Blinking awake, Naruto was certainly confused. He was in his own bed, but normally after a day at the Uchiha house, he would wake up wrapped in Sasuke's blankets that he stole in the middle of the night. This alteration in the tradition made him wonder what had happened; however, what was even stranger was that Kyuubi hadn't tried to force him out of bed yet. Kyuubi always made him get up in the early part of the morning, and by taking a glance at the window, it looked like it was already late morning.

Frowning, the blonde quickly shed the clothes he was wearing, only to notice that he was still in the clothes that he borrowed from Sasuke. He would have to go and take those back, if only to get his own clothes back that were left in the white tiger's room. Grabbing the warmest clothing he could find, Naruto dressed as quickly as possible and then went in search for his brother.

Naruto wandered around the house for a little while before he found Kyuubi sitting in the bay window, staring out at the bright sunlight reflecting off of the white snow. The red fox's tail hung limply off of the edge and his ears were drooped slightly, and all this did was make Naruto worried about his older brother.

"Kyuubi?"

Had the bay window been better insulated, Naruto would have taken the spot next to his brother, but the cold seeping through the glass made him keep his distance. His brother was obviously not hurt or anything, just a little down, so that meant that Naruto didn't have to freeze just to see what was wrong with Kyuubi.

"What is it, Naruto?"

"Are you alright?"

Naruto frowned when he saw Kyuubi's eyes narrow at the snow piles outside. What did harmless snow do to Kyuubi?

"It's nothing," Kyuubi snapped.

"Where are mom and dad?" Naruto questioned in hopes that a subject change would be beneficial to his brother's mood.

"Over with the Uchiha family," his brother growled.

Obviously Kyuubi was mad about something, but he didn't know what had caused his brother to act like someone just ripped fur out of his tail.

"Okay…well, I'm going to go and give Sasuke the clothes I borrowed back."

Naruto noticed his brother gritting his teeth after his comment. Was Kyuubi mad at Sasuke? Sasuke didn't do anything to him though.... With a shrug, Naruto was headed back toward his room when he heard a knock at his door.

"I'll get it!" Naruto shouted.

~*~*~*~

Sasuke frowned as he stretched across his bed, refusing to open his eyes. Why was he so warm? Didn't Naruto usually steal his blankets, leaving him to freeze his tail off? Groping around the bed, Sasuke frowned even more before he opened his eyes. There was no little fennec fox in his bed, leaving him more concerned about where Naruto was than the fact that he was so used to Naruto sharing his bed that it should have seemed weird.

Quickly changing his clothes, Sasuke spotted Naruto's clothes scattered in his room, proving that the blonde had been there the day before. Maybe Itachi would know where to find the energetic fox.

Knocking on his brother's door, Sasuke waited for a reply, but no one answered. Glaring at the door, Sasuke started banging on the door, determined to get his brother's attention. Finally it seemed that Itachi got the hint that he wasn't going away; however, Sasuke was surprised when his brother opened the door. It looked like Itachi hadn't gotten any sleep. Despite this, Sasuke had other worries.

"Where's Naruto?"

The dry chuckle that came from his brother made him confused, but he waited to see if Itachi would answer him.

"Well?" Sasuke prodded.

"Kyuubi took him home last night."

"Why?" Sasuke demanded as his tail twitched in annoyance.

Sasuke growled when Itachi just shook his head and shut his bedroom door. Apparently Itachi had done something to annoy the red fox hybrid, but he didn't care about Itachi's sulking. Going back to his bedroom, Sasuke gathered Naruto's clothes and immediately went to the front door to get his coat.

"Going to see Naruto," Sasuke called from the doorway.

"Okay, honey, call if you're going to be late or if you stay over," his mother called back.

"And Sasuke, be a dear and make sure Naruto doesn't just eat ramen today," Kushina said from the other room.

"Okay."

Sasuke shut the door behind him as he set off for Naruto's house. It wasn't a far walk; in fact it was just down the road, which had been quite the annoyance to both him and Naruto when they were children. Though, it became a convenience when they would want to escape from their own homes every once in a while, even if they had adamantly denied that they were friends.

Once Sasuke reached the door belonging to the foxes, he knocked and waited for someone to answer. He didn't have to wait long since he heard Naruto yell that he would get it, but he stayed a few steps back from the door.

"Hey, Sas—"

Sasuke watched as Naruto opened the door, started to speak, and then slammed the door.

"Cold!"

Shaking his head, Sasuke then reached for the door and opened it slowly, making sure that he didn't hit the foolish fennec with the door.

"You should have realized that it was still going to be cold…idiot," Sasuke said with a smirk at the shivering fox nearby.

"Shut up, you damn bastard," Naruto grumbled. "So why are you here anyway? I was going to head over to give you your clothes back in a few minutes."

Raising a brow, Sasuke handed the bundle of clothes over to Naruto before he took off his coat and hung it next to the door.

"I beat you to it then."

He smirked slightly when he heard Naruto grumbling behind him as he made his way through the house like it was his own. It might as well have been, the two were over at each other's houses enough that it was like having two homes. However, when he spotted Kyuubi at the window, Sasuke sent Naruto a questioning glance.

"He's not happy about something," Naruto whispered.

"Probably Itachi," Sasuke muttered back.

Walking into the room, Sasuke took the empty spot on the bay window and stared blankly at Kyuubi.

"So, what did Itachi do?"

A second later, Sasuke was blinking at Kyuubi while Naruto held the red fox's fist back from hitting him. Well, someone had anger problems…not that Sasuke was any better.

"Hey! Don't hit Sasuke," Naruto tried to reason. "He didn't do anything!"

While absentmindedly flicking his furry ears, Sasuke watched as Kyuubi muttered something under his breath before storming out of the room. That was interesting.

"Kyuubi! Stop being a bastard!" Naruto shouted after the older fox.

"Naruto, leave him alone."

"Huh? But he about hit you for no reason."

This caused Sasuke to look at Naruto with an amused glance.

"Don't you do that often? In fact, you bit me for no reason when we first met."

"Why are you defending Kyuubi? And I did bite you for a reason; you made me lose that butterfly!" Naruto argued.

Shaking his head, Sasuke turned toward the kitchen.

"Have you eaten yet?"

"No."

Sasuke then continued toward the kitchen, well aware that Naruto was following him.

"Can you make ra—"

"No, your mother said to not let you eat just ramen. How about some eggs and ham?" Sasuke asked while digging through the refrigerator.

"Fine…."

With that, Sasuke started pulling the things he needed to make some food while he reminded himself that he hadn't eaten either.

~*~*~*~

Kyuubi frowned as he paced in his room. He had almost hit Sasuke, and there was no reason for it; he was mad at Itachi, not the younger white tiger. Sighing, he also knew that Naruto was most likely not happy with him snapping all morning and then trying to hit Sasuke. Taking in a deep breath, Kyuubi decided to pretend that Itachi didn't exist. That would make him feel a little better, and since both Sasuke and Naruto were alone with him, he could push them together without any interruptions.

Making his way downstairs, Kyuubi smelled the food from the kitchen and knew where the two were. Sasuke was making food and Naruto would be eagerly waiting for the nourishment. With a chuckle, he entered the kitchen and watched as both boys looked up at him for a second before going back to what they were doing previously.

"Sorry about earlier, both of you."

"Hn."

"So…are you done PMSing, Kyuubi?" Naruto questioned.

Glaring at his brother, Kyuubi should have known that Naruto would say something along those lines.

"So, what did Itachi do anyway?"

"Who?" Kyuubi asked innocently.

Catching the look that Sasuke sent Naruto, but ignoring it for his own good, Kyuubi looked at what Sasuke was making.

"Hey, don't cook the ham too much."

Kyuubi watched as Sasuke moved the pan away from the burner. Sure, they cooked food, but hybrids, especially those that ate meat, preferred their food more toward the "rare" side of the cooked scale. It was a good thing Naruto wasn't after a hybrid like that lamb that made eyes at him. The Hyuuga girl was nice and all, but Kyuubi knew that Naruto didn't look anywhere but at Sasuke, even if the younger fox wasn't aware of it. Besides…the poor girl would probably faint at the amount of meat that Naruto ate.

Pausing for a second, Kyuubi openly laughed at his twisting of his own thoughts. Oh, he was a pervert and he knew it. He was also aware of the strange looks that Sasuke and Naruto were giving him, but he just couldn't tell them what he thought, not yet at least.

"If you're done with whatever amused you," Sasuke started, "the food is done."

Following the boys to the table, Kyuubi smirked.

"So, Sasuke…why are you playing the role of 'housewife' this morning?"

"I am not a housewife," Sasuke growled. "Besides, would you trust Naruto in the kitchen, where there is fire and knives?"

"Ah…good point," Kyuubi said. "Besides, Naruto doesn't seem to be 'topping' material."

Both boys froze at this point, and Kyuubi was quite amused.

"I could totally top that bastard!" Naruto exclaimed.

With a smirk, Kyuubi watched as Sasuke rolled his eyes as he groaned in annoyance.

"Shut up, idiot. You're only giving him ideas, and no, you wouldn't top me. You'd be the bitch."

"WHAT?!"

Taking his plate of food, Kyuubi decided to retreat to his room for the time being. It would be dangerous to sit in the same room as Sasuke and knives at the moment. Besides, he thought with a chuckle, he had plenty of time to slowly push the two together.