Naruto Catch You If I Can

AU Post-series. With all the angst in the manga, I needed something sweet set in the future. Lyrical inspiration from All-American Rejects.

_o/ Tears fall down your face - the taste is something new  
Something that I know - Moving on is easiest when I am around you /o_

_Naruto, Naruto, Naruto..._

Uchiha Sasuke couldn't think of anything else as he flew through the treetops on his return to Konohagakure. It was a damp and musty day in early June with the kind of soothing drizzle that seemed to slowly wash away the dirt to leave everything refreshed and ready to begin anew. And beginning anew, he was... this was the first solo mission he'd been given since his return to Konoha's ranks and it was admittedly far below his level.

With Itachi dead and Akatsuki decimated, Sasuke was willing now to suck up his pride and humble himself before the shinobi of his hometown in order to win their trust and respect back again. It was the least he could do after everything they – Naruto – had done for him in the end. Truth be told, it annoyed him to have to take on menial tasks and chores no one else wanted to do, but... if he couldn't earn back his place in the village, then he had no right to stand at Naruto's side, even if he had saved the future Hokage's life with his own two hands. Sasuke hated thinking about that night and the tears that had been shed – tears he didn't think he could ever forget.

He tried to shake these thoughts from his mind as he politely turned in the mission report and immediately headed to the apartment he and Naruto now shared. Not surprised to find it empty, he headed off to where he most suspected he'd find his best friend.

_Naruto, Naruto, Naruto..._

For all the years he'd sworn he didn't give a damn about the other boy, lately it seemed that all his thoughts whirled back to those impossibly blue eyes.

_o/ My tongue is tied to a dream of being with you  
To settle for less is not what I prefer /o_

_Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke..._

Uzumaki Naruto hadn't been able to sit still knowing that Sasuke was due back at any moment and so he'd braved the wet morning to check up on the town festival being set up for tomorrow. The group pitching the tents and lantern posts had just begun to finish up and break for lunch, once again leaving Naruto alone with his thoughts.

He felt weird being separated from his teammate, as he hadn't really let Sasuke out of his sight in the near year since his return to Konoha. It wasn't that he was afraid of Sasuke leaving again... more like he felt the need to make up for lost time. Sasuke hadn't wanted to go back to the Uchiha compound after everything that had happened and Naruto's original apartment had been destroyed in part of the final battle that raged through the village. Sasuke had called it "sensible" for them to become roommates as they were already teammates and so it seemed they were always together now, morning, noon and night.

Sometimes he felt like he was waiting for the other shoe to drop – it seemed too good to be true that Sasuke was home and the war was over. Things had been awkward for awhile, then routine... but in the past few weeks, Naruto had noticed a new tension between them. Neither of them had ever really been that good at talking about how they felt, and so Naruto had ignored the strange dreams he sometimes had and continued his usual cheerful jabs and insults.

As he flopped down in the grass between the tents and looked up at the growing patches of blue in the slowly clearing sky, Naruto realized that he missed Sasuke. He'd thought he'd stop obsessing about his best friend after he was safely home, but the village's self-proclaimed #1 loudest ninja found that he was lost in thought more than ever these days.

_Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke..._

Naruto still felt that there was something missing and he could not bring himself to just let the tension continue to grow. The question was what to do about it...

_o/ So bottle up old love and throw it out to sea  
Wash it away as you cry  
A year has passed...  
The seasons go /o_

"Oi, dobe."

The cool and collected voice drifted down to Naruto just a moment before Sasuke came into view standing over him and the blond jumped immediately to his feet. He hesitated for just a moment before Sasuke's bored expression softened into the hint of a smile and then he reached out to hug his best friend. "Okaeri..." he murmured before letting him go. Sasuke didn't say anything in response, so Naruto jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "They're setting up for tomorrow! I'm really excited!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, but followed Naruto down the road to Ichiraku without question. It was lunch time, after all. "Only a dobe like you would get this excited about the Lantern Festival."

"Teme," Naruto snapped back, though it was with a laugh and no malice. "This is the first time in two years that we've even had the festival and I missed the two before that thanks to ero-sennin and his so-called training."

"I suppose it is nice to see the village getting back to normal..." The two shinobi took a seat at the counter, with Naruto ordering his stand bowl of pork ramen and Sasuke opting for a bowl of udon.

"And I'm totally making up for lost time this year," the blond continued excitedly, breaking his chopsticks in two and tapping them against the counter like drum sticks. "I'm gonna win the Firefly Contest!"

"Baka," Sasuke muttered, reaching over to casually snatch the chop sticks out of his teammate's hand with a warning glance. "Everyone knows the contest is just for little kids, maybe Genin at best--"

"There's NO age limit," Naruto smirked in smug satisfaction, picking up his glass to rattle the ice cubes around in a circle. "I read the entire rule sheet!"

"Hn."

"You're just jealous that I'm going to go home with the shiny gold trophy we've coveted since we were six."

Images flickered through Sasuke's mind at this statement, laughter and tussles in the grass between two boys who often tried to pretend that they couldn't stand each other flickering in and out of focus. Those happier days seemed like the distant memory of a previous life... and maybe in a way, they were. "I'm not jealous." He reached out a hand to steady Naruto's glass out of habit.

"Are too!"

"Usuratonkachi." Sasuke sighed, handing the chop sticks back as their lunches arrived. "I could beat you to that trophy any day of the week, age six or sixteen, it doesn't matter."

"You wanna bet?" Naruto's eyes had taken on a fierce intensity as he now glared at his best friend. He knew Sasuke was just teasing him and yet he couldn't back down from such an obvious challenge. The tension felt like a string pulled tight between them, so tight he couldn't breathe.

Sasuke set down his chopsticks and turned to give his best friend a bemused look, wondering if Naruto's desire to be "better" than him would ever be exhausted. "You're serious."

"If I win," he reached to poke Sasuke in the chest lightly. "Then you have to buy me lunch every day for a month!"

"Don't I already buy you lunch most of the time?" He didn't bother to mention the fact that he tended to make dinner most nights too, as Naruto and the kitchen were not a winning combination.

"Not the point!"

"If it's what you want."

"Well?"

Sasuke had already resumed eating his lunch and let Naruto wonder in silence for another moment before answering without meeting his eyes. "When I win..." and he paused for emphasis on the when "... you have to do whatever I say for an entire day."

"What kind of bet is that! What if you tell me I have to streak through the village and paint whiskers on all the Hokage faces!" Naruto started indignantly, crossing his arms over his chest, but he couldn't keep a straight face. "Actually, that would be awesome—"

"It won't be anything that stupid, dobe," Sasuke sighed, pushing his bowl away and turning to face his teammate. "Do we have a deal or not?"

_  
o/ Please just don't play with me  
My paper heart will bleed  
This wait for destiny won't do  
Be with me please I beseech you  
Simple things, that make you run away  
Catch you if I can /o_

The paper lanterns lining the main streets of Konoha slowly began to glow red-green-blue-violet as the last remnants of the sun faded away behind the dusky mountains. With twilight came the rising energy of the crowd, fed, sated and ready for a night of revel. Children chased each other around the tents, sparklers glittering in their hands.

Naruto felt like he'd eaten enough to want to explode, but he was still the first one in line for his jar, having been unable to think of much besides the contest all day. Sasuke, on the other hand, strolled in quite nonchalantly just as Iruka-sensei was handing out the last few jars. He smirked at Naruto from across the tent, casually tossing his jar from one hand to the other as all of the rules were re-iterated and the crowd gathered in the tent cheered.

The blond stuck out his tongue in response, only to watch Sasuke mouth "dobe" at him in slow motion. Naruto twitched momentarily, but then the whistle blew and everyone was rushing out of the tent in every direction. Having lost sight of Sasuke, he quickly made his way out of the tent and up into the nearest tree, heading away from the festival and into the forest at the edge of the village.

In the years without Sasuke and on the road with Jiraiya, Naruto had taken to often training and traveling at night. The animal in him made his senses sharp, his heartbeat in tune with the nature around him as he traveled towards the river. He knew the fireflies would be thickest in the marshy reeds on the banks... and he had an advantage.

"Kage bunshin!" In the blink of an eye, half a dozen clones with half a dozen jars were leaping and laughing around him – enough to ease the task, but not enough to be noticed if he was careful. There was no way he was going to lose this contest!

"Cheating already?" came the low chuckle mere moments later, nearly causing Naruto to face-plant into the side of a tree.

"Nothing in the rules about it!" One clone snapped as Sasuke wove his way around them until he as alongside the real thing. "They said we could use any kind of technique!" A second added in.

"And why are you following me!" This statement came from Naruto himself, but he didn't wait for an answer, cutting a sharp left down to the waterfall and opening his jar. "Don't steal my spot!" The string he'd thought of the previous day seemed to tighten a little more, squeezing his heart in an unfamiliar way.

"Didn't know anyone had a claim on certain sections of the forest, dobe," the other ninja practically sneered in response. Sasuke carried his jar tucked under one arm, but already there were glittering bugs inside it, as if they were merely attracted to the Uchiha without his even trying. Seeing Naruto so worked up over this contest was... well, it was a bit of a turn-on and made him unable to stop the events he seemed to have pushed into motion.

"You can't just leave me alone, huh?" Naruto stuck his tongue out again and darted off into the reeds, running his jar close to the surface of the water, inky black against the whispery deep green plants. Sasuke didn't answer, but criss-crossed his movements, as if he really were trying to steal the bugs right from under Naruto's fingertips. It was driving him crazier and crazier as they went until he couldn't focus enough to keep the clones fetching as well. Pausing a moment to collect their bugs into his jar before letting them pop, he squeezed his eyes shut and willed himself to calm the fuck down. If Sasuke was trying to psych him out, well then...

"Give up already?" The words were hardly more than a murmur against the back of his neck and Naruto whirled around, letting go of his closed jar and growling a little at the smirk on his best friend's face. The actual terms of the bet were far from either boy's mind, the heart of the competition between them being much more than the golden trophy. Sasuke found that he couldn't look away now and he closed his jar, dropping it gently into the grass. Even in the darkness, Naruto's hair seemed to glow, the fireflies casting lightning flashes in the space between them. It was a battle - it was a dance - this unspoken fire between them - and Sasuke was tired of pretending to ignore it.

"Hell no!" Naruto wasn't sure he was talking about the contest anymore as he clenched his fists defiantly against his sides. Why was Sasuke taunting him to such an extreme? Sure, they teased each other... but this was something more. This was digging into the past and the very core of their bond. He choked the next sentence out. "I'll never give up - even if _you_ never seem to stop running."

"...I'm right here, Uzumaki." The words were surprisingly soft and the thread seemed impossibly tight as Sasuke took a step towards Naruto, then another, backing him into a tree. "What you decide to do with that..."

"I'm tired of waiting..." Naruto murmured, refusing to break their gaze. He could hear his own heartbeat pounding in his ears and he licked his lips nervously before mustering the guts for his next statement. "I spent so long chasing you... but now...maybe it's you who's trying to catch me."

Sasuke took one last step, catching Naruto's wrists in his hands and pinning them against the tree above the blond's head, bringing their bodies flush against one another. "Naruto..." he breathed, hardly more than a whisper.

Naruto felt a chill run down his spine despite the warm summer air as Sasuke's nose bumped against his. It wasn't the first time they'd been this close... but it was the first time in a long time and so it felt like the first time all over again. Blue eyes fluttered closed as the angle changed and Sasuke caught Naruto's bottom lip between his own.

The thread snapped.

"Sasuke..." The name was a mere exhalation on Naruto's part before he returned the kiss – once, twice, three times – until Sasuke ran his tongue lightly over Naruto's lips in a demand for more. The kiss opened up, growing deep and becoming yet another battle between them, tongues dueling for dominance. All coherent thought dissipated.

Sasuke broke the kiss after a few minutes, but only so that he could leave a line of nips and bites down the curve of Naruto's neck, grinning when he felt the other boy sigh. It felt good – to want and to be wanted. He was no longer afraid to admit that he'd been wanting this for as long as he could remember.

Wrenching his hands free of Sasuke's grip, Naruto moved to tangle them in dark hair as they sank to the forest floor in a jumble of limbs. Sasuke's hands seemed to be everywhere and Naruto arched into that touch hungrily, the contest all but forgotten...

...Until the sound of a whistle echoed in the distance.

Two pairs of eyes snapped open as their kiss broke in a collective gasp. "Shit."

Jostling each other sharply, the boys dove for their jars, taking off into the woods to collect as many bugs as they could on the way back to the festival tent. The future Hokage and his rival suddenly realized that they might just be bested by the Genin they'd so carelessly disregarded!

_  
o/ Summer time, the nights are so long  
The leaves fall down,  
and so do I into the arms of a friend /o_

"Ridiculous."

It was the first word Sasuke had uttered since they'd left the festival to walk home. His hands were shoved into his pockets as if no years had passed at all, but the hint of a smile on his face revealed otherwise.

"Fate!" Naruto crowed, weaving circles around him as he tossed the golden trophy from one hand to another with a delighted cackle.

"You do realize you have to share that with me, dobe," Sasuke elbowed him as he passed by, nearly knocking him into the side of a building.

"I can't believe we ended up with the _exact same number of bugs_!" The blond continued to babble, jumping in front of Sasuke and jabbing a finger at him until he stopped walking. "We're an even match and you owe me a month of ramen!"

"You didn't _win_," Sasuke retorted in mock exasperation. "So you don't get any ramen..." he trailed off and smirked, reaching up to flick Naruto in the nose. "Unless I get my half of the bounty too."

"You never told me exactly what it was!"

"Yes or no, dobe."

"...fine!"

Sasuke leaned forward until they were nose to nose. "Pack your bag – we leave tomorrow morning for the onsen." He gave himself a heartbeat to enjoy Naruto's wide-eyed and dumbfounded expression and then he started towards home again, unable to keep the smile off of his face.

From the roof of the nearest house, Kakashi watched the pair disappear around a corner before turning to his companion with a twinkle in his eye. "I told you there was no longer any concern over Sasuke's loyalties."

Iruka shook his head, a faint blush coloring his cheeks. "How much do I owe you?"

Kakashi leaned forward with a soft chuckle. "I'm willing to negotiate."


End file.
