Title: Gaijin in Tokyo
Synopsis: After days of pestering by his insistent mother, Naruto Namikaze decides to go on a father-son trip with his workaholic father, Minato Namikaze, the leader of the largest technology company in the Western hemisphere. However, the spring break that was supposed to be spent in Fiji finds the two in Japan to aid Minato's booming business. To Naruto, this was the last straw and he was set on staying in his hotel room the entire time til he returned home at the end of the week after which he would never attempt another 'bonding trip' with his father again. However, when Minato is short a member in his group- a Japanese lawyer- he immediately looks towards his son for assistance. Although he was only two-thirds Japanese, Naruto had a degree in law and was the closest Minato was going to get to Japanese lawyer in time to close this meeting, only, it seemed to all be futile… Naruto was completely American. But one thing Naruto knew was he never backed down from a challenge and when Sasuke Uchiha- the Vice President of Uchiha Inc- believes that there is no chance of him being a Japanese man, Naruto rises to the challenge with ulterior motives of his own. It might include future Citrus, language (that might be considered offensive to others), highly improbable feats, and obsessing over faces, hair, and rear ends (along with other animate and/or inanimate objects).
Chapter Rating: T+ for various curse words and maybe a few (totally necessary) jokes
Warning: This story is rated M for continuous usage of mature language (whether that be curse words, sexual innuendos or whatever comes to mind) and for future Citrus scenes between two male characters. You are being warned, so you flag this story and I will find you and sue you until you are as broke as me!
Disclaimer: I don't own any characters mentioned nor do I get paid for doing this. All credit goes to its original creators, whether that is Masashi Kishimoto or any other author whose permission I receive. Also, the personalized page breaks that I use are created by Rizember and in order to use them, I have received permission from her as all should do.
Beta Status: Currently being betaed by Dobe-14. If there are any mistakes that we missed please leave me a message in my inbox or in a review.
Dedication: This lovely story is the composition of hundreds of plot bunnies fueled by Dobe-14 and Rizember. You guys are amazing!
"quotes"
'thoughts'
Japanese
"Final call for the flight boarding to San Diego in terminal six. I repeat..."
I ignored the sickeningly sweet sound of the female voice that echoed throughout the crowded airport as bodies continued to shuffle around me, only a few noting my presence. 'He's part of the Italian mafia on his way to the safe house he has in Manhattan after killing the head of the rival family.'
Indeed, I was staring at a broad-shouldered man who looked fairly Italian (not like I could actually tell the difference between Italians and tanned bulky guys), as he glared at a considerably smaller guy that was unlucky enough to be walking next to him.
Both were wearing Giovanni suits that were made with the finest material and dyed a flawless black to accentuate their massive frames and terrifying looks. 'She's a school teacher who makes ends meet while working at a hostess bar and a second bar that specializes in erotic fantasies,' I continued, staring wistfully at a brunette that was gorgeous and would totally be my type in another universe (you know, one where I wasn't more gay then straight with a slim list of girls I was willing to date).
'Now that one is a looker…' I whistled in appreciation as I ogled at a dirty-blonde bend over, forgetting the all-important rule to bend at the knees.
Without warning, I'm forced forward in my seat, pain spreading through the back of my head. "What the fuck?"
A second hit connected with the same part of my head pushing me off the chair completely and onto the floor- anything to prevent me from getting hit again. "You should at least not be so obvious when you're checking out someone's ass, un," a voice growled from behind me.
Turning around, I glared at my best friend- and current loathed enemy. "Deidara? What is wrong with you?"
The blonde merely shrugged before holding out a hand, "You were checking out that girl's ass."
Taking it, I clenched my teeth, wincing at the pain that flared through my skull, "And your point is? Jeez, what type of friend are you?"
"One who doesn't like their little brother checking out some random slut he sees in an airport, un," he added, inspecting his black-painted nails before smirking.
"Oh the ways I could kill you right now," I growled, snatching my hand out of his grasp, "Why are you here anyway?"
The blonde stepped back in mock horror, "You mean… you don't want me to see you off on your trip to paradise with your father?"
"Now what ever gave you an idea like that," I snapped in return, rubbing the tender part on my head.
"Oh, Naru-chan! You do care!"
I narrowed my eyes and clenched my fist, ready to connect it to his smug jaw; always one-step ahead of me, Deidara moved forward, successfully grabbing my wrist and twisting my hand behind my back: "Now do tell, what you were going to use that for, un."
"Just going to say 'hi'," I hissed out as he pulled my arm farther back (the sadistic bugger), "Since I know how much you enjoy these little skirmishes of ours."
His dark blue eyes glinted visibly as he gave my arm a sharp tug, "You're right, bro. However, it's not much fun if I always win."
I leaned forward and brought my head back in one swift movement, connecting instantly with his jaw and successfully forcing him to lose grip on my arm. As I stumbled forward, I threw my leg out clumsily to kick him across his chest as he staggered back, a grin on my face when he fell onto the floor. "What was that you were saying about winning, brother?"
He glared up at me, one hand covering his chin while the other worked to prop himself up. A small group of people had stopped to stare at us, but quickly disbanded when I turned a warning glare in their direction. "Why are you on the floor Deidara?" a condescending tone announced from behind me.
I stiffened, quickly turning my smug look of satisfaction into an emotionless façade before turning to stare into the slightly darker shade of blue eyes and matching vibrant blonde hair that adorned the man before me. "Father…" I said, acknowledging him.
He nodded to me as well before redirecting his gaze back at Deidara, who was just now managing to get up, rubbing his jaw experimentally to make sure that I didn't cause any long-term damage. "Sorry, Namikaze-san; it won't happen again."
My father's frown deepened for a moment before he nodded his hesitant approval, only to be pushed aside by a redhead woman with vibrant violet eyes. "Minato, you're not terrorizing the boys again, are you?" she asked, shooting me a grin.
He opened his mouth to answer, but was immediately interrupted by a loud ringing that originated from his pocket where I knew his cell phone was. He simultaneously dismissed us, flipped open his phone and walked away, beginning to talk on the sleek black device. "I wonder when he had the surgery," Deidara murmured, poking me in the side with his elbow, "You know, the one that surgically attached the Bluetooth to his ear."
I ignored him, jabbing him in the side unnecessarily hard before my mother leveled a stern gaze on us. 'Here we go again…'
"You two need to learn to stop these pointless fights you have."
"Mikoto-baa-chan! Naruto threw the first punch and besides, it's just some fun!"
"It's only fun until someone gets hurt!" she complained.
"Yeah, then it's hilarious…" I muttered under my breath to the comical humor of Deidara who immediately sprung out in laughter, ignoring Kushina's irritated look.
"Mom, you know we've been fighting each other since we were kids, so there is no cause for alarm. And plus we're really good about making sure most of the bruises aren't visible."
"He's gotten that down to an art, but he's horrible at hiding evidence and that's where hydrocyanic acid comes into play," Deidara grinned at me.
"When any type of acid is used, it leaves evidence," my mom said, clearly finding the change of subject as unentertaining as I did.
"It does when you mix it with a combination of LIN, sodium phosphate chlorine, and acetaminophen."
Turning a questioning gaze to me, she looked for an answer; I was already prepared with one, having explained his chemical rants many times before, "Liquid nitrogen, a phosphorous chlorine mixture and aspirin."
Deidara's grin widened more as if he was proud that he had created a bomb that would cleanly handle any mess. "How exactly…" she began clearly distressed.
Immediately, the elder blonde jumped on the opportunity a grin plastered on his face as if he had won the lottery. "Simple really, because it was actually Naruto who discovered this, un! You see, we already knew that liquid nitrogen evaporated with no visible evidence left, but we wanted to combine that with the explosive properties of hydrocyanic acid. The only problem with that is mixing it while the LIN is still in liquid form. And that led us to look at various medications since they usually…"
Tuning out Deidara's rant- and with years of experience at such a feat with the help of Shikamaru- I turned to glance at my father who seemed to be in the middle of a tyrannical rant. His blonde hair was a shade lighter than my own and his dark blue eyes were nowhere near as expressive- leaving the first impression he had on others cold and indifferent. Although he was good looking, he never had the time to do anything other than work, but…
'I can at least understand him not having time for… life.'
"Naruto, honey…?"
When I turned back around, Deidara was once again on the floor- nursing a bruised head- and my mother was staring back at me with violet eyes that were dark with worry. She was still wearing the same high-collared, loose fitting dress with a green apron over it from this morning- mistakenly leaving it on when we had left the house in her rush to see us off when she was busy cooking breakfast. "Still having second thoughts, huh?"
Rolling my eyes, I nervously ran a hand through my spiky blonde hair before answering, making sure that I left out any unnecessary statements that might get me smacked and on lockdown for the remainder of Spring Break, "It would only be considered a second thought if I had agreed to this in the first place."
'Well that plan is blown to shit.'
"Seriously kid, you have a long way to go," Deidara sighed as he appeared next to me, draping his arm across my shoulder, "This is where you look back on the past week and when your mother asks you if you wanted to fix your relationship with your father, you kindly say, 'I don't give a damn.'"
I stared at him incredulously for a moment before shrugging out of his reach, deciding that it would be too troublesome to start fighting him again. 'Great, now I'm starting to sound like Shikamaru.'
"You really don't have to come," Kushina said for the seventh time that day in a tone that clearly suggested that if I stayed my punishment would be much worse than just spending a week with my father. Once again- having said the exact thing to my mother so many times that I could no longer tell you the accurate number- I straightened from my sheepish slouch and stared at her, my face emotionless, "I will go on this trip with my father. Regardless of my feelings about how exactly I got into this situation, I will try to connect with him and maintain that connection throughout my life."
She sighed, seemingly disappointed with the repetitive reminder before turning around and going after my father. Letting out a sigh of my own, I ignore Deidara's scowl as he turned his attention solely towards me. "You wanna know what I think?"
"No."
"Your mom hates it when you get all- domo arigato Mr. Roboto- on her. Seriously, dude? What's with the mechanical answer? You sound like one of those hot-shot lawyers."
I raised a single eyebrow at his statement, not even bothering to state the obvious. "Oh yeah, right…" Deidara continued, waving a hand in dismissal, "My bad; I keep forgetting that you're smarter than you look."
Snorting, I decided to ignore his stupid comments (which narrowed it down to all the words that came out of his mouth) and began to think towards my mistake with how I dealt with my mother. I knew well enough that the way I had handled her would come back to bite me in the ass after I got back from hell-on-earth with Satan's secretary (formerly known as Minato Namikaze), yet I couldn't find the energy to generate a rational sense of panic that would normally accommodate any form of sarcasm directed towards her.
However, I remained motionless, deciding that maybe I could break just one (count that: one) legal contract and find some loop-hole in it. I have no idea how I got pressured into signing a legitimate contract between my parents (especially after they had spent my entire life telling me not to give in to peer pressure) and still unable to find a escape from its conditions, preferably at a later date when I was safely hidden away at some safe-house in Barbados. At least, that's where a group of my friends from College were going to- and where I should've been.
Notice: should have.
However, when I had come home during the weekend to pay my bi-monthly visit demand (courtesy of my darling mother) me and my dad had gotten into another heated argument about how my current choice of study did not match his hopes for me to take over the 'family business'. Most fathers would be thrilled that their son had managed to get a degree in engineering and law at MIT and Yale- two of the best schools in the country- and all by the age of sixteen. 'He was, don't get me wrong. But things didn't stay that way when I enrolled into KCC.'
The campus of Konoha Community College was so small, it was nearly dwarfed by the main Namikaze estate and was so unknown, that the only reason I had found it in the first place was because I had gotten lost while blowing off some steam after a bad day at work. When I had decided to enroll into the small college to pursue my dreams of becoming a writer, my father had blown a fuse, becoming extremely stringent and all-but cutting me off completely.
I had to pay my way through college myself and was determined to do the same thing through graduate school as well when my father had suddenly showed up saying he would allow me to continue to pursue my dreams… 'He was even going to fund me to get a literary agent and an editor at a top publishing firm… as long as I agreed to work in his company as an intern during the summer.'
That was a year ago and since then, my relationship with my dad had been stressed to say the least and it was obvious that he had yet to give up on me taking over his empire. With seven-hundred locations in the U.S. and thrice that amount world-wide, Namikaze Corporation was the largest technology chain and the current lead in Civil and Mechanical Engineering. The entire empire was single-handedly created by Minato Namikaze- my father- when he was merely fourteen years old thanks to the generous sponsor of Uchiha Inc. In spite of this, four years into its successful beginning, Namikaze Corporations bought out its contract from Uchiha Inc. and continued to skyrocket past its predecessor; it continued on to become the leading company in engineering- and the life-long rival of Uchiha Inc.
Along with my dad as the head of this monstrosity- and myself as the only heir- the sagacious decision would be to pass the business onto me. 'At least, that would've been the right choice if I had wanted the business.'
Taking a moment to reach into my orange and black varsity jacket, I pulled the I-pod Nano I had gotten from one of my friends as a sort of 'good luck' gift. Putting the ear buds in, I unsuspectingly push play on the small object, giving it time to load. Instantly, a sound that could be equivalent to that of a grown man the size of a gorilla howling in pain after being hit in the nuts by a ten year old with a metal club blasted from the earphones.
The noise, catching me completely off guard, made me shriek aloud (a manly shriek!) and flinch at the unwanted attention and curious gaze from Deidara before all but ripping the ear buds out of my ears. Glancing up from my pained flinch, I reach back into the pocket of my jacket to find the small green I-pod and glare at the screen that proclaimed some unheard of band. Immediately, I knew it was the newest of one of my friends' 'search-for-the-youth-in-underappreciated-bands'. "Seriously, Naruto. If you keep screaming like a girl, I'm going have to start telling people you're a transgender, un."
Glaring at Deidara, I throw the closest thing to me at his head- which happened to be my small carry-on bag that only contained my laptop (in hindsight, probably not the best thing to simply hurl at someone's head). After hearing the satisfying sound of the metallic object hitting his head and a string of words that would even make the dead turn over in their grave- I glared at the green object and made a mental note to con the same man who had given me the I-pod (and piled the horrid excuse for music onto the abomination) to sign a agreement forbidding him from any form of 'youthful expression' and every shade of green on the color spectrum.
"I may be pretty sadistic at times, but throwing your laptop at me is completely uncalled for!" Deidara growled, shouldering the pack before heading towards the same direction as my parents, "Now hurry up! You'll miss the flight!"
I instantly froze glancing back at the large wall that was covered from floor to ceiling in glass windows, knowing that the main entrance was located there. 'I wonder what would happen if I just ditched entirely…'
"You run and I'll drag you back here by your feet and scuff up that cute face of yours, un!" Deidara called from across the lobby, drawing a few heads and worried glances.
Finally giving in, with the reasonable thought that if he didn't get me, my mother sure as hell would, and that was something I didn't want to go through. Taking a moment more to weigh my options, I figured that it would cause less physical and emotional scarring if I gave in willingly to the trip. 'Besides, if I go through this one week trip, then I can avoid my dad for the rest of the year.'
When I turned to follow Deidara- and plotting to smack him until he let go of my laptop- the crowd parted effortlessly around me, a few people stopping to stare while others bothered to go as far as taking pictures. It wasn't like I was an idol or anything, but I had to admit, I was drop-dead gorgeous; however, that wasn't the cause of all the stares and what was worse, it had little to do with who I was as much as it had to do with what my family name was. It wasn't exactly a secret who I was in the world- and especially not in New York thanks to it being the current location of Namikaze Corp. headquarters- but I was usually able to go unnoticed until a few minutes after I had dissapeared.
Sometimes, I was unlucky enough to even get mobbed by people when they recognized me instantly and would be forced to take pictures with them and sign autographs ('I don't mind the pictures, though! Long as they get my good side!'). Among other things, I had made a debut that stunned the U.S. and many other countries that had happened to care enough to pay attention to it and as such, and had a large fan-base outside of the engineering that belonged to the Namikaze name.
It didn't hurt that I was the current face for Namikaze Corp. and had been in a few photo shoots for some side branch of the company as well as practically begged to do public appearances on television shows among other things. Finally catching up with my family- and hesitantly admitting that Deidara was included within that family- I glared at said blonde before turning to my mother who gave me a sad smile before I glanced at my father, who was once again on his cell phone and managing to simultaneously talk on his Bluetooth- speaking two different languages at the same time. I labeled one language as Japanese- my current minor at KCC- and another as Chinese.
Without knowing what was being said, I knew enough to be aware that he was talking about his job; that was all his life had been based off of since he was twelve and things had only gotten worse since then. Rolling his eyes, Deidara stared pointedly at me and my mother with a look that clearly stated, "See, I told you it was surgically attached to his ear."
Kushina held up a single finger, gesturing for us to wait as she walked up to Minato and tapped him on his shoulder, holding out her hand expectantly. Making his quick excuses the man slowly handed over his phone. The redhead woman's hand remained and finally, after a few muttering words in a foreign tongue, Minato took off his Bluetooth as well and placed it in her palm next to his phone. "Now," she said, as she placed both electronic devices into her green apron, giving Deidara a look that gloated the removal surgery was successful, "I don't want to hear about anymore business during this trip. While you're in Fiji, you two will be finding different ways to become closer and strengthen your relationship as a whole."
"What relationship?" Deidara muttered as I resisted the undeniable urge to glare at both my parents while hitting him across the head, despite the fact that I wanted to say the exact same thing.
"This is going a little too far! I agreed to go off on this trip with Naruto, but I still have a company to run. I can't just disappear off the face of the earth for a week!" Minato exclaimed indignantly.
"Minato you have to be the adult here. If you don't take the first step forward how can you expect Naruto to meet you half-way? All I want is for you two to stop arguing so much; it bothers me. Maybe if you talked to each other, you would find out things that you never knew about each other."
My mother's gaze leveled on me and I could feel the exact same cold stare from Deidara as I tried to ignore the both of them. "Kushina, Naruto and I have a relationship. It just might not be the one you approve of."
Turning back to her husband, Kushina grinned, urging him forward, "Nevertheless, I really think you two need this trip because it could really cause a revelation and you two will talk things out."
Resisting all the comments I wanted to make concerning both of my parents that would more than likely get me in enough trouble to put to shame the problems I had during my brief high school career, I spared a fleeting glance to Deidara who was staring back at me solemnly for a brief moment before his gaze turned back into the normal scheming look that made women fall for him and grown men try to kill him. "… you should go."
When I had turned back, my father was walking away, disappearing in the crowd of strangers. "Wait, are we cancelling the trip?" I asked hopefully, a grin plastered on my face.
'Of course, it might take me a while to get to Barbados- and I have no idea how I'm supposed to catch a plane there, but there is always-'
"Naruto."
My smile immediately died, an emotionless façade covering my face as my mother's eyes dimmed as if she was near tears. "Don't do that, Naruto! You know that I don't like how you use that stupid guise around me. Please… this is an opportunity to tell your father about some things in the past that he wasn't here for…" she said helpfully.
"That's…" I started, but shook my head, knowing that arguing with her would get me nowhere.
'That's the point. He wasn't here.'
"Okay, think of it this way, if you two get along- and continue to get along once you come home- I'll stop trying to force you to tell him, but I really think you two need this. Ever since you enrolled into that school… you've been distant. And not just to your father, but to me as well and you know I hate not knowing…"
Sighing, I grabbed my mother into a hug, ignoring everything else, "Mother… You can't protect me forever. Let me deal with the past and its effects on the future."
She relaxed against me, nodding softly before muttering, "When did you get taller than me?"
I released her, laughing as she frowned slightly, "Leave it to you to ask a question entirely off subject!"
She shrugged before glancing at Deidara and then back to me, "Then I suppose you have everything under control?"
"What else am I good for?" Deidara joked as I rolled my eyes.
Shaking her head, Kushina brought my father's phone out of her pocket and handing it to me with a sad sigh, "He can live without that earpiece, but… just tell him that something came up."
"Isn't that always his excuse?"
Placing the sleek silver phone in my hand, she gave me one final once over before turning and staring at Deidara. Never before had I seen him look as serious then he did at that very moment as my mother patted him on the shoulder, "Take care of him. Don't let anything happen to my son."
Deidara bowed to her and with that, my mother turned and melted through the crowd. I stared at Deidara, but he merely grinned and winked, "Like what you see, un?"
"Where'd your mother go?"
Turning around, I stared wistfully at my confused father; for a man his age, he had accomplished something that was only heard of in stories by daydreaming authors and yet here he was without a care in the world- at least a care for anything besides his job. "Something came up, but she told me to give…"
Minato held up a single hand to signal for me to wait as he suddenly pulled another phone out of his pocket. "What is it now?" he snapped, clearly irritated, "Look I don't care about the details just get me that meeting!"
The eldest blonde turned away from us for a moment as he started going off on the unlucky person on the other end of the cellular device, completely ignoring the existence of everything around him. 'There he goes again…. I wonder which branch it is this time?'
"Holy crap," Deidara whistled, turning to me, "How many of those things does he have?"
Ignoring him, I glared at the sleek silver phone in my hand, thinking of the millions of possibilities that presented itself at this specific moment and all the reasons I should just walk away now. 'But… I told mom that I would try…'
"Alright Naruto, what were you saying about Kushina?"
Allowing my stare to relax before I met his gaze, my hand closed tightly around the phone feeling the sleek object vibrate, my anger flaring almost instantaneously, "Mom told me to… to give you a hug goodbye."
The eldest blonde nodded, a strained smile crossing his face, "Leave it to Kushina to just disappear like that."
'She learned from the best…' I thought vehemently as my father turned away.
"So much for that hug," Deidara said unhelpfully, "Twenty bucks says it's one of the European branches."
"We should…" I began, breathing deeply to resist the undeniable urge to hit him, "We should get to the terminal…"
I pushed ahead, coming closer to my father as he starts to speak, "You know, we have an entire week in a small island. Maybe you can catch some waves while we're there. I know how you enjoyed that trip to Hawaii when you were seven, so I imagine that the same would be true for Fiji."
I frowned; the trip to Hawaii was before we had moved to the U.S. where the Namikaze Corp. headquarters was transferred to New York.
And before me and my father's relationship had taken a down-spiral for the worst.
(I am a flashback page break. You are getting very sleepy.)
The sun shimmered softly on the ocean's surface as I continued to float effortlessly under the water, the clear blue liquid forming a semi-solid structure as it caressed me endearingly. The effect the surroundings had on me- including the abnormal splash of marine life- was almost breathtaking as my lungs burned dully with the lack of oxygen.
It was different for my parents to go out on any trip and the fact that all three of us had agreed on a family trip just to commemorate me graduating from high school meant the world to me, especially with my father not answering a single phone call for the past three days. Finally having enough, I come up for air, gasping all the while when my father happened to swim up next to me on a silken blue surfboard. "How long did you plan on staying down there before your mother assumed you were shredded by the reef?"
I rolled my eyes, pulling myself up and onto his board, "When the wave crashed down, it was really calm down there, so I couldn't help but stay for a moment and see if that was how it always was or if that was simply how it acted because of me."
"And?" Minato prodded as he began to steer us towards the island where my mother could be seem waving frantically.
"I'm pretty sure that it's always that way. That or everything in Hawaii is too good to be true."
Minato laughed softly, as Kushina finally waded out to meet us, instantly grabbing me in an extraordinary example of the Heimlich maneuver backwards as she spun me around. "M-mom…" I gasped out as she finally released me, glaring sternly.
"Naruto Uzumaki! I swear to god if you ever try anything so reckless again I will have you attached to me by a leash!"
I couldn't help but blush as my father came and patted me on the back, grinning at my mother, "Kushina you're going to strangle Naruto. He was just curious."
"Curiosity killed the cat!" she shouted indignantly.
"Satisfaction brought him back," I answered, defending myself as once again, my father broke out into a laugh.
"That's my boy!"
"Minato don't encourage him! I swear that sometimes he acts so reckless and-"
"I'm just like you when you were a kid!" I complained, "Like when you set your high school lab on fire because they were using live specimen!"
"Minato! You told him about that?"
"Actually…" he began, raking a hand through his hair nervously, "It was Tsunade who mentioned it to him."
I couldn't help but grin at the red blush that spread across my mother's face as she glared death at my father, stepping towards him menacingly, "I told you that your parents were a bad influence!"
"Oi! Namikaze! You'll miss your ride back to your hotel if you don't hurry up!"
I turned around to see Kai- out tour guide for the island- running towards us, a grin plastered on his face as he waved. "Hey Kai," I called out, starting towards him as the sounds of my mother's complaints continued unhindered behind me, "Where's Milo?"
"Ah, he is waiting at the jeep. Hoping that you would've gotten thrashed by the waves and he could spread out along the seats on the ride back. I guess his hopes were in vain."
"Actually, I did lose my board on the last wave that came through, but no cuts and scrapes to report here."
Kai's grin softened, "That sucks, bra. I shouldn't have let you out without experience on these waves. The waves you get on the mainland is nowhere near as big or crazy as these can get."
"Nope, it's all good."
"Hey, Naruto," my mother called from behind me, "You think you can get your father some aspirin when we get back to the hotel and some ice?"
I turned back to see my father grinning sheepishly with a guilty look around him. His long blonde hair was crusted with bits of sand and seaweed, completely tangled and standing up oddly on one side of his head. "I'm fine," he chuckled, coming up alongside me and draping one of his arms around my shoulder, playfully as he lead me back to where the jeep was parked farther down the beach.
(I am a reality page break. I give free cookies.)
"… and maybe you can call them on the plane."
Snapping out of my reminiscent thoughts, my gaze immediately goes to my father who was standing at the end of a hall as he propped open a door for me, waiting, "Call who?"
He sighed, waving a hand in the air, "Anyone, Naruto. I know I'm not the most interesting person in the world, but you could pretend to pay attention."
'Doing that would require energy given through ramen which I am currently deprived of.'
"Fine," I said, walking past my father before hesitating for a moment before saying, "Thanks."
My father seemed to have either not heard me or chose to ignore it- and I was pining on the prior one; Minato Namikaze was a far cry from the type to ignore a statement of gratitude. "Jeez," Deidara whispered, nodding towards the large jet, "Wonder if your mother knows that we're riding in a private jet?"
I ignored him, settling for thinking of the thousand things that I was going to have to do over the few days I would have alone before going back to KCC. Considering I would be far from their trip to Barbados, I was going to have to come up with another idea on how to make up the Spring Break writing prompt for the upcoming festival in the surrounding community. 'Maybe I could ask Shikamaru if he would… no he'll just call it troublesome… Maybe I could ask… Who else doesn't have a partner?'
I wanted to hit my head on a hard- possible impenetrable- object in hopes that something intelligible would come to me. It seemed to help a lot in movies and comics, but so far each time I had done it, I had gotten nothing but a large headache that rendered me useless for a good forty-five minutes. Where was the fun in that? And yet, people still banged their head into things with some type of belief that it would help their problems in some way or form. 'I'm surprised that this country doesn't have a genetic disease involving random headaches in the upper cranium.'
Despite the fact that my thoughts were probably leading me to some sort of breakthrough in modern science, I was still stuck without a solution to one of my current predicaments. Without a passing grade for this project, there was no way I was going to get the last of my credits or graduate on time. By the time I started noticing the fact that I was already on the plane, and being served by a female attendant who was blushing at whatever Deidara kept saying, the plane had already taken off and I had lost all chances of getting out of this trip.
(I'm an Uchiha page break. Look into my eyes. Aren't they pretty?)
Two hours into the flight and already was I about to strangle Deidara; it had to be a personal record for me or something but as he stared back at me with a glint in his eyes, it didn't matter in the least. "Call it, Naru," he dared, trying to get a reaction out of me.
"You want to know the good thing about going to law school with a bunch of guys twice your age? You learn how to master the poker face during the first week of school."
He merely arched an eyebrow in challenge before reaching to his pile of chips and pushing the remainder of them into the large pile in the middle of the table, "I'm all in. You sure you want to play this game with me, un? I can spare you and let you off easily. At least then you would have chips to play another round."
Pushing the remainder of my chips in, I allow a soft smirk to raise the edges of my lips slightly, "I'm all in, raising you twenty. You still want to play with me?"
He growled through clenched teeth, pulling out a wad of cash from his pocket; I merely raised a single eyebrow as he laid down a crisp twenty, not even bothering to ask why he had so much money with him in the first place. "Fine. I'm in. Do you wanna show your cards, or are you too wimp to try it?"
I finally allow a smile to grace my features at which I lay down my hand to show two aces and three kings. Slamming his cards down, Deidara jumped across the table, tackling me instantly, "You cheat!"
I pushed back my chair, barely missing his diving form, only to be dragged down by his iron grip on my leg. "Don't be a sore loser!" I growled out, pushing his face away with the palm of my hand as I tried to maneuver from under him, "Just because you lost doesn't mean you have to be such a wimp about it."
Effectively ignoring me and grabbing the collar of my shirt, he pulled me up, shaking me maliciously, "I know you were cheating. There was no way you could've gotten that hand! I made sure I put the aces at the bottom of the stack!"
I froze, scowling up at him, "You tried to fix the deck? And you say I cheated?"
I got my feet underneath him before kicking him up off me, grabbing a fistful of his long yellow locks and slamming his head into the table, pushing off some of the chips and his crisp twenty. "You have the nerve to call me a cheat, is that it, Deidara?" I hissed, a grin on my face.
He managed to lift his head slightly, "You know how I love riling you up."
I only blinked and in that instant, he had our positions switched, my face pressed into the table, a chip biting into the flesh of my cheek. Not even a moment later, the pressure on my back is lifted and I whipped up to glare at him. He was already pocketing his money, staring back at me with a smug smile, "Maybe next time, squirt."
Rolling my eyes, I rubbed my cheek, resisting the urge to smack Deidara and instead trying to figure out once again why was it that he- of all people- was my best friend. There was a solution in all of this and it involved a sniper, a large trash bag and a shovel. 'Now that's a dream come true…' I thought sarcastically as I headed towards the staff area rather than going back to my seat and having to deal with him.
It was one thing to go back to someone you didn't like, but another thing to go back to Deidara. 'And plus, if I go to the front, I might have a good three minutes before they make me go back to my seat. And time spent away from Deidara is time well spent.'
Nodding to myself in affirmation, I continued past the silk black curtain that separated the cabin area from the front of the jet. "When exactly should we be landing?"
I froze hesitantly, the sound of my father's voice enough to make me want to turn around completely. "If you wanted to get there before the end of the day," a deeper voice snapped, "Then maybe you shouldn't change the destination while we're over the Indian Ocean! Now I'm going to have to get permission to land from the AISJ."
Not wanting to be accused of eavesdropping, I turned around and walked quietly back to the cabin when my father's voice drifted from the room. "I already told you! My wife was snooping around and she would've never let me get on this plane if she knew I was re-routing it!"
Coming to an immediate halt, I turned around and stormed through the door, anger clearly projected on my face as my father turned to face me. "What do you mean re-routing the plane? Where are we going?" I demanded, glaring at him fiercely.
"Naruto… you're not supposed to be up here…" my father said, trying to calm me down.
"Tell me where we are going!"
Minato sighed, running a hand through his hair, glancing once at the man who sat calmly in front of controls who I assumed to be the pilot of the jet. "You should get him calmed down," the man said- the voice I had heard earlier talking to my father.
I glared at him, clearly demanding an answer immediately, but my father motioned for me to go back down the corridor that I had come from. When I made it apparent that there was no way I was going to listen to him, he went ahead, understanding that I had no choice but to pursue him if I ever wanted answers. Tagging along to a seat that wasn't far from where Deidara was talking on a private phone that was connected to the plane, I refused to sit down, my father the only one in a seat. "Naruto, please sit down."
Remaining motionless for a few more seconds, I finally plopped down in a seat across the aisle, my cold gaze never leaving my father. And I didn't care what he would say to mom afterwards; we had a deal to go to some island to put her worries to a rest for a single week and pretend like we were friends when we came back. It had taken us three hours of arguing to finally decide a place of choice and two more minutes (without the company of the lovely Kushina) to decide that we would avoid each other as much as possible. Now, it was like he was just setting that agreement on fire in my face. I mean, what ever happened to common courtesy and simply doing it behind my back? "Naruto…"
My glare relaxed as I tried to reign in the temper I had inherited from my mother and slowly succeeded, "Did you re-route the plane?"
Minato sighed as a flight attendant came and gave us two cups of what I assumed was water. It was clear and had no carbonated bubbles in it, so I picked it up without questioning, keeping my gaze on my father as he regarded the cup with disdain. In truth, I needed the water because my throat had begun to dry out and I would be damned if I cleared my throat right then, so I decided that it was a safe bet to drain all of it in one go. "Naruto, I'm sorry about all of this. Really, you weren't supposed to hear about that."
"Yeah," I snapped as I placed the glass down, feeling my arm start to tingle, "I'm pretty sure that much is alshready obviiii…."
My words unconsciously slurred together and I furrowed my brow in confusion, unclear on what was wrong with my mouth and why the words were coming out wrong. "Thish is not whaaa… we agreedsh on…"
The world tilted softly and I leaned forward, a smile slipping onto my face, "You ish shineeee…"
"I'm sorry it had to come to this, Naruto…" my father's voice called through the blurred world as I fell into darkness.
(I am a Madara page break. Be afraid. Be very afraid.)
It was weird when I first managed to wake up. I was surrounded by a darkness that seemed never-ending and within the blink of an eye, there was light. It may seem just like some edited version of Genesis from the Bible, but I'm serious that it happened just like that. At first, I merely stared at the ceiling, tracing the white lines which were accented by tan designs that seemed to spread across the smooth-textured plane like vines. The time it took me to realize that I wasn't looking at the roof of the jet probably stretched into an hour before I suddenly sprang up and stared around the room I found myself in. The first thing I noticed was the large double doors that led into what looked to be a living room.
The color of the walls was a very light brown, tan off-white color and accented the deep ruby red color of the couch that I could see through the doorway and the black marble countertop to a small kitchen. The next thing I noticed was the massive bed that I was currently in. The sheets were a silken black and smooth to the touch, flowing through my hands like water and caressed my skin soothingly. But that did little to calm my wandering mind at the sound of footsteps.
Turning around frantically, I grabbed for the closest lethal weapon I could find, that happened to be a remote control that apparently went to the large flat screen that was across the room. 'Wait… I have a flat screen?'
The sound of the unwanted guest dragged me out of my thoughts and I held up the remote, ready to connect to someone's face when I'm tapped on the shoulder. I screamed loudly (a manly scream!), jumping probably a mile into the sky before stumbling off of the bed and blindly throwing the remote, no hope of it actually causing any damage to my assailant. A voice called from behind me in a foreign tongue, but I didn't even spare a moment's glance as I sprinted for the nearest door and slammed it shut behind me. Locking the door and turning around, I stared incredulously into my own eyes before I finally noticed that I had found myself in a bathroom.
Trapped.
With no way out.
'Oh shit!'
"Sumimasen!" a voice called from through the door.
"No!" I screamed, pushing against the door as if that would make much of a difference, "Go sen somewhere else!"
Admittedly, that was rather childish, but my brain was still working on catching up to what had happened on the plane and the fact that there was a stranger in a room that I had never seen before in my life was more than enough to make me completely unresponsive. "Please, Namikaze-sama! I was sent to wake you up! Your father is waiting in the lobby for you to come downstairs!"
I hesitated for a moment before turning and opening the door, staring at the man before me. He was a brunette with long shaggy hair, sharp black eyes and slit pupils. The overall effect was that of a canine and something that could almost be considered like the family dog. A grin crossed his face as he bowed to me, his long brown hair ruffling. Unsure of what I should do, I bowed hesitantly to him, matching his deep bow before rising hurriedly when he started talking again, "I was ordered to wake you up and dress you presentably."
His accent was almost hard to understand, but I did manage to catch the drift of his sentence, "Wait dress presentably? What's wrong with what I have on?"
The brunette glanced incredulously at my outfit of black jeans and bright orange shirt that matched the varsity jacket I was still wearing. "Ummm… are you serious, dude?"
I grinned at his slip of manners and realizing his mistake, the man instantly bowed again. "Sorry. That was wrong of me."
"No, it's fine," I answered him, patting him on the shoulder, "What's your name."
"Inuzuka Kiba."
I tilted my head to the side in confusion as he led me back into the room where I had assumed he was an attacker and thrown the remote at him. "Your mom named you Inuzuka? That must suck."
"No… Inuzuka is my family name, while my name is Kiba… Here we go. This is for you."
He handed me a suit and I instantly flinched visibly. When you grew up in a family where you wore an Armani suit as often as you wore your own skin, the site of any form of formal attire became almost as unwelcome as lawyers were to politicians. "There's no way I can do this. Just… hell no!"
Kiba frowned, "You don't know how to put on a suit?"
I snorted on accident, finding the implication almost unbelievable, "Yeah right. My dad is the owner of Namikaze Corporation and you think I can't put on a suit? More like I wear them too much for my liking."
Kiba grinned, his black eyes expressing his humor, "I can understand how you feel, but I might get fired if you're not dressed and downstairs in ten minutes."
'Well… when you put it that way…'
I instantly shrugged off the varsity jacket, and pulled my shirt off, catching Kiba by surprise. He turned to leave, as I called out, "I'll be out in two."
He nodded in affirmation before closing the doors. Shedding the jeans and glaring wistfully at the expensive suit, I quickly pull on the pants, making sure that the creases were still evident; the pants were fitted to me, which I was grateful for because there was nothing worse looking then a suit that was too big (except for if it had been too small). Of course, the suit was a perfect fit and I buttoned up the crisp white shirt in content before placing the tie under the creases in the collar. At that moment, Kiba decided to walk back in and graced me with a grin as I grabbed the jacket and headed towards him. "You know what I have yet to figure out," I asked him as he inspected my handiwork for any imperfections.
"What is that?" he asked in his accented English.
"Where are you from? Your accent is weird."
"I'm from here," he said simply before turning around, heading for a door behind the ruby red couch I had noticed earlier.
"Fiji? Seriously?"
Kiba almost grinned ridiculously as he laughed at me, opening the door, "Originally I was born in Nagano, but I was raised in Tokyo and decided to stay."
"Wait, there's a Tokyo, in Fiji?" I asked incredulously, honestly not getting it.
"No I mean here, here. You're in Japan, Namikaze-sama."
I blinked a couple of times as he waited at the doorway patiently and then suddenly, it clicked.
"WHAT THE HELL?"
So... comments, questions, complaints? Leave all in a review and I will get back to you on that. Otherwise, fav. me or the story and don't forget to add it to the alert. Right about now, my schedule for updating is every week on Friday and will be enforced as far as the fifth chapter right now because that is as far as me and Dobe (my beta) have written. After that, all bets are off because I have been known to procrastinate. And since this is my first story posted on here, we'll see how it works with me finishing it because I have a issue with keeping things short and to the point- as is obviously displayed in the length of this chapter. *sigh*
Well, I'm done sounding like a TA! After the first few two or three chapters, the lengthy inserts at the beginning of the chapters (i.e. Disclaimer, Chapter Rating, Warning, etc) will be gone, so read it now and forever hold your peace. Unless it's to comment about how awesome you think the story is. Then, feel free to release your peace. Or however that goes. O.o
Review.
World domination might be on the other end.
Maybe.
EDIT: Sorry about the spacing, I corrected it! I think. Don't know, really...
