I don't own Naruto, you don't sue. Kapeesh? ^_~

I wrote this as a Sasuke and Naruto friendship ficcy, but it's up to you guys to interpret it as you see it. If you want to see it as shounen-ai, go ahead, but it was written as a friendship. I mean, who can resist writing about those two? They understand each other better then they think, but are at each other's throats so much they don't see that small detail.

Naruto is a little more vulnerable in this fic, so, he may be a little OOC, just to warn.

Grammar and other errors fixed.

Just a Little Longer

Naruto was breathing hard as he lay as low as he could in the bush he was currently hidden in. Some of the injuries he had from some shuriken and kunai were healing already as he pulled another two kunai out of his arm and one from the back of his leg. Now that injury was stinging like hell. He was trembling from fear he hadn't felt in a long time as he heard footsteps and voices all around him.

"It couldn't have gone far!"

"Keep looking, it has to be around here somewhere!"

"Set some traps! We'll catch the little fucker!"

Naruto squeezed his eyes shut, and forced back the tears as he tried to figure out where he was and where he could go. No good…I can't think of anyplace I can go that they won't look for me! Iruka-sensei's place is too far away, I have no clue where Kakashi-sensei lives…Sakura-chan's dad has joined this little 'fox hunt' now…stupid Kyuubi! It's all its fault! I didn't do anything to them, and they're trying to kill me! For real, this time! Last year they just taunted me with the threat…

A voice interrupted him from his thoughts, as well as a piercing pain in his shoulder.

"It's in the bush!"

Naruto was on his feet in an instant, and the chase was back on. He formed series of hand seals as he ran, trying to dodge the weapons being thrown at him at the same time. Twice, the jitsu got interrupted, but he finally managed it, "Kage Bunshin no Jitsu!"

Five of him appeared, and he cursed at how low his chakra was running. They had, after all, been chasing him since the afternoon, and the sun was setting already. The six Narutos all jumped off in different directions.

"It's trying it again!"

"Split up, then! Don't let a single one of it get away! Kill them all!"

The real Naruto was running as fast as he could, ignoring the pain of the bushes that clawed at his face and now-bare arms (as he had shed his jacket after using it as a distraction to get away earlier) and the pain in his legs and body as he pulled the shuriken out of his shoulder and tossed it aside, continuing his run that led him to the streets. He skidded around a corner and dove into an alley as two of his pursuers ran past him. But the other two weren't fooled.

"It went into the alley! We've got it cornered this time!"

Naruto glanced behind him and ran into the brick wall, which caused him to fall in pain on his back and then tumble onto his front. His vision wavered, but he bit his lip to keep from passing out as his injured leg flared up in pain again, as well as his side as a kunai skimmed him. He pushed himself to his feet and leapt into the air and over the wall of the alley.

"It went over!"

"Dammit!"

"There's a shortcut on the other side! Come on! We'll catch up to it in no time!"

Naruto swore to himself as tears ran down his face. Why me? Why, why, why!

He leapt onto the rooftops, dodging some arrows that the villagers were shooting at him now and was caught in his right shoulder by one. Gasping in pain, he fell mid-jump and landed hard on the ground with a cough. He lay there, dazed, from the fall for a moment before the footsteps echoing through the streets and voices brought him out of his stupor once more. Painfully, he pulled out the arrow and pushed himself once more to his feet, running blindly.

"There it goes!"

"After it!"

Naruto was running out of breath, energy, and chakra. He could hear more voices joining the two that were following him now, and knew that his clones were gone. He looked around to see if there was anyone nearby that he could ask for shelter. He cursed as he realized where he was, but knew that there was one person that may help him.

Gambling on it, he leapt onto the roofs once more and continued that way, ignoring the arrows and other weapons thrown his way as he reached his goal and landed in front of the door.

Naruto knocked loudly, nearly pounding the door down.

No answer.

Naruto was starting to sweat nervously now, glancing around in fright as he could hear the people closing in on his location. He knocked once again, screaming for the occupant to open the door.

The door opened, and a very annoyed Sasuke stood there. "What…?"

Naruto wasted no time and dove inside. "Shut the door, shut the door!"

Sasuke looked oddly at him, so Naruto pushed the door shut, himself.

"What are you doing, dobe…?" Sasuke growled, then blinked when he took in the boy's appearance. Naruto was bleeding from almost head to toe from various wounds, and there were still a couple shuriken embedded in his arm. The blood on his face was mixed with tears, and his blue eyes were wide and frightened as his entire body trembled.

"Please…I'm not here…if they ask, I'm not here…" Naruto begged as he dove behind the bookshelf when there was a furious knocking at the door. He crossed his fingers that Sasuke would just do him this one favor. He just about held his breath as Sasuke opened the door. No, no, no…! Don't answer it! Sasuke…! Please…!

"What?" Sasuke looked at the villagers with an annoyed expression to hide his confusion. After all, the situation was odd, and the villagers were armed with all sorts of weapons.

"Did the fox come here?" one of them asked.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Sasuke glared at the one who spoke. "There's no damn fox here. If this is a prank, it isn't funny."

"We saw it run to this door…!" one of the villagers protested.

"I said, there's no fucking fox here!" Sasuke snarled at the villager. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to sleep!" Giving them a glare with his Sharingan for extra measure, he slammed the door in their faces. He stood there for a few moments until he heard the villagers moving to other doors and disturbing his neighbors.

Sasuke rubbed his temples, not understanding anything that was happening. He almost forgot that Naruto was there until he heard noises that sounded like someone trying to hide the fact that they were crying. Flipping on the lights, he walked around to the other side of the bookshelf where Naruto was sobbing.

Naruto was a mess. A complete mess. That was all Sasuke could say to describe him.

"Okay…what the hell is going on…?" Sasuke glared at the boy.

Naruto shook his head, his face buried in his hands. He was too distraught to answer, though he did manage a 'thank you'.

Sasuke sighed and left the area, then came back a moment later with a basin of lukewarm water, some washcloths, medicine, and bandages. He reached out for Naruto.

Naruto responded like a frightened animal, and pressed himself into the corner while he growled, as his eyes darted around wildly until they focused on a surprised Sasuke. He suddenly was relieved that he had pushed back the urge to bite whatever had come near him, knowing that Sasuke wouldn't have had appreciated being bitten. Relaxing a bit, he sunk back to the ground.

"It's me…do you recognize me?" Sasuke asked hesitantly.

"S-Sasuke…" Naruto whimpered.

"Alright…I'm going to clean out your wounds…"

"NO! No, I'll do it myself! It's okay, it's not that bad…!" Naruto was instantly frightened again. He'll see the seal…!

"You're bleeding all over the damn place…what do you mean you're okay! You may be annoying and right now you're confusing the hell out of me, but you're my teammate and I'm not going to let you bleed to death!" Sasuke shouted, finally reaching his limits as he grabbed Naruto's hand and pulled the shuriken out of the boy's shoulder.

Naruto whimpered in pain as tears ran down his face. "I'll do it…I'll do it…"

"Look, I'm ten seconds away from kicking you out the door…" Sasuke growled.

"NO!" there was an urgency in Naruto's voice now. "Please, don't! Please! I'll do anything, just don't send me back out there! They'll kill me…!"

Sasuke looked at him incredulously. "Okay…then let me bandage your injuries."

Naruto was sobbing as Sasuke got to work, cleaning off all the blood on the boy. Some of the wounds were closing already, but others were still open but not bleeding much. Only about two of them were still bleeding.

"Naruto, calm down! You're going to hyperventilate!" Sasuke commanded.

Naruto took a shuddering breath as he kept his eyes squeezed shut while Sasuke cut his mutilated shirt off of him and cleaned his injuries, then wrapped bandages around them.

Sasuke paused when he saw the strangest thing on Naruto's abdomen. A swirl with odd letters around it. He shook his head and just continued bandaging the boy's wounds, deciding he'd ask about it when he asked the boy what all this was about. Cutting Naruto's pants off with a kunai, he bandaged the boy's leg wounds and inspected what looked to be a near-broken ankle.

Finally finishing, with the basin of water now a dark pink in color, he put the things away and found a spare blanket and threw it onto Naruto.

"Here. Put that around you. Your clothes were torn and bloody, and I had to cut them away. I don't know if you were aware of it or not…" Sasuke started.

Naruto trembled as he pulled the blanket around himself, wincing from pain here and there as he stayed huddled up, pressed into the corner where the bookshelf met the wall as if to hide from something.

Sasuke came back after washing his hands, then sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he glanced at the shivering boy. "Okay…what was that all about?"

"Please don't kick me out…just tonight…please let me stay…please…" Naruto whispered, his eyes haunted, "I won't annoy you, I promise, just don't make me leave for the night…please…"

Sasuke almost winced seeing Naruto in such a state. He knelt down and reached out, then slapped the boy. "Naruto! Snap out of it!"

Naruto blinked a couple of times and turned tear-filled eyes towards the other boy.

"Are you back with us?" Sasuke asked, hoping he didn't hurt the boy any further than he had been injured already.

Naruto nodded haltingly. "Y-yea…th-thanks, Sasuke…"

Sasuke offered a hand down to the boy. "Stand up. The floor can't be that comfortable."

Naruto shakily took Sasuke's hand and let the boy pull him to his feet. He stumbled on his injured leg and ankle, which nearly caused him a trip to the ground.

Sasuke caught him and put one of Naruto's arms around his shoulders to support him as he led him to his room and lay the boy down on his bed. He turned to go, when a hand reached out and grabbed his wrist.

"Please don't go…don't leave me…I don't want to be alone…" Naruto whispered.

Sasuke sighed. "I'm just going to make some tea for us. I'll be right back…" he saw Naruto looking anxiously at the window, and went over and pulled the blinds down so nobody could look in, then walked back to the frightened boy. "Okay?"

Naruto nodded, then wiped his eyes and curled up in his blanket while he inhaled the comforting scent that clung to it.

He didn't even notice that Sasuke had left the room, still taking comfort in a simple blanket, until the boy returned with two cups of tea.

"Here." Sasuke handed over one cup to Naruto.

Naruto sat up and shakily took it, taking a gulp of it to let the scalding tea wake him up a bit.

Sasuke pulled over a chair and sat down. He waited until Naruto finished the tea, then until he finished his own cup to bring the cups back, then he came back in and sat down on the chair again and looked at the boy.

"Okay," Sasuke spoke up, "What happened?"

"A fox hunt," Naruto said quietly. He squeezed his eyes shut as tears rolled down his face, since he knew he would have to tell his rival about the Kyuubi inside of him. "They do it every year on the day when the Kyuubi was sealed…trying to take revenge. For what the Kyuubi did to them."

Sasuke frowned.

"You know about the Kyuubi, right?"

Sasuke nodded.

Naruto huddled into the blankets more, if that was possible. "W-well…it wasn't killed thirteen years ago to this day. It was s-sealed into a newborn baby."

Sasuke blinked. That, he hadn't heard of. "And we weren't told because…?"

"J-just let me f-finish…" Naruto whimpered.

Sasuke nodded.

"Nobody was supposed to know…only the adults knew." Naruto looked away. "And they do things like this. Because nobody stops them. Because nobody cares."

Sasuke had a sinking feeling in his gut as he asked the question, "But why to you?"

"Because…the baby that the Kyuubi was sealed into…was me," Naruto said so low that Sasuke almost didn't hear him.

Sasuke was about to call it a load of shit, when he remembered the seal on Naruto's abdomen when he was patching him up. "Then…that strange swirling pattern on you…?"

Naruto nodded. "Th-that's the seal. They say I'm no different from the Kyuubi…so they do this. This year…they were trying to kill me. I can't fight back against them, Sasuke! They're villagers…even if a couple of them were ninja! And there's too many! Fifty, sixty, maybe seventy…I don't know!"

Tears ran down his face as he desperately pulled the blanket closer around his shaking body. "Year after year…I wondered why they glared at me, called me a monster, looked afraid of me…why nobody let their kids play with me…and last year, I found out about it. About Kyuubi being sealed into me. The day of graduation. I found out."

A choked sob came from him, and he shook his head while he wondered why he was telling all of this to Sasuke, of all people. "Everyone hates me. And everyone I know would hate me if they found out…"

Sasuke listened in silent horror, then shook his head and sat on the bed as he awkwardly put an arm around the trembling boy. "I…don't hate you."

Naruto blinked, looking up in pure shock. "S-seriously? You really don't hate me?"

Sasuke shook his head. "Really."

Naruto seemed to relax a little, his eyes closing as he leaned his head on Sasuke's shoulder, a fistful of the other boy's shirt in his hand as he clung to his rival, teammate, and friend like there was no tomorrow. He let the tears run down his face until there weren't any left, and instead, a small smile replaced the grimace on his face.

Sasuke had accepted him.

Sasuke, whom he fought with day after day.

Sasuke, who pushed him to his limits and beyond to get stronger.

Sasuke, who was his teammate.

Sasuke…his first friend.

"You know that tomorrow, everything will go back to normal," Sasuke said quietly.

"I know." Naruto smiled softly. "But for now…can I stay like this? Just a little longer…?"

Sasuke hesitated, then let a small smile grace his lips as he wrapped his arms back around the boy. He would never admit it, but the embrace felt good. It felt warm, and he didn't feel so alone in it. The smile widened somewhat. "Yea. Go to sleep, Naruto. I'll be here."

Naruto smiled, sleep already starting to claim him. "Thank you, Sasuke. G'night."

"Good night, Naruto."

And even if it was just for that small moment in time, both boys fell asleep with smiles on their faces, knowing that, if for a brief time, they were cared for…they were loved. Even if they would spend the next day as if nothing had happened, and each day after that, it was okay.

Even if the rest of the world never knew, that was fine with them.

Even if just for that one, small moment of peace and happiness, they were truly satisfied.

Even if they had to pretend in front of everyone else…right now, for just a little bit longer, they weren't alone.

THE END