Riayu: HEY EVERYONE! THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER OF BLIND AS LOVE! That's right, last chapter, 'cause I freaking hate writing it.
Arbela: -.- Don't lie to them.
Riayu: Heheh…just kidding! How many of you started panicking? Nah, I love writing this, I get so many reviews and I've been added to so many alerts and favorites! I'm so happy!
Arbela: Then why did you say that?
Riayu: It was fun? I actually have no clue how long this is going to be, nor have I any clue how exactly it's going to end. I'm torn between two very conflicting endings. Anyways, thanks for all the reviews, each of you gets…Arbela, did you eat the cookies again?
Arbela: No! I got everyone Pocky! Passes out boxes of Pocky.
Riayu: Snatches one and starts eating Right, to the fic! By the way, the type of music that Sasuke is doing is like Breaking Benjamin.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!
Sasuke and Naruto had been dancing together for nearly an hour before either of them saw fit to relax, but when they finally did find a place to sit they were both exhausted. Naruto slouched in the seat, panting slightly, and leaned his head against the wall.
"Naruto?" Sasuke asked tentatively. It was starting to bother him when he looked at the blonde's eyes. He couldn't help but wonder what kind of blue they had been before the accident.
"What?" Naruto asked, tilting his head in a listening gesture.
"What color were your eyes before?" Sasuke asked, glancing at him from the corner of his eye.
"Blue, why?" Naruto asked, relaxing further into the cushy couch. Sasuke's eyebrow twitched in frustration.
"I meant what kind of blue. I was just…curious."
"Uh…here," Naruto pulled out his phone and turned it on, handing it to Sasuke. The background was of Pein and him standing together, both of them smiling. It was the first real smile that Sasuke had ever seen on Naruto's face, bright as a summer day and just as warm. It seemed fitting since his eyes were the same vibrant blue as the summer sky. Sasuke didn't notice Naruto was holding his hand out for the phone until Naruto spoke up.
"Is there a reason you're staring at my picture?" Naruto asked, wiggling his fingers for his phone. Sasuke dropped it into the blonde's hand and looked around.
"Shit," he said, spotting a tall figure walking towards them.
"What?" Naruto asked, his head snapping up in alarm.
"Itachi's coming over. Did you tell him we were performing here?"
"I'm not that stupid," Naruto said, sitting up straight.
"Hello, little brother," Itachi said, faking pleasantry. "I was surprised to see you on stage, especially with my band members."
"It's not my fault that they saw more promise in me," Sasuke said, smirking.
"The only promise they saw was in the fact that you're connected to him," he jabbed a thumb in Naruto's direction. "You and I both know it."
"I think they were tired of being in the same band as someone who lives up to their name," Naruto said, his eyes hardening.
"You aren't part of this conversation," Itachi snapped, glaring down at the blonde.
"If you're insulting Sasuke then it is my business," Naruto said, wrapping an arm around Sasuke's waist protectively. Itachi noticed it instantly, his mind whirling with rage.
"So you've stooped that low? To commit yourself to my failure of a brother," Itachi asked, seething.
"I wouldn't call him a failure. Hyuga Productions is after his band; looks like he's going to surpass you."
"You little whore," Itachi hissed, raising his hand as if to strike the blonde. The next moment he was pressed against the wall, a hand wrapped around his throat and lifting him into the air.
"If you ever lay a finger on my brother I'll rip the fleshy patch you call a nut sack off and cram it down your throat," Pein said with a snarl. He dropped the Uchiha and turned to look at Naruto and Sasuke.
"Iruka says he wants you to head home before things get too busy, it could get dangerous in here." Naruto nodded and smiled, standing up.
"Looks like I'm going to call it a night. I'll talk to you later, Sasuke?" Naruto asked as he stretched his hands over his head.
"I'll probably call you tomorrow, I'm working on a new song," Sasuke said. The blonde had already turned to walk away when a thought occurred to him. "Naruto, can I see your phone for a minute?"
"What for?" the blonde asked, turning to face the Uchiha.
"I had to look through my brother's phone to find your number; it would be easier to have it on my phone." Naruto handed his phone over and Sasuke opened it up, looked through the pictures, and attached it to text message that had Naruto's phone number in it. "Thanks," he said, handing the phone back.
"I thought you said you guys were faking it," Pein said when he had Naruto in his car.
"We are," Naruto said immediately.
"It sure didn't seem that way," Pein said, opening the door for his brother then closing it when the blonde was in his seat. "It sounded very real to me."
"We're just good actors, that's all," Naruto assured him, buckling his seatbelt with minor difficulty.
"Are you sure you don't like him, Naruto? I won't judge you if you do. He's a fine piece of ass," Naruto stared at Pein for a moment, his jaw hanging opened. "What?"
"You never told me you went that way!" Naruto exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air and banging his wrist off the roof of the car. He held it against his chest, trying to will the pain away.
"Went what way? This is the same way I always get to the house from the club," Pein said, glancing at the blonde.
"No, you never told me you're gay," Naruto said, starting to feel as if he were out of the loop.
"I didn't see a reason to, I've never really dated anyone," Pein said, staring at the bumper of the car in front of him. "I figured I'd tell you when I had a reason to share said information." Naruto shook his head, still feeling a little hurt.
"I didn't think you would really care very much," Pein said by way of apologizing. Naruto decided that being mad wasn't constructive and instead struck up a conversation about the progression of the band. Soon they would probably be selling albums, so long as Hinata was hired by her families company. If that happened then Naruto would get his books published and have a huge income, money that he would have no real use for. Sasuke slowly crept into his thoughts; the perfect features that he had felt only once and longed to feel again, the lips he had kissed that one time, leaving behind warm tingles. The thin waist he had wrapped his arms around less than an hour ago in a protective gesture; he wasn't acting and he knew it. He was just worried that Sasuke was.
"Here we are," Pein said, the car slowing and pulling up to the curb. "I'll drop Hinata off when she wants to leave," Pein said, getting out opening the door for Naruto and leading him up to the house. He didn't tell Naruto that Hinata might not want to come back for a while, and if she did she might not be alone. Hinata had met Kiba the day that Naruto had had the party and they had bumped into each other in the club.
"I'll see you later, Pein," Naruto said before closing the door. He was too tired to write that night so he simply went into his room and stripped down to his boxers, collapsing onto his bed and falling asleep almost instantly.
He woke to the sounds of birds twittering pleasantly and the gentle rustle of the breeze in the trees. Someone had opened his window to let in cool air. He could hear someone walking around, could smell soapy steam and breakfast; Hinata must have brought someone home and was cooking breakfast. He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, stood up, and pulled on a clean pair of cargo pants. He opened his door and was granted with even stronger scents, soap, steam, fish, miso soup, and dog. The last one alerted him and allowed him to prepare for the loud yell that he heard a moment later.
"Naruto, you're finally awake!" Kiba shouted. The brunette pulled Naruto into a headlock and rubbing his knuckles into Naruto's scalp.
"Kiba, what the hell are you doing in my house?" Naruto laughed, trying to escape the fist pressing his scalp. "And why were you using my shower?"
"Hinata invited me over so we could talk. I smelled when I woke up so I took a shower; she said it would be fine." Naruto blinked, no longer fighting against the hand abusing his scalp. Hinata had invited Kiba over, had they…no, she wasn't that kind of girl. Kiba seemed to read his mind. "Don't worry; we both kept out pants on." The blonde relaxed, nearly falling when Kiba released him from the headlock.
"I think breakfast is ready," Naruto said, smelling the air deeply. Kiba followed the blonde into the dining room and sat beside him, Hinata putting plates of food on the table.
"Good morning, boys," she said, the smile evident in her voice as she sat adjacent to Kiba, giggling slightly as he laced their pinkies together. Naruto ate his food quickly then excused himself, using the excuse of having a new idea for his story. They seemed like they would be happier without his presence. Naruto was in his room for five minutes, flopped on his bed with his mind wandering, when his phone started ringing.
"Good morning, Sasuke," Naruto said when he answered the phone.
"How'd you know it was me?" the brunette asked, the corners of his mouth bending ever so slightly.
"You're the only person that ever calls before ten a.m.; everyone else is either asleep or at work. What's up?" Naruto asked, rolling onto his back as he talked.
"I'm stuck," Sasuke admitted, twirling a pen between his fingers. "I've got half the song written, but I'm not sure what direction I want it to go in."
"You know I'm a storyteller, not a song writer, right?" Naruto asked, glad that Sasuke had thought to ask his assistance.
"That the thing, the song sort of tells a story, I was wondering if you could help." They talked for over an hour about the story and lyrics that could get the story across. When they were done Sasuke recited the lyrics to the blonde, who said they should probably be a little vaguer so that the listener could fill in some of the blanks. They reworked the song and Sasuke offered to have him over in a few days to hear the finished product. After they were done with the lyrics Sasuke started asking Naruto questions at random under the excuse of needing to know the people that he works with. Naruto accepted it and answered all of Sasuke's questions: Did he remember what his parents looked like? What did they look like? Was his last name attached to his parents? How old as he when he was abandoned? And so on. It didn't strike Naruto as odd that Sasuke was so concerned about Naruto's lineage; he just assumed it helped the brunette understand him.
A few days passed without word from Sasuke, then early one morning the blonde received a phone call. It was early, around seven-'o-clock according to Sasuke, who apologized for calling so early in the morning.
"There's something of yours at my house," Sasuke said quickly, he sounded distracted. "I think you should come get it." Then the line went dead. When Naruto tried to call back there was no response; so he got dressed and walked out of the house, wobbling sleepily as he walked down the steps and hailed a taxi. A few minutes later he was knocking on the Uchihas' front door, rubbing his eyes with his free hand. Sasuke opened the door instead of the butler and ushered the blonde in, leading him up into the living room.
"Well? What did I leave behind?" Naruto asked when Sasuke forced him into a seat.
"Nothing," Sasuke said, sitting in a large chair. "I just wanted to get you over here. There's something I want to tell you." Naruto's heart raced in his chest, he shifted in excitement. "I've found your family." Part of Naruto was disappointed, he had come to terms with the fact that he had a major crush on the Uchiha standing before him, but most of him was ecstatic.
"You found them?" Naruto asked, shaking slightly. "Where?"
"They moved to the eastern coast soon after you were born. As far as records show, they still live their." Sasuke paused, his voice taking on a different tone. "You have a brother, too. Records show his last residence was in Kyoto not too far from here. He was orphaned as well." Naruto's face closed up as he listened to Sasuke. His parents were alive and well, and they had enough money to live on the coast. Did they just not want children? What was the point of all of it?
"What's his address?" Naruto asked after a few minutes of silence. "I want to meet him."
"I called him," Sasuke said, standing and taking hold of Naruto's hand, hoisting him out of his chair. "He said we could go by around noon, when he gets out of work. He said he's excited to meet you." Naruto liked the feel of Sasuke's hand in his and didn't want to let go.
"So why did you call me over so early?" Naruto asked, surprised when the Uchiha didn't let go of his hand.
"I finished the sheet music and ran it through a program on my computer, you can hear what the unmodified version will sound like, but we'll probably tweak it some more when everyone else is playing it." Sasuke led Naruto up stairs and into his room, pushing him into the cushy computer chair and leaning over the blonde's shoulder and pressing the play button on the program. He stayed like that, leaning over Naruto's shoulder and watching the notes scroll across the screen as the music was played. When the song ended Naruto was silent for a moment before he tilted his head back, brushing his cheek against Sasuke's on accident.
"Not bad, I won't make any improvements now since the others aren't here. Did you intend for it to seem so sad?" Naruto asked, his cheek tingling where it had brushed Sasuke's.
"At first it was supposed to sound more angry than sad, but it sounds better this way." To make his point, Sasuke played the first version, which was loud with heavy guitar and drums; he said that the chorus and bridge would have consisted mostly of screaming. Naruto had to agree that the sadder pace was better. They were talking about one of the songs that Sasuke had already written and they were working on perfecting when Naruto's stomach grumbled loudly, demanding food.
"You came over without eating?" Sasuke asked, staring at the blonde.
"I can't cook to save my life," Naruto said, smiling. "And I couldn't wake Hinata up for something so trivial."
"C'mon, I'll make some breakfast. Is western-style okay?" he asked as he stood up and helped the blonde out of his seat.
"Sounds perfect," Naruto said, smiling his usual smile. Sasuke noticed that it was the same as the one in the picture he had sent himself, it was a real smile. As Sasuke cooked Naruto asked him questions about his new-found brother: What did he sound like, what did he look like, what sort of attitude did he have. Sasuke's answer was always the same.
"I can tell you, Naruto. That would take all the fun out of it." The brunette was smiling slightly to himself as Naruto complained and asked more questions until breakfast was ready and provided a reason for Naruto to keep his mouth shut. They ate in silence and when they were done Naruto had a phone call to answer. It was Hinata.
"Sorry I didn't leave a note," Naruto said immediately, leaning against a wall as he talked.
"It's okay," Hinata said. "I figured you had gone over there. I have some news for you, Naruto!" She sounded so excited that a thrill rose up in Naruto's stomach. "My father has decided he's going to hire me and make me one of his executive talent scouts as well as an agent! Neji and I are going to be equals! You can publish your books now, Naruto! And as soon as they're ready we can start professionally recording Jouyouheki Setsunai's music! Dad said he can't wait to hear them play and start working on a promotional video for their first CD," she talked like that for half an hour then said she had to get ready for a date with Kiba. Naruto relayed the information to Sasuke, who called up his fellow band members and told them. The process took the better part of an hour. They passed the last hour with idle talk and plans for the future under the care of Hyuga Productions. Itachi came down at one point and glared holes into both of their heads, nearly taking his butter knife to his brother's neck when he saw him brush his hand against Naruto's, causing the blonde's eyes to soften and a smile to curl his lips. When the time came for them to leave Naruto could hardly contain his excitement, he bounced in his seat on the way there and practically skipped up the steps of the apartment building and to the elevator. Five floors up and twelve rooms down, the blonde knocked excitedly on the door, rocking on the balls of his feet as he waited for the door to open.
"Hello?" A deep, rasping voice said. It was a sexy voice, the kind that would make women weak at the knees.
"Hi, my name is Uzumaki Naruto…I'm your younger brother."
Riayu: Cliffy achieved! Who can guess who it is?!
Arbela: Did you know you're a terrible person?
Riayu: Yup! But, I've also honored readers' requests. Which reminds me, eggs for Ivvy-sama Hands over a basket of eggs Bob is a girl. And thank you for the chicken feed Blacky-Chan3! Bob has decided he would rather swim in it than eat it.
Arbela: There's something wrong with you.
Riayu: And on that note, good bye everyone! Thank you for reading and more Pocky for all! Passes out huge bags of Pocky.