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The Day Before Tomorrow

Sasuke placed the empty plate and two ramen bowls into the sink. He then rolled up his sleeves and washed them, like the domesticated person he was trying to assimilate himself into being. He listened as Naruto's footsteps lingered almost directly behind him, but a few feet away. He was waiting for Sasuke to lead the way, which only made sense. While Naruto tended to be his own leader, it seemed, for once, he was being considerate of what Sasuke wanted, which was for Naruto to not wander around the empty house as if it was his own.

Sasuke dried off the dishes and set them to the side of the sink to dry further. He then turned around to face Naruto, who's hands were in his pockets and eyes were towards the ground. Did he fall asleep standing up? That's what it looked like. Yet, Sasuke cleared his throat, which acted as some sort of trigger for Naruto's soul to return to his body.

"Sasuke!" His head darted up, so their eyes could meet.

"Yeah." Sasuke commented.

There was a silence. What now? Naruto basically invited himself in to stay the night and while Sasuke hadn't objected to that notion, it seemed as though there was only one thing you did when you had a sleepover as adults.

"Now what?" Sasuke asked, trying to understand where Naruto's head was. It wasn't super late, but the sun was down, which cast shadows all around the room. Naruto's face was half illuminated, half not. After Sasuke posed the question, Naruto didn't so much as think before returning an answer.

"We hang out. What else would we do?" It was such an innocent answer. It was beating around the bush.

Hang out?

How naive.

But Sasuke wasn't going to put up a fight. If he wanted to hang out, then fine. As long as Naruto didn't annoy him, which still happened more often than not, then this... Sleepover... Would be fine.

Sasuke pushed himself away from the sink and walked past Naruto, leading the two of them up the stairs of the empty house and into Sasuke's bedroom. This was now the second time Naruto had been in his bedroom. And the last time ended in a way Sasuke wasn't so proud of... A way that Naruto didn't even know... And would never know. Sasuke didn't want to feel Naruto overpower him in his own space again, unless...

"What does hang out mean to you?" Sasuke asked, bluntly. That question wouldn't be something you'd ask a friend or comrade, purely because it was self explanatory. Yet, with Naruto, who was both of those things and more, the question needed an answer. Last time they "hung out" it ended with Sasuke on the ground jerking away his desires. While it felt good to relieve himself, he'd rather not go down that path again. He could feel his addictive personality clinging to the immense satisfaction he'd gotten without even putting in that much effort.

Before Sasuke opened the door to his room, he waited... Waited for Naruto to answer. The two of them paused. Sasuke, however, didn't turn around to look at Naruto. He felt more comfortable speaking away from him when there was a possibility his feelings would show.

"Do you know the answer, Naruto?" Naruto hadn't answer, which made Sasuke believe he was really thinking of the right thing to say. "It's not a trick question. I just want to know what it means to you." Hopefully that eased the overthinking just a bit.

Naruto hummed as he thought. "You're my closest friend. So, it only makes sense we'd hang out, y'know?" Another innocent answer. It seemed Naruto was full of them.

Sasuke was still looking away. "This late at night?"

Naruto hesitated. Sasuke had caught him. Who hangs out this late at night unless there's something... More on the mind. If Naruto thought he was going to get Sasuke in a place where he was holding the power again, Sasuke was going to catch it first and mentally prepare himself so that wouldn't happen.