Holy freaking cows on a Sunday morning this update is MAD DELAYED! But it goes into our second sub-arc/plot thingy so that makes up for it... right? ; - ;! ASKDLFJSDALFKJSDFDAF

Warning: Hmmmm... just put on a hard hat, okay? ;D

Disclaimer: I OWN MY ZORUA BITCHESSSS. /SHOT

Chapter Thirty-Six: Unwanted Meetings

Our return trip from France was anything but peaceful. To start things off Naruto left our souvenirs for everyone in the living room when I asked him numerous times if he had everything.

"Shut up, Uchiha! I got this! I got this!"

I glared at him and he glared back and we stood there for a good five minutes before Itachi walked in and called us for dinner.

Then at dinner:

"Naruto are you sure you left the souvenirs in a place you'll remember?"

Face stuffed with food, Naruto shot me a look that said if I kept asking him he'd stab me with his fork and not feel one wink of regret. "Yes, dear." he rolled his eyes, exasperation coating his words. "Now pass me the butter you worry wart!"

And then after sex:

"Naru—"

"For the love of God, Sasuke you're ruining the damn after glow!"

So guess who left the souvenirs?

"..." I kept glaring at the blond who refused to even look at me as we were about half way from the airport turning back. "This isn't my fault..." he muttered under his breath.

I scoffed. "If we miss our flight because of this I'm kicking your ass out of the Penthouse."

"Oh come on! You can't place the blame on me! You're the reason why we're running late in the first place!"

"Yes because I was occupied trying to get your lazy ass in order."

Our tempers were already hyperactive in the first place but we were both equally irritated and annoyed and frustrated that we could miss our flight that tensions were very high. Itachi, who was squared away in the safety of the front seat, sighed as he made a U-Turn to head back.

"Children as much as seeing you two argue would entertain me, your bickering is hindering my driving skills. Either shut up or make up, okay?"

We chose to shut up because making up was just out of the question.

Sadly when we got to the airport we had missed our flight. Even when we told the woman at the stand that we were MAXED-OUT and were scheduled to return to Japan for a welcome back tour, her attitude didn't change. I could tell she wasn't a great fan of our music.

"I'm sorry sirs but I can only schedule you another flight for later this evening."

Naruto slammed his fists on the table and if it weren't for the fact I had a tight grip on his waist he probably would have lunged for her. "Fucking listen to me! We had to go through hours of traffic! Swing back to pick up shit we left back at home! Suffer through traffic again! And you are trying to tell me you can't do us one damn favor and get us an earlier flight!"

The line behind us grew eerily silent at Naruto's outburst. Itachi kept a bemused expression and I rubbed my temples. Naruto was fuming in my arms and I was half-expecting for security to appear and drag us out. But the woman behind the desk surprised me and shrugged her shoulders.

"Yes, that is exactly what I'm saying. Now can you please hurry up I have others I must check in."

"Now, now, let's not be hasty." Itachi had been wearing sunglasses the whole time for, apparently dramatic effect. When he pushed them up to his hairline the attendant exploded into a heap of red. "I-I-Itachi U-U-Uchiha! Sir! I apologize I did not know you would be honoring us with your presence today." stuffy and communist woman turned into a blubbering fangirl mess in less than three seconds and Itachi barely blinked.

He chuckled and waved his hand, leaning forward on the table and flashing his trademark, lady killer smile. "Don't apologize. I did try my best to stay concealed. I know we're causing so much trouble but don't worry about booking us a flight. I'll be seeing their travels are safe by letting them take my private jet. If you could get that ready for me..." he narrowed his eyes a little, an imploring tone in his voice.

I have never seen a woman in high heels run so fast in my life.

So a few minutes later—stuffy woman certainly knew how to get her act together quickly—we were boarding Itachi's private jet. As we climbed up the stairs I looked at my brother behind me who was gripping the railing, staring at his watch with a frown.

"Just because this is your plane doesn't mean you have to hitch along. Naruto and I aren't going to mess anything up." though we might raid his inboard fridge a few times.

Itachi glanced up at me, and for a minute I thought he was going to say something, but he shook his head and smirked instead. "I'm well aware of that but it's been so long since I've visited Japan. I thought I'd go along for the adventure."

"You thought wrong." I replied sarcastically. Not that I wouldn't love to have my brother around it was just that I had already went through at least three weeks with my infuriating brother. Him coming along would mean that I am responsible for accommodating him for as long as he plans to stay.

Naruto bounded out the plane with two shrimp poking out of his mouth. "What are you two standing around for? The seafood bar is amazing! And he even has a hot tub! Holy fuck I think I might just live on the plane for the rest of my life!"

+MAXED-OUT+

"Darkness stains the path I kept walking for years. Tripping and falling onto my knees. How I kept walking, how I continued to go, was hearing the thumps. Thumping... thumping... I was dancing to your beat before I even knew who you were..." I dropped my pencil onto my notebook and sighed, running my fingers through my bangs. I had already worked, reworked, destroyed, worked again, and scrapped the first couple of verses. The song itself was more or less completed, just that with my perfectionism and urge to impress Naruto with my song, I've been working like a drill sergeant to make sure this song is absolutely complete. Meaning that I had to love every single verse and melody.

Beside me Naruto was promptly knocked out from partying it up in the hot tub and feasting on the abundance of shrimp before us. He looked so peaceful and serene, a smile crossed my lips before I even realized it. I leaned forward and pressed a kiss on his forehead, my hand coming up to his chest where I felt his heartbeat pound against my palm.

Thump... Thump... Thump.

"I realized I lived for your beat. I lived for the faint sound of a still, continuing promise. It seemed I fell quite astray, and some days your beats were so quiet... I thought for sure I was lost." my eyes were locked on Naruto as I delivered the next verse. "But then all you had to do was smile for me, and the darkness no longer held me down."

"Rather touching, Otouto." Itachi peered down from behind my seat, a cocky grin on his face.

I shrugged and closed up my notebook. Nope. Itachi didn't need to see what I was writing. I leaned back and gave him a scowl. "Your inept use of sarcasm isn't needed, Aniki."

Itachi pouted and flicked me on the forehead. "I assure you I was being 99.9% sincere."

"And the other .1 percent?"

"Sarcasm," he smirked.

I poked him in-between the eyes. "What would you know about songwriting?"

"Nothing, obviously. Business and negotiations are more up my ally. But I do know Naruto fairly well after spending almost a month with him. Don't try to so hard with fancy words and pretty imagery. Just be truthful and he'll love it."

I let his words soak in for a while. Was I not being truthful in the first place? Sure I was stressing over the symbolism and importance and whether or not I could get my point across in the best way but maybe I'm tackling it wrong?

"Mmm... Sasuke..." Naruto shifted in his seat, nuzzling his nose into my shoulder. "Sasuke... you bastard... cuddle wiff me..."

Itachi chuckled as a blush came on my face. Perhaps... perhaps I was trying to hard. I wrapped my arms around his waist and buried my face into his hair. "Okay, Dobe. Here I am. See?" he mewled in content and snuggled into my arms. Itachi smirked and left us alone, his job obviously completed. When I get home I'll rework my song, and this time it'll be 100% from the heart.

+MAXED-OUT+

"Mom we're home!" Naruto blared as we all went through the door.

"Mom?" Itachi cocked an eyebrow towards my direction.

I shrugged. "You'll see."

Iruka walked out with his customary blue apron and flour coating his cheeks. He nearly dropped the tray of cookies he was holding when he saw us. "Sasuke! Naruto! I'm so glad you guys are home! You should have called me I would have picked you up, though." He set down the tray of cookies on a nearby counter so he could grab us into hugs which Naruto returned and I just stood there and accepted it.

"Sorry, Mom! Our phones died and Itachi offered to drive us home anyways!" Naruto explained, eying up the tray of cookies like a vulture.

"Itachi did, huh?" Iruka glanced over at my brother who was currently chilling out in the doorway. He gave Itachi an obvious once over before nodding. "Well that was very nice of him, right? Nice to meet you, Itachi." Iruka held out his hand with a smile on his face. Apparently he had already won approval. "My name's Iruka. I'm Sasuke's and Naruto's guardian while they stay under Charisma. You're Sasuke's older brother, wow the likeness is uncanny."

Oh I could just hear Itachi's ego getting ready for the conversation. Linking fingers with Naruto, I decided I had enough time in my brother's presence. "Come on, Dobe. Let's unpack our stuff and any messages Jiraiya might have left for us." when I turned around Naruto had three cookies stuffed in his mouth.

"Mmay!" he flashed me a thumbs up and I sighed. Why was my boyfriend such a child?

Took us about an hour or two to unload all our stuff and another hour to get Naruto to properly organize his clothing. Once everything was done we both collapsed on beanbags centered in the middle of our room.

Naruto leaned back and toyed with his finally charged phone. "Oh God I missed so many texts and calls! Five are from Pein asking when I'll come down to visit him and the rest are random updates from Kiba and Gaara. Fuuuuuuck." he slid his phone shut it chucked it. "I could seriously fall asleep right now. What about you Sasuke?" when I didn't respond Naruto shifted to his side and shot me a worried look. "Sasuke...?"

The words hitting me couldn't be real. The number at the top of the screen should have been blocked repeatedly until the phone servers had to delete her number and make a new one. But there she was... staring me right in the face.

Sent July 7th at 10:30 PM

Hey there, Tiger~ Heard you're doing pretty well in the music industry. Why not hit me up sometime? I think we need a lot of things settled out between us.

Lots of love, Mira.

Mira... Mira... Mira

Why, of all times, did her name have to come up? Pinching the bridge of my nose, I could feel Naruto's worry gaze studying me, waiting for a response. I quickly deleted the message and shot Naruto a cheeky grin. Leaning over, I pressed a kiss on his lips and said, "You know we haven't had sex in our room before."

Naruto spluttered, a rapid blush scarring his cheeks. "F-Fuck, Uchiha! Is that really what was on your mind?"

"I would be lying if I said no." I smirked, crawling over Naruto's body so I was straddling his hips. Mira is the farthest from my mind. She's so far out the memories of wasted times spent together can't even process through my brain. So what if she texted me out of the bloom saying we needed to settle things between us? Does she expect me to be the better person? Ha. Nope. Not going to happen. Looking down at Naruto, with his t-shirt pulled up so his beautiful stomach was exposed, and there was a brilliant blush on his face, I leaned down and kissed him on both cheeks. My teeth gently nipped on his bottom lip and his arms came to fall on my shoulders.

"I spoil you too much..." he started to moan while my mouth got to work on his neck.

Chuckling, my hands were sneakily running up and down his sides. Naruto's back arched into my fingers and I moaned into his neck. "Just a little bit. Not like I don't deserve it."

Naruto scoffed and wound his leg around my hip. "Right. Right. Enough yapping and get to work, punk." he grinned devilishly and slapped me on the rear.

Oh he was so going to get it now.

+MAXED-OUT+

Sighing, I leaned against a large column with mirrors on all sides as Naruto ran around the men's section looking for more pants. "Oh man I really want a pair of overalls! Why don't they have a pair of overalls?"

"I don't know, Naruto. Why don't you ask the assistant for help?" really they were there for a reason. Naruto stopped his mad chase for the elusive overalls to shoot me a look. "Do you see any of them around the area? You know what. Screw it. I'll find them myself! Don't you dare move a muscle, okay?" before I could even respond he was out of my vision and running down the hall.

I sighed once again and banged my head against the column. I should seriously get a medal for dealing with Naruto and his obsessive, hyperactive personality that comes out when he shops. Literally he complains about Sakura and Ino taking forever in one store where he can take forever and two days to finish up one section of a department store. I waited for about ten minutes before I decided I should search for him before he did something stupid like blow up a mannequin or spill over perfume bottles... like the last time.

Hands jammed in my pocket I started my walk when my phone vibrated. One new message. As dramatic as it sounds my fingers started to shake slightly and my heart skipped a beat. I had a feeling I knew who contacted me. I should... I should put the phone away. Yes. Yes Sasuke put the phone away.

But I didn't.

Tiger! Out on the prowl, huh? Look to your left.

To my...

I looked to the left.

I freaking looked to the left.

And there she was, a little bit taller, a few more curves, her bright red hair pulled up into a side ponytail. Mira was there. She was there. Here. There. Whatever. My eyes widened behind my glasses as she waved and hurried over me.

Is it too late to make a breakaway from the one and only person who has ever broken my heart?