A/N: By the way, I'll try not to overabuse my already limited Japanese, but I don't want to ... not use Japanese in this, because 'Lord Sasuke' sounds... Well, you know, it sounds... weird. So I'll keep it to a minimum, but you'll have to bear with me.

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Oh, heck yeah, this was fun. I mean, what else in the world could be as fun as this? Seriously man… Staring at each other? It's like the new fad! Right next to watching paint dry or watching grass grow! Simply wonderful.

"So… Uh…" Sasuke looked at his new pet, who in turn was admiring his new environment.

The fox looked back at his owner when he heard him talking. He grinned.

"Are you… Hungry or something?" the Uchiha asked, not sure if his pet would understand or not. But if they could learn to speak, then surely they can understand what you're saying to them, right?

And so it appeared so, because the fox began to nod uncertainly. His tongue came out as he licked his lips.

"Let's go to the kitchen then," Sasuke stared at the leash for a very long time. It was so uncomfortable to be dragging him around like that. He walked closer to the fox and found the clip for it. Quickly he unclipped the leash and took a few steps forward, looking behind him the entire time. The fox followed. No problem then. Besides, it made Sasuke less awkward.

In the kitchen, all the servants took a moment to pause from their work and acknowledge his presence. Today, the place was even more chaotic that it usually is, with everyone rushing to get his birthday feast ready. As a reply to their greetings, Sasuke nodded and went over to one of the chefs who were kneading a ball of dough.

"Excuse me," he started, but was interrupted by an overly formal and polite, 'Ah! Sasuke-sama! How nice of you to visit us!' Sasuke nodded absentmindedly at that salutation. "Is there anything for…" he paused. There was no way he was going to say 'my pet'.

So the chef said it for him. "Your pet, Sasuke-sama?"

Sasuke cringed at that. "Y-Yes…"

"Sure, Sasuke-sama. There are some scraps of vegetables over there if you wish to feed it…"

'It'. That made Sasuke rather irritated. His voice gained an edge to it. "I'm not going to feed him rotten food." Black eyes narrowed into slits as he grated the words out. Though this creature may not be as intelligent as humans, Sasuke still did not feel that anyone had the right to refer to him as an 'it' and feed it odds and ends of meals.

The fox's ear flattened at Sasuke's icy voice. He seemed to understand that his tone of voice was not a happy one. He whimpered a bit.

Sasuke's sudden change also had an effect on the chef, who began to apologize profusely and promised to make something very good for 'him'. When Sasuke stopped glaring a hole at him, he began to work furiously.

"Send a servant to my room with it when you're done," Sasuke told the cook, before redirecting his attention to his fox. "Come on…" Seriously need to get him a name soon, Sasuke contemplated. "We need to get you out of those rags…"

The fox seemed unconvinced that Sasuke wasn't going to murder him or something because of his previous tone. Still, being a good pet, he followed him out of the hectic kitchen, where they were nearly ran over three times and boiled alive twice.

"Phew…" Sasuke breathed out in relief. There was a reason why he didn't visit the kitchen often. "Well then…" he turned around to see a slightly traumatized pet.

But seriously, who can blame him? Getting nearly cooked is not a fun experience. Still, Sasuke could not help but to be a bit sadistic and smile at his pet's discomfort. His dilated, blue eyes and mouth set in such a firm line was unbelievably cute.

"Come," he commanded and started to walk briskly in another direction. The fox trotted after him, looking around inquiringly.

His furry tail twitched a bit as he took hold of one of Sasuke's wide sleeves. The boy paused to see what was holding him back. He found the source of the tugging from his pet's loose grasp. Sasuke held back a smile and continued to walk, nearly dragging the poor fox along.

Once they had reached their destination, Sasuke rapped on the wooden frame of the paper door. There was a short pause before whoever was inside called out, "Come in, please."

Sasuke opened the door and walked in, the fox still hanging onto his sleeve. In the middle of the room, there was a young woman sitting on a cushion. She was surrounded by many colorful looms of cloth and threads.

"Sasuke-sama," she said politely and bowed.

"Hn," he said absentmindedly and gestured to his pet quickly. "I want you to get some robes ready for him by tomorrow. Or is that too early?" the inquiry was not asked to rush her in any way, but to allow her more time if needed.

However, that was mistaken and the woman looked taken aback. "Oh no, Sasuke-sama! It isn't too early! I can finish them by tonight if you want!" She immediately stood up and started to rummage through the cloth hurriedly.

Sasuke's open mouth closed when he realized that any objection he said would be useless. It's always been like that. Every time he asked someone something, they always took it the wrong way and nearly drove themselves to death to finish something he requested. He shook his head slowly. His fox merely glanced over at the frantic women.

"Sasuke-sama," she called out to him a bit breathlessly. "Is this color good?"

His eyebrow rose. The color… was pink. "This is… a 'he'…" Sasuke tried to explain. By this time, the fox had already released Sasuke's sleeve and had wandered over the room, looking and poking at the cloth.

Her response made him confused. "I know."

What? As in, "I know your pet is a he but I think pink suits him better"? Or as in, "I know it's a he, but I don't care"?

"Then why are you choosing that color?" he raised his hand limply and pointed lamely at the cloth.

"Well—" she began, but didn't finish.

"Here, I think this color is better…" Sauske turned his gaze onto his pet, who was now pulling out a long stretch of fabric. It was simple enough. White with orange thread lacing through it.

"But…" the tailor began.

"Yes," Sasuke intentionally ignored her complaint, "I think that color will suit him very well. And perhaps this as well…" he strolled over to a loom of orange cloth with black trimming. The younger Uchiha cleared his throat loudly and continued to talk, "If you please, deliver the robes to my room by tonight, before the feast. I'm expecting more than two robes by tomorrow night. At least three… Choose similar colors for the rest of them..."

The woman accepted defeat and mumbled a soft, "Yes, Sasuke-sama…" and sighed quietly.

Orange ears perked up when Sasuke walked over to him and shoved him to the tailor for measurements. The woman took out her measuring tape and a scroll to record the fox's measurements. Within a few minutes, they were done.

Sasuke thanked the woman and took the fox outside. "Your food should be done by now…" he muttered.

By the time they reached his room, Sasuke's sleeve was rather wrinkled. The Uchiha halted in front of his room and turned around to face his pet. "This," he opened the door, "is my room. Don't destroy it."

The fox walked inside tentatively, sniffing and looking around carefully. He seemed interested in everything. Blue eyes gazed over every single piece of furniture inside of the room before they settled back onto his owner again.

Sasuke gestured for him to follow. He led him to another door at the other side of his room. When he opened it, the two of them were greeted with a small hot spring. It was a private hot spring with walls surrounding it, and a roof and some windows to allow steam to vent out. "This is the bath," he pointed at a small wooden building next to the hot spring, "and that is the restroom. Remember it."

As if he understood, the fox nodded timidly before trotting back into the room to re-explore everything. Sasuke sat down in the middle of the room, where a small table was located. He propped his elbows onto the table and laced his fingers together while listening to his new pet whimper and sniff at everything.

A few minutes passed by when a knock on the door made both of them look up. "Sasuke-sama?"

"Yes?" Sasuke asked from his spot.

"Your… Uh, pet's food is done."

"Bring it in."

At the smell of food, the fox stopped running around the room and ran back to Sasuke, where he curled up. The servant bowed precariously with a bowl of ramen on a platter. He set it down and walked out, bowing again.

The fox peered over the table, eyeing the food, but did not reach out for it. His tail was twitching uncontrollably, so Sasuke knew he was using the last of his self-control not to attack the ramen.

"Do you know how to use chopsticks?" Sasuke asked his pet, holding them out to him. The fox bit the chopsticks but otherwise showed no interest in them. "I guess not… Sit up then." He pulled his pet up by his shoulder and made him sit up straight.

Bright eyes watched Sasuke's hand as he pulled up long strands of ramen and blew on them to cool them. Once he deemed it cool enough to eat, Sasuke shifted a bit and held out the noodles to the fox. His pet only sniffed the food a bit and looked back and forth between the chopsticks and Sasuke.

"What's wrong? You can eat it," Sasuke told him, offering the food again.

This time, the fox bit down on the noodles and slurp it up somewhat messily, causing some of the broth to splatter onto Sasuke's hand, but he didn't mind. He watched as his pet chewed thoughtfully on his meal and swallowed. The fox's face brightened as he licked his lips, whimpers and whines coming from his throat.

The boy's lips twitched into a nearly nonexistent smile as he picked up a piece of naruto from the bowl and fed it to his pet. He seemed especially interested in the small piece of food. The fox kept biting and licking the chopsticks for more each time Sasuke fed him a slice of naruto.

It was rather amusing, watching the small fox eat so much. Somewhere torn between disgust and interest, Sasuke continued to feed him until the bowl was empty. At this point, the fox had grown bold enough to actually pick up the bowl off the table and drain the broth as well.

Sasuke's eyebrows shot up when the completely empty bowl as set back down. "Wow. For such a small thing, you sure eat a lot…" he set the chopsticks back down and stared at his pet, who had curled up again, his eyes heavy with sleep.

"That's right, huh? You still need a name…" Sasuke sighed a bit. What could he name him? He didn't want a ridiculous name like "Fluffy" or something… Simply because that was… peculiar.

The fox stared back through half lidded eyes. He licked his lips again and shifted a bit into a more comfortable position. His tail swished around a bit as he started to fall asleep. He opened his mouth and yawned, once more revealing sharp teeth and curled, pink tongue, before snapping his jaw shut and making a small sound of happiness.

Sasuke's hand wandered over his head where he began to scratch and rub. A blue eye peeked through an open eye when he felt his owner pet him. He became more alert and started to nudge his head against Sasuke's palm. A smile stretched across his face as his tail continued to sweep the floor.

The Uchiha glanced back at the empty bowl on the table. "How about… Naruto?" he tested the name out.

You know something's wrong with Sasuke when he decides that "Fluffy" is not appropriate and goes off naming his pet after a food item… I mean, seriously…

The fox's ears pricked up and his eyes opened. He looked at his owner questioningly.

"I'll take that as a 'yes' then," Sasuke confirmed. I wonder… "Naruto, can you say your name?" The boy began rubbing his pet's right ear. "Na-ru-to," he said slowly, looking at blue eyes.

Naruto opened his mouth and tried imitating the sounds. "Nyaaahh… Naah… Nyahruto?"

Sasuke chuckled lightly and rubbed Naruto's head a bit more vigorously. "That's good enough." He looked outside to where the bath was. From the small windows, he could tell that it was late afternoon. "Ah, shoot…" he made a small sound of annoyance. His birthday feast was only in a few hours.

He stood up and looked down at his pet. "Naruto."

Naruto glanced up when he heard Sasuke talking.

"Time to take a bath and get ready…" Sasuke went over to his closet and took out two robes and towels. He hoped that the tailor would finish the robes by the time they were done. Though that might take some superhuman speeds… "Come on," Sasuke called out as he walked into the bath. Naruto stood up and followed him sleepily.

The boy set down the robes and towels onto a nearby rock and locked the door. 'Locking the door' meaning putting a giant slab of wood across the front of the door, which kept anyone from opening it. Although, if one really wanted to, you could just ram it down. After all, the doors weren't all that strong.

"I'm going to suppose that you don't know how to bathe either," Sasuke said, slightly defeated at his pet's… uselessness. He lifted his hand and beckoned Naruto over. The fox walked over slowly and yawned. "Sorry, Naruto. You'll have to stay awake for a few more hours until you get to sleep."

The Uchiha began to pull off Naruto's clothing, which wasn't too difficult, except for the fact that Naruto kept trying to nip his fingers every now and then, just in order to show his displeasure. He didn't seem bothered by the fact that he was now naked.

"I get the idea… You want to sleep, but not now…" Sasuke muttered. "Not like I'm not tired either…" The dark haired boy began to take off his robes as well. He led Naruto into the warm, waist-high water.

The fox seemed reluctant to get into the water. He stood by the edge of the hot spring, whimpering. Sasuke sighed and picked him up before Naruto knew what was happening. He started squirming and yipping loudly. "Stop it… I'm not in the mood to drown you right now."

Naruto stopped moving around when he saw that the water wasn't very deep at all. Gradually, he adapted to the warmth around him, even though it didn't really make him happy to know that his tail was now sopping wet. He submerged himself until only his nose and everything above his nose was visible in the shallow water. He stalked over to Sasuke, who was sitting down and relaxing.

When Sasuke saw Naruto swim over, he reached for some soap and rubbed it until lots of bubbles formed. With one hand, he splashed water over Naruto's head and with the other he rubbed the soap into it, earning indignant squeaks from his pet. And so went the bath, half washing, half wrestling, until both of them were clean.

As Naruto stepped out of the water, he looked rather displeased. His tail was heavy and waterlogged and he was cranky. The strange thing was, after the bath, he seemed more energetic than ever. He shook himself dry, causing Sasuke to get wet again, right after he had dried himself off with his towel.

He glowered at his pet while blue eyes sparkled with amusement. Sasuke growled and grabbed the other towel, then snatched Naruto by the neck. He began rubbing his yellow hair with quite a bit of force. "How dare you get me wet!" he exclaimed playfully. Naruto started squirming and yipping again, almost sounding like he was laughing.

By the time they were finished, they were worse off than before they bathed. Both of them were flustered and sweaty.

Sasuke frowned. "So much for a bath before eating…" he complained as he pulled on his robes.

Naruto walked over to him with his own robe dangling from his hand. He whimpered to him, as if to ask Sasuke how to put it on. His owner took it and started to dress him with a serene face since his patience had returned.

"That should be good enough…" Sasuke muttered. "Let's see if your new clothes are here yet." He 'unlocked' the door and looked into his room. The bowl was removed and there was a white robe neatly folded on the table with a note.

Naruto followed him as he walked out and picked up the note. Sasuke skimmed over the note and laughed dryly. "I guess she couldn't finish all of them at once… Still, it's pretty amazing that she finished it so fast. She must've gotten help from the other tailors as well…" he shook his head slowly and picked up the robe, shaking it open.

The fox eyed it warily, peering over Sasuke's shoulder. "Let's see if it looks good on you, Naruto."

A short while later, after Naruto changed, Sasuke looked over his pet. "Nice…" he nodded slightly. "Let's go, Naruto. I think it's time for my birthday feast…"

Naruto's tail went haywire as he latched onto his owner's sleeve once more and followed him outside.

Night had already fallen and outside, the warm summer's air made it very pleasant. The stars, so far away, gazed down and offered their gentle light. And the leaves would rustle with the wind's embrace, and the grass would bend with the soft pattering feet of small animals.

And so the feast would begin, with many unexpected things.