Author's Note: This is one of the first slash fics that I've done in a long while, and probably the first that I've put any really heart into. So, warning in advance, the updates may be sporadic. I make no guarantees. Besides that, I realize that Hunter/Shane isn't the first pairing everyone would imagine, but it is my personal favorite. This story is also a combination of a couple other attempts I made with this pairing, since the others had a tendency to, well, fail. Hopefully this'll work out though. Praise be to Yevon if it does, eh? Also, the title is from the song of the same name by the Backstreet Boys, on their album Never Gone.

Disclaimer: PRNS is owned by Disney, but boy if I owned those ninja hotties...

Timeline: Between "All About Beevil" and "Sensei Switcheroo" (PRNS)

Climbing the Walls
by Froggie Lover

Chapter One: "The Art of Shinboi-iri"

Shane Clarke was suddenly jarred awake from a rather pleasant dream. His eyes shot open, wondering what the disturbance was. His alarm clock was silent, and nothing else in his room was amiss. After a few more moments, he received an answer.

"Yo, dude, get up!" a male voiced yelled through his door.

"We know you're in there, Shane, so don't even try to pretend you managed to leave before we came over," a female voice added.

The Red Wind Ranger rolled his eyes. "I'm up," he called back, however reluctantly. "Jeez, don't you guys know how to let a person sleep in?" he said, more to himself than to his friends outside the door.

"You're not allowed to sleep in when there's a ninja master waiting to yell at you!"

It didn't surprise him that they had heard his comment. Being a ninja (and a Ranger for that matter) meant having more attuned senses, hearing being one of the most affected. The fact that his friends were probably eavesdropping on him didn't help, either.

He slowly got up and moving around. Once he was dressed and more or less ready to go (despite the fact that he wanted to go back to sleep), he opened his bedroom door and found his two best friends waiting impatiently for him on the other side.

"Took you long enough, dude," Dustin Brooks laughed, apparently not caring about the glare the brown-skinned teen was throwing him.

Tori Hanson giggled a bit at the exchange. "Come on, guys, let's get going before Sensei decides to have a fit or something."

With a sigh and a shake of his head, Shane nodded. "Yeah. 'Cause if we're late, it's not going to be like last time. Lothor's not going to capture our school twice."

"Only because there's nothing to capture," Tori pointed out.

Dustin shrugged as they started walking downstairs. "I don't know. I mean, if Lothor thought that trying it again would mean getting us in the deal too, he might do it."

"Then let's be glad that he can't capture us that way," Shane noted, quickly ending a debate that could easily go on for hours.

With all speed possible, they left Shane's house and drove down to the entrance to Ninja Ops. Shane checked his watch when they were at the waterfall. "Just in time."

"Not quite," a voice said from behind them.

The three whirled around to see the two Thunder Rangers standing side by side (much as they always did), arms crossed over their chests.

"If you recall, Sensei said to be here at least ten minutes early," the blond-haired Hunter Bradley stated. "Which means you're late."

"No, dude, we're on time, see?" Dustin said. "We'd only be late if we were here past nine. It's five of."

"On time would be nine-fifty. It's nine-fifty-five," Blake Bradley corrected. "So, you're late."

Dustin looked confused as Shane stepped into the conversation. "Okay, dudes, we get it. We're late. I guess we should've remembered exactly what Sensei said. Just don't kill us."

"If we were going to kill you we would've done it already," Hunter muttered before heading for the waterfall.

Shane grabbed his arm as he walked by, not about to let that one go. "You already tried to, remember? Back when you still thought Sensei killed your parents?"

Tori exchanged a glance with Blake and pinched the bridge of her nose. Dustin slapped a hand to his forehead and shook his head.

Hunter's annoyance at his teammates tardiness turned into a mild form of anger at the Red Ranger's audacity. "I may mention that you weren't exactly playing peacemaker back then."

"Well it's a little hard to draw up a truce when you're being fired at," Shane retorted, his eyes narrowing.

With a deadly glare in his ice blue eyes, Hunter pulled out of the Wind Ninja's grasp and walked across the lake and through the waterfall without uttering another word. Shane took in a few breaths to calm himself before following the example.

When they were gone, Tori, Dustin, and Blake exchanged similar glances. A collective sigh of weariness passed between them before they, too, went down into Ninja Ops.

Sensei Watanabe raised an eyebrow as two of the five Rangers walked into Ninja Ops. First Hunter entered, and Shane wasn't far behind him. Neither looked happy. He quickly understood that something must have passed between them on the surface. It wasn't anything unusual, but he had thought that the rivalry and mistrust would have fallen away by now. Obviously he was wrong.

The last three were quick to follow, all having the same expression that Sensei was starting to feel. If the two Red Rangers didn't start getting along, an intervention would have to take place. Their cooperation was key to the team, as in if they didn't have it not much else would work. At least it hadn't crossed back over into the battlefield…yet.

After they'd all been there for a few minutes, nervously glancing between each other, Sensei's son Cam walked into the main area and sat down at the supercomputer.

"What are we doing today?" Dustin asked almost immediately, slightly alleviating the tension that had been building.

"Today we will be practicing the art of shinobi-iri," Sensei informed. He knew that each one knew what it was, it being a skill taught in some of the most basic ninja classes, but he explained it to refresh their memories. "It is the art of blending in with shadow and light. Use it well, and it can be a powerful ally; it may even allow you to see others using the same technique." He cast an appraising glance around the room. All of the Rangers were at least registering his words. "You will go in pairs into the forest and practice."

Both Shane and Hunter fought the urge to groan aloud. They knew how this was going to end up.

The other four exchanged a sneaky glance; perhaps this would teach the two leaders a lesson that they apparently hadn't learned in all their time as Rangers together.

Sensei smiled, as he knew that they understood. "The pairs are as follows: Dustin and Cam, Tori and Blake, and Hunter and Shane. Good luck, and remember that I will be watching."

With grins on all their faces (except perhaps Cam), the more affable members of the team left Ninja Ops, while Hunter and Shane slowly climbed the steps, neither speaking nor looking at each other.

The wise guinea pig sighed as he watched them go. He was getting too old for this.

Hunter was practically fuming. Whether it was because Sensei had stuck him with the very person he was trying to get away from, or because of said person, he didn't know. All he knew that he wanted to find a way to get out of this exercise and fast.

Surprisingly, Shane was of a like mind. Only, he had no intention of "getting out" of the practice, only to get through as quick as possible so he could go back to easily hating Hunter, and not attract Sensei's attention. Though, neither plan seemed to be working at the moment.

Both were quiet as they headed out into the forest. This was mostly because they knew regardless of what came out of their mouths they would manage to make the other angry. It was a serious problem they'd have to look into fixing one day.

When they reached a clearing, they both streaked in opposite directions about a quarter of a mile away. This was where the technique came in. There wasn't much sunlight filtering through the trees (it was actually quite cloudy outside), making it harder to spot the ninja uniforms in the shadows. However, the individual colors on the uniforms would be easier to see against the earthy greens and browns. If they were in civilian clothing, it'd be even better.

It didn't take either ninja long to sum up the surroundings and fit in. Hunter found himself in a thick cluster of trees, safely hidden in the shadows they provided (the darker colors on his uniform definitely helped him blend in as well). Shane wasn't so well protected, but he wasn't out in the open either. He was safe from prying eyes, but he still had a pretty good vantagepoint. And after they were all settled into their hiding places, they waited.

But waited for what, Shane wondered. That was what he didn't know. Hunter did - they were waiting for the other ninja to slip up and reveal at least part of themselves, to give away their location.

The blond Ranger crept carefully through trees, closer to the clearing. He was careful to stay in the shadows as he went, blending himself in with the environment as dictated by the principle of shinobi-iri. Once near the clearing, he edged around it, watching the center as well as the surrounding areas. He knew what direction Shane went off to, but he still had to use caution. He couldn't risk his teammate (he used the term lightly at this point) seeing him. But as soon as he got a good idea of his position, a so-called "sparring match" would definitely ensue.

Shane hugged closer to the tree he was trying to blend into, and he looked around the area. He didn't see anything besides verdant foliage. Minutes passed by slowly, as if he were watching a movie at half speed. His arm started to twitch, desperate to unleash a punch or block an incoming hit. He curled and uncurled his fist, trying to dispel the twitching. It didn't work well. If he didn't find out Hunter's location soon, he was going to give away his own. His patience was running thin.

As the minutes elapsed like hours, Hunter realized that his strategy was quickly getting him nowhere. He was tired of playing the waiting game, so he pulled out another technique. It may not have been part of the training program for today, but he knew it wasn't an illegal move. He closed his eyes and put his ninja senses to work, feeling out the surrounding areas for any spikes in elemental activity, the dead giveaway of a nearby ninja.

He didn't have to search long. He found the spike close to him, just in a slightly different direction than he was looking. He had been too far away from the clearing to use it as a reference for bearing anymore, and the forest started to look pretty much the same, so he had lost track of where exactly Shane was supposed to be. But now he knew, so he shifted a bit and carefully looked around a tree trunk. Within a small distance away, he could make out a shape that didn't fit in with the forest. It didn't stick out much, but there was enough space between the adjacent trees that it did stick out. And it was all the advantage he needed.

The brown-skinned ninja barely had enough time to look up (let alone prepare an attack) before he felt Hunter's foot collide with his chest. Due to the angle of the impact, Shane was thrown sideways and almost into another tree. "Definitely not this time," he muttered, kicking the tree seconds before he hit, propelling himself away from it and back towards Hunter.

Hunter met the oncoming attack with a kick of his own, decidedly ending that match in a draw. As both landed on the ground, they stared at each other, eyes blazing. Whether that fire was out of some hatred towards the other, or the heat of battle, or perhaps something entirely different, neither was sure.

In an instant they had streaked back to the clearing, and the exercise quickly deteriorated into a sparring match. All pretenses had been dropped, and now it was just an exchange of ninjitsu techniques at lightning speed. The premise here was much simpler than before: attack the other guy until you fall on your butt. So, for the next half hour (though it seemed like longer), Hunter and Shane evenly traded blows and blocks, waiting for an opening to present itself.

The theoretic opening never came. Before either could find a way to effectively bring the rather heated match, a beep sounded from both their morphers.

"Go for Shane," the Wind Ranger answered after they'd come to a halt, at least for a moment.

"You have exceeded the mandate of the exercise," Sensei berated over the line. Before he continued, Hunter muttered something about the sparring being implied in their so-called mandate. "However, you both executed the technique of shinobi-iri very well, and for that I commend you."

"We try, Sensei," Shane offered good-naturedly, trying to reduce the nearly tangible tension in the air. The comment, however, roused nothing from the Crimson Thunder Ranger.

"When the others have completed their assignments, you two should return to Ninja Ops. For now, you have a temporary reprieve," Sensei said before the connection cut.

A long, heavy silence followed Sensei's words. Neither Ranger looked at each other, finding it easier to avoid conversation. Though, the lack of voices in the air seemed to cause stillness in the rest of the forest, as if waiting with baited breath for one of them to find something to say, something to fill the void that slowly oppressed the secluded world. That's how it appeared to Shane, at any rate. Finally, he let out a sigh, which may have been slightly overdramatic, and decided to make a feeble stab at an interlocution.

"I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier. I didn't get much sleep last night, and I guess I've been kind of irritable as a result." The words surprised even him. He hadn't expected the first thing to come out of his mouth to be an apology, especially since it was partly true.

Hunter was making no effort to hide his own bewilderment at the confession. "Did you just apologize?"

Shane rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Yeah, I did." In a moment, however, the spell was over and he remembered that they weren't supposed to be amicable to each other, at least by standard if not by choice. "Don't get used to it." He started to walk away, but a hand grabbing his arm brought him to an abrupt halt.

"Hey, uh…I'm sorry too. Blake and I really didn't have a right to jump all over your backs like that. I mean, if Sensei wasn't mad about it, why should we yell at you for it? That is his job. Well, and Cam's when it comes to Zords and anything remotely related to technology," Hunter said. It appeared that he was telling the truth.

And if this whole scenario was real (no matter how sick and twisted reality could get), it seemed that both Shane and Hunter actually had the capacity to admit they were wrong - even to each other. But of course, they weren't about to acknowledge this.

The Air Ninja cleared his throat. "So…"

"What kept you up last night?" Hunter asked, trying to keep their newfound truce afloat.

It took Shane a moment to reply, but not because he didn't have an answer. On the contrary, he remembered quite clearly what had kept him up half the night, but it wasn't something he was prepared to tell Hunter. "A dream," was all he gave away.

For a moment Hunter was content to leave it at that. It was a perfectly reasonable that a dream should keep one awake at night, because the subconscious has a perverse sense of humor. However, it wasn't before long that Hunter actually started thinking about the possibilities of what that dream could've been, and the curiosity to know was picking at him. Finally, his will crumbled, and he decided to ask, if only to keep the images at bay. That way, they would go away once he knew the truth, which was probably a far cry from the scenes his mind was imagining. "What was the dream about?"

Shane tried his best to mask the dread that he certainly felt; he'd been hoping Hunter would have kept in character and not cared less about the whole thing. Alas, he had no such luck. He wondered if he should lie, if he could get away with it at all. He quickly vetoed this idea. The Crimson Thunder Ranger had a rather effective BS detector. The only way out was to tell the truth. Of course, pondering telling the truth led him to thinking about the truth itself, and the dream from last night was suddenly playing in his head. He willed it away the best he could, but he could still hear it in the back of his mind. Quickly he mumbled out the answer, trying to get the dream (nice as it was) to stop. He didn't care whether or not it was coherent; he just wanted his brain to shut down.

Heightened as his senses were due to his ninja training and the Crimson Thunder Power, Hunter almost didn't catch what Shane said. Even though he had heard it, he wasn't sure he believed it. He could've sworn that the Red Ranger had said, "It was about you," but it was possible he had it wrong. He had to make sure. "Come again?"

Oh, hell with it, Shane thought. He took a deep breath, bracing himself for whatever would happen next. He grabbed the front of Hunter's uniform and pulled him close, pressing their lips together. Suddenly Shane felt lightheaded, and he realized how good the contact felt. Hunter didn't seem to be complaining either. When they finally broke apart, Shane held their bodies close, not giving Hunter the chance to push him away. Resting his forehead against the blond's, he whispered, "The dream was about you."

The opportunity to reply slipped away when both of their morphers sounded. The brown-skinned teen looked into Hunter's eyes for a moment before reluctantly stepping away and answering the call. Sensei told them to come back to Ninja Ops, and both followed the order, but not before Shane wished that he'd mustered up the courage to kiss Hunter sooner.

The latter part of ninja training for that day had involved some meditation techniques and an overlong history lesson. Shane was the last to leave, trailing behind the other four. He was almost afraid of what would happen if he encountered Hunter on the surface.

Once he was up the stairs and back into the forest, he looked around, searching for any sign of the Crimson Thunder Ranger. Not finding any, he sighed and continued on. Before he got too far, something pulled him behind a tree. Shane was ready to attack, until he saw that it was his supposed rival that had grabbed him. He relaxed and allowed himself to smile. It looked like he didn't have a reason to fear after all.

"What kind of dream was it?" Hunter asked, a smirk playing across his face.

In response, Shane kissed him with all the passion and fervor he could manage. But only a few moments passed before he pulled away, leaving Hunter decidedly breathless.

"So it was that kind of dream then, was it?" the blond remarked after regaining his composure. "Good to know." He took in a deep breath, and his face became serious. "So, um, Shane…you want to actually do this?"

Once again Shane proved that he could be a man of action by giving Hunter a softer, but no less passionate kiss.

"I'll take that as a yes."