Author's note: Sorry for the long delay, guys! *winces* Wasn't my intention at all. I'm hoping to keep my updates more regular for this one after this!
Thanks to the following reviewers: sasunaru1214; 666snoopy; Kaoribirdy81; Iraheta 127; KitsuneJen; SehunsBae37; richon; solitare1; lara5170; Kalos; Nellana
Warnings: Small time skips
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.
I hope you'll like this chapter!
Chapter 6: Unfolding
Sasuke had heard his phone buzzing, but with class starting he didn't have a chance to check the message until lunch. He had expected the text to be from Kakashi, but instead it was from Naruto, surprising him a bit.
Heat's over. Want to come over tonight?
Considering it was Friday, Naruto had most likely decided that returning to class for one day was stupid. If Sasuke had been in his position, he would also just have remained home, because attending class for just one day was indeed idiotic.
Sure, I'll be over after class
He had kept Naruto's homework in a separate folder for the past couple of days, so all he would need to do still before visiting him was collect the rest of his homework from the teachers today.
Nara stopped him after he left Yamato's class, still in the process of adding the papers to the folder he'd dedicated to Naruto's homework.
"You collected Naruto's homework?" he inquired; his dark eyes briefly landing on the dark blue folder.
Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Yes, what else does it look like?" he questioned dryly in return.
Nara stared at him in a peculiar manner and looked ready to say something, even going as far as opening his mouth before he sighed and lightly shook his head. "I'll see you two on Monday."
Sasuke watched him go, narrowing his eyes slightly. He had no idea why Nara had felt it necessary to ask such a stupid question when the answer was obvious. Nara wasn't an idiot, so what had been up with that question?
Well, no point in keeping standing here. He had homework to deliver and Nara's idiotic question was quickly forgotten when he made his way to his car. Buzzing of his phone stopped him before he could start the engine and he raised an eyebrow when he saw that this time it was Kakashi who had texted him.
Nosy Idiot 04.13 p.m.
Not sure if you're visiting Naruto-kun today, but if so you can't stay the night
Sasuke's eyebrow rose even higher.
Me 04.13 p.m.
Why?
It took a little while before Kakashi replied this time. Most likely he had been distracted, as usually was the case when there was a pause in his texting.
Nosy Idiot 04.15 p.m.
Got to leave tonight for my work, so need you to keep an eye on the house
Of course it was something like that again. There was no reason why Kakashi couldn't have told him about his leave this morning, but that was Kakashi.
Me 04.15 p.m.
Fine, I'll be home in a couple of hours
He doubted Naruto would already feel comfortable having Sasuke stay over tonight anyways, so shortly after his heat had ended.
This time it was Naruto who opened the door when Sasuke rang the doorbell.
"Got your homework," Sasuke said and stepped inside, waving the folder in the air.
He bent down to exchange his shoes for the house slippers Kushina had given him a while ago. She had grinned, stating he might as well have his own slippers with how often he was at their home now.
"Thanks, didn't have to," Naruto sniffed, accepting the folder and scowling down hard at it.
If he could set it on fire with his eyes, the homework would definitely have caught flames by now. Sasuke rolled his eyes good-naturedly, adjusting his jacket better on the hook when it threatened to fall down on the floor.
"You're welcome," he retorted dryly and followed Naruto upstairs to his bedroom; the way to it just as familiar to him as the trip to his own bedroom was. "You feeling okay?"
Naruto still looked a bit tired, faint bags visible underneath his eyes. He was dressed in one of his loose shirts and his sweatpants were on the loose side as well, the cuffs nearly drooping onto the floor.
"I'm fine, not as tired anymore either," Naruto answered and rolled his shoulders.
Sasuke made a beeline for the desk; his to go to place whenever they studied in Naruto's room.
As Sasuke spread out his own homework on the desk, Naruto left the room again. Sasuke heard him going back downstairs and figured he was probably going to collect some snacks and drinks for them, which he usually did when they were about to study. Sasuke swore Naruto seemed utterly incapable of studying without anything to snack near him.
"Got your shirt here," Naruto announced when he came back, putting two soda cans on his nightstand. "Mum washed it, but, er, I'm not sure whether she got rid of the smell completely." He blushed at that admission, looking away as if embarrassed.
So he had worn it after all. Sasuke looked at him, perking up slightly. "It's fine; it's not like you smell that horrible," he smiled flippantly. Far from it actually.
As an Omega, Naruto was almost dispositioned to smell nice, but his scent was on a different level than that of other Omega Sasuke knew. Especially at night it had a soothing tint to it, making it easier for Sasuke to fall asleep during the nights he spent at the Namikaze-Uzumaki household.
"Did the shirt help a bit?" he asked curiously.
He hadn't actually been certain whether the shirt would do something to help Naruto during his heat. He had just followed the advice he had read a while ago on those blogs, but he had been somewhat sceptical about it even when he had dropped off his shirt. Would his Alpha scent really help ease Naruto's heat?
Naruto appeared taken aback for some reason and stared at him bemused. "What?"
"The shirt." Sasuke nodded at the shirt Naruto was still holding. "I only wore it for a bit to keep it clean, but did it at least help you somewhat?"
"Erm, yeah, it – it helped," Naruto answered surprised. "How did you - "
Even though there was no reason for him to feel embarrassed about it, his cheeks heated up against his will and Sasuke cleared his throat, feeling somewhat bashful as he explained, "I read that an Alpha's scent can help reduce the symptoms of an Omega's heat somewhat and I figured I'd – I figured I could help you. You were complaining last month how much your heat sucks, so I thought I could help out this month."
It had been more a spur of the moment thing, to be honest, but he was relieved to hear that it had helped out Naruto during his heat. Apparently that tip hadn't been bullshit after all.
"Yeah, it really helped, thanks," Naruto smiled and held out the shirt.
It smelled freshly washed, but there was still a very vague scent clinging to it; one that Sasuke immediately identified as belonging to Naruto. He must have worn the shirt for hours, if not a few days for his scent to have soaked into the cloth to the point that even washing hadn't completely got rid of it. Sasuke didn't mind. The scent wasn't bothersome and it felt good to know he had helped Naruto, even with something as silly as a shirt.
Sasuke accepted it and put it in his bag. "If you'd like I could give you another shirt next month?" he suggested, pushing his water bottle to the side so that the shirt would fit better.
"Yeah, that'd be awesome, thanks," Naruto smiled, rocking back and forth on his heels.
"Good. You need help with history?" Sasuke took the soda the other boy offered him next, opening it with an almost violent ssshhhh sound. Some drops landed on the back of his hand like mist and he brushed his hand over his trousers to get rid of them.
"You're going to give me the answers?" Naruto asked hopefully, widening his eyes dramatically.
Sasuke snorted and turned his attention back to his own homework. "Like hell I will. I asked whether you needed help, I didn't say I'd do the work for you."
"Hey! Cut me some slack! I just recovered from my heat!"
Clearly he was feeling just fine if he could get this worked up.
"If you've got the energy to whine, you're fit enough to do your homework."
"Seriously, what kind of a best friend are you?"
"One who'll kick your arse if you don't stop whining."
"Your sympathy levels are out of this world, did anyone ever tell you that?"
Sasuke hid a smile and flipped open his notebook.
"Naruto, less talking, more working."
"Normally I should be back by tomorrow evening," Kakashi said, checking his pockets for his wallet and his phone.
Judging by the thin size of his bag, he was indeed not planning on staying away for long.
"That's fine," Sasuke replied, already used to it by now. This wasn't the first time Kakashi was gone overnight for his work and probably wouldn't be the last time either unless he decided to change jobs.
The mischievous glint in dark eyes instantly put Sasuke on high alert.
"You know, I said you couldn't stay the night at Naruto-kun's place, but he's always welcome to spend the night here," Kakashi said in the most faux innocent tone Sasuke had ever heard.
There was no question what he was implying, so for being an idiot once more the older Alpha got a shoe thrown at his face for his trouble.
"Fuck off!" Sasuke snapped and went upstairs, having had enough of Kakashi's bullshit already.
"Don't do anything I wouldn't do ~" was Kakashi's cheerful retort before the sound of the front door opening and closing announced his departure.
Considering there was basically nothing Kakashi wouldn't do, the warning was a moot one and Sasuke rolled his eyes. He placed his bag on his desk and started emptying it, pausing when his fingers brushed against the shirt Naruto had returned to him. He tugged it out of his bag and shook it open. Without Naruto's actual scent serving as a distraction, the faint hint of it clinging to the shirt was more noticeable this time. It had an almost spicy undertone to it and the familiar smell had Sasuke unconsciously relaxing.
Before he could reconsider his next course of action, he pulled off his shirt and replaced it with the one he'd lent out to Naruto. The combined scents of the by now familiar fabric softener mixed with the undertones of Naruto's unique smell wrapped him up completely, acting as some sort of blanket.
He stood there for a moment, rubbing the edge of the shirt between his fingers, before shaking his head and returning to his task of emptying out his bag. He would have to make sure that he had a shirt ready for Naruto's next heat. It felt good to know that he could help out his friend at least a little bit.
The first night Sasuke spent at Naruto's house once more after the Omega's heat was Sunday when an unexpected storm made it too dangerous for him to drive back home. Or so Kushina fussed at least, looking worriedly out of the window several times. Sasuke wasn't particularly bothered by the fierce rain or the lightening, having driven home before in such weather, but she was insistent that he should spend the night at their place instead.
Not wanting to be rude and upset her– and frankly, it wasn't as if he was that bothered spending the night here anyways – he easily acquiesced, texting Kakashi that he wouldn't be coming home tonight. He subsequently ignored the couple of buzzes he received next, already knowing that it was merely Kakashi being an idiot again. Ever since he had met Naruto, Kakashi seemed to have a particular idea in mind of how things between Sasuke and Naruto were and a day without any sort of teasing remark of the older man was a day Sasuke actually did not see him.
The guy really needed an actual serious hobby.
"Everything okay?" Sasuke asked, frowning slightly when Naruto just stood stiffly in the middle of the room.
They had changed into their sleeping wear and had finished up in the bathroom, so now all that was left was getting into the bed and actually falling asleep. All this had become some sort of routine by now, established thanks to the many times Sasuke had spent the night, so he was now a bit taken aback by Naruto unexpectedly breaking the routine somewhat.
The blond boy was staring with glazed over eyes at him, his hands twisting the edge of his worn out shirt so violently that Sasuke was surprised the material hadn't start ripping yet. At his question blue eyes cleared up, focusing once more, and a faint pinkish hue dusted Naruto's cheeks as he shook his head.
"Yes, yes, I'm fine, sorry, just got distracted," he babbled and practically dove into the bed, shoving himself almost completely underneath the sheets.
This time it was Sasuke's turn to stare until Naruto's head popped up from underneath the sheets and he stared at him with almost luminous eyes.
"You coming into bed or what?" he asked, his voice a bit rough, and he ducked underneath the sheets again, leaving only his eyes and hair visible.
Chalking his odd behaviour up to the last remains of his heat getting flushed out of his system, Sasuke slipped into the bed as well, turning onto his side to turn off the light on the nightstand.
The sheets still carried the fresh scent of having been washed, but Naruto's scent was already getting soaked up by them, surrounding Sasuke when he laid down on his back. Next to him, Naruto shuffled around for a little while; the sheets rustling with every move he made.
Right as Sasuke wanted to demand what was wrong, Naruto paused and then almost meekly – though meekly wasn't exactly a word Sasuke thought he could ever attribute to the boisterous blond – rolled onto his side, facing Sasuke. Another pause and then he shuffled a bit closer until his arm bumped against Sasuke's. His hand came to rest right next to Sasuke's shoulder, curling up on the pillow next to it and his warm breath fanned across Sasuke's cheek when he exhaled.
This close there was no escaping his scent and Sasuke noted distantly that his smell was back to normal, no longer carrying the spicy undertone he had come to associate with the blond's upcoming heat.
"You comfortable?" he asked dryly when Naruto crawled even closer; one of his feet bumping against Sasuke's ankle.
Naruto huffed. "Very. You?"
"Good if you decide to lie still."
"I'm not that bad!" Naruto instantly exclaimed, slapping Sasuke's shoulder, nearly clipping his chin.
"Whatever you say," Sasuke murmured and reached out blindly to press his hand across Naruto's eyes, careful not to poke into them. "Now hush and go to sleep. We've got to get up early for class tomorrow."
"Yes, ma," Naruto snarked, but he laid still and soon his breathing turned slower, indicating that he was falling asleep.
With the fierce rain acting as a soothing background noise and Naruto's familiar scent curling into his nose, Sasuke fell asleep.
He had no idea why, but Sasuke found himself paying more attention to Naruto after that night. Perhaps it was because for the first week following his heat Naruto acted rather jittery, as if a million bees were buzzing right underneath his skin, making it impossible for him to calm down.
Sasuke would catch him staring at him and hastily looking away when Sasuke would try to catch his eyes. He would have to tap Naruto's hand or arm to get him to stop zoning out constantly. He would be worried that he had somehow overstepped with giving his shirt – in a rather underhanded manner, he could admit that – but for all that Naruto was jittery at times and had moments when he would stare at Sasuke, lost in thought, he was still as touchy-feely as ever, quick to wrap his arm around Sasuke's shoulders or his neck.
By now the Alpha had come to expect those quick touches and didn't flinch anymore whenever Naruto hugged him around his neck or his shoulders. The touches felt nice even, grounding in a way he hadn't felt in years. They had the same effect as Naruto's own scent had. Sasuke didn't really understand why, seeing as nobody else's scent had ever had that effect on him before. Perhaps his brother's and his mother's had, at one point, but by now he could only recall their scents in his dreams, leaving him to futile grasp after them when he would wake up.
He didn't have to grasp uselessly after Naruto's scent, however. It enveloped him constantly whenever he was with his friend and even when he wasn't; Naruto's smell having by now become entwined in Sasuke's own clothes. The lingering traces of his scent made it easier for him to fall asleep during those nights he spent in his own bed, almost as if Naruto was there with him.
His scent was hard to ignore, but so was the boy himself, even after he calmed down and no longer acted as if bees were about to break through his skin. Still, Sasuke found himself studying him discreetly every once in a while, for reasons he couldn't discern for himself. They were best friends – it was normal to be aware of each other's presence to the degree he was with Naruto's, right? It only made sense for him to be so attuned to him after the many hours they had spent in each other's company so far. It hadn't even been a year yet since they had become friends, but Naruto had become such a fixture in Sasuke's life that he had a hard time imagining it without him.
It was a terrifying thought to contemplate, given what had happened to the people he had cared this much about last, but he reminded himself over and over again that things were different this time. This time he would be able to defend Naruto if something bad were ever to happen. Naruto had parents who knew how to defend themselves; it would be a lot more difficult to get the surprise jump on them. A lot of nights Sasuke was even there with them, providing an extra layer of protection.
Things were different this time – he just had to keep reminding himself of that.
The upcoming Winter Ball had Sasuke dodging several hopeful looking girls throughout the weeks leading up to the festivities. He had no idea why they were delusional enough to think he would want to go to the ball with them when one, he didn't even know most of them and two, he had never shown any interest in someone whatsoever, but clearly a lot of them suffered from extreme short memories.
He couldn't wait until the ball was over and the girls would finally stop bothering him. What even was the point of going to that ball? Just to listen to crappy music and drink possibly spiked punch while everyone danced like idiots? He could think of a lot of better things he could do to waste his time and that included talking to Kakashi. Not to mention, judging from the cheap silver and blue garlands decking the hallways and the fake snow covering the windowsills, the gym room would look absolutely garish by the time the student council was done decorating it for the ball.
"Yo, Uchiha, you're friends with Naruto, right?"
Sasuke turned his head, watching bemused how a guy he vaguely remembered was part of the student council approached him, his hand in the air. He had no idea who he was, but this wasn't the first time someone knew him by name while he had no clue who they were.
"What is it to you?" he asked instead of responding when the guy stopped in front of him.
Undeterred by Sasuke's less than polite tone, the brown haired boy grinned and rested his thumbs around the loops in the waistband of his trousers.
"I was wondering if you would mind giving this to him?" he asked, holding out an envelope to Sasuke.
He didn't take it. "What's this about?"
"It's my personal invitation; I'd like to take him to the Winter Ball," the guy cheerfully replied. "I don't think anyone has asked him yet, right?"
As far as Sasuke was aware, nobody had asked Naruto to the ball yet. Naruto didn't appear particularly interested in it, but even if he had been, Sasuke found himself very reluctant to accept the envelope. He might not know the guy by name, but hadn't he spotted him with a girlfriend before? They had had no issues snogging in front of everyone at least.
"Don't you have a girlfriend?" Sasuke asked suspiciously.
The guy reared back slightly in surprise. "You know about her? And here I thought you didn't give two shits about what happened in this school," he laughed, ignoring the way Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "I had one, dumped her last week. She got a bit too clingy, you know? I've seen your friend play volleyball, though, and man, he looks amazing!"
He actually had the gall to whistle, making some nasty gestures with his hands that left nothing to the imagination about which part of Naruto he thought looked amazing. Sasuke decided he didn't like him.
"Naruto's not interested in going," he said dismissively and turned around, ready to walk away.
His upper arm was grabbed instead and he whirled around, pulling himself free. Upon seeing the glare on his face, the guy raised his hands in the air.
"Chill man, didn't mean anything with it," he said hastily. "Look, why don't you just give my invitation to your friend? Maybe he'll change his mi- "
"He's not interested in going and definitely not with you," Sasuke said clipped.
"How would you know?" the guy demanded affronted.
Sasuke stared him down. "Because he actually has taste – unlike your ex."
He left, leaving the guy spluttering behind. All the way to his car, however, something ugly churned in the pit of his stomach, sending hot flashes through his entire body. He had no idea what it was, only that the guy had managed to piss him off in the barely three minutes they had talked. The guy had had some gall, treating Naruto like some kind of pretty replacement for his ex-girlfriend. He was clearly letting his dick talk and like hell was Sasuke going to let a guy like him near Naruto.
Besides, if he didn't even have the balls to approach Naruto himself, why did he think he could take him to the ball? Douchebag.
"Are you attending the Winter Ball?" Naruto asked out of nowhere, one week before the Winter Ball.
It was early evening and he and Sasuke were sitting in front of the television, watching some detective series while waiting for Naruto's parents to arrive home so that they could eat dinner. Apparently Kushina had gone to the precinct, hoping to start working as a police officer again.
Sasuke turned his head, staring at him incredulously. Naruto had not just asked him what he thought he had asked. Shouldn't he know him better by now?
"What?" Naruto asked defensively and threw a crisp at him in his usual mature manner.
Swatting the crisp away, Sasuke snorted and turned his attention to the television again. "No, why would I? It's not really my thing. Why do you ask?"
Naruto hadn't mentioned anything about the Winter Ball before, so his question now came rather out of the blue.
"Oh, no reason. Kiba asked me today whether I was going with someone, so I got curious, I guess," Naruto answered and shrugged. "Oh, did you know he asked out Hinata-chan? She said yes, so they're going to the ball together."
Sasuke grunted and couldn't help but feel amused when he thought about how Neji was going to react once he found out. "It's his funeral."
It definitely wasn't going to be pretty. Everyone, even Sasuke, knew just how protective Neji was about his cousin. Anyone who even looked at her a little too long in a way that Neji didn't consider to be right earnt at best a bloody nose and at worst the fear of god put into them by Neji. Inuzuka wouldn't be the first to fall victim to Neji's wrath.
Naruto hummed his agreement before falling silent again, the next crisp finding its way into his mouth this time.
As Sasuke watched how the camera zoomed in on a couple of hair strands that the pathologist had plucked from underneath the victim's nails with a pair of tweezers and which he was now studying underneath a microscope, he pondered Naruto's question. Was there a reason behind it? If he had just wanted to talk about Inuzuka's impending doom, he could have done so without asking Sasuke whether he was interested in going to the ball first.
"You want to go or so?" Sasuke asked, breaking the comfortable silence.
"Er, never really considered it to be honest," Naruto replied slowly, blinking. "Don't have anyone to go with anyway, so it's a moot question."
"Hm, well, you want to go with me then?" The offer left him before he could think twice about it and Sasuke frowned at himself. He wasn't exactly interested in going to the ball, but Naruto's answer seemed to imply that if he had someone to go with, he would have liked to attend the ball. There was no way Sasuke was going to tell him about that sleazy douchebag, though. But nothing said they couldn't go together, right?
It took a moment before he reacted but then Naruto's eyes widened and he whipped his head around, gaping at Sasuke.
"Wait, what? You want to go with me?" he asked baffled.
"Yeah, if you want, that is," Sasuke said and shrugged.
"Yeah, sure, if you don't think it'd be weird," Naruto said, still wide-eyed.
"Why would it be weird?" Sasuke replied calmly before turning back to the television.
Winter Balls weren't exactly his thing, but if going made Naruto happy, why not? It was only one evening after all. What could go wrong?
AN2: The Winter Ball next chapter, guys, for those who read Piece by Piece, you know what that means!
Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.
I hope to see you all back in the next chapter! Please stay safe and take care of yourselves!
Cuddles
Melissa
P.S. For more information about my upcoming and posted stories, please visit my profile.
