Sugar Daddy
Sasuke had been on Team seven for all of two days and he already feels stressed out.
Sasuke was once a very happy, cheerful child with a wide grin and a tolerance of people. And then his older brother had murdered everyone he had ever known and destroyed Sasuke in the process. Sasuke had retreated inwards, become a dark, quiet, sullen child shaped by trauma and grief. Sasuke had been lost that day, his sense of self and worth shattered by the one person he had loved more than anything in the world. Many would have crumbled never to rise again. But Sasuke’s instincts had pushed him to survive and he had done so, piecing himself back together in a caricature of the old Sasuke.
Sasuke had glued himself back together, piece by piece in the quite isolation of the Uchiha grounds surrounded by memories and the dead. And if parts of that grief and parts of those ghost had got caught in his edges, well it was too late to pull them out without shattering him again.
The problem was Sasuke had done this in isolation. With his family dead and no friends, Sasuke had been left alone and it had changed him. He no longer smiled, was quite sure he didn’t remember how, and he didn’t know how to talk to people.
When he had emerged from his empty clan compound back to school, the event that shaped his entire world had already passed from the news and none of his classmates noticed. The girls started to swoon over how dark and mysterious and cool he was, ignoring the way he trembled and the way there was an endless scream in his head. The boys took his silence as arrogance and wanted little to do with him, never noticing the way he couldn’t focus his gaze sometimes. Civilian shop keepers offered empty condolences, not really sure what to say or do. The shinobi watched him carefully, distrustfully and he couldn’t blame them. He felt like lashing out most days and sometimes it took an iron clad will to hold his screams in.
So Sasuke was pushed away from people while still held up to this standard of the Uchiha, never mind there was no one left to teach him the skills to meet this standard.
So Sasuke spent days upon days in silence but for his own screams and the murmurs of the dead that rang in the empty spaces. Sasuke forgot what it was like to actually trust people, partly due to his split from most people and mostly due to the fact the one man he had trusted had taken everything from him on nearly every level. Sometimes Sasuke forgot how to speak to people, unsure of if his voice would work. Sometimes Sasuke forgot to communicate, forgot how to socialize, and convey thoughts and feelings. He was too blunt, too sharp, too honest and many took it as arrogance. Sasuke merely didn’t know what to say and every day was another step away.
To be honest, Sasuke was in no way sane, in no way well adjusted, in no way a normal young boy anymore. Sasuke was crazier than a bag of cats and it was long past the point of no-return. So Sasuke had started to live with it, knowing his life was a very different one than most of the people he saw. He had accepted that he would be alone forever.
And then the academy told them Konoha was famous for its team dynamics. Told them that solo missions were exceedingly rare and that most of their career would be spent with working with people. And Sasuke had floundered. His first introduction to this was his genin team after graduation.
His genin team was a disaster.
To be honest, Sasuke thought Naruto might be the best of all of them. Sakura was obsessed. She was screechy, had a hair-trigger temper, flipped between moods at the drop of a hat, and dogged his steps relentlessly. Kakashi was obviously a skilled jonin but he was obviously broken as well. Sasuke could see the signs, see the glint in his eye. Could see it in the way he read porn in public and couldn’t drudge up the energy to make it on time or even stand up without a slouch.
Naruto on the other hand was simply loud, a bit hyper, and had an inferiority complex.
Sasuke didn’t even bother trying to get along. It would be useless.
At least that had been at first. But watching them bumble and almost fail a D-rank, painting a fence of all things, was making him twitch. It was legitimately making Sasuke stressed. Naruto’s eye-searing orange coat had always been an eyesore but now it was actually slowly killing Sasuke. Naruto couldn’t sit still and was jumping all over the place with a clone trying to finish his section first. And Sasuke kept flinching at the flashes in the corner of his eyes. From the other side Sakura was giggling, sending him looks, and every flash of pink made him cringe.
Sasuke was going to crack before the end of the week and start murdering everything in pink and orange. And it was only the second day.
Sasuke could have ignored it. Could have went home, meditated and calmed himself down. In one world Sasuke did do this and became a very patient man who simply ignored his teammates. That is not this world.
In this world Sasuke went home, paused at his door and then turned and walked to what had once been his neighbor’s house. He dug in their closet, ignoring the screaming in his head, and made a decision.
The next day he went straight up to Naruto.
“Here,” Sasuke said.
Naruto fumbled, blinking at him confused but grabbed the dark bundle. He unrolled it cautiously and simply stared at the dark grey coat with little white fans buttons up the front and dark stripes around the sleeves.
“What?” Naruto asked dumbly.
“Your orange is…” Sasuke paused, about to say eye-gouging, “A dead giveaway. Too bright. You need to blend in better.”
Naruto seemed shocked still and didn’t have the wits to burst into shouts about insults to his favorite color and coat.
“Um…is it yours?” Naruto asked, peering at the buttons of the Uchiwa fan.
“In a way,” Sasuke said, “It’s a …gift for you.”
Sasuke held his breath and tried to act like he wasn’t waiting for shouts and to have it thrown back in his face.
“A gift?” Naruto echoed, a tenor of wonder in his voice.
Sasuke frowned, unsure of the reaction that went against everything he knew of the loud boisterous Naruto. Naruto gently stroked the coat, feeling the quality and the softness. Sasuke waited and did not picture his cousin wearing said coat only once before he died.
“Is…is it okay? I mean, it has your clan symbol?” Naruto finally got out, peering at Sasuke uncertain.
“…You’re on my team,” Sasuke finally grunted, caught off guard by the consideration in that question, “And I say you can.”
Anything to get rid of that godforsaken orange, Sasuke though, low on sleep and patience and maybe even sanity at this point.
Naruto suddenly beamed at him, all crinkled eyes and flashing white teeth, and it was such a smile of happiness Sasuke actually lost his breath, blinded. No one had smiled at him like that…ever. No one had ever smiled at him so happy and thankful and bight and carefree. Even his family’s smiles had been soft muted things, not this exuberance.
Naruto wordlessly shucked his orange coat and slid the jacket on. It was a size too big but Naruto would grow into it. He took care to do up the buttons, a smile stuck on his face and grinned at Sasuke.
“Thanks Sasuke! You’re not so much of a bastard I guess!”
“Don’t call Sasuke a bastard!” Sakura yelped, arriving.
Before she could say another word Sasuke spun and shoved a bundle in her arm as well. She froze, eyes wide.
“A gift,” Sasuke muttered.
Sakura trembled, staring at him and then hurriedly looked at it. It unrolled into dark kimono top, all blacks and dark purples with large hibiscus flowers blooming across it. A small hair accessory fell as well and Sasuke snatched it up before it hit the ground.
Sakura stared at it wide eyed.
“It was my cousins. It’s a battle kimono that’s layered with wire mesh,” Sasuke muttered, unsure of her staring, “It…it would look good on you?”
It was more of a question but she didn’t seem to hear as she went bright pink with a blush that clashed horribly with her hair.
“This is for you too,” Sasuke held out the hair piece.
“I…I don’t know how to wear it,” Sakura squeaked.
“Put the top on first.
Sakura hurried to obey, ducking behind a tree to shuck her red dress and pull on the short dark kimono. It was the same length as her former red dress and closed with a loose dark purple sash that hung down the front more like a gi belt. Sasuke hesitated when she emerged beaming but ultimately beckoned her forwards. She sat obediently and Sasuke reached for her hair. His fingers shook just the slightest but she didn’t seem to notice. Sasuke kept his eyes focused on the pink, reminding himself it was in no way similar to Itachi’s dark hair. He wound her hair, a tad inelegantly, in a tight high bun and tied it as well as he remembered. A few locks were to loose, but the cloth held her hair gathered well enough. The small silk cloth held all her bun under it and he tied it shut, trapping her hair. Then he slid the pin with small dangling purple glass flowers into the covered bun. Now the only loose hair was the two small locks that framed her face. Most of the pink was pulled tight and tucked under purple silk.
Sakura pulled a small hand mirror from a pouch and looked at herself wide eyed.
“You look beautiful Sakura!” Naruto cheered.
“T-thank you Sasuke,” she squeaked a as she looked at him awed.
“It suits you,” Sasuke managed.
Luckily Kakashi arrived not a moment later, saving him from any awkward date requests. He made no comment on the wardrobe change and simply told them they had a mission. Sasuke noted his teammates sent him looks throughout the rest of the day but they were more subdued.
And there was no eye-searing orange and fluttering pink to distract him. Sasuke counted it as a win.
And when they parted that night, Naruto and Sakura thanking him again, Sasuke felt something in his chest warm. Something small and buried deep that made have been the child Sasuke should have been, stirred and made Sasuke stare after his teammates, enjoying how they looked so pleased and thankful for his gifts.
.--.
“Sasuke,” Sakura said tentatively the next day.
Sasuke glanced at her, noticed the way she shuffled her feet but looked up at him with wide still awed eyes. She held out her hands and tucked gently in them was the flower hair ornament.
“I-I can’t accept this,” she cleared her throat, “I mean, my mother says the whole outfit is expensive, but she said that this ornament is an antique and m-more expensive than a month’s worth of her income!”
Naruto was staring wide eyed at the ornament.
“My mother said the craftsmanship is on par with what the Daimyo would buy,” Sakura stuttered out.
Sasuke shrugged and did not take it back.
“The ornament was my cousins. She worked in the court a few times and it was gifted to her.”
“T-then it’s an antique and an heirloom,” she stared wide eyed, “Sasuke, I can’t accept it. It’s too much.”
Sasuke frowned, brow furrowing and crossed his arm.
“It’s a gift,” Sasuke repeated, “I have no use for it. It’s yours now.”
She stared wide eyed, looking at him with some sort of awe. When she made no move to pull her extended hands back he finally reached out, took it from her hands and then tucked it back in her hair. He gave one sharp approving nod and returned to the shade to sit.
For the rest of the day Sakura periodically reached up, fingers brushing the delicate glass flowers seeming stunned. Sasuke felt…a sort of smug pleasure at how he had been able to make someone so shocked and happy with a simple gift that held no value to himself. If she was less squealy and hovery, and more quietly pleased with soft smiles, it only benefited his hearing and his sanity.
.--.
Only a week later they were waiting for Kakashi again, and Sasuke felt the quick-silver flare of a sort of smugness as he kept noticing his teammates still wore his gifts. Their loudness had returned of course, but they were often a tad… quieter when they spoke to him. Well, Naruto was still loud, but he was calmer in body, less jumpy and challenging. Something had changed and now the boy simply beamed at him, the insults more like friendly banter than real insults. Sakura was more polite, a bit softer, though she still had her mood swings. But she was trying less desperately to get his attention thinking she already had it and it made her easier to deal with.
So Sasuke was quite pleased with himself. He had had also lasted a week of socializing with them and not been driven completely mad by their presence yet.
Except now he was watching Naruto throw shuriken at a long and couldn’t help but wince at every throw. Oh, Naruto was decent. Not the best but not the worst, but his shuriken were so dull some were bouncing off the log instead of lodging into it.
“Naruto,” Sasuke said, low and demanded as he came up to him, “Give me one of those.”
Naruto peered at him confused but handed one over. Sasuke eyed it with distaste. It was dull, but not because Naruto didn’t care for them, it was simply apparent they should have been retired long ago. They were old, worn so thin they could barely take another sharpening, all dinged and scratched and on the verge of rusting. They looked far too old for Naruto to have bought them new.
“These are garbage,” Sasuke said, a tad insulted that Naruto was even using these while being on his team.
Naruto puffed up his cheeks but his shoulders half hunched.
“They’re all I have,” he spat, an odd sort of defensive wariness in his voice.
Sasuke wrinkled his nose, unsure of where Naruto’s dark eyes had come from. The boy looked …he looked a tad defeated while trying to be indignant. Sasuke handed the shuriken back and Naruto turned sharply back to the log throwing with a tad more viciousness.
Sasuke stared at his back, brows furrowed. Then he looked at the sky and turned on his heel.
“Where are you going Sasuke?” Sakura piped up, curious.
“I’ll be back before Kakashi,” was all Sasuke said as he headed back towards the Uchiha compound.
He returned within the hour, and found Sakura sitting a tad closer to Naruto, looking over his weapons with a trained eye and a frown as well as Naruto sat slumped, glaring at his blades. Sasuke walked up to them, both glancing up at him, and set two boxes in Naruto’s lap before sitting as well.
“What?” Naruto blinked.
“Those are for you. Recycle yours,” Sasuke grunted.
Naruto pried the lid off the first box and stared wide-eyed at the array of brand new shuriken sitting in the silk. The second box held kunai since Sasuke assumed Naruto’s knives couldn’t be any better than his stars.
“Sakura, let me see yours,” Sasuke demanded.
He doubted hers were anywhere near as bad as Naruto’s. She quickly handed them over and Sasuke eyed them. They were decent quality, not the lowest but not the highest. Perfectly fine for genin.
“You need to sharpen them,” Sasuke said.
She nodded quickly and set to work when Sasuke offered her his sharpening stone. Naruto was simply staring at the boxes of weapons.
“I-I can’t pay you for these,” Naruto finally mumbled,
Sasuke snorted and Naruto’s head whipped up, a sort of mulish look on his face as he glared at Sasuke.
“They’re a gift moron,” Sasuke said shortly.
Naruto’s mulish look vanished and he reached out to hesitantly touch the blades.
“I don’t have a gift for you though,” he muttered.
“That’s not the point of gifts,” Sasuke frowned, quite sure he was correct at least, “Use them. It’ll benefit the team.”
It seemed ‘Team’ was the key word as Naruto relaxed just the slightest, as if some questions had been answered.
“Thanks bastard,” Naruto said, but it was a tad more subdued.
The smile tugging at his lips was happy though, if a tad overwhelmed. Sasuke watched with sharp eyes as Naruto put his new weapons in his pouches, setting the old ones aside to be recycled.
“Try them out,” Sasuke urged.
And so Naruto returned to practice, a sort of stunned look on his face when the blades sunk into the wood with an ease he had never had. His beaming face when he realized he wasn’t actually hopeless at using kunai and shuriken, had simply been dealing with shitty equipment, made something in Sasuke flutter.
.--.
“Sakura,” Sasuke said shortly, holding out a box.
Sakura blinked at him and then accepted with a sort of hesitant but eager look. She took the box and opened it carefully. Inside was a set of hair pins. Similar to the glass flower ones these were long pins decorated at one end with small fabric flowers in pink and purple and red.
“They are meant for combat,” Sasuke said.
Sakura stared at him wide eyed.
“Your Taijutsu isn’t as good as mine,” Sasuke said bluntly, “My aunt tipped them in poison before putting them in her hair. And then you don’t need to be good, you just need one hit.”
She looked down at them again.
“They aren’t poisoned now,” Sasuke said as she stood staring still.
Sakura gently took them from the box and tucked them in her hair. The purple covered bun was starting to be edged by flowers now, all pretty and delicate, and most importantly deadly if need be.
“Thank you,” Sakura flushed.
Sasuke gave a sharp nod and if his eyes darted to the soft moving flowers every once in a while, it was to make sure they stayed in place, not any sense of appreciation.
.--.
The next gift Sasuke gave the pair came a week later. Naruto’s ninja sandals had been sliced accidentally in a training spar and the one came unraveled.
“Dammit,” Naruto whined looking at the cut straps, “I’ll have to use my old pair now.”
“Just get new ones,” Sakura said.
Naruto looked away, back at his sandals and sighed.
“…Don’t have the money,” Naruto mumbled.
Sasuke frowned and Sakura looked unsure, a tad embarrassed for forgetting Naruto was an orphan and had no one to provide for him. Naruto used a strip of bandage to tie the sandal on for the remainder of the day as they finished their spar and Kakashi arrived, setting them on a D-rank to weed a garden.
That night Sasuke returned home and dug through various houses until he had a few sets of sandals. When he met with team seven the next day Naruto was indeed wearing an older scuffed pair of sandals, looking a size to small.
“Here,” Sasuke said shoving a few pairs forward, “See which ones fit.”
And Naruto, surprised but a little more used to Sasuke’s gift giving now, simply tried them on until he found a pair of dark combat sandals that rose almost all the way to his knee. They were built well, like armor and would deflect even a kunai. Naruto jumped up and down in them and did some kicks and in the end he beamed at Sasuke. Sasuke simply nodded. Then he turned to Sakura who even shot Naruto’s shoes an appreciative look.
“Here,” Sasuke said, shoving the second pile at her.
“Mine are fine,” Sakura said.
“Always good to have extra,” Sasuke said.
So Sakura went through the pile and found all three sets fit her well from the low heeled sandals to the ones similar to Naruto’s.
“Keep them all,” Sasuke said when Sakura tried to pick, “Naruto, keep the larger pairs for when you grow.”
And his team gave him grateful looks, recognizing the high quality and how much said sandals were worth. Sasuke felt a smile tug at his lips looking at how his team was wearing almost complete outfits from him. Perhaps he should look into pants next. Naruto’s orange ones clashed terribly with the Uchiha coat and dark sandals. And Sakura needed more protection than spandex shorts offered.
.--.
The thing is, in Sasuke’s mind, the gifts have been a way of communicating. They’re a way of saying I’m providing, I’m helping, I’m accepting. He even thinks the other two may have picked on this. Sasuke had said more in the past weeks than he has said in years, and the gifts have helped him, they’re given him something to say, something relevant to talk about and it’s so much easier than floundering his way through a conversation.
In Sasuke’s mind, the gifts have also been easy, effortless. They’re simply things that belonged to his family, which now belong to him. So he is simply giving them things he’ll never use. To Naruto they’ve made a world of difference. Other than ramen and Iruka’s headband, Naruto had never really received gifts. Oh he got a few things every year from the old man, but mostly they were little things like his goggles. They’ve never really been anything he needed. Nothing like the kunai and the sandals and the coat that Sasuke specifically grabbed for him.
Naruto who thought Sasuke was an arrogant bastard is seeing a side of Sasuke that says he cares. That he cares about Naruto and how Naruto does, that he cares about the team. And to Naruto that is recognition which is all he craves.
That they come from Sasuke’s dead family, that he is personally giving him something with so many memories is better than any randomly bought gift. After the second gift Naruto realizes he actually likes the bastard, is actually thankful. Realizes he’s happy on Team Seven in a way he had never known possible. Small gifts which others might have simply said thank you for, have changed Naruto’s whole outlook on his team.
For Sakura, more used to gifts from loving parents, they are still important. Because they’re from Sasuke, the boy she’s been crushing on for years. But before, when Sasuke had seem unattainable and untouchable never talking with any girls or even barely looking at them, now he is suddenly right in front of her. Her crush had been built around this dark mysterious boy who she really knew nothing about besides what he showed on the surface. And then he had given her a gift that was practical but also beautiful. Perhaps she was seeing too much into it but it was thoughtful. Sakura had considered Sasuke like every fairy tale prince who would rescue her and sweep her off her feet and she would be the perfect wife. She had never considered him as a 3D person who could even think about something as simple as a hair pin to go with the practical hair wrap. That he gave it to her, effortlessly, despite its value in both money and heirloom, was shocking.
Sakura had no illusions he loved her. She had no illusions that they were gifts made out of love because he had suddenly opened his eyes and fell for her. No, she knew they were gifts to a comrade, to a teammate, to a friend. Because they had to be friends if he was giving her such valuable things. And… and Sakura still loved him, still had a crush on him, but this… Sakura had never had a friend outside of Ino and that friendship had crashed when they both fell for Sasuke. But now Sasuke is her friend who gives gifts and keeps an eye on her when they’re on missions and who spots a problem in Naruto’s gear without a single word. It’s… its nice. Sakura’s crush is pushed down because she feels like it would be rude to mistake his gifts, to ruin whatever effort he’s putting into this new friendship. Oh she still loves him, but she can act civil, she can act like a friend first. Besides, her mother always say to marry her best friend.
And so Sasuke, who has hoped his gifts are showing he’s willing to cooperate, doesn’t really realize he’s cemented two very deep friendships.
.--.
He does find them pants in the end. He goes through his uncle’s house and to Naruto he gives dark slim pants to tuck under his knee high armored sandals. For Sakura he finds a similar pair of pants meant for a woman. They’re both black and have wire mesh sewn into them making them a bit armored as well.
Both accept these gifts with no excuses, just beaming at him as they pull them on.
Naruto looks…more professional in dark pants, knee high armored sandals, and the dark grey loose coat done up with uchiwa fan buttons and dark stripes on the sleeves. Sakura looks like a real Konoichi in her short dark kimono with hibiscus flowers and her dark pants and her deadly hair ornaments. Both of them had of course strapped pouches to their thighs for weapons and Sakura has taken to wearing bandages around her torso under the kimono, just visible at the V of her neck. Naruto hasn’t once protested the lack of orange and with Sakura’s generous help they have sewed the red Uzumaki spiral on the back of the coat. Neither asked Naruto what his ties were to the famous sigil that decorates most Konoha-nin clothes, they simply respect it.
“Good,” is all Sasuke says, sharply, when the two peer at him for approval.
Sasuke has changed into dark pants bandaged at the ankle as well after a rather dirty weeding day half destroyed his white shorts and now they all match to a degree.
.--.
All of the gifts so far have been from his family home, pulled from unused closets and trunks with only minimal effort. The first time Sasuke buys them something else it’s dinner.
They’ve been a team for over a month at this point and have fallen into an easy comradeship. Sasuke is eased by the fact that Sakura and Naruto have calmed and quieted slightly and are both more casually friendly with him. Both seem to recognize him as the team leader as well, looking to him when orders or planning are required, and something in Sasuke settles and calms, no longer itching to challenge or fight for anything like recognition.
So Sasuke lets himself be dragged for a team dinner, the first time they hang out outside of team assignments. The dinner is…acceptable. They seem to respect the fact Sasuke is a silent kid and so while they talk with him, they do not expect long answers, are not disappointed when he barely contributes. They merely smile at him and carry one.
When he pays for the entire dinner they give faint protests, saying they can pay for themselves but Sasuke gives them a blank look and they quiet.
By the time they’ve had their forth meal as a team the two stop complaining just give him soft fond looks. Sasuke, who has not smiled happily in years, finds himself fighting the urge to smile back.
.--.
Sakura had run off a tad early from training saying she had to help her father with something so it was only Naruto and Sasuke as the sun dipped low. Sasuke brushed some dirt off his pants, nodded to Naruto who did the same and turned to leave. But fingers wrapping in his shirt stopped him. He turned, raising a brow at Naruto who looked at his feet, sandals scuffing in the dirt as he avoided eye contact.
“Sasuke,” Naruto muttered, “I…Can I borrow some money?”
Sasuke blinked at him.
“I mean, I’ll pay you back!” Naruto said meeting his gaze finally, flushed, “I’m just low on money and my water bill is due. Prices went up.”
Sasuke frowned, brow furrowing.
“I…never mind,” Naruto said quickly, looking away again.
“No,” Sasuke said, when Naruto went to run off, “I can lend you money. But why did prices go up?”
“Landlord said water is more expensive,” Naruto said quickly.
“…Water doesn’t just become more expensive,” Sasuke narrowed his gaze, “Why are you paying your landlord and not the company?”
“He handles all that stuff for me! It’s easier.”
Sasuke still thought that sounded odd.
“I will lend you the money,” Sasuke said easily seeing the way Naruto was fidgeting, embarrassed, “How much do you need?”
Naruto’s relieved expression as Sasuke pulled his wallet out was a soft desperate thing.
“I’ll pay you back as soon as we get paid,” Naruto said taking the cash.
Then the boy actually bowed to him. Sasuke had never seen him bow to anyone.
“Don’t worry about it,” Sasuke cleared his throat, “I trust you.”
The resulting smile those words evoked was blinding. Sasuke watched him run off and then turned, heading not for the Uchiha compound, but towards Kakashi’s apartment. Sasuke wasn’t one to talk to adults often nor ask for anything. But if he perhaps mentioned there was something suspicious about Naruto’s landlord, Kakashi would go look into it.
.--.
“I need a favour,” Sasuke said slowly.
He was unsure if he wanted help with this, but knew he needed it. He was also unsure if this was something he could ask his teammates to help with. It seemed…too personal.
“What do you need us to do?” Naruto asked, with no hesitation.
“I…” Sasuke took a deep breath, “I need help going through the Uchiha compound.”
“Cleaning?” Sakura asked.
“Packing,” Sasuke corrected.
“Do you have boxes?”
“No.”
Sakura gave a decisive nod.
“Naruto,” she said, tone bossy, “Go look for boxes. You’ll find some stacked beside the dumpsters in the shopping district. Also check sake shops, as they receive everything in boxes but don’t keep them. Check the alley ways.”
Naruto split into ten clones who leapt off in varying directions.
“Do we need anything else?” Sakura asked him, “You sure you don’t want Naruto to make a bunch of clones to clean up?”
Sasuke hesitated and she nodded again, leading him off towards a department store to grab leaning supplies. Half an hour later, with arms laden down, they met Naruto at the gates of the Uchiha compound.
“Didn’t know where you wanted me,” Naruto said sheepishly as Sakura gave him a look for loitering about.
Sasuke took another deep breath and silently led the two through the gates of the compound. Sakura and Naruto fell silent beside him. When they made it to his house he toed his shoes off, arms still full of buckets and rags and sprays.
“Please come in,” he murmured.
His house was …clean for lack of other words. He had made sure of it. The two followed him down the hall to the living room where he stacked the cleaning supplies near the hall. Sasuke turned to look at the other two and his breath caught in his throat.
Sakura and Naruto had moved to the corner. He watched as they both carefully went to their knees and put their hands together. Sasuke felt frozen as his two teammates prayed at the small shrine set up in the corner for his mother and father.
For a long moment silence reigned in the room. When eth two straightened they gave Sasuke’s solemn dips of their heads and Sasuke swallowed with difficulty. No one had…well Sasuke hadn’t let anyone in here… but Sasuke had gotten a few words about how the Uchiha would be missed of course, but no one had ever done something as…intimate as actually pray for his parents and family instead of giving him meaningless words.
“Where do you want my clones to bring the boxes?” Naruto asked, breaking the tension.
“Stack them in the halls,” Sasuke shrugged awkwardly.
“Do you have a map of the compound?” Sakura asked, “We should make a game plan.”
So Sasuke pulled out the blueprints of the layouts he had dug up for the lawyers, pushing all other thoughts to the side.
“Okay,” Sakura said rolling it out on the coffee table, “What do we need to do exactly.”
“We need to empty every house,” Sasuke said, “I plan to get rid of a good amount of stuff, but some will need to be stored.”
“Do you want to do this house by house?” Sakura asked.
“…No. Let’s do it by item,” Sasuke finally decided.
House by house would be neater and maybe quicker, but if he could get Naruto’s clones to sweep every place for say clothing and sort all of that first it would be easier on him. If everyone’s clothes got mixed together so he wasn’t overwhelmed with one families items at once, left to seep in memories. Plus, then he could keep track of how much he was keeping instead of trying to work off memory.
“Naruto,” Sakura called into the hallway where the real blond was directing the clones that had started to pour in with boxes and bags and baskets, “Come here.”
And Naruto came with no complaint.
“This is the whole compound,” Sakura said pointing to the map, “We aren’t doing this by house, we’re going to do it by items. Can you create two clones a house and send them sweeping through the houses?”
“Sure. What should we start with?” Naruto asked.
“Kitchen supplies,” Sasuke said as they both looked at him.
Kitchen stuff was easy. It had no distinguishing marks and would pull up no memories.
“On it!” Naruto nodded and stepped outside to send a wave of clones outwards.
Sakura started to clear the living room, pushing furniture against the wall with Sasuke’s help.
“Put it against the wall,” Sakura said as clones started to return with armfuls and basketfuls of stuff, “Keep the left side clear.”
And soon they had a growing mountain of plates, pots, pans, dishes, and everything you could need. Sasuke felt a tad overwhelmed looking at the growing pile. When the compound had had its initial clean after the massacre, the Hokage sending people in to scrub blood away, they had been nice enough to get rid of food and anything similar that would go bad. But everything else had been left respectfully where it was.
It should have been Sasuke’s job a long time ago to go through each place and do this. But Sasuke hadn’t…..he hadn’t been strong enough. He still wasn’t, but he had help now.
“Let’s start sorting,” Sakura said, “Do you want to keep anything in particular?”
“I…a few sets of dishes,” he decided, “And maybe a few cooking supplies.”
So Sakura fetched some boxes and Sasuke picked out the few things he wanted stored away. They would be useful if his family ever grew.
“You guys can take whatever you want,” Sasuke muttered as Sakura oohed and awed over a pretty purple ceramic set.
“No, it’s yours,” Sakura flushed, setting the dish down.
“Everything I don’t store is getting donated,” he reminded her, “Take it.”
Naruto was less hesitant, giving a cheer.
“Finally! Cups without cracks!” Naruto said cheerfully, picking out a random assortment of said cups.
“Do you have a pen?” Sakura asked.
Sasuke found her a pen and watched as she labelled two boxes with her and Naruto’s names, tucking them just in the kitchen out of the way. He nodded approvingly when they tucked a few things in them each.
Naruto and two clones started to help box everything else up. He tried to use more clones but with all the stuff plus them, the living room was rapidly losing space.
“Tuck these in the house next door,” Sakura commanded, sending clones out with full boxes of stuff to be donated, “We’ll figure out where to take it later.”
“What next boss?” Naruto, or a clone, asked.
“Books,” Sasuke said.
And so they started in on books. While clan secrets and any actual techniques were already sealed away for protection, and had been even when the clan was alive, his clan had been decently avid readers. Especially considering their ability to memorize and many had taken the time to brush up on many different areas of knowledge.
“Sasuke, may I borrow some of these?” Sakura asked politely.
Sasuke gave her a look. She blushed but gave him a smile and put it in her box. Sasuke considered what they should do next.
“Weapons,” Sasuke told Naruto.
Naruto grinned and soon they had an array of pointy objects all set down carefully. There weren’t as many as one would think of a ninja family. Uchiha had never dealt with weapons very often and many had carried their kunai and shuriken on them, not keeping large stashes. Though they weren’t as nice as the initial set Sasuke had given Naruto, Sasuke made sure his teammates were on their way to having an excess of stars and knives before packing up the weapons to be stored. No use donating those when he would need them one day.
Shoes came next, mainly ninja sandals and a mix of civilian boots. Most of these went into the donation pile, though they each kept a few pairs a few sizes too big for when they all started to grow.
“Can you clean out any old medicine, sprays, soap, rags, and the like,” Sasuke said, “Things that can’t be donated.”
So Naruto started some trash bags. Next Sasuke had him go through and pick up random items like pens and envelopes and matches and anything that couldn’t be categorized easily. It was like a junk drawer had exploded across Sasuke’s living room.
Sasuke and Sakura spent a good deal of time picking out things that could be useful later like matches and candles and a few calligraphy sets while also tossing used pencils and erasers and the like.
So they did. Naruto eagerly accepted a futon and set of towels that Sasuke pushed on him. They were a tad musty, but part of the cleaning every year was airing such things out so they weren’t terrible.
“Take one,” Sasuke urged Sakura when she said she had no need for a futon, “One day you will move out of your parent’s home.”
So Sakura picked out a futon, a set of linens, and a set of towels.
“Anything left, besides clothing,” Sasuke told the two next, “Leave any large furniture as well.”
And so they went through the last few things, picking over decorative vases and paintings and baskets and anything else Naruto found. Then came the jewelry, all of which went in a chest and was tucked away to be stored.
Sasuke took a deep breath after and asked for the clothes to be next. Sasuke watched as Narutos brought armfuls of clothing draping it over the couch and table and anything except the floor. Sasuke focused on breathing and when Sakura started folding Sasuke said nothing.
Then Sakura got a hold of a stitch riper and painstakingly taught a couple clones how to gently rip out all the uchiwa fans on the clothing. It was too painful to watch but Sasuke was glad that no one else would wear the symbol except for Sasuke and his team now.
When it came time to actually decide what he wanted, Sasuke kept the bare minimum. He kept a few family kimono and yukata, tucking them away for some day. For himself he kept a few standard outfits of dark pants and dark shirts, nothing defining.
“Here,” Sasuke told Sakura when he ran across a beautiful dark red haroi.
He draped it over her shoulder and it offset her kimono nicely. It also had not been reached by Naruto’s rather quick fingers and the uchiha fan still sat on the back.
“Thank you,” she smiled at him accepting it easily.
Sasuke ended up giving Naruto another coat and set of pants as well as a thick travelling cloak. Sakura got an extra kimono and another hair wrap.
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NOTES
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The idea was that Sasuke who was both an emotional obsessed boy, was not truly obsessed with items or things. So he gives some to his team, sometimes out of indignation at their own supplies. But this act shows Naruto Sasuke might not be an arrogant little bitch (or not as much as one) and does a lot towards making Sakura see him as a real boy and not a fairytale. It doesn’t make Sasuke any nicer or politer or even all that much friendlier but it does change their perspective. And I always so Sasuke as under-socialized and traumatized, much like Naruto. He’s not really sure what to do half the time but since the gifts are taken so well he continues on that thread. He’d been a part of a large clan as the Head family and he knew his duty was to care for his clan, his people and so he adopts his team as that concept.
Plus, I always wondered how he’d dealt with all the Uchiha stuff he inherited. It seemed likely it had been left alone while he was a kid and still in the throes of grief.
The goal of this story was to get a tight-knit Team Seven who got used to looking to Sasuke of leadership, with Kakashi kind of smiling amused from the sides before Sasuke started eying him up and asking his measurements (which made Kakashi deflect and disappear). I think Sasuke would be a good Team lead (he did well in Sound and with Team hawk). It would also have been a sort of feel good story with Team bonding and Sasuke showering his team with gifts – with a bit of a more romantic ending of Sakura/Sasuke/Naruto. AKA Sugar Daddy Sasuke.