A/N: Naruto is not mine; the use of characters are just for pure entertainment.

The Portrait From the Attic

Chapter 4

Naruto wiped the sweat off of his forehead as he finished painting the wall he was at. Standing up from finishing the trim, he felt himself lose his balance. He put the brush in the bucket and made his way out of the room, holding his head. He knew that it was most likely the fumes and he just needed to take a break, not to mention open the windows before beginning the next wall. He made himself a quick light lunch, wishing there was a way to have Ayame's ramen delivered all the way out to the mansion, or any of the meals that she prepared. As he crossed through the main hallway, he paused in front of the portraits again, staring into the eyes of Sai and Kushina.

In some ways, Sai's eyes made him feel curious, and a bit uneasy. They seemed so secretive and without passion. But the way his arm was placed around the blushing Kushina's waist, there was a bit of possessiveness in it. Naruto could almost make out the firmness in which Kushina was being held. It was as if the artist tried to bring out that hidden love. What happened to bring about the tragedy that Kakashi himself was trying to get answers to? Then he stared at Kushina's face. This time, he could almost make out a tiny bit of sadness in her eyes. But the smile was so soft and gentle, and the way her hand was placed against Sai's chest... it didn't seem forced. Naruto reached up and touched the portrait again.

"What is it that Kakashi finds so fascinating about your lives? What are you hiding?" Naruto murmured with a gentle tone of wonderment.

A creak from upstairs startled him.

Naruto looked up and listened for another sound.

"It's just the house settling," he whispered to himself, trying to have noise other than the creaks and groans he would hear randomly.

Naruto made his way upstairs and looked around. He saw nothing out of the ordinary, and the sun was brightly shining through some of the windows. He let out a sigh and proceeded to the end of the upstairs hallway, heading to the door that would lead to the attic. Maybe he would find something he could give to Kakashi to use for his collection, like one of Sai's sketches. Entering the attic, Naruto made his way to his little corner to sort through all the papers and boards. He had started categorizing each art piece as sketches, drawings, and paintings. Sai was really good with art work, and Naruto saw evidence in that. When dealing with paints, the pictures seemed almost photographic. When done in pastels or colored pencils, Naruto could almost see the dominating emotion each stroke was done with. The sketches were quick pieces, not at all detailed but Naruto could almost imagine what the person looked like in which Sai caught a quick glimpse of.

As he began to pull aside a couple sheets, a small thump caught his attention.

Naruto paused and listened, his heart pounding. It almost sounded like it came from the wall in front of him. He heard nothing else so he began to rifle through the papers, chalking up the sound to his imagination. But then he heard a soft melody coming from the other side of the wall.

Naruto frowned in confusion and began to slide the table, chests, and boxes that were up against the wall so that he could press his ear against it. He could clearly hear a repeating melody slowing down, almost like a music box. Naruto knocked gently on the wall and could hear that it was a hollow sound of a thin wooden wall. His hands began to brush along the wooden panelling, trying to see if there was a weak point in the wall that he could try breaking through without having to resort to a hammer. He soon located a seam on the panels, and when he followed it, it wrapped around like a small door without a handle or a knob.

He could no longer hear the sound of the melody when he pressed his ear against the wood. But he did hear a click as the "door" moved slightly inwards. He backed up and the door popped open enough for him to slip his fingers and pull it all the way towards himself.

Naruto was surprised to see that there was a narrow set of stairs laying on the other side of the the small door, and looking up he could see light coming through from up top. He slowly began to walk up the creaking steps, realizing that these stairs were probably leading to the small tower like structure at the very top of the mansion. Ever since he explored the attic, he could never figure out what the purpose of the top of the mansion was other than decoration. Now he knew and was somewhat delighted to see that the little room up top actually served some purpose.

Reaching up to the top, he smiled to see that his guess was right. The stairs opened up into a small room with four walls and a window at each wall. It smelled a little musky, so Naruto tried out the window panes and managed to prop one of them open. Looking around, he realized that there were more items to explore. A vanity set was angled in one corner of the room, with hair brushes, combs, and jewelry all laid out in an organized manor. A jewelry box sat there as well, open, and Naruto immediately went to explore it. He gently picked it up and turned it around. A small key stuck out of a hole on the back on the box. He carefully turned it several times and set it down. It began to play the melody he heard, bring a soft smile to his face.

Gentle happier times... there was no other way to describe the emotion the tin music box spindle was playing. He looked around and saw that this room looked like it belonged to a seamstress, and in a way, a different type of artist. On one side of the room where several cloth mannequin heads with wigs, including on that looked like it was in the middle of being made. All of them were of long blond hair, some straight, some wavy, loose or tied up in some hair style. A table and a small open box filled with needles and thread sat in front of them. On the other side were four torso wired mannequins that stood on caster wheels, all except one wearing part of an outfit. Several rolls of fabric rested against the wall behind them.

Naruto let out a small gasp when he recognized the outfits that the three mannequins were wearing. They were the dress and the coat that the Utamakis were wearing, and although he only saw pastel versions of it, the third mannequin wore what Rey was often sketched wearing. Or at least more so than the coat he had found in the main attic.

In the adjacent corner of the room rested a large trunk and a wardrobe that was open. Naruto could see that there were several more dresses hanging inside.

Naruto messed around with the trunk and was disappointed to see that it was also locked. So instead he gently pulled out the dresses one by one to really look at them. Despite their age, it looked like many of them were holding well. And considering that they were up in this room for a long time, they weren't that dusty at all. A couple of drawers in the wardrobe revealed some old fashioned women's undergarments. They, too, were clean. In fact, the room almost looked like it was recently cleaned. There wasn't even a trace of cobwebs. And with the sunlight streaming in, Naruto determined that this was his favorite room of this mansion and mentally declared it his hideaway room once the rest of the mansion was done.

He glanced at the vanity mirror while holding one of the dresses and paused. He looked at the wigs through the reflection, and then looked down at the dress he was holding. If he hadn't known that these were genuine dresses handmade who knows how long ago, Naruto would have assumed that they were costumes. And since no one was here but him...

Naruto put the dress on the undressed mannequin that had a female shape and brushed it loose of any particles of dust that it might have had. Taking a deep breath, and feeling a bit embarrassed, Naruto undressed himself. He slowly worked through the undergarments, including a fluffy petticoat, and a corset that had some padding built in.

Naruto couldn't help but chuckle. Even in the older times it seemed that some women were vain. Naruto laughed at himself with his embarrassment when he looked at the mirror. With the corset on, it definitely looked like he had developed some small breasts.

"You better not ask for anything bigger than this," Naruto muttered, as he ran his hands down the front of his chest. He pitied the women of that generation as he finally began to work on putting on the dress. He soon discovered that maybe the women of that generation probably had assistance from their mothers or servants. He did manage to get it on without damaging the dress, and he was a bit shocked to find out that it fit him almost perfectly. The bosom area of the dress was a little bit big. Maybe by half an inch.

"Nothing that kleenex can't fix," Naruto chuckled to himself.

He looked at the wigs and decided on going with the one styled into a loose bun. Naruto carefully picked it up and put it on. Tucking his hair underneath the netting, Naruto turned around to look at himself in the vanity, feeling his face burning.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," he said to himself. He mentally prepared himself to see a ridiculous sight, and instead saw a live version of Kushina staring at him.

"Holy shit," he murmured. "Maybe they were family... Gotta ask Hatake for his family line. Maybe he's my distant cousin or something."

Naruto frowned as he looked at the only thing that ruined the image. His scars, while faint, were clearly visible. He was going to need makeup to hide them if he was goin to help Sasuke pull this sham off. Hell, he was gonna need make up to soften his face. Neutral colors at least, since he didn't want to mess around with bright colors.

He pretended to curtsy, awkwardly fumbling with the layers of clothing that made up his skirt.

He couldn't help but laugh. "Dammit! How the hell did the ladies of these times do this? Okay, here we go again."

Naruto tried it a second time and almost succeeded, saying in a soft but mocking way, "Good evening, I'm Mrs. Uchiha." He laughed at himself and looked at his image.

For a split second he thought he saw a figure behind him reaching for him.

Naruto whirled around with a yelp, hands raised in fists.

Nothing was behind him except for the mannequin wearing Sai's coat, and the curtain next to it flowing inward and then settling down as a breeze blew through and then stopped.

Naruto rubbed his face. "I need to stop," he told himself. "It's all in my head. It's just because the house looks creepy. Yeah."

Naruto looked towards the mannequin and got an idea. He rolled the mannequin to the center of the room, carefully avoiding the trap door like opening to the stairs. He then went back to the music box and winded it up.

As the melody played, Naruto went back to the mannequin and grabbed one of the sleeves and placed the other hand around the shoulder are.

"A dance, Mr. Uchiha?" Naruto said, trying to soften his voice again. "I would be honored." Naruto began to waltz there in the room, pulling and pushing the rolling mannequin in time with his steps. As he moved across the floor, he almost felt like he was thrown back into another time. He imagined that he was Kushina and that the mannequin in front of him was not Sasuke, but Sai. He felt himself getting comfortable in the dress, and when the melody stopped, so did he, thrown back into modern times.

Remembering that he was suppose to take the role of a sickly wife, Naruto tried again. He let out a soft cough. "Thank you, kind sir. But I must retire. I'm ill, you see, and the doctor recommends I get plenty of bed rest." Naruto rolled the mannequin back to it's spot as he spoke. He then used his normal voice. "Well, he actually recommended I be locked up in a padded room since I talk to inanimate objects, but my 'husband' won't let them. No access to me, you see."

Naruto gently removed the wig from his head and placed it back on the display, combing his hairs through the loose strands. A gentle tug on his hair had him run his hands through trying to find out on what part of the dress it had snagged on. Finding his hair free, Naruto gently began to remove the dress. He placed it back on the hanger, deciding that for the party, he would use Kushina's dress. Roughly fifteen minutes later, Naruto was finally back on his clothes and making his way back downstairs. He had wasted enough time on break. He really wanted to finish at least three of the four walls in the ballroom before the end of the day.

It was around six when Naruto stopped, having completed the task he had set out to do. He made his way to the kitchen and began to cook a quick meal of baked chicken breasts, salad, and steamed vegetables. He frowned when he realized that Sasuke hadn't called yet to give him a rough estimated time of arrival. He usually got in around 6:30, or 8 on the nights he worked late. But either way, he would always call around 5:45 to let Naruto know when he would be home.

The sound of the doorbell caught him off guard. He went to the kitchen's intercom system and pressed a button. "I'll be down in a moment," he said, taking off the orange apron he was wearing and lowering the temperature on the stove.

As Naruto made his way to the front door, he realized that he probably should have asked who was calling. Hoping that maybe it was a delivery man or something similar, he opened the door to find a rather handsome man with waist length dark hair standing at his front door.

"Er... Hello. Can I help you?" he asked, blown away by the sight of an extremely well dressed man. Glancing out, he could make out a black Impala sitting on the drive way. Considering how far the next house was, Naruto couldn't imagine that the guy was lost.

"Uzumaki, I presume?"

"Yes," Naruto responded, feeling wary.

"Sorry. My name is Neji Hyuuga. I'm one of Sasuke's supervisors."

Naruto felt his heart stop.

"Did something happen to him?" he asked, fearfully.

"No. He'll be late home tonight. My uncle invited him bar hopping, and I'm sure he probably didn't get a chance to let you know. Mind if I step in?"

"I'm sorry," Naruto murmured, stepping back to let Hyuuga in.

"Wow. This looks nice. I hear you've been refurbishing the place. You have a good eye."

"Ah, thanks."

"Forgive my intrusion. It's just that when I realized what my uncle was planning, I knew it would probably worry you if you didn't hear from him at all. I thought it best to give you some company, as my uncle tends to spend almost the entire night hopping from bars. It always happens when someone is promoted within our ranks."

"Promoted?"

Hyuuga gave him a blank look. "Yes. Sasuke has been up for promotion for almost two weeks. He was officially given the position this morning. He didn't tell you?"

"Sasuke doesn't like to bring work home... I mean... it's, uh, it's not like he has to report to me."

"But aren't you lovers?"

"Huh?"

"Sorry. I know about the two of you. And I'm the only one."

"Oh." No wonder the name sounded familiar. Sasuke did mention a Neji last night.

"It's kind of a pity, though," Neji continued, as he made his way down the hallway and stopped in front of the portrait.

"What is?"

"I like blonds."

Naruto felt like his world went silent as he felt his face flush red. "Huh?!"

"It's a shame that your taken. I do hope that Sasuke is treating you well. Not to imply that you can't take of yourself," Neji quickly added as Naruto's face went from embarrassment to anger. "I mean, it's pretty lonely with out lifestyle here. Not many options. Mmm, something smells good. Are you cooking?"

Naruto nodded, somewhat stunned. "Uh, yeah. Dinner for two. If you're hungry, I can serve you some. Since Sasuke won't be here tonight." Naruto mentally beat himself. Wait, what am I doing?! Sasuke said not to invite people over! But I really didn't invite him, he invited himself. But then again, if Sasuke won't be here tonight...

Naruto really didn't want to be alone longer than necessary. Neji being present was almost a blessing.

"If I'm not causing in trouble, it would be nice. It is a rather long drive home."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, sure, no problem. Let me lead you to the dining room."

Dinner was an interesting affair, to say the least. Usually, Naruto spent the entire time telling Sasuke the different things he did around the house, minus any new findings in the attic. Dinner with Neji was a lot more interactive as they both talked almost equal amounts. By the time Neji was done with dinner, Naruto was tired from laughing. Despite his somewhat stoic mannerisms, Neji knew how to joke around. At first Naruto didn't know when the man was being serious, but little by little he caught onto the way the man thought and was able to relax. He felt like he could be close friends with the man. They had even gone from calling each other by their last names to being on first name basis.

Things became a bit more serious when a series of small thumps were heard over their heads.

"Is someone here with you?" Neji asked, confusion clear in his voice, the sounds stopping almost as suddenly as they started.

"Oh, ah, no. The house just makes random sounds like that. Kind of creepy, really. They sound like footsteps, or someone tapping on walls. Things like that. Not so bad during the day, but at night..." Naruto shuddered.

"I suppose old houses have their stories to tell."

"Yeah, I suppose that's one way of putting it."

Neji actually stayed and helped Naruto clean and put away his dishes. He and Naruto walked towards the front door, stopping briefly in the hallway, in front of the portrait.

"So before Sasuke, you never dated anyone?" Neji asked, somewhat incredulous.

"Mmm... never dated a guy. Sasuke's my one and only. I did do a few childish dates with some girls. Had a huge crush on this one chick named Sakura back in highschool... even went to the same college as her. But then Sasuke showed up during that first week and... I don't know. To be honest, it never occurred to me that I would even look at a guy like that. Of course Sasuke was also very persistent. I rejected him who knows how many times before I finally gave him a chance to sway me." He laughed. "I've been with him ever since."

Neji looked up at the portrait. He let out a puzzled sound.

Naruto looked up as well.

"I don't remember his face looking that serious."

In the dim lighting, Sai's eyes seemed to be glaring down at the two. They seemed icy. It was enough to give Naruto the chills. It also didn't help that the hallway was suddenly drastically colder than the other rooms. To make things even stranger, Kushina's eyes looked even more sad, and her smile looked forced.

"I think the lighting messes with the mood of the picture," Naruto murmured, his teeth slightly chattering.

"It's very cold in this hallway," commented Neji, as he put on his coat.

Naruto rubbed his hands, trying to warm them up. "Yeah, it sometimes is."

He was startled when Neji's warm hands clasped over his own. "Do you want me to stay a bit longer and help keep you warm?" the man asked with a playful smirk, as he brought up Naruto's hands and huffed his warm breath over them.

Naruto felt his eyes widen and his whole body freeze as Neji stared at him intently, rubbing his hands. Disgust and outrage ran through him, but knowing that this man was still a superior to Sasuke, he carefully masked those emotions. Instead he let out a nervous laugh and pulled his hands gently away form Neji. "You're a funny guy, Neji. Nothing at all like from what I expect all those corporate types. I mean, look at Sasuke. I live with the stereotype!" He opened the door. "And I do appreciate the time you took to drive all the way out here. It does get a bit lonely even though I currently have projects still left to do."

Neji handed him a card. "Well, if you ever want to give someone a call, and your Sasuke is too busy with... clients... try giving me a call. I'll be glad to make some time for you."

"Er, thanks."

Naruto sighed, suddenly feeling exhausted after he closed the door on Neji. He couldn't feel relaxed until he heard the car start and pull away. Moving back through the hallway, Naruto paused in front of the portrait.

"Please stop looking at me like that," he murmured, as he lit some candles. The soft glow seemed to soften the features again, making Sai look like his passionless self again, and Kushina all content. The room didn't seem as cold anymore either. Then he prepared to get ready for bed.

He prepared himself a tub full of warm water and let his tired body soak in there for a bit. He could almost feel himself drifting for a bit when he felt a change in the air. Opening his eyes, he could see that the room was somewhat dimmer. Slightly turning his head, he thought he could see a figure standing on the other side of the shower curtain.

"Sasuke?" he called out, pushing the curtain aside.

No one was standing there, and the bathroom light flickered, brightening up the room again.

Naruto closed and opened the shower curtain a couple of times, trying to control his breathing as he tried to find a reason as to why he was able to make out a figure in the bathroom.

"Okay, time to get out," he told himself.

He stepped out of the tub after pulling the plug to let it drain and quickly dried himself. Throwing on his pajama bottoms, Naruto made his way to their bed. He climbed up in it and pulled the covers over him, not bothering to turn off the lights.

"Sasuke, please come home soon," he whispered to himself.

He then closed his eyes and tried to concentrate and the sound of his own breathing and heartbeat, trying to ignore the soft creaks. He eventually drifted away into sleep.

Naruto felt his eyes snap open as his brain registered that something was different around his surroundings. He slowly sat up and looked around in the dark, trying to figure out what time it was. Reasoning caught up with him as he realized that he didn't remember turning off any of the lights. Glancing towards the bedroom's doorway, Naruto let out a muffled yelp when he saw someone standing in the entryway.

The figure moved towards him, and Naruto was able to make out that it was Sasuke through the moonlight.

"Jesus, Sasuke, what are you doing?! Did you just get home?" Naruto looked to the bedside and saw the time. "5:30?!" Naruto felt himself getting angry as he turned to yell at Sasuke. The man was suddenly up in his face, crawling into bed with him.

"What the..." Sasuke captured his lips in a fevered kiss as the man began pulling at his clothes, throwing them onto the floor.

"Sasuke, wait... what are you... Sasuke stop!" Naruto struggled to get a hold of Sasuke's wrists, smelling the alcohol on Sasuke, and also a whiff of cheap perfume, cologne, and cigarette smoke.

"Horny," Sasuke murmured, his voice slurring. "Been wanting to stick my dick in you all night long."

"Sasuke!" Naruto cried out, somewhat mortified and scandalized. Sasuke never spoke like that to him, at least not sober. And he never said anything so crude either when he was drunk. "Sasuke, not like this. I don't like it when you're like... I said stop!"

Naruto struggled with all his might as Sasuke pushed him down. He didn't want to be used by force, it was humiliating! Naruto felt Sasuke pulling away at his pants.

"Sasuke, you promised!" Naruto cried out in desperation, also angry at himself for not being able to fight of a freakin' paper pusher. After all, he was doing manual labor, fixing a house, doing stuff like carpenting. He should have the muscles and the strength to put some desk worker in his place. How in the hell was Sasuke managing to be stronger than him.

Sasuke shut him up by kissing him again, hands gripping his flesh tightly. Naruto cringed as he felt Sasuke clumsily prepare him, and he finally gave up trying to fight Sasuke off. Past experience proved it hurt much more to fight Sasuke when he was inebriated. Sasuke also proved that he could never be too drunk to become impotent like they claimed drunk people can become. Naruto winced as Sasuke bit and sucked at his neck and chest, not at all romantic and filled with love like the man was probably envisioning in his head. Naruto could only cry out when Sasuke entered him rather dry.

Sasuke was rough with him, there was no other way to describe it. Naruto held on when he could, and gritted his teeth when there was nothing else he could do. When Sasuke finally came, he collapsed on top of Naruto and almost immediately began snoring.

Naruto pushed him off in disgust and rolled over, feeling dirty, and momentarily hating Sasuke for breaking his promise of getting so drunk. He lay there still, and fell back into an uneasy sleep.

When he woke up again, it was almost nine and the sun was shining through the window. Sasuke had somehow sprawled himself over him and Naruto had to squirm out from underneath to get out of bed. Being a Saturday, he felt no rush in taking a shower. He then picked up Sasuke's clothing and put them in the hamper. Crumpled pieces of paper sticking out of Sasuke's pant pockets caught his attention. He pulled them up and opened them. He felt his heart sink when he realized he was holding two pieces of napkins, each with a girl's name and phone number written on them. Naruto threw them into the toilet and flushed them away, trying to stop himself from demanding an answer from Sasuke.

"He promised he never and never will sleep with someone else," he whimpered. As he made his way downstairs to begin making breakfast, Naruto tried to defend Sasuke from his own thoughts. "He was probably just flirting. He would never do something with anyone else, much less women. He said it himself. He's 100% gay."

Naruto began to chop up some ingredients to make omelets. He was in a vegetable mood so he had some green and red peppers, as well as onions and mushrooms. He also had shredded cheese set aside.

Naruto was in the middle of flipping the first omelet over when arms wrapped around his waist, slightly startling him. The sent of stale alcohol reached his nose as Sasuke hummed and kissed the back of his neck.

"Morning," Sasuke murmured. "And sorry."

Naruto turned to look up at him.

"You remember?"

"Not really. But shit, if you left me these scratches..." Sasuke frowned and pointed at the scratches on his chest. They were caked over in dried blood. "I can only guess I broke my promise. Sorry."

"Uh, I'm sorry, too. Didn't mean to... draw blood."

Sasuke shrugged. "Got my back too, I imagine. It stings. Guess it's a fair trade." Sasuke motioned with his fingers to Naruto's neck and chest area.

"Yeah," murmured Naruto, rubbing one of the more painful bruises on his collar bone.

Sasuke went over to sit at the small breakfast table, giving Naruto a glimpse of his back. Several long scratches criss crossed the back of Sasuke. He wasn't sure what scared him more. The fact that Sasuke wasn't blowing up at him for marking him like that, or the fact that in the middle of pushing, pulling, and striking Sasuke the night before, Naruto couldn't remember ever raking his fingers across Sasuke's skin hard enough to gouge him like that.

tbc