Title:The Arranged Marriage
Author: Praecipula
Disclaimer:I do not own Naruto.
Rating:M
Pairing: Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki (SasuNaru)
Warning:Fluffiness like cotton candies, Crack Plot. UN-BETA.
Author's note: Thank you to those who reviewed! I know lots of you are hating on Sasuke now but please, let me take you there slowly. For a crack story, I'm getting pretty dramatic here but don't let this fool you. I want this to be lighthearted and funny and just...fluff. I have my angst prepared in other stories so please sit back and let me tell you this story as it is very close to me. I know what it felt like to be arranged with someone and some might hate it, but mine was a different story and I want you to read it through this. And one more thing, my country is not really open minded but they tolerate LGBT so I tweaked a lot of our cultures on this fic.
Chapter 6: The Grand Schemes of Princes
The Uchiha family's manor still exuded elegance since the first time it was built in 1964. It was located in the heart of Makati City where the family's business was centered. Unlike the modern buildings that littered the city nowadays, the manor retained its antique and conservative theme. Naruto always felt like he was in the Japanese Era whenever he came there as a kid.
"Mikoto will be so happy to see you." Kushina gushed, excited at the prospect of the two family eating together. "She missed you as much as me."
Naruto huffed and leaned against car's door. "Well, that makes me feel better."
"Don't be a brat, Naruto." His mom widened her eyes threateningly. "Behave in front of your future husband's family."
The statement caused the blond to shiver in disgust. "Oh my god, don't even mention it. You're giving me goosebumps." He let his voice shake as he bought his arms around him dramatically.
Kushina hit him in the side. "You behave or I'll tell Sasuke your phone's browse history is full of him."
"What?" Naruto's choked, horrified. He heard his father cough awkwardly and his cheeks reddened in embarrassment. "What are you talking about?!"
Her hands flicked dismissively as if she had not shattered her son's life. "Oh it's normal to be curious about him. Even I check up on him once and a while."
"Oh? And what have you searched so far? His current sexcapades?"
"Those are not true and you know it." Kushina defended. "I talked to Mikoto all the time and she assured me that Sasuke's far from what the media portrays him."
Naruto groaned miserably. His mother was always quick to defend that bastard. When he talked to his mom, he felt like Sasuke was a completely different person but just one , one conversation with that bastard and he was slap with the reality that he was the biggest asshole that ever graced the planet earth.
Minato shook his head, eager for the car ride to the Uchiha manor to end. Fortunately the traffic was not heavy. The family got off the Hummer and made their way to the manor.
The blond's felt his pulse started rising again. Cursing, he purposely fell behind his parents as if to protect himself.
As they entered the manor, the familiar face of Mikoto Uchiha greeted them. She looked a little older but she was still as beautiful as Naruto remembered her before he left. Her smile gave the stiff house a whole new ambiance.
"Welcome. I'm so glad you could make it." Mikoto pecked Kushina's cheeks and extended her hand to Minato. She turned to Naruto with a tender expression one would expect from a mother. "Naruto, you don't know how happy I am that you finally decided to go home. I would have liked to visit you in the US too but air vehicles are not for me."
Naruto smiled awkwardly as the Uchiha mistress hugged him. He loved Mikoto like his second mother but the idea of the real reason behind all this put him off. The woman already treated him like his own! There were so many wrong in that sentence. He felt his mother pinched his side, warning him of any silly move.
"Come." Mikoto guided them inside the house. "Everyone's here already."
That means Sasuke was here, the blond thought, getting sick. He tried to calm himself down by looking at the family portraits in the halls and smiled when he saw Itachi's picture. If there was one thing he was absolutely looking forward to tonight was seeing the man whom he considered as his brother too.
The Uchiha family stood up to show their respect when the other family entered. Fugaku nodded to them. "We're glad you're here."
Minato smiled, taking his seat. "The pleasure's ours. It's been a while since we did this."
And since Naruto was behind his parents, the only available seats that greeted him was yes, guess what. Itachi and Sasuke. He knew he was supposed to sit beside the bastard but he would eat a banana whole before he did that. Grinning at Itachi, he took a seat beside him, never looking at Sasuke.
"Itachi!" He tugged at the man's pony-tail, drawing the same twitched that always appeared when he did it. "Sup man?"
The older man dusted his hand away, straightening his hair. "I'm glad your obsession with messing my hair remains."
"Naruto." Kushina called and the tone of her voice implied he did something wrong. "Why don't you sit beside Sasuke-kun? I'm sure he wants to know what have been happening in your life."
"Oh." Naruto shot the silent man a disgruntled look. "I'm sure he doesn't want that at all, Mom."
"Really? Then maybe he wants to know what has been going on with your phone and that-"
The blond stood up suddenly and almost jumped to the raven's side. He smiled sweetly at the bewildered stares. "Of course, we need to catch up. I have a lot of things I would like to tell him." He leaned at Sasuke, making him stiffened. "And I'm sure he had a lot of stories too, hm?"
"Sure." An arm came around him, pressing him closer. Naruto mentally fainted. "I need to know if my husband's been staying faithful to me."
The statement literally rubbed the small hairs in the blond's underarms. He turned slit eyes to the raven, uncaring if their faces were merely inches from each other. "That's rich coming from you. If that's what we'll be talking about, I'd rather go and browse Deep Web and vomit myself to death."
"Whatever are you talking about Naruto?" Sasuke smirked, drawing small circles on his shoulder.
"Get your arms off me." He hissed.
"You were the one who leaned into me. You know I only want to make you happy-"
"You aren't making me happy Sasuke." Itachi snapped at the couple who was milli-second away from making out. He slammed down his drink. "Can you please respect the table we're eating at and stop flirting with each other shamelessly?"
Naruto shrugged off the arms around him by standing up. "Still the same disgruntled Itachi."
"Just let them." Kushina sent a wink at a horrified Naruto and smirking Sasuke. "I'm sure they just miss each other."
Itachi scoffed and gave the two a silent threat. "Don't you dare or I'll slap my steak between the two of you."
The mention of the food immediately changed Naruto's mood. "We're having steak?" he asked excitedly just as the maids came to serve the main dishes.
"Still a food fanatic, I see."
He would have given Sasuke the dirty finger but he knew that would be disrespectful to their parents. The food provided the distraction he needed so throughout the dinner, he didn't talk to Sasuke again and only focused on his food. He only speak when ask by the parents, mostly about his career in America.
"So what date have you chosen for the wedding?"
The question sent Naruto into coughing fit. A hand came up to rub at his back. He glared at the owner of the hand, expecting him to answer for the two of them.
Sasuke retrieved his hand when the blond appeared okay and shrugged. "We haven't talked about it yet but I think Naruto should take a break from his career first before we plan any further."
"What?" Naruto gaped.
"Hm." Fugaku turned to Minato. "I agree with Sasuke. Is it possible though that Naruto take a year off while we prepare for the wedding? Your son should also start learning a little more about the business. He's the only heir you have."
Minato glanced at his son, hesitant. "I'm not sure. Naruto talks about having a world tour after his vacation here."
"How long will that take?" Mikoto gave him a worried stare.
Naruto scratched the back of his head and a dry laugh came out of his mouth. "What are you doing asshole?" he whispered venomously.
"What?" Sasuke asked with an innocent tone.
"You're supposed to tell them we're breaking the engagement off!"
"I don't remember agreeing with you."
The raven's attitude puzzled Naruto greatly. Why was Sasuke acting as if he was not against the marriage? They were supposed to be on the same side and should be waging war against their parents right now. But no, the bastard was eating his soup. Naruto refrained his hand from the dumping the soup on his duck-butt head. Fortunately though, their parents set aside their planning until Naruto finalized his schedule. When the dinner finished, Fugaku and Minato excused themselves to the library while the two women went to prepare tea.
Naruto looked at Itachi pleadingly, already anticipating what would happen.
The older man stood up nonetheless, phone in hand. "I'll just make a call. This will be quick."
"Do you need a companion?" The blond volunteered in a desperate voice.
"It's private." Itachi smirked sadistically.
"Yeah..private." Naruto mumbled to himself when the older Uchiha left and only him and the bastard remained inside the dining room. He whirled to face the Sasuke, intent on settling the matters he had come back for. "Look Sasuke, we need to tell them soon. We can't let them think that we're gonna date or get to know each other! Or some shit like that!"
"Why don't you tell them?" Sasuke leaned back in his chair, looking like he was a king in a banquet overlooking his people. "You're the one who wants to end things."
His hands twitched, wanting nothing other than shake the man in front of him. "Are you crazy? Were you involve in a car accident and hurt yourself?" A tan hand came up to inspect scars in the raven's hair but it was unmarred.
Sasuke caught his hand and held it beside his head. "I'm ready to marry you Naruto. Have been since we were kids."
"Well it's wrong!" Naruto cried helplessly. "They can't force this marriage because we don't love each other! What gave them the right to decide in the first place when we were just infants? This is a clear violation of human rights!"
"Calm down Naruto, you'll make them think like I'm raping you."
A pause. "SASUKE WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? DON'T—DON'T TOUCH ME THERE-"
The out of the blue screaming caused Sasuke to cough uncontrollably before he jumped the blond and put a hand to his mouth. "Shut up you idiot. Do you want my father to disinherit me?"
"Of course not!" Naruto's hid his eyes behind blond hair. "It's the only thing that matters to you."
"What did you say?" the raven frowned.
Naruto sighed. "Nothing. So how is it? Do you want to team up with me and stop this marriage?"
"Why are you so against it in the first place?" Sasuke stepped closer, a scowl on his face as he scrutinized the blond suspiciously. "Do you have a lover you're hiding from us? Is this about that girl Hinata?"
"What?" Naruto fidgeted at the man's closeness. "What are you talking about?"
Sasuke grabbed his face harshly. "Answer me."
He shoved him hard and rubbed the side of his face where the bastard's fingers dug hard. "What the fuck are you saying? I'm not seeing anyone. Hinata's my friend. I'm only doing this for our sake which may I emphasize to you, our freedom. So don't you dare act as if I'm the one doing x-rated things."
"Hn. Okay fine."
"What?" Naruto growled, still angry.
Sasuke picked up a grape from the table. "I'll team up with you, idiot. So what do we do?"
The blond didn't answer immediately, eyes drawn to the other's lips when Sasuke slowly sucked the fruit first before swallowing it. He coughed awkwardly when the raven caught him watching. "Just leave it up to me. I have a plan."
Neji Hyuuga entered the private elevator of the Uchiha Bank main office. He pressed the floor to the general manager's office and leaned back, resuming his previous browsing of news. They had a new competition coming in the telecommunication field, offering the country a higher mbps than what the Hyuuga Group of Companies offered. As the future president of the company, he had to take action and offer more to their customers or they would risk losing client over some newbies.
He closed the tab with his competitors face staring at him impassively. The red-haired man's name was Gaara Sabaku and he would make sure he would know what it was like to go against Neji.
The elevator opened and he stopped the bubbling demonic laugh from within him. He stepped out and nodded at Tenten who was busy talking to the phone. She gave him a thumbs-up, an indication that her boss was free at the moment.
He saw Sasuke in the middle of reading a file. Dropping down on the chair in front of the desk, he sent his friend a smug look. "Well I heard Naruto just came back to the country. And tha he went straight here."
Sasuke didn't look up from his file. "Where did you hear that rumor?"
Neji unlocked his phone to check on his news feed. He was bombarded with news regarding the most-talked couple in just twenty four hours. "It was all over my news feed Sasuke, don't try to deny it. I know Tenten can provide me with substantial evidence."
"You really need to get off from your phone sometimes Neji. It's only fueling your materialistic side." Sasuke gave him a brief glance before reaching for a pen to write something on the paper.
Ignoring the raven's nonchalance, he raised his legs and crossed them above the table which elicited an annoyed frown. "I wish I had seen your face when you saw him though. It would have been a good blackmail material."
Sasuke snorted. "You will get nothing, I assure you."
"Yeah?" Neji tore his gaze from his phone and shot his friend a challenging look. He got up and moved to the secretary's desk. "Tenten, how was Sasuke when Naruto came by?"
Tenten distanced the phone away and mouthed. "Dropped his coffee."
"You are a shame, Sasuke." Neji laughed in sadistic glee as he dropped down to his chair again. "God, now I'm really regretting not seeing your face."
Sasuke scowled. He could barely pay attention to the report he needed to present at that same day. Stupid pony-tailed people. "Shut it Neji. What are you even doing here?"
"How can I not pass dropping by when my friend's fiancé's came back after wandering for seven years? So how was it? What happened?"
"What will happen is that I'll book you for a therapy Neji. You need to stop meddling about in others people's lives."
The said man just shrugged, crossing his legs above the desk again. "This is my friend's life. I am entitled to know how his life is going on especially if he's getting married. Come on, I was by your side in during your moments. You can't just withhold information from me."
Sasuke rubbed his face in frustration, finally putting down his file. "Fine. They had dinner at house."
"And? When's the date?"
He averted his gaze to the landscape below his office as he remembered what happened last night. "Nothing. Naruto refuse to get married. He plans to end it."
"What did you do then?" Neji hummed, busily browsing his phone again.
"I told him I'll help him with his plan."
The chair screeched loudly as Neji jerked forward to gape at his emotionless friend. "What? Are you fucking with me? Tenten, I think you're boss finally succumb to Dementia. Call an ambulance." He ran to the secretary's desk once more.
The youngest Uchiha's scowl returned. "Fuck you Neji. Stop harassing my secretary."
"Tenten, when will you resign from here? I think you learned enough with six months training already."
The woman just shook her head, already used to the antics of her boss's friend. "I'll complete my one-year contract first Neji or do you volunteer to pay the penalty for me?"
Neji put his hands up. "Ah, you can talk to Itachi about that. I'm sure he'll be happy to. Or not. I'm sure he'd only transfer you to his office instead."
"He wished."
Going back to his friend's side again, Neji laid his hands on the desk and leaned forward, expression serious. "Anyway, what do you plan to do Sasuke? You won't just let Naruto end the engagement right? Do you need help convincing him?"
Sasuke shrugged, opening up his laptop to review his power point presentation. "I don't need any help Neji. It's what he wants so I'll help him. It's the least I can do."
"You're fucking serious." His laptop suddenly disappeared in his hands, causing him to growl in annoyance. Neji held it between his elbows and typed quickly before shoving it in front of him. "Look at these, the nation is so hype up about your engagement. You're like the royal couple today, you're stealing the limelight from the AlDub and that's saying something.
It was true. There were a lot of articles about him and Naruto, mostly speculation on how they communicated through their separation and their nearing wedding. He could feel Neji's eyes boring holes in his head as he clicked one that claimed why he and the blond were the perfect couple.
"I don't care what the country thinks." He said absently, reading the article. "They're not Naruto."
Neji eyed him dubiously. "You are planning something, aren't you?"
"Back off Neji. Aren't you supposed to be on a world war three with Gaara?"
"How do you know that man? Are you using your Facebook now? His IchiBii project is the talk of the netizens." The Hyuuga walked towards he collection of katana showcased on the office's walls. Anyone who sees the collection wouldn't ever think of harming the man. He took Sasuke's favorite one that he named Kusanagi and gripped it properly while he took a picture for his Instagram account.
Sasuke started to read another article which highlighted the positive attitude of his fiance and his involvement in charity works. "He's a childhood friend of mine and Naruto. Actually, they proposed a partnership with us."
"You traitor!" Neji nearly dropped the katana as he whirled around. "You're not supposed to do that!"
"I will never get tired of doing these with pony-tailed assholes."
Neji marched towards the desk and searched the files on his desk like a maniac. "Where is it?! Give it to me! You are already partnered with us, you can't do this!"
"I'm pretty sure our contract doesn't restrict us from dealing with other future valuable clients." Sasuke answered dryly while his eyes remained stuck on his laptop. The visual might have been funny with how the twos interests swapped at the moment but Neji could only think of that hard-skinned shameless Gaara planning to bag Sasuke's contacts.
"Do you know this guy's number? I've been sending him PMs but he's not answering." he demanded, gritting his teeth at the audacity of his competitor.
Sasuke faced him with a slight curve of his lips. "I have his number but it's not for free."
Neji pulled out the check from his pocket which he always carried in case of emergency. He slapped it down in front of his unimpressed friend. "Just write the amount."
The raven rolled his swiveled chair towards the window in a bored manner. "It's not money. I may require your assistance in the future though."
"Yeah, yeah this is about Naruto, I know." Neji agreed with a slight roll of his eyes.
"Fuck off."
TO BE CONTINUED…
AlDub- this pairing just cracked me up a lot, it's a local OTP but if you're interested, look for eng subs and you'll see how these two are currently breaking records.
Anyway, please drop a review! I'm not sure how fast I'll update now since uni started officially this week but I'll work hard!
