Spell Me, You, Add the Two (1/1)
So, unfortunately, the whole When Naruto Met Sasuke thing is officially some kind of series, I suppose. Meaning I need to make a separate page for it, when I stop being so lazy about it.
But Ino and Sakura in this are for you, syrraki, since I've been itching to write them because of you. They just kind of ended up being an excuse to traumatize Sasuke. I kept thinking of Ichigo and his sisters, though, which, meh.
***
Characters: Naruto/Sasuke, Sakura, Ino, Kushina
Rating: PG-13
Words: 2575
Summary: “If Naruto brought you home, he must really, really like you, so that means we get to keep you, right?”
***
“We’re already here. Kind of pointless to back out now.”
“I’m not backing out on anything,” Sasuke says, frowning. “I’m only saying we should have called ahead.”
“Nah.” Naruto gives a slow wave of his hand. He grins beneath the light at the door. “My family likes surprises. Especially on weekends. It’s fine.”
Sasuke checks his phone for a third time. “It’s too late for this kind of visit.”
“Relax. I already said it was fine, didn’t I?” Naruto knocks on the door three times, pauses then knocks again two more times.
“Don’t you have a key?”
“Yeah, but trust me,” Naruto says, “this is more fun.”
“I’ll get it!” comes a muffled yell from inside the house. There’s a soft padding of footsteps before the door opens to reveal a little girl with pale blonde hair pulled back into a long ponytail.
“Who’d come around here so la-Naruto!”
“You say it like you were expecting someone else,” Naruto says, feigning a short-lived disappointment that’s replaced with a wide smile.
“Really?” The girl stands akimbo with her head tilted to the side, wearing a smile just as wide as Naruto’s. “You haven’t come by to see us in months, and that’s the best you can do?”
Naruto chuckles. “Where’re mom and dad?”
“In the office with Tsunade and Jiraiya.”
“The old hag and the pervert are here? Really?”
Sasuke looks at Naruto.
“Aunt and uncle. But those names just kind of stuck after a while. More fitting, too. You’ll understand when you meet them.”
Taking her hands off her hips, the girl hums, nodding in agreement. Her gaze turns towards Sasuke, eyes widening. “Hey, who’s-”
“Naruto’s here?” There’s a second cry from within the house, looming closer with the sound of light and hurried footfalls.
Another little girl tumbles straight into the back of first girl, short pink hair hiding the face pressed against the blonde girl’s shoulder.
She straightens and murmurs a quick apology to the blonde girl before pursing her lips at Naruto. “You’re so mean to always keep doing this to us, Naruto. Coming home without letting anybody know.”
“But then it wouldn’t be a surprise, would it?”
“Naru-” the second girl begins, voice inured and far too admonishing for someone who looks her age, but she falters when she takes notice of Sasuke, eyes large and mouth slightly ajar.
She doesn’t stop staring.
Sasuke stiffens, then tries to step back, but Naruto keeps him from making any progress with a hold on his arm.
“You guys remember my friend from school I told you about before?” Naruto says. “This is Sasuke.”
The hand around his arm pulls Sasuke forward.
“Sasuke, these are my sisters.”
“Hi, Sasuke, I’m Ino,” the blonde girl says. She smirks with an elbow settled on her sister’s shoulder. “And this is Sakura. Say hi to Sasuke, Forehead.”
Naruto releasing his arm, Sasuke schools his features and gives a slight nod of his head. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Hi, Sasuke, it’s, um,” Sakura stammers, a layer of pink dusted across her cheeks, “it’s nice to-to meet you...meet you, too.”
Ino laughs. “Forehead’s got a crush.”
“Quiet, Ino.” Gaze down, Sakura blushes even further, digging the toe of her My Melody slippers into the floor and playing with the hem of her light blue shorts.
“So you and Naruto go to the same school. Are you a third-year like him?” Ino doesn’t wait for Sasuke to answer as she turns from him to squint at Naruto. “How come you never brought him over before, huh?”
With a playful growl, Naruto reaches with both hands to tickle Ino’s sides. “Maybe because I knew a little brat like you would probably scare him off.”
“Naruto!” Ino giggles, making a half-hearted attempt to push Naruto’s hands away.
Sakura finally looks up, pushing hair strayed in front of her face behind her ear. “...Sasuke, are you,” she says, “are you an idol?”
Sasuke coughs, almost chokes at the words, and Naruto starts to snicker until Sasuke quiets him with a none too gentle nudge from an elbow in Naruto’s side.
“Come on, Forehead,” Ino says, fingers around Sakura’s wrist dragging her away from Sasuke and Naruto. “Mom, Naruto’s here!” she calls out, then lowers her voice, “close your mouth before you catch flies, Sakura. It’s not attractive.”
They disappear down a relatively short hallway, speaking in hushed whispers as Naruto steps into the foyer area, pulling a rigid Sasuke alongside him.
“You didn’t tell me you had sisters.”
“And somehow this still doesn’t compare to how I felt after meeting your brother.”
For now, Sasuke ignores the barb. “You have sisters.”
“Yeah.” Naruto laughs at the pinched expression on Sasuke’s face. “I know it’s obvious we don’t really look alike. That’s because we adopted them, but they’re still my sisters, you know.”
“No, it’s not that. Sakura, she...”
“What can I say?” Naruto winks. “We have the same tastes.”
“I’m twenty-one,” Sasuke says. “Sakura looks like she’s twelve.”
“That’s because she is twelve. Ino is, too.”
There’s a tic above Sasuke’s right eye. “Twelve, Naruto.”
“Give them a break. You know how girls are at that age. And then someone like you shows up at the door.” Naruto says , taking his shoes off by the door. He wriggles his eyebrows. “Now hurry up so I can show you my old room.”
Sasuke rolls his eyes but follows, taking off his shoes and placing them beside Naruto’s.
“I’m home, everybody!”
Wincing at the proximity of Naruto’s voice, Sasuke follows him into the kitchen, where Naruto heads straight for the cabinet above the refrigerator. He can only stare when Naruto throws the door wide open.
“Is that...”
“A cabinet full of the best brand of instant ramen this side of Chiba?” Naruto grins at Sasuke. “Yeah.”
Sasuke sighs, feels a little part of himself die while he watches Naruto dig around in the cabinet.
He looks away as Ino and Sakura slip into the kitchen. Sakura takes a seat on the stool at the counter, and Ino tries not to smile with her lips pressed together as she stands conspicuously close to Sasuke.
He raises an eyebrow at her.
“Your hair looks so different. I’ve never seen anything like it up close because they don’t let us do that sort of thing in school. Can I touch it?”
However, before Sasuke has the chance to say no, Ino’s already standing on the toes of her Badtz-Maru slippers reaching for his hair.
Naruto pokes his head into the cabinet. “Mom, I brought a friend from school-where’s all the beef ramen?!”
“Sakura, come touch Sasuke’s hair.”
“I’m not touching Sasuke’s hair, Ino.”
“No, really, it’s soft. The kind of soft I could play in all day if Sasuke’d let me. And you’d let me, wouldn’t you, Sasuke?” Ino says. “If Naruto brought you home, he must really, really like you, so that means we get to keep you, right?”
There’s a choked noise from inside the cabinet. “I never said-”
“Hear that, Sakura? We can keep Sasuke.”
“Ino!”
With a sigh painstakingly drawn out, Ino reluctantly lets go of Sasuke’s hair. “If only you’d given me a few more years. But then Naruto had to-”
“You shouldn’t be so bold, Ino,” Sakura says, tries to whisper even though Sasuke’s more than close enough to hear. She reaches over an empty stool to tap Ino on the arm. “What if you really do scare him away?”
“Hey-if you can’t confess to the guy you like, someone else will.”
“Why do you have to act like such a pig?” From Ino, Sakura looks to Sasuke then quickly looks away. She shakes her head and covers her flushed face with both hands. “Please, please don’t listen to her.”
Sasuke doesn’t. He glances at the door, wonders if it’s too late to go back to their apartment, but then Naruto turns back around to look at him with one of those easygoing kinds of smiles and inadvertently forces Sasuke to remember why he let Naruto drag him all the way to Mobara at all.
“See? Told you they’d like you.”
From further inside the house comes a woman’s voice with a shrillness to rival Naruto’s own. “Welcome home, Naruto!”
Sasuke cringes.
“We’re out of beef ramen-sorry, honey!”
“What happened to all the beef ramen?” Eyes wide, Naruto closes the cabinet door. “Why’s all the beef ramen gone?”
“Ino ate it.”
Ino shuffles in the stool beside Sakura. “Not being able to keep your mouth shut isn’t very becoming, Forehead.”
“Ino, you...you ate all the beef ramen?”
“What?” Ino crosses her arms, turning up her nose at Naruto’s disbelief. “It’s not like you’re ever here to eat it anyway.”
At that, Naruto’s face softens, the corner of his mouth turned down. “Ino...”
Uncrossing her arms, Ino waves away his concern. “Whatever.”
Naruto snorts and reaches a hand to ruffle her hair. He grins. “You’re such a brat, you know.”
“S-stop that.” Ino pushes away Naruto’s hand. “Go buy some later if it’s that big of a deal. Just make sure you buy enough for me, too.”
“Sure, kid.” He brightens when a woman with long red hair enters the kitchen. “Hey, mom,” he says softly, walking towards her and leaning down to kiss her forehead.
Fond, maybe even somewhat wistful, she says, “And to think I used to be able to do that to you.”
“Not for a while now, though, right,” Naruto says, smiling back at her. “Oh-hey, I want you to meet a friend of mine from school.” He turns back to stand beside Sasuke.
“Mom, meet Uchiha Sasuke,” he says, placing an arm around Sasuke’s shoulders and gently squeezing. “Sasuke, this is my mom.”
Sasuke quickly removes Naruto’s arm. Back straight, he places his hands at his sides, bowing at the waist towards Naruto’s mom. “Thank you for having us on such short notice. Please forgive us for the unexpected intrusion.”
“Oh, wow,” she says, a hand covering her mouth, “I wasn’t expecting one of Naruto’s friends to be so polite.”
Sasuke blinks, looks up from the hair fallen over his face. “Is that not...”
“You weren’t that nice to me when we first met,” Naruto grumbles, then gives a strangled cry of pain no one else seems to notice when Sasuke kicks him in the shin.
“Oh no,” Ino says, “it’s just kind of surprising Naruto would even know someone like you, much less ever bring you home. Since none of us really speaks like that around here. Even Sakura. Don’t let that sweet face fool you. You should hear her when she-”
“Ino.”
“Uzumaki Kushina.” With her hands clasped in front of her, Naruto’s mom returns Sasuke’s bow. “Welcome to our home. It’s a pleasure to have you, Uchiha Sasuke.”
Suddenly, the kitchen becomes quiet, and Sasuke straightens to look for the source of unease.
Ino and Sakura are frozen in their seats, both sharing looks of scandalised horror.
The cup of ramen Naruto picked up from the counter nearly drops from his hand, but the act is too sacrilegious for him to actually let it fall. “Mom, you just...”
Kushina only tilts her head with a glee poorly disguised. “Is it so upsetting a display to see your mom behave in such a fashion?”
There’s a chorus of yes from Naruto, Ino, and Sakura, but it’s not until later Sasuke will come to understand through many, many occasions just how much someone like Naruto takes after his mother.
“It’s really not a problem, Sasuke,” Kushina says with a kind smile. “Naruto does this to us all the time. It’s almost expected, really. Don’t feel as if you have to appear so polite for our sakes, though, okay.”
“And you felt the sudden need to?” Naruto says, then to Sasuke with a hand over the side of his mouth, “I guarantee you she doesn’t regularly do this kind of thing.”
“Hardly ever,” Ino says.
Sakura agrees with a firm nod.
“There’s a reason I tell your dad you three take after him more than me. Speaking of which,” Kushina says, placing a finger on her cheek as she turns to Naruto, “it was your dad’s turn to resupply the cabinet. I admit I feel Ino tries too hard to take your place some days-”
“Mom.”
“-but we weren’t really expecting you, Naruto. Sorry about the beef, but there’s still chicken and miso and pork and-”
“But eating a bowl of beef ramen is a coming-home tradition.”
“You only started doing it last year,” Sakura says.
“Still,” Naruto says, “I-hey, Sasuke. You still have my wallet?”
“Yeah.” Sasuke frowns but reaches in the back pocket of his jeans for Naruto’s wallet. “What for?”
“Thanks.” Naruto takes the wallet from Sasuke. “I’ll be back.”
“Wait.” When Naruto turns away, Sasuke grabs his hand. “What're you doing?”
“Going to get some beef ramen.” Naruto blinks. “What else?”
“What else?”
“Relax,” Naruto says, leaning closer to whisper in Sasuke’s ear. “I told you my family’s nice. You’ll be fi-”
“The hell you’re leaving me here alone for some beef ramen,” Sasuke hisses.
“But it’s not just any kind of beef ramen.” Naruto winces, tries and fails to wrench himself away from Sasuke squeezing the life out of his hand. “They only sell this brand in Mobara, and I’ve been craving it since you agreed to come here with me.”
Sasuke still doesn’t let go of Naruto’s hand.
“It’s okay, Sasuke,” he says, so seriously, so earnestly, and Sasuke’s just as compelled to knock the reassuring look off Naruto’s face because of it. “I’ll be right back. I promise.”
He tightens his grip on Naruto’s hand instead.
It has to fall off eventually.
“Really,” Naruto says, it’ll just be a quick run across town.”
“A quick run across-”
Then Naruto leans over to press a grin against the corner of Sasuke’s mouth, and the fingers threatening to cut off the circulation to Naruto’s hand unwillingly let go.
“Ino and Sakura,” he calls out from the foyer, stuffing his feet into his shoes, “take care of Sasuke until I get back, all right.”
“Naru-”
But Naruto’s already out the door.
Jumping down from the stool, Ino reaches to grab Sasuke’s left arm with both hands while Sakura does the same with his right.
“Come on, Sasuke,” Ino says, “you can watch Nodame Cantabile with us. It’s really good.”
“We’ll take care of you until Naruto gets back,” Sakura says.
“You can even sit next to me, okay.”
A series of tugs on both arms causes Sasuke to turn around, where he’s met with an audience increased by three unfamiliar faces.
Leaning against the counter is a man that could almost be mistaken for Naruto, with the same kind of easygoing smile and amused glint in his eyes.
By process of elimination, the woman and man standing beside Kushina must be Tsunade and Jiraiya.
Sasuke tries to smile, tries not to relay his discomfort at the fact he’d been too engrossed in his conversation with Naruto to really notice anyone else, but there’s a sinking feeling the attempt probably doesn’t make him look anything other than constipated.
“So,” Tsunade says, smirks while Jiraiya grins, and Sasuke stares straight ahead to keep his eyes above Tsunade’s chest, “how long have you been seeing the brat?”
But Ino and Sakura in this are for you, syrraki, since I've been itching to write them because of you. They just kind of ended up being an excuse to traumatize Sasuke. I kept thinking of Ichigo and his sisters, though, which, meh.
***
Characters: Naruto/Sasuke, Sakura, Ino, Kushina
Rating: PG-13
Words: 2575
Summary: “If Naruto brought you home, he must really, really like you, so that means we get to keep you, right?”
***
“We’re already here. Kind of pointless to back out now.”
“I’m not backing out on anything,” Sasuke says, frowning. “I’m only saying we should have called ahead.”
“Nah.” Naruto gives a slow wave of his hand. He grins beneath the light at the door. “My family likes surprises. Especially on weekends. It’s fine.”
Sasuke checks his phone for a third time. “It’s too late for this kind of visit.”
“Relax. I already said it was fine, didn’t I?” Naruto knocks on the door three times, pauses then knocks again two more times.
“Don’t you have a key?”
“Yeah, but trust me,” Naruto says, “this is more fun.”
“I’ll get it!” comes a muffled yell from inside the house. There’s a soft padding of footsteps before the door opens to reveal a little girl with pale blonde hair pulled back into a long ponytail.
“Who’d come around here so la-Naruto!”
“You say it like you were expecting someone else,” Naruto says, feigning a short-lived disappointment that’s replaced with a wide smile.
“Really?” The girl stands akimbo with her head tilted to the side, wearing a smile just as wide as Naruto’s. “You haven’t come by to see us in months, and that’s the best you can do?”
Naruto chuckles. “Where’re mom and dad?”
“In the office with Tsunade and Jiraiya.”
“The old hag and the pervert are here? Really?”
Sasuke looks at Naruto.
“Aunt and uncle. But those names just kind of stuck after a while. More fitting, too. You’ll understand when you meet them.”
Taking her hands off her hips, the girl hums, nodding in agreement. Her gaze turns towards Sasuke, eyes widening. “Hey, who’s-”
“Naruto’s here?” There’s a second cry from within the house, looming closer with the sound of light and hurried footfalls.
Another little girl tumbles straight into the back of first girl, short pink hair hiding the face pressed against the blonde girl’s shoulder.
She straightens and murmurs a quick apology to the blonde girl before pursing her lips at Naruto. “You’re so mean to always keep doing this to us, Naruto. Coming home without letting anybody know.”
“But then it wouldn’t be a surprise, would it?”
“Naru-” the second girl begins, voice inured and far too admonishing for someone who looks her age, but she falters when she takes notice of Sasuke, eyes large and mouth slightly ajar.
She doesn’t stop staring.
Sasuke stiffens, then tries to step back, but Naruto keeps him from making any progress with a hold on his arm.
“You guys remember my friend from school I told you about before?” Naruto says. “This is Sasuke.”
The hand around his arm pulls Sasuke forward.
“Sasuke, these are my sisters.”
“Hi, Sasuke, I’m Ino,” the blonde girl says. She smirks with an elbow settled on her sister’s shoulder. “And this is Sakura. Say hi to Sasuke, Forehead.”
Naruto releasing his arm, Sasuke schools his features and gives a slight nod of his head. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Hi, Sasuke, it’s, um,” Sakura stammers, a layer of pink dusted across her cheeks, “it’s nice to-to meet you...meet you, too.”
Ino laughs. “Forehead’s got a crush.”
“Quiet, Ino.” Gaze down, Sakura blushes even further, digging the toe of her My Melody slippers into the floor and playing with the hem of her light blue shorts.
“So you and Naruto go to the same school. Are you a third-year like him?” Ino doesn’t wait for Sasuke to answer as she turns from him to squint at Naruto. “How come you never brought him over before, huh?”
With a playful growl, Naruto reaches with both hands to tickle Ino’s sides. “Maybe because I knew a little brat like you would probably scare him off.”
“Naruto!” Ino giggles, making a half-hearted attempt to push Naruto’s hands away.
Sakura finally looks up, pushing hair strayed in front of her face behind her ear. “...Sasuke, are you,” she says, “are you an idol?”
Sasuke coughs, almost chokes at the words, and Naruto starts to snicker until Sasuke quiets him with a none too gentle nudge from an elbow in Naruto’s side.
“Come on, Forehead,” Ino says, fingers around Sakura’s wrist dragging her away from Sasuke and Naruto. “Mom, Naruto’s here!” she calls out, then lowers her voice, “close your mouth before you catch flies, Sakura. It’s not attractive.”
They disappear down a relatively short hallway, speaking in hushed whispers as Naruto steps into the foyer area, pulling a rigid Sasuke alongside him.
“You didn’t tell me you had sisters.”
“And somehow this still doesn’t compare to how I felt after meeting your brother.”
For now, Sasuke ignores the barb. “You have sisters.”
“Yeah.” Naruto laughs at the pinched expression on Sasuke’s face. “I know it’s obvious we don’t really look alike. That’s because we adopted them, but they’re still my sisters, you know.”
“No, it’s not that. Sakura, she...”
“What can I say?” Naruto winks. “We have the same tastes.”
“I’m twenty-one,” Sasuke says. “Sakura looks like she’s twelve.”
“That’s because she is twelve. Ino is, too.”
There’s a tic above Sasuke’s right eye. “Twelve, Naruto.”
“Give them a break. You know how girls are at that age. And then someone like you shows up at the door.” Naruto says , taking his shoes off by the door. He wriggles his eyebrows. “Now hurry up so I can show you my old room.”
Sasuke rolls his eyes but follows, taking off his shoes and placing them beside Naruto’s.
“I’m home, everybody!”
Wincing at the proximity of Naruto’s voice, Sasuke follows him into the kitchen, where Naruto heads straight for the cabinet above the refrigerator. He can only stare when Naruto throws the door wide open.
“Is that...”
“A cabinet full of the best brand of instant ramen this side of Chiba?” Naruto grins at Sasuke. “Yeah.”
Sasuke sighs, feels a little part of himself die while he watches Naruto dig around in the cabinet.
He looks away as Ino and Sakura slip into the kitchen. Sakura takes a seat on the stool at the counter, and Ino tries not to smile with her lips pressed together as she stands conspicuously close to Sasuke.
He raises an eyebrow at her.
“Your hair looks so different. I’ve never seen anything like it up close because they don’t let us do that sort of thing in school. Can I touch it?”
However, before Sasuke has the chance to say no, Ino’s already standing on the toes of her Badtz-Maru slippers reaching for his hair.
Naruto pokes his head into the cabinet. “Mom, I brought a friend from school-where’s all the beef ramen?!”
“Sakura, come touch Sasuke’s hair.”
“I’m not touching Sasuke’s hair, Ino.”
“No, really, it’s soft. The kind of soft I could play in all day if Sasuke’d let me. And you’d let me, wouldn’t you, Sasuke?” Ino says. “If Naruto brought you home, he must really, really like you, so that means we get to keep you, right?”
There’s a choked noise from inside the cabinet. “I never said-”
“Hear that, Sakura? We can keep Sasuke.”
“Ino!”
With a sigh painstakingly drawn out, Ino reluctantly lets go of Sasuke’s hair. “If only you’d given me a few more years. But then Naruto had to-”
“You shouldn’t be so bold, Ino,” Sakura says, tries to whisper even though Sasuke’s more than close enough to hear. She reaches over an empty stool to tap Ino on the arm. “What if you really do scare him away?”
“Hey-if you can’t confess to the guy you like, someone else will.”
“Why do you have to act like such a pig?” From Ino, Sakura looks to Sasuke then quickly looks away. She shakes her head and covers her flushed face with both hands. “Please, please don’t listen to her.”
Sasuke doesn’t. He glances at the door, wonders if it’s too late to go back to their apartment, but then Naruto turns back around to look at him with one of those easygoing kinds of smiles and inadvertently forces Sasuke to remember why he let Naruto drag him all the way to Mobara at all.
“See? Told you they’d like you.”
From further inside the house comes a woman’s voice with a shrillness to rival Naruto’s own. “Welcome home, Naruto!”
Sasuke cringes.
“We’re out of beef ramen-sorry, honey!”
“What happened to all the beef ramen?” Eyes wide, Naruto closes the cabinet door. “Why’s all the beef ramen gone?”
“Ino ate it.”
Ino shuffles in the stool beside Sakura. “Not being able to keep your mouth shut isn’t very becoming, Forehead.”
“Ino, you...you ate all the beef ramen?”
“What?” Ino crosses her arms, turning up her nose at Naruto’s disbelief. “It’s not like you’re ever here to eat it anyway.”
At that, Naruto’s face softens, the corner of his mouth turned down. “Ino...”
Uncrossing her arms, Ino waves away his concern. “Whatever.”
Naruto snorts and reaches a hand to ruffle her hair. He grins. “You’re such a brat, you know.”
“S-stop that.” Ino pushes away Naruto’s hand. “Go buy some later if it’s that big of a deal. Just make sure you buy enough for me, too.”
“Sure, kid.” He brightens when a woman with long red hair enters the kitchen. “Hey, mom,” he says softly, walking towards her and leaning down to kiss her forehead.
Fond, maybe even somewhat wistful, she says, “And to think I used to be able to do that to you.”
“Not for a while now, though, right,” Naruto says, smiling back at her. “Oh-hey, I want you to meet a friend of mine from school.” He turns back to stand beside Sasuke.
“Mom, meet Uchiha Sasuke,” he says, placing an arm around Sasuke’s shoulders and gently squeezing. “Sasuke, this is my mom.”
Sasuke quickly removes Naruto’s arm. Back straight, he places his hands at his sides, bowing at the waist towards Naruto’s mom. “Thank you for having us on such short notice. Please forgive us for the unexpected intrusion.”
“Oh, wow,” she says, a hand covering her mouth, “I wasn’t expecting one of Naruto’s friends to be so polite.”
Sasuke blinks, looks up from the hair fallen over his face. “Is that not...”
“You weren’t that nice to me when we first met,” Naruto grumbles, then gives a strangled cry of pain no one else seems to notice when Sasuke kicks him in the shin.
“Oh no,” Ino says, “it’s just kind of surprising Naruto would even know someone like you, much less ever bring you home. Since none of us really speaks like that around here. Even Sakura. Don’t let that sweet face fool you. You should hear her when she-”
“Ino.”
“Uzumaki Kushina.” With her hands clasped in front of her, Naruto’s mom returns Sasuke’s bow. “Welcome to our home. It’s a pleasure to have you, Uchiha Sasuke.”
Suddenly, the kitchen becomes quiet, and Sasuke straightens to look for the source of unease.
Ino and Sakura are frozen in their seats, both sharing looks of scandalised horror.
The cup of ramen Naruto picked up from the counter nearly drops from his hand, but the act is too sacrilegious for him to actually let it fall. “Mom, you just...”
Kushina only tilts her head with a glee poorly disguised. “Is it so upsetting a display to see your mom behave in such a fashion?”
There’s a chorus of yes from Naruto, Ino, and Sakura, but it’s not until later Sasuke will come to understand through many, many occasions just how much someone like Naruto takes after his mother.
“It’s really not a problem, Sasuke,” Kushina says with a kind smile. “Naruto does this to us all the time. It’s almost expected, really. Don’t feel as if you have to appear so polite for our sakes, though, okay.”
“And you felt the sudden need to?” Naruto says, then to Sasuke with a hand over the side of his mouth, “I guarantee you she doesn’t regularly do this kind of thing.”
“Hardly ever,” Ino says.
Sakura agrees with a firm nod.
“There’s a reason I tell your dad you three take after him more than me. Speaking of which,” Kushina says, placing a finger on her cheek as she turns to Naruto, “it was your dad’s turn to resupply the cabinet. I admit I feel Ino tries too hard to take your place some days-”
“Mom.”
“-but we weren’t really expecting you, Naruto. Sorry about the beef, but there’s still chicken and miso and pork and-”
“But eating a bowl of beef ramen is a coming-home tradition.”
“You only started doing it last year,” Sakura says.
“Still,” Naruto says, “I-hey, Sasuke. You still have my wallet?”
“Yeah.” Sasuke frowns but reaches in the back pocket of his jeans for Naruto’s wallet. “What for?”
“Thanks.” Naruto takes the wallet from Sasuke. “I’ll be back.”
“Wait.” When Naruto turns away, Sasuke grabs his hand. “What're you doing?”
“Going to get some beef ramen.” Naruto blinks. “What else?”
“What else?”
“Relax,” Naruto says, leaning closer to whisper in Sasuke’s ear. “I told you my family’s nice. You’ll be fi-”
“The hell you’re leaving me here alone for some beef ramen,” Sasuke hisses.
“But it’s not just any kind of beef ramen.” Naruto winces, tries and fails to wrench himself away from Sasuke squeezing the life out of his hand. “They only sell this brand in Mobara, and I’ve been craving it since you agreed to come here with me.”
Sasuke still doesn’t let go of Naruto’s hand.
“It’s okay, Sasuke,” he says, so seriously, so earnestly, and Sasuke’s just as compelled to knock the reassuring look off Naruto’s face because of it. “I’ll be right back. I promise.”
He tightens his grip on Naruto’s hand instead.
It has to fall off eventually.
“Really,” Naruto says, it’ll just be a quick run across town.”
“A quick run across-”
Then Naruto leans over to press a grin against the corner of Sasuke’s mouth, and the fingers threatening to cut off the circulation to Naruto’s hand unwillingly let go.
“Ino and Sakura,” he calls out from the foyer, stuffing his feet into his shoes, “take care of Sasuke until I get back, all right.”
“Naru-”
But Naruto’s already out the door.
Jumping down from the stool, Ino reaches to grab Sasuke’s left arm with both hands while Sakura does the same with his right.
“Come on, Sasuke,” Ino says, “you can watch Nodame Cantabile with us. It’s really good.”
“We’ll take care of you until Naruto gets back,” Sakura says.
“You can even sit next to me, okay.”
A series of tugs on both arms causes Sasuke to turn around, where he’s met with an audience increased by three unfamiliar faces.
Leaning against the counter is a man that could almost be mistaken for Naruto, with the same kind of easygoing smile and amused glint in his eyes.
By process of elimination, the woman and man standing beside Kushina must be Tsunade and Jiraiya.
Sasuke tries to smile, tries not to relay his discomfort at the fact he’d been too engrossed in his conversation with Naruto to really notice anyone else, but there’s a sinking feeling the attempt probably doesn’t make him look anything other than constipated.
“So,” Tsunade says, smirks while Jiraiya grins, and Sasuke stares straight ahead to keep his eyes above Tsunade’s chest, “how long have you been seeing the brat?”