Naruto awoke the next morning, his head aching painfully and his stomach feeling nauseous. He groaned loudly and slowly sat up in his bed. He looked around the room to see that he was in his bedroom at the Uchiha’s. “Shit.” He muttered out loud as his actions from last began to pop up in his mind. “I’m so fucked.”
He checked the time to see it was still early. He walked through the bathroom and tested Sasuke’s door to see if it was unlocked. The knob turned easily and he peeked inside to see Sasuke asleep, his back facing him. Naruto slowly closed the door and locked it. With a sigh, he turned the shower on, stripped, and stepped inside.
When he was done, he got dressed and headed down stairs. In the kitchen, Itachi was at the island, sitting on a stool and sipping what he could only assume was coffee.
“Uh, good morning, Itachi.” Naruto greeted nervously. He walked into the kitchen and stood at the counter across from Itachi.
Itachi looked up from his phone and placed it on the counter, giving Naruto his full attention.
“I would like to apologize for my actions last night.” He started off, giving him a slight bow. “I was way out of hand and my priorities should've been focused on Sasuke and not my personal interests. I promise, from now on, something like that will never happen again. I’m not normally that type of person.”
Itachi carefully studied the blonde and Naruto fidgeted underneath his gaze. “I figured this isn’t something that you would normally do. Sasuke kind of told me what had happened before you left.”
Naruto blushed in embarrassment. “I overreacted. I shouldn’t have been offended by something like that. I won’t let it happen again.”
Itachi raised an eyebrow. “You don’t have to apologize for your reactions to someone offending you. Especially not from my foolish little brother.”
“Even still, it was very unprofessional.”
“Listen Naruto,” Itachi shifted his position so that he was leaning forward, resting his arms on the counter. “To be honest, if it was anyone else, I probably would be firing them right about now. But,” Itachi smirked as Naruto’s eyes lit up in hopefulness. “You’re intentions with my brother seem to stem from nothing but kindness and I like what you’re doing. Sasuke is showing more emotion in these last couple days than the past five years. So, I would like for you to continue to be his caretaker.”
“Of course!” Naruto nodded enthusiastically.
“But, there is a condition.” Itachi paused and Naruto looked at him nervously. “No more leaving Sasuke alone. You can have your fun, and go drinking and what not, but at least wait until I get home. If Sasuke gets on your nerves, which I know he will, it’s okay to just stay away, but only in the house.”
Naruto nodded vigorously. “Of course!”
“Now, Sasuke seemed a little upset about the whole situation last night. He put you to bed, but I didn’t hear anything from him since.”
“He put me to bed?” Naruto asked, surprised. Itachi nodded, taking a sip of his coffee. “Guess I’ll go talk to him then.”
“Sounds good to me.” Itachi stood up from the stool. “I’ll leave you to it and I will see you later.” He walked out of the kitchen and out the door.
Naruto let out a shaky breath. He was relieved that he still had his job, but now he had to be on good terms with Sasuke. He walked up the stairs and towards Sasuke’s room. He knocked on the door and soon enough, Sasuke opened it, looking at him with a bored look, still in a pair of sweatpants with no shirt on.
Naruto blushed before looking anywhere but at Sasuke. “Can we uh, talk? For a second?”
Sasuke watched him for a second before stepping out of the way, allowing the blonde to pass him. He closed the door and watched as Naruto sat on the bed. He leaned against the door and crossed his arms over his chest.
Naruto nervously licked his lips. “About yesterday, I’m sorry for insulting you earlier, it was unprofessional of me to act that way. And also,” Naruto looked up at Sasuke, his eyes watery. “Thank you for getting Sai off me. Guess you were right about him, he’s just an asshole.” He wiped at his eyes and gave Sasuke a bright smile,
Sasuke uncrossed his arms. ‘I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have blown up on you like that.’ He walked over to the bed and sat on it, their thighs nearly touching. He smirked at the blonde. ‘It only seems natural that I’d have to save your ass, the damsel in distress.’
Naruto glared at the raven, his smirk only growing wider. He blushed and growled. “Shut up, you stupid bastard.” He shook his head before bouncing off the bed. “Alright! That's really all I had to say, I'll leave you alone.”
Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the blonde and slowly shook his head. ‘No. I need to talk with you now.’
Naruto raised an eyebrow at him. “Okay? What about?”
‘Your past.’
Naruto's eyes widened and he gulped audibly. “W-why, do I need to talk about my past?”
Sasuke rolled his eyes. ‘Your past is obviously affecting doing your job. How will I know something like this won't happen again?’
Naruto scowled. “That's a bullshit excuse and you know it!”
The two of them glared at each other, neither backing down. Eventually Sasuke let out a sigh. ‘Fine. Take it as,’ he paused and looked off to the side. ‘Me wanting to get to know you.’
Naruto's eyes widened in surprise before he broke out into a large grin. “Well look at you, making progress towards making a friend! I knew this day would come eventually!”
Sasuke scowled at the blonde.
Naruto looked over Sasuke carefully. “I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours.”
Sasuke's scowl slowly disappeared and he nodded in agreement. ‘You have to go first.’
Naruto rolled his eyes but smiled anyways. “Should I have expected anything else?” He wiggled in to try and get comfortable. “Where should I start?”
‘The beginning.’
Naruto nodded. “Alright. I was in an orphanage until I was about 6. That's when I went into my first foster home. They were the perfect family and I thought that this would be my forever home and I'd be happy there. But after about two weeks, they showed their true colors.
“I don't remember their names.” Naruto looked up at the ceiling, recalling the faces of his memories. “But they started to fight. A lot. He would be mad about money and she'd bring up his cheating when he drinks. They were always so loud, I'd have to hide under my bed.” He chuckled darkly. “He came home one night, probably three months of me being there, he was drunk out of his mind. They started a screaming match and I hid under my bed like I normally do. But then,” he paused, taking in a deep breath.
“She screamed, and it was one of those screams that you can never get out of your head. And then a loud bang. Then silence. It felt like hours before I finally heard him calling my name, looking for me.
“I stayed under the bed and tried to be quiet but he found me eventually. He had a gun, and he pointed it at me once he dragged me from underneath the bed. But the cops came and charged in and instead of letting them arrest him, he shot himself and I was placed back into the orphanage.”
Naruto was silent afterwards, staring at the wall ahead of him. Sasuke watched him carefully, seeing no emotion on the blonde's face.
“I was juggled around for a few years after that,” he started up again. “And they were pretty much normal for the most part. It wasn't until high school when I was placed with the Sabaku’s that things started to go bad.
“Their youngest son, Gaara,” Naruto practically hissed out the name, scowling. “Was on suicide watch and it was mostly my job to keep an eye on him.
“Now, Gaara is usually antisocial, but he liked me enough that he was a bit, possessive. At the time though, I didn't mind. It was nice to have someone care for me like that. And soon I was craving his attention so badly, I'd do anything for him.” He scoffed and shook his head. He turned to Sasuke, a sad smile on his face. “Pathetic, I know.”
Sasuke shrugged his shoulder in response and once again gave Naruto his full attention.
“Anyways, freshman year, Gaara managed to hang around with a bad group of kids, they did drugs, drank, stole. You name it, they probably did it. And soon I began to join in. Then, that following summer, I met my first boyfriend and I stopped hanging out with Gaara and focused my attention on him. Everything was going great, or so I thought. But then one day, we were going to meet at our special spot, a small pond hidden in the woods, halfway between our houses. I got there only to see him and Gaara kissing.
“I started to get angry and Gaara quickly explained that he was forced into it and from the way he acted, I believed him. So I told that guy to leave and to never come back. And he didn't.
“I let that anger take over me and went right back into old habits and following Gaara around once again. Until my junior year where I met Sai.
“Sai always went to our school but soon he started to hang out with our group and he started to talk to me. We became really close and I kept him a secret from Gaara. Then, a month or two after we considered ourselves an item, a package came in the mail for me. A box of my parents stuff.
“Turns out, it was a closed adoption until I turned eighteen or unless they died. I didn't get much stuff from them but I got their ID’s and some cash from them. They turned out to be drug addicts and homeless, and gave me up so I didn't have to live that life.” Naruto stopped and looked over at Sasuke. “I should be grateful for that. And I am now, but at the time I wasn't. Gaara saw their stuff and told me I looked exactly like my dad and told me I should use the ID to buy liquor and make money that way too.” He faced forward again and sighed, shaking his head.
“Sai thought it was a bad idea and told me so but I didn't listen. Soon I started making money and I bought Sai a fake ID and Gaara too. We snuck into clubs and got wasted but surprisingly never got caught. But the last time we all went out, Gaara found out about me and Sai. Probably because we couldn't keep our hands off each other. But soon, I saw less and less of Sai until he told me he wanted to break up with me since he was going to college. I wasn't that angry or upset and we still kind of talked. Until the summer.
“I was going to surprise visit him at his dorm. I brought flowers, got him a special gift. Even made plans for dinner near where he was. But when I got there, I caught him with Gaara.” Naruto shook his head, a sneer on his face. “At that point, I realized Gaara was the problem. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. So I left. I moved to Konoha and just tried to stay with people who I've met while I was in the foster system. And then I eventually ended up here.”
Sasuke studied the blonde carefully before deciding to sign. ‘So what about your actual relationship with Sai?’
Naruto shrugged. “What about it?”
‘I just thought you'd go more into the details about it.’
Naruto laughed. “If you only wanted to know about my past with Sai, you should've just told me to start there.”
Sasuke gave him a smirk. ‘I wanted to know everything about you. Not just about Sai.’
Naruto blushed and turned away from him. “Well, Sai’s story can be for another day.” He turned back to face Sasuke a large grin on his face. “It's your turn!”
Sasuke gave a shrug. ‘Okay. I was in a private school up until my parents died. I didn't have any friends, more so focusing on my school work. I was the top in my class of course. Once my parents died and I became mute, I had to be homeschooled by some nannies and taught sign language so I could communicate. I had so much free time that I decided to take up a hobby. I began to draw and I had a natural talent for it. The more I practiced the better I got. I started posting my stuff online and I got a huge fan base and that's when I started to make money by just drawing.’
Naruto watched Sasuke carefully, Sasuke staring blankly at the blonde. “That's it?”
Sasuke gave him a shrug.
“That was practically nothing!”
‘I never said I had an interesting life.’
“W-what about your parents? Or your brother? What were you like as a young child? You can't just give me nothing!”
‘That can all be saved for another day.’
Naruto pouted, crossing his arms over his chest and mumbling under his breath.
‘So, about what you said last night.’
“Huh? What did I say last night?” Naruto blinked up at him.
‘That you loved me.’
Naruto's face darkened and his eyes widened in horror. “Oh my god! I'm sorry, I can't believe I said that! I don't know what ca-” He was cut off by Sasuke's lips pressing against his own and his eyes once again widened, this time with surprise. The kiss was quick and Naruto gently touched his lips, a slight tingling running through them. “Wh-why did you do that?”
Sasuke's face was tinged with pink as a blush tried to reveal his nervousness. ‘Because I think I may have feelings for you too.’ He grabbed Naruto's hand in his own. ‘Do you want to go out with me?’