The Art of Patience

Chapter 10!!!!!!!!

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Naruto was cruising down a street lined with sparkling homes with more square footage than any place he could ever hope to afford at the moment. The lawns were perfectly manicured the bushes trimmed and each house was painted in soothing shade of any color you could imagine. The blond focused on a light blue house and past a pair of stone lions that guarded the tree lined driveway before guiding his car between the two imposing figures. His patron for the hour lived here and she absolutely loved having everything in its place and to have everyone in her life to be on time.

The blond parked in front of the apartment sized garage and turned off his car, the engines’ masculine growl slowly subsided to a gentle purr before silence punctuated by soft popping took over. Naruto put a smile on his face as he climbed out if his car. His gear was in the trunk; though what he really wished he could bring with him was back at his pad. It took less than a minute for him to get his things out of the trunk and lock his car doors; not that this was a neighborhood where theft was common. Finally the bond mounted the steps that lead to the front door and thumbed the doorbell just in time to hear a sound from within the house.

The door opened revealing a very beautiful young woman, about mid twenties. She smiled at the blond and gestured for him to enter. "Thanks for being on time today. You would not believe how hard it is to find someone who has your kind of skill and who is punctual."

The man smiled as was proper for someone in his profession and stepped inside the house whose interior was just as expensive looking as the outside. In the front hall, clear glass shelving was set up to display a wide array of figurines and statues from different time periods; though most seemed to be Mayan or Aztec in origin, replicas most likely "In a city as big as this, I can imagine the difficulty in finding timely services."

The woman, clad in a pair of shorts and a tank top nodded in agreement. "So, I'm guessing I should strip?" she asked in a teasing manner.

The bond arched an eyebrow before smiling impishly. Seemed like she was ready to play today. “Well being naked or nearly so would make the experience better for both of us."


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Itachi shifted in his seat for what seemed like the millionth time in the past hour. He was so uncomfortable and he was in the middle of a damn meeting. He gratefully stood up once everything was in order and shook the hand of the well kept looking gentleman. "So I'll have those papers faxed to your office tomorrow."

The man traded firm grips with Itachi before releasing the uncomfortable man’s hand. "Are you sure you're alright? You seemed a bit…distracted."

Itachi froze for a split second and then pasted a smile on his face once more. "Oh, I'm fine. Just a bit of stress lately. Nothing to worry about." He ushered the man out the door and promptly closed it. He sighed in relief but jumped when the phone rang. Walking over to the phone, he calmly picked it up and took a deep breath to compose himself; he hoped his voice didn't sound too strained. "Yes? This is Itachi Uchiha..."

A strangely silky voice purred out of the phone and into the aroused man’s ear. It was like hearing oil floating on water mixed with honey all on top of perverted bread. "Hello my dearest nephew, having a good time with your masters toys today aren’t we? I do so wish that you had been mine to toy with at leisure."

Itachi felt his stomach drop to his feet. Of all the people who had to call now, it had to be his Uncle. "What can I do for you this time Madara? You know that Naruto doesn't like you calling me."

A truly hair rising chuckle bubbled out of the office phone before the man on the other side of the line spoke again. "Oh surely he can't object to a little, family time, we might share within my domain? After all we share the same fiery blood and your little brother would so enjoy my affections. That Uzumaki's just wasting your true potential with his kindness."

Itachi sighed, not in the mood for bantering back and forth with his deranged Uncle. "Just tell me why you called. I'm really busy..."

"Not very friendly today are we? Have it your way then, but next time you will be dancing to my tune dearest. I'm going to be throwing a party in a few days and I was so hoping that you and that half-trained brother of yours would attend. It's been far too long since I’ve seen either of you wearing nothing but your bare skin and a collar. Oh, and bring that blue eyed twit along; I've got something special in mind for entertainment."

Itachi rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache coming on. "I'll be sure to ask Naruto. I doubt he'll want to go, not only that, but I doubt he'll let Sasuke and I go either. Now I have a meeting so I'll have to talk to you later."

"Just promise me you'll think about it. It will be a party to remember." Madara's voice dripped with sweet poison as he hung up on his eldest nephew.

Itachi slammed the phone down, almost breaking it in pieces. Damn it! Now he had to tell Naruto, and his Master would not be happy. He looked up as he heard his door open; half expecting the blond Dom to jump in and admit that he heard everything...but luckily for Itachi, it was only Sasuke. He sighed as he sat down in his chair; now thoroughly exhausted.

Sasuke eyed Itachi wearily. What the hell was going on? He walked to the desk with caution, not knowing how Itachi would react to quick movements. "Um...I'm going to take my lunch break." When he didn't get a response he raised an eyebrow. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

The older raven looked at Sasuke. "Out. I need to make a phone call. Seems our dear Uncle has invited us to a little gathering."


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Naruto smiled broadly as he positioned himself over the beautiful woman before him. She was wearing nothing but a small, yet surprisingly thick sheet that was trying it's hardest to keep the ladies modesty right where it belonged. Blue eyes followed the gentle curve of the naked woman’s back to that elegant, almost swanlike neck; even as he started to run his hands along the back of her legs. "How are you feeling?"

The woman moaned in appreciation as she tried not to tense up too much. "It feels amazing...you always manage to make me forget about everything."

Tanned hands worked gently across her calves and on up to the woman’s thighs before Naruto spoke again. "You know I could do this all day if we had the time for it."

The woman laughed weakly as the talented hands worked magic on her body. "That might be able to be arranged, but my husband probably would object to that."

"Hm... That would look bad for the both of us wouldn’t' it? Maybe I can get him in on this for a reduced rate if you know what I mean." the blond worked carefully on his patron’s smooth calves as he made his way purposefully toward the woman’s neck.

Naruto's heart nearly leapt into his mouth when his phone went off in his bag with the classic Legends of Zelda fairy flight theme. The simple tune stopped his hands where they were on the woman’s shoulders and the man turned to stare at it. Why on earth would Itachi call him on the job? "Oh that can’t be good. Excuse me for just a moment, this is probably important...”

Naruto stood up and shuffled quickly to pick up his phone before the ringtone had time to finish its second repetition. "Hello?"

Itachi panicked once he heard his Master's voice on the other end. He tried to regain his composure as he held the phone in a slightly sweaty grip. "I'm sorry for calling you at work, but I just got a phone call from Madara..."

"Say what??!" Naruto flinched internally form how loud his voice was and he threw a glance over his shoulder at the naked lady he'd just left dangling. "What's he up to this time?"

Itachi sighed, opening a bottle of aspirin as he spoke. "He said something about a party. He wants all three of us to go. He said he had something 'entertaining' planned."

"You’ve got to be kidding me! And why the hell did he want to talk with you first? He knows that he's supposed to talk with me about this kind of thing first!" Anger boiled in the blonde’s mind at the thought of Madara bypassing him to get at Sasuke and Itachi. That freaking psycho just didn't know when to give up!

Itachi got quiet. He didn't have an answer for the blond. "Um...well either way, I'm sure he's going to call you too. I'm really sorry, but I really didn't have any choice but to talk to him..." He really hoped he didn't get punished for this.

Naruto felt the beginnings of a tension headache coming on as a growl escaped his mouth on its way to the phone. Of course that ancient pervert would call him. At the most awkward time too no doubt. "Thanks for letting me know I’ll figure out something...." The aforementioned headache reared its serpentine head and threatened to come on faster that the blond wanted. This was just like Madara to ruin a perfectly good day.

Itachi sighed once more. "Would you like me to make it up to you later, Master?" He tried to sound seductive and needy, but he feared it just turned out sounding tired. Of all the days to be off.

"I'm going to need something after this. Let's not panic about this just yet, I'll figure out a way out of this somehow." A great weight settled on his shoulders and twisted his stomach into uncomfortable knots that promised to keep hunger at bay for hours.

Itachi felt horrible for bringing his Master this news, especially when the blond was working. "Well, I'll let you get back to whatever you were doing." He paused for a moment before continuing. "I love you..."

"I love you too baby." Naruto closed his phone and stared at it miserably before throwing it back in his bag with more force than he'd intended; thankfully it landed on something soft.

"God dam Madar...." The blond froze as reality came crashing back into his mind. He was working and in a woman’s house. Oh shit he'd probably just lost a costumer.

The woman turned slightly as she heard a curse come from her hallway. She wondered what was going on. "Is everything alright? You sound upset about something."

Naruto stepped back into the room with his mind racing. He wasn't in the right frame of mind to finish what he'd come here to do, he needed to bail believably and fast! "One of my cousins got shot in the foot and is being rushed to the hospital. God only knows how it happened but it could have been worse." Naruto put his best acting foot forward and tried to come off as an overly concerned and stressed family member who’d just found out that someone had gotten hurt. The blond mentally crossed his fingers and hoped for the best. This whole cousin thing wasn't something he could have come up with on his own, it was barrowed He’d been in a car with Kiba once when the dark haired man had been riding down the highway to get to the vets office because Akamaru had been hit by a car; the police had let the two friends off with a warning.

The woman stood up, wrapping the sheet around her. "Oh my...well then of course you can leave. Here, just let me pay you first." She headed over to her purse and pulled out her check book.

Naruto looked gratefully at his patron and felt some part of him scratch at the back of his skull about the pay. "You don’t have to pay the full amount for this session; I couldn't finish the job like I should have."

The woman smiled and wrote the full amount anyway. She knew the blond would make it up to her. "Just take it. I know you're good for it. Oh and my husband should be calling you soon about that hot stone therapy. He's been so stressed from work lately with his increased hours and all."

Naruto threw his best smile at the buxom woman in her towel as he accepted the check, now there was an idea! He absolutely loved everything to do with the hot stone therapy even when he had to carry all that equipment whenever his clients asked for it or when he wanted to promote his talents at business conventions. One day when he got his own studio, or maybe a studio shared with some of his peers he could have a more permanent setup. "Now I’ve got something significantly better than a hospital bill to look forward to." He carefully put all his things back in his duffle bag and turned his back to the woman so she could get dressed.

Once the woman was dressed once more, she escorted the blond to the door like a good little hostess and showed him out. "I hope everything will be alright. I'll see you next time."

“Until our next appointment yes.” Naruto bowed slightly and walked quickly to his car. The bluish duffle landed in the front passenger seat with a thud just moments before the car bust to life and began its stately turn toward the road. Naruto stopped at the end of the driveway like a good driver to check for traffic before turning in the direction of the nearest hospital to keep up the illusion of having to see his cousin.

Naruto was privately seething at Madara's gall for going behind his back to talk with Itachi; not even the hectic task of merging with the highway could drag the irate driver from his rage. A few miles into the drive the blond got a nasty scare in the fast lane when his phone burst to life with satanic laughter, Madara was making a call. For a frantic second, Naruto fought not to lose control of his car; it seemed to want to either plow into the barrier or another car.

Eternity retreated leaving the blond driver awake, full of adrenaline, and in control of his vehicle. The blond snarled as he took one hand from the steering wheel to put his seatbelt on and to stick that mockingly laughing phone into the hands free holder on his dash. "What the hell do you want this time Madara?"

An amused chuckle was heard on the other end. "So that's the kind of greeting I get? I haven't talked to you in ages. I spoke with your cute little bitch earlier today and decided to give you a call as well. I'm sure he's told you what I have planned?"

"It's the same greeting any Dom would get for going behind my back to get personal time with my subs! And you can just forget about having them there at the party I’m not biting." The blond snarled and looked around for the fastest way off the highway. Madara always had a talent with ticking people off like it was nobody’s business. He had to ditch this deathtrap fast before he got in an accident.

Another chuckle. "Oh come on, it will be so much fun. Why can't you share once in a while? I never get to see my gorgeous nephews. They should have the opportunity to spend time with family. And since I'm the only family they have left...well you get the idea. It's not like I'd leave you out either. Wouldn't you like to sub again Blondie? I know you had a real good time with..."

Naruto cut across all four lanes to get to an exit ramp, just before the blond lost himself to anger he could almost feel the blistering curses of the other drivers behind him. Sharing his subs with another Dom was hard for Naruto to do especially if he didn’t care for the Dom in question. And he really didn’t like Madara to put it mildly. The residential street was consumed by a red haze at the mention of the blond’s former master, like the night before he lost all connections with the outside and a murderous rage forced its way into the man’s heart. And at a time like this it could be fatal. Naruto could end up flattened or wrapped around a phone pole like a cheap whore or dead if he didn’t get control of himself soon. "You shut up! You know what happened to HIM when I got done with him! And I won't have either of MY subs around him; it would be too risky for them! Some family you are throwing your only relatives to the sharks. Makes me grateful I got to them first!"

"I suppose. Well then I guess your mind's made up. Too bad though, Sai was really looking forward to seeing you..."

"... Sai?" with that one word the red haze began to thin. Sai had been Naruto’s first sub and as such, held a special place in the blue-eyed man’s heart. The boy was kind of funny in a cute way. Everything he knew he learned from a book. Not only that but the rather skinny kid had a talent for drawing which he did frequently whenever his master forgot to tell him not to. Not that Naruto really could have denied Sai desire to draw for long; the kid had a real talent. "Sai's going to be there?"

"Of course he will be there. Oh that's right, you don't know about that do you? Sai is now my sub." There was amusement in Madara's voice, knowing that the information would strike a chord in the blond. Oh how he loved messing with him.

The street began to take on its normal shape through Naruto's angry haze; somehow the man had managed to get to the condos he'd left from that morning without hitting a thing. "If you've hurt him I swear to God that you'll pay." Naruto’s voice sounded alien to him as his retreating rage made his voice as thick as pudding.

"Oh come no Blondie, lighten up a bit. I would never dream of hurting any of my subs; severely at least. So it looks like you're mind's made up, oh well maybe next time..."

"Wait.... I'll go, for Sai’s sake" Naruto could feel his arms start to shake as the adrenaline pumping through his veins did what it did when no action followed a deathly scare, just the luck of the draw form evolution. The car pulled into an empty spot and it was all Naruto could do to pull the parking brake before killing the engine, he was shaking that badly.

"Glad to hear it. I expect my lovely nephews will be joining you?" Before the blond could answer Madara went on. "That's wonderful. You won't regret it. See you on Saturday Blondie. Oh, and sub's aren't required to be nude, but please, don't bring them here fully dressed. Alright, then." With that the line went dead.

Naruto stared at his phone as it droned on with the lost connection tone. Oh dear god how had he let himself be manipulated into this, and by Madara no less! The blond pried himself form the car and turned to walk to his subs place on wobbly legs. Oh man he was hurting on more than a physical level.

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In the house, Sasuke was looking out the window as he heard the familiar engine of his Master's car. He noticed the blond was a bit shaky and was starting to worry when Naruto stumbled a bit while getting out of his car. He wanted desperately to go out there and see if everything was alright; but he knew he had to sit by the door like a good sub and wait for his Master to enter. So he did just that, followed by Itachi, who was just finishing up cooking dinner for the three of them. Looks like they’d be comforting their Master tonight. The Uchiha brother’s weren’t about to complain. After all, it was what they did best.

TBC

Just a warning…it will probably be a bit before the next chapter is out. We are out of material, so it will probably take about a week maybe two to get the next installment up. Sorry!! Hope you’re enjoying it so far!