Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or any of its associated characters!
Summary: Sasuke has spent three years trying to figure out how to live on his own. Maybe it's time to try something different. WIP. Future SNS, updates once a month. Canonverse. Rating may change!
A/N: Made it :) Here's your chapter for this month. It's been one of those until-3 am sorts of projects for the past few nights, hahaha. Hope you like it, friends!
Two is a Crowd
Chapter 6: if not a spot to settle
Iruka stayed for dinner and breakfast and dinner the next day, and although Sasuke barely spoke three words to him, Naruto spoke enough for the both of them. Naruto told stories and asked questions and answered all of Iruka's far better than Sasuke could himself, and when Iruka smiled, Sasuke found flashes of something—familiar. Familial.
Iruka's smile stretched the same way Naruto's did.
It was wide and it was happy—had that same earnestness. Honesty. Determination—Sasuke couldn't look at either of them for too long without his mind starting to spiral. By the time Iruka begrudgingly told them he had to head back, Sasuke found himself feeling some…sort of…
Melancholy.
Iruka pulled him into a hug. Smaller than Naruto's, quicker than Naruto's, but Sasuke still felt frozen stiff—
"Take care of him," Iruka said quietly, and the words gilded themselves into Sasuke's head.
Iruka squeezed his shoulders and smiled at him, and Sasuke gave him a nod—thick as his throat was, stiff as his chest was—he wasn't sure his voice would come to him even if he called for it.
It changed something in him.
Naruto looked at him differently, and Sasuke began to memorize again.
It didn't paint over anything. It didn't replace it. Sasuke had only memorized pain and blood, and he didn't know what had called him to try another way—but it was dangerous. Addicting. Sasuke's sharingan flared at Naruto's smile and then it activated on its own on the next three—an unconscious instinct in the back of Sasuke's mind, asking him not to let this moment go.
He caught it when he could. Stopped it, on occasion. But when Naruto didn't comment—when Naruto noticed, when he breathed in, but only used his mouth to smile, and not to speak—
Sasuke's restraint was a frayed cord, and Naruto's had always been the knife that wore at it.
And when their time in the village was up—Naruto was the first to start packing. He hummed as he stuffed unfolded clothes into a bag and Sasuke leaned against the door and felt his sharingan activate on its own. It was as if he couldn't stop it. It was as if he didn't want to.
He wondered if his relationship with Naruto was changing, or if this was another piece of himself he'd buried too deeply to feel. He felt the surprise as he'd stumbled over it, at least, but he didn't know. He wasn't sure he cared to. Sasuke found himself caring less about why, and more about…what was. He was quite obsessed with what was.
Naruto met his eye, and Sasuke looked away.
He'd been caught again.
The sun was warm on Sasuke's skin as they stepped back into the woods, but the shade was cool. Growing colder, maybe. Sasuke wasn't quite sure. He supposed they had travelled north for some time—coming close to a border Sasuke's crossed before. He quelled those thoughts as they came, though. Uncomfortable thoughts. Uncomfortable memories.
The night sent a chill across his skin, and Naruto didn't bother to attempt to fall asleep before he came to sit beside him.
"Which one are you at?" Naruto asked, trying to lean over enough to see. Sasuke flicked the letter shut and didn't let him.
"None of your business," he answered simply, and Naruto huffed in protest.
"I don't even get a reply?" he complained. "Still?"
Sasuke snorted.
"You can get your reply," he said, and Naruto shuffled closer to him. "You're an idiot."
Naruto punched him in the arm and pouted, and Sasuke shrugged and didn't apologize.
"I wouldn't have written anything different," he insisted, flicking his thumb past the edge of the page. It threatened his skin with a paper cut, but Sasuke had played with more dangerous blades. "Most of these can be quite thoroughly summarized."
"Okay, well now you're just being an asshole," Naruto said, and Sasuke looked over in reply. Had he expected any differently?
Naruto's small smile widened.
No. No, he hadn't.
"Asshole," Naruto told him again.
The night paused. Naruto looked out into the sky, and Sasuke's sharingan begged at him. He quelled it, now. He asked it to hold. Once Naruto started asking questions, he wouldn't relent until there was an answer, and Sasuke didn't want to dig into the depths of his mind to find him one. Not yet.
It was calmer, here, on the surface of the water.
Naruto let out a breath and leaned back. He was smiling to himself. (Torture, torture.)
"Can't believe you called Iruka here," he said, and it was a mutter. Sasuke found himself smiling, too—the reminder of how well he could read Naruto was an unforgiving thrill. He'd reminded Naruto, too—the blue of Naruto's eyes looked back at him, and he told them I know you. I know you better than you know yourself.
Naruto smiled, as if he'd heard the words.
"You bastard," he sighed, and Sasuke's smile widened.
"You were being stupid," Sasuke pointed out, and Naruto huffed out an offense that wasn't there. "Even dumber than usual."
"Well, somebody's being a dick today," Naruto grumbled, sitting up to cross his legs, but the thoughts had caught up to Sasuke now, and Naruto wasn't the only one of them that didn't like to relent.
"You haven't made me worse."
Naruto's head jerked up.
"Huh?"
"Back there," Sasuke said. "In the village. You said you made me worse. You haven't."
"But I—when I dragged you to—"
"That was my own reflection," Sasuke deadpanned, and the humour was as dead as his own. "You really think I would have been able to avoid it forever?"
Naruto was silent.
Good.
Good.
"You haven't made me worse," Sasuke said again, and something in Naruto's body…relaxed. He'd been holding his breath.
"Um." Naruto said, and he's swallowing. "I—but, I—"
"You want to solve everything," Sasuke said, and his humour was back again. He stared at the night sky, stared at the moon and the stars. "You're an idiot. I told you."
Naruto let out a surprised laugh, but didn't look up.
"Yeah," he said softly. "Maybe I am."
The words settled into the air, but Sasuke didn't reply. He knew they weren't finished.
"I don't know," Naruto sighed, finally. "It just seems like there's so much. And I hate not helping. I hate not being able to."
"You hate being helped," Sasuke said, and Naruto was ready to protest until Sasuke looked his way. "It bothers you. Makes you feel like a burden. You want to put everyone's weight on your shoulders, but hate the feeling of giving up any of your own. I stopped you from falling off a waterfall like an idiot and you whined about it for three days."
Naruto coughed out a laugh.
"That was different," he insisted. "That was—I was a kid! And you were all perfect and good at everything and it pissed me the hell off."
Sasuke held in a laugh.
"And now?" he asked. "Now that you're the one who's perfect and good in the eyes of the world? What are you striving for?"
Naruto turned to look at him. His smile was gentle, teasing, and flushed.
"You don't think I'm perfect," he teased, and Sasuke didn't answer.
He didn't look away, either.
Naruto did for him, with a cough and a laugh and a huddle of his legs to his body—keeping himself close and small in the cold.
"I'm not perfect," he said softly, and he was speaking down to the ground.
"Go on, then. Find someone who'll agree with you," Sasuke said, and it was quiet. It was resigned and it hit Naruto somewhere hard, but Sasuke didn't give him the comfort of a glance.
Let him sit with the words.
Let him know himself—see himself, the way Sasuke did. His insistence to take on Sasuke's burdens was potent and stronger than all else—but it came from an instinct. It came from a reflex Naruto had honed since the second Konoha had spat him into the streets. Rely on no one. Ask for nothing. You are only as good as what you give to the world. You are only as good as the people you've helped. The promises you've kept. The people who love you.
Naruto was so much more than any of that.
Sasuke blinked and his eyes were burning. There was a lump in his throat and his heart beat fast in his chest—he'd angered himself again. He was filled with frustration and fury again—Konoha had much to answer to, and very little who wished to ask. Naruto wasn't one of those. Naruto had been trained well.
He grit his teeth and looked back at him.
…
Naruto's slumped form greeted him. Mouth open, eyes closed, breathing in deep and deeper.
Sasuke let the breath out and felt his anger leave him with it. Stupid. Thoughts of Sasuke's compliments had lulled him to sleep, had they? He couldn't have been that tired. They'd been doing nothing but resting, these past few weeks.
Naruto's head drooped down, and Sasuke's lips twitched as he gave a soft, half-hitched snore.
He didn't even know how the idiot had managed to fall asleep. Sasuke could see how cold he was from here.
Sasuke huffed out a breath and stood, knowing it would panic Naruto into jolting awake—but there was no sense in staying out here for nothing. The nights were too cold to sleep through completely bare—Sasuke had learned that lesson already. And Naruto hadn't even bothered to grab his cloak before he joined him…
…
Sasuke turned back.
Naruto's eyes stayed closed.
Sasuke frowned and moved around him—rooting for the travelling cloak he'd seen Naruto pack away, waiting for the inevitable jump, but it…didn't come. A note to Naruto's fatigue, maybe. It had to have been. Although Sasuke hadn't noticed…
Sasuke spread the cloak across Naruto's chest, and Naruto still didn't wake.
His chakra flared, and Sasuke quietly burned the memory into his mind.
They moved on the next morning. Moving north—further north, in the cold and the rain and the cold again. Sasuke was recognizing scenery he'd prefer not to, and he wondered if Naruto was doing the same. He ought to be. He surely ought to be.
"We're getting close to the border," Sasuke prompted, and Naruto slowed.
"Which one?" he asked. "I haven't really…uh."
Sasuke felt the wane smile on his lips.
"The Land of Hot Water," he answered. "If I had to guess."
"Really?" Naruto asked. "I didn't think we'd gone that far north. I guess it is kinda cold…"
Sasuke watched him. He supposed it wasn't surprising, absent-minded as Naruto was, to have him wandering around with no intention of keeping track of where he'd gone. He's been lost in thought, anyway—lost in his own head, which was a minefield to pull reason from.
Sasuke's lips twitched at his own joke, but the smile dampened before it could form. Here, in his own head, he could admit that he knew Naruto had been this way before, and he knew Naruto could keep better track of himself than this. So either the thoughts had held him down so firmly he hadn't seen the ground under his feet, or he'd simply been quietly trusting Sasuke to lead the way.
…
Sasuke dampened that thought, too.
"Well," Naruto said, and it was a breath, "if we keep going, it's the land of snow, right? East is water, and West is…"
"Sound," Sasuke finished for him, and Naruto looked down.
"…What used to be Sound, anyway," Naruto said, and it was a shrug. It was a stretch and a sigh and a look away, like Naruto was trying to be rid of the tension he'd suddenly brought back to himself. "Wanna keep going?"
Sasuke raised an eyebrow.
"What?" Naruto asked. "You did never get that bath."
His lips twitched.
"Neither did you," he pointed out, and Naruto's grin widened.
"Why not?" he said. "What's the point in travelling if we just stick to the Land of Fire?"
Sasuke snorted again.
"That was never my intention," he said, and he moved past Naruto. Naruto followed him with a laugh and a shove into his shoulder, and Sasuke wondered how he could forgive him so easily. They were so close, now. So close to Sasuke's memories, but close to Naruto's too—and Sasuke knew full well the pain Naruto had gone through. Sasuke knew full well the way he ached at the thought, the way he had only started to heal—
But he smiled at Sasuke so easily.
So easily, still.
"You think too much," Naruto told him, because he knew that something had come to scratch at Sasuke's mind.
"You don't think enough," Sasuke countered, and it was practiced. It was scripted. It was easy and familiar, and Naruto greeted the nostalgia with a smile.
"Such an asshole," he complained, and Sasuke rolled the word around in his head. An insult that was no longer an insult. That might have never been. It held so much more weight to it, now. Sasuke felt it sink into him, hold him steady, balance the thoughts in his head.
He felt it as they crossed the border, too. There are no markings. No fences or changes to track, but this knowledge was ingrained in Sasuke's head, once, and it had yet to leave him. He'd gone this way before.
He'd also gone…
Naruto laughed, and it jolted Sasuke back to reality.
"Sorry," Naruto said, running a hand through his hair—catching along the knots. He hadn't tied it yet, today. "Sorry, I was just—thinking. Um."
Naruto paused, but Sasuke didn't reply. The rest of the thought is still to—
Naruto's eyes darted to him, and he huffed out a breath.
"You're gonna make fun of me," he said, and his hand finally made it through the rest of his hair. "Just—every time I've been around here, I've been—I was always chasing you. Um. I mean I've been through here a couple times after that 'cause Hokage business and whatever but—it's always been just—wishful thinking. That I'd ever be here with you. It was never—it was never gonna be anything real, um. I dunno."
He shot Sasuke a tentative, flushed smile, and the tips of his hair were still tangled around his fingertips.
"I'm just happy," he said, shaking his head. "Sorry. We can keep going."
He ducked his head down and moved forward, but Sasuke caught up to his side with ease.
"Am I a new experience?" he asked. "Still? I would have thought you'd grown weary by now."
Naruto laughed.
"Nope," he said, his eyes the colour of the sky. "Not yet."
They continued to walk, but something in Sasuke was gently…twisting. Churning. Something aching and something euphoric—he stared at Naruto and Naruto—
"Thanks," he said, and it was soft. "For letting me come here with you."
Sasuke's throat closed up. It was too early in the day for this. It was too bright in the sky. All lights were on Sasuke and there was nowhere to hide how hard Naruto's words were hitting him—Sasuke swallowed and Naruto sighed and smiled and he was so happy. He was so happy. He was so happy—
"You know what's dumb, though?" he asked, and Sasuke could suddenly breathe again. "We never ended up stopping here. Ever. In the main—in Yugakure. There's a couple villages around, but—we just went right through. Never had the time to stop."
Sasuke looked over at him. Naruto shrugged and smiled at the ground.
"I don't know," he says. "It's weird to have the time now. Isn't it? Feels like I should be—going somewhere. Doing something. Um."
He scratched the bottom of his chin, and Sasuke gratefully grabbed hold of the distraction.
"Always struggling to slow down," he commented, and Naruto huffed out a breath.
"What?" Naruto said, turning to walk backwards. "You're telling me you're fine not doing anything all the time?"
"No," Sasuke answered, tilting his head the same way Naruto did— "but I have no purpose. You have a thousand to choose from. Our situations are not particularly similar."
Naruto scoffed and turned back around.
"Yes, they are," he said. "You have a thousand to choose from. You could go to the other end of the world. You could go—climb every mountain you see. You could choose to live right here and build a village from the ground up, if you wanted to. You can do anything you want."
"Within reason," Sasuke muttered.
Naruto laughed.
"Yeah? Now's the time where you decide to be realistic? What happened to—"
"Stop talking."
Naruto laughed but blessedly obeyed, and Sasuke was relieved he didn't have to hear which of his ridiculous choices Naruto picked to mock him with. Not that—he didn't still understand them. Naruto understood them, too. But hindsight was a curse, he supposed.
Sasuke breathed out, and the woods started to open. The signs of civilization grew clearer, and Naruto stopped to ask for directions in a village filled with bamboo. It took them another two days to walk their way there, but they didn't travel like they used to—no jumping through trees, no running at top speed. Naruto wasn't used to this pace yet, but Sasuke had eased into it—it was much quicker than he'd been, stuck and frozen in the years he'd lived alone.
They came across wood and rope, and Naruto stalled along the bridge to look out at the water. The sun was still on its rise, and the cold had come to cut at their cheeks. It was an early morning. The bridge was wet with dew and the air was drenched with fog. Nothing would be open for several hours yet, Sasuke thought.
"You know this place used to be a ninja village?" Naruto said, and it was quiet. It was small and potent, catching right in Sasuke's throat. "Not anymore. Doesn't seem like it at all, huh?"
…No. No guards. No eyes on him. No suspicion or warnings or narrowed gazes—not a flare of chakra or weapons stashed away where they could be grabbed. Maybe some…hints of something. There were ninja here, Sasuke was sure—being so close to the Land of Fire, being a touch further from the Land of Lightning…
Sasuke breathed in and out, but the tension didn't leave him.
"I wonder how they did it," Naruto said quietly, and Sasuke listened to the water trickle underneath him.
He didn't answer.
He didn't have one.
Naruto gave him a smile and a slap of his hand on the railing before they moved again. He was lamenting his hunger and his fatigue—his excitement for a bath is something almost contagious, and Sasuke liked to think he could see the steam from behind the buildings. Some warmth came back to the world, and the doors began to open with it—Sasuke found himself frozen, again, at the bright smiles and quick waves.
They were welcome here.
Sasuke wasn't…used to that.
And he was a tourist, of course. A tourist with money to spend, or so they thought—it was Naruto's money they were still spending, but Sasuke wasn't inclined to start that fight again until he'd found a way to win it. He kept his mouth closed and greeted the glances with a nod, as he let Naruto lead the way.
"Ninja, yes?" a woman greeted them, all smiles. No suspicion. Sasuke found himself searching for the genjutsu. "You must have come far!"
"We—yeah," Naruto laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. "What gave us away?"
"The way you stand," she told them. "You ninja are always looking around yourselves. We have family up north, you know—my nephew is the same way."
"In Kumo?" Naruto asked, and she nodded with a smile.
"You've been?" she asked, and Naruto nodded with a wide, happy grin.
"Yeah! A—a couple of times, actually," he laughed. "I went a couple months ago to meet with Darui and A, um."
Her eyes grew a bit wide, and Sasuke's lips thinned. He hadn't gotten to those letters yet, apparently.
"You met with—"
"Mina, come in, breakfast ins almost—" a man came out, and he froze at the sight of—
Naruto.
Ah.
"Lord Seventh," he breathed, and Naruto waved a hand. He was unsurprised by the treatment, although he was blatantly uncomfortable—the cons of being a hero. All the attention Naruto had always thought he wanted.
"Oh, I'm just Naruto," he laughed. "I'm on a break from Konoha—I have no title anymore."
Sasuke stepped behind him and let his bangs cover his eyes. Naruto was the better known name, he hoped. It ought to have been, in these circles.
"Oh! Oh—ah, vaca—vacation then?" the man stuttered out. "Would you like to come in? We just made breakfast—"
"No," Naruto said quickly, as if he hadn't just spent ten minutes grumbling about his stomach, "no, no, we're okay—we're actually trying to find a place to stay for the night, though, if there's anywhere you would recommend."
So diplomatic. So quick. The man jumped to his feet with the thrill of being the one to help someone of the utmost importance, and Naruto swiftly narrowed his own discomfort to the smallest acceptable window.
There he was again.
The Naruto that hated to be helped.
Naruto gave him a sheepish look as the man left, and Sasuke met it with a lean against the wall.
"Sorry," he said. "I guess we're getting back to the places where people might know me, huh…"
"I'm not sure we ever left," Sasuke points out. "After you."
Naruto huffed and stepped through the door, and Sasuke wasn't sure whether he wanted to shake him by the shoulders or slap the back of his head. Something needed to knock some sense into him. Naruto's wedged so firmly in the denial of his own achievements, it was a miracle he can see anything at all. But then therein lied the problem—Naruto never remembered what he had done.
He only remembered what he still had to do.
Sasuke leveled his unamusement at the back of his head while Naruto greeted the man at the counter—someone older, tired, with hands that looked like Sasuke's.
"Ninja," he greeted them. "No trouble."
"No," Naruto agreed, with a small laugh. "Well, I mean. Can't make any promises for this guy."
Naruto nudged him with his elbow, and Sasuke wondered about the frequency at which Naruto's diplomacy traded for idiocy. Every ten minutes, perhaps?
"Do you get many of us?" he asked quietly, and Naruto's teasing eased.
"Some," the man answered—vague. His eyes were guarded, but not suspicious. "Up from Fire, down from Lightning."
"That makes sense," Naruto said. "We're closer than I thought, I guess."
"Close for a shinobi," the man offered. "I've seen the speeds you can run."
Sasuke eyed him again, but the man only slapped a key on the desk.
"What's your affiliation, then?" he asked. "Which village?"
"Oh," Naruto started, and Sasuke stepped on his foot.
"Why the question?" Sasuke asked, and the man let go of the key with a soft laugh.
"So I know where to take my complaints," he said. "Policy from four years ago. See?"
He pointed at the wall, where the bricks were patched over and unevenly fitted. Like someone had…blasted a hole through the wall. Ah.
"I won't stop your fights," the man said. "But keep them out of here."
"Of course," Naruto agreed. "Um—I'm with Konoha."
Sasuke let out the breath he hadn't known he was holding, but the man only looked between them—
"Oh, and he's with me," Naruto said quickly. "Um, about the hot springs—"
"It's a public bath," the man said, letting go of the key, "but business is slow. You'll probably have it to yourselves."
"Ooh," Naruto said, immediately back to idiocy. "Okay, um—and one more—"
Sasuke took the keys off the table. Someone ought to start with their bags. Naruto spared him a glance and a smile, and Sasuke met it with a roll of his eyes. He'd had quite enough of the questions. Quite enough of the people. This village was filled with reminders, it seemed. Reminders of where Sasuke came from.
Reminders of what could be.
He breathed out and put down his bags, leaving the door open just a crack. No sense in locking Naruto out…yet. He'd see where the night led.
Their room was small and well-maintained. Tatami floors and wooden walls—it smelled of lavender and soap, as if it had just then been cleaned. There was a dried bouquet on the table and two futons set up side by side. Neat. Tidy. Brimming with hospitality.
Sasuke wondered what it looked like before the land had become neutral.
He wondered how many other villages had thought the same way. How many had failed. How many had succeeded. What the pushback had looked like. Had there been a rebellion? Had there been an exodus?
This place was so calm. Sasuke could only imagine the turmoil.
He heard the storm of footsteps coming his way, and turned just as Naruto burst through the door. He was out of breath and a little bit panicked, and Sasuke—for a moment—wondered how long his hair might have grown.
"Hey!" Naruto said, and he was bouncing on his feet. "Let's get food!"
Ah.
That would make more sense.
They stayed out in the town until night fell, and Naruto was recognized twice more. Sasuke found himself settling in Naruto's discomfort—it was an easy thing to tease about, when Sasuke's own past wasn't lingering in the corners of their vision. It was a relief, though. Sasuke was so used to the world being against him. He kept waiting for it to turn.
But day only turned to night instead, and Naruto goaded him into a bath as soon as they were back in their room. He was excited and thoughtful—giving Sasuke smiles in between faraway looks. It wasn't a bad absence. Just a reflective one.
Sasuke was grateful for it when they changed—back to back, as if there was something bashful between them. As if privacy could still exist when they've laid their minds and memories at each others' feet. Whatever the feeling, Naruto didn't comment on it—too busy staring at the tile as they rinse off. Watching the water go down the drain. Sasuke caught sight of fingers threaded through blonde hair, and water dripping down his back—
Something in him panicked, and he was the first to dart outside.
The gruff man was right—they have the onsen to themselves, and Sasuke was both grateful and unnerved. Fewer distractions meant more of Naruto's eyes on him, and Sasuke's feeling strange and exposed in this place—
It was new to him. Maybe that was all that it was. Sasuke hadn't been anywhere close to entering an onsen in a long time—he couldn't remember the last time he'd even considered it. Even thought of it as anything other than a waste of time. Time better spent training. Preparing. Planning. In motion.
He was surprised Naruto didn't think the same.
"Y'know, the last time I was in one of these, I was still training with Jiraiya," Naruto said, and his soft laugh was echoed by the splash of his steps into the water. Sasuke kept his eyes averted. "The dick. He'd say to wait here and he'd catch up later, and then he'd get us both thrown out."
Sasuke's eyebrows raised, but he stayed silent. Naruto had a soft spot for his old teacher, no matter his flaws.
Jiraiya wasn't the only one he gave that kindness.
"I was so pissed," he laughed, and it was sentimental. Soft. Lost in a pain that was gently starting to mellow. He met Sasuke's eye, and knew he knew the feeling.
"It wasn't here, was it?" Sasuke asked, and it was light. It was pulling Naruto to be the same. "You've given them your real name."
Naruto gave him the laugh he was fishing for.
"No, it wasn't here," he answered. "Dick. Also—kind of hard to lay low when a bunch of people have already recognized me."
"You could try a disguise," Sasuke offered, and Naruto grinned.
"You think so?" he goaded. "You think I'd pull it off?"
Sasuke's lips twitched.
"No."
Naruto laughed and sank further into the bath. The water rippled around his shoulders, echoing the depth of his skin. Naruto was soft and unmarred—his wounds had been healed too efficiently to scar, and it matched well with the rest of him. On the surface, Naruto was unblemished. Unhurt. Whole and unmarred.
Except for his arm, Sasuke supposed. Naruto had kept the bandages on, even here. He supposes it was fitting—the one injury visible to the world was the one Sasuke put there.
Sasuke breathed out and looked away.
This heat was stifling.
"You look kind of flushed," Naruto said, and Sasuke made the mistake of looking back at him. Naruto was naked and smiling, leaning back against the rocks with a lopsided grin and half-lidded eyes. It was a gentle, relaxed teasing that made Sasuke want to—leave. Get out. He didn't want Naruto to look at him right now. He didn't want him to see—
Naruto sat up, and Sasuke's panic bit him in the throat.
"You okay?" Naruto asked, and Sasuke—
"Fine."
He wouldn't look at him. He couldn't look at him. Something in Sasuke's heart started hammering the moment he did, and between the heat and this dizziness, Sasuke—
"No, actually, asshole—people can pass out here," Naruto insisted, and he—damn it, he was moving closer. He's moving—
"I'm fine, Naruto," Sasuke snapped, and it froze Naruto where he was. "Relax."
Naruto's face flickered into a frown, but it was gone the next moment. He was already turning away. Already putting the mask back up.
Sasuke grit his teeth and stared up at the sky.
"I'm tense," he said, and the water shifted as Naruto turned back to him. "I'm not used to…this."
That was the best answer Sasuke could give him, anyway. That was the best answer he was willing to.
"Oh," Naruto said. "Oh—yeah, of course. It's—it's okay, though? We can go, if you…"
Sasuke gave him his most withering glare, and Naruto blessedly stopped talking.
He continued to smile, though.
…
Sasuke leaned back and closed his eyes.
The sun was going down. Sasuke was growing awake with the night, as he always tended to. He could feel Naruto's eyes on him and they were as hot as the water on his skin. This was meant to relax him. He knows it was. But Sasuke…
He let his eyes open and his head fall. Naruto darted his eyes away as if Sasuke hadn't been well aware of his study—but Sasuke didn't call him out on it. He knew better than to start something he couldn't finish.
The water rippled, and Naruto's reflection glowed gold in the sunset. His skin was wet and smooth and dripping. His hair was just the same. He leaned back and Sasuke watched his neck as he swallowed, watched the curve of his jaw as it clenched, watched the part of his lips as they sighed. Naruto's eyes were dark and deep as they opened again—shadowed by the way they tried to stay closed.
Sasuke's chakra flared.
Naruto blinked awake, and Sasuke inhaled and looked away—
"Sorry," he said quickly, because that—that had been an accident. A mistake. Naruto was looking at him now, and Sasuke was filled with dread;.
"Oh, no, it's—it's okay," Naruto said, and it grew quiet at the end. "You can keep—I don't mind. I only jump when I feel your chakra 'cause it usually means like a fight or something."
He let out a soft laugh, and the heat was starting to get to him, too. His whole face was flushed. He wouldn't meet Sasuke's eye for more than a moment.
"You're overheating," Sasuke told him. "You're going to pass out in this bath."
"It's making me really tired, yeah," Naruto said. "Maybe I need to start slow. You're probably used to it though, huh? Flames and stuff."
He shot Sasuke a lopsided grin, and Sasuke rolled his eyes. He was the first to stand, if only to ease whatever panic had taken hold of him when Naruto had entered. He didn't know if it was the heat or the privacy or the way that it was them, but Sasuke's head wasn't set right on his shoulders today.
Well. He didn't know if it had ever been, but that was a different train of thought entirely.
He breathed out and rinsed himself off again, keeping his eyes closed as Naruto followed behind. Sasuke stayed a step ahead, pushing them to leave. Asking them to go. He was uncomfortable in this exposure. In this comfort. Maybe he could grow used to it, with time, but right now…
Sasuke breathed out, and pulled his clothes close to him. The more of him covered, the better.
They left, hot and clothed, and were immediately greeted by their past again. Another courier. Sasuke grew stiff and Naruto grew stiffer—
"Um," he said—
"Letter for Naruto Uzumaki."
He hesitated, that time. It was something. Sasuke didn't pretend it had anything to do with the self-preservation he'd really ought to have learned by now, but Sasuke took what he could goddamn get. This was a different ninja than before, but that was not what had Sasuke on edge.
The man disappeared, and Naruto flipped the envelope in his hands.
"Let's, um," Naruto said quickly. "Let's go back to the room."
The envelope stayed closed, and Sasuke used the time to ready the arguments in his head. Steel his resolve. If this was about to be reopened, then fine, but Sasuke would not go quietly—
The door closed, but the envelope still didn't open.
Naruto breathed out and flipped it in his hands again.
"It's from Sakura," he said quietly.
…
He flipped it over again.
Sasuke grabbed it out of his hands. And Naruto looked up, as if ready to protest, but Sasuke didn't try to take it away. He didn't find a place to throw it, hide it, set it flame—
He only flipped it open. Naruto's mouth stayed open, but he didn't stop him.
'UZUMAKI NARUTO!' Sakura's handwriting yelled, and it was furious.
'Did I ask for your goddamn help? Did I tell you to come back here? Didn't I TELL you that you should be out there with Sasuke? I swear to god if you show your scrawny ass back in here Konoha before—'
Sasuke snorted and threw the letter back at Naruto.
Good. Good.
A bit annoying, though.
It had been so much more comfortable to dislike her.
A/N: Really excited for where we're moving into. I hope you are too :) Also! Are any of you participating in SNS month in October? I'm so excited!
This month took a lot out of me, so I haven't been able to be as active and responsive as I would like to be, but I've been getting a lot of love and I can't tell you how much I've needed it. So thank you, friends. I hope you liked this chapter!
Until next time,
- Kinomi