? Nushi

Chapter 2: Wakadanna (young master)

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Naruto came awake in subtle degrees, like surfacing from the ocean floor. First there was the gentle tug of a hand tangling through his hair, fingers trailing lightly on his scalp. He leaned into the contact, nuzzling like a kitten into the warmth. He felt the sheets under him when he shifted, smoother and cooler than usual, which registered as slightly odd but not a danger. Then it was the warmth of the sun across his shoulders, where the shirt he was wearing had fallen down.

It was the low, rumbling chuckle that snapped his eyes open though, and he came face to face with the smooth pale face of his new Master. He swallowed, everything from last night rushing back to him. The small smile on Itachi's face made him shiver, more so when the man leaned forwards, letting his own steely black eyes slide shut before planting a chaste kiss on Naruto's slightly parted lips. It scared the boy how good it felt.

Then, before this thought had even registered in his mind, the warmth above him was sliding away. He flicked his eyes upwards to watch Itachi stand, turning to the closet opposite that side of the bed and drawing out clothing. Naruto watched as the pale skin was slowly covered up by dark fabric. It was a surprisingly modern outfit, for Naruto, and he stopped to look a minute, deciding that, while it didn't look bad on Itachi, in fact it looked amazing, it just didn't look as good as the kimono had.

That was the image frozen into Naruto's mind, the second that Itachi had opened that screen, hands slicked with blood, dark silk billowing around him slightly, making his pale skin gleam all the more. The boy shivered, not liking where that train of thought was going. He buried his face in the pillows beneath him, but the lingering scent of Itachi there did nothing to weaken the image, or his desire for it.

He heard the screen slide back open and he picked up his head again, to see Itachi in the doorway, looking back. He started to get up, but Itachi shook his head.

"Sleep in Naru-kun. It's been a long night. I'm going to be gone for a couple of days, I have business in Osaka, and I'll be staying over. I'm leaving some things with Haurano-chan for you, she'll come get you in a while. Be good while I'm gone and I'll bring you back something nice." Itachi slid the screen closed and Naruto dropped back onto the futon, pouting. He wasn't three years old, and Itachi didn't need to treat him like he was.

Still, he snuggled back down into the soft bed anyways, letting out a contented sigh. He let sleep take him again, and it was a long while before he was woken again, as much as he could tell by the shift in the sunlight coming through the round window, still muffled slightly by the rice paper screen. He sat up, yawning, rubbing his eyes absently.

It surprised him when a pink haired girl, probably around his age, a little younger, slid open the screen leading to the rest of the house. She looked startled for a second before she smiled a little. Naruto cocked his head to the side, thinking she looked familiar, before it hit him that she had been the one who had greeted them last night. He watched in silence as she stepped in with an armful of linens, folded precisely. She walked to a short armoire in the corner, and leaned forwards, struggling with the door for a second before Naruto jumped up.

"Let me give you a hand." She smiled at him warmly as she tucked her burden carefully away.

"Thank you so much. If I remember correctly, you are Naruto-kun, right? My Name is Haurano Sakura, but feel free to call me Sakura, just Sakura." Naruto's face lit up in a smile.

"Itachi-danna told me you would come in eventually. He said you would have something for me?" The girl's face went blank for a second before it lit up in a smile once more. She grabbed his arm lightly and pulled him towards the door.

"Yes, yes. Itachi-sama wanted me to get you some clothing. He thought you were about his brother's size, a little smaller, so he told me to pick out some things from the trunks upstairs that Sasuke-san doesn't wear anymore." Naruto wrinkled his brows a little. He hadn't known that Itachi had a brother. He supposed he would have to ask the man how he was supposed to act towards the boy when he got back. For now, he assumed politeness wouldn't hurt.

X

The girl had dressed him in a dark kimono. There had been western modern clothing in the trunks as well, and he'd taken some pieces, but he felt more comfortable in the loose fabric of the traditional garment. He'd always worn one of these in his old master's house, and the familiarity of it was nice. Afterwards he'd helped the girl hang some laundry out on the line behind the house, facing the woods behind.

The house was big, mostly done in a traditional japanese style, but there were a few western rooms. He'd gotten a good look around it after they'd eaten breakfast, and it seemed to have a basically similar layout to the house he'd lived in before. The rooms were arranged in a rough square, surrounding a courtyard in the middle. That had been what lay beyond the window in Itachi's room. He'd enjoyed the warmth, the last throes of summer bathing the land in idyllic sunshine now, before autumn sucked the pleasant heat away.

After he'd finished with that Sakura had gone to get groceries from town, and she'd invited him to come along but he had declined. He wouldn't leave the house unless Itachi asked him to. Instead he'd been enlisted to help the hired cook start the preparations for dinner. He knew Itachi was gone, and there hadn't been anyone in the house all day besides Sakura, himself, and Raidou, the cook. Sakura had told him there were usually more servants in the house, but since Itachi was gone right now, their presence was not necessary. The rest of them lived in town, so they went home when Itachi left on business.

Naruto had been washing and chopping vegetables when he heard the muffled argument. The walls around him diffused the sound enough that he didn't make out what was said, only that these voices were unfamiliar. He ignored it, even though he was curious, in favor of doing the tasks set out for him. He wasn't expecting the door to burst open, the loud voices spilling into the kitchen as their owners came through.

"... I told Itachi-san you'd be like this. Why can't you at least try to put up an agreeable front for once in your life. It would please your brother greatly you know." The man who spoke was tall, silver hair standing up in messy spikes around his head. He was dressed well, in dark colors, one eye covered with a gauze patch.

"I don't give a shit what that bastard wants, I won't do it. Lets see how he likes being ignored and left behind for once in his life." Naruto stared at the boy who walked in in front of the man. He looked like a miniature version of Itachi and that fascinated him to no end. He turned back to his task quickly though, wanting to focus on getting it done. He noticed to silver haired man send a scathing glare at the boy, who just prickled.

"No, no no, I'm not doing it, and there's no way either of you can make me. I'm going to..." The dark haired boy stopped mid sentence, finally having noticed the blond boy sitting at the table chopping vegetables. "Um - Who are you, and why are you in my kitchen?" Naruto looked up at him with a smile.

"I am Uzumaki Naruto, am I right in thinking you are Itachi-danna's little brother?" The other boy nodded, a frown on his face.

"Yes, thats all well and good, but why are you here?" Naruto thought for a moment, blushing at the Uchiha's question. Raidou returned right then, to the boy's relief. The man had an armful of kitchen linens, and a well balanced basket of cleaning supplies. He dropped everything in his arms on the counter unceremoniously, before turning to the rest of the people.

"Welcome home, Sasuke-kun. I see you've already met Naruto-kun, he's your brother's new toy, spoils of an assassination outside of Kiyomi. Be nice to him, okay? Itachi only just picked him up and the jerk ran off right away." Naruto repressed the sudden need to stand up for Itachi. It was one thing for his Nushi's brother to badmouth him, but the man's servants? That wasn't right.

That was the biggest difference between slaves and servants, in Naruto's eyes. Slaves obeyed and respected their masters, even if they weren't worthy of it really, but servants felt they could do what they pleased and say whatever popped into their heads about their master's. It made him nervous.

"Hn, so Itachi has a new boy, probably a fuck-toy disguised as a slave, am I right? At least the bastard has decent taste when bringing home strays." Naruto shifted under Sasuke's gaze, feeling his skin prickle as the boy focused on it. It made him nervous, and slightly annoyed, that the boy was talking as if he wasn't even here. Still he held his tongue, determined to treat Itachi's brother with utmost politeness until his Master told him otherwise. He stayed silent, watching the tall man behind Sasuke with interest. The man leaned forwards.

"It seems like Sasuke, being his normal hormonal and unbalanced self, has been rude enough not to introduce us. My name is Hatake Kakashi, I'm the boy's tudor, and a friends of Itachi's. He didn't mention anything about you last time we talked though..." Naruto's eyes went a little wide. He opened his mouth to respond, even though he was unsure as to how, but Raidou beat him to it.

"He just dragged the kid home last night, I don't think it was a planned pickup." The man caught Kakashi's eyes over the counter with a grin, as he started to measure rice flour into a large wooden bowl. "Not that Itachi would have left anything like that lying around, he is a collector of ... beautiful things." The silver haired man cocked an eyebrow at the other, who just chuckled lowly, before his uncovered eye turned to Naruto again. The boy was blushing now, eyes fixed on the board in front of him, his chopping ceased in his embarrassment. It was Sasuke who snapped him out of it with a snort.

"Whatever, Itachi could have done better. I don't know why he thinks he needs another servant lying around, ... he's never here anyways..." With that, Sasuke turned and practically stomped out of the kitchen. The boy had sounded a little bit angry, and it puzzled Naruto. He shot a questioning look at the silver haired man, who had managed to steal an apple from Raidou's basket, and was polishing it against his sleeve. He stopped to grin at the blond.

"Don't mind him, he had this hero complex for Itachi. Thought he'd grow out of it eventually, but so far no dice. He does try and hide it behind his wall of teenaged angst now though." Then the man turned, waving lazily over his shoulder as he crunched into the apple, letting the door fall shut loudly behind him. Naruto turned back to Raidou, who was practically giggling now, ignoring the bowl in front of him.

"Mmmm, 'hero complex' is certainly one way to put it." Naruto looked at him, confused. This only seemed to amuse the man more. "Let me put it this way. The two of them are either going to kill each other or fuck each other's brains out, but neither one will be a pretty site." The man giggled again, leaning forwards a little, grabbing a bowl of eggs from across the counter, cracking them one by one into the mound of flour in front of him. He paused then, staring off out the window.

"No, forget it. Nothing those two do could be anything but pretty." Naruto decided that was when he needed to take his leave.

X

He had tried for the rest of the night to find Sasuke and apologize somehow, though he wasn't exactly sure what he could do that would make the boy feel better. Hell, he wasn't sure what he'd done to make the boy mad in the first place. He did feel like he needed to make amends with the boy though, especially since they were around the same age, and Naruto would love to have the boy as a friend.

Sasuke didn't have his brother's height, or calm demeanor, but in some ways he was a whole lot more attractive really. Naruto blushed when he caught himself wondering if the boy was a virgin or not. It wasn't entirely appropriate for him to be having those kind of thoughts about his Master's otouto really. Still, the boy was undeniably attractive, and it was hard to ignore it.

He gave up looking for the boy after a while, settling down on the porch in the rear of the house and staring out at the woods beyond. That was how he was
when Sakura found him, to ask for help folding the sheets from the lines out back. Apparently Itachi-sama would be bringing guests back with him and they had to get all of the spare bedrooms cleaned out and set up for the day after next.

"Thank you so much, Naruto-kun. This always takes me forever by myself, and I can never keep them from wrinkling up and getting creased." Sakura happily chattered away as she took the corners of the sheet they were working on from Naruto, laying the folded item in a pile of smooth linens beside them. He smiled for her.

"When did you say Itachi-sama would be returning?" Sakura chuckled, shaking her head a little. Naruto stood there smiling still, a little bit confused. "What? Have I said something wrong?"

"No, you're just so eager. I always enjoyed the times when Itachi-san was gone, things are so much calmer, especially when it's just Sasuke." She had a weird, far off look in her eyes and Naruto raised an eyebrow. She shook her head a little, like she meant to clear it, and returned to the line, pulling down another sheet, holding the end out to Naruto, who took it gladly. "It's just that when they're both here at once things are usually tense, if not chaotic. Itachi-san loves his brother, but he likes to wind him up and watch him go. Sasuke-san is happier when he's here, true, but it never lasts for long." They folded the sheet quickly, Sakura taking it from Naruto's hands almost immediately, tossing it to the pile a little less carefully than before.

"Besides, when Itachi-san is here, Sasuke-san is never alone. It's either the two of them together or Kakashi watching over the boy, making sure he doesn't do anything stupid." Naruto shrugged a little, not exactly sure what to make of this information, but also not really worried about it. It wasn't really his business what his master or Sasuke did, so long as he could be of some use. There was a little part of him that wanted to be alone with his Master upon his return though, and he wasn't sure where that had come from so quickly. He just wanted to prove that he could be a good servant, the best, to make his Master proud, to honor his old master's teachings and memory.

They folded the rest in relative quiet, Sakura prattling on about who Itachi might be bringing back with him, and where they would put everyone upon arrival. Naruto listened with half an ear, paying more attention to his own wondering thoughts. He was curious whether Itachi would want him in his bed when he got back, and if not where he would go. His Master had told him there were times when he wouldn't be needed there, but his old master had always paraded him out around any visitors or guests, like a prized possession. The Uchiha's seemed to be busier though, more important, and he wasn't sure what the protocol would be.

He was pulled from his thoughts when he saw Sakura struggling to lift the basket of linens, a little to big for her slight frame. He smiled shyly and silently offered to take it, gaining him a blushing grin in return. She led the way into the house then, continuing to talk absently to him over her shoulder, opening doors for him. She stopped in front of a large closet near the kitchens, opening the doors widely and indicating that he should put the basket down. He watched carefully as she explained what went on which shelf, the little space was remarkably well organized.

"Up here is where the sheets and blankets for the guest rooms go, we have enough up here for twice the amount of rooms actually here, but you can never be too well prepared for company really, and they're normally fine up here if you ever have to make up rooms by yourself. This time they were all in the laundry though, things have been a little busy with the mergers going on, and we've all had things to do for Itachi-san lately. The towels go over here, sorted by color and size. We usually set those out last, once everything else is clean." She continued to lead him through the system, carefully sliding each thing into it's proper place.

X

It had been late afternoon by the time they had finished putting the linens away, and he had been unsure of what to do next, so he had offered to help Sakura set up the rooms for their coming guests. She had showed him how to do it in the first room. There were eight of them in all, each one either looking into the courtyard or out at the forest behind the house. He had quickly picked it up, and went on to do the next one on his own, gathering the cleaning supplies first.

The room was dark and hot when he stepped in, and the first thing he did was open the screens over the window, to let the space air out. He didn't pay much attention to that though, turning to the floor in front of him instead, readying the small vacuum he'd been handed and turning it on, running it lightly over the tight weave of the mats. This room seemed like it hadn't been used in a while, and there was a fair amount of dust lying around. He made quick work of the floors though, humming quietly to himself, not loud enough to hear over the quiet roar of the machine.

Next was the furniture present. Everything had a thin layer of dust on it, but a few passes with a dampened rag wiped it away, leaving the dull gleam of the dark woods behind. He'd gotten to the futon, dragging it out of the closet to place under the window when he looked outside. The view was pleasant, the courtyard garden inside was lush with plants, and a small pond with a trickling fountain. In the center though, was a flat patio of sorts, paved with dark stones and surrounded by small stone pagodas, each set with a light inside, though it was still bright enough out that none of them were lit.

On the patio he could see his Master's brother. The boy was standing bare chested, pale skin gleaming with a thin layer of sweat. He was slowly moving from one pose to another, pausing in each one. Kakashi was standing beside him, watching him intently, correcting his posture or the position of his arm every once and awhile. Naruto stopped his work and just watched them then. There was a poise and grace to the other boy's movements that fascinated him.

The Uchiha stilled then, talking quietly to his teacher before taking a stationary position once more. Naruto let his eyes travel the length of the boy's spine slowly, almost to the curve of his ass when Sasuke sprung into motion. This time the movements were fast, but lost none of the earlier elegance. They looked almost deadly now, as if he could spring forwards and put his hand right through your head, as if nothing could stop him. Naruto shivered a little at the thought.

Each of the movements the boy made was beautiful, and Naruto found himself sucked into the spectacle of it. It was like watching a dance or a tree in the wind, the way he pivoted and kicked, counterbalancing himself in the air to keep his center of gravity stable. It looked easy, comfortable, the only evidence of the effort it took was the sweat dampening the pale forehead.

Then all of a sudden Naruto was frozen, Sasuke's eyes on his. The boy stopped his movements, chest rising and falling quickly. Neither one looked away for a long moment, what felt like forever. A comment from kakashi broke the spell, Sasuke pulling away to face his teacher once more, leaving Naruto to wonder what exactly had just happened. He blushed to the tips of his ears, quickly getting back to the task at hand.

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A/N: crappy plot chapter i know, but it had to be done. i wanted sasuke and naruto to meet without itachi there, but don't worry, there will be smex soon, though maybe not in the next chapter as im not sure how long i'll end up making things until then. anyways, i hope you can stick with me through the crappiness. this is all unbeta'd, as i havent been able to find a new one when my old one left for romania. *sighs* anyways, good? bad? ugly? read, review, and let me know ^.^