Chapter Text
A new day.
Birds chirping joyfully outside, their song delicately bouncing around the apartment. The first rays of sun gently caressing the steel hob of the kitchen, the dusty shelves filled with food and spices, slowly reaching the hideous mustard coloured sofa and quietly creeping in through the bedroom door as it opened.
An exquisite peaceful morn-
A loud thud, immediately followed by the sound of synthetic fabric and plastic rubbing together.
"That idiot!" Sasuke hissed through his teeth, standing up from the ground after tripping on his roommate’s sports bag.
He looked disdainously at the bag again and kicked it lightly, moving it to the side of the corridor.
Why did he insist on leaving everything in the wrong place? Was it really that difficult to place that bag inside the laundry room? It's not like it was on another floor, it was maybe five steps ahead from where it was misplaced.
Sasuke puffed in annoyance: he hadn’t been awake for more than 10 minutes and he already wanted to strangle him. That might actually be considered a new record.
He entered the tiny kitchen, rubbing his palms together, sore after
thankfully
breaking his fall on the ground.
He glanced at the maple table in front of the windows: it was almost glistening, hit by the morning sun. Or at least it would have, if it weren’t for the dirty dishes left on top of it.
"That. Idiot." he chewed, his teeth almost gritting together and voice rising.
Why was he like that? Why couldn't he make an effort and leave the place where he was also living in decent conditions?
He started collecting the dishes and angrily placing them in the sink.
Was Naruto trying to drive him insane? Was there a bet in place with the other guys, to see how much would have taken for Sasuke to finally lose his mind and bury him in the garden that
they did not have
?
For a split second he contemplated washing them. For his peace of mind. But then he forced himself to move away and ignore that primordial urge: that idiot needed to start behaving like a human being and not an animal. He was tired of the mess. Tired of the lack of respect. Tired of his stupid face and his stupid smile that always managed to disarm him.
Every. Single. Time.
How the hell did he end up in this nightmare called living arrangement? Why did he agree to share a place with that chaotic mess of a manchild? Did he perhaps manage to murder someone in a previous life and this was punishment?
Sighing loudly, he sat down at the table, now only littered with crumbs and a juice stain.
He could have picked anyone else. Literally anyone. But no, why live an easy life when he could doom his existence by sharing a tiny apartment with the loudest, most annoying, indecently charming guy he knew?
Wait. No. Scratch the last one. Naruto was anything but charming.
But
But Sasuke couldn't explain their living situation without acknowledging that Naruto had in fact simply charmed him into saying yes in just one night, a mere six months before. He approached him innocently with a couple of beers and a smile, talked him into more beers and left him the morning after with a hell of a headache, confusing memories and a new roommate. How did he fall so easily for that trap?
He had almost finished his portion of scrambled eggs when he heard Naruto's door open. Still chewing the last bite of his breakfast, he interlaced his fingers and placed his chin on top of them, patiently waiting, ready to give him a proper scolding.
But instead of barging into the kitchen, greeting him loudly, and starting to scavenge the fridge, Naruto moved to what was considered the living room, but often also served as a study, a playroom, a laundry pop-up branch and, sometimes, the gym.
A familiar screeching of springs and a whine convinced Sasuke to get up and go check on him.
He knew he had gone out the night before with Shikamaru and Kiba, but as reckless and stupid as he could be, Naruto would not have wasted himself in the middle of the working week. Or would he?
In any case, something was off: he was usually a bouncing ball of energy from the second he opened his eyes, you couldn’t keep him still even if you tried, and today he was uncharacteristically calm.
A couple of months before, one morning, Sasuke had threatened to restrain him to the bed, but that turned out to be the wrong move as Naruto reply had been a wicked smile and something along the lines of "You’re welcome to try". To which Sasuke somehow felt more threatened than threatening and left.
"You left your gym bag in the middle of the corridor," Sasuke greeted him coldly.
"Not even a good morning, straight to business as always!" Naruto teased him a bit, seemingly fine if not a bit more tired than usual.
"Good morning. You left your goddamn gym bag in the middle of the corridor."
Sasuke was still fuming, itching to punch him—for the bag, and the plates, and the mess, and the face and the smile. Pick your favourite: the urge always lingered.
"Yeah, sorry," Naruto, as predicted, smiled. "I planned to wake up earlier this morning to tidy up everything I left out last night, but—"
"No excuses this time, Naruto" he interrupted him, determined not to be deceived by a pretty smile this time. "You have to stop treating me like I’m your maid and leave everything for me to clean up. Learn to do it yourself, I’m done mothering you!" he practically barked at him.
Maybe Sasuke had been a tad too harsh than intended, sure, but it was not the first time, and he was sure it wouldn’t be the last, too.
Naruto’s smile turned into a wince.
"Gee,who spat into your coffee?! I’ll clean up... Nobody’s ever died for a couple of unwashed plates!"
"You might be the first," Sasuke muttered, turning around and leaving the room before Naruto could work his usual magic.
When Sasuke left for work less than half an hour later, he heard the water running in the kitchen sink. He closed the door behind him, hoping that his words had finally pierced through Naruto’s's thick skull.