…Once upon a Modern Tale…
Pairing: Naruto x Sasuke
Warning: Shounen ai,
Inspired by: Robin Hood, Love among the Walnuts, and always by my wacko imagination
Summary: AU (NaruSasu) Once upon a time, there lived an extremely handsome and exceedingly rich young man. But, he didn't care for any of it, and so he locked himself up in his large manor, never coming out. Then, one day, he met the most amazing person; a beautiful boy with cerulean blue eyes. This is where our Modern Tale begins, with a Modern Robin Hood, and a Modern love story.
Please forgive my bad usages of Japanese terms; I don't speak the language so I have almost no idea how to use them.
Disclaimer: Naruto and anything related does not belong to me. Don't sue.
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Eighth
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It was a wonderful morning for, across the land, the sun was shining, the birds were singing and the weather was quite agreeable. It was the perfect day for a wedding. Umino Iruka thought so too, for he was making a big fuss about what to wear. It wasn't his wedding, of course (Oh, no. That would come later!), but he felt just as nervous anyhow.
Today was the day his beloved adoptive son, Naruto, would be marrying for the first time! He fumbled at his tie with shaking fingers, and wondered if the colour was right for the occasion. Black is such an ominous colour; it represents unfortunate things. He decided that the colour was wrong, and picked up another tie – a pink one this time.
He smiled at his reflection. 'Today is a happy time.' He decided, 'even if it is pretty sudden.' He was referring to the wedding date. Really, the day after Sasuke proposed? He shook his head, and waved away the thought. As long as Naruto was happy, right?
On his way out, Iruka scooped up a small circular box off the kitchen table. He was supposed to be the ring bearer for Naruto's wedding, since the blonde didn't have anyone else to ask. He was sure that it would be confusing being the father figure and the ring holder in the wedding, but he didn't care. 'It's a happy day,' he reminded himself, and locked the door behind him.
He tucked the ring box safely in his suit's pocket and started to walk. He had never felt comfortable in a suit before, and today was no exception. It was an old thing – owned by his father before the accident. He had surprised Naruto by renting him a new suit just for the occasion. Somehow, he sensed that the blonde wasn't too happy about that. But he wouldn't let his only son go through his first wedding in a tattered suit! They were poor, but he could still afford that much.
Naruto had gone to the wedding ahead of him. He wanted the blonde to take the old car he had rented for the day, but the boy had refused. He remembered sighing at the blonde, but smiling anyways. Naruto had never asked for much of him. He knew they were poor, and he did everything he could to make things lighter for Iruka. Now the brown-haired man found tears gathering in his eyes – he hoped the blonde would lead a happier life after he marries into a richer family. Maybe then Naruto stop worrying about money. Iruka didn't want the boy to live his whole life thinking all the rich people are greedy. Some are, but some aren't. Iruka knew that, but he wasn't sure if Naruto knew too.
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The wedding was to be at an old cathedral in the heart of the city. It was a nice place. The gardens were tended to daily, and flowers bloomed to their full glory. Sweet scents floated through the air, and not only because of all the yummy pastries baking next door in a famous bakery shop. It smelled nice here every day, with or without the bakery. This place smelled of kindness, hope and love.
Iruka knew this was a sacred and beloved place, but he still stood in awe for a few moments. Then he walked up the flight of milky stone stairs to the front entrance. He pushed against the beautiful stone doors in front of him. They were a chaste white and had golden decorations at the side. Such heavenly doors to match the heavenly feel of this place…
It was noisy inside – for today, of course. Sasuke and Naruto had intended this to be a small and quiet wedding. However, as they say, the walls have eyes and ears. Soon the news of the quadrupillionaire Uchiha Sasuke's wedding had spread like wildfire. Since the wedding was open to the public, there were crowds of people inside the cathedral today. They all milled about and chatted to one another. Some were business men from Sasuke's company (which he had inherited after his father's and older brother's deaths) who thought they should come to congratulate the young heir. Some were nosy reporters with their cameras posed and ready; although they were busily relaxing right now. The rest were just spectators here mainly because they wanted to see the inside of this magnificent place.
There were only two people at the wedding who knew and cared about the soon-to-be-married couple. They were Umino Iruka and Hatake Kakashi.
Even though the silver-haired man wasn't in Sasuke's service anymore, he was still invited to be the best man and the ring bearer for the Uchiha. I guess you could say that neither Sasuke nor Naruto had anyone else to ask.
Now, Kakashi walked over to Iruka and patted the other man's shoulder. He was dazzling in a black and white attire – not quite a suit but still formal for the occasion anyways. Iruka was surprised at the touch, but when the silver-haired man shook his head gently, he began to notice that something was wrong.
Where on earth were Naruto and Sasuke?
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The giant gate had been hard to get past, and the security system wasn't any easier.
Naruto stood just outside the Uchiha manor, pondering about how to get into the place. He had expected it to be harder – or at least nearly impossible – to get this close within the manor without triggering an alarm, but he had managed it with minimal effort. It hadn't been easy, but it wasn't like he couldn't handle this either. He was surprised though. 'You'd think that a place which held such treasures would be better guarded…'
He scanned the outside of the manor; looking for anything that was left open. If not, he would have to break down the door with some explosives. He figured he had about 5 minutes before the police got here, if an alarm went off. But by then he would have been in the vault already, and would have locked the entrance. Sasuke would be at the wedding, which was pretty far away from his manor, and the police would take hours before getting his permission to search the house. It would take them even longer to get a permit from the higher-ups to search the house thoroughly, and to confiscate anything they deem a clue. Plenty of time for him to move the gold into a safer place and to escape; he was more than familiar with the routine.
Then, he spotted a window left open. It was just a slight crack, but it would be more than enough. He smiled – although it was closer to a smirk – and swung himself up on the ledge of a nearby window. From all his years of training, Naruto could do that quite easily. He was a master thief and nobody had been able to catch him so far. It was all so easy – too easy? - to get up towards that window. There were so many windows in the Uchiha manor that they could act as steps to aid Naruto's way.
He slipped his finger under the crack beneath the window and found that, surprisingly, it was extremely easy to open. He smiled genuinely now, thinking how smooth everything was flowing so far – especially on his last mission. He opened the window silently, and slipped inside the Uchiha manor.
He had come to get his prize.
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Sasuke knew Naruto was a loud-mouth, klutzy, and trickster-type person, but he had never knew he was this stupid too. I guess you could say that he had known the blonde was a dobe and a moron, and an idiot deep down, but this confirmed it all.
"Naruto, you idiot," Sasuke muttered, "Why wouldn't you just go to the wedding?" He closed the screen for the security system off. He had been monitoring the blonde's process ever since the other boy had set foot in front of the iron gate outside his house. Him, and some other people too.
He had deliberately turned off the alarm system so the blonde could sneak past the gate, and into his house. He had even left the window open, for love's sake! The blonde really was an idiot if he didn't sense this was all a trap. Sasuke smiled sadly, he had really hoped that Naruto would go to the wedding too.
It had taken longer than expected for the blonde to get past all the disabled alarms. For one, it had probably been due to the fact that he had destroyed almost all the alarms he found. Sasuke had to admit that Naruto was very good at this…but he was still a clumsy blonde. He had almost laughed aloud when the blonde tripped while running across the courtyard and fell on his face. However, now wasn't the time for laughing – Naruto was inside the house now, and it was their job to catch him in the act.
'You completely fell for it, dobe.'
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Naruto pushed on the back of the shelves to reveal the Uchiha house symbol. It was too bad that he had forgotten which shelf was last. He stood there awhile, trying to decide: the one of the left, or the one on the right? He was giving himself a giant headache. 'Why couldn't Sasuke-bastard have a key, like all the normal people do?!' He thought angrily. Just as he was about to go out on a limb and push the one of the left, something flew past his ear and stuck the shelf on the right.
"What the…!?" The blonde jumped back and spun around. He searched, but found nothing behind him. Naruto tried to relax, but felt something was off. 'What kind of house is this anyways?! It's almost like it wants me to get to the vault…!'
Part of him wanted to turn back, but the part which hated the rich urged him to go on. He sighed, and pushed the shelf on the right. There was a giant click and the entire shelf bloomed open – just like last time.
Before he stepped into, Naruto turned around and gazed at Sasuke's room. He remembered when he was in here with the Uchiha, and how the other boy had held his hand gently – like he was a precious person to him.
He shrugged and turned into the dark. This was his last mission, and he wouldn't have to hurt anyone else after this.
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The vault was just as he remembered it – cold, dark and lonely. Oh wait, he had to clap his hands to turn the light on! Well, now it was just cold and lonely. 'Creepy too, 'he decided, and shivered.
The amount of gold still amazed him; mountains and mountains were laid out in front of him, practically asking to be 'borrowed'. He sighed and began to work, searching for a good place to make an alternative exit. He had already blocked the entrance door, and so he felt safe. This was an old routine, and he had never been caught before.
"Shouldn't you be at the wedding, dobe?" Naruto's eyes widened in surprised. Dobe? Only one person had ever called him that before…
"Sasuke…" Naruto turned around and whispered, "What are you doing here?" He tired to smile, but found that he couldn't. The Uchiha's face had taken on such a cold stare.
"This is my house." The reply was emotionless, and onyx-black eyes were accusing. Naruto smirked sadly, and did not try to answer. "You are trespassing."
Sasuke walked around him, so that his back was facing the blonde. Naruto flinched, thinking about how this scene reminded him about Neji. "And committing theft, I see." The words were cold, and they stung.
"Sasuke…" He turned towards the raven-haired boy and reached out a hand. Naruto never got to finish the sentence though, for two police officers grabbed him from behind.
He could see Sasuke's hands, and they were clenched into fists. He was shaking – from anger, perhaps? Or maybe from something else…
They put handcuffs on the blonde and started to lead him away. More police officers were waiting at the entrance of the vault; having just opened the other entrance Sasuke had told them about moments before.
"Sasuke, I…" Naruto tried to pull away from the hands holding him back, but failed. He didn't know what to say – everything was happening too fast.
"Don't." The word was harsh, and Sasuke never turned around. Naruto dropped his head down to stare at the floor; the gleaming piles of gold long forgotten.
He could see in it his mind's eye; his father laughing and playing with him, tumbling through the grass in the park. They didn't have a big house, or a backyard, or a dog, or any toys for Naruto to play with, but the blonde was happy. Then, there was a flash and he saw his father lying in a hospital bed, with an old nurse shuffling out of the room, shaking her head. They wouldn't perform surgery on him because nobody was willing to pay for it. He watched as the life drained out of his father's eyes.
Next, he saw Iruka-sensei, who would always smile at him. He saw the sadness and pain in his sensei's eyes as he was ripped from their hug. He saw the tiredness behind those brown eyes, and the wrinkles which had come too soon onto his sensei's face, as he juggled three jobs at once just to save up enough money to adopt him years after.
Then he saw Neji - the beautiful boy of noble blood who had taken an interest in him at that horrible school; he saw the love beneath those ivory-white eyes. Then, he felt the pain in his chest when he saw his Neji kiss the red-haired boy on the forehead. He didn't understand why that had to happen.
It all flashed in front of his eyes and all that hurt slapped into him at full force. He slumped forward and felt himself being dragged towards the police car. The sirens were singing in their high-pitched voice and there were so many people around. Everything was a big blur – a big, messy blur.
All he could see was the disapproving face of his father, the heart-broken face of Iruka-sensei and the disgust-filled eyes of Neji as they each realized just what kind of monster he had become.
He saw Sasuke last. He saw the small smiles and the deep eyes of the Uchiha in his mind. He felt the warmth of the raven-haired boy's hands wrapped around his, and the way their fists had connected in the punching-bag room. In those moments, it was as if there was no pain at all; there was only happiness.
'I'm sorry.'
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As soon as the blonde had been taken away, Sasuke fell to his knees. He punched the ground again and again, hoping the pain would wake him up. Naruto would probably hate him now, but even so, there was still one more phase left to the plan. Hopefully what he was about to do would make everything right again.
'Forgive me.'
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Ta-da! The eighth chapter is finally complete! I feel tears coming on! -sobs- I never thought I'd get this far!
Darn, I lied. I'm sorry, but I did promise a last chapter and then an epilogue! It turns out that it will be another chapter, with an epilogue! Yep, it's been decided that I will write an ending to an ending to finally tie everything up – fairytale-style!
(Was the ending here too sappy? Be honest!)
Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Golly, I'm going to be busy replying to reviews later on. I'm going to thank everybody who commented! –grins-
A big thank-you to Kagerou-chan (PaperDragonfly) for beta-ing! Yep, she got her own account! (Congratulations!)
Adieu, catch you later, and y'all come back now ya hear? (-heh-)
-Horologii
