Disclaimer: Me? Own this? *Looks at (very empty) purse* Nope, sorry.
AN:/ This is a giftfic for SailorSunset; Happy Holidays!. ;)
Beta: Lolly – thanks for fixing this up and catching my (numerous) mistakes throughout. Kudos to you!
.:A Year and a Half:.
"Hey! I've come to bring you back!"
"Just leave,"
"Not this time!"
"If you can find me a reason to go back, I will."
"What about me?! Wait I didn't mean it lik-! Ah…"
"Hey? What's up? Hello? Wake up!"
-*-
Waking up, the first thing that he saw was the plain white of the ceiling. The gloom of the pristine room annoyed him, as did the fact that he spent almost all of his spare time in the hospital.
Sure, he might be a bit rash on missions and sure, he might not be good at thinking things through first, but it's got to count if you're able to string up a plan on the fly, right? 'Maybe I just need to learn to have a plan before I'm injured…'
Either way, the hospital room was no where near comfortable, but since Kyuubi healed him pretty quickly, Naruto decided that it was okay to take the IV out and escape through the window. Sakura-chan knows that he doesn't like hospitals so she would understand and tell grandma Tsunade.
He got up on unsteady legs, feeling a bit dizzy, but the blond just dismissed it as standing up too fast. It felt like he hadn't stood up in forever, and it was quite disturbing, seeing as he was back from a mission and needed to report in as soon as possible – but it couldn't hurt to check things out first, right? Naruto glanced around the room trying to find something better than the hospital gown, but with no avail. 'This'd have to do then, I suppose.... It's not like it would have any difference, anyway.'
Opening the window with a swift push, he jumped down – they had learnt not to put him on floors which were higher up, as this was not the first, nor was it going to be the last, time he did something like this – He wobbled a bit on the landing, but that was probably a side effect of the odd medication they gave him. 'Stupid doctors and their medical jargon, never got it, never will.'
It was a bit colder outside than he had predicted, but he just shrugged the tiny voice in his head that it was a better idea to go home than wander around the streets.
-*-
Naruto's feet had guided him through town without any real direction. The temperature had dropped quite a bit, and it was making him shiver.
You'd think that having the amazing nine-tailed demon in your gut would help you when it came to something as trivial as keeping warm, but when he actually asked the stupid fox about it, the thing just grunted and replied something along the lines of 'it won't kill you, therefore it is not my problem' and that was the end of that.
Sneezing once or twice, he looked at the busy streets of Konoha, wondering why there were so many people out. They were all rushing about wearing scarves and hats, holding large rolls of wrapping paper and what-ever-else-was-in-those-carrier bags. How long had he been out? It was a hot sunny day when he went out that mission with his ANBU squad to Sound to capture a rouge Konoha-nin and whilst he was there, he managed to get a lead and going on his own to retrieve-
-Oh. Oh.
Stopping suddenly, Naruto snapped around, facing Hokage Mountain to look up at his childhood hero, the Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato – his father.
Naruto had wished that he was alive, guiding him through life as a father should. He wouldn't have been ignored – nothing was more painful than being ignored – which was most of his childhood, actually. The reason why he spent so long in hospitals was, not because of violence, but malnutrition from being neglected. No one should be allowed to go through something like that; the loneliness and the desire for someone just to look at him. Not even being punished for doing stupid pranks on the villagers was as bad as spending time alone.
He stared at the statue for a while, before wondering why he was shivering in the cold with a runny nose. It was cold, colder than before and he had certainly not noticed it until now. The wind was harsh against his face, and he felt like something had made a nest in his throat, but refused to cough to let it out.
He turned back to face the town – people were still milling about, buying this, taking that. He cold was not letting him make any decisions which made sense, so instead of going somewhere warmer to get, well, warmer, he turned and set off to the training fields where he and Team Seven had trained as genin. Training was good – it took his mind off things which were better left alone in the corner of his mind.
Shaky from the cold and constant sneezes, he arrived at the training ground, seeing something which he was absolutely sure was not there hast time he trained – which was just a few hours before setting off on his mission. 'Odd', he thought, staring at the little carving on the tree. 'S+T 3, '09' it read, puzzling him even more. '09'? But... it's still '08! How the hell did that happen?'
Thinking furiously, he didn't notice people approaching the ground, chatting and laughing. He stood in front of the tree, trying to decipher the rather puzzling timestamp in front of him, interrupted by his own shivering and occasional coughs.
-*-
Sakura walked to the training ground with her genin at her heels – she'd thought that after Team Seven had pretty much been torn down by fate and it's cruel nature, she'd never thought that she would take on genin of her own. Of course, that doesn't mean that she didn't miss her old genin days. In fact, she was the only one who stayed jounin to teach others.
They were talking about their last mission – the first C-Rank which they had attempted and succeeded with flying colours. She made a note in her head to visit Naruto again and tell him about it, even if he couldn't hear her.
Over the years, Konoha has really changed – old friends have settled down with families going on occasional missions whilst training their own set of genins, herself included.
Their laughter stopped abruptly when they herd coughing coming from in front of them. Looks like some idiot had managed to get themselves lost – civilians weren't allowed down here, and all of her friends knew that this was the training ground that she, and only she, had used for the past year or so, with the occasional visit of some of her friends over the time for a picnic.
She ran forwards, getting closer to the sound which persisted, until silence and a soft thump on the floor. This only made her run quicker, channelling chakra to her feet as she sprang forwards to land in front of a body lying on the snow. Obviously, the person was still breathing, but barley.
Taking a better look at the person, who, she decided, was incredibly stupid to be wearing a hospital gown and run out in the middle of winter. Sunshine-blond hair stuck out from the snow as she turned the head around, her breath catching in her throat.
"Sensei?" a voice from behind her whispered, careful not to disturb their teacher's thoughts.
"Spar for a while with Naoto and Kao, okay, sweetie?" She picked up the frighteningly light body and lifted him onto her back, "I'm going to take him to hospital. Be nice to them, Akako." She saw the fair-haired girl nod and run off to her team mates, whilst turning around herself to face the direction of the hospital, forcing her legs into a sprint despite the weight on her back. The hospital was on the other side of town, for fuck's sake! How'd the hell did he manage to get here and have no-one notice? No wait – it's no surprise that he got here and no-one noticed. Everyone would be so wrapped up in their own worlds last-minute shopping or staying inside with family.
Passing the streets full of people, and wondering how she would spend her Christmas – Naruto was finally waking up, so it would be nice to invite him over… But now that she had moved in with Sai, the two had never really gotten on very well. Sure, he called her 'Hag' still, but that was only because it stuck. It was like a pet name from him to her, something which she found endearing and special. Come to think of it, it was kind of like when Sasuke and Naruto called each other names. Like 'dead-last' and 'bastard' – nicknames only for the other to use, but if that was the case, then… Sakura blushed at the thought. 'Good thing Ino has gotten over her insane crush with the last Uchiha.'
Take Naruto to the hospital, scold some nurses who have obviously been doing their job so well that a patient escaped. 'Sounds like a plan.'
-*-
When Naruto was dragged back to consciousness, the first this he noticed was that he was back in the hospital, again. Not where he had walked to. How'd the hell did he managed to get here?
Searching his mind for an answer only pulled a blank, and once again, he was stuck on what the hell had happened.
There was faint voices coming from the door, and he strained to hear what they were saying. Pushing himself into a sitting position, but keeping the blanket up because it was quite cold. It wasn't long before some the door was pushed open revealing Sakura and Sai, who, for some reason, looked older. It was hard to describe what, but it seems like they had both matured. Wait- Sai? Mature? Probably not…
'Hello, Sakura-chaaannn!' is what Naruto tried to say, but, it came out raspy and weird. Hearing himself, the blond immediately frowned and tried again, doing no better than before.
"Hello Naruto." Sakura started, her eyes gazing upon him with concern, nudging Sai and giving him a look as if to say, 'Say hi or you'll regret it'.
"Hi, Dickless." Accompanied with a plastered-on smile, to which Naruto grunted to in reply.
There was an awkward silence in the room, before Sakura spoke up again.
"I'll go and get you some water, okay? Chat for a bit until I come back." Before she sighed and left, leaving the two males alone in the room.
They sat in a tangible silence, waiting for Sakura to come back. Naruto sat on the bed, looking out of the window to distract him from the person who he was meant to be 'talking' to. If he could speak more than a few grunts and coughs, he would be doing most of the talking anyway. The pervert was annoying him to no end by just being there all silent and I know what you're thinking.
Sai, however was quite comfortable where he sat and stared at the other in a fashion which could be described as fascination, and it was unnerving for Naruto even though he wasn't even facing the other. The paler of the two broke the silence first.
"I believe when you are in need for a conversation, it is common to ask about the weather." Naruto grunted.
"It's quite cold, isn't it?" No reaction, other than a nod.
"I think it's going to snow soon." 'Snow?' Naruto looked at Sai as if he was going crazy. 'In summer?'
"I'm 'going out' with Sakura, you know?" Sai was given an even more disbelieving look.
"It's true." Nodding again, the blond stopped paying attention. 'The world's going crazy', he decided.
"Also, you've finally achieved your goal, you've brou-" The door slammed open, allowing Sakura to storm in with a cup of water. She thrust the cup into her team mate's hand before plopping down by the bed. Neither talked for a while, Naruto sipping his water whilst Sakura seethed and Sai just sat still.
"I can't believe how dumb people can be!" The sudden outburst from the pink-haired woman was not unusual, but it made him jump all the same, almost spilling the water all over the bed. "Anyway, how're you feeling, Naruto? You've been out for some time." The change in mood was freaky, but what she said afterwards surprised him even more, "It's been a year and a half, Naruto."
-*-
He spent about a week in bed after that, receiving visits from various friends and gifts. Temari arrived first, ('It's good to see you awake again!'), dragging a very disgruntled Shikamaru by the arm ('Women are so troublesome, and you're worse than her'). Ino followed, having brought some flowers for him from the shop ('I thought I'd get you some orange ones, seeing as you're always wearing that hideous jumpsuit and …'), with Chouji who had some biscuits and other various snacks ('I figured that you'd be tired of those hospital meals by now, huh?'). Others came to visit soon after armed with get-well-soon cards and even instant ramen.
So, after spending long days doing nothing, he was finally allowed to get out because, according to Sakura, after he managed to pull another runner and somehow survived without dying, the hospital doctors deemed him fit enough to leave. This, of course, meant that he got to eat ramen for dinner again – though Sakura was still swearing under her breath and cursing the stupidity of the hospital staff.
When he arrived in town, it was still full of people but it seemed like they weren't as busy. He milled around, a blond head in the masses of people, trying to get through. He was doing quite well, even if he did say so himself, after what, a year and a half, being in bed. That is until he bumped into someone.
"Hey, watch it!" he shouted, before looking up into the eyes of someone which he did not expect to see.
"Still a dobe then, I see?" A familiar voice replied, exactly as he remembered it.
"Teme..." The blond looked away, hiding the faint blush which danced across his features. 'Not now, not now! Why is he even here? Why did I have to bump in to him?' "You're not meant to be here! I- He- but-! Argh!" he took a deep breath to sort out his colliding thoughts. "I thought you didn't want to come back to Konoha! Ha! I dragged your sorry ass back after all!" Although, at this point, Naruto was bluffing – he had no recollection of ever persuading him to come back.
"I think you'll find that I was the one who saved your 'sorry ass' and brought you back to Konoha." The smooth voice belonging to one Uchiha Sasuke replied.
"I didn't need saving!" the smirk was there. How he hated that smirk, he just wanted to rip it off the smug bastard's face and-
"Oh? So you were doing fine against the Oto-nin from the floor, were you?" Naruto paused for a second. He wasn't on the floor… In fact, all he remembered was the sharp prick before feeling a bit weird and blacking out.
"I needed to rest! I was fine!" he insisted, dragging the other by the arm to somewhere else where they could talk without receiving weird looks from the bystanders.
"Yeah, and that's why you haven't woken up since then until last week." Okay, so maybe it was a bit more serious than he had originally thought. What did they use, anyway? It had to be some sort of jutsu or- "Poison. They used poison, Naruto." 'Oh.' "You didn't have to run out being a hero all the time."
"I don't!" He insisted, looking up to face Sasuke – damn tall people – and saw that he was no longer smirking.
"Look after yourself, for once. Don't make us do so for you." Sasuke said, tone quiet and soft. "Or else we're really going to loose you." With that, the raven turned and walked away from him, leaving him to think.
'That bastard!' was the first thought which came into his head, causing him to clench his hand into a fist. What did he know? He abandoned his village for power. He threw everything away, left all his friends, his peers, and the people which looked up to him. 'He left me'.
Naruto grunted in displeasure and kicked the ground, 'Bastard.'
All of the years he spent training, just to come close to bringing Sasuke back, just to see his face again. I wasn't fair, dammit.
It wasn't fair that Sasuke left.
It wasn't fair that he liked Sasuke.
It wasn't fair that it hurt so much.
-*-
Slowly, he was adjusting to everyone around him. They didn't treat him like porcelain, but it was still annoying when they would laugh about something which he didn't get because he was in a coma. He still acted like he did, but it was really bugging him on how much has changed since what he felt like was just a few weeks ago. It made him think about how Sasuke felt when he returned to Konoha.
Come to think of it, it was really weird to have Sasuke back again – to Naruto, anyway. Everyone else had a year and a half to get used to him, but Naruto has just recently joined them, so fitting both of them in was… odd. They used to argue over every little thing. That hadn't changed.
"What? I don't eat ramen everyday!"
"Hn. Sure, that's why you're always at Ichiraku's."
"Yeah, well, I'm not a tomato freak!"
"Tomatoes are actually good for you, did you know?"
"LIES!"
"Of course you wouldn't know. You're Dead-last, aren't you?"
"SHUT UP, BASTARD!"
"OKAY! STOP IT! NOW!" a different voice shouted, with a large thud accompanying the call. "You guys are so immature!"
Meanwhile, everyone else in the restaurant carried on with their own business, completely used to seeing this type of thing.
"Why meee, Sakura-chaaan?" Naruto whined, looking at Sakura with large puppy eyes, nursing a bump on the head. "You don't hit Bastard!" He added, turning his gaze to 'Bastard' who was smirking smugly and with teasing eyes. The pink haired woman just sighed and sat down again, leaving Naruto and Sasuke stood up. Both slid back down into their seats, finishing the food before paying and leaving the restaurant.
They talked in a friendly manner, before Sakura suddenly stopped.
"Oh yeah! That reminds me! Me and Sai are having a small Christmas party tomorrow, feel free to come and join us." She looked thoughtful for a moment, before speaking again, "It's been ages since we've spent Christmas as a full Team Seven!"
"Okay, Sakura-chan!"
"…Hn"
"Alright, see you there!" Sakura walked away, smiling and making plans for Christmas day tomorrow. 'Maybe I could get some mistletoe from Ino…'
Meanwhile, however, the remaining men were walking through the cold streets of Konoha, freezing wind biting and tousling their hair.
Going nowhere in particular, the two walked in a comfortable silence until they reached the empty clearing of their old training ground.
The air was sharp, causing the two to subconsciously move closer together to keep warm. Puffs of vapour escaped into the atmosphere while they stared at the scenery in silence.
"Hey, teme-" Naruto started, but stopped, unwilling to continue. "…Funny how it's not snowed yet, huh?" He started again, attempting to make small talk.
"Hn."
"I really wanted a White Chirstmas this year, y'know?" Naruto tried again, facing the raven in hopes of getting him to talk.
"…Hn."
"What do you like to do at Christmas then, teme?" The blond pestered on.
"My mum used to decorate the house. I helped." In his head, Naruto was cheering on the success of getting the Uchiha to speak. Outside, however, be feigned ignorance and carried on talking causally.
"Oh? I never decorated. Sakura does though. Lots of that stuff." He blushed suddenly, looking away, which caused the other man to give him a curious look.
"..'That stuff'?" Sasuke asked, not sure what to make of the phrase. Tinsel? Holly? Baubles?
"You know! Mistletoe!" Naruto was now supporting a frown and pink-tinged cheeks.
"Do you know what Mistletoe's for?" Sasuke was now looking straight at him, 'ohgodohgodohgod'.
"N-no. What then, Bastard?!" They were arguing dangerously close now, mouths inches apart, breath mingling in the cold.
"This." Time froze. Just like that, Sasuke leant in, closing the gap between them. At first, Naruto was frozen, unable to move out of pure shock. Sasuke was kissing him. It clicked in his mind that Sasuke was kissing him and all he was doing was standing there. Like he was going to let the bastard do everything.
They parted for air, remembering that, yes, they were human, and yes, humans need oxygen.
Only for Naruto to pull Sasuke closer lips meeting again, filling him with warmth to the tips of his toes, despite it being in the middle of winter. Tanned fingers threaded through midnight-black hair as they stayed stood there, absorbed in a world of their own.
"I-I…" The blond looked up, confused, but happy. Blushing, he wanted to swear, to shout at him, to punch him into next Tuesday. But he wanted to hug him, to share his warmth, to do that again. "Ba-" He started, before being silenced by a finger.
"Shh…" Sasuke whispered, pointing at the sky and dragging the body closer to his own. Actions spoke louder than words, and the warm body next to him was all that he needed to be content and happy.
Small flecks of white were falling from the sky, dancing in the bitter wind, gracefully landing on the ground by their feet. The snow was falling from the sky, little by little, but it was fascinating to watch each flake make its way from the heavens.
They stayed, watching the snow from where they were, under the grey clouds and holding each other.
-*-
"So, Bastard, what does this make 'us'?"
"Hm."
"You owe me a year and a half, y'know? It's your fault I went looking for you."
"Yeah. I suppose I do. How shall I make it up to you?"
"Uh… well, we could- Mph!"
"Ugh, can you two GET A ROOM?!?"
And, it's getting closer to Christmas. Whooo! Have a nice time, and yes, here in England, it looks like it's going to be a White Christmas this year ;P
Honestly? I don't really like this, but meh, lazy author is lazy.
Enjoy your holidays, and leave a review… it'd make this author very happy :)