Konnichi wa!
Teehee. –giggles- Writing this chapter was fun, for some reason.
-singing- "My name is – what? My name is – huh? My name is – wikawika – Slim Shady"
-laughs- Sorry. Couldn't resist.
EMINEM RULES! HIS SONGS ROCK!
Or… if you wish to call them hilarious blabbing about nothing in particular, that's fine too. :D
And by the way! ANNOUNCEMENT!
Those of you who have read The Eighth Celestial Warrior to chapter 19 – this is for you!
You know the scene where Sasuke is drop dead gorgeous in that sexy kimono? Well, I have decided to throw a CONTEST! –cheers-
If you can draw the picture of Sasuke in the drop dead gorgeous kimono, submit it (or email it to me) to deviantart, then please do so! The best drawing of Sasuke in the sexy kimono will get a FREE DEDICATION ONESHOT! WOOHOO!
Also – anyone else who draws a fanart for any of my stories will get a oneshot as well!
You guys have two months! If you DO draw it, please submit it to deviantart and alert me that you have done so, or ask for my email address if you unable to submit it to the DA site.
Remember you guys – two months! I look forward to all of your fanart and contest material!
Second chapter, everyone!
Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept
Chapter Two – My Name Is
Naruto and the other two emerged in room 301 after meeting with Kakashi, and they were met with an entire fleet of other Genin.
Sakura felt the color drain from her face.
Oh my God… LOOK at all these guys! I never KNEW they'd be so much competition!
"Relax, Sakura-chan." She whirled to see Sai smiling at her. "We'll be fine." He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close, nuzzling her neck and making her laugh nervously.
"Sai… they're all watching – stop it!" She cooed, pushing him off.
"Knock it off you two," a familiar voice called as Kiba Inuzuka and his team appeared. "You guys can make out some other time – here it's all business!"
Naruto grinned, sharing a high-five with the dog lover.
"Hey Kiba – good to see you! Hey Akamaru!" He greeted the white pup.
"Um… uh… h-hello, N-naruto-kun," Hinata stuttered out gently, barely managing to make the words coherent. He grinned, nodding to her and making her blush even more. Shino stayed silent.
Kiba's gaze went to Sai, but the dog lover stayed silent. He didn't like the new replacement – in a way, the look-alike was worse than the Uchiha – and the Uchiha sucked.
But then again, it kinda sucked seeing Naruto all down, too. Kiba thought. The fact that the Uchiha died completely broke him – I don't think he's gotten over it, even now.
He sighed, and Akamaru sensed his depression and barked. He grinned.
"Yeah – okay Akamaru," Kiba said.
I'll cheer up – I promise!
"So you guys are here too?" A lazy voice asked as the three other rookies made their way over. "Man – this is going to be so troublesome – I shouldn't have even come."
"Shut up, Shikamaru," Ino snapped. "We honestly don't care." Then her gaze went to Sakura, who locked eyes with her.
The temperature in the room went down twenty degrees.
"Billboard brow," Ino stated.
"Ino-pig," Sakura returned.
Everyone waited for the explosion, but none came.
Laughter was heard from the other side of the door.
"I'm very sorry Sensei – truly! I should have watched were I was going!" A cheerful voice rang – muffled but still comprehensible – through the wood. "Yes – I know. Yes!" More laughter. "Oh goodness – I hope not! Yes – okay! I promise! But once again – I'm VERY sorry for bumping into you. Gomen nasai. Yes – my teammates are in the room already and if I don't get there on time, they're going to flip! Yes – I understand! Okay – arigato… what was it?" A pause. "Kakashi-sensei? Okay – arigato, Kakashi-sensei, and gomen again! Sayonara!"
The door opened.
Naruto once again saw the boy he had seen the first time, the boy's long black hair spilling over his shoulders as he surveyed the other raven-head – black eyes wide and curious and blinking.
There was a moment of silence between them.
The curious look fell from the other's face, turning into a hard, scrutinizing, scathingly dangerous gaze as his eyes traveled up and down, surveying Sai, who was looking upwards at the other – who was at least two inches taller than him.
Another moment of silence, and finally the newcomer spoke, his voice cruel.
"I don't like you," he stated simply, a very obvious hint of a snarl in his voice, making Sai blink in confusion.
WHAT?
"What is a vulgar impression of me doing here?" the other continued, his voice surprisingly similar to that of another's – but deeper and more mature, as Naruto didn't fail to notice. He looked Sai up and down again in distaste. "Who ARE you?"
"The name's Sai," Naruto's teammate answered, bristling. If it was possible, the other's gaze hardened even more.
"Sai?" The other repeated. At a loss for what to say in response to that, Sai nodded.
The other's lips curled upwards slightly in disgust before settling again.
"So you're one of the rookies," the other stated. It wasn't a question – it was a statement – a simple recollection of cold, hard fact. Then he gave a small smirk. "Heh – I see. You better watch yourselves, especially you…" he surveyed Sai distastefully. "Sai."
"Well?" Sai demanded. "Aren't you going to give us YOUR name?"
Before he could answer, another voice – a female one – cut him off.
"Oh! There you are!"
One of the newcomer's teammates – the girl – was making her way over, easily picking her way through the dense crowd of Genin.
The newcomer's entire aura changed when he laid eyes on the girl, and he smiled, his entire body relaxing.
"Konnichi wa, Inaré!" The newcomer greeted, giving her a small wave. "Have you and Haku waited long?"
The girl named Inaré brushed Sai aside, and she and the newcomer clasped hands in greeting.
"No – only about five minutes. But we were beginning to worry – it's not like you to stall."
The other laughed cheerfully, now succeeding in ignoring Sai completely, who was glaring daggers at his back.
"That's true, isn't it? Well, I'm here now! Where are you sitting?"
"In the back," Inaré replied, taking the other's hands and gently pulling him forward, away from the nine rookies.
The other laughed and pulled Inaré closer to him, using the grip she had on his fingers.
"Why do you always sit at the back, Inaré?" He asked in his laughter. "What is it with you and this 'gotta-be-in-the-back' complex?" He did the 'quote, end-quote' sign with his fingers, making Inaré laugh and push him gently.
"Shut up you! He's perfectly fine with it!"
"So? What about me?" The other asked. Inaré laughed, and flicked him playfully on the noise.
"You don't count."
The other winced and jerked back as though he had been struck, holding his heart.
"Oh – Inaré, that hurts."
"I know – it should." The other gave her a stern glare which was ruined by the laughter in his eyes.
"That's not very nice, Inaré – oh!" He had noticed his other teammate at the very back. He waved cheerfully. "Konnichi wa, Haku!"
"Come!" The other boy called gently, smiling. "Stop causing trouble, Sasuke."
It felt like a jolt had been sent through Naruto's body.
SASUKE?
"WAIT!" He called to the other and Inaré, who both turned to look at him, eyes equally wide and questioning. "Who are you?" He was suddenly breathless.
The other blinked at him and cocked his head slightly, standing with his side facing Naruto and his hair gently falling about his face, framing it as his lips parted slightly, giving a subtle, natural pout. Inaré giggled beside him.
"Awe," she cooed. "What a cute little rookie! Absolutely adorable! And the whisker marks are so lovable!"
Sai tensed beside Naruto, and Naruto felt himself turn red at the comment and stutter out a thank you – it was the first time a girl ever called him 'cute', after all – making Inaré giggle even more, but the compliment quickly fell from him as he stared at the other. The first raven head silently surveyed the blonde – as if thinking of how to answer that question – before replying.
"Even though it's common courtesy to give your own name first, I will answer," he replied, suddenly very serious, though his voice was light. "My name is Sasuke."
Even Sakura – who was previously having a glaring contest with Ino all through the conversation – perked up at the name and looked around, seeing the first raven head and beginning to drool. Ino followed her gaze and began to do the same thing, and the raven head ignored both. Hope swelled in Naruto's chest –
Oh my God – can it be – can it really be him –?
"Sasuke Terranova."
Naruto's entire demeanor seemed to deflate, and Sakura's face fell, even though she didn't look away.
"Oh…" the blonde breathed absentmindedly, looking down and away.
Sasuke blinked.
"And you?" Naruto's head perked up at the question. "What is your name?"
"My name?" Naruto repeated. "My name is Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki."
Sasuke blinked again and then smiled.
"Very well then. It's nice to meet you." He gave the blonde, a challenging, provocative smirk – one that Naruto had ingrained into his mind, identical to another's – "Naruto Uzumaki."
Naruto suddenly fell in love with his own name – the way Sasuke spoke – carrying an elegance in his voice and tone and drenching every syllable that left his mouth in the verbal beauty, speaking clearly and distinctly and absolutely wonderfully, especially the way he said the blonde's name. It seemed like the other – while saying his name – was tasting and judging every letter of the name. It sent unheard of shivers down Naruto's spine, shivers that he had never felt before and the other's voice sounded just so brilliant –
Naruto ached for him to say it again.
"Tsk – what a bastard," Sai commented, sliding closer to Naruto. Naruto kept staring at the other's back.
"Shut up, Sai," he said blankly, still looking at the stranger.
Sasuke Terranova felt the gaze but didn't turn to it. He suddenly fell silent, and Inaré noticed the change immediately. She turned to him.
"Sasuke?" She asked.
He didn't answer, not even when Haku came up and embraced him in greeting.
Recognition passed over her face.
"It's that kid, isn't it?" She asked in a hushed voice, pressing closer and laying a hand on his upper arm. "That kid you left behind?"
"Yes," Sasuke replied blankly. "Even four years later… he's still hurting."
His entire upper body tensed as he stared at the ground, and Haku's eyebrows furrowed. He embraced Sasuke again, rubbing comforting circles on the other's back.
"It's for the best," he murmured in the younger ear. "You'd only hurt him more if he realized you left him for the Hidden Mist Village."
"But if that boy truly loved him, then he'd forgive him!" Inaré protested, looking at Haku as she squeezed Sasuke's arm reassuringly. "Right?"
That comment made Sasuke smile grimly.
"Yes – Naruto DOES have a big heart – even now. He's managed to keep himself open – even after all this time."
But the pain in his eyes when I told him my name was almost too much to bear –
I can't keep hurting him like this! Isn't four years of suffering enough –?
"This is for the best, Sasuke," Haku breathed gently, still embracing him. "Please remember that."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he stared down at Haku's head. Even though he was younger, he was still taller than the other.
"Okay."
But something deep down in my heart is telling me that keeping the secret is the wrongest thing I could possibly do –
"I guess we're rivals, now," Sasuke breathed, making Haku withdraw and blink up at him, his fingers clutching his sleeves. But Sasuke wasn't talking to him.
The so-called Terranova's voice was provocative, eager. It sent relief through Haku's system.
He's back to normal –
"Naruto Uzumaki."
End Chapter Two – My Name Is
Heehee.
Like I said, fun to write.
I hope you liked it everyone!
AND REMEMBER! YOU'VE GOT TWO MONTHS:D
Please review!
Ja ne!
DDB
