Hi there!

Happy new year, everyone! So, here's another one shot ^^
I wrote it very quickly as it's my new year one shot, so forgive me for grammar mistakes ^^
Enjoy!

New year fears

A loud bang was heard on the streets and Naruto flinched a bit. He calmed in mere seconds though and went back to reading the novel on his lap. He wasn't really reading it and he knew it. He sighed softly and put the novel away. Slowly, he walked towards the window and looked outside. There were a lot of people outside and they were all cheerful.

A lot of children were chasing each other and playing with fireworks, which caused some adults to scold them and one grown up man yelled at the children 'It's too damn early for those things!'

It was December the 31st. The blond stared at the clock and frowned. Half past nine. Time was passing by way too slow for his liking.

He looked out of the window again and couldn't help but feel a slight pang in his chest. All the lights in the house were turned off except for the small goblet lamp he'd only turned on when he started to read. No matter how loud the bangs were outside, no matter how much laughter was heard outside, inside of the house it was unbearably silent.

He was all alone as he was always at this time of the year. New Year 's Eve. He loathed it with a passion ever since he was a small child. He remembers lying in his bed in his tiny apartment crying, years ago. He had always been terrified of the awful sounds the fireworks produced. He would cry all night long and he wouldn't be able to fall asleep because of the loud bangs and he had no one to go to for comfort.

It was different now. He was twenty one now. He was a young man now. The village saw him as a hero for everything he had done and rumors of Uzumaki Naruto becoming the next Hokage were going on for quite some time now.
If he'd go out on the streets now, he would be greeted by everyone and many would invite him to celebrate the new year with them. His own friends were having a private party in a few hours, they all expected him to be there, but he wasn't going to.

An exceptionally loud bang was heard outside and he cringed at the awful sound. That was why he wasn't going outside and why he refused to go the party.
It wasn't that he was terrified of fireworks…Well not too much anyway…

Okay, so maybe he was. But he wouldn't admit it and he didn't want to talk about it anyway. Hearing the loud bangs made him feel alone, it reminded him of the old days, it reminded him of sleepless nights full of tears.

For years since he had become a shinobi he had been able to avoid being in the village at this time of the year. During his time with Jiraiya, the old man would get drunk and he would slip away as far as possible from whatever village they were staying so he could spend the time in a quiet place.

The years after that he would request a mission, about a week before the new year. And he played it smart, he only requested missions he knew would take a few weeks, just to avoid the event.

He knew that Tsunade had always suspected something, but he didn't care as she gave him missions anyway. This year was different however. Tsunade refused to him any missions. "I'm not letting you avoid New Year this time, Naruto."

He had been shocked by her words and by the fact that she refused to give him any missions. He'd been angry at her and right before he snapped at her Ino barged in, happily announcing that she was going to throw a New Year's party at her house and that both of them had to be there. Tsunade had smiled and stated that they were defiantly going to be there as she didn't have anything to do and "luckily Naruto doesn't have a mission this year, right brat?"

He had left her office, unable to tell Ino that he wasn't going to show his face at her party. But now here he was all alone in his house. Sasuke wasn't even home. What angered Naruto the most was the fact that while Tsunade refused to him any missions, she had given Sasuke a mission he wasn't even allowed to refuse. But he would be back before New Year's Eve, or so Tsunade had stated.

Naruto however found himself sulking in their house, as his boyfriend wasn't even here to comfort him. Not that Sasuke knew of his tiny, little fear of fireworks anyway.

He sighed again, shot one last look outside and left for the bedroom. There weren't many bangs to be heard since it wasn't midnight yet, so he was just going to try and sleep. He hoped he could sleep through this whole event.

A tall figure entered the house with a scowl on his face. He turned the lights on and carefully looked around in the house. Naruto was home, he could feel his presence. He quietly walked towards the bedroom while he was frowning. His frown was replaced by a light look of shock, though, when he saw his blond boyfriend in a deep sleep in their bed. He carefully sat on their bed while studying the blond's face. Naruto didn't really look comfortable in his sleep and while Sasuke softly stroked his soft blond locks, he wondered why his boyfriend was sleeping.

He'd just finished his mission and on his way to the old hag he spotted a concerned Itachi. His brother's words had been playing in his head the whole time, in the hag's office and on his way home. "Naruto's nowhere to be seen. Kiba-kun and Chouji-kun visited him home, but nobody answered the door, while Kiba-kun is absolutely sure that he could sense Naruto-kun inside."

Sasuke looked at the clock on the wall, it was half past ten. Ino's party had already started, so he didn't understand why his boyfriend wasn't over there. The whole gang was invited and he had been sure that they were going there too.

He pressed a light kiss to Naruto's temple and lightly shook his boyfriend. "Naruto, baby, wake up."
His boyfriend shifted a little bit, "Naruto", he called again.
A pair of beautiful but sleepy eyes slowly opened. Naruto blinked up to him, a bit confused. "Hmm, Sasuke?"

Sasuke pressed a light kiss to Naruto's lips. "Wake up, what are you doing in bed, anyways?"
Naruto stretched himself and frowned at him. "I was enjoying my sleep", he said and Sasuke could hear the annoyance in his voice. Before he could open his mouth to speak, a soft pair of lips landed on his and his arms automatically wrapped around the blond. "Hmm..welcome home", Naruto whispered against his lips. He made a small sound of appreciation and deepened the kiss. God, he had missed those lips, even though he had just been away for a few days.

"Why were you sleeping? You're supposed to be at Ino's party", he asked while he was in the kitchen making tea for his still sleepy boyfriend. Naruto was sitting on a chair by the table and merely shrugged at Sasuke's question.

"Naruto." Naruto looked up this time, at the warning tone his boyfriend addressed him with. "I'm not going", he said. He ignored Sasuke's baffled expression as he put down a cup of steaming tea in front of him. He mumbled a small "thank you" and held the cup with both hands, warming them.

"Baby, what's wrong with you?" Naruto meekly looked up at his boyfriend. He knew Sasuke wasn't too happy with his distant behavior and he was starting to feel a little bit guilty.

Naruto huffed his cheeks a bit and walked away from the kitchen. He slumped on their couch and answered his boyfriend "nothing's wrong, 'Suke, nothing's wrong. I just don't feel like going to the party, that's all."

"Stop lying to me, Naruto." Naruto's eyes widened. When the hell did Sasuke-teme get here so fast? Then he realized what Sasuke had just said to him and right when he wanted to open his mouth to snap at his boyfriend loud bangs were heard, followed by a huge amount of light and Naruto couldn't help but cringe and try to hide himself in the couch.

His heart was beating a little bit too fast and when he opened his eyes- wait, when had he closed them?- he was looking into Sasuke's blank face. "You're afraid?", he gently asked. It annoyed Naruto, he hadn't wanted Sasuke to know and he defiantly didn't want Sasuke to ask him in such a gentle way. He wasn't a little child anymore and he wasn't weak. "No, I'm not", he snapped turning stormy blue eyes to his boyfriend, who didn't seem convinced. "Nar-", he started, but he was cut off by a loud bang and his boyfriend once again cowered on the couch.

He didn't hesitate then. He sat down next to the blond and wrapped his strong arms around him. Naruto let out a shaky breath. "I…I don't want to go outside, Sasuke", he said softly. A soft kiss was pressed against his temple as he heard his boyfriend sigh. "Why didn't you tell me? Is this why you're never in the village around this time of the year?" Naruto cast his eyes down, but nodded anyway.

Sasuke sighed again. "I guess this is why that old hag told me to drag you to Ino's party." Naruto's head shot up at those words and he was looking into angry blue eyes that were just screaming that he refused to go anywhere outside the house. "We could stay here, Naruto, but I know that if we don't go now, it won't be too long before they'll be moving the party here on the hag's orders."

Naruto sighed and frowned. "But, I don't like fireworks, they…they remind me of the old days. I was always afraid of them and nobody was…" His voice trailed off and he turned his head to the wall, refusing to face Sasuke. His boyfriend however made him face him anyway and gave him a deep kiss. He hugged the blond tighter and Naruto was trying to ignore the butterflies he felt. "But you're not alone now, I won't let you get hurt", Sasuke whispered softly. "It won't hurt you and we'll stay at a distant when the rest go outside to watch the fireworks, okay? We can even stay inside the house, if you like, I won't let you get hurt either way." He kissed Naruto again and this time the blond responded more enthusiastically.

He heard the blond sigh, but somehow he already knew he had won. "Fine", his boyfriend said with a small scowl. Sasuke kissed him again. "Smile, beauty, I hate seeing you unhappy." Naruto pulled him into a deep kiss this time and gave him a dazzling smile this time.

They heard loud music and laughter from inside of the house and Sasuke vaguely wondered if there were any drunk people yet and just how many had Ino invited over?

The door was opened abruptly shocking both of them. "You two! You're awfully late!" Ino's loud voice was nearly making his ears bleed but he didn't bother looking apologetic. That was Naruto's job, not his.

Naruto, who was standing next to him, smiled apologetically at her. "Sorry, Ino", he cutely said and the blonde girls angry expression disappeared at seeing her friend looking so cute in front of her. "Well, it's okay, we were just worried about you guys. What are you waiting for, come inside!"
Sasuke had to resist the urge to roll her eyes at her sudden mood change but did so anyway. He didn't want Naruto nagging at his head for making their friend angry after all.

They were greeted enthusiastically when they walked inside, Kiba immediately latching himself on Naruto, yelling at him for not answering the door. Sasuke smiled lightly when Naruto threw the dog boy on the couch a bit too hard.

"Sadist", somebody whispered in his ear. He turned to smile to his brother before giving him a hug.
"I have no idea what you're talking about, aniki", he said with a sly smile.

They were all happily chatting away in Ino's living room, the dance music playing on a much more tolerable volume now. To Sasuke's surprise, Ino hadn't invited half the village as he had expected. The only ones present were the former rookie nine, team Gai, Sai, Itachi, Kisame, the old hag, Shizune, Iruka and Kakashi. But then again Kiba made enough noise for half of the village anyway.

Naruto was happily chatting away with Iruka while he, much to his dismay was sitting between Itachi and, he nearly winced, Sai. He still didn't like his smiling look-a-like. And he didn't like that knowing smirk that blue shark look-a-like was giving him. Why in the world had his brother befriended him? He grimaced. He knew why. He remembers the time when he was sixteen and awfully foolish. When he was a revenge-obsessed, angsty teenagers wanting to kill the loving brother that was sitting next to him with a content smile. He remembers their 'final battle', which turned out, hadn't killed Itachi yet. But he remembers the pain he felt when Madara told him the truth about Itachi and the massacre. He remembers getting lost in the darkness, becoming a part of Akatsuki, he remembers working together with the man that hid the fact that his brother was still alive, he remembers working together with the man that was chasing the boy that was his lover now.

And he remembers that goddamn war, remembers finally opening his eyes and in the middle of the war he was fighting alongside Konoha to defeat Uchiha Madara. He remembers fighting alongside Naruto. Both of them had nearly died and hadn't it been for Itachi and Kisame showing up they would have been killed for sure. Uchiha Itachi had been a precious friend in Hoshigaki Kisame's eyes and for people who were precious to him, he would do anything. So Kisame saved Itachi from death and helped him escape from the awful place Madara had locked him up. He'd patched Itachi up a bit and they were just in time to save Naruto and Sasuke.

Though even after they had defeated Madara it wasn't a time of happiness and joy. Itachi had collapsed and the months he'd spent unconscious in the hospital had been hell for Sasuke. But eventually Itachi had recovered and so had his bond with Naruto. Kisame had been removed from the list of missing shinobi even though he wasn't allowed in his home country, Tsunade had offered him a place to stay in Konoha.

A familiar hand on his shoulder shook him out of his depressing thoughts. He blinked and looked to his left side where Itachi was looking at him with concern. "Are you alright?" He blinked again and a smile crept up his face. "I'm fine."

He felt content when Itachi smiled back at him.

"Okay, get up everyone! We're going outside with the fireworks!" Sakura's loud, but cheerful voice got everyone's attention and most of them laughed at the admiring way Lee watched her. She did sort of resemble him at the moment with her enthusiasm, but they were smart enough not to tell her that.

Sasuke's eyes however shifted to his boyfriend, who had an insecure look on his face all of a sudden. "Ne, Hinata, come on. Get up, there's no need to be afraid, you know!" Kiba's loud voice (what the hell is up with all these loud people, anyway?) drew everyone's attention. "Aww, come on Hinata-chan, you'll be fine", Ino told her reassuringly.

Hinata blushed from all the attention she received and got up slowly. "Hey Naruto, come on, give her a nice pep talk, you're good at that!" Kiba turned to the blond with a huge grin and the longer Kiba stared at him, the more embarrassed Naruto became. "Umm…well…ehhhh…", the blond stuttered.

"Wait, you're afraid of fireworks as well, are you?" Neji stiffly asked. Naruto looked down with a red face, "no, I'm not" , he mumbled. Sasuke embraced Naruto with one arm, "Let's just go outside already", he annoydly said in his lovers defence. Neji turned his head to the side with a – wait, what the hell, was that a pout? What was up with Hyuuga?

"Ne, Neji, why don't you just tell them that you're afraid as well, remember last year, we had to force you-" "Tenten!", Neji angrily interrupted her while he glared at the laughing Kiba. "I am not afraid! I merely think that it's a waste of time
and-"

"Okay, enough excuses, everyone! It doesn't matter if you're afraid or not! It's nearly midnight! We're going outside right now and we're going to have fun, you got that?" Tsunade's demanding voice made them all straighten up as if they were preparing for a mission.

She forced them all outside and most of them were standing in front of Ino's house while Kiba, Chouji and Kakashi were preparing the fireworks.

Sasuke hugged Naruto closer and then managed to notice that somehow, they were standing with Hinata and Neji next to them as well. It made him feel as if everyone who was afraid were all gathering in a special corner, which was as far away from the fireworks as possible.
"See, baby, you're not the only one", he whispered in his lover's ear. "And you're not alone, either." He gave Naruto's ear shell a loving kiss. Naruto turned to him smiling. He nodded while looking at the fireworks a bit hesitantly. Sasuke hugged him tighter and when Naruto gave him another dazzling smile he just had to capture those soft lips with his own. They were sharing a nice, loving kiss until "Hey lovebirds! Stop having sex with your mouths and pay attention, it's the last minute, man!"
Damn that Kiba.
They all laughed however as Naruto and Sasuke both turned to the rest, looking annoyed.

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1!"

It was a beautiful lightshow and while everybody else were hugging each other and wishing everyone a happy new year, Sasuke held Naruto tightly in his arms. "H-happy new year" , Naruto stuttered. "Happy new year, baby", was his response before he captured those pink link once more.

Owari

Okay, so I hope you enjoyed and please let me know what you think of it!

Happy new year, everyone!