All Of Me: A Naruto Fanfiction
DISCALIMER: No. Just no.
Chapter 2: Three Years Too Long
Naru stretched, hearing the worrisome crack of her backbone straightening. "Well, boss, is it good enough?" She grumbled, wiping her chin on the sleeve of her shirt.
Umino Iruka stared at the mural, his beady eyes never leaving the colorful wall, on the lookout for any particular mistake. When he found none, he sighed and slapped Naru's back proudly. "Well done, Naru. I approve."
Blushing, the blonde chuckled heartily before picking up her numerous palettes and brushes. She nudged Hyuuga Neji as she passed him, playfully giving him a cross-eyed expression just to enlighten the holier-than-thou man.
"Ino, you still set on coming over tonight?" she called out to her best friend with hair just a shade paler than hers. A brush hanging off her right ear, the platinum blonde woman grinned, nodding. She gestured to Naru to help her finish her side of the mural.
With a small smile, Naru dropped her materials and stumbled over to where Ino stood on top of a chair, coloring her side of the wall with darker colors. "You'd think whoever owned this kindergarten would want a more colorful mural," Ino complained as Naru herself stood on her toes, helping Ino out with the harsher colors that called for attention.
"Well, this is a kindergarten; no one's gonna ask around anyway." She gently nudged Ino.
"Ugh, I swear, I'm so sick of doing this job. We're artists for crying out loud!"
"Which makes us glorified mural painters." Naru laughed. "Besides, the pay is pretty good."
"The pay's good for you, Naru, because you're so goddamned good at this-"
Iruka stood behind both women, startling them as he growled, "Less talk, more painting!"
"Oh, fuck off, boss!" And Iruka was met with the fury of two tired, artistically repressed women.
"Uncle Neji, ketchup!" Sora demanded of the long-haired, pale-eyed artist who unfortunately happened to be dragged into this poor excuse of a dinner night at this failure of a diner.
He was about to rudely ignore the innocent little boy when he felt a death glare pinpointed straight at him. Naru laughed at Neji's petrified face when Iruka glared disdainfully at the other man, silently warning him, "If you ever make this sweet little boy cry, I will feed your balls to my dog as his breakfast."
So with terror and resignation, Neji passed the bottle of ketchup to Sora, who happily squirted the red liquid out right at him. Flinching, he shuddered at the loud guffaws that erupted around the table as curious onlookers – consisting of Iruka and Ino – watched the unprecedented interaction between the group's self-proclaimed asshole and Naru's adorable baby boy.
"I hope none of your artworks get showcased," Neji spat bitterly.
"Oh, boo-hoo, Hyuuga, you know you don't mean it." Naru stuck out her tongue at him, the action very much reminding him of her son, who ignored everybody and everything but his fried chicken.
"So, baby, how was Granny Tsunade and Grandpa Jiraiya today?" Naru asked, wiping her son's ketchup-covered chinny-chin-chin. Tsunade and Jiraiya had made a special exception to drop Sora off at Naru's current workplace in a kindergarten that was being renovated. The two had been uncharacteristically quiet, and Naru was left to ponder the sudden frostiness between them.
Sora blinked. "Granny beat Grandpa again when she caught him reading to me one of his books."
Naru froze, and so did the rest of the table's occupants; they too, like Naru, knew that Jiraiya was a world-renowned adult fiction writer.
" . . . he did what now?" Naru's voice was like the calm before the approaching storm. Everyone was quiet, nervously fiddling with their tableware.
"He read to me, Mommy! Like how you read me stories at night!"
"Ino," she turned to her friend, "remind me that the next time I see Jiraiya, I'm gonna-"
"Whoa, sir, could you turn up the volume?" A female customer from the table opposite Naru's yelled at a slacking waiter. "It's Uchiha Sasuke, onscreen!"
Immediately, the waiter straightened up and hurried to the counter. The volume of the decrepit TV drastically increased, the narrator being a female newscaster from a local news-station calmly reported, "Uchiha Industries have once again made history today when they successfully completed a new nuclear missile entitled, the Kyuubi. US President Barack Obama has officially stated that the Kyuubi marks a new beginning in America's defense and offense system."
Loud cheers erupted around the diner, and all Naru could do was to simply hold her son tighter to her chest. Ino grabbed hold of Naru's trembling knees and stilled them, while Neji simply laid back and watched impassively at the blonde woman seated in front of him. Iruka bit his lip hard, tasting the metallic taste of blood as he watched his employee struggle to maintain her composure.
"Time magazine has named both brothers, as well as Uchiha Sasuke's fiancée, two-time Academy award winner Haruno Sakura, one of the most influential people of this decade with Uchiha Industries dominating the business and weapons industry. Now, with Uchiha Sasuke helming this massive company, the world wonders what other tricks the Uchiha brothers have up their sleeves. Stay tuned to watch an interview with Uchiha Itachi."
"That Sasuke's pretty much like a god."
"I wonder why Itachi decided to quit as president, though."
"I heard it's because of his sexuality."
"Either way, Sasuke's a lucky bastard dating Haruno Sakura."
Naru abruptly stood, having had enough. "Come on, baby. Let's go home."
"But I haven't had my dessert yet, Mommy!"
She smiled gently, caressing Sora's pouting face. "Mommy will make you some hot chocolate before you go to bed, does that sound good?"
The little boy gasped his approval, putting out his arms and implying that he wanted to be carried.
"I'll take care of it," Neji murmured to Naru.
She laid her hand against his strong back, muttering, "Thank you."
Neji dumped a wad of notes onto the table and swiftly picked up a squealing Sora into his capable arms. Naru watched them, her eyes hollow and filled with sadness. For an instant, she wondered what it would be like if it wasn't Neji who was carrying her son out the diner's door.
What if–
No, a voice whispered in her head, enough.
And just like that, Naru shut away the sudden grief and wonder.
"That was a nice dinner," Ino yawned, curling up against Naru in the latter's sofa in front of her home's fireplace. Neji and Iruka were long gone, and Ino being Naru's only best friend decided to stay behind. Sora was fast asleep in his room, wrapped in his Star Wars duvet, dreaming of happy things.
Naru sighed, "It was."
"Naru . . ." Ino knew she was treading through dangerous waters.
"It's stupid, isn't it, Ino? The way I'm never going to get myself out of this . . . this . . . stupid, stupid cycle." I'm always going to love him, aren't I?
"Sweetie-"
"No, Ino, I just . . . we can't help who we love, can't we? But my relationship with him . . . it was toxic. It wasn't normal. It wasn't right. And out of all the things I regret, I'll never forgive myself for not listening to my own intuition warning me against him."
Ino could only stare helplessly at her friend, watching as she spoke emotionlessly.
Naru was quiet, listening to the steady beating of her sure heart. "And besides, I'm happy now. I have you, Neji, Iruka . . . my son. There's nothing else in the world that I'll ever need."
Except him, Ino thought, remembering the times when she'd had to comfort her lovesick, heartbroken friend. Tears welled up in Ino's eyes as another thought passed. But this time, I'm never going to let him hurt you like he once did. This time I'm going to protect you.
Sasuke sighed as Sakura kissed a heated trail from his jaw, down his collarbone, stopping just for awhile at his stomach as she un-tucked his dress shirt. He could feel her grin as she unhurriedly unzipped his crisp business pants. "Hurry up," he panted, almost blinded with lust.
Sakura shushed him with a flick of her tongue against his navel. "All good things come to those who wait, my love."
"SASUKE!" A loud banging against his office door sounded. Sasuke groaned, feeling his head lolling to the side.
But Sakura was persistent, and continued her ministrations.
"Uchiha Sasuke, I swear to motherfucking god this is fucking important!" Itachi yelled, clearly on the verge of breaking down his door. The raven-haired man cussed, pushing his fiancée aside as he pulled his pants over a raging hard-on. "Sasuke, I'm going to count to-"
He threw the door open, insane fury clouding his face as he spat, "What do you want, aniki?!"
"Meeting in the board room, now," was all he got.
Slipping his poker face back on, Sasuke stalked past Itachi and stormed into the board room with an aura of pure hatred. He scowled when he realized that most of the board members weren't even seated yet. "What is it now, Itachi? What could possibly be so important that you had to disturb me? I'm a very busy man."
"Busy like fucking that little whore of yours?"
"Fuck you-"
"Hey, I'm sure Itachi-nii didn't mean it," Sakura grinned, unabashedly wiping the corner of her mouth with a tissue.
"Who said she was allowed in here?!" Itachi grabbed Sasuke's collar, glaring holes into his eyes and hoping that somehow, one way or another, his little brother would open up his eyes and see the true colors of his fiancée.
Sasuke scoffed, "Hn."
Hatake Kakashi, the head of security in Uchiha Industries, entered the room, a manila file in his hands. His silver-colored hair stood proudly above the crown of his head, only being weighed down by his not-so-discreet mask that covered most of his face and emotions. The man wore a simple button down shirt and blue jeans, but his stance was clearly meant for business.
He sat, gesturing towards Sasuke and the other patrons of the room to follow suit.
In his deep baritone, he simply said, "Along with the creation of the Kyuubi missile, my team and I have noticed an increase in the breaching of UI's properties across Europe, America and Asia. Our theory is that whoever wants the missile clearly wants it enough to mess with the world's most successful company.
"As a result, my team and I have decided to up security in every sector of UI's premises . . . and we have also deduced that, due to the completion of the Kyuubi, your loved ones' life may be put to risk as well."
Sasuke and Itachi nodded for Kakashi to continue.
"And, because we're hired specifically to protect UI's ideologies, weapons and other miscellaneous things, we have also decided that a forced leave on the two of you would be most advisable."
"No." Sasuke immediately contradicted.
Itachi stared at Kakashi. "By loved ones . . . who do you refer to, exactly?"
And Sasuke froze, suddenly hoping and praying that his brother wasn't thinking what he thought he was thinking. His heart began beating rapidly, and he found that no matter how hard he tried to crush blocked memories down, he just couldn't forget her.
Sakura's arm around his stiff shoulders suddenly felt so foreign.
"Your family, of course," Kakashi opened his envelope, "Fugaku, Mikoto, your boyfriend Deidara, Sakura . . . and a woman named Uzumaki Naruto."
Dawn was barely breaking over the Uzumaki household when the door-bell sounded through the sleep-laden house. Naru groaned, shifting over to her side and curling up against the ball of warmth that was Ino. The bell rang again, and Naru sighed before rising, ready to bite whoever's head was at the door.
Dressed in an oversized shirt and sweatpants, Naru opened her front door, the beginning of an insult standing ready at the tip of her tongue.
But as she stared at the curious figure that stood before her, she could only blink once. Then she blinked twice. Then she blinked once more for good measure.
"Hello, Naruto." Hatake Kakashi greeted cheerily, lewdly eyeing the gorgeous blonde wearing skimpy clothing. Of course, there was nothing skimpy about decades-old shirt and pants but somehow, Kakashi was starting to see exactly how the Uchiha brothers knew this woman.
Naru tilted her head to the side, already distrusting Kakashi. "Can I help you, sir?"
"You have to come with me, ma'am," he nodded, stepping aside so she could walk pass him.
"What do you think I am? Chopped liver? Hell, no. Why don't you tell me who you are and what you want with me first? Wait, you're not another one of Tsunade's friends are you? No, crap, you're the dude who collects taxes! Shit, I swear, I was going to pay them eventually. I just didn't have time or money-"
"Rest assured, Ms. Uzumaki, I am neither-"
"Oh, thank god."
"But I do need you to follow me regarding . . ." Kakashi slid closer, "personal matters." He then tilted his head to the ceiling, where an unknowing little boy laid sleeping in his bed on the floor directly above them. Naru gritted her teeth, exhaustion kicking into adrenalin.
Anyone who saw Naru in that particular moment would have fallen over in shock.
Her cerulean blue eyes, usually bright with cheer and laughter, had turned into one of the iciest blue anyone, anywhere would have seen. Kakashi himself flinched from the raw emotion that Naru portrayed simply by her eyes alone. "You hurt him, you die."
Her words were simple but calculated and meant.
Kakashi was now truly confused. "I take it you haven't told Mr. Uchiha about him?"
"Why should I? Why would I? I would never endanger my child in that way. He's mine, not his."
"Unless you can reproduce asexually, ma'am, I highly-"
"Don't you even dare joke about this," Naru hissed. "What does he want with me?"
"You are aware we're talking about Uchiha Sasuke, aren't you?"
"Yes, and if you don't get straight to the point, I'll make sure some other part of yours won't ever point again."
Kakashi instinctively covered his groin. "Fair point well made, Ms. Uzumaki. Perhaps we'll explain everything in context once you follow me. I don't think this is a safe environment to have such matters discussed in public."
Naru shook her head stubbornly. "I'm not leaving until you tell me what's going on."
Kakashi sighed.
Naru leaned her weight against her right leg, hands on her hips as she stared off with the strange man in a strange mask.
"The Uchiha's and their respective loved ones are in danger. The creation of the Kyuubi has acquired them unwanted attention. I'm here to send you and your son to the airport, where the little Uchiha's private plan awaits. You two, along with the Uchiha brothers and their lovers will be staying at their island in the Caribbean while my team and I . . . eradicate the danger. All this, of course, is compulsory." Kakashi finished. His voice sounded strained; he wasn't used to speaking so much.
It took a second for Naru to realize that the stranger hadn't said his name once. "No," she violently disagreed. "We're not going anywhere."
"Naru?" Ino called from behind her. "What's going on? Who's this dude?"
"I don't know, but he wants me to follow him."
A car beeped its horn from the Uzumaki driveway. Neji and Iruka got out of the car, both men immediately judging the unwelcomed intruder who stood too close to Naru for comfort.
Protective, Kakashi thought. That's good. At least she still has a few people concerned for her.
"Naru-"
"Listen, Ms. Uzumaki," Kakashi checked his watch, "you don't have much time to decide. It's either you have five minutes to pack and I civilly walk you to the car, or I drag you out of here by your hair. Your son wouldn't appreciate that look now, won't he?"
"Who do you think-" Neji snapped before being halted by Naru.
"I'm not going. No one is. I don't care."
"What about your son? Whoever's after them might have some knowledge about the two of you. I have to say, you've done a remarkable job covering your tracks, but even the best puppet-master has his flaws." Kakashi had no choice; he had to guilt the blonde woman into coming.
"My son . . . ?" Naru trailed off, blonde eyebrows etching into one.
Neji, Iruka and Ino could only stand beside their beloved friend, confused and wondering what the hell was going on. They glanced at each other, unsure of what their friend would decide.
Skeptical of the strange man's sudden apperance and story, Naru questioned, "How can I be sure you're telling the truth and not just tricking me?"
"Why don't all of you come with me then, and decide for yourself?"
"I don't trust you." Neji said bluntly, causing Naru to let out a muffled chuckle.
"I've called Yamato," Iruka provided, "he's a cop, and he's coming over to verify your story. In fact, two other friends of ours are coming as well." He refused to tell the masked man that the two other friends were private investigators linked to the Uchiha Industries' well-known security personnel.
Naru's mind was in a chaotic mess. She was on the verge of breaking down. All she knew now, beyond every single doubt she had, was that she had to make sure her baby boy was safe. Running back inside her house and ignoring her friends' cries, she rushed up the stairs to check on Sora.
He was like an angel, wrapped in his favorite quilt and smiling away at the delightful dreams he had. Naru's tightened heart relaxed at the peaceful sight. She was relieved that he was still there. She blinked past her convoluted emotions and walked slowly to where Sora laid.
"Baby boy," she whispered, voice breaking and torn, "what do you think Mommy should do?"
Sasuke was vengeful.
What is taking Kakashi so goddamn long?!
"Sasuke-kun, relax! We're going on a vacation, so you have to relax!" Sakura's useless advice whistled past his ears.
His phone suddenly vibrated against his thigh, and in his mad rush to pick up the call, Sasuke spilt his glass of white wine on his new cream-colored dress shirt. "Fuck," he cursed.
I've never seen him so flustered before, Sakura mused. She didn't mind – she'd been given a solid one month that she could spend with her beloved fiancée. No paparazzi, no crazy fans, award shows . . . no work. Perhaps it was the thought of him spending so much time with her – he wasn't used to seeing her often – that caused him to act like a pubescent boy on his first date.
She giggled. Yes, that must be it! He's nervous! Aw, it's so adorable!
"Yes, hello?" Sasuke all but yelled into his phone.
"Fly off first," Kakashi said, "Ms. Uzumaki and her, ah, family would like to take the long way there."
"What the fuck do you mean?!"
"It means, dickwad," Another man's voice growled menacingly into Sasuke's ears, "that we're taking economy, and there's no way you're gonna stop us. So fuck off and-"
"Why don't you fuck-"
"Sorry about that, Sasuke," this voice . . . it was familiar . . . "Ino here. We'll be taking economy; she insisted we did. We've already got tickets and everything. We're sorry for holding you up-"
The same man from before interrupted Ino, "No, we're not!"
" . . . no, we're not," Ino suddenly hissed, a silent warning in her words. This time, Sasuke frowned. Who were these people? The name Ino sounded so familiar, and yet he couldn't place it.
The next voice that he heard halted Sasuke's frantic movements as well as palpitations. "We'll see you soon."
And the line went dead.
A/N: If you're confused, don't worry, it's meant to be that way.
Just a few things to highlight:
Sasuke's job: He's the President of Uchiha Industries, a company specializing in the business and weapons industry. Think of Tony Stark and Stark Industries in Iron Man; Sasuke and Itachi's job is exactly like that. Itachi was the former president, but resigned. An explanation for that will be revealed later.
Naruto's job: Yes, she's an artist. More elaboration on that in the future.
Pairings: It may seem like a nejinaru for now, but don't worry, it'll soon be sasunaru. Neji is just a close friend, like a brother. And yes, he will be related to Hinata, but further explanation will be given in the upcoming chapters. I'm still thinking if I should add in kakairu in, but maybe it's way too much. Please don't worry about pairings for now, IT WILL BE SASUNARU EVENTUALLY. Let the angst settle in first. :)
In case you're still confused, let me sum up who's going with Sasuke and Itachi to the island from their side: Sakura and Deidara
Naru, on the other hand: Ino, Neji, Iruka, Yamato (and the two other PIs, I'll reveal who they are in future chapters)
If you have any questions - anything at all - please feel free to PM me. :)
Lastly, reviews will be appreciated. Come on, people, show me a little love (like I said, I'm shameless). Thanks for reading!
Ja!
-Aron