They parted their ways at the front of the restaurant, where he and Naruto's parents took a few more minutes to converse while Sasuke switched his duffel bag to Naruto's parents' car. It seemed like the temperature was dropping by the minute, and the cold breeze passing through every few moments wasn't helping the circumstances.
At last, Sasuke watched their mothers part with a tight hug and their fathers with a firm handshake. It seemed like Naruto's and his mother had switched emails so they could share photos and do their infamous "shit talking".
Naruto's father pulled him aside at the last minute, out of sight from his son.
"Sasuke," he started, a warm smile coming onto his face. Minato brushed some of the stray pieces of blond hair out of his face. "I just wanted to thank you for tutoring my son. It's a shame that had to happen to his grade, but… I'm certain that it would have gone up significantly with your help."
Sasuke nodded, inclining his head respectfully. "You're welcome. It really was no problem."
Minato chuckled and scratched the back of his head, a mannerism that startlingly reminded him of Naruto. "You're a dynamic duo. Who knows what buildings you could blow up if you help each other study in the future?"
The corner of his lip tilted up. "Maybe one of them would be the school."
Minato laughed, quietly but firmly. He set a hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "It's been a pleasure to meet you. I'd love to stay around a bit longer, but I have to stay at the restaurant to make sure my employees don't burn it down," he joked. "Anyway. Good night, Sasuke. Make yourself at home and please don't let Naruto eat all of the snacks."
"Yes, sir. I'll keep him occupied," Sasuke promised.
The man squeezed his shoulder. "It's good he has a friend like you," Minato said, releasing his shoulder and stepping back. "I'll see you two tomorrow."
He raised his hand in a wave to Minato, watching him step back into the restaurant and immediately submerge into his work. Sasuke could see where Naruto got his restlessness from… with all of the constant going back and forth between Namikaze's and his home, from sports to school… it must have been exhausting. But it wasn't enough to wear the other out. It evidently made Naruto want to have things done quickly, but it also seemed immensely distracting.
Sasuke turned away to see Naruto leaning against his parents' SUV with his arms crossed, shivering. He approached the other calmly, standing next to him and watching his parents' car drive away.
Kushina turned from waving at his parents. She pulled her coat tighter around herself, scowling with the frigid wind. Once she caught sight of the two of them with their arms wrapped around themselves and huddled together, she rolled her eyes.
"Didn't I tell you to bring a jacket?" Naruto's mother scolded him, cuffing him lightly on the back of the head.
He rubbed the spot where she'd caught him and scrunched his nose. "It's not all that cold," Naruto grumbled, adamancy dripping from his voice.
"My son," Kushina scoffed, shaking her head. "Ugh. Let's go home before it gets even colder."
The car clicked loudly when she unlocked it. Sasuke let Naruto push him out of the way so he could get inside first, following behind him and shutting the door. The vehicle swayed slightly with their weight and the added one of Kushina sliding into the driver's seat.
A pine air freshener dangled by his ear that no longer held any scent. He buckled his seatbelt and glanced over to Naruto, who was busy fishing for something in his pocket.
"We only live a couple of minutes away," Kushina called from the front seat, backing out of the parking lot. "Sit tight."
"The neighbors'll probably try to see what's goin' on," Naruto told him, stuffing his feet under the seat in front of him. "Like they always do."
"I have a feeling you'd be the exact same way," Sasuke pointed out.
"He's right," Kushina agreed, grinning at them through the rearview mirror. "You'd be a nosy neighbor, too, Naruto."
"Mom," he whined. "You're supposed to be on my side. Sasuke bullies me enough at school. I don't need you doin' that too."
"Bullies?" Sasuke and Kushina questioned at the same time.
"Sasuke doesn't seem like a bully," she commented. She turned slightly in her seat to look at him. "Your mother says you don't bother a fly. How can that be?"
"Oh, boy," Naruto grumbled under his breath, sinking lower into his seat.
Sasuke arched an eyebrow. "You're exaggerating," he told Naruto. "Just because you hear things you don't want to hear doesn't mean it's bullying. It's called the truth."
"Just you see, mom. Wait 'til you catch him red-handed! Then he'll have no excuse as to why he's so cold and mean as he is."
"I can't believe that for one bit," Kushina said, appalled. "You're such a nice boy, Sasuke. I hope Naruto isn't a bad influence on you," she snickered.
Naruto growled and crossed his arms defensively. He glared at Sasuke across the seat separating them. "You're such a mama's boy," he mumbled quietly enough for only him to hear.
Sasuke shrugged, glancing out the window. "You are, too."
They entered a neighborhood with houses that all looked alike, made out of red bricks with leaf-littered lawns and glass doors. Kushina drove down to the near end of the neighborhood before they turned into a two-car driveway in front of a small, single-story house.
Sasuke watched a few neighborhood cats scuttle away when the car pulled into the driveway. Kushina pulled the key out of ignition and they were all left in the dark for a few moments.
"Home," she sang, opening her door and slamming it closed hard enough to make the whole car shake.
Naruto groaned lazily and got out of the car as well, Sasuke following closely behind. He grabbed his bag from the back of the car and walked across the lawn with Naruto, leaves crunching loudly beneath their feet.
"Are you doing that on purpose?" he asked Naruto.
"Doin' what?" he turned, halting in his pace a bit.
"Stepping on the biggest leaves so you can be louder," he replied. "It's annoying."
"You like to blame a lot of things on me," Naruto noted, though he didn't sound upset at all. "Even for the forces of nature beneath our feet."
They reached the front porch, the lights flicking on automatically. Kushina was already searching for the correct key on her keyring, jamming it into the doorknob as soon as she found it. The orange reef hanging from the door swung dangerously when she pushed the door open, flicking the light on beside her.
"Leave your shoes by the door, boys," she called.
He stepped in behind Naruto, overwhelmed by the amount of things that couldn't be considered clutter but definitely could be classified as busy. It smelt lightly of apples and cinnamon. Naruto bent over to tug off his shoes while Sasuke glanced around and toed his own off, taking in the room around him.
Of course, it was a bit warmer than Sasuke's own home. There was still boxes that needed to be sorted through and thrown away, furniture bought and to be assembled. But even his mother's interior designs couldn't quite catch cozy as effortlessly as Naruto's house appeared. Naruto's home was all warm colors and the sentimental wear in furniture, while his own home stayed in neutral and dark colors and the furniture was often switched out for more modern pieces. It wasn't any less of a home than Naruto's, but… here certainly felt a bit more welcoming.
There was white carpets, of course, dark wood cabinets in the kitchen with potted plants resting on top of them. He turned to study the living room, with brown leather couches and a classic fireplace. Above the mantle there were many photos of family and friends, rewards that the restaurant had received among others.
"Are you two still hungry?" Kushina asked, peeking her head out from the kitchen. "You could order a pizza if you are."
"No thank you," Sasuke said.
"I'm fine for a few more hours," Naruto drawled.
Kushina rolled her eyes. "You're like a bottomless pit," she teased, strolling into the living room. "I'm going to bed, boys. Naruto should know what to do if something goes wrong. Goodnight."
"'Night, mom," he called, watching as she disappeared down the hallway. "C'mon," Naruto beckoned, scratching at his arm.
Sasuke looked around as they passed through the living room - at the candles by the television and a cat toy resting on the coffee table. The carpet was plush underneath his feet as they moved into the wide hallway, making an immediate right turn into Naruto's room.
"Ta da!" he called out, flicking the light on and bounding forward to land on his bed with a loud creak. He bounced a couple of times before rolling over to cover his eyes with a forearm.
Sasuke lowered his bag to the ground and glanced around, wondering if it really was possible to make a home so quickly in just two years. Naruto had multiple photos taped above his desk, most of which consisted of their classmates. A good amount of them were with Karin, though. Next to his desk was a bookshelf filled with various sports trophies and medals with a few leisure books, a couple of dictionaries and a copy of Grey's Anatomy. A TV and an Xbox's wires were messily tangled together.
He glanced back at Naruto, who may or may not have fallen asleep on his unmade bed. He was surprised to see a new presence in the room, staring right at him with curious golden eyes.
"Kyuubi," Naruto said quietly, pulling him onto his chest and brushing his hand through long, red fur. The cat growled deeply in his chest but didn't resist the petting, his tail swishing against Naruto's stomach.
"Meet Sasuke," he finished, sitting up so that Kyuubi fell into his lap. He crossed his legs and smiled up at Sasuke. "This is Kyuubi."
Sasuke walked over to the bed, standing in front of Naruto. "Hello," he greeted, reaching out to run a couple of his fingers over Kyuubi's head. The cat stared up at him as he scratched him a bit more boldly, right behind the ear. "He's huge."
"He's a fatass," Naruto said fondly, patting the cat on its stomach. "Eats everything in sight."
"No wonder he's in the perpetual bad mood you told me about," Sasuke said. "I wouldn't be surprised if he has diabetes."
"Well, he doesn't. And he's not growling," Naruto noted, patting the spot next to him on his bed. "I think he might like you. He hates the guts outta everyone else, though."
Sasuke seated himself and they fell onto their backs together, jolting the cat on Naruto's lap.
Kyuubi flattened his ears against his head and padded over to the opposite side of the bed, digging his claws into the duvet and curling up into a tight ball. Fight though he might have, Sasuke could hear the quiet purring coming from the cat. They laid in silence for a few moments, reveling in the warmth that the house provided.
"Sasuke," the other said quietly, tugging the sheets between them. "Why did you kiss me?"
He blinked up at the ceiling fan and frowned. "I don't have anything to say."
"Yeah you do," Naruto muttered, moving his hand to play with the hem of his shirt. "You wanna be a lawyer. You always have something to say. Even if it's just to pick a fight."
Sasuke stayed silent, refusing to give in to the urge to squirm and fiddle a bit like Naruto was. His… crush had taken over for a moment back then. Back on the couch, Sasuke had felt a pull towards Naruto, one that he couldn't resist. It was strong and undeniable, fiery in its persistency. His hands itched to play with the sheets or push his fingers together. A small part of him wanted to bob his leg or even roll over, but Naruto was waiting for an answer.
"You know, you like to make things a lot more awkward than they need to be. So you just did it for a kick?" he questioned. "Right in my parents' own restaurant? Like it didn't mean anything?"
"What is it supposed to mean?" Sasuke snapped, turning over to face him. "It was just a heat of the moment thing. So what that I got caught up in it… you'd do the same thing."
"To a friend?" Naruto hissed, pushing himself up on his elbow to glare down at Sasuke. "Especially one that's the same gender. Yeah, Sasuke, I totally get it. I know you're the kind of lone wolf guy 'cause you think you're better than everyone else, but this is seriously so fucking transparent of you-"
"Why the fuck is it bothering you so much?" he growled, supporting himself on an elbow so that his face was level with Naruto's. It was long overdue to drop his passive attitude, his wary politeness due to his presence in Naruto's home. But something about the other's attitude towards their kiss rubbed him the wrong way the same as a pebble in a shoe did.
"Is it because it picks at your stupid masculinity? Because if we're bringing that into the picture, you're the one who cried over his mother not listening to him-"
"Shut the fuck up!" Naruto spat, shoving his shoulder and pinning him down onto the bed with both of his hands on Sasuke's shoulders. Naruto shook him slightly. "I came to you because I trust you! I thought that you wouldn't make fun of my grade because that's none of your business, and you wouldn't laugh if I cried. You wouldn't understand, Sasuke. This is on my report card. I can't play sports or join any kind of club for the rest of the damn year. Colleges are gonna see this, they're gonna drop me 'cause of it, and it's not even my fault! So stop dragging a bunch of other things into this and just answer my question!"
Sasuke pressed his lips into a thin line and attempted to push Naruto off. He didn't budge. "If you have a problem with my sexuality," he stated quietly, "Then we can arrange for someone to pick me up so I don't have to deal with your hate crimes."
"Sasuke, shut up!" Naruto's eyes had gone slightly glassy, and he shook him roughly again. It made Sasuke's neck pop. "I never said anything about that! I don't care about who you like. You're just dragging a bunch of things into this so you can avoid answering my question."
Sasuke closed his eyes. "You want to know a lot of things. Things that I don't even know."
He felt a pressure against his forehead, not textured enough to be a hand, and not soft enough to be a pillow. It was warm, and a nose pressed lightly against his. Naruto's forehead.
"Just admit that you like me," Naruto whispered, his hands loosening on Sasuke's shoulders.
Sasuke's eyes popped open, a mistake as he quickly learned. Naruto was looking at him again, as if he were a warm and loving and open person. Sasuke struggled from under Naruto and shoved at his stomach, shoulders, face—anything to get Naruto away from him, to get those piercing blue eyes far, far away.
Naruto might have risen off of him once or twice, but never did he give up his spot to hover above him. He held onto Sasuke's shoulders faithfully and shut his eyes while he took the light hits and pushes, never removing his forehead from Sasuke's.
"You're a trust kind of person, Sasuke," he said quietly, grunting when Sasuke kneed him in the thigh. "So am I. It's just a lot easier for me, and I think I trusted you from day one when you actually seemed pretty thankful to hang out with me."
Sasuke stopped struggling and glared at the red, swishing tail he could see from the corner of his eye. He was panting and not necessarily angry—annoyed that he'd been picked apart right before his own eyes and laid vulnerable. It wasn't as if Naruto wasn't trustworthy; far from it, at that, and it was nearly embarrassing to realize how short of a time it had taken for Sasuke to warm up to him. It was ridiculous to think about how he already meant so much.
"You don't have to say anything," Naruto added. "I've just gotta know…"
An impalpable tension built between them as Sasuke's pulse picked up. Naruto waited above him, patient and understanding and maybe the slightest bit upset. He tore his eyes away from Kyuubi's tail and brought them towards Naruto.
Sasuke had meant to stare at his bare collarbone, he really did; but he'd miscalculated and his eyes had ended up on Naruto's chin, where they drifted to his full lips, in which he'd startled himself and his sight had snapped up to fierce blue eyes.
The rolling tension in between them was enough to have Sasuke's hands fist in the sheets on either side of him while Naruto searched his eyes for any kind of affliction. His sight had inevitably been drawn back to Naruto's lips once he saw that look of want in his eyes, and it was like a coil in between them had snapped, or a timer had reached zero.
He didn't resist once Naruto had leant in and pressed his lips against his carefully, tentatively at first. It was searching and calculating, a simple question that asked if this was okay. But Sasuke would have none of it. The strain between them had riled him up and set his attitude in the same direction—he dug his fingers into Naruto's forearm, a silent demand to pick things up.
Like their argument, it turned simmering and angry. There was no time for Sasuke to gather his thoughts once their lips smashed together, hints of teeth and tongue. He threaded his fingers into Naruto's hair as the other cupped his cheek in a hand, opening their mouths together to press their tongues one another and keep a warning thumb on his cheekbone.
It was hot, and so was Naruto's panting breaths into his mouth, so were his quickly swelling lips with all the nips and tugs he'd endured. Sasuke grunted as the kiss deepened again and tilted his head back to let Naruto in deeper, further.
He was almost frightened of the fact that once he had started, he wanted more—of Naruto, of his kissing, of everything. Another quiet grunt from him once a clacking of their teeth had stolen his breath away and the kiss slowed down, compassionate and warm and telling a story of its own. The firm thumb on his cheekbone moved to stroke all the way across his cheek to his earlobe. Sasuke moved his lips with Naruto's, sensually and slowly and sucking every few moments.
Something warm settled into his chest at the same time Naruto's hand cupped his other cheek, and he tightened his fingers in thick blond hair. Because of his sheer inexperience, warmth had already settled into other areas of his body other than his chest, and he broke the kiss with a quiet smack.
Sasuke willed away the flush in his cheeks as Naruto's eyes slowly slid open, burning intensely and studying his face. He did his best to slow his quick breathing and to rid the dazed look from his face.
He studied the other, looking for any sign of anger or confusion. Naruto still looked stubborn and now pleased, if the flush on his cheeks was any suggestion.
"There," he said quietly, leaning off of Sasuke so that he could sit up.
Sasuke regarded him carefully, bringing his foot onto the bed so that he could tuck it into his other thigh. "What?"
"We can go off from there, okay?" Naruto continued, straightening his shirt and crossing his legs. "No hesitation."
Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the other, rolling the hem of his jean leg into a cuff. After a few moments, he sighed loudly and nodded. "No hesitation," he echoed.
Naruto grinned at him, rocking back on the bed. "Okay."
Sasuke nodded again glanced away. He looked down to his jeans, where he brushed away some long cat hairs and watched them as they floated away.
"Oh yeah," the other mumbled. "You're wearing dark clothes. You wanna change so you don't get any more hair on you? My bathroom's right across the hall."
Sasuke stood up and stretched. "I will," he said, heading over to his bag to grab an old and faded Flaming Lips shirt and a pair of sweatpants.
"Wanna play some video games when you get back?" Naruto asked, pointing towards his TV.
Sasuke hesitated. "…We'll see what you have."
"What," he called back, a playful smile on his face. "Call of Duty isn't good enough for you?"
"It's mediocre," he replied as he crossed the hall.
Sasuke opened the door he found directly across the hall and, sure enough, he found Naruto's disorganized bathroom. He kicked a towel that had been blocking the door from opening and turned the light on, blinking when it was much brighter than the one in Naruto's room.
He changed quickly, folding the clothes he'd worn neatly. Sasuke caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and paused—his cheeks were still slightly flushed and his lips still red, his hair in disarray. He combed a hand through his hair and pressed cold water against his mouth before exiting the bathroom.
Sasuke returned to find Naruto sitting on the floor, the Xbox on while he sorted through some games.
"C'mere," the other said, making a little pile of games. "These are the ones that aren't stupid."
Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "I notice that your other pile is pretty big. Why do you have so many stupid games?"
"'Cause they're family games," Naruto countered. "Sometimes my parents wanna play, and whenever Karin comes over, she always wants to play horror games. I don't like them so they're in the stupid pile with all the Just Dances."
Sasuke chuckled, picking up the stack of five or so games and sorting through them. "Are you sure you're not scared of them?"
Naruto scowled. "Some of them can give people heart attacks. Just pick a game, Sasuke."
He leaned forward to put the second Call of Duty into the gaming dock, narrowing his eyes at Naruto.
The other smiled innocently at him. "Just t'warn you, I kill at this game."
"The objective is to kill."
"You know what I mean," Naruto purred, picking up a controller and handing it to Sasuke.
"You suck," Naruto told him, nudging him with his elbow.
"You're not any better," he replied, frustrated. "You're the one who said that you were good."
Naruto sucked in a sharp breath as a zombie closed in on him and blood splattered on his side of the screen. "Sasukeeee! Come cover me!"
"No," he mumbled. "I'm trying to unlock the other building. You're just attracting a whole herd of them."
"If you don't help me out, you're gonna have to come and revive me," Naruto bargained, slamming his fingers down on the controller.
Sasuke sighed. "It's too late," he pointed out, watching as a notification popped up for him to go and heal Naruto's character. "I'm letting you die."
"No!" Naruto wailed, doing his best to shoot at the undead surrounding him. "We came so far, Sasuke!"
"It's time," he said quietly, taking his thumbs off of his controller and letting a herd overtake him. He watched as a Game Over came onto the screen.
Naruto groaned loudly and fell onto his back, slamming his fist against the floor. "That took so long!"
"Shut up," Sasuke advised. "You're going to wake up your mom."
"I don't care," Naruto sobbed rolling over and burying his face into the carpet. "That was the highest level I've ever gotten to."
"It's just a game," he said haughtily, taking them to the home menu. Sasuke reached forward to shut the system off. "Enough of your brain cells rotting away."
Naruto whined once more and rolled over again, resting his arm on his stomach. He sighed loudly. "Fine, fine. You hungry? It's still pretty early."
Sasuke took his phone from his pocket. "Naruto," he chided. "It's one in the morning."
That gave the other pause. "Really?"
"Yes."
"Eh," he shrugged. "It's early to me. Do you wanna just watch a movie until we fall asleep?"
Sasuke rubbed his eyes. "Sure."
He stood up and walked away—at least, until Naruto grabbed his ankle and demanded for Sasuke to help him up. Sasuke rolled his eyes and yanked him up by the shoulder, ignoring his complaints about roughhousing.
Naruto glared at him and snatched the TV remote off his nightstand, rubbing a sleeping Kyuubi on the head. The cat didn't rouse at all, remaining curled up and dead to the world.
"He's not as evil as you said he was," Sasuke noted.
"I think it's cause he likes you," said Naruto. "Usually when I pick him up and stuff he's growlin' and scratching. He didn't put up much of a fuss tonight, and he's actually staying here."
Sasuke tilted his head at the snoozing cat. "Maybe he's tired of your hyperactivity. Cats slow down once they get older, too."
"Nah," Naruto chuckled, scrolling through channels as he came over to the bed. "He came out of the womb growling, I swear."
Sasuke untucked the sheets while Naruto set a couple of pillows up for them. "You've had him since he was a kitten?"
"Yeah!" A small smile came onto Naruto's face at the memory. He tossed the remote on the bed to stick his hand in his pocket and take out his phone, quickly looking for a picture.
"It's a picture of a picture, 'cause you know… he's nine years old," Naruto said pleasantly, showing him a picture of Kyuubi no less than the size of his palm. His hair was always long, so thin that it was nearly transparent. He looked much more lighter in color than he currently did.
Sasuke's lip quirked up at the tiny, napping kitten. "Very charming."
Naruto laughed through his nose. He tossed him the remote before moving to the other side of the room. "You go pick a movie. I'm gonna change into my pajamas."
Sasuke barely caught it, watching as Naruto rifled through one of the drawers of his dresser and left the room.
He crawled into Naruto's bed, scrolling through the channels for a little while before finally settling on Kill Bill. It was halfway through showing, but it would show again after.
Sasuke checked his phone for any texts. A missed call from a number he didn't recognize, a text from Itachi asking him if he was okay, a hello message from his cousin Shisui, and a photo from his mother. It was of Itachi sitting on his bed with a thermometer in his mouth, obviously a candid shot. He was looking towards a different corner of the room.
It's that time of year again! His mother had sent along with it. Sasuke chuckled and decided not to reply to the message, instead choosing to ask Itachi if their mother was doing a good job of taking care of him.
She's doing a very nice and generous job, Itachi replied. Now that you're gone, mom has someone else to fawn over.
Sasuke snorted and began to type out a reply, only to be interrupted by another message from Itachi.
Why aren't you asleep? Go to bed.
He realized that it was nearing two o'clock in the morning and ignored the message, setting his phone on the nightstand. Sasuke settled back against the pillows that Naruto had propped up for them, doing his best to catch up with the plot of the movie.
"What're we watching?" Naruto asked from the doorway, entering to stand directly in front of the television.
Sasuke made a shooing motion with his hand. "Kill Bill."
"Are you allowed to watch this?" he questioned, stumbling over the pile of games he'd made earlier. "Dammit."
"I should be asking you that."
Naruto slid into the opposite side of the bed, taking one of his extra pillows and stuffing it in between them. He threw an arm around it and rested his head on it, near Sasuke's hip. "A barrier for when we go to bed. I get really cuddly."
Sasuke grunted, watching a fist fight onscreen. "Turn it down so we don't wake your mom up."
"You're thinkin' about my mom a lot," Naruto mumbled, though he grabbed the remote and turned the volume down significantly. "It doesn't matter, anyway. She wouldn't wake up if there was an earthquake."
"Mine wakes up if you drop a pin," Sasuke murmured.
"If you wake up before me, you're gonna have to beat me up if you want to wake me up," Naruto said, tugging at the pillowcase. "I'm really tired."
"Then go to sleep right now," he said quietly, resting his hand near Naruto's face. "Nothing's stopping you."
"Nothing but this awesome movie and a little more time with you."
Sasuke narrowed his eyes down at the other, who was staring innocently up at him. He pressed his hand over Naruto's eyes. "I'll be here in the morning."
Naruto sighed and dug his head into his pillow, making himself comfortable. Sasuke sank down onto the bed, too, lying on his back so that he wouldn't block Naruto's view of the television.
Now that he thought about it, it was difficult not to fall asleep. With Kyuubi's stomach rising and falling slowly at the foot of the bed, Naruto's eyes fluttering, and his well-worn orange sheets… Sasuke's eyes were quickly heavy. It usually took him a good thirty minutes for him to fall asleep, but he thought he might just do so in ten.
Sasuke drifted off only to startle awake when Naruto rested his head on his shoulder in his sleep. He lifted his head and gently pushed Naruto to his side of the bed, watching as the other wrapped an arm around a poor pillow and squeezed it to his body.
Sasuke leant over him and grabbed the remote, shutting the TV off. He made sure the pillow was secure in Naruto's arms to ensure that Naruto wouldn't try to cuddle him in the middle of the night. He checked the time, making a note that he had fallen asleep at two fifteen, and settled on his side.
Sasuke only woke up because someone was shaking him, saying his name over and over again.
"What, what?" he wrenched his eyes open. For a few moments, he thought he was in his own room, and the morning had been just like the previous one, with Itachi struggling to wake him up. Sasuke took in the orange, rumpled sheets and pictures on the wall.
"Wake up!" Naruto whined, pulling him onto his back. He hovered over Sasuke once again, a frustrated scowl on his face. "You sleep too much."
Sasuke sat up and smacked the other's hands away, running a hand over his face. "I don't sleep enough," he grumbled.
"You scared my mom," he continued. "She thought I strangled you to death in your sleep or somethin'."
Sasuke sighed loudly and pushed the sheets off of himself, untwisting his pant leg. "What time is it?"
"Twelve thirty," Naruto replied, tugging at the sleeve of his shirt. "'Cause of you, we have to fend for ourselves."
"Whatever," Sasuke muttered, pushing at Naruto's stomach. "How long have you been up?"
"Since nine."
"Why don't you sleep in?"
"I did sleep in. But I only need eight hours of sleep max. How long do you usually sleep?"
"If my family lets me," Sasuke used his fingers to count. "Around fourteen."
"What the fuck?" Naruto exclaimed. "That's literally over half the day. And you don't even do anything yet! Once you start track, you're gonna be falling asleep in class."
"I don't fall asleep in school," said Sasuke. He stood up and stretched, letting his back and neck pop. "And it's exhausting to be around you."
Naruto lifted his palms from his ears, regarding Sasuke wearily. "Are you done popping all your bones?"
"Why," he demanded. "You don't like it?"
Sasuke raised his hands and popped all of his knuckles and fingers—loudly—while Naruto yelled and fell back on the bed. He popped his wrists for good measure, too.
"You better warn me in the future when you do that," Naruto growled. "Now that you've done all your freaky shit, can we eat something?"
Sasuke sighed, leaning over Naruto and staring directly into his face like the other had done so many times already. "What do you have in mind?"
"Can you cook?"
"I can boil eggs."
Naruto sniffed. "You wanna just order a pizza?"
"Okay. I want pepperoni."
"Yes, dear," Naruto murmured, sitting up. "You wanna pull a prank on the pizza guy once he gets here?"
"How old are you?" Sasuke asked, picking up his phone from the bedside table. He searched the number of the closest pizza place.
"Seventeen," said Naruto. "How old are you? Eighty? 'Cause I think your testosterone levels are low. That's why you're so damn cranky all the time."
"They're perfectly fine," he mumbled. "Here."
Naruto took his phone from his hand and stood up, leading him out of his room. "Pizza, pizza," he chanted.
"Just don't shatter mine like you did to yours," Sasuke advised. "You'll pay for it if you do."
"Not even the pricelessness of our friendship can cover the expenses of your phone?" the other quipped, leaning against the hall doorway. He squinted at the screen as he dialed the number.
Sasuke rolled his eyes and leant across the hall from Naruto as he ordered their pizza, giving the restaurant his address. Naruto hung up and handed Sasuke's phone back to him, knocking his head lightly against the wall.
Sasuke calmly stuffed his hands into his pockets and regarded Naruto as the other stared at him. "Yes?"
Naruto blinked a couple of times. "Nothin'," he said.
They waited about twenty minutes for their pizza to arrive, and when it did, Naruto still pleaded with him to play a prank on the delivery man. Sasuke still turned him down over and over again and answered the door himself, leaving the man a generous tip with Naruto's money.
"You're so boring," Naruto dragged out as he walked back into the kitchen, holding the box of pizza.
Sasuke ignored him. "You get half."
"But I paid for all of it!"
"Half."
The other gave a deep sigh. "Fine."
Naruto took the box from him and set it on the dining room table, opening it to let it cool off. "Wow. It feels like it's on fire."
Sasuke leant on the table, pulling his phone from his pocket to answer a text from his mother. She'd asked him if it was okay to pick him up around three, and he'd responded yes.
Naruto poked at the skin that was left bared where his shirt had ridden up. "Pasty."
"My condolences if it bothers you," he drawled, grabbing a slice from the box. "I don't tan."
"There's a lot of people like that," said Naruto, picking up the neighboring piece. "Ah. Burns."
Sasuke waited for his slice to cool off before daring to take a bite. "I'm getting picked up at three."
Naruto chewed thoughtfully on a piece of pepperoni. "Wouldn't this be a lot cooler if we knew how to drive?"
"I moved right in the middle of my driver's ed classes," Sasuke said, shifting his weight to one foot. "Now I'll take a break."
"I never had enough time to take them," Naruto told him, stretching some of the cheese from his pizza. "I guess I do now. Though it kinda makes me anxious."
Sasuke tilted his head and watched as Kyuubi slinked into the kitchen, leisurely stretching along the way. He brushed against Sasuke's leg, tail high in greeting and pressing his little paws into his foot.
"Give him some pepperoni," Naruto said. "That's what he wants."
"He'll have a heart attack," Sasuke said, though he crouched so that he could let Kyuubi take it from his fingers. The cat purred happily and lowered it to the ground so that he could chew on it, his tail brushing against Naruto's foot.
"What happened to your other sock?" he asked, standing up.
"I dunno," the other said. "I probably kicked it off in my sleep."
They were interrupted by Naruto's phone vibrating on the table, and he picked it up to read a test message. "Hey. My parents will be home in twenty, so we better finish this fast. My mom'll be mad that we had pizza for breakfast."
"This counts as lunch."
"Yeah, smartass, but it's the first meal of the day that's considered breakfast."
Sasuke chewed slowly, giving Naruto a thoughtful gaze. "Fuck you."
Naruto's head snapped over to him and he narrowed his eyes. "I'm gonna tell your mom you said that."
"You wouldn't repeat it."
"But I'll say 'f-word'."
Sasuke shrugged. "I'll blame it on your horrible influence."
"What? Is my delinquency too much for you to handle? I turned in my English essay a day early, Sasuke. I'm not anything less than wild."
He smirked. "I'm sure you're not."
Naruto stared at him for a few moments before flushing. "Hey! Don't get that look on your face, dammit! I'm gonna kick you out of my house!"
Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "I didn't do anything?"
The other narrowed his eyes at him. "I'll keep my eye on you."
About an hour and a half later, after a few more short rounds of various video games and the idle chat about school and a few recent movies that had come out, Naruto's parents came home.
There was a knocked at Naruto's closed bedroom door a few seconds before Minato stuck his head in. "Just checking to make sure you're alive," he said.
"Hey, dad," Naruto called, not taking his eyes away from their game.
"You two haven't seemed to burn the house down," he added. "Good. Let us know if you're hungry?"
"Okay!" he called, grumbling when Sasuke beat him once again.
Sasuke watched as the Game Over screen appeared for what seemed like the umpteenth time in a row before letting his forehead fall on the carpet. "Enough," he said.
"I know," Naruto groaned, leaning forward to shut the gaming system off. He rubbed at his eyes. "Ugh. It's too cold to do anything besides lay around inside. I really feel like swimming."
Sasuke yawned and set his controller down. "Don't you have homework to do?"
"I did it whenever I was with you," he tugged at the thread of the carpet. "Can we do that again? I got used to it. Plus, I'll help you with whatever it is that you're bad at, which is apparently nothing. But I'll try."
Sasuke recalled the conversation he'd held with Minato outside of the restaurant last night. "When are you taking your SAT?"
"Next Saturday," he replied. "You?"
"I am, too," Sasuke said. "We could study for that."
"We could!" Naruto said happily. "A cram session all after school this week."
"Okay," he said, rolling onto his back.
"And last period," Naruto added.
"Of course."
They sat in silence for a few more minutes, only interrupted by Kyuubi stepping onto Naruto's back and kneading at his shirt and Sasuke's phone going off with a text from his mother.
Sasuke glanced down at his phone, typing a quick reply. "I'm getting picked up in twenty."
Naruto sighed next to him. "You're leaving and we have school tomorrow. Worst day ever."
Sasuke rested his chin on his arms. "I'm sure you'll have worse days to come."
He rolled over to face him. "Like what?"
He thought about it for a moment. "What about the day you die?"
"You know what," Naruto said, scratching his chin. "Scratch that. Go home, Sasuke."
He snickered even as Naruto roughly shoved at his arm. "Sasuke's a piece of turd."
Sasuke rolled his eyes and pushed Naruto's hands away, pushing himself up with an arm and standing. "I'm changing," he said.
"Take a shower if you wanna," Naruto replied, batting at his ankles and attempting to trip him up. "Towels are in the closet."
He grunted and grabbed his bag, heading into the bathroom and locking the door behind him. Sasuke stripped himself of his sleeping clothes and started the shower up, setting it to near scalding hot. He took a towel from the closet Naruto had told him about and hung it over the clear door, waiting for the water to warm up.
Sasuke tested the water before stepping in, welcoming the hot water over his strained shoulders. He lathered shampoo through his hair, noting how it touched his shoulders when it was wet. He quickly washed his body and stood in the water for a few more moments before shutting the shower off and toweling himself dry.
Sasuke dressed himself in the same pants he'd worn yesterday, but instead wearing a long-sleeved Princeton shirt that his brother had gotten him for Christmas last year. He ran a bit of product through his hair to make sure it didn't go in every direction once it dried.
He entered Naruto's room again to find the other boy napping on the floor, a game disc right by his head. Sasuke decided to let the other sleep no matter how much he boasted about needing a minimum amount of sleep to function.
Instead, he laid on Naruto's bed with Kyuubi by his side and answered the texts he'd ignored last night. Shisui was glad to hear that he'd made some friends; he said he missed the family and he hoped they could come up to New York soon to visit him and a few other cousins. Sasuke gave him a noncommittal maybe and left the conversation be.
The doorbell rang and, with a glance back towards Naruto, he grabbed his bag and headed to the living room. Sasuke listened to the happy greetings of his mother and Naruto's parents before choosing the most appropriate time to step into the living room.
All three of them turned to him, surprised to see him.
"Sasuke?" his mother greeted.
"Naruto fell asleep on the floor," he explained.
Minato chuckled and shook his head. "I told him to go back to bed, but he was off the walls at nine in the morning."
Kushina laughed and tugged Sasuke closer to them, giving him a few healthy and sharp pats on the back. "That reminds me. I thought Sasuke was dead this morning! He's the walking definition of someone who sleeps in."
"You should have seen him in preschool," Mikoto smiled affectionately. "He hated naps. He'd never take them. Now? He does the complete opposite. If you let him, he'll sleep the whole day away."
Kushina laughed wistfully. "Sometimes I wish Naruto could be like that, but he's usually up and at it pretty early in the morning. He'd always refuse his naps, too. One day, we have to bring out the baby pictures!"
Sasuke's blood ran cold. Usually, for others, baby pictures meant slightly-embarassing-but-still-adorable photos that could be cherished. But being the younger brother of Itachi, he'd lived an unnecessarily traumatizing and embarrassing childhood. The last time his mother had gone through a scrapbook, there was a significant amount of photos of Sasuke with a bald spot the time that Itachi had accidentally popped his gum into his hair. He didn't understand why his mother thought it to be appropriate to photograph him vomiting on his father as a baby, or sobbing in the middle of his potty training. Amongst those were many, many others, some of them even worse.
"Do I have the feeling that the baby pictures aren't a very good idea?" Minato murmured to him.
Sasuke sighed through his nose. "Not at all."
"Hey," a voice came from the hall, and Naruto emerged, rubbing his eyes. "Why didn't you wake me up?"
Sasuke turned to him, studying him carefully. "You were out of it."
Naruto opened his mouth to retort, but caught glimpse of his mother and waved. "Hi!"
"Hi, Naruto," she said warmly, tilting her head towards Kushina. "I hope Sasuke wasn't a handful?"
"Oh, I dunno…" Naruto pursed his lips. "I mean, he tried to rob a bank, kill a person, take the neighbor's kid, and burn the house down. All at the same time. But other than that, he was okay."
Kushina snorted at her son's humor and smacked him upside the head. Sasuke watched his mother giggle along with Naruto at his own joke, a strange sort of feeling coming into his chest.
Watching Naruto and his mother get along was… nice. Was this what Naruto felt when his parents met him and there wasn't any immediate tension? At least to say, it was relieving to see that his mother liked one of his very few friends, and visibly approved of him.
"Well, I'm glad to hear he wasn't too much trouble," she said, pleased.
"You're always welcome here, Sasuke!" Kushina told him. "Just let us know when you're coming over."
Sasuke inclined his head. "Thank you."
"It was nice seeing you all again," Mikoto added, patting her son on the lower back. "You ready?" his mother asked him.
"Yes," he said, following her out the door. Sasuke turned and raised his hand to wave goodbye at Naruto's parents. "Bye, Naruto."
"See ya tomorrow!" Naruto waved, sending him a huge grin. "Don't forget your promise!"
Sasuke turned to snort and roll his eyes, pulling his sleeves over his hands so that they wouldn't get too cold. His mother turned to him, a curious and calm look on her face as they descended towards her car resting at the foot of the driveway.
"Promise?" she asked.
"Naruto and I are studying together all this week for the SAT," he informed her, pushing one of his hands into his pocket.
"That sounds nice," Mikoto replied, pulling her keys from her purse and unlocking the car. She opened the back door for him to toss his duffel inside. "What was it that Minato called you two yesterday? It was just on the tip of my tongue…"
Sasuke tilted his head. "Friends?"
Mikoto clucked her tongue and pinched his arm. "Sasuke. It was about how well you two seemed to work together."
Sasuke went to the other side of the car and slid into the passenger's seat, waiting for his mother to seat herself as well. "The dynamic duo?"
"There it is," she said, a smile coming onto her face. "The dynamic duo. You two are the dynamic duo."
Sasuke rested his hands in his lap, pressing his fingers together as he rolled the thought of a proper label to give him and Naruto.
The dynamic duo was one, of course, but it didn't seem quite fitting enough for him. Partners in crime was a bit too informal for them. But as Sasuke racked his brain for a few more nicknames that weren't necessary for he and Naruto, he came up with one that he could admit fit them perfectly.
Best friends, he reluctantly admitted, a small smirk coming onto his face. Best friends.