Author's note: I finally had the sense to order my finished stories on my laptop and in doing so, found back several fics I had forgotten I had started a while ago. This is one of them. Yes, it's another yakuza themed one, why not?
Warnings: Naruto's pov; Alternate universe; yakuza verse; established slash; minor violence; smidgen of angst; parents sets are alive
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.
I hope you'll like it!
Necessity Is the Mother of Innovation
Naruto whistled amazed, bracing his elbows on the counter so he could take a better look at the ring Kiba was proudly showing off. He had every reason to be proud of it, though, because the ring was very pretty. Its thin, silver band was elegant and the small purple sapphire glistered in the light, catching both the artificial light of the kennel as well as the sunlight trickling through the window.
"You picked out a nice one," Naruto told his friend, who grinned, carefully brushing a finger across the sapphire stone.
"Thanks, took a while before I found the right one," Kiba smiled wryly before his smile turned genuine again. "But she's worth it, you know? I didn't want to just pick something at random, not with something as important as this. She deserves more than I'll ever be able to give her, man," he sighed wistfully.
"Don't sell yourself short, dude, everybody can see just how much Hinata-chan loves you," Naruto reassured him.
Like two love-sick puppies, Ino had actually called them before. Vomit inducing, Temari had declared on more than one occasion. Very sweet, Tenten had said when Kiba and a deep blushing Hinata had announced they were a couple. Some of the Hyuuga family had been less than impressed by the fact that Kiba was Hinata's boyfriend and had been convinced they wouldn't last long.
Three years later and an engagement about to happen in the near future, the couple was happily proving Hinata's family wrong.
"Thanks," Kiba chuckled, a bit bashful and he rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. "You're actually the first one I'm showing this ring to."
"Not even your family knows?" Naruto's eyebrows shot up in surprise.
Kiba rolled his eyes. "You think my sister could keep that big mouth of hers shut if she knew I have this ring?"
Naruto snickered, acquiescing to the compelling argument. Hana was a no nonsense type, likely and willing to kick your arse for any bullshit you might start with her, but she also had a hard time keeping her mouth shut when it came to things her little brother did. It was her tendency as a big sister to tease her younger sibling, but yeah, if she knew about this ring, then the ring wouldn't remain a secret for very long.
"That's actually why I called you here," Kiba said in a non-sequitur manner. "I'm planning on popping the question this weekend, but I still need to arrange some things. You mind hiding this ring at your place until then?"
Naruto stared at him baffled. "Why at my place? Why not hide it at yours?" You know, the most logical option.
"Because I'm pretty sure Hana knows something is up and I wouldn't put it past her to raid my home," Kiba replied, scowling. "Dude, you know I wouldn't bother you with something like this, but I can't have my sister spilling the beans before I'm ready, just because she's nosy as fuck!"
Well, Naruto supposed there wasn't anything wrong with hiding the ring at his place for now. It would only be two days and then Kiba would take it back. Hana wouldn't think of raiding his place at least – he hoped.
"Okay, fine, I'll keep it safe for you," Naruto sighed. "You better propose this weekend, though; I'm not going to play your safe for a long time."
"Dude, you're the best!" Kiba crowed; his eyes shining. "I knew I could count on you!"
"Count on him to do what?" Hana's voice drifted over to them as her footsteps echoed through the small corridor – the one leading straight to the entrance hall, where Kiba and Naruto were standing.
Obviously panicking, Kiba shoved the ring into Naruto's hand before his sister could step into the room, making shooing motions at the blond man. Blue eyes rolled but Naruto quickly slipped the ring into the pocket of his jeans, bracing his elbows back on the counter by the time Hana appeared in view.
"To back me up when I told him about the stunt you pulled with the scheduling," Kiba fibbed easily, twisting around to face her.
"What stunt? You're the one who screwed me over with the scheduling when you attended that barbecue party!" Hana shot back instantly, narrowing her eyes.
"That was two months ago!" Kiba squawked outraged.
"And you think I've forgotten that shit?" she asked unimpressed, crossing her arms. The file she was holding ended up pressed against her upper arm. "Please, I don't forget, dipshit."
"You don't forgive either," Kiba muttered underneath his breath, but he wasn't silent enough.
Her eyes started glittering and a smirk spread across her red painted mouth, causing Kiba to regard her warily. "What do I hear? You want to take up a double shift next week?" she asked innocently, cupping her left ear. "Why, otouto, that's so sweet of you to offer!"
"Hey, no, don't you fucking dare schedule me for a double shift!" he demanded, slapping the counter.
"And this is my cue to go," Naruto announced to nobody in particular and left the kennel before either sibling remembered him and could drag him into their brewing argument.
Squinting at the way the sun disappeared behind the clouds – was it going to rain? He was so sure the weather forecast hadn't mentioned such a thing – he was startled when his phone started buzzing. Retrieving it from his pocket, he was bemused to see Itachi's name flashing across the screen.
"Hey, Itachi, is Sasuke not picking up again?" Naruto greeted once he accepted the call.
Even though he had been dating Sasuke for two years now, he still didn't fully understand the relationship between him and his older brother. There was no doubt those two would kill for each other and had each other's back when required, but at the same time Sasuke could get into that one specific mood of his when he would refuse to accept Itachi's calls, forcing the older man to contact Naruto instead if he wanted to talk to Sasuke.
"Naruto-kun …"
Itachi's uncharacteristic uncertain tone had Naruto tensing up. "What's wrong?"
"It's Sasuke – he's in the hospital."
People had often accused him of being oblivious when growing up. Perhaps he could be somewhat oblivious at times, but not when it concerned important matters. Matters such as the fact that your boyfriend turned out to be part of a major yakuza clan.
The impressive pay check and the many late evenings spent working could be attributed to Sasuke's 'safe' job as a CEO in his family's pharmaceutical company. Those two reasons weren't enough to make one suspect him of being yakuza. The way a gang of hooligans had abruptly backed off the second Sasuke had shown up, though, when before they had been more than ready to beat the shit out of Naruto? That had been strange for sure. One of the gang members who had actually managed to land a punch on Naruto and had mysteriously ended up in the Bay of Tokyo when the guy hadn't even been a city native? Suspicious. An odd red stain on Sasuke's shirt he had remained very vague about? Strange whispered phone calls in the middle of the night when Sasuke believed him to be fast asleep? Setting off some red flag alarms for sure.
Naruto's growing suspicions had been fully cemented the day an opposing clan member had actually abducted him. The guy hadn't managed to take him far away nor had him abducted for a long time. In fact it had only been two hours before Sasuke had shown up already, his face a painting of sheer rage, busting through the door as if it had been nothing but some flimsy paper. That had been the last time Naruto had ever seen that guy again.
It had to be said: Sasuke had done an admirable job trying to come up with a believable story, but while Naruto was a natural blond, he wasn't an idiot nor dumb in spite of what some other people liked to claim. He had simply made Sasuke admit to the truth and the dark haired man had realised he had been driven into the corner, admitting the truth – although Naruto was pretty certain even that truth had been embellished somewhat, leaving out the more gruesome parts.
It hadn't exactly been Naruto's lifelong wish to date a yakuza, but by the time Sasuke had admitted the truth, he had fallen too deep in love with him to simply retreat and forget about him. Naruto never asked for any details about the shady business Sasuke conducted after regular working hours, but neither did he leave him. All he had insisted on was that Sasuke would be as careful as possible. Sasuke had managed to keep that promise.
Until now.
Sasuke had been stabbed when he had been about to walk to his car. The guy had managed to stab him once before he had been bodily thrown to the ground by an enraged Jugo, but that one stab had been more severe than just a nick of the skin. Sasuke had been rushed to the hospital where he had had surgery immediately.
"He'll be fine," Itachi had reassured Naruto on the phone and while he had sounded honest, his voice had had the slightest bit of a tremor to it, showing he wasn't completely unaffected. "The blade missed his organs, so he got lucky in that regard. He'll need to rest for a while, though, to give his body some time to recuperate."
Even after hearing the reassurance that Sasuke would be fine, the surgery having been a success, Naruto was anxious the whole way to the hospital. He couldn't help it! How else was he supposed to feel after hearing his boyfriend had been stabbed? Yes, he was okay now, but it really drove home the fact that Sasuke's after hours business could be very dangerous, even to a high ranking member of a top yakuza clan like the Uchiha family apparently was. How had that son of a bitch taken Sasuke by surprise? Because he had to have been taken off guard; there was no other way to explain how he had got stabbed when he was normally so vigilant.
The glass doors of the hospital soundlessly slid open when he approached them and he took a deep breath, plastering a smile on his face. He walked over to the reception desk where a brunette wearing a pair of large glasses was typing almost furiously; her gaze fixated on the computer screen. He felt almost guilty for disturbing her, but who else was he going to ask? During their phone call Itachi hadn't known yet which room number would be assigned to Sasuke while he recovered.
"Good afternoon," he greeted the woman to attract her attention.
She halted her typing and gave him a distracted smile. "Good afternoon, how can I help you?"
"I was told that Uchiha Sasuke was brought here earlier today," Naruto replied. "Do you know which room number he is in?"
"Uchiha Sasuke," she mumbled, looking something up on her computer. "Yes, here he is. He was brought in at two thirty. Are you related to him?"
"Ah no, not related," he began to answer, "I'm his - "
"Unless you're related or his spouse, I can't tell you which room number he has," she said apologetically. "Hospital rules."
Since when was only family allowed to visit? Sasuke wasn't injured in a life threatening manner – Itachi wouldn't have lied about that – so why wouldn't anybody but his closest relatives be allowed to see him? Had the family requested this? Well, clearly Itachi at least was expecting Naruto to show up, why else would he have called him?
Right as he considered calling Itachi and explaining the situation, he shifted his right leg and felt something pricking him in his thigh. The ring, right. He had pocketed the ring before Hana could have seen it and hadn't thought to grab the box with him. He probably should have left the ring at home first before he …
The idea unfolded in his mind and before he could think twice, he swiftly pulled on the ring beneath the desk, before resting both his hands ostensibly on the desk.
"I'm his husband; I should have specified that before asking you for his room number," he lied easily. "It's just … I've been frazzled ever since my brother-in-law told me what had happened and I didn't think …"
"Oh no, it's okay!" she was quick to reassure him, offering him a sweet smile. "I totally understand; it can be quite scary hearing your husband ended up in the hospital. It looks like he was brought to his room twenty minutes ago. You can visit him on the third floor, room thirty-five."
"Thank you so much for your help, I appreciate it!" Naruto smiled and made an immediate beeline for the staircase, too wired up to wait for the elevator.
His feet pounded on the tiles as he ran from one floor to the next, checking each number above the doors to make sure he would stop at the right floor. When the big black '3' glared back at him from above the doorframe, he exhaled loudly before opening the door, stepping foot into the hallway. It was quiet here, save for the sound of footsteps and the crinkly sounds of papers being shuffled as doctors and nurses made their way through the hallway and into rooms.
He exchanged some nods as greeting with some of the nurses while he counted the rooms until he stopped in front of room thirty-five. He knocked on the door, stepping inside when Itachi called out, "Come in!"
"I got here as fast as I could," Naruto said apologetically, hurrying over to the bed where a scowling Sasuke laid.
"How much did you worry him during your phone call?" Sasuke demanded from his brother.
"I told him you were stabbed – that's not something you would have been able to hide from him, otouto," Itachi chided him.
"That fucking arsehole didn't even hit anything vital," Sasuke scoffed.
"And thank god for that!" Naruto exclaimed, grabbing Sasuke's hand and squeezing it gently. "You had me worried, bastard! Where are your parents?"
"Tying up some loose ends before they'll come back here," Itachi answered; his whole posture relaxed as he reclined in the chair.
Naruto wisely decided not to ask what these 'loose ends' were. "I'm glad to hear it wasn't anything serious," he said instead, leaning down to kiss Sasuke, being careful not to brush against his side.
"As if lowlife scum like that could ever hope to - " Sasuke started to say scornfully before his eyes suddenly narrowed and he snatched up Naruto's hand, pulling it into the air – the hand still bearing the ring.
Oops.
"Why the hell are you wearing an engagement ring?" Sasuke asked, looking like he was trying to set fire to the ring.
Naruto laughed a bit nervously and hastily ripped off the ring, stuffing it back into his pocket. "Don't mind that, that's actually Kiba's."
"What."
Sasuke couldn't have sounded flatter if he tried. Itachi appeared amused for reasons Naruto did not want to guess.
"It's Kiba's engagement ring for Hinata-chan," he sighed exasperatedly. "He's asked me to hide it at our place until he's ready to propose to her this weekend. He didn't want his sister to find it and spill the beans already."
"Congratulations to your friends," Itachi smiled, but Sasuke wasn't as graceful.
"I thought something was off," he said critically. "I knew it couldn't have been something I'd given to you."
"And why not?" Naruto raised an eyebrow.
"Because I have much better taste than that thing Inuzuka calls an engagement ring," Sasuke scoffed and yeah, really, Naruto shouldn't have asked. "When I'll propose, it's going to be with the most beautiful ring you'll ever see in your life – only beat out by our wedding rings."
As Naruto stared bemused at the determined look on Sasuke's face – how the hell had they gone from "I'm happy you're not seriously hurt" to "I'll be better at choosing engagement rings than your friend"? He felt like he was missing something – Itachi bent towards him, a conspiratory glint in his eyes.
"Forgot to tell you: otouto might still be a bit loopy from the sedation," he said amused. "Please don't take any promises he makes to heart right now."
"The hell do you know?" Sasuke hissed, though his grip on Naruto's hand remained gentle. "Mark my words: Naruto's engagement ring will be the most beautiful you'll ever see!"
"All right, okay!" Naruto cut in hastily before Sasuke might actually grow irate enough to attempt to get out of bed. "I'll hold you to it, bastard: only the best engagement ring for me," he said in jest but his stomach did a funny flip when dark eyes softened right before Sasuke pulled his hand to his lips and pressed a kiss against his palm.
"Good, you only deserve the best," Sasuke swore, a sweet smile tugging at the corners of his mouth before his attention was pulled to the door upon hearing the knocking.
As Fugaku and Mikoto filed into the room, Mikoto fussing over Sasuke immediately while Fugaku held a terse whispered conversation with Itachi, Sasuke kept a firm hold on Naruto's hand, never once letting go.
If Sasuke was indeed still loopy from the sedation, there was no point in reminding him of his promise later on, even if it was just to tease him. Still, the warmth in his chest was hard to ignore and Naruto smiled, tangling their fingers together. When Sasuke looked questioningly at him, breaking free from his mother's embrace, Naruto simply shook his head and pecked his cheek.
"Nothing, just was thinking of how much I love you," he mumbled.
"Well, you've always been the sappy one," Sasuke smirked, but the soft squeeze around Naruto's hand told him everything he needed to know.
"I can't believe you used Inuzuka's ring to lie to the hospital employee," Sasuke scoffed a few days later, settling into the couch.
"Well, I needed to see you immediately and apparently only close family or spouses could visit you," Naruto defended his decision. "What else was I supposed to do?"
"Should I be worried with how quick you were to commit fraud?" Sasuke quirked an eyebrow; his dark eyes glinting with amusement.
"Fraud, my arse!" Naruto scoffed and dropped down on the couch next to him. "Just quick thinking, that's all! And besides, you of all people really can't judge me, bastard!"
Sasuke simply smirked, pulling him into a deep kiss.
Naruto sank into the kiss, accepting it as a way to distract him because aside from his ability to think quickly on his feet, he also knew when it was best to let an argument go. Besides, kissing Sasuke was much preferable to discussing his sneaky attempt to get into the hospital!
As for what Sasuke had told him about a ring of his own … Well, Naruto was looking forward to that! For now he was just happy to have Sasuke with him, bare left finger or not.
The End
AN2: This was supposed to be funny. Not entirely sure if I succeeded in that, but it's another story finished! This might have been started two years ago; we don't pay attention to the time frame *hums*
Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.
I hope to see you all back in my future stories! Please stay safe and take care of yourselves!
Cuddles
Melissa
P.S. For more information about my upcoming and posted stories, please visit my profile.
