thanks for reading this fic about sasunaru! as a new author, it really supports me when people atleast look at my work

rating: T-M

warnings: swearing

as always, every character and setting belongs to masashi kishimoto. this is only a fic, and i am not in contact with the original creator of naruto in any way.

(this is a work in progress, so more chapters will be added when i have time)

enjoy!


01

Winter

It was near december, and the air slowly started to grow colder. Wind blazed through the Hidden Leaf village, as the leaves on the trees struggled to grasp onto their branches before falling off and drifting with the rest of the leaves. It seemed as if everyone's self esteem also drifted away with the wind as well. As per the ending of 4th Great Ninja War 2 years ago, Konoha was thriving, but the ninja's enthusiasm wasn't.

"Ugh, and I thought that I was getting a lot of missions lately," Sakura moped, alongside Hinata as they strolled through the streets in search of at least some refuge from their missions. Hinata paced herself and gazed away from the street but to the sky.

"..Why do you say that, Sakura?" Hinata replied, her voice soft, turning her attention to Sakura next to her. It was quite obvious, though, everyone was suffering with multiple missions on no end, but there was one person in particular, who was the busiest of them all.

"It's Naruto," Sakura spoke, shoving her hands into her coat pockets in an attempt to warm them up. "Have you not realized how we barely ever see him anymore?" She added. Hinata knew it too, that since Naruto was considerably the strongest Shinobi in the Hidden Leaf, he had a lot more work than Sakura and Hinata combined.

"I just hope that he's doing alright…" Hinata mumbled, and Sakura placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Naruto doesn't go down that easily, you hear? I guess even I'm worried too, but I suppose he'll be fine." The two girls turned into a familiar shop. The lingering scent of ramen made Sakura a little nostalgic. Sakura shifted into one of the seats, with Hinata doing the same adjacent to her.

Ah yes, the staple of Naruto's dreams. Probably. Ichiraku Ramen, the shop that inspired Naruto to pursue his dreams in which nobody else believed in him but his sensei, Iruka, and Teuchi Ichiraku, the owner of the ramen shop. Ever since Naruto grew his bond with Teuchi, he'd been inviting almost everyone he knew to the shop. It was only natural after that how the shop was almost always busy nowadays.

It wasn't until the fall time that more missions were put onto the shoulders of Shinobi in the Hidden Leaf, which led to the ramen shop losing its most favorable customer, Uzumaki Naruto. (the shop did not actually lose him as a customer, but since Naruto was so busy, he almost never went anymore.)

Sakura and Hinata were greeted with a bowl of miso noodles and a smile from the owner of the shop. Hinata clasped her hands together and bowed her head in thanks, and Sakura just returned the grin. There were two considerably loud Shinobi sitting in the stools next to them, Sakura found herself intrigued to listen, silently slurping up her noodles.

"Have you heard?" The man sitting next to Hinata spoke, his head turned to the other Shinobi who was on the right side of the wall. "Apparently, Uzumaki Naruto, that prodigy, was forced to stop taking any more missions-"

"Really? Wonder why, huh.. He's probably taken so much work his body can't handle it anymore." The other man replied. The two were in agreement.

"And I thought that kid was some miracle,"

"Maybe he's just doing twice as much as us?" The man remarked, and the other gave him a sly look.

"That probably just means we have to get back to work, dumbass." The two chuckled to themselves, slurping up the rest of their ramen before paying Teuchi and leaving. Sakura held onto their words. Taken so much his body can't handle it anymore… That idiot, Naruto..

If only the two turned around in that instance to see the cold stare that was burning into their backs by a particular man, who was listening the whole time. The man in question, dressed in a beige poncho, and a navy blue cloth tied around his head, was none other than Uchiha Sasuke. He had been listening to both their conversations.

Sasuke was a man who once was a rogue ninja; but ever since he returned to the village, he'd been doing missions so often he was rarely ever seen. Despite there being missions directly sent from the Hokage, Sasuke sent himself on his own missions. Precisely, missions that only himself and some other ninja could do, like S-ranked ones. This was merely one of the times Sasuke had a break from extensive fighting or training. He knew that Naruto had a tiring amount of missions, but hearing Sakura and Hinata's conversation made the raven's eyes narrow.

As if Sasuke had not already heard enough, Sakura spoke up again.

"Hey, let's change the subject into something more.. cheerful," Hinata turns to Sakura with a faint smile. "I heard you were getting a Christmas gift for Naruto, eh?" Sakura asked her, and Hinata's face turned beet red in the span of 2 seconds.

"O-oh.. Yes.. I was thinking of making him a scarf…" She replied, blushing at the thought. "...A red one," The words barely came out of her mouth. Sakura chuckled.

"You really like him, right?"

"Ah..! ..Yes," Hinata gave Sakura a sheepish smile. It was obvious to everyone that Hinata liked Naruto in some way.

A red scarf.. Sasuke thought to himself. He scoffed and went off in a flash. Why did hearing about Hinata's intentions to make Naruto a scarf, tick Sasuke off? Maybe it was just that he was already pissed from Naruto overworking on his own accord.


Shortly before...

"Hey, Kakashi." Naruto leaned slightly on the office desk while Kakashi was sitting on the other side. Kakashi felt that it was only yesterday how Naruto called him "Sensei". Naruto looked exhausted, big dark circles had formed underneath his eyes.

"Are you sure you don't want to take a rest? You've been at these missions nonstop." Kakashi remarked, as if being the Hokage was the least of his concerns. No, even if Kakashi had a job to do, he couldn't resist his heart telling him to stop Naruto.

"I'm alright. A few missions won't hurt anyone," Naruto replied sternly, pasting a grin on his face. "After all, I'm Naruto Uzumaki!" He proudly stood there for a few moments. He felt the urge to yawn, but held it to his best abilities.

"You may not be just anyone, Naruto, but I'm not dense. You need to relax." Kakashi shot back at him with an even colder tone. He could see the tiredness on the boy's face, and no matter how much Naruto was to deny it, he was in a bad state. "I'm not letting you go on any missions from now on, until you get better."

"What?! But, Kakashi! I'm not sick!"

"Right now you aren't, but you will be soon if you continue overworking yourself. I have plenty of other capable ninja on my hand that can do the missions instead." Kakashi hesitated for a moment, before adding, "Even if I am the current Hokage of Konoha, I still care about you like I was your Sensei." Kakashi heard Naruto sigh, as he lifted his palms off the desk.

"Alright, I'll hear you out," Naruto opened the door to exit the Hokage's office.

"Stay safe, Naruto." Naruto's eyes glinted with a little amusement.

"Don't say that. You already know I'll be safe." He responded, walking out the door without even closing it. This time, a yawn crept up inside of Naruto's throat, and he let it happen, loud and clear. Kakashi was right, Naruto did need a break, even if he denied it plenty of times before. At least now, he didn't.


By the time Naruto reached his own apartment, it was quite late. Despite Kakashi forcing him to not take any missions, Naruto couldn't go without the feeling of at least helping someone out. It was too normal now that he was constantly exhausted and busy from work. Naruto had helped out numerous citizens in Konoha with daily work and such, running from one place to the other. His brain was too fixated on continuing his work until one of the people he was helping actually told him of how late it was.

Naruto dragged himself inside the doorway, kicking off his sandals and not even taking off any of his clothes before flopping on the bed. It was so hard just to stay awake even for a moment. He didn't understand why he was so fixated on his missions and helping people. Naruto contemplated on just falling asleep right there and then on the edge of his bed before hearing a strange noise.

"Naruto, take care of yourself before you go to bed." The Kyuubi grumbled.

"Kuraamaa…" Naruto huffed a sigh, but did what the fox recommended. He unzipped his jacket swiftly and undid his forehead protector, before pulling off his pants and replacing them with some more comfortable sweatpants. Then, shoving a t-shirt over his head, he hobbled to his bed and climbed into his comforter. Naruto hadn't gotten a proper night of sleep for a few days, and this was the first occurrence since the 4th Great Ninja War. The rest of his time he'd spent for the last 2 years was rushing from one mission to the next, only allowing himself an hour or two of sleep. Most of the time, he couldn't ask for Kurama's chakra because Kurama was too tired out and was sleeping. He couldn't blame the fox.


Naruto awoke to the sound of nothing. It was odd letting himself wake up on his own, since he usually had an alarm set for just before the crack of dawn so he could head out to his missions early. He moved out of his bed, not feeling as tired, but he certainly wasn't refreshed.

He did things like any normal person would do in Konoha when they woke up; ate breakfast, took a shower, brushed his teeth.. It all felt too strange to see light beaming through the windows of his apartment. He pulled over his coat and tied on his forehead protector before leaving and locking his door. Naruto leaned over the railing and looked out to the street below. It bustled like normal, he noticed tourists, Shinobi, and regular citizens passing by. One in particular caught Naruto's eye, before he actually did realize who it was, and scrambled down the steps.

"Oi, Sasuke!" He yelled out, meeting up with the raven. Naruto was right, it was the person he'd thought he knew. Naruto noticed a lot of things about Sasuke that many people had not. Like how Sasuke's hair was long enough that it could cover the entire right side of his face, how his right eye, the Rinnegan, would gain its own Tomoe when Sasuke was in battle, and how it generally destested brightness. He noticed how Sasuke would make subtle smiles with only the corners of his mouth curling up, how his gaze softened when he saw something he felt happy about, even if he didn't say it. Perhaps it was because Sasuke was Naruto's dearest best friend whom he had worked so hard to get him to return to the Hidden Leaf.

Sasuke's eyes were narrowed, showing clear signs of irritation. As soon as Naruto neared him, his eyes eased and his mouth turned from a noticeable frown to a gentle smile.

"I haven't seen you in so long! How have you been?" Naruto asked eagerly, waiting for a response to slide out of the raven's lips. Sasuke huffed out a small breath, making a white cloud appear in front of his mouth.

"I'm fine." The man answered, his voice soft. It was normal for Sasuke to be quiet, but Naruto, unlike others, noticed right away that his friend was off. He wanted to ask what was wrong, but held his tongue. Yes, before Naruto had caught Sasuke's look, he was clearly frowning, something heavy casted on his mind. Naruto opened his mouth to speak. He would ask what was wrong. He was Sasuke's best friend, after all.

"What's up with you?" Naruto asked him, placing a hand on Sasuke's poncho lightly.

"It's nothing. I said I was fine."

"Answer me, ass." Naruto felt more impatient as Sasuke denied answering him.

"It doesn't concern you." Sasuke simply replied, moving Naruto's hand off his shoulder. He looked away. It didn't concern Naruto, or maybe it would have, because it was about Naruto that Sasuke was so on edge for. Of course, he couldn't tell him that. Naruto grumbled in annoyance at Sasuke's answer. Why can't I know anything? Though, it wasn't like Sasuke wanted to tell him everything all the time. He couldn't rush it.

"Alright, fine." Naruto shrugged, as the two stood there for a moment in silence, before Naruto's eyes reeled over to the Hokage mountain in an attempt to get away from the awkwardness. Sasuke turned his head back to Naruto, slowly observing his facial features. His cheeks were a particular shade of pink, the icy cold air of the morning clashed with his skin, and for a few seconds, Sasuke could notice Naruto open his mouth with his stomach rising each time. When was the last time Sasuke observed Naruto's face so closely? He could feel his face turning a pink as well, not that it already was, but it sure wasn't from the cold the second time.

Naruto wasn't sure what to say, before his stomach grumbled, even though he had just are breakfast. His head snapped over to Sasuke's, his face flushed in embarassment with his hand through his hair.

"Ichiraku's?" Naruto exclaimed. He knew Sasuke wasn't much of a fan to the place, but he could at least offer it to him. To his surprise, Sasuke obliged with a slight nod to his head. Naruto took a few steps forward in the street before looking back at Sasuke to insure he was following, and then continued walking. Eventually, Sasuke found his place next to Naruto, their steps in sync.

As they walked, Sasuke couldn't help but think about his noticing Sakura and Hinata the other day. It made him scowl to himself, Naruto turning his head over in response with an eyebrow raised. Sasuke raised his hand a little and excused his bad temper. Naruto moved his attention back towards the front. While thinking about the predicament that had concerned Sasuke yesterday, he then noticed Naruto's dark eye bags as he watched him look straight ahead. So it was true. Naruto was overworking himself. He wanted to say something about it, but he stopped himself abruptly; It wasn't his place to know anyway, Sasuke was barely even in Konoha to even care about it. But he did, and that was the problem.

Naruto turned into the shop, Sasuke following him. Ayame looked up from the counter in a flash as soon as she saw the faintest glow of blonde in her peripheral vision.

"Father, it's Naruto!" She yelled to the back counter, to Teuchi, who was preparing the noodles. He turned around, and with one glance, he smiled.

"It's good to see you back, Naruto." Teuchi told him. Naruto took a seat and grinned.

"Yeah, I apologize for not being here lately-" He scratched his head and then bowed it apologetically. Sasuke sat in the seat to the left of him. So Naruto hasn't even gone to Ichiraku Ramen because he was too busy... Damn you. Sasuke thought to himself. It was one thing that Naruto hadn't been sleeping right, but it was another that he didn't even go to his favorite food shop that he wouldn't miss in a century. Sasuke chuckled a little even thinking about it.

"I'll let you and Sasuke have a free bowl for tonight. Take it as a token of my gratitude for coming back," Teuchi handed the two a bowl. Since when did the man know Sasuke's name? He didn't even go here often like Naruto. Unless Naruto was.. talking about him to Teuchi while he was there. He shook of the thought, feeling his cheeks get hot again. Not in a million years. Then again, as he looked over to Naruto, he saw his eyes sparkle in joy, and the raven had the faintest look of blush even after he had shook away that feeling.

"Aw, great! I knew you were still a great man!" Naruto cheered, getting a big smile back from the counter. It was probably only him that could make those two smile as contently as they were. Sasuke looked down at the bowl of noodles in front of him. Then, his thought process interrupted again, by Naruto.

"Chom omm, Shasuke, eat ump!" Naruto mumbled, with a large portion of ramen shoved in his mouth. He never changes.. Sasuke thought. He picked up his chopsticks himself and began to eat the noodles at a considerably less messy way than Naruto.