Naruto – Drenched
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto. Like most everyone else, I only wish I did.
Summary: Naruto loves the rain. That's why he indulges in running through it at nine o'clock at night. Sasuke hates the rain. That's why his house keys are locked inside without him. SasukeXNaruto, with fluff, rain, and lots of denial.
Warning: Fluff, SasukeXNaruto (or the other way around; I couldn't quite tell), lots of rain, and lots of denial.
AN: Not much to say, just read and enjoy!
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Uzumaki Naruto loved the rain.
He loved it, adored it, worshipped it, danced in it, splashed in it, and laughed in it.
The rain was his cleansing and purifying. He loved the way it hit him lightly, like a massage; the way it beat against the ground and nearby buildings, like a drum; the way it stuck to him, like a second skin.
He loved the sky, darkened like a great and angry god; loved the thunder, rumbling across the sky like a thousand horses; loved the lightning, like an infrequent burst of epiphany.
Which was why, at the moment, the blond was currently running down the abandoned streets, hair clinging to his cheeks, grin splitting his face. Every now and then he'd make a detour and disrupt some innocent puddle, laughing as his shirt became heavier with water.
So what if the people peeking out of their windows gave him wary, disapproving glares? So what if it was at least nine o'clock at night? So what if he had an early training session the next morning with the rest of Team Seven?
Uzumaki Naruto loved the rain.
XxX
Uchiha Sasuke hated the rain.
He hated it, detested it, loathed it, sulked in it, moped in it, and brooded in it.
The rain was his bane and blight. He hated the way it pounded against him, like a constant reminder of his misery; the way it beat against the ground and nearby buildings, like an infuriating neighbor with the music on too loud; the way it stuck to him, like an annoying fangirl.
He hated the sky, darkened like a room with a broken lamp when he wanted to read; hated the thunder, rumbling like Naruto's stupidly empty stomach when he wanted to concentrate; hated the lightning, like an unexpected flash of Kakashi's porn.
Which was why, at the moment, the Uchiha heir was currently standing outside his front gate, glaring at it miserably, his duck-butt styled hair drooping depressingly, house-key locked inside.
Sure, he could probably gather up whatever chakra was left from his training session and jump over the gate, but… why waste energy when he could spend it going over his list of self pity? Better to stand there staring at the locked front gate, sulking and feeling sorry for himself.
He glared at the front door, silently imposing his will and power in hopes of forcing the thick wooden barrier to open.
Surprisingly, the door had the strength to deflect the Uchiha force. It moved not an inch. Sasuke swore the gods were laughing at him. Probably had a whole black notebook filled with lists on how to torture and torment unsuspecting Uchiha survivors.
Well, he was onto them now.
Heheh, they'd better watch out.
Not that, you know, he believed in gods. Having an older brother ruthlessly murder the entire family tree was not about to send Sasuke into a religious frenzy.
Not that any Uchiha went on religious frenzies.
It was stated quite specifically that in order to maintain the ultimate coolness of an Uchiha, one such member must never go on religious frenzies.
In the Uchiha book of Uchiha Coolness – How to be the ultimate Uchiha cool.
Page 357.
Just in case there was interest.
He heaved a sigh loaded with the perfect amount of depression, soaking in the most wonderful feeling of Brood: with a capital B.
It was perfect, now all he needed was a snooping neighbor to happen across him.
Of course, with that thought, he really should have expected the gods to throw him another curveball from the Booklet of Things to Torment Uchiha Survivors. (Though, not that, you know, he believed in gods. It's already been gone over.)
He was brought out of his sulking by a loud splash of water down the street and the squish-squashing sound of feet running through the mud.
He turned to see Naruto running zigzaggedly down the street, intent on making his shoes as wet and muddy as possible as he jumped from puddle to puddle.
The blond stopped in front of him.
The two stared at each other in silence. Sasuke glared at Naruto, daring him to make a comment. The idiot wouldn't dare. So what if the door showed no sign of death from the Ultimate Uchiha Glare; it worked better on living things anyway. Naruto wouldn't dare. His life was on the line.
So, of course, Naruto jumped right in.
"You're locked out, aren't you?" he asked, sounding most decidedly smug.
"No."
He wasn't about to admit that fact to anyone, and most definitely not to him. Besides, he wasn't locked out. He could (very easily, mind you) jump over the gate.
He just didn't feel like it.
If anyone was curious, he just preferred sulking.
"You're not too wussy and weak to jump over the gate, are you?" Naruto barreled on, dismissing the obvious lie.
"No," Sasuke growled.
Wussy? Weak? Sasuke knew of no such vocabulary.
But, of course, not in the way that made him look stupid, or uneducated. Because, if he'd say so himself, he was just about the smartest genius ever. In the most humble way, of course. He just meant that he was in no such way a wuss. Just in case anyone was curious.
Which he's sure very many are. Because, if he'd say so himself, he was quite a popular guy. In the most humble way, of course. He couldn't help being himself, could he? Was it his fault he could follow "The Uchiha book of Uchiha Coolness – How to be the ultimate Uchiha cool" to the tee? He was just inherently skilled. There was nothing to be done about it.
"So you're just sulking?" Naruto asked.
"No."
What was this blush of embarrassment?! He wasn't sulking! He wasn't! Screw what he said earlier, if that's what Naruto thought then it obviously wasn't true. And it wasn't true! He wasn't sulking! He was just… wallowing in self-pity…
Which was most definitely not sulking.
So ha.
Stupid Naruto.
What an idiot.
"You look like a wet cat," Naruto said, insensitively sending hurtful words to a most poor Uchiha heir wallowing in self-pity.
Honestly, didn't Naruto know he was supposed to give him sympathy? Shed a few tears at the sob story, pat his back a few times to show he cared, and then give him a hug?
No, scratch the hug.
No, put it back in.
No, what the hell did he need a hug for? Take it out.
Well, just to see Naruto squirm, put it back in.
Ack, what the hell was he thinking!! Take out the hug, definitely take out the hug.
Hmmm… Naruto squirming…
Sasuke was brought out of his inner debate when something cold, wet, and soggy (and orange! Sasuke's eye twitched) was dropped heavily over his head.
"What the hell?" Sasuke muttered as he pulled Naruto's jacket off of his head.
"Come on, bastard," Naruto said. "Your duck-butt is drooping. You can stay at my place until you finish sulking and it stops raining."
Sasuke scoffed. "Who says I'd want to stay at your place?"
Honestly, was the idiot an idiot or what? Why would he, Uchiha Sasuke, god of gods of godly manliness, want to stay at a stupid lowly peasant's home? A stupid lowly peasant with a slight obsession for all things orange, at that.
Ugh.
Orange.
"It's raining harder," Naruto noted, looking up at the sky.
The stupid lowly peasant had a gift for pointing out the obvious.
And Sasuke's duck-butt was drooping even more miserably.
He sniffed disdainfully, drawing Naruto's attention back to him.
"I suppose…" he said with great misery.
Naruto gave him a strange look.
"Are you pouting?"
Sasuke's previously slack facial muscles (slack, mind you, not pouting) snapped promptly into a scowl. Pouting? Who, him? Sasuke? The blond was more stupid than Sasuke thought, which was saying a lot.
"No, you baka, of course I'm not," Sasuke growled. "Hurry up, dobe."
Muttering under his breath, he swung Naruto's wet jacket back over his head and started walking briskly towards Naruto's apartment, almost leaving the blond behind.
Hmmm… Naruto's jacket really wasn't helping much with keeping him from getting wet. The water that had been soaked up by the fabric was now dripping down Sasuke's back, sending decidedly uncomfortable icy shivers down his spine.
Though… for some (very odd) reason, Sasuke couldn't bring himself to take it off and chuck it back to the blond.
It's because… it's because it's shielding me from the wind, Sasuke decided. He shivered as another drop slid down his back. Yeah, it's shielding me from the wind. Shiver. I'd rather have (icy, mind-numbing, nerve paralyzing, extremely cold) water drip down my back than shiver have the wind blow at me.
Yeah, because there was a lot of wind.
Practically a typhoon.
Did you see that branch?
(Granted, it was also a possibility that the – very large, extremely large; practically Orochimaru ego sized large – branch was bouncing from the weight of the rain… but it was most definitely mainly wind. Because there was a lot of wind.)
And, you know, it was also quite a benefactor to the list of things Sasuke could mope about.
That was always a plus. Can't possibly run out of things to mope about.
Shiver
Which was still not sulking.
So ha.
Stupid Naruto.
It was most decidedly not because the jacket smelled like Naruto. Scoff. What kind of stupid reason would that be? Obviously a reason that only stupid people who would do something as stupid as to like a stupid blond would use. If that made sense. And Sasuke was not a stupid person who would do something as stupid as to like a stupid blond.
Ha, Sasuke prided himself to be quite smart. Shiver.
And, no, if anyone were to ask, Sasuke was not in denial.
Scoff. What kind of stupid question would that be?
"Hey, Sasuke," Naruto interrupted the inner monologue. "Are you shivering?"
Shiver.
"No."
The baka, didn't he know the difference between shivering and…
And…
And…
Shuddering?
Ha, yes, shuddering.
He was certainly not shivering; the Uchiha family does not shiver, only stupid blonds shiver.
He glanced at Naruto.
…Okay, so maybe the baka blond's shivers had really long intervals. That wasn't unusual. Special people with special conditions shiver after really long intervals.
Shudder.
Ha, see? Shuddering.
Not that Naruto was special or anything. Ppff, what a joke, Naruto, special.
No, rest assured, this is not denial.
He knew what denial was. Denial was when someone was stupid enough to say something wasn't true when it most obviously was true.
And the fact that Uzumaki Naruto had a special place in Sasuke's heart was most obviously not true.
Shudder.
See, even more shuddering. Though that wasn't from the water dripping down his back.
From behind him, Sasuke heard an exasperated sigh. A moment later, he was startled by a sudden increase in the weight of the jacket he was holding above his head (to shield him from the wind, mind you).
Glancing up, he caught sight of the edge of a black shirt.
Both of Sasuke's eyebrows went up as he slowly turned around.
Mental note to be stored for future reference: Naruto does not wear anything under his black t-shirt.
Just in case he ever needed to know during some attack on the village or anything.
He turned back around.
Mental note: Perhaps shivering is not as bad as they make it out to be.
Mental note: If this was the direction they were going, perhaps he should shiver a bit more…
Not that he was shivering.
Shudder
Ha, see? Not shivering.
XxX
Sakura sighed, leaning heavily over the side of the bridge, waiting for the rest of her team.
Ugh, bad idea.
Last night's rain had been abundant, to say the least.
The roads were soggy with mud and puddles, the river was at least a couple inches higher than usual, the wooden bridge was still damp, and now Sakura's shirt had a bold line of I-leaned-against-a-wet-bridge running across the front.
And still her teammates hadn't arrived. Sure, it was normal for Kakashi to be late, but Naruto? Sasuke?
From the distance she heard the squelching of unrushed footsteps.
Looking up, her eyes widened in shock.
Kakashi-sensei.
Here before Naruto and Sasuke were.
One for the record books, for sure.
"Yo," he greeted, not realizing this monumental event. "Where're Naruto and Sasuke?"
Exhaling in annoyance, the girl shrugged. "I don't know. I've been here since seven – which is, by the way, the time you said to meet – and I haven't seen either of them."
Sakura gasped suddenly.
"You don't think Sasuke's hurt, do you?" she demanded. Kakashi – wisely – backed away an inch or so. Give or take a couple feet. "We have to save him!!"
Without preamble, she took off. Sighing, Kakashi lifted his book back up and ambled slowly after her.
XxX
"S-Sasuke was standing there for a long time," Hinata said quietly. "I saw him from our co-compound… it's n-not too far down the street… I-I think he was l-locked out… It-it was raining quite hard…"
"The idiot probably caught a cold or something," Hanabi sniffed disdainfully, ignoring the steam suddenly blowing from Sakura's nose. "Honestly, he is an idiot. I mean, what kind of ninja is he, to not be able to jump over the gate and get inside? I bet he was doing something pathetic, like sulking. Anyway, I'd stay away from the Uchiha estate, if I were you. Wouldn't want to get sick or anything. Catch some deadly germ that ends up bloating your guts and making your fingernails bleed and your eyes pop out and…"
Kakashi tried not to make eye contact as the younger Hyuuga continued on with her gruesome list.
Let it never be said that Hyuugas are not imaginative.
"Well, thanks for telling us," Kakashi said, steering Sakura away. "We'll make sure to send him a card or something then."
"Wait, Kakashi-sensei, we have to see him!" Sakura protested. "What if he's bleeding on the floor, crying for me to help him?"
"I don't think Sasuke's much into crying for anyone to help him," Kakashi said lightly. "Let's just… move on and see how Naruto's doing."
Kakashi was feeling quite merciful that day.
XxX
"Naruto, you baka, open the door!" Sakura pounded on the frequently abused piece of wood.
Ah, Sakura really did show her affections very differently for each teammate, Kakashi mused. He was sure that Sakura cared for Naruto just as much as she did Sasuke. He glanced at the deepening indent on Naruto's abused door. Her care was just… deeper down inside for the blond than it was for the Uchiha.
"Naruto, if you don't open this door I'm gonna knock it down, come inside, and pull your guts out to feed to my cat!"
Muuuuccccchhh deeper down.
He perked up when he heard shuffling behind the door.
After the knob rattled for a moment or two, the door slowly whined open to reveal Naruto.
A very sick Naruto.
So sick, in fact, that even his hair looked sick, and was flopped depressingly over his face. His eyes were half open and about as alert as a drunk hamster. Two tissues were twisted up his nose to prevent it from dripping.
"Ewww, you look awful, Naruto," Sakura said ruthlessly.
The blond sniffed violently. Kakashi wondered with a vague sense of fear if one of the two twisted tissues would suddenly be inhaled and stuck in a nose cavity for eternity.
Sakura sighed. "Were you running in the rain again last night?" she scolded. "I told you you'd catch a cold from doing that! You're such an idiot."
Kakashi hmmed. "Well, as half the team is sick, let's just meet again when everyone's feeling better. Go back to bed, Naruto."
"You'd better get well soon," Sakura ordered, allowing Kakashi to steer her away from the door and back down the apartment steps. She had plans to make, chicken soup to cook, and Ino-pigs to keep from finding out about sick Uchihas and trying to sneak their way into said sick Uchihas' hearts.
XxX
Naruto sighed as he closed the door and trudged his way back to his room.
Sniffing violently again, he wormed his way back under the covers.
He made no move to stop a pair of arms from snaking around his waist and pulling his slim body up against a warm chest.
After sniffing equally as violent, Sasuke asked in a muffled voice, "Who was that?"
Naruto shrugged, wiggling a bit closer to Sasuke and fitting the crook of his nose to Sasuke's neck. "I dunno," he said groggily. "Some really loud girl and a geezer I think. Maybe the landlord or sumthin.'"
"Hmmm," Sasuke couldn't say he cared.
Honestly, how could he care about something as trivial as that when he had an arm full of Naruto?
Not that, you know, he's being sentimental or anything. Because Uchihas aren't sentimental. About anything. It's just a practical thing to have Naruto in his arms. Sharing body heat so he can get better sooner and all that. No mushy feelings or anything, none at all. It makes no difference that it feels very good to have Naruto in his arms, no difference at all. Just a plus. That's all. What matters is that he's on his way to getting better. And the way to get better is to stay warm and get lots of rest. Which he is doing. Just with Naruto in his arms. To share body heat. Because it's practical.
Like when Sasuke used Naruto's jacket (and shirt, let it not be forgotten) to shield himself from the wind.
Because there was a lot of wind.
No, if anyone was asking (again), Sasuke was not in denial.
Because only stupid people could be in denial.
And, if he'd say so himself, Sasuke was very smart.
In the most humble way, of course.
Not stupid at all.
Therefore, not in denial.
So ha.
Naruto wiggled a bit again, lifting his head.
"G'night," he said, stretching up and pecking Sasuke on the lips in the most heart-meltingly gentle and innocent way before snuggling back down again.
Kissing was practical, too, in case anyone was wondering. It served as a…
As a…
Hmmm….
Fine, so not everything was practical. Who needed everything to be practical anyway? Being constantly practical was stupid. And (in case anyone had forgotten) Sasuke prided himself on being smart. So the kiss was decidedly not practical. Didn't mean Sasuke enjoyed it any less.
Not that, you know, it meant that Sasuke enjoyed it more. Or that Sasuke enjoyed it at all. It was just a kiss.
And no, Sasuke was not in denial.
If anyone was wondering.
Just in case.
And it was not night time, by the way. It was actually late morning.
So ha.
Stupid Naruto.