Work Text:
During their early years at the Academy, the relationship between Sasuke and Naruto was a puzzle of contradictions. If anyone asked them, both would swear with a frown that they hated each other; it was a loud hatred with no real reason, born simply from not knowing what to do with each other's presence. Anyone who looked at them with a little more attention and not just as petulant children would know that it wasn't completely real hatred; they were children after all, barely 6 years old.
For Sasuke, annoying the blond had become a secret pastime. He found it fascinating, and strangely amusing, to see how Naruto exploded at any provocation.
They weren't friends, not even close, just classmates, but they both carried the same silent desire to be. The problem was the invisible barrier of shyness. While they watched other children run, shout, and join in games with enviable ease, they remained stuck in their own worlds. They didn't know what to talk about or how to invite the other to play without risking their pride or looking ridiculous.
So, for lack of words, they exchanged **furtive glances**. From opposite corners of the classroom, their eyes constantly sought each other out: Naruto watching Sasuke's straight back with curiosity, and Sasuke watching Naruto out of the corner of his eye, waiting for the other to make the first move.
It was just another afternoon at the ninja academy. While the playground was buzzing with the shouts and games of the other students during recess, the classroom had fallen silent. Sasuke had remained in his seat, focused, moving his pencil hurriedly to finish a silly assignment he had forgotten; it was stupid, if he asked Iruka for one more day, he would surely give it to him, he used to be quite lenient with him considering that Sasuke was very quiet in class, and of course, because of his family situation...
Naruto, for his part, had stayed behind for no clear reason, one of his reasons being to watch closely what Uchiha was doing so seriously. He knew that Sasuke wasn't very fond of playing with the other children, but it wasn't common for him to stay in the classroom.
So, sitting right behind him, Naruto absentmindedly played with a pair of scissors he had found or perhaps “borrowed” from a classmate's backpack. The shine of the metal and the rhythmic sound of the blades closing were the only things that broke the silence. His other reason for staying in the classroom was that he wanted to cover up some notes about bad behavior that Iruka had written in his notebook. They were deserved, he couldn't deny it, but he could still try to get out of another scolding, so Naruto wanted to cover them up with paper and glue so that when the Third Hokage checked his homework, he wouldn't find anything wrong.
Bored and with scissors in hand, his gaze inevitably drifted to the back of Sasuke's neck. Naruto leaned forward, resting his chin on his hand as he watched.
He noticed that the other boy's jet-black hair was losing its usual shape. It no longer had that usual spiky, rebellious style; now it was so long that it almost reached his shoulders, even his side bangs had grown so long that they no longer looked like what they really were, making everything look strangely flat and unkempt, without their characteristic tips. To Naruto, Sasuke's hair looked... weird.
A mess that his restless hands felt the urgent need to correct. He looked at the dark strand once more, reached out, and closed the metal blades. The sound was sharp and definitive: Snap! A strand of black hair fell slowly onto the wood.
The sound instantly broke Sasuke's concentration. He tensed and turned his body quickly, coming face to face with Naruto and the scissors still open in the air. His eyes widened in surprise as he instinctively brought a hand to the back of his head.
“What did you just do?” Sasuke asked, his voice not angry, but pure disbelief.
Naruto froze with the open, incriminating scissors still in his hands, like a criminal at the scene of the crime, his heart pounding against his ribs with pure nerves. The adrenaline rush evaporated; he had no logical explanation; he had no bad intentions, for once, he had simply done it because he felt like it.
He opened his mouth to apologize, explain himself, or whatever! But only stammering came out. Naruto froze, waiting for the consequences, waiting for a scream or a blow...
The Uchiha looked incredulously at the cut hair on the table, brought a hand to the back of his neck, running his fingers through it, feeling the uneven length of his strands, and then looked back at Naruto. His eyes, usually cold, now had a gleam that betrayed a thoughtful expression. Sasuke ran his fingers through his bangs, which lately only got in the way of his view.
“Would you... Would you cut it for me?” Sasuke blurted out suddenly, lowering his voice as if confessing a secret. “It's annoying, but I have no idea how to do it myself.”
Naruto blinked, going from absolute panic to total surprise. Sasuke wasn't angry. Sasuke was asking him for help. Him? A clumsy, full smile began to form on his face as he gripped the scissors more tightly.
He let out a laugh that betrayed his nervous and mischievous excitement. “Heh! You should have said so before, Sasuke!” exclaimed the blond, puffing out his chest proudly and twirling the scissors on his finger with almost dangerous dexterity. Sasuke just narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
Since Sasuke had been left alone, the simplest tasks had become insurmountable mountains. Going to a barber shop was unthinkable; pride prevented him from admitting to a stranger that he didn't know how to ask for his usual cut, or worse, that he had no one at home who could take care of it. Everyone knew about his situation.
The idea of sitting in a chair in front of a stranger who couldn't look him in the face without feeling pity was suffocating.
But he didn't want to take any chances either. “ONLY if you know what you're doing,” Sasuke clarified in a firm tone. He knew the blond well and wasn't going to be an easy target for his antics. He knew he was setting himself up for a possible disaster. “...then I'll let you do it.”
“Calm down, Uchiha, you're in luck! I've been cutting my own hair my whole life. See this?” he said, pointing to his own unruly but undeniably shorter locks than Sasuke's. “I've got this.”
It wasn't a lie. Naruto had learned to use scissors in front of a broken mirror from a very young age, simply because there was no other option. There was no way anyone could do it for him, and anyway, he didn't have enough money on hand to afford it. He had practice, and, most importantly, he remembered perfectly well what Sasuke's hair looked like before neglect had made it limp and heavy.
Sasuke let out a resigned sigh, praying he wouldn't regret it later. “Fine, go ahead.”
Naruto jumped to his feet. With a mischievous look and the scissors firmly in hand, he grabbed Sasuke's hand without warning. Before the Uchiha could protest the sudden contact, Naruto was already pulling him, dragging him out of the classroom in a hurry, tripping over his own feet to keep up.
“Wait! Where are we going?” Sasuke whispered, trying to sound dignified as he was practically dragged down the hallway.
“To the bathrooms!” Naruto replied without slowing down, running straight to a column when he saw another teacher loitering in the hallways. “It's the only place with mirrors and where no one will bother us,” the blond whispered.
“And why do we have to hide so much?” Sasuke whispered, feeling ridiculous crouched behind a column.
“If Iruka-sensei, or whoever, sees me running with scissors in my hand, he'll think I'm going to cause a disaster,” Naruto explained in an urgent whisper, cautiously poking his head out. “He knows I never have anything good up my sleeve, you know?” he explained distractedly.
Sasuke glanced at him sideways, feeling a pang of regret. He was already regretting agreeing to this. “Naruto...” he murmured, wondering what he was getting himself into.
“Hey, don't look at me like that!” added the blond, noticing the accusatory doubt in the other boy's dark eyes. “I have good intentions! I know what I'm doing, but I also know I don't have the best reputation in the village, so it's better to tread carefully, don't you think?”
Sasuke snorted, but he didn't let go of Naruto's hand and instead gave it a slight squeeze. Although no one was forcing him and his survival instinct told him that this could end terribly badly for him and his physical appearance, he let the blond lead him to the Academy bathrooms. It was absurd, but the confidence the blond exuded was contagious with an ease that was annoying.
Taking advantage of the fact that Iruka was laughing at something another teacher said, Naruto gave a hand signal and the two crossed the hallway like two swift shadows, disappearing into the boys' bathroom at the Academy.
Once inside, the bathroom smelled of some kind of fruity soap and dampness. Naruto gently pushed Sasuke toward the sinks, forcing him to stand in front of the large mirror, which was a little dirty with children's handprints, but would serve his purpose.
Naruto didn't start right away. Instead, he began walking in circles around Sasuke. He narrowed his eyes, tilted his head, and put one hand on his chin, imitating the pose of an artist in front of a blank canvas.
“You look stupid,” Sasuke blurted out bluntly. "If you're going to cut it, just do it already. Recess is almost over, and you're going to get us in trouble." Yes, he was nervous. He wasn't going to get on Iruka's bad side over this stupid thing.
Naruto stopped in front of him and gave him a smug smile, waving the scissors in front of his face. “I have one small condition: you have to keep your eyes closed.”
Sasuke raised an eyebrow, incredulous. “What? That's ridiculous. No way, I have to see what you're doing with those scissors.”
“It's my rule, Sasuke!” Naruto insisted, crossing his arms. “If you don't close your eyes, there's no cut. It's up to you, scaredy-cat.” He was provoking him, that's what he wanted to do, provoke him and make him give in.
Sasuke clenched his teeth. Part of him screamed that running away was the only logical decision, that trusting Naruto Uzumaki and a pair of stolen scissors was a bad idea, a terrible one. He had lost count of how many times he had repeated this to himself. “But if you cut off my ear, I swear I'll...”
“Shut up and relax!” interrupted Naruto, whose voice now sounded much closer, right next to his ear.
Sighing in resignation, Sasuke closed his eyes tightly.
Sasuke felt the cold scissors grazing his neck and the soft touch of Naruto's fingers adjusting the first strand of hair. For a moment, his heart beat a little faster, whether out of fear of the scissors or because of Naruto's closeness and gentle touch, he wasn't sure.
Zip, zip, zip was what Sasuke heard every time the blades brushed his neck or passed close to his ears. It was a strange feeling to be so calm with someone who was supposed to be his rival. However, Sasuke was not afraid of the result.
He had spent so much time secretly observing Naruto that he knew his gestures better than anyone else. He knew that when Naruto was up to something really bad, like stealing something or vandalizing the faces of the hokages, his eyes would shine with a mischievous, almost malevolent intensity; but it wasn't the dark evil that the adults whispered about in the corners of the village. It was a mischievous evil, pure childish energy. And right now, that dark gleam wasn't there, just concentration.
Luckily for both of them, Sasuke's hair still retained the structure of its original cut underneath all that messy growth, so he let himself be guided by those lines. He was quick, precise, and extremely careful. He didn't want to ruin it; he wanted Sasuke to look like the proud boy he always was, and not that downtrodden version of himself with his unkempt hair.
When the last rebellious strand fell to the floor, Naruto took a step back, admiring his work with pride. He stepped back, admiring his work with his arms on his hips.
“And... it's done!” Naruto exclaimed. He then put his fingers to his lips and let out a loud and exaggerated, “Muah! My best work yet, Dattebayo!”
It was so ridiculous that Sasuke couldn't help it: a small, almost imperceptible, crooked smile appeared at the corners of his lips. “Dobe.”
“You can open your eyes now, Teme,” Naruto announced, giving him a playful tap on the shoulder.
Sasuke exhaled a sigh he didn't know he was holding and slowly opened his eyes to meet his reflection.
He blinked, adjusting his blurry vision. He looked... different. It was short, perhaps a little more than he remembered at the back, or maybe it was just that he had become too accustomed to the curtain of hair weighing down on his eyes. There were a few strands that weren't perfectly symmetrical, but the overall result was surprisingly acceptable. It felt light and clean.
Honestly, if he had to choose, he'd rather have Naruto do it again a thousand times than set foot in an unfamiliar barbershop. But, of course, his Uchiha pride had a reputation to uphold.
“Hmp... not bad,” Sasuke muttered indifferently, tilting his chin slightly. He didn't want Naruto to become more unbearable than he already was by giving him a silly compliment.
However, Naruto didn't need sophisticated words; they both knew that. The blond stood still beside him and their eyes met directly. Naruto smiled sideways, with an expression of absolute complicity; he could perfectly read that “not bad.” He knew that Sasuke was satisfied and that, in his own way, he was thanking him.
Thank you for taking care of me.
They both stood there, in front of the mirror, looking directly at each other through the reflection first and then turning to connect their gazes face to face. Caught in each other's gaze, so intense that suddenly Naruto was overcome with shyness again. Feeling a sudden heat in his cheeks, the blond broke eye contact, looking down at the floor as he fiddled with the scissors still hanging from his hand.
“I told you I was good at this, didn't I?” he stammered, trying to regain his boisterous energy to hide how much that gaze had affected him.
“YOU TWO! What do you think you're doing?”
Iruka-sensei's voice boomed throughout the bathroom, causing both children to jump at the surprise of being caught.
The bell announcing the end of recess had rung several minutes ago, and it hadn't taken the teacher a second to notice the absence of his two most troublesome students. Upon entering and seeing Naruto with the scissors still in his hand and Sasuke surrounded by strands of hair, he didn't need much explanation.
“Naruto, what did you do? What did I tell you about bringing scissors to school and, above all, using them without my supervision?!” exclaimed Iruka, putting a hand to his temple, which was already starting to hurt from the stress he knew Naruto would cause him, torn between scolding him and confusion at Sasuke's new look.
Naruto, far from backing down, let out a nervous laugh and began waving his hands in the air, spouting a series of hasty excuses. “Wait, wait, Iruka-sensei! It's not what it looks like, I'm innocent! What happened was...”
In fact, Naruto went blank. He wanted to tell the truth, but to be honest, the truth was a little incriminating... He had been playing with the scissors, which led him to cut Sasuke's hair, which led them here... with the scissors he shouldn't have been using... and in his hands.
He couldn't think of a good lie.
“RUN!” Naruto shouted, grabbing Sasuke's hand to start running.
Before Iruka could react, the two children darted away, dodging and passing by the teacher and accidentally pushing him, leaving him staggering at the bathroom entrance.
“NARUTO! SASUKE! COME BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!” Iruka yelled at them, his face turning bright red.
But it was too late, the two children were already running down the hallway at full speed.
Naruto's mischievous and contagious laughter began to echo through the empty corridors of the Academy, mingling with the sound of his rapid footsteps on the floor. And Sasuke, who normally avoided getting into this kind of trouble, surprised himself by keeping up with Naruto, feeling a rush of adrenaline and freedom he hadn't experienced in a long time.
The only thing that mattered to him now was Naruto's fox-like laughter ringing in his ears.