The Art of Patience

Chapter 19!!!!

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Naruto approached the front desk where a blond woman stood looking through a motorcycle magazine. She had tattoos all over the exposed skin that her leather outfit showed off. "Hey Temari. Is Gaara in today?"

The blond woman looked up from her passion and flashed a smile at one of her favorite costumers and ex-employees. Naruto had come in often enough to have a discount if he ever wanted to use it and had helped to spread the news about her brother’s tattoo parlor when Gaara had just started in his endeavor. The blond also offered his services as a tattoo artist; acquiring a license to do so. It was a small business but their costumers were fiercely loyal and kept them above the red line in hard times. "Hey there Naruto, It's been a while. Gaara's in the back finishing the outline of someone’s tattoo. I bet you ten bucks he comes out about now."

Itachi took in the scene around him with a mix of appreciation and caution. So this was how his master was going to prove his ownership. Ever since high school, the older Uchiha had wanted to get a tattoo but had never gathered enough courage to just go get one.

Sasuke eyed Itachi carefully. He wondered how his brother felt about this. No doubt the older of the two felt a sense of pride that their Master wanted to mark him in a permanent manner. He only hoped that Naruto would want to do the same with Sasuke soon. Although the younger Uchiha doubted the blond would give him a tattoo. Naruto had stressed from the start that the two Uchiha brothers’ would be treated as two different subs and not as a two for one deal.

Naruto watched as a man came out of one of the rooms, gingerly placing his shirt back onto his body. He was soon followed by a pale solemn and brooding looking young man with shocking red hair and black rimmed eyes. The Japanese symbol for ‘love’ was tattooed just above the man's left non-existent eyebrow. "Gaara. How's it been? Haven't seen you in a while. Thought I'd cash in one of my freebies. Actually; I'd like to do the job myself if that's alright."

The pale skinned owner almost smiled at his good friend and gestured to the back rooms where he kept the tools and inks of the trade. Not all his friends had this privilege but Naruto was special. He understood what it was like to have to start something all by yourself and had on more than one occasion kept him from going out of business by gathering a bunch of young people with the need to be inked.

Itachi raised an eyebrow at the silent man and looked at his master in confusion. Why wasn’t the raccoon-eyed red-head talking?

Naruto smiled back and pulled his subs into the recently vacated room. "Thanks Gaara!" he said as he shut the door securely. He turned to Itachi and removed the man's leash before gesturing to the chair next to him. "You probably know what I’m giving you. I know it’ll be painful at first; but you’ll love it when it’s done; I promise. I love you so much Itachi. You and Sasuke mean everything to me. But since you’re done with your training and I feel that you’re ready; you’re going to be permanently marked as mine; forever.” He gave the older raven a gentle but passionate kiss and poured all the love and emotion into it.

Itachi kissed back enthusiastically. The words that were being spoken to him were starting to comfort him and he wasn’t as nervous. Granted he was still a bit apprehensive; not usually one for tattoos or needles in general. “Thank you Master. I’m so happy that you want to give me this.” He hesitated for a moment before he looked at Sasuke quickly. “I have something for you too.”

Naruto’s eyes widened as he saw a box being handed to his oldest sub by his youngest sub. “Itachi; you didn’t have to…”

“Please? I want to give you something that means a great deal to me. Something that’s always been mine but that I’m giving to you now to keep. I want to show you in a physical way that I’ll always be yours and always be loyal to you Master.” Itachi held out the box to Naruto as he kneeled down and just one time let his eyes meet those of the one he truly belonged to.

The blond Dom took the box carefully and opened it. There, inside was a simple necklace; one that Naruto had seen Itachi wear every day ever since he met the man. He had been told the story of the necklace’s origin from Itachi; that it was his mother’s who had given it to him right before she passed away. He had been twelve at the time…

To say he was speechless was an understatement. How could his raven ever think of giving this up? “I can’t take this… It means so much to you.”

Itachi felt the tears welling up from the emotions filling his being. “I know. That’s why I’m giving it to you Master. I wanted to give you something that was a part of me; so that you can have that part of me with you; even when I’m not with you. I’ll always belong to you.”

Naruto felt the tears run down his cheeks; but he didn’t care at this point. He lifted up his beloved sub and held him close. “Thank you Itachi. I swear to you that I’ll never mistreat you or hurt you intentionally. I’ll love you and take care of you forever.” He let go of his shaking sub and reached into his bag for a moment. He really didn’t want to break the moment with formalities; but it had to be done before he even did the tattoo. “I have a contract for you to sign. It basically says that you’re allowing me to keep you; to own you…” He couldn’t go on; his emotions were getting the better of him. He handed the paper to the older raven and watched as Itachi read it over before signing it and handing it back to the blond.

Naruto smiled and wiped his tears. He donned the newly acquired necklace and faced his love with a gentle smile; he had a slave to mark.
“Now go ahead and sit down Princess. And Kitty, you can sit over there." he said indicating a chair off to the side for Sasuke to sit in.

Sasuke did as he was told and sat in the chair that he couldn't quite decide if it was uncomfortable or not.

Throughout the whole scene between his brother and Naruto; Sasuke felt like he was at a wedding or something.Take away the collar and the ownership thing and it pretty much was. He had felt himself get a bit teary eyed just from listening and watching them. He could tell that they both really loved each other and he couldn’t wait for his turn. He decided to redouble his efforts to get to that height of happiness that much quicker. To him; it seemed like a great place to be.

Itachi hesitantly mounted the little chair in the middle of the room and looked around the small room. It wasn’t what he'd thought the inside of a tattoo place looked like. It almost reminded him of a dentist’s office minus the pictures of teeth on the walls and sayings about how brushing and flossing were good.

Naruto went around to the side of the chair. "Take off your shirt and lean against the back of the chair." he said softly as he ran a comforting hand through the older raven's hair. He could tell that Itachi was a bit nervous and tried his best to be as comforting as possible; no doubt this would hurt.

Itachi nodded and pulled the shirt over his head like an obedient slave. The material stretched and snagged itself around his ears for just a moment before letting go with an inaudible snap before the long haired man carefully folded the shirt in his lap and leaned back. There were butterflies making a home in his stomach and it was all the man could do not to clench his hands into fists to keep them from trembling. The thought of getting tattooed by his Master both thrilled and terrified him. The terror mostly came from the needles involved; though, he completely trusted Naruto not to cause him too much pain.

The blond took the shirt out of Itachi's grip and handed it to Sasuke who took it and held it much to the same extent that his brother had. He leaned forward in his chair a bit; trying to find the best angle in which to see what Naruto was going to do to his brother.

Naruto pressed a button on the side of the chair, as a soft humming could be heard as the back of said chair started it's decent downward so that eventually Itachi was laying down as if he were on a flat surface. "That should do it." he said happily as he pulled a stool with wheels over to the side of Itachi and sat down on the surface. He donned a pair of rubber gloves and turned his attention to Sasuke. “Come over here Kitty. And bring your chair with you; sit directly behind your brother.”

Sasuke did as he was told and was now looking over Itachi’s body.

Naruto looked at Itachi once more. “I’m going to have Sasuke hold your head still so you’re looking at me the whole time. I want you to remember who gave this to you every time you look at it.”

Sasuke looked down at his brother and gave him a small kiss on the forehead before gently placing a hand on either side of Itachi’s head to keep it in place.

Itachi bit back a whimper as his head became immobile. He really didn’t like needles and knowing he was going to get stuck without seeing what was going on was so much worse! Then again; his Master was just trying to connect and make their bond even stronger than it already was; so he decided to not to complain and take the compassion his Master was giving him.

Naruto put a hand on the man's chest as he leaned over the prone body. "It's alright Itachi. I would never hurt you; you just need to relax and you'll feel a lot better. I promise it won't hurt that bad." he ended his hopefully comforting words with a soft, gentle kiss to his Princess’s lips.

Itachi subsided and savored his blond Master’s kiss. He knew Naruto wouldn’t hurt him but his fear of being immobile and around needles was trying to make him crawl form the room with his tail between his legs. Mind fought instinct for an eternity when a loud buzzing broke the internal struggle.

Naruto got the colors he needed, plus his hand drawn design as he wiped Itachi's stomach down with some antiseptic. "Just relax." he said quietly before he turned on the pen. Bringing the tip down into the first color he needed, he swirled it around for a moment before bringing it to the pale smooth skin of his sub; just above his belly button. He laced his fingers with the older man's before he descended the tiny pulsing needles to spread the ink underneath the first layer of skin.

Sasuke winced as he watched the ink appear on his brother's unmarred skin; never to be washed off or removed; unless his brother wanted to risk lasers aimed at his skin. He gently ran his fingers through Itachi’s hair in a comforting manner as he watched with fascination as the design started to take shape as his Master expertly handled the pen and wondered how Naruto learned the art of tattooing.

Itachi ground his teeth together; the pain was dull at first and steadily grew as the buzzing whine continued to fill the room. Maybe he was just a pansy when it came to pain but Itachi doubted he could take this kind of torture for long.

Naruto kept silent as he worked. He was just going to do the outline today and bring the raven back in about a week to start on the coloring and shading. The whole thing, Naruto guessed would take about a month, maybe a month and a half at least. He turned off the pen as he saw Itachi tense up slightly. "Do you need a break? I can start again in a few minutes if you want." he said as he ran a hand comfortingly over the raven's chest; noticing how rapidly the man's heart was beating.

Itachi couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief when the piercing pain stopped getting more intense. There was still pain but it wasn’t getting any worse than it was at the moment. "No Master, please finish it. I'm strong enough to take more."

Naruto frowned at the raven’s response. "Don't push yourself Itachi; this is supposed to be a bonding experience for us. I don't want you to feel like you're suffering through this. We don't even have to finish the outline today if you don't want to." He leaned down and gently kissed Itachi's neck a few times before lifting his head up again. "If you really want me to, I can have Sasuke let go for the rest."

Itachi shook his head as best he could in Sasuke’s hands and stiffened his resolve. Naruto was being very kind to give him a way out. But he wasn’t going to accept the offer. Naruto had set this time aside for Itachi and he'd be a very poor slave indeed to deny his beloved the opportunity to make them both happy. It wasn’t right and he never made a habit of ruining other people’s happiness. "Please finish it. I'll just have to be careful when you're done."

Naruto hesitated but nodded after a few seconds. He started the pen up again and tried to be extra gentle through the rest of the inking process. When he turned the pen off for the final time; he noticed Itachi was shaking slightly. He pressed his lips to Itachi's as he gently put some antibiotic cream on the tattooed skin and placed a piece of gauze over that, taping the edges to keep them in place. "You did so well Princess. I'm so proud of you."

Sasuke let go of his brother after one more rake through the soft long hair. He could tell that it was painful for his brother to go through that; but he knew that Itachi would think it worth the pain in the end.

Itachi smiled faintly as he lay on the chair. “Thank you Master. I so glad that I made you proud of me.”

Naruto smiled back as he took off the gloves and threw them in the trashcan. “Alright. We’re done for today. I’ll let you see it later tonight; alright Princess?”

Itachi nodded as he gingerly got up from the chair and put his shirt back on; deciding against buttoning it.

Sasuke followed his brother and Master out the door where they saw the quiet redhead again. Seriously that guy was starting to creep him out.

Naruto smiled winningly at Gaara and reached into his pocket. “Thanks for the room and the usage of stuff!” he said happily as he handed the redhead a few bills.

Gaara looked at the offered money for a moment and shook his head; folding the blonde’s hand around the money once more. He gave that almost smile again as he turned around to head to the back of the store.

Naruto just chuckled and waved to Temari as he lead his babies out of the tattoo parlor.

Temari sauntered up to her brother and turned him around forcefully. “You know, if you never talk to them; they’ll end up not coming back one of these days.” She said it with a smile; but she knew Gaara would take it seriously.

Gaara contemplated the statement for a moment before he nodded sagely to his sister. “Yeah.” Was all he said before he continued on his way.

Temari just sighed.

TBC
YAY!!! I made myself all teary-eyed!!!!!!!!! LOOOOOOL AAAAHHHH!!!!!! Anyway; smexy smex in the next chapter!!!!! Also some ebil plotting!! MUAHAHAHA!!!!