Full Circle

Full Circle

chapter 9

Sasuke had been avoiding his fiance as much as possible for the past few days. He couldn't help seeing him at certain times like dinners and when his meddling mother forced them both to spend some time with her. At these moments, he behaved politely and attempted to act as though he hadn't been avoiding the blond in the first place.

What had he been doing during this time? Dwelling. Lot's of dwelling. His conscience had already been nipping at him but now it was growing from an annoying little chihuahua to something more along the lines of a pit-bull that latched on and refused to let go.

He had started this whole plan of his, based mainly on the reasoning that a marriage would limit him, tying him down and ruining his chances of pursuing his future goals. Then Naruto's questioning had brought to light his own doubts that he would ever actually do what he dreamed of anyway. And then the blond just had to go and be all supportive and offer to help him achieve those goals.

Up until that conversation, Sasuke had been reminding himself over and over of these personal interests to quell whatever guilt may be rising within him. That soothing blanket of logic had been ripped from his mind exposing his budding concerns and now he was questioning the validity of the entire plan.

It was fine to do this when he could convince himself that he absolutely needed to, but 'did' he need to?

The original problems with marriage in general no longer applied if Naruto wasn't going to expect a physical relationship 'and' had no intentions of holding him back from whatever he wanted to do with his life. Maybe with Sakura this wouldn't have been enough to really affect his decision as he still would have had the initial little detail that just the sight of her made him sick. Naruto's presence didn't really bother him though. Ok, so the guy could get loud sometimes but that was about it, and Sasuke actually got a kick out of their playful arguments.

He supposed that he wouldn't have felt bad about manipulating Sakura mainly because he knew exactly what a manipulative bitch she was herself. He had been operating under the assumption that his 'next' fiance would be just as bad when he'd set all of this in motion. Now he wasn't so sure that he... He really needed to put a cap on these ridiculous thoughts! Things were 'already' in motion. It didn't matter either way. Naruto's talk about life long friends who took care of each other, sounded far too good to be true anyway. Either Naruto was manipulative too and just happened to be better at it than most people or he honestly believed that stuff, but in any case it shouldn't affect Sasuke. If it was the first option than Sasuke would be escaping an evil fate and if it were the latter... well either way he'd be 'safe' and he could get along just as well on his own.

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Itachi sat at the huge desk in his father's office going over the profit reports for the past month. At the other end of the desk, a dark head was bent next to a blond one, both intent on their own work. Itachi smirked in amusement at their apparent diligence. Takara had decided that he wanted to work at the big desk like his daddy, so he and Naruto had got some paper and crayons and pulled the office's two leather, wing-backed chairs up to the desk. Now both of them were kneeling on the big chairs and drawing pictures.

"Ok, now what color do you want his shoes?"

"Red!"

"Almost 'everything' is red."

"I like red."

"Well at least you do a good job of staying inside the lines," Naruto chuckled.

"Uh huh! I'm a 'really' good colorer."

"You sure are buddy. One of the future great masters."

"And what 'master-piece' are you two working on right now?" asked Itachi.

"We're drawing Uncle Sasu!" said Takara, picking up the picture to show it off and sending Naruto scrambling to catch all the crayons that went rolling away.

"Well now, that 'is' a good job." Itachi praised. "It looks just like him. You should go and show it to him." Takara stopped only long enough to sign his name and to force Naruto to sign his before he took off to find Sasuke. Naruto slumped back into the chair when he was gone.

"You're not going with him?" Itachi asked, quirking a brow in the blond's direction.

"Nah," Naruto sighed. "Sasuke's been kind of broody lately. He hasn't been mean or anything but I get the feeling he wants to be left alone."

"Really. When did this start?" Itachi abandoned his work completely for the moment and turned toward him.

"I think it was after this discussion we had, when he was telling me about his interest in history and stuff and I told him to dump the family business. He seems to have been avoiding me ever since then. I was only trying to help."

"Interesting," Itachi hummed, his eyes narrowing in contemplation. "I had suspected that Sasuke didn't want to enter the business but he would never come out and admit it to me."

"You don't think he's upset with me, do you?" asked Naruto hopefully. Itachi smirked at him.

"No, I definitely don't think 'that'. I imagine he's going through some type of moral crisis. Probably blowing it all out of proportion. You should try to get him to relax."

"Well I wouldn't 'mind', but I haven't had much luck getting him to spend time with me."

"Perhaps you'll need to join forces with someone very persuasive," said Itachi mysteriously. Naruto's blond head cocked to the side.

"Like who?" he asked. At that moment Takara suddenly came bursting back into the room.

"Uncle Sasu said he loved our picture! I told him he could keep it." Naruto blinked, then turned back to Itachi with a broad grin.

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"Come on Uncle Sasu. It'll be so much fun. Pleeease!" Takara was making the most pitiful puppy eyes and Naruto couldn't quite stifle his giggles at the Uchiha's distress.

"Yeah. Come on 'Uncle Sasu'!!" he added. Sasuke turned to glare at him and found himself faced with 'another' set of adorable puppy eyes. God damnit!

"Fine," he sighed. "I guess I can spare one afternoon."

"Yay!" Takara cheered. "Let's go! Let's go!"

"To the car!" Naruto commanded, pointing dramatically to the exit. Takara saluted with a giggle and began to march. The blond grabbed Sasuke hand and imitated the little boy's march, tugging the Uchiha along behind.

"You're so childish," Sasuke grumbled. Naruto turned to stick his tongue out at him in retaliation and grinned as dark eyes rolled.

When they reached Naruto's chosen destination, Takara hopped out of the car and would have immediately dashed off to explore if the blond hadn't snagged the back of his collar first.

"Hey buddy, hold on a sec. Do you want to help me carry this heavy basket?"

"Ok!" said Takara, puffing up with pride at his manly strength as he grabbed the basket from Naruto's hand. It plunked to the ground the instant Naruto's hand let go. Sasuke smirked at the kid's surprised face and Naruto smiled kindly, holding back a chuckle.

"Well, I 'said' it was heavy. How about some teamwork then?" He reached down to hold one end of the handle, letting Takara hold the other and they began to walk along the path to the spot Naruto had picked out earlier. Takara's head was swiveling around trying to take everything in at once and Naruto and Sasuke had to constantly adjust their speed to keep pace with him. Naruto turned with a grin to mutter in Sasuke's ear.

"He looks like a pigeon on steroids." The laughter that bubbled up Sasuke's throat was so sudden and unexpected that he actually choked on it. Naruto's eye's widened in alarm and he helplessly started patting his back, stopping when the Uchiha got a hold of himself and glared at him in embarrassment. "Uh heheh... Sorry."

"So Takara" he said a moment later as he turned away from Sasuke. "I take it you've never been to this park."

"Nope! Can we go look around?"

"Why don't we have lunch first huh? Uncle Sasu looks pretty hungry," he added at the boys disappointed look. "We can't let an 'old' guy like him go exploring on an empty stomach. He'll be grumpy." Takara looked up at his glowering uncle and nodded gravely, obviously seeing the blond's point. (Which, incidentally, just made Sasuke frown even more.)

"Ok. Come on Uncle Sasu! We got all you're favorite food!" They set up their picnic under a tall maple at the top of a hill that overlooked the fountain and Sasuke found that they really 'had' picked out his favorite foods. Naruto had asked the kitchen staff for their advice in that area. Soon enough the blond's theory was indeed proven to be at least partially correct as the frown fell away and he began to relax a little. Though it may have also had something to do with the sound of happy chattering and laughter from his company.

"Have 'you' been here before?" asked Takara as they ate.

"A couple of times, since I've been staying with the Uchihas," Naruto answered. "It's a lot like the one that's close to my home." Takara nodded and fell silent for a moment while he finished his last few bites.

"That was good!" he chirped as he licked his fingers. "Do we have any dessert?"

"Yup!" the blond replied, reaching into the basket again. He turned to Sasuke. "I hear that you don't like anything remotely sweet. So since we had your favorites for lunch, we're having mine for dessert. I've got an extra one for you anyway though, just in case." He handed Sasuke a thermos and pulled out a container. "It's your tea," Naruto explained at Sasuke's questioning look. Sasuke nodded his acknowledgment and unscrewed the cover with sigh. He couldn't help smiling, just a little, at the thoughtful gesture. Blast that Uzumaki and his unconscious guilt tripping.

"What's in there?" Takara's excited questioning pulled Naruto's attention away from his fiance. He'd caught the little smile and felt a sense satisfaction warming him over.

"It's my favorite!" he reiterated. "Cannoli, God how love it!" Opening the container, he passed a tubular pastry to the small boy and took out another for himself.

"I don't think I've ever had this before," said Takara.

"No!" Naruto gasped. "You haven't lived! Well that's ok. You're young. I'll set you on the right path." Sasuke rolled his eyes as Naruto sampled the treat in his hand and swooned dramatically. Takara giggled at the performance and took a bite.

"Mmmmh! It's good!"

"Of course it's good!"

"You should try it Uncle Sasu. It's not 'that' sweet." Sasuke politely declined and returned to sipping his tea. His attention was slowly being drawn however, to the noises of appreciation the blond was making as he slowly devoured his treat. Holy crap! Did he have to sound like that?! The Uchiha was starting to feel like he might develop some kind of a tic. Then he made the mistake of looking at him. Naruto's enjoyment was ridiculously obvious as he nibbled delicately at the outer shell and flicked out his tongue to lap up the creamy filling from the center. Dear God!! Did the inventors of this damn pastry realize how 'phallic' it was?! And Shit, was he blushing 'again'?! Try as he might, Sasuke couldn't wrench his gaze away from the blond now.

Luckily, Takara finished his dessert quickly and began tugging at Naruto, begging him to come with him to look around. Naruto popped the last of the pastry into his mouth began to hoist himself up, letting Sasuke deflate with relief.

"Alright, I'm coming. How about you Sasuke?" he said as he straightened out his shorts. Clearing his throat uncomfortably, Sasuke nodded and got to his feet while Naruto repacked their picnic basket. The blond assured Takara that the basket was much lighter now so he could manage it alone and the little boy took off with whoop, Sasuke following and Naruto bringing up the rear.

Naruto grinned secretively to himself. Takara was leading them straight to the fountain first, just as he'd expected. Takara ran around to the front of the big fountain where the little boy at the top was emptying his bucket into the pool below. A moment later Takara was occupied with kneeling up on the ledge and leaning far over to stick his hand under a stream of water from the mouth of one of the fish that were carved in a circle around the boy's feet... and Sasuke was occupied with keeping him from falling in. Naruto reached into the basket he carried and pulled out a corked bottle. He carefully placed it in the water and with a last glance at the two Uchihas to make sure they weren't watching, he gave it a little shove, sending it floating toward them. A minute later he heard the cry he'd been anticipating.

"Look Uncle Sasu! What's that?" Sasuke followed Takara's pointing finger to spot the floating bottle. He shot a look to Naruto and caught him grinning suspiciously.

"I don't know. It looks like a message in a bottle."

"Cool!" Sasuke made a quick dive grabbing the waist-band of Takara's shorts just before he landed face first in the water and held him there while he fished out the bottle. "Open it Uncle Sasu!" he demanded, presenting his prize. Sasuke attempted to give him a stern look, which was somewhat difficult when Naruto was laughing at them.

"Not without a 'please'. And you should slow down and be more careful." Takara pouted but apologized and asked properly.

When Sasuke opened the bottle and tipped it over, a rolled up paper fell out into his hand. Untying the ribbon around the paper he unrolled it and gasped at what he saw. Takara stood up on the ledge of the fountain to look over his shoulder.

"It's a treasure map!!" he squealed loudly, causing Sasuke to cringe and Naruto's grin to grow to amazing proportions. "What are those funny drawings Uncle Sasu?"

"Anatolian hieroglyphs!" Sasuke exclaimed sending an amazed look to the grinning blond, who nodded happily. Naruto was extremely pleased with himself. He had taken a look at the book that had been open on Sasuke's desk to find it was opened to a page of hieroglyphs. The notes to the side showed that Sasuke was learning the translations, so he had decided to incorporate them in his treasure hunt. The translation to his clues were written in tiny print at the very bottom, in case there were any symbols that Sasuke might have forgotten. Sasuke seemed to remember them quite well though and began to read them out for his excited nephew. Naruto was actually rather proud of him.

"Wow! Uncle Sasu's really smart, isn't he Takara?"

"Yeah!!" the little boy answered, gazing up at his uncle in awe. Sasuke's lips twitched at the corners. 'Ah', Naruto mentally sighed. It was nice to see him going back to the way he'd been before.

As he translated the clues, which were just easy enough for Takara to figure out with a little help here and there, Sasuke's face lit up more and more. He was pleasantly surprised at Naruto's ingenuity. What a truly brilliant idea! He could spend the afternoon playing with his nephew and was actually given a chance to test his knowledge at the same time. The map sent them searching all around the big park until Takara, who was running ahead, called back to them.

"Look what I found!" when they caught up to the boy, he was waving around a big, relatively straight, stick with two small prongs on one end and a symbol from the map painted on it. "What's it 'for' Uncle Sasu?"

"I don't know yet chibi." He looked up at Naruto questioningly but the blond just bit his lip and shook his head. They were doing so well on their own that he didn't want to give out any hints. A little while later they found the lens of a magnifying glass hidden in a bird bath. The trail of the map came to an end at the band stand and Takara circled the entire structure twice, looking for anything unusual, but came up empty. Sasuke read the final clue and was certain he knew what to do. He stepped into the band stand and found the very center of the colorful geometric design that was painted on the floor.

"We have to wait a few more minutes chibi," he said, calmly checking his watch.

"What are we waiting for?" asked Takara, coming to stand beside him. Sasuke stood the end of their wooden 'staff' directly on the center dot of the design and took out the magnifying lens they'd found earlier, fitting it into the grooves that had been scratched into the inner part of the prongs. It was a perfect fit. Sasuke smirked wryly at his blond companion.

"Really now..." He let the words trail off meaningfully. Naruto shrugged and chuckled unapologetically.

"What? That's the way it's done in 'all' the coolest movies."

"This is why you wanted to eat lunch first and why you took your time doing it."

"Well, yeah."

"What are we waiting for?" Takara whined again.

"It's just a few minutes. Be patient," Sasuke muttered. True to his word, a few minutes later, the sun crept low enough to shine below the roof of the stand and the rays caught the lens. With a slight turn of Sasuke's hand to make sure it was lined up straight, a spot was focussed on a nearby weeping willow. "We have to go over there," he said pointing out the spot to Takara.

"Cool!" The little boy was off running again. Sasuke and Naruto followed more slowly. When they ducked in under the tent of the willow branches, Takara was already gleefully singing. "I found it! I found it!"

A smallish, dark, wooden box, inlaid with the Uchiha symbol had been wedged between the tree's large protruding roots and half buried there. Takara was trying to tug it out. Sasuke move forward and used the but of their 'staff' to dig away the dirt around the sides. When he could get a better grip, Takara pulled one more time and fell back onto his bum when the box gave way quite easily. Sasuke raised a brow at Naruto as he dusted off the symbol on top and went to open the clasp.

"Your brother lent it to me," Naruto explained. Takara's gasp drew Sasuke's attention back to him and the 'treasure'. The boy was laughing and clapping joyfully as he did a little dance around them.

"Chocolate!!" The box was filled to the brim with chocolate coins wrapped in gold foil. It looked like a 'real' treasure! (but probably tasted better) Takara had one coin unwrapped and devoured at lightning speed and was just reaching for another when Naruto stopped him.

"Woah buddy! don't eat all the treasure!" The little boy looked crestfallen.

"But...but..."

"What if we want to hide again?" Naruto added. His eyes lit up again immediately.

"Oh oh, can we do it again tomorrow?!" he asked. Naruto bit his lip.

"Ah... well... Uncle Sasu's a pretty busy guy. Maybe next week, huh?" There was a pause as both of them looked up at Sasuke with big pleading eyes. Sasuke was feeling guilty again. He'd avoided Naruto, and consequently, Takara as well so much that it was now 'assumed' that he wouldn't want to be with them again tomorrow. The worst of it was that he'd actually had a lot of fun. It was really great of Naruto to try so hard to make their game into something that he might enjoy. God Damnit!

"We'll need some time to make up a new hunt. Next week will be fine... Why don't we do something else tomorrow?"

"Yay!!" they both chorused and he found himself being hugged tightly from both sides. He tensed up for a second before relaxing with a sigh of defeat. Oh well. It wasn't 'so' bad really.



(A/N; Ok, Ok. I know you're waiting for Neji to show up. I have the reviews to prove it. Next chapter, I promise. Heh! You know I spoil you guys... But enough of that. I gotta get back to writing the next chapter.XD)