Chapter Text
The car moved along the coastal road with that constant sound of tires against the asphalt, an almost hypnotic noise that filled the spaces between one curve and another, while the sea, still distant, already hinted at its presence through the salty smell that slipped in through the cracks of the partially open window. Naruto drove with an energy that seemed too contained for his own body — fingers tapping on the steering wheel, a smile appearing for no apparent reason — as if he were holding something too big to fit only inside himself.
Beside him, Sasuke kept his gaze fixed on the passing scenery, but it wasn’t exactly on it that his attention rested. There was a slight narrowing in his eyes, almost imperceptible, typical of someone who already knew the person behind the wheel far too well.
— Do you plan to tell me where we’re going or is that part of the plan? — his voice came out neutral, but with that edge of irony that required no effort.
Naruto let out a short, automatic laugh, as if he had been expecting the question since the moment he turned the key in the ignition.
— Surprise. — he answered, simple, direct, with a pride he didn’t even try to hide. — It’s our anniversary, remember? I want to do something fun.
Sasuke turned his head slowly, analyzing Naruto for a second longer than necessary, as if he were evaluating invisible risks.
— That’s exactly what worries me. — he said, dry… but with a trace of humor that softened the sentence.
Naruto laughed for real this time, loud, carefree, as if that comment was just another confirmation that he was on the right track.
— Relax, you’ll like it.
Sasuke didn’t respond immediately. He only let out a small sigh through his nose, crossing his arms, but the corner of his mouth gave away that he was already more involved than he wanted to admit.
The road began to open up, and the blue of the sea finally appeared in full, wide, shining under the daylight. Naruto slowed down, pulling into a simple, almost empty parking lot facing the beach. The sound of the engine fading to a stop left a brief silence in the air, quickly filled by the distant sound of the waves.
Sasuke looked around, then turned his eyes back to Naruto, now with a more defined expression — a mix of suspicion and anticipation.
— If you brought me here just to make me watch you surf… — he began, leaning slightly toward Naruto — especially today, I’m going to drown you in that sea.
The threat came out too light to be taken seriously, but firm enough to carry intention.
Naruto just leaned back against the seat, laughing as if that was, somehow, part of the perfect script he had imagined.
— Not this time. — he replied, shaking his head. — Today I want to enjoy time with the love of my life.
He turned his face toward Sasuke with a wide smile, almost glowing.
— With my big cat.
There was a small silence after that, the kind that isn’t uncomfortable — just dense enough to register the shift in atmosphere.
Sasuke raised an eyebrow, his gaze assessing Naruto as if trying to decide whether that was more ridiculous or more sincere… and in the end, he let out a low, short, unexpected laugh.
— Big cat? — he repeated, as if the word tasted strange.
Naruto shrugged, still smiling, completely satisfied with himself.
— It works, doesn’t it?
Sasuke looked away again, but now with a slight smile he didn’t even try to fully hide, while the sound of the sea seemed closer, more present.
The comfortable silence didn’t last long.
Naruto got out of the car first, already moving around the vehicle with steps too quick, as if he were afraid of losing his own timing. The beach wind hit him head-on, lifting the fabric of his shirt slightly, bringing with it that stronger salty smell now, almost clinging to the skin.
— Wait there, I’ll grab the stuff — he said over his shoulder, already heading straight to the trunk.
Sasuke got out with far less urgency, closing the door calmly, his eyes following Naruto like someone watching an inevitable event unfold.
Naruto pressed the key button and nothing happened; he frowned, trying again, this time with more force, as if the intensity of the gesture could somehow convince the mechanism, but still, nothing.
He stepped closer to the car and pulled the handle, only to realize it was locked; then Sasuke crossed his arms and leaned lightly against the side of the vehicle, tilting his head in an almost lazy way.
— You… remembered to unlock the car before getting out?
Naruto ignored the question as if it didn’t exist, already pressing another button on the key, then another, then going back to the first, in a completely illogical sequence.
— It’s opening, hold on — he muttered, more to himself than to Sasuke.
The click didn’t come; Naruto drew in a slow breath, filling his lungs before letting it out, then lightly tapped the trunk lid with his palm, as if that simple gesture could somehow convince the mechanism to finally give in.
— That doesn’t help — Sasuke commented, dry, but with a clear trace of amusement beginning to appear.
— It does — Naruto answered automatically, already tapping again, this time a bit harder.
The wind moved through the space around them, lifting grains of sand from the ground and scattering them; Naruto, not giving up, tried to pull once more, but still, nothing happened.
— Want me to try? — Sasuke asked, without moving, already knowing the answer.
— No.
The answer came too quickly, almost abrupt. Naruto pressed the button a third, fourth, fifth time, insistent, until suddenly, with a somewhat aggressive click, the mechanism finally gave in.
— See? I told—
He pulled the trunk lid with completely unjustified confidence, as if it were the simplest task in the world, and the universe immediately decided to correct that: the trunk opened with a quick, direct jolt, rising without any warning and hitting Naruto’s forehead squarely, a sharp impact that echoed louder than it should have.
Naruto didn’t react right away.
He just stood there, frozen in place, staring at nothing for a full second, as if his brain had briefly given up on reality, and then, with an almost offensive delay, he brought his hand to his forehead, pressing the spot with a blank expression that slowly began to register pain, indignation, and a certain humiliation.
On the other hand, Sasuke watched everything in silence. And then his expression broke.
The laugh came low at first, almost contained, but it didn’t stay that way for long. He turned his face to the side, as if trying to hide it, but the sound escaped anyway, clear, open, rare.
— That was pathetic — he managed to say between breaths, his voice faltering slightly because of the laughter.
Naruto still held his forehead, looking at him with an expression of genuine offense mixed with pain.
— You could at least pretend to be concerned.
Sasuke took a deep breath, trying to compose himself, but the corner of his mouth was still completely betraying him.
— I am concerned.
A pause.
— About what else you’re going to break today.
Naruto let out an indignant sound, but without much force — more of a grumble than anything — while finally leaning in to grab the backpacks from the trunk, still rubbing his forehead with the other hand.
— Very funny.
Sasuke stepped a little closer, now looking directly at the slight redness already starting to appear.
— You’ll survive — he said, simple, almost clinical.
But even so, he extended his hand for a moment, lightly touching Naruto’s forehead, assessing the impact with a care too quick to admit it was care.
Naruto froze for half a second at the touch — just half — before letting out an exaggerated sigh.
— Of course I will, I’m tough.
Sasuke withdrew his hand, already returning to a neutral posture.
— Great, then try not to lose to a trunk next time.
Naruto huffed, grabbing the backpacks properly before closing the lid with much more caution this time, and the sound of it locking came soft — almost respectful — as if, after that, even the car had decided to cooperate… for now.
The sand gave slightly under their feet as they crossed the small stretch between the parking lot and the beach, each step sinking enough to slow Naruto’s pace — which, considering his energy, was already an achievement. The sound of the waves was louder now, constant, filling the background of everything, while the wind carried distant voices, laughter, the occasional clink of something metallic coming from the small stands scattered along the shore.
Naruto walked ahead, one hand still occasionally going to his forehead, as if needing to confirm the damage hadn’t been as bad as it had seemed. Even so, the smile had already returned, stubborn, sustaining the idea that the plan was still standing.
— It’s over there — he said, pointing with his chin to a small stand a bit farther from the others, with a slightly crooked sign swaying in the wind.
Sasuke followed without commenting, his eyes analyzing the place with that same restrained air as always, but now with a clearer interest. At least, as far as Naruto could tell.
The structure was simple: worn wood, a few improvised shelves, a tarp roof that snapped lightly with each stronger gust of wind. There were some objects hanging — keychains, cheap sunglasses, small souvenirs — and, on the counter, a row of big-headed dolls that swayed slowly, moved by the wind itself.
Naruto approached the counter directly, placing his hands there naturally, as if everything were perfectly under control.
— Hey, I had booked with a guide for a tour — he began, already starting the conversation easily — Naruto, two people.
The man behind the counter nodded, murmuring something as he turned to look for something further inside the shack, shuffling through papers and stacked objects without much organization.
— Just a minute.
Naruto waited, drumming his fingers on the counter, his gaze wandering quickly around the space, as if trying to keep his own anxiety occupied.
Beside him, Sasuke didn’t have the same urgency.
He approached the dolls almost without realizing, his gaze caught by the repetitive movement of the bobbing heads, each with an exaggerated expression, a bit too caricatured to be taken seriously. He touched one with the tip of his finger, applying a light push.
The head swayed, returned, swayed again, entering an almost hypnotic rhythm before stopping for a brief instant — a small pause, but strangely loaded, as if the object itself were considering its next move. Sasuke tilted his head just slightly, enough to show he was, in fact, observing, with that silent interest that, coming from him, already qualified as a surprisingly high level of entertainment. Without hurry, he extended his hand and touched the doll again, this time with a bit more firmness, testing its limit. The reaction was immediate: the doll responded with more energy, the internal spring compressing and expanding with an almost imperceptible creak, like a discreet warning that something there wasn’t exactly stable — and then came the snap. Dry. Small. But more than enough.
The spring gave in.
There was no real resistance, no kind of fight against the inevitable — just the sudden and clean failure of the mechanism. The doll’s head came loose with almost absurd ease and, for a single second, remained suspended in the air, frozen in that minimal slice of time that seemed to stretch just enough to turn the whole situation into something completely ridiculous. And then it flew — direct, straight, without any deviation, as if it had a very well-defined destination from the start.
Naruto didn’t have time to react.
— I told you—
The impact was too precise, hitting squarely, right in the eye, with almost offensive efficiency.
— I’M BLIND!
The reaction came instantly, exaggerated, almost theatrical, his hands going straight to his face as he stepped back, completely lost in his own axis.
— I was attacked! — he continued, his voice rising a few tones above normal — There’s something here! there’s something flying!
Sasuke remained still for half a second, slowly absorbing what was in front of him, as if his brain needed an extra moment to organize that absurd sequence of events: the now headless doll still lightly swaying on the counter, the head on the ground like a discarded piece in the middle of chaos, and Naruto in complete despair, bent over himself while holding his own eye with dramatic urgency, as if he had been the target of a perfectly coordinated attack — and then the laugh came again, without any effort, without the slightest sign of restraint, more open than before, escaping easily, almost inevitable, breaking any attempt to maintain composure; Sasuke turned his face to the side in an automatic reaction, as if that would be enough to contain it, but it didn’t help much.
— You… — Sasuke tried to speak, but had to stop for a moment, taking a breath — you lost to a doll.
Naruto opened one eye with difficulty, still pressing the other, clearly offended.
— It attacked me!
— Sure.
The response came automatically, loaded with calm skepticism.
— It was personal.
Naruto lowered his hand slowly, blinking a few times, trying to regain focus while looking around as if the object might attack again at any moment.
— I didn’t even do anything.
Sasuke finally stepped a little closer, still with that trace of laughter caught at the corner of his mouth, his eyes quickly analyzing Naruto’s face.
— Can you see?
Naruto hesitated for a second, as if considering the answer was part of the drama.
— yeah.
— Then stop yelling.
Naruto huffed, crossing his arms, clearly dissatisfied with the lack of solidarity.
— Zero empathy.
— None.
The man from the stand came back at that moment, holding a paper, stopping midway when he noticed the overall state of the scene — the broken doll, Naruto still recovering, Sasuke with a suspiciously calm expression.
— Uh… Naruto?
Naruto raised his hand, still somewhat dramatic.
— Present and under attack.
Sasuke let out one last breath of laughter through his nose, finally composing himself.
— He’ll survive.
Naruto shot him an irritated look, but the expression didn’t hold for long; deep down, even with everything going wrong in increasingly specific ways, the plan still wasn’t over and, somehow, that seemed enough for him to keep trying.