Chapter Text
🖤 Author’s Notes ✨
Hello everyone 🌙
First of all, thank you so much for clicking on this story. I truly hope you’ll enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it. This work has been living inside my head for a long time now, and I’m honestly very excited (and slightly terrified 😭) to finally share it.
I’ve always wondered about love in its quietest forms. About the versions of people we rarely get to see in stories. And somewhere along the way, I found myself asking:
What if Sasuke couldn’t hear?
What if one day he couldn’t see?
How would Naruto love him then?
Would he become softer? More patient? More desperate to be understood? Would he learn new ways to communicate just to stay by his side?
And most importantly—would Sasuke allow himself to be loved in return?
This story was born from those thoughts.
I wanted to write a Naruto who falls slowly and helplessly, and a Sasuke who exists in a world slightly separated from everyone else—not broken, not incomplete, simply different. A Sasuke whose silence changes the rhythm of every interaction around him.
Please keep in mind that while I am doing my best to write respectfully, I am still learning and researching throughout the process. 🤍
Thank you again for giving this story a chance. I hope the laughter, awkwardness, longing, and quiet moments reach your heart the same way they reached mine while writing them. ✨
🖤 Disclaimer ✨
Naruto and related characters do not belong to me; they belong to Masashi Kishimoto.
This story is a work of fiction created purely for entertainment and emotional damage purposes 🌙
Please also note that this fic contains a deaf Sasuke AU. While I am researching and writing with care and respect, I am not an expert on deafness or sign language, so some inaccuracies may exist.
I simply wanted to explore a quieter version of love—one where communication is not always spoken, and where understanding someone becomes an act of devotion itself. 🤍
“I think he hates me.”
Hyuuga Hinata smiled politely from across the cafeteria table, offering the blond man before her the same patient attention she’d offered the previous nine times he’d complained about the mysterious employee from the tenth floor.
Naruto sighed dramatically, slumping deeper into his chair like a man burdened by tragedy itself.
Hinata tucked a strand of dark hair behind her ear, pausing as though carefully arranging her thoughts. At this point, she had already exhausted every reasonable response available to her.
“I don’t think that’s true, Naruto-kun,” she said gently. “He doesn’t know you well enough to hate you. Please don’t let it discourage you.”
Her voice was soft, like rain tapping against glass—quiet, calming, impossible to dislike.
Naruto stared at her, but his mind drifted elsewhere. Specifically, to the unbearably rude man upstairs who had ignored him yet again that morning.
It shouldn’t have bothered him this much. And yet somehow, it did.
The guy never responded when Naruto greeted him. Not once. Which was insane, honestly, because Naruto had made very clear eye contact with him on multiple occasions. The man would stand there in his expensive dark coats and immaculate dress shirts looking unfairly handsome while treating Naruto like background furniture.
Uzumaki Naruto considered himself a man with pride.
Unfortunately, he was also deeply committed to saying good morning.
“Then why doesn’t he greet me back?” Naruto demanded, smacking the table hard enough to make their orange juices tremble in fear.
Hinata hurriedly steadied her cup before the poor thing sacrificed itself to Naruto’s emotional turmoil.
Choosing her next words carefully, she asked, “Naruto-kun… why do you keep greeting him?”
“Because it’s the normal thing to do!” Naruto exclaimed immediately. “If you see someone every day, you greet them! That’s basic human decency!”
Hinata resisted the urge to point out several things.
First: Naruto did not work on the tenth floor.
Second: he went there intentionally to avoid doing his actual work.
Third: most people did not repeatedly chase after strangers who clearly wanted to be left alone.
But saying any of that would only make him spiral further, and Hinata valued peace.
As well as dry clothing.
“Naruto-kun,” she began carefully, “this man doesn’t know you, and you don’t know him either. I understand why being ignored would upset you, but… that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s wrong.”
Naruto looked personally betrayed by the suggestion.
Hinata pressed on bravely.
“Some people simply don’t enjoy attention from strangers. You’re very friendly, and that’s a wonderful thing, but not everyone responds well to that immediately.” She offered him a reassuring smile. “It doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with you.”
She chose her words delicately, unwilling to hurt him even accidentally.
To Hinata, Uzumaki Naruto had always seemed almost impossibly bright.
Ever since university.
Back then, Naruto had already been the type of person people naturally gravitated toward—outspoken, expressive, effortlessly social. He collected friendships the way storms collected clouds.
Hinata, meanwhile, spent most of her time alone.
Quiet girls were easy targets.
And unfortunately for her, nervousness only made her stutter worse.
She still remembered the mixer where they’d first met.
The other girls had invited her because she was a Hyuuga: pretty, wealthy, useful decoration for photographs. Hinata had known that from the beginning, but refusing them had been harder than simply enduring the discomfort.
At some point during the evening, a man with aggressively styled hair and far too much confidence cornered her near the drinks table. Hinata had tried—politely, repeatedly—to reject him, but he either failed to understand or simply didn’t care.
Neither option had been comforting.
The girls she’d arrived with pretended not to notice.
Meanwhile, the stranger kept insisting she drink more, smiling too closely, touching her wrist too often. Hinata had been terrified.
Then, just as tears threatened to spill, someone dropped into the empty seat beside her.
Naruto.
He shoved the man back without hesitation and announced, with astonishing confidence, that Hinata was his girlfriend and that maybe he should learn what the word “no” meant before embarrassing himself further.
At the time, Hinata had been too startled to even speak.
She’d expected kindness to come with conditions. Most things did.
But Naruto had wanted nothing from her.
He simply helped because someone needed help.
That night, he walked her outside, called a taxi himself, and waited beside her until she safely disappeared through her front door.
Hinata still remembered how violently her heart had been beating.
The dating rumors spread almost immediately afterward.
Naruto, entirely unbothered by the situation, had suggested they simply leave the rumors alone since they discouraged creeps from approaching her.
“If one of us falls in love someday,” he’d said casually, “we’ll just fake a dramatic breakup.”
Hinata had liked that idea far more than she should have.
From then on, Naruto became a constant presence in her life—walking her to lectures, dragging her out for lunch, talking enough for both of them combined.
Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, Hinata had fallen in love alone.
To Naruto, she was simply precious. A dear friend. Nothing more.
Suppressing the ache in her chest, Hinata gently patted his arm when she noticed the troubled look on his face.
“Naruto-kun—”
“It’s fine, Hinata-chan!” Naruto declared suddenly, straightening with renewed determination. “You’re right!”
Hinata blinked.
“I shouldn’t be upset over something this small.” His blue eyes burned with reckless inspiration—the exact expression that usually preceded disaster. “If he ignores me because he doesn’t know me…”
A terrible feeling settled over Hinata immediately.
“…then I just need to make him know me!”
Hinata nearly dropped her drink.
“N-Naruto-kun, wait—”
“Talk to you later, Hinata-chan!” Naruto said, already halfway out of his seat. “I need to catch him before he leaves!”
And just like that, he vanished.
Hinata stared helplessly at the empty space he’d abandoned. A second later, her phone buzzed with the notification signaling the end of lunch break.
Right. She had work too.
With a quiet sigh, Hinata gathered her things, offering one final prayer toward whatever poor soul occupied the tenth floor.
“I hope things work out for you, Naruto-kun,” she murmured.
Then, after a brief pause:
“And for him.”
It was a little past noon.
Naruto worked for one of the largest import-export corporations in the country, a monstrous company with branches scattered nationwide and enough influence to ruin smaller businesses with a single email.
Landing a position there had nearly killed him.
Not literally, unfortunately, though Naruto maintained the interview process qualified as psychological warfare. He had exhausted every connection available to him just to secure an interview slot. After that came the endless assessments, impossible expectations, and interviewers who smiled like they enjoyed watching fresh graduates deteriorate emotionally.
Hell.
Actual hell.
Which was precisely why Naruto valued his job so much.
Even if it bored him to death sometimes.
His direct supervisor was a painfully nearsighted man who rejected every proposal Naruto submitted with the confidence of someone who understood absolutely nothing about modern business strategy.
By his second week, Naruto realized something important:
Working hard was useless. At least in his department.
He had ambitions. Big ones. Naruto intended to climb this company until his name sat on an office door large enough to intimidate interns.
But talent alone clearly wasn’t enough when your boss considered innovation a personal attack.
That was why Naruto kept wandering up to the tenth floor.
The executive floor. The real heart of the company.
The brightest employees worked there—the people with influence, connections, and salaries obscene enough to make ordinary workers question their will to live.
Naruto drifted through the sleek hallway with practiced casualness, hands in his pockets as his sharp blue eyes scanned the surroundings.
Everyone on this floor looked expensive.
Men in tailored suits moved briskly between offices with tablets and coffee cups in hand. Some glanced at Naruto briefly before dismissing him entirely, already accustomed to his random appearances.
Naruto had managed to befriend a few employees up here already. Unfortunately, most of them were useless.
Nice for information gathering, though.
He spotted one of them nearby—a brown-haired office worker with enormous glasses and the general aura of background scenery. Naruto couldn’t remember his actual name, so internally he referred to him as Mob Character Number Three.
The glasses were the only memorable thing about him.
Naruto approached with the polished corporate smile he reserved for networking and lying.
“Hey there,” he greeted smoothly. “How’ve you been?”
The man startled slightly before giving a quick bow.
“U-Uzumaki-san. I’ve been well. And you?”
Naruto smiled wider.
Good. He remembered him.
“I’m surviving,” Naruto replied dramatically. “I came up here because the smoking room on my floor is impossible right now. I swear half the department survives exclusively on caffeine and nicotine.”
The man laughed awkwardly.
“You can use ours if you’d like,” he said helpfully. “Just take three turns right and—”
“Perfect, thanks.”
Naruto already knew where it was.
Obviously.
But normal people usually needed reasons to lurk around executive floors at noon.
“Oh!” Naruto snapped his fingers suddenly, as though just remembering. He pulled a silver lighter from his pocket. “Actually, someone from this department dropped this earlier. You wouldn’t happen to know who it belongs to?”
The employee frowned thoughtfully.
“I’m not sure… I don’t smoke myself. But maybe if you describe them?”
Naruto’s eyes sharpened slightly.
Hooked.
“Alright,” he said easily. “About my height. Maybe a little shorter. Pale skin, black hair…” He paused briefly, searching for a professional alternative to insanely attractive. “Sharp-looking. Kind of intense.”
The employee still looked uncertain. Naruto continued.
“He doesn’t talk much. Walks around looking emotionally unavailable.”
Nothing.
Then Naruto grinned.
“Oh, and the back of his hair looks exactly like a chicken’s ass.”
Instant recognition flashed across the man’s face.
“Ah! Uchiha-san!”
Naruto straightened slightly.
“Uchiha-san?”
“Yes, Uchiha Sasuke-san.” The employee pointed toward one of the larger offices further down the hallway. “He works over there, but unfortunately he left earlier today. He had a meeting at one of the branch offices.”
Sasuke.
Naruto rolled the name around in his head.
Uchiha Sasuke.
Somehow, it suited him annoyingly well.
“You can leave the lighter with me,” the employee offered kindly, reaching out.
But before his fingers could touch it, Naruto smoothly tucked the lighter back into his pocket.
“That’s alright,” he said with another bright business smile. “I’ll return it myself next time. Thanks for the help.”
The employee blinked.
“O-Of course…”
Naruto waved casually before turning toward the elevator, satisfied.
Behind him, the brown-haired man frowned in confusion.
“…Wasn’t he here for the smoking room?”
But by then, Naruto was already gone.
Naruto returned to work afterward. At least physically.
Mentally, however, he spent the remainder of the afternoon thinking about one Uchiha Sasuke.
He finally had a name now. Somehow, that alone felt absurdly satisfying.
Uchiha Sasuke.
Naruto repeated it silently while typing up reports at alarming speed, a grin threatening to appear every few minutes for no reason he cared to examine too deeply.
It was ridiculous, honestly. Learning someone’s name shouldn’t make his stomach flutter like this.
Naruto chose not to unpack that emotionally devastating realization.
Instead, he marched into his supervisor’s office near the end of the day, reports in hand and confidence intact.
Unfortunately, his supervisor existed.
The man disliked Naruto immensely.
Naruto suspected it was because people could instinctively sense when he considered them intellectually disappointing. And unfortunately for his boss, Naruto considered him catastrophically so.
The older man adjusted his glasses while flipping through the reports with the expression of someone searching desperately for a reason to ruin another person’s evening.
Found one too.
“This section needs revision,” he said coldly, tapping the paper. “Redo it.”
Naruto stared.
Because objectively speaking, there was nothing wrong with it. But his supervisor had long since accepted that he could not fire Uzumaki Naruto—the blond was too efficient, too competent, and annoyingly good at his job.
So instead, he settled for making Naruto miserable whenever possible.
A weaker employee might have argued. Naruto simply bowed politely.
“I understand,” he replied smoothly.
Internally, he was calling the man a bureaucratic parasite.
Truthfully, Naruto had no intention of redoing anything. Later, he would change two numbers, rearrange a paragraph, maybe adjust the font if he felt artistic, then resubmit it tomorrow.
His boss wouldn’t notice. He never did.
Still, the delay meant Naruto couldn’t leave as early as he wanted.
Apparently suffering was unavoidable.
Naruto dropped back into his chair with a long-suffering sigh, glaring at his monitor like it had personally betrayed him.
Half an hour later, he finally escaped under the noble excuse of using the restroom.
In reality, he intended to ‘accidentally’ wander toward the tenth floor again.
Maybe Uchiha Sasuke had returned from his meeting already.
As Naruto walked through the hallway, his imagination became increasingly violent.
He pictured cornering the rude executive near the elevators and demanding an apology for all the ignored greetings.
Honestly, basic manners were dying in modern society.
Naruto would greet him properly. The man would greet him back.
Then Naruto would graciously forgive him for being socially defective.
A perfect system.
Lost in his deeply reasonable fantasies, Naruto failed to notice someone walking past him. Then a familiar scent drifted through the air.
Clean. Sharp. Expensive.
Naruto’s head snapped around so fast it nearly violated several laws of anatomy.
Uchiha Sasuke.
The dark-haired man walked calmly toward the elevators, one hand tucked into the pocket of his black coat, expression distant as always.
Naruto’s brain immediately stopped functioning.
Oh my God…!
Oh my God it was him!
Without thinking, Naruto rushed after him, barely slipping into the elevator before the doors closed shut.
The sudden movement startled the other man slightly. For one suspended moment, it was just the two of them inside.
Naruto looked up—
—and forgot every language he had ever learned.
Up close, Uchiha Sasuke was unfair.
Pale flawless skin. Sharp-cut jaw. Dark eyes framed by long lashes.
His mouth was soft-looking in a way that felt criminally distracting.
Naruto stared openly, thoughts dissolving into static.
Meanwhile, Sasuke stood in composed silence beneath the sterile elevator lights, completely unaware that the blond beside him was internally fighting for survival.
The elevator dinged.
Sasuke stepped out immediately. Naruto panicked.
“STOP!”
His voice rang loudly across the floor. Several nearby employees turned at once.
Sasuke didn’t.
He kept walking without hesitation, without even glancing back. Just like every other time.
As though Naruto’s voice had never reached him at all.
The elevator doors began sliding shut again. Naruto held them open for a second longer, staring at the retreating figure disappearing down the hallway.
No pause. No reaction. Not even a slight acknowledgment.
Slowly, Naruto removed his hand. The doors closed.
And for reasons he absolutely refused to analyze, the strange fluttering in his stomach felt like butterflies dying painful little deaths one by one.
That night, Naruto returned to his apartment in a terrible mood.
On the way home, he stopped by a convenience store and bought instant dinner along with a canned coffee he didn’t even want. By the time he reached his apartment complex, the irritation sitting in his chest still hadn’t faded.
The room he rented was small. Miserably small.
One room, thin walls, an aging refrigerator that buzzed louder than it cooled, and a bathroom barely large enough to turn around in without elbowing something.
Still, it was his.
Naruto tossed his keys onto the counter, flicked the lights on, and headed for a quick shower. Warm water ran down his shoulders while his mind replayed the afternoon scene again and again.
Naruto scrubbed his hair harshly.
Seriously, what was that guy’s problem? Ignoring him like an insect like that!
Once done, he changed into an old shirt and reheated his dinner. The microwave rotated lazily while Naruto sat on his bed staring into space. There was no television in the apartment. Naruto never bothered buying one. Everything he cared about was inside his laptop anyway.
Besides, a TV would only make the room feel emptier somehow.
The microwave beeped. Naruto ate in silence. Then, after throwing the empty container into the trash, he collapsed onto his bed with a groan.
The day had been both good and bad.
Good because he finally learned the man’s name.
Uchiha Sasuke.
Bad because now Naruto was completely certain the asshole had something against him personally.
Naruto stared at the ceiling.
Why though?
That was the part he couldn’t understand.
Their interactions—if they could even be called interactions—were ridiculous. Naruto greeted him, Sasuke ignored him, Naruto got annoyed, repeat cycle endlessly.
So why was he this invested?
Originally, his goal had simply been networking. The tenth floor was full of people with influence. Naruto wanted an opportunity, a shortcut upward. That was all.
So why waste time chasing after one emotionally constipated executive?
Naruto turned onto his side and glared at the wall. No answer came.
Eventually, with a tired click of his tongue, he shut the lights off and forced himself to sleep.
The next morning, Naruto arrived at work early.
A miracle.
More importantly, his boss wasn’t there yet. Naruto almost sighed in relief.
The worst mornings were the ones where his supervisor arrived before him. Then the man would spend the next three hours acting as if Naruto’s existence personally damaged company morale.
Naruto greeted a few coworkers and settled into his seat. A moment later, his phone buzzed.
The name ‘Hinata-chan’ blinked at him.
Naruto opened the messages immediately.
‘Morning, Naruto-kun, you looked upset yesterday, anything happened with him?’
Naruto snorted and typed back:
‘Yeah. I got his name, Uchiha Sasuke. But listen to this Hinata-chan –’
In few other texts, he filled her in on what had happened. The typing bubble appeared almost instantly. Naruto leaned back in his chair while waiting for her response.
Usually, Hinata defended the man. She kept insisting Naruto was overthinking things and that some people simply weren’t sociable.
This time, however—
‘Actually… if you shouted loudly enough for other people to notice, then he should’ve reacted somehow, no?’
Naruto blinked at her message.
‘Even if he didn’t want to speak, it’s strange he didn’t look back at all. Social hypocrisy is mandatory in the workplace.’
Naruto slowly lowered the phone. Then, very smugly, he grinned.
Finally, validation!
He knew he wasn’t crazy. The irritation he’d been carrying since yesterday suddenly felt righteous. Naruto immediately decided he needed to see Uchiha Sasuke again.
Preferably today, he needed to talk to that ass and get to the bottom of this!
Once lunch break started, Naruto practically fled toward the elevators. This time, he already knew where he was going.
The large office at the end of the tenth floor hallway. Uchiha Sasuke’s office.
Naruto stood in front of the dark wooden door and braced himself. He took a deep breath, mentally preparing his speech. Then knocked twice.
No response came.
His brows furrowed. He was certain the Uchiha was inside, so he knocked again, louder this time.
Still nothing.
Naruto stared at the door with growing offense now.
Was this man serious?!
Just as Naruto was considering whether breaking into an executive office counted as a fireable offense, a woman dressed in a black suit approached him.
“Excuse me,” she said politely. “I hope you don’t mind me asking, but is this your first time here?”
Naruto glanced at her.
“No? I come to this floor all the time.”
The woman smiled faintly.
“No, I mean your first time visiting Uchiha-san’s office.”
Naruto paused. “…Yeah.”
“I thought so.”
She pointed toward the right side of the doorframe. Naruto followed her finger and noticed a small button beside two lights—one red, one green.
“You don’t knock,” she explained gently. “You press the button.”
Naruto blinked. “…That’s it?”
She nodded.
“If the light turns green, you may enter. If it stays red, then Uchiha-san doesn’t wish to be disturbed.”
Naruto looked at the strange system like it had personally insulted him. This entire floor operated like a secret organization.
Still, curiosity won. He pressed the button. A second later, the green light flickered on.
The woman stepped aside with a smile.
“You can go in now.”
Naruto suddenly felt like he had unknowingly passed some entrance exam. Muttering thanks to her, he grabbed the handle and stepped inside.
The first thing he noticed was the scent.
Jasmine. Soft and clean, but strangely cold somehow.
Naruto’s heartbeat quickened.
The office itself was large enough to fit his entire apartment twice over. A long meeting table occupied the center while dark shelves lined one wall. Sunlight poured through enormous windows overlooking the city.
And there, behind an expensive desk— sat Uchiha Sasuke.
Naruto unconsciously slowed his steps. The man raised his head slightly. Black eyes settled on him immediately. Naruto swallowed.
Those eyes always unsettled him.
They were sharp without seeming hostile, distant without seeming cold. Whenever Sasuke looked at him, Naruto felt strangely exposed, like he was being examined carefully.
For a second, Naruto forgot why he came. Then he remembered the lighter in his pocket.
Right. Professionalism.
Naruto cleared his throat and walked forward.
“Good morning, Uchiha-san,” he began, trying to sound composed but his voice came a bit rushed to his liking. “My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I work on the third floor in strategic planning.”
As he spoke, he pulled out the silver lighter with the lion engraved onto it.
“Last week, I came here for an assignment, and I saw you drop it.”
Naruto extended the lighter. Sasuke’s expression changed instantly. It was very subtle, but Naruto saw it.
The man stood up so abruptly the chair rolled back slightly. He crossed the distance between them in quick steps and took the lighter from Naruto’s hand almost desperately.
Like it mattered. Like it was precious. Naruto frowned a little.
Sasuke lowered his gaze toward the lighter, fingers curling tightly around it before he returned silently to his desk. And said absolutely nothing.
Naruto waited. Giving him a few minutes.
Still nothing.
The irritation from yesterday immediately resurrected itself.
“Hey, listen here,” Naruto said. “I brought it back to you, didn’t I? I can see it’s important to you, the least you can say is thank you!”
No response came to his words, but Sasuke pressed a button on his intercom instead.
A few moments later, the office door opened and the same woman from earlier entered.
Naruto stared between them in confusion. Then Sasuke lifted his hands and started signing.
Naruto blinked. His eyes followed the elegant, practiced movements automatically. Sasuke’s fingers moved quickly while the woman nodded along with complete understanding.
Naruto felt completely lost. Finally, the woman turned toward him.
“On behalf of Uchiha-san, thank you for returning his lighter,” she said politely. “If you provide your name and department, we can arrange proper compensation for your kindness.”
Something inside Naruto snapped. Not violently. Just enough.
He looked directly at Sasuke then at the woman. Then back at Sasuke again.
“What the hell is wrong with him?”
The woman blinked. Naruto continued before she could answer.
“I return something precious to him and he calls another person in just to say thank you for him?” Naruto threw his hands up. “Does he think he’s royalty or something? He can’t speak for himself?!”
Sasuke tilted his head slightly, clearly confused by Naruto’s reaction.
That only made Naruto more frustrated.
“What kind of attitude is that?” Naruto burst out. “Ignoring people, refusing to answer when spoken to—seriously, didn’t anyone teach you basic manners? I don’t care if you work on the tenth floor, you can’t just treat people like they don’t exis—!”
“Uchiha-san is deaf!”
Silence.
Naruto stopped mid-sentence. “…What?”
The woman’s polite expression cracked slightly.
“Uchiha-san cannot hear,” she repeated carefully. “He communicates through sign language. He can read lips as well, but you spoke very fast, he wasn’t able to read everything well, so he asked me to help him communicate.”
Naruto stared at her blankly. Then slowly turned toward Sasuke.
The man was looking between the two of them with visible confusion, clearly trying to understand what had caused Naruto’s sudden outburst.
And suddenly— Everything made sense.
The ignored greetings. The elevator. The absent reactions.
Naruto felt all the blood drain from his face.
“Oh my God...”
The words left him weakly. The woman crossed her arms now, visibly irritated.
“He understood that you returned his lighter and wanted to thank you properly. That’s why he called me.”
Naruto wanted the ground to open beneath him. Immediately. Without delay. Preferably deep enough that civilization would never find him again.
His face burned with humiliation. Quickly, Naruto bent into a deep bow.
“I am so sorry,” he said with complete sincerity. “Please forgive me.”
Both Sasuke and the woman looked startled by the sudden apology.
The woman signed what happened to Sasuke, when understanding downed on him, Sasuke signed something quickly. The woman sighed before translating.
“He says you don’t need to apologize; you weren’t aware of his condition. Uchiha-san is very grateful that you brought his lighter, he has been searching for it for a while. He had seen you here a couple of times and now understands that you were trying to give his lighter back; he’s apologizing for the misunderstanding.”
Naruto’s shame somehow worsened. Because of course the guy was polite.
Of course!
Naruto couldn’t even lift his head properly.
“M’sorry,” he muttered again, sounding utterly defeated.
Then, unable to survive another second in that office, he turned around and fled. The office door shut behind him.
Inside, Sasuke blinked slowly. Still holding the silver lighter tightly in his hand.
Confused about why the tan, blond man suddenly looked like he wanted to die.
Throughout the rest of the day, Naruto was completely out of it.
His reports were filled with mistakes, he nearly sent an unfinished file to accounting, and at one point, Inuzuka Kiba, his colleague had stared at him for a full minute before asking whether he had suffered a concussion on the way to work.
Naruto denied it. Poorly.
As always, his mind refused him mercy. He could still see those shocked black orbs when he fled that big office. The voice of that woman rang loudly inside his drums.
Uchiha-san is deaf.
Every single interaction they’d had until now suddenly looked different in retrospect. And Naruto, like an idiot, standing there accusing the poor man of being arrogant.
Naruto dropped his forehead against his desk with a quiet groan.
To be fair to himself, how was he supposed to know?
Sasuke looked completely normal. There had been nothing visibly different about him. He carried himself with confidence, worked independently, managed an entire executive office— still…
Naruto shut his eyes.
Now that he thought about it, the signs had been there.
The special door system. The way the employees on the tenth floor behaved around Sasuke. Everyone had known. Except him.
“Great job, Uzumaki,” Naruto muttered to himself bitterly. “Excellent observational skills.”
Guilt settled heavily in his chest. Because the worst part was that Sasuke hadn’t even gotten angry. He had apologized back.
Naruto nearly hit his head against the desk again. At that point, he decided there was only one solution. He needed to apologize properly. And not with panicked bowing and near-death embarrassment.
A real apology.
Which meant, Naruto immediately grabbed his phone and searched:
Basic sign language for beginners.
If he wanted forgiveness, then he needed to put effort into it. That was simply fair.
And Uzumaki Naruto, for all his flaws, had never been half-hearted about the things he truly wanted.
Two weeks passed since then.
During that time, Naruto studied sign language with terrifying dedication. He watched videos during lunch breaks, practiced gestures at home, and nearly gave one of his supervisors a heart attack after absentmindedly signing “thank you” instead of answering verbally during a meeting.
He was learning quickly. Not fluently, obviously. But enough for simple communication.
Enough for an honest apology.
That alone made Naruto oddly motivated.
By Friday afternoon, he finally decided he was ready. So naturally, he ambushed Uchiha Sasuke in the company parking lot.
The executive had just exited the building and was about to enter a sleek black car waiting near the curb, that’s when Naruto suddenly appeared beside him and grabbed his arm.
Sasuke visibly startled. Naruto immediately released him.
“Sorry! Sorry!”
The apology came out too fast. Naruto mentally cursed himself before taking a deep breath and bowing properly.
When he straightened, their eyes met briefly, and Naruto felt his face heat for absolutely no reason. He coughed awkwardly.
Then began signing. Slowly. Carefully.
Every movement had been practiced dozens of times in front of his bathroom mirror.
“I’m sorry… for before,” Naruto said aloud while signing at the same time. “I spoke badly to you without understanding anything. I was ignorant and rude.”
His fingers nearly fumbled halfway through rude, but he survived.
Barely.
“If… you can forgive me…” Naruto continued with determination, “please accept my dinner invitation!”
He finished the sentence with the confidence of a man presenting a business merger. Then immediately waited in terror.
Sasuke blinked at him. Once. Twice.
Then his hands moved quickly in response. Naruto panicked.
“WAIT.”
He hurriedly pulled out his phone and typed rapidly before showing the screen to Sasuke.
‘I don’t actually know sign language well. I only learned enough to apologize!’
For a second, Sasuke simply stared at the message.
Then he laughed. Not loudly. Just a soft chuckle escaping him unexpectedly.
But Naruto genuinely felt like the entire parking lot brightened.
Oh.
Oh no.
That smiling face was dangerous!
The faint pink dusting his cheeks, the slight crinkle near his eyes, the quiet soundless laugh— Naruto felt the butterflies return to life inside his stomach immediately.
Possibly stronger than before.
He stood there completely mesmerized while Sasuke typed something into his phone. Then he held the screen up.
‘It’s alright. I accept your apology. You don’t need to take me anywhere.’
Naruto read the message and shook his head immediately. He typed back with alarming speed.
‘No. I’m taking you out. This is mandatory!’
Then after a second:
‘If you refuse, I’ll think you haven’t truly forgiven me.’
Sasuke read the text. Looked up at Naruto then smiled. Naruto’s soul nearly left his body.
‘You’re stubborn,’ Sasuke typed.
The blond grinned instantly.
“Yes,” he said proudly, dragging the word out, “I’m extremely stubborn, so if you don’t want me bothering you about this all week—”
Halfway through speaking, Naruto stopped abruptly.
“…Right. Sorry.”
He reached for his phone again, but Sasuke lightly caught his wrist before he could type.
Naruto froze. Sasuke raised his own phone instead.
‘It’s fine. I can read lips if you speak slowly.’
Naruto stared at the screen for a moment then at the source of his giddiness. Something warm spread through his chest unexpectedly.
“Oh,” Naruto said softer this time. “Then… will you go to dinner with me tonight?”
Sasuke thought for a moment before pulling out his schedule.
Naruto watched him check his calendar with terrifying seriousness, as if evaluating an international treaty instead of dinner. Finally, Sasuke typed:
‘I’m free after eight.’
Naruto lit up immediately. “Really?”
Sasuke nodded once.
“Then it’s a date—” Naruto stopped violently, coughing lightly. “Dinner. I meant dinner.”
Sasuke’s shoulders shook slightly again. Laughing. Again.
Naruto was beginning to suspect this man was trying to kill him.
Trying to maintain dignity, Naruto quickly continued, “I’ll text you the location. Ah—can I get your contact information?”
Sasuke pulled up his QR code without hesitation and held out his phone. Naruto scanned it immediately. The friend request was accepted almost at once.
Naruto stared at the new contact with satisfaction. Mission accomplished.
Honestly… wasn’t Uchiha Sasuke a little too defenceless?
The thought slipped through Naruto’s head naturally.
A beautiful executive giving his contact information to someone who had literally yelled at him a week ago seemed medically concerning.
Sasuke typed again.
‘Your name is Uzumaki Naruto-san, correct?’
Naruto smiled brightly. Correcting the Kanji Sasuke used for his name.
‘Yep! You can call me Naruto!’
Sasuke’s reply came almost instantly.
‘I’ll call you Uzumaki-san.’
Naruto laughed softly at the firm boundary. Honestly, if Sasuke had agreed to first-name basis immediately, Naruto would’ve become suspicious enough to lose sleep.
This felt better. More real.
Before entering his car, Sasuke signed goodbye. Naruto recognized the gesture immediately now and returned it proudly.
The executive blinked in mild surprise before giving a small nod. Then the car door closed.
Naruto stood there in the warm afternoon air, watching the expensive black vehicle disappear down the road. And strangely enough, the parking lot suddenly felt a little empty afterward.
Hello, everyone! How have you been? This is my first fic about disability. I hope you can ride this ride with me. It will be a heartwarming, gentle and challenging fic. I guarantee tears lol. Thank you for reading!