Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Go ahead… Rub it in –humph-

A/N: You guys have me in such a good mood lately! Thank you to all for the reviews and to the silent readers. Seeing the views of this story go up is really exciting also \(^.^)/

So here you go, readers!

Chapter 4: You named my bird Wilson?

'What the hell?' Sasuke thought to himself incredulously. He stared down at the man, thanking his Uchiha genes for allowing him to be so straight faced in such a startling situation. He'd been staring down at the man half hidden by the shadows of his coat closet for the past three minutes or so. His pet, Chidori, was obviously getting bored with his stand still and slowly flew to the man in the closet. The most startling scene yet was the one of his bird nuzzling against this man's chest as if he were worried. Raising a curious brow, he crouched down and stared in disbelief; the fact Chidori wasn't attacking the other man had Sasuke intrigued to the point where he wasn't mad at the intruder. Scratch that, he was no longer going to throw the man off the cliff, but might show some mercy and listen to why he was even in Sasuke's closet.

His pet began to squawk quietly, tossing a worried stare towards Sasuke. 'The bird seemed so human at times,' Sasuke thought to himself. Chidori kept nudging at the man's side and soon enough the male moaned and turned over, his hands falling to show his face.

Sasuke breathed out (as Uchiha's don't gasp in surprise) when he got a good look at the man's features. His hair was a golden color, blessed by the rays of the sun. His jaw was strong, nose straight, lips a soft curve, though chapped as if he hadn't had water in a few days.

The effect of this man's good looks, however, was lost with the smell that permeated from the small closet. It was sweat and musk, salt and dirt; this man had not bathed in anything other than the ocean for a good few days. Wrinkling his nose, he stepped back, calling after Chidori who settled back on his shoulder with a few flaps of his wings. Not knowing why, he made his way to the marble bathroom to fill the tub. Perhaps it was the way his bird reacted to the man, or perhaps he was superficial enough to judge a person by their looks, but either way this man interested him enough.

Checking the temperature, he plugged the drain and let the water run, knowing he had a while before it came close to overflowing as it was a Jacuzzi bath meant for at most 4 people. Why he had such a large bath, he didn't know, as he always came to his vacation home alone, but it was useful in allowing him to spread out and relax without restraint.

Walking back down the hall, Sasuke cast a glance towards where he'd left the blonde man and stopped. He was gone. Sasuke lifted a delicate brow and turned to meet eyes with Chidori. Finding no answers there, he motioned for the bird to look for the intruder's whereabouts. With a fluff of his feathers, his pet flew off to start his search.

Even now Sasuke found himself surprised at his bird's intelligence. No one knew where the bird came from in the beginning other then he was trained well, most people did assumed it was for military purposes*. All anyone really knew was how Sasuke had come into contact with the bird on a winter's night. Some poorly raised children were pelting the animal with rocks and sticks and Sasuke had just happened to take a walk on a sleepless night. Upon hearing a pain distorted sound of the birds calls, he investigated. Turning a corner into an alley, he found the kids, shooing them away with only a glare, he knelt to inspect the animal. He prodded softly at the winged vreature and when the bird didn't respond he called his friend Hinata, who seemed to have a knack for those types of things.

About a week later the bird was mostly healed and rejected anyone that came near, even the veterinarian that had previously patched him up. They had called him in a panic, apparently the bird had attacked a few of the assistants and they needed him there stat. Sasuke drove down and, after being told their misfortunes, entered the sealed off room. The bird had recognized him and flew to his shoulder. Seeing no other way, Sasuke took in the bird as his pet, named him Chidori and the bird has been with him ever since.

About a week and a half ago, he had called Itachi, his brother and boss, to request a vacation. As if knowing what this meant the bird fluffed out his wings excitedly and disappeared. Sasuke had been used to the bird leaving for a day or two, but after a week of searching, Sasuke came here as a last resort. Of course as soon as he pulled up and turned off the motor, he spotted his bird perched on the rail of the bird stand, looking elegant and completely oblivious to his worrying.

He promptly called Itachi and told him the news. His family was as excited as any Uchiha could get. He still had two weeks of vacation left and he was going to spend it here in the peaceful quietness of his personal island, so he assured the man and his father that he'd be back after the allotted time. No one here would bother him, flirt with him, or cause him any form of frustration.

Or so he thought. Sasuke was waiting for the onset of irritation to fill him at this sudden intruder, but it seemed irritation hadn't received the invitation.

Sasuke thought back to his earlier conversation with his brother. During, Chidori had bristled when they passed the closet door which made him pause. Looking at the vented door, Sasuke could feel an intense gaze on him, but that couldn't be… When he walked past, he could have sworn he heard the tiniest hint of a sigh. Hanging up with his brother, he backtracked and began to open the door as slowly as he could. There couldn't possibly be a person in his house, right? The only people that knew he even owned an island were his brother and his parents. But, no. There had really been a cowering person kneeling in his closet. He would never admit to being startled, but shutting the door in surprise really gave it away.

The raven haired male was able to pour himself a glass of cool water before he heard Chidori signal that he'd found the intruder. He ran his fingers through the chilled condensation of his glass before picking it up and taking a sip. Another squawk came from the direction of the living room, so Sasuke took unhurried steps to reach his destination.

Once he reached the entrance he slowly peeked in. The blonde was seating on the floor, panicking while trying to shush the bird from giving away his location. 'Was he still trying to sneak out?'

The man looked completely harmless in his dirt and salt riddled clothing. The only reason Sasuke had to be angry with the man, other than the obvious, was the fact he had probably trekked that same sand into his home. He continued to observe that man in the natural light of the afternoon sun. His brilliant hair sparkled with sunlight, his tanned skin becoming alive under the rays. Sasuke appraised the man with an appreciative look. His cheeks were marred with three perfect lines on either side, as if the blonde had whiskers, but that wasn't what caught the Uchiha's attention. No, it was the intense blue eyes that man before him possessed. In all of his life, Sasuke had never seen a blue that looked so... blue. The color rivaled that of the sky and the clear blue of the waters that surrounded his island. The orbs danced with life even when the man was in such a frenzy to get away.

Averting his eyes, Sasuke found himself looking once again at the man's disgusting clothing, and remembered the bath he had prepared. Still wondering why he had done such a thing, the raven haired male, turned and headed for the bathroom to turn off the water and let it cool to more tolerable temperatures.

He retraced his steps to the living room, glass still held by his elegant fingers. This time he didn't pause at the entrance but immediately made himself known to the intruder. He brushed passed the now frozen man and took a seat on the pristine white couch, setting his glass on a grey coaster. He turned his gaze towards the man and the two took part in a staring contest, the only sound being that of Chidori's rustling feathers.

Sasuke became surprised by the sudden blush that overtook the blonde cheeks; he curled into himself and hid his face behind his sun-kissed hands.

Quirking an eyebrow Sasuke conceded. "So, are you going to answer my question this time or are you going to faint again?" He asked coolly.

The change in the other man's features were so abrupt Sasuke was surprised he didn't get whiplash. His guilt ridden features changed to that of embarrassed anger. "I did not faint!"

"Hn, dobe," Sasuke replied, sarcasm painting his tone.

"What? Don't call me that, teme!" the blonde yelled in retaliation.

Sasuke raised his brow once more. "Is that any way to talk to the owner of the house you've broken into?" Yes. He did pull the guilt trip card, but it was valid.

He chose to ignore the unintelligible noise that escaped the blonde's lips and instead asked, "Who are you and what are you doing on my island?"

"Uh… I'm Uzumaki Naruto and uh… I'm here because the ship sank and I fell overboard before getting to the rescue boat. But you!" He pointed to the raven haired male. "It's your fault I'm in here!

Confused on how this was any of his fault, he prompted the man to continue.

"Y-yeah! Wilson is so smart; he led me here and showed me where the key was and everything. It's your fault for making the bird so smart!"

Sasuke stared blankly at the man. Wilson? "Wilson?"

"Uh…" the man stuttered, another blush coloring his face. "I didn't know the bird already had a name, so I named him Wilson like from Cast Away…" he trailed off averting his eyes.

"You named my bird Wilson?" He looked towards the bird and smirked at the annoyance he found in his eyes. His shifted his orbs to look back at this Naruto character, he was back to covering his face in embarrassment again.

Naruto had named his bird something as lame as Wilson and wasn't bleeding from harsh beak wounds. That was a feat in and of itself.

"Yes, I did okay! I thought I was going to die of starvation until we came here and found the fruit trees. Not my favorite before, but after almost a week of being on that boat, how could anyone complain? Anyways, it's not like I could just call him 'bird' that whole time!"

"'We?' You were on the boat with Chidori for a whole week?" Sasuke was amazed the blonde had managed to survive that long with his bird, his intrigue with the man kept growing and growing.

"Um…" Naruto took a breath as if he were going to start rambling away of his misadventures.

"Stop. We can talk later. The water should be cool enough so it doesn't burn skin."

"Huh?" Confusion riddled the blonde's features.

"I'm saying you smell so bad you're killing my brain cells, dobe."

"Teme!" He jumped up this time and made his way over.

"Go bath," Sasuke said simply, standing up and brushing past Naruto, taking his glass with him.

Upon reaching the kitchen, Sasuke set the glass into the silver sink and turned around, feeling a pair of eyes staring after him. He saw Naruto standing awkwardly at the entrance of the kitchen.

"W-where's the bathroom?" He asked meekly.

"What do you mean? You've been in my house since yesterday shouldn't you know?" He asked, folding his arms across his chest. He wasn't worried about anything being stolen, as there would be no way to leave without him knowing. Even if he did come in a boat himself, the open waters would surely get him lost.

"Well, I came in after Wil- Uh… Chidori just earlier. I stayed outside last night because I didn't want to intrude, but he was pecking at the glass and then showed me the spare key and-"

"Nevermind. Follow me," Sasuke told him, walking past the man and down the hall. He heard Naruto's footsteps following closely behind him, but mostly he could smell the closeness of the man. With a sigh he pushed the bathroom door open further to allow the blonde to pass him. Naruto hesitated before stepping in.

"Uh… Thank you," Naruto said with a slight frown.

"Hn."

"I can really bathe?" He asked with a small smile.

"I'm not going to have you walking round my house smelling like that."

The smile turned into a grin of massive proportions. His pearly whites peeking out through his pink lips, his eyes crinkled with glee. If Sasuke were a lesser man he wouldn't have been able to stop the gasp that planned to escape from his lips or keep his breath at a normal rate.

He abruptly turned and closed the door behind him, calling to the blond that the towels were in the cabinet on the left and he'd bring clothes whenever he was done.

'This might become dangerous,' he thought to himself as he went to the hall to pick up the bag he'd dropped upon entering earlier. Right now he just needed to concentrate on unpacking, then he could worry about the... naked blonde man in his bathroom.

End of Chapter

*No I have no idea if the military trains birds (probably not…), but if they did then that's where Chidori is from. He super smart, ne? Remembers places and faces.

I know most of you have been waiting for Sasuke and Naruto's interactions, so I hope this suffices for now :D

Thanks for reading!