Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

Bygones and Bylines	By : twistedsheets Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 1228 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 3
- 4
- 5
Disclaimer: Kishimoto Masashi is my biatch!
FEAR ME! XD I�m kidding of course. Naruto isn�t mine. Don�t sue.
Author�s note: Well, my FAQ certainly received
very interesting responses. XD I�m glad you liked it. XD Truth is, my parents
DO know I write uh, sexually explicit stuff, but they think it�s hetero, not
yaoi. More plot this chapter! XD
And crap, I made a continuity mistake! In Chap. 2, I had
Ino married to Shikamaru, but last chapter, they were sort of dating! ARGH! Now
edited chapter 2. So Ino and Shika are still dating. Sorry for my mistake!
Warnings: Yaoi. Lime. Slight
violence in the future. Don�t like? Run now.
Pairings: Uh, SasuNaru, of course, a bit of
NejiNaru, GaaraNaru, and vice versa. XD
Special thanks to: Ghostninja85: He might have, if Neji hadn�t appeared. XD I love HxH.
I�m a big fan of Gon. He even has the same seiyuu as Naruto, I think.
Chem chick: I�m a proud Buffy
fan. And I know about the strawberry part�it�s something with Willow, isn�t it? Going
back to business? Hmm�we�ll see.
Rosemary: I updated as fast as
I can. Thank you for waiting.
Fyredevyl: Yeah, if Oro was the one waking me up, I�d be out of bed in a
second. That freaked me out too.
Devious Lil Devil: That�s okay. I ramble too! I want to snuggle up with Neji, too! XD
Mitsune: Sasuke can be fast when he wants
too. Thank you very much. This chappie is long, by
the way.
AleGna: Yes, that was scary, but it was true, in a way. XD
Thank you for reading! ^_^
Liliath: Calm down. XD Tis one won�t end in a
cliffhanger, I promise.
Hogo-chan: Ah. Cool! ^_^ But
being a journalist is hard work, so persevere! Good luck!
Lostlily: Thank you. More on Akatsuki next chapter. XD
Hitomi: Well, there is some SasuNaru here, but there will be more next
chapter, promise! But really, Orochimaru does resemble MJ. Maybe Kishimoto based
Oro on him? Hm�
Akuma_river: I luv ya too! XD *huggles*
Kirby: Don�t die! You�ll never know what
happened if you did! XD
Silverfox: Thank you. ^_^
YaoiloverS: The red cloud mofos? I like that. I wonder if I could use that in the fic�XD
Azamaria-chan: Thank you. Working in AU is hard, especially in keeping them in
character. Yes, Sasuke sounds yummy. I luv
his voice! *melts* And Itachi will be
here�soon.
This one is for Muraki-chan,
a good friend of mine. Now if she�ll only update her fanfiction�and for Momo-chan, who gave me tons of yaoi
manga scans!!!! :gets dragged
away:

Chapter IV: Oddity

The
first time they met, they ended up destroying their room.
�Whose idea was it to put those two boys together in a room, anyway?� Kurenai
asked as she surveyed the damage. Bits of broken furniture littered the ground,
along with bits of plaster crumbling from large holes in the wall. Goose down and tattered fabrics filled the air in the room.
Asuma glanced past his shoulder at Kakashi, who was now talking to the
two sullen, bruised boys, the carefree smile still plastered on his face. �Who else? Kakashi, of course.�
�He�s an idiot. Those two have completely different personalities.
They�d kill each other.� She flashed Asuma an annoyed look. �And would you
please stop smoking in my presence? If you want to commit legal suicide, do it
on your own.�
Smiling, Asuma took a long drag out his cigarette, and then blew out
perfect smoke rings. If looks could kill, Asuma would be dead and buried by
now. �Well, judging from the damage they did to the room, they nearly did. What
are they fighting about, anyway? Skills? Food? Girls?�
�No. It was a kiss.�
Asuma�s mouth hung open, cigarette nearly dropping to the
floor. �A kiss?�
Kurenai smirked. �Both of them accidentally tripped and ended up
kissing the other. They were arguing who tripped first.� She glanced at the two
boys as they continued to argue loudly.
�He stole my first kiss! ARGH! I was saving
that for SAKURA! Give me back my first kiss, you snobbish bastard!�
�I didn�t steal your first kiss. No one in his right mind would kiss a
complete, dead-last moron like you.�
�WHAT DID YOU SAY, you FU��
�Now, now, let�s not say bad��
��CKING ASSHOLE?!?�
��words.�
-------
�Naruto, wake UP!� Sakura hissed
under her breath, roughly shaking Naruto awake. �Some journalist you are,
falling asleep in the middle of a speech��
��which is just full of bullshit,�
Naruto muttered, barely sparing a glance at the red-faced old man at the
podium. He�d listened enough to the old man�s speech to know there was nothing
substantial to what he�d been saying. The old man was simply praising the
company and its people. Besides, he could always get a copy from the speech
from the person�s speechwriter, which he already had sitting in his house,
along with other documents he got from a quick research about the party and Hebi Corporations.
He�d also taken note of who were
the guests in this party for later checking. He wasn�t being lazy. After all,
he wasn�t the one who was going to write an article about the party. That would
be his co-workers, a senior reporter of Konohagakure
Times� business section, Urahara Saki, and Ishida Himeko, a columnist for
the lifestyle section. Both sat on a table not far from the stage, listening to
the speech with rapt attention. They would be the one writing the articles on
the party, not him. Naruto made a mental note to talk with Saki and Himeko
tomorrow.
Naruto inwardly chafed at Sakura�s
admonition. He hadn�t been sleeping! He was just�reminiscing
on the first time he and Sasuke met when they were children.
He and Sasuke had never gotten
along during the first few years they had known each other. Sasuke was then a
newcomer to the group, but the Uchiha already had this high and mighty attitude
about him, which had pissed Naruto off, as the blond
had been part of the group much earlier than Sasuke. Not only that, Sasuke
captured the attention and affections of Sakura, who was then Naruto�s crush.
Of course, the kissing incident had
just worsened the things between them. Naruto smiled at himself. How strange
that a few years later, he and Sasuke would be trading more than just kisses.
The whole �thing� he and Sasuke had
was really weird at first. They had nothing in common,
except the fact that they were orphans then. Naruto had then always thought
that he was an orphan since birth, while Sasuke had just been
orphaned. Maybe the thing they had was because of loneliness. Or maybe
it was just raging teenage hormones.
�Naruto, pay
attention!�
Naruto sighed and straightened from
his slouching posture. Why did Sakura have to be obsessed with manners and
propriety? He and Shikamaru (who was also being scolded
by Ino) shared a look of understanding. Then Naruto glared at Kakashi, who
seemed to be amused with the whole thing.
�Uchiha�s up,� Neji said,
stiffening a little. Naruto�s eyes zoomed in on Sasuke, who, much to Naruto�s annoyance, looked perfect and neat despite what they did in
the bathroom. Argh. I should have messed
up that bastard�s clothes somehow. Splashed some water or crumpled his suit. You
wouldn�t think he�d been harassing me minutes before.
In the corner of his eye, Naruto
saw Shikamaru and Kakashi shift in their seats, the indifferent look in their
eyes changing to one of acute alertness. Even Lee looked attentive.
Whatever they were looking for in Sasuke�s speech, they didn�t find
it, Naruto noted
when he saw the brief flash of disappointed in their eyes as they listened to
Sasuke�s speech. Unlike the other speeches, he didn�t get a copy of Sasuke�s
speech, and he�d be damned before he would ask Sasuke for a copy.
The speech was very much like the
one the old man gave, but Sasuke�s language was more�confident, in Naruto�s
opinion. Even his gestures and voice showed it. Naruto was about to close his
eyes and tune out Sasuke when something caught his attention.
��has made
mergers of late with several companies�� Sasuke was saying, but that was not
what caught Naruto�s attention. It was the ghoulish man sitting just behind
Sasuke.
Orochimaru was smirking. Not at Sasuke. But at him.
Orochimaru was smirking at him, Uzumaki Naruto.
Naruto had only met Orochimaru
once, but that one meeting was all it took to convince Naruto the man was a
sick, perverted, and dangerous bastard. They met on a mission to assassinate a
government official who had been taking bribes from drug lords to look the
other way. Orochimaru was then that bastard�s security chief.
Naruto would never forget that
mission. It was the only time in their lives as assassins that they had ever
come so close to dying. Orochimaru seemed to have guessed every move they�d
make, and taken the appropriate steps of making that mission hell for them. It
was nothing short of a miracle that they�d managed to kill the target and get
out of the burning mansion alive. Neji was barely conscious by the time he was
loaded bleeding by Shikamaru into the waiting getaway van where Ino waited
anxiously in the driver�s seat, while Naruto himself looked liked he been
literally through hell and back. Naruto had never come so close to losing his
control until that day.
Sasuke, on the other hand, was wounded as well, but there was a troubled look on his
face. He and Naruto had been separated in that mad
dash to get out of the mansion alive. When he met up with them in the van, the
Uchiha was quieter than usual (Sasuke would always make insulting remarks about
Naruto�s ability after missions), and wouldn�t speak a word of what happened
during the moment they were separated, even when Sandaime himself commanded him
to. Days later, as they were recuperating from their wounds, Naruto asked him
about what happened. Sasuke just stared at him, then kissed him hard, and told
him nothing.
It was hen they were about to leave
the mansion that Naruto saw Orochimaru standing on the upstairs balcony,
looking evil against the fiery backdrop of the burning mansion. He made no move
to stop them from leaving and stared at them with a self-satisfied smirk. The
smirk unnerved Naruto more than anything else did.
Naruto had never figured out who the hell Orochimaru was until much later after that
disastrous mission, when Kakashi explained that Orochimaru had been once an
assassin like them, the very best, in fact, but later betrayed the group in
search for more power. When Naruto met Jiraiya a few months later, Naruto
nearly choked on his ramen when Jiraiya casually mentioned that Orochimaru had
been his teammate, and that once, they had been close friends and rivals. Like
him and Sasuke, Jiraiya added with a meaningful look at Naruto.
Looking back, Naruto knew Jiraiya
had been warning him about Sasuke. And sure enough, months after that
conversation with Jiraiya, Naruto found himself chasing after Sasuke, who had
decided to join Orochimaru.
That was why Naruto found it
disconcerting that Orochimaru was smirking at him now, five years after he had
left for Europe with Sasuke. Why the man smirking
at him he didn�t know, but he did what he would always do when faced with
situations like this. He�d be damned if he would back off.
Naruto smirked back at Orochimaru.
They stared at each other and smirked on.
�Naruto, who are you smirking at?�
Sakura asked, frowning. �Why are you smirking at Orochimaru? Stop it. You�re
making my hair stand up.�
�He smirked at me first,� Naruto
muttered as he broke contact with Orochimaru and turned to Sakura.
�He�s really creepy looking. And he
really does look like Michael Jackson.� Ino shuddered.
�From what I�ve heard, he likes
little boys, too,� Kakashi said casually. He glanced at the podium, eyes
narrowing as Sasuke finished his speech. Everyone except them stood up and
applauded loudly.
Shikamaru winced at the noise. �Geez. How loud. You�d think he just made a speech about
world peace.� He ignored the glare Ino sent him.
Naruto stood up. He�d had enough. �I
think I�m going home. It�s late, and I still have work tomorrow.� And what a fucked-up night this was, he
thought. His eyes met Neji�s, who nodded and stood up as well. Shikamaru and
Kakashi also rose from their seats, their apathetic movement belied by the
serious expression in their eyes. Naruto wondered if Sasuke was watching them
now.
The girls looked at each other.
With a sigh, Sakura stood up, but not before casting a glance at Sasuke who sat
at the center of the raised table, looking like a marble statue, so still and
cold his face was.
Lee put an arm around his wife�s
shoulders. She smiled at Lee, and then she said simply, �Let�s go.�
As they collected their coats and
made their way out, they didn�t see two pairs of eyes following them, each for their
own purposes and reasons.
-------
Their night was far from over,
Naruto knew. There was still much to talk about. They found themselves sitting
in a booth near the window in a 24-hour barbeque restaurant, ostensibly having
coffee they got from the condiments bar. Luckily, they were the only customers
the restaurant had so there were few chances they would be overheard.
It was Ino who broke the tense silence. �So, why
did you think Sasuke-kun invited us? He didn�t even bother to greet us, the
nerve!�
�I don�t think it was his idea to
invite us,� Neji said, putting his cup of black coffee carefully on the table.
�And if it was, I don�t think it was us he wanted to see or it wasn�t him who
wanted to see us.�
Naruto found himself staring at his
decaf. �Orochimaru,� Naruto said quietly.
�Possibly.� Kakashi looked up from his book.
�Sasuke might have been just the lure.�
�But why? We�re not a threat to him anymore.
We aren�t in that line of business,� Sakura said.
Kakashi shrugged. �I was hoping
that little party might tell us something, but it turned out to be a mere PR
exercise.� Then he turned to Naruto. �Naruto might have an idea, though.�
All eyes fell on Naruto. Naruto
glared at Kakashi. �You should be the one who�d have an idea. What have you
been doing all these years? And how the hell did
Sasuke manage to give you an invitation? Where the hell did he send it?�
�To my apartment,
of course. I
never changed my address.� Kakashi smiled briefly at them, and then turned
serious. He looked at Shikamaru. �You know about the mergers, I suppose. And
how is Asuma doing?�
Shikamaru grunted. �I know about
the mergers. Most of them weapons research firms that seemed to be on the verge
of bankruptcy or lacking in funds. Asuma�s getting married to some girl��
�Kurenai,� Ino supplied, shooting
an annoyed look at Shikamaru. �Really, Shikamaru. How
can you forget something like that? You�re the best man in the wedding, not to
mention the fact that you�re the wedding singer.�
Shikamaru scowled at Ino, and then
turned to Kakashi. �Asuma also said he�d send up what you wanted in a week or
so. He�s still looking for it.�
�Ah. Good. So Naruto, what have you
found out so far?� Kakashi asked again.
�What makes you think I know
something about this?� Naruto demanded belligerently. As far as Naruto knew, no
one other than Tsunade knew that he was going to interview Sasuke.
�Because you�re going to interview
Sasuke, aren�t you?� Kakashi said bluntly. �And if I know you, you�d have done
some research by now.�
�What?� Sakura exclaimed, glaring
at Naruto. �You�re going to interview Sasuke? And you didn�t tell us?�
Glaring daggers at Kakashi, Naruto
replied, �I�m not sure I�m going to now. The bastard�s not worth the trouble.�
He could feel Neji�s eyes boring into him, but he didn�t dare look at the
Hyuuga. �How did you know�� He stopped when realization dawned on him. �Tsunade. The old hag told you.� He narrowed his eyes. �I�m
going to kill her.�
Kakashi grinned through his mask.
�Actually, she didn�t. Someone else did, but I�m not telling whom.�
�Who�� Oh shit. Haku and Zabuza. He�d told them. Naruto had
forgotten about that. He�d also forgotten Kakashi was on good terms with
Zabuza. Damn.
�So, what did you find out?�
Kakashi asked again.
Naruto sighed. �The same things as
Shikamaru did.� He didn�t bother to ask how Shikamaru got the information.
�Nothing much yet, but I haven�t dug deep enough yet. There are some
suggestions that Hebi�s involved in some kind of illegal arms trade. I still
need Tsunade�s permission to pursue the whole thing.� He paused for a moment,
looking around nervously. �Are you sure we could talk about this here?�
�Ch�. Don�t worry about it,� Shikamaru
said. He glanced over Naruto�s shoulder. �Oi, Chouji, come over here. How
troublesome. �
To Naruto�s astonishment, a portly
man wearing a grease-spotted apron stepped out of the kitchen, glaring at
Shikamaru. �Chouji? Is that you?�
Akimichi Chouji squinted
his eyes, brushing aside the smoke coming from the kitchen. �Oi, Naruto. How
are things?� He glanced at Shikamaru. �I�m cooking, you know.�
�Cooking? Or are you eating?� Ino
teased. She faced the bewildered Naruto. �Chouji owns this place. He regularly
sweeps this place for bugs, so don�t worry. We�re safe here.�
Naruto still eyed Chouji with
shock. Chouji seemed to have grown bigger in the few years they hadn�t seen
each other. �You own this place? I didn�t know that!�
�That�s because you don�t come
here,� Ino said. �You�re always at that ramen place, Ichiraku�s.�
�I should go back to my grill. Nice
to see you guys again.� Chouji eyed Shikamaru and Ino. �I�m the caterer at the
wedding, okay?�
Shikamaru grunted, while Ino
spluttered an outraged �Chouji!� as the fat man made his way
back into the kitchen. She glared at Naruto, who was trying hard not to
laugh. �One word, Uzumaki, and you die.�
�How appropriate
for Chouji! I�m
sure he�s a very good cook,� Lee remarked. �Now,� he began in a no-nonsense
voice, �why are we discussing all of these troubling things? Are we in any
danger?� He looked straight at Kakashi.
�I don�t know,� he admitted. �But
it wouldn�t hurt if we�re just a tiny bit cautious. Especially
you, Naruto.� Naruto narrowed his eyes. �Orochimaru was observing you
all night, and he�s always been interested in you, even before he got
interested in Sasuke, so watch your back.�
Naruto said nothing. He glanced at
Hinata, who remained quiet throughout the conversation. Her pale eyes were wide
with worry. He reached out across the table and took her hand, squeezing
gently. He smiled comfortingly at her. �Don�t worry, Hinata. Everything�s going
to be fine.� Among them, Hinata was the only one who wasn�t part of the group,
but everyone trusted her, so it didn�t matter. Besides, she was Neji�s cousin,
after all.
Hinata blushed at the contact, but
smiled back. �Okay. But be careful, Naruto.�
�All right,� Kakashi stood up and
yawned. �Now that�s been discussed, we should all go home. I�ll see you
around.�
Naruto snorted, but got up as well.
�Yeah, right.� Naruto gave Sakura an impudent grin.
�See you around, Sakura.�
�You�re not off the hook yet,
Naruto,� she said ominously.
After saying farewell to Chouji,
they went on their separate ways. Naruto tried to hide a grin as he watched Ino
and Shikamaru ostensibly go off in different directions; he was sure those two
were going to end up in the same place.
That left him, Neji and Hinata.
Neji would be taking Hinata home, of course. Naruto would just call a taxi. His
car was still in the garage under maintenance.
�Naruto,� Neji began in a tight
voice. Naruto inwardly winced. He knew Neji was upset about Naruto not telling
him about interviewing Sasuke. The Hyuuga was probably making conjunctions with
what happened at the bathroom with his interview with Sasuke, most of them
probably right.
�Look, Neji, I�ll tell you
everything you want tomorrow, I promise,� he said in his most sincere voice. It
was already late into the night, and he didn�t have enough strength to deal
with Neji now. Encountering Sasuke and the discussion they had a while ago had
sapped what strength he had. Yes, he did have incredible stamina, but he was
human too.
Neji looked like he was about to
say something, but changed his mind. He nodded curtly. �You still have to do my
laundry, remember.�
�Neji! I thought you were my friend!�
�I thought I was yours too,� Neji
said quietly.
Ouch.
Suitably chastened, Naruto shut up and waved as Neji and Hinata drove away.
When the two were just a small speck in the distance, he sighed and went about
hailing a taxi. He just managed to piss off his closest friend, and earlier,
his ex-lover harassed him. Not only that, a Michael Jackson look-alike was
interested in him. God, what a fucked up
day this was.
-------
Naruto was dead-tired when he
finally came home. He pinched the bridge of his nose in an effort to control
his growing headache. He needed an aspirin�no, several ones�and a shower�a long
cold one. Then he was going straight to bed.
As he stepped off the elevator and
headed for his apartment, his mind went back to what Neji said about the
invitations. Could Sasuke have invited the others because he knew Naruto
wouldn�t have come without them? It was a possibility, a disturbing one at
that.
His mind also went back to what
happened at the bathroom. Naruto felt himself blushing again. God, he acted
like some sex-starved idiot back then. He should have known better than to go
off the bathroom alone. He was sure Sasuke had some evil, lecherous plans for
him back then. Thank the gods for Neji. Naruto made a mental note to apologize
to Neji, even grovel one, if need be. He owned the guy
too much for him to treat him as crassly as he did by not telling him about the
interview with Sasuke.
What the hell did Sasuke want with him? Hell,
the guy dumped
him, even tried to kill him. Damn, he should have read the warnings in that
ice-hot �little� package called Uchiha Sasuke. That would have saved him a lot
of trouble.
Ah, you�re mad, Uzumaki Naruto. He was right.
It would never be simply business between the two of us, Sasuke, Naruto
thought.
As Naruto neared his door, he
fumbled in his pockets for his keys, and then froze, his instincts afire. His
eyes swept across the hallway, body tensing like a coil ready to spring.
He opened his door carefully, and
then cautiously entered his apartment, still trying to sense whose presence he
felt. When he finally recognize who it was, he almost angrily flicked open the
light switch and found himself almost face to face with the person he most did
NOT expect to see in his apartment. �What the FUCK are you doing here? How the
fuck did you get in?�
The young woman tossed back her
long blonde hair and smiled at Naruto, blue eyes wide with innocence that
looked so real Naruto wanted to puke with disgust. �Is that any way to greet
your twin sister, Naruto? We haven�t seen each other for such a long time.�
Naruto grimaced. He was wrong in
his past assessment. His day wasn�t the only thing fucked up; his life was fucked up too.
~T.B.C.~
Author�s notes: Mwahahahaha! I hope you like this chapter. Not much smut, sorry, but
there will be some next chapter, if I�m in the mood for it. Poor
Naruto. His troubles are just starting! Why was Orochimaru smirking at
him? Whooo! Plot is moving, finally! I�m sorry if I�m
not too descriptive. Would you like me to be, or is this style just fine?
Writing the article: Naruto wasn�t the one assigned to
write the article because it wasn�t his beat. Remember, he only �agreed� to
write about Sasuke (even when it was out of his beat and he was �hostile� to
Sasuke) was because Tsunade practically begged him to.
Orochimaru�s plans: Let�s say the guys
are getting the right idea, but are looking at the wrong direction. XD
The twin sister: Ahahaha. That would be Naruto�s Sexy no Jutsu version. XD I made her into a
real person. XD I�m gong to have fun with her. I didn�t want the Sexy no Jutsu
to be just a disguise for Naruto. I love the technique too much for that! Promise, I won�t mess her up or turn her to a Mary Sue.
Sasuke�s speech: Were you looking for something
important in Sasuke�s speech? Well, there wasn�t much, really, and as Naruto
deduced, Sasuke invited the others because he knew Naruto would be reluctant to
go without some company. And for more�business reasons�*wink*
Conversations: The following are some lines of
conversation that may appear in the future chapters. I wonder if anyone can
guess who will be or who are speaking the lines:
Person 1: �I�ve always thought it would be Rock Lee that
would turn out to be gay. I was wrong, though.�
Person 2: :nods: �I had the same
thought. It�s the spandex, I tell you.�
--
P1: Kid, this is the sad truth: When you�re in the high
school paper, you�re not journalists. You�re advertisers.
--
P1: Why do you know my name? Why do you know where I live?
Why do you know what I�ve been doing? You�re a STALKER, aren�t you?
P2: Actually�I�m a journalist.
Next chapter: The Kyuubi makes his appearance!
Naruto goes off to do some research on Hebi
Corporation and falls into Sasuke�s lap. Naruto, watch out! Possible
lemon or lime (if I feel up to it!) XD Iruka also comes to visit! And
Orochimaru makes a very interesting�proposal.
- 3
- 4
- 5
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Bygones and Bylines