Hello everyone! I'm still not feeling so hot today, but I'm sure that I'll kick the cold out of me eventually. Lucky for you people, my little plot bunnies are immune to human illnesses. They're very strange that way…-scratches chin- well anyways, I hope that you enjoyed the first chapter, and are pumped for the second! So I'll do my thank yous, and then move off, I need to give a big big BIG thank you to Raeru for doing Beta work for me! I suck at spelling and grammar, I know =D. Dragon 77, Thanks a lot for my first review of this story. I hope that you do keep reading! Pebbles of the Sand (I went and fixed those mistakes, sorry about that! –blushes-), Smith . Courtney (thank you so much for the Italian help! You're a true sweetheart), Akiru chan (haha, yes this is going to be a longer fic than the others, so more relationship development), xMissPepperx (-blushes- Thank you for the compliments, I hope that I make you happy with this one too), purrpolisprincess (You can't know that now! If I told you that, what's the point of reading the story? Haha), Miskie27 (yea, I'm trying to play out their relationship a bit more in this one to see if I can make a longer story and still keep you all appealed! Haha), a rather slytherine griffindor (haha I like reviews that don't criticize! Haha, thank you very much for all the compliments), Centaurgurl08 (yea, long plane rides are such a friggen hassle! I always want to scratch my hair out! Haha), Mistress-Tsukiko (haha I'm glad that it brings good memories as opposed to bad ones), Searafina ( I'm sorry bout the mistakes, I went and fixed em for you! And thanks for the nice review. I'm like crack? Sweet –grins- I mean…bad! Don't 'ship me! –blushes-), zerofangirl (I'm having fun with Kakashi lately, making him be mean to our poor Naruto..haha!), XxFirexdance (-blushes- thanks for the nice comment, I'm glad that my stories are entertaining! I'll try my best to keep them coming), mockup (oh I promise, there will be some very…interesting things that happens in Italy with those boys!), Kazanarai (Yea, suuuure it wasn't…but yea, I'm hoping that this does turn into a romantic/hilarious story…wish me luck!), norway22 (haha, somebody's got an active imagination! Sasuke in leather? You're such a fangirl =P haha!!), hollowsmile (I actually do switch up the POV sometimes, but for this one I'm not…mainly because I want to focus on the mind development of Naruto and not Sasuke…but I'm thinking eventually I'll do a Sasuke POV story), CoffeeNeurotic (haha spoil? You all spoil me with reviews! Which I adore completely), Exorcist-Miranda (Ah I so wrote that wrong! Haha, it was supposed to be romance came from the city Rome. And here I'm a history major…-lowers head in shame-, but I fixed it, and I'm really sorry about that! I actually love greek and roman myths, so why I didn't catch that I'm not sure), kat10788 (Yay, someone actually liked that part! I like making Naruto think he gets something and then doesn't. As for KakaIru….hm…maybe, I'll think about it just for you –winks-), sasuxxnaruxxluverxx (-muches of cookie- yummy, thanks for the review and Ill try my best to keep you happy), Skele (haha, thank you so much for the big review! I love reading about the certain parts that people l liked because it makes it feel worth it. Your review made me so happy!Thanks for complimenting my character development, because that's going to be a big thing in this story I'm hoping…wish me luck!), xXCabbageXx (Of course he's touchy, his name is Uchiha Sasuke and god would come chill on earth before he ever let up…haha!), crimson 69 (I sure hope you love this story, that's my aim! Haha), blue-nuriel (Aw thank you so much, I actually just started to write these Naruto fanfictions about a month ago, so I've only been here for a bit…I plan to stay for a while though!)
Alright, those are done and I'm ready to move on! I just want to let anyone know who is Italian or anything that this is NOT a bash on them. I actually am Italian so I know that most people are not like this. If you wish for me to explain myself I will in a separate e-mail conversation, or it will be revealed at the end. Hope that you enjoy this next chapter.
Warning: This is a SasuNaru lemon story. Why do you think I call them plot bunnies? –smirks-
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, I'm just…borrowing them….forever….
Rome Ripped More Than the Greeks Off!
"Good morning, and welcome to the city of Rome!" I glared tiredly at the speaker over my head before yawning. Leave it to me to pick the one seat that was directly under the loudspeaker that blared Iruka's voice. Which would be fine, except it was seven in the damn morning! The bus mumbled their weak hellos before Iruka continued, seeming to be completely oblivious to how loud he was. "Today we are going to take a beautiful tour of the Coliseum, the Trevi Fountain, and then we'll give you a few hours to go off on your own. We'll be arriving at our first stop in about twenty minutes, so try to wake yourselves up!"
"Whose bright idea was it to stay up until two in the morning?" I grumbled, glaring around the bus at my exhausted friends. Well, most were. But Mr. Perfect didn't seem to have any issues with getting woken up just four hours after we had gone to bed.
"Yours, dobe." Oh yeah. Well it wasn't my fault! Kiba had challenged me to an ice cream eating contest, and there was no way I was going to lose. And then the sugar kind of got to me and I convinced everyone to stay up and play charades. I don't know why I chose that game, since I kept getting kicked out for talking. Whatever, I was too good for that game anyways.
"I can't believe that we're actually going to see the Coliseum!" I glanced back to Sakura, who seemed to push past her tiredness in order to smile. "It's got to be one of the most famous places in the world."
"Well duh. Who wouldn't want to go to the gladiator zone? That's where they used to release the lions and let them eat people alive for fun." I laughed at Kiba's gross fact while the girls scrunched their noses.
"You know, there was a reason I didn't see that movie. And it was to avoid things like that," Ino said, sending the dog boy a look that only made him shrug.
"It's not my fault the Romans were deadly. But it's totally sick how many times the emperor would put his thumb down and the gladiator would get killed. It was like television for the onlookers."
"Apparently Kiba has a bigger brain than I thought." I smirked at the growl he gave me.
"What was that short stuff?" Twitching at the name, I moved to jump over the seat to hit him until something caught my eye. Glancing out the window, my interest was quickly taken away from the fight as I stared at the small cars parked on the side of the road. Jesus they were tiny!
"Never seen a European car before?" I shook my head at Sasuke's question, placing my hands onto the glass to steady myself when we hit a bump. The last thing I needed was to be falling into the jerk's arms.
"Why the heck are they so small?" I asked, looking back at him. He rolled his eyes and glanced over my shoulder to gaze at the idle cars that we passed.
"They're known to be more fuel efficient, as well as easier to park on the side of the road."
"I want one!" He scoffed at my excitement, which made me scowl.
"They're also much more expensive. And I doubt that you have the money to buy one."
"Yeah well neither do you!"
"I never said I wanted one." Damn, got me there. I decided to ignore him instead of admitting he won. I focused my attention out the window when the bus stopped, and I blinked once when I saw a man staring at our bus, sitting on a bike. Around the bike was a vending stand with several small items, and a paper poster with words I couldn't read. But I didn't care as I waved happily at his quizzical stare, and my excitement grew when he waved back. Forgetting I had been angry with him only minutes before, I grabbed behind me at Sasuke's arm and pulled him forward. "Naruto-"
"Look! Some guy is interested in us!" And true to my words, he seemed to become even more excited when he saw Sasuke behind me. He continued to glance between us while Sasuke scoffed.
"It's just a guy." I looked up, my head under his chin from the kneeling position he was in. Damn him and his two inches over me! If it was anyone other than the jerk, I might have been embarrassed by the loss of personal space. But he was nothing to freak over.
"Wave to him." He turned his attention down at me, a look of annoyance apparent on his face.
"No."
"Aww come on Sasuke, he seems to like you!" I laughed at the narrowed look he gave me, looking back down and blinking. "Oh hey, he's writing something on his sign…"
"Great, now you've got him thinking we can read Italian." He hit the top of my head, but didn't move from his spot while he concentrated on the sign the man was holding up. We stared for a few seconds before I pulled back a bit in confusion. I didn't get far, my back hitting into Sasuke's chest.
"What the heck does that mean?"
"How would I know, dobe?" He asked, and I paused before my eyes widened. I snapped my fingers once and turned to face him, shoving my hand into his pocket and ignoring the second hit to the head I got. "Don't touch me."
"I know you brought it. Ha!" I pulled out his cell phone before turning back to the sign. Flipping to his camera, I took two shots of the sign. The bus jerked forward, and I hit into the side of my chair while the man waved goodbye to us. I glanced at the picture slowly, frowning when none of the words stood out from the tape. "Siete….Siete una cop-coppia così c-carina? What the hell does that mean?"
"Why are you two being so loud? I was trying to take a nap." I looked through the hole in between the seats to glance at Shikamaru yawning.
"You're always sleeping." He stared at me for a few seconds before languidly shrugging his shoulders.
"I wish."
"Shikamaru, you are so lazy!" Ino shouted, rolling her eyes from her spot. He tilted his head back to look at her and sighed.
"You're just too active." She pouted at his reply, and the look was cute enough to laugh at. Ino seriously could pull off the pouty look when she wanted to. It was probably how she convinced Shikamaru to even go on this trip instead of staying home and sleeping. In fact half of us didn't even expect to see him until he showed up the night of room sign ups. A girl's power was unbeatable.
"Why do I even bother with you?"
"Because nobody else will," I said, laughing when the bus slowed down. Our attention was brought back to the surroundings around us as we stared in awe at the massive creation in front of us. Yea, I had seen pictures of the Coliseum in my textbooks (I do occasionally open them). I knew that it wasn't going to be the smallest building I had ever seen. But this massive creation in front of me completely knocked me off my feet. Or, would have if I was standing.
"You coming dobe?" I jerked my head up to see Sasuke was fixing his backpack, the rest of the group already starting to move off of the bus. I grumbled and slung my bag over one of my shoulders.
"Stop calling me that, teme." He smirked and headed off the bus. Both of us easily found the group standing around Iruka. The teacher was accompanied by a short woman, who creeped me out instantly. Her hair was black, poofy, and completely out of control. Not to mention her big-ass glasses were only second to her even bigger bug eyes. And what the hell was she doing with an umbrella? It wasn't even raining!
"Oh hello hello! My name is Aida, and I'll be your tour guide for the next three days! It is very good to see such young faces eager to learn about Italy." Her umbrella then went up into the air, waving it around while she walked toward the gates to the Coliseum. "Follow the umbrella, follow the umbrella."
"Please tell me she's not going to be like this the entire trip," I mumbled. Sasuke sent me a 'stop being annoying' look before he moved away from me to walk with Neji. I crossed my arms, glaring at the back of his head while I quickly caught up with Kiba. "Sheesh, he's such a pain."
"Who is?"
"Sasuke-teme of course! Man, I wish he hadn't come on this trip!"
"I really don't get you kit," Kiba said while ruffling my hair. I growled and punched his arm to get him to stop at the annoying nickname he had given me. Ever since the first day of freshman year, Kiba had decided the weird birthmarks on my face made me look like a fox. He only added to the humiliation by calling me 'kit', what people called baby foxes. Dumb mutt. "You say that you two hate each other, and all you do is start fighting the second one of your mouths open. And yet I'm 99% sure that you would practically jump in front of a bus to save this kid."
"I would not…" Would I? I paused in my thoughts at my own question. Sasuke was a total jerk, and I hated almost everything about him. He got everything handed to him, all the girls were in love with him, and his cockiness proved that he completely understood how much power he had. And yet, despite everything that we had argued and fought about, could I honestly say I hated him?
"Move it, dobe." Yes. Yes I could.
"Teme!" I growled at him while he walked past me, ignoring the threatening tone in my voice completely.
"Leave it to someone like you to stop in the middle of the gate." I blinked once and looked around, realizing that yet again, Kiba had left me alone. Quickly I ran to catch up with Sasuke, ignoring the love sick looks that he got from the women around us. Even in Italy he was considered hot. So not fair.
"Wow! Look at the elevator Sasuke!" I stared up at the glass elevator that rested snug inside of the Coliseum. He rolled his eyes and pushed me forward into the line. I would have yelled at him if I didn't notice a particular dog-boy grinning at me and waving while he rose up in the elevator. Man that guy was asking for a fight! I impatiently waited for the next elevator to come, shifting enough to get a few glares from the silent guy next to me. It wasn't like I wanted to be antsy! I just had issues with sitting in one spot for too long. So I made my way into the elevator once it came back down, which turned out to be pretty cramped with over twenty people in it. My shoulder was pressed painfully into Sasuke's, who scowled but said nothing about the cramped area. Still, I could tell he was relieved when we finally made our way out and back to the woman with the waving umbrella.
"So this is what we call the Coliseum. It was created in 70 A.D., and was once known as the Flavian Amphitheatre. Its name was changed, and most scholars believe it to be because of the statue of Nero that once stood proudly next to it. Now the Coliseum could fit about 50,000 people in it…" I started to ignore the woman's ramblings as I glanced around the group boringly. All of the girls were listening quietly to the crazy tour guide's blabbing, and it seemed that Neji and the bastard were paying attention too. Well, they were the feminine ones of the guys. Kiba and Lee, on the other hand, were looking up at Shikamaru, who was pointing to random spots of the giant building.
"And the gladiators would fight there or whatever….and the openings to the cages were where those holes are…and the cells under us was where prisoners and creatures were kept in waiting for their turns…you know, I bet the lady will be talking about this stuff too." Kiba shook his head and looked around the place as if imagining the images Shikamaru was talking about.
"We don't need some crazy old bat telling us this crap when you're here!"
"And your words are painting a magnificent scene inside of my head that I cannot help but imagine!" At the dramatic call from Lee, Shikamaru stared up at the sky, sliding his hands into his pocket while his shoulders slumped.
"What a drag." I moved closer to them and laughed, quickly quieting myself when I got a warning look from Iruka. Oh sure, Lee could spout off about the images in his head, but I can't laugh without getting a look. There's got to be some type of prejudice there!
"Shikamaru, I never saw you as the type to become a tour guide. I'll get you an umbrella for your next birthday." He sighed loudly and hung his head, seeming to mutter about 'troublesome friends'. If Kiba heard he didn't pay attention, slinging an arm around Shikamaru's shoulders. We spent the rest of the time following the tour guide, completely ignoring her and listening to Shikamaru's forced information. Despite how bored he seemed with it, Shikamaru continued to talk, showing how truly intricate the Romans were. I learned more from Nara than any of my boring teachers, which didn't surprise me. I would bet almost anything (except ramen, since you should never bet on holy food) that Shikamaru knew more about their classes then fifty percent of the teachers did. It was scary how much knowledge was stored in that lethargic head.
And I knew that as soon as the words 'walking to the Trevi fountain' slid into said head, Shikamaru's day turned for the worst. I was excited, since we hadn't been able to get out much, and the exhilaration of the busy ancient city was completely new to me. Their streets were smaller, and most of their buildings came much closer to the edges of the streets than ours did back home. We stayed in groups while we walked, Lee and Kiba continuing to bother Shikamaru with persistent questions about the landscape and random buildings we saw on the way. We'd occasionally stop so people could take photos or so the lady could bore us with more information. But despite this minor setback, I couldn't keep my eyes from roaming the stunning city in front of me.
"And this is the Trevi fountain! This is the most well-known fountain in the entire world, and it's archi—"
"Alright, already bored. Shika, show us what your made of." He sent me a look of utter distaste, but my grin seemed to make him realize how much I didn't care. Hey, I had lived through several severe Uchiha glares. I'm sure that I could handle this guy with ease.
"Nothing too great about it. Some virgin girl led guys to its river, and it's called the 'virgin water' now. Oh, and there's some weird legend that goes along with it about tossing coins."
"Oh! I know this one!" Shika and I both blinked and glanced to Lee, who seemed to have a weird glow about him. I swear his eyes turned into hearts when he glanced over to the fountain and sighed. "It's known for true love!"
"True what?" Kiba asked slowly. Lee glanced between the three of us, nodding enthusiastically.
"Our great teacher Gai told me about the tales of true love. He explained that if you throw one coin over your shoulder and into the sparkling waters of the fountain, it is a promise that you will return to the lands of Rome."
"Alright…" I said slowly, scratching at the top of my head. "What's that got to do with love?"
"That is where the second part comes in, my youthful friends. If you throw two coins over your shoulder, you will not only return to this beautiful place, but you will find yourself in true love! And your love will blossom into marriage if you throw three coins into the water!" As he finished his explanation, I watched the love grow in his eyes while they shifted to a certain pink haired girl. I laughed at how oblivious Sakura was to the stare, who continued to whisper to Ino and giggle. Leave it to love-struck Lee to know all about the romantic myths of Rome.
"It's probably just a scam to get us to throw money in you know," Shikamaru said, shrugging off the horrified look on Lee's face. "Not trying to be a downer. Just saying."
"How can you tempt fate by saying that?! Now you must throw three coins in or else you'll live forever alone Shikamaru!"
"Yea come on Nara, can't hurt to try. What's three coins anyways?" I nudged Lee's ribs, giving him a wink and laughing. "And who knows, maybe our lucky someone's are going to toss three coins in as well."
"Oh! I sure hope so!" Lee wasted no time in shuffling through his pockets, desperate to find the three coins that would somehow catch him Sakura's heart. Or at least he was hoping they would. I looked to Kiba and Shikamaru, shrugging and starting to search for my money as well.
"Can't believe I'm doing this." But even as he mumbled, Kiba pulled out some money to toss into the fountain. I grinned despite how stupid the myth was. We were only in Rome once after all. Might as well do what the Romans do.
"You all ready?" I waited for the last sluggish showing of coins before I turned my back to the fountain and closed my eyes. "Alright Lee, let's get us some Mclovin!"
"Spoken like a true kit." I ignored Kiba's comment and tossed the few coins into the waters, listening to them splash and sighing. Lee seemed truly happy with his toss, and I couldn't help but smile at how he continued to glance at Sakura. He really wanted her to throw her coins in that badly? If it was a few years back, I may have wanted the same thing for my own selfish reasons. But Lee was a good friend, and I wanted to make sure that he got his wish.
"Sakura!" All three girls stopped in their conversations, looking up at me despite only one of them being called. "You better throw three coins over your shoulder!"
"What? Why?" Sakura asked, blinking. Ino seemed to instantly perk at the information, seeming to know what I was saying without me having to talk.
"Oh, you don't know about the love legend?" And as Ino explained to Hinata and Sakura about the myth, I knew that Lee's prayers were answered. True, Sakura probably wouldn't fall in love with him. But there was a chance, and the smile that practically took over Lee's face was priceless.
"Thank you very much Naruto! I don't know how to repay you." I shrugged and brushed my shirt off, trying to downplay the favor.
"It was nothing Lee. Consider it payback for all the times you've kept me and Kiba out of detention." He nodded and glanced behind us, his eyes seeming instantly troubled.
"Oh, I better warn our friend Neji about the legend! We wouldn't wish for him and Sasuke to fall out of cupid's range." I tried not to laugh at the most absurd comment of the day. Sasuke and Neji? Throwing coins into the water for love? Only Lee would have the guts to walk over to the two most unemotional people and demand they fulfill the legend.
"Say this thing happened to work," Kiba said slowly, catching my attention. He leaned his leg against the side of the fountain, Shikamaru already settling on a dry spot along the edge. "Does that mean that we'll fall in love in Italy? Or just, fall in love?"
"Huh, I never really thought about that."
"Well what do you think now?" I blinked at Kiba's look of concern, which was strange for dog-breath. Normally the guy was pretty laid back, and didn't really let things get to him. So seeing this new side was a little weird. He kept glancing around me while he shifted, but whatever he was looking at was blocked by the girls throwing their coins in. Even the blushing Hinata did it, and I waved when she glanced our way. Of course, being as shy as she is, Hinata turned away while the other two girls laughed and patted her back. "Naruto…"
"What?" I looked back at Kiba, who now had his arms crossed. Seriously, this guy had too many mood swings.
"Is there a girl you want on this trip? Tell me!" He practically barked out. I stared in confusion for a minute before narrowing my eyes. Alright, something weird was going on with dog-breath.
"I'm not chasing anyone's skirt if that's what you're asking. I don't know why you care anyways." But all I received was an avoidance of eye contact. What is with these people?
"I doubt that we'll have to find love anyways. The coins don't stay in the fountain. Some guy was making a living out of taking the coins before the Italian government banned it. Now the coins get washed and sent to be counted and help pay for things like supermarkets and stuff," Shikamaru informed us. How did he learn all this crap?
"Doesn't mean the wish doesn't work though. You'll be surprised what type of weird things can happen in the place like Italy. Maybe you'll even score a blonde." He stared at me solemnly before turning his head away to glance at the water. Figuring I wasn't going to get an answer, I looked back to Kiba and gave him a thumbs up. "Don't sweat it dog boy. I'm sure whatever unfortunate girl stumbled upon you and falls in love will end up as your wife, begging for death to do you part."
"You should work for hallmark with sentiments like that," He said, rolling his eyes. Still the concern was gone, and I felt better knowing I had helped Kiba relax. Man, cheering up two friends in one day! Just call me Super Naruto! I better get a damn cape.
"Hey boys." I looked up at the sweet tone in Sakura's voice. Instantly I felt a shiver of dread run through me when Ino's innocent smile accompanied Sakura, while a nervous Hinata seemed to glance at anything but us. Something was up; my Naruto-senses were tingling. Aw wait, Spiderman didn't have a cape. Damn! Senses…or cape….senses…cape…
"What's with the looks?" Apparently Shikamaru was just as wary as me. A giggle too sweet to be real passed Sakura's mouth before she moved over to me and playfully hit my arm.
"Iruka just said we have a couple hours to ourselves, and we were just wondering if you'd come walk with us around Rome. Sasuke already said he'd join us." I blinked once at her request and tilted my head. Well that didn't seem so bad…but if Sasuke had agreed to go without complaint, why were my red flags going up?
"Anywhere in particular?" Thank god for Shikamaru. He never seemed to trust Ino's guiltless smile. It was probably because the two had grown up side by side, and he knew all of her dirty tricks. She soon turned the cute smile into a frown, crossing her arms.
"Damnit Shikamaru, stop questioning us and say yes!"
"Ino-pig shut up!" Sakura glared back at Ino, her kindness easily wiped away. And quickly, the two fell into a fight.
"It's not like I said anything important forehead!"
"Yea well you could have just ignored him. Now who's going to help us?"
"Well it's not my fault you came up with this stupid plan anyways. We should have just grabbed Lee and Neji when we had the chance."
"Like Neji would really come shopping with us!"
"Gir-Girls…" Hinata's soft voice brought the two back to reality. Looking at the three of us over their shoulders, the fear must have been evident in our eyes. But you couldn't blame us. They had said the dreaded 'S' word. And on vacation where money seems to just fall out of the sky, we knew that it could turn ugly within minutes.
"The last time you dragged me shopping, some old lady gave me a black eye!" I shouted, crossing my arms in hopes to show my absolute denial. Still, I felt some of my resolve start to weaken when Sakura pulled a girl move and made her lower lip quiver.
"But that wasn't my fault. And I took you out for ramen after, remember?" Well yea, that was true. She had actually felt really bad about the whole incident, and promised to buy me anything that I wanted to make amends. And of course, how could I say no to free ramen? "Plus we won't really be shopping. We just want to go look at some of the Italian shops…most of them are out of our price range anyways!"
"Well not Hinata's, since she's made out of gold," Ino said, gently pushing the blushing girl next to her. Even though window shopping was still technically shopping (I mean, it had the word right inside of it), it wasn't as bad. Still, something about this entire situation was bothering me.
"How the heck did you get Sasuke to agree to go with you?" That seemed to set in another set of guilty looks between the girls.
"Okay, so we kind of told him that you guys had said you were coming, and that you said he'd be a wuss if he didn't go." A wuss? I would have never used that word. Maybe chicken or scared-y cat, but wuss was a pretty stupid word when it came to this. Because I would rather jump off of a bridge 99% of the time than go shopping. Still, it was a plan that the girls seemed to have devised very nicely. I had to give them credit for that.
"I'll go." Wait, what? Did Kiba really just agree to go shopping? I looked back at him to see if he was joking, but he seemed to be genuinely serious. In fact, was he…blushing? Nah, I must have been seeing thing! "What else are we going to do?"
"Not shop?" Came Shika's brilliant answer. Ino gave him a look that clearly stated she was not happy with his choice. The two friends exchanged looks, one glaring while the other seemed almost amused with the situation. It didn't take long before Shikamaru got bored and shrugged his shoulders. "But if the other guys are going, I guess I'll go. I just hope it doesn't turn out troublesome."
"Well since these two losers just folded on me, I guess I don't really have a choice now." Man I hated when the girls ganged up on us. And as soon as Kiba had relented, I should have known they were going to win. Shikamaru hated to fight, and I hated to make my friends angry. That was the only reason that I was allowing Sakura to grab my wrist and pull me toward the exit of the plaza we were in. Sasuke was waiting near the exit, and Sakura wasted no time in dragging us toward a road filled with designer stores. I swore I heard the teme groan at the line of shops that didn't seem to stop. And as soon as the girls pulled us into the first store and squealed, I knew it was going to be a long day.
And it was horrible. I never realized that 'window shopping' really meant 'pull every item out and gawk at it for several minutes'. And they did this in every store; because there was just no way in their minds we could skip something. And how long did they do this, you ask? And even if you didn't ask, I'm going to tell you.
"We've been at this…for two…hours." How on earth did they all stay so perky? I was ready to take the nearest spoon and gouge my eyes out with it. But Sakura seemed perfectly content as she walked ahead of us with the girls.
"We've just got a couple more stores, and then we'll be able to move on to the next street!" The next street? There was another one?!
"Shoot me now." I hit my forehead at Kiba's complaint.
"You're the one who said fine!"
"That's before I realized how much shit was in every store! This is like a nightmare."
"Eh, it's not so bad." Oh yea, Shikamaru says that because almost every store had a nice couch that he could rest on. And since the girls took so long in every friggen shop, he could practically take a catnap. Well, until Ino saw him and dragged him toward the exit with the rest of us.
"Oh look girls! A Louis Vuitton store! We have to go in and check out all of the purses!" Ino squealed in excitement, and I turned my head to the big store in front of us. It was out of the ordinary, since most of the shops were one floor. But when we entered this one, it was larger and had two stories. Apparently Louis had a sweet spot for Italy.
"This place is amazing," Sakura whispered, seeming to be awestruck by all the random stuff in the store. The walls and floor were white, while most of the merchandise was brown and gold. Ino went straight for a huge purse, while Sakura and Hinata made their way toward a rack of sunglasses.
"This could take a while. Louis Vuitton is Ino's favorite type of designer. Where's the couch?" And off went the lazy guy, in search of a place to rest. As if he didn't just sit down five minutes ago.
"What's so damn special about this stuff anyways?" I asked, looking to Kiba and Sasuke. Oh wait, they're both guys. Why the heck would they know about purses? I moved through the store slowly, several rich looking women giving me dirty stares. What, couldn't a guy walk through a store without getting the stink eye?
"Sir, may I help you?" I looked away from the stingy women to see a man dressed in all designer clothing. Really, he looked like he was going to be on TV instead of just a store employee.
"Nope! Just looking around." He seemed agitated with my answer, but forced a smile nonetheless.
"Well if you do need any…assistance, I'll be over at the counter." I felt like the words 'watching your every breath' should have been added at the end of that accented sentence. Because really, he didn't take his eyes off of me while I 'shopped'. I should have known being in a store like this was going to be a bad idea.
"Sasuke! Come look at this!" I shouted across the store, seeming to make everyone jump. Well it wasn't my fault that the place was practically silent. Why was that anyways? Did they think their words would upset the purses?
"Quiet down idiot." But he moved over anyways, glancing to the small purse-thing I found. "What about it?"
"This thing is 550 Euros! I don't even think the damn thing could hold that much money! It's so tiny, why is everything here so overpriced anyways?" Even when I tried to whisper I was loud, and it showed by the skeptical glances I got from some of the people in the store. "I mean really, I could probably paint weird symbols onto a regular bag and make millions."
"Sir, is there a problem?" Ah, there's Mr. Hawk-eye. Apparently he didn't like the murmuring I was causing in the store. He planned to dispose of the problem quickly. The whole place practically gasped in surprise when I grabbed the purse and held it up to him in question.
"Yea. Why the heck are these things so damn expensive? I just saw some guy down the street selling a purse like this for like, 20 Euros." He laughed haughtily and shook his head, taking the purse from my hand and placing it back on the podium.
"Those are just knock-off purses. They say 'LX' instead of 'LV'." Was I missing something here? Because I'm pretty sure an 'X' was not 530 Euros less than a 'V'.
"So what? It's not like people get that close to these damn things anyways. And even if they do, why does it matter what's on the purse? It holds crap, and does its job no matter what's on the outside. Plus this thing is tiny compared to the guy outside!" My logic was starting to make sense to some of the people in the store, and the increase of whispering was making the guy nervous.
"But they're not Louis Vuitton! And they probably stole those things from people anyways." He started to get a bit snappy with me, and I narrowed my eyes. Alright, now he was starting to piss me off.
"So what? Go to a Wal-Mart or Filenes and get one for thirty bucks. Uh… if you have ones of those here. Whatever, any store is better than this place anyways. I bet they give you more patterns other than these ugly letters. Besides, when I see people that carry these things around, it just pisses me off. Why not spend your money helping a donation or something, not spending it on a purse that was made to break anyways. And I learned that from Shikamaru, so I know it's true! He's a geeeeenius." The man seemed completely appalled by what I was saying, but a lot of the customers seemed to suddenly agree with me. And the icing was thrown on the cake when a lazy voice entered the conversation.
"During the war, bad merchandise was sold in order to help boost the economy after the depression. Things were made easier to break in order for other countries to buy more from us. It was even promoted in the early 20th century. Now, computers and electronic devices are created to last only a few years in order for the companies to make profit. Dyes in clothes are weaker, and hand bags have thinner material to make them break or rip easier. So there's no difference between the two bags." Shikamaru kept his gaze on the ceiling as he spoke. If he had looked at us, he would have seen the dueling emotions burning in the employee's eyes. There was anger for announcing the truth, but the mortification of watching several of his customers sneer and walk out of the store was funny to watch. Sure they were rich, but they hated finding out they had been duped. I laughed at the funny sight until I was suddenly dragged from the store, yelping when the man tossed me onto the street.
"Hey! I could have been run over or something you jerk!" I shouted, to which the man simply glared.
"You are not allowed in this store every again! Do not come back." I grumbled when he shut the door, and pushed myself up to brush off any of the dirt I had gotten on me.
"Like I wanted to go into that damn store anyways. Stupid jerk and his stupid designer clothes. I hope he gets dye poisoning." Was that even possible? I paused to think about it before shrugging. Well if it was, he so deserved it.
"Leave it to you to get kicked out of a store two minutes after walking in." I looked up at Sasuke, who now leaned against the side of the store and smirked. Growling, I balled my hands against my side and looked away in a slight pout.
"Whatever, not like I care."
"You will when Sakura gets a hold of you." Aw crap…Sakura was going to lob my head off once she got out of the store. But she'd probably wait a few minutes so it didn't seem like she knew me.
"Hey teme, I kind of like my head on my shoulders. Let's get out of here before she skins me alive." He stared at me in irritation, not moving from his spot.
"And why would I go with you?"
"Because Iruka said we couldn't go off without a partner, and I don't feel like getting yelled at today... maybe tomorrow." Maybe it was the goofy grin I gave him, or the fact that he didn't want to get in trouble for letting me go off on my own. Either way I didn't care. Sasuke sighed and nodded, moving over to me while I glanced around for a place to hide. Any shop was pointless, because the girls were probably going to look there first. So I looked down the road, my eyes widening at something that momentarily made me forget about Sakura's death threat.
"What now?"
"Over there!" I took off down the street quickly, knowing that Sasuke would follow at his own pace. Weaving through the sea of people, I mumbled my apologies while I continued to stare up at the fascinating sight in front of me. How had I missed it? It's huge! I panted as I finally stopped, throwing my hands onto my knees to catch my breath. I shook my head and gazed up to the massive staircase that sat in front of me. I smirked a bit at the challenge that it barked out, daring me to climb it.
"The Piazza di Spagna," I blinked once and looked up to Sasuke, who seemed completely capable of breathing when he stopped next to me. It was the first time I had heard Sasuke speak Italian before. And of course, my plane prediction of him sounding stupid when he spoke was wrong. In fact, he practically sounded Italian! His eyes stayed on the stairs in question before sighing. "The Spanish square. That's what we're standing on right now. In front of us is the Scalinata della Trinità dei Monti ,The Spanish steps. On top of it is a church known as the Trinità dei Monti. That was created in 1502 by King Louis the seventh."
"How the heck do you know that?" I asked, pushing myself to stand straight again. He didn't reply for a few seconds, turning his gaze to me when he did.
"I'm not an idiot." I bristled at the insult, but he didn't give me time to retort. "It's the largest staircase in Europe you know."
"How many steps?" I asked, blinking.
"138." Crap. I whistled and looked back to the staircase, a grin curling my lips.
"Wanna race to the church thing?" He sighed, but I could tell he was excited underneath the cool guy act.
"You want to get beat that badly?"
"Oh please, you'll pass out on the third step." Well I knew that wasn't true, but it was still funny to watch his eyes spark in competition. Sure he acted like he hated to 'play childish games', but he was a teenager too. Even Sasuke liked a little competition. So I turned my attention back to the staircase. "Go!"
Our paths divided the second our feet touched the staircase. He darted to the side while I plowed my way through the middle, becoming an expert at avoiding people. The first set of stairs was easy, and we were dead even in our battle. People seemed to find amusement in us because they cheered or watched in an entertained manner when we'd pass by. I nearly tripped when I heard a few girls catcall to Sasuke. Really? Even now? Women. I scoffed and increased my speed when we went up the second flight, ignoring the burning in my legs that begged for a break. As if I'd ever let the teme win for such a dumb reason! But when I realized I had at least seven more flights to go, I internally groaned. Pride seriously got me into painful situations.
It turned out I had ten flights, and I felt every one of them. My chest heaved when I finally fell at the top of the church stairs, Sasuke leaning on the side of the railing and smirking. I glared despite my desperate need to fill my lungs.
"No fair…I tripped over a girl…" He shrugged and looked out at the scenery under us.
"That's why I went to the side, dobe." I hated him so much. Pushing up to my feet, I moved to stand next to him, supporting my weight on the railing. Sure the stairs didn't look so bad from the bottom, but running full speed up them was not something I planned on doing again. I wiped my arm over my forehead to remove the sweat, and mentally grumbled at the fact that Sasuke seemed perfectly fine. Sure his breathing was a little off, but other than that, it was normal Sasuke.
But I guess the scenery made up for it. The sunset was just starting to make its entrance, and the clouds floated around several tall buildings. The trees were left to grow in the middle of the city, and created a serene look in the silence. Slowly I glanced back to Sasuke, his arms leaning along the railing while his fingers dangled off of the edge. I probably shivered from the breeze that blew past us, but I was fixated on the strange glow that the sunset was casting on his naturally pale skin. Contrasting with the black hair, it was really a weird sight. Was weird the right word? I scrunched my nose a bit in disapproval. No, he wasn't weird right now, he was…
"You going to keep staring?" I jumped a bit in shock when his gaze slid to me, though he kept his face toward the sunset. I scowled and crossed my arms.
"I was just wondering how the heck you knew all that crap about the steps. Even Shikamaru wouldn't be able to go into dept that much." I received a scoff and a flick to the forehead.
"I just do." I rubbed the spot on my head and turned back to the scenery, grumbling about his lack of openness. Leave it to Sasuke to be completely shut off from the rest of us. But even so, I grinned and leaned closer to him.
"You know, despite the fact you're a jerk, I guess you're not a complete asshole." This time he did turn his head to me, staring while I laughed. His shoulders relaxed a bit, and I could tell that he wanted to smile even if he rolled his eyes.
"Yea…for a dobe, you're not so bad either." Well, it was the closest thing I was going to get to a compliment. His phone rang after that, an alarm to signal we only have fifteen minutes to get back to the bus. I wasn't looking forward to the ride back to the hotel (well, I guess I should it home for now), and sat on the inside in order to try and shield some of the girls' yelling. Still, they continued to hit and scold me throughout the night, until I begged them to forgive me. I pulled my Uzumaki pout, and they instantly caved. We finally parted ways after dinner. It was quiet in our room, Shikamaru reading some book while I munched on a cup of ramen. Hey, I was a growing boy that needed to eat as much as I could. And when ramen demands to be eaten, who am I to argue?
"Have you seen Sasuke around?" I asked, slurping the noodles hanging from my mouth and moaning at the delicious taste. Ramen must be like sex in a cup or something!
"Couldn't have gone too far. He left his phone on the nightstand." At the mention of Sasuke's phone, the guy from earlier popped into my head. I still hadn't figured out what he said to me!
"That reminds me…Nara, where's your translator?"
"I let Ino borrow it last night." I nodded and scrambled out of my bed, heading toward the door. "What do you need it for?"
"I'll let you know when I get back. Oh, and don't let the teme anywhere near my food." I glanced over my shoulder at him in warning, which he didn't see from his closed gaze.
"Like Uchiha really wants your snacks." Well, he did have a point. Sasuke was really stingy when it came to food, and only liked to have certain types. Junk was certainly not on his list.
"Alright, be back before you know it!"
"I'll be holding my breath in anticipation." I laughed before shutting the door behind me, moving my way through the corridors of the hotel. In order to keep any 'funny business' from happening, Iruka had separated all of the girls' rooms from the boys. I had to go all the way to the other side of the hotel just to find their stupid room. Knocking once on the numbered door that they said they were staying at, I tapped my foot in impatience. Finally, the door opened to show a surprised Hinata in the doorway.
"Naruto-kun!" I sent Hinata a smile that caused her cheeks to darken. The Hyuuga family seriously needed to let their daughters date at a younger age. "U-Uh... what a-are you... doing here?"
"Hey Hinata, is Ino around?" She glanced behind her nervously as if the question was hard to answer. Finally she nodded quietly and moved from the doorway, letting me into the room. I nearly tripped over the pile of shoes that were sitting near the door, but quickly recovered. "What's with all of your shoes? Last time I checked, there were only three girls in here."
"Yea, but we have several different outfits." I glanced to the bed to see Ino and Sakura reading a Cosmo magazine. I stared at the hot blonde on the front for a second before Ino spoke again. "What are you looking at?"
"Why do you guys read those trashy things anyways?"
"They're not trashy. They're meant to help women deal with life better—hey!" Both girls shouted in protest when I grabbed the magazine away from them, dropping onto the other bed and staring down at the article they were reading.
"What the hell? 'Eight hidden moan zones for men'?"
"Naruto, give it back!" I avoided the grabs of the magazines, glancing between the two of them.
"You three were reading dirty stuff!" All three girls stopped in their movements, Hinata's face burning like a cherry while the other two simmered at a bubblegum tint. No wonder Hinata was nervous to let me in! "Perverts."
"No we're not! We're just curious, and we can be because we're all adults! Even Hinata turned 18 a couple months ago." After Sakura's defense I glanced over to Hinata, who was now taking a shaky seat on the bed with the other two girls. I stared at them for a moment, not sure what to say. So instead of speaking, I glanced down at the article and blinked once at the half naked guy getting his towel yanked by a lingerie-clad woman. Slowly my gaze went back the guy while I spoke.
"Why do you need to read this stuff anyways? It's just a bunch of rubbish that I bet any of your future boyfriends would tell you about when you got to sex." Sakura huffed and sat up on the bed, crossing her arms in defiance.
"Not that it's any business of yours, but the magazine talks about places that guys don't know about."
"Yea! That's why they're hidden you know. The point is for us to know about them before the guys do so that it's a surprise." Ino backed her pink haired friend up with a nod that I could only blink at. Did they really think we didn't know our own bodies? Ha!
"Are you two serious? I bet I know every one of these spots!"
"Well I bet you don't." I felt my smile turn into a grin at Ino's challenging words. And an Uzumaki could never turn down a challenge.
"You're on, let's see the first one!" I flipped the page over, glancing to the first header of the article. Ten minutes later, all four of us were sprawled out on the bed, staring in awe at the descriptions on the pages. I held the magazine above us, Ino and Sakura lying against either side of me. Hinata sat on the edge of the bed, too embarrassed to even look at the magazine. Instead, she listened while Ino read it out loud to all of us.
"…kiss or lick up his spine while lightly spiraling your fingers over the area. To deepen the sensation, switch to using your fingernails. When you're done, you'll see his spine isn't the only part of his body that's hard and straight." I scrunched my nose at the information, starting to flip the page as I spoke.
"That's stupid. Why do they call it the O-spot then? I'm pretty sure your spine is not able to bend like that."
"Didn't you listen when she was reading? It's because of the round part at the bottom of the spine," Sakura said, and I shifted a bit to move her head onto a different part between my chest and shoulder. Even though these girls were skinny, their heads sure weighed a lot. Must be because they're smart.
"It should have been called the L spot, since the spine is straight."
"I doubt it really matters in the end. As long as you hit one spot you're good." I laughed at Ino's words before flipping the page, my eyes curious as I read about the final spot. Maybe if I wasn't so interested in the last topic, I would have noticed Hinata tense at the newcomer that had entered the room.
"Where the heck do these people come up with these names?"
"U-Um…girls..." Hinata's now nervous voice didn't seem to alert the red flags in my head.
"Haha, look at what this one is called!"
"Na-Naruto-kun-"
"The G-spot!"
"The G-spot?" All three of us yelped as we glanced up, my eyes widening when I saw a familiar black gaze staring down at me. My mouth gaped like a fish, not sure what to say. Honestly, when your rival walks in on you snuggled between two girls reading a Cosmo and talking about the G-spot, 'what's up' just doesn't seem to cut it. Seeming unaffected by my state of shock, Sasuke pushed away from the wall he was leaning on and casually walked toward the bed.
"Sorry Naruto-kun…I tried to tell you…" Hinata's guilty voice shook me out of my stupor, and I ignored my heated cheeks to send her a reassuring smile. Wait, I was upside down to her. Would it look like a frown then? But if I did frown, what if she thought it was a real one? Gah, look what he did to me!
"It's no biggie Hinata; the teme should have knocked anyways instead of just letting himself in." He stopped at the edge of the bed, his arms crossed over his chest in a superior manner.
"The door was open and Shikamaru told me you were in here."
"Why'd you have to find me anyways? Did you miss my face that much?" His eyes narrowed dangerously, but I ignored it as I looked back to the page. It was hard to squelch the blush down when the article was now talking about a part of the male's anatomy that I would have never found in my 'alone time'. And with Sasuke looming over it, I felt even more embarrassed.
"You have my phone." Oh yea! That was the whole reason I came in here to begin with! I slapped my forehead and glanced between the girls, grinning despite their looks of pure mortification.
"Well, I hate to break up our little talk fest, but I did come here to retrieve something. I need Shikamaru's digital translator."
"What for?" Ino asked, pushing off of me to fish around the backpack she had on the ground.
"Some guy wrote me a note while we were on the bus and I want to see what it said." I waited for Sakura to sit up before I pushed myself to sit, glancing over to Sasuke and tossing him the magazine. He caught it quickly, and I smirked at the disgusted look he gave it. "You should read that last one. Maybe you could use that stick up your ass to get to it."
"Naruto!" I laughed at Sakura's humiliated shout. He glared but stayed silent, probably because he thought he was too good to reply to something so improper. Whatever. I thanked Ino when she tossed me the device, Ino and Sakura leaning over my shoulders while I slowly typed the words into the translator. I glanced between the phone and the translator a few times to make sure I wrote the right sentence down before I clicked the enter button, waiting until the translator said complete to click the 'okay' option. I stared in shock for a few seconds before the girls gasped next to me.
"What does that say? Naruto, did you type that in right?" I hurriedly opened the phone again, skimming the poster once more before looking back at the strange sentence in front of me.
"Yea that's what he wrote!"
"That's not possible; you aren't even in a relationship." I heard what Ino said, but for some reason I couldn't answer. The translator continued to flash 'you make such a cute couple!' This couldn't be right…this couldn't be right! I went back to the memory of the morning bus ride, thinking to what had happened before he showed us the note. Well, I waved, and then he waved, and then I tried to get the teme to wave but he was being a jerk once ag—
Oh no fucking way.
"Ah!" I dropped both deceives as if they were covered in acid, and I didn't care that the entire room was staring at me. I kept my eyes on the translator, my words frozen in my throat. Me... and Sasuke?! As a co-cou…coup…I couldn't even say it! I glanced quickly at the only other guy in the room, who stared at me with an arched brow. I felt my heart stop for a moment, my cheeks growing with color as I stared up into his questioning gaze. It was so strange, seeing Sasuke stare at me without a glare. My stomach flipped a bit at the prolonged stare, and I couldn't help but flashback to how Sasuke looked during the sunset.
A moment later I was on the move. I grabbed the translator from the bed, not wasting time in saying goodbye while I fled the scene. My breathing was heavy; from the running down the halls or the increase of panic I wasn't sure. Why did I get embarrassed? Why did my heart stop? It was completely irrational. Uchiha Sasuke had to be the most annoying, frustrating, stupid asshole that I had ever met! The entire thing should have made me laugh. Why wasn't I laughing?!
"Oof!" Apparently I took the corner too sharply, because my side clipped the edge and sent me straight into the opposing wall. I instantly fell back on my butt, chest heaving in need for air. I sure had gotten back to the room faster than I realized. I closed my mouth to breathe through my nose, ignoring the weird glances I received from a group on the other bus while they moved to their room. Hitting my head against the wall, I closed my eyes and prayed this entire thing was a bad dream.
"Dobe." No? Nobody up there liked me? Damn, I thought I had appeased one of the gods. Cracking one of my eyes open, I saw Sasuke leaning against the other side of the hallway, hands shoved inside his pockets. "You know, you ran faster here than on the steps."
"Shut up," I muttered, finally catching control of my erratic breathing. The last thing I needed was for Sasuke to see how worn out I was.
"Why did you run?"
"Why do you care?" I shot back. I earned a bored shrug in response.
"I don't. Sakura asked me to find you." If this had been three years ago, I would have passed out at the thought of Sakura caring about me. But now, it only made my squirm at how obvious I had shown my panic. Damnit, why couldn't I keep my emotions in order? I'm sure if Sasuke knew what the guy had said he would have just scoffed and let it roll off his back. It wasn't like it really meant anything; the guy didn't even know us! So why I reacted so violently I wasn't sure.
"I left your cell phone on the bed." I wanted to get off the subject before Sasuke asked me again. He could be persistent if he needed to be.
"I know."
"You grab it?"
"If I knew you left it, why wouldn't I?"
"You know your personality would make Elmo commit suicide." The sick bastard actually smirked at my snide comment.
"I always found him annoying." I paused, finally letting out the breath I had been holding during most of our conversation in turn for a grin.
"Yea, I guess you're right." I laughed and leaned my head back onto the wall, staring up above us. I could feel myself relaxing despite my moment of panic. Who cared what some crazy bike guy said? It wasn't like he knew us. Me and Sasuke were both pretty good looking (not that I'd ever tell the asshole), so it was probably just assumed we were together. Naturally when you see two good looking people together, you assume there's something between them, right? Plus Sasuke looked feminine, so I bet he looked like a girl or something.
That had to be it.
"Let's get going, dobe." I scowled up at him, and then blinked at the extended hand that hung in front of me. I hesitated for a minute, but grabbed his hand and let him pull me up. Our fists brushed against each other's chests, and our eyes locked for a moment before we broke away. Brushing the dirt I was suddenly interested in off of my shirt, I moved toward our room. I could hear his quiet movements following, though he didn't speak.
"You get my translator back?" Shikamaru asked, looking up from the book he was reading. I nodded weakly and tossed it to him, the lazy guy glancing down at the device. "I'm guessing you got your answer then."
"Yea." The room fell quiet after that, all three of us silently deciding that recovering our sleep from the day before was more important than talking. I curled on my side, waiting for the memories of today to fade in the darkness of sleep.
It was the start of something nobody could have predicted.
Well? I certainly did not expect this chapter to be so long! Not that I'm really complaining since it was fun to write, but still! So I hope that you liked it, because I tried to make it interesting. And I couldn't help but add a little competition between Naruto and Sasuke. =D Even if my boy did lose! Haha, so I hope you're excited for the next chapter now! And since I actually know where this story is going, I can even tell you the name of the next chapter! So I hope you review!
Chapter Three: Pizza, Pups, Pompeii, oi vey!
