Completely On Purpose

Chapter 9

Life back in Konoha was just about the same.

Sasuke woke up alone in his own bed, in his own house, wearing his own clothes. Sometimes, though, he woke up wearing clothes Naruto had bought him while they were away, or with paint still staining his fingertips from the night before, or with Biscuit in his bed by his feet.

(He'd brought the idea of the ninken up to Kakashi when he'd returned, and Kakashi thought it was fair enough).

For a few days, Sasuke had thought he was still under the genjutsu. He'd wake up as though from a nightmare, in a sweat. If Biscuit was there, he'd come up the bed and slot himself next to Sasuke's belly, so that his furry back was against Sasuke's skin. It made Sasuke smile, and calm down enough to sleep again. If Biscuit wasn't there, Sasuke would get out of bed, drink two glasses of water, and then force himself back to sleep.

Sasuke saw Naruto every other day, most of the time, but not by his own choice; Naruto always sought him out. Sometimes, Naruto spent the night. The fact that they still hadn't really taken the time to talk about what they were doing, after all of this time, was pissing Sasuke off. They'd gone from being nearly inseparable, to completely separated, to acting like none of it had ever happened.

Sasuke felt just fine to not talk about it, if Naruto really wanted to be that way. So what, Naruto had committed his life to Sasuke and their child? That wasn't enough for Naruto to want to move their relationship forward. After all that they'd gone through, as far as Sasuke was concerned, they were still just friends.

And Sasuke told Naruto as much one day, sitting across from him at Naruto's kitchen table. He had been talking to Sakura lately, and she'd told him that the only way to know what Naruto was feeling was to pose the question, of course. He couldn't just assume and then act on his assumptions. He might make things worse.

"Just friends?"

Sasuke nodded, took a sip of his tea. "That's what I said." By the look on Naruto's face, he didn't seem to very much like that answer.

"How can you say that, honestly?" Naruto sounded so incredulous. He set down his chopsticks next to his cup of ramen.

Sasuke shrugged. "We've been back here for two weeks. Of course, I want you to be interested in the baby and the progress and all of that, but ever since the first night, it feels like we've just gone back to the way we were before. Before the baby."

(The first night they'd set foot in Konoha, Sasuke had wanted nothing but to be in Naruto's presence. It was night time, and he was exhausted. All he wanted, with every fiber of his being, was to be enveloped in everything that was Naruto.

Naruto was hours behind them, so by the time he got there, Sasuke was already asleep. He was startled awake by the sound of a knock on the door. "Go away," he mumbled, pulling one of his pillows closer to his chest.

"Not until you open the door."

Sasuke was up in an instant, almost tripping over himself to get to the door, and to throw it open, and to see Naruto. His eyes were so full of tears that he could barely see Naruto at first, until Naruto's hands came up to hold his face and to wipe it all away.

Naruto didn't seem to know what he wanted to do first. He was looking at Sasuke's face, and touching his belly, and saying such sweet things in a low voice.

"Let me... can I see?" Sasuke took Naruto's hands and curled Naruto's fingers underneath the hem of his shirt, inviting him to lift it. Naruto obliged. Sasuke shivered at the feeling of Naruto's fingernails scratching across his skin, and at the feeling of his belly being exposed to the air.