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Sleep Away the Days

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Naruto had long since lost his calendar, and without it, he was forced to determine the date by the temperature outside, along with whether there were leaves on the trees or not, or whether it was snowing, raining, or sunny. He was usually told the date by one of his teammates or Shikamaru, if he asked. But, he didn't want to admit that he had lost his calendar, especially when he knew that they'd ask why he didn't just buy a new one; he didn't want to admit to them that none of the shops wanted to sell him anything, let alone a calendar.

So, he usually relied on his own abilities to tell him what time of the year it was. Like every year, though, he stopped paying attention once mid-November rolled around. Really, to him, after it got cold out, he didn't care what time of the year it was, as long as he could keep warm. He didn't care about anything but that.

He was thankful that most people didn't question his sudden change from orange clothing to black. The answer was quite simple, if he ever did have to answer, but it happened every year, so people had just stopped asking. It was just like the calendar: he didn't want them to know that his clothes were not even close to being warm enough for the winter. The clothes he wore were the ones that the stores were desperate to get rid of. They were also the only things they would sell him. To him, though, it was okay, because Iruka was always willing to lend him clothes, sometimes even insisting that he keep them. It wasn't much, but it was enough, because under those, he wore his orange jumpsuit.

The blond was even able to fool his genius boyfriend, if only for a little while. None of his friends knew how Naruto was living, and he thought he liked it that way. Well, he knew that he liked it that way, until Iruka told Shikamaru how he was living. Then he had found that he really liked the way Shikamaru actually fussed over his well-being (and even put off sleep to do so).

"You realize, don't you, that you'll have to go out sometime?" Shikamaru muttered, pulling Naruto down to lay next to him before burying his face in the blond's shoulder.

"Yes, Captain Obvious, I do know that. And here you are, kidnapping me against my will and forcing me to lay in bed with you. You're making it pretty impossible to do anything, let alone go outside." Naruto grinned at his partner, though the brunet couldn't see it. "I am pretty comfortable, though. Maybe we can forget about the snow and just stay here."

Shikamaru murmured something that sounded oddly like "shut up" before he pulled the blond closer and his breath evened. Naruto, knowing that he wouldn't be able to get out of Shikamaru's grip even if he was asleep, just shrugged and turned over, wrapping his arms around the shadow manipulator's waist. So it was December. He could deal with that; he'd just do the same thing Shikamaru did every day: he'd sleep away the days until they got longer and it got warm out.