Chapter Text
The sound of two snoring boys filled the classroom. Usually, only one student was sleeping, but when two pieces of chalk went flying in the room, striking the boys on their heads, it was met with a groggy, if not annoyed, boy. Shikamaru slowly sat up and held his head, grumbling to himself.
The other sleeping companion was a spiky-haired blonde who didn’t even react to the piece of chalk hitting the crown on his head. Sitting beside Naruto was Sakura, who looked even more annoyed than usual. Naruto wasn’t snoring so much as breathing evenly and seemed unfazed. Sasuke was also annoyed but he always held an expression of annoyance — it covered up his true concerns about the blonde.
Iruka annoyed that Naruto wasn’t waking up, stomped over. “Wake up!” He moved to hit the boy with the back of his thin, but hardback, notebook that contained his lesson plan for the day, but as he did that, Naruto’s eyes snapped open and he grabbed Iruka’s wrist out of sheer reflection. Iruka was stunned as he saw the boy give him such a cold glare, but it quickly turned to panic and a nervous laugh from the blonde. “Sorry ‘bout that Iruka-sensei! I was training late last night and didn’t get much sleep.”
Iruka pulled back and swiped the piece of chalk that was on the desk. “Just stay awake! You’re not going to pass the Graduation Exam if you sleep through my class!” He said as he had some sympathy for the blonde. He knew of Naruto’s situation but it still didn’t excuse him fully for his lack of attention and what he was calling “laziness” in front of the other students.
Naruto grumbled something incoherently and was about to lay his head down again but Iruka saw and struck him in the back of his head. “That’s it! Because you can’t seem to stay awake Naruto, we’re all going over the clone jutsu!”
Every student groaned audibly and began swearing to themselves and cursing Naruto for falling asleep and punishing them for his mistake.
Naruto went to stand up but was shoved down, “move it!” Sakura said rudely as she scooted behind to join the others. Sasuke watched with trained eyes as he saw Naruto try to stand up again and then slowly walk down the stairs to the front of the class.
Sasuke walked behind Naruto and was on alert in case Naruto missed a step or fell asleep while walking.
They quickly joined the group and Iruka began his rant, “because I had two sleeping kids, they will go first. Shikamaru, show us the clone jutsu.”
Shikamaru yawned, “man this is such a drag,” he spoke with discontent as he walked up, and with a quick hand gesture he spoke, “Bunshin no Jutsu.” A poof of smoke and suddenly there were three Shikamarus in total.
“Good job. You were able to produce two clones,” Iruka wrote down in his notebook. “Next. Naruto,” he said.
Naruto yawned and stepped up. It was obvious the blonde was exhausted, with dark circles under his eyes and the half-lidded expression he seemed to carry. The boy stretched his arms before clapping his hands together to shake himself awake. He made the same hand gesture as Shikamaru and shouted, “Bunshin no Jutsu!”
There was barely a puff of smoke and a small and pathetic-looking clone appeared next to Naruto. Iruka gave Naruto an annoyed and frustrated expression as everyone, except for Sasuke, laughed in class.
The clone vanished quickly and Naruto swayed as he stood. His eyes rolled back and just before he could hit the ground, he caught himself and blinked his eyes rapidly, trying to stay awake.
Now Iruka was concerned. “Naruto, do I need to send you to the nurse’s office?” He asked.
The boy shook his head, “nah I’m okay. I’m sorry for falling asleep,” he said.
“Okay then go stand out in the hall for sleeping!” He said and then turned to Shikamaru, “you too as well Shikamaru.”
The boy rolled his eyes and followed after Naruto.
The how boys went around the door and leaned against the wall. “This sucks.”
Naruto’s head bobbed up and down as he tried to stay awake. Shikamaru noticed and asked, “so how’s ‘training’ been for you?” In this case, training meant something else entirely. Something Naruto didn’t want to talk openly about.
Naruto, in his exhausted mindset, didn’t get the hint. “Training? What are you…?” He asked as his head lowered and his head began snoring a bit loudly. Shikamaru rolled his eyes and scoffed, but he couldn’t imagine being in Naruto’s shoes at the moment. The boy caught his friend as he began sliding down the wall and let the blonde rest his head on his shoulder.
The dark-haired boy just let his friend rest for the day…
…or at least until Iruka-sensei came to check on them and they were scolded for sitting down and sleeping once more.
Naruto yawned as he walked sluggishly alongside Sasuke. The two were on their way to pick up Ai from daycare, but as they got closer, Naruto made sure to hide in an alleyway to stay out of sight.
“Naruto, this is ridiculous, just walk with me,” Sasuke said as he hated when Naruto did this whenever they walked together.
Naruto began waving him off, “just hurry up! I wanna get home soon!”
Sasuke sighed, “you know it doesn’t matter at this point if we’re seen together. It’s time to stop being so ridiculous.”
Naruto glared, “you wouldn’t understand. You’re not hated by everyone. I don’t want Ai to be hated because of me but I also—“ he stopped talking and turned sharply, running down the alleyway. Sasuke was about to stop him when he heard his name being called, “HEY SASUKE!”
It was Kiba along with Shikamaru, Ino, Choji and Sakura. “Weird seeing you outside of the academy!” Kiba said and the small puppy in his jacket barked in agreement.
The two girls in the group blushed madly, “Hi Sasuke!” They said in unison before they turned to each other with hateful glares. Sasuke barely gave them a passing glance before Kiba approached him directly, “so we were gonna grab some food. You should come. After all us cool guys should stick together,” Kiba said.
Sasuke stared at Kiba, “I’ll pass.”
Just as Kiba was about to say something, Naruto began running to them with a fake smile, “hey guys!” He shouted as he tried to pretend to be his normal self — but Sasuke always could tell when Naruto was pretending. As Naruto approached, Sakura got annoyed, “ugh. Why is he here?”
“Aww! You don’t want your boyfriend to join us?” Ino teased mockingly before laughing.
Sakura’s cheeks flared with embarrassment as Ino spoke. She turned to her ex-friend and shouted, “AS IF I WOULD EVER LOVE A LOSER LIKE HIM!”
Naruto stopped and his faux smile wavered for just a moment. Sasuke saw that and immediately turned his head to glare at the pink hated girl but before he did anything he would regret, he walked away calmly, putting on his facade of indifference.
Choji and Shikamaru knew better than to get between the girls when they fight, but they sometimes do take it too far.
Naruto walked over to the boys and asked, “did I overhear you guys talk about food? Can I join?”
Kiba laughed and said, “you?! You can barely afford Ichiraku Ramen! I don’t think you can afford Yakiniku Q!”
Naruto pouted a bit but honestly, Kiba was right. He was still paying off cleaning repairs to his old landlord after his birth caused a lot of mess and damage with all of the blood. Naruto had oh realized back then how bad it truly was but now he knew. It was a large chunk of his monthly allowance from the Hokage.
Shikamaru and Choji looked guilty as they were still planning on going. Sakura and Ino didn’t share any form of remorse. They were mad that “Naruto scared away Sasuke.”
“We don’t want you there with us,” Ino said.
“You made Sasuke leave! Stupid Naruto! Why do you always have to be the worse!” She said and the kids began walking away, with Shikamaru and Choji waving him goodbye at the least.
Naruto pouted for a moment and in a moment of anger he shouted back, “WHO WANTS NASTY BARBEQUE WHEN ICHIRAKU RAMEN IS THE BEST RESTAURANT EVER!”
He panted hard, his face turning a deep shade of red, and as he turned away, he felt the tears leak out from his eyes. He just began running to go hide while he stupidly cried. He blamed it on his hormones. His doctor had advised him that he would be hitting puberty and with his pregnancy and postpartum hormones, he would be in an emotional swing from time to time.
Naruto knew Sasuke would pick up Ai, so he wasn’t worried about that. He did worry that maybe something was wrong with him as he ran home.
It was just as he made it home when he saw the spray paint on the front door.
“Die Demon.”
Naruto felt himself panic. He had experienced graffiti at his old apartment, but now he lived with Sasuke and he didn’t want him to see it. Naruto instantly went to work as he unlocked his door, ran inside, and found the closest rag, bucket, and soap he could find. Naruto immediately splashed the soapy-mixed water on the door and saw the paint run. He was relieved and he immediately went to work scrubbing the door. He didn’t know how long he had until Sasuke returned home but he hoped he took a long way home.
The words sprayed on the wall took a long time to scrub clean, each scrubbing motion wearing Naruto’s fingers and hands raw.
When the words were finally off the wall, Naruto looked at his hands and he could swear he saw the words “die demon” and other words hurled his way throughout his life over his entire hands and arms. Naruto looked around in a paranoid daze of fear and he couldn’t take it anymore. He hurried back inside, knocking over the soapy and now dyed red with paint water onto the ground and forming a puddle.
The blonde locked the door behind him, and he sunk to the floor, his back sliding down the door. He hugged his knees and rested his forehead on top of them. He hated this! He hated being hated! He didn’t know why he was always targeted. What made him a demon in the eyes of the villagers?!
He had to calm down. He couldn’t afford to wallow. He knew that. He knew deep in his entire being that if he were to give up now, it would be over for him. Still, he saw the words on his hands and arms and felt the hatred from everyone.
But there was at least one person in the world who wouldn’t hate him…at least he hoped she wouldn’t.
Naruto got himself up and began to walk away from the door. His arms aches and all he wanted to do was collapse in his bed and never wake up.
Though as he did that, he heard the door begin to unlock and the knob wiggle. Naruto held his breath and went to hide, going to his room. He peeked around the door entrance and watched as the door swung open Sasuke was struggling with carrying a load of groceries along with Ai who was being held in her sling.
“I’m home!” Sasuke shouted.
Naruto felt instant relief as he opened the door. “Welcome home,” he smiled at the two and hurried over to help. Sasuke handed Naruto a few plastic bags and closed the door behind him with his foot. “Why is the door wet?”
Naruto froze for a moment but he smiled, “it was a little dirty so I decided to clean it up.”
Sasuke raised an eyebrow, “you cleaned just the door?”
“Ah yeah, but that’s just cause I was about to clean my room next!” Naruto said quickly as he was hurrying to get the bags to the kitchen. Naruto put the bags on the counter and then hurried to go help Sasuke by getting Ai out of her carrier. The five-month-old infant was sleepy and could barely keep her head up. Her eyes were half-lidded and she was almost knocked out until she was taken out of the comfortable sling and began whimpering.
Sasuke glared at Naruto, “she was almost asleep! She didn’t have her usual nap at daycare and now her sleep schedule is out of sorts!”
Naruto looked ashamed and he moved to cradle Ai close to his chest, “shh, shh, I’m sorry Ai-chan. You can go back to sleep!” He said but the girl merely struggled and cried more. Naruto frowned and merely held her, trying to hold back his tears.
Sasuke sighed and said, “go sit down with her. I’ll put the food away and start making dinner,” he sighed.
Naruto nodded and hurried to his room, mostly for privacy but also just to stay out of the way. They had space but their apartment was small so oftentimes Naruto went to his bedroom to give Sasuke space, and vice versa. Naruto laid Ai on his bed, her feet kicking and she turned as she cried. Naruto frowned and wondered how to soothe her. He began by undressing her from her daytime pink overalls and white tee shirt and shoes and went to grab a set of onesies for her. Naruto had his back turned for a few seconds when he heard a soft cough from her. He immediately turned and saw Ai trying to suckle on her toes, holding up her foot and coughing a bit. Naruto rushed over and stopped her, “no Ai! Your toes are not for eating!” He said. He straightened her on the bed and began to dress her. The weepy infant began rubbing her eyes and yawning, but also she was still cranky.
Naruto picked her up and reached for her favorite pacifier on the nightstand by his bed. “Here Ai-chan,” he said as he sat on the bed and held her close. Ai accepted the pacifier and her eyes drifted close, her small hands clinging to Naruto’s jacket. He smiled and held her close, and as she rested in his lap, with his arms still wrapped around her, Naruto's mind flashed back to before…when he was just a kid who thought he was sick but he was holding a positive pregnancy test and was scared shitless.
He blinked, trying to understand why his mind was messing with him lately. He should be fine! He should be over it!
So why couldn’t his mind rest? Why was it reminded him about his pregnancy? And why nearly six months after he gave birth?
Naruto shifted to lay Ai down in her bassinet, and once she was laid down, he covered her with the blanket with the Uchiha fans on it. He sat back on the bed and watched as her chest rose and fell with each breath and the subtle movement of her suckling on the pacifier.
Lately, Naruto found himself watching Ai sleep, especially when he couldn’t sleep at night — at least when it was his turn to have her in his room.
When he was completely alone though…
A soft knock was heard. “Naruto? Can I come in?”
The blonde jumped up and hurried over to the door, opening it to see Sasuke. “What?” Naruto said, not meaning for it to sound rude and it showed on his face soon after saying it.
Sasuke placed a hand on his hip, “I have dinner ready. You want some?”
Naruto shook his head negatively and said, “I’m not hungry.”
Sasuke raised an eyebrow. “Well, I know you didn’t eat lunch. You forgot your bento,” he said which he was slightly annoyed with but missing one meal wasn’t the end of the world. Missing two meals in a row though was making Sasuke concerned. He seemed hungry earlier when he was with those other kids.
Naruto shook his head and said, “guess I don’t have an appetite for much right now.”
Sasuke looked passed him and saw Ai sleeping in her bassinet. He sighed in relief, “okay then. I’ll take Ai and put her in my room since it’s my night with her.”
“No!” Naruto shouted, blocking Sasuke’s way. Sasuke was now taken aback. Naruto realized his mistake and covered his mouth. He looked back to make sure Ai wouldn’t wake up. She was unfazed.
Naruto sighed in relief but now Sasuke was annoyed. “Okay, what is wrong? You’ve been acting weird today. Sleeping in class, not eating, what's going on?” Sasuke asked out of genuine concern.
Naruto frowned and said, “I don’t have to tell you. Besides nothing is wrong. I just didn’t feel well last night. I’ll be sure to go to bed early tonight to make up for it. And I want Ai with me tonight.”
Sasuke frowned and said plainly, “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“What? Don’t think I can handle caring for me baby?! Huh?!” Naruto asked defensively and began to get aggressive. He stepped forward, making Sasuke step back. “You think you’re just so perfect! Mr. Perfect Dad!”
“Naruto-“
“Oh I’m Sasuke~ I’m such an amazing guy! I’m the best at everything I do~!” The blonde mocked.
“Naruto-“ Sasuke raised his voice a bit but Naruto continued. “Ooh! Look at me! I’m Mr. Popular! Everyone loves me! I make the best food! I can also sing better lullabies to my daughter! I can also pick her up and take her out in public without ridicule and being called a demon even though he tries hard every single day to keep it together,” Naruto’s mocking tone shifted dramatically and he looked down at the ground, realizing he had kept talking and said things he regretted.
Sasuke was mostly stunned and silent. He’d never known Naruto to be so…sad. No, this wasn’t sadness. This was depression.
Naruto was depressed.
He reached out slowly and once he touched Naruto on the shoulder and didn’t get a reaction from him, he slowly pulled him in for a hug. Naruto didn’t know why he felt so warm suddenly, but being hugged was something he hardly ever experienced without initiating it. It was just at that moment that he broke down and began crying his eyes out.
Sasuke just held him as Naruto broke down in his arms.
He would help Naruto through this.
But where to start?