Art and Artifice

Art and Artifice
chapter 12

"Oh crap I gotta hurry!" Naruto puffed. School had just gotten out and he had burned out of that building and raced off to work as fast as humanly possible. Ino had told him that Kiba would be bringing Sakura in for a tattoo and the Bastard himself would be coming with them. As they had motorized transportation, it was going to take some doing to make sure he got there first. He couldn't very well blow off work entirely, although that sounded pretty good at the moment. So he was hoping he could maybe hide out in the back of the shop. Maybe they would settle for whichever artist they saw first.

"What time is it?!" a panting blond gasped out the second he stumbled into the door of Shuriken Studios. Raido looked up in surprise before checking the clock.

"You're twelve minutes early kid. There's nothing to worry about. Where's the fire?"

"Sorry Raidou, can't talk now. Busy day you know? Lot's to do! I'll be in the back." Naruto pulled off his hoody and took off into the back holing himself into his booth and closing the blinds. Raidou stared after him, perplexed.

"Teenagers," he sighed with a dismissive shake of his head.

Naruto was trying to draw up some ideas to distract himself but he was subconsciously listening for the jingle of the door when about ten minutes later, Kiba, Sakura and Sasuke arrived. He stayed right where he was, waiting apprehensively while Raidou greeted them.

"Hey man! My friend here wants to get a tattoo," said Kiba, gesturing to Sakura who smiled excitedly. "Is Kyuubi around here today? He did my tattoo and I was kinda hoping he could help her out."

"Of course. He's in the back right now. I'll go get him." Damn! Naruto could hear Raidou coming this way. A knock came to the window. "Hey kid! Get you butt out here. You've got a client." Slowly Naruto dragged himself off of his stool with a sigh. If only someone else had come in for a tattoo first. Then he could have actually been busy. Taking a deep breath, he straightened his shoulders, shoved down his anxiety and walked up to the front with a smile plastered on his face.

"Hey, Kiba! What's up?"

Uchiha Sasuke's eye's instantly glued themselves to the owner of that pleasant, cheerful voice. He looked just as amazing in person. The blond was wearing a tank-top and he let his gaze trail over every inch of exposed skin as he looked him up and down blatantly. The subject of his obvious interest gave no sign of noticing his attention.

"Kyuubi, there you are. Come here and meet my friend." Kiba grabbed Naruto's arm and pulled him over to the pink haired girl. "This is Sakura. She wanted a tattoo so I recommended you to her."

"It's nice to meet you Sakura," he said with a sunny smile. "I'd love to help you out." He reached out a hand to shake and she took it with a blush and a girlish giggle. Naruto mentally rolled his eyes but reminded himself to give her a chance. Kiba had turned out to be very friendly. Sakura could very well prove to be just as nice. "Remember," he thought, "they could all be redeemed."

"It's nice to meet you to Kyuubi kun. I've heard so much about you." Ok..That sounded sincere enough. Naruto was about to open his mouth when the Bastard decided to suddenly cut in.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke," he announced in a tone that implied that he expected the name to be instantly recognized. The smile dropped off of the blond's face and he turned to the youngest Uchiha with an impassive look.

"Did you want a prize or something?" Kiba shot a hand up to cover his mouth. He figured Kyuubi must have remembered the name from their conversation a while ago. He recalled how unimpressed the blond had seemed and felt kind of guilty for bad mouthing his friend, but 'nobody' had ever talked that way to Sasuke and the boy looked so completely taken aback. It was hilarious!

"That guy blew me off!" Sasuke was sure the thought actually made an echo in his mind. "He blew me off!! What the hell?!" Naruto had gone right back to focusing on his client.

"So Sakura, what design did you have in mind?"

"Well I like the idea of a dragonfly and some bamboo, but, I guess if you could think of something sexy..."

"But you'd 'like' a dragonfly?" Naruto cut in, his brows drawing together.

"Well yeah I've always really liked them. I just think maybe it would be a little tame."

"No no," the blond shook his head. "You don't need to get something sexy. Just get what you like."

"You think I should?" she asked uncertainly.

"No, 'You' think you should. It's what you like right? It doesn't matter what you get. It'll just 'be' sexy whenever you're in a sexy mood." Sakura laughed at that.

"Really?"

"Trust me," Naruto grinned. "It's a tattoo! When they're well done they're 'all' sexy!" Sakura laughed harder and Kiba joined in. "Hey! I'm serious. if it really suits you it becomes like a mood ring. Mine can be happy, sexy, angry, dark and mysterious...depends on the situation." Hearing this Sasuke who was just starting to get over his shock, pictured the tattoo that he'd seen in Ino's pictures and realized the blond was right. He could easily imagine those tails helping to portray any one of those traits. This guy had an odd way of thinking though.

"Hn, Itachi would be all over that," he thought with a smirk. Good thing his brother wasn't here. Sasuke was so going to flaunt this guy in Itachi's face once he had gotten him. And he would get him. He'd hold onto him for awhile too. He was actually really cute and funny on top of being hot.

Naruto, having convinced Sakura to go with the dragonfly she had originally wanted, was busily sketching out quick thumbnails to see what kind of composition she liked best. He was still chatting away easily while he worked.

"I don't know what this big obsession is these days with being sexy anyway. I mean, look at you. You're definitely attractive enough." The pink haired girl smiled happily at his candid praise. "There's no need to go to too much extra effort."

"Girls are looking to attract guys. It's only natural," she countered. "You have to admit, guys are pretty obvious about what they want."

"Nah, they just say stuff like that. Maybe at first, they think they even believe it. But then one day they find what they really want and it turns out to be a 'person'!" Naruto faked a look of shock that had her giggling again. "When a guy finds someone they really want, they don't want her to be promiscuous," he said seriously. Sasuke scoffed automatically.

"Only hopeless romantic geeks want a virgin. The rest of us want someone who knows what they're doing." Naruto leveled a penetrating stare at the youngest Uchiha that gave him a squirmy uncomfortable feeling.

"Your lying," he said, his tone matter-of-fact. Then he turned his attention back to Sakura. "When I'm certain that I've found someone who's right for me and who honestly cares, there isn't really very much I can offer them, but I can at least give my 'entire' self, everything that I am, untouched and for them alone."

Sasuke felt his stomach flip at this speech, somehow it sounded like the most incredible thing in the world. Truthfully the idea that this gorgeous boy was a virgin, that he could be the very first to ever touch him was highly appealing. Realizing that something of his thoughts was possibly showing on his face, he hastily smoothed out his features and glanced furtively at Kiba to make sure he hadn't noticed. Meanwhile Kiba was lost in thoughts of the girl he liked, whose very innocence had first attracted him. There was no way he would say that in front of Sasuke though.

Naruto had subtly gestured for Sakura to look and take note of the two idiots' silent reactions and now both were cracking up. Meeting Sakura's eye again the blond grinned and shook his head.

"See what I mean?"

Sasuke didn't know what to make of this situation at all. This reaction from the blond was completely unprecedented. Perhaps he should fall back and regroup? He fell silent for awhile, observing his unusual quarry and trying to figure out just what the hell was going here.

Sakura had settled on a design and Naruto had quickly drawn out a good copy, scaled to fit the left side of her lower back and now he was about ready to begin. A nervous Sakura was assuming the position. The blond gently reassured her that it wouldn't be that bad but if she needed to take a break at any time, to just let him know. Kiba and Sasuke were watching a few feet away but it turned out that Sakura didn't really need any more moral support than what Naruto provided. He was as careful as possible and he kept her nicely distracted with light conversation the entire time. It was over before she knew it. Hopping up off the table, she went to the mirror to check it out.

"Oh! It's beautiful! It's completely perfect. I love it! Thank you so much Kyuubi Kun!" Naruto found himself the recipient of a bone crushing hug.

"Damn!" he thought. "She's a hell of a lot stronger than she looks!" He laughed and returned the hug anyway though. Sakura was actually a pretty nice person too he decided. She was just a little unsure of herself, which was a common affliction to be sure. He had genuinely enjoyed talking with her.

As the three were leaving the shop Naruto called out a goodbye to Kiba and Sakura, conveniently forgetting about Sasuke. The Uchiha couldn't believe that the blond boy had completely ignored him almost the entire time they were there. Everyone he desired had always just fallen right into his lap. Sometimes literally. He had never been challenged like this before. It would only make the whole thing that much more exciting, he decided.



A/N; Hah! You all thought he was going to figure it out right then and there. Not yet baby! It's much more fun for me if he takes awhile to really cultivate his illusion of two different people before realizing what a complete ass he's made of himself. There's nothing like that humiliating 'last moron to know' feeling.

And what do you know? Shika was right. The odds on that many people being heartless assholes 'are' pretty slim. Most people don't really intend to make someone's life miserable. They're just thoughtless. If they realized that was what was happening they'd probably feel bad. Sakura, like many of her peers, is simply dealing with her own life and her own problems and doesn't take the time to notice what someone else may be going through. Laughing at someone and failing to help them doesn't seem like much of a crime unless you really take the time to think about it. Anyway, that's enough philosophy for one day. Hope you're not too disappointed that there wasn't a big chaotic revelation yet. See you tomorrow!