Lost
Naruto lazily looked out the window of the norimono he was in, wondering how much longer he had to be in there.
He and his father were traveling north to visit the Uchiha Clan, to visit Sasuke. He loved going to see the Uchiha because he got to spend most of his time there with his best friend and rival, Sasuke. He and Sasuke had practically grown up together despite living hundreds of miles away from each other. He hated how long it took to get there though, he wishes his father would just use his transportation jutsu, but the Uchiha weren't really fond of that idea, after all our clans used to be enemies, being allied now doesn't change that.
"How much longer?" Naruto asked for what was probably the 100th time, but who was counting. "I already told you Naruto, we have 2 more days before we get there." Minato said punctuating his sentence with a yawn. "Try to sleep, you don't want to be tired when we get there do you?" Minato said barely above a whisper. Naruto wanted to say he wasn't tired, but he knew he'd be upset if he waited to sleep until they were almost there. So he reluctantly laid down and tried to rest.
When he came to, they were stopped and his father was nowhere in sight. He got up and exited the norimono and saw the shinobi resting under a tree and his dad leaning against it. "You're awake!" Minato said when he spotted him then reached into his bag. "Here, have some onigiri." He said as he handed Naruto a wrapped cloth. "Thank you!!" Naruto exclaimed as he grabbed the cloth and carefully unwrapped it. "Itadakimasu!" he said before digging in quickly. "Looks like it's going to rain." One of the shinobi said sullenly a few minutes later. Naruto looked up and sure enough, the clouds were gray and heavy instead of white and fluffy. "We should get going!" Naruto quickly exclaimed and before the other could respond he was already in the norimono again.
His father arrived a minute later and then they were off again. This time they made small chatter about whatever came to mind. They eventually fell asleep to the sounds of rain hitting the roof. When they woke up and ate a small breakfast with the shinobi accompanying them before they set out again. The closer they got, the harder it was for Naruto to sit still. He was half tempted to jump out of the norimono and just sprint to the Uchiha village.
When they finally got there Naruto was ready to just jump out of there and tackle Sasuke, sure enough when the shinobi opened the door Naruto jumped out and ran at Sasuke, who was standing there to greet him and Minato, at top speed. This caused them both to fall to the ground with a loud thud and a sound of protest from the Uchiha. "Welcome Minato-Tonno! We've been expecting you." Mikoto greets enthusiastically with a smile adorning her face as she watches her youngest and the Uzumaki Heika scuffle on the floor. "Get off me dobe!" Sasuke threatened but there was no real heat behind it. "Fine!" Naruto said harshly as he ungracefully rolled off of Sasuke smacking him in the stomach in the process.
"Where is Itachi-Tonno?" Minato asked when he noticed said person wasn't there. "He's cooking lunch right now. Come, he should almost be done." Mikoto said cheerfully with a small smile on her face.
When they entered the house the delicious smell of food hit them with full force. "Do I smell ramen?!" Naruto shouted cheerfully with the biggest smile on his face, honestly, he looked like an extremely happy puppy. "Yes, you do, I know it's your favorite and you've been traveling for a while so I thought I'd make it." Itachi said as he walked in the room quietly. "Please come eat!" Itachi said as he walked back to the irori to finish the food. Dinner was uneventful, the adult just talked about something that Naruto wasn't paying attention to. After dinner the adults talked more while Naruto and Sasuke went to the courtyard and started stargazing. They weren't sure how long they were out there but soon enough Mikoto called them inside for bed.
Naruto and Sasuke finished getting ready for bed them slipped into Sasuke's room and set up the futons. They quietly said their goodnights and blew out the candle. Naruto lay awake for who knows how long, when he turns toward Sasuke. "Hey, are you awake??" when he got no response he moved closer to Sasuke and started poking him harshly in the ribs. "Saaaaaasuuuuuke" still no response. "I know you're awake, you are lightest sleeper I know." "Fine, I'm up." was the response he got about a minute later. "Great! Can we go explore in the woods??" Naruto begged with the best puppy dog face he could muster. "Why do you want to go into the woods??" Sasuke asked with one eyebrow raised. "Because we've never been in there without an adult and I wanna gooooo!" Naruto whisper-yelled as he violently shook Sasuke still wearing that pitiful expression. "Hnn, FINE! If you're not dressed in 1 minute we're staying here." Sasuke uttered with as much annoyance in his tone that he could. "Yes!!!" Naruto quietly shouted like he just got everything he wanted in life, if Naruto was looking he would have noticed Sasuke quickly look away so the blond wouldn't see his blush.
After they were dressed, they pondered how they were going to get to the woods without anyone noticing them. They formed a plan and snuck out, it was simple enough, turn into cats, conceal your chakra, and slip past the shinobi that were on patrol right now. They snuck out without issue, though they were almost caught, and soon enough they were walking through the forest. The place was really beautiful and there was a lot of wildlife around. They wandered around for a while before they found a river, Naruto and Sasuke proceeded to see who could hold their breath the longest (it was Sasuke, but if you ask Naruto will say it's him). As they let their clothes dry they chased a squirrel, when they caught the poor thing Naruto held it and looked at intently.
After their clothes dried they walked through the woods once more. When they came to a pond Naruto suggested they look for frogs, and for some reason Sasuke didn't turn him down. They spent the next hour chasing frogs and having a good time. Naruto sat back and watched Sasuke wade though the water looking for the amphibians, he really looked pretty under the moonlight. Naruto decided stop himself there before he was caught blushing and checking Sasuke out, if he was caught staring at Sasuke he might just die.
"Got one!" he heard Sasuke say loudly. "Really?!" He said giddily while invading his friend’s personal space. "Yes, I did, but I won't show you unless you get out of my face." Sasuke said quietly but firmly. "Right right" Naruto said but made no effort to get out of Sasuke's face.
"Naruto"
"Sasuke"
After staring into each other’s eyes in a fight of will Naruto finally relented and took a step back. "Thank you" Sasuke said sarcastically as he handed Naruto the frog and watched his face go from mildly annoyed to overjoyed in the span of a few seconds. They continued to walk through the forest after setting the frog free, just basking in the feel of nature and each other's presence.
"Um, Sasuke?" Naruto queried shyly, for some reason. "Hnn?" was the only thing the Uchiha was willing to say so Naruto spoke up,
"Where are we?"
And that caused Sasuke to stop walking and quickly look around to try and figure where they exactly were. When he started to panic that made Naruto panic more than he already was. "Maybe we can retrace our steps?" he said hoarsely, he wasn't sure if he said that to calm Sasuke down or himself. "We're in the woods there is no clear way to retrace our steps. Great. We're lost in the woods with no food or weapons and no one will know to come looking for us until morning, and even then, they don't know where we went." Sasuke stated with a stone face but his voice wavered a bit. "Well, it could be worse." Naruto exclaimed with very false confidence.
It got worse, they were currently huddled under a tree so that the rain won't soak them to the bone. They were starting to get hungry, but they had no weapons or supplies. So they just sat there with the only sound being the rain. It was calming in a way, being out in nature with your best friend. But they also had no idea where they were, or how to get home. Watching the rain hit the ground over and over and over, while smelling the natural scent of nature.
They stayed in silence for who knows how long when they finally dozed off in each other's arms.