Starting from zero, we got nothing to lose.
*
Vauxhall Gardens appeared like an enchanted dream to Naruto. Thousands of lights glowed and glimmered between the branches of the trees and framed pavilions with a magical light. Every corner on the path opened up to new views filled with partying and joy. Music and laughter hung in the air, and for the first hour Naruto and Ino spent the time to just walk around and watch the other people around them and feel strangely safe behind their masks.
Lady Yamanaka had invited a large group of her friends, and despite that Naruto thought these young ladies and gentlemen appeared remarkably free in their ways of behaving, the men didn't waste any second and flirted, and all the other debutants seemed to have fun at it. He felt oddly comfortable among all the commotion.
Naruto politely declined a glass of champagne when they came to what appeared to be an outdoor dining, to eat something small before they all joined in on the dance. While everyone became more and more drunk, Naruto stayed sober and had a clear mind and was well aware of the things that happened around him.
He realized that his mother would most likely faint in front of all the scenes that he witnessed, but Naruto only observed with a calm and chilly air. He even felt a little bit amused and curious.
But he would soon be sorry that he had accepted a dance with a young gentleman who was a terrible dancer, or maybe he was just too drunk to dance properly.
"It's ok, don't worry about it." He assured for the third time after the young man once again had stomped down on his toes. "Isn't it crowded here? Ow!" He stomped down on Naruto's foot again and lost his balance, grabbed at Naruto's shoulder and tore some of his shirt and jacket open. Naruto quickly pulled it back up his shoulder and started to close the buttons that had ripped open at the commotion, but noticed that some straps that included the outfit had come undone over the shoulder and back at his neck. He couldn't get them together right in the neck as long as he wore his mask.
"Could we step aside for a moment?" While his dance partner kept apologizing for his clumsiness, he helped Him away from there and held his mask while Naruto straightened out and corrected his costume.
"Would you like to dance again?" the young gentleman asked as he gave Naruto back his black satin mask.
"And get his toes completely smashed? I don't think so, young man." Lord Sai showed up by his side, masked with his unmistakable dark eyes glistening behind his mask. "May I escort you back home, Mr. Uzumaki?" He turned violently to Naruto's partner, who took a step backward. "We will not take up any more of your time, Young man."
"Yes, thank you for the dance, sir," Naruto said. "It's all right, I know this man."
The youngster bowed and walked away, and seemed offended by the abrupt goodbye. Naruto didn't blame him.
"Would you join me back to my friend, lord Sai? She is right over there." Naruo forced himself to be calm, even if his mind was about to burst with thoughts. He didn't afford to make a scene here, especially since he wasn't even supposed to be here.
"You mean that lively young lady in the purple dress?" Naruto nodded. "Surely she doesn't seem like one of your friends that your mother would approve of." He took Naruto's arm and started to steer him away from Ino and the others. "And where does your mother think you are right now?"
Naruto could feel his cheeks blush in embarrassment, but couldn't stop himself and tried to avoid eye contact.
"Oh, she thinks you're at home, sleeping. I think that it's for the best if I bring you back and make her beliefs come true."
"No! I can't just abandon Lady Yamanaka like that." But judging by the firm grip on his arm, Naruto knew he had to do as Sai said if he did not want to start scream and fight to break free. "At least I have to go and thank her for tonight and tell her that I'm leaving. Otherwise she will worry and wonder where I went."
"Very well." He could feel Sai's gaze on him and tried to put on a smile before they reached Ino and the others. "Don't sulk, Naruto, it doesn't suit you at all. Imagine how disappointed I am to find my future spouse here in such a company."
"I'm not your future spouse!" Naruto almost spat out, before he quickly closed his mouth when he saw a tall man appeared before them in a black suit with a petite lady in a red dress holding his arm.
"Naruto." Of course it was Sasuke, who else? He remembered that he hadn't putted back his mask yet. With fumbling hands he hurried to put it back on without being able to look Sasuke in the eyes. "Are you in trouble, Mr. Uzumaki?"
"Not at all. I'm just a bit overwhelmed by the crowds, sir. I was just about to leave. Have a good evening." From previously been Sai's prisoner, Naruto now almost dragged him after himself away towards Ino and left Sasuke behind staring at them.
… .
"What the…? Who was he in company with?"
"Oh, that was Lord Sai," His female companion answered confidently. "I would recognize his face and dark eyes anywhere. He is a good match, but he makes my skin crawl. It seems like the perfect Mr. Uzumaki has turned a bit naughty."
Uchiha Sasuke looked down at her.
"Just as bad as you then, Sakura, you little shrew. Come on, let's go home, otherwise your father will cut off your spending money and bite my head off."
She laughed. "Not when I tell him you came to rescue me away from here, my dear Sasuke."
"Which you already knew I would, since you left me a note about it!" He pointed out.
While he escorted her away from the dance floor he let his eyes wander in search for the blonde man in a dark blue masquerade suit.
Goth~Goth~Loli~Loli~ Goth~Goth~Loli~Loli~ Goth~Goth~Loli~Loli~ Goth~Goth~Loli~Loli
Naruto sat in the corner as far away from Sai as possible in his wagon and was anxiously preparing himself in case the earl would try to kiss him. But to his relief he didn't even seem to try when they sat there, waiting and looking out the windows into the dark streets.
Torches outside the houses cast a flickering light around them and he noticed that Sai seemed deep in thoughts. After a while he couldn't stand the silence anymore. "I hope you didn't have to part from your company this evening because of me."
"Not at all. I was just wondering what the best thing would be to tell your parents. I wouldn't want them to be mad at you for no reason."
"To tell them? Absolutely not! I will just sneak in without anyone noticing."
"You shock me, Naruto! Of course I can't act so sneaky. And I can't allow you to do so either. I have to tell them. For when it all comes around we are all alone, the two of us, in a closed wagon."
"Are you saying.. You think that I..?"
"I know that your parents would love to see us get married. I can imagine that they anxiously waits for our engagement."
Naruto stared speechless at him for a while, before he found his voice. "I wouldn't marry you Sai, Even if you so were the last available person on the earth."
"Hardly an original answer to reply with, darling. Here is your neighborhood. I don't think we need to surprise them, they appear to already know of your absence."
Sai was right. The lights were on in the kitchen when they parked the wagon outside. Feeling numb, Naruto let himself be led to from the wagon to the door. His mother gave him a stern glance and told him to wait in the hall while she disappeared to the dining hall with the earl and her husband.
He had no clue how his absence had been discovered.
It seemed like hours when Naruto sat in the chilly hall, and at the same time he started to feel cold, and was haunted with the thoughts of Sasuke seeing him together with Sai.
His parents finally came out with serious faces, but at the same time they had something triumphant in their eyes.
"Naruto," his father started in a grave tone. "You sure are lucky to avoid the aftermath of your foolish actions. Against all reason the earl seems to still fancy you and want to marry you. He has agreed to wait until the end of the week for you to recover from your ill-considered actions, but when he comes back to propose to you, you will say yes."
"No!" Naruto flew up on his feet with clenched fists and said in a shaky voice. "No, I will never get married to that man."
"In that case I don't know what to do with you," His father told him, who also stood up. "You will go to your great-aunt in Bath. She needs a new companion, and since we can't let you go out anymore here in London, and even less at Brighton where we soon will go, that is the best place for you."
"My great-Aunt?" Naruto's tired brain struggled with the shock. "But she never leaves her property anymore."
"That's right." Kushina confirmed sternly. "I'm sure that she will appreciate your company. You can read to her, maybe help her to sow and walk in the garden, and help her maintain her guests when they come visit her." She paused. "I will tell the earl that we didn't have any other choice but to send you off to visit and help her, now when she is in such bad condition. We can only hope that he still holds any interest in a few months when you have come back to your senses again!"
Naruto thought about his sentence. Deported to Bath, to a household full of old people and diseases, to a relative who scared him and without any distractions at all that could keep Colonel Uchiha Sasuke away from his mind. And after several months in captivity, his only hope at a so called life was that lord Sai would still be interested to marry him.
And scarily enough he believed that he would be that. He didn't seem like a man that could take a no for an answer.
He was a man that could, and would, chase all around Europe just to make it before a rival, if it was about a particular beautiful and shiny statue.
"Please, don't send me away." He said in a shaky voice that promised tears. "I will be so bored and miserable over there."
"You should have thought of that before you threw yourself into wild adventures." His father answered a bitterly. "Your mother will write to your great-aunt tomorrow. I can only hope that she is prepared to endure your presence when she will find out about what you have been doing lately."
His father tightened the robe around his body and added with an unconsciously cruel voice: "Maybe then you can think about and imagine living your life all alone until you grow old, and realize that the perks of living a happy family-life with a dedicated spouse is more worth it than this temporarily lifestyle you have chosen to get into."
Naruto slowly made his way up to his bedroom, well aware that he wouldn't be able to fall asleep. What would he do? With his forehead leaned against the window, he stood and stared out into the darkness. Where did he belong?
He would probably end up being someone's unmarried cousin, uncle or dedicated grandson, Naruto thought bitterly. `Dear Naruto is so nice to all the children, and can always help the elder ones…´Not that he had anything against children or old people, but he had hoped to adopt or get children of his own,- with Sasuke. It wasn't unusual these days for a same-gender couple to legally hire someone to help them give birth to their children.
He suddenly turned away from the window, determined to not let himself be defeated. His life didn't seem like his own anymore, and he was the only one who could take it back.
"Strategy and Tactics." He said out loud. Strategy and tactics. Then his energy suddenly left him and he sat down on the edge of his bed. Strategy didn't really work without any goals or targets.
He stretched his back. He had trained to become the spouse of a military colonel, and now he had to use his courage that he was proud to have inside of him. The short term goal had to decide what he would do for the rest of his life, and his strategy was to go somewhere where he could think about it in peace.
It certainly wouldn't be in Bath where he would be the disobedient nephew who needed to be closely watched and lectured in their eyes.
So… Naruto bit his lower lip. Who would he escape to? Not Tenten and Neji at his manor, she was heavily pregnant and could give birth any week or so now. Our family had decided to visit her after she had delivered the baby. Then there was his uncle Jiraya, but he was out on one of his many trips. One by one, Naruto counted them down, and came down to that the only one who would help him was Tenten, maybe his older sister. Or an old friend.
Naruto thoughtfully lifted up a notebook from his drawer and wrote down: 'Kurama, Lincoln'. He had no idea of how his sister would react to this letter, even less of how her husband would, bud he didn't really care either. They would be a good distraction and decoy for everyone else.
His absolutely best friend in school had been Haku.
Haku's last name was now Momochi, since he married his big time crush, an older and quite scary looking man named Momochi Zabusa. They made an odd, but adorable couple. Where Haku was so beautiful and petite in a feminine way, even if he was a boy, Zabusa was a tall and muscular man and could have a really cruel and scary expression. His expression softened remarkably when he looked at his spouse, though.
Haku often wrote and complained that Naruto never visited him anymore, and that he missed his dear childhood friend and that he should visit whenever he had the chance.
"If I go to visit Haku, I first have to take the wagon towards Lincoln, and then switch wagon one time to get there, if not two. That way everyone will think that I'm headed over to Kurama, But I'm really going to Haku." He resonated with himself. "When they realize that I'm not visiting Kurama, I will be long gone." He also wrote down the location East Anglia next to Lincoln.
Would his mother suspect that he had gone to visit Haku? Nah, His mother had never wanted to read Naruto's letters from his old friends, and Naruto doubted that she even knew Haku's new last name after he'd gotten married. Something came to his mind… East Anglia.. One of his aunts, of course! His father's youngest sister. The sister that no one was allowed to speak or contact because of her scandalous marriage from someone without a title.
But Naruto had once heard his parents talk about her, and he had never brought it up to anyone, but he hadn't forgotten about it either.
"I'm sorry," had Kushina told Minato. "But she is still your sister, and despite the scandal I will write to her once a year around christmas to hear how she has it and tell her about our lives as well."
"Her scandal almost become the death of our father," had his father angrily replied. "Is she the kind of woman you would like your children to get to know and hang out with?"
"Nonsense," Had Kushina calmly said. "Just because I send her some Christmas cards she will not have bad influence on our children and send them into one scandal after the other. You have to be fair to your sister. Has she ever tried to return to London or visit us here?"
His father's mumbling answer was too low to be heard and Naruto, who was ashamed that he had been eavesdropping, had left the door to his father's working office and walked away.
So somewhere in East Anglia he had a scandalous aunt. Would she understand him? Could Naruto talk to her and find someone to confide in, and get advice from?
But how could he find and contact her? Naruto soon realized that if his mother wrote to her every Christmas, she probably had her address in her book with all the other addresses and birthdays and so on.
He rose from his bed, opened the door to the dark and quiet house and went downstairs.
SasuNaruSasuNaruSasuNaru SasuNaruSasu 3NaruSasuNaru SasuNaruSasuNaruSasuNaru
Three days after Naruto's catastrophic masquerade party, Colonel Uchiha Sasuke held in his two dark grey horses and wagon outside of Neji and Tenten's big House.
He felt a bit wounded, anxious and insulted at the same time, and Tenten's warm personality and common sense, and Neji's loyal friendship had shined like a light in the darkness on his way from his family home. He had met them when he traveled to town from his own property after he had made his painful, short visit to his parents. He was now on his way back to them to get their support.
He handed over the reins to a stableman and jumped down to the ground.
"Take them to the stable, and tell your master that I will stay for a day or two. If that won't do you can take them to a temporary pine, but I think that there is room for them since they won't stay here for long."
The stableman drove them away along the road and Sasuke took the stairs two steps at a time. The door opened up by their butler, who allowed himself to smile at the sight of their visitor.
"Colonel Uchiha. It's a pleasure to see you again, sir. Master Hyuuga is still out, but Lady Tenten is in the blue room. She doesn't allow any visitors, but if it's you I don't think she will complain. Are you going to stay for a longer time? Your usual room is available."
"Thank you." Sasuke handed over his hat and gloves. "I hope that lady Tenten doesn't mind a guest for one or two days."
He went up the stairs to the elegant room on the second floor where Tenten's favorite room where and opened the door. "May I come in?"
"Sasuke!" She was half sitting up with the help of pillows under a blanket. A big welcoming smile started to bloom on her lips.
He went in to her, happy over her joy. He sometimes wondered if he would ever find someone like his best friend's wife, if he could love someone like Neji loved Tenten, someone who would answer his feelings with the same amount of passionate dedication.
"For Heaven's sake, Tenten!" He stopped in front of her and smirked mischievously. "When is it scheduled for the baby to come? I have witnessed and delivered a child once, But that isn't something I want to experience again."
Tenten opened her arms in a hug and giggled when he tried to kiss her stomach. Papers with notes fell unnoticed down from the bed to the carpet. "It's not due for about another six weeks, Sasuke, so you don't have to worry. Have you really delivered a child? Who was the baby's mother and father?"
"She was the wife of one of my men in the army. The father passed out, the doctor chopped of some poor man's leg and there weren't any other women around, so the task fell on me." He gave Tenten a warm smile. It felt like home. "Six weeks? Are you sure you're not expecting twins?"
"What!" Tenten looked at him with big eyes. "It couldn't be, could it? There are no twins in our family history as far as I know, and it is hereditary, isn't it?"
"I think so, but I'm only teasing with you Tenten. How are you? I'm surprised that you are here in town. Weren't you supposed to be out at the countryside where and relax?"
"I'm fine, but I am tired of feeling like a stranded whale. I can't even remember the last time I saw my own two feet! But never mind that, what are you doing here? Can you stay until we return to the countryside? That would be wonderful."
"Are you sure? I wouldn't be in your way then?"
"Not at all! And you can distract Neji so he stops pamper me to death. He and I quarrel because I don't want to meet anyone of those famous midwives, which were my condition for coming here. Neji says that even if I only want to shop I have to go right back to the country and rest. But in any case we will stay here for another two days." She leaned down on the pillows and watched Sasuke with her big, chocolate-brown eyes. "The decanters are over there. Get yourself a drink and then come back here beside me."
Sasuke did what she told him to do and sunk down in a chair next to the bed.
"Now tell me what's wrong, Sasuke." She begged.
"Wrong?" He moved so that he sat sideways away from her and didn't meet her eyes.
"Yeah,. wrong." Tenten put a hand on his shoulder. "It looks like you've been kicked while lying down, figuratively speaking."
Sasuke put on of his hands on top of hers. "How perceptive of you. That is exactly how I feel right now. I went home to my family's manor two days ago since my mother wrote that she was worried about father. The doctor thinks that he had some kind of stroke last month, because half of his face is stiff and he limp when he walks. Of course he denies that anything is wrong with him."
"How old is the general, I mean your father?"
"Only sixty, but he has lived a rough life. Being wounded at least seven times, got several bone fractures and survived a lot of diseases over the years. He was never the kind of man who would wait comfortably for his title at the headquarters. Now it all starts to catch up to him, but he is too stubborn to admit it. And our property is too big for one man to handle…"
"So you went home to see him?" Tenten squeezed Sasuke's hand.
"Yes. I didn't want to go right away when I arrived at England, since I didn't want him to suspect why I came back. My plan was to judge by myself how he was holding it up and sell my officer-title if he was really bad. I was thinking of trying to breed and take care of horses at the same time as I would take over the responsibility of the property. Not so much right away, only the parts that tires him out so much."
"And then gradually he would let you handle more and more, so that he eventually had to admit that he can't handle them?"
"Yes, that was my plan." He sat in silence for a while. The pain from his father's reaction was almost too fresh in mind to talk about. "Where is Neji?"
Tenten laughed. "At one of his many clubs, since I don't want him to pamper and spoil me rotten. If he stays at home he gets too nervous." She paused. "How did your father react?"
"Bad."
"Tell me." She asked.
"He demanded to know what had mad me to decide to lose my spark and sell my title, ´like a coward'." Sasuke harshly said. Tenten gasped.
"He didn't really mean it," Sasuke continued with a lighter voice now that he had let the words out from his system. "He expects me to also become a general, and at a younger age than he was. I think that he deep down knows why I talk about selling and he is raging against his own weakness, not mine."
"I don't think that it hurts any less because of that." Tenten answered and lifted her hand to caress his cheek. Sasuke felt his cheek against her knuckles and felt comforted. Neji was one lucky man.
"No. And he knows that he's been unfair but not how he will make things right again. So he managed to find another sin to accuse me for, to justify his anger."
"And what would that be?"
"He wants to know what I am doing flirting around with Lady Haruno Sakura without asking for her hand. He thinks that she is a great catch, and can't stand to hear that I'm playing with her emotions."
"Are you?" Tenten wondered.
"What? Flirting or playing?"
"Are you going to marry her?" Tenten bit off.
"I don't and won't do either of them. I've known Sakura since childhood when I was ten years old and she was still in diapers. She is the sister I never had and I would rather marry a monkey. I feel a deep sympathy for the poor fool who will marry her. She is the worst little shrew that I've ever met."
"So you are not in love with her?" Tenten stubbornly asked.
"Of course I love her, but only as a sister, and both her and her parents know that. She has practiced how to flirt on me since she was eleven, since she knows that its safe, and her mother likes that I escort her around the city since she knows she can trust me. I scare off the players and gold diggers and Sakura can play a lady as much as she wants." He paused. "But she is probably the season's most attractive Lady, which my father knows all too well. Some old hag told him that she had seen me ride with Sakura in the park and danced with her a little too much, and that's enough for him. Oh, and one more thing," he added bitterly. "Her father didn't want her to learn how to drive since his sister managed to get into an accident, and that's why she tricked me to convince the poor man that I could teach her."
"You are a very good driver and rider, Sasuke." Tenten pointed out.
"Yes, and it is well known that I don't let anyone else ride or drive with my horses, so my father put two and two together and makes it six, and then he doesn't see any signs of me doing the right thing. And by the way he acts he is trying to tell me to get married and have children already, and look at your friend lord Hyuuga Neji who already has a wife who is pregnant!"
"Oh, you poor thing." Tenten said indignantly. "He sure has lectured you. What are you going to do? Oh, I think that Neji is coming now."
The door was opened and Earl Hyuuga Neji stepped in. When he saw who sat next to his wife his face lit up in a wide smile. "Sasuke! No, don't get up." He bent down and dunked his friend in the back, shook his hand and slumped down on the edge of the bed next to his wife. "Are you staying here for a while? Is that why you are here flirting with my wife?"
"He isn't flirting," Tenten laughed. "He thinks that we maybe will have twins."
"What!" Neji stared at them both. "Are you serious? And what do you know about that stuff?"
"He told me that he has already witnessed a birth."
"But not with twins," Sasuke hurried to add. "No, don't you dare hit me! But to kiss your lovely wife is like to reach her over a pile of pillows. So someone has either counted the time wrong, or it is twins. Or even triplets…" he added and ducked away from Neji's fists.
"Oh, stop it both of you!" Tenten hollered and hit them both over their heads. "I could just as well have been with two little brats than you two. Sasuke will stay until we return back to the countryside and he had a terrible time at home with his father. Sasuke, tell him."
Sasuke told his story once again. When he came to his father's reaction about selling his title, Neji became very still for a while before he leaned in and grabbed Sasuke's shoulder in a comforting way. Sasuke felt a burning sensation behind his eyelids and finished his story.
"How mad is the general, then?" Neji asked.
"Mad enough to disinherit me."
"Can he do that?" Neji wondered.
Sasuke just shook his head with a sad smile. The painful memories of their conversation were getting easier to deal with, now when he was here with Neji and Tenten and could talk about it.
"I already have money that I inherited from my grandmother, and also a great amount of money from my work as a colonel, and he can't do anything about that. If he really want to disown me he can find a few acres of land and a few farms and enclosures to give to some else. And also the furniture, of course. But he doesn't really mean it."
"And what will you do?" Tenten still didn't feel good about this.
"My mother has commanded me to come to London and live a dissolute and riotous lifestyle." He turned his head and smirked at Tenten. "I was about to rent a room, but I was hoping that I could stay here instead."
"Dissolute and riotous? But why?"
"She says that he soon will hear about it and will command me to come home to be lectured. Then he will decide that the best for me will be to stay and take it easy at the property for a while."
Tenten laughed. "How cunning of your mother! If he thinks that you in reality want to stay here in London, the best punishment will be for you to return home to help out with the property. After a few weeks he will be so used by it, that you can get the results you want over there."
"Have it ever occurred to you that your mother is a way better tactician than your father?" Neji asked with a grin.
"All the time. She always win,s and the poor old man never knows how." Sasuke moved his legs and tramped on some papers that had fell from the bed and rustled. ""I'm sorry, it seems like I'm ruffling the letter you were reading.
"Oh dear!" Tenten let out and picked up the papers from the floor with some help from Sasuke. "It's from aunt Kushina," she explained. "She sent a servant with this this morning, just after Neji had left. The contents are unbelievable. It says that she is sending Naruto to her great-aunt in Bath, since he has gotten in some trouble."
"I'm going to the library." Sasuke was about to heave himself up from the chair. "I'm sure you want to discuss this in privacy."
"No, please stay. You are part of this family, Sasuke, and since you're going to stay here you need to know what's going on." She skimmed trough the letter. "And it doesn't say anything of any.. delicate or private matters."
"Oh, so nothing about eloping with the priest, or an unfortunate result of a romantic meeting with a servant? " Neji said and got a dark look from his wife.
"I still think it's best if I leave." Sasuke said. "I can go rent a room at a Hotel before I decide which apartment to rent. Your aunt will probably visit and discuss the matter, and she will feel bothered when knows that I stay here as well."
"Don't be stupid, Sasuke! We need your help to solve this mystery. Aunt Kushina says that it all started at that grand prom the Duchess had a while ago. Naruto became drunk on champagne, flirted around shamelessly and then did almost everything that could give him a bad rumor and reputation of being easy. And to top it all he seems to refuse to get married to a noble gentleman whose name isn't written down in this letter."
"Naruto? Drunk on champagne?" Neji looked astonished. "That boy is a like a role-model for respectability and proper behavior."
"The Duchess grand prom..?" Sasuke sat down in the chair again. "Oh."
His friends whipped their heads at him and stared. "Don't look at me like that! I haven't seduced him or anything. But I think that I could have made him drink that glass..." he stopped himself and looked out into nothing while he tried to remember. "He had received a large shock of some sort, and that's why I gave him a few glasses of champagne."
He had forgotten about his meetings with Naruto when he'd started his arguments with his father, but now when he looked back at the contents of Mrs. Uzumakis letter, everything seemed to fall into place.
"At the prom I found him sitting outside a resting room, and he looked like he was in some kind of shock." He continued.
"You mean that someone could have acted or said anything indecent or horrible towards him?" Tenten asked.
"No, not that kind of shock." He remembered the hollow look in those big, azure eyes and suddenly realized what that gaze reminded him of. "Neji, you remember what effect the first battle had on some of the new young officers who came to the Siberian half-island without any experience? Those who thought that the war was all about the glory and shining armors, flying banners and roaring trumpet's?"
"And then discovered that is was blood and mud and butchery, with chaos and a lot of noises and screams…" Neji stopped and Tenten understood that they were in a different place in their heads right now, somewhere where she couldn't follow. "Yeah, I remember. What about it?"
"Naruto had the same hollow gaze as the other men had after their first battle, as if his greatest dream had been crushed into pieces and faded away in front of his eyes, and his world was in ruins. He was very pale and his hands trembled. I asked him what was wrong, but he wouldn't say anything. I assumed that it was about unrequited love. We spoke about neutral subjects for a while. After about two glasses of champagne he was well enough to dance the waltz, which I think helped…" Sasuke stopped talking and remembered the slender figure who had danced flawlessly in his arms, the big eyes that seemed to trust Sasuke, and the feeling of wanting to find the possible man who so obviously had hurt him.
They discussed the matter a bit further and speculated on who it could be that had hurt Naruto so, and who his proposer could be. After a little while Tenten went to rest.
Sasuke walked over to his usual guest room. While Neji's servant helped him unpack his things he paced back and forth and fought the urge to ride home this instant and see how is father was feeling. To distract himself from his grumpy father, he thought about Uzumaki Naruto. To his surprise he realized that the memory was pleasant. With a frown he told himself that he only was curious on what had happened to turn a perfect debutant into an adventurous loose young man. But there had been something more, something that stayed hidden behind the pain in those alluring azure/aquamarine eyes, something that seemed to speak directly to him.
He seated himself in the big armchair where he at last found a little bit of rest. His body answered to Uzumaki Naruto in a very inappropriate way.
It was over two months ago that he had broken up with his mistress, Karin, in Portugal. There were of course some attractive persons here in London who had dubious virtue, and it wasn't like he had any trouble finding anyone interested in him. His mother had made and suggested a list of what he could and could not do.
"Playing cards, my dear, and alcohol," She had told him. "I know you master them both, so no worries there. Show yourself on the most notorious places. Maybe you can by a racing horse? You have to flirt, of course, but not with any debutants, that goes without saying. Do you know of any light-footed married women?"
"No one else but you, my dear mother." He had retorted and smirked in to her amused, dark black/blue eyes.
~Timeskip~ ~Timeskip~~Timeskip~ ~Timeskip~~Timeskip~ ~Timeskip~
After an hour or so Tenten was tired of resting and called back Neji and Sasuke to give her company, and tell them that she didn't have a clue on how to help her aunt.
"Send Sasuke over there so he can sit and listen with sympathy," Neji said absently when it knocked on the door. "Who could that be?"
The butler came to their door. "It's Mrs. Uzumaki Kushina, milord." The butler squeezed himself against the doorframe when Uzumaki Kushina almost ran in to the room.
"Oh, Tenten my dear, Neji… Oh!" both her niece and the earl looked at her with concern from the bed at other side of the room, which Neji told his wife to lay down in for at least another hour. Kushina started to cry.
It took about five minutes and a dose of scented salt before they could calm her down. Sasuke's escape route had been cut off by some incoming chambermaids and other random people who were running around, and he pulled himself to the corner furthest away from everything, while he hoped that his presence wouldn't be noticed. Hysterical women suited him even less than loose-footed ones.
Then Tenten could finally ask what were wrong. Her aunt looked at her with tear-filled eyes trough her handkerchief and was able to gasp out:
"Naruto is missing. He has run away from home."
Eventually the whole story was told. Naruto had disappeared from his room but wasn't declared missing until it was time for lunch, they presumed that he was just hiding from his unwanted proposer that would come visit that same day, and his parents wasn't in the mood to force him to come out.
When his mother had enough and opened the door to his room, he was already gone. He had only left a short note on the desk saying that he was going somewhere where he could think.
After several hours of searching and going through his stuff and letters from different friends all around town, they knew it was hopeless. They didn't know what to do. Lord Minato had suffered from gout and it seemed like Tenten and Neji was their last hope.
Neji threw a glance over Tenten's now white, shocked face and said in a determined voice:
"I'm sorry, aunt Uzumaki, but I just can't leave Tenten in this condition right now."
"No, of course I understand that you can't do that," Kushina said desperately. "I should've thought of that. Then I have to go to the police now, but we have already lost one whole day…"
"I will go find him." Sasuke pronounced and stood up so that everyone jumped in surprise. They had almost forgotten that he was there.
"Oh, Sasuke, Thank you!" Tenten burst out with warmth in her voice. "I had completely forgotten that you were here. Aunt Kushina, Sasuke is staying here with us for now. It couldn't be better!"
"You can trust that I will use my fullest discretion, but you have to tell me everything about what you think is wrong and where he could have run off to." Sauske briskly said, just to stumble backwards when the upset ladies threw themselves at his chest and started to cry against his shoulder.
After what seemed like years to Sasuke, Kushina finally put herself together and looked up to him with eyes that held a desperate faith in him that he would find her son.
Sasuke already bitterly regretted his promise.
`But what the heck could I do? Where should I start?´ Sasuke thought grimly to himself. Neji and Tenten would worry half to death otherwise, and the Uzumaki-family had always welcomed him as one of their own.
And just the thought of the blonde boy with such pain in his azure blue eyes, calling for his help woke echoes of pain of his own.
~Tbc~ ~Tbc~