[There are little lines in his face now, from the creases of the sheets pressed into his skin and the strange fold they're making- tucked into one another. It doesn't occur to Naruto, in this moment, that this is the kind of embrace he'd been wanting for years- this full bodied awareness of another person. The sense of safety, of being understood, of not being for anything. All his life he's been trying to grow- to outgrow the boy he'd been, to outgrow his shortcomings and the things he couldn't do or understand. He's always been trying to be more. More for the village and for his team and for Sakura-chan and for Sasuke and for his sensei and for his mentor and for everyone but himself.

It won't occur to him that this purely selfish moment had been something special until long after its over. Maybe until he's climbing in bed for the night and smells Bolin's shampoo on the pillow.

He pulls back slow, because he thinks abstractly, that he's supposed to.]

I don't really know that part yet, and I still don't think I'm gonna get a house. But I think it'll be fun to work on something like that. When I was younger I always thought it'd be kinda nice to garden with somebody else.