Hello! Here I am with a new chapter! First of all I want to thank you for all the favs and the follows!
This chapter is a bit short but I promise the next one will be longer! I am still placing all the pieces together . Now that exams are over I'll have time to focus on the development of this story. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own Naruto. It belongs to Kishismoto.
Chapter 2: A bowl of ramen
It had been a couple of days since Sasuke left Naruto with piles of work to do, and the blond ninja was getting frustrated that Sasuke would get away from his reprisal. Naruto was standing in front of the hokage's desk giving the report from his C rank mission with his genin team. "What took you so long to hand it in Naruto? It is almost dark outside!" Tsunade's voice rumbled inside Naruto's ears "Sorry, I forgot" The hokage was about to say something but the captain of the Anbu appeared in the middle of the room and interrupted their conversation "The mission was carried away successfully, Hokage-sama" "Good, I'll assign your next mission tomorrow" She made a hand gesture telling the Anbu captain to leave "Yes ma'am" He put his right hand in front of him with his index and middle finger facing up ready to disappear un a puff of smoke "Sasuke! How dare you put me under a genjutsu, I am going to kick your ass!" The Anbu captain lowered his hand and removed his mask "I had a mission, I couldn't waste time talking to you. I'm going home"
Naruto felt a small pain in his chest as Sasuke raised his arm again to leave the place. He wanted to talk to him; they haven't seen each other in days. He knew it wasn't that long but it was hard to meet with him. Sasuke wasn't a very talkative person and being captain of the Anbu didn't leave him with a lot of free time. If they ever met was almost out of sheer luck. "Wanna go get something to eat?" The words came out of his mouth without him even realizing it. He tried to correct himself "I mean since you just came back from your mission I thought you might be hungry, although you could cook your own dinner when you get home…" He wasn't making it any better. He decided to shut up and wait for his reply "Sure" Did he just accept? For some reason Naruto felt relieved that Sasuke decided to stay with him for a while. "It is nice to have Sasuke as a friend."
"So where are we going?" That question got Naruto off guard. He didn't think of a place beforehand. "Mm…Ichiraku's?" "What is with you and ramen? Seriously is that all you ever eat?" Naruto slowed his pace, lowered his head and stared at the ground as they walked "Well we can always go to some other place…" Sasuke gave a gentle push on Naruto's shoulder making the blond ninja step forward seeking some balance "I'll go to Irichaku's but it is your treat, you were the one that came up with the idea anyway" Naruto rose his head up and smiled "Okay"
Naruto got his usual bowl of ramen with extra of pork while Sasuke opted for the miso one. "Did you know ero-sennin picked my name? The main character of the first novel he ever wrote was Naruto and my dad decided to name me after him. "What was the novel about?" Sasuke ate his naruto as he asked that question "About a hero that brought peace to the ninja world" Sasuke let out a chuckle "It suits you then" Naruto just smiled and devoured his ramen.
"Oi Naruto, could you stop making such loud noises when you slurp the soup? It is annoying" Naruto paid no attention to his words until he finished the soup "If you don't make noise you cannot possibly be enjoying it!" The owner of the stand nodded to confirm Naruto's statement "Whatever" Sasuke continued eating his ramen. "Sasuke…I know I don't ask about this very often and maybe you don't want to be asked about it…" Sasuke couldn't stand Naruto's hesitation "Just spit it out already" The blond looked at Sasuke with a serious expression on his face "How are you doing? You know, being back in the village and everything…" Sasuke turned his head to meet Naruto's cerulean eyes "Was he worried about me?" "I still cannot forget about my brother and…I still hate all the people that treat him as a criminal after all he's done for the village. I just want…-he paused- I just want to kill them all" Naruto could feel Sasuke's heart starting to get tainted with revenge feelings again so he decided to place a hand on his friend shoulder and gave it a small squeeze. Sasuke's tense shoulders seemed to relax. "Yeah, it must be hard on you –he paused for a few seconds- but look at you! You're making some progress, you don't look as gloomy as you did before, although you're still pretty antisocial" Sasuke poked Naruto on the ribs "and you're as loud as ever" Naruto let out a light laugh while Sasuke stared at his half eaten bowl of ramen" Naruto, you truly saved me, you showed me there's still light in this world. Because our bonds never broke you have become the most important part of me. I've never been able to forget about you. You are all that's left in my life." Of course he would never say those words, Naruto wasn't prepared for it yet and that frustrated Sasuke, How long did he have to wait? He placed his chopsticks on top of the bowl indicating he had finished and turned to face his friend"How long are you going to laugh? Just pay already so I can go home" Naruto frowned "No need to say it like that teme" Naruto pulled out his money pouch and paid to the old man.
They were on their way back, the sky was clear and the moon was almost full. Naruto looked at Sasuke walking next to him with his hands on his pockets looking annoyed as always. Naruto laughed inside his mind. He couldn't get used to see Sasuke act like his old self. He could still remember those eyes full of grief and loneliness. Sasuke was once dead inside and could only think of murdering everyone and everything. Naruto felt really happy that Sasuke managed to get out of the spiral of revenge although he was very aware that he was far from healed. The scars from the past still caused him pain and that was a thing only time was able to heal and Naruto would always be there to help him through the process. The moonlight accentuated his pale skin, it almost glowed and it made him look like a porcelain doll. Naruto didn't know that the moon could make someone look so beautiful. "What are you thinking Naruto!" He denied his thoughts although he couldn't stop the little butterflies steadily growing inside his stomach.
They reached Naruto's apartment which was pretty close to the ramen place. They both stopped walking. "Well I guess I'm home" Sasuke didn't say anything although his gaze was intense, Naruto felt almost intimidated. There were a few awkward seconds of silence and finally Sasuke spoke "See you around Usuratonkachi" Sasuke turned around and walked away "Good night Sasuke" Naruto spoke quietly almost to himself so that the other wouldn't notice.
As Sasuke disappeared in the distance the blond suddenly felt the cold of the night and he felt… sad? He was so comfortable when Sasuke was next to him but now that he was gone he felt so lonely. He thought he should've asked him to stay for the night. "Wait, did you just think that Naruto? What the hell is wrong with you! Sasuke is your friend, he's like a brother!" Naruto entered his apartment and closed the door behind him with a loud slam probably waking up a few of his neighbors. He got rid of his clothes and put on his pajamas. He slipped under the bed covers and looked at the moon through the window "Why do I feel like this? Why do I feel this pain in my chest whenever I think of Sasuke and he's not here? Is it okay to feel this way? Is it okay to want him always by my side? Is that brotherly love? I just don't know anymore…" He pulled the covers closer to his face and took one last glance at the moon before closing his eyes "He looked so beautiful back then though…"
Sasuke was jumping between the rooftops of Konoha to get to his house. He couldn't stop thinking about Naruto and how much he wanted to grab him and bring him home and kiss him all night long. "What is wrong with you Naruto? Can't you see I love you?!" "What are you trying to do? Are you playing with me? No, he's too dumb to do something like that, he just thinks of me as his best friend but would you have gone that far to get me if I was just a friend to you? Sasuke's head was a mess; he didn't know what to do anymore. Why did he have to be so obtuse about everything! The Anbu captain wondered how long he would be able to handle that situation.