Changing Dates

The rain came down hard. Barely anyone was in the streets and those who were ran for cover, even the ones with umbrellas. It was nearing winter and the night was cold. One man was slowly trudging along while being soaked to the bone. His hands were shoved in pockets and his breath became white puffs of air as he walked on. No hurrying along or showing any care at all, anyone who saw him must have thought he was crazy. It was certainly so for a blond haired man who spotted him while running home.

Across the street and running in the opposite direction, the blond was drawn to the lone figure slowly moving forward. After the initial shock, he became concerned for his well being. It wasn't healthy to be out in this weather without an umbrella for all the good it would do. He could get hypothermia at this rate. Staring at the dark fellow for a while he suddenly realized he knew the guy. The blond stopped in his tracks in horror, hardly being able to believe it. Then growling in frustration at his friend's lack of concern for his well being, he ran across the street to him.

"Sasuke! Oi, Sasuke!" He called.

"Hn?" Sasuke turned to him.

"What are you doing out here?" He called over the pounding of the rain. "Are you trying to kill yourself?!"

"...You're one to talk."

"I was running home but you're casually walking to who knows where in this weather."

"I'm going home too."

"...You live on the other side of town! You reeeally are trying to kill yourself, aren't you? Never mind, you're coming home with me and that's that!"

"Naruto..."

"Aaaah! I won't hear any excuses! Come on!"

Naruto took Sasuke's hand and forcefully dragged him along. Breaking into another sprint, Sasuke was forced to keep up by the hand firmly attached to his own. As they ran through the streets, the raven couldn't help but wonder how Naruto had such a firm grip when both their hands were slippery from the rain. Sasuke felt it would be just like him to be able to do something so illogical.

When they arrived at Naruto's apartment, it was not at all surprising that the blond immediately started fussing over the less talkative one. Sasuke tried to argue that he wasn't any worse for ware than the blond but without any luck. Naruto didn't care one bit and shoved him over to the washroom, ordering him to take a shower. Knowing how the guy could be, Sasuke could do nothing but give in.

Naruto ran around a bit grabbing clothes his idiot friend could wear, a blanket, and prepared tea. Personally he preferred hot chocolate but he knew Sasuke wouldn't go for that so tea it was. After finishing the shower in slightly oversized pajamas and discovering a still soaking blond in the kitchen he felt somewhat exasperated. He kicked the idiot out so that he would take his turn but not before Naruto managed to get a blanket wrapped around him.

Sasuke rolled his eyes as the blond ran off. Not long after he heard the water running. He moved into the small living room and settled onto the couch. Some minutes later Naruto walked over in another set of pajamas while towel drying his hair. He grinned at his friend as he sat down. Then he snatched the blanket for Sasuke and wrapped it around the both of them. The raven gave him a look which lead to Naruto defending his actions by saying this was the only warm blanket he had.

Deciding to let him have his way, he couldn't bring himself to care much since the blond was always so warm. Sasuke even ended up subconsciously shuffling closer to him. Naruto was too oblivious to notice. He threw the towel on the floor and cuddled with his friend.

"Naruto, what are you doing?" Sasuke asked.

"Getting warm." Naruto said.

"…"

"Hey, you can't say it isn't warming you up too!"

"There are other ways to get warm."

"Yeah, well... This one's the comfiest!"

Given that reasoning, Sasuke didn't know what to say. It was Naruto so he should have seen it coming but he didn't. It wasn't that Sasuke saw it as a valid reason, it was just unexpected. The raven sighed in exasperation at Naruto's excuses. He tried arguing with the blond but it didn't get him anywhere. Naruto wouldn't listen to reason.

By the end of it, he somehow ended up on his back with Naruto lying on top of him. They were still on the couch and Sasuke stared at the ceiling in disbelief. He didn't understand how refusing to cuddle with the blond turned out like this. Then Naruto reached over and grabbed the remote. He turned the TV on and flicked through channels.

A couple minutes passed in silence as Naruto continued to click the same button on his remote again and again. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, the blond spoke.

"So... You were there right?" Naruto asked quietly, not once looking away from the screen.

The reaction was immediate. Sasuke tensed up and stopped breathing. His eyes snapped to the tanned man and he stared for a moment. Then he let out a breath.

"Of course, today is..." Sasuke didn't finish.

"...The anniversary of their death. I know." Naruto said softly. "Sorry. I probably shouldn't have mentioned it."

"Then why did you?" Sasuke asked.

"Because I worry about you." Naruto shrugged.

Naruto set down the remote but Sasuke knew he wasn't paying any attention to what was on.

"Drenched in the rain and walking as if it didn't matter if anything happened to you..." Naruto sighed. "You were depressed. It's not hard to see why. I hate it when you get like that. So I guess I brought it up because... I dunno, I wanted to be able to do something."

"I can't be happy when I go to my parents' graves." Sasuke whispered.

"I know. I know that but..." Naruto fisted his shirt. "I want to be able to make it easier for you. I want to be there for you."

The blond's heartfelt words embarrassed Sasuke and he didn't know how to reply. He looked away while muttering flusteredly. He wasn't even sure what he was asking when he said "what are you saying". Sasuke just knew that it came out of his mouth before he even realized it. To make matters worse, in Sasuke's opinion anyway, Naruto looked up at him.

The expression on the raven's face was so out of place to the whiskered man. Onyx eyes were scrunched together and flittered about before meeting the cerulean ones. The embarrassment, confusion, and uncertainty in them wasn't what Naruto expected. He stared at his vulnerable friend in surprise and then his eyes softened and he finally unclenched his shirt.

That had Sasuke swallowing thickly since he didn't know what it meant or what to expect. Naruto carefully leaned in and the raven's eyes widened. However, he didn't move or push his friend away. The whiskered man took that as encouragement and lightly pressed their lips together. He closed his eyes and slipped a hand into his hair, trying to project all his sincerity into the kiss.

It wasn't necessary because Sasuke trusted him without question but it was appreciated. He finally relaxed and hugged the blond as he closed his eyes and kissed back. Naruto pressed their foreheads together after pulling away and grinned at him. He cupped Sasuke's face and kissed him again, a little harder this time. When the blond pulled away, he rested his arms on the couch and stared down at the raven. They silently gazed at each other until Sasuke gave one of his amused smirks.

"You have terrible timing, Idiot." Sasuke said fondly.

"Huh?" Naruto was utterly confused.

"You start our relationship on today of all days." Sasuke smirked.

"Oh! U-Um..." Naruto muttered a bit upset.

"Come on, I'm not being serious." Sasuke ruffled his hair.

"Mmn, but..." Naruto bit his lip. "Oh, I know! We can celebrate our anniversary another day! Then today can still be for your parents."

Sasuke was a little surprised hearing that. Naruto being considerate wasn't anything new but he hadn't even thought of that. His head wasn't that far in the future. The knowledge that this guy's head was made him flustered and happy. Without much thought he grabbed the blond's neck and kissed the surprised mushball.

"I guess that means you like the idea." Naruto laughed. "Oooh! We should have it earlier so I don't have to wait as long for the one month anniversary."

"Idiot..." Sasuke said affectionately.

"Oh, or... We could do it later." Naruto said looking at him meaningfully. "Then you'll have something to look forward to after seeing your parents!"

"...Idiot." Sasuke said weakly.

Naruto smiled at him and rolled on his side so he could hug the raven. Sasuke rolled over and curled into the blond, making his smile widen. The onyx eyed man felt his heart pounding erratically. Sasuke was really touched that Naruto wanted to do that for him. It was so like him but that didn't change how much it warmed his heart that the blond thought of him.

They decided that they would become official tomorrow. Naruto got really excited at the idea of it and wanted to tell his friends at the first opportunity. For the raven this was exactly what he expected and although he had no desire to do it tomorrow he couldn't bring himself to complain.

"...It wasn't a coincidence that I ran into you was it?" Sasuke asked.

"E-Eh?" Naruto said.

"When you saw how bad the raining got," Sasuke said, "you were worried about me getting sick from staying there. You were checking up on me, right?"

"Ah, well... Yeah." Naruto admitted.

Sasuke murmured something too quietly to be made out.

"What?" Naruto asked.

"I'm glad... That you came looking..." Sasuke muttered embarrassedly.

"...Eheheh, so am I!" Naruto grinned.

Sasuke didn't say anything else but his ears turned red with embarrassment. He muttered something about going to sleep. It was late and reasonable but it was obviously just an excuse to escape the current topic. Naruto didn't argue with the raven and obediently got up. He took his boyfriend's hand and the blanket and brought them to his room. Once they were in bed, the blond immediately cuddled up to him again and that's how they stayed till morning.