Disclaimer: Il n'est pas moi. :(

(Hopefully I wrote that right)

The street was filled with overexcited pedestrians, walking from one establishment to the next. The post lights, as well as the trees were coiled with white Christmas lights, illuminating every sidewalk as brightly as the sun would. Store bells jingled, signaling the coming in and out of the customers as they bought gifts for the respective loved ones.

Christmas was right around the corner and the mirth the people felt was almost tangible. Children were laughing, anxiously awaiting the arrival of the red clad man who would deliver their gifts, adults were enjoying the stroll around the festive ambiance, cups of hot chocolate warming their cool hands.

All in all, the mood could not have been better, except for a certain brooding raven head who was contemplating many painful ways in which he could kill his brother.

Sasuke Uchiha walked along the crowded sidewalks in search of his currently missing brother. Itachi knew the depth in which his dear little brother loathed public places, but yet the sadistic jerk brought him along in search for the perfect leather jacket for himself.

Sasuke was seething inside not for the fact that a present would not even be bought for him, not for the fact that he was walking among the pestered population, and not even for the fact that Itachi had disappeared, but for the sole fact that he was left out in the open with no disguise for every blatant ogling eyes to recognize him. He cursed the damn lights for being so bright.

Uchiha was a brand name, a sex symbol, and the ultimate embodiment of what an actor should be. A person did not have to know him in order to recognize the Uchiha features. Pale, creamy skin, coal black hair, the infamous smirk and the velvety voice were world known.

Every few seconds he was stopped from his searching course by raving fan girls who stopped at nothing to get his autograph. With a fake smile, he complied to their insistent screeching. Every time he was finished with one group, another batch of screaming fan girls made their way toward him.

Finally having enough, he saw the one and only store he remembered having a window leading to an alley. The plan was perfect. He would buy a cap, a scarf, a pair of sunglasses and bolt out through the window.

With his pleasantly, smooth voice he excused himself from the group of girls once he was close to the entrance, promising to be back in a few. Once inside he walked "briskly," no way would his pride ever let him admit he was practically running, he was an Uchiha dammit. Quickly grabbing the concealing essentials, he threw the cashier a twenty, not bothering to wait for the change and made his way to the bathroom.

Locking the door, he quickly wrapped the scarf just below his nostrils, placed the cap with it's tongue shadowing his face and set the sunglasses over his eyes. Getting a quick look on the mirror, he approached the window and easily lifted it. Making sure no one was around, he climbed down the sill and calmly strode through the dark alley.

Halfway through, he encountered a fence separating one end of the alley from the other. This wasn't here before, he thought as he easily climbed over, mindful of his clothes. Once on the other side he continued to walk nonchalantly.

A rather rancid smell hit his senses as soon as he was out of the alley. This was the same town and yet this side was a complete opposite from the place he had just escaped from. Never had he seen such eroded looking buildings, such grimy looking people and such cheerfulness despise the circumstances.

The place seemed to be lit rather brightly but not in the way the other side did. Here people lit bonfires in tall trash cans while they huddled together for what appeared to stay warm. The smoke made his nose wrinkle in disgust but he did not move away, instead he stepped forward. The children seemed to be just as happy as their clean counterparts, maybe even more so as they chased each other in a game of tag.

There were black bags littering the entire area and bulks which he presumed were sleeping bodies, lay on every side of the sidewalk, though not one ever blocked his path. He stared in pure amazement, though his face showed no emotion even as it was covered up, as the inhabitants of such forsaken town continued to live on merrily.

Deciding it was probably not a good idea to continue lingering on this side of town, he opted to walk through the rest of the town in means of finding a safe escape route back to his home. He could not and would not deal with screaming imbeciles any more.

As he walked he noticed the looks the people he passed by sent him. He wasn't sure if he should be afraid of someone recognizing him or someone jumping him for money but he kept his guard up, acting as if he was just passing through.

Maybe it was the fact of how he was dressed: black jeans, black coat, black cap, black scarf and black shades apparently did not scream normality here. It wasn't his best attire, but compared to these people, he was oozing extravagance.

In more than one occasion, he caught a few men snarling as they brought their few possessions closer to their side.

"Hn," he smirked. As if I would want to take your trash.

To these people, he seemed dangerous, if their looks told him anything. He silently chuckled at the irony of it all. He was the one being branded as a thief in their eyes, when in all reality, they would be the most likely perpetrators of any crime if they were to go outside this garbage hole.

As he continued to trudge along, he noticed how the noise level became louder and louder as he approached a small convenient store across the street . There in the front stood a wobbly lemonade stand brightly decorated with colored Christmas lights. Arrows drawn on cardboard boxes made a V-shape formation leading up to the main event, whatever it was. His curiosity was piqued and he found himself moving closer and closer.

Children stood in a large crowd surrounding the main spectacle ooohing and aaahing and giving surprised giggles. When he stood near, he finally saw what the big commotion was about. A man dressed up in a filthy red suit accompanied by a beard that was no longer white but gray and a red hat with the tiny ball in the end, was performing magic tricks to entertain the kids.

"Abracadabra, abrakazoom, what will Santa bring in for you!" His hands were all over the place as he ranted his chant.

Sasuke scoffed at the childish magic words. Why can't adults set things straight and tell their brats that Santa does not exist? He had never been a believer. His parents had denounced any sort of belief he and his brother had presented to them, calling both young boys childish and ignorant, something an Uchiha should not be. He did not reproach them for it, though. That kind of childhood would have made him soft.

After the words were said, the bad replication of Santa extended his arm behind the young boy's ear and retracted back with a giddy Tada!

A small, collectable car appeared in Santa's hand and an excited squeak was emitted from the small boy's lips. The toy looked surprisingly new and Sasuke had to raise and eyebrow at the thought of how this man had acquired it. He guessed the method had been illegal by the look of the place.

Sasuke stayed for a couple of more minutes before he became bored and decided to leave. As he turned to leave he saw a magician's hat sitting on the questionable stand and noticed the things left inside and around it.

A man passed in front of him toward the stand and the raven noticed as said stranger left a small piece of bread by a plate with a piece of chicken.

Santa saw the gestured and smiled genuinely at the man. "Thank you, sir! Have a nice Christmas!"

"Sure thing, Santa." The man returned the smile and muttered softly to himself, "No. Thank you, Naruto. Thank you." Smiling, he walked away and stopped to pick up the child who had received the toy car and placed him on his shoulders as they walked away.

"Did you see, Dad? Did you see? Santa can do magic too! He's so cool!" The father chuckled, "Yes, son. I saw and he is. Aren't you glad you were a good boy this year?"

The little boy pouted, giving his dad a light swat on the head. "What are you talking about old man, I've always been a good boy!"

"Not with calling me old man you're not," he tickled his son's bare foot, receiving a burst of giggles in return.

Sasuke watched with mild amusement at the gesture from the man and turned his attention back to Santa, who he had found out was named Naruto. Somehow, he felt as if he should be remembering something, something from before he became occupied with acting, but he could just not remember.

Deciding to do his one good deed for the year, he searched in his pocket without looking and threw in some cash. He felt sorry for the kid. He glanced back and saw the red clad man walking his way. He was surprised for the moment, but years of being an Uchiha had given him the control needed for his reactions. His face was devoid any emotion as he eyed the man in front of him.

Santa watched him with wide eyes. He was there physically but his mind had seemed to drift off. With a smirk, he regarded the Santa and walked away. Hopefully he could find the exit from this place in the next five minutes.

Naruto was exhausted. He loved making the small ones happy but he needed a break, preferably a dinner break. Giving the last gift he had found in the salvage hunt on the other side of town, he held his palms up, signaling the end of Santa time.

Smiling brightly at each of the kids he promised he would be back tomorrow, explaining to them that if he didn't go and feed his reindeer now he wouldn't be able to come the next day and nobody wanted that to happen, right?

The kids awwwed, but happily wished him a safe trip. Laughing, he thanked the kids and shooed them away toward their awaiting parents and turned to the stand. He froze when he saw a suspicious man in black in front of the gifts parents gave him as gratitude for what he did for the kids.

"If he takes something from there I will beat his ass down," he mumbled to himself. He would not tolerate anyone stealing the small things people gave him. Never in the past couple of years that he lived in this side of the town had he ever experienced any sort of trouble. The people here were all under the same circumstances and no one found it necessary to steal from each other.

If anyone needed something all they had to do was ask and they would be graciously helped by the community. The population here wasn't as big as the other sunny side of town, less than 200 people, but each and every one of them showed more moral support than what they knew their counterparts showed.

Walking quietly toward the stand he viewed the back of the man. His eyes widened when he saw him digging inside his pocket only to produce a roll of cash from its depths and placing it inside the black hat.

As much as he respected the thoughtful gesture, he could not accept the money. It was the only thing he would never accept from anybody. He would much rather earn his own cash than have people handing him the green bucks. He couldn't help but believe people found him incompetent and incapable to live by his own means. It was as if they were taking pity on him and he absolutely loathed that.

He kept walking until the black clad man turned around. His breath caught in his throat as he took in the person before him. Despite the fact that the man had a cap on, Naruto could clearly see the dark pools watching him intently. He recognized those eyes instantly and he hated them. Memories of his childhood days on the other side of town flashed through his head.

In them a small six year old boy with hair resembling a duck's butt was smiling at him, but this smile did not please him. This boy was mocking him, laughing at his lack of money, throwing bills at his feet.

"Buy yourself some shoes and clothes. You look pitiful."

Naruto had never felt the urge to cry even when others made fun of him or threw things his way, but those three words took him by surprise. He was not pitiful. So what if he had no parents like the rest of the kids, so what if he did not have everything he wanted, he could do more and had the liberty none of them would have until they became adults.

His eyes became watery as he looked lividly at the other boy, but his tears never appeared. 'Good' he thought, 'I won't let him see me cry.'

"No I'm not! And I don't need your stupid money! K-keep it. I've lived fine without it." He was proud his voice hadn't cracked completely, but he wasn't sure how long he could go before his tears streamed down his cherub cheeks.

Indignantly, he stuck out his pink tongue at the raven boy, picked up the money and ripped it, throwing the pieces at the other's face.

With that he ran. He ran until his lungs screamed in pain, begging to be put to rest. His legs trembled terribly before collapsing to his knees. Tears were now cascading down his rosy cheeks, fresh ones streaming down even after wiping his eyes forcefully.

He had remained in the same spot for over an hour, only small hiccups were heard. He stood, with much reluctance and finally made his way to the box he called his home.

Naruto was still staring blankly until he noticed the retreating back of the raven. Finally broken from his stupor, he looked into the hat and pulled out the bills.

Five hundred dollars. What the fuck was he supposed to do with five hundred dollars? He didn't want the money, especially not when it came from the same person from so many years ago.

Taking off the beard and hat, cautious of any kids who might see him, he grabbed the money and dashed after the emotionless man. When he finally caught up to him he gripped the raven's shoulder and turned him around forcefully.

Sasuke was caught off guard as he nearly stumbled over his own feet when he was ungraciously turned back. Fury raced through him in a matter of seconds once he composed himself, ready to kick the ass of the person that dared to stupidly hurt him.

When he turned though, and caught sight of the person responsible for his anger, he blinked in surprise. No I was not surprised.

Finally, when he gained his ability to talk, his voice proudly held the stoicism he had nearly lost. "What the fuck is you-" and it was embarrassingly stopped halfway through his sentence.

"Uchiha," the venom in the voice did not go unnoticed, but once again he was uncharacteristically surprised that it was directed at him.

"…take your money and leave, you don't belong here and I do not need any pity help from someone like you." Naruto brought the fist that held the money and shoved it into Sasuke's chest, not caring if the man picked it up or not.

Although Sasuke did not outwardly show it, yes, his Uchiha pride was on the line this day apparently, he internally gasped as his ebony orbs locked with azure. He was left immobile for a second, captivated by the depth and the swirling emotions he could see on those large, clear eyes. For a split second, he had the urge to grab the blonde's cheeks to stop the man from turning his gaze away from him.

Naruto's skin glistened under the moonlight, full, tan cheeks puffed as he breathed out harshly, and Sasuke could not help but think that he looked adorable.

He was berating himself for thinking such thoughts and it wasn't until he felt a small pain in his chest that he looked down only to find the money he had left in the black hat falling to his feet.

By the time he looked back up, the blond was already meters away from him, running until he stopped next to a green clad male with a bowl cut he assumed had been an elf in the show earlier on. He watched as the man asked the hunched over blond if he was alright.

Sasuke guessed Naruto's friend didn't believe him because the man looked up and caught Sasuke staring at Naruto. He saw as the man was about to come his way, only to be stopped by a hand grabbing his wrist, a small smiled plastered on his face.

The elf looked back at Sasuke, uncertainty in his eyes but nodded as Naruto led him over to the stand, grabbed the gifts left for him, and disappeared to an alley farther down the street.

Sasuke still stood and watched the two friends leave his sight. A slight pang in his chest had him clutch his shirt as his mind reeled a vague memory from many years ago. Usually he was able to remember even the smallest of things with great detail, but it was infuriating him that he could not recall something that felt so familiar.

Finally breaking away from his thoughts, he picked up the money at his feet and made his way back to where he had come from. There was probably no other way out since there didn't seem to be a single person from the other side of the fence walking around like him.

As he walked, he could not get the image of sapphire eyes away from his mind; the way rosy cheeks glowed and the blond hair which looked to be ridiculously soft. His thoughts were completely taken over by this man named Naruto that he completely missed his footing on one of the holes in the fence as he climbed up and subsequently fell back on a bag full of trash.

"Shit!" He quickly stood and brushed the dirt from his pants before he made his second attempt at climbing with more observance, his pride had been hurt enough.

After his successful jump, he rid himself of the cap and scarf and made his way back to the restroom window. Finding it still open, he climbed back up and left the restroom as if he had not been there for more than a minute.

The cashier he had paid earlier was still at the counter and only raised a questioning eyebrow as the Uchiha passed by him. Sasuke just shrugged and made his way out of the store, grateful to find the illuminated street almost empty

He finally found Itachi waiting for him outside of his car, a smirk on his face.

"What, dinner and you had a bickering time?" The older brother chuckled lightly, though it did not stop the poor pedestrian who happened to walk by him to freeze up in fear.

"Shut the fuck up, Itachi," Sasuke menacingly hissed as he climbed on the passenger side.

"Little brother, how rude! I was merely showing my concern." Itachi turned on the car before facing his brother, the Uchiha smirk still present.

"Did you have fun?" His eyes glinting with amusement, "I would have never pegged you to get it on inside a convenience store's shit room."

Sasuke glared at his brother, as he would any other person to get them off his back, but Itachi was not fazed. Living under the Uchiha household had made him immune. Now scaring the shit out of other people, oh the fun!

"Just drive. Nothing happened."

Itachi only seemed to become far more amused as he laughed in the way that left kids hidden behind their mommy's legs, a puddle at their feet.

"No wonder you're so moody, couldn't even get laid. Little brother I'm disappointed. You're loosing your touch."

With a final laugh, he took off and once again a brooding Sasuke looked out the window, his painful revenge already circulating its beginning.

Author's Note: So while I was having a tummy ache at wee hours in the morning, an idea came to my head and it starred Sasuke and Naruto! Well this will be my first attempt at writing a story about this pair. I don't know how long it will take for the next update (that is if anybody likes this) since my other story Shackled and Bound is my main focus right now. But I hope you readers like it. Review and tell me your thoughts or any ideas you would like to see in the story. I will love you guys so much if you review and i will even give you a cookie! *munch munch munch* Hooray for cookies! Well I thrive on reviews (Oooooh I'm a review whore!) so if you could leave your thoughts i would most definitely appreciate them :) Ja ne!