This chapter is slightly shorter than the first two, but it had to end at a natural point. I'm going on holiday now so I'm not sure about when the next chapter will be ready. Please let me know what you think of it :)

Enjoy!

All of Naruto's things were lying in a clutter on the floor in the living room. They had both taken of their shoes, but their clothes were still soaked and a wet patch started to show where Naruto stood. He had joked with Sasuke on the way to the apartment, but was now eerily silent as he took in the place.

When he had stepped into the room and seen how different they truly lived, he had frozen in his steps. Sasuke who had already been quite aware of the gap between felt a little uncomfortable about it. His apartment was quite large and the walls where all white except for the kitchen wall which had been painted a dark blue. Big windows covered the entire length of the living room and a glass door led to a balcony stretching just as far. All of his furniture was of the comfortable and expensive looking kind and large flat screen TV hung on the wall opposite of them. Sasuke felt himself cringe. He didn't want Naruto to feel out of place or inferior, but it wasn't like he could magically change his place into the average bachelor dumpster.

"You're dripping on my carpet. Come on I'll show you the bathroom so you can dry yourself off."

Naruto looked down at the carpet and shuffled away from the wet spot embarrassed. He tried to lift up the legs of his pants but to no avail. His cardboard house hadn't been able to keep him dry and the drops just kept falling from his clothes and hair. The first thing he did in the bathroom was to take off his sweatshirt and wring it over the sink. Sasuke stood in the doorway and frowned when he saw that the t-shirt underneath it was just as wet.

"I'll get your clothes."

Naruto glanced at him and said; "Don't bother the rest is wet too. I'll just take my shirt off and wait for it to dry, if that's okay."

"No way. You'll get sick like that. You can lend some of mine just wait here. "

"You're way bigger than me, it won't fit anyway and I'm fine like this." He said with a tense voice and tugged at his wet shirt. His eyes wouldn't meet Sasuke's and a faint blush showed on his cheeks.

Sasuke halted his steps and shot Naruto a cold look. "I know you don't give a shit about sizes, none of your own clothes fit either. Why won't you just accept it? It's not like you have a problem with the clothes I gave you earlier or when I pay for your lunch."

Naruto squirmed and gave him an annoyed look. "That's different."

Sasuke's stare showed him that he would have to explain further than that.

"You already brought me here. I don't want to cause you any more trouble and you kinda owed me a new set of clothes before. The lunches are… well you are eating too! So that makes it more okay. I just don't want to owe you anything or be a leech, you know. I'm not a charity case or a beggar."

"Tch. No you're just an idiot." Sasuke said and smacked him over the head. "Stay put, I don't want the rest of my place to get wet and you can consider wearing dry clothes as doing me a favor. Take a shower while you're at it, you stink."

He could hear Naruto grumbling about how he couldn't help being dirty as he went into his bedroom next to the bathroom and into his walk in closet. He found a pair of sweatpants and a blue tight fitting t-shirt on the shelf with his casual clothes. The shirt had been an impulse purchase and he had only worn it outside of his house once. He had been called into his office the same day, and his female colleagues' reaction had scared him away from ever wearing it again. He was quite fit, but most of them hadn't known since he always wore a suit to work.

Unfortunately they still hadn't forgotten about it. The t-shirt would be just right for Naruto, who was still a lanky teenager. The top of his head just reached the tip of Sasuke's nose, but he had yet to gain the muscle and shoulder width of a grown man, though Sasuke had no doubt it would happen eventually if he just kept feeding the always starving boy.

The bathroom door had been closed when he returned and he knocked on it lightly.

"Are you decent?"

"No! don't come in! I'm not wearing any- ow stupid towel thingy! Sasuke your towel holder is a bitch!"

Sasuke smirked in amusement. He could image the situation a little too well. His towel holder could be turned so it stuck to the wall or so it blocked half of the standing space in the bathroom. It had an annoying tendency to un-stick itself and get in the way of unsuspecting victims. He opened the door a little and threw in the clothes on the cabinet next to the door.

"Hey! I told you I wasn't decent! You can't just-"

"Yeah, yeah whatever. Just get dressed for Christ sake and try not to get yourself hurt while you're at it."

He heard Naruto rummage around in there doing who knows what and then;

"Sasuke?"

"Hn."

"Now that I'm borrowing clothes from you anyway…"

"What is it?"

"…"

"Spit it out."

"Boxers? Please?"

Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose. I'm not laughing, body don't betray me now, you've served me well so far…

"You know briefs are okay too. Sasuke? Come on I don't wanna have a wet spot on my crotch. That would feel really gross."

Sasuke made a half strangled noise and banged his hand against the wall. Not … laughing…

"Are you alright out there? Sasuke?! I need underwear god damnit! What are you doing anyway?!"

As Naruto took his sweet time getting done, Sasuke started cooking dinner. He wasn't used to cooking for two; it was so rare for him to have anyone over. He wasn't exactly an expert cook either, so usually he would just order some kind of take out if someone happened to some by. The weather that had turned into a full blown storm at this point, so it ruled out that option.

He tried his luck at some kind of curry-stew thingy. It was pretty much just some meat, vegetables and a whole lot of curry thrown into a pot. He had given up on following the recipe half way through; since he discovered that he didn't even have half of the ingredients needed. Suddenly Naruto's head poked around the corner of the fridge.

"It smells good! What is it?"

"Curry." He gestured towards the cabinet with plates. "You can set the table; it will be a little while before it's done."

"Yes sir!" Naruto answered and stepped into the room as he saluted. Sasuke stopped stirring for a moment and took in the sight of a clean Naruto. His hair was much brighter and his skin a little lighter as well. The clothes though… The shirt was fine but he could barely keep up the pants and no tugging would keep them in place.

"Don't laugh it was you who gave me those pants."

Sasuke hadn't even realized that his expression had changed. He schooled his features immediately. "I'm not laughing."

"Are too, you bastard." Naruto objected and kicked him in the calf muscle.

"Hey you little! Don't bite the hand that is feeding you! Get to work."

Naruto did as told but every time he came back for things he would push Sasuke to the side and in some way insist that the food had to be done by now. When Sasuke tried to taste the food Naruto's eyes followed the spoon so he tried to move it back and forwards just to see if what Naruto would do. When it got a little too close to the blond's face he tried to snap out and get it with his mouth. He bounced around trying to get it as Sasuke kept it just out of his reach and finally ate it himself.

"Nope, not done yet. It needs just a little more." He lied and smirked evilly at Naruto's unhappy expression.

"Let me try it too!"

"I'm the cook so I decide when it done or when it's not done, stop your whining and go wash your hands."

"I just took a shower."

"…"

"Yes sir, I'll go wash my hands."

When Sasuke looked a little too smug about be obeyed, Naruto decided to give him a final shove before he left.

They ate in silence and although they had all the time in the world Naruto did as usual and pretty much swallowed the food.

"Chew, you savage. This is not an eating competition there's no need to hurry."

"Mmfkay." There was food sticking out of the corner of his mouth as he said it.

"And don't talk with food in your mouth." Sasuke assessed the lack of manners. "Use you cutlery instead of your fingers."

This time Naruto swallowed before he answered with a grin; "Are you trying to make me into a civilized human being? 'cause I'm not sure whether I'm comfortable about that."

"Hn. I can at least try, can't I?"

After they had eaten they cleaned up the kitchen together. Sasuke didn't have to ask for help. Naruto just did whatever he could and asked once in a while when he didn't know where to put what. As they finished up Sasuke stretched his back and legs. It had been a long and eventful day for him and he was sure Naruto was tired too judging on his big yawn.

"Let's get your stuff into the guestroom. If you want to go to sleep that's fine, but I'm going to stay up for a couple of hours finishing some work."

"Can I watch TV?" Naruto asked with a hopeful voice. The way he said it made it feel like such a simple request was something special or extraordinaire for him.

"We should get your stuff ready first, but afterwards you can watch whatever you want to."

"Coool!" There were once again stars in his eyes and a look of awe on his face.

They took a bag each and brought it into the guestroom. It was just a small room with a bed, a nightstand, a closet and a mirror on the wall. There were no windows since it was placed in the middle of the apartment, not facing any of the outer walls. Except for a couple of boxes in the corner it looked quite empty and uninhabited. Sasuke didn't really know what to use it for and had often considered knocking down the wall separating it from his office to get more space. Now he was glad he didn't.

"This will be your room. You can put your clothes in the closet and nightstand. If you need anything just ask."

"Thank you Sasuke, this is really nice." Naruto sat on the bed and bounced a few times smiling at the feeling. "You almost make it sound like I'm supposed to live here."

There was silence for a moment.

Live here? I shouldn't… he should go to school, have a real home and… but it would just be temporary. It's not like I use the guestroom anyway. There are more storms coming, what is he going to do then? But I'm not good with people, we wouldn't get along. But… he's not like other people.

"I don't use this room and it'll be winter soon enough. You can stay here whenever you need to."

"Are you serious?" the blond's voice was disbelieving and his expression shocked.

"Hn." Sasuke nodded and shifted a little because Naruto's reaction made him uncomfortable. He wasn't used to facing gratitude from others and had tried to mask his decision with logic. He didn't want to seem too nice; it didn't fit his personality. Neither of them looked at the other and the situation became decidedly awkward as Naruto swallowed heavily, trying to remain calm.

I did not sign up for this emotional crap, if he starts crying... Ugh, I can't deal with a weeping brat. I knew it there was no way I could get along with hi-

"That's really great thank you Sasuke." Naruto said a moment later. His voice was a little too shrill, but the smile was back in place. "I promise not to be any trouble if I… need to stop by another time."

"Hn, you better not, brat." Better to break the tension with one of their usual insult than deal with any kind of feelings. And what "if he needed to" was he blabbering about? Winter was coming and every other homeless would have accepted the offer in an instant yelling "Hallelujah!"

After they had settled their little deal, Sasuke went to retrieve some sheets and other necessities. By the time he finally found an extra toothbrush he had let Naruto go watch TV, since he was more of a hindrance than a help trying to find it. Actually the older of the two hadn't known just how much crap he had managed to gather in his bathroom until most of it was lying spread out on the floor.

He had taken one look into the living room before he went to his office and began reading his emails. He had just seen the blond mop of hair sticking up from behind the couch and figured that the brat would be entertained just fine left to his own devices with a huge TV and a remote control. The door to his office was left open as he worked and he could hear the noise from the TV coming through it.

It was weird how different it felt having someone else in the house, without having to socialize with them, and being a polite host. Not weird in a bad way though, it made the house feel lived in. When he had been typing away for more than an hour, he decided it was time to hit the sheets and went back to the living room. Naruto was deeply absorbed in some quiz show and didn't even notice him. Sasuke grabbed the remote and turned off the TV.

"Time to go to bed."

"Aww do you have turn it off now? They just got to the million dollar question!"

"You can watch TV tomorrow as well you know."

Naruto perked up at this. "Okay!" The former show was immediately forgotten at the mention of further permission to watch whatever brainless show he wanted to.

"I'll just get you something to sleep in, go and brush your teeth while I do."

"I can sleep in this just fine. I mean it's really comfy, and you'd only have to wash one set of clothes."

"No it's fine I'll get you something else. You need to wear something tomorrow as well and I don't want you running around in the same, or in some of your own. When you are in my house, you will have to be properly dressed."

"Hey! I have that set you gave me isn't that proper enough for you?"

"Hn. Point taken, but I'll still get you something to sleep in." Sasuke said and left. A little while later he returned and threw a pair of pajamas at the blond.

"Good night."

"'Night, Sasuke, don't let the bed bugs bite." Naruto said in a sing song voice. His smile was blinding even in the tired fashion it was currently expressed. The brunet let a small smirk graze his own features in respond, but it was interrupted by a yawn. Naruto yawned too and laughed a little, making a funny airy sound. Both of them fell asleep that night, feeling better than they had in a long time.