Stranded

Ch. 10- If you build it, they will come

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and TV Tokyo.

Beta'd by: Naruto7771

Naruto watched as the sky slowly began to lighten up. The black of night receded and allowed the rays of sun to turn the black into a light blue. Small clouds drifted by now and then. Rubbing his eyes, he yawned sleepily. Poking at the fire with another stick, his stomach growled. Surprised, he glanced down at his abdomen. Huh, it doesn't seem like much time has passed since I ate. But then again, that night seemed to last forever. Hearing movement beside him, he turned to see Sasuke slowly waking up, squinting in the sunlight.

"Mornin' teme."

Sasuke yawned and rubbed his face. Mumbling a "hello", he got up and went over to a tree. Naruto watched him curiously, but turned away blushing when he saw the bastard peeing. Standing up, he wandered over to the pool of water and picked up his spear. Sasuke came back and followed suit.

"You know," Naruto started, "If fish is all were going to be eating for however long were going to be here, I'm going to get sick of it."

Sasuke internally rolled his eyes. "And what, pray tell, is there to eat besides fish? Bugs? If you want, you can. Many insects are actually edible and full of protein."

Naruto made a face. "No, I think I'll stick to fish. How the hell do you know what bugs are full of? Do you eat them?"

Sasuke stared at him. The dobe looks different. He looks kind of tired. Oh well, not my problem. Not bothering to respond, he stabbed his spear down and caught a fish. Picking it off, he tossed it to the side and quickly caught another.

Naruto managed to trap one between two rocks and missed. Rubbing his eyes with a fist, he shook his head and squinted, trying to focus. Shit, everything seems kind of blurry. It's probably because I didn't sleep. And I can't seem to stop yawning. Successfully catching a medium sized fish that was snacking on the underwater plants, he proudly tossed it next to Sasuke's catch. Sasuke glanced at it and shrugged. He wasn't impressed. Rolling his eyes, Naruto turned back to his task. After a while, they both had a decent amount of food and went back to the fire. Polishing off the fish, Naruto stretched in the sun, the warm rays making him feel giddy and ready for some fun. Oblivious to the fact the Sasuke was watching him like a hawk, he continued stretching, focusing on his leg's flexibility. After he was done, he turned around in time to see Sasuke's head whip away. Grinning, he strode over to the raven.

"Oi Sasuke. How long do you think we're going to be here?"

"Long enough that we're going to need some sort of shelter. Now, since it's early, we can get a good start on one before the sun sets again. The best place to make them is probably here." Sasuke walked over to a shaded area by the edge of the clearing. "The trees provide protection and if we add some leaves and branches here, we can have something sturdy."

Naruto frowned. There goes that bastard, taking control again. That spot looks shitty. It would be better to have it more towards the water, right? "Teme, you sure that's a good spot shouldn't it be-"

"Of course it's a good spot. Why would I choose a bad one? Now come on, we have to find materials."

Sasuke walked over to the edge of the clearing and marched in, not bothering to stop for Naruto. Naruto yawned. Sasuke is sure different when he is asleep than when he is awake. Maybe because his mouth isn't open and saying dumb things. Sniggering, Naruto followed the raven into the jungle. Catching up, he placed his hands behind his head and followed lazily.

"So what kind of supplies are we looking for?"

"First, we are heading back to crash site to see if there is anything we can salvage. Then, we come back and decide how the shelter is going to be. Lastly, we build it."

"Okay, sounds good."

Making their way through the thick foliage, they walked for around for a while before finding the site. It looked exactly the same as it did last time. Kicking debris around, Naruto made his way to what used to be the plane's luggage storage area. Shifting though the rubble, he couldn't find anything he deemed salvage able. Giving up, he turned back to Sasuke who was inspecting pieces of plane's walls and some loose seats.

"Hey Sasuke, I can't find anything worth saving. All of it is just useless."

"Hn. Speak for yourself. The plane's walls are made up of reinforced carbon fiber, making it extremely durable. It's perfect for some protection against the elements." Tugging it out of the ground, Sasuke pulled it free and began to collect several pieces. Jealous that Sasuke found something useful, Naruto renewed his efforts to find something. Mumbling to himself, he pushed a charred seat over and saw something halfway buried in the dirt. Curiously, he bent over and yanked it out. It was a basketball with a hole in the top. Grinning, he held it up and dusted it off. Awesome! Now I have something to do! …that hole though…I should probably patch it up.

"Dobe, I'm leaving. You coming?"

"Oi teme, look what I found!"

Proudly displaying his find, Naruto took it over to Sasuke. The raven merely looked at it and looked back at Naruto. Raising an eyebrow, he tilted his head slightly.

"A torn basketball. This is what you want to keep?"

Naruto protectively hugged the ball. "Don't be mean, all I have to do is stuff the hole with something and it will be as good as new!"

"Hn." Sasuke turned around and continued walking while dragging the pieces of plane with him. If this is what he chooses to take, I'm curious as to what he plans to do to build the shelter. He's utterly hopeless.

Back at camp, Sasuke dumped his pieces of plane over at his chosen spot and dusted his hands off. Standing back, he thoughtfully "Hn-ed" and cocked his head. Going over to a tree, he yanked down some vines that had been hanging and dropped them by the pieces. He then went over to a large plant and pulled off some fronds. Bringing those over, he placed them next to the other objects.

Meanwhile, Naruto had attempted to fix the basketball. Stuffing large palm fronds inside, he struggled to make them fit. After much stuffing, he stopped and looked at his handiwork. The basketball now had nine large palm frond spikes sticking out of the hole. Pleased with the outcome, Naruto set it down and placed it on the floor. Taking his hand off of it, he saw that he left a black handprint on the surface. "Huh. I wonder how I did that. I don't have any paint…Oh! The soot from that chair! It must have stuck to my hand and then transferred to the ball. ….Kinda looks like a face…..I know!" Taking the edge of his shirt, he tried to rub off some of the soot, but it was stuck. He did manage to clean up several spots. There, now it looks more like a face. And now to name you….umm….Kyuubi! That's your name!

Speaking out loud, he held the ball up as if it were Simba. "I dub thee, Kyuubi!" Hearing the sound of something that sounded like a slap, he picked up the newly christened ball and carefully placed it in a more secure spot. Dusting off his hands, he nodded to himself and walked over to where Sasuke was. The raven was sitting on the floor tying vines together with an odd red mark on his forehead.

"So, how do we do this?"

"Well if you're done being a moron, we need to tie these vines together and then use them to secure the walls of the shelter. See the two branches there? They are parallel to the ground, making them perfect to use. One of the pieces of plane is going go on top of them to create a roof. Here, start tying these together." Sasuke thrust several vines at Naruto and he began to use other vines to tie the palm fronds to each other. Naruto pouted at being told what to do. Sitting down, he attempted to do what he had been asked to do. Finishing, he stood up and presented them to Sasuke.

"Look, I finished!"

Sasuke glanced at them. He reached over and pulled a loose end and the entire rope Naruto had made fell apart.

"This needs to be more sturdy and durable. Do it again."

Irritated, Naruto resumed his work and finished again. Repeating the process, he took it over to Sasuke. Sasuke inspected it and this time pulled on the rope. It snapped easily.

"You need to reinforce it better. Do it again."

Gritting his teeth, Naruto plopped down and furiously began to make a thicker rope. Griping under his breath, he braided the vines together and carefully knotted them. Once again finishing, he almost threw it at Sasuke.

"Done."

Sasuke stared at the rope. "You made it too thick. How are we going to use it if it's too thick? Untie them and do it right. You're wasting time."

Naruto snapped and threw the rope on the ground. "That's it, if you want it done, then do it yourself. Build your own damn shelter and I'll build mine!" Stalking over to what he deemed his side of the clearing, Naruto picked a spot were the pool of water was closer to the jungle. Picking up Kyuubi, he stomped over to his chosen spot and put the ball down. "Mine will be way better than yours and it will be over here."

Sasuke almost snorted. Almost. "Do you really want to engage me in another inane competition that I will undoubtedly win?"

"Bastard, you won't be so cocky when I make you eat those words!"

Sasuke smirked. "Like you could."

Naruto's face turned bright red, his fists clenching. "You bet your sweet ass I can! My shelter will kick your shelter's ass!"

"I bet your sweet ass that you'll come crawling back over here when you fail."

"Oh, you've done it. This means war, teme!"

"Hn."

Growling, Naruto strode over to his spot and immediately began to pull vines from the trees around him. Rubbing his tired eyes, he tried to concentrate on his task. He looked over at Kyubbi and began to talk to it.

"If the bastard thinks he can beat me, he is sorely mistaken. Stupid, condescending teme. Where the hell does he get off telling me what to do or that I can't do something right? I'll show him. What do you think Kyuubi? I can beat him, right?!

"…"

"Yeah, that's right. This is the perfect chance to show him that I can be better than him! I'll make the best damn shelter he's ever seen. I'll make a mini mansion shelter, complete with monkey butlers! Kyuubi! Find the monkey butlers!"

"…"

"….right, I guess I'll do it later. Sorry, forgot you didn't have legs."

The sound of another slap was heard in the distance, this time louder.

xXx

Iruka woke up to the sound of pages flipping and warmth against his face. Cracking his eyes, he got a face full of pale skin. Confused and sleepy, he opened his eyes wider and blinked. His face was apparently plastered against Kakashi's ribcage while Kakashi was lazily flipping through his orange book. His arm was splayed across Kakashi's chest and his lekgs were tangled with the silver-haired man's. Swallowing, he felt his entire face immediately burn red and his heart began to thump furiously at the feel of their bodies touching. Iruka needed to get away fast. Okay, he hasn't noticed that I'm awake yet. Maybe I can roll away while pretending I'm asleep. I'll then casually wake up and get out of here. Alright, here goes nothing.

Iruka closed his eyes and evened his breath. Getting ready to move, he felt something lightly brush his shoulder blades. Iruka froze. Kakashi's left arm was slowly running across his back, tickling him. The taller man appeared to be completely engrossed in his reading, but his fingers were stroking Iruka's sensitive spot; right between his shoulder blades. Resisting the urge to moan, Iruka bit his lip and shivered slightly as the nails gently scraped across the spot, raising goosebumps on Iruka's arms. Willing his body not to move, he tensed up as the fingers began to move lower. The fingers then changed objective and began to trace along his spine. If this keeps up, I won't be able to stay quiet. It's now or never!

Mumbling, Iruka detached himself from his precarious position and rolled away, making sure to dislodge the arm that had been tickling him. He made sleep noises and squirmed back to his side. Settling down, he began to count the seconds until he would 'wake up'. Smiling into his pillow, he was proud of his flawless plan.

"Maa Iruka, you've got to be the worst fake sleeper ever. I know you're awake."

Kakashi was amused as he watched Iruka pretend to roll over. He had known the brunette was awake from the moment before he began to stroke his back. He had woken up to find Iruka attached to him and he found it endearing. He hadn't wanted to wake the shorter man up so he had just begun to read Make-Out Tactics while he waited. It had been strangely comforting having Iruka there. Waking up alone was something he was used to, but having another person there was enjoyable.

Iruka was drowning in embarrassment. Not one to give up, he continued his charade and didn't answer. Kakashi grinned. Putting down his book, he sat up and stretched, his joints lightly popping.

"Okay, I'll play along. I'm gonna go make some coffee, and you can conveniently wake up when I come back."

Scratching his chest, he climbed out of bed and went over to the window. Thrusting the drapes apart, he let the warm sunlight infiltrate the room and light it up. Tugging his mask off, he sauntered out of the room and closed the door. Ambling over to his hallway and down the slightly squeaky stairs, he hummed to himself as he continued to stretch. Opening his cabinets, he pulled out two coffee cups and turned on his coffee maker.

Upstairs, Iruka could hear Kakashi's footsteps in his kitchen. I need to get out of bed and back into my clothes. Bolting out of bed, he went to the bathroom and tried to find his clothes. Glancing around, all he saw were Kakashi's clothes. Remembering that Kakashi had taken his, he groaned and went back into the bedroom, absentmindedly tugging on his hair. Having no clue what to do, he settled for fixing the sheets and tidying up. Sitting his side of the bed, he fiddled with sheets as he waited. Wait, why am I waiting? I don't have to stay here until he says. I'm a grown man; I can do what I want. I'm going downstairs.

Marching over to the door with his nose turned up, he yanked open the door and almost walked into a solid wall of chest. Kakashi had come back up the stairs and brought with him two coffee cups filled to the brim. A tantalizing aroma wafted from the cups and into Iruka's nose. Kakashi held up a cup.

"Oh. You're awake now." He grinned mischievously. "Did you sleep well?"

His mismatched eyes were filled with amusement as he watched the brunette blush. Iruka took the cup and inhaled deeply. Smiling, he brought the cup to his mouth and sipped it.

"I slept fine, thank you. Just woke up, actually."

Iruka stretched and shook his head slightly, giving the illusion that he had indeed just woken up. Drinking more coffee, he looked away from Kakashi's piercing eyes, only to find that the man still hadn't put on clothes. Immediately looking away and his face feeling warm, he stared at his feet.

"Oh really? Well then, how does breakfast sound?"

Iruka's stomach chose then to growl loudly. "Umm, yes, breakfast sounds good."

"Okay, where do you want to go?" Kakashi held up a hand. "And before you start on the money talk, you can just pay me back when we get the boys home. Deal?"

Iruka reluctantly agreed. "But wait, why are we going out to eat? Breakfast at home is much more gratifying."

Kakashi raked his hand through his gravity-defying hair and gave Iruka a lopsided grin. "I have no idea how to cook besides some instant ramen. Besides, since Sasuke was coming, I expected to be eating out a lot, so the kitchen is sadly lacking in stock."

Iruka frowned faintly. "You can't be that bad. Pancakes are incredibly simple." He then smiled sadly. "Naruto loves ramen."

Feeling the change in atmosphere darken, Kakashi immediately tried to change the conversation.

"Then when he gets back, I'll cook us all some ramen. I disagree, pancakes are difficult. They burn easily and if you're not careful, you end up eating one that wasn't cooked right."

"Well, the pancakes I make are easy and delicious."

"But the kitchen is empty, so looks like it's time to go to IHOP."

Iruka lifted an eyebrow and regarded the silver-haired man. "You must have something. I bet I can make something out of what you have."

"Is that a challenge I hear? Okay, be my guest and try."

"I'm already your guest and I won't try, I'll win."

Holding his head high, Iruka marched out of the bedroom and headed over to the stairs. Kakashi watched him go, an amused look on his face. Hmm he's feisty in the morning. I like it. Now to see if he can be put up to the cooking test. Downing the last of his coffee, Kakashi trailed after the brunette.

xXx

"You weren't kidding; the refrigerator is basically empty. Have you been eating out every day? For breakfast, lunch, and dinner?"

"Hmm, yes. Pretty much."

Iruka gazed into the vacant fridge, an incredulous look on his face. Besides some eggs, orange juice, milk, and a few sticks of butter, it was empty.

"That has to be exceedingly unhealthy." He turned his head and stared at the taller man. "And this coming from a man that raised a child?"

Kakashi observed the fridge over Iruka's shoulder. Shrugging, he rubbed his chin.

"Sasuke never minded and he eventually learned to cook. He's fed us both on multiple occasions."

Shaking his head, Iruka inspected the food cabinets and searched for some flour and a bowl. Finding a bag of flour and a medium sized mixing bowl, he pulled them out and set them on the table.

"Well, it'll be a stretch, but I can do it. Get ready to have a great home-style breakfast."

Kakashi tilted his head and nodded. "I look forward to it. Let's get started shall we?"

"But, first things first. Go put clothes on."

Kakashi glanced down at his body and noticed his lack of clothing along with the slight red tinge on the shorter man's face. Grinning cheerfully, he placed a hand behind his back and another on his chest bowed down.

"Yes, my lord."

Winking, he whistled and exited the kitchen, making his way to the second floor. Iruka watched him leave, chuckling and rubbing his scar. He's like a child. A grown-up child with a five o'clock shadow, a body of a model, and startlingly intense eyes. Turning back to his task and rolled up his sleeves. Humming, he washed his hands and opened the fridge, taking out the milk, eggs, and butter. Cracking them into the bowl, he poured in the flour.

Kakashi soon sauntered back into the kitchen, this time wearing a black shirt with a ball on the front and dark jeans. Iruka turned around when he heard footsteps and cocked his head. With a spatula in his hand, he pointed at Kakashi's shirt.

"Is that a Pokéball on your shirt?"

The taller man shrugged. "I haven't done laundry in a while. Besides, it fits."

"So you have a shirt with a children's show logo on it?"

"I was a birthday gift. What, didn't Naruto ever watch Pokémon?"

"Actually, he did. His favorite one was …..Ummmm… Oh! It was the Ninetails! In the games, he would always have a Ninetails and a Vulpix on his team."

Nodding his head in agreement, Kakashi sat down at the table. "Sasuke used to watch it. It was before he got caught up in the family business. His favorites were the Luxray and Seviper. That's about all I know about the show."

"Same here."

Iruka turned back to the table and mixed the ingredients in the bowl. Aware, that Kakashi was staring at him, he licked his lips nervously and tried to concentrate on his task.

"So do you need any help? As horrible as I am at creating food, I'll lend you a hand."

Iruka shook his head. "Nope. You sit down and let me do it. It's the least I can do."

Kakashi pulled out a chair from the small kitchen and sat backwards on it, His arms resting on the back of the chair. Pulling a book out of somewhere, he flipped to the last page he had been on.

Glancing up occasionally, he noticed the bag of flour sitting on the counter. Snapping his book shut, he grinned evilly and stood up. Maybe, I can help by using this flour…