Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto does. *sob* I also don't own any of the songs used.
Chapter Nine
Sakura was awoken with a splash of icy cold water hitting her face like rain. She sputtered and shot upright, looking around only to come face to face with Ino's bright eyes.
"Ugh! Ino-pig, what's the big idea?" she shrieked at her, shaking off the water once the "rain' stopped.
The platinum blonde girl smirked. "Enjoy your night in the tub guys?" she asked smugly.
Sakura looked to her left and couldn't believe that she hadn't noticed Naruto before. Had they fallen asleep in the tub together? They must have. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment. "Shut it, Ino-pig."
Naruto sputtered and stood up, his lined cheeks also tinted red with blush. He climbed out of the tub and Sakura became embarrassed all over again when she was reminded of Naruto's half nakedness.
The only guy in the room seemed to realize this too and tore a towel off of the nearby rack, wrapping it around himself. "U-Uh, thanks for the wake up, Ino! I forgot I had to meet my dad this morning. I-I'll see you tonight, Sakura-chan," he rushed. He pecked Sakura's lips briskly and ran out of the bathroom like a bat out of hell, leaving Sakura alone with Ino.
The pinkette quickly grabbed a towel for herself. She wrapped it around herself and glared at Ino who insisted on looking at her as if the dumb blonde caught her doing something naughty. "What are you looking at, Pig?" she snapped.
Ino didn't even let the insult bother her. She crossed her arms over her chest, still looking smug. "So. You and Naruto again, huh?"
Sakura narrowed her eyes and walked out of the bathroom. "Don't start!"
XXX
Naruto sat in class for only the second time that week. Apparently being a young tycoon meant that class was relatively optional. At least on days when Tsunade wanted to coach him on how to act. She'd been a little more high-strung than usual with the tonight's Function coming up. He was a little surprised he hadn't been summoned to her office that morning actually.
"Uzumaki, listen up," Kakashi shouted from the front of the room.
Naruto sat up straight and cleared his throat, just as a girl behind him said dreamily, "Kakashi-sensei, haven't you heard? That's not his name. That's Namikaze-san, Minato-sensei's son."
Kakashi narrowed his eyes, or looked like he narrowed his eyes, beneath dark shaded sunglasses. "It says on my roster that he's Uzumaki Naruto. So I will call him that until his records are updated."
"But - " the girl protested.
"No buts. Unless Naruto wants to be called something else?" he urged, looking in the blonde's direction.
Was he baiting him? Did Tsunade put his teachers up to this to see if Naruto would stick to his promise to bury the Uzumaki title? He frowned. "Actually Kakashi-sensei, my classmate is right. My name is Namikaze, not Uzumaki."
Kakashi's fierce gaze dimmed beneath the shades. "Alright then. I'll contact your father about changing your name on the school roster."
Naruto bit his lip to keep himself from protesting. In his mind he imagined taking is mother's name and burying it to never be uncovered again. "O-Okay," he muttered under his breath, looking down at his desk.
XXX
Sasuke was missing school. For reasons that only his father knew, he'd called his two sons back to the family home despite the fact that Sasuke had classes that he probably needed to attend. He'd already missed a year of school. If his Father was so adamant about making him like Itachi, why was he enforcing something like this?
But whatever the reason, Sasuke now sat in the foyer with Itachi, who was still dressed in his police gear. And he already had a star. What on Earth could Itachi have done in his brief months as an officer to earn himself a star? Overachieving bastard.
"I saw you on TV, little brother," Itachi tried to conversate.
Sasuke was grumpy from the long car ride to the family home. His family just had to live isolated on the very outskirts of Konoha. Even Namikaze Minato lived amongst the people! So, needless to say, he wasn't in the mood to conversate. Not even with his dear older brother. "How did you find the time in your busy schedule?" he muttered, throwing his head back over the back of the loveseat and covering his eyes with his arm.
"You're a little hard to miss. You guys were everywhere. Some of my squad have daughters that are absolutely in love with you. If you could hear them squeal when they came into the station and their father's told them I was your big brother - "
"I think I can imagine it, Itachi. Rockstar, remember? I heard it enough," he muttered, sitting up straight again when he heard footsteps coming down the hall. Finally his parents decided to grace them with their presence.
Itachi didn't seem to mind that their mom and dad were entering the room. "Still, it was pretty cool. For once the girls were squealing at me for being related to you. It's a lot different from high school, huh, little brother?"
Sasuke opened his mouth to reply only to have Fugaku interrupt. "Life isn't about girls and popularity anymore, Itachi. It's about success and recognition. Leaving such a great legacy behind you that people from around the world fear the name Uchiha."
Itachi instantly changed his outer persona. The joking older brother that he'd been in front of Sasuke disappeared and was replaced by an obedient young officer. Something in Itachi always changed whenever Fugaku entered a room. He wasn't the same. "Yes sir."
Fugaku and his wife, Mikoto, sat down together on the sofa opposite their two sons in love seats. Their mother didn't look pleased but Fugaku had a smug air about himself. "Thank you for coming, boys," he began.
Sasuke nodded, imitating Itachi's perfect posture in the chair. However, it didn't seem as perfect as his brother's. "What's this all about?" he asked.
Fugaku frowned that Sasuke's voice was the one to ask the first question. His eyes flickered to his eldest son's face, which was impassive as he waited for the answer. Fugaku made a note to drill Itachi on his reaction skills later on. He glanced at his younger child and cleared his throat. "I have decided that it's time for Sasuke to get ready to enter the ranks of the police force. I want you, Itachi, to train Sasuke in everything he may need in order to graduate the Police Academy early. Clear?"
Itachi scratched the back of his head. "With all due respect to you and Sasuke, I don't think that is such a good idea. Sasuke-kun is still in school. He should be focusing on graduating next year, not catching bad guys. Allow him to have a life, Father."
Fugaku's eyes flicked to his prized possession, his prodigious son. "This is his life, Itachi. He is an Uchiha and he will live up to that name or not deserve it. Am I understood?" Now his eyes flicked to Sasuke.
The youngest Uchiha shrunk back in his chair in shock. Did he just make a reference to disowning him? What had he done to deserve that!? He felt as if he'd been blindsided. He grit his teeth. "What am I supposed to do about school, Tou-san?" he muttered.
"Itachi was able to balance school and training and so will you. Every afternoon after school a car will pick you up and bring you to the compound. You will warm up by yourself until Itachi finishes with his shift at the station. Then he will arrive and work you through that day's training. When you are finished, the car will take you back to school and you will finish your homework for the next day. On weekends the car will pick you up before 10 AM and return you on Sunday night. Clear?"
Sasuke felt beads of sweat already growing on his face at the mere idea of his rigorouse schedule. He glanced at his mom for help but she only met him with an apologetic smile. She couldn't do anything about it. Beaten, he looked down at his fists as they clenched in his lap. "What about my band?" he found himself asking without really thinking about it.
"I thought that went without saying. You will quit your band. It has no use to you." Sasuke looked up and was met with his father's smirk. "You're both dismissed. I'll see you tonight."
XXX
That night Naruto sat on his bed, looking at the suit Tsunade had had dropped off for him earlier that day. It was an all black tux with a bright blue bowtie and cufflinks in the shape of whirlpools. Unfortunately, he didn't know how to put any of the accessories on. This was probably a test by Tsunade to see if he was able to do it. Well, he failed already without trying.
He sighed. This was all becoming too much. He didn't know if he could do this for the rest of his life. Still, it was for his dad, so he got dressed in the suit and walked across the hall barefoot with his tie in one hand and the cuflinks in the other. He knocked on Sakura's door with his elbow and waited for her to open it.
A few seconds later the door slid open and his flower appeared in the doorway in a beautiful sleaveless green dress that made her eyes glow with a black shawl wrapped around her bare shoulders. Like the blonde, she was barefoot and trying to put on her earrings.
"Oh, Naruto-kun! You're early. And barefoot. Where's your shoes?" she asked, finishing with her earrings. They were little diamonds hanging down from her lobes. Naruto simply held out his hands to show the tie and cufflinks. Sakura giggled and let him inside, shutting the door behind him. "Alright, I'll help you. But you have to help me with my necklace when I'm done, okay?"
Naruto nodded and smiled as she took his items and stood on tiptoe to tie his tie around his neck. "You look beautiful tonight, Sakura-chan," he complimented her.
She smiled and blushed. "Thank you. You look handsome." She finished with the tie and grabbed his wrists to put the cufflinks on him. "These are pretty cool. Did you father give them to you?"
"Tsunade did. She said they belonged to my mom's family. So their mine, I guess. Where're your roommates? Are they not coming tonight?"
"Oh, they don't want to be around me right now," Sakura said with an evil glint in her eye. She remembered her roommates' taunts after Ino found her in the tub with Naruto that morning and the threats she gave her friends if they didn't knock it off. They were hiding in Hinata's little sister's room to change for the event instead.
Naruto noticed the look and figured he didn't wanna know. "Uh, alright then." He lifted his hands and smiled at the cuffs. "You're really good at this, Sakura-chan."
"Don't forget your promise, Naruto-kun," she reminded him, holding up the diamond necklace to him. Naruto nodded and turned her around as he went to fasten the jewelry. "So, um, my parents and I are going to dinner around the time the function ends tonight."
Naruto raised an eyebrow, even if she couldn't see it. "Yeah?"
"Well... I was wondering if maybe you'd want to... go. To dinner. With me and them." She cleared her throat nervously.
Naruto finished and she turned to look at him. He looked confused. "You want me to meet your parents?"
"Y-You don't have to! It was just a suggestion!"
"Okay."
"Huh?"
"Yeah, let's go to dinner with your parents. I wanna meet my girlfriend's mom and dad." He smiled.
"G-Girlfriend?" she repeated. She hadn't thought that Naruto would want to make them official so quickly. But she wasn't complaining. She smiled and threw her arms around his neck, leaning up and kissing him.
A/N AAAAAAAAAAAnd I'll end it there. Next chapter, THE FUNCTION! And we all know how well that ended last time :) Hehehehe.
Oh, look, new page-breaker-slider-scene-changing-thingies! I like the X's more here. Booya!
And I got Narusaku together. YAY!
Alright. I'm done here. Comments? Questions? Concerns!? REVIEW!