Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Huh, ya know... I'm going through this whole "reliving childhood memories" phase and lately I've been watching Dragon Ball Z because that show's the shit, yo... and now, for some odd reason, I'm watching Sailor Moon... XD Probably because of the whole Serena Darien thing. I'm a girl, I can't help it if I like tragic romances and stuff.
And Lukki isn't an OC. He's the fourth Hokage... just with a diff personality and a cooler name than what most authors give him... Arashi, psh. How lame and unoriginal XD
I really liked this chapter!
Sakura ran a hairbrush over Naruto's smooth fur coat, talking to the pet about how a lot of children were going to love him. She was so excited for the cat, not hiding the fact one bit as she scratched him behind the ears and prepared him for the showing. The girl was so kind and Naruto felt horrible for not wanting Sasuke to be with her.
She would be the perfect mate... Sweet, caring, protective, smart...
The feline lifted his head and nudged the girl's hand with his wet nose, mewling softly and fluttering his puffy tail. Sakura giggled and pressed behind his ear, watching as he changed into his human form. He stood there, naked and shivering from the cold temperature of the room, his hands rubbing up and down his arms.
"Ano sa, Sakura-chan... where are my clothes?" he asked, looking around. A lot of other pets were bustling about, getting ready for their own shows. He noticed that both Gaara and Neji were there, supervising the going-ons in the room.
"Right here," Sakura lifted up a small male kimono. There wasn't a strict code on what the pets could wear, so with Sasuke's help, she had chosen a beautiful silky red kimono with golden trimming. She held it up in front of the blond and smiled, brushing his bangs out of his eyes. "You'll look so pretty in this," she told him honestly. "Sasuke-kun and I picked this out just for you," then she tapped his tose with her pointer finger.
Naruto smiled brightly and took the item of clothing, hugging it to his chest. "I'll go put it on in the changing room!" he ran across the room and stopped in front of Neji and Gaara first, the two of them sitting in a pair of oak chairs, reading through some sort of script together. Neji glanced up first, his piercing white eyes running along the curves of Naruto's face.
"You're Hatake-san's pet," his voice was as smooth as Sasuke's, but not as deep and alluring.
At that, Gaara's head lifted, red locks of hair fluttering across his black and grey ears.
Naruto smiled. "I wanted to say thank you for saving me the other day. If you wouldn't have carried me to that room and taken care of me... I probably would've died. I'm very grateful."
Gaara kept his face blank. "A pet with a weak heart shouldn't be in a business such as this."
"But--"
"Let him do as he wishes," Neji interrupted, holding up a hand. "He isn't of our concern, Gaara. Besides, if his heart was so weak, I'm sure Hatake-san wouldn't have let him join the Showcase, correct?"
Aqua eyes turned to stare into milky white. Without changing his expression at all, Gaara said, "If you collapse from just seeing Itachi-san and Kyuubi-san fucking, then your heart must be fairly weak."
Naruto blushed, covering his ears immediately, his kimono almost falling to the ground. He managed to catch it between his elbow and chest, stuttering, his cheeks a burning. "W-well, I just wanted to say thank you, so I-I'm going to be leaving," he laughed nervously and pattered away, running into the changing room and closing the door quickly behind him.
He went into one of the stalls and tried to make his blush go away.
He made a naughty joke with a serious face! the feline yelled internally. Sai was right, I should be on the alert... No one can do that!
Stripping himself of his warm clothes, he tossed them into the corner of the small stall, looking at his girly frame in the smudged mirror. He turned to the side and touched his stomach, noticing how it dipped in like a woman's... Frowning, he puffed his chest out and tried to flex his muscles. Unfortunately, the poor child had nothing on his arms but skin.
He huffed and carefully tugged on his kimono, buttoning the front and running his small fingers over the golden designs that ran from his chest to the start of his hips. There were vines and beautiful foreign birds, swirling and twining across his outfit. He smiled at his reflection, the image reminding himself of his mother.
His mother used to wear traditional Korean clothes all the time, her light brown hair always up in a flower clip. She would sing lovely songs that she said were passed down through the family, then lift a small Naruto in her arms and take him out to the market. She did the same thing each and every day, buying the boy a tiny trinket each visit.
His pink lips parted slightly and he turned from his reflection, realizing that he'd never thought much about his parents after being sent to Japan... His world had only been revolving around his new family.
"Naruto, what's taking so long?" Sakura peeked into the changing room. "We have a few things to go over before the show starts."
Naruto bent down and grabbed his clothes, opening the door and stepping out, careful of not getting his kimono stuck on anything. He smiled to the taller girl. "How do I look?"
Clapping her hands together, Sakura squealed. "You're so pretty!" she wanted to lift the boy up and hug him, but Naruto was too big for that. Well, mentally he was. "Let's go show Sasuke-kun!" she took the blond's hand and led him backstage, Gaara and Neji still going over their script for something.
Naruto his bottom lip nervously. He hoped that Sasuke would say he looked good...
"Sasuke-kun! Isn't Naruto cute?"
The black leopard politely excused himself from the fellow pet he was talking with and turned around, looking surprised. He stepped forward and bent down on one knee, giving his boy a billion dollar smile. "Come here," he called.
Naruto's blue eyes became even brighter and he ran to his father, leaping into his strong arms and wrapping his own around the male's neck. He pressed his cheek against a hard shoulder and purred when Sasuke ran his fingers through his messy golden locks. Leaning back, he looked into dark eyes and batted his long eyelashes.
"Am I pretty enough for my Susu Oppa?" he asked softly.
Sasuke noticed the seductive look, but knew that the little blond was giving him that expression unknowingly. Whoever was going to be Naruto's mate in the future was very lucky and was going to have a beautiful wife... husband... Who needed technicalities?
"I'm not even worthy of you," Sasuke chuckled and kissed his son on the lips softly. The least he could do to keep Naruto's desire for him at a minimum would be to give him kisses here and there. Itachi had taught him once that too much of one thing got tiring after a while. He hoped that Naruto would get tired of his feelings for him and move on. The child deserved so much more, not a pet who would be thrown away once the public grew annoyed with him.
Naruto blushed, but smiled and pressed his hands on both sides of the leopard's face, squishing his cheeks together, causing his lips to pucker out. The blond laughed and kissed him back, just a sweet chaste brush of the lips. He knew not to make it more because someone might see it as something more than a loving father and son kiss (A/N- Kisses between a father and a young son is ok... OK?.:Grumbles: It was in Pursuit to Happyness... so it's gotta be fine!).
Sakura looked out through the curtains at the large crowd sitting at the many tables set about the auditorium, then glanced back at Naruto and Sasuke. "Naruto, there's five minutes left before the first pet goes on."
Naruto hugged his father one last time before rushing away, putting on the zori sandals sitting by his stack of clothes. "Wish me luck, Susu Oppa!" he grinned.
"All the luck in the world," the raven replied and stood back up, leaving the backstage area to join Kakashi and his brother at their designated table. The scarecrow had gotten the best table in the house, right up front near the runway. It paid to have the most popular pets in the Showcase business.
As he sat down, he noticed that the two chairs across from him were empty. Lukki and Kyuubi were nowhere to be found.
"Are they already preparing for their showing?" he asked his brother, knowing not to ask his owner when he was drinking wine. That man would go crazy after the smallest amount of alcohol.
Itachi brushed his hair over his shoulder and continued to eat his salmon. He seemed to have an unhealthy obsession with the fish. He looked at his plate in thought, thinking about a naked Kyuubi lying on a dinner table with salmon pieces lying over his smooth stomach and quivering thighs.
Sasuke frowned when his brother didn't respond. "I asked you a question, Aniki."
Being drawn away from his perverted fantasy, Itachi turned. "Hm?"
"I asked you if Kyuubi and Lukki-san were already preparing? I didn't see them backstage, so I suppose they're in one of the hallways?"
"Yes, they're both perfectionists when it comes to their jobs. Lukki-san wants the best pet, Kyuubi wants to be the best pet. So different from us, yes?" he took a sip of his wine. "They strive to be the best, while we are the best and don't want to be."
Sasuke actually laughed at that and leaned back in his chair as the lights dimmed a bit. Tsunade stepped out on stage, looking annoyed to be there. She had on a green dress that actually fit her body well. The woman had said once that there were hardly any clothes that fit her perfectly because of the size of her chest.
She coughed into her manicured hand and ran her hazel eyes over the crowd, as if waiting to see someone spontaneously combust. Maybe then the show would be canceled and she could go back to work. Her poor assisstant was there by herself on one of the busiest days of the week.
"Welcome to the 16th annual Showcase of Nippon," she said with a false, but pretty smile. "We have a wide selection of very beautiful pets and we know you all will make your choices wisely. Like every other year, the winner from each age competition will be featured in Japan's most famous PureBlood magazine and will also be taken to my hospital so that breed can be cloned(1). We will then sell the cloned pets to paying owners."
Sasuke tapped his fingers on the table, wondering what Naruto would say about being cloned. He knew the feline couldn't impregnate a female, so maybe he'd be happy to be able to produce children of his own despite his condition.
"If you'd like information on how to buy a pet, then come ask me after the show," Tsunade almost ground that part out. She hated dealing with clueless people. If they had no clue about what they were doing, then the Showcase wasn't a good place for them in the first place. "Now, to start off the Junior Showcase, we have--"
Sasuke drowned everything out, not caring the least bit. He'd seen most of the fresh pets, knowing Naruto had nothing to worry about. The only thing the blond would need to be worried about was the older pets. But Naruto wouldn't have to deal with them until the next Showcase in five months.
"You seem so sure he will win, Otouto," Itachi smirked. He wouldn't admit it, but he believed the young cat would win, as well. There was no other animal in the building that could compare to Naruto, not even the senior pets. He disliked the blond, but knew a good pet when he saw one. He was sure he, himself, would have some competition during the next Showcase.
"He's my son, of course he will win. An Uchiha shines above everyone else(2)," the younger leopard's voice was firm, knowing.
"Yes, we do, don't we?" Itachi chuckled.
Tsunade read over the next contestant and grinned cheekily, no longer bored or annoyed. "Our next pet belongs to the one and only Hatake Kakashi," she stated in amusement. Everyone in the auditorium began whispering to one another, except for Kakashi himself, his gaze on a little orange book in his grasp. "A Clouded Leopard named Naruto."
"Ah," someone beside Kakashi's table spoke. "Clouded Leopards are extremely rare!"
Behind the stage curtains, Sakura said her final words of encouragement and Naruto took a deep breath, his fear vanquishing. He stepped out onto the runway and made sure to walk exactly like Jiraiya had tought him; with a spring in his step and a swing to his hips. He also threw the crowd a breathtaking smile, which his sensei had said would gain him a ton of votes. "The only thing better than a perfect pet is a perfect pet with an alluring smile and charming personality," the old man had said with a mouthfull of soba.
Sasuke watched the boy who was acting as if he practically owned the stage. His smile was stunning, his eyes brighter than ever, and his posture was charming and friendly. He smiled when his eyes met Naruto's and the blond's smile widened even more (if that was even possible).
What a charming little brat, Tsunade thought fondly. "Naruto, we must see your pet form now. Where must you be touched?"
"Behind my right ear, Obaachan," Naruto answered sweetly and curtly, the crowd whispering and making positive comments. The older woman touched the patch of fur behind the large ear and as the blond changed, she lifted the red kimono from the ground, as it had fallen off during the change, like the clothes did most of the time.
Naruto stood there, cerulean eyes scanning the crowd, looking for expressions of acceptance. He received many of those desired looks and felt his stomach flutter with warmth. He made sure to walk to both ends of the runway so everyone could see him. His figure may have been small, but his stance and posture made him seem big. His ears were straight up, spine in a slight arc, and he made sure the movement of his tail matched his steps and body. There would be no room for mistakes, that's what Jiraiya had taught him.
Every little thing mattered.
Itachi lowered the wine glass from his lips, surprised at how stunning his "little brother" looked on stage. He expected the twerp to do good... but not this good. Next to him, Kakashi wore an impressed smile, why Sasuke's obsidian eyes gleamed with pride.
xXxXx
"You did so well!" Sakura pulled Naruto flush against her and kissed his cheek. "You'll win your division for sure," she tapped him on the nose with her finger. "Now, let's find Hatake-san and Misora-san so you can sit with them," she led him down the steps that connected the backstage to the sitting area and as soon as they hit the bottom step, they were surrounded by women and businessmen.
"You're the most gorgeous pet I've ever laid eyes upon!" a busty woman claimed loudly.
"I hope you win, I was looking for a pet like you to give to my daughter," an older gentlemen stated with a slanted smile.
"You're so kawaii! Can I have a hug, Neko-chan?" a little girl squealed.
Sakura blinked and looked down at Naruto, wanting to see how he reacted to the sudden attention. She was surprised to see him grinning and running to give the girl a hug. She sighed.
Only he would be so bold as to hug someone of higher status. But I suppose that's what people like about him, she excused herself and Naruto, then took him away from the loud group of people.
"I take it you like the attention," she laughed and took him to where Kakashi was sitting, still reading his little orange book. "Hatake-san, I brought Naruto to sit with you. I suppose Itachi-kun and Sasuke-kun have already left to go backstage?"
The silver-haired man glanced up from his book, then closed it, stuffing it into his back pocket before patting Naruto on the head. "Yes, they just left... And thank you for watching Naruto-kun for me. Ah, where might your owner be? I haven't seen her around."
"She's been helping with things up front. She'll be coming back here to a table shortly," Sakura looked at the dimming lights and stepped back. "Well, I must be going. The Senior division is about to start," she smiled to Naruto. "You did well Naruto, you're going to win for sure!" then she ran toward the steps that led to the stage.
Kakashi glanced at Naruto and chuckled as the child squirmed in his chair. "Anxious to hear what Sasuke has to say? Let me just mention that before he left, he wanted me to tell you that he was extremely proud of you."
Naruto heart thumped in his chest, but it was nothing for him to worry about. His eyes watered and he wiped them with the back of his hand. "Susu Oppa... h-he's proud of me?"
Tears fell down his face, despite constantly wiping them away, a silly smile on his childish face. He sobbed and sniffled, his shoulders shaking, even when Kakashi held him against his chest.
"You're going to choke on your snot if you don't stop blubbering," the scarecrow teased, but held his pet against him as he cried his eyes out.
"He's proud of me...! Susu Oppa is proud of me...!" his heart fluttered and more tears fell, dripping from his chin and wetting his kimono. His lips quivered, but the huge smile still remained on his face.
At that moment, he felt like he could burst from happiness.
(1)- Clones in this story aren't exact replicas of the original. Just copies of the breed.
(2)- I LOVE this line, I dunno why. For me, it's just so... touching. It shows how much Sasuke loves him and how he thinks of him as his own son.
This chap's a lot longer. I hope it made up for the previous one.