At first, Sasuke wasn't fully aware he was spewing such heated diatribe to Naruto, too angry and concerned over the blond to notice that he was being more expressive than his usual nonchalant self.
However, at seeing the relief brightening Naruto's azure eyes, all the haunted expression being washed away gave Sasuke some sort of gratification. He disliked not witnessing Naruto being his usual determined self, loathed whenever the usual bright expression was filled with gloom.
That was the reason that once Sasuke let his words sink in, he felt contented that he could erase those negative emotions from Naruto and let those bright blue eyes focus on him. Their gazes were fixed for an undetermined amount of time, Sasuke observing the blond reaching an epiphany and shifting closer; the small movement giving a heady rush of emotion stirring inside him.
"Sasuke…I think I'm starting to like you." Naruto muttered almost inaudibly, but it was enough to cause Sasuke's heart to thump very loudly. Each fingertip was felt from his suddenly overly-sensitive skin, the warmth touching and spreading throughout his pale cheeks as the blond approached.
Oh, fuck. Is he—he's really—the dumbass really is—Widened onyx eyes stared in horror at this sudden turn of events when Sasuke's mind reacted on impulse. He placed both hands on Naruto's shoulders and pushed him away to an arm-length's distance.
"What the hell are you trying to do usuratonkachi?" Sasuke glared, Naruto still had his eyes closed and lips puckered. He looked ridiculous.
The blond slowly opened his eyes to notice that his action was unfortunately deterred and tried to push forward. "What do you think I'm trying to do, I'm trying to kiss you dammit."
Sasuke pushed Naruto farther away. "Well, don't do that dumbass."
Naruto pushed forward. "What the hell is your problem?" Once the distance was close enough, he re-closed his eyelids and resumed his 'kiss the frog' expression.
Sasuke was now earnestly trying to avoid Naruto's lips. "What the hell is your problem? Who said that I want to be kissed by you?"
"That doesn't matter you bastard!" The blond was also stubbornly moving forward. "Can't you read the mood? Haven't you watched movies enough? That's the cliché moment when you have to accept my kiss, you ass—ow ow ow!" He whined when Sasuke plastered his hand on his whiskered face and pushed it far away.
With a look of disgust, staring now at his saliva-soaked palm, Sasuke picked his handkerchief from his pocket and wiped it off. "Hn. As if anyone in sane conscience would be interested in being kissed by a usuratonkachi like yourself."
Naruto glowered towards the smug look on Sasuke's face, now severely thinking to himself what the hell was wrong with him in wanting to kiss that icy bastard. "Well you asshole, you can't really talk, since you kissed me before after all."
Sasuke sniffed. "Like I said, anyone in sane conscience. Only after a good amount of beer and the dreadful feeling of being near death made me kiss you, dumbass."
WHAT A BASTARD. Naruto growled, the smirk from Sasuke's lips hitching even higher. He should come up with a good rebuttal, something as sarcastic, spot-on and spiteful just to show his superiority.
"OW!" Sasuke protested from the injury when Naruto kicked his ankles quite viciously. "What the hell, that hurt you moron!" He complained while his hands were nursing the wounded leg.
"Aww…poor lil Sasu-chan can't deal with a boo-boo?" Naruto rebutted, one hand cupping his face in mock concern. "Not surprising a snotty spoiled brat would whine about one small injury. What a wuss."
One of Sasuke's eyebrows twitched and he closed his eyelids in mild annoyance, surely not expecting that their talk would lower to this kind of immature bickering. No matter, he was going to ignore the stupid blond. Ignore ignore…
"Wuss—wuss—Sasu-chan is a wuss—"Naruto continued chanting scornfully. "Chicken-butt Sasuke—Chicken coward~~~"
That did it. Sasuke balled his hand ready to land a punch on the whiskered cheek but Naruto was quicker and dodged, running towards the exit door and blowing a raspberry:
"Come here and try to get me bastard! If you can…" The blond turned around and started sprinting frantically towards the elevator, Sasuke hot on his tail. He was lucky enough to enter just in time as the elevator's door was closing, gleefully smiling while the Uchiha was fuming.
Fine! If that's how the usuratonkachi wanted to play…Sasuke focused, remembering all the possible paths inside the airport and ran to the one he knew was the shortest way to the departure hall. One of the advantages of being part of Uchiha Corporation is that the airport prepared private short cuts for them and the brunet intended to fully utilize it now.
"Just you wait till I arrive first, stupid moronic blond." Sasuke thought darkly while his brain entertained the many possibilities of exacting his revenge on Naruto, which involved a good amount of choking and other gory details. He arrived in a few seconds at the Southbound departure hall, waiting for the blond with crossed arms.
A few minutes passed and Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows, impatient that the moron was so slow. He looked at his watch and realized that there wasn't much time left for his own flight. Maybe Naruto got lost in the airport? He rolled his eyes, his gaze straining to see any spiky blond hair in the vicinity.
Wait. Or maybe the dumbass really did succeed in entering before him. Sasuke growled, noticing that there was only 10 minutes left before his flight. He should enter now before it was too late, he knew which gate Naruto's flight was at so he could drag the idiot to some secluded place and give him the deserved beating. Nodding to himself, he offered his passport and flight ticket to the officer and once authorized he prepared to enter inside.
Suddenly, a loud whistle attracted everyone's attention including Sasuke; the brunet turned around and saw Naruto waving his arm as a mocking goodbye.
Onyx eyes widened considerably before narrowing into one look that spelled murder, and with a snarl Sasuke stalked towards the blond only to realize he couldn't move any further since the airport officers were holding him.
"Sir, you have already entered inside, you are not allowed to return any longer!"
"What?" Sasuke growled. "It's just for a few seconds, I'll enter soon!"
"No, please obey our procedures, once you have presented the documents, you cannot undo this action. Please don't disrupt the influx of passengers here." The officer replied, inflexible.
"Have a nice trip Sasuke!" Naruto shouted with a mischievous smile. His lips considerably widened as the brunet continued to struggle for few more seconds, only to stop with an angry shrug and threw a last menacing glare towards the blond.
Naruto laughed unbeknownst to himself, he knew that his strategy of hiding behind the chairs would be successful and watching the furious expression on Sasuke's face was incredibly entertaining. Their next meeting was scheduled in the next few days, so it was enough to allow Sasuke's rage to simmer down to a bearable level. Still, Naruto was sure that the brunet would try finding any possible excuse to lash out at him.
"Ah damn…I better arrive on time that day."
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With a yawn, Shikamaru was sending some new projects to Naruto through Skype as they continued to chat amicably, the blond narrating excitedly about his latest sightseeing excursions to famous places in Kyoto he saw that day.
"Ah yeah, can you send me again the first floor plan? I think I forgot to save it in my laptop." Naruto said, looking at Shikamaru's face recorded on the camera.
"Sure, tomorrow is your meeting with Sasuke Uchiha right?" Shikamaru replied, clicking on the mouse and dragging the file inside Skype. He saw a scowl forming on the blond's face and questioned. "Something wrong?"
"Yeah well…I'm not exactly looking forward to seeing that fucker." After the whole confusion in Narita's airport, Naruto remembered Sasuke's refusal and was still smarting in regard to that occurrence.
"Oh?" Shikamaru quirked an eyebrow, recognizing the familiar diatribe his friend always professed before. "Hm, weird, considering that you were on good terms with him."
"Well, he's still an asshole after all! God, he's such a prick." Naruto grumbled.
"I see." Shikamaru slowly felt his shoulders relaxing; it seemed that everything had returned to the old days, without that headache of Naruto being attracted to Uchiha.
"Yeah! That uptight bastard, getting all touchy over a small thing! Sheesh, what a jerk!"
"Mm." Yep, definitely returning to the old days—
"Overreacting just because I tried to kiss him! Wuss!"
Wait what?
"What?" Shikamaru asked, his mouth slightly agape as he leaned towards his monitor. "What did you say just now Naruto?"
Blue eyes conveniently avoided looking at the surprised expression, the tanned face acquiring a red hue as Naruto mumbled embarrassed, one finger scratching his cheek. "Uh…uh…well, I tried to kiss him?"
Shikamaru rubbed his eyebrows with his fingers. "I thought you said you didn't want to feel any attraction towards him."
"Well—!"
"So, enlighten me. Why the change of heart?" The ponytailed brunet groaned.
Naruto slackened his jaw, trying to form some words even though his expression was completely mortified, fidgeting in front of the camera. The blond threw his hands to the air. "I—I can't explain! It's complicated!"
"Don't tell me it was an accident again. Something like he choked on some food and you had to do CPR."
"No! It was like—"Naruto mumbled. "It was different. Something between us. And he said—some things."
"What things?" Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.
The blond vigorously shook his head. "Doesn't really matter. I mean, it matters but—Anyways. He said some things that made me…" Naruto paused, his blush intensifying and Shikamaru stared impressed, he looked like some blond hot chili-pepper. "Uh…so—aaaaargh. I thought he looked kissable, so I wanted—then…DO I REALLY HAVE TO EXPLAIN THIS SHIT?" He exploded.
"I guess…I'll give you a break." Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "So what happened later to make you angry with him? He rejected your attempt at kissing him right?"
"Yeah!" Naruto growled, relieved he returned to a more familiar emotion; anger. "And he was all snobbish and arrogant! I couldn't stand it!"
"Uh huh. So what did you do after that?"
"I kicked him!" Naruto declared proudly.
Shikamaru raised both eyebrows.
"Then I taunted him back, calling him a chicken. He tried to chase after me, but I was faster. I also figured that since he knew the airport better than me and I knew his flight time was earlier than mine, I should wait till he entered the custom service area so he wouldn't be able to return to capture me. Hah! The sweet triumph once I saw his angered face! It made everything worthwhile." Naruto nodded to himself, a look of satisfaction spreading across his face.
"…" Shikamaru rubbed his eyelids, trying to bite back the urge to exhale a very aggravated sigh. Brats…he was dealing with immature brats…not the fully grown up adults that they should be with this age and stature. "Naruto, didn't I warn you before that you shouldn't pursue Sasuke Uchiha considering the complications that would naturally come of the situation?"
"…uh…sorry?"
Shikamaru sighed. "Ok fine, so aside this bout of insanity, you're not going to chase after him right?"
However, instead of receiving some sort of agreement with this question, Naruto simply rested his back on the chair with a serious and pensive expression and slowly mumbled. "What if I said I want to?"
"What?" Shikamaru rebutted disbelieving. "Are you some sort of masochist? Didn't you say to me just a few seconds ago that he's a prick?"
"Well, but maybe he's not that much of a prick! And maybe I changed my mind, maybe it's worth the try!" Naruto said heatedly.
"Then I'm still saying no. He's not the type of relationship you're looking for. I asked Temari, she used to be in the same social circle as he is and she confirmed he's homosexual, but kept this a secret to the public view. You don't like being constricted from expressing your feelings."
"Maybe not, but I can keep a secret!"
"What? No, you can't." Shikamaru snorted. "You're the worst liar I've ever seen in my life. Sasuke Uchiha probably refused you because he knows how much you're not good at hiding anything, you're so damn easy to read sometimes."
"What!" Naruto opened his mouth in protest.
"And you're a disaster in flirting with anyone. Try it for few seconds and I'm sure the next day you'll be in the headlines of some newspaper with a photo of you making kissy faces towards Sasuke Uchiha."
"I'm not a disaster!"
Shikamaru rolled his eyes once again. "Please, I'm sure that half of the worst pick-up lines in the whole world were conceived by you. I remember so damn well whenever you tried to ask Sakura for a date, your attempts to woo her resulted instead to make her pissed off at you."
"But I had some girlfriends before!"
"Again, like I've said, you didn't chase them; you let them chase after you. It's only when you're the oblivious blond, your personality works as a charm to ensnare those unlucky girls. But if you're doing the chase…well oh boy, zero percent of success." Shikamaru saw his friend crossing his arms in defiance, sulking.
"Well fine then! Looks like you know more about me than I know about myself, so what kind of advice do you want to give me next, oh great guru expert?"
"…so you're not going to—"
"No." Naruto replied, inflexible. "I've decided. I…am going to try."
Shikamaru scratched the back of his head. "Have I already mentioned how much you're too intense whenever you're in purs—oh yes, I did talk about this last time, didn't I?"
Blue eyes rolled impetuously, Naruto chortled. "Oh c'mon Shika, you're sounding like I want to marry him or something like that! I'm just trying it out, if it's no good I'll back out, I promise."
"Oh really? Let me ask you one thing, when was the last time you had a crush on someone?"
Naruto blinked confused. "What kind of question is that, didn't I have some girlf—"
"Again, when was the first and the last time you had strong feelings towards someone to make you chase after her?"
Naruto huffed impatiently, and retorted. "Why are we talking about Sakura-chan again, I—"
"And again, what was the ultimate result about this whole experience?"
"So what, the circumstances are different! He's someone else, not Sakura-chan, and I'm old enough to know if I should back down if necessary! I'm not going to be too intense in this pursuit, besides at that time, I was only a teenager; you're bound to do stupid things!"
"Exactly." Shikamaru punctuated his word. "You were a teenager, running on hormones and wanting to hump anything near you but what did you do? You stayed faithful to a girl for five years who didn't do anything aside giving you a kiss on prom night!"
"So maybe Sakura-chan kept giving me mixed signals, maybe I was too stubborn!" Naruto conceded with a groan. "But I'll be more careful now!"
"Are you sure?" Shikamaru asked, still worried.
"Yes!" Naruto answered with an aggravated grunt. "Are you satisfied now, mother?"
"Man, you still haven't turned off Skype?" Interrupting the conversation, Temari suddenly appeared on the screen with a quirked eyebrow, just returning from her bath.
"We're still talking about Sasuke Uchiha." Shikamaru replied, idly massaging his temples.
"And your fiancé doesn't believe in me! C'mon Temari, help me out with this!" Naruto whined.
Not questioning why she was suddenly thrown inside a conversation she wasn't paying attention to before, Temari languidly approached towards the microphone and declared with a smirk: "You guys are behaving like high school girls talking about gossip and giggling about their latest crush. Do me a favor and grow some balls because this situation is getting ridiculous." She ignored the indignant squawk from the blond man and gave a cheeky peck on the lips to her boyfriend, whispering. "I'm going to bed."
Naruto stared suspiciously as Shikamaru's features lost his standard lazy eyes, clearing his throat. "So, like I've said, as long as you don't go too overboard with this pursuit and know your limit, everything will be fine. I think it's time for me to go."
"But we didn't finish this conversation yet!" Naruto protested.
"It's getting late Naruto, and I also need to sleep." The brunet replied with a yawn, glancing sideways.
"What? Bullshit! What about your morality! The code! Our friendship! You're just leaving me hangin' so you can have great sex with Temari, aren't you? Is the sex that awesome to make you abandon me on my direst situation, you heartless friend?" Naruto pointed accusingly.
Shikamaru made a face of 'what do you think?' before sluggishly moving his mouse around. "I'll see you later Naruto." He turned off Skype.
"Wait a min—ass!" The blond fumed, hearing the noise of being hung up as the window camera automatically shut off.
Seriously, with those type of friends, who needs enemies?
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Naruto stared at his watch with smug satisfaction. He arrived five minutes earlier than the scheduled time. The bastard obviously wouldn't be able to complain about his tardiness today and he also made sure he didn't forget any plan, documents or anything like that, so Sasuke would have no excuse to complain about him.
The kiss incident however, Naruto wasn't so sure how he should address it. Shikamaru's warnings rang in his conscience, maybe he should go slowly, see how the situation developed. Still, it was a blow to his ego that his lazy ass friend insisted that he sucked at flirting, he wasn't that incompetent! Naruto grumbled to himself, adjusting the rolls of paper in his arms though most were dangling and it took some effort for him to hold them up.
Perhaps it was for this reason; the golden hair slightly disheveled and his suit a little bit rumpled from all the movement that made the receptionist at the Uchiha Corporation narrow her eyes suspiciously towards the foreigner that just entered their building, coming from a regular taxi instead of a limousine or some imported car. Naruto flashed a bright grin that temporarily mollified her distrust when the blond architect spoke in Japanese:
"Hi! I have a meeting with Uchiha Sasuke now. My name is Uzumaki Naruto."
In an instant, all her qualms resurfaced as she glanced up and down at the questionable man in front of her. Meeting a good number of ruffians who lied about fictitious meetings with Uchiha Sasuke, one of the most important figures in the Uchiha Corporation she maintained a critical eye to anyone who desired to talk with their VP to prevent those annoying events from happening. She saw the way his hair didn't appear to be stylized fashionably, the spiky strands appeared to be natural, his suit although it looked good on him, obviously was not from an expensive label, given the fabric and cut and his orange necktie was one odd, bright color.
"I see." She said with reasonable reservation. "May I see your documents please? Before we contact Uchiha Sasuke-sama regarding this, there are some necessary protocols to be followed, if you don't mind."
Blue eyes blinked bewildered before he placed the plans on the desk, looking for his passport inside his backpack. "Here it is."
She inspected the document for a few seconds, placing the passport on the desk with a discernible sigh. Although the document was legitimate, this didn't prove anything if this man really had a meeting with Uchiha Sasuke. To confirm it, she should call his secretary, though somehow she was still unwilling to do so. Plus, he looked too young to be someone who had impressive achievements; he's probably just a bum looking for a job. A very handsome bum…the receptionist took some extra seconds to ogle the blond, nevertheless, still a bum.
"Uzumaki Naruto-san, if you don't mind, can we inspect the objects you carry as well as perform a thorough scan to see if you're carrying any metal, dangerous items among other things?" Before the blond could protest, she added. "It's all part of protocol."
Naruto begrudgingly handed the papers to them as well as his backpack, noticing now that five minutes had passed already, the receptionist used the intercom to call security. Once they arrived, she didn't voice out loud her orders, opting instead to whisper closely to one of them as they also stared back at the blond as if he were a nuisance.
They started scanning his body when another receptionist arrived with a questionable glance, though the one who talked with Naruto stood next to her, and continued the whispering. Naruto felt his body unconsciously stiffening at the obvious wariness, the subtle disdain, that oppressive atmosphere…he couldn't move away, he couldn't stop this horrible sensation…
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Sasuke was staring at his watch, for once not looking with impatience but instead wearing a haughty smirk. Seriously…either the usuratonkachi was purposely looking for trouble or he was just too stupid not to arrive on time at least today. Because now he had the perfect excuse to start his revenge for the humiliation he suffered back in Narita's airport. With a quick swipe on his iPhone, he dialed Naruto's cell phone:
A voice answered him. "Hell—"
Sasuke immediately snarled;"You're late. Ten minutes late. I can't believe this. One would believe that since you're coming to my office you'd try to be punctual and also because you're now on Japanese lands and we don't tolerate tardiness but it appears that you can't get rid of this habit, eh usuratonkachi?" The brunet criticized as he entered the elevator, pressing the button to the Lobby as he already asked for his driver to wait for him. He better personally pick up that dumbass or else they would never have time for a decent meeting today.
"Why you Bastard, I did arrive on time! Actually, I arrived 5 minutes earlier than normal, so you can't complain about it!" Naruto replied.
"Oh really? Then why haven't you arrived in the conference room yet?" Sasuke snorted, skeptical.
The blond paused for some seconds that generated one raise of dark eyebrow in response, until Naruto said, sheepish. "Uh…I'm kinda stuck. In your lobby."
"What?" Sasuke exited the elevator and walked towards the entrance. "What kind of absurdity are you spouting now, usura—"He saw familiar blond hair and his voice trailed off.
Naruto also noticed Sasuke and timidly waved his hand, another one still holding his cell phone. "Um…hi?"
Sasuke turned off his cell phone and looked bewildered about this event. "Why are you here? Or better, what's taking you so long to go to my office?"
"I…" Naruto sputtered, shifting his gaze sideways. "I—don't know, they said they have to fulfill the protocols and now they are scanning all my plans one by one."
Even so, this whole inspection shouldn't take so long, Sasuke mused when one of his receptionists arrived, asking:
"Uchiha-sama? You know this gentleman?"
The brunet replied impatiently. "Yes, he's supposed to have a meeting with me at this very moment. Why haven't you called my secretary to confirm this appointment?"
The receptionist mildly blushed, noticing her mishap as she explained, bowing in apology. "I'm so sorry! I had to make sure that Uzumaki-sama followed the procedures to ensure he didn't carry any dangerous items before I could bothe—"
"So basically you're saying you judged Naruto wrongly instead of simply taking the few extra seconds to confirm my schedule? Your pre-conceived opinion proves to be a hindrance to efficiency in this office and you're apparently limited to erroneously analyzing someone only through outward appearances." Sasuke snapped, interrupting her.
"Uh, hey, you don't have to be that hard on her—"Naruto tentatively intervened in between.
The Uchiha continued, unrelenting. "The Uchiha Corporation cannot accept this type of conduct from our employees and your lack of proper decision making not only hampered the timeliness of our contractor's appointment but also infringed upon his right to be here as requested. You're fired." Sasuke declared with an icy glare, walking back to the elevator as he ignored the teary-eyed expression from his employee.
"Whoa! No, wait, isn't that a little bit too much—"Naruto followed after, until all of a sudden Sasuke turned around to face him with one growl.
"And you! Haven't you had enough?"
"What? What!" Naruto sputtered, why the hell was Sasuke's rage suddenly directed at him?
"I don't understand how you don't waste one second to defend your step father by punching a client and losing your job, but you won't move one inch if there's any need to defend yourself."
"How do—"Naruto replied with widened eyes.
"Don't forget, I wasn't the only one who poured his heart out and confessed some secrets that night." Sasuke said, the elevator's door opening in front of him as he prepared to enter inside.
"I thought you wouldn't remember that, since you were too drunk at the time." Naruto grumbled to himself, then noticed. "Ah, I have to grab my things at the reception des—"He felt one hand firmly grasping his arm while Sasuke spoke.
"There's no need, I'll ask someone to pick up your belongings later."
"Oh…okay…" The blond agreed with a brief nod, entering the elevator. Once the door closed and started moving up, Sasuke turned him around, pale fingers holding his shoulder so tightly that Naruto winced from his strength.
"Why aren't you reacting at all whenever someone is underestimating you? I know you hate this kind of humiliation, that's why you worked so hard to be successful right? So why don't you ever protest the unfair treatment?" Sasuke snarled.
"You think I've never tried?" Naruto replied heatedly, wrenching the hand away from his shoulder. "Discussion, fights, pranks…I did everything I could but it never changed the point of view they had about me. It's no use." Blue eyes stared at some faraway point, unfocused. "Then, when my current father arrived, I tried to behave as best as I could, because I didn't want him to regret adopting me. Only after we got used to each other I returned to defending my position but it's not the same. You can't remove the disdain from their eyes through those methods. That's why I had to become better than them, so they could finally recognize me."
Sasuke thought about this for a bit, the silence hanging between them as they took their time to ponder over Naruto's words. The brunet shook his head. "Even so, you have already passed through this phase of having to improve to show them how much you have changed. You have a fairly successful career, a decent income and haven't done anything to make you ashamed of yourself. No one is entitled to look at you with contempt, have some pride in your own achievements."
Naruto furrowed his eyebrows, grumbling. "I do have pride in my achievements. Just because I'm not like you, who parades everywhere with your nose held up high, like some kind of peacock showing his glittering feathers doesn't mean I'm not proud of myself."
Onyx eyes narrowed dangerously, before the brunet snorted. "Maybe you think I'm too prideful, but you shouldn't allow people to misjudge you so easily. Learn a thing or two about how I handle those situations."
"Of course. Because becoming an arrogant bastard surely is on the top of my what-to-do list." Naruto rolled his eyes in exasperation, though there was a visible grin showing on his lips.
"Hn." Sasuke shrugged, waiting for the door to open as they exited the elevator. "Wait." He turned his head to face the blond, speaking. "The first time I met you I also underestimated you based on your physical appearance and your attitude. Why did you argue against me then?"
Naruto appeared to be surprised by this inquiry as he replied. "I dunno. You're different I guess. A bigger jerk. Why do you care?"
Sasuke didn't offer any sort of rebuttal, re-starting his walk towards the appointed room when the blond noticed a familiar expression and said. "Hey. Why are you smirking now, bastard?"
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Naruto stretched his arms wide, relaxing as he turned off his laptop and began re-organizing the papers.
"So, now that we're done for today, I'll give you my best wishes that you won't get lost inside Kyoto, usuratonkachi." Sasuke said with nonchalance, also turning off his laptop and picking up his cell phone.
"Bastard. I've prepared myself enough and wrote the whole itinerary for today, with addresses and everything. There's a temporary exhibition that I'm really excited to see!" Naruto said, beaming widely.
"Oh? And what kind of exhibition would that be?" Sasuke asked flippantly, staring at the list of contacts inside his phone.
"Tah-dah!" Naruto showed a flier and graphite eyes stared at it. "It's a Chinese Calligraphy exhibition! Actually, I don't know much about Eastern Calligraphy, but Shikamaru was the one who said it was worth the visit."
"Hn." Sasuke perused the paper, reading the contents.
"He said that they are exhibiting many important documents and there are some scrolls written by prominent artists."
"Hn." Sasuke continued to stare, looking at each detail inside.
"Their main attraction is the Treatise on Calligraphy written by Sonkatei, it's said that it revolutionized the style of Eastern Calligraphy during the Tang Dynasty. It was temporarily donated from a museum in Taiwan for this exhibition and everyone said it's worth the visit."
"Hm…" Onyx eyes were completely focused on the paper displayed in front of him, forgetting whatever thing he was supposed to do with his cell phone. Naruto looked at Sasuke and blinked confused.
The blond stared as the dark eyes were moving up and down, reading all the information with an entranced concentration when Naruto asked. "Hey, you wanna go with me and see it?"
Hearing the proposal snapped Sasuke out of his stupor as he hastened to look at his cell phone, responding. "No thanks. I'm too busy today, unfortunately."
"Really? C'mon, you looked so interested in this flier, it'd be a shame if you don't go." Naruto said, leaning closer to Sasuke.
Mentally steeling himself to forget about stupid blonds and their warm attractive bodies, Sasuke resumed in searching the name on the contact list as he spoke, not looking up. "I'm not as interested as you claim and I have an urgent meeting today. Maybe next time."
"Yeah, k…when is this 'next time' going to be?" The blond raised one eyebrow, skeptical.
The brunet just made an uncommitted grunt, his eyes staring at the phone until suddenly he felt Naruto grabbing the device and felt it slipping away from his fingertips. "What the—give me my cell phone back usuratonkachi." Sasuke glared for emphasis, approaching menacingly towards the blond.
"Why should I?" Naruto grinned, raising his arm up high, taking a few broad steps back away from Sasuke. "No phone, no calling, no meeting. What a brilliant idea huh?"
"Idiot, this is no joke, I really have to go to this meeting. Give the cell phone back now." Sasuke growled, struggling to grab his cell phone but Naruto was faster in changing from one hand to another. Annoyed, the Uchiha drew nearer to Naruto's body, his hands almost reaching the gadget when he saw an infuriating beam in the corner of his eye.
"Well, I do appreciate immensely you being all over me." The blond whispered close to his lips, shifting slightly so they could feel a light friction between their bodies.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes, increasing the distance with one balled fist ready to whack the blond head though Naruto was swifter. With one mischievous smile, he casually dropped the cell phone in his backpack lying next to him, zipped it and threw it over his shoulder in a matter of seconds.
"What? You dare—"Sasuke tried to grab the backpack or open the zipper though the blond kept ducking at the right time. "What are you trying to accomplish by doing something as childish as this?" The brunet glared.
"Hm? Can't you see? I kidnapped your cell phone! Just think, all your important contacts and e-mails will be vanished by my unrelenting hands!" The corner of Naruto's mouth widened and he beamed even more evilly once he saw the murderous intent emanating from Sasuke. "But I'll accept a simple ransom. Just go with me to this exhibition and by the end of this visit I'll return it to you."
"What kind of absurdity are you're spouting usura—"
"Yeah, it is kind of absurd. I mean, I bet there's tons of important things stored inside this cell phone, so maybe I should ask for a better ransom." Naruto replied airily, organizing the papers. "Can you ask one of your employees to leave those plans at my hotel? Oh, go with me to this exhibition and buy me one cup of coffee. Now that's a decent request."
Sasuke sighed. "Didn't you hear what I said before? I have an important meeting, I can't waste my time idly—"
"Oh, c'mon, it's just for a few hours and you're the boss, they wouldn't dare complain about your tardiness. Plus, it's a good way to see if your staff is competent enough to handle a situation without you. I'm a genius, right?" Naruto nodded satisfied with himself at his brilliant conclusion, opening the door. "Let's go."
Sasuke closed his eyes in fake annoyance, shaking his head as he replied. "Fine. Since you didn't give me any choice."
"Hah! I knew you were interested in th—"
"Don't push your luck usuratonkachi."
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Naruto stared at the multiple scriptures displayed in front of him, cocking his head to one side. He was lucky he knew a reasonable number of kanjis, which allowed him to comprehend the forms and content of each letter, but it appeared that this type of art was focused only towards the specialists in this area that were capable of fully appreciating it. Back in college, he took some painting classes so he wielded a paintbrush for some watercolor works. However, seeing the straight lines and perfect forms using the same brush that he knew from experience that was too soft and malleable to succeed in creating such clean lines baffled him.
"How the hell…?" Naruto mumbled, approaching to see the details of one small character, it was so perfectly written that it could almost trick you into believing that it was done digitally on the computer.
"Having fun?" Sasuke quirked an eyebrow, gazing at the same scripture written by an emperor from China.
"The character is so small, but you can't see any trembling or hesitation from the writer. Did they use different tools and types of calligraphic pens?" Naruto asked.
"No, it's just ink and a brush, that's all. Well, there's also the need of correct posture and position of the brush, among other things. Writing Eastern Calligraphy demands that your mind should be focused and serene, so your lines would reflect your tranquil spirit. It follows the Confucian philosophy of finding inner peace and being one with nature." Sasuke explained.
"That's really impressive. They have tons of different types of writing styles. I can't read this one; they're a bunch of simple lines and stuff." The blond pointed to another scroll, they looked at and appreciated intently. "It's really pretty though."
"That's Soushotai, or Cursive Script in Western terms. They simplified the letters on purpose so you can move your brush more freely, but on the other hand only scholars who studied this style are able to read it."
"Hm…is this one of the things that every Japanese kid knows about or is that something you studied specifically?" Naruto turned his head around, only to meet piercing onyx eyes in return. The blond chuckled, unaffected from the glare. "I assume it's the second option then. Wow, but this curved line is really impressive! I wonder if I can use this idea for my next project…"
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Do you really have to relate everything to architecture? Didn't know you were such an architect geek."
Naruto harrumphed. "It's not my fault, it's a conditioned reflex. We architects are obsessed with forms and shapes, using them as inspiration to create new ideas." He crouched to observe better the lines when he met one uncomfortable pause coming from the brunet. "Something wrong?"
Sasuke fixed his eyes to the ground in a pensive state, when he mumbled almost inaudibly. "Must be nice. Loving your job so much that you see it everywhere you go."
Naruto straightened up, looking at Sasuke who kept a nonchalant face, though a small tightening of his mouth was somehow perceptible to the blond. "…Are you saying that you don't like your current job?"
Sasuke sighed, it wasn't like he really hated being a VP. Working in this field for so long, he ended up appreciating some aspects of his job. But it wasn't exactly what he wanted, it wasn't something that he would pursue so passionately, or concentrate so intently on like he always saw in Naruto whenever those blue eyes would focus on re-checking details on a plan. "It's not…the ideal." The brunet said.
"Oh? Then, what're you interested in then?" Naruto asked curiously.
Sasuke took a few seconds to absorb the inquiry, questioning himself whether he should talk about this or not. It was a private issue, though somehow, he felt that he wouldn't mind sharing it with Naruto. "Look around you."
With a bewildered expression, Naruto obeyed, glancing briefly at the people who were admiring the pieces of art.
"Have you noticed? Most of the people inside are either middle-aged men or foreigners. Young people rarely get interested in something like that. Lately there's a mass influence on them coming from other countries, such as USA or Korea. Now the new generation can't appreciate their own culture, which is something lamentable, when Japan has a rich history and value that should be treasured forever. Although being one of the heads of Uchiha Corporation grants me the money and resources to help revitalize Japan's culture…for me it's not enough." The brunet said the last part quietly, hung in suspense awaiting Naruto's answer.
"Hey…" Naruto called, in which Sasuke answered with a raised eyebrow. "I think that's a pretty awesome ambition." The blond spoke with indubitable sincerity, a warm smile that made Sasuke's heart skip a beat, as he tried his best to school a quirk coming to his lips.
Sasuke cleared his throat forcibly, in an attempt to make Naruto focus on the scripture. They continued to view the whole exhibition, the blond asking whatever question he had in mind, Sasuke would explain effectively. Once they finished looking at the whole exhibition, Naruto took out the cell phone and offered it to the brunet:
"Well, I guess that's all for today. I'll spare you buying coffee 'cuz I'm a nice guy and you were a pretty decent tour guide." He grinned.
"Hn." Sasuke took it from him with mocking irritation, checking the screen to call his driver. He saw the blond pick up a paper which he guessed was Naruto's itinerary. Curiosity piqued, he glanced furtively at the chosen places until, with narrowed eyes, he grabbed the paper away from Naruto's hands:
"Hey!" The blond automatically protested.
"…you want to go to a brewery?" Sasuke asked in mild incredulity.
"What's wrong with that? I want to compare the differences between Japanese beer and American beer!" Naruto explained, trying to get his paper back.
"…" Sasuke continued to read the contents and snarled. "Temple of penises?"
"It's a different type of temple! It's a temple of fertility! You'd be curious to take a peek too!" Naruto responded.
"Usuratonkachi, when you're inside a famous historical city such as Kyoto, you'll go to the most important landmarks from Japanese history, and not a Gundam store in Osaka!" Sasuke launched his famed Uchiha glare®, in full powered 100% potency.
"What's your problem with Gundam? It's an awesome place, robots, anime and stuff, I played with those toys when I was a kid!" The blond grumbled, determined to have his schedule back though the Uchiha kept dodging his attempts.
"But instead of doing those useless things, you should go to serious places and properly savor the Japanese culture, you dumbass."
"What are you talking about? Gundam is part of the Japanese culture!" Naruto rebutted with conviction, bright blue eyes blinking in an almost childish innocence.
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Only in your usuratonkachi world and usuratonkachi mind." He replied in mild exasperation, keeping his nonchalant attitude until he snapped. "Maid café?"
"…why not?" Naruto sulked.
"Why would you be interested in going to those unsavory places you pervert?" Sasuke glowered.
"Wait…I'm not a perv. I'm simply a normal tourist that is curious about certain unique traits in your culture so I'm going there to understand this aspect of it better." Naruto explained with a scholarly tone. Then, the blond snorted inelegantly. "You Japanese are the kinky pervy ones that invented it, not me. Be happy that I didn't choose the hardcore course, I've heard that there's a place where you pay to jack off while a high school girl is removing her pan—"
Sasuke had enough. With one clean action, he ripped in half the schedule and had the pleasure of turning it into mini confetti.
"What the hell!" Naruto shouted. "That's my carefully planned schedule that I wasted tons of hours to come up with the ideal program! Why did you do that?"
"You're going with me." Sasuke sniffed imperiously. "My pride as a Japanese citizen will be sullied if I ever allow you to go to those unholy places. You better follow me or else."
"What, don't you have an important meeting and stuff?" Naruto complained.
"Didn't you say yourself that I should test out the efficiency of my staff and see how they manage?" The brunet sneered.
The other young man clamped his mouth shut, his tanned face displaying an obvious displeasure in not being able to come up with a rebuttal.
Satisfied with this outcome, Sasuke said as they exited the Museum. "Why did you have an interest in going to those weird places anyways? Can't you choose some conventional ones that every foreigner would go to once they arrive in Kyoto?"
"Huh? Don't group me with the usual foreigners that don't understand one inch of the Japanese culture. I understand, I studied almost my whole life, my adopted father is Japanese. For me, it's nothing out of the ordinary." Naruto grumbled. "Plus, it's so boring going where everyone else goes then you don't have anything different to share with your friends." He started reciting a dialogue. "'Did you go to Kyomizu-Dera?' 'Yeah, I did, so pretty.' 'Did you go to Kinkaku-jii and Ginkaku-ji?' 'Yep yep.' 'What about Himeji Castle?' 'Yeah, I went there, as always, an impressive place, so pweety, so magnanimous.'" The blond groaned. "That's so fucking boring! At least I had the opportunity to go to unusual places so I can show how different my visit was and can boast what the biggest phallic symbol inside a Japanese temple is. That's why you bastard shouldn't stop me in my journey to reveal unusual parts of the—"
"Finish that sentence and I'll cut your own phallic symbol off and throw it to the sharks. You're not going to do this in my presence dumbass." Sasuke growled.
"…fine. Then, where are we going?" Naruto conceded in defeat.
"Toudaiji in Nara. It's the largest wooden building in the world and contains the largest bronze Buddha statue. One would think that since you're an architect, you would go there to analyze it." The brunet mumbled slightly incredulous.
"Well, I was planning to go tomorrow. What kind of uncultured bastard do you think I am?" Naruto snorted haughtily as the brunet answered with an uplift of an eyebrow. Suddenly, the blond widened a lopsided smirk. "Wait. Is this a date?"
"Of course not you idiot." Sasuke replied untroubled. "No kind of date would consist of me having a headache and acting like a baby-sitter to an usuratonkachi like you."
Naruto sulked for a few seconds before a light bulb went off and he whispered with a sultry tone. "But you should consider it, because I like having sex on my first date." He emphasized with a waggle of eyebrows.
The Uchiha paused, turning his head to gawk in disbelief at the wide grin spreading on the whiskered face. He was still trying to process the last lines professed, in an attempt to understand what the hell was going on now. It appeared that the idiot was trying to flirt with him…very horribly in fact. In his long history of meeting admirers and fangirls, this was, hands down, the worst pick-up line he had ever heard.
So Sasuke snorted. "Moron."
The grin immediately morphed into a scowl as Naruto growled. "Bastard!"
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The whole trip to Nara fortunately was quick, though that didn't deter both of them from bickering along the way. Once they arrived, there was a traditional shop nearby; Naruto nudged Sasuke as they entered.
"I'm thinking of buying some souvenirs for my friends, but I'm not sure what I should choose." Naruto said, looking around.
"There's plenty of keychains and cell phone accessories for both genders that are cheap." Sasuke replied.
"Hm…I also wanted to buy something special for Sarutobi-jiichan. My father said that he likes green tea and there aren't many good brands in NY, so I was thinking of buying some here. On the other hand, I forgot to ask which brands are good…" Naruto thought out loud.
"Simple." Sasuke smirked. "You should buy our green tea. It's specially cultivated in the best fields in Japan and our leaf selection is one of the best in this country. I'll sell you a whole box with 10 packages at a reasonable price."
Naruto rolled his eyes. "Arrogant Bastard."
"We also have a special kind of instant ramen that cooks the noodles in one and half minutes instead of the usual three." Sasuke recited with an imperturbable face.
"You better reserve 3 boxes and gimme a special discount. You can ship it to the US right?" Naruto asked with pleading eyes.
Sasuke shook his dark hair. "Usuratonkachi."
Blue eyes glowered briefly before settling down to a pensive expression. "Well…I should also buy something interesting as a keepsake from this place."
"Postcards…small statues…anything like that. You could buy a map of Kyoto, they usually have good photos and an explanation attached."
"Maybe…" Naruto went to the appointed area and picked a map. "650 yen? 650 yen? That's the equivalent of 8 US dollars! This is absurd! With the advance of technology and the internet, you can find the same information for free! Why the hell would they sell it so expensively when they could adapt themselves to—"
"It also says." Sasuke interrupted, glancing at the contents. "That they also selected the best restaurants in this area, including twenty one specializing in Ramen."
"Let's buy this wonderful map!" Naruto shouted in glee.
"Aren't you afraid of becoming obese dumbass?" Sasuke said amusedly.
"Ramen is the wonderful nectar created by the holy Japanese Gods and I should properly enjoy eating it whenever possible! It's impossible that this delicacy would be harmful to the body." The blond said deeply touched with one hand clutching his heart.
Sasuke sighed softly, the more he spent time with this stupid blond, the more he became aware that Naruto had some screws loose.
"Oh yeah, there's also one thing I remembered." Naruto turned around while they were walking to the cashier and declared. "I want to buy the snack that has a guy kicking the other one's nuts."
"You want to buy what?" Sasuke uncharacteristically yelled.
Naruto repeated. "I want to buy the snack that—"
"I understood the first time." Sasuke settled with another furious glower. "What, why and where the hell do you think that we would sell that kind of junk here?"
With a cool detached face, the blond picked up a paper and raised it to Sasuke's eye level.
The brunet stared in disbelief; sure, there was a legitimate photograph about a Doritos snack where the package had the picture of a man wearing orange spandex while tenderly stepping between the legs of another man who was positioned upside-down and was wearing yellow spandex. The kanji and katakana positioned next to the illustration made it obvious its nationality, unfortunately.
Naruto eyes widened in a playful gleam, unaware of the gradual darkening mood displayed in front of him as he said, "Can we go to a nearby supermarket and buy those? My buddies are pretty excited to get it; we previously found it on the internet. You think that buying twenty will be en—"
Sasuke quickly snatched the paper and tore it apart into minuscule pieces, snarling. "You are not going to buy this kind of trash."
"Why do you always have to ruin my fun?" The blond growled.
"Why do you always have to be the retarded usuratonkachi?" The brunet deadpanned.
"Well fuck! I don't care! I'm going to buy those whether you like it or not!" Naruto threw his hands in the air irritated.
"I'll give you a free box of Ramen if you don't buy those atrocious things." Sasuke challenged.
The blond had the audacity to pause for a while, pondering this suggestion. "How many flavors?"
With another roll of eyes, Sasuke restarted to walk towards the counter.
Naruto nodded to himself, following behind. "Well, it's only fair that you'll give me as many flavors as you have, after all, I'm sacrificing myself in compliance to your selfish needs. You should feel grateful to me!"
"I'm going outside while you pay for the map. I feel that if I spend one more second with an usuratonkachi like you I'll start losing neurons." Sasuke said, ignoring the automatic protests at his back as picked up his cell phone to check his e-mail.
With an annoyed huff, Naruto showed the map to the salesperson as she took it and told him the price. Out of the corner of his eye, Sasuke observed that the girl was smiling a little bit too widely, glancing furtively at the blond while he was looking for some coins. The brunet growled, he could identify fangirl traits miles away. Once he gave her the money, the girl thanked him as a customary habit, and Naruto flashed a bright grin back, thanking her back. At this point, the salesperson giggled in response, this action not noticed by the oblivious blond but Sasuke surely saw it and felt his mood darken; she was definitely an airheaded fangirl.
Before the girl could gather her courage and try a tentative conversation, Sasuke interrupted:
"Naruto, will you hurry up? Those temples usually close early."
With a bewildered blink, the blond obeyed and hastened his steps, though he didn't see the victorious smirk Sasuke threw towards the disappointed look from the salesperson. Naruto immediately opened the map to consult whether they were going in the right direction, though fortunately they were already positioned in a street in which they only needed to move forward to arrive at Toudaiji temple. While they were on their way to the place the blond noticed one oddity and pointed it out to the Uchiha:
"Hey Sasuke. There's some deer walking on the street. Is that normal?"
Sasuke glanced briefly before replying. "Yes. One of the most popular attractions in Nara is the fact that there are deer living here. Don't worry about it; they are tame and completely used to the presence of humans."
"Cool." Naruto paused on his walk to snap some photos of those deer and reopened his map to look at the Ramen restaurants he desired to eat for dinner. Little did he know that one deer approached, opened his mouth and—
*RIIIIIIIIIIIIP*
"Whu—What the—Hey, don't eat my map! Sasuke! This deer is eating my maaaaap!" Naruto frantically tried to salvage the last bits of that piece of paper, but unfortunately through force it was shredded apart, completely crumpled. The deer continued to munch the rest until he left, unperturbed to the tragedy it left behind. Staring at his formerly brand new map that was now destroyed, blue eyes enlarged considerably with a teary expression, his head hanging down.
Sasuke only chuckled briefly, sarcastically saying. "Well, you can surely talk about this to your friends."
Naruto glowered and placed the remnants of his map inside his backpack, stomping loudly the rest of the way. Once they arrived at the first gates, there were a large number of deer strolling around and some vendors selling food.
"What are they selling there? Hopefully it's something tasty." Naruto asked.
"Hn? No, they are selling cheap sembeis so you can feed the deer. You want to buy some?" Sasuke inquired.
The blond wrinkled his nose in defiance, before he settled to snort loudly, crossing his arms. "I don't think they need any food when they already ate my beloved map as a snack."
The corners of Sasuke's lips were twitching to an amused smirk as he shook his head. "Do you really have to obsess over your map moron? You should try feeding them anyways, it's interesting." He gave some money to the vendor, receiving the crackers and offered them to Naruto. "Try it out dumbass."
With a sour look, Naruto grabbed the food from the brunet, and divided it into three pieces, offering some to a nearby deer. This piqued the attention of most deer in the vicinity, as they approached to eat more from the blonde's hand. Mildly entertained by this event, Naruto tentatively touched their horns (that were cut by the government to prevent any accident) as the animals didn't appear to mind this interaction.
"Okay, now let's start walking." Sasuke interrupted, grabbing Naruto's arm and moving forward.
"But I didn't give all the sembei to them." Naruto said confusedly, still snapping the crackers in two and offering to the deer that were following them.
"You have to keep walking or else they will surround you until it's too late. They can be quite insistent when they want. Plus, we better hurry before this temple closes." The brunet felt his cell phone vibrating and picked it up, cringing when he saw the identity of the caller.
"Where are you?" Fugaku's voice thundered directly to his ear, his fury evidently shown. "I have received calls from several people, some from our partners, others from your staff saying that they couldn't contact you because you ignored their calls and you disappeared out of nowhere. Explain your situation immediately."
Sasuke tightened his jaw, unsure how he should answer when he tentatively spoke. "I'm currently in Nara, with Na—Uzumaki-san. I thought it'd be nice if I could show him some of our Japanese landmarks, since he's interested in our culture."
A tense silence hung between the parent and his child, attracting Naruto's attention as he approached. Fugaku said. "Really?"
"Yes. I'm sorry that I didn't let you know, but I thought it would be brief. But there are many places that I thought would count as a valuable experience, so I ended up extending the whole tour." Sasuke explained.
"…fine." The elder Uchiha conceded, his anger considerably simmered down. "I'll say that you were busy with one of your meetings and that was why you couldn't accept calls. I'll also ask your secretary to rearrange your schedule so you can have the whole day to help Uzumaki-kun."
Sasuke couldn't answer temporarily, surprised by this outcome of events. "Thank you father."
"…you're welcome. I expect you to compensate for this brief negligence tomorrow."
"I will. I must go now father." Sasuke pressed the button to end the call and exhaled a relieved sigh.
"…nothing bad really happened just now right?" Naruto shyly asked, scratching the back of his head.
"No…don't worry about it. We always…have some problems with communication, that's all." Sasuke mumbled, placing the cell phone in his pocket.
"Hm…I kinda get what you mean. It kinda sounds like the first years when my father adopted me." The blond confessed, they arrived at the main gates at last, taking some photos of the magnificent view.
"Really?" Sasuke said bewildered, remembering the way Naruto mentioned his father back during that unforgettable night, it appeared that they had a refreshing relationship.
"Yeah. Like I've said, we weren't used to each other at that time. Like strangers living in the same house even though the feelings of care were there…you know." Naruto snapped some more photos till he lowered his camera and trained his blue eyes towards graphite ones. "It was complicated trying to find leverage, I was still a teenager that could barely remember fatherly care and he never had a kid before. Besides…" He lowered his eyes in shame and mumbled. "I kinda…used to resent him."
"…about what?" Sasuke slowly identified the same look he had in the past, that expression that still plagued him to this very day, the guilt spreading in his eyes…
"It was really an irrational thing, because logically I knew it wasn't his fault. But for some years I disliked…disliked the fact that he took so long to find me…leaving me in those hellish days without being able to find any hope." Naruto chuckled embarrassed, trying to regain ground. "It's really a silly thing; I was just a stupid brat. But for a long time I couldn't really approach him, because I wanted to blame him for all that…"
"Because it feels better to blame someone else…instead of admitting that you were too weak, unable to change the overwhelming situation surrounding you." Sasuke finished the sentence.
Naruto stared flabbergasted, Sasuke's words slowly absorbing into his heart. He had never admitted such dark feelings to anyone else, even to Shikamaru. He wasn't aware that he was spilling his past resentment so easily to the brunet, only to realize that Sasuke could understand it and identify with him. They locked their gazes in an indefinite moment; Naruto could see a recognizable emotion reflecting in his eyes at last, for the first time—
Wait…he had already seen it before … a long time ago, when Sasuke, he…
"How…how?" Naruto could only voice this question, eager to know more about Sasuke.
"My brother." The brunet admitted quietly. "He was always the center of attention at my house, my father respected him, my mother was proud of him, I admired him. He was once labeled the genius from the whole Uchiha lineage, everyone was looking forward to the moment he would take care of the company and greatly develop it under his capable hands."
Both continued to walk slowly towards the entrance of the temple, seeing at last the majestic Buddha statue, its gigantic splendor emanating an intimidating sensation.
"But obviously…something had to go wrong along the way." Sasuke almost quirked a humorless smile, as he proceeded to remember the memories. "My brother said that he wasn't interested in continuing the business, it wasn't his place, his duty was destined for something else. I don't know many details about it since I was too small, but my family discussed it …almost all the time. It was almost unbearable."
"Then he suddenly disappeared." Naruto completed the sentence, recollecting their conversation in the Italian restaurant.
"Yes…without leaving any trace. Till now, even though my father and my mother hired a lot of resources to find him, he managed to stay incognito." Sasuke admitted.
For once, Naruto preferred to remain quiet, fearing that whatever words he was going to come up with wouldn't be sincere enough. They simply let the topic die between them, exploring the gigantic temple as the blond continued to snap photos, Sasuke followed in a companionable silence.
Once they exited the main building, Naruto noticed some people praying and asked:
"Sasuke, what is the usual ritual of praying inside a temple?"
Puzzled by the sudden question, the brunet responded. "First, you throw a five yen coin, clap your hands twice and then place your palms together, asking for any wish or prayer."
"Ah…but I don't have any wish…exactly. What should I do as a way of paying respects?" Naruto said.
"You buy some incense, light it and place it in a censer."
"Where can we buy the incense?"
Further perplexed by the question, Sasuke quickly pointed to a small booth, Naruto ended up buying 10 incenses as they returned to the main building.
"Usually there's only the need to buy one incense per person."
"I know, but I'm not buying them for myself. I wanted to pay respect to the people who died in the earthquake in Mitsukoshi." Naruto replied, looking guilty. "Since I don't know which ones I caused their deaths, I thought that the least I could do is to pay respect for everybody."
Sasuke felt his body stiffening at the admission, swiftly coming up with words to defend the blond. "It wasn't your fault. It was just a natural tragedy, and what happened was an accident that was out of your control."
"Even so, that doesn't get rid of the fact that through my guidance they ended up dead. It doesn't remove what I have done." Naruto said sullen.
"Maybe, but you should think of the lives you have saved instead of the few that faced ultimate doom. What you did was a reasonable decision, if you hadn't many people would have died trampled or trapped in that building, many escaped safe and sound because of you."
"Which is something that I'm relieved of, but it doesn't matter the number of deaths was caused by me, a life was a life. And through my reckless decision I ended—"
"Usuratonkachi, I already said it wasn't your fault." Sasuke interrupted impatient. "You weren't aware, you've never faced an earthquake before, and that building was in shambles. You wouldn't know that the floor would crumble because of a leakage in the sewer system."
Blue eyes widened and then focused in inquiry. "How do you know about that? About the leakage."
"Why wouldn't I know?" Sasuke snorted. "You reported to my father right?"
"I wouldn't put that many technical terms in my reports, especially when your father asked for a quick summary. Actually, I remember that I just said that there was a malfunction that caused the floor to crumble, I didn't describe that specifically." Naruto further narrowed his eyes in question.
Crap.
Realization gradually dawned on Naruto's eyes as the blond widened into a very broad grin. "You knew about it before right. You were the one responsible to read the complaints about that building at that time. That's why you returned instead of exiting that place. Because you were aware of the leakage, and that's why you went to the emergency exit from my side to save me."
Sasuke mustered to throw the nastiest glare in his arsenal as he growled. "So?"
"Hm…nothing." The blond approached impossibly close to Sasuke and whispered huskily in his ear. "Just wanna rip your clothes off right here right now so I can properly express my thanks to you."
The Uchiha continued to glare towards Naruto, shoving his hand in the tanned face. He would look completely annoyed if there wasn't a steady blush spreading on his cheeks. "Keep your dirty thoughts to yourself, this is a holy ground moron."
Naruto laughed. "Fine fine. 's not my fault that seeing you makes my heart beat faster and my pants –" He couldn't continue his sentence because the brunet silenced him with a nasty whack on his blond head.
Sasuke sighed, ignoring the fact that Naruto was groaning from the pain. "Now that we've already finished visiting Todaiji, it's almost time for dinner."
Naruto perked up immediately. "Awesome! I was getting hungry already. So, are we going to a Ramen restaurant?"
The brunet lifted a sardonic eyebrow. "Sure. Give me the address."
"Bastard." Naruto grumbled.
Sasuke smirked at the protruding lip coming from Naruto and relented. "Fine. I'm sure that every foreigner has heard about geisha but few have had the opportunity to see them so I'll call to ask them to prepare themselves so you and I can see them performing."
"Really?" The blond's depressed mood instantly lifted with a bright beam. "Wow, you can be nice when you want asshole. Well, one thing I know for sure, I want to eat deer meat tonight. Though Shika will probably kill me if he realizes that I ate one of his kin."
Sasuke rolled his eyes.
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It was already late at night, and oddly enough Sasuke was complacent to follow Naruto to his hotel. The blond was still excited from seeing the geishas' performance, admiring their beautiful kimonos and their delicate movement.
Once they were close to the building, Naruto turned around and said,
"Thanks for today Sasuke. Even though you totally didn't let me go wherever I wanted to go and you let the deer eat my map."
"Dumbass."
"But it's ok. I have tomorrow free too, so I just shifted the schedules between—"
"I thought you would say something like that. That's why I called a tourist guide while you were watching the performance and he'll arrive tomorrow to take you to visit only important, crucial landmarks instead of whatever crazy things you have in mind. The first thing you'll see is the Himeji Castle, and I already informed him that no matter what you say, he won't interrupt his services and neither will he change the itinerary. Too bad right?" Sasuke smirked triumphantly.
"What! You are really one goddamned bastard!" Naruto protested.
"Hn." Sasuke snorted, unperturbed from the annoyed look coming from the blond. "Well, have a good night then usuratonkachi." The brunet prepared to turn around.
"Wait. What about a kiss goodbye?" Naruto said energetically.
The Uchiha simply quirked one eyebrow, transmitting the message of 'Have you gone insane?'
Naruto shrugged. "Deny it or not, today counted as a date. Being a date, I deserve a goodnight kiss."
"No date would consist of a blond moron asking for a snack with men kicking someone else's jewels, dumbass."
Naruto let the insult slide to concentrate on a greater purpose, as he eliminated the distance between them. "Whatever. I say it was a date, then I think it's a date. Wouldn't your lips want to meet mine…? Because they look pretty damn lonely now."
Sasuke twitched his eye from hearing that extremely cheesy line, though Naruto's close proximity called for his full attention.
He idly considered the place, knowing that, since it was a Ryokan, a traditional Japanese inn, the neighborhood was quiet and usually there wouldn't be many reporters in the vicinity, not expecting someone from his caliber going to a humble place like that. Also, it was late at night, so unless they stayed in the same position for too long, the camera wouldn't correctly capture the picture, so a brief attachment of mouths wouldn't compromise his reputation.
He wondered, the weak light from a nearby electric pole bathed the golden strands and barely illuminated the sapphire eyes, giving Naruto a soft look. He could almost remember the sensation and taste from those beguiling lips.
…He wondered.
Sasuke moved his head down to look at his cell phone, Naruto's breath fanning his fringes as he declared. "It's late, I have to go now. You better enter your hotel as soon as possible, Kyoto can still be dangerous sometimes, especially to tourists."
With his head ducked down, he saw the tanned hand close his fingers into a fist, and while he slowly moved upwards, Sasuke noticed a wounded expression plastered on Naruto's face, making the brunet unsure if he should take a few steps back for precaution or if he should get ready to start a nasty fight.
Suddenly, this open emotion was erased from cobalt eyes as Naruto smiled weakly. "Fine. Just go then, it's really late."
"…hn." Sasuke finally turned around, giving a quick wave of hand.
"Bye Sasuke! If you ever dream about me, I hope it's something X-rated." Naruto grinned widely, wagging his eyebrows.
"X-rated as in cutting your dumbass throat and throwing your dumbass brain to the vultures?" Sasuke responded monotone, turning his neck to face Naruto. "Don't worry, I'll make sure I'll dream about that."
The blond pouted. "Sheesh, what's your problem? Do you only have an icicle lodged in your as—Wait." Naruto smirked, crossing his arms. "I know the answer."
"Usuratonkachi." Sasuke growled, the slight blush on his face weakened his seething glare.
Naruto stared at the retreating back until he could no longer see him. It stung, the obvious rejection from Sasuke, but it was still easy to brush off since they were still in the initial stages. With a deep intake of air, he entered inside the hotel, his eyes determined.
Maybe next time.
Report 10: Unconventional trip.
AN: Here we go, long long long list of explanation. Now where do I start from…
Sonkatei; Sun Guoting is his original Chinese name, was a monk who theorized about letting the Chinese Calligraphy be free, to be more expressive as he inspired artists to follow the style of "Wild Cursive". Although I'm not extremely knowledgeable in Chinese Calligraphy (I do take classes though) a friend who specializes in this field said that the document Naruto mentioned is something that every student in Chinese Calligraphy should read and study.
Have I already mentioned how much I hate ff . net? (remove the spaces the part without underline)
Cursive Script: en . wikipedia .org/wiki/Cursive_script_%28East_Asia%29
You can see the difference between a regular written character with Cursive Script. Even people who have Chinese as their native language mostly can't read the Cursive Script. It's too abstract. XD
Temple of Penises: qjphotos . wordpress. com/2008/05/30/sacred-penises/
Brewing Beer: www . kyotoguide . com/ ver2/ thismonth/ Brewed-Beers. html
Gundam: en . wikipedia .org/wiki/Gundam
Maid Café: en . wikipedia .org/wiki/Maid_cafe
The weird snack thing picture is here:www . livejournal .com/fourangers/pic/006xg7ec
The whole "Deer eating map" incident happened with my father. XD Now imagine a Chinese man, Fugaku-like (all solemn and intimidating) having this kind of accident. Lol. Although we didn't go all the way for some deer blood, we got worried that the deer would get sick or something, because that map must contain some toxic things and stuff right? (like ink, for example) But the deer who ate it just stared at us nonchalantly before going away, disappointed that we didn't have any food. XD
Todaiji: en. wikipedia .org/wiki/T%C5%8Ddai-ji
The joke about Naruto eating deer is because Shika means Deer in Japanese. XD