The World is a Chessboard - by Triste
Itachi hummed to himself happily as he made his way to Naruto's apartment. The sun was shining, the birds were singing and he was off to see his beloved. Nothing could possibly ruin his good mood! He just hoped that Naruto would still be at home when he showed up bearing one of his many gifts, but then he told himself to stop being so silly and focus on the task ahead. Anyway, he knew Naruto would be home. It was Wednesday morning and his watch hadn't yet struck 8:15.
Itachi knew Naruto's daily routine by heart. He knew what times he trained, where he trained, where he ate after his training, what he did after he'd eaten and trained and even what he wore to bed (grey pyjamas and a cute little nightcap, but no socks or underwear). Wednesday, Friday and Sunday mornings were when Naruto got the chance to sleep in, so Itachi hoped the blond boy wouldn't be too upset with him for waking him up so early.
Then he decided that he didn't care. Naruto was at his most beautiful when he the blood was boiling in his veins and that killer intent was brought out in his eyes...of course, he was even more beautiful when he was naked and all squeaky-clean from the shower, but Itachi wasn't fussy. He took his Naruto anyway he could get him and if that involved perching on his windowsill and spying on him while bathing/eating/sleeping/indulging in a little self-loving, then so be it.
Of course, he would be even happier if Naruto decided to return just a tiny amount of his love, but Itachi realised that the best things in life were often worth fighting for. He was well aware of how stubborn Naruto could be, but that just made things more fun. Itachi never saw it as rejection. He knew that someday, Naruto would fall head over heels for him because hey, how could he not? Besides, Sasuke wasn't the only beautiful Uchiha who had fan girls fighting over him.
Well, okay, Itachi didn't really have fan girls, but that probably had something to do with the fact that he was a wanted criminal and quite possibly the most dangerous ninja Konoha had ever produced. His ninja skills were so great that not even Naruto was aware that Itachi often took his time admiring him from afar (not peeping though. Never peeping).
He didn't have fan girls simply because he was a master at blending in with his surroundings. One tended not to have very many fan girls when said creatures had difficulty distinguishing you from a nearby plant pot. Yes, Itachi's camouflage skills were so superb that they amazed even himself sometimes. He could walk into a bookstore or a teashop wearing just a straw hat and a tacky black cloak with floaty red clouds on it with the confidence that absolutely no one would recognise him for the wanted man that he was. He really was that good.
Itachi couldn't remember when he had fallen for Naruto, but he did know that his love continued to grow in leaps and bounds with every passing day. Some people would probably call it an obsession, but Itachi didn't like that word. It is often said that there is a thin line between love and hate and an even thinner one between adoration and sheer obsessiveness, but Itachi saw himself as being determined to achieve his goal (which was to make Naruto fall madly in love with him...oh, and possibly steal the chakra of the nine tails fox that resided inside his body, but that was another plan for another day).
Itachi did not see himself as a stalker though. Oh no. He was just...familiar with Naruto and his routines. That was all. He just happened to know which flavour ramen Naruto preferred, which side of the bed he liked to sleep on best and that he dressed to the left and not the right.
He also didn't see himself as a paedophile. Some people would consider a love like his unhealthy enough, but most would probably beat him round the head with a battered old broomstick and call him a child molester if they knew that the object of his affections was a thirteen year old boy.
Age mattered not to Itachi though. Nor did it matter that both he and Naruto were male and that most people tended to look down upon homosexual relationships because as every gay person insists, love knows no gender. Besides, Itachi didn't care what other people thought. The only thing that mattered to him was Naruto and getting him into his clutches. After all, everybody knows that true love conquers all (Hell yeah!!)
Finally, Itachi reached Naruto's apartment and he knocked on the door twice before waiting patiently for his beloved to open it. He could hear mumbling and cursing coming from inside and a couple of minutes later, a bleary-looking Naruto opened the door. He quickly tried to close it again though when he caught sight of Itachi, but the older boy prevented him from doing so by sticking his foot inside in order to stop the door from closing all the way.
"Good morning, Naruto-kun!" he chirped, thrusting his beautiful arrangement of handpicked flowers into his beloved's face.
Naruto had been in the midst of a very, very good night's sleep (or early/mid-morning, depending on who you are) when he heard the knock at his front door. He'd already convinced himself that it was Sasuke coming to challenge him while he was half-asleep, just so he could beat him easily, because Sasuke was often like that. He couldn't admit that Naruto was better in every way - most of all in looks - so he had to challenge him to fights early in the morning when Naruto would be more likely to grumble and stare off into space than fight properly. Naturally, he never even considered the fact that Sasuke could most likely kick his ass into the dirt two times over, whether he was half-asleep or not. In Naruto's mind, he would always be a hundred times better.
After grumbling to himself about how idiotic Sasuke was, Naruto stumbled out of his bedroom, running into various objects along the way and cursing loudly. He opened his front door, fully prepared to yell at Sasuke and call him an asshole, along with many other non-polite names. Of course, he hadn't been expecting to come face to face with Sasuke's older brother who was currently looking even creepier than he usually did.
Naruto partially blamed the extensive creepiness on the fluffy red clouds that covered Itachi's cloak. Other than that though, he would have to say that it was the lustful/adoring gleam that always appeared in Itachi's red eyes. Half the time, Naruto swore that Itachi was going to jump him and rape him. Not that that had ever happened, of course. Apparently, Itachi was greatly against rape and any other sexual assaults. That was unless they were consensual, naturally.
Naruto just stared at Itachi for a moment before moving away to close the door and he would've succeeded too, had Itachi's foot not gotten in the way. He cursed under his breath, glaring up at the older man. He didn't care that he was scowling at the most dangerous ninja out there and that said ninja just happened to have the hots for him. All Naruto really cared about at that moment was getting back to bed, and if that meant having to put up with Itachi's insane tactics of seducing him, then he would do so.
Naruto twitched slightly at the way Itachi chirped his greeting out as he eyed the gift that had just been shoved into his face. Upon closer inspection, Naruto discovered that they weren't actually flowers, but weeds. They just happened to be weeds with bright yellow flowers, a colour very similar to his blond hair.
Gingerly, Naruto rubbed his nose as if trying to make sure not to sneeze again before he gave Itachi the annoyed, dry response, "Those are weeds not flowers." Without so much as another word, Naruto once again tried to close the door, but Itachi's foot once again blocked it. This time, however, instead of just blocking the door, Itachi pushed right passed Naruto and walked into the living room.
"But they were the only things I could find that matched the shade of your beautiful hair!" Itachi replied cheerfully as he hung up his cloak on a nearby coat peg. He walked back over to where Naruto was standing in the middle of the room and smiled brightly down at he object of his affections. "Of course, no flower could possibly compare to the wonder of your silky locks, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to bring you a little token of my love."
He reached down and threaded his fingers affectionately through Naruto's mussed up hair, combing out the tangles and ignoring the death glare the younger boy sent his way. He was tempted to lean down and press a kiss to that sweet-smelling hair, but he decided against it in the end. He'd kissed Naruto before, but his beloved had responded by trying to stab his eyeballs out with a pair of chopsticks. Most people would have taken something like that as rejection (or at least attempted murder), but Itachi knew that Naruto was just being shy.
Yes, he wanted the boy, but he had no desire to rush him, or push him into anything. Okay, so he constantly attempted to hug and snuggle him, but he knew not to expect too much. Naruto was an orphan after all, and he'd been abandoned by most of the village. He was unused to human affection, but Itachi was determined to get around that by showering the boy with love and adoration.
Naruto seemed not to appreciate his efforts for some reason though and Itachi had been most insulted when Naruto once told him that he would rather train with Sasuke than go on a date with him. Itachi loved his little brother dearly (after all, he'd killed off their entire clan just so that he would one day grow up to be a strong and powerful ninja), but he just wasn't interested in him right now.
Seducing Naruto could be a little difficult sometimes, especially when Sasuke would appear out of nowhere wielding a kunai and screaming on about how he was an avenger and that his life's goal was to kill his older brother. Itachi thought the posing and the melodrama was actually pretty cute. Sasuke took himself far too seriously. Itachi had once suggested that he go out and find himself a nice boy seeing as how he had absolutely no interest at all in the female population, but for some reason, it had only made Sasuke even angrier than he already was.
It really was rather bothersome. Sasuke was obsessed with killing him. Naruto was obsessed with beating Sasuke. Itachi was obsessed (no, no, not obsessed, determined!) in making Naruto fall in love with him and well; things did tend to get rather messy and awkward sometimes.
But anyway, Sasuke wasn't here right now (although Itachi wouldn't be too surprised to find him making a random appearance later on to pout and pose and then go off to sulk when he fobbed him off with an excuse that he was busy preparing for a fashion shoot).
Now was the time to prove to Naruto once again how much he adored him and he could start by making him his morning ramen. Naruto watched his warily as Itachi waltzed into the kitchen, but the older boy ignored his angry stares as he filled a pan with water and put it onto the stove to boil. He intended to pamper Naruto by making him the proper sort of ramen that came in packets, not the cheap and nasty instant stuff his beloved was so fond of.
Naruto had yet to say anything else though, so Itachi decided to break the silence with a song. Then he decided against it when he remembered the last time he'd tried to serenade Naruto only to find himself ducking various objects and being told rather viciously that his singing voice was not unlike the sound of a peacock being castrated with a rusty knife.
"You look rested, Naruto-kun," he commented, flashing a wide smile at the grumpy-looking blond. "Did you sleep well?"
Naruto stared at Itachi in disbelief when he asked him how he had slept. He was obviously not well rested. His eyes were bloodshot, not to mention droopy from sleepiness and he had to work to drag himself closer to the kitchen so he could make sure Itachi didn't burn it down. It wasn't necessarily that Itachi was a bad cook; it was just that he tended to get easily distracted. Yes, that's right; Konoha's greatest ninja had a short attention span. At least, he did where a certain blond-haired fox-demon holding boy was concerned.
Said blond boy's nose scrunched up as he recalled the last time Itachi had tried to cook for him. Itachi had forgotten about the ramen, which wasn't too surprising. What was surprising was that he had forgotten about it for three whole hours. Naruto had been asleep at the time, considering that it had been somewhere around 7:30 am and Itachi had gotten distracted by watching Naruto while he dreamt that he had won a life-time supply of ramen and thus looked 'hug-ably cute'. He didn't dare question why Itachi had started cooking for him at 4:30 in the morning.
"I was sleeping well until you had to come along and woke me up with your weeds," Naruto bit out grumpily, shooting Itachi another glare. "And don't give me any of that crap about them matching my hair either. They're still weeds." He let out a small sigh, knowing that those words wouldn't affect Itachi even the slightest bit.
On top of being easily distracted in matters that concerned Naruto, Itachi was also very dense and very oblivious. It didn't matter how much Naruto insulted, yelled, rejected, or even threw things at the older male, Itachi would just smile and go on being happy while muttering things that Naruto was sure that he wasn't aware he was muttering about him being his 'beloved'.
In fact, Itachi did just that at that moment. Letting out another sigh, Naruto dragged himself into the kitchen and over to the fridge where he retrieved a carton of orange juice before getting a glass out of the cupboard. Of course, as soon as he set it down on the counter, he let out a rather loud yawn, covering his mouth and smacking his lips together tiredly. He then went on to pour his juice, completely oblivious to the squealing that was going on behind him.
Itachi cursed loudly as he stuck his hand underneath the cold-water tap. He was lucky that he'd only burned his fingers while dropping the ramen into the boiling water and not actually caught fire during his distraction. He did have a tendency to lose focus on what he was doing sometimes whenever Naruto was around and now was no exception as he watched the blond skulk around the kitchen sleepily while he saw to his breakfast.
Itachi didn't usually get distracted to the point that he caused himself actual physical harm, but then it wasn't often that he got the chance to get a glimpse of naked Naruto skin. He'd caught sight of the blond reaching up into a cupboard in order to find himself a glass for his orange juice and was quick to notice the way his pyjama top inched upward, revealing a narrow strip of bare flesh.
Then Naruto had turned around, allowing Itachi to get a rare look at the seal on his stomach and well, he'd forgotten all about making breakfast at that point. Few things excited him as much as getting to see the nine tail's seal. Naruto had always been uneasy about showing it for some reason, even though Itachi often assured him that it was the sexiest thing since pretty boys had started dressing up in women's clothing.
Itachi couldn't quite understand why, but Naruto had been insulted, rather than flattered. He'd yelled and stamped and asked if Itachi had accused him of being a 'girly wuss', but Itachi had been quick to reassure him and tell him that there was absolutely nothing wrong with wearing women's clothing from time to time. He'd been dressing up in his mother's clothes since he was four and if Sasuke weren't so busy being hostile toward him, Itachi would have probably tried to get him in a skirt and blouse too.
Oh well, at least he'd only burned his hand. Accidentally dipping your fingers into a pan of boiling water hurt like a bitch, but hey, better boiling water than a naked flame. The squealing hadn't been a very manly thing to do, but then Itachi had never really been bothered about showing off his masculinity to the world. Actually, he'd always been very in touch with his feminine side, much to his father's irritation (and his mother's for always stealing her favourite lipstick and mascara).
He frowned as he took a closer look at his fingertips. The pain had begun to lessen slightly, but he'd probably end up with blisters later on. He glanced over at his beloved who was currently sitting slumped on the kitchen table and Itachi brightened.
"Kiss it better?" he asked as he waved his injured fingers in front of Naruto's face.
Naruto stared blankly at the finger that had been waved in front of his face. He was currently about to fall asleep sitting at the table (which could prove to be quite tragic...or maybe just painful) and so it took him a moment to comprehend that there were words that had gone along with the finger waving. Of course, he hadn't quite understood them, though. They just sounded more like sweetly said 'blahs' than actual words.
Naruto shifted his gaze from the finger to Itachi's face before looking back at the finger again. He gave a tired yawn, then reached out and grabbed Itachi's hand. From the delighted look that came across his face, Naruto figured he was doing exactly what the other wanted. Instead of giving the finger a kiss like Itachi had wanted him to though, he stuck it in his glass of orange juice.
A small groan escaped Naruto's lips as he soon realized that he had just ruined his morning drink because of his sleepy daze. Well, it really wasn't ruined, he just didn't want to drink anything that Itachi's finger had been stuck in. Other than that, though, the orange juice was perfectly fine. With a sleepy smack of his lips, Naruto forced himself to slide off the table and walk over to the fridge once again removing the carton of juice from within.
After getting another glass from the cupboard (and giving Itachi another chance to ogle the small strip of skin that showed when he raised his arm to do so), Naruto poured more juice out for himself. Being that sleepy states were quite evil things and often impaired one's judgment (not to mention common sense), Naruto placed the glass inside of the fridge and walked back over to the table with the carton of orange juice in hand instead.
He lazily set the carton down onto the table, accidentally knocking it over in the process. It quite possibly could have ended up in a big mess, but luckily for Naruto (or rather Itachi, since it would be quite impossible for Naruto to even attempt to clean up spilled orange juice at this point), he had just poured the last of the juice into the glass that was now sitting inside the refrigerator.
Naruto gave the empty, fallen carton a good look as he scrunched his nose up sleepily. "I think I need more sleep," he announced with another yawn. As if on cue, he nodded off right there and then, falling forward and right into Itachi.
An ecstatic expression spread across Itachi's face as Naruto literally fell right into his arms. Okay, so it wasn't really as romantic as it could have been considering that Naruto was currently snoring faintly rather than swooning, but Itachi wasn't fussy. He finally had his beloved right where he wanted him, but it was such a shame that he seemed to have slipped back into an unconscious state.
He wasn't too worried though and he smiled happily to himself as he lifted Naruto up into his arms. The smaller boy shifted and mumbled something, but otherwise didn't wake up. Itachi wondered if he should chance a quick grope while Naruto was still out of it, but then changed his mind. Proud of his self-control, he carried Naruto back into his bedroom and laid him carefully down onto the bed.
He stared down at the blond for a long moment, wondering whether or not Naruto would try and strangle him with his own ponytail again if he decided to lie down next to him. In the end, he decided that it couldn't hurt and so he pushed Naruto over a little to make room for himself and let his head rest on the pillow as he gazed adoringly at the one who held his heart.
Okay, so maybe he could steal a quick fondle while Naruto was still sleeping. He inched closer to the younger boy and tried to hold back the manic grin as he slowly snaked his uninjured hand down to slip underneath Naruto's pyjama top. Naruto didn't stir as Itachi began stroking the seal on his stomach and the dark-haired boy's smile widened, making him look even more insane than he usually did.
Maybe he ought to move his hand down a little lower...no, no, that was wrong. That was bad. Itachi still got confused over this whole 'right and wrong' business, but he'd sworn to himself that he would never push his beloved into any sexual experience (at least until Naruto asked him to, of course) and so he moved his hand away regretfully.
Hmm, maybe he could give Naruto's cute little ass a quick squeeze? That didn't count as harassment, right? It was a sigh of affection in Itachi's eyes. He wasn't sure how Naruto would see it, but in any case, he was still asleep and even if he wasn't, he wouldn't mind *that* much, surely...
Itachi's fingers twitched, but in the end, he reigned in his lustful urges and just let his hand rest gingerly on Naruto's stomach. He traced over the seal with his fingertips and tried not to mutter the words, "Minemineminemine..." Naruto didn't like it when he got possessive for some reason. He also didn't like it whenever Itachi would murmur, "Killkillkillkill..." whenever anyone else dared touch him or even look at him strangely in Itachi's presence.
Itachi often thought about marking Naruto somehow so that everyone else would know that he belonged to him, but his beloved didn't much like being rubbed up against in public (or in private either for that matter). Naruto also didn't like it when he tried to scribble down 'PROPERTY OF UCHIHA ITACHI!' on his forehead with permanent ink. He didn't seem to like much really, but Itachi never let it get him down. His beloved was just shy and unused to such relationships was all.
Naruto mumbled again and his eyes opened blearily for a second as he stared at Itachi whose nose was only millimetres away from his own. It made him go adorably cross-eyed and Itachi resisted the urge to coo at him.
Once Naruto had thoroughly stared at the nose right in front of his own, his face distorted into a horrified expression as he soon realized how close Itachi was to him. Not only that, but Itachi's hand was currently underneath his pyjama top and his fingers were stroking the Nine tails seal in a way that made it obviously clear that Itachi was thinking, "Minemineminemine..." as he often said aloud, much to Naruto's annoyance.
However, judging by the expression on Itachi's face at that moment (a look in which Naruto half-expected the older-male to burst out in fits of giggles), he figured it was more, "Cutecutecutecute..." than "Minemineminemine..." Then again, they could've mixed together and were now coming out as, "Minecuteminecute..."
Naruto then mentally slapped his forehead over the fact that he was actually sitting there, deciding what sort of freakish chant was going through Itachi's mind.
He gave a loud - and very much so delayed - yelp, jumping out of the bed, quickly snatching the pillow and holding it up threateningly. However, the thought that he might look a great deal more intimidating if the so-called weapon he was holding was actually something a little bit dangerous rather than a fluffy, soft pillow never even crossed Naruto's mind.
"You!" Naruto yelled, thwapping Itachi with the pillow. "You molested me in my sleep! What the hell is wrong with you?"
Well, that statement was half-true. Naruto had been asleep, though he hadn't technically been molested. Of course, Naruto wasn't going to consider the fact that it was mere just harmless caresses (though still creepy, considering how he could feel the possessiveness radiating from Itachi's fingertips) than actual molestation.
Had he stopped to actually consider that fact, Naruto would've probably been a lot less angry and a lot more thankful that he hadn't been raped in his sleep. At the moment though, he was just far too freaked out to even considering thinking about it. After all, it wasn't every day that one found themselves waking up and being caressed by Konoha's most wanted ninja. That and it wasn't every day that Naruto found himself snuggling up against something warm and quite nice smelling (actually very nice smelling, much to Naruto's dismay) to find that it was his stalker.
Waking up next to Itachi was enough to traumatize Naruto for life without the knowledge that he had actually been enjoying sleeping next to him. Naturally, as soon as he calmed down, he would conveniently forget that that was actually a detail in this event.
"I didn't molest you!" Itachi protested, shielding his face as Naruto continued bopping him over the head with a pillow. He started saying something about how he'd wanted to molest his beloved, but Naruto wouldn't hear of it. He kept screeching 'Pervert! Pervert!' over and over again. If Itachi had been any less of a man, his lower lip would have been quivering at the accusation, but as it was, he just looked constipated.
Eventually, Naruto grew tired of smacking him and he shoved Itachi forcefully out of his bedroom and yelled at him to get lost while he changed out of his pyjamas. Itachi briefly considered spying through the keyhole, but then changed his mind when it suddenly occurred to him that he'd forgotten all about his beloved's breakfast.
He quickly made his way back into the kitchen and was relieved to find that nothing was melting or on fire. He peered cautiously into the pan to find that there was still a tiny amount of water left for the ramen to boil in and he switched the stove off, tossing the ramen artlessly into a nearby bowl. He placed it onto the kitchen table and waited patiently for Naruto to make an appearance.
He did so a couple of minutes later and he seemed to be slightly more awake. Before, his expression had been vaguely grumpy and disorientated, but now he just looked plain furious. Itachi tried to mollify him by offering Naruto his favourite food, which the other boy took from him and began inspecting suspiciously. He stared at it, sniffed at it and then finally decided that it was edible.
Itachi fairly glowed with pride as he watched Naruto consume the meal that he'd made with all his love. If he weren't so busy being a wanted ninja, he would have been quite happy with the idea of moving into Naruto's apartment and waiting on him hand and foot. He allowed himself to slip off into his own little world for a moment as he imagined himself greeting his beloved after coming home from a long day of rigorous training.
In his fantasies, Naruto was loving and gentle with him rather than violent. His fantasy Naruto also liked it when he cross-dressed, which was something that went down well with the dark-haired ninja, considering how much he enjoyed wearing skirts and frocks in his spare time.
Regretfully, he opened his eyes to find the real Naruto staring warily at him and Itachi flashed him a toothy grin. "Is the food to your liking?" he asked sweetly.
Naruto continued to stare at Itachi with a suspicious look in his eye. Though Itachi probably hadn't noticed it, he had been voicing his little fantasy world out loud. Now, it wouldn't have been so bad if it had just been little bits about the greetings, but Itachi was very, very detailed in those 'greetings'. Quite frankly, Naruto didn't really enjoy hearing the phrase, 'I can taste the ramen on my beloved's lips.'
Saying such things aloud didn't really help Itachi's cause of convincing Naruto that he hadn't molested him though. Right now, the blond haired boy was beginning to believe that Itachi really had groped him and that he'd just slept through it. It was enough to make Naruto lose his appetite.
Ignoring the pouty look Itachi sent his way, Naruto slammed his chopsticks back in his bowl and pushed it away, heaving himself up out of his chair and walking over to Itachi. "Get out!" he yelled, attempting to push Itachi out of the chair he was currently sitting on.
Of course, Itachi was quite determined to stay right where he was and the fact that Naruto was currently fuming didn't exactly help matters either. Itachi was much stronger and much more stubborn than he was. No matter how many times Naruto tried kicking him out; he would always end up staying in the end.
That didn't stop Naruto from trying though. First of all, he attempted pushing Itachi out of his seat and after that, he eventually tried pushing the chair itself, which he actually managed to get a couple of feet away from the table; quite the success. Whereas this system was effective for a few moments, there was one small flaw. Past the kitchen, there was carpet and where tile turned to carpet, the floor raised. It wasn't exactly an easy task to get a chair with person in it onto carpet.
Actually, it didn't happen at all. As soon as the legs of the chair had hit the carpet, it had tilted to the side and toppled over. Itachi had fallen out of the chair and Naruto right onto Itachi for the second time that morning. Needless to say, Naruto wasn't too happy about it.
Itachi on the other hand was thrilled with this new development and he immediately wrapped his arms around the younger boy to prevent him from leaping away from him. Naruto struggled and squirmed and came very close to kneeing Itachi in the groin (accidentally, of course. There was no way his beloved would ever think of harming him there on purpose).
Naruto continued to wriggle in his embrace, but Itachi refused to let him go as he clung on for all he was worth. Eventually, Naruto seemed to realise that resistance was futile and so he stilled. His entire body was wrought with tension though, so Itachi decided to pet him a little in the hope that it would calm him down. Unfortunately, he'd forgotten that this was Naruto he was holding, not some pet cat. Cats usually liked it whenever they were petted on the head, but Naruto definitely did not.
Not to worry though. Itachi was sure that he'd find some other way of making Naruto purr for him one day. He just had to stop being so stubborn and shy. Naruto cursed and grumbled, but allowed Itachi to run his fingers through his hair. The elder boy smiled blissfully to himself. He had Naruto in his lap and his beloved was finally letting him pet and stroke him to his heart's content. Finally, he was starting to make some progress!
Itachi decided to push his luck just a little further by opening his mouth to speak. "You're free this morning, aren't you, Naruto-kun?" Actually, it was a bit of a redundant question seeing as how Itachi knew Naruto's routine by heart, but Naruto didn't seem to be aware of exactly how much information Itachi had collected on him. What he didn't know wouldn't hurt him. "How about we go out on a date together? We could go to the park and the bath house and then to the ramen bar..." Before Naruto could deny him his request though, Itachi pressed on by offering him something he just knew Naruto wouldn't refuse. "If you go out with me, I'll teach you a move that will defeat Sasuke for sure. What do you say?"
For a moment, Naruto stared thoughtfully at Itachi, actually pondering the request. Being able to beat Sasuke would definitely be a good thing. A goofy looking grin spread across Naruto's face as he imagined himself having defeated Sasuke, stepping on his back and flashing the victory sign. After that image faded away, several other ones passed through his mind, all of them with Sasuke being beaten seriously and Naruto himself looking exceptionally smug.
Naruto had gotten so lost in his own little Sasuke-beating fantasy in fact, that he completely forgot about the fact that he was still currently lying in Itachi's arms while the older male stroked his hair and had actually nuzzled his nose into it by then.
Once Naruto had properly fantasized about defeating Sasuke (a task which took a great deal of time to do, though Itachi didn't seem to mind at all considering he was enjoying the fact that Naruto was somewhat willingly letting himself be held), he looked back up at Itachi with a sceptical expression once again on his face.
He wondered if he could get more out of Itachi than just a move to beat Sasuke. Whereas that was nice, very nice, very, very nice, it still stuck Naruto with the wanted ninja stalking him constantly. That was something that Naruto preferred to not have to deal with anymore.
"Okay, I'll go with you," he answered. "But on top of teaching me that move, you have to also promise that you won't stalk me anymore."
No more stalking? Itachi frowned in concern. Learning all of Naruto's little habits and quirks had been one of the only things that made his life that much more bearable. Killing people just wasn't as fun as it used to be and Kisame, his partner in crime, had never really been much of a conversationalist. He never seemed to know who was in the charts, or what was happening in all the latest soap operas. Oh, he was a great guy to work with (if a little bloodthirsty), but all in all, he was actually pretty boring.
He still couldn't quite believe that Naruto would seriously want him out of his life for good though. Surely he was only joking around with him? Itachi couldn't imagine life without Naruto anymore. He'd gotten tired of waiting for Sasuke to grow strong and powerful years ago, so having Naruto around to be able to hug and grope and admire was a Godsend.
Okay, he could admit that he still had a while to get yet before Naruto finally started seeing him as the most wonderful thing since the creation of ramen, but he was patient. He could wait. The most important thing now was that Naruto had at long last agreed to go out with him on a date. Okay, so he'd had to bribe him with promises of teaching him how to defeat his little brother, but at least Naruto had actually said yes.
Itachi was determined to make this the best day of Naruto's life. In short, he was determined to make Naruto fall head over heels for him within the next twenty-four hours. Itachi was prepared to do just about anything to impress him. If Naruto wanted him to teach him techniques, then he would do. If Naruto wanted to be like Kakashi by acquiring the Sharingan eye in spite of the fact that he wasn't of Uchiha blood, Itachi would give it to him.
Somehow though, he got the feeling that Naruto wasn't really all that impressed by the Sharingan, if all his ranting about 'that cheating bastard copying Sasuke' was anything to go by. Itachi shared Naruto's opinion to a certain extent. Sure, the Sharingan was all fun and well for a while, but in the end, it was like a computer game. It was good when you first got it, but once you'd learned how to master it, it actually became pretty dull.
Hmm. Eyes. Pretty eyes. Naruto had pretty eyes. Who cared about the Sharingan when he had those baby blues to stare into? Didn't he know a song about eyes? No, no, Naruto didn't like it when he sang and he didn't want to make Naruto angry with him. He wanted to make him fall in love with him and he wasn't going to achieve that by pissing him off.
"Okay then," he said finally. "It's a deal. You go out on a date with me and I'll teach you how to defeat Sasuke." Naruto stared at him expectantly and Itachi sighed in defeat. "And I'll stop bothering you."
Naruto was silent for a moment and then nodded wordlessly. Itachi just grinned wickedly. Once the day was finally over, Naruto would be so besotted with him that he'd actually be begging him not to leave his side. Itachi briefly allowed himself to imagine a starry-eyed Naruto gazing up adoringly at him and saying things like, "Itachi, you're so cool! Itachi, I want you to love me and take care of me for the rest of my life! Itachi, I want you to go away with you and give you the power of the nine-tails and be with you forever and ever and ever and ever..."
Then he noticed that the real Naruto was watching him suspiciously again and Itachi reluctantly pulled away from him, giving his head one last, loving pat before helping him to his feet and offering out his arm. "Shall we?"
Naruto gave the offered arm a good look over before letting out a small sigh. He should've figured agreeing to go on a date with Itachi meant he was going to have to actually act like Itachi's date. That also meant that he was going to have to control his temper and not throw things or smack the black-haired male over the head whenever he tried to do something. Really, Naruto was already beginning to think that agreeing might've been a bad idea. Of course, then he thought of how much he wanted to defeat Sasuke and then how nice it would be to be able wake up and know that Itachi wouldn't be appearing out of the blue to come and bother him all day long.
Finally, Naruto let his own arm slide around Itachi's. He immediately regretted it though, because almost immediately, Itachi had begun chirping pleasantly about how much fun they were going to have, everything that they were going to do, and how he was going to buy him things like mice and socks and other things that Itachi found romantic (apparently being a wanted ninja greatly destroyed one's outlook on what was romantic...or maybe Itachi was just weird and actually thought that giving someone mice and ducks was something you would do for the one that you loved).
All the while, Naruto wondered exactly how it was that the most feared ninja around just happened to be the most feminine man he had ever met. Itachi chirped happily about things that Naruto had only heard people like Sakura and Ino talk about and every so often, he would make a noise that Naruto could swear was a giggle.
By the time they had gotten to the park, Naruto had realized that Itachi was even touchier than he originally thought. As he talked about the many things that he wanted to get Naruto and do to Naruto (though he had managed to keep those clean), Itachi's arm had moved several different times. First, it had moved from his arm to holding his hand.
That wasn't too bad. Actually it was rather nice. There had been nothing possessive or obsessive about these touches; unlike the ones that Itachi usually offered him and Naruto had found them to be somewhat enjoyable. Itachi had stayed like that until he caught sight of someone staring at Naruto, then he jerked the small boy closer, wrapping both arms around his waist and glaring at the poor person fiercely.
From there, it had shifted to just one arm hanging low on his waist, with Itachi's fingers twitching every now and then as if he were trying not grab Naruto's butt. Then, it went to one armed slung around his shoulders, hugging him closely and at one point, Itachi had insisted about carrying Naruto piggyback before they finally ended up just holding hands again.
Of course, now that they were at the park, Naruto was curious exactly as to what they were actually going to do. He looked up at Itachi, almost smacking his forehead when found he could practically see the stars that the older boy had in his eyes. In fact, Itachi didn't look unlike a child did inside of a candy shop. "Oi, oi." Naruto tugged on the cloth of Itachi's cloak. "Now that we're here, what exactly did you have planned?"
"Planned?" Itachi frowned as though he'd never even heard of the word before in his life. "We're just going to have fun! We're going to be spontaneous! And we're going to do lots and lots of cuddling!" Naruto didn't look too impressed, so Itachi decided to distract him by pointing over to a nearby ice cream cart. "Look! Food!"
Thankfully, Naruto perked up and it was his turn to start dragging Itachi now. He'd actually been pretty quiet so far, but he'd allowed Itachi to be as touchy-feely with him as he liked, something that delighted the dark-haired Shinobi immensely. Now Naruto was babbling about which flavour ice cream he wanted and Itachi listened with only half an ear. He was more concerned with the fact that he was actually holding Naruto's hand in public and they were acting like a real, proper couple.
Hell, he would have bought the entire ice cream cart if it had made Naruto happy. As it was though, he waited for Naruto to make his choice, but then glared when he noticed the seller staring at his and Naruto's joined hands. Predictably, a wave of jealousy and possessiveness rose up inside Itachi and he quickly wrapped his arms around Naruto from behind, holding him close and glowering darkly, giving the guy the full benefit of his 'spooky Uchiha eyes.'
Naruto seemed not to notice though and he happily lapped and slurped at his cone as Itachi directed him over to the nearby duck pond. He glanced over the top of Naruto's head and narrowed his eyes when he caught sight of the dainty little white ducks paddling away peacefully in front of them.
Everyone knew that one of the most popular gifts a person could give to his loved one was a pet, so maybe Naruto would like a duck to call his very own? Itachi knew that he must get lonely from time to time whenever he wasn't around to entertain him, so maybe an animal would help lessen the pain of his absence?
Itachi continued to frown thoughtfully as he wondered whether or not the Sharingan would work on animals. Either he could capture one of the ducks via hypnosis, or he could actually try and befriend the creature by pretending to be one of its kind and therefore earning its trust and respect. Then he contemplated making himself a slingshot out of a nearby branch and just knocking the damn thing out with a heavy rock.
Then again, Naruto probably wanted his duck cute and fluffy, not battered and bloodstained. Itachi had given all sorts of gifts to Naruto in the past, but he'd never offered him a real, live pet before. Okay, so ducks were wild creatures and it might be a little difficult in taming it, but everyone liked ducks, right? Itachi was also pretty sure that they'd be relatively easy and inexpensive to take care of.
All Naruto would have to do was let it swim around in the bathtub and throw it chunks of bread from time to time to make sure that it didn't die of starvation and everything would be fine...right?
Meanwhile, Naruto was busy polishing off the rest of his cone and Itachi nudged his shoulder gently. "Naruto-kun, how do you feel about owning a pet?"
The question caused Naruto to stop mid-lick and look at Itachi skeptically. He silently contemplated what exactly Itachi had meant by the question, since one really couldn't be too sure about these things where Itachi was concerned. Once, he had dragged Naruto out window-shopping and asked him what he thought of a certain dress. Naruto told him that it was pretty and that he wouldn't mind seeing someone like Sakura in it.
The next day, Itachi had shown up on his doorstep wearing that very same dress and having completed his new look with dyed pink hair. It wasn't exactly one of Naruto's fondest memories, though he would admit (silently and in his mind only, of course) that Itachi did make a pretty good girl, and he had looked nice in the dress.
"I guess it would be nice to have one," Naruto finally said. As soon as he'd spoken those words though, he wished he could have taken them back. Itachi gave him a delighted grin before frolicking off to catch him a duck. A duck, of all things. Naruto hated ducks. They frightened him with their webbed feet and their insistent quacking, not to mention Naruto had had a bad run in with a duck in the past. He'd brought a cup of instant ramen to the park and had been eating it happily when a duck came and knocked it out of his hands, quacking in the most mocking and evil way a duck could before eating all of Naruto's ramen.
Nope, Naruto didn't like ducks at all. However, he couldn't stop himself from laughing as Itachi had chosen to go with trying to befriend the ducks in order to get him one. It was one most hilarious things Naruto had ever seen. Itachi was quacking, waddling, and attempting to swim like a duck. Everyone around them looked on in horror and some of the parents even told their children to stay away from 'the scary duck man'.
It was all highly laughable to Naruto. It was even more amusing when Itachi finally gave up on trying to befriend the ducks and set out chasing them around until he caught one.
Needless to say, once Itachi finally succeeded in his mission, Naruto was the not-so-proud owner of a duck that they both decided to assume was female. "I think I'm going to name it Sasuke," Naruto declared, holding the squirming duck in his arms, although his mind was screaming to get away from the thing (not to mention tempted to let it go and see if Itachi tried to catch him another duck). "That way I can say 'Sasuke's a girl' and it'll be true."
Ah, Naruto was very proud of that. Of course, he still didn't want to carry a duck around all day. "Should we take it back to my place and put it in the tub...or wherever we should put a duck?"
"We should go and visit the bath house," Itachi announced confidently. "That way we'll be able to unwind and relax for a while and we'll also be able to tame your new pet." He wasn't so sure how the poor duck would cope with the sudden change in temperature of the water though. Itachi assumed it had been used to swimming around in cold pond water all its life, but then surely it wouldn't have too much of a problem adapting to the warmer stuff at the bath house.
Itachi soon stopped wondering about the lifestyles of park birds though when he caught sight of Naruto and his new pet bonding with each other. Sure, it would probably take a while for the duck to get used to a change in habitat, but it seemed to be making friends with its master already. Naruto seemed pleased enough with his latest gift if the hugging and the nuzzling was anything to go by.
At first, it was cute and adorable watching the two of them together, but then Itachi felt the usual spark of jealousy ignite whenever he saw his beloved paying attention to anything other than him. Okay, so it might have been fairly ridiculous to be jealous of a duck, but in Itachi's mind, *he* should be the one Naruto was squeezing and nuzzling, not some cutesy little quacking creature.
Itachi briefly thought about yanking the damn thing out of Naruto's arms and wringing its cute little neck, but he didn't want to make his beloved sad in any way. After all, this day was supposed to be perfect and Itachi supposed he'd better lay off the killing and destroying thing if he wanted to impress Naruto.
Anyway, they were on their way to the bathhouse and that meant getting to see naked Naruto butt! Itachi tried his best to contain his excitement, but he couldn't help skipping every now and again as he led his beloved to their destination. Naruto gave him a funny look, but he didn't seem too concerned with Itachi's behaviour. Itachi himself didn't think it was anything out of the ordinary, but as long as Naruto didn't seem to have a problem with it, then everything was fine with him.
Naruto didn't mind when he turned up on his doorstep wearing a pretty dress or a sexy mini skirt (well, at least he didn't seem to mind too much), so Itachi didn't think his beloved would be that concerned with his apparent lack of manliness.
Eventually, they arrived at the bathhouse and Itachi quickly hid Naruto's new pet underneath his cloak. The owner of the place gave Itachi a funny look when he heard the sounds of muffled quacking coming from underneath his clothing, but Itachi just smiled sweetly and erased the memory of their presence from the man's mind.
Once they were inside, Itachi carefully placed the struggling duck down onto the floor and left it to its own devices while he quickly stripped out of his clothing. Unfortunately, Naruto had diverted his attention the second Itachi had begun to undress, so there went the opportunity of putting on a show for his beloved.
Still, not to worry. Just because Naruto didn't want to watch him getting undressed didn't mean that he was going to throw away the opportunity to get to see his beloved in the nude. Itachi realised vaguely that he ought to at least wrap a towel round his waist, but he enjoyed parading his naked body around almost as much as he did dressing it up in women's outfits.
Whereas Naruto had been expecting Itachi to watch him undress, he hadn't been expecting him to watch so openly. Itachi's eyes had locked intently on him the second Naruto had set about removing his clothing and he could almost swear that he saw a little drool coming out of the corner of the other's mouth. Of course, it had taken Naruto until he was halfway through getting undressed to notice, and by that time; he'd already given the black-haired shinobi a good look at his half-naked body.
As soon as Naruto became uncomfortably aware of the fact that he was being stared at, he turned around to yell to Itachi. Instead of actually chastising him though, his whole body blushed red in embarrassment. Wasn't Itachi supposed to be wearing a towel? Instead, he was just standing there nude, completely unruffled by the way people gawked and gave him offended looks.
Once Naruto had recovered from the shock, he threw a towel at Itachi's face, flushing once again and turning his back on the other boy so that he could finish undressing himself. Unfortunately though, Itachi continued to stare. After throwing four more towels and yelling 'pervert!' a few times, Naruto finally let out a sigh, figuring it would be much easier just let Itachi look.
Luckily for Itachi, Naruto calmed down a great deal once they got into the water (but only after much grumbling from Naruto about Itachi being a 'bastard pervert' and then much yelling about how Itachi was trying to cook his duck). Sasuke the duck was sitting outside of the waters right next to her master. It seemed as if Naruto's little pet had already grown attached to its owner.
After a few moments of silence between the two of them, Naruto looked over at Itachi, noting that the other's hair was still pulled back. "Hey." He nudged Itachi's side. "Why do you always have your hair tied back?"
It took a while for Itachi to register the fact that his beloved had actually said something to him and he wracked his brains as he tried to remember the words that Naruto had just spoken. He'd been distracted by the fact that Naruto had actually touched him of his own free will, without a scowl, without a glare and without a yell. He looked relaxed and content and Itachi positively glowed with happiness. He was so thrilled at how well their date was going that he forgot to 'accidentally' shove Naruto's new pet into the water and watch it boil.
Eventually, Itachi managed to pick out the word 'hair' and he smiled broadly, reaching up a wet hand to smooth it through his locks. "Yes, it is rather beautiful, isn't it?" he said proudly. Naruto said nothing, but he didn't need to agree. Itachi knew for a fact how wonderful his hair was. He went to great pains to keep it in such good condition and besides; his beloved seemed to like long hair. Okay, so maybe he preferred it if that long hair was on a girl rather than a boy, but Itachi reckoned his hair was far better than any female's he'd ever seen.
Naruto was starting to give him one of those half-confused/half-irritated looks and Itachi frowned. His beloved had seemed so relaxed earlier and the last thing he wanted was to be pelted with towels again and called a pervert. Itachi nibbled on his lower lip as he pondered what to do next. He'd promised himself that he would never molest Naruto without his consent, but he was starting to run out of ideas of how he could seduce his beloved into his arms and into his bed.
He'd tried giving him gifts, he'd tried dressing up as a woman, he'd tried serenading him, but still, nothing seemed to work. Most people would have just given up already, but Uchiha Itachi was definitely not a quitter. He'd been determined to make Naruto fall madly in love with him within the next twenty-four hours and dammit; he refused to fail in this new mission!
Itachi decided to take his sexiness up a notch and he grinned wickedly as he reached back to undo the band that held his hair in place. He noticed Naruto watching him with some curiosity and it turned out he wasn't the only one who seemed interested in his little show. Some of the other occupants of the bathhouse looked as though they didn't know whether to be annoyed or turned on and Itachi continued smiling manically as he finally let his hair fall loosely around his shoulders.
He frowned slightly when he realised that the steam and the hot water would probably make it lose its natural sheen, but he supposed he could fix that later on. Or maybe he could get Naruto to do it for him. Itachi hated the idea of anyone getting to touch his precious hair, but he'd be more than happy to sit for hours and let Naruto brush it for him. Then again, Naruto would probably be more likely to actually smack him around the head with the brush than actually put it to its intended use.
"So, what do you think, Naruto-kun?" he asked eagerly. "Do you like it better this way then?"
"Uh..." Naruto stared at Itachi with his eyes squinted thoughtfully, not quite sure how to answer that question (or rather questions). When Itachi thought he would 'take his sexiness up a notch' he actually really had done. Well, not only that, but right now, the black haired shinobi looked remarkably like a girl. The normal sweet smile didn't seem to be helping anything either. Had it not been for the fact that they were currently in the bathhouse and Itachi was still refusing to wear a towel, Naruto might have very well mistaken him for actually being female. Perhaps that was why Itachi wore his hair tied back all the time?
Naruto blinked a few times when he was nudged in the side, just then noticing that he had still yet to say anything. "Um," he sputtered out stupidly before turning his head towards his pet. "What do you think, Sasuke?"
Of course all the duck did was ruffle its feathers and quack loudly. However, with Naruto being Naruto, he seemed to be able to make some sort of sense out of the duck's actions. In other words, he just made something up. He turned back to Itachi with his arms crossed over his chest, staring thoughtfully as though he was actually contemplating what Sasuke the duck had just told him. He even went as far as to rub his chin with his index finger and his thumb. "You're right Sasuke, he would make a pretty good girl," Naruto said finally, feeling that it was a safe thing to go with. It didn't exactly insult or compliment Itachi. Well, more accurately it did both.
Itachi seemed to be pleased with this answer as he wore his usual happy sort of look in which Naruto could swear he almost saw little hearts floating around Itachi's head. It was really rather frightening in Naruto's humble opinion.
Yet, it seemed that Sasuke the duck had something to say. She ruffled her feathers once again, quacking a few times. Since Naruto had the amazing ability to understand his duck, he quickly flushed, turning to Sasuke the duck and looking ready to kill.
"I do not!" Naruto shrieked out.
"Quack."
"Shut up! You don't know what you're talking about, you bastard duck, you!"
"Quack, quack!"
That was the last straw. Naruto bolted out of the waters, startling Sasuke the duck and causing her to go running. Not too far behind her was Naruto yelling numerous curses. To anyone aside from Naruto, the scene would have been quite the odd one, but for the blond boy himself, stuff like this was actually pretty normal. Sasuke the duck had just accused him of being attracted to Itachi and he was not going to stand for it.
Itachi smiled happily as he watched Naruto chasing after his pet duck, screaming profanities and shaking his fist threateningly. It was always good to see his beloved in such high spirits and Itachi was even more pleased with the fact that Naruto had just complimented him. Well, okay, 'You look like a girl,' wasn't exactly the best thing he could have said. Of course, it was pleasing, but Itachi would have preferred something like, "God, you're such a sexy beast," or even, "I could do you right here, right now."
Only he would have had to protest that last one. Sure, he enjoyed dressing like a woman, but he preferred not to take it like one. If he and Naruto ever got round to being intimate with each other (when! Not if, when!!), he was sure that his beloved would play the part of a good little submissive...only 'submissive' wasn't really something he'd ever describe Naruto as.
Itachi tried to fight down the lecherous grin that threatened to spread over his face as he pictured himself playing a game of tonsil hockey with his beloved. Luckily, Itachi had learned how to develop a lot of self-control after spending so long trying to wriggle his way into Naruto's affections and he quickly steered his mind away from thinking of the more...interesting adult games that he could teach his beloved.
After all, he was in a bathhouse and he was currently naked. Itachi had no qualms about parading his nude body around in public, but even he drew the line at walking around in a fully aroused state. The screeching and quacking also helped clear away his dirty thoughts and Itachi sighed regretfully as he tuned back into what was currently happening around him.
Apparently, the other occupants of the bathhouse had gotten fed up with Naruto's screaming, Itachi's nakedness and the fact that a wild duck was flapping around the place, squawking madly and leaving a trail of feathers wherever it went and were now beginning to leave. They grumbled and cast dirty looks at Itachi who ignored them all as he turned his gaze back to Naruto.
Naruto was starting to look a little out of breath, but he refused to give up on his chase. His pet duck gave an indignant screech every time Naruto grabbed onto its tail feathers and turned around to stab viciously at his hands with its beak. Itachi briefly contemplated helping out, but then reminded himself of the trouble he'd gone to just catching the damn thing earlier. It was Naruto's pet now and he had the responsibility of running round after it and disciplining it.
Itachi sighed and wished he'd given his beloved something a little easier to look after like a slug. Slugs were boring and uninteresting creatures, but at least they didn't make excessive noise or create any trouble.
Naruto suddenly gave out a triumphant shout as he finally caught up with his duck, but then cried out in shock when he slipped. He would have fallen flat onto his face if Itachi hadn't vaulted out of the water and caught him just in time. "That was close," he said, smiling in relief and ignoring the incessant quacking coming from behind him.
At that moment Naruto's face was impossibly red. Even though he was grateful for the fact that he hadn't landed on his face, he still wasn't happy with the fact that he'd been caught by a very wet, very naked, and very pretty looking Itachi.
Sasuke the duck's mocking quacks weren't making matters any better. She kept going on about how she was right. Hell, the stupid duck even went as far as to tell him that he had tripped because he wanted a chance to be pressed up against Itachi's naked body. Now, that was just ridiculous. If Naruto were to ever want to press up against Itachi's naked body (not that he ever would, of course) he didn't doubt that he would be able to just walk right up to the black-haired shinobi and do it. After all, it wasn't as if Itachi would mind.
"Bastard duck," Naruto cursed under his breath, shooting a glare over at said creature. It ruffled its feathers and quacked loudly in a laughing sort of a way and if one looked close enough, it would seem as if Sasuke was actually pointing a wing at him as she indulged in her ducky laughter.
Of course, the reason why Sasuke the duck was laughing was apparent. It seemed that Naruto was too busy being angry at the creature to realize that a wet, naked Itachi was still holding him. Obviously, Itachi wasn't going to be letting Naruto go when he seemed not to notice nor mind that he was currently being held. Oh no, Itachi was going to indulge in every bit of Naruto holding he could manage.
All of that came crashing down though when Sasuke informed Naruto in her high-pitched ducky quack that he was still letting Itachi hold him. Naruto went red for a second time. If possible, even redder than he had been the first time (making Sasuke the duck quack in amusement all the more, naturally).
Naruto quickly pushed himself away from Itachi, muttering something about how he was a pervert and shouldn't take advantage of young, innocent, and defenceless boys, least of all when they were in public. By that time, all the other inhabitants of the bathhouse had left, most likely traumatized for the rest of their lives.
"Come on, Sasuke, let's go," Naruto called after the duck. Amazingly enough, Sasuke the duck seemed to catch the fact that Naruto wasn't going to be trying to kill her anymore and followed after her owner. She made sure to shoot a cocky look over at Itachi as if she were trying to tell him he'd never get Naruto so long as she was around. That would, most likely, either end up being a very stupid move or a very smart move on Sasuke the duck's part.
Itachi clenched his teeth and resisted the urge to perform a quick hand seal and just roast the stupid creature alive with a fire jutsu as it waddled smugly along after Naruto. Naruto himself was still grumbling as he dried himself off and began pulling his clothes back on and Itachi felt his left eyebrow twitch in annoyance.
He'd just saved Naruto's life and he hadn't even gotten a thank you from him! Well, okay, he hadn't exactly saved him from certain death, but he'd definitely rescued him from severe concussion or even a mild headache. He hadn't even seemed to mind the fact that Itachi had been cradling his body as tenderly as he would a newborn child until the idiot duck had started quacking again and startled Naruto into pushing him away.
Itachi sighed heavily as he followed Naruto's lead and began yanking his clothes back on. It looked as though that was it for the bathhouse and the dark-haired shinobi cursed his rotten luck. Their date seemed to have been going so well, too. Itachi had been sure that he'd be able to get a little action while they were in the bathhouse, but apparently, it wasn't meant to be.
He cursed himself for taking such a defeatist attitude and told himself not to lose sight of his mission objective. He was absolutely determined to make Naruto fall in love with him and no one was going to ruin that for him, not his little brother and definitely not that irritating duck. Itachi was still slightly surprised that they hadn't bumped into the real Sasuke yet, but hopefully, he'd be able to spend a relatively peaceful day with Naruto without having to worry about his baby brother leaping out of a nearby bush and attempting to kill him.
He'd done it once before after Itachi had walked Naruto home from the ramen bar. He'd just been saying goodbye to Naruto on his doorstep and had leaned forward in the hope of a goodnight kiss when Sasuke had jumped down off the rooftop and tried to gut him with an old tree branch.
Itachi was still livid over the fact that his little brother had beaten him by being Naruto's first kiss, but he forced himself to take deep, calming breaths and quickly move forward so that he could take a tight hold of Naruto's arm.
"Maybe we should go and get something to eat at the ramen bar?" he suggested, forcing a smile as he tried not to give Naruto's pet duck a swift kick up the backside. Maybe when they arrived at the ramen bar, he could talk one of the chefs into making a stew out of it or something. "I guess you must be pretty hungry after all that running about, huh?"
Naruto grinned ridiculously wide, letting out a happy shriek the moment that the word ramen was mentioned. If there was anything that could always put the blond boy in a better mood, it was getting to eat ramen. And it just so happened that the running actually did cause Naruto to work up his appetite.
Unconsciously, Naruto reached for Itachi's hand, as it was easier to hold it and drag the older boy along than it was to try to do so when Itachi was clinging to his arm. The whole time he dragged Itachi along, Naruto was rambling on about how hungry he was, what kind of ramen he was going to eat and how he was so hungry that he could probably eat all of the ramen in the world. Sasuke the duck trailed behind them, seemingly not too happy about the fact that her master was currently being buddy-buddy with Itachi.
By the time they actually got to the ramen stand, it seemed as if Naruto had actually forgotten that he had been holding onto Itachi's hand, or even the fact that Itachi and Sasuke-duck were still with him. After all, ramen always came first when it came to Naruto. He happily ordered his first bowl of ramen, sliding down onto the barstool.
Only when Sasuke the duck nipped at his feet did he realize that he was still with Itachi and the duck and that was still in fact holding onto Itachi's hand. He quickly let go of the black-haired shinobi's hand, muttering something about how he was becoming spacey before bending down to pick up his duck and placing it on the counter.
Naruto then looked back over at Itachi, who was currently glaring at the duck though Naruto didn't seem to notice, blinking slightly. He had actually had some ramen related question to ask the other, but had completely forgotten about it when he looked once he looked over at Itachi.
"You left your hair down," Naruto said suddenly, though it was a rather obvious statement, but still, he seemed to be fascinated by Itachi's hair. It was a lot clearer out, so he could better see how well taken care of it was. Of course, seeing how nice it was made Naruto wonder if it was soft, and wondering if was soft made Naruto want to touch it. And, since Naruto was never one to hold back on random urges like touching people's hair, he soon found himself reaching out and running his fingers through Itachi's long, black locks. This, of course, did not make Sasuke the duck too happy.
Itachi on the other hand was positively ecstatic and if he were any less mature, he probably would have smirked at Naruto's duck and flashed it the 'V' sign. As it was though, he just kept still and allowed Naruto to play with his hair to his heart's content. The sensation of Naruto's fingers combing gently through the dark strands sent pleasurable shivers down his spine.
Ever since he was a child, Itachi had always hated other people messing with his hair, but he was more than willing to let Naruto touch and stroke it as much as he wanted. At least he was finally treating Itachi's precious hair with the reverence and respect it deserved. The last time Naruto had touched his hair was when he had attempted to strangle him with his own ponytail and again, Itachi cheered inwardly at the progress that he'd made.
Before, Naruto wouldn't have hesitated to throw things at him or hit him, but lately all he did was stomp and yell. Of course, he still got called 'pervert' a lot, but at least the accusation didn't seem to be accompanied by a kick in the shins or a smack to the head anymore. Itachi was so happy with his progress that he even forgot to be angry with Naruto's pet duck.
Then again, how could he possibly be angry when his beloved was caressing him so tenderly? Itachi was so happy in fact that he decided to just forget about his irritation with Naruto's pet and allow it to see the end of another day rather than killing it slowly and painfully. He even decided to hold his tongue and not mention how incredibly unhygienic it was to have a duck (and a wild one at that) perched on a counter top where hundreds of customers liked to eat their food.
When Itachi opened his eyes again, it was to see Naruto staring thoughtfully at him. It was rare for him to see his beloved wearing anything other than a squint or a scowl whenever he was around. He wasn't smiling, but then he wasn't angry-looking either, something that Itachi was grateful for.
Inside, he was busy yelling, "About damn time! I knew he couldn't resist my sexiness! True love really DOES conquer all! Or maybe it's just Herbal Essence shampoo...?" but outside, he managed to maintain a relatively calm appearance. He even tried to keep his facial features passive rather than ditzy-looking, but he still couldn't help smirking a little. "You like my hair better when it's down, Naruto-kun?" he asked coyly.
"Yeah..." Naruto answered, without even being aware that he had actually said anything or that Itachi had actually asked him a question. The reply came out smoothly and naturally. Had he actually been thinking, Naruto would've found some way to avoid the question as he had done earlier in the bathhouse. Either that, or flat out lie. But, as it was, he was so completely entranced with stroking Itachi's soft tendrils that he just kind of spaced out.
Naruto unconsciously kept moving his stool closer while he was doing this. Somehow, he had gone from contently stroking Itachi's hair to wondering what it smelt like. What better way to do so than to get closer? Of course, Naruto tried to be subtle about it by deciding that slowly inching closer would allow him to be able to smell Itachi's hair, without actually looking like he was doing what he was. Then again, subtlety had never been Naruto's strong point.
Naruto ended up with their stools being pushed up together and his face merely inches away from Itachi's hair before he could actually smell it. And, it just so happened that everyone aside from Naruto seemed to notice exactly how close he and Itachi currently were to each other. People around them were staring and female-duck-Sasuke was sending Itachi her best death glare, whereas Itachi himself was doing his best not to look completely ecstatic about the fact that Naruto was currently sitting so close to him.
As for Naruto, he was busy trying to figure out exactly what Itachi's hair smelt like. It was obviously some sort of flower, which didn't surprise Naruto even the slightest bit. The scent was kind of sweet and strong; sort overpowering, and a little bit entrancing. But really, Naruto couldn't figure out what it was for the life of him.
Not that that was actually surprising. Naruto knew next to nothing about flowers, aside from the fact that they grew in the ground and were colourful and pretty. Chances were that Naruto wasn't going to figure out what that scent was and the thought that he could just ask Itachi never even crossed his mind. Then again, that really wasn't too surprising either.
What was surprising though was that Naruto had finally noticed how close he was to Itachi. Now, one would think this would be the time for him to start backing away, smacking Itachi, or even yelling and calling him a pervert, even though Naruto had been the one who had scooted closer to Itachi, instead of it being the other way around.
In fact, instead of doing any of these things, Naruto now found himself wondering if Itachi's lips were as soft as his hair. He'd had Itachi kiss him before, of course; so one would wonder exactly why such a thought would occur to Naruto (even more so when he yelled, hit, kicked, and called Itachi names frequently because of his advances). The simple truth was that Naruto had usually been far too busy being angry with Itachi to actually pay any attention to what he was doing. And once again, Naruto was always one to give into his urges.
Without really thinking about it, Naruto leaned in to kiss Itachi and satisfy his curiosity. Unfortunately though, he never quite managed to reach Itachi's lips. Just as he was about to kiss the other male, Sasuke the duck quacked loudly and snapped at his hand.
Naruto jumped straight out of his seat, pointing at the bird in a most offended manner before yelling, "Bastard duck! What the hell was that for?" The duck just bristled her feathers before breaking out into a bout of her laughter-like quacks. As soon as Naruto realized that Sasuke-duck was laughing, he flushed angrily and sank back down into the stool after moving it back to its original spot. He had almost kissed Itachi. Now that was completely insane. Why would he want to do something like that? It must've been the flowers. Yes, that had to be it. The flowers had tricked him into doing it. Evil flowers. Or rather evil Itachi's hair that smelled like flowers.
Itachi's eyebrow twitched in annoyance as Naruto quickly scooted away from him. Finally, his seduction tactics had begun to work and after a few moments of petting his hair contentedly, Naruto had at long last leaned up to kiss him. Itachi's heart had almost threatened to burst out of his chest in sheer joy as he watched Naruto's face move closer and closer to his.
Their lips had been only millimetres away from touching, but then Naruto's idiot pet had ruined everything by distracting Naruto and making him come back to his senses. Now, Naruto refused to even look at him and Itachi scowled fiercely at the smug-looking duck before smiling evilly and whipping a shuriken out of his back pocket. He threw it at the duck and pinned it down to the counter by its tail feathers and grinned in satisfaction at the panicked little screeches it made.
Itachi's smirk soon disappeared when Naruto gave him a nasty look before reaching over and carefully freeing his pet. Itachi suddenly wished he'd aimed at its heart instead of its tail feathers. Naruto would have been angry with him, yes, but at least it would have been better than having the damn duck attack him every time he tried to get close to Naruto.
Naruto cheered up when their food finally arrived, but Itachi poked grumpily at his own ramen, clacking his chopsticks together moodily. Naruto seemed oblivious to the downturn in his mood though as he happily slurped at his meal. He asked for seconds and then thirds and once he noticed that Itachi was still on his first bowl, he shifted closer and grinned slyly, reaching over and snagging a mouthful of Itachi's food for himself.
Itachi felt his mood lighten a little at the gleeful expression on his beloved's face and so he allowed Naruto to steal as much of his ramen as he liked. The dark-haired shinobi cast a half-hearted glare over at Naruto's duck as he lifted his chopsticks to his mouth and slowly slurped up the last of the ramen. A startled-sounding 'mmph!' reached his ears and Itachi looked away from Sasuke the duck and blinked in surprise when he found himself almost nose to nose with Naruto.
Naruto squinted his eyes thoughtfully for a moment as he swallowed the ramen that had been in his mouth. Both he and Itachi seemed to have had caught onto the same noodle and neither noticed that it had gradually caused them to inch closer and closer together. This scene was something that was fairly familiar, though Naruto couldn't quite place it. He remembered something about two dogs and a plate of spaghetti, but really, that was just ridiculous.
Itachi seemed disappointed that Naruto had swallowed the noodle that could've very well been the source of a kiss. Of course, had that kiss actually turned out to be more than just a peck, it would've been rather awkward with ramen occupying both of their mouths. But luckily for Itachi, Naruto had yet to pull away, yell, smack, or really do anything at all. He was still squinting thoughtfully.
To Naruto, the noodle was some weird sign of fate. This was the second (or was it the third?) time that day he'd managed to end up nose-to-nose with Itachi, and then there were all the times that he had managed to fall on top of the black-haired shinobi. One of those times, Itachi had been naked and Naruto himself had only been wearing a towel. In Naruto's mind, it all added up to fate.
Finally, he stopped squinting at the still blinking and slightly disappointed Itachi and slid his eyes closed. The distance between the two quickly disappeared as Naruto took the initiative to close it, kissing Itachi as he had meant to do before when he had been entranced by the sweet smell of the other's hair. Sasuke the duck didn't seem to be too happy with the fact that Naruto was kissing Itachi...and actually seeming to enjoy it.
Naruto had already scooted his chair closer and he slid one of his arms around Itachi's neck to balance himself. Duck-Sasuke ruffled her feathers and quacked loudly, having learned that it was the best way to get Naruto's attention from earlier experience. This time, instead of paying attention to the duck, Naruto pushed her off the counter and onto the floor where she hit her little head on one of the stools and was knocked out temporarily.
The only thing that could possibly destroy this moment for Itachi and Naruto at this point would be the real Sasuke showing up to kill Itachi. In other words: cue Sasuke's dramatic and angsty entrance.
Itachi twitched when he felt a kunai whiz past his ear, then groaned when he heard the familiar voice of his little brother spouting some nonsense he'd already said a hundred times before. "Blah blah blah, kill kill kill, I need to get laid or at least take that stick out of my ass," was all Itachi seemed to hear. Sometimes, his baby brother could be so uncool.
He also had a terrible sense of timing and Itachi cursed loudly as Naruto jerked away from him, glancing warily over at Sasuke who ignored him and the other occupants of the ramen bar in favour of glaring manically at his elder sibling.
"Beat it, Sasuke," Itachi said impatiently, waving him away. "I don't have time for you right now."
"That's what you always say!" Sasuke replied darkly. "I don't have time for you, I'm too busy sucking face with Naruto, I'm too busy prancing round town looking like a complete girl. You always ignore me and it's not fair! Fight me, dammit!"
"I said scram!" Itachi snarled. "Can't you see I'm busy?" Sometimes, he wondered exactly why he'd let Sasuke live that night when he'd slaughtered the rest of their clan. He could be such an annoying little brat sometimes, as all younger siblings tended to be at some point or other.
Usually, Itachi was more tolerant of him and he tended to get a laugh out of Sasuke's antics, but it was the last thing he needed right now. Finally, after being cheated out of countless kisses and snuggles by a sodding duck, his kid brother decided to turn up out of nowhere and ruin his and Naruto's first proper kiss.
'Hmm, should I put him into a coma again?' Itachi wondered to himself. 'Shave off his eyebrows? Dye his hair pink? Tell the fan girls where he lives?'
"I said fight with me, big brother!" Sasuke repeated, louder this time. If Itachi didn't know better, he could swear that Sasuke was whining. "I promised I'd kill you someday and I will!"
"Get lost, Sasuke, or I'll give Orochimaru your home phone number!" Itachi growled.
Naruto had to hold back a fit of laughter as Sasuke paled at the idea of Orochimaru having his telephone number. Upon closer inspection, one would be able to see that not only had Sasuke paled considerably, but his cheeks were also tinted a shade of green as if he were sick. Orochimaru was basically Sasuke's version of Itachi when it came to stalkers, but Orochimaru wasn't quite as persistent as Itachi, although he did happen to go about his stalking in a much creepier, child molester sort of way.
The threat of having to deal with Orochimaru more than normal, though it seemed to scare Sasuke quite a bit, didn't seem to have the effect that Itachi had wanted. Sasuke had quickly choked out that Itachi wouldn't dare do it and started a long string of threats, most of which were utterly ridiculous things. Ones from Itachi often involved getting Orochimaru to do something to Sasuke whereas Sasuke would always threatened Itachi by saying he was going to do something to destroy his hair.
After three or four rounds (Naruto wasn't exactly keeping track) of the two going back and forth with insults, Naruto let out a sigh and turned back to the ramen stand, ordering another bowl. With how those two fought, he figured he was going to be stuck there for a while unless he did something (which probably wasn't going to happen since ramen was near by) and he should at least try and enjoy himself.
Naruto scrunched his nose up as he thought about what exactly had been interrupted. It was odd knowing that even just earlier on in the day, he would've been more likely to stab Itachi with a chopstick (which he had actually attempted a few times), rather than kiss him. And yet, just then, before Sasuke had shown up, he had enjoyed kissing Itachi. Actually really enjoyed it...
To think that it had to happen on the day that could very well be the last day that Naruto ever saw Itachi. Wasn't it funny how things seemed to work out that way? Naruto scrunched his nose up even further, his eyes squinting a bit. All of this thinking was making him even hungrier than he had been before. What a bother.
Just as Naruto was about to order another bowl (his current bowl was running out), Itachi sank back down on his stool with a sigh and looking very annoyed. At least it seemed that he had somehow managed to get rid of Sasuke. Naruto looked at Itachi for a moment before pushing the rest of his bowl over in front of the other ninja with a grin. "Ramen's the cure for everything," he stated proudly.
Itachi frowned in confusion, feeling too tired and irritated to be able to properly make sense of what Naruto was saying. The blond didn't seem to notice that he wasn't really feeling like being his usual chirpy self anymore and grinned broadly as he scooped up some of the ramen and held it out in front of Itachi enticingly.
Again, Itachi frowned, but eventually, he pegged on to what Naruto was trying to do and he opened his mouth so that Naruto could feed him. He chewed thoughtfully on his ramen and wondered when he and Naruto seemed to have exchanged roles. It usually took quite a lot to put Itachi into a bad mood, but Sasuke showing up and whining on and on about how he wanted to kill him and how much stronger he'd gotten since they'd last seen each other and how Itachi was ignoring him like always was more than enough to tire him out.
Naruto on the other hand was practically bouncing in his seat and he polished off the rest of the ramen, babbling on about how stupid Sasuke was and how funny it really would be if Orochimaru did get hold of his phone number and how he was going to kick Sasuke's ass someday and how he was planning on sneaking into Sasuke's apartment one night in order to scribble 'DUMB ASS' on his forehead with permanent ink.
Itachi noticed that it was already starting to get dark and he ordered one last portion of ramen to go as Naruto picked up his still-unconscious duck and tucked it under one arm before accepting the take-out bag from Itachi with the other. He was still babbling on about how much fun he'd had that day, but Itachi's spirits had sunk even lower, if that was possible.
He'd failed in his mission. Naruto hadn't fallen head over heels in love with him. Oh sure, he seemed to tolerate him much better then he had done previously, but he still wasn't exactly starry-eyed and swooning over him. What made things worse though was the fact that he'd promised to stop bothering Naruto altogether once the day was finally over.
That meant no more early-morning visits to watch his beloved sleep for a while before cooking him his breakfast. It also meant no more phone calls, no more late-night trips to the ramen bar together and definitely no more attempted kisses and cuddles.
Itachi sighed dejectedly and tried to cheer himself up by thinking of all the things he could do to make himself feel better once he got home. Even the idea of prancing around his house wearing just a pink frilly apron with his hair in pigtails while miming to his Christina Aguilera records couldn't make him smile. Maybe he should try and patch things up with Sasuke by offering to take him out to a Justin Timberlake concert or something...
Eventually, they reached Naruto's apartment and Itachi pursed his lips as he tried to think of something to say. Usually he couldn't find enough time in the day to talk to Naruto and let him know about everything he'd been up to recently, but for some reason, the words just refused to come. This was probably the last time he'd get to see his beloved for a while and so Itachi just stared as he tried to commit all of Naruto's features to memory.
"Well...goodnight then, Naruto-kun," he said finally, allowing himself a few seconds more to stare at his beloved's face before turning on his heel and walking away.
"Eh?" Naruto scratched the back of his head and squinted his eyes shut confusedly. He'd been expecting something along the lines of a goodnight kiss, or at the very least, a hug, but none of them came. Now that was when Naruto finally realized that something was wrong. Even during the times that Naruto would scream at him whenever he bothered to attempt anything, Itachi never missed the chance to try and give Naruto a kiss goodnight.
So the fact that Itachi hadn't tried was very confusing. Their date had gone well...hadn't it? At least Naruto had enjoyed himself, a lot more than he had originally thought he was going to, anyway. It didn't really make much sense to him. He sighed and opened the door, placing Sasuke-duck and the ramen inside of it. The duck quacked in protest as the door closed and Naruto scrambled off after Itachi.
Naruto was still quite confused as to what exactly was going through his head. However he did know this: over the course of the day, he'd come to realize that if he hadn't been so uptight and ready to attack Itachi at every chance he got, he would actually be able to enjoy the other shinobi's company. Yes, that was right. Naruto actually enjoyed Itachi's company. So even though Itachi's mission hadn't completely succeeded, as Naruto was still nowhere near being madly in love with him, he had, at least, succeeded in getting Naruto to want to spend time with him (and maybe even involve some snuggling or a few kisses here and there, but hey, these things could take a while).
"Oi!" he yelled, tugging on the end of Itachi's black hair. That seemed to get Itachi to stop, if only for the chance to fondle his 'poor abused hair' and glare half-heartedly at Naruto for hurting it. Naruto quickly bopped Itachi on the head with a scowl on his face and yell at Itachi to stop messing about with his hair for the moment so that he could tell him something.
Once he did he had Itachi's undivided attention though, it actually made him kind of nervous. It was a classic case of 'I know exactly what I want to say until I'm actually going to say it to that person'. Naruto took a deep breath to see if that would help him regain the speech that he had lost, but it didn't do anything to help really. People just like to think that it does. Plus, it adds for dramatic effect.
In the end, Naruto decided that there was a simple sentence that he could get out easily and would probably have the same affect. "We were kind of...interrupted earlier."
Itachi blinked once, then twice, then broke out into a wide smile. His first instinct was to throw his arms around Naruto and cling onto him for dear life, but he got the feeling that the younger boy wouldn't like that very much. For the first time, he was actually taking Naruto's feelings into consideration. He'd always assumed that if he just pestered the younger boy and gave him enough declarations of love, Naruto would eventually return his feelings.
He'd never once stopped to think that his clinginess was the very thing that made Naruto kick and scream and yell. He cast his mind back to what had happened earlier that evening and he was fairly surprised to remember that Naruto had actually been the one to approach him instead of it being the other way around. Naruto had touched him of his own free will. He'd kissed him of his own free will. He'd done it because he wanted to, not because he felt obligated to.
Itachi suddenly found himself at a loss for what to do. He'd always imagined Naruto falling into his arms and confessing his love and everything would be happy and shiny and sweet...in short, it would be a perfect sparkly moment where everything was wonderful and everyone was happy.
He'd always pictured himself as being suave, sophisticated and seductive, but here was Naruto tugging on the ends of his hair and pulling his face down for a kiss. There wasn't really anything sexy about an awkward, clumsy and fumbling kiss like this one, but it felt more real than any of those movie-style kisses Itachi had always imagined before.
Naruto's lips were soft and tentative against his own and their noses seemed to get in the way an awful lot and Itachi was starting to get a crick in his neck from having to lean so far down because Naruto was so damn short...but it was...nice. Not perfect, but nice.
Itachi noticed that Naruto was blushing cutely when they broke apart, but for once, he kept his mouth shut instead of rabbiting on about how the blush complimented his eyes, or making up a sonnet on the spot. To be honest, he wasn't really sure what to do now. Before, he would have just barged inside Naruto's apartment and demanded that they cuddle for a while in front of the TV, but this time, he just patted Naruto's shoulder gently.
"You should eat your ramen before it gets cold," he said with a slight smile.
This time, Naruto was the one to blink. He hadn't quite expected a statement like that; especially when it was missing the normally chipper, singsong tone that Itachi said a lot of things in. "You're right," Naruto replied with a grin, before quickly adding a bit nervously and a lot faster than he normally spoke, "but you know it would be much better if I had some company to enjoy it with. Maybe you could stay around and watch a movie with me...or something?"
Naruto's grin grew more sheepish after he'd finished his stream of words, and he felt slightly tired due to fast rate in which he had spoken with. Itachi seemed to have gotten the main gist of what he had said though, because another sweet smile came across his lips; thus preventing Naruto from having to repeat himself. Naruto tugged at Itachi's cloak, leading him back over to the door and this time inside of it.
Sasuke-duck ended up being locked inside of Naruto's bathroom as she kept trying to attack Itachi or eat Naruto's ramen. Both things hadn't gone down well with Naruto himself and the poor duck had found herself being pushed away. After Naruto had finished his sixth bowl of ramen for the day, he snuggled up to Itachi, giving him the in front of the TV cuddle time that he had bugged Naruto about many times for so long.
End.
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