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The first ray of sunrise struck the hospital room window. Sasuke flinched.
“Nggh…” he shivered. “That’s enough.”
“Hang on, hang on. I’m almost done. It just feels weird with my left!” Naruto reassured him.
He was fumbling with the bandage on Sasuke’s injured — absent — arm. The wound wasn’t bleeding, but the knot of the wrap had loosened and was about to fall apart, so at first Sasuke decided to tighten it himself without asking anyone for help. But the gauze had frayed treacherously at the ends and refused to cooperate. A barely-awake Naruto had come to his rescue from the neighboring bed, but things weren’t going much better for him either.
“I’ll just go to the dressing room,” Sasuke almost stammered, pushing away from the bed; every awkward touch of Naruto’s sent a sharp pang of pain through him.
Uzumaki wrapped an arm around his waist, tugged him back, and Sasuke’s knees gave out, making him sit again.
“I’m almost there, promise! Just give me a sec.”
Naruto looped the rough edge of the bandage through a knot and, clamping the other end between his teeth, pulled it tight.
“Phew…” he exhaled, resting his forehead against Sasuke’s bare shoulder. “Done.”
Sasuke waited in silence. The job was finished — so why the hell was this idiot still pressing against him? Waiting for thanks?
He was just about to say something sarcastic — not out of spite, just to break free from this awkwardness — when Naruto, humming sleepily, rubbed his cheek against his shoulder.
Goosebumps raced across Sasuke’s cold skin.
He froze for a second. The next second, something hot and boiling started spreading through his body, a feeling akin to anger, but not quite, with an edge of shame, jagged and uneven. Naruto slid the bridge of his nose along the back of Sasuke’s shoulder and inhaled. Sasuke jerked. Another second, and he finally gathered enough strength to shrug his shoulder and mutter:
“Get off,” it came out softer than he intended.
“Just sleepy…” Naruto murmured and finally pulled away.
Sasuke shot to his feet, muttered a stiff “thanks” without looking back, and marched to the bathroom.
Damn Naruto.
He’d always had zero respect for personal space, but wasn’t that supposed to change with age? They’d been in the hospital for just a week, and it felt like it had only gotten worse.
Sasuke glanced in the mirror — the spot where Naruto had breathed out that lazy “just sleepy” was practically burning. Worse than the cursed seal.
Best friend.
Has no one ever explained to Naruto where the line between friendship and… whatever this was lies? Has he learned anything in all this time besides new jutsu?
Eyes fixed on the toothbrush, Sasuke replayed the past few days. An arm around his shoulder when they laughed about missions. Helping him up the stairs. “Accidentally” brushing his knee, tucking stray strands of hair behind his ear, dusting off crumbs, bumping elbows. Too often.
No, Sasuke wasn’t an idiot. It all looked like flirting — but he knew Naruto too well to jump to conclusions. He had to watch, observe, maybe he’s like this with everyone?
He lifted his gaze back to the mirror.
What if Naruto only acts this way with him? What if it actually means something?
He shook his head. Stupid. Thinking about this too early might open something dark and dangerous he didn’t want to touch yet.
Sasuke washed his hand, slipped on a fresh hospital gown, and went out. Naruto was still asleep.
☼ ☽ ☼
Sasuke watched Naruto carefully while making sure to stay far enough so he wouldn’t cling like a magnet.
Morning — nothing unusual: over breakfast with the other shinobi, he joked, waved his hands, but didn’t go hugging anyone, even when someone shared something sad. Later Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji came — same story: friendly teasing, no extra touches, only greetings and goodbyes, strictly platonic.
And with him? With him, Naruto seemed to forget what “distance” meant.
And it pissed him off. Why was Sasuke looking for reasons? He should be indifferent. Unless… he wanted to be special himself.
After lunch, they were alone again. Naruto couldn’t sit still — paced the room, rearranged things, and every time he passed too close, Sasuke tensed.
In the evening Sakura dropped by. Brought fruit and a bunch of newspapers “so it’s not so boring.”
Sasuke sat by the window, pretending to flip through a magazine, while actually listening. Sakura asked how he was feeling, but he only nodded.
All his attention was on Naruto: he was bouncing around, talking, but even when she bent down to pick up her bag, he didn’t touch her.
Sakura. The same one Naruto once worshiped. He didn’t even lay a hand on her shoulder. Didn’t tuck her hair. Didn’t hug her just because. Didn’t close the distance.
“Naruto, you heal extremely fast,” she patted his back. “Our best patient.”
They both laughed.
Sakura left late, promising to come again in the morning. Naruto just smiled.
☼ ☽ ☼
Night crept into the room through the half-open window.
Sasuke couldn’t sleep. He lay on his back, then on his side, burying his nose in the pillow.
What was he doing? Watching Naruto, tracking his every move like a schoolboy…
He cursed under his breath and rolled over again. Useless. His mind still kept circling the same thing: Naruto’s face when he looked at him. And his words this morning, that lazy “just sleepy,” murmured practically into his neck.
Why did it stick like this? Why did he think Naruto might see him as someone special?
He sat up abruptly, flung the blanket aside, and got up. The room was calm, cool, quiet. That light calmness that clings to late summer days, though it was October already.
He went to the window and sat on the sill sideways. The moon hung over the village, round and shamelessly bright, its light falling across his shoulders, his bare collarbones; the top button of his gown had come loose. He closed his eyes, hoping the chill would cool his thoughts, but it only made them worse.
Minutes dragged by. And then — a rustle in the dark.
“Sasuke..?”
He turned his head. Naruto stood barefoot on the floor, rubbing his eyes. His gown was rumpled, his hair a wild mess of blond spikes.
“What is it? Something hurts?” Naruto stepped closer, touched his bandaged stump.
Sasuke jerked his shoulder away.
“Don’t touch me.”
Naruto froze, frowning slightly.
“You don't like it?”
“I don’t get what you want from me,” Sasuke exhaled, looking away. “Why do you keep clinging?”
Naruto dropped his hand onto the windowsill beside Sasuke but didn’t back away. For a few seconds he just stood there, breathing deep, like he was thinking about this for the first time too.
“I… don’t know,” he said at last. His voice was husky, like he hadn’t spoken all day. “I just… when I see you, I feel warm. And I want to touch. And when I touch… I don’t want it to end.”
Sasuke snapped his eyes up, Naruto was staring straight at him. And so close… his breath burned the skin.
Something dangerous and thick curled inside Sasuke. Pulling him in.
He’d been so focused on observing that he hadn’t thought of how to react. Everything about Naruto kept forcing him to act uncharacteristically, stupidly — as if Naruto was infecting him with his persistence, his bluntness.
Sasuke suddenly realized: it’s time to move, step back or forward. Otherwise this feeling would eat him alive, worse than the cursed seal.
He slowly raised his hand — and laid it in Naruto’s palm. Naruto blinked, his face flickering with emotions: surprise, desire. His eyes went wide, like he was scared of what he’d just confessed.
Sasuke snorted, the corners of his mouth twitching. Outside, a dog ran by, barking loud and cheerful.
“You should see your face right now,” he said, and before Naruto could reply, he leaned in.
Their lips met, and the kiss was hot, at first sharp, like Sasuke still wanted to prove this was stupid, to put a period at the end. But instead of a period — a blaze spilling through his veins, making his fingers clench tighter. Naruto responded instantly, noisily, with a breath like he’d been waiting for this forever.
Sasuke cupped his face, ran a finger along his cheek, and Naruto shivered like from a jolt. Another kiss, and another — longer, hungry, yet soft, like Sasuke was afraid to let go.
Lips, breath, hands — all tangled. The kisses grew warmer, wetter, movements bolder, tongues cautious yet greedy for more. Suddenly Sasuke noticed the thundering in his temples, the way his fingers gripped Naruto’s back as if terrified he might vanish. Beneath his fingertips, muscles tensed; their breaths mingled, tasting faintly of desperation.
Naruto’s hand slipped under the edge of Sasuke’s gown, brushed over his stomach, his side, wrapped around his back.
He pressed closer — all warmth and wildness that Sasuke both hated and craved. Heat seeped through the thin hospital fabric, every inch of contact throbbing. Naruto pushed with his hips, and Sasuke’s fingers clenched unconsciously.
When Naruto’s hand slid from his back to the waistband and tugged, Sasuke’s breath caught, something deep inside jolting.
Naruto drew back slightly.
“Can I..?” he whispered, eyes wide, almost pleading.
Sasuke didn’t answer, instead he leaned in again, kissed Naruto, while his hand found Uzumaki's waistband.
The world shrank to the hot, tight air between them. Their hands wrapped around each other, stroking with impatient, clumsy urgency.
Kisses turned sloppy, ragged; their breathing hitched like after a long run. Suddenly Naruto’s hand landed on Sasuke’s hip, pulling him closer to the edge of the sill. Sasuke grunted in surprise, the sound dissolving in another kiss.
Naruto’s hand wrapped around both of their lengths, skin to skin. A shudder tore through Sasuke; his thighs tightened, fingers digging into Naruto’s side.
It felt like if he let go, everything would fall apart — him, Naruto, the hospital, even that moon in the cold sky.
And he wasn’t ready for that.
Each stroke stoked something desperate, demanding, but the pace was slowing.
Sasuke broke from the kiss.
“What's wrong?” he asked, hurriedly, irritation edging his voice.
“It’s… it feels weird with my left hand… not used to it,” Naruto whispered, ashamed.
God, is it always going to be like this?
“Move your hand,” Sasuke ordered, and Naruto obeyed.
“Sorr—”
Naruto didn’t finish his stupid apology — Sasuke’s hand replaced his, moving fast, sure, thin fingers tight around them both.
Naruto dropped his head to Sasuke’s shoulder, leaving a wet kiss on pale skin. The cool night breeze tangled with Naruto’s hot breath, and low in Sasuke’s belly something began to coil, demanding release.
Sasuke turned slightly, inhaling the scent of blond hair, and sped up his strokes. By the way Naruto ground his forehead into his neck, it was clear they were both close. Metal touched Sasuke’s tongue when he bit it to choke back a moan as his body shook.
“Sa—” Naruto didn’t finish his sentence before his body jerked and his cock throbbed in Sasuke’s slick grip.
For a minute they froze, catching their breath, trying to comprehend what had just happened. The moon slipped behind a thick cloud, leaving the room even darker.
“Next time I’ll have both hands,” Naruto whispered in his ear.
Heat flared in Sasuke’s cheeks, rushing up to his hairline. “Next time.”
He let out a short, nervous laugh. For the first time, he was scared by how much he wanted it to happen.
Next time.