Snapshots: Like Trying to Hold Water

====================================================================

Sasuke had been livid when he returned to the training area to find Kakashi and Naruto gone. His stomach was doing little flips inside of him, squirming like a nervous animal trying to claw its way out quite desperately. Sasuke had immediately demaned them forming a search party to find the two but Sakura had been less than enthusistic about the idea. In fact, once she had surmised that Sasuke was truly set on that as a plan she'd left, heading back into town leaving Sasuke scanning the woods around him for either familiar chakra signature. He moved down the marked trails towards the river, the only place where he could see a human chakra signature for miles, at least if he wasn't heading back to Konoha.

If Naruto was in Konoha though, he would be safe. Out here, with Kakashi, alone, he wasn't. There was only one signature there, but he could hope that it was Naruto, alone and safe. It was faint, like he was sleeping, and when he got close enough to feel it clearly he sighed his relief. It was Naruto, probably fell asleep after training. Just training, thats all, he was safe, he was whole. Sasuke let his pace slow a little, catching his breath and thinking of what he would say to the dobe when he woke him up. He came up over the rocks surrounding the little outcropping, smirking, ready to tell Naruto off for sleeping during training time.

The smirk died on his lips though, when he saw the blond lying there, looking fragile and thin, wet and practically naked, shivering slightly in the shade of the boulder. He swooped down, holding one hand out to reassure himself the boy was breathing still, lips tinged blue and slightly swollen. Sasuke's heart was racing, and he snapped his head around, looking for the clothes Naruto had been wearing when he'd left, spotting the telltale orange of the boy's signature outfit neatly folded on the rock above him. He grabbed the jacket, pulling the boy up to wrap it around his torso, swearing quietly at the frigid chill of his skin.

"Naruto!, Oi, Dobe! Wake up!" He shook the boy gently, slapping his cheek lightly, trying to bring the boy around. He heard a moan, and watched blue eyes flutter slightly, opening and shutting lightly before they sprung wide, the boy suddenly back to consciousness. Naruto started in his arms, wiggling away from the grip, eyes confused. Sasuke wanted to chase him down but he stayed put. He didn't want to scare him, and he needed to know what happened.

"Sa-sasuke...?" Naruto's voice was broken, cracking with disuse. He swallowed, and tried to focus his eyes, tried to focus his mind. "Sasuke, what happened?" The Uchiha frowned, crawling a little closer, stabilizing the blond with one hand, tentatively. When he didn't pull away Sasuke moved closer, holding the boy, pulling the jacket back down around the shivering form.

"I don't know, Naruto. I found you here, like this. What's the last thing you remember?" Naruto paused, leaning into his teammate unconsciously, drawing towards the warmth and stability of the Uchiha's body. He frowned.

"I-I was with Kakashi, we were going to go swimming, he was going to show me a jutsu. I remember being in the water, and he called me-" He paused, frowning deeper. The blond shook his head violently, as if trying to jar things back into place. "-Everything gets fuzzy there, I remember his voice, then nothing. Then I was here, and you were here, and everything is so ... cold." The boy tilted to the side violently, and Sasuke grabbed for him, catching him and pulling him close out of instinct. Naruto shivered.

"Well, first thing, lets get you dressed, your wet and half naked, that would make you cold." His mind was racing and his rage was spreading inside. He wanted to snap Kakashi's neck, warning or none. He had a good idea of what had happened out here. He grabbed the boy's shirt from behind him, peeling the jacket away to slip it over the blond head.

He froze, eyes falling to a little red mark on the tanned skin, deep in color. He almost lost it, he marked him, he put down some sick little claim on something he has no right to.. Sasuke didn't realize his grip was tightening till he heard Naruto's little confused whimper. The boy was still groggy, and he didn't understand Sasuke's behavior at all. The boy swore silently, trying to push everything back. He had a good idea of what Kakashi had done now, and it made him hate the man even more. But he couldn't think of that right now, he had to focus.

He pulled Naruto's pants around, holding them out, steadying the blond as he stepped into them. It hit him then, he was so close to Naruto, he had touched so much of the boy's skin. He'd thought about doing that, at night, when he was alone, or sometimes on missions, when they shared a tent. He thought about sliding his hands over that smooth skin, only in his mind it had been warm, and here it had been cold as death. The eyes in his mind were bright, looking only at him, while Naruto's eyes now were clouded, drugged and sluggish. It made his mouth go dry, because it was what he had wanted for so long, but it wasn't, not like this. He swore at Kakashi under his breath, straightening the blond's clothing.

Naruto was still shivering, making him frown. He pulled him close, rubbing his back, and he liked the way Naruto relaxed into him, even though he was still shivering, shaking like a leaf. He sighed deeply. This wasn't going to be enough. He pulled back.

"Naruto?" He tilted the boy's head up, and his eyes were clearer now, but still oddly distant.

"Sa-su-ke?" His voice was thick, he sounded tired again. Sasuke pulled him to his feet.

"We have to get you warmed up, Dobe. Come on, we're going home." He didn't pick the boy up, didn't trust himself to come that close again, not now. He was angry, he was confused, but right now he knew he needed to make sure his teammate was okay first, because Naruto was his closest friend, his only friend, his most precious person. That came first.

X

It was almost harder for him to watch Naruto sleeping so peacefully than it had been to find him freezing cold and half dead. He had taken the boy home with him, because it was the first thing that came to mind. He'd filled the bathtub with warm water and put the boy in, as stabilizing his body temperature was his first concern. After that he'd dried him off carefully, at least until Naruto had started being entirely too coherent halfway through, complaining that he could do it himself, at which point Sasuke had left him pajamas, and set out the futon on his floor. Naruto had come in and promptly fallen asleep, so deeply that Sasuke couldn't even shake him awake to get answers to the thousands of questions floating around in his head, about how much he remembered of what happened now, and how he was feeling.

He had considered calling Tsunade for medical help, but the boy seemed in fine health now, just tired. besides, that would have led to questions, and he didn't have answers. Sasuke knew that if he flat out told on Kakashi, that the man would find some way of getting back at him, and probably do something stupid involving Naruto. He couldn't bare seeing Naruto hurt any more over this, so he'd kept it to himself once he'd assessed the danger was gone.

Now he just sat, watching the blond boy sleep. It was perfect, he was so calm now, so peaceful and beautiful. Memories flooded his mind though, of Kakashi, doing this and more, and it made him feel dirty, it made him feel like he was in some way sick, following in the man's footsteps. It was hard though, because he wanted to reach out and touch the tanned skin, wanted to feel the warmth back in those limbs, if only to assure himself the boy was okay now, he wasn't on the verge of death from cold anymore. It had scared him to see the normally outgoing and hyper blond like that, but this scared him more.

He couldn't leave though, he couldn't look away, couldn't go out and train. His eyes just kept getting drawn back into the gentle rise and fall of Naruto's chest under the blankets, the rhythm of his breath, steady and unceasing. That was comforting. His reverie was interrupted by a small cry from the blond, and he was kneeling by him in a flash.

"Sa-su-" His breathing was rougher, and his eyes fluttered open a little bit. Sasuke just hushed him, afraid to touch him at all right now. But a tanned arm reached out for him, and he couldn't stop himself from taking it if he tried, lacing his fingers with Naruto's, letting the boy pull him down.

"Hush, Naruto, everything's okay now." He seemed to calm form the soft words, or maybe it was the contact, but he slipped back under, breathing normal once more. Sasuke held his own breath though, watching the boy. He blinked, breaking the spell.

Sasuke took his hand back gently, trying not to wake the by, even if he did sleep like the dead, and tiptoed from the room. He needed a shower himself, and some clean clothes. He needed to think, and he needed to sleep. His mind tempted him with images of climbing into bed next to naruto, holding the boy tightly to him and not letting go. If they never got up from that bed, never left that room, then Kakashi couldn't hurt them, right? He couldn't touch Naruto anymore. He clamped down on that thought violently though. He couldn't be like that, not now, not when Kakashi had pushed both of them so far. He was scared it might break the boy, might crush the fragile trust built upon the rivalry they shared.

He pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind as he turned on the shower, standing under the falling water, letting it warm his skin and wash away his uncertainties. He could do this, he could save Naruto if he tried. He shivered a little as he thought of the boy in the other room again, thought of the tanned skin he had seen on the river bank, coupled with the warm smoothness of that skin when he'd pulled Naruto from the bathtub. He hadn't stripped the boy all the way down, he'd left his wet boxers on, mostly because they clung to his skin, and Sasuke was concerned with speed then, reacting fast.

Still, his mind could fill in the holes in his knowledge, and it did, providing him with a wonderful image of Naruto, sopping wet, lounging in the bath with nothing on. The moan of his name sprung to mind, timber shifted lower, more throaty, and he shivered again. He had been so nervous before, with Naruto so close to him, but now he was alone, and he could let himself go. He felt himself growing hard from those altered memories, as they veered off into the realm of complete fantasy. He could see Naruto spread out on the futon, naked and gleaming, as hard as Sasuke was now. He could imagine the tanned hands gliding across smooth skin, the deep rumble of the blond's moan at his own touch. He could see one delicate hand wrapping around the boy's arousal, pumping it, covering it with sweet oil to make it slick. He could clearly visualize that blond head lolling back, mouth falling open in a cry of his name.

"Sa-su-keee..." His own hands were busy now, one gliding over his wet chest, to pinch a nipple, already hard from just the thought, the other whispering over his own erection, pale and smooth, barely touching it at all. He let the thumb drag over the head as he imagines the boy rising, rocking forward to his knees, crawling towards him with half lidded eyes, brilliant blue clouded with nothing but lust. He gripped himself, imagining his hands were not his own, closing his eyes, and letting his own moan go free, not really caring when it formed into a familiar name. The name tasted good in his mouth, and he said it again.

"Naruto!"

X

Naruto woke up, disoriented and alone in someone else's bed. He didn't recognize his surroundings, as he sat bolt upright in a panic. He couldn't remember much, being in the woods, training, Sasuke hurting himself, swimming with Kakashi, shuddering under his gaze for some reason, a sense of foreboding, and then ... cold, he remembered cold, and then ... Sasuke? It was all blurry after that though, warm water, this bed, someone's soothing words, a soft voice, familiar but not. He tried to think. He recognized the smell though, soft and musky, like sweat and spice and ...

"Sasuke?" He crawled from the bed. If this was Sasuke's bed, then where was he? His stomach did a small flip, what if something had happened to him, the boy was the closest friend he had, the only person he really trusted above all else. If he was gone ... something hurt hollowly in his chest at the thought.

His muscles ached as he stood, glancing around the dark room quickly, eyes falling on a brace of kunai on the table. He picked one up, it fit comfortably in his hand as he crept as quietly as he could to the door. He stopped and listened, hearing nothing but his own blood thumping in his ears. He eased the door open silently, using everything he could remember about stealth, cloaking his chakra and doing a quick scan. Only one other person in the house, but his senses were too fuzzy to tell who. They were very much alive though, but clearly resting by the ebb of the pattern. He hoped to god it was Sasuke, but why would Sasuke be out here at this hour? The sun was barely even peeking up over the horizon. He crept forwards, ready to spring around the corner and see who it was.

He froze. It was Sasuke. He slumped in relief, letting his chakra fall to normal, sliding down the wall. He was tired again, the paranoid adrenaline that had filled him when he woke was gone. The kunai fell from his grip with a loud clank. He winced, holding his breath, hoping he didn't wake the other boy. A shift from the couch made him swear under his breath. The shape bent upwards in the dim light.

"Naruto?" The voice was clear, but hints of sleep clung around the edges. Clearly the Uchiha wasn't threatened by him, but a ninja was trained to wake up at the slightest sign of trouble. Sasuke tensed when he didn't hear a response, untangling himself from the blanket he swung his legs off the side of the couch, pushing to his feet. He could sense the blond, out of bed for some reason, on the floor by the wall, slumped over. His heart was racing now, as he walked over a bit more quickly than necessary. He knelt by the boy, who was facing him, head lifted to meet him gaze but still silent. He frowned, leaning over, putting one hand down to brace himself.

It landed on something cold and sharp. He let out a startled cry and fell backwards, not expecting anything to be there. He clutched the wound, staring at it like he didn't know what to make of it. That got Naruto to move though, and the blond was at his side in a heartbeat, grabbing the wounded hand and squinting at it in the dark.

"Sasuke, what happened?" His voice cracked a little, his tongue felt thick and clumsy in his mouth. Sasuke stood shakily, pulling his hand back, sliding down the wall with practiced ease until his fingers found the light switch.



They both winced as the room became bright, after so long squinting around in the dark. Sasuke was a little bit stunned, and almost jumped when Naruto was beside him again, looking at the wound on his hand. He glanced back guiltily at the kunai on the floor, then back to Sasuke's hand.

"We should get this tended, wouldn't want it to get infected." The blond rushed off in the direction of the bedroom he had been in before, hoping one of the other doors was a bathroom. He tried one, it was a closet of some kind, he tried another, some sort of study, scrolls stacked along one wall. His hand was on the next knob, but his mind told him it wasn't right, the bedroom he'd been in before, Sasuke's bedroom something whispered. He shivered.

Then there were fingers on his arm, and he turned around. Sasuke was smirking slightly, their eyes met before the other boy ducked into the last room, the bathroom. Naruto followed, hurried now, and grabbed Sasuke's wrist. He was holding it under the water, rinsing the blood away from the cut, wincing at the sting.

"Let me, I can do it." Sasuke's voice was clear and smooth, more sure now. "Can you get the ointment and a bandage? They're in the cupboard behind me." He gestured with his uninjured hand. Naruto snapped to attention, turning to open it, rifling through until he came out with a roll of gauze, medical tape, ointment, a clean rag. He dried Sasuke's hand in silence, when the other boy finally shut off the water. Sasuke shuttered a little at the thrill of contact, tanned hands touching his wound gently, dabbing on the ointment. It stung, but not as much as the water, and not nearly as much as the injury itself. He didn't flinch away, just let the other boy wrap it in silence, reveling in the slide of warm skin on his own.

The silence turned awkward once Naruto had placed the last little swatch of tape in place, securing the bandage. He smiled thinly, guiltily at Sasuke.

"I'm not a med-nin or anything, but that should be okay. You may want to have someone look at it soon though, make sure it won't need stitches or anything. That was a sharp blade, a clean cut, so it could have gone deeper than you thought and you might want to make sure, because if not it might scar, although, you know, scars are kind of cool I guess, not like you can avoid them as a shinobi after all. Maybe the girls will think it's cool, not that you don't have girls all over you already..." Naruto shut his mouth quickly, his eyes closing as he flinched. He was rambling, tired again now that Sasuke's wound was tended. All he wanted to do was sleep.

"Hn, Dobe. We should get back to sleep, you know. We have training tomorrow after all." Naruto smiled up at him.

"Yeah. Hey, you take your bed, I'll be fine on the couch. It is yours after all." Sasuke frowned a little.

"No. What kind of a host would I be if I made you sleep on the couch. Besides, you went through a whole lot today, you need it more than me."

"No, I'm fine. I'm not going to kick you out of your own bed." The Uchiha pushed a scowl to his face.

"Well, I'll take the bed, but only if you come in too. It's big enough for both of us, and I won't have you out on the couch."

"Sure, I guess." Sasuke tried to keep scowling at the response, but the sides of his mouth twitched up anyways.


=====================================================================================

A/N: Good? Bad? Ugly? Read, Review, and Let Me Know!! ^.^