Chapter Text
Naruto’s feet were leaden as he trudged up the stairs after Shikamaru, a duffel bag swung over one arm. He’d just returned home from an exhausting week-long visit at his parents’ to celebrate their fortieth wedding anniversary only to find that his supposed best friend had chosen someone to sublet his room without any input from Naruto himself, the one who would actually be living with said person while Shikamaru spent the summer in Suna with his long-distance girlfriend. Yeah, maybe it’d be better than having to hear him and Temari fucking every night like the last time she'd visited, but still—he should’ve been consulted. He prided himself on being able to get along with almost anyone, but living with someone was different. This was his home, someplace he should feel safe and relaxed, not potentially anxious about every time he stepped through the door.
“I can’t believe you picked someone without me. What if he’s a dick? Or a slob? Or a homophobe, huh? Did you even think about that? You could be setting me up for a summer of trauma and bigotry and—”
“He’s gay.”
“Well, he could still be a slob!”
“You’re a slob.”
“I am not! And what if he—”
“Naruto.” Shikamaru stopped at the top of the stairs, turning to him with an exasperated look. “He seems like a good guy, okay? That’s why I had him sign before he found another place. Besides,” he smirked, “he’s totally your type.”
“I’ll be the judge of that,” Naruto muttered. He shoved past him and stomped down the corridor to their apartment, accidentally throwing the door open so roughly it slammed against the wall. “Shit—”
“Oi, you’re going to put a hole in the wall.” Shikamaru appeared behind him and smacked the back of his head, then nudged him inside so he could shut the door. They were both shucking off their shoes when someone stepped out of the kitchen, so quiet Naruto wouldn't have noticed if it weren't for Shikamaru. “Oh, hey Sasuke, this is Naruto. Naruto, this is Sasuke.”
Naruto’s blood ran cold as he looked up. It'd been two years, but he'd never be able to forget that face. A face that, much to his consternation, was somehow even handsomer than he remembered. Mouth hanging open, he could do little more than stare in abject horror as Sasuke watched him impassively, holding a half-eaten tomato the size of Naruto’s clenched fist.
“What, you know each other?” Shikamaru shrugged out of his jacket and hung it on one of the pegs by the door. Naruto, meanwhile, continued to stand stock still, duffel clutched to his chest like it'd protect him from the embarrassing onslaught of memories now pummeling his mind.
“I—well, we, uh—”
Shikamaru gave a disbelieving snort. “You’ve already fucked?”
“I’m not sure you could call it that,” Sasuke scoffed, and Naruto shot him a glare.
“Shut up! I was really drunk, okay?!”
“So was I, but I didn’t come in my pants before you even touched my dick.”
“That’s—!”
“Ugh, I don’t wanna hear this,” Shikamaru complained, moving past them to his room. Naruto sent a silent prayer of gratitude to the universe that he had Shikamaru for a roommate and not Kiba or Kankurou; those assholes would never let him live this down.
“Look,” he said, backtracking in a desperate attempt to smooth things over with the bastard he'd apparently be living with for an entire fucking summer. "Let’s start over, yeah?"
"Whatever." Sasuke returned to the kitchen and Naruto very deliberately did not look to see if his ass was as fit and perfect as it’d been the last time they’d met. He slunk past, eyeing the handful of suitcases and boxes in the living room on his way into Shikamaru’s bedroom. Then he closed the door and immediately rounded on his friend, doing his best to keep his voice low enough for Sasuke to not overhear.
“You didn’t say he was already moved in! I thought you weren’t leaving until next week!”
Shikamaru didn’t even glance up from where he was haphazardly tossing cables, miscellaneous packets of chewing gum, and condoms into a backpack. After pursing his lips in thought, he also threw in his retainer. “He needed a place sooner.”
“So, what, you’re leaving now?!”
“Tomorrow. He’s crashing on the couch tonight.”
“Dude...” Naruto flopped onto Shikamaru’s bed, throwing one of the pillows at him. He loved his job, but damn if he didn't envy Shikamaru's ability to work remotely and leave town at the drop of a hat. “This is seriously so shitty of you.”
Shikamaru just sighed, straddling his desk chair and finally giving Naruto his full attention. “Do you want to tell me what happened?”
“What? No!”
Shikamaru quirked a single brow. Naruto hated that he could do that.
“Okay, fine.” Naruto rolled onto his side to face him, though he was looking fixedly at a questionable stain on the wall instead of directly at Shikamaru. “We met like two years ago at a party. We talked for hours, made out on his friend’s balcony, then he dragged me to a bathroom and… well. You’ve seen him, okay? He’s hot as fuck, and like I said, I was really drunk. Anyway, he was a dick about it so I bailed. Never saw him again.”
“Hmm.”
Naruto finally looked at him, eyes narrowing. “What?”
“Just—” Shikamaru shrugged. “If you were so drunk, are you really sure you remember it clearly? I mean, how was he a dick about it, exactly?”
“You want details?!” Naruto rolled back onto his stomach and groaned into the bedding. Sure, maybe his memory of that night was a little fuzzy around the edges, but the way Sasuke had laughed at him was permanently seared onto his brain. Just thinking about it made his stomach drop, familiar feelings of shame and inadequacy making him want to crawl underneath the covers and refuse to come out until Sasuke was gone.
"Well, at least I was right," Shikamaru said. "Obviously he is your type."
“Fuck you. This is exactly why you should’ve talked to me beforehand.”
“Ah, yes, because I should’ve anticipated you would’ve already hooked up with every decently attractive guy that’s a one or higher on the Kinsey scale in all of Konoha.”
“Are you calling me a slut now?!”
Shikamaru didn’t say anything, so Naruto lifted his head from the mattress to pout at him. It wasn’t exactly untrue; he’d definitely had a bit of a whorish phase when he’d first come to terms with his sexuality in college. For the past few years, though, he’d been looking for something more. Sasuke had been too good to be true; a surprise turned devastating disappointment. After their night together, he’d continued putting himself out there, but he’d yet to feel that instant connection to someone the same way. Eventually, he’d decided to focus on his job, and he had a friends with benefits relationship with Gaara that was safe and sexually satisfying. He knew there was no chance of catching feelings and fucking up their friendship; he just didn’t feel that way about Gaara, and Gaara didn’t experience romantic attraction at all. It was the perfect solution, or so he told himself.
“If you’re really gonna be miserable,” Shikamaru began at last, “I can talk to him about finding another place.”
Despite his fears, Naruto hesitated. He knew Shikamaru meant it; he never offered things he wasn’t willing to do. But he’d already put in the work of interviewing people and dealing with paperwork, and Sasuke’s stuff was already here. The guy may be a jerk, but was he horrible enough that Naruto couldn’t handle a summer living with him? He didn’t seem like the aggressively hostile type, so they could probably get by just keeping to themselves and only interacting as little as necessary. It wouldn’t be pleasant, but it wouldn’t be miserable, either.
And if Sasuke decided to man up and apologize, maybe they could even become friends. Or friends-adjacent. Casual, un-bitter, definitely-not-attracted-to-each-other acquaintances.
Not that Naruto would count on that happening, obviously.
“I guess I can survive a few weeks with him,” he mumbled. “I can go to Kiba’s or something if I have to.”
Shikamaru let out a chuckle. “I’m sure Hinata wouldn’t mind that.”
Naruto grimaced. Kiba and Hinata had made it abundantly clear they were looking for a third. Maybe he’d be better off staying with Gaara, even if that meant putting up with Neji and Lee too. They were his friends too, of course, but they’d learned long ago that they weren’t compatible roommates.
Okay, maybe he was fucked.
“Listen.” Shikamaru waved a hand in front of his face when he was too lost in despair to realize he’d spoken. “I can stay the week like I planned, find someone else. Sasuke can just—”
“No,” Naruto said bravely. “I’ll figure it out. I already asked him if we could start over and he seemed… open to it.” That was a generous interpretation, but he was determined now. Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t, right? At least he had some idea of what to expect with Sasuke. Plus, he’d been the best out of all the people Shikamaru’d talked to, and Shikamaru generally had good judgment. “It’ll be fine. What time are you leaving tomorrow?”
“Train’s at four,” Shikamaru said, looking doubtful but apparently not enough to argue. “Want to get lunch before I go?”
“Hell yeah, maybe Chouji can come too—”
“Nah, he and Karui are doing that trip to Kumo with Ino and Sakura, remember? They’re not gonna be back ‘til next week.”
“Right. I forgot.” Naruto smiled weakly at yet another reminder that he was the only one still tragically single in their friend group. Normally, he was content enough with the way things were, but he always felt lonely after spending any considerable amount of time with his parents. They had good intentions, but they were desperate for him to find someone he loved as much as they loved each other and the weight of their expectations seemed to grow exponentially every year. Now, seeing Sasuke again on the heels of their anniversary had him feeling like even more of a failure than usual. By the time his parents were his age, they were already married with a toddler. All he had was the world’s worst hookup he couldn’t stop thinking about even two years later.
Reluctantly, he left Shikamaru to finish packing, his entire body tense with nerves as he retrieved his duffel from where he'd abandoned it at the front door. To his relief, though, Sasuke was nowhere to be found. Not daring to investigate, he hurried into his own room and locked the door, throwing his bag onto the bed with a sigh.
“You can do this,” he muttered to himself as he put his belongings away. Summer was the busiest time of year for the youth center, anyway, so he’d probably be working long hours and only coming home to sleep. And when he thought about the center, he felt guilty for panicking at all—so many kids had a far worse living situation than what he was currently freaking out about.
No, this was nothing. Living with Sasuke would be a piece of cake.