"No."
"What?"
"I said no."
"Naruto–"
"Hell no!"
Sasuke stood at the edge of the river, tapping his foot impatiently. Having finished their mission, a personal request by the Hokage – escorting a trader to a boat that would take him home to the Water Country – Sasuke was exhausted; wanting nothing more than to return to his warm bed and sleep.
Naruto, however, refused to cross the river. It was fairly wide – no ninja could jump it completely. They would eventually have to swim part of it. Sasuke, while unhappy of having to travel in wet clothes, had found it to be the fastest way home. It would cut their journey in half.
"Naruto..."
"Let's just find the bridge we took the first time!" Sasuke was quickly losing his patience.
"I told you before – this is a shortcut. Do you know why they call them shortcuts? Because–"
"No."
"– they cut our travel short."
"No."
"And I am not going to spend an extra five hours just to find some stupid bridge because you don't want to get your hair wet! Now come on!"
"No." Sasuke lost it. He grabbed the blond's wrist with a firm grip, pulling him towards the river. Naruto dug his heels into the dirt, but found it did little more than slow him down – the river was still slowly closing in, inch by inch.
Naruto began to struggle even harder, pounding on the hand to force it loose.
"Damnit, Naruto!" Sasuke's hand finally slipped. Naruto began to retreat, but Sasuke was quick to grab the arm again – with both hands. Finally, Naruto pulled too hard, and found his feet sliding out from under him.
The two went down onto the ground. As Sasuke wrestled on top of the blond, he didn't notice the sapphire eyes beginning to water. Once Sasuke had him pinned, he shook Naruto roughly.
"Naruto!"
"Please." The voice was worn, breaking slightly.
"What the hell is wrong with you!?"
"I can't swim!" Sasuke loosened his hold slightly, watching a tear slipping from beneath the eyelids, clenched shut firmly.
"What do you mean? We've been in the baths dozens of times and you weren't scared!"
"People don't drown in those, bastard!" This time a sob slipped out yelled. He watched as Naruto bit on his lip to try and force back any others that might escape. His desire to continue the argument drained, Sasuke rolled over – changing their positions. He brought a hand up to Naruto's back and rubbed it gently, trying to calm the other down. When Naruto's breathing evened out, he carefully maneuvered them into a sitting position.
Gently, he picked Naruto up into his arms and began walking towards the river. It took Naruto a moment to realize what was happening, but he began struggling with Sasuke when he figured it out.
"Bastard! Let me go!" Punches and scratches landed on him, but he held tight – slowly making his way towards the river. Sasuke shivered slightly as the cold water crept up his leg – but most of his attention remained on Naruto, whose violent efforts became more and more frantic as the water rose. When it reached Sasuke's waist, he stopped, and looked hard into Naruto's eyes. Slowly, Naruto began to stop struggling, and looked back.
"I won't let go of you, I promise. Will you trust me?" Naruto was silent for a moment, before slowly nodding his head. Sasuke gently lowered him into the water, tightening his grip as Naruto's body rebelled against the feeling of the water. As Naruto dropped into the water, Sasuke snaked a hand around his waist and pulled the blond close. Naruto shakily found his footing on the bottom of the river, but eventually stood – holding tightly onto Sasuke the entire time. They stood there, holding each other while the water slowly ran past them.
"See? You're alright." Sasuke said while he brought a hand up to pet Naruto's hair. Naruto only let out a shaky, bitter laugh, his face pressed against Sasuke chest. "Alright, wrap your arms around my neck." Naruto looked up at Sasuke questioningly, but did what he was told when he got no response. Sasuke reached down and brought Naruto's legs around his waist. Then, he turned around and pushed off into the river. Naruto screamed and began to panic, but Sasuke only held him tight – letting himself float into the river. He kicked his feet slowly, enough to keep both of their heads above water. Naruto relaxed and rested his chin on Sasuke's shoulder. He began to slowly make his way to other side, concentrating more on Naruto's comfort than how far downstream they would be by the time he finished crossing.
"Sasuke, can you really get us all the way there like this?" Sasuke looked into Naruto's eyes, noticing the blush across his face. He suddenly felt a surge of pride at how much trust Naruto had given to him – letting him take them into the river he'd earlier been too scared to even step foot in. He squeezed Naruto's thigh reassuringly.
"Yeah. Just don't expect me to carry you all the way back, dobe."