Little side-note: If I am insulting someone with this story or with the things I've written, I'm sorry. That is not my intention.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except this story.
Day 34.
Two pairs of eyes met, both sparkling with absolute mirth. Naruto snuck into the classroom while Kiba stood outside the door, pointing his cell-phone at the blonde. Naruto carefully placed the cooking pot behind their sleeping home economics teacher, Iruka. Holding in her laugh, she took the lighter out of her pocket and lit the fuse of the firecrackers. As quiet as possible, she rushed back out of the class to stand next to Kiba. She had just made it as the first firecracker exploded. The reaction was instantly as the brunet jumped up with wide eyes and a scream leaving his lips. Students around them were just as shocked while Naruto and Kiba snorted, trying to hold in their laughter. As soon as the loud explosions of the firecrackers stopped, Iruka looked over to them, eyes blazing while his chest heaved up and down. "You two" he said as he stood up and walked up to them, only to run face first into plastic wrap tied perfectly against the doorframe. Naruto and Kiba could hold it anymore as their normally kind teacher started cursing.
"NARUTOOOO! KIBAAAA!" Iruka yelled and the two partners in crime ran away as fast as they could from the demon their normally ever-so-calm teacher could turn into. While they liked pranking, they didn't as much like the punishment that came with it. Just because it was part of the deal didn't mean that they couldn't try and postpone it for as long as possible. Which meant that Naruto and Kiba ran through the whole school, which took them about half an hour, before they stopped in the bushes behind the tennis court. "Looks like we've managed to avoid that for now" Naruto said and looked at a panting Kiba. "Shit, I need to run more" the dog-boy said and Naruto snorted. "Maybe we should do more pranks that cause us to run" Naruto said and they looked at each other before bursting out in laughter. They stayed there for the remainder of their class, that they had skipped, discussing more pranks they could pull.
When the bell rang for the between hours break, they walked back to their lockers to retrieve their bags. Honestly, it was a big ass school, you didn't just drag your bag everywhere with you. It was a pain in the ass for pranks too. Kiba's locker was a few steps down the hallway from Naruto's, so Naruto was alone when she heard someone leaned against the lockers next to her. "Uzumaki-kun, how nice to see you" Sai said and Naruto looked at the pale teen who was clearly wearing the disciplinary committee armband. They had run into each other a little bit too much, and while Naruto didn't exactly have a problem with Sai himself, she did have a problem with his job. "Screw that, Sai. You knew I'd be here so you laid in wait for me" Naruto said and closed her locker after putting her bottle of water back. "You know I did. Though I might prefer it if you laid in wait for me in a private room" Sai said with a fake smile, and if that wasn't creepy enough for Naruto, his words were. "Cut it out with the sexual harassment, Sai. I don't want to punch you" Naruto warned and looked at the pale raven.
"Now, what do you want?" she asked and Sai's smile stayed on his face. "You" he said and Naruto openly shivered. "Yeah, buddy. Not going to happen. Now, tell me the real reason" she said and Sai's smile fell. "You know the reason, so please come without a fuss. Or maybe do make a fuss, give me an excuse to touch you" he said and Naruto brushed past him. "Not a chance, pretty boy" she said and Sai pushed himself off to follow after her. "Naruto?" Kiba's voice came surprised and Naruto looked over her shoulder. "Just go to class, dog-breath" she waved him off and Kiba frowned but listened to her anyway. If there was someone able to bullshit her way through any situation, it was Naruto. "Are you sure you should have done that?" Sai asked and Naruto glanced at him. "What? Send Kiba to class like he was supposed to?" she asked and Sai gave a nod. "He did perform the prank together with you, did he not?" he asked and Naruto scoffed. "Danzou wants me, right? If Kiba went along, it'd only give that creep more reason to shit on us" she said and Sai stayed silent after that until they stopped in front of the doors to the headmaster's office. Naruto frowned but said nothing as Sai knocked on the door. "Danzou-sama? I brought Uzumaki Naruto" Sai said and an old grating voice called them to enter. "Get back to class, Sai" Danzou said and Sai gave a nod, glancing at the blonde standing in the middle of the office before closing the door behind him.
"You know why you're here, Uzumaki-san" the assistant headmaster said as he sat in the headmaster's chair. "I do" Naruto said and Danzou stood up from his throne, as he saw it. "Then you also know what you have to do, right" the old man said and Naruto gritted her teeth. With a grimace, she rolled one of her thigh high black socks down and held the side of her skirt up as Danzou walked around her. Naruto kept her aw clenched and her eyes right in front of her as she felt the man's cane connect to the back of her thigh. She flinched every time the cane hit her skin with a biting sting, yet she swallowed down all her complaints and kept stubbornly standing in place. After the fifth lash, Naruto breathed out at the sound of the cane hitting the ground again. "Now you will write me a paper with 500 times 'I will not play any more pranks'. You know where the desk is" Danzou said and Naruto pulled her sock back up while glaring at the man. "You know this is fucking abuse, right?" she said and hissed when his fingers wrapped around her upper arm with a bruising force she hadn't though he would have. "Do you want to trouble your family?" Danzou said, tightening his grip even more. "Never mind. They're already dead anyway" he said and Naruto flinched at his vicious words. While they were true, they didn't hurt less.
He hauled Naruto into his own office where a low desk was placed in the corner of the room. "Now, unless you want Jiraiya or Tsunade to be troubled, get to writing those lines" Danzou said, throwing the blonde toward the desk. Naruto caught herself on the edge and resisted the urge to haul the desk towards the man. Instead she just sat down on her knees and started writing. After a while, she had to stop to blink away her tears and shake off the cramp in her hand. Luckily, Naruto was used to writing quick, thus she was done sooner than Danzou liked. It was still lunch when she stood up, feeling like her knees were going to give in at any moment form the searing pain and the throbbing in her thigh, yet she stubbornly stayed on her feet. She laid the papers down on Danzou's desk as the bell rang, making the man look up displeased. "I see you've finished" he said and reached out for the papers. Naruto knew that that was where her punishment was going to end up, but it still pissed her off to no end when she watched her papers being shredded to strips in the paper shredder next to the man's desk.
She couldn't stop her fist from connecting with the desk table-top, effectively smashing through it as she failed to control her strength. To her defence, the desk was old and rather thin compared to what else she had been able to break through. Still, that didn't matter as Danzou fell back from her display of power. "Look here, bastard. I don't care on what kind of power-trip you're going, but you threatened my family and I don't stand for that. I will find every piece of dirt on you I can find and then I'll decide what I'll do with it. Don't even think for one second that you hold any kind of power over me" Naruto said and straightened up. On pure stubbornness, she was able to walk out of the office, leaving a mortified Danzou behind with a desk in dire need for replacement. She knew he would get himself back together again, and that he would come back worse. But by then, she should have at least a little dirt on him. Once she was out of the office, she felt her knees buckle and she bit down a sob at the throbbing in her thigh and arm. No doubt there would be bruises. But they were the least of her concern. She had spent the past two hours on her knees. No matter how much inner peace you could get with yoga and meditating, that was not while having to focus on writing.
With a shaky breath, Naruto once again straightened up and walked to her locked to get her lunch and go find Kiba, Shikamaru and Chouji. Sadly, that didn't seem to work out for her as she found a raven haired girl at her locker, looking extremely shy. "Hinata Hyuuga, right?" Naruto asked, recognizing the girl from Kiba's gushing. God, that guy was a sucker in love. The girl's head shot up, a blush clearly covering her cheeks. "H-hai!" she said and Naruto hummed, opening her locker. "A-actually, U-uchiha-san send me t-to tell you to b-bring his lunch up to his c-classroom" Hinata stuttered while one hand wrung her long skirt and the other fiddled in front of her mouth. "That fucking bastard" Naruto hissed as she slammed her locker closed after taking out her lunch as well as her fiancé's. "I-I'm sorry" Hinata stuttered with her eyes squeezed shut. Naruto looked at her and gave a sigh. "It's not your fault. I'm sorry for cursing like that" she said and Hinata glanced up at her, seeing her smile. "You should go get your own lunch before everything is sold. I'm sure Chouji has already passed, but maybe if you're lucky" Naruto said before brightening her smile and walking towards the stairs as she remembered something. She turned back around, seeing the raven haired girl still standing shyly. "You know, you should eat lunch with us sometimes" she suggested and with another bright grin, turned around and walked up the stairs to the second floor of the main building.
It wasn't hard to find Sasuke's class, seeing as how there was a group of girls flogged around the door. "Excuse me!" she called out while forcing her way through. They weren't even paying any attention to her, instead sighing dreamily over the Uchiha-Hyuuga duo in the back of the room at the window. Sasuke was seated in his chair, leaning back arrogantly while Neji stood next to Sasuke's desk with a blank face. Hyuuga Neji was Hinata's cousin and the second prince of the school, one lower than Sasuke and one above Sai, who also happened to be in the same class and now stood in front of Naruto. "How did it go with Danzou-sama?" Sai asked and Naruto grimaced as she shifted her weight, ignoring the few eyes that were slowly straying to her. "The same as always, really. Though I might have lost my cool today" Naruto said and Sai gave a smile. "Oh, you can lose something you never had in the first place?" he asked and Naruto's eyebrow twitched. "Because, you know, you're hot" Sai explained and Naruto closed her eyes as more people started to look at them.
"Oi, Dobe!" Sasuke called out while glaring icily at Sai. "Don't fucking call me that, teme" Naruto said as she patted Sai on the shoulder as she passed him. "Then don't loiter around. I'm waiting for my lunch" Sasuke said as he watched Naruto approach him like a hawk. "You want me to shove it down your throat?" Naruto hissed as she slammed the lunchbox onto Sasuke's table, ignoring Neji who stood still next to the desk. "Do I have to remind you of our bet. You were the one who lost" Sasuke said and Naruto placed her hand on the table and leaned forward so she could glare better at the raven. "Next time, I' beating your ass and I'm dragging you to school wearing drag again" she threatened and Sasuke smirked as he crossed his arms. "No, you won't. You should just give it up" he said and then got serious. Before Naruto could answer, he opened his mouth again. "And tell me why the hell you are limping" he said and Naruto flinched, her eyes falling down guiltily before they flew back up. "It's nothing" she lied and Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Don't lie, Naruto. I can tell when you're lying" he said and Naruto glared at him. "It's nothing, okay! Fuck, stop fucking prying already! You don't have the right to!" Naruto snapped as she raised herself up again, away from the dark eyes that urged her to spill everything.
This was her problem. She didn't need to trouble the Uchiha's with this. "Not my right? Have you forgotten than I'm your-" Sasuke said but cut himself off as Naruto glared at him. "Say one more word and I'll rebuild your fucking face. You know I will so go ahead and make my fucking day" she hissed and Sasuke wisely backed off. With her anger still threatening to take over her actions which would make her yell everything at her, indeed, fiancé, she left the classroom. She could hear the fangirls whisper behind her back but couldn't care less about it. When she passed a certain door that was barely open, the glass hitting the light caught her attention. Curiously, she peered into the classroom, her eyes immediately zeroing in on the familiar instrument. It was a music room, filled with chairs and music instruments. But only one was able to hold Naruto's attention. She walked inside, leaving the door open on a small sliver. Her fingers trailed over the piano in the back of the room as she walked forward to the middle of the wall, where a violin was placed. After making sure that it was school property and not of someone she didn't know, Naruto picked up the instrument. With a smile, she plucked a few of the snares.
It was a funny story of how she started to play, but it did hurt a bit knowing just how much her parents loved to hear her play. It hurt even more to know that she had sold her old violin to pay for the debt Tsunade had accidentally gambled. When Jiraiya and Tsunade wanted to buy her another one, she had declined, not wanting to trouble them with something so minimalistic. Yet, it was weird to say that she missed the instrument. With a soft, yet sad smile, she placed the violin between her shoulder and chin. She positioned her fingers before raising the bow. The first notes came slowly, like dipping your feet into the water to test the temperature. After that, it was surprisingly a lot like slipping into a warm bath, the first seconds tingled before you got used to it. Naruto's eyes slipped closed as she felt the vibrations of the notes drifting into the empty air. Sadness and sorrow was a song she had no idea how she found it, but it was the first one she had learned after her parent's death.
Almost as soon as the last note died, she heard the piano behind her come to live. With a soft smile, she recognized the song. Samidare. With her eyes still closed, she easily picked up on the timing, feeling goose-bumps break out across her back and arms with the joined sounds of both instruments. She frowned a bit as she missed a couple of notes, but never stopped. It was expected after she hadn't played for a couple of years. When the music died down Naruto opened her eyes, immediately letting them drift over to Sasuke who took his fingers off the keys of the piano, staring at her. "You stopped playing" he said, breaking the silence and Naruto placed the violin back. "It's been too long" she admitted and Sasuke closed the lid of the piano, placing the two bento boxes on top of it. "Why didn't you keep playing? You were really good" Sasuke said as Naruto sat down next to him. "Because I sold my violin" she said and glanced at Sasuke. "I'm sorry for lashing out like that. I shouldn't have" she said and Sasuke looked at her, humming the typical Uchiha hum before opening his lunch. "You don't need to apologize. You just need to tell me why you are limping" he said and Naruto looked at him before sighing and opening her own lunchbox. "I'll fix it. You don't need to get involved" Naruto said and Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her. "I don't need to get involved to know what's going on" he said and Naruto looked at him. After a short staring contest, Naruto gave up, not in the mood to stay stubborn.
"I just ran into some trouble with Danzou" Naruto said and shoved the corner of the sandwich in her mouth. "For that prank? I heard it up to my classroom" Sasuke said and Naruto snorted at the memory of it. "Yeah, but Danzou really has it in for me. Like, he would call me to the office if I just as much close my locker too hard" Naruto said and Sasuke looked at the triangle in his hand. "Is that so?" he asked and Naruto shrugged. "It's nothing I can't handle" she said and Sasuke hummed. "Just let me know if you're in trouble. There is no weakness in relying on me. I am your fiancé after all" Sasuke said and Naruto looked at him. "You're right. You are my fiancé, but that doesn't mean that I am helpless and in constant need of saving. Also, didn't we have the deal to not mention that at school. It would be too much trouble if it came out" Naruto said and Sasuke looked at her. It seemed as if he wanted to say something else, but in the end settled for just a hum.
"You're not getting threatened by the fanclub yet?" he asked and Naruto shook her head. "Nope, surprisingly. I had expected them to have made their move already, so I'm pretty much on guard for it" Naruto said and Sasuke looked at her. "Don't get too violent" he warned and Naruto kicked his shin. "What do you mean, violent?" she asked and Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Really? Dobe, for someone who likes to talk things out and come to an understanding, you have the shortest temper I know, you master a couple of martial arts until they were flowing through your veins. And I'm not going to mention the ridiculous strength you store in that little body" he said and Naruto's eyes widened as she looked at him. She quickly chewed and swallowed before answering. "Don't call it ridiculous strength! And I'm not little" she said and Sasuke snorted. "Hn, dobe" he said and Naruto felt her temper flare again. "Shut up, teme! You're just jealous of my strength" she said and Sasuke smirked. "Why would I when I can totally beat you" he said and Naruto gritted her teeth. "Fine, let's test it out! Arm wrestling, right here, right now" she said and stood up, grabbing a desk and putting it behind Sasuke. "Come on, or are you chickening out, Uchiha?" Naruto taunted, riling Sasuke into placing his elbow on the table.
"Bring it, Uzumaki" he said and they clasped their hands together as Naruto spread her legs until she was on equal height with Sasuke. Both held their other hand behind their backs and stared each other down. "Ready?" Naruto asked and Sasuke hummed. "Set" he said and they gave the start signal at the same time. Naruto felt the pressure against her hand and tightened her grip on Sasuke's paler hand as she pushed back. It didn't take long before Sasuke's hand slammed against the desk top and Naruto was cheering for her victory. "A~ah! That made me feel better" Naruto sang with a smile as she sat back down to finish her lunch. Of course, after they were done eating, Sasuke proposed a best 9 out of 10, which Naruto accepted easily.
He was staring again, Sasuke realized. He had been doing that a lot in the past month. To his defences, he couldn't be blamed. Naruto did demand the attention wherever she went. Whether she was being loud or silent, she had that kind of aura that just sucked in everyone's eyes. That was also the reason why he couldn't blame 3/4th of the male population in school for staring after here whenever she walked by. But just because he couldn't blame them, didn't mean that he had to like it. She was his. He knew how childish it sounded, but it was the truth. She was the only one he wanted next to him. He couldn't care less about other girls, no matter how beautiful they were or how much they begged him or pressed up against him with filthy promises. It was also extremely hard with someone as Naruto as competition. While Sasuke had met women more beautiful that the blonde what concerned outer beauty, they were all bellow Naruto in his eyes. Hell, they couldn't even reach her ankles if they tried. It was for a very simple reason. Even without including her appearance, Naruto was like the sun. Always shining and warm, lingering with light even when she was already gone. Sometimes, she was too bright, too hot. Sometimes, she was unforgiving.
To put it simple, Uzumaki Naruto was a force of nature and she was Sasuke's. She had been his first and best friend since they had been children. No matter what Sasuke had done, she had always come back stronger. Sasuke wasn't kidding when he thought of her as a force of nature. She actually came alone to his house through a thunderstorm, just to give him a flower which he had claimed she couldn't pick from the witch's garden. The witch wasn't an actually witch, but an old, lonely lady who loved gardening, and the flower was just a stem of purple forget me not flowers. But the fact that Naruto had been drenched to the bone, obviously shivering with blue lips, clutching to the single deviant purple stem of flowers, holding it out with the biggest grin and the words 'I told you so, 'ttebayo', had made Sasuke's heart melt. He, as stupid three-year-old, had been absolutely gobsmacked by the blonde's bullheadedness to befriend him. After that, Sasuke didn't know what to do with himself, so he kept pushing Naruto away whenever he felt weird around her. Like when she was laughing with Itachi, Sasuke got mad at Itachi and actually pushed Naruto in a mud puddle or stole her food.
Right now, he understood those feelings to be possessiveness and jealous. But back then, he couldn't help but want her attention all for himself. So he did the one thing that was sure to work. He pissed her off, as much as possible. Her angry face was beautiful too, he noticed, and all her attention was directed at him whenever he succeeded in getting her to the point of exploding, which wasn't hard. Hell, he knew it was childish, but he was still as possessive of her as ever. He still pissed her off and challenged her to keep her attention on him. In all honesty, he couldn't care less if everyone at school knew they were engaged. It was just one more proof that she was his. Sasuke had been staring at the blonde washing the dishes of their lunch for the past ten minutes. "You know, you can always pick up a towel and help instead of staring at me" Naruto said, glancing over her shoulder at him. "You're almost done" Sasuke said and Naruto gritted her teeth. "Fucker" she muttered and Sasuke stood up. "When you're done, come to the living-room" he said and stepped out of the kitchen. "Oi! Get back here, Teme!" Naruto yelled after him but Sasuke had no intention of going back. He was fine with helping out with cooking, but dishes were not something he enjoyed doing. Did Naruto not know about the dishwasher they had?
Sasuke settled in the beige leather sofa that was placed in the living-room, looking curiously at the three boxes perched on the table. All three of them were addressed to Naruto and when the mailman had come, Sasuke had checked who the senders were. He was still cautious of their past that tended to haunt them. Naruto had once come running to him when she had received a package with a dead white rabbit and a threat letter in it. That wouldn't happen again as long as Sasuke got a say in it. He was the only one allowed to make Naruto cry, which would be never if he could help it. While he liked her angry face and longed for her smile every second of the day, he did not want to see her crying again. "Sasuke?" Naruto asked as she sat down next to the raven. "Those are for you" Sasuke said with a jerk of his chin towards the three boxes on the table, each a different size. "Hmm? What for?" Naruto asked as she reached out for the smallest one perched on top of the other two as they were stacked onto each other. "You didn't remember?" Sasuke asked with a frown as Naruto blinked at the sender. "Uchiha Madara? Your grandpa?" she asked confused as she looked up at Sasuke while opening the white box. "Just open it, dobe" the raven said while keeping his eyes on her expression as she noticed the words on the card that met her under the lid of the mail box. "It's my birthday!" Naruto realized with wide eyes and Sasuke almost snorted. How typical of her to forget her own birthday.
She picked up the sunflower card and opened it. "Hoop to meet you soon. Have a pleasant birthday" Naruto read out loud and stared up at Sasuke. "How did he know?" she asked and the raven rolled with his eyes. "Does it matter?" he asked and Naruto put the card on the table to open the white square box. Blue eyes widened once more as the inside revealed a Pandora charm bracelet. With a carefulness that was very rarely seen with her, Naruto picked the bracelet up to study it. There were only a couple of charm hanging on the silver bracelet, in the form of a silver frog, a dangling sunflower, a silver heart, a music key, two opal stone, a golden flower bead, a golden N dangling and a silver and gold infinity spiral charm. "I-I can't take this" Naruto stuttered as she looked at the raven with wide eyes. "This is shit expensive, I can't accept this" she said and Sasuke held out his hand. Naruto carefully laid the bracelet down in his palm as if it would explode with the littlest careless move.
Sasuke found amusement with the way Naruto acted like it was some kind of bomb. He opened the clasp and ignored Naruto's protest as he locked the bracelet around her right wrist. "Don't be stupid. If Jii-chan didn't want you to have it, he wouldn't have bought it. Don't insult him by not accepting it" Sasuke said and Naruto looked at her wrist that was now adorned by the charm bracelet. Sasuke made a note in his mind to add an Uchiha crest to the charms later. "Now open the rest, smart-ass" Sasuke said and reluctantly released the blonde's warm hand. Naruto reached out for the next and middle sized package. This one was from Jiraiya and the unease was clearly readable on the blonde's face. "My gut is telling me not to open this" Naruto said and Sasuke leaned back in the sofa, resting his arm seemingly nonchalant but deliberately on the back leaning behind the blonde. He watched curiously as Naruto opened the carton lid, only to see her frown at the black, flower decorated shiny box that looked like a rather large jewellery box.
Still, Naruto didn't trust it as she took it out of the package to open it like it was going to attack her at any minute. Naruto's distrust wasn't ungrounded as her face flared when she opened the box. Sasuke's eyes widened at the inside he could clearly see. The box was separated in two parts. One part was filled with condoms while the other part held a tube of lube, a pair of red furry handcuffs, a black blindfold and something that was a remote controlled vibrating bullet, if the packaging was correct. The lid closed again with a snap that was loud in the silence of the room. Sasuke's mind was somewhere in the gutter, entertaining itself with very explicit fantasies he didn't exactly want to ponder on for too long lest it had some uncomfortable results.
"I'll kill him!" Naruto hissed as she clutched the box closed as if she could will it to never have opened in the first place. "Your face is almost as red as that fur" Sasuke couldn't help himself but tease the blonde, who's glaring eyes stood out even more next to the colour of her face. "Forget everything you saw! Teme! Swear it! You never saw anything, 'ttebayo!" Naruto said, her verbal tick surfacing with her embarrassment. Sasuke thought it was endearing so he couldn't help but smirk. "Just open the next one, usuratonkachi" Sasuke said and Naruto send a last angry look at the black box before putting it back in the package it came in. "I hope that it's not the same, or worse. I swear I'll fucking burn it" Naruto threatened and Sasuke scoffed. He doubted it. Tsunade was not that kind of person. But she was the kind of person who would buy her goddaughter alcohol on her seventeenth birthday. Naruto grinned wide at the small box of flugel, the bottle of passoa and the bottle of rumchata. "Oh my god, Sasuke! Have you tasted any of these?" Naruto asked excited as she looked at him, her embarrassment completely forgotten.
Sasuke revelled under the attention as he shuffled slightly closer so Naruto was almost sitting in the crook of his arm as he shook his head. "Not trying to sound like an alcoholic here, but these are my absolute favourites" Naruto said and Sasuke snorted. "Apparently" he said and leaned on his side to retrieve something from behind the armrest of the couch. He placed the gift package on Naruto's lap, who was staring at the black bottle of passoa. "What?" Naruto said confused as Sasuke settled back in the sofa again. "Just open it" he said and Naruto shot him a suspicious glance before tearing into the wrapping paper. Her eyes widened at the distinctive form of the bright orange case. Without looking up at Sasuke, Naruto opened the case, staring with wide eyes at the wooden violin resting in it. "How did you?" she breathed and Sasuke scoffed. "Oh please, even a blind guy could tell you were heartbroken over the violin you had to sell. While I can't replace the memories that the old one held, I can give you a new one" Sasuke said and Naruto carefully put the violin on the table before literally flying him around the neck. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you" Naruto said as a mantra while Sasuke got over his shock of the unexpected contact. He laid his hand on the blonde's shoulder blade and pulled her closer against his body to return the hug.
Too soon for his licking, Naruto pulled back again and lightly rubbed her eyes. "Teme, you made me cry again" she said but her tone was light-hearted, a grin clearly hearable in her voice. Sasuke kept his hand lightly on the blonde's back, playing with the soft strands of blonde hair. He gave one lock a soft tug with a barely there smile on his face. "Nothing really new there" he said and Naruto playfully hit his thigh. With a burst of stupid confidence, Sasuke leaned forward and pressed his lips against Naruto's cheek, lingering a little longer to be casual before pulling back to see how red her cheeks were. "Happy birthday, usuratonkachi" he said, awfully pleased that he was able to put that blush on her face. "Now I'm kinda irritated that I missed our birthday. I mean, I'm getting gifts from you, but I wasn't able to give you one on your birthday. And isn't eighteen a big thing? Like a sweet sixteen?" Naruto asked to change the subject away from her embarrassment as she leaned back in the sofa, not reacting to Sasuke's fingers resting against her arm. Sasuke shrugged, brushing his fingertips up under the sleeve of her shirt. "I don't mind. You did send me a gift" Sasuke said and felt a slight twinge of unease at the thought that Naruto might not have been the one to send it.
"I know I did. But I wasn't actually here and what I gave compared to what you gave me" "None of that" Sasuke interrupted the blonde while stopping his fingers from caressing her skin. "Don't be an idiot, Naruto. It's not the size or price that matters, it's the gesture behind it" Sasuke said, the red cord with the small bronze protection lock charm dangling from it feeling tight around his ankle, reminding him that it was there. Sasuke was already happy enough that the blonde had remembered his birthday at all. Naruto scoffed. "Then I wonder what kind of gesture Ero-sennin was trying to get at" she said and Sasuke snorted soft. "I don't want to know" he said and Naruto chuckled. They stayed comfortably like that, talking about this and that until the door opened. Sasuke and looked up as Mikoto and Fugaku walked inside the living-room, followed by Itachi, as if they had called each other to arrive at the same time. "I'll pretend that I didn't see any of those bottles" Fugaku said with a pointed look at the two bottles and the carton box of flugel. Naruto gave a guilty grin as she quickly put the bottles back in the box and kicked Sasuke's shin lightly. "What bottles?" she asked as she stood up.
"Sasuke, help carry these perfectly normal and age legal gifts to my room" she said and Sasuke smirked. "The black box too?" he asked and Naruto glared at him. "Yes, the black box too" Naruto hissed through her teeth as she shoved Jiraiya's present into the package before picking it up. Itachi and Mikoto gave them an amused smile as the two teens quickly put away the gifts in Naruto's room. Nobody said anything at the close situation they had found the two teens in and it was almost time for dinner when Naruto was called into the living-room by Itachi, who was caught between feeling regret of pulling Naruto and Sasuke out of the music room and excitement at giving Naruto her gifts. Naruto's eyes widened as she noticed the three packages on the pale wooden living-room table. She already looked embarrassed, so Sasuke leaned against the wall to watch his family give Naruto her gifts, starting with Fugaku. Of course Sasuke knew what they had bought his fiancée, but he still had fun seeing Naruto's eyes widen at the gold watch with a mesh band. Fugaku was almost visibly relieved as the watch wasn't too big. It was bold yet feminine and Naruto thanked the Uchiha embarrassedly. Mikoto was excited to give her gift, which was a complete new casual outfit, consisting out of an orange form fitting pants, a white and light grey top and a dark grey, almost black knit sweater. Naruto barely had the time to thank her before she was forced to change, which Sasuke knew nothing about.
He raised a questioning eyebrow at his father who just shrugged. Itachi followed, who send him a mysterious little smile. When Naruto finally came back in tow of Mikoto, Itachi held out his gift while Mikoto gently pushed the blonde down in the sofa. Naruto's eyes widened at the grey lace up ankle boots with folded edge, showing black fur and a grey buckle. Once she had them pulled on, uneasy about the height, the family looked expectantly at the youngest Uchiha. Apparently, Naruto's last gift from them was a date with Sasuke. It was news to Sasuke, but he wasn't going to complain as he pulled on an oversized dark brown knitted sweater and hooked his thumbs through the holes in his sleeves before wrapping a black thick knitted scarf around his neck. Sasuke offered his arm, which Naruto eagerly took, preferring to cling to Sasuke over falling on her face. While Naruto had become much better with walking on heels, Sasuke could tell she wasn't too sure about the height of the ones she was wearing. Sasuke couldn't do anything other than thank Itachi in his head, even though he knew that wasn't his brother's intention. Intentionally or not, Sasuke didn't mind being the object of jealous stares as they walked through town.
The young Uchiha honestly wondered if Naruto knew how much attention she drew, with her cheeks red from the nipping wind, her hair loose and reaching past her middle and her hips swaying thanks to her heels. With her arm hooked in his, Sasuke didn't need to glare at anyone who's eyes lingered too long on his blonde. It was obvious who she was with and that they couldn't top him. When Naruto dragged him into the food-stand, Sasuke was not surprised that she had taken them directly to Ichiraku's. "Occhan! One miso!" Naruto called out with an excitedly raised hand, her other still loosely hooked in Sasuke's as it had been for half of their trip after she found out that the heels were easy to walk on. The two sat down at the counter as Sasuke said his order much softer than his fiancée. He glanced up as Naruto took off her scarf that was almost the same as Sasuke's. His heart skipped a beat when he caught the flash of a ring of a necklace before Naruto let it drop back under her shirt. Sasuke's lips pulled up in a satisfied smirk, finally knowing after brooding over it that Naruto did indeed wear his ring.
On their way back, Sasuke didn't even need to offer his arm as Naruto leeched off his heat, even though his temperature always seemed to be lower than hers. The next morning, Naruto and Sasuke were up and awake early, surprising the rest of the family with apple beignets, which caused the others to give Sasuke a suspicious stare. In the afternoon, Sasuke was curiously looking at Naruto, who was moving around the kitchen once again. This time, she was making thank you replies for those who had given her gifts. Replies in the form of boozy rumchata cupcakes. She packed them in before deciding to carry them around. First were Itachi and Mikoto, who were home on a Sunday. After that, Sasuke went along with his faincée to the building where Tsunade lived and currently Jiraiya was too. Though both of them were out gambling, Shinzune accepted the packages and clearly told which one was for Jiraiya. Otherwise the whole fondant 'Go impotent' message would be for naught. After that, it was the Main Uchiha compound where Madara lived, who also wasn't home because of a visit he had to make to Izuna, so the gifts were given to the butler. The Uchiha police station came last and as soon as they walked inside, the main force existing out of relatives, very distant relatives and married in family looked up.
Sasuke nodded in greeting at the relatives he passed as he led Naruto through the building with a hand on her lower back. No doubt, rumours would spread about Sasuke showing up with his blonde, but Sasuke didn't mind in the slightest bit. With the promise of a snack, Naruto and Sasuke entered Fugaku's office. The older Uchiha was pleasantly surprised by the visit and the thank you gift and paused his work to make a small chat with them. Before they took their leave from the office, Fugaku brought up the application for an internship, something Sasuke had wanted ever since he was a kid. The smile on his face was filled with childlike glee, even though he knew it would not be as he expected, nor would it be like he had fantasized about as a kid. Fugaku promised his son that they would talk about it when they were home and Sasuke eagerly agreed. "So, police officer, huh" Naruto said and Sasuke rolled with his eyes at her leer. "Some kind of fetish I need to know about?" she asked and Sasuke gave her a light shove, right into one of the plants that served as decoration. He continued walking as Naruto spluttered and plucked the leaves out of her mouth and hair while Sasuke tried to keep in his laughter.
"Teme!" Naruto yelled as she ran up to him, stopping short to send a kick into his rear, making the raven stumble forward, flaying not to fall. He had forgotten about her strength. Not a good idea, especially not when his head almost smacked into the entrance doors. Naruto burst out laughing as Sasuke looked slightly stunned. "That's it" Sasuke hissed as he turned back to his blonde. She didn't stop laughing as she pushed through the door, Sasuke hot on her heels. "Get back here, Usuratonkachi!" Sasuke called but didn't mind the view he was getting. "I'm not that stupid" Naruto called back as she jumped over the obstacles on the road, Sasuke keeping up easily. He could pass her if he wanted, which he did, a couple of seconds later. When they were back home, both of them collapsed completely out of breath from the race. Somehow, Naruto always made Sasuke revert back to a childish kid. Once again, he didn't mind it. Only because that was the influence she had on him and he revelled in it. Nobody else would be able to make him feel so… alive, no matter how corny it sounded. Was it then really so bad that he wanted her next to him for the rest of his life? Was it bad that he was so possessive of her when she was always so social with everybody else who could take her away from a hard-ass like him?
Thank you for reading!