Don't Let Go...

---

If you look at it one way, this is my 2nd Naruto fic, the other way, it's the 4th. Either ways, I was thinking about Hikaru and Sai from Hikaru no Go when I came up with this idea. But since if I did write it for HnG I would have to explain everything up to that point of how Sai came to be real and since I have no patience for multi-part fics, I decided to adapt it to Naruto. And the crappy writing you see below is the rotting fruit of my labor! >____<

Anyways, this is a Sasuke x Naruto ficcy therefore there is a slight warning for shounen-ai material. The story takes place during the two weeks that Naruto and company spends with Tazuna. I'm assuming Sasuke's already healed as Haku was never really aiming to kill Sasuke. Also major cheese and ooc alert!

~~~ Mochi-chu ^^

Naruto: Don't Let Go...

"Where are you going?"

"Out."

"Where?"

"Follow me if you wanna find out."

"It's three o'clock in the morning!"

"I know. Can't sleep."

Pulling on his oversized jacket, Naruto leapt out of the window, silently landing on the wet grass below.

"Bastard." Though more than a little irritated at having his sleep disturbed, Sasuke slipped into his sandals and followed the small blond nonetheless. ~~~*~~~~

The rays of the full moon illuminated the cloudless night sky and a light breeze weaved through the near silent night. Two figures slowly walked northwards, through a patchwork of shadow and light.

/We've been walking for the past fifteen minutes! Where the fuck are we going anyway?!/

No sooner did Sasuke think this, that he received an answer.

"We're here."

A small pond, surrounded by towering willow trees and fed by a trickling waterfall, lay before them, illuminated in all its glory by the moon. As breathtakingly beautiful as the sight was, the question at hand remained unanswered.

"I see, so why exactly *are* we here?"

Without answering, Naruto began to take off his clothes, as Sasuke gaped at the other's back. All his clothing strewn aside, save for his boxers, Naruto walked into the water, swimming further in, until he was covered to his shoulders.

Clearly perplexed at what Naruto was doing, Sasuke could do nothing but ask the obvious. "What are you doing?!"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Grinning mischievously, Naruto threw back the question.

"This is not funny!"

Ignoring the comment, Naruto slowly closed his eyes and relaxed, letting the cool water bring up his body and allow him to float. "Play with me?"

Momentarily surprised by the innocent request, Sasuke schooled his expression once again to that of irritation. "You're being a moron! I'm outta here!"

As Sasuke was about to turn, two wet hands shot out of the water and grabbed onto an ankle. "Come on! Play! It's fun!"

"Let go of my foot."

"Nope." Grinning, Naruto clung on a bit tighter. "Not until you say you'll play with me!"

Evading the matter, Sasuke changed tactics. "What's wrong with you anyway? What, does the full moon make you go weird or something? Why would you want to play with *me* of all people?!"

Not dissuaded in the least, Naruto continued smiling and answered. "First of all, nothing's wrong with me; I'm perfectly fine. Second, no the full moon doesn't make me weird. And third, why not? It's not like anyone will know if we are nice to each other while in the middle of know where ne?" ^-^

"I'll know! Now, let go of my foot!!"

Finally, releasing the foot, Naruto sullenly went back into the water. As Sasuke took a step to move away from the bank, a sudden idea hit Naruto.

"Wait!"

"What?!"

"I know what it is now." Arching a fine eyebrow, Sasuke waited. "You can't swim! Can you?!"

"You have no idea what you are talking about!"

As Sasuke turned around to leave for the umpteenth time, Naruto quickly jumped out of the water, grabbed Sasuke and threw them both in.

Needless to say, Sasuke began to sink like a boulder, thrashing around to stay afloat. Acting quickly, Naruto jumped in after his sinking friend and brought them both to the surface.

With his waist being held by Naruto, and his own hands tightly grasping the other boy's shoulders, Sasuke gasped for air as he began contemplating his life.

"Uh....Sasuke? Could you please ease up on my shoulders?"

Finally gathering his wits enough, Sasuke realized he was indeed crushing Naruto's shoulders in his vice-like grip. Moreover, however, he realized Naruto was the one responsible for his predicament!

"Teme!!!" Sasuke released Naruto's shoulders and began moving his hands to the other boy's slender neck, however, feeling a slightly sinking feeling, Sasuke instead opted to tightly wrap his arms around it.

"You bastard!! You tried to kill me!!!"

"Hidoi~~~i! Not in my ear!!"

"You deserve it!!"

"I know and I'm sorry for dumping you in the water, but I didn't honestly think that you'd sink! I mean we are both standing! The water only comes up to the bottom of our ribs!"

"Huh?" Looking down, Sasuke saw that what had been said to be true, and blushed crimson.

"Ne, you want me to teach you?"

"No. I wanna get out of here."

"You know next time something like this happens, I may not be there to save you!"

"And you know, that this wouldn't have happened in the first place if you didn't throw me in the water!!"

"Well, yeah. So you want me to teach you? Come on don't be afraid! I won't let go!"

"I'm not afraid!" Pausing a moment, Sasuke continued. "So, you promise?"

"Promise?"

"To not let go."

"Oh! Hai! Hai! I promise!!"

"Fine. What do I do?"

"First, you let go of your death grip from my neck, before I die from the lack of blood reaching my brain."

Blushing, Sasuke released his safe hold and moved his hands back to Naruto's shoulders.

"Good! Now we do this!" Before Sasuke could protest or prepare, Naruto slid the other boy completely into his right arm, before quickly bending and put his other arm under Sasuke's legs and bring him up, gently cradling him against his chest.

"What are you doing?!!" Sasuke sputtered, ringing his arms once again around Naruto's neck.

Naruto grinned good-naturedly. "Teaching you to swim of course!"

"Bastard!"

"Now is that any way to talk to your teacher? If you are gonna be that way I might as well let go."

"What?!"

"Kidding! Kidding! Now relax!"

"..."

"No, seriously, you have to relax! Otherwise I can't teach you how to float! Now close your eyes and relax your legs first. Don't fight against the water, just let it push you up."

"Good! Now I'm going to remove my arm from under your legs, but keep relaxing, and don't fight! Okay?"

"Yeah."

Moving his right hand to cradle Sasuke's neck, Naruto wrapped his other arm around his companion's waist.

"I'm going to lower down your head, alright? Just keep relaxing and you'll be fine," Naruto whispered.

"Okay."

"There! Now you are floating."

Realizing Sasuke was lost to the experience, Naruto slowly removed his hands, letting the other boy float freely through water, to bathe in the falls of moonlight.

/I feel so light! It's not that bad...like being in space./

"Having fun yet?"

/That's Naruto's voice. Why does he sound so far away?/

At this thought, Sasuke's eyes snapped open as he realized that Naruto was indeed far away! He had let go of him and let him drift. As panic rushed through him, Sasuke tried to gain a upright position and in the loss of his posture felt himself begin to sink! However, before he could go completely under, thin gangly arms wrapped around him, holding him tightly to a thin chest and above water.

"Don't do that! What the hell happened?!"

His arms wrapped around Naruto like a lifeline, Sasuke spoke in a cracked whisper. "You promised. You promised you wouldn't let go!"

"Sasuke....I...."

"You promised!!" Sasuke's voice rose, cracked glass eyes filled with accusation, betrayal, and the telltale signs of forthcoming tears causing Naruto to flinch back slightly.

Trying once again to explain himself, Naruto began. "Sasuke..."

"You are just like the rest of them!!! I want to go home. Take me back and then leave me alone!"

Suddenly angry, Naruto quickly brought them to the bank. Grabbing Sasuke by the collar of his soaked shirt, he hauled the surprised boy over and straddling his stomach and held his arms down to either side, effectively pinning him.

"Look! I'm sorry okay?! I'm really, really sorry! I shouldn't have let go! How the hell was I supposed to know you'd panic like that?! But I shouldn't have anyway, and I'm sorry!"

Regardless of the apology, however forceful, Sasuke turned his head away.

Sighing as his anger seeped out of him, Naruto released the captive wrist held in his right hand and cupped Sasuke's face and moving it gently towards him and leaned his forehead against the other's, allowing their hair to mix.

Lightly caressing the soft damp cheek, Naruto closed his eyes and continued in a whisper. "It must have been tough, being betrayed by your own brother, but you aren't the only one who has ever been betrayed. I know that feeling too..."

"I know. I'm sorry too. I let my emotions rule me."

Opening his eyes and grinning Naruto stood up. "Just shows that you’re human! But Sasuke, I promise....from now on I won't let go."

Standing up also, Sasuke stepped in front of Naruto. "Promise?"

"Hai!"

Reaching up, Sasuke held the elfin face of his friend in between his hands. "Sasuke?" Gazing into the wide blue eyes for a moment, Sasuke then slowly leaned down and pressed their lips together in a tender meeting, closing a promise.

"It's a promise then..." Pausing to run a thumb across the shocked boy's lips. "Forever, ne?"

"Hai."

Smiling softly, Sasuke released him. "Let's go back before the others miss us."

~~~*~~~

The trip back, was spent in companionable silence, broken by the occasional sneeze.

As the two changed into dry clothes, Naruto broke the silence. "Sasuke, can we sleep together?" The completely innocent question causing Sasuke to fall over. "Not like that! Not like that!!"

"Oh. Sure I guess so."

"Thanks!" Saying so, Naruto jumped in after Sasuke, surprising the taller boy by resting his head against his shoulders and curling up at his side.

"Na, Sasuke? Are you still scared?"

Pulling the other closer to him, Sasuke wrapped his arms around the small bundle and buried his face in the golden hair. "Not as long as you don't let go."

All this way for one measly kiss?! Nyahahaha, blame Yami-chu not me! It's not my fault that I can't come up with a lemon. *hentai thoughts being to chase each other in her ecchi mind*

Anyways, this turned out to be /way/ different than I originally imagined it to be, but it couldn't be helped since I always think in pieces and to make them even marginally match, super huge changes have to be made.

Originally it was just going to be a fluffy fic where Naruto teaches Sasuke to swim and they get some nice waffy kisses, but then there were certain lines I thought up in my daydreaming that I had to put in and then my mind drifted to Orochimaru and I was thinking about having Naruto kiss the mark that he made, but then I decided to make it before the Chuunin exams and during the 2 weeks at Tazuna's place. So finally I though it would be nice to have someone to depend on during the Orochimaru arc and would fit in kinda nicely into why Sasuke asked Sakura not to tell Naruto about the mark...also it kinda hit me that Naruto didn't know, and kissing the mark wouldn't have any meaning whatsoever!! *bangs head against wall*

Oh yeah, before I pass out from the concussion I just gave myself, I just thought I'd explain why I keep speaking of Naruto as small...it's quite simple really.....waaaaaaaay too many fan arts of that nature! >____< But that's ok! I like him that way!! I mean sure in the manga he act like an idiot many a time, gets into and causes trouble at every turn, but without friends and family, outside of Iruka, he doesn't have all that many life experiences that others have had, so to me his ignorance as I expect in certain areas, comes of as nativity and innocence. To me he comes off as one of those characters that you just want to protect and abuse all at the same time... *checks glasses* but I must be on a different planet cause the rest of the world finds Sasuke to be that way. Go figure! But I don't care, Naruto practically *screams* uke to me!!!! ^_____^

Well if anyone read this part....you have the patience of Bosatsu! ^^;;;; And I must apologize for this exceptionally terrible piece of work! But if nothing else, it'll at least cause better writers than myself to bash my head in with their superb writing!!

Anyways, please c & c! And if you are wondering why Yami-chu didn't make an appearance today...well he's busy...and you can take it however you want!! ^__-


Back to Novels