By the time Naruto made it to the apartment, he was soaked to the bone and shivering. The rain had started while waiting for the bus and hadn't stopped since. It didn't help that he'd had way too much time to think on the 30-minute journey home. He should've stayed and punched Sasuke in the face, smack a little sense into him. But, how could Naruto pressure him into doing something he didn't want? Thinking back, Sasuke hadn't even returned the sentiment even after Naruto basically spilled his guts. In his mind, he'd thought Sasuke might have similar feelings for him, but maybe he'd simply been caught up in the moment.

It would've been nice, though, had Sasuke texted him at least once to apologize. Instead, he had several texts from Itachi asking if he was okay. Obviously he'd fallen for the wrong Uchiha brother. That look on Sasuke's face... it was going to haunt him for a long time. Even if Sasuke was scared or shocked about his dad going to the hospital, didn't he take it way too far? Naruto knew him well enough to get that he'd regret it in the long run, but Sasuke could also be very stubborn.

Plus, Sasuke really hurt him. After everything they've been through together, the fact that he couldn't even give Naruto a proper explanation should've been unforgivable. All he did was kick him out the door. The more he thought about it, the madder he became. But what could he do? He still loved Sasuke. It's not like Sasuke being an asshole suddenly made all of those feelings disappear, but it sure as hell made him question whether Sasuke would even be mature enough to handle a relationship. Hell, he already had that answer. It must've been nice having an excuse to get out of it instead of just telling Naruto he didn't feel the same. He didn't have to go so fucking far! He didn't have to make Naruto feel so small. He'd done nothing wrong here!

As he walked into the lobby, his wet sneakers squeaked all over the floor. Unfortunately, there were a couple of neighbors he knew waiting by the elevator, and he was forced to make small talk, although all they could do was comment about how he was going to catch a cold. When they reached his floor, he said his goodbyes.

The door to the apartment was unlocked, so he knew his dad was home from his trip to Portland. He kind of wanted to go hide in his room for a while or, better yet, run a hot shower and stay in there for a good hour. He slipped his shoes off and set them neatly by the mat - a habit from Sasuke badgering him about it all the time. He also removed his coat and set it on the backs of one of the dining room chairs so that it could dry.

On his way down the hall, he saw the light on in his dad's room.

"Naruto, is that you?" He called. "Hey, come here a sec, will you? I'm trying to find us some airline tickets to O'Hare."

Naruto hovered next to his own bedroom door. He wanted to tell his dad that he was tired and didn't have time, but he couldn't get the words to come out. Instead, he dropped his backpack off and then walked the rest of the way down the hall. His father, who was sitting at his computer desk, looked up with a smile that quickly changed into a frown.

"Naruto, you're soaked!"

"Yeah," he said, running a hand through his hair, "It's rainin' really hard out there."

"Why didn't Sasuke bring you home? Actually, I wasn't expecting you until dinner time."

He chewed his lip. "Uh, I took the bus home. They had a family emergency... thing. Fugaku went to the hospital."

"He did?" Minato looked very concerned. "What happened?"

"An ulcer, they think. He's still there. I dunno. Itachi didn't seem overly worried but Sasuke freaked out a bit."

"Did he?" Minato got up from the chair and came over to him. He studied Naruto's face. "Are you okay? Did it shock you that he had to go to the hospital?"

"Er." Naruto glanced away because it was starting to hurt all over again. "I mean, yeah, but..."

"But?" Minato pried.

"D-dad," he said, the corners of his mouth trembling.

"Naruto." Minato put a hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong? If you don't tell me, I don't know how to help."

He did want to tell his father all about it, his fight with Sasuke, these feelings that he had for his best friend, the fact he'd just been rejected hardcore in the most hideous way possible - but.

"It's okay," said Minato as he threw his arms around Naruto and held him. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. Is it because of your mother?"

Naruto shook his head as he buried his face into his dad's shoulder.

"Did you and Sasuke have a fight?" He asked, petting the back of Naruto's head.

Naruto nodded and clutched at the back of his dad's shirt.

"Maybe his father going to the hospital shocked him. Do you think?"

"M-maybe," he replied.

"If it's Sasuke, he'll apologize to you as soon as you two see each other at school tomorrow."

"I don't know if he will. He was... And I - . Dad." Embarrassingly, Naruto started to cry for who knows how long, but the entire time, his dad continued to hug him and say soothing things like he was a little kid who'd scratched his knee falling off a bike.

After five minutes, his dad eventually pushed him off to look at him. He swept Naruto's bangs to the side.

"How can Sasuke treat such a handsome boy like this, hm?"

"What...?"

But Minato only smiled. "First thing's first, you need to get out of these wet clothes. Go take a nice hot shower. We'll order something from your favorite pizza place, watch a movie or two, whatever you want to do."

"Really?" He wiped at his eyes. "I thought you were lookin' at airplane tickets."

"I am, but you need to notify the school first. When's your last day before Christmas vacation?"

"The 21st maybe? I'm not sure."

"Well, I think Jiraiya would be okay with you taking a couple of days off before then to visit your mom and say hi to your friends in Joliet."

"Are we really doin' that? I thought you had work."

"I've been putting in enough time lately. I think you and I should start spending more time together. Don't you?"

"Sure."

Minato cuffed him on the back of the head. "What do you mean 'sure'?"

Naruto grinned. "I mean, yeah. It'd be good to go back home for a few days."

"By then, who knows, you and Sasuke will have made up. Friends fight sometimes. Your mother and I used to fight, too."

"You did?"

"Of course. All couples fight, but, looking back, those things shouldn't have been worth fighting over."

"Wait..." Naruto cocked his head. "Sasuke and I aren't a couple."

Well, we could've been, but he had to go and fuck it up because he's such a scaredy cat.

"But Sasuke is very important and precious to you, isn't he?" Minato asked. "Usually he's such a polite, well-mannered boy. And so soft-spoken. It's hard to imagine the two of you getting into such a bad fight."

Naruto frowned and rubbed the back of his neck. "Maybe I didn't know him as well as I thought either. I guess everybody has their dark side, huh?"

"I suppose that's true. You were quite the delinquent growing up. The first week of school here, you got into a fight."

"Yeah, but I told you - "

Minato smiled. "I know. You were helping out a friend. You're a good kid, Naruto. I know I haven't been around very much this past year, but that's going to change soon. After the New Year, I should be traveling a lot less, so maybe you and I can schedule some camping trips. We can even invite Sasuke along. He's here enough that it already feels as though I adopted a second son at some point. You're like brothers."

"Brothers, huh?" Naruto took a few steps back as he removed his sweatshirt. "I'm gonna go take a shower."

"Okay, what kind of pizza do you want?"

"The usual," he replied as he headed toward the bathroom all while trying to shimmy out of his wet clothes.

Naruto threw them in the closet hamper and, because it was so cold, rushed to the shower to turn on the hot water. He shivered next to the glass doors until it was warm enough for him to step inside.

For whatever reason, he had a flashback to prom night when he'd passed out here on this floor and Sasuke picked him up and took care of him. That was real, right? That was the Sasuke he knew. He had more amazing memories of Sasuke than anything, but... what was this sudden change in his best friend about? Should Naruto give him space or approach him head-on? The latter was more his style, but maybe Sasuke really did feel under pressure. Naruto also didn't want to be his doormat either. Sasuke couldn't just treat him like shit every time he had a bad day. Of course, Naruto wanted to be there for him, but he also wanted an apology.

Still, it didn't make him worry any less.

Naruto grabbed the soap from off of the rack and began lathering himself up, half-thinking about the cruel words Sasuke said to him this morning, while the other part of his brain was thinking about everything that happened prior. He couldn't deny it had been really good. It had felt amazing to confess to Sasuke and, for just a little while, to believe that it was mutual. He'd been dating girls for years now, but not very seriously. It seemed the thing a boy his age should do, but if this is how relationships could be when you really liked the other person... if that's how sex could be like... but, in a way, he was glad that they hadn't taken it that far last night because, for some reason, he thought Sasuke would've used that against him, too, somehow.

It wasn't their first fight, but it was definitely their worst.

Maybe Sasuke would come to him, head bowed, and prostrate himself at his feet tomorrow. That made him smile. Usually it didn't take very long for Sasuke to feel guilty about the shit he pulled.

Yet, as Naruto held his face up to the spray of water, there was a part of him that was afraid this may be different. This wasn't just a little fight, but was a rift that had come between them.

It made him wonder... if he'd only kept his feelings to himself, would things have come to this? Sasuke wouldn't have felt pressured and instead of freaking out on Naruto about his father going to the hospital, maybe he would've asked for his help. He would've wanted Naruto by his side while going through something like that... it hurt knowing that these feelings he had for Sasuke were, apparently, nothing more than a burden to him. And the last thing he wanted was to be a burden to the people whom he loved.

a/n: Because it's so long, the continuation of Dream has been posted as its own story, so see "Dream: Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year?" Any further sidefics after Dream Xmas (IF I choose to write any) will go under a Sasuke's Dream Sidefics II, just like with Coffee. The universe could go all the way up to a "Dream Seattle" IF I write it all, which is unlikely, so there is no "end" point, just a point when I'll stop writing it.