Chapter Text

Recipe 1

When the hero of the country asks a favor, the people listen.

When the hero of a country begs and pleads and demands, even the elders take notice.

And when the hero of a country threatens – just a little, just the tiniest bit – a life can be saved.

--

Deep within one of the darkest corners of the Konoha prison, Uchiha Sasuke had been kept under solitary confinement for nearly a year.

Every day since their return, Naruto had visited whether Sasuke wanted him to or not.  And it was a fortunate thing Naruto did so.  Otherwise there would have been no one there to cut Sasuke down when he’d been hanging by his torn bedding from the top of the cell bars.

Following that, the prisoner never spent a moment alone, instead always kept under the watchful eyes of jounin guards.

Then, one day, Uciha Sasuke was released and put under house arrest.

--

The leaders of Konoha had not bothered to rebuild the Uchiha compound in the wake of destruction from the Akatsuki war.  The reason given was that it was too grim a reminder of a suffering past, but Sasuke believed it was purely out of spite and nothing would convince him otherwise.

This belief was aided by the fact that the council had gone so far as to tear down what little remained and level it out until the once proud section was nothing more than a blank space.  Before that, however, Nartuo had sorted through the rubble, throwing whatever he could find into a large cardboard box.  This consisted mostly of clothing scraps and broken bits of pottery, a spoon, half a mirror and a strangely intact small metal box with pretty etching, which Naruto examined then tossed in with everything else.

Ultimately, Sasuke was settled into an empty house far from the center of town, where he could both be easily watched and not cause undue discomfort to lawful citizens. 

In any case, the new Uchiha home needed a healthy invective of cheer and Naruto considered himself more than up to the task.

The first thing he did was give Sasuke the big cardboard box.

---

“Hey!  Open up!”  The blond yelled as he pounded on Sasuke’s front door.

Eventually, after continued berating didn’t work, Naruto simply opened the door and walked inside, inviting himself where he knew he darn well wasn’t wanted.  But then, Naruto never concerned himself much with convention.

“Whatcha doing?”

He found Sasuke sitting cross-legged in what appeared to be the living room, papers of every size and color strewn around in a half circle before him in no pattern Naruto could ascertain.  Sasuke’s cool black eyes slowly rose up over his thick glasses and fixated on Naruto’s face.  He narrowed them threateningly, but spoke not a word.  Naruto grinned and Sasuke returned to his work, clearly dismissing the intruder from his thoughts.  Unbothered, Naruto squatted down and began reaching for one of the old, hand-written sheets, but the moment his fingers touched the edge, he found himself forced on his feet and pushed back out of the room.  His spine met the entryway wall with an audible thump.  Naruto glanced down at the hand pressed flat against his chest and saw the swirl of black tattoo that tapered off to gray peeking out from the hem of Sasuke’s tight sleeve.  The pattern stretched elegantly out to his fingers.

“Hey – “ Naruto started.

“What,” Sasuke’s dark eyes bore into Naruto’s bright ones.  “Are you doing here?”

“Visiting.”

Sasuke’s eyes narrowed again and he clutched the front of Naruto’s shirt.  The threat was clear but unvoiced.

Naruto smiled.

Then, with his one hand still holding Naruto back, Sasuke held out his other, palm up.  “Where’s my gift?”

Naruto’s gaze flicked momentarily to the open hand then back to Sasuke’s face.  “Gift?”

Sasuke’s eyebrow quirked up.  “It is customary when paying a visit to bring the host a gift.”

The look of sudden fear that crossed Naruto’s face could have been comical, except the edge of sincere worry to it negated much of the humorous effect.  There was a mad and desperate rummage through Naruto’s pockets before he finally came up with something and slapped it into Sasuke’s hand, triumphant.

Sasuke’s eyes stayed fixed to Naruto for an unnervingly long time, before he lowered his gaze to examine the offering.  His eyes returned to Naruto, one eyebrow arching over the rim of his glasses.

“Gum?”

Naruto’s head nodded so effusively it almost got knocked clear from his body.  “Cinnamon,” he’s quick to explain.  “Sweet, but a little hot too.”

Slowly, Sasuke’s eyes once more go to the gum, then after a few more moments, he takes it, unwraps it, and slowly folds the long stick over his tongue, pink against pink.

Naruto smiles nervously and raises his eyebrows in silent question.

Sasuke says nothing.

Relaxing, Naruto let his guard down, which is normally on high alert when dealing with Sasuke, and settles back comfortably into the wall.  He holds Sasuke’s stare for just a moment, giving him an impudent grin.  Without the slightest change in expression, Sasuke turns away.

He proceeds to enter the living room as if Naruto was never there.  This is behavior to which Naruto has long grown accustomed, so he’s not deterred.

“You got anything to eat?”  He calls after Sasuke, feeling the familiar twinge in his stomach.  “I’m starved.”

Sasuke stops in his tracks but doesn’t turn around.  Naruto stares at him, unsure how to deal with Sasuke at the best of times –not that there are many of those.  Creeping up from the back of Sasuke’s dun-colored high collar are the telltale curving black lines of his tattoo seal.  They blend up seamlessly into his hair and disappear into the black strands.  The curse seal on his shoulder has been completely covered up by this new one.

Then Sasuke’s head makes an almost slow little jerk to the side.  The edge of his chewed gum peeks out between his lips before he swallows it back.  “All I have is gum.”  He states without a hint of emotion.

Naruto laughs uncomfortably and, after an awkward moment, heads out the door.

--

Sasuke could very clearly hear the incessant knocking at his door as well as the accompanying string of demands.  He just chose to ignore them.  He carefully finished what he was doing, washed his hands and only then went to attend the ensuing “crisis”.

He opened the door in his usual attire of loose pants and tight high-necked shirt.  This time however, he also had the addition of a stained blue and pink check apron and a bright red bandana tied around his forehead, which caused his hair to stick up high from the fabric like a group of antennae.

Naruto had opened his mouth to speak but stopped midway, so that he stood speechless and goggle-eyed.  He stayed motionless and silent for the full count of ten seconds.

Then he burst out laughing.

Sasuke slammed the door.

This time he remembered to lock it.

--

“C’mon!  I said I was sorry!”  Naruto shouted through the uncaring door.  He pounded on it with both fists as though that would help anything.  He’d come everyday just like he always did, but it had been three since he’d actually laid eyes on Sasuke.  He would’ve broken the door down long before now if he hadn’t been certain Sasuke was still up and moving around within.  “You can’t stay mad forever!”

But Naruto knew that was a lie, Sasuke was very adept at staying mad forever.  Naruto pressed his ear to the door.  He could still hear faint noises on the other side, so he could see there was no point in barging in and angering Sasuke further.

On the other side of the door, Sasuke stood wearing the same outfit he had that last time Naruto saw him, arms crossed, head lowered, and scowling at nothing.

“Sasuke!”  Came the whine from outside.  “Please.  I swear I won’t . . . I’ll behave.”

Sasuke bit the inside of his cheek and narrowed his eyes even more.

“Please . . .” Naruto pleaded like a supplicant to a holy order.

Naruto rested his forehead on the wooden door and let out a long, weary sigh.  Then he turned his head to look behind at the jounin guard, standing quiet and unmoving, on duty.  Naruto sighed again and stood up straight.  He picked up his package and turned to leave.

The door opened.

Naruto whirled and gave the silent, staring man a sheepish grin.

“I brought a gift.” Naruto lifted the plain paper bag from the ground in offering.  The smell of meat and spices rose up to meet Sasuke’s nose.

“Ramen?” He asked blandly.

“No.”  Naruto raised a dubious eyebrow.  “Barbeque.”

Sasuke’s eyes twitched smaller then returned to normal.  The afternoon sun glinted bright off the corner of his glasses.

Naruto waited a moment.  “Can I come in?”

In response, Sasuke took a deliberate step back into the recesses of the house.  Naruto took his own, if hesitant, step forward.  After finally crossing the threshold, he titled his head back a little and sniffed.

“Is something burning?”

Sasuke glowered at him, turned on his heel and strode quickly, almost running, to the kitchen at the back of the house.  Naruto instantly followed.

Smoke billowed out in small dark tendrils when Sasuke opened the oven door.  It invaded both teens’ throats and eyes and Naruto coughed but Sasuke scarcely noticed the effects as he snatched up a set of potholders.  Using them, he pulled out the baking sheet and ferociously threw it, and the little circles of charcoal on it, into the sink wholesale.  He violently dashed the two potholders to the ground, but as they are fabric the effect was not very satisfying.

As he ineffectually fanned smoke away with his hand, Naruto asked, “What was that?”

Sasuke whirled on him and a small container flies from his hand.  It beans Naruto in the head, ricochets off, hits the wall and lands on the floor.

“Hey!  That hurt!  What did you do –“ But Sasuke is gone.

Somewhere at the other side of the house, a door slams.

Still rubbing his head – though more out of anger than pain since he has a thick skull – Naruto heaves a sigh and puts the barbeque in the refrigerator.  Then he bends down to retrieve the square projectile.

He lifts the small plastic lid of the sturdy, still intact container.  The contents have not fared well after the impact with his head and are mostly crumbs now.  But he takes the time to carefully sift through them and finds a few which have been saved, likely cushioned by those on the edges.  Naruto removes one.  It looks like a cookie, but delicate, a circle that has been curved on the sides to form a sort of lens shape.  After turning it one way and another a few times, Naruto takes a bite.

It is only a little sweet with a hint of vanilla, thin and crispy at the rim, but thicker and just slightly soft in the center.

He lets the last crumb of it slowly linger on his tongue as he squats on the floor, thinking.

Just before he is about to leave, he remembers that Sasuke never actually turned off the oven.

So he does the man a favor.

Recipe 1 -Tuiles

Chapter Text

Recipe 2

The door is locked.

Naruto looks around but the jounin make him a little uneasy with their hard-faced and statuesque vigilance; their eyes firmly locked on the house.  “Kill on sight”, he hasn’t forgotten.  Just one step outside and Sasuke . . .

He knocks again.  Sasuke is temperamental but nowadays he’s usually as quick to come down as he is to fire up.  Although Naruto hasn’t decided yet if this is that good of a thing; Sasuke used to have more conviction.

There are sounds on the other side of the door so Naruto waits.  If Sasuke is going to answer, he will do so in his own good time; Naruto has long understood this.

And he has learned the value of patience.

He holds the handle of the small bag in his hands and rocks back on his heels.  He glances back over his shoulder, but the jounin is no longer there.

The door opens.

There is a long moment of wary appraisal before Sasuke turns and walks away.  Naruto instantly follows, closing the door softly behind him.  As he makes his way to the kitchen, he glances up and spots one of the many cameras set up to record Sasuke’s every move and send it all dutifully to the headquarters of the Konoha policing force.

Once in the kitchen, Naruto looks curiously at the countertop, where a round disk of dough is set beside an empty pie pan. Without preamble, Sasuke dusts flour on the dough and begins flattening it all over with a rolling pin.  Naruto watches with more than a little interest as Sasuke leans over the dough, angling to the left and right then back again, his body twisting with the effort.  It is methodical and mesmerizing and for a while Naruto forgets that this is a prison.  Or he does until Sasuke stops, head down, and says, “I’m surprised they let me have this.”

“A rolling pin?”  Naruto asks with an equal mix of surprise and dubiousness.

Sasuke lifts the implement and slaps one end harshly into the palm of his hand.  “I could smash someone over the head.”

He says it so calmly and unexpectedly that Naruto sits up straight.  “What?”

But Sasuke only sets the instrument aside, gently picks up the dough and flips it over the pan.  He carefully presses it in, trims it, then begins making decorative triangles around the edge with his fingers.  Naruto stares in fascination at the hands that can do something so delicate after threatening something so violent.

Sasuke’s fingers, long and thin, seem to be made for this sort of precise work in Naruto’s new and somewhat warped view of the world.

“How do you do that?”  Naruto asks.

Sasuke graces him with a quick, blank look of his dark eyes over the rim of his glasses before returning to his task.  “It’s not hard.”  He finishes, dusts his hands on his apron, puts some foil in the raw crust filled with dry beans and puts the whole thing in the oven.  Naruto brightens and in his excitement nearly falls off his stool.

“I got you something.”  Quickly, and a little clumsily, he offers up the small paper bag.

With one elegant eyebrow raised, Sasuke plucks it from him with just the tips of his fingers as though it may be poisoned.  Ignoring the slight, Naruto grins broadly and plants himself on the edge of his seat.

After reaching into the bag, Sasuke extracts a little egg-shaped timer.

“Now you won’t have to worry about anything burning.”  Naruto puts his chin in his hands and continues smiling.

Sasuke gives him a strange, sort of blank but meaningful look and walks out of the kitchen, timer in hand.  The small mechanical click of the dial echoes through the hallway towards Naruto and it takes him a moment to realize Sasuke doesn’t intend on returning.  Naruto jumps to the floor and heads down the hall just in time to see Sasuke’s bedroom door close.

Naruto stops in his tracks for a second then continues forward.  Not quite sure what to do, he finally raps gently on the door, not expecting a response.

He doesn’t get one. 

So he sits down on the floor and waits.

Sometime later, the timer dings and Sasuke emerges suddenly from the bedroom.  He spares one brief glance down at Naurto then steps over the blond’s outstretched legs and heads back to the kitchen.

Naruto waits to see if Sasuke will return.

Then he gets to his feet and follows.

He finds Sasuke in front of the oven, turning the pan around.  In the next moment, he is at the counter, cracking eggs.  Naruto watches as Sasuke passes the slippery yolk from one hand to the other, letting the white slide free between his fingers.  Then he whips the yolk with sugar and banana and some other things that Naruto isn’t really marking down.  His hand moves quick and rhythmically and Naruto can see Sasuke’s arm muscles tense with the effort, though they move little.

“What are you making?”  Naruto asks, breaking the silence.

“Banana custard.”

“Why?”

“For the pie.”

“No, I mean,” but then Naruto gives up.  Without knowing quite what it is he wants to know,  he realizes there’s little point in asking.

Instead, he waits and listens as Sasuke whips the eggs, wondering what will happen next.

The timer goes off.  It startles Naruto, but, unfazed, Sasuke flips it off and removes the crust from the oven and sets it on a cooling rack.  Sasuke puts the bowl of custard in the refrigerator and stares at the cooling crust.  His eyes flick to Naruto and purses his lips.  Naruto grins.  Sasuke turns around and washes some dishes.  Once done, he taps his fingers in the crust but it is still too hot.  He stares at the pie for several minutes while Naruto stares at him, doing his best to hold his tongue.

Then Sasuke seems to come to some sort of decision, removes the custard and pours it into the crust. It goes back in the oven and once again Sasuke picks up the timer and disappears.  Naruto watches him go, hears the closing of the door, looks to the oven, and sighs.  Then he wanders into the living room to see what there is to see.

--

Not much.

--

The timer wakes Naruto up.  He bolts to his feet and dashes to the kitchen.  Sasuke is standing there with the pie in his mismatched potholder hands.  Naruto leans anxiously over the counter as Sasuke sets the pan back to the cooling rack.

“Can we eat it now?”  Naruto blurts out, just barely containing his impatience.

The answer is a silent but unqualified “no”.

Sasuke picks up the little egg timer.

“So you like it?”  Naruto asks.  There’s an edge of nervousness to his voice.

Gently, Sasuke cradles the item in question with his two hands and takes a quick sidelong glance at Naruto.  Once again, he pushes up the glasses that keep slipping down his nose.  He looks back to the timer and turns his back on Naruto.  Carefully, he sets the small item down beside the stove.

“Yes.”  Then, bizarrely, he pats it with his fingers as though it is a pet that has behaved well.

When he turns back around, Naruto is still staring.  “Good,” the blond says.
Their eyes lock for a moment and it seems as though something is said without being spoken.

Then Sasuke leaves the kitchen.

“Hey!”  Naruto calls after him.  “You’re not going to your room are you?”

But the answer to that is obvious.  The distinct sound of a door opening and closing rings clear as a bell throughout the empty house.

With a groan, Naruto pounds his forehead on the countertop.

Just for good measure, he hits it three more times.

--

He’s still in that position when Sasuke returns.  Ignoring the ridiculous display, Sasuke pulls a bowl of whipped cream from the refrigerator, spreads it atop the cooled pie and decorates the edge will little banana slices.  He then proceeds to hack at the pie with a spatula to cut into slices because he’s not allowed knives.  At long last, he manages to separate two pieces and plates them.  Setting a spoon beside each piece, he then offers one to Naruto.  When the blond head doesn’t move, Sasuke jabs it with the edge of the proffered plate.

Naruto’s head whips up so fast he almost falls backwards.  He blinks through tiredness into confusion at the messily sliced pieces of pie.  The scowling “don’t even think about it” look Sasuke gives him effectively stalls any comment Naruto might have been tempted to make.  Instead, he silently takes the dessert plate between his two hands.  The edge of his finger brushes accidentally along Sasuke’s as he pulls away.  There air weighs down heavily as Naruto stares and Sasuke looks away, but then the moment is gone.  Naruto brings the plate down and gives Sasuke a wide grin.

Sasuke stares blankly and draws his finger slowly along the rim of his own plate.

Naruto’s smile softens.  “We should eat this outside.”

The dark eyes regard him blandly.  “Outside?”

Naruto makes a quick gesture with his head.  “You have a backyard.  We should use it.”

Slowly, Sasuke’s head turns to the window that faces this “outside”, but the rest of him remains still like a pie-wielding statue.  Naruto hops down from his stool, grabs a limp wrist and unceremoniously drags Sasuke into the great outdoors.  Unused to the brightness, Sasuke squints behind his glasses until his eyes grow accustomed to the sun.  Clearly not caring, Naruto drops down on the porch and pulls Sasuke awkwardly down beside him with such force that the two almost collide. Sasuke scowls at him, which makes the blond smile.

Then Naruto digs into his pie.  After a moment, Sasuke does the same.

It is slightly spicy and not too sweet, like banana bread, and the cream on top is light and fluffy.  Naruto takes his time to enjoy the new treat, marveling at every unexpected bite.

As he eats, he stares out at the yard, swinging his legs like a little kid.  “You should do something with this.”

“What am I supposed to do with this?”  Sasuke returns unemotionally.

Naruto waves his spoon out at the tangle of weeds and tall grass that’s interspersed with brown barren patches.  “You could clear all this out.  There’s a lot of space.”  He digs his spoon into his pie and sticks it into his mouth upside down.

There is a deep disgusted sigh beside him.  He turns, but Sasuke isn’t looking at him.  “What am I supposed to do with space?”  Sasuke asks.

“Lots of things,” Naruto remarks helpfully.

Sasuke turns to him but the glare off his glasses hides his eyes.  Naruto slowly takes the last bite of his pie, carefully pulling the spoon from his mouth so he doesn’t miss a crumb.

Sasuke’s slice still sits on his plate, only half-eaten.

Naruto stares a long time with his spoon hovering expectantly in the air.  Suddenly, Sasuke gets to his feet and holds out his hand for the dirty dish.  On cue, Naruto hands over his empty plate, his eyes flicking down to Sasuke’s still unfinished portion.  “You’re not going to eat that?”

“I don’t like sweet things.”

“Then why do you make them?”

Sasuke stands motionless for a very long time, the sun glinting off his glasses like two tiny flames.  Then he speaks.

“Do you want a pie?”

--

In the kitchen, Naruto watches Sasuke dump his piece, half-eaten, perfect, and delicious, into the trash bin.  Naruto bites his lip to keep his mouth shut.

Without speaking, Sasuke rips a piece of foil off the roll. It makes a crinkling sound as he tents it over the pie.  His movement is measured and steady and just as he’s about to walk away, Naruto grabs his wrist.  The blond can feel blood pulse sluggishly beneath the paper-thin skin.  His own pulse pitches fast in response.

“Sasuke.”

The dark head tilts down and considers the hand holding him.  Then he gently pulls himself free and wordlessly lifts the pie.  With great care, Naruto takes it.

Then Sasuke disappears down the hall.

Naruto’s eyes drop to the dessert in his hands at the same moment the sun dips low, striking the aluminum and sparking a glare that nearly blinds him.

Recipe 2 – Banana Custard Pie

Chapter Text

Recipe 3

“Hello!  Anyone home?”

Naruto calls out, even though he knows it’s a stupid question; Sasuke isn’t allowed to leave so he must be there.  Naruto raps gently on the door and to his surprise, it swings slightly open.  The hinges creak ominously in the absence of all other sound.

He steps inside.

“Sasuke?”

The large bag in his hand rustles, but other than that, he hears nothing.  Immediately, he heads to the bedroom.  With so much silence, he thinks it’s the most logical place for Sasuke to be.  Besides, Sasuke spends a lot of time sleeping these days.  Naruto knocks lightly three times then opens the bedroom door.  It’s the first time he’s seen the inside of the room.  It’s sparse but clean, except for the bed, which is unmade.  This surprises Naruto, as he always pictured Sasuke as some sort of closet neat-freak.  But many things are not the way he’d thought so he shrugs, closes the door, and goes to the only other place that comes to mind.

The kitchen is suffused with sunlight and there are bags and boxes and jars strewn all over the small counter in haphazard fashion.  White powder is scattered beneath a paper bag smashed flat beside the stove.  Experimentally, Naruto sniffs the air, but he smells nothing in particular.  He glances to the oven, but the dial is clearly set to “off’.  The little egg timer sits serenely on the edge of the counter, still waiting to be wound.

Naruto’s nerves start to activate.

“Sasuke?”  He yells louder and he’d be irritated at the tremor in his voice if he weren’t honestly worried.

The bag in his arms starts to rustle and he forces it still so that he doesn’t have to listen to that god-awful noise.

He searches the house from front to back without finding a single sign of Sasuke.  His heart has begun to beat so hard that he’s stopped calling Sasuke’s name; he wouldn’t be able to hear an answer over the thrumming in his ears anyway.

He finally comes to a standstill in the living room, trying and failing to remain perfectly calm.  He replays his entrance over in his head.  There was a guard outside, he’s certain of it.  A stranger with jounin garb was standing stiffly beside the door like a gargoyle.  Sasuke couldn’t have left; he couldn’t be dead.

Naruto slams the palm of his hand to his head as if that will kickstart his neural synapses.  His eyes pop open and his head whips in the direction of the patio door.  It’s the one place he hasn’t looked.

With more violence than necessary, he throws that door open.  It makes a hollow sort of smacking noise.

Relief instantly floods his system.

Sasuke is on the porch, sprawled out like a heathen, sleeping.

He’s not wearing his glasses. 

And now that he’s found him, Naruto lets himself feel the anger he didn’t have time for before.

“Hey!”  Naruto barks and gives Sasuke a little shove with the toe of his shoe.  Completely boneless, Sasuke’s body shifts slightly under the movement.

That’s how Naruto sees the bottle.

His bag crashes to the floor, spilling its contents all across the porch.

--

He checks for breathing, but for the life of him, he can’t remember what breathing is supposed to sound like.

He checks for a pulse but Sasuke’s pulse has been so weak lately Naruto’s not sure he could even find one if it’s there.

He leans over and pulls one of Sasuke’s eyelids up.  He’s not sure what normal eyes are supposed to look like exactly, but he’s pretty sure they’re not supposed to look like that.

“Oh shit.”  He says aloud.  “Shit, shit, shit.”  He pulls Sasuke’s head into his lap and tries shaking him awake with no apparent effect.  “Don’t you do this to me,” he threatens desperately.  “Don’t you do this.”

He slaps Sasuke hard across the face but all that does is leave a red mark.

He pulls at his own blond hair in total frustration at the situation.  He’s out of his league and he knows it.  Quickly, he manages to calm himself long enough to make a clone and send it for help.

Then he stands up, grabs the bottle and shoves it into his pocket.  It bulges the fabric of his pants obscenely.  He bends his knees, preparing for the strain of lifting Sasuke up, but when he does, he almost topples over backwards at the unexpected lightness.

His heart picks up its tempo as he runs to the bathroom.

He tries to get Sasuke to vomit with a modified Heimlich maneuver.  He even tries sticking his finger down Sasuke’s throat, but Sasuke’s head just hangs over the toilet doing nothing.

“Damn it, Sasuke,” Naruto yells, shaking him again.  “You’ve got to wake up.”

He makes a desperate scan of his surroundings as though the answers will be there.  Then he hauls them both over to the shower and turns on the faucet.  The cold water hits them with the shock of a thousand icicles.  Sasuke’s eyelids flutter slightly and his head makes a little sideways jerk.  Naruto wraps his arm underneath Sasuke’s jaw and cups the far side of his face.  The blond head drops back and Naruto offers up a silent, grateful prayer to the heavens.

He continues shaking Sasuke and slaps his cheek, but any further response is minimal.

Naruto is absolutely certain that eons have passed by the time the front door flies open.

“Naruto?!”

“Sakura!”

Sakura plunges into the bathroom doorframe and instantly evaluates the scene.  Her eyes go wide in her own “oh, shit” moment, only she doesn’t say that.

“What happened?”

In response, Naruto hands her the bottle.  Quickly scanning the label, Sakura demands, “Where did he get this?”

Not bothering to be offended at the accusatory tone Naruto simply shakes his head, not having an answer.

Sakura purses her lips, but shoves the bottle into her bag, kneeling down to assess the damage.  She shuts off the water and swiftly takes measure of Sasuke’s vital signs.

“How many did he take?”

Again, Naruto has no answer.

“All right,” Sakura says business-like.  “Help me get him to the bed.”

But before she can do anything, Naruto stands up effortlessly, Sasuke’s body draped loosely over his arms.  Sakura’s eyes bug out and her nose flares in apprehension.  Naruto gives her a meaningful look.

As they head for the bedroom, Sakura grabs a towel from the rack.

“Find me a dry shirt,” she orders.  In record time, she removes Sasuke’s shirt, dries him off and puts on the replacement shirt Naruto mechanically handed her.

Helpless, Naruto watches as Sakura goes about her work with the utmost professionalism.  It feels somehow, oddly, both cold and comforting to him. Sakura guides a tube up Sasuke’s nose and down the back of his throat until it reaches his stomach.  She then begins to pump out the contents.  At least, that’s what Naruto assumes she’s doing, but he’s not paying close attention to her and he wouldn’t know how to tell anyway.  She flushes the tube with something black and checks Sasuke’s statistics again.  Then she gives him some chakra, finally leans back, and lets out a sigh.

She turns her head to Naruto and gives him a weak and worry smile.  “He’ll be all right.  I don’t think he took enough to do permanent damage, at least not now that I’ve given him some extra chakra healing.  It should help to ease any nausea and allow him to sleep normally.”  She looks uneasily at her bag.  “Still, it would probably be a good idea if I stayed and watched him.”

“I’ll do it.”

Sakura’s eyes shift stealthily over to Naruto as he leans sullenly against the wall.

“You need to dry off too.”  She catches his eye.  “I’ll wait until you’re done.”

Blearily, Naruto nods his head and, absently grabbing one of Sasuke’s shirts, heads to the bathroom.

When he returns, Sakura notices the shirt is a little tight on him but he doesn’t seem to notice, so she doesn’t mention it.

“Are you sure about this?”  She asks instead.

Naruto’s gaze flickers up to the girl and he gives her a weak smile, shrugging.  “I wasn’t planning on doing anything else.”

Sakura nods curtly, knowingly.

“When he wakes up, he’ll probably be a little dazed,” Sakura advises.  “Don’t let him do anything potentially dangerous, O.K.?”

Naruto nods his understanding.

The girl stares seriously for a moment more, then bends and picks up her satchel.  As she walks past Naruto, she gives his arm a soothing rub.  “If you need me, I’m just a call away.”  In the next moment, she is gone.

And now alone with the nearly dead, Naruto approaches the bed.

Picking up a damp cloth, he gently wipes Sasuke’s face clean then crawls onto the mattress beside him.  Placing his hand on Sasuke’s chest, he feels for the regular rise and fall of breath.

For a while Naruto stays like this on the bed behind Sasuke, staring at the ink pattern that disappears into Sasuke’s collar.

Then he removes his hand and watches him sleep.

--

Sasuke’s eyes slowly flutter open.  He squints up at the ceiling unable to see clearly, and then rubs both his eyes fiercely with the heels of his hands.  He rolls onto his side to fumble noisily for his glasses.  Finally, retrieving them from the bedside table, he squints again to try to make his eyes to work properly.  He checks the time on his clock.

He takes a few short breaths then rolls onto his back again.  From the corner of his eye, he spots Naruto.  He turns his head and looks directly at the blond interloper.

Naruto returns the look with watery eyes and pulls his lips into an expression halfway between a smile and a frown.  He doesn’t speak.

Sasuke pushes his glasses up and rubs his eye again, ineffectually hiding a scowl.

He then blinks at Naruto, letting his eyes narrow to suspicious slits, and after the span of three seconds states simply, “There are cinnamon buns in the refrigerator.”

--

Naruto oversees the baking and frosting but Sasuke is too groggy to take any offense, not even when Naruto takes a roll warm from the oven, barely waiting for it to be cool enough to handle. 

The rolls are light and fluffy and very sweet with the frosting melted on top.  Naruto may have been quick to snatch one up, but while he’s actually eating it he takes his time, savoring each bite with his eyes closed until the last bit slides down his throat.

He opens his eyes and sees Sasuke standing on the other side of the counter watching him.

“They’re good,” Naruto offers and carefully licks clean one of his sticky fingers.

Sasuke stays still a moment longer, then leans forward and draws his index finger slowly along the side of Naruto’s mouth.  Naruto’s deep blue irises grow large.  Sasuke’s finger comes back with a dab of frosting, which he sticks into his mouth.  Naruto’s mouth opens slightly as he takes a quick breath.  Then Sasuke takes the dirty dishes to the sink and drops them in with a loud, careless clatter.

“Sasuke.”

Sasuke turns the faucet on high.

Naruto purses his lips in irritation.  He stands and walks over to the sink, shutting the water off.  Sasuke puts his hand on the faucet to turn it back on, but Naruto presses his hand firmly over Sasuke’s to prevent him doing anything.

“Sasuke,” he repeats.

Sasuke blinks.

With a sigh, Naruto goes on.  “Where did you get those pills?”

Sasuke doesn’t answer, nor meet Naruto’s eyes.   So Naruto takes Sasuke’s chin in his hand and forces them to be face-to-face.  He repeats the question.

“I need them to sleep,” Sasuke replies, not really answering.

Naruto scoffs.  “Of all the things you don’t need help with –“

“Yes I do,” Sasuke cuts him off quietly.

Naruto stares a long time and this time Sasuke doesn’t avert his eyes.

The silence stretches on until, at last, Sasuke breaks it.  “Get your hands off me.”

Reluctantly, Naruto complies.

Sasuke washes the dishes.

So Naruto goes out onto the porch and carefully collects all the items that had tumbled from his bag.  By the time he returns to the kitchen, Sasuke is putting the dishes away.

“I’ll do that,” Naruto says and takes them without allowing Sasuke a protest.

Sasuke crosses his arms in defiance.

“I brought you some vegetables,” Naruto announces suddenly.  “Here.”  He rushes back to get the bag and carefully lines the contents on the counter one by one.  “You need to eat them.”

Sasuke glares vaguely over the colorful array.

“You’re not eating right,” Naruto points out forcibly. He curls his lip.  “Are you eating at all?”

Sasuke droops his eyelids and turns away.

“All right,” Naruto continues, undeterred.  “We’ve gotta wash these and cut them up –“

“Were you hit in the head recently?” Sasuke barks.

Naruto pauses a moment.

“Not recently.”

Violently, Sasuke rips open a drawer, pulls out a couple items and slams them down on the counter.  They are a wooden spoon and a plastic spatula.  Both rounded, both dull, both now sitting there, daring Naruto to use them.

“Which do you think would work better?” Sasuke snaps coldly.

Naruto flushes up to his hairline, but then takes the time to seriously consider the matter.  Finally, he picks up the spatula and jabs a few times at a cucumber.  He makes a discolored dent.  He thins his lips and glares critically at his handiwork.  “I’ll see what I can do about that,” he mumbles.  “But you can still eat them like this.”  Naruto waves the bruised cucumber in Sasuke’s face.  Sasuke snatches it from him, washes it and bites down ruthlessly.  Naruto grins like it’s his birthday.  “Good.  I want you to eat a tomato too.  And maybe some of those beans.  You must have a pot to cook them.”

“You cook them,” Sasuke states flatly in an attempt to end the conversation.

But Naruto only grins wide and makes a big fuss as he looks for the pot and cooks the beans.  He practically shoves them down Sasuke’s throat along with a third of the cucumber.  The tomato follows soon after.

Sasuke glares murderously at Naruto even as he looks like he might be sick at any moment.

After a quick check of the current vegetable inventory, Naruto decides that’s probably his cue to leave.

Recipe 3 -Cinnamon Buns 

Chapter Text

Recipe 4

First thing in the morning, Naruto rented the abandoned house next to Sasuke’s.

When he went to visit his new neighbor bright and early, he noticed with satisfaction that a new guard, a woman he’d never seen before, had taken over this shift.  He smiled and waved and she gave him a barely perceptible nod of her head.

As he walked by, Naruto pulled behind him a wagon laden with things hidden beneath a tarp.  By a sheer stroke of luck, perhaps aided by Naruto’s reputation, the woman hadn’t asked to check the wagon.  And Naruto hadn’t offered.

He immediately knocked on the door and when no one answered, he simply called out, “I’m coming in,” and did so.  He shut the door soundly behind him.

He found Sasuke sitting on the floor in the living room, utterly motionless.  Panic gripped Naruto for an instant, but when he dashed around in front, he saw Sasuke completely conscious with his arms crossed, scowling at the far blank wall.  With a deep exhalation of air, Naruto dropped himself onto the floor.  Sasuke didn’t bother acknowledging him.  Naruto leaned forward and gently wrapped his hand around a bone-thin ankle.  “What’s wrong?”

When Sasuke didn’t answer, Naruto shook the ankle a little to get his attention.

Sasuke’s dark eyes thinned, but remained glaring at the wall.  “They won’t buy me anymore flour.”

Naruto raised an eyebrow.  “Oh?”

“I suppose they think I’m building some sort of flour bomb.”

Naruto didn’t really think this was the case but Sasuke said it so seriously, he couldn’t be sure.

“Oh.  Well,” Naruto hedged.  “Don’t worry about that.  I’ll look into it.”

The sinewy muscle beneath Naruto’s hand stirred a little then Sasuke jerked free.  For the first time, the coal dark eyes shifted.

Naruto grinned from ear to ear.  “I got you a present,” he said.  Sasuke looked blank.  “But first: food.”

Naruto scrambled to his feet, ran over to grab the take-out bag, and scrambled back down again.

Sasuke looked down at the carton impassively.  Naruto popped the top and the scent of chicken and vegetables in garlic sauce rose up to meet them.  Reaching over, Naruto shoved a pair of chopsticks into Sasuke’s limp hand.  “Eat it; it’s good.”  To prove his point, Naruto took another set of chopsticks and shoveled some of the dish into his mouth.  Sasuke’s gaze went from Naruto’s grinning encouragement to the food then to the chopsticks in his hand as if he wasn’t sure how all these things worked together.  But in time, he slowly started to eat.  Naruto wiggled happily in his seat and joined him.

Naruto only picked at the food, pushing the bigger pieces of meat and vegetables toward Sasuke.  Eventually Sasuke refused to eat another bite.  Naruto reluctantly acquiesced under the condition that Sasuke would eat it later, even if it meant the death of both of them.  Then Naruto took the container and stowed it in the refrigerator. When he returned, he found Sasuke reprising his role of sitting and glaring at the wall.

“Come on!”  Naruto yelled, trying to keep things upbeat.  He took Sasuke’s arm, attempting to haul him to his feet.  Sasuke slapped the assistance away, but stood all the same.

“What?”  The question was unfriendly in the extreme.

Naruto grinned and forced Sasuke onto the porch.

“Ta-dah!”

Sasuke looked around blandly.  “What is this?”

Bursting with energy, Naruto circled in front of the dour teen and threw his arms out expansively.  “I thought of what to do with your yard.  You’re going to have a garden!”  He was very proud of himself having come up with this idea.  He’d spent the entire night before researching how to go about this since he had absolutely no experience in the subject.  But after reading and memorizing every bit of information he could find on the topic of gardening, he felt he was now well versed and perfectly competent to direct the new endeavor.

Sasuke turned to reenter the house.  Trying to stop him, Naruto grabbed his hand and swung him back around.  There was a little too much force in play however so Sasuke stumbled, fell off the porch and landed like a sack of potatoes in the dirt.

Naruto’s eyes went wide with shock.

“Are you all right?  Oh gee, I’m sorry Sasuke.  I didn’t mean to . . .” Naruto rambled on barely intelligibly.  He took a step and stopped.

The hard curve of Sasuke’s back as he sat on his knees was a clear indication to go away.  He gripped his hands tight to the blades of grass so that they stuck up between his fingers.  In a slow-motion effort, Sasuke ripped up tufts of brown, dry lawn right out of the ground.  It made a horrible rending noise like something torn asunder.

Looking around, Naruto quickly grabbed a trowel and thrust the handle into Sasuke’s range of vision.

“Here,” he said.  “You’re going to help me.”  He said no more, not seeming to know what else there was to say.

Finally, Sasuke took the trowel firmly in both hands and lifted it level to his bent head.  For a second, Naruto was taken by fear about just where Sasuke might choose to use that sharp edge.  But Sasuke just brought the trowel straight down into the hard-packed earth.  He did this over and over again, in the same spot as though he was trying to dig a hole to North America.

Gritting his teeth to bite back his anxiety, Naruto said cheerily, “Good.  And I’ll just work over here.”  He picked up the shovel, pitchfork, and any other item that could remotely be considered dangerous and brought them with him to the far corner of the yard. As he worked he kept one eye on Sasuke, but the action never changed.  Sasuke just continued driving the trowel into the same small hole in the dirt.

It didn’t take long for Sasuke’s pace to slow, about fifteen minutes.  By half an hour’s time he had become completely worn out, so exhausted that he could scarcely lift his arms anymore.

“O.K.!”  Naruto yelled, creepily cheerful.  “I guess that’s good for today.”

Without prodding, Sasuke dropped the garden tool where he sat, labored to his feet and slowly dragged himself through the house.  Naruto stared at the open entrance and he listened to the uneven plodding steps followed by the all-too-familiar slam of the door.

He closed his eyes, clenched his teeth and took a long shaky breath through his nose.

Then he went back to work and continued for a few more hours, clearing out a sizeable section of yard.

Afterwards, he packed up all his things, potentially dangerous or not because he could never be sure how Sasuke’s mind worked, and took them home with him.

--

The door was back to being locked.

Naruto continued to pound on it and call out to the teen inside, but no one answered.

The bag in his arms started to get heavy.

He knocked again.

Each time this happened, Naruto found himself caught in the vast space between anger and honest concern.

He smashed his fist especially hard on the door.  “Sasuke!”  He demanded.  “Open up!”

Naruto remained impatiently on the other side of the door for what seemed to him like just this side of forever. 

Then he kicked it. 

The door opened.

“Don’t break my door,” Sasuke said.

Naruto grinned wide.  “Let me in.”

Sasuke’s eyes narrowed and he huffed once, but then he walked further into the house, leaving the entryway open.  Naruto followed, kicking the door shut behind him.  When Sasuke turned down the hall, Naruto took firm hold of his wrist and dragged him along in the other direction.  Beneath the cool skin, Naruto could feel a pulse, slow but steady.  He smiled at Sasuke, who gave him an utterly bland, uninterested look in return.

Naruto practically threw Sasuke into the kitchen then deposited his stuffed bag onto the counter.  He walked over to open the refrigerator door and frowned.

“You promised to eat this yesterday.”

“I promised no such thing,” Sasuke retorted.

Ignoring him, Naruto picked up the takeout container and began heating the contents on the stove.

“I’m not eating that,” Sasuke stated flatly.

“You will if you want your gift.”

“I don’t want it.”

Naruto grinned wickedly.  “You’ll want this one.”

Sasuke’s eyes latched onto Naruto’s face for a long time.  Then they flicked to the window facing that yard and back again without actually saying a word, though the question seemed clear enough to Naruto.

Naruto’s eyebrows shot up.

But he didn’t say a word either.

After practically shoving the food down Sasuke’s throat, Naruto, bouncing on his heels, pushed the bag in Sasuke’s direction.  The blond waited expectantly as Sasuke finally deigned to look inside.

One by one, Sasuke began extracting things from the bag.  He pulled out several types of flour, sugars, flavorings, colors, bottle after bottle, jar after jar.  Sasuke examined each one and set them aside in neat little rows on the countertop.

Grinning from ear to ear, Naruto put his chin in both his hands and watched.  “Did you know there’s a specialty cook shop in town?  They’ve got stuff from all over the world.”

Sasuke spared a quick glance to Naruto to let him know any idiot knew about that shop and then went back to his perusal.

Naruto didn’t stop smiling.  “I had no idea what to get, so I asked the lady that worked there.  Then I got a lot because I didn’t know what it’s all used for but it all looked interesting and she had a really good sales pitch.”  He laughed.  “Eventually I had to stop or I’d have bought the whole store.”

Turning around a jar of almond paste and inspecting its contents, Sasuke said, “I’m surprised they’d spring for all this.”

“Oh, they didn’t buy it for you,” Naruto said, somewhat surprised.  “I did.”

Sasuke paused a moment, his eyes looking down into the bag but clearly not looking at it, pursed his lips into a thin line, then went on with his examination.

Naruto knew when Sasuke found something of particular significance by the way he suddenly stilled and the single quick blink of his eyes.  Sasuke lifted a small dark bottle from the bag’s depths and began twisting it between his fingers.  Abruptly, he turned, set the bottle by the stove, and began rifling through an album filled with all the papers Naruto had seen him with that first day.

He watched as Sasuke found the right paper and, propping the book open, began following the instructions by throwing a bunch of things into a bowl and mixing.  Naruto watched it all, as always, with fascination.

Then Sasuke put a pot on the stove, filled it with oil and waited.  After a while, the oil began bubbling and popping loudly, and apparently satisfied with the results, Sasuke started to dollop portions of the dough into the oil.  They made a pleasant crackling sound as they fried.

“What are you making?”  Naruto asked, half-expecting not to get an answer.

“Pets de Nonne.”

“Pets de Nonne?”  Naruto parroted dubiously.

Sasuke used a spoon to scoop a crispy dough ball from the pot and set it aside to drain.  Soon, there was a collection of little fritters sitting next to stove, just waiting to be eaten.  Sasuke tested one carefully with his finger then picked it up and took a bite.  A look close to contentment crossed his face as his eyes glazed over.

Naruto blinked and swallowed nervously.

“Can I have one?”

Without looking, Sasuke held out the plate and Naruto took one, biting into it carefully.  He made a face.  “They’re not very sweet.”

Sasuke’s eyes lowered their lids halfway in disgust.  Then he took a bag of powdered sugar and used a small strainer to dust the lot until they were fully coated white.  He offered the plate again and permitted Naruto to try another.

This time they were sweet.

They had golden crisp outsides and a light doughy flavor.  They were airiest near the surface crust and a little dense toward the center.  Naruto smiled, little flecks of powdered sugar falling from his face.

Sasuke gave him a patented blank stare then turned to attend to the dishes.

“Hey Sasuke,” Naruto ventured once his sweet was done.  “Where’d you learn to do this?”

Slowly, Sasuke began pouring the oil from the pan into an old can.  He hit the pan against the rim to rid it of the last little bit of oil and threw the dirty dishes into the sink.  He stood there for a while, his hands on the edge of the counter, not moving nor speaking.

Just when Naruto was sure he wasn’t going to answer, Sasuke said, “My mother.”

Naruto sat up straight.  “Your mother?”

Sasuke nodded and began washing the dishes.  Over the rush of water, his voice could just barely be heard.  “She had an obsession with all these strange foreign pastries.”

“But you didn’t eat them.” It wasn’t a question; Naruto knew the answer already.

“No,” Sasuke agreed, stacking the clean dishes in the dish drain.  The tips of his fingers lingered on the edge of one of the washed plates, light as a butterfly.  “They were for my brother.”

Naruto’s eyes dropped to the neat line of the many things he had purchased for Sasuke.  He picked one up and read the label.  Coconut extract. He picked up another: vanilla.  And another: lemon oil.  Cocoa powder, sparkle sugar, raspberry essence, almond paste.  He set the last one to the counter and looked away.

Sasuke began drying the dishes and putting them away.  He hadn’t yet faced Naruto again.

“I was with my mother a lot,” he finally said, a dish held lightly between his hands.  “When I was very little.  Father didn’t have time for me and Itachi was . . . busy.”  He paused as though collecting himself.  Then he just gave a little shrug.

Naruto could see the side of Sasuke’s face and the slight upturn of his lips, as close to a smile as they had ever been.

Naruto let out a breath he hadn’t been aware he was holding.

“They were good times,” Naruto wanted to say, but the words would have been unwelcome.  Instead, he asked, “And you kept all the recipes with you?”

Sasuke’s head turned to the right, toward the album, but still not facing Naruto.  “No.”  Gently, he folded the cover closed and set his hand flat atop it.  “They were in that little metal box.”

Naruto’s eyes burst wide for a moment before a smile made its way across his face.  He swallowed again and blinked his eyes rapidly a few times; just to make sure he didn’t do anything stupid.

Recipe 4 - Pets de Nonne

Chapter Text

Recipe 5

“Hellooo!”  Naruto rapped quickly and incessantly on Sasuke’s door.  He glanced back at the jounin guard watching and waved.

“Open up!”  Naruto cried excitedly.  He tried the doorknob but found it locked.  This discouraged him only momentarily.  Then he went back to yelling and knocking.  “I can keep this up all day!”

The noise produced no results from the other side of the door.  There was a short scuff of feet behind him and Naruto realized this might be more bothersome to the guard than Sasuke.  And that would be bad, since he had secreted some things amongst his stuff again that he probably shouldn’t have.

It was early yet.  Sasuke, as usual, was probably still in bed.

“Sasuke!”  Naruto sing-songed through the closed door.

The door opened.

Sasuke had clearly risen recently and had only just now gotten out of the shower.  His hair stuck every which way over his lazy eyes in a way that should have been funny.  Except there was something distinctly not funny about the way the dark, tousled hair dripped water onto Sasuke’s shirt or the way that shirt, close-fitted on the best of days, now stuck to Sasuke’s skin in the spots where it hadn’t quite dried off.

Naruto licked his lips nervously and his eyebrows rose slightly when he smiled.  “We’ve got work to do.”

Sasuke’s always half-lidded eyes dropped to three-quarters and he let out a short breath.  Naruto tilted his head and grinned broader.  When he did, Sasuke could see the wagon he dragged behind him, overloaded with supplies.

“What’s all that?”

Naruto craned his head back to look as though he’d forgotten that he’d brought anything.  “These are for your garden.”

Sasuke made a noncommittal noise in his throat.

Undaunted, Naruto faced him and said brightly, “Let’s get going!”

--

Sasuke watched disinterestedly as Naruto lined the plants along the edge of the porch.

“All right!”  The blond said cheerily once that was done.  “We’d better get started if we want to finish today.”

He glanced up at Sasuke, who stood with his arms limp at his sides.  The blue eyes scanned him up and down then slowly took in the expanse of the yard.  Naruto pursed his lips and put his fist beneath his chin, thinking.

“You should set out the plants,” he decided, turning back to Sasuke, who still hadn’t moved.  Naruto picked up a trowel and held it out tentatively in his hand.  “I can trust you with this, right?”

Not exactly answering, Sasuke gently wrapped his hand around the handle near Naruto’s and slowly pulled the instrument free.  Naruto’s eyebrows pressed down in a frown, but Sasuke only stepped down from the porch and headed to the cleared out section of yard.  Slowly and laboriously, he began digging a hole for a plant to live in.  Once Naruto assured himself that Sasuke wasn’t going to try anything untoward, he took the heavier equipment, shovel and pitchfork, to the as-yet wild side of the yard and attacked it with vigor.  Periodically Naruto would glance over his shoulder.  Though Sasuke seemed weary, he didn’t seem inclined to use the trowel on himself.  Naruto smiled and began humming some inane tune as he worked.

Not too long into the labor, he heard Sasuke stand and stumble towards the porch.  Naruto looked over and could almost see Sasuke’s eyes roll into the back of his head as he started to fall.  The pitchfork tumbled from Naruto’s hands and he dashed over, catching Sasuke an instant before he hit his head against the hard wooden edge of the porch.  Worriedly, Naruto looked down, but Sasuke had only fallen asleep, worn out by more work than he was used to anymore.  Naruto pursed his lips ruefully.

He got his arms beneath Sasuke and picked him up bridal style.  The dark head lolled lazily into Naruto’s chest as he was carried over to the porch.  Naruto sat down on the deck and positioned Sasuke so that his head lay in Naruto’s lap.  The blond stared down.  The dark brows were pulled together tight at a time when they should be at ease.  Rubbing his finger over the wrinkle between Sasuke’s eyebrows, Naruto eventually got the expression to smooth out into a much more peaceful one.  As Naruto gently brushed the hair from Sasuke’s face, his lips turned up in a soft smile.  The hair between Naruto’s fingers was surprisingly soft and he liked the feel of it on his skin.

Sasuke’s breathing grew slow and even and his eyelids fluttered in dreams Naruto couldn’t even imagine.

“I won’t let anyone hurt you anymore,” Naruto promised quietly.  He brushed his knuckles gently across Sasuke’s cheek.  “Especially not you.”

He watched Sasuke sleep a little longer, before standing up.  He removed his shirt and folded it beneath Sasuke’s head.

Then he looked over at Sasuke’s progress on the plants.  Three were in the ground.  Naruto considered it work well done.

Finally, he returned to his corner of the yard and finished the task of clearing it.

Throughout the rest of the morning, Sasuke slept soundly.

--

Naruto grinned broadly upon the garden’s completion.  He turned to Sasuke, but the teen was so covered in dirt and his glasses obscured by so much dust that Naruto couldn’t be sure what expression Sasuke wore.

Sasuke got to his feet, wobbled a little then set himself to rights.  Naruto barely contained himself from rushing over to help.

“I’m taking a bath,” Sasuke announced.

“What about me?”  Naruto immediately countered, insulted.  He threw his hands to the sides and was about to mention how he had done most of the work, but then thought better of it.  “I’m already half-undressed,” he pointed out, referring to the fact that in the heat he’d once again removed his shirt.

At the mention of this, Sasuke’s dark eyes dropped to stare at the bared chest for so long that Naruto began to blush.  Naruto crossed his arms and pouted.  Sasuke blinked very slowly once and lifted his eyes back to Naruto’s face.  “That’s not a good enough reason.”

”Well,” Naruto began, a little out-of-sorts, “I’m the guest.”

“Uninvited.”

Naruto frowned deeper.  “Still . . .”

Sasuke gave him an implacable stare. “I’m taking a bath.  If you want one now, you’ll have to share.”

Naruto almost choked on his tongue.  “You can’t be serious?!”  But Sasuke was already out of sight and possibly out of earshot as well.

After a moment more, Naruto stepped up into the house and made his way to the bathroom.  The door was closed and he could hear water running.  He stood there for a moment, lifted his hand to knock, changed his mind, and instead went into the backyard.  At last, he gathered his things and returned to his own home to clean up.

He could just never tell for sure when Sasuke was being serious or just his old sarcastic self.

--

When he was next allowed entrance into the house, Naruto was greeted with the faint aroma of spice and sweetness in the air.  He followed his nose to the kitchen.

Sasuke stood at the counter in his usual cooking attire, unwrapping the last of four small loaves of dark brown bread, the source of the smell.  The baker’s uniform was beginning to grow on Naruto.  With his usual aplomb, he dropped himself on a stool and set his chin in his hand.  “What did you make?”

“Spice bread.”

“Spice bread?”  Naruto asked curiously.

Sasuke’s eyebrows lowered, but then he broke off a piece of one of the cured loaves with his fingers and held it out to Naruto.  Cheekily, Naruto opened his mouth.  But then he almost choked when Sasuke deftly pushed the bread between his parted lips.  Naruto closed his mouth but Sasuke’s fingers lingered over it.  Slowly, keeping his eyes locked on Sasuke, Naruto carefully chewed and swallowed.  The bread was packed with the flavors of all kinds of fruits and nuts and spices, foremost among them licorice.  Naruto was going to ask if Sasuke had used the entire supply of baking needs he’d given him in the one recipe but then opted against it.  Instead, he said, “It’s good.  Different.”

Sasuke drew his hand away then and looked out the window into the yard.

Naruto delicately licked his lips.

“I need rum,” Sasuke said.

Naruto considered him critically.  Sasuke still looked worn and tired, the beaten-down product of his ill-chosen life.  “I don’t think alcohol is the answer to your problems.”

Sasuke’s response was swift and unexpectedly violent.  “It’s for the recipes, you moron!”  As he whirled back to Naruto, there was a fire in his eyes, filled with spite, that hadn’t been there for months.

“Well, it’s not like it would’ve been out of the realm of possibility,” Naruto countered obstinately.

“That’s what you think of me,” Sasuke stated a little too coldly and calmly.  Naruto balked.  But then the dark eyes flashed back.  “It’s not like I asked you to buy it.”

“You ask me to buy everything else.”

“I never asked you to buy anything,” Sasuke enunciated harshly.  “But I suppose you expect me to thank you anyway.”

Naruto felt his good mood dissipate like dust in the wind as his anger started to flare at Sasuke’s unwarranted outburst. “It’s proper etiquette.”  Naruto replied irritably. “And it would also just be nice.”

“Oh, by all means,” Sasuke whipped his hand to the side.  “I suppose I should get down on my knees and show my gratitude.”

“What?!”  Suddenly enraged and a little thrown, Naruto leapt to his feet, the stool crashing down loudly behind him.

Sasuke flexed his fingers over and over at his sides.  “You just love the idea that I owe you, don’t you?”  Sasuke sneered, his voice rising.  “That I have you to thank for this worthless sham of a life!”

“It’s not worthless!”  Naruto shouted, being pulled helplessly along by Sasuke’s temperament.  His battle against his own mounting anger and frustration had long since been lost.

“Let me show you my proper appreciation!”  With that declaration, Sasuke picked up a bag of flour and catapulted it at Naruto.

It hit the blond in center of his chest and exploded, raining down white all over him.  It got in his throat and his eyes and covered all of him until he looked like a ghost.  He blinked clear of the offensive powder and saw Sasuke standing there, fists clenched, glaring and ungrateful.

It took only a moment more for Naruto to lose control.

He launched forward and punched Sasuke right in the jaw, knocking his glasses clear from his face.  Then he hit him again.  And again.

And kept hitting.

And hitting.

And then he remembered that Sasuke could scarcely defend himself.

Not that he was trying.

Recipe 5 - Spice Bread

Chapter Text

Recipe 6

Sakura glanced over her shoulder and pulled her lips into a thin line.  She would’ve berated Naruto for what he’d done, but he was already so miserably guilt-ridden that there hardly seemed any point.  He hadn’t looked at her yet anyway.  His eyes, and all of his attention, were focused entirely on Sasuke.

It wasn’t good.

But it wasn’t nearly as bad as it looked.

If his chakra and energy hadn’t been so inhibited by the full body seal, it would’ve been nothing.  But things the way they were . . .

Sakura changed the ice pack covering the large swell on Sasuke’s face.  It had mostly gone down and was now purple and red but no longer bulging.  She’d given him something for the pain already and had checked his signs.  They were weak, but they were also the new normal for Sasuke.  She wasn’t worried.

Not about him.

Sakura packed up the last of her bandages and looked at Naruto.  He was an utterly pathetic wretch, his eyes red-rimmed and bloodshot, though he hadn’t actually cried.  He’d kept himself militantly in check as he sat at Sasuke’s bedside, holding his hand.  As Sakura watched, Naruto lifted Sasuke’s limp hand in his two and gently, lingeringly, kissed the knuckles.  Then he reached forward and carefully brushed Sasuke’s hair from his forehead, letting his fingers rest lightly on his cheek, his deep blue eyes never leaving Sasuke’s face.

Sakura’s green eyes went wide at the sight.  Then she lowered them, looked to the side, right, left, right, and swallowed.  he took up her bag and hurried from the room as silently as possible, casting one last glance at the unexpected scene and shaking her head.

Naruto never noticed.

He curled his fingers over the bruised side of Sasuke’s face.  It would stay this way, with the purple mark of Naruto’s shame, until it healed on its own naturally.  Sakura could’ve made it disappear with her chakra, but she said that the skill and energy wasn’t to be wasted on such simple injuries.

Simple.

Sakura could be so cruel sometimes.

Naruto held the long black bangs from Sasuke’s face and leaned forward.  He hovered there for a moment, a breath’s distance away, his nose nearly bumping Sasuke’s.  Then he lifted his head and laid a light kiss on Sasuke’s forehead.  Naruto sat back in his chair, studiously watched over Sasuke’s sleep, and waited.

--

Naruto blinked his eyes open. It took him a moment to realize where he was.  It seemed he’d fallen asleep with his head on the edge of the bed, his hand still holding Sasuke’s.  He sat up and carelessly wiped the drool away from the side of his mouth with his forearm.  Belatedly, he looked down at his hand.

It was empty.

The sheets of the bed were rumpled and for one irrational moment, Naruto threw them back as if he expected Sasuke to somehow be hiding in the folds.  As expected, nothing was there.

Naruto leapt from his seat and flew toward the door.  He flung it open and immediately caught the scent of warm baked goods.  This eased his anxiety only slightly as he rushed towards the smell.  He found Sasuke standing in the kitchen with a half-eaten piece of buttered blueberry muffin in his hand.  Naruto took two quick strides forward to face him.  Sasuke considered him with his typical bland gaze, now one-eyed because of the swelling.

“Sasuke, I’m-“  Naruto blurted out.  But he got no further because Sasuke had crammed the buttered blueberry muffin into Naruto’s open mouth.  Then Sasuke pressed two fingers onto Naruto’s lips, keeping them closed in the universal sign for silence.  Naruto’s eyes began to fill as he slowly chewed on the muffin, sweet and simple, and swallowed it down.  Dark eyes and blue stayed locked on each other until through some unspoken agreement, Sasuke’s hand gently fell away and Naruto’s head gradually fell forward.  The blond crown eventually met Sasuke’s chest.

And Naruto proceeded to cry.

--

Naruto stood indecisively in Sasuke’s living room.

On the floor, Sasuke sat cross-legged with a pile of papers on either side and a sheet of parchment directly in front of him.  The parcels had arrived some time ago, but Sasuke had only just now bothered to do anything with them.  He had divided the papers into two categories: those scrolls that were whole, borrowed from neighboring countries, and those that were nothing more than scraps salvaged from the debris after the battle with Pein.  There would eventually be a third set, words recorded from spoken stories, but those were far off and not to be taken down by the traitor of Konoha anyway.

The bruise across Sasuke’s face had lightened considerably over the past week and was now a sickly mottled yellow and green, which warped through his thick glasses.

Naruto bit his lip and clenched his fists.

Sasuke went about his work.  His hand was quick and his calligraphy accomplished for someone of his age.

Naruto understood why this task had been chosen for Sasuke as the way for him to earn his keep.  Sasuke had to do something; Konoha wasn’t going to support him simply out of the goodness of their proverbial hearts.  Sasuke was, after all was said and done, a criminal.

But it just didn’t seem the best idea; didn’t seem to suit Sasuke.

Naruto came to a decision.  He maneuvered himself so that his body blocked the camera set to watch the room.   Then he reached beneath his shirt and pulled out as small flat bottle.  He held it out to Sasuke and shook it a few times to get the teen’s attention. Only when Sasuke finished the line of writing he was working on, did he raise his eyes.

Wordlessly, Naruto shook the bottle again and jerked his chin.

Sasuke carefully took it in his hands and examined it.  He didn’t bother to ask how Naruto had managed to smuggle it beyond the guards, only stood and walked form the room, saying, “Put it on my tab.”

Naruto blinked a few times while his mind fought to catch up.  Then he raced after Sasuke.  “There’s not a tab!”

Sasuke was putting the rum in a cabinet, hidden back behind the other bottles and boxes.

“Sasuke!”  Naruto grabbed the other’s shoulder and forced him around, but Sasuke’s eyes still looked adamantly away.  “There’s not a tab.”

Sasuke turned without ever settling his gaze on Naruto, and continued out the door down the hall.  Naruto ran to the kitchen doorway and shouted down the hall after him. “There’s not a tab!”

The door to Sasuke’s bedroom opened and closed and the dark-haired figure disappeared from sight.

Naruto’s hand gripped tight to the kitchen doorframe as he looked back over his shoulder to the still open cabinet.  He dropped his gaze to the floor, clean and white with perfect white tiles.

“There’s not a tab,” he whined quietly to himself, feeling utterly helpless.

--

He didn’t bother to knock nor announce himself.  He just opened the door to Sasuke’s bedroom and walked inside.

Sasuke was lying on the bed, curled on his side, staring out the open window.

“Sasuke.”

The teen in question doesn’t react, but he’s not asleep either.  Naruto knows well enough what a sleeping Sasuke looks like.  Carefully, Naruto seats himself on the bed beside Sasuke, but faces the door and has to crane his head backward in order to see Sasuke.

“There’s not a tab,” Naruto states softly, folding his hands awkwardly in his lap.  He takes a deep breath.  “I helped give you this life because I didn’t want you to die.  And I give you things because if there’s any way they can help to make you not be unhappy, then that’s what I’ll do.”  He paused, lifted his shoulders in a long sigh.  “See, it’s selfish, really.  And that’s all there is to it.”

He looked over at Sasuke, still motionless and unresponsive, but conscious.

“You don’t owe me,” he says low but firm.

Then he reaches over and runs his hand gingerly over the back of Sasuke’s head.  Sasuke allows this but doesn’t react.  The hair is just as soft and silky as Naruto remembers it.  He notices in a detached sort of way how large his hand is and how perfectly it cradles the back of Sasuke’s skull, almost as if it were designed to fit there.

“You don’t owe me anything.”

Then Sasuke closes his eyes.

Recipe 6 - Blueberry Muffins

Chapter Text

Recipe 7

“Let’s go outside,” Naruto cheered, in a good mood he apparently had every intention of spreading to Sasuke.  However, it seemed Sasuke had been immunized against such infections and it was only because Naruto grabbed his arm and literally dragged him out that he ended up in the yard.

“Look at the garden!”  Naruto planted his hands on his hips and nodded approvingly.  The garden was indeed doing well, full of green lush health and pockets of colorful, ripe vegetables.

Sasuke turned to go back inside.

“Some of them are ready to pick!”  Naruto pointed to a couple of tomatoes on the vine as he snatched Sasuke’s arm and hauled him off the porch to check them out.  Naruto squatted down in front of the plant and grinned.  Sasuke leaned over, set his fingers on the underside of a tomato and bent upward.  It broke off easily.  He did the same with two more then silently walked off, leaving Naruto alone in the dirt.

Undeterred, Naruto stood up, and after one last look around the yard, joined Sasuke in the kitchen.

“I’ve brought lots of things,” Naruto chattered on.  “So we can make dinner together.”  He began removing items from the big bag he’d set on the counter earlier.  “And I’ve got this.”  He pulled out a small knife and set it carefully on the countertop.  “I know you needed one.”  Sasuke’s gazed slowly lowered to the shining blade and remained there.

“That’s mine?”  He asked unemotionally.

“Well, no,” Naruto admitted.  “But you can use it as long as someone else is with you.”  Naruto jerked his thumb towards himself.  “That’s me.”

Sasuke lifted his head and scowled slightly before returning his gaze to the knife.  Naruto shifted uncomfortably foot to foot.

“How about we wash the vegetables first?”  He suggested with a hint of growing nervousness.

After a moment more of staring, Sasuke put all the vegetables in a colander and took them to the sink.  Naruto watched Sasuke like a hawk as the blond absently pulled pans from the cabinet and the cutting board from the top of the refrigerator.  The vegetables made a wet thunking sound as Sasuke rapped the colander against the rim of the sink.  He placed them next to the cutting board.

Naruto smiled, trying to make it look bright.

“We’ll have salad,” he said, “And beef with fried vegetables.  That sounds nice and balanced.”  He eyed Sasuke warily up and down.  “You want to cut the veggies?”

Sasuke’s hand reached for the knife, paused a moment as though deciding, then picked it up.

He took a pepper and began to slice it slowly and meticulously as though he had to try and remember how to use a blade.  Or perhaps the glint of the metal mesmerized him.

Naruto carefully unwrapped the piece of beef, his eyes never leaving Sasuke.

The pepper was soon finished and set inside a bowl.

Next, Sasuke took up a tomato and placed it on the cutting board.  The knife was sharp and cut cleanly through the unresisting fruit.  Sasuke’s movements remained slow and deliberate as he sliced down, just barely missing nicking the tip of his finger off.

Naruto stared seriously at Sasuke’s down-turned face.  “I can trust you with that, can’t I?”

Sasuke’s hand stilled, but he didn’t answer.  His eyes stayed riveted on the cut tomato, the red flesh glistening with the pink liquid pooling beneath.  The dark eyes shifted to the blade, wet with juice.

“You’re not going to use it . . . improperly, right?”  Naruto probed gently.

Again, there was no answer.  Sasuke remained perfectly, eerily still, the knife poised halfway through the tomato.  Very slightly, it began to shake.

Naruto made his way over and gingerly extricated the knife from Sasuke’s hand. 

Sasuke’s dark eyes continued to stare at the cutting board and the spilt fruit upon it, his arms now tense at his sides.

Finally, he blinked and said, “I’ll heat up the oil.”  He turned and attended to the stove. 

Naruto looked at the curve of Sasuke’s back and the black and blue weave of the tattoo that emerged from the top of his collar.  He swallowed nervously and dealt with the vegetables himself.

Things eventually receded to their ordinary rhythm after that.  Sasuke fried the vegetables and beef at a normal pace and ripped up the salad, all as if nothing strange had happened.

Uncertain how to act when they sat down to eat, Naruto remained mostly silent.  There was little for him to say and in the end the meal was good, if a little awkward.

Once they were done, Sasuke took up the dishes, washed them, and set them to dry in the rack.  Then he stood facing the sink and the cabinets above it for so long that Naruto began to worry.

Then Sasuke moved.  He pulled the recipe album from the drawer and rapidly flipped through the pages.

Naruto brightened.

“Are you going to make something?”

Apparently finding the recipe he was looking for, Sasuke propped the page open and began setting out the ingredients.  Naruto stepped over to him.

“What are you making?  Can I help?”  He asked excitedly.

Sasuke turned to him and his eyebrows pulled together in an unreadable expression.  Then he turned away, his gaze dropping back to the album.

Naruto frowned in disappointment.

After another minute, Sasuke said, “I’ll need a bowl and a wooden spoon.”

Instantly cheered, Naruto rushed to get them, setting the two on the counter.  “What’re we making?”

“Chocolate chip cookies.”  Sasuke carried an armload of ingredients to the counter and dropped them gracelessly beside the bowl.  He started to scoop a measuring cup into the flour when Naruto stopped him.

“Can I do that?”

Sasuke looked at Naruto dubiously, evaluating the blond’s fitness for the task, but eventually he relented.

“Two and a half cups,” he stated.  “Don’t pack it and smooth it lightly with the edge of your finger.”

Naruto’s eyebrows crinkled over his large eyes, taking this all in, then he grinned jubilantly at Sasuke and did just as he was instructed.  He followed Sasuke’s directions to the letter as Sasuke checked the eggs in some salty water.  Leaning across the counter, Sasuke cracked an egg one-handed so that the contents dropped easily into the bowl.

“How do you do that?”  Naruto asked.

A silent exchange passed between them.

At last, Sasuke placed an egg into Naruto’s palm and tried to guide him in how to crack with one hand.  But it didn’t work well with Sasuke on one side of the counter and Naruto on the other, so with a little display of his old irritation, Sasuke circled around until he was standing directly behind Naruto.  The blond’s body twisted reflexively at the position.  Sasuke reached around and wrapped his hand over Naruto’s with the egg.  Deftly, he rapped the shell against the bowl and with a gentle spreading of both their fingers the yolk and white slipped free and fell into the bowl. 

But Naruto was no longer paying attention to his lesson.  Instead his eyes were rapt on Sasuke’s hand.  The tattoo was dark near the wrist and petered out to gray until only the ends of his fingers were his natural color.  The nails were too short, ragged and bright pink at the very tips from over exposed skin.

Naruto tilted his head back to look into Sasuke’s face.  “You shouldn’t bite your nails.”

Sasuke’s eyes veered to Naruto’s, the black of them deep and intense.  The two teens were very close, their eyes meeting and yet the distance between them seemed to stretch on for days.  Sasuke looked away first, slowly pulled his hand free, and turned to face the sink.

“Beat the eggs in,” he said.

Naruto watched Sasuke for a little while longer before doing as he was told and briskly turned the mass into dough.  He wondered how Sasuke managed in his weakened state to do some of this work without an electric mixer and resolved to buy him one. Next to him, Sasuke ripped open a bag and poured some of the chocolate chips into the batter.

“Put in lots,” Naruto said, grinning cheekily up at him.

Sasuke glanced to the side, hiding his emotions from Naruto like always.  Then he upended the full contents of the bag.  Naruto hummed happily and stirred with vigor.

Soon, the cookies were in the oven and the little egg timer was set.

“Let’s go into the garden,” Naruto said.

Sasuke looked distinctly disinterested, but when Naruto walked to the patio door, he followed, timer still in hand.  Once outside, Naruto made Sasuke kneel down in the dirt and help with the weeding.

“It’s really looking good,” Naruto said cheerily.

Sasuke lifted his head but didn’t really look around or seem to have an opinion one way or the other.  He dropped his gaze and pulled out a weed with especial gusto.

Naruto sighed contentedly and took in the sight of the prospering yard.  “We should give them some food.”

“I don’t have any.”

“I’ll get some.”

The timer went off.

Slowly, Sasuke pushed himself to his feet, picked up the timer and went inside.  Naruto knew there was another batch to bake, so he didn’t bother following.  A few minutes later Sasuke returned and almost fell over when he lowered himself to his knees.

He scowled at Naruto, but the blond knew better than to say anything so he just smiled back.

Then he tore up a weed that turned out to be a radish.

--

Sasuke was just setting out the last of the freshly baked cookies when Naruto returned from the garden.

His blue eyes lit up when he saw them.  “When can we try them!”

“Soon,” Sasuke answered, considering.  He began washing the cookie sheets.  “They’re best when they’re warm.  They just need to cool a little first.”

Naruto eyed Sasuke’s back with interest. “I thought you didn’t like sweets,” he remarked cautiously.

Sasuke shrugged.

“Then how do you know when they’re best?  Does it say in the book or something?”

Sasuke stilled, the sound of the running water a gentle background. There was a long pregnant pause before he answered.  “It’s what Itachi used to say.”

Naruto shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot and he stared earnestly at Sasuke.

“You don’t talk about him much,” he observed quietly.  “Or any of your family.”

“There’s nothing much to say.”

Naruto’s hand was unexpected and warm on Sasuke’s forearm.  Sasuke gave a new, unaccustomed start and looked harshly at the intrusion.

The blue eyes were grave with meaning.  “I think there is.”

The Adam’s apple in Sasuke’s throat bobbed a little.  He turned back to the sink.  “Go wash your hands.”

--

Sasuke had set out two cold glasses of milk by the time Naruto returned from the bathroom.  He picked up one of the cookies and broke it in half.  Steam danced up softly between the two sides.  Sasuke’s eyes flicked up to Naruto as the blond sat down.  Then he held out one of the halves.

Naruto took it with a grin.

Sasuke’s eyes dropped down, his one hand holding the cookie, his other gripping his glass of milk tight.  He took a deep breath and pursed his lips.  “Itachi always shared the first one with me,” he finally said, so quietly that Naruto had to strain to hear him.  “It didn’t matter that I didn’t like them that much.”  He paused.

“It only mattered that he was my brother.”

He sat still a moment, contemplating the cookie in his hand before taking a small bite.  His eyelids fluttered as if in the restraint of emotion.  Naruto watched Sasuke’s throat work as he swallowed the bite down.

“I guess they’re all right,” Sasuke admitted.

Naruto smiled and took a bite of his own half.

He was pretty certain it was the best thing he’d ever tasted.

Recipe 7 –Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chapter Text

Recipe 8

“It’s nature’s bounty!”  Naruto cried as he carried a huge basket of vegetables in from the yard.

Sasuke gave him a bland look and continued stirring.

With a giant grin and a forced grunt to emphasize the greatness of said “bounty of nature”, Naruto set the bowl on the counter.  Then he waltzed over and leaned across to peer into the pot on the stove.  Thick, auburn liquid was bubbling merrily against the constant stir of the spoon.

“What’s that?”

“Caramel.”

Naruto’s eyes went wide as he looked at Sasuke.  “You can make candy?”  One of Sasuke’s dark eyebrows quirked up dubiously.  Naruto rocked back on his heels and grinned.  “That’s amazing Sasuke!”

Sasuke gave Naruto an indecipherable look then scooped up a little of the caramel and dropped it into a cup of water beside him.  The liquid dissipated into nothing and Sasuke frowned irritably at it.

“This would be easier if I had a candy thermometer,” he muttered to himself.

“I’ll get you one,” Naruto offered agreeably, shrugging.

Sasuke stared deep into the bubbling pot.  “They’d just confiscate it.”

“Why?”

“I suppose they think I’d try to use the glass or sharp metal edges as weapons on them and try to escape.”  He peered critically at the caramel.

Naruto paused a long moment, thinking of all the many weapons Sasuke had at his disposal, sharp edges or not.  He said soberly, “I’m more afraid you’d use it on yourself.”

Sasuke neither answered nor lifted his eyes.

Naruto’s voice became soft and serious.  “Would you?”

Sasuke dropped another spoonful into the water, this time forming it into a ball with his fingers beneath the surface.  Apparently satisfied, he then dipped the spoon into the caramel again and dunked the whole into the water.  He offered the cooled spoon to Naruto.  Without taking his eyes from Sasuke’s, Naruto closed his mouth carefully over the utensil and slowly pulled back.  The caramel was thick and sticky and very sweet.  Only a little of it remained on the spoon and this Sasuke stuck into his own mouth.  Very, very gradually he pulled it out until it was nearly clean.  Naruto’s eyes clouded over as he let out a little breath of air.

The spoon made an obnoxious clatter when Sasuke threw it in the sink

Then he took the pot from the stove and carefully poured the contents into a prepared pan.  What remained in the pot bubbled and burned until Sasuke dumped the pot into the sink and filled it with water.

Tentatively, Naruto reached over and wrapped his fingers loosely around Sasuke’s wrist.  They stayed like that for a minute, Naruto’s eyes on Sasuke, Sasuke’s eyes on Naruto’s hand.

Then Sasuke said, “We can have some of the vegetables for dinner if you want.”

He gently pulled away and walked out the door.

Naruto let him go.

--

“We have tomato worms!”

Sasuke returned Naruto’s saucer-eyed stare with a bored droopy-eyed one of his own.  Then, seeing no attack imminent, Sasuke dropped his gaze and returned to stirring the chocolate.  Irritated at the lack of proper response, Naruto slammed his palms hard against the counter.  He had just learned about tomato worms in his gardening book and he was sure he was right; they were there.

“Did you hear me?”

The gentle rise and fall of Sasuke’s shoulders said a lot for his own irritation.  “I’m not, as your unnecessarily elevated tone of voice would imply, hard of hearing.”  Sasuke dipped one of his long pale fingers into the chocolate, dabbed it onto a piece of wax paper and waited.

Making an unintelligible noise, Naruto yanked on Sasuke’s arm and towed him outside.  He only let go at the last moment, leaving Sasuke standing feet apart and arms crossed in the center of the porch.  Naruto hopped down to the ground, delicately plucked something from the top of one of the plants and held it out anxiously for Sasuke to see.

The caterpillar creature was smooth skinned and pale green with a clearly segmented body, tiny white feet and a horn protruding from one end.  It squirmed crazily between Naruto’s fingertips, desperate to regain its freedom.

Sasuke gave it a look somehow both thoughtful and apathetic.

Then Naruto squeezed his fingers together, making neon green goo spurt out one end of the creature.  The other end continued to squirm a little as though not getting the message that it was supposed to be dead.

Sasuke curled his lip in disgust and took a step back.

“I’m not touching that,” he said adamantly.  “I have chocolate melting.”

Naruto hurled the half-worm to the ground and stomped on it, just to make sure it was really and truly dead.  His eyes never left Sasuke.  “But the crop,” he whined.  “They’re going to eat the whole crop!”

Exasperated, Sasuke threw his hands in the air – the dishtowel still held in one flapping wildly - and went back into the house.

In the kitchen, he checked the drop of chocolate then continued to stir.

“You’ll be sorry if they eat all your favorite ones!”  Naruto yelled from the backyard, his voice clearly audible through the open kitchen window.

Sasuke raised his head and stared at the wall, seeming to consider the matter.

“It’s a good thing I’m here!”  Naruto went on.  “What would you do if you had an all-out invasion?”  Sasuke could hear Naruto’s rustling through the leaves, followed by the sudden stomp of his foot.  “They get into everything!”

Sasuke pursed his lips.

Then he dabbed out another bit of the chocolate and once again waited.

This time the temperature was right.

--

Chocolate had seemingly gotten everywhere in Sasuke’s effort to keep Naruto and his dirty caterpillar hands out of the process.  To clean it all up, Sasuke had to scrub away at the side of the counter as well as the top.

In doing so, he had rolled his sleeves halfway up his forearm.

Naruto watched, chin in hand, as Sasuke’s hand moved back and forth over every corner of the kitchen.  His blue eyes stared fixedly on that normally unexposed patch of skin on Sasuke’s arm.  The tattoo seal stood out in black and blue and hints of gray so densely packed that Sasuke’s natural skin color could scarcely be seen between the lines.  As the minutes wore on, Sasuke’s movements slowed as they always did, until he had to be continuing more out of sheer determination than anything else.  Naruto frowned.  He knew, because he had asked, that part of the problem was the tattoo he was currently examining.  It not only inhibited Sasuke’s chakra, it also regularly drained his energy so that even if he were willing to become a taijutsu master, he couldn’t.

He didn’t have the stamina.

Naruto’s eyes narrowed.

They really wanted to make him as helpless as possible.

“You want me to help?”  Naruto offered.

In response, Sasuke straightened his back and found the energy to finish the last little bit.  Once done, he washed and carefully dried his hands, rolling his shirt back down over his arms, thus hiding the markings that had so entranced Naruto.

Naruto threw himself from his chair, making a loud thud when his feet hit the floor.

“I want to see your tattoo,” he said bluntly.

Sasuke turned to look, but Naruto’s face showed no signs of teasing.  And while the statement hadn’t been a demand, it hadn’t exactly been a question either.  Sasuke tilted his head to one side and took the time to consider the intensity of the blue eyes staring at him.

Then he put the dishtowel down and took up the hem of his shirt in his hands.  His glasses got caught when he tried to lift the collar and with a frustrated grunt, he dropped the shirt back down and removed them.  This time he managed to get the shirt off easily but the collar was so tight it pulled on his hair and made it stick out erratically as though he’d just woken from a rough night of sleep.

Once he was done, he stood placidly in the kitchen, his discarded shirt hanging from one hand, glaring as best he could with his blurred vision at Naruto.

The first thing Naruto noticed was that Sasuke had fleshed out a little, though in Naruto’s mind he was still much too thin since his pants clung only loosely to his hips.

The second thing Naruto noticed was the tattoo, which really should have been the first thing because it was so thick and covered the whole of Sasuke’s body so that it looked like he was still wearing a shirt.  There were blue lines tracing his chakra flow from his neck to his hands, throughout his chest and farther down where they couldn’t be seen until they peeked out from the hem of Sasuke’s pants.  Crisscrossing and weaving over and under the blue was a multitude of black lines so thick as to be mistaken for fabric.

Naruto’s eyebrows crushed together as he examined it.  Perhaps Sasuke hadn’t given up a fuss about disrobing because he still looked dressed.

Carefully, Naruto let go of the counter and walked closer.  Sasuke remained still as a statue with only his eyes moving to follow Naruto.  Naruto placed a finger on one of the lines near Sasuke’s throat and the muscle beneath it jumped reflexively.  He traced the line a little uneasily under the hardness of Sasuke’s eyes.  Naruto flicked his gaze up to meet Sasuke’s, swallowed nervously and circled around to his back.

Sasuke still didn’t move.

Again, Naruto placed his finger on one of the black lines near Sasuke’s neck and began to trace it.  Once he got to a spot between Sasuke’s shoulder blades, the line shifted slightly under Naruto’s fingertip.  Naruto pulled his hand away as if burned.

“It-it moved!”  He cried quietly.

“Of course,” Sasuke replied, as if any three-year-old would have known that.

Naruto stared, his hand shaking, and took a deep breath.  Tentatively, he flexed the fingers of one hand then put the flat of his palm to Sasuke’s back.  At first there was nothing unusual about the tattoo.  But as he kept his hand there, the lines beneath his palm began to move.  He could feel the warm pulse and shift of them and the coolness of Sasuke’s skin beneath.  The sensation traveled through his hand, up his arm and sent a thrill through his spine that detoured lower.  He let out a low shaky breath and pressed his palm harder.

Sasuke clenched his hands into tight fists.  “Are you done?”

Naruto would have like to have said “no”, but only a fool would have done so and despite some peoples’ opinions, Naruto was no fool.  He reluctantly pulled his hand away.  Sasuke turned around to face him, his face stony but not exactly angry.  Naruto rubbed his warm palm with the thumb of his other hand and stared unabashedly at Sasuke’s chest.  Now that he knew, he could see the subtle shift of the black lines inked there.  Some part of the tattoo was always in motion, like a slowly uncoiling snake.  He saw some of them vanish below the waistband of Sasuke’s pants while others crept up from the same place.

“How do you stand it?”  Naruto asked, lifting his eyes to Sasuke’s face.

Sasuke gave an almost imperceptible shrug as he replaced his glasses.  “You get used to it.”  He held Naruto’s gaze for a while then blinked and craned his head backward.  “You can take the chocolates with you.”

Without turning back, Sasuke left the kitchen for the solace of his bedroom and some much needed rest.

Naruto stared down at his hand.

Between the natural lines he could almost see the impression of the tattoo in his palm and he could almost still feel Sasuke, deep within his skin.

Recipe 8 -Chocolate Covered Caramels

Chapter Text

Recipe 9

When Sasuke answered the knock on the door, he saw Naruto standing there with a shovel slung over his shoulder and a grin on his face that made him look like he was posing for an agricultural feature in National Geographic.

This didn’t seem to faze Sasuke as he let the would-be farmer in and closed the door.

“What’s with the overalls?”

Naruto looked down at himself as if he didn’t remember what he was wearing.  “All my good clothes are getting ruined.”

Sasuke gave a dubious snort and went into the living room.  “Drop that shovel and help me.”

Almost excitedly, Naruto complied, but when he saw what awaited him, he was more than half-tempted to turn back around.  His conscience won out however, and he sat down beside Sasuke amidst the overflowing tide of mixed papers that threatened to become a tsunami.

“What do you want me to do?”

One dark eye pinched in, but then Sasuke pushed his glasses up and said, “These papers need to be sorted out.”

Naruto perused the huge pile of burnt and torn scraps that once held all the knowledge of Konoha.  He raised his head, his forehead wrinkling.  “Sort out?”

There was a solemn nod.  “They have to be matched up so that all the pieces that were originally together can be cataloged as one.”

Naruto’s blue eyes grew wide and his eyebrows rose so high that they almost disappeared from his face altogether.  He laughed nervously.  “You’re kidding, right?”

There was a solemn shake of the head.

Naruto let out a hefty puff of air.

He stared as Sasuke held his gaze, steely and still.  Sasuke didn’t insist or plead or cajole; he simply stared.  Naruto pursed his lips.

“I guess we’d better get started.”

--

Between the two of them and the great empty living room floor, they managed to make some headway.  It was nowhere near done, nor half, nor even a tenth truth be told, but considering the almost insurmountable task Sasuke had been assigned, any progress seemed substantial.

Their work had lasted late into the afternoon and Sasuke had fallen asleep curled up against the one free living room wall.

Even this had been too much.

They had stood a lot, straddled piles of papers, bent and squatted and moved from one side of the room to the other and when all was said and done, it had taken its toll.  Naruto remembered with chagrin how Sasuke had moved with much less grace than his earlier days.  But still, he had done it, with little complaint and much of his former stoicism.

The blond carefully picked his way across the paper-strewn floor, certain not to disturb any of the piles, and knelt down.  He removed the glasses that were leaving creases in Sasuke’s face and set them aside. Gazing down at the sleeping face, Naruto gently brushed his fingers through the unruly bangs and tucked them behind Sasuke’s ear.  Then he let his hand travel down to the gray lines of ink tattoo that curved delicately up over Sasuke’s jaw.

His touch lingered for a long time, enough for the pale edge of tattoo to gently shift.

Naruto smiled.

--

“You could help,” Naruto complained with little bitterness.

Sasuke glanced up from where he sat cross-legged on the porch.

Even in the cooling air, Naruto was sweating profusely, his skin pink with the exertion.

Sasuke surveyed the scene and without answering, returned to his task.

Naruto huffed, but returned to his own task as he turned the earth and mixed it with nutrients exactly as the book said.  Once that was done, he patted it down, set the shovel aside, and finally sat down beside Sasuke to take a much-needed break.  Craning his head behind them to look at the basket he’d collected earlier, he said, “It’s getting late in the season.  What few vegetables that’ll bother maturing won’t be as good.”  He turned his head to Sasuke, but those dark eyes were glued to the paper in front of him, apparently paying no heed to Naruto’s words.  Naruto let out another weary sigh and looked out over the yard.  “We can put some spring garlic in that bed I just did,” he went on, secretly intrigued by one of the crops he’d just read about, “Once the weather is cool enough.”  His blue eyes darted sideways at Sasuke who did nothing more than push up his glasses.  “We’ll need to clean this out soon.”  Naruto cleared his throat, not knowing if he was only talking to his self.  “To get it ready for next spring.”

At last, Sasuke raised his head and looked around.  He appeared to be assessing the extent of his surroundings very critically and perhaps he had been listening to Naruto’s prattle after all.  He turned to look Naruto straight in the face and held that expression for a very long time.

Naruto lifted his eyebrows.

Sasuke lowered his gaze back to his work. 
”You take care of it.”  He picked up another paper and scanned it thoroughly.  “It’s more yours than mine.”

And Naruto tried to pout, but ended up smiling anyway.

--

Saturday found Sasuke in a foul mood.

He answered Naruto’s call with an overly forceful swing open of the door and a stomp back to the kitchen.  Naruto followed after, his senses on guard but not overly worried.

Sasuke was leaning over to look through the lit oven door, fuming.

“It’s not rising,” he said through gritted teeth.

Naruto walked up and looked through the door beside Sasuke.  “It’s not supposed to look like that?”

Sasuke whirled on Naruto with far more vehemence than the situation warranted.  “No, it’s not supposed to look like that!”

Unconcerned, Naruto straightened up.  “Can’t you fix it?”

Sasuke turned to glare menacingly, the dark eyes small behind the thick glasses.  “You can’t just ‘fix’ things, Naruto,” he said dangerously.  “There’s no magic wand.”

Naruto crossed his arms and frowned thoughtfully.  Sasuke seethed and flicked his eyes between timer and oven, timer and oven as if the solution was somewhere in the air between them.  Then he snatched up a pair of potholders, ripped open the oven and threw the dish violently on the counter.

Naruto dropped his arms and took a step back.  “Whoa!  No reason to do that.”

Sasuke’s head whipped in Naruto’s direction as his eyes narrowed to slits.  “I’ve done this recipe a thousand times and have never had this problem.”  He jerked a potholdered hand angrily towards the pan.

“What is it?”

“A soufflé, you moron! An apricot soufflé!”

Naruto frowned at the unnecessary “moron” comment and peered over the edge of the dish.  He saw a slightly golden brown indentation.  “Well, what’s a sooflee supposed to look like?”

“A soufflé,” Sasuke corrected vehemently.  “And it’s supposed to be puffy and light, not this hard, heavy, caved-in piece of junk!”  And with that, he pushed the pan sideways off the counter and onto the floor.  Because he wasn’t allowed anything that could possibly break and become sharp, the metal pan made a only a hollow sort of thump as it landed flat on its bottom.  The soufflé deflated further.

“Hey, what’d you do that for?”  Naruto yelled in horrified anger.

Sasuke spared only a brief, spiteful glance for Naruto before kneeling down on the floor.  He grasped the pan fiercely by the sides and proceeded to pound the bottom of it repeatedly on the tile, shouting, “Stupid metal pan!  Stupid fucking metal pan!” and every variation thereof.

“What are you doing?!”  Naruto was on his knees in a moment.  “Stop that!”  He easily wrested the pan from Sasuke, burning his hands in the process.  In disgust and exhaustion, Sasuke hurled the potholders on the floor.  Naruto picked them up and moved the utterly ruined soufflé back to the counter.

Scowling at Sasuke’s bent form, Naruto went to the sink the cool off his tender palms under some cool running water.  “There was no reason for that,” Naruto chided more harshly than he’d intended.

Not looking up, Sasuke said grimly, “Get out.”

“You get out,” Naruto snapped back in a childish reflex.

Sasuke’s eyes flashed up with fiery rage at him for a second, then he was on his feet and out of the room.  Naruto rolled his eyes and shook his head in disgust.

Then he heard the front door open.

He’d never moved so fast in his life.

Just as Sasuke’s foot was about to set foot on free ground, Naruto wrapped his arms around Sasuke’s waist and hauled him back from the brink.  Together, they fell backwards in a spectacular heap, Sasuke on top, his weight knocking the breath clear from Naruto’s body.  Immediately Sasuke began to struggle, flailing and kicking and screaming over and over, “Let go of me!”

But regaining his breath, Naruto held on tight and yelled in his turn, “No, I won’t!”

It didn’t take long, after expending much of his energy on the tantrum in the kitchen, for Sasuke to wear himself out.  Soon, both teens were panting with the exertion, but otherwise mostly immobile.  Slowly, like a balloon deflating, Sasuke let his body go limp and dropped his head to the side. 

After a while, after his heart had calmed and his breathing had eased, he let out a deep, exhausted sigh.

Very softly, he said, “Just let me go.”

Naruto pressed the top of his head between Sasuke’s shoulder blades.  “No,” he replied, “I won’t.”  He squeezed his arms even tighter.  “Not ever.”

They stayed strangely still like this for a time until finally Sasuke gently extricated himself from Naruto’s hold.  He hauled himself to his feet and walked soundlessly down the hall to his bedroom, closing the door behind him.

On the hallway floor, Naruto squeezed his eyes shut, reached out his foot, and slammed the front door.

Recipe 9 -Apricot Souffle

Chapter Text

Recipe 10

“Don’t make me regret getting you this,” Naruto said as he handed over a cream-colored ceramic dish.

Sasuke looked between Naruto and the dish with both confusion and wariness in his eyes.  Then he carefully took hold of the precious item and turned toward the cabinet.  Almost reverently, he placed it by itself on an empty shelf and gently closed the cabinet door.

“How did you get them to let me have it?”  Sasuke asked quietly, not moving his hand.

“I have my ways.”  Naruto smiled cheekily, but it was strained.

Sasuke twisted his head back to give Naruto a long, considering look before turning away again.  His fingers still grasped the cabinet handle as though it were a sort of lifeline.

After a few moments of thought, Naruto ventured, “Sasuke . . .”  but Sasuke cut him off.

“I was very little when my mother tried to teach me.  To make soufflés, to make . .  whatever,” Sasuke said softly.  “I hated it.  I wanted to be out training, getting stronger, becoming a full-fledged member of the Uchiha.  To make my brother spend time with me.  To make my father – “ He stopped, abruptly.  Then he continued on as though he’d never deviated.  “But mother could be just as stubborn as the rest of us.”

He lifted his glassy eyes to the cabinet door.  “She had a lot of patience. And she wouldn’t let me get away with anything.  It turned out I wasn’t too bad at it.  The baking.”  He turned and faced Naruto, though he didn’t meet his eyes.  “And Itachi was hopeless in the kitchen.”

Naruto smiled and the edge of it was tinged with sadness.

Slowly, Sasuke raised his gaze to meet Naruto’s.  His face was pasty and wan and there were dark circles under his eyes, especially noticeable by their proximity to his glasses.  His hair was limp and his shoulders sagged and he looked altogether smaller than Naruto was used to thinking of him.

“I want to hear more of these stories,” Naruto said.  Sasuke’s eyebrows lifted minutely.  “All your stories of your mother and father and Itachi.”  He smiled gently.  “I want to hear them all.”

Sasuke looked away and lazily dragged his fingers through his hair, holding it awkwardly away from his face.  “I’m so tired,” he groaned unnecessarily and irrelevantly.

“Then let’s take a nap.”

Sasuke either didn’t notice or didn’t care about the implications of Naruto’s statement, only started dragging himself back to his room.  Once there, he dropped down on the bed, barely recognizing the fact that Naruto had joined him.  Sasuke rolled to his side and almost immediately fell into a doze.

Naruto scooted closer and, seeing that Sasuke was dead asleep, dared to place his arm lightly around his waist.  Naruto moved his mouth near to Sasuke’s ear and whispered.

“Not ever, Sasuke.  Not ever.”

Then he made a little squeezing hug and followed soon after into sleep.

--

Sasuke looked on with only scant interest as Naruto continued his work in the yard.  He was too busy sitting placidly on the porch and sipping from his warm cup of green tea to pay much attention.  A blanket was draped over his shoulders since he got colder faster these days and the weather had taken a definite dip towards winter.

Naruto, on the other hand, was running hot even in the cold air, in great part because he was working.  With a grunt, he pulled another dead plant from the ground and tossed it aside.  Sweat trickled down the sides of his face and the center of his back, instantly chilling him.  He glanced over at Sasuke and smiled.

Then Naruto clapped his hands against each other to clear them of dirt and sauntered over, throwing himself onto the porch beside his friend.

Without speaking, Sasuke poured a cup of the tea and handed it over.  The two teens’ fingertips brushed.

“Your hands are cold.”  Naruto stated.  He set aside the cup and cocooned Sasuke’s two hands between his own to warm them.  Sasuke stared down at the clasped hands as though bewildered then, as always, gently pulled himself free.  He picked up his cup and resumed staring at the yard.

Dejectedly, Naruto looked down at his open, empty palms.  They were heavily callused with dirt clinging to them from long hours of work.  He let out a heavy sigh.  “Do you even want me here.”

Sasuke took a long careful sip of tea.  “Do you really want me here?”

“You know I do.”  Naruto let his hands fall to his lap and lifted his head.

Sasuke was looking deep into his cup, his lips pursed thoughtfully and his eyebrows pulled together. After a while, he said, “I’ve given you things.”

Slightly taken aback by the seeming non sequitur, Naruto asked, “What things?”

“Cookies, pies, pastries,” Sasuke said a little lamely and let the words dangle in the air.

Naruto thinned his lips and huffed through his nose. “That’s just because you don’t like them.”

Sasuke made a noncommittal noise.  He turned to Naruto and their eyes caught for a long, strained, intense minute.  Then Sasuke turned, set down his cup, and rummaged for something deep in the folds of his clothes.

He faced Naruto again and made a little gesture with his hand, silently indicating for Naruto to hold out his hand.  Confused, Naruto obliged.  Sasuke pressed something small and hard into Naruto’s palm and carefully closed his fingers over it.  Naruto’s eyes went so wide that they threatened to pop right out of his face.  Sasuke stared back with his own eyes black and hard, his hands clutched almost menacingly around Naruto’s closed one.

It was a full three minutes before Naruto dared to open his hand and look down.

There, sitting in the perfect center of his palm, was a key.

--

Naruto wasn’t really sure that the key even went to the house.  There was no reason for the house to have a key, just as there was no reason for it to have a lock, but it did.  It wasn’t a cell and if Sasuke wanted to leave all he had to do was open the front door.  It was getting past that point that was the problem.

And it certainly wasn’t designed to keep anyone out.  Anyone who really wanted to get in could do so easily enough.

It was all symbolic really, the key and the lock, the guards and the house.  It was a prison held together by thought and implied retribution.

So Naruto didn’t know if it meant anything whether they key went to the house or not.

But the door was locked.  So he took a deep breath and tried it.

It fit.

He turned it.

And heard the unmistakable sound of the tumblers falling into place.

A rush of giddiness flew through his body.

Quietly, he pushed the door open and crept inside.  He kept his steps light and silent, just in case he was wrong in his assumptions and needed a speedy getaway.  Craning his head around the doorjamb to the living room, he peeked inside.

Sasuke looked up from his task, saw Naruto peering stupidly from behind the wall, and returned to his task.

With a grin, Naruto sauntered boldly in as if he hadn’t just been hiding in the hallway.

Sasuke’s hand moved over the paper in constant rhythm, although he didn’t appear to actually be looking at it.  Naruto peered over Sasuke’s shoulder and discovered this was indeed the case.

“Uh,” he said.  “I think it’s time you quit.”

“I’m almost finished,” Sasuke stated blandly.

“Yeah, Okay, but see, I don’t think that’s what the Second Hokage did at the summit,” Naruto said as tactfully as he could while pointing with his finger at the glaring mistake.

Sasuke scowled fiercely at Naruto, but looked obligingly down at the paper.  He pursed his lips in aggravation, but any deeper anger he may have had was content to simmer below the surface.  With forced calm, he cleaned his brush and set it aside.

“Good.  Time to get up and entertain me.”  With that, Naruto reached down to put his hands beneath Sasuke’s armpits and tried to haul him to his feet.

He got an elbow to his ribs for his effort.

Using Naruto’s legs as leverage, Sasuke managed to stand up on his own with more than enough energy left to send Naruto a spectacular glare.

Naruto grinned

Sasuke let out a derisive snort and jerked his chin.

“I have a tart,” Sasuke said.

Naruto raised a skeptical eyebrow and asked curiously, “A tart?”

Sasuke spared a moment to narrow his eyes.  “A pineapple-coconut tart,” He clarified slow and plain.

“Ooh,” Naruto nodded with the onset of comprehension.

Sasuke gave him another bland look and wandered into the kitchen, muttering, “Idiot.”

Naruto beamed.

When he entered the kitchen, he found that there was already a slice set out for him.  Considering the lack of knives, it would have taken a while for Sasuke to have cut it so cleanly.

With a giant smile, Naruto held out his hands and yelled, “Gimme!”

Disgustedly, Sasuke did so.

Naruto took a spoonful and closed his eyes, letting the sweet stickiness of pineapple, the almost spicy dry texture of coconut and the buttery crunch of crust mingle in his mouth.  He opened his eyes and saw Sasuke leaning on the counter staring at him.  Naruto cut off another spoonful and held it out.  After a tense moment, Sasuke warily opened his mouth and let Naruto fed him the spoonful.  Then Naruto took another for himself, one for Sasuke, and so on until it was done.  At the last, he made a point of very carefully and slowly licking the spoon clean, all the while keeping his eyes on Sasuke.

The muscle at the side of Sasuke’s throat tightened.

Spoon still in mouth, Naruto grinned, just like an imp.

With a jerk, Sasuke stood up straight and turned his back.  Waving his hand imperiously, he announced, “You can take the rest of it home with you.”

Naruto pulled the spoon free and, with amusement, watched Sasuke leave.

Recipe 10 – Pineapple Coconut Tart

Chapter Text

Recipe 11

The moment Sasuke answered the door he was assaulted.

Something soft and fuzzy was pulled down over his head and just as he was about to lift his hands to remove it, something else was wrapped around his neck.  And just as he was about to remove that, big wooly things were yanked onto his hands.

“Naruto,” he ground out dangerously, not the least bit pleased.

“Snow, Sasuke.”  Naruto yelled happily.  “It’s snow!”

Then he spun Sasuke around and somehow managed to wrangle a coat onto him.  While struggling to rid himself of the wooly encumbrances, Sasuke found himself being manhandled through the house and out the patio door.

With one great push, Naruto hurled Sasuke off the porch to land belly-first into the aforementioned snow.

Sasuke lay there as if dead.

“It’s snow!”  Naruto shouted again, throwing his hands out expansively.

Sasuke practically turned the snow beneath him into water; he was so boiling with rage.  Slowly, he levered himself onto is knees and wiped away the layer of snow that had clung to his face.

Naruto laughed and hopped off the porch.

The hat he’d forced onto Sasuke had a little yarn ball hanging from a string at the top.   Naruto watched it shake merrily as Sasuke sat literally trembling with anger.  The daggers Sasuke glared at Naruto were almost tangible.

“Don’t be such a baby,” Naruto chided.  “It’s just snow.  It’s soft and fluffy.”

“Soft and fluffy my eye!”  In one swift motion, Sasuke spun and catapulted a snow canon ball at Naruto’s head.

Naruto ducked, but the snowball was so big it hit him anyway and knocked him flat on his ass.

“Hey!”  He yelled back in reproach.

But Sasuke threw another snowball, this time hitting his target in the chest.  Naruto glanced up to see Sasuke standing there, with the little yarn ball dancing with rage.

Naruto grinned.

--

Sasuke lay flat in the snow, this time facing the sky, as he breathed out rapid heavy puffs of white air.

Smiling, Naruto dropped himself beside him.

“This means we have to make snow angels.”  Naruto declared importantly and promptly made one.  “You too,” he said and reached over to move Sasuke’s arm.  The wing was only partially made when Sasuke tightened his hand into a fist and punched Naruto.  So apparently Sasuke’s angel was one of the Apocalypse’s avenging angels.

Which made sense.

After he’d caught his breath, Sasuke rose and headed to the house, stripping off his outer layers as he went.

“Don’t just leave stuff there,” Naruto chastised, but Sasuke was already gone.

With a sigh, Naruto got to his feet and collected the things himself.  He hung a makeshift line in the kitchen and draped the stuff over it so they could dry, all except for the coat, which he hung up in the closet.  He could hear the water running in the bathroom.  After all that cold air, Sasuke probably needed to warm up.  Naruto understood that.

He frowned.

Then he left without another word.

--

Sasuke answered the door when Naruto knocked, but the action was coupled with a violent throwing of the winter hat, scarf, and gloves right into Naruto’s face.  Naruto caught them and looked up with ruefulness bordering on amusement.

“But you looked so cute in them,” he whined.

Sasuke blanched white, blushed red, and slammed the door closed.

--

Naruto was smart enough not to return with the winter attire, no matter how much he really wanted to.

But Sasuke still eyed him warily, as well he might, for any further surprises.  Seeing none, he cautiously let Naruto in and quickly closed the door against the cold.

Naruto marched into the living room like he owned it.  “Isn’t this done yet?”  He complained when he saw all the little bits and pieces of paper still strewn everywhere.  As Sasuke passed by, he gave Naruto a bland stare.

“No.”

Sasuke sat down.

Naruto sighed, crossed his arms and leaned against the wall.  “This is boring.”

“Then go.”       

The words were dull and unemotional.  As always.

Naruto wanted to strangle him.  In a huff, he shoved his hands deep into his pockets.

And felt the key.

He fingered the cool metal, felt out the grooves and indentations and the little hole at the top that could fit it on a chain.

Then he carefully tiptoed between the piles and stopped in front of Sasuke.  He looked down.

“What do you need me to do?”

--

“We’re done!”

Naruto threw up his hands and yelled jubilantly in a great explosion of relief.  It had taken nearly all winter, but there were now neat stacks across the living room floor where once there was only chaos.

Sasuke looked up and gave a blank sort of disgusted look.

“We still have to figure out what order they go in,” he said.

“What?”

“And I have to actually transcribe them.”

“What?”

“And this is only a small sampling of what they found.”

“What?!”

With a calmer version of the same disappointed reaction, Sasuke sighed, closed his eyes, and banged his head against the wall behind him.

Naruto regarded him critically.

Then he walked over, knelt down in front of Sasuke and said, “The snow’s starting to melt.”

Sasuke cracked an eye open.

“It’s probably the last we’ll see for the season.”

Sasuke’s eyebrows crushed down.

Naruto smiled softly.

“Let’s go outside.”

--

Sasuke’s cheeks were pink with cold as he crossed his arms defiantly over his chest, pretending he wasn’t shivering.

Naruto looked over, picturing the hat with the little yarn ball sitting atop Sasuke’s head and mourned its absence.

He’d bought it specifically for Sasuke.

Sasuke ought to be wearing it.

But then again, Sasuke had let Naruto pull him outdoors.  He’d suffered the snow and cold and Naruto’s antics, and he had done so with a minimal amount of complaining, at least for him.

“I’m going in,” Sasuke announced, as if his present trudge to the door wasn’t explanation enough.

Naruto watched as he left.

He looked out over the last of the melting snow.  Patches of brown and a little green peeked up through the gaps.

This was Okay too.

--

Naruto leaned lazy and entranced on the kitchen counter as Sasuke went about his strange and delicate work.

The cake was fully frosted in white with puffed piping and pale yellow roses clustered on one side.  It was pretty and complicated and wholly unexpected.  Most of the things Naruto had seen Sasuke make didn’t call for any type of decoration; this was the first Naruto had seen Sasuke show off any pure artistic skill.

“I didn’t know you could do that.”

Concentrating on making the little green leaves that sprouted from the flowers, Sasuke made only a little noise in his throat.

“Did your mother teach you this too?”

Sasuke paused only a moment before answering.  “I’ve been practicing.”

“Really?”

Sasuke looked up to gauge whether Naruto’s apparent interest was genuine or feigned.  After a minute he looked back down and recommenced his work.

Silence passed for a time while Naruto remained thoughtful.

“You know,” he finally said, “this is what you should do.”

“Hmm?”

“Instead of transcribing.  Or after it maybe since I guess that had to be done,” Naruto thought aloud.  “But you could do this.”  He waved his hand, indicating the cake.  “Everyone likes your baking.”  He nodded to himself.  “I really think it could work.”

Sasuke stilled.  “Everyone likes it?”

“Yeah,” Naruto went on obliviously.  “And you could sell it, you know.  Or rather Konoha would sell it for you, but the profit could be used to pay for this place and the extra would go to the council.  They couldn’t have any complaints with that.”

Sasuke’s hands began to shake slightly, but otherwise he didn’t move.

“’Cause you know you have to do something.  They won’t let you stay here for free.”  Naruto tilted his head, examining the cake.  “People would pay good money for this.  And you’re good at it.”  He looked up at Sasuke and smiled.  “I think it’s a great idea.”

Sasuke had gone utterly quiet.  His hands had dropped and were now stiff at his sides.  His whole body seemed to vibrate.

“Sasuke?”

Without warning, Sasuke slipped a hand beneath the cake plate and hurled the whole of it top first at the wall.  It hit with a resounding splat, spraying frosting and bits of cake everywhere.

Naruto sprang to his feet.

“What did you do –“

But he stopped.  Sasuke was standing rigid, his breathing short but heavy as he glared facing the wall but not really looking at anything.  The pastry bag in his hand had been all squeezed out and now dripped green frosting on the floor and his right shoe.

Not paying any attention whatsoever to Naruto, Sasuke glanced down to see the big glob of green stuck to his foot.  With disgust he threw the pastry bag to the floor.  His face was deep red as he half-stormed, half-ran from the room.

Naruto stared stunned at the empty space Sasuke had once occupied.  Far away, a bedroom door slammed, but Naruto could barely hear it.  He looked over to the cake that by now had slid down the wall, leaving a white, yellow and green streak.  It was gone, all gone, not even salvageable.  He walked over to it, crouched down and stuck his fingers into a part as yet untainted by wall or floor.  He scooped up a small piece and stuck it in his mouth.

It was sweet as always, soft and moist and slightly sour with the hint of lemon.

As the flavor slowly melted on his tongue, Naruto let the tears fall.

--

Back in his room, lying on the bed, Sasuke rolled onto his side and put a pillow over his head so all he had to hear was silence.

Recipe 11 – Lemon Cake with Buttercream Frosting

Chapter Text

Recipe 12

Naruto did not visit for several days, the first days he’d missed by choice since Sasuke had been settled in.

Sometimes he would go to the door, press his palms against it, press his ear against it, and listen.

He was waiting for a miracle.

But as expected, in the many times Naruto had mutely hoped for it, Sasuke had not opened the door.

So finally, tentatively, Naruto rapped on it.

He didn’t get an answer.

Quietly he called, “Sasuke?”

Again nothing.

So, with little recourse, he pushed on the door.  To his surprise, it swung open.  Darkness spilled from inside, and silence, and Naruto swallowed deeply for courage.

He found Sasuke on the porch, a blanket draped over his head and a cup of steaming tea in his hands.  He didn’t look up when Naruto entered, nor when the blond sat down beside him.

Naruto cleared his throat.

“I’ve got seedlings,” he said.  It was the first time he’d ever tried to grow anything from seed and he was proud.  Or he had been. Now he just felt awkward.

Sasuke sipped his tea.

“They’re all crammed in the one room in the house that gets light.”

Sasuke looked into his cup.

“Soon we can prepare the soil.”

Sasuke downed the last of his tea and set the cup in his lap.  Naruto pursed his lips.

“Sasuke, say something.”

Sasuke stared out at the empty yard.

“What am I supposed to say?”

“Anything!”  Naruto grabbed Sasuke’s shoulder and shook him.  But the dark haired teen remained passive, as if Naruto were no more than the wind and hardly something to be troubled by.  Naruto punched the blanketed arm and glared, his heart crumbling into little pieces.

Finally, Sasuke let out a sigh.  “Do whatever you want.”  He slowly stood up.  “It doesn’t matter to me.”

And he left, Naruto twisting his head around to watch him go.

--

Naruto arrived the next day with his pitchfork and shovel.  He entered the house and strode straight through to the yard without even pausing to glance at Sasuke.

After a while of working up a sweat tilling the earth, Naruto heard the sliding snap of the patio screen.  He turned.  Sasuke was standing on the porch with a drink in his hand, offering it to Naruto.

Sasuke was wearing the woolly winter coat.  So Naruto took the glass.

Sasuke surveyed the yard briefly then set his eyes dead on Naruto.  He stared for the measure of two heartbeats.  Then he walked back inside the house.

Naruto took a long moment to finish his drink before returning to work.

Sometime later, a metallic clang sounded on the small kitchen window.  Naruto looked up to see the end of a ladle at the window ledge and hear Sasuke say without ceremony, “Lunch is ready.”

Naruto put aside his work and went inside.  The lunch was good, a hot and spicy soup that made Naruto’s nose run, but once it was done he couldn’t help being disappointed.  He’d expected some sort of sweet, just a simple cookie perhaps, but there had been nothing.

But he wasn’t surprised really.

--

There had been no baking for weeks and no sign that there ever had been.  Even long after Naruto had harvested the spring garlic, which had fared only so-so, and planted all the seedlings, the only smells in the kitchen were sharp and pungent.

Any hint of sweetness was gone.

--

After a couple days more, Naruto finally dredged up the courage to check.

--

That same day when Sasuke entered the kitchen, Naruto was sitting at the center island waiting for him.  Every cabinet door was standing open.

Sasuke took a moment to look about then centered his gaze directly on Naruto.

“You’re angry,” he stated flatly.

“I am.”  Naruto’s voice met the flatness and raised it one.

“About the money.”

Naruto narrowed his eyes.

“I’ll pay you back.”

“It’s not about the money,” Naruto said, letting his hands curl into knuckle-white fists.  He stared straight at Sasuke, his mouth set into a grim line.  “Why?”  He asked harshly.  “Why would you do it?”

Sasuke held his expression and didn’t answer.

“You were good at it.”  Naruto continued.  Sasuke scoffed, but Naruto ignored him.  “It was talent.  Not everyone could do what you did.”

Slowly, Sasuke crossed his arms and leaned back on his left foot.

“Why would you throw that away?”  Naruto diverted his gaze to scowl at a meaningless corner.  “Why do you want to throw away all that’s good about you?”  He took a moment then slowly rolled his eyes in Sasuke’s direction.  There was a heavy, pregnant pause before he said, “You need to accept you’re not a ninja anymore.”

Sasuke winced and allowed his hands to fall to his sides.

“That doesn’t mean you’re worthless.”

Naruto stared into Sasuke’s face a long while but it was as if time itself had frozen over Sasuke.  Finally, Naruto sighed and stood up.

“It’s more than just a skill.  It’s your family, your mother and Itachi.”  Naruto pursed his lips.  “You’ve thrown them away too and all that was good about them.  Why?”

He took a step forward and yet was no closer to Sasuke than he had been before.

“Why are you so afraid?”

Sasuke’s eyes narrowed to slits and if it were possible for his hair to stand on end like a cat’s, it probably would have.

“Are you done?”

Naruto paused as though seriously deliberating on the question.  “I guess.”

“Good,” Sasuke said shortly as he lifted his chin.  “Now get out.”

Naruto pursed his lips in angry disappointment, but after a minute he complied, leaving Sasuke alone with only the bare cupboards for company.

--

It was easier after that.

And harder.

Sasuke didn’t lock the door and Naruto didn’t stop stopping by; in a way, nothing had changed.

They didn’t ignore each other exactly, but they didn’t communicate either.

They danced.

And it didn’t take too long for Naruto to tire of the same old song they’d always used and try to change the music by insinuating himself into Sasuke’s life whenever he could.

Sasuke met it, as he did everything, with complete dispassion.

They ate together again as once they did.  Naruto helped with Sasuke’s scrolls and Sasuke even sat outside and watched as Naruto worked the yard.

But it wasn’t the same, and all Naruto could see and feel were the holes, like large, dark blots of emptiness that would suck all the happiness into their barren recesses.

--

Then one ordinary day, as Naruto was kneeling by the young tomato plants and yanking out weeds, Sasuke walked up and stood beside him.  Naruto could see his faded black slippers, worn and caked with dirt.

The last of the cherry blossoms were falling far away in the village.

“I should make a pie,” Sasuke said.

Naruto’s heart skipped a beat.  “Oh?”  He fought to keep his voice perfectly level.  But after Sasuke didn’t expand, Naruto finally prompted, “What kind?”

Sasuke tilted his head down and waited until the blue eyes lifted to meet his.  He held them for a long second before he answered. “Sour cherry.”

Then he vanished back into the house.

--

Later that afternoon, Naruto dashed out and purchased everything one could possibly need for a sour cherry pie, right down to the pan since he couldn’t recall if Sasuke had one anymore.

Sasuke didn’t waste much time.  The instant Naruto returned Sasuke began the familiar process.  Naruto watched in reborn fascination, having forgotten just how much he enjoyed watching Sasuke work.

After the pie, golden brown and smelling sweet and delicious, cooled for several hours on the rack, Sasuke brought it over, set it on the counter and proceeded to stare at Naruto.  Sasuke stared back.  Then he reached over, took Naruto’s hands in his own and wrapped them carefully around the warm pan.  Sasuke stared for what felt like an eternity with his unnerving passiveness before turning away.

It was the first time they hadn’t shared a taste of whatever Sasuke had baked.

Naruto wasn’t sure what to make of it.

All the same, he took the pie and with it the new warmth of Sasuke’s hands.

--

Naruto was an excited ball of pent up energy.  He threw open the door and trundled his wagon with the surprise in it straight to the backyard.  He set all, wagon and everything, in the center of the grass and went to fetch Sasuke.

“I got something for you.”

Sasuke looked up tiredly from his tedious work.  He thought for a minute then looked back down.

With a cluck of his tongue, Naruto grabbed Sasuke’s arm and forcefully dragged him to his feet.  Limp and uninterested as he was, Sasuke still didn’t put up a fight.

“It was on sale,” Naruto explained.  “But it still looked so nice and I thought to myself: the garden doesn’t have to be all vegetables.”  He flung wide the patio door.  “Ta-dah!”

The bright noon sun shone down like a spotlight.

In an instant Sasuke went still, more so than normal.

Sensing the change like a barometer, Naruto glanced over curiously.

Then Sasuke turned abruptly on his heel and went back into the house.

“Sasuke?”  But by the time Naruto turned around, the other teen was back.

Immediately, Sasuke doused the bush in oil, lit a match, and set the whole thing to glorious flame.  Smoke rose in thick plumes from the wagon, like sad and surreal ghosts banished back to their proper world.  The scent of charred wood and burnt leaves mingled oddly with the barest hint of roses.

Naruto would have said something, but Sasuke had taken a hold of his wrist so tightly and sent an expression towards the blazing bush so hard, that Naruto decided to keep his peace.

Once the plant had essentially burned to a crisp and the wagon turned black, Sasuke quietly let go of Naruto and retreated back into the house.

Naruto remained outside to watch the last tendrils of smoke rise lazily to the skies.  He smelled the last whiff of ash and roses then went inside.

In the kitchen, Sasuke was busily stacking up ingredients on the counter as if he had a quota to fill.  Naruto set his hands flat on the counter and watched the strange scene unfold before him in silent contemplation.  After a bit, Sasuke slowed as he always did and eventually began measuring out the ingredients with more care.

Naruto stared for a long time, watching Sasuke’s back and attempting to read his thoughts.  He very slowly looked back over his shoulder to the smoldering embers outside and even more slowly returned his gaze back to Sasuke.

“Sasuke.”

The teen didn’t answer, but Naruto knew he had his attention by the way the tattooed back straightened.

“You know I love you, right?”

“What?”  Sasuke made an unaccustomed jerk and pushed up the glasses that had slipped down his nose.

“And I’m not going to make you tell me what that was about.”  Naruto paused momentarily.  “Though I wish you would.”

Sasuke stirred the contents of the bowl.

“But even if you don’t, even if you choose to keep all your secrets,” Naruto said with complete matter-of-fact sincerity, “It wouldn’t change how I feel.”

The spoon in Sasuke’s hand came to a gradual stop.  Then he set the bowl down and wearily titled his head back.  “You’re wasting your time,” he stated blandly.

“That’s not your choice to make.”  Naruto was suddenly upon him, his hand on Sasuke’s as though he’d always been there.

Surprised, and irritated at being so, Sasuke winced and pulled away.  He turned to face Naruto, who was now quite close and gazing on him with intensity.  Naruto replaced his hand over Sasuke’s.  The dark eyes flicked across Naruto’s face, looking for something unknown, the brows over them crushing in.  Then those eyes closed and Sasuke took a long, resigned sigh.

He opened them again.

“What do you want of me?”  He sounded a hundred years old.

The air went perfectly still.

“Whatever . . you’re willing . . to give.”  With each carefully expressed word, Naruto moved closer until they were so close that breathed the same breath.  His eyes held Sasuke’s, dropped down, and lifted up again.

Sasuke held his ground.

Naruto still held his hand.

Then, slowly, gently, tentatively, Naruto peeked out his tongue.  He touched it to Sasuke’s mouth.  Sasuke’s eyes pinched in but he didn’t pull away, so Naruto drew the tip softly across Sasuke’s top lip.  He moved down, tenderly kissing the first edge of Sasuke’s tattoo just below the jawline and felt the tautness of muscle and the pulse of blood in Sasuke’s veins beneath his skin.  He heard Sasuke’s breath catch, a sort of strangled sound.

After a weighty moment Naruto pulled away, placed his hand on Sasuke’s chest and looked up into his half-lidded eyes, the forehead above creased in consternation.

The hand beneath Naruto’s closed into a fist.

Naruto could feel breath warm on his face.

A moment passed.

Another.

Then, unexpectedly, Sasuke closed the distance.

And pressed further.

Naruto opened up.

Sasuke took the invitation, taking it all painfully slow and deliberate, as he did everything these days.

The hand on Sasuke’s chest tightened into a fist, gripping the fabric of the shirt.

Sasuke tasted like his baking: bitter like chocolate, smooth like vanilla, and slightly sour like new, unripe cherries.

Naruto made a little noise in the back of his throat.

Sasuke paused, his ragged breathing thoughtful and tensed like the sound of deep contemplation.

Naruto’s eyes squeezed tight in the effort of holding himself back and letting Sasuke take the lead.

He leaned in hopefully, made another little noise, and pulled again on Sasuke’s shirt.

There was a popping sound of seams ripping.

Sasuke’s eyes flew open and in one shocking movement jerked back while shoving Naruto away.

Taken aback and slightly dazed, Naruto stumbled and looked up.

Sasuke’s arm was drawing across his mouth as he stared out horrified, or possibly terrified, Naruto couldn’t say for sure which one it was.

Then Sasuke fled.

The bedroom door slammed.

Naruto blinked and drew a hand roughly through his hair.  He felt warm and tingly, happy and sad.

And scared down to the marrow of his bones.

He took one last look at the half-made dessert and strode down the hall.

Recipe 12- Sour Cherry Pie

Chapter Text

Recipe 13

Naruto had sat himself down and leaned his back on Sasuke’s bedroom door.  After two days with no change, he decided to leave; knowing that Sasuke would chose starvation over facing him.

So he spent days alone in his own house, too large and cold and empty, too silent and odorless.  He missed the smells of spice and sugar, old paper and earth, all the scents he’d grown so accustomed to over the past year.  And he feared he would never know them again.

--

He crossed the way to Sasuke’s house, but the place felt dark and uninhabited.  He pressed his ear to the door but heard nothing.

Turning to the guard, he asked a silent question that the jounin understood at once.

“He’s in there,” she said.  “As long as we’re here, he’s there.”

Naruto knew that.

The guards would prevent any escape attempts, but also insure Sasuke did nothing to harm himself.  But he also knew that if Sasuke were truly determined, they wouldn’t get there in time, not that they would spend much effort in doing so.  It was cold comfort, but it was proof of life.

So with one last glance, Naruto returned home.

--

Gently, he rapped on the door.  Then he knocked harder.  But he never pounded on it, never demanded.

He tried the knob.  Locked.  Of course he still had that key, but he knew there were times when a locked door meant something.

He left well enough alone.

--

Days and days passed with no answer.

The door remained locked.

Out of some irrational fear that the locks might have been changed Naruto finally tried his key.  But it fit perfectly.  If he were to turn it, he would hear the familiar sounds of its tumblers falling into place.  Then he thought again and realized that of course the locks hadn’t changed.  They couldn’t change; there was no reason for them to do so.

They would never change.

So there was no lightening of Naruto’s heart as he pocketed the key and left.

--

Then one day, so much later that he’d lost count, Naruto halfheartedly tried the door again and found it unbolted.  For a moment he couldn’t believe it and frantically scanned the surrounding area.  Once he spotted the jounin guard he felt better, although not especially reassured.

Quietly, he opened the door.  Even more quietly, he entered.  The house was mostly dark, as though abandoned.  He looked to the left into the living room and saw all the bits of salvaged paper neatly stacked into piles, each with a scroll placed in front of it.

They must all be done.

Sasuke had been busy.

Naruto looked straight ahead and saw the soft glow of the kitchen light around the corner.  He swallowed and carefully approached.

Sasuke had just placed a pan in the oven and as he closed the door, he glanced toward Naruto.  His expression was infuriatingly neutral as he held Naruto’s gaze for what seemed like a long time.  Then at last he turned, wound the little egg timer, and set it aside.

Naruto timidly stepped into the kitchen.

“Hi.”

Sasuke raised his dark eyes and pushed up his slipping glasses but said nothing.

Naruto put his hands nervously behind his back and sniffed the air.

It smelled of warm chocolate and cream, sugar and fresh raspberries.

It smelled of Sasuke’s baking.

Naruto felt a nervous smile tug at the corners of his mouth.

Naruto watched as Sasuke picked up a small pan of boiling cream and poured it over a bowl chopped chocolate.  His hand moved methodically as he folded the two together until they were smooth light brown.

Naruto stood stock still in the center of the kitchen.  “What are you making?”

Sasuke stopped mid-stir, staring intently at the bowl.  “Chocolate ganache.  For the cake.”  He took one last turn of the spoon around the edge, tapped the handle against he bowl and dumped the spoon into the sink.

Naruto swallowed hard.  “It smells good.”

Sasuke’s eyes flicked up once then down again.  He breathed very slowly, with concentration.  Leisurely, he dipped a finger into the bowl and dragged it through the ganache until it was fully coated to the second knuckle.  He gave a tiny feline tilt to his head as though contemplating.  Then he lazily rolled his eyes towards Naruto and stared at him over the rim of his glasses.  He parted his lips and raised the finger to his mouth, pressing it gently inside.  Achingly slow, he pulled his finger back out, cleaned.

Wetting his lips with his tongue, Naruto’s mouth fell slightly open to let his deep erratic breathing reach his lungs.

Sasuke turned his head to face Naruto more fully.  He carefully circled around the counter, moving closer while at the same time dipping a second finger into the bowl.  Then Sasuke lifted his hand and held his finger out to Naruto.

Naruto’s eyes clouded over a second, and dropped down to the chocolate.  Then he carefully closed his mouth around Sasuke’s extended finger.

The smooth taste of chocolate and cream filled Naruto’s mouth as he noticed Sasuke’s breath become uneven.  Naruto ran his tongue up and down and around Sasuke’s finger and heard the dull clatter when the bowl landed on the counter.  He licked the finger clean until he could taste the saltiness of Sasuke’s skin.

Languidly, as he moved even closer, Sasuke extracted his finger, now slick with Naruto’s saliva.  He looked down with eyes deep black and liquid.

Naruto grit his teeth and looked up questioningly.

Sasuke rubbed his thumb along his moist finger, a question in his own eyes.

The two of them held scarcely a centimeter between them.

This time they met in the middle.

Naruto tangled his hands in Sasuke’s short black hair and pulled as Sasuke’s fingers held the sides of Naruto’s throat, his thumbs pressing gently into the fleshy parts below Naruto’s jaw line.  Naruto made a noise that welled up from deep within his chest.

Then Sasuke pulled away slowly, letting his tongue lightly graze the top of Naruto’s upper lip on its journey out.

Naruto looked up with eyes so unfocused it was unlikely he could see Sasuke at all.  He gently released his hold on the black hair so he could carefully remove Sasuke’s glasses and set them on the counter.  When his hands returned, they gripped the front of Sasuke’s shirt and Naruto stepped back, pulling Sasuke with him.  Their lips met again, harder and more insistent.  Naruto took another step and another yank on fabric.

There was a small ripping sound.

Sasuke reached over, flipped off the oven and allowed himself to be led away.

--

The little egg timer buzzed.

Naruto laid one last kiss at the fluttering muscles of Sasuke’s throat and blinked quizzically when forced up by the heel of Sasuke’s hand on his forehead.

He tilted his head, creased his eyebrows, and let the wheels of his mind sluggishly turn.

Sasuke scowled at him, meeting Naruto’s eyes with sternness and disfavor.  “You owe me a cake.”

Naruto’s eyes popped wide.  After a moment, he let out a great bark of laughter.  Then, unbothered by this complaint, he dropped his head back down and sucked at the especially dark inked skin beside the curse seal.  He drew his hand lightly down Sasuke’s side until he could sneak it beneath the shirt hem and find the edge of hipbone that peeked up over the waist of Sasuke’s pants.  He could feel the pulse of the tattoo seal and the warmth of Sasuke beneath.  Naruto smiled and dipped his tongue once into the sensitive indentation between Sasuke’s collarbones before speaking.

“Put it on my tab.”

Recipe 13 – Chocolate Raspberry Cake with Ganache, on Naruto’s tab

END