A/N: Hey there!

You, this idea's been cooking up inside my head for a long time already. I already thought it lost, but then it resurfaced with quite a bit of force this morning and now I can't hold myself back any longer. (grins sheepishly) This was born remarkably fast, too – be that a good or a bad thing… (sweatdrops)

WARNINGS: YAOI, general oddness, shortness, etc…

Awkay, because I see no point in further stalling, let's get to the business. (rubs hands together) I REALLY hope you'll like this one!

Five Minutes, Thirty Seconds

Twenty-two years old Naruto Uzumaki cussed colorfully and rubbed his head when the sound of his cell-phone managed to startle him so badly that he straightened his form too abruptly, hitting his head to a kitchen cabinet. His features, however, melted to a smile when he noticed who the caller was.

He responded eagerly, not even noticing the ache in his head anymore. " Hey. I thought you wouldn't call today – you sounded so busy yesterday."

He could sense the other's shrug. " I managed to snatch a minute."

Just then Shikamaru – who'd come over to keep him company – emerged from the bathroom and glanced his way. " Is it Sasuke?" the man mouthed rather impassively.

He nodded a bit more excitedly than he'd meant to. " Yup." He then focused on Sasuke. " Shikamaru says 'hi."

The brunette merely rolled his eyes while flopping to a couch.

As he'd expected, " Hmph" was Sasuke's response. It took a moment before there was more. " I just… called to tell that I won't be able to take that two o'clock flight."

He swallowed thickly, feeling a lump in his throat. His smile disappeared in an instant. " Oh."

Sasuke had been away on a business trip for two weeks already, and in all honesty he'd crawled through that time – endured the insanely quiet house – with counting days to this one, when he'd finally get his fiancé home and they could…

" Don't sound like that." There was a sigh. " I wish I was home, too."

He frowned. " Is everything okay?"

" Yeah." Sasuke's voice was perfectly normal. " Let's just say that Paris isn't the same without you along."

He grinned once more, managing to forget some of his disappointment. " Remember that the next time you complain about me constantly whining you to drag me everywhere." He then came to think of something. " Look… I've been thinking about that proposition of yours. You know, about the bigger house."

" You have?" Sasuke sounded mildly surprised.

He nodded, disregarding the fact that it couldn't be seen. " Yeah." His grin widened just a little bit. " I think we should go for it."

" I thought you loved your house too much to give up on it."

He shrugged. " I do. But… It's just a dump house, you know?" He could tell his eyes turned softer. " If we want to have a real family, we'll need room for the kids."

He could imagine a smile on Sasuke's face, although it was a rare sight. " A couple of kids would be nice."

He couldn't help smiling. It still felt surreal to imagine Sasuke – the king of badasses – dreaming of having a family. " What do you say about Africa? I bet a lot of kids out there would like to have us as parents."

Sasuke snorted. " That's because they couldn't possibly even imagine what they'd be getting into, dobe." There was a pause. " I have to go – my battery's running low."

He took a deep breath. The disappointment from before returned and magnified tenfold, making his stomach hurt. " 'K. Just…" He swallowed thickly. " Call again soon, okay?"

" I will." There was a moment's pause. " Remember to take Pakkun out before it destroys the entire house. And feed it – I doubt Kakashi would like to find his dog starved to death."

He rolled his eyes. " Yeah, yeah. Give me a little fate, will you?" He then came to think of something. " Bring me some chocolate when you come home. You owe me that much for making me wait this long."

There was something he detected as a sound of amusement or irritation. " I'll see what I can do." The raven held a tiny pause. " I love you."

His eyes widened with utter stun. Never, ever before had Sasuke spoken those words without being pressured. Soon enough a huge smile took over. " 'Love you too. Now hurry up and come home. I miss you already."

Quite vaguely he wondered what the beat's pause that followed meant. " 'Bye, dobe." With that Sasuke hung up.

Shikamaru chuckled a bit when he put away his phone, which made him arch a questioning eyebrow. " What?"

The brunette shook his head. " You two are absolutely hopeless."

He blushed, then ­– despite knowing full well how childish it was – stuck out his tongue. " Oh shut it, or I won't give you any food", he commanded while starting to chop some vegetables.

While putting away his phone Sasuke took some deep breaths, wishing they wouldn't have shuddered. For some reason his eyes locked to noticing that the phone call had lasted five minutes and thirty seconds.

Odd. It'd felt a lot shorter.

" Was it a worthy final request?"

He didn't reward that question with even a glance.

His muscles stiffened when he felt cold steel against his forehead. " If it offers you any consolation, I'll make this quick."

He closed his eyes and grit his teeth.

He was fortunate enough to be spared from having to hear the gunshot.

Some seconds later Naruto first shivered when feeling a stab he couldn't understand, then snarled lowly when feeling pain in his hand and discovered that he'd managed to make a rather long cut across his palm with a kitchen knife.

Great…

Sasuke loved teasing him about his clumsiness. The raven would be amused when coming home and seeing the newest piece of evidence.

" You okay?" Shikamaru's voice reached out for him.

He nodded and winced when trying to stop the bleeding. " Yeah."

His eyes then strayed to the TV-screen, at what the brunette had been watching. It was a special news report.

" In Paris, a hostage situation in a mall has just claimed one victim. A gunshot has been heard, and it's been confirmed that one of the hostages has been killed…"

He shivered. If he hadn't just spoken to Sasuke he might've feared…

He wrinkled his nose. " Turn it off, will you? You know I hate those things." He then looked towards his hand, only to discover that the bleeding wouldn't stop. " Then make yourself useful and bring me a bandage before I bleed to death."

In the fuss that appeared – with Shikamaru eventually starting to take him to emergency duty to have his hand stitched – they forgot his cell-phone. Therefore no one was responding when it snapped to life about an hour later.

Owari.

A/N: (sniffs) Poor things! It looks like they rarely get a happy ending in my ficcies. (sniffs again, then blows a nose)

So, what do you say? Was it any good, or should I put it out of its misery?

PLEASE, do review! Awww, c'mon, I KNOW you want to click that adorable button. (gives irresistible puppy-dog eyes)

I think that's pretty much all for now, so I'm tuning out.

Thank you so much for reading!

Peace out!