t was a dying day as the sun went down, and the birds fell asleep, and the people returned home. It was a dying day as the animals scurried, and the clouds floated away, and the moon took its shift. It was a dying day as the stars dimly came about, and the sky turned dark, and the crickets hopped out.
It was a dying day and time for Sasuke’s evening walk.
Everyday around this time, weather permitting, Sasuke would get out of his apartment and take a walk. He would begin it when the sun was nearly gone. Just when day and evening merged together. He would end it whenever he felt like it. Either then or he’ll stop it once the sun comes up again.
His walk served several purposes. It was that time when he would review the entire day. How training went, how his interaction with everyone was, how he would seek out his brother and destroy him, how much money he had left after Kakashi made him pay for Team Seven’s meal again, how people kept staring at him, how many times Sakura distracted him while training by cheering every time he got a hit in…
And all of this strenuous thinking was done with a scowl meant to murder. Somehow, all the girls found his expression absolutely dashing and went about trying to follow him wherever he went. They were eluded only when they tried to hug him, only to find that they were embracing a log.
Only Sakura and Ino had ever been able to tell when they were following one of his replacements or clones. He had to be especially cautious when those two were around. Fortunately for him tonight, he could sense neither of them.
Finally, for the longest time in two months, he would be able to walk in relative peace. Hardly anyone was out anymore, so it was just him with the moon and the stars. And his vengeful thoughts. And here and there, a few outcast thoughts.
Tonight’s menu of thoughts including that day’s pay for missions, Sakura’s less persistent begs for a date, Kakashi’s more peculiar excuse for being late, and the stupid dead last that kept ticking him off. He dwelled on the last item a little longer than the rest.
Seriously, his life didn’t need any more stress than Naruto provided. For him, everyday with Naruto was a life-or-death situation. It was always a self debate of “don’t kill the idiot and try not to jump off the next bridge I see” or “kill the idiot and get murdered by Tsunade.”
His frown deepened when he thought about the blond. He lowered his head until his bangs covered his face.
A small sniff caught his attention and he stopped walking. In his deep mediation, he didn’t notice the change in time. It should have been around midnight by now. Who else would be out?
He hid inconspicuously behind the corner of a building and peered around the corner.
Pale moonlight lit up yellow hair.
Naruto?
He quietly watched from his hiding place.
The blond was sitting on the steps of someone’s house, his head buried in his hands. For a long while, he just sat there, sniffling. Finally he lifted his head and wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his jacket.
He’s… crying?
Sasuke saw his shoulders rise and fall heavily once before he was still again. His eyebrows furrowed together in worry, despite what he really wanted to do which was to smack Naruto on the head for staying out so late.
The blond shook his head briskly and stood up, stretching a bit before turning around so that his back was facing the Uchiha.
Sasuke cleared his throat quietly and stepped out into the streets, so that his shadow stretched across the ground.
The blond swiveled around, noting the sudden darkness.
“Sasuke?”
He didn’t say anything as he slowly strolled over the unmoving boy.
“Are you…” Sasuke looked away from the blond’s innocent face, “feeling okay?”
“Yeah! I’m fine, why are you asking?” he answered, giving Sasuke a grin.
The dark-haired boy could see the remnants of his tears clinging onto his eyelashes as they fanned out.
“Liar,” Sasuke accused, before his mind could even process what he was about to say.
“Wha—?”
Naruto was shocked when Sasuke placed his warm hand on his cheek and ran his thumb over his eyelashes. Frankly, Sasuke was freaking him out right now.
“You were crying…” he said softly, leaning in closer. Sasuke came in close enough to have definitely disrupted Naruto’s personal space but he left enough distance between them in case Naruto wanted to back away.
He didn’t. Not because he didn’t want to, but because he was completely shocked by his actions. His eyes widened even more when the Uchiha kissed him lightly on the lips. Now he really couldn’t back away because Sasuke’s other hand was behind his head, keeping in place. He was very much relieved when he didn’t feel Sasuke’s tongue run against his lips because he didn’t know how he would have reacted.
When the kiss finally broke, Sasuke nuzzled the blond and placed his chin onto his shoulder.
Dang, someone must have spiked his food that day.
“Don’t cry, Naruto…” and as an afterthought, “I love you.”
“What?” he breathed out.
“I love you,” Sasuke repeated willingly.
Who in the world spiked his food?
Naruto returned the hug, finally.
Sasuke pulled away after a while. “What made you cry?” he held Naruto’s face in his hands.
His blue eyes darted away from Sasuke’s interrogating gaze. The pale moonlight didn’t hide his blush.
“I… I—My eyes were dry…” Naruto muttered, hoping Sasuke wouldn’t hear him. Too bad for him, Uchihas had a great sense of hearing as well as sight.
He spoke of the truth. The night was dry and his eyes were suffering from the low humidity. Yawning only made his eyes water a bit before he blinked it away. He had summoned up a sad thought, dropping a bowl or ramen onto the floor without even able to take a bite of it, and started to cry.
“Your eyes were dry? So you cried? Have you ever tried yawning?” Sasuke’s hold on the blond’s face tightened.
Naruto winced. “I tried, but it didn’t work…”
Sasuke’s gaze turned hard and his hands fell onto Naruto’s shoulders. His grip made his knuckles turn white. The dark-haired boy sighed heavily and rested his forehead against the blond’s.
The next day, Naruto opened his apartment door to find a huge box full of eyedroppers.
They were from Sasuke.
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Chapter notes: Fanfiction = Not my characters
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