Pondering… Part 1
A/N: I wanted to mention that I put up a posting schedule on my profile! Hope you enjoy! :D
Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the story you see before you.
Thank you Amy-sama90 for the follow :)
The blond prince stomped into his bed chambers, throwing his long cloak onto the room's single chair. His once yellow tunic was covered in grass stains and splotches of dirt. Naruto approached the large window and pulled back the silk curtains. The sun had set long before so the only sources of light in the yards were the small torches carried by the servants walking to their separate quarters. Strong hands opened the window partially to allow in a slight breeze, a sigh escaped his lips as he turned from the glass. After kicking off his muddied boots and changing into a long white night shirt, the blond leapt onto the queen sized canopy bed. The wood frame creaked and the satin sheets flew upwards due to the sudden impact. He landed on his side with the rest of the room in his view, though the curtain flowing from the wind obscure a corner of the chamber. He flipped onto his back and slipped clothed arms under his head. The royal guests had left earlier in the evening, though he didn't bother to see them off. The blond had snuck off, hiding in the stables until he was found by a worried Hinata.
The events of the day rushed into his mind and caused a bright pink color rise in his cheeks. "Fucking hell…" Naruto muttered while he covered his heated scars.
"Stupid… Asshole… Duckbutt Sasuke!" Naruto sat up and ruffled his blond spikes out of frustration. "What a sneaky bastard…" he growled and threw his pillow at the wall. The prince rested his elbows on his knee and stared at the flooring, remembering what happened earlier in the day.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Going back to the beginning of the day~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few days had come and gone since Naruto's birthday celebration, nothing out of the ordinary had occurred during those few days. The three teens spent time around the kingdom, Sasuke wasn't seen much outside his chambers and when he was, he would be around Sakura with his usual 'for fucks sake' look plastered on his face. The blond spent his time as he would any other day, helping around the yards or with Neji. Sakura liked to walk about the gardens in the mornings and would spend time with the conversing queens.
The hosting prince sat in his room while watching people in the yards go about their day. A knock at the door brought the prince out of his thoughts, "Sir?" A meek voice called.
"You may enter." He sighed from boredom.
The raven haired maid pushed the door and scurried to where Naruto sat, "What are you doing sir?" The reply she received was a shrug and a sigh from the blond. "Well…Her highness has asked for you." Hinata bowed slightly.
"On my way." Naruto muttered as he stood from his seat, "Oh, and Hinata you don't have to call me sir. We've known each other since forever, call me Naruto." He sported a bright smile for the maid.
"Umm, okay Naruto-sir." A slight blush tinted her cheeks.
The prince chuckled and followed the maid out of the room and into the hallway. "Where is she anyway? I haven't seen her since dinner last night." He asked the maid while they sauntered through the corridor.
"She is entertaining the other royal ladies." Hinata smiled as she turned to look at the prince. A sudden impact made the maid squeal as she stumbled backwards. Itachi stood tall and stoic in front of the pair, his long raven hair was thrown over one of his shoulders. "I-I a-apologize sir, I wasn't watching where I was going!" Hinata lowered her head to the foreign prince.
"No need to apologize young lady." He smoothly said, "It was I who was not paying attention. Excuse me while I continue to the study, my father is waiting for me." He kept direct eye contact with Naruto while he bowed his head slightly. He stepped around the two teens and continued down the corridor, not looking back once. The prince and the maid resumed their voyage to find the queen and her guests.
Tsunade sat in the center of the garden with the other two queens, all three were enjoying some alcoholic beverages in large silver cups. They were seated at a decorative table, the wood was engraved and painted with rich colors. The women were dressed much more casually than before, their dresses were less decorative and complex. The fabrics were mainly just solid colors with a neutral colored belt hanging loosely to the side of their hips. Mikoto giggled at something Mebuki told Tsunade, the three all turned when they heard approaching footsteps. Hinata curtseyed to her queen and announced "Prince Naruto has arrived."
"Thank you Hinata, you may go now." Tsunade smiled gently at the maid.
"Wait one moment young maid." Mebuki spoke up, her shoulder length blond hair rustled as she stood from her chair. "Sakura and her father will be going into the kingdom to get some dresses tailored and I would like you to accompany them, make sure they don't get lost." The queen approached the raven haired maid and gently put a hand on her shoulder.
"Of course, your highness." Hinata curtseyed once more before leaving the royal group.
Naruto stood by the table and shifted uncomfortably as Mebuki made her way back to her seat, "So what do you need me for?" He asked his mother.
"Come, sit Naruto." Mebuki patted the free chair between her and Mikoto.
Naruto did as he was told and sat between the mothers of his guests, feeling more comfortable now that he was seated. "The ladies were wondering where you were, they wanted to spend time with the birthday boy before they left tomorrow." Tsunade informed her heir, her long hair spilling onto the table as she rested her chin on her entwined hands.
"That reminds me, where did you disappear to during your celebration?" Mebuki turned to the young man and asked.
"Oh… umm…" He stumbled for words.
"Were you with Sasuke? He was unaccounted for as well…" Mikoto pointed out, a sly smile played on her lips.
"Plus, Sakura was with Kizashi and me the entire time." Mebuki added.
The prince blushed slightly and continued his search for words, "What is this?" he screamed to himself.
"Is there something I should know Naruto?" Tsunade playfully asked, a devious look in her brown eyes as she realized where the other women were going with it.
This caused the boy's blush to deepen, "N-nothing like that!" He stammered.
The three women laughed at the amusing result of their teasing, Naruto slumped in his seat and crossed his arms. "You done yet?" He pouted.
"Not quite," The blond queen told her son, "Mikoto and I were previously talking about how you and Sasuke have not spent time together, except for the unknown birthday disappearance that is." An obvious smirk was plastered on her face.
"And?" The blond prince scowled at the queen.
"We have arranged for you and Sasuke to go horseback riding." Mikoto happily stated, clapping her hands together. "Oh! I shall go get Sasuke now, I believe he is around here somewhere." She hopped from her seat and headed off to another side of the garden.
"What?!" He yelled as he straightened his posture, "Why horseback riding?"
"Your father told me you 'go riding everyday', so we thought you would enjoy some company." Tsunade quoted what the blond had told the king the other day. "We have already arranged things with Neji, he is waiting for you two in the stables."
Mikoto was wandering through the gardens when she happened upon a large crowd of lilies. Her youngest son was resting behind the bushes, a slight snore could be heard from his throat. The queen smiled to herself, a nostalgic feeling warmed her as she remembered his younger years. When Sasuke turned on his side, an idea popped into the female raven's head. Giggling to herself, she quietly ventured back to the group with a devious plan in mind.
"Do I have toooo?" The prince whined.
"No matter how many times you ask, YES! Now just sit and wait for Mikoto to come with Sasuke." Tsunade commanded and Mebuki sat entertained at the spectacle in front of her.
The Uchiha queen sauntered up to the seated group and announced "I couldn't find him… He must be napping around here, I'm sure I saw him!" She discretely winked at the two other queens.
"So, Naruto, what sorts of things do you do when you don't have guests in your castle?" Mebuki asked, grabbing the teen's attention away from the approaching raven.
As the blond teen and Sakura's mother chatted, Mikoto snuck over to Tsunade and whispered what she saw into the host queen's ear. Brown eyes widened at the Uchiha's concocted idea, a playful smile tugged at her lips. The two queens silently nodded to each other in agreement. Mikoto sat back down in her seat next to the chatting prince and waited for their conversation to end.
"Naruto" Tsunade brought the teen's attention back to her, "Mikoto is our guest and has tired herself from searching around the gardens. I would like you to go and search for Sasuke yourself."
"What?!" The blond suddenly rose from his seat in protest, "And what if I don't?"
"No. Ramen. Ever. Again" She said slowly, watching the blond deflate with every word.
With a sigh, Naruto started on his journey to find the sleeping Uchiha. "Just tell him about the arrangement, no need to come back here!" Mikoto instructed.
"Have fun on your date!" Tsunade called to him. Naruto stopped in his tracks and turned to glare daggers at the two.
Mebuki turned back to the table, "You know Fugaku and Jiraiya would not be happy with the plans you two have for those boys." She smirked as she playfully shook a finger at the two queens.
Mikoto giggled, "That is for sure, but I want what is best for Sasuke." She smiled gently, Tsunade agreeing with a bright grin.
"Why do I have to go searching for that jerk?" Naruto grumbled to himself as he kicked a few loose stones in the path. He walked along the flowers, searching around bushes and hedges for the youngest Uchiha. A bush of lilies rustled from a breeze, revealing a glimpse of raven hair. Naruto walked around the flowers and found Sasuke laying on his back with his head to the side. The blond kneeled down on one knee to better expect the slumbering teen. Thick bangs were ruffled by the wind's soft touch and long eyelashes bobbed with every move the dreaming eyes made. The raven's sleeping face showed a gentle and vulnerable expression which caught the blond prince off guard. Naruto tried to resist the urge to caress pale, soft looking, cheeks. After some time fighting between his id and superego, his id won this battle. A tan hand reached out and barely touched the skin of the sleeping boy, a shiver fluttered from the hand throughout his body. As he kneeled, frozen in place, he could feel a warmth rising to his cheeks and ears. Due to a minor twitch in Naruto's arm, the napping prince became aware of another presence. Dark eyes snapped open, "Dobe? What are you doing?"
Naruto stayed in his position until finally thinking of a way to get out of the situation, "Waking you up!" He answered rather loudly as he used the hand that was caressing the cheek to smack it, fairly hard.
"What the hell?" Sasuke hissed while rubbing his aching cheek.
"Our moms have forced us to spend time together, they arranged some horses for us." Naruto rose from the ground and brushed off the dirt on his knees.
"So, what? We are going riding?" The raven asked the other teen as he stood and stretched the sleepiness out of his system.
"Looks like it, just try not to choke too much on my dust." The blond prince replied with an overly confident look, a cocky half smile-half smirk dawned on his face.
"Yeah right idiot, won't be long until you ask for my help." Sasuke smirked back.
The two princes started for the stables, Naruto in front to look for all the shortcuts through the garden. Sasuke continuously began to lag behind until coming to a complete stop, getting lost in his thoughts. Gently he raised his hand to his face. Slender fingers brushed the spot where a tan hand was touching previously, a small smile wanted desperately to escape onto the Uchiha's face. "What are you doing?" The blond stopped in the middle of one of his shortcuts, his hand pushing some tall plants out of his way. Big cerulean eyes, framed with dark eyelashes, starred at the raven with a confused look.
"Hn." Sasuke grunted to the blond as a reply, resuming his position behind the other prince.
The two journeyed once more through the garden shortcuts, "Don't be a dick…" Naruto muttered under his breath.
"Don't be an idiot…" Sasuke playfully mimicked, causing the blond to let loose the drooping branch he was repressing and smacked the raven square in the face.
Two parter! Next time will be the horseback riding "date" ;D
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