Chapter Text
It took Naruto no time at all to start to fall asleep again—his head sagged slowly, slowly, slowly, until it finally dropped onto Sasuke's shoulder, and Naruto was lost to the world.
Sasuke snorted a little, letting Naruto's body press him further into the armrest. He wasn't sure what to be less surprised by: the fact that Naruto was so obviously exhausted, or the fact that he snored as if someone had taken a drill to his apartment.
Still, Sasuke's own eyelids were getting heavier by the minute, and the warmth of Naruto's body, pressed up against his arm, definitely wasn't helping. It was squishing him, though, and if he moved his arm just a little—
He shifted, and Naruto fell onto his lap.
Sasuke watched, blinking in surprise, as it did absolutely nothing to bring the blonde out of sleep. Naruto only let out a sleepy mumble, happily burrowing his face into Sasuke's lap as his arms circled around his waist.
Well.
He supposed moving to the bed was completely out of the option now.
It wasn't as if he was uncomfortable—far from it, really. Naruto's warmth, coupled with the blanket, was settling Sasuke in a way that had him dancing right on the edge of sleep...and Naruto wouldn't mind, surely—he had been anything but uncomfortable with physical affection so far…and Sasuke was so tired, now…it wasn't that big of a deal if he didn't brush his teeth for one night…
The sun was unrelenting.
It was bright, it was hot, and it was everywhere. Well, it seemed like it was everywhere—the last couple times Naruto had woken up he had gotten away with burying his face into the couch—but somehow, that just wasn't working anymore.
And the couch felt...tougher. Rough, in a way that he couldn't nuzzle into like he had before…
Maybe he was just actually waking up after all.
He let out a soft groan, rubbing at his eyes as he sat up. It took him way too long of a moment to recognize that he wasn't at home, and then another one to remember that he had passed out at Sasuke's place last night. Was Sasuke awake? He had to be. Naruto could smell...food?
"…s'ke?"
Sasuke looked up, swearing he could hear something over the sizzling of the pan.
Naruto blinked at him—still looking half-asleep. Sasuke stifled a smile at the thought that it oddly suited him—
"Are you making food?"
Sasuke glanced down at the pan. "I'm trying to. This thing is so old," he indicated the stovetop, frowning, "it never cooks evenly."
He checked the bottom of the eggs again. The moment he looked away they were going to burn, he just knew it.
"Are eggs okay?" He looked up at Naruto.
"Yeah, of course!" Naruto grinned. "Sunny side up?"
"That's the plan."
"D'you have bread? We can throw some cheese on there and make it a sandwich," Naruto offered.
"Yeah—I..." Sasuke looked around the place, "just help yourself," he said finally.
"I'm craving something really greasy, I think." Naruto laughed, opening the fridge. "Thanks. How long did I sleep?"
"It's, ah—I think somewhere around 11:30," Sasuke answered.
"I'm up before noon?" Naruto looked surprised. "Look at me go!"
He laughed. Sasuke only rolled his eyes.
"Oh—d'you have an extra toothbrush I could use or anything? I think I could kill someone with my breath."
Sasuke snorted. "You can use mine," he offered.
"Thanks!" Naruto grinned as he padded away, and Sasuke stifled a sigh. The last time Itachi had used his toothbrush, he had practically screamed at him. Granted, that had been years ago, but still—he had offered it to Naruto without a second thought. Naruto really had some sort of grip on him…
"This is the fuckin' best." Naruto's voice came from behind the giant mess he had made for himself. He moaned as he took another bite.
Sasuke shook his head, pushing his own plate away from himself a little. He always nauseous when he was sleep-deprived, and today was no exception. He had managed about half an egg before he felt his stomach start to turn.
"You okay?" Naruto asked, wiping at his mouth.
"Yes," Sasuke answered automatically. But Naruto only paused, eyeing him with a look that was so obviously trying to hide his disbelief that Sasuke felt like he had to continue—
"I'm just—tired."
"You could nap," Naruto offered.
But just as Sasuke was about to reply, there was a knock at the door.
"Are you expecting somebody?" Naruto asked.
What was the day today? Shit. Yes, yes he was, and he had completely forgotten.
"U-uh," he stuttered—
"Don't mind me! I can totally slip out." Naruto started to stand.
"No," Sasuke stopped him, "no, it's fine. I just…I just need some coffee."
He was...way too tired for this.
There was another knock at the door.
Sasuke sighed.
"D'you want me to answer it?" Naruto offered. "Here—you go make coffee; I'll grab the door." And without waiting for Sasuke's response, Naruto weaved around the divider that Sasuke had between the entrance and everything else.
Well.
He might as well make some coffee.
"Ah! You must be Itachi!" The resemblance was uncanny, honestly. Itachi just looked like an older—and slightly off-put—Sasuke.
Naruto grinned and held out a hand to shake.
Itachi met it with a firm, pale hand. He was wearing a full suit—quite the contrast to Naruto's outfit, which he still hadn't changed out of from the night before.
"Yes. And you are?"
"I'm Naruto!" He grinned. "Sasuke's just making coffee." He shoved himself (and the door) over to let Itachi in.
Itachi stepped in without a word, eyeing Naruto for just a moment longer than Naruto personally thought he needed to. Naruto didn't let it bother him, though—he got the sense that Sasuke wasn't really one to have visitors often. He bit his lip at the thought, closing the door behind Itachi and quickly shuffling back to Sasuke. It was only a moment before Itachi followed him.
"Sasuke," he greeted, before Naruto had a chance to talk.
"Itachi." Sasuke's face was impassive. "Naruto, do you want coffee?"
"Oh for sure," he laughed a little, "thanks. I can finish it up if you guys wanna talk."
Sasuke pulled out two cups and poured boiling water into them.
"I don't have a coffee maker; I just steep the coffee like this. Give it a few minutes."
"'Kay," Naruto gave him a playful grin, "where d'you keep the cinnamon?"
Sasuke snorted. "Top drawer, on the right. Half a teaspoon, understand?"
Naruto only laughed in response.
"Itachi," he heard Sasuke start, once the two of them had moved to the other side of the room, "you had something you wanted to talk to me about?"
"Yes," Itachi answered, still standing, "it's about our parents."
He paused—deliberately, Naruto thought, as he saw Itachi's eyes flicker to him.
"Oh, I can—" Naruto gestured towards the door.
"Is the coffee done?" Sasuke gave him a look.
"Oh, uh—yeah, probably." Naruto twisted back towards the counter to hide his face, letting the smile on his face grow so wide his cheeks started to hurt. That was big—that felt huge. This was a crazy amount of trust that Sasuke was showing him right now—
"Our parents?" He heard Sasuke prompt—it made Naruto glance up, just for a second, taking in the way Sasuke's eyebrows were raised and how Itachi looked entirely unfazed—
"Our mother, more specifically. She asked if you would like to come home for the winter holiday."
There was a pause. Naruto shuffled over with a cup—Sasuke took it automatically.
"Oh, um," Naruto turned to Itachi, "did you want one too?"
"Itachi doesn't drink coffee," Sasuke answered, not looking at either of them. "Is she aware that we are in contact?"
"I don't believe so," Itachi answered slowly. "It's more likely that she thinks if you were to reach out to anyone in our family, it would be me."
Sasuke made a face. "Well, she's not wrong."
He sighed, taking a moment to stare out the window. Finally, he shook his head, sighing.
"I don't…just tell her—"
Naruto immediately moved away, starting to walk—well, he didn't know where, but this wasn't a conversation that should involve him and if he stayed close to it, he was definitely gonna start talking—
"Naruto." Sasuke voice made him freeze. "You want to say something."
Naruto bit his lip, eyes flickering back to Sasuke's—he really didn't want to speak up—it wasn't his business—he knew it wasn't—but—
"…I spent twelve years without parents, Sasuke," he said quietly, and then he turned away—gently placing his cup on the counter as he passed it. He felt Itachi and Sasuke's eyes on him, but he just couldn't stay there a moment longer—he didn't want to hear what kind of argument Sasuke would have for not speaking to his parents. It just—
It just hit too close to home.
"You don't have to decide immediately," Itachi offered after Sasuke had been silent for a good five minutes.
Sasuke sighed, finally tearing his eyes from the entrance. Naruto…
"Will our father be there?"
"I didn't ask."
Sasuke frowned.
"If it was just our mother, would you accept?"
"I—" Naruto's face flashed through his mind, and he sighed.
"…Yes. I would."
Naruto was barely a minute out of Sasuke's apartment when the guilt really hit him.
That had been…
He stopped, running a hand through his hair as he stared back at the way he had came.
Bad. Stupid. He barely knew anything about Sasuke or his family. He had no right to say anything about it. In fact, from what he did know, Sasuke had every reason to not to want to speak to his parents…
And he hadn't even—he hadn't even told Sasuke what he thought properly. He'd just been super dramatic and left, which was...well, Sasuke probably understood—Sasuke always seemed to understand—but still.
'Sorry,' he finally texted Sasuke, grimacing all the while.
A few minutes later, his phone buzzed.
'What for?'
He stared at the phone, debating how to reply. He shouldn't have left like that, for one thing—he could just turn around, now, maybe, but he had already walked all this way…he deleted what he had written, biting his nail and staring back down at the screen.
His fingers hovered over the keyboard.
He just—he had to send something—it didn't have to be perfect, he told himself, deleting the message for the thousandth time—for god's sake—
He groaned out loud, finally forcing himself to press send. He screwed his eyes shut—
'For walking out & stuff - wasn't really any of my business…'
It took everything he had to keep walking after he sent it.
'If I didn't want your opinion, I would have made you leave.'
He stared at his phone, breaking out into a soft smile. His phone buzzed again in his hands.
'You left your jacket here. Come get it.'
Naruto's smile broke into a full on grin. Sasuke was seriously…god—he was so fucking—Naruto was never going to be able to get rid of this fucking stupid crush if Sasuke kept this up—the guy was just so…argh!
He bit his lip, turning back again. He wanted to go back—he did, but...he glanced at the time on his phone. He really needed to get changed…probably take a shower—maybe a nap…and he could make it up to Sasuke, too—
'I'll come over later & bring you dinner. Fair?'
…
'Sure.'