Hello everyone, I wasn't supposed to have time to write, but then I just had to write this as a birthday fic for the lovely Jasu (Yasuli on deviantart). I'm sure you've seen her art, but if you haven't then you need to go there right now because you will love it!

This is my second attempt at ninja-verse and it was incredibly fun to write this. I even wrote a fighting scene, I'm so impressed. I hope you like it.

It's rated T because there's only a bit of kissing and stuff... Oh, and since this is pre-chuunin exam, Naruto of course still has that little crush on Sakura. This is supposed to be fairly canon, after all. Also I'm sorry but I haven't had time to properly proof-read everything so I apologize for any typos.

Oh, and it was supposed to just be a small drabble, in case you wonder (and it turned out a bit longer).

Disclaimer: I wish I owned Naruto, I mean, first of all it would be a yaoi and do I really need to say more?

Enjoy!

Once upon a time on a stormy night

xxx

Standing by the bridge as usual, Naruto fiddled with the straps on his jumpsuit and tried whistling as he waited. Sakura-chan was already there, as always the first to arrive. She was annoyed, refusing to talk to him as the sun rose higher and higher in the sky. Bored, as well as wise from experience, Naruto sat down to eat a snack. He offered one to Sakura, but she was too busy scanning the area, most likely on lookout for their third teammate. Naruto didn't mind much that a certain pale bastard hadn't arrived yet, unless he knew what time Kakashi-sensei would bother showing up. Now that would be unfair.

An explosive sigh from the direction of the pink-haired girl drew his attention to the left, where Sasuke was slowly making his way over. Clad in his usual white and blue, his posture seemed a little more slumped than usual, his hands deeper in his pockets. Not that Naruto noticed, or anything.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura yelled, jumping down from her seat and running towards him. "Happy birthday!"

Naruto blinked in confusion a few times, counting backwards to the last date he could remember, then forwards again, realizing that yes, it was the Uchiha's birthday today. Not that he cared. It was just that, well, Sasuke was alone like him. At least Naruto had Iruka-sensei treating him to ramen.

But when Sasuke completely ignored the girl of Naruto's dreams, he immediately stopped feeling sorry for him. That ungrateful ass!

"Sasuke-kun, I made you a bento! And I was thinking that when we get back from the mission, we could, umm, I mean-"

Naruto decided he'd heard enough. Jumping onto the railing he ran over to his teammates, squatting down next to Sasuke and glaring at him.

"Well?" he demanded, poking Sasuke's cheek. "Are you going to spend your birthday being your usual mopey self, or are you going to answer Sakura-chan?! You're such a lucky bastard, getting a bento from her!"

Dark eyes flashed up at him for a second, then Sasuke closed them as if the mere presence of Naruto caused him to suffer.

"Are you going to spend today being the usual moron, or are you going to realize I couldn't care less about my birthday? Because I don't mind punching that realization into your stupid face."

Naruto's mouth gaped wide open at the amount of words leaving the other. He caught himself in time to jump out of reach of Sakura's punch aimed at his chest that would have definitely crashed him into the water. Sadly he wasn't entirely successful, as she still reached one of his legs, causing him to lose balance and fall anyway.

Spluttering he resurfaced, yelling profanities at Sasuke while Sakura yelled similar things at him. Sasuke gave him one look, snorted out a "Moron", and oh it was on. Ten clones and even Sasuke didn't have time to get out of the way, the whole bunch of them falling to the wooden ground and grappling furiously. It was a bit difficult getting in a good hit when he was in his own way all the time, but Sakura took care of that problem by punching the life out of his clones. When Kakashi arrived, it was just the three of them left, Naruto refusing to let go of Sasuke's shirt while simultaneously trying to avoid the girl, surprising their teacher with the amount of teamwork they were pulling off.

"My, my" he said, picking Naruto up by the back of his sweater. "It's nice to see you practicing your teamwork in the morning, but I'm afraid you'll need your strength for the mission."

"Let me down, you pervy sensei!" Naruto yelled, changing his mind when Sakura looked close to attempt real murder, instead clinging to Kakashi. "Gah, save meeee!"

All in all, Sasuke's morning didn't start well.

xxx

A couple of hours later they were walking through a forest, on their way to the southern part of the country. Kakashi hadn't bothered to tell them more than that, but Sasuke didn't care too much today. Sakura was still chatting incessantly by his side, the moron trudging along somewhere behind them with what seemed to be a permanent pout on his face. The blond had gotten a lot more bruises and scrapes than Sasuke, yet he didn't seem affected at all. Sasuke himself could feel a dull ache to one side of his jaw, thanks to a clone pretty much stepping on him. If he hadn't been in such a sucky mood that day, as well as suffering from lack of sleep, he could have gotten out of the fight with a lot more pride intact.

As it was, he was happy enough to let Naruto believe he was perfectly fine. Which he would have been, if there hadn't been constant noise in his ears and the prickling feeling of Naruto scowling at his back, distracting him from relaxing. At least he was dry again. Eleven soaking wet Narutos had been able to effectively drench him in cold water from the river, and he wondered if the weather had forgotten his birthday was supposed to be during summer. Most likely there was a storm coming, and he'd noticed Kakashi glancing up at the sky now and then.

When leaves rustled nervously in a sudden harsh wind, he contemplated asking what they were going to do about the storm. Even Sakura seemed slightly uneasy. He was about to open his mouth when warning signals rang through his brain, and instinct brought out his kunai to deflect the three thrown at him.

"I'll get them!" Naruto yelled as he ran past Sasuke, three clones already by his sides.

The moron wasn't the same scaredy-cat as before, but Sasuke wasn't so sure that rushing headfirst into unknown danger was any more flattering.

"Sasuke!" Kakashi said, tone sharp, and a quick glance behind told him two enemies had landed in front of both him and Sakura.

With a low curse he activated his sharingan, following Kakashi's order as he ran after Naruto. He hoped the idiot hadn't managed to kill himself yet, that would be unnecessarily stupid even for him.

Creeping through a shrubbery he found Naruto busy in hand-to-hand combat with another ninja, who didn't seem to possess much more skill than the blond. Shaking his head, Sasuke waited for a good opportunity. It came in the form of Naruto being kicked into the shrubbery next to him, and Sasuke caught a few shuriken that followed him.

"What are you doing here" Naruto growled, but Sasuke didn't answer, eyes trained on the enemy. "Fine" Naruto hissed, "What's the plan mister I'm-such-a-genius-I-don't-need-to-talk?"

Naruto's face was twisted in a grimace, as if it physically pained him to ask Sasuke for their next course of action. But hey, at least he asked nowadays.

"You stay here and I take care of the enemy" he answered, exiting the bushes and doing a quick dash towards the other guy.

He didn't have much hopes of Naruto listening to his suggestion, but it was a small payback for his jaw and drenched clothes. He dodged a couple of kicks, reading the other's movements, slashing out with a kunai as he found an opening. As the guy jumped back, holding his now bleeding arm, Naruto appeared next to Sasuke.

"Bastard!" he said, body crouched into a fighting stance, eyes on their enemy. Seems like the idiot was learning. "I'll so get you back for that!"

Sasuke refrained from rolling his eyes, since the other guy was charging again. For a few seconds the clearing was only filled with the sounds of punches and kicks, and the occasional jeer from Naruto. Going through the hand signs, Sasuke blew fire, following the path their enemy took as he avoided the heat. Naruto almost got caught by the flames, and he swore loudly as he landed back at Sasuke's side. Well, nobody's perfect.

"Where'd he go?"

Sasuke scanned the area, grabbing Naruto's arm and jumping out of the way when the ground tore open underneath them.

"Whoa!" Naruto shouted, trying to balance while they jumped between the blocks of overturned earth, Sasuke wondering how the other guy managed to pull the technique off.

He left Naruto to his own devices once he spotted the target, taking longer than usual due to the other wearing dirt-colored clothes that served as camouflage. It was difficult to maneuver over the rocky ground, and many times what seemed to be a steady rock crumbled underneath his feet when he landed on it. He was not retreating, simply luring the enemy closer to Naruto. Two-on-one had better odds. What he hadn't counted on was Naruto being far away as the ground moved again, as if with a life on its own, and once he managed to catch up to him they were at an edge.

A very steep edge.

As their enemy swooped in on them, Sasuke gritted his teeth in annoyance. What a fabulous birthday he was having. There wasn't much they could do, not when the ground moved again and threatened to swallow them. With an inner curse he sent another wave of flames against the guy, grabbed Naruto, and promptly jumped over the edge.

He'd counted on being able to use his chakra threads to bring them to the cliff side, and there they could run to the side for a while before climbing up again and circling their enemy to attack from behind. It was just a teeny, tiny detail that wasn't in his calculations. The side of the cliff was moving as well. Or rather, it was all crumbling, as if the other ninja had set off a chain reaction.

"Oh my god, Sasuke! What do we do? The whole place is freaking destroyed! We'll fall and die!"

"We're already falling, moron" Sasuke shot back, trying to get a look at the ground, which was difficult with Naruto wriggling around. "You need to summon a lot of clones and break the fall."

Naruto was still babbling incoherently, and Sasuke was forced to slap him.

"Dammit Naruto, get a grip and summon those clones!"

Staring at him for one long second, Naruto finally came back to reality and crossed his fingers. With the result that there were now fifty Naruto copies above them. Sasuke groaned, but miraculously the clones grabbed the two of them, slowly breaking their fall. Maybe Naruto was trying to throw them all the way back to the top, where a few cloned were busy trying to find something to hold on to, but it didn't matter much. The ground was rapidly closing in, and Sasuke found himself being moved away from the cliff instead.

"What are you doing, moron?!" he yelled, and ten or so clones yelled "Water!" back at him.

Was this Naruto's payback for that fall into the river earlier? Sasuke didn't have time to contemplate the reasons, as cold closed around his body. Not cold enough to be numbing, but certainly not comfortable. Reaching the surface proved difficult, they were moving along the stream with high speed, but somehow he managed to find air again. Naruto coughed, flailing his arms dangerously, and to make sure they weren't separated, Sasuke was forced to put one arm around his chest and pull his him close. Things were made even more difficult considering the backpacks they both carried, but Sasuke disregarded the thought of getting rid of them. Most likely he'd drop Naruto and the idiot would drown on his own.

He didn't want to admit it, but thinking while being spun around and trying to avoid floating logs and the occasional rock sticking out in the middle was extremely difficult while trying to keep a struggling moron above the water.

"I can do it m-" Naruto's angry shout was cut short as he swallowed water, and under normal circumstances Sasuke might have answered.

As it was, from what he could make out in front of them, they were headed towards a waterfall. Was he going to die on his birthday? He couldn't. He had too much unfinished business, and he was finally getting somewhere. Hugging Naruto tight with both arms, he braced himself for the fall.

xxx

"How the fuck did we survive that?!" Naruto asked as he'd finished coughing and spitting out water, on hands and knees on the riverbank.

Sasuke followed his line of vision, blanching a little at the sheer impossibility of the height from which the water fell. They were several hundred meters from the waterfall, having floated into a calm little pocket by the side of the river, but even from here the sound was almost deafening. Looking at Naruto again, he had a momentary flash of chakra enveloping him, probably breaking the fall.

He shook his head to get water out if his ears. Whatever chakra he thought he'd felt must be his imagination. There was no way either of them had that kind of sinister chakra anyway. Must be one of those near-death experiences.

Naruto was already standing up, stretching, as if he hadn't just fallen to his death.

"Well, I'm feeling fine, what about you?"

Sasuke frowned, testing his limbs. Nothing seemed particularly damaged.

"I'm fine. Let's see if we can find a way back."

Naruto gave him a doubtful look, but didn't comment. Maybe he, too, realized that if Sasuke hadn't hold on to him, who knows what would have happened. They started back towards the waterfall, slow at first as they searched their unfamiliar surroundings, but soon at a run when things seemed calm.

Once they reached what could only be described as a wall made of rock, their moods plummeted. Climbing that would not be fun. Not to mention it was getting colder, and the wind had picked up.

"Well, now what?" Naruto shouted, having to shout a second time much closer to Sasuke's ear on order to make himself heard through the noise of the water. "No way I'm climbing that!"

Sasuke tilted his head to the right, motioning for Naruto to follow him. They followed the cliff for a while, the rocky edge seemingly mocking them the further they ran. There was no way of knowing if it continued for hours of running, or if it would lower in height soon, there were too many trees in the way.

"I'll climb a tree and check" Sasuke said, not giving his teammate time to object.

While climbing, he noticed his chakra was running low, and once at the top he felt like groaning out loud. Not only did the cliff continue for a good while, there were dark clouds rapidly closing in on them, the forest swaying in the wind.

"Things aren't looking very good" he reported once he was down, running a hand through his still wet bangs as he thought hard. "I think our best shot is to climb closer to the waterfall, in case Kakashi and Sakura come looking for us it'll be easier for them to find us."

Naruto gnawed on his lips, squeezing some excess water out of a sleeve.

"I guess we don't have much choice, but I don't have a lot of chakra left."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"Why would you be low on chakra already?"

Naruto shrugged, glaring when Sasuke's eyebrow remained raised.

"How the hell would I know, I just am!"

Sighing, Sasuke started jogging back in the direction they came from. Climbing wasn't optimal, but staying down here when Kakashi and Sakura might need help? It wouldn't do any good, and Naruto knew that too. It would be a race against chakra and the weather, and even if they did reach the top, there was still the trouble of chakra and weather.

It seemed as if the storm had heard his pessimistic thoughts, because they hadn't gotten far up when the wind started howling around them and the first rain drops landed on their already soaked clothes. He could see Naruto shouting something, but couldn't hear anything. They hadn't even managed one third of the total height, and he turned his head to glare at the stormy clouds behind them.

When he felt Naruto tug at his arm he turned back, surprised when Naruto pointed above them and slightly to the side. Something that might be a cave could be seen, and Sasuke nodded at Naruto's silent question. It was slow going, but they managed to reach it before the storm hit them for real. It really was a cave, with a small stream trickling in the middle of the sand floor, and Sasuke guessed it must have been another waterfall at some point that ran through the cliff itself. He hoped the storm wouldn't put it back in business.

"Damn, we should have just stayed down there" Naruto muttered, walking further into the dark to escape the roaring wind.

Naruto wasn't happy about their predicament, not at all. Not only had Sasuke saved him a few times too many, he had absolutely no idea what had happened to Sakura-chan and Kakashi-sensei. Instead, he was stuck in the middle of a cliff with the bastard. If it was Sakura, he could have offered to heat her up with his body…

"What are you spacing out about?" Sasuke asked, and Naruto quickly tried to control the faint blush spreading across his cheeks.

"Nothing!" he said defensively, inspecting the area instead.

"I said, the cave seems to make a turn over there, so let's check it out."

Naruto squinted, wondering how Sasuke could see that far into the dark, especially now that the light from outside was decreasing due to the storm. He followed, highly aware of the fact that soon, he wouldn't be able to see at all.

"Umm, Sasuke?"

"What?"

Sasuke's irritated voice came from a few steps ahead of him, and in his hurry to reach him he almost tripped.

"What are you doing, moron. Watch your step."

"Heh, sorry" he mumbled, straightening up and letting go of what he'd caught himself on, namely Sasuke.

When Sasuke started walking again, Naruto swallowed and made sure to stay close enough to see make out his outline in the dark.

"Scared?" Sasuke teased, and Naruto had to clench his fists and cross his arms to stop himself from jumping the Uchiha.

"Can't you light a fire or something?"

"Sure" Sasuke drawled as he came to a stop, tracing the wall with his hand as it made a sharp turn. "What do you want me to burn, your clothes?"

Naruto growled, putting a hand against the rock as well to make sure he didn't get lost.

"No," he answered, "aren't there any sticks or anything here? You should be able to see them with your perfect night vision."

Sasuke didn't answer, instead the cave was lit up brightly for a second as he released a small flame from his mouth.

"Seems deserted, at least" Sasuke commented, "So no need to try and blend in with the rock."

Naruto let out a frustrated noise, not wanting to admit he'd actually thought for a second that Sasuke would take the opportunity and burn the clothes off his body.

"I just didn't want to get in the way" he muttered, sitting down on the soft sand when he heard Sasuke do the same.

"We might as well sleep" Sasuke said, and Naruto could hear the rustling of clothes.

"Uuh, Sasuke, are you taking off your clothes?"

"We'll dry faster without them. Especially you, with that ugly jumpsuit."

"Hey! It's not ugly! Orange is an awesome color!"

Sasuke snorted, moving around as he spread his clothes out to dry, going through his backpack as well to check the damage. When Naruto shivered and sneezed, he reluctantly did the same thing. It was still cold with only boxers, but at least wet fabric wasn't clinging to his skin. He tried to sleep, but didn't feel tired at all. He wondered about their teammates, and how long the storm was going to keep up. But most of all, he wondered about Sasuke.

"Hey, Sasuke, are you still awake?"

"Hn."

"Why were you late this morning?"

"…overslept. Now shut up and sleep."

"Eeh, but you never oversleep! Were you out partying last night?"

Sasuke's silence seemed to question his intelligence, but Naruto raised himself up on one arm as if he could see him better that way.

"And why were you so mean to Sakura this morning?" he accused, glaring in the approximate direction of the bastard. "You could at least have accepted the gift!"

"I'd already brought food."

"Urgh, you're so stuck-up! Would it kill you to act nice sometimes?!"

"Probably."

Naruto's eyes narrowed dangerously, but then he sighed.

"Yeah, ok, I get it. But you still don't need to ignore her completely. She totally likes you. Stupid bastard."

Sasuke didn't answer, and they were silent for a while again. Naruto still couldn't sleep, fidgeting and moving around, trying to find a comfortable position. It was difficult when his teeth almost chattered in the cold. He sent a few glances in Sasuke's direction, wondering if he was cold too or if his icy heart was just happy about it.

"Hey, Sasuke?" he started, hugging himself to ward off some cold, wiggling his toes to try and keep them warm. "Was it fun, to celebrate you birthday with your family? I mean, did you get presents and stuff? I never celebrated with mine, so I don't really know what you do on a birthday…"

Sasuke was quiet for so long that Naruto almost gave up, having settled on his side with his cheek on his arm.

"I'd get presents… Nothing much, I got kunais before starting the academy. And then we'd-"

Sasuke's voice caught, and Naruto bit his lip. Maybe he shouldn't have asked, but sometimes he was just dying to know more about the younger Sasuke, the Sasuke he hadn't really known.

"Iruka-sensei always treats me to Ichiraku's" he said, to break the depressing mood. "I can have the special! It's the only present I've ever gotten... Well, besides my forehead protector!"

"Ramen isn't much of a present" Sasuke mumbled, but it wasn't meant as an insult.

Naruto smiled, scratching his nose. When Sasuke dropped the cool act and talked to him like this were some of his favorite moments.

"One day, I'm gonna get a kiss from Sakura-chan!" he continued, Sasuke snorting at the bragging statement.

"Yeah, and one day you'll be hokage and everyone will worship you."

"It's gonna happen and you know it! But you're such a bastard and stole my first kiss!"

"Excuse me? Who face-planted in my face?! Because it sure wasn't me doing anything."

"I was pushed! And you were in the way!"

By now, Naruto had crawled closer to Sasuke, glaring down at him. At least what he thought was him.

"Nobody cares, I'm trying to sleep."

Naruto pursed his lips in annoyance, and stretched out a hand to check where Sasuke was.

"That's my stomach, you complete good-for-nothing" Sasuke complained, pushing at his hand.

But Naruto had gotten an idea. He was already putting up with a lot of crap when it came to Sasuke, and it just wasn't fair that the bastard also got the girl, especially when he wouldn't ever kiss Sakura even if she offered. One word: unfair.

"What the- what do you think you're doing?"

Naruto grabbed the hands that tried to shove him off, straddling Sasuke's stomach and pinning his hands above his head.

"Just giving you your birthday gift, on Sakura's behalf" he replied with as much innocence as he could muster, inwardly cackling with glee.

Oh, Sasuke would kill him, but he didn't care right now. Instead, he put one hand carelessly on top of Sasuke's face, groping around until he found his goal.

"You're not making any sense" Sasuke growled, and Naruto could feel the force of his glare even through the darkness.

He snickered in response, leaning in, a little hesitant because hey, he'd never kissed anyone before of his free will. Before he had time to second-guess his plan, he planted his mouth firmly against Sasuke's, surprised by how soft it felt. It was only a second before he separated their lips, staring down at Sasuke in slight wonder. Just to make sure they really were as soft as he'd first thought, he leaned down again, pressing a little harder this time.

When his back connected with cold sand he figured Sasuke had come to his senses and thrown him off. Neither said anything, and Naruto tried to rub away the tingling feeling lingering on his lips. Who knew kissing the bastard wouldn't make him want to puke. He cleared his throat, then squealed manly as a shuriken whistled past his shoulder, too close for comfort.

"What the hell?!" he shouted, wary of Sasuke sending any more weapons his way.

"Do it again and I won't miss" Sasuke hissed, and Naruto swallowed nervously at the murderous aura emanating from his teammate.

"Uh, sure, it was just a joke, come on…"

His chuckles died quickly, but then he stuck out his tongue at the bastard and went back to his makeshift bed. Whatever, if Sasuke couldn't take a joke then Naruto wouldn't bother thinking about it.

Still, as much as he tried to forget, the memory of Sasuke's body heat and soft lips lingered long into the night.

~xxx~

Sometimes, Naruto liked to think back to his younger days. In his mind, things tended to sound more adventurous than they were in reality, and whenever he told the children in the village about his escapades they got even more exaggerated. But there were stories he kept to himself, and the story of that night in the cave was one of those.

Well, almost to himself.

"Hey, Sasuke?" He nudged the man sleeping next to him, harder when he didn't immediately wake up. "Sasukeeeee-"

"What" came the testy reply, and a hand swatting away the tan one poking his bare arm.

"Do you remember when you said that one day I'd be hokage and everyone would worship me?"

"Get lost" Sasuke muttered, curling into the covers again.

"But Sasuke, don't you worship me? You said everyone would do it! Right before we kissed, even!"

An eye peeked over a pale shoulder, heavy doubt expressed by a slightly raised eyebrow.

"Did you dream something stupid again?"

"No!" Naruto pouted, smacking Sasuke's arm. "Don't you remember? When we were stuck in that cave by the waterfall, the whole night, and then Sakura cried when we found her and Kakashi again? But you were a bastard the whole time."

"Oh, I remember, I remember a certain someone ruining my birthday."

Naruto grinned wide, sneaking an arm over Sasuke's side.

"You enjoyed it."

When Sasuke gave him a loathing look and turned over onto his stomach, intent on ignoring him, Naruto grinned wider.

"Admit it, you fell in love with me right then and there!"

"I'll throw a kunai down your throat if you don't shut up now."

"Bastard!"

Crawling on top of the grumpy Uchiha, Naruto wormed his way underneath his arms, forcing Sasuke to hug him.

"You love me and you know it" he argued, moving a few strands of dark hair to the side so he could see Sasuke's face.

"I tolerate you, but it's getting harder to understand why."

"I hate you" Naruto complained, pressing his nose into Sasuke's cheek.

"That's not what you said last night."

"If you're smirking now I'll fucking punch you" Naruto growled, kicking Sasuke's feet.

"If I let you do that, can I sleep again?"

Naruto kicked him again, causing Sasuke to sigh.

"If you could wake up this early on weekdays…" he muttered to himself, turning around a little, facing Naruto. "What the hell do you want?"

"Tell me you love me" Naruto whined, stretching the sound out when Sasuke's eye twitched.

"Oh, I love you, so much, obviously, now go the fuck to sleep."

Blue eyes widened in scandalized hurt at Sasuke's unenthusiastic love confession, but as Naruto opened his mouth to call him out on his bullshit, Sasuke grabbed the back of his head and kissed him. He kept it up until the blond relaxed again, soft lips moving slowly, caressing his neck until quiet, pleasured noises appeared.

When he let go, Naruto's mouth formed a huge, victorious grin, and Sasuke rolled his eyes before closing them.

"Sleep. You're annoying me."

Naruto made himself comfortable on top of his body, nuzzling into his neck. Sasuke was pretty sure he wouldn't be allowed to live down the sappy moment, but honestly he was too tired to care. Before he fell asleep though, Naruto's reminder triggered the memory of a certain stormy night. Maybe he should have just connected Naruto's obsession with him to that kiss, and things would have made a lot more sense sooner.

Though, to him, that kiss had just convinced him even more that Naruto had a few screws loose. He probably shouldn't tell him, though. He might get kicked out of the house again.

Hehe, yep, I just had to add that little future bit... I just need them to be together so much:( Let's hope they at least survive this stupid war. Anyway with the time skip, just think of the whole manga happening in between and then pretend Kishi turned it into a nice yaoi ending with them together...

Please tell me what you think, if I should write more ninja stuff... :3