Here is chapter 10 finally!
NOTE: THIS IS NOT THE LAST CHAPTER!
Yeah if you have looked at my profile today I said that chapter 10 was reaaaaaaally long. Like longer than my two oneshots Good and Okay. This meant it was over 11000 words ._. . Which is awesome but I was worried if I had uploaded it all as one big chapter it would feel dragged out. So I'm separating chapter 10 into chapter 10 and chapter 11.
But this is still pretty long being over 9000 words which is longer than any of the chapters beforehand :P. And things actually happen here unlike chapter 9 haha. I'll try to get chapter 11 up today as well! It just needs to be finished and edited :).
Please enjoy and I am INCREDIBLY sorry for the delay!
He was here. At the party. But Naruto wasn't. Damn.
It felt like everyone but Naruto was there. He could see all of the girls except Sakura(who was strangely missing) dressed to kill in pretty kimonos of their favorite color. The most regal and delicately dressed of the bunch had to be Hinata. Even Sasuke could be impressed with how far she went to dress up for the occasion. She wore a completely white kimono(probably to represent purity or some shit) and didn't do anything special with her hair but the white lilies(and Sasuke only knew what kind of flower they were because lilies were his mother's favorite flowers. Naruto was the gardener not him) that she put in it made her look every bit as noble as her status as heiress was. He had never seen Hinata wear make-up before so he was surprised to see it on her face. It was light and it matched her outfit, but still it would've been a sight to see if he were straight.
He could see the guys from the other teams also dressed sharply, a stark contrast to how dull the insides of their heads are. Or maybe 'sharply' wasn't right. More like unoriginal. Naturally they all were wearing men's kimonos but you'd think Kiba and Shikamaru would find kimonos that weren't dark grey with little dark green vines decorating it, Neji would at least attempt to be different from his shy cousin and get an original outfit instead of just the male version of Hinata's kimono, and Choji and Shino would know that as clan heirs a solid-colored kimono was simply not acceptable(even if they were different colors. Shino's was a light grey and Choji's was a dark green).
Sasuke at least was different. His dark blue kimono had the Uchiha symbol on the back(naturally) AND it was finely decorated with darker blue...spirals. No Sasuke wasn't attempting to make an obvious statement here. He just happened to like this particular kimono the best and chose to wear it. That's all. Sasuke didn't say hi to anyone as he went to the table of food and drinks and grabbed a nearly-full cup that was sitting in front of a large half-empty bottle.
The place was nice. Ino managed to get some nice-sized house and decorate it nicely. Or at least decorate the foyer nicely since that's where all of them were. There was plenty of food, lights, loud music, drinks(obviously), and party decorations. Unsurprisingly, for a 'couple's event' there wasn't much 'coupling'. People were in groups of three talking to one another, laughing and joking loudly.
One group of three in particular, had Sasuke seeing red.
How did he manage to make it here before Naruto?
Indeed, over by a window was that son of a bitch Kuyubi, Ino, and Lee. He was sitting on the window sill, Sasuke sighed loudly as he really didn't want to admit this, looking somewhat-kinda-sorta handsome in his dark red kimono decorated with tiny darker red triangles and with his hair combed neatly so the soft, orange-red spikes fell around his face.
He was still a horrid demon who Sasuke will slay. His head will be right on the tip of Sasuke's Kusanagi guaranteed, Sasuke thought to cancel the-ugh-nice thoughts he had about Kuyubi. Monster didn't deserve compliments from Sasuke even if they were in his mind.
But Sasuke could only hope Naruto just looked at him and went 'eh'. Other than looks he had nothing going for him. Look at him. Sitting there sipping alcohol from a small cup? What? Can't he handle it? He looked weak next to Ino and Lee who were gulping their cups down(even though Lee was clearly drinking some fruit punch he still looked manlier drinking than Kuyubi did). Sasuke was taking bigger sips of his drink so as not to look like a hypocrite. Once Naruto shows up he'll see Sasuke drinking like a man and Kuyubi drinking like a baby or a little girl. And he will tooooooootally go for the manlier drinker.
...
Either Sasuke was a lightweight or this drink was stronger than he thought. What was it anyway? Oh. Ino got the hard kind of sake. That stuff always has Sasuke down after two bottles. Well then he'll just have to be careful. Reeeeeeeeally, reaaally careful. Sasuke went to go and lean by the doorway leading into the living room, which Ino has sealed off for some reason. He was close enough to hear the bastard's, Ino's, and Lee's conversation.
"Would it not look great on me Ino-san!" Lee asked excitedly, wearing a completely green kimono reminiscent of his usual spandex outfit. If he wanted to know ahead of time if purple looked good on him he should've been daring and wore purple in Sasuke's opinion. Ino cringed.
"Well Lee, um, a purple spandex suit wouldn't really look good on anyone," she answered. Lee frowned.
"But purple is your favorite color!"
"Yeah! So that means I have to be able to understand when it doesn't look good on something!"
"Kuyubi-kun," Lee turned to the red-haired boy. "Don't you believe a purple spandex suit would look great?"
Kuyubi looked slightly surprised that Lee and Ino were looking at him. What a shut-in, shy schmuck. Sasuke has better people skills. Kuyubi's face turned a little red in embarrassment as he answered.
"To be honest, the only other color of your suit that I liked was orange," his face got even redder if that was possible(cue Inner Sasuke's "hehehehehe he looks like a tomato!"). "But I think you should stick with green. It suits you well and does a good job camouflaging you. Couple that with your prowess at taijutsu and impressive speed and you make a deadly opponent in it...Lee...-san."
Lee smiled widely. "OHHHHHH! You are right Kuyubi-kun! My outfit does give me the advantage over my opponents! And here I believed Gai-sensei was just being the icon of all fashion!" Ino slung her arms around the excited boy.
"See? You don't need to change annnything about you Lee. You're fine just the way you are!" Sasuke saw Ino discreetly mouth a 'thank you' to Kuyubi who looked down almost shyly and nodded.
Tch! Ino must be super drunk to really be proud of that monster. It's not like giving Lee a stupid little confidence boost was anything noteworthy. Sasuke could've done the same thing easily! In fact wouldn't it have been easier to just lie and say Lee would look good in purple? Dumbass with the red-hair knew nothing about people skills that's for sure, Sasuke thought taking a smaller sip of his drink. After all he was trying to manipulate Naruto instead of being honest and up front like Sasuke.
So into his mental rant, Sasuke didn't notice Kuyubi give him a strained look and sighed.
"I hope you have a fire extinguisher," he said to the loudest, female blonde of Konoha. "Because the Uchiha is here. And I can feel his anger from a mile away," Kuyubi mumbled that last sentence into his cup as he took another drink so even if Sasuke had been paying attention he wouldn't have heard.
And he only started paying attention when said loud blonde(not the blond he wanted to hear though) and her even louder companion both noticed him.
"SASUKE-KUN!" They both shouted.
"We totally didn't see you come in!" Ino exclaimed as she ran up to hug the stoic Uchiha. Sasuke cringed. Now he knows Ino is aware of his 'personal space' issues. He hated how she liked to ignore them. He shifted uncomfortably to try and get her off but unfortunately Lee also was also 'aware of but completely willing to disregard' Sasuke's personal bubble as he also excitingly broke it give him a bone-crushing hug.
Sasuke could see Kuyubi smirking at his discomfort. Fucker better stop. Or no wait, Sasuke smirked back. Kuyubi could keep up the smirk. He should be happy now while he can. Sasuke's smirk grew when he saw Kuyubi's expression turn into one of confusion. He had no idea what was coming. His smirking stopped when Lee shouted in his ear.
"Sasuke-kun I am so happy you made it! It is not a party when not all of us are here! Although, not all of us are here. I haven't seen Naruto-kun at all yet-"
"Ahem, um, Lee?" Ino interrupted. She waved at herself with her hand. "It's a bit drafty in here. Could you please go open the front door? Maybe another window too?" She asked smiling innocently. Lee grinned and saluted before heading off to do his assigned task.
"Perfect! Thank you! Now then," she turned to Sasuke. "I see you aren't too happy to see us but you could at least pep up and be happy to see her. Smile for goodness sake."
Who? And please stop hugging Sasuke Ino. And don't tell him to smile when he's not a smiling kind of guy.
"Ino? Where are you?"
"Ah! There's my twin back from the bathroom now!" Ino exclaimed looking across the room to the hallway that led to the bathroom. Sasuke looked where she was looking to see Sakura. Twin was right. They were wearing almost identical kimonos right down to the cherry blossom petals decorating their outfits, except Sakura's was red and white and Ino's was purple and lavender. They both also had their hair pulled up in buns with bangs swept to the side and they even had the same kind of flowers decorating their hair only Sakura's were red and Ino's were white. They had the same make-up on too the only difference being the nail color and eye shadow; Sakura's was a light green and Ino's was a very pale pink.
Thank the Lord Sasuke wasn't here to see the blow up that happened when they found out their outfits were so similar. Coming from a very reserved family, Sasuke wasn't used to dealing with women who go crazy over the most trivial of things. At the very least the blow would've been soften by the fact that Ino has since given up chasing him(for whatever reason. Though it wasn't like Sasuke was complaining about that), but Sasuke still didn't want to witness it.
"Yoohoo! Sakura!" Ino waved, still holding onto Sasuke's arm. At least they resolved it.
"Come meet your dashing prince for the night!" She said FINALLY letting him go. Although Sasuke couldn't be relieved because she just set him up with a new problem. As soon as Sakura looked at him she blushed softly and imitated Hinata by bringing up the sleeve of her kimono to her mouth.
Great. Sasuke had a good hunch about what was going to come and he wasn't looking forward to breaking Sakura's heart. He should hope that this is one of those once in a life time moments where he's wrong about a girl's feelings. Maybe Sakura would tell him she has found someone else and was worried about his reaction.
"Get over here princess!" Ino shouted. Sasuke wanted to protest but what could he say? Sakura slowly and shyly shuffled over to the two.
"Good! Now we've only got about four hours and thirty minutes until midnight so you two catch up and make with the romance so you can smooch for the new year!" Ino exclaimed pushing Sakura and Sasuke together. They quickly jumped apart and Sakura's face was as red as her outfit. If Sasuke had less dignity his pale face would be red too, but for a different reason.
"Ino!" Sakura exclaimed. The blond female just smiled mischievously. "I have to go now and leave you two lovebirds alone!"
Oh will she stop? When has Sasuke EVER given off hints that he liked Sakura more than a friend? He beats up guys flirting with Naruto, stalks Naruto's house, and has a blown-up picture of the blond male in his bathroom thank you very much!
"W-Wait! Where are you going?" Sakura asked reaching out for her friend. Ino looked at her incredously.
"I figured you would want to be alone with him Sakura," she said. Sakura quickly hurried up to the girl and Sasuke's incredibly advanced hearing heard the whispering just a few short inches away.
"Yeah but it's way too early! Come on it's not even 8 o'clock yet! I can't talk to Sasuke-kun for four hours!"
"You're gonna be talking to him for the rest of your life. What's four hours that it has you so embarrassed?" Sakura stomped her foot.
"It's four hours leading up to the biggest moment of Sasuke-kun's and my life!" She nearly exclaimed. Well Sasuke could at least give her credit for thinking of him but he was already dreading letting her know it was not going to be that big of a deal for him. Team meetings in the future are going to be sooooo awkward. Thanks Ino. The bitch was now on Sasuke's list. Low, because Sasuke understood she was only trying to help out her best friend, but she was there. Because for all her 'expertise' on romance she should've told Sakura a long time ago that Sasuke wasn't interested and that she should move on.
"Look Sakura just pretend you guys are still just friends and talk about whatever comes to your mind. It's not like you have to turn to him right now and say that you love-"
"SHHHH!" Sakura said looking back nervously at Sasuke. Sasuke made a show of drinking his drink and pretending he didn't hear. Gah! The sake burns his throat!
"Why are you so nervous! Sasuke-kun should know by now you like him!"
"Yeah but..." Sakura's voice trailed off in Sasuke's mind because he stopped listening. He was too busy staring into his cup and wondering how it went from nearly full to half empty in such a short period of time. That was unacceptable. Sasuke couldn't get drunk. He made a vow NOT to get drunk in the first place. Because he needed to kill Kuyubi who would become drunk. He had a plan, a big plan, and everything and it would suck largely if he messed it all up because he couldn't aim his fire style jutsus right.
In fact, he should make sure his aim is okay right now with whatever his BAC is. Making an 'okay' sign with his index finger and thumb in front of his mouth, Sasuke turned to face Kuyubi to pretend to blow a fire style jutsu.
He would miss this time around. Not because he was drunk, but because he dropped his hand in shock at the sight. He expected Kuyubi to be sleeping or drinking or sulking because no one was talking to him. But the last thing wasn't true. Surrounding Kuyubi was Neji, Shikamaru, Kiba, Shino, and Choji. All of the men looked like they were having some serious conversation going on.
Tch. Just what were they trying to pull here? Was Kuyubi trying to befriend his enemies? It wouldn't work if he was because none of those idiots could help him defeat Sasuke. Kuyubi should know that because he should remember what happened the last time they all tried to fight the red-head and failed miserably(Sasuke's efforts in that battle didn't count because one, he didn't do any planning and didn't have extra time to prepare and two, someone held him back the entire time. Now that Sasuke has a plan AND by midnight tonight will make sure no one will be able to hold him back, Kuyubi was as good as finished). So that won't work for the red monster at all.
But what were the idiots doing actually talking to Kuyubi? They weren't going to interfere with his plan were they? Like they weren't going to attack Kuyubi themselves and were just warning the guy to watch his back were they? If they were then they have failed as ninjas. Ninjas keep their top secret strategies secret. Sasuke couldn't even believe they were ranked higher than him(Sasuke planned on rising in the ranks soon. He had to be above Kuyubi, who was still a genin like him, and Naruto, who was a chuunin. And obviously he had to be above those embarrassments to their families, who were jounin but thought on the level of an Academy student). Sasuke was brought out of his staring when someone hesitantly called his name.
"S-Sasuke-kun?" Surprisingly, it wasn't Sakura. Sasuke turned to see the Hyuuga heiress shyly twiddling her fingers. He raised an eyebrow. He knew that the spirit of the party and the occasion would bring people who aren't close closer, but really what could Hinata have to talk to him about?
"Have you seen um, Naruto-kun? I-I asked Kuyubi-san earlier and he said he didn't know and neither did Sakura-san so I'm wondering if...?"
Sasuke nearly dropped his drink. WHAT? The bastard lies, he KNOWS where Naruto is. He should thank Hinata for reminding him of that fact that instead of standing there passively waiting for Naruto to come for him he needed to search him out because that's what semes did. Ukes were the ones that waited! And as much as he HATED to admit it, Kuyubi would be the one who most likely knew where Naruto was. Ignoring Hinata, Sasuke stomped right up the group by the window sill and shoving the guys aside stood in front of and glared at the confused Kuyubi. Ignoring the other guys' growls and glares, Sasuke spoke.
"Where is Naruto?" He demanded.
"Shouldn't you know? Best friend?" Kuyubi snapped back. Sasuke growled. He had no time for games. Well, he actually had about four hours but what if he needed to spend all that time convincing Naruto that Kuyubi was a horrible person(as he was proving now with his stupid dodging of Sasuke's question)? Naruto was a stubborn person after all. Sasuke nearly reached out and grabbed Kuyubi's shirt but he coolly kept his hands to himself. He couldn't get too hostile, too early.
"Where. Is. Naruto? I know you know where he is so tell me!"
Kuyubi rolled his eyes. "Pushy and demanding sums you up perfectly Uchiha. Too pushy and demanding, why should I answer to you?"
"Why you..."
"Er...while Sasuke is being a bit um, harsh, he raises a good question. Where is Naruto?" Choji asked. Kuyubi looked at him and to Sasuke's annoyance actually gave him a straight answer.
"I don't know exactly where he is. He was at our apartment when I left but he told me to just go on ahead and that he'll catch up."
Sasuke didn't bother with acting on his annoyance with Kuyubi. He was too fearful of what his answer implied. Naruto told Kuyubi to leave without him and that he'll 'catch up'. What if Naruto said that for a purpose?
A purpose like getting Kuyubi to leave so that he could go to the Uchiha compound and be with Sasuke!
Oh no what if he was there now? What if he got there only a few minutes after Sasuke left? Perhaps the reason he didn't show up all day was because he was working up the nerve to talk to Sasuke! Ohhhh he KNEW he shouldn't have done that 'play hard to get' trick! Now he made Naruto all nervous to express his feelings for him! Sasuke could just picture Naruto sitting on his stoop all sad and alone and nervous because Sasuke wasn't there to hold him and tell him that he loved him and cared for him. And he was in the dark(Sasuke turned off all the lights in the compound when he leaves it. People tell him it makes the place look 'gloomy' but they usually shut up after Sasuke asks them if that's an offer to pay his light bill. Naruto was free to turn on a light without charge though)! Sasuke needed to correct this fast!
Shoving the guys out of the way once more, earning more glares, he hurried towards the front door. But he only made it to the middle of the room when he was stopped by Ino and Sakura.
"Hey!" Ino shouted getting in front of him. "I don't know where you are going in a hurry but you need to Sakura!" She said crossing her arms. Sasuke didn't know who Ino thought she was stopping him but she needed to get the fuck out of his way! She must've picked up his impatience because she glared and crossed her arms.
"Unless you can tell me you think your house in on fire I think you can spare a few minutes to talk to Sakura. If you don't you can forget about coming back!" The blonde threatened. Sasuke inwardly cursed. It wasn't like he personally cared if he couldn't come back. But Naruto would care and he would want to go to this party because this was a special occasion with friends. Damn it all, Sasuke never would've believed he'd wish for the days when Ino still liked him too. At least that Ino wouldn't do something like this. Why did she stop liking him again?
With Sasuke's lack of response and movement, Ino pulled a nervous, blushing Sakura in front of Sasuke.
"Now you two talk okay? I am going to be over there, talking to peeps and waiting for my slug of a boyfriend Sai to get here. Ugh! I swear I don't know what has been up with that guy these past few days," she grumbled before walking away Oh, that's why she stopped chasing after him. Sai's her boyfriend.
Wait. What?
Sakura's face was as red as her kimono as she nervously fidgeted and played with her fingers. Sasuke decided to ignore the Sai-Ino thing for now because it confused him and focus on Sakura. She had two seconds to make her silly love confession so that he could reject it and go find his true love.
"Y-Yeah um, what I wanted to say was-"
And that's where the conversation loss all meaning to Sasuke. Not because of anything Sakura did or because he knew what she was probably going to say and thus didn't have to listen. But because the apple of his eye just appeared in the doorway.
His gorgeous blond Naruto.
He was simply walking into the house from the outside but in Sasuke's mind Naruto might as well have been walking down a grand staircase. He was beautiful. He was elegantly dressed in a traditional orange kimono that had small, burnt orange squares decorated on it. It looked like he gave a hearty attempt at brushing and combing his hair before giving up so the golden blond spikes hung low, but not too low giving Naruto an admittedly hot look rather than a cute look. His bangs and side bangs framed his face nicely, and was it Sasuke or did Naruto's face look a bit older? More mature? He looked like the 17-year-old he is instead of the 15-year-old face with a few bits of baby fat still clinging on. Surely, he didn't grow a bit overnight like that. If there was a change to Naruto Sasuke definitely would've noticed because Sasuke notices everything about Naruto. Like how he was the only one in the room holding a small pouch for whatever reason-oh no wait. Choji had a bag too. Maybe they wanted to bring some of the food back.
His stunning blue eyes looked around curiously while one tan finger came up and innocently scratched at the whisker-marks lining one cheek. Sasuke had the strongest urge to waltz over there, grab that hand, and kiss it. Then he would look Naruto straight into his eyes and tell him that he needn't look any further. Sasuke was here and that was all he needed.
Hell what was stopping him from doing that now?
"Sasuke-kun? Are you listening to me? Sasuke-kun!"
"Er no Sakura. Just a second." Sasuke didn't look to see Sakura's jaw drop and then her bottom lip quiver as her green eyes shined with unreleased tears.
"I-I just poured my heart out to you. If-If you're going to reject me I understand but if you could at least listen and-"
Oh! Naruto was on the move! Strange he wasn't walking in the direction of Sasuke. Or looking at him. But he must not see him due to all of the commotion. Sasuke better go greet him before anyone else does! Particularly another guy. Sasuke hated other guys around his Naruto he really did. Sasuke immediately started walking towards the one who truly held his heart. He didn't hear Sakura mumble,
"...give me a proper response other than a 'thank you'."
Of course Sasuke made it to Naruto before anyone and he found it cute how the blond jumped in surprise when Sasuke appeared in front of him. Naruto raised his hand in a small wave.
"Hey Sasuke," he greeted. And Sasuke smiled.
"Hey," he replied. And now it was silent. Naruto fidgeted a bit, hopping from foot to foot. He was so cute! Even when he looked hot! Sasuke couldn't help but admire him for a bit. Just a bit. Until Naruto spoke again.
"So it was great catching up but I have to go and do something," he said. That snapped Sasuke out of it. His eyes widened in worry. He couldn't let Naruto leave him yet(Cue Inner Sasuke's "Why would he want to leave in the first-" Shut up inner thoughts). He grabbed Naruto's wrist.
"Wait! I need to talk to you!"
"Can't it wait? I seriously need to-"
"I need to tell you something!"
Naruto hesitated and Sasuke wondered why. Maybe he needed to go to the bathroom? Because there couldn't be any other reason for why Naruto didn't agree to hear Sasuke right now. His heart beat a little faster in nervousness until Naruto finally sighed and Sasuke calmed down believing Naruto would hear him out.
Only...
"Is it life-threatening?"
Huh?
"What?"
"Are lives in danger? Will they be in danger if you don't tell me this super important thing?" Well technically Kuyubi's life is in danger no matter what but why was Naruto being like this?
"Sasuke?"
"It's life-changing," he tried. He was stunned when Naruto pulled his hand away and sighed.
"Then I'm sorry but it'll have to wait. I need to go do something Sasuke and if I don't do it now I'll lose the nerve and," Naruto paused and took a deep breath before smiling a determined smile with a hint of nervousness in his eyes, "I want to end this year and start the new one off right."
What exactly was he...?
"Bathroom?" Naruto let out a little chuckle.
"You're funny Sasuke. But in all seriousness please just let me go do this first. We'll talk later okay? I promise," he smiled. Sasuke's shoulders slumped in disappointment. Well now that Naruto promised to talk to him later they had to wait. Because Naruto never breaks a promise and so if they talked now Naruto would've broken his promise. Such was the logic, he sighed.
Naruto took that sigh as Sasuke agreeing and patted Sasuke's shoulder in thanks before walking off. The gesture was nice but Sasuke was still upset as he watched Naruto walk away. He saw his blond walk to the other blonde and ask,
"Hey Ino! Is...?"
Ino turned to Naruto and smiled brightly.
"Oh hey whiskers! Wow you're gonna do it now? You sure don't waste any time do ya? But okay yeah the living room is all sealed off. You can do your private conversation or business or whatever in there."
Sasuke frowned. Private conversations or business? What private conversations or business? Why didn't Sasuke know what Naruto was doing? Why didn't Naruto tell him?
"Thanks!" Naruto grinned. "Great party by the way!"
Ino rolled her eyes with a grin. "Talk to me when you've actually started enjoying it."
"Haha I will!" Naruto gulped. "Hopefully..."
Sasuke noticed Naruto walking over to where Kuyubi was. His eyes were closed and he had a bright smile on his face but Sasuke couldn't help but notice that that smile looked slightly strained and a bit nervous. Sasuke watched closely as the guys crowded around there parted to let Naruto through(he was surprised when the most they did was greet Naruto with a smile. It was hardly anything to get upset over which he would have if they dared to touch Naruto. But what exactly was going on?). After replying to their hellos, Naruto walked straight up to Kuyubi and before the bastard could say anything Naruto spoke.
"Can I talk to you? For one quick second? Alone. Please?"
His breath hitch when he saw Kuyubi shrug and hop off of the window sill and follow the nervous-looking Naruto. They were heading for the living room that Ino had sealed off. What exactly was going on? Why weren't the other guys saying anything? Demanding answers? Asking questions? Why did some look grim and why were others downing their drinks?
What...was this private conversation going to be about?
Sasuke unconsciously found himself walking towards the red-head and blond duo. He was conflicted on running up to them and doing the demanding himself(because the nimrods won't) and hanging back because he KNOWS he won't get a direct answer from either of them if this really going to be a 'private conversation' giving Naruto's policy on those things. He would never find out what running up and asking would do as he was only halfway to them when Naruto undid the seal, led Kuyubi in, and then redid the seal.
Damn. He couldn't see in. He probably wouldn't be able to hear anything either. Damn. Just damn!
"Oh..." Sasuke heard from behind him. He looked to see Hinata looking just as sad and disappointed as he felt, her arm reaching out to where Naruto was. What exactly did she have to be sad about? She had the byakugan and couldn't that see through anything? Sasuke decided to oh-so kindly point that out to her.
"Can't you see through seals with your bloodline? Just peek in there and see what they're doing!" Sasuke said as if it was obvious. She softly sighed before turning to look at him. Sasuke was surprised to see...annoyance in her eyes? Hinata? Annoyed?
"Seeing as how you find it perfectly okay to ignore people when they are talking to you I'm not surprised you would suggest for me do a despicable act like invading Naruto-kun's privacy. Even if the byakugan could see through seals, which it hardly can since the chakra that made up the seal would make it difficult to make things out clearly, I would not dare betray Naruto-kun's trust like that. He deserves more respect from me and especially you Sasuke."
Sasuke's jaw dropped when Hinata turned her nose and walked away. Hinata told him off? Even if she was as softhearted as Naruto, she lacked the backbone to actually stand up to people like him! Where the hell did this confidence come from?
First the other guys act weird with Kuyubi, then Naruto doesn't want to talk to him and instead goes to talk to Kuyubi, and now Hinata is confident? What has the night come to?
Something very confusing and not at all planned.
And now Naruto was exactly where Sasuke didn't want him to be, alone with Kuyubi, and he couldn't do anything but sit and wait. He could try to go and talk to his peers but what good would that do? He would probably be so anxious that he'd ignore everything that was said to him and focus on where Naruto and Kuyubi were.
Sasuke quickly checked the time. Less than four hours to midnight. He was worried about the content of that private conversation in the living room. But perhaps in that case he had little to worry about. Kuyubi may be attracted to Naruto and he may have somehow brought Naruto under his control, but Naruto looked incredibly serious and nervous when he led Kuyubi to the living room.
So maybe...he figured it out?
Maybe he managed to break free of Kuyubi's control after Sasuke's little 'play hard to get' trick made him realize his true feelings for the Uchiha. And then maybe he couldn't talk to Sasuke now because he realized Kuyubi was horrible and since they live together and have been around each other all this time Naruto needed to confront him on this matter immediately and let him know just exactly what he thought of the red-haired devil now.
Sasuke smiled. That thought was nice. It never occurred to him his naive, little blond could figure it out himself so quickly without his help. He was proud of Naruto...but to make sure when Naruto comes out again he's still going to pull the blond to the side and explain everything.
Sasuke frowned. But he was worried that Naruto and Kuyubi's conversation would drag on to the New Year. The last thing he wanted was Naruto coming out at midnight to give a toast. It probably wouldn't change too much since Sasuke could easily still be by Naruto's side and kissing his lips when the clock struck twelve but...
"Sasuke-kun! I do not believe we ever managed to finish our conversation! How would like to catch up eh? Learn any good training regiments lately?" Lee exclaimed coming up to the Uchiha. Sasuke sighed. Lee's rambling might actually be good for him and help distract him since all he usually wanted to talk about was training. If he could just stand there and listen then maybe his stress levels will lower. Sasuke took a sip of his drink and with his back facing the living room, he listened to the taijutsu expert ramble on and on.
Or tried to anyway.
At some point Lee's words became a buzz in the background as Sasuke constantly glanced back at the living room waiting for the occupants to come out.
And at the 'two hours and thirty minutes left until midnight' mark, Sasuke couldn't take it anymore. Maybe it was the alcohol(his cup of sake had a little less than half left. He kept to his personal vow of not getting pants-wetting drunk thank you!) or maybe it was his natural impatience. But while Lee was finishing up his story of the time when Gai-sensei and he hunted acorns, Sasuke stomped off towards Ino who was enjoying conversation with Hinata and that one girl he always forgets.
"Hey. What kind of seal is on the living room door?" He asked. It was times like this that he wished he dabbed a bit more into sealing and learned more than storage seals. Ino glared at him. Harsher than he expected. What the hell?
"I don't think Naruto and Kuyubi are done with their conversation yet. So you will have to wait."
Sasuke scowled and clenched his cup. Dumb bitch didn't understand what could be going on in there did she? Lee's talk of training and fighting made him worry. If Kuyubi was willing to manipulate and control Naruto, wouldn't he also be willing to hurt the blond when he defies him? Sasuke didn't want to believe Kuyubi had a chance at hurting Naruto by a long shot, but during that sparring he remember Kuyubi somehow won and Naruto was a kind soul who may not have it in him to fight back! Sasuke NEEDED to get in there to protect him!
"Ino-"
"Look Sasuke! You've already ruined the night for someone and I'm not about to let you ruin it for another! This is MY party and I'm in charge of making sure everyone is happy and having fun."
Well she was sure doing a shitty job of it when it concerned Sasuke. And who's night did he ruin?
"Who's night did I ruin?" Was all he said though because as long as Ino held the knowledge of how to get to Naruto, he couldn't afford to make her too angry. Except maybe he accidentally did because Hinata shook her head, the brown-haired girl raised an eyebrow, and Ino stared blankly at him.
"If you," she finally said, "weren't holding a cup of alcohol right now. I would sock your face in."
What? What did Sasuke do? At his confused expression Ino rolled her eyes and groaned.
"Okay, yeah. Give me this," she took his cup from his hand. "Go to the bathroom which is down that hallway and if you can get Sakura to stop crying and come out THEN we'll talk about Naruto. Kay? Now move it!" She demanded.
Oh. Sakura. That's right. He had completely forgotten about her. Well it wasn't entirely his fault! He had Naruto to focus on! But it didn't look like Ino was buying that excuse as she(and Hinata and...Tintin?) glared at him. Obviously Ino was going to be of no help. He scoffed and walked away. Ino never should've encouraged Sakura. So if anything, she should've been mad at herself for lying to Sakura and convincing the pinkette that Sasuke would return her feelings. The blonde should've done a better job preparing her best friend for Sasuke's rejection.
Sasuke was debating the pros and cons of discreetly letting Ino know that ala his middle finger when he noticed something. The seal to the living room...now that he was a bit closer it looked kind of familiar. Didn't Orochimaru's hideout have a few of these? Sasuke stepped closer to it and analyzed it.
Yeah he could've sworn he saw a few of those lying around different hideouts. And he could possibly remember witnessing Kabuto undo a few. His mind was a little fuzzy but if he just focused maybe he could remember the hand seals needed to get rid of the seal.
Bird. Boar. No tiger! No bird, boar, tiger! Okay.
Bird. Boar. Tiger. Dog...Ram.
The seal released.
Sasuke smiled while others looked in his direction. Expressions varied but Sasuke cared very little for them. He was going to save Naruto now! He ran in the living room despite the protest from Ino and...
Stopped. And. Stared.
What in the world?
Naruto...was...there and so...was...Kuyubi but...
...
Naked private conversations?
Private conversations where Naruto and Kuyubi are naked on the couch. And Naruto is on his hands and knees. And Kuyubi is on top of him and his crotch is moving against Naruto's butt, one arm wrapped around Naruto's stomach and the other holding them up. And Naruto is moaning loudly and shouting 'faster!' and Kuyubi can't say anything because his face is buried into Naruto's neck and...
Private conversations are like this?
It was silent behind Sasuke. Even the music has stopped. But it took only two seconds for Naruto and Kuyubi to realize they weren't alone anymore. And when they did:
"WHAT THE HELL?" Naruto shouted shoving Kuyubi off of him. Of course Kuyubi didn't exactly fall off of him as he was buried deep within him and that caused complications(as expressed in the form of Naruto shouting "OW FUCK!") before Kuyubi muttered an apology and gently pulled himself out(adding another huge blow to Sasuke's self-esteem).
The two boys scrambled to get their discarded clothes on and cover themselves up and in that time, Ino shoved in front of the frozen Sasuke.
"I'm the one who should be saying 'what the hell' Naruto! What the hell you told me that you needed some privacy to TALK to Kuyubi not have sex with him on the couch! This isn't even my home! It's Ami's and the whole prank was SUPPOSED to be that while that dumb bitch of a ninja was out doing community service for messing up my shop, WE would mess up her foyer! You...complete genius! Having to clean her foyer of party favors AND her living room of sex? This will totally make her mad hahaha!"
No one was listening to Ino though. Not even Naruto. She stopped talking when she realized that. And when she realized that the air was particularly heavy.
But surprisingly it wasn't from Sasuke.
It wasn't from any of the other guys.
It wasn't even from Kuyubi.
The only reason Sasuke noticed the heavy air instead of being numb to it in his catatonic state was because he noticed right away that the air came when Naruto faced him. The blond was trembling, his fists were clenched, and his head was bowed so that his bangs shadowed his eyes.
Sasuke wasn't that delusional. Naruto was pissed.
At him.
"We were having A PRIVATE CONVERSATION SASUKE!" Naruto screamed bringing his head up. Sasuke paled at the sheer fury in those blue eyes.
"All I wanted was a little Goddamn privacy to confess my feelings to Kurama and you couldn't even let me fucking do that! What the hell's your damn problem! Why do you fucking feel the Goddamn need to be such a fucking...a fucking...DOUCHEBAG!"
Sasuke paled considerably. Confess his feelings? Naruto thought Sasuke paled for another reason so he kept his glare up.
"Kurama tells me everything Sasuke. Including about how you treat him and others. I was going to give you the benefit of the doubt. I always see you mess with Kurama and mess with my other friends but I wondered if sometimes they provoked you first? Kurama did admit to me that sometimes he may just try to piss you off on purpose. So I was going to talk to you later about your attitude. But no motherFUCKING no. You just couldn't fucking wait could you? You couldn't wait two Goddamn minutes(someone behind Sasuke mumbled 'hours' but most were too stunned to speak up and Naruto was too busy shouting to listen) for me to finish up doing what I was doing with Kurama and let me come to you! FUCK THAT! Whenever Sasuke wants something he needs and wants it now! To hell what anyone else wants! Goddamn it I could punch you so shitting hard right now! Shit!"
After all of that Naruto was breathing heavily. Everyone was silent. Sasuke didn't know what to say, what to do, or even what to think until Kuyubi laughed and spoke up.
"Hahaha Naruto doesn't like it when people see us doing something intimate and you all just caught us at an intimate moment obviously. Well that and the fact that, if I heard him right, he's been waiting to lose his virginity to me for a long time now. So you'll have to forgive him for being a bit angry," he grinned. Naruto growled and blushed and crossed his arms. Kuyubi then frowned and glared at Sasuke.
"With that said, I back everything he said to you Uchiha. I would go off on you myself but it looks like Naruto did a good job getting you to the point where you wouldn't listen. Not that you'd listen anyway."
Indeed, Sasuke was standing stock still. He was the stillest one of the bunch. The only one that matched his state was Hinata, but she at least was talking; mumbling, "Naruto-kun," every few seconds. Clearly she was taking this revelation just as hard. But Sasuke didn't care about her.
Confess...feelings? What...feelings? Not for Kuyubi right? Not romantic feelings right? Nononono! Feelings of...betrayal! And anger for manipulating him into this position! Naruto intended to confess to Kurama that he...
...
Wait who the fuck is Kurama?
"Why do you keep calling Kuyubi Kurama Naruto?" Ino asked for all of them. She was the most coherent of them all and that unofficially made her the spokesperson in this mess for the others. Seriously why the fuck didn't she look surprised like the rest of them? Unless she expressed her shock through an incredibly red nose she had no reason to not be like Sasuke and the others! Naruto's jaw dropped, almost as if he realized a mistake.
"Shit," he mumbled. "I guess I got so angry I didn't realize what I was saying..."
"Might as well tell them. It's not like there's a huge danger to them knowing. I think I've proven myself thus far. Or at least, I hope I have," Kuyubi-er-Kurama muttered to himself. Naruto sighed heavily.
"Alright...guys? I know this may be a big shock to you all and I really hope that you can just stick around and hear me out but...this guy's name isn't Kuyubi," he said pointing to Kurama. "It's Kurama. Well that's his real name anyway and you're lucky you're finding out now because I've known this guy for personally YEARS and it's taken THAT long for me to fucking find out."
"Are you still bitter over that? I told you I didn't tell you my name because I didn't think it was that big of a deal! I liked my title."
"It was a big deal to me! Names are important Kurama and they're bestowed on us for a reason. It's to individualize us from the people around us and make us our own, unique person."
"I've met some people with the same names before though."
"Oh yeah! Well...shush! My point still stands Mr. Mountain!"
How could they be ARGUING like this in front of Sasuke? And what the hell was this whole conversation leading up too? If Sasuke's feet didn't feel like they were rooted to the floor and his legs didn't feel like lead, Sasuke would've utilized the lesson he learned a while ago; the last time he let something involving Kuyubi go uninterrupted he went into one of the worst(and shortest) anger episodes of his life.
Could it really get any worse?
"So his name is Kurama. But you guys all know him as...hehe," Naruto laughed nervously. "Um...Switch a 'u' and a 'y' in Kuyubi and m-meet the Kyuubi no Kitsune."
"Yo," Kurama greeted. And just like that he went through a mini transformation. His golden eyes turned blood red, his whisker marks deepened and widened, two small fangs poked out over his bottom lip, and that soft, orange-red hair gained two streaks of black in it. It provided more proof that he was who Naruto claimed he was.
What do you know? It can get worse.
Amid the shocked cries and frantic maneuvers of the people behind the still frozen Sasuke, Naruto's voice rang loud and clear.
"DON'T FREAK OUT! I know you want to but let me explain please!"
"Naruto he's killed people! Why in the world would you introduce him to us? How the hell did this happen?" Ino shouted once more as everyone except Hinata(who was still in shock) and Sasuke nervously fell into fighting positions. Her nose wasn't red anymore...
"You don't understand! He's not-"
"I can defend myself Naruto don't worry," Kurama said coming up.
"Throughout my entire stay here and out of you all in front of me, I've only had murderous thoughts geared towards the Uchiha-OW!"
"That's not gonna fucking help!"
"Let me finish!" Kurama shouted rubbing his head where Naruto hit him. He turned back to the wary and two unresponsive ninja.
"During the time I have gotten to know you, you have all, except the Uchiha, proven to be humans worthy of respect and admiration. Except the Uchiha. Most of you were courteous from the get-go and although some of you," Kurama eyed Neji, Choji, Shino, Kiba, and Shikamaru, "Have made some mistakes you have least made up for it tonight. Except the Uchiha. My point here is I've made my mistakes in the past, but Naruto has shown me that it is possible to earn forgiveness. You just need to work for it," he smiled at Naruto who smiled and blushed back.
"And I should hope, despite my reserved nature that I have at the very least earned a chance at forgiveness from all of you. Except the Uchiha. He can hate me forever for all I give a damn."
"But...you attacked our village. You killed innocent people."
"I'm not entirely certain all the ninja I killed were innocent-OW!" Kurama rubbed his side where Naruto elbowed him.
"Let me explain this one. Ino, all of you, there's a lot more to the story than you all know. I can't reveal everything yet but know it involved mind control. Kurama's mind was controlled. He couldn't stop himself from attacking because someone was making him attack us. And yeah that person is still alive and out there but don't worry!" Naruto grabbed Kurama's hand. "Our love and connection will make it incredibly hard for him to get control again."
The 'hopefully' went unsaid by everybody.
"You-You love him Naruto?"
Naruto blushed and grinned sheepishly as he scratched his cheek with his free hand. "Well yeah haha. I'm pretty sure what I feel is love I mean...a crush is one thing and so is lust but these feelings I feel when I'm around Kurama are a pretty indescribable combination of both and more. Heh this is embarrassing..."
W-What?
"And earlier I was promising you guys that I'd take care of Naruto so there's no need to worry that I don't return his feelings."'
"You know, you COULD just say you love me too," Naruto pouted.
"Only you deserve to hear those words come from my lips. I respect your friends but we aren't that close."
After that there was a split second of silence before everyone started talking at once. Except Sasuke.
"Okay when we had you make that promise we did NOT know you were a rabid, angry fox!" Kiba shouted.
"How did this even happen? I mean when did it happen?" Shikamaru inquired.
"How does it work?" Choji asked.
"Naruto-kun..." Hinata mumbled.
"One at a time!" Naruto said.
"...I'm not rabid..." Kurama sulked.
All of these words, these meaningless words said by meaningless people went in one of Sasuke's ears and out the other.
His mind was scrambling once more to put the pieces together while he heard Naruto talk in the background.
"Okay so I'll start with how it happened."
He lost Naruto's heart, his Naruto's heart, to a rabid, powerful, angry fox demon?
"So truthfully me and Kurama have been communicating before all this. We were friends at very least. At the very most? We, well, I had a crush. Sorta."
That's insane. He was Sasuke Uchiha. Yes he made mistakes, many mistakes, many HUGE mistakes, in the past. But he was one the road to correcting them. He was on the road to proving himself worthy of Naruto's love.
"But remember that solo S-rank mission I took a few months ago? Well during it I kinda ahaha it's embarrassing."
"Nonsense! I thought it was hilarious! See Naruto's client owned a children's day care..."
He never killed anyone. Not anyone good or innocent. He spared Orochimaru's henchmen. He didn't fatally wound any of Konoha's soldiers(personally. Except Naruto himself but that barely counted since...oh). He killed Danzo. But that proved to be a good idea in a long run. Who knew what that maniac was going to do to ruin his and Naruto's life?
"So Naruto was drunk and high off of his ass right? And suddenly he thinks paintings on the wall are talking to him. Well to us because I could experience what he was experiencing. Only I was aware so I was laughing my ass off when the 'monkey'' told Naruto the secret to Hokagedom was peeing in the garden."
"You could've stopped me! I took a pay cut for that act!"
"Nah it was just too funny!"
Sasuke was also a good friend to Naruto. Sure he cause him pain for a few years but at least he didn't ruin his life. At least he didn't get everyone in the village to hate him. In fact, his actions helped Naruto look good in the villagers' eyes because Naruto managed to bring their beloved Uchiha back. He helped Naruto get popular even if it involved hurting him.
"So wind is blowing everywhere and Naruto is kicking up dirt because he believes he's swimming in a red ocean of ink and the dirt and pollen from the flowers are mixing and he starts seeing shit. Like crazy shit."
"I don't know why you didn't clean the drugs out of me then. I know you were bored and looking for a fun time but come on!"
And he loved Naruto. He loved Naruto first before anybody. Before anybody. He cared about him the most. He wanted to protect that innocent nature more than anyone. He wanted to be with Naruto more than anyone. After all the pain he went through, after everything that had happened to the Uchiha clan in general, didn't Sasuke deserve to have ONE thing go right for him(the forgiveness of everyone in the village didn't count as everybody has always liked Sasuke)? Danzo stole the Uchiha clan's dignity once. Itachi stole his mind once...
"Now the little runt is in front of my cage shouting about the Sage of Six Paths appearing in front of him and telling him he's a super important prophecy of sorts destined to marry me or something. At this point I'm laughing so hard I can barely talk. But I couldn't resist messing with Naruto's mind just a little bit more before I took the drugs off."
"So you turned into that form."
"Yep! I turned into this form and continued laughing when Naruto freaked out and demanded where his 'big stupid foxy went'."
"You laugh but to me it was terrifying! You disappeared and there was this strange kid where you were!"
"I know, I know. I kind of figured that out when you ran up and ripped off part of the seal to 'go in the cage and look for me' thereby releasing me...like this."
"And take note that THAT'S when he finally cleaned my body of the drugs."
"Well I couldn't have you fighting me. You were about ready to kill to find out where I was when I was right in front of you. Anyways so that's how I got out. Naruto and I then went to your Hokage and we made up a stupid little story to tell everyone and...here we are."
And the Kyuubi stole Naruto.
He was going to kill him.
There was no warning when Sasuke revved up his chidori with his mangekyo sharingan spinning wildly.
Uh oh =O! Sasuke's pissed! But not as pissed as Naruto hehe.
So yeah the first set of revelations. Now you have a good idea about why Naruto freaked out and left so fast after the guys caught him and Kyuubi in chapter 6. He doesn't like it when people see him doing something intimate and private here so he freaked and ran XD(and TigrezzTail has helpfully informed me that Naruto running was the right decision as things like blow jobs in a public place is illegal lol).
Now you also know he was quite the potty mouth. But in his defense he's angry :X.
But um, hope you like it so far and like I said chapter 11 will be up veeeeeery soon! It should be up later tonight at the most :).
Sorry again for the delay and please let me know what you think so far!