Chapter 4

Playing house

In the plane they were sitting separately, since the second ticket had been bought last minute, so Naruto didn't really get the chance to talk to Sasuke some more. He just slept pretty much the entire flight, and he figured Sasuke was probably doing the same.

Naruto wore the dress black pants and white button down shirt. It was the cleanest from all the outfits he had brought. The same clothes he had been wearing when he'd met Sasuke for the first time. Three days ago – funny how it seemed so much longer.

He couldn't wait to be home and just be reunited with all his things. At the same time he dreaded it. He loved the modest, yet nice and comfortable house he had bought with Hinata but it was so full of memories of them together, just happy and in love and ugh… Life was so cruel. He felt so lonely without her, and the house was so empty. Well, at least now he would have a roommate. It really did help. It made him feel a bit better about going home. He wouldn't be completely alone. Being alone scared him, he had to admit.

When they arrived to Haneda airport Naruto went to grab his suitcase and Sasuke just followed quietly. He looked sleepy. He wore Naruto's gray jeans and black long sleeve tee again, with his leather jacket. The poor guy didn't have any luggage, of course. So he just dragged himself behind Naruto the whole time.

They made their way to the parking and Naruto was smiling when he found his nice orange Mitsubishi eclipse. He adored his car. When he looked at Sasuke he saw that he was impressed.

"Nice car."

"I know," Naruto smiled proudly as he unlocked it. He put his big suitcase in the trunk and then hurried to sit behind the wheel.

"Weird color though."

"Shut up it's beautiful!" Naruto replied.

Sasuke took place in the passenger side, caressing the black leather seat. Naruto started the car, flicked on the radio, waited a bit, then put it into gear and pressed on the gas pedal, accelerating to exit the parking area. He had missed driving this past week.

"You can choose something if you want," Naruto plugged his IPod in and handed it to Sasuke.

"You have so much stuff," he scrolled down, looking through Naruto's selection of music. "Ha, Breathe Carolina, that's cool. Yahiko listens to them in the apartment sometimes."

"I'm surprised you know them."

"Did you think I only listened to classical or something?" He asked as he selected a song by the band they both liked.

"I don't know," Naruto shrugged, "but if you want I do have some violin pieces in there you know?"

"I know, I saw," Sasuke replied, "but I don't listen to just that."

"Okay."

"Hey…" he made a little smile, "you even have the song we danced to."

Sasuke put it on. Naruto hardly repressed a blush as he remembered when they were dancing to this music at the gay night club… Sasuke had been so drunk, dancing so sensually. He shook his head.

"I bring you to Tokyo and you're more fascinated by my IPod than the actual city."

Sasuke chuckled and put the IPod down on the seat next to him. Instead he looked out the window at the busy city life and buildings all around them. They were quiet for the rest of the drive, except for a few comments by Naruto, who indicated where he worked, where his friend Kiba lived, the hospital where his friend Sakura worked as an intern, a restaurant he really liked, random stuff like that.

They eventually arrived to Naruto's house. It was a two-story; kitchen, living and dining room, a small bathroom and Naruto's drawing room or office on the first floor, and on the second two bedrooms and master bathroom, with another room that had been Hinata's office. She used to work from home as an investor for her father's company.

So as they walked inside they dropped their things, got rid of shoes and jackets, and Naruto gave Sasuke a tour. They both felt a little awkward, which was normal. They realized this was really happening; they were going to live together. Naruto was trying to keep his voice casual though.

The decoration had been entirely done by Hinata. It reflected her personality; soft and kind, and it made the house look really comfortable. The living room was Naruto's favorite. The walls were painted in a nice, pale shade in between blue and violet, the couches were in black leather, with pillows that matched the color of the walls, the furniture and bookshelves all in wood. There used to be some framed pictures of Hinata and Naruto here and there, but he had taken them off recently. It was just too painful.

All but one; it had been taken at the after party of one of Jiraiya's weddings. The old man had gotten married way too many times – always to younger women. Oh well… that didn't matter. Hinata and Naruto had been drinking a little bit too much champagne that particular time. For once, the long-haired girl had smiled genuinely while clinging to Naruto. She was so beautiful when she laughed carelessly, shyness gone and pale gray eyes almost shining. Naruto looked good on that picture too, in the tailored suit he had been wearing for the occasion. His hair was shorter too back then. That was two years ago, and Naruto's favorite picture of them both.

Sasuke picked it up and looked at it for a long time. Then he simply put it back on the shelf and said, "She's beautiful."

"Yeah, um," Naruto cleared his throat, "let's go upstairs…"

The master bedroom's walls were painted a nice burnt orange, with pale wooden furniture and a navy bed and matching curtains. It was the most painful room to be in for Naruto. After his girlfriend had passed away he had slept in the living room for a few days.

Naruto continued giving Sasuke a tour, walking past the bathroom and Hinata's office.

"I can give you this room…" It was the second bedroom. In their eagerness, when Hinata had gotten better during her pregnancy, and they were so sure everything would be all right, they had bought a baby crib and a few other things. The walls were painted a purple shade since they were supposed to have a daughter. Naruto was reluctant to open the door. He cleared his throat, "Only problem is I don't even have an extra bed. But I guess you could crash in the living room for the time being, and then we'll figure it out."

"Okay," Sasuke nodded, fumbling nervously with the hem of the black long sleeve shirt. He glanced at the door Naruto hadn't opened yet.

Sighing, he finally turned the knob and pushed it open, "I just have to get rid of that stuff…"

When Sasuke saw what was inside he frowned and swallowed. He turned to look at Naruto and without warning he hugged him awkwardly. Naruto chuckled and held him back.

"Hey, it's okay, I'm fine…"

"Oh, uh, sorry, I told you I'm not good at comforting people," Sasuke pulled away.

"You're not that bad," Naruto said with a little amused smile.

Sasuke said, "So living room then."

"Yeah."

Naruto went to get the extra set of sheets and together they set up the sofa bed in the living room downstairs so it would be ready for the night right away. Naruto got a bunch of texts from his friends who knew he was coming back today, but he ignored them for now.

After that they decided to take turns in the shower and get changed. They had woken up really early that morning to make in time to the airport and hadn't had time. So Naruto showered first and then gladly traded his outfit for comfy jeans and t-shirt. He told Sasuke everything he needed to know in the bathroom, reassuring him that he could use anything he needed. Looking through his closet Naruto also chose jeans and t-shirt for Sasuke. Every time he looked in there it seemed so empty. He had given Hinata's clothes to her father so he could donate them or do whatever he wanted with them.

Naruto sighed and returned to the bathroom so he could knock on the door lightly and drop the clothes.

Letting Sasuke finish his shower, Naruto went downstairs running his fingers through his damp hair. He opened the fridge and made a face. Of course there was nothing in there – except some expired stuff he had forgotten to throw away before leaving. He was such an idiot sometimes. He threw the disgusting food in the trash and then looked through the cupboards. He was starving. Smiling triumphantly when he found some instant ramen, he hurriedly put it in the microwave.

He also checked his cell phone. Most texts were from Kiba. Apparently his best friend missed him a lot. It made Naruto smile. He had some texts from Sakura, also. She was a childhood friend, and they were very close.

He was answering texts, and also he started eating his ramen, when Sasuke appeared downstairs, wearing Naruto's jeans and t-shirt, which were a bit too big for him. Not too much though, there wasn't that much of a difference in size. Sasuke was just a bit skinnier and two inches shorter. It was funny to see him in the dark orange, v-neck brand tee. Naruto smiled.

"First time I see you wearing something other than black."

"You did it on purpose or what? Such a weird color," Sasuke approached the kitchen counter where Naruto was eating. He sat on the stool next to him, flipping his wet black bangs aside.

"I'm nice enough to lend you my clothes so don't complain."

"I'm not complaining." He leaned his pale slender forearms across the counter and glanced over at Naruto's phone, "So what are you gonna do today?"

"Maybe go to the gym with Kiba. You wanna come?"

"Uh… no…" Sasuke frowned, "I should look for a job. That computer in… that room upstairs can I use it?"

Naruto understood he meant Hinata's office.

"Sure but it's not plugged or anything right now. You can go in my bedroom my laptop's on my desk ready to use."

"What's your password?"

"I'm not telling you my password," Naruto nudged him playfully. "I'll create an account just for you, that way you can come up with your own password and have all your secret stuff on my laptop."

"Yeah right," Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"You want something to eat?"

"Nah I'm not really hungry…"

"You sure you don't want some ramen?"

"Ew, no, no offense but that's not something I like to eat."

"You're so picky, no wonder you're so skinny," Naruto laughed and he poked Sasuke's side. The younger male immediately stepped away, holding his waist protectively.

"Stop it…"

"Sorry. Was too tempting. I'm probably gonna eat out with some friends tonight. You wanna come?"

"I don't know…" he looked away, hesitating, "I should stay here and look for jobs. If you can set up your computer for me before you go to the gym…"

"Sure," Naruto frowned, "but you should come tonight at least. I wanna introduce you to my friends."

"Are you sure?" Sasuke was averting his eyes.

"Yeah. What's wrong?"

"It's gonna be weird…"

"No it's gonna be fine," Naruto argued, "I'll just explain the situation."

"What, that you met me three days ago and randomly decided I should come live with you? You're right, not weird at all."

"Okay so maybe it's a little bit weird. But I think you're a great guy so I decided to help out. Nothing wrong with that. And they know me," Naruto insisted, "they know I'm like that. If I can help out, I do. You know how no one stops to help some random person in the street, cause they fell over or hurt themselves or whatever? Well I'm the kind of guy that actually stops and take them to the hospital if needed. Know what I mean? So they won't be too surprised. They'll get over it and we'll talk about other things and it'll be just fine. One of them might even have a job opportunity for you, who knows?"

This last argument finished to convince Sasuke, and he nodded. Naruto smiled and after finishing his ramen he went upstairs with the raven so he could fix him up with an account on the laptop.

After making sure Sasuke would be fine on his own, Naruto grabbed his gym bag with clothes and other essentials. He texted Kiba and they agreed to meet in fifteen minutes.

…

"I'm sorry dude it's just fucked up," Kiba shook his head in disbelief as he stood next to the machine, taking a break.

Naruto took a break too, his legs hurt because he hadn't done these muscular exercises in a while. He looked up at his best friend.

"It's not fucked up…"

"I mean a wannabe musician, really… And he lived with drug dealers…"

Now Naruto regretted telling Kiba so many details. "He wasn't doing drugs himself though. And he was playing in a bar sometimes. He's not just a wannabe I've heard him play and he's got real talent."

"But still… how old is he?"

"Nineteen."

"And you're telling me he doesn't even want to go back to school and get a degree or whatever?"

"Not now anyway… I'm sure he could make it as a musician though." Naruto really wanted to buy him a new violin as soon as he got his next paycheck. Maybe he really would ask Jiraiya for a raise… It would be a shame if Sasuke stopped playing.

"But that kind of guy…" Kiba shook his head again, "I mean I don't like it man. He's probably taking advantage of you cause you're so naive and way too generous."

"He's not the kind of person who takes advantage of others."

"And how do you know that if you don't even know him that well?"

"I just know. He's just a kid who's had it rough, that's it."

"A lot of kids out there had it rough Naruto. You can't help them all. I mean you give money to the freakin' orphanage don't you think that's good enough? That's more than most people do you know."

"He gave me back my inspiration to draw and that's really important to me," Naruto pointed out.

"You and your inspiration crap."

"You're not an artist you wouldn't understand."

"Now with the artist crap."

"Oh shut up Kiba."

After that they decided they had done enough muscular exercises for today so they went to flex their legs and arms a little, it was good to relax their muscles a little before heading to the showers. They continued talking while doing this.

"So who's gonna be there tonight?"

"At the restaurant? Oh, um, Chouji, he wouldn't miss the opportunity… Shikamaru's probably gonna tag along."

Shikamaru and Chouji were their friends since middle school. These two were best friends and roommates actually. Shikamaru had taken a long break from school and tried various small jobs but he had returned and was now in biochemistry. Chouji was an assistant cook in a famous restaurant. They were both eternally single; the first one by choice and the second because he was too shy around women. Living together was a perfect arrangement for these guys.

"Ino's gonna be there," Kiba continued, "Gaara can't make it though. Oh and Suigetsu's gonna be there too."

Naruto nodded. It was too bad Gaara couldn't make it; he hadn't seen him in a while. He was a famous lawyer now and was always busy. They'd had a particular relationship in high school. Naruto had been Gaara's only friend and he had influenced him to be a better person back then… As for Ino and Suigetsu they were more Kiba's friends, really. Actually Ino was his ex-girlfriend. But they were good, they had stayed friends. If Naruto wasn't mistaken she was studying fashion. Suigetsu was a new friend of Kiba's. He worked at the Inuzuka – Kiba's family name – veterinary clinic part time while finishing his studies. He was a pretty cool guy.

"Sakura's gonna be there too," Naruto informed. "And I'm bringing Sasuke."

"What?" Kiba's brown eyes widened, "No man! It's gonna be weird..."

Naruto sighed. This was exactly what Sasuke feared, now wasn't it? But he wanted things to go smoothly. He was certain Sasuke could get along well with his friends. After all, Naruto found him to be such an amazing guy.

"It's gonna be fine," he insisted. They finished their flexing exercises and headed for the locker room together.

"Whatever you say…"

…

When Naruto got back home he thought back about the last words Kiba had said to him before parting ways, after the gym. He had said that Naruto seemed to be doing better, even if just a little, so he was glad… Maybe it was true. Meeting Sasuke had helped, he couldn't deny that. How so? He wasn't so sure… He couldn't wait to see his therapist on Monday evening. He always helped him analyze this stuff.

Sasuke was still on the laptop in Naruto's bedroom when he found him. Sasuke looked cold. He was practically hugging himself as he rested his arms on the desk and stared at the computer screen.

"Oh hey…" he looked up at Naruto. He replaced his hair behind his ear and Naruto's blue gaze trailed on his piercings briefly.

"Hey… you could've turned on the heat you know?" He chuckled and did just that. He had done it for the bathroom, living room and kitchen earlier that day but he had forgotten his room apparently. It was really cold outside.

"Oh I… didn't think… hey do you wanna take a look at my resume?"

"Sure," Naruto smiled. It flattered his ego to be considered the knowledgeable adult here.

He placed his hand on the desk and looked over Sasuke's shoulder at the computer screen. He noticed Sasuke tensed slightly and shifted on the chair to move away from him a little. Naruto made a note to self that maybe the raven wasn't too comfortable with being too close. But then he realized that didn't make much sense considering how they had spent the past few days. Oh well…

He was surprised to read that apparently Sasuke had done tutoring back in high school, and also that he had been the honor student of his class.

"I didn't know you were this smart," he teased gently.

"I couldn't think of anything else to put in there so…" Sasuke said and his voice sounded a bit weak.

"You okay?"

"Y-Yeah… you smell nice," he chuckled, "I'm sorry, it's…"

Naruto pulled away and shrugged, "I borrowed Kiba's stuff cause I forgot mine… Like, some kind of body spray… Kiba said it's supposed to attract girls. Maybe it attracts gays too."

"You're so stupid," Sasuke pushed him away teasingly. "Smells too strong, if anything, so back off."

"Okay, fine," Naruto laughed, "your resume looks fine. But isn't there any job you could put in there, like, except for the tutoring?"

"You think I should put the bar I played violin for? Won't it look weird, that I'm nineteen and worked in a bar?"

Legal age was twenty, after all… Not that it had ever stopped Sasuke from doing a bunch of things he wasn't supposed to, apparently. Naruto bit his lip.

"You could put it in there anyway. I mean you were a musician, so… It's not like you were a bartender."

"I guess…"

As Sasuke did some modifications to his resume Naruto started doing some boring but necessary stuff; laundry, cleaning in the house. He was motivated right now because he felt like he had a guest over. He wondered how long said motivation to clean would last – probably just a few days. A few hours.

As he was in the first floor bathroom, putting the clothes in the dryer Sasuke came to stand in the doorway.

"If your friends notice this is your shirt," he touched the orange fabric, "can we just tell them that they lost my luggage at the airport?"

"Sure," Naruto smiled, looking over his shoulder, "I mean the real story would be too long to explain."

"Yeah not only that…" Sasuke looked down, and shoved his pale hands in the loose jeans pockets, "I know I'm really open with you which honestly… I still have no idea how that's even possible but… with most people I'm not really comfortable with talking about myself… with talking at all."

"It's fine don't worry about it," Naruto reassured him. He finished putting the clothes in the dryer and started it. Then he leaned against the machine and crossed his arms, staring at the raven who looked kind of shy and nervous right now. "Really," he added, "it's gonna be just fine. I mean try to relax, kay? They're cool people."

"Most people don't like me," Sasuke finally admitted with a sigh as he looked up and met Naruto's blue gaze.

He laughed, "Honestly, I can't really see how that's possible. You're a pretty cool guy."

"I told you, I'm not myself around you," he muttered, and scratched his hair, "anyway, I should get back to work…"

Naruto followed him out the small room, "I'll see at my company if I can get you a job on Monday kay?"

"Yeah, if you want, thanks…" Sasuke climbed up the stairs.

"We're leaving in about an hour is that okay?"

"Sure."

…

It was really cold outside that evening. Naruto and Sasuke were shivering even with their jackets on as they exited the orange vehicle and stepped towards the restaurant. Inside, Naruto smiled as he spotted Kiba, Shikamaru, Chouji and Ino at a long table in the back. He told the waitress that they were with this group so they made their way over there.

Naruto did the introductions for Sasuke. They sat side by side, facing Kiba and Shikamaru. The latter was next to Chouji, who was himself in front of Ino. After doing the introductions, and Sasuke and the others nodded and said some regular polite salutations to one another, Naruto turned to the blonde girl sitting next to him.

"So I wasn't sure but you're still studying fashion right?"

"Yeah," she smiled, but she looked right past him at Sasuke and blushed lightly, "I'm actually gonna work with a real designer as an assistant really soon."

"That's great," Naruto said. She nodded, glancing at him briefly then again at Sasuke. It seemed she couldn't stop looking at him.

"So how did you two meet?" She asked.

"Yeah," Chouji added, "Kiba just told us you got yourself a new roommate but he didn't tell us anything else."

Naruto exchanged a glance with Kiba. Naruto then glanced at Sasuke. He was biting his bottom lip slightly, and looking down at the unopened menu in front of him.

"Did you meet in a bar or something?" Shikamaru offered. He looked like he wanted to help out regarding this awkward situation. Naruto was thankful.

"You could say that. Well first I met him in a subway station and he was playing violin and I was really impressed so I don't know, we just talked and… and the next day he showed me a really cool bar so we hung out some more and yeah…"

"That's cool," Shikamaru smiled before taking a sip of water. His long curly brown hair was styled in his usual ponytail and Naruto smiled back. He couldn't help but think that this guy hadn't changed at all since high school.

"So what do you do, Sasuke?" Ino asked looking at the raven expectantly with shiny pale blue eyes.

He barely looked up, and he lifted pale fingers to fumble nervously with his piercings.

"Well Naruto just said, I'm a musician." His deep voice was somewhat cold and dry. Different from when he talked to Naruto.

Naruto was beginning to understand what Sasuke had meant earlier now… he was indeed different when surrounded with new people. This worried Naruto a little.

"That's so amazing," Ino exclaimed. "I would love to hear you play some time."

There was a silence, as Sasuke didn't look like he was going to reply any time soon. Sakura chose this moment to arrive, out of breath.

"I barely had time to change," she said scratching her long strawberry blonde hair, "I was supposed to have off but there was an emergency at the hospital. Hey…" She stepped closer to Naruto and he got up so he could hug her, "how are you?" She held his shoulders as they pulled away, looking up into his eyes – she wasn't a short girl but he still had a good five or six inches on her – and searching them for any hint concerning his mental health.

"I'm fine," he made a little smile.

Immediately she lightened up and smiled back. The reason for this was that she hadn't seen Naruto smile in months. She pulled away and said hi to all the others as well, exchanging her usual banter with Ino in the process. She sat next to Sasuke and Naruto sat down as well. Naruto made the introductions. Sakura nodded and smiled warmly at his new friend. She wasn't too surprise because he had texted her earlier to warn her.

"It's so nice to meet you," she said, "Naruto hadn't made a new friend in a while."

Sasuke made a small smile and nodded at her; it was clear he was making efforts to be polite. Sakura glanced past him at Naruto and winked.

"And he's really cute too," she teased.

"Sakura, what the hell," Ino leaned forward on the table and glared at her, "you're making him uncomfortable."

"It was just a joke Ino, damn you can be such a bitch sometimes I swear…"

Next and last to arrive was Suigetsu. He was a unique looking guy with silver dyed hair which reminded Naruto of manga characters. He slapped Kiba's shoulder before taking place next to him, and in front of Sakura.

"Hey guys what's up? Naruto, hadn't seen you in a while," he gave a slight nod.

"Hey," Naruto smiled back. He could tell Shikamaru and Chouji were watching him. Just like Kiba and Sakura, they were close friends and they were probably pleasantly surprised to see him smiling. "Suigetsu this is Sasuke… and hey I already know you two have something in common."

"What's that?" Suigetsu asked.

"Well, Sasuke," Naruto turned to look at him, "this is the friend I told you about who's in a sparring club…"

"Yup," the silver-haired guy said proudly as he took off his coat, "meetings are every Wednesday and Saturday. I skipped tonight's so I could meet with you guys. Why, you wanna join?"

Sasuke looked up at him, thoughtful, "Maybe. I'll think about it. I haven't practiced in a while though."

"Doesn't matter," Suigetsu shrugged, "it'll come back quickly enough right?"

"I suppose," Sasuke gave a slight nod then he became quiet again.

Actually he didn't speak much for the rest of the evening. No one noticed that he was wearing Naruto's t-shirt, or if they did they didn't comment on it. Also if they noticed the bruise on his cheek, which had thankfully faded by now, they didn't say. Everyone drank some wine and ate steak since it was the restaurant's specialty. Well the girls ate salad, and so did Sasuke. Naruto asked him if he was vegetarian.

"Except for sea food yeah, pretty much."

The conversations surrounding them were pleasant and light. Sakura and Ino repeatedly tried to start conversations with Sasuke but without much success. The raven gave short, vague answers or just stayed silent if he could.

"Don't be so shy pretty boy," Suigetsu teased at some point, before drinking some wine.

Sasuke perked up at this, locking dark gray eyes with Suigetsu's violet ones across the table, "I'm not shy, for your information. And don't call people you barely know stupid things like that."

"Oh, burn!" Kiba laughed, slapping Suigetsu's shoulder, "Don't take him too seriously though," he addressed Sasuke, "he's just a flaming homo, likes to tease guys. Does it to me all the time."

"You know you like it handsome," Suigetsu said.

"My mom thinks you're gonna turn me gay," the other replied.

"Well your mom's on to something."

"You're insane."

Sasuke relaxed when he saw that this conversation was nowhere near going back to him. He put his half-eaten plate away and leaned back in his chair, sighing.

"You okay?" Naruto asked him in a low voice.

Dark eyes slowly looked sideways at him through raven bangs, and then his lips twitched into a little smile.

"Yeah, don't worry about me."

Naruto remembered something and he turned to address Chouji, interrupting his discussion with Ino and Shikamaru.

"Sorry," he said, "I just wanted to ask you something. Are they looking for anyone to work at your restaurant right now? Sasuke's looking for a job since he's new around here and all…"

"Oh, um," he thought, "yeah I think so. You could be a waiter."

"I don't have any experience though, would that be a problem?" Sasuke tilted his head slightly.

Chouji was about to answer but Ino beat him to it, "Not at all! I know his boss, he's totally gay," she chuckled, "and you're totally his type, so he'll hire you for sure."

"Or he'll ask you out," Chouji said apologetically. "Or both."

"Don't discourage him you idiot," Ino slapped Chouji's hand playfully, and smiled at Sasuke, "you should give it a try."

"I will," he said, "is your boss gonna be there tomorrow?"

"He should be, yeah, you can come tomorrow evening," Chouji smiled warmly. "I'll put in a good word for you."

"Thanks Chouji that's really nice of you," Naruto said sincerely.

"Hey, hey, you guys," Sakura suddenly said, and she threw her arm past Sasuke to touch Naruto's tan arm resting on the table. He turned to look at her. She smiled, "I'm throwing a party at my new apartment Friday night. I really want you to be there, and you too Sasuke if you want," she pulled her hand back and looked from Naruto to the other male.

Naruto nodded, "Sure, we'll go, right Sasuke?"

"We'll see," he shrugged, looking down, "maybe I'll have a job by then so…"

"Yeah," Sakura said, "but you can come at whatever time you want. Party will be on all night. I'll text you my new address later Naruto."

"So you finally moved out of your parents' place huh?" He smiled, "What else happened while I was gone?"

"Nothing really," she laughed.

"Kiba broke up with Karin. Thank god," Suigetsu rubbed his temple, "man, I'd never have introduced you if I'd known you would actually go out with her. That girl is such a pain."

"You say that but she's your best friend," Kiba nudged him.

"I didn't even know you guys were going out in the first place," Naruto crossed his arms, leaning back in his chair.

"I didn't want to bother you with stuff like that," Kiba brushed it off, "besides we weren't really going out…"

"You were fuck buddies?" Ino raised a brow at him, and shook her head slightly. "I can't believe you Kiba. You never change."

The waitress brought the bills after that, separate bill for everyone, and they proceeded to pay, most of them using credit cards. Sasuke used his bank card and Naruto couldn't help but worry about him. How much could the guy have left in his bank account? But he didn't want to embarrass him in front of the others so he stayed quiet.

The conversations continued a bit afterwards but then the friends took their leave, walking in the parking to their respective cars. Sakura made everyone promise they would show up to her party, and Sasuke and Chouji confirmed again that they would see each other the next evening, at the restaurant. Naruto knew where it was located so he would drive Sasuke there.

Later, in the car, Sasuke was shivering as he chose some music. Silversun pickups. Pretty great band. It made Naruto smile, as he reached to put the heat at max.

"Thanks for asking your friend for a job. I don't know if I can pull it off though."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean… being a waiter. I don't know if I can pull that off. But I'll try."

"I'm pretty sure there won't be any problems." Naruto smiled, and decided to tease him a little, "So Sakura and Ino seemed to like you."

Sasuke did not seem amused though. He slowly looked up at Naruto and said, "You do know I'm gay right? I thought I made it pretty obvious."

"Relax! I know! I was just messing with you. But really… you've never tried it with a girl?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Not interested."

"How do you know until you try?"

"I just know," he was annoyed as he leaned back in the seat and looked out the window at the city's night life surrounding them.

"Okay, okay," Naruto raised a hand in surrender. "I was just curious. So did you have a lot of boyfriends?"

"No."

"None at all?"

"No. Why all these questions?"

"Just curious to know more about you… You're not in a really good mood are you?" Naruto said worriedly, "Is it because of my friends? You didn't like them?"

"They're fine," he sighed, "I'm sorry, but I did warn you."

"Right… so hey did you really wanna buy a cat? Cause I've been thinking," he lowered the music as he waited at a red light, "I've always wanted one, but… Hinata was allergic so we couldn't…. We can go tomorrow, I think there's a pet shop near Chouji's restaurant."

"That'd be pretty cool," Sasuke made a small smile as he glanced at him sideways.

Naruto smiled back, "Great."

If Sasuke's good mood was back then he was happy. He wondered why that was. He just didn't like seeing the nineteen year old sulking.

"We should go shopping too."

"Mm… Naruto?"

"What?"

Sasuke seemed a little thoughtful, "I'm… sorry… I mean… I feel bad for barging in your life."

"No it's cool, I'm the one who offered…"

"Yeah but I don't want you to feel forced to help me."

"No it's really okay!" Naruto insisted almost fervently, "I thought we got along well and I really wanted to have you as a roommate, so don't worry about it."

Sasuke gave a slight nod and the rest of the ride home was quiet.

…

Later, in Naruto's bedroom, Sasuke was writing an introduction letter while the blonde sat on his bed drawing.

"What are you drawing?" Sasuke asked at some point, turning around in the computer chair.

"You," he admitted.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Am I creepy?"

"No," he chuckled, and placed his arms on the back of the chair. "Maybe a little. But eventually you'll just get tired of drawing me."

"I don't think so," Naruto argued, folding his legs under him and closing his sketch book.

"Of course you will."

"Suppose there's a song… a melody you really love to play, do you think you could ever get tired of it?"

"Well… at some point I'm gonna want to try other things."

"Then I'll draw you in different positions."

"Naruto," Sasuke smiled and placed his chin on top of his arms, "stop you'll make me horny."

"Sorry," he chuckled.

"It's okay. I think it's really flattering that I inspire you. It's kinda weird 'cause you're straight though."

Naruto blushed lightly and scratched his hair, glancing away, "I… I told you, I find you… beautiful just from an artist's point of view. Don't you find girls beautiful sometimes?"

The raven seemed thoughtful and a little bit amused by the conversation as he tilted his head slightly, staring at Naruto through long raven bangs, "Not really… I mean I can tell when a girl's hot. I can tell when you straight guys probably fall easily for a certain girl or not… Like, Ino's hot. Sakura's not bad I guess."

"When you looked at the picture downstairs you said Hinata was beautiful," Naruto reminded with a little smile.

"True. I guess I just… found the picture beautiful, you know? The two of you… Yeah. I'm sorry."

"No it's okay, I'm… you know, I'm getting better at talking about it, so," he shrugged.

"Okay."

Nonetheless, Naruto changed the subject, "It's funny how you said Ino's hot and Sakura's not bad… For me it's the other way around. I like Sakura better. I used to love her back in high school…"

"Really? So you guys dated then?"

"Yeah," he laughed, "for like thirty seconds. We were kinda dysfunctional; she was a straight A student and I was... always… doing pranks, and skipping class, smoking on school grounds, name it."

"Did you smoke weed?" Sasuke smiled.

"Yeah," he chuckled, "with Kiba and Shikamaru."

"Mm… You guys still smoke weed sometimes?"

"Yeah for sure… just in parties though."

"Then I might come to that party Friday."

Naruto's smile widened, "I'd like you to come."

"Okay… I think I'm gonna go to sleep, I'm done with this anyway," Sasuke looked back at the computer and proceeded to close it.

"Do you need anything?"

"No I'm fine…" he walked up to the door and before leaving glanced behind his shoulder with intense dark eyes, "Naruto, thanks for everything."

"Yeah sure no problem," he brushed it off.

Watching Sasuke leave his room the feeling that he had done something as spontaneous as bring a new friend home was really sinking in, even more so than before. But it wasn't a bad feeling. He actually felt better knowing that there was someone else here with him in the house, and that someone would be there when he would wake up in the morning.