It was midnight. The moonlight streamed through the large window wall that lead to the raven's room. It was silent, only the rustling of the trees and slight pitter-patter of the light rain hitting the window could be heard. The moonlight lightly illuminated the room. From the corner, soft crying and slight whining sounds were being uttered.

Naruto was thrashing around in his bed, clutching the white bedsheets to his thin body, silent tears streaming down his face as the recurring nightmare plagued his mind. It was back to those memories. Memories where he was living with his abusive father. Reminiscences of the days the blonde lived in absolute fear of his life. Flashbacks to all the beatings, screaming and blood. Suddenly, Naruto sat up in terror, panting and sweating. His eyes darted around the room, checking his surroundings. The memories of his past was still fresh in his mind. The blonde realised that he wasn't in his room and the recollections of moving into the Uchiha household finally made there way into his mind.

Silence stretched momentarily. Naruto knew the raven was sleeping in the bottom bunk below him and a major part of the blonde wanted to sleep with him, so he wouldn't be alone. The thought of sleeping alone after those nightmares made the blonde shiver in fear. The other part, though, didn't even want to entertain such an idea because...

I mean it was sleeping with SASUKE! His sort of... enemy?

'Fuck it. I can't sleep alone. It's either my pride or my sleep and I fucking choose my sleep!' Naruto said in his mind and climbed down to Sasuke's bunk. He sat by his bed for a few seconds contemplating how to bring up this conversation.

'Should I just silently sleep next to him? I could use a pillow as barrier.' Naruto thought but he decided against.

'Nope! It would be awkward as fuck to explain in the morning.'

Naruto gently shook Sasuke's shoulder. Sasuke being a light sleeper, suddenly jumped up and turned to Naruto.

"Dobe! What the hell?" Sasuke harshly whispered. Naruto jumped back and shrank a little, his shoulder slumping downwards, eyes looking down at the bed. Sasuke felt guilty, being so harsh on the blonde.

"I'm sorry. You need anything?" Sasuke asked softly, trying to peer at the blonde's face.

"I uh... had a nightmare. Could I u-m... sl-e-ep w-w-ith y-o-ou?" Naruto stuttered, looking at the raven for a split second and then looking away. Sasuke's eyes widened and then they went soft. He knew Naruto would experience a lot of nightmares and growing up, he didn't get the love and nurturing a mother would provide when children went through such things.

"Sure." Sasuke whispered and moved further to the wall, giving space for Naruto to sleep. Naruto whipped up his head in surprise and stared at Sasuke for a few seconds, his face going red. Sasuke face palmed and gently pulled Naruto to the mattress. He then pulled the bedsheets up to the blonde's chin and tucked him in. The blonde closed his eyes in embarrassment.

"Goodnight dobe." Sasuke lightly said and curled his arm around Naruto's narrow waist, gently rocking the both of them until they fell asleep. Before Naruto did...

"Thank you Sasuke..."

Sasuke smiled and they fell asleep in that position.

In the morning

The door of the bedroom opened quietly. Itachi peeked his head into the room and what he saw made him smirk in glee.

The tiny blonde was curled up against his brother's chest, his arms looped around his waist. In return, Sasuke's arms gripped against Naruto's waist, bringing him closer to his body, his face buried in the blonde soft locks. Itachi silently creeped out. In a few minutes, both Mikoto and him were at the entrance looking at the adorable picture.

"Oh my god! That is so cute!" Mikoto gushed. "I'm taking a picture of this." She ran out and brought a camera. From the entrance she began taking photos, Itachi by her side, laughing his ass off. The noises brought Sasuke back to reality and he looked up from his bed to see his mom taking photos of him sleeping and Itachi laughing.

"Uhh... Mom? What are you doing?"

Mikoto stopped taking photos and looked at Sasuke.

"Well do you think anyone wouldn't take pictures of you and Naruto sleeping like this?" She said, her eyes shining in a teasing manner. Sasuke looked at her confusedly and looked down to see NARUTO actually in his bed, both of them hugging each other. Sasuke then remembered what took place last night and his face blushed as red as the tomatoes he loves.

"Mom! Go before he wakes up!"

Itachi at the side was laughing and while he was laughing he said...

"Doesn't matter. He is already awake!"

Looking down, Sasuke saw the cerulean eyes widened in surprise, the whiskered face just as red as his. Suddenly Naruto scrambled out of the bed and ran into the bathroom. All the while, Mikoto and Itachi laughing.

"Anyway I got to go to work. Have a nice day." Itachi said, chuckling and walking away.

"Goodbye sweetie." Mikoto said. She turned to Sasuke, still shocked about what happened. She laughed softly and walked up to him and patted his check.

"Get ready dear. Today we are going shopping to buy Naruto clothes and other things." She said. The raven haired woman walked up to the washroom door and said...

"Naruto dear? Get ready okay? We are going shopping!" She said excitedly and walked out of Sasuke's room. After a minute, Naruto quietly opened the bathroom door and walked out, his head looking down at the ground.

"Um..."

"Don't worry about it dobe." Sasuke said assuringly and got up to make his bed. Naruto looked at him in surprise and he smiled softly.

'We can be friends. It will take some time for me to trust him but from the way he is acting, I know he is trying to make up for what he's done. I think we can be friends... maybe even something mo-'

Naruto blushed a beet red and walked back again into the washroom. Leaning against the door, he analysed his last thought.

'Do I like him?'