Proving You're Right

midnight: okay, so i appologize in advance for making Minato the way he is.. it's for a very stisfying end, trust me! Anyways, just incase you were confused on why Naruto was expecting his dad there at his showcase in the last chapter, it was because he was hiding in the background. I'm not sure why yet, but we'll come up with an excuse for this other hot blondie!!! YOSH!! thank you again for reviewing, and keep up the good work (that is: falling in love with this story ofcourse.)if you have any qualms about anything in this story, feel free to let me know, because i'm using something someone out there is studying and i don't like to get things wrong or get people angry... flame's hurt. -_-;

invisible-microphone-man: Ladies and Gentlemen, please enjoy the show!

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Epistemology


“Epistemology; it is concerned with the nature and scope of knowledge, and whether knowledge is possible. Among it’s central concerns has been the challenge posed by skepticism: the idea that all our beliefs and thoughts may be somehow illusory or mistaken.” Sasuke’s philosophy professor had been expressing different subtypes and other studied subjects that concern themselves with his major. “What is knowledge? Is knowledge the understanding of 2+2=4? Or is knowledge something deeper? It’s possible that one person would know that if you add two and two together you would get 4. It’s another thing for someone to know how to add those two together to get an answer. It’s not enough that…yes, Sasuke?”

“Sir,” Sasuke stood, “Is it enough that a person would only understand why, for example, this equation exists and doesn’t particularly pay any attention to why it exists or should be understand completely?”

“That’s a good question Sasuke. Perhaps in our professional opinion, it isn’t enough to only understand that what you are getting, what you are understanding should be the only extent to your discoveries. We should be able to fully understand why it’s there, how it got there, and where it came from to fully understand the concept of it’s being. And that leads me to a special guest that had joined me for lunch this afternoon and decided to partake on this class. Please welcome, Minato Namikaze.”

‘Oh my god!’ Sasuke gawked at this man that assumed the position at the front of the class. This man had looked like the spitting image of another certain blond haired bombshell. And if there was anything to be appreciated from this man, besides his obvious beauty, it would be that, if this man was related to Naruto, then it would be right to think that Naruto would look just like him in adulthood.

“Good afternoon.” The voice was harsh, cold, calculating. There seemed to be no leeway with this guy, it felt like whatever this man said, you had to follow his instructions to the ‘T’. “I will now take you deeper into the world of epistemology. In 1963, Edmund Gettier had called into question the theory of knowledge…”

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Naruto was enjoying his warm afternoon. Sitting in his favorite coffee shop, enjoying, not coffee but Chai tea while drawing on a piece of napkin. His Zune had been playing DJ Keri, In My Eyes. He was totally content with scribbling on his napkin without anyone interrupting him. Of course, nothing ever goes as it should. Fate was a cruel mistress indeed.

“WHA!!!” a seemingly large pile of textbooks dropped themselves onto Naruto’s wobbly table and caused him to jump a mile in the air. When he removed himself from the ceiling and took out his earphones he finally realized that there stood the object of his distraction for the past week and a half. “Dear lord Sasuke, couldn’t you let a man know your in the vicinity without scaring the living shit outta them?”

“The Truth is,” Sasuke started without any real pramble. “you weren’t expecting anyone to interrupt your little art time so either way, you would’ve been startled. Even the volume of your music indicates that you weren’t expecting anyone.”

“Yeah well that’s human beings for you, they’re all about anything random.” Naruto dug into his jean pockets and retrieved his source of loud music and turned it off, never noticing the hard scowl that was directed his way. He was wrapping up his headphones around his mp3 player when he finally noticed the look. “Hey, what’s with the face? Did I do something wrong?”

“Mankind is not random. People can predict the actions and reactions made by a-“

“Certain individual when there is a yaddi yaddi yadda and all that bullshit.” Naruto leaned back in his chair. “You really believe in all this stuff don’t you?”

“Do you really believe that Art is the center of your universe that you have to shut other variables and their misleading equations?”

“Fair enough. But you don’t have to relate other people as ‘variables’ and their lives and ‘misleading equations’ do you? We’re not the x-factor that should be discluded from your equations to life.”

“You really have studied philosophy haven’t you. Or at least epistemology.” Sasuke said nonchalantly while he opened up one of his textbooks to begin doing more research.

“Why do you say that?” Naruto had continued drawing on his piece of napkin ignoring the fact that Sasuke was putting him off in a way. Wasn’t that bastard going to say something about what happened the other week? After all, this was the first time they’ve seen each other since that kiss. Was Sasuke gay? Or was he just messing around with him.

“Minato Namikaze.”

Naruto froze at that name, the bane of his existence. How had Sasuke known that man? Well actually, it made sense because that over reactive and militaristic bastard is in the world of philosophy. In fact the man is one of the most famous scholars of his time, how could they not study about that man?

“He gave a lecture in one of my classes today. He was visiting my professor.” Sasuke said as a-matter-of-fact way. Sasuke’s drink order had appeared. Black coffee.

“So he was here visiting Prof. Brekke huh? He could’ve called me.” Naruto said, he thought, to himself. Sasuke raised an eyebrow and looked at the sulking blond over the rim of his cup.

“You know Prof. Brekke and Namikaze?” Sasuke said in disbelief. He did not, as epistemology required, believe that this boy personally knew the two scholars enough to expect a call from the other. There was just no room for belief in this situation. That would be like saying that he believed the sky was pink and everyone loved leechee nuts. (sorry, I just think leechee nuts are whacked out!)

“Um, yeah, anyways I have to go. I’ve got a Greek history class to get to.” Naruto stood gathering his things. His brown Linkin Park messenger bag and large portfolio slung securely over his shoulders. He fixed his newly fashion faux on top of his head, if you’ve seen Fargo, then you’d know just what kind of hat he hid his dreadlocks underneath.

“You’re taking Greek history? Why? I thought you hated anything philosophy.”

“And I thought you hated everything art. See ya.” Naruto walked away from the table with both bag and portfolio and cup of Chai Tea. Sasuke never took his eyes off of him until he disappeared passed the row’s of trees lining the campus boundaries. He chuckled, thinking that he had finally won something. The blond ditz hadn’t even invited him to any sort of activity this time. He was, admittedly, sad at this revelation.

It was about an hour after Naruto left that Sasuke deemed himself warm enough to brave the winter wonderland outside. He bundled himself up in his wool blazer and swung his black leather messenger bag over his shoulder and was about to leave when he noticed Naruto’s scribbled-on piece of napkin. ‘Was his artwork really as unimportant to him as to leave it sitting where ever?’ Sasuke leaned over the four man sized round table to grasp the thin piece of disposable napkin. On the front, the side that he had caught his attention first, was a willow tree with no leaves sitting on an undetermained piece of land. ‘He likes willow trees.’ He smiled. He kept scrolling his eyes down, noticing that there was writing underneath the drawing. It read:

3124 E. Broadway

Gallagher Building

7:00 Don’t be late Cinderella!!

Sasuke’s delicate eyebrows furrowed together, his upper lip raised up in disgust at being called ‘Cinderella’. Despite the obvious feeling he was experiencing, there was another that had warmed his heart. He was being invited to another ‘date’. He folded the napkin width wise to discover that there was another drawing on the back of the same napkin. In black ink, there was a perfect drawing of what Sasuke had looked like the second day of their meeting. His black wool blazer, jeans, boots and even the little details to the turtleneck sweater that he was wearing looked photo perfect. Next to the full length drawing of himself was an enlarged drawing of Sasuke’s smirk. It was as if this piece of Napkin was the source of the warmth he was feeling. He could be alright with being called Cinderella for the time being. But next time, tonight, Sasuke was going to put Naruto in his place for good.

----

It was 7:30, the social class in which Sasuke was raised in deemed it reasonable that one should not arrive on time to a social event, nor should he arrive too late. Thus, the reason why he was pacing the entrance to the building, worrying his lips and hands raw.

“What am I fidgeting for?” Sasuke was unaccustomed to feeling this way. The high energy he was feeling plus the anxiousness was driving him mad. He had realized, two hours ago, that Naruto hadn’t been just calling him Cinderella, but was indicating the type of dress he should be in. NOT a flowing blue gown like in the cartoon, but a suit, evening wear. He was dressed in black slacks, shiny leather shoes, black jacket, white shirt and a black skinny tie.

Putting aside his nerves, he pulled open the large cherry wood doors and walked into a large room full of people and artwork. His research proved that there was a grand opening of the Gallagher Gallery, with a special viewing of today’s new hot artist, Naruto Uzumaki. It was a formal gathering with rich people galore. So essentially, he would fit right in.

“My, my, this is a wonderful work of art. You can’t even see the brush strokes.” One elder woman exclaimed with a critical gaze.

“Yes but that is what oil paintings are about duchess.” Her husband said right next to her. Apparently this crowd was going to be hard to please.

Sasuke made his way past all the people examining other works of art. Statues, paintings and sculptures. Not all of them of course was done by Naruto, that spot was reserved for the back of the largest most part of the room. Naruto’s campus famous watercolors and oil paintings were apparently famous in the outside world as well.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, if I could have your attention please.” This man had a slight British accent that caught the attention of all the people who had attended. “I would first like to thank everyone who’s here. It warms my heart to know that there are still people out there who care about the arts. This young man who we are featuring tonight is a young and talented artist. He come’s to us from the local university, growing up in Japan and under one of the famed scholars of our times, please welcome, Naruto Uzumaki.”

There was a round of gentle applauses, all of which were for a man who had created the majority of the paintings in this gallery. None of that phased Sasuke, it was only right that he got recognition over his artwork. But what concerned him was the mention of being a student of one of the ‘famed scholars of our times’. Sasuke was that much more curious with the man.

“Thank you.” Seriously, the mans’ beautiful tenor should be on albums, not in a workshop or in front of these undeserving people. “I’m very honored to be here. When I was younger, my uncle had always told me to follow my desire. For the longest time I had thought that it meant following my path as a child. But I soon found that that path was not for me. After leaving high school and two years of studying philosophy, yeah I hear your groans, I tried a class with a girlfriend of mine.” Girlfriend? “it was an art class, and I fell in love with it, I followed my desire, and here I am now. Thank you uncle Jiraiya, Hinata, and thank you… Sasuke, for the entertainment and inspiration for the piece that got me here.”

A blush crept across Sasuke’s pale cheeks at the mention of his name. He had never thought that he could inspire anyone with as much talent as Naruto had. He raised an imaginative glass- for he never grabbed one before joining the crowd, and toasted to this newly celebrated artist. Behind Naruto was the focal point of the exhibition. It was a watercolor, a painting of a statue of Mars, the Greek god of war. It wasn’t some regular painting of a statue in natural lighting, but was depicted and pulled together with various colors of the color scheme. Red’s, blues and greens, also purples, yellows and oranges, whatever color there was in the world, it was painted into this picture. It hadn’t looked overdone, in fact, it held the same thing Sasuke felt that the paintings in the showcase held the other week; love. It was true, he really enjoyed his time as an artist, his pictures had shown that.

Every painting that he had created had a certain amount of love into it that gave it the life that drew people towards it. Together in the brush strokes in the oil paintings, one could see his life. The flourished style inside the creation of the clouds of the Tetons said that he was brash, almost unpredictable at times. The precise artistry in the petals of the rose bouquet showed etiquette and control, something bred into him and became his nature. The colors that were given to the portraits, the abundance of life that he has, the black and white of the lighthouse on the coast of Maine, showing his experience with his own darkness. All this could be seen if anyone had spent any amount of time with the blond, if one looked close enough that is. And yet, the secrecy, the mystery that still surrounds the man entrigued Sasuke more than all the other facets of the blond.

Sasuke felt a heavy hand on his shoulder, with control enough not to look surprised, he turned around and came face to face with an elderly man with long platinum blond hair, a grin on his face and a hard, protective look in his eyes.

“So, you’re an Uchiha. When Naruto said your name and I seen your face, I could only deduce that you are Fugaku Uchiha’s son, are you not?”

“That’s correct, I am his second son.” The Uchiha stiffened at the mention of his father and the family name. It would never ease him to know that people would always see the doctor or the lawyer that, by birthright, he should have been. “And you are…”

“I’m sorry, I am Naruto’s uncle, Jiraiya. This your first time to his, for lack of better words, art show?” Jiraiya held a tumbler of amber liquid, presumably whisky from the smell of it. The man had a easy grin, one that Naruto could have adopted from.

“No, I was at the showcase at the university the other week.” Sasuke was able to feel comfortable around this man, but with only a handful of suspicion. Was this man trying to fish something out of him? If so, he wouldn’t find anything of use.

“Did you enjoy yourself?”

“Jiraiya!” the blond had a tendency of popping up unexpectedly. “There you are old man. I figured you’d be typing away at your computer by now!”

“And miss this? Hell no!” Jiraiya took another healthy swig of his alcoholic choice for beverage as if to prove a point. “By the way, I met your muse. Quit handsome this one is.”

Again with the blushing, you’d think that Sasuke was some hormonal teenage girl the way his face kept flushing.

“Shh!” Naruto jumped toward his uncle to cover his mouth. “I don’t want anyone knowing that he’s my only well of inspiration!”

“It’s quite a secret you have considering you told everyone here about me.” Sasuke quirked an eyebrow for added measure. He spotted a tray of champagne floating by and quickly grabbed one before the waiter tried to disappear. “I’d like to know how your high school life went considering your inability to keep a secret.”

“His life was dismal, I’m afraid.” A baritone, but a voice that seemed to be related to Sasuke’s favorite blond’s tenor. “You were in Phillip’s philosophy class weren’t you, Mr.-“

“Uchiha.” Was Sasuke’s only response. He had learned that when he had introduced himself as an Uchiha, his first name was always conveniently forgotten. “I was pleased to hear about your studies and views on epistemology, sir.”

This man was about the same height as Naruto, both blond haired, blue eyed, but the way they held themselves were the only things that told the other apart, except for Naruto’s dreadlocks. Sasuke shifted his gaze from Namikaze-sensei and looked toward his… friend? Naruto. The boy- for he looked younger than he really was at that moment, was chewing on his lips tediously. His whole demeanor had seemed to change with the appearance of this man. And just what sort of connection did these two have? Brothers? They were obviously sort of relatives with the familiar way Jiraiya and Naruto regarded Namikaze-sensei.

“If you wanted my views on epistemology, or any sort of philosophy, you need have only asked my son.” Minato had turned and offered his arm out toward Naruto. The younger blond had stepped forward awkwardly into Minato’s half embrace and made no eye contact with the brunet. “After all, I had taught him everything I know.”

Sasuke looked back and fourth from father to son. It was beginning to become clear to him that Naruto seemed to have been pushed into philosophy, the way the man had talked about it as if something nasty on the bottom of his shoe. It had also made sense that Naruto would know a good amount of scholarship in him to know what he was talking about, rather than rambling on like so many of the girls that tried for his attention.

“He had neglected to share that information with me, sir.” They had finally made eye contact for the first time that night. Inside those blue eyes that Sasuke was looking into seemed to be sad, regretful, and also a tinge of embarrassment.

“Is that so?” Minato had turned to his son with a scrutinizing gaze. “Please excuse me.”

Minato had left the group with Jiraiya in tow. Naruto’s shoulder’s dropped and it seemed that he was finally able to relax.

“Finally I can breathe now.” (didn’t I just say that?) “Um. Gomen, by the way, for not telling you about my fa-“

“Never mind that.” Sasuke said. He took a sip of his champagne and decided that it was worth him keeping it rather than throwing it into the nearest plant.

“Thanks. You have no idea how hard it is to- Huh?”

Sasuke grabbed Naruto quickly by the waist and pulled him flush up against his. Sasuke’s flute glass was held in his fingertips by the rim of the crystal glass, his hand relaxed next to his side, while his right hand that was holding Naruto at his back felt just how strong his back was. Their faces were so close, intimately close. For the first time, Sasuke saw Naruto blush- he was beautiful.

“I said never mind.” It was barely a whisper, more like those words were softly spoken, for only Naruto to hear. When it seemed that the two men dressed in similar looking suits were about to kiss, their lips only a hair’s width apart, Sasuke released the grip on Naruto and walked toward the oil paints.

“Ahem.” Naruto cleared his throat and was left alone. He looked nervously around, throwing open his jacket with his left hand while he rubbed his lips and chin with his right hand. He looked up and down the wide hall they had been standing in to see if anyone had noticed, thank god nobody who did see, didn’t care. He turned on the spot ninety degrees and followed his accomplice in PDA. “What the hell was that Sasuke?”

Naruto caught up to Sasuke and whispered harshly into his ear from behind him. Being a few inches taller gave him the advantage to whisper directly into his ear. The blond had no idea that he had just made Sasuke shiver because the both of them had their eyes fixed onto the display before them. It was an oil painting that wasn’t one of Naruto’s. There was a 16th century catholic monk holding an open bible in one hand and a stone church in the other.

“Why oils?” Sasuke asked after he regained his control after that flow of electricity that Naruto sent through his body.

“Why not?” Naruto asked back.

“With oils, you could hide the mistakes that you made, or make the painting look better. It’s not the original, so why use them?”

“Because you can. When you begin thinking to yourself ‘What else can I paint with’ you find yourself reaching for oil paint. The solid color you can’t get from watercolors and the professionalism you can’t get from acrylics; it turns you on to a whole different level of painting.

“It’s like watching fire. You’re transfixed by the beauty of it. You’re moved by the colors that it can present. It’s something that you can’t really touch, because you’ll ruin it, destroy it. Like any rose, you can’t destroy it, you find yourself longing to find a way to preserve it without any results. It’s tempting.”

“Hn.” Sasuke responded.

“It’s like what Bertrand Russell said, ‘The point of philosophy is to start with something so simple as to seem not worth starting, and to end with something so paradoxical that no one will believe it.’ Same basic principle.”
Sasuke had forgotten how to breath. Naruto had turned his head away from the painting and he could now feel the man’s peppermint and vanilla breath on his neck. He felt the heated gaze that followed his neck, down to his shoulder. When he did find his breath again, it came quick and shallow. Sasuke’s mouth was open slightly, his eyes turned down to stare at the floor, and the body heat radiating off of Naruto was doing nothing to cool his own heating body. There was a hot hand on his back, and Naruto’s mouth was closer to his ear.

“Let’s go somewhere.” It was a simple suggestion, one that Sasuke could definitely reject. But he couldn’t find himself from following Naruto towards the dark hallways. Through a couple of doors and one floor up, they found themselves totally alone. Sasuke became aroused from the thoughts flitting through his mind.

Would they have sex up here? Could they make out again? What was going to happen? In an empty office Naruto advanced on Sasuke so quickly that he didn’t see him until he felt Naruto’s lips on his. It was a hot, slow kiss. Something tender, something that told Sasuke that Naruto needed reassurance for something. Without thinking, without really having to think, Sasuke kissed back earning a moan from the taller man. His eyes were closed and his hands gripped into Naruto’s jacket. The blond man was holding Sasuke’s face on either side while thrusting his tongue deeper into Sasuke’s mouth. The shorter man melted from the heat of the kiss, his knees felt weak, he didn’t want to make a fool of himself.

“Wait, mm, stop-“ Sasuke was able to get out. Naruto pulled away without letting go of Sasuke’s face.

“I’m sorryI’msorry.”

“To say you’re sorry means that you were wrong.” Sasuke spoke huskily. Using one hand he cupped Naruto’s jaw and made the taller man look up at him. “This isn’t wrong, Naruto.”

“Saying sorry doesn’t always mean that you’re wrong. It could also be used to say that you didn’t mean to do something. At least not right away.” Naruto stood up straight and moved his body closer to Sasuke. The full moon that was peeking through the clouds and flooding the room with her light shone upon Naruto’s figure, making him look more gentle than he already was. It was intoxicating. For Naruto, looking at Sasuke in the moonlight gave him a different light to this quick tongued philosopher, a softer side, a more feminine side. “Besides,” Naruto smiled, and Sasuke knew that he was done for. “I’m lovin’ this too much to think that it’s wrong.”

Shivers crawled up Sasuke’s spine before Naruto leaned in for another kiss.


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By the time the two men joined the rest of the galleries population, there was little left that they wanted to do. What had gone on up stairs was only a great big heap of making out. They had both expressed that getting any deeper at this point would seem weird. So, about half an hour after their disappearance, they showed back up in the main room. They were coming down the stairs that entered the ballroom to discover that both of Naruto’s relatives were waiting for them to descend.

“Naruto, we didn’t want to interrupt you, but we have to get going.” Jiraiya spoke boisterously to his nephew.

“OH! Sorry, I didn’t even know you guys were waiting for us!” Naruto exclaimed without a single hint of embarrassment. They both reached the end of the stairs and Naruto went to hug his uncle. “Thank’s for coming Jiraiya. And don’t you even think of adding this to your stories!”

“Ha! You seen totally through it! Alright I promise. Sasuke, you have a good night huh?” Jiraiya left the immediate circle to allow Minato to say something to his son. For a long time, they both stared at each other. Minato staring at Naruto, and Naruto finding the floor tiles more interesting.

“The sumi-e.” Naruto snapped his head up. “In your showcase. They shouldn’t have been with the water colors… I don’t know what you were thinking.”

“I didn’t have much of a choice. There were only a select few and couldn’t be their own categories.” Naruto said just a coldly as his father. The feeling of never being able to betray or contradict Namikaze-sensei’s words bubbled up when he heard how Naruto spoke to his father. The boy obviously didn’t take Minato’s words as final.

“Indeed. Have a good night. Sasuke,” said man focused his attention to Minato who had remembered his first name and not his family name. “You have a safe night as well. Perhaps, you may be able to, woo my son back into philosophy.”

“I already told you…dad, that I will never go back. I love doing art. And that’s what I’ll do until I-“

“Die, yes I’ve heard it all before.”Minato took a step back before continuing. “Just make sure it’s something that you can make a good living off of.”

“Trust me, I’m going to do well enough.”

“Indeed. Good night boys.” And with that, Minato and Jiraiya had left the exhibition. Naruto turned around and grabbed his hair in frustration. Sasuke dimly thought about his mentioning that they were extensions and grimly thought about Naruto literally pulling out his hair.

“GOD, that guy makes me furious. He’s such a hypocrite, you know he owns a large chain of handmade jewelry departments all over Japan right? Of course you don’t nobody can look past him being a scholar. You’d think that he’d get over the fact that I hate-“

“Let’s go.” Sasuke said suddenly.

“Huh?” Naruto turned back around to gawk at his… what would be the correct description for Sasuke? “What do you mean?”

“Let’s go somewhere else.” Was Sasuke’s simple answer.
Naruto hung his head, shook it, and chuckled a bit. He began walking toward the entrance where their coats were held to leave the party. Sasuke hadn’t realized it, but the man had worn an orange undershirt beneath his white dress shirt which was partially unbuttoned. How had he missed that.

“You’re just trying to get me to forget about my father aren’t you?”

“Perhaps.”

“Great now you sound like him. The last thing I need is to be dating someone who acts just like my dad.”

“Well we’re both students of philosophy and- wait. We’re dating? Naruto… NARUTO!”
Naruto never answered him as he received both men’s coats and proceeded out the door. Unbeknownst to Sasuke, Naruto held a devilish grin on his face. The note that he had just slipped into Sasuke’s pocket was yet another invitation to yet another event.

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midnight: see i told ya that i was sorry for Minato's 'ttude! That's attitude just in case you didn't know ^^

Sasuke: dude, WTF! Where's the juicy lemon action!! We gotta have steamy hot man sex coming up right?

Naruto: Just take it easy AU Sasuke, i'm sure midnight has it all figured out. Right?

midnight:............

Naruto: right?

midnight:..... sure.

Sasuke: Well, i think what she's trying to say is. THE LEMONS ARE COMING THE LEMONS ARE COMING... next chapter. So please stay tuned.