A/N: While having a Gravitation Read-a-Thon, I got to the fourth book and read the story 'A Toast to the Nape of Your Neck', one of my favorite short-stories I've ever read. And, since I'm in a sort of Naruto phase (most specifically, SasuNaru) I thought they would be cute in the plotline. So, since I've been itching to write it since I got the idea, I wrote it. Unfortunately, what began as a one-shot became a two-chaptered one-shot. So, this is the first chapter, and the second will be up momentarily.
Disclaimer(s): I do NOT own anything having to do with Naruto, including, but not limited to, the characters, personalities, ideas, places or objects. Further, I don't own even the plot for this, since it is using a lot of direct quoting from Maki Murakami's Gravitation Book 4 'A Toast to the Nape of Your Neck'. I love that story, and this is a twisted tribute to both authors' skills and creativity. The only thing that I legally own is...possibly Chuugi. Possibly.
Chuugi- Loyalty; Jizen- Charity
I hope you enjoy, though. I loved writing it.
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Once every one hundred and twenty-four years, when a blood-red moon rises at the hour of three, a shadow shall rise to become the master of all the world.
This shadow will retain the bloodline of our clan--and its power will protect out fortunes.
Our holy blood has risen.
The time is now...
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The birds had been chirping as Sasuke walked through the park. He had gotten out a little early than he had anticipated, he was on his way home in the slowly darkening evening, and he felt pleased at being able to avoid most of the female population in his escape. He walked in his uniform, black slacks and a button-up white tee, and he carried his bag under an arm. Even though his face of indifference wouldn't show it, he was content with his life at the moment.
He had just turned a corner, impatient to get home and relax, when he nearly tripped over a body. "What the--" he said as he caught himself. He blinked and looked back at the body.
It was a blonde boy, his tan skin incredibly pale, lying unconcious on the pavement. He wasn't moving, and if Sasuke hadn't seen the slight rise and fall of the boy's chest, he wouldn't have known the kid was alive. Just to be sure, Sasuke nudged him with a foot, raising an eyebrow when the boy just groaned inaudibly. He didn't move.
"Hey, are you alright?" Sasuke asked, knowing the adolescent- he appeared to be the same age as Sasuke- wouldn't answer. Sasuke sighed and raked a hand through his raven hair. "I suppose I should get you to the hospital, shouldn't I?" He stooped down, juggled his bag and the dead weight of his new burden, and began to trudge to the hospital. "I just hope you don't die on me. I hear the paperwork is horrible to deal with..."
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What is this? This feeling?
My thirst- My thirst is abating...but that can't be it...
Every cell in my body aches. Each drop of blood awakens the animal in me.
I think I've found it. My...
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Naruto awoke, startled out of the darkness. He took a moment to realise that he was in a hospital, and that a doctor was looking him in the face. She had blonde hair pulled back into two tails, and she looked as pale as the moonlight. She was talking to him, and it took him a moment to tune his mind to her speech.
"...you. Can you hear me?"
Naruto sat up and looked at the woman. He was still a bit dizzy, and figured that he knew what had happened to him yet again.
"Ah. So you can sit up." The woman spoke with wry amusement, and smile gracing her features. "I'm Doctor Yoshu, Tsunade Yoshu." She nodded her head slightly to her patient. "Might I ask your name?" She held a clipboard in hand, a pen cradeled in the foldes of various papers and folders that she worked with.
"U-Uzumaki Naruto," he said, stuttering a bit.
Tsunade nodded. "Well, I was afraid it would be worse, but it's just a bad case of anemia. You know that, yes?" Naruto nodded, and Tsunade let out a very un-lady-like snort. "Of course you would. Well, you're very lucky. The nice young gentleman that brought you to our attention had a perfect blood match to your own, and donated some when asked. Not every day charity like that waltzes right up to you."
Naruto blinked, the information slowly penetrating his skull. Then, with the energy of someone perfectly healthy, he leaned forward urgently and said, "That boy. Where is he? What is his name, what does he look like, where is he?"
Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "Patient confidentiality," she said sumply.
Naruto growled. "Tell me, you old hag! Where is he?"
Tsunade's eye twitched, just before she bashed her clipboard over the blonde's head. "I told you, we have patient confidentiality to work with." Naruto cradled his head in his hands, and Tsunade felt a bit sorry for him. Just a bit. "I'll tell you this- he was wearing a Jizen High School uniform, though."
Naruto nodded. Then his eyes nearly flew from his head when the doctor pulled out a small, red fox. The fox waved a paw cheerily at the stunned youth, and Tsunade said, "Is this yours? He wandered in here, and wouldn't leave."
"Hello, Master," the fox said cheerfully. Naruto hurried to grab the kit, putting a hand over his muzzle and fighting to keep it there when the kanine began to struggle.
"Oh, yes, this is Chuugi, don't know how he got in here," Naruto said, rubbing the back of his head nervously as the fox calmed down. Tsunade gave him a disbelieving look, but left as she was paged elsewhere. As she left, a look of utter determination crossed his face as he rubbed Chuugi's head. "Jizen High, eh?"
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I'll find you yet...
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Sasuke sat at his desk, waiting for class to start. Some of the class girls had flocked to him, creating a sort of ripple effect around his seat. They were chattering back and forth, telling him about things he had no interest in, and not getting the hint that he wanted to be left alone when he refused to talk to him. He wasn't even paying attention to them.
Instead, his thoughts were on the boy he had found. It was wierd. When he had brought the youth to the hospital, he had felt compelled to help him. Sasuke remembered how he had looked the evening before, his sun-kissed hair glowing in the raising moon, his tan skin still appearing less-than-so... He had looked so familiar. Like Sasuke had met him before.
But that was insane. He had never seen the kid before last night, and he wasn't going to see him again. Sasuke shook himself internally, tearing his mind from the boy that had haunted his thoughts since leaving the hospital. He wasn't some hopeless romantic. In fact, he was known to most of the population for being a heartless bastard. He had just been giving a fellow human a hand in a momentary lapse in his personality. That was all.
The door opened, and the students quickly scrambled to their seats. The teacher walked in and set his things on the front desk, then faced the class. "Today we have a new student starting. Uzumaki Naruto-san," he said as the new student walked in.
Whispers started, and Sasuke looked up and focused on the boy. His mind blanked out, everything except a single thought: It was the boy from yesterday...
The blonde bowed, saying something about being pleased to meet everyone. Then the teacher was talking about there being an empty seat next to Uchiha Sasuke-san, and then the boy was moving to his new seat, right next to the stunned brunette...
"Hey, it's you!" Naruto said when he had seated himself. The teacher was already lecturing at them, but didn't seem to notice a handful of his students weren't on the same wavelength. The blonde pointed at himself. "You remember me from the other night, right? Which reminds me, I still haven't thanked you for the blood transfusion."
A horde of rumors would be sprung from that, Sasuke thought with dread as the girls started to whisper and squeal. It seemed every generation of fangirls had their quirks... The teacher cleared his throat, settling down the class immediately.
All but one. "I'm anemic, and it's really hard to find someone with my blood type. I get dizzy and collapse all the time. It was a stroke of luck when you found me, otherwise I'd be toast. You rock!" The blonde wouldn't shut up, and Sasuke was getting irritated.
"You don't know me, so stop trying to be my buddy," Sasuke hissed. He was trying to concentrate on the lecture, taking notes... "It was a momentary lapse in sanity that made me help you." The guy just seemed to prove blonde jokes were right.
Naruto subsided. He had already found him, so he could wait a while. Until after school, at least. He turned his attention to the teacher.
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Coincidence? Who do you think you're fooling?
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It was after school. Sasuke was talking with one of the only other people he could tolerate, a very lazy teen by the name of Nara Shikamaru. Even though he was one of the smartest people Sasuke had known, he found homework too bothersome. As a consequence, he was failing nearly everything.
Currently, Sasuke was telling the muddy-haired teen beside him about his encounter with Naruto. "...and so I gave him some blood. Big deal."
Shikamaru sighed. "This may sound like a bore, but have you considered that maybe you were set up?" Sasuke and Shikamaru stopped. "Look at it this way. He was lying in a pretty popular park, pretty early in the evening. How are you the only person who stumbles across him, and not only that, but you share his blood type?" He yawned. "And, to top it all off, he was transferred into your class today. Sounds like somebody planned everything."
"It was no coincidence."
Sasuke flinched slightly, and Shikamaru nearly jumped from his skin at Naruto, who had appeared out of nowhere. He smiled cheerfully.
"Where the hell did you come from?" Shikamaru demanded.
Naruto ignored him. He faced Sasuke, who became apprehensive. "I've been looking all over for you!" Naruto announced. "Sasuke-chan...will you marry me?"
Sasuke coudn't speak. He closed his eyes and tried to hold back a sudden wave of murderous intent towards the chipper blonde. Shikamaru, on the other hand, saw no qualms about talking.
"What do you mean, marry?" the genius asked. "Not only did you just meet, but you're both guys? Unless you plan on shredding both of your reputations to shreds, marriage is impossible."
Naruto shrugged with a smile. "What can I say? He's just my type."
Sasuke turned and walked away, not stopping when his name was called. Let Shikamaru deal with the insane adolescent. He needed something for his rapidly approaching headache.
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In a word, he's intense. And kind of excitable. He's a hella cute, too.
I'm glad I've finally found him...
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