A/N: Uh…this is draft number two. I tried an idea earlier and it didn't go the way I wanted. So now I'm rewriting the chapter, copying and pasting most of the first part instead of just deleting the part I didn't like because…well…I want to keep that part for some reason. Might do a spin-off for my own amusement and go insane with it, adding past lives and spirits and demons and ninja and chakra and so on and so forth. May even be convinced to post it after I finish off this plot as some sort of alternate timeline thing. Anywho, I go back to school Wednesday, so I'm going to have less and less writing time (Holy shit, what happened to my summer?????)
Also, just because I'm curious, I have a question for all who read and review the chapters of this: What time did you read this chapter and what were you doing before you noticed the new chapter was up? (You don't have to answer truthfully or at all to the second part, but I'd be appreciative if you answered the first part)
darkneko666: Heh. I didn't pin Neji as someone who would suffer fools easily (yet he's teamed up with Lee and Gai, so he'd kind of have too…). Thanks, and thanks for the review!
PirateCaptainBo: While I'd love to write a fanfic where it's modern day Konoha shinobi encountering their past lives and watching the chaos of it all, I'm afraid that in this story, it's just modern day kids. However, they do have some abilities that are similar to the ones they used to have. Example: Neji's ability to see weak spots and his martial arts style, Naruto's ability to heal quickly, Lee's fighting and training style, Orochimaru's affinity for snakes, etc. Also, because this Naruto isn't the jinchuuriki, it could mean that the past Naruto ever actually died. (Arashi's story explains how that's possible, I think.) Anyway, thanks for the review!
Frayedsoul: Heh. Well, I couldn't bring myself to make Orochimaru overly creepy and my friend would strangle me to death if I had him stalk Sasuke. Also, I didn't plan on getting anywhere with Neji and Sasuke romantically, but I figured it would seem more realistic if Sasuke had a harder time giving up Neji to Lee than just 'that's weird oh well'. And since Sasuke is attracted to guys and Neji has been his only friend for a while, I thought it would only be natural if he had kind of a crush on Neji. Thanks for the review!
Boredom is my middle name: Hm…how do I love thee, let me count the ways. One, Zabuza and Haku are one of my highest-ranking favorite pairings in the whole Naruto series. Two, I love KakaIru to death (coughs innocently and tries to hide the explicit KakaIru doujinshi behind her back). So yes, we're going to get quite a few hints for both pairings if not full out walk-in-on-make-out-session scenes. Because, as we all know, EVERY GUY IN NARUTO IS GAY. shifty eyes I swear to you they are. We get all these sexual tension hints throughout the whole damn series. They're between Shikamaru and Chouji, Shino and Kiba, Kakashi and Iruka, Naruto and Sasuke, Zabuza and Haku (who is a BOY, for the last GODDAMN TIME), Kabuto and Orochimaru, Neji and Lee (if you squint and turn your head sideways), Kisame and Itachi, etc. etc. Thanks for the review!
sasunaru fan: Thanks, and thanks for the review!
Lady Blade WarAngel: Thanks, and thanks for the review!
InvaderCorren: ? I'm going to assume your question means who gets with Naruto. Since it's rated SasuNaru, you all can rest easy knowing that Sasuke gets him in the end. Thanks, and thanks for the review!
heavenstar72: Thanks, and thanks for the review! Also, watch the crash on the sugar rush.
firefang13: Thanks, and thanks for the review!
Chapter Three: I Think You Need A New One
"Do you intend to follow me home?" Naruto looked up at Sasuke, cocking his head a bit.
"Huh?" Rolling his eyes, the Uchiha repeated the question. He had left school, heading for home since it wasn't that far, and Naruto had followed him a few yards behind. Curiosity eating his logic, he had stopped and turned around, waiting for the blonde to catch up, and asked the question stated above.
"Oh, your house is down this way? So's mine! I was headed there. Unless…you want me to follow you home?" Sasuke rolled his eyes and turned back around, beginning to walk towards his house again. Naruto quickly jogged to catch up to him.
"Hey, you never answered my question from before!"
"What question?" The blonde fumed and crossed his arms over his chest, turning his head away with a huff.
"If you've forgotten it already, then it must not be so important to you." Sasuke blinked in surprise, thrown off by the sudden mood swing. He recovered in time to see the blonde stalking off ahead of him and quickly hurried to catch up. He hated to admit it, but he felt a bit guilty about forgetting the question, since it seemed pretty important.
"Naruto, wait! I'm sorry! I've just…had a bit on my mind today. I mean…" Naruto suddenly turned around, beaming.
"It's okay! I forgive you!" The mood swing threw Sasuke off again, but he managed to recover faster. Uchihas were always good at adapting to things anyway. They began walking side by side again and Naruto brought up the question again.
"You said that you only dated Sakura because she was the prettiest girl in school and you were the best-looking guy, so you two were expected to go out."
"Right."
"My question was what if people decided I was better looking than Sakura? Would you go out with me?" Sasuke blinked in surprise at the question for the second time that day. It was actually a good question, with a certain amount of logic behind it. Ideas of him and Naruto going out entered his mind and he scowled to try and get rid of the blush.
"Of course not!"
"Why not?"
"Because we're both guys!" Normally, this would be enough for anyone. However, Naruto wasn't just anyone.
"So?"
"So two guys can't go out."
"Sure they can. Itachi and Jaws go out. Have been for years from what I've heard." Sasuke opened his mouth to retort, then discovered he had none. So he quickly shut his mouth and stormed ahead. Naruto jogged to keep up with him.
"What were you going to say?"
"Nothing. The point is, we wouldn't go out if people thought you were better looking than Sakura."
"Why do you have to meet everyone's expectations anyway?"
"Because I'm an Uchiha."
"So people expected to Itachi go out with Jaws?" Sasuke stopped dead, mind suddenly going through a serious reboot. Naruto waited (somewhat) patiently for him to restart and for his question to be answered. Finally, Sasuke stuttered slightly before starting up a slower walk.
"W-well, no…"
"So why do you have to meet the expectations of your peers when your older brother obviously didn't?"
"…You're really smart, aren't you." Naruto grinned and shrugged.
"Nah, not really. I think I read this in a book somewhere. That's my house. Catch ya later!" Waving, the blonde ran down the driveway of a rather large, yet quaint looking house. Sitting on the porch of the house, writing what looked to be a script was an elderly man with long, white hair and strange red markings on his face. Naruto called to him as he ran up.
"Ero-sennin! Stop writing boring porn on my porch!"
"Boring?! I'll have you know this is the most fascinating, most worldwide read series in existence! You're just not mature enough to truly enjoy it."
"It's boring porn! And you corrupted my nii-san with it! And my stupid gym teacher!" The old man's eyes glinted with a mischievous look.
"Ah, so they're starting to teach the right things to kids these days. Someday, this will be a textbook!" Naruto made a face and began to shove the old man into the house.
"Don't say such things where the neighbors could hear you! If you're going to say those things, do it inside where no one can hear or see you! Bye Sasuke!" Sasuke gave a half wave as Naruto got the man the rest of the way into the house and shut the door behind him. Sighing slightly, he continued the rest of the walk home alone. Upon reaching his own mansion, he slid the door shut behind him and kicked his shoes off. The house was almost completely silent and Sasuke sighed slightly.
"Looks like Itachi's off with Hoshigaki again." As he reached the kitchen, he noticed a little yellow sticky note on one of the cabinets.
Otouto-chan-
Off with Kisame to the movies, staying over at his house to study. See you tomorrow!
Itachi
Snorting, the younger Uchiha crumpled the note up and threw it out.
"Bunch of horny animals." However, an hour later, Sasuke was beginning to envy the fact that Itachi actually had someone he spent that much time with. The fact that the sex hadn't gotten old by now was something of a testimony to how much they actually liked each other. Sighing, Sasuke debated calling Neji just to have someone to talk to. Then he remembered that Neji and Lee had left together, heading for Neji's house.
No, I shouldn't call him. It would only interrupt whatever he and Lee are doing. They're obviously really close and they haven't seen each other for years. They've probably got a lot of catching up to do.
Which only made Sasuke more painfully aware that he was alone. Sighing for the umpteenth time that night, he stood and crossed the room to the phone to order take-out. His hand hovered over the phone for a few seconds and he suddenly wondered if he should call Sakura. Her house wasn't that far away, he could easily get there long before her parents got home. The Uchiha scowled and smashed his head against the wall, groaning.
"I can't believe I'm so desperate!"
"Desperate Emo Princes!" Head snapping up, Sasuke almost fell over from surprise. Naruto was standing there, grinning, and holding a cooler. Sasuke blinked at him a few times, trying to see if he was real or not.
"What…" Rolling his eyes, the blonde's grin deepened and he pushed the cooler into Sasuke's hands.
"My aunt and uncle were visiting and I told my aunt about you. She was afraid you wouldn't have much of anything to eat with just the two of you living alone, so she packed you a bunch of food. I came to deliver it." The Uchiha blinked again and looked down at the cooler.
"How…how did you get in? How do you know where I live?"
"Easy. You didn't lock the front door and everyone knows where the Uchihas live. I just asked my cousin, Konohomaru. Also, your house kinda sticks out. So, oh mighty desperate emo prince. Are you going to stand there like an idiot all night? The food's gonna get cold." Snapping out of it, Sasuke set the cooler on the counter, opening it to check what was inside while watching Naruto out of the corner of his eye. The blond had changed since he last saw him, now wearing black leggings, a white long-sleeved shirt and a black t-shirt over that. Around his neck, now clearly visible, was a crystal necklace with a light blue bead on either side of a long crystal. Once he was certain Sasuke was going to eat, Naruto turned and waved over his shoulder.
"See you later."
"Naruto, wait, I-" The blonde paused and turned around a bit, giving the Uchiha heir a curious look. Sasuke realized just how cripplingly desperate he sounded and swallowed nervously, motioning to the cooler.
"I…I don't think I can eat even half of this by myself. Do you…?" Understanding the invitation, Naruto grinned and turned back around fully.
"Sure! I haven't really had dinner yet. Just let me call my brother and tell him I won't be home for a bit, 'kay?" Trying not to seem too eager, Sasuke nodded and began pulling food out while Naruto dialed a number into the phone. There was a lot of food in the cooler, and all of it looked rather good, not to mention fresh.
"Hey, nii-san, I'm going to be having dinner with Sasuke, 'kay? …Uh…yeah, he invited me to. …No, his brother's not home. Why?" Arashi's voice suddenly came screaming through the earpiece of the phone, loud enough that Sasuke could hear it perfectly.
"NOOOO! My adorable otouto-chan's innocence is in danger!" Arashi's voice was accompanied by another, which Sasuke recognized as the old man from the porch.
"Hey, now there's an idea for a new book. 'Handsome young heir lures an adorable, unsuspecting blonde uke into his home late at night while his parents are away on a business trip and…'."
"AAAAAAAAH! NOOOO!" Sasuke stared at the phone, unsure what to really think. Naruto…there were not proper words to describe the look on Naruto's face. It was a cross between hate, loathing, disgust, horror, and shame. It was absolutely priceless and Sasuke immediately wanted to take a picture of it and have the caption be; 'Camera: 2,500 dollars. Phone: 50 dollars. Finding out your family is full of deranged loonies, half of whom don't want your virginity to be taken, the other half of whom want you to be raped in the kinkiest way possible for a book plot: Priceless.' ((No, really guys, I can't describe how Naruto looks right now. I'm laughing too hard.)) Arashi's voice could be heard over the earpiece again.
"Don't go anywhere near him, otouto-chan! I'll be right there to save you!" Naruto suddenly snapped back to reality and panicked.
"What?! No! Kurenai-ba-san, don't let nii-san come over here!" There was a loud crashing noise and a female voice that was completely calm, even happy sounding came over the phone.
"Don't worry, Naruto-kun. Have fun with Uchiha-kun!" The line suddenly went dead, but not before the start of a long stream of protests started up. Naruto quickly hung up and gave Sasuke a nervous smile.
"Uh…don't mind them. They're always a little…"
"…Psychotic?" Shrugging, Naruto moved over to the cooler and poked around through the food.
"Wow, Kurenai-ba-san made you a lot of food, huh?" Sasuke nodded and pulled out a plate of teriyaki chicken, still warm to the touch. Naruto pulled out a bag of buttery rolls, putting one on Sasuke's plate and beginning to munch on one himself.
"So where's Uchiha-sempai?" Sasuke split a pair of chopsticks for Naruto before reaching for a pair for himself.
"Off with Kisame. They went to the movies and then back to his house to have sex." Naruto cocked an eyebrow, swallowing a mouthful of bread.
"Did he really tell you that?"
"No. He said they were going to study, but they don't have anything to study. Or at least they don't need to. Itachi is the smartest student in school and Kisame's not dumb either. Those two go at it like dogs in heat."
"Wow. Year-round?"
"Every chance they get."
"Wow. I never thought Jaws would find someone with as much sexual stamina as him." Sasuke shrugged, taking a bite of the teriyaki chicken.
"Hm…hey, this is pretty good." Naruto grinned and stole a bite.
"Yup! Kurenai-ba-san is a world-class cook!" The Uchiha nodded in agreement, taking another bite.
"So how did you meet up with Kisame anyway?"
"Huh? Oh, I was playing in the ocean, a couple of weeks after we moved there, and got caught by some of the currents. I got pulled out really far and then drawn really close to a bunch of rocks. I thought I was going to be crushed, but Kisame had been sitting by the rocks and spotted me. He swam out to me, grabbed me, and then hauled me back to shore. We were on a completely different strand of beach that I didn't recognize, so he brought me home to dry me off and try and find my parents. Luckily, he didn't live far from where I was, so he just took me the rest of the way home." Sasuke nodded a bit in understanding. It made enough sense. Kisame and Naruto seemed awfully friendly, but he supposed it made sense to be friends with the person who saved you.
"Why does he call you Barbie?"
"Dunno. He said I looked a lot like a doll and my hair reminded him of Barbie. It kind of stuck and I haven't been able to get him to stop calling me it ever since." The heir nodded again. They chatted for a bit, telling the other a bit about themselves. They managed to eat almost half the food. The rest Sasuke put in the fridge. Naruto told him to keep the cooler.
"You can always buy us a new one." Sasuke smirked and followed the blonde to the door, watching as he got his shoes and jacket on. They stood awkwardly for a few seconds, neither really knowing what to do or say. Finally, Naruto waved a bit and turned to the door.
"Well, see you at school tomorrow."
"Naruto-" The blonde turned around again and Sasuke found himself in yet another awkward moment. It felt like there was something he should do, but he couldn't figure out what it was.
"Um…thanks. For…the food…and…you know…" Naruto nodded and it got very silent again, both shifting their weight and trying not to look at the other. Finally, Naruto cleared his throat.
"Um…they're…going to get worried. If I'm not home soon, I mean. So…I'll…see you tomorrow."
"Yeah." Naruto waved again and left, closing the door behind him. Sasuke just stared after him, feeling really, really stupid for some reason. Sighing, he turned around and trudged into the living room, flopping onto the couch. He couldn't shake the feeling of having missed something really important, and it bugged him. He managed to drag himself into bed around midnight, just stripping down to his boxers and flopping onto the mattress after setting his alarm clock. Itachi, always up at no later than five-thirty for some unknown reason, usually woke him up at six. If Sasuke wasn't out of bed in five minutes, Itachi dragged him to the shower, on and set to its coldest temperature, and tossed him underneath the water, regardless of what he was wearing. This generally served to wake Sasuke up fairly quickly. It also made him curse and swear violently and loudly. Of course, Itachi would always just laugh at him and toss him a towel before heading downstairs to go get a cup of coffee. When Itachi wasn't around, which was no longer a rare thing, he set his alarm clock to be as loud as possible and wake him up at six. And, six hours later, it did in fact go off ridiculously and irritatingly loud. Snarling, Sasuke shoved it off his nightstand. It fell to the carpeted floor, continuing to beep extremely loudly. Sasuke glared and picked himself out of bed to shut it off. All Uchihas hated to get up in the morning. That was probably why Itachi got up so early. It was dark enough that he could convince himself it was still night.
Sasuke flicked the annoying machine off, setting it back onto his nightstand. As he did, his hand brushed the only picture in his room. He gently picked it up, looking it over. It had been taken several years ago. It was of him, Itachi, and his parents.
His mother, Miyumi, was dressed very smartly and very fashionable, as she always was. She had always been able to find the exactly right look for any occasion. No matter where she went, what she wore, it was always perfect. Once she walked into a room, you couldn't take your eyes off her. You couldn't stop thinking about her, even after she was gone. She was always buying clothes for the family, seeing ways they matched up even when others couldn't. Sasuke had always thought the things she bought him would never work together, but then he tried them on and could see. It was no surprise to anyone when she went into fashion design. Her dresses and designs were still being modeled on runways, even now, almost ten years after her death.
His father, Fuugaku, wore his uniform. He had been chief of police for all of Tokyo, one of the most respected people in the whole city. He had been brilliant in designing ways to stop crime more effectively than how they were doing it currently, even if what they were doing at the time were his own ideas. He was not against bringing his sons into the precinct to watch the going-ons and give their own opinions. Itachi had taken little interest in the subject, but Sasuke had been rather fascinated by it. He had studied everything about the police department diligently, adding to his father's pride of him. Itachi had been more interested in the mind of the criminals and would often be seen in the hall between jail cells, talking to the criminals for hours on end. They liked his company. Many of the ones dubbed 'Itachi's Admirers' were released a few months later for good behavior and compliance with police investigations.
Sasuke smiled a bit at the memories before setting the picture back down and getting dressed for school. The sky was gray and thunder rumbled in the distance, moving closer. Sasuke didn't mind the darkened sky; in fact, it proved to brighten his day a bit. What improved his mood even more was a certain blonde classmate of his coming out of his house just as he passed.
"Ah! Sasuke! Wait up!" Sasuke had intended to do such even if Naruto hadn't called to him. The blonde ran down driveway and up to the heir, smiling brightly.
"Good morning!" Nodding slightly, Sasuke began walking again, Naruto falling in step behind him.
"Morning."
"Did you sleep well last night?" Sasuke nodded again, the feeling of having missed something the night before returning to bug him. Naruto filled the quiet air with chatter, something Sasuke wasn't quite used to. What he was used to was walking to and from school in silence. Naruto, however, seemed to scoff at the idea of it. Not that the Uchiha minded. They were pretty much at the school when an overly cheerful (and overly loud) voice drowned out Naruto's.
"Sasuke-kun!" Wincing, Sasuke steeled himself as Sakura nearly ran over Naruto and clung to his arm.
"Good morning Sasuke-kun!"
"Hn."
"I brought you a lunch today! And I thought that maybe after school you and I could go to the ice cream parlor together…they just put up some new couples treats and I thought-"
"I can't, sorry." Sakura pouted, her lower lip sticking out and quivering.
"Why not?" Sasuke racked his brain for a reason, but nothing came up. He had nothing to do that evening, not even homework, since that only took an hour or so. Their house was spotless, Itachi took care of their garden, he had no plans for the evening. So he was left giving Sakura this blank look. The girl mistook it ever so slightly and blushed, smiling in this pleased manner that made Sasuke nervous.
"Oh Sasuke-kun, I never knew you were shy!" Shy. The very word made Sasuke's face curl in disgust. The very word applied to himself made his face curl in horror and disbelief. An Uchiha? Shy? Like hell! Uchiha's were not shy. Cautious? Sure. Suspicious? Every so often. But shy? Sakura didn't notice the look on Sasuke's face and continued talking.
"But don't worry! I mean, we're already going out, and we have been for a long time! If you're nervous, I'm sure Ino and Neji could come with us, like a double date! Unless you want to talk in private, which we can do too! And it's close enough to the school that we can just leave from here! Unless you want to change after school. Oh, that reminds me! I have this new, totally cute outfit I wanted to show you! So how about after school, we each go home and change and then you come by and pick me up around six! Okay? Great! Bye Sasuke-kun!" And with that, the cheerleader was gone into the school, probably to go tell everyone how Sasuke had asked her out to the ice-cream parlor for a couple's dessert. Naruto, rubbing his now sore arm, gave him a slightly sympathetic look.
"I think you need a new girlfriend."
End of Chapter Three
…Well blargh. That wasn't as long as I'd hoped it would be, but I can't think of anything else. I'm kind of at a stuck point, so…blargh again. Eh, I'll probably start the next chapter later tonight, after I finish the next one for my other story. All the while playing World of Warcraft and other miscellaneous things.
…Heh. Moo.