Kanoi: YAY! I am starting a multi-chapter naruto fic!
Sasuke: Am I a bastard in this? And do I die?
Kanoi: -glares-
Naruto: Sasuke, she can't answer that in a longer fic.
Sasuke: -emos in the corner-
Kanoi: Anyway, this is unbetaed because one of my betas is having technical difficulties, another one is on vacation, and then the other one has seemingly fallen off the edge of the earth. However, the one who is having technical difficulties said the only problems she saw were a few commas, so we should be good. So thanks to Zuki-chan for the effort!
Naruto: Kanoi doesn't own Naruto. If she did, SasuNaru would be much more cannon than it already is.
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Naruto stared down the stairs leading to the cellar. Breathing was becoming increasingly more difficult, and his azure eyes were filling with an unfamiliar wetness. No longer able to stand due to the shaking of his knees, the blonde collapsed to the dirt-covered floor of his greenhouse. He could feel the bile rising up his quickly contracting throat. Never in his life had the dirt of his sanctuary smelled so revolting. It took a moment for his numb mind to figure out it wasn't the dirt that caused the stench, but rather the smell that was created when the soft substance was mixed with the already foul stench of blood.
Blue eyes widen as they finally took in the crumpled form at the bottom of the rickety, wooden steps. The blonde heard sirens in the distance; the noise seemed to be getting closer and closer. But the sound wasn't fully registering to the terrified man. His sense of hearing felt dulled, as if he had big balls of cotton stuffed in his ears. The bitter taste at the back of his tongue finally became too much for Naruto, causing the blonde to double up over himself and purge his stomach of all impurities. He couldn't breathe for hacking. Even long after he emptied his stomach he found himself still heaving, making him feel even more ill as warm tears spilled in ugly torrents down his sickly flushed cheeks.
When he heard the door fly open and glass walls splinter, the shock finally broke its spell. Wailing sobs escaped his raw and burning throat as he pressed violently shaking, dirt-covered hands to his hot ears.
!#$&()
Naruto smiled down at the pot which contained his newly planted seeds. The tanned man rubbed his hands together to try and rid them of the dirt but found himself laughing jovially when the dark substance just smudged his hands more. Deciding any more attempts to clean the dirt would just create a bigger mess the blonde instead opted for stretching his stiff back. In the process of relieving his tight muscles he found his impossibly blue eyes staring at the sky through the ceiling's green-tinted glass. The smile the man sported stretched across his young, tan face even more until it was impossibly large.
It was a beautiful, warm day that gave Naruto an incurably good mood. He wiped his perspiring forehead with the back of his arm, smearing dirt across his head in the process. The blonde looked lovingly around him at his plants, his babies, which ranged from ferns to the South African Calla Lily (with many others in between). The man was unfairly jerked away from his paradise by the beeping of his watch's alarm.
Naruto made his way over to the table at the far end of the vast greenhouse. Blazing blue eyes glared at the watch that beeped mockingly at him. A low, aggravated growl ripped itself from his throat as he snatched the evil device off the table. The blonde gave one last, mournful look to his assortment of plants before leaving his sanctuary for the day.
Naruto sighed in exhaustion as he stepped under the freezing water being sprayed by the showerhead. After he felt sufficiently cooled from the days exertions, the blonde turned the the water heat up a bit and made a grab for the soap. Naruto started to meticulously scrub the dirt from his sun-kissed skin, now freezing body warming to a comfortable temperature under the lukewarm water.
It seemed the instant he set the last bit of food on the table Naruto heard the door open and close. A warm smile spread across the man's features as his lover walked through the door connecting the kitchen to the sitting room. Naruto knew most people felt the two men to be an unusual pair, and he could see why as well- they were, after all, complete opposites. Where Naruto was lean and tan, the other man was gangly and pasty. Where Naruto's hair was a bright blonde and unruly, his lover's was as dark as the moonless night sky and always immaculate. While Naruto's eyes were bright blue and lively, the other man's were almost as black as his hair and cold and mocking.
"Naruto, dinner looks amazing," the detached voice of the blonde's lover commented.
Naruto smiled weakly.
"Thank you, Orochimaru," Naruto replied, his voice small.
The two took their usual seats at the rectangular table and began to eat in uncomfortable silence. A random comment might be thrown into the sickeningly cool air supplied by the horribly typical suburbia house's AC unit, but it was never enough to count as a real conversation.
After dinner was cleared away Naruto found himself under the older man, giving the occasional grunt of lukewarm pleasure. It was always better to play along with Orochimaru's bedtime games because if he didn't Orochimaru would assume Naruto wasn't having fun, and if Naruto wasn't having fun that meant the snake of a man would come up with new "games." Naruto had only experienced those games a few times, but every time reminded him not to get lax in his ruse. Once Orochimaru found himself sated, he fell asleep on his side of the large bed. This left Naruto to stare at the dark ceiling until his eyes eventually fell closed and his body surrendered to the warmth of sleep.
!#$&()
Naruto cursed for what he swore had to be the fifteenth time that day as potting soil was spilled all over his work table. It was official the blonde decided, he hated movers. It seemed his new neighbors were finally moving in, and Naruto decided it would be a miracle if his new neighbors had any furniture left. From the sound of it the moving men had dropped almost everything they laid their hands on. The racket was almost to make Naruto stop his horticulture work early and seek refuge in his quite house. Almost.
!#$&()
Naruto made sure to send as deadly a glare as possible in the direction of the house next door as he stepped out into the burning sun of late summer. He felt an urge to tear down the white picket fence and put up a huge sound proof, concrete box around his house in its place. He was covered in more dirt than usual, and it had been no fault of his planting. It was all thanks to the noise made by his stupid new neighbor and said neighbor's moving men.
!#$&()
"You're awfully quiet today, Naruto," Orochimaru commented conversationally.
Naruto grunted in response.
"It would appear that our new neighbors have finally moved in," the sickly pale man continued.
"I noticed," the blonde grumbled.
"I was thinking of inviting them over for dinner tomorrow."
Naruto stopped his violent eating to stare at his lover with wide eyes, but instead of voicing his opinion on the matter (a flat out "No!"), he heard a small voice say, "Of course." It took the blonde all of five seconds to recognize that pathetic voice as his own.
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Kanoi: If you're very confused, sorry. The first scene is the end of the story and then it goes back to the very beginning. That's really all I have to say right now. Hope you enjoyed it!