Once upon a Modern Tale…

Pairing: Naruto x Sasuke

Warning: Shounen ai,

Inspired by: Robin Hood, Love among the Walnuts, and always by my wacko imagination

Summary: AU (NaruSasu) Once upon a time, there lived an extremely handsome and exceedingly rich young man. But, he didn't care for any of it, and so he locked himself up in his large manor, never coming out. Then, one day, he met the most amazing person; a beautiful boy with cerulean blue eyes. This is where our Modern Tale begins, with a Modern Robin Hood, and a Modern love story.

Please forgive my bad usages of Japanese terms; I don't speak the language so I have almost no idea how to use them.

Disclaimer: Naruto and anything related does not belong to me. Don't sue.

……………………...

Fourth

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,………………………………….,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Now, after that little trip to Naruto's past, we should really get back to the story at hand here. Morning has just come to the land, and everyone is waking from their slumber, including our favourite quadrupillionaire; Sasuke Uchiha.

As we speak, grumpy dark-haired boy is half dragging and half lugging himself out of bed. He always rose with the sun, which in case you don't know, is at six o'clock in the morning. Yes, our noble Uchiha likes to wake up at the ungodly hour of dawn. Why, you ask? Well, I really can't answer that question, since I don't know myself!

He has had a restless night, and wasn't able to sleep much. He was haunted by thoughts of a certain blonde-haired boy. Now that he was back in his environment- wait, that makes him sound too much like an animal - now that he was back in his house, on his property, in a place where he's been cooped up – willingly- for so many months (that sounds better), he has finally been able to think about the whole Uzumaki Naruto thing. Unfortunately, it cost him his precious time to sleep. Life really isn't fair sometimes.

You see, Sasuke has made up his mind about this Uzumaki person. He has decided that he was out of his mind last night when he foolishly proclaimed that he was in love. I mean, how could a normal person fall in love that fast? He assured himself that it was merely a quick rush of infatuation, and that there had been no true feelings at all.

'Maybe I really should get out more…'

He went about his business for the rest of the morning, which almost always consisted of training, training and more training. Well, sometimes he did take a risk and didn't train. Yes, the Uchiha was definitely a regular "daredevil." In fact, his middle name should be "impulsive" instead of "rational".

He really needs to get out of his manor, and away from his pampered life sometime.

This morning wasn't one of his 'daring' moments, and so he trained until Kakashi finally woke up (after twelve o'clock, as is the Kakashi style). Breakfast/lunch – brunch- arrived at the Uchiha manor around 12:30. Sasuke seriously wondered why he bothered to pay Kakashi. He never did any work around the house anyway – Sasuke kept everything in order (when he wasn't training that is) - and the silver-haired man never, ever cooked! He always ordered out, which, he claims, took less energy than actually making something from scratch. Well, I guess it wouldn't be fair of me to say that he always ordered out; rare times he would microwave frozen dinner for himself and Sasuke. Although, after he somehow completely charred the first twenty dinners, Sasuke forbade him from going anywhere near the kitchen.

As the Uchiha ate the still-warm pizza – half pepperoni, and half vegetable as usual- the doorbell rang. Needless to be said, he was surprised along with his normally stoic butler. (In all honesty, he really shouldn't be called a butler - he's more like a relative who's overdone their stay at Sasuke's house.)

I apologize if I haven't explained how conversations go in the Uchiha manor. Well, here is a prime example taking place after the doorbell rang for the second time.

"Grunt". (translation: 'Answer the door, Kakashi')

"Snort." (translation: 'Beauty before age, Sasuke')

"Hn." (translation: 'That's not how the saying goes')

"-undefinable snoring/huh-ing/choking noise-"(translation: 'Better go before whoever it is gets too impatient and leaves. You never get any guests.')

"Ch." (translation: 'You shouldn't be talking since you never get any guests either. ')

Now, students, wasn't that interesting? Somehow, during the many years that Sasuke has had Kakashi for a 'butler', they have come to a mutual agreement on commutating using the "Grunt" language. I suppose it's easier than actually talking.

Sasuke got up and went to see who was at the door. He had let Kakashi win that round, because he had the strangest feeling that he wouldn't like what – or who- he saw at the door. His butler was famous for allowing anyone (any I mean anyone) go into the Uchiha's house. Especially on Valentine's Day, when he would just simply keep the door and front gates open all day so Sasuke's numerous fangirls (and fanboys) can just oh-so-happen to 'drop by' and stalk him for a few good hours. How he hated Valentine's Day, and Kakashi (especially on that day).

He opened the door without peeking out the peephole first. That was a major mistake. He was oh-so-tempted to shove the door close, and run into the house screaming bloody-murder when he saw that the object of his thoughts of last night gazed at him from the doorstep. Just when he sorted out his thoughts about the beautiful boy, this Uzumaki person had to come into his house and arouse all these feelings in his again? Wait – how'd he get in through the gate anyhow? Sasuke knew that there was only one answer to that question: Kakashi.

"Hi, Sasuke! I was wondering, if you could…." The blonde's eyes widened considerably. His mouth dropped and his cerulean eyes glittered. "Your house is even bigger on the inside! Do you mind if I take a look around?" Naruto pushed past Sasuke before the Uchiha could respond.

A sense of dread filled the raven-haired boy as he shut the door slowly. Sure enough, five seconds later there was a loud crash, followed by a small and quiet muttered word and a long silence. Kakashi came in, still slouched as in true Hatake style, and gazed at the mess of glass shards on the floor.

"…that was the priceless vase passed down from the Uchihas for generations"

Naruto laughed sheepishly, and his arm went to scratch the back of his head. "Gomen, I wasn't being careful. If you want I could try to fix-"

"No, Sasuke's family has more than enough heirlooms." The silver-haired man turned to the teen staring blanking at the broken vase." Why don't you take your friend up to your room, Sasuke?"

The noble and our Robin Hood climbed up a series of long, winding stairs until they reached the third floor – or was it the fourth? - of the Uchiha house.

"Why did you come?" Sasuke made no effort in trying to sound friendly, and he did not meet Naruto's eyes.

"Can I have a tour of your house?"

Sasuke didn't move, nor did he move his gaze from a nearby painting hanging on the wall. "You still haven't answered my question."

Naruto paused a while before speaking again, "I thought you might be lonely. You…don't seem like you get out much."

Sasuke nodded, and started the tour Naruto had requested. The blonde followed, and for the first time since Sasuke has met him, he was silent.

…………….,,…………………………..,,,………………………,,,……………………..,,,…………

Yes, Sasuke was being very rude, but before you attack him with bedpans or cooking pans in your hands, allow me to explain. Our adolescent noble is simply doing what any teenager who has gotten a sudden crush that he didn't want in the first place would do: he's ignoring how beautiful Naruto looks today, how soft his hair seems, how innocent his eyes are, and how….delicious his lips looked. The Uchiha wasn't sure if that was the right word to describe this feeling, but he supposed it was close.

Ah, our noble is experiencing a strong sense of want; almost to the point of lust, although being away from society for so long, his feeling is too pure for that. So, it is a strong sense of want. He wanted to touch that blonde hair, he wanted to kiss those full lips and he wanted to see love for him in those clear, blue eyes.

Well, Sasuke didn't know that this was what he wanted, of course. We can see that, but sadly he can't. He is hoping that if he ignores this feeling, it'll go away.

It's not going to be that easy. Our Robin Hood doesn't give up that easily.

……,.,,………………………..,,,………………………………,,.,.,……………………..,,,…………….

And so, our two heroes went around the entire mansion for the tour (which took a long time since it was so huge), with Sasuke saying things like, "This is the dining room" or "This is the old sitting room" or "This is one of my training rooms."

"How many dining rooms and sitting rooms do you have?!" Naruto burst out asking after Sasuke has pointed a room out as either a sitting, or dining room for the umpteenth time.

"A lot of them are useless now." Naruto gave an innocent smirk at this comment. "So, this is one of your training rooms, ne?"

"Hn." The blonde took this as a "yes". "The equipment is pretty good, but out of date." He was referring to the worn punching bags hanging around them. The room smelled musty, and there was a dim light streaming in from a nearby window. There were only punching bags, and nothing else in the entire room (which was pretty big, so that was a whole lot of punching bags).

"I don't use this room anymore."

"Really? So you won't mind if I break one of these, right? I don't think they'll hold if I punch one." Naruto was eyeing a black bag to the right of him. There were already faint fist marks on the surface. Sasuke touched a finger to the punching bag, and raised an elegant eyebrow. He didn't meet Naruto's eye, or say anything. He just took a step back, crossed his arms and gave his famous Uchiha let's-see-you-try-that look, which is third to his you-are-beneath-me look. His first place winner is of course his touch-me-and-die glare. .

And that was how the challenge of "I can take down more punching bags than you" was started. An hour later, an almost out of breath Sasuke and a lightly panting Naruto were crouched on the ground. Their foreheads glistened with a thin sheen of sweat. Really, it hadn't been much of a challenge to either of the two boys.

"How many did you break?" Naruto looked up, and was glad to see that for the first time in the past six hours that Sasuke actually met his gaze.

"Eighty-two."

"…I guess we tie then." Naruto's innocent smirk surfaced again. "So, what now?"

"You dodge." A quick punch soon followed.

And that was how the spar between the two began. Naruto punched, Sasuke dodged and delivered his counterattack. There were also a series of false punches, followed by a surprise attack with the knee, or the elbow, which was always blocked by the other. It was a straight-forward fist fight, with no weapons used. Sasuke's fist flew and connected with Naruto's cheek while the blonde's fist connected with Sasuke's face. They were both sent backwards and landed on the floor with two loud noises blending into one.

They rushed at each other again, and as before their fists connected. Again and again they attacked, but each time their moves were blocked. It seemed that both were evenly matched. But then, something strange and fated happened….

Naruto lost his footing as he stepped into a pile of now-diminished punching bags, and tripped. It didn't help much that Sasuke had chosen that exact moment to pounce on the other boy. Obviously, they both went down, and landed with Sasuke on top and Naruto on the bottom. (Isn't that interesting?) The blonde was holding onto the Uchiha's arms. If, at any moment that he was to let go, they faces would collide; mouths and all. Their faces were really that close. How close? Let's just say that it was close enough that Naruto could tell what kind of breakfast Sasuke ate earlier – which by the way was veggie pizza.

The raven-haired boy quickly pushed away, and stood up. He avoided eye contact with expertise, which makes you wonder when he had the time to practice this. The noble's face was tainted a somewhat light shade of pink, and Naruto's was a full blown on red. (Don't get me wrong, he wasn't at all embarrassed. Our charming Robin Hood has had so many practicing for fake blushes that he can conjure up one at any given time. This is what he likes to call, "red-as-an-apple" blush. He also has others such as, "pink-cheeks-for-saying-I-like-you" or "embarrassed-girly-blush-to-lead-them-on".)

"Hey, Sasuke…"

"Hn….?"

"I guess we tie again." A laugh. You're tougher than I thought, Richie Rich" Did Sasuke hear a hint of bitterness in that sentence? (Uchiha's catch on fast, what can I say?)

Sasuke got up, and Naruto did too. Our heroes walked back to the kitchen; Naruto following Sasuke while asking questions like, "How much money did your family spend on his house?" or "Wow, I bet that chair alone could feed an entire community for a year!" They started out as innocent and friendly questions, but soon get more personal, and when Naruto asked, "So…how much money do you have?"

Sasuke stiffened, and almost stopped walking. Our Robin Hood mentally slapped himself on the forehead, and added "I bet it's a lot, new? Considering you are a quadrupillionaire…." The blonde went on to ramble about various things.

It was then that Sasuke sensed something was strange about Uzumaki Naruto. It wasn't the fact that he came out of nowhere, nor was it that he seems to want to be friends with Sasuke for no apparent reason, but it was some missing link that connected everything together. He couldn't help but remember all those newspaper articles about the strange robberies with all the rich millionaires or billionaires.

The Uchiha walked Naruto to the front gate, all the while glaring down at the ground. He didn't look Naruto in the eye since they were sparring, which our blonde noticed as well. They said goodbye (actually, Naruto said goodbye, Sasuke grunted), and went their separate ways.

………….,,,…………………………….,,,………………………………,,………………….,,,……

Naruto checked that Sasuke was really going back to his manor before turning and starting his long walk home. He didn't want to bother Iruka-sensei with such petty things. And he knew he shouldn't waste money on buying a bus fare).

He didn't get any information at all, and Sasuke had refused to meet his eye all day, except for a few short moments. The only thing Naruto knew was that the Uchiha had money and plenty of it, simply by seeing his house.

'He's definitely my hardest pick yet.' Naruto smirked innocently. 'But I will get through to you yet, Sasuke Uchiha."

Little did Naruto know, someone was following him…..someone with a curious mind and raven-black hair.

………………,,,…………………………………….,,,………………………..,,,……………………….

Cliffhanger! (Sort of) –smiles- Sorry for the late update, but with the weekend and everything….Well, here is the fourth chapter! I hope you enjoyed reading it.

I've finally gotten a person who accepted my beta offer. –laughs evilly- And how, she must read my stories ahead of time and be tortured by the stress of not doing her homework in order to take time to proofread my chapters. –muahahaha!-

Anyway, as it is with all my stories; please give any comments or suggestions! They will be greatly appreciated!

P.S. Keep those reviews coming! They could just make me guilty enough that I'll update earlier! –laughs-

P.P.S. Thanks to all my reviewers, especially to someone's really, really long comments. (You know who you are!) Every review has been very helpful! Also, thanks to my beta, Kagerou-chan!

Cheerio!

-Horologii