The Ardor of Every Day

12.

Naruto parked the car in his driveway and led the way inside. He saw his mom sitting on the couch and did a little jog towards her and hugged her.

"Hey, I brought Sasuke with me, he was going to be all alone at home so I thought to invite him over." Naruto told Kushina.

"Of course." She replied.

"Hello Ms. Uzumaki, thank you for having me." Sasuke greeted her.

"Oh, no need for formalities, you're welcome anytime. Why don't you boys get freshened up and come down for lunch in a bit?"

"Sounds good." Naruto said.

Naruto and Sasuke made their way to Naruto's room. His room was much different than Sasuke's. It was a bit plain in comparison. He had his desk with the gaming setup, a mid-size tv, a small bookshelf with books from school and manga and a couple of small posters on the wall. The only thing that gave his room flair was the cute little balcony entrance from the window.

"I'm gonna go shower, you can shower in my washroom, I'll just use my parents'." Naruto said.

"It's ok, I don't have extra clothes anyway." Sasuke replied.

"Don't worry, you can just wear some of mine." Naruto opened his closet and handed Sasuke a pair of black baggy pants and a beige t-shirt.

"Uh, ok." Sasuke didn't even get a chance to think about it.

"There should be a fresh towel on the sink already." Naruto smiled at him and headed to his parent's bedroom.

"Thanks!" Sasuke said. It wasn't loud enough for Naruto to hear since he had already exited the room.

Sasuke started the water, stripped and stepped into the burning hot shower. He quickly cleaned his body with soap and shampooed his hair as he intended to spend some time wallowing and thinking under the hot water. Naruto was the only thing on his mind right now. He had never experienced a friendship like this. Even though this was only the beginning and it hadn't even been two weeks since he met him, things were already accelerating fast. And he wasn't mad about it. Whenever Naruto was in his vision, he felt like he was under bright sunlight, which he needed. Sasuke had harsh luck with friendships and it was hard for him to let go and forget patterns from the past. Life hadn't been the best for him. He enjoyed spending time with Naruto even though there wasn't much to it. But with Naruto, he felt a sense of togetherness and security he hadn't felt recently. He just knew his time with Naruto felt different. Naruto and he shared simple but enigmatic moments, which were enough for him. He liked his company because it felt exempt from judgement and restriction. He didn't know where their relationship would lead, but he didn't prefer to know either. He craved to be in the moment and take it all in since he didn't know if it would last because nothing truly does.

Naruto on the other hand felt excited and nervous. To him, Sasuke felt mysterious and coy. He wanted to know more, he wanted to know him. Spending time with Sasuke was kind of thrilling for him. Even though Sasuke was reserved, Naruto felt like he was scouring the unknown whenever around him. He was walking steps in the shower just thinking of the day ahead. His feelings for Sasuke aside, he knew Sasuke wasn't content. This was only the third time they hung out and he had broken down multiple times in front of someone he barely knew. Naruto didn't want to interfere, but he wanted to ease Sasuke's heart and mind from whatever it was going through. If not ease then at least help with closure. Spending time with Sasuke never bored him. Although there were only ever a few exchanges of words, it always felt comfortable, even the silence. He thought of activities and things to do today, but one thought couldn't elude his mind. He had to ask Sasuke what was upsetting him. He left the shower, wiped and clothed himself and walked back to his bedroom.