Boredom strikes again. I actually typed up most of this chapter right after the ninth, but I couldn't get on the computer to finish it. But now it's done, and long, and hope you like it.

It's a Nanny's Job

Chapter Ten: Obvious Beauty

When Sasuke's wife divorces him, and leaves him their kids, it's up to him to find a nanny. But nobody's right for the job. Except for this blonde, who refuses to leave his property until he gets the job. What's Sasuke to do?

It's Saturday. Friday went by in a blur, all I could think about was what would happen today. What in the world will we talk about? Where are we going to go? How long would we be gone?

The questions wouldn't stop coming. Sarel had to pull on my shirt several times because I kept zoning out.

Now, since Iruka's babysitting anyway, he's taking us both there. I suppose Sasuke will be driving, because I know Iruka won't let anyone use his car. I was always peeved about that, because it isn't like it's a Porsche or anything, what's the big deal?

As we pull up into the driveway, Sasuke comes out of the house, both Sarel and William holding onto one of his hands. Iruka couldn't hold in his 'awww'.

Iruka got parked the car and pulled the key out of the ignition, and got out. I got out a second later, crossing my arms over my chest in a vain attempt to keep out the cold. I could see Sasuke shivering too, but if I told him he'd never admit it.

Sasuke held out the hands of his two children, and Iruka took them both, watching Sasuke lean down and kiss them both on the forehead, before going inside into the warmth of the Uchiha house.

Sasuke watched them go into the house, and when the door closed behind them, he turned to Naruto with an expectant look on his face.

"What?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke sighed and shook his head, waving a hand in the direction of his work car. As Naruto made his way over, Sasuke went to the driver side, pulling the keys out of his pocket and unlocking the doors.

Both were silent as Sasuke pulled out of the driveway and down the street. Naruto quickly found the silence unbearable, and was about to say something when Sasuke leaned forward and turned on the radio, taking a quick glance at Naruto as he pulled away.

The music that came on didn't surprise Naruto, it was classical music. Naruto could see he might actually get along with Hinata. Naruto tried to hide his grimace, but Sasuke was like a hawk and he caught the look.

He rolled his eyes and said, "Show, Naruto. It's for show."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, trying to block the music from his ears, "Show? What the hell do you mean 'show'?"

"I hope you don't talk to my kids with that mouth." Sasuke growled, eyes flashing. Naruto quickly shook his head, "I carpool with a few people from work, and they're real tight-asses. This is the kind of music they like, so I put it on."

Naruto had to fight the urge to blurt, 'As opposed to you?' on the tight-ass comment. "For show?"

"For show."

Naruto shook his head amusedly, "I wouldn't do that. If it were my car, I'd put on anything I want, company be damned. Do you even like them?"

Sasuke shook his head. "Well then, why do you try to please them? If you don't like them, that's a good reason to put music on that grates on their nerves."

Sasuke shook his head, rolling his eyes. Naruto could see amusement sparking in his eyes though. "Alright then, you change it to something you want to listen to."

Naruto wondered if he had heard wrong, "Excuse me?"

Sasuke frowned, and Naruto realized he probably didn't like repeating himself, "Change the station to your liking, idiot."

Naruto pushed down the anger he felt at the insult, and played with the radio dial for a while, looking for his favorite station. When he got to it, he leaned back with a satisfied grin. One of his favorite songs was playing.

'Everbody wants to live, like they wanna live, and everybody wants to love, like they wanna love, and everybody wants to be closer to free'

Sasuke looked at the numbers displayed, and though it wasn't his favorite station, he could live with it. The music wasn't bad.

Naruto turned to him, self-satisfied grin still in place, "Know this song?"

Sasuke had to take a moment to listen to the lyrics. Not recognizing the beat or the lyrics, he shook his head no.

"Are you serious? This is one of my favorite songs!" Naruto mock-gasped, putting a hand to his chest.

Sasuke listened to the song again, and looked at Naruto with a raised eyebrow, "This song?"

Naruto shrugged, "What? It has a good beat."

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

'Everybody one, everybody two, everybody free, everybody needs to touch, you know, now and then, and everybody wants a good, good friend'

"So, where are we going?" Naruto asked, bobbing his head to the music.

Sasuke faltered, "I... Don't know."

Naruto would've fallen over if he weren't in a car, "What! Sasuke Uchiha, the most organized and schedule-oriented person I know, doesn't know where we're going?" He looked around with a thoughtful expression before muttering, "Hell must've frozen over."

Sasuke sighed. "Any ideas then, genius?"

Naruto grinned, "Nope."

"Think hard."

'And everybody wants to love, like they wanna love, and everybody wants to be, closer to free, yeah, closer to free...Yeah, yeah, yeah…'

Naruto frowned, "Yes'sir!" He mock saluted, before looking out his window, watching the stores and restaurants pass by. One in particular stood out, "There!"

"Why there?" Sasuke asked, as he pulled into the far lane to turn into the parking lot.

"Because they have the best food ever!" Naruto exclaimed, bouncing a little in his seat.

"...It's a cafe, Naruto."

"I know! One of my friends works there, and they have really good breakfast food!" Naruto said as he unhooked his seat belt and climbed out of the car. When Sasuke didn't move, Naruto leaned into the car, his best puppy-dog look on, "Please?"

Sasuke looked away, scowl on his face, "Naruto, I have two kids, do you think I can't resist the puppy eyes?"

Naruto laughed, "Then why'd you look away?"

He didn't get an answer as Sasuke violently twisted the key out of the ignition and got out of the car, slamming the door behind him. Naruto pushed the door shut more gently and ran after him, humming the tune of the song they had been listening to.

Naruto ended up running all the way to the cafe, and Sasuke had to jog to catch up to him. He sighed a 'thank you' to Naruto as he held the door open for him.

Naruto found a seat near the back, right next to the window, and they sat across from each other. Sasuke looked through the menu provided at the table, while Naruto called over a waitress.

"Hey Ino!" Naruto called, waving a blonde haired woman over. The woman came over with a bright smile on her face, pulling a pad of paper and a pen out of her uniform apron along the way.

When Ino got to their table, she flicked Naruto on the ear. Naruto hissed and rubbed at his ear as he asked, "What was that for?"

Ino put a hand on one hip, "Temari told me you waked her up at three in the morning Thursday night."

Naruto held up a finger, "Well, actually it was Friday morning, but--" Naruto was cut off when Ino flicked his ear again. He poked her angrily in the side, and she backed up a few inches, "Would you stop flicking me? Jeez..."

"Why did you wake her up so late at night?" Ino asked with a scowl.

"I couldn't sleep."

"So you called her?" Ino asked, incredulous expression replacing her scowl.

Naruto grimaced, as if the mere idea could kill him, "No. I called Gaara."

"Why didn't you call his cell phone?" Ino asked.

"He turns it off at night." Naruto replied.

Ino pulled a face, "Oh. Ok then..." She looked at Sasuke, and a delighted expression took over her features, "And who is this handsome gentleman?"

Naruto glared, protectiveness flowing through him, "Ino, don't. You know you've got someone."

Ino sighed, regret taking over, "I know... If only I had met you before him."

Naruto reached over and poked her in the side again, and she swatted at his hand. "You know you love him."

Ino crossed her arms, "Technicalities." She muttered, before she took priorities into her hands again and she pulled the pad of paper in front of herself again, "Alright then. What can I get you two?"

"The usual." Naruto said.

Sasuke scanned over the menu again before speaking, "Coffee, black." He ignored Naruto's grimace as he waited for Ino to write his order down, "And... A blueberry muffin."

Ino blinked, "Are you sure that's all you want?"

"No wonder you're so thin." Naruto muttered, ignoring both of their glares.

Sasuke nodded, "That's all I want, thank you."

Ino hesitated, an uncertain look on her face, before walking away to get their food.

"You're not big on food, are you?" Naruto said dryly.

"Shut up."

Naruto sighed and stayed silent until they gave them their food. A plate with two big hot pancakes and two pieces of bacon was given to him, with a root beer, while Sasuke got his black coffee and blueberry muffin.

Sasuke looked his food over once before asking, "How do you stay so thin? I've never seen you eat anything healthy in all the time you've been my kid's nanny."

Naruto looked up from where he had been stuffing his face with pancakes, and swallowed with a little difficulty before replying, "I can't stay still."

"Excuse me?"

"I. Can't. Stay. Still." Naruto said, fighting the urge to lean over and smack Sasuke upside the head, "Iruka always said I had ADHD, or something like that. I have to stay active or I get really bored. Staying still and listening to people for a long time used to be really difficult for me. Not so much anymore."

Sasuke nodded silently. Should've expected something like that. They continued eating in silence. Sasuke ate slow so that he wouldn't be finished and have to wait for Naruto to finish. He found he didn't need to do that, as he found himself only half-finished and Naruto already done with his food only ten minutes later.

"Come on, Sasuke!" Naruto whined, mouth covered in syrup, "Let's go somewhere else! This is boring!"

Sasuke felt irritation biting at his sides. "Fine." He set down his three fourths finished muffin and waved over Ino.

Naruto blinked, "Sasuke, finish that first, or you'll be really hungry."

"I'll finish it in the car." Sasuke said, before asking Ino for the check. She nodded and went to get it, and was back quickly.

Sasuke paid for both their breakfasts, and Naruto found his protest cut off as Sasuke handed the money to Ino and got out of his seat.

Sasuke was about to open the door when he turned to Naruto, "Go wash that syrup off your face."

"Syrup?"

"You have syrup on your face. Go wash it off." Sasuke sighed. He stood by the door as Naruto went to the bathroom to wash it off.

Irritation was eating away at Naruto as he washed off the syrup. He felt like a child. Though he was thankful that Sasuke hadn't let him walk out of the cafe with syrup all over his face, the way he had told him to wash it off ticked him off. Like he was a child.

The thing that really pissed him off though, was him paying for their breakfast. He had brought along money to pay for his, and he was thankful that Sasuke had paid (as he was low on cash), but he felt like he was being given charity. And he didn't like charity. He had been given enough of that, along with pity, when he was younger, and he hated it. It made him feel as if everyone thought he couldn't take care of himself, like he was someone who needed their help, like he wasn't anybody. Just someone to be pitied and given fake acts of sincerity.

Naruto had to take a few deep breaths before he left the bathroom, face dry and clean. He had to remind himself that Sasuke didn't know that what he did had made him feel bad.

Sasuke didn't say a word to him as he walked out the door ahead of him, making his way to the car. Neither said anything as they got into the car and left the parking lot.

It was Sasuke who broke the silence finally, "Where to?"

Naruto was quiet a moment before saying, "How about the park?"

Sasuke couldn't keep the incredulity off his face, "The park?"

Naruto nodded, feeling irritation surging up again, "Why not? It's a nice place to go to. Besides, the weather is nice."

"It's freezing, Naruto, there's no sun. The sky is covered in dark clouds." Sasuke said.

Naruto nodded again, excitement overtaking the irritation, "I know! Isn't it great?" Despite what most people would've thought, he loved the cold and dark. He loved when it rained and snowed, and when dark clouds covered the sky and blocked out the sun. It was like the whole world was silenced. When it's cold and dark, things go silent, and people are left to look up at the sky and simply stand and watch.

Sasuke frowned, "But it's cold."

"And that's a problem for you?"

Sasuke nodded. "Yes it is."

"You don't like the cold?" Naruto asked.

"No I don't, Naruto."

"Total mind blow." Naruto muttered. "Alright, how about this. We go to the park for a little while, and you pick the next place to go."

Sasuke frowned, "You picked the last place."

"You told me to because you didn't have any ideas." Naruto grinned, satisfaction in his tones, "So, to the park we go!"

Sasuke sighed and made a u-turn.

It was even colder when they stepped out of the car. Naruto shivered as a cold blast of wind swept over him, but despite his shivers he jumped onto the curb and ran along it, leading the way into the park.

Sasuke didn't bother to follow as he opened the trunk and got out two jackets. He pulled one of them on and slung the other one over his shoulder as he closed the trunk and locked up the car, before following Naruto at a more sedate pace.

Naruto finally stopped by the lake that covered a lot of the area of the park, waiting for Sasuke to catch up. He jumped around as he waited, knowing that keeping active helped keep the warmth in.

Sasuke threw the extra jacket at him as he drew near, and Naruto thanked him as he pulled it on. Naruto tugged at Sasuke's arm before running to the playground.

Sasuke had to wonder whether Naruto was really a child in a man's body as he watched him go down the slide, squealing like a child.

Naruto had played on every piece of equipment, discluding one that needed two people to work. Naruto rushed over to Sasuke, laughing as a few beads of cold sweat ran down his face.

"Come on Sasuke, come play with me!" Naruto laughed.

Sasuke almost laughed in Naruto's face. "Play with you? I don't think so."

Naruto whined in disappointment, "Come on, Sasuke! Please? I won't stop bothering you until you do!"

"No."

"Come on! It'll be fun, I swear!"

"No."

"Sasuke!"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

Naruto adopted a sly look, "How about I make a deal with you. You go on that teeter-totter with me, and then we can leave the park."

The appeal was too much. "...Fine." Sasuke muttered, not happy about giving in. He followed Naruto over to the teeter-totter, and sat on one end while Naruto sat on the other. Naruto, being the one who's side was on the ground, pushed up and Sasuke found himself on the ground instead. He pushed up, then Naruto, then him, and Sasuke actually found himself enjoying it. He hadn't been on a teeter-totter since he was a child.

Naruto caught the small amount of pleasure on Sasuke's face, and felt a satisfied. At least he was having fun. Never mind that he knew Sasuke wouldn't admit it.

As they were leaving the park, Naruto stopped by the lake, grabbing Sasuke's arm to stop him. Sasuke gave him a questioning look, and Naruto pointed out at the lake.

A few minutes passed, and Sasuke still couldn't see what Naruto was seeing. "What?" He said.

Naruto looked at him, bothered by the disruption of silence. "Don't you see it?"

Sasuke sighed, toeing the ground in impatience, "No, Naruto. What am I supposed to see?"

Naruto sighed and tugged at his arm as he kneeled. Sasuke kneeled next to him, and looked in the direction Naruto was now pointing. "Look at the top of the water, and try to see through it, look down near the bottom. You'll see it."

The water was hard to see through. It was tinted brown, but that might've been the bottom reflecting onto the surface. Sasuke looked at the spot Naruto was pointing at, and looked through the water, looking at the bottom.

He could see a large shadow moving around at the bottom. Nearly a foot long. Sasuke turned to Naruto and murmured, "It's a fish."

Naruto nodded, not taking his eyes away from it, "Yeah. He's the biggest one in the lake. He's my favorite."

"It's a fish." Sasuke repeated.

"I know that, Sasuke. But you should see him. He's real big, and he's so silver he shines in the sun. He's got a pretty tail, and when he swims, it's like he glides through the water." He finally tore his eyes away from the water to look at Sasuke, his eyes getting a far-off look, "You should see him jump. It's like he's a flying fish. He can jump three feet in the air, I swear, and he makes the biggest splash..."

"It's a fish, Naruto."

Naruto got an annoyed look, and looked back at the lake, "I know, Sasuke. But open your mind a little and try to see the beauty. Not everything has obvious beauty." Naruto stayed still for a few minutes, watching the shadow of a fish move around, before sighing and standing, pulling Sasuke up with him. Sasuke followed him to the car. Something that Naruto had said had stuck in his mind.

Not everything has obvious beauty.

Naruto didn't ask where they were going, and Sasuke didn't tell him. They both listened to the radio as Sasuke drove, both caught in their thoughts.

Sasuke sat back, idly drumming his fingers on the steering wheel to the song playing on the radio, but soon stopped when he noticed how still Naruto was. For some reason, it bothered him a lot, and he didn't know whether to say something about it or keep quiet.

He didn't know whether Naruto was the type of person that wanted people to talk to him when he was upset, or if he wanted to be left alone. He didn't even know if he was upset or just thinking.

Sasuke remained silent and didn't say anything to Naruto during the drive, but found himself getting more and more bothered. He was actually getting restless because Naruto wasn't talking.

So Sasuke gathered up his courage and spoke. "What's wrong, Naruto?"

Naruto started and looked up, a dazed expression on his face as if he had just woken up. "Huh? Oh. Nothing."

"Uh huh, sure. And I'm a big Husky dog." Sasuke said, sarcasm dripping from his tones.

Naruto looked at him, criticism in his eyes, "No, no... If anything you'd be a panther, or some kind of cat."

Sasuke had to do a double take. "What?"

Naruto had to search for the right words, "Well, you know if you were to suddenly become an animal, I'd imagine you'd be some kind of feline. You know, a panther, a tiger. Something powerful, and sly, and beautiful."

"Beautiful?"

"I..." Naruto faltered, "Well, haven't you looked in a mirror?" Bluntness was always his fort. Iruka had always told him he was never good at lying.

"...Beautiful?" Sasuke said incredulously.

"Can we get back to the subject at hand?" Naruto said, wanting to get away from the current topic.

Sasuke immediately grabbed at the chance to talk about something else, "Alright then. What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Naruto... You haven't said a thing since we got in the car." Sasuke sighed.

Naruto frowned, playing with the cloth of the seat in nervousness. When Sasuke gave an exasperated sigh, Naruto finally spoke up, "Do you see beauty in anything!" He shouted, throwing his hands into the air.

Sasuke's eyes widened. He hadn't expected that. "What do you mean?"

"I mean what I mean. I mean, I look at all these things, and I can see the beauty in them. I look at a tree, and I see beauty. I look at a fox, and I see beauty. Damnit Sasuke, I can even look at a fish and see beauty!" Naruto paused, and wetted his lips, "You know... I bet, I could look at you, and see beauty in you. Not the outside. The inside."

Sasuke had to look away from Naruto, not wanting to see the desperation in those eyes. He was pleading with him to understand. He didn't say a word for a few minutes, and as he turned the car into a parking lot, he said, "I see beauty, Naruto. Let me show you what I think is beautiful."

Naruto stared in awe at what was in front of him. He turned to Sasuke, eyes wide and said, "Dance studio?"

Sasuke nodded, a tiny smile tugging at his mouth as he opened the door to the dance studio. A pleasantly warm blast of air washed over them as they made their way inside, a welcome change to the nearly frigid air outside. A tall slim woman made their way over to them as soon as she saw them, smile on her face as she spotted Sasuke.

Naruto was busy staring at Sasuke. Did he just smile? It wasn't a very big smile, barely noticeable, but... That was an amazing smile.

Naruto had to fight to not turn into mush. He listened idly as Sasuke talked quietly to the woman, and followed when she led the way into a room well into the building. Naruto didn't bother to read the sign on the door, so when he went into the room he was surprised at what he saw.

He was expecting to see people dancing one of those dances you see in old time movies, where it's slow and proper with women in poofy dresses and men in uncomfortable suits with fake smiles. Ballroom dancing.

What he saw instead was something that peaked his interest and made him forget, for just a moment, Sasuke's unexpected smile. It was strange, but it had a beat that nobody could ignore. There were a bunch of women lined up along the floor, and there were a few men in the corner beating on drums, making a song that made you want to jump around and have fun. The women were dancing full out, spinning and lifting their legs into the air, grinning like it was the most fun they had ever had in their life.

It probably was. It looked like a lot of fun.

The blonde woman walked out of the room, leaving the both of them to sit at the back of the room and watch.

After nearly a half hour of watching the women dance in silence, Naruto turned to Sasuke with a smile. "Dancing, Sasuke. That's the last thing I would've expected you to find beauty in."

Sasuke smirked, "Yeah, well at least I don't find beauty in fish."

Naruto reached a hand over and pushed Sasuke's shoulder, a laugh escaping his lips. "Shut up."

It was after one o' clock when they left the dance studio. They had gone to other dance rooms after the first, and Naruto found himself surprised time and time again. It seemed he didn't know as much about Sasuke as he had initially thought.

"Where to now, Sasuke?" Naruto asked quietly.

Sasuke glanced at him once before looking back out at the road, one hand on the steering wheel as he messed with the radio dial. "Where do you want to eat?"

Naruto looked at him strangely, "How about we eat where you want to eat now?"

Sasuke shook his head, "I don't have any preference."

"You don't have many preferences, do you?" Naruto murmured. That has so many implications...

"Naruto..." Sasuke sighed, "Just pick somewhere."

"Alright... I know a little place." Naruto looked around for a street sign, "Turn right."

"Charms?" Sasuke said, skepticism in his tone.

"It's got great food, Sasuke. Come on." Naruto sighed, opening the door for Sasuke to go through first.

A young man with short dark brown hair greeted them at the door. "Two?" Naruto nodded, and the man took two menus from the podium in front of him and began walking away. Naruto followed, closely followed by Sasuke.

The man walked back to the entrance to sit another party of people who walked in after them, then came back to them, pad and paper in hand.

"Drinks?" He said.

"You're not a man of many words, are you..." Naruto looked at the tag on the right side of the man's chest before saying, "Blyke?"

Blyke frowned a little, and looked away, "Sorry sir, I'm just having a bad day."

Naruto tilted his head, eyes showing with sympathy, "Really? What's wrong?" Sasuke looked at him like he was crazy, but Naruto ignored the look.

Blyke caught the look and backed up a little, holding up the pad of paper a little more and tapping it with his pencil. "I don't think I should bother you with the story, sir. Drinks?"

Naruto bit the inside of his mouth. This Blyke kid looked really sad about something, but he was spending time with Sasuke. Decisions, decisions...

I've got a long time to spend with Sasuke. The whole day, in fact. This kid looks too pitiful to not try to help... I just hope Sasuke won't kill me.

Naruto stole a glance at Sasuke before looking up at Blyke, who, despite his best efforts, was giving him a pleading expression. Naruto smiled as sincerely as he could and said, "How 'bout this, Blyke. You get me a chocolate milk, and Sasuke a..." Naruto looked at Sasuke for help.

"Water."

Naruto had to fight a grimace as he turned back to Blyke, "And you grab yourself something to drink too, and you can talk to me about it."

Blyke's wide blue eyes widened even more, and he took a large step back, "Oh, no, I don't know... I'm not on my break, and..."

Naruto took a look around the restaurant, "Well, there's basically nobody here, so I guess you can take a while off your job to talk, can't you?"

Blyke looked like he was having an internal struggle. After a few minutes he finally sighed and tucked the paper pad and pencil into the pocket of his uniform before smiling, "Alright. I'll be back with your drinks soon, sirs." And he walked off with the smile still on his face.

Sasuke waited until he disappeared into the back of the restaurant before speaking. "What was that?"

Naruto looked at him, innocent expression in place, "What? He was down in the dumps, I just want to help him."

"He's a stranger, Naruto."

Naruto looked puzzled, "So? Everyone needs cheering up once in a while."

Sasuke scowled and looked away. "Fine."

Naruto couldn't keep the wide grin off his face. "Thanks Sasuke."

Sasuke didn't look at him as he stared out the window at the cloudy sky, "Don't mention it."

TBC...

I saw on that movie, George of the Jungle, where he saw those dancers with those guys in the corner playing those drums... I thought it was awesome, so there you go. I actually have no idea what it's called... Anyone have any idea?

Naruto's got Sasuke's shirt on under the other shirt he has on, so Sasuke doesn't know he has it...

The song that's playing in the car is 'Closer to Free' by the Bodeans. I think it was the theme song to some show, I don't know… Anyway, I just really like that song so I put it in. I don't own that song, or the Bodeans or anything like that, trust me.

There's another chapter. I was actually going to have Naruto meet an ex at the restaurant and have them maybe get into a fight or something, but this is... It just came out, so there it is. Damn hands have a mind of their own. Hope you liked, see you next chapter.