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Sasuke has never asked Kakashi for a hug.
Not when he went with the Team 7 to Land of Wave, had his first kill. Not when after the Chunin exam the older man made sure he didn't faint on the spot, held him up. Not when he was tied to a tree, and was lectured about how "vengeance" is "bad" and "shouldn't be his only point in life". Then Sasuke only scoffed at those words.
Now he was back. Since two days he was really back.
He was back in Konoha, brought back by the retrieval squad. Sasuke accidentally send a few of them into the hospital.
They told him he was unstable, unreliable, couldn't stand trial. The new weird Lady Hokage said he doesn't need a prison cell but somewhere to heal up.
He didn't think he was hurt.
She put him with the only person she could trust with the as she said "unstable" and "aggressive" and "maniacal" teenage boy. She put him with Hatake Kakashi. With the same man who all those years ago tried to save him. Talked to him, mentored him, taught him the basics and even tied him to the tree trunk when the young Uchiha got too stubborn to listen to the man peacefully without using force.
Now he was laying on the couch in his weird, perverted ex-sensei's apartment. The couch that was prepared for him, with sheets and pillows for his hurting body which went through a lot.
Sasuke was suspicious of the behavior, but his ex-sensei only smiled sheepishly at him and said that the "young boy"; as he called Sasuke, with what he totally didn't agree, he was not young. He was nearly an adult, because 13 is close to 15, and 15 is close to 18 so it meant he was an adult; needed a lot of sleep and rest.
Sasuke heard the pity in his voice, and he hated that part of living with the older man.
The teenage boy had a tinge of guilt deep in him because of Kakashi's pity.
Sasuke was never heartless, even if he said he didn't feel many emotions or wasn't empathetic. He wasn't heartless. The boy was young, inexperienced and very tired. He felt more emotions in the last two days, that through his whole life.
He felt anger.
He was back at this cursed village that did nothing to him, he lost again to the elders of the village. Konoha did nothing to help him when he was younger, so why would he believe that they wanted to help him now?
He was sure he didn't need help in the first place. The aching behind his ribs, and the dull pulsing of his head when he turned too fast where just parts of the training that Orochimaru put him through.
He felt guilt.
He failed again. He got caught. The freedom of being with Orochimaru was his only chance, his only chance at vengeance for his clan. For his dead family. For his mother and father. He felt guilty for loosing the only chance and deep down, behind all the walls, he felt guilty because of all the people who he betrayed and whom he hurt. Why couldn't they just leave him alone?
When Naruto came to face him in the forest while they tried to retrieve him, Sasuke peacefully asked him to turn around and go away. The teenager couldn't face his ex-teammate. Seeing the face of someone who yearned to have him back by his side was too much for Sasuke, who told him over and over again, that no one misses him, no one wants him back.
And the worst of all, deep down, he felt relieved.
He didn't let himself show it even for a moment, that he felt relieved but deep down he knew that this was the best that could happen to him.
Sasuke didn't have to fight everyday anymore.
He wasn't poked with needles and scalpels.
He wasn't digging his own grave while telling himself he is getting closer and closer to killing his brother.
Sasuke had soft sheets, which were a comfort he couldn't afford at Orochimaru's. He had food on the table, normal food, even if Kakashi's cooking wasn't the best and the teenager usually only pushed the food around on the table and didn't eat much, it was still a big improvement from the protein mush and injections he got at Orochimaru's.
The Snake-Sage was never particularly cruel to the boy, but he was also never nice. The state of lis lair gave a lot to wish for, but it was better than nothing. Sasuke got used to sleeping on rocks rather quickly, not like he ever said anything about lack of comfort. The teen learned his lesson after arguing with Orochimaru once. A few days on an empty stomach has never hurt anyone.
He learned to sleep while people were dragged into the laboratories, his agonizing screams echoing through the stone walls and hollowing out the heart of the teenage boy.
As he got closer to the sounds. He went through long corridors, which seemed endless and hollow. He could hear the screams of pain coming from every direction.
There were bones scattered around him. Everywhere.
Small stacks, categorized by size and type.
And the stench of rotting meat, fused with the smell of iron.
Sasuke felt something drip onto his shoulder.
Drop.
Drop.
Drop.
Sasuke looked up into the celling.
There was blood, so much of it. The crimson liquid was pooling on the ceiling. Sasuke felt terrified and ... Familiar.
The stench was familiar, the colour was familiar.
Everything in the blood was screaming "home".
The young Uchiha pushed himself up into a sitting position, his breath heavy and laboured. He had to run his eyes a few times to regain full consciousness.
He let himself fall asleep instead of keeping his guard up, in case the silver-haired ninja planned doing anything. He let his mind wander again, he thought as he scolded himself thoroughly.
He didn't even realize when he fell asleep.
Sasuke mindlessly looked around the room, looking for anything resembling a clock in the darkness. He pushed himself towards the small coffee table that stood next to the couch.
The boy began pushing his hand around there, looking for anything that could tell him the time. And suddenly, he found something.
CRACK
Sasuke flinched, as he heard a vase dropping onto the floor. His eyes blurred for a moment, but he quickly composed himself.
Sitting on the couch, tired, he didn't really realize what has just happened up until he saw The Silver wolf of Konoha walk into the living room.
"...."
"...."
"So you decided on killing a vase instead of killing yourself?"
Kakashi said, trying to see, if that was really a suicide attempt. The older man couldn't be sure, as he had to handle an unstable teenager boy and tip toe around him, so he doesn't trigger another breakdown or escape try, and doesn't loose another tooth.
"I wasn't trying to kill myself"
The teenage Uchiha huffed loudly. He acted so offended each time the other man even opened his mouth to him.
"If I tried to kill myself, you wouldn't have known about it."
Kakashi didn't really mind boy's words much. He eyed the broken vase, and went to get a broom from his kitchen. As it was still in eye view from the sofa, the older man asked.
"So, do you want to talk about what happened? You look horrible"
Sasuke huffed once again, just as loudly, as he heard the words come out of other man's mouth.
"Nothing happened."
"Are you so sure of that?"
Kakashi stared at the boy. He knew those tired eyes, he knew the teenager was probably living through the worst moments of his life. He was very aware of that possibility.
Kakashi always knew Sasuke wasn't fully okay and now he was cursing himself for not reacting earlier.
"Hn..."
"So? Not so sure huh?"
The older man chuckled, as he sat in a close distance of the younger boy. Far enough to leave him comfortable, but close enough to keep the feeling of safety brought by company.
The older man just read his book, sitting close, not saying anything. Sasuke already prepared himself for a lecture, maybe a long talk if he was lucky, but none of that ever came. He was completely safe.
The young boy huffed a few more times, not really able to articulate his feeling at the moment.
After some time passed, as the two men sat there in peace, tiredness started gathering in Sasuke's mind. Soft haziness began to cloud his mind and his eyes got heavy.
Sasuke tried to fight the upcoming sleep. Tried to stirr himself awake from that state. He tried to pull his mind back up from the pieces that began to fall apart, as the soft clouds began to make his brain into a soft mush. He felt like a tired child. His eyes began closing, he muttered something softly about not wanting to sleep yet.
Kakashi didn't even notice until the soft weight didn't hit his shoulder.
Young Uchiha leaned onto him in the sleepy gaze to use him as a pillow for his own time of rest. Kakashi only looked the boy from head to toes, looking for any sign of distress, and as he managed that, and nothing came, he was perfectly still, resting his own back at the back of the couch.
He didn't push Sasuke off. He actually pulled the sleeping boy, who looked so adorable, all cuddled into the blankets, with his head on his ex-sensei's shoulder, trying to lean deeper into the soft touches that came, as the older man fixed his position up a bit.
Maybe, just maybe, Sasuke didn't have to ask for hugs. Maybe , just maybe, they were waiting for him to open up and allow them to come in and get close.