They caught Shikamaru eating dinner in the kitchen. The other boy said hi to Naruto distractedly, and then looked up again and did a double take at seeing Sasuke standing next to him.

"Hello…?" He said warily.

"Shika, this is Sasuke, he is going to stay with me tonight. Sasuke this is my housemate Shikamaru"

If one went solely based on expressions, Shikamaru didn't look even remotely interested in the information. But he stopped eating for long enough to turn around and glance at Sasuke, which for him, actually signified an insane amount of curiosity.

Whatever he gleamed from their expressions, made him sigh. "Sasuke, not that I want to be a part of this, no offense, but I feel like I have to at least ask. Blink twice if you're not here by choice."

Sasuke gave Shikamaru a very pronounce blinked.

Then a second.

Naruo pushed his elbow into Sasuke's side "Bastard!"

Sasuke winced.

"Jesus, I'm so sorry Sasuke, did I hurt you? Let me see." Naruto reached out to push Sasuke's shirt up, but the boy immediately slapped his hand away, hard.

"Hands to yourself Naruto." He said mildly.

Shikamaru looked from one to the other, "Yeah, I really don't want to know." And turned back to his food.

"I thought you had a plan to help me?" Sasuke asked the boy's back neutrally.

"It's the weekend." Shikamaru told him without turning around.

Sasuke looked at Naruto who explained sagely "Shikamaru doesn't do things on the weekend."

"I can call the cops if you haven't managed to get away by Monday." Shikamaru offered reluctantly.

"How thoughtful." Sasuke said, though Naruto could tell he was at least a little amused.

Hmm, Shikamaru couldn't often be bothered with a display of humor like this, especially not in front of someone he didn't know. Naruto supposed it was nice to see that he had been right in thinking the two would get along.

"Sure, thoughtful, troublesome, whatever you want to call it." Shikamaru muttered while taking another bite of his food.

Naruto thought the conversation was over then, but Shikamaru suddenly turned back towards them again and narrowed his eyes at Sasuke.

"I know you."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him "You do?"

"Yes, and not just from Naruto's lovesick descriptions."

Naruto was outraged "What did I ever do to you?"

Sasuke smirked, though he didn't glance at Naruto.

"Aha" Shikamaru said, sounding mildly satisfied "I've seen you perform."

Naruto blinked. "What? You've gone to a show?" He couldn't think of any place Shikamaru would want to go less than a crowded space with loud music.

Shikamaru ignored Naruto

"You played drums for The White Snakes, mid last semester, right? At the roundhouse."

Naruto frowned, thinking that Sasuke played the bass, but then he saw the other boy nod. "Ah, Yeah, I was just filling in for their regular drummer for a little while though."

"You play the drums too?" Naruto asked him.

Sasuke ignored Naruto.

"I take it that's not your usual scene? What made you go?" Sasuke asked Shikamaru.

Shikamaru sighed "Dragged there, It's too much trouble for me normally to be honest, but I remember you sounded good. I'm surprised it wasn't a regular thing."

Sasuke nodded his thanks, then glanced at Naruto.

"Are you pouting?"

"Oh, so now you notice I'm here?"

Sasuke shook his head in the way he sometimes did when Naruto had said something he considered particularly ridiculous. Then for whatever reason he seemed to exchange a quick look with Shikamaru like 'are you seeing this?' And Shikamaru looked back like 'I see it' which of course, annoyed Naruto immensely.

"So, who dragged you to the show Shika?" Naruto asked the boy, wearing what he considered to be his evil grin.

Shikamaru grunted.

Naruto grinned wider "Because it sounds like a pretty date-like thing to do. Don't you think so Sasuke?"

Sasuke just raised an eyebrow at the exchange but seemed to decide to stay out of it otherwise. The traitor.

"A friend." Shikamaru muttered.

Naruto snorted and then turned to Sasuke "You should see Shikamaru with Temari. He is a genius, but he is the only one who doesn't realize they're dating."

Shikamaru just shook his head, not bothering to respond.

"Anyways, Shika could you keep an eye on Sasuke for a little bit? I need to run to the store really quick."

Both boys gave Naruto disgruntled looks at the proclamation.

Naruto rolled his eyes "What, it should be fine since you were getting along so well just a second ago. I'll be right back."

"What do you mean keep an eye on?" Shikamaru called after him as Naruto was already halfway out the door.

"Don't let him get away." Naruto called back.

Shikamaru was saying something about not being an accomplice when Naruto closed the door.

When he came back into the kitchen, carrying two shopping bags and about 40 minutes later, there was no sign of the two boys. Naruto had already walked in from the dining room, so he knew they weren't there either. That left Shikamaru's room, which was weird.

Naruto had asked him to keep an eye on Sasuke, but why go to his room? That seemed too intimate for two people who just met.

Naruto left the bags on the kitchen table, and considered putting everything away first, but instead, he walked to Shikamaru's door and knocked.

"Come in." Shikamaru called.

Naruto opened the door to see Shikamaru and Sasuke sitting side by side on two chairs behind Shikamaru's desk. They had his laptop set in front of them and had clearly been looking at it before Naruto had opened the door.

"Sasuke, you're not meant to be doing that." Naruto groaned.

Then he looked at Shikamaru "Why would you let him look at a computer screen? He has a concussion"

Shikamaru glanced at Sasuke "Do you?"

"I do"

"Sounds annoying."

"Yeah."

Naruto watched the exchange like he was watching communication between members of a new species.

"Wow" He said, then, "Sasuke, let's go. No more screens."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him, then looked at Shikamaru, who shrugged.

"We can finish another time." He told Sasuke, as Sasuke stood up.

"Yeah, when my brain isn't bleeding." Sasuke told him dryly. Then glanced at Naruto with a small smirk "Though if Naruto's around that might not be anytime soon."

Shikamaru huffed in mild amusement.

Naruto glared at both of them before curiosity got the best of him "Finish what?"

Shikamaru turned the laptop screen back towards him, and Naruto frowned, not recognizing what he was looking at "Is that a game?"

Shikamaru nodded. "Shogi."

Naruto looked at Sasuke, who shrugged "It's an old Japanese game."

"I'm surprised you didn't mention Sasuke was half Japanese." Shikamaru told Naruto idly.

He was? How had Shikamaru gotten that information out of him when Naruto had gotten mere crumbs? Whenever possible, Shikamaru preferred to communicate with sounds instead of full words, and somehow, he's still managed to learn about Sasuke's background, and they'd found a niche interest in common?

"How do you know to play it?" Naruto asked Shikamaru, partly out of genuine curiosity and partly to distract himself from the weird direction his thoughts had taken.

"I had to do a paper on its mathematical principals. Such a tiresome assignment, but I liked the game."

"You're very good." Sasuke told him matter of factly.

"Wow, I don't think I've ever heard Sasuke compliment anyone." Naruto said, and both boys gave him odd looks, which he didn't think he deserved. Wasn't that a normal observation?

Shikamaru nodded to Sasuke "You held your own."

Sasuke nodded back before finally walking to Naruto.

"Thanks for keeping him company Shika." Naruto told the other boy before he closed the door.

Sasuke sighed "You know you could have just left me by myself?"

"You seemed like you had a good time?" Naruto said as he walked back to the kitchen. Sasuke followed.

"That's not the point." Sasuke said mildly, which Naruto noticed wasn't a denial.

Naruto shook his head "Why do you care so little about your own health anyway? I thought someone like you would be much more interested in taking care of their brain."

"Someone like me?" Sasuke asked as they entered the kitchen.

"You know, someone who is constantly using their brain to get through the day" Naruto started emptying the bags as he continued, "Like 'hey brain, how do I give the wittiest coldest response possible right now?' 'How do I hold a conversation without revealing anything about myself?' That kind of stuff." He gave Sasuke a look "but you don't seem at all worried about how to get by without it."

"I figured I'd just rely on my good looks." Sasuke said dryly.

Naruto started putting everything he'd bought on the table. A bottle of apple juice, a few cans of ginger ale, a bag of mixed nuts, a pack of Tylenol and some instant coffee.

Sasuke looked at the mix with a confused expression "You had to run to the store immediately to get these?"

Then he frowned and looked up at Naruto "Wait these are…Did you…?"

Naruto poured a cup of apple juice and handed it to Sasuke with the Tylenol. Sasuke took them reflexively.

"Fine then you could probably get by" Naruto told him, "But I happen to like your brain."

Sasuke looked down at the cup and pills in his hand, his hair covering his expression from Naruto's view.

Then he kept looking at them. For so long that Naruto grew worried.

"You're meant to take one? It helps with the pain, and I figured you'd be hungry, but they said start with clear liquids? Do you not like apple juice, because that's why I also got the ale." Naruto knew he was rambling, but he couldn't help it. The silence was making him nervous.

Sasuke looked up at him suddenly, Naruto couldn't read his expression, but it was definitely too intense for apple juice. "Why are you like this Naruto? why do so much for someone you've only known for a few days?"

"So much? It's just a couple of groceries, it's not like I paid for your hospital bill"

Sasuke looked down at the cup and pills again like they were going to offer him a better explanation.

"Seriously, it's not a big deal" Naruto tried to reassure him, his hesitance starting to make him feel a little uncomfortable too now. Was it really such an unusual thing to do for someone? They'd recommended the pills in the hospital. Then Naruto had just googled concussion aftercare in the store and picked up the rest of the stuff. Wasn't that normal?

"You keep saying that, but it is a big deal to me" Sasuke said "I'm not used to… I don't like when relationships are unequal"

"Unequal?" Naruto asked him curiously.

Sasuke finally looked up at him wearing a conflicted expression "I don't like feeling indebted to anyone."

Naruto snorted "Indebted?" He wanted to make a joke of it but seeing Sasuke's expression, he sighed instead "You bought us food last night, didn't you?"

"That's not what I mean. It's not about the money" Sasuke said but he didn't seem like he would explain more, for example to say what it was about.

Naruto looked at him curiously. The other boy looked kind of…lost? Like he was in a situation he wasn't sure how to navigate. It made Naruto think about what Sasuke had said the first time they met about there being no unconditional love even within families. Naruto had hoped that he'd only made that claim theoretically, like 'oh in an apocalypse you can't even trust your family'. But as he's gotten to know Sasuke more, Naruto was starting to wonder. Why did he seem so unused to getting any help or care from others?

It filled Naruto with a weird urge. He wanted to grasp Sasuke by the shoulders, shake him and yell 'LET ME TAKE CARE OF YOU' in his face until he accepted, or maybe wrap him up in a blanket so tightly that he couldn't move, and then bombard him with so much affection that he wore him down.

Of course, Naruto understood both of those scenarios were highly concerning, and that if Sasuke could read minds, the only thing stopping him from potentially murdering Naruto would be the fact that Naruto would have had already spontaneously combusted from the embarrassment.

So instead of expressing any of that, Naruto just smiled at him. "Normal people just say thank you, you know"

"Yeah, well I thanked you for picking me up from the hospital, now I'm also staying in your house, and you did this." He showed Naruto the contents of his hands. He sounded like he was accusing Naruto of a terrible crime. Then, Finally, he swallowed one of the pills down with the juice.

"Alright, then maybe you can do something for me in return, if it'll really make you feel better"

Sasuke looked up at him "What would that be?"

Naruto thought about it. But when he'd stayed quiet for a bit, Sasuke smirked "Not something inappropriate, surely?"

Naruto felt himself flush "Why even put that thought in my head?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him "what exactly is the thought in your head?"

Naruto shook his head, not wanting to give voice to any of the images that had quickly flashed through his mind at Sasuke's words.

The only thing Naruto could think of that he genuinely wanted was for Sasuke to answer his questions, like literally any of his questions, but it's not like he wanted that just for the sake of having the information. He wanted Sasuke to want to tell him, and that, he couldn't get through forcing him with a bargain.

"How about you promise to come to my party next weekend?" Naruto said finally, his imagination having failed him.

"That's me returning a favor?" Sasuke asked skeptically "How bad are your parties?"

"I'm an amazing host" Naruto told him offended

"Then why wouldn't I want to come on my own accord?" Sasuke asked.

"I don't know" Naruto shrugged "I get the sense that you might not love social gatherings."

Sasuke snorted "You're calling me antisocial?"

"Well"

"Because that's surprisingly perceptive of you."

Naruto snorted. "So, you'll come?"

"Sure. I'm not sure it constitutes a favor though"

Ignoring the second part, Naruto grinned at him "Good, because it's my birthday."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at him "But you said you were twenty."

"Almost."

"You think you'll finally reach puberty?" Sasuke asked him curiously.

Naruto glared at him "You can't be attacking my height when you're like 2 centimeters taller?"

"I can, but I was not. I meant in other areas." Sasuke said dryly.

"I've never had any complaints about my other areas. What, do you need proof?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him "…I meant intellectual and emotional maturity"

"You did not!" Naruto protested "Bastard."

"Sure Naruto, whatever lets you sleep at night." Sasuke muttered before taking the last sip of his apple juice. Naruto took the empty cup from him and set it down in the sink.

"How's the head?" Naruto asked after a moment.

"Still attached."

"Headache?"

"Did you ever consider nursing school?" Sasuke seemed to ask him genuinely.

"I take that as a compliment. Nurses are super hot, so"

Sasuke smirked "That was the main reason I thought of it."

Naruto stared at him for a second. Sasuke stared calmly back.

"Are you flirting with me?"

Sasuke just smirked wider.

"Are you flirting with me in return for me buying you some juice and a bag of nuts?"

"…Do you like it?"

Naruto was speechless for a second. "You're unbelievable!"

"But you do it all the time!" Sasuke told him easily.

Naruto stared at him; his previous incredulity suddenly forgotten.

Maybe he should have immediately made a joke about Sasuke once again throwing the same accusation at him, and then move the conversation along, but he didn't.

Because, had he been flirting with Sasuke?

He knew he had been. He'd just constantly stopped himself from thinking about what he was doing.

"…Sorry." Naruto said suddenly.

Sasuke's eyes widened.

"Why do you look so surprised?"

"…I expected you to deny it to be honest."

Naruto cleared his throat "No, yeah, I'm not that obvious. It's been a little unfair of me, hasn't it?" Running a hand in his hair, Naruto chose to look somewhere over Sasuke's shoulder.

Sasuke paused, and then said, "I don't mind Naruto, I know you're straight."

Naruto risked a glance at him, and Sasuke returned it with a thoughtful look "May I ask why you do it though?" He asked in a tone of genuine curiosity.

That was the million-dollar question, wasn't it?

He looked at Sasuke, wondering what to say, but there wasn't anything to say other than the truth, "I…don't really know."

Sasuke didn't look mad, but Naruto still thought he deserved more of an explanation.

"At first, I thought it was just because it was fun, since you're such a witty bastard, but later, yeah, I don't know why really."

Sasuke didn't smile exactly, but he gave Naruto an easy look that was still pretty reassuring, "Maybe it's comforting to you to know that you can flirt without anything coming out of it? Anyways, don't worry about it. Like I said, it's not like I took it seriously."

Hmm. Naruto realized Sasuke was taking this all very good-naturedly, but still, he didn't feel completely satisfied with this conclusion.

"Maybe. I'll stop." Naruto said.

"Don't make promises you can't keep." Sauske told him, smiling.

He had such a nice smile. Was it the fact that he showed it so rarely that made it look particularly good? No, Naruto decided, it was just objectively a nice smile.

He opened his mouth to tell Sasuke exactly that but stopped himself right in time. Right. Instead, he said "I'll…umm do my best to stop?".

The corner of Sasuke's lips twitched and a for a moment, he looked like he was going to laugh but had stopped himself through sheer willpower.

"Is not flirting with people such a challenge for you Naruto?"

No. Not with people. Just this one annoying person.

But well, that was probably another one of those things he shouldn't say.

Still, as he stayed silent, Sasuke seemed to sense the answer, because his own amusement seemed to fade into surprise, and something else; curiosity?

Naruto cleared his throat again "So." He said, "This might not be the best time to ask if you want to share a bed?"