My Magical Arabian Nights.
Chapter Two.
"Naruto? Can I ask you something?" Sasuke had to jog a little to keep up with the other's fast strides. He hadn't noticed it in the dark, but the man was quite a bit bigger than him, and his long legs were working fast. "Yurp." The blonde slurped after taking a big bite of his moldy apple, Sasuke had decided not to eat his when he tried to wipe the green mold off the thing and it turned out to be wet and started to stick to his fingers. He'd had a big dinner though, so he figured he'd be okay.
"I was just wondering, you know since it might be useful for me to know if you actually plan on doing this, how we were going to rob said bank?" Naruto pulled the stem off his core, threw it on the ground and and ate the rest, seeds and all. The raven looked at him in disgust, didn't this man know anything?
"You're not supposed to eat the seeds." He finished chewing and swallowed, "Why not?" Sasuke was baffled, "Because it's common knowledge! You only eat the fleshy parts, the rest goes to the pigs." The man grinned down at him, and for some reason it irked him that he was almost a whole head taller than him. "Is that how fancy people eat their food? If you haven't noticed, I don't really have the luxury of throwing things away."
They entered a crowded marketplace and Sasuke scooted a little closer to his side, he was not about to get separated and lost in this damned town again. "Before we make any plans I need to train you a little, to see if you can actually pull it off, you with me?" a man pushing a cart filled with bread crossed their path and Naruto pulled the disguised young man against him and out of the wagon's way. "You hungry? You didn't like my apples." Who would? But Sasuke was pressed against the man's chest a little too closely to think of a witty comeback. The way he had his arm, which was surprisingly thick for the diet to sustain, wrapped around him suddenly made him revisit his memories of the night he spent in the man's bed. They'd been just as close as this, only for a much longer period of time… and naked. He squeaked out a yes. Naruto grinned, grabbed his hand and pulled him behind the faded flap of a small stall. "Well don't I have a nice surprise for you!" And out of nowhere he conjured up two fat sticky buns, stuffing one in his face and handing the other to Sasuke. "You stole this? Just now? How?" The man rubbed his face to get the sugar off and nodded. "If you're as good as me you won't have to pay for food ever. What do you say, my pretty noble-lady, would you like me to take you on as my apprentice?" Sasuke took a thoughtful bite as he used is non-sugarcoated hand to move his veil to the side. It was still warm, and fresh and he was hungry. "I want more." Naruto smiled and conjured up two more. Sasuke didn't know how, the man didn't seem to have any pockets. "I'll take that as a yes."
As they walked closer to the core of the marketplace it was time for training to begin. "The first thing you need is pity. Show me your 'I'm just and abandoned little doggy please don't beat me' face." He pulled the boy's veil down around his neck and didn't say anything else. Sasuke realized he wasn't kidding. "This is what I need to know?" "Do it or I want those clothes back immediately." Blasted oaf, if that pig knew who he really was he wouldn't be so full of himself. But Sasuke wasn't one to back down, and even though this… person, he supposed he could call him, had already stolen his money, clothes and dignity, he'd show him that Sasuke Uchiha was not one to back down. He tried to remember the face he made when his mother had caught him looking in the girl's sleeping quarters… and the boy's. Cue quivering lip, furrow eyebrows, eyes cast downwards and shoulders hunched. Naruto was amazed, in just a few seconds he'd gone from facing a proud, yet slightly ruffled, aristocrat to a poorly little scared thing. He could almost feel the fright coming off him. "Wow, you, my little kitten, are a natural!" and just as fast as he'd changed before mister fanypants was back, and looking pissed off. "Did you just call me kitten?" Naruto smiled and gently pat his head. "Yeahp, the way you looked up at me just now, with those big black sad eyes, kitten all over." It was warm out, but the man's hand was warmer, Sasuke could feel it through his hair and couldn't for the life of him remember the last time someone made such a kind gesture towards him. The nickname would have to do then. "So I got pity down?" Naruto made a nuh-uh movement with his finger and pointed at a stall a couple booths away from them, a stern looking man with a thick black beard and hairy arms was selling sausages. "You're not done 'till you passed the test. Get us a nice piece of meat, and make sure to put on your sad face, go!" And he pushed Sasuke, who suddenly discovered himself in the possession of an odd form of stage fright, towards the stall. He kept his shoulders hunched, eyes glued to the ground and shuffled slowly towards the displayed stack of sausages. For a while he just stood there, taking shaky breaths. Then he reached out, slowly, nervously, and picked up a moderately sized salted something, he wasn't too knowledgeable on sausages. He took a step back, too quickly. Naruto bit his lip, the kid was gonna get noticed. "HEY! Get your hands off!" Sasuke seemed startled, he stepped back unevenly and dropped the food, but the man grabbed his arm and seemed about to hit him. Then he froze, Naruto opened one of his tightly shut eyes and was… amazed. Sasuke looked absolutely terrified, combined with that immense sadness in his eyes that Naruto couldn't believe someone could fake. "I-I'm so sorry… please, I don't have anything… please sir, I'm so hungry…" He bit his bottom lip while his thin voice wavered and turned his face downward while letting his arm hang limply in the man's fist. The man stared at him a moment, then let him go and spoke in a stifled, grumbling voice, "It's okay, we've all known hard times. Take it." And he turned away.
Sasuke stared back at Naruto for a brief moment, mouth hanging open in amazement, before diving down on the food and scurrying away with a choked up 'thank you'.
"I was wrong about you." Naruto spoke a little while later when they'd receded to a less busy part of the bustling market. He took the sausage from him and cut it in half with a little knife; Sasuke discovered that the simple looking vest the man wore was actually filled with secret pockets. "You're not a natural." He held the kid's gaze for a moment before smiling and giving him half the food. "You're amazing!" Naruto couldn't believe he'd come across such a little gem by pure accident. If he couldn't milk the boy for his family's money he'd at least found a good partner in crime in him.
"That's the best way to steal from people after all, BAM, right in their face, looking them dead in the eye." He actually chuckled while he said this. "So what've they done to piss you off so much?" Sasuke asked between bites. "I'll tell you that when you tell me where you got sad-eye from." Sasuke just stared at his feet as they walked and Naruto roughly ruffled his head. "Yeah, didn't think so either." He nonchalantly snatched up a boring brown satchel from a little stand they passed and threw it at Sasuke. "Okay, now it's time for lesson two: sneak. Put on the bag securely so you can't lose it even if it's tugged on." Sasuke slung it across his torso, pulled his veil back around his face and looked up expectantly; he'd thought he'd have more trouble stealing from the people in this city but had yet to feel any guilt. Well, the less it bothered him the better. Naruto nodded approvingly and pointed towards an old lady running a porcelain shop. "I've been finding myself in need for some nice blue cups lately, so I'm gonna ask her ALL about it and you are going to sneak up behind her and get me some cups. Not mugs, cups, I don't like ears. Think you're up for it?" After all the time he'd spent sneaking around the palace, working his hardest on throwing off the guards and never getting noticed Sasuke was pretty sure he could pull this off… but stealing from an old lady? The other noticed his badly concealed look of distress. "Don't feel guilty for her, she can miss them! If I had to count all the plates she's smashed while chucking them at me she'd have made a fortune off them already." He chuckled, but the laughter didn't quite reach his eyes.
And so they walked the last few steps in silence, before Naruto nudged the other to the side and stepped into the little shop while loudly exclaiming some nonsense about red plates being better than blue ones. Sasuke quickly snuck behind one of the shelves and loaded up the satchel as fast as he could while the old lady started screaming at that 'damned thief' to 'get the fuck out'. At seeing Sasuke done Naruto quickly backed away with a bow, thanking her for her service and grabbing Sasuke's hand as he ran off, tugging the rave along with him while the distinct sound of bowls getting smashed on the ground ghosted after them.
With all the ruckus they were drawing quite a bit of attention, though, so Naruto decided to step it up. He looked behind him where the young man was staring ahead with a blazing flame in his eyes. "Sasuke, you ready for the next lesson?" Sasuke's heart was beating loudly in his throat, he'd broken the law twice already and had never felt so alive, every step he took he trembled with fright, but mostly anticipation of what was to come next. People were catching on what was happening now, and from out of nowhere a town guard showed up, chasing them while yelling for them to stop. "Well Sasuke, what's it gonna be?" the man looked back at him with a grin so big it nearly split his face in half, so he had no other choice but to nod. "Okay, this might be the most important lesson of all… and don't worry I will find you later." Naruto let go of his hand. "now, RUN!" and he roughly pushed the young man into a street to the side while he himself took off in the opposite direction. Sasuke stumbled for a moment, but quickly found his footing. He didn't know where he was going but he was going there as fast as he could. When he started hearing footsteps behind him he didn't look back, just shot in alley after alley, making quick, unexpected turns. He was slowly heading back into the deep darkness of the city and felt more alive than ever before.
But then it happened. A dead end. There were at least three guards on his tail and he would not go back to his gilded prison. He looked around frantically, there was a door but it was locked, and beside it stood a fat, sturdy barrel. For the first time he thought to look up, and saw thick wooden beams sticking out of the top of the low building. Wasting no more time he climbed on the barrel and jumped, grabbing a firm hold of the strong wood. But he was weak, never having to use physical strength for much of anything left him hanging there, trying to pull himself up with all his might while the voices behind him got louder. He kicked the wall, and found some leverage for his bare feet to propel himself up. Hanging over the beam he reached for the soft brown stone of the building and somehow managed to pull himself on top of it, strengthlessly rolling down the sloped roof on the other side. His fingers searched desperately for anything to grab onto but found nothing, and with his arms flailing up to the bright blue sky he fell down the other side. It seemed to take forever, like he was stuck in the air with nothing in his head but an immense feeling of dread.
And then he landed, the first thing that hit the ground was his head, bouncing back up painfully while the impact on his back forced all the air out of his lungs. He tried to breathe in desperately but his throat was on fire. For some reason a fear shot through his mind he hadn't even though of before; what if Naruto only played with him, and wouldn't come to find him? He'd die in an alley alone. And after that thought everything went black.
For quite a few years now Naruto had found climbing across the low roofs a very lucrative manner of travel, so it took him less than a minute to shake off the guards. He lay low until they were gone and then went to find his lost little kitten. The trail of angry people and noise the boy left behind was quite easy to follow, and he spotted him when the kid also discovered the delight of air travel. But he couldn't get to him in time, and had no other choice than to watch him fall while they were still more than a block apart.
When Sasuke woke up he didn't know where he was. Everything around him was dark, and he felt kinda cold. Then suddenly he remembered what happened and sat up with a start, only to fall back down groaning on a soft and lumpy surface after a hellish pain shot up his back. "Yeah, you shouldn't do that, fell pretty bad there kitten, I'm impressed." Sasuke blinked in the direction of the voice a few times, before his vision started to clear and he realized he was back in Naruto's bed, the blonde crouching on the balls of his feet next to him wearing only his pants. "How did you find me?" he was still seeing blurry, how long had he been out for? "Ah, I'm very skilled and finding what I'm looking for, don't you ever worry about that. How are you feeling?" Sasuke groaned once more and felt around under the covers. "Like I got hit by a buffalo, what time is it?" he tried to repress his blush at feeling himself naked again, damn this man and his nifty hands. Naruto caught the coloring of the boy's pale skin, however, and grinned predatorily. It's about midday, you were out pretty hard so I blocked the windows, didn't wanna disturb ya." He hobbled a little closer and Sasuke pulled the covers up a little higher. "If your back hurts I could fix that for you, magic hands remember?" Sasuke gave him a calculating look, unsure if he could trust the man with his nudity. But Naruto didn't really care much for the answer, and simply pulled the covers away. "Lay on your stomach, you'll like this I promise." So the younger of the two rolled over, this time not even trying to hide his embarrassment and clutching the grey bed sheets in his hands.
Naruto stepped over him and sat down on the other's behind, it was nice and squishy and tore a delightful 'eep' from the raven's throat. He could feel the boy tense up when he placed his hands on his shoulders and leaned down until his lips were next to a blazing red ear. "Kitten, relax. You can trust me; I won't do anything to hurt you, okay? So don't be scared." Sasuke nodded curtly but didn't believe a word the man was saying. Naruto, however, was done talking and figured it time for some action. He slowly slid his hands down the young man's shoulders, touching his thumbs at his spine and gently pressed down whilst pulling his fingers south towards the small of his back, pushing on the soft skin a little harder and rubbing down his sides. Sasuke was turning into putty. Without the covers his nudity was more than a little cold, and the man's hands felt like balls of soft fire sliding over his skin. Naruto worked on his back, his arms, his legs, but painfully avoided touching his behind. Throughout the ordeal Sasuke felt himself grow hot, an unfamiliar feeling of desire forming in his chest and coiling in his loins. He'd never been touched like this. he'd been groped, yes, molested even. But never had he been at another's mercy like this, someone who seemed to know everything and do everything perfectly. Someone who didn't seem to care about anyone else… except for him. The thought was heavy and made him press his face into the mattress, but I was also nice. Throughout his life of royalty he'd never felt as important as he did today. "Sasuke?" The man spoke softly, "There is another thing I could teach you, if you wanted to?" he slowly leaned forward running his fingers over the other's back and planting them down on the mattress besides him. "What's that?" the young man's voice came out a raspy whisper, and Naruto pressed a kiss between his shoulder blades. "I'll show you."