(Jake's House)
Childhood is not from birth to a certain age. And at a certain age the child is grown and puts away childish things. Childhood is the kingdom where nobody dies.
It was raining hard that day, every drop falling to the ground reverberated a booming sad note, and the entirety of the torrential shower was seemingly like a morose requiem that beat upon the heart of those perceptive enough to discover its hidden song.
Billy was on his way to the kitchen to get him a can of Budweiser when he saw the outrage in his son's face as Jake glared indignantly at a thing the latter was holding in his hand.
"Jake…what's wrong?" Billy queried paternally, worried. His inquiry was met with silence however as Jake continued to glare at it until it began to crumple from the latter's hand savagely tightening grip.
At that point Billy began to wonder restlessly the contents of the piece of paper on Jake's hand to elicit such an anger and melancholy from the latter. Then out of sudden, seemingly no longer able to contain the fury brewing inside of him, Jake stormed out of their house.
"Jake, Jake….Jacob!" Billy exclaimed, calling his son's name with an unmistakable urgency in his voice, trying to stop him from what he feared he's about to do and at the same time pleading him to calm down, but it was in vain for it would seem that his voice once again fell on deaf ears as Jake continued pacing with livid strides then subsequently transformed in to his wolf form and sprinted in to the forest, disappearing in to the shadows cast upon by the spreading oaks.
Stooping down from his wheelchair, Billy then caught sight of the thing that caused much of his son's indignation and grief. Laying indifferently on the flagstone and dripping wet from the rain was a letter of invitation cordially inviting them to Edward and Bella's wedding.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
(One Month Later)
Brooding stoically, Naruto can't help but notice that something was amiss. If there is one thing he's certain of, it is that he was no longer in Forks, seeing the sheer quantity of sloping dunes on a sea of sand that stretched out as far as his eyes can see.
"Kurama, do you have any idea where the hell are we?" Naruto bewilderedly asked the fox but strangely got no response. "Well this is strange." He then muttered to himself.
"Naruto" Said a disembodied voice in a whisper like modulation, as if the wind itself was talking to the shinobi.
"Who's there!" Naruto responded, pulling a kunai from a storage seal on his arm then shifting in to a defensive stance. Though at the back of his head he can't help but wonder that the voice sounded quite familiar to him.
"Naruto." The shinobi once again heard the pleasantly gentle but singularly penetrating voice as he took notice of the sand particles dancing gracefully in the air.
"That voice…..but it can't be." Naruto mumbled in a hollow utterance in both disbelief and surprise.
Out of sudden the shinobi felt that a hand gently patted him on his shoulder. Then as he shifted his gaze he saw someone familiar. It was Gaara. The latter has a tranquil bearing on his face and was wearing the Allied Shinobi Forces uniform, similar to the last he saw him more than ten thousand years ago.
"Gaara? Is that really you?" Naruto gaspingly queried, he couldn't believe what his eyes were seeing at the moment.
"It has been a long time Naruto." Gaara replied. Smiling amicably at Naruto, glad to see an old friend once more.
"But this is impossible…I saw it with my own eyes…..you and the sealing squad" Naruto mumbled, he didn't have the heart to finish his sentence for it was too painful to remember. He saw personally how the juubi, with its unfathomable power, extinguished Gaara and eradicated the entire division he led with a single blast from its tailed beast ball during the final moments of the fourth great shinobi war.
"Naruto" Gaara said serenely in a somewhat solemn voice. "Like many others I'm no longer of this world. We are in your dream. It's the only way we could communicate. I have temporary come back to tell you something important." He then continued.
"I knew this was too good to be true." Naruto smirked in melancholy and dejection. "But ya'know I can't explain in words how happy I am to see you Gaara, even if none of this is real." He then continued smiling with genuine happiness but at the same time he can't help but feel a nostalgic sadness for he knew that his friend along with all the wonders of this fleeting dream will cease to exist once he awakened from sleep.
"Don't be sad Naruto." Gaara consoled in a soft voice. "My time has come and I have come to terms with my fate knowing that I've had the great privilege of fighting with you side-by-side and the even greater honor of being your friend. We shall meet again when the time comes but for now destiny has appointed a much more important part for you to play." He then said with a placid smile.
"Gaara" Naruto said glumly. He wanted to say a thousand words and ask him a thousand questions but in the end he could only hollowly mutter his name.
"Please take care of him. He can be stubborn, uncooperative and downright uncouth from time to time but…well, I hope you could connect with him better than I ever did." Gaara said smiling as he slowly thinned away in to nothingness.
"Wait!" Naruto exclaimed hoping that his friend would stay a while longer but it was in vain, Gaara was gone. Once again, since his encounter with Sakura and Sasuke, Naruto felt that he has been left alone in the crossroads; with all his friends gone to the realm of eternal respite from which he could never follow. This has made him question the purpose of his very existence and for a moment he contemplated if it would've been better if he had died that day, ten thousand years ago, than awakening millennia later on a strange era that no longer has use or place for the warriors of the old. But before he could continue his glum musing, he heard the voice of Kurama fell from the sky like thunder that pulled his essence from the dream realm and back in to the waking world.
"Kid wake up!" Kurama said with utter urgency in a stentorian voice.
"Hey what's up?" Naruto yawned, just waking up from sleep. The sun was already setting as he gazed at the fiery orb descending in to the horizon. Subsequently, he remembered that earlier he decided to go in to the forest and isolate himself to ponder some things out undisturbed when at some point or another he dozed off.
"We have a situation." Kurama growled irately inside of Naruto's head.
"What situation?" Naruto inquired bewildered as he introspectively looked into his own mind and saw the fox with a rather uneasy and a bit irritated look on his face. "I'm sure it can't be that bad." He then said to Kurama though his words didn't assuage the fox but rather elicited a sarcastic look as if the latter was telling him to go look for himself how bad the situation is.
"Hey I'm back!" Said a shrill and nauseating voice that mirrored the rather obnoxious qualities of its owner.
"That voice." Naruto's eyes widen as he quickly turned his head to the voice's origins. "Shukaku?" He then muttered flummoxed and gawked comically as he saw the tanuki.
"Missed me? Yeah I know I missed me too. Now that all pleasantries are over with let me make a suggestion….let's go to Sunna and destroy it." Shukaku said in a trollish but bombastic tone which slowly assumed a bloodthirsty cadence as he spoke.
"Ahhh crap." Is the only thing Naruto could mumble loosely before he face palmed himself not knowing what to do next.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
(Cullen's House)
With both apprehension and hope, Alice watched Bella as the latter walked wobbly on her wedding shoes.
"You just have to break them in." Alice said sunnily with keen optimism, trying to encourage Bella as she felt the latter was about to give up.
"I've been breaking them in…for three days." Bella replied, seemingly about to trip but manage to hold on. "Can I just go barefoot?" She then said. It was just a sarcastic statement at first but later on the thought of walking unshod on the aisle was seemingly a more appealing option over the elegantly beautiful but uncomfortable shoes.
"No. Absolutely not." Alice said vehemently, it was unquestionably obvious that she's strongly against the idea.
"It's a little much you know. The dress, the shoes….all of this" Bella said awkwardly.
"No, it's exactly enough. Tomorrow will be perfect." Alice reassured, smiling.
"We're do you want this boss." Emmett asked, carrying a large log on his shoulder.
"On either side of the aisle." Alice replied as she temporarily diverted her attention to Emmett.
"What aisle?" Rosalie stated, pointing out that there isn't an aisle yet.
"Does no one have vision!" Alice exclaimed like a professional wedding planner frustrated on her staff, walking to the two to personally oversee and closely coordinate the preparations with religious zeal and nigh-perfect attention to the smallest of detail.
Seeing Alice temporarily distracted, Bella took the opportunity to get off her wedding shoes and change in to her snickers, sighing a breath of relief.
"Maybe you should wear those instead of them shoes on your wedding. After all what's the point of looking good when you're feet are killing you?" Naruto shrugged which made Bella snigger with him lightheartedly. "Though don't tell Alice I said that." He then continued awkwardly in a whisper like voice.
"Don't tell me what?" Alice said with crossed arms and a furrowed brow as she abruptly appeared behind Naruto. Apparently, through her powers, she was able to discern the shinobi's playful comment.
"Nothing" Naruto said awkwardly with a chibi face as he hastily made his comical exit.
"You, I want you to go home and take a lot of beauty sleep. That's an order." Alice quipped to Bella, hugging her, genuinely excited and happy for the latter to be a part of their family.
Meanwhile, Edward caught with Naruto as the shinobi was at the kitchen pouring himself some apple juice.
"Naruto, where were you last night?" Edward asked to initiate the conversation.
"Oh you know….you wouldn't understand." Naruto said with a jovial voice then suddenly decided to joke around and make an impression of Edward.
"Seriously." Edward said with a deadpan expression on his face from yet again falling victim to his wisecracking golden haired sibling. "I don't talk like that."
"Yes you do." Naruto made another impression of Edward. "Dude you sound like a constipated poetry major." He then continued followed by an impish chuckle.
"No. I don't." Edward said, trying to be nonchalant about it though the blonde's jokes were starting to get through on him.
"Yes, you do." Naruto said trollishly then chuckled some more.
"No, I don't." Edward repudiated, though this time with much more emphasized intonations, enunciating every syllable like he was talking to a mentally handicapped person.
"I know you are but what am I?" Naruto began to turn the conversation in to childish bantering that made Edward roll his eyes out of exasperation.
"Anyways….Naruto, I need your help." Diverting from the current tenor of their conversation, Edward then spoke in an astute yet pleading voice that caught the attention of the shinobi.
So then Edward told his sibling the favor he wanted to ask from him. At first Naruto was hesitant and gave him an incredulous gaze as, more than once, he skeptically questioned him if he was serious about what he wanted him to do but later on the shinobi quickly grasped the urgency behind the request and finally agreed.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
(The Next Day)
Returning from his seclusion, Jake caught the scent of someone familiar as he was traversing the tree wreathed slopes of the dark forest. Deciding to investigate, he tracked the source of the scent and came upon a glade hidden by the sullen umbrage casted by the surrounding ancient trees that towered thickly.
Upon the glade's midst there was a pond, and on the largest rock that sat on its shallow banks he saw someone familiar. It was Alex. The latter was sitting somberly on the boulder with a half-eaten bag of pistachios on his side. He was steeped in gloom and solemnly gazing upon the crystal clear water that was like liquefied glass glimmering as a river of sunshine clear as molten gold softly caressed its surface. Jake thought that probably, like him, Alex went in to a self-imposed solitude when he heard the news.
"Hey Jake." Alex greeted in a gentle voice without turning his gaze off the waters.
To Jake's surprise when the young man detected him. In his wolf form he made sure to creep in to the bushes unseen and unheard to observe though it would seem that Alex was aware of his presence even from the start.
"How did you know it was me?" Jake inquired as he shifted back in to his human form. "Can you like read minds now?" He then queried further but this time as a jest.
"No, but even as a child I could always sense the emotions of others." Alex replied in a mellow flowing voice. "I knew it was you because I have sensed a pain that is the same as mine." He then continued with a pensive smile.
"Yeah…about that..." Jake muttered in a morose tone.
"Uninvited too huh?" Alex said emphatically.
"Actually I was….I just decided not to go." Jake replied awkwardly, he didn't know how to say the truth in a way that will not overly hurt his already crestfallen friend.
"Oh…It would seem that I'm the only one left out after all." Alex said tranquilly followed by a rather pensive chuckle in a feeble attempt to conceal his forlorn. Though he strove to make his statement sound like it was a joke and try to mask his dejection behind a light hearted smile, one could easily detect the sadness gilding his voice as he spoke.
"It's unfair how they treat you." Jake said solemnly with a clenched fist. "I know you didn't do all those horrible things they are accusing you of. You've been controlled, against your will." He then continued in a tone that was becoming sterner as he spoke.
"Thanks Jake. I appreciate it, really, but….." Alex replied initially with a smile as he partially lowered his head and glumly looked at his reflection on the pool. "….the truth is I could have persuaded Errealth to stop but I too was consumed by my jealousy and selfish desires…and thus I turned a blind eye. Whether indeed I committed the atrocities myself or failed to do the right thing that caused such atrocities to be committed, it doesn't really matter now. Personally, I don't see any distinction. The way I see it I'm equally guilty as well." He then said disconsolately to Jake in a guilt ridden voice as he turned his dispirited gaze towards Jake and tried to smile in a somewhat gentle manner.
"Don't blame yourself too much. Anyone would've done the same thing given the situation." Jake said encouragingly to help mitigate the young man's melancholy.
"You really think so?" Alex muttered diffidently while a spark of hope became visible in his eyes.
"Yeah." Jake nodded firmly, implying to the latter to take heart.
"Thanks, I really needed that." Alex said, seemingly a bit assuaged.
"One question though." Jake said in an inquisitive and curious tone.
"Yeah?" Alex tilted his head a bit in slight bewilderment.
"What are you doing here? I mean this part of the forest is way too deep, not to mention dangerous." Jake queried curiously with a bit of suspicion.
"Well, you see this is my thinking spot. I discovered this place sometime later when I first arrived at Forks. I often come here when I want to be alone…or to reflect on things….like how to cope with our current predicament for example. " Alex replied nonchalantly though Jake noticed how the former utilized a lot of euphemisms on the last part of his sentence.
"Looks like you're handling it quite well to me." Jake quipped, trying to lighten up the topic.
"I don't really mind if Bella would hate me, just knowing that she's happy is enough." Alex said sincerely in a hollow voice, smiling. In some strange way, the tiny glimmer of joy that the image of Bella brought as he thought of her made him smile ever so slightly before the full gravity of reality quelled that spark, though of course he never let Jake notice this and maintained a jovial façade. "Plus the Valium I took earlier just kicked-in and it's doing wonders." Shrugging, he then continued in a casual tone.
"Valium?" Jake said with a furrowed brow, the expression on his face changed from pity to a bit of disappointment and slight prejudice.
Noticing this, Alex shook his head and chuckled. "No, I'm not a druggie…you can put your eye brow down now." He then responded as if he had read what Jake was thinking. "My therapist prescribed it to help lower my anxiety levels and prevent me from spiraling down in to depression again." He then explained calmly.
"Oh" Jake muttered, a little bit embarrassed from jumping in to conclusions. "Depression…I'm no stranger to that either." He then sighed heavily as he looked at his reflection on the pool and glumly think of Bella and wished the she have chosen him over Edward.
Seeing Jake's sudden dejection an idea popped up in to Alex's head. "Perhaps a hobby of some sort will keep us distracted from all this….for instance I'm thinking of taking square dance lessons next week, whatever on earth that is…though I heard its quite fun…and I need a partner." He then continued in a pleasantly amicable tone.
"That's actually an interesting idea….not with the square dancing part though." Jake chuckled, finding their mutual situation ironically laughable.
"Well, there's always a spot available if you change your mind." Alex offered in a somewhat encouraging but at the same time quipping tone. He himself can't help but snicker realizing the irony. "Ugh…our life suck." He then exclaimed with playful sarcasm that made them laugh even more heartily.
"You know, in some twisted way, our situation is quite funny if you think about it….this is one of those awkward moments like when you kissed a girl for the first time then end up both your braces getting stuck together." Jake said as he further chuckled, cracking from his own statement but suddenly sobered up as he shifted his gaze to Alex. The latter was looking at him in a weird manner, his head was slightly tilted and there was a puzzled countenance on his face, seemingly unable to relate. "You do like girls? Right?" He then inquired awkwardly.
"Yeah but….I kinda….never really kissed one before." Alex said uncomfortably in a sheepish voice. "Don't tell anyone." He then continued in a low but stern hiss.
"You? No?" Jake said with an elongated cadence and an incredulous stare out of surprise, finding the statement a bit hard to believe considering the young man's singularly sharp good looks reinforced by the fact that he is quite wealthy.
"I never really had the opportunity." Alex replied stoically and shrugged. "Even from childhood my parents isolated me from everyone else. I was homeschooled from childhood throughout my early teens, and was never allowed to mingle with other kids of my age. I was always alone as far as I could remember, with only books to keep me company. Though, I always hoped that like the characters on my books I would one day find an abundance of friends to cherish and a girl to love….and in the most unexpected of ways I found both here in Forks." He then continued with a somewhat blank stare as he sifted through his memories and recounted his childhood, though he initially started somber a gentle smile of genuine happiness emanated from his face as he reached the later part of his story.
"Wow that's tough buddy." Jake said empathically.
"It's not all that bad." Alex said trying to cheer up but Jake was aware that it was just a front to hide his pain for the former hate to inconvenience anyone with his personal problems. "I do have some fun from time to time…..for example that time when I secretly sneaked out of the house then raided the neighboring vineyard and gobbled up their produce like the little glutton that I am." He then continued as he chuckled lightheartedly.
"What happened next?" Jake amusedly queried, eagerly wanting to hear the rest of it.
"Well, I wasn't aware that that the vineyard was riddled with cameras. When my father found out about it he was furious…..after some harsh words he proceeded to beat me half to death with a cane while my mother….just watched coldly." Alex replied in an initially casual tone however his voice became progressively hollow and brooding as he continued.
To this, Jake couldn't utter a word and could only listen intently.
"But boy was it worth it. The feeling from that single glimpse of fleeting freedom…I can't really explain it in words you know….all I know is that I was happy and content beyond measure. It was the second best thing that happened in my life." Alex said with a sunny disposition and a cheerful smile as he ruminated that particular moment of his life.
"Do you hate them….your parents?" Jake inquired in a low voice, though he wasn't sure himself if the question was an appropriate one to inquire.
"No." Alex replied in a tranquil voice. "Though to tell you the truth I felt very little sorrow when they died…..for you see, death is a much kinder fate than being slowly consumed by their greed and power hungry ambitions. You must think I'm a terrible person huh? I can't really blame you…I feel like a terrible person myself."
"I'm sorry." Jake apologized, feeling a bit of guilt for asking. "And no I do not." He then continued.
"No worries." Alex beamed, assuring him that was alright.
"So…what's the first?" Jake queried again with an awkward curiosity in his voice.
"I beg your pardon?" Alex replied with a confused mien on his face, obviously puzzled by what the question meant.
"….the best thing that happened in your life." Jake clarified.
A gentle yet nostalgic smile emanated from Alex's face. "It was the day I first saw Bella. I fell in love with her the moment I saw her on my first day at Forks-high." He then answered. "I always hoped that one day we could be more than friends but I never really had the courage to even ask her out. Now, it would seem that she doesn't want me even as a friend…..ironic huh?" He then continued in a stoic and hollow voice that reflected the pain of broken dreams.
"Did you regret loving her?" Jake inquired the very same question he has been asking himself lately.
No...never. Loving her was a mistake but I don't regret anything. It was a beautiful mistake that I will gladly repeat all over again in a heartbeat." Alex said smiling with genuine sincerity.
"Yeah, me too." Jake smiled back as the statement answered his brooding as well. "It doesn't make sense right? People might think we're gluttons for punishment." He then joked and laughed lightheartedly that made Alex chuckle with him as well.
"Well, in our defense, falling in love doesn't really have anything to do with reason. It's madness. A beautiful moment of magnificent insanity." Alex remarked that made both boys chuckle some more.
But as Jake laughed he couldn't help himself but become a bit meditative with regards to what he just heard. Though he knew that it was meant as a joke, there were so many truths embedded in it that provoked deep thoughts within him. "It would be nice to see Bella as a human for the last time but I don't know if it's a good idea to go." He then furtively thought to himself.
"Right, let's go." Alex said amicably and gleamed as if he had read Jake's thoughts.
"I thought you can't…." Jake said in protest but was cutoff as he saw Alex's eyes glowed like flames burning with white hot intensity then after which the latter subsequently vanished in a flash of phantom light.
Out of the blue, Jake saw what looked like ripples forming in midair as if the very atmosphere was but a surface of a liquid that has been disturbed. The ripples then oscillated in a sporadic undulation before it expanded and with incomprehensible rapidity engulfed him. From his point of view, the landscape in front of him has seemingly distorted wildly like a fleeting mirage before it completely dissolved in to a dreamlike hallucination. Subsequently, the air became filled with webs of intricate colors, with swiftly changing kaleidoscopic glints whose numberless, unwonted hues and patterns were such as no mundane eye had ever beheld.
Inevitably, Jake has to shield his vision for the temporary abstraction of what is real and what is not was simply unbearable to a mortal eye as the very space folded itself. Strangely, as he opened his eyes once again he found himself standing in a different but familiar locus.
"What just happened?" Jake muttered as he confoundedly held his head, nauseous from the experience.
"We're at your house." Alex said as he materialized, startling Jake.
"But how did I end up hear." Jake queried, more confused than ever.
"I used my powers to temporarily weaken the fabric of space-time, just enough to allow me to tear a rift that linked our previous location to our current location; enabling us to travel instantaneously from one point to another without actually moving." Alex explained philosophically in a matter-of-fact tone.
"What?" Jake said with an elongated cadence and a confounded countenance on his face. "Can you repeat that again, this time in English." He then continued sardonically.
"Uhm in layman's term…we teleported." Alex responded with a slight deadpan expression on his face. "You may feel a bit dizzy and a little bit weird, it's the effect of space-time distortion but don't worry it'll pass."
"Okay...but why are we at my house." Jake inquired again as he looked at Alex, confused.
"I kinda know that you wanted to see Bella but you're afraid that she doesn't want to see you." Alex said that made Jake silent and put on face of deep and serious contemplation.
"He's right. But how did he…" Jake thought. His mouth opened and was about to say a counter argument but was cutoff.
"It would mean a lot to her if you could come." Alex said, smiling gently in reassurance.
"Ok, maybe you're right about one thing or another but that's not what I meant earlier." Jake said, quickly stirring away from the previous topic. "What I'm saying is…why did you bring me here instead of going straight to the wedding?" Letting go of his previous suspicion that the latter could read another's mind he then comically queried in a curious and at the same time bewildered tone.
"Well, I can't expect you going there looking like that. I think it would be prudent if you'll at least change in to a shirt first." Alex answered sniggering that made Jake chortle as well as he realized that he was still half-naked.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
(Jake's House)
"Jake, uhmm are you sure that's what you'll wear?" Alex asked in a very polite manner though there seemed to be a certain dissatisfaction on his face as he awkwardly looked at the plain white shirt Jake was putting on.
Why? What's wrong with it?" Jake queried with a puzzled countenance on his face.
"Well….uhmm…it looks nice…but it wouldn't hurt if you'll make yourself more…presentable" Alex said in an awkward manner, choosing his words carefully as not to offend his friend. "If you want I have some tux you could borrow, I don't really mind. In fact I'll be happy to lend you one." He then offered genially.
"Nah, this will do." Jacob said, contented with the clothes on his back.
"If you say so." Alex conceded. "Well, I have to get going now. I hope everything goes well Jake." He then continued smiling as he wished the Quileute good luck.
"Aren't you coming?" Jake inquired, stumped.
"My presence there will only cause complications." Alex shrugged casually though his eyes betrayed the nonchalant façade he was trying to project. "Anyways, I have a feeling you'll have another guest very soon. See you Jake." He then continued, biding his farewell then subsequently vanished as he melted upon the air like dissipating smoke."
"Hey wait…" Jake appealed but it was met with no response. Out of sudden, he heard someone knock on the door as Alex had prognosticated just not too long ago. Baffled, he wasn't able to move from where he stood as he wondered who the guest would be.
"Anyone there?" A familiar voice called from the other side of the door.
"Naruto?" Jake said, recognizing the voice.
Opening the door Jake saw that it was Naruto indeed. The shinobi was seemingly in a cheery disposition and has a friendly smile on his face.
"Hey there." Naruto greeted jovially.
"Naruto, what are you doing here?" Jake inquired with a confused expression on his face.
"Well…..Edward kinda…asked me….." Naruto started with incoherent mumblings, seemingly unsure what to say. "Look, it would really mean a lot to Bella if you could come. You're her best friend. "He then continued calmly after regaining his composure back, encouraging Jake to go to the wedding.
"Yeah. I'm on my way there actually." Jake said with a blank expression.
"Wait...what? You're going there now looking like that?" Naruto inquired, curiously.
"Yes" Jake answered with an elongated cadence.
"Wearing that?" Naruto emphasized in a flat voice and with an unsatisfied look and a deadpan expression on his face as he gazed stoically at the ruffled shirt Jake was wearing.
"What's wrong with it?" Jake said in a manner that was much of a statement than an inquiry.
"Well…it's not too shabby but it wouldn't hurt if you'll wear a more decent looking thing for the occasion. A tux for example. I can let you borrow one of mine if you like…and I insist." Naruto said exuberantly, and though the shinobi's choice of words were a little bit blunt he meant it out of genuine concern and desire to help, rather than a slur.
"This would do." Jake chuckled. Naruto's statement reminded him of his earlier conversation with Alex and of how the former and the latter are so much alike in so many ways despite the fact that the two hated each other's guts.
"What's so funny? Did I say something funny?" Naruto inquired with a confused, comical chibi-like expression on his face.
"No. It's just…it's the same thing Alex said to me earlier." Jake elucidated while lightly chuckling.
"So that's what causing this strange feeling. I suspected that he was here earlier." Kurama said ominously inside of Naruto's head.
"I still can't believe that Sunagakure is no more." Shukakau said as he comically sulked in a dark corner of Naruto's mind, distant and uninterested with his new jinchūriki's current business. "Right! I will kill the one responsible for the hidden sand's destruction. I'm the only one who has the right to destroy that dump!" He then declared in a fit of blood thirst that made Kurama roll his eyes out of annoyance from the petulant tanuki.
"He's already dead." Kurama said that caught Shukaku's attention. "Naruto killed the guy about a year ago. Get on with the program you retarded squirrel." He then scoffed.
"What did you call me you dumb fox." Shukaku slowly turned his head to Kurama and spoke in a guttural voice as if goading the fox to settle their dispute with a trial by combat.
"I called you a retarded squirrel you useless bag of walking kitty litter." Kurama said with a nasty grin, accepting Shukaku's challenge and thinly veiling the ineffable rage behind that was about to explode at any moment.
"Stop it you two." Naruto hissed, breaking up the tailed beasts' argument before it gets any worse.
"I'm sorry, you're saying something?" Jake inquired, puzzled. He heard Naruto mumble something but it was unintelligible given his distance and the fact that shinobi murmured it in a barely audible mutter and in a different language that sounded a lot like Japanese but not quite.
"Nothing." Naruto replied awkwardly accompanied by an even more awkward chuckle. "What I'm saying is you don't really want to be associated with that guy. He is extremely dangerous and cannot be trusted." He then continued in a foreboding and mirthless tone.
"He said the same thing about you, you know." Jake chuckled as he recounted what he heard. "It's funny if you think about it; you two are so much alike and have so many similar traits that you are basically two peas in a pod." He then continued, chuckling some more.
"Ughhh…." Naruto shuddered. "I'm nothing like that lanky fairy boy! I mean look at him, he's a parasitic weakling who never did an honest day's work in his life! …if it weren't for the fact that he has more than enough money to burn that guy would so going to end up in gay porno." He then denied Jake's statement vehemently while at the same time cringed from the very thought of it.
"See, you guys even jeer each other in the same creative way." Jake added, sniggering.
"Wait….what cheap lies did that spoiled himbo told you about me?" Pouting, Naruto said with a furrowed brow.
"Well he said that…" Jake started, trying to stop himself from laughing. "…he said that if Justin Bieber would lay an egg, you'll be the ugly ass 'biebling' that would hatch from it. He also said that you're a pervert who, for some reason, love to wear silly outfits as if you buy all your clothes from cartoon network; and also, your so called prized Nike shoe collection that you always brag to everyone looks so damn raggedy as if you danced with them on burning rubble." He continued. No longer able to contain his amusement the Quileute then loosed a roaring belly laugh.
The displeasure visibly rose from Naruto's cheeks as they become flushed from the burst of blood wrought by his exasperation. "I hate that bastard." He grumbled petulantly in a comedic manner. "I wish I have bigger feet so that it would hurt more when I kick his ass!" He then exclaimed hilariously that earned him a wry smile from Jake as the later shook his head, both from irony and amusement.
"Kidding aside, I think you two could be good friends if you'll just take the time and settle your differences and see each other eye-to-eye." Jake said sagaciously with wisdom beyond his years.
"Ugh…That thing you said, so disturbing on so many levels." Naruto shuddered again. "And the worst thing is I could no longer unhear it."
"Which one? That thing about you two can be good friends?" Jake trolled with an outwardly bewildered expression on his face to conceal his amusement from the blonde's overly hyped reaction.
"Aghh…don't say that. It's creepy, like seeing a cat walk on its hind legs." Naruto comically covered his ears and winced with an expression of sidesplitting aversion on his face like that of a child who've heard something inappropriate and thus scarred for life. "I think I need therapy after this." He then muttered while he shook his head.
"Good luck with that." Jake said with slight sarcasm as he mounted his motorcycle. "I'm off to the wedding. Hop in, I'll give you a lift there." He then continued.
"I have a much faster way." Naruto said with a mischievous smile as he placed his hand on Jake's shoulder and hiraishined themselves to a towering tree near their house of which he placed a thunder-god seal beforehand to serve as an access point for his jutsu.
"A little warning next time." Jake reproached incoherently and with wobbly legs like that of an inebriated person, feeling a vertiginous disorientation from the sudden shift of space.
"Oops sorry. Yeah, I forgot to warn you about that. Don't worry it will pass." Naruto chuckled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. Though the truth is he did it on purpose for some pay back.
-End
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Hey there folks!
Thanks so much for the awesome inputs and ideas you shared.
Hope you awesome people enjoyed reading. So, we are now on the Breaking Dawn counterpart of the story. As you may have noticed, this chapter is mostly recounted on Jake's perspective and I really hope that I did justice to it.
Anyways, if you guys noticed some grammar irregularities or wrong spellings I would greatly appreciate it if you can point them out to me so that I could exonerate them; and also, as always, I greatly appreciate the awesome inputs and if you have an idea or a suggestion that you think would improve the overall plot of the story and you would like to share just write them down on the review section and I'll be more than happy to look in to it.
See you next chapter!
Cheerio :)
