Celebrate Good Times, Come On!
A/N: Argh… Great, now I have the song stuck in my head!
Well… My classes for tomorrow morning have been cancelled because of snow… So that means more time to work on stories! :)
I want to thank everyone who have favorite and followed this story so far, I really appreciate it! :D
Thank you: KH freak 813, Lunarella01827, Dragonfire04, and SugarISmyLIFE for the favorite!
Thank you: Blarh, KH freak 813, Lunarella01827, Moonlit Queen, Nell1994, Dieanneace, Dragonfire04, and SugarISmyLIFE for following!
Disclaimer: Nope, nada, don't 'em.
Bright light filtered in through a crack in the curtains and settled on the face of a sleeping Sasuke. He tried to turn on his side but couldn't escape the pestering sun. Finally giving up, he cracked open his dark eyes and foggily sat up. The deep purple covers slid down onto his lap and revealed the long black tunic the teen was wearing. His dark hair was disheveled, the usual rear spikes were pointing in different directions. He rose from the large bed and walked to the leaking sunshine, rubbing his eyes in an attempt to wake up faster. Sasuke pulled back the curtain and hissed at the sudden brightness. The window faced the back gardens and a group of servants who rushed around with decorations. The gardens were being prepped for the royal celebration in honor of Naruto's birthday and the blond was in view as well. He followed some of the servants towards a section of the yard and helped set up seating, a wide smile permanently placed on his tan face. The momentary thought about caressing the scarred cheeks and seeing that smile pointed towards him made the raven sigh.
Sasuke turned away from the window due to the strange thought. There was something wrong and embarrassing about watching Naruto and thinking that way. He rushed to the mirror opposite from his bed to examine himself, a slight pink tint colored his cheeks. "Uchihas don't show weakness, I-I must calm myself…" He thought to himself as he fixed his appearance. Sasuke patted down his hair and changed into the appropriate attire, avoiding the window the entire time. Opening his door, the raven turned his attention to the window for a brief moment. The small ray of light between the curtains reminded Sasuke of the shinning blond hair.
A blond mass of hair bobbed in the crowd of servants and decorations. Jiraiya emerged from the castle and squinted in the sunlight. The king called out, "Birthday boy!" ultimately catching the attention of the entire crowd.
The teen turned around and came to his father, "Yeah?" he asked slightly out of breath. Naruto scrunched his eyes as the sun's rays made the king's white hair unbearably white. Jiraiya analyzed the outfit Naruto wore, a much simpler ensemble than what Tsunade made him wear the night before.
"I'm surprised you are not sporting your usual orange. It is your birthday after all…" The white haired man said while gesturing to the blond's shirt. Naruto wore nice black pants with a simple white, cotton, shirt loosely tucked in. The sleeves were loose as well, revealing his toned forearms. "Whoa! What have you been doing to get a man's body?" The king teased, poking his son's arms.
"Shut up" He stuck his tongue out, "I've been going riding everyday…" He replied with a lack of confidence.
"Uh huuuh" A white eyebrow raised at the response.
Naruto huffed and started to stomp off, but the collar of his shirt was grabbed by a certain queen. Her eyes screamed frustration as she looked over her son's extremely casual outfit. She groaned, "You are so lucky it's your birthday!" She thrust a finger in his face, squishing his nose slightly. "Now go to the great hall and seat yourself." Tsunade released him and marginally pushed him back into the castle.
Naruto wondered down the corridors with his head in the clouds. Out from behind a pillar jumped the pinkette and the raven haired maid. "Naaaaarrruuuuuttoooo!" The blond gasped as all three fell to the ground in a pile. Giggles passing between the two girls while they lay on top of the birthday boy. "How has your day been sir? Hinata meekly looked up into his blue eyes.
"It's goin' good! I got ramen served for breakfast." He beamed.
"Ramen?" Sakura asked as she tilted her head to the side. Her loose pink hair flowed over her shoulders and onto Hinata's hip.
"It is a noodle dish, with a season based broth." Hinata answered, standing herself up and brushing off her black dress. She helped the pink princess get on her feet and helped fix the gushing pink strands.
"It is heaven in a bowl!" Naruto added as he bounced up and patted his shirt and pants.
The three figures followed down the hallway chatting about culinary differences between their kingdoms. Hinata rushed ahead to open the grand doors for the prince and princess, revealing a lavish hall. The usual great hall was draped in brighter colors and full of laughter. Noble guests were arriving and entering through the opened doors, smiles and greetings were being passed around graciously. When the honored teen entered the room, the guests crowded around to fawn over the boy.
Naruto hurried to his designated seat to avoid the overwhelming adoration. He knew some of them just wanted to kiss up and get on the good side of the king and queen. The blond sighed roughly out of boredom and impatience, he scanned the crowd only to notice a certain Uchiha walking into the large hall. Dark eyes landed on him, Sasuke walked straight to him and never broke eye contact. Naruto kept contact out of spite, he didn't know what the raven wanted or if he was going to mess with him. Though he would never admit it, the blond secretly kept watching Sasuke because the sharp eyes captivated him. Sasuke stopped in front of the birthday boy's chair and smirked down at him, "So, why are you sitting here and not doing something stupid outside idiot?"
Naruto held in his rage, "Well, duck bastard, they are setting up the festivities in the gardens." Sasuke still held a smirk, it even seemed to grow at the response the blond gave him. Naruto gave up, settling his chin on his palm, "Plus, my mom and dad would kill me if I didn't 'socialize' with the nobles of our kingdom."
"Isn't that good? You're going to be ruling them one day, better to get to know them now." Sasuke deadpanned, his logical and rational thought bothered the blond.
"They are faking. Not all of them actually care that it's my birthday… They just put on their masks to suck up to my family in hopes of fortune or more land." Naruto blandly stated while watching the crowd, silently picking out the ones who held their masks high.
"How can you tell?" The raven pondered as he looked over the guests as well.
"They don't really look at me, they mainly talk to my parents or ask me about them." He pointed to the small group of individuals who rushed to Jiraiya and Tsunade as they entered the room. "Plus, they nev—" He cut short at the sight of a familiar face and started to run off, "I- uh- have to go to the washroom."
Sasuke watched Naruto's back as he partially ran off towards the front entrance of the castle, bewildered. He silently followed the teen through the yard and towards a small, but long, wooden building. Another raven could be seen walking in front of the blond, his long black hair fell farther than Itachi's. His face turned to reveal pale eyes which Sasuke instantly associated with the shy maid. He wore a dirtied white shirt with a leather vest over it, a pair of brown pants rested above his dark brown leather shoes. Once the unknown raven noticed their follower, he grabbed the blond and pulled him into the nearest opening to the wooden structure. "Wait!" Sasuke called out as he sped up to the building.
"Sasuke?" Naruto popped his head out, a look of confusion twisted his face. "What are you doing here? We thought you were someone else…"
"You rushed out, I was curious, I apologize." The Uchiha responded.
"Oh! Uh, this is Neji." Naruto tugged the other boy out into view. He bowed to the foreign prince while muttering a greeting. "He is our coachman, a total nut when it comes to coaches and horses!" He lifted his head and met his hard, pale, eyes to Sasuke's sharp ones. "We were just, uh, leaving." Naruto grinned.
"Where to?" Sasuke pried. The blond glanced at Neji and they shared a strange glance, he turned back and sighed as if giving up valuable information.
"We are going into town, I have a meeting set with some friends." He rubbed the back of his head, "I don't want to but since you've caught us, wanna come along?"
Neji stopped the horses in front of a small house on the skirts of the town. Naruto slammed open the door since he was too impatient to wait for the coachman. A small wind rustled his blond hair and Sasuke's bangs as he emerged from the carriage. The house sat lonely, silent, on a small hill which overlooked farming and plantation properties. Naruto quickly ran up to the structure with the largest smile ever known to man plastered on his face. Neji closed the door behind the Uchiha and they walked together toward the lone house, light gusts caressed their faces and made the grass dance.
"So… Are you and that maid related, Hinata was it?" Sasuke started to chat.
"She is my cousin, my uncle took her in with us at the castle after her parents and sister left the kingdom." Neji replied with a lack of expression. The rest of the walk towards the house was silent due to both ravens not knowing what to talk about.
"Hellooooo?" Naruto called with a palm cupped around his mouth.
"Naru!" Several voices responded, a stampede like sound reverberated among the walls. A group of children jumped on the blond and sent him falling into the grass. A hearty laugh escaped the blond's lips and surprised the short haired raven. "Happy birfday Naru!" a small girl happily told the prince.
"Who are all of these children?" Sasuke asked aloud, but somewhat quietly.
"We are one of the few orphanages in Konoha kingdom." A slender woman with wild black curls reaching her shoulders answered, "I am the guardian or caretaker of these children and property." Her red eyes looked over the quiet pair.
"Kurenai!" Naruto adjusted the children to stick his hand out to her, she smiled and took hold of his hand to pull. Naruto stumbled a bit with the weight of the small children hanging from his neck. He shuffled over to give her a slight hug then started the task of prying the kids off.
"Does Naruto come here often?" Sasuke asked the woman, sparing a glance to the exhausted blond.
"Yes, tough it is not quite often. He comes here to play with the children and sometimes helps around the property. We owe so much to the young man." She chuckled softly. "Where are my manners? Please come in!"
"You guys go in without me, I think I'm going to be busy…" The blond prince jokingly called out as the group of children dragged him towards an area around the side of the house.
Both of them followed Kurenai into the small building for some refreshments and idle chat. Though Sasuke turned back in the doorway to head toward the screams and laughter. Around the house, Naruto playfully chased the group while making odd growling sounds. The young girl from earlier was caught in his grasp and was met with tickles. "Nooooo, no tickle spidwers!" She yelled between fits of giggles. Sasuke leaned on the house and watched for a while, finding strange entertainment in watching Naruto's child-like antics. The blond eventually decided to take a break and walked over to the raven, breathing hard with large amounts of sweat dampening his forehead. It was now understandable why the blond chose to wear the loose white shirt. Naruto plopped himself on the ground next to the Uchiha and rested the back of his head on the outside of the structure.
"Do you come here every year?" Sasuke hesitantly sat on the ground, next to the blond.
"Yeah, I sneak away from the festivities and come here. Those parties seem like shams to me, it's just a meeting for nobles to brag. It relaxes me to come here and play earnestly, I can get my energy out without having to watch my behavior or who I am with." Azure eyes shone with excitement.
"Why do you care so much about these kids?" This question caught the tired prince by surprise, he had never really thought about it before.
"I guess…" He combed a tan hand through his damp bangs, "I guess I feel responsible for them, I mean they are citizens in my kingdom." The response seemed too practiced to the Uchiha.
"Is that really it?"
"Well… I feel like I can understand them." He looked over to the playing children, "I don't know why though, but I understand the loneliness and emptiness some of them have experienced." Naruto placed two fingers on his scars and slightly caressed them, a lost look formed on his face. Sasuke observed the strange gesture and was about to comment on it when the coachman came from the house.
"Naruto, time to leave." He calmly announced.
The three guests said their goodbyes and Naruto promised the children another visit while wiping away their small tears. Kurenai and the small youths could be seen waving as the carriage rode off back to the castle. After a few minutes, the blond fell fast asleep from exhaustion. Sasuke sat across from him, watching the other teen's small twitches while he dreamed. Silently, the raven stood from his seat and leaned over the snoozing blond. A pale hand gently touched the lines etched on the prince's cheeks, his thumb brushed the small dips in his skin. The prince stirred but did not wake, this action surprised Sasuke and brought him back to his senses. Seating himself again, the Uchiha battled with his emotions once more. The rest of the ride was uneventful and they soon returned to the castle. Tsunade furiously interrogated her heir on his whereabouts while Jiraiya sat back with a knowing smirk on his face. Sakura felt betrayed by Naruto for taking her prince away, but she thought to herself about the celebratory festivities she did with Hinata that late afternoon. The rest of the night went on as usual and the inhabitants of the castle peacefully slept, tired from the various activities experienced that day.