Archive of Our Own

Everyone was born with their soulmate’s initial carved into their skin. 

Some people wore theirs proudly, displayed on wrists, collarbones, or the backs of their hands, easy to see, easy to show off. Others had theirs hidden beneath clothing, kept private like a secret meant only for the person it belonged to. For Naruto, the slanted, elegant cursive S was curved directly over his heart 

For a long time, that mark was the only thing Naruto had.

His memory of childhood consisted mostly of empty rooms and quiet nights without parents to tuck him in, and no relatives to scold him for staying out too late or forgetting to eat. Loneliness creeped in whenever he stopped moving, whenever he let himself think too hard.

He noticed things other children took for granted.

Kids his age being hoisted onto their fathers’ shoulders during festivals. Mothers brushing dirt from scraped knees and kissing them better. Families gathered around dinner tables, arguing loudly about nothing at all. Naruto watched from a distance, hands shoved deep into his pockets, pretending not to care while something tight and aching settled in his chest that made his lower lip wobble.

It’s okay, he told himself. It has to be.

He had learned early what the initial meant. The mark was proof that no matter how empty his life felt, someone was waiting for him in the future, someone who would look at him and know, instantly, that they belonged together.

So Naruto held onto that belief with everything he had.

When rain pattered through cracks in the ceiling and dripped onto a wooden basket on rhythmic pat pat pat, he pressed his palm over his chest and focused on the warmth there. When winter came and the cold seeped through thin walls and into his bones, when the only thing between him and the night chill was a worn blanket that had long since lost its softness, the S over his heart felt like the sun, glowing brightly to keep him going.

Some nights, he whispered to it.

He wondered what kind of person they were. If they were kind, if they were lonely too, if they ever touched their own mark and thought of him, wherever they were.

Growing up didn’t make those thoughts disappear.

If anything, it made them more complicated.

As Naruto got older, he started noticing just how many people whose name began with S.

There were too many possibilities.

Thousands of them, it felt like. Naruto knew that was an exaggeration, but was he supposed to find one person in a world this big armed with nothing but a single letter? How was he supposed to recognize his soulmate when everyone insisted that the mark was all that mattered, yet offered no answers about what came after?

The moment Naruto entered the Academy, there were S names everywhere.

He noticed it immediately, listening to names being called out one by one. Shikamaru, Shino, Sakura, Sasuke. Every time he heard that letter, his heart gave a small, stupid leap before crashing back down again. By the end of the first week, he was already exhausted from the cycle of hope and disappointment.

Then he got assigned to Team Seven.

Two S’s.

Naruto asked, obviously. The question tumbled out of his mouth the first chance he got.

Sasuke didn’t even entertain him with a real answer. He only turned his nose up dismissively, as if soulmates were beneath him, as if it was some tedious, mundane thing unworthy of his attention. Then he walked away, leaving Naruto staring after him with irritation and uncomfortably close to disappointment.

Sakura, at least, answered.

She hesitated, then rolled up the sleeve of her shirt and showed him the initial carved into the smooth skin of her upper arm, which made things clear that she wasn't the one since her arm bore an R.

“Oh,” Naruto said, forcing a grin.

Yeah, it couldn’t be her. 

Still, he touched her mark afterward, fingers pressing against smooth skin like he could will something to happen. He waited, held his breath, and expectedly, nothing changed, there was no magical reaction between them. 

Not like the stories.

Kids loved to talk about those. About roses blooming across skin when soulmates touch their marks, or vines curling around wrists, or tattoos spreading like ink in water until the initial disappeared completely. Naruto had always listened from the edges of those conversations, pretending he didn’t care, pretending he didn’t go home and check his mark in the mirror every night.

Nothing like that happened.

Kakashi-sensei was no help at all, he was always annoyingly tight-lipped about his own soulmate. Sasuke was completely out of the question and asking him anything personal felt like poking a sleeping snake.

So Naruto asked everyone else.

There was Shikamaru, who immediately made a face like the very idea offended him.

“No way,” Shikamaru blanched.

There was Shino, who responded by unleashing a swarm of insects, forcing Naruto to yelp and stumble back but not before Naruto insisted on seeing his mark anyway. Another disappointment.

“You’re thirteen, idiot,” Shikamaru said later, after Naruto had physically dragged him off a shady perch. Shikamaru grabbed a fistful of his own shirt to lift it up, irritation clear on his face as Naruto stared at the T etched into his stomach. “Nobody finds their soulmate at thirteen.”

Then there was Gaara.

Gaara had a monster inside him. When he learned the thing’s name started with an S, his eyes lit up like he’d struck gold.

“Hey, maybe that’s my soulmate!” Naruto said, grinning wide, excitement bubbling out of him before he could stop it.

Sasuke stared at him like he couldn’t believe what he’d just heard. Like Naruto had finally, irrevocably lost his mind.

…Okay. Fair enough. Naruto had to admit, that one was stupid.

Still, none of it stopped him from hoping.

Every S he met made his heart stutter. Naruto kept looking, kept asking, kept touching his own mark like it might someday answer him back.

Then Sasuke ran away and things didn't feel the same.

With Sasuke gone, there was Sai.

Sai slipped into Team Seven and Naruto didn’t even have to badger him to show his soul mark since Sai made no effort to hide it at all. It sat on the pale skin of his side, exposed beneath the cropped top he wore without a hint of self-consciousness. Naruto stared when they first met.

The mark was… underwhelming. Just a thin black line with none of the elegance or flourish Naruto had grown used to seeing on others. Naruto squinted at it, tilting his head this and that as if the angle might help.

“What is that?” he asked.

Sai glanced down. “I believe it is a letter,” he said mildly.

“Yeah, but what letter?” Naruto pressed.

Sai considered it for a moment. “Possibly an L,” he offered. “Or an I.” He just shrugged.

They got along well enough after that. Sai was cooperative, efficient, and surprisingly loyal once Naruto stopped bristling at his bluntness. Missions went smoothly, conversations were… strange, but manageable. 

Still, Sai was Sai.

No matter the familiar black hair or the pale skin, Naruto couldn’t help comparing him to Sasuke. Sai didn’t glare the same way, he didn’t challenge Naruto, didn’t push back hard enough, didn’t feel like a storm. Sai’s presence was quiet where Sasuke’s had been intense, empty where Sasuke’s had been overwhelming.

Despite being apart, Naruto still had unanswered questions about Sasuke’s soulmate. Naruto had searched for any hint of it back when Sasuke was still around, had memorized every inch of visible skin, every fleeting glimpse of collarbone or wrist or throat, hoping to catch even the faintest trace of ink. But there had been nothing Naruto could find.

And with Sasuke gone, taking that mystery with him.

The search had been fruitless

Fortunately for him, they met again a few years later, Naruto almost didn’t recognize him at first. Sasuke wore an open white loose shirt. Lily white skin was bared without shame, smooth and unmarked from what Naruto could see, still pale after all these years. 

It made Naruto wonder where Sasuke had been hiding. Was he imprisoned by Orochimaru? A familiar aristocratic face he hadn't seen in years stared him down, dark eyes cool and distant as ever, giving away nothing. Naruto searched for signs of it but Sasuke didn’t look like a prisoner. If anything, he looked… cultivated.

Naruto, on the other hand, had changed.

Training under the sun had darkened his skin, tanning his arms and face until the softness of childhood was long gone. His shoulders were broader now, his frame lean with muscle earned through training. 

Sasuke stepped closer and Naruto’s eyes immediately dropped to the exposed skin of Sasuke’s chest, scanning for any sign at all, a curve of ink, a scar shaped like a letter just in case he peeled off the skin that bore the mark after he decided he didn't need a soulmate, anything. His eyes kept tracing the line of Sasuke’s collarbone, the hollow of his throat, and his heart sank as if it already knew it was going to be disappointed.

There was nothing.

Just smooth, unblemished skin stretched over bone and muscle, pale as moonlight. 

Naruto swallowed hard and forced his gaze away, tamping down the sting of disappointment before it could show on his face. Maybe it was somewhere else, he told himself quickly. On Sasuke’s arm, his back, his ribs, his thighs—

Naruto very deliberately did not finish that thought because thinking about Sasuke’s thighs was absolutely not helpful to anyone.

He told himself it didn’t matter. They were shinobi now, grown, changed. The world was bigger than childhood questions about fate and soulmates.

Then he learned about the Akatsuki.

One of them was Sasori and horribly, his name started with an S.

Naruto prayed to every god he could remember, every spirit of sky and earth, every half-forgotten myth Iruka had ever mentioned, begging that this man was not his soulmate because the mere thought of it made him want to throw up.

When Sasori died, Naruto waited for something to happen. A burn on his chest, pain, grief, emptiness, anything that would confirm the worst.

Nothing came.

The S over his heart stayed exactly the same and Naruto felt so relieved that he could cry.

There was a war going on and Naruto couldn’t afford to waste time searching for a single initial across five allied nations.

People fought, bled, and died before Naruto could even learn their names, let alone search their skin for a letter that might match his own. Soulmates became an abstract thought in the face of survival, it didn’t mean much when villages were burning and the ground itself seemed to scream.

Naruto hoped desperately that whoever his soulmate was, they survived. That they weren’t cut down by a stray blade or crushed beneath collapsing earth before Naruto ever had the chance to meet them. 

Then the war ended.

Naruto and Sasuke lay on their backs, staring up at a sky that felt calm after all the noise. Both of them were missing an arm, the pain dulled only by sheer exhaustion and adrenaline. Naruto barely felt his body anymore.

He turned his head and looked at Sasuke.

Sasuke’s face was dirty with grime and dried blood, dark hair plastered messily to his forehead, his breathing was shallow, tears clung to his lashes, slipping down the sides of his face without any attempt to hide them. He looked wrecked, utterly, completely spent, half dead and barely holding together.

And still, Naruto thought he looked beautiful.

Whoever Sasuke’s soulmate was, they must be incredibly lucky.

The thought was bitter, souring on his tongue as soon as it formed. Lucky to be the name carved into Sasuke’s skin, lucky to be the one fate had chosen, lucky to be the person Sasuke would eventually look at with something other than anger or indifference.

Naruto stared up at the sky, blinking away the pressure behind his eyes.

Living with Sasuke was… something.

After they were released from the hospital, Naruto with a brand-new arm that still felt foreign and heavy, Sasuke with nothing but bandages and an empty sleeve. Sasuke seemed like he wanted to bolt anytime soon and Naruto panicked. He grabbed at the first excuse he could find—“Recovery,” he said, too quickly. “You're not healed yet. You can’t just leave like that.”

He didn’t know how long the excuse would hold, a week, a month, maybe less. But he knew one thing that he had to savor it while Sasuke was still here, breathing the same air, occupying the same space.

To Naruto’s surprise, Sasuke agreed.

Not because he wanted to stay, Naruto suspected, but because he couldn’t yet go.

The phantom pain from his missing arm was brutal. Naruto could see how Sasuke stiffened without warning, teeth clenched, breath hitching as if his body were screaming about something that was no longer there. Sometimes Sasuke would wake in the night, eyes wide and unfocused, his remaining hand curled tightly into the hospital sheets beside him like he was trying to grab onto something invisible.

Naruto felt bad. He really did.

After all, he was the reason Sasuke’s arm was gone.

…But then again, Sasuke had blown Naruto’s arm off too, so the guilt only went so far.

Naruto’s apartment didn’t help matters.

It was pathetic. Naruto had lived there his entire life and nothing had changed. The ceiling still leaked in the same corner with a wooden bucket sitting beneath it, nearly full now, dusty on the top from neglect during his absence. The air smelled musty, cobwebs clung to corners of the ceiling. Naruto scratched the back of his head, suddenly self-conscious. “At least it’s still standing.” he joked.

Sasuke stepped inside, eyes scanning the cramped space with critical eyes. He took in the peeling walls, the uneven floorboards, the single narrow bed shoved against one wall and grunted once in response.

Naruto didn't take offense to it because this place was really pathetic. 

“I’ll go clean up for a bit, go take a rest here, Sasuke.” Naruto said as he gestured toward the bed and Sasuke’s mouth twitched downward, a faint frown creasing his brow at the layer of dust atop of the sheets.

Right. Fair.

Naruto moved to the small wardrobe in the corner, its door sticking slightly as he pulled it open. Inside was a sad collection of clothes, mostly orange, mostly worn thin. He dug past folded shirts and mismatched socks until he found a sheet at the very bottom, it was faded, smelled faintly musty like the rest of the room, debatably clean.

“…Right,” Naruto muttered. “I’ll change the sheet first.”

Behind him, Sasuke lowered himself carefully into the lone chair by the table. He did it slowly, gingerly, Naruto saw how his jaw tightened, shoulders stiffening as if holding back a cry of pain. The stump was clearly bothering him still, but Sasuke didn't even let out a sound.

But who was he kidding? Sasuke never asked for help, not even a complain, didn’t even look at Naruto when a pained breath slipped through his teeth. Just sat there, tight-lipped and stubborn, enduring it like he always had.

Naruto crossed the room and knelt by his bag, rummaging through it until he found the bottles he’d taken from the hospital. Painkillers, a lot of them, more than he probably should have. He held one bottle up. “You should take these.”

Sasuke’s dark eyes flicked to the bottle, then away again without answering.

Naruto sighed softly but didn’t back down. He set the pills on the table within easy reach, along with a glass of water. He didn’t force them into Sasuke’s hand, didn’t lecture him, he just made sure they were there. Just in case.

Changing the sheets as quickly as he could, Naruto snapped the fabric into place and fluffed the lone pillow until it was at least acceptable. He just realized now that he only had one pillow and one small bed, and standing back to look at it properly, it became glaringly, painfully obvious that this thing wouldn’t fit two grown men at all, let alone two exhausted shinobi who had just been released from the hospital..

Naruto swallowed and glanced over his shoulder.

Sasuke was already slumped in the chair, head tipped back slightly, eyes half-lidded and unfocused, exhaustion finally dragging him under despite his best efforts to stay upright. 

“Fuck it,” Naruto muttered under his breath. He could have his meltdown later. Right now, Sasuke needed to be taken care of. “Come on, Sasuke.”

Sasuke roused at the sound of his name, eyes opening just enough to register Naruto standing there and pushed himself up and crossed the room, then promptly collapsed onto it, diving face-first and sprawling out without a second thought.

He took up most of the space immediately.

Naruto stood frozen, just watching.

Sasuke looked impossibly out of place here, wrapped in Naruto’s faded sage-green sheets, the thin blanket barely covering him with that stupid ramen poster peeling slightly on the wall above the bed near his head. The sight was almost absurd, this was the same man who he kept failing to bring home, how he chased him to the end of the world, just now… lying in a cramped, dusty apartment like he belonged there.

Pale skin stood out, his brows were furrowed even in sleep, dark lashes fanned over his cheeks, shadowing them softly, and Naruto had to force himself to look away before his thoughts went somewhere dangerously stupid.

Naruto slipped out of the apartment, moving quietly down the hall to grab cleaning supplies and a new pillow from a nearby shop. By the time he returned, the apartment was dimmer with the late afternoon light slanting in through the window.

Sasuke was out like a light.

The painkiller bottle lay open on the table, a few pills missing. The glass of water sat beside it, half-drunk.

Naruto stopped just inside the door, chest loosening as a slow smile spread across his face.

Good.

He set the pillow down on the chair, careful not to wake him, and glanced back at Sasuke. For now, he was safe, warm, sleeping.

Naruto let himself feel satisfied as he laid down on the floor a few hours later.

“You could’ve gotten a new arm, you know. Like me.” Naruto flexed his bandaged arm in front of Sasuke whose gaze followed the motion. Slowly, almost unconsciously, his remaining hand drifted to his own stump carefully.

“What if you need two arms to fight bad people?” Naruto added.

For a moment, Sasuke actually looked like he was considering it then his shoulders slumped, the tension draining out of him all at once. “I don’t deserve it.”

Naruto opened his mouth to argue on instinct but nothing came out. He closed his mouth again, fingers curling uselessly at his sides. He didn’t argue and that seemed to bother Sasuke who immediately frowned, glancing at him, confusion flickering across his face like he’d been bracing for an argument. Naruto could practically see the gears turning in his head, trying to figure out why Naruto wasn’t arguing back, why he wasn’t demanding, insisting, dragging him toward the hospital by sheer force of will.

Naruto just shrugged lightly.

Living with Sasuke felt… strange.

Not bad, it could never be bad, but unfamiliar in a way Naruto didn’t quite know what to do since Sasuke had always existed on the edge of his life, too far away to reach, or suddenly too close, burning hot before being ripped away again. There had never been a middle ground, never a version of Sasuke that simply stayed.

Now he was here, always there, in the next room, at the table, sleeping soundly in Naruto’s bed.

Naruto didn’t know what to do with all of that so he relented easily. He let conversations drop, let Sasuke have his space even when he was right there. Naruto always moved carefully, like someone approaching a skittish animal, afraid that one wrong word or gesture might send Sasuke bolting for the door. He didn’t want to spook him into running away again.

Sasuke, for all he was worth, tried to be civil too.

Most days he sat by the window with a cup of tea warming his hand, gaze distant as he watched the village move below. He looked serene like that, dark hair catching the light, almost zen. Naruto never said it out loud, but he thought he’d never trade that sight for anything.

The quiet lasted until Sasuke spoke. “Didn’t your back hurt from sleeping on the floor?” he asked, eyes still fixed outside.

Naruto glanced up from where he was messing the bandage on his new arm. It was uncomfortable and his new arm still ached but compared to everything else he’d endured, it barely registered. “Huh? Oh. Yeah, I guess.” He shrugged. “But it’s fine.”

Sasuke turned slightly then, finally looking at him. “You don’t have a bed big enough for two people.”

Naruto snorted. “Yeah, I noticed.”

“You could have taken the bed,” Sasuke said after a moment. “It’s yours.”

Naruto waved him off. “Nah. You need it more. You’re… you know.” He gestured vaguely at Sasuke’s missing arm, then winced. “Recovering.”

Sasuke frowned. “You’re recovering too.”

“Yeah, but I got the deluxe upgrade,” Naruto said, flexing his new arm again with a crooked grin. “See? Brand new.”

That earned him a faint huff of breath. “It still doesn’t make sense.” Sasuke muttered.

“What doesn’t?”

“That you’d give it up so easily.”

Naruto blinked, then scratched the back of his head. “I’ve slept on worse,” he said lightly. “Dirt, rocks, tree roots. Compared to that, this is luxury.”

Sasuke’s jaw tightened. “That doesn’t mean you should.”

Naruto shrugged again. “Guess I just don’t really mind.”

“…Thank you.” Sasuke said eventually, so quietly Naruto almost missed it.

Naruto froze for a few seconds, then grinned a little too wide. “Don’t get used to it, teme.”

Sasuke scoffed, turning back to the window. “Idiot.”

Sasuke got a new plant.

It was small and unassuming, a cacti in a simple clay pot without decoration. It sat on the windowsill where the light was strongest, its body was green, dotted with pale spikes that caught the sun like tiny needles. Naruto didn’t know where Sasuke had gotten it. Maybe Suna. It looked like it belonged somewhere dry, not in Konoha.

But—Sasuke was always in the apartment. Naruto couldn’t remember a single moment when he’d seen him leave.

The night before, Sasuke had been sitting by the window with one leg drawn up, tea cooling untouched in his hand. Naruto had gone to sleep with that image burned into his mind.

In the morning, the cactus was there.

Naruto stared at it while watering the sad little cluster of plants Iruka had once given him. One of them had yellowing leaves, another was stubbornly clinging to life out of spite.

“Don’t water that one too much.”

Naruto nearly jumped.

Sasuke was leaning against the wall, watching him.

Naruto tilted the watering can away from the cacti. “Why?”

“It’s a desert plant,” Sasuke said. “It doesn’t need much water. Too much and it’ll rot.”

Naruto nodded. “Right. No drowning the spiky guy.”

He crouched and picked up the pot anyway, careful of the needles. “Where did you even get this?” Naruto asked.

Sasuke shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Naruto blinked. “You don’t… know?”

“Someone gave it to me.”

“Someone?”

Sasuke paused, brow furrowing. “A woman, a villager, I think. I don’t know her name.”

Naruto looked at the cacti again, then at Sasuke, then slowly at the rest of the apartment, at the peeling walls, the bare surfaces, the emptiness that had always defined the space. This was the first personal thing Sasuke had added that wasn’t strictly necessary, it was not a weapon, not supplies. Naruto set the cactus back on the windowsill carefully, nudging it so it faced the light just right. “…Huh.” he murmured.

Sasuke glanced at him. “What.”

“Nothing,” Naruto said quickly, then grinned. “Just didn’t expect you to be a plant guy.”

“I’m not." Sasuke replied flatly, turning away.

The next morning, Naruto left early under the pretense of errands and came back with a green frog-shaped mug. It was ridiculous, wide-mouthed, round-eyed, with a tiny crack near the handle that made it cheaper than the rest. He washed it twice, just in case, then set it beside the stove.

When Sasuke noticed it, he stopped mid-reach.

“…What is that.” he asked.

“For tea,” Naruto said, shrugging. “The cactus shouldn’t be the only one bringing life into the place.”

Sasuke stared at the mug for a long moment, then he picked it up and drank from it without a word.

Naruto turned away quickly, busying himself with nothing in particular, pretending not to feel absurdly pleased.

Sasuke was getting better with each passing day, Sasuke moved easier now, no longer wincing every time he stood or reached for something, even the shadows under his eyes were fading. Naruto watched all of it with a tight knot in his chest, half-expecting that any morning he’d wake up to find the apartment empty.

To make it worse, Kakashi-sensei still refused to give him missions.

“You can't ,” Kakashi had said lazily. “Think of it as… holiday.”

“I don’t need rest!” Naruto had snapped. “I need something to do.”

Kakashi had only hummed. “That’s exactly why you don’t have it.”

So Naruto was stuck, stuck in his own head, stuck watching Sasuke heal, and maybe this was the best time to go looking for his soulmate.

He and Sasuke had never talked about it. But at night, when Sasuke slept, Naruto’s resolve cracked. He knew it was creepy, he knew it crossed lines. Still, his eyes wandered on their own, cataloguing every sliver of exposed skin like it might suddenly reveal the truth.

When Sasuke slept on his back, his shirt sometimes rode up just enough to expose a strip of toned stomach, pale and unmarked. Naruto would stare at it, holding his breath, waiting for something to appear, as if the skin might bloom with ink or light if he looked hard enough. Nothing ever did.

When Sasuke slept on his front, Naruto’s gaze drifted to the back of his thighs, they were long and strong, and when Sasuke turned his head just so, black hair sliding aside to bare the back of his neck, Naruto’s heart always stuttered. Still nothing.

Naruto would eventually tear his eyes away, shame prickling hot under his skin. Does he even have one? Naruto wondered.

Maybe Sasuke had already found his soulmate. Maybe they were somewhere far away, alive and waiting, wondering where Sasuke was, or worse, already dead, just another casualty of a war that never seemed to stop taking. 

He didn’t know and Sasuke, as always, gave him nothing.

One afternoon, Naruto finally broke.

They were eating late—ramen for Naruto, rice and fish for Sasuke. “So...” Naruto blurted out, immediately regretting it.

Sasuke glanced up. “So.”

Naruto stabbed at his noodles, not meeting his eyes. “You uh… when you leave.”

Sasuke went still. "When I leave." he repeated carefully.

“—I mean, not now,” Naruto rushed. “Just. Eventually. You’re better, so… yeah.”

An awkward silence fell between the two before Sasuke said. “I haven’t decided yet." 

Naruto’s chopsticks paused mid-air. “You haven’t?”

“No.”

Something fluttered in Naruto’s stomach. 

Sasuke studied him, dark eyes narrowing slightly. “Is that a problem?”

“What? No. Of course not. It’s your life, teme.”

“Hn.” The conversation was over with that, they went back to eating.

That night, Naruto lay awake, listening to Sasuke’s steady breathing from across the room. “Stupid.” Naruto muttered under his breath. Sasuke shifted in his sleep, brow furrowing, as if he’d heard him. 

Tomorrow, he told himself, he’d stop thinking about soulmates.

Tomorrow never came.

Months passed, and Sasuke still hadn’t left. At some point, he stopped counting the days, he stopped flinching every time Sasuke went quiet or lingered too long by the door and the constant knot of dread in his chest loosened. He even caught himself thinking, maybe we should get a bigger place.

The apartment was barely fit for one grown adult male. Naruto imagined a place with two rooms, two beds, a door he could close at night so he wouldn’t lie awake staring at Sasuke’s sleeping form like some kind of unhinged creep. A place where Sasuke had space that was his.

Sasuke’s stuff had begun to spread out, a book left on the table, extra clothes folded, his sword leaned against the wall now instead of being kept within arm’s reach at all times. The apartment felt… lived in. Less like a temporary shelter, less lonely.

The frog mug was surprisingly still in rotation, that stupid green thing Naruto had bought on a whim. Sasuke used it every morning without comment.

Then one evening, Sasuke came back from the market with a small paper bag. He set it on the counter and pushed it toward Naruto. “This is yours.”

Naruto blinked. “Huh?”

“Open it.”

Inside was a bowl. Bright orange, patterned with little green frogs hopping around the rim. It was clearly made for ramen, wide, deep for the broth, perfect. “For your ramen addiction,” Sasuke said.

Naruto stared at it, something warm was blooming in his chest all at once. “You… you bought this for me?”

“Hn.”

Naruto laughed, loud and a little unsteady. “Y’know, you didn’t have to—”

“I know.”

That shut him up.

Naruto cradled the bowl like it was fragile. “This is it,” he declared solemnly. “My most prized possession.”

Sasuke snorted before he could stop himself.

Naruto grinned. He used the bowl that very night, slurping ramen with exaggerated appreciation. “Tastes better already.”

“Idiot." Sasuke muttered, but there was no bite in it.

They still hadn’t talked about the elephant in the room. All the things people whispered about like they were blessings, like they were guarantees of happiness instead of complications waiting to happen.

Naruto hadn’t found his.

If this was what life looked like without one, with mornings sipping tea by the window together, ramen eaten out of a stupid frog bowl while Sasuke pretended not to watch him behind his own matching green frog mug. Naruto thought he could live with that, he was content like this. He wouldn’t trade this for anything in the world, not for promises or prophecies or some mark that might show up one day and demand everything from him.

If Sasuke found his…

Naruto didn’t let himself finish that thought.

It wasn’t like he could selfishly hog Sasuke all to himself. Sasuke had never belonged to him, not really. He was his own person, always had been. If fate decided to pull Sasuke in another direction, Naruto knew he’d have to let go.

Would he let go? Probably. Would it destroy him? Almost definitely.

As far as Naruto knew, Sasuke hadn’t searched for his soulmate either. He never mentioned marks, never asked questions, never showed even a flicker of curiosity when the topic came up around other people. It was like the whole concept simply didn’t apply to him, or maybe like he’d locked it away with everything else.

Naruto was scared to breach the subject. Every time he almost did, he imagined Sasuke going still, deciding that this was the moment to leave. So Naruto stayed quiet about it, he talked about missions he wasn’t getting, about Kakashi being annoying, about Ichiraku’s new menu item. He filled the silence so Sasuke wouldn’t have to.

And Sasuke, in turn, stayed.

He poured Naruto tea without asking, corrected Naruto when he overwatered the plants, sat close enough on the floor that their shoulders brushed. 

Some nights, when Sasuke slept, Naruto would stare at the ceiling and think, If this is all I ever get, it’s enough.

Sai and Ino turned out to be soulmates.

Naruto found out the same way everyone else did, by seeing it with his own eyes before they bothered to explain. He stared, openly and a little mournfully, at Sai’s side where yellow flowers bloomed delicately. Right over the place where there used to be that ugly, lonely black line.

Sai still wore the crop top like nothing had changed, pale skin on display, flowers bright against him. Naruto tried not to think too hard about it, but he couldn’t help it. The yellow suited Ino, it made sense. 

“What kind of flowers is that?” Naruto asked.

Naruto sucked at naming flowers but like the good florist Ino was, she obviously knew the answer. “Its Lily.” Ino answered with a blush on her cheeks as she grazed her fingertips against the mark on Sai’s side.

He smiled, congratulated them, then he went home and lay on his futon, staring up at the ceiling, fingers absently brushing over the S carved over his heart. Naruto wondered how his soulmate might look, what kind of flowers he might get.

There were so many villagers whose names started with S. Shopkeepers, shinobi, civilians, people he passed every day and never really saw. He hadn’t looked properly, not like he used to as a kid, desperate and hopeful and clinging to the idea that destiny would save him someday.

It wasn’t a conscious decision, it just… happened. He’d grown content, living with Sasuke in their tiny apartment, the place was theirs now, no longer just Naruto’s sad little box with a leaky ceiling.

Naruto slept on a futon on the floor. Sasuke asked to trade places some nights, “You don’t have to do this,” Sasuke would say.

Naruto always refused.

“It’s fine,” he’d insist, grinning. “I’m used to it. Besides, you deserve the bed.” He wanted the best for Sasuke, always had. If giving up the bed was the price, then so be it. 

Then one night, Sasuke said it casually, like it wasn’t a world-ending thing for Naruto “You can take the bed,” he said, leaning up on his elbow to look at Naruto down below. “I won’t be here tomorrow.”

Naruto froze.

“What?” He sat up on his futon so fast the blanket slid off his shoulders, heart slamming painfully against his ribs. “What do you mean you won’t be here? where are you going?”

Sasuke blinked. The Rinnegan glimmered behind the curtain of long black hair falling into his face. “I joined ANBU.”

For a second, Naruto honestly thought he’d misheard.

“You what?” he exploded. “Kakashi-sensei allowed you?!” He shot to his feet, hands flailing. “I feel like I’ve been under house arrest for months already! No missions, no field work, nothing and you just… fuck, I wanna join ANBU too!”

Sasuke watched him with amusement, head tilting just slightly. “You can’t even be discreet to save your life.”

Naruto opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again. “That’s, hey! That’s not—!”

But Sasuke was already looking away, as if the conversation was over. Naruto didn’t trust himself to say anything else. He grabbed his jacket and stormed out of the apartment, the hallway echoed with his footsteps, anger and panic tangling so tightly in his chest he couldn’t tell them apart. Just when he was getting used to this… Sasuke was always in some shit.

Naruto knew that nothing could ever truly stop Sasuke from doing whatever he wanted. He’d never been someone who stayed because he was asked to. “Damn it!” Naruto yelled into the empty street, fists clenched at his sides.

The next morning, the apartment felt wrong the moment Naruto woke up. The bed was empty.

Sasuke was gone. His sword was gone too, the space where it usually leaned against the wall was bare. Naruto stood there for a long moment, chest tight, half-expecting that familiar spike of panic, that sick certainty that Sasuke had left for good.

But his stuff was still there, the cactus by the window, the neatly folded clothes, the frog-shaped mug on the table, half full of green tea, still warm.

Naruto took the bed.

It didn’t smell like him anymore. The faint traces of detergent and old dust were gone, replaced by something unmistakably Sasuke, like shampoo combined with a clean smell. He buried his face into the pillow without thinking, inhaled deep, like that alone might settle the knot in his chest. It obviously didn’t.

It was the first time he’d slept alone since being released from the hospital. He kept expecting movement at the edge of his vision, the rustle of sheets, the soft exhale of breath, maybe a cough Sasuke tried and failed to suppress. There was always some proof that he wasn’t alone, now there was nothing.

Naruto shifted, turned onto his side, then onto his back, then back again, fingers gripping the blanket. He told himself this was stupid, that Sasuke was just on a mission, that he’d be back. Still, sleep crept up on him eventually, lulled by the familiar scent clinging to the sheets, his breath evening out as his body relaxed in spite of himself.

He didn’t notice when the mattress dipped. Didn’t stir when another body slipped beneath the blanket. Warmth pressed lightly against his side and Naruto only sighed in his sleep, instinctively shifting closer.

When he woke up the next morning, he was alone.

“Uh… Naruto-kun?”

Hinata fiddled with the sleeve at her wrist, fingers worrying the fabric until it twisted. They were walking side by side through the market, bags of food hanging from Naruto’s hands, it’d been a while since they’d done something this normal together.

“I was wondering…” Hinata hesitated. “I–I have— it’s my mark.”

Naruto perked up immediately, grin already forming even before he fully processed it. He turned toward her, blue eyes bright. “Yeah? You found your soulmate?” He leaned in, excited. “What were they like? I hope they’re treating you—”

“I have an N as my mark!” Hinata blurted, voice pitching higher than usual. A couple of people nearby glanced over. Hinata froze, face going crimson, shoulders curling in on herself as she clutched her sleeve. “S-sorry." she murmured.

Naruto’s smile faltered. “Oh.” His own mark burned faintly under his shirt.

Hinata swallowed, then slowly pulled up her sleeve. Oh, there it was, an N, Naruto stared at it for a moment before looking away with guilt twisting uncomfortably in his chest. “I’m sorry,” he said softly. “I didn’t mean to—”

“It’s okay,” Hinata rushed to say, shaking her head. “I just… I thought maybe you should know.” Her fingers curled over the mark, half-hiding it again. “I’ve tried to find my soulmate, i really did. But… they didn’t take.”

Naruto frowned. “Didn’t take?”

Hinata nodded, eyes dropping to the ground. “I met someone once, his name started with N. I thought… I hoped.” She laughed weakly. “But nothing happened.” She flexed her wrist slightly, the mark unmoving, unchanged.

Naruto didn’t know what to say at first. He shifted the grocery bags in his hands. “That sucks,” he finally said, earnest and unfiltered as always. “I mean not you, i mean the situation. You don’t suck, the situation sucks.”

Hinata let out a laugh.

“I guess,” she said and looked up at him then, really looked at him, “You haven’t found yours either… have you?”

Naruto shook his head.

“Naruto-kun, your name started with an N…” She trailed off, but Naruto already knew where this was going. He felt it as hope crept into her voice, how her eyes were searching for the mark on his body from head to toe. She pulled her sleeve up again, baring the N on her wrist. “Can you…?”

Naruto bit his lip. He didn’t want to hurt her, didn’t want to be another disappointment added to the list, but lying wouldn’t help either. “Sure." he said.

He set the grocery bags down and gently placed his hand over her wrist, engulfing it completely. His skin was tanned from years under the sun, standing out against her pale, delicate complexion. For just a second, his mind drifted to another person with lily-white skin, black hair—Naruto pushed the thought away.

And… nothing happened to her mark. “I thought—” Hinata’s eyes shimmered, tears spilling over before she could stop them.

Naruto pulled her into his chest, arms wrapping around her securely, one hand coming up to cradle the back of her head as she pressed her face against him, fingers clutching at his jacket as she cried.

“I’m sorry, Hinata." Naruto murmured, patted her head gently, letting her take all the time she needed. He didn’t say anything else since he knew better than to try and fix something that couldn’t be fixed with words.

The sun was setting, painting the village in orange and gold. Over Hinata’s shoulder, Naruto caught a reflection on the nearby wall, there was a dark silhouette standing against the fading light, the cat ears of an ANBU mask, a sword resting at his hip. 

When he turned around to look, the ANBU disappeared.

He walked Hinata home, her eyes were still a little red and puffy from earlier, long lashes clumped faintly where tears had dried. Naruto pretended not to notice, matching his pace to hers.

“I’m sorry, Naruto-kun,” Hinata said softly when they reached the tall iron gates of the Hyūga compound. The estate loomed behind her, so big and intimidating compared to the girl standing in front of him. “That was embarrassing.”

Naruto blinked. “Huh? Why would it be?”

Hinata gave a small, shy smile, fingers twisting together. “I was hoping it would be you,” she admitted. “I just… couldn’t contain the disappointment.”

“Eh? Me?” Naruto scratched the back of his head, ears warming. “I mean, I’m nothing special, you know?”

Hinata shook her head, long hair swaying. “You are,” she said firmly. “You’re an admirable person, Naruto-kun. Anyone would be lucky to have you.”

Naruto blinked. Before he could figure out what to say, Hinata turned toward the house. She paused at the gate, glanced back, and lifted her hand in a small wave. Naruto waved back, a little dazed, watching until the gates closed behind her.

Only then did he turn and start the walk home.

The sky had darkened by the time he reached the apartment building. When he opened the door, the apartment was dim and quiet. “I'm home!” Naruto called out, habit making him do it even when he knew better. He kicked off his sandals and stepped inside.

From the shadows near the window, a familiar voice answered. “You’re late.”

Naruto froze.

Slowly, he looked up.

Sasuke stood there, cloak discarded, ANBU mask resting on the table. His sword leaned against the wall where it always had, scuffed at the sheath from years of use. Naruto’s heart slammed into his ribs so hard it almost hurt.

“…Welcome home,” he said, breathless, like he’d just finished a sprint instead of a sentence.

It had been more than a week.

Naruto realized he was staring and didn’t even bother to stop himself. Sasuke wore the standard ANBU uniform, it was dark, sleeveless, hugging his muscles nicely. The exposed skin felt obscene somehow, erotic, it's just an arm! Get over yourself you sick fuck! Naruto berated himself internally as his eyes were still locked onto the tattoo on Sasuke’s upper arm.

Naruto took a step closer before he could overthink it, gaze tracing the lines of the tattoo, the subtle flex of muscle beneath it when Sasuke shifted his weight. He wanted, god, he wanted to touch it. Not like he always did when they touched before, not with fists flying and teeth bared and rage burning hot between them. Just… like this, careful, gentle. 

“You’re staring.” Sasuke said.

Naruto huffed out a weak laugh. “Can you blame me?” He gestured vaguely. “You disappear for a week and come back like that.”

Sasuke glanced down at his arm, then back up. “It’s just ink.”

Naruto lifted his hand halfway, then froze, fingers hovering inches from Sasuke’s skin. His pulse roared in his ears. “Can I…?” he asked, nodding toward the tattoo.

For a long moment, Sasuke studied Naruto’s face then he nodded once.

Naruto’s fingers immediately brushed his arm. He traced the edge of the tattoo with his thumb, slow and careful, as if it might burn him. Sasuke stiffened instantly, reflexive, shoulders tightening.

Naruto almost pulled away.

Then Sasuke exhaled and let it happen.

“Hinata thought I was her soulmate,” he blurted out. “Have you found yours yet, Sasuke?”

“Oh,” Sasuke said. “Is that so?”

“Yeah. I mean, I thought too it’d be nice if our initials matched.” It was a lie. Naruto stepped back, breaking whatever happened between them and crouched to undo the grocery bags. “She had an N on her wrist, you know?” he continued, focused very hard on lining up vegetables on the counter. “But it obviously isn’t my name or anything. I touched her and nothing happened.”

Behind him, Sasuke was quiet.

Naruto busied himself unpacking, rice, vegetables, instant ramen, tea leaves.

“…Nothing happened." Sasuke echoed.

“Yeah,” Naruto said, shrugging. “Guess that’s how you know, right?”

There was a soft sound behind him. Naruto risked a glance over his shoulder. Sasuke leaned forward slightly, forearm resting on his thigh as he sat down on the chair, his hair falling around his face, shadowing his expression.

“You seem disappointed.” Sasuke said.

Naruto blinked. “Huh?”

“With her,” Sasuke clarified. “You don’t sound relieved.”

Naruto stared at him then snorted quietly. “I don’t know if ‘relieved’ is the right word.” He straightened, resting his hands on the counter. “Hinata’s… kind.”

Sasuke hummed softly. “And you?” he asked. “Do you want to find yours?”

He hesitated. “I don’t know,” Naruto admitted. “I used to. A lot.” He laughed. “When I was a kid, I thought it’d fix everything.”

“And now?”

Naruto exhaled. “Now things are… okay. I kinda don’t wanna mess that up.”

Sasuke finally looked at him then. “I haven’t found mine,” 

Naruto’s breath caught. “Oh,” he said, trying to sound normal. “Yeah?”

“No,” Sasuke continued. “And I haven’t been looking.”

Naruto grinned, turning back to the counter. “Guess we’re both bad at destiny, huh?” and the topic was dropped.

When they prepared to sleep that night, Naruto was toweling his hair as he eyed Sasuke who had already laid down on the bed. He was on the side of the wall and there was a glaringly empty space beside him. “I think it's time we finally sleep together.”

Naruto’s brain short-circuited.

“Wh—what?!” The towel slipped from his fingers and hit the floor with a soft thump, but Naruto barely registered it. His face felt like it was on fire. “Sleep together?!”

“Not like that, dumbass.” Sasuke didn’t even look at him. “I saw you whining about your back yesterday.”

Naruto spluttered. “I wasn’t whining!”

“You were groaning every time you moved,” Sasuke said flatly.

Yesterday? Yesterday he’d slept on the bed alone since Sasuke had been gone on some secret ANBU mission. “…You saw that?”

Sasuke shrugged. “I came back late.”

So he watched me sleep, Naruto thought faintly. “I think I pulled a muscle or something,” he muttered, suddenly very interested in the wall.

Sasuke shifted, scooting farther until his back was flush with the wall, deliberately leaving an empty space beside him. “Come on. Don’t make it weird.”

It’s already weird! Naruto blurted internally, but he didn’t say it out loud.

He hesitated, then grabbed his pillow like a shield and sat gingerly on the edge of the bed he’d slept in alone for years. The moment he lay down, fuck… the bed was small, criminally small and causing their sides to be pressed together immediately. Naruto froze, staring at the ceiling, hyperaware of every point of contact, feeling body heat bleeding through the fabric of their clothes.

If he moved even an inch, he was pretty sure he’d roll straight onto the floor.

“…This isn’t working,” Sasuke muttered after a few tense minutes.

Naruto opened his mouth to agree, but Sasuke suddenly turned, strong hand gripping Naruto’s arm and shoulder, maneuvering him until he was on his side, facing Sasuke, legs tangled together under the thin blanket.

Naruto didn't dare to breathe as Sasuke settled close, closer than ever, forehead nearly brushing Naruto’s collarbone, breathing ghosted warm air against Naruto’s clothed chest, slow and even.

There was nowhere to go except falling off the bed.

Naruto stared at the top of Sasuke’s head, heart pounding so hard he was sure Sasuke could feel it, his new arm twitched uselessly at his side. Keep calm, he told himself desperately. It’s just Sasuke. 

“…You’re tense." Sasuke murmured.

Naruto let out a strangled laugh. “Gee, wonder why.”

Sasuke huffed softly and shifted just enough to make himself more comfortable, thigh pressing more firmly between Naruto’s legs. Naruto nearly ascended on the spot, what were they doing?! Sasuke was warm, they smelled the same of cheap soap and shampoo, shared out of convenience since there was no point in not sharing everything when they already lived together.

When he was a kid, this bed had been too big for him. He used to curl in on himself at the center, afraid of rolling too far and touching cold space that reminded him no one else was there. The nights back then were long and quiet and lonely, he’d never thought he’d be sharing it like this.

Sasuke’s remaining arm slipped around his waist, fingers idly toyed with the fabric of Naruto’s shirt, brushing back and forth in absent little motions that made Naruto’s skin prickle everywhere they touched. Naruto went completely still.

Sasuke didn’t seem to notice, or maybe he did, and just didn’t comment. His breathing was steady against Naruto’s chest, forehead tucked just beneath Naruto’s chin. Close enough that Naruto felt each inhale, each exhale, syncing without either of them trying. “This okay?” Sasuke asked.

Naruto nodded before realizing Sasuke couldn’t see it. “…Yeah,” he said hoarsely, then cleared his throat. “Yeah. It’s fine.”

Spooning like this, Sasuke was so close to his mark that Naruto was painfully tempted to look, to tilt his chin down, just a little, and see if the familiar S over his chest had changed.

What if there were flowers there now?

He didn’t move, fear rooted him in place, thick and heavy in his stomach. The mark had never changed before, not when Sasuke brushed past him, not when their hands accidentally collided. But honestly… Sasuke wasn’t touching it directly, just breathing over it so it was stupid to hope.

Stupid to expect anything different.

Still, the mark felt warmer than usual, spreading heat that Naruto couldn’t quite ignore. He pressed his lips together, breathing shallowly, trying to convince himself it was nothing. Just body heat, proximity, of Sasuke’s breath warming his skin through fabric.

Sasuke was the only person close to him he hadn’t checked. Everyone else had been easy, back then. Crude, even. He’d grabbed wrists, pressed palms together. Kids were simple like that, curious, fearless, unashamed of wanting answers immediately.

Being an adult ruined everything. Now there were consequences, things he couldn’t undo once he knew them. Sasuke was the one person who mattered enough to make the answer terrifying. The one person whose mark he didn’t want to test unless it meant something. 

Why did life have to be so complicated?

Sasuke shifted again, his chin nudging closer to Naruto’s shoulder. “You’re thinking too loud,” he muttered.

Naruto snorted softly. “Didn’t know you could hear thoughts now.”

“I can hear your breathing change,” Sasuke replied, annoyingly perceptive. His fingers flexed once against Naruto’s side. “What’s wrong?”

So many things, Naruto thought. You, mostly.

“Nothing,” he lied, automatically. Then, because it felt wrong to keep lying like this, he added more quietly, “Just… stuff.” He was thankful when Sasuke dropped the matter.

The next morning, Sasuke was already gone when he woke up and Naruto was massively disappointed to find his mark didn't change.

Sai found his Ino. Everyone still joked that they made no sense together until they saw how Sai’s eyes always followed her every time she was around the room.

Sakura found her Rock Lee. Naruto had nearly dropped his chopsticks when she told him, but the sight of Lee blushing so hard he looked like he might combust and Sakura smiling soft and fond made it impossible to argue. 

Shikamaru found his Temari. Of course he did, it was quite obvious, Naruto had watched them bicker from opposite sides of the room, hands never quite touching, until one day Temari rolled up her sleeve and Shikamaru went very, very quiet. After that, he complained more than ever but he also smiled more.

Shino… Naruto honestly had no idea. For all Naruto knew, Shino had already found his soulmate and just… never mentioned it. That sounded like him.

Shizune… Naruto didn’t know either. She and Tsunade-baa chan had vanished somewhere.

Samui wasn’t it, Princess Shizuka wasn’t it, Suigetsu definitely wasn’t it—Naruto still shuddered at that thought. Shuzume wasn’t it either. He had checked, awkwardly and always with that little spark of hope in his chest, only for it to fizzle out every single time.

Naruto almost screamed in a fit of rage but he remembered the breathing technique that Jiraiya sensei taught him. Naruto sucked in a deep breath through his nose, held it until his lungs burned, then let it out slowly, shoulders sagging as the tension drained from him.

“Okay,” he muttered to himself. “Okay. No point in throwing a tantrum.” He dragged a hand through his hair. “Not like it’s gonna make them magically appear.” He pressed his palm flat over his chest, right over the mark. The S stared back at him in his mind, stubborn and unchanged, just the same letter it had always been. “Everyone else makes it look so easy." he muttered. 

The list he crossed out kept growing longer as the months dragged by, names scratched through in thick, angry lines.

Sasori.

Shisui.

Naruto stared at those two for a long moment, pencil hovering before he finally drew a line through them as well. Okay okay maybe he hadn’t gone about this in the most ethical way and maybe he had stolen the list of shinobi straight off Kakashi-sensei’s desk when the man wasn’t looking. In his defense, it was just sitting there, practically asking to be borrowed.

“There’s no way,” Naruto muttered to himself, slumping back in his chair. “No way my soulmate’s dead. Right?” He frowned at Sasori’s name, nose wrinkling. “And definitely not that guy. Creepy puppet freak, hard pass.” Just thinking about him sent a shiver down Naruto’s spine. 

Shisui... Naruto hesitated there. From what he’d heard, Shisui had been kind, the sort of person people spoke about with regret instead of fear. Still, dead was dead. 

He folded the paper, unfolded it, then flattened it again, smoothing the creases with his palm. The list was getting shorter and the more names he crossed out, the louder the question in his head became.

If it’s not them… then who’s left?

Naruto’s eyes flicked, traitorous, toward the tiny bed again.

He groaned and dropped his head back against the chair. “Nope. Not going there,” he told himself firmly. “Absolutely not.”

The mark on his chest gave a faint warmth in response, like it was amused.

Naruto pressed a hand over his sternum and sighed. “You’re not helping,” he grumbled. He knew it was Kurama messing with him.

“What about Saiken?” Kurama rumbled from the depths of Naruto’s mindscape.

“Who?” Naruto replied automatically, already suspicious.

“The Six-Tails.”

“Don’t joke with me like that!” he scoffed. “You’re seriously suggesting a giant slug is my soulmate now?”

“You were very earnest about Shukaku once,” Kurama said dryly. “Declared him your one and only. Drew hearts in the dirt and everything.”

“I was a kid,” Naruto snapped back, mortified all over again. “And I was stupid, you old fox!”

“Stupid?” Kurama echoed, amused. “You sure are.”

Naruto spluttered. “Hey! I grew up!”

“Debatable,” Kurama replied, sounding far too pleased with himself. “You are avoiding the most obvious answer because you are afraid of it.”

Naruto frowned, staring at the ceiling of his apartment. “There is no obvious answer.”

Kurama huffed, “Mm. Keep telling yourself that.”

“I’m not destined for a bijuu or a slug or whatever else you’re thinking.”

“You humans complicate things all on your own. It is almost impressive.”

Naruto was slumped on the dining table, fast asleep. He didn't realize Sasuke went back home and read the list he made with his name at the very bottom, the only one still uncrossed.

Sasuke reached out without thinking and nudged the paper slightly to place it where it was before. The movement made Naruto stir, mumbling incoherently, nose wrinkling before he went still again. Sasuke froze, breath held, but Naruto didn’t wake.

Naruto got a job at the Academy somehow. He still wasn’t entirely sure how that happened, one minute Kakashi was sighing at him over paperwork, the next Iruka was clapping him on the shoulder with a grin too wide to be suspicious, and suddenly Naruto Uzumaki was a certified instructor.

He cut his hair short after that, short enough that it didn’t fall into his eyes anymore and wouldn't get caught under his hitai-ate. He wore less orange too because one morning he looked at Sasuke’s coat hanging on the back of the door and thought, huh, maybe black didn't look so bad. 

Sasuke still hadn’t left.

That, more than Naruto standing in front of a classroom, felt like the real surprise of the century.

At the Academy, kids loved him. Like, genuinely loved him. Naruto hadn’t expected that, he thought they’d see right through him, see the screwups, how he sometimes forgot what he was saying mid-sentence. But they watched him like he was something out of a storybook, tiny faces pressed to the windows when he and his class trained outside, whispering and giggling and daring each other to wave.

“Watch this!” Naruto yelled one afternoon, forming a clone and immediately drop-kicking it across the training yard.

The clone exploded into smoke. The kids lost their minds.

“Did you see that?!”

“Do it again!”

“Can you do it to a real enemy?!”

Naruto laughed, bright and loud. It felt like the old days of Konohamaru stalking him, Udon sniffling, Moegi tugging on his sleeve like Naruto was the coolest person alive just for existing. He didn't particularly want to teach Konohamaru something back then but he relented and half assedly taught him the Rasengan, complete with the gah and bam screams in order to activate it. Now that he thought about it, Konohamaru was kind of smart for figuring it out on his own.

“Gah!” Konohamaru yelled, chakra sputtering.

“No, no—bam, not gah,” Naruto corrected automatically.

“BAM!”

The chakra sphere wobbled, collapsed, then reformed.

Naruto stared. “…Huh,” he said, scratching his cheek. “You’re kinda smart.” Konohamaru beamed.

Naruto came home tired in a good way and Sasuke was already there, sitting at the table with a book open. “You smell like chalk." Sasuke said without looking up.

“Kids. They’re terrifying.”

Sasuke hummed, he glanced up then, eyes lingering on Naruto’s shorter hair, the toned-down clothes. “It suits you.”

Naruto’s step faltered just a bit.

“Oh… uh thanks.” He went to the kitchen to hide his face, heart thudding stupidly fast and didn’t notice Sasuke watching him.

His teaching schedule and Sasuke’s ANBU schedule were rarely aligned anymore. Some days Naruto came home bone-tired with his voice hoarse from yelling over a class of hyperactive kids, only to find Sasuke already asleep. On those nights, Naruto took the futon without complaint, staring up at the ceiling and listening to the quiet proof that Sasuke was still here.

Other nights, Naruto was the one who fell asleep first.

Tonight was one of those.

He wasn’t out cold, not like the exhausted, dreamless sleep he usually crashed into. He registered the soft click of the door, the way Sasuke moved through the apartment. Fabric rustled and the faint metallic scent of steel and rain followed him in.

Then the bed dipped. A warm body slid in behind him, an arm hesitated before settling around Naruto’s waist, palm resting flat against his stomach and Sasuke breathed into the nape of his neck.

Naruto suppressed a shudder, jaw tightening as heat curled low in his spine. He stayed still, focused on keeping his breathing even, pretending he was fully asleep. Sasuke’s breath was warm, steady, brushing against skin that was suddenly far too sensitive. Naruto felt the rise and fall of Sasuke’s chest against his back, the solid press of him—okay that was not helping him pretending to sleep.

“Can’t sleep?” Sasuke murmured, clearly aware Naruto wasn’t fully gone.

Naruto swallowed. “No, i'm sleeping.”

A soft huff of amusement ghosted against his skin. “You’re lying.”

“Okay,” Naruto admitted. “But you smell like rain.”

Sasuke shifted closer, nose brushing the shell of Naruto’s ear. “Mission was a mess.”

Naruto’s fingers curled into the sheet. “You hurt?”

“No,” Sasuke said, “Not badly.”

Naruto didn’t push. Instead, he leaned back just enough for his spine to rest more fully against Sasuke’s chest. Sasuke stilled, then tightened his arm around Naruto’s waist, thumb pressing lightly into the fabric of his shirt, right over where Naruto’s mark lay hidden beneath cotton and skin.

Somehow the fact that his soulmate mark was an S became an open secret at the Academy.

Naruto still didn’t know exactly how it happened. Whatever the cause, it was a nightmare now.

“Sensei! Sensei!”

A small hand shot up before Naruto even finished writing on the board.

“My name starts with an S!”

Naruto visibly blanched.

“That’s uh… great,” he said weakly, turning back to the board a little too fast. “Good job knowing your alphabet.”

It didn’t stop there.

“Sensei, touch my mark!”

“Mine’s an S too!”

“My sister has an S, can she come tomorrow?”

Every single day.

Naruto started sweating on sight. He’d laugh it off at first, wave his hands, tell them soulmarks were private and important and not something you bother your teacher about. But kids were relentless, bright-eyed and hopeful and completely unaware of how badly they were poking at something raw.

Holy crap.

This was probably his fault.

He remembered himself at that age, he was grabbing wrists, yanking up sleeves, demanding answers. He’d never thought about the consequences back then, never imagined that one day he’d be on the other side of it.

“Sensei, is your soulmate a princess?” one kid asked.

Naruto choked on air. “No!”

“A kunoichi?”

“A civilian?”

“A cat?”

“A cat?” Naruto echoed faintly.

“I heard sometimes it’s animals,” the kid insisted.

“No,” Naruto said firmly. “Absolutely not. Pay attention!” He felt bad for his sensei back in the day.

At lunch, Iruka gave him a sympathetic look. “You should’ve known better than to let children know anything about your personal life.”

Naruto slumped over his bento. “I don’t even have a personal life.”

That night, when he came home, Sasuke noticed immediately.

“You look exhausted,” Sasuke said, setting down his tea.

Naruto groaned and flopped face-first onto the table. “The kids think I’m some kind of soulmate machine.”

Sasuke paused. “…Explain.”

Naruto muffled his voice against the wood. “They keep asking me to touch their marks because their names start with S.”

“That’s unfortunate.” Sasuke said.

Naruto lifted his head just enough to squint at him. “You’re enjoying this.”

“I’m not." Sasuke replied.

Naruto huffed, sitting up again. “I brought this on myself, didn’t I? Kid Naruto was a menace.”

“Yes.” Sasuke said without hesitation.

“…Rude.”

Still, when Naruto caught Sasuke’s gaze lingering on his chest, Naruto’s breath hitched. The only S that mattered the most was sitting right there.

He hadn’t seen Sasuke for a week after that.

Naruto told himself not to worry. Sasuke didn’t leave things behind when he left, that much Naruto knew. So he focused on work—“Alright, listen up!” Naruto clapped his hands together in the training yard, forcing brightness into his voice. “Today we’re practicing chakra control.”

He held up a water balloon, green with little frog patterns printed all over it. His fingers tightened around the rubber as his mind wandered to Sasuke’s deadpan look when Naruto had handed him the frog mug.

“Sensei?” one of the kids asked.

Naruto blinked, refocused. “Right—sorry. Uh, you spin your chakra in your palm,” he demonstrated, “keep it dense, keep it tight like you’re stirring soup but without spilling it,” he finished lamely.

The kids groaned in unison.

“This is hard!”

“My balloon keeps wobbling!”

From the back of the group, Konohamaru cupped his hands and yelled, “BAM!”

There was a loud pop.

Water splashed everywhere as his balloon exploded, drenching two unfortunate classmates.

Naruto winced. “Konohamaru!”

Konohamaru grinned, completely unrepentant. “It worked though!”

“It did not—” Naruto started, then froze as Konohamaru pumped his fist.

“Sensei, try teaching them the gah and bam method!”

Naruto facepalmed so hard it echoed.

“That method does not exist,” he groaned. “I made that up to mess with you!”

The kids immediately lit up.

“Sensei invented a secret technique!”

“Teach us the fake one!”

“Gah! Bam!”

Naruto dragged his hand down his face, peeking through his fingers. Somewhere, somehow, this was karma, pure, distilled karma. “Alright, alright! One at a time! And no more BAMs until I say so!”

The kids cheered.

“Naruto, wake up!” Kurama snarled inside his mindscape.

Naruto jolted upright, heart slamming against his ribs since Kurama only sounded like that when something was very wrong.

He was out the door in seconds.

Outside, the entire neighborhood was awake. People stood in the streets in nightclothes and half-fastened jackets, faces tilted skyward with their mouths open in horror. Naruto followed their gaze.

“Holy crap,” he breathed, stomach dropping.

A child screamed somewhere, someone shouted orders, someone else fell to their knees.

Naruto launched himself upward, the sudden gust of air was knocking hats and loose leaves into the air. Gasps rose from the civilians below as he met the first meteor midair, fist slamming into molten stone with a thunderous boom, it sent shockwaves rippling through the air, heat licking against his skin as the meteor shattered into fragments that burned out before they could reach the ground.

Naruto twisted, kicking another meteor sideways, redirecting its trajectory so it exploded harmlessly over the forest instead of the village. “Who did this?!” he shouted.

“It’s a natural disaster, stupid,” Kurama rumbled. “The world does not revolve around your enemies.”

Naruto grit his teeth. “Could’ve warned me!”

A massive one ripped the morning clouds, bigger than the rest. Naruto inhaled, body flaring orange as he slammed into it with both fists. The impact rattled up his arms but the meteor cracked apart under the sheer force, fragments raining down like dying stars.

Below him, ANBU were everywhere now.

Rabbit mask directing evacuations with hand signals, bear anchoring a barrier jutsu, dog sprinting across rooftops faster than Naruto’s eyes could track.

After Madara, after Kaguya, after everything they’d survived, there was no way Naruto was going to let the village get wiped out by rocks like some helpless dinosaurs. There was a shadow over him and when he looked up, it was easily the biggest one yet, a burning continent of stone and fire blotting out the stars, its edges glowing red-hot as it dragged the sky down with it. It filled his vision, dwarfed everything else, big enough that for a second Naruto thought it was Konoha coming down on top of itself.

Orange chakra was pouring out of him, spiraling tighter and tighter as he dragged power from every corner of himself. He planted his feet in midair, fist raised—

But then a blinding flash split the sky, and the massive rock didn’t explode so much as… vanish. Pulverized into nothing, erased so completely that even the flames were snuffed out mid-burn. Naruto looked back, seeing the cat mask of ANBU standing on top of the Godaime head sculpture on the Hokage mountain. 

Naruto felt his lips lifted up and he waved, watching as Sasuke did the creepy eye thing. 

Naruto exhaled slowly, shoulders dropping as he watched Sasuke from afar. “Took you long enough,” he said softly, more to the wind than anything else.

The cat-masked ANBU was already gone.

He wanted to plop face-first into his bed and wallow in self-pity, maybe scream into a pillow for good measure, but people needed help, so he swallowed the ache in his chest and moved.

Naruto helped wherever he could even as exhaustion crept into his bones. Some roofs had been smashed clean through where meteor fragments slipped past the barrier, tiles scattered, walls skewed. He released hundreds of shadow clones in a puff of smoke and the street was instantly filled with versions of himself sprinting off in every direction.

“Hospital’s this way!”

“Easy, granny, I’ve got you.”

“Hey! has anyone seen a gray cat? No? Okay, keep an eye out!”

Clones carried injured civilians on their backs, others hauled fallen trees aside, more climbed rooftops to patch holes with temporary sealing jutsu. One clone spent a ridiculous amount of time coaxing a shrieking, half-feral cat out from under a collapsed vegetable stand, emerging scratched to hell but triumphant.

By the time the last clone dispersed and their memories flooded back into him all at once, the sun was already high in the sky, bright and unforgiving. His stomach twisted hungrily, he hadn’t eaten breakfast, or lunch.

He dragged himself home. The moment he opened the front door, he grabbed the frog mug from the counter and drank straight from the rim. The tea was lukewarm and slightly bitter, but it slid down his throat like life itself.

“Ugh,” he muttered, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

Bathroom, then shower, and laid down in his bed. That was a nice plan. He trudged down the hall, pushed the bathroom door open without knocking and froze.

Steam filled the room, warm and thick, fogging the mirror. Water hissed steadily from the showerhead. Sasuke stood beneath it with his back turned, head bowed slightly, dark hair plastered to his neck and shoulders. Soap suds clung to his pale skin, sliding slowly down the lines of his back.

Naruto’s breath caught as his eye sight went on Sasuke’s right shoulder blade, there was a mark, only half-covered by foam.

A soulmate mark.

Naruto couldn’t see the letter. Just the curve of it, the promise of it. “S—sorry!” he blurted, already scrambling backward like he’d been burned.

Too late.

Sasuke turned his head. Water streamed down his face, lashes dark and wet, a few strands of hair sticking to his cheekbone. He looked exhausted, but Naruto’s mouth went dry at how unfairly beautiful he was. “…Naruto?” Sasuke said.

Naruto stood there like an idiot, hand half-raised, eyes very deliberately not looking anywhere near Sasuke’s shoulder. “I thought you weren’t home. I mean uh I didn’t know, I wasn’t—sorry, I’ll just—” He gestured vaguely behind him, words tripping over each other.

Sasuke didn’t turn away, he watched Naruto quietly, dark eyes searching his face, the water kept running and wetting his eyelids, his lips.

“…There were meteors,” Sasuke said. 

“Yeah.” Naruto swallowed. “Kinda hard to miss.”

Another pause. The sound of water filled it.

Sasuke turned his body a little more, enough that Naruto had to force himself to look away completely now. “You okay?”

Naruto nodded too fast. “Yeah. I mean…yeah. Village is fine. Everyone’s fine.”

Sasuke’s eyes lingered on him, “You didn’t eat.”

Naruto blinked. “…How do you—”

“You always get like this,” Sasuke said. “When you push yourself.”

He rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly unable to meet Sasuke’s gaze. “You disappeared for a week,” he said before he could stop himself. “I thought maybe…”

Sasuke’s expression shifted and guilt flickered there, “I needed space,” he said. “To think.”

Naruto nodded, his eyes drifted, traitorous, back to that dark mark on Sasuke’s shoulder blade. “…I didn’t mean to walk in,” Naruto said quietly.

Naruto should’ve turned around. That was the sensible thing. 

Pretended he hadn’t seen anything, retreated to the kitchen, running to the nearest bar and drowning himself in alcohol and bad decisions later. Seeing the mark should be enough, that it was still just as dark, unbloomed, unchanged. Proof that Sasuke was still… waiting, just like him.

But Sasuke finished rinsing the suds from his skin, water tracing over muscle and skin, gathering at his collarbones before slipping down his sides. The steam thickened the air, clung to Naruto’s lungs until breathing felt like work. Naruto hadn’t meant to step closer, he honestly hadn’t. One second he was frozen in the doorway, the next the water was soaking through his white shirt, plastering it to his chest.

Sasuke frowned now, side eyeing the front patch of his shirt and he thought he saw the redness of his Sharingan but when he blinked, Sasuke’s eye was back to its black color, he must be imagining it then.

“Can i?” Naruto's hand hovered over the mark now bearing the word N, biting his bottom lip so hard he tasted blood.

“Suit yourself.” Sasuke said and Naruto stepped even closer, hand hesitating over the warm skin, a bit reddish from the heat of the water but the mark stood out. It was no wonder he couldn't find any trace of it since it was on his back all along.

Naruto stalled, he pressed himself closer, chest to Sasuke’s back and the contact was stealing the breath straight out of his lungs. Sasuke stiffened instinctively before he exhaled slowly, shoulders dropping.

The water cascaded over both of them now, drumming against Naruto’s shoulders, running down Sasuke’s front where Naruto’s hand rested at his bare stomach. Sasuke’s skin was hot from the shower, slick beneath Naruto’s palms, and Naruto had to clench his fingers just to keep them from shaking.

He leaned in and pressed a kiss to Sasuke’s shoulder. It was tentative, barely there, lips brushing wet skin, but Sasuke sucked in a breath and the flush Naruto had noticed earlier deepened, spreading across his shoulders, creeping up the back of his neck, staining the pale skin in a furious red.

Naruto swallowed hard. “Sasuke,” he breathed.

Sasuke didn’t tell him to stop. His hand lifted instead, bracing against the tiled wall, fingers splaying as his head dipped forward, droplets trailing down his throat. Naruto felt every breath he took, could feel how it hitched, how it never quite steadied.

Encouraged, recklessly perhaps, Naruto kissed his skin again, a little firmer this time, lingering at the curve where shoulder met neck. He felt Sasuke’s back arch into him almost imperceptibly. “Idiot,” Sasuke murmured.

Naruto’s arms tightened around him, forehead resting between Sasuke’s shoulder blades, his heart was pounding so hard it felt like it might crack his ribs open and it took him a moment to get his shit together. Slowly, Naruto finally lifted one hand from Sasuke’s stomach until his fingertips hovered over the mark. 

He touched it. Just barely, pads of his fingers brushing the edge of the N.

Sasuke let out a quiet sound and Naruto froze, watching a single orange bud pushed through the ink-dark letter, unfurling as if it had been waiting for years for that exact touch. “Oh my god,” Naruto breathed out.

Another followed, then another, petals spilling sideway slowly. One became five, five became ten, clustered thick and bright, color vivid against Sasuke’s pale skin. They crept upward, spreading over the curve of his shoulder, climbing toward his neck like living sunlight, warm and faintly luminous beneath the steam of the shower.

It was big, unlike Sai’s single lily, unlike Rock Lee’s single pink peony on his thigh. 

“If you give me orange flowers I'm gonna kill you.” Sasuke threatened.

“Oh! Uhm… about that…” Naruto answered sheepishly.

Sasuke went very, very still.

Sasuke twisted just enough to look over his shoulder, dark eyes flicking down to the mark. “…You’ve got to be kidding me,” 

Naruto was staring, his brain short-circuited. His mouth opened, closed, then opened again. “I swear I didn’t choose orange,” he blurted. “It just happened! I didn’t even know it could do that, y’know? Multiple flowers, I mean! Kurama never mentioned—”

Sasuke finally turned properly then with water streaming down his chest, “You touched it,” he said.

Naruto nodded. “Barely. I didn’t even press. I was scared it wouldn’t…” He cut himself off, laughing. “Guess I didn’t need to worry about that, huh.”

“You’re unbelievable.” His gaze dropped to Naruto’s chest, to where the S lay hidden beneath soaked fabric. “…So?”

Naruto blinked. “S-so?”

“Your mark.” 

He hooked his fingers into the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his head in one quick motion. The air felt cooler immediately, water dripping down his bare chest as he tossed the shirt aside without looking.

Sasuke’s gaze didn’t even try to pretend it wasn’t staring. It dragged slowly from Naruto’s shoulders down his chest, following the lines of muscle, down to his stomach before flicking back up again. When they locked eyes, Naruto saw that he activated the Sharingan, red and purple eyes were peering at him from under wet lashes.

Naruto flushed. Hard. “Hey don’t look at me like that!”

“When did you get so big?” Sasuke muttered, more to himself than anything else. He reached out, palm settling over Naruto’s unmarked pec and squeezed.

“Oh shit,” Naruto breathed, every coherent thought promptly evacuating out of his skull. “You see me like… every day!”

“Yeah,” Sasuke said, still looking, thumb absentmindedly pressing into warm skin, “but never shirtless.”

Naruto shivered and it had nothing to do with the cooling water.

Sasuke’s eyes finally landed on the dark, unbloomed S marked over Naruto’s chest. “So this is the famous S mark, huh.”

“Famous?” Naruto squeaked.

“You don’t know?” Sasuke huffed. “People talked about it. A lot.”

“The kids you mean? But fuck,” Naruto groaned, scrubbing a hand over his face. “Does that even matter?” He dropped his hand, eyes bright and a little wild now. “Touch me now, Sasuke.” His hands stayed hanging uselessly at his sides as he waited.

With his thumb, Sasuke touched the mark. The first buds were small and tight, a deep violet that almost looked black. They watched together as the buds unfurled petal by petal, the flowers multiplied, branching softly along Naruto’s collarbone, curling upward until they brushed the line of his neck and they stopped there.

Sasuke still had his Sharingan on, catching every detail. “…Purple,” he murmured. “Figures.”

Naruto was crying outright now, shoulders shaking as he laughed and sobbed at the same time. “It suits you,” he said again, voice thick. “I thought it wouldn’t take, that I’d ruin everything if it didn’t. That maybe…” He shook his head, pressing his forehead against Sasuke’s. “That’s why I didn’t want to try.”

“I don’t…” Sasuke started, then stopped. “I had a lot of time to think, I didn’t want to try either. I needed to know that what I felt wasn’t just some dumb mark deciding my life for me.” His fingers flexed on Naruto's chest, knuckles pale. “I’ve been controlled enough, i didn’t want this to be another thing telling me who to be… or who to want.”

“I get it,” Naruto said softly. He really did. 

His eyes were fixed on the orange flowers peeking from behind Sasuke’s shoulder, the petals weaving prettily around the line of his neck. They were warm, nothing like the angry, invasive black of the curse mark that had once spread across Sasuke’s skin. Still, the memory made Naruto’s chest ache as a flash of helpless rage, of watching Sasuke suffer and not being able to rip it away fast enough flashed in his mind. His hand lifted, hovering before he let his knuckles brush lightly against Sasuke’s collarbone. 

Sasuke seemed to know what he was thinking. He reached up, fingers brushing the flowers as if to reassure himself that they weren’t burning or biting or sinking into his skin like Orochimaru’s curse once had. “They’re not like that,” Sasuke answered Naruto’s unspoken fear. “They don’t hurt.”

“I swear, nothing like that will ever touch you again. Not as long as I’m breathing.” 

Sasuke only gave him a small smile.

Wiping his tears away with the heel of his palm, Naruto suddenly became acutely aware of the fact that Sasuke was very, very naked. He’d been so caught up in the mark that it hadn’t registered until now. And now that it had… Don’t look, don’t look, don’t—

But his traitorous eyes were flickering down before snapping back up a few seconds later, face burning hot enough to rival the shower. With the Sharingan still activated and the Rinnegan always awake, of course Sasuke fucking noticed. Nothing escaped those eyes, noticing that Naruto’s cheeks had a rosy hue, the desire written all over his face, at how wide his pupils dilated, eating away the sky blue.

There was the faintest curve to his mouth, he lifted a hand and brushed his thumb across Naruto’s bottom lip, grazing the lingering bite mark where Naruto had worried it raw. “Idiot,” Sasuke murmured.

Then he leaned in and pressed their lips together.

Air filled his lungs almost too rapidly, rushing in through his nose and leaving him dizzy, light-headed, like the world had tilted off its axis. Sasuke’s hand twitched uselessly on his shoulder before he let his fingers fisted in his hair at the back of Naruto's head, just above the nape of his neck. 

Sasuke was leading this and all Naruto could do was take and take and take, greedily, shamelessly since he’d been starved for a glimpse of affection his entire life and had just been handed everything he ever wanted. His knees went weak, muscles trembling as he felt hyper aware of everything, of heat, of closeness, of how little space there actually was between them before Sasuke closed the gap entirely and their fronts pressed flush together.

A quiet moan slipped from Naruto’s throat.

Naruto reached up and fisted the long hair at the back of Sasuke’s head, fingers curling tight as he let his jaw fall farther open. He pulled them both in deeper, breath mingling, heart pounding so loud he was sure Sasuke could feel it through their chests. 

Sasuke made sounds Naruto didn’t think were possible.

He’d heard Sasuke grunt in battle, heard him sigh in irritation, breathe out through clenched teeth when he was in pain, but this was different. These weren’t loud or dramatic, nothing that could be mistaken for pain or unpleasantness. They were small, a hitch in his breath when Naruto’s teeth caught his bottom lip and another soft, airy sound that slipped free before Sasuke could stop it when Naruto's tongue licked the pain away.

The noises ghosted right against Naruto’s mouth, vibrating through him, settling low in his lower stomach as Sasuke exhaled shakily, fingers tightening in Naruto’s hair. It was strangely erotic. 

Naruto had always imagined what kissing Sasuke would feel like, really kissing him, not the accidental collision of mouths they’d shared as kids. He’d pictured it slow or heated or maybe both, imagined Sasuke’s lips bruising his this time from his teeth, not from Naruto clumsily biting himself in panic like back then.

“Fuck, Sasuke—” he panted. He cupped Sasuke’s face in his hands as he dove in for another kiss with all the years of restraint and wanting, bleeding through the press of their mouths.

Sasuke kissed back just as enthusiastically, matching Naruto’s urgency and there were teeth grazing the tip of Naruto’s tongue that made heat coiled tighter in his stomach and he let out a moan. Sasuke chased that sound, licking along the roof of Naruto’s mouth before pulling back.

Naruto panted, bending forward, mouth hovering over the damp hollow of Sasuke’s neck. His breath ghosted over wet skin, heat pooling there and he barely registered the click of the shower being turned off. The sudden quiet made everything louder, heavy breathing could be heard more prominently even as blood rushed through his ears.

He nipped at the place where Sasuke’s shoulder met his neck, color bloomed beneath his lips, a bruise forming right at the edge where the orange flowers ended. Naruto stared dazedly, studying the way the colors bled into each other, of warm orange, deep violet, flushed skin beneath it all and thought that whatever those flowers were called, they had never looked more beautiful than they did right now.

Naruto almost cracked his head open against the wall when Sasuke pushed him down on the bed. The bed fucking sucked but the smallness of it worked in his favor as Sasuke rode him. Sasuke’s hair was still wet, droplets of water sliding free and splashing against Naruto’s cheeks as he leaned over him, shadowing him completely. “Fuck,” Naruto breathed, the word torn out of him.

The muscles in Sasuke’s thighs jumped when Naruto pistoned his cock just right, eyelids fluttering with each slapping thrust he reseated himself with and Naruto's hands grappled at wherever they could hold. 

Red and purple eyes peered down at him from behind a curtain of black hair, nails leaving red marks around Naruto’s own purple flowers. Naruto willed his feet flat against the bed, angling his hips to nail Sasuke’s prostate on every upstroke who rewarded him with a winding cry, one hand scrabbling at Naruto’s chest until Naruto caught it, pressing a kiss to his palm and trailing it up to his wrist.

“You look beautiful like this.” Naruto murmured, noting the red hue of Sasuke’s pale skin, and Sasuke unexpectedly clenched at the praise.

“S-shut up.” 

Leaning up, Naruto used his core strength to flip them up and accidentally hit Sasuke’s head on the wall. “Fuck, your place sucks.” Sasuke grumbled.

Sliding back in again, Naruto groaned, marveling at the warmth, the tightness gripping his cock, “I know i know.” Naruto leaned down to press a kiss on top of Sasuke’s head and moved his hips slowly. Sasuke quaked at even the smallest motion, fuck, he had never having seen a sight this beautiful. “I've been thinking of getting a bigger place.”

Sasuke ignored him. He licked his hand before trailing it down to jack himself off, Naruto could only watch, stunned, hands tightened on Sasuke’s hips, setting a faster rhythm until the old bed protested beneath them, creaking loudly, rocking Sasuke along with every movement.

“Cumming—cumming!” Sasuke groaned, head tipped back, Naruto swallowed at the sight of the long line of that pale neck, marked up, totally his to keep, his to love, his to possess, he would never let Sasuke go.

Feeling the familiar tight knot in his gut, Naruto grunted. “Come for me—” And Sasuke did. It hit hard and sudden, an assault that stole the breath right out of Naruto’s lungs of watching something so beautiful. Sasuke’s voice cracked on a helpless groan, his whole body shuddering, trembling like he couldn’t quite stay contained in his own skin.

Naruto followed not long after because really… who could hold out with Sasuke baring his neck like that, hands still milking his own cock? Certainly not him. At the wet warmth inside, Sasuke’s moan rang deep, low and resonant, echoing straight through Naruto’s bones. 

In the hazy aftermath, Naruto thought that he might get addicted to this feeling.

They still hadn’t moved out after that, but Naruto was fine with it. They slept in the same bed every night despite Sasuke’s habitual grumbling about Naruto hogging the blanket, even though Sasuke always woke up half-frozen and tangled in Naruto's legs anyway.

Sometimes Naruto would lie awake and watch the slow rise and fall of Sasuke’s chest. He couldn’t stop looking at the purple flowers blooming across his own skin in wonder, fingertips brushing over them like they might vanish if he pressed too hard. And he couldn’t stop leaning in to trace his lips over the orange blossoms peeking from the neckline of Sasuke’s loose shirt while he slept.

Some days, Naruto would stare at the ceiling and think it was all a dream, that he’d wake up to an empty chest and Sasuke’s familiar cold shoulder. But Sasuke always seemed to sense his unease before Naruto even spoke. Half-asleep, he’d reach out, fingers threading into Naruto’s hair, a soft pat here and there, and then a brief kiss pressed to the corner of Naruto’s lips, as if to say I’m still here. 

He didn't know that Sasuke was even capable of being sweet like that.

And every time, Naruto would close his eyes, breathe him in, and believe it again.

Everything had changed and somehow, nothing had.

Naruto still taught at the Academy, still wrangled overexcited kids and wiped chalk dust from his sleeves at the end of the day, but now there was never a day that went by without someone staring a little too long at his chest. People kept asking about his mark, girls and guys alike tried to crowd him, tugging at their own collars, sleeves, even waistbands to show off marks that started with an N.

Like, come on. There were other people in the village whose names started with N. This was getting ridiculous.

He was flattered, he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t, but it was also deeply, profoundly exhausting.

“A war hero.” someone would gasp.

“Do you think I’d stand a chance with him?” someone else would whisper, not nearly quietly enough, and Naruto would hear every word of it, ears burning as he pretended not to.

Under Sasuke’s strict, non-negotiable command, Naruto was forbidden from running around shirtless just to prove he was off the market, and absolutely banned from dragging Sasuke by the wrist through the village to announce that he was his. 

What a shame.

Naruto would’ve loved nothing more than to show him off, to grin and say yeah, he is mine, look at him, isn’t he incredible? But Sasuke had always been a private person and Naruto respected that even if it meant biting back the urge to boast, to glow just a little too brightly.

People wouldn’t know that Sasuke was capable of feeling at all, judging by his annoyed expression that never left his face, like the rest of the world was a mild inconvenience he tolerated out of obligation. 

They wouldn’t know that he liked drinking tea from a stupid green frog mug. They wouldn’t know that most days, when he thought Naruto wasn’t paying attention, Sasuke would pause in front of the mirror and twist his body just slightly, craning his neck to look at the mark on his shoulder. They wouldn’t know how he pretended not to notice when Naruto watched him do it, or how his ears would turn faintly pink when Naruto caught his reflection in the mirror and smiled.

Sasuke was sweet in his own ways, easy to miss if people weren’t looking closely, but Naruto always was.

“So what kind of flowers are these?” Naruto eventually asked. He’d thought about sneaking into the Academy library more than once to do research, but the image of being caught by one of his pubescent students with his clothes open and chest on display was enough to make his soul leave his body. He’d rather die. 

Sasuke looked deadpan, “i… i dont know “ It looked like it pained him to admit something he didn't know.

“You don’t know something? Wow. The world really is ending.”

Sasuke shot him a glare. “Shut up, it’s not like i’ve ever cared about flowers.”

After many hours of begging, actual begging, complete with groaning and clinging to Sasuke’s sleeve, he eventually relented. Sasuke walked a step ahead of him, hands shoved deep into his pockets, the black shirt with the Uchiha crest stretched across his back didn’t help matters. 

No matter how often Sasuke tugged at the collar or tried to hike the fabric higher, the orange flowers at the base of his neck stubbornly peeked out, vivid against his pale skin. Naruto noticed every time, enjoying how Sasuke’s ears kept turning pink.

They passed Sakura near the street corner. She took one look at them and snorted. “Fucking finally,” she muttered.

Naruto beamed. Sasuke scowled harder and picked up the pace.

It didn’t take long to reach Yamanaka Flowers. The bell above the door chimed softly when they stepped inside, buckets of flowers lined the walls, color bleeding into color until Naruto felt a little overwhelmed by it all.

Sai stood behind the counter who looked up and smiled his usual pleasant calm smile. The moment his eyes landed on Sasuke, he immediately bristled like an angry black cat. Naruto bit back a laugh, it was always a funny thing that Sasuke had never forgiven Sai for replacing him on Team Seven. 

Sai’s eyes went from the orange petals slipping out beneath Sasuke’s collar to Naruto’s bright, unapologetic grin. “Oh,” Sai said evenly. “I see.”

He studied Sasuke’s flowers from afar. Naruto leaned closer, shoulder brushing Sasuke’s arm. “See what?” he asked innocently, eyes sparkling.

“I’ll get Ino.”

With that, Sai slipped through the beaded curtain that separated the shop from the house. They didn’t have to wait long, Ino practically materialized in front of them, hands on her hips, eyes already zeroing in on Sasuke’s neck and then flicking to Naruto’s chest like she was mentally connecting invisible threads.

“So,” she said flatly. “Fucking finally.”

Naruto winced. “That’s… that’s what Sakura said earlier.”

Ino snorted. “Yeah, well, we’ve all been watching this slow-motion train wreck for years.” She jabbed a finger at Naruto’s chest, right where the purple flowers bloomed beneath his jacket. “You. Pining, yearning, making moon-eyes at him, it’s good that you finally grew some balls.”

Sasuke looked like he wanted to disappear into the floor. Naruto scratched the back of his head, laughing weakly. “H-Hey, that’s kinda harsh—”

“So,” Ino cut in. “Why are you here?”

Naruto opened his mouth. Closed it. Opened it again. “Errr, um—”

“He wanted to know what kind of flowers we’re getting,” Sasuke finished it for him.

Ino’s eyes lit up immediately. “Oh?” Her eyes swept over Sasuke again, lingering openly on the orange petals curling along the base of his neck. “Come on,” she said, already stepping closer. “Pull down your collar.”

With an exaggerated sigh that screamed i hate this, Sasuke hooked two fingers into the neckline of his shirt and tugged it down just enough to expose the flowers properly. “Hmmm,” she hummed thoughtfully. “That looks like poppy.” She straightened and pointed toward a water vase in the corner where a vivid cluster of orange flowers stood out against the shop’s muted interior. “See? Same shape, same color saturation. Definitely poppy.”

Then she turned on her heel and marched straight toward Naruto. “Alright,” she said briskly. “Come on, lover boy. Lift up your shirt.”

Naruto grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his head in one smooth motion, completely unbothered. There was a whistle as Ino’s eyes raked over his abs, toned chest, broad shoulders, before settling on the purple flowers blooming across his skin.

If Sasuke had looked like he’d swallowed a lemon before, now he looked downright murderous.

Ino, blissfully unconcerned for her own safety, leaned in closer to Naruto. “That looks like lotus,” she said, clicking her tongue. “I don’t have one in the shop right now, unfortunately.”

Despite that, they still went home with a bouquet of orange and purple flowers, regardless of what kind they actually were. Sasuke cut the long stems, trimming them down before stuffing them into the stupid green frog mug Naruto insisted on using as a vase. He filled it with water and set it squarely in the middle of their rusty, half-wobbly dining table.

Naruto leaned back in his chair, grinning openly at Sasuke who clicked his tongue, turning away to hide the faintest curve of a smile.

Yeah. Naruto decided he could get used to a life like this.