Chapter Text
Author’s Note 💙✨
Thank you so much for reading this story 🌠💫 It genuinely means a lot that you’ve taken the time to step into this version of Naruto and Sasuke’s world 🖤🧡
I’ve really been enjoying writing this fic 📖✨ The idea of Naruto suddenly hearing Sasuke’s thoughts—and everything that unfolds because of it—has been so fun to explore emotionally and narratively 🧠💭 I love the tension, the confusion, and the way their feelings slip through in ways neither of them can fully control 💔🌙
I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it 💙🫶🌸
⚠️ Disclaimer 📌
I do not own Naruto or any of its characters 🎬 All rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto and the original creators 🙏 This is a fan-made work written purely for entertainment and out of love for the series 🖤📖✨
The rooftop door stuck halfway, like it always did.
Naruto shoved it open with his shoulder, the metal scraping just enough to announce him before he even stepped through. The sound echoed briefly against the concrete walls, then disappeared into the open air above.
“Still broken,” he muttered, glancing back at it.
“Nobody’s fixing it just for you.”
Sasuke’s voice came from the far side of the roof—calm, even, exactly where Naruto expected it to be.
Naruto let the door swing shut behind him and walked forward, hands shoved deep into his jacket pockets. The air up here was colder than downstairs, cleaner too. It carried less of the city’s weight, even if the lights stretched endlessly in every direction.
“You say that like I’m the only one who uses it.”
“Hn.”
Naruto snorted. Sasuke didn’t argue.
He was sitting near the edge, back against the low ledge that bordered the rooftop, one knee drawn up, the other stretched out in front of him. The position looked relaxed at first glance, but it never really was with him—everything about Sasuke had a kind of quiet precision, even when he wasn’t trying.
Naruto had known that for years. Long enough that it didn’t stand out anymore. Still, he noticed it tonight.
Maybe because he hadn’t seen him properly in a while.
Up close, under nothing but open, starry sky and bad lighting.
Naruto slowed as he approached, taking in the details without meaning to.
Sasuke’s hair had gotten a little longer since the last time they’d done this—just enough to fall slightly into his eyes before he pushed it back. It wasn’t styled, never really was, but it always looked intentional anyway.
Annoying.
His jacket was darker than the night around them, clean-lined, fitted without being stiff. He wore it like he wore everything else—like it belonged there, like it had already been decided.
Naruto, in comparison, felt like he’d been thrown together on the way out the door.
Which, to be fair, he had.
His hoodie sat uneven under his jacket, one sleeve slightly twisted where he’d shoved it on too quickly. His hair hadn’t been fixed since morning, and at this point, it had given up pretending to cooperate.
Sasuke’s gaze flicked up as Naruto got closer.
Brief. Assessing. Then away again.
“You’re late.”
Naruto dropped down beside him, close enough that their shoulders almost lined up.
“You got here early.”
“I got here on time.”
“Same thing.”
“Really not.”
Naruto leaned back on his hands, stretching his legs out in front of him. “You always say that.”
“And you always prove my point.”
Naruto huffed a quiet laugh, but it faded quicker than it usually did.
For a second, neither of them spoke.
The city moved below them—cars threading through intersections, lights shifting from red to green, people crossing streets in small clusters. It looked distant from up here, quieter than it really was.
Naruto tilted his head back, eyes scanning the sky automatically.
Clear. Good.
“You didn’t forget, right?” he asked.
Sasuke didn’t look at him. “You reminded me three times.”
“Yeah, but you forget things you don’t care about.”
“I didn’t forget.”
Naruto turned slightly, watching him now. “You brought it?”
Sasuke reached behind him without breaking eye contact with the skyline and pulled the case forward.
Naruto grinned despite himself. “Knew it.”
“I didn’t say I’d help you set it up.”
“You don’t have to. It’s second nature to me by now.”
“That’s not reassuring.”
Naruto ignored him, already unzipping the case.
The telescope inside had seen better days.
A scratch ran along one side of the tube, faint but noticeable if you knew where to look. Naruto did. He’d put it there himself when he was twelve—dragging it up here too fast, tripping on the last step, insisting it was fine even while Sasuke stared at him like he’d lost all common sense.
It still worked. That was what mattered.
“Hold this,” Naruto said, passing one of the tripod legs without waiting for agreement.
Sasuke took it anyway.
Of course he did. They fell into the routine without thinking.
Naruto adjusted the height. Sasuke steadied the base. Small movements, quiet coordination—something built over time rather than taught.
It had always been like this with them. Even before they realized it.
Neighbors first. That was how it started.
Houses side by side, close enough that Naruto could shout from his window and Sasuke would hear him whether he wanted to or not. Afternoons spent going back and forth without knocking, dinners occasionally shared when one of their mothers insisted, arguments that started over nothing and ended even faster.
Somewhere along the way, it had become… this. Something steadier. More constant.
Naruto tightened the last adjustment and stepped back.
“There.”
Sasuke leaned forward slightly, checking the angle.
“It’s off.”
Naruto frowned. “No, it’s not.”
“It is.”
Naruto nudged it a fraction. Sasuke didn’t argue again.
He just leaned in and looked through the lens, one hand resting lightly against the side to steady it.
The Uchiha paused, then with his quiet tone commented. “…It’s fine.”
Naruto smirked. “Thought so.”
Sasuke straightened, brushing his fingers lightly against the metal as he stepped back.
The first meteor came without warning.
A thin streak of light cutting across the sky—quick, sharp, gone before it could settle into memory.
Naruto caught it just in time.
“There—!”
“I saw it.”
“It’s amazing!” Naruto exclaimed.
Another followed, then a third, spaced just enough to keep you watching.
The air shifted slightly as the temperature dropped.
Naruto pulled his jacket closer around himself, more out of habit than the cold, then glanced sideways.
“You’re not cold?”
“No.”
“You’re definitely cold. Stop acting tough.”
“Hn.”
Naruto let out a quiet breath that might’ve been a laugh, but it didn’t quite land. His attention lingered a second longer before he looked back up at the sky.
The next meteor came slower, almost deliberate—bright enough to leave an afterimage if you stared too long.
“…You’ve been avoiding me.”
The words settled between them without force.
Not sharp. Not accusing. Just… spoken as a fact.
Sasuke didn’t move. If anything, he grew more still, like he’d decided that reacting would make it worse.
“I’ve been busy,” he said after a moment.
Naruto tilted his head slightly, watching him now instead of the sky.
“That’s not it.”
Sasuke exhaled quietly, gaze still fixed ahead. The city lights reflected faintly in his eyes, but there was nothing in them Naruto could read.
“You’ve got classes. I’ve got mine,” he continued, tone even. “Schedules don’t always line up.”
“That never stopped you before.”
Naruto shifted, turning more toward him, one knee pulling up slightly as if grounding himself in the space.
“You used to just come over,” he added. “Didn’t matter what time or how busy you were.”
Sasuke’s fingers brushed lightly against the edge of the telescope case beside him, a small, idle movement that didn’t seem intentional.
“Things change.”
Naruto frowned. “Not between us.”
Sasuke didn’t answer to that.
Another meteor cut across the sky—faster this time, gone before either of them could comment on it.
Naruto waited for his childhood friend to give a proper reason for his recent distance. It wasn’t like him, to leave things alone when they didn’t make sense. Usually he pushed, kept going until something gave.
But this situation felt different. Like if he pushed too hard, something would snap instead of bend.
“Sasuke,” he said, softer now.
Sasuke finally turned his head.
Not fully—just enough that Naruto could see the line of his jaw, the slight tension there.
“You’re still coming by tomorrow, right?” Naruto asked.
It wasn’t the same question. But it came from the same place.
Sasuke held his gaze for a second. Then looked away again.
“…I might be busy.”
Naruto let out a breath through his nose, more frustrated than he wanted to admit.
“I should change your name to ‘busy’ already.”
“And you’re always assuming things.”
Naruto opened his mouth to argue—and stopped.
Because Sasuke had shifted slightly, not away, not closer, but enough to break the rhythm of the conversation.
A quiet, subtle, and intentional interruption.
“…How are things with Hinata?”
Naruto blinked. The question landed out of place. Very unexpected.
“What?”
“Your girlfriend,” Sasuke said, tone unchanged. “You’ve been spending more time with her.”
Naruto frowned slightly, trying to follow the turn.
“Yeah,” he said slowly. “I mean… yeah. We’re fine.”
Sasuke didn’t look at him. “Fine?”
Naruto huffed a small laugh. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing.”
“It didn’t sound like nothing.”
Sasuke’s fingers stilled against the case, then withdrew, resting loosely against his knee instead.
“I’m asking,” he said, “because you haven’t been around as much either.”
Naruto leaned back on his hands again, glancing up at the sky before answering.
“That’s not the same.”
“Why not?”
“Because I didn’t disappear,” Naruto replied. “I still text. I still—” he cut himself off, shaking his head. “You’re the one who stopped showing up.”
Sasuke didn’t respond. Naruto glanced at him again, studying his profile.
“…Things are good,” he said after a moment, more quietly now. “With Hinata-chan.”
That part was true. Stable. Easy. Familiar in a different way.
Sasuke nodded once.
A small movement. Almost nothing. But it felt like acknowledgment rather than agreement.
“That’s good,” he said.
And it sounded right, exactly the way it should. Except— Something in the timing of it felt… off.
Naruto couldn’t place it. Didn’t try to. He just watched as Sasuke leaned forward slightly, adjusting the angle of the telescope again, even though it didn’t need it.
“You should check the alignment,” Sasuke added. “You moved it earlier.”
Naruto stared at him for a second longer. Then pushed himself up, brushing it off.
“Yeah, yeah,” he muttered, stepping closer. “You just like telling me I did it wrong.”
Sasuke didn’t answer. But the corner of his mouth shifted—just barely.
Naruto leaned down to look through the lens, adjusting it out of habit.
Behind him, Sasuke’s gaze lifted back to the sky.
Another meteor passed. He didn’t point it out.
Sasuke checked the time on his phone once, then slipped it back into his pocket.
“We should leave.”
Naruto glanced up from the telescope lens, still crouched slightly as he adjusted the focus one last time. The sky had started to thin into deeper black now, the meteor shower slowing to scattered streaks rather than the earlier rush of light.
“Already?” he asked.
“Morning classes.”
Naruto straightened slowly, rolling his shoulders as if that alone could delay the reality of going back down. The rooftop always felt different at this hour, like the city had stopped pretending to be anything else.
“Yeah,” he said finally. “Right.”
They packed the telescope the same way they always did. Naruto handled most of it, Sasuke closing the case when he was done, locking it with practiced ease. It wasn’t spoken, but it never needed to be—Naruto carried the bulk, Sasuke corrected anything that was done carelessly.
When they reached the door, Sasuke stopped first.
“I’ll head out.”
Naruto nodded without thinking much of it. “Yeah. I’ll lock up.”
Sasuke left without another word.
The rooftop door clicked shut behind him, leaving Naruto alone with the quiet.
It didn’t feel unusual at first. It never used to.
But lately, the quiet had started to stretch in ways it didn’t before.
Naruto stood there for a moment longer, telescope case resting against his leg, and looked out over the city. The lights below shimmered faintly, cars moving like small threads of motion between buildings that never slept.
He exhaled through his nose and turned back toward the equipment.
Sasuke had been like this for a while now.
Distant in small ways that didn’t announce themselves loudly enough to question at first.
No more random calls just to say nothing.
No more showing up uninvited in Naruto’s room with whatever food he had decided was worth sharing.
No more games at night that stretched too long because neither of them bothered to check the time.
Even tonight hadn’t been easy. Naruto had asked once. Then again a few days later.
By the second week, he had started phrasing it differently each time, like changing the words might change the answer. Sasuke hadn’t said no. He also hadn’t said yes.
He had just been harder to reach.
Eventually, he had shown up anyway.
Naruto slung the telescope case over his shoulder and started toward the door.
“Busy,” Sasuke had said at some point during those two weeks.
Naruto had stopped pushing after that, but only because it had started to feel like pushing against something that wasn’t moving no matter what he did.
Now, standing alone on the rooftop, he realized he had gotten used to the distance faster than he liked to admit.
He stepped inside and locked the door behind him.
The hallway down was dim, lit by emergency lights that cast everything in soft orange. His footsteps echoed slightly, slower now without Sasuke’s presence beside him.
By the time he reached the street, the air had cooled further.
Naruto adjusted the strap of the telescope case and started walking home. He didn’t notice the sky shifting again until he looked up by accident.
A single meteor cut through the darkness. Stronger than the rest. Clear enough to pull attention without asking for it.
Naruto stopped walking.
The city moved around him, indifferent, but he didn’t move with it. His gaze stayed fixed upward as the light burned briefly across the sky and disappeared into nothing.
For a moment, he didn’t think about anything else.
Not Sasuke’s silence. Not the distance that had grown without permission. Not the way things used to be and weren’t anymore.
He just looked.
And then, without overthinking it the way he usually would, he spoke under his breath.
“Just… let things go back to normal.”
He shifted slightly, tightening his grip on the telescope case.
“I want us to get along again,” he added, quieter now. “Like before.”
The sky stayed silent. The city didn’t respond.
Naruto closed his eyes anyway. When he opened them again, the meteor was gone. But the feeling it left behind wasn’t.
He started walking home again, slower than before, as if something had changed direction without telling him.
Hinata was waiting near the entrance of the economics building.
She always stood slightly to the side of foot traffic, like she didn’t want to interrupt the world even when she was part of it. Today she wore a soft lavender cardigan over a white blouse, sleeves pulled just a little over her hands. Her skirt moved faintly in the morning breeze, and she kept adjusting it without noticing she was doing it.
When she saw Naruto, her posture changed immediately.
Not dramatically, just enough to be noticeable if you knew her.
Her shoulders drew in slightly, her fingers tightened around the strap of her bag, and her eyes flickered away for a second before returning to him.
“N-Naruto-kun…”
She said his name like she wasn’t sure she had the right to say it out loud.
Naruto slowed automatically, his expression softening without effort. “Hey.”
Hinata stepped closer, then stopped again, as if proximity itself needed permission. A faint blush rose along her cheeks even before she finished speaking.
“I… I waited a bit. I wasn’t sure if you’d already gone inside.”
“I was running late, sorry,” Naruto replied. “Same story as always.”
That seemed to ease her slightly. She smiled, small but genuine, though her gaze still dipped away whenever he looked directly at her.
She was wearing a simple outfit today, nothing attention-grabbing, but somehow it suited her in a way that made her feel quieter than the world around her rather than smaller than it.
“I wanted to talk to you about something, Naruto-kun,” she said.
Naruto tilted his head with a grin. “Oh, danger alert.”
Hinata shook her head quickly. “No, it’s nothing serious. I mean, it is, but not bad serious.”
Naruto blinked. “That’s not helpful.”
“S-Sorry,” she said immediately, hands tightening around her bag strap. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
Naruto laughed lightly, waving it off. “I’m kidding. Go on.”
Hinata hesitated, then spoke more carefully.
“I was thinking… maybe this weekend, we could all have dinner together. Sakura-chan, Sasuke-kun, and us.”
Naruto paused. The mention of Sasuke shifted something in the air, subtle but noticeable now in a way it hadn’t been before.
“Why?” he asked.
Hinata looked down for a moment before answering.
“I think Sakura-chan has been a little lonely lately. And… I thought it might be nice if she got to know Sasuke-kun better. You do know she has a crush on him. So I was hoping to help her out. Sasuke-kun doesn’t have a girlfriend right now, right?”
“No, he doesn’t.”
“Then good. You’re close to him, so I thought maybe you could ask him?”
Naruto didn’t answer right away. Not because the idea was strange on its own, but because he knew how his friend felt about fixing him up on dates.
Naruto wanted to tell her that it won’t work. That Sasuke isn’t the type to like hooking-up like that, but looking at her sweet smile and gentle air, he couldn’t bring himself to tell her no.
He blinked once, then focused back on Hinata.
“Yeah,” he said finally. “I can ask him.”
Hinata’s expression brightened slightly, relief softening her features. “Thank you, Naruto-kun! I’m sure they will hit it off.”
She bowed her head a little too quickly, then glanced up again, hesitating like she wanted to say something else but couldn’t find the shape of it.
Instead, she smiled and stepped back.
“I’ll see you after class then.”
“Yeah,” Naruto replied. “Later.”
She turned and walked away, still adjusting her sleeves without realizing it, disappearing into the flow of students near the entrance.
Naruto watched her go for a second longer than necessary. Then he turned toward the building and sighed.
Sasuke was already there. Leaning near the corridor outside their lecture hall, exactly where he usually stood. Black shirt, sleeves rolled just slightly, posture relaxed but never careless. His phone was in his hand, though he wasn’t looking at it.
Naruto slowed without meaning to.
Something in him registered the distance before his thoughts caught up.
Sasuke looked up. Their eyes met. And then something strange happened.
Not sound. Not imagination. Something direct, unfiltered floated to Naruto’s mind.
‘He’s late again.’
Naruto stopped walking. For a moment, his brain refused to process it properly.
Because Sasuke’s mouth hadn’t moved. No words were spoken. But he heard Sasuke’s voice loud and clear.
The blond shook his head, forced himself to keep moving, but the strange feeling had already lodged itself under his skin.
He stopped in front of his childhood friend.
“Morning,” he said, carefully normal.
Sasuke gave a short nod. “Morning.”
Naruto studied him for a second. Trying to find where the thought could have come from. Trying to locate the trick.
His mind supplied nothing useful. Then Sasuke shifted slightly, pushing off the wall.
And another thought floated to him again, sharper this time, as if proximity made it louder.
‘He didn’t sleep.’
Naruto’s breath caught before he could stop it. His grip tightened on his bag strap without realizing it.
Sasuke started walking toward the lecture hall. Naruto followed, but his attention wasn’t fully inside the hallway anymore. It was stuck on the space between them.
Because normal explanations weren’t fitting into what was happening.
The lecture hall filled steadily, the usual noise settling into place as students took their seats. Naruto dropped into his without much awareness of the movement, his body following routine even while his mind lagged behind.
Sasuke sat a row ahead, slightly to the right.
Naruto noticed that detail more than he expected to.
He rested his elbows on the desk and looked toward the front, trying to let the familiar setting ground him. The professor had already started speaking, writing something across the board, but the words didn’t settle. They passed through him without leaving anything behind.
He looked at Sasuke and his mind wondered. There had to be a simple explanation.
Lack of sleep. Distraction. His brain filling in gaps the way it sometimes did when things felt off. He knew Sasuke well enough to anticipate reactions—he’d done it for years without thinking about it.
That had to be what this was.
Naruto shifted slightly in his seat, letting his bag hit the ground just enough to make a sound. It wasn’t loud. It shouldn’t have drawn attention. Sasuke didn’t turn around. He didn’t react at all.
Naruto focused on the back of his head, watching for something—any sign that he’d noticed.
Nothing came.
Then, without warning, a thought slipped in with unsettling clarity.
‘I wonder if he’s okay, maybe I was too distant yesterday.’
Naruto went completely still.
The reaction came too fast for him to control, like his body understood something before his mind did. He stared forward, pulse picking up as he tried to place what had just happened.
That wasn’t a guess. It didn’t feel like something he had assumed or interpreted.
Those were Sasuke’s thoughts, his voice was integrated into Naruto’s system, he’d never mistake it for someone else. He tightened his grip on the edge of the desk.
But how? This didn’t make sense.
He forced himself to move again, slower this time, more controlled. If this was just his brain overcompensating, then repeating the situation should expose it.
He leaned back, careful not to make a sound, then let his gaze settle on Sasuke again.
Deliberately, not casually. He held it there longer than he normally would.
Sasuke shifted in his seat. He turned towards him subtly. An elusive adjustment, barely noticeable, but Naruto caught it anyway.
And then—
‘Stop staring, Bakaruto.’
Naruto’s breath caught.
He looked away immediately, the reaction instinctive this time. His heart was beating harder now, not from confusion but from something that edged closer to unease.
This wasn’t lining up with anything he could explain. He pressed his fingers briefly against his temple, as if that might steady the feeling, then dropped his hand again.
Think!
There had to be another explanation.
He tried not looking at Sasuke at all. Forced his attention forward, onto the lecture, onto the steady rhythm of the professor’s voice. A few minutes passed and nothing happened.
The tension in his chest loosened slightly.
Maybe that was it. Maybe focusing elsewhere broke whatever link his mind had formed with Sasuke’s. He exhaled quietly and let his shoulders relax. Then, without meaning to, he glanced sideways.
Just once.
Sasuke was already looking at him. And the thought followed instantly, so closely tied to the moment that Naruto couldn’t separate one from the other.
‘He’s acting strange. I hope he’s not sick.’
Naruto froze. This time there was no room left to dismiss it.
The timing was too exact. The wording too specific. It didn’t feel like interpretation anymore.
He turned his gaze forward again, more abruptly than he intended. Something had changed, the possibility he’d been avoiding settled in fully.
He wasn’t imagining this.
The rest of the lecture passed without settling into anything Naruto could use.
When it ended, people stood almost at once, the room loosening as conversations picked back up. Naruto packed his bag with more attention than necessary, aware of Sasuke moving ahead of him, slipping into the aisle without waiting.
Naruto followed anyway.
They stepped out into the hallway together, carried forward by the same current of students moving toward the exits. The air outside felt clearer, cooler, enough to sharpen his focus even if it didn’t steady it.
Naruto reached into his pocket as they walked and pulled out his phone.
A message from Hinata popped.
‘Are you free for lunch? I’m with Sakura-chan.’
Naruto slowed just slightly, reading it again, then glanced sideways at Sasuke.
“Hey,” he said, casual enough, “Hinata-chan’s asking if we want to meet for lunch. She’s with Sakura-chan.”
Sasuke didn’t stop walking.
“I have things to do.”
The answer came quickly, as if Sasuke didn’t even wish to discuss the possibility.
Naruto watched him for a second, thumb still resting against his phone screen. Before he could respond, the thought came through, clean and immediate.
‘I’m not going to sit there while she tries to pair me with someone I don’t want.’
Naruto’s grip tightened around his phone.
It lined up too closely with what Sasuke had just said, and yet not completely. There was more in it—something sharper, more personal than the words he chose to say out loud.
Naruto looked at him more carefully now.
“You’re busy?” he asked.
“Yes.”
Naruto hesitated, then spoke more slowly. “It’s just lunch.”
“That doesn’t change anything.”
Naruto exhaled quietly, glancing down at his phone again before typing a quick reply.
‘We’ll come.’
He hit send before giving himself time to reconsider. Sasuke noticed.
“I didn’t agree.”
Naruto slipped the phone back into his pocket. “You didn’t say no.”
“I did.”
“You said you’re busy. That’s not the same thing.”
Sasuke stopped walking. Naruto took another step before realizing, then turned back to face him.
“You’re coming,” Naruto added, tone lighter than the situation probably deserved. “It won’t kill you.”
Sasuke’s gaze rested on him for a moment, steady, unreadable.
Then—
‘Why is he acting so stubborn today?’
Naruto felt the thought land before he could prepare for it.
Something in his chest tightened again, not from surprise this time, but from the growing certainty that he was hearing something he wasn’t supposed to.
Sasuke looked away first.
“Sasuke, I don’t want to force you… but I miss having lunch together. So please, even if you hate the idea of eating together with Sakura-chan, please… for me.”
‘I don’t hate eating with Sakura, idiot.’
“…Fine,” he said.
Naruto blinked because the thought and words came at once, he didn’t have time to decipher the meaning.
“That was easier than I expected.” The blond commented.
“I didn’t say I’d stay long.”
“I’ll take what I can get.”
They changed direction toward the smaller café near campus, the one Hinata preferred because it was quieter than the main dining hall. Naruto knew the place well enough that he didn’t need directions, and Sasuke followed without asking.
Inside, the noise dropped immediately.
Fewer people. Softer voices. The low hum of conversation instead of the constant overlap outside.
Hinata spotted them first.
She stood halfway from her seat before catching herself, hands pulling in slightly as if she wasn’t sure whether to wave or stay still.
“N-Naruto-kun…”
Her voice softened on his name, the familiar flush already rising to her cheeks.
Sakura sat across from her. Unlike Hinata, she didn’t hesitate.
She looked up, assessed them both in a single glance, and rested her chin lightly against her hand.
“Took you long enough,” she said.
Naruto pulled out a chair beside Hinata. “We just got out of class.”
Sasuke took the seat across from Sakura without comment.
Hinata sat back down, fingers curling slightly in her lap before she spoke again.
“I wasn’t sure if you’d be able to come,” she admitted, glancing briefly at Sasuke before looking away again.
Naruto smiled. “We’re here.”
Sakura’s gaze shifted toward Sasuke, more direct now.
“That’s surprising,” she said.
Sasuke didn’t respond. Naruto felt the shift before he heard it.
‘This is exactly what I didn’t want.’
The thought came quieter than before, but no less clear.
Naruto’s attention flickered to Sasuke immediately.
Outwardly, nothing had changed. Same posture. Same expression. No visible tension.
And yet—
Naruto forced himself to look away, reaching for the menu instead.
“Are we ordering or just judging each other?” he said, trying to keep the tone easy.
Hinata smiled faintly at that, the tension easing just a little.
“W-We can order,” she said quickly.
Sakura leaned back in her chair, still watching Sasuke, but she let the moment pass without pushing further.
Conversation picked up in small pieces after that—safe topics, light exchanges, Hinata occasionally stumbling over her words before recovering, Sakura filling in gaps when needed.
Naruto followed along, responded when expected. But his focus wasn’t steady. Because every now and then, without warning, something slipped through.
A thought that didn’t belong to him. A reaction that didn’t match what was being said.
And every time it happened, it became harder to pretend this was something he could ignore.
The food arrived gradually, one plate at a time, filling the table with small distractions that made conversation easier to carry.
Hinata thanked the server quietly, hands folding near her lap before she reached for her drink. Naruto watched her for a moment, the way she moved carefully even with something as simple as adjusting her glass.
“You didn’t order much,” he said.
Hinata glanced up, startled slightly by the attention. “I-I wasn’t very hungry.”
“That’s not true,” Naruto replied. “You skipped breakfast again, didn’t you?”
Her expression gave her away before she could answer.
“I thought so,” he said, already pushing his plate slightly toward her. “Here.”
Hinata blinked, flustered. “N-No, Naruto-kun, it’s yours—”
“I’ll order more if I need to. Just eat.”
She hesitated, fingers curling faintly against the edge of the table, then nodded.
“Thank you,” she said, softer now.
Naruto smiled without thinking about it. “You don’t have to thank me for that.”
The moment settled into something warm and easy, the kind of quiet understanding that didn’t need much explanation.
Across the table, Sakura noticed it immediately.
Her gaze flicked between them once, then shifted toward Sasuke, as if measuring something.
“So,” she said, turning slightly in her seat, “what do you usually do outside of class?”
Sasuke didn’t look up from his drink. “Nothing worth discussing.”
Sakura didn’t seem discouraged.
“That’s hard to believe,” she said. “You must have something. Sports? Clubs?”
“No.”
She tilted her head, studying him more closely now. “You’re not very talkative, are you?”
Sasuke met her gaze briefly. “I don’t see the point.”
Sakura smiled, though there was a faint edge to it now. “The point is getting to know people.”
“I’m not interested in that.”
The answer came without hesitation.
Sakura held his gaze for a second longer, then leaned back slightly, reassessing rather than withdrawing.
Naruto caught part of the exchange, but not all of it. His attention had drifted again, pulled back toward something closer.
Hinata had finally taken a bite.
He noticed the way she relaxed after, just slightly, like the tension she carried eased when she wasn’t being watched.
“You should’ve said something,” Naruto said. “I would’ve gotten you something you actually like.”
Hinata shook her head quickly. “It’s okay, really. I don’t mind.”
“You always say that.”
She smiled faintly. “Because it’s true.”
Naruto leaned back in his chair, studying her for a second, then reached over and adjusted the position of her glass when he noticed it was too close to the edge.
“You’re going to knock that over,” he said.
Hinata’s blush deepened. “I wasn’t— I mean, I wouldn’t—”
“You would,” Naruto said, lightly.
She let out a small, embarrassed laugh, lowering her gaze.
Across from them, Sasuke’s hand tightened slightly around his glass. The shift was small enough that no one else would have noticed.
Naruto didn’t see it either. But he felt it. Because the thought came with it, sharper than the ones before.
‘Hmph, missed eating with you, my ass. You just want to rub your annoying happiness on my face.’
Naruto’s attention snapped toward him.
Sasuke hadn’t moved otherwise. His expression remained composed, distant in the way it always was.
But his thought lingered. Naruto’s chest tightened faintly, confusion settling into something heavier.
He looked back at Hinata, who was still focused on her food, then at Sasuke again. Nothing outward connected the two moments.
And yet—
‘He shouldn’t look at her like that.’
Naruto froze for a second.
The words didn’t fit the situation cleanly. They didn’t match what was happening at the table. They didn’t match anything that made sense.
He forced himself to look away, reaching for his drink even though he wasn’t thirsty.
Sakura spoke again, drawing the attention back across the table.
“You’re in business, right?” she asked Sasuke.
“Yes.”
“What do you want to do with that?”
Sasuke answered without much interest. “Work.”
Sakura let out a small breath, somewhere between amusement and frustration. “You’re not making this easy.”
“I didn’t agree to make it easy.”
Naruto glanced up at that, catching the exchange more clearly this time.
Sakura leaned forward slightly, resting her chin on her hand again, her focus entirely on Sasuke, refusing to budge.
“Then at least try to be a little less difficult,” she said. “I’m making an effort here.”
Sasuke met her gaze. There was nothing openly dismissive in his expression, but there was no invitation either.
“You don’t have to.”
Sakura held his eyes for a second longer, then smiled faintly, more to herself than to him.
“I know,” she said. “That doesn’t mean I won’t.”
Naruto shifted in his seat, the conversation at the table kept moving, but it had lost its balance.
Naruto noticed it in the way Sakura kept trying to redirect things and how Sasuke gave her just enough to keep it from ending outright, but never enough to let it settle into something real. It wasn’t rude. It wasn’t even dismissive in an obvious way. It just didn’t go anywhere.
Naruto watched it happen for a moment, then looked down at his plate, pushing his food around without much appetite.
It wasn’t surprising. Sasuke had always been like that with people he didn’t care to engage with. There was nothing new about it.
And yet something about it felt different now that Naruto was paying attention to more than what was being said out loud.
Sakura leaned back again, exhaling through her nose in a way that suggested she hadn’t given up, just changed strategy.
“Fine,” she said, almost to herself. “We’ll come back to that.”
Sasuke didn’t respond.
Naruto shifted slightly in his seat, his attention drifting without settling anywhere in particular. The café noise filled in the spaces between their conversation, soft enough to ignore, constant enough to keep everything from falling completely silent.
Hinata glanced at him then, hesitant.
“Naruto… do you want some tea?” she asked, her voice quiet but careful.
He looked up, blinking once before focusing on her properly. “Huh?”
“I ordered an extra,” she said, fingers lightly touching the cup in front of her. “I thought you might want it.”
Naruto smiled faintly. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“I didn’t mind.”
He reached for it anyway, their fingers brushing briefly as he took the cup.
“Thanks,” he said.
Hinata nodded, her cheeks warming again, but she didn’t pull her hand back too quickly this time. She let it rest near his for a second before drawing it away, the movement small but noticeable if you were looking for it.
Naruto wasn’t thinking about it. Not really.
It was familiar. Easy. The kind of moment that didn’t require attention because it had happened in different forms so many times before.
He took a sip of the tea, then set it down.
Across from him, Sasuke’s gaze had lowered slightly, fixed somewhere near the table rather than on any of them.
Nothing about his posture gave anything away. But the thought came anyway.
‘He doesn’t even notice when he does that, touching hands, how cliché.’
Naruto’s hand stilled around the cup. He set it down a little too carefully, as if controlling the movement would steady something else.
His mind was jumping ahead, filling in gaps that weren’t there, turning ordinary moments into something else because he was already on edge.
That had to be it. He leaned back slightly, forcing himself to look anywhere but at Sasuke.
Sakura spoke again, drawing attention back to her.
“You’re really not going to give me anything to work with?” she asked, her tone lighter now but still persistent.
Sasuke glanced at her briefly. “No.”
Naruto let out a quiet breath, the exchange confirming what he had already been thinking.
This wasn’t going anywhere. Sakura was trying, but Sasuke wasn’t meeting her halfway, and he wasn’t going to.
That should have been the end of it.
Naruto could have left it there, let the conversation drift into something else, let the lunch pass without pushing anything further.
Instead, he heard it again.
‘Why is he letting her sit that close?’
Naruto’s head snapped up before he could stop himself. The thought came sharper than the others.
Clearer.
He looked at Sasuke. Then, instinctively, at Hinata. His girlfriend hadn’t moved.
She was sitting exactly where she had been before, her posture careful, her attention mostly on Naruto rather than the rest of the table. There was nothing unusual about it.
Nothing that should have triggered that kind of reaction.
Naruto swallowed. His current closeness with Hinata was something that was the usual for them. Has Sasuke always thought that?
He forced a small laugh, though it didn’t quite come naturally.
“You’re really not making this easy for her, Sasuke,” he said, trying to steer his own nerves away from Sasuke’s thoughts.
Sasuke’s gaze shifted to him. “I didn’t ask her to try.”
Naruto nodded slowly, rolling his eyes. “Yeah, we all got that.”
The blond reached for his drink again, more to give himself something to do than because he wanted it. He needed to stop reading into this. Needed to stop listening.
Because the more he paid attention, the worse it got.
And yet— Sasuke’s thoughts were intrusive.
‘Then next time, just invite me to eat just the two of us. Don’t bring these women.’
Naruto’s grip tightened slightly around the glass. That one landed differently.
The emotion behind it was visible to a tee.
He stared down at the table, jaw setting as he tried to push the thoughts away, to treat them like background noise instead of something real.
People didn’t hear other people’s thoughts like this, not in full sentences. Suddenly, he regretted this joint lunch. Sasuke wasn’t happy and his thoughts made it clear enough.
Naruto exhaled slowly and leaned back again, forcing his posture to relax.
“Maybe we should talk about something else,” he said, glancing between them. “This is getting painful to watch.”
Sakura huffed a quiet laugh. “Finally, something we agree on.”
Hinata looked relieved at the shift, her shoulders easing slightly.
Sasuke didn’t respond. But Naruto didn’t look at him again.
Because he wasn’t sure he could hear another thought and still pretend this was nothing.
And he needed—just for a little longer—to believe that it was.
By the time the last lecture ended, the day had worn itself thin.
Students filtered out in loose clusters, conversations dragging behind them as they made their way toward the exits. Naruto packed his things more slowly than usual, aware—without looking—that Sasuke was already halfway out of his seat.
That had become a pattern. Sasuke left first. Naruto caught up later.
Naruto slung his bag over his shoulder and stepped into the hallway just in time to see Sasuke disappear into the flow of people moving toward the stairs.
For a second, he considered letting it go. Letting him leave. Letting the distance stay where it had been for weeks now.
Instead, he pushed forward.
“Sasuke.”
He said it loud enough to carry, weaving through the crowd until he closed the gap.
Sasuke slowed but didn’t stop.
“You’re in a hurry?” Naruto asked, falling into step beside him.
“I have things to do.”
Naruto let out a quiet breath, something between a laugh and frustration. “Figures.”
Sasuke didn’t respond.
They reached the stairs, moving down with the rest of the students. Naruto stayed beside him, not giving him the space to slip away this time.
When they stepped outside, the air felt cooler than it had earlier, the sky already beginning to dim.
Naruto adjusted the strap of his bag and glanced at him.
“Come over,” he said. “We haven’t hung out in a while.”
Sasuke kept walking.
“No.”
Naruto frowned. “That was quick.”
“I’m busy.”
Naruto stopped. Not dramatically, just enough that Sasuke took another step before noticing and turning slightly.
“Busy with what?” Naruto asked.
Sasuke didn’t answer right away.
Naruto held his gaze, waiting this time instead of filling the silence.
Then—
‘He’ll walk her home.’
Naruto’s chest tightened. The thought came with a clarity that made it impossible to ignore.
It was immediate, tied to the moment in a way that made Naruto’s next words feel heavier before he even said them.
“I’m not walking Hinata-chan home today,” Naruto said softly.
Sasuke’s eyes widened slightly, but the change was so subtle that if Naruto didn’t know him so well, he wouldn’t have noticed.
“I didn’t ask you about her.”
Naruto took a step closer, narrowing the space between them.
“I know, I just wanted to say it. Today, I want us to hang out. No one else would be there. What do you say?”
Naruto stared at him. Waiting. Because now he knew there was more behind it.
There always was. And it came again.
‘You always choose her first. Why do you want me now?’
Naruto felt it like a shift under his ribs. After lunch, he kept on thinking about the thoughts slipping from Sasuke to him. At the beginning, he thought perhaps Sasuke was jealous of the relationship he had with Hinata, maybe he wanted a girlfriend, but his attitude with Sakura told otherwise.
Then was it irritation? Indifference? Or something else?
He swallowed, the words catching before he could stop them.
“That’s not—” he started, then stopped himself.
Because what was he supposed to say?
That it wasn’t true? That he didn’t prioritize his girlfriend?
The thought didn’t leave him space to answer cleanly.
Sasuke looked at him in a strange light, then turned away first, gaze drifting toward the street.
“You should go,” he said. “She’s probably waiting.”
Naruto didn’t move.
“She’s not. I said I’m not going with her today, listen to me,” he replied.
Sasuke’s jaw tightened slightly, the only visible sign of anything shifting beneath the surface.
‘Don’t do this Naruto, don’t give me leverage, I don’t deserve this.’
Naruto’s breath caught. The thought landed sharper than the others. Something closer to angst, held in place only by habit.
Naruto stepped closer again, forcing Sasuke to look at him.
“Why are you acting like this?” he asked softly. “Why don’t you want to be together anymore?”
Sasuke met his gaze. For a second, it felt like he might actually answer.
Then the moment slipped.
“…You’re overthinking this.”
Naruto let out a quiet, disbelieving breath. “I am not, Sasuke, we both know it.”
Sasuke didn’t argue. But the silence that followed wasn’t empty.
‘I’m trying my best to preserve our friendship, idiot.’
Naruto froze. He stared at him, something in his expression shifting in a way he couldn’t quite control.
Sasuke held his gaze for a second longer. Then stepped back.
“Go, Naruto.” he said.
This time, Naruto didn’t answer. He didn’t move either.
Because for the first time since this started, denial didn’t come easily.
And Sasuke— Sasuke didn’t wait.
He turned and walked away, disappearing into the evening crowd without looking back.
Naruto stood there longer than he should have.
Long enough for the moment to settle into something he couldn’t ignore anymore. Whatever had changed last night hadn’t just given him access to stray thoughts or passing reactions.
It had given him something far more dangerous. And as the distance between them widened again, Naruto understood one thing with uncomfortable clarity.
Their relationship as he knew it was changing.
Thank you for reading~ First chapter done! Five to go :D I hope you enjoy the ride~