Art and Artifice

Art and Artifice
chapter 17

Naruto stepped back as far as he could go in the fairly crowded space to take a better look at his work. It was just about finished. He had made good time, he reflected happily. This was one of those pieces that had gone so smoothly it practically created itself. As soon as he had gotten over the initial decision of what medium to work in by going with a mixed media piece. His inspiration had taken over and never wavered. He hadn't hit a single rough patch and he was quite satisfied with the results. Now he only hoped that his boyfriend liked it as well. The thought made him a little nervous.

"But then I'm nervous too often about too many things," he thought.

"Kyuubi? I can see you 'not' working over there," came Haku's voice from the other side of his easel. "Can I see it yet?" the brunet whined. Naruto paused to think that over. He did have a few finishing touches to make yet.

"Actually... yeah I guess you can look now. It's close enough to being finished." Haku grinned and hopped excitedly around the easel to get his first look of Naruto's latest work. He stopped short at the sight, his mouth forming a little 'o'. Then a second later a big smile was spreading across his face.

"That... is Awesome! Oh wow, you did such a great job!"

"Yeah?" the blond asked hopefully. Haku grabbed the back of his friend's neck and pulled the blond head down to his chest where he squeezed it and ruffled his hair comically, laughing at the boy's struggles to get away.

"'Yeah?' Of course 'yeah'." He let the now flushed and thoroughly annoyed blond back up. "You've done a fabulous job! I swear it's the best thing you've ever done to date. Itachi will totally love it."

"Oooh Kyuubi! That is so cool!" Naruto spun around to find Ino standing on his other side looking over his piece with obvious appreciation. "Can I ask where your inspiration for this came from?" A slight pinkish tinge rose in the boy's scarred cheeks.

"Well, I guess I was inspired by my boyfriend." Ino's interest instantly perked up and her mouth stretched into a positively evil grin.

"Your boyfriend? Is he really super hot? Oh I bet he is! He must be to inspire 'this'. He must be 'wild' in bed right? Did you get a vision after a massive orgasm?"

"Ohmygod Ino shut up!" The slight pinkish tinge had become beet red so fast his legs felt weak.

"What? That can really happen. This one time..."

"No!!" Naruto cut in. "No! No time! Ever!"

"Come on! My hot guy friend with a hot boyfriend? I'm gonna need some details here." Haku could barely contain his laughter at Naruto's stricken face. He decided to join in the fun naturally.

"Oh he's hot alright. He's also a good dancer 'and' a real gentleman."

"Really?" The brunet nodded with mock seriousness.

"Oh yes. Of course you know what they say about the quiet ones." Ino squealed inarticulately and clapped her hands.

"Haku, stop it," Naruto whined futilely.

"He tries to be subtle about it but he's definitely pretty possessive." Haku went on as if he hadn't heard his friend.

"So you think he's like, extra dominating in the bedroom?" Ino asked far too loudly for Naruto's liking.

"Oh yeah. I can totally see some bondage in little Kyuu chan's future." With a strangled squeak, the poor blond boy clapped his hands over his very red little virgin ears and his two friends completely lost it.

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Kiba traipsed through the halls in high spirits on the way to the advanced art classroom. His new girlfriend had that class last and he had told her he would pick her up there when school let out. He smiled goofily as he remembered how she had blushed when he made the offer. She looked so pretty when she blushed. He truly believed that had found 'the' perfect person for him. She was kind and sweet and innocent. She was a great listener who got all of his jokes, actually thought he was smart, and never seemed to get annoyed by how loud and hyper he could be. She even called him a gentleman! Hyuuga Hinata was completely and perfectly adorable in every way.

It had taken him quite awhile to get around her shyness. He had talked to her every single day and done everything in his power to make her smile, and every last second had been more than worth it. When she had agreed to go out with him his chest had swelled with the most wonderful feeling that had yet to go away. Now he probably looked like a big idiot smiling away at nothing all the time over the smallest thought of her, and he didn't give a crap.

"I'm so in love," he thought, his goofy smile growing even wider. Weaving through the crowds of students that had just begun to flood out into the hall, he reached the classroom door and gave it a firm knock to make sure to be heard over the rising din. Hinata herself opened the door for him. Kiba leaned in close when he saw her.

"Aaww! You were waiting for me," he said waggling his eyebrows at her. The expected blush warmed her cheeks and he gave a little chuckle.

"Hello Kiba. I'm almost ready to go. I just need to pick up my things." Kiba almost missed that cute stutter of hers but at the same time it was good to know that she felt more comfortable around him now. Besides, he knew he could still make her stutter if he wanted to.

"Alright. Hey, do I ever get to see what you're workin' on in here?" he asked craning his neck to stick his head past her and look around the room. He was only teasing her really. If she didn't want him to look at her stuff then he would respect that. Suddenly however he caught sight of a familiar tuft of bright blond hair. 'Kyuubi?' his eyes narrowed as he took a more careful look at the blond boy. Yes, that was him alright. He was holding his hands over his ears and his face was quite red, and there was Haku and Ino laughing at him.

"Hey what's 'he' doing here?!" he asked in surprise. Hinata looked around, confused.

"What are you talking about Kiba?"

"Him, right there. What's he doing here?" he asked again pointing at Naruto. Hinata still looked a little confused.

"You mean Naruto Kun?" A second later she realized why he might be surprised.

"Naruto? What are you...." At that moment Kiba noticed a very familiar hoody clinging about the blond's shoulders.

"Oh my God no way! Naruto?! That's Naruto?!! Holy freakin' crap!" He was almost shouting now and everyone turned to see what was going on. Naruto and Haku shot a look at each other and practically ran for the door, Ino swiftly following.

"Kiba don't be so damn loud," shouted Ino. By this time though, Kiba was laughing too hard to respond.

"Hahhah oh God! heheheh Sasuke..Kyuubi...and it was you!" he gasped out. "Oh my God that's hilarious! Aw man, wait 'til I tell Sakura!"

"Hey! You can't just go around telling people!" Haku protest.

"Oh but it's just too good! You 'have' to let me tell Sakura. She won't tell Sasuke. She thinks 'Kyuubi' is the coolest thing on two legs."

"Well maybe just Sakura," Naruto sighed. Kiba started laughing again.

"Dude I don't know how you actually managed to keep this up for 'three years'. I mean that's insane!" Kiba was given a quick run-down of the whole story. He especially liked the part about Naruto going out with Sauke's brother.

Naruto found himself feeling strangely ok about this. He supposed if anybody had to figure it out, Kiba was probably the person he would have chosen himself. Actually having been 'discovered' like that without any untoward results was sort of liberating. Somehow the idea of maybe a few more people knowing didn't seem like such a big deal as it did before.

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Later on that night Naruto had just gotten home from work a few minutes ago and was now on the phone with Itachi. He was telling his boyfriend about the earlier incident with Kiba.

"But it turned out ok I guess. Kiba's a pretty nice guy after all. He just thought it was funny and he promised not to go shouting it around the school."

"So you didn't really mind then?"

"Not..really. Now that I think about it, it 'was' kind of funny. Especially from his perspective."

"Do you think you could handle telling some other people?"

"Maybe... I'll think about it some more and get back to you on that. Oh! I had something I wanted to ask you."

"What's that?"

"Well, the school's annual art show is coming up soon. Like next week... and I was wondering if.. you know if you don't have any other plans for Sunday... if you maybe wanted to go with me?" Itachi chuckled at the blond's nervousness.

"Actually, my family is in the habit of attending that show. It's usually got a few impressive entries that are worth the look. I would be very interested in going with you and seeing what you've put in."

"Ok" came Naruto's soft, pleased answer. "It's a date then."



A/N; It's a little later than usual but it's still technically 'next day delivery'. And now Kiba knows, and Sakura by proxy. Who knows what will happen next? Well I do! lol
See ya!