On Thursdays, Sasuke worked at the library. He was required to show up, help people find books, then scan and approve their loan cards. At no point had he been told he needed to be happy about this, or interact with anyone, so he usually typed away at the computer to seem busy and glared at anyone who looked like they might want him to locate a book. The shelving system was self-explanatory, and anyone who couldn't figure out where to find a book on their own was probably too stupid to read, anyway. The library was dead silent at all times – when it wasn't, it was because Sasuke hadn't glared at the noisy party yet. On a regular day, he could tend to his business without interruption, or even opening his mouth.

Other days, Naruto borrowed books.

To be frank, Naruto's presence at the library wasn't exactly a common occurrence. Sasuke most definitely did not want to speak to him yet after the previous day's events, and was sure he wouldn't bump into him today. When he saw Naruto come in, he could feel his insides twist and he grit his teeth to the point of being shushed himself by his supervisor. Naruto walked past Sasuke's service window several times, staring so openly Sasuke could feel the itch of eyes on him. A heated glare sent Naruto on his way, and Sasuke returned to pretending to be busy so he didn't have to do his job. Soon after, just as Sasuke's ears finally managed to tune out the world around him, something pricked into his cheek.

"What the…?"

Sasuke looked down at where a paper plane had fallen into his lap. Naruto waved at him from the other side of the room. Scowling, he unfolded the plane and scribbled a very unfriendly warning before scrunching it into a ball and propelling the thing at Naruto's face.

Just then, Sasuke's supervisor, Kurenai, popped her head out of her office and gave him a disapproving look. Since she was pregnant, she had taken to doing volunteer work to help transition from the demanding life if a shinobi. He had been seeing a lot of her moody ass lately.

"Sasuke," she chastised, "no throwing things in the library. Go pick that up."

With that she disappeared back behind the frost-paned door. Sasuke lolled his head back and groaned, mustering the energy to peel himself from his comfy chair (he was getting too used to sitting in chairs all day) and skulk over to the scrunched up wad of paper, to the tune of Naruto's muffled laughter. Just as he'd thrown the ball into the nearest trash can by his desk, Naruto materialised behind him with enough stealth for him to squeal, just a little bit.

"Hey," Naruto said amiably, his eyes running down a small slip of paper. He was obviously trying to act cool or something, not even bothering to look at Sasuke, and it pissed him off so much he almost screamed. Sasuke attempted to move past him, but Naruto blocked his path. "Where are you going? I need help finding some books."

"Look on the shelves," he deadpanned, pushing Naruto out of the way to reclaim his butt divot in that glorious chair.

"I did look on the shelves," Naruto whined.

"Look harder."

"I need heeeelp!" Obviously being cool didn't come naturally to Naruto and required more effort than he can spare for too long.

"Fuck off," Sasuke growled.

Kurenai seemed to have a knack for being ridiculously annoying, as at that precise moment she reappeared and looked twice as irritable as before.

"Sasuke," she chastised yet again, "don't forget that I'm the one who has to sign your hours sheet, and if I don't think you've done enough then I'm not going to sign it, am I? It's your job to help customers find their books, and frankly you sit around doing nothing too much already."

Well yeah, Sasuke thought grouchily as she slinked back into her office. Did Kurenai just wait around with her ear pressed to the door so she could tell him off whenever possible? Was she that pathetic?

Naruto rapped his fingers against the edge of Sasuke's desk and hummed, clearly smug. "I'm waiting."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and snatched the paper from Naruto's hands, leading the way towards the non-fiction section. It seemed Sakura had commissioned Naruto to retrieve some medical books, and evidently, they all just happened to be on completely opposite sides of the library. It would take at least twenty minutes to find them all, if he was lucky. Naruto didn't seem to mind. He trailed behind Sasuke with his hands folded behind his head, humming this incessant tune that come to think of it he always seemed to be humming around Sasuke.

Once four out of five books had been gathered, all to the tune of Naruto's stupid humming that was now stuck in Sasuke's head, Sasuke made haste to the last one so Naruto could finally leave him alone. He ran a finger over the books, a movement Naruto seemed to find fascinating, eyes flickering between the author's initials and the ID on each spine. Begrudgingly, Sasuke realised this last book was just a bit too high for him to reach without a ladder.

"Wait here," he told Naruto, shoving past him to get the small stepladder from under his desk.

"Will do," said Naruto. He was just as cheery as ever. Why did he waste his time like this? The majority of their time together was spent in silence, apart from when Naruto asked questions or Sasuke insulted him. Sasuke muttered dark things all the way to his desk, hoisting the stepladder under his arm and muttering dark things all the way back.

When he returned, Naruto was leaning against one of the shelves and blowing spit bubbles. Sasuke announced his arrival with a disgusted noise, and Naruto straightened, wiping his mouth with his sleeve with what might have been a tinge of embarrassment. Sasuke unfolded the stepladder and placed it under the book, then climbed.

He reached the top, but it wasn't enough. He'd underestimated the height of the shelf. Sasuke stretched one arm up to the book but only skimmed the bottom, even when he stood on his toes. His shirt rode up and he could feel Naruto staring, but that could wait. Sasuke grunted, his arm straining as he futilely pawed at the book just a little bit too high.

"Do you want me to try?" Naruto offered, coming to stand directly below him, steadying the ladder that had began to teeter.

Sasuke scowled at him from the corner of his eye, his lips pressing into a thin line. "No. I can do it myself."

"If you're sure," Naruto replied, his face inches from Sasuke's exposed skin. His hipbone protruded just above his waistband and the shirt had ridden all the way up to his bellybutton. He could feel Naruto's breath faintly tickling his skin and fought valiantly to ignore the strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. "You know I am taller than you, so, I could probably reach it. Just saying."

"I can do it, alright?" Sweat beaded on Sasuke's forehead. His finger just barely brushed the bottom of the book and it moved a centimeter closer. Sasuke flicked at the bottom of it until it became loose, and with one final jump upwards, his hand finally grasped onto the hardback cover.

The moment it did, the ladder shook and Sasuke's foot slipped off the edge. He felt a jolt of panic before Naruto came flying up to steady him and Sasuke's free hand quickly grasped onto the shelf. He cursed, and it took a few quiet moments for him to realise Naruto's hand was now resting on his ass.

"I gotcha," Naruto said, his hand patting him a few times. Sasuke stiffened at the contact. A few strange seconds passed where Sasuke was at a loss for what to do, his mind empty, and all he could feel was Naruto's hand cupping his butt – now the thumb was making small circles and he had the audacity to give Sasuke a squeeze – when he was jolted back to life.

"Don't touch me!" Sasuke spun around to land a kick directly on Naruto's head, his hands flying up as he screeched and fell back onto the ground.

"Ouch! The hell, this is the thanks I get for saving your life?"

Sasuke threw the book at Naruto's face and jumped down, skulking towards his desk. A few minutes and Naruto stood before him, the books stacked in the crook of his elbow, one hand nursing the steadily growing lump on his forehead.

"That was a good kick," he muttered, handing Sasuke the pile over the counter.

He snatched them away, flicked on the computer and started to scan. Naruto had the sense to be silent, the only sound between them being the beeps as Sasuke checked out all five books. When he was done, he held out his hand expectantly. Naruto fished around in his pocket to retrieve his library card, and Sasuke scanned that, too.

When he did, it buzzed. He frowned, scanning it again. Sasuke clicked on the other's log, and Naruto watched with great trepidation as his expression morphed from confused to utter rage.

"You dragged me around for half an hour," he said lowly, settling his ice-cold gaze on Naruto's nervous eyes, "to gather five books that were conveniently located at least fifty meters apart, in the silence of a library while you hummed non-stop, groped me, and you can't even borrow them out because you have one stupid book that is two years overdue?"

Sasuke turned the computer screen around so Naruto could read the title, bolded in red. It said, 'Tales of a Gutsy Ninja'. Naruto squinted at it for a second before slapping his hand on his forehead, then wincing because he still nursed a sizeable lump.

"Oh yeah! I forgot about that," he said sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck. "I should probably return it, huh?"

Sasuke stared at the screen for a good ten minutes, his lips pressed into a thin line. Naruto fiddled with his hands and glanced about, careful not to make any alarming movements. If he woke Sasuke from this stupor prematurely there was no telling what might happen.

"For every day a book is unreturned past the due date, you owe the library 20 ryou. Do you know what that means, Naruto?"

"Uh…" Naruto bit his lip. "…I probably should have paid better attention to math lessons at the academy?"

"You owe the library over 15,000 ryou," Sasuke told him.

"…I don't suppose you could lend me your employee discount or something?"

Sasuke glowered at him, and Naruto swore the temperature of the room dropped.

"You. Idiot."

Sasuke yanked him by the collar into the countertop with a resounding, meaty crunch. Naruto screeched, his hands cupping his nose that now flowed with copious amounts of blood, doubled over, then he started to roll and moan on the floor. Sasuke's breathing was heavy, and several others in the library stared at him with wide eyes. He glared at them in turn and they swiftly averted their gaze.

Kurenai's door swung open. She took one look at Naruto, who was in tears on the floor and moaning like he'd just given birth, then at Sasuke whose Sharingan swirled deep red in his eyes, and placed her hands on her hips.

"Sasuke. My office. Now."

Sasuke got one good kick into Naruto's ribs before he trudged inside.

-x-