Chapter Text

i.

“What about pizza for tonight? We could order from Senju’s, like last time,” Sakura mumbles as she scrolls through the list of different restaurants in their city, tucking a single strand of freshly dyed pastel pink hair behind her pierced ear. “Or maybe something Indian? Oh, there is a new restaurant that specializes in ramen― Ichiraku, did you hear about that? They opened last week, it’s a family restaurant owned by father and daughter.”

“Nope,” Naruto answers as he sips his orange juice, whipping his feet slowly to Nirvana playing from the music box. “But we should definitely try it then. Konoha still needs a good fucking ramen place.” 

“I knew you’d say that,” Sakura huffs, her pink gel nails clicking on the surface of her phone as she types something. Then she locks the display and puts it somewhere in the grass to have a better look at Naruto. “I am just not so sure if I want hot soup today when it is almost 40 degrees… But it is your turn to decide, so do what you want.”

“Ichiraku it is then,” Naruto smirks, wiggling his eyebrows. Not like Sakura isn’t right though. There has been a heat wave crashing over the city for the last two weeks with no end in sight. As soon as one leaves their room, they’re sweating. The kind of where your clothes stick to your skin sweating. So everybody tries to wear as little as possible. 

“When do you want me to come over though? I have practice later but I’m free to go at six.” 

“I’ll be in the library for a bit but I should be home at the latest by five-thirty.” 

“Is the presentation for your anatomy class still keeping you busy?” 

Sakura groans. “You bet. Neuroanatomy sucks.” 

“If you hate it so much then why are you going to do your master’s in it?” 

“Because it’s like a toxic relationship, Naruto. We drive each other crazy, but we’re incomplete without one another. Anyway! How are your classes going? Has the learning disabilities seminar improved, or is it still as boring?”

Naruto closes his eyes and leans his head against the tree they’re sitting under. At least the leaves keep the sunshine away. “Nothing’s changed. At all. I’m mostly on my phone to keep me awake. Like, I do think it is an interesting topic, our professor’s just… not so bothered to teach us much. I mean, at least he just wants us to write an essay at the end.”  

“How many ECTS do you get for that?”

“Three.” 

“Well, easy enough then. I hope I don’t need you to remind you about your endocrinology and immunology class last semester that you also got three ECTS for, so…” 

“Gosh, no, please don’t remind me! All the hours I wasted making those 1,500 flashcards… ” 

“Uhm, Naruto―”

“I’ve studied every day for almost two months, Sakura, and you know me―it was so fucking hard, I can’t believe I really did that! I’m so proud of myself but―”

Suddenly Sakura shakes Naruto’s shoulder. “Goddamn Naruto, shut up for once!”

Naruto opens his eyes, confused by Sakura’s change in behavior. “What? I thought we were talking?” 

“We are. But―” Sakura mumbles, biting her fingernail, her eyebrows pierced and her forehead thrown in wrinkles. She points at a group of people a few meters away. “No way. That can’t be real. Naruto, tell me this is not real.”

“One does not point at people, Sakura! It’s rude,” Naruto exclaims but draws his gaze to wherever Sakura is pointing her painted fingernail. “Seriously, what’s happening over there?” 

First nothing seems out of the ordinary. There is Suigetsu, laughing his ass off for whatever idiotic reason, making his shark-like teeth visible and Jūgo who has his arms crossed and looks mildly amused. Naruto’s cousin, Karin, is also there, her face as red as her cherry pink hair and lips.Then Naruto notices that practically the whole campus is looking at the group, whispering.

If they are here, then… 

“Did you see Sasuke this morning?” Sakura asks blankly, her cheeks turning a sweet pink. 

“The bastard left before I woke up like every morning. Why? What has he to do with―”

Naruto’s jaw falls open when Suigetsu steps dramatically to the side and reveals what everyone’s attention currently focuses on: Sasuke Uchiha. Not like that is something strange or even worthy of consideration, Sasuke has always been one people turned their heads for since he hit puberty and lost his childish features. People’s behavior didn’t really change much when they graduated from high school to college. It pisses Naruto off. Mostly. Usually. Sasuke gets the attention from others so easily and he always acts so arrogant about it like he doesn't enjoy all the girls running after him. But…

As Naruto's gaze dances from Sasuke's Doc Martens, black leather with red shoelaces, over his slender calves, higher, much higher over Sasuke's legs, his eyes stick to—

A skirt. 

Sasuke wears a short, black skirt. It looks like it is made of denim and it hugs his body closely.

Something primal stirs inside Naruto’s stomach. It twists and turns, and a flush of heat creeps up his neck.

“He is wearing a skirt,” Sakura says, shaking her head. “Isn't he? Not like I would judge other people's choice of clothing but Sasuke…”

Sasuke, as always, looks completely unfazed and confident in what he does, like coming to campus in a skirt is something he usually does. Naruto feels squirmish thinking about the fact that Sasuke probably put the skirt on while Naruto still slept. If he woke up sooner, he could have seen him, alone, in their dorm room. 

The thought makes Naruto's hands damp but he doesn't know why. 

Naruto has seen Sasuke every day since they went to college because someone decided to punish him for whatever sins he must have commited in his former life to end up with Sasuke out of all people as his roommate. 

Naruto doesn't like Sasuke much. He used to, when they were younger and almost inseparable, sharing every little secret with each other and being in each other's proximity nonstop since their mothers were friends even before their births. 

That stopped a year or two after the start of puberty, when Sasuke began to distance himself from Naruto and found new friends. He stopped replying to his messages and when they spoke, they always argued. After they got detained twice for beating each other up, they stopped talking completely. 

Yet they still live together, despite both trying to change it. It seems every other room is already taken, and no one is willing to swap with them. Or so they were told.

So they had arranged themselves, mostly ignoring each other's presence. Of course Naruto has seen Sasuke a few times only with a towel around his hips and it had done nothing for him. Sure, he can acknowledge that Sasuke is conventionally handsome but he doesn't find him attractive. 

Sasuke is an asshole. 

Naruto doesn't like assholes. He doesn’t find them attractive.

Then why the fuck does he feel so hot all of a sudden? 

As if his body could betray him even more, Naruto feels his dick twitch when Sasuke turns to walk away, his hips swaying with a sweet rhythm. Naruto's eyes are locked on Sasuke's ass until he disappears around the corner, leaving him back confused and antsy. 

“...hello? Naruto, do you hear me?” Sakura says, looking honestly a bit concerned as she waves a hand in front of his face to get his attention. “You need to drink more water when it is so hot. I don't want you to faint. Are you okay? Classes are about to start and you aren't responding to anything I've said in the past five minutes or so.”

Naruto releases a breath he didn't know he was holding. “I'm fine, thanks… just a bit… I probably should hydrate myself more, yes.”

“Good, then let's go! Tsunade doesn't like it when people are late for her lessons. I'll see you after practice today?”

Naruto nods slowly, trying to recover himself. “Yes, yes. See you!”

-

Having a ball in his hands has always helped Naruto to clear his head: after he broke up with his first girlfriend, after he failed the last statistics exam or even after Sasuke decided to stop being friends with him, Naruto always returned to the gym to run around until his beating heart slowed down and the ruminating thoughts in his head stopped, or at least grew a little quieter. 

Practice is over. The muscles in his arms and legs feel weak, the fingertips of his right hand even trembles a bit from scoring too fucking many baskets—he has a habit of overdoing things if he feels stressed, so if he isn’t able to move tomorrow the hundred pushups are surely to blame. 

Stepping out of the shower of the locker room, Naruto feels good. He really does. The rush of endorphins pumping through his veins leaves him relaxed, a bit tired maybe. He performed better than last week where he barely scored anything and the odds are good his team is going to win the following game against Kirigakure, after losing for the last two years in a row. 

And now he is going to visit Sakura and they are going to have a lot of fun, the new ramen will taste delicious and he will not think of—

“Hey, Naruto, is there a specific reason Sasuke’s wearing skirts now?” Kiba asks, a wolfish grin on his dumb face as he dries his auburn hair with a towel. 

“How should I know?” Naruto answers, shrugging his shoulders like he doesn’t care.  

“I don’t know, he’s your roommate, dude. I thought roommates talk to each other from time to time.” 

“The bastard's not telling me a damn thing.” 

“Sasuke lost a bet to Suigetsu,” Jūgo’s calm, deep voice chimes in as he fastens his shoes and stands up to throw his backpack over his shoulder. “It was either that or something else Sasuke was ready to murder Suigetsu over. So they settled on the smaller thing.”

“Smaller thing? What could possibly be worse than walking in a skirt on campus?”

Jūgo’s eyes dart to Naruto for a second before they return to Kiba’s face. “I’m not supposed to say.” 

“Sasuke looks really slutty in it,” Sai adds, voice blank like he is stating a simple fact, not insulting someone.

“Sai!” Naruto exclaims while Kiba and the others laugh their asses off. Sai transferred from a different university last semester and immediately joined the basketball team, as well as the art and literature club. 

One of Naruto's first interactions with Sai occurred when he, during a shared shower after practice, made a remark accusing Naruto of having a small penis, so they really had a rough start. Especially because Sai has barely any facial expressions and his voice doesn’t convey emotions well. Another problem is that Sai also struggles to read social cues—it is pretty obvious he is neurodivergent as fuck. It took some time to get used to that but Sai is part of his friend group now.

Out of all people, Ino has even been crushing on him since she first laid eyes on him. Naruto doesn’t understand the appeal but he won’t judge others' taste, or the lack of it. 

Sai has the audacity to look indignant when he responds, “What? I am right. I see how people are looking at him, from what I’ve read that is clearly sexual craving. So how long is Sasuke gonna look like a slut?” 

Jūgo sighs. “A week.” 

“A whole week?” Naruto asks way too loud, voice breaking at the edges. Seven days of… Sasuke looking like that . Naruto gulps. Is Sasuke going to wear the skirt at home? Is he wearing it right now? That’s… The members of his team that haven’t gone home yet turn their heads in Naruto’s direction. Naruto fitches nervously with his hands. “Heh, I mean, that sucks. For him.” 

“It could be worse,” Kiba shrugs, throwing his shirt over. “It could be you wearing the skirt, you know. No one wants to see that.” 

“Fuck off, Inuzuka. Everyone wants to see that.” 

“Well, Kiba’s kind of right,” Sai points out. “You’re ugly.” 

-

Sasuke isn’t in the cognitive psychology lesson this morning even though he had already left when Naruto woke up. While the last thing really isn't unusual, the first one is. Sasuke isn't someone who ditches classes—not like Naruto really cares if and why Sasuke neglects his academic obligations. It isn't even like Naruto actively looks if Sasuke is present, he usually just… knows. Sasuke's appearance, his whole vibe, isn't something easily overlooked. Especially if Naruto's fellow students are constantly talking about him, now even more than ever. 

Yesterday when he came home from Sakura—the ramen really was delicious!—and walked into their shared space, the lights had already been out and Sasuke was fast asleep. 

Strangely, Naruto was as relieved as he was disappointed that they wouldn't speak that day. The skirt was neatly folded on Sasuke's desk chair and maybe Naruto had been staring a bit too long, asking himself if Sasuke had slipped out of it as soon as he went home or… not. 

But fuck, he is already again thinking about that bastard! It's all Sasuke's fault! He is messing with Naruto's head by looking like a girl! Not that Sasuke is weak, no, Naruto knows he is hitting the gym at least thrice a week—and it shows; his body is defined in every aspect it can be, muscled and lean and very masculine.

Well, and Sasuke's ass… it shows that he takes his lower body exercises seriously. He always had good genetics for it, Naruto supposes, and good for him that his hard work pays off but Naruto can't be blamed that his brain is confused when that ass is dressed in a tight skirt!

“Naruto,” Gaara nudges him. “The professor's gone. Don't you want to leave?”

“I—yes…” Naruto blinks, realizing it's only him and Gaara left in the room. The screen of his laptop is black, the laptop itself in stand-by. “I must have zoomed out for a while.”

“Obviously. Is everything okay?”

“It's fine, Gaara, don't worry!” Naruto smiles at him and hopes his face isn't as red as it feels. “Just been thinking about some stuff.” 

“When was the last time you took pills for your ADHD? You seemed so agitated yesterday and could barely concentrate, today's not much different. If Sakura hears that, she is going to be pissed, you know that.”

Huffing, Naruto scratches the back of his neck. It's slightly sweaty from the heat, all the windows are open yet it's just as hot inside as it is outside. The air is uncomfortably warm and the sun is blazing down from the sky without any clouds in sight. 

“I didn't forget them, Gaara. So don't worry, it's just me stressing too much about statistics. You know it's my second try and the exam is in three weeks.”

Gaara nods sympathetically. “You could always ask Sasuke to tutor you. He's the best of class and, you know, coincidentally your roommate.”

“Uh, don't remind me of that,” Naruto sighs dramatically and opens his backpack to get his water bottle out of it. He swallows three big gulps of water, then swipes over his mouth with the back of his hand. “Couldn't you tutor me? You've got 91% on that exam!”

“I'm not good at explaining and you know that,” Gaara points out, crossing his arms. “But I will help you if you won't ask Sasuke. I can also share my notes with you if you'd like.” 

“Thanks, that'd be nice! If I pass that exam, I really owe you something.”

“Just don't fail and I'll be happy enough,” Gaara says with a small smile on his lips. “So you've got a free period now, right? Want to grab some ice cream from the ice cream shop nearby?”

“Sure,” Naruto nods, groaning as he stands up and stretches for a few moments. The fabric of his shirt is sticking a bit to his body due to the hot weather. “I'll take all the refreshment I can get at this point. This college feels like an oven and we're the lasagna in it.”

Gaara chuckles lightly. “You shouldn't come to my hometown then. These temperatures are easily reached in spring and change only slowly with the beginning of fall.”

“But you're so pale! Isn't the sun bad for your skin or something? Shouldn't you naturally be… more brown?”

“It's my father's side of the family,” Gaara shrugs as they walk out of campus. “They come from the Land of Iron where it basically snows all year long. Fortunately, I tan very easily but I just try to stay out of the sun anyway. My brother and sister look more like my mother though. Is your family from around here?”

“My dad is,” Naruto says, crossing his arms behind his head as they step outside of the complex and Naruto wishes they hadn't. The air around them is stifling and way too hot, it feels like somebody heated it up with a hair dryer or something. “My mother is originally from the capital of the Land of Whirlpools.” 

“I have an aunt that lives there. Uzushiogakure, right?”

“Yes, that's it. It's really beautiful with all the different kinds of plants growing there, everything is so colorful and bright. We go there usually once a year to visit my grandparents and I always love to just lie on the beach, doing nothing but counting the clouds,” Naruto tells him, indulging in reminiscence. “And the historic downtown is basically ancient. My grandma used to tell me that people from Uzushio live longer than most people because we have more chakra or something. And that our family used to be seal masters back in the day, whatever she means by that. Oh—I'm rambling again, sorry, Gaara!”

Gaara smiles softly at him, a warm spark in his turquoise eyes. “Don't be, I like listening to your voice.”

“Heh. Thanks for being such a nice friend! What ice cream do you want? I'm paying!”

For the split of a second Gaara looks almost a bit disappointed but then the tug on his lips deepens again. “Lemon, please. Two scoops. In a cup.”

“Hi Naruto, hi emo friend,” Karin greets them while chewing bubble gum loudly behind the counter. She wears a neon green blouse that shows a lot of her cleavage. “I'm not giving you any discount just because we're related, so don't even try.”

As soon as he realizes it is his cousin working in the ice cream shop a big grin wanders on his face. He hasn't had the time to talk to her for a few weeks.

“Nice to see you, too, dearest of cousins. We'd like to have one scoop of strawberry and one scoop of chocolate in a crone and two scoops of lemon in a cup, please.” 

“I'm your only cousin, idiot,” Karin answers, rolling her eyes—but Naruto also sees them soften; Karin is two years older than him and she has always had a soft spot for Naruto, she even calls him brother but only when she is drunk enough and doesn't remember it the next day. 

“That's not true,” Naruto laughs. “What about Nagato?”

“Nagato's not here, so he doesn't count,” Karin shrugs. “It's his problem that he is always traveling because he wants to bring peace to the world or some bullshit. Here, your ice cream.”

“What do you get?” 

“Nothing. Now take the ice cream for you and your little emo friend here and go before I forget myself or I'll charge you double.”

“Best cousin in the whole wide world,” Naruto chirps, blowing her a kiss before he takes the order and gives Gaara his part. Karin's face turns a gentle pink. “Love you! Let's do something next week or so, yeah? Ciao!” 

“Just go,” Karin growls, the blush deepening as she waves him away. “Or I'll kick your ass personally out of my shop.”

Naruto giggles but turns around after saying his goodbye to his cousin and walks towards the exit. “Let's eat under the big tree in front of the cafeteria before we have to go back, yeah?” 

“Oi, fishcake!” A cackling voice yells that make the hairs of Naruto's neck stand up in disgust. Yeah, right, if Karin is here it means the others aren't too far away. Something that sounds like plastic hits the ground, then “Suigetsu, you fucking moron—”

Naruto whirls around just to freeze on the spot at what sight reveals itself in front of him; a pen rolls on the ground and Sasuke is bending down to grab it just as Naruto turns around. 

That heat in his stomach ignites, letting him feel hot-cold as his eyes dart to Sasuke's long, naked legs, to Sasuke who is still wearing that damn skirt. Naruto swallows, dumbly staring at his ass as he bends down further—

and Naruto is able to see a bit of black lace shine through because that skirt is so damn short and—

Naruto's scoop of chocolate hits the ground. To his burning ears it is as loud as an avalanche. He is sure he is as red as the adrenaline-shot blood pumping through his veins. 

“Fuck, Sasuke, he's looking at you like he wants to eat you or something,” Suigetsu laughs loudly and slaps the black-haired boy roughly on the shoulders. “I told you he was staring at you the whole fucking time. My fuckradar is always right, dude.” 

“One of these days I will lobotomize you,” Sasuke curses, eyebrows curved into a bitter frown as he grabs Suigetsu’s wrist and twists it without a second thought. “You shithead.” 

“Ouw!” 

“Let's go,” Gaara whispers beside him, gently nudging his shoulder. “Suigetsu is an idiot, don't let him get to you.” 

It's like a spell is broken, as if time finally moves forward again—and Naruto blinks, then blinks again. The heart inside his chest is racing, like he has run a damn marathon and not just goggled at Sasuke’s ass in lace while the other was bending down. Lace. Sasuke’s wearing lace under that skirt. O dear gods.