Author's Note: Here's the second chapter! And thank you for the reviews. It really encourages me to write. Oh, and thanks to Panther Fire for reminding me about that. This is my first multi-chapter fic so sometimes I get a little carried away with the overall plot and forget all about the finer details. If anyone finds any other mistakes or has any other queries along the way (or even any helpful pointers for me!), feel free to say so.

Warning: YAOI (Rating will go up and content will be more explicit in later chapters), some swearing.

Disclaimer: I do not own 'Naruto' or any of the characters from the anime/manga.

Bold and Italics flashbacks

The Art of Fabrication (cont.)

By: Nine1991

Chapter 2: A First Save

Tsunade had chosen that exact moment to break up their little one-sided conversation, her actions probably fueled by the growing murderous glint in the Uchiha's dark eyes. "Naruto!" she barked, "Don't even think that you're off the hook, brat! What the hell did you do this time to have the elders baying for your blood?"

Naruto turned, hand rubbing the back of his head as he smiled sheepishly. "Heh heh. About that…well…you see…" At seeing the rapid clenching of Tsunade's fists, he plowed on rapidly, "I used the Oroike-no-jutsu on the elders while they were in a meeting." He grimaced, eyes shut tight, waiting for the inevitable blow that was sure to follow.

A momentary bout of silence. Then –

"WHAT!?" Tsunade screeched. The vein in her temple throbbing as she rose abruptly from her chair. Naruto peeked through an eyelid, wondering if he was in the all-clear before there was a loud THWACK! sound and he was sent careening through the air, only to crash into the opposite wall, at which he slid down, slowly, limbs twitching. Tsunade collapsed back into her chair, rubbing her temples vigorously in a way that seemed as if she wanted to rub the skin straight off. "Damn brat's going to give me an aneurysm one of these days," she grumbled to herself.

Naruto pulled himself up into a sitting position, pouting at the injustice done to his aching body. He didn't know which limb to ease first – every part of him was throbbing with bruises – so he, therefore, chose to sit still.

"As punishment," Tsunade began, ignoring Naruto's indignant squawk of 'What?! Wasn't that punishment enough?!' "You are to show Uchiha Sasuke," and at this, she nodded towards the dark-haired shinobi, "Around the village. You will be his personal guide for the day, and I mean the whole day."

Naruto frowned, thrusting a thumb in the direction of the otherwise stoic ninja. "Why the hell do I have to baby-sit that cold bastard?"

"Because," and Naruto was sure he caught a glimpse of a sadistic gleam in the Hokage's eyes, "He is your bodyguard, and, quite the contrary, he will be baby-sitting you." Naruto gaped, jaw slack as his brain struggled to process the information.

For the next few seconds, there was a bout of blissful silence, and Sasuke felt an acute sense of déjà vu. And if he was right, then –

"WHAT!?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, sorely tempted to ask if he could wait outside, if only to save his eardrums from the constant pressure it was being subjected to.

"Why the hell would I need a bodyguard!?" Naruto screeched, jumping up from his sitting position, bumps and bruises long forgotten.

"Because, brat, you're clumsy. You never watch where you walk. You set off every single trap within a five-mile radius-"

"I can take care of myse-"

"Goddamn it, Naruto! You almost died last week because of your carelessness!"

The blond boy paused in his retort, before clamping his mouth shut with an audible 'snap!'. He huffed, glaring reproachfully at Sasuke's form. "And what makes you think that he'll be able to guard me?" He eyed the Uchiha. "From the looks of him, he'd probably pull out the moment his nails get tarnished."

Sasuke gave the blond teen a withering look, but chose not to lower himself down to the idiot's level. No, he would not stoop so low as to react to such childish gibes.

Tsunade smirked. "Well," she drawled, "He is a Jounin."

Naruto gawked, sapphire eyes zooming towards the Jounin vest peaking from beneath the dark-haired nin's cloak. A look of outrage crossed his face as he brought up a finger to point at the Uchiha. "What the hell!? How come he gets to be a Jounin!? He must be about the same age as me! Those damn elders are holding my promotion back on purpose!"

Naruto jumped as a loud Bang! echoed through the room. The Hokage had brought a fist down onto the table, her amber eyes glinting dangerously. "Well playing juvenile pranks on them is NOT going to hasten the process, now, is it?" she gritted out. Naruto glared down at his feet, jaw clenched and expression not unlike that of a child who had just been berated by an angry parent. Tsunade closed her eyes before sighing deeply. "You may leave," she said simply.

The blond teen huffed before proceeding to stomp towards the doors and out the office. Sasuke, who had remained silent throughout the entire ordeal, made a move to follow, but stopped at the Hokage's voice. "Not you, Uchiha. Before you go, I'd like to have a little talk with you first."

Sasuke complied, turning around as he gave the Hokage his full attention. His expression was blank, and Tsunade vaguely marveled at his reserved composure. Now, if only some of that composure would rub off on a certain blond troublemaker…

Amber eyes met obsidian as Tsunade's expression turned stern. "Now, Uchiha, here's what I want you to do…"

-LineBreak-

Naruto was mad. No, not mad. He was furious. How dare that old hag assign him a bodyguard!? It wasn't like he couldn't take care of himself. He was still alive, wasn't he? He completed his missions flawlessly didn't he? Naruto fumed all the way to the ramen stand, the glares he received from the villagers along the way went unheeded. "Well, if that bastard's such a great Jounin, he can show himself around the village," he grumbled under his breath as he marched through the flaps of the shop entrance, made his way over to the counter and plonked himself down onto one of the numerous stools lined along the side. The shop owner smiled at seeing his favourite customer, pausing in his act of drying the dish in his hands as he addressed the moping blond, "The usual, Naruto?"

Naruto managed to pluck up a grin as he replied with a bright "Hai, Oji-san!"

It was five minutes later before a large bowl of steaming hot miso ramen was placed in front of him, and he celebrated by taking a deep breath of the scents wafting from the warm, rich broth. He smiled contentedly as he picked up a pair of chopsticks and prepared to dig in. There was just something about ramen that always managed to lighten up his mood. He shut his eyes in bliss as he took his first mouthful of the succulent noodles. Yes, life was good…very good…

-LineBreak-

Sasuke was pissed. And there was no other word to describe it, because he was just simply that – pissed. After leaving the Hokage's office, he had found that his so-called guide had left without him. And he didn't know if it was because the idiot simply hadn't realized that Sasuke was not following close behind, or if he just simply didn't care. Either way, Sasuke would make sure the blond regretted leaving him stranded. Because here Sasuke was, wandering the crowded streets, not exactly sure where he was or where he was supposed to go. And his pride wouldn't allow him to ask for directions either, since he would never willingly show that he needed help. Not to mention that all of a sudden, the village population seemed to suddenly be made primarily of females, and their gazes were getting hungrier and hungrier. No, if he valued his life, he would keep his trap shut and his glare turned on full blast. And his ass off the roads as soon as possible. He would have taken to the roofs, but rationalized that it would be difficult finding such a short idiot with such a high perspective.

'Where the hell is that moron,' Sasuke thought to himself, eyes narrowed as he scanned the crowds for any glimpse of blonde or orange. He shouldn't be that hard to spot, for blond didn't seem to be a very common hair colour in Konoha. Throughout the whole day, Sasuke had only managed to spot one other fair-haired person (apart from the Hokage), and their hair had been a shade of platinum, not to mention the person had been a girl.

Sasuke was just about to take a turn and start searching down a different street when he caught a snatch of golden hair and vivid orange at the corner of his eye. He turned to get a clear look, and it only took one glance before he realized that he had found his target. After all, he doubted anyone else would wear such a hideous outfit – and in orange nonetheless! He made his way over to the inconspicuous ramen stand, flipping back the flaps as he entered the shop. The sight that greeted him did not improve his mood whatsoever. 'What the fuck!? While I've been scaling the whole frickin' village, he's been stuffing his gut the whole time!?' Sasuke fumed.

Because there Naruto was, rapidly inhaling – and Sasuke's eyes subconsciously scaled the mini tower of bowls beside the blond – his seventh bowl of ramen, with several soup marks staining his jacket, causing Sasuke to come to the correct conclusion that the blond had, in fact, been there since right after leaving the Hokage tower. Sasuke strode to the counter, coming to a stop behind the happily slurping form. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he gritted out between clenched teeth.

Naruto didn't seem the least bit perturbed by the Uchiha's sudden appearance. He shot Sasuke a pointed look, "Can't you tell? I'm helping the shop clean their bowls!" He brought the ramen bowl to his lips and slurped up all the rich broth, as if to further prove his point. Sasuke would have given the blond a disgusted look, but at that moment, his eyes were curiously tracing the faint scars along the boy's cheeks. There were three on each side, and positioned in such a way that they reminded him of whiskers. 'Strange…' Sasuke mused. He wondered how he hadn't noticed them before now.

"Oi! Teme!"

Sasuke's dark eyes snapped towards intense blue ones as he was jerked rudely from his thoughts. Naruto was staring at him, an amused smile on his face. "Falling in love with me already, teme? You know, that's not very professional," the blond remarked, lips pulled back into a cocky grin.

Sasuke sneered. "Hn. I'm not that desperate, usuratonkachi," he retorted, and felt like biting his own tongue the moment the words slipped past his lips. He had reacted to the jibe! He had retorted, like some petulant twelve-year-old, to the childish taunts of an equally childish idiot. What was it about the blond that made him throw all his stoic composure out the window?

"Don't call me that!" Naruto shouted, face furious.

Sasuke only replied with a silent "Hn", his face reverting back to its emotionless mask.

Naruto stood up from his stool, banged some money onto the counter and, with a small wave to the ramen shop owner, stomped out of the shop, with Sasuke trailing silently behind. After about five minutes, and noticing that Sasuke was still following, Naruto twirled around and glared. "Look," he said, voice laced with impatience, "We really don't have to do this."

Sasuke looked bored as he quirked an eyebrow, silently saying 'Yes, in fact, we do.'

Naruto's jaw clenched. "No, we don't. How about…how about we just go our separate ways. You can sit down somewhere, get as many manicures as you want for the next…however-long-your-contract-is. And I'll make sure to keep myself breathing. And you can say that you're doing your job. Because, seriously, your staring at my ass all day is not making me comfortable."

The only reply Naruto got was a narrowing of obsidian eyes.

"You know what? Fine!" the blond barked, unaware that he was drawing attention from the surrounding villagers, "You do what you want!" Then a mischievous glint flashed in his blue eyes and he sneered. "But don't expect me to slow down for you." And with that, the blond took off, taking to the roofs and zipping away with a speed only achievable for a ninja.

Sasuke blinked, before cursing under his breath. "That idiot!" he grunted, as he took off after the orange speck in the distance.

-LineBreak-

He had been chasing the blond for over three hours now(1), and he had to admit, the blond sure had stamina. Traveling at top speed for so long, even he had to begrudgingly accept that he was getting tired. So the idiot wasn't a complete weakling, he mused. But then again, why would he need a bodyguard?

Amber eyes met obsidian as Tsunade's expression turned stern. "Now, Uchiha, here's what I want you to do. I need you to protect him. Naruto is the target of many attacks and assassination attempts around the village." At seeing a flash of interest cross Sasuke's face, she added tightly, "I'm sure you don't need to know the reason why to perform your job appropriately." Sasuke mentally chided himself, realizing he had just committed his first mistake.

"Of course, Hokage-sama."

She eyed him, her gaze piercing. "Good. Naruto…Naruto is a competent ninja in his own right. But outside of missions, he is careless and…" her eyes softened, "And he is often oblivious of his surroundings. He's too trusting of the people around him." The Hokage's gaze hardened again as she focused on him. "I need you to be his eyes. Protect him. Keep him alive." She paused. "There will be dire consequences if you fail."

And at hearing that, for all his stoic composure and all his masks, Sasuke couldn't help but feel a shiver run down his spine.

'Why," Sasuke thought, as he focused on the darting orange form some twenty metres in front of him, 'Why are people out for your blood?'

It was five minutes later before Sasuke noticed that the blond had stopped in front of a slightly rundown apartment building. Looking around, he observed that he seemed to be in the poorer section of the village, and quite a ways away from the busy market square that their chase had started from. He entered the building right after Naruto.

"You don't give up do you?" Sasuke heard the blond grunt from in front of him as they climbed a staircase. Sasuke would have smirked, but realized that there was no point, since the blond wasn't facing him anyway.

Naruto stopped at the fifth floor, where he turned left and made his way down the shabby hallway. He stopped in front of the last door, pulled out a set of keys from the pockets of his pants and gave Sasuke an annoyed look. "Well, I'm home safe and sound now. You gonna give me a goodnight kiss too?" he said snidely, jangling his keys with a limp wrist and a fake swoon. When Sasuke refused to react, Naruto turned back to unlocking his door with a disgusting snort. "Tsk, bastard!" he grunted under his breath.

Finally getting the lock to cooperate, Naruto twisted the doorknob and pushed the door open, before taking a step inside. Sasuke made to turn around and take to keeping watch on the roofs, but stopped as he caught sight something at the corner of his eye. The window at the opposite wall had allowed just enough sunlight to filter through…

Sunlight that gleaned over a slim line hovering just above the floor in the middle of the doorway…

The doorway that Naruto was stepping through.

His eyes widened as observations made their way through his mind in quick succession. 'Tripwire…exploding tags…trap. Shit.' He turned around, grabbed a handful of the garish orange jacket and yanked just as his ears picked up a faint sizzling sound and a distinct smell of sulfur assaulted his senses. He pulled the boy to his chest, ignoring the "What the fuck, teme!", and, without a single word, threw himself and the blond to the side and away from the doorway.

KABOOM!!!

The explosion was deafening as the hallways suddenly turned unbearably hot and bits of wood and plaster went flying. When two pairs of eyes looked up, there wasn't much left of the apartment that had been previously there before.

'…Well…shit…'

-TBC-

-LineBreak-

(1) No, it doesn't take three hours for Naruto to get home. He took the long way in hopes of losing Sasuke.

How was it? I promise, the story will get juicier as it progresses. I just need to get some character development out of the way. Please review! It helps me feel motivated to write! Thank you!

- Nine1991 -