"No." Naruto said blankly, challenging Sasuke with his ice cold stare.

Sasuke sighed in annoyance and closed his eyes. They had been bickering back and forth for a while now on what to do about their situation. They had no food and have been eating snow just to eat SOMETHING, and the snow was still falling outside and getting in the way of doing anything at all. Like hunt for food. It was gentle enough that they could actually see outside, but heavy enough that it would be suicide to try and head home in it.

Sasuke had suggested that he go scavenge for some food. Naruto had come down with some kind of bug and wasn't in any shape to go out and do some hunting, but the sickness didn't stop his boisterous complaining. "No." He said again, eyes unwavering.

Sasuke opened his eyes and glared at the annoying blonde. "Naruto, we are going to starve to death if we don't eat something. You need to keep up your strength. We BOTH do, if we want to head home anytime soon." He gestured outside. "It's not even that bad outside."

"No!" Naruto said louder, emphasis in his voice. "You know what happens Sasuke! People can get lost even in this kind of weather."

"We don't have a choice, Naruto." Sasuke said through gritted teeth. They haven't had much food to eat for a while now, and he was hangry. Naruto was only making things worse. "Since when do you worry about anything? You usually just charge head first."

"Since we nearly died the first time we got lost in the snow. I had to save us. IIIIIII had to." Naruto retorted. Crossing his arms and pouting, how pitiful. "Nobody is leaving."

Sasuke just glared. "Actually, I don't remember asking for permission." He said coldly as he stood up.

Naruto stood up just as fast. "Don't even think about it." He growled lowly, practically snarling.

Sasuke ignored him and went to step outside, but Naruto slammed him against the wall. His blue eyes were wild and ready to fight. Sasuke whipped around to slam his arm against Naruto's head as the blonde ducked. They fought for a bit, slamming each other into walls and the floor. Finally, Sasuke had enough and flashing him with his sharingan, placing Naruto under genjutsu. Naruto stared at him with wide, doe like eyes before collapsing to the floor.

Sasuke huffed and stepped out into the bitter cold, feeling an instant feeling of regret and coming to a stop. He didn't want to go behind Naruto's back. Funny enough, he normally wouldn't care. Yet all of a sudden it was like Naruto's opinion was the only thing that mattered. He shivered and gritted his teeth, trudging forward and desperately shoved down those impeding thoughts.

It was bitterly cold, and the falling snow was like small kisses of ice on his cheeks. His gut instinct was to turn around and head right back inside. Preferably in Naruto's warm aura he seemed to emit. But he couldn't think of that now. They needed some kind of food. Hopefully the fish were still at the shoddy looking lake. He turned his head down and trudged forward, willing himself not to look forward and have ice fall in his eyes.

He felt uneasy . That gnaw in his stomach he felt inside himself when he first left the leaf was back. Sasuke shoved it down and forced himself not to think about it, but it kept coming back and made him queasy. Oh no, not this again. He was a damned Uchiha. Since when did he ever feel anxiety? He kicked up snow in front of him angrily, then felt even more annoyed when the wind blew it in his face. He spat snow out of his mouth, blinking stupidly. Good thing Naruto didn't see that.

He trudged forward for a while until he finally reached the lake. Snow had blown across it, but gusts of wind had blown clearings on the ice. He spent several minutes trying to break through a hole, taking time to warm his freezing extremities. He shivered as he felt wind gust through his clothes. The temperature seemed to be dropping more. Or maybe his mind was playing tricks on him.

He began shaking as he clumsily caught as many fish as he could as quickly as possible. He wanted to get back inside as quickly as possible, and it wouldn't be long before Naruto woke up. The icy water was making it worse, and his fingers were numb. The snow began pelting him harder and harder, causing his anxiety to skyrocket. That bad, horrible feeling. He didn't like this. He wanted Naruto there with him.

At last he had as many fish as he could get. He slung the bag over his shoulder and turned…

Only to see nothing but white.

Damn it. DAMN IT. Sasuke's heart dropped through the earth, causing him to tremble like a stupid child. He turned his head widely around, seeing nothing but whiteness all around. How had it started snowing so hard? Has he completely lost his mind? Why was he so distracted that he hadn't even noticed? The snow was swirling almost psychotically, completely making him lose his senses.

"DAMN IT!" He screamed into the void, kicking up snow violently. But he needed to keep a level head. He had no idea which way to go, but if he stopped moving then he'd surely freeze to death. This was eerily similar to when he and Naruto were lost together. Only this time, he was all alone.

He wanted to puke.

Sasuke set off in the direction he thought was the cabin, but he was walking for so long that he knew he had went the wrong way. Or had he passed it? Or maybe the snow was slowing his gait and he hadn't reached it after all? He stopped and turned, spinning his sharingan madly to try and make out something, but there was nothing but him alone in the wind. He felt useless and stupid. Uchiha are supposed to be smarter than this. Was he really going to let this be his end?

"Naruto!" He yelled into the void. But the wind screamed in response.

He felt a full ache rise in his core as all of his body started growing more and more numb. The snow was scratching and clawing at him, tearing away any body heat he was generating. It was happening so fast that he couldn't even register it.

The whiteness around him was suddenly turning dark. His body felt so numb that he almost didn't feel cold anymore. He blinked almost sleepily and let himself fall to his knees, then keeling forward in the snow. He couldn't go on anymore. He was too weak. The lack of food in his system made him weaker faster, and all of his energy was gone. This was it.

"N…Naru…to…" He mumbled, on the brink of losing consciousness. He had been fine only a minute earlier, but now here he was, practically dead.

He closed his eyes and waited for everything to turn black, but suddenly he felt his body being lifted. Had he died finally? Was he going to heaven? No, this felt different. But he was too weak and too tired to open his eyes. Or care.

He was carried for a while and he felt the light change behind his closed eyelids, and everything was much quieter. Sasuke barely opened his eyes. He was back in the cabin? How?

He felt himself laid ever so gently on the bed with blankets tucked around him. A lump formed in his throat, reminding himself of his mother tucking him in as a child. He opened his eyes slowly, seeing that stupid blonde face inches away from his but feeling so much relief wash over him. "Naruto…" He said in awe, almost wanting to cry. Naruto had saved him.

Naruto's face twitched, but he had a serious look on his face. He didn't respond and instead turned to put the bag of fish away. Sasuke just blinked, then grimaced as he felt his limbs start to tingle from the cold. He slowly sat up, trying to get himself closer to the fire. His skin stung and smarted as feeling came back.

Naruto came back in and stoked the fire, roasting fish over the coals, willing himself not to look at the dark-haired man. He stared ahead, face stone-cold. Sasuke felt almost uneasy, like he was a child who had done something bad and his father was "disappointed." He furrowed his brows. "Naruto?"

No response. Naruto stared ahead, unmoving. He wordlessly handed Sasuke his serving of fish as they both devoured the only food they've had in a while. It was quiet for a long time as Sasuke tried his best to get warm and shove the food down his throat. At least he wasn't frostbitten.

Naruto turned to look at him finally, face almost angry. "I told you not to go, and you went anyways." He said more icy than the outside snow.

If Sasuke didn't feel like a misbehaved child, then he did now. He blinked. "We needed food, idiot." He said with more confidence than he felt.

"I don't care!" Naruto yelled, gesturing widely. "I don't care you idiot! You just don't get it!" He clenched his fists and turned away. "You…you almost died out there."

Sasuke just stared. He was still confused as to why Naruto was making such a big fuss. He turned away, feeling sick. "Naruto." He said in a pathetic voice. "We need-"

"Just shut up!" Naruto cried, turning back and shoving the Uchiha. Sasuke's breath caught, seeing tears glisten in the fire's light. Well this was unexpected. Naruto gritted his teeth. "You…almost died you idiot! You were going to leave me all alone!" He hiccuped pathetically, tears streaming freely.

Sasuke looked at Naruto with grief. Here he goes feeling guilty again. Why does Naruto always make him feel guilty? Damn him. "Naruto." He tried again. "Someone had to or we BOTH would've died."

Naruto was glaring at him, but tears were flowing like faucets from his eyes. "You…you don't get it." He said sorrowfully. "I….I can't lose you Sasuke. Why after all this time don't you realize that?!" He shoved tears away with his palms, but fresh tears came right after. "We could've figured it out, or waited, or hell we could've just ate snow! I….my life has no purpose without you in it. You don't realize how much I…how much I care about you. If…if you were to die…" He face crumpled as he buried his head in his hands, too embarrassed to be seen.

Sasuke had no words. He figured Naruto would've just moved on if he had died. But apparently not. He felt tingles in his heart like small electrical currents. Those words cut deeper than any blade ever has. Maybe someone really could care for him after all. But could Sasuke allow himself to feel for him?

He slowly pulled Naruto's hands down from his face as those big blue eyes blinked at him in surprise. Sasuke placed his hands on either side of Naruto's face, one on each cheek, and gently brushed away Naruto's tears with his thumbs. Naruto stared at him with wide eyes, frozen in time. Sasuke's dark eyes searched Naruto's blue ones, telling him everything that couldn't be said with his words. Slowly, he leaned forward and placed his forehead against Naruto's, shutting his eyes and feeling Naruto against him.

They stayed like that for a moment, just allowing each other to feel the other's presence. The only sound was the crackling of the fire and angry winds and gentle breathing. Sasuke almost felt their chakra swirl together in the intimate gesture. Sasuke finally pulled away and ever so gently kissed Naruto's cheek, lingering for a moment before pulling back and looking at him with the softest expression. "You don't have to worry, Naruto." He said quietly. "I'll always be here."

Naruto blinked as his brain short circuited. This side of Sasuke…the soft, tender side that NO ONE sees…it practically turned himself into jelly. Naruto slowly leaned forward and pressed his lips against Sasuke's, wanting to feel more of him.

Sasuke wasn't expecting that, but then again…he wasn't complaining either. The fireworks started going off in him as Naruto's lips caressed his, practically turning him to soup. He felt like putty in Naruto's hands as his lips would massage his just right. This was just TOO good. He didn't want it to stop. Actually he could probably get off just from this slow, sensual kissing alone. But that was definitely a thought he was way too overwhelmed to think about. Naruto? Getting him off?! He shoved it down so fast that his body jerked, but maybe Naruto didn't notice.

Naruto grabbed Sasuke's face between his hands and rubbed the back of his head and his cheeks. His thumb gently caressed his cheeks and the side of his lips. He broke away and slowly kissed along his jawline to his ear, stopping at the corner of his jaw in the divot below his ear. He licked it slowly and sucked, brushed his lips on it and kissing it.

Oh shit. If Sasuke thought kissing was good….he gripped the blankets around them so hard his knuckled turned white and tilted his head to give Naruto more room. Sasuke exhaled from his mouth, eyes squinting shut as his lips parted slightly, forcing himself not to completely lose his mind. He had no idea he was so sensitive there. An area usually so vulnerable that he would never let anyone touch, but yet Naruto was exploring it freely and making Sasuke feel sensations he had never felt in his life. This was just too good, and Sasuke didn't want it to stop. Naruto switched to the other side, making Sasuke shudder and shake.

Eventually, Naruto moved back to Sasuke's lips and was practically devoured as they kissed with much more passion than they had before. Sasuke was beyond caring at this point. Naruto was the only one he'd allow to be so close to him. Naruto gently pulled Sasuke's lip with his teeth, causing an almost inaudible moan to escape Sasuke's lips. How could Naruto make Sasuke feel so good?

They pulled away after a time, completely breathless and eyes full of lust. Sasuke stared at the blonde in wonder of how he could break down all of the walls he had so carefully placed. Naruto just looked back at him full of admiration and longing. "You're shivering." He said quietly.

Maybe the cold finally caught up to him. Or maybe it was the sensations Naruto gave him making him shudder. But he definitely couldn't sit still. He didn't want to stop. He never felt anything like what Naruto gave him. And Naruto stopped like it was nothing. He wanted to keep going, and he started to protest when Naruto forced him to lay down, bundling him up as much as possible. When Sasuke was still shaking, he felt Naruto crawl under with him and wrap his entire body around him, warmth pulsing through his body.

What was this? Was this a relationship? Or friendship? Sasuke was certain friends didn't…MAKEOUT like that. Did he…LIKE Naruto? Was this some sort of weird crush fantasy? But…his relationship with Naruto always felt more than any of that. It couldn't have some kind of label. For once, he felt happy to have Naruto wrapped around him. To feel his whole body against his…even as the dolt unknowingly nuzzled the back of his neck, snoring softly and warming Sasuke to his toes…Sasuke realized he couldn't be without Naruto either. As he closed his eyes to sleep, he smiled a genuine smile.