Disclaimers: I do NOT own anything in the Naruto world or any of the anime world that was brilliantly created for our generation and the next. I Do however OWN my OC and that's fine and dandy with me.
Author's note: This will probably the longest chapter I've made so far….. the rest of this author's note will be at the end, so Enjoy!
Chapter: Heat and Days
Sun shining bright is what woke Milo up, slowly opening his eyes and it took him a moment as to wonder why there is light shining in his room. A moment after wondering about the light did last night came to mind and he shot right up. Looking around he saw the little make shift camp he made, along with looking over the water, seeing nothing for miles, and then he groaned, falling back on his sleeping bag.
After he snapped out of it last night he made a fire, set up his sleeping area and waited for goodness how long for anything to happen from the opening on the side of the cliff. Now that he can see better around the area the camp was made, he sat back up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Stretching his arms above his head, he gave one last yawn and unzipped the rest of his sleeping bag. Standing and going over to the camp fire, Milo moved around the embers to get a spark and added more kindling and sticks. While that heats up, he picks up the fishing rod that is near the rock face, inspects it and finds it in good condition, so he tosses the line in as far as it can go.
Listening to the crackling of the fire, Milo thoughts turned to the girl he was charged with, how fast she is, how she didn't seem exhausted after travelling the long distance, how quick thinking her mind is or even not getting phased at cutting someone else's throat. Milo had teams before but even then, they froze at the sight of blood or froze at any massive killing intent sent from any foe. Yet, this girl…
His ears picked up a faint sound.
Milo turned his head towards the cave the girl went through, listening closely and yes he heard that:
Faint snarling, something banging on some metal and is that… groaning?
Milo took a step towards the cave but stopped himself, remembering what Roxanne said:
'Under no circumstance are you to go in, No matter what you hear BUT if you do, consider yourself already dead when I come back out'
And so with great difficulty, he resume fishing, ignoring any and all sounds coming from the cave.
Later after having caught a couple fish, gutting and cleaning them, he sticks them to roast over the fire. About to grab his canister of water, he heard a roar that echoed out from the opening that sounded like a cry of agony and he stood up, running to the entry of the cave but not going any further. Trembling out of fear for his charge, he stood listening and if she does scream again, he's going in.
Unfortunately or fortunately, which ever sounds good, no more sounds came, as if she knew what he was going to do. So reluctantly, he stepped away from the entry and went back to his cooking, just in time to flip it over.
Later on, from checking where the suns is, Milo worked on his katas and after working up a sweat, started on his ninjutsu: water style. A series of hand signals formed the water near the beach to rise up to make a wall. Milo held the wall as high as he can while trying to make a round hole in the middle as it spins the water round the circle rapidly. Holding on to this for a few more minutes and then let the jutsu go, feeling the water fall back into the ocean did he do a different series of hands signals.
Milo kept this up doing all sort of different jutsu over the waters, as he had nothing better to do besides worry, but as time went on, his stomach reminded its host that it needs nourishment and so Milo stretched out in a cool down. Once his breathing evened out, Milo picked up the fishing rod and tossed in the hook, looking over the horizon at the lowering sun, enjoying the colors.
Reeling in a fish and bend down to unhook the hook from its mouth did he hear a sort of bang in the distance. Turning his head to the opening of the cave, he listened closely while taking the hook out and dropping the fish by the fire. Fully turning to the cave, he again heard something, this time it was snarling and growling.
Throughout the whole day, Milo didn't heard a peep from the cave, so why now?
'Maybe whatever it was, was sleeping?' his mind supplied the thought
'But that whatever is Roxanne' he mentioned
'Is Roxanne making those sounds?'
Another round of snarling and growling came forth but louder than before. Milo sat by the fire, adding more woods and listening to the sounds as it echoed from the cave, realizing he's never heard sounds like that coming from a human before, except from Inuzuka clan but even that didn't sound like what's coming from the cave. As he kept on listening, Milo gut and clean his 1 fish and stick to roast by the fire. Picking up his pack, he rummaged through until he took out some trail mix and snacked on them while he waited and listened.
"It's going to be a long night" he said to himself as he stared at the setting of the sun and listening to the growling of the cave.
OOOOO
Night came, woods added to the fire and Milo watched the star lit skies, remember where and which the constellations are, and the moon as it ascended the skies. Having gone fishing again and catching three fishes, he cleaned them before setting them aside for when Roxanne comes back out.
'If she comes back out' his mind said
'She's the only one that went in, Of course she's coming back out' he said back
'That you know of. We don't know what else is in there'
He didn't bother to answer and waited.
When the moon reached its highest peak did Milo shifted his body towards the cave opening and watched, waiting.
Waited.
Waited.
Once the moon pasted its peak and began to descend, did Milo give up and crawled into his sleeping bag, never once seeing the eyes that followed him.
OOOOO
Once the sun peaked its rays over the horizon did one of the occupants of the beach rose, stretching their muscles and popping their bones. Once they have cleared the sleep from their eyes did they disappeared from the beach. Appearing in the forest over the cliff hall, they reached out their senses to feel out the forest and find breakfast. The scurrying of fluffy animals caught their attention and moved in for the kill. Wiping the blood off the knife and picking up the animal, they headed back to the camp and prepared to wait out the rest of the early morning for their companion to wake.
OOOOO
Smelling the sweet smell of roasting meat woke Milo from his dreams, blinking into the light of the rising sun and looking to the fire nearby.
Watching it burn bright, with a roasted meat cooking over it and realized someone else is cooking.
Milo shot up and looked around, only to find Roxanne sitting on her roll of sleeping bag, drinking water from her canister, like she had no care in the world.
That didn't sit right with him and so, he picked up the nearest thing and threw it at Roxanne, whom dodged just a bit to the right. Roxanne turned to Milo with a smirk,
"Well good morning to you too"
"What the hell" Milo growled out. Roxanne stared back and raised one brow in question.
"You just leave and come back like nothing fucking happen?!" he yelled, his fist clenched the fabric of the sleeping bag and breathing hard.
"Alright" Roxanne stood "Bring it all out, come on, let's hear it" She gestured for him to continue.
Instead, a fist swing by her and a leg shot out to her sides.
"Just" another swing "Leaving" another kick "with no" combining a swing and kick "Explanation?!"
Roxanne of course dodged all these attempts, letting Milo have it all out
"I'm supposed to be your Jonin, to know what's going on with you is my Business!" He yelled and continued to rant while trying to land a hit at his moving charge. "And you just up and leave! I was Worried! With you leaving and the sounds coming from the cave you went into, What was I supposed to think!" one last swing and all the fight drained out of Milo as he slumped down to the ground.
"I'm supposed to be your Jonin" he said as he sat crossed legged on the ground, with his arms to his sides and his head faced down, looking all the while like a man defeated.
Roxanne sat down beside him, crossed legged and facing him.
"You are my Jonin and yes, you deserve to know" She leaned over and put a hand on his knee.
"And you will know, but first, you need to have some food in you. That little thing you did there must of took a lot of energy and you will need that energy if you are to know this part of my business" Squeezing his knee, Roxanne stood up and held out a hand for Milo to take, which he did after taking a deep breath.
Going back to the camp fire, they each sat on their sleeping bag and Roxanne took the cooking meat off the fire and took out a very long blade, Milo could see from where he sat that the animal is a rabbit. Cutting the animal down the middle, Roxanne handed one side to Milo while she sat back down on her sleeping bag and started eating.
Somewhere between, Roxanne started talking:
"I've been traveling for as long as I can remember. I've had parents you know, they died when I was young and mostly have been on my own since, unless you count my guardian who lives at my old house" Taking a bite, chewed and swallowed "I've been all over: the cold, the wet, the dry and the earthy. In all that I've tried to keep an eye out for something familiar, something that calls to home" Another bite "I've been everywhere twice now and I still haven't found it"
"What haven't you found?" Milo asked
"Someone like me, someone with a tail, someone who will know what I am"
"Oh"
"When I turned 10, I gave up on my search but I didn't give up traveling. The month I turned 10 was strange at first but after I figured it out, I sought out a plan"
"What did you figure out?"
"Why there was an itch that could not be scratched within me, why my thirst could not be quenched no matter how much I drank anything, why my body tingled at any touch, any slightest touch, and why nothing could sate my taste" Taking another bite and chewed slowly, as she turned her head to stare at Milo, who looked horrified.
"After the first month, I went to almost every library I could find. To find out what happened to me, if it was a disease or something" another bite and throwing the bones into the fire, Roxanne wiped her hands. "I couldn't find anything that could happen to any human in any library until it happen again a month later and I was staying in a small town when it happen again" Here she looked out towards the ocean "I was walking around, enjoying the night air because my room was so stuffy and hot and then I looked to the moon, see that it was a full moon out. There wasn't much peoples out and so let my tail out, letting it swing freely. What I didn't know then to what I know now, I was giving off a scent with my tail"
"What kind of scent?"
"I was giving off aphrodisiac pheromones from my tail" Milo's eyes widen at that
"I was walking by a couple guys while waving my tail around. They grabbed me just as I was about to turn a corner, pulling me into an alleyway and slammed me up against a wall, sniffing my neck and my hair. They liked how I smelled they said, the smell called to them, to their blood and if I was a good girl then it wouldn't hurt as much" Roxanne picked up a stick and played with the fire.
"Next thing you know, they laid in a pool of their own blood, with me growling at them and blood everywhere. Needless to say, I left town that night and once the feeling passed, did I find another library and looked up animal behavior" She moved some embers around "I'm not human but I didn't think to look anywhere else but human anatomy. I did my research on all animal species, their behavior, their different cycles and all that" She looked up at Milo, to gauge his reaction, to see if what she's trying to say is sinking in somehow but with the way he's looking back at her, she needs to say it out right:
"I go into heat once a month when the moon is at its fullest"
Roxanne watched as Milo's face drained of color, his breathing stopped and finally, his eyes rolled back and he fell back, fainted. Roxanne stare at the unconscious form of her Jonin partner for a second and went back to poking the fire.
OOOOO
Yesterday after Roxanne's Departure:
Sunlight shining through the curtain woke up Sasuke and he groaned his displeasure as he took a pillow and covered his head with it. Someone to his left chuckled and so peaked out from under said pillow to see Naruto smiling at him. Sighing, Sasuke lifted the pillow and hit Naruto's smiling face with it before getting up. Naruto laughed and sat up too, putting the pillow back in its place and stretched his arms above his head. Sasuke stretched too and stood up, heading to the bathroom to do his business.
Naruto stood as well and headed for the door, waving off Sasuke's questionable expression. Going up to his apartment, he grabbed clothes for the both of them, along with the weights that was carelessly thrown under the table. Heading back down to Roxanne's apartment and handing off Sasuke's clothes to him as he exited the bathroom, Naruto went in to do his business and change into the clothes he picked out.
After washing his face, Naruto left the bathroom and sat at the table that had fruit slices and water bottles. No words were said as they finished up and stood to leave. Naruto looked down to Sasuke's ankles and smiled when he saw that he had put the weights on. Locking the door behind them, Naruto looked out towards the railing and then turned to Sasuke, who smiled back and nodded.
Sailing through the air and running at a fast speed had the boys landed on the tree they reserve as their own. Naruto backflipped once he landed on a branch, did a couple twist and landed perfectly. Sasuke forward flipped with a twist and landed next to Naruto, who laughed. They stretched out their limbs and then nodded to each other and took off for their morning jog.
When they headed back to the apartment building, they both went to Naruto's for Sasuke to grab his bag and he headed back down to Roxanne's apartment. Showered and ready, Sasuke made a quick breakfast of eggs and bacon with a side of toast for both of them. Naruto showed up after the food was set on the table, with juice and napkins. Once again no words were said as they enjoyed the company and food.
Making sure Sasuke had his weights on again, which got him a smack on the back of the head by said boy, Naruto whined turned into a growl when he shoved Sasuke and ran out the door. Losing his balance Sasuke landed on his behind, hissed then got back up quickly as he ran after Naruto. When he caught up with the blonde and grabbed him by the shirt, about to smack him again is when he noticed that they made it to the meeting point, with Sakura looking at them with a funny look. So Sasuke let Naruto go and smoothed down his clothes, it having been rumpled from the run and shoved Naruto just for good measure.
"Good morning Sakura" Naruto said laughing as he walked to the pink haired shinobi and sat down beside her.
"Morning Naruto, Morning Sasuke" Sasuke only grunted in greeting before he too went to sit by the others.
"You been here long?" Naruto asked, Sakura shook her head
"No, I just got here. What do you think we'll be doing today?" She asked the two and got a shrug
"Maybe a little cleaning, maybe a little catching or maybe"
"Maybe we'll end up chasing the same cat as before. I bet it escaped again" Sasuke said with a smirk.
"You're not wrong there" a voice said beside them and they all turned to see their Sensei.
"You're actually on time"
"Yes, Now let's go. We got a lot to do and no time to waste" Turning to his right, he lead his little team to their first task of the day.
OOOOO
After a full day of cleaning out peoples gutter, gardening peoples garden, chasing down a cat and helping out at the local seniors home, did they got dismissed. Waving to Sakura, the boys made their way towards a different training area. Coming to an area that suits their liking, the boys started stretching out their limbs and body and when they are done, they faced each other.
"10?"
"Sure"
"Weapons?"
"Yep"
10 clones each and with weapons, the originals stayed on the ground while the clones are all up in the trees. All got into a stance, be it defensive or offensive, and waited for a move from anyone of them, which happens to be one of Naruto's clones.
Twisting, turning, slashing and kicking all around them but the originals didn't pay attention to their clones, only on each other.
A kick to the head got blocked and countered with a kick to the stomach. A slash downwards caught the after image instead of the physical body and jumped out of the way from an uppercut from below. Both threw their knives to the ground and began a one on one hand to hand combat while their clones still had their weapons. None of the clones let up on the other, each raising the bar higher with each hit, slash and kick.
And they were Loving it!
Of course no blood was spelt… yet but once the first blood is drawn will the victor be acknowledged and by the looks of this all out brawl of fist and knives, it'll be awhile.
And a while it was.
The sun showing it's yellow, orange and reds did the fight ended. With a tie.
Both boys fell to the ground in a huff, their clones disappeared with a puff and they are trying to catch their breaths while wiping sweat from their foreheads. A few minutes had passed for the boys to catch their breath and when they did, Naruto sat up and stretched his arms above his head, listening to the pop of his joints.
"Alright" he said and stood up "Come on" he told his black haired teammate who only cracked an eye open to the blonde standing over him. Naruto scoffed at him before bending down and grabbed his hand, hauling Sasuke up. Sasuke lost his balance at the quick pick up and let go of Naruto's hand to instead grab his shoulders to steady himself. When Sasuke could stand straight on his own two feet, he noticed he was very close to Naruto, whose hands are now on his waist.
So close that he could see the blueness of his eyes and Sasuke knows he has never seen anything that blue before in his life. Seconds, minutes, hours might have ticked by but for the boys, it's like time stopped all together as they stared into each other eyes, mapping out each speck, line and color of the other's eye.
Sasuke then lifted his hands slowly off Naruto's shoulders and took a slow step back as he smiled at the blonde. Naruto also slowly moved his hands away from Sasuke's waist as he stepped away and chuckled as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. They both laughed, breaking any awkward tension and Sasuke lightly hit Naruto on his arm.
"Come on, let's get out of here and get a bite to eat"
"Yeah, I'm starving after a fight like that" Sasuke nodded in agreement and they both left the area on their way to town, heading straight to the markets.
Walking through all the vendors and merchants, the boys decided on take out instead of cooking a meal.
"Not ramen" said Sasuke
"But" Naruto tried
"No, Roxanne treated you yesterday for dinner and that should be enough till she gets back" Sasuke said while turning his head this and that, sniffing the air for something he likes or Naruto will like.
"When do you think she'll be back?" Naruto asked as he too looked around for something he'll like or something Sasuke will like.
"Well" He stopped at a vendor that sells sweets, pointing out what he wants "She did say 2 days or a couple days and since she left this morning, I'd say one day has almost passed and then there's tomorrow" Paying for the sweets and the vendor passes him a paper bag, the boys continued walking, looking around.
"So, if she treated me to ramen then what did you get treated to?" Naruto asks as he stops at different vendor that caught his senses and a nod from Sasuke did Naruto made an order for the both of them. While they waited on a nearby bench after paying for the order, Sasuke answered Naruto's question.
"She said I could stay at her apartment until she gets back" Smiling at Naruto when he said this and Naruto looked surprised at first then smiled the biggest grin ever, throwing his arms around Sasuke's shoulders.
"That's Great! We're roomies!" Squeezing Sasuke a little more before he let go just as the other let out a sigh
"Moron"
"Hey, that wasn't very nice" Naruto pouted with his bottom lip jutted out and all coherent thought left Sasuke as he stared at the little pink lip sticking out.
"I meant it in a nice way" was all he could manage to get out. Naruto open his mouth so say something but the vendor that had his order cut him off and waved them over. Getting up off the bench, Naruto went and grabbed their order while Sasuke shook his head and followed Naruto.
Taking the bundle from Naruto, they continued back to the apartment building and went straight to Roxanne's apartment. Setting the bundle on the counter in the kitchen, Sasuke took out each container while Naruto took out plates and utensils to set the table with. After he was done, Naruto went to the bathroom to wash up while Sasuke finished up and once the food was ready did Naruto got out and Sasuke went in. Sitting at the table, Naruto scooped out a portion from each container to both plates and filled two glasses of juice. Once done, Sasuke came back out and sat at the table, seeing that his plate was full along with his cup, he smiled at Naruto in thanks and they both dig in.
Dinner was a silent affair, just the sounds of utensils and chewing and the occasional sips, afterwards the boys helped each other clean up and put any leftovers away in the fridge.
"Wanna watch something?" Sasuke asks
"Sure, I'll just run up and change into jammies" at a nod, Naruto left the apartment and Sasuke went to the room where he left his bag and took out his own sleep clothes. Sitting on the bed, Sasuke leaned over and unstrapped the weights from his ankles, shoving them under the bed. Grabbing his clothes, he went to the bathroom to change. Naruto came back while he was changing and went to the room to look through the DVD's. While sorting through them, the blonde didn't noticed Sasuke was finished and leaning up against the entrance frame watching him, a thoughtful look on his face.
Once he picked out a movie and put in the player, Naruto turned to get up off the floor but stopped when he saw his dark haired team mate standing there.
"Oh, Sasuke, didn't see you there" Naruto said as he straighten back up.
"Yeah" Sasuke said softly, then "Want some popcorn?"
"Sure, I'll grab the water bottles while you make the popcorn" Sasuke nodded and they both moved to the kitchen. Naruto went to the fridge while Sasuke grabbed what he needed to make the snack. Taking 2 water bottles, Naruto closed the fridge and went to the room, placing 1 bottle on one side as he climbed over the bed to what is now his side of the bed. Fluffing the pillows, Naruto could hear the popping sounds and the smell of the melted butter. Arranging the pillows the way he likes on both sides of the bed, Naruto flopped on his back and grabbed the remote from the side table.
"Ready?" Asked Sasuke as he came in the room, holding the bowl of popcorn and a couple napkins. Naruto dropped the remote in favor of the bowl so Sasuke could get comfortable before grabbing one of the napkins.
"Yeah" Placing the bowl between them, Naruto picked up the remote again and pressed the play button.
OOOOO
The next day:
A wisp of wind woke Naruto up from his slumber as he turned his head to the open window and saw grey skies and the pitter patter of light rain hitting said window. Turning back and nuzzling the back of Sasuke's neck, Naruto yawned and slowly slipped his arm out from over and underneath Sasuke. Sitting up, his feet touched the cold floor and hissed at the feeling. Standing up, Naruto closed the window and stretched his arms high above his head and felt the kinks and pops of his muscle and bones.
Shaking the feeling off, Naruto looked at Sasuke's sleeping form one last time before heading to the door. Walking up the stairs to his floor, Naruto unlocked his door and went to his room, only to stop. He blinked a couple times to make sure he's not seeing things and then turned right back around, heading back to Roxanne's apartment.
Going to the room, Naruto began shaking Sasuke.
"Wake up, Sasuke, wake up!" A groan was his answer and so shook Sasuke some more.
"What?"
"You have to come see this!"
"Why?"
"Cause I don't know if I'm seeing things or it's really there" That woke Sasuke up
"What that?" Rubbing his eyes and yawning before sitting up.
"Come see" Naruto grabbed Sasuke's hand and dragged him out the door to go upstairs, closing the apartment door behind them. Sasuke followed while rubbing his eyes again and when they reached Naruto's apartment, Naruto dragged him to his room. They both stopped.
"You see it too, right?" Naruto asked, gesturing to the bed.
Sasuke nodded and walked into the room, touching the bed.
"When did this happen?"
"I don't know. I came up to change and saw this" Naruto said as he watched Sasuke sit on the bed and bounced on it a bit before laying down, getting comfortable and fluffing the pillow, closing his eyes.
"So soft, so warm"
Naruto smiled and shook his head at Sasuke falling back to sleep. In doing so, something caught his attention on the night stand: an envelope.
Picking it up, Naruto sat on the edge of his new bed with Sasuke curled up behind him and pulled out a letter from the envelope.
'Dear acquaintance of our dear mistress Roxanne,
We were surprised to hear from our beloved mistress so soon and enquire about another bed. She then mentioned that it was for you, so it wasn't much as a surprise as we thought, given that she did purchase a whole line of clothing for you not that long ago. The gentlemen we hired to deliver the purchased items are professionals: they went in and out while you slept and also set up the bed. Do not worry, it has been paid for along with the bedding and extra pillows.
Please give our love to our dear mistress Roxanne, we do love hearing from her and we hope in time we will have the great pleasure of meeting you in person. Until then, we bid you good day and may the gods smile upon you.
Sincerely, Rickard: Senior Accountant'
Naruto re-read the letter a couple times just to make sure he understood it well. Putting it down on his lap, Naruto faced scrunched in confusion.
"How did they get in the apartment?" he asked out loud, not really expecting an answer as the only other person in the room was asleep. Looking at the paper again, he turned it over and saw one line at the bottom:
'PS: they are professionals that know how to get in and out without being seen or heard' was all that was written and Naruto's eyes widen a bit at the line. Putting the letter down, Naruto shivered at the thought but his trust in Roxanne calmed him and so he put the letter back in the envelope and set it back down on the stand.
Looking out his window, Naruto saw that the wind has picked up strength and the rain poured down against the window. Figuring that it'll be pointless to go out in this weather for their morning jog, Naruto stood and maneuvered Sasuke around to slip the blanket out from underneath him and covered the dark haired teen. Moving around the bed, Naruto slipped under the covers and fluffed his pillow before laying his head down and fell asleep to the soft breathing coming from his bedmate.
Hours later, Naruto awoke to the smell of something cooking. Opening one eye, he could see that Sasuke had gotten up as his place was empty and a hand on the bed told Naruto that it's been some time since he did. Closing that eye, Naruto stretched his arms above his head and gave out a big yawn. Slumping back on the bed, Naruto turned onto his stomach and laid there, nuzzling the pillow and with one last yawn, he sat up. Going to his clothes, he picked out the outfit for the day along with a warm jacket. Going to the main room, he waved at Sasuke as he dropped the jacket on the chair and went to the bathroom for a shower.
A few minutes later the door to the bathroom open, letting the steam out and a fresh Naruto came out, rubbing his head with a towel. Once finished with his hair, Naruto tossed the towel on top of the hamper and came to the table where now sits Sasuke and a full plate of his portion of eggs, bacon and toast. Smiling in thanks he sat down and picked up his fork to begin eating. A couple minutes later Sasuke spoke.
"We slept in"
"Bad weather, didn't want us to catch a cold"
Nodding, Sasuke continued eating.
"You think we'll be working today?" Naruto asked
"Probably indoors mostly"
No other words were spoken after that as they enjoyed their breakfast and each other's company. After they were done, Naruto picked up the plates and cups from the table to wash, dismissing Sasuke help and told him to get dressed while he cleaned up. Sasuke smiled at the blonde and did as he was told.
Heading back down to Roxanne's apartment where he left his bag, Sasuke picked out the clothes for the day and went to change. Figuring that it'll be best to take a shower tonight, Sasuke washed his face, brush his teeth and combed his hair. Once dressed, Sasuke took his used clothes to his bag and pulled out a jacket just as Naruto came through the door, wearing his jacket. Sasuke blinked for a second and looked at the jacket in his hand then at the jacket Naruto's wearing.
"What?" the blonde asked when he noticed the staring. Sasuke didn't answer but did put on his jacket instead. Now it being Naruto's turn to stare, he realized why Sasuke was staring at him and chuckled at the situation.
Somehow, someway, sometime ago they both happen to get the same jacket in the same color and material. Both boys laughed at the coincident and continued to chuckle on the way out of the apartment building. Once hitting the front entrance, Sasuke flipped his hood over his head and did the same for Naruto's hood before the blonde even had a chance to do that himself. Shrugging and waving his hand, Naruto lead the way to the meeting spot as the rain poured down on them and the wind blew against them.
As they came closer to the spot, they noticed a figure standing underneath the tree next to their meeting spot and once they got close enough, they saw it was Sakura in a pink rain coat with a red umbrella.
"Sakura, morning" Naruto greeted
"Morning Naruto, Sasuke" Sasuke nodded as both boys came close enough to be under Sakura's umbrella.
"What a morning, huh?"
"I'd say. I don't think we'll be doing much outdoors today"
"Right again" said a voice above them. They all looked up and in the tree sat their sensei.
"What's right?" Naruto asked.
"No outdoors today"
"So what are we doing?" Sakura asked, adjusting her umbrella as Kakashi jumped down so they can look up at him.
"You three, along with the other rookies will be heading to the academy for a little spit shine"
"Spit shine?" Sasuke made a face at the term used.
"Means we'll be cleaning"
"I know what it means, just doesn't mean I like how he said it"
"Alright, come on, everyone will meet us there and you'll be assigned floors"
The three followed their sensei to the academy and when they got there, they saw the rest of the rookies heading there also.
"Hey Naruto!" Kiba yelled and waved from his group, Shino nodded in greeted and Hinata blushed.
"Hey guys"
"Hey Sakura" came from their other side where Ino and her group came. Ino waved, Shikamaru sighed and grunted in greeting while Choji smiled as he ate his chips from under his cloak, not wanting them to get wet from the rain.
"Hello Ino" Sakura greeted.
All their sensei nodded to each other as they lead the way inside the school and let their Genin say their hellos. Once inside, they all traded their shoes for indoor shoes, hung their outer wear on the hangers and followed their sensei to the office where the kids waited outside while the adults went inside.
"It's great we don't have to train outside where it's wet and muddy" Kiba said as he stretched his arms over his head.
"Yeah, the smell of wet dog would have been the worst" Naruto laughed at his own joke.
"Hey, shut up" Kiba yelled and went to jump on the blonde but stopped when the adults came back out.
"Alright groups, there are three floors so each group will pick a floor and start cleaning everything: that includes walls, floors, desks, cabinets, cupboards, kitchens and bathrooms. So who wants what floor?" Said Asuma, Ino's group's sensei. The Genins all looked at each other first then to their teammates and in the end, shrugged.
"Well take the top floor" said Naruto
"Middle" Ino seconded
"Last" Kiba said.
"OK, each floor has their own closet for supplies which have been left open for you and since this might take the whole day, we'll stop for lunch and meet here on the ground floor. All trash are to be left on the stairwells for easy pick up" Kakashi explained to the kids who all nodded.
"Where are the other kids and teachers?"
"It's a PD day, so no one is here besides the administration staff"
"What are you guys going to do?"
"We'll take the ground floor" Everyone nodded and the Genin took to the stairs, each team broke off to their respective floors and to the closet where the cleaning supplies are. Naruto, when they reached their floor, went straight to the kitchen instead and started rummaging through the cupboards.
"Hey, what you looking for?" asked Sasuke as he followed him.
"I know it's in here somewhere" more digging around that results in things being thrown out of the cupboards.
"What's in where?" Sakura asked as she too followed the blonde.
"Aha!" and out comes a portable radio.
"A radio?"
"Yeah, I thought it'll be easier to clean with music playing in the background" Naruto explained as he clicked the on switched and tuned it to a station he liked. Walking out of the kitchen and to the stairway, he found one he liked and set the radio down with the volume loud enough to hear from the floor below.
"There, now whose going to do what and should we make clones?"
"Well, they didn't actually say we could or couldn't use them and I'd like it if we finished early"
"How much you think we'll accomplished with clones in 3 hours?"
"Hmm" Sakura said as she took in the floor's layout, the walls, the classrooms, the kitchen and bathroom, doing the calculations in her head. The boys waited patiently, knowing their pink haired friend will figure out the math.
Sakura walked to the closet where all the cleaning supplies are and redid the formula in her head at how much supplies were there. The boys waited patiently.
"Alright!" Sakura finally said after a few minutes, she turned to the boys who stood at attention.
"6 classroom, 1 kitchen, the floors, the walls and 2 bathrooms: we each make 20 clones, that's 60 and assign 6 per area, we should be done by lunch hour" Sakura explained.
"What about us, what are we going to do?"
"What do you think we're going to do? we are going to help out, I know there's some heavy lifting somewhere so make the clones and start stretching" Sakura commanded and the boys saluted her before making the clones.
"Stretch!" Naruto yelled.
"Yes, sir!" all the clones yelled back and did as they are told. When finished they all stood waiting orders and Naruto turned to Sakura.
"Sakura, you take charge on this one"
"Right! Listen up everyone, we want to finish by lunch time and that's in less than 3 hours. Split yourselves up on 10 groups of 6" She waited as the clones did as told "Now, there are 6 classes so which 6 groups are taking those" She saw the hands
"Good, grab what you need and get started" the assigned groups grabbed the supplies they needed and went to work.
"Next, the kitchen" 1 group raised their hands "Go to it" and they did
"The bathroom" another group's hands are up "Scrub until you can't scrub no more" Salute and went about their duties.
"The walls" 1 of the last 2 groups shot their hands up "I want them spotless" she said
"Last group, you have the floor"
"Aye ye captain!" they shouted.
The boys stood impressed at the command of their pink hair teammate and after nodding to her, they went to one of the classrooms to help, all the while the radio blasted in the background.
OOOOO
Kakashi watched the clock in the teacher's lounge as it ticked by the seconds to 12 noon, Asuma smoked by the window and Kurenai sat on the couch flipping through a magazine.
The bell rang to signal lunch has begun, a minute later, the rookies came down to the ground floor and went to the where the adults are. Kakashi stood, Asuma flicked his cigarette out the window and Kurenai threw the magazine on the table and stood.
"So how far is everyone?"
"Most of the classrooms are done on our floor" Ino said
"Same" said Kiba
"And what about you guys?" Kakashi asked his team. Naruto grinned, Sasuke smirked and Sakura chuckled.
"No" Kakashi said
"Yep"
"No"
"Yes"
Kakashi sighs as he covers his eyes and shakes his head.
"What?" Asuma asked, everyone looked confused on what's going on.
"They finished their floor" Kakashi told the rest of the group.
"What?!"
"How?!"
"When?!"
"Exactly how did you finished so quickly?" Kurenai asked the finished group.
"No one said anything about not using clones" the adults looked at each other.
"You used clones, for the whole floor?" they nodded "If you used clones, what did you do?"
"We helped of course, it was a great workout" The adults again looked at each other than to the other groups who looked to the three and realized something.
"Why didn't we think of that?" Kiba asked everyone as he rubbed his head
"It was too early to think" Shikamaru answered as he yawned.
"Apparently it wasn't that early if Naruto thought about clones to do the job"
"Whatever. Do we get the rest of the day off?" Sakura asked the adults. The rest of the rookies looked to the adults also for the answer. Asuma and Kurenai looked to Kakashi since it was his team that finished and it was his decision.
"You could go if you want or stay and help the rest of the groups on their floors?"
Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura turned to each other, having a silent conversation with their expressions until both boys shrugged and Sakura smiled.
"I'm going home" she announced
"We'll stay and help" Naruto said with Sasuke nodding.
"Alright, Sakura we'll see you tomorrow" Sakura waved to everyone and made her way out to the entrance.
"The rest of you, lunch is ready" Kakashi gestured to the kitchen area where the lunch is laid out on the counter and consist of sandwiches, soup and a variety of desserts. Water bottles, juice boxes and tea was also served for beverages. Picking what they wanted to eat and drink, the kids all sat on the floor, leaving the couch area for the adults and that's when the questions started.
"How did you finished so quickly with only just clones?" Kiba was the first
"Sakura did the math and we just followed orders"
"Exactly how many are we talking about here?" Shika wondered out loud
Naruto finished chewing before replying "She said 20 each will be good and we split them up"
"But it didn't sound like there was that many, if it was then we would of heard a big commotion from where we were" Ino mentioned.
"That was the challenge: do the work without making the noise"
"Impressive, considering you had Naruto"
"Hey!"
"Then you don't know what you're talking about" Sasuke defended Naruto and all went silent as they stared at the teen to explain. "Naruto has come a long way from the dobe he was"
"Hey!"
"He's still a dobe but a stronger, faster and a bit smarter dobe"
"I'm going to smack you if you call me a dobe one more time teme!" Sasuke turned to the blonde and smiled.
"Dobe"
"That's it!" Naruto threw his plate down and tackled Sasuke to the floor. Rolling around on the floor, the others just lifted their plates, bowls and cups away from the ball of limbs coming their way, not once did they seemed fazed at the behavior of the two. Sasuke was laughing and Naruto was growling, trying to get Sasuke to take back what he said but they just kept rolling around.
The adults stared in amusement.
"They are so cute together" said Ino as she took a bite from her sandwich and Hinata nodded in agreement as Sasuke finally relented and took back his words of dobe and Naruto yelled in victory, sitting atop of Sasuke.
OOOOO
After lunch, the 2 boys split up. Naruto went with Shikamaru's group and Sasuke took Kiba's.
It felt weird for Sasuke to be split up from the blonde and the feeling was mutual with Naruto.
But they pushed on and did the work that needed to be done. Of course though they looked towards the stairways just in case the other decided to check up on the other. Shika and Hinata noticed the behavior of the boys and once in a while they would ask one of the boys to see if they can check how far the other group was. Sasuke would walk down the stairs and locate the blonde to ask or Naruto would climb up the stairs and ask Sasuke, each would return back to their groups with a small smile and get back to work with a lot more energy than before they went to the stairs.
When both groups finished, Shika's group headed down and met up with Kiba's group. Immediately Sasuke and Naruto stood next to each other and followed the rest of the group down to the ground floor where the adults are finished too. Letting the admin person know that everything was where it should be and the trash was already taken out, they were dismissed from the school and headed to the entrance. Replacing indoor shoes for their outside ones and slipping on their jackets, they looked out the window to see that the down pour of rain from earlier had ceased to a light shower. Naruto flipped his hood on and flipped Sasuke's hood before he could, they both waved to the rest of the group and left, side by side out in the light rain.
Shika stood by the adults as they watched everyone else leave.
"Anything on your mind, Shikamaru?"
"Have you noticed how close Naruto and Sasuke are?"
"Haven't noticed" Asuma shrugged as he light up one of his cigarettes.
"What about you Kakashi-sensei?"
"I've noticed, why do you ask?"
"When they split up in the beginning, it was like they were torn apart. It wasn't physical because no one else noticed but more like a feeling. Only when they saw each other, even for a second, it was like they could breathe again"
"And you saw this?"
Shikamaru nodded "I think Hinata noticed too because she would send Sasuke and I would send Naruto to check up on the groups. They talk and go back and it was like a switch: they become energized in their work. When we finished, those two quickly sought out each other on our way down"
"Hmm" was all Kakashi could say.
"Thanks for the input, Shikamaru, head on home now" Shikamaru knew when he was dismissed and so lifted his hood and walked out in the rain.
"So what do you think, Kakashi?" Kurenai asked the grey haired Jonin.
"I think those two will make beautiful children" Asuma choked on his puff of smoke and Kurenai laughed.
OOOOO
Running the rest of the way back to the apartment building, Naruto and Sasuke shook off any access rain from their jackets at the entrance and climbed up the steps.
"Damn, I need a shower"
"You took one this morning"
"Yeah but after all that work and the rain, I need another warm shower"
"OK, I'll meet you back down here and we'll make something?" Sasuke asked as the blonde kept on walking up.
"Yep, I'll be down when I'm done" Naruto shouted down and Sasuke went to Roxanne's door, unlocked it and took off his jacket, hanging it on the back of the chair and headed to the room to his bag. Sitting on the bed, Sasuke leaned over and unstrapped the weights from his ankle. Shoving them under the bed, Sasuke dug through his bag for a set of clothes and headed to the bathroom. Putting on the shower to a warm setting, he stripped and stepped under the sprays, sighing at the warmth and started washing.
Drying himself and dressed in the clothes he picked out, Sasuke rubbed his head with a towel and open the door. Coming out of the main room, Sasuke continued rubbing his hair while going to the table and sitting down on the chair as he looked to the kitchen where Naruto stood chopping up vegetables.
"When you're done, can you fill a pot of water for the noodles?"
Sasuke nodded, draped the towel on the chair and stood to do as was asked. Once done, he went to the fridge and took out some of the leftovers from yesterday to the table, Naruto watching from the chopping.
"What are you doing?"
"It'll be awhile before the food is actually done so just going to warm these up"
Sasuke open the containers and mixed everything together before popping it into the microwave. Setting the timer, Sasuke then went to the fridge and looked around for any type of meat.
"What are you making anyways?"
"I feel like pasta, spaghetti actually. Can you find any ground beef in there?" Moving this and that in the freezer of the fridge, Sasuke pulled out the requested item and put on the counter. The microwave timer rang to let them know their leftover is done and Sasuke pulled out the container and replaced it with a meat, defrosting it a bit so it'll be easier to mush up. Setting the containers on the table after grabbing a couple forks from the drawer, Sasuke sat down and open his to nibble on while watching Naruto move around the kitchen.
"Need any help?"
"Nah, it's mainly the meat and the water will boil on its own" Said Naruto has he wiped his hands and went to sit at the table, picking up a container and fork. Eating in silent lasted a couple minutes when the microwave timer rang. Sasuke went to get up but a hand out from Naruto stopped him as the blonde got up and went to take the meat out of the box and putting it in the sink for now. Tossing the chopped up veggies in a pan and putting it on low heat, Naruto sat back down. Sasuke looked to the kitchen then back at Naruto, feeling a bit left out because they usually make dinner together.
"Are you sure you don't need any help?"
Naruto looked up from his food to the expression on Sasuke's face and realized that he felt bad about not letting Sasuke help, they usually made dinner together.
"Um, you can make the salad and I think there's a bag of frozen ready to bake bread rolls in my freezer you can bake while everything is being cooked" Naruto suggested and when Sasuke's face light up, a warm feeling sparked in Naruto's chest.
"I'll go and grab that bag and whatever else we might need" Sasuke said as he got up and went for the door. Naruto sat there, staring at the empty chair where Sasuke sat and thought about the feeling in his chest.
'Do I like Sasuke that much?' Bringing a hand to his chest, Naruto thought about Sasuke and how he lit up when Naruto said he could help. Then he thought about their close relationship: how comfortable they are with sharing everything from clothes, to the bed, to their training, and even the touching. Naruto blush at that. They are so comfortable enough to be able to brush up against each other, hug, wrestle and neither thought nothing about it.
'I guess I like Sasuke'
Sasuke came back a couple minutes later to Naruto at the kitchen, turning the vegetables and putting noodles in the pot of boiling water. Taking out another pan, Naruto saw Sasuke and smiled at him. Sasuke smiled back and went to the one of the cupboards to take out a strainer and bowl for the salad and place those in the sink, then looking in another cupboard for a square metal pan. Clicking on the oven to the required temperature, making sure not to hurt himself with the other things being cooking on the top, Sasuke then went to the table and took out 6 bread rolls into the pan. Covering that with a dish towel and putting it aside, Sasuke then grabbed the lettuce and went to the sink. Running the water and setting the strainer under that, Sasuke began ripping up the lettuce into the strainer.
It was a quiet affair with sounds of food cooking or boiling or vegetables being torn up. The boys took their time in cooking dinner, enough time for Sasuke to put the now raised bread rolls in the oven and to clear the table.
When everything was finished and cooked, it was placed in serving bowls and brought to the table. Steaming noodles, cooked meat with chopped veggies and tomato sauce, fresh bread rolls, salad and a jug of water instead of juice. Sitting down, they started filling their plates with food and their cups of water and after giving each other a small smile of a job well done, they dug in and hummed in pleasure.
OOOOO
Like with the cooking, the boys took their time cleaning up their mess and wrapping up the leftovers. Sasuke did the washing while Naruto dried and in the end they left the pots and pans to air dry on the rack. Once Sasuke pulled the stopper to drain the water, he check the time to see it was early enough for a movie for the night. He turned to Naruto to ask but the blonde beat him to it.
"I'll go put on my jammies and you can pick a movie this time" Sasuke nodded and watched as Naruto left as he went to the room to do as asked.
Already having one in mind, Sasuke put it in the player and grabbed his pjs to go change in the bathroom. Naruto was already on the bed when Sasuke came back out and noticed a glass of water on his side of the bed on the stand. Giving a smile in thanks to the blonde, Sasuke sat on the bed and got comfortable before Naruto pressed play for the movie to start.
A few minutes into the movie, Naruto noticed Sasuke looking at him from the corner of his eye and so turned his head to stare back. Sasuke looked to Naruto's face then his hands, which were interlaced on top of his stomach and back up to his eyes, Naruto caught the meaning. Scooting a bit close to the middle, he lifted his arm in invitation to which Sasuke happily accepted. Sasuke laid his head on the blonde's chest and snuggled close to his side while Naruto's arm wrapped around him, holding his close.
'This feels right' the thought crossed both their minds as Sasuke wrapped his arm over Naruto and Naruto smiled as he laid his cheek on top of his bedmate's head.
When the movie ended and the credits rolled, the boys were asleep with Sasuke tucked under Naruto chin and his arms around the blondes torso while Naruto held Sasuke as close as he can, both with a happy small smile.
A/N: Base on what I know about Saiyans isn't a lot. I know the heat cycles and mating rituals of male Saiyans cause I love me some Goku/Vegeta pairings. I know if a Saiyan looks at the full moon they transform into Oozaru form but I have decided to change that into a female heat cycle instead, the Oozaru will come later when she gets older and stumbles into it. Bash me if you want but this is how it's gonna be.
On another note, the relationship between Naruto and Sasuke is developing into something more. They have had their first kiss, have been sleeping together for awhile now and practically live together. Naruto has realized he has feelings for Sasuke, and Sasuke knows he doesn't like being separated from his blonde, but it'll take a bit of a push for him to click 2 and 2 together.
Did I cover everything in this chapter? Ok
Comments, Questions, Reviews and 2 cents are very appreciated.