Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

The Blessed Realm	By : susanna Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male > Naruto/Sasuke Views: 1746 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 3
Disclaimer: Disclaimer: Naruto, his friends and the world he lives in don't belong to me but to Masashi Kishimoto. I write this story only for my pleasure and I don't make any money with it.

Chapter List
- 14
- 15
- 16
A/N:
Last week I went to Chibicon
with my beta, eowyn_unquendor – she wrote a report on it:

http://community.livejournal.com/narutoforadults/96207.html

So
this is why there was no new chapter – I was busy sewing a
costume. But I haven't given up my story (in fact I found some
solutions to some problems) and I will return to my usual rhythm. The
holidays have started, and I can even get a bit of a head start
now...

Chapter
Twelve: Former Hidden Village of Music

They
went on, leaving the park and getting to the more modern parts of
town, where the roads were wider and the houses were not built wall
by wall in order to save space. Here they each had their own piece of
ground, mostly just some lawn for the sake of keeping gardening costs
low, and the houses themselves were large boxes of metal, without any
windows. The only decoration consisted of huge labels, painted in
bright colours not on the front but on the side walls. At the front
of the buildings there were smaller boxes of concrete, yet with a lot
of windows, containing the entrance to the big box of metal and some
offices, and on top of these concrete boxes there were again the same
labels, in illuminated letters of somewhat smaller size than the
label on the side wall.

“Here's
the home of the music industry”, Naruto explained. “It's
what the town is famous for, and what it lives on.”

“Music?”
Karin asked. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah,
sure. There are bands everywhere, and while some are only known
within the town, others manage to get famous throughout the ninja
world, or even in those other countries beyond the mountains, beyond
the desert, beyond the sea, where they have never heard of ninjas and
even speak a different language. Those who don't make it still remain
active and play on minor occasions as festivals, or at weddings or in
restaurants, and while they don't earn enough money to live on, it is
still a nice addition to their budget. But those who come out great
and sell thousands or millions of records, and get played on the
radio or on TV, those are the most important source of income to the
town, and every child dreams of becoming a famous musician, just as
in Konoha every child dreams of becoming a great ninja.”

“I've
never heard of it”, Sasuke said.

“Oh,
that's because you don't care about music.”

Sasuke
felt strangely insulted by Naruto's assumption, even though it was
correct.

“Is
there any country the town belongs to?” he asked.

“Not
any more. The country was destroyed during the last war, well, for
Konoha it was the war before the last one, but for this town it was
the last one. After the war, the victorious countries divided it
among themselves, and a part of it actually belonged to Fire Country,
but when the strain of maintaining an occupying army far away from
its borders grew to big they sold it for a large amount of money to
Wind country.”

“Sounds
really stupid”, Sasuke said. “I am not sure whether I
should believe it.”

Naruto
shrugged. “That's what people told me.”

“So
which of the Great Countries got this town then?”

“None.
I told you: It does not belong to any country. It used to be its
country's hidden village, and none of the victors would have allowed
its rivals to obtain the power represented by the ninja village and
the secret techniques of its clans. So as they could not come to an
agreement, in the end they decided that they would disarm the
village, dismantle the ninja forces and dissolve the academy. The
important clans had to leave, and their members were divided among
the victors, but those who were ready to give up their trade were
allowed to stay. A lot of them did: It used to be the Hidden Village
of Music, and many shinobi were glad that they would no longer need
to abuse their art for fighting, and would be able to focus on what
was most important to them: Music.”

“I
still don't see how it works. A rather small town, without any armed
forces. Why hasn't it fallen prey to one of the bigger countries?”

“I
haven't understood it either”, Naruto answered while they
turned around a corner that led to another quarter of town: There the
houses were again real houses, meant for living, not just huge metal
containers, they were rather old but not as old as those at the
center of town, and they were decorated with a lot of pillars and
turrets and statues of naked men and women. All were surrounded by
beautiful gardens with rose bushes and old chestnut trees.

“I
have been told that there is a complicated system of contracts
protecting the town. Any country trying to attack it would face
retribution from the other ninja nations, causing a new great ninja
war, and no one wants this.”

Everything
to prevent a new war, Sasuke thought. Though there were certainly
worse things you could do to preserve peace than sparing a small town
with no power at all.

“Yet
this does not make sense”, Naruto concluded. “Because
during the last war, no one cared to conquer the town, even though
there was no longer any peace to be preserved.”

“Maybe
it's just not important”, Sasuke answered. “Who'd want it
without its ninjas?”

“It's
a nice town anyway, even without any military forces, and one of the
most wealthy of the ninja world with its monopoly on music. As I
said, I don't understand it.”

They
had arrived at their destination: An old villa that was now the home
of the publishing-house of the Icha-Icha series, hidden behind ivy
and rhododendron, like some fairy-tale castle, and nothing on the
outside indicated that it was the home of the most important series
of erotic romances of the ninja world – if anything there were
less people decorating the entrance than those of the other houses.

Obviously
Naruto had been here before, he greeted the receptionist by her name
and headed straight for the floor, while Sasuke and Karin were
lingering behind – the decoration was just too distracting.
Pictures of men and women in various states of dressing or
undressing, sometimes just kissing, sometimes in close embrace,
sometimes entwined as if they were having sex, but one could not tell
for certain as the pictures did not expose their sexual organs. Karin
did not even try to hide her fascination while Sasuke felt rather
irritated and a bit disgusted by all the entangled limbs and swelling
human flesh that populated the photos, or the cactuses trimmed to
grow in the form of phalluses, or the lamps that resembled limp
penises when they were switched off and erect penises when they were
switched on. A black-and-white photography caught his attention, of a
man masturbating, taken from the side, showing only his hands and the
parts of his body between his chest and the upper parts of his
thighs. It was a fine composition, Sasuke thought, the white body of
the man against the black background, framing the central parts with
the penis and the hands, which were also the most finely structured
parts of the photo, showing even the hairs on the man's hands, and
the opening on the tip of the penis.

“Come
on”, Naruto urged him. “You are still underage.”

“I
am eighteen”, Sasuke replied. “Yesterday you told me so
yourself.” When had Naruto become prudish?

In
the chief editor's office, Naruto introduced Sasuke and Karin as
friends from home.

“You
trust them?” the editor asked him, and Naruto answered that he
did, making Sasuke wonder how he had earned that trust. Truth was
however that Naruto trusted him because he was not from Konoha.

They
were served tea and made some smalltalk, discussing the festival on
Saturday, then the editor disclosed why he had asked Naruto for an
appointment:

“You
know that Jiraiya-sama was very popular, and had called a community
of devoted fans into being, who eagerly awaited the release of every
new volume.”

Naruto
looked at Sasuke, and both knew that they were thinking of the same
person.

“With
his decease however he won't be able to continue his series now, and
we are thinking what to do about it. We are already planning a
special edition of his most popular novels in his memory, with
illustrations and a cover designed by a real artist. It will keep us
in the profit zone for this year, but the next year we will need
something new.”

“Not
a new volume?” Naruto asked. “You don't expect me to
continue the series, do you, just because I inherited the rights to
the existing volumes?”

He
has really become prudish, Sasuke thought at the sight of Naruto's
abhorrence.

“Don't
worry, we won't, unless you insist on it. Writing is a talent in
itself, and authors usually develop a very personal style. You
certainly wouldn't be able to replace Jiraiya. Actually we are
thinking of engaging a team of experienced authors for the series,
who will imitate Jiraiya's style as well as possible.”

“I
am not sure whether I like this”, Naruto replied. “For
me, the series will always remind me of my beloved teacher, and I
don't want to have to associate it with a bunch of people who didn't
even know him.”

“Oh,
you don't have to decide this now, of course. It's just an idea for
the far future. What we actually think of for the next year, and what
we would like you to help us with, is an authorized biography of
Jiraiya. We'd need you to authorize it, and we need you to support
our author by telling her about the time you spent with Jiraiya, and
sharing your memories of him with his fans, who all long to know more
about their favorite author.”

Naruto
hesitated with an answer, and the man went on talking:

“You'd
just have to grant her an interview, or two maybe, you talk and she
tapes what you're saying and forms it into a story, and then you read
it and give your okay.”

“And
what if it's not okay?”

“Oh,
this won't happen. She's experienced. But you can of course say which
parts you want to have changed, and then she'll rewrite them.”

“And
if I don't like her style at all?”

“As
I said, you will. She's very good. Anyway, we have prepared a
contract: if you want to read it – you may also change it, if
there are passages you don't approve of.”

He
passed it to Naruto.

“Read
carefully”, Karin warned him. “Suddenly you will have to
allow them to publish material you rather want to keep private.”

Together
with him she began reading it – why did she suddenly take such
an interest? Sasuke thought. It was not her concern, was it, and her
head almost bumped into Naruto's. I'll have to warn him, he does not
take her seriously.

He
himself was not particularly interested. It was Naruto's life, not
his, and a biography of Jiraiya did not hold much interest for him.
He should make use of the time, continuing planning his revenge. Kill
that Danzou and then see that Naruto gets installed as Hokage. But
even then there were still those who had agreed to the segregation,
those who had spied on the clan, those who had done nothing when the
clan had been murdered. Again he felt that he was being overcome by
his pain and his hatred, that everything was going black. It would
not do now, not when Naruto was negotiating with the editor of the
Icha-Icha-series, and he forced himself to return to the present, to
the office with the huge wooden desk, to the red plush sofas and the
bronze candle holders. They were – Sasuke noticed it only now –
even more obscene than the lamps outside: formed like vaginas, in
delicate craftswork that showed the labia in all detail, and the
candles were again in the form of phalluses. Sasuke shuddered at the
idea of them being burnt down, and also, he thought when he was
rational again, they were upside down, with the tip showing upward.

He
turned his attention to the pictures on the wall, which, for a
change, did not show any genitals but fully clothed people. He made a
game of guessing who they might be: Some were obviously former chief
editors, sitting behind the wooden desk he, Sasuke, was now looking
at. Some were authors, also sitting at their desks, but not throwning
and not looking at the photographer who was taking the picture from
the other side of the desk, but at the text they were working on.
Other pictures were taken outside, showing the author in an
adventurous or romantic setting, however he wanted to present
himself. He discovered a picture of Jiraiya when he had been young,
with some women in his arms (definitely more than two, but he had
difficulties seeing clearly how many they were), and some more women
at his feet, and then there was another picture of Jiraiya, with a
dark-haired person at his side, their arms around each other's
shoulders. Sasuke was irritated – was that Orochimaru? He
blinked, trying to see him better, but he was not able to clearly
identify him, no matter how hard he tried.

“You
know, you might need glasses”, the publisher told him.

“What?”
Sasuke replied, taken in surprise.

“I
think you might need glasses. I have been watching you for some time
now, making an effort to clearly see the pictures.”

“I
don't think so. The pictures are just too small, and too far away.”
Silently however he cursed Itachi and the Mangekyou Sharingan he had
given to him.

“Yeah,
that's what my son would say too. He was about your age then, I
think... Always: It's too small and too far away, until I dragged him
to some ophthalmologist to get his eyes checked.”

“I
don't think glasses will help”, Sasuke said, now even more on
the defensive.

“My
son protested too and denied that anything might be wrong, but now
he's got used to his glasses and really appreciates to see clearly.”

Karin
and Naruto had stopped reading the contract and were looking at him.

“You
know, I've been thinking for quite a while now that something might
be wrong with your eyes”, Karin said.

Sasuke
wished that some hole in the ground would open to devour her. “I
already told you, glasses won't work.”

“You
still might get them checked. I can give you the address of my son's
doctor, it's not far away.”

Sneakyfox:
Thanks again for your review! Yes, with Danzou is Hokage now, just as
I predicted.

Kinai26:
I am happy too when I manage to predict the canon. Though as it
seems, Sasuke and his team healed rather quickly and are now ready to
fight Konoha. Well, there would not be any point in writing my story
if I exactly predicted the canon.

Daydreamer:
Many thanks for your compliments. As I said, I don't plan to abandon
the story, even though it is getting unreasonably long. I spend a lot
of time planning. Actually I am not making up the world they find
themselves in; it is rather the world I live in, though admittedly
somewhat idealized. And I like Karin, even when she is a bit weird. I
like all members of Team Taka, they are just hilarious (though Sasuke
rather without wanting to be), and they care for each other without
wanting to. Guess I have some weakness for the grey characters...
- 14
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