Bring Your Pet to School Day
Summary: As the title says. Naruto, Sasuke and the gang all go to Konoha High School, a place where the craziest but hottest teachers taught the future generations of Japan. One day, Kakashi has an absolutely BRILLIANT idea and it's all the dean's fault for having a soft spot on his former student. Sasunaru, KisaIta, KakaIru and others.
"Alright, class, settle down. I have important news to share with you."
An excited voice rang through the classroom just as the school's greatest opposites were about to get into a fist fight, stopping them in their tracks and making many students let out groans of frustration. Really, of all the days Hatake Kakashi, their ever lazy and late silver haired, half masked, different colored eyed teacher of poetry had decided to show up on time, it had to be today. Today, when the school's most popularly known rivals were just about to sink into each other with fists and kicks until one of them needs to go to nurse Tsunade. And they had been pretty pissed , too. Something about the older boy's one year of absence last year due to him wanting better than Konoha High School could offer with a new mentor at Oto High School, only to come back this year when the school suddenly burned down in some accident in the chemistry lab.
At least Konoha got back one of its Legendary Sannin - Mitsuki Orochimaru - back, so they were once more the leading academic force. And everyone eventually forgave the boy, Uchiha Sasuke, for leaving. Everyone but the boy's once best friend and rival and now enemy, Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto.
Naruto and Sasuke had been rivals as long as they have been best friends, but it had taken one of the older bullies sending the blond into the hospital for them to admit that they cared after Sasuke beat the bully to a bloody pulp when they were seven. They finally accepted the status of best friends when they were twelve, to the point Naruto often called Sasuke his brother. Sasuke neither denied or confirmed this status but that was enough for others to presume he agreed. There wasn't a day they didn't spend with each other all through primary and middle school, but then high school brought changes with puberty. Their rivalry once again turned to the more physical aspects it hadn't been in years. They were often sent to the principle's office, much to Namikaze Minato's disappointment since he knew those two wee so close that closer couldn't be. Nothing had ever been enough to separate them and even when they fought, they never once tried to seriously harm each other. They still looked out for each other and hung out together all the time. Nothing really changed.
Until last year, when Sasuke's older brother, after finishing his doctorate found out he had some dangerous disease and that he had to move to America for four to ten months for the healing therapy. Sasuke had wanted to be there for him but Itachi had refused to let his precious little brother lose a whole year of school and Fugaku, their father, refused at his request not to sign the fifteen year old's legal permission to travel out of the country. Sasuke turned cold as soon as Itachi's plane left the ground, becoming even more asocial, ditching school every other day, but his grades never suffered from it. What really worried his parents was that Sasuke never hung out with Naruto anymore. Sasuke was turning away from them all, he never smiled or even smirked anymore. Even his glares became rarer and rarer with each day.
Mikoto, his mother, one day turned to Naruto and begged him to talk to Sasuke and the blond had tried, but it had ended in a fight that left Naruto unconscious on the school rooftop in the rain until Iruka, one of his teachers, found him and took him to the hospital, where he spent a week. When he came too later that night, it was to the news that Sasuke had left home for a scholarship in a school in the next town and that he lived in a dorm now. Naruto had went after him as soon as he was well enough, but Sasuke had regarded him with blank black eyes as he stood next to Orochimaru, who was a co-fonder of the school. They ended in a fist fight when Sasuke said he had never considered Naruto a friend, despite the blond remembering why Sasuke had said he had to beat him up a few weeks earlier - so he could severe all bonds with Konoha and move on, to get away from the betrayal Itachi had done and to get a better education, to stop walking his brother's path and to escape his shadow, so he can finally stop searching for Fugaku's approval where he saw he will get none. Naruto, still not fully recovered, was once again left bloody and bruised and alone, something the two friends had promised they would never let happen to the other.
Naruto told his and Sasuke's parents and Fugaku went to beg his son to come back home, telling him everything he had never told his younger son who he actually loved more than life itself. Sasuke didn't even let him enter the dorm room he shared with a boy named Suigetsu, his new 'best friend', which left Fugaku stumped and Naruto heartbroken when he heard. He had a run in with Sasuke's new friends a couple of months later, when Sasuke declared Naruto a monster, something kids used to bully him with because of the strange markings on his face that had one day just appeared out of no where.
They didn't see each other until Itachi returned from his therapy and went to visit Sasuke, only for the younger raven haired male to declare he didn't consider Itachi a brother but a wall he has to either climb over or knock down, saying he has no connections what so ever with Konoha and that he would rather never set eyes on Itachi again. The fight escalated between the brothers when Orochimaru and his assistant, Kabuto, appeared with prearranged contracts for Itachi to sign so he could work in Oto High School and teach philosophy. The end result was Sasuke getting anger management issues, Orochimaru had a sore hand and wrist, Kabuto sported two black eyes, no contracts signed while Itachi returned home, trying to think up a way to drag his brother home.
It hadn't been needed, as near the end of the school year, some moron thought it would be fun to mix heated acetone with pure magnesium and it all ended in one big explosion. The school caught fire and other than a few scratches, bruises and the rare light burn, no one was harmed. However, Oto High, due to the lack of proper supervision in the lab, was forbidden from reopening and no one would take Orochimaru and Kabuto in to teach in their schools. In the end, Orochimaru returned to Konoha High, where Sasuke had transfered back to, too.
That summer vacation was very tense in the Uchiha household as they worked through the many problems they had caused and fixed the bonds and trust they had damaged. Sasuke and Itachi spent the three months inseparable until September 1th arrived and Itachi started his job at Konoha while Sasuke spent his first day back being glared at. The second day, girls started following him around again and by the third, his popularity was suddenly off the charts. Some of his friends from Oto were there, too, having decided they'd follow Sasuke wherever he may go.
However, even as everything seemed to settle and go back to normal, one thing still remained changed. Naruto never forgave Sasuke and didn't listen to any of the Uchiha's 'apologies' (Naruto called them, rather rightfully, excuses because it was an Uchiha thing to never apologize) and he lost a lot of 'friends' until only eleven remained. Sasuke got angry after meeting one of Naruto's new friends, Shiro Sai, who had a striking resemblance to the Uchiha and the two boys had ended in a fight that left Sai glowering on the floor with a broken finger before Naruto stepped in and, of course, took Sai's side. Sasuke had seen it as another betrayal and simply stopped talking with the blond unless it was to insult him, starting up an argument each time as the only conversation the blond ever had with him anymore.
By now, it was old news that the two are enemies despite neither still ever really hurting each other. The mention of Sasuke's absence last year became a taboo, especially around those two, because those fights were more like epic battles of titans, or rather ninjas, as Kiba often joked, since they broke out moves no one had ever seen a martial arts master ever do and they were painful. One guy, who was stupid enough to taunt Sasuke about Naruto's cold shoulder towards the raven because of his 'betrayal' last year, swore he felt as though Uchiha's punch had been laced with lightning, that his moves were a blur, that his punch felt like it had torn a hole through his heart and that his eyes had been red. Another boy, who had mocked Naruto about Sasuke throwing him away like the 'trash he was', experienced something similar, claiming that the blond's blue eyes had resembled red fox's eyes, that in his snarl his scars looked deeper and more pronounced, that the blond had moved with such speed that he had seen five and not one Naruto and that his strange punch-throw move had sent him spiraling into a wall.
When Minato heard this and that it was repeating too often, he put a ban on anyone ever speaking of it again on school grounds. The penitence for breaking this "Sacred Rule", as it was dubbed a week later, was suspension of three weeks and then three weeks of everyday detention along with Saturday school. Needless to say, rare few dared mention it, both in fear of the beating they might get or the punishment that will surely follow. Not even teachers dared bring it up, as they did not want a demotion or a decrease in their salaries. And since Naruto and Sasuke had punched a teacher each - Sasuke had had the pleasure to give Kakashi a swollen cheek while Naruto had given his uncle, Uzumaki Nagato, their international culture teacher, a black eye - this was only reinforced by all who had any self preservation instincts.
The point was, things had mostly went back to how they were the year before Sasukewent to Oto, but a few small changes. However, people were getting sick of the tension between the two ticking time bombs and they had tried doing something about it, but neither boy wanted to make the first move towards reconciliation. Or rather, Sasuke had tried and every single time, Naruto had snapped at him and the two had somehow ended up fighting. Kakashi and Minato had finally decided to take matters into their hands and, after some preparations and a rather scary phone call, they had set everything into motion. If this weekend and the Monday that followed it didn't get the two friends to make up, they were sure both teens will live miserable lives and neither of their families wanted that.
Kakashi studied them now, both sitting in two completely opposite sides of the he felt like sighing. There was a time where Sasuke had sat alone if Naruto wasn't at school, since they had sat together every day in every class. Their lockers were next to each other - and still were, due to the old alphabetical order and Sasuke's locker having never been given to someone else - but now it was a safety hazard to have them sit so close. Still, this little project might help work things out.
"Alright, class. What I am about to tell you will be happening all over the school and is an absolute must to do thing on Monday." The silver haired man began, catching everyone's interest immediately. "If you do not comply, you will get a 20% negative score on every test you do that week."
"What!?" Haruno Sakura, a pretty pink haired girl that sat in the first desk of the middle row, shouted in shock. "You can't do that! It's against the law!"
"Not to mention that we have five tests and three reports next week!" Her best friend,.a pale blond girl by the name of Yamanaka Ino, shouted from the back of the classroom, where she was sat in between a sleeping, lazy boy named Nara Shikamaru and an overweight kid with long reddish brown hair eating chips, Akamichi Chouji.
Kakashi shrugged, not at all caring about their complaints. "It's going to be an easy task so we figured it would be no big deal."
"And just what, may I ask, is this task?" Suigetsu, Sasuke's Oto dorm mate, asked in a suspicious voice, not even bothering to rise his hand. Kakashi smiled behind the weird mask that covered the lover half of his face, the only indication he was doing so being that his eyes curved in a happy little arch.
"Why, it is the first official Bring Your Pet to School day!"
"What?!" A good part of the classroom exclaimed, since many kids weren't allowed to keep pets. It was either because of their parents or because they were allergic to this and that.
"Yes, simple, ne? All you have to do is bring in your best fury or scaly little friend and your grades will be spared.''
''But what if someone doesn't have a pet?'' Sakura asked, not at all liking how her grades were being threatened by something stupid like this. ''Or what about all the other people who are allergic to them?''
''They will be put in a different class with a teacher who is also allergic and they will continue on with their day like that. The rest of you will stay in your classrooms.'' Kakashi explained as if it were the most normal thing in the world. ''As for the not having a pet thing, I am sure that the Inuzuka Shelter has more than enough animals you can borrow for the day.'' Kiba sat up at this and felt uneasy when everyone turned their eyes on him.
''And what, exactly, is the point of this strange ... exercise?'' Karin, a redhead that had come with Sasuke from Oto because she had a huge crush on him - like the bigger part of Konoha's female population - asked with something akin to disgust in her voice as she arranged her black rimmed glasses.
''Well, Minato-sensei thought that it would be perfect opportunity for you all to grow closer together and form bonds that will last you a lifetime.'' Naruto arched an eyebrow at the explanation but didn't comment, as that sounded exactly as something his tou-cahn would think up. "So make sure you bring in your little ones on Monday! Oh, and the rest of the class is study hall, so go crazy." And with that lazy statement, in true lazy manner, Kakashi flopped into his chair, put his feet on his desk and took out an orange porn book. He started giggling after only a minute, much to the disgust of many of his students that he ignored.
The teens immediately huddled up in groups in the auditorium styled classroom, talking in excited or whining voices about this new piece of information they got regarding Monday. Needless to say, many kids were excited because these types of thins usually meant no serious work being done during the day. Monday may as well become a part of an extended weekend, if only they didn't still have to come in. Kiba was already bombarded with questions about the pets in his family's shelter but he didn't mind, as quite a few hot or cute girls asked for his help. He was, of course, over the moon when the ever shy Hinata he had a thing for asked him for three pets: one for her, one for her younger sister that had just started this year and one for her older cousin, Neji, the Student Council President.
It would seem only Naruto was anxious about the upcoming Monday.
But someone else was worrying about this Saturday.
"Yo, what's that glare for, Sasuke? You look broodier than usual." Suigetsu commented when he noticed the look on his once dorm mates face. Suigetsu was as tall as Sasuke, paler and with blue tinted white hair and strange purple eyes. He had sharp, shark like teeth and a serious kidney problem that required him to drink water like, every five minutes or so. He had followed Sasuke back to Konoha with the rest of their little group and was currently staying with his uncle, who taught advanced PE at the school but mostly worked in the pool. There were very few resemblances between Suigetsu and Hoshigaki Kisame. The big man resembled more a shark while Suigetsu looked like a piranha next to him. Still, both were pretty strong and both seemed to like being around brooding Uchihas, as Kisame was almost attached to the hip with Itachi. Luckily for Suigetsu, he learned early on that Sasuke was no big fan of such contact and didn't attempt to invade his personal bubble - that was usually five feet radius - or he would be in the hospital in a come by now.
"Hn. My uncles are coming home for the weekend tomorrow." The raven haired boy answered and got a strange look from Jugo, a orange haired boy that was half a head taller than him. He was the tallest boy in their class and most of the school but he was a real sweetheart. He loved animals and animals loved him. Wild birds always seemed to find a place on his head or shoulders and stayed like that until he had to enter a building. He had darker skin than his two male friends, which wasn't so hard, and warm brown eyes. He was an anxious guy, always fearing his temper because he didn't want to hurt anyone despite him being on the rugby team. He feared his own strength but he seemed to relax around Sasuke, which is why he stuck pretty close to Sasuke, as in having as many classes with the Uchiha as he possibly could.
"Is that a bad thing?" The big guy asked in an uncertain voice, not wanting to anger or offend his friend. Jugo was also a very polite person. Almost to the point that Sasuke was tempted to put him and his brother in the same room and have them compete over who is more polite. It should be scary that he was sure his brother would win, because Jugo was extremely polite.
"It is, because Uncle Madara is crazy and always used to make me drag a friend along during his stay."
"So? We'll come over and meet your uncle." Karin, the redhead with the black glasses, said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. She had a huge crush on Sasuke and that's why she followed him to Konoha. It was also the reason why she put up with Suigetsu, who loved nothing more than annoying the hell out of her. She was petite but well developed and a horrible flirt. She was as delusional as the rest of Sasuke's fangirls that Sasuke was all hers, but at least she could have a decent conversation with the pale boy instead of just squealing after him. She was smart and aggressive and could be a real mother-hen, in her own unusual way. She was actually Naruto's cousin, which neither wanted to acknowledge or admit to. They would rather gauge their own eyes out than consider themselves related. "No biggie."
"You don't understand." Sasuke replied with a sigh, running a hand through his hair and unknowingly getting Naruto's attention. More so because Ino and Sakura - the blond's two very close friends - were sighing about how handsome he looked even when he was troubled and the ramen lover had looked over in barely hidden concern. "For all of the twelve years of my life that I clearly remember, Uncle Madara only ever really liked one person other than his own younger brother and his best friend/boyfriend. And that's my childhood friend. My only friend in the fifteen years he's been doing these random visits. He couldn't make it last year so he's determined to make up for it this year and I'm still not talking with said childhood friend."
Karin glared at Naruto, who was pretending to be listening to Chouji's story about some exotic food he had tasted yesterday at his dad's restaurant, before looking back to Sasuke. "So? Just tell him you have new friends. I'm sure he would understand and be happy for you."
"Besides, after he meets us, he'll have three more people to like!" Suigetsu added with arrogant confidence while Jugo looked very uneasy now.
"I actually don't think that it's such a good idea for you guys to meet them. Uncle Izuna may be more accepting but he isn't too open to strangers, either." The Uchiha tried to explain but the three were no longer listening to him, Karin and Suigetsu too busy imagining how much Sasuke's uncles were going to like them (and, in Karin's case, how they will immediately demand of Sasuke to stop being so shy and just ask her to marry him already) and Jugo worrying about the first impression he might make. Meanwhile, a certain blond was studying his once closest friend as the proud Uchiha seemed to slump slightly, furrowing his eyes as he thought of how to tell his group of friends that he was busy without sounding like he was scared of the horror movie Shino just suggested they watch.
Half an hour later, he was still thinking about what he had overheard - don't even ask him how he heard them over all the noise everyone else was making - when a big hand landed on his shoulder, startling him from his thoughts. He looked up into the handsome, pale face of his raven haired, black eyed philosophy teacher, Uchiha Itachi in the flesh. He had a striking resemblance to Sasuke, but then, all Uchiha men looked very similar to each other in their handsomeness. So much so that if every Uchiha male stepped in a line, beside each other for all to see, the hospitals would be very busy with the countless women in comas or in danger of dehydration due to the salivation they did upon seeing them.
And when Itachi smiled a gentle smile at the young blond, Naruto realized why so many people were doing so well in philosophy all of the sudden.
"Naruto-kun, may I ask for a favor?"
00000
When Saturday came, Sasuke wasn't the only one feeling uneasy as the sun greeted the day. His father had been up since the crack of dawn, trying to make everything look perfect while his cousins Shisui and Obito were lawing the lawn and washing the already spotless windows for the third time. His mother had vacuumed all the rugs and tatami mats twice while he had bought enough food and drinks to feed an army. Itachi had spent most of the morning in the kitchen, preparing food and snacks for the ever picky Uchiha Madara and his younger brother. Itachi seemed to be the only calm one although Sasuke had seen him stir a meal ten minutes longer than needed and knew his brother was as nervous as the rest of them. Sasuke knew Itachi invited Kisame over to meet their parents and to cook a meal for the older teacher, since Sasuke also knew Itachi had a big crush on the big man.
In short, everyone was nervous about the visit and the lack of a certain whiskered, blue eyed blond only made the tension ten times worse.
Ever since the first time Madara saw Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto in the Uchiha Household, fifteen years ago, the usually cold and sardonic man fell in love with the smiling baby that was held in Fugaku's best friend's arms. He would melt like putty at the cute smiles Naruto made and the little infatuation with the baby grew to the point that Madara even considered Naruto his own son. In fact, if anything ever happened to Madara, one third of his immense fortune went directly to the blond boy. This affection for Naruto always put Sasuke and his uncle on opposing sides, as Sasuke was very, very possessive of his best and only friend. The two Uchiha - the eldest and the youngest - would spend hours glaring at each other and Izuna, almost as equally infatuated with the cute, energetic blond, would use this chance to cuddle the boy until his two greatest admirers noticed and either one of them snatched the blond away. Sasuke actually won most of these as Naruto loved cuddling with his first friend, no matter how much they grew up. When they were younger, the eldest Uchiha would pout or mock glare at his nephew but during the last visit, just the week before Itachi was to leave for his therapy, when Sasuke had possessively slung an arm around Naruto's waist that all but screamed 'Mine', Madara had just nodded approvingly with a knowing look on his face.
And that had, honestly, scared Sasuke out of his wits as that was the point when he realized, for the first time, that he had never considered Naruto his friend but his important person all along. And he had been blind to it for his whole life. And not knowing how to react, he had distanced himself from Naruto and then from everyone else.
That's actually how this whole mess started. Sasuke knew his friend was very much into girls but Sasuke couldn't bare it to see him with anyone else and he didn't want to risk their friendship because of his most likely unrequited feelings. Usually, Sasuke would be a lot more confident in anything he did and he wouldn't really care for how low the success rate was, because he knew he could make it work. But he didn't dare risk it with Naruto and so instead he looked for ways to get away from him. He had first hoped to go with his nii-san but Itachi had, as was stated earlier, against it so Sasuke was left high and dry to deal with his new emotions. And he still needed to get away from the dobe before he ruined their friendship for good. The only solution at the time? Moving to Oto. He had just not expected it all to go so downhill and so fast, too.
The entire Uchiha family jumped when they heard the doorbell ring and Fugaku scrambled to the door to greet his older brother, the head of the whole Uchiha clan, like he should be greeted, but he glared when it was Sasuke's friends and Kisame that he found at his doorstep. "Oh. It's you." Ice was practically dripping from his voice and the kids flinched. Kisame had enough sense to act slightly submissive in front of the head of this house and he bowed low at the waist, Jugo following him and the blue man then forcing Karin and Suigetsu to follow suit.
"Sorry to disturb you, Uchiha-san, but it would seem your sons have invited us over for a visit."
Fugaku looked ready to verbally send them packing when Itachi pushed past his father and grabbed Kisame by the collar, dragging him in. "Chichiue, I already told you I would be having a guest over and Sasuke did warn you that some friends might stop by."
"Yes, but when he said the word 'friend', I kind of hoped a miracle had happened." The elder Uchiha said with crossed arms as the group passed him. The teens couldn't help but squirm under the glare but Kisame held strong.
"Otouto sure did take the opportunity to take along one of his own "friends" as well." Shisui's voice teased from the family room and Fugaku's older son counted the times he regretted ever telling his older cousin about his feelings for Kisame.
"Shut up, Shisui." Of course, he will never cease being thankful to Sasuke for backing him up whenever Shisui decided to tease him.
Itachi sighed as he let the strangely blue skinned man go and gestured for him to sit on the left side of his own seat. Kisame couldn't resist the urge to mess with Sasuke's hair, who sat on Itachi's right, before taking his offered seat, ignoring the glare. Mikoto was just about to ask the kids if they would like a drink when the bell rang again and Fugaku lost the glare and pulled open the door to be greeted with two very Uchiha faces.
The taller of the two was the older as well. He was the oldest of the five Uchiha brothers, Uchiha Madara, the current head of their clan. He had long, wild midnight black hair, a very intimidating face with sharp, harsh features, a stern expression seemingly stuck on the pale visage. He had the customary aristocratic nose and onyx black eyes that were a characteristic of their family. He had two lines on either side of his nose and thin lips that barely stood out from the rest of his face. His stance was proud and tall. He was actually the tallest in their family with Sasuke showing potential to one day outgrow him. He was dressed in a fine tailored suit of dark, dark gray color with dulled, blood red accents here and there, like his vest and his tie. He was as handsome as all the other Uchiha, only he looked a lot wilder than his younger brothers or nephews and cousins.
His younger brother, the slightly shorter Uchiha Izuna, had the same hair as him, even as long as his, but he wore it in a long, low ponytail. He had paler skin and strongly resembled Sasuke in appearances. The biggest difference, beside the age and the hight, was that Izuna had the same lines on his face as Madara did. It was a thing among the Uchiha to get them after you turned a certain age. Itachi and Madara were the only exceptions, both being born with them. Izuna was dressed a lot less formally, in dark blue jeans and a dark blue Uchiha styled - as in with a high, wide collar and a red and white fan symbol on the back - short sleeved shirt. Unlike his older brother, he had a slight smile on his face to greet Fugaku, the third oldest of the five Uchoha brothers.
"Madara-onii-sama, Izuna-onii-chan. Welcome to our humble adobe." Fugaku said formally, bowing at the waist slightly. Madara nodded to his younger brother while Izuna returned to bow, if slightly shallower.
"We can cut with the formalities, Fugaku. We haven't seen each other for almost a whole year." The eldest said as he walked confidently into the house. Fugaku closed the door and walked hesitantly after them into the family room, where Madara had already taken his seat while Izuna was saying hi to his nephews. "How have you all been?"
And despite his words, the formalities continued for a few more minutes while everyone answered the man's questions. Then the moment the Uchiha family had been dreading came upon them. Madara asked that one question they never wanted to answer. "So, where is my little Naru-chan? He's running awfully late."
"Naru-chan?" Suigetsu mockingly asked of the youngest Uchiha, getting a glare from the rest of the family.
"And just who the hell are you three?" Madara asked with a frown, studying Sasuke, as if already suspicious of something. But that would be impossible, as the fight between Naruto and Sasuke was never mentioned in front of him. Mostly because they knew the man would gladly disown Sasuke from the family rather than in any way lose his contact with his precious Naru-chan.
"We're Sasuke's friends from Oto High." Suigetsu proudly declared before anyone could stop him. "I'm Suigetsu, his one time room mate. The red bitch is Karin and the big, silent guy is Jugo. Sasuke said he usually brought a friend over when you're visiting so we thought we'd help him out and come inste-mmpmph!"
"Ignore him, Uncle Madara. He's just really stupid." Obito said with a shaky laugh and insecure smile from where he had stuffed the albino's mouth with the cookies Mikoto had just brought in. The mother of two looked disdainfully at her nephew before returning to the kitchen to grab some more. Anything to not be present for the explosion of temper that will surely come when Madara heard the news.
"'Help him out'? By 'coming instead'? Instead of whom?" If the Uchiha men were any other men in the world, they would have run with their tails between their legs at the ominous aura Madara was giving off as he asked these questions. But they were, quite literally, saved by the bell. Shisui, not wanting to be part of the incoming massacre, ran for the door, ignoring the glares of his clansmen as he opened the door.
"Hi, Shisui-nii-chan! Sorry for being late!"
Jugo, Karin and Suigetsu watched in perplexed surprise as the scary Clan head seemed to suddenly brighten up like a child on Christmas morning as the voice echoed throughout the huge house. Sasuke, Fugaku and Obito couldn't stop their jaws from dropping when a tanned, blue eyed blond walked in, dressed in an orange and black jumpsuit with a bright grin on his face. Shisui walked in after him, equally stunned to see the blond but had been forced to gather his bearings when Naruto made to come in.
"Naru-chan!" Madara happily cried as he stood up and pulled the shorter male into a tight bear hug.
"Hi, Uncle Madara." The blond greeted back just as happily and returned the hug. He waved at the stunned family and made his way over to Sasuke before Madara could realize that his younger nephew hadn't made a move to retrieve Naruto, his best friend, from his crazy uncle's evil clutches. However, Sasuke kicked back into gear on instinct when Naruto bent down to hug him, dragging the blond into the seat next to his, almost depositing him on his lap. Naruto let out a not so manly yelp - not that he was girly, or anything, just surprised - but went without protest. He easily snuggled up to Sasuke, as if they had not been enemies for the past few months.
As if they had never been apart.
But then again, they fit like puzzle pieces. Naruto and Sasuke were different as night and day but they were like the sun and the moon, too: they needed each other in ways neither could quite explain. But they didn't need explanations. They had lived like that their whole lives and they didn't need things to change with messy explanations.
But they got messed up anyways and Sasuke would be the world's biggest liar if he were to say that he had not missed being this close to Naruto.
Still, he had to let go at one point and Naruto straightened up as if nothing had happened. He didn't even glance at Sasuke as he sat up, smiling at the people he knew as a second family. Izuna walled over and gave the blond a hug before returning to his seat and Itachi affectionately ruffled his blond hair from across Sasuke, which finally stirred everyone out of their shock.
"Welcome, Naruto-kun." The long haired genius greeted with a fond smile that had Kisame staring a bit longer than quite necessary, looking away only when he felt twin glares from father and younger brother of the object of his attention.
"Thanks, Itachi-nii-chan." The whisker scarred teen rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, always feeling giddy when he came back to the Uchiha household after a long time away from it. Between all the people who lived there, the place changed almost constantly. There was always something new to see and the house always looked like a maze to him, anyway. He may have practically grown up in these halls, but it always felt like he was here for the first time ever if he was away from it for longer than a week. Obito and Shisui loved rearranging furniture, Itachi and Mikoto always bought new books, Fugaku brought home things from his business trips and all of the younger Uchiha used to bring new awards home for this and that. Currently, Itachi held the record but Sasuke was determined to outdo him. "It feels like its been forever since I was last here."
"Yeah, this place does give that impression." Izuna commented with a hum. "So how come you were late? That's not like you, Naru-chan."
"Oh, that." Naruto flapped a hand, as if the rest weren't wondering why he was there in the first place, what with him and Sasuke still not speaking. In fact, they didn't even know how he heard Madara and Izuna were coming over but they weren't going to look a gift horse in the teeth, since it just saved them Madara's wrath. "Tou-chan made a stupid decision regarding Monday and Kaa-chan found out, so I had to accompany him and Kakashi-sensei to Tsunade-baa-chan's clinic to get them patched up. Seems Rin-nee-chan wasn't any less forgiving and to add insult to injury, even Iruka-sensei gave Kakashi-sensei a piece of his mind."
Madara chuckled. "That sure does sound like Kushina-hime." To Madara, that woman might as well be a goddess because she gave birth to his little Naru-chan. He liked Minato, too, but Fugaku was more possessive of his lifelong best friend than Mikoto was of hers so he doted on the redhead rather than the blond man. He had no plans of getting in a fight with one of his younger brothers. Why should he, when he will need the energy for Sasuke, anyway? "And is Minato-chan going to survive?"
"Eh, he'll make it." Karin, Jugo and Suigetsu were gawking at the nonchalant reply as Naruto took a sip of his tea.
"And how is Tsunade-hime-chan?" Izuna asked, wondering how the youngest Senju sibling was fearing.
The eldest Uchiha's eyes narrowed again. "Is that pervert, Jiraiya, still bothering her?"
Naruto laughed, a sound that was dearly missed in the large house. It used to echo off of these walls almost everyday and it was a relief to hear it again. "Actually, Ero-sennin proposed to her! And she said yes!" Mikoto squealed while the males all gawked, having known that, from a very young age, Tsunade had always, always swore that she will never, under no circumstances marry Jiraiya. Seemed things change. "They're planning the date as we speak."
"So do they have any idea when it will be?" Shisui asked and Naruto shook his head.
"No idea. All I know is that only Tou-chan, Shizune-nee-chan and maybe cousin Nagato might know when it will happen, as they will be the witnesses and all that jazz."
"What? A private wedding?" Madara asked in confusion but the blond just shook his head again.
"They want to go to Vegas for their honeymoon, so they agreed they'll have a Vegas wedding."
"Tobirama is not going to like this." Izuna said, already imagining his lover's reaction.
Madara, who was doing the same, snickered. "Nope. Not at all. Especially if she gets married before you two." He dodged the hurled pillow as he laughed at his younger brother's embarrassment.
Fugaku perked up at this. "Tobirama-san proposed?" Izuna nodded and showed off the ring on his finger proudly. It was white gold with a circle of blue diamonds holding a garnet in the middle. Fugaku studied it closely before snorting. "Rather possessive, isn't it?"
Madara snickered again as he started pulling out his phone. "I think it's actually his way of declaring a pissing contest against me, since this is the ring I got Hashirama three months ago." Obito leaned over to see and let out a low whistle as he saw the picture of a black gold band with a ring of rubies and onyxes and then garnets around a small emerald.
"Damn, you don't do tgings halfway, huh."
"How come we didn't hear of this?" Mikoto and Naruto whined but the rest of the family hid their surprise well. They were Uchiha, after all.
Madar shrugged but the conversation was stirred away from that topic by, surprisingly, Sasuke.
"You seem down, dobe." The blond glanced in surprise at the raven haired teen, as did his friends from Oto. They were so used to dragging Sasuke into every conversation that they had thought the antisocial teen incapable of starting up a conversation. "Why?"
"Oh, well, Tou-chan kind of made it so that I can't take any of our frogs to school on Monday, so I have to take my other pet. It's kind of the reason Kaa-chan beat him up." The younger boy replied while scratching his nose. Sasuke narrowed his brow, not understanding the reason why and saying so. "Well, Tou-chan is taking Gamabunta and Ero-sennin and Nagato are taking the other two, Gamakichi and Gamatatsu."
"And why doesn't Nagato take one of his animals?" His friend/rival/enemy demanded with crossed arms. "Doesn't he run the zoo or something? And how come you didn't tell me you had another pet?"
Blue eyes rolled in exasperation. "Do you honestly think a school - even one as crazy as ours - would let a rino in? Not even Gai-sensei is that crazy and Tou-chan got enough of a beating already. And you never asked. Besides, not even my parents knew about him until two years ago."
"So? Your parents didn't know about your broken arm either, but I did. We made a promise to never hide anything from each other, Naruto. I thought never breaking a promise or going back on your word was your 'ninja way'."
That got Naruto railed up before you could blink. "You broke that promise first, asshole! You never told me you were planning on leaving!"
"That happened a year ago. When did you get this mystery pet, Naruto?"
The blond was fuming now. Mostly because he realized Sasuke was right. He had never told anyone about his secret pet, but he had always told Sasuke everything else but that. Mostly because he feared the older boy would try and convince him to get rid of it.
Before they could continue arguing, Mikoto cut in with a horrified voice. "You didn't tell your parents that you had a broken arm!? Okay, Naruto, I can even understand, but you, Sasuke!? Why didn't you tell Minato-kun and Kushina? Or even us!?" Then something dawned on her and she whirled around to face her older son. "Did you know anything about this, Itachi?"
The pony tailed young man just blinked at her dispassionately. "No, Okaa-san. This is actually the first time I'm hearing of this."
"Of course it is. The usuratonkachi made me promise I wouldn't tell anyone." The raven haired teen huffed with crossed arms, exchanging glares with his blond counterpart.
"Wait, so, you guys are really ... like, best friends?" Suigetsu asked, looking confused beyond any other time in his life. "And what's this 'ninja way' or whatever?"
"The Uzumaki, much like the Uchiha, come from a long line of famous ninjas." Izuna said as a way of explanation. "They often married people from other ninja clans or from samurai families. To keep the blood strong or something. It, of course, stopped with the first and second world war, but some traditions stayed the same. Such as the honor of a samurai and the way of the ninja, a path in life we determine to take, or a way we decide to live out all our days. We really live by what we decide."
"Okay, that's awesome and all, but what if the ninja way you decide on is stupid? Then what?" The albino persisted, only to be wacked over the back of his head by Karin. "Ow! What was that for!?"
"For you being stupid!" And while those two continued arguing, Sasuke and Naruto returned to their own fight, glares firmly in place.
"We also made a promise to never leave each other alone and you broke it. It was the most sacred promise we could have made," Sasuke looked away from the blond in shame and regret but he said nothing. He didn't need to. Naruto had more than enough to say. "And you broke it. You would have left without saying a word. You wouldn't have even said goodbye. I thought we were friends, Sasuke. I considered you my brother."
"But I never considered you mine!" The raven haired boy snapped, shutting Naruto up and leaving them in a rather uncomfortable silence. Good thing they had kept their conversation hushed or else everyone would have heard the cruel sounding words and Sasuke would have had a very pissed off Madara chasing after him.
As it was, it looked like one of their old bickering matches to any observer, so could you really be surprised by the Uchiha clan's head for saying what he said?
"I see you two are still bickering like an old married couple. That's not good. Lovers quarrels are bad for a relationship."
As soon as he heard those words, Sasuke drew as far away from Naruto as he physically could, his back going ramrod rigged. And it wasn't only physically that he withdrew. Itachi, who had noticed his precious little brother's strange reaction from the corner of his eye, looked over fully to study Sasuke and it took him less than a second to notice that the light that had returned to Sasuke's eyes upon seeing Naruto in their home again. He quickly reanalyzed what had been said and done for Sasuke to react like that before it registered and his vision bled red in unadulterated rage.
"YOU!" Everyone jumped at the growled out word and Shisui and Kisame had barely enough time to react when Itachi jumped up, lunging at his older uncle with murder in his eyes. "It was all your fault!"
"Itachi! What has gotten into you?" Fugaku stood up, walking towards his elder son, who was glaring death at a very confused Madara.
"It's his fault!" Itachi hissed, wringing himself free from his two captives, stunning the three teens with the feat. Kisame looked capable of snapping Itachi in half yet the younger man had no trouble matching him in a fight. Fugaku frowned at his son, still not understanding what he was talking about, so the long haired Uchiha decided to clarify. "During his last visit ... What did he say? What did he do?!"
Sasuke was the first to realize what his brother was asking and he looked away. The rest looked even more confused by what was going on but Fugaku wasn't going to stand for this sort of behavior. "Speak clearly, Itachi, or don't speak at all and stop making a scene."
"During his last visit, while I was in the hospital for my last checkup before leaving for therapy, Uncle Madara must have spewed some shit that upset Sasuke!"
"You mean to imply that crazy Uncle Madara is the reason Sasuke went to Oto?" Obito asked in an incredulous manner, staring at his cousin as if he were equally as crazy as his uncle. Itachi sent him a withering glare before heading towards the weapons display, where many a personally crafted swords hung on the wall. He took out one that seemed to stick out from all the rest and quickly unsheathed the katana, pointing its sharp blade towards Madara.
Said man raised an eyebrow and rose to his feet. "You took out your sword of Totsuka. You must be serious if you are challenging me with your prize katana. Totsuka-san spent many, many hours on it."
"I know you go no where without your own Kusanagi sword. Kusanagi-san put much time into his creations as well and you are especially proud of yours." The grayish black haired Uchiha said.
While they were locked in a stare off, Jugo leaned over his friends to look at Naruto. "What's going on?"
"I'm not really sure why," the blond replied with furrowed brows. "But Itachi-nii-chan just challenged Uncle Madara to a duel for honor in true samurai fashion. It usually happens when someone offends a samurai's pride. Itachi-nii-chan isn't a prideful man, so I don't think its something as easily fixed as that."
"They can do that?" Suigetsu asked with wide, astonished eyes.
Karin and Naruto nodded. "It's clan law." The male Uzumaki answered. "And since Senju and Uchiha clans actually founded Konoha two hundred years ago, they can do whatever they want behind closed walls."
"You mean to tell me you guys have a monopoly over the whole city!?" Kisame asked of Shisui while they tried to find an opening to snatch Itachi up again to stop a possible fight. Shiaui shrugged his shoulders but it was Izuna who answered.
"The Senju were the first leaders of the city, the Uchiha were the first law force, the Uzumaki - the Senju's sister clan - were the first record keepers and the Hyuuga, who are in a distant familial relation to the three above mentioned clans, were the first finance managers. Konoha was at first just a big family compound but other clans soon joined and then ordinary folk came along with them. Before you know it, in the span of two decades, Konoha became a village, then a town and now the great, big city it is."
While the two boys were left gawking, Itachi was still glaring at his uncle. Today seemed to be a day of glaring and arguing and no one knew how to stop it. Itachi wasn't a violent person and Naruto and Sasuke apparently weren't quite ready to bury the hatchet quite yet.
Madara stared at his fuming second youngest nephew as he glowered at him. "It's all your fault. My otouto suffered for all those months! I will not forgive you for almost ruining the greate-"
"Nii-san, stop. Please." The silent plea stopped Itachi better than any yelled command could, as it was Sasuke who had uttered it. In a second, Itachi deflated with a deep breath and a long, loud sigh. His katana touched the tatami mats of the family room before Itachi fell on his knees in a deep bow of apology and shame, his forehead touching the floor. His parents stared in wonder, Sasuke's friends were floored, Kisame looked worried and Shisui and Obito shared a frown of concern. While Itachi was nowhere near as prideful as the rest of his family, he had always been the picture of dignity. Madara actually felt guilty that his nephew was sprawled in front of his feet in such a manner.
"I spoke out of turn and acted in an unfitting manner. I apologize."
Madara waved him off. "It's alright. I understand. You are Sasuke's aniki and you feel I have wronged your otouto in some way. I would have done the same in your place, so please get up." Itachi followed suit and moved over to return his katana to its rightful place. The others watched silently as he returned to his place, a new, unusual tension filling the Uchiha household for the rest of the two uncles' visit.
When he finally left the big mansion, Naruto's face hurt like hell from the fake smile he had held up in order to hold in his tears. He should have kept his stupid mouth shut and, if just for a day, he should have pretended that everything was back to the way it had been a year ago, when Sasuke was the possessive, overprotective best friend who would have never let him leave his home until tomorrow afternoon.
But things have changed and, with a heavy heart and wet cheeks, Naruto left his second home without turning to look back.
If he had, he would have seen equally wet pale cheeks staring out of the window after him, wondering if he had chased away his most important person forever.
00000
Monday morning came with a cheery attitude with the sun shinning, the birds singing and Naruto carrying a new, giant backpack on his back. He sighed as he saw his school just up ahead and the people waiting there for him. Beside him, his father chuckled when Gamabunta tensed upon seeing the big white dog known as Akamaru, Kiba's best friend and companion for already four years. On the other side of him, Jiraiya started complaining as his own toad jumped onto his face in fright and he couldn't get it off. His cousin, Uzumaki Nagato, should have already arrived as he had a coffee date with his girlfriend of two years, Konan, one of his zoo collages and his class assistant for, out of all subjects, world politics. They were both aiming for a Nobel's Peace Award this year because of their new program that should make true world peace one step closer to reality.
"Seems like everyone decided to bring in a pet." Minato, an older, spitting image of Naruto except without the whisker scars, said as he observed Sakura with a big white and blue slug, Katsuya, Sai with one of his black mice, and Ino, Hinata, Tenten and Neji with the dogs they borrowed from Kiba's family's shelter. Chouji and Shino were carrying two aquariums that held their butterflies and beetles respectively. Shikamaru, though, was probably going to get a lot of girls' attention with the baby foal he brought along, as his family were the 'forest rangers' and took care of the deers in the forests surrounding Konoha. Girls were already cooing over the cute creature. "I'm so happy."
"Of course they did. You threatened their grades." His son grumbled with an eye roll even as he waved to his friends. He looked back to his father and godfather as he moved towards the group. "I'll see you guys later, then."
"Sure. Just make sure to tell Gaara to keep that rabid raccoon he calls a pet under control." Jiraiya said with a shudder. "That thing must be some demented demon or something."
"Better not let Gaara hear you saying that. You know how he feels about Shukaku!" The younger blond yelled over his shoulder as he reached his friend's group. "Hey, guys. I see everyone managed to get a pet for the day."
"Yeah, yesterday was hectic." Kiba agreed, scratching his dog's ears. "Half of the school came around eight in the morning and the other half came by noon. Seriously, I thought we were going to run out of animals. Well, at least the shelter made some money. We charged them two bucks for each pet."
Chouji let out a whistle. "Wow. You guys sure have made a lot of money." He said as the first bell rang. Most of them groaned, as this meant they had math with what must have been a police - or FBI - interrogation expert, Ibiki-sensei. The man could be downright sadistic and they would rather not find out what pet he had.
"Well, I'll see you guys later." Neji said as he broke off for the gym. "Lee and I have gym class with Gai-sensei and his giant turtle."
"You mean he wasn't kidding about that thing!?" Ino asked in disgust and shock, not believing the law would let a giant turtle - which was pretty endangered on its own - be placed in the custody of someone like Gai-sensei.
Neji rolled his eyes but left without an answer, his silence being enough. They all shook their heads as they made their way through the school, freezing in place when Kisame pushed a giant tank with a baby white shark swimming around it, scaring the shit out of the other students. Some of them even fainted when they saw it and Naruto sweat dropped. Maybe Nagato could have brought in a baby rino.
Naruto shared his first class, art with Deidara-sensei and Sasori-sensei (yes, it was needed because the blond was explosion-prone and easily distracted and only the redhead could deal with him) with Sakura-chan, Shikamaru, Sai and Gaara, with whome he had a deep understanding on a personal level he would rather not talk about now. He was a bit uneasy with how Shukaku tried to get into his bag but thankfully, the fat raccoon was distracted by Sasori's gigantic scorpion and Deidara's koala. Who allowed these people to keep these animals, Naruto and his classmates will never know, but he guessed they were probably kept in secret, much like his own, ehm, pet was. There was just no way Kisame was allowed to keep a shark and Kakuzu-sensei (their economy teacher) a grizzly bear. They were just too insane for such things, despite them still only being babies.
He had his second class still with Shikamaru and Sai, but he also shared it with Suigetsu, who had been quick to gossip about their visit with the Uchiha family, with his piranhas and his cousin, Karin, with her red eyed rabbit, in his older cousin's and his girlfriend's class about different countries politics. People were, of course, looking at him weird for never letting go of his backpack but unless they asked about his pet, he was not showing them. He was forever grateful to Konan for interrupting Suigetsu before he could ask him to show him his pet, but he knew he would run out of luck at some point.
That, of course, didn't stop him from laughing his ass off when his once best friend's fangirls learned that Karin had been at said boy's house and they chased the redhead off in the halls, Suigetsu being dragged away with her.
In his third class, he was stuck with Kiba and Jugo, the later of two being surrounded by colorful, chirping birds while Ero-sennin taught health. Yes, his father was crazy for letting Jiraiya anywhere near anything sex related in a room full of horny teenagers. The rest of the class was spent on the discussion of the many ways to avoid being interrupted during sex by a curious or overprotective pet.
Lunch, however, gave him no break from worrying, as that was when the cat got out of the bag.
Or rather, the fox.
"Shit, dude, you have a fox?!" Kiba asked in excitement as he stared down at the growling creature in his friend's backpack that he had snatched in order to get to the delicious home cooked meal Kushina usually prepared for her beloved only son. "That's so awesome! When did you get it? Is it male or female? How old is it? How come you never told me? And what's up with the crazy red eyes? It makes it look real creepy. Like a demon."
Naruto growled as he tried to take back his bag from his taller friend. He had never thought he would ever do this, but he was cursing his love for ramen right about now as he knew that it had stunted his growth rate. Sasuke the bastard had teased him about it for years but Naruto was stubborn and he never believed him. Well, not until Sasuke outgrew him by three and a half inches. "Kiba, give me back my damned fox!"
"No way, dude!" Kiba joked,,dangling the very pissed off woodland creature high above their heads. He was an inch and a half taller than Naruto and he lorded it over the blond's head like he was a basketball player. He saw Sai a few feet away and decided to further tease his shorter friend. "Hey, Sai! Think fast!"
The pale boy had no trouble catching the yelping fox and then throwing it back to Kiba in a game of keep away when Naruto tried to get it back. A few minutes into this, Lee joined in on the fun, as did Gaara's two years older brother, Kankuro, who was almost whole four inches taller than the blond. Sakura and Ino were scolding the boys for their childish behavior and terrifying the poor animal while the rest of their class laughed at Naruto's misfortune. They were so focused on their fun that they didn't notice a certain scowling, dark haired boy enter their classroom.
That is, until that same boy punched Sai to the ground and caught the bag with the now dizzy fox in it. Everyone fell silent when they realized who it was. Naruto couldn't help but stare. After all, it had been a year and some weeks since the last time Uchiha Sasuke had stood up for him. And he made quite the sight with a six foot long, purple snake wrapped around his shoulders and left arm and a magnificent maroon hawk on his right shoulder, both animals staring curiously at the orange creature now in their master's arms while said master was glaring down at Sai. Sasuke had a sneer on his face as he passed the boy on the ground on his way to Naruto. Kiba hid behind Hinata while Lee looked ready to put his famous speed to good use and bail while he still had the chance.
Everyone else had turned to look away, pretending not to have just been laughing at the blond boy. They knew they were in deep shit now. As far as they knew - or could guess - Naruto and Sasuke had finally had a little heart to heart and had made up. To them, the scene before them - Sasuke helping out Naruto - made perfect sense. After all, that's what best friends do for each other.
They didn't know that things were still bad between them.
Sasuke stopped right in front of Naruto and gently thrust the backpack into his arms, making sure not to further aggravate or injure the should be wild animal inside. "Here, dobe."
Naruto quickly took his pet back and ran a worried eye over him before sighing in relief and cuddling the fox to his face much to its - and Sasuke's - displeasure. "Thanks, teme." The blond whispered with a slight blush while looking up at Sasuke through his thick, long eyelashes. Sasuke cleared his throat and instead looked down to the fox he had just saved.
"So I'm guessing this is the pet you never told me about? Hope it was worth it."
The Uzumaki seemed to shrink in on himself but prowled on, a familiar determination filling his gaze. "I couldn't tell you because of certain reasons I had hoped to explain when we were alone, about a year ago. You would have been the first person I would have told had Kaa-chan not stumbled upon him about five months before that."
"Well, I'm all ears now."
"Yeah, you and half of Konoha, too." And indeed, when they looked around, they saw quite a few people quickly averting their gazes and, once again, pretending they weren't taking part in the conversation what so ever. Sasuke glared at them and grabbed a hold of the slightly younger boy's hand, intending to drag him to the roof top where they could talk in private when the bell signaling the end of the lunch break rang, making Sasuke growl. Naruto chuckled at his classmate's reaction before gently taking back his wrist. "I'll tell you the whole story later. For now, Sasuke," he lifted the bag until black eyes met strangely red feline ones. "Meet Kurama. I found him when I was four and kept him secret since then.''
Sasuke looked at the fuzzy creature and sighed before gesturing to his own two pets. ''These are Aoda,'' he pointed to the hissing reptilian on his shoulders and Naruto looked fascinated by its color. ''And this is Taka.'' Said hawk ruffled his feathers before cocking its head to the side to look at Naruto. ''I got them both sometime during the last ten months. First Aoda, then Taka about two months ago.'' He was gliding his fingers over the snake's scales, making the creature hiss happily. Some of the kids near him flinched away and Naruto couldn't help but snicker.
''Seems you have found the right pet to drive away your fangirls.''
''Not really. They've all asked him, three times each, to stroke his snake.'' The suggestive comment from the newly arrived Suigetsu had Naruto chocking on his saliva and Sasuke glaring over at the albino with a disheveled looking Karin right behind him.
''Then perhaps mine and Minato-sensei's plan is working.'' Suigetsu and Karin jumped out of their sin in fright while both Sasuke and Naruto looked bored at the sudden arrival of Kakashi along with his little orange book and a pack of eight dogs trailing behind him, ranging from the little Pakkun they had all seen him walking around with to the giant Bull. Some of the ids in the classroom paled when they saw all of those dogs, as they had heard rumors that those dogs were highly trained military or FBI or police or something like that. ''You seem to be closer.''
Sasuke and Naruto, of course, had realized this was one of their families' crazy plans to get them to go back to being friends. Naruto had realized it as soon as Minato had asked him if he was going over to the Uchihas on Saturday and so he had decided to get his revenge by telling his mom just what sort of devious plan her husband had come up with. Sasuke had realized as soon as Kakashi had stated the purpose of the whole ''exercise'' on Friday. And while they had both taken sadistic pleasure in the two men getting beat up by their wife/best friend/lover, they were secretly thankful to them and had decided to give it their best for it to actually be successful.
''Alright now, class. Let's have a little introduction of your little friends. Alphabetic order.'' And so began the more interesting half of their day with three to four more classes to go. There was a little commotion when Karin realized she wouldn't be sitting with Sasuke because they were going according to the old records, where Sasuke and Naruto used to be one after the other in the role-call. Of course, both teenage boys knew that those were all updated when Karin, Suigetsu and Jugo joined their homeroom class, but hey, it gave them a chance to get their friendship back on track and it saved Sasuke from Karin's fangirling and flirting.
When it was Naruto's turn, he took up his backpack and walked towards where Sasuke had just been showing off his pets, when Kakashi said something that made him freeze on the spot. ''Naruto, please leave the backpack behind. We must see your pet clearly.'' The blond looked up at him with horrified eyes and Sasuke would have sworn that the fox looked ... strangely worried. And angry, but the animal somehow always looked angry.
''Ano, is that really necessary?''
The silver haired teacher nodded firmly and Naruto sighed but complied, although he was still shielding the forest creature with his body from the est of the class. However, Sasuke and Kakashi's eyes nearly fell out of their heads when they saw the nine bushy tails of the fox in Naruto's arms and the rest of the classrooms occupants followed suit, along with a lot of gawking and jaw dropping, when they caught sight of it.
Naruto pretended he didn't see it and instead focused on his best friend's face as he introduced his pet. ''This is Kurama. He is a fox I found near a recently police-raided illegal experimental lab. They were trying to make new spies out of animals or something. You must have heard of it, it's been in the news for three years about twelve years ago. Kurama was their only successful project but he ran away. The mutations they forced his body through in order to give him a higher sense of consciousness had the side-effect of multiplying his tail. There were eight other specimens but all failed and died except one that was killed because the side-effects were even worse. Personality wise, as his tail didn't multiply. I am keeping Kurama ... illegally, I guess.'' The tanned arms tightened around the orange fuzz ball and the fox looked up to its owner. ''They did their best to find him. The government and the ... remains of their ... ROOT's free men. Their leader, Danzo, is still in prison - he's charged for life, but he had a lot of followers and they are still looking for their one remaining specimen. Especially since it was the only successful one. For this reason, I kept Kurama hidden. A secret I didn't tell anyone. For twelve years. I guess what I'm saying is ... Please let it remain a secret.''
And please forgive me for never telling you, is what Naruto's cerulean eyes screamed to Sasuke in clear desperation as they stared into his own onyx ones. And after hearing what he did, Sasuke guessed he could see where Naruto was coming from. The creature had obviously suffered enough at the hand of the scientist who had put it through mutation in the first place, but the government would do anything for a successful animal spy the size of a small cat like Kurama was. And the usuratonkachi must have grown fond of it and gotten attached pretty fast if he had went to such lengths to protect it. 'I just wish he had shared his burden with me.'
But Sasuke also knew that he would have insisted for his slightly younger friend to leave the fox behind if he found out. Back then, when they were so young and each other's only friend, Sasuke could become a real mother hen in a matter of seconds regarding the blond. He had been possessive, protective and jealous of any attention not directed at him by his friend. One of the reasons he always fought with his crazy uncle Madara. Naruto would have been his first priority. He would have called the animal dangerous, and not just because it was supposed to be a wild animal. It could have been filled with toxins and radiation and he wouldn't have risked Naruto's health for its continued life.
In the end, Naruto had known how he would react and he acted according to that. He saved the fox's life and continued looking after it for years all on his own, learning responsibility and not to be so naive as to believe what the government was saying about finding it a good place to live. Maybe the furry creature had been a good influence on the usually naive and clueless boy.
''I can't believe that you out of all people found something that important.'' Sai broke the silence as he regarded the blond with a strange look in his black eyes. Sasuke didn't like it. It was not a look one friend should give another. It looked as if Sai was itching to reach for a phone or something and ... do what? ''If you had told me just a few months earlier, I would have reported it to Danzo-sama. But a few months ago, Yamato-sensei started the process of removing the post hypnotic suggestion he put on me when I was a kid and now I just have to fight old habbits.''
''You are Danzo's spy?!'' The horrified blond shrieked, clutching his pet closer to his chest and Sasuke took a step in front of the fox and his master. ''Is that why you befriended me?!''
''No, it's why I approached you ... subconsciously. I befriended you because you gave me a new view on the world at large. I can confidently say that you are my first friend, dickless. When Yamato-sensei, my psychiatrist, realized I was brain washed, he immediately told me and I agreed to the removal process. It was a strong hypnotism, done by a really good psychiatrist.'' The art lover paused before looking apologetically at the blond. ''Sorry I never told you.''
''Stop calling me diskcless and we'll be even.'' Naruto was an opportunist if nothing else.
''Sure thing, penisless!''
''Hey!''
''Naruto, does Minato-sensei even know about how you got Kurama?'' Kakashi broke in with the serious question and Naruto rubbed the back of his head.
''Um, he didn't ... until my Kaa-chan found Kurama two years ago. That was actually the reason I didn't come to school for an entire month I was grounded and we had to make arrangements for Kurama. Like, real arrangements.'' The blond shrugged at the confused looks he got. ''My Tou-chan found out that Kurama is supposed to grow to the size of a horse by the time he turns twenty and he was three months old when I found him. He's supposed to live, like, over a hundred years. By the time's e's forty, he's supposed to be as big as a baby elephant. By eighty, they said he should be about the size of a two story building.''
''Cool!'' Most of the guys were in awe at this and the fox snorted at their reactions, which got him a strange look from Sasuke, who seems to be the only one to have noticed the reaction.
''And he's supposed to grow as strong as a tiger by the time he's turned fifteen, which is gonna be pretty soon. By eighteen, he's supposed to be stronger than a rhino. By twenty five, he should be able to bend steal with his bare paws.'' The blond continued in this fashion for a few more minutes before Kakashi decided enough was enough and sent both boys to their seats, which were to be by each other during this class.
There was a tense silence between them as they watched the rest present their own pets, but most of the attention was now directed at the fox now comfortably lying on his master's head. Surprisingly enough, it was Sasuke who broke it. ''I understand.''
Naruto's head whipped to the side to face Sasuke and his eyes widened when he saw Sasuke already looking at him with a serious face and understanding eyes. ''Sasuke?''
''I understand. And I'm not angry.'' The Uchiha said. ''And you were right. I had no right to get angry like I had on Saturday. I broke a far more 'sacred promise we made than you did and for a a far stupider reason, too.''
''Sasuke,'' Naruto whispered with kind eyes this time but Sasuke wasn't done.
''This isn't the best time for me to tell you this, but I left because I panicked. Itachi was right. Uncle Madara had something to do with it in his last visit, but I freaked out instead of thinking about it clearly. I thought ... If I got away from you for a while, these feelings would go away or just settle. I feared they would scare you away if you found out or that you might, for some stupid reason, be disgusted and not want to do anything with me. Stupid, I know.'' The paler of the two childhood friend chuckled with no humor in his tone. ''You, who have always cared for me, no matter what shit I pulled or said or did, to react in such a way because of something as natural as love ... Kami, where was my brain those days.''
''L-Love?'' A very flushed but also very confused Uzumaki asked, his blue eyes wide as he leaned closer to Sasuke. The Uchiha followed his lead unconsciously and the two kept drawing closer together until their noses were practically bumping into each others' and their breaths were mingling. ''Sasuke?''
The owner of the snake and the hawk chuckled, nuzzling his friend's nose in an Eskimo kiss. ''I thought I was the one with the one word sentences?'He teased, enjoying Naruto's pout. ''But yes. Love.''
''Love.'' Naruto repeated, closing his eyes and leaning even closer to the friend he had thought he had lost forever. He tilted his head slightly, Kurama jumping to the table and staring at the two boys who seemed to have forgotten just where they were. Luckily for them, Gaara's raccoon was making a scene again and everyone was paying attention to that instead of the two friends.
''Naruto, I lo-''
RIINNNGGG!
Both boys jumped away from each other when the damned school bell rang to signal the end of the class. Many kids cheered as they ran out of the room and Kakashi sighed as he had to stop reading his porn in order to go to his next class. His eight dogs happily trailed after him, although Bull stopped to sniff at Kurama, only to run away when the fox growled at him with his nine tails fanned out behind him. Naruto turned back to say something to his friend but Sasuke had already picked up his things and left, hurrying to their next class, which just so happened to be with Orochimaru. Blue eyes watched in confusion and hurt at the back of that duck's butt hairstyle before he sighed and picked up Kurama, preparing for the hell that this one class will be.
As he expected, biology with Orochimaru of the three Legendary Sannin was hell. The Sannin were the best academics beside he Uchihas in the past thirty years of education. But since Itachi was the first Uchiha in the teaching system, Orochimaru, Jiraiya and Tsunade were considered the leading force in the academics systems all over the world. They dominated the biology department, especially anatomy and all have a great number of awards. Other than Itachi - and Sasuke, who was following his steps but in the field of business and management - the only other person who seemed to be challenging their position was Minato, who was finishing his third doctorate. He'll be surpassing Jiraiya with it and for Tsunade he would need two more. For Orochimaru, he would only need one more doctorate and one research paper before he himself became the leading force in academics, even though it wouldn't be in biology but in history, philosophy, physiology and politics. Tsunade had great hopes for her personal assistant, Shizune, and Sakura, who she took in as an apprentice, to follow in her footsteps and Orochimaru had Kabuto, his own personal assistant, although he had tried to get both Uchiha brothers to follow after him, too. He tried to get out of Konoha by opening his own school in a smaller town, like Oto, but you already saw how that ended. When he returned to Konoha, their status as the strongest school got confirmed for who knows which time. Only this time, they had Itachi, an Uchiha, as a teacher, too, and that got them quite a bit more popularity. Orochimaru was still trying to get Sasuke to be his apprentice but Sasuke had other plans for his future.
Orochimaru was still the same freak he was before. He didn't surprise Sasuke when he walked in with a ten foot long poisonous (although its fangs were blocked) snake that he called Manda, who only seemed to like Sasuke. Yes, not even Orochimaru. Just Sasuke. It used to frustrate Kabuto and Orochimaru that a complete stranger got more love and respect from the gigantic reptilian instead of them, who had practically raised the creature since it looked almost like an oversizes worm. The snake lover spent the entire class trying to get Kurama's fur or saliva to get a closer look at his mutated genes and he only stopped when Sasuke called Manda - who had been wrapped around the long haired teacher's neck at the time - and Orochimaru nearly got strangled when the big snake tried to get to its favorite person. Naruto was left confused with why Sasuke was still helping him if he was avoiding him, but the Uchiha didn't even look up from where his snake was glaring at the bigger, older snake while he pet one with each hand while reading some paper on his table while his friends from Oto chattered around him. His hot and cold attitude was starting to really get on the blond's nerves.
Then the final class of the day came and Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Shikamaru, Shino, Kiba, Hinata, Sai, Ino, Karin, Suigetsu and Jugo found themselves staring at the red eyes of Itachi's pet crow, Mangekyo. Said man was currently glancing between his uncle's favorite ''nephew'' and his own precious little brother, who both seemed to be casting glances in the other's direction ever few seconds.
''Hey, Itachi-sensei?'' Sai called, interrupting his observation of the two teens and bringing his attention to the always smiling black haired boy that seriously creped even him out with his often times fake smiles and his great resemblance to Sasuke. ''Is it true that crows are extremely intelligent and can even learn to talk?''
And as if on que, Naruto and Sasuke groaned inusion, making the elder Uchiha chuckled. Ah, how he loved answering that question. ''Why, yes they are and yes they can. Mangekyo here is actually so smart that he can teach whole lessons all on his own.''
''I don't believe you.'' Karin said immediately, making Saskue want to join Naruto in hitting his head against his table. ''I mean, sure, you can teach a bird to repeat a few sentences but you can't teach it to really talk.''
Itachi crossed his arms and leaned against the edge of his desk. ''How about we make a bet. You can ask my crow anything you want and if it can't answer, I will give you all an A right here and right now. However, if he can ... You and Naruto will change seats for the rest of the semester. We have a deal?''
''You're on!'' Suigetsu and Kiba, who suck at philosophy, answered instead of Karin but she just nodded, glaring at her cousin, who was exchanging a look with Sasuke.
''Troublesome,'' Nara said as he went back to sleep, causing Ino to roll her eyes.
''So who's going to ask the question?'' Sakura asked and Itachi shrugged.
''As far as I am concerned, you can each ask Mangekyo one question and if he can't answer, then you win. Sasuke, you write down how many he answers correctly.''
''Would you like me to write that up right now or to pretend that I don't know the outcome already?'' The younger of the brothers asked with clear sarcasm in his voice.
''Third grade, Valentines day, color pink.'' Sasuke paled as his elder brother arched a fine black eyebrow. ''Must I say any more.''
''I hate you,'' the moody brother ground out while taking out a clean sheet of paper and a pencil, ready to write down the score. And for the next fifteen minutes, he wrote check after check as each of his classmates asked the damned crow a question and it answered. Seriously, Sasuke had been slightly freaked out when he had first heard Itachi debating philosophy with his crow five years back but he shouldn't have been so surprised. Itachi had that crow since it had hatched and its mother was killed by the neighbor's cat. He talked to it every day as he fought for its life and then when it was old enough, Itachi started teaching it things that a normal crow should know. Turns out, Mangekyo was just as much of a prodigy as Itachi was and master and pet became almost inseparable. So when Mangekyo was seven months old, he surprised everyone when he started making broken sentences in a raspy sounding voice. Itachi immediately started teaching it to talk and a few months later, Mangekyo talked better than most humans did before the age of six. A couple of more months of practice and Mangekyo was equal to the most educated scholars all over the world. And then the Uchiha family realized Mangekyo wasn't exactly an ordinary crow because he didn't just repeat sentences he heard, but he made his own. They were still not sure if Mangekyo had a definite thinking pattern but the bird could make its own sentences and could answer questions about anything that it has been thought about, so Itachi started teaching it all sorts of things, starting with ancient Greek philosophy. Naruto and Sasuke, had of course, been turned into guinea pigs by asking the crow questions every other week and they stopped being stunned with its intellect and memory capacity after three months. Long story short, Mangekyo really could teach lessons on his own.
And that's why the class were all left speechless when they ran out of questions. Itachi chuckled at the expressions on their faces before taking Mangekyo onto his forearm and the bird started preening when he pet its head. ''Are you satisfied?''
''Sure, I guess.'' Suigetsu muttered while he started shooing Karin out of her seat. The redhead wasn't exactly agreeable with this new arrangements but a deal was a deal and she left her seat with a glare as Naruto and Kurama came over. The black eyes of the older Uchiha brother focused on the fox that was now sitting on Naruto's right shoulder as it warily observed the crow's master.
''So, Naruto-kun, this is the pet you never told anyone about?'' He looked at the animal's nine tails with a raised eyebrow. ''Never expected it to be like this.''
''Ano, Kurama isn't exactly my pet.''
''What do you mean by that, Naruto-kun?'' Both Uhciha brothers were now staring at the blond, along with the rest of the class. ''If it's not a pet, then what is it?''
''He's a bit more like a friend, a partner even.'' The way he stressed the gender alerted Itachi that there was, indeed, something more to the fox than Naruto first showed. He had noticed that it had far too much awareness in its eyes, even more so than Mangekyo, who could all but think for himself. 'I wonder?'
''I do't think you can consider it a partner. Partners are people, because a partner should help you learn and improve. A fox can't be a partner.'' He saw that the orange animal's left eyebrow and most of his tails were twitching but still not the extent of a reaction he had wanted. Close, but not quite there. Time to go for a hit below the belt: intelligence. ''They're not intelligent enough creatures.''
In a second, an orange blur attached itself to him with sharp claws, ruining his dress shirt as two ruby red eyes glared at him and a snarl escaped the fox's lips. ''Listen here, bastard, I am not dumb!''
Despite the shock he could feel freezing his entire body in place at the low, rumbling voice that escaped the fox's mouth, Itachi knew his mouth was still working because he could feel his lips stretch into a smirk and then opening. ''Perhaps, but you seem to be gullible.''
Kurama growled louder before he was yanked back by the scruff of his neck by a big, blue hand and brought to dangle at Kisame's side as the bigger man looked down at his younger college. Itachi blinked in surprise, only now noticing that the doors to the classroom had opened and that the larger man had run in. For a big guy, he sure could move like a ninja. ''Itachi-san, are you okay?''
Itachi ignored his little brother's snort as he and Naruto came over to take Kurama back, whom Sasuke then stared at with acute interest while Naruto looked like he wanted the earth to open up and swallow him. ''Yes, I am fine, Kisame. Thank you for coming in, although it wasn't really necessary.''
''Oh, it's nothing, really. And I know you are stronger than you look, Itachi-san. After all, even with Shisui-san, we barely restrained you on Saturday. I honestly thought you'd kill your uncle.''
''I was pretty close to it,'' the usually peaceful male answered, getting a glare from Sasuke. He had not wanted Itachi to find out, just because he was so overprotective. ''Don't you have class now?''
''Some idiot put their pet fish in the pool and the poor things died from the chlorine in the water, contaminating it. I had to dismiss the class and take a traumatized kid to Tsunade-sama, who wasn't very happy with us.'' Kisame explained, crossing his arms and doing his best not to stare at the younger man. ''So after that, I thought I could visit you and see what sort of pet you have. Rumors were circling the school that you have a genius bird that can talk or something.''
Itachi chuckled as he pointed to Mangekyo. ''Ah, yes. I was jut showing off how smart he was a few minutes ago. You missed it.''
''Damn,'' Kisame playfully cursed, making black eyes roll in fond exasperation. They turned curious when Kisame shifted a bit in hi place, making Itachi cock his head in confusion. ''Um, maybe you could show him off again? Over coffee or something?''
Itachi opened his mouth to answer but Sasuke beat him to it. ''He would love to. Right, nii-san?'' The elder frowned at his brother but nodded anyway, not really having to try to hide his pleasure at the date.
''But aside from Mangekyo, it would seem we have another talker.'' Itachi looked over to the fox pouting in Naruto's arms. At the arched eyebrows he received from both Uchiha brothers, Naruto fidgeted in his place while trying to glare at them.
''What? I told you he went through mutation! And who knows what else they did to him, but he ended up the perfect spy, which means he can talk and think like a human! So what?''
''I think I understand why Minato-sama and Kakashi-san looked so beat up when I saw them earlier.'' Kisama replied, as he didn't really know how bad Kushina's temper was or how violent Iruka could turn on their respective husband/lover.
''They look fine in comparison to what they had looked like Saturday morning,'' Kurama said with a snort, once again getting stares from the humans except Naruto. He got annoyed with them in seconds and growled at them. ''What?! You got a problem with me being smarter than you?''
''Hmph, as if!'' Kiba protested this time and Sasuke had a bad feeling this was going to be the same as with Mangekyo just minutes earlier.
A strange gleam entered the red eyes as he wriggled out of Naruto's grip. Kurama easily landed on the floor with a small flip in the air as he faced the students. ''Then let's make a deal. You all ask me a question like you did the bird earlier and if I don't know one, you guys get that A anyway.'' The teens cheered at once again having an opportunity to get a good grade the easy way. ''But if I can answered everything correctly ...'' He trailed off, looking up at the whisker scarred teen, who was staring at him in something akin to panic.
''Kurama, don't you dare!''
But Kurama only smirked as he locked gazes with the younger Uchiha next. Sasuke frowned at the gleam in his eyes and glared when the fox snickered. Just what did he find so funny? Uchihas were not funny. ''But if I do answer everything correctly ... Sasuke and Naruto have to kiss.''
A moment of silence filled the room before Sasuke's fan club made an uproar. The girls, however, were outshouted by the guys eager for an easy grade, making Itachi wince at the noise and Kisame to just stare at the talking forest creature, still not believing it could talk. Naruto was flustered but Sasuke looked oddly ... pleased with the suggestion.
''But why should Sasuke-kun be punished!?'' One of said brunet's fangirls shouted, making Kurama roll his eyes.
''And they call us vultures? So not fair,'' the fox mumbled to himself but everyone heard him and the girls looked highly offended while the males were trying not to laugh too loudly. Some of them had girlfriends in the room and would rather not hear an earful later. ''And it is because I said so. Since my idiotic 'owner' can't seem to find the courage to confess and the Uchiha is too stupid to realize that they both like each other, I have to play matchmaker, something I really hate. Seriously, people'd think I was some lonely middle aged woman or something.''
''You like me?'' That brought everyone's attention back to the two best friends, only for most of them to blush when they saw that Sasuke had apparently not waited the end of Kurama's speech to approach the blushing blond. Naruto, backed against Itachi's desk, was looking anywhere but at Sasuke, trying to will his blush away but with no luck. Aoda and Taka were hurriedly thrust at Itachi and Kisame, the snake hissing at the blue man while Taka cuddled up to Mangekyo, having grown up next to the crow and feeling comfortable around him.
''S-so?''
Sasuke snorted, pecking Naruto's lips, making the younger teen look at him in shock. ''Dobe.'' And before Naruto could protest the nickname, his lips were too busy with a demanding Sasuke's as the Uchiha kissed the hell out of him, making his knees go weak. But both boys ignored the sudden noise around them as the girls wailed at the loss of their Sasuke-kun (although some were cheering, as they were secret Yaoi fans) and the boys threw out cat calls and wolf whistles. They even ignored Kurama's muttered ''Finally!'', too focused on each other and the sensations their lips' meeting was causing. Itachi just smiled while Kisame oh so discretely (not) wrapped an arm around the elder brother's shoulders. The Uchiha didn't move away and they just stayed like that, watching as Sasuke finally let the blond breathe and the two boys joined their foreheads together, staring deep into the other's eyes.
By the still wide open door, Minato and Kakashi exchanged a look. ''I would seem that Operation: Get Sasuke and Naruto To Make Up is a success, Minato-sensei.''
''I'm glad It was a real risky move to make Naruto bring Kurama out like that.'' The blond headmaster said, staring with a small smile at the happy gleam finally back in his son's eyes. It had been subdued ever since the day he found out Sasuke might have a new best friend in Oto. ''But it seems it was worth it and everything will be well. You were right. Sharing such important secrets mended the bridges they have burned. I think it even made their bond ten times stronger''
Kakashi smiled behind his weird mask.
''I told you Bring Your Pet to School Day would be a good idea.''