SasuNaru Oneshots | #wattys2018

The Visit

A/N: this story takes place shortly after the battle at final valley.

It was a peaceful night in Konoha. The moon shone brightly over the village  and bathed the rooftops in its pale light. Konoha was as silent as a grave, each of its citizens fast asleep in their warm beds... all except one.
The streets were devoid of life but above ground, on the rooftops of the villagers, walked a tall figure, his face concealed by a dark hood.
His movements were graceful and effortless as he hopped from one roof to the next. Finally, he stopped. He briefly looked around, confirming his location. Seeing as he had arrived at his destination, he took in his surroundings, the cramped space, the damp atmosphere and finally, he gazed up at the tall apartment in front of him.
It didn't take him long to reach the top of the stairs, he was one of the most skilled shinobi across all territories, hence the long climb took him mere seconds. The hooded figure did not waste any time pulling out a key from a hanging flower pot and placing it into the keyhole. Not long after, he found himself standing in the home of Konoha's beloved hero, Naruto Uzumaki.
The tall hooded figure yet again decided to observe his rather unkempt surroundings. On the floor, were clothes and books messily strewn about and there lay a few ramen cups scattered haphazardly. The furniture was not excluded from the chaotic mess of papers and clothes either. Oddly enough, there were plants in almost every room, some hanging from the ceiling, some growing from the pots placed at the winows and most of them just plainly growing in old cans on the floor, each of them well watered and cared for.
Just by looking at a house, you could tell what kind of person its owner was. Although Naruto wasn't the most organized person in Konoha, he was carefree without many worries and valued the life of others, no matter how small...
Realizing he had wasted far too much time taking things into perspective, the figure marched further into the house until he reached a small hallway with three doors. He knew very well by now which one the young jinchūriki slept in. Making himself as quiet as possible, he walked over to the door on the far end and grasped the door knob with a pale hand. He could hear the teen breathing softly behind it. He slowly pushed the door open and stepped into the small room.
It didn't take a detective to know that Naruto was a heavy sleeper as the door groaned and squeaked loudly on its rusty hinges. The young blonde, however, continued to sleep peacefully without so much as a twitch despite the intrusive noise.
The hooded figure let his eyes fall on the young man. He slowly made his way over to were he lay until he was standing at the edge of his bed, the wooden frame slightly digging into his knees. Next, he reached down to his pockets and steadily pulled out a solid gleaming object. He positioned it next to the young shinobi's face and with one long look
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*click*
He pressed the button on the small camera and watched as a bright flash of light washed over the sleeping boys face... or at least part of it since Naruto had his back to him. The blonde, however, seemed slightly disturbed by the sudden flash of light and turned to
face the hooded form, eyes still closed, pink lips slightly parted and hair disheveled.
The figure, held out a pale slender hand and gently touched the soft fabric of his hood. With a tiny flick of his wrist, it lay in a heap on his shoulders and in its place, a mass of unruly black hair.
A part of Sasukes face was illuminated by pale moonlight, his expression seemed impatient as his dark eyes roamed over the sleeping boy.
He knew he wasn't supposed to be there, not at the moment, not after everything, not after all the pain and heartache he'd caused... but he couldn't help it. He felt alone. Alone and abandoned. But somehow, all those feelings always managed to keep themselves at bay when his eyes made contact with the young jinchūriki. He had promised Kakashi that he wouldn't carry on with his habit of lurking around. Both had seemed to agree that he'd cause Naruto more harm than good but the young shinobi found himself breaking said rule many times without number.
Sighing, he placed himself gently on the bed, next to Naruto and watched him snore softly. He had to admit, it wasn't easy, coming back and knowing full well he wasn't welcome. When he was last in the village during daylight shortly after their battle with Madara, he noticed the glares of hatred and fearful looks the villagers shot at him. He didn't blame them, although, it was something that could bother even the strongest of shinobi. He wondered how Naruto had carried on, all those years back when he was still labeled as a demon vessel' and not the hero of Konoha. The insults, the hateful looks, the gossip, it was enough to make anyone go mad.
Naruto, however, was strong, stronger than he ever was.
Sasuke reached out his right and only arm and let it hover above the sleeping Jinchūrikis face for a short moment, wondering if he should just get up and leave since he'd gotten what he came for. Before he picked an option however, his body decided for him. As if his hand had taken up a mind of its own, it steadily came to rest atop a mass of soft blonde hair and ran it's fingers through the silky locks.
He wanted to stay, he would've loved to but the guilt of ruining everything Naruto had fought so hard to build resurfaced back in his mind once more. His attention was drawn away from the sleeping blonde and towards the picture that lay on the small bedside table. It was a photo of team 7, back when they were still children.
A small smile danced across the brunettes lips as he took his time to stare at his former masked sensei and teammates. Who would have guessed his easy going, latecomer of a sensei would one day become Hokage? He continued to stroke Naruto's hair and let his eyes fall on his former little pink haired teammate, Sakura. She wasn't so little anymore and would've been the last person the brunette wanted to be his opponent considering her newfound brute strength. Sasuke was ready to admit, he had been cruel to her in the past seeing as most of his words towards her were unnecessary although, the girl could be a bit annoying in more ways than one. Sakura always tended to cling to him, trying confess her feelings of love which he'd always known was just a simple childish crush. Her so called love was merely a competitive battle in which she'd shared with her rival, Ino. The two were always acting like the brunette was some kind of prize they absolutely had to win, some trophy to prove that one was better than the other. However, it seemed she had stopped being immature and vain and rather started to care about those around her. For this, Sasuke truly began to acknowledge her and deep down, he knew she wasn't as bad as he originally thought.... but hell would have to freeze over before he admitted it. He loved her, along with the rest of his team who fought to bring him back to the village but he was certain he wasn't in love with her. And that was something she needed to understand sooner or later.
Next, Sasuke shifted his gaze on his former self. Even as a child, he always looked a bit angry at... mostly everything in general. He didn't blame his past self. After all the lies he'd been fed, after all the secrets that were tied to his name, who could blame him for being angry?
Finally, his eyes gazed upon the rugged looking bright, orange ball of energy that was Naruto, his huge smile threatening to blind the brunette even from the small picture frame. He'd always thought the blonde was loud and unbearable. However, a few missions with him changed his perspective... The loud part was still very much true though.
At first, everyone thought of Naruto as stupid and attention seeking and at some point, Sasuke thought so too but he later realized the blonde was smart when he wanted to be, strong when it came to protecting those he loved and most of all wise, even if it was just for a few seconds.
Sasuke's piercing gaze returned back to the sleeping boy before him. He abruptly stopped stroking the mass of blonde hair as an idea struck him. Sighing softly, he decided to ignore the thought. He continued stroking the blondes hair again for a while, trying not to focus on the idea before he finally stopped and gave into the thought. After all, he was feeling rather confident that night.
His pale hand slowly slid down the young shinobis silky hair, past his forehead and stopped to rest gently on his cheek. This was the farthest he'd ever gone during his visits with the jinchūriki. He inhaled sharply at the feeling of his hand against Naruto's warm cheek. He unconsciously began stroking the area with his thumb as his gaze remained fixated on the blonde.
The original plan was to drop in at least twice a month to see how the dobe was doing... and occasionally take pictures of the blonde for when he went away on his long journeys. That last part might have seemed a bit disturbing to anyone else but it always comforted him on the many nights when he looked at the temes glowing face while taking shelter in dark and gloomy caves. Whether it was in a thunderstorm or on a quiet, starry night, the smiling face of Konoha's hero always made him feel safe and protected. It made him realize he had someone to come back to and to Sasuke, that was all he needed.
One thing he hadn't planned on doing however, was watching the blonde while he slept and touching him like some sort of pervert. Nevertheless, he'd been away from Konoha longer than he'd anticipated, it was only natural for him to seem a bit giddy at his first meeting with the boy after two months. Yet again, he stopped his movements and let his hand slide down the blondes cheek, tracing lightly on his jawline until he stopped, dismayed as he made contact with the thick blanket that was pulled up to Naruto's neck.
Frowning disapprovingly, he tugged on the thick material in one swift move, exposing more skin than the he'd bargained for. Blushing lightly, Sasuke stared at the other teens shirtless, muscular frame. It seemed all that training had finally payed off, Sasuke thought subconsciously. Before he knew it, his right hand was back on the blondes body and placed gently on top of the boys chest. He traced his neckline slowly, over and over as he thought of everything and nothing.
Sasuke wished the blonde would run away with him. He'd earned enough money from the good deeds he did in other villages to rent a small apartment far from Konoha. They could start over from scratch and live normal lives. Naruto wouldn't have to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders, they wouldn't have to face any judgement from the village. It'd be just the two of them, living, loving and just being free in general. He still remembered what the blonde had told him a while back.