Fanning His Flames
Authors' Note: Thanks for the reviews. We hope you enjoy this chapter.
Request Response: We had a guest reviewer who requested a French Revolution style female Sasuke x Shisui story. The request was quite interesting. I'm hoping that the reviewer will see our response here. At the moment, my collab partner, celestia193, and I decided to granted the request in a somewhat modified form. The main difference is this story will take place in a fictional world. For those who are interested, the new story is called Secrets of the Heart.
Chapter 7
It was nearly nightfall, three weeks after making the request to Gaara that Sasuke be put on Temari's diplomatic team for 'security purposes', and Temari had noticed something a little odd when they stopped to make camp in the Land of Rivers on their first night away from the Sand. "…Sasuke, have you noticed anything odd since we left the village?" Because she definitely had, and she would rather not think that she was going crazy.
"Yes, I think so." Sasuke shakes his head as he gingerly sets his traveling pack down and opens it. "Looks like we've got a couple stowaways."
Temari saunters over to Sasuke's pack, which had been making odd movements periodically during their trip. She'd thought it was merely a mirage cause by the desert heat, but it would seem that wasn't quite right. "You've got to be kidding…" She couldn't decide whether to applaud their boldness, or smack her forehead. "How did you not notice that they were in there when we left the village?"
Because from inside the pack, two little furry faces poked out with happy, sparkling little eyes. They had two purring stowaways.
"I was distracted..." By the sight of Temari walking in front of him. He wouldn't actually say that though. "They seem alright and quite pleased with themselves though."
She couldn't deny that much. In fact, she would almost say that they looked rather smug. "…You've been teaching them facial expressions, haven't you? They look like they're smirking."
"Temari, I'm not teaching kittens human facial expressions." He rubs the back of his head sheepishly. "You're either imagining it or they're mimicking."
"Oh, I'm pretty sure I'm not imagining it." She carefully holds out her hands and coaxes Itachi into her arms. "See?" She holds up the mischievous kitten.
Said mischievous kitten squirms in Temari's arms, rolling around just enough to press one soft, slightly damp nose right between Sasuke's eyes.
"It's disturbing. Some days I think Itachi was actually reincarnated into a kitten." Sasuke shakes his head as he scoops up Itachi. "Alright. It'd be a waste of time to head back this far out."
"It would…" Temari scoops Shisui into her arms and sits down against a tree with him in her lap as one of her chunin aides starts the fire. "They might not be able to talk, but are we sure they're not ninja cats? They act like them."
Sasuke shrugs at that. "I guess it's possible. I guess we'll find out if they start talking."
"I guess we will…" Temari wouldn't put it past them, though. And it's not like all summons and ninja animals talked. Inuzuka's giant white dog didn't, as far as Temari knew. "Maybe we should pick them up some toys and treats while we're in the Leaf."
"Wouldn't that be the talk of the Leaf Village? The last Uchiha pet shopping?" Sasuke half snorts and half smirks. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to look around though."
"A little gossip wouldn't hurt either." Temari's lips quirk up mischievously. "And it's not like it's bad gossip to be seen out shopping for your pets with your lover."
The Sand Village was one thing, but the Leaf was different. "You sure you're ready for that?" He tilts his head at her. "One of the main reasons I like the Sand is because there is some degree of respect for privacy. The Leaf thrives on gossip."
Temari chuckles at the thought of being bothered by gossip. "I don't live in the Leaf, and when I'm there, I'm usually busy in meetings with the higher-ups, who either judge me by my own reputation, or keep their thoughts to themselves. Am I supposed to take to heart what a bunch of civilians and nosy shinobi think of me? If I cared about what others thought of me, I don't think I'd be able to do my job."
"God, I love you." Sasuke places a ghost of a kiss against her lips. "I don't know if any other woman could handle what we're about to walk into, but I'm glad that you can."
Temari smirks against his lips and slides her hand down his thigh. "I handle you well enough, don't I?"
"I like to think it's the other way around." He smirks as he deepens the kiss.
She chuckles as the kitten scampers out of her lap. For now, she'd let Sasuke think so. But they both knew who was really in charge here.
The journey to the Leaf took almost no time at all in Sasuke's mind. Seeing the entrance to the village was enough to make him wince. While he was away from the Leaf, it was easier to push the memories to the side. Now though, not so much. Not when he could see his Clan's District in the distance. Naruto must have reconstructed it for him. Hoping that Sasuke would go back, and assuming Sasuke would want his childhood home restored.
"Let's go. I think there might still be some shops open." He forces himself to smile.
After all, this wasn't like before. Instead of an almost impossibly loyal and loudmouth blond, he had a seductress of a blonde at his side and surprisingly, two small kittens. Sasuke could almost hear the original Itachi laughing at both of those developments in the afterlife.
Temari eyes Sasuke carefully, then takes a step closer to nearly brush her hip against his. "You're right, it's not that late yet. And we'll probably be stuck in the Hokage's mansion for several days thanks to the meetings, so we should take some time tonight to look around."
He nods and begins walking inside the village with her. "Alright. I imagine you're familiar with the Leaf by now. You can pick where we go."
"Familiar with the main market and weapons shops, outside of the administrative district." Though Temari couldn't honestly say that she'd ever gone shopping extensively, or with pets in mind. "Let's see…where would there be a pet shop?" There had to be a few, at least. There's no way that a clan like the Inuzuka would live here and let that sort of essential service go unsupplied.
"I know there is at least one in the main market district. We sometimes had to go there for our ninja cats." Sasuke nods at her.
"I see, so you've been shopping for kittens before, have you?" Temari shoots Sasuke a sly smile. "Imagine that, you must have been so cute."
He could only hope that his cheeks were still their normal shade of ivory and not the pink that they were threatening to bloom into. "One of the tasks my Clan would give the children was to chase after ninja cats and to care for them."
"So sweet…" Temari laughs at the thought of a tiny Sasuke running around taking care of the cats.
Itachi's nose twitches and he leaps down from Sasuke's arms, followed quickly by Shisui as the two dart off down the street and into one of the stores on the nearest corner.
"I guess so." Sasuke shakes his head. "It seems like they picked which store they want to go to."
"They probably decided to follow a scent." Temari strides after them and peers around the corner into the shop. It was hardly a surprise to find the pet shop that Sasuke had mentioned. But when she follows the sound of mewing into one of the rows of displays, she finds the two brothers pawing at a number of small bags. "Looks like they found the catnip."
The last Uchiha snorts at that and shakes his head. "Well, I suppose that wasn't entirely unexpected." He laughs as he grabs a couple bags.
"They know what they want, that's for sure." Temari smirks as she follows them around and collects the toys that they pull from the shelves. A couple of little balls, a mouse toy, a feather on a stick. Clearly someone wanted to practice pouncing.
"I'm beginning to think you might be right about the ninja cat thing." Sasuke chuckles.
Temari looks over her shoulder and turns her smirk on Sasuke instead of the kittens. "Of course I'm right." Hadn't he figured that out by now?
"Modesty is still your most becoming trait." Sasuke laughs before he hears someone else address him.
"Uchiha?" A rough, confused male voice blares from beside the counter, where an old lady and a younger pair stood gabbing.
The voice was...familiar. The face was as well to a degree, but it had been years since he last saw the Inuzuka who he attended the Academy with. "Kiba?"
Dark eyes widen slightly in surprise. "So it is you, I didn't hear that you were back. Well, I didn't hear Naruto parading it through the streets, anyway."
"He doesn't know yet." Sasuke watches the other ninja a bit warily. True, the Chunin was a formidable ninja in his own right, but that wasn't what the Uchiha was worried about. Kiba was also a good 'test case' for how people were going to react to him as far as the ninja community of the Leaf was concerned anyway. Before his defection, they had barely interacted. Kiba didn't have a reason to worship the ground he walked on or to carry a grudge. "It's complicated."
"Alright? But I wouldn't want to be you when Naruto finds out that you're here and you didn't tell him." Kiba frowns slightly, then glances at the bags in his former classmate's hands. "Catnip?"
"We'll let him know soon. It's just they sniffed out the catnip and darted off in front of us." Sasuke shrugs, figuring if he pretended it was perfectly normal for him to buy catnip...Kiba would react that way too.
He pauses for a moment before glancing a Temari and at Kabuto. "Temari, this is Kiba. Kiba, Temari. I'm not sure if you two have met." This was awkward. When was the last time he bothered to introduce anyone? Hell, for all he knew Temari probably knew the Inuzuka better than Sasuke did.
"Kiba." Temari nods politely. "It's been a while." Then she turns her eyes on the rather familiar face beside him. "Hello Hinata."
"Hello." She tilts her head in confusion at the sight before them, but the Hyuga Heiress was too polite to comment directly on whatever was likely going on in her mind, Sasuke observes. "It's good to see you back, Sasuke. N-Naruto is going to be so happy to see you again and it's always nice to see you Temari. I didn't realize you had a pet." Clearly, the Hyuga woman had assumed the kittens belonged to the blonde.
"They're not actually mine." Temari snickers as she picks up the little darlings. "Come here Itachi, Shisui." She cuddles them close to her chest and straightens up with the kittens in her arms.
Hinata blinks and looks on the verge of saying something, but apparently the quiet ninja was rather tongue tied. Sasuke felt sorry for her really. Not that he could blame her. Temari might as well have told her that Madara had decided to adopt kittens instead of him. Was there really any difference in the eyes of the villagers?
"Yes, they're mine." Adorable handfuls, Sasuke muses. Still, they were his.
Kiba groans and rolls his eyes. "No wonder I don't like you, you're a cat person."
Temari raises an eyebrow, but sense no malicious intent in the words. Then again, she'd never gotten the impression that the Inuzuka was the Uchiha's biggest fan, even back when they were kids.
"I don't mind dogs. They're just a little too predictable for my tastes. So I won't say that I don't like you because you like them." Sasuke shrugs, knowing what he was about do was somewhat childish, but still not caring enough to censor himself. "Though I wonder, how do you get along with Shino? After all, he's your teammate and he fights with insects. What about Sakura and her slugs?" Those creatures were a bit repulsive to Sasuke. Squishy and slimy. Snakes at least weren't slimy. Their scales could be quite regal in some cases like with Aoda. Wait, why was he analyzing this in the first place? "Let's not forget the Loser has a toad fetish."
Kiba's eyebrow twitches and when he grins, he shows his sharpened canines. "Yeah, well you're the one who's got all those giant wriggly snakes. Are you trying to compensate for something, Uchiha?"
"I don't have to compensate for anything. Just ask Temari." Damn it. So much for Kiba being a neutral party. For some reason, Sasuke didn't remember the mutt being THIS annoying at the Academy. Then again, he hadn't been paying much attention to Kiba back then either. Maybe this was normal for him.
Temari smirks and presses a kiss right below Sasuke's ear. "You're not, but don't let him bruise your ego too badly. That's my job." She draws a wide-eyed stare from Kiba, who definitely hadn't seen THIS couple coming.
Kiba's reaction to the kiss was more than enough for Sasuke to ignore the slight challenge in Temari's words. That and it felt good. An unusual location, but nice. "Is that what you've been trying to do all this time? Bruise my ego?" He snorts playfully as he kisses her cheek. "I think you've had the opposite effect really."
"Oh, I haven't even started yet." Temari's voice grows suggestive and her eyes twinkle as she lays a basket of toys and other supplies on the counter. "But I'm sure that Itachi and Shisui will help me come up with something."
"Yes, Temari. I'm absolutely terrified of what the kittens will help you come up with." Sasuke rolls his eyes playfully, glancing at Kiba out of the corner of his eye.
"Oh, you should be." Temari smirks and adds the catnip in Sasuke's arms to the pile as the old lady rings up the purchases.
The old shopkeeper smiles gently, her gaze drifting subtly to the young man who came around when he was little, back when her sister had run the shop. "That will be four thousand ryo, Miss."
Sasuke hands her the money. He wasn't going to make Temari pay for his pets. "Thank you." The woman looked vaguely familiar for some reason. He just couldn't place her for the life or him though.
Temari raises an eyebrow, but says nothing, since that would sting his pride a bit too much. "Were you planning on carrying the bags back as well?" She slides one onto the arm not holding the kittens.
"I'll carry some and you can carry some." Sasuke could read between the lines well enough, even if the implication was a bit baffling. Temari would likely be slightly to moderately offended if he carried them all.
Sasuke was sure his father and grandfather would have been equally puzzled though. To them, offering to carry their lover's things was just...something men did. It was considered polite, but Temari had to do everything the hard way. Maybe it was a Sand Villager thing or maybe his Clan was just different than most. It wasn't like he had ever bothered to figure out what was normal when dating someone and what wasn't.
Temari rolls her eyes and kisses his cheek. "Come on, let's go find our hotel and put the munchkins to bed." After all, they might not have actual babies yet, but they had two furry babies to look after. And they felt like they were starting to fall asleep after their little shopping adventure.
"Munchkins?" Sasuke raises an eyebrow, almost unable to believe that word came out of her mouth. "Well, you're right. Let's go to the hotel."
"Good." Temari smirks and saunters out of the store, being careful not to disturb the little kittens in her arms. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"
"Kiba's more annoying than I remember." Sasuke shakes his head, but his eyes follow her saunter.
"Didn't you ignore practically everyone when you were a brat?" Temari laughs at the thought of Sasuke interacting with Kiba. "You probably barely talked to him, because from what I've seen, that's normal for him."
He scoffs at the description. "I was not a brat. I just had more important things on my mind than playing their little games."
Temari scoffs and playfully nudges Sasuke with her hip. "You were a brat. You threw rocks at my brother when he was picking on that other brat, the old Hokage's grandkid. You even crushed one into dust just to prove you were strong enough to do it."
"Well, like you said, he was picking on Naruto and the kid." Sasuke shrugs, not feeling guilty about it. "I was defending my teammate. How did that make me a brat? It's not like I threw a fireball at him."
She slants an amused smirk at him. "Tell me truthfully that you weren't thinking about it and maybe I'll believe you. You were showing off and you know it. But I didn't mind, I still thought you were a hottie."
"The two aren't mutually exclusive." He smirks at her as he whisks her away with a flicker to their hotel, as they'd checked in as soon as they arrived before going on their walk. He slides the bag from her arm and tosses their shopping onto the corner table, then nestles the sleeping kittens amongst the purchases.
At seeing her teasing gaze still on him and the smirk upon her lips, he pounces and pins her against the bed teasingly. "Like you said, you didn't mind and I'm a 'hottie'." The word feels ridiculous on his tongue, but it did wonders for his pride to hear her praise his younger self like that.
"Yes, I did say that, didn't I?" Her eyes blaze with fiery amusement as she shifts beneath him, swinging her legs up and around his hips to flip them over and straddle Sasuke's lap. "I wasn't blind, you know. The first thing I thought when I saw you for the very first time went something along the lines of…mm…local hottie." And she wasn't ashamed in the least to admit it. "I kinda wanted to eat you all up right there."
She really did love to be on top, Sasuke muses. Though he certainly couldn't argue with the view as he caresses her cheek. "As an adult, that does wonders for my ego. I'm not really sure how I would have reacted back then though." It probably didn't matter. They were together now. "Though I do apologize for keeping you waiting so long. My grandfather used to say a man should never keep a woman waiting."
"Hm…I think I would have liked your grandfather." Temari was certainly not a woman who liked to be kept waiting. She was also a woman who did not appreciate being coddled. Though cuddling was certainly negotiable. "But I'm sure that you'll have plenty of opportunities to pass those good lessons on."
"Yes, right next to rock and fireball throwing." Sasuke smirks again as he kisses her, but his expression softens after pulling away. "He would have loved you. Though my father would have been annoyed by his comments."
"It's nice to know that I would have the family's seal of approval, but…" Temari leans down and nips along the curve of her lover's neck. "Yours is all that matters."
"You know that's cheating." Sasuke sighs in pleasure. His neck was still his spot. "I agree with what he would have said about you though." His lips curl in a smirk. "I asked him once how he fell in love with my grandmother. I didn't understand what he meant then, but he said she had nice melons and they came attached to an even nicer person. And then my father smacked him."
Temari bursts out laughing and settles herself down across Sasuke's hips. "Is that so?" She trails her fingers down his chest seductively. "He must have been subliminally conditioning you from an early age to appreciate…melons."
"It definitely worked if that was his intention. At least when it comes to you." He leans into her touch as he slides his hand underneath her shirt, slowly dragging it up inch by inch.
"Good." Temari's lips curve up into a wickedly seductive smirk. "Then by all means, enjoy them. I'll be sure to enjoy you too."
"In that case, I guess they won't mind if we're late to their meetings." Sasuke smirks as he flips them once again. After all, there were some benefits that came from being part of a ninja couple. One of them was stamina.
Kiba strides out of the Hokage mansion just as laughing and shouts of joy erupt from the very top floor of the building. Yeah, he definitely didn't want to be the Uchiha in the morning. Then again, he'd totally rat the guy out to Naruto just to watch the fireworks. The guy definitely deserved to get squished by one of Naruto's infamous hugs.
He passes by Shikamaru, heading up to the Hokage's office with a report and grins. "Watch out when you get up there, Naruto just found out that Sasuke's back in the village. He's more than a little excited, if you know what I mean."
Shikamaru shakes his head and rolls his eyes. "What a drag. I'd be amazed if the village is left standing when those two meet up again." He heads forward anyway. "Thanks for the warning."
It was hard to believe that Sasuke was back. Not that Shikamaru particularly cared on a personal level. He'd never really liked the guy, but that was probably more to do with the fact they were polar opposites. While Shikamaru hadn't cared much to utilize his genius until recently, Sasuke had been obsessed with getting better at everything for revenge. He'd arguably gone insane, but as far as the Nara could tell...Naruto had dragged him kicking and screaming back from 'the abyss.'
That meant Naruto was happy Sasuke was back. So Shikamaru would be happy for his friend, even if he was slightly wary about everything that entailed. Sasuke was no longer the second coming of Madara in his eyes, but even if the Uchiha played nice...his mere presence was bound to cause problems. What a drag.
The adviser hadn't even reached the door when the sounds of whooping and celebrating spilled out from the brightly lit office. Let it never be said that Naruto did any of his new work in the dark. But the sheer jubilant nature of the man filled the room to its brim and washed out from there all across the village.
And today, there was one very particular reason for that. "Sasuke's back! Damn the Teme for not telling me he was coming home!" He was torn between cursing out his best friend and celebrating the fact that he was basically back within arms reach.
"Maybe he wanted to surprise you." Shikamaru forces himself to smile. That or more likely, Sasuke wanted to minimize the circus that would likely ensue now that he was back.
"Maybe, the Bastard would probably do something like that." Naruto folds his arms across his chest and pretends to be upset. "But he could have told me at least, then I could have met them at the gates and gone with them to have ramen and celebrate the fact that the bastard finally isn't single anymore."
Shikamaru blinks. That last part was news to him. "He's in...a relationship? With who?" He didn't like Sasuke all that much, but even he couldn't help but feel curious.
"Oh! Uh…" Naruto rubs the back of his head sheepishly. "It's ah…not important. Anyway, we've got the meetings with the Sand over the next few days, right?"
"Naruto, you're being ridiculous. I'm going to find out eventually." Shikamaru shakes his head and snorts. "It's going to be the talk of the Five Nations."
"Well…yeah, but…" Naruto shifts uncomfortably. "He…Kiba said that it looks like he's here with the delegation from the Sand." He tries to soften it a bit for his friend, cause this was gonna hurt. "Kiba and Hinata saw Sasuke out shopping for pet stuff for his cats…with Gaara's sister, Temari."
"Since when does Sasuke Uchiha have a cat?" He raises an eyebrow and snorts. "Anyway, just because he was out shopping with her doesn't mean he was dating her."
"Dunno when he got the cats, but apparently…" Naruto's cheeks heat up at the thought of what Kiba told him. "Temari kissed him a couple of times, and according to Kiba, when he said that the bastard was 'compensating for something', Sasuke said that he should ask Temari whether he is or not."
"You're... fucking kidding me." Shikamaru winces as though he was punched. He wasn't even angry, so much as shocked.
Naruto backtracks a little, shaking his head frantically. "H-hey, maybe Kiba's just full of it, right? I mean, he's not exactly the best at figuring out what people mean when they say stuff, so maybe he misinterpreted it or something." He didn't like that look on his friend's face. Maybe it was a bad idea to tell him that.
"I'm pretty sure even Kiba couldn't misinterpret that." Shikamaru frowns as he tries to process that. "I mean, we broke up awhile ago. I knew she'd move on eventually, but with him?" That was just a slap in the face to get with a man who couldn't be more different than him. Well, except for fact they were both male ninja geniuses from the Leaf Village.
Naruto's first instinct was to defend Sasuke, but he just barely managed to bite his tongue. Tact, he needed to employ tact like Iruka had told him. "Are you gonna be okay for the meetings tomorrow?"
"It's a drag, but I'll manage it. I'm a professional Naruto." He shakes his head, trying to clear his thoughts. "If I had tried harder we might still be together, but I just figured there would be time for being TOGETHER after everything settled down. The war was devastating. We needed to focus and I guess maybe we were just too different."
"Okay, then we'll go and get ramen before we meet with Temari and the other guys from the Sand." It was hard. Naruto was torn between being upset for Shikamaru and happy for Sasuke. Whose side was he supposed to be on? Was he just supposed to sit back and watch while everything got so…complicated?
"Yeah. That's probably a good idea." Shikamaru sighs and nods at the new Hokage.
"Alright!" Naruto grins, trying to lighten the atmosphere again. "Then it's tonkatsu pork ramen for breakfast!" Because nothing was better than waking up and going to get some ramen!
