The steady sound of rain drops beating against the window panel echoed throughout the house. Various objects could be seen riding on the strong and violent wind through the glass. Items like papers, carrier bags, branches, leaves and something which look suspiciously like a wig...
Naruto was woken up by a very delicious smell, unfamiliar yet enticing. Lazily, he sat up in warm comfortable bed, taking one last deep breath of the scent that lingered from the previous occupant before the blond, he rubbed his eyes tiredly before opening them slowly to take in his surroundings.
The blond almost had a panic attack when his eyes took in the sight of the unfamiliar room, but quickly calmed down when he remembered where he was. He was about to leave the room but a note on his blanket caught his eyes.
Naruto,
Wash up or take a bath in the toilet connected to the bedroom, it is at the end of the bookshelves. I had already placed a change of clothing on the bathroom counter. Head to the kitchen for breakfast after you are done...baka.
Sasuke
It was then Naruto realized that Sasuke was not asleep on the futon which had already been kept. He rubbed his eyes again then examined the surroundings, it was dark last night so he was not able to get a good look of the room.
The walls and ceiling were painted a dark blue, the floors of dark hard wooden planks. The light blue bed sheets and soft baby blue curtains contrast beautifully with the dark background. A metal bedside table had an elegant white lamp with dark blue stars curved into it.
He spotted the book shelves Sasuke spoke of, long pieces of sliver paint coated metals ran diagonally down the wall, seemingly in a random pattern. The little pieces of metal jutting out at regular intervals prevented items on the shelves to slide off, in addition edges of each metal piece curled up to hold a circular plastic container that fit nicely into the curve, they were filled with stars and one planet each. The planets were in descending order, the sun at the top most container to Pluto in the last one.
But the thing that impressed Naruto the most was the tiny lights on the ceilings. The bigger ones formed horoscope signs while the smaller ones scattered themselves. He guessed he did not see them because Sasuke had not switched them on. There was also long bars of light tracing the edge of the room, both bottom and top.
Naruto was admiring the designs of the horoscopes formed by the lights when he suddenly realized he still had to wash up for breakfast. He did not want his arch rival to think he was a lazy bum and had slept in.
He past through the door frame next to the shelves finding himself in a walk in closet of blue tinted sliding glass. He started to suspect that the apartment was actually a lot larger then it appeared. He found out later that he was right when he found a guest room branching from the living room which he had not noticed earlier on and another toilet beside the kitchen which was skillfully hidden.
He pushed opened the door at the end of the walk in closet to enter the bathroom which had a thin layer of steam. He really start to suspect where Sasuke had gotten all his wealth as the blond stood open mouth at the Jacuzzi tub beside a window equipped with curtains with a what would be a next view without the storm. Next to the Jacuzzi tub was a normal tub with a shower overhead enclosed in glass.
Naruto was actually only intending to wash up when he saw that Sasuke had already prepared the bath water for him. So he checked the counter for his promised clothing, finding a toothbrush on top of a face towel and a bath towel underneath the clothing.
He suddenly blushed at Sasuke's thoughtfulness and decided to find a way to repay the dark hair man later, he did not like to be indebted to anyone, especially his arch rival.
Naruto came into the kitchen fresh and clean, to see Sasuke washing a set of pan and pot. On the table was a delicious spread of food, two sets of bacon with sausages on plates beside empty glasses and a hard boiled egg each, in the center was a jug of orange juice, a carton of milk and finally a coffee pot.
None had made such an effort like Sasuke except maybe Iruka, on the fact that he did not have a family, for this, he was touched...not that he would admit that to the pale man. He wanted to know Sasuke better before entering a relationship.
"Take a seat and help yourself to the food," Sasuke said as he set the pot and pan on the drying rack, "I don't know what kind of drink you like so pour yourself a drink, and I hope you wouldn't mind a western breakfast, dobe."
"Thank you...and don't think too much into it bastard." Naruto replied, already sitting on a chair, starting to pour a glass of milk for himself. Sasuke soon joined him in eating the meal. They sat in uncomfortable silence, thinking of the words they heard from each other last night, until Naruto accidentally overturned his hard boiled egg cup.
He had a brilliant idea as he watched the egg bounced across the table top. He retrieved the egg and started bouncing the egg on the smooth surface, forgetting all about Sasuke.
Then he started to throw the egg against the window before catching it easily. He started laughing with glee as he marveled at the bounciness of the egg.
"You should not play with food, baka."
Suddenly, Naruto was reminded of Sasuke's presence, he almost did not catch the egg on the rebound. He snickered, happy that he was able too irritate the stoic man.
"Why should I listen to you, bastard?"
"Because the mother of that egg will come and seek revenge..." Naruto look weirdly at Sasuke who had a secret smile on his usually emotionless face. "...just kidding, but you really should stop playing with..."
They were distracted by a splat coming from the window. They averted their gaze to the window, what they saw appalled them.
A bird with its feathers all sticking out at one direction was pressed upon the glass trying to avoid the strong wind, eyes wide open and slowly sliding down the window to sort of kneel at the window sill, resting and gathering enough energy to fly. A few seconds later, it flapped his wings and continued its journey.
They both said at the exact moment.
"I don't feel hungry anymore."
Sasuke was back at his study, typing his novel while Naruto was lying on his back on Sasuke's bed, a pen and his velvet notebook in hand, watching the storm which had worsened as he tried to get inspiration for his newest lyrics.
Sasuke's bed had became his favourite spot in the house, not because of you know what...hell he wouldn't even think of doing it with his arch rival...but because he really felt safe and warm, the thunder and the howl of the wind did not affect him as much as before, in fact, he was not at all bothered by the storm.
The blue-eyed boy snuggled deeper under the blanket as he gazed upon the ceiling, he could not wait until night to see the splendor of the lights when on. Sure, it was rather dark due to the storm, not to mention cold, but it was not completely dark.
He sighed, placing the pen and book down at the bedside table, he climbed out of the bed, walking into the study to search of Sasuke.
Naruto found Sasuke furiously typing away at his laptop, an empty cup of coffee beside him. Sasuke did not look up from his computer screen.
"Sasuke...do you have any CDs that I can watch on television. Because of the storm, the reception is very weak, so can I borrow one of your CDs to watch?"
"Sure, they are kept below the television in the cabinet."
"Thanks... bastard."
"Your welcome...dobe."
Confident that Naruto had already left the room as he heard the starting of the movie, Sasuke slumped back into his chair, a finger on the delete button as he erased all the crap he typed consisting mainly of 'sausdhijsdjnloveskjdsjdijnarutolksnlksndnsdverykajdflksajdmuchnsadlnsaikjsandsnhopekjsdhsajnfisfoiefwillasnfsafbesfnsadablejjsakdtokndksaconfessoqweicxmntosndasnisrhimslfjoiefsoonsdhshd' when he heard Naruto's footsteps.
He had a writer's block, all he could think of was Naruto and yesterday night. Naruto did say he felt safer, but it could be a brother's love not of lover's love. He knew that he love Naruto, unknown to Naruto, he had a wet dream of Naruto, it was nothing serious, just him and Naruto lying on a field simply kissing each other.
Yet, he did not have wet dreams for a very long time. Only once in a while he will remember, but the ending will always be unpleasant.
The Uchiha stood up, deciding to refill his coffee cup
Sasuke strode past the screen quickly, afraid to get in the way of Naruto's view. When he came back with a cup of coffee in hand, he took a glance at the screen and was surprised to see that Naruto had chosen a CD that he had never watch, given by his elder brother and only living kin, Itachi.
The title of the movie was 'Titanic', a famous romance movie set in olden day Europe.
The scene was currently featuring a huge luxury ship with thousands of people both on the ship and on the dock. Sasuke soon became interested as he watched a man around his age with short blond hair waving off to non-existent relatives. Sasuke noted that the background music was impressive and since he could not write, he decided to join the blond.
Naruto was engrossed in the movie, hugging a cushion, cerulean eyes sparkling. Sasuke smiled at the sight, he settled himself across from the blond, on the other sector on the L-shaped couch. The cup forgotten, placed on the coffee table.
And the rain continued to fall.
A/N: I apologized that this chapter is rather boring, a large part dedicated to describe Sasuke's bedroom and bathroom. But trust me, they are going to play a very important part later on.
And the section of rubbish typed by Sasuke contained a secret message. See if you can figure it out. I will reveal the answer on the next chapter.
Insects usually came into buildings for shelter, I always experienced this on consecutive raining days. Thus I think a storm will increased the appearance of pests.
BTW: The voting is still on, those who did not vote yet, refer to chapter 4 for more details. The deadline is 20th November 2004.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed and participated in the voting.
Please review!!! And thanks once again.
