My Obejective, My Love

AN: Since I've neglected this story, I'm adding several chapters. XD Enjoy!

“Home?” Naruto blinked in surprise. “They kept your old place?”

“Not there, my old home.” Ignoring Naruto’s raised eyebrow, Sasuke stepped past him. “It’ll need to be cleaned, so you’re going to help me.”

Twitching in annoyance, Naruto followed him. “Why do I have to help you clean? I’m just here to make sure you’re not up to anything rotten.”

“I’m not going to have you sit around and stare at me while I clean. Get over it.”

“Get over what? That you’re a selfish bastard?” Naruto shrugged, “dunno Sasuke, you seem to have gotten stupider over the time you’ve been away. Just what did he teach you?”

An old part of Sasuke twitched. “How to kick your ass, dobe.”

“Just try it, you bastard.” For a moment they glared at each other, people that happened to pass by giving them odd looks. Naruto then broke into a grin, smacking Sasuke’s back. “It’s good to have you back.”

Feeling as though he passed some sort of odd Naruto test, Sasuke smirked and grunted, looking away. They walked the rest of the way in silence, neither paying much attention to the whispers around them. Sasuke paused in front of his house then glanced back over his shoulder. The crack in the wall from Itachi’s kunai still hadn’t been mended. The blood that had stained all the homes, along with the bodies were long gone, but branded into his memory. He could almost see them, blood glistening in the moonlight...

“Earth to Sasuke...” Naruto waved his hand in front of his face. “You still with me?”

Sasuke batted Naruto’s hand away, frowning to himself. “Don’t ask stupid questions. Come on.” Trying to brush off his memories, he walked to the door, sliding it open. The sunlight acted as a spot light to all the dust he had stirred up by opening the door. Cleaning might take all day, if not longer. He decided to stick to the most needed areas. Removing his shoes he stepped onto the wooden floor, wrinkling his nose at the way it felt filmy with dust.

“Oh maaaaaaaan...” Naruto dropped his bag, sighing. “It would have been cleaner to stay at my home.”

“Some how, I doubt that.”

“You would,” Naruto murmured under his breath, leaving his shoes and bag behind to explore. The kitchen held a few cobwebs, but was otherwise intact. Actually, it was quite nice, much larger than anything he had. The rest of the house was in good order, minus a few leaves or dust collection. A few doors had rips in the rice paper, possibly due to some storm. If it had been clean, Naruto wouldn’t mind staying. The fact of the matter was; it wasn’t clean, and it wouldn’t be clean until he put a lot of hard work into it. At least that ass wipe would have to do the same. Naruto rounded a corner and found Sasuke staring at the over grown garden, eyes heavy guarded. Then it smacked him in the head, the way things would often come to him. This wasn’t easy for Sasuke, to be back in the home he had shared with Itachi and his long passed parents. Of course Sasuke would never actually tell him that. Naruto half wondered what it was like to have good memories like that, of a family that loved him. He shifted a little, wood groaning under his feet.

Sasuke’s head snapped to Naruto’s, brows furrowing. “Did you need something?”

“Ah.... Yeah. Let’s hurry up and clean. I rather be done by dinner.”

“If you can call that stuff you eat dinner.” Sasuke wrinkled his nose then turned pretending to be busy with de-dusting a post.

“Hey, if I can eat it most my life, it isn’t going to kill you. Well... I don’t think you can be allergic to ramen.” Naruto dropped the rag he had been holding then bent to spread it out. There had been plenty of movies that he watched where people cleaned out temples or nice homes like this, by running to polish the deck. Always in some sort of secret training exercise; maybe cleaning wouldn’t be so bad after all.

Sasuke glanced back at Naruto from over his shoulder, raising an eyebrow. The blonde looked like an idiot, with his ass in the air like that. “No, I’m not allergic to ramen, usuratonkachi.”

“Hn.” Naruto glared at the floor, then took a few steps, trying to remember how those actors had positioned their bodies.

“Look, stupid, you’re doing it wrong.”

“Why do you have to keep insulting me, loser? What the hell did I do to piss you off today?”

“Whatever,” Sasuke contemplated watching Naruto struggle, but discarded that idea. If he was exhausted, and in better spirits, he would be more open to what he had planned later. Of course that meant he also had to be nicer. Akin to breathing, insulting Naruto just came naturally. “Its like this.” Sasuke tossed his rag on the deck then squatted, stretching out his arms to firmly press against the wood while he pushed himself forward. Even if this brought up... uncomfortable memories, it seemed to be working. Naruto’s face cracked into a wide grin, watching until Sasuke came to a stop next to him.

“You look silly.”

Sasuke twitched, “it isn’t the most graceful thing to do in the world, no. It gets the job done, and that’s what’s important. Now do the deck, I’ll work on the kitchen, the bathroom, and at least one of the bedrooms.”

“The kitchen is done, it wasn’t all that dusty. And don’t boss me around, Sasuke.” Naruto stuck out his tongue. “I’m a higher level ninja than you right now, anyway. I should be telling you what to do.”

“Its my home.”

“Fine fine, but why only one bedroom?”

Sasuke stood, brushing off his knees. “Because there are only so many hours left in the day, and I’d rather get a room to sleep in, than half ass it to hurry on to get another one done for you. What’s wrong, still think people have cooties?”

“I never thought that... well... when I was younger, sure. But they were generally on me, for some reason. Anyway, sharing a room will be fine, if you don’t mind.”

“Of course not. When you’re done with the deck, come find me.” Sasuke walked away, opening the first door he came too. He would sleep in his old room, and avoid the others until later. Opening cabinet in his old room, he took out some of the bed linen, wrinkling his nose at the heavy dust scent. They would have to be beaten, then aired out, probably. His bed didn’t seem that much worse for wear, all it needed was to be turned, most likely. Washing the sheets would take too much of his attention away, and he wanted to finish the bathroom as well as his bedroom before sundown. The plan would work better in a clean environment.

Sasuke gathered up the sheets and ducked back out of his bedroom, opening the door to the deck with his foot. He couldn’t see Naruto, but he could hear the pounding of his feet as he ran along the deck. “Oi, use water, or the wood polish. It’ll take more of the dust away.” Sasuke heard a mumbled acceptance, and saw a flash of blonde hair dive past him and through the door he just exited. Using the stepping stones, he walked around back to the clothes line. He tossed the sheets over the lines then opened a wicker basket near the base of one of the poles. Though a bit warped from being out in the weather for so long, the tool would still work. Taking it in both hands firmly, he smacked it against the sheet, coughing as a wave of dust rolled off of it. Shaking the bangs out of his eyes, Sasuke whipped it across the sheet again. Once more, his bangs fell over his eyes. That wouldn’t have been a problem, if he were on mission, or out walking around. At the moment, it bugged the hell out of him. He swept all of his bangs back then pinned them to the rest of his hair, hoping it would hold. Then he took out the majority of his annoyance and anger on the sheets, beating them to death.

Naruto hadn’t paid attention to Sasuke after he got the bucket of water, nor did he while he ran around, cleaning Sasuke’s house. When he was done, he slumped forward against one of the posts, panting. It was then that he spotted a rather determined looking Sasuke, with his bangs pinned back. Smirking, Naruto watched until Sasuke was finished. “All you need is a white apron, and you’d make a cute house wife, Sasuke-kun.” The last he sneered, voice raising in tone to mimic the wild call of the Sasuke fangirl. For the full effect, he added a flutter of eyelashes. The look Sasuke turned on him might have sent most ninja running; Naruto was used to it.

“Are you done?”

“Yep. Are you done?”

Sasuke wiped at his brow with the back of his hand, glancing at the sheets. The heavy scent of dust still hung in the air from his beating, but the sheets looked good as new. “Probably with this.” Given some more time outside, the dust would settle, and the sheets would likely be ready for use. He dropped the tool into the basket then hopped back over the stones. It was habit, even after all those years. When he was younger, he would race across the white sand to follow his mother, leaving foot prints behind. She would scold him, but it didn’t compare to the unapproving stare of his father. Those combined elements made him use the rocks, as to not disturb the sand in the garden. Now that there was no one to disapprove, or scold him, he should have just taken the shorter way back to the deck. Some how, he was still reluctant to do it, despite the many animal foot prints and debris across the pristine sand.

“So what now? Did you finish the room already?”

“No. You do the room, and I’ll work on the bathroom.”

Naruto stuck out his tongue at Sasuke’s back and made a face, but followed him inside. “Yeah yeah, I’ll do all the work.”

“If you cleaned as hard as you complained, we would be finished by now.”

Resisting the urge to shoot back a remark, Naruto grabbed the bucket and rag then half-stomped his way to the hallway. “Which room?”

“First on the left. You do know your left from your right, don’t you?”

Naruto growled, gritting his teeth. “Yes. I know which way is left,” he said stiffly, wishing he could toss a heavy rock at his old friend’s head. He had a feeling that Sasuke would grow up to be one of those really crotchety old men who smacked kids with his cane and yelled toothlessly to get off his property. That mental image made him smile; a Sasuke, who had more hair in his ears, back and chest than his head, shouting out obscenities to local children and waving a wicked looking cane. Probably one with spikes on it. Just to be all the more scary... yeah, Sasuke would do that. Naruto smirked and ducked into Sasuke’s room, enjoying his imagination.

It was amazing how well his own imagination entertained him while he dusted and wiped off the thin layer of dust in the room. The other work had been tedious, and felt as though it took hours. This time, it went by quickly, almost a pleasant time. He supposed his active imagination came from being left to play by himself so much; when no one wants to play with you, or their parents pick up their children quickly as if you had a rotting disease, it tended to influence how fast your imagination would grow. Naruto wiped off a few scrolls, smiling to himself. He had never told anyone, but he had imaginary friends when he was younger. Though, they tended to be annoying like Sasuke too. Maybe that’s all he needed, was someone to be weird and loud with him.

Finished with his chores, Naruto sighed and dropped the rag back into the now murky water which sloshed and licked the sides of the pail, threatening to escape and ruin his hard work. He stretched his arms over his head, groaning as his shoulders popped. All that training with Jiriaya, only to come home and work just as hard cleaning someone else’s place.

Naruto peeked around the corner, looking for signs of Sasuke. The house was quiet, almost eerily so. Only eerie because of what had happened, he told himself. Itachi had lived here too, even as an ANBU. Curious, Naruto poked his head into the room just down from the one he had been working on. It was a lot less friendly; books and scrolls had been shoved from the shelves, piled knee high at one end, the bed had been upturned, thin mattress leaning against a night stand. A picture on his desk had blood on it, spidery tendrils of cracked glass slightly obscuring the contents behind the glass. Naruto walked further in, picking the picture up. A seemingly happy family smiled back, a much younger Sasuke in the arms of his mother, waving to the camera and grinning ear to ear. He didn’t know if he should be surprised, or sad; Sasuke never smiled like that anymore. Putting the picture back, Naruto noticed a smaller one laying face down on the desk. Knowing he shouldn’t be snooping, but unable to control his curiosity, Naruto glanced back to make sure Sasuke wasn’t watching him. Once the coast was clear, Naruto picked up the other picture. This one was just of the brothers; a very young Sasuke curled up in his brother’s lap, asleep, while Itachi watched over the boy with a soft expression. He wondered why this one hadn’t been trashed as well, but only turned over.

“What’re you doing here?”

Naruto almost dropped the picture, feeling guilty. The Uchiha glared at him from underneath dusty bangs; Sasuke had unpinned his hair at some point. “Ah... well...”

“Get out,” Sasuke said stiffly, arms crossed over his chest. Of all the nerve... “Now.” The room had originally been left clean, Sasuke remembered that shortly before deciding to become an avenger, he had thrown things around, and did his best to take his anger out on his brother’s things. It was a grim reminder of what he was here for; he should have thanked Naruto for invading his privacy.

Naruto put the picture down and slowly headed out of the room, eyes lowered. He inwardly cursed his stupidity; it was probably painful for Sasuke to see this room, and the pictures inside it. “I’m sorry.”

“Yeah.” They both jerked their heads toward the front door when there was a soft knock. Sasuke sighed and hurried down stairs to the door, sliding it open with a sharp snap. “What?” He heard Naruto follow him, lingering behind on the step.

Sakura smiled and held out two plastic bags, the heavy scent of food making both boys’ stomachs growl. “I figured you might be hungry, and I knew you would be busy with other things, so I brought you what I remembered you liked. And your favorite ramen, Naruto.”

“Thanks.” Sasuke took the bags then shut the door, turning away from it.

“Sasuke!” Naruto jumped down and opened the door. “I’m sorry, he’s mad at me, so he’s being an ass.”

Sakura looked mildly confused but nodded, “I see...”

“There’s only enough here for us.” Sasuke raised an eyebrow, looking back at the pink haired ninja.

“Yeah... I was just dropping it off. I’ve already had dinner.” She stepped back, knowing when she wasn’t welcome. The two years had matured her a bit, and she saw her early times of hanging on Sasuke as something embarrassing that she did as a child. Sure, she still had a special place for him in her heart, and would never stop loving the Uchiha, but if he were truly back, then she would go about getting a date the normal way. “I hope I didn’t interrupt anything important, I’ll see both of you tomorrow, for dinner, ne?”

“Right,” Sasuke mumbled, still surprised. He figured since she had come over, he would have to fight her off to get his plan rolling once more.

“Come over in the morning with breakfast Sakura, pleeease? There’s nothing in the house, and I’m exhausted from cleaning.” Naruto pouted a little, “Sasuke is an evil task master.”

Sakura smirked, “I’m sure. I’ll bring some breakfast for us over tomorrow then, if that’s alright with you, Sasuke.” The Uchiha nodded, heading inside with the food. She leaned closer and whispered, “be nice to him, Naruto. This can’t be easy for him.”

“I know,” he whispered back. “I’m trying. He’s just such a bastard sometimes.”

Sakura giggled, leaning away, one hand on the door. “I think you two bring the worst and best out of each other. See you tomorrow.”

“Yep.” Naruto said brightly, turning away to follow Sasuke to the kitchen. He heard the door shut as he walked away, following his nose. “My god, ramen has never smelt so good.” Sasuke was already eating from his styrofoam container, slurping the long noddles. Several round containers sat across him, with chopsticks across the lids. Naruto almost felt tears come to his eyes. “She bought me more than one.”

“She knows you.”

Naruto wiped away a fake tear and sat down. “That she does.” He clapped his hands and murmured the usual words before ripping open the first dish, sniffing the heavy aroma that rose to meet him. “Oh god, I’ve died and gone to heaven.” Without further ado, Naruto set about to eating ramen the way he would usually eat it; nearly inhaling it. He noticed Sasuke watching him, but didn’t care. This was ramen, nothing short of a life threatening circumstance would keep him from eating.

“You’re going to choke.”

“Never have,” he mumbled around the noodles.

“Or get sick.”

“Ramen doesn’t make me sick,” he mumbled again, moving on to the next bowl.

Sasuke shrugged and went back to eating. Let the dobe gorge himself on ramen, it would make him that more open to his plan; compliant, relaxed, and completely off guard for what was going to come next. He smirked a little around a bit of steak, licking the sauce from his lips. There was no way Naruto would see it coming.