Yellow

// 020 //

NEXT MORNING, Monday had arrived all over again. With a rainy start to a new week, Naruto Uzumaki felt surprisingly content. His eyes; the shade inside such an everlasting summer sky blue, now followed the tiny little droplets venture down the smudged glass with such laziness. The action felt so very familiar to Naruto; somewhat of a regular thing he had done every single day and abandoned months ago. Even if his life was much different from the one he had nearly dragged himself through half a year ago, it felt oddly comforting to be stuck in a routine for once. He didn't mind the changes, however they could be awfully stressful sometimes as well.

At the light tap to his shoulder, Naruto turned. His eyes now rested on your pretty face, and he felt the corners of his lips tug upward in response - seemingly by their own will. He couldn't bring himself to stop the smile from breaking his usual somber expression. His eyes almost seemed to soften when he looked at you.

"Hi, Naru.", he watched you grin as you greeted him, and the flash of your teeth was overwhelming - in a good way; always in such a good way. Naruto's cheeks reddened as you sat down next to him, shrugging the little yellow raincoat he liked so much off your shoulders. 

"Hey..."

Naruto didn't know what else to say. Now that he was back in school, it felt like the whole weekend had never even happened at all. And perhaps he would have convinced himself that it was indeed only a figment of his imagination, if he hadn't spotted the rather obvious love bite adorning his neck in the mirror this morning. 

Besides feeling content, the Uzumaki felt tired as well. Throughout the night, he kept tossing and turning inside his bed; missing the company of another warm body pressing against his own. Over these past two days you had surely spoiled him rotten. Being alone suddenly didn't feel as good as it had before.

He was surprised when he felt your warm fingertips curl underneath his jawline, the action pulling him out of his lazy thoughts in an instant. Your eyes were quick to inspect the lingering bruise on his cheek. When you poked it, he winced, the furrow of his brows tight. Wherever your touch had landed on his skin, the pleasant sensation of it lingered. He had only spent one night apart from you, and Naruto realised that he was already missing it.

"That hurts..."

"Sorry, hah." 

Now, you rummaged through your backpack, and he caught the curious glances of his classmates over your shoulder. Asahi Saito was nowhere to be seen, and it made Naruto feel immensely relieved. Whenever his eyes landed onto the faces of your previous friend group, they looked away - the quiet murmurs to leave their mouths seemingly never able to reach his ears. A soft exhale left his lips at this, however his attention was quickly whisked away when you plastered a little bandage onto his cheek; right over the bruise.

He eyed himself on the screen of his phone. The bandage was bright pink; the little Hello Kitty design on it somewhat adorable.

"Do you like it?", you mused now with a perfectly arched brow. He could see you eyeing him expectantly, your fingers smooth to intertwine beneath your chin with such ease as you leaned towards him. Naruto chuckled lowly at your excitement, the flash of his teeth fast to distract you when he grinned,

"Yeah. It's quite cute."

"I don't really think pink is your colour, but yeah, it looks cute on you. I do have a lot more of these, though. We can try a different one tomorrow, look."

He rested his head against his palm lazily, his eyes soft to trail over your face once more as you placed the bandages onto the desk, showing him the various different designs and colours with such glee. He wanted to keep the conversation going, surprisingly;

"Well, what do you think is my colour, then?"

"Mm,", you eyed him carefully before your gaze fell towards the bandages again, "Orange would look good on you... Or maybe yellow."

"I like yellow...", Naruto mumbled shyly, his cheeks reddening at the words. You were still too busy running through the bandages to spot the searing blush on his face.

"Mhm, me too. It's a nice colour.", you spoke lightly before turning to your backpack once more, "Anyway, I also got you this."

// So oblivious... //

You handed him a travel coffee mug now, and the stainless steel was invitingly warm underneath the tips of his fingers when he took it from you unsurely. At his puzzled expression, you were quick to explain with a short laugh,

"I made you some coffee. Trusted my gut, and it seems it was right on this one... You look like you need it."

"Oh. Yeah, I didn't sleep all that well... Thanks.", Naruto spoke awkwardly before popping the lid off with a quiet click! The coffee smelled good when he brought it up to his lips, however when he took a sip, it made his eyes dangerously narrow at the taste. You stared at him, fighting off the quiet giggles underneath his suspecting gaze,

"Something wrong?"

"Mm,", Naruto trailed off before taking another sip, "It's good... Just a tad bit too sweet, though."

At this he caught the sly eye roll, as well as the quiet groan to leave your rosy lips;

"Oh god, Uzumaki... I couldn't help myself, so I put in like one teaspoon of sugar in it. One!", your index finger pressed against the tip of his nose before you flicked it in annoyance. He chuckled lowly at this as you continued with your little rant,

"No wonder you're so dreadful all the time... No normal person likes drinking such bitter nasty water. Ew."

"Since you seem to be such a Naruto Uzumaki expert... Am I really always dreadful?"

He caught the brief little side glance as you bit into his tease,

"Well, not always... Sometimes you're bearable, I guess."

"Like when?"

He stared at you now, his eyes playing such a dangerous game with your own as the small smirk lingered on his plush lips. Your face flushed into a shade of cherry-red, and he loved it. You almost hit him over the head with your notebook at this, your brows knit tightly together,

"For such a quiet person, you sure do own one big-ass mouth, you know that?"

"Mhm."

"Why you little smartass, I'm gonna-"

Silence fell upon you both when the Professor finally decided to join the class with hurried footsteps. Rain continued to pour, however Naruto did not mind. As the documentary played on the shitty classroom projector for that lesson, his hand cautiously inched towards your own on the smooth wood of the desk. Darkness surrounded him as he tried once; twice - and lost the courage every single time. And then, on his third try, he watched the corners of your lips tug upward as you suddenly hooked your pinky with his own with such daring - the touch so very warm and gentle. 

Unique. 

He looked at you, and you stared straight ahead, however he spotted the rose to appear on your cheeks. He wasn't much better; his face had been burning red for a small eternity already. The tip of his finger trailed over your hand cautiously now, the tender movement filled to the brim with delicate affection.

God, he liked this. He actually liked it.

"Would you like to go out on a date with me sometime?", you leaned in to whisper into his ear after a short moment, and his pulse quickened at the sudden question as you stared at him with such bold eyes.

Naruto did not date. He never did; had never even given it a second thought. Was he even ready to settle? Would he ever be ready? What if he hurt you? What if you hurt him? What if he lost you? Surely nothing good could come out of this; he would certainly find a way to mess it up, or it could complicate things between you, what about the friendship - would it get ruined?, or... 

"Yeah. I'd like that."

Naruto Uzumaki really did not mind the changes you had brought into his life - no matter how stressful they may be.