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more teamwork
continued from the previous. not sure i really added enough to ino's bit to make it sound less underdeveloped. will do that later.
"For god's sake! Hug her or something!"
Ino was giving them both a disgusted look. Sasuke glared back. She was so --
"Nosey, I know. Listen -- sorry, forehead-girl, I gotta jet, I'm meeting Chouji and Shika at the dango stand," she said as she got on her feet, pretending to check her watch. "Now you two, I hope you're not as macho in private as you are in public -- though it could be funny in bed, I guess -- but just hug her or something. We'll talk this evening, Sakura-chan -- and YOU--" she pointed at Naruto threateningly -- "had better walk her back. See you!" And with that, she hurried out, grinning as if she was very pleased with her own cleverness.
Sasuke was left blinking in her wake. Disgruntled, he looked over at Naruto, still gaping, and Sakura, who looked deeply embarrassed by her friend's unsubtle behavior.
"... so you're sleeping over at her place?" he asked, just because he didn't know what to say. "How long?"
"I don't know. As long as I'm not okay with mom, I guess," she replied quietly, looking down at her hands, fisted in her lap.
"Why don't you stay here?" Naruto asked, absently scratching off dried flakes of paint off his fingers.
"Where would I put her, under the kitchen table?" Sasuke snapped back, uneasy with the subject. They were moving too fast, but he didn't know how to tell them that without hurting them.
"In your bed," Naruto replied matter-of-factly. "Not saying you should share," he added before Sasuke could start bristling, "the bed's way too narrow to be comfortable for two. But you could sleep on the couch, and I'd get the kitchen table."
Sakura winced. "Um. Naruto... That would be nice, but... if it got back to mom that I'm living with you two, she would take it... badly. Like I've made my choice, and don't care what she thinks anymore. You see?"
Naruto frowned, visibly disappointed, but nodded. "I guess, yeah..."
"Besides, this apartment is too small for the three of us -- and we still need to work out a way to share the bathroom, or I can predict a few wars over it," she added with a poor attempt at a smile.
"I can start looking at larger places this afternoon," he offered. "Even Naruto should be able to paint something without supervision."
"We should talk more about what we want first... And total up how much money we can spend. And... stuff."
It was a testament to how out of whack she was, that she would resort to "stuff" instead of giving them a precise list of what they would need to do and in which order. She was usually the one who made the plans and took care of the little details. A good thing that he wasn't prone to nervous fidgeting, because he would have fidgeted. Maybe, he tried to tell himself, she would feel better if she thought about the minutia...
Or maybe she would feel better if she got a hug, like that blonde harpy had suggested. But -- fuck. What was he supposed to do, actually walk up to her and put his arms around her, just like that? It would be different if she came to him, but he could see that she wasn't going to. He glared at Naruto, silently urging the idiot to do something, anything.
"Uhm. About the bathroom, I think I'm gonna hop into the shower, get that stuff off. It's starting to itch something awful..." Naruto didn't wait for a reply, just gave them a sheepish little smile and disappeared behind the door.
Sasuke was going to smother him with his own pillow. He glanced at Sakura, feeling the awkward silence stretch between them, thick and heavy with things he only half-understood.
He watched her lift her glass to her lips, just to give herself a reason not to look at him, and in two steps, was standing by the couch. He sat down on the other side. There was still a respectable space between them -- Naruto could have squeezed his butt there and only nudged them a little -- but that was all he could do. He felt awkward and annoyed enough as it was.
She put her glass down, deliberately. The shower had started in the bathroom, but it didn't cover the little thwack of glass meeting wood.
He knew that their positions mirrored each other's, leaning forward, elbows on their thighs, fingers interlaced, eyes hidden under long bangs. But he didn't know what to say, what to do, any more than she apparently did. He wondered if they would always need Naruto to break the wall of dignity, social conventions and standoffishness between them. For a second, he almost regretted the way she had disregarded his unease with casual touch when they'd been younger, the way she had glomped onto his arm so easily. She respected his comfort zone scrupulously nowadays, when he would have needed her to push past it.
"...Are you having any trouble with... your health?" Argh, that was lame. "You look ... a little pale." Lame, lame, lame. Stupid. Nosey too. Mother-hennish almost. The kind of observation he abhorred when directed at him... but that other people labeled "caring". She needed caring right now, and while he couldn't have done openly, honestly caring if his life depended on it, he could at least manage an underplayed approximation.
She looked surprised for a second, then smiled faintly. He relaxed a little. She was used to his understatements by now. "Oh. It's just the nerves, I think," she admitted quietly.
"Nothing else?" he asked, less hesitant already. She hadn't bitten off his head or looked hurt; it probably meant she didn't mind his questions.
"I felt a bit queasy during breakfast, but that's it. And it might be... well, just the nerves." She managed a guilty smile. Her fingers were knotted together in a white-knuckled tangle; it made him frown.
"Stop that," he admonished her, untangling her fingers firmly -- and only realizing that he had moved when he noticed that he was massaging her hands.
Well. She didn't seem to mind. Mildly disgruntled at himself, he kept going anyway, skillfully erasing all tension.
"... better?"
She nodded, not looking up, and leaned toward him. He tensed, then berated himself for tensing, and didn't even jump when her head landed on his shoulder.
His arm was caught between her back and the couch. It was uncomfortable. His excuses were as lame as Kakashi's worst ones, but that was his story and he was sticking to it. Besides, she hadn't asked why his arm was suddenly around her shoulders. It meant she didn't care. Or didn't mind. What the hell was Naruto doing under that shower anyway?
"How are your ribs?" she asked softly.
He shrugged, awkwardly because he didn't want to dislodge her head. "Fine." They were sore, and still hurt, and if he bent over too quickly or carelessly there was a good chance he'd break them, but he could ignore the ache and move around well enough.
"... oh."
"Healing fine," he amended, because he didn't like her subdued tone. "I'll be back to normal in a few days."
"... Okay."
She closed her eyes. Her lashes were dark red -- dark pink, more precisely. He'd never noticed before.
"They won't break so easily, you know," he commented gruffly, and pulled her a bit closer.
She relaxed, slowly, and he pretended not to notice the soft tug of her hand on his t-shirt. Silent, they listened to the noises Naruto made in the shower, huffing softly in amusement when he bumped into something and started to swear quietly. When he opened the door, his hair was still wet and his pants stuck to his skin, flushed pink by vigorous scrubbing. A few of his locks were still bluish.
"Back. Sorry..." He stared at them, falling silent, and Sasuke wondered what he was seeing. Wondered if he felt like he was intruding. It made him want to pull back, for some reason.
"... I'm paint free now. Permission to hug, ma'am?" he asked, grinning innocently. It was a look that had never looked natural on him, but it was amusing.
"If you want," she allowed, making an honest effort at smiling.
"Well, 'course I want," he commented, going over the arm of the couch to slide between Sakura and the cushions, incidentally pushing her closer against Sasuke. "Ino will kill me if I don't."
"And that's the only reason? I feel flattered," she replied with a pout.
"Okay, I was hoping I could get a grope or two out of it," he shot back, a wide, innocent, totally unbelievable grin on his face.
Sakura hit him over the head with a magazine.
+
... now what? if any of you have something they wish to see in this scene, please suggest, i'm listening. I know what happens next, but it's Naruto POV. If I end the hapter too quickly, it's gonna be four pages shorter than the previous one, at least ^^;
"For god's sake! Hug her or something!"
Ino was giving them both a disgusted look. Sasuke glared back. She was so --
"Nosey, I know. Listen -- sorry, forehead-girl, I gotta jet, I'm meeting Chouji and Shika at the dango stand," she said as she got on her feet, pretending to check her watch. "Now you two, I hope you're not as macho in private as you are in public -- though it could be funny in bed, I guess -- but just hug her or something. We'll talk this evening, Sakura-chan -- and YOU--" she pointed at Naruto threateningly -- "had better walk her back. See you!" And with that, she hurried out, grinning as if she was very pleased with her own cleverness.
Sasuke was left blinking in her wake. Disgruntled, he looked over at Naruto, still gaping, and Sakura, who looked deeply embarrassed by her friend's unsubtle behavior.
"... so you're sleeping over at her place?" he asked, just because he didn't know what to say. "How long?"
"I don't know. As long as I'm not okay with mom, I guess," she replied quietly, looking down at her hands, fisted in her lap.
"Why don't you stay here?" Naruto asked, absently scratching off dried flakes of paint off his fingers.
"Where would I put her, under the kitchen table?" Sasuke snapped back, uneasy with the subject. They were moving too fast, but he didn't know how to tell them that without hurting them.
"In your bed," Naruto replied matter-of-factly. "Not saying you should share," he added before Sasuke could start bristling, "the bed's way too narrow to be comfortable for two. But you could sleep on the couch, and I'd get the kitchen table."
Sakura winced. "Um. Naruto... That would be nice, but... if it got back to mom that I'm living with you two, she would take it... badly. Like I've made my choice, and don't care what she thinks anymore. You see?"
Naruto frowned, visibly disappointed, but nodded. "I guess, yeah..."
"Besides, this apartment is too small for the three of us -- and we still need to work out a way to share the bathroom, or I can predict a few wars over it," she added with a poor attempt at a smile.
"I can start looking at larger places this afternoon," he offered. "Even Naruto should be able to paint something without supervision."
"We should talk more about what we want first... And total up how much money we can spend. And... stuff."
It was a testament to how out of whack she was, that she would resort to "stuff" instead of giving them a precise list of what they would need to do and in which order. She was usually the one who made the plans and took care of the little details. A good thing that he wasn't prone to nervous fidgeting, because he would have fidgeted. Maybe, he tried to tell himself, she would feel better if she thought about the minutia...
Or maybe she would feel better if she got a hug, like that blonde harpy had suggested. But -- fuck. What was he supposed to do, actually walk up to her and put his arms around her, just like that? It would be different if she came to him, but he could see that she wasn't going to. He glared at Naruto, silently urging the idiot to do something, anything.
"Uhm. About the bathroom, I think I'm gonna hop into the shower, get that stuff off. It's starting to itch something awful..." Naruto didn't wait for a reply, just gave them a sheepish little smile and disappeared behind the door.
Sasuke was going to smother him with his own pillow. He glanced at Sakura, feeling the awkward silence stretch between them, thick and heavy with things he only half-understood.
He watched her lift her glass to her lips, just to give herself a reason not to look at him, and in two steps, was standing by the couch. He sat down on the other side. There was still a respectable space between them -- Naruto could have squeezed his butt there and only nudged them a little -- but that was all he could do. He felt awkward and annoyed enough as it was.
She put her glass down, deliberately. The shower had started in the bathroom, but it didn't cover the little thwack of glass meeting wood.
He knew that their positions mirrored each other's, leaning forward, elbows on their thighs, fingers interlaced, eyes hidden under long bangs. But he didn't know what to say, what to do, any more than she apparently did. He wondered if they would always need Naruto to break the wall of dignity, social conventions and standoffishness between them. For a second, he almost regretted the way she had disregarded his unease with casual touch when they'd been younger, the way she had glomped onto his arm so easily. She respected his comfort zone scrupulously nowadays, when he would have needed her to push past it.
"...Are you having any trouble with... your health?" Argh, that was lame. "You look ... a little pale." Lame, lame, lame. Stupid. Nosey too. Mother-hennish almost. The kind of observation he abhorred when directed at him... but that other people labeled "caring". She needed caring right now, and while he couldn't have done openly, honestly caring if his life depended on it, he could at least manage an underplayed approximation.
She looked surprised for a second, then smiled faintly. He relaxed a little. She was used to his understatements by now. "Oh. It's just the nerves, I think," she admitted quietly.
"Nothing else?" he asked, less hesitant already. She hadn't bitten off his head or looked hurt; it probably meant she didn't mind his questions.
"I felt a bit queasy during breakfast, but that's it. And it might be... well, just the nerves." She managed a guilty smile. Her fingers were knotted together in a white-knuckled tangle; it made him frown.
"Stop that," he admonished her, untangling her fingers firmly -- and only realizing that he had moved when he noticed that he was massaging her hands.
Well. She didn't seem to mind. Mildly disgruntled at himself, he kept going anyway, skillfully erasing all tension.
"... better?"
She nodded, not looking up, and leaned toward him. He tensed, then berated himself for tensing, and didn't even jump when her head landed on his shoulder.
His arm was caught between her back and the couch. It was uncomfortable. His excuses were as lame as Kakashi's worst ones, but that was his story and he was sticking to it. Besides, she hadn't asked why his arm was suddenly around her shoulders. It meant she didn't care. Or didn't mind. What the hell was Naruto doing under that shower anyway?
"How are your ribs?" she asked softly.
He shrugged, awkwardly because he didn't want to dislodge her head. "Fine." They were sore, and still hurt, and if he bent over too quickly or carelessly there was a good chance he'd break them, but he could ignore the ache and move around well enough.
"... oh."
"Healing fine," he amended, because he didn't like her subdued tone. "I'll be back to normal in a few days."
"... Okay."
She closed her eyes. Her lashes were dark red -- dark pink, more precisely. He'd never noticed before.
"They won't break so easily, you know," he commented gruffly, and pulled her a bit closer.
She relaxed, slowly, and he pretended not to notice the soft tug of her hand on his t-shirt. Silent, they listened to the noises Naruto made in the shower, huffing softly in amusement when he bumped into something and started to swear quietly. When he opened the door, his hair was still wet and his pants stuck to his skin, flushed pink by vigorous scrubbing. A few of his locks were still bluish.
"Back. Sorry..." He stared at them, falling silent, and Sasuke wondered what he was seeing. Wondered if he felt like he was intruding. It made him want to pull back, for some reason.
"... I'm paint free now. Permission to hug, ma'am?" he asked, grinning innocently. It was a look that had never looked natural on him, but it was amusing.
"If you want," she allowed, making an honest effort at smiling.
"Well, 'course I want," he commented, going over the arm of the couch to slide between Sakura and the cushions, incidentally pushing her closer against Sasuke. "Ino will kill me if I don't."
"And that's the only reason? I feel flattered," she replied with a pout.
"Okay, I was hoping I could get a grope or two out of it," he shot back, a wide, innocent, totally unbelievable grin on his face.
Sakura hit him over the head with a magazine.
+
... now what? if any of you have something they wish to see in this scene, please suggest, i'm listening. I know what happens next, but it's Naruto POV. If I end the hapter too quickly, it's gonna be four pages shorter than the previous one, at least ^^;
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I really liked that there was some Sasuke/Sakura alone time in this scene. It's nice to see that they can interact without Naruto acting as a bridge. ^_^
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