The Ardor of Every Day

5.

Naruto and Sasuke were in the car together. Sasuke was beside Naruto. Naruto was driving and couldn't stop thinking of the fact that Sasuke was sitting beside him, at this moment. All of his feelings from before picking him up were now heightened. Driving the car while simultaneously hyper-feeling everything around him was getting difficult. The tension in the car was thick as slime and was getting thicker by the second. Sasuke still hadn't said a word, and Naruto was too nervous to start a conversation.

Sasuke had now folded his arms on the window and had his head leaning on his hands, staring outside and taking in all the wind. Sasuke didn't really care about anything or anyone in life too much, so he didn't care about this situation either. He just did what he wanted. He sat back upright and took his bag in his lap as Naruto observed his actions in increments.

"Can I smoke in the car?" He asked Naruto as he looked at him.

"I don't know what to say. Yes but just try to keep the smoke out of the car."

"Ok."

He took out a semi-squished pack of cigarettes and put one between his lips and lit it with a beige coloured lighter. He had to try to light it multiple times, as the wind kept putting out the flame. He took a large puff and kept his face as well as his hand outside the window, respecting Naruto's wishes.

As Sasuke was now the one that made the first move, Naruto felt more confident to say something else.

"Are you hungry? We can go grab lunch first." Naruto asked him as his hand tightened on the wheel.

"Sure." Sasuke said while looking outside the window.

"Do you like barbecue or ramen better?" Even though Naruto didn't mind the short responses, he was surely getting tired of them.

"It doesn't matter."

Not again, thought Naruto. He was in the mood for ramen, so ramen it was. He drove to the ramen shop without exchanging another word with Sasuke the whole time. He was losing it. He wanted Sasuke to enjoy and not be his usual bland self, but at the same time, he was getting tired of being the only one putting in an effort.

He parked his car in one of the parking spots at Ichiraku Ramen.

"We're here." Said Naruto as he opened his door.

Sasuke put his bag over the shoulder and got out of the car as well. They both went inside as Naruto held open the door for Sasuke. They sat on the counter seats beside each other and waited for someone to ask for their order. Sasuke was now looking at Naruto while nervously fiddling with the case of his phone. Sitting near the kitchen made Sasuke feel warm and cozy, since he was always cold, even in the summers. The number of people and the constant chattering in the back also made him feel invisible alongside Naruto.

"Umm, can you order for me? Since I don't know what's good here." Sasuke said to Naruto in his usual whisper-quiet voice.

His voice was too quiet for Naruto at the moment. Between all the loud noises and feeling the heat from the kitchen, he tried, but couldn't even read his lips. He leaned forward, the top of his ear almost touching Sasuke's lips and his chin lightly brushing Sasuke's neck.

"I'm so sorry, I couldn't hear you with all this noise, what were you saying?"

Sasuke had never had anyone come this close to him unless it was a hug from one of his family members. And those were also scarce these days. He felt uneasy but he didn't want to react abruptly. Naruto had no idea that he was stepping into and disturbing Sasuke's personal space. He just acted at the moment without thinking twice.