Author's Notes
Hello, thank you for reading this story, I leave you to enjoy. Many thanks for my beta, RaccoonMama13, for her hard work on this chapter! :D
Never having a mother was something that had Naruto experience a loss in certain fields, and on most days he dealt with his loss with nothing but patience. His father had made sure never to make his son miss the loving touch of a mother, be it if he had to wake up extra early to cook him breakfast or ditch a couple of important lectures as not to miss his baby boy's first play. However, there were certain areas where Minato's loving touch failed to reach Naruto, and one of them was the simple act of waking him up.
Naruto was a mule when asleep. He was extremely hard to awake; a simple touch would go unheard to his unconscious system. Therefore, Minato had always resulted to somewhat extreme – perhaps even brutal – means to wake him up. Yet, on that day, the day where he had plans to go out with his newly found uncle, Naruto was softly and soothingly lulled out of his bed, some of his senses connected the foreign sweetness to the feelings he would experience had his mother lived on… but since that didn't happen, it only remained as a vague assumption.
Hazily, his eyes fluttered to distinguish the mere blur before them to a definitive image of his uncle. When the sweet wish that he was being awoken by his deceased parent had been abolished, Naruto felt the innermost of his heart ache a little. The small hope he held inside his soul to come forth with his mother's image was pushed back to the corner of his mind. Naruto rubbed at the tear that slid from the corner of his eye, and groaned out his confusion; he didn't know if it was due to his urge to see his mother so bad, or because he'd just woken up.
Sasuke watched the baffled blond rub to full awareness and, up-righting his bending posture, he flicked him softly on the forehead as he mumbled a soft, "Idiot."
"Why do you call me names?" Naruto whined, yawning.
"Because I want to," Sasuke replied simply. "Now, go wash up so we can leave."
Rolling his eyes at the nasty smirk Sasuke had left him with, Naruto cursed his uncle after his departure and proceeded to jump out of bed and head to his bathroom. He comforted his mind and his jittery nerves with the notion to have a long, sweet bath and relax his aching muscles with hot water. However, the minute he stepped into the tub and turned the faucet in, cold water flowed within, immersing him with ice.
Naruto's teeth shattered against each other as his mouth released a loud scream with the name of the culprit responsible for his misfortune. "SASUKE!"
Hearing the loud yell from upstairs, the plotting raven couldn't help the smirk to spread all over his rosy lips as he approached the living room to lay down some more.
"Sasuke," Minato called out with a sigh as he came out of his office upon hearing his son's calamite declaration. "What have you done to him?"
"Nothing," Answered a very smug looking Uchiha, with an innocent voice that Minato knew for sure was being faked.
"…Anyhow, try not to play with him too much; Naruto's delicate."
"If you keep treating him as if he's made of porcelain, the boy would turn to fine china." Sasuke got up from the couch after flipping the channels and finding nothing useful or interesting to watch, then headed towards his room. "I'm going to change now, but think about what I said, Minato."
Minato brows furrowed at his younger brother's comments, yet knowing it wasn't time to contemplate this small matter, the blond adult went back to his office since a hundred papers was waiting for his correction.
Sometime later, a very cold and dripping Naruto stood in his room. The freezing teen trashed his closet, looking for some clothes he could wear. After about five minutes of idle searching, something in the corner of his closet finally caught his eyes. He quickly changed into grey jeans and a black top. For a moment, he frowned at the overpowering amount of orange in his closet.
"Damn!" He exclaimed. "I need to change my wardrobe soon."
Thirty seconds later found him making his way downstairs with a yawn escaping his still-sleepy lips.
Naruto ran to the living room, still sluggish and tired – since his hot bath was abolished by cold water – with every muscle in him, complaining about the slightest movement. Yet he tried to keep it out of his profile, so as not to disturb his uncle. He knew his father had some important grading to do, which made it all the more reason why he couldn't show his weariness to them.
Flopping on the couch, he allowed his body a minute to sink in the feathery comfort and closed his eyes. Soon, his ears became hyper-sensitive to any and all noise, be it the sound of his breaths, the air rustling the curtains, the voices of people holding some kind of a debate on TV, or the dripping sound of raindrops as they hit the pavement.
His eyes swiftly blinked to full awareness. Sound of dripping raindrops as they hit the pavement?
Before his mind could come to an answer to his mental inquiry, his legs were in front of the curtains in a mere heartbeat and he pulled them a part. His face scowled into disapproval in a matter of seconds as he cursed, with gritted teeth.
"Damn fucking rain!"
"Dobe, don't swear," Sasuke said, his face a mask of disapproval.
"I have the right to! Just look," Naruto urged, gesturing to the pouring rain. "There is a lake forming outside of my house! Something must be done about this rain, it's not right!" He growled in frustration. "It's been raining nonstop since this morning!"
"Unfortunately for you, there is nothing either of us can do about it, so just enjoy the clean scenery," Sasuke stated in a matter-of-fact tone.
Naruto puffed his cheeks at the remark and crossed his arms. "Yeah well, we won't know until we try!"
The raven sighed and continued inside the living room as he took over the couch where Naruto was previously sitting and replied, "Okay then, what do you suggest we do? Fly up there and ask the clouds to stop raining?"
"…Ass," the blond replied sullenly after a minute of hard thinking, knowing that truly, there was nothing he could do to stop the rain from… well, raining.
"Comes from the person who asked me why I call him names every time I see him," Sasuke hummed.
"Just shut up, would you?"
"Hn."
Sasuke silenced the sounds coming from the TV, before he changed his position so he was facing his hotheaded nephew. The lights were focused on him, illuminating his milky skin with an inhuman attractiveness that had Naruto's eyes glued to them, alongside his black choice of suits, which left no room for the azure orbs to leave Sasuke's image any time soon—something the raven was beginning to become proud of.
Naruto cleared his throat as the discovery that his uncle might be a bit easy on the eyes– okay fine, the bastard was smoking hot! – had flashed with capital letters inside his mind and slowly darted his eyes away when he was caught red-handedly staring.
"Like what you see?" Sasuke asked, voice husky.
The teen looked back up, and when his eyes met up with Sasuke's. His only choice to preserve what was left of his pride and hide his embarrassment, was to throw one of the cushions presented on the armchair, on his uncle's face as a shallow "Shut up!" was whispered.
Sasuke took hold of the cushion and threw it back to the armchair. He wanted to snarl a teasing remark Naruto's way but… somehow, when his eyes met with those deep azures, he got captivated with a spell that somehow seemed to bind not just him, but also Naruto to a staring contest that had nothing to do with overpowering the other's gaze.
On the other side of the house, Minato was working on sorting the papers. He really needed to focus on his work, but he knew that if Naruto was home, he wouldn't be able to finish much. That's why when his half-brother had suggested taking the blond out for a picnic; he had almost leapt to crush him from sheer happiness. The blond adult loved his son very much; however, Naruto was quite noisy when bored and he always tended to be bored on rainy days, leaving Minato with a concentration problem that didn't allow him to get anything done.
Minato put the mug down on the table and sighed to clear the fogginess that the papers had caused him. He waited to hear his son coming through the door and shouting his goodbyes, yet when nothing came after about five minutes, he had this suspicious feeling in the pit of his stomach. So, unable to stay still, the blond got up from his mahogany chair and headed towards the door, intending to find out why his house had suddenly went so extremely quiet.
"Shouldn't you two be on your way out now?"
All faces turned to a tired-looking Minato, who eyed his two relatives with a confused look. His son buffed out his cheeks shortly after forcefully breaking the spell Sasuke had entranced him with, whilst his brother kept the nonchalant façade.
"Gee, Dad, at least look a little bit concerned for your son's health," Naruto mumbled under his breath sarcastically. "I might come down with something going out in this weather."
The professor sighed and glared at the teen. "Nothing will happen to you, you have Sasuke with you to protect you. Besides, idiots don't come down with anything, now off you go."
"If you think this chicken-butt-haired person over here will be able to protect anything in me," Naruto said shortly, "then think again, Pops!"
"Naruto, watch your manners. Whatever happens, he's your uncle and older, so respect him. And Sasuke," Minato looked at his brother pleadingly. "Please take him and go, my head is starting to hurt."
Sasuke took pity on Minato as he nodded to answer him. Swiftly, he stood up and started making his way toward the front door. He threw a blue jacket his nephew's way and – being blessed with fine reflexes – the blond was able to catch it before it fell to the floor.
"Coming, Dobe?"
"Yeah, wait up, bastard!" With that, Naruto followed his uncle out the door, after he'd paused before his father to say a little goodbye.
"Don't come home late, you two!" Minato shouted as the door was shut behind his hurrying son. He sighed once more and stretched a little, before he returned back to his office, for after all, even without Naruto around, he had a long night ahead of him.
Sasuke watched as his nephew kept on glaring at the skies every two minutes. He was tempted to just hurry on and leave Naruto to soak in the rain he hated so much – taking note that the coat the blond had on was made to withstand the most hideous of storms, and therefore assured that his health would remain intact. However, he just didn't have the heart in him to do something like that. Yet every minute Naruto spent murmuring to himself like some troubled teen, drained his patience further.
"Hey," Sasuke called, "where do you want to go?"
The blond removed his eyes from the dark clouds and focused on his uncle. "Hm?"
Sasuke took a deep breath and repeated himself.
"Wait, you're asking me?" Naruto was baffled. "Weren't you the one who cooked all this up? Don't tell me you have no plans for this!"
The raven continued walking with sure steps, and when the blond strode along after shutting his mouth, he responded with a calm demeanor. "When I suggested a walk, I had nothing in mind. I just wanted to share the scenery with you. No plan is in need for that simple act, don't you think?"
The way Sasuke was putting his words made Naruto feel like he was behaving like a brat. If he wanted his uncle to think of him as an adult, that was something he needed to stop doing. Therefore, coughing to clear his throat, the teenager announced with a bit of hesitation, "There's… there's this place, it sells the most delicious ramen you'd ever taste, but it's a bit far from here."
"Lead the way then."
Naruto looked up at Sasuke with an unsure gaze. "It's… far," he said. "Like, real far."
"Doesn't matter," Sasuke responded. "If you want to, I can take you anywhere you want and at the time you want. So again, just lead the way."
The teen's lips curved into a small smile and he tugged his hand into his uncle's arm as he spoke. "Okay, but we won't be able to get there by foot. Let's take a taxi!"
Sasuke allowed himself to be dragged, and gave Naruto all the control he wished for their outing. As they left their district and entered into new roads, the rain was becoming dimmer. The raven kept his eyes on the streets and where they were heading, but had to look away when his interest to where they were heading died down, with the first sentence that left Naruto's mouth.
"Sasuke, why did my father lose contact with you?"
Naruto's eyes held nothing but a strong desire for knowledge. It didn't have the hesitation he felt the first time they spoke about their family, or the sense of loss such a topic would arise. They were just… calm and full of curiosity. A curiosity that Sasuke felt obliged to fill.
"My father didn't want anything to do with Minato," he replied stiffly.
"Yes, I get that. But couldn't you call him on a cell phone or give us a house visit every now and then? I mean, your father won't be able to find out. He doesn't track your every move… does he?"
"To an extent, he did." Sasuke closed his eyes and allowed his past memories to appear in front of them, before he continued his answer. "Every move I ever made was calculated, predicted and seen. Not just me, Itachi's too. My father wasn't a controlling man as the words would suggest. However, he had his rules for us to live by, and by doing so; he achieved his goal of having his boys around him and preserving his strong ideals and words."
"So… a stubborn man?"
The raven nodded with a tiny smile. "You could say that."
"Yeah, I can totally picture him now," Naruto nodded.
"How about you?" Sasuke challenged. "Why didn't you send me anything or ever call me?"
The blond frowned at the question and flatly answered. "I didn't know of your existence until a little before you came to stay with us. My dad… Like I told you, talking about family always made him feel sad so I didn't ask about it; I didn't know I was allowed to."
"I bet Minato would be devastated to hear that,"
"I know," Naruto agreed, "and that's why I never say anything."
The handsome raven frowned. "But that would make him worry more, not to mention it's not too healthy."
"Health is the last thing I'm thinking of right now. Anyhow –"
"Hold that thought," Sasuke commented as the driver parked them in front of a small diner that had the word 'Ichiraku's Ramen' written on it in bright, green neon lights. They got out and Sasuke paid for their ride. When he was walking alongside the blond who seemed to chirp up the minute the sky stopped raining, he continued his earlier words. "You can continue."
Naruto looked at the diner and shook his head. "Oh, it was nothing, forget it. Let's go in. Tonight, you're going to have the best miso ramen of your life!"
Sasuke blinked but his next words were discarded as Naruto jumped with happiness towards the entrance, signaling the beginning of the eating-adventure he was hauling his uncle towards. Once inside, the cozy little diner was just like that, cliquey and very family oriented. It was booked – to Sasuke's surprise – and had few empty chairs. Everyone appeared to know everyone, as if the place was filled with regulars. From the way Sasuke was looking at the diner, he didn't disapprove of it, actually, he took both comfort and luxury in the easy going air the workers have provided for their customers, and he was sure that this was a valuable experience to be made.
After the two made themselves comfortable on one of the simple chairs presented, the blond called on one of the waitresses. "Mayo, two bowls of the regular!"
A black eyed girl with short, curly brown hair nodded to the blond as her eyes brightened upon seeing him. "Coming right up, Naruto-kun."
Sasuke watched the girl hop away and stated more to himself than to his companion as he rested his elbow on the table. "You appear very familiar with the staff."
"And the place too," The teen nodded enthusiastically.
Raised an eyebrow, Sasuke asked. "You come here that often?"
"Well," the teen started, giving off a wave to another waitress who had spotted him. "When I have free time or there's nothing to eat at home, I come here."
"But Minato cooks, doesn't he?"
Naruto shrugged. "Dad does everything he could to feed me, but sometimes work gets too much and he gets too busy to make lunch or dinner, so I come here to eat then."
"Strange," Sasuke mused. "I thought Minato would have you leashed to the house from his overprotectiveness, but he's pretty flexible to allow you to dine out."
Naruto laughed. "Yeah, he can be a bit overbearing at times, but really he's just a normal single dad, who does his hardest raising a teenage kid, while working his ass off to provide anything I need. My dad… I can never repay him the sacrifices he'd made for me."
Sasuke watched as his nephew's eyes grew softer with every syllable he used to talk about his father, and somehow, a small part of him felt jealous about that bond. Since a substantial number of years was between him and Minato, he was never there for his big brother or Kushina-san… wasn't allowed to be there for them. Minato had done the taboo and gone against their father's wishes. He'd chosen the life of isolation with the woman he loved and therefore, had abandoned all help and assistance the family could have provided for him. It was a choice he made with a solid determination. His love for Kushina was more important to him than his wealth, name and family.
Minato had valued Kushina and thought of her as his new family, and with the birth of Naruto, he must have been given a new drive to raise his child alone, through thick and thin, without accepting any help Sasuke or Itachi would have given had he given them the chance. Sasuke sighed inwardly and waited until the waitress bringing their dinner to walk away, for his burning question, which had been aroused inside his head with thoughts of the distant past, to be asked.
"Why didn't Minato remarry? I can understand him not asking us for help, but if he did marry, you'd find a mother and the load on him would be far lighter."
Naruto's face broke into a bright grin and he clarified. "Dad said that he didn't want anyone to replace mom, that even if she was resting underground, her place in his heart can't be altered or taken away by anyone, and he couldn't betray his feelings towards her by brining another person to the home she made."
"Yes, but what's that got to do with remarrying?" Sasuke asked, bemused. "He could remarry a woman without loving her."
"Sasuke…" The blond sighed with a head shake. "I can't believe you just said that. How can you marry without love? That's just awful, not to mention unfair. Dad would never do something like that to anyone, and besides… he vowed to mom that he'd raise me all by himself."
"Something he did perfectly."
Naruto nodded to his uncle. "Couldn't agree more. Now, let's eat before it gets cold."
Taking the younger's treat, Sasuke picked up his spoon and started drinking the soup up. The taste was just perfect. The spices and flavors of different ingredients vibrated rhythmically inside his tongue and brought a smile to his lips. The dish was nothing fancy, a simple miso ramen that anyone could make. However, this taste, this aroma, this divine sense of fulfillment with every sip and the way it balanced off with utmost precision; he doubted anyone could master that. Assuring Sasuke that even though his nephew was raised away from them, the true, sensitive palate of the Uchiha bloodline was strongly held inside his mouth.
"So tell me, Naruto, what are your hobbies?" Sasuke voiced.
The blond raised a brow at the sudden change of topics. "Really? You're going with old school questions?"
"We need to get to know each other, and what better way than to ask the things I don't know about you?"
"It's still old school and boring," Naruto groaned. "Why not try something new?"
"I'm open to ideas," Sasuke shrugged.
"Twenty Guesses!"
"I beg your pardon?" Sasuke asked, when the teen didn't continue.
"Twenty guesses game!" When there was no change in Sasuke's facial expression, the blond's eyebrows furrowed. "You… you don't know it?"
"Can't say that I do."
"Hmm… weird, everyone in my class knows it."
"Perhaps it's a game made recently with your generation, or it's of this country, that's why I never heard about it before," Sasuke offered.
"Maybe. Anyways, the game goes like this, you state a sentence with something missing, and I fill it!"
Sasuke put down his chopsticks. "Charades, you mean."
"Not simple charades!" Naruto argued. "It's Twenty Guesses game!"
Not wanting to ignite the youngster any further, the raven obliged. "Alright, Twenty Guesses game it is. So, who shall start?"
"I'll go first to show you how it's done."
"Fine by me."
Miyo came back before Naruto could start his game and brought the beverages the two had ordered. Giggling to herself and smiling to the handsome raven beside her regular customer, the girl left them to themselves. Naruto opened his mouth the minute she was beyond hearing range and gave his game.
"I like going," and here Naruto paused quite obviously, "because I enjoy the sea."
"Fishing," Sasuke stated almost as soon as he stopped talking.
The blond pouted at his uncle. "How did you know it was 'fishing'?"
"Because I saw the lures and hooks in your room," Sasuke replied. "Plus, Minato was very fond of it when he was young, so he must have taken you fishing a couple of times."
"Hmph, I should have used something harder."
"Well," Sasuke wiped his mouth, "it's my turn now. Okay, listen to this one. Eating outside with," a pause, "is such a pleasure, and I'm made to play—" Here he cut off, and waited for Naruto to answer.
Naruto rolled his eyes and answered. "Naruto and Twenty Guesses' game."
Sasuke smirked and shook his head. "Right on the first, wrong on the second."
"How am I wrong? You're out with me, and we are eating, so it's eating outside with Naruto, and it's a pleasure for you – obviously –and as for the second part, I'm making you play Twenty Guesses game with me. So what's wrong?"
"You need to think a bit harder about that, my dear boy," Sasuke smirked.
The blond looked at his uncle as if he'd just grown a second head, and was about to state stubbornly that he was wrong, when he suddenly noticed the glint in Sasuke's eyes. Something told him right then that all he needed to do to get the right answer was, change his way of thinking, since his uncle was playing… him.
While going with that theory, Naruto's mind didn't waste a single minute as it bolded out the letters for the answer Sasuke was seeking. He rolled his eyes and boringly blurted out. "Charades."
Sasuke's smirk turned to a smile. "You actually got it correct; I thought I'd have an hour of fun before you give up."
"I swear to God you're a damn sadist! Besides, your answer was wrong. It's not charades, it's –"
"Twenty Guesses game, yeah, I know that tone already so please, let's not go there. Anyhow, tell me, why is it called twenty guesses? Is it because the person gets twenty guesses wrong before you switch to something else or…?"
"Yeah, typically," Naruto said. "However, it hardly reaches twenty; most people get it right by the fifth or so try. The name just stuck to it."
Sasuke nodded as he sipped through his cold beverage. "You do realize that this game of yours didn't help any of us to learn anything about the other, right?"
Naruto pouted and tried not to come off as a sulking brat. "Shut up. It's better than you questioning me all the time about what my hobbies are."
"Okay, how about a middle ground then?" Sasuke put forth.
"Between my awesome game and your ancient detective enquiry?"
"Yes."
"I'm game, shoot!"
"I ask. You answer. With choices." Sasuke's face was impassive.
The blond was about to fall out of his chair with the dramatic way Sasuke was putting pressure on the 'choices', as if they had the answer to their current dilemma. Without bothering to control himself, he burst out laughing, allowing sweet melody to resonate out of his voice.
"Sasuke… you… hahaha… you're an idiot, aren't you?" he asked.
"I don't fancy being called that by someone who got zero in algebra," Sasuke frowned.
Naruto returned his focus to the table as his laughing fit calmed down. "See, I'm stupid when it comes to the natural sciences, but you, Sasuke, are stupid when it comes to social interactions. You can't even figure out a simple way for us to get to know each other."
The frown deepened on the attractive raven's face. "I don't see you coming up with anything better,"
"That's why we should forget all about this silly idea and let things sail through, you'd find us getting to know each other better that way."
His words let to a fine, black brow to be raised. "Things don't just 'sail through', and if they did, they would 'sail through' to bad directions."
"You're on hella of a pessimist." Naruto commented.
Looking at those sparking eyes that were accusing him of being exactly who he was, Sasuke averted his gaze and changed the topic, feeling like if they continued, some of the things that should remain in the dark would come out to the light.
"You finished your food, so let's get out of here."
Naruto blinked at the abrupt change of tone but nodded, sensing the vibe his uncle was giving off for him to forget about his former comment. "Okay…"
"How much was it all?"
Sasuke didn't wait for Naruto to answer him as he stood up, walked to where their waitress was standing by, and paid for their dishes. He signaled his nephew to get off his butt and follow him to the outside after he finished with everything in the cozy diner. Scowling at the way Sasuke was dictating everything, the teen ran behind his uncle.
Fifteen minutes later found them walking idly, through the streets of the neighborhood Naruto had them stumbling to. Disliking the way the silence was stretching before them, Naruto started with a little story about himself.
"You know, I have this friend… her name is Haruno Sakura, I told her about you today, and she said she wants to see you. So, she's coming tomorrow with me."
"Hn."
Not giving up with the uninterested reply, Naruto continued. "She's really nice and pretty too. When we were in freshman year, she used to get a lot of fans, but, due to her temper—" The blond winced, remembering the way Sakura had punched one of her said 'fans' one day out of sheer annoyance at his constant love-confessions. Needless to say, no guy dared annoy her after that. "…There are less of them now. Anyhow, she's very mature and excellent in studies. On exams, we would prepare study-sessions and she would help me out… a lot!"
"Is that so?" Sasuke drawled.
The bored tone didn't go undetected to Naruto's ears and he stopped walking. It took Sasuke a few moments to realize he was walking alone and no footsteps were towing his. When he turned back, he saw Naruto's slumped shoulders facing him.
"Naru –" he started, but was cut off.
"I'm trying… you said you want to know about me, and I'm trying to give you that knowledge… but you seem uninterested. I know my life's boring. I'm a simple kid and with your money you must have seen a lot of exciting things, and been to a lot of exciting places… but… but I don't know how to be exciting. All I know is how to be normal and me."
Sasuke shook his head and walked back to his nephew. He sighed and tried to reach the blond midway; since with his emotional-deficiency syndrome, he'd caused his nephew to spout nonsense.
"I'm sorry if it came off as not caring, but I'm hearing to you. It's a little hard for me to show clear emotions, but I'm listening to you, Naruto. Your words aren't boring; whatever you may think of them, I'd never label them boring. It's your life and I very much want to know about it, so please allow me to."
Naruto looked up from the wet ground that glittered with the reflections of the nearby street lamps and faced his uncle. His handsome, pale face was as stoic as it always was, but he could detect the slight shift in the light inside those black pearls. He wanted to comment that the raven didn't look all that stressed, but the hands fidgeting on either side of the black coat had him stop his lips.
Fidgeting. People only did that when they were nervous or agitated, and since the situation didn't need Sasuke to show any anger, he was probably nervous. However, there was no obvious reason for him to be nervous. Naruto's brain connected the words Sasuke had said to him with the meanings inside his head, and with bright eyes, he asked.
"Sasuke… is talking to me making you nervous?"
The adult's eyes shifted from Naruto to a nearby tree as he stated. "You're the first person I interact with outside of family lines; so honestly, talking to you is something I'm still struggling to perfect."
Naruto blinked at the frank reply. "What do you mean outside family lines? You have friends, right?"
"Anyone who doesn't benefit the family isn't allowed to interact with the family members," Sasuke said stiffly.
"So you don't."
"Making friends is dangerous, since everyone wants something back," His uncle replied automatically. "Pure friendship doesn't exist in this world."
"…How long have you felt that way?"
Sasuke shook his head. "It's not a feeling, it's one of the rules my father had set. Since I wasn't allowed to make friends with no real benefit to the family, I'm not familiar with how to deal with emotions right."
"You lived your life so far believing that?" Naruto asked incredulously.
The raven was about to answer when something else shifted inside his head, and he switched to a question himself. "Do you pity me? Pity the adult who was deprived from knowing real friendship?"
Naruto shook his head and gave a sad smile to his distressed looking uncle. "No… I just think it's too bad. My grandpa must have put that rule because he was betrayed by a lot of people; so he lost faith in ever finding someone to trust outside of his family, and didn't want you to suffer as he did. Yet, even though I think that… it's just too sad for you."
Sasuke looked at his nephew with surprise. "No one knows why father had made that rule amongst others; however, I don't believe he was holding such sentiments when he formed them. He's a man who thinks with his mind and calculates every move before taking a step forward, or setting up anything. Sentiments and emotions were never part of his equations, so… you're the first to actually believe that he'd set that rule to protect us."
"I disagree," Naruto said. "The way you're taking about him makes it seem as if he's a heartless, cruel man, and I'm sure he's not like that… my grandpa isn't like that."
"How can you be so sure?" Sasuke asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Because he raised you and dad," Naruto replied, "and neither you nor he is heartless or cruel!"
Sasuke sighed and murmured, "You still don't know anything."
"Excuse me?" Naruto asked.
"I said you can't know anything based on that, because raising us wasn't necessarily done by him. Anyhow, let's save up this talk for another time," Sasuke quickly added before Naruto could go deep into the discussion. "You were saying things about your friend Sakura, right?"
The blond frowned at yet another change of topics and in a sulking manner, marched in front of his relative with a clear pout. He knew there were things he still didn't know, a whole lot of mysteries surrounding his father's family, and if he was always cut off when he wanted to get a bit close, to know a little bit more, then what was the point of opening up his life to Sasuke? If the raven had no intentions of doing the same, then there was clearly no point in ever starting any sort of conversation about his environment.
Soon after that mental statement of his, Naruto shook his head and hit himself mentally. He wasn't being fair to his uncle. The guy had stated that he wanted to know everything about Naruto, and was open to telling the blond everything that he wished to know about himself. However, there was this line, this invisible line that Sasuke had gently gestured Naruto not to cross, and that line was every information about the family.
He, of course, was being given the obvious details, but not everything. Naruto could sense the way his uncle was keeping him in the dark, and it annoyed him but… a part of him knew that he shouldn't expect a total trust from point one. Since even if he was indeed holding the Uchiha blood within his veins, that didn't mean that he was entitled to all of their secrets, he felt it to be a right that he has to work to attain, not something his birth entitled.
Therefore, putting his childish annoyance aside and with a small sigh escaping his lips, Naruto opened his mouth once more. "I have a friend named Gaara. Today he was wearing black. He looks nice in it, but he doesn't like the color—says it reminds him of dead fishes, I've no idea how but it does. So I think he wants to impress someone."
Sasuke's brow rose as he questioned. "Just because he was wearing black?"
"Yes."
Upon the stern affirmation, the raven could do nothing but continue enquiring. "Who was he trying to impress?"
"When I pressed the matter further, all I got was a damn punch on the cheeck," Naruto whined.
"So that's where that came from." When the blond sent a small glare the other's way, Sasuke said quickly, "Maybe he doesn't want you bothering him, or doesn't want the girl to find out."
"But that is it; I don't think it's a girl! Gaara never liked girls! He was always saying they were too noisy or irritating. So the thought of him liking a girl is like me flying to the sky and forcing the rain to stop, fucking impossible!"
"Maybe he just wants a change of attire; you can't conclude him falling for a person just from clothes."
"Yes, you can! And my hypothesis is… ready?"
Sasuke forced the roll to his eyes to stop as he played along with his nephew. "What? I'm listening."
"I think he likes a male," Naruto announced.
Here, the raven didn't stop his eyes from rolling at the silly idea Naruto had come up with. "That's too foolish, even for you, Naruto."
"No, it's not," Naruto argued. "Gaara didn't show an interest in any gender for years, his feelings and urges have reached their max and he must have met someone who makes him want to be, you know, noticed."
"Let's say that it was indeed true, you have no problem with your friend turning to the same sex?" Sasuke asked curiously.
"Nope, and there's no reason for me to," Naruto said. "He's the same person as ever; I wouldn't stop being his friend just because he likes whatever he likes. Besides, whoever caught his eyes won't be so simple either. Gaara would have to play all his cards – if he had any – right to get him."
"You should keep out of this, Dobe," Sasuke shook his head.
The blond blinked. "Why would you say that?"
"Because if he was really into a male, you should allow him the chance to tell you by himself. Something like this is considered a big topic to speak of, and you shouldn't joke about it or take it lightly."
"I… wasn't really joking about it when I talked to him," Naruto admitted. "Sure, I started it off as a joke but I really wanted to know… and I won't mind it so much. He should just trust me and tell me, I'm not that narrow-minded, you know."
Sasuke smiled to his nephew and patted him softly on the head to relieve that pout that was growing on him, which earned him some startled eyes that soon welcomed the comforting gesture with a grin. "I know. You're a good kid and that friend of yours will tell you sooner than you think, just give him time." He thought for a second before continuing. "Besides, it's not about trust… in these sort of topics, it's more of the other being comfortable enough with himself to start telling anyone, so don't think too much about it, okay?"
"Yeah."
They continued walking after that, simply enjoying themselves with the faint rain drops entranced with the heavenly atmosphere. This would have continued had Naruto not remembered something and yelled aloud. "Oh shit! I forgot!"
Sasuke looked at him like he'd grown wings and started flying.
"Give me your hand," the blond demanded.
Startled by the sudden outburst, the raven blinked. "Why?"
"Just give it," Naruto said.
Knowing that it'd be best to just obey, Sasuke did so and gave his hand over. Naruto took hold of the hand as a shit-eating grin spread across his face. "Nice to meet you, Uchiha Sasuke. I'm your first friend, Uzumaki Naruto!"
Sasuke looked from their joint hands to the sparkling, blue eyes, confused. "Huh?"
Naruto rolled his eyes. "You said that you've never made a friend with no benefit to you, and therefore didn't know how to deal with me and your emotions, so I'll help you." He grinned. "I'll become your first real friend!"
Sasuke stifled the laugh that was about to break out of his mouth. "However, you're a member of the family, so you don't really count."
"According to grandpa, I'm not. And this is the first time I'm actually meeting you, so practically, we're strangers," Naruto argued. "You know, I never thought I'd one day be glad that he disowned my father, but now I am, since this way, I can be your friend without it conflicting with the family."
"But it's still conflicting because to me… you're family," Sasuke admitted.
Blue eyes widened slightly with that declaration and Naruto felt his cheeks color with a taint of red. It was the first time someone other than his dad had referred to him as family. Truthfully, even with the raven's sudden appearance, he didn't fully comprehend having other members to relate to, but now… hearing Sasuke announce so proudly, so naturally that he belonged to him, a member of his family, the blond couldn't maintain the gushes of happiness inside his stomach, and shifted his gaze while clearing his throat as not to be enchanted with the sweet words he was hearing.
"...You shouldn't mind the small details, focus on the big picture."
"You being my first friend?"
"Correct, and besides," he winked playfully at his uncle. "No one said that family members couldn't be close friends."
Sasuke just let his emotions be conveyed to the other via a soft smile that comfortably showed on his rosy lips as an answer to his avowal.
By the time they had returned to their own neighborhood, it was nearing one o'clock at morning, and Naruto's movement started getting saggy due to his eyes dropping every two seconds from being over exhausted. He was awakened though when a smooth tone called out to him and a clear question was directed to his side.
"So, where to now?"
"…I'm too beat; I can only see my bed."
Sasuke nodded as they continued on to the path to the teen's house. Alongside the way, they passed a somewhat trivial basketball court. The court was still shimmering with the aftereffects of the rain, eliminating the floor nicely. They both merely glanced at it, before continuing their way home. However before they walked another step further, a familiar voice called out to the blond teen.
"Naruto! Naruto! Hey, wait up!"
Slowly, Naruto turned towards the source of the voice, having instantly recognized who it was that called out to him. He was met with a happily giggling girl walking up to him fast. The pink-haired female was flowing with contentment upon catching him in the middle of the night. Naruto flashed his uncle a tentative smile – which Sasuke just shrugged off – and made to welcome his best female friend as she reached them with ease.
"Sakura, what are you doing here?"
The bright girl grinned to her friend and answered. "Well, firstly, hello to you too, Naruto. Secondly, I was picking up something mum had forgotten at one shop we'd visited two hours ago, and kinda lost track of time."
"I bet you were checking out some new dresses or something," He scoffed.
"Yep, you got me," she admitted. "They have some new wonderful designs for summer, I just can't wait for the break to come and I can go shopping!"
"I thought you did that today with your mum?" Naruto asked, confused.
"Yes, but we only shopped for housewares mostly. Oh right! Before I forget," Sakura added as her thoughts became organized. "I wanted to tell you that I wouldn't be able come to your place tomorrow. Ino called and reminded me of our cheerleading practice, I'd totally forgotten about it, sorry, Naruto."
"It's alright, don't worry about it," Naruto waved away her worries.
"Thanks. I promise to make it up to you!"
He grinned to reassure her and commented. "You don't need to. We can just reschedule for another day or so."
Sakura nodded and was about to bid him goodbye when something caught her attention. "By the way, what are you doing out here? It's one in the morning and you hate the rain."
The blond gave out whine and answered. "I want nothing more than to return home, Sakura, but he," he pointed to the shadow of a man behind him, "wanted us to stay longer… 'til it got so late!"
"'He'?" Sakura quoted as her eyes faltered to the young man beside her best pal. Over the previous minutes, she didn't pay attention to anything behind or beside Naruto, so she didn't really catch him. However now that she got herself a pretty good look, Sakura felt her face heat up from the handsomeness she was beholding.
Upon seeing the blushing girl and the eyes that were on the bridge of confessing their undying love for him, Sasuke snorted, causing Naruto to give off a frown of his own and nudge him to introduce himself to Sakura.
The raven sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Uchiha Sasuke, nice to meet you."
That was all his uncle had said and Naruto hurried to fill in the blanks before Sakura presumed the worst, but his pink-haired friend was faster than him and he was made to hear the worst.
"Naruto, how can you date this stunning man without telling me, your closest friend? This is terrible, Naruto! I have lost all my faith in you!"
A somewhat angry Sakura marched Naruto's way, forcing the blond to try and calm her down, then explain the situation clearly. "Sakura, it's not what you think, we are not like that, he is –"
"What? What sort of lie will you have me hear now, Naruto?" she asked as her finger continued poking at the blond's chest.
"You see Sasuke he's my –" Naruto was cut off once again.
"Your what, idiot?"
"If you'd stop interrupting me, I'd say! God!"
Sakura pouted and wrapped her hands over her chest. "Fine, I won't interrupt anymore. Who is he?"
"His uncle," Sasuke offered as means to fix his mistake of not fully introducing himself and giving them this tiny headache, while he came closer to the frustrated blond in a protective way, not appreciating the way Sakura was acting overly familiar with his nephew.
Sakura flushed in embarrassment at her own, wild speculations and bowed to Sasuke as an apology. "Sorry Naruto and Sasuke-san, I wasn't aware of that."
"Hn," Sasuke scowled.
"Well as long as you're aware now," Naruto said brightly. "Anyway, you've met him now, my dick of an uncle who looks nothing like us. He's a bastard, but livable."
"'Livable,' is that even a word, Dobe?" Sasuke snorted.
"Yes, it is, Teme!" Naruto fisted his hands and Sasuke started to smirk, the dreamy atmosphere totally messed up.
Sakura watched in amusement as the two bickered before her sight. She knew how idiotic Naruto was acting and how amused the other was –instead of being annoyed –, something that awoke the little detective in her. Yet before she could continue to observe and collect clues, her cell phone buzzed and a message from her mum had her close in on the two, and stop their quarrel.
"Naruto-kun, Sasuke-san," she firmly called their attention to her, before she beamed. "I need to go now, it's getting late and mum's worried. I'm so pleased to have met you, Sasuke-san, and I hope we'd see each other more."
"The pleasure's all mine," Sasuke said smoothly.
"And Naruto, see you tomorrow. Don't forget to bring me that drama CD we talked about, okay?"
Naruto nodded and waved. "Yeah, I won't, bye now and don't go walking around with any strangers, hear me?"
Sakura rolled her eyes as she started walking towards the opposite direction. "Geez, Naruto, I'm not five."
The blond waited until she was out of sight to turn to the place where his uncle was at, only to find that he'd already started walking and was good five feet away from him. He sighed to himself as he followed the man.
"Hey," Naruto started when he caught up. "Thank you for that."
"For what?" Sasuke asked.
"For not brushing her off. I can see that you don't like people very much, so thank you for not making her feel unwelcomed."
Sasuke huffed. "I didn't do it for you; it just seemed simpler to just agree with her."
"Regardless, thanks."
"Hn."
After that, the two continued walking in absolute silence. It started off as a normal one, where none had words to say or just the action of starting a conversation was a little exhausting; since it was close to 2AM and they were tired, but slowly… he could sense something develop between them. It felt like he was already familiarizing himself well with Sasuke, and the other was doing the same. Something in him buzzed at the unspoken bond that was silently forming, and without his control, his eyes stole a glance the other's way and quickly they turned to the ground, when he found Sasuke looking back at him.
He was about to enter into another maze of unsure thoughts about Sasuke's intentions of getting close to him, and get paranoia from over thinking when suddenly, Sasuke stopped walking, signaling his nephew to mimic him in confusion orbs. Sasuke just pointed his finger to a nearby garden, it was late but the lights shimmering the wonderful garden illuminated the surroundings with a gentle bright.
Different flowers, which he was sure their names were lost somewhere in the botany books he'd skimmed through to pass his first year of high school, were present. As they neared, the garden was showing a little bit better, it was small and not vast, an extremely beautiful side-garden made in the corner of the neighborhood park.
"Do you think we should go inside?" Naruto asked the male who was entranced with the beauty.
"Hn."
With no prior explanation, Sasuke took Naruto's hand and jumped skillfully over the almost non-existent fence. Naruto was impressed with the speed his uncle got in with, a fleeting thought about Sasuke being a criminal cat in his past life flashed through his head, and not being able to stop his lips, he swiftly spilled his mind. "Are you a criminal or something?"
"Hm?" Sasuke observed their surroundings.
The blond merely pointed to the way they got in.
"No, I'm an Uchiha," he replied, as if the answer was obvious.
Naruto cocked a brow at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Sasuke saw the confused expression on the blonde's face and sighed. "I guess you really don't know anything about the family. See, I think you might conclude that being in a rich family puts you in danger, that's why, from an early age, we are taught this form of… hmmm… let's say 'martial arts', and along the years, you pick up a thing or two. Minato should have at least mentioned something about that to you."
Naruto quickly pouted to defend his father. "Well, he didn't need to. There's nothing to gain from knowing about your family's status."
"I wasn't referring to the money, idiot, I was referring to him telling you the basics, which even if he didn't want you to interact with us, he should have explained to you. And," Looking the teen in the eyes, Sasuke emphasized. "It's not 'my family', it's 'our family'. It's your heritage as well."
Again, he was reminded that he was a part of something big, and the small happiness light inside had only been dimmed by his attempt to guard his old man. "Dad was really sad, you know. He wanted to tell me. I could see it in his eyes, but… he couldn't. I don't blame him and neither should you. He did the best he could and it's not his fault that his best just wasn't good enough for you."
Sasuke stopped and turned to his now saddened nephew. With a deep breath, he started smoothly.
"You have a big family, countless of cousins and close family members. Aside from me, there's another person who's also your uncle, his name's Itachi, he's older than me and younger than Minato. Right now, he holds the title of the 'heir', since he is the second in command to father. Itachi could be a little bit strict and stern, but I'm sure you'll get along well with him –"
"Would he want to meet me?" Naruto interrupted.
Frowning at the odd question, Sasuke countered. "Why would you ask that?"
"If he really wanted to meet me and see me, he would have come with you."
The raven shook his head. "He couldn't have come. Like I said, he's second in command to father, so he runs the business, he doesn't have any free moment to go anywhere."
"Oh."
"Yes, so it's not because he doesn't want to meet you, so don't ever think that, okay?"
Naruto nodded and quickly slipped out a dazed question. "Do I… do I really belong to your – err our family?"
"Yes, you do." Sasuke gently answered. "I think Minato had a pretty good reason for not telling you this, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell him I told you anything. Allow him to come to peace with whatever's tormenting him and he will tell you himself when he gets ready."
"There's no need for you to tell me that… I'm not an idiot."
"I know."
They walked around the small garden for a few more minutes, before Naruto nudged his uncle. With a roll of his eyes, Sasuke exited the garden and they continued their walk home. About fifteen minutes later, they reached the door to the house Minato owned and, using the spare key he had, Naruto unlocked the front door and went inside.
The lights were off and he had to open the nearest one as not to trip and wake his father. Minato's room was on the first floor, unlike his and Sasuke's so any disturbance or shuffle in furniture might wake him up. He took off his shoes and coat, before he placed the folded umbrella back into place. By the time he'd closed the front door and was making his way upstairs, two thirty was nearing its end. Naruto tiptoed all the way to the front of his room, and glanced behind him to make sure his uncle was following.
When he reached his bedroom door, he turned cheekily and grinned to the raven. "Sasuke, psst…"
"Hm?"
"I really enjoyed myself tonight. We should go out more!"
Naruto's eyes went wide to the reaction that his joyful sentence has embarked on his uncle, for in a matter of seconds, he was being hugged for no apparent reason and for a split millisecond, he was allowed another feel to the soft fingers gently soothing his hair. He wanted to return the hug, but the way his body was trembling despite of himself made that action held in the far side of his throat.
Sasuke let go a minute later and – to Naruto's other surprise – gave him a small peck on the cheek.
"It was I who had a great time tonight, Dobe."
And yet again, before the teen could recover from the emotional attack, Sasuke had returned to his room with a smirk lighting his face, and left a confused and flushed Naruto in his trail.
Thank you very much for reading! waiting for your reviews! :D
