won't move. But when the kid even thinks about saying your name, suddenly you drop everything." Naruto snapped his fingers. "Like that."
"Naruto," Sasuke said slowly, "this isn't a onetime thing."
"Obviously. Give me some credit. I know at least that much."
"Then you're stalling."
"Yeah, but you're the one acting like—"
"How hard is it to give the kid a damn bath?"
"Okay, okay, I get it. Jeeze." Naruto held his hands up in mock surrender. "We've only had the kid for what…three days? Three days, Sasuke."
"That may be, but…"
Although he may have wanted to, Sasuke didn't disagree. Three days wasn't a long time. It still nagged at him how easily he was adjusting to the kid being in their lives, but it'd been more unnerving when Naruto brought it to light in front of Kakashi and Iruka. Until now, he'd been evading Naruto because of it and knew it was the reason behind Naruto's attempt at eavesdropping earlier. While Naruto did conceal most of his chakra, Sasuke could still tell. There was enough of Naruto's chakra left that Sasuke could pick up on; however, seeing Naruto's reflection on the microwave door hadn't exactly helped Naruto, either.
He wasn't going to bring it up now, but he still couldn't figure out what how long the kid had been staying with them had to do with Naruto being afraid of giving the kid a bath, and he let Naruto know as much.
"I'm definitely not scared," Naruto said. He narrowed his eyes at Sasuke but blinked in surprise when he caught the kid staring at him.
Sasuke watched with a momentary sense of curiosity. More or less, it was like being caught in the middle of a staring contest, but at least they weren't shrieking at each other like the last time.
Predictably, the kid looked away first. Having quickly lost interest in Naruto, he turned his attention back to the plastic turtle Sakura had given him. Light green with a dark brown shell, it was a wind-up bath toy with flippers that were currently propelling it from one end of the tub to the other, dodging bubbles of varying sizes as the kid helped push it along.
Naruto coughed. "You know I like you, Sasuke. I mean, I really, really like you, but maybe this is too much even for me." However, despite his words, Naruto was lowering himself beside Sasuke. He placed his knees on the towel serving as a bath mat that was pressed against the space where the floor and tub met.
Sasuke frowned when Naruto looked at him expectantly. "What?"
"Well?"
Sighing, Sasuke reached into the tub, grabbing the washcloth that had sunken near the drain. After squeezing out excess water, he placed it in Naruto's hand. "Here. Think of it like you're washing yourself."
Sasuke rolled his eyes at the horrified look on Naruto's face but silently agreed it probably wasn't the best example considering the circumstances.
"Okay, don't," Sasuke said. "Get the soap for me," he told the kid, reaching to grab the washcloth in Naruto's hand.
Naruto moved the washcloth out of Sasuke's reach. "What if I get soap in his eyes or something?"
Letting the kid put the soap in his hand, Sasuke held back from saying anything derogatory and tried to speak as gently as possible, which really wasn't much more than a poorly suppressed growl. "Trust me, you won't. Just…"
Until recently, it wasn't as if Sasuke had that much experience with giving a bath to a kid, either, but he thought making sure the kid was clean and didn't drown in the process was common sense. Whatever the cause for the apprehension, Naruto had to learn eventually. He couldn't expect Sasuke to give the kid a bath all the time.
"The only way you're going to mess up is if you don't do it." Sasuke put the soap in Naruto's hand, folding it into the washcloth. "You said we were going to do this together," he said firmly. "So just…just do it."
"Sasuke…"
"Naruto, look," the kid said, pulling the turtle out of the water and raising it high enough so Naruto could see. "It's a turtle."
Laughing a little, Naruto leaned forward in interest. "I see. What colour is the turtle?"
Providing his own sound effects, the kid held the turtle above his head, following an invisible path of arches as he made the toy fly around the tub.
"See?" With his free hand, Naruto pointed his thumb at the kid. "He ignored me."
"Kids tend to do that when they're bored with what you have to say."
"Like that makes me feel better." Naruto let his shoulders sag. "What do you want me to—?"
With an accompanying boom, the kid slammed the turtle into the water, creating a large splash that carried over to the floor.
"I can't believe..." Water dripping from his face, Naruto glared at Sasuke. "How come you didn't get wet?"
"He didn't splash water at me," Sasuke said. "Need a towel?"
"Not really. Most of it got on my shirt. I'll let it dry, I guess."
"Sorry, Naruto," the kid said, although his attention was focused on the turtle he was holding underwater.
"Yeah, yeah." Naruto wiped his eye with the washcloth, apparently forgetting there was still a bar of soap wrapped inside of it. He dropped them both when he realised he'd unintentionally put soap in his eye and covered his eye with his hand, panicking about how it burned and how he was going to go blind because of the pain.
It started out as a snort, developing into some badly repressed choking sound, and soon became outright laughter that Sasuke could no longer hold in. He knew he shouldn't be laughing, but it was only funny because Naruto was the one who was worried about getting soap in the kid's eyes.
"Stop laughing at me, Sasuke." Naruto titled his head back, rubbing vigorously at his eye with the bottom of his palm. "I really can't see, and there's nothing funny about me going blind in one eye."
But Sasuke wasn't the only one laughing. The kid was laughing, too. He was probably excited by the noise Naruto was making, but he wasn't helping by splashing more water at Naruto.
"Hey, you—kid in the tub—yeah, I may be blind, but I can hear you laughing, too. Stop with the water, all right. I'm being serious. Quit it."
Laughter subsiding, after taking his fill of seeing Naruto squirming, Sasuke cupped Naruto's face and pried Naruto's palm away from his eye. "It was funny at first, but now you're being overdramatic."
"I'm really going blind in my eye, aren't I? Don't do that—you're going to make it worse if you try to poke my eye out."
"I'm not trying to poke your eye out. Let me see." Sasuke pushed Naruto's head back. He used his finger to put a gentle pressure on the eyelid to prevent Naruto from closing it. The eye itself was pinkish rather than red, and the skin around it somewhat swollen, but it was no more than a minor case of irritation.
Sasuke glanced at the kid. He was leaning over the side of the tub and watching them curiously, the turtle he was playing with forgotten and floating in the water. "Stay there. I'll help you get out when I'm finished with Naruto."
The kid nodded. "Un."
Naruto frowned. "What are you talking about? Aren't you supposed to be—?"
Without warning, Sasuke blew air into Naruto's eye. He anticipated Naruto trying to shrink back, but held him still, blowing into Naruto's eye once more until the eyelid stopped fluttering.
"Is that better?"
...
Eventually Naruto was somehow able to get the kid out of the tub, dressed in clothes that actually fit, and tucked into the bed in the guest room without needing Sasuke there to keep the kid calm. He managed to survive another bathroom fiasco and then some.
His eye was better now, the stinging less distracting, and that funny feeling in his chest he felt earlier was coming back. Even though it was his idea to give the kid a bath this time, it was one of the more daunting moments for Naruto in recent years.
Heart pounding but, at the same time, it was sort of satisfying. And while that may have had something to do with the kid being somewhat traumatised when he looked in the mirror and finally discovered knowing Sasuke wasn't the only thing he and Naruto had in common, the important thing was the kid had calmed down when Naruto picked him up.
However, any sense of self-satisfaction was short-lived when, after putting the kid to bed, Sasuke had dragged him to the couch to do the one thing he always tried to put off doing.
When he and Sasuke weren't apart for too long, Naruto on a mission, Sasuke dealing with school, or sparring with each other for the sake of fighting and letting out the kind of frustration even something like sex couldn't cover, they spent one day out of the week sitting on the couch together, watching TV…and folding clothes.
It was uncomfortably domestic.
Naruto didn't have that many clothes but made up for it with a habit of waiting until the last minute to wash anything, which left him with more clothes than he wanted to sort through. Usually, he and Sasuke took turns doing laundry, but when Naruto had too many clothes piled in the laundry room, Sasuke refused to wash it with his own clothes if Naruto had even one pair of clean underwear. The only reason Sasuke even washed Naruto's clothes this time was because the kid was out of clean clothes. The hidden meaning behind that was that they were going to have to go shopping, but Naruto wasn't going to think about that until tomorrow because he was still trying to figure out how he and Sasuke went from realising the kid had no clothes to trying to decide what to call the kid besides…kid.
Since the kid was going to stay, the conversation about names was inevitable, which made it seem even more overwhelming than it did when the kid first started living with them. It wasn't like they had nine months to put thought into something. Coming up with a name for a kid who already had a personality of his own wasn't something Naruto was looking forward to. It was hard to get around the fact that both he and Sasuke were stubborn, yet they had to come to some kind of decision if they were going to be more than two guys and a kid.
"Really, though, I don't know what else to call him," Naruto said. "Besides kid and—"
Sasuke threw a shirt in Naruto's face. "Don't."
"Why not?" Naruto asked, leaning to whisper in Sasuke's ear. "I think Gaki-chan fits, don't you?" Gently, he bit the lobe of Sasuke's ear and smiled when he was shoved away to the other side of the couch.
"Just because Tsunade calls you brat, doesn't mean I'm letting you call him that. Adding chan to the end of it doesn't make it cute."
"I thought it did," Naruto said. "Besides, we only need something until he tells us his real name."
"And if he doesn't have one?"
"Aka-chan," Naruto suggested. He was only saying it to tease Sasuke, though, who was a lot easier to tease now than he was when they were younger. He saw it as taking advantage of all the missed opportunities to get under Sasuke's skin like Sasuke had been able to do to Naruto inadvertently so many times before.
"He's not a baby."
"Close enough."
"It's nowhere near close."
"Okay, real names then," Naruto agreed. "How about Souji?"
"Souji?"
"That's what I said."
"Does he look like a Souji to you?"
"What about Toshizou?"
"Does your mind even process what comes out of your mouth?"
"Fine. You don't like Toshizou. What about Isami, then? Is that good enough?"
"Where the hell are you getting these from?"
"I don't see you coming up with anything," Naruto said. Old habits weren't so easy to put away, and sometimes it didn't take that much to get into an argument with Sasuke. It may have started off as teasing, simply listing names to get a rise out of Sasuke, but whether Naruto was being serious or not, what was the point when Sasuke was going to put down every name he suggested?
Sasuke looked at Naruto sharply. "That's because I'm still thinking and not spitting out the first thing that comes to my mind."
"Then pick something since we both know we can't keep calling him kid or brat, or—"
"I am not naming our..." Sasuke stilled, pausing in the middle of folding one of Naruto's shirts, and Naruto looked at him in surprise. "I mean, I..."
"Our what, Sasuke?"
"Forget it."
"No. No, I'm not going to forget it because you really want this, right?"
Sasuke reached for another shirt to fold, this time one of his own, but otherwise didn't speak.
The sounds from TV filled the silence between them, a voice of some woman on a commercial Naruto couldn't have cared less about. "Tell me if this is what you want because you can't keep something like this to yourself. You know I can't stand it when you do that.
"Damn it, Sasuke. I'm talking to you, so look at me, okay?" Balling his fists, Naruto pressed his hands into his thighs. "Please."
Sasuke continued to fold the shirt, turning to face Naruto when he was finished. "I already told you to forget it."
"Too bad for you I'm not going to forget it."
"Well good for you then because it's not that serious after all, is it?"
Naruto was stunned by the words. "What is this about, the names? You know I was just joking."
Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Were you?"
"Sasuke, you can't think I was being serious. We already agreed that we're taking the kid in. No looking back, right? I meant it when I said it, and I wasn't trying to make you think I was going back on that."
Naruto uncurled his fists, letting his hands fall to the side. "It's not that I'm not taking this seriously. It's just that I need you to bear with me. I'm still nervous about everything, all right." He was scared, too, but he wasn't going to say it out loud if Sasuke hadn't already figured it out by now. "I'm not like you—I can't just..."
"Can't what?"
With a forced smile, Naruto laughed weakly. "You're trying to make me say it, aren't you?"
"I'm not trying to make you say anything."
Smile fading, Naruto took a deep breath and released it with a loud exhale. "It's just, I have these moments where everything feels okay—sometimes, it almost feels right to do this. But then sometimes I don't know what to do because some part of me thinks it's not supposed to be this easy and something's going to go wrong.
"I know I'm going to, but I don't want to mess up," he admitted softly. "And I don't want you to look down on me when it happens."
Sighing, Sasuke ran a hand through his hair. "Naruto…look, I'm not expecting you to be perfect. I think we're well beyond that stage."
"Rub it in, why don't you."
"Anyway, didn't Sakura, of all people, say I wasn't perfect?"
"That's because she never got the chance to really get to know you."
Sasuke hesitated before speaking. "We both know I'm not perfect."
"Once upon a time, it seemed like you were. Not so much now maybe, but when it comes to kids…"
"I actually thought—you really can't see it, can you?"
"If I could, do you think I'd be waiting for you to tell me?"
"You know, I may have changed, but you're still as slow as you used to be."
"Are you still trying to kick me while I'm down?"
Sasuke snorted. "The kid already likes you, Naruto."
"...oh," Naruto said. "Oh. You think so?"
Something dangerously close to a smile on his face, Sasuke motioned his head toward something behind Naruto. "Guess who woke up."
Turning around, Naruto saw it was the kid, for once looking to Naruto before Sasuke. He was hanging off the arm of the couch, feet dangling just above the floor as he pulled himself over the couch and onto Naruto's lap.