We have to do something.

Naruto sent the message as he was lying in bed. Even though it was past midnight, he didn't feel sleepy in the slightest.

Like this weekend.

Not sure if he would get a response to the DMs, he found himself scrolling across Sasuke's feed. The other boy had indeed approved his request and followed Naruto back.

Okay first of all, he had more than 5k followers, which wasn't an insane number but the most out of anyone Naruto had met in real life. Naruto was initially taken aback, thinking that that went directly against his impression of Sasuke as a social-media hermit. But then he realised there were barely any photos of the man himself, but he had surprising number of posts, almost all of them were city photography with no caption. Naruto didn't feel particularly qualified on the subject, but to his eyes they looked really good. He was, in fact, a little impressed.

Two photos grabbed his attention more than the rest though. One was of a black cat lying in the only patch of light in an otherwise dark room. The way that the light was, his fur almost looked like it was glowing. Naruto thought it looked cool. The second was of someone playing bass on stage, the man's face was turned mostly away from the camera, his hair covering the rest of his face from the way he was bent over his instruments, but Naruto could clearly tell it was Sasuke. The caption was simply tagging the photographer and a sentence thanking the others in the band. Curious, Naruto looked through the comments, and indeed it seemed like it was mostly people complimenting the performance.

We don't have to do anything.

Naruto grinned as his phone vibrated with the message.

It's a free country. Sasuke seemed to add for good measure.

Naruto snorted.

Glad to see your personality is just as delightful over text.

I could say the same about you.

So how come you're awake? Was it the galleon of caffeine you had.

Oh no, it was the anticipation over talking to you again.

Naruto laughed aloud.

I'm flattered. I knew you were having a good time earlier.

Did you make it to work on time?

There was a brief pause.

I did. Thanks for asking.

Naruto smiled again, starting to get used to Sasuke's strange bouts of politeness.

So where do you work?

It's not wise to give out that information to stalkers.

What, really? I shouldn't say I work in the uni gym then?

Your secret's safe with me. But you might have to up the security at the gym if you've mentioned it to others.

Naruto shook his head, amused, but also wondering how he would ever get any personal information out of this dude. Did part-time work even constitute personal information?

Are you a barista?

There was another pause.

What makes you say that?

Well, your inhuman tolerance to the stuff for one, but also, I can see some cafe hiring you so you can draw in more costumers. You know the whole hot barista effect?

Naruto.

Naruto grinned, he could essentially hear the exasperation in that text. He liked complimenting people in general. If you noticed someone's good qualities, why not let them know? But, Naruto had to admit there was something particular fun about complimenting Sasuke since he clearly didn't know what to do with it.

I'm right, aren't I?

There was a long pause this time.

I did work as a barista for two years, yes, but not currently.

Naruto grinned to himself so widely that his cheeks hurt.

I knew it!

I bet the whole place was filled with giggling girls all the time, and when you quit, the manager was like offering you a pay raise and more flexible shifts to get you to stay because he was worried about losing all this business.

That is an oddly detailed scenario.

I don't see you denying it.

I wouldn't want to destroy your fantasy.

Naruto smiled to himself and found himself scratching behind his head a little.

Naruto knew he was a friendly guy, but he had to admit, despite what he'd told Sasuke earlier, this was starting to feel a little more like flirting than friendly conversation. He supposed it could be because he didn't often meet anyone quite as quick with the banter as Sasuke was, and he found the other man's particular brand of dry humor super entertaining.

But maybe Naruto had to pull back a little? It could be a bit unfair to Sasuke, given he was actually gay. Not that Naruto could ever see him be interested in someone like himself. He wasn't insecure about his looks by any means, but if he had to guess, he would think Sasuke's standards would be inhumanly high, like exclusively dating genius artists or something.

So, will you tell me what you do now, or what?

I work two part-times. I work in a record store/bookstore, and I also do some social media stuff and admin tasks for a venue.

Naruto felt his eyebrows rise. That seemed like it could take up a lot of time.

What kind of venue?

Do you know Smith's?

Wait seriously?

Smith's was probably the best known music venue around the campus. Naruto had been there a few times to see different acts and loved the atmosphere. They were known for only having semi-professional people and straight-up professionals perform.

That's so cool Sasuke, what the hell.

Then something else occurred to Naruto.

Don't tell me that's where you performed too?

Are you actually stalking me?

What, like you didn't look through my posts at all?

Of course I didn't look through your posts. I'm normal.

I liked the dog.

Naruto grinned.

I thought you were a cat person.

I prefer animals to humans overall.

Why doesn't that surprise me?

Must be the psychologist in you.

Naruto smiled.

Aww do we have inside jokes already?

You're a very strange person.

Naruto snorted. He hadn't seen the half of it.

So, since you dodged the question, I'm assuming that photo was indeed at Smith's.

I'm so impressed.

Great, I've accomplished my goal then.

Naruto smiled and rolled his eyes. Yeah right. He had had to drag the information out of the man.

So how about meeting up this Saturday? You can continue to impress me then.

There was a pause.

I actually can't Saturday.

Oh, Naruto felt disproportionately disappointed. He didn't think the other boy was only saying that to avoid him, since he didn't seem like he minded all the texts. Beside he didn't seem like the kind of person to make an excuse if he didn't want to see someone. Naruto was just disappointed because if he had to be honest, he'd genuinely wanted to hang out with him over the weekend. He was having a great time.

I'll be staying in on Friday night. But if you don't have other plans, you can come over?

I live about a 20-minute walk off campus.

Naruto felt his eyebrows shot up in surprise.

Is it wise to invite your stalker over to your house?

I'm a black belt.

Of course he was. He could be joking , but somehow Naruto had the feeling that he wasn't. He was starting to recognize that this boy was one of those people who seemed to have more than 24 hours in a day.

I could still take you.

Naruto said, just because.

You could certainly try.

In that case, then yes, I'll be there.

I'll send you the address.

Naruto sent a string of excited emojis, to which Sasuke gave no response.

Naruto was on campus both Wednesday and Thursday, and he may or may not have kept an eye out for Sasuke as he was walking around, but he didn't run into the other man again. They did text back and forth a few times, though nothing too long. Naruto got the sense the other boy wasn't much of a texter, and in all honesty, neither was Naruto, and even though he briefly considered calling Sasuke once, he felt like that would be a bit too enthusiastic, even for him.

"You sound like you have a crush on this guy." Shikamaru told him as they were having dinner in their kitchen at the same time on Thursday night, and Naruto told him about his new friend.

Naruto snorted "You'd understand if you met him, he's just one of those people."

"Those people?" Shikamaru repeated, not sounding particularly interested "Gay people?"

Naruto laughed and almost opened his mouth to say that that was indeed true, but then closed it, thinking that maybe it wasn't his place to tell Shikamaru, particularly given they all went to the same university.

"I think you'd like him." He said instead, thinking that the two could probably have some sort of genius level conversation while Naruto stared into space. He was smart enough, and he did okay in his courses, but Shikamaru was some sort of a math prodigy, and Sasuke was, well Sasuke.

"Well, if your date goes well tomorrow night, I'll probably get to meet him eventually."

Naruto shook his head at the other boy, though he was already thinking that he could indeed invite Sasuke over to their place next time to make things even.

"Use protection." Shikamaru told him as they finished eating and Naruto managed to smack the other boy on the back before he retreated to his room.

Naruto, after double checking the number, knocked on the door of the house. It opened so immediately that Naruto took a step back, his heart rate picking up. But it wasn't Sasuke behind the door. Naruto blinked at the unfamiliar boy, who stared at him with an unsettling grin. He looked to be about his age, but he had bleached-white hair - at least Naruto thought it was bleached? - spiked all around his face, and he was wearing a purple tank top with loose grey pants.

When it became clear the other boy wasn't going to say anything, Naruto said "Hello? I'm here to see Sasuke?"

The boy's grin widened even more "Oh I bet you are."

Right "So is he here or?"

The boy gave him an unabashed up and down "Are you sure that that's what you want to be wearing to see him?"

Naruto frowned. What was with this dude?

Then despite himself, he looked down at his outfit too. He was wearing a simple gray t-shirt underneath his favorite orange hoodie.

"Are you always this rude to strangers?" He asked the boy, keeping his tone easy-going since this could be one of Sasuke's friends. But man, Naruto hoped Sasuke didn't exclusively hang out with assholes.

The boy held up his hands in the air "I'm just looking out for my boy. Trust me, if you're going for Sasuke, you're gonna have a lot of…stiff competition. You might want to step it up."

Huh, Naruto wasn't surprised to hear that given… well everything about Sasuke. He supposed he could have seen the humor in the situation, since this boy clearly thought he was here for some sort of a hook-up type situation, but Naruto was more annoyed than amused.

"Trust me, it doesn't matter what I'm wearing." He told the other boy, his tone a little less chill this time.

The boy laughed aloud "Huh, I guess you're right, what's underneath is what's important, isn't it?" He grinned at Naruto again "Alright, maybe you're more interesting than I thought."

"Who are you talking to?" A voice said from somewhere in the house, and Naruto wanted to let out a breath of relief at recognizing Sasuke's voice.

The boy turned back, still not opening the door any wider "Oh just your little date, Sasuke. I have to say I'm quite surprised."

There was a pause and then a pale hand snuck around the boy and opened the door wide.

Naruto was weirdly relieved to see Sasuke was wearing a plain black t-shirt and black joggers. They were well-fitted, granted, but hardly any less casual than Naruto's clothes. Not that it actually mattered, Naruto reminded himself.

Sasuke threw an annoyed look at the other boy before looking back at Naruto "Ignore him."

The boy gave Sasuke an over-the-top hurt look "Hey I was just looking out for you, I wanted to offer him a chance to change into something else."

Sasuke sighed "Why would it matter what he's wearing Suigetsu?"

The boy, Suigetsu? Let out a puff of laughter "That's right. He also said it's what's underneath that matters."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at Naruto, but before Naruto could explain, Suigetsu was talking again "I was surprised because he doesn't seem like your usual type at all, but when he said that I wondered if…"

Sasuke interrupted him "This is clearly not a date Suigetsu, Naruto's very straight, couldn't you tell?"

Suigetsu turned back to Naruto, looking him up and down again. "Ooooh, well that explains the…" He pointed his hands in Naruto's general direction, and then he gave Naruto a half-curious, half-amused look "Why didn't you just say so?"

Naruto for some reason felt his face heating up a little, and he opened his mouth to say that he'd hardly been given a chance. When Sasuke quite unceremoniously pushed Suigetsu out of the way, and stepped aside himself, gesturing for Naruto to come in. "Don't engage with him, it only encourages him."

Naruto still kind of felt like he wanted to explain, but there wasn't any good way to do it now without it looking a little desperate and he supposed it didn't really matter.

As he stepped inside, Suigetsu said "Hold the door." He appeared to be grabbing his keys from the table.

Sasuke deliberately let go of the door to let it shut behind Naruto but Suigetsu's arm shot out and grabbed it.

"Asshole." He told Sasuke with an amused look "Alright kids, I will leave you alone now. It was nice to meet you Naruto. Sasuke I don't know what you're going to do with a straight boy, but have fun anyway."

Before giving either of them the time to respond, he stepped outside in one smooth motion, gave them one last grin, though this one looked at least a little more genuine, and then closed the door behind him.

Naruto blinked at the door, and then looked at Sasuke, who seemed completely unaffected by the whole thing.

"That was…" Naruto trailed off, not even sure how to describe the interaction.

Sasuke sighed "That was my housemate, Suigetsu, it's best to just ignore him, he is perfectly harmless."

"Hmm" Naruto said, not fully convinced by the harmless comment, but it's not like it was his place to say anything. Besides, by the end of the conversation, the boy hadn't seemed malicious, just…a lot. "Do you live with anyone else?"

Naruto asked as Sasuke led the way inside. The house seemed quiet as they walked into the living space. Naruto thought it was pretty nice, a little bigger than his own space with Shikamaru and Kiba. There was a big tv and a few gaming counsels with controllers laying around but otherwise, the whole space was clean and tidy.

Sasuke let him look around a bit as he said "Yeah, there is also Karin. She is out right now, thankfully."

Naruto gave him a look "You don't like her?"

Sasuke paused "She is fine actually, but never tell her I said that. It's more that I don't think it would be wise for you to meet both of them at once. If you did, you might be running away already."

Naruto had to admit he was curious now, and maybe a tiny bit concerned, but mostly he was busy grinning "And you don't want me to run away, do you?"

Sasuke raised his eyebrow at him again, and smirked "Only because I can see you holding that six-pack and we're practically out of alcohol."

"Oh right" Naruto looked down at the forgotten beer cans in his hands and then held them towards Sasuke "I wasn't sure if you liked beer, but I didn't know what else to get."

Sasuke took them with a thanks "You didn't have to bring anything."

"Couldn't let you be the polite one all the time." Naruto told him.

"I thought I was an asshole?" Sasuke asked, still smirking.

"Oh 100% that too, you're full of contradictions."

"And that's what makes me fascinating?" Sasuke said dryly.

Naruto smiled because the boy was making a joke, but he wasn't wrong.

"I want to get to know you Sasuke, like know your soul." He said, putting on an exaggerated daytime drama voice.

Sasuke shook his head at him, looking disgusted, before turning and walking upstairs.

"Hey! I'm your guest!" Naruto protested and hurried to catch up.

It looked like the three bedrooms were all on the second floor, which was strange given the house was clearly three stories. Still, Naruto followed Sasuke to what, presumably, was his own room. The night was already shaping up to be even more interesting than he'd thought.

Hey all! I Hope you're enjoying the story, and that it distracts you briefly from your life. I would love to hear your thoughts on it in the comments. :)