For: pollums
For: pollums
Title: Domestic
Rating: T
Summary: After a fire destroys Naruto’s apartment complex, he is forced to stay with Sasuke, the only member of his team with a room to spare. pre-timeskip.
Warnings: mild language
A/N: Sorry for the segmentation. I haven’t written anything long and consistent for years, so it’s basically all I could turn out. I hope you enjoy this!!
Mod note: Reminder for the author/artist of this submission, please do not reply to comments signed in, if you want to reply anon commenting is enabled.
Beginning
Naruto stared at the Hokage and Kakashi. He knew they were both old and perverted, but he hadn’t realized that they were crazy. Because clearly anyone in their right mind would never ever propose what they had just said. It was complete and utter absurdity. He turned his shocked expression into anger, setting his arms over his chest. “There’s no way. There’s no way in hell that I’m staying with that bastard!” he yelled.
“Now, Naruto, I know it must be hard for you since you’ve lost your home, but-”
Cutting the Hokage off, Naruto continued to yell, “I wouldn’t care if every house in Konoha burned to the ground and his place was the only one left standing-I wouldn’t live with him! I’d rather be out on the street.”
Silence reigned in the room for a few moments before Kakashi snapped his book shut, a bad sign, and looked down at Naruto. “As a ninja, you’re an important part of this town now. We can’t have you living in the streets. You’re going to stay with Sasuke and that’s final.” His tone was final as well.
Glaring at both of the men in front of him, Naruto could barely keep himself controlled. This wasn’t fair. He didn’t want to spend that much time with Sasuke. Ok, maybe spending time with Sasuke wouldn’t be awful, but he sure as hell didn’t want Sasuke to know he thought that way. And he did not want to live in the same house as that stuck up bastard; the rules at his house had to be so strict he wouldn’t be able to breathe without getting yelled at. He was startled out of thought when a knock came from the door.
“Come in,” the Hokage called, visibly glad for the distraction.
Kakashi frowned and began to speak, “Naruto, don’t say anything stupid…”
And as Sasuke entered the room, clearly annoyed, Naruto found a new outlet for his anger.
“This is all your fault, bastard!” he shouted, pointing accusingly at his teammate.
Sasuke cast a resigned glance at the other two occupants of the room, both shrugged, and said, “you’re obviously mistaken. No one would willingly take you in. Believe me when I say they’re paying me well to do this.”
Nearly fuming, Naruto opened his mouth to speak again, but the Hokage cut in. “You boys should get on your way home. Argue there, not in my office.”
Both Naruto and Sasuke looked to Kakashi, who sighed and ushered them out the door. “Go along, now, I’ll see you both at practice in the morning.”
Sasuke stuffed his hands into his pockets and walked out of the room, calling over his shoulder, “I bet it’ll take you an hour to find my home by yourself, Deadlast!”
Naruto glared and ran after him. “What did you say?! Get back here and I’ll show you deadlast!”
This arrangement was obviously going to work out wonderfully for everyone involved.
Coming Home
Sasuke wasn’t too pleased that Naruto was going to have to stay at his place for the next few weeks, but Kakashi had told him it was a mission-and Sasuke didn’t turn down missions. He did, however, worry for his home, a nice apartment he was renting in Konoha. He had decorated it and cleaned it and made it his very own, and now it was going to be invaded by Naruto which had to be akin to being hit by a hurricane.
Taking a deep breath, he unlocked the door and pushed it open. He moved out of the way to let Naruto in first. “Please don’t touch anything yet,” he muttered.
Naruto shot him a glare, but it was half-hearted as he stepped into the front room, eyes sweeping over all the surfaces. Sasuke thought for a moment Naruto was going to praise the place, but then the blond spoke, “where’s all your stuff, Sasuke? It’s so empty!”
“I don’t see a problem with keeping my home neat and devoid of unnecessary items,” he said, feeling a headache pushing at his skull.
Turning around to face him as he shut the door, Naruto smirked, “and where do I get to put all my unnecessary items?” he asked, dropping his bag (just one-thank god) to the floor.
“You’ll be staying in the main room with a futon or on the couch. I’ve cleared out a closet for your stuff right over there,” Sasuke said as he toed off his sandals.
The look on Naruto’s face was almost laughable. “Kakashi said you had an extra room-an extra bed! Why don’t I get to stay there?!” He had now migrated to the side of the couch, his fingers continually running over its textured surface.
Sasuke said, “Kakashi was wrong. I don’t have an extra bedroom. I have this room, my room, and a workout room. You can stay right here.”
Fuming, Naruto walked toward him and shoved him lightly in the shoulder. “I have every right to the room I was promised. If there’s a bed in there, I’m going to sleep on it, no matter what you say.”
Folding his arms across his chest, Sasuke turned up his nose. “Fine. Stay in the work room. But I’m still going to use it, too.”
“Fine.”
Naruto was walking back down the hall now, carrying his bag over his shoulder once again. He pulled open the first room (which was Sasuke’s bedroom, too Sasuke’s annoyance), slammed the door shut, and moved on to the opposite room. As soon as he was fully in the room, he shut the door with his foot.
Sasuke’s eyebrow twitched as he watched. “Take off your shoes, loser!” he yelled, stomping to the kitchen. It was time for a cup of tea.
Cooking
Naruto looked nervously from the microwave to the stove. He could either make the cheap cup ramen he had brought with him, or he could use the real food Sasuke kept in his house and make ramen that actually tasted good. Problem was he hadn’t really ever made ramen from scratch before. What good would it be to use all the expensive materials to make it if it was going to taste as bad as what he put in the microwave?
He opened a couple of cupboards around the kitchen idly as he thought it over, but stopped when he realized one cupboard was full of cookbooks. Naruto pulled one out and flipped through it to find the ramen recipe. There it was-and it would take just enough time to be ready when Sasuke returned from the gym!
Just as the noodles were finishing-the broth hadn’t turned out great, but it was still good, in Naruto’s opinion-Sasuke came through the front door.
“What is that smell? Naruto? Are you cooking?! Is my kitchen in tact?” He rushed into the kitchen, eyes wide.
Naruto smirked and held out a bowl for him. “What? You think I can’t even make ramen?” Naruto asked.
Giving the bowl one sour look, Sasuke shoved it away. “You’re probably trying to poison me. And if you’re not, you’re cooking probably would anyway,” he said, moving to open the fridge.
“Excuse me?!” Naruto nearly yelled, slamming the bowl down on the counter. “I spent a lot time and effort making this. You could at least try it, bastard.”
Sasuke emerged from the fridge with a few vegetables. “I don’t like ramen,” he said, moving around Naruto to get to the cutting board, “and I certainly won’t eat anything you make.”
Naruto pouted and slumped into a chair at the table, dragging the bowl with him. “Fine, I’ll eat it all myself,” he muttered. He ate in silence, and when Sasuke sat down across the table from him with his bowl of salad, he pointedly ignored him. When he finished eating-he really did eat the whole pot-he dropped his dishes noisily in the sink, splattering dirty water all over the counter. He left the room without saying a word.
When he slammed the door to the bathroom, he planned on staying in there until Sasuke broke down the door.
Dishes
“Naruto,” Sasuke said as they passed each other in the hall that morning, “you need to wash your dishes when you’re done eating.”
The other boy stared at him dumbly. “I do clean my dishes,” he said, frowning.
Sasuke rolled his eyes. “You have to wash them right after you’re done using them, not a week later,” he explained, going slowly because he was really beginning to doubt Naruto’s mental capabilities.
“Psht. Whatever,” Naruto said, waving it off, “Wash them now, wash them later, what difference does it make?”
“It makes all the difference,” Sasuke said.
Naruto pushed past him toward the bathroom. “I’ll see what I can do,” he said, obviously ignoring the request.
Immediately Sasuke slammed him into the ground from behind, pinning him with a knee between his shoulder blades and his hands pinning Naruto’s arms to the floor. It was really all too easy to catch Naruto off guard now that they were living together, Sasuke thought with satisfaction. “You will wash your dishes,” he said slow and close to Naruto’s ear.
A flush washed up Naruto’s neck, but he didn’t say a word of acknowledgement. The two of them sat there, Sasuke shoving his knee a little harder ever few seconds and Naruto trying to throw him off. Eventually Naruto let out a soft whimper, which startled Sasuke.
“Bastard,” Naruto barked as soon as the noise escaped him. “Get off!”
“No.”
There was another moment of silence, then Naruto said, “really, get off or I’m going to pee all over your nice floor.
Sasuke was taken aback by the statement at first, but it did make sense. It was early in the morning and Naruto had been on his way to the bathroom… Sasuke smirked and shoved his knee into Naruto’s back harder. “Will you start cleaning the dishes right after you use them?” he asked.
Naruto thrashed for a moment with renewed vigor, but stopped just as quickly as he’d started. Sasuke could see and feel the flush that had started at Naruto’s neck spread across his entire body. There was another short silence before Naruto nodded his head.
“Say it,” Sasuke commanded.
Naruto’s blush darkened. “Yes, bastard, I’ll do the dishes. Now, get off!” He shoved up again, but Sasuke was already moving back.
Naruto jumped up and, after sending one lingering glare at Sasuke, ran to the bathroom full speed. Sasuke smirked and dusted off his pants.
Eating
No one had ever actually criticized Naruto on the way that he ate before, but after his first night eating an actual meal together with Sasuke, he learned that he did many things incorrectly.
He apparently didn’t hold his chopsticks correctly, an argument which had led to Naruto breaking two pairs of utensils, one of them on Sasuke’s arm.
He also didn’t hold his teacup correctly, something that, when mentioned, had earned both boys scalding tea all over their laps.
And then he ate with his mouth open-a criticism which actually embarrassed him, but, at the moment when Sasuke brought it up, merely caused him to do it as obnoxiously as he could. There had been a lot of food on the table after dinner.
On top of eating with his mouth open, he talked while he was chewing. This final comment from Sasuke had caused Naruto to fling himself at the other boy, tackling him to the floor. They had scuffled for a few moments, carefully avoiding the table, before the doorbell had rung, announcing Sakura’s arrival with dessert and a movie. Sasuke had a black eye and Naruto was nursing his left wrist for the next week.
After that, Sasuke never made a comment about Naruto’s eating again.
Exercise
One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. Switch. One. Two… was Sasuke’s inner mantra as he did he early morning exercises-one-handed push-ups to be exact. He sighed and leaned forward onto the ground after he had finished those (two hundred for each arm, alternating arms after every ten). Next was his jog.
He stood up and stepped onto his treadmill, turning it on to his desired settings. He had been exercising for maybe an hour already, and was tiring of it already. Sweat poured down his back and he was panting. He could hear his feet falling heavier than they should be against the treadmill. Only twenty more minutes and he could go off to the shower.
There was a startled gasp from the other side of the room and he looked up to meet Naruto’s gaze. “What the hell are you doing in my room, bastard?!” Naruto yelled, pulling his blankets up around him as he sat up in bed.
“What does it look like, idiot?” Sasuke snapped. He really didn’t want to be talking right now.
“This is my room! Get out!”
Sasuke closed his eyes. “It’s also my exercise room; I told you that the very first day!”
“It’s six-thirty in the morning!” Naruto countered.
“Yes, and you’ve been sleeping at this time every other morning, so roll over and snore some more.” Sasuke was very nearly yelling back.
Naruto stared at him in shock. “You’ve been doing this every morning?”
Sasuke nodded.
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“Well, you didn’t exactly seem to mind,” Sasuke said. Maybe he should’ve told Naruto, but it was kind of fun to sneak in and out of his room every morning.
A pillow hit him smack in the face and he fell backwards off the treadmill. “Well, I mind now!”
Laundry
Naruto inspected the pile of clean clothes at the foot of his bed intently. He wouldn’t put it past Sasuke to put something in them, the sneaky bastard. But alas, the clothes looked perfectly fine. Better than fine, even, because they were cleaned. And pressed. Sasuke had ironed his clothes for him.
As he began to put the clothes away, he noticed that something was wrong, something was missing. He quickly went through the pile again, looking at each article of clothing separately. Once he had done that three times, he let out a panicked little gasp and ran to his closet to search through the clothes there as well. But that search was fruitless. His favorite pair of boxers and his most comfortable shirt were missing.
Naruto ran to Sasuke’s room and flung the door open. “What did you do with them?!” he asked, loudly.
Sasuke looked up from the book he was reading. “What are you talking about, idiot?”
“My green boxers and-and that shirt with the fish on it! Where are they?” Naruto couldn’t help but sound desperate.
“Oh those,” Sasuke said, eyes flashing with recognition. “They had a lot of holes so I tossed them.”
Naruto growled and kicked over the trash can by the door. “Don’t you ever touch my clothes again, bastard!” he yelled, and stormed out of the room.
When he came back from the training fields that night, he found the apartment empty and his favorite shirt and boxers, clean and folded, at the foot of his bed.
Making the Bed
Sasuke sat on his bed, curled up in all of the blankets and pillows, reading his favorite book for the seventh time. He was just getting to the climax when Naruto burst into the room.
“Hey, Sasuke, I made some popcorn and I’ve got that movie we talked about the other day. Wanna come watch it?” he asked, eyes incredibly hopeful.
Sighing, Sasuke cast a mournful look at his book. He set it down after carefully placing a bookmark on his page. He rolled out of bed, landing on the floor. “Alright,” he mumbled. “Just give me a second.”
Naruto smiled from the doorway. Sasuke thought he was going to leave then, but Naruto always had to get a word in. “Why don’t you ever make your bed, Sasuke? Even I do that.”
Sasuke shot a glare up at Naruto, consciously ignoring the blush on his cheeks. “What I do with my room is none of your business, loser,” he said, standing and brushing off his clothes.
“Well then,” Naruto said, smiling, “maybe you should try keeping your nose out of my stuff, as well.” He left the room and Sasuke was tempted to shut the door again and not join him. Nothing could make spending time on the couch with that boy enjoyable.
Except maybe the popcorn.
Plants
“Do you like it?” Naruto asked, hoping that the answer was yes.
Sasuke stared at the windowsill, a frown on his face. “It’s very,” he paused, “It’s very green.”
Naruto hung his head and stomped his foot a little in impatience. “Of course it’s green, bastard, it’s a plant.”
“Yes it is,” Sasuke said, glaring at Naruto’s foot.
“Well, I like it. I think it’s just what this room needed to make it brighter. Maybe it could even be fun to take care of it!” Naruto said, grinning at Sasuke.
“What, are you going to give it a name and take it on walks?” Sasuke asked, still looking the plant over.
Naruto sighed. “I could just take it to my room if you don’t like it. I mean, it being your kitchen and everything…”
“Idiot,” Sasuke said, smacking him on the back of the head, to which Naruto’s immediate response was a punch to the side. Sasuke smirked and let the attack pass without retaliation. “I like it there,” he said finally.
With a huge grin, Naruto wrapped his arms around Sasuke. “Yes! I knew you’d like it!”
Sasuke pouted, but didn’t move to push away, Naruto noted. “This does not mean that I’m going to take care of it at all. And that dirt better not end up all over my counters.”
Naruto ignored him.
Shopping
“Naruto, did you get the shopping list off the table?”
A pause. “No.”
“Idiot. Now we’re going to have to go all the way back to get it!”
“Shut up, Sasuke, we can just remember it as we go. If we miss anything, I’ll come back tomorrow.”
“What if we miss something important?”
“Sasuke, we’ll get the important stuff, alright? Milk and tomatoes, right?”
A sigh. “Fine. Let’s get this over with.”
“Naruto, please tell me you’re not getting that awful tea again.”
“I like it.”
“I hate how it stinks up the kitchen.”
“Deal with it-hey! That hurt!”
“Don’t keep your toes so close to mine if you don’t want me to stand on them.”
“If I get my tea, you can get that nasty tomato sauce.”
“It’s not nasty, it’s foreign.”
“Whatever. It’s gross.”
“Not as gross as your tea.”
Silence.
“Sasuke, please tell me you brought your wallet with you…”
A pause. “Are you serious, idiot? How do you leave home without your wallet?!”
“Bastard! It’s not like I’m worrying about buying things every second of the day!”
“But we specifically left to get groceries!”
“It doesn’t matter. I don’t have my wallet. Can you please pay the nice lady?”
Sigh. “Fine. But it was your turn to pay. I expect you to pay for the next times.”
“Whatever.”
“Thank you for shopping and have a nice day.”
In unison, “Shut up.”
Sweeping
“Naruto! You didn’t clean the house! Kakashi and Sakura are going to be here any minute!” Sasuke yelled, staring in horror at the rumpled couch and the dirty kitchen.
Naruto emerged from the bathroom, a confused look on his face. “I swept, just like you told me to.” His tone was matter-of-fact.
Sasuke swallowed an angry retort. This was not going to end well. Not at all. “I obviously meant that we were having guests and that I wanted this place to look presentable, idiot! Did you even look at the rest of the mess when you were sweeping? How could you just walk past this couch?! And the kitchen. Ooh, the kitchen!”
“Relax, Sasuke,” Naruto said, sauntering into the room, obviously taking his own advice. “It’s just Kakashi and Sakura.”
Swinging around to glare at Naruto, Sasuke said, “I don’t care if it’s just them, our house should still be clean when we have guests!” He began to pick up Naruto’s discarded clothes and other assorted items and throwing them at the other boy.
Naruto caught as many items as he could, and ducked the rest. “Oh, stop it, Sasuke. Look, I’ll take care of this room and the bathroom if you want to do the kitchen,” he offered.
Sasuke glared, but stormed into the kitchen. He was in a sour mood the rest of the night.
Watching TV
Naruto grabbed the remote out of Sasuke’s hand and flipped the channel. He knew Sasuke hated this show, but it was a new episode and he really, really wanted to see it. It was a commercial, currently, so he had a few more minutes before he’d have to wrestle Sasuke for the remote again.
“Is this the channel I think it is?” Sasuke asked.
After a moment in which Naruto considered lying, he answered, “depends on which channel that is.”
“Naruto, you know I hate this show. Can you please just turn it back to the news?” Sasuke sounded tired.
“I want to watch this,” Naruto said, resolved to get his way.
There was another moment of silence, and then the show started. “Oh my god, it’s so stupid!” Sasuke said, and flung himself at Naruto to grab the remote.
They fell off the couch and rolled on the floor, Naruto trying to keep the remote as far away from Sasuke as possible, while Sasuke kept scooting closer. Naruto’s free hand pushed at Sasuke’s chest, nails digging into the fabric. Sasuke grabbed at Naruto’s wrists, always just out short of his goal. The show’s intro ended and they both paused in their struggles to look at each other.
Sasuke brought one of his hands down and braced it on the floor next to Naruto’s side to push himself up, but his thumb brushed Naruto’s side. Naruto’s reaction was immediate. He let out a startled gasp and arched away from the contact. Sasuke smirked and brought his hands to both of Naruto’s sides and tickled.
Naruto rolled and curled, trying to scoot away at the same time. “Sasuke! Stop it! That’s not fair!”
“Whatever works, idiot.” Sasuke said, smiling as the remote came into his range. He grabbed for it, but that was enough of a distraction that Naruto brought his own hand up and tickled Sasuke’s side.
They fought once more, this time with feathery touches and the tracing of fingernails. They fought until they couldn’t breathe.
Naruto leaned down from where he was crouched over Sasuke and looked into his eyes. They both stared for a long minute, catching their breath. Finally Naruto moved, but not away like Sasuke thought he would. Instead he placed a soft kiss on Sasuke’s lips.
Sasuke gasped. “Naruto!” He knew the blush on his cheeks wasn’t just from their fighting anymore.
Naruto pulled back, blushing as well. “Sorry,” he mumbled, “I just thought that maybe… never mind.” He was pushing away now, but Sasuke grabbed his arm.
“Idiot. Was that what you call a kiss?” he asked, trying to keep a straight face.
Naruto broke out into a grin. “I was just going easy on you,” he said, “Just in case you didn’t know what you were doing.”
Sasuke smirked. “I’ll show you what I know how to do,” he said, and pulled Naruto back down for another kiss.
END
Title: Domestic
Rating: T
Summary: After a fire destroys Naruto’s apartment complex, he is forced to stay with Sasuke, the only member of his team with a room to spare. pre-timeskip.
Warnings: mild language
A/N: Sorry for the segmentation. I haven’t written anything long and consistent for years, so it’s basically all I could turn out. I hope you enjoy this!!
Mod note: Reminder for the author/artist of this submission, please do not reply to comments signed in, if you want to reply anon commenting is enabled.
Beginning
Naruto stared at the Hokage and Kakashi. He knew they were both old and perverted, but he hadn’t realized that they were crazy. Because clearly anyone in their right mind would never ever propose what they had just said. It was complete and utter absurdity. He turned his shocked expression into anger, setting his arms over his chest. “There’s no way. There’s no way in hell that I’m staying with that bastard!” he yelled.
“Now, Naruto, I know it must be hard for you since you’ve lost your home, but-”
Cutting the Hokage off, Naruto continued to yell, “I wouldn’t care if every house in Konoha burned to the ground and his place was the only one left standing-I wouldn’t live with him! I’d rather be out on the street.”
Silence reigned in the room for a few moments before Kakashi snapped his book shut, a bad sign, and looked down at Naruto. “As a ninja, you’re an important part of this town now. We can’t have you living in the streets. You’re going to stay with Sasuke and that’s final.” His tone was final as well.
Glaring at both of the men in front of him, Naruto could barely keep himself controlled. This wasn’t fair. He didn’t want to spend that much time with Sasuke. Ok, maybe spending time with Sasuke wouldn’t be awful, but he sure as hell didn’t want Sasuke to know he thought that way. And he did not want to live in the same house as that stuck up bastard; the rules at his house had to be so strict he wouldn’t be able to breathe without getting yelled at. He was startled out of thought when a knock came from the door.
“Come in,” the Hokage called, visibly glad for the distraction.
Kakashi frowned and began to speak, “Naruto, don’t say anything stupid…”
And as Sasuke entered the room, clearly annoyed, Naruto found a new outlet for his anger.
“This is all your fault, bastard!” he shouted, pointing accusingly at his teammate.
Sasuke cast a resigned glance at the other two occupants of the room, both shrugged, and said, “you’re obviously mistaken. No one would willingly take you in. Believe me when I say they’re paying me well to do this.”
Nearly fuming, Naruto opened his mouth to speak again, but the Hokage cut in. “You boys should get on your way home. Argue there, not in my office.”
Both Naruto and Sasuke looked to Kakashi, who sighed and ushered them out the door. “Go along, now, I’ll see you both at practice in the morning.”
Sasuke stuffed his hands into his pockets and walked out of the room, calling over his shoulder, “I bet it’ll take you an hour to find my home by yourself, Deadlast!”
Naruto glared and ran after him. “What did you say?! Get back here and I’ll show you deadlast!”
This arrangement was obviously going to work out wonderfully for everyone involved.
Coming Home
Sasuke wasn’t too pleased that Naruto was going to have to stay at his place for the next few weeks, but Kakashi had told him it was a mission-and Sasuke didn’t turn down missions. He did, however, worry for his home, a nice apartment he was renting in Konoha. He had decorated it and cleaned it and made it his very own, and now it was going to be invaded by Naruto which had to be akin to being hit by a hurricane.
Taking a deep breath, he unlocked the door and pushed it open. He moved out of the way to let Naruto in first. “Please don’t touch anything yet,” he muttered.
Naruto shot him a glare, but it was half-hearted as he stepped into the front room, eyes sweeping over all the surfaces. Sasuke thought for a moment Naruto was going to praise the place, but then the blond spoke, “where’s all your stuff, Sasuke? It’s so empty!”
“I don’t see a problem with keeping my home neat and devoid of unnecessary items,” he said, feeling a headache pushing at his skull.
Turning around to face him as he shut the door, Naruto smirked, “and where do I get to put all my unnecessary items?” he asked, dropping his bag (just one-thank god) to the floor.
“You’ll be staying in the main room with a futon or on the couch. I’ve cleared out a closet for your stuff right over there,” Sasuke said as he toed off his sandals.
The look on Naruto’s face was almost laughable. “Kakashi said you had an extra room-an extra bed! Why don’t I get to stay there?!” He had now migrated to the side of the couch, his fingers continually running over its textured surface.
Sasuke said, “Kakashi was wrong. I don’t have an extra bedroom. I have this room, my room, and a workout room. You can stay right here.”
Fuming, Naruto walked toward him and shoved him lightly in the shoulder. “I have every right to the room I was promised. If there’s a bed in there, I’m going to sleep on it, no matter what you say.”
Folding his arms across his chest, Sasuke turned up his nose. “Fine. Stay in the work room. But I’m still going to use it, too.”
“Fine.”
Naruto was walking back down the hall now, carrying his bag over his shoulder once again. He pulled open the first room (which was Sasuke’s bedroom, too Sasuke’s annoyance), slammed the door shut, and moved on to the opposite room. As soon as he was fully in the room, he shut the door with his foot.
Sasuke’s eyebrow twitched as he watched. “Take off your shoes, loser!” he yelled, stomping to the kitchen. It was time for a cup of tea.
Cooking
Naruto looked nervously from the microwave to the stove. He could either make the cheap cup ramen he had brought with him, or he could use the real food Sasuke kept in his house and make ramen that actually tasted good. Problem was he hadn’t really ever made ramen from scratch before. What good would it be to use all the expensive materials to make it if it was going to taste as bad as what he put in the microwave?
He opened a couple of cupboards around the kitchen idly as he thought it over, but stopped when he realized one cupboard was full of cookbooks. Naruto pulled one out and flipped through it to find the ramen recipe. There it was-and it would take just enough time to be ready when Sasuke returned from the gym!
Just as the noodles were finishing-the broth hadn’t turned out great, but it was still good, in Naruto’s opinion-Sasuke came through the front door.
“What is that smell? Naruto? Are you cooking?! Is my kitchen in tact?” He rushed into the kitchen, eyes wide.
Naruto smirked and held out a bowl for him. “What? You think I can’t even make ramen?” Naruto asked.
Giving the bowl one sour look, Sasuke shoved it away. “You’re probably trying to poison me. And if you’re not, you’re cooking probably would anyway,” he said, moving to open the fridge.
“Excuse me?!” Naruto nearly yelled, slamming the bowl down on the counter. “I spent a lot time and effort making this. You could at least try it, bastard.”
Sasuke emerged from the fridge with a few vegetables. “I don’t like ramen,” he said, moving around Naruto to get to the cutting board, “and I certainly won’t eat anything you make.”
Naruto pouted and slumped into a chair at the table, dragging the bowl with him. “Fine, I’ll eat it all myself,” he muttered. He ate in silence, and when Sasuke sat down across the table from him with his bowl of salad, he pointedly ignored him. When he finished eating-he really did eat the whole pot-he dropped his dishes noisily in the sink, splattering dirty water all over the counter. He left the room without saying a word.
When he slammed the door to the bathroom, he planned on staying in there until Sasuke broke down the door.
Dishes
“Naruto,” Sasuke said as they passed each other in the hall that morning, “you need to wash your dishes when you’re done eating.”
The other boy stared at him dumbly. “I do clean my dishes,” he said, frowning.
Sasuke rolled his eyes. “You have to wash them right after you’re done using them, not a week later,” he explained, going slowly because he was really beginning to doubt Naruto’s mental capabilities.
“Psht. Whatever,” Naruto said, waving it off, “Wash them now, wash them later, what difference does it make?”
“It makes all the difference,” Sasuke said.
Naruto pushed past him toward the bathroom. “I’ll see what I can do,” he said, obviously ignoring the request.
Immediately Sasuke slammed him into the ground from behind, pinning him with a knee between his shoulder blades and his hands pinning Naruto’s arms to the floor. It was really all too easy to catch Naruto off guard now that they were living together, Sasuke thought with satisfaction. “You will wash your dishes,” he said slow and close to Naruto’s ear.
A flush washed up Naruto’s neck, but he didn’t say a word of acknowledgement. The two of them sat there, Sasuke shoving his knee a little harder ever few seconds and Naruto trying to throw him off. Eventually Naruto let out a soft whimper, which startled Sasuke.
“Bastard,” Naruto barked as soon as the noise escaped him. “Get off!”
“No.”
There was another moment of silence, then Naruto said, “really, get off or I’m going to pee all over your nice floor.
Sasuke was taken aback by the statement at first, but it did make sense. It was early in the morning and Naruto had been on his way to the bathroom… Sasuke smirked and shoved his knee into Naruto’s back harder. “Will you start cleaning the dishes right after you use them?” he asked.
Naruto thrashed for a moment with renewed vigor, but stopped just as quickly as he’d started. Sasuke could see and feel the flush that had started at Naruto’s neck spread across his entire body. There was another short silence before Naruto nodded his head.
“Say it,” Sasuke commanded.
Naruto’s blush darkened. “Yes, bastard, I’ll do the dishes. Now, get off!” He shoved up again, but Sasuke was already moving back.
Naruto jumped up and, after sending one lingering glare at Sasuke, ran to the bathroom full speed. Sasuke smirked and dusted off his pants.
Eating
No one had ever actually criticized Naruto on the way that he ate before, but after his first night eating an actual meal together with Sasuke, he learned that he did many things incorrectly.
He apparently didn’t hold his chopsticks correctly, an argument which had led to Naruto breaking two pairs of utensils, one of them on Sasuke’s arm.
He also didn’t hold his teacup correctly, something that, when mentioned, had earned both boys scalding tea all over their laps.
And then he ate with his mouth open-a criticism which actually embarrassed him, but, at the moment when Sasuke brought it up, merely caused him to do it as obnoxiously as he could. There had been a lot of food on the table after dinner.
On top of eating with his mouth open, he talked while he was chewing. This final comment from Sasuke had caused Naruto to fling himself at the other boy, tackling him to the floor. They had scuffled for a few moments, carefully avoiding the table, before the doorbell had rung, announcing Sakura’s arrival with dessert and a movie. Sasuke had a black eye and Naruto was nursing his left wrist for the next week.
After that, Sasuke never made a comment about Naruto’s eating again.
Exercise
One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. Switch. One. Two… was Sasuke’s inner mantra as he did he early morning exercises-one-handed push-ups to be exact. He sighed and leaned forward onto the ground after he had finished those (two hundred for each arm, alternating arms after every ten). Next was his jog.
He stood up and stepped onto his treadmill, turning it on to his desired settings. He had been exercising for maybe an hour already, and was tiring of it already. Sweat poured down his back and he was panting. He could hear his feet falling heavier than they should be against the treadmill. Only twenty more minutes and he could go off to the shower.
There was a startled gasp from the other side of the room and he looked up to meet Naruto’s gaze. “What the hell are you doing in my room, bastard?!” Naruto yelled, pulling his blankets up around him as he sat up in bed.
“What does it look like, idiot?” Sasuke snapped. He really didn’t want to be talking right now.
“This is my room! Get out!”
Sasuke closed his eyes. “It’s also my exercise room; I told you that the very first day!”
“It’s six-thirty in the morning!” Naruto countered.
“Yes, and you’ve been sleeping at this time every other morning, so roll over and snore some more.” Sasuke was very nearly yelling back.
Naruto stared at him in shock. “You’ve been doing this every morning?”
Sasuke nodded.
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“Well, you didn’t exactly seem to mind,” Sasuke said. Maybe he should’ve told Naruto, but it was kind of fun to sneak in and out of his room every morning.
A pillow hit him smack in the face and he fell backwards off the treadmill. “Well, I mind now!”
Laundry
Naruto inspected the pile of clean clothes at the foot of his bed intently. He wouldn’t put it past Sasuke to put something in them, the sneaky bastard. But alas, the clothes looked perfectly fine. Better than fine, even, because they were cleaned. And pressed. Sasuke had ironed his clothes for him.
As he began to put the clothes away, he noticed that something was wrong, something was missing. He quickly went through the pile again, looking at each article of clothing separately. Once he had done that three times, he let out a panicked little gasp and ran to his closet to search through the clothes there as well. But that search was fruitless. His favorite pair of boxers and his most comfortable shirt were missing.
Naruto ran to Sasuke’s room and flung the door open. “What did you do with them?!” he asked, loudly.
Sasuke looked up from the book he was reading. “What are you talking about, idiot?”
“My green boxers and-and that shirt with the fish on it! Where are they?” Naruto couldn’t help but sound desperate.
“Oh those,” Sasuke said, eyes flashing with recognition. “They had a lot of holes so I tossed them.”
Naruto growled and kicked over the trash can by the door. “Don’t you ever touch my clothes again, bastard!” he yelled, and stormed out of the room.
When he came back from the training fields that night, he found the apartment empty and his favorite shirt and boxers, clean and folded, at the foot of his bed.
Making the Bed
Sasuke sat on his bed, curled up in all of the blankets and pillows, reading his favorite book for the seventh time. He was just getting to the climax when Naruto burst into the room.
“Hey, Sasuke, I made some popcorn and I’ve got that movie we talked about the other day. Wanna come watch it?” he asked, eyes incredibly hopeful.
Sighing, Sasuke cast a mournful look at his book. He set it down after carefully placing a bookmark on his page. He rolled out of bed, landing on the floor. “Alright,” he mumbled. “Just give me a second.”
Naruto smiled from the doorway. Sasuke thought he was going to leave then, but Naruto always had to get a word in. “Why don’t you ever make your bed, Sasuke? Even I do that.”
Sasuke shot a glare up at Naruto, consciously ignoring the blush on his cheeks. “What I do with my room is none of your business, loser,” he said, standing and brushing off his clothes.
“Well then,” Naruto said, smiling, “maybe you should try keeping your nose out of my stuff, as well.” He left the room and Sasuke was tempted to shut the door again and not join him. Nothing could make spending time on the couch with that boy enjoyable.
Except maybe the popcorn.
Plants
“Do you like it?” Naruto asked, hoping that the answer was yes.
Sasuke stared at the windowsill, a frown on his face. “It’s very,” he paused, “It’s very green.”
Naruto hung his head and stomped his foot a little in impatience. “Of course it’s green, bastard, it’s a plant.”
“Yes it is,” Sasuke said, glaring at Naruto’s foot.
“Well, I like it. I think it’s just what this room needed to make it brighter. Maybe it could even be fun to take care of it!” Naruto said, grinning at Sasuke.
“What, are you going to give it a name and take it on walks?” Sasuke asked, still looking the plant over.
Naruto sighed. “I could just take it to my room if you don’t like it. I mean, it being your kitchen and everything…”
“Idiot,” Sasuke said, smacking him on the back of the head, to which Naruto’s immediate response was a punch to the side. Sasuke smirked and let the attack pass without retaliation. “I like it there,” he said finally.
With a huge grin, Naruto wrapped his arms around Sasuke. “Yes! I knew you’d like it!”
Sasuke pouted, but didn’t move to push away, Naruto noted. “This does not mean that I’m going to take care of it at all. And that dirt better not end up all over my counters.”
Naruto ignored him.
Shopping
“Naruto, did you get the shopping list off the table?”
A pause. “No.”
“Idiot. Now we’re going to have to go all the way back to get it!”
“Shut up, Sasuke, we can just remember it as we go. If we miss anything, I’ll come back tomorrow.”
“What if we miss something important?”
“Sasuke, we’ll get the important stuff, alright? Milk and tomatoes, right?”
A sigh. “Fine. Let’s get this over with.”
“Naruto, please tell me you’re not getting that awful tea again.”
“I like it.”
“I hate how it stinks up the kitchen.”
“Deal with it-hey! That hurt!”
“Don’t keep your toes so close to mine if you don’t want me to stand on them.”
“If I get my tea, you can get that nasty tomato sauce.”
“It’s not nasty, it’s foreign.”
“Whatever. It’s gross.”
“Not as gross as your tea.”
Silence.
“Sasuke, please tell me you brought your wallet with you…”
A pause. “Are you serious, idiot? How do you leave home without your wallet?!”
“Bastard! It’s not like I’m worrying about buying things every second of the day!”
“But we specifically left to get groceries!”
“It doesn’t matter. I don’t have my wallet. Can you please pay the nice lady?”
Sigh. “Fine. But it was your turn to pay. I expect you to pay for the next times.”
“Whatever.”
“Thank you for shopping and have a nice day.”
In unison, “Shut up.”
Sweeping
“Naruto! You didn’t clean the house! Kakashi and Sakura are going to be here any minute!” Sasuke yelled, staring in horror at the rumpled couch and the dirty kitchen.
Naruto emerged from the bathroom, a confused look on his face. “I swept, just like you told me to.” His tone was matter-of-fact.
Sasuke swallowed an angry retort. This was not going to end well. Not at all. “I obviously meant that we were having guests and that I wanted this place to look presentable, idiot! Did you even look at the rest of the mess when you were sweeping? How could you just walk past this couch?! And the kitchen. Ooh, the kitchen!”
“Relax, Sasuke,” Naruto said, sauntering into the room, obviously taking his own advice. “It’s just Kakashi and Sakura.”
Swinging around to glare at Naruto, Sasuke said, “I don’t care if it’s just them, our house should still be clean when we have guests!” He began to pick up Naruto’s discarded clothes and other assorted items and throwing them at the other boy.
Naruto caught as many items as he could, and ducked the rest. “Oh, stop it, Sasuke. Look, I’ll take care of this room and the bathroom if you want to do the kitchen,” he offered.
Sasuke glared, but stormed into the kitchen. He was in a sour mood the rest of the night.
Watching TV
Naruto grabbed the remote out of Sasuke’s hand and flipped the channel. He knew Sasuke hated this show, but it was a new episode and he really, really wanted to see it. It was a commercial, currently, so he had a few more minutes before he’d have to wrestle Sasuke for the remote again.
“Is this the channel I think it is?” Sasuke asked.
After a moment in which Naruto considered lying, he answered, “depends on which channel that is.”
“Naruto, you know I hate this show. Can you please just turn it back to the news?” Sasuke sounded tired.
“I want to watch this,” Naruto said, resolved to get his way.
There was another moment of silence, and then the show started. “Oh my god, it’s so stupid!” Sasuke said, and flung himself at Naruto to grab the remote.
They fell off the couch and rolled on the floor, Naruto trying to keep the remote as far away from Sasuke as possible, while Sasuke kept scooting closer. Naruto’s free hand pushed at Sasuke’s chest, nails digging into the fabric. Sasuke grabbed at Naruto’s wrists, always just out short of his goal. The show’s intro ended and they both paused in their struggles to look at each other.
Sasuke brought one of his hands down and braced it on the floor next to Naruto’s side to push himself up, but his thumb brushed Naruto’s side. Naruto’s reaction was immediate. He let out a startled gasp and arched away from the contact. Sasuke smirked and brought his hands to both of Naruto’s sides and tickled.
Naruto rolled and curled, trying to scoot away at the same time. “Sasuke! Stop it! That’s not fair!”
“Whatever works, idiot.” Sasuke said, smiling as the remote came into his range. He grabbed for it, but that was enough of a distraction that Naruto brought his own hand up and tickled Sasuke’s side.
They fought once more, this time with feathery touches and the tracing of fingernails. They fought until they couldn’t breathe.
Naruto leaned down from where he was crouched over Sasuke and looked into his eyes. They both stared for a long minute, catching their breath. Finally Naruto moved, but not away like Sasuke thought he would. Instead he placed a soft kiss on Sasuke’s lips.
Sasuke gasped. “Naruto!” He knew the blush on his cheeks wasn’t just from their fighting anymore.
Naruto pulled back, blushing as well. “Sorry,” he mumbled, “I just thought that maybe… never mind.” He was pushing away now, but Sasuke grabbed his arm.
“Idiot. Was that what you call a kiss?” he asked, trying to keep a straight face.
Naruto broke out into a grin. “I was just going easy on you,” he said, “Just in case you didn’t know what you were doing.”
Sasuke smirked. “I’ll show you what I know how to do,” he said, and pulled Naruto back down for another kiss.
END