Disclaimer: If Naruto were mine as opposed to K. Masashi's... This fic would NOT be fanfiction... Imagine... the Naruto characters as firefighters... :drenches keyboard with drool:

Naruto lazily put all the merchandise through on his cash, glancing at the time. He was off in about twenty minutes. Then, he had two hours before he had to go to the Station. He could shower, catch a quick nap, and then make it there in time for his shift.

"Forty-two eighty." he said to the customer, the large woman on the other side of the cash handing him money. He counted out the change and told her to have a nice day before beginning to ring through the next bunch of items.

"Did you find everything you were looking for?" he asked without looking up.

"I found what I was looking for the second I walked in."

Naruto's head snapped up to meet a pair of emotionless onyx eyes.

"What do you want?" He narrowed his eyes at his customer. He'd had him for a while, almost a year. He always harassed Naruto in ways one man should not harass another when they were complete strangers. Sasuke and Naruto at least were acquainted. Naruto knew nothing about this man, but he had the feeling this man knew a lot about him.

"I'm shopping. Is this not what one does when entering a store?"

"You were told not to come through my cash ever again. We refrained from putting out a restraining order, but rest assured, it will be done if you don't comply."

"Do you not like me?" the man inquired as he leaned forward, a smirk beginning to form on his features.

"Actually, I hate you. I don't even know you and I hate you. Please go to another cash."

"And if I don't?"

Naruto shrugged and picked up the phone beside him, dialling in a store-wide page. "Can I have any available duty manager or CSM to cash eight for customer assistance. That's any available duty manager or CSM to cash eight for customer assistance, thank you."

He hung the phone back up and cocked an eyebrow at the man on the other side of the cash.

"This doesn't bother me. I just like staring at you. So whether or not you ring my stuff through is of no importance."

Naruto winced as one of his managers came up. The second she saw the man on the other side of the cash, she scowled.

"Naruto, take your fifteen." she ordered.

The blond signed out of his cash and left the area, walking through the store and looking over his shoulder at the man who continued to harass him. His eyes were locked on Naruto, even though the manager was talking to him. Naruto winced and looked away.

He made his way to Electronics and leaned against the counter as he watched Temari playing a video game. She didn't seem to even know he was there, but he didn't care. He just wanted to get away from the man at the front.

"Was he there again?" Naruto looked at Temari, stunned, as she spoke, her back still to him as she continued playing the game.

"Huh?"

"The guy. The one who freaks you out. Was it him?"

"Yeah." Naruto sighed, running his hand through his hair. "How did you know?"

"I heard your page. You sounded strained." She turned her head slightly to look at him. "I could tell."

"Yeah." Naruto sighed, leaning forward on the counter. "Even Sasuke isn't as bad as him."

"Speaking of which, I saw him wandering around earlier." Temari scowled as a car got in front of her own in the racing game she was playing.

"Great." Naruto sighed, shaking his head.

"Would Naruto please report to cash eight. That's Naruto to cash eight, thank you."

"Guess my so-called fifteen is over." He smirked at Temari.

"You know Susan. She probably just said it to make the bastard think you would be away from the front for longer than he thought."

"This is true. I'll see you later."

"You sure will." Temari turned to wink at him before he waved and walked away.

As soon as Naruto got back to the front end to head to his cash, he groaned as he noticed Sasuke frowning and looking up and down the rows of cashiers. Ten guesses what he's looking for, and nine don't count, Naruto thought with a sigh as he made his way back to his cash. He dodged Sasuke as best he could, getting back to his cash and thanking Susan as she left.

He logged back in and smiled as he served his next customer. Two minutes later, he was greeted with yet another person who annoyed him to no end. Sasuke had found him. Again.

"Aren't you supposed to ask if I found everything all right?" Sasuke smirked.

"Look, asshole." Naruto hissed as he scanned Sasuke's items through. "I've already got one person stalking me, and that's not cool. I don't know what people's fascination with me is, but it's gotta stop. Seriously. I'm getting pissed off. I've had just about enough of you and your idiotic pranks, and I've had enough of seeing you everywhere I go." Naruto practically hurled Sasuke's things into the bags. "Leave me the fuck alone or I'll have a restraining order put out, which will make our job together at the Station very difficult." He thrust Sasuke's bags into his hands. "Have a nice day."

Sasuke stared at him for a few seconds before walking away from him, exiting the store. To him, following Naruto around had just been for fun and to annoy the blond. He'd never expected Naruto to react like that, and he found it completely unnecessary and uncalled for.

He wants me to stay away from him, I'll fucking stay away from him, then, the raven thought angrily as his eyes hardened.

"Hey." Genma leaned closer to Kiba as he regarded the main room of Station Seven. "Is it just me, or do things seem a little creepy today?"

"Things seem creepy." Kiba agreed. "Everything was fine when Sasuke walked in earlier, but the second Naruto arrived and the two saw each other, it was like—I almost choked, the hatred was so strong. It was suffocating me."

"It still is." Genma whispered as he looked back and forth between the two men who stood on either side of the room, neither facing the other. "What do you think happened?"

"I would know?"

"You and Sasuke are almost friends." Genma insisted. "And you and Naruto are friends. Go find out what's happening." Genma tried to push him from his chair but Kiba grabbed the table, keeping himself seated.

"Why do I have to do it? Why don't you go?"

"I'll molest you." Genma grinned, his hand running up the inside of Kiba's thigh.

With a shriek that caused everyone in the room to look at Kiba, the brunette leapt from his seat and bolted across the room, headed for Naruto since he was more likely to get an answer from him than from Sasuke.

"Yo, man." Kiba rubbed the back of his head as he approached, feeling wave after wave of hatred crashing into him. "Something happen between you guys?"

"I told him to fuck off, and he has." Naruto stated easily. Kiba winced.

"You do realize the two of you are killing us with your hate vibes, right?"

"Yes." was the easy reply. Kiba just sighed, shaking his head.

"Good day, my trusty firefighters!" Everyone turned to the door, completely stunned. "It is I! Gai Maito! I was wondering when you would all be working again! I asked your Battalion Chief for your shifts so I may thank you for saving my gym!" (1)

The man clad in a green jumpsuit began to make his way around the room, thrusting protein bars into each firefighter's hand. Naruto and Sasuke were so confused that their hatred for one another began to disappear from the air, letting the others breathe a little easier.

"Excuse me, this is a firehouse. You're not authorized to be in here." Kakashi said as he came out of his office, noticing the green-clad man walking around.

"Ah! The Captain!" He ran to Kakashi, the grey-haired man's eyes widening in shock. Gai wrapped his arms tightly around Kakashi before hauling him off the ground and swinging him from side to side. "You are the one who instructed your firefighters. You are the one who told them where to go and what to do! If not for you, I would no longer have my gym! I thank you, kind sir! The youthful vigour of firefighters is truly amazing!"

"Sir, put me down!" Kakashi said, trying to keep his anger from his tone but managing to sound authoritative. "This is a firehouse, you are not authorized to be here. If there is a fire, we need to be able to leave quickly and efficiently. Your presence makes this hard."

"I understand, good Captain!" Gai's laughter echoed boomingly throughout the room. "I understand completely."

"Good. Now put me down!"

"You must not be embarrassed, kind sir." Gai stated as he put Kakashi down and placed his hands on the Captain's shoulders. "It is perfectly natural for one man to hug the other to demonstrate friendship and youthful energy!"

With that, he grabbed Kakashi and crushed him to his chest in a huge hug, the Captain letting out an 'oof' at the unexpected action. He cast a glance at Sasuke, the raven smirking slightly at his predicament. A glare from Kakashi made him sigh and walk towards Gai, tapping him on the shoulder.

"Sir, it is against the law to enter a firehouse without permission. Please don't make me call the authorities to have you removed from the premises. That wouldn't be fun for you or for us. So if you would pl—"

The speaker popped and all heads snapped in its direction, Kakashi cursing as he pushed Gai away from him. All of them rushed around as Izumo not-so-kindly pushed Gai out of the firehouse before he jumped into Truck Ten as it passed by, barely slowing down for the firefighter to get in.

Naruto crawled into the gloom, feeling the weight of the fire pressing down on him. He was a little annoyed to be paired up with Sasuke again—I swear, Kakashi does it on purpose—but there was nothing he could do. He and Sasuke would just have to be civil while working together.

Naruto hit Genma's boot, the firefighter turning to him. "Arrow, you and Godd are supposed to pull out. Death and I will take over."

"You got it, rookie."

I need a nickname, Naruto thought with a sigh as Izumo turned off the hose. Stat. He was getting sick of people calling him 'rookie' because he didn't have a nickname yet.

Izumo and Genma moved out of the way, crawling back through the smoke and grime as Naruto took his place beside the hose, Sasuke roughly shoving past him to get the nozzle. Naruto just glared through his mask, but said nothing. He wasn't going to die in this stupid fire over who got to spray water everywhere.

He molded himself to Sasuke's back as the raven picked up the hose, opening the nozzle and bucking back into Naruto. The blond grunted at the pressure, but ignored it as best he could, working on helping Sasuke move forward with the hose to douse more of the flames.

As he pressed into Sasuke's back, his eyes caught sight of something on an adjacent wall. He frowned slightly, trying to see through the smoke. He only saw a little bit of it, and knew immediately what it was.

"Shit! Scarecrow, I think I see a fan in here!"

"What?.!" Sasuke demanded as he spun around. "Where?"

Naruto jerked his head in the direction he'd been looking at and Sasuke followed his line of sight, cursing colourfully as he noticed the insignia on the wall.

"The two of you, pull out." Tsunade's voice said over their radios. "As much as I hate to do this, we're gonna let this one burn. It's an empty building, and it's going to start caving in on itself soon. We'll contain the fire as best we can."

Naruto nodded to himself before stumbling into Sasuke, because the other man had closed the nozzle. Sasuke let out a grunt, but Naruto quickly got off him, turning around and making his way through the gloom. As they went, debris fell from the ceiling around them, causing them to stop occasionally and make sure it was still safe to move.

What seemed like hours later, Naruto made it out of the building, Kiba and Gaara pulling him out and yanking off his helmet and mask. He took a deep breath before letting it out, grabbing his gear back as he headed for rehab, shaking his head so that his sweaty locks left his eyes.

"Yo, where's Sasuke?"

The blond froze and turned at these words, his eyes zeroing in on the entrance to the building. He watched the smoke billow out and could feel the heat from where he stood. No Sasuke came.

"He was right behind me." Naruto insisted as he moved back towards the building before Raidou grabbed the back of his jacket.

"Don't get closer. Calm down and cool off. He probably got side-tracked, he'll be out in a second." Naruto didn't fail to notice the strain in his voice. He was worried, but he wouldn't say it out loud.

With a sigh, Naruto made his way to rehab, grabbing a tall glass of water and downing it as he turned back to the door, watching it for Sasuke. Kakashi was radioing the other man as Kiba tried to push past Tsunade to enter the building.

"What do you mean I can't go in there?.!" he demanded. "Let me go, you ugly bitch!"

Naruto winced and noticed Tsunade's eyebrow twitch, but she said nothing with regard to his comment.

"It's not safe!"

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Kiba hollered angrily.

"You can't go back in there, the building is about to collapse!" Tsunade yelled back.

"I don't care! Sasuke's still in there!"

"You want to lose two men instead of one?.!" Tsunade demanded angrily.

Naruto stared at his old guardian for a long while before his eyes fixed on the door to the building. Clenching his jaw, Naruto hurriedly snapped his Scott Pack back into place. All of this was done unnoticed by the two arguing firefighters, Kakashi still desperately trying to get Sasuke on the radio. It was Naruto's fault Sasuke hadn't come out, so he was going in to find him.

Naruto grabbed one of the axes off the side of the rig and turned back to the building. With a deep breath, Naruto gripped the axe tighter before he bolted for the front door.

"Naruto! What are you doing?.!" Kotetsu hollered.

Kakashi, Kiba and Tsunade all turned in time to see Naruto fly through the front door of the building, disappearing into the gloom. Seconds later, the door caved in.

"Naruto, what are you doing?.! Get back out here right now!" Tsunade hollered into his radio.

"I'm going after Sasuke. I'll only be a minute!"

"You don't have a minute!"

"Let me do this!" he yelled angrily as he crawled through the warehouse, feeling his mask begin to vibrate. Shit, he thought angrily. I forgot to change my air. This is going to get very ugly very fast. He could've turned around. Heck, any sensible firefighter would've turned around. But he saw this as his fault, and so, he wasn't leaving without Sasuke.

"Sasuke, can you hear me?" he called through the gloom and over his radio. He received no reply other than Kakashi and Tsunade telling him to pull back.

Naruto could hear the note of panic in Kakashi's voice. He could tell half of Kakashi wanted Naruto to get out of there, but the other half wanted him to find Sasuke. Naruto could understand. Kakashi had lost Zabuza to The Fan. To lose Sasuke to the same person would destroy his captain. No, he had to find Sasuke.

Suddenly, over the roar of the fire that threatened to drop the entire building on him, Naruto heard it. The distinct sound of a PASS Device (2). He hurriedly turned and headed in the direction of the sound, thankful he could hear it over the raging fire.

He found Sasuke lying on his back, the front of his mask beginning to melt. There were chunks of floor around him, so Naruto could only assume he'd gotten turned around somehow, and then had a piece of roof collapse on him and knock him out.

"I found him! He's out!" Naruto called through the radio as he noted Sasuke's air had run out a few seconds ago. Naruto's own tank began to beep, warning him he had less than two minutes of air. "I'm running out of air and Sasuke's already out! I need the quickest way out of here!"

"The door caved in behind you, but there should be a window somewhere near where you are! Find it, and we'll come to you!" Kakashi screamed into the radio, betraying his calm demeanour as Naruto heard panic in the other man's voice.

With a grunt, Naruto grabbed Sasuke and hauled him closer, pulling the other firefighter onto his back. He debated for all of two seconds before reaching back and unhooking his air, taking out Sasuke's used and empty tank before replacing it with his own. Naruto was conscious—Sasuke wasn't. He needed the air more than Naruto did.

Even though he wasn't getting any air through his mask, Naruto didn't dare remove it. He would just be asking to have his face burned off. That, and even though he was inhaling the smoky air, his mask was still trapping the larger particles. It was barely good enough, but it was something.

Naruto began to cough almost instantly as he crawled towards the end of the room they were in, looking around for a window. Sasuke was weighing him down and the axe in his hand was making it harder to move, but he didn't dare let it go. He continued coughing as the heated air made its way into his mask, causing him to try and breathe less frequently. One inhalation of super-heated air could kill him. Some people had been known to survive them, but he was not willing to risk that right now.

Naruto finally hit a wall and began to run his hand over it. He didn't stand, he just stretched his hand upward and felt a ledge. A window. Thank God.

"All right, buddy. Let's go." he grunted as he stood up, Sasuke over one shoulder. He broke the glass with his axe as he began to feel light-headed. All I have to do is get us outside, he thought to himself as he stumbled slightly. All that smoke and the heated air were not good for him. Just get outside. Come on!

"Naruto, can you hear me? Where are you? Are you out? Did you find a window?"

Naruto didn't reply as he threw Sasuke out of the house through the window, hoping he hadn't injured the firefighter further. He then threw himself out of the window as well, hearing the house creak ominously behind him.

He landed hard on his side as he coughed violently, still very close to the burning house. Grunting and having a hard time seeing straight, the blond stumbled to his feet before grabbing Sasuke by the jacket and pulling him away from the house.

Naruto opened his mouth to speak through his radio, but his voice caught in his throat and he began to cough again. His throat stung with each cough and it felt like someone had poured acid down his oesophagus. He forced himself to hold the coughs in, not succeeding very well.

His foot caught on something and he tripped, falling backwards and not able to get back up. His lungs were on fire, his vision blurred, and he felt himself falling into unconsciousness.

The last thing he saw before his vision faded was Tsunade bent over him, screaming his name.

"Sasuke?"

The raven's eyebrows turned down in a frown as his mind fought for consciousness. He recognized that voice—as high-pitched and annoying as it was—and he wanted to find out why, exactly, she was in his home.

"Sasuke, can you hear me?"

"Is he okay?"

Another voice he recognized. A male's voice. Older, gruffer.

"He's fine. His vitals show he's beginning to wake up. We want to see if he can wake all the way up."

"What kind of injuries are we looking at, here?"

A third voice, one he also recognized. A male's, like the other one, but not as hard. It was loud, and a little annoying, really.

Kiba, his mind supplied. Kiba, Kakashi and Sakura.

"Where am I?" he mumbled.

"Sasuke!" Kakashi's voice sounded so relieved and he almost started when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "How are you?"

Sasuke peeled open his eyes and squinted at the harsh light. It hurt, and he had half a mind to ask Sakura to turn it off. Instead, he just turned his head to look at Kakashi. He was covered in soot and his hair was dark with dried sweat. They must've just gotten back from a fire.

"Why am I in the hospital?" Sasuke demanded as his mind became clearer.

"Don't you remember?" Kiba asked, stepping forward. His face was just as smudged as his Captain's. "You and Naruto were inside. We think you got hit by a part of the roof. You were knocked out."

"Oh." Sasuke said simply. "Thanks for coming in to get me."

Kiba winced at this. "I didn't."

"Hn. Then tell Izumo I say thanks."

"He didn't, either." Kiba winced again.

At this, Sasuke turned to look at his friend, a frown on his face and confusion evident in his eyes.

"It was the other man." Sasuke turned to Sakura as she spoke. She was being surprisingly normal, for once. She wasn't annoying. Maybe he was really hurt. But wait, who's this 'other man'? Sasuke thought, confused.

"Other man?"

"Yes, the other firefighter." Sakura motioned outside his door. "Ino and the doctor are taking care of him right now. He's still unconscious. They don't know how he's doing yet."

Sasuke's throat constricted at these words. "Who was it?" he demanded as he forced himself to sit up, ignoring the pain in his left shoulder.

"It was Naruto." Sasuke turned to Kakashi, stunned. "Tsunade told Kiba and Izumo not to go inside, because the building was going to collapse. Naruto ran in while we weren't paying attention."

"What?" Sasuke whispered, dumbfounded.

"Naruto saved your life."

"Get out of my house! Stay away from my son!" Arashi Uzumaki hollered as he punched a boy across the face. A six year old Naruto watched on in silence, his eyes wide as he gripped the bars of the railing at the top of the stairs.

The boy ran the back of his hand across his mouth to remove the blood that had appeared there, his face devoid of emotion. He couldn't have been more than sixteen or seventeen years old, and Naruto was shocked his father had hit someone of that age. It wasn't like his dad was old—only twenty-eight, thank you very much—but for him to hit someone younger than him... this person must've really upset his dad.

"I won't warn you again!"

"You fail to understand the power I have right now, Arashi. Your reputation will be destroyed if I tell the press about your little problem."

"That was a long time ago, dammit! Your dad and I may have done stupid things like take drugs when we were kids, but you can't use this to blackmail me now! Your father will hear of this!"

"If you think I am concerned about what my father thinks, you are sorely mistaken."

Naruto let out a small gasp as Arashi grabbed the front of the boy's shirt, tugging him forward and glaring hatefully into his eyes, blue locked on onyx.

"Stay away from my son, you piece of shit, or you'll regret it."

"I think it is you who will regret it, Arashi." The boy pulled out of Naruto's father's grip, a smirk beginning to form on his face. "Surely you know from my father that I take what isn't given to me. One way or another, I will get that child."

"Get out!"

"Hey!"

Naruto inhaled sharply as his eyes snapped open and he turned to look at the person by his shoulder. For a second, he could've sworn the man staring down at him was the same boy he'd just seen in his dream—his memory—but as his vision cleared, he realized it was Sasuke.

That was when Naruto also realized he was sweating and crying. He didn't know why. The dream hadn't been scary, so for his body to react like that was strange. Then again, every time he had that dream, he always insisted he knew the boy his father had been talking to all those years ago. He could never put his finger on it, but he recognized him.

"You were having a nightmare. Are you okay?" Sasuke asked, concern evident in his eyes.

Naruto nodded and opened his mouth to speak, but when he expected his voice to come out nice and loud, as always, and it didn't—he almost lost it.

"What happened to my voice?.!" he rasped out, feeling pain sear the inside of his throat. He hissed as he snapped his mouth shut, swallowing to try and have his saliva soothe his aching throat.

"Here." He looked up and saw Sasuke holding out a glass of water. Naruto took it gratefully, drinking it down and letting out a relieved sigh as it soothed his throat slightly. It wasn't much, but it helped a little, at the very least.

"Thanks." he rasped out.

He reached up and found he had a tube leading into his nose, helping him breathe. He had an IV drip in his right hand, as well, and the annoying beeping sound beside him could only be his heart rate. What the hell happened after he passed out, anyway?

"Were you hurt?" Naruto asked Sasuke, finding it hard to breathe with each word he spoke. But, it wasn't in his nature to be quiet.

"A bump on the head and a twisted shoulder. Nothing too concerning." Sasuke gave a half shrug, and Naruto noted he hadn't used his left shoulder to shrug. Must be the one he hurt, he concluded. I hope it wasn't because I threw him out that window.

"Good. I'm glad." Naruto rasped out.

"I heard you're the one who came to get me." Sasuke said. "And that when they found you, you were lying outside, holding me to your chest and not wearing your Scott Pack."

"You ran out of air." Naruto replied with a wince. "I didn't want you to die."

"Idiot, you could've died!" Sasuke snapped angrily.

"And you wouldn't have?" Naruto wheezed back.

"That fire was set for me! If anyone was to die in that fire, it should've been me."

"Well maybe you weren't meant to die in that fire." Sasuke's head snapped back as the blond gasped the words out. "Maybe someone was meant to save you. Maybe no one was meant to die in that fire."

"Maybe you're just an idiot." Sasuke grumbled, shoving his hands in his pockets and looking away.

"I've always been admired for my looks. Never my brain." Naruto joked before coughing violently.

Sasuke winced at the noise, knowing it couldn't be healthy and positive it hurt. The sound alone made Sasuke's throat itch and he felt bad for the other firefighter—especially since it was his fault.

"You know," Sasuke cocked his head slightly as Naruto spoke again, "what I said in Wal-Mart—I didn't mean it." He coughed a little bit again. "I was having a bad day. I didn't mean for you to hate me. I just have another stalker, and you scared me a little. You guys look similar. Black hair, dark eyes..." Naruto trailed off as he wheezed, trying to get more air into his lungs through his constricted throat.

"I'm sorry." Sasuke said honestly. "I didn't know. I never meant any harm with my stalking."

"I know." Naruto whispered as his eyes began to close again. "It's okay."

"Does this mean I can stalk you again?" Sasuke asked with a small smile as he watched the other man begin to pass out.

"Sure." Naruto whispered. "As long as you're not... him..."

Sasuke frowned and wanted to ask the other man what he meant, but Naruto was already asleep again, his chest rising and falling slowly. Sasuke sighed as he bent over and ran one hand through Naruto's soft blond hair. He debated whether or not to kiss him for all of one second before he decided he'd probably never have another chance like this one. Naruto was being doped up—it was the safest time ever to kiss him.

Slowly, Sasuke leaned forward and gently placed his lips on Naruto's, enjoying the fact that he didn't have to rush this kiss the way he had back in the bar a few nights ago. Naruto tasted sweet and delicious, and Sasuke almost didn't want to pull away. He knew he had to, someone might see, but as he did, he hoped this wouldn't be the last time he got to kiss the blond.

What is it about him that makes me want to let him in? Sasuke thought, utterly confused. I don't understand why I want to protect him so much. Why I want to spend time with him. Why I want to open up to him, and get to know him.

Why I love him.

(1) I forgot to write this last chapter. Credit goes to my muse for Gai's appearance. I didn't know how to make him appear in the fic and she was talking about him having a gym and then having this crazy obsession with Kakashi when he saved it from burning down (because he's the Captain) and handing out cookies and stuff. So, I'm using it. Credit goes to you, Fuzzy-Hime.

(2) A PASS Device is a motion sensitive device. The device can either be activated manually or is done automatically when something else is turned on, like the Scott Packs. What it does is if a firefighter doesn't move for more than twenty or so seconds, a warning buzzer starts to go off. If he remains motionless for an additional ten seconds, it will go into full alarm and start blaring a high-pitched whistle that will alert other firefighters that a firefighter is down, and also where to find him or her. The device can be turned on manually if a firefighter knows they're about to be in trouble and can't wait thirty seconds for help.