Chapter Text
Following the final fight at the Valley of the End and the subsequent hospitalization paired with the lecture from Tsunade and Sakura, Naruto doesn’t think he has ever been more happy in his life.
Happy in that he finally won Sasuke back, coupled with a foreboding sense of uneasiness at the fact that Sasuke was going to leave him again.
This wasn’t news and he shouldn’t treat it as such; Sasuke made it clear that he could not stay in Konoha and that he did not want to either.
That didn’t change the fact that Naruto wanted him to stay.
The council of elders, too, wanted Sasuke to stay, but for an entirely different, though in Naruto’s eyes, equally as selfish reason.
“His hearing is soon, you know.” Sakura was placing down a tray of food next to his bed, moving to then fluff a pillow behind him. She made sure to keep him comfortable. He appreciated it.
Naruto didn’t look at her when she told him that. Kakashi just told him the same thing the other day. He didn’t want to think about the impending hearing.
He didn’t want to think about Sasuke’s life being tried by the people that caused his misfortunes.
Sakura furrowed her thin brows, picking up the cup of water on the bedside table to bring it to Naruto’s lips. “Did you already know? You know you can make an appearance as a special audience member, given your relationship with him.”
Naruto noted how she refrained from saying Sasuke’s name, as though it were cursed, a taboo phrase to never be uttered in the presence of “Konoha’s Hero” or whatever title they gave him now.
He sipped tentatively from the cup.
It made him more nervous to know that even Sakura would regard Sasuke like everyone else in the village did.
No, he shouldn’t say that. She cares about him, knows what he went through, knows why he did and didn’t do what he happened to have done and not done.
Sakura knows.
She just wants to spare him, he’s sure.
Sure that Sakura knows how deeply Naruto cares and wants to preserve his feelings by speaking abstractly about a person that is arguably the least abstract person to come out of Konoha.
What did he even mean by that?
“Are you ever going to respond to me, Naruto?” He looked over to her, seeing the few strands of her pink hair fall from a loose ponytail as she shook her head in near disbelief, lowering the cup from his mouth.
He blinked up at her. “I’m sorry.”
She shook her head again. “You boys are so silly, I swear. Sasuke did similar things when I told him you could be present, except he refused to turn to face me.”
Naruto almost smiled at that.
“You haven’t seen him since that fight, right? What got into you two anyway? Had to hash out your feelings one last time?”
He hated her questions as they were so close to being accurate.
“I’d guess so.” He felt it come out in a more reflective manner than he would’ve hoped. He would’ve hoped to answer her definitely; yes, the fight was to settle their long-term emotional dispute on whether Sasuke’s feelings or Naruto’s feelings were the most logical, this he knew.
“We kinda just had too much to say to each other that we couldn’t even say it anymore.” He allowed himself to find humor in his voice.
That was about right anyway. More or less.
Sakura stood up straight and put her hands on her hips. “He said something along those lines too. You two really are best friends, huh.” The smile on her face gave away her newfound relief.
He would love to think so. To think that their bond goes so far to even account for their mannerisms when answering questions about the same tender subject.
Naruto smiled at that. “Yeah, we sure are.”
She clapped her hands together. “Well, I think you to should see each other. Talk. At least before the hearing, you know?”
Naruto’s smile dropped immediately, his eyes darting away from Sakura’s face as he contemplated the idea. That may not be for the best, despite how much he wants to see Sasuke and hear his voice and understand how he feels right now.
The blond teen brought his hand up to his chest and grasped at the cloth covering it, clutching it in his fist.
Hopefully, his silence would be understood.
Sakura was getting impatient with him, he could tell.
“Will you think about it, at least.” That was no longer a question. “He needs to talk to someone in more than three-word sentences or code and right now it won’t be me or any of our friends or Kakashi or Tsunade. It’ll be you. This hearing decides if he’ll be imprisoned for treason or executed within the month. He needs to talk to someone.”
Naruto sat in silence again, registering what she said.
His mouth went dry, the area behind his eyes stinging with the emotion that was pushing towards the front.
It made him feel ill.
“He needs to talk to someone.” She repeated.
“Sasuke will be fine. I believe in him.” Naruto felt the panic well inside of himself, filling his chest with a pressure so hard that it threatened to burst.
“Your belief can only go so far. I thought you’d be eager to talk to him and help him through what may happen, but it looks like you aren’t.”
“Don’t think I’m not, I am, I am.” He rushed out. This wasn’t what he wanted to think about. The thought of Sasuke not being pardoned hurt him too much than he wanted to admit.
Sakura shook her head again. “Why did he want to kill you?”
That question held too much power in it. He felt winded after she asked it, not wanting to divulge Sasuke’s thoughts but also wanting to remain honest. Every time someone asked it before the war or even before their resolution, he got on Sasuke’s defense, absolving him of any ill intent he may have had before anyone could judge him or their relationship.
This wasn’t the same. It came from a place that held similar overwhelming feelings, he knew that to be true, but they were of a different variety.
Was he even allowed to say that Sasuke either wanted him with him or with no one?
“He’s selfish and-” he paused to gather the phrasing properly. “He thinks in ultimatums.” The words came out strained, uneasy; they betrayed his feelings and let her know that he felt something about what they meant.
Sakura smiled at that. “He said the same thing.”
Naruto looked over at her again, eyes widen slightly. “Take me to see him, then.”
There had to be some way to get the hell out of here before Naruto could come talk to him about the hearing.
It was beyond selfish and irresponsible but if Sasuke had to be honest with himself, and he surely would be honest with himself right at this moment, he needed to continue the trend of selfishness and irresponsibility until the hearing was over.
Sasuke knew the dangers of the outcome of the hearing; if he didn’t try to explain himself or express an ideological shift significant enough, he would get executed. If not execution, they would imprison him for the rest of his natural life.
Kakashi explained it all too well.
Then there was Sakura’s idea of bringing Naruto to the hearing. For support she implied but he knew that it just makes him look better if the “Hero of Konoha” or whatever title they give the blond showed up.
Somewhere inside of himself, he knew that Naruto was more stressed about this hearing than he could ever be, and that hurt him in a way. It hurt him to know that the person he holds most dear to himself is in pain due to his apathy.
Again.
For maybe the third time he guesses.
If he wasn’t so hung up on being expressionless he would have sighed then.
It was for the best if Naruto didn’t show up to the hearing, didn’t come to his hospital room to talk to him, didn’t put forth any more compassion towards him and left him to deal with his problems himself.
He does suppose that was a factor that played heavily into the situation he was currently in now, but hey, what is done is done, and Sasuke has only a handful of options to go on.
Firstly, he could ignore everyone that attempted to talk to him from here on out. Then, during the hearing, he would explain in as objective as a way he possibly could why he ran away in the first place and why upon making a reappearance he committed treason. There was enough evidence to substantiate his claims of metaphysical unrest following the death of Itachi, but it was going to mainly be his personal testimony of the account, which the council may not enjoy.
That would most likely end in him being convicted of all charges and executed. Not that he hasn’t come to terms with such a gruesome outcome, but he didn’t want to cause any more pain to Naruto than he already has.
Which is something he is now, unfortunately, factoring in.
His next option would be to allow Kakashi to speak for his actions, character, and prior motivations, in order to add substance to his claims of anguish. Sasuke’s mentor was one of the only people left that could give an unbiased account of the circumstances surrounding his actions and was basically the only person left that would do it.
But he, in a way, wanted Kakashi to be hands-off with this, and he knew Kakashi wanted to be hands-off as well. Sasuke knows that Kakashi wants to get him as light a sentence as possible, but if he has to expend any effort that Sasuke wouldn’t, be would rather not do it.
Which sounds as though he were discounting the assistance Kakashi would bring, but he isn’t, not intentionally least.
That would get him life in prison, guaranteed. Parole would be on the table, but good behavior to the council compared to good behavior to him was like apples to oranges. It would be a miracle for him to gain such based on how well Sasuke knows his personality.
If he were to add in Sakura as a character witness he may get a lesser sentence, but that would be a gamble as well. She can both attest to his motives being out of deeply seeded duress, and that he was and currently is a danger to the village.
She cares for him, sure, but she knows what is right as well, and to say that he is harmless and learned his lesson would be incorrect.
His final option would be to involve Naruto. That was a surefire way to get out of jail free, or come close to it more realistically, but it didn’t sit right with him.
To have Naruto, the person closest to his heart, be emotionally raw with the council in order to absolve him of his sins was deplorable in his eyes.
So it was basically off the table.
And if he were to be honest, which he certainly is, he didn’t want the council to free him from the burden of his past actions.
He wanted to pay what he owed, and to be forgiven after he has exhausted his sorrow to those it is obliged.
Meaning that, if all things were equal, the first option was the best for him. Execution wasn’t something that struck fear into him as it may strike fear into anyone else, but he knew as sure as he knew the sky was blue that Naruto would be devastated.
Which makes it the worst option, then.
“Are you ready to talk to someone besides yourself, Sasuke?”
He didn’t turn upon hearing Kakashi’s voice, his frown deepening. “Do us both a favor and go back to where you previously were.”
Kakashi yawned. “Not happening. You’re being too quiet given you have a hearing in a few days.”
“I actually feel like I’m being pretty loud.” He mumbled out, flexing his hand gently in his lap, looking at it intently.
“This is the most you’ve spoken since you woke up. Was there a new development after Sakura visited you?”
Sasuke knew Kakashi just wanted him to say that he knew Naruto would be available to come to the hearing. He was outside of the door, for goodness sake, he knew that he knew, and he knew that he knew that he knew.
He tsked at the thought, not giving Kakashi any more satisfaction.
“I won’t tell you what to do. You don’t listen anyway. But know that you can’t keep this up forever. Forever may come too soon for you.”
That was the most aggravating thing he heard since Sakura spoke to him.
Why won’t people let him be selfish for a little while longer?
Sasuke laid back down and turned his back to Kakashi.
“Naruto will be here soon, I’m sure. Hopefully you’ll talk to him.”
He pulled the sheet further up his body.
At some point Naruto did come to Sasuke’s room to talk.
And they did talk.
At length.
In a manner that one may not find conducive to resolving any of their concerns, certainly, but they did talk.
Naruto looked physically better than when he last saw him. Covered in gauze and bandages, hospital gown for modesty but nothing else, a slight, tired smile on his face.
Sasuke sat up to meet his gaze.
“You look like shit.”
Thank the heavens he was still an idiot.
“And you don’t look too great yourself. Wonder who did that to you?”
There was the light chuckle he knew Naruto still had. Great, just great.
“Just some jerk I know. He’s getting better at that, though.”
They held each other’s eyes as Naruto moved to ease himself into the chair. Sakura was lingering at the door, Kakashi standing across the hall, two Anbu guards on either side of the door, out of view.
Sasuke lowered his eyes to the hand that was resting in Naruto’s lap, fixating himself on the fingers and the lines from the bandage. “My hearing-”
Naruto nodded, cutting him off as he spoke. “I know that I can-”
“You don’t have to do that, Naruto.”
Sasuke saw blue eyes grow larger at the sound of his name, cheeks tingeing a slight pink in what he could only guess was embarrassment and light frustration.
“There has to be an end to you doing things on your own.”
“Let me be selfish.”
Naruto huffed, leaning slightly forward. “Is it still selfish to keep me away? At the end of everything?”
“What I have to atone for is my burden, not yours even if you take it upon yourself to feel as though it is.”
“Don’t speak cryptically like this, Sasuke,” hearing his name fall from his lips made his chest tighten and his eyes flicker back up to meet Naruto’s. “This is your life on the line here.”
“Why doesn’t anyone think I understand that?” Naruto looked taken aback. “I fully understand how far reaching my decisions from this moment on will be, and I have resolved myself to honor this path I have chosen to follow.”
“Quit that! Please, Sasuke, just quit it.” His lip was trembling, eyes wet but without tears. Sasuke wouldn’t think Naruto to cry out of frustration.
Sasuke turned more towards the blond in the chair. “Let me go.”
That halted him. “I’m not,” he paused to gather his words. “I’m not touching you.”
“No, let me go, Naruto.”
“No, Sasuke, I think you have to let me go.”
That was a kick in the face. “I won’t.”
Does Naruto not understand that he is doing this for him? That after the Valley of the End he is only thinking of him? They can’t be together, that was the point of the whole fight dammit, and living apart when there is so much clashing is hell, so they can’t do this anymore.
“Then how is it not fair that I do the same to you?”
“Let me be selfish.” He repeated. He pleaded. He needed this to be heard.
Naruto shook his head. “I can’t. Not anymore I can’t.”
“Don’t come to my hearing.”
“Why?”
Don’t make him answer that.
“Don’t make me answer that.”
There was a look of disapproval. “Please. I want to know.”
Why?
“Why?”
“Because you’re my friend and I care about you. Damn, this is what I’ve been saying for years. I care about you Sasuke, even when you don’t care about yourself or anyone else, I have enough in my heart to care for you and to care for me and Sakura and Kakashi and everyone on your behalf.”
The air was sucked out of his lungs, and Sasuke felt like he was free falling from a cliff. “That’s why you can’t come.”
“What?”
“Because I care about you.”
That level of frankness was unfounded in the black-haired man, especially involving feelings. The statement was foreign in his mouth, a new flavor he is experiencing for the first time, an unfamiliar dish from a new village he has come across.
“I know that you care about me.”
Naruto is an idiot.
“You’re the closest person to me.”
“I know that we’re close.”
“No, you don’t, because I didn’t until recently.”
“I knew when you came to help during the war.”
“Stop talking.”
Sasuke had enough of it. This was beyond him, and he couldn’t be bothered to explain himself to anyone, even the person he probably needs to explain himself to the most.
“You hate the idea of needing me, Sasuke.”
“You don’t even know what you’re talking about right now. Go lay down in your bed until Tsunade clears you.”
Naruto scooted his chair closer to the bed. “You can’t stand that I can help you.”
“I can’t stand your stupidity.” he breathed out. “You don’t even know what you’re talking about.” He repeated.
There was a break in their conversation, both using the time to connect thoughts and feelings. “Then tell me what-”
“You’re right in that I hate something.” This got Naruto to tune into what Sasuke was saying. “I hate the idea of hurting you anymore.”
Naruto remained silent. “Then why won’t you let me come?”
“For you to get there and bare yourself to the elders in order to get them to free me from a burden I should carry is a misuse of our relationship.”
“But I want to do that. Do you think the other option would hurt me less? Do you think that I would be keen on you dying?”
“Which is why you need to let me go.”
“We had an entire fight about this, Sasuke! We literally lost arms over this same topic and guess what, at the end of it, you gave in and put the last bit of your trust into me, because you knew you cared about me too much. So I won, and now you have to pout while I care about you.”
If Sasuke weren’t physically incapable of doing so, he would have hopped on Naruto and punched his teeth out. Again.
“I’m tired.”
“I am too.”
“Then leave.”
“Not until you understand that I care about you.”
“I understand it all too well, unfortunately.” Everything was so unfortunate today.
“Does that make any sense to you? You say that you want to stop hurting me, but you actively want to stop me from helping you,” he held up a finger, “which does hurt me, first off, then you want to go through with the outcome of your hearing that ends in your death ,” he held up another finger, his voice holding back emotion that his face is letting through, “which, second off, hurts me more than anything else could.”
Sasuke remained silent, looking over Naruto’s face. His brows were furrowed, lips pressed into a thin line, face turning a soft shade of red, eyes getting wetter by the second.
“You want to stop hurting me,” he repeated, “but you keep making me feel more pain. Aren’t you supposed to be smart or something?”
Naruto had a point there. A couple actually, and they all made sense in a way, he supposed.
He finally sighed. “I’m sorry.”
“What?”
“You heard me, don’t do this Naruto.”
“No, what did you say?”
“I’m sorry, Naruto.”
The hearing went as well as Sasuke expected it to have gone. They read out his crimes, said that what he has done has amounted to treason, labeled him as a terrorist, asked him why he committed his crimes, the whole thing.
Turns out they don’t deliver the verdict immediately after the proceedings.
Also turns out that he didn’t get to see who was in the special audience, nor was he allowed to know, during the hearing, who gave a testimony.
Sasuke’s idea of a hearing was flawed, it seemed, but he just hoped that no one did anything out of the way when he explained the bare minimum of his version of his actions and motives.
He, of course, started with the Uchiha massacre. He was smart enough to know that if he started off with that heavy tragedy, he would be able to leverage his actions on that.
Moving from that he described how he felt following it; how overwhelmingly torn he was by the perceived betrayal of his brother and his love for him, the confusion he felt at the lack of address Konoha gave him regarding the incident, and the final message from Itachi that night.
After that, and the council’s clarifying questions (“what age were you? How close were you with your brother, mother, father, clan? Did you have friends preceding and succeeding the incident?” things of that nature), he described getting to know Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi.
It was obvious that they were conflicted at hearing Sasuke’s recount of how close he and Naruto are. The Hero of Konoha, the Savior of the War, best friends with a criminal.
He made sure to give an honest account of how deep and intricate it was, despite his pride. Sasuke’s phrasing was careful, deliberate; he gave a precise and accurate description of how they impacted each other.
Next was Orochimaru, Kabuto, and the Sound Village.
That was tough. Much more so that he thought it would be when he mentioned it initially. The detail he went into did not phase them, however.
He forgot that they were aware of the nature of Orochimaru’s research.
Verbalising what happened over the few years from when he met the Sannin to when he killed him was also tough. He knew they could tell he was holding back, straining.
After retelling how he sought after and killed Itachi, he felt as though he was pulled by his ankles into a frozen lake. His hand gripped his opposite shoulder as he told them his thoughts following the battle, how clouded, muddied, numb he felt.
He talked about Akatsuki. Pein. Tobi who was then Madara who was then Obito. Danzo. They listened and questioned and clarified as he got closer to the Five Kage Summit and Obito’s declaration of war.
While it was what they wanted to know about the most, he couldn’t answer it as clearly as they wanted. That time was the most confusing to him. He never felt more lost in that point in his life, besides, of course, the months following the Massacre.
They seemed to allow this, but one elder asked something he didn’t know if he ever thought of.
“Would you consider yourself mentally stable during that time?”
That took him aback; he paused for the first time during the hearing.
“I don’t think I’m the proper person to ask if I would consider my actions to have been from a place one would consider stable.”
“Elaborate.” Another, a woman, asked.
“I would, naturally, regardless of my mental state, say that I knew what I was doing. I wouldn’t know if I knew if I were right or wrong.”
They moved on after that.
The Five Kage Summit, declaration of malintent towards the village, and the start of the Fourth Shinobi War were easier to explain.
He was very hands off during the majority of the war, it was revealed. He couldn’t tell them anything of the battles and who fought who and when. He wasn’t even there when Madara resurrected and laid waste to the Allied Shinobi Forces. And everyone, literally, who wasn’t dead, was there.
Even a few dead people were there.
Sasuke didn’t go into detail of what he talked to the past Hokage about, but he included that they were the reason that he decided to help more than harm.
That, and Naruto, who he did end up bringing back into the story (it felt like he was just telling his life story more than anything, but if that was what they wanted he would give it to them), were the last things he covered before speaking of how he fought the final battles alongside Naruto and released the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
They let him out of the chambers after that, no questions following.
It was a waiting game, and a guessing game, to see what they asked of who and who said what and what they want to do with him.
There was a feeling in his temples that told him he fucked up somehow and they’d imprison him for the next eighty years.
That same feeling told him that he can’t properly atone in a hole under the earth, that he needed to understand all of what he told them and why he felt this way after telling them, after speaking it, after looking Naruto in the face and saying that he would stay with him knowing that he couldn’t stand to stay in this village that ruined them both and Itachi and countless other lives.
God, he could not do it.
He had to leave.
“We appreciated Sasuke Uchiha’s level of candor, and we expect to have the same of you now, Naruto Uzumaki.”
That statement chilled him to the bone, tied his guts together, grabbed him by his hair and jerked him to his feet after he was kneeling in sorrow.
“I will do my best to give you as accurate an explanation of whatever you need me to.”
They immediately asked the nature and extent of his relationship with Sasuke. He only said that they were best friends, at first, but that was not enough at all for them.
“We would like you to detail exactly the circumstances surrounding your relationship with Sasuke Uchiha.”
Oh. Well, that was complex. Much more so than Naruto thought he had the ability to articulate to them at the present time, and the idea of doing so left him feeling something he couldn’t begin to describe.
Their bond transcended that of rivals, they both realized, and was far more intricate than that of run of the mill best friends, also, as they and everyone else around them realized.
He told them that. He hoped that helped them. Helped Sasuke.
“Can you attest to the mental state of Sasuke following the death of his brother?”
That question threw him off.
“He-” Naruto swallowed the fear from the tip of his tongue. “He was lost. He had no clue who or what to believe, especially after Danzo told him the truth about the Massacre. It was only after he saw things from Itachi’s eyes that he knew what was right.”
“You are dismissed, Naruto Uzumaki.”
He didn’t question why.
Sasuke was filled with the need to leave the village as fast as possible. He had very few clothes and could work for food and lodging, he figured.
But he needed to leave.
Damn anything they tell him. They could say he was the going to be paid reparations for the trauma he went through and he would still leave.
There was nothing holding him to the village besides Itachi’s legacy and-
And Naruto.
Always, always Naruto.
He shook his head as settled under a tree in a secluded area of a training field. No one would come to these training fields, at least not during this time of the day, given all the repairs that need to happen.
Sasuke took to meditation as a way to ease himself out of roundabout thoughts. The reflection helped greatly, he found; he needed to reflect more.
Kakashi appeared about an hour after he began to meditate.
“Why did I know you would be here?”
“Why did I know you would find me?”
Kakashi waved his hand as a way of brushing that off. “I was nominated as Hokage.”
Sasuke didn’t open his eyes. “What other competition do you have? There can’t be anyone else in the village that has the credentials you do.”
“The other people that do are too young or are currently on trial for treason.”
Sasuke frowned at that. “Leave me be. I would like to continue my meditation.”
“How did it go?”
“Can you not see that I don’t want to talk about that? Your eyes work well.”
“Sasuke, listen for a moment. You need to stay in the village until they finish deliberating and issue a verdict. That may not happen until after I’m inaugurated.”
“I thought you said you were just a candidate?”
His mentor ignored that. “The point is, you need to stay somewhere long term, it cannot be with me, and seeing as you’re regarded as a criminal, you won’t get funding for an apartment or any subsidies or a job to pay for one by yourself.”
“Did you interrupt my solitude to tell me that I’m kicked out of your house?”
“Did you hear anything I said?”
He huffed. “Fine. What do you suggest I do?”
“Ask a friend.”
Sasuke wanted to roll his eyes. “I have two friends that I have burdened enough. Sakura also lives with her family still and I doubt they would want me to be in their house as I await the outcome of my trial.”
“Naruto won’t say no to you.”
He ran his hand through his hair. “I will not be asking him anything.”
“Then I’ll tell him that his best friend has no roof to lay his head under and he will make room for you in his apartment.”
Sasuke’s eye twitched.
“Do not tell him anything. I’ll tell him later today.”
“Good.”
“Is that all you came to tell me? That I need to ask Naruto to let me stay with him for a few weeks?”
“More or less.”
“Great.”
When Sasuke told Naruto that he needed a place to stay, he first thought that it was a joke.
A weird joke that lacked humor, but a joke none the least.
But Sasuke did not jest.
And the small bag of personal items in Sasuke’s hand did not seem indicative of a small prank, unless he happened to go far with his jokes, then it was just too much attention to detail for Naruto’s current tastes.
“Come inside, I guess.” He wasn’t even dressed to entertain guests. Boxers, a stained tee shirt, and frog slippers were not attire to have in the presence of house guests.
Would Sasuke even count as a guest if he were to live here for an extended amount of time?
The black haired teen explained what Kakashi had explained to him before. “Wow, he’s going to be the new Hokage? I don’t know if I’m happy or bummed out right now.” Naruto laughed out in surprise.
Sasuke didn’t seem to want to find the humor in that with him.
“Well, it’s uh, good to be roommates? To tell you the truth, I always thought that it would be fun for us to live together for a little bit after you came back. When I was younger, of course, and traveling around.” He scratched the back of his head, another chuckle escaped his lips as he moved Sasuke into the living room area, nudging the door closed behind him.
Sasuke hummed at the statement. “That’s good to hear.” He took off his shoes and left them near the entrance.
Naruto smiled more. “So you can have the living room. This place isn’t big, so there’s no spare bed or anything to offer you, unless you want mine, then you can have it.”
“I won’t be taking your bed, you can keep it.”
“Right.” Naruto trailed off, looking towards the kitchen. “All I really have in cup ramen, which I know you probably would hate to eat every day. If you want anything in particular, I can go to the market and-”
“I can get my own food, thank you Naruto.”
The blond let out a half laugh at that. “Oh of course, with your boatloads of money, right?”
Sasuke knew what he meant. “Shut up, idiot.”
“Okay, jerk! You know I have to feed you right?” Sasuke turned his head and scoffed, sitting down on the couch.
“Anything else?”
“Shower’s over there,” Naruto mumbled, pointing to a closed door. “That’s my room.” He continued, gesturing towards the open door. “You can see the kitchen. You live in the living room. Your bed is the couch.”
“Right.” Sasuke muttered.
Naruto scratched his belly. “Do you, uh, have any pajamas or something? I don’t think a cloak and combat pants are good clothes to sleep in.”
He stared at the blond. “I’ll manage.”
“I’ll find something for you to wear. We’re about the same size so-”
“I’m bigger than you-”
“ About, ” he stressed. “The same size, so nothing should fit too uncomfortably.”
Sasuke hummed again.
“Sasuke, please wash your bowl, the water in it looks gross now.”
It has been about a week since the two best friends began living together.
“Naruto, throw away your ramen cups, and stop leaving your dirty underwear in the bathroom in front of the tub.”
They were having as good a time as anyone would expect the two to have. The two kept a respectable distance from each other, not taking their closeness for granted, not invading where the other didn’t want.
During their days they were separate.
It was definitely for the best, as they still needed to grow as people apart from each other. Their daily activities clashed anyway, so there was no harm done.
Naruto would go hang out with his friends. Grab tea with Ino, play a game with Shikamaru, eat lunch with Sakura, go window shopping with Sai, walk in the park with Hinata, train with Lee, visit Ten Ten at the her family shop, spar with Kiba and Akamaru, help out with errands alongside Choji, talk about books Shino, things of that nature. Sometimes he would try to bother Tsunade, but she seldom allowed him.
Sasuke was more of a homebody. He read whatever scrolls or books Naruto had in his living room, cleaned up as much as he could without it looking like he became the blond teen’s housekeeper, cooked a few times so they could have a decent dinner that incorporated proteins and vegetables, things of that nature. If he wasn’t inside he walked to training fields and meditated or worked on training.
They almost never went out together.
Most nights they talked. About things that didn’t matter from when they were both traveling and training, like a meal they ate in a certain village, or a particularly bad training day that was funny in hindsight. They kept odd hours, Sasuke cutting conversations short when he noticed Naruto slipping into a slumber.
Some nights, Sasuke would fall asleep in Naruto’s bed reading a book or listening to him mumble about Jiraiya. It was never intentional, and when Sasuke woke up a couple of hours later, he would look over to Naruto and carefully remove himself from his position beside him and sleep on the couch. He would always take the extra pillow along with him.
A few nights, Sasuke saw vulnerability in Naruto that he would never have imagined possible from the blond. He talked about how he felt in those times, how certain events impacted him, shook him for lack of a better word. Those nights, Sasuke would rest his head on the wall behind Naruto’s bed and run his hand through blond hair, soothing the everlasting heartache out of him.
One night, Naruto turned to Sasuke and asked something that the black haired teen didn’t think he would hear from his best friend.
“If I cried right now, what would you do?”
Sasuke shook his head, eyes never leaving Naruto’s somber looking face. “Let you.”
There was what Sasuke would describe as a near audible crack in the blond teen’s expression, the sad smile crumbling away to allow hiccups to fall from his quivering lips.
Naruto began to cry next to Sasuke that night, and Sasuke sat there as Naruto sniffled into the pillow Sasuke normally took with him to sleep on. As Naruto’s body trembled from his choked back sobs, Sasuke felt waves of cold wash over him, shaking him too.
When Naruto finally fell asleep, tears staining his cheeks, Sasuke didn’t move to go to the couch. It felt irresponsible to do so.
He thought he should be responsible, at least for that moment.