Title: Unbinding the Contract
Author: ice krystahl- chan who loves everybody!
Pairings: SasuNaru, NejiShika, KibaShino, and a whole lotta more!
Warnings: shounen-ai! That means boy/boy! If you don't like it, then don't read it.
Author's notes: I know, I know! Christmas had come and go, and ice krystahl just broke her promise! But then again, Christmas is such a happy time that I can't bring myself to type just long enough to finish this chappie. So, anyway, here it is, I hope all of you had a nice holiday season!
SCENE 7: Project: Get Back at Uchiha
I'm going to kill that bastard.
Naruto was flushed red, eyes blazing in anger. He panted heavily through his nose, and his fist clenched at his sides. Shikamaru looked at his friend in askance, noting lazily that if ever Naruto suddenly dragged his one foot in the dirt- he would exactly be the image of a raging bull being showed a red cloth in a heated pit bull match.
"…show that bastard… how dare he…" the blond muttered viciously under his breath.
"Geez, Naruto. Don't make such a fuss about it."
Naruto rounded on his friend, looking at him with slitted eyes.
"'Don't make such a fuss about it'?! What are you talking about? That's--" Naruto gesticulated wildly to the lying pair on the dirt, lips locked together. "—my boyfriend making out with another boy in front of me!"
"Yes. That is your boyfriend making out with another boy. Maybe he found you inadequate?" Gaara queried, adding salt to the wound.
If possible, Naruto turned even green with jealousy.
"So you're really jealous, huh?" Shikamaru asked, tone mocking.
"Of cours---" Naruto started to say, but stopped abruptly. Could it be true? Was he really feeling jealousy toward the dark haired boy? He was surprised at the intensity of his feelings, and utter disbelief filled his mind. Wasn't it only yesterday that the two of them had just agreed on pretending to be 'boyfriends' just to get rid of that stupid contract that the Third had left Sasuke. And wasn't it only yesterday that they had been rivals and still harbored that petty feeling of hatred for each other?
'Yes! That's it!' Naruto thought in sudden realization. Of course he wasn't jealous! He was just a little bit offended that Sasuke had the gall to kiss other boys when he specifically asked him to be his boyfriend. If he wanted to kiss Neji that bad, why couldn't he just ask the Hyuuga boy in the first place?
'But then again, I am so great and cute that Sasuke just had to choose me over a bunch of losers like Neji.' thought Naruto quite happily. He was even calm now. In fact, he was feeling so much better that he already had formulated a plan. He even had a name for it. It was called Project: Get Back at Uchiha.
"Oi. Have you lost yourself in your sick fantasy world, where ramen and Sasuke reigns?" Shikamaru asked his friend, a slight concern apparent in his voice.
But Naruto was still lost in his own private world, gleefully improvising the steps in his "project". Shikamaru was starting to get really concerned now; Naruto is starting to show signs of losing his sanity. First he was totally mad and now he was having this sort of glazed, lost look. Maybe it was because of too much exposure to Gaara who, in all accounts, shows signs of complete signs.
Then suddenly, as if reading his mind, Gaara started to hum a low, ugly tune; even banging his head every now and then. He was looking at the kissing pair with a slightly interested look, as though watching two boys kissing was nothing out of the ordinary. Almost as if he had been watching two boys kiss all of his life. Shikamaru winced at the idea, and started to shake the blond, now half- yelling into his ear.
"Oi! Naruto, hold yourself together! Are you really that jealous? Tsk. This is too troublesome…"
"Of course I'm jealous! Now, don't stand in my way Shikamaru if you don't want to get hurt." Naruto said finally to his lazy friend.
"What, are you going to beat the both of them up?"
"Yea! I'm going to rip their heads off so I could feed it to the chickens! And then I'm gonna burn those chickens and throw their ashes into the sea! He's gonna wish so bad he didn't humiliate me like this."
"Can you do that in front of this entire people?" Gaara asked again, pointing to some kids who came practicing in the field too. In fact, it seemed that a lot of people have come to practice in the field, which was hardly surprising because it was a practicing field after all. Fortunately for the kissing pair, no one had taken notice of them.
Naruto smiled evilly. "Of course I can do it in front of all those people. That's exactly what I want."
Shikamaru found this really odd, but with Naruto, you just have to be prepared for the unprepared.
Tsk. Jealousy. Such a bad thing.
Sasuke's eyes widen in shock, as the Hyuuga boy leaned in and forcefully took his lips in a bruising kiss. This is going too far. He hated having to do anything with Neji, who leaves his future to the so- called Fate, but under the circumstances, he doesn't have any choice.
Sasuke couldn't just let the blue-eyed kitsune deny him carelessly, and decided that its time for payback. Unfortunately, his seemingly bright idea had turned into a holy mess.
Sasuke could pardon the knee in between his legs. After all, grappling wasn't a very easy skill to practice. It required lots of body contact. And falling to the ground wasn't exactly a crime in practicing the skill. And, if he stretched his imagination long enough, maybe he could actually think that it was a coincidence thatNeji's knees came out of nowhere to attach itself to his balls.
His eyes nearly watered in pain, but then he heard the loud gasp from Naruto, and he remembered he had some serious revenge to accomplish. So instead of hissing aloud in pain and cursing the Hyuuga boy to ten levels of torture, he forced himself to moan loudly at the back of his throat.
It was good, for a moment, when at the corner of his eye; he saw Naruto's eyes burn in anger.
Serves you right, Sasuke had thought smugly.
He was too busy watching Naruto and waiting for his reaction that he didn't notice that the boy on top of him had already raised both of his hands above his head and had him effectively immobile. It wasn't until later, when soft lips were upon him that Sasuke became aware of his surroundings.
The three ninjas sprinted across the ground to where the other two, Sasuke and Neji, were still kissing. Gaara, ninja number one, for some odd reason had said nothing at all and just went along with them, because, 'I want to walk'. Naruto, ninja number two, kept saying something under his breath and looked as if he was steeling himself for something. Idly, Shikamaru, ninja number three, wondered about the Hyuuga lad and what could have had possessed him to kiss Uchiha. He knew that the boy doesn't really like Sasuke and this baffled him even more.
Was this a strategic move? Shikamaru pondered at this for a moment or two, and reasoned out that if Neji had a purpose, Sasuke could not be a willing accomplice to such a nefarious scheme… And then again, he can't rule out the possibility that Neji could possibly be just a hormonal teenager and found Sasuke quite a delectable creature.
But that, in Shikamaru's opinion, is not altogether a good idea.
"SASUKE!" Naruto's voice rang out in the grassy area, attracting the attention of the people near them.
The said boy started at the sound of the blond's voice. Hastily, as if he just started to realize that he had an audience, he pushed at the other boy's chest to move him away.
"N-Naruto?"
Sasuke's voice was rather weak, and he kept on touching his lips and brushing it vigorously.
"WHAT THEHELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" Naruto yelled again.
"H-Huh?" Sasuke answered dazedly, looking up at him from his position in the ground.
"Naruto, give the guy a break. Looks like he's still suffering from shock." Shikamaru piped in, and in spite of himself, he glared at Neji. Neji merely shrugged and smiled easily at him.
"Oi Sasuke, have you forgotten about us?" Naruto's voice was strong, loud. And seeing that the name 'Sasuke' is very famous, a lot more people stopped from what they were doing and decided that eavesdropping was much more interesting.
"What do you mean us?" the Uchiha was starting to get angry too, aware now of the crowd that had started to gather around them.
"You and me, Sasuke! I thought you loved me!" Naruto wailed at the top of his voice, emphasizing on the word loved.
Sasuke flushed dark red in shame. Shikamaru, Neji and Gaara hid barely suppressed giggles. Sasuke looked up at the three of them in slitted eyes as if to say: "Traitors!" Around them, the crowd started to whisper excitedly.
"Oh my goodness! I didn't know Sasuke prefers boys!"
"No, stupid! He prefers girls too! He's bisexual! That's… too sexy!"
"Damn it. I should have known. Think he'll like me now? I mean, he's hot right? And I'm a pretty cute guy too…"
Sasuke, if even possible, turned an even darker shade of puce.
Project: Get back at Uchiha, step two completed! Naruto smiled smugly. He had completed two of his three- step project succinctly.
Step 1: Attract a couple of people. Preferably: a whole pack of em. Check.
Step 2: Make a scene. Check.
And finally, for step 3. Sasuke should better be ready for this, Naruto thought excitedly. He waited a moment or two for the excited whisperings to die down, and he cleared his throat loudly. The whole crowd tensed, and turned to watch Naruto with rapt attention.
"Sasuke, when you promised me a whole new world…"
"Promised you a whole new world?!" Sasuke interrupted, but Naruto spoke above him, as though he hadn't said a word.
"…full of love and ramen, I believed you."
A pack of girls swooned.
"What the heck did you believed, you dobe?!" Sasuke interrupted again, but nobody was paying heed to him now. They were all watching Naruto.
"I saved you from that contract, Sasuke, so you would not be forced to marry some faceless woman you did not know…I sacrificed my every wish and desire to attend to your mindless whims…"
There was a loud gasp from the crowd. Naruto is not a monster after all. They were all looking at him in a whole new light. Naruto is a valiant, courageous guy fighting for his one true love.
"Shut up, dobe, or I'll kill you. I'm not kidding." Sasuke hissed. Has the world turned upside down?! Why were they all taking his side? They were supposed to grovel and drool at the sight of him, not at that blonde bundle of stupidness!
"… and this is how you repay me? By kissing someone else other than me, your boyfriend?"
"That is the saddest story I have ever heard in my whole life." A girl in the crowd said tearfully.
"I did not kiss Neji! He kissed me!" Sasuke yelled, but for all it was worth, he might as well talk to the wind.
"I have had enough of you, Sasuke! Until you make up your mind as to whom you love more, I shall be waiting for you in the forest… in our special spot. Till then, Sasuke-chan… don't you worry about me. I… I'll try to hold on…" Naruto finished dramatically, unshed tears sparkling in his big, blue eyes. He held Sasuke's shocked gaze for a second or two before turning his back to him and started to flee away from the field.
Project: Get back at Uchiha, completed and with damn flying colors! Naruto thought triumphantly as soon as his back was turned to the crowd. I deserve an award for this! Good thing the wind was harsh and it hurt my eye. That crying bit was too good, if I may say so myself! The look on Sasuke's face. Hah. Too precious.
Naruto was so exhilarated by what had happened back there that he couldn't stop gloating in his mind. He didn't know that his footsteps were actually leading him to the forest.
Sasuke stood in shocked silence. He looked around, and he saw his supposed- to- be partner in crime, Neji, casting him a funny look.
I'll kill you later, you perverted bastard, Sasuke thought, hating the guy even more now.
Next to Neji was Shikamaru who was looking extremely put out about something, and he might have to kill him later too. He looked as though he was in on Naruto's plan of shaming him in front of the half of Konoha's population.
And then, there was Gaara. The bane of his existence. The thorn in his backside. The pebble in his shoe. He was the reason why he was kissed by that pervert Neji in the first place! If only he didn't ask Naruto that question then he wouldn't be scheming at all. He had to be killed too.
But first…
"Sasuke- kun! How could you be so cold- hearted?!" A girl cried in the background.
Several voices piped up, all agreeing to the girl who had just spoken.
"All ninjas are supposed to be cold- hearted." Sasuke snorted in reply.
"Now, now, Sasuke- kun. You know that's not true!"
The voice was horribly familiar. It had a know- it- all tone; haughty and proud. It was followed by a giggle, a sound that Sasuke knew all too well. This made the dark- haired boy quite nervous, although he didn't show it.
"Ino and Sakura." Sasuke said, eyeing them beadily. "What are you doing here?"
"We were watching, silly, like the rest of them." Sakura answered.
"And good for you too!" Ino added.
"Good for me? And why would that be?" the dark- haired boy asked sarcastically.
"Isn't it obvious?! We're here to help you win Naruto's heart again!"
Sasuke frowned. "I don't need help; I don't need to 'win' Naruto's heart back again!"
The crowd went buck angry with this, and Sasuke was once again taken aback. What the hell is wrong with these people? It wasn't long ago when these people were totally in awe at the sight of him while they all turned their noses down at Naruto. But now, everything had turned upside down in just a snap. Its almost a bit creepy, that.
"Sasuke, if you want to get mauled by this people, then go ahead and leave. But a word of advice from a girl who's been around the block… just follow me and Sakura- chan, ne?" the blonde girl whispered to Sasuke.
The said boy cast one last look at the angry faces around him, and closed his eyes painfully.
"Fine, fine. Let's just do this quickly." Sasuke breathed the words harshly through his nose.
Ino and Sakura exchanged triumphant grins; took each of Sasuke's arms and pulled him out of the practicing field. The crowd they left behind erupted in cheers.
"Geez. However did I actually end up here?" Naruto asked himself aloud.
He was perched in a tree, one leg under him and another dangling in the branch where he was sitting. All he knew was that he just kept on walking and running away, and somehow, he ended up exactly at the place where Sasuke had 'proposed' to him. Not that he minded, he needed a quiet place to think, and this place is as quiet as they come.
So he just sat there, and kept on repeating over and over in his head Sasuke's reaction when he gazed at him with unshed tears.
Sasuke looked mighty shocked, that's for sure, Naruto pondered this thought. He was so sure that Sasuke's reaction would be of anger and maybe of panic. But not shock. The idea was very unsettling.
Naruto became dimly aware of his increasingly dark surroundings. Guess I better get going, Naruto thought and jumped off the branch.
But as soon as he leaped off from the branch, he collided, body to body, with somebody.
Sasuke.
The blond stared at Sasuke incredulously from head to toe. Not even once did it cross his mind that Sasuke would actually come! But here he was, in the flesh. Not only that, Naruto noted, the dark haired shinobi was also clutching a bouquet of flowers.
"S- Sasuke? What the hell are you doing here?" the blonde asked tentatively, not really believing his eyes.
"What else do you expect, dobe?" Sasuke answered, a blush spreading across his cheeks.
"I don't know! You tell me! You're the one who came here!"
"I knew it. You're too stupid to even comprehend why I am here."
"Teme! I knew it! Did you come here to fight?!"
"Shut up, Naruto." Sasuke said and rolled his eyes. He plopped down, sitting on the ground. Naruto followed suit. The boy next to him was panting slightly, as though harassed. Sasuke was quiet for a long time; he just sat there trying to catch his breath. To Naruto, the silence was deafening. When he couldn't take it any longer, he faced the boy next to him.
"I don't believe this. You actually followed me here? I was just joking."
"If you were joking, moron, then you wouldn't be here in the first place."
There was silence again. Naruto wriggled in his seat, not really knowing why he was suddenly feeling very uncomfortable.
"Oh yeah, I forgot. These are for you." Sasuke said lightly, throwing the flowers at the blond's lap. Naruto stared at the blooms in his thighs, and a bright pink hue spread across his cheeks.
"J- just exactly why a- are you suddenly giving me flowers?" Naruto squeaked uncertainly, not knowing whether to touch the flowers or leave it there. He was afraid that it would actually bite his fingers.
"It's a long story."
"We have all night."
Sasuke stiffened momentarily, and Naruto was suddenly scared. He waited for the Uchiha to strike him a blow, anything, and he actually closed his eyes a little. But the boy didn't do anything. Instead, he faced him now, the look on his face inscrutable. Sasuke let out a long breath, and started to talk in a monotone.
"I heard you last night. With Gaara."
Naruto started to say so what, but Sasuke beat him to it.
"And he asked you if we were boyfriends. And you didn't say anything. So I guess I got mad, and teamed up with Neji to get back at you. But I didn't. Get back at you, I mean." Sasuke said, and Naruto thought he detected a bitter note to it.
"And then you suddenly went all stupid and crazy, and made a humiliating mess out of me, in front of the people of Konoha, whom I live with everyday."
Naruto made an impatient noise at the back of his throat. He wanted to say something, but Sasuke raised a palm. Naruto decided to let him finish.
"And then, as if things weren't bad enough, Sakura and Ino suddenly appeared out of nowhere and yanked to God knows where, and forced me to go back here, and give you those stupid flowers."
There was once again the stifling silence, as Sasuke finished his story, and Naruto was silent as he took in everything that the other boy had said to him.
"S-so… you're here… because Ino and Sakura- chan forced you to?"
"Do you honestly think that I'd go here on my own accord?! If I had it my way… I'd kill Neji first…that perverted asshole."
"Ne Sasuke? Can I say something though?"
The boy grumbled loudly, but nodded his assent grudgingly after a while.
"First of all, you don't have the right to eavesdrop on my conversations. Second, I was about to tell Gaara that you and I, well you know… agreed to be boyfriends, but he didn't let me finish… so I didn't get to tell him."
Sasuke rolled his eyes rather childishly, but didn't say anything.
"And, and… you did get me. With your stunt with Neji… I got…" Naruto trailed off.
"Jealous?" Sasuke supplied.
"Y- Yes, though at first I tried really hard to deny it, but now I have to say yes, I was jealous." Naruto said, the words coming out of his mouth so rapidly, that Sasuke had to lean forward so he could understand better.
The two of them were close to start with and when he moved, he found himself inches away from Naruto's face. He was surprised, but feigned disinterest. The blond, the naïve person he was, didn't realize that he too was leaning toward Sasuke in his eagerness to finish what he wanted to say.
"I was so jealous the moment I saw you talking with Neji, and it got worsewhen you two fell down and that… bastard kissed you! I almost tackled the guy, Sasuke, but then my inner self told me to handle things differently, and that's how things ended up. And Sasuke, you better listen carefully now, cos I won't say this again… I'm sorry for everything."
The dark –haired shinobi didn't bother to conceal his surprise now. Naruto's big blue eyes were about everything he could see right now, and he thought that he could spy the same tears he saw a while ago.
"Naruto, a while ago… were you crying?" Sasuke asked huskily, moving his face even more closer.
"Wha? Uh, yes..." Naruto said uncertainly, unconsciously tilting his head to the side.
"Wanna know something?" Sasuke asked again in the same husky voice.
Naruto actually gulped audibly, and nodded dumbly.
"I hated it… and I realized that I don't think I ever want to see you cry again…" Sasuke finished, and firmly placed his lips upon Naruto.
Author's Notes:
Hooray. Hooray! I finished once again... I took long enough, didn't I? heehee. ' Please dont be mad, anyone. I dont know when the next installment will be, but please bear with me. Thank you to everyone who left a review last time! All of you had made my day, and inspired me to write on. (HInt, hint.) 8-)
If you have time, please leave a review! Thank you, everybody!
