Fighting Thaw
Disclaimer: The works of Naruto do not belong to me. If they did, those sweet little moments between Naruto and Sasuke would have a hell of a lot more to them. Meh.
Sasuke had developed a habit of running away. The first time, when he was twelve and went to Orochimaru to gain power, had put people on edge; there was talk of banishment but because he was the last Uchiha, he was merely given a severe warning. Thoroughly chastised by Naruto and others, he settled down, at least visibly. Two years later, however, he was gone again, vanished without a word to anybody. The fifth hokage was understandably irked by the lack of prior notice and at fourteen, Uchiha Sasuke was an inchworm's tail from being pronounced missing-nin.
But if Sasuke had a habit of running away, Naruto had developed one of finding him and dragging him back. After obtaining permission to search for the missing boy (mostly through yelling loud and long enough that Tsunade was hoping he would not come back either), Naruto left Konoha on his first solo mission. Three weeks later he returned with the wayward Uchiha bound and glaring, slung over his shoulder while the blonde hollered about all the ramen he was owed for dragging the bastard genius back again. It was an event talked about among Konohagure's villagers and shinobi alike for weeks, but as the two boys had rarely been out of gossip's reach, it was quickly filed away as just another strange event.
Besides, Sasuke's repeated disappearance less than three weeks later eclipsed it.
Eventually the sight of the whiskered boy stomping into town with a sullenly glaring Uchiha in tow became a norm, and even the fifth hokage grew tired of her threats to disown the black-eyed boy. If he had a penchant for disappearing, at least he had never shown signs of betrayal after that first time. And if Naruto sometimes disappeared along with him, then at least they were always back in time for their missions.
Two more years passed in this pattern, changing only in the fact that eventually Naruto joined the silent shinobi more often than he was left behind. On the day the pattern broke, no one but Naruto was able to say why.
Loud pounding scattered birds and midwinter quiet alike.
"Teme! Get your butt out here; you're even later than Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto slammed his hand against the front doorway of the Uchiha residence again and felt the wood vibrate against his palm. Snow sprinkled warningly down from the eaves onto his head and shoulders. "What, did'ja sleep in late or something?"
Only silence answered his calls and as he let his hand slide reluctantly downward, someone spoke in an annoyed voice behind him.
"Well if he was asleep before, he sure isn't now." Naruto looked over his shoulder at Sakura, who stood behind him with her hands cupped before her lips in an effort to warm them.
"That was the point," he told her, and slammed his hand against the wood again for emphasis. He shivered as more snow dusted his hair and cheeks. "If the lazy bastard's gonna make us wait for four hours when it's about a zillion below zero out, then I'm gonna make sure he regrets it! Even he," he jabbed his thumb at Kakashi, who stood a few steps behind Sakura staring absently at the surrounding trees, "only ever makes us wait three hours."
"Maybe he left early for training," Sakura suggested crossly. "Maybe he lost track of time."
Naruto rolled his eyes and turned back to the door, feeling a twinge of unease deep in his stomach. "Sasuke never loses track of time," he muttered, then gave the door one last kick for good measure. He danced out of the way as a large lump of snow plopped down where he had been standing and leapt away from the front entrance, following the wall around towards the back along a path he had traveled numerous times before. Vaguely aware that his teammate and teacher were following behind, he stopped at a specific tree which grew inordinately close to the wall of the house. Without a word he clambered up its trunk and onto a branch that stretched out towards the house, towards a small closed window.
With the ease of having performed the maneuver hundreds of times before, he leaned out, slipped a kunai out of his leg pouch, and slid it between the pane and sill. He made quick work of the latch that kept the window shut and shimmied inside, coming out into a small bathroom. Naruto smirked as he remembered the first time he had entered this way, and grinned when he remembered the first time he had done it with Sasuke still actually in the house. He'd nearly had a toothbrush shoved through his eye socket by the startled dark haired boy when he'd dropped through the curtains with a loud 'boo!', but it had been worth the toothpaste in his eye to see Sasuke brandishing a bright blue toothbrush like a kunai and frothing bubbles at the mouth.
The bathroom was empty now and he crossed through it quickly to the bedroom beyond, leaving space for Kakashi and Sakura to drop in behind him. The bedroom was just as empty; a few knickknacks and clothing scattered the floor, but the bed was made and obviously had been for some time. Sasuke hadn't slept in late.
"Damn it, Sasuke, where the hell are you?" he whispered to the silent room. A quick search of the rest of the house showed the other boy was nowhere to be found and the three remaining members of the team soon found themselves once again in the abandoned bedroom. While Naruto ranted about irresponsible bastards, Kakashi wandered over to the small, cluttered desk that stood in one corner. He picked up a piece of paper that sat atop the pile and read its contents, his one visible eye first narrowing slightly, then crinkling into a halfmoon as he turned back towards his students, holding the paper up.
"Naruto-kun, come here for a second," he said, cutting through the blonde boy's increasingly vehement rant. Naruto stomped across the room and snatched the paper from Kakashi's hand, scowling and squinting as he read it. Sakura peered over his shoulder curiously and read the typewriter-neat words aloud.
"I don't know why I wrote you this,
Do I think that you will miss
The tepid smirk, the stilted grace?
The arms that still your awkward embrace?
Maybe I thought you'd understand
The ice that limns my heart and hands.
I thought that we might be the same
That revenge might run within your veins.
But when you see their disgusted glares
You smile and say that you don't care.
How you manage, I don't know;
You should have cracked so long ago.
It should have stolen you, like me
Not melt within your fires and heat.
So that's why I write this, why I run;
You threaten my winter with your sun."
An awkward silence followed the stop of her voice as Naruto continued to squint at the paper. Then suddenly, he burst out into raucous laughter, dropping to the floor and rolling around as he held his hands to his stomach helplessly. Sakura stared at him wide-eyed. Kakashi pulled Icha Icha Paradise from his vest and began to read.
"Why are you laughing?" the pink haired girl finally managed to get out over his laughter.
"Mou," he managed to gasp breathlessly. "Sasuke sucks at poetry! I could do better than this." He began rereading the poem in a funny voice but only got a few lines in before laughter stopped him. "Priceless," he wheezed jovially.
Sakura scowled at the blue-eyed boy and slapped him upside the head in irritation, taking the paper from him. "Baka, don't you realize what he's saying in that poem?" she demanded. Naruto rubbed the back of his head sullenly and frowned.
"Not a clue," he admitted easily enough. "'cept that he's left again," His countenance darkened. "without me."
Sakura threw him a dirty look. "It's about you, you idiot," she snapped, crumpling the paper and bouncing it off his forehead. Naruto blinked. He leapt to his feet and snatched the paper ball off the floor.
"No way," he said incredulously, staring at the paper as if it had suddenly turned purple and emitted a funky smell. "How d'you figure?" He turned the paper and his head sideways as if that would help him to see what she was seeing.
Sakura rolled her eyes at her partner's antics. "When you see their disgusted glares, you smile and say that you don't care," she repeated back to him. "Really, who else do you think it would be?" Naruto turned a surprised stare on her before looking back at the paper in his hands with an inscrutable expression.
"It sounds rather like a love poem, ne?" Kakashi commented blandly from his corner, not bothering to look up from his book. Naruto blushed the color of raspberry stains from the roots of his hair to the collar of his shirt.
"You pervert!" he screeched, pointing a finger at his teacher. "We're two boys! That's gross! And besides how would that even work?" Kakashi glanced up briefly with a raised eyebrow.
"Well, first you have to decide which one is seme and which one is uke..." he began, but was distracted by Sakura's faint 'eep' and slightly louder plop to the ground. "Sakura-chan, are you alright?"
Naruto stared from his teacher to his team mate in confusion before shaking his head and scowling again. "Kuso," he growled, balling his hands angrily. "If he thinks he can start this shit again..." he trailed off and spun on his heel, stomping out of the room. Kakashi glanced up from where he was fanning a brightly blushing Sakura with his book.
"Where are you going?" he called after the angry shinobi.
"To drag his stupid ass back here!" was the resounding reply, followed by the slam of the front door. Kakashi smiled under his mask and shook his head lightly.
"D...do you really think Sasuke...that that poem was...I mean..." Sakura fumbled quietly a few minutes later, "do you think it was really a love poem? That Sasuke-kun would want to do that with Naruto?"
Kakashi tapped his forefinger to his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm," he hummed mysteriously. "Well, he seems more like the seme sort," he said finally, "although he does have 'uke' in his name..." Sakura eeped again and with a sigh, Kakashi returned to fanning his remaining student.
Naruto stomped all the way through Konoha and outside its walls, not even bothering to stop at Tsunade-baba's office. Sasuke had been pulling these stunts for more than four years now; Naruto had long since stopped reporting each time he went missing and the hokage had long since stopped caring. Instead he plunged immediately into the forest, traveling for about a mile before stopping on a particularly thick tree branch to concentrate.
Folding his fingers into the standard beginning jutsu position, he pulled his chakra to the surface and released it with a loud "Kai!" Keeping a thin strand attached to himself, he waited until he felt the energy responding to a familiar source of chakra several miles ahead and to the west. Dispelling the strand, he turned in the direction of the energy aura he had felt and leapt off the branch, muttering angrily to himself.
Naruto found his mind wandering as he tracked the power source he knew was Sasuke, stopping occasionally to reorient himself as to the other boy's whereabouts. He had done this so many times in the past that it had become rote by now. He was one of the best trackers among his year mates because of Sasuke, a talent he solidly refused to acknowledge the other boy for.
His wandering mind stuttered to a halt on thoughts of the poem crumpled hastily into the pocket of his jacket. His body slowed to a halt as well, following his mind's example., Then he shoved the thoughts from his mind violently. To distract himself, he let out another pulse of energy and let out a surprised, half muffled yelp when it came back to him almost immediately. Naruto's eyes snapped open and he glanced down and to the left. Sasuke sat on a small boulder in the middle of a snow-laden clearing, back to Naruto. Most of the snow had been trampled into a muddy mess and Naruto's eyes picked up specks of dirt on Sasuke's bare legs and the bottoms of his shorts. Rapid puffs of foggy breath indicated he had only recently halted his activity.
"Ninjas are supposed to be quiet, dobe," said the still figure in the middle of the clearing. Naruto narrowed his eyes and jumped down from his tree branch. Slush squelched under his feet as he landed, sending up a fine spray.
"Oh shut up," he snapped. "Why should I be quiet if I'm not trying to surprise you?" Naruto stalked up to him, but Sasuke still didn't turn around. The lack of acknowledgement stung. "Turn around and look at me, you bastard! Unless you're too scared..." He reached out to shove the other boy's shoulder. Sasuke grabbed his wrist, flicking it away before it made contact. Slowly, he turned his head to look at the loudmouthed ninja behind him, smirk firmly in place on his lips.
"Like I would ever be scared of you."
Naruto glared furiously and stuck out his tongue. "You should be, 'cause I'm gonna rip you apart!" he yelled loudly. "You left without me!" He punctuated the statement with a punch to the face. Sasuke ducked swiftly.
"You noticed," he quipped drolly, then rolled fluidly off the rock to avoid meeting Naruto's fast approaching foot. "Then why'd you follow me?"
A low growl reverberated in the back of Naruto's throat as he attacked the dark-haired shinobi. "Because--" punch "--you promised--" kick "—not to leave--" Sasuke caught the arm coming at him and pinned the blonde neatly between a tree and his own body, "—me behind. Let go of me!"
Naruto felt Sasuke's bangs brush against the back of his head as the other boy shook his head. "No."
Naruto growled and twisted violently, needing to breaking free even at the risk of his own arm. He felt something pop as he knocked Sasuke backwards and pain flared from his elbow. He ignored it in favor of facing his opponent, knowing that it would heal quickly because of the Kyuubi's influence. Sasuke, still unaware of the kitsune's presence however, was glancing down at the dislocated elbow with something akin to annoyance and concern. "You idiot," he barked, mouth down-turned into a grim frown. "You hurt yourself just to get away? Stupid." He reached forward and, before Naruto could move away, snapped the wronged appendage back into place. Naruto yelped, unable to ignore the sudden double flare of heat and pain as the bones grated together.
"Itai! Bastard! And it's not stupid. You've done it plenty of times before, I know you have." He rubbed the elbow gingerly. Sasuke shrugged, unmoved. "Besides, I wouldn't have hurt it in the first place if you had let go of me."
Sasuke looked away with a 'hnn'. "If I had let go you would have attacked me again," he deadpanned. Naruto scowled.
"You're right," he said, "I would have," and pounced. This time the darker shinobi wasn't prepared and suddenly found himself with a mouthful of muddy snow. Naruto knelt above him, one knee pressed firmly into his lower back and his hands twisting Sasuke's arms up far more sharply than strictly necessary. After the first few seconds of struggle, Sasuke stilled, realizing he was doing more harm to himself than good. "So why'd you leave?" Naruto growled, pressing his knee down harder and leaning forward.
"None of your business," Sasuke managed to gasp out as his ribs were crushed further into the ground. "Now get off!"
Naruto leaned over further and shook his head, letting his spiky bangs brush against Sasuke's neck in a conscious mimicry of the boy's own movements earlier. "Hmm...no," he said lowly, smirking savagely. Sasuke shuddered. "Answer my question."
"Because I don't want you near me!" He exploded, bucking underneath Naruto's grasp. Naruto let go, the words throwing him more than the movement. Sasuke scrambled a few feet away from the sprawled blonde before falling into a defensive crouch.
Naruto snapped a smile over the hurt expression on his face quickly and rubbed the back of head. "Then just tell me to stay away for a couple days, jerk. Or at least tell me that you're leaving for a while."
Sasuke stared at him for a moment, then looked away. His hand clenched spasmodically against the ground, crushing a few ice crystals in his fist. "I don't mean for a few days, Naruto," he said quietly. He looked up again, face a perfect blank mask. "I mean for good."
Naruto gaped at him, this time too confused to hide his emotions. "I...what the hell are you talking about?" Sasuke stood up and gazed coldly down at the other boy. He crossed his arms haughtily.
"What do you think I mean?" he said icily. "For good. Forever. I never want to see you again. Have you got that through your dead-last brain yet, moron?"
"Why?" The question was hurt, desperate, confused. Sasuke bit his lip and turned sideways so he wouldn't have to look at Naruto's expression.
"Because...you're you," he said quietly.
The words sank into the silent, snow-covered clearing. After a few stunned moments, Naruto pushed himself jerkily to his feet. Any grace he might have attained over the last few years had fled, and his voice was gravelly as he spoke.
"Fine," he said, keeping his eyes cast downward. "I'll leave you alone." He turned and slumped towards a random edge of the clearing. Just before he reached the trees, he reached into one pocket and pulled something out. He half turned and chucked it over his shoulder at Sasuke. Sasuke, seeing something white and rounded flying at him, assumed it was a snowball and was thus surprised when something slightly damp but definitely not made of snow bounced off his cheek and onto the ground. "Take that," Naruto said, "It sucked ass anyways." He disappeared.
Sasuke slowly bent down to retrieve the thrown item. Slowly he uncrumpled the ball of paper. The inked words were now smeared from snowdrops, but it was still immediately recognizable. Sasuke's eyes widened and he snapped his head up to look at the trees the other boy had disappeared into. Then he took off, sprinting after him.
Naruto wandered slowly through the tree trunks in what he guessed was vaguely the direction back towards Konoha. His mind in a fog, he didn't see the half hidden foxhole in his path and tripped, slamming to his hands and knees. The snow, which had melted slightly, had refrozen in the night, creating a thin icy crusting that scratched his hands and wrists as they smashed though it into the softer snow underneath. "Ow, "he muttered, and glared back at the foxhole his foot was still tangled in. "Great, everyone hates me, even my own kind." Briefly he considered just staying there, maybe lying down in the snow and letting it slowly sap the life and warmth from his body. The sharp edges of the ice crust bit into the tender skin of his inner wrists and he changed his mind. It wouldn't be a very comfortable way to go. With a large sigh, he pulled his hands from their ice holes and plopped backwards to work on freeing his foot.
Something plowed into him from behind, knocking him forwards again. With an 'oomph', Naruto found himself face first against the snow. He let out a groan, only to hear it in surround sound. The thing on top of him was groaning too. Suddenly, the ice crust gave out from under Naruto's body, dropping him another two or three inches into the snow. At least it gave him enough room to flip over, which he took immediate advantage of and bit back a yelp as he came nose to chin with Sasuke. "Whaa...?" he asked into the dumbfounded silence.
Sasuke opened his eyes, which had been squeezed shut previously, took one look at the boy underneath him and blushed profusely, scrambling upwards. It occurred to Naruto that to blush was either an odd or entirely accurate reaction to the situation, depending on how one mistook it. Considering he was blushing as well, he decided that it must be appropriate. A scowl and shout of indignation would be suitable in said situation as well, and so he set about doing so.
"Teme! What do you think you're doing, bowling into me like that?" He pointed one finger accusingly at the other boy, who blushed further.
"I didn't see you," he muttered, glaring. Naruto stared at him in disbelief.
"Are you blind or something? I mean--" he plucked at his now sodden jacket, "hello? Orange! Kinda hard to miss!" Sasuke glared harder, grinding his teeth.
"It is if the orange is completely covered in snow," he managed to get out through a clenched jaw. Naruto looked down at his sleeve and found it, as Sasuke had said, covered in a thick layer of snow. Thin cracks of orange where his joints creased were all that showed. He smiled sheepishly.
"Oh...well if it hadn't been for you constantly knocking me over, I wouldn't be so covered with it, would I?" His smile disappeared as he remembered their parting words. "Besides unless you're going back to Konoha, you're going the wrong direction. So I'm not gonna say sorry for being in your way." He stood up and turned, lifting his foot to walk away.
Arms wrapped around his knees, the pressure causing him to crumple for what seemed like the millionth time that day back to the ground. "God damn it, Sasuke!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, disturbing some of the snow from the branches above them. He flipped over in Sasuke's none too gently, kicking at the other boy's chest. The dark haired shinobi grunted quietly but didn't let go. "What the hell?"
Sasuke smirked infuriatingly upwards. "Konoha is back that way," he said, jerking his head back towards the clearing. "Dobe." Naruto looked around himself, noticing for the first time that he was in fact going the wrong way. He growled and kicked his captive legs again.
"I knew that," he lied. The look on Sasuke's face proved he didn't believe it for even a moment. "Now let go, so I can get out of you way 'for good'," he said, twisting the last words with bitter emphasis.
"In a minute," Sasuke told him. When Naruto struggled to get up anyways, he took a firmer grasp on his knees and jerked the prone boy towards himself, maneuvering them so he sat atop Naruto's thighs with the smaller boy's hands pinned firmly above his head. He ignored Naruto's shouts of indignation, pressing his face closer so he could be heard over the curses. "You read my poem?" The blonde boy fell quiet, though his sneer still spoke clearly all the things he thought of his teammate.
"Yes," he bit out caustically. Sasuke swallowed hard, trying to force the next question past his rapidly closing throat.
"And? What did you think?"
"I already told you, jackass," Naruto snarled, bucking slightly at his restraints. "It sucked. You can't write poetry for shit, jackass."
Sasuke scowled at the slight to his writing skills and tightened his grip on Naruto's wrists warningly. "I meant about what I was trying to say, asshole. Did you understand?"
Naruto twisted his arms in defiance of the harsher grip and stared up at Sasuke. "Of course not! How the hell am I supposed to understand anything when you're talking about sunshine and ice and stupid shit like that? I'm not a poet, Sasuke. I don't do similes and meta...meta..."
"Metaphors?"
"Whatever. Those things. Okay? So don't write me some stupid ass poem as a goodbye note and expect me to get some deeper meaning out of it."
Sasuke smiled slightly and gave a quietly, snorting laugh through his nose. "Dobe," he said almost affectionately. "I should have known better than to think you'd understand anything even remotely literary." Naruto 'hmph'ed loudly.
"And you call that sappy piece of crap literary?" he muttered. Sasuke scowled, eye twitching.
"My poetry skills aren't the point," he informed the blonde shinobi coldly.
"Then what is?" Naruto shot back quickly. Sasuke opened his mouth as if to answer, then snapped it shut again. With a small sigh, he let his head drop until his forehead settled onto the middle of Naruto's breastplate.
"I'm cold," he said in a muffled, near whisper.
"What?" Naruto asked. Sasuke gritted his teeth and pressed his forehead harder against the boy's chest.
"I said I'm cold," he said in a louder voice.
"Jerk, I'm the one who should be cold, I'm the one lying in snow."
Sasuke glared at the blurred orange cloth beneath his nose before tilting his head up so he could transfer it onto the boy himself. "That wasn't what I meant, moron."
Naruto winced as Sasuke's sharp chin dug into his breastbone, then scrunched his eyes up into half-moons of confusion. "Ano sa...then what did you mean?"
Sasuke sighed and pushed himself up into a sitting position. He let go of Naruto's wrists. "I don't know. Never mind."
Naruto sat up as well, leaning backwards on his hands so as to maintain some distance from the boy still sitting, for all intents and purposes, in his lap. Both boys seemed to come to this realization at the same time and flushed matching shades of red. When Sasuke moved to get off, however, Naruto stopped him. "No. Not never mind! Tell me!"
"No."
"Yes."
"No!"
"Tell me!"
"I'm ! Alright? I can't explain it better than that!"
"Then here," Naruto growled, grabbing Sasuke's arms and jerking him violently forward. "I'll warm you up."
For one long moment, Sasuke relaxed into Naruto's embrace. Then Naruto began roughly chafing his hands up and down Sasuke's arms. With a half sigh, half sound of frustration, Sasuke shoved the hands away. "Stop that," he snapped and stood up. "I told you that's not what I meant." In spite of his words, he wrapped his arms tightly around himself. "Besides, I like being cold."
Naruto frowned and gathered his legs under him. "Well that's the dumbest thing I ever heard. Who actually likes being freezing?"
"I do."
"Then you're dumb. I like spring," Naruto said, not seeming to notice the randomness of his sentences. Sasuke glanced sidelong at him.
"I'd have thought you'd like summer," he muttered. Naruto grinned and shook his head cheerfully.
"Naw, 'cause summer is too hot. You get all sweaty and sticky and can't fall asleep at night. Plus all the mosquitoes are out. But spring, everything's growing and it's not too hot or too cold."
"Hnn." Sasuke turned away. Naruto shifted closer, still thinking hard.
"See? I think it's because summer is so extreme. Winter too. But when you mix them together, things are perfect." Sasuke turned back around, an odd expression on his face.
"And you say you don't understand metaphor," he muttered to himself. Naruto scratched the back of his head, looking confused once again. Sasuke continued in a louder voice. "I like the extreme of winter. I need it." When Naruto continued to look confused, he shook his head and attempted to find the words to explain in more concrete terms. "I have to concentrate on my revenge against Itachi. I can't let anything get in the way of that or I'll always be weak. So the cold works for me. If I stay cold, inside not outside, then nothing will stop me." Sasuke, raised an eyebrow, waiting to see if Naruto finally understood.
Naruto rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I get your whole obsession thing with your brother," he waved a hand dismissively, ignoring Sasuke's affronted look. "But I thought you wanted me to help you train. That's what all our trips away from Konoha have been about – us getting stronger! So what the hell changed?" Sasuke didn't answer or drop his carefully constructed blank mask. Naruto stomped over to the reticent shinobi and grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking him.
"What the hell do I have to do with your brother? What do I have to do with the cold?" He yelled the last question into Sasuke's face.
Sasuke pulled away and dropped. Naruto gaped wide-eyed as Sasuke curled in on himself in front of him, crouching with arms wrapped tightly around his knees and face firmly hidden in them. "Sa...Sasuke?" he stuttered, dropping into his own crouch and placing an awkward hand onto the boy's shoulder. "Sasuke, what...?
The dark haired boy muttered something incomprehensible into his knees. "Hmm?" Naruto hummed, crouching down further towards Sasuke as if to peer into the cave the boy had made for himself. Sasuke lifted his head just enough so his midnight eyes peeked over his forearms, slightly disoriented at the unexpected closeness of the azure eyes in front of him. The dark eyes closed as he lifted his mouth just above his arm barrier. Enunciating his words carefully, he said,
"Because you're my summer, Naruto." He squeezed his eyes shut tighter against the onslaught of something he didn't want to identify. "And I don't think I can handle that." Sasuke dropped his head back down, not wanting to see the devastation his words had wrought.
There was a long pause, during which the mingling of the two boy's breathing was the only sound. Then the hand that was still resting lightly on Sasuke's shoulder twitched, nudged him.
"First off, that was the corniest thing I've ever heard, so stop with the damn poetry already! And secondly," the nudging increased persistently until Sasuke had to either sit up or risk dislocating his shoulder. He glowered resentfully at the boy who was successfully ruining his dramatic moment. Naruto gave him a foxish grin. "I told you. I don't like summer. So let's be spring or something, ne?"
Sasuke stared at the boy opposite him as if he had either said something earth-shattering or had grown a second head. Naruto laughed nervously to cover the sudden silence that followed his words. Slowly, Sasuke smiled, shaking his head ruefully. He reached out and pushed the boy, who overbalanced and fell with a soft plop in the snow. "And you say I'm corny," he quipped. Naruto pouted and threw a bit of snow towards him.
"Shut up, bastard. I'm just trying to use your own meta-thingie."
"Metaphor."
"Yeah, that. What I meant was that this whole winter/summer thing is stupid. I'll help you beat Itachi, and then I'll beat you and we'll all be happy. So don't just leave me behind, okay?" When Sasuke didn't answer, he shoved the dark haired boy pointedly. "Okay?"
Sasuke glanced away for a moment, then back, eyes vulnerable. "What if I can't handle spring either?" he asked bleakly. Naruto stood up, shaking himself much like a wet dog, then shrugged.
"So we'll be fall. Stop thinking so much!" He held out a hand to the boy who still crouched on the ground. Slowly, Sasuke took the hand and allowed himself to be roughly pulled up and dusted off, listening to the muttered complaints and curses with a half smile. Naruto stopped his movements, hands coming to rest just above Sasuke's elbows. "You okay now? 'Cause I'm getting really sick of running after you all the time." Sasuke nodded wordlessly. Naruto grinned and let go of one arm, sliding the other hand down to grasp Sasuke's wrist and drag him forwards as he bounded off. "Good. And Sasuke?"
"Hn?"
"No more cheesy poetry, 'kay?"
"It wasn't that bad!"
"No more!"
"Fine. But Naruto?"
"What now?"
"Konoha is still that way."
Owari.
Author's note: This is a one shot currently, but I am considering writing a slightly more shonen-ai sequel to it, as Naruto and Sasuke decided they wanted to take things slow. Damn them. This is also kind of a prequel to a longer story that has been running around in my head. If I can manage to get off my lazy butt to write it between college class overload and working two jobs... A hint: proddings and reviews do motivate me, so if you'd like to see either the sequel or the longer story, please leave me a note telling me so!
Kae