Hello~~ Peppermint is here with chapter 8. This was difficult for Peppermint to write so she felt very frustrated. Luckily, she took a rest, listened to some nice tunes and became inspired again. Peppermint is not frustrated anymore, and has decided that this chapter is good.
Peppermint hopes you like it. Peppermint wants to thank the readers. She gives a special thank you to her loyal reviewers. They helped her inspiration on this one.
Peppermint also wants to say that she doesn't own Naruto. She insist that Sasuke does.
"I don't know what to do" Naruto whispered as he stood outside with Deidara in the dark evening. Deidara glanced at him.
"Come here" he urged and led Naruto to a bench. When they sat down he turned to Naruto.
"Don't let it get to you. Me and Fugaku have always been like that. Sure... He was more of a bastard this time but... I'll get back at the supid fucker so it doesn't matter." Deidara assured. Naruto frowned deeper. Deidara tried to think of a way to comfort Naruto.
"I'm the one he has a problem with... It's not like he will hit you" Deidara said sounding a bit angry. He was furious actually, and confused, because Fugaku had for some reason accepted Sasuke's friends. What was wrong with Deidara? He bit his lip in frustration. Fugaku was surely a person who did not apreciate art. Meanwhile, Naruto sighed.
"But it bothers me that he could do that to anyone. I always thought that he was a nice guy but now..." Deidara lifted a brow. He was impressed. To think that Fugaku managed to give off that expression. He looked at Naruto's troubled face.
"Hey, Narupie!" Deidara snapped. Naruto looked at him in surprise at the suddenly angry tone. "Stop your moping! When did you become that bloody spoiled? You should just be happy that somebody is willing to adopt you, and if he's a nice guy to you that's fucking great. Quit being so damn ungrateful and be happy instead. You'll even get away from that stupid hag. Itachi's dad would at least never use a fucking stick on someone" Deidara reprimanded him. Naruto blinked. What Deidara had said sort of made sense. He really should be grateful for this. And, he had forgiven Sasuke and Kiba for being brutes. It didn't mean that it was right to treat people like that, it just meant that Naruto didn't want to give up on being adopted because Fugaku had a bit of a nasty part. Didn't everyone? As Deidara had said, Naruto was lucky that he even got the chance to be adopted and... He would also be closer to Sasuke, Mikoto, even Itachi. Fugaku being a jerk was not a big enough reson for Naruto to give this up.
"And besided... " Deidara started. "I also want you to go back because I need a favour from you..." Deidare kicked some pebble as he said that. Naruto looked at him in question. "Please watch over Itachi for me" Deidara's voice sounded a bit hoarse again. "I can't do that properly because I'm always kicked out when I'm there..." Deidara added and wiped away angry tears. All because of that accursed Fugaku.
"I'll go back" Naruto said. He didn't want to give up on his light yet. He needed to be optimistic.
"Good" Deidara said and sighed. He could now at least have a spy in there. He watched as Naruto stood up and made to leave.
"One more thing" Deidara said "Give me your number" he ordered. He needed to be able to contact hid spy, or what was the point? Naruto told him what it was before returning to the house. Deidara shrugged. The little rascal had grown up a bit. He seemed a bit more mature and less hot headed now.
…
Sasuke returned to his room with a deep frown. He looked up to see Kiba and Neji bickering about something.
"You look cheerful" Kiba said. Sasuke shook his head as he slumped down on his couch. He had a big headache and wanted to see Naruto's big bright eyes. That always made him feel better, but where was he? How long could it take to make some stupid tea? Realisation struck him. Had Naruto seen what his father did? He swallowed. This was not good. He got up.
"I'll go see what's taking Naruto so long" He mumbled and left the room. Kiba and Neji looked after him.
"… As I said, Itachi was the hottest, I kind of have a thing for long black hair." Kiba argued.
"… I see" Neji answered. Suddenly Neji's long black hair was like a pink elephant in the room. Kiba could not believe he had just said that.
…
Sasuke was walking down the stairs to see if Naruto was still in the kitchen. He hoped that the blond hadn't left... or started hating him or something for dragging him from one violent environment to the other. 'Smooth, Sasuke', he thought while rolling his eyes. On his way downstairs he met Naruto. Sasuke looked into his eyes worriedly.
"Are... you okay?" He asked.
"Yeah" Naruto answered with a nodd. He pursed his lips. He didn't feel angry at Sasuke anymore. Now he just wanted to be held and kissed and comforted. He felt his eyes sting. Sasuke frowned. He took Naruto's hand and pulled him into the upstairs corridor.
.
Please kiss me and make it all go away
.
Naruto wished to whatever high power that might be listening. Sasuke always brought forward such a strong longing within him. It was different from anything he had felt before. Naruto tugged at Sasuke's sleeve before he could open the door. Sasuke looked at him in slight confusion. Naruto looked down at the floor.
.
Kiss me
.
Naruto wanted to whisper to him. Something stopped him. He hesitated. Naruto looked up to meet Sasuke's deep grey eyes.
.
Please kiss me
.
Naruto tried to convey his need trough his eyes. He wanted Sasuke to understand him. To see his silent pleading. Sasuke cupped Naruto's cheek. For some reason there was something unusually beautiful about the Naruto standing in front of him. His eyes were so filled with emotions. He was so still. He looked... ethereal. Sasuke felt his heart beat a rhythm he didn't recognise, but yet it it felt so right.
.
He kissed him
.
Sasuke's lips were soft against Naruto's, just like Naruto had always suspected them to be. Naruto's eyes flickered slightly in their closed state. He felt Sasukes arms embrace him. This moment was perfect, it felt like time has stopped and nothing could distur-
"HOLY FUCK" Kiba's yell was loud. Naruto's face was red. Sasuke looked murderous. Neji smiled. Neji laughed. Kiba turned from one unrealistic event to the other.
"What the HECK dudes?!" Kiba turned to Naruto and Sasuke. He looked a mixture of horrified and amused, with a dash of intrigued.
"HAVEN'T YOU HEARD OF KNOCKING?" Sasuke snapped. This day had probably caused thousands of veins to pop. It wasn't good to keep the stress pent up, so Sasuke decided to let it out. To just let it out and make his life feel so much better.
"WHY should I knock if I'm going out from the room?" Kiba retorted. Naruto had gotten over his initial shock and glared daggers at Kiba. His long awaited kiss with Sasuke had finally come and stupid Kiba disrupted it. Naruto blushed again. Sasuke had kissed him.
"Just... AGH SHUT UP KIBA" Sasuke roared. He was confused at his own actions and didn't need Kiba's comments.
"Kiba, I think this would be the proper time to leave. We should give them some privacy." Neji said and walked out the room. Kiba grinned in agreement and followed him. Was it a full moon or something? The Uchiha's kept kissing people... Kiba was amused. Neji seemed to be as well. Naruto and Sasuke were left with only each other as company. Naruto briefly wondered if he and Sasuke would keep kissing or...? But then he thought that maybe they should talk about what happened earlier with Deidara and Fugaku first.
"I'm sorry" Sasuke broke the silence. Naruto glanced at him. He had such a guilty look on his face.
"I know" Naruto said and stroked Sasuke's hair for a moment. "But it wasn't your fault." Naruto added softly. Sasuke took Naruto's hand in his. It was a bit smaller than his. Sasuke liked that for some reason. He thought about his resolution to protect Naruto.
"I had no idea my father could do that" Sasuke whispered. He was still quite shocked.
"I think it runs in the family" Naruto smiled sadly. Sasuke grimaced at the memory of his own violent side.
"Are you scared?" Sasuke asked Naruto. He nodded lightly.
"And angry. But I can't go back to the orphanage. I need to stay here... I need to try." Naruto said downcast. Sasuke inwardly growled that Naruto had to feel like this. Naruto looked up at Sasuke.
"You should apologise to Itachi tomorrow. You weren't very nice to him" Naruto said. Sasuke frowned. He hadn't thought about his behaviour towards Itachi. Sasuke came to the conclusion that he had acted like a total jerk and shouldn't care if Itachi liked to kiss guys. Especially considering the fact that he had kissed Naruto just now and it hadn't even been because of some dare. He still didn't quite know why he did that.
"I should" Sasuke agreed. Naruto was glad that Sasuke realised his mistake. Now he felt more like the moody bastard Naruto had grown used to. "Let's go to bed" Sasuke said.
"Yeah" Naruto said and went to his futon. He fell asleep very quickly with a smile on his face. For Sasuke it took quite some time.
…
The next morning Sasuke decided to talk with his father. He needed to know what it was that drove his father to such a state of mind. He needed to tell him that Naruto was scared because of him. He needed to yell at him, to get it out of his system. With both fire and ice in his dark eyes Sasuke stormed into the kitchen.
"Dad I need to talk about what happened yesterday." He said and sat down at the table. Mikoto put down her tea cup.
"What happened?" She asked with concern. Fugaku avoided his wife's worried eyes.
"Dad was a major as." Sasuke blurted and glared at his father. "Naruto saw you. And now he's scared." Sasuke tried to contain his anger. "The reason I wanted us to adopt him was so that he could get away from shit like that. And then you go and beat up Itachi's probably only friend, because I don't know about you, but I can't remember ANYone else coming over here claiming to be his friend." Sasuke glared. Mikoto gasped.
"Fugaku..!" She looked disappointed at him.
"But the worst part is that Naruto was abused at the orphanage so what if he's TRAUMATIZED FOREVER NOW?" Sasuke scolded his father. Mikoto frowned in distaste at the audacity of the people there. She would definitely pursue that subject further. She joined her son's glare.
"It's about time for you to go on a business trip, isn't it, Fugaku?" Mikoto asked her husband coldly, implying that he should get the hell out of the house, better yet, the country for the time being. "Thank you Sasuke dear for coming. I will handle the rest, you can go" She smiled sweetly at her son" Sasuke nodded and walked away slowly. He could tell that his mom was enraged. It was best not to get in her way. She was after all the most powerful member of the Uchiha family.
…
Mikoto quietly opened the door to Sasuke's room. When she came in she saw her son trying to teach Naruto how to play chess. Naruto had this very concentrated look on his face and she couldn't help but to smile at the sight.
"Hi boys" She smiled and sat down on the couch. Naruto glanced up at her.
"I'm so sorry about my husbands behaviour." Mikoto apologised. "It must have frightened you." She added sadly. "You don't need to worry though, I have sent him away to the other side of the earth. He will leave this afternoon so you can be calm" She smiled sweetly. Sasuke gulped. He would never make his mother angry. Ever. But he agreed that his father deserved this. Naruto looked impressed.
"Wow." He said. He didn't know what else there was to say, that was impressive. Mikoto walked to Naruto and gave him a hug.
"Just leave everything to me, I will make everything alright" She said soothingly. Naruto didn't know what to say, but he could feel warmth emit from Mikoto. A mother's hug... What kind of hug would his real mother have given him? Would she also have a slight scent of perfume like Mikoto? Would she have hudded him at all? Mikoto closed her eyes. She was a strong woman. She would pull everyone together and patch everybody up. Sasuke looked at his mother. She had a determined look on her face.
"I'll go check up on Itachi" She said after the hug had ended. She left the room with a smile at the two teens and walked the short distance it was to Itachi's room. She knocked on it, Itachi's door was as a rule always locked. That worried her, but it wasn't like she wanted to invade his privacy. He was already twenty one years old after all.
"Itachi?" She tried to gain a response. "Your father is leaving on a business trip this afternoon." She informed in case he was worried about meeting him. She sighed deeply and leaned her head towards his door. She shut her dark eyes, fluttering her long black lashes. She was happy that Deidara had come to visit. But her husband however, had come to the notion that it was Deidara's fault that Itachi turned out like he did. Mikoto couldn't agree with that reasoning. Itachi was sensitive to the world, and that had nothing to do with Deidara. He was just avoiding blaming himself. Mikoto blamed herself. If she had been a better mother Itachi would never have broken like that. She shook her head disapprovingly as her anger towards her husband surfaced again combined with gher guilt. She clenched her hands into fists. That foolish buffoon. And he called himself an Uchiha. She begrudgingly went to prepare lunch. She would not make any for him. If he wanted to eat he would have to do it somewhere else. Who did he think he was, causing a racket like this? He was much too old for childish fits like that.
Itachi was laying in his bed as he heard his mother walk away. He felt so tired.
…
Naruto peeked a look at Sasuke. His gaze got caught on his lips. Those lips. Naruto sighed. How was he supposed to learn anything like this? Sasuke was the perfect distraction. It was so easy to just look at him, and look at him and look at him. Sasuke noticed that Naruto was a bit spaced out. He seemed to be gazing at... him. Sasuke thought back on the kiss yesterday. He frowned. He had always thought of Naruto as something of a pet... ever since that day he apologised to him. Naruto had been so cute, peeking out of the covers like that. Now Sasuke wasn't sure of his own feelings any longer. They certainly differed from those for friend but... He should ask Itachi about this. First he needed to make up with him... Sasuke sighed. He was such a bigot sometimes. What was wrong with him?
"… I'm gonna try talking with Itachi" Sasuke said. Naruto woke from his daydreams. He cleared his throat.
"Good" He said and tried to give a non-infatuated smile. Sasuke left the room. Naruto put a hand over his speeding heart. He wondered if they needed to talk about the kiss. It had started to feel as if he had dreamt it since they hadn't mentioned it yet... Naruto leaned back on the couch with a sigh. How could a person as good looking as Sasuke even exist? And his voice..!
Sasuke knocked on Itachi's door repeatedly. There was no response.
"Open the door I have something urgent I need to talk about" Sasuke urged and knocked some more. He finally heard the sound of the lock clicking. Itachi opened the door. Sasuke blinked for a moment. Itachi looked like a mess. His hair was all tangled and he had dark bags under his eyes. Itachi moved to let him in. Sasuke cleared his throat.
"Eh... First of all, I'm sorry for being a bigot yesterday..." Itachi poked his forehead.
"If you weren't a bigot you wouldn't be Sasuke" He said and sat down in his armchair. Haha, Sasuke thought. Apparently Itachi's sense of humour was still intact. "What is it you came to talk about?" Itachi asked. Sasuke looked away. This was a bit embarrassing.
"I... Well, I kissed Naruto yesterday..." Sasuke revealed. Itachi arched a brow.
"After yelling at me like that for kissing Deidara? You're so funny Sasuke" Itachi said while faking sounding impressed. Sasuke dropped a sweat. So Itachi was a bit pissed at him.
"Yeah... The thing is I don't know is why I did it" Sasuke said with a frown. Itachi sighed.
"Well, little brother, it's probably because you wanted to" Itachi talked as if he was talking to a small child. Sasuke pursed his lips. Usually Itachi didn't show his annoyance this much he was getting a little bitchy dammit.
"Why did I want to?" He asked.
"Are you stupid Sasuke?" Itachi deadpanned. Sasuke glared. "Usually you kiss someone because you like them, or are attracted to them" Itachi explained.
"But I know that I like girls" Sasuke insisted. Itachi buried his head in his hands.
"God... You're so dense. It's not like it has to be one or the other. It's possible to like both boys and girls." Itachi tiredly explained. Sasuke gulped.
"I just wanted him to be my pet... My puppykitten..." Sasuke mumbled. Itachi sighed.
"Maybe you just misunderstood your feelings?" Itachi suggested. Sasuke looked contemplative.
"By the way Itachi are you... gay?" Sasuke asked. Itachi paused.
"I guess something like that. You're too obtuse to understand, so I'll explain some other time. Now go and let me sulk in peace" Itachi made a shooing motion. Sasuke frowned but left nonetheless. What the heck did Itachi mean with that he wouldn't understand? What could be that complicated? Before Sasuke entered his room he wondered what he should do. He decided that he would go with the flow and do whatever he felt like doing. That way he would surely come to a definite answer. He opened the door to his room. Ah, there he was. The cutest person alive. Sasuke's gem. Yes... Sasuke's thoughts were quite romantic. He sat down next to Naruto who was reading an instruction book for chess. Sasuke felt a bit cheeky so he put his arm around Naruto's shoulders. Naruto gave him a wide eyed confused look. Sasuke smiled at the cuteness of it. He traced Naruto's lips gently with his thumb. Naruto swallowed. He felt lost. Sasuke had had another one of his weird mood swings and... it wasn't bad. Naruto didn't mind if he continued. Sasuke continued to lightly trace Naruto's face. Naruto looked hazily into Sasuke's deep grey eyes. Those eyes that he wouldn't mind drowning in.
"How can your eyes be so blue?" Sasuke asked tenderly.
"Guess who's back!" The door burst open. Naruto swore that Kiba would die a painful death if he disturbed a romantic moment one more time. Sasuke glared at him.
"Why?" He asked bitterly. Kiba grinned. He pulled in Neji.
"I brought Neji... Well we have some things to talk about don't we?" Kiba said. Sasuke cleared his throat and attempted to appear nonchalant.
"Oh?" He said. Naruto looked between them. Kiba had probably returned to question them about the kiss.
"The kiss." Kiba grinned evilly. "Neji and I won't tell anyone, so spill. What's the deal with you two?" Kiba asked and wiggled his eyebrows. Sasuke glared.
"There is no deal. That was just..." Sasuke paused. "just... just..."
"Just what?" Kiba asked.
"We were just testing!" Naruto burst out. "We wanted to investigate if a guy's lips felt different than a girls... to get a deeper understanding of humanity" Naruto added. Kiba looked surprised.
"… Really?" He asked sceptically. Naruto nodded enthusiastically. Sasuke also gave a small nod. How lucky that Naruto managed to come up with something... even if it sounded sort of odd... It was still kind of plausible as an explanation. Too bad that Kiba didn't seem to buy it.
"Well? Was it different?" Kiba asked curiously. He did not believe their explenation, but he was still curious.
"Yeah, totally different" Sasuke answered. He had enjoyed Naruto's lips way more. Kiba nodded in understanding.
"Was it... you know... bad?" He asked hesitantly. Naruto smiled. But then he quickly tried to regain his poker face. He needed to lay low.
"Not... Not really." Sasuke said with slightly pink cheeks. Naruto's eyes lit up. Sasuke had liked it too.
"Kiba you lowly baboon. If you're so curious, try it for yourself." Neji snapped in annoyance. Kiba gave him a look of disbelief. But then again... Naruto and Sasuke had already done it. It would make sense if he tried it too. And he was a little curious.
"Sasuke, can you go get Itachi?" Kiba asked seriously. Sasuke's eye twitched.
"What?" He spat.
"Nothing, nothing..." Kiba assured. He looked over at Neji. He did have a thing for people with long black hair.
"What about you Neji? Aren't you going to do it? If I do it you'll be the only one who hasn't and then you'll be the only one left out again." Kiba used his best tricks. Neji snorted.
"Nitwit" He simply said. Kiba slumped in his seat. His plan had failed. Why was he even hoping so much for a yes..?
...
Neji and Kiba stayed for lunch. Mikoto was happy to be surrounded by so much youth. Even Itachi had come down. Sasuke was embarrassed at the state of him. His usually proper and neat appearance seemed like a memory from long ago. It was as if this was the birth of a new Itachi. He was wearing the pink disaster again and he had put his black hair in a messy side braid which reached almost to his waist. On top of that he wore sunglasses. For some reason they were also pink. They must also be Deidara's, Sasuke concluded. Mikoto didn't mind though. She was happy this way, because Itachi always kept to himself without ever showing his emotions. That he acted like this instead of trying to be perfect was good in her opinion. He needed to let out his pent up frustration more. She frowned slightly as she watched the kids eat. She was worried about Deidara. When Fugaku had left she would find him and then let him stay here.
"So... Itachi" Kiba suddenly said. "… Do you wanna play truth or dare..? Sasuke hit him on the head. What the heck was Kiba doing in front of his mother. Itachi looked at him expressionlessly behind the oversized sunglasses before returning to his food. Kiba felt ignored.
...
"Itachi?" Mikoto knocked on his door. Itachi opened.
"Yes mother?" He said with a small smile. He was regaining his composure again and was mending his broken mask.
"Fugaku has left so you can invite your friend here if you want" She smiled at him. Itachi smiled with a hint of amusement. Deidara suddenly popped up behind him.
"I'm already here~" He mused. "I'm a pro at infiltrating this building" He smiled. Itachi smirked. Mikoto smiled at the two.
"I'll be off then." She smiled and closed the door.
"So he wont be around. We can finally have that sleepover, Itachi" Deidara said. Itachi frowned.
"Don't you dare start a pillow fight with my pillows. They're in perfect condition and I want to keep them that way." Itachi warned.
"Damn you're boring." Deidara pouted.
...
Too soon, the weekend came to an end. Too soon it was time for the school trip.
Was this good? I don't even know... *sigh* It was difficult, I had lost my vision and had written some crap. This is soo edited. Look forward to the school trip in the next chapter!
If this was boring or something, have a hug *hugs*
LovePeppermint
