Muted Love

Chapter 5

Naruto woke up Tuesday morning and knocked on Sasuke’s door. “I’m coming in to check in, just be decent. Or don’t, I don’t mind either way.” He said with a smirk. He opened the door to see Sasuke still asleep, sleeping on his side, hands tucked underneath his pillow, his blanket covering the lower half of his body, leaving his bare chest exposed.
    Naruto blushed as he continued to stare at Sasuke’s sleeping form. He shook his head and slapped a hand on his cheek. “Get it together, Naruto. He’s just a guy. And an asshole. So what if he has a good body?” A cough interrupted him and he stood rigid, looking down at Sasuke who was now sitting up slightly, raising an eyebrow at Naruto. “O-oh, h-hey Sasuke, uh, what’s up?”
Sasuke didn’t make a move, instead deciding to continue to stare at the blonde.
“O-okay. I’m going to make breakfast. Okay? Okay!” He quickly ran out of the room and into the hallway where he let out a breath. “Fuck, man.” He let out a laugh as he ran his hand through his hair and went down the stairs.
He entered the kitchen and began to prepare a simple meal of eggs and toast.
As he was about to serve up the food, the doorbell rang, the chime ringing throughout the house.
Naruto looked up from his cooking, confused. “Wonder who that is.” He pondered out loud. He made sure to turn off the stove before going to the front door.
He opened the door to see Sakura. His eyes widened in surprised. “Um, hello. Why are y-”
“Who the hell are you?” She quickly interrupted him, raising an eyebrow.
Naruto felt himself stare at her in disbelief. “We literally met yesterday. At the diner?” She was still staring at him and he let out a sigh. “I'm Sasuke's caretaker?” Still no response. “He told me about you beforehand?”
“Oh! I remember you Narudo!”
“Naruto.”
“Right. That's what I said.” She gave a flip of her hair and an eye roll. “Anyways, is Sasuke here?”
Naruto leaned casually against the doorframe, crossing his arms across his chest. “Yeah but I don't think it's a good idea for you to see him.”
She scoffed at him, narrowing her eyes in a glare. “Why not? You're not the boss of him!”
Naruto gave her a glare back. “I am literally his caretaker. I'm supposed to look out for his health and you just don’t seem good for him, mentally.”
She let out a laugh. “I'm not good for him? And how do you determine that? What makes you believe that I'm not good for him?”
“I mean for one thing, he gets stressed out whenever he's around you and for two,” he gave her a mocking smile. “He doesn’t like you and never will.”
There was silence from the pinkette as she glared at the blonde. Finally, she gave him a smirk. “I see now. You like him, don't you? And not just as a friend.”
Naruto cheeks darkened. “N-no that's not it! You're just obsessed with him and it's not healthy for him or even you for that matter!”
“Mhm. Whatever you say. Just know this, Naro, stay away from my Sasuke.” She took a step closer and poked the blonde in the chest. “He's not gay like you. Besides, even if he was, you’re nothing to sneeze at.” She took a step back with a smirk and looked up at the house. “You may stop me from seeing him here, but it's a whole big world out there and you can't protect him forever.” She smiled sweetly at him and waved. “Bye for now, Nato!”
“It's Naruto you crazy bitch!” Naruto shouted after her as she walked to her car that was parked in the street. He glared as the car drove down the street before stepping back inside and slamming the door with a growl. He rested his head on the cool door before letting out a sigh and turning around.
He let out a yelp as he saw Sasuke casually sitting on the bottom step, a small smirk on his face. He gave the raven a glare. “There’s breakfast on the stove. If you want you can have it. I'm taking a shower, I trust you won't try to kill yourself while I do that.”
Sasuke gave him a frown and Naruto walked past him and up the stairs, heading for the bathroom.

After Naruto calmed down from his shower, he headed back down the stairs and into the kitchen. Sitting on the island was a prepared plate of the food he cooked earlier. He noticed that the pans were already washed and sitting in the dish rack to dry. Naruto smiled slightly as he sat down and began to eat.
Once he was finished, he cleaned his plate and decided to look for Sasuke. 
The first place he checked was Sasuke's own room, but when he knocked on the door and opened it, the room was empty, the computer turned off. He frowned at the room before heading into their shared bathroom. The door was unlocked and the room empty.
           Naruto scratched his head in confusion. Besides his room, Naruto had no idea where else the raven liked to be. He remembered Itachi saying the third floor doesn't get used since their parents’ death. He sighed before deciding to look downstairs.
            He began to head into the kitchen when he stopped to look in the living room. He noticed the back of Sasuke’s head at the bay window and he let out a breath of relief. He walked closer and carefully studied him.
            Sasuke had his legs propped up, book resting on his knees as he casually had his head resting in his hand, his arm propped on the window sill. There was a small smile on his face as his eyes roamed the pages.
          “You should smile more often, it looks good on you.” Naruto spoke up after watching the raven for some time.
             Sasuke looked up from his book, his eyes widened in surprise. He stared at the blonde before frowning and marking his page in his book. ‘Can we talk?’ He signed after placing his book on the window sill.
              Naruto sat in a chair before shrugging his shoulders. “I guess. What do you want to talk about?”
              ‘What Sakura said.’
              Naruto gave him a scowl. “You were right about one thing, she is crazy. I think I'd rather hang out with Karin all day than her for an hour.” He let out a sigh as he threw his head back. “So what about what she said?”
              ‘Are you gay? Do you like me?’
               Naruto glared at him. “I don’t see why you actually listen to her.”
               ‘So then you're not gay.’
               “I didn’t say that.”
               Sasuke stared at the blonde blankly and Naruto fidgeted under his gaze.
               “Okay, I am gay. And sure, I might think you're hot and sexy, and okay maybe I can admit I've had a couple fantasies about you, but that doesn't-” He was cut off by Sasuke's lips on his own. His eyes widened in shock at how Sasuke managed to get in front of him without him noticing. He slowly closed his eyes and began to tentatively kiss back.
              Sasuke broke the kiss and stared at Naruto. The blonde blushed and turned his face away. “Uh, so what was that for?”
              ‘Just wanted to see what it was like.’
               Naruto looked up at him in shock. “S-so you don't have any feelings for me or anything?”
               The raven just gave him a smirk before going back to his place at the bay window, picking up his book.
                “Bastard.”