Disclaimers: Naruto is someone else's, this is purely a fanfic using someone else's characters.

Warnings: This story includes strong language, violence, angst, hopefully some decent jokes, and (of course) beautiful SasuNaru love.

Chapter 1: The Hourglass Curse

"I'm oxygen and he's dying to breathe."

-Tahereh Mafi

--

"Well, this is just great. Nice going, Sasuke."

"How the hell is this my fault?"

The two shinobi were lying on their sides, facing each other, arms and legs bound tight with chakra-blocking ropes. They had both managed to pull their gags away from their mouths, which had simply been their headbands pulled down and tightened across their lips, but all other escape attempts had been a complete fail.

"Where were you?! I'm there battling like eight of them while you're holding back fixing your damn hair!"

"Fixing my-?!" Sasuke sputtered incredulously. "Are you insane? I made a plan that you completely ignored and then you just jumped in!"

"Well someone had to! Wouldn't want you to smear your fucking mascara."

"Do you have a problem with me, Naruto?"

"How does anyone look like you after a fight?"

"What? What are you talking about?!"

Naruto looked back at his teammate, studying him. His eyes scanned over Sasuke's long hair, the color of ravens' wings, tossed carelessly across his forehead and spilling across the floorboards beneath his head. Smooth unblemished skin, pale as moonlight- a stark contrast against inky black eyes. Dark clothing stretched taut against lean muscles, which continuously tensed as he tried to fight his way past his binds.

Naruto became extremely aware of his disheveled appearance- his unruly blonde hair, his jacket unzipped and splayed open, his shirt torn and pulled up high on his stomach from his struggle on the floor. His bottom lip was swollen from biting it when he was roughly dropped to the ground, and he could feel a small cut across his whiskered cheek where a kunai had gotten just a hair too close.

"You don't have a fucking mark on you! You don't look like you got in a fight- you look like a damn model for a shinobi clothing line. That doesn't make sense!"

Sasuke quirked an eyebrow. Did he just say that I look like a model..? "Did you get hit in the head or something?"

"I blame you for this."

"I can see that."

The door suddenly crashed open, and they both looked up to find their captor walking towards them. They looked back at each other and Sasuke mouthed watch for my mark before they were suddenly being jerked up. They were forced to their knees, still facing one another. Naruto looked over at Sasuke in confusion and found the same expression reflected back at him, both unsure of where this was going.

Sasuke looked like he was getting ready to give the signal, when his captor grabbed a fistful of dark hair and yanked his head back. Sasuke groaned in pain.

"Hey! Let him go, asshole!" Naruto struggled to move closer to Sasuke, when a hand roughly grabbed him by the hair and jerked his head back too. "Nnnn!" He quickly pressed his bruised lips together to contain his own groan.

The man smiled down at them. "It is time for the ceremony."

"What're you talking about?" Naruto growled out.

"I'm talking about the Hourglass Curse, jinchuriki. And the betrayal of your closest friend." He brought their heads level so they could look at each other, but kept his fists tight, holding them steady.

Naruto's eyes flickered across Sasuke's. I just got him back from Orochimaru. He let go of that need for revenge and power.. didn't he?

Sasuke could see the doubt playing out in Naruto's mind and hated the man for planting it there. He kept his eyes locked onto Naruto's, wanting him to see the honesty in his. To trust him. "I won't betray Naruto" he ground out.

The man nodded. "The curse will take care of that."

"We don't know what the hell you're talking about!" Naruto yelled, anger swirling deep in his gut.

"I might as well explain- after all, there's nothing you can do to stop this." His grin stretched wider, malice oozing from it. "The Hourglass Curse links two people through a life and death pact. Every day and every night, before the clock strikes twelve, you will need Sasuke to perform a jutsu on you to keep you alive. If he misses just one of those times, you will experience pain like you never have before."

He tightened his fist in Naruto's hair and leaned in close. "You'll beg for death, Naruto. And when he is ordered to, Sasuke will deliver it. Under my control of the curse, he'll have no choice."

Obsidian eyes burned into him. "Why are you doing this?!" he snapped. "What the hell do you get out of this?"

The man glanced over at Sasuke before returning his attention to Naruto.

"Revenge."

Naruto's eyes widened. Revenge? "I don't even know you.." he breathed out.

The man's face hardened. "Your precious nine tails destroyed everything that I had, EVERYTHING! And you'll pay for it", he ground out, anger rising in his voice, his eyes cold as they shot daggers at the blonde. "You will experience the same horrific pain that I did, and then you and your fucking monster will finally die!!"

He threw Naruto down and relished in the pained sound he made when his head slammed against the floor. Dark splotches filled his vision. "Fucking monster" he spat out, then he kicked him in the stomach, hard.

Naruto gasped in pain as he kicked him again.

Sasuke yelled with rage as he threw his body into Naruto's attacker, knocking him to the ground. Before he could do more, the man scrambled to his feet. He pulled Sasuke's head up and backhanded him across the face, sending him reeling back to the floor, where he landed by Naruto's side.

His jaw flared with pain, but he pushed it from his mind as he looked over at his friend. "Naruto- are you ok?" He nodded, but wouldn't meet his gaze.

The man bent down between them and pulled out a kunai. He lifted Naruto's shirt higher and held the tip of the knife against his stomach.

"Don't you fucking dare!" Sasuke yelled

The man met his eyes and grinned as he slowly pressed the kunai through his skin and jerked it across. Naruto cried out and Sasuke struggled to free himself, but all he could do was watch- helpless to stop this. The man ripped the knife out of the gash and ran his fingers through the blood pulsing from it. With it he drew symbols first on Naruto's stomach and then on Sasuke's. He grabbed them by the hair again and once more forced them on their knees so they were facing each other. He started chanting and as he did Naruto's stomach glowed. Soon after Sasuke felt a rush of power pass over him.

The chanting connecting them to the curse stopped, and the man switched to the final piece- the control he placed over it. "By day and night, the curse will tear apart body and soul unless the host's counterpart-"

The door slammed open and several Hidden Leaf shinobi rushed in. Deadly chakra was shot towards the man, but he dived away from it. As he did, his body collided with Sasuke's, driving him forward and directly into Naruto. Their lips locked as they fell back, and didn't separate until they hit the floor.

"What the hell, Sasuke?" Naruto shouted, pulling his face away.

"He shoved me into you!"

The sound of someone clearing their throat drew their attention up. Kakashi raised an eyebrow as he looked down at the pair. "Couldn't wait until you were alone again, huh?"

Sasuke glared and Naruto's turned bright red. "That's not! I wasn't- he-" the blushing blonde sputtered.

"Well, I'm convinced." Kakashi bent down and cut away the ropes binding them, before helping them to their feet.

Sasuke looked around. "Where is he?"

Kakashi sighed. "He got away."

"Fuck."

"But you guys stepped in before he finished the ceremony." Naruto thought aloud, "so does that mean he didn't get to the curse..?"

Sasuke looked at his face and then lowered his gaze to the gash and bloody seal on his stomach. "I don't know.. seems like the seal was already put in place."

"Anyone want to fill me in?"

They quickly gave Kakashi an overview of what happened. When Sasuke mentioned why he was doing this to Naruto, the blonde got quiet and dropped his gaze. Sasuke knew that Naruto harbored guilt for what happened with the nine tails. He shouldn't. It had nothing to do with him. But years of the villagers' hate had started to convince him that he was a monster, and Sasuke hated them for it. After all he's done for those assholes..

"Sasuke.." He looked over at Naruto. "He didn't say what jutsu you'd have to do to.." save me, he thought. "-to stop it."

The raven thought back to what he had been saying. "He said, 'by day and night, the curse will tear apart body and soul unless the host's counterpart-'" His eyes widened. "And then we.."

"Kissed." Kakashi filled in for him.

"Wait, wait, wait- does that mean..?" Huge blue eyes whipped over to stare at the Uchiha. "Do I have to kiss Sasuke?!"

Kakashi laughed and quickly covered it with an unconvincing cough. "Yes. I think you do."

After a long winded panicky outburst, and quick treatment to Naruto's wound, the group headed back to the Hidden Leaf. Naruto was surprisingly quiet as they leapt through the trees, but Sasuke couldn't blame him.

I have to kiss him twice a day.. He glanced over at him. Kiss Naruto..?

He couldn't deny that he felt strong feelings for him, but he always thought of that as an intense friendship. He deeply cared about him, even if he didn't always show it. But did he feel.. that way about him? What will it be like to kiss him everyday if he doesn't?

What will it be like if I do?

Naruto made his feelings about all of this blatantly obvious back at the hideout. So.. what if I like it? What if he can tell? He shook the thought from his head. There was no way he felt any romantic feelings towards the dobe.

Daylight slipped away, and darkness seeped in. The group stopped after a long day of travel and decided to make camp. They would finish their journey tomorrow.

The tension between Sasuke and Naruto was extremely obvious, and it thickened as the night drew on. They both knew what happens next, and neither were ready for it. They sat around the campfire across from each other, keeping their distance. They let the crackle of the burning wood fill the silence for them.

After a while the other shinobi retired to their makeshift tents, giving the two space. "Well- I should probably get some sleep too. Don't stay up too late you two." Kakashi ruffled Naruto's unkempt hair and winked at Sasuke, and then he was gone too.

They sat watching the flames for a while longer, until Sasuke could ignore it no longer. "Naruto.. it's late."

"No."

Sasuke clenched his jaw. "It has to happen at some point."

"No."

"Naruto-"

Cerulean eyes looked up at him from over the flames. "We don't even know if the curse worked."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "You better not be saying what I think you're saying."

"If we just wait, we'll know for sure.."

Sasuke stood up. "I'm not going to just fucking wait for you to be tortured."

Naruto jumped to his feet, eyes wide. "Don't even think about it."

"This is happening whether you want it to or not."

Naruto took a step back. "Stay the fuck away from me, Sasuke" he snarled.

The Uchiha raced over to him, but Naruto dodged him and slipped out of his reach. When he tried to grab him, Naruto decked him.

Sasuke stumbled back. "Are you kidding me?!"

"I said NO!!"

"You want to do this the hard way- fine." Sasuke activated his sharingan and narrowed blood-red eyes onto his blonde target.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Several stubborn Narutos appeared, surrounding him.

The two were completely unaware of the others' attention on them as they launched into an attack. Sasuke threw a handful of shuriken at nearby shadow clones, and raced past them as they disappeared. He drew a kunai and Naruto slammed his own against it, blocking his attack.

"Naruto. You know we have to-"

"Shut up!" he kicked out at him, and Sasuke leapt back.

Enough. Sasuke shifted out of view and then suddenly reappeared in front of Naruto, inches from his face. Blue eyes widened, and in his surprise he stumbled. He lost his footing and fell to the ground, flat on his back. Sasuke saw his chance. He dropped down on top of him, straddling his waist. Naruto tried to throw out a punch, but Sasuke grabbed his wrists and pinned them to the ground.

"Naruto. Don't fight me on this."

He shook his head, eyes filled with discomfort. And.. fear? Why does he look afraid?

He leaned down and pulled Naruto's wrist above his head, holding them down under one hand. With his other, he reached down and grabbed Naruto's face- holding it still.

"Sasuke.. don't."

"I'm sorry."

He closed the distance between them and pressed his lips firmly against Naruto's.

Author Note:

So, there will definitely be angsty-ness to this story, because I love writing it, but there will also be a lot of humor (or at least that's the goal). It's hard to tell if I'm actually funny to anyone besides my self. I feel like when I'm making myself laugh everyone else is just rolling their eyes and thinking this dumb bitch.

Anyways- I hope that you weren't too disappointed when it took a dramatic turn. Oh, and don't forget- this is a SasuNaru fanfic. Just throwing that out there before anyone gets angry about it. In my defense- SasuNaru is the best. :)

Thank you so much for reading so far! I hope you stick around- chapter 2 is on its way~