"Hey Naruto! Slow down! We'll be at the village soon enough."

Naruto Uzumaki glanced behind him at his 2 teammates hopping from tree to tree. The 3 ninjas were heading home to Konoha Village after a mission of taking a priest home to his small village. It was an easy mission, and the hyper-active Naruto was eager to get home to receive a new one.

"Sakura's right, you know," his teacher Kakashi said. "Even if we get home in the next 30 seconds, the Hokage's not going to give us another mission so soon after this one."

"Yeah, so cool your jets already! This is just ridiculous," said the third ninja. The pink-haired Sakura glared at Naruto. "What, you have a date or something?" she added sarcastically.

"Alright already! I'll slow down! Sheesh."

Naruto rolled his blue eyes as he came to a stop on a tree branch. The 16-year-old boy ran his hand through his short blond hair while waiting for his teammates to catch up. His tanned skin turned bronze in the evening sunlight, highlighting the 3 whisker-like markings he had on each cheek.

"I'm sorry," he told them. "I know we won't get another for awhile, but that mission was just plain boring. We're old enough for B-ranked missions, so why aren't we getting any?"

"Because we don't always get what we want," Kakashi said sternly. He frowned through the mask that covered up the lower half of his face. Naruto didn't know why he wore it, and often wondered what the jonin's face really looked like. "You need to learn a little patience."

Naruto nodded, and the 3 of them were about to leave, when they suddenly heard a loud metallic snapping sound, followed by a high-pitched screech.

"What on earth was that?" Sakura cried.

"It sounded like an animal that just got caught in a trap," Kakashi said calmly. "It's nothing, let's go."

"Nothing? How can you say that?" Naruto said, shocked. "If an animal's been caught in a trap, shouldn't we help it? It sounds hurt."

"It's none of our business Naruto," Kakashi said. "It's just a wild animal, not someone's pet. Most likely, it's a rabid possum."

"Well, I don't care! I'm gonna go find it and help it," Naruto declared.

He jumped down from the branch, and headed toward where the sound had came from. Quickly reaching the source of the noise, he stopped, staring. A small cat with jet-black fur had its left back leg stuck in a bear trap. There was fresh blood on the steel jaws, and the cat was vainly fighting to get free. Naruto approached carefully, not wanting to get all scratched up. As he got closer, the cat's head whipped around, its black eyes glaring at the blond. Its ears flattened against its skull, and the cat let out a wicked hiss.

"Hey there little guy," Naruto said soothingly. "It's ok, I'm not gonna hurt you. Why don't you let me get you out of that thing, huh? You'll feel much better without those teeth in your leg."

He reached forward slowly and gently began to remove the trap, the cat watching him through narrow eyes. Naruto finally got the thing off and tossed it away. He picked up the cat and held it, lightly scratching it behind the ears to calm it.

"Are you done?" Kakashi asked dryly. He and Sakura had followed Naruto, watching.

"Yeah, I'm done."

"Here, let me treat his wound," Sakura said, coming forward. "It'll get infected otherwise. Then he might lose his entire leg. Hold him still."

Taking out a first aid kit from her pouch, Sakura sprayed some antiseptic on the gash the bear trap had made, which the cat did not like at all. Her hands got pretty scratched up while bandaging the cat's leg.

"Thanks Sakura," Naruto said cheerfully. "You're the best, you know that?"

"Well, if everyone's finished, we need to get back to the village to make our report," Kakashi said, annoyed that his students were ignoring him.

The 2 gennins nodded, and they set off again, Naruto holding a black bundle of fur tightly. They soon reached the village, and Kakashi left for the Hokage's tower to make his report.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow then Naruto," Sakura said. "Make sure you change the cat's bandages tonight."

Naruto nodded, then headed for home, holding the struggling cat firmly. By the time he reached his small apartment, it had settled down and even started to purr slightly. He set it on the kitchen counter and filled a bowl with milk. Naruto couldn't help grinning as the cat began lapping it up eagerly.

"Wow, you sure are hungry huh?" he said with a chuckle. "Well, you don't have to worry about that anymore. I'll take good care of you, I promise."

After cooking and eating his own dinner, Naruto changed the bandages on the cat's leg, then got ready for bed. He smiled as the cat jumped onto the bed and snuggled next to him, purring loudly.

"Good night boy. Tomorrow I'll think of a name for you. I wonder what you'd like?" With various names running through his head, he slowly fell asleep.

It was the middle of the night when Naruto suddenly became aware of something warm pressing against his back. Something much larger than a cat. He jerked straight up, looking to the side the of the bed. He couldn't believe what he saw.

Laying atop the covers, snuggling against Naruto's thigh, was a naked boy. He had pale skin and black hair that stuck up in the back. He was very beautiful. So beautiful that Naruto could hardly remember to breathe.

"A guy? What's a naked guy doing in my bed? How'd he get in here? Who is he?"
Naruto couldn't focus, his thoughts racing out of control. His mind was whirling so much that he didn't notice when the other boy's eyes open and he sat up. Naruto froze as their eyes met. The boy had ink-black eyes that held Naruto's gaze. He was practicly mesmerized by them.

The 2 stared at each other for a few minutes. Then without warning, the dark haired boy lead forward and licked the blonds lips. Naruto jerked backwards, eyes widening in surprise. He couldn't comprehend what had just happened. He had woken up to find a naked boy lying on the bad with him, and now said boy had just licked him on the lips. On the lips!

With a start, Naruto realized that the other boy, instead of having human ears on the sides of his head, had a pair of large black cats ears poking out of his hair. He also had a long cat tail covered in soft black fur.

"He has cat ears. How can he have cat ears? Am I dreaming? Or is he some kind of cat-boy? He licked me, I must be dreaming."

"Sasuke," the raven haired boy suddenly stated.

"W-what? Did you just speak?" Naruto's confusion increased 10-fold.

The raven leaned forward and licked Naruto's lips once again.

"My name is Sasuke," he said softly, his lips brushing gently against Naruto's. "Thank you for getting me out of that bear trap."

This proved to be too much for the blond and he passed out. When he awoke, the raven haired boy was nowhere to be seen. In his place was the small black cat, fast asleep.

"What was that? Was it just a dream?" Naruto wondered aloud. "There wasn't really a cat-boy in my bed, was there? It's impossible."

The blond raised his hand to his lips as he thought about what happened. Just thinking about the lick made them tingle. Naruto would never admit it to anyone, but he had always preferred boys over girls. He had a hard time admitting it to himself. All the girls in the village had laughed at him his entire life. The boys had mainly ignored him completely if they didn't like him. Naruto thought about the cat-boy and his heart began to pound.

"He was so beautiful. I've never seen anyone who looks that good. It must have been a dream. No one can look like that and be real. He said his name was Sasuke."

As soon as he said the word Sasuke, the cat snapped awake. It looked straight at Naruto with a sleepy expression, then yawned and stretched out before looking at the blond expectantly.

"Well that's weird," Naruto said. "Why would the cat respond to that? It was just a dream, right? Must be a coincidence, he couldn't be that Sasuke guy."

"Meow." The cat jumped onto Naruto's lap, rubbing its cheek against his chest.

"Okay... It's responding to the name Sasuke." -meow- "I guess I know what to call him now."

Dismissing last night from his mind, the blond got up and ready for training. Half an hour later, he was clean, dressed, and finishing up a bowl of his favorite food, ramen. Pocketing his kunais, he scooped up the cat and was heading to the bridge where he would meet his teammates.

Reaching the bridge, Naruto smiled as he saw his pink haired teammate Sakura. The 2 were good friends, even though Sakura had an annoying habit of hitting Naruto on the head. Their sensei Kakashi was, as usual, nowhere to be seen. The silver haired teacher was always late, and came up the excuses that became more ridiculous each day. Most gennin teams were made of 3 students and jonin to teach them, but the year Naruto and Sakura had graduated from the ninja academy, there hadn't been enough kids, leaving their team 1 member short.

"Hi Sakura-chan!" Naruto said happily. "Kakashi's late again huh?"

"Hey Naruto," Sakura greeted. "Yeah, he's late, and he's gonna get it when he does get here! This is getting really old. I mean, he tells us to get here early, then keeps us waiting until noon! Why doesn't he just get a watch?!"

Naruto chuckled as he watched the girl fume, bending over to set the cat on the ground. It strolled over to Sakura and sniffed at her shoes, distracting her from her tirade of their perpetually late teacher.

"I see you brought the cat with you," she said. Is his leg alright?"

"Yeah, I think so. He doesn't seem to have any trouble walking."

"Have you thought of a name for him. You can't just keep calling it 'cat' you know."

"His name is Sasuke. Oh, speaking of that, I had a really strange dream last night. I-"

Naruto was interrupted by a big poof of smoke appearing from nowhere, clearing away to reveal a finally arriving Kakashi. His 1 visible eye was curved up to show he was grinning, his mouth and nose hidden by a cloth mask, and his left eye covered by his leaf headband.

"Hi guys. Sorry I'm late," he said, not sounding sorry at all. "You see, there was this-"

"Liar!" Naruto and Sakura yelled at the same time.

"Don't even bother sensei," Sakura told him. "You've already wasted enough time. We don't need to hear your lame excuses."

"Very well then. Let's begin," Kakashi said cheerfully. "The Hokage's got a mission for us, and needs to see us right away."

Nodding, they left to head for the Hokage's tower, Naruto pausing only to scoop Sasuke into his arms.

"I have a very important mission for you 3. So make sure you pay attention."

The 5th Hokage of Konoha Village, Lady Tsunade, looked sternly at the ninja's in front of her to insure she was understood. Though Tsunade was 50 years old, she used jutsus to hide her age. One would think that she was barely 30, just from looking at her. The Hokage was a famous medical ninja with amazing strength, but she had a wicked temper and a compulsive gambling habit, with a never-ending losing streak to boot.

"The Village Hidden in the River has just lost some very important artifacts. A scroll depicting many powerful Forbidden jutsus, and a ruby with a nearly invincible demon sealed inside. They were stolen by a group of rogue ninja who wish to free the demon & control it. The scroll describes how to do this. These items must be retrieved at all costs."

"Ok, I'm with you so far," Sakura said slowly. "But why did you pick us for this mission? It sounds like a task for jonin team, not a genin team who are short a member."

"Neither the Leaf Village nor the River Village have any jonin to spare," Tsunade explained. "The River Village has just ended a war with their enemies, the Village Hidden in the Sky. And we are still short-handed from the battle with the Sound Village. Besides, the rogues will be expecting jonins and chunin. They will most likely underestimate you kids, and let down their guard. I'm sending Shikamaru along with you. His intelligence and Shadow Paralysis jutsu will be very useful. You leave first thing tomorrow morning. You're dismissed."

Nodding, Kakashi left in a poof of smoke while Naruto and Sakura walked to the Ramen bar. Ordering a bowl each, the 2 began to discuss the new mission.

"Man, this new assignment sounds really dangerous. What was the Hokage thinking?" Sakura griped. "The ninjas who stole those artifacts are gonna be chunin level at the very least! Most likely they're jonin! How can we beat jonins?"

"I'm sure we'll be fine Sakura. Grandma Tsunade wouldn't send us on a suicide mission," Naruto said reassuringly. "Kakashi will be there, and he's a jonin. Plus we'll have Shikamaru. He may be lazy, but he can work hard when he has to. Plus you know how smart he is. We'll get through this easy."

"You're right Naruto," Sakura said. "Getting nervous and worried will just make it harder to concentrate. I'll take a long soak at the hot springs to relax before tomorrow."

Naruto grinned, and waved goodbye as Sakura paid for her ramen and left. Ordering another bowl, he glanced down at Sasuke, who lay curled up in his lap. He began to stroke the cat's fur, smiling softly as Sasuke purred contentedly.

"I guess I'll have to leave you with Iruka," he said sadly. "There's no way I can bring you with me. It's just too dangerous. It would be irresponsible of me to take you into a battle. You're not a trained ninja animal like Akamaru is. You'd be killed in no time."

Sighing, Naruto finished his ramen, all 5 bowls, and headed for Iruka's house. Iruka had been the first person to ever treat Naruto with respect, and he had quickly become like a father or big brother to him. Reaching his destination, Naruto knocked on the door, smiling broadly when Iruka answered.

"Naruto. Come on in. What's up?"

"Nothing much, sensei. I just have a small favor to ask."

"Sure thing. What is it?" Iruka asked. The brown hair chunin with a scar across his nose was young, but Naruto knew he could always count on him.

"I've been given a new mission, and I need you to watch my cat for me while I'm gone."

"A cat? When did you get a pet?" Iruka asked, surprised.

"I found him yesterday," Naruto said as he held the cat up for Iruka to see. "His name is Sasuke. I want to take him with me, but it's too dangerous."

"I understand Naruto. I'll be happy to take care of him. You just be careful on your mission. I know how fond you are of taking risks," Iruka said with a chuckle.

"I'll be fine sensei," Naruto said as he handed the cat to Iruka. "I'm gonna be Hokage someday, remember? Bye, Sasuke. You behave yourself. Later Iruka-sensei!"

"Well," Iruka began as the energetic blond left to go pack. "He's certainly grown attached to you little guy."

"Meow."

Naruto went home after dropping off the cat at Iruka's house. He began to pack for his new mission, adding a ton of instant ramen cups. After a while, he stopped to eat dinner (a few bowls of ramen of course), showered, and went to bed. Naruto fell asleep quickly, not noticing a small black shape slip in through the window. A shimmer ran down its back, and suddenly, where a cat had been a moment ago, stood a pale, raven haired young man with cat ears and a tail.

The young man walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge of the mattress. He gazed at Naruto silently, onyx eyes taking in every detail. He reached out and gently stroked the blond locks. Naruto sighed in his sleep, turning his head into the caress.

The raven paused for a moment, then leaned over the sleeping blond. He sighed as his lips met Naruto's, kissing him softly. He slipped his tongue into the other's mouth, exploring every inch and soaking up the taste of the boy. Pulling back for air, the raven lowered himself onto Naruto's form, pressing himself against the blond. He moaned as his groin brushed against the other's, both getting very aroused.

Suddenly Naruto groaned, as his eyes began to flutter. The raven quickly jumped up, and slipped into another room. Naruto's eyes opened fully, and he pushed himself into a sitting position. He scanned the room, wondering why he was flushed and panting. After a while, not seeing anything, he shrugged and went back to sleep. His dreams were filled with a raven haired boy with cat ears.

That morning, Naruto woke up early to finish packing for the mission. He packed 2 extra pairs of clothes, all his kunai, and added more ramen. When he went into the kitchen for some more food, a bundle of black fur sneaked out of the closet and into the bag. The cat's tail twitched as it buried itself under an orange jacket.

Naruto finally finished getting ready and headed to the village gates, carrying his pack with his ramen, clothes, and a stowaway. He soon got to the gates, and saw that Sakura, Kakashi, and Shikamaru were already there.

"Hi everyone," he greeted. "You're actually here before me sensei? Now I've seen everything."

"Very funny Naruto," Kakashi said. "I do know how to be time once in a while."
"Can we get going already? What a drag."

This comment came from Shikamaru. His brown hair was pulled back into a spiky ponytail. He was 1 of the laziest people a guy could meet, spending most of his time cloud gazing. But while he complained a lot, he was a certified genius, and his Shadow Paralysis jutsu was capable of freezing any opponent.

"Ok, we're ready," Kakashi said. "Let's head out. We should be at the River Village by tomorrow afternoon. Just keep on your guard."

The 3 gennin nodded in understanding, and the team headed off, quickly leaving Kohona Village behind them.

This fic was inspired by the comic "Keeping Him" by Irukasdove. Here's a link: http://irukasdove.