Sasuke knew how these sort of house parties went. You went, you barely saw the people - or person - you were there to see. Most people got a little too drunk and those who weren't pretended to be. Strangers told you weirdly personal things in the kitchen and you immediately forgot their names. Someone always suggested playing a drinking game and things continued to get weirder, until you eventually left, wondering on the way home if this was what university life was about.
It was only the knowledge that this was what awaited him, and no other reason, that led Sasuke to walk past Naruto's house three times instead of going inside. He walked around the block each time. It was interesting to see the addition of new parked cars every time he walked by the house and hear the increasingly loud noises coming from the inside. Like observing the anatomy of a party from the outside, or whatever.
Okay, so maybe Sasuke was a tiny bit nervous. It was ridiculous really. It was just Naruto. Idiotic and overtly friendly Naruto who had somehow became a fixture in his life so fast that Sasuke had trouble believing he hadn't always been there.
What was it about Naruto? He was objectively, annoyingly attractive, and surprisingly perceptive, and for whatever reason seemed to genuinely care about Sasuke. So, they'd become friends. Sasuke just wasn't used to being friends with straight men who were so affectionate and so physical. That was all. If he perceived there to be something more between them at times, he had to admit it might be just because he wanted there to be.
Sasuke took a breath, and with that thought acting like a cold shower, decided it was finally time to go inside.
By then, two hours had gone past the official start-time and the party seemed to be in full swing, the sound of music and conversation spilling out to the street. Sasuke knocked, not particularly hopeful that he'd be heard, but the door swung open almost immediately to reveal a boy about his own age with a full head of spiky brown hair standing there.
"Sasuke!" The boy said immediately, grinning ear to ear like they were old friends and then to Sasuke's horror, he pulled him in for the bro side-hug. "Thank god you're finally here."
Sasuke thought this was one of the stranger interactions he'd had in life.
"Naruto" The boy yelled back towards the hall, simultaneously pulling Sasuke inside with a grip on his elbow and closing the door behind him. "Your boyfriend's here!"
It felt like Sasuke only had time to blink before he was being assaulted by a very bright head of blond hair. Naruto seeming to have teleported to the hallway, side stepped the other boy, and sort of thrust himself at Sasuke in a half-tackle, half-hug. However, he barely had time to put his arms around the other boy in response before Naruto was already letting him go.
He didn't go far though, taking a small step back, he grabbed Sasuke by both shoulders and gave him a little shake "Bastard! You're so late, and you didn't answer any of my texts."
Oops. Sasuke thought, somewhat hazily, they were still very close and Naruto's eyes were extremely blue. It was frankly unnecessary. The other boy didn't seem drunk, but there was a slight flush on his cheeks and a lack of restraint to his movements that let Sasuke knew he probably had a good buzz going. The flush looked unfairly good on his complexion. Sasuke also took in the fact that he was wearing a sweater that matched his eyes exactly.
As Sasuke watched him, Naruto just stood in his personal space and stared back intently. If he leaned forward, just a tiny bit, they'd be kissing. That was just a neutral observation that Sasuke's brain helpfully supplied.
"Jesus Naruto let the man breathe" The brown-haired boy said suddenly, cutting into the tension. Sasuke wasn't entirely sure if he was thankful or disappointed. Naruto let out a chuckle, stepped back and let go of one of Sasuke's shoulders, still holding on to the other.
"Are you jealous?" Naruto grinned at the other boy. "Kiba thinks you're pretty." He told Sasuke "He told me so himself. Multiple times."
Ah, so this was the third roommate.
"Naruto!" Kiba said momentarily looking outraged, then seemed to abruptly change tactics and shrugged "So what? I'm not blind. He's obviously a good-looking dude."
"…Thank you." Sasuke said. "I could say the same to you." It was true enough, Kiba looked like the boy next door with a hint of bad-boy, if you were into that.
Kiba grinned, clearly pleased and clasped him on the back of the shoulder Naruto wasn't holding.
"Seriously?" Naruto asked Sasuke, outraged. "It's my birthday!"
Sasuke raised his eyebrows at him, then smirked just a little "Happy birthday."
"Thank you." Naruto muttered.
"Huh!" Kiba said loudly, leaning to look Naruto in the face "Are you really upset because your boyfriend thinks I'm hot?"
"He didn't say hot." Naruto told him "Get over yourself."
Sasuke had to admit he was amused. This was likely the closest he'd come to his teenage dream of having two straight men fight over him. Though as he glanced at Naruto's ridiculous pout, the thought turned a little bittersweet. Straight. Right.
"Ah just let him pout Sasuke." Kiba told him, putting an arm around his shoulder and pulling him towards the dining room and away from Naruto. Sasuke thought somewhat despondently that here was proof that this particular group of straight men were just friendly and unnecessarily physical. "Now that I've seen how he is firsthand, I guess it's not too different from having a girlfriend." Kiba told Sasuke like an epiphany.
Naruto, having been forced to let go of his hold on Sasuke's shoulder, yelled from behind them "What do you know about having girlfriends?"
Kiba turned his head and yelled back, unfortunately close to Sasuke's ears "Thank you for letting Sasuke know I'm single!"
Naruto sputtered behind them, and Sasuke let out a sigh. Well, this was shaping up to be an interesting night already.
Naruto was a little…not annoyed, just keyed up. Yeah, that was better. He nodded along to whatever Ino was saying, not feeling bad about being distracted because he knew Kiba was hanging on to every world. Instead, Naruto's eyes were drawn once more to where Sasuke seemed to be deeply engaged in a conversation with Shikamaru and Temari on the other side of the living room.
As if on cue, Temari let out a burst of laughter at whatever Sasuke had said, and look at that, now Shika was chuckling too. Damn it. Naruto wanted to know what Sasuke was saying. He was fucking hilarious, and it was Naruto's birthday.
"…and he isn't listening to a single word we're saying." Naruto caught the tail end of the sentence only because Ino accompanied it by smacking his back.
"What?" Naruto said sheepishly. "Sorry, got a little distracted."
"Oh, I know that." Ino said "I'm just a little confused, because were you just checking out Temari?"
Kiba snorted.
"No!" Naruto said "Jesus Ino. Are you trying to get me killed?"
Ino raised an eyebrow "Shika's not that scary."
"Not him." Naruto said "Her!"
Temari was awesome, but man was she intense. she'd snap Naruto's neck if he ever tried to pull something like that.
Ino smiled "I really should get to know her better."
Naruto made a noncommittal noise, looking back at the trio, who were still laughing together.
"But if you're not watching her…?" Ino trailed off, frowning.
Naruto snapped his eyes back to her. Ino blinked. Kiba cleared his throat. There was a moment of silence.
"Who is the ridiculously hot guy talking with them?" Ino asked a little too casually.
It was Naruto's turn to clear his throat. He could feel the tips of his ears going hot for no god damned reason "Ah, he is a friend of mine. Sasuke."
Ino raised his eyebrows "I see." When no-one said anything for several moments, she looked from Naruto to Kiba, who both refused to meet her eyes and added "Well, I think you should go and offer to take your friend's jacket like a good host."
"I should!" Naruto said and wanted so badly to hug Ino for a second. "Yeah, I'll go do that right now. Great suggestion Ino. Great point."
Kiba clapped him behind the shoulder like he was going to war instead of crossing their own living room. Naruto appreciated the support. It almost made up for him having monopolized Sasuke's time in the beginning before he was stolen by Shikamaru and Temari. Naruto hadn't expected Sasuke to get along with his friends this well. He'd even said Kiba was good-looking. He'd never told Naruto he was good-looking, for god's sake.
Naruto had only taken three steps forward when for no discernible reason, Sasuke looked up from his conversation suddenly, his gaze snapping straight to Naruto's from across the room. Naruto smiled, trying to not to show that he'd just felt a jolt go through him. Sasuke didn't smile back but decided to keep watching him with an unreadable expression on his face. Of course, Naruto couldn't look away now, so they just kept unbroken eye contact until Naruto reached their group, his heart beating like he'd just ran laps around the house instead of walking ten steps.
Sasuke and Temari were standing in front of Shikamaru, who was perched on the arm of the coach. As Naruto reached them, both Temari and Shika turned to see what had grabbed Sasuke's attention.
"Hey, I came to make sure you two weren't bullying Sasuke too badly over here" Naruto said easily "Seemed like you were laughing at him, and he is a sensitive little flower."
Shikamaru shook his head at him slightly, and Naruto could just hear him sighing on the inside.
"Thank you." Sasuke said dry as the dessert, and it was insane how Naruto's mood started lifting immediately "I was hoping for a big strong man to come rescue me"
Temari snorted and turned to Naruto "We were having a lovely conversation." Temari said "Don't make us sound like we're jerks little brat."
"Little?" Naruto huffed "What's little about me?"
Sasuke's eyes twitched.
"Don't you dare." Naruto told him.
"I wasn't planning on saying anything." Sasuke said, though his growing smile said something else.
"I'll have you know, there is nothing little about my…"
Temari smacked him on the chest, hard. Still staring at Sasuke's amused smile, Naruto couldn't be bothered to mind.
Shikamaru cleared his throat and stood up "Temari, let's go grab another drink."
"Alright…?" Temari threw him a confused look
"Excuse us" Shikamaru said as they both headed towards the kitchen.
Naruto ran a hand through his hair as he watched them leave. Thank you Shikamaru, but man maybe a little more subtlety next time?
Slowly, he returned his eyes towards Sasuke, only to see the other man still watching him with the same amused look still on his face.
"So, what was so funny?" Naruto asked.
Sasuke's look turned questioning.
"Before? You could hear Temari laugh from across the room."
"It's not a particularly big room."
Naruto tapped him on the front of his shoulder "It's my birthday." You should be making me laugh. And giving me compliments.
"It's your birthday?" Smirking, Sasuke widened his eyes "No way."
"No, really."
"You're joking"
"Dead serious."
"Well then" Sasuke smiled at him "Happy birthday"
"Thanks" Naruto said smiling back, then he cleared his throat and added weakly "Um, I came to take your jacket?"
Sauske raised an eyebrow "Are you sure?"
Naruto rolled his eyes. Sasuke started to slowly unzip his jacket. Even though there were so many people still hanging around the living room, they were in a shadowed corner, and the music made him feel like they were almost alone.
Shaking his head, Naruto held out his hand expectantly.
Sasuke took something flat from the inside fold of his jacket and put it in Naruto's outstretched hand.
Naruto blinked, looking down to see a large flat square in his hand.
"What's this?"
"A funny coincidence"
"What?" Naruto looked up at Sasuke again.
"Well, you mentioned it's your birthday, and I happened to be carrying a present."
Naruto stared at him, then felt a grin spread over his face. "You got me a gift?"
"Were you not listening to what I just said?" Sasuke said dryly, but Naruto noticed that it was quite possibly the first time he'd seen Sasuke look a tiny bit shy.
"You didn't have to!" Naruto told him "Pretty much everyone just brought alcohol."
Sasuke shrugged.
Naruto turned the wrapped gift in his hand. The wrapping was a simple dark blue paper, but the shape was distinctive enough that Naruto was almost sure he already knew what it was.
"Are you going to open it?" Sasuke asked.
"Don't rush me!" Naruto said, his heart beating faster. "I love gifts." Then throwing a grin at Sasuke, he tore the wrapping paper and stared at the vinyl record in his hand.
He recognized the cover art immediately and looked up at Sasuke, then back at it again, feeling an unexplainable mortifying lump in his throat. He swallowed and smiled instead, then looked up again to grin at Sasuke.
Sasuke sighed "Just say it."
Naruto grinned wider "Did you get this so I can relieve the memory of the day you played it for me over and over again?"
Sasuke sighed "I got it for you because you mentioned it was one of your favorite songs."
"It is." Naruto's grin turned back into a smile "Thank you."
Setting the record carefully on the armchair, Naruto leaned forward and put his arms around Sasuke's shoulder, hugging him tight.
Like usual, Sasuke initially froze at the contact, but this time Naruto held on for long enough that eventually he snuck his arms around Naruto's back, holding him in return. With his chin resting on Sasuke's shoulder, Naruto got a whiff of his scent, something cool and deep that reminded Naruto of rain, or maybe thunder.
Sasuke seemed to shift a little and Naruto suddenly came to himself. Had he held on for too long? Laughing, he squeezed Sasuke one last time and let go, immediately running a hand through his hair.
They both just stood there for a second, watching one another and Naruto's gaze dropped down to Sasuke's jacket which was now lying open. Immediately, his eyes halted, met with a wider expanse of skin that he'd expected. Sasuke was wearing a dark grey knitted shirt with an unusually wide neckline that was open all the way across the tops of his shoulders, the seam coming together with a few metal clasps at some points and exposing parts his collarbone at others.
"Uh" Naruto said.
Then looked up to see Sasuke watching him with an eyebrow raised.
"Um" Naruto added intelligibly "I like your shirt." Then he blinked "It looks like the bruise is gone."
Sasuke shrugged, taking off the jacket completely.
Man, he looked cool. How did he look so casually cool. What was this power.
Sasuke seemed about to say something when his eyes suddenly caught on to something behind Naruto. Sasuke blinked, a weird ripple seeming to go over his expression before it flattened out again.
Naruto having had momentarily forgotten where they were, turned to see a familiar man with long dark brown hair and incredibly light eyes approaching them. He was so disoriented that he just stared at the newcomer for a moment before he could get his thought together enough to call out "Neji! Thanks for coming."
Neji, who seemed to have been staring at Sasuke - who wouldn't?- snapped his eyes back to Naruto with a faint smile "Of course, Happy birthday Naruto."
"Thanks man." Naruto said, clasping Neji lightly on the back "Uh, let me introduce you…"
"Sasuke." Neji said, "It's been a while."
Sasuke nodded in agreement, not saying anything back.
Naruto blinked "You two know each other?"
"You could say that." Neji said.
Neji didn't sound cold exactly, but just very…controlled? Naruto looked at Sasuke, but he couldn't read the expression on his face at all either.
Sasuke returned his gaze "We had a few classes together my first year."
Naruto frowned "Classes? But Neji's pre-med?"
Sasuke nodded which didn't clarify anything. Then the three of them stood together in a very odd sort of silence.
"You're the last person I expected to see here." Neji told Sasuke eventually.
"Yes" Sasuke said.
"Still as verbose as ever." Neji gave him a weird sort of half-smile "How have you been?"
For no reason that he could identify, Naruto felt a pit begin to open inside his stomach.
"Alright." Sasuke said neutrally "And you?"
"Same" Neji said, their gazes lingering together for a second before Neji turned to Naruto "So how do you two know each other?"
"Uh. We're good friends actually." Naruto said smiling hesitantly.
Neji looked at Naruto like he'd expected further clarification, when it didn't come, he said "Really? I couldn't think of two more different people."
"Yeah well." Opposites attract, Naruto almost said but caught himself in time "Sasuke's pretty cool, uh, though you seem to know that already?"
Why did this feel so damn awkward? Naruto was starting to develop a hunch, but he didn't feel like looking at that hunch too closely yet.
"Yes." Neji said, "Sasuke's always been cool."
"Thanks" Sasuke said after a moment, his voice quieter than before.
"So, are you still living with Suigetsu and Karin?" Neji asked him.
Huh, so he knew them too?
"Yeah"
"And have you had any news of Ita…"
"Let's not get into that." Sasuke interrupted.
Neji glanced at Naruto, who felt rooted to the spot.
"Sorry." Neji muttered.
"It's fine." Sasuke answered immediately.
Another awkward silence.
"Well. I just wanted to stop by, it's already so late, I'm just going to go say hello to Kiba and the others"
Naruto nodded, thanking Neji again for coming as the boy walked away from them with a final look at Sasuke.
Naruto and Sasuke stood in suddenly tense silence.
Naruto wanted to ask. But he also didn't. But he also really really did, but he also thought he already knew, but he also wished he'd be wrong.
"Hey" Naruto said suddenly "Do you want to go outside for a bit? I feel like getting some fresh air."
Sasuke nodded, and Naruto handed back his jacket silently.