Warning: Contains Yaoi/boyxboy (SasuNaru)

Breathless

Chapter 1:

No Pain, No Game

His eyes fluttered open as a chill, wet drop of water landed on his cheek. Eyes flashing a clear blue, gazed lazily about through half-lidded eyes. At first, he was puzzled, unable to recall what had happened, but soon he remembered where he was. He'd been training since early morning in the woods and, after downing a quick lunch had decidedly taken a nap; needless to say, he'd overslept. He now lay on the spongy jade grass, limbs sprawled and stretched out comfortably.

Drip…drip, drip…

Another water droplet landed upon his sun-kissed skin, several more soon in its wake. He glanced up at the sky, stricken with shock. The sky was a dark rolling sea, pitching and groaning from deep within its bowels. Inky clouds overwhelmed the sky and the wind exhaled abruptly.

"Crap!" he chided himself as he sat up; a bit too quickly though, causing his head to spin for a second. "I slept way too long!"

Shifting to his feet, the blonde cast his sight about hurriedly, finally settling on the familiar trail after a few tense moments; he darted up into the tree branches as he trekked his way back, trying feebly to shield himself from the quickly forming deluge.

The storm discharged mercilessly, uncultivated and livid. Naruto faced the brunt of the onslaught as he hurdled from branch to branch, whipping his exposed face and neck with icy rain and wind.

"I have to get home before this storm gets any worse-" He was cut short as a spark of light illuminated the sky overhead and the crack that lashed out after jarred his senses.

Naruto shuddered and lost his footing.

Next thing he knew, a sweltering pain shot through his skull, leaving his ears ringing and spreading its sting throughout his entire body thereafter. He screeched in pain; a cry that rivaled that of the thunder. Another burst of lightning and thunder echoed and Naruto's body unwillingly cringed, jerking back in alarm. He groaned as a fresh wave of agony swelled up his nervous system.

The concussion made it hard to focus, his vision swimming. The boy paused for a moment, confused at the happenings around him. He attempted to move, only to nearly bite his tongue off. His leg throbbed as he attempted to stir it, battered as it was from the awkward fall.

Stifling a scream, he rolled over so that he was on his hands and knees, winded and gasping for breath. The village! He had to get home!

The rain was relentless and it showed no signs of letting up. Carefully, he made to stand, endeavoring to shift his weight on his uninjured leg, but found it futile. His legs merely buckled beneath him, sending him sprawling into the mud. 'What's going on…?' he thought blearily, brain suddenly tipping away into hollow awareness.

Fatigue was setting in, his mind going blank as he teetered on the brink of consciousness. "Naruto…!" He faintly heard his name being called, albeit it sounded so far off… A dark shadow emerged, but he fainted soon after.

Naruto opened his eyes slowly, still dazed. He was tucked away in a bed, he noted after a few minutes, dark covers draped atop him. The room he was in was spacious but warm with wood floors and dark blue walls. The boy blinked to clear his foggy outlook and slowly noticed the finer details.

There were two dressers with pale-white lamps adorning their tops. Left of the bed was a modest window, curtains the same shade of white closed in front of it. Toward the right of the bed, on the far wall he spied a bathroom, its door half open.

Everything was neat, useful and not overly done.

'What...? Huh! Wait a minute! This…this isn't my apartment!' he thought nervously, slowly sitting up on the bed. "W-WHERE THE HELL AM I!" he screamed, horrified.

The door to the room opened and a familiar voice spoke. "You're finally awake, dobe?"

'That voice…' Naruto turned to face the door, trying to ignore how the world seemed to tip all of a sudden. "Sasuke?" he asked stupidly.

"Yes," came the mocking response.

"Wha-what's going on? Where am I? And what are you doing here?"

Sasuke was leaning against the frame of the door; his face expressionless as he studied the younger male. Pushing off, he made his way over to Naruto, remarking, "I heard a scream."

Naruto's gaze unfocused momentarily.

"Didn't think much of it at first," he continued slowly, watching the blonde's face. "But I eventually checked it out. …I found you on the ground. You were messed up, hardly any chakra," he gestured to the room with his hands, "and here you are. I saved your sorry ass." The teen paused, eyeing Naruto worriedly before continuing. "Rest. It's still early morning and you didn't sleep too well; had to wake you up every hour. Even and idiot like you needs to rest." He was surprised the boy did not recall being wakened. He wondered if he should still be wary of the concussion.

"Oh…" he muttered. Realization hit him. "Oi! I am NOT an idiot, Sasuke-teme! Besides, I feel fine!" Naruto lied swinging his legs over the side of the bed; he had to spare some amount of dignity. "See," he continued, "I'm just fi-" A sudden shock of pain cut him off when he placed weight on his injured leg. With black spots in his vision, he collapsed. The blonde braced for the impact, but before he hit the ground he was secured by his middle and pulled up against the elder.

"Are you okay?" Sasuke asked; worry leaking through the words.

"Y-Yeah…I…I think so…" Naruto responded; his voice a tad weak.

"…Moron."

"Hey! Don't call me that, bastard!" he grumbled irritably, his brain was yet swooning. He then took a moment to observe his manifestation: back pressed against the raven's chest, the elder male's arms securing his waist as his breath spilled over the blonde's neck.

The younger boy's face flushed as he took in their proximity. 'This…isn't…right…' he thought, exhaling shakily.

Sasuke took in the saccharine sent of Naruto, engraving it into his memory. He was quite enjoying their position and, frankly, didn't feel like moving away. 'Unwise…this may not be mutual…' Sasuke thought bitterly. Out of the blue, a loud rumbling was heard in the room causing Naruto to all but jump.

"I-Is it still th-thundering outside?" Naruto asked in a small, stammering voice.

Wholly unexpected, it came as a shock to the dark-haired lad. Without warning, he burst out laughing; a tuneful chuckle that Naruto had never heard before. 'Does he seriously not realize that was his stomach?' Sasuke marveled silently.

"H-Hey! What's so funny you jerk?" Naruto questioned angrily, twisting himself to face the other, leaning forward and grabbing the neck of the raven's shirt. Sasuke was so distracted by his humor that when the boy leaned in, he lost his balance and fell backwards, bringing Naruto down with him.

"Ugh!" cried Naruto as he landed atop his teammate; his skull punished him and he quickly cupped his ears.

Sasuke had ceased laughing in that instant, locking eyes with the blonde when the tired blues reopened. His mind was unexpectedly lost in the cobalt depths that were Naruto's eyes. Blindly, he lifted his hand and placed it on the side of Naruto's face, his thumb delicately tracing the whisker-like birthmarks on the kitsune's cheek.

The blonde was at a loss of words as the black haired boy caressed his cheek with a pale hand. "S-Sa…suke…?" he managed to whisper.

The older male was severed of his daze when the younger boy blinked and his face flared red upon noticing his actions. Quickly, but gently, he grabbed Naruto by the shoulders and lifted him up along with himself. After carefully depositing him on the bed, he rushed out of the room with naught another word.

Naruto was mystified and woozy, not fully comprehending what happened. Lying back down on the rather comfortable bed he sighed, letting his body relax. His eyelids drooped as sleep began to overtake him. He didn't fight the exhaustion and soon fell out cold.

Sasuke lingered a few minutes before chancing a glimpse through the door. His tempest eyes fell upon a sleeping teen; he could hear the soft snores emanating from the slightly opened mouth. A brief smile graced his features and he let out a relieved sigh.

'Lucky he fell asleep and didn't ask questions. I can't believe I acted that way in front of him. Damn it! The last thing I need is to freak him out!' He mentally kicked himself and shook the thought away. '…It's Naruto. I'm fine; he'll forget it all happened.' This calmed him a tad.

"…Idiot's stomach was growling," he mused. "Suppose I'll get him something to eat..."

Upon awakening from the inadequate nap, his stomach protested ferociously with hunger. He attempted to ignore it and remained on the bed, staring at the ceiling above him, too tired to move.

Moments later his stomach growled once more, only louder this time. "Shut up," he told his tummy, but it disregarded his command and continued.

"Hungry?"

"Huh?" Naruto uttered, glancing over toward the door where Sasuke stood baring a tray of food.

He walked over and placed the tray atop the table near the bed. Then he sat beside Naruto and grabbed a bowl and spoon off the tray, setting it onto his lap.

Naruto sat up straight and looked happily at the raven haired boy.

"I made some chicken soup," he said; his voice calm. As he spoke, the sweet aroma of the broth reached Naruto's nose. His mouth watered at the sight and smell now even more so due to the lack of nutrition in his body.

Naruto almost cried with relief. He bowed his head slightly and remarked, "I take back ever calling you a horrible person. You've been promoted!"

Sasuke's face twitched; he took a deep breath, letting go of his irritation and allotting the idiot some leeway. He filled the spoon, blew softly at the liquid and held it out for Naruto. "Open your mouth."

A sudden look of confusion washed over Naruto's face. He tilted his head to the side cutely. "Huh?"

Sasuke's ears warmed. "I'll do the feeding; knowing you, you'll chug it and choke," he muttered.

"Oh…um, alright," Naruto said in bewilderment, flushing slightly. He then slowly leaned closer till his lips touched the spoon ever so lightly and sipped.

It tasted like heaven at the moment; rich and warm. It soothed his dry throat and stomach. "Woah!" he remarked, lightly chuckling a moment later. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but, it's freaking delicious, Sasuke!"

A half-pleased smirk settled on the other's face at the blondes' reaction. "Just shut up and eat."

"Whatever," he snorted, but complied nevertheless.

When the meal was finished, he sat back and grinned, all cheeks. "Man that was good!" Naruto complimented as he rubbed his stomach happily. He faintly recalled that this was the first time he'd had an appetite in a while. Sasuke had left the room to wash the plates.

That's when he happened to look down at himself, noticing his apparent change in dress. He was equipped with a loosely fitted t-shirt, boxers not his own and shorts. The shorts were slightly large on him and had slipped down just enough so the underclothing was visible to Naruto.

He gasped. Turning to inspect the back of his shirt revealed the Uchiha fan emblem. 'Humph, figures. This freaking sign is on all his clothes…..Wait, how did I get dressed in these? And more importantly, WHO dressed me?' The blonde swallowed hard and his face once again warmed. 'Was it S-Sasuke…?' he wondered.

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock somewhere in the house. Straining his ears, he heard a door open and some muffled voices as footsteps headed in his direction.

Sasuke opened the front door to greet Kakashi and Sakura. He'd recently called Kakashi, informing him about Naruto, but was not at all shocked by the sudden appearance of the kunoichi.

The two stepped in and said their hellos. "Good morning, Sasuke-kun!" came the cheery greeting from the pink haired girl.

"Hn," Sasuke hummed, uninterested. "Naruto is in my room," he finished and led them down the hallway.

Sakura frowned at the rejection, but followed nevertheless.

As soon as Sasuke opened the door, the blonde kitsune's face lit up. "Sakura-Chan! Kakashi-sensei! What are you guys doing here?" he questioned happily.

"Well," Kakashi explained as he approached Naruto and sat down on the bed next to him. "We came to see you. Sasuke called and told me what had happened, so we came to see how you were doing." He smiled beneath his mask as he said this.

"Really?" he marveled, thrilled at their concern.

"Yes, really," Kakashi answered.

A cheeky smile covered Naruto's slender face. Kakashi's brows pulled together as he noticed how thin the boy was. "Naruto…" he began, "have you been eating?"

The boy looked down; his smile fading. "Of course…" he lied. 'I can't tell Kakashi-sensei that all the grocery store owners won't let me in…and I haven't even been hungry very much lately…"

"Oh, really?" he pressed. 'He's clearly lying; why is he denying it? It's blatant he's lost considerable weight. He'd look so much cuter if he wasn't so skinny…' Kakashi thought; he'd come to view Naruto as his hyper, adorable almost-son.

Sakura had just stopped drooling over Sasuke—who was ignoring her completely; concentrating on his sensei and best friend—enough to notice her teammate's condition. She turned and approached the blue eyed boy. "Yeah, Naruto. You're a wreck! What happened to your leg?"

Naruto turned to face Sakura and looked into her lovely green eyes. "Um, heheh, I guess I hurt it," he said while scratching the back of his head out of habit.

"You 'guess'? Man you are such an idiot! How can you not know what happened?" she wailed; agitated by the blonde's ignorance and worried deep down.

"Well—" Naruto tried to explain but he was cut off by Sasuke.

"He had a concussion. He probably can't remember some things."

Sakura glanced at Sasuke and then away out of embarrassment. "Oh…"

Kakashi then spoke. "Naruto let me see your leg."

"Um, okay…" he replied and obeyed.

Kakashi took Naruto's thin, right leg gently and examined it for a moment. He then put both hands on the blonde's ankle and squeezed it a little. "Tell me when it hurts," he said as he moved his hands up Naruto's leg, exerting mild pressure as he did so.

When Kakashi reached Naruto's knee, the boy flinched. "Ouch…" he whispered.

"Hmm…" the jounin murmured, perturbed as he shifted his hands up the leg. Each time he squeezed Naruto's thigh, the boy squealed in pain. "It's not broken…just a bit banged up; probably a stressed muscle or two," he concluded.

Naruto sighed in relief. "Thank god," he breathed.

"That's great," Sasuke added, his tone and face unreadable.

"It sure is!" Sakura agreed (she always agreed with Sasuke). "Here, Naruto, take these." She said handing Naruto a medicine bottle containing small pink pills. "They're pain killers, but highly concentrated, so don't overdose."

Naruto took the pills gratefully and said, "Thanks Sakura-Chan!...Um, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Hm? Yes?" asked the silver haired ninja, coming back to focus from his thoughts.

"Your hand?" he said pointing at the man's appendage which still rested on his thigh. He'd clearly forgotten as his mind ran from him.

"Ah! Sorry," he sputtered; pulling his hand back. "It's not what you think!"

'Pervert-sensei,' Naruto concluded in his mind.

"What now?" Sasuke asked.

"Well," Kakashi began, reflecting on the situation, "It'd be best for Naruto to forgo training and missions for a week or so while he heals." He turned to Naruto. "And I suggest that you eat more and refrain from heavy lifting. Also, avoid walking too much or putting any more strain on your leg. It will be sore for a while so the pain killers that Sakura gave you would do you well."

"WHAT?" Naruto whined loudly, dejected at the thought of inaction.

"What about his head injury?" Sasuke posed, as if Naruto hadn't even spoken.

The jounin paused to assess the damage to the blonde's skull. "Since he didn't sustain any cuts or fractures to the bone, I'd say he should just take things easy for a while," Kakashi suggested.

"He can't be left alone Kakashi-sensei! The idiot will just get himself into more trouble!" Sakura hinted; raising one eyebrow at her sensei as if he was stupid not to notice. "And what if he lapses? If the concussion had any lasting effects…"

The older man, nodded, toying with the thought and balking at the idea of the boy compounding his injuries. "You have a point, Sakura. He needs to be watched."

"HELLO! I'm right here! I can make my own decisions, ya' know!" the boy yelled, waving his arms up and down dramatically.

The others took no notice and continued to talk.

Kakashi idly scratched his chin, then said, "I suppose Naruto can stay with me—"

"That's okay Kakashi, but he's already here with me. He might as well stay," Sasuke remarked, cutting Kakashi off.

An awkward silence overcame the room. All eyes were on Sasuke. Sakura's jaw dropped to the ground and Kakashi stared blankly at the black haired boy, astonished at the offer. Naruto had ceased his yelling and gaped wide-eyed at Sasuke.

Sakura was the first one to speak. "S-Sasuke, you're joking right? I mean who would want to put up with Naruto?"

Sasuke felt a mounting resentment as the strawberry-haired girl said this. Taking a deep breath he answered, "No, Sakura, I'm not joking. I can take whatever that idiot can throw at me. He can stay here with me." He shot a glance at Kakashi, "If, it's alright with you?"

'Somehow I feel this has to do with something more than just team responsibility…' Kakashi cleared his throat after a moment and said, "The arrangement's agreeable; best not to move him around… What do you think about it, Naruto?"

They turned to look at the blue eyed boy. He was just sitting there; a surprised expression frozen in his visage.

"Naruto?" Sakura questioned.

He blinked after what seemed an eternity before his jaw fell open. Then came the yelling. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN I CAN'T BE LEFT ALONE? And how come you guys choose where I stay? Wait a minute….WHY do I have to stay with Sasuke! Of all the people in this village, why does it have to be the most snobby, emo, inexpressive guy on Earth?" he fumed, shaking an accusing finger at the dark haired boy.

"UZUMAKI NARUTOOOOO!" screeched Sakura; ire dripping from every word as she approached the blonde like a predator. "How dare you call Sasuke those names!" She cracked her knuckles.

Inner Sakura: I'm gonna strangle that brat!

Suddenly she felt a hand clamp down on her shoulder tightly. Turning her head somewhat she looked to see Sasuke next to her, smiling in a chilling way, black eyes gleaming.

"S-Sasuke?" she asked quizzically.

"Well," he said, eyes fixated on Naruto's face, "It's decided then. Naruto will be staying with me until he gets better." The kitsune gulped.

'W-What's his d-deal…?' the blonde wondered, feeling the hairs stand on the back of his neck.

'Retribution,' Sasuke promised.

"Are you sure, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked, wondering if this was merely a joke. Kakashi would have been the better option to take care of the unruly boy. He was their sensei after all.

"Sasuke. You know Naruto can be a handful. If you're not up to the task, you should leave him to me," Kakashi remarked, eyeing Sasuke's demeanor for any betrayal of underlying motives. Sasuke wasn't usually like this.

"I can handle him," the raven haired boy answered flatly.

There looked no point in arguing, Sasuke seemed firm in his decision, so, ultimately, Sakura and Kakashi resigned, (Sakura begrudgingly) accepting it and escorted themselves out once goodbyes were said and done.

"So," Sasuke said, turning to Naruto with a wicked grin, "I'm the most 'snobby, emo, inexpressive guy on Earth', am I?"

Update: 12/13/15 - has been edited

Yay! My first fanfic so don't kill me if it's bad! I hope you all like it! Reviews are begged for!

-Kit