Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

Bloodlines
By : Usha
Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male
Views: 1022 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, nor do I make money off this
Chapter List
- 5
- 6
- 7
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On the west coast of America, waves lapped against the sandy beach and against the rising sun; two figures were moving along the beach. It was still early; the sun was still rising and no one else was on the beach, the perfect time to be alone and do things that are illegal or deemed morally wrong by certain groups in the public eye.
These things being exercising horses on public beaches.
“I love the beach.”
“I hate the beach.”
Naruto spared a glance back to the redhead before looking ahead at the endless stretch of sand. “But you like to make sand castles.”
Gaara snorted, “Only when I'm in the confines of a shady area; I hate the public aspect of it. I never tan, so people stare at me and it annoys me.”
“Interesting, you remind me of Sasuke. Except I don’t think he likes to play in the sand.”
Kyuubi was too far ahead of Shukaku so Naruto didn’t see Gaara roll his eyes at the mentioning of the younger Uchiha. They hadn’t seen the Uchiha brothers since they left Saturday night to head back to Kentucky, where they dropped off some horses before turning around to leave Tuesday morning for California. The blond jockey was excited to in California during spring break and was attempting to make him have a good time as well.
“Well, we still have today and tomorrow to just enjoy ourselves until we need to race on Friday and Saturday.” Naruto said as he pulled Kyuubi down into a trot so Shukaku could catch up.
“Then I have plans to stay in the hotel room for those two days.” Gaara said, “California is too crowded for me, I like the peace and isolation we have at home.”
Naruto nodded, “True. Besides, I don’t think the air is all that great for the horses. Speaking of which, we should let them gallop for a while so we can get ready to head back to the track and let them rest.”
They moved the horses into a slow gallop, allowing them to move easily through the shallow water that brushed against the sand. Kyuubi had recovered nicely from his win at the Florida Derby but the jockey wasn’t taking any chances by letting him into a faster pace for fear of injury. After a couple minutes of the smooth gallop, they slowed them down to a walk so the horses could cool out. The sun was almost done rising and they didn’t want early bird beach goers to bother them.
Once the horses were cooled out, they loaded them onto the trailer, and drove back to the track, leaving the sandy beach behind.
“I have sand in my boots now.” Gaara complained to Naruto as they led the horses back into their stalls.
The blond just smiled at him as he closed Kyuubi’s stall door, checking the lock before leaving. All around them, horses were coming in from the track and grooms were rushing to exchange tired horses with fresh ones for the exercise riders. The calls for breakfast were loud in the barns as well, and Naruto could hear his stomach crying for food too.
“Let’s go get breakfast; that will make you feel better.” Naruto said, and hid a yawn behind his hand, “And then I think I’m going to go take a nap. I didn’t sleep well last night.”
Gaara agreed with the other jockey and they headed back to the Bed and Breakfast they were staying at for the week. Iruka was already in the cafeteria, talking with the white haired trainer when they arrived. They greeted each other before sitting down and ordering something to eat.
“Jiraiya, what are you doing up so early?” Naruto questioned, “You were out so late last night, doing ‘research.’”
The trainer grinned, “Just finding different ways to get my books published; need to have a side job so I can retire with enough money to live in Hawaii.”
Both jockeys groaned and rolled their eyes. They had heard Jiraiya’s speech several times over the past week at Florida, and if they had to hear it one more time, they were going to go insane. Thankfully, for the trainer, breakfast arrived, and the only sounds were the clinking of silverware against the plates. When they finished, they thanked the two older men, and headed back upstairs to their rooms to go back to sleep.
Getting up at five tends to make one tired.
Sasuke adjusted his dark sunglasses on his face and tried to keep close to his brother. At the same time, he was trying to make it seem like he wasn’t trying to use him as protect against the female population that squealed over him. Itachi’s cold glare kept them at bay, but a few brave ones tried to get close enough to them to make small talk while they checked into the hotel.
“Why are we here again?” Sasuke asked as they waited for the receptionist to print out their bill.
Itachi glanced at his brother, “Because there are several claiming races (1) at this Saturday’s race. Not to mention, Kiba and Neji both need to get a few more rides in before the summer season comes to a close.” He hesitated, “And you could always use the practice as well.”
“Hn.”
“Besides, if that ‘idiot jockey’; as you claim him to be, can beat you; then you have a long way to go.”
The raven was silent, willing his temper to stay calm, but it was hard. He had been handling the whole situation fine after last Saturday, trying not to dwell on the race, but everyone seemed to want to talk about it. “He’s racing this weekend, isn’t he?” Sasuke bit out after a while.
A smile formed on Itachi’s face, “But of course.”
“If I didn’t know any better, I would say you were stalking the jockey.” Sasuke answered; amusement in his voice.
“Well, I have good taste then.” Itachi answered as they headed to their rooms, “The blond is nice on the eyes.”
Sasuke snorted at the comment, but inside, he had to admit that both Neji and his brother were right; the blond was attractive.
After a two-hour nap, Naruto was wide-awake and bored. Gaara had been reading a book while the blond searched the TV for something to watch for the past ten minutes, only to find it full of nothing but talk shows and soap opera’s; something neither wanted to watch. After making his way through the channels for the third time, Naruto turned the TV off and stood up.
“Let’s go do something; I’m bored.”
Gaara glanced up from his book, “We are not going to the beach.” He stated firmly.
“Who said anything about a beach?” Naruto questioned, and ushered Gaara out of the door.
Twelve minutes later, they found themselves outside of a large mall. “This isn’t any better.” Gaara said.
Naruto grinned at him and they went inside, trying to decide where to poke around first. Neither was in the mood for clothes shopping with Sakura, and the movies that were out didn’t start playing until a later time. However, they did find a Borders bookstore and proceeded to waste an hour and a half browsing through books. After leaving Borders, they wondered around for a few more minutes, before they spotted some familiar faces sitting in the food court.
Despite Gaara’s warning, the blond snuck around a large potted tree, wanting to try to scare the group of people. He crept closer to the one with black hair, brought his face close the raven’s ear, and just waited, while the people around him tried to hide their laughter. Finally, Kiba couldn’t take it any more and started to snort, before breaking into a laugh that set off the whole table.
“What?” Sasuke asked, annoyed, but no one answered. Finally, he noticed that their eyes were looking at something over his shoulder and he turned to see what it was. He was met with a face too close to his and he let out a yelp, before toppling out of the chair he was sitting in; causing the table to start laughing again.
Naruto took the empty chair and looked down at Sasuke, “Hey.”
“What the hell?” He asked, holding a hand to the back of his head.
“Just wanted to say ‘hi’.”
“Hn.”
“So when did you guys get in?” Neji asked, drawing the attention away from their argument.
Gaara came up and sat down with them, shooting Naruto a look, “We came in yesterday; it was his idea to come here though. Something about being bored.”
“We want to go to the beach later this afternoon if you want to come with us.” Kiba asked only to be kicked in the leg by Sasuke.
Naruto shook his head, “I’d have to see if we have plans for this afternoon, but I don’t think Sasuke wants me to come.”
Sasuke growled and shot the blond haired jockey a glare, until Neji leaned over to whisper in his ear, “I bet he looks good in a bathing suit.”
The raven sputtered and forced his blush down, trying not to picture the image in his mind. After successfully pushing the image away he stood up and told the table that he needed to get back to the hotel to take care of some things, then left, shooting Neji one last glare. Comfortable talk resumed around the table for a while until Naruto decided to go buy something to eat, upset that they didn’t have ramen.
Once he was gone, Ino leaned forward, “Okay, shall we place bets on which one breaks first?”
Neji smirked, “I say ten dollars that it’ll be Sasuke first, and another five dollars that it happens in a month’s time.”
“No way,” Sakura stated, “I agree that Sasuke will break first, but I don’t think that soon. I bet fifteen dollars on a month and a half.”
Ino looked at Shikamaru, “Are you keeping track of this you lazy groom?”
“So troublesome.” He said, but started to write the bets down on a napkin.
Ino looked around the table as the money was placed in the center, “Here are the rules for this bet; we have the bets in place and you can add to them as time goes on, but if your allotted time passes, you need to pay up that amount to the pot. Whoever is the closest to their time, wins the bet.”
Kiba cocked his head, “What are you people talking about?”
“We’re trying to figure out which one will realize their feelings first and how long it will take.” Neji said.
“Oh God, you’re trying to hook them up!” Kiba shouted, “And you’re taking bets on it?”
Sakura nodded, “So are you in or not? So far we have about thirty dollars.”
“Make that forty.” Gaara said, placing a ten in the stack, “Naruto will realize it first, but the Uchiha will be the first one to make a move, in about a month and a half.”
Ino grinned, “I didn’t think about that.” She admitted, “Now, should we wager which one tops?”
Kiba let out a groan and slammed his head onto the table, “Enough please!”
XXXXXXXXXX Friday XXXXXXXXXXX
Friday morning was calm and quiet. None of the horses needed an early morning exercise, giving the jockeys time to sleep in after a long afternoon at the beach. Naruto groaned as he rolled onto his side and glanced at the clock, it was only seven o’ clock, but he was wide-awake since his body still wasn’t used to the time change. After lying in bed for another fifteen minutes and not falling back to sleep, he sat up and stretched. He quickly found some clothes and brushed his teeth before slipping out of the hotel room.
He found his way easily to the track, and made his way to Kyuubi’s stall. The giant horse nickered softly as he let himself into the stall and pressed his face against his coat, inhaling the smell of bedding. Outside the stall, some grooms were walking around the aisle ways, gathering food for horses coming off the track, and getting others ready for a quick run. Kyuubi wasn’t running until tomorrow and didn’t need to be exercised heavily today; a quick walk around the backside would be enough for the chestnut.
“I always know were to find you.” A voice said from outside the stall.
Naruto turned around and a smile flashed across his face, “Hey old man. What brings you here?”
Sarutobi smiled at the young jockey, “I was coming back from a trip when I heard that my favorite stable was here racing today and I wanted to see how their jockey was doing.”
“We’re fine, actually. We won the Florida Derby last week and the Arkansas Derby the previous week.”
“Going for the big one, huh?”
The jockey nodded, “Oh yeah. Kyuubi is ready to go for that race. After tomorrow’s race, he’ll have about a week or so to rest and then we’re going to go for it.”
The older man smiled, “Well, I know tonight is a claiming race, as well as an auction. I was hoping to talk to Iruka about some mares that I found. One is up for auction and has the makes of a good sprinter, and another one is racing in tonight’s claiming race. If we can buy her, I would suggest retiring her and breeding her.”
“It’s good to know that you take your job seriously unlike another perverted trainer that I know.” Naruto stated.
Sarutobi was a breeder for Eclipse Estates and doubled as a trainer when needed, but had been out of the country for the past year. He had helped Iruka take care of the farm after his parents had passed away and was the one that suggested they hire Naruto when he came looking for a job.
Sarutobi laughed, “Jiraiya’s doing a fine job from what I hear, and this little demon seems to be handling just fine.” He said, gesturing to the horse.
Kyuubi snorted from within the stall, causing them to both laugh and the breeder draped an arm around Naruto’s shoulders. “Come on, I want to show you this mare. I think you’ll like her. She has great breeding and I want to breed her to Kyuubi eventually.”
They walked away from the stall and made their way into another part of the stables, talking about the chestnuts previous races and how he was holding up after last weeks race. Once they reached a stall with a bay mare, they stopped outside the holding area and Naruto looked her up and down.
The bay was resting in the shade, but he could still make out the wide chest and well chiseled head that dominated the Thoroughbred lineage. Her legs were long and thin, supporting a short back and strong hindquarters. He leaned back and studied her a bit more before turning to Sarutobi.
“She looks nice. Do you think we can get a claim on her?”
He nodded, “I still need to show her to Iruka when he gets here, but he knows quality when he sees it.”
They moved away from the stall quietly and didn’t say anything until they were out of the stable. Once they were in the quiet part of their stable, the breeder pulled Naruto aside and looked him in the eyes.
“Kid, what do you have planned for Kyuubi after the Crown?”
Naruto shrugged, “I hadn’t thought that far yet.” He admitted, “I was thinking of letting him rest for a while and during that time I would figure it out. Why, do you have an idea?”
“Yes.” Sarutobi said, “I was thinking that after the Crown, we could retire him to stud. We already have offers coming in, and if he stands at stud, he’ll make almost as much as he does winning races. Not to mention, it will be less stressful for him.”
The blond let the words sink in. Letting Kyuubi retire to breed would be great for the horse. Racing normally caused a lot of stress on horses; even those that loved to run were still prone to injury. Kyuubi would still be able to train and run around the paddock’s at home, and he would be able to ride him more on trail rides to exercise him.
Naruto nodded, “That sounds good.” He said, “I’m sure that our coverer would be glad to come back for a couple months.”
“Sarutobi, you’re back early!” A voice behind them stated, and they turned around to see Iruka and Jiraiya.
They came forward to shake hands, giving Naruto the chance to slip away, leaving the business talking to the older group. He strolled around the stables casually, looking at some of the horses that poked their heads out as he walked by and nodded hello to some of the grooms that were leading the horses back from the track.
He found his way to the railing where several horses were still being exercised on the track, their owners watching with stopwatches in their hands. He leaned against the white metal pole and his eyes followed a gray horse that was moving along the backside.
“You’re Uzumaki from Eclipse Estates?” A gruff voice asked next to him.
“Yes.” He answered.
“I’m Sid from White Acres. I need a jockey for tonight’s race, are you free to ride?”
Naruto was silent for a while, knowing that he was free, but he had come out to do business for someone else, “I’m not sure, but I know that our apprentice jockey is. He’ll be dropping the bug in a few weeks and is a high-quality rider.
“Gaara?” The owner questioned, and Naruto nodded his head, “I don’t know kid. I’ve seen him race, and he does have talent, but I’ve also heard about what happened earlier.”
A frown formed on Naruto’s face, “That was a long time ago. Surely you’re not going to hold that over his head still.”
The owner shrugged, “I’m just looking out for my stable and my horses. But if you’re free, I have a mare that still needs a jockey.”
“I’ll get back to you on that.” Naruto answered and moved away from the railing.
He made his way to the backside again where owners were looking over horses that were coming off the electric hot walkers (2). One of them noticed him and waved him over.
“Are you free to ride tonight?” The woman asked, “I’m Aya and my horse, Celebrity needs a jockey.”
Naruto shook his head and gave the woman the same answer as the person before, hoping for a different answer.
Instead, the woman’s face darkened, “I’m surprised you even let him race for you, but I suppose every stable needs to have a miscreant once so they know never to hire ones like that again. You will let me know if you have an opening though?”
“Somehow I think I’ll be busy.” Naruto answered coldly and walked off, not in the mood to talk to anyone.
His plans were foiled when he heard a soft voice call his name. He spun around, ready to yell at whoever dared to bother him, but stopped short when he saw that it was Hinata.
“Hey Hinata, what’s up?” He asked, running a hand through his hair.
“Not much. We just finished looking over the Uchiha horses that are running today, and they mentioned that they wanted to talk to you.”
Naruto let out a sigh. He was still mad from his earlier conversations, and didn’t want to run for anyone that asked. However, if there were anybody that he would run for now, it would be the Uchiha’s; just to piss Sasuke off. And he was in the mood to piss the youngest Uchiha off.
“Where are they?” he asked.
Hinata pointed to the right, “Tsunade was talking to Itachi when I left, so they should still be in there, unless their hunting you down.”
The blond laughed at the young vet assistant. He remembered her when she was younger and competing against him in shows. Back then, she had been shy and stuttered a lot, but as she grew and turned her attention to becoming a vet, she became more confident in herself and she came out of her shell more and more each year.
“Thanks.” He told her and walked off to find the older Uchiha.
It wasn’t hard to find the Uchiha’s. Just look for all the female grooms and jockeys swooning over two males with pale skin and dark, black hair that looked navy at times. He rolled his eyes as he approached, but a smile crossed his face as he noticed the glare that Sasuke was trying to give the girls. It obviously wasn’t working, instead, it made them press closer, trying to ask him questions.
Sasuke scowled as he glared at a girl who was too close for comfort. He needed a distraction, something to get these girls away from him, and unfortunately, his brother had left him, simply saying, “I can’t guard you all the time, little brother.”
Damn him. Damn him to hell.
But now, he spotted a mass of blond hair from the back of the group. He glanced at the face and felt his eyes settle into the bright blue eyes of the jockey from Eclipse Estates, and he realized that maybe, just maybe; someone up there loved him. Or pitied him.
For a second, he just stared at the blond, before he shook his head out of his stupor and pushed his way through the small crowd of girls. He found himself face to face with the jockey and neither said anything for a moment.
“Uzumaki.”
“Uchiha.”
“What do you want?” The raven questioned.
“I’m here to see your brother, but you look a little occupied to know where he is.” Naruto answered.
“Who’s your friend, Sasuke?” one of the girls cooed from behind him.
Sasuke turned around and found a bunch of eyes on him like a starving pack of lions, and behind him, Naruto was shaking with laughter. He shrugged and draped an arm over the blond; revenge would be sweet. “He’s my boyfriend.”
“What?! Ow!” Naruto cried as Sasuke pinched him in the arm. The deathly glare that was directed towards him made him swallow his words and quell his desire to punch the raven in the face. More so, he could see the desperation hidden behind the glare and he felt his resolve crumbling, “I mean, uh, yeah. We just didn’t want to tell everyone, right.”
Some of the girls squealed with delight, but the one that had been in Sasuke’s personal space narrowed her eyes, “I don’t believe it. Prove it.”
They both looked at each other, and then back at the girl. “What?”
“Kiss.” Came the simple answer.
Their eyes connected again, and they could easily read the words that were running through their minds, ‘Ah fuck.’
“You sure?” Naruto questioned, “We don’t want to offend anyone.”
The girl smiled, “Somehow, I don’t think we’ll care.”
Sasuke swallowed thickly, it seemed that no matter what he did; he couldn’t win. He turned to face the jockey one more time, knowing that they wouldn’t be able to leave until they did this.
He reached forward, tilted Naruto’s chin up slightly and leaned forward, pressing his mouth against the blonds’ soft lips. He felt Naruto put his arm around his back, drawing them closer, and Sasuke moved his hand so his fingers threaded through blond locks.
Had it been someone else, anyone else; Naruto would have deepened the kiss, but this time he kept his lips pressed firmly together. But despite the detestation to the raven who was threading his fingers through his hair; even he couldn’t deny the fact that the simple kiss was making his blood race and had him craving more.
When the need for air became too great, they broke apart, both breathing heavily with hints of red on their checks. They looked away from each other and back to the group of girls who were giggling. The whispered words of ‘so cute’ reached their ears, causing them to blush harder.
The girl who had gotten them into the mess was staring at them with a look uncertainty before she let out a squeal. “You two are so cute!”
At last, the group of girls started to break up, leaving the two jockeys alone in the quiet of the barn, with only the sounds of horses to be heard.
“That was the worst kiss I’ve ever had!” Naruto yelled after he was certain that the pack of girls were gone. “You owe me big.”
“Hn.”
“Don’t you ‘hn’ at me. I am so kicking your ass tomorrow.”
Naruto turned around and left the raven. He quickly found Kyuubi’s stall and let himself in before sliding down the side, and cursed. The raven wasn’t supposed to make him feel this way, he was supposed to hate him for being a stuck up prick but he was finding it hard to keep his mind and emotions on the same track.
“Sasuke did Naruto come by?” a voice asked, breaking into Sasuke’s solitude.
He glanced up from the ground and looked into his brother’s eyes, “Yeah, he said that he was busy.”
Itachi eyed Sasuke, noticing the slight blush on his checks and his mind quickly began to put two and two together. He shrugged and turned away to go find another jockey.
Sasuke dropped his head back onto his knees and hugged his legs tighter; he couldn’t believe he had just done that. All to get away from a pack of girls. He’d been through worse without having to do that, but some part of his body wasn’t as disturbed about the whole ordeal as his mind was.
The stands were packed that afternoon as the auctioneer shouted out words a million miles a minute. Naruto’s head was pounding as he tried to take in the words and keep up with the pace, but he was finding it harder than he thought. Sarutobi had pointed out the mare that he wanted to buy and she had finally appeared on the stand with the number 791 on her halter. Near the front of the room, he could see the old breeder keeping an eye on the bids, raising his number when needed. A couple more minutes went by before the auctioneer announced the winner.
In the front, Sarutobi turned around and found Naruto sitting on the top bleacher and gave him a thumbs up. The mare was theirs.
With the mare safely bedded down in a stall, the farm turned their attention to the upcoming claiming race. They made their way to the top of the seating and watched as the horses were lead out onto the track and Sarutobi pointed out the mare. She looked different from when they had seen her in the stall. Out on the track, she was fighting the jockey as he seesawed on her mouth, and her ears were laid back, showing her displeasure.
“Are you sure about this mare?” Gaara questioned as they watch her dance across the track. “She doesn’t seem to like the track.”
“We’re only getting her to breed. She’s already four, and should we win her, this will be her last race.”
Gaara was silent as the mare was led into the gate and it was silent for the start. The bell sounded and both Naruto and Gaara jumped at the noise, ready to move into action, only to realize that they weren’t on the track this time. Naruto grinned sheepishly and Gaara just snorted as the trainers laughed at them.
The field was coming around the corner, and the mare was heading into the turn in second place, but she was off the bridle, no matter how hard the jockey was on her with the whip. She crossed under the wire at a nonchalant pace, and didn’t need any urging from her rider to drop down into a trot.
“Come on.” Sarutobi grunted, “Let’s go get our horse.”
They made their way back to the stables where the mare was being cooled out. The jockey and owner were talking heatedly about the race, and their voices floated over to the group as they approached, and the breeder butted in carefully while Naruto moved over to see the mare. She wasn’t breathing hard after her easy race, but her eyes were still wide, as if she expected something horrible for her bad performance.
He explained the circumstances to the hot walker, and he handed Naruto the reins and wished him luck. The mare blew out air through her nose at him as he continued to lead her up and down the shedrow, talking quietly to her. Eventually the bay calmed down and her brown eyes focused on his blue eyes as Naruto looked over her again, making sure that she was cooled out enough.
“Alright Naruto, lets get her back to the stall, she needs some feed and rest.”
“What’s her name?” Naruto questioned.
“Yugito.” Iruka said coming up beside them. “Her owner was an idiot. One of those guys who thinks they know how to run a racing operation but has no clue. He lucked out with this mare; her breeding is excellent, her lines can be traced back far enough to match with some great dams and sires.”
Naruto nodded and led the mare into her new stall, where she promptly dug into her feed. He backed out of the stall and locked the door behind him, and gave Yugito one last look, then followed the others.
XXXXXXXXX Saturday XXXXXXXX
Dark clouds floated lazily overhead while below, horses were being led around the saddling area and jockeys were meeting with trainers for one last word. Gaara and Naruto sat on the railing and watched as Neji climbed into the saddle of a light bay stallion with three white socks. The older Uchiha gave him one last set of instructions before the jockey pushed the colt out onto the track with the rest of the horses.
Once all the horses had left and were on the track, the two Eclipse jockeys made their way back to the shedrow, where they could finish getting ready. Gaara had already raced earlier that day when the weather was nicer, and was now enjoying some time to himself while Naruto waited for his race. The blond had been silent ever since they had returned to the hotel, and Gaara was tempted to question him, but knew that the jockey wouldn’t willingly admit any problems.
He threw himself down on a tack box and sipped at a water bottle while Naruto paced in front of the stalls. The horses had poked their heads out of their temporary homes and were watching as he moved up and down the aisle way, and Gaara was certain that the chestnut was laughing at his owner.
“What’s wrong Naruto?” Gaara finally asked after the blond moved past him for the sixteenth time, “Did the Uchiha do something to you?”
To Gaara’s surprise, a light blush appeared on Naruto’s face at the mentioned jockey, but he shook his head, “No, that’s not what’s bothering me.” Naruto said and hesitated, trying to find the right way to word his next sentence. “I, its just that yesterday I talked to some owners who needed jockeys for the races and I suggested that you ride for them, but it seems that people can’t get over what happened. I’m sorry.”
Gaara shrugged, “It doesn’t bother me Naruto; I’m used to it. Besides, like you, I prefer to ride for Eclipse.”
The blond eyed Gaara, disbelief still swimming in bright blue eyes, but he let it slide for the moment. He sat on Kyuubi’s stall door and swung his legs back and forth for a while, enjoying the silence of the barn, knowing that in a few minutes he was going to have change. With a sigh, he pushed off the door and waved bye to
Gaara before heading to the changing room. The locker room was empty as he changed into his black and orange silks, then grabbed his helmet so he could weigh in, glad that he didn’t have to deal with Sasuke right before his race.
He emerged outside a short time later after successfully making it past the weigh in station, and wandered over to Kyuubi, who was prancing slightly. The horse butted his head against Naruto’s arm and Naruto placed a calming hand on his nose, enjoying the soft breath from his horse. The wind picked up and the jockey shivered a bit but still focused on Jiraiya.
“Okay, due to the rain earlier the track is really sloppy and slick. You know that Kyuubi dislikes muddy tracks so don’t force him to run and hurt himself. We need him to come out of this race for future ones.”
Naruto nodded and climbed on top of the chestnut. From his high position, he could see puddles of water still standing on the track and he knew that the race was going to be hard and dangerous today. He led the horse onto the track, and Kyuubi hesitated slightly as his hooves squished in the mud before moving forward again. The horse snorted his disagreement at the track, but he still was ready to run the nine furlongs when asked.
“Good afternoon, and welcome to Santa Anita Park here in Arcadia, California, where we will be running the Santa Anita Derby. This race is one of the last major races before…” Sasuke scowled as he led Tobi out onto the track and stopped listening to the announcer. He already knew where he was and what he was running; he never understood why the announcers decided to tell him things that he already knew.
He was in a bad mood.
No, that was an understatement.
He hadn’t been able to clear his mind since yesterdays little event, but in front of him, it seemed that the blond had. It was a big problem that he sometimes faced and it had cost him a race when he first started out, but he refused to let it happen again this time. He pushed Tobi ahead, pointedly ignoring the Eclipse jockey and made his way to the starting gate. All around him, horses were being loaded and the sounds of the gates slamming shut were loud in his ears. Finally, silence settled over the area and the gates sprung open.
The field moved out of the gates quickly, and Tobi was caught near the back, much to Sasuke’s disappointment. The pack of horses was tightly clumped together and there was no way to maneuver into a better position. Mud was being kicked up from the lead horses, and soon his silks were weighed down with wet dirt. Tobi tossed his head, annoyed at the flying missiles that were hitting his face, and for a second Sasuke feared that the horse was going to stop running or drop back further.
He quickly maneuvered the horse to the outside where the mud was less likely to hit and Tobi settled into an easy pace. Ahead of him, he could see the flash of orange and he knew that Naruto had chosen to do the same, which meant that when they caught up, the chestnut would be kicking mud up.
Kyuubi was handling the muddy track better than Naruto had expected. He knew the horse disliked the track and ran poorly on it, but today, it seemed that he had found his footing. After being stuck in the pack for a while, he decided to let Kyuubi pick out the spot that he wanted and go from there, knowing that the horse knew better. The colt had swung wide, hitting the outside of the pack where he could see better and then charged forward, trying to catch up with the leader.
They were five lengths off the leader as they came around the last turn, still running wide, and Naruto checked Kyuubi, making sure that he was still running fine. They were holding a comfortable third place as they moved down the homestretch and he didn’t push the horse for more. Running in sloppy conditions was hard on the horses’ legs and he didn’t want Kyuubi injured, no matter what the amount was that he was running for. He also knew that the horse in the lead preferred to run on wet and turf tracks, so there was no sense in trying to catch him.
The wire quickly approached and they swept under it, with an easy third place, covered in mud. Kyuubi dropped down to a trot, shaking his body like a dog and mud slung off him and onto nearby track officials who let out a cry. Naruto flashed them an apologetic smile then led the horse over to the rail where Sakura was waiting with a blanket.
“He ran well, all things considering.” Jiraiya said as Naruto jumped down, “You’re a mess, by the way.”
Naruto held out his arms, “Want a hug?”
The trainer quickly backed away and Naruto turned his attention to the only person standing close enough to him; Gaara. But a quick look in his eyes promised death if he even tried so he dropped his arms and trudged off to go change.
1. A claiming race is when an owner places a horse up for sell in the race for a certain price. Anyone is able to buy the horse and they fill out a slip of paper and then drop it off in front of the track office. The horse can be claimed whether it wins, loses, lives, or dies. If more than one person is interested in the horse, they have a bottle in which all the slips of paper are placed in and whichever number gets draw out, they get the horse
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Bloodlines	By : Usha Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 1022 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, nor do I make money off this

Bloodlines