Disclaimers: I did not create Naruto nor did I make Beauty & The Beast- a sad fact, but still a fact. This is purely a SasuNaru fanfic using someone else's characters.
Beauty & The Beast: A D-Rank Mission
Chapter 17
D~,'~~~
Four steps.
That's it.
Belle and the Beast needed to walk down four measly steps together to the stage, where they would then dance at the Ball.
It should be a simple task.
It wasn't.
As they began their dissent, Naruto's foot caught on his robe and he pitched forward.
He gasped, eyes wide with surprise as he slid off the step. Sasuke tried to steady him, but Naruto's foot clipped his and they both went down.
"Shit!" Sasuke shouted, flying forward. He managed to grab the clumsy blonde and twist his body just in time to have him land on him instead of smashing his face into the stage.
And it hurt like hell.
Sasuke landed on his back, and his head hit the stage with a heavy thud that sent dark splotches across his vision. Seconds later Naruto dropped on him like a sack of potatoes and the air whooshed out of his lungs, leaving him breathless.
Naruto pushed himself up on his forearms, looking sheepish. "Heh.. sorry about that."
Sasuke winced then opened his eyes to glare up at the blushing blonde. "Have you ever actually walked without falling?"
Naruto glared back. "Shut up, Teme.." He tried to push himself up, but his foot caught in his robe and once again sent him falling on top of Sasuke.
"Naruto, darling- don't you think fornicating with Sasuke can wait? We are in the middle of our rehearsal after all.."
Naruto's face reddened with embarrassment. "I was just trying to get off-"
Kakashi coughed from the side to hide a laugh. "Oh, we are very aware, Naruto."
"That's not- that's not what I meant!"
"You're still on top of me, Dobe."
Naruto tried a third time to stand, but slipped on the hem of his robe. He fell to his knees, hands slamming down by either side of Sasuke's stoic face.
"Nnnn," Naruto groaned, wincing at the pain radiating from his knees and wrists.
"Not done with me yet, huh?"
Sasuke looked up and watched the blonde bite his lip, blue eyes filled with frustration and shame as he turned away.
Naruto could take a lot of teasing- he's typically the butt of people's jokes, and that never seemed to really bother him- but today was different. The combination of the delicate robe, Sasuke's advances, his role as Belle, scenes with Neji, and the jokes made at his expense..
Sasuke studied the blonde. Maybe he's feeling emasculated by all of this. I mean, Naruto is a man after all.
"Naruto."
Blue eyes hesitantly looked over at obsidian ones.
"Let me help you."
Sasuke kicked up the end of Naruto's robe, pushed himself up on an elbow, and held out his hand. "I'll boost you up."
Naruto shifted back as Sasuke moved, and after a brief pause, used the raven's raised palm to push himself back to his feet.
"Thanks.." he muttered quietly.
"A gentleman through and through" the director exclaimed. "Marvelous. The perfect Beast for our Belle."
Naruto kept his face turned away, letting long blonde bangs hide his eyes. But Sasuke could see him gnawing at his lip, and he suddenly felt very protective of him.
"Director?"
"Yes, my sweet Beast?"
"Mind if we take a short break?"
The director raised an eyebrow, then shifted his gaze over to the unusually quiet blonde.
"Of course. Let's all meet back here in twenty."
The crew nodded and started to disperse. Without a word, Sasuke grabbed Naruto's wrist and dragged him over to the exit, and surprisingly enough he didn't fight him on it.
He kept a firm hold on Naruto anyways, and led him to the hill across from the theatre. They climbed it together and took a seat, side-by-side at the top.
Sasuke glanced over. "You doing ok?" he asked softly.
"I'm fine" he mumbled, his gaze still averted.
"Naruto- talk to me. What's going on with you?"
"Nothing, Sasuke. Like I said, I'm fine."
The Uchiha growled a very Beast-like growl, grabbed his arm, and jerked it back- forcing Naruto to look at him. "You're lying" he grated out.
"Just drop it."
"Tell me what's going on."
"Sasuke-"
"TELL ME!"
"I'm tired of it, ok!" he shouted back. "I don't want to do this stupid freaking part anymore!"
Sasuke's eyes widened.
"Everyone looks at me like.. like-" he shook his head. "I'm a shinobi, Sasuke! Like YOU, like Neji, like Kakashi-sensei, but they don't look at you the way they look at me!"
"Naruto.."
"You don't understand" his voice dropped to a whisper. "It's always been like this.." he looked away. "The villagers always look at me with so much.. hate. But now.."
Sasuke reached out a hand, but Naruto slapped it away. "They look at me like I'm weak. Like I'm just your.. your fucking play thing!"
He looked down at the yellow silk wrapped around him. "I'm done. With all of it." He stood, untied the sash around his waist, and tore off the robe.
Sasuke watched with wide, surprised eyes as Naruto stripped away his clothes, leaving him in nothing but a pair of dark boxers. It didn't even seem to phase the blonde. "Naruto- let's just talk about this."
Blue eyes hardened. "I'm done talking. And I'm done with this fucking mission..
.. Find another Belle, Sasuke."
Then he threw his robe to the ground and stormed away, leaving Sasuke to wonder how much of that was about the play, and how much of that was about him.. about them.
The Uchiha roughly dragged his fingers through his hair as he watched a beautiful, half-naked Naruto walk away.
"Fuck."
D~,'~~~
Author Note:
Oh, how I love the drama. ~
I hope you're still enjoying this story and that I haven't dragged it out too long. I find I tend to make what I think will be a nice little one-shot, or short story, into a much larger chapter book.
So, thank you so much for reading it so far & sticking with it. And if you could, maybe leave a comment. I would love to hear your thoughts. :)
Xoxo ~