AN: My bad, forgot to upload here...
Disclaimer: K. Masashi's bitches.
If this was a dream, Sasuke didn't want to wake up from it. He'd slept with his window open because the heating in the house had been ridiculously high the night before, and had gotten cold in the middle of the night, but was too lazy to get up and close it. He'd been in and out of consciousness for hours because of the cold, but now he felt deliciously warm again. It wasn't until he realized that warm, calloused hands were rubbing up and down his back that it became apparent why he was warm.
Inhaling deeply, he let out a content hum, shifting backwards into the toned body lying behind him. Arms wrapped around his waist and he felt a kiss press against his shoulder.
"You're back," he said lamely, voice thick with sleep.
"Yeah. About an hour ago. Missed you." Another kiss to his shoulder.
"Mm, I hung out with your dad yesterday."
"Oh yeah? Learn anything interesting?"
"No." He inhaled again and shifted, rolling over and burying his face in the other's chest. He realized Naruto was naked from the waist up, and had to snort. His poor mother would probably cry if she saw them right now, even though Sasuke could tell Naruto was still wearing his jeans, and his socks.
"Did you have fun, at least?"
"I guess. He's not you."
"Well, thank God for that, or I'd be worried about my competition! I mean, the guy's clearly very attractive."
Sasuke snorted, knowing Naruto had only said that because of how similar they looked, and what he was really saying was that he was very attractive, just not as bluntly.
"How was France?"
"Good."
"Just good?"
"Yeah. There were—complications, I guess."
Frowning, Sasuke opened his eyes and pushed back so he was half-sitting up, opening his mouth to ask what he meant when the words died in his throat and he understood. Naruto was sporting some new bruises—a lot of them, from the looks of it—and a nice new shiner. He also had a cut on the corner of his lip, but the signature smile was ever-present.
"What did you do? Get in a fight?"
"Uh, yeah, something like that." Naruto sat up, too, and grinned sheepishly at Sasuke. "It's a long story, but—let's just say you should've seen the other guy."
"I'm sure his hand is nice and purple. You shouldn't have tried hitting it with your face."
Naruto snorted and shook his head, then shoved Sasuke. "Asshole. I won the fight, thank you. Even got myself arrested for it, but I made bail. Long story, really don't wanna talk about it."
"What did you do?" Sasuke cocked an eyebrow. "Steal the last pair of high heels from some old lady?"
Naruto flat out laughed at that, then shook his head and stood, stretching. Sasuke could see a large, purple bruise on his left side that disappeared under the hem of his pants. He hoped everything below the belt was still in working order.
"Nah. Bumped into the wrong people at the wrong place, I guess. Didn't take too kindly to an American in their country." Naruto snorted and rolled his eyes. "I made it stick we were Canadian."[1]
"Great, now they'll hate us instead." Sasuke snorted and stood, moving towards his dresser to grab a shirt when he paused and frowned. "We?"
"Hm?"
"You said 'we were Canadian' just now. Who were you with?" He turned to look at Naruto, and found him staring right back with the same expression he'd worn the day before. Like he'd just gotten caught with his hand in the metaphorical cookie jar.
"I meant we as in you and me," he insisted, recovering remarkably fast.
"No, that's not what you meant." He narrowed his eyes.
Naruto groaned and fell back onto the bed, covering his face with both hands. "Not today. Please?" He sat up, propping himself up on his elbows. "Please, not today. I just got back."
He stood and moved up to Sasuke, cupping his face in his hands and kissing him. Sasuke let him, but didn't kiss back.
"I missed you. Can we please not do this today?"
"When will we do it, then?" He slapped Naruto's hands away, annoyed. He fucking hated secrets. And Naruto seemed to have plenty.
"Tomorrow. I already decided with myself I was going to explain tomorrow so just—bear with me, all right?" He reached out again and cradled the side of Sasuke's face in one hand, leaning forward so his forehead rested against the raven's. "Just give me today. I promise we'll talk tomorrow just—please just give me today."
"You sound like I'm going to break up with you tomorrow."
Naruto didn't say anything, but Sasuke noticed him wince. Then, the blond kissed him, and he couldn't do anything but kiss him back.
"I can't remember the last time I did this," Naruto admitted with a huge, childish grin while packing more snow down for the base of the snowman they were in the process of building.
The corner of Sasuke's mouth turned up slightly into a smirk and he just threw a bit of loose powder at the blond before continuing on the middle section.
Truthfully, he couldn't remember when he'd last made a snowman, either. He wasn't big on snow, as everyone who knew him was aware of, so willingly going out to play in it was just inconceivable. Only Naruto could ever hope to get him outside to play in the snow.
"It's funny how snowmen have changed since we were kids, huh?"
"How so?" Sasuke inquired, getting the middle part up onto the base and watching Naruto roll out snow for the head.
"Well, when we were kids, you used charcoal for the eyes and buttons, and a carrot for a nose. Now, we don't ever really use charcoal so there isn't any, and putting a carrot on a snowman seems like a waste of food." He stood up and turned to look at Sasuke, his expression one of horror. "Our snowman is gonna be eyeless and noseless!"
"We can give him arms with branches, at least." Sasuke shrugged, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets. Even with his gloves on, they were cold from playing in the snow.
"Great, so if he comes to life like Frosty the Snowman, he can branch us to death for not having given him eyes."
Sasuke snorted at how ridiculous that sounded. "He'd have to find us, first."
"Hey, if this were a horror movie snowman, he wouldn't need eyes to find us. He just would."
Naruto picked up the snowball he'd been making and then moved towards the other two larger boulders of snow. Sticking his tongue between his teeth, he stuck the head onto the snowman and then packed it down around the edges to keep it where it was. Then, he stepped back to admire his work.
Sasuke moved over to stand next to him, smiling at their pathetic looking snowman. At least they'd made it together, and that was really all that mattered. Just when he was going to turn to ask Naruto what they were doing next, the blond shoved him and he fell backwards into the snow.
Naruto landed beside him a second later, laughing and spreading his arms and legs out before starting to make a snow angel. Sasuke snorted and sat up, brushing the snow out of the back of his hair and turning to regard the blond. He looked so damn happy just playing in the snow that the Uchiha couldn't help but not hate it as much as he used to.
"Come on, make a snow angel with me!" Naruto pouted, continuing to move his arms and legs. "They can be friends!"
"You are such a dork." Sasuke rolled his eyes, but sighed and lay back down anyway, making a snow angel for Naruto.
The blond rolled over when he was done, resting on his side and reaching out to touch Sasuke's face. The raven hissed, shying away.
"Your hands are cold."
"No they're not, my gloves are," Naruto insisted, taking his glove off and then bringing his hand back to the Uchiha's cheek.
Surprisingly, he was right. Sasuke closed his eyes and almost nuzzled into the warm hand before remembering who he was and settling for leaning against it. Naruto shifted closer, Sasuke rolling onto his side, and their lips met again.
The kiss was soft, and Sasuke could tell Naruto was putting more emotion into it than usual. He pulled back from the kiss and exhaled slowly. "You okay?"
"Yeah." Naruto grinned. "I just missed you." He leaned forward to kiss him again.
When they broke apart, Sasuke snorted. "We killed our angels."
"Nah, now they're just forever linked."
"Until it snows again or the sun melts it."
Naruto smacked him in the arm for his comment, and then stood, holding his ungloved hand out to Sasuke. The Uchiha took it and was hauled to his feet, Naruto pulling him into a hug and laughing. Snorting, Sasuke pushed him away, causing him to tumble back into their snowman, effectively taking him out.
"Oh no! Branchy!" Naruto scrambled back to his feet, turning to look at the damage. "We killed him! We need to rebuild him!"
"Why? So he can kill us?" Sasuke asked with a snort, finding it funny Naruto had named him "Branchy" when they hadn't even gotten around to giving him arms.
"No, so that we can be festive and enjoy the snow and winter and Christmas." He turned to Sasuke, and turned his nose up at him. "Or one of us can pretend to."
"I don't see what the appeal is with snow. It's wet."
"So's my mouth, but you never seem to complain about that." Naruto waggled his eyebrows.
Sasuke stared at him, then shoved snow down the back of his shirt when the blond wasn't looking.
Sasuke really wanted to voice his concerns aloud, but he felt that given the situation, it would probably be a little rude. Minato and Kushina had gone over to his place for dinner after Naruto had somehow magically convinced his mother to invite them over—he was freakishly good at charming people, it kind of concerned him—and now Sasuke was sitting at the dining room table waiting for Naruto to come out of the kitchen.
The blond had insisted he cook dinner for him, and Sasuke couldn't help but feel he was trying to make up for both the non-sex they'd had, and for bailing on him when he'd asked him to go to the concert. Naruto seemed to be trying really hard, though, and it made him feel a little guilty for being worried about eating his cooking.
He hadn't gotten killed yet, but after what Minato had told him about Naruto and Kushina's cooking that first night, he was seriously concerned. As long as Naruto ate the first bite and didn't drop dead, he would follow suit.
And as long as the food actually looked edible...
He heard something break in the kitchen and jumped, having been lost in his thoughts, turning to look at the door. He smirked. "Are you okay in there?"
The swinging door opened, Naruto glaring out at him. "You know, for a rich kid who has a cook at home, you're insanely cocky when it comes to you and the kitchen." The blond disappeared into the kitchen again.
"Maybe because I'm still thinking about your dad's warnings about your cooking." He stood up, his chair scraping loudly against the floor.
Naruto appeared at the swinging door again. "Get back in your seat!"
"Just let me help you," Sasuke sighed, exasperated.
"Sit down!" Naruto glared.
The two of them stared at one another for a long while before Sasuke just conceded defeat and sat down, calling that he didn't want any broken glass in his meal. Naruto assured him it was just the measuring cup, and it had landed on the floor.
He was just waiting for the moron to walk through it. It seemed like something Naruto would do.
Leaning back in his seat, he crossed his arms and waited for Naruto to finish whatever it was he was doing in the kitchen. Making food, obviously, but Lord only knew what kind of food he was going to get.
Hopefully something edible.
After a few more minutes and some choice swear words from Naruto, the blond finally emerged from the kitchen and put a plate down in front of Sasuke. The raven couldn't help the smirk that lifted the corners of his lips when he saw what it was.
"This is what all the fuss was about?" He motioned his plate.
"If you don't want it, I can take it back," Naruto retorted, sticking his chin up and scrunching up his face.
Snorting, Sasuke shook his head and pulled the plate closer to himself, still smirking. "Thanks, moron."
"You're welcome, princess." The blond took a seat across from him with his own plate, and picked up the corner of one of the halves of the sandwich he'd made for them.
To be fair, the sandwich looked pretty damn impressive considering it was just a sandwich. Picking up one half of his own, Sasuke sniffed it cautiously, following through with his own promise of letting Naruto eat first before taking his own bite.
It was really good. Messy, and a little hard to fit into his mouth without unhinging his jaw, but good all the same.
"This is really good," Sasuke commented. "What's in it?"
"If I told you," Naruto grinned, "I'd have to kill you. That, or lock you in my closet."
"I think I could live with that last one," Sasuke replied honestly, smirking in response.
"Don't tempt me." The blond took another large bite of his sandwich, and licked some sauce off his lips before pointing at it. "It's a sandwich a friend taught me. Hard to make, though, no matter what you might think. It's got chicken, some Parmesan, mozzarella, sun-dried tomato basil, green lettuce, tomatoes, some basil mayo for sauce, all on nice and toasty rosemary Parmesan bread."[2] Naruto kissed his fingers and grinned. "What more could you ask for?"
"Dessert?" Sasuke asked and then laughed when Naruto kicked him under the table.
"That's later. If I can manage not to screw it up."
"Why are we even doing this?" Sasuke snorted. "Last time, when I made you dinner, it was because our parents weren't around and you would have starved. Why did you get them out of the house so you could do this for me?"
"I'm not allowed to want to cook you dinner?" Naruto cocked an eyebrow. "What's wrong with me doing something for you?"
"Nothing, I just feel like you're trying too hard or something." Sasuke shrugged.
He saw the blond wince, and felt like he might have been a little blunt, if not harsh. He hadn't meant it as a bad thing, really, he just didn't understand why Naruto seemed to be going out of his way tonight. It made him worry about what was going on in the other's head. They'd been moving along a little fast, that was true, and maybe it had finally sunk in for Naruto that this wasn't what he wanted, so he was trying to make the last few days with Sasuke count, for the Uchiha's sake.
He shook his head, dispelling the thought, but he couldn't help but feel like something was up. Still, he tried not to dwell on it, and focussed on enjoying the sandwich, even if it was messy to eat.
Naruto snickered and Sasuke scowled at him, annoyed. "What?"
"Nothing. You've just..." The blond trailed off, then leaned over the table and licked at the corner of his mouth before kissing it and sitting back down. Sasuke snorted.
"I could have gotten that myself."
"Yeah, but it wouldn't have been as fun." Naruto smiled happily and took another bite of his sandwich. "So what do you want to do tomorrow?"
"I don't know." Sasuke shrugged. "It's the day before Christmas Eve, so it's kind of the last time everything will be open. Once Christmas Eve hits, they'll close it all. Maybe we should go to the theatre. Catch a movie or something."
"Sure, sounds good. I definitely don't wanna go to the mall, though. So many people." Naruto shuddered. "Too crowded. Maybe we can just movie hop."
"Only if there's good things to watch," Sasuke insisted. "If not, we could always come back here and just play video games. Or go rent a movie from somewhere. Movie places are open all the time, right?"
"I guess." Naruto shrugged.
The two of them continued eating, talking every now and then about their plans for the following day, and Naruto admitting he wasn't sure he was going to be allowed out of the house on Christmas Day.
"My parents like it when it's just the three of us. They usually lock me in the house. My mom goes a little nutty sometimes, though, being cooped up inside, but we like the family time."
"Mine's like that, too." Sasuke smiled. "Not so much the locking us in the house part, but the four of us being together. Dad even turns off his cell phone, for once."
"That must be nice. A change from every other day."
"I guess, yeah." Sasuke finished his last bite and chewed it slowly, savouring the taste before swallowing. "Thanks. That was good."
"Welcome." Naruto beamed and stood, grabbing their plates and walking into the kitchen.
Sasuke leaned back in his seat to see through the swinging door before it closed to get an idea on what Naruto had made for dessert, but it closed too quickly and all he saw was the blond putting their plates in the sink.
Waiting patiently for the other to exit, he couldn't help but smirk again when the door opened and Naruto stepped out with a large bowl of strawberries and a can of whipped cream. That was just going to lead to trouble, and he knew it.
"If you're planning on taking advantage of me by means of strawberries and whipped cream, just remember your parents could come home any time."
Naruto laughed, putting the bowl down on the table and leaning towards Sasuke. "Not tonight." He kissed him, lingering for a few seconds, then pulled away, filled his hand with whipped cream, and smooched it into the raven's face. Sasuke wrestled the can from the other's hand and sprayed it into his hair, Naruto covering his face and crying out.
"Not the floor! I'll have to clean it up!"
"Your problem!" Sasuke sprayed him more, Naruto grabbing the end and tugged it from his grip, pulling him closer and kissing him again.
The raven could taste whipped cream while their tongues tangled, and had to admit, he could get used to this kind of thing. The mess on his face and in his hair, not so much, but he would be lying if he said it wasn't fun.
He started to pull away, but Naruto brought both hands up, cradling his face in them, and forced him closer. The blond kissed him gently, at first, lovingly, and then the kiss started getting more heated, almost desperate. Naruto was clinging to the front of his shirt as if he thought someone was going to grab him and yank him away.
When the kiss finally broke, Sasuke panted, gasping in air and licking his lips, all traces of whipped cream gone. "What's with you tonight?" he asked, his hands down by Naruto's waist, hands tangled into his shirt.
"What do you mean?" Naruto asked breathlessly, running one hand along his cheek.
"I don't know, you just seem—different."
"I'm fine." Naruto smiled. "Just... making sure you know you're important to me, I guess."
"Okay..." Sasuke felt like something was wrong, but didn't know what, and he didn't want to push the subject. Normally he would, but Naruto looked way too focussed on their evening to probably want to answer, and asking would just ruin it.
Looking around, he smirked a little. "You're gonna have a mess to clean up."
"Yeah, I am," Naruto agreed with a sigh, also looking around. "Guess you've had all the dessert you can handle."
"It was good." Sasuke smirked and leaned forward to kiss Naruto lightly on the lips. "I should let you clean up. I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Yeah." Naruto pulled him in for another kiss, hand travelling down his arm and then twining their fingers together. Sasuke pulled away and started for the door, but Naruto didn't let go of his hand. "Hey."
"Hn?" Sasuke turned back to him.
Naruto opened his mouth to say something, then seemed to think better of it and closed it. He squeezed Sasuke's hand, let it go, then shoved his own in his pockets. "Good night."
"Night," Sasuke said slowly, uncertainly, then turned to leave the house. He glanced back once at Naruto, the blond's hair still covered in whipped cream, and a few smears of it along his cheeks and shirt.
The other looked lost in thought, his eyes on the ground. Sasuke just left the house without another word, not wanting to ruin the remarkably relaxed day they'd had together.
It had been hard getting to sleep that night, mostly because his brain wouldn't shut up, but after a while he managed to drift in and out of consciousness for a bit. He kept having really weird dreams, though, which was why he ended up waking up so often. By the time eight in the morning hit, he'd had enough of trying to pretend to sleep and just got up, moving across his room to his bathroom to complete his toiletries before sitting at his computer and turning it on. He browsed the internet for a little while, and then got bored enough to start playing a random computer game he stumbled upon.
Sasuke glanced at the time at the corner of the computer screen, his face resting in his hand, elbow propped on the desk. He let out an annoyed sigh before letting his eyes return to the game he was playing on . It was a ridiculously easy game, which required little thought and virtually no skill, which was probably why he was killing time playing it.
He hadn't slept well the night before, which was still annoying him, though he wasn't entirely sure why. And now he was just frustrated, and really wanted to see Naruto. He'd considered going over a few times but, really, he knew the idiot wouldn't be awake this damn early, and he didn't think it would be fair to wake him up just because he'd had a shitty night.
His own parents were also still asleep, the only person awake besides him being Itachi. Then again, he didn't know if Itachi was just awake or if he hadn't gone to bed yet. Most of the time, he didn't think Itachi slept. That was probably why he drank so much coffee.
Glancing out the window, he snorted when he saw it was snowing.
"Figures," he muttered to no one in particular. Why wouldn't it be snowing? He'd have to shovel the driveway again, great. At least he knew Naruto would have to, as well. If they did it at the same time, they wouldn't have to worry about losing time together.
More and more, the closer Christmas got, Sasuke started to let reality set in. Christmas break was almost over, and soon they'd be going home. Sure, they didn't live that far apart, but he couldn't help but feel once they got back to Canada, they were going to end up going their separate ways. And that bothered him.
He'd gotten unusually attached to Naruto. Maybe because the guy made him feel so normal. He didn't like to think of how things were going to be once they both got back to their respective cities.
Leaning back when he got killed again, Sasuke rubbed his face with both hands and then stood, pacing in his room and hearing the front door slam. Itachi was obviously going out to hunt down some food or something—or so he'd thought. The door opened again less than two minutes later.
Sasuke walked towards his window to look out at their driveway, but he didn't see any footprints in the snow, which suggested Itachi had just gone out onto the front porch. He hoped he wasn't smoking again, Mikoto would go postal and he didn't want to have to deal with that right now.
He turned away from the window when his door opened, Itachi looking in at him with an unreadable expression. If the raven didn't know better, he'd say it was pity, but when had his brother ever pitied anyone?
"I know you won't believe me when I say I'm doing this because I don't want you to get hurt, but it's the truth."
The Uchiha's eyes flickered to Itachi's clenched hand, the older man tightening his grip around what he was holding upon noticing his brother's gaze.
"What are you talking about?" He narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
Now he was sure something was wrong, because Itachi actually did look like he was pitying him. He couldn't fathom why his brother would feel that way.
"What's wrong?"
Itachi stared at him for a few seconds and then walked into the room, putting the newspaper down on Sasuke's bed. "Make sure you sit down." Then he left the room.
Sasuke frowned, but figured he should listen to his brother, sitting down on the bed and then pulling the rolled up newspaper towards himself. Wondering if it was Itachi warning him about their father's sour mood, he took a deep breath, then unfolded it to look at the page Itachi had flipped it to.
At first, it didn't register. What he was seeing wasn't making it into his brain. His lips curled up slightly because he was having trouble processing what he was seeing. When it finally caught up to him, he felt like someone had just punched a hole through his chest. His mouth flooded with bile and it took a conscious effort for him not to throw up. He could feel his eyes burning with want to cry, but he refused to let the angry tears form.
Instead, he just tossed the newspaper aside, his fists clenched against his knees, and glared angrily at the ground. The ache in his chest continued to intensify and with each thought, each attempt at justification, the ache throbbed more painfully.
Standing on shaky legs, he walked purposefully into the bathroom, bent over the toilet, and threw up. He dry-heaved for a few seconds, and then concluded he was done. His stomach still churned with the desire to throw up, but he couldn't again. He'd only ever vomited due to anger twice before in his life, and he was even more pissed to have to add a third time.
The ache in his chest more painful than ever, he stormed across the room and snatched up his cell phone, moving towards the window and lowering his blinds for the first time since his arrival. Dialling a number, he put it to his ear.
"When does the next plane for Toronto leave?" he demanded before the woman had finished speaking.
"Uh, two hours, sir."
"I would like to make a booking, any class, I don't care how much it costs." He clenched his jaw and glared at the covered window. "Just get me the fuck out of here."
Naruto didn't deserve the chance of an explanation, not after all his lies. Not after that.
He'd fucked up. And now, Naruto was going to pay.
Sasuke didn't need this shit. His family could spend Christmas without him.
He was fucking done.
[1]I have nothing against Americans, kthx.
[2]This is an actual Skully sammich. She's nuts, but it was rather tasty |D And considering all my personal gross inserts in this, I shouldn't talk pfft.