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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.

Chapter List
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Chapter
Sixty-Three: Preaching Peace

The
release of the new edition of the Gutsy Ninja was drawing near. As he
had promised Sasuke had rewritten the introduction, reorganizing it,
improving (or at least changing) its style and most of all adding the
story of Danzou's betrayal of Nagato. The editor of Icha-Icha then
wrote a third and final version and showed it to the two boys when
they visited him in his office:

I
am proud to present you Jiraiya's first novel, after it's been out of
print for more than ten years. It was written when Jiraiya was still
young and the Sannin were still a team, and you will easily see that
he still lacked the craftsmanship of his later years, yet all the
more his talent and his idealism shine through, unpolished and
ungroomed.

The
story is told in a few lines: Naruto, the Gutsy Ninja, is desolate
after his country has been laid waste in a war that had killed most
of his relatives, but he refuses to give up. As a wandering nin he
travels around and finally takes service at the court of a young
princess whose country is under attack of several of her neighbours.
He organizes the defense and fights himself in the first line, but
his true desire is peace, not fighting, and a reconciliation between
enemies.

It's
this dream of peace and reconciliation that raises the Gutsy Ninja
over the level of a mere adventure story. For Jiraiya it was not
enough that his own country and his own friends – or the
country and friends of his protagonist – were safe and alive.
He wanted peace for his enemies too, and dreamt of a world where
people don't kill each other.

Having
taught some kids from Amegakure, a village that was at war with
Konoha at the time, Jiraiya knew that reconciliation, peace and even
friendship between former enemies is possible. They accepted him as a
teacher, even though ninja from Konoha had been responsible for their
family's death. If this was possible on a small scale, Jiraiya
concluded, it might be possible on a larger scale as well, leading to
peace between whole nations. For this reason he wrote the Gutsy
Ninja, hoping that other people might be inspired by his dream, too.

I
am Jiraiya's heir, named after the Gutsy Ninja himself, and Jiraya's
dream is my dream too. After ten years of being out of print the
Gutsy Ninja is now rereleased, and it's my greatest hope that
Jiraiya's dream will become your dream too.

Naruto
read the text and was disappointed. There was nothing left of
Nagato's dream of protecting his friends without killing anyone. His
dream of another way had been cut out. He had no opportunity to
complain, however, as Sasuke was furious about the revisions, and
spoke before Naruto had found any words to express his annoyance:

“What
happened to the story of Danzou betraying Nagato? That was the most
important part! Nagato and his friends would have achieved peace,
together with the people of Amegakure who longed for a life without
fear, if it had not been for Danzou, who hates peace and tries to
destroy it wherever he can, and only cares about his own advantage
and his own personal power.”

He
went on like this for some minutes. The editor listened calmly until
Sasuke had spent his breath, then he turned to Naruto.

“You
want the Gutsy Ninja to be sold in Konoha too?” he asked.

“Yes”,
Naruto answered.

“Then
you don't attack the Hokage in the introduction. I don't want to run
into any conflict.”

“You're
a coward”, Sasuke said.

“I
am, contrary to you, a grown-up man who's responsible for a large
enterprise. We sell light entertaining literature. We don't engage in
politics. If you don't understand this, it means that you still have
a lot of growing up to do. Most of all, you have to learn to live in
the real world.”

Sasuke
was silenced. Naruto could not do much to comfort him, as silently he
agreed to the editor: It was better if the introduction did not
contain any direct attack against Danzou. He did not like Danzou, but
attacking him in the introduction felt like attacking Konoha.

Sasuke
had to turn to their new friends from the riverside for consolation,:
They agreed with him that the editor was a coward and told Naruto
that he should have chosen a politically more aware publishing house
for this new release of the Gutsy Ninja, a publishing house that
might have had the guts to publish a text that was outside the
general comfort zone.

There
was still the photo of Naruto for the back cover to be taken. Sasuke
insisted on accompanying him. He had mixed feelings about the
occasion: Naruto being dressed up and photographed in a way that
might attract the female fans of Icha-Icha made him feel proud of his
good-looking lover on the one hand, but anxious on the other hand. He
feared that Naruto might change his mind about being gay if he found
out that females thought him handsome.

Naruto
had mixed feelings too, mostly about Sasuke accompanying him to the
photographer after he had managed to embarrass him when they had
discussed the preface with the editor. Sasuke did not disappoint him
now either: Instead of staying silently in the background he joined
the discussion when the photographer and her assistants chose clothes
for Naruto, interrupting them and refusing to listen to their opinion
until they told him to shut up. He stood in a corner, sulking,
watching Naruto try on the various clothes the women had chosen, yet
in the end he triumphed when none of their choices looked good on him
and they finally gave a try to the shirts that had been Sasuke's
first choice.

“I
told you”, he said. “I know him. Orange suits him.”

He
got even more nervous when one of the women did Naruto's make up. It
was far too intimate, he thought: Naruto should not allow anyone but
him to touch his face in such a tender way.

“You're
doing it all wrong”, he said when he saw the make-up assistant
cover Naruto's whisker marks with a thick layer of make-up. “The
marks are part of his identity. If you conceal them he no longer
looks like himself.”

He
sat down at Naruto's other side and took a paper tissue to wipe off
the make-up. The make-up artist leant back, laying her hands in her
lap: Obviously she was not amused. She watched Sasuke take some
eyeliner to reinforce the whisker marks. (He knew about eyeliner.
Some of the top dancers used it.) He was content with himself. He had
worried how he might push her aside, as he did not like to fight
women and putting her under a genjutsu would probably have been
overdone, but now she had given in just by herself. (Naruto knew
better than Sasuke that the women considered him beyond any rational
argument now and would not dare to engage him in any fight, even a
purely verbal one.)

“You
need some foundation to cover up irregularities”, the make-up
artist's assistant told him. “Just use it a bit more
sparingly.”

Sasuke
smiled and followed her advice, and then he reinforced the whisker
marks again. It was nice, he thought, touching Naruto's face and
adding some colour to it. The darker marks suited him. He looked at
the rest of the make-up artist's provisions: he had not had any idea
that there were other colours for eyeliner than black. He chose a
light blue one for Naruto and applied it to Naruto's eyes, ignoring
the women, who shook their heads, and then went for the most
brilliant orange lipstick there was. One of the women tried to
intervene, suggesting a more neutral colour, but he turned down the
advice, asking her what good it was to use lipstick if you used a
colour that was barely visible.

“The
aim of the make-up is to cover up some minor flaws”, she
explained. “Not to make him look like a parrot. He's a man
after all.”

“He
definitely is”, Sasuke said after having applied the orange
lipstick. He was content with his work: the colours enhanced the
brilliance of Naruto's smile, he thought, both of his lips and his
eyes.

“You
look really cute”, he told Naruto when he led him to the
mirror.

Naruto
found himself a bit too colourful, but just like the women he knew
better than to mess with Sasuke in his present mood. He was quite
annoyed at him: He had looked forward to being photographed, but now
Sasuke had managed to be in the spotlight all the time. Also, while
he had felt a bit weird, being dressed up and given some make-up as
if he was a doll, at least the women had been neutral and
professional. Sasuke had been insecure (it had been all too obvious
beneath his forwardness) and always a bit afraid that he might hurt
Naruto when he applied this or that colour, and also, the warmth and
tenderness in his eyes had charged the situation erotically (normally
Sasuke looked like this only when he wanted to have sex) in a way
that made Naruto feel uncomfortable. He was glad when they finally
went to the park to actually take the photos.

“If
the photos turn out badly we'll make another appointment, without
your friend”, the chief photographer reassured him.

He
did not give much thought to the photos, however, once they were
taken. His mind was busy with his and Sasuke's taijutsu class. Sasuke
had suggested to him that he might tell the kids some of the stories
from the book “Legends of the Rikudou”, and also do the
meditation exercise with them.

“Their
mothers want them to learn about peace”, he said. “So
maybe it's a good idea to tell them about the origins of taijutsu.”

Naruto
was not sure what to think about the suggestion. He felt satisfied
that he should not any longer only act as Sasuke's assistant during
these classes, but he resented that Sasuke had managed to get into a
position where he could assign him such a task. Also he was not sure
if he liked this division of labour: Sasuke teaching the cool
fighting techniques, him telling stories about peace.

He
told Juugo's fostermothers of their plan when he and Sasuke visited
them on Sunday. They encouraged him, and together with ther daughters
they helped him choose a story. They advised him to tell the story
and not just read it to the kids, and they listened to him while he
practised.

In
spite of all his practise he felt extremely nervous when he assembled
the kids in a circle and announced that he would tell them a story
about the man who had invented ninjutsu. With all their sceptical
eyes looking at him he suddenly felt as if he was back to the time
when everybody had hated him. For a second he felt tempted to shout
at them that he'd become Hokage of Konoha, they'd just see, but he
got a grip on himself in time. He'd show both the kids and Sasuke
that he could pull this off, and when he began to speak he included
all the jokes and sound effects he had practised with Juugo's new
mothers and sisters. Soon the kids listened attentively (much better
than Juugo's sisters actually, who had kept interrupting him and
giving advice) so that he relaxed and warmed up and was better than
at any of his rehearsals.

“So
the Rikudou defeated the monster, but he also taught people how the
next time they might fight the monster by themselves, if they just
stood up for each other”, he concluded, and caught Sasuke's
eyes: this was Naruto as he loved him best, smiling, happy, outgoing,
a bit like a child himself.

Naruto
also meditated with the kids. It took him a few seconds to subdue his
nervousness, and give up his usual means of dealing with it,
extroversion and hastiness, but then he got quiet and entered Sennin
State. Sasuke decided not to participate but just to watch, using his
Sharingan, and he was impressed: This was much more than his own
Kirin for which he had used nature's energy. Naruto did not just use
it and guide it, but mixed it with his own chakra, multiplying its
strength.

The
kids did quite well, too. Some of them should be able to learn to
forge chakra.

It
all went well, but the backlash happened a week later, when some of
the mothers turned up and desired to have a word with Naruto.

“We
send our kids because we want them to learn taijutsu”, they
said. “We don't want them to be indoctrinated.”

Naruto
stood baffled.

“What
do you mean, indoctrinated?”

“We
don't want you to teach them any religious messages”, they
explained. “Or proselytize them.”

Naruto
was still confused. “I did not talk to them about religion”,
he said.

“You
told them a story about the Rikudou Sennin”, they replied. “He
was a religious guru. We don't want our kids to follow any guru.”

Naruto
had never heard the word. “What is a guru?” he asked.

“A
religious teacher”, they answered.

The
Rikudou had indeed founded a new religion, Naruto remembered. But it
was a good one – why would anyone resent it?

“I
just told the kids a story”, he said. “A story about
fighting monsters and learning to work together. It had nothing to do
with religion.”

“Still
the Rikudou was the hero of the story. There must be other stories
about fighting monsters and learning to work together that have
nothing to do with the Rikudou. Choose one of them, next time!”

Naruto
promised, as he had run out of arguments. He felt hurt as if he
himself had been attacked by the women, and not just the Rikudou.
Also, the book was meant for children, wasn't it, so what should be
wrong about telling its stories to these kids?

Sasuke
laid his arm around Naruto's shoulders, but he did not understand the
women's reaction either, so that he was not able to comfort him.
Preaching peace was a tough job, it seemed to him.

A/N:
Next week I will first go to Chibicon in Holland and then go cycling.
There won't be any new chapters for three weeks.

Thanks
again for your reviews and your plusses! You can find my answers at
http://www2.adult-fanfiction.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=14965

I
would prefer to answer here, but this is against the rules. I also
wished that the thread was accessible without registration, but it's
not my decision.
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The Blessed Realm