A/N: I'm sooooooooo soooorrryy. And i know that that doesn't help at all becuse i say it for all of my fics when i don't update. I feel absolutely horrible, i had written maybe a page and a half in three months and then i decided that i hated it and so i started over. I should never have started more than two stories at a time. I feel like i have to be fair to them all and update one after another. But be happy readers! I've decided in order to lighten my work load, so i'm going to focus more on this story and get it done so that i'll have less stories at one time. Unfortunately, that means my other stories are going to be slow in coming, but never fear, I never give up on a story so they will all be completed in due time. Though, i am going to update one chapter for each of my other stories just to appease everone and so that i can tell them about my plan.On with the fic!
Disclaimer: I don't own shit...oh, but if i did...
Chap.3
"You must be terribly home sick. Why don't I make it a little more comfortable for you?"
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The sultry Sasuke-neko leaned in totally unabashed, much to Naruto's panicking dismay.
"My, little brother, you've turned into quite the charmer." A slightly deeper voice than Sasuke's resonated around the two teens.
The small blonde's azure eyes flashed to the surrounding tree tops searching for the source of the noise, though it hadn't been entirely unwelcome. Naruto glanced back to his tea time partner only to catch the blankest deadpan expression on the brunet. It was then Naruto became aware of a new presence resting its elbows on Sasuke's head; the obvious cause of the brunet teen's mood. Upon further scrutiny, the blue eyed teen realized that the stranger looked nearly identical to Sasuke. Apart from a noticeable maturity, the taller man had two lines running down from his coal eyes and longer hair that lay in a ponytail at the nape of his neck. The same silky black cat ears and tail stood out prominently once again reminding the only non-cat in the vicinity that he was indeed not in Kansas anymore. Sitting straight, Naruto was startled into reality by the same deep voice from before.
"I am Itachi Uchiha, older brother to this wet blanket here," Itachi was standing and motioning to the former arm rest of a brunet, who was now hissing profanities under his breath, "and it is very nice to meet you…"
"Oh...ah, I'm Naruto, nice to meet you." The blonde leaned forward from his seat on the enormous tree branch in the sky to shake the older Uchiha's outstretched hand.
"Itachi, What. Are. You. Doing. Here?" Sasuke strained to keep his composure which was slipping with each second.
"So nice of you to join the conversation, Sasuke. Anyway, I'm here as a messenger. Apparently, a certain pink-haired Duchess has got a hit out on poor little Naruto here, and word is that the Hyuuga twins, …well actually they aren't twins, or…they aren't even siblings really…so anyway, they're out to get you." Naruto leaned back as the older Uchiha pointed at him, and then resumed his arm resting on Sasuke.
"Me, but I don't even know these people. I've only been here three hours or so." The small blonde was troubled by the news that someone was out to claim his life. He looked to the small brunet for any sort of reassurement or answers or..anything really to help him out but the blonde froze when he saw the look on Sasuke's face. An odd mix of pain, annoyance, and pleasure flashed by every second in the mini-Uchiha's black eyes like he couldn't decide which emotion he actually felt. The cause of Sasuke's turmoil stemmed from Itachi, naturally. Currently, Itachi was petting Sasuke's ears in a down and outward motion starting from the middle of his head. The black cat ears flattened down with each stroke from the bigger Uchiha's slender hands, popping back each time into position with a quick flick. A long matching ebony tail swished back and forth under Sasuke's chin and around his face like some sort of loving caress. It was obvious that the smaller of the two brunets was struggling to keep buried a rumbling purr that echoed in his chest. Naruto sat staring, fascinated by the scene before him. The blonde stiffed a snicker after he caught the pained twitch of Sasuke's eyebrow.
"You know Naruto," the blonde snapped out of his musing when addressed by the older Uchiha, "there are sooo many things one can do with a tail." This statement not only caused the blonde to chock on his own saliva, but Sasuke also seeming awoke from his pleasure/pain filled trance, a blush spreading quickly across his pale cheeks, both from the embarrassment of Itachi's statement and from showing such weakness at the hands of his older brother.
"O.k. Time for you to go." Sasuke was up and pushing the bigger brunet toward the edge of the branch, the whole limb shaking with the mini-Uchiha's effort.
"Fine, I'll leave. But remember the news I told you. The Hyuugas are not to be taken lightly," After flicking his little brother on the forehead, Itachi turned to the still seated blonde, "Nice meeting, Naruto." With a wink, the brunet jumped from the tree and disappeared into the leafy abyss.
"Well, that was awkward." Naruto looked up to gage Sasuke reaction. The ever present mask of nothingness was back again, a smirk soon to ensue.
"Sorry about that. Itachi has a flare for embarrassment."
"I figured. ..Um…Sasuke?"
"Hm?" The brunet walked over and offered Naruto his hand, which the blonde took and pulled himself up.
"I was wondering..you know..about the thing your brother said." Sasuke nodded. "Should I be worried, or do I need to hire protection or…" The smirk on Sasuke's face kept growing bigger. "What! I'm serious! Some crazies are out to kill me and all you can do is smirk!"
"Relax. Nothing is going to happen. I'll handle the Hyuugas when and if the time comes." Naruto still had doubts lingering as Sasuke placed his hands on either side of the blonde's head. "YOU WILL BE FINE." And in the blink of an eye, both boys were safely on the ground.
"See. Now, I think we should get a move on if we want to make it to Jiraiya's house before dark." Blue eyes light up in question.
"Jiraiya?" Naruto tilted his cutely causing Sasuke to turn his head away.
"Yeah, he can give us a place to stay tonight. It's a long way to the Queen's castle so we need to stock up," Ebony eyes traced up and down the obviously ill-travel-equipped blonde, "on supplies."
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The darkness of the Uchiha Forest wavered and gave birth to a sunlit path through a breeze-filled meadow which the two teens were currently strolling down. The small blonde ran ahead of the taller brunet, spinning around and jumping for the occasional butterfly.
"Sasuke, this place is so amazing! Is it yours too?" Naruto was walking backwards while addressing the Uchiha.
"Yes, it is. It was a gift from my mother. She loved to come here and collect flowers for our home." A sad smile graced Sasuke's pale lips. The blonde stopped upon seeing the nearly painful sadness in the Uchiha's face.
"Sasuke,…where are your parents?" Midnight eyes looked to black clad feet which were nudging at a small tuft of grass.
"They passed away." Sasuke glanced back up to see how the foreign blonde reacted, but was met with caring blue orbs.
"My parents died too. Only I was too young to really remember. But my guardian Iruka is as good a parent as any."
The big grin on Naruto's face brought the brunet out of his melancholy mood. Resuming their walk, the two teens strolled side by side.
'I wonder why this kid affects my so much. We've only been traveling together for a few hours and already I feel…happier when I'm with him. Sure, he's sort of cute and really loud...and rather annoying at times, but I can't put my finger on it.' Sasuke glanced under his lashed at the blonde teen beside him. Once again he met blue pools that were staring brazenly at him.
"Is there something you'd like to say?"
"Oh!" A pink blush appeared as the blonde swung his head forward, embarrassed to be caught in the act of staring. "Um, you know Sasuke… AHhhh."
During his embarrassment, Naruto had failed to notice the dip in the path and tripped when his foot met nothing but air. Expecting to hit the ground, the blonde closed his eyes, but nothing came, except for an odd feeling of warmth. Unclenching his eyes, Naruto peered up to find himself in a certain cat's arms. The brunet glanced down, evident smugness on his perfectly sculpted face.
"Dobe."
"Wh…wait, what did you just say!?" The blonde was up and out of Sasuke's arm in a flash, a defiant finger pointed at the offender.
"I called you 'dobe', seeing as how no one but an idiot would miss such a large pothole and step into it. That's all." A self-satisfied smirk took the place of the previous caring frown.
Naruto looked back at the pothole. It was indeed massive, and very hard to miss. 'Stupid, always-gotta-be-right cat'
"By the way, where the hell is this Jiraiya's house. I feel like we've walking forever."
"We already here."
"Huh?"
Sure enough, the blonde turned around and there was the house, which hadn't been there the second before. They were standing in front of a quaint white picket fence which was situated in front of a small yellow cottage.
'Damn Sasuke and his magic.'
A/N: How was it? I hope you guys are still there and that i didn't piss you guys off too much that you gave up. Please come back to meeeeee!!! And please review.