Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, the anime or the manga, or any of its associated characters!

A/N: My reading week is over :( I hope I'll still have as much time to write once school's in full swing D:

Welcome Home

Chapter 5: Hungover

The next morning, Naruto woke up on the couch downstairs, sun streaming in through the windows. The place was a mess, but he felt even worse. He stumbled to the kitchen, turning the tap on and leaning under to chug what water he could—the rest of it, he slapped onto his face.

They had nowhere to be, and while Naruto felt bad about the state of the house, he was in no place to do anything about it at the moment. He was going back to bed.

He stumbled up the stairs and more body-checked the door than turned the knob, flopping onto his mattress in relief. In his efforts to get under the blankets, he blearily noted that the partition was still open from last night—and that Sasuke's bed, neat as ever, had no one in it.

Naruto frowned.

Sasuke couldn't possibly be awake already, could he?

Naruto let his eyes close…

…

"Damn it all," he forced himself to sit up. The guilt would eat him alive if Sasuke cleaned this all himself. At the very least, he should make sure the bastard was okay.

Not ten minutes later, Naruto felt like a right asshole. Sasuke had been passed out on the floor of the guest bathroom, a towel scrunched up under his head like a makeshift pillow. Naruto remembered feeling horribly sorry for himself when Sasuke had practically run away from him—he really should have tried to find Sasuke. Sakura had been completely right; he had gotten sick, and he had probably been here the rest of the night. Naruto felt awful.

He eyed his sleeping form. It felt like some sort crime to wake Sasuke up; it always did. It was very rare you caught Sasuke in as good of a mood as he looked to be in sleep.

But Naruto really ought to move him off of the hard tile…

"Sasuke?" He said gently, attempting to shake the man awake. Sasuke didn't budge.

Well, that was surprising. Sasuke was generally a light sleeper; he must have been really exhausted.

Naruto sighed, and stared at Sasuke.

'It really wasn't fair,' he thought, looking at Sasuke's porcelain skin. The man had no idea how beautiful he was.

Well, no, that's not true. He probably had some idea, with the amount of times he had been hit on, flirted with, given a phone number…to all of which he had been nothing short of acidic to. He figured Sasuke probably had no sex drive at all, which was a damn shame considering the veritable god he was in looks. Naruto bet he could bed anyone he wanted to—not that he'd ever say it to his face.

'That's probably enough creepy staring,' he thought, shaking himself. He'd find a way to pull Sasuke onto the guest bed (which, miraculously, no one had slept in), and then pass out himself. Everything else could wait for later.

And wait it did.

Sasuke awoke at a heinously late time in comparison to his usual schedule. '1:00' said the clock beside him, and he blinked several times to make sure he hadn't gone completely mad. It took him a moment to register that he was in the guest bed, which he did not remember sleeping in, but he supposed he must have moved himself at some point during the night.

He sighed, and made to roll out over.

Immediately, he regretted it.

As much sleep as he had had, his stomach had still not quite forgiven him for the previous night, and the sudden movement sent a wave of nausea echoing through him. He lay on his side, eyes closed, trying to focus on breathing as the wave passed. As he began to feel better, he realized something wasn't quite right…

He let his eyes open. There, in all of his glory, was Naruto, sleeping as soundly as could be. As it was, Sasuke had rolled closer to the blonde, to the point where he was very nearly on top of him. He held his breath, panic rising within him.

Quietly, Sasuke shuffled away from Naruto, sneaking out of the bed. He had no idea what they were even doing there…surely he hadn't been that drunk? He generally remembered most everything, although occasionally there would be a be a bit of a haze over his memories…

With that thought, Sasuke had successfully made it out of the guest room without Naruto budging, much to his relief. In a rush, the past night's memories hit him, and he staggered against the wall.

Sakura.

It's not as if it was a surprise.

Sasuke closed his eyes and thumped his head against the wall behind him, willing himself to stop this. Surely he hadn't expected that Naruto would stay single forever.

Still…

He sighed and grabbed at his face, leaning forward. He had to stop this. With renewed vigor, Sasuke went to grab his music player, put on the angriest music he could find, and set about cleaning the house, and kicking people out.

Naruto had awoken at about the same time that Sasuke had started to leave, having missed the warmth that had once been near him. He only opened his eyes to catch a glimpse of the Uchiha leaving the room, before he heard a sigh, and a soft thump hitting the wall.

Well, apparently Sasuke was feeling just as bad as he was. At least there was that!

'But,' Naruto thought with a small groan, 'that means I have no excuse not to help him…'

Sasuke would undoubtedly start cleaning, as he always did after Naruto had had some sort of social gathering. Generally, he was always done by the time Naruto awoke, but if he had the chance to help now…

He glanced at the clock…1:08. He didn't really have an excuse to keep sleeping…he groaned, and forced himself out of the bed.

In Naruto's experience, Sasuke listening to music meant very few things, and none of them were good—and, as a result of living with the antisocial bastard for years, Naruto knew not to bother him.

So, after changing and splashing some water on his face, he set about grabbing plates and garbage, and generally avoided Sasuke whenever he could.

Sasuke, lost in his own world, didn't actually notice Naruto until when the blonde was directly behind him, going for the same garbage bin that he was. He unceremoniously backed into the blonde, got incredibly startled by the touch, and spun around to slam his arm into Naruto's chest.

Naruto was entirely unprepared for Sasuke's violent reaction, and slammed back into the counter as Sasuke shoved him away from himself.

"Ow," Naruto moaned.

Sasuke, with wide eyes, took out his ear phones.

"S-sorry, I—uh," he didn't know what had possessed him to do that, "are you okay?"

"Yeah," Naruto waved him off, in spite of the pain in his lower spine, "yeah, I'm fine—sorry if I, uh, scared you."

"You didn't—" Sasuke started automatically, but Naruto met his words with such an incredulous look that he stopped.

"I had music," Sasuke conceded, only a bit sulky.

"Yeah," Naruto gave him a lopsided grin, "you did. You gonna let me put this garbage away?"

The blonde indicated the plastic bag he had filled in his hand. Sasuke eyed it skeptically.

"No," he said.

"No?" Naruto asked.

"No," Sasuke repeated, "that's way too full. I need to empty the garbage. Take that to the bin—better yet, put the bin outside."

"Bah," Naruto made a show of looking exasperated, "you're always making me do all the annoying stuff." But he was already on his way out of the room, and Sasuke could only smile at the blonde's retreating frame.

He took a moment to appreciate—'no,' he thought, shaking his head to clear his thoughts. This kind of thing had to stop. He couldn't go on appreciating Naruto's incredibly looks—those bright eyes, that warm smile—he had to move on. It wasn't happening naturally, so he would have to work at it. He would do it. He would get over Naruto.

A few hours later, Naruto's burst of productivity had come to an end, and he had passed out on the closest seat—which happened to be their dining room. Sasuke would have laughed if he hadn't been so tired.

He was fairly sure no one else was in their house, and no amount of coffee seemed to be helping his hangover. It was clean enough for the time being; he was going back to his own bed.

Both boys awoke in time for dinner, and in time for there to be none. Their fridge had been effectively raided by drunken adults, and Naruto scavenged through it to try and find something they could piece together. Sasuke peered over the back of the fridge door, watching him.

"We can…have salami and some peppers? Oh wait, there's cheese too! We could make nachos!"

"I'll order food." Sasuke was already walking away.

Naruto just rolled his eyes.

Another hour later, Sasuke went to get the door, and Naruto got a phone call.

"I didn't want to tell Lee," came Sakura's agitated voice, "and I might be just jumping to conclusions, but, I just—I needed to talk to someone."

"No—no, yeah, of course," Naruto said, and gave Sasuke a serious look as he came in with food, before moving to another room. Sasuke sighed.

"Can't you just—go buy a pregnancy test?" Naruto ran a hand through his hair.

"Yeah," Sakura said. "I'm going to. As soon as I can, I am. I'm just—I'm just…freaking out a bit."

"Sakura," Naruto smiled a little to himself, "listen. Of everyone I've ever known, you've always had your life the most in order. What is honestly the worst that will happen? You don't think Lee would marry you the moment he could? I bet he already has the ring."

He heard Sakura snort.

"And it doesn't even matter. You'd be an amazing mom. Lee would be a hilarious dad. You guys are great, you really are. You'd make it through anything."

"Yeah," her voice was breathy, as if full of sighs, "you're right. I should talk to Lee. I just keep thinking we've been dating for barely a year…"

"He's been in love with you for at least four," Naruto rebutted, and Sakura laughed.

"Maybe," she said, but Naruto could hear the smile in her voice.

"Go talk to Lee," he said, "and then update me. 'Kay?"

"Okay."

Naruto let out a sigh when he re-entered the room, but as soon as he opened his mouth—not totally sure what he would tell Sasuke, but going to talk nonetheless—he was interrupted.

"Food's in the kitchen. I'm going upstairs."

Without looking at him, Sasuke left. Sasuke was in another mood, apparently. Naruto could have sworn he was okay just a minute ago, but maybe he was just really feeling the hangover now—it was probably way worse than Naruto's.

Naruto grimaced a little, remembering how he had found Sasuke this morning, and decided to leave him be for now.

'I', Sasuke thought to himself, looking around his entirely food-less bedroom, 'am such a goddamn idiot.'

He just—he just hadn't wanted to hear it. He didn't want to hear Naruto, with red cheeks, scratching the back of his head, shyly bring up he was dating Sakura. He just—not yet. Eventually. He would listen to it later—no doubt, he would have to—but just…not yet.

Sasuke fell face-first onto his bed and groaned into the mattress.

Now he was hungry and in an entirely foul mood. And he couldn't go back downstairs without seeing Naruto, and there was no chance in hell that the blonde would leave him alone. Naruto never left anyone alone.

He rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling. But that was—that was one of the best parts about him. No matter how shitty, rude, or downright hostile Sasuke had been, Naruto had continued to give him chances to make up for it. It was like he understood Sasuke on a level that no one else ever had—Sasuke was well aware he spent the majority of his life in a negative mood, but…not when Naruto was around. Something about him just made his life…brighter. Better. It made him want to smile, and laugh, and forget about whatever had made him so down in the first place.

He had never met anyone who held this sort of power over him.

And for god knows what reason, Naruto seemed to enjoy his company. At least, the Uzumaki always seemed to seek him out…

He closed his eyes, trying to turn off his mind. His stomach grumbled, and they snapped open again.

He needed some goddamn food. Wearily, he moved off the bed and made his way back downstairs.

Not ten minutes after Sasuke had left, he came back downstairs. Naruto paused at the noise of him walking down the stairs, and bit down on the noodles hanging halfway out of his mouth so he could go see the grumpy Uchiha.

Still chewing, he followed Sasuke into the kitchen.

"How much water have you had?" He asked, startling Sasuke.

"I—what?"

Naruto shot him a grin, and responded by handing him a cup of water.

"I've had plenty," Sasuke made a sour face, and didn't take the cup.

"Have more, teme," Naruto was unfazed.

"Fine," Sasuke took it and turned away.

"…are you eating more?" Sasuke, a chronic under-eater, didn't respond.

"Sasuke? Are you okay?" Naruto moved closer, and it made Sasuke lurch away.

"I'm—fine," he said. Naruto didn't look convinced.

"Okay," Naruto said slowly, "let me carry your food."

"Naruto, I'm—"

"Yeah, yeah, you're fine," Naruto shoved in front of him and grabbed a bunch of the containers. "Take the water and go. I'm already holding all this stuff."

Sasuke scowled, but Naruto kept nudging him until he moved. To his credit, Naruto was totally silent when going up the stairs, rightly guessing Sasuke's head was pounding.

"Get under the covers," Naruto instructed, and Sasuke gave him a look.

"Just do it," Naruto said, and Sasuke was too tired to disobey.

Naruto refilled his water from the bathroom, and put a little from all the take-out containers onto a plate, which he plopped on Sasuke's lap.

"Don't eat too fast," Naruto warned.

"Naruto," Sasuke was frowning, "I'm not a child. You don't need to babysit me."

"True," Naruto allowed, "but I do need to make sure my best friend is alright. So just humour me, okay? I'm gonna go get my food."

Sasuke didn't respond, and Naruto took it as the agreement that it was. When the blonde returned, it was with his own plate, and some painkillers. He put the painkillers on Sasuke's bedside table without comment, and then sat on the end of the bed, his plate in his lap.

Personally, Sasuke had found the food to be a bit greasy and overpowering, but Naruto seemed to enjoy it, if the rate at which he was eating was any indication. Naruto's eyes flickered to Sasuke when the Uchiha reached over to take the painkillers, but he didn't say a word—only returning to the bathroom to fill up Sasuke's cup of water when he finished it.

Before Naruto could get back to his plate, his phone rang again. He immediately answered it, and Sasuke looked away.

"Hey! Hey—yeah," Naruto grabbed his plate and looked around for somewhere safe to put it, "you got the test already? And?"

Naruto made his way out of the room, with a relieved smile, "so you're not," the door shut and Naruto laughed, "it was a false alarm! And you were all freaking out…"

His voice faded away, and Sasuke's fork clattered on his plate. He stared at his lap, unable to think straight.

Surely—no.

Surely he had misheard.

Surely there was some other explanation.

The words swirled around his head, and he tried desperately to think of other situations in which they applied, but 'test' and 'false alarm' only seemed to bring up something very specific.

He knew they had…begun dating, but he hadn't—he hadn't thought—

Sasuke felt sick. He shoved his plate away from him and stumbled to the bathroom, locking both doors, falling to his knees.

A/N: Thank you all for the wonderful feedback! Poor Sasuke, always overhearing the wrong stuff :P I keep making him be sick, but I think he's the type of person that doesn't really binge drink so his body is super sensitive when he does.

See you tomorrow!

- Kinomi