On Tuesdays, Sasuke worked at the homeless shelter. Others often scorned him, as they were all willing goody-two-shoes volunteers and he was just counting the seconds before he could leave and return to his apartment where he pretended there weren't ANBU vigilantly watching every second. He was required to show up, chop some vegetables and stew them together with cheap stock donated by citizens and grocery stores, then serve each and every filthy bum their share and make sure they all got the same amount. At no point had he been told he needed to be nice to them, or actually bother to treat the vermin like human beings, or interact with any of the other volunteers. Usually, he kept to himself and did what he was told, chopping, stirring, and serving things from a dirty communal pot, all while wearing a stained white apron and a hairnet that made him look stupid.

On Tuesdays, Sasuke liked to pass the time thinking about how pathetic the homeless people were, and that they should take it upon themselves to find jobs and sort themselves out, rather than comfortably relying on the government to provide for them. On a regular day, he could tend to the soups and bread slices without interruption, or even opening his mouth.

Other days, Naruto volunteered.

"Scuze me," Naruto said breathily, leaning over Sasuke and pressing his chest into the man's rigid back to retrieve more carrots to peel.

Sasuke didn't react. Reacting made Naruto feel like he'd accomplished something, and it was best to ignore his behaviour rather than encourage it. Sasuke reached for the ready peeled carrots and chopped them with swift precision, scraping the pieces into a large bowl. Naruto slowly dragged himself across Sasuke's skin with a long grunt, then proceeded to peel the carrot as if nothing had happened. After Naruto did this for the third time, Sasuke decided to move the bag of unpeeled carrots onto his side.

"So you don't have to keep leaning over," he explained at Naruto's disappointed look, hiding a smirk. "You're welcome."

Naruto grumbled to himself for some time after that, and there was blissful silence between them. Sasuke enjoyed Naruto's company much more when he didn't open his mouth.

"Nice hairnet," Naruto said.

"You're wearing one too, loser."

"Mine looks good."

"It makes you look stupid. Well, no more stupid than usual."

"Your spikes are poking out the back," Naruto said, unaffected.

Sasuke didn't reply.

"You can't ignore me forever," Naruto prodded, staring at Sasuke from the corner of his eye.

"I can try," Sasuke said calmly, the knife smacking on the chopping board with more force. It was a threat and Naruto knew it.

That didn't stop him from leaning too close, brushing their arms and speaking in the lowest, rumbling tone his voice could muster. Naruto's voice was husky when he tried, the kind of husky that made you feel sleepy and gave you butterflies in your stomach. Sasuke jumped when the voice suddenly became much closer, and Naruto blew into his ear.

In a flash Naruto's back was slammed hard against the table, his head cracking ominously against the steel tabletop. The knife lodged itself a hairsbreadth from his throat and Sasuke towered over him, expression a shadowy promise that if he ever did that again, the knife might not miss next time. Naruto started to chuckle nervously as the other volunteers stared.

"Hey, Sasuke, let me up, yeah? I was just kidding around," he said, voice verging on desperate.

Sasuke's hand slowly released from where it had pawed in Naruto's apron, and the man quickly sat up and scrambled away from Sasuke, who looked completely neutral as he continued to chop away. Naruto knew he had just escaped death.

A few minutes passed and the carrots were all finished. Naruto grabbed the metal bowl and brushed past Sasuke so faintly it tickled, his empty hand running along Sasuke's lower back, eliciting a traitorous shiver. Sasuke glared at Naruto's triumphant grin as the man ambled towards the large cooking pot and dumped the carrots inside. This time, however, Sasuke just let it slide.

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