A heavy beat thumped through the huge mansion on the bank of the Thames. Almost every window blared light, and silhouettes of people could be seen moving to the music all over the house. Naruto was on the edge of the main dance floor, holding a half empty bottle of WKD and leaning against the wall. He was buzzing pleasantly and watching Shikamaru chat up a tall woman with long red hair that curled round her face. He swigged some of the blue liquid from the bottle as Shikamaru leaned against the bar. His friend placed more weight on his elbow and Naruto laughed loudly as he watched Shikamaru slip on the shined surface, slopping his drink all over the woman, before falling drunkenly forwards and receiving a face full of squashy breasts. Through teary eyes, Naruto saw the woman slap Shikamaru and stalk off, resulting in a fresh new bout of hysteria rattling his bones. Shikamaru spotted Naruto clinging to the wall to present himself falling, his legs weak from hysterical laughter and walked over with a sheepish expression and a half smile. Naruto was struggling to catch his breath as Shikamaru leaned against the wall next to him.

'It's not that funny…'

Naruto took a swig of his drink to calm himself. 'Yes it was! Your conversation looked the BREAST!' He crumpled into fits of laughter again as Shikamaru punched his arm.

'That was shit.' He remarked, smirking anyway. Catching his breath, Naruto scanned the dance floor for Sasuke, who he had last seen being forced to dance with one of his work colleagues who had her hair gathered into two buns atop her head, his boss looking onwards with drunken glee and a flushed face. They looked awkward to say the least, not helped by the fact that he towered over the short woman. He spotted the dark haired man sitting on a sofa close to the speakers with his boss, looking slightly bored as said man kept poking him in the arm and pointing at various girls on the dance floor, a slightly creepy grin plastered on his red face. Naruto finished off his drink and placed the empty bottle on a table to his right before pushing himself away from the wall he as leaning against, stumbling slightly. I didn't think I was this drunk… he thought, before disregarding it and making his way around the room to rescue his friend, Shikamaru joining him. They reached the dark haired man and his boss and Naruto plopped down on the sofa on the other side of Sasuke. 'Sasuke! Come get a shot with us.' He flopped his arm around the back of Sasuke's neck, effectively yanking him out of Izumo's grip. Sasuke, taken by surprise, sloshed his glass of vodka and coke on his boss' lap, Izumo flinching as the drink soaked into his trouser leg.

'Ah, sorry Izumo. You'd better sponge that off.' Sasuke said, failing to hide a smirk at the spreading wetness that made Izumo look like he had wet himself. Izumo nodded and stood, swaying, and set off towards the large tiled bathroom in the mansion, leaving a laughing Sasuke, Naruto and Shikamaru, who had taken the now empty sofa space.

Naruto leaned back on the sofa. 'He is completely wasted.'

'Don't I know it. He kept pointing out random girls and telling me it was "high time I got married young man." He is one year older than me for god's sake.' Sasuke shook his head exasperatedly. 'Bastard.'

Naruto stretched an arm behind Sasuke and placed a hand on Shikamaru's shoulder. 'Shiikaaaaaaa'

Shikamaru looked nonplussed. 'What?'

'More Jagermeisters please my love.' Naruto lifted his hand and attempted to stroke Shikamaru's cheek, but he dodged away.

'Fine.' He got up and walked towards the bar in the next room, hands in pockets, scanning the dance floor for women he would attempt to get close to later. Naruto looked back at Sasuke who had just downed the last of his left over vodka and coke. Smirking, Naruto slung an arm around Sasuke and pointed at the red haired woman Shikamaru had face-boobed earlier.

'Isn't it high time you get married young man?' Sasuke glanced at Naruto, unimpressed.

'Why would I want to get married to an ugly bitch like that?' Naruto laughed.

'Alright then ...' he pointed at Hinata, the long haired rich girl they had met earlier, who was dancing with Kiba. 'Her. Rich, drop dead gorgeous, shy...' Sasuke shook his head. Naruto raised his eyebrows, surprise etched across his face. He had seen almost every other man at this party follow Hinata with their eyes at some point. How could he not want her?

'Dude, wrong gender - I'm… gay.' Sasuke looked at Naruto with a worried expression, fearing Naruto's reaction at this revelation. To his surprise, Naruto wasn't fazed. It had all clicked into his head. How could he not notice? He grinned. Sasuke's eyebrows shot up in blatant shock.

'Of course you are! How could I miss that!?' Naruto leaned back into the squashy sofa, laughing. Sasuke looked speechless. He had never seen a reaction like this before. He was used to surprise, disgust, indifference; not happiness.

'What do you mean miss?'

Naruto pointed a thumb at himself. 'So am I. I usually spot this kinda stuff as soon as I meet someone.' Sasuke's eyes were now so far up his forehead Naruto thought they would reach his hairline soon. Such an intense expression obviously did not often grace Sasuke's pale features, and it set Naruto off into hysterics. 'Your face is brilliant!' He sank into the sofa, struggling to control his laughter. Sasuke smirked and looked up to see Shikamaru returning to the little group holding three shot glasses. He raised an eyebrow at Naruto in hysterics. Naruto pointed at Sasuke. 'His face… when he saw… surprised! Naruto shattered into laughter again. Shikamaru looked at Sasuke for an explanation.

'I told him I'm gay. I was shocked at his reaction.' Shikamaru sat down next to Sasuke and handed him a shot glass.

'You're gay?' Sasuke nodded. Shikamaru smirked. 'Well I've already got a gay best friend. Go find someone else.' He laughed and handed the now calmer Naruto his glass. 'Nah I'm fine with that.' He downed the shot and grimaced at the strong taste, before spotting the blonde woman Kiba was with earlier sitting on a sofa, alone. 'And now if you don't mind, I've got girls to flirt with.' He got up and crossed the floor, dodging dancers before seating himself next to Ino. Naruto chuckled when he saw Shikamaru talking to the blonde.

'There he goes again. Bet you a tenner he pulls her before the end of the night.' Sasuke looked sceptical.

'The rich German bitch Kiba was with earlier? He's got no chance.'

Naruto smirked. 'You don't know him. We're on then.' He tipped back his shot, Sasuke doing the same. They watched the dancing crowd as the current song ended, and a loud heavy base track replaced it. Naruto stood. 'Fuck yes!' He grabbed Sasuke's arm. 'Come on – this song is great.'

Sasuke smiled. 'I know.' They reached the floor and joined the huge crowd that had gathered for the song and pushed their way into the middle as the DJ at the front racked up the base, making it thump through their bodies. They pogoed to the sound, hands in the air, surrounded by people doing the same, like a pulsing organism, living for the music. For a full 5 minutes, Naruto forgot himself, truly enjoying the heat and the sound and the joy, before the alcohol content in the drinks Naruto had drunk that night truly began to assault his system in the heat and the hysteria. The room span, lurching, and Naruto stopped pogoing. The dizziness hit him full force and his legs buckled – he dropped to the floor, ending up on his hands and knees in the cramped space, before a sharp pain assaulted his temple. He saw white, then nothing.

Sasuke saw Naruto stop dancing out of the corner of his eye and turned to look at the blonde man. His face was deathly pale, his eyes out of focus. Sasuke's eyes widened as he saw Naruto begin to fall down, crushed by the bodies surrounding him. He pushed past people – they had become slightly separated in the crowd – towards Naruto who was on his hands and knees and came to him just in time to see a drunken partygoer next to his head stumble and kick his temple hard. Naruto crumpled like a rag doll.

'Naruto!' Sasuke yelled over the music, crouching down next to him. He shook his shoulders in an attempt to rouse Naruto, but to no avail. Bending, he lifted the tall man and carried him, his head floppy, out of the dancing crowd, pushing past drunken dancers, his forehead beading with sweat from the combined sweltering heat of the dance floor, the previous dancing and carrying Naruto. He placed Naruto on one of the sofas against the wall and inspected his temple. Blood soaked the side of his head, his once blonde locks now a daunting shade of red. Sasuke, dismayed, looked down to see blood soaking his t-shirt where Naruto's head had pressed against his chest. There was too much blood. Scared, Sasuke picked up the still limp Naruto and carried him into a side room, placing him onto a black leather sofa. He took off his t-shirt and pressed it to Naruto's bleeding temple, before pulling out his phone and, not bothering to unlock it, tapped the emergency button. Lifting the shirt off the wound, he folded over the bloodied side and pressed a white section to Naruto's head while dialling 999. The operator at the end of the phone spoke in a calm voice.

'Hello, Accident and Emergency. What service do you need?

'Ambulance. My friend has been kicked in the head and he is bleeding a lot.'

'Can I take your name and location please?'

Sasuke told them the address and heard tapping.

'An ambulance will be with you in a few minutes. Is he conscious?'

'No.'

'Is he breathing?' Sasuke glanced at Naruto's chest and was relieved to see it rising and falling normally.

'Yes.' He breathed. Following the operator's instructions, he pressed on Naruto's wound and continued to relay his vitals to the operator until he saw the blue lights of the ambulance outside of the curtained windows. Party still in full swing, music blaring, people dancing, drinking and flirting, Sasuke thanked the operator, picked up Naruto, and left the house, grabbing their coats off of the hanger at the front door. He carried Naruto to the paramedics who helped Sasuke lay him down flat onto the bed in the ambulance, before sitting down on the chair opposite, strapping himself in and taking a blanket one of the medics had given him. He pulled the orange material over his bare shoulders as the ambulance began to move. One of the paramedics sat beside him while the other bandaged up Naruto's head.

'It's actually quite a minor injury so don't worry too much. Head wounds bleed a lot. He has concussion so we will do an x-ray when we get into hospital.' Sasuke nodded.

'He's drunk quite a lot.'

The paramedic laughed. 'Then his headache is going to be pretty bad when he wakes up!' The ambulance pulled into the accident and emergency bay at the hospital and the paramedics opened the doors. Some hospital staff opened the doors quickly and pulled down the ramp while the paramedics checked Naruto and pushed him out of the ambulance. Sasuke stood and followed, before looking back at the paramedic.

'Can I keep the blanket?'

The paramedic laughed and nodded, before getting back into the ambulance. Sasuke followed the nurses now pushing Naruto into the hospital. He was moved into a ward, where they shifted Naruto from the travel bed into a ward one. Sasuke sat down next to Naruto as a nurse entered with a tag that he slipped around Naruto's wrist. He looked at Sasuke. 'The doctor will be here in a minute.' Sasuke nodded in thanks as the nurse walked away. He looked back at Naruto who was shifting, slowly clawing back his consciousness. Naruto opened his eyes groggily and Sasuke smirked down at him. Naruto looked around, perplexed.

'I'm in hospital?'

'Yup. You got kicked in the head.' Naruto's eyes widened.

'I don't remember that!'

'Remember falling down?'

'Yeah…'

'Well someone kicked you and you blacked out so I called an ambulance.' Naruto frowned.

'Where's your top?'

'Covered in your blood. I'll charge you for the washing of that too.' Sasuke said, smirking. Naruto sighed.

'I don't like hospitals.'

Sasuke had to agree. He looked up to see the doctor approaching the pair, who smiled at the two before addressing Naruto. She leaned down to unpeel the bandages wrapped around Naruto's head, before asking a series of questions to check his competency. Pleased, she reattached the wrappings.

'Right. It's not too serious but as you were unconscious we will do an x-ray of your skull to check for any internal injuries. Is that okay?' Naruto nodded. The doctor continued. 'Then we will tape it together, and keep you here overnight to make sure there are no complications.' Naruto sighed and nodded. The doctor smiled, before writing a few notes on a sheet and attaching it to the bottom of the bed. 'Someone will be here in a few minutes to take you to the x-ray department.' Naruto thanked her, and she left.

'Well that's a shit ending to a party.' Sasuke nodded in agreement. Naruto looked at the dark haired, pale man seated next to his bed. 'Thanks for this.' Sasuke shrugged.

'You would have done the same.'

Sorry for the super long wait guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter :D
Update after exams now probs so don't expect anything until a few weeks later.

I hope you all had a loverly Christmas and New Year!

Reviews make all calories in cupcakes vanish.