Hearthstones

Title: Hearthstones
Rated: NC-17
Pairing: NaruSai
Comments: An astoundingly belated LJ wedding gift to Yen and Nyusama. PLEASE FORGIVE ME!! *luffs you both* I’m sorry about the heavy Sasuke presence but…really, there is no Naruto without Sasuke SOMEWHERE in the equation, even if it’s just as an aside. A heavy aside. XD

Much love to my betas on this, Tabby and Patty. I know both of you said it read a bit stilted and…stuff… XD but I intended for the fic to be that way. A little broken, but better in the end.

—

Naruto brushed imaginary dust from the corner of the picture frame, his fingers gentle against the worn wood. The faces behind the glass peered up at him, smiles and sneers alike. His lips quirked.

“Naruto.”

He looked up. Sai stood framed in the doorway, his arms laden with a cardboard box. The object in Naruto’s hands caught his gaze.

“I was just…” Naruto paused. He looked away from the simple curiosity in Sai’s face, eyes sliding back to his hands and the old photo of team seven. He shrugged and turned away. He smoothed his hand slowly over the polished surface of the end table and set the frame down.

Sai placed his box on top of a larger, equally nondescript one as he entered. Several more boxes sat in other rooms throughout the small house, in various stages of being unpacked. Naruto bit his lip as Sai paused beside him to admire the photo, the first to adorn their new house.

Naruto had discovered, through the rummaging of Sai’s former apartment, that the man had a certain method to his décor. He knew that in a week or so, the walls would be lined with Sai’s paintings in an assortment of geometrical patterns. Naruto didn’t mind though. Sitting there alone on a small table set against the wall, he thought the photo looked terribly forlorn.

“We can start in the bedroom,” Sai said.

Naruto felt Sai’s hand skim briefly over the small of his back. He nodded his agreement, his hand reaching out to brush Sai’s. He followed him down the hallway and ignored the way the walls stared bleakly down at him.

*

Naruto passed the whetstone absently from hand to hand as he watched Sai set up his easel and supplies. He shifted his position on the wooden stairs leading from the back door and reached for a kunai at his side. His hand wrapped with certainty around the hilt, the tips of his fingers brushing over the wood with a dry hiss. He rested his elbows on his knees and pressed the whetstone against the sharp edge of his weapon, his gaze settling on Sai’s hands.

Sai’s fingers were pale and slender, his palms rough with calluses. Despite the physical proof of his occupation, his hands moved with practiced grace, a steady precision born from more than just the vigorous training of jutsu. Naruto tilted his head, his hands working on autopilot, as he watched Sai dip his brush into a small pot of black ink.

The day was still early and the sunlight fell in a slant across their small backyard. Sai stood at its center, hands moving delicately across his canvas.

The Hokage had allotted them both a month to make the transition. Naruto had been hard-pressed not to ask if she had given them a month to settle or to allow for damage control, given the snide remark she’d made concerning Naruto’s tendency to create chaos. Luckily, with Sai’s infinite patience and the efficiency born of being ninjas, they had hardly even needed a fraction of that time. They had unpacked their last box the week before. In the end, Naruto suspected the generous time slot had been given out of affection more than anything else, so he’d refrained from making any ill-advised retorts.

The new house was exhilarating in a daunting sort of way, but he often caught himself thinking about the little apartment he’d left behind…of how now, devoid of all of his odds and ends, it was probably less empty than it had been before.

Sighing at his thoughts, Naruto leaned a little to his left so he could actually see what Sai was painting. It appeared to be a landscape. Sai was especially fond of scenic art. It wasn’t so much the end product that interested Naruto though. He liked to watch the little expressions that flitted over Sai’s face, the way his fingers grasped the paint-spattered wood of his brush, the quiet contemplation in Sai’s eyes as he paused to examine his progress.

Sai’s face was a study in kinesics. The slightest tilt of his brow, the tiniest quirk of his lips… Naruto liked to imagine that those little shifts in expression held memories that Sai would one day share with him. They were both rather reticent about their childhoods, which was likely why they had silently agreed not to pry—not even when Sai stared with too vacant eyes at the children huddled in the alleys of foreign villages and Naruto started awake at night from old nightmares.

Comfort speaking about such things though, Naruto was certain, would eventually come. They had a house together now, with photos on the walls and a vase of flowers on the table—a housewarming gift from Sakura. There were two toothbrushes in the bathroom and Sai’s clothes folded neatly in his drawers where his own clothes would be if he didn’t just toss them on the floor out of habit.

He felt his finger sting and glanced down. He blinked in surprise at the blood trailing down his fingers, dotting the wood where it fell. The kunai and whetstone slipped from his hands, landing with dull thuds against the stair. The pain was sharp for such a small cut. Naruto frowned down at his hand, watching the blood steadily darken the wood at his feet.

Blood and chakra, a red haze of warmth despite the chill creeping through his chest. The dirt was damp at his back; stained and gritty bits of earth chafed his arms.

“God damn you,” Sasuke hissed.

“Naruto. You’re bleeding all over the stairs.”

He looked up to find Sai hovering over him, paintbrush still in hand. His expression was one of amusement and Naruto immediately grinned, pleased to see that it was genuine.

“Uuuh, right. I’ll go clean this.” He stood, cupping his finger even though the blood had all but stopped and he was fairly certain the cut was already healing.

*

“It’s about damned time you guys threw a dinner party.” Sakura clasped her hands against her chest in that innocently delighted way that only girls could, and fixed the pair with a smile.

Naruto glanced at Sai, who was giving her a vacuous smile, oblivious to the inadvertent insult. He drew himself up.

“It’s not a dinner party,” Naruto said, puffing out his chest a bit and doing his best to look indignant. “Girls throw dinner parties.”

The front door flung open and Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji filed in. “All right, let’s get this dinner party started,” Ino said before handing Naruto a huge vase of flowers.

“It’s not a dinner party,” Naruto said, louder this time. He attempted to frown at her through the myrtle and lemon leaves.

Ino tsked at him. “Of course it is,” she said before whirling away to confront Sakura. “Come on, forehead girl, let’s see what the damage is.”

The two women traded half-hearted insults as they fled to the kitchen, presumably to dissect the dinner that he and Sai had put together. Naruto’s nostrils flared irritably.

“Hey! Don’t touch anything!” He set the array on the dinner table before removing the old vase of wilted flowers that neither of them had bothered to toss out. He made to follow the women but Shikamaru and Chouji waylaid him. He searched for Sai and was glad to see his dark head disappear into the kitchen.

“Oi, what took you so long to invite us over?” Shikamaru asked. He had the gall to look insulted. Chouji grunted in agreement, giving Naruto the same piercing stare.

“Whaaat?” Naruto asked, defensive. He crossed his arms. “We were still settling in.”

“Took you four weeks to settle in?” Shikamaru asked. His eyebrow rose skeptically.

Naruto shrugged noncommittally. He was saved from having to give a more thorough answer when the door swung open again. His eyes widened when a green blur barreled towards him and he was enveloped in strong arms that lifted him off the floor.

“Gejimayu,” Naruto managed despite the air being squeezed out of him.

“Congratulations on your new home, Naruto-kun. This marks a new season of change for you!”

Naruto gulped in air once Lee released him. He waved his hand ineffectually at the man who wandered off to find Sai and give him the same hearty greeting. Naruto slumped against the table, smiling faintly at being reminded of how much he’d missed everyone. Brief snatches of conversation stolen between visits to the grocer had been the only contact he’d had with them for weeks, especially since most of them were typically out of the village on missions.

He’d also managed to wrangle a free meal from Iruka at Ichiraku at least once, but the man was always so busy with his new students. For a brief moment, as he’d stared down into his bowl of ramen and remembered the first time they’d sat there together, Naruto had felt old.

But the feeling had passed and Iruka had declined Naruto’s invitation to his little gathering with honest regret and excuses involving towering piles of paperwork. Kakashi had been more straightforward and refused outright, claiming cheerfully that he was too old for parties, although Naruto suspected the man simply couldn’t be bothered to attend as he was too rapt with reading Jiraiya’s latest release.

Naruto was glad to note that the rest of their guests arrived in quick succession. An hour and a half later found the group of friends scattered throughout the dining and living room, balancing bowls of udon and rice and chatting about missions both past and upcoming.

Naruto was the first to break out the sake, although Kiba had been elbowing him in a less than discreet manner for the better half of an hour.

Naruto poured himself a bit before passing it on to eager hands. He let the warmth of the alcohol settle in his stomach as Kiba plugged in the karaoke machine he’d brought along. He’d bought the thing while on a mission in Lightning Country and had wasted no time introducing all of his friends to the embarrassing form of entertainment.

Naruto snickered at the crease that formed between Sai’s eyebrows when Kiba leaped onto their coffee table to create a mock stage.

And so the evening went, with everyone being forced to take the microphone at least once in their various stages of inebriation (Lee, thankfully, steered clear of the sake). Naruto was pretty sure he’d gone twice but after listening to Neji stutter and glare resentfully at them through a poor rendition of the Konoha village anthem, he was ready to call it a night.

An hour after midnight found Naruto pouring himself the last of the sake, the majority of his friends passed out on makeshift bedrolls spread out across the living room floor. Sai had escaped the mayhem by going to bed a bit earlier, leaving Naruto to tidy up as best he could for the night.

A loud snore broke the silence. Naruto smiled fondly, his head still fuzzy, and leaned back in his chair. His gaze fixed blearily on the vase of flowers that Ino had presented him with.

“The yellow irises are for passion,” she had announced over dinner, loud enough to make sure that Sakura and everyone within a ten meter diameter had heard her. “The lemon leaves are for everlasting love and the myrtle for home.”

Naruto glanced down at the rows of bodies lying on his floor. His chest felt tight and he was pretty sure it wasn’t the alcohol kicking in. Pushing to his feet, he managed not to step on anyone as he made his way to the back of the house. He dragged a chair up to a small window near the corner before pushing open the shutters. He sat down, braced his arms on the windowsill, and let the night air cool his flushed cheeks.

“Naruto.”

He didn’t turn, just sighed softly. He felt a hand at his shoulder and he smiled. “Can’t sleep either?”

Another chair was pulled up beside him before Sakura dropped down heavily into it. She squeezed his shoulder lightly before dragging her fingers through the short hairs at the base of his head. They sat in silence for a long while, both acknowledging without words that the absence of their former teammate had been sharply felt all night.

“I’ll need to do this more often,” Naruto finally said, voice soft. “I mean…I like it when it’s just me and Sai. But…”

Sakura placed a hand against the sill before leaning forward and resting her temple against it so she could look at him. Pink hair fell across her face and Naruto smiled, lifting a hand to gently tuck the hair behind her ear.

“But it’s also nice when everyone’s around.” He wasn’t quite sure how to say it. The house was filled with their belongings now but it was still just a structure of wood that even Yamato-sensei could easily construct. Tonight, his friends had made it more by simply being there and filling it with laughter and memories. The rest was left to him and Sai. They would give it life the same way Sai gave life to his paintings. Together, they’d make it more than just a house.

Sometimes it was difficult to see the end though, when left to silence and contemplation.

He watched the shadows in his backyard shift as the moon became obscured behind a haze of drifting clouds. All of his friends, the people he cared most about, were gathered in his little house except for a single absence.

“Do you think he—”

“I don’t know, Naruto,” Sakura said.

He gave her a lopsided smile. “How do you know what I was going to say?”

“Because I was thinking the same thing.”

They shared a small laugh, although there was no humor in either of them. He turned his gaze back to the view from his window. Beyond the wooden fence of his backyard, he could see the looming shapes of distant buildings, some with little blocks of light where others had yet to find sleep as well.

He brushed his fingers over the painted wood of the windowsill. At first glance, the wood appeared smooth. But beneath the pads of his fingertips he could feel the grooves and niches of the original wood, little ripples where it had refused to be sanded down.

He could feel Sakura’s gaze on him, searching for those little grooves, probably wanting to reassure herself that beneath the smooth exterior, he was still as rough and uncouth as he’d been eight years ago.

The house felt cold now and Naruto wondered how little that had to do with the insulation.

“It’s over,” he said. He watched through the bandages covering his face as they took Sasuke away and he could hear something come loose, shattering quietly in his chest.

“What do I do now?” Naruto asked aloud.

Sakura gave him a gentle smile, at once reassuring and sad. “Now you work on building a life with Sai.”

Naruto turned to look at her. He saw in her eyes the guileless understanding he knew would be there. So many years he’d spent chasing after Sasuke, after the bonds Sasuke represented and emotions for a rival that might have meant more had he taken the time to stop and evaluate. But he couldn’t afford to stop for breath—he’d kept moving, kept improving so that when the chase finally ended, he would have the strength to drag Sasuke home.

He closed his eyes because even though she could still see his face, at least she couldn’t see beyond it. Now, even though the dust was settled, the walls repaired, wounds knit whole again… and Sasuke’s back faded from his path , he still didn’t know how to define himself outside of that single-minded pursuit.

He could feel his chest tighten again and he rolled his shoulders, hoping to loosen up the contracting muscles. He felt the warmth of Sakura’s hand on his shoulder again.

“It’s a good thing you’ve given up the whole becoming Hokage thing,” she said lightly.

Naruto’s eyes flew open and he straightened. “No, I haven’t! I will become Hokage—I’m not even worried about that! That’s—” He snapped his mouth shut when Sakura started giggling into her hand. “That was mean,” he said. He thrust his lip out just to show her how hurt he was.

She laughed and stuck her tongue out at him. Naruto immediately deflated, chuckling softly.

“Thanks, Sakura,” he said, settling his arms across the windowsill again.

She patted his hand. “Go to sleep, Naruto. I’m sure Sai is waiting for you.” She leaned over and placed a light kiss on his cheek. Then she stood to leave him for her own little spot on the floor.

Naruto stared blankly out into the night, his thoughts tumbling over one another until he couldn’t make sense of them anymore and he was weary of trying. It was a good hour later before he slipped into his room and crawled into bed. Sai was asleep with his back to the door. The strong curve of his body was a comforting sight. Naruto wrapped an arm around his waist, curling his body around Sai’s, and fell asleep with his nose buried in Sai’s hair.

*

“You’ve got ink in your nails,” Naruto said. He tugged Sai’s hand closer, holding it up to his face and scrutinizing the blunt nails so that he looked nearly cross-eyed.

“It’s difficult to get out sometimes,” Sai said. He rolled onto his back, letting Naruto play with his fingers.

Naruto pressed his thumbs into Sai’s palm, massaging it gently. The smell of their freshly laundered sheets was wonderfully domestic and Naruto wiggled comfortably against them. He glanced up at Sai and flashed him a grin.

Making sure he had Sai’s gaze, he brought Sai’s hand to his mouth. His tongue flicked out to dampen the skin between Sai’s middle and forefinger.

Sai’s lips quirked and he reached with his other hand to switch off the little lamp beside their bed. The only remaining source of light was a meager shaft of moonlight the window provided, but Naruto’s eyes adjusted quickly to the darkness. Keeping a hold of Sai’s hand, Naruto shifted to lie on top of him. He kneed Sai’s legs apart so he could settle between them, their groins pleasantly aligned.

He brought Sai’s hand back to his mouth. His lips wrapped around one slender finger and sucked gently. He flattened his tongue against the digit, teeth just grazing the skin. He peered through the shadows down at Sai’s face, watching with reverence the way his lips parted on a sigh and his eyes focused on Naruto’s mouth.

He could taste the faintly bitter tang of ink as he swept his tongue over and around Sai’s hand. He opened his mouth, his tongue reaching out for another finger. He might have been concerned with ink poisoning if he wasn’t certain that the amount was too miniscule to matter. And if he’d miscalculated then at least he knew Kyuubi would take care of it.

Sai’s other hand stroked up his side, fingers prodding gently in their exploration. Naruto rocked his hips gently, feeling Sai harden beneath him. He sucked firmly on Sai’s fingers before releasing them slowly from his mouth. Sai swept his fingers up the curve of Naruto’s jaw, leaving a wet trail in their wake. Naruto swallowed thickly as Sai tilted his head back, exposing the graceful slope of his neck.

Sai was always deliberate in his touches, his gestures. Despite the progress he’d made concerning expressing emotions, Sai remained unable to completely let go. Even shuddering in orgasm, he wouldn’t forfeit his control. However, he always made certain that Naruto was given the utmost attention and care. While Naruto appreciated the effort Sai put into giving him pleasure, mostly he just wanted abandon, unrestrained emotion.

“Team Seven is dead,” Sasuke shouted, fists and feet seemingly attacking from all angles. “Why can’t you get that through your stupid, dead-last skull? If I have to kill you to make you understand, I will!”

Naruto’s chakra flared around him, forcing Sasuke to stagger back for a second. Naruto didn’t give him time to recover. He launched forward, tackling Sasuke to the ground.

Naruto didn’t mind the words or the abrasions or the fact that he just heard his rib crack. Because Sasuke had released his cool façade. Naruto wanted him screaming, wanted the way his neck muscles bulged in anger and frustration, wanted Sasuke’s unbridled emotion because it was proof that he still cared. Sasuke was just too blind to see it.

Well, Naruto thought as he took a knee to the chin, he’d just have to remind the bastard.

Sai’s hand cupped his hip, nails scoring lightly over the skin there. Naruto closed his eyes with a soft sigh. He lowered his head and placed light kisses along Sai’s neck, his elbows braced against the mattress. Sai’s hand slid between them, smoothing up his chest before pushing gently against him. He placed a lingering kiss just beneath the curve of Sai’s jaw before rolling away and letting Sai settle on top of him.

Sai dipped his head, lips fluttering over Naruto’s neck with the same unhurried attention Naruto had just given him. Naruto let his fingers tangle in Sai’s hair and he made a small appreciative sound. He lifted his hips and moaned softly when Sai responded with a firm but languid thrust.

Sai slid lower, his tongue painting wet stripes across Naruto’s chest. Naruto’s back arched when he took a flat nipple into his mouth, teeth gently raking the bud before swiping his tongue over it. A hand trailed down his ribs, a light trace of fingers that left him wanting a firmer touch.

Naruto blinked up at the ceiling, breathing slowly through his nostrils. Despite the gentleness—or rather, because of it—Naruto’s arms tensed, his hands clenching fistfuls of silky black hair. He knew it had to sting and yet Sai didn’t object, his mouth continuing to work lower. A moist tongue probed briefly at his belly button, causing Naruto’s breath to hitch. He loosened his grip and massaged firmly at Sai’s scalp. Sai’s hands were still just barely touching him, his mouth a flutter of lips and tongue.

“Naruto,” Sai whispered.

Naruto lifted his head off the pillow just enough to smile down at the man crouched between his legs. He groaned softly when Sai lowered his head to mouth the hard ridge of his cock through his thin briefs.

“Nngh, Sai,” he said, fingers clenching again in Sai’s hair. He tugged hard enough to forcibly lift Sai’s head. Sai arched an eyebrow at him when their gazes met.

“You want something, Naruto?” he asked, expression deceptively bland.

Naruto bit his lip and, before he lost his nerve, blurted, “Make it hurt.”

Sai’s eyes widened a fraction in surprise. Naruto pushed himself up, hands grasping Sai’s hair even tighter and pulling him forward to meet him in a harsh kiss. He bit sharply at Sai’s lip, drawing blood.

“Don’t hold back,” he whispered, more like a plea than a demand.

Sai jerked back, his tongue darting out to soothe his lip. His dark eyes stared in confusion at the sudden intensity in Naruto’s face. “Naruto—”

Naruto didn’t let him say anything else. He pushed Sai back, teeth latching onto Sai’s neck and biting hard enough to bruise. Sai gasped loudly beneath him, hips jerking. Naruto lifted his head to cover Sai’s mouth with his, tongue lapping up droplets of blood from the small split.

Sai’s hands were fisting into the sheets at the assault and Naruto growled angrily at his attempt to retain control. He grasped a wrist in each hand, forcing Sai’s hands up over his head before pulling back to look down at him. Sai frowned up at him, brows drawn in contemplation.

“I said, don’t hold back,” Naruto said, meeting Sai’s searching gaze and letting Sai see everything it was that Naruto felt. But he couldn’t bear the scrutiny for long. He flattened himself out on top of Sai, hips grinding almost painfully downward. He released Sai’s hands just long enough to fumble with the waist of Sai’s briefs. A moment later, his eyes widened as he felt Sai’s chakra burst beneath him and he was bodily tossed off.

His head hit the headboard with a thud. “Ow! Sai—”

The next thing he knew, Sai was pulling his briefs down harshly with little care for whatever obstacle got caught in the fabric along the way. Naruto winced but didn’t object. He kicked it off onto the floor, watching Sai shed his own briefs as well before rearing back up.

He met Sai halfway, hands grappling for purchase on as much skin as possible. The sheets tangled between their legs, the rustling of cotton a minor detail next to the scrape of nails and the heated slide of tongues. Their mouths met in rough, biting kisses; bruised lips sucking hungrily at skin. Naruto dug his fingers into Sai’s backside, squeezing so hard that Sai whimpered into his mouth. He could feel the hard ridge of Sai’s cock rubbing hotly against his own, the damp head leaving a trail of stickiness against his skin. The definition of Sai’s stomach was a familiar press of skin and muscle against his and he eagerly arched into it.

He shoved Sai back into a sitting position before settling his legs at either side of Sai’s hips, straddling his waist. He ground his hips downward, wrapped his arms around Sai’s shoulders and grabbed fistfuls of hair. “Fuck me so hard it hurts,” he said before biting down on Sai’s ear.

Sai’s fingers clenched around Naruto’s hips, his shallow breathes uneven. He paused, but Naruto didn’t want to give him time to think. He rose to his knees and arched his back, his hand reaching down to wrap around Sai’s erection.

“Naruto,” Sai managed, voice threaded with uncertainty, before Naruto positioned himself and quickly sank down on Sai’s length.

Naruto threw his head back, hissing sharply from the pain. Sai buried his face in Naruto’s neck, inhaling deeply to steady his breathing. His hands trembled as they rubbed soothing circles up Naruto’s side. Naruto shook his head sharply.

“Do it,” he whispered roughly before pressing a kiss to Sai’s temple. He slid his tongue down Sai’s cheek, tasting the salt of sweat.

Without pause, he lifted himself up and slid back down again, the lack of lubrication making the invasion burn. He grunted softly, biting his lip to keep from crying out. He felt something wet slide down his thigh as he turned his face into Sai’s hair, breathing in the moist air.

Sai’s hands rose to cup Naruto’s face, forcing him to meet his concerned gaze.

Naruto swallowed thickly. “Please, Sai.”

Perhaps it was the ‘please’. Perhaps it was something else in Naruto’s face that Sai had read. Either way, Sai leaned forward and sucked Naruto’s bottom lip into his mouth before his hips shoved roughly upward.

Naruto cried out against Sai’s mouth, his own hips grinding down to meet the brutal thrusts. He tightened his arms around Sai, clinging to him with a clawing desperation that Sai understood with every sharp thrust. They moved together without grace or rhythm, Naruto biting Sai’s shoulder to keep from shouting. His eyelids lowered as he stared unseeing at the single stream of moonlight from the window. The bed rocked beneath them, groaning loudly in protest.

Sai’s nails bit into his back, slipping against a sheen of sweat, scraping skin and drawing blood. Naruto moaned loudly, his backside aching, his thighs burning. He imagined the blood welling in Sai’s nails and thought about the ink still caught there.

A sob caught in his throat and he quickly swallowed it down. Sai’s hips drove into him, stretching and tearing and giving—an artist’s strokes. His hands dug into his back, spilling blood, paint across canvas. Sai painted his pictures and then, with a jutsu, gave them life.

Beneath Sai’s hands, Naruto came alive.

Naruto arched his back, breath catching in small hitches of air. The tension in his body snapped and he buried his face in Sai’s neck, shuddering around him. He braced himself as Sai continued to move, hips bucking wildly. A moment later, he smiled as Sai’s broken pants ended on a moan and his body jerked against him. Sai threw his head back and shouted Naruto’s name, his cry of orgasm echoing in their small house.

*

Naruto, as a rule, didn’t like to clean. No one had ever enforced the directive of cleanliness on him and so he’d never felt inclined to clean unless he found mice making burrows in his increasingly sour piles of clothing. Which he generally took as a sign to do the laundry.

Luckily, since the move, Sai had been more than willing to teach Naruto the ways of housekeeping. Naruto had sulked a bit at first, but had caved under threat of abstinence—and Naruto knew Sai could hold out for as long as necessary. Even so, Naruto only chose to clean when forced to.

It was with a slightly hysterical laugh then that Naruto found himself scrubbing furiously at the kitchen counters with a wet cloth even though Sai had wiped down the counters after dinner the night before. Every time he turned to put the cloth away, he’d find another spot on the counter or a speck of dust on the cabinet doors.

He was on his fifth round of sweeping the floorboards when Sai walked into the kitchen, shirt in hand, and froze. He fixed Naruto with a patented blank look before blinking slowly.

“You’re cleaning,” he said before blinking again, as if to clear his vision.

Naruto laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. He shrugged and, finding his hands getting restless again, clutched at the broom and began sweeping in earnest.

“We’re leaving in ten minutes,” Sai said.

Naruto nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, first mission again since moving. It’s about time, eh? I was beginning to go stir crazy.”

Sai arched an eyebrow, as if to say ‘I can see that.’ Then he turned back down the hallway to finish dressing.

Naruto tossed the broom back into the closet, grabbed the duster and moved into the living room. Really, he thought, how were they supposed to leave for a mission if the house wasn’t clean first? By the time they got back, the house would probably…be dusty…or something. Naruto shook his head and began dusting every frame on the wall, one by one.

A moment later, there was a knock at the door.

“Hey, a guest!” he shouted in Sai’s general direction and wondered why he felt relief rather than irritation that it would probably delay their departure.

As it turned out, their guest was Sakura. In her hand, she held a small spray of flowers wrapped in paper.

“Great, we can all go to the tower together then!” Naruto said. He stared blankly down at the flowers, gesturing at them with the feather duster. “What are those? Baby’s breath?”

“Are you cleaning?” she asked incredulously before laughing at him. She stepped into the house, pushing the door shut behind her. “And no, stupid, baby’s breath doesn’t look like this. This is yarrow.”

He watched mutely as she unwrapped the paper and began arranging the new stalks with the vase of flowers still sitting on his dinner table. He shrugged and turned away, returning to his task.

“What’s it for?” he asked absently, knowing by now that Sakura and Ino never gave flowers without throwing in ridiculously girly meanings for them as well.

“Healing.”

Naruto paused. He turned his head to blink at her. “Oh.”

She blushed lightly and shook it off with an overly cheerful grin. “I actually need to make a stop before I go so I’ll just meet you two at Hokage-sama’s office, okay?”

He nodded, giving her a weak wave as she moved towards the front door again.

“And…” She frowned quizzically at him. “Why are you cleaning?”

He glanced down at the duster in his hand and managed to sputter, “Because…the house is messy.”

She arched an eyebrow and passed a glance over the meticulous state of the living room. “Uh. Right. Are you okay?” she asked, stepping forward and reaching out a hand to check his forehead.

He swatted her away with the duster. “I’m fine, I’m fine. I’ll see you in a bit.”

She laughed, nose wrinkling as the feathers brushed her face. “Okay, if you say so. See you in a bit.”

She left quickly, the door shutting softly behind her.

“Was that Sakura?”

Naruto felt arms circle him from behind and he let his head fall back to rest on Sai’s shoulder.

“Yeah,” he said. “She was just dropping off some flowers.”

He glanced down at the duster in his hand, frowning lightly, before gently setting it down on the coffee table.

“We have to go,” he said and suddenly realized just how much he didn’t want to.

“I think I’ll miss the house,” Sai said, and there was a note of surprise there that rang true with Naruto’s own thoughts.

He smiled brightly and turned to give Sai a wet kiss. “Are you ready yet, pretty boy?”

Sai gave him an amused smile before turning back towards the bedroom. “In a second.”

Naruto laughed and cast Sakura’s flowers a fond smile before half-running down the hallway to tackle his boyfriend from behind.

*

Naruto had avoided Training Ground Three for almost four months. It was with a wave of nostalgia that he leaned against one of the training posts now, the same one he’d been tied to eight years ago. He crossed his arms, noting smugly how he was now much taller than the post itself, and waited.

He didn’t have to wait long. He could sense the ANBU arrive, crouching in the trees overhead. They were obscure enough to be unobtrusive but left no doubt of their presence to dissuade any… wayward ideas.

Another person appeared, as expected, soon after. Naruto bit his lip and continued to stare at the tip of his shoe, counting the seconds. The approaching footsteps faltered upon seeing Naruto… before they continued, passing him by without a word. Naruto sighed and pushed away from the post.

“Sasuke,” he said. He turned to face his former teammate. Sasuke was still, the lines of his shoulders stiff, wary.

“What do you want?” came his curt reply.

Naruto could feel the fine hairs at the back of his neck stand on end as Sasuke, quite deliberately, surrounded himself with thin streams of chakra, just enough to sting if anyone came too close. Naruto didn’t know whether to be offended or irritated that Sasuke was pushing him away…again. He settled for both.

The silence stretched on and Naruto was reminded of that stillness, that second of complete lucidity in which he and Sasuke had stood on opposite sides, looked at each other and understood… before all hell had broken loose. Because by then, even with Orochimaru gone, it had been too late for a peaceful reconciliation. But perhaps it had never been an option at all, just Naruto’s wishful thinking.

Smearing each other across the landscape wouldn’t exactly qualify as any recognized form of ‘reconciliation’ but it was the closest they had gotten to it. And anyway, afterwards, after the initial shock of still being alive, Naruto had clawed his way to Sasuke’s side, taken his hand and whispered, “Let’s go home” before passing out.

And so they had—even though they’d both been unconscious and couldn’t actually remember the journey.

Naruto began to clear his throat before he caught himself. Sasuke would interpret it as nervous energy and while Naruto’s nerves would agree, the rest of him didn’t want Sasuke to know just how flustered he was.

After waking up in the hospital, the Hokage had suggested—and by ‘suggested’ he meant she had smacked his bandaged head and shouted—that he give Sasuke a wide berth for a while. Their relationship was so volatile that no one, not even Naruto, knew if a simple attempt at conversation might end up in a tussle or an honest-to-God attempt to kill each other.

Naruto shifted on his feet when Sasuke still refused to face him. He stared at the back of Sasuke’s head and wondered if there was even a friendship left to repair.

“I… just wanted to see how you were doing,” he finally said.

Sasuke turned his head, just enough for Naruto to see his sneer through the fall of his dark bangs. “I’m fine. Does that appease your curiosity with what’s become of me?”

Naruto’s fists clenched at his sides at the scorn in Sasuke’s voice and he forced himself to relax. He wasn’t here for a fight. “Stop being an ass. I was just worried.”

“I don’t need your sympathy. Or your pity.”

Sasuke had been denied weapons, scrolls, and anything else, aside from a scarred hitai ate, that marked him as a ninja since his return to the village. Naruto watched as he strode toward a tree at the perimeter of the field. Sasuke knelt and withdrew from the bush beside it a long, slender piece of wood. He hefted it in his hand before making a few choice swipes through the air, as though it were a real sword.

Naruto attempted a smile but it fell short. “You really think I pity you?”

Sasuke paused, his makeshift sword lowered at his side. He stared blankly into the trees, his eyes distant. Naruto watched his profile, his indecision just discernable. A small gust of wind blew his bangs into his face and he reached up to push it back before turning to face Naruto.

“No,” he finally said. It was more ground than Sasuke had ever been willing to give him before.

Naruto smiled and tucked his hands in his pockets. Maybe Tsunade-bachan had been right. Maybe they really had needed time apart, away from the perpetual whirlwind of emotions that they elicited in each other—anger, frustration… companionship, acknowledgment. They’d needed time to remember and rebuild themselves.

“Um. Do you want to spar?”

“No.”

Naruto chuckled and glanced away. It was just as well since he’d probably get his ears blistered by the Hokage if they did fight.

“But eventually…” Naruto said.

“Eventually,” Sasuke agreed, his eyes glinting with the prospect of a challenge. He lifted his wooden sword, his lips twisting into a familiar smirk. “I’ll beat you with nothing but this.”

Naruto was too relieved by their banter to summon enough energy to argue back. “Do you want to get lunch?”

Sasuke paused, his expression shifting, as if not yet certain how to deal with Naruto outside of fighting. It had been a long time. “Not if it’s ramen.”

Naruto grinned sheepishly. “We can get something else. We’ll go drag Sakura from the hospital too.”

Sasuke didn’t respond but he snorted softly and it was enough for Naruto.

“I’ll see you in a bit then,” he said.

Sasuke shrugged and turned away, presenting him with his back.

And for once, it was okay. Because Sasuke was home.

And Naruto had his own to get back to.

The End

…and they lived happily ever after.