Author's note: First day of the new year, first oneshot. Welcome back, everybody :) Happy New Year!

Warnings: Naruto's pov; Alternate universe; modern verse; reference to character deaths; established slash; fluff; New Year's fic; sequel to Unforeseen; Sasuke once again probably setting the bar rather high

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.

I hope you'll like it!

Unheralded

After mum and dad passed away during a car crash, he got bounced back and forth between several family members. None of them were actually willing to take up the commitment that came with raising a scarred, traumatised, orphaned kid. Each of them had excelled in finding an excuse to foster him off to somebody else to the point he had actually lost track of how many houses he had temporarily lived in until his estranged godfather had shown up and taken him in permanently.

If his life had been a movie or a story, ending up with his godfather would have been a happy ending, but it wasn't. He couldn't exactly complain about living with the older man; Jiraiya had made sure he stopped bouncing back and forth between family members and genuinely took good care of him – during the times he was present at least. Being a rather popular author saw Jiraiya on the road a lot, leaving little Naruto to be mainly looked after by a girl called Konan and a boy named Nagato. They weren't always there either, though, having their own family to spend time with, so Naruto ended up on his own a fair amount of times. That had never really bothered him, because at least he still had a house to return to and Jiraiya had always left enough money behind for both the essentials and entertainment, but …

Nibbling on his lower lip, Naruto considered the rows of three and four layer bento boxes displayed on the red shelves in front of him. Had he ever eaten osechi-ryōri before with somebody else? Perhaps when mum and dad had still been alive, but that had been so long ago he couldn't even recall if he ever had shared a bento box with them. Biting on the inside of his right cheek, he selected a couple of boxes; more than enough to get through the first days of the new year.

With the bento boxes procured, he wriggled away from the mass of other customers still doing their end of the year shopping and walked into the next aisle, where the supermarket displayed their variety of noodles. It took a bit of searching, stepping out of the way before a shopping cart could wheel right over his feet, but he managed to still find one package of soba noodles nearly hidden to the back on one of the top shelves. The package of the buckwheat noodles was quite wrinkled but still whole, so he added it on top of the bento boxes before making one more stop in front of the selection of mochi.

The store must have recently refilled this particular section of the supermarket because there were still plenty of mochi left. Each box contained two perfectly made big round mochi cakes with a mikan on top of each one. Naruto had tried making mochi before, but while he was certainly fairly skilled in the kitchen – at least he liked to think so, considering he hadn't poisoned himself or others yet – the art of making mochi that didn't look entirely questionable still eluded him. Not willing to subject himself to yet more hours spent in utter frustration, he simply snatched a box with mochi from the pile and placed that in the basket as well.

Now all he had left to do was pay and go home.

When he had been younger, he never had had somebody to really celebrate New Year's with. All those traditions most people took for granted were ones he had longed to experience with others because doing everything on your own just wasn't the same. Konan and Nagato always spent New Year's with their family naturally and Jiraiya had only been home a handful of times around the start of the new year. Even when he had been home, the older man had never really been the type to celebrate any holiday, not seeing anything different about those days that set it apart from others.

It was silly, stupid even, but for years Naruto had fantasised that one day he would have someone to share these traditions with; someone he could share the traditional bento and noodles with; someone who would visit the temple with him and listen to the temple bell being rung hundred and eight times; someone who would watch the first sunrise of the new year with him and bask in the beauty of it.

It was just a silly dream, but one he had clung onto for years, becoming fixated on the idea of having somebody to experience these traditions with. As year after year went by, he started to lose hope bit by bit that he would ever find somebody.

It was idiotic, focusing so intently on traditions, but …

"You ready to go?" Sasuke questioned, tilting his head to the left. He was dressed in a warm, dark blue coat; a soft white scarf wrapped around his neck. After pulling on his gloves, he picked up his keys and dropped them in his right pocket.

Naruto beamed at him, shrugging on his own jacket. "Almost, just need my scarf."

He zipped up his jacket and snatched his own orange scarf out of the closet, wrapping the lengthy cloth around his neck until it covered the lower half of his face.

Sasuke clucked his tongue and grabbed another pair of gloves from the closet, waving it in front of Naruto with one eyebrow raised.

Naruto grinned and accepted the gloves, pulling them and covering up his hands, still pruney from having down the dishes after they had finished eating toshikoshi soba. The taste of the hot broth still lingered on the back of his tongue, but the fact that Sasuke had shared the noodles with him meant more to him than the taste.

"Okay, ready to go!" he announced eagerly, latching onto Sasuke's hand eagerly when the other man opened the front door.

A small smile briefly flitting across Sasuke's face was the only outward sign that he acknowledged the handholding but that was more than enough for Naruto. With their fingers tangled together, they leisurely made their way down the street. On their way to the local temple, more and more people started trickling out of their homes; all of them eager to visit the temple at midnight in order to celebrate the turning of the year. This would be the first time Naruto had somebody going with him to the temple and he couldn't help but tighten his grasp around Sasuke's hand. Dark eyes glanced at him, but Naruto kept looking forwards; his own gaze fixated on the temple he could see at the end of the street.

It started to snow by the time they reached the temple; they were just in time for the bell to start ringing. The sharp noise echoed through the otherwise peaceful place, hushing everybody who had gathered here. Some parents had taken their children with them; the kids were either leaning against their parents' legs, yawning and rubbing their eyes, or looking around in wonder, trying to catch the small snowflakes.

"You want to make a prayer?" Sasuke asked when the temple bell rang for the last time.

"Of course; it's tradition after all," Naruto replied brightly. "Got last year's lucky charm as well to return it."

For once the lucky charm had actually done really well, he mused as he furtively glanced at Sasuke.

All the previous years his prayer had remained the same: I want somebody who'll love me and who I'll love in return. This year his prayer would be different, he had decided a while ago. Closing his eyes, he breathed out slowly, aiming his prayer to whoever was out there, listening.

I pray for this happiness to last forever.

After their visit to the local temple, Naruto had expected to return to their apartment where they would catch a couple of hours of sleep before they would wake up to witness the first sunrise. He had looked up when the sunrise would happen and had even set an alarm on his phone for it; the only time he did not mind waking up at a brutally early hour.

To his surprise, however, Sasuke led him straight past their apartment and to his car, unearthing his car keys from his pocket.

"Sasuke?" Naruto asked confused; his breath escaping him in little white puffs.

By now a thin blanket of snow had gathered on every surface, making the street look rather bright even in the middle of the night.

"You want to watch the first sunrise of the new year together, right?" Sasuke said lightly, opening the car door. "Come on, get in. It's getting quite cold."

"Where are we going? I thought we were just going to watch it from our home," Naruto said bemused.

Sasuke scoffed, gesturing for him to get in. "While the view from our apartment isn't bad, it's definitely not suited to watch the first sunrise. No, we're going somewhere else."

"Where?"

Sasuke winked at him and Naruto resolutely ignored the butterflies fluttering in the pit of his stomach at that move. "It's a surprise," he replied mysteriously and got into the car.

Naruto blinked before getting in the car as well; anticipation building up as he tried to recall whether there was a hill nearby. He knew for sure there wasn't a beach attached to the city and they didn't live close to any mountains. So it had to be a hill, no?

Calling the place Sasuke had driven them to a 'hill' would be highly offensive, Naruto dazedly decided as they followed the trail higher and higher. The wind was picking up fierceness; the cold air stinging his cheeks. His sneakers had been replaced with a pair of sturdy hiking shoes and a brand new hiking pole ensured he wouldn't accidentally stumble – although with the grip Sasuke had on his other hand, it was very doubtful the other man would even allow him to trip, let alone fall down. His lungs were burning a bit, unaccustomed as he was to this kind of exercise and the darkened shadows of the mountain huts looked somewhat inviting in the icy weather – until he looked around and realised once more where they were.

Or better yet what they were currently climbing: Mount Fuji.

They were actually going to watch the first sunrise of the new year on Mount Fuji. Witnessing the first sunrise of the first day of the new year was always magical, no matter how many times he would witness it, but everybody knew just how much more special the tradition was when viewed from Mount Fuji itself.

And now Naruto was going to experience that tradition right here. On Mount Fuji itself.

"You are actually insane, I hope you know that," Naruto accused him laughingly, shaking his head in disbelief.

Sasuke turned to look at him and smiled; his eyes glittering when he replied, "You wanted to watch the first sunrise together, no? Might as well do that from a proper spot."

A proper spot. The whole drive to the mountain – which had taken up a couple of hours – Naruto had been left utterly clueless as to where they were going. Not recognising any of the streets or the towns they passed through and half dozing, it had taken him way too long to realise where they were heading to. In his defence, he had never visited Mount Fuji before, so who could blame him for not recognising the way?

"We drove literal hours to watch the sun rise – you're going to be way too late at your work," Naruto realised, starting to fret a bit.

He had a couple of days off from his own work, but Sasuke was a bit of a workaholic he had noticed early on in their relationship. Sasuke was always early at his office; there was no way he would be home on time to change into his suit and be at the office by eight o'clock like he normally would.

"I'm going to work later today, it's fine," Sasuke explained flippantly.

"Are you sure it's okay?" Naruto asked worriedly.

Yes, he had been over the moon when Sasuke had said he wouldn't mind sharing these New Year's traditions with him, but he didn't want him to get into trouble at work for it!

Sasuke drew to an abrupt halt, forcing Naruto to pause as well. Gloved fingers curled around the back of his neck and a pair of cold lips pressed a sweet kiss on his mouth.

"I'm one of the bosses there; it'd be a severe insult to my position if I can't decide when to come into the office," he murmured and gave Naruto another quick kiss. "Now come on, we still need to walk a bit further. We don't want to miss the sunrise."

Smiling helplessly, Naruto shook his head again but started hiking again, pushing his pole off against the rocky underground.

Somehow they were the first ones to arrive at the best spot to witness the sunrise. That surprised Naruto considering he had seen how many vehicles had been parked at the bottom; no doubt all those mountain huts were filled up as well with people eager to witness the sun rising. Yet somehow he and Sasuke were the first ones here, allowing them to get the best spot.

In spite of the icy wind Naruto felt extremely warm when Sasuke went to stand behind him, pressing his chest against Naruto's back while he wrapped his arms around Naruto's waist.

"I really can't believe you drove basically all night just to watch a sunrise," Naruto said, still in utter disbelief.

He was standing on Mount Fuji with his boyfriend, about to witness the first sunrise of the new year, holy shit!

"It's not just a sunrise, though," Sasuke pointed out and Naruto could hear him smiling. "It's the first sunrise of the new year. Can't watch that on a simple hill, who do you take me for?"

His arrogant question had Naruto laughing before his breathing hitched when a nose nuzzled the hollow beneath his ear.

"Look," Sasuke whispered, "the sun is rising."

It was. Slowly, oh so slowly, the sky started to turn pink and deep orange, breaking apart the vast darkness that had covered them like a blanket for the past hours. The sun peeked over the horizon; a ball of flames casting a fresh light over the earth. The snow started to glitter, the wind was near howling now, the air was ice cold, but –

"It's beautiful," Naruto breathed out.

"Hm," Sasuke murmured, tightening his grip around Naruto's waist.

Naruto couldn't really tell whether Sasuke was agreeing with him, but that didn't matter. He was here with Naruto; they were watching the first sunrise together and it was beautiful.

Right as the sun started to really climb up in the sky, gloved fingers slipped underneath Naruto's chin and gently turned his head around. Dark eyes gazed down softly at him, making him feel like he was going to spontaneously combust any second now.

"Happy New Year," Sasuke murmured and bent down.

"Happy New Year," Naruto croaked out before their lips met each other while the sun dipped them in its gentle rays.

The new year was shaping up to be something incredible, Naruto just knew it.

The End

AN2: Your boyfriend just casually taking you to Fuji-san to witness the first sunrise of the year, no biggie.

Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.

I hope to see you all back in my future stories! Please stay safe and take care of yourselves!

Cuddles

Melissa

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