Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Threadbare

By Cosmogyral

Thread 4:

The sun shining down was unusually warm for being in the middle of winter. Sasuke lounged in the rickety park bench—although not because he was using the bench as his bed. He hadn't felt the sun in three months. Glancing down at his scruffy t-shirt, it was a vast improvement from the layers of flannel he had worn before. Reaching his arm up to cover his eyes, Sasuke let the bare skin of his arms bask in the light.

So much had changed in three weeks.

When he had woken up the morning after Naruto had found him beaten in the alley, he hadn't believed what had happened the night before. However, after the golden blonde had woken up and wrapped his arms gently around Sasuke's torso, he couldn't deny it. He didn't want to.

He had thought that once he had revealed his name to the kitchen worker everything would vanish. Everything that Naruto had offered would vanish. But no recognition had flickered in the pure blue eyes, only happiness.

Naruto hadn't seen the lost Uchiha mogul, only a weak and needy human being.

It had only gotten better when Naruto had told him to stay. Sasuke tried to refuse at first. Someone like him shouldn't mar the hopeful blonde.

That's what he seemed to do to everything else.

But he was sore and exhausted. The night had been trying emotionally and physically. It was hard to wrap his mind around. Sasuke figured that one day wouldn't do any harm. There wasn't much that he could do to repay the tenacious blonde. He had left everything. He had nothing, no matter how much Kakashi insisted that everything was where he had left it. The only thing he could do was work with what he had.

The look of deep contentment that had covered Naruto's face when he walked in to find Sasuke trying to cook up something decent with what little he had found captured Sasuke's long dormant heart.

He hadn't been able to leave.

He had tried. He didn't want to burden the already hard-pressed actor. Sasuke had donned his old layers and had returned back to the soup kitchen after another emotional night. Kakashi had come, and he thought he had given the man a heart-attack when he actually responded to the older man's badgering.

Taking his time, realizing that his might be the last time he came if he wanted to spare Naruto from his misery, Sasuke tried to savor the tasteless soup. After a while, Sasuke made his silent way out the door, trying not to catch a certain blonde's attention.

It was then that Sasuke realized that it was too late. He hadn't taken more than a handful of steps when he heard the kitchen's glass door bang open with force. Looking back, he saw Naruto racing towards him with a panicked look on his face. Once he had reached Sasuke, he laced their fingers together as he caught his breath.

"Good thing I caught you," the shorter man panted out, "You're going the wrong way."

Moving away slightly and trying to unlace their fingers, Sasuke asked, "Aren't you supposed to be working?"

"I told them I was leaving early," Naruto quickly remedied. Looking up, the blonde locked their eyes. Sasuke always saw him searching his unimpressive eyes. He never had the courage to tell Naruto he wouldn't find anything there. "Come on. Let's go home." Tightening the golden-tan hand around his own pasty fingers, Naruto gently led him to the blonde's small townhouse.

It had been too late, ever since he had said his first thank you to the blue-eyed man. Naruto had since learned all of Sasuke's gestures and signals. He was weak. He couldn't do it. He couldn't break Naruto's heart. He didn't want to.

Since then, much to the chagrin of Naruto's friends, the blonde tried to incorporate the black-haired man into his everyday life.

One day, Naruto had come back to the house with a set of clothes—apologizing that they were used. Sasuke's kiss silenced any thought of guilt or complaint. It was soon followed by a whack to the head and an Idiot.

Days flew by and Naruto drug him everywhere. Sasuke was introduced to the rest of the volunteers behind the soup kitchen's counter. He was carted to the small theatre Naruto worked in—meeting an enthusiastic Ino and an almost frightening director, Gai.

Hours and minutes quickly converged into days. Before Sasuke knew it, he was warming up and getting used to Naruto's antics. The blonde's touches and smiles and consuming eyes made speech well up to his lips, and made Sasuke reacquaint himself with humanity.

It scared Sasuke. He hadn't felt anything like this since well before the crash.

Of course, nothing like what had happened their first night had been repeated. Once the rampant emotions had settled both men were left feeling hesitant and unsure. However, Naruto was resolute in making something better for the both of them. It didn't take Sasuke long to realize that he would take whatever the blonde offered. Not because he didn't have anything, but because it was Naruto who was offering. The emotions of that night may have settled, he realized, but they were just as consuming. Since this was all terrifyingly new to the raven-haired man, Sasuke was happy to let Naruto push him along until he found more stable footing. The blonde seemed to read his mind and let things progress in their slow weave. Somehow this seemed all the more endearing.

It was…easy to live with Naruto. The blonde had no expectations of his new…whatever they were. Being with Naruto was less awkward that he had thought. It was hard to see Naruto as anything but Naruto. When the man was so open, nobody could put such a simple label as male or female on the blonde. He was just Naruto Uzumaki, in all his complexity. He let his whole heart shine through and Sasuke couldn't focus on anything else. Naruto was Naruto, and that was all that Sasuke wanted the blonde to be. Naruto was in a league of his own and no one could compare.

Now, Naruto said that he wanted to do something fun with Sasuke in the nice weather. They had taken a bus and decided to enjoy the weather in the local park. The two had gotten some hotdogs, and just took pleasure in each other's company.

Naruto had only left moments ago, saying he would be back soon. He just needed to get some change.

Feeling a shadow block out the sun's warmth, Sasuke moved his arm to gaze up at the smiling, slightly scared face of Naruto. The way the blonde's lips curled in a certain way, Sasuke could tell that the blonde was up to something.

"Ready?" Naruto eagerly prompted.

"For what, Dobe?" Sasuke softly replied. The names had now become a joke between the two—pet names of sorts (although it irritated Naruto that he still didn't know what dobe meant).

"You'll see, Bastard." Holding out his hand, Naruto helped the darker man to his feet.

Following the blonde, Sasuke unquestioningly shadowed his companion. Meandering across the damp ground of the park, Sasuke raised an eyebrow towards the blonde when they approached the entrance of the city mall. He only received a smile in return. Starting the feel nervous, Sasuke placed his hands in his jean pockets and ducked his head. The black-haired man felt stupid, trying to hide behind his smaller comrade. But he couldn't be noticed. He wasn't ready. He already risked it trading in recycle for measly amounts of cash. Although he now was living with Naruto, he hoped he could pay the blonde back one day.

"Are you okay, Sasuke?" was the worried question from in front of him. Raising his head to meet Naruto's gaze, Sasuke nodded.

"Yeah."

"Okay. We're almost there anyway." Tracking Naruto like a shadow, they stopped in front of a large booth. Confused, Sasuke looked up to read the bold letters of the plastic box.

It was a photo booth.

"No." Before Sasuke could scurry away, Naruto practically tackled him into the booth.

"Yes!"

Struggling, Sasuke tried to get away. "Naruto, you're such a girl! This is something you do in high school."

"Or when you can't afford a camera…" Stopping, Sasuke frowned at the blonde. "I want to have a picture of you." Suddenly, Naruto seemed to turn shy—a description he never thought he would pair with the actor. "When I first met you," Naruto tried to explain, "you were so pale and lifeless, you just drifted through everything." Blonde hair leaned forward to rest on Sasuke's shoulder. "I just want something to prove you won't disappear."

The weakness being shown by the usually indestructible blonde hurt Sasuke more than he cared to admit.

"I'm not going anywhere, Idiot."

"I know," was muffled into Sasuke's neck, "but…please?" The blue eyes pleading for Sasuke to agree was the last blow to the Uchiha's stubborn defiance.

"Fine." The brilliant smile Naruto wore was worth it, Sasuke later decided.

Quickly feeding coins into the machine, Naruto posed them in a variety of positions—fun, passionate, trying to be serious, then finally just smiling.

Once they returned home, Naruto placed the photos on the refrigerator for everyone to see—Kiba, Sakura, Iruka. Sasuke always smiled each time he walked by.


"You seem happier." The gray-haired man picked at the roll left on his plate. The hair on the man's head stood up every which way—making him look truly homeless, even though Sasuke knew better. The eye-patch was a nice touch, although not a change from his usual attire. Kakashi must have had a difficult time trying to find something that could replace the mask that usually covered his nose and lower face. The ratty scarf did the job well.

"Better," Sasuke mumbled in almost-agreement.

Crumb after crumb tumbled onto Kakashi's plate as the man tore the dry bread. "But still not the same."

"You should give that to somebody if you're not going to eat it," Sasuke reprimanded, pointing at the older man's roll.

Lazily looking down at the misshapen bread Kakashi shrugged his shoulders. "Sorry. I guess you're right." Looking over to the next table, Kakashi smiled—his visible eye arching in an upside-down 'U' shape. "Here you go. It's not poison, I promise." The red-haired boy shot Kakashi a strange look, but took the bread regardless.

The silence dragged on for a while, until Sasuke finally spoke. "I don't want to be the same. Before I left, there was nothing."

"Bullshit," Kakashi snapped, although not above a whisper. He opened his mouth to keep going, then forced it shut—as if knowing he was fighting a losing battle. A couple beats later, the man tried again. "Besides, I wasn't talking about before you left. I was talking about before the accident."

Sasuke felt a coldness run through him that he couldn't blame on the weather. Closing his eyes, Sasuke had to force himself to keep breathing and to keep flashes of memory at bay.

Opening his eyes again, he looked at his mentor, his former assistant, and his friend. This was more than he would have been able to do three weeks ago. Kakashi seemed impressed.

The older man then moved his gaze to the counter where they had gotten their food. "He seems to be good for you."

"Leave him out of this," was Sasuke's sharp reply.

"But you've already brought him into this, Sasuke," Kakashi mercilessly pointed out. Looking straight into his younger friend's black eyes, Kakashi tried to soften the blow, "You've done nothing wrong, Sasuke. I don't know what you think you're getting him into, except maybe the media's spotlight."

Jaw tightening, Sasuke restrained himself from pounding his fist on the table. "I think it's time for you to go, Kakashi."

Sighing deeply, the gray-haired man stuck his hands in his pockets and stood from his seat.

"Have you told Itachi, yet?" Sasuke whispered to the retreating back.

"No. But if you ever change your mind, everything is where you left it." A pause. "He worries about you." With that, the glass door closed and Sasuke watched Kakashi's figure disappear.

Looking back at his smiling blonde at the counter, Sasuke secretly hoped that he would be able to keep that smile on Naruto's face.


Sasuke had stolen the strip of snapshots from the refrigerator. Sitting up in bed, Sasuke turned the small ribbon of pictures so that the lunar lighting would allow him to pick out the tiny details. For all of the fuss he had given trying to get out of the tiny photo booth, Sasuke was glad that Naruto had won the battle.

Stroking the photos, Sasuke could hardly recognize himself. The black-haired man in the snapshots wasn't the man before he left his old life or the man before the crash. It was like Naruto had brought out a whole other side of the Uchiha.

Snorting, Sasuke turned a fond look to the sleep tousled blonde twisted in the cotton sheets. He didn't miss what he had left behind, though. The big house, the shiny cars, the stiff suits, the pressure of the Uchiha Corporation—he would gladly give it all away again to spend more time with the blonde at his side.

Feeling a hand curling into his thigh, the Uchiha moved his gaze to the barley awake man at his side. "Sasuke…?" Naruto groggily muffled into the sheets.

"Hm?" Sasuke quietly answered.

"What's up?" The blonde curled further into the sheets and pried open a blue eye.

"Nothing," Sasuke raked his fingers through Naruto's crazy locks, making the blue eye droop back shut. "Go back to sleep."

"You sure?" was the last garbled protest.

"Yeah."

"'m'kay." With that, Naruto moved closer to Sasuke and curled an arm around the Uchiha's middle.

Sasuke had to consciously stop himself from tensing his muscles. Even after these several weeks it was difficult for Sasuke to adjust to Naruto's there's-no-such-thing-as-personal-space attitude. Before, personal space was a must—an iron rule of etiquette. It was also odd to have Naruto's friends try to warm up to him. Many times they had tried to make awkward conversation with varying rates of success. It was a little unnerving that so many people knew about Naruto and him. But if it made Naruto happy, Sasuke would deal with it.

Setting the small strip of photographs on the nightstand resting next to the bed, Sasuke slowly crept down between the sheets. Naruto unconsciously readjusted himself in his half-sleep so that they were both comfortable. Looking once again at the blonde next to him, Sasuke wondered how this man could know him better than anyone else, even without knowing his past.

"Sasuke," the sleeply blonde mumbled.

"Hm?"

"Only two months,"

"For what?"

"My play,"

"Already?"

"Yeah, it'll be our best yet." The blonde tucked his head under Sasuke's chin. "You promise to be there?"

"I won't miss it."

Feeling Naruto smile against his shoulder, Sasuke pulled him in closer.

"Night, Sasuke."

"Good night, Naruto."


A/N: Hello everybody! Here is the next installment of Threadbare. This chapter is a little different since it's from Sasuke's POV. I thought that he deserved a little room to wander and mull about. ^_^ Once again, thank you for all of the wonderful reviews all of you have sent me! They make me a very happy writer. I enjoy reading every last one of them! The reviews make my day (my week), seriously. So, once again, thank you all, and I hope that you enjoyed this chapter.