Words: 550 (NaNo has turned me into a rabid word-counter!)

Disclaimer: Naruto is property of Masashi Kishimoto, Shonen Jump, etc., etc. I claim absolutely nothing except the plot bunny.

Summary: Naruto. Sasuke. Pinball. Naruto waking Sasuke up at three AM by playing pinball. 'Nuff said. (Gratuitous cursing, implied NaruSasu.)

The Merits of Pinball

Sasuke woke abruptly, groped on the nightstand for his glasses, and turned to look at the clock with a groan.

He promptly scowled. Three A.M. What the hell am I doing awake at three in the goddamn morning?

"No no no no nooo," came Naruto's shout from the living room, answering his question. He rolled his eyes. I should've known. He pushed the covers down and swung his legs over the side of the bed, shoving his feet into the ridiculous, albeit cute and warm, frog slippers that Naruto had bought for himself, yet Sasuke ended up wearing more than the blond did. He stood with a yawn, snagging his bathrobe on the way out and shoving his arms into the sleeves.

Naruto was sitting at his desk playing something on his laptop. Sasuke moved closer, until he was only a few feet away from the blond, and saw what it was. Still...

"What the hell are you doing, dobe?" he asked irritatedly, voice thick with sleep.

"Yeeaaghh!" Naruto replied. In retrospect, Sasuke would find the reply, and the accompanying actions (Naruto jumped nearly a foot, promptly fell off the chair, and clutched at his chest in panic) extremely hilarious. As it then stood, it only served to annoy the black-haired young man more.

"Well?"

Naruto clambered to his feet, eyes wide with residual fright. "Holy fuck, Sasuke," he said, "give a guy a little goddamn warning, would you?"

Sasuke folded his arms. "Maybe you would have noticed me. . .if you hadn't been busy yelling at the top of your goddamn lungs at three in the fucking morning!"

Naruto blinked. "Three...?"

"Yes," Sasuke affirmed forcefully. "So I reiterate: what the hell are you doing?"

"Playing pinball," the blond told him, and then turned to look mournfully at the game, which was flashing "Game Over" at them. "And you ruined my high score! I was going to hit five million for sure this time!"

He blinked several times. "Five million is your idea of a high score?"

"I'd like to see you do better, teme," Naruto replied, pouting.

Now, normally Sasuke wouldn't have wasted time in showing Naruto up at pinball. However, it was late (or early, depending on how you look at it), he was tired, and the idiot had woken him. Therefore, he smirked. "Move over, dobe."

Naruto moved, and Sasuke sat down and pressed F2. He held down the space bar, and then he was off!

A short while later, he stood up with a stretch and a yawn. "Now that's a high score," he calmly told the gaping blond, gesturing at his sixteen-million-and-some-odd-thousands score. He sauntered back to their bedroom, feeling very pleased with himself. It wasn't everyday he got to see the blond look so utterly gobsmacked, after all.

"You.. you... wha.. huh," Naruto garbled out, then shook his head as if to clear it. "How the hell did you do that?" he asked plaintively, ignoring his machine in favor of trailing after Sasuke in a slightly lost manner.

"Practice," he replied with a snicker.

"Practice my ass! I bet you cheated!"

Sasuke outright laughed at the accusation. "Come to bed, dobe."

"Why you!"

The game and laptop were promptly ignored.

Which had, of course, been Sasuke's intention all along.

--OWARI--

Hee. A random idea inspired by playing Window's Space Cadet (I'd rather play Dragon's Keep, but... it's not on this machine. How rude), and attempting to beat my own high scores. The highest of which is just under five million, by the by, so I'm nowhere near as 1337 as Sasuke-kun is. (My younger brother can regularly get more than 5 million, though, and I have never been able to figure out HOW he does it. So I guess you could say I'm rather like Naruto-kun in this.) I also "talk" to the game (mainly cheering and urging it on, then cussing when my ball goes down the hole...), though I certainly am not as loud as Naruto-kun about it! Especially not at three A.M., lol.

Also.. Sasuke-kun with glasses is such a cute mental image that I had to include it. xP Never you mind that I'm sure his eyesight is 20/20 or better. :P

You folks may or may not see a Christmas-themed fic out of me this month - I am working on a Valdemar fic set more-or-less around the theme, but, well, I still haven't finished the first chapter of that. sweatdrop So I might just smack myself and write a Christmasey one-shot or two, since the likelihood of the Valdemar fic being done in its entirety before Christmas of next year is, well... Of course, if I'd started planning and/or writing it earlier... But I was busy with NaNoWriMo!

Excuses, excuses...

(My spell-check amuses me. xD)

--Myuu-Foxgirl--