A/N: Ah, here's the explanation of a delayed chapter. It would've been out yesterday, (or a couple days before that, sorry!) but I remembered about a little game called Harvest Moon and…hehheh…I think you know the rest. But it's out now! The next chapter will have Sakura involved more than a few lines. This chapter is just setting everything in place.
Now if only I knew where everything was going ;;
Disclaimer: Naruto, or any of the characters that appear here, are not mine. They're property of Masashi Kishimoto. I do own this cool looking pillow though!
Warning: This story is SasuNaru shounen ai which means that Sasuke and Naruto are romantically involved with each other. Don't like it? Can't help you there…sorry.
Deep Blue Sunshine
"A myth can be tomorrow, a myth can be today,
A myth may eventually, just fade away"
Chapter Four: Hidden Between the Lines
Reading—thinking—dazing—sleeping. Wake up. Repeat.
Reading—thinking—dazing—Naruto's silly annotations of mer-people—dazing again—sleeping. Return to working on his studies. Repeat. The pages melded together, the ink became inseparable, and he slowly succumbed to the sweet siren of sleep. Then he'd jerk himself awake again and read the next few pages. If the council had noticed, they hadn't said anything. After all, if the prince was studying on the life of peasants and other kingdoms, how were they to complain?
Why on Earth did he even bother to pull the curtains back? The light from the windows killed his eyes…
"Your highness, the prince of Naida will arrive in an hour." Hinata announced shyly, startling Sasuke from his half-doze. He sprung up to attention, placing his hands on the outstretched books as if to turn the page. Vaguely wondering where he left off, he pretended to study the scrawls of ink and the smudged papers. He didn't look at Hinata.
"Thank you, Hinata. You're dismissed."
But instead of the quiet shuffling he expected, an uncomfortable silence reigned over his room. He looked up from the oak desk and stared evenly at Hinata. She turned her gaze immediately down to the carpet with an embarrassed blush on her face.
"E-excuse me, highness, b-but may I…say something?" She stuttered, wringing her hands as she continued watching the floor. Sasuke frowned at her unusual actions.
"Proceed." He commanded in a dull voice. If it was anything about the visiting prince, then he couldn't really care at the time. Just a few more minutes to organize his thoughts, save his place, and snap back into the real world, and everything would be under control.
"Is y-your majesty ill? It seems a-as if your highness has been tired th-throughout the last f-few days…"
"I'm fine, Hinata." He lied quickly, but then again, he had to lie all the time as a prince. People couldn't easily tell the difference between his everyday comments and his falsehoods just for that reason.
No, he wasn't really fine at all. He wanted sleep, dammit! For the past few nights, he'd been sneaking out to Naruto's for their lessons. By the time he would return, he would jump into bed and sleep for only two or three hours. The first night was fine, but the second night after that began to take a toll on him, and the night after, Kakashi had managed to catch him off guard on five separate occasions. Then his tutor had the nerve to say:
"Have you been love—struck lately, prince?"
And from that point on, he'd been snappy ever since. Out of all the emotions Naruto brought up with him, he was pretty sure love-struck was out of the question. Otherwise he'd be stalking the merman and constantly flirting with him to get his attention—like Sakura did, right?
…
Eww. Parading around like Sakura gave him a bad mental image.
But his point being: If he couldn't keep his pace, people were sure to notice his erratic behavior.
"…prince?"
Startled out of his daze once again, Sasuke fully gazed at pale girl.
"Repeat that?"
She fidgeted again, (for some reason, Hinata was always afraid of him) and repeated her last sentence.
"Is there anything I can get you, your highness?"
Running a hand through his dark hair, he took a deep sigh and returned to his studies.
"No thank you. You may go now."
Hinata bowed, her short hair flopping in front of her face as she did so, and left.
If this were any indication of what the day would be, Sasuke would rather stay underneath his covers.
"Announcing the Prince of Naida!" His guards cried as the majestic doors of the throne room creaked open. A man with dark hair, pulled back into a ponytail stepped inside with a slight smile. The bridge of his nose held a long scar of sorts, old and faded with time. He looked much older than Sasuke, probably around 23 or 24.
He strode into the room with confidence and gracefulness, gliding across the blood red rug as if it were water. He stopped before Sasuke's throne and slightly bowed.
"Greetings, your highness. I am Iruka, from the Umino dynasty of Naida. I appreciate your generosity for my short stay."
"Likewise," Sasuke replied in a neutral tone, slightly shifting his royal blue cloak. Meetings like this always tended to be a dance with words, and he made it a habit to say the most intelligent, precise answer he could. Sometimes the conversations became more deadly than wars. "I trust your journey was smooth?"
"Indeed," The older prince countered with a sincere smile, "Thanks to your guards, no trouble came of us during our excursion."
"I am glad to hear of it." Not really; he couldn't care less at the time, but, "To reassure Your Highness' stay, I have taken the precaution to lend you my most elite guard. He is more than capable to handle any displeasures you encounter. I shall inform a servant about our meeting, but for now, I am sure you are quite exhausted."
Sparing a null glance at Kakashi, he motioned the guard to step forward.
"Show Prince Iruka to his headquarters, if you will."
Kakashi smiled behind his cloth bandana and bowed earnestly at the ruler. Of course it would be just like him to find ways to aggravate the prince. Even when Sasuke demanded he stop, Kakashi just gave him the excuse, "But it's a good exercise to masquerade your emotions, good for battle".
"My deepest gratitude." Iruka provided him with an earnest smile and another bow. Kakashi then motioned the way, and Iruka followed.
Watching the dispersing guards, Sasuke bit back a yawn and slouched into his throne. He had to make it to Naruto's tonight, or the merman would give him hell. He still had a few more chapters to go for today's lesson…he stopped in the middle of peasants' mannerisms.
Sasuke stood up and brushed himself off, turning to the direction of his studies.
Silence had pretty much occupied the trip through the hallway, which suited Kakashi just fine. It gave him time to distinguish the differences between now and then.
"It's been a while, hasn't it?" The other man awkwardly muttered. Kakashi nodded.
"Nnn, since the war, to be exact." He smiled lazily underneath his black cloth mask. Iruka caught the motion rather easily.
"I see you haven't changed much," The prince pulled a stray lock of hair back into place.
"I see you still have that thing—" Kakashi caught Iruka's wrist so suddenly that the prince resisted at first. The sleeve of his tunic fell in folds around his elbow, revealing a strong but wiry arm, and a dull wooden bracelet, carved in an eroded pattern of unrecognizable figures. Iruka instantly locked gaze with the wall, his face lightly tinted pink. "It doesn't seem fit for a prince."
Iruka jerked his arm away in response, refusing to meet Kakashi's gaze.
"…It would be hard to let go of it."
Stopping in front of a large door, Kakashi paused and turned to Iruka in a careless manner. In the light, Kakashi could see just how much they had both grown. Iruka's face lost the "cute" baby fat and instead, chiseled into a well-defined jaw, soft pale lips, a handsome nose…But Iruka still held the same beautiful chocolate brown eyes.
The Iruka standing before him was a mature version of the scrawny yet oddly strong boy he once met in a war.
"You're still cute as ever." Kakashi blurted, smiling cheerfully. Iruka gritted his teeth and pushed past him, opening the door to his quarters.
Kakashi made a mental note to deeply thank Sasuke with more training and lovely compliments.
By the timeSasuke finished reading his lessons, the sun had set and a familiar tug on his heartstrings made itself known. In a way, his body had programmed itself to be prepared to meet Naruto, in the forest under a starry sky.
Well, actually, right now his body was acting in a civil war, where his brain and his muscles duked it out in a no-holds bars match to the death. And curiosity, after three grueling days, tripped under it's own feet and kneeled before the greatness known as sleep.
In shorter, easier terms, it meant that sleep deprivation finally took it's toll. And it didn't feel good at all.
Naruto could wait until then, he decided. He still had to go to supper—one that he must attend. Otherwise Prince Iruka would probably assume that Sasuke didn't care for his kingdom. And that meant possible schemes for overthrow. Or it could be that Iruka may break his ties with Konoha.
If Iruka was a good ruler, he'd better not judge a dinner as seriously as such, but it couldn't hurt if Sasuke was a little paranoid about these things.
God, it's wonderful when he stops caring about appearances. It gives him less stress and more time to sleep.