Full Circle

Full Circle

chapter 15

The next day, Naruto sighed quietly over his lunch. Neji had gone home already and the hours had seemed to crawl along at a slower pace than normal afterward. Suddenly, his head perked up at the sound of his own name being mentioned.

"Excuse me. What were you just saying?" he asked Mikoto. The older woman smiled indulgently at him.

"I suspected you might be daydreaming over there," she teased mildly, causing him to blush sheepishly.

"Mother was just saying that she wanted to have a party of some sort, sometime before you go back home," said Sasuke. Naruto looked back to Mikoto in surprise.

"I was thinking of a nice garden party, to send you off," she confirmed. "I do like to have at least one every summer, you know. I feel as I've wasted the season somehow if I don't."

"Oh, well I suppose that sounds nice," Naruto conceded.

"It will be 'lovely' dear. A nice evening party, outdoors while the weather is still so warm. You'll get to meet a few friends of the family, and there will be dancing of course." Naruto grinned at the woman's starry eyed look, reminiscent of a little girl dreaming of her wedding day.

"Yes, it sounds wonderful Mother," said Sasuke patronizingly. Mikoto seemed to be too far gone to notice the tone. "May we be excused now?"

"Hmm? Oh yes Darling, certainly. You two go and have fun."

Sasuke glanced over at a chuckling Naruto as they wandered off in the direction of the games room for a friendly game of pool.

"You laugh now, but I'm afraid this won't be the last time she uses you as an excuse to hold some silly function," he said wryly.

"Ah well, I'm sure it won't be so bad," Naruto finally responded as they reached their destination. Sasuke handed the blond the rack and they began setting up for their game. As the game began, each boy was thinking, in their own way, about the summer's end and Naruto's subsequent departure, and on exactly what terms they would be parting. As the number of balls on the table was dwindling, Sai came swaggering into the room.

"Good afternoon Sasuke, Naruto kun. I must say it is a bit surprising to find you both indoors on such a beautiful day. It is a refreshing change of pace though I suppose."

"Takara isn't here today," Naruto explained as he lined up his next shot. "He'd normally drag us out, so we decided to take the opportunity to do something a little different."

"Ah, I see," said Sai, giving Sasuke a wink as he moved up behind Naruto and took a very long and obvious look at the blond's nicely displayed posterior. "Mind if I play the winner?" Sasuke grit his teeth

"Oh, yeah sure," Naruto answered absently. He managed to get his ball in but one of Sasuke's happened to drop in with it, so he stepped back and let Sasuke move up to examine the table for his next shot.

"Did you enjoy your day out yesterday Sasuke?" asked Sai, halting the Uchiha just as he was about to take the shot.

"Why yes. I did Sai. Thank you for being so understanding about that," he answered nonchalantly. He drew his cue back and then pushed forward in a smooth stoke, the ball sinking gratifyingly into the corner pocket a moment later. Not long after, the two players were in a race to sink the 8-ball

"You're doing very well Naruto kun," Sai was saying. "I didn't know you were so good at this game."

"Well I wouldn't say I was anything special at it," the blond protested. "We have a table at our house too and Dad and I like to play now and then when we're bored."

"I win," said Sasuke, calling both of their attention to the now empty table. Naruto shrugged, giving the Uchiha a little smile and handing his cue over to Sai

"Don't think I didn't notice how you only manage to win when everyone's back is turned," he murmured playfully into Sasuke's ear with a little smirk before continuing on his way to the mini fridge. Sasuke just barely hid his reaction.

"Whatever could you possibly be implying Mr. Uzumaki?" he exclaimed in mock offense. Naruto mused that if one didn't know the man well, they would surely think he was serious. Whatever response Naruto may have come up with however, was cut off by the sharp crack of Sai breaking.

"I'm high ball," he announced before leaning over for another shot.

"So what's new today?" The sudden question came a few moments later, while Sasuke was lining up the cue.

"Hmm..." Naruto pondered. "Well, Sasuke's mother informed us that she'd be throwing a garden party sometime soon."

"Really now. Am I invited?" Sai's twinkling eyes sent a sneaky glance to Sasuke.

"Yeah probably. It's one of those classy affairs with dancing and all."

"Dancing? Ah, I never did learn to dance myself," Sai lamented. "It's too bad. I always though it looked like fun."

"It's not that hard Sai," said Naruto, "You could probably pick it right up, at least enough for one little party."

"Ah! Is that an offer to teach me Naruto kun?"

"Well..."

"How kind of you. Why don't we do that tomorrow? You're free aren't you?"

"Um, yes..."

"It's your turn Sai," Sasuke gritted out, his hands slowly strangling the poor cue.

"I'm sure you'd be such a good instructor Naruto. You're so naturally graceful."

"Uh..."

"And you're such an excellent motivator. Wouldn't it be nice if the kids at the orphanage could have the opportunity to learn something like this. Perhaps if you teach me, I could teach them."

Naruto's right eye seemed to develop a mysterious tic as Sai rambled on innocently. The rest of the game went by quite quickly. Sasuke lost, badly.

By the time Sai came to collect Naruto the next evening, Sasuke had made an uncharacteristic mess of his room for the maids to clean up but had come up with nothing to counter this latest move from Sai. That may have had something to do with the amount of thinking time he wasted on fuming and imagining Sai's painful death in great detail. He'd made a last ditch effort to keep them from going off alone together by suggesting that the lesson take place at the mansion, but Sai had claimed to have the perfect place in mind.

Sasuke had sought refuge in his books in the slowly passing hours after a smirking Sai had whisked off his fiance. He often caught himself staring off into space though, imagining ridiculous scenes of them tangoing across a lonely ballroom, ending in a dip and lips locking passionately. He was perfectly aware of how stupid that was but as it grew later, he finally gave up on the books altogether and took to pacing the library floor. He glanced continually out the window. It had been a gray, oppressive day and the skies had finally opened up and released the long awaited rain about an hour ago. Checking the clock one last time, he abandoned his sanctuary and crossed the huge house to resume his pacing in the foyer.

When the sound of the doorbell finally broke the silence, echoing off the high walls, he nearly jumped out of his skin. Damn that was loud! Come to think of it, he didn't recall ever having been in the foyer when the bell had rung before. He'd never waited so anxiously for someone to arrive in his life.

"Man I'm acting too pathetic," he sighed to himself, running a hand through his dark hair. He quickly composed himself and walked over to open the door, waving off the butler who'd just appeared from the left archway.

"Sasuke!" Naruto's eyes widened when the Uchiha himself opened the door, looking somewhat disheveled. "Cute," he thought with amusement as he took in the rumpled dark hair.

"Were you waiting up for us Sasuke kun?" asked Sai, shooting him a smug look behind Naruto's back.

"Hn, it's shaping up to be a real storm out there," Sasuke murmured.

"That's right," Naruto agreed with a shiver. "I'm so tired. I'm just going to go right to bed if you guys don't mind."

"Yes, I'm sure you're 'very' tired," Sai drawled, still looking at Sasuke. Naruto glanced back at him with a little frown, wondering what he could be smirking like that about.

"Maybe you should take a hot bath or something first," Sasuke suggested, looking the shivering blond over with concern, and ignoring Sai.

"Yeah, maybe I will. Thanks Sasuke."

"Ah Sasuke, you missed a lovely evening," Sai prodded when Naruto had disappeared around the corner. "Dinner was so nice, and the dancing was even better. It was the perfect excuse to get my arms around him. Then it started raining and the atmosphere got more cozy and intimate. It was one of the best dates I've ever been on." Sai pretended not to notice the Uchiha-glare-of-death that was boring into his brain until Sasuke opened the door and shoved him out onto his ass in the pouring rain. The door slammed shut again with a loud satisfying bang followed by the snick of the lock sliding into place.

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"Uzumaki sama." Naruto blinked at the unexpected interruption from the butler, and paused in his trek to the dining room. "Master Sasuke has requested your presence on the east patio by the gardens." Naruto nodded slowly and allowed the man to lead the way, his brows drawing together in confusion. What could Sasuke possibly want out by the gardens? Dinner was just about to be served. They reached the french door at the east side of the huge house and the butler opened the door and standing aside, ushered him through.

"Sasuke? What's all this about?" asked a mystified Naruto as he stepped out onto the patio and took in the set-up. The bistro table was elegantly set for two with a white cloth and linen napkins, candles and a single rose in a slim crystal vase. Soft music was playing and a bottle of white wine was chilling in the ice bucket next to the table. Sasuke himself, looking both casual and impressive in a soft gray silk shirt and pressed black slacks, stood expectantly by the table with his hands behind his back. He gave a small amused smile as the blond came forward.

"I thought it might be nice to take our meal outside this evening. It is lovely weather for it. Wouldn't you agree?" said Sasuke as he pulled out Naruto's seat for him. Naruto lowered himself into the chair and let Sasuke shift it back in toward the table. He watched the Uchiha curiously as he walked around the small table to his own seat. Sasuke smirked at his cutely puzzled look. "Can I not wish to spend an evening with my fiance? It seems somehow that Sai gets as much if not more of your time than I do. I felt that I should correct that." Naruto's eyes widened at this, but Sasuke pretended not to notice. "Would you like a glass of wine?"

"That might be a good idea," Naruto answered with a short nod, trying to force his body to ease from it's sudden tension. If he didn't know better, he'd say that Sasuke was jealous, of 'Sai', and was attempting to outdo the other man. "Well he might have over-shot the mark a little," he thought and then barely held back a snicker as he thought of his night out with Sai. A night of french fries and Dance Dance Revolution wasn't even in the same stratosphere as 'this'. He shouldn't jump to conclusions though.

At first Sasuke found his dinner companion to be a bit uncertain and withdrawn but then soon enough Naruto became caught up in conversation and began to loosen up. They talked about everything from astronomy to their favorite novels and Sasuke was pleased that he seemed to have gotten his original Naruto back. It was just like it used to be between them. It was wonderful to see that sparkle back in those big blue eyes. He loved all that animated enthusiasm and he couldn't help purposely pushing the blond's buttons just to revel in the reaction he got and the reaction that Naruto coaxed out of him in return.

"So you've already joined this organization thing?" he asked as he poured each of them a third glass of wine, emptying the bottle.

"The National Songwriter's Association," Naruto corrected with an emphatic nod.

"They must have some loose standards," Sasuke joked. Naruto stuck out his tongue, then gasped in surprise when the stoic man across from him actually laughed. Sasuke laughed even more at the look on his face and Naruto fell into giggles along with him.

"It's just to get my work registered and copy-written you jerk, they're not concerned with quality control. Nobody needs to be. If your stuff sucks then no one will buy it anyway. They provide you with some useful information though and they let you know about any events they hold that you might find helpful. Like this convention that's coming up in Moon Country. It's a great way to meet people and do some networking, plus there'll be a tutorial and some people's songs will be chosen at random to critique. You know, for the sake of demonstration."

Sasuke watched avidly as Naruto leaned back in his chair and stretched. The wine was probably making him feel warm and relaxed and maybe a little drowsy. The Uchiha smiled and reached into his pocket for the little remote that rested there. Naruto looked up as the music grew louder. Sasuke had gotten out of his seat and was coming to stand next to him. He held out his hand to the seated blond.

"Dance with me? I don't need to be taught," he weedled playfully. Naruto grinned and took the offered hand. Sasuke swept him easily away from the table and escorted him the two steps off the patio and onto the wide flagstone path of the garden before turning to face him and placing an arm around his waist. Between the wine, the dimming light, the soft beat of the music and the heady scent of all the flowers that surrounded them, it wasn't long before Naruto was leaning heavily into the warmth of Sasuke's body. Sasuke simply held him closer to support the added weight and Naruto rested his head on a broad shoulder with a quiet sigh that had Sasuke's heart skipping beats merrily. It was perfect out here with the crickets just beginning to chirp and he was feeling so pleasantly sleepy and content. Oh yeah, DDR had nothing on this.

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