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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.

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Chapter One Hundred Forty-Eight: A Civilian Parade
They were very silent when they returned to their flat as they did not want to wake up Sakura. Being tired they only cuddled a bit before they fell asleep, and kissed each other without using their tongues, wishing each other a good night. They could not have fallen asleep without any cuddling at all.
They slept only for a few hours, then they had to get up again: they had to prepare for work. They left some breakfast on the table for Sakura, who was still fast asleep, and they also left her a note, telling her that there was tea in the thermos flask and that she could meet them at the place next to the central temple, as this was where they were supposed to work.
They returned the keys of the Community Center to the caretaker of the building, then they went to the training center of the police. They were assigned to different units on that day: Sasuke was part of the mounted forces and would watch the parade from a certain distance, while Naruto was supposed to work on foot, in the hot zone right between the parade and the onlookers.
No one thought that anything might happen on a festival as this one, still some horses were needed just in case that the masses of people got out of control. Horses were scary to most people, and so they were useful for driving them back to where they were supposed to be.
Today, however, that would not be necessary in all likelihood, and even if it was, Sasuke was not supposed to participate in the maneuver. His job was to calm down his horse and help him relax and grow accustomed to large crowds of people so that he wouldn't panic.
Naruto's job was to put up barriers at points where the street was narrow and where lots of visitors were expected, and then to keep an eye on people and prevent them from climbing over the barrier. At the moment there wasn't much to do for him: the parade hadn't yet started, and few people ware waiting. Naruto was allowed to join Sasuke, who had dismounted and was now chatting with his colleagues, occasionally patting his horse's neck and talking to him to calm him down and make him feel comfortable surrounded by a lot of strangers. When Naruto approached him Sasuke laid his arm around the horse's neck.
“This is my boy-friend,” he told the horse. “So say hello to him!”
He had taught the horse to greet people by lifting his front hoof and lowering his head. It did not work every time, but this time it did. Naruto was impressed.
“Hello,” he said.
“You may pat his mane and his neck,” Sasuke said. “He likes that.”
Naruto did so. The neck was strong and muscular, and the mane was thick and black. The horse looked friendly and curious. Sasuke was still leaning against the horse, he was beaming, genuinely happy that Naruto and the horse liked each other.
“You may give him a cookie,” he said, passing one of the cookies he had brought to Naruto. “You need to put it on your open hand. Like this he knows he has to take it up with his lips and won't try to take it with his teeth. It seems scarier, but actually it's safer.”
Naruto followed the instructions. The horse's lips were soft and tickled his skin.
“You should learn horse-riding too,” Sasuke said. “Then we can join the mounted forces together.”
For quite some time it had been important to him that horse-riding was something he did on his own: something Naruto was not better at. It was enough that he was a better dancer and had a better understanding of music. Now he did not care: he enjoyed watching Naruto pat the neck of his horse, and he wished that this might become something that united them too.
Naruto was not certain whether he wanted to learn horse-riding. There was still the kyuubi he had to care for. Also, interacting with people was what he enjoyed most about being a policeman, and this was more difficult when he was not walking on his own feet.
Some of the young people from the riverside saw them. They enjoyed embarrassing Sasuke and Naruto in front of their colleagues, who frowned at the sight of them. They just looked like people who were up to no good, and who might take soft drugs. Fortunately most of them stayed behind, as they were scared of the horses, only three young women were not. They had learnt horse-riding themselves when they had been twelve.
“So that's your horse,” one of them said. “He's really cute.”
“Hello horsey,” the second woman said, patting the horse's head.
The third woman took an apple out of her backpack.
“Don't feed him,” Sasuke said. “He's got enough food today already.”
“An apple's not much food,” the woman said.
“He's had enough food already,” Sasuke repeated. He felt quite annoyed and even considered using his Sharingan on her. Luckily she now obeyed him. All three women joined their friends now.
“Have fun!” they said. “Enjoy the parade!”
They were mocking them, of course. Watching the parade was much more fun when you didn't have to work.
Sakura found them soon after the people from the riverside had left.
“So that's your horse,” she said. “He's really beautiful. You must look beautiful when you ride him, just like one of the warriors of old.”
Sasuke had no intention to show her. He rarely thought of the warriors of old when he was riding his horse.
“Today I'm not supposed to ride him,” he said. “I'm supposed to hold him and talk to him, helping him to cope with the crowds of people around him.”
Sakura nodded.
“You should look for a good place to watch the parade,” Naruto said. “I'm sorry we can't be with you, but we have to work. You can buy a newspaper: they have an overview of the route of the parade, and a list of groups and carts.”
He showed her where she might buy a newspaper, and when she returned he helped her find the plan with the parade's route and pointed out to her what he considered the best spots to watch the parade.
“I'd rather stay with you,” she said in the end.
At the moment there were still few people, even though the streets were getting more busy now. People still walked around, however, getting themselves some coffee or soft drinks or some of the fat, sweet foreign food that was sold on festivals as this one. They did not yet compete for the best places right behind the barrier, so there was no need for Sakura to look for one of these places, and no need for Naruto to start to work.
Juugo's fostermothers arrived with all their kids and also some friends of their kids. The boys stayed behind, but the little girls were all fascinated that finally they would meet Sasuke's horse. They ran towards him, and the horse took a step backwards.
“I want to pat him,” one of them said. “Sasuke, make him lower his head so that I can touch him."
“I want to touch him too,” a second girl said.
The horse took another step backwards. Sasuke had difficulties to hold him, and to calm him down.
“I want to feed him,” a third girl said, turning to her mother. “Do you have a lump of sugar I can give him?”
“He does not eat sugar,” Sasuke said. “It's not healthy.”
The horse was still nervous.
“And he does not like to be touched by people he does not know.”
“But we know him, don't we? You can tell him to hold still so that we can touch him.”
“He does not like it,” Sasuke repeated.
“But you can tell him to like it, can't you?”
“I can't.”
“But why doesn't he like it? We only want to pat him. We don't want to hurt him.”
“He does not know you.”
“But we've been here for at least half an hour. He must know us by now.”
“He doesn't want it,” Sasuke said again. He was really annoyed by now which was a problem because he could not calm down the horse when he himself was not calm. One of his colleagues came to his rescue.
“Do you know these children?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“They won't respect you as a policeman when they know you in private. Now off you go! Sasuke needs to work! Find some other place to watch the parade!”
In the meantime Naruto had introduced Sakura to the two women, and they had offered to take her with them. After some words of encouragement from Naruto Sakura had accepted the offer: being with friends of Naruto and Sasuke appeared more pleasurable than staying with the boys when they had no time for her. They agreed to meet in the afternoon when the parade was over. The women promised coffee and cake for everyone.
“You don't have to cook when you work on a Sunday. So have fun watching the parade, as well as this is possible for you!”
They left. It was just in time as now more and more people arrived and Naruto was needed to make certain that no one climbed over the barrier. (Some children tried.) He himself was allowed to stand on the other side of the barrier, of course.
Sasuke and his colleagues from the mounted forces got onto their horses: Like this they were able to look over the heads of the pedestrians and watch the parade. He could already hear it, even though the couldn't see it yet: a samba group constituted the avantgarde. After the samba group there was a cart of the local beer brewery, drawn by ten horses, and a historical cart of the firefighters, then another musical group on a cart, playing jazz, then some people from a local kindergarten initiative, throwing sweets. After this there was a group of jugglers, then the association of book shop owners, distributing leaflets about the newest books that had appeared this autumn, then another samba group, then one of the minor religious communities, also distributing leaflets, then there were some students who studied to become dentists, all in white coats, throwing sugar-free sweets. There was a local football club, then the employees of the second most important music label, a group of male cheerleaders with pompons, a social initiative that wanted to turn part of the riverside into a concept playground, and also there was one musical group after the other. Some were on foot, some were on carts, as their music was not of the kind that was played while walking. Both musicians on foot and musicians on carts sometimes stopped to play, so that people could listen to a whole song, and the audience cheered and clapped.
Everyone was happy – the police too was relaxed, and by now Naruto was wearing a couple of ribbons and garlands and also a paper rose. He was not the only one, but he wore more of the stuff than most of his colleagues. With permission of his superiors he collected the sweets that had fallen down within the barrier and assembled some really small kids around himself, those who were too slow to grab the sweets before the older kids got them, and threw the sweets he had collected at them, so that they could have some too. Sasuke watched him from his horse and felt extremely proud of him, and when Naruto looked at him he was beaming. He patted his horse between his ears, and bent down to talk to him: “That's my friend – he's wonderful with children.”
The town was celebrating itself: all the groups that constituted the town participated in the parade, waving hands and throwing sweets at people, fully aware that they were an important part of the town, and the onlookers cheered and clapped. This was Music Town, Sasuke thought, and he and Naruto were part of it now too, even though their part was to watch and see that nothing happened. They could have participated too, if they had not had to work: the project with difficult kids they worked with on Friday afternoons was presenting itself here, and Sasuke and Naruto had helped to prepare ancient ninja costumes for the kids. The police had sent a delegation in historical uniforms, and also there were a couple of groups from the gay community: some in drag, some in leather, and the dancers wore the costumes they planned to wear for the tournament in the evening. They waved at Sasuke, and Sasuke waved back. They'd participate in the next Gay Pride Parade, he thought. The police had already told him and Naruto that they expected them to participate, and that this was why they had to work now. He patted his horse's neck and told him he was a good horse, very patient and calm, and that he'd get another cookie soon. Naruto chatted with people he knew. (His colleagues did the same.) It was the biggest festival of Music Town and the whole town took part in it.

A/N: Thanks again for your reviews and your plusses! You can find my answers at http://www2.adult-fanfiction.org/forum/index.php/topic/14965-blessed-realm/ .It is now possible to access the thread without registration at the forums.
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The Blessed Realm