Art and Artifice

Art and Artifice
chapter 7

When Naruto's guide brought them to a little coffee shop just around the corner from the university campus, the first thing he asked the blond was what he wanted to order. Naruto had skipped lunch so he decided to have a sandwich with his coffee. Itachi paid for both of them, despite Naruto's protests. Itachi's second question came right after their orders were served.

"Why did your friend, call you Kyuubi? That's a rather odd nickname."

"Ah..The guys I work with started that. It's because of my tattoo."

"Oh?" Itachi's interest perked at that.

"I work at Shuriken Tattoo and Body Piercing Studios. They were so excited when I got my own tattoo that they sort of named me after it," Naruto chuckled. "I suppose it's appropriate enough, as I don't plan to get any more tattoos. It would mess up the work of art I've made on my body. Less is more, you know?"

"Hmm, does it have anything to do with that legend about the demon fox?"

"Yes, that's right. I found that story very visually inspiring. There are nine red tails that spiral out from my lower back and wrap around my body." Itachi was surprised.

"I thought you said 'less is more'? That doesn't sound much like 'less' to me," he said in a playful tone.

"Well all the more reason to stop there," the blond shrugged with a little smile. Itachi was very curious to see this tattoo. He also wanted to ask about the scars on the boy's face, but he didn't want to over-step his boundaries. Instead he decided to just ask how Naruto knew Sasuke.

"Well we go to the same high school, of course," Naruto began. "You could say that he's had a major effect on my entire three years there."

"Yes I could tell he'd made quite the impression. I'm sure most people secretly think he's a bastard but you seemed especially passionate about it. I can't help but be curious about what he's done to offend you so."

"The truth is, he's sort of made it his mission to somehow ruin almost every day for me at that school. He was positively horrible, right from the first day." Naruto's face had lost it's smile and Itachi suddenly found himself feeling inordinately angry with his brother for having caused that pained expression. Naruto had stopped eating and was absently tracing the scars on his left cheek.

"When I first entered that school in tenth grade, these scars were new. I was really upset at the time and feeling insecure about them. I didn't want anyone to see, so I hid my face under a hood all the time. I was too shy to talk to anyone either. I guess I came off as both weird and nervous...scared, the perfect victim really. Sasuke instantly started harassing me. I thought maybe if I ignored him, he would get bored and stop bothering to try, but even though I've never once reacted, he's still at it three years later...the nasty little sadist." The last part was muttered under his breath but Itachi heard it anyway and gave a smirk.

"Do you still wear the hood?"

"Yeah, unless I'm in the art room. I've gotten over the scars but I still feel the need to hide. I just don't feel comfortable with the other students. Maybe I just got too used to the hiding to let go of it."

"I wouldn't worry about the scars," said Itachi. "They definitely don't detract from your looks at all." He was looking the blond over with approval and Naruto felt a blush creeping up on him. Inwardly he cursed his inability to consciously control the flow of his own blood.

"Oh I don't worry about it now!" he assured quickly. "I even let Ino take all those pictures of me!" At this Itachi, who had been enjoying how obviously flustered the younger boy was, snapped to attention.

"Ino?" The voice was quiet and casual but his eyes were intense.

"Oh yeah, she's a friend of mine from art class. She wants to apply to this school that teaches film and photography exclusively and she asked me to help her with this series for her portfolio. It was actually really cool! I'm sure she'll get in no problem. They'd be crazy not to take her!"

"Huh, this sounds familiar somehow.." Itachi teased, having relaxed.

"Aaah...heheh." Naruto smiled sheepishly and Itachi took pity on him, asking about Ino's idea for the series. Naruto's sigh of relief was only half mocking. He then cheerfully went on to explain the pictures, joking about how ridiculous he had felt sometimes and how he'd been worried about looking like an underwear model at first. It occurred to him that he felt very much at ease talking to Itachi. He was usually more reserved around a stranger, even Haku and the guys from Shuriken had taken awhile to really get used to. He wondered if that meant he was getting better, or if it was just something about Itachi. Honestly, the older boy was great to talk to. His interest was genuine and at the same time, Naruto didn't feel pressured in the least. The conversation continued on easily, time flying without their notice. They had even discovered a mutual love of soul and blues music.

Discussing their own artwork had inevitably led to the subject of some of the tattoos that Naruto had designed and Itachi asked him how long he'd been working at Shuriken.

"Since I was fourteen. They took me on as an apprentice there, shortly after I began high school," Naruto answered. Itachi was surprised that he would have been allowed to work in a tattoo parlour of all places at such a young age. Naruto explained that he had no parents to ask and had recently been allowed to leave foster care entirely. Itachi's brow furrowed and Naruto could practically hear his mind putting two and two together.

"I know what you're thinking," he sighed "and yes it is more than a coincidence. My last 'guardian' was the one to give me these scars."

"Ah," was the simple response as Itachi chose not to make a big deal about it, much to his companion's relief. The subject was swiftly changed and blond was in good spirits a few moments later as he listened to Itachi telling stories about some of his brother's more embarrassing moments. Itachi sat back and watched the younger boy laughing heartily. Naruto had a wonderful laugh, he decided. Surely there wasn't a more joyful sound on the face of the earth, or at least this continent.

"My brother is a complete idiot," he thought aloud

"Eh?" At the sight of the blond's cutely tilted head, he let out a low chuckle.

"If he had tried to get to know something about you before jumping into anything, he probably would have asked you out by now."

"Eh? Sasuke?! No way!" Naruto looked wide eyed at the other, but Itachi just lifted one brow pointedly.

"Why would you think that?" the blond rephrased.

"For all of our differences, my brother and I have similar taste."

Naruto blinked and replayed the words in his head before catching on to the insinuation that had been made. The next moment he was blushing yet again. Pink on gold was a very nice combination Itachi mused. Where as most people could be described as 'blushing like a sunset', Itachi thought that Naruto looked more like a 'sunrise'. He found himself with an unexpected urge to paint at that moment, which was odd as Itachi hadn't painted anything in quite a while. He had begun some time ago to focus on sculpture. He like the tactile aspect of it. Perhaps Naruto's chatter about painting had simply brought it to the forefront of his mind.

A few moments later Naruto realized how long they had been sitting here and told Itachi that he had better go and catch the bus now. He wouldn't want to get stranded. Itachi assured him that if such a thing were to happen he would certainly make sure the blond was taken care of. After all it would have been Itachi's own fault. The two exchanged phone numbers and Itachi told Naruto that he sometimes went home to visit for the weekends and that the next time he came down he would like very much to get together and maybe view some of the 'wondrous talent' that his friend had praised so highly. He wished the boy luck on his application and with a final wave, the two parted ways.

Naruto just managed to catch his bus. There weren't many other passengers and he found himself a fairly isolated seat near the middle. He settled down with his headphones on, listening to Amos Lee which was perfect to doze off to. Then he proceeded to nap through most of the ride, his mind swimming with images of smirking, dark eyes.



A/N; Keeping Itachi in character can be tricky business you know? Of course any fic where he's not trying to kill someone is technically ooc. So you have to go with what you think the younger (pre-psychotic) Itachi would have been like and they only gave you a little clip of that time to work from. Ah well, I'll just take my artistic license. Glad you guys seemed to like the last chapter. See ya again tomorrow!