Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters.
A/N: You all thought I died, didn't you? No, merely dropped off the face of the earth, and no apologies can make up for that. As one who likes to both read and write, I can relate to the deep annoyance that comes from a story that isn't updated. Here is chapter 12, long overdue, and I can only say that I'm going to try my damndest to get back on a schedule for all three fics.
Rich and Famous
Chapter 12: Halloween
Naruto shook the steaming popcorn out of the bag and into a large bowl, shaking it so he got every last bit. What he'd do for some of those deli rolls right now, but sadly Itachi was out for the night. He made his way back into Sasuke's living room and almost threw the popcorn bowl at Sasuke when he saw the TV.
"You liar! You didn't pause it for me!"
Sasuke shrugged. "This really good part was on. You should have seen it." There was a small smirk on his face, and Naruto made a note to himself to never have a movie night with him again.
He leaned over the back of the couch and set the bowl down on the cushion next to Sasuke before reaching for the remote that was sitting on Sasuke's side of the couch. Without even glancing in Naruto's direction, the other boy grabbed the remote and held it away from him.
Naruto growled and clambered over the couch, his ass gracefully landing in the forgotten popcorn bowl. Sasuke rolled his eyes before Naruto lunged across the other boy's lap to get to the remote. "Give it! I just want to rewind it a bit!"
"No way, I'm not watching parts I've already seen."
"I haven't seen them, you ass!" Sasuke eyed him for a second before shoving the remote down the waist of his sweats. He looked at Naruto and gave a what-can-you-do? shrug, who was gaping at Sasuke's lap. The raven smirked.
Naruto huffed and properly sat on the couch after sitting the popcorn bowl back up. Sasuke helped himself to a handful. "For the haunted house, do you want me to recruit Sai?"
The blond shrugged. "That's up to you, leader." Today at school brought in the annual haunted house project, in which a student was voted to get together a small team and set up the large abandoned house that was by the school. Of course the school chose Sasuke Uchiha to be this year's leader, who gathered together Naruto, Kiba, Shikamaru, Gaara, Neji, Lee, and Hinata. Out of Naruto's group of friends, Sai was still the only one Sasuke didn't like.
"I just noticed you two talking less."
Naruto glanced over and rolled his eyes when he saw the smug look on the other boy's face. "Yeah well." He shrugged. "It happens, right? We never really had a lot to talk about, we just have fun cuddling or whatever." He opened his mouth to say more, but changed his mind.
"And?" Damn, the movement was seen anyway.
He shrugged, looking at Sasuke, who was still only looking at the TV screen. "I don't know. I guess Sai was good, helping me discover more about myself and everything, but I look at a couple like Kiba and Hinata and Sai and I are nothing like that. They click on a personal level, and that's what I want."
Sasuke said nothing to that, and Naruto wasn't expecting him to. He just leaned against the arm of the couch and watched the movie, idly thinking about the haunted house that was set to open next week. His thoughts drifted over to Sai, and his indecision on that front.
The next day at school found the haunted house team sitting in the library during lunch. Sasuke held the clipboard that held information on supplies, costumes, crew, and who was willing to be an actor and on what nights during the week the house would be open.
"How are we so far?" Shikamaru asked, while Naruto was idly watching out the library door as a tall blond man talked to Tsunade.
"So far," Sasuke said, placing the pencil behind his ear, "no worries, and we'll be more than ready to open by next Monday night. Sakura and Ino are handling makeup, we have all the costumes, Kiba has Akamaru ready and trained to be zombified, Gaara will bring over the whips and chains to the house tomorrow. We just need to get a few more of the set pieces, set those up and do some painting. Naruto, the coffin?"
The other boy was pulled out of as he watched the man shake the principal's head and walk away. "Uh… oh yeah, the coffin. Jiraiya was able to get a friend—"
His response was halted by the arrival of his boyfriend, who leaned over to kiss a cheek before pulling over a chair. Naruto gave him a small smile while Sasuke looked on, frowning.
"Sorry to interrupt," Sai chirped, "I was just bored and saw you guys working. Need any help?"
"We do have an extra witch costume," Sasuke said, eyes icy. He didn't flinch when he felt Naruto kick his shin under the table, though Sai didn't look opposed to the idea. Naruto continued before either could respond.
"Anyway, Jiraiya has a friend who was able to quickly whip up a small wooden one for him, and he brought it over this morning. I also bought this really awesome cape."
Sakura frowned. "You already have a cape."
"Yeah, but it's all torn up and boring looking. The one I bought is nice and long and elaborate. I'll be a much more badass vampire with that cape."
The girl merely shrugged as Sasuke rolled his eyes. Sai was smiling at the blond fondly before reaching over to pinch a cheek. "Naruto will be the least-threatening vampire in history."
"What do you mean by that?! I'll be fierce!"
Sai laughed. "With that sunny blond hair, round face with whiskers, and big blue eyes?" Naruto pouted, wondering how much red contacts were.
Sai's laugh was cut short as he glanced at Sasuke only to see that the other boy was staring death at him. Sai glared back. Sakura, Kiba, and Shikamaru shuffled uncomfortably. Gaara didn't care, while Naruto was too busy thinking about contacts to notice.
"Hey Sasuke," Naruto said, lighting up. "We should switch costumes."
"Why?"
"It'd be better with me as a half-beast and you as the vampire. You have that dark, elegant, sexy thing going on. I'll bring the coffin and cape tomorrow to your house." He stood up to leave, ready to get some food, oblivious to what he said. Sai's mouth was twisted into a silent snarl and Sasuke looked smugly at him. Sakura looked at both boys, split between wanting to giggle and cry.
"Naruto, hold still!" Ino griped, trying to work more of the fake blood into his hair. Next to him, Sakura was working on placing open sores and wounds on a small group of zombies. Kiba was grinning, his large white dog Akamaru sitting next to him, looking like a half-rotted carcass that crawled out from its grave.
Naruto stopped trying to lean around Ino to look in a mirror, twisting his mouth out of impatience. "There," Ino said, looking relieved to finally be done. "Just remember to not wipe your face or anything, or the makeup will come off." She turned to Sakura. "Are you almost done? There are people waiting for us in the other bathroom."
The pink-haired girl scrunched up her face, studying her handiwork. "They're good, yeah." With that she waved her arms towards the doorway, beckoning them to get out and start taking their places on the main floor and the basement. The upstairs of the house was where everyone got ready.
After Ino left without a second glance at him, Naruto turned towards the mirror, feeling giddy about his new look. Instead of blue eyes, a pair of blood-red eyes looked back at him instead, the contacts he wore changing his pupils to vertical slits. His normally messy hair was even more so, giving off the appearance that he just received an electrical charge instead of just rolling out of bed and not brushing.
It was odd seeing his face without the scars on his cheeks, though Ino added a fake gash to his right cheek, with some blood running down his face. Each finger was adorned with a fake, grimy claw. To add to the effect, the clothes he had on were torn and bloody as well, as if he was attacked by a rabid beast. The whole thing looked awesome.
One second Naruto was posing in the mirror, growling and baring his teeth and clawing at the mirror, and the next second Sasuke Uchiha was standing next to him. Their eyes met in the mirror for a brief moment before Sasuke smirked and leaned over Naruto's shoulder, baring his teeth. The fake vampire fangs Naruto knew he was wearing grazed his throat, and the blond shivered before yelping in surprise, jumping back.
"What the hell, bastard?!"
Sasuke smirked, straightening up before handing his friend a pair of fangs. "Ino forgot to give you these."
Naruto immediately took them and set them in his mouth, wondering how he managed to forget these when he was studying his costume in the mirror. Unlike Sasuke's teeth, whose fangs were thinner and needle-sharp, the fangs on his set were thicker and shorter, and the other teeth in the set were sharpened as well.
He bared his teeth in the mirror, satisfied at how wild he looked. He stopped when he noticed Sasuke watching him silently.
"What?"
The other boy raised a fine eyebrow. "You were right about switching costumes."
"I do pull mine off well, huh?" He grinned, flashing the fake teeth again.
Sasuke snorted, straightening his clothes in the mirror. "No, you were right in that I'm dark, elegant, and sexy as a vampire."
Naruto gave his friend a flat stare, but couldn't help noticing that he was right. Instead of the usual long bangs and duck ass in the back, his hair was slicked back. He had on black pants and a black vest, wearing underneath a white long sleeve satin shirt. He was even wearing the cape that Naruto had bought, long and trimmed in red with a high collar.
Coupled with his natural dark appearance and his intense eyes that seemed to stare into your soul, the entire package was attractive.
The blond froze in his spot. 'Attractive' shouldn't be a word he used to describe Sasuke, especially out loud. Ever. Sasuke was studying him in the mirror, a smirk on his face as if he knew what Naruto was thinking.
Naruto reached up to nervously scratch at his cheek but remembered last minute about the makeup and claws. "You don't need an even bigger head, asswipe. I'm going downstairs now, we have twenty minutes until the haunted house opens."
It was his job to prowl the backyard with the zombies, watching for targets that would be exiting the back kitchen door and would be weaving their way through a path made of large thorny bushes and haybales. That would twist them around the large backyard until they made it to the basement cellar, where Sasuke was.
When he got to the bottom of the stairs his wrist was grabbed-Sasuke had caught up to him. Naruto awkwardly bit his lip with an oversized fang before turning around to face his friend.
"Are we still going to your place after this?" Naruto felt his face heat up at the words, before he remembered a few days ago he and the usual group agreed on crashing at his apartment after the haunted house opening.
"Yeah, that's still going on," he said, aware that Sasuke still had a hold on his wrist. He can let go any time, now.
Sasuke nodded and, after giving Naruto a confused look, let go of his wrist and continued downstairs to the basement while Naruto made his way to the backyard. The house was done well, with cobwebs, fake candles, covered furniture, and dust everywhere. He hoped Sasuke remembered the fog machine.
He stepped outside and was pleased that, no, Sasuke didn't forget the fog machine. Fog curled in every direction while there were paths made of giant bales of hay and tough bushes. Fake skeletons and bones littered the ground while some more blood was smeared around at random. Naruto grinned, giddy.
Glancing at his phone, he saw that only a few more minutes were left before people would be let in. Slipping the device back into his pocket, he jumped up and clambered on top of the row of haybales. While some of actors had specific things to do or say, his only job was to wander the backyard path, doing his best to hit every group of people. He could do that. He could be scary!
And so he did his best throughout the night. Young children were the easiest, screaming at the sight of him. He'd jump down in front of a group from the hay doing his best growl or snarl, he'd sneak on them from behind, either quietly or obviously. Some he even got to chase. The people his age usually screamed just to play along with the environment only later to laugh at themselves, or they recognized him and winked and pretended to be scared. Most of the actual adults were with children, and they went along with it for their sake.
When there was only thirty minutes or so left until the haunted house closed for the night, Naruto watched while perched from a hay bale as a lone man exited the house. He must have been in his early thirties and had long blond hair that hung loose around his shoulders, and he looked around the area in approval. It was the man he saw last week, he was sure.
His eyes landed on Naruto, who growled and carefully paced along the bales on all fours above the man. The stranger smiled, his blue eyes crinkling. "What's your name, hm?" Naruto almost responded just out of habit-he hated not responding when someone talked to him-but instead growled down at the man once more.
He laughed softly. "I'm Mr. Onoki." Naruto narrowed his eyes at the man. Didn't this guy understand what a haunted house was about? The actors didn't chat up random people during working hours. "I'll be the art teacher here at Konoha High starting November."
That shocked Naruto out of his role. "Wait, what? What happened to Genma and Raidou?"
The new teacher looked slightly embarrassed. "I wasn't told everything. They moved somewhere together, I think."
Naruto rolled his eyes. "That sounds like Genma, but not Raidou."
"Are you in my class?"
He heard a short scream from inside the house. Visitors would be arriving soon. "Yeah, I'm Naruto Uzumaki." The kitchen door opened and he barely had time to raise a clawed hand and snarl before a mother and her young daughter walked out. The little girl saw Naruto and clung to her mother's arm, while Mr. Otoki got the hint and backed away fearfully, winked, and went around the corner ahead.
He circled around the new pair of fresh meat, growling and herding them forward, stopping once they, too, went around the corner. Odd, Naruto thought. He'd have to remember to ask granny about Genma and Raidou when he saw her next.
It was 11pm, with Naruto stretched out on the couch, an hour after the haunted house closed for the night. He was able to ride home with Sasuke and get washed and was now currently waiting for everyone else to show up, clacking his fake teeth set out of boredom. Plus, they were just cool.
Kiba was the first to arrive, and Naruto continued lounging on the couch as he picked through the horror movies. Eventually Shikamaru, Gaara, and Sasuke arrived, with the latter sitting by Naruto's feet in the little space left on the couch. Unsure why, he avoided his gaze, and looked at Kiba.
"Doggy breath, got a movie yet?"
Kiba scoffed as the other two made themselves comfortable sitting against the couch. "What are you guys feeling like? Like, monster movie? Gore? Actual creepy can't-turn-off-the-lights? I really don't care, guys."
"Monster movie!" Naruto said.
"Creepy," Shikamaru yawned.
Sasuke shrugged.
"Gore," Gaara whispered.
"Porn," Sai said. Naruto did a double-take, not even aware of his appearance until just now. He gave Naruto a wide smile, glanced briefly at Sasuke, and sat himself down in Naruto's lap, curling up against his chest.
Naruto saw Sasuke staring determinedly ahead at Kiba and the movies, though he noticed his eyes narrow minutely. He kept himself from sighing out loud-he wished those two would get along. Sure, Sai could be jealous and rude, but did Sasuke have to retaliate? He could be the bigger man and attempt to get along, and all that.
Naruto snorted, drawing a questioning look from Sai. He was one to talk, practically all he knew was retaliation. It was a miracle that he and Sasuke started to get along, going by how they started.
Sai snuggled into his chest more, wrapping his arms around his waist and sighing in content. Naruto worried on his lower lip, feeling anxious. Sasuke finally turned his head so that he was looking straight into Naruto's eyes, and he couldn't help but think about the conversation they had about Sai last week.
Perhaps it was time to see what page Sai was on.
There's the extremely long overdue chapter 12. I introduced a certain character earlier than expected, when originally I had him down to appear in chapter 14. Oh well! Guess he really wanted to go to a haunted house.
With more free time, expect more updates, and I don't mean a year from now, or even a month. Feel free to chastise me in reviews, but also be sure to leave your thoughts on the chapter itself.