Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or any of its associated characters!

Summary: COMPLETE. In which Naruto hasn't quite figured it out yet. A snowstorm and Sasuke are here to help. Canonverse, post-war, SNS.

A/N: if you follow my tumblr, you know I've been fighting that work-life-health balance - but I managed to still hit my once a month target! I hope this little oneshot tides you by, for now. We're playing with present tense again!

a flame, a cave and a feeling

They had been travelling for a week.

Well, a week in the snow, at any rate. It had been far longer of them travelling together (close to a year, now, since Naruto had decided that his time in Konoha had been long enough). But then Naruto had gotten it into his head that they should go farther, and—well, Sasuke had never managed to reason with him before.

So into the snow they had gone.

And now...

"Since when does it snow in the desert?"

Sasuke rolls his eyes.

"Since forever, you moron, we learned that in the academy."

Now, he has a chattering, shaking mess of a blonde, pulling at the hood the wind kept blowing back down—

"A-ass," he chatters, "you know I never paid attention—"

"Let's stop here."

"What? No, I'm—"

"It's nearly evening," Sasuke interrupts, "and you're pathetic."

"Hey!"

Naruto makes to shove at him—half-assed and hardly meant—but Sasuke catches the grip. The palm on his chest is little more than momentum—an excuse for Naruto to follow him, in stunned silence, into what small shelter Sasuke had spotted.

"Your face is red," Sasuke points out, letting go of Naruto's hand. It feels far too frozen, for Sasuke's tastes.

"Wh—hey, because it's cold! Asshole!"

Naruto follows him in, blustering as fiercely as the wind. Sasuke only lets the sounds drift through his mind as he scans the cave. No signs of instability, no signs of other life (unlike the time Naruto had opted for the first place inhabited by a bear), and relatively dry…

It's about as good as they are going to get.

The wind roars up, behind them, and dusts the inside of the place with a wave of snow.

"Fucking hell," Naruto mutters, pressing himself back against the stone. The weather is relentless this week—worsening with each step they took, from the feel of things. Sasuke had managed to stay rather unaffected—a byproduct, he supposed, of his affinity to flame—but Naruto…

As if on cue, the blonde lets out a loud, chattering breath.

Sasuke rolls his eyes and shrugs off his bag. He'll have a fire going in just a moment, just to stop the cold from seeping into Naruto's bones.

"Thanks," Naruto says, settling beside him.

Sasuke only lets out a breath in reply.

Naruto's cheeks are still red—the tips of his ears, too. Perhaps from the bite of the cold, after all. Maybe a hat was something he'd force Naruto to invest in, sometime in their next series of stops. Getting Naruto to spend resources on himself always felt like pulling teeth.

Resources—like Sasuke's chakra.

It's slow, but Sasuke feels it like a flood. Naruto's chakra had never been anything close to subtle—

"I am more than capable of sustaining a flame, Naruto."

Naruto laughs and nudges Sasuke's shoulder with his own.

"Shut up and let me help, prick."

Sasuke snorts, but lets it be. Naruto needs the warmth more than him, anyway, and it's only going to last until one of them falls asleep.

"We're not gonna be able to wait this out, are we?"

"No," Sasuke answers quietly. Hopefully the will storm quell by the morning. If not—well—they had both braved worse conditions.

Naruto lets out another breath and shuffles closer to the flame.

Sasuke watches him. Three layers, a cave, and a perfectly good fire, and it isn't enough for the blond.

No wonder he'd been so obsessed with those jumpsuits as a child.

"Shut up," Naruto says, as if sensing the gaze. Or sensing his thoughts, perhaps, through the connection they share (exacerbated by the way their chakras build off each other)—

"And let you freeze to death?"

Naruto snorts and shifts closer to the flame.

"Or burn to death, apparently."

"Shut up," Naruto whines, smile growing, "I haven't been dry for a fucking week!"

"Poor pampered Hokage."

"Hokage candidate."

Naruto grins back at him as if the statement somehow proves Sasuke wrong.

And maybe it does. The position of Hokage is not yet Naruto's—but it sat, patiently waiting for when Naruto returned to take it. It had been offered to him as soon as he had woken up, in the hospital, with the promise of a new arm alongside it—

But Naruto had asked for time to consider both, and time was what he had gotten.

"There's so much to do," Naruto had told him, when the hospital was closed and the stars were high in the sky. "I know what I want to change, but I don't even know where to start. How do I do all this?"

"You'll manage," Sasuke had muttered into his pillow, half-asleep.

But Naruto had shaken his head.

"No," he had said, "I don't know enough. All I've gotten good at is fighting. There's so much more than that—"

And Sasuke had forcefully pulled at his consciousness to rise up enough to let him sit up, too—

"I don't know how to tell you this," he'd said, levelling Naruto with the closest thing to a glare his half-asleep self could manage, "but you hardly ever fight."

"I fight all the—"

"No," Sasuke had said, slumping back into the bed, "no—you talk. You talk and you talk and you listen and then you talk some more and then you convince the enemy to miraculously come around to your perspective. That's also known as diplomacy, you monumental idiot."

And it had been a few days later—during which Naruto had still been considering—that he had asked Sasuke what he planned to do.

"Leave."

It had been the only answer on his tongue. And Naruto had sagged with a defeat that seeped deep into his bones, but Sasuke couldn't. Not yet. Not now. The betrayal still thrashed through his veins with each breath he took—he could barely think straight, there, in the village. There, buried in the memories. Naruto asked him what he'd want him to do—if he were Hokage instead of Naruto, if the position had been offered to him, instead—and Sasuke had no answer. Killing was so...empty, now. So hollow. Everything seemed that way. What would make him heal?

Sasuke hadn't known.

"Do you think," Naruto had asked him, "we'd be able to find answers outside of the village?"

And Sasuke had stared. And then Sasuke, suddenly, knew.

"It's not candidacy if you've already been offered the position," Sasuke says, here, in a cave, and not in a hospital, "moron."

He knows, now. He can feel himself healing every day. Growing a little more whole—picking up pieces of happiness that Naruto trailed behind him.

He hadn't found those pieces when he'd travelled on his own.

"Whatever." Naruto shifts, sighing softly. "Semantics."

It's the glitter of sadness in those eyes that has Sasuke moving, that time. He hasn't seen that quiet in Naruto since they had still been in Konoha—since Sasuke had turned to leave, and Naruto had bowed his head and sealed his lips shut—

He presses his shoulder against Naruto's, and the sadness is overwritten.

"Hm," he says, utterly ignoring Naruto's soft smile, "your clothes are wet."

"Wow, no shit, asshole." Naruto shoves himself up, and it does absolutely nothing to move him away from Sasuke. "Jeez."

No pushing Sasuke's arm away, no pulling his body away...either the cold is finally getting through to Naruto, or Sasuke is. He feels it in Naruto's heart, sometimes—in his chakra, in the memories that flitter through him each time they connect. Sasuke was important (vital, crucial, essential) in a way that he recognized—in a way he'd felt and fought against, over and over again, as he'd desperately tried to push Naruto away—

Sasuke knows what this feeling is.

He feels it as he lays by Naruto's side. He feels it as as they stand side by side—as they'd stood, at the gates, with Naruto glancing back at all he was leaving behind—to Sasuke, the first step outside of Konoha had felt like freedom. It had felt like home. It's a feeling that burned in him for as long as he could remember, no matter how he'd tried to extinguish it—and then, with Naruto bleeding out beside him, with his arm throbbing and vision growing dimmer—he'd known. (And memories of all Naruto was to him spinning through his mind—he'd known.)

He knows what this feeling is. (It's the same one that has something twist in Sasuke each time Naruto introduces him as a friend. Yes, he is a friend. He is—and yet, the word isn't enough. Not even knowing Naruto would never trivialize their bond—it's not enough. Not for Sasuke.)

He searches Naruto's thoughts, sometimes, in some of the rare moments they open the connection to each other. It's there—a comforting reminder of Naruto's presence beside him—but it stays closed. It's too easy to get lost in each other—Sasuke knows how easily he gets lost in Naruto.

But Naruto's feelings—his thoughts, his mind—dance along the same lines as Sasuke's in those rare moments. They dance to the same beat as Sasuke's heart, but to a rhythm of hesitation, of trepidation, that have him pulling back. Sasuke can tell from the small frown that graces Naruto's face as he glances at his fingertips, too (after they had brush Sasuke's—Sasuke can feel the tingle in his own as he fights the urge to reach back for that touch). He can tell from the way his brow furrows, sometimes, and when he stares at Sasuke and Sasuke pretends he doesn't notice.

Naruto is confused. Confused and considering, and in a place that isn't quite the same as Sasuke's. And that is alright—Naruto has done his fair share of waiting for Sasuke to come around. It was only fair, now, that Sasuke should do the same.

But that doesn't mean he has to be passive about it.

Naruto certainly hadn't been.

"Moron," Sasuke says, "change—before you soak us both through."

Naruto uses Sasuke's shoulder as a headrest to look back at him.

"They'll dry, won't they? That's what the fire's for."

Sasuke tries to rub the bridge of his nose with a hand he no longer has. It's a feeling he has yet to get used to.

"Hang them up," Sasuke says, "and they'll dry faster. Or get off me."

Sasuke knows which option Naruto will choose.

He lets out a harsh, shuddering breath—throwing Sasuke a sheepish smile all the while—

"Next," Naruto says, "we're gonna go somewhere that's really fucking hot, and you'll need me to fan you all the goddamn time—"

He pulls the cloak, the scarf, the shirt under them both, off in one smooth motion.

The fire grows three times in heat. (Sasuke pretends that his chakra flared through conscious choice.)

"Ugh," Naruto says, fishing through his bag as the fire roars beside him, "everything's half-wet in here. We need better bags…"

"We'll invest in waterproofing in our next stop," Sasuke offers.

Naruto leans back against the rocks, letting out a shuddering breath—

"Somewhere warm," Sasuke continues, looking away from the smooth, tanned, warm skin, "where you have to fan me all the goddamn time."

Naruto laughs. It makes Sasuke suddenly wonder if his resistance to the cold isn't, actually, related to his flame at all—

"You're growing a sense of humour," Naruto teases. "I'm so proud of you."

Sasuke's eye twitches. He makes no move to hide it.

"I am in full control of your comfort level, dumbass."

"Ugh," Naruto groans again, "my comfort level's zero. Why'd we throw out those mats?"

"They were rotting."

"I'd take them anyway," Naruto says, rolling in place, "over this. It's so—"

"God, moron, stop moving," Sasuke hisses, pressing his knee down onto the idiot to emphasize the point—

Underneath him, Naruto freezes. (And yet, there is no tension in that golden frame.)

Sasuke slips his hand underneath him and forces himself to focus.

"Oh," Naruto says, as the rocks beneath him grow warm, "oh—what the fuck, Sasuke why didn't you tell me you could do this!"

Because he hadn't thought of it, at the time, but—

"Because you'd never stop asking for it."

"I'd—" Naruto begins—and then he laughs. "Okay, okay, yeah—maybe. This is way better…"

Naruto sighs, happily shoving his face into the rock—

"That's dirty, moron."

Naruto's only answer is a lopsided, half-squashed grin. Stupid and fond and filled with light—in moments like these, Sasuke finds himself wondering how he's ever survived without it.

"I hate you," he tells Naruto, just so the stupid man knows.

Naruto's smile grows into a delighted laugh.

"I hate you too," Naruto tells him, and it sounds like something else entirely.

Sasuke flicks the side of his cheek, and Naruto bites at his finger as it leaves.

"What are you, five?" Sasuke mutters, slipping his own wet cloak from his shoulders.

"Yeah, you kidnapped a five year old." Naruto doesn't miss a beat. "Lemmie help."

And Sasuke pretends the shivers are from the cold as Naruto's fingers brush over his stomach—as the shirt is pulled from his skin to be replaced with something so much warmer—

"Moron," Sasuke manages, "I can undress myself."

"Yeah? Prove it. Take your pants off."

Naruto sits back and looks at him.

Sasuke glares in response. He can do it—obviously, of course he can—but his clothes are soaked and stuck to his skin and it will take several endless minutes of him struggling while Naruto simply laughs—

"Okay, good," Naruto says, relaxing with a smaller, flushed laugh. "'Cause I need your help, too."

Oh.

Sasuke rolls his eyes.

"Whatever," he says quietly, but he shifts up onto his knees.

Naruto lays back with a smile still sheepish, but his hand is already working at the hem of his pants—

Sasuke feels his sharingan flicker to life.

And Naruto obviously notices, from the pause in his movements, but Sasuke continues on as if nothing has happened—as if there is nothing to be memorized, here—as if it is perfectly reasonable to pull the clothes off of the man he…

Sasuke quietly tucks the thought away. He focuses, instead, on the way Naruto's muscles flex as his hips lift up—the way his tongue darts out against his lips as Sasuke's eyes accidentally meet his—the way his hand catches Naruto's ankle as he pulls the last bit of fabric free—

"Here," Naruto says, already on his knees, "I'll help you too."

And he must know, Sasuke thinks. He must. Naruto's fingers catch Sasuke's underwear before they gently tuck back out and Sasuke thinks that Naruto must know, no one could be this oblivious, no one could be this innocent—Naruto's hand spends a little too much time on the inside of his bare thigh, and Sasuke spends a little too much time doing absolutely nothing to help him move any quicker—

"You look weird," Naruto says, threading Sasuke's first foot from his pants.

Well.

"Thank you," Sasuke deadpans, "ever so much."

Naruto tosses him a grin as easily as he tosses Sasuke's heart around.

"Didn't mean it in a bad way, asshole," he says, straightening up. "Can you warm up the rocks again?"

For a moment, Sasuke considers making him work for it.

"You're weird tonight," Naruto says, likely to Sasuke's hesitation. Sasuke busies himself with the stones under Naruto's back—it takes far longer to focus, this time.

"Tonight," is the piece Sasuke chooses to focus on, rolling his eyes as he parrots the word back.

Naruto laughs, and stretches himself out like a cat. Sasuke watches the movement and keeps his hand firmly where it is.

Naruto rolls on top of it.

Sasuke makes several practiced motions of annoyance, half-hearted, and entirely transparent. Still, he goes through the motions. No sense in letting Naruto know that his warmth is as crucial to Sasuke as Sasuke's flames are to—

"You're warmer than the stones."

Naruto's eyes are closed and his smile is soft. His nearly naked body presses back against Sasuke's own, and Sasuke considers, as his heart triples in speed, that he may have bitten off more than he could chew—

"If my work is unappreciated, I'm happy to stop."

Naruto turns around, his skin pressing against Sasuke's all the while—it was always friction, between them, and this friction was just as relentless—

"Your work is always appreciated."

And Sasuke doesn't know what he means by that, so curiosity overrides his better judgement—he pokes and prods until Naruto looks at him, and there it is—

The connection.

The feeling.

Sasuke still doesn't know if Naruto knows what it means, but it's bursting, bursting, bursting—

"Hey," Naruto says, "you trust me, right?"

His eyes are hooded.

And Sasuke doesn't know what the fuck kind of question that is, so he opens himself just enough to let Naruto know—

"I wanna try something."

Sasuke doesn't say anything, but Naruto hears his answer.

"Okay," Naruto says, with a flickering, uneven smile. With a body, nearly naked, relentless against Sasuke's—with eyes that are dark, half-lidded, focused on something low on Sasuke's face—

Sasuke drowns.

The lips are gentle—as soft and curious as Naruto's hand on Sasuke's waist—but the connection is an explosion. Naruto opens himself and Sasuke is drowning in him, Sasuke is so lost, Sasuke is—

"Oh," Naruto says and Sasuke barely even hears it. His head is a whirlpool and its name is Naruto; Sasuke is breathing in water that tastes like miso, that feels like needles piercing his skin as Naruto screaming his name, that sounds like Naruto's voice saying "friend", that sounds like Sasuke admitting defeat, that feels like the tears that finally broke free after he gave up, gave in, to this feeling—

"Ah," Naruto cries out, breaking the kiss to break the connection. For a moment, they only cling to each other, breathing heavily, reorienting themselves to reality—

"Fuck, I can't even breathe when we do that," Naruto says, and Sasuke is inclined to agree. His head can barely manage his own emotions, let alone someone who feels as acutely and intensely as—

As the man who just kissed him.

Sasuke narrows his eyes.

Naruto sucks in a breath.

"You—" Sasuke says at the same moment Naruto says "I—"

Sasuke closes his mouth and lets the moron speak. But all Naruto has is—

"Um," with scared eyes, flickering back and forth between Sasuke's, "um, I—"

Amazing, Sasuke thinks, how Naruto could run after him, spend day after day chasing and calling and screaming about a bond that was unbreakable between them—

And then, with Sasuke at his fingertips, he is quiet.

"Can we—can I—try that again?"

Or not.

"Moron," Sasuke breathes against Naruto's lips, and it means of course you can.

So maybe Naruto still hasn't figured it out. Not everything about it—not even with the erection pressing against his thigh and the arm circling around his waist and the way their lips are moving, together, as if this is already familiar, already comfortable, already memorized—

Naruto hasn't figured it out.

That's alright.

Sasuke certainly doesn't mind helping him along.

A/N: That's it for now! I can't wait until my longer fic is finished for you all :) It's getting so close!

I didn't use the Japanese terms in this one even though it's canonverse - what did you think? Did it fit, or did you miss them? Let me know!

Till next time,

- Kinomi