S O U L M A T E S (SasuNaruSasu Magazine) Christmas Special 2018 | Page 7

compete with Naruto for a stupid cha-
llenge he had ended up with an indiges-
tion that lasted four days.
Maybe because he felt a bit guilty for the
many months they had spent apart (and
for even doubting that Naruto would
find a way to preserve their tradition),
Sasuke gave himself into the luxury of
squandering his money on whatever Na-
ruto wanted to eat, until his buffalo of a
stomach couldn’t hold anything else. Na-
ruto used to say to whoever was willing
to listen – and to the ones that weren’t
too – that his favorite food was ramen;
however, Sasuke was aware that Naruto
saved up money even when it wasn’t ne-
cessary and whenever he could eat
cheap, nonnutritive junk he would, if
that meant that his wallet would never
be empty…That way he had enough
money to pay as many travel expenses
as he wished.
Stomachs full, they set out to stroll
through the streets adorned with
Christmas lights; there had been a storm
the day before and still there was pat-
ches of ice and snow on the sidewalk.
Naruto took pictures of anything that
seemed funny, interesting or bizarre. He
forced Sasuke to pose for more than one
photo and threatened to tickle him right
there if he did not smile.
It overwhelmed him: that intimate close-
ness that had formed between them in a
matter of hours; neither Juugo nor Sui-
getsu nor Karin dared to touch him that
much, and in few occasions that they
did, Sasuke just felt more uncomfortable.
Winter only increased the warmth’s in-
tensity, and little by little he let it seep
onto every part of his body; he caught
himself leaning against Naruto, whom
despite the coat seemed to burn like a
furnace every time their bodies tou-
ched. Naruto poked his side with a fin-
ger when Sasuke was slow to put on a
"happy face, bastard", to which Sasuke
reacted by elbowing him and pulling on
his ear. Just seeing him throwing a tan-
trum flooded Sasuke with a feeling so
comforting it made him homesick: even
if the world moved around them foreign
and cold and festive, these moments sent
him back to Japan, to the memories of
the other Christmases they had spent
together.
There was a moment of pause in which
they stopped in front of a Chinese res-
taurant; hanging on the front were red
paper lamps and bilingual signs. In a mo-
ment of clear rashness, Naruto grabbed
his forearm and dragged him into the
alley that opened on the restaurant’s
right side. In spite of his puzzlement Sa-