[The touch brings him back to himself, and it's only as he looks back over his shoulder at Sasuke that he realizes his mind has wandered in the first place. The air is heavy around them, water hanging in the air. Mana baths he remembers, and urges his feet into motion- pushes through the process of toeing off his shoes.
It's easier to manage now that he has a job to do, even if that job is a menial one. Tasks help keep him grounded. Naruto isn't cerebral by nature, he doesn't make a habit of living in his head- here and now it's not a closing down so much as it is the effect of overload. He doesn't know how not to feel the hurt, or to feel it hemorrhaging out of him. He doesn't look up when he shrugs out of his jacket.]
no subject
It's easier to manage now that he has a job to do, even if that job is a menial one. Tasks help keep him grounded. Naruto isn't cerebral by nature, he doesn't make a habit of living in his head- here and now it's not a closing down so much as it is the effect of overload. He doesn't know how not to feel the hurt, or to feel it hemorrhaging out of him. He doesn't look up when he shrugs out of his jacket.]