Here's the next chapter!! warning for mean uchihas/servant abuse.
Naruto being a servant wasn't much different from when he was just 'training.' But now Fugaku had no problem punishing the blonde if he did something wrong. Not that Naruto was punished often. Once on got whipped once, you tried hard never to have to get whipped again. Sasuke and Naruto also had a much harder time getting together because Naruto was constantly being watched now that he was a servant. Also, Sasuke was starting his training in being a future Lord Uchiha. Even though Itachi was training and wasn't going to be able to be come the next Lord Uchiha until ten years from now when he turned thirty, Sasuke was going to be in training 'just in case.' Neither Itachi nor Sasuke could figure out if that 'just in case' meant trouble for Itachi or an excuse to keep Sasuke away from Naruto.
It was at dinner one evening, while Naruto was serving them, that Fugaku began to talk business. Naruto never listened to Fugaku when he talked business, it was too boring. And Naruto had also found out that even as a noble by birth, he would most likely end up as a commoner when he was 21 because he had been a servant for so long and also because he was not given a proper education. Naruto overheard conversations about business and politics and could keep up for the most part, but he hadn't been properly taught either subject and so was considered 'uneducated.'
"Yes, Itachi, can you get me those papers ASAP?" Fugaku asked.
"Sure." Itachi said. That was the end of the conversation and the rest of the meal went on in silence. For some reason 'ASAP' stuck in Naruto's head. He didn't know what it meant and was curious. Later that night Sasuke had snuck into Naruto room and the two boys laid curled together on Naruto's bed.
"Sasuke, what does ASAP mean?" Naruto asked.
"As soon as possible." Sasuke said.
"How did you know?" Naruto asked.
"It's an acronym." Sasuke said. Naruto looked confused. Sasuke laughed softly knowing that Naruto didn't know what an acronym was. "It's a short way of saying something while using the first letters of each word."
"But how do you know what words the letters stand for?" Naruto asked.
"It's just something you learn. There are a lot of acronyms out there, but most of them are common. Like SOS, BYOB, TTFN, RSVP, HMS and so on. It's just a quicker way of saying it." Sasuke said.
"So people just make them up?" Naruto asked.
"I guess so." Sasuke said.
"We should make one up." Naruto said excitedly. Sasuke smiled.
"Okay. Think of one." Sasuke told Naruto. Naruto looked thoughtful for a few seconds before looking at Sasuke.
"I can't think of any." Naruto said. Sasuke thought for a second.
"How about SLS?" Sasuke asked.
"SLS? What does that mean?" Naruto asked.
"Sasuke Loves Sunshine." Sasuke said. Naruto smiled.
"Oh, then SLS too." Naruto said. Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Sunshine loves Sasuke." Naruto smiled. Sasuke laughed softly and kissed Naruto gently. Naruto allowed Sasuke to deepen the kiss. He had started liking the French kissing thing after another month or so of practicing. He hadn't yet embraced the whole 'arousal' thing. There were a few times when Sasuke had given him a hand job and even once when Naruto did it to Sasuke, but he still wasn't too comfortable with it. But the kissing, he enjoyed very much. There was a rumble of thunder outside and Naruto whimpered slightly.
"You're still afraid of storms?" Sasuke asked. Naruto nodded. Sasuke smiled softly and pulled Naruto against his chest. "I'll protect you, you know that." Sasuke said softly. He ran his fingers through Naruto's hair. He could feel Naruto shaking slightly but he didn't scream and cry like he used to which was good. An hour passed and the storm only grew stronger. Naruto whimpered and pressed against Sasuke.
"Sasuke, will you sing to me?" Naruto asked softly. Sasuke smiled.
"How about you sing for me?" Sasuke asked. Naruto was still for a moment and then nodded but was silent. Sasuke started humming softly, Naruto could feel the vibrations in Sasuke's chest. That was what actually calmed Naruto down, feeling and hearing Sasuke's voice echoing deep in his chest, but Sasuke didn't know that. Sasuke finished the song and started humming again but this time Naruto started 'singing'.
"You are my sunshine, my precious sunshine. When you're not with me, my skies are grey. I'll always tell you, how much I love you. So shine for me, my Sunshine, always." Naruto whispered. His voice might have been in tune, but was too soft to actually be able to tell. Sasuke smiled and held Naruto closer.
"You are my sunshine, my precious sunshine. When you're not with me, my skies are grey. I'll always tell you, how much I love you. So shine for me, my Sunshine, always." Sasuke sang softly against Naruto's hair. Naruto seemed to calm down after that. Sasuke kissed the top of Naruto head and felt Naruto kiss his collar bone (since it was the only place he could reach at the time). "Hey, how about you read me your Cinderella book, huh?" Sasuke asked. Naruto pushed off of Sasuke's chest to look up at him excitedly.
"Yeah." Naruto smiled. Sasuke smiled as well. In a lot of ways, Naruto was still very innocent and childlike. The two boys sat up and Naruto pulled his book out from under the mattress. Sasuke leaned against the wall and Naruto sat between Sasuke's legs and leaned on his chest. Naruto opened the book and started reading. "Once upon a time lived a beautiful girl named Cinderella..." Naruto started. They read the whole story and Sasuke only had to help on one or two words. Naruto was very proud of himself.
"You should go to bed." Sasuke said seeing that it was nearly one in the morning.
"Okay." Naruto nodded. He re-hid his book and started to lay down. Just then there was a bright flash of lightning and a roar of thunder that shook the house. Naruto let out a small cry and hid under the blankets. Sasuke looked at the pitiful shaking lump and sighed.
"Do you want me to stay here tonight?" Sasuke asked. Thankfully the top of Naruto's head was sticking out so he could see the boy nodding. Sasuke got back on the bed and pulled the blankets over him. Naruto immediately clung to him, but Sasuke didn't mind. He turned off the light and laid down, pulling Naruto against his chest and wrapping his arms protectively around the frightened boy. The next morning, however, was a different story.
"What the hell is going on in here?" Fugaku yelled glaring down at the two boys on the small bed. Iruka had gone in that morning to wake Naruto up and had found Sasuke in there as well and then gone immediately to tell Fugaku.
"The storm." Was all Sasuke's sleepy mind could manage as an explanation.
"You baby him far too much, Sasuke." Fugaku growled. "Get up." Fugaku snapped at Naruto. Naruto whimpered as he got out of his bed. Fugaku gave Naruto a look and left the room with Naruto following closely behind. Sasuke quickly got up and ran after them.
"Father, what are you going to do?" Sasuke asked. He already had an idea, but really hoped he was wrong.
"I'll show him something he should be scared of more than thunderstorms." Fugaku answered coldly.
"Wait, father, that's ridiculous." Sasuke said. They made it outside and were walking to the back of the yard. In the back of the yard was a shed that servants were taken to for their punishment. "This is a little extreme, don't you think?"
"If you keep babying him all the time, he'll never learn anything." Fugaku snapped at Sasuke.
"You think by whipping him, you're teaching him anything?" Sasuke asked.
"I don't think you have any say in the matter, Sasuke." Fugaku told him. Sasuke clenched his jaw to keep from saying anything. He knew it was pointless for him to argue with the man when his mind was already made up. Sasuke looked back at Naruto and Naruto smiled at him. Naruto knew what was coming, but he had been whipped before so it's not like it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. They made it into the shed and Sasuke felt sick to his stomach just thinking about Naruto getting whipped.
"Naruto." Sasuke said softly looking at the blonde boy. Naruto smiled reassuringly at him, but it didn't make Sasuke feel any better.
"You know the drill." Fugaku said looking at Naruto. Naruto nodded and took off his shirt, unfortunately revealing the necklace hidden underneath. During the day, Naruto would hide the ring in his pocket, but because he always slept with the necklace on he hadn't had time to hide it. "What is this?" Fugaku asked glaring at the sparkling blue stone on the silver band.
"It's mine." Naruto said trying to cover it, but Fugaku was too fast and he pulled on the ring, breaking the necklace. Naruto hissed in pain as the necklace broke and rubbed against the skin of his neck. "That's mine, you can't take it from me." Naruto said. Fugaku glared at him.
"You stole this." Fugaku said.
"No! It's mine." Naruto insisted.
"Where did you get it?" Fugaku asked.
"It was given to me." Naruto said.
"In other words you stole it?" Fugaku asked. Naruto shook his head as tears filled his eyes. "If there is one thing I can't stand its stealing and then lying about it." Fugaku said. He threw the necklace on the floor and stomped on it. Naruto did nothing, but Sasuke could see that he was about to cry. Fugaku picked up the necklace and threw it out into the yard. Naruto watched as the ring disappeared somewhere in the nearby forest. He knew he would never be able to find his ring
"I should leave so you can get on with this. It's not something I want to witness." Sasuke said before he turned and left the shed. He shut the door just as there was a whip crack and a cry of pain. However, Sasuke knew that Naruto wasn't crying because of the whip but because he lost his ring. Sasuke walked away from the shed and around in the yard. Later that afternoon Naruto was in his room, laying on his bed and letting the medicine on his back dry. He only got hit three times, but each was really hard and broke the skin on his back. The door opened and Sasuke stepped in.
"Sasuke, if you get found in here I'll get into trouble again." Naruto said.
"I know, I'm only going to be here for a few minutes. I just wanted to check on you and make sure you were okay." Sasuke said kneeling on the floor by the bed. Naruto nodded. Sasuke smiled and kissed Naruto's forehead. "I found something that might make you feel better." Sasuke said.
"What?" Naruto asked softly. Sasuke held out his fist and Naruto held his hand opened under Sasuke's. Sasuke's fist opened and something dropped into Naruto's hand. Naruto stared at the broken ring in his finger. The gem was cracked in a lot of places and the band was bent into a thin oval and it was dirty. "It's broken." Naruto said sadly. Sasuke smiled.
"It doesn't matter. It doesn't make it any less special or make what it represents any less meaningful. In fact, I think it makes it even more special because even if it looks broken it is still important and is still filled with love." Sasuke said. Naruto didn't realize that Sasuke was really comparing the ring and Naruto in his words. Naruto smiled softly.
"Thank you, Sasuke." Naruto said quietly. Sasuke smiled and kissed Naruto once more on the forehead.
"I should be going. I'll find you something to put that on later but for right now just keep it in your pocket, okay?" Sasuke asked. Naruto nodded. "Okay, I'll see you later. I love you." Sasuke smiled.
"I love you too." Naruto smiled and kissed Sasuke gently on the lips. Sasuke left the room and Naruto held the ring tightly. He was happy that Sasuke had found it for him and that even if it was broken, it was still special.
fugaku is an asshole. i know. but sasuke is just so sweet. REVIEW!!
