I have literally been trying to get this out for months. In addition to being really busy I was having a sort of writer's block. I have a general idea for where this story is going, but I had no idea what I wanted to happen in this chapter, even though I know what I want to happen in the next chapter. Confusing? Try being inside my head having to sort through it all.

Anyway, this is not as plot-filled as you may have been expecting after such a long wait, but I sat down and cranked it out in two days and therefore I am feeling rather accomplished. Like I said, there isn't a ton of plot going on here, but it's definitely a necessary chapter. I needed to establish Naruto's character a little bit more before I move on. I feel like up until now it hasn't been really obvious the true connection he feels towards Sasuke, so this chapter shows their relationship blossoming a little more :)

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any affiliated characters, settings, etc. The plot of this story is original work and the property of EverPlotting.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Secrets, Secrets Are No Fun

Sasuke awoke in the same room he had awoken in the day before, but this time he noticed there was a note taped to the back of the door. Rising from the bed and stretching out his muscles, Sasuke strode over to the door. The paper was thick and elegant decorated. A gold tendril pattern was nestled into the corners and framed an elegant pair of letters at the top. Sasuke assumed it was Naruto's personal stationary, since the initials belonged to him. Sasuke remembered once thinking Naruto to be impoverished and chuckled lightly. Naruto probably knew that and was showing off.

Finally moving to read the writing on the paper itself, Sasuke noticed that the ink was think and dark, as if it had been written with a fountain pen. Sasuke smirked. Naruto really was showing off. The writing read:

Dear Sasuke,

Since you're going to be staying for a while, I went to your house to gather some of your things. The dresser is now stocked with some of your clothes. Don't worry about washing them; just leave them in the hamper when you're done.

I have some errands to run in this morning, but if you happen to be up before I leave I would love for you to join me. There's food downstairs when you're ready.

Love,
Naruto

Sasuke briefly wondered how Naruto had managed to convince his parents to let Sasuke stay at Naruto's house. It was the middle of school year! Now that he had calmed down, Sasuke recalled that Enzera had mentioned he would have to make a choice, but he wasn't quite sure what that choice entailed. If he chose to not go through with the mating ceremony with Naruto, would he ever see his best friend again? He wasn't sure he could bear that. And if he chose to stay, then what? What would his life become?

Sasuke sighed. There was no use thinking about this now. He hoped that by the time he had to choose, he would have more information.

Glancing at the clock, Sasuke noticed it was only half past nine, yet he felt rather rested. Usually Sasuke wasn't a late sleeper, but he couldn't recall the last time he had slept so well.

After he was finished in the bathroom, Sasuke looked in the closet and discovered that his clothes had indeed been transported to his current location. He blushed a bit when he realized Naruto would have had to handle his underwear if he had done the transporting himself as he had claimed in the note. Dressing quickly, Sasuke checked his hair in the mirror and headed down to find some food.

Sasuke didn't really know how to navigate the large house – or rather castle, as Kiba had pointed out – but he knew enough of the layout to get from his room to the main room downstairs. He hoped that's where Naruto would be.

The room had the same living room set-up that had been there the day before, but the table that had been pushed against the far wall had been brought out and set. At one end sat Naruto, bespectacled eyes perusing through a newspaper.

Sasuke recognized Naruto's sunny locks from the other edge of the room, but as he drew closer, Sasuke stopped to examine Naruto more closely. The glasses resting on the edge of his nose were thin and wiry, looking very modern but discreet. Naruto was dressed in a button-down shirt once again – Sasuke couldn't recall the last time he had seen Naruto in a T-shirt – but the sleeves were rolled up past his elbows. His pants were decidedly unprofessional – they seemed to hug his legs rather closely – as were the slightly dirtied boots that hid his feet.

Naruto looked up from whatever he was reading to glance at Sasuke.

"Oh Sasuke," Naruto smiled brightly. "Come and have from breakfast." Naruto gestured to the fully set table.

Sasuke wordlessly slid into a chair. Since Naruto was sitting at the head of the table, Sasuke couldn't sit next to him exactly, but he settled for the next closest chair. Only one end of the table had place settings - six seats to be exact – while the other end was empty. To Sasuke's left sat various platters of food, all smelling rather delicious.

"Enzera's already eaten," Naruto informed Sasuke as he stared at the food, "so feel free to help yourself to however much you'd like. We usually have more people staying here so there's a bit much."

"Only 'a bit'?" Sasuke asked, laughing lightly. "You don't do anything half-way do you?"

Naruto grinned, clearly pleased with himself. "I've waited for so long for you to see my world Sasuke. Seemingly obscene amounts of food are just one part of it. Most of it is a lot more interesting."

Sasuke chuckled and reached for two slices of toast and strawberry jam. Sasuke expected Naruto to return to reading his paper but instead he was shameless watching Sasuke, as if waiting for something. Trying to ignore Naruto's undisguised interest, Sasuke finally took a bite of his toast.

"Oh my God!" Sasuke's voice sounded, slightly muffled by the masticated bread. Swallowing Sasuke turned to see an extremely gleeful Naruto, sporting a Cheshire grin.

"I know, right?"

"What did you do to this bread."

"If I had to pick a country to have breakfast in, it would be England. That's where the strawberries for that jam were from. Also, the bread is fried instead of toasted. It's not exactly the healthiest thing going, but it's quite good."

"You can say that again," Sasuke took another large bite. Naruto smiled and returned to his newspaper, occasionally taking a sip from a steaming mug.

"That looks rather hot," Sasuke commented.

"Hm?" Naruto said, looking up again. "Oh. Well. My body temperature runs a little higher than yours, so take my food a tad warmer I suppose. I asked for the food to be made early so it could cool down a little by the time you got here."

Sasuke looked at Naruto thoughtfully. If Naruto could stare outright so could he.

"What?" Naruto asked, probing to discover the reason behind Sasuke's gaze.

"I've never seen you wear glasses before."

"Oh," Naruto laughed. "That's because you've never seen me all hormonal and crazy. My eyesight sharpens a little. It makes it a little tough to read small print. The glasses are just to balance things out."

"Ah." Sasuke continued to eat in silence. Every time he asked what he felt was a simple question, the answer sparked more confusion than clarity. Naruto clearly wasn't human, but to ask seemed rude somehow. It was like there was a secret that Naruto knew Sasuke was privy to, but couldn't tell him outright.

"So," Naruto began, folding up the unfamiliar paper, "I was thinking that when you're gone we can go out into the town for a little while."

"Isn't your brother coming home today?"

Naruto grimaced. "He is," he began hesitantly, "but I'd rather not be here when he gets home. He's either going to want to spend some quality time with Enzera or castrate me. I'd rather remove the second option from the table."

Sasuke chuckled but was concerned that Naruto wasn't laughing with him. He decided to change the subject.

"So what town are you talking about? The city?"

"Not quite." Naruto looked really excited again. His energy was contagious; Sasuke couldn't wait to see what this mysterious town had to offer.

"Ta-da!" Naruto exclaimed dramatically, spreading his arms above his head as if he had just done an amazing illusionary feat. Sasuke did his best to ignore Naruto and take in the small town.

Naruto had led him to what appeared to be the central marketplace. It was a beautiful day and the place of bustling. Vendors of various foods and wares were all peddling their goods to the people casually walking through. There were brick buildings that housed other shops and Sasuke saw people entering and leaving on a fairly regular basis, bells chiming as they went about their business. All in all, it was like a flee market, no more exciting at first glance than any other outdoor marketplace.

Yet as Sasuke examined the people and the items more closely, everything began to look strange. Herbs and spices he had never heard of, some products labeled in a language of symbols he didn't recognize. The people wore clothing that was everywhere from casual t-shirts to business suits to kimonos. Sasuke had never seen such a diverse group of people at any market or store.

"So this is your town?" Sasuke asked. "It's so… vivacious."

"It's more like a village," Naruto clarified. "The castle where my family lives is both my house and a center of government, but we also provide protection for the people who live here. There are some apartments above the shops and some homes spread throughout the woods."

Sasuke looked and sure enough, beyond the road where the people were mingling, there was only forest.

"No roads?"

Naruto shrugged. "We don't really need them. The forest isn't nearly so confusing to us."

"So," Sasuke began, feeling like he might be close to getting some answers, "you said the castle is like a center of government? What did you mean by that?"

Naruto shook his head. Sasuke assumed this meant he couldn't answer. "Can't you just enjoy the market Sasuke? It's a beautiful day."

After a full morning of walking around and having people smile and wave at Naruto or look suspiciously at him ("They're not used to seeing humans walking around here!" Naruto explained.) Naruto dragged him into what looked like a small pub, which was saying something, because all the stores were small.

"Oy!" Naruto shouted to the barkeep. "Anyone here yet?"

"Your friends are in the back, Naruto. I'll bring you guys over some food in a bit."

"Thanks," Naruto replied, smiling brightly.

"This place is totally deserted," Sasuke commented. The pub was indeed empty, except for Sasuke and Naruto, but Sasuke followed his blond companion regardless. Naruto led Sasuke through a curtain where there was a small room with a large table. Sasuke could see the entrance to the kitchen on one of the far ends.

"They keep this table here just for me." Naruto winked at Sasuke.

"Well," Sasuke remarked with mock indignation, "aren't you special."

"You know it," Naruto chuckled sliding into a seat next to Kiba at the table. Naruto gestured for Sasuke to sit on his left.

Sasuke looked around the table and recognized Gaara and Kiba from the previous day, but there were also two girls whose faces he couldn't quite place.

"Sasuke," Naruto stated rather formally. "This is Sakura and Ino. You remember them from that time we went to the mall? We bumped into them by accident."

"Ah yes." Sasuke had tried to block that incident from his mind. He was so pleased with that evening aside from their encounter with the two girls.

"It's a pleasure to officially meet you Sasuke," the pink-haired one, Sakura, said politely extending her hand. "Sorry you had to meet Ino and me while we were trying to get on Naruto's case. I'm sure we came off rather…"

"Vapid? Slutty?" Naruto suggested. "I can keep going. Just stop me when I get close Sakura."

Sakura and Ino both glared at Naruto, but at least Sakura had the decency to blush out of embarrassment. Sasuke glanced at Naruto, rather surprised. He had never seen Naruto actually cut into anyone, but he seemed rather put-off with Sakura and Ino. Sasuke made a mental note to ask him about it later.

"So," Gaara interrupted, clearly sensing the tension as well, "shall we eat?"

"Mm," Naruto responded in agreement. The blond climbed over Sasuke, assumedly to go talk to the man they had seen out front.

"So Sasuke," Sakura said, leaning across the table. "How are you enjoying your stay so far?"

Sasuke was sort of put off by her bright bubbly tone; it seemed ill-fitting since Naruto seemed to be mad at her for something.

"Um…" Sasuke wasn't quite sure if he should be talking to this girl or not. He looked from Sakura to the door through which Naruto had disappeared.

"Oh don't worry about that," Sakura said, clearly catching on to Sasuke's nervousness.

"Naruto's just still pissed about that time in the mall," Ino clarified. "He didn't speak to us for a week afterward."

"Why?" Sasuke asked, baffled. Sakura and Ino just laughed.

"Seriously?" Sakura asked, as if the answer was obvious. "Naruto has wanted to get with you for months. He thought that we might have given you the wrong impression about where his interests lie."

"Which, of course," Ino added, "was exactly our intention."

"You guys don't have to make things harder for him at every turn," Kiba hissed. Sasuke hadn't been paying much attention to Kiba while the girls were talking, but for a guy who seemed rather easy-going, he looked pretty high-strung right then. "Naruto's life is complicated enough without you two butting in. That's why he was so mad. You're both can be so obliviously insensitive."

Sakura and Ino's merry expressions faded into frowns of shame. Clearly Kiba had been saving that up for some time now. The table was awkwardly quiet and Sasuke felt completely out of place.

"You were quoting Naruto just then weren't you?" Sasuke heard Gaara whisper to Kiba, smirk showing only slightly on his features.

"Shut up," Sasuke heard Kiba mutter.

It was only when they were back at the castle – Naruto with his hands in his pockets, eyes roaming over shelves and shelves of books, looking for something in particular; Sasuke, sitting casually on a leather sofa that seems so nondescript in comparison with the deep but colorful pallet of the many books that seems to have been shoved not only onto shelves but into every possible corner of the library – did Sasuke feel comfortable enough to ask Naruto about what had occurred in the restaurant earlier that day.

"Why are you so angry with Sakura?"

"Hm?" Naruto asked, turning to Sasuke as if he hadn't caught the question. Refusing to repeat himself, Sasuke just stared unwaveringly at Naruto. The blond sighed, knowing he was found out, and ran a hand through his hair, shaking it as he went. "I'm angry with Ino too, to be fair."

Sasuke didn't really consider this an acceptable answer to his question, but he had realized long ago that Naruto was very secretive about some aspects of his life, though very open about others. Sasuke had learned to wait for answers.

Naruto appeared to have found the book he was looking for. Sighing, he flopped onto the couch next to Sasuke.

"What are you reading?" Sasuke couldn't help but peer, leaning slightly toward Naruto.

"Jane Eyre," Naruto replied. Sasuke eyed him strangely. Naruto rolled his eyes. "Shut up." They both sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity, but finally Naruto snapped his book shut and turned to look at Sasuke.

"That time in the mall," Naruto began, "Sakura and Ino… They're not bad people, but the two of them can cross the line very quickly, and don't know when to turn back. The fact that they could smell the hormones I was literally spewing probably made them more inclined to … cling to me in the way I'm sure you so keenly observed, but it's no excuse for trying to rile me up."

"As I recall, they wanted you to see them in their underwear…?" Sasuke pressed.

"Yeah," Naruto bit out slowly. "Well, they've been jokingly offering for a couple months now."

Sasuke raised his eyebrow. Sometimes getting answers from Naruto was trying to run through molasses, slow and exhausting. Naruto seemed to realize that Sasuke wasn't quite satisfied with his answer, the corners of his eyes dropping sympathetically.

"Sasuke," Naruto sighed. "I—"

"You wish you could tell me but you can't for reasons you also cannot reveal."

Naruto smiled sadly, holding Sasuke's gaze for a moment only to turn back to his book.

"'I had not intended to love him,' she says." It took Sasuke a moment to realize that Naruto was referring to his book. "So it is with you and me Sasuke." He paused and looked up at nothing in particular; his vision seemed to reach past the bookshelf into the vast expanse of the future. "You're going to be the death of me."

Naruto shook his head and returned to his reading.

Okay... so hopefully one of these days I'll publish a chapter without having to apologize at the beginning. I'm starting to feel like a broken record, but I just genuinely want to convey that I am still dedicated to this story.

See you in Chapter 16~
Things are going to start picking up, I swear ;)

-EverPlotting-