As always, I've worked my buttocks off to get this chapter up for you guys :D THANK YOU FOR SAVING SO MANY BABY PANDAS! You guys make my days with your love c:
Warning: Well, on the bright side this story will now be 21 chapters instead of 20. Because I can never follow my plotlines to a T so yeah... ;) LOL. I like it this way though c: Also, this chapter is totally fluffy as future chapters shall probably be dipped in slight angst soon :D So yeah, enjoy the sugar rush while it lasts...
Disclaimer: I own my love for SHINee, my Sims 2 Double Deluxe, these kickass plaid socks I'm wearing, and two panda plushes... but NOT Naruto. Why is the world so CRUEL?
Enjoy you beautiful people! :D
Chapter Twelve: Heart of Clay
+Ninth Promise: Just Wait For Me+
Lunch today was spent with just the gang today—Kiba, Naruto, and Gaara. Sasuke, once again, had been missing from school. More than once Naruto had wanted to ask him why he would be missing on certain days from school (Fridays on some months and Wednesdays on other months) but whenever he wanted to ask the words wouldn't come. So he let it drop… for now.
Something more important wanted to take over its place.
"So, have you guys done it yet?" Kiba asked, waggling his eyebrows.
Naruto's face turned cherry red. "Why does everyone want to know about my sex life? We've only been dating for two months! The only thing we've 'done' is kiss and hang out…"
Kiba nearly choked on his pudding cup. Today it was chocolate. He alternated a lot. "Dude, I… I didn't even—Dude! Gah, get your mind out of the fucking gutter! I was going to ask if you've guys done the whole "I love you" crap but obviouslyyour mind is elsewhere right now."
"The Uchiha has corrupted you well," Gaara teased.
The blond gently bashed his hand against the tree trunk. Though, no matter how many times he tried, his idiocy would never be knocked out of him.
"Sooo…" Kiba watched his friend with amusement dancing in his eyes, "I'm gonna guess that's a 'No' for 200$!"
Naruto, finally done with his little moment of insanity, looked up to view his two friends and sighed. "It's been two months," he emphasized, "we don't have to rush things."
"But you want him to say it," Gaara pointed out.
The blond shrugged, though his eyes betrayed him heavily. "It would be nice."
"You know, I was a little worried when I heard you two got together," Kiba admitted, his pudding cup was long forgotten by now. "I had flashbacks of last year and they weren't pretty. I know Uchiha's a nice guy but I'm still iffy."
"Guys, he's… I don't know," Naruto scratched his nose. An imaginary hand was searching and reaching for the right words to grab on and say. "Sasuke's just… different. Yeah, he's a bastard twenty-four seven, but when we're together…" he smiled and leaned back against the tree, "it's amazing."
+I Promise+
That night, Naruto was found doing what all love struck teenage girls have done—doodling hearts and names and stick figures in their notebook. Naruto was manlier than that, though. So his stick figures were a little chunkier, his hearts a little bigger, and the words a little larger. It had started when he wrote his name at the top of his paper (he was in the middle of starting on his homework) and then he just happened to write Sasuke's name beside him.
'There's a gap between our names,' he frowned. So he put a plus sign in the middle. That wasn't enough, though. Then he drew a circle, entrapping their names together. 'It should be a heart.' And one thing led to another… a pair of stick figures, one with spiky blond hair and one with raven locks standing side by side, holding hands, with anime smiles on their faces.
Resting his cheek in the palm of his hands, Naruto smiled all silly-like. "It's been a long time since I've felt like this." Kiba's words pounded through his head in the silence.
"I was going to ask if you've guys done the whole "I love you" crap but obviously your mind is elsewhere right now."
'I'm really not bothered by it,' the assurance wasn't sinking in fast enough. Naruto rolled on his back, a sea of blankets and mountains of pillows cushioning his body. Blue eyes were trained on the ceiling, as racing thoughts zoomed through Naruto's mind. "I told him I wanted to take things slow," he whispered into the night. His heart ached a little. "But maybe he just doesn't want to commit…? No, he doesn't think that. He hasn't told me yet but he shows me…'
His sides burned from the memories of Sasuke's fingers touching him.
+I Promise: A Few Weeks Later+
"Morning, Dobe."
"Morning, Teme."
Naruto leaned up to peck Sasuke on the cheek, only to have a rose pushed into his face. A petal got snuffed up his nose in the collision.
"Gah," Naruto swatted his face, ignoring the chuckles coming out from his boyfriend. He narrowed his blue his towards the raven. "What if I were allergic to roses, huh? You could have blown up my nose with that!"
Sasuke rolled his eyes. Really, his blond could be such a dork sometimes. "If you were allergic then I'd be sending you tulips instead. Also, your nose is fine." And just to prove his point Sasuke kissed Naruto on the nose. He pulled back smirking. "It's cute, too."
By the time Sasuke pulled back, Naruto's face was already tomato red. All this affection was going to be the death of him one of these days. "You're so embarrassing," he mumbled half-heatedly, taking the rose from Sasuke's hand and twirling it around his fingers. His heart was waiting for that promise to get tugged along by the invisible string attached to the stem.
Smirking, the raven put on his most offended face, only to burst out laughing when Naruto crossed his eyes in mockery. "I thought my actions were sort of awe worthy—admirable even."
Naruto looked at his boyfriend as if he had grown a second head. Shaking his head at the ludicrous things Sasuke could say sometimes, Naruto pinched Sasuke's cheek. "You can only dream, babe. By the way, you gonna leave me hanging with this promise or are you gonna tell me? Because let me say this now, I suck at 20 Questions. I ask ridiculous questions."
"Well—"
BRIIIIIIIIIIIING!
Students that were loitering around the halls quickly shuffled here and there, scrambling to get to their classes.
"Fuck!" Naruto grabbed onto the sleeve of Sasuke's shirt with a glare. "Don't even think about running away until you tell me your promise, Sasuke!"
"Sorry, Dobe." Sasuke pressed a chaste kiss to Naruto's lips. "You'll just have to wait till Art class."
"Uh... I...!" Sasuke had already turned around the corner before Naruto could voice anything...
Naruto was left with the image of Sasuke smirking burned in his mind, and the feeling of his stomach clenching and twisting into knots as he walked into his English class.
+I Promise+
"He's still giving out roses?" it was independent study time in English, and as usual no one was really studying. It wasn't like Jiraiya-sensei cared one way or another. Gaara and Naruto were sitting at the back table "studying". Well, the only thing that was being studied was Sasuke's weird habits and inclination towards roses, and what he could possibly promise Naruto now since they're already dating.
Naruto nodded. His chin rested nicely in the palm of his hands. He couldn't for the life of him understand Sasuke no matter how hard he tried. 'All I end up with is a huge headache... and a growling stomach.'
Gaara simply clucked his tongue and handed the blonde his rose back. "Of all the people you could have dated, it had to be the one with a rose fetish."
"It's not a rose fetish! He's just..." Naruto scratched his imaginary beard, "socially awkward."
The redhead scoffed. "That's it."
"It is! So are you going to help me figure this out or not?" Naruto took out a piece of notebook paper and clicked his glittery blue pen a few times until the point was sticking out ready to scar some paper. "Okay, so I scribbled down a few ideas of what the promise could be and I think I'm pretty close..."
'I'm going to regret looking at this,'with great hesitation—Gaara's curiosity could challenge any child's—Gaara took up the paper and read down the list. "I'll give you a foot massage...? I'll promise to name our future spawn Naruto Jr. …?" Gaara slammed down the paper, "I'll promise to buy you a country so we can rule as king and king?"
"What? They sound logical, right?"
The redhead rolled up the sheet of paper and tossed it into the trash. "That's what I think about your 'logic'."
"Gaara! Why the fuckdid you throw out my list?"
"Naruto! Get your butt up here now! This is quiet independent study hour!"
Snickers erupted haphazardly around the room as Naruto cursed under his breath and started to gather his stuff up. "I hate you," he hissed towards the redhead who simply smiled him off.
"Lying's not your forte either."
+I Promise+
Finally, the most anticipated part of the day had come.
"Sasuke Uchiha!" Naruto all but nearly tackled the raven onto the floor the minute they reached Art.
Sasuke—loving the position they were in on the inside—groaned in annoyance and reluctantly pushed the blonde off. Now if Naruto had pushed him onto a bed... this would be a totally different story.
"Yes, Naruto Uzumaki?" two could surely play at this game.
Naruto crossed his arms over his chest, "You know what I want."
"Sex?"
"W-What?" the blonde was always caught off guard by how bluntly Sasuke could say things at times. "No! That's not what I meant!"
Sasuke chuckled, discreetly reaching for Naruto's hand and rubbing each and every knuckle. "I know," he whispered. "Just give a me a few minutes, okay?" they disconnected. With each step Sasuke took Naruto felt his heart grow a little deeper...
'What the heck?' Naruto plopped down into his seat, automatically pulling out drawing pencils and his sketchbook for class. 'Calm down, Uzumaki. Sasuke will tell you the promise and then you can go about there rest of the day.' his heart constricted a little as Naruto random doodle and spiral circle going inwards, 'I wonder...what will it be?'
"You look like a girl, dude." Kiba sat down on the stool across from Naruto. His words were sprinkled with mischief.
"And you look like a dude more than I do?" Naruto scoffed and pulled at Kiba's newly tattooed cheeks. "Upside down fangs, dude? Really? You actually let Suigetsu pimp out your face?"
"Hey!" Kiba smacked Naruto's hand away. "It's not like I wanted him near my face! Besides, it's face paint. So don't touch it! It'll smear!"
"Oh my God..." Naruto shook his head, holding back his laughter. "I can't believe you let Suigetsu near you with a paintbrush! What did he do to convince you?"
Kiba blushed faintly. "You don't wanna know dude..."
The next half hour of Art class was spent with the occasional conversation over which Madden team was better, followed by Kiba leaving to get his daily palette of water colors. Naruto sat at the table idly drawing on some sketch he was working on involving some kid in a panda suit. He was so lost in his thoughts he didn't notice when a familiar body pressed up against his back and rested their chin on his shoulder.
"S-Sasuke!" Naruto whisper-yelped. Sasuke's death danced up and down the fine hairs trailing his neck. Naruto had warned Sasuke time and time again to keep the PDA at a minimum while they were in Art because of a certain pink-haired girl who shall not be named...
"What? Am I not allowed to come up behind you like a ninja?"
"You're scary when you joke," Naruto deadpanned.
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Do you want your promise or not?"
The blonde spun around in his seat, blue eyes sparkling like sapphire jewels in the sunlight. "Yes, please!"
'How can anyone be so innocent...?' Shaking his head, Sasuke manned up the courage to dig into his pockets and pull out his promise...
A heart made out of clay.
"What's this?" Naruto took the object gingerly. The heart was about the size of his palm and was pure white. The blonde cocked an eyebrow, "This is cute but... what does it mean?"
A small, uncharacteristic blush scarred the raven's cheeks. 'Really, I should have picked a better timing...' with a sigh, Sasuke gathered his gumption and placed his hand over Naruto's.
"It's a heart... Sort of to represent my heart... that you already hold and—Fuck, I'm so not good with words."
And just when he thought Sasuke couldn't get any sweeter—or cornier for that matter. Despite what he had said earlier about keeping things discreet in art, Naruto wrapped his arms around the raven's waist and hugged him tightly. Half the school already knew they were dating (thanks to two special soccer players we all know and love) and really, if Sakura saw them being intimate... 'I don't think I would care.'
"So Uchihas do have cute sides to them," Naruto giggled.
"Dobe," Sasuke returned the hug, a small smile tugged at his lips. "Uchihas are known for being their seduction tactics."
"So every Uchiha sends roses and promises to their crush?" Naruto said with a smirk.
Sasuke returned the smirk, "Only the devilishly handsome ones."
"Naruto and Sasuke! Save the PDA for later!" the teacher barked.
Both teens jumped apart out of slight shock. Their teacher was a raging bull after all. Sasuke pulled up a stool next to Naruto and the two picked up their conversation from their, this time with their hands interlocked underneath the table.
"Just wait for me..." the raven whispered, stroking the blonde's hand. "I'll be able to say it one day."
"It's fine," Naruto smiled. He may have been a little nervous before but now he felt pretty stable. He knew Sasuke felt something more, just like he did, it would just take a little while to say it. "When you finally say it we gotta paint this heart. I was thinking orange... a really bright orange!"
"What heart have you seen that's orange?"
"My heart, of course. It pumps out orange blood everyday!"
"Only you, Dobe..."
"Uhh..."
The two looked up from the table to clash with sea-green eyes clouded with confusion and pain... Naruto gulped. 'Oh shit,' he thought, mentally facepalming over and over again. The moment he wish he never had to collide with head on just smacked him right in the face.
"Naruto... you're… dating Sasuke-kun?"
"Yeah... we are" Naruto somehow managed to stare Sakura right in the eyes. The tiny sliver of thought flashed through his mind. Just a few months ago he was fawning over the girl before him who would never return his feelings. And now... 'Now I'm with the guy she wants...'
Sometimes Life enjoys fucking with people in more ways than one.
"Why?" she asked after what seemed to be an eternity.
"Why not?" Sasuke interjected. Onyx eyes were narrowed at the field hockey player who took a step back.
Sakura swallowed, gripping onto the collar of her shirt. "It's just... I never thought you'd be..."
"Gay?" Sasuke raised their interlocked hands to prove a point. He shrugged and lowered them back under the table. "I'm not gay. I just like Naruto—a lot. He's the one I want to be with; no one else."
Naruto was sure if this was a cartoon, he'd be able to see the literal words of Reality slam down on Sakura's shoulders by the way her shoulders sagged in defeat. 'I can almost hear her heart breaking.' it was loud and cracked with guilt... funny thing was Naruto didn't feel guilty at all. If anything, he felt a little pitiful.
It seemed like Sakura was processing through her mind what to do. And then her eyes landed on the clay heart Sasuke had given Naruto earlier. "So you're happy?"
Sasuke nodded, and Naruto followed suit.
Somehow, Sakura managed to find a smile to put on her face. "Then I'm happy for you guys..." she turned around briskly and walked away. Crystal tears clinging onto the sides of her eyes.
With Sakura gone, Naruto felt like the air around them was a little lighter and easier to breathe in.
"You know..." Naruto casually spun his colored pencil around and around, "that wasn't too bad. Though I didn't expect it."
"Life's all about expecting the unexpected." Sasuke said.
"Ooo, wise words, Uchiha." the blonde chuckled softly. "I really liked her." Naruto said after a few quick seconds of silence.
"I know."
"She's really cute, too."
"… Hn."
"Jealous, Teme?" Naruto cocked an amused eyebrow.
Sasuke scoffed, "Not in the least."
Naruto laughed, leaning over to peck the raven on the cheek. He didn't know why he did that, but he just did. 'Because Ican.' He thought giddily. "Don't worry, Sasuke. I think you're cuter, especially since you went out of your way to make me a clay heart! I'm totally hanging that up in my room."
Sasuke only puffed out his cheeks.
You know I really don't hate Sakura o_o. She was a cool character in Shippuden, sort of. And she never really stood a chance with Sasuke because APPARENTLY the author wanted to turn the story Shounen-ai... from what I've read online o.o. SO YEAH. SASUNARU FOREVER! KISHIMOTO SHIPS THAT! LOL. I'll stop talking now and get on with the panda thingy ;D. LOL hopefully this wasn't too cheesy... o3o
Baby pandas are cute. They're even cuter when they check their little mailbox and see that someone left a review for their wonderful leader, Fallen. Wouldn't you like to brighten up a baby panda's day? Then please, gain one more smile in the world by reviewing.
SMILING MAKES YOU LIVE LONGER! :D