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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
Forty-Four: Clothes Shopping

“Now
you really have a reason to look for new clothes”, Karin said
when they left the editor's office after discussing the details of
the new edition of the Gutsy Ninja. “You need to look your best
when they take a photo of you for the back cover.”

Naruto
still hoped that the photo would not appear on the back cover but on
one of the inner pages, along with the introduction he was expected
to write. The editor had suggested that a photo might help raise the
sales numbers, as Jiraiya's fanbase was mainly female, but as much as
Naruto wanted people to buy and read the Gutsy Ninja, he was not too
eager to give a face to the story's protagonist, most of all when he
thought of the love scene at the end of the book. For the first time
he wished that he was not named after the Gutsy Ninja.

Karin
however seemed delighted. “You'll win the hearts of the
audience, you'll see. Jiraiya would have been proud of you. Just let
us get some clothes for you, so that you will win the hearts of the
girls in your dance class too.”

Probably
not, Naruto thought. They are all middle-aged lesbians and as little
interested in me as I am interested in them.

“Just
one favour”, he said as they walked on. “Don't choose me
any clothes that make me look gay.”

Karin
was surprised. “You don't look gay”, she said. “Nobody
could wish to look more manly than you do. Getting some new clothes,
and perhaps a new hair style won't change that. How did you get such
an idea?”

Naruto
shrugged. He did not want to tell. He was still wondering whether the
fact that Sasuke had come to enjoy buying clothes was not a sign that
he was gay.

Now,
however, he was glad that he normally accompanied Sasuke on his
shopping sprees, so that he did not depend completely on Karin. When
she suggested to get some new pants first he told her of a shop he
had visited repeatedly with Sasuke (not telling her of the latter,
however), where he knew that the choice was great and the shop
assistant competent and male (an important point for Sasuke.)

The
shop assistant was quite astonished on seeing Naruto without his
friend: “You advised him, didn't you? So why not bring him to
advise you?”

Naruto
remembered that his comments had never been particularly helpful or
welcome: Watching Sasuke look at himself in the mirror in various
clothes had been just too weird, and making funny remarks had been
his only way to deal with the situation.

“He
has no taste”, he said when he realized that an answer was
expected of him.

The
shop assistant was really competent. One look at Naruto was
sufficient to find him a pair of pants that almost fitted, and with
the second and third attempt he got pants that fitted perfectly. It
was only then that Karin stepped in, giving her opinion on colour and
fabric and style, and on the question whether a loose or a tight fit
would be preferable.

“You
can pull it off”, she said when she saw that he felt
embarrassed about the tight black pants that were her and the shop
assistant's first choice.

Naruto,
knowing that Sasuke normally went for the loose fit, felt flattered
that he should have the figure for the tight ones when Sasuke didn't
and agreed to buy the black pants. Secretly, however, he had chosen a
pair of extremely loose ones, in a faded orange with a lot of
pockets. He had seen some kids in that style, and they had seemed
very cool to him. He'd buy them when he was on his own.

Buying
shirts in one of the big department stores turned out to be even more
fun, mostly because they all fitted and he just had to decide which
ones he liked best. Short sleeves, long sleeves, buttons, no buttons,
T-shirts with a few buttons right below the collar. Plain shirts,
dress shirts, fancy shirts, and black shirts with symbols Naruto did
not understand. (He considered ordering one with his own symbol, the
puddle.) Colour, fabric, cut: There seemed to be an unlimited choice,
and Naruto kept trying on shirt after shirt while Karin and the shop
assistant brought new supplies. He did not remember that Sasuke had
ever tried on so many shirts, probably because he had always known
beforehand what he wanted and did not have to make up his mind about
what would suit him. (Anything suited Sasuke, Naruto thought with
envy.)

Naruto
still had to make up his mind, and he looked at himself in the
mirror, considering what he wanted to look like and listening to
Karin's and the shop assistant's compliments. He enjoyed himself
immensely.

He
had always bought clothes by himself, and before he was old enough
for this he had to wear used clothes received from some charity
organization. He still remembered how he had first been given some
money to buy some clothes and how he had bought his first fight suit,
the one he had worn during his last year at the academy and his first
year as a genin. He had been all happy and proud: Finally some money
to spend by himself, to choose clothes that he really liked, and he
had chosen the suit that had seemed most brilliant and colourful to
him, a suit that was absolutely cool, a suit that made him happy when
he just looked at it.

But
when the other kids had seen it they had made fun of it as they
considered it childish, and he had been torn between hating the suit
and loving it just to spite the other kids. He could not stop wearing
it, however, as he did not have the money to buy something else.

Later
on his journeys with Jiraiya he had bought the suit he was wearing
now. Practicability had been his first concern: he did not consider
himself handsome so that it did not matter what he wore, and he did
not trust his own judgement to buy something that would be considered
cool by other people too. Only that for some reason his new suit had
turned out orange again.

Now
he did not have to rely on his own judgement any more. There was
Karin, there was the shop assistant, there were various other women
who felt bored while they were waiting for their own partners to
change. Giving advice to a handsome young man who looked good in
almost anything he tried was more rewarding than choosing jackets
that might conceal their husband's bellies.

Trying
shirt after shirt Naruto began to feel dizzy. Suddenly choosing new
clothes was no longer about the clothes themselves but about his
whole person. He was trying on a new personality: no longer just a
ninja and a fighter without any life of his own, but a young man just
as any other, and while he was not as beautiful as Sasuke he was
still attractive to these women!

He'd
see! Naruto thought while he turned in front of the mirror admiring
himself. He'll stop sitting on my bed trying to make me admire his
good looks.

Only
rarely the women advised against a shirt, and if they did it was
mostly because Naruto had chosen a colour that would have suited
Sasuke.

“Blue's
too cold for you”, they'd say. “Choose something warmer,
and sunnier!”

So
when he finally chose three shirts he'd actually buy they were all
more or less orange: A rather conventional one of some firm fabric
with short sleeves and a lot of pockets in a rather dirty, not very
brillant orange, a tight sleeveless one which was mainly black but
had some orange patterns, and then a wide shirt of fine cotton with
long wide sleeves in a very light orange. The women had warned him
against it, saying it did not suit his personality; only the shop
assistant, glad that finally someone had taken an interest in it, had
spoken in favour of it. Naruto however had fallen in love with the
shirt, just as he had with his first fight suit: it was the kind of
shirt Sasuke would wear when he wanted to look beautiful, just in a
different colour. Slowly he turned in front of the mirror, moving his
arms in a very soft and gentle way. He knew why the women said that
the shirt did not suit his personality: For such a shirt you had to
move as graciously as Sasuke did.

He'd
learn it, Naruto thought. He'd learn to move in a way that made him
look good in that shirt.

“You'll
need a jacket and a new haircut too”, Karin said when they
finally left the department store, but there was no time left.

There
was not even any time left to go home, and Naruto went directly to
the dance class. The bathroom held enough space to change, so he did,
wanting to show off his purchases. It took him some time to decide
which of the three shirts he would wear, but in the end he decided
for the most conventional shirt, the one with the many pockets.

The
first dancers had already arrived: Three women were sitting in a
corner, chatting, and one man was standing at the bar, talking to the
dance teacher. Naruto joined them; they were gossiping about last
Saturday's gay party: Who had made a fool of himself, talking utter
nonsense and telling a lot of secrets when he got drunk, who had
simply passed out, and who had ended up having sex with some stranger
in public, not remembering anything the next day. Naruto listened,
half in shock and half relieved that such a behaviour was not
considered praiseworthy.

He
soon forgot about his new clothes. When another man arrived, however,
he spotted them immediately:

“Oh,
Naruto, you have got some new clothes!”

The
man who had first arrived and the dance teacher leant back to have a
look at them.

“Indeed,
new clothes”, the dance teacher said. “Any special
reason?”

“It's
summer”, Naruto answered.

“True.
Glad you finally noticed.”

Naruto
felt uncomfortable but luckily the men soon returned to their
previous subject.

The
next man was even more direct: “You've new clothes”, he
said. “So you've finally decided what you want to be.”

“What
do you mean?” Naruto asked, fearing that the man would tell him
that he looked gay.

“I've
always wondered whether you are a man or some giant teddy bear”,
the man said.

“Sure
I am a man”, Naruto replied, rather annoyed.

“Glad
you've come to this conclusion by yourself”, the man said,
slapping Naruto's shoulders. He did not pursue the subject, however,
but began to discuss last Saturday's football matches. Naruto joined:
he always had something to contribute when the conversation turned to
football.

Soon
he forgot about his new clothes, and when one of the women went to
buy some drinks and complimented him too he was able to thank her.
Still he blushed.

“Don't
be embarrassed”, one of the other men said. “You look
great.”

They
turned again to football, but this time Naruto did not join. He still
felt uncomfortable – obviously the men were making fun of him,
weren't they? Did they still accept him? He joined the conversation
again, and the men behaved as always.

When
the guy from Earth Country arrived with his partner his comments were
worse than everybody else's: “Looks good!” he said. “Now
who are you dressing up for? Sasuke or that girl in Konoha?”

“Neither”,
Naruto answered. “It's just that I no longer want him to be the
only one who's being looked at.”

Everyone
stopped talking so that they could hear the women on the other side
of the room.

“So
step back!” the guy from Earth Country said.

Naruto
obeyed.

“Turn
around!”

Naruto
obeyed again. Everyone was looking. Naruto was first embarrassed,
then annoyed, then he decided to show them all and turned another
time, his hands first on his hips, then waving kisses as he turned a
third time.

“I
look great, don't I?”

“Sure
you do”, the man from Earth Country said. “Now come
back!”

Naruto
returned to the bar.

“Nobody
is looking at Sasuke all the time”, he said. “Only you
do.”

Naruto
felt embarrassed. Luckily the men soon returned to discussing
football, which was, all in all, more interesting than Naruto's new
clothes.

Anyway,
dancing started soon. Sasuke still had not arrived. Naruto was half
glad, half annoyed. Normally being with Sasuke gave him a sense of
security among the gay men, but today he was glad that Sasuke had not
witnessed how they had made fun of him. On the other hand he would
have liked Sasuke to hear the compliments he got for his new clothes.

Soon
there was only one man left at the bar with Naruto. Sasuke still had
not arrived.

“Seems
our partners are late”, the man said. “Do you want to
dance with me while we're waiting?”

“Sure,
why not?” Naruto answered.

“You
lead, don't you?” the man continued, laying his left hand on
Naruto's shoulder to indicate that he was ready to follow.

It
was the first time that Naruto danced with a man who was not Sasuke.
It was a weird experience, and not that bad, actually. Naruto's
partner was one of the best dancers of the group. He reacted to the
slightest of Naruto's signs, he moved elegantly and took space with
his arms, turning his hands in weird ways. His hips and shoulders
were all flexible and always moving, and Naruto moved his own hips
and shoulders in response.

“You've
just started to dance, haven't you?” the man said when they
were in closed position again.

“A
few weeks ago”, Naruto said.

“You're
doing it really well.”

Naruto
felt proud and weird at the same time. The compliment was a bit
condescending; on the other hand the man was so much better than him
that he had a right to be condescending. Still he took Naruto
seriously as a partner, allowing him to lead and following willingly,
while with Sasuke there was a misunderstanding at least once per
dance, and then a discussion about whose fault it had been.

It
was fun to dance with him, Naruto thought, and returned his partner's
smile. It was nice being taken seriously as a man, and when he caught
a glimpse of himself in the mirror he understood why the other men
had made fun of him: He did not look special in his new attire, he
looked just like any other guy, while before he had dressed like a
child, or, as one of the men had put it, like a giant teddy bear.
They'd be ready to accept him as a man, just as the women who had
advised him. He might be not as good-looking as Sasuke, but he had
been asked to dance by another man. Again he returned his partner's
smile and responded to the teasing movements prescribed by the dance.

Hinata
had been foolish in her affection, he realized. She had admired him,
but not as a man, just as a role model for not giving up. She had not
behaved like a grown-up woman either, not as women behaved here.
Kakashi had not seen him as a man either, not even after he had
defeated Pain. Here they were ready to accept him as a man, on the
condition that he behaved as a man. He smiled at his partner, who was
just turning under his arm, and led him into a new figure.

In
the door he saw Sasuke, looking at him. Naruto smiled, and then, just
for a second, Sasuke's look got unfocussed in the way Naruto only
knew too well from the men he had used his Sexy no Jutsu on.

He
stopped dancing when his partner had finished the figure:

“Sasuke
has arrived.”

A/N:

DeadlyTeardrops:
Thanks for your review! :blush: Thanks particularly for the
compliments to the world I am creating – the story is called
„the Blessed Realm“, after all, so it's about this world,
not just about Sasuke or Naruto or their love. Thanks also for
reccing my story! I hope you will continue to like it.
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