Minna-san!

Phew, one more chapter until my stress gets kinked out. Happy early holidays!! :3

The fluffiness is short-lived after this, believe me. Plot is gonna come down hard and fast on you bitches!! :O

Jk. But that means I can get to a lemon a bit faster...::shifty eyes::

Ah, lemons. Yes, there will be some. XD

(Disclaimer)

-

.Theme. (Flathead)

"Sasuke…mnnn…"

Onyx eyes flew open, and fluttered closed in a groan, an arm coming up to drop over them. This was the latest in the set of rather abstract, yet still steamy, dreams that the man had been visited by. And there was the undeniable fact that they seemed to be revolving around a certain teen with blond hair, who was currently sprawled acrost the bed and Sasuke alike, snoring peacefully.

Suddenly very annoyed, he shoved the whiskered boy off of him, and wearily made his way to the bathroom, yawning. Naruto, relatively undisturbed, rolled off the bed and onto the floor, waking with a snort.

Splashing cold water over his face, Sasuke reflected over the fact that echoed in his head that dreams were a reflection of experiences and subconscious desires. He made a face.

'I mean sure, the kid is cute and all, but…' He sighed, going to rub his face off with a towel.

"Sasukeeeee!!" He looked up from his towel. That voice… 'No.'

"I admire your choice," the voice came from the living room, "Do you have to pay extra to get him to act this innocent and adorable?" Sasuke had slammed off the water, and bolted into the living room.

"Is he a good lay?" Kakashi questioned, eye curved in an assumed wide smile, past a puzzled looking Naruto with ramen in his hand.

"Lay…?" Naruto tilted his head.

A vein in Sasuke's forehead popped.

-O-O-O-

"You know I was just kidding, Sasuke," Kakashi said apologetically, adjusting the ice pack on his chin that Naruto had given him. "You already told me you took in a brat."

Sasuke simply sat at the kitchen table with his arms crossed. "Sorry," he said icily, "Not all of us are perverts, you know."

"Not all of us have sticks in our asses, either, but you don't hear me complaining about that." Kakashi gave what could only be interpreted as a clever smirk that made Sasuke want to jump across the table and give him a nice bruise on the other side of his face to match.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Naruto asked Kakashi worriedly.

"You are just too cute," Kakashi's smirk faded into bright smile for the blond, which made Sasuke simmer. "Yes, I'm fine. You should check on Sasuke, though, I think he might need a tree trunk pulled from his—Ow!!" Sasuke smirked contently as Kakashi rubbed his shin.

"You're not going to get anywhere by just beating up on me all the time, Sasuke," Kakashi half-whined. Sasuke snorted and turned his nose as a response.

"Sasuke, I'm going to go get dressed."

"Alright."

"That boy…he looks exactly like Minato," Kakashi said, with a twinge of sadness in his voice, staring at the doorframe after the boy had left. "It's so strange."

"Minato…wasn't that the man who—"

"—Started the Orchestra. Yes. That Minato. But, he never had any children. Heh," Kakashi chuckled shortly. "Kushina wasn't the motherly type, anyway."

Sasuke stared at the floor, asking through the uncomfortable daze, "Speaking of, we have Rehearsals starting again soon, right?"

"Yup," Kakashi smiled, out of his wistful tone. "Holidays are coming up soon. What're you going to do about little Blondie here?"

Sasuke gave him a look. "I go to work five days a week, Kakashi. Naruto can take care of himself."

"Awwww…" Kakashi tsked, shaking his head. "I don't know what that he sees in a preoccupied, work-ruled grump like you."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

Kakashi shrugged innocently, and Sasuke swore he was smiling.

"You—"

"Sasuke hasn't eaten yet. Does Sasuke want anything for breakfast?" Naruto announced his presence.

Kakashi made a strangled snorting noise, and Sasuke glared at him. "Eggs," he replied, not taking his eyes away from the man, "would be nice."

"Well, I must be going," Kakashi wiped at the corner of his eye, "Business to attend to, old ladies to help across the street, all that jazz."

"Leaving so soon?" Sasuke questioned, narrowing his eyes. Naruto nodded, looking slightly distressed.

"Well, I was looking forward to a visit to my favorite godson and his…friend," Sasuke growled, and Kakashi sighed, "but it seems all he wants to do is say hurtful things," here he sniffed in dejection, "and beat up on me. Oh, woe."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, and Naruto gave a sympathetic look, rushing over to give the man a hug. Seeing a smirk over Naruto's shoulder, Sasuke growled again.

"It was nice to meet you," Naruto pulled away.

"You as well, Naruto. You seem like a kind, intelligent young man," he ruffled Naruto's hair affectionately, and made his way to the entryway. Sasuke snorted. 'Intelligent my ass.'

"Moreso than Sasuke, the oblivious little twit—" the door slammed just in time for a fork to lodge in it a half second later.

-O-O-O-

"Sasuke, who was that?" Naruto had asked him, hanging upside down from the sofa.

"My godfather, Kakashi," Sasuke grumbled, not wanting to recall the day's earlier events, eyes not breaking contact with the weather.

"What's a godfather?"

"It means…Basically, he was a friend of my family."

"…Oh, Sasuke's…family."

"…Yeah."

Naruto pulled back up, sitting still through a deep silence on both ends.

"…"

"Naruto's head hurts."

-O-O-O-

Stress was once again invading Sasuke's life. With the holidays approaching fast, and Naruto growing less inconspicuous by the day, Sasuke was not getting any relief from any end.

Plus, there was an uneasy feeling that kept bugging him at work. He became aware of a new sensation, like he was being observed from a distance.

The approach of the holidays was causing a natural restless, busy, and stressed atmosphere, and stressful atmosphere affected Sasuke in the worst way. But Sasuke couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched.

'I only hope I haven't been taking this out on Naruto in any way…'

He looked around, noticing the snow starting to fall. A quiet murmur started amongst the other pedestrians that were out, catching a flake or two and continuing on their way.

Sasuke paused, closing his eyes and breathing deeply. The smell was crisp and steely and clean, and his anxiety lightened, expelled through his breath into the snow-dotted, wintry air.

He checked his watch. '11.36. God damn it, I keep running later and later.'

He stuffed his freezing hands into his pockets and hastened his pace homeward.

'Naruto will probably already be asleep by now…'

-O-O-O-

Sasuke fiddled with the doorknob, already ready for a full night's sleep. He narrowed his eyes the slightest bit as he found the right key, pressing his ear to the door for a bit before slowly opening the door.

He pushed it closed slowly and quietly, working his shoes off, carefully. He could barely see past his hands, and paused in the middle of hanging up his jacket and scarf.

But there was definitely something playing. The melody sounded familiar, but it was too faint and far off to tell. Quietly as he could, he inched his way past the entryway closet and down the hall.

There was light coming from the slightly opened kitchen door. 'Why is he up at a time like this?'

As he approached the door, the melody grew slightly louder. '…Did…Did he stay up just to see me home?'

Sasuke moved his head just so he could see in the little space the door made.

He took a sharp intake of breath.

My heart wants to beat like the wings of the bird that flies
From the lake to the trees,

Legs swinging gently from the chair, Naruto turned his head on his folded arms that were rested on the table, looking at the floor through a slight daze. The singing of the Family Von Trapp came slightly crackled and muffled from the speakers of the old radio on the counter.

My heart wants to sigh like a chime that flies
From a church on a breeze,

Sasuke didn't even know he had the Sound Of Music soundtrack, much less that Naruto knew where he kept his albums. 'How long have you been waiting for me?'

Naruto had rested his head on his arms, legs dangling still. Sasuke gently pushed the door open wider, and took a few quiet steps inside.

The boy's frame moved steadily, breathing deeply. Sasuke gazed at the form with sad, smiling eyes. 'You've got to be tired, kid.'

He approached the boy slowly, so as not to wake him up. He could see a closed eye between the tangle of blond hair and the sleeve of his sweatshirt, and Naruto buried his face deeper into his arm.

To sing through the night
Like a lark who is learning to pray

Sasuke gathered the boy in his arms, gently as he could. Naruto began to stir, but Sasuke shushed him and kissed him tenderly on the forehead.

He stopped to cut off the antique radio, and slowly exited the kitchen, turning off the light.

In the pitch-black hallway, he walked slowly to the bedroom and inhaled the scent on Naruto's hair, close to his shoulder, smiling.

Sasuke gently laid the boy down on the bed, kissing him slowly on both cheeks, enjoying the smoothness beneath his lips.

My heart will be blessed with the Sound Of Music

He gently pulled the covers from under the boy, and laid them overtop, smiling and raising an eyebrow when the blond snuggled in.

Stalling, lips parting and closing again in indiciciveness, he leaned down a bit, stopped, and leaned further in.

And I'll sing once more…

-O-O-O-

It was a strange looking-thing. One end was skinny and the other end was big and bumpy on both sides. It was made out of a tough black cloth and had all sorts of straps on different sides, and Naruto had no idea what it was.

He had found it in the dark recesses of Sasuke's closet, cleaning while Sasuke was at work, and dragged it out into the middle of the floor to investigate. It wasn't that heavy.

Studying it all over, he discovered some of those zipper things, two on either side of the object. Slowly, carefully, he unzipped the black thing, and peeled back the top of it.

"Ooooh…" Naruto's eyes widened.

Inside was a shiny wooden thing. The thin part was a black stick-looking thing coming out of the top, with strings going down, and a scrolly-thing with knobs at the top. The bumpy bottom part had little cuts in it, and a nub at the very bottom of the thing. Gently lifting it up out of the bag-thing, Naruto found it was pretty light for its rather large size.

It was very pretty, and Naruto wondered what Sasuke did with a thing like this.

He noticed a long, thin, pocket on the black bag, and opened the flap. He pulled out a weird stick-looking thing, and turned it over in his hands, tilting his head confusedly.

His head suddenly perked up. "Tadaima…" came a call from the front door. Panicking, Naruto tried to, as quickly and gently as he could, stuff the wooden thing in the bag.

"Naruto…?" Naruto struggled with the skinny black part; the scrolly thing was catching on the bag's edge. Sasuke's voice was closer now.

"O-Okairi…" he called softly, panicking, and still trying to get the scrolly thing in, and…

Sasuke was in the doorway, Naruto balked, looking up at him with wide eyes.

"Shit…" Sasuke conked his forehead on the doorframe. "Naruto…" his voice was unreadable.

"I'm so sorry, Sasuke, I…" Naruto squinted, words tumbling clumsily from his mouth.

"…It's okay…" Sasuke sighed. It was a slightly automated response, not wanting to get angry at the curious teen, but kind of already there.

"I-It was…I…I'm sorry…"

Sasuke took a deep sigh, forehead and arm still pressed against the doorframe.

Naruto glanced up. "…So what is it?"

Sasuke chuckled softly to the doorframe.

"I think it's time I took you to a Rehearsal."

Oraaaah!!! CAVITIES FOR EVERYONE!! :3

Sorry I couldn't end on the sappy-ass part, but I need a bit of a lead-in to the next chapter, y'know? XD

I'll make my stress short-lived and get all the Christmas-y stuff covered in the next one. After that, I can't afford to make updates every three days or so. Takes its toll, yo! D:

But, yeah. SO glad break is here. Homg.

Please review!