{"id":126,"date":"2019-06-01T09:59:03","date_gmt":"2019-06-01T09:59:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cloverso.me\/fic\/?p=126"},"modified":"2023-06-22T18:29:29","modified_gmt":"2023-06-22T10:29:29","slug":"like-sweat-dripping-down-our-dirty-laundry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cloverso.me\/fic\/126\/","title":{"rendered":"like sweat dripping down our dirty laundry"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n

Sasuke sighed. It was the third time this week he had stepped on Naruto\u2019s dirty laundry and it was only Wednesday. He wondered what he had done to deserve such a messy roommate.<\/p>\n

\u201cNaruto! Stop leaving your dirty laundry everywhere,\u201d he said before kicking a pair of Naruto\u2019s jeans away. Naruto\u2019s door opened.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, that\u2019s not nice,\u201d Naruto said, watching Sasuke kick his jeans. \u201cWhat did my jeans ever do to you, huh?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey contaminated my lounge room, that\u2019s what.\u201d<\/p>\n

Naruto rolled his eyes and grabbed the jeans from the floor before Sasuke could kick them again. \u201cYou\u2019re such a drama queen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd you\u2019re a slob.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHey! I\u2019m not that messy,\u201d Naruto said as he threw his jeans into his room. Sasuke had no idea where they landed, but knowing Naruto it was probably on top of a mountain of clothes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen explain the kitchen,\u201d Sasuke said and gestured to said area. It was a mess \u2014 as if a bomb had gone off. There were dirty dishes piled in the sink and on the bench, food crumbs all over the floor, empty wrappers everywhere, and leftovers left out. \u201cI didn\u2019t even know this level of mess was possible. But, as usual, you proved me wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck. \u201cHeh, yeah, sorry. I meant to clean it up last night but got a bit sidetracked by an assignment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sasuke understood all too well, but he wasn\u2019t going to give Naruto that much leeway. \u201cI\u2019m heading to work. It better be sparkling clean when I get home this evening. Or else,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAye aye, captain!\u201d<\/p>\n

Sasuke just raised an eyebrow. \u201cIdiot,\u201d he muttered as he picked up his bag and left the apartment.<\/p>\n

Work was, well, work. He worked part-time at a music shop that claimed to be vintage. Sasuke didn\u2019t hate it, but he did have a slightly low tolerance threshold for his co-workers. Most days he could tune them out by wearing headphones \u2014 the only job he would be able to do that in \u2014 but today was not one of those days.<\/p>\n

Lee, an overly enthusiastic fitness fanatic who Sasuke worked with, was doing a dramatic reenactment of an Ed Sheeran song to impress Sakura, their other colleague. But Lee had yet to be successful with actually woo\u2019ing her; if anything it seemed to have the opposite effect.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow\u2019s uni going?\u201d Kakashi, his silver-haired boss, asked. His boss was always reading erotica in public, including right at that very moment. But apart from that he was a pretty chilled out guy who pretty much let Sasuke do whatever he wanted.<\/p>\n

Sasuke put away the last disc in its case and stacked it upon the rest. \u201cIt\u2019s going well,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cGlad to hear. Oh, before I forget. Your brother called the shop just before you arrived.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sasuke jerked his head up to meet Kakashi\u2019s gaze. That was over an hour ago. \u201cWhat for?\u201d He checked his own phone, but there were no missed calls or messages.<\/p>\n

Kakashi stroked his chin. \u201cThink he said something about coming over for dinner at seven.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sasuke frowned. Why would Itachi not contact his number directly? Or maybe he tried but Sasuke was out of service \u2014 the train to work was notorious for losing signal. In any case, he needed to figure out what Itachi was up to. He closed out of his messages and noticed a new email notification. He tapped onto it.<\/p>\n

Sasuke,<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019m in town this week and would like to catch up. I will see you at your place this evening at 7:00.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Regards,<\/em><\/p>\n

Itachi<\/em><\/p>\n

Sasuke cursed to himself. There was no point trying to negotiate with Itachi; if Itachi said he was going to come over, then that would happen whether Sasuke liked it or not.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not that Sasuke didn\u2019t like his brother \u2014 no, on the contrary he had a good relationship with his brother. It was just that\u2026 he could be a bit overbearing sometimes. When he wasn\u2019t trying to recruit Sasuke to the family business he would, although well-intentioned, insist Sasuke do things his way because they were more \u2018efficient\u2019. But Sasuke liked to do things his own way and he especially did not like being told what to do.<\/p>\n

Seeing Itachi at his place wasn\u2019t the problem, though. Naruto\u2019s mess was. The image of the filthy kitchen flashed in his mind. He couldn\u2019t let Itachi see his place like that. He\u2019d never hear the end of it.<\/p>\n

Sasuke apologised to Kakashi and excused himself to go outside. He scrolled through his list of contacts until he landed on one titled \u2018Moron\u2019 and pressed call.<\/p>\n

There was no answer though, just a voicemail message. Sasuke rolled his eyes. Typical. He needed Naruto to once in his life pick up. He tried again. Still no answer. He took a deep breath before trying a third time. It was picked up after the second ring.<\/p>\n

\u201cSasuke?\u201d came Naruto\u2019s voice.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou really should pick up your phone when it rings,\u201d Sasuke said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did! I got out of the shower just to answer your call. You should feel privileged.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sasuke rolled his eyes. \u201cYou thought it was your UBER Eats driver, didn\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n

There was silence and then \u201c… No, of course not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sasuke sighed. \u201cTell me. Have you cleaned the kitchen yet?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot yet. Getting to it, though!\u201d<\/p>\n

Sasuke\u2019s patience was wearing thin. \u201cWell you better get onto it, Naruto! My brother is coming over. The last thing I need is to be lectured by him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHmm. That would be fun to watch, though.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNaruto\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Laughter echoed through the phone. \u201cI\u2019m just winding you up. You need to lighten up, Sasuke. It\u2019ll be clean for Itachi. Don\u2019t stress.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt better be,\u201d Sasuke said and hung up. He threw his head back and looked up to the sky. It was a warm winter\u2019s day. It felt almost a shame to waste it in a basement-turned-music-shop. But the CDs weren\u2019t going to arrange themselves, plus he hadn\u2019t even started on the online orders yet. With much reluctance, he re-entered the store. He just really hoped Naruto would clean up his mess.<\/p>\n

Sasuke finished his shift at six. It would take him forty minutes to get home, meaning he would only have twenty minutes to make sure everything was presentable, that included Naruto. Itachi usually brought food to make dinner, so Sasuke wasn\u2019t worried about that.<\/p>\n

As he waited on the platform for his train \u2014 five minutes it said, he received a Snapchat notification from Naruto. It was a selfie featuring Naruto holding up the peace sign with his fingers, only he had one of those stupid animal filters on. Yeah, Sasuke could acknowledge he looked cute, but he was more concerned about what was in the background.<\/p>\n

Mess. A whole lot of it, judging by the looks of it. It was like the contents of the bins had been dispersed everywhere. What was Naruto doing? Sasuke inhaled and exhaled. It was fine. Everything would be fine. He would get home in time to clear up his incompetent roommate\u2019s mess.<\/p>\n

\u201cPassengers on platform one, we are sorry to report that services may be delayed,\u201d the announcer said. Sasuke wanted to bang his head against a wall. Just when he thought things couldn\u2019t get anymore stressful.<\/p>\n

He composed a text message to Itachi:<\/p>\n

Train services are delayed. Can you come at a later time?<\/em><\/p>\n

Whether Itachi would even read it was another matter entirely. The man had a penchant for leaving messages from him unread. Sasuke often hoped it was unintentional, but it probably wasn\u2019t. When it came to Itachi every little action, or lack of, was calculated.<\/p>\n

Sasuke composed a new message, this time to Naruto:<\/p>\n

Clean your mess up or I\u2019m kicking you out. I mean it this time.<\/em><\/p>\n

He got a response almost immediately:<\/p>\n

No you won\u2019t. You love me too much. But stress less, for there is no mess! See what I did there? :eyes_emoji:<\/em><\/p>\n

As much as he hated to admit it, there was truth in Naruto\u2019s response \u2014 the first part anyway. Why did he put up with such a slob of a roommate? Because he was his best friend. Simple. Naruto\u2019s good qualities far outweighed his not so good qualities. He\u2019d helped Sasuke through some dark times and supported him even while he was fighting his own battles. Sasuke was grateful, but it wasn’t the right time to admit that to Naruto.<\/p>\n

Instead, Sasuke typed out a quick reply:<\/p>\n

Loser.<\/em><\/p>\n

Fortunately the train was only delayed by five minutes. Unfortunately, it meant that it was more packed than usual. Sasuke stood by the door, cursing whoever it was that had the nasty body odour. When it finally reached his stop he\u2019d never been so relieved to be in the fresh air, away from the sea of bodies. He checked the time on his phone. It was twenty to seven; home was just a ten minute walk away. Of course Sasuke ran it instead.<\/p>\n

He made it in half the time and burst through the door with more force than necessary. But he was not ready for what awaited him. The house was so far spotless and definitely sparkling clean like Sasuke had requested. \u201cNaruto?\u201d he called out.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough here,\u201d came Naruto\u2019s voice.<\/p>\n

Sasuke followed his voice around the corner, passing the tidy space that actually resembled a kitchen now, only to see Itachi and Naruto sitting on the carpet next to each other, with Playstation 4 controllers in their hands.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh. Hello,\u201d Sasuke said cautiously. Naruto and Itachi together was never a good sign. Last time he\u2019d left them alone they had turned photos of him into stupid memes. Sasuke was just grateful none of them had gone viral online.<\/p>\n

\u201cSasuke,\u201d Itachi said, smiling his way. He placed the Playstation 4 controller down and walked past Sasuke into the kitchen, giving Sasuke\u2019s shoulder a squeeze as he did. \u201cNaruto and I made dinner.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sasuke was taken aback. \u201cHuh?\u201d<\/p>\n

Naruto stood and smacked Sasuke\u2019s butt as he passed him. \u201cWe made you dinner, butthead.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the name. \u201cReally? Butthead?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYep. Go sit,\u201d Naruto said while he helped Itachi serve the food.<\/p>\n

Sasuke took a seat at their little round dining table as Itachi and Naruto brought the bowls over. It smelled good. Too good to be true. But when his bowl was put in front of him he couldn\u2019t spot anything off. It just looked like spaghetti bolognese.<\/p>\n

\u201cBon appetit!\u201d Naruto said, with the worst French accent.<\/p>\n

\u2014<\/p>\n

After Itachi left, Sasuke joined Naruto on the couch. The evening had been a success; Itachi had only attempted to recruit him to the family business once. Usually he was more persistent. Naruto had surprised him, maybe even impressed him, but he didn\u2019t want that going to his head.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re still an idiot,\u201d he said to Naruto instead. He\u2019d be a whole lot more impressed if Naruto could maintain the cleanliness.<\/p>\n

Naruto just laughed. \u201cI told you to lighten up! You get so cranky when you stress. You gotta have more faith in me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I know,\u201d Sasuke said and dropped his head onto Naruto\u2019s shoulder. They had a slow tempo playlist playing in the background. Naruto drummed his fingers along Sasuke\u2019s thigh in time with the music. Sasuke enjoyed nights like this.<\/p>\n

When the next song came on, Naruto stopped drumming his fingers and patted Sasuke\u2019s leg. \u201cAm I still a slob then?\u201d<\/p>\n

Sasuke didn\u2019t hesitate to answer. \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Naruto grinned and pulled Sasuke in for a noogie. Sasuke tried to pull away, but Naruto had a strong hold on him. Sasuke would get him back. He always did. In fact, he was already thinking of swapping the sugar out for salt.<\/p>\n

Living with Naruto may have been slightly stressful at times, but Sasuke wouldn\u2019t have it any other way.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Having Naruto as a roommate could be challenging, especially when Itachi planned to visit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[18,16],"fandom":[20],"rating":[3],"ship":[26],"class_list":["post-126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gen","tag-modern-au","tag-pre-slash","fandom-naruto","rating-teen","ship-uchiha-sasuke-uzumaki-naruto","wpautop"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cloverso.me\/fic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cloverso.me\/fic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cloverso.me\/fic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cloverso.me\/fic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cloverso.me\/fic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/cloverso.me\/fic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":147,"href":"https:\/\/cloverso.me\/fic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126\/revisions\/147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cloverso.me\/fic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cloverso.me\/fic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cloverso.me\/fic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126"},{"taxonomy":"fandom","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cloverso.me\/fic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/fandom?post=126"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cloverso.me\/fic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=126"},{"taxonomy":"ship","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cloverso.me\/fic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ship?post=126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}