…Okay, so I'm sorry if you all just got confused. I had the entire chapter all done and all the reviews and stuff all set up..and then for some reason, my computer erased it all…now I'm going to do them again because I love all you guys, so please be nice if they're not as long of reviews as I normally do…-listens to happy music so she doesn't kill computer- Thanks to XSasuxNaruxForeverX for my first review! That was really sweet of you. Okay, for the other –grumbles- again… kat10788 (haha they'll be known in this one, so don't worry about that wondering…and I'm glad that you liked the Kakashi line!), Deathangelebz (haha that's what he gets for letting his pride get in the way…-looks at chapter- still does it…), miskie27 (haha yea I love Shikamaru, that's why almost all of my fics have him in them!), asdf (yea I want to try and see if I can do the development of a relationship since most of my stories are only a couple chapters), Black-Sky-Loves-Me (I'm so happy that you liked my story! =) I'm trying really hard), Akiru Chan (I had a really good reply to you too! –pouts- anyways, yea Sasuke and Naruto are getting closer and closer and soon…boom! Haha), Disgruntled Minion (haha cow tipping…but yea, the puppy is really funny in my opinion too, and it's even funnier seeing it in real life!), The Desiree Incident (haha your sneaky suspicion will be proven or disproven in this chapter, I promise you that!), Itooshii Koneko (don't worry, an 80 page research paper is a good excuse! Unless it was about SasuNaru, I'd never be able to do that), Searafina (thank god some people's names I remember! Haha thanks for the review, and I know we all know it was Sasu), Pebbles on the Sand (yea sorry it wasn't so romantic, but I promise the romance will be coming very soon!), Lydia-chan (we all know that it's possible, but Naru is just too stubborn to see that!), norway22 (haha you missed one pairing, but that will coming up soon! And did I make it seem like a NejixLee? Haha Guess I have two choices for Lee now…), XxFirexDance (haha don't worry if you aren't like Lee/Gai, I promise that's a good thing!), CassieDoesntJumpxD (I don't have a life, that's why I can write so much…except I hate redoing things, like all of these review replies…-sighs-), Chiaki Megumi (well Naru will realize how much Sasu does for him soon enough), sakurananachan (thanks for seeing that I'm not running straight into the sex scenes because some people don't understand that…-sighs- that made me feel better, thank you again), Exorcist-Miranda (haha yea the red district thing was one of my fav things to write except for the SasuNaru moment and Neji/Lee fight), gossa (don't worry about not reviewing, what matters is you liked my story and finally DID review! Yay for you!), a rather slytherin griffindor (haha don't worry, little Naru will get lost eventually…though I shouldn't be telling you things like that…opps!), zerofangirl, (THANK YOU! Your review made it so worth it to do these replies! I loved it, made me feel so special, especially how detailed it way! –hugs-), Wopsidaisy (ah don't say silly things like that! Haha me in Italy…haha…ha…-winks-), Chiru-lili (I'm glad you liked the KakaIru! Haha I think they are funny together, so I don't mind playing around with them), mockup (haha nice jig! Yay I'm glad that you like it, and I'll make sure to try to keep making you happy!), and robin Maxwell (-wipes forehead- last one …again…blah, anyways! I'll deff make sure to end this story and Therapy because I don't want you to think you wasted your time! )
Okay, I know there is going to be some spelling and grammer mistakes! And I'm sorry if I didn't rely to your review! I'm really sorry, but I don't have time to go through it for a fourth time to check for it and do every single reply! Please please please forgive me but I want to get this out to you on time! -passes out- just…read…chapter….
Warning: Alright, enough with beating around the damn bush! –Yanks romance from back pocket- bring on the boyxboy teasing!
Disclaimer: Uh…okay, so let's use some logic here…if I owned Naruto…why would I separate Sasuke and Naruto at the Valley of the End? Exactly…
Something Fishy in Vatican City
"I can fix it! Really!" Okay, so you know how your mom used to tell you 'don't jump on the bed'? And then you did it, and you always wondered why she said it? I mean really, back home my bed could take on anything I threw at it and it was still standing proud. But of course, that wasn't the case in the hotel we were staying in.
"Naruto…" Crap, Sasuke calling me by my name was never a good thing. I could almost feel myself being lit on fire from the vicious glare Sasuke was sending me. Well Jesus, how was I supposed to know the wood planks under the bed would fall out if I jumped on them? The situation was only made worse because of the fact it was Sasuke's bed I was jumping on and not mine.
Okay, so let's backtrack about five minutes. I thought I had the perfect revenge for the morning before. All the extra sleep I had gotten on the bus ride home made me wake up at the ass crack of dawn, something I was not very pleased with. The only bonus to me waking up early was that I got to not only take my shower first, but I got to 'gently' wake up the teme. If Shikamaru had any qualms about it he didn't speak up, but watched as I quietly crept to the other side of the room. I lined myself up with the sleeping jerk and smirked, suddenly running full speed.
"Good morning teme!" And just like that, I was launched onto the teme and we rolled a bit on the bed. He surprised shout was so out of character, that I didn't even try to control my outrageous laughter.
"Dobe, get off of me." His voice was still laced with sleep, which made the threatening tone he wanted invisible. I refused to move while I laughed, leaning my elbow onto the mattress next to his head. I look down and grinned at him, fueling the sleepy teme's anger by tapping his nose.
"I think a 'thank you for waking me up my amazing, wonderful, sexy roommate' is a better response." He threw a fist at my head, and it was pretty fast for a kid who had just woken up twenty seconds ago. I jerked back a bit and narrowly missed the attack, his fist continuing on its path and hitting the bed on his other side. Not wasting a perfect moment, I pinned his body down with his own arm and grinned like the Cheshire cat at his unsuccessful struggles. But it was impossible for him to move with his own arm slung over his chest. Didn't mean he stopped trying."You can throw in 'strong' too."
"Hn." I guess that meant 'get real, dobe'; because I knew there was no way Sasuke was going to ever give me a compliment. Not like it mattered, since he was the one who looked like a weakling squirming underneath my hold. My plan went perfectly.
Well, that was until I heard a giant bang come out from underneath us. He stopped his growling and my laughter was cut short at the strange noise. We both crawled our ways off of the bed and lifted the mattress to find one of the resting planks that the mattress sat on had popped out from its spot in the woodwork. I continued to stare at it for a minute until I felt a pair of eyes staring at me. Slowly I lifted my head to be greeted with a not-so-happy Uchiha glare.
"Whoops…"
"Troublesome." I ignored Shikamaru's two cents while I tried to force a smile onto my probably paled face. Normal Uchiha glare I could handle. Morning 'I'm going to kill you for waking me' glare? Now that was in its own category entirely.
"You broke my bed." He spat out the sentence like a bad piece of food. I tried to laugh off the anger that was now being shot at me, but it only seemed to increase the dark aura around him.
"Just one part…" Okay, not what he wanted to hear apparently. "I can fix it! Really!"
"Naruto…" Even replaying the growled out name sent a shiver down my spine. Damn, when did Sasuke get so unnerving? Not like I was going to show him I was scared!
"Just hold the damn mattress and I'll fix it! Stop your bitching!" I tried to make myself seem unaffected by his leashed anger by rolling my eyes and moving to kneel next to the bed. I felt him move next to me to lift the mattress again, giving me access to the slightly disassembled area. I had to swing the board outward to get it to slide back to the top of the wood structure, and placed pressure onto the plank. My plan was to just slide the board down until it stuck itself back into the slot, but the stupid piece of wood wasn't budging. I huffed a bit and tried to press down harder, but still the damn board wasn't going anywhere.
Alright, this was starting to get embarrassing. I knew Sasuke was watching me with a 'what a weak dobe' stare, and it was completely unacceptable. I was not weak damnit! Puffing my cheeks out in concentration, I leaned my body weight onto the board in order to get it to slide down. When I felt it move I cheered mentally, until the extra weight made it slip right past the opening and made me fall face forwards onto the other boards. I mentally groaned when I heard another plank shift out of place. And then I grunted when the mattress was dropped onto my back, cramming me between the boards and the heavy mattress.
"Hey! I'm working here!" I managed to shove the mattress off of me, watching Sasuke start to grab clothes for his shower. Stupid bastard was going to leave me there too!
"You made the situation even worse. We'll have to deal with it when we get back from Vatican City, because the bus leaves in a forty minutes." Damn why did we have to go to all of these places so early? I crossed my arms and leaned against the woodwork of Sasuke's bed when he shut the door of the shower.
"Why does he have to be so rude to me? All I was trying to do was help."
"You broke his bed." I wasn't really expecting an answer, so I jumped a bit at Shika's voice. Turning to look at him over my shoulder, the intelligent (maybe too intelligent, which I learned by the end of the trip) boy continued. "You're troublesome, you know. How Sasuke manages to deal with you, I'm not sure."
"What the hell are you yapping about? The teme doesn't 'deal' with me! He just ignores me or insults me the entire time." He sighed loudly, like somehow a conversation was too strenuous on him. Seriously, he needed to be put in an old folk home with the other geezers.
"I don't wanna get into it."
"You're already in it! Now tell me what the hell you meant."
"What a drag..." But he shut his book and pushed up to sit cross-legged on his bed. He gave me a lackadaisical look that I knew hid much more than it showed. "Sasuke's the one who takes care of you the most."
"Huh?" I blinked once at the outrageous comment. And this kid was supposed to be smart? I would have laughed, but Shikamaru shook his head.
"Sasuke watches out for you. He continuously cares for you and assures your safety. It's probably why he insults you as much as he does. You do stupid things; he has to come rescue you. Like the pizza shop. Because you let your pride win over your brain, Sasuke had to come to your aid. He doesn't want to, but he won't let you get hurt unless it's him. The same reasoning goes for why he took care of you last night."
"Last night?" I echoed softly, the new, but somewhat known information still buzzing in my head. It was the first time someone had really laid it out in front of my like Shikamaru did, but…a part of my didn't really seem surprised. Sasuke was always hitting me or calling me names because of dumb things I did. Not to say I was dumb, because I wasn't! But, that was just how we were, right? I blinked slowly at the odd sensation I felt in my stomach. Shikamaru was my friend, and yet he never really came to my rescue like Sasuke. He liked to make me think on my own. Kiba definitely never took care of me unless I was practically dying (in which cases he really pulled through), and Neji? Ha, that's a laugh. Yea Lee was always looking out for me; he was like that with everyone he met. But Sasuke? Sasuke was just…different. I closed my eyes to will the weird thoughts away and turned my attention back to Shikamaru.
"Who do you think carried you here last night? You had practically passed out on his shoulder during the bus ride." He shrugged weakly and pushed off of the bed to slip his shoes onto his feet. I sat stunned by the information. Sasuke brought me up? Something must have tipped him off to my surprise by the roll of the eyes he gave me. He moved through the door moments after leaving me with one last comment to think about. "You really are troublesome. Why he continues to take care of you, I don't understand."
The room fell quiet when Shikamaru left. I continued to stare at the door that Shikamaru had just shut, wondering why all of this information was just coming out. Me and Sasuke had known each other forever. And yet now, when we were already strange because of the environment change and awkward situations, reality decided to slam me right in the face. Why did Sasuke put up with me? I felt my eyebrows furrow at the thought. The bastard was popular, so he didn't lack in his field of searching. In fact, he had to push people away from him because there were so many. So if that was the case, and I really did annoy him as much as Shikamaru said, why wasn't I out of his life?
"Get off the floor dobe. I said we'd fix it tonight." I tore my attention from my whirling thoughts to look up at the guy in question. Why did he always have to lean against walls? Maybe he had a back problem I didn't know about. When I didn't move, he pushed himself off of his resting spot to move toward me, hitting his fist against the top of my head. Of course, it wasn't meant to hurt so much as to wake me up I bet. "Are you listening?"
"Yea yea, I heard you the first time," I grumbled, rubbing the spot on my head. I watch his pale hand release the tension he held while he moved it to rest in front of me. It was just like the night we explored Rome. He had helped me there too, didn't he? I looked away from his hand and let my eyes close halfway. "Hey teme…"
"Hn." Well at least some things hadn't changed.
"Why do you always uh…butt in when I'm doing stuff?" I couldn't meet his gaze even if I wanted to. Probably because I knew that it really wasn't butting in at all. I just didn't want to admit, especially to the teme, that he helped me. Still, I was pretty sure he understood because he snorted and grabbed my shirt, pulling me up to my feet.
"Because you'd be dead if I didn't." His cocky tone wasnot needed. Ignoring my embarrassment for anger I glared up at him and balled my fists at my sides.
"I'm not a damn baby you know! I can take care of myself just fine!"
"You may not physically resemble a baby, but mentally is a different story."
"If I'm such a pain in the ass, why don't you just let me go and get hurt? Wouldn't it make your life so much better?" He paused after my shout, and I continued to glare despite my need to jerk away from him. Honestly, the way he was holding my shirt brought us right against each other, and I was not enjoying the weird sensation of having his toned stomach slide against mine. When had he gotten so built anyways? Maybe he started to train with Neji? Hey, couldn't he just ask me to train?!
"No, dobe." For a second, I thought he was answering the question in my head. Because that would have been a really freaky Uchiha power. Well, then again, I could add him to my super hero crew as the mind reader and we could fight crime. Except Sasuke was the crime, so I guess that wouldn't work out. Plus, he'd look crappy in spandex.
"Huh?" He barely sighed and I cursed myself for forgetting my own damn question.
"There's no advantage to you being gone." He released my shirt after that, and it was only then I realized I hadn't been pulling away. In fact, I was...leaning on him. He misinterpreted the widening of my eyes as a reaction to his statement. I saw his eyes glance to the left, and I would swear my favorite orange boxers there was a slight discoloration on his cheeks. This, of course, made my own cheeks start to burn. He still hadn't pushed me away. I still didn't move. "So stop making it my job to save you, dobe."
"Sasuke…" I swallowed weakly to control my voice again. Because talking all breathy like that toward my enemy was definitely not in the plan. My hand fisted over his heart, and the sharp motion brought his gaze back to mine. Wait, when did my hand get there? And how come he never told me to move it? So of course, my knee jerk reaction was to pull away from him as fast as I could. Unfortunately, this didn't give me time to pull away from his shirt, and I tugged the person I was trying to get away from into me. Then our feet got tangled and I let out a few explicit words when I felt pain shoot through my back. Damnit this floor was hard! Then again, so was Sasuke's body hitting into mine on the floor. I guess the reason why I didn't notice that pain was because the whole world suddenly stopped.
Yeah, yeah, I know what you're thinking. 'Oh my god, they kissed'! No, it wasn't that. It was worse. My cheeks must have lit up light a damn Christmas tree, and I was pretty sure even a composed Uchiha couldn't help but blush. My thighs now rested along the outside of his hips, almost cradling them into mine. Our bodies were aligned in a way that left no room between them. Every breath I managed to force caused my body to rise up into his, and his breathing pressed me back against the floor. His head, thankfully, was nowhere near mine, and instead had landed in the crook of my neck. I guess that would have been better, except the hot breathing was sending a very unwelcomed feeling into the pool of my stomach. Unwillingly I closed my eyes, both hands fisting tightly. The one from before still laid tangled in his shirt while the other hand been on his hip to try and stop the fall.
This was not how I planned for today to go. Really, I was banking on this morning to go by much better than seeing Sasuke half-naked and dripping. I tightened my eyes in order to ignore the pestering image. I could feel him shift a bit against me, whether to get more comfortable or to push away I wasn't sure. Either way it made our hips rub, and my lips part. This was a guy damnit. It was Uchiha Sasuke! Why the hell was my body so eager to react to his movements? I had to bite my lip to keep from voicing my thoughts. Sasuke had become silent, except for those damn tingling breaths against my pulse. I opened my eyes halfway, staring up at the ceiling. Why did these weird things keep happening to me and the teme?
"What?" I tensed a bit at his smooth voice. Crap, did I just say that out loud? Damn thoughts, you're supposed to stay in my head! And mouth, no more opening unless you're instructed to!
"Uh…nothing." Finally he lifted his head to look at me, the brushing of our chests something I wanted to ignore. Wanted being the key word.
"You cannot lie to save your life." Or dignity, for this special occasion. I swallowed slightly as I stared up at him, promising my body any amount of ramen it wanted if it would just stop making me blush. But apparently, seeing a pair of onyx eyes was more important than my food source. I didn't speak, probably because my brain was a little muddled by everything that had just transpired between us. This wasn't right. It was me and Sasuke. We were rivals, and enemies…except he was always helping me out, and I was always trying to get closer to him. Really, what type of enemies were we?
"This is all your fault!" I closed my eyes and ducked my head in a way that made it impossible for him to see it. Sure, it meant my forehead had to rest against his chest. But I was going to ignore that fact until the day I died if I had to.
"You pulled me down."
"If you weren't spewing all that stupid shit about me and how you had to take care of me, we wouldn't even be here!" There was a small moment of silence between us that I was sure Sasuke hadn't intended for. Which meant he was surprised by my outburst. Ha, take that you jerk!
"Hn." And then, something strange happened. Something so completely us, but not us, that it left me in a daze. I felt a cold hand slide along the back of my neck, sending a shiver spiraling down my spine. But the pale digits slinked into my hair and curled, pulling my head back until I was painfully forced to look up at my attacker. His smirk was practically beaming, but yet there was that same damn tint of pink spreading over his cheeks. My eyes widened at how easily my breath spread across his cheeks from our proximity, and how now I could see how truly black his eyes were. Damnit, why did my body not function properly when we were this close? Then again, my mind was starting to turn into a puddle.
"Teme…" We stared at each other, neither moving our bodies or faces away from each other. It was probably a competition of some sorts. Sure, I guess I could chalk it up to that. Suddenly I was aware of every part of our bodies that were touching, from the tops of our chests down to the hips that were becoming fast friends. I sucked in a sharp breath when said parts slightly moved. Why did I have to be so squirmy? And why did he have to just…fit perfectly? The blush I was trying so hard to hide suddenly jumped right back to my face as I closed my eyes. I could feel his breath along my lips, and I should have tensed at the sensation. Actually I should have pulled away. Oh, and hit him for being so close, that we could practically…kiss. But, I didn't. I just parted my lips a bit, and-
"Not to break up your party-" Aw fuck. I tilted my head back to look up at Kakashi, who seemed completely unaffected by our position. His smile was definitely too bright. "But I don't think Iruka would be appreciative of this."
"G-Gah! No!" I shoved Sasuke off of me quickly, scrambling to my feet and shaking my head. "T-That's not…w-we…no!"
"The dobe fell." I heard Sasuke standing behind me, but there was no way in hell I was going to look.
"And the teme landed on me!"
"Not like I really had a place to go…"
"And I was trapped under his fat ass!" Kakashi blinked as we finished our combined explanation, and I suddenly felt out of breath from my shouting. Still, the perverted proctor only nodded and continued to smile.
"Well then, I guess that explains it. Then hurry along to the bus before little Iruka gets worried." He turned away from us, pausing before he gave us a cheerful glance over his shoulder. "But it doesn't explain why you two are blushing."
I tensed at the mention of the blush on my face. Kakashi moved from the doorway, and left us in a silence that I knew was going to come. But something about Kakashi's departure caught my attention. You two are blushing. As in…okay, so maybe there was one thing that would make me look. I wasted no time in jerking my head back to see Sasuke, who had closed his eyes from annoyance I was guessing. But still, the bright flush of his face was apparent, which made my cheeks darken. Why was he blushing? Why was I blushing? We explained it fine, didn't we? Well, except for the five minutes between the fall and Kakashi appearing. Oh, and the fact that we almost just…
"Gah!" I covered my mouth with both of my hands and backed away from him, my eyes wide. If he was surprised by the outburst he didn't show it, only scoffing and making his way toward the door. I couldn't help but watch him while he walked, slipping on his shoes and slinging on his backpack. Sending one look at me, I could see that his blush was already almost gone. By the time we reached the bus, it'd be like-
"This never happened." I nodded quickly in agreement, knowing I wasn't exactly fond of the idea either. Imagine what Kiba would say? I could already hear the corny jokes filing through my head. So when Sasuke coldly nodded and moved from the room, I should have felt relieved. But as I slowly dropped my hands from my mouth, I didn't. In fact, I almost felt upset. I shook my head and moved to follow Sasuke's lead, but even as I jogged onto the bus, I couldn't shake the strange feeling. I smiled weakly at the warning look Iruka gave me, and completely avoided Kakashi's side of the bus. The last thing I needed to see was his thumbs up, or random 'sex is fun' banner. Yea, you all laugh like I'm not serious.
"Naruto! How come you're always so late?" I sent an apologetic look to Sakura before sitting in my seat.
"It takes time to look this cute?" I said, and Sakura couldn't help but turn her frown into a smile at my charm-filled grin. Seriously, I should be on a commercial for smiles. I'd make millions and get tons of hot girls to want me.
"Being that cute should be a crime," Ino said, laughing when I pouted.
"It's not my fault I was born to be a hottie! Besides, it even works on Tsunade sometimes." Tsunade, our principal back home, always had a soft spot for me, even though she'd never admit it, her annoyance of me slowly turned into affection. I had that affect on people.
"Any more air in your head and you'll pop, kit." My eye twitched as I looked over to Kiba, who was now laughing at his own joke.
"Jealous dog-breath?"
"What do you know?"
"A lot more than you do!" He rolled up his sleeve at my insult, and I easily started to yank up mine.
"You wanna prove it, fox kit?" I growled and moved to stand, but the bus jerked us into the backs of our seats. This driver had the worse timing.
"Troublesome." I looked over to Shikamaru, who now glanced out at the moving scenery. If this kid's voice ever switched from monotone, I'd check to make sure he wasn't sick.
"So Shika, where are we heading off to today?" I asked, crossing my arms on the top of the seat.
"Vatican City."
"Oh, that's where that pope guy is! Right?" He seemed shocked by my information, and I grinned in pride. "I pay attention to some crap."
"Isn't it the smallest country in the world?" Ino scoffed at Sakura's question, rolling her eyes.
"Why would it be called a city then? That doesn't make sense, forehead." I could already hear a fight coming on from the severe twitch of Sakura's eye.
"You dumb pig! It's just a stupid name!"
"Oh yea? Like Sakura?"
"At least I'm not named after a boar you ugly piglet!"
"You take that back you billboard head!"
"Shikamaru make them stop! Just tell us which ones right before they make my ears bleed." I laughed at the glares Kiba got for his comment, but it was still effective.
"Vatican is a country, with approximately 800 people residing there. Of course, nobody is a permanent citizen, because they are registered in Italy instead of Vatican City. The only people who have temporary citizenship in the country are people who work for their government, and lose their citizenship once they leave office. There is about .02 miles of land in the country, making it the smallest country both land and people wise."
"Told you!" Sakura stuck her tongue out at the pouting blonde, who only huffed and glared out her window.
"Alright, so what else is special about it?" I asked, blinking.
"There are two main buildings that people travel to see. St. Peter's Basilica is a church in the middle of the country. It is able to hold 60,000 people, making it the largest Christian church in the world. The interior is designed with several paintings and metal work because of its high ranking in the Christian religion. It was named after St. Peter, who was buried underneath the church. Since then, many of the popes through history have also been buried there. The church has several paintings and sculptures, the most famous being Michelangelo's Pieta."
"So then what's the second place?"
"The Sistine Chapel. We're going there. It's even more famous than the Basilica, especially to painters and architects. The Chapel was created between 1475 and 1483. It's home to several pieces of work done by Raphael, Bernini, Sandro Botticelli, and the most famous of them, Michelangelo. His famous work took four years to finish, and was spread over 12,000 square feet of the ceiling. The paintings were of separate parts of the bible and people from Christianity. Michelangelo did not wish to paint the ceiling at first, and caused a huge problem with Cardinal Carafa. Something about how the nudity in his painting 'The Last Judgment' was obscene and was not right for a holy place. Michelangelo didn't pay him any mind, and even responded by creating a sketch of Carafa in the painting."
"So what happened with the painting? Did he have to cover it up?" Kiba asked. Shikamaru scratched his head and looked out the window, and I let my own gaze wonder to see the clustered area we were heading to. I could see a huge building standing out of the crowd, but we were too far away for me to get a good look at it. Somehow I knew it was one of these buildings Shikamaru was talking about.
"Michelangelo never covered the nudity up. Some guy named Daniele da Volterra came and covered most of the people up under the orders of the church."
"Well that sucks. If I was going to put that much effort into a painting, I'd be rolling over in my tomb if someone came and altered it. What a load of bologna," I said, crossing my arms.
"Whatever. You could never get me to paint a ceiling." I laughed at the lazy guy's remark while the bus came to a slow halt.
"We can hardly get you out of bed, never mind up in the air! Seriously Shika, you need to drink coffee or something." At my remark he shrugged and looked up to the front of the bus, which I assumed meant that Iruka was about to speak. I shifted in my seat to look up at the brunette man, who smiled.
"Alright! We'll have to walk down a few streets to get to Vatican City, but once we're there, we'll be going on a tour of the Sistine Chapel. After that, we'll let you guys have some time on your own, where you can go visit the other buildings or you may walk down the streets surrounding the area. We will be meeting at the fountain in St. Peter's square at five, so we can make it to our reservations for dinner." The bus started to chatter with excitement as we moved off of the bus, and I smiled at the hot air that greeted us while we walked toward the little country. So far the weather had held out for us, and I remembered that Iruka said the only two days that seemed to be a bit troubling were Florence and Venice. I didn't care really, since either way we were still going to see the sights. A little cold and rain never killed anyone.
"This place is gorgeous!" I heard Sakura gasp next to me. I turned my head to glace at the awe-struck girl that had her eyes fixed on the huge monument that wrapped around the square we were in. "That is huge! Is it a museum or something?"
"They're Bernini's columns. They circle around the square, and have a total of 284 columns all together. They are also known as 'God's trees'. Mainly it is now used for places to rest from the sun, since the entire square is uncovered," Shikamaru explained.
"This Bernini guy did a lot of crap. I thought you said he was a painter?"
"Painter, sculptor, and architect. He really did it all. A lot of people back in these times had more than one talent that they used." Damn. I looked up at the massive column and silently wondered how long it must have taken to create something like that. They didn't have the technology we did. People back in ancient times were pretty damn talented!
"Alright little boys and girls! Let us find our way to the Sistine chapel! Now follow my umbrella, follow my umbrella." Aw, the creepy lady was back. I mentally sighed while the group moved through the square (which, by the way, wasn't even square) to get to a brownish looking building that made my nose scrunch. What was so special about this place anyways? The one in the square was so much flashier! And this was considered the artsy place of the two? But I didn't speak while I followed the group into the building entrance called the 'Vatican Museums'.
Alright, so I take my words back and shove them down my throat. I stared in amazement as I walked down a lightly lit hallway, which was completely filled with artwork and sculptures. I had never seen anything like it. Several marbled sculptures were hanging from the paintings on the ceiling, and maps of the times were hanging proudly along the walls. There was a white room filled with sculptures of Christian figures that I had never seen before. Even the columns that held up the ceilings of the rooms were decorated with crosses or some type of painting. The rooms each held something exotic or new that continued to interest me to no end; especially the huge staircase inside of the museum that was more of a spiral ramp than anything else. God I wish I had that wheelchair back.
So when Shikamaru told me we hadn't even gotten to the Sistine Chapel, I was shocked. All of these paintings, and there was still one more famous? I walked slowly down a long hallway, which seemed to be the longest of them all. Really, this place went on for ages! Still, I could see a pair of doors at the end of the hallway, and we were only a few feet away from them when the tour guide stopped us.
"This is the entrance to the Sistine Chapel. Please be aware that this is a very religious place, and no cameras are allowed in the chapel! Also, be quiet and respectful to others that are there. Now, follow the umbrella please." She whispered the last part to us before the group entered the doors. Instantly I was hit with a wave of silence that was not anywhere else in the museum. Tons of people were littered through the huge space, and yet not one person said a word. Instead their heads were tilted to the ceiling, seeming to be mesmerized by the paintings. Occasionally a loud noise meant to quiet any talkers echoed through the huge building, and it made me keep my lips shut. I slowly started to glance along the several paintings that lay above me, from Adam and Eve to what I assumed was 'The Last Judgment'.
Normally, I'm not a guy for painting. I prefer movies or pictures. But standing in the middle of this huge chapel, I felt severely amazed by what I was seeing. One man did all of this? How he managed to capture all of these scenes, make each person different and stand out, while blending into the picture made my mouth open in shock. I couldn't have done this if I had an entire lifetime set to just paint. But this Michelangelo had managed to do it all on his own.
I was so distracted by the artwork, I didn't notice where I was walking until I hit straight into another person. I quickly bit my lip to stop the yelp that was coming out while I fell back. Luckily, two hands grabbed my arms from behind to keep me steady.
"Learn to multitask, dobe." His voice was barely a murmur into my ear, and I bit my lip twice as hard when I felt a slight pressure along my earlobe and back. Jesus he came at the most opportune times! Crap, could I say Jesus in this place? I'm pretty sure that was a big no-no. Ah well, I didn't say it out loud at least. I looked back at him in a slight glare, but shivered when his fingers trailed from my bare skin in order to grab something he had dropped on the ground. It only took me a moment to realize it was a notebook and a pencil. I opened my mouth to speak, but stopped instantly when the loud shush went through the air again. Finding a solution, I grabbed the two items from his hand and flipped to a new page, scribbling down my response.
I know how to multitask you ASSHOLE! And what the heck are you doing with a notebook and a pencil? I handed him back the message, and grinned when he sent me a glare. I nodded to the paper for him to respond, and he seemed to hesitate in what he would consider my 'childish' way of talking before he put the lead to the paper. I glanced at the walls of the chapel, which were much less decorated than the ceiling. I looked back to him when he jabbed me in the stomach with the notebook. Silently grumbling to myself, I looked down at what he said.
Idiot, this is so childish. See? Told ya. And I have it for drawing. I blinked once before I scribbled down my reply.
So then you like Michelangelo's stuff then? It's pretty neat for some dead guy. He rolled his eyes at my comment in a way that almost made me laugh. Luckily I remembered where I was and kept my composure.
Leave it to you to call one of the greatest painters in history 'some dead guy'. Your class astounds me every time I talk to you. Even though it was an insult, I couldn't help but smile. I glanced around to see if I could find any of our friends before I started to write back to the teme who was now staring up at the ceiling.
I bet me and him would be buds if I was alive back then. He'd be pranking the church by drawing nude people, and I'd be fooling around by dying the pope's robes pink. We'd be a sweet pair.
He had intelligence, a strong will, a creative mind, and manners. None of these features are evident in you. Was his kind reply. He thought so much of me. Really, the teme needed to loosen up a bit. I started to write a rude reply before he was grabbing my wrist, pulling me through the hordes of people. I would have protested, if not for that damn silent rule. Maybe it was a good thing I didn't spout off, because the teme had noticed the others waving us to leave while I was busy writing up a storm.
"That was beautiful! The artwork was magnificent, and the emotions you could see on their faces. The joy, the sadness, the youth!" Lee's happy outburst made me laugh while we exited the museum. What I would have given to see Lee's actually reaction in the chapel.
"Calm down Lee," Neji said quietly, watching while Lee continued to bounce in his step. It was funny seeing the two of them outside of their sparring. Sure they were equally strong and skilled, but nothing else was alike. You could practically see inner Neji pulling his hair out when he had to deal with Lee and Gai at the same time.
"But it was so amazing! We'll never be able to forget such a momentous event in our young lives! We'll pass these memories on to our grandchildren and let their minds explode with creativity."
"Alright Lee, whatever you're on, you really need to give some to Shika to help wake him up," I said, laughing at the bored look I got from my brunette friend. We had just visited one of the most astounding places, and Shikamaru still couldn't muster the energy to care. That boy was a creature of habit if nothing else. "So where you do you guys want to go now?"
"Naruto!" My answer came from my right as I glanced over to the girls who were now waving happily to us. They already had Kiba over there, who continued to glance between our group and theirs in a sign of 'help'. Fearing the word 'shopping' to come up again, I glanced back to the four guys around me.
"What do you think? Should we go with the girls, or run for the hills?"
"I'm planning on going to St. Peter's if anyone wishes to come," Neji offered. He turned and started to walk before another word could be said. Lee seemed more than happy to join his friend, and I glanced to Sasuke and Shikamaru for their answers.
"I think I've had enough art today," Shikamaru said, glancing toward the girls. "Maybe they'll find more places for me to rest."
"I'll head with you then, since I have a feeling Neji would kill either me or Lee if I joined them on their 'joyous expedition'." I tried to mimic Lee, but really it sounded nothing like him. Whatever, at least I put the effort in. I looked up to Sasuke, who still hadn't answered my question. "You going to go sketch some more?"
"Hn." Well that certainly got us nowhere. Deciding Sasuke would follow us if he wanted to; I shrugged and started to walk over to the girls. I watched their eyes lit up, and I blinked once when Ino's glance went to Shikamaru before looking away. Since when was Ino shy? I sighed slowly when I realized that half of what girls did confused me. Really, they needed a manual.
"We better not be shopping again! The last time, I got kicked out." To prove my disapproval, I crossed my arms and made a point to look at each girl seriously. Apparently Sakura wanted to set me at ease, because she moved forward and smiled.
"The last thing we want to do is embarrass ourselves again." I nodded and grinned until the sentence finally caught up to me.
"Hey!"
"You deserved it." Ah, so the bastard decided to come. I rolled my eyes at him before turning back to the girls.
"So what are we doing then?"
"Iruka said that we could walk around the area to see what's going on around here. We're figuring we can take in the sights and get some pictures for our scrapbook," Ino explained, holding up her camera and smiling. I glanced to Sakura, who was pulling out a matching camera from her bag and shrugged.
"That doesn't sound too bad." And really, it turned out to be much more fun that I had anticipated. Hinata had been to get a map of Vatican City, and from there we started to explore. The girls went crazy with pictures, and I was pretty sure that Sasuke was ready to break the cameras because of all of the snap shots Ino and Sakura took of him. His irritation only made me laugh. We explored around the entire place, and really Vatican City did not seem so small from all of the walking we did. Especially for Shikamaru, who seemed to try and rest every twenty seconds, but a few tugs on the ear from Ino seemed to get him moving. We finally managed to make it back to the square a half hour before we were supposed to eat, which was a blessing for our screaming feet. We sighed around the fountain, either sprawled out on the ground next to it or sitting on the edge.
"Remind me never to wear these shoes again," Ino complained, kicking off the uncomfortable shoes she had on. I sighed and rested my back against the edge of the fountain, my head resting comfortably on Sakura's thigh.
"Remind me never to never let you wear those shoes again," the girl above me complained, which made me smile. Ino had only told us about her horrid shoes for the past twenty minutes, and it was apparently taking its toll on Sakura's patience.
"Don't even start to fight," Kiba grumbled out. I looked over at him through half lidded eyes to see his shoulder was comfortably occupied by Hinata's head. Both were blushing, but I learned my lesson from last time and decided to keep shut about it. Instead, my gaze travelled to the only one of us who didn't seem tired. And no, for all you scholars out there, it wasn't Shikamaru.
"How the hell can you stand?" I muttered, watching his overconfident smirk fill his features. Stupid jerk.
"I'm not tired."
"Or he's too stubborn to admit he's tired." Man, Sakura did get crabby when she was wiped out. Sasuke sent a warning glance at her, and then me when I patted her thigh. Like it was any of his business who touched Sakura. He had his chance with her years ago and never took it. So why he was glaring toward us like that I didn't know.
"That's how the teme is. Can't ever show when he's weak." I stretched out my legs in front of me to try and release some of the tension in them. They barked back at me in protest, but I ignored them to stretch. Really, the worst thing to do after walking for so long is to just sit still. It cramps up your muscles and makes it even harder to walk again.
"Hn." All of us fell quiet after his weak comment, seeming to just enjoy the noises around us. It wasn't long before the group on our bus started to reassemble near us, and Iruka was quick to start counting heads. I got a look from the teacher, which made me lift my heavy head away from Sakura. Really, he thought I was Kakashi or something.
"Alright group! Now that everyone is here, we're going to be heading to the Il Convivi Troiani for dinner. Please be on your best behavior. The restaurant it waiting for us, and has our meals already planned. If you had asked for a vegetarian meal, please let me know before you sit down so we can get you the other dinner." We all nodded to the teacher while we shoveled back onto the bus, too tired to create mischief. The bus ride was like the Sistine chapel, quiet and peaceful. I forced myself to stay awake, mainly because I did not want a repeat of last night to happen. Sasuke was quiet, and I occasionally peeked over his shoulder to watch his pencil draw something along a clean piece of paper. With the twenty minutes it took to get to the restaurant, I had to admit that Sasuke was nifty with a pencil.
A slight bump before the stopping of the bus jolted every from their light slumber and a group of scattered yawns danced around the bus. But all traces of sleep were gone when the smell of Italian cuisine hit our noses while entering the building. The tables were much smaller than the ones in Pompeii, but they were eloquently designed with a white table cloth and golden utensils and plates. The glasses practically sparkled from how clean they were, and each white leather chair had arm rests to relax with while waiting for our food. The table sat four people, and I was happy to have Sakura sitting with me, Kiba and Sasuke. Sure the last two were a setback, but I could handle it just fine.
Well, I thought I could. If I had known what they were serving, maybe I would have tried to sit with Lee and Neji, who were actually very quiet while they ate. If I had seen what they were bringing out, I could have saved myself from the irritation I was going to go through. But I didn't, too happy with my conversation with Sakura to notice to plate of doom that was placed in front of me. And then, Sasuke decided to actually start a conversation with me.
"Stop talking and eat." His desire to see me eat should have been a red flag. Still, I only glared over at him and them down to my plate before the color in my face drained. Instantly, I heard laughter coming from across the table.
"Ah look! It's Naruto." I glared up at Kiba, who now had a piece of fish swimming along on his fork. Great, they had to serve fish. I tried not to flush at the piece of fish that now sat in front of me, or the idiot that kept glancing between the smirking bastard, and the sympathetic girl.
"Knock it off Kiba, it's not Naruto's fault his name means that!" And once again, I hated my parents. They had watched some show where the main character's name was Naruto, and decided if they had a boy that was what they were going to name him. Of course, they didn't bother to try and find out that the definition of that said name was 'fishcake'. But as soon as my uncle, who had lived in Japan for ten years, heard about my name, he told the entire family. Of course they all thought it was cute, while I felt like someone was running me over a torture rack. I had kept it a secret until the fourth grade, when for 'fun', our teacher had brought a baby name book and found out all of our definitions. And now, that brings us here.
"Guess what Sasuke?" You'd think that during this childish play, Sasuke would grunt or just ignore Kiba. Oh, but you forgot it was me they were teasing. So of course, Sasuke's smirk quirked a bit.
"What?"
"I found Naruto's brother, Nemo." Really, Kiba thought he was hilarious. I knew that Sakura wanted to laugh, but to her credit she did try to hide it. Sasuke seemed to find the conversation fascinating, because he didn't roll his eyes or scoff the entire time. I was going to choke him with my fish if he didn't wipe that damn smirk off of his face.
"Just shut up and eat the stupid food before I strangle you." I growled out, stabbing the nasty looking piece of food with my fork. What made the entire situation worse was that I hated fish. I had been teased so much about the food, my taste buds actually rejected fish after a couple years. My doctor said it was psychological, like how people hate older men if they were beaten by their father. Because I had such a negative experience with fish, my body physically rejected it. Of course, if Kiba knew that then he'd just die. So instead of listening to my taste buds' plea for freedom, I shoved the fish into the sauce it was served with and forced it down my throat. I scrunched my nose to keep myself from spitting the food up, wincing a bit as a burning trail of bile slid down my throat. And I had only taken one bite.
By the third piece, tears were filling my eyes from the disgusting taste. I told you my body hated fish. Still I didn't let them fall while I smothered the gross meat in the white cream, trying to shove it as far into my mouth as I could before I swallowed it. Then I proceeded to drink a bunch of water in order to try and get the food to go down faster. As it was, the waiter just left the pitcher of water on the table for me. One of these days, I was going to do myself a favor and shoot my pride. But I had to admit that it felt pretty damn good to finish the fish. Not physically, because my stomach was ready to throw up everything I just ate. In fact, it was probably going to take five bowls of ramen just to get the fishy taste out of my mouth. What made it all worth it was that Kiba didn't finish his, and the waiter asked if he wanted to take it home in a (and I'm not making this up) 'doggy bag'. I nearly fell out of my seat laughing at the comment. And for the bus ride home I was able to tease Kiba as much as I wanted about his cute little bag with the bones designing the outside. He had sent one glare my way before he had scurried off to his room like a dog with his tail between his legs. I was going to follow him to tease him some more, but a gentle tug on my arm made me stop. I looked back and blinked at the other blond in our group.
"What's up?" She stared at me in a way that made me think that somehow Hinata and Ino had merged as one. The blush was there, but her eyes were filled with such determination that it had to be Ino. "Ino?"
"I need you…to give this to Shikamaru." She held out a piece of paper in front of me, and I titled my head slowly in confusion. Wasn't she just on the bus with him?
"Uh…sure, but why?" She pouted and crossed her arms, as if somehow my question offended her.
"Don't ask dumb questions! Just do what I say." Man, girls sure were pushy. I sighed and nodded, watching in irritation instantly disappear from her features as she giggled. "Thank a bunch Naruto!"
"Sure." I watched her run toward the girl's side of the hotel before I sighed and moved into my room. Shikamaru glanced up at me lazily, blinking once when I tossed the note onto the bed. "That's for you."
"From who?"
"Ino." He stared at the note for a moment before he opened it, his eyes languidly moving along the notes. If he was surprised by what the note said, he didn't show it. Instead, he rose up onto his feet silent and moved toward the door.
"I'll be back later." I barely had time to nod before he moved from the room, making me blink. When the heck did Shika move that fast? I didn't think he could move like that. And yet, before I even had time to blink, the guy was gone. I sighed and looked back to my bed, my eye instantly twitching at the sight in front of me. The bastard was sitting in front of me, in my bed, drawing.
"What are you doing?!" I shouted. He slowly looked up at me as if I had asked him what the weather was like outside.
"I'm drawing."
"I can see that damnit! Why are you in my bed?!"
"Because you broke mine." I looked to the broken bed that hadn't been moved since this morning.
"…So what?" He stared at me before turning back to the bed, starting to fix whatever he was drawing.
"So I'm sleeping in your bed, and you're sleeping on the floor."
"Like hell I am!" I said, growling slowly. His eyebrow arched at my comment.
"It wasn't a request."
"I don't care. We'll fix the damn bed." We both looked to the bed, and I quickly realized that the last time I had tried to fix the bed; I had only made it worse. "Well…we can get the others, right?"
"It's not necessary; you'll just sleep on the floor."
"Oh sure, you can say that because you're not the one getting kicked out of a bed," I growled out,
"So?"
"So you're either getting the hell out of my bed, or you're going to move over." He arched a brow and finally turned his attention away from the drawing to look up at me. I bit my lip for a second, trying to glare through my own surprise. Alright, I didn't really want to sleep next to him. So after a few seconds of silence, I huffed and moved over to the broken bed. Grabbing the mattress, I tugged it off of the wood work and onto the floor. I ignored his look while I started to fix the sheets on the mattress.
"What are you doing?"
"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm pulling the mattress onto the floor."
"That's a fire hazard, idiot." I glanced between the door and the mattress, scowling when I realized it'd be impossible to move the door completely with the mattress on the floor.
"Damnit! Why didn't you tell me that earlier?!"
"That's not my job." I shoved the bed back onto the broken boards, turning to give Sasuke a piece of my mind, but I stopped when I saw him move out of my bed, making me blink.
"What are you doing?"
"Take the bed."
"Huh?"
"I don't want to listen to you complain all night." He walked past me toward the broken bed, his sketch forgotten on my sheets. I could already tell he was trying to use his big head to figure out how to fix the broken bed. I mentally scoffed and looked away, staring at my own mattress. I should have been pleased with my ability to get Sasuke out of my bed. After all, the last thing I wanted to do was sleep on the floor because of an accident. So why didn't I feel victorious? Actually, I kind of felt like a jerk. Hesitantly, I peeked over at Sasuke from my shoulder, watching the unpleased frown mar his lips. It bothered me more than it should have.
"Share with me." When he looked up from the broken mess, I instantly wanted to bite back my words. It was bad enough Kakashi had found sprawled out on the floor this morning. I could only think of what he'd say if he walked in on us sleeping next to each other. Then again, he may not be very pleased with the idea of a broken bed either. I shook my head to get rid of any thoughts of Kakashi to stare with determination at Sasuke. "Not that I want to. You're just making me feel like shit, acting all mopey and stuff."
"I don't mope." Yeah, and I was the king of England. But I decided to ignore his glare to move to my bed, easily shrugging off my jeans and crawling under the sheets.
"Whatever. Take the offer or don't. I couldn't give a damn," I mumbled, making sure to shut the light off before I closed my eyes. The silence between us didn't bother me half as much as knowing the teme was staring at me through the darkness. I pulled my blanket up over my cheeks just in case he could see the color distortion in the night.
I'm not sure when Shikamaru came back that night. Maybe twenty minutes or two hours after I fell asleep. Heck, maybe he stayed out all night and partied like it was 1969 (although I don't understand why they partied so much more than us). But either way, I knew Shikamaru found me and Sasuke sharing a bed and sleeping as if everything was right. When morning came, I expected some type of embarrassment to occur. Maybe if it was Kiba I would have gotten that. But he didn't ask questions or give me weird looks. He was just as silent as ever.
The lack of surprise should have warned me that by the end of the day, everything was going to change.
Well there is the ending! I'm so sorry again for all the mistakes that I'm hoping aren't too bad. I know that there's at least two, and once again sorry! –bows-. Thank you for being patient with me, and I promise I'll make the next chapter a good 'sorry' chapter!
Chapter Five: Awakening Feelings in Assisi