Pairings: SasuNaru
Summary: Cinderella - Naruto style.
Warnings: Yaoi, swearing, lemon (eventual) - basically all the good stuff
Other: "Talking" 'Thinking'
Disclaimer: HA! I wish!
Happy Endings
Chapter Two
Naruto took a deep breath as he strode down the stairs from his tower to the main house. He tugged at the rope to open the curtains, letting light pour into the corridor before passing the first two doors in order to stand before the third. He sighed heavily before reaching out to take the handle.
The door slid open, letting a bar of sunlight fall into the room. It crept past Naruto's Stepfather's bed, falling on the small cot set beside the large bed. The light hit the grey cat that lay curled up there, causing his black eyes to creep open. He flicked his tail, looking up at Naruto.
"Kabuto!" Naruto called in a whisper. "Kabuto!"
The cat rose, stretching at a leisurely pace, before turning around and showing Naruto his back. Naruto's eyes narrowed.
"Kabuto!" he hissed. "Come here!"
Kabuto leapt to his feet, glaring at the blonde. He sniffed the air before stalking over to Naruto. He sauntered slowly out the door, taking his time. Naruto calmly shut the door behind the cat, hitting him from behind. Kabuto glared up at the blonde who ignored him, hurrying towards the stairs and striding down them. Kabuto followed, sulking.
The cat following, Naruto hurried down to the kitchen. He opened the top half of the door to allow the light to fill the room. The sun illuminated the large dog lying on the rug before the fire, wriggling his legs in his dreams. The dark brown dog's fur was dashed with red.
"Kiba!" Naruto called. "Time to wake up!"
The dog blinked lazily as he stretched and yawned. Naruto chuckled.
"Good dream?" he asked. Kiba nodded happily. "Chasing Kabuto again?
Another nod.
"Did you catch him this time?" Naruto asked as he bent down, hands on his knees. Kiba nodded. "That's bad."
Kiba froze, staring up at Naruto with wide eyes. Behind him on the stairs, Kabuto snickered. Naruto shook his head.
"You shouldn't dream about that," Naruto reprimanded the dog as Kabuto sauntered over to sit in front of Kiba. "Kabuto has his good points too."
Kiba looked properly scolded while Kabuto smirked. Naruto filled up a bowl with milk before crossing to place it in front of Kabuto.
"Like…" Naruto continued, thinking. "Well he… he uh… um…well there must be something good about the bastard."
Kiba snickered while Kabuto glared up at the blonde who shrugged. He rose, gathering up a bucket of dried corn before crossing outside. Kiba followed happily while Kabuto stirred his milk lazily.
Outside, Naruto hummed as he scattered the corn. Chickens flocked around him, pecking up the food. Naruto scooped up a handful, handing it to the large red horse, Gaara, who ate out of his hand.
After a few minutes of simply watching the animals eat, Naruto noticed the mice come dashing out of the kitchen. He smiled down at them.
"There you are," he said. "I was wondering where you had got to. Well, eat up."
Naruto dropped a handful of corn in front of the mice, who snatched it up happily. Not long after, the chickens dashed in, picking at the new food. When the cleared, Naruto noticed that Choji was staring around, foodless.
"Oh, beat it!" Naruto snapped, herding the birds away. "Poor Choji…"
Naruto laid a handful of corn in front of the new mouse.
"Take your fill," he said before returning to feeding Gaara. Choji began snatching the corn up greedily.
Once done with feeding the chickens, Naruto returned to the kitchen. He set the water to boil as he arranged the tray. He gathered up the teapots and placed them on the plate. He turned to grab the cups, shooing away Kabuto and placing them on the tray along with plates. He added the meals before hurrying over to the whistling kettle.
The bells began to jingle, signalling that Naruto's stepfamily were awake. He snatched up the kettle, pouring the boiling water into the teapots. He shoved Kabuto out of the way before gathering the three trays up, one in either hand, the third on his head. He set out for upstairs, ignoring Kabuto who chose to follow him.
Near the top of the stairs Naruto lost one of his loose, cheap brown slippers. He sighed, spinning to slip it back on again. It was one of his unfortunate habits.
Reaching the landing Naruto crossed to the first door, knocking lightly on it. He opened the door immediately afterwards.
"Good morning, Sakura," he murmured. The pink-haired girl glared at him from her messy bed.
"Well, it's about time!" she sneered. Naruto handed her the tray unconcerned. "Take the laundry! And have it done by the end of the day!"
"Yes, Sakura," Naruto murmured as he left, the laundry balanced on his head. He reminded himself to hold his tongue. He closed the door behind him, hurrying to the second one. He knocked lightly again before opening that door.
"Good morning, Ino," he said softly. The blonde glared at him.
"Hmp," she looked to the side, not bothering to answer his greeting. Her pale blonde hair was tucked up in her nightcap. "Do the mending!"
Naruto handed her the tray, scooping up the basket of mending indicated. He left the blonde to her meal.
Naruto balanced the basket on one hip, crossing to the last door. He knocked but didn't enter.
"Come in, child," a cold voice called. Naruto opened the door slowly before slipping in.
"Good morning, Stepfather," he greeted quietly. He crossed to the large bed, holding out the tray for the man.
Orochimaru pushed his long black hair out of his eyes and took the tray, eyes not bothering to rest on his Stepson. Naruto shivered as he left the pale man behind, glad the golden eyes didn't meet his.
Outside the room Naruto took a deep breath before a scream shattered the silence.
Ino's door burst open and the pale blonde rushed out.
"Father!" she shrieked. "Oh father!"
Her dull blue eyes fell on Naruto and she pointed an accusing finger at the boy.
"Y-You!" she cried. "You did it on purpose!"
Ino dashed past towards her father's room as Naruto watched dumbfounded.
"Father!" he heard her screech. "It was under my teacup! A dirty great big mouse!"
"What have you done now?" Sakura demanded as she rushed past Naruto.
"Nothing…" Naruto whispered, confused.
'Dirty great big mouse…?' he thought. 'Who… Choji!'
Naruto crossed to the smug looking Kabuto, frowning down at the grey cat.
"Alright Kabuto," he said lowly. "Where is he?"
Kabuto brought up both paws innocently, showing Naruto that he didn't have anything. Naruto frowned.
"Come on," he said, reaching down to grip the grey cat's back. He tugged Kabuto up until he was on one foot. "And the other."
Kabuto lifted the other foot to reveal Choji, curled up in a ball.
"Choji," Naruto murmured. Upon hearing his name the mouse looked up. Realizing he was free the mouse tried to run for it but only succeeded it hitting Kabuto's paw multiple times. He finally manoeuvred around the cat and into a small mouse hole. Naruto glared down at the silver cat.
"Naruto!"
Naruto flinched as he heard his Stepfather's angry voice. He bit back any complaints before crossing to the door.
Kabuto darted in ahead of the blonde, dashing to the bed gleefully and leaping up. As Naruto walked towards the end of he bed the silver cat curled up on Orochimaru's lap, purring as his master began to stroke him.
"Yes, Stepfather," Naruto said softly. Orochimaru just stared at him. "Oh come on! You don't honestly think that I-"
"Silence!" Orochimaru hissed. He took a sip of his tea, slowly and calmly. "There's a large rug in the main hall. Clean it!"
Naruto flinched slightly. Orochimaru was pissed.
"All the floors; clean them," Orochimaru's eyes flashed at that. "And the curtains and the tapestries-"
"But I just did those!" Naruto whined. Orochimaru's glare intensified.
"Do them again," he snapped. "And don't forget the mending, and the laundry and your other chores."
Defeated, Naruto's shoulders slumped.
"Y-Yes, Stepfather," he mumbled. Orochimaru sipped his tea again as Kabuto snickered.
"Oh, and one more thing," he said. "Make sure Kabuto gets his bath."
The look of disgust on the cats face did nothing to soothe Naruto's heavy heart.
Ugh... work sucked. I had to stay behind an extra half-hour!
I know 4 and a half hours isn't that long to bitch over, but I work at Hungry Jacks! It's the Australian version of Burger King! UGH!
So I came home and wrote a new chapter. Enjoy.