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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
- 7
- 8
- 9
A/N
and thanks at the end of the
chapter

Chapter
Five: A Premiere

So
this was Naruto's place, Sasuke thought. In the attic of the
restaurant where he worked, a tiny room with a bath attached to it –
no hallway, no kitchen, just a kitchen line with a stove and a sink,
which was included into the bed- and living-room. Everything seemed
dark here, partly because the lamp over the kitchen sink was not
bright enough to illuminate the room, partly because the furniture
was some dark brown, the carpet some deep crimson, and the ceiling,
which was probably supposed to be white, was now yellow. Most of the
furniture seemed old, heavy and cheap, probably it had been bought
used, with some stains and cigarette burns, yet there was one really
impressive item which was the bed. It seemed heavy and old and used
too, but unlike the rest of the furniture it looked as if it had been
quite expensive when it had been new. It was also rather big and took
up half of the space (in reality only a fourth, but this is how it
seemed to Sasuke) making the room appear even tinier. He felt
irritated.

“This
is a bed for two people”, he noted. “Who's living with
you here?”

“No
one”, Naruto answered who had been waiting anxiously for
Sasuke's judgement on his place. “I have inherited it from
Jiraya, along with the rest of the furniture. He needed it on a
regular basis.”

Sasuke
could imagine. He remembered well the circumstances of his first
encounter with Jiraya, though he tried to avoid this memory as best
as he could.

“Won't
you sit down?” Naruto asked.

There
was a chair, hidden under a lot of unwashed clothes, so Sasuke sat
down on the bed.

“You
want something to drink?” Naruto went on, and Sasuke decided to
accept a cup of tea. Naruto silently prepared it.

“Now
tell me”, he said while he handed Sasuke the cup, “what
are you doing here, as you have obviously not come for Gay Pride
Day.”

“Grocery
Shopping”, Sasuke answered.

“Yeah,
just as I came to buy a newspaper.”

“Only
that with us it is true. We are passing through, and we entered the
town in order to refill our supplies.”

It
was not entirely incredible, Naruto thought. He poured himself a cup
of tea too and looked for a place to sit: the bed was occupied by
Sasuke, so he chose the table.

“And
once you have done your grocery shopping, what are you going to do
then?”

“We
are searching for some Blessed Realm in the Far West, where all
wounds will be healed, where war is not known, where there is joy and
laughter all day, and sorrow is not heard of. Or whatever. Juugo kept
telling about it, and the others demanded that we should look for
this place.”

“It
does not sound like a place that really exists”, Naruto
replied. “Rather like some fairy-tale.”

“Don't
tell me. But they got wounded while they were fighting for me –
how could I deny them to search for a place where they might find
healing?”

“You
might tell them that they will have to go beyond the borders of this
world to find it.”

“They
would not listen. Once they are in their right mind again they will
realize by themselves that their search is in vain.”

“Let's
just hope that it won't take them too long.”

Sasuke
shrugged. “It doesn't matter. As long as their wounds have not
healed we can't continue anyway, so searching for that Blessed Realm
is as good as anything else.”

The
story did not sound like the Sasuke he knew, but then Sasuke might
have changed, and also, there was the team. He wondered about
Sasuke's plans for the time when his team had realized that this
Blessed Realm did not exist, but he did not ask – he did not
suppose that Sasuke would answer such a question. He poured him
another cup of tea.

Sasuke
had changed his position. He was no longer sitting on the border of
the bed but had withdrawn to the far end of it, sitting in it and
leaning against the wall. (At least he had taken his shoes off,
Naruto observed.)

“It's
a premiere, isn't it?” Sasuke said.

“What
do you mean?”

“I
never visited you at your place at Konoha. Is that not what friends
are supposed to do?”

He
had a talent for hurting him, Naruto thought. He had realized that he
cared for Sasuke only when it had already been too late, when Sasuke
had received the Cursed Seal, when he had to be protected against
Orochimaru and spent more time at the hospital than at home.

“You
might have invited me to your place”, he said.

Sasuke
thought a bit. “Sakura was around then too. She asked me every
evening to go out on a date with her, and when I declined you asked
her to go on a date with you. How could I have invited you to my
place then?”

Stupid
girl, Sasuke thought, stupidly playing at being in love, charging up
the situation in a ridiculous way and making impossible what under
normal circumstances would have been the most innocent thing
imaginable: The two boys of the team visiting each other and hanging
out with each other.

“What
are you doing here, anyway?” he asked. “As you have just
admitted that you did not come here to buy a newspaper.”

“I
have inherited the rights to the Icha-Icha-series. The series of
erotic romances Kakashi was always reading. Jiraya wrote them. I had
to introduce myself to the publishers, tell them that Jiraya has
died, prove that I am his heir.”

Sasuke
did not believe this story. Naruto gave him the impression that he
had been living in this town for longer – introducing himself
to the publishing-house could not have taken him more than a few
days. His guess was that Naruto was on some kind of mission, a
long-term mission that required him to take a job and find an excuse
to cover up the true reason of his stay in this town. He wondered
whether Naruto was really on his own – he did not think him the
type for lonely missions of information gathering – Naruto
thrived when he was surrounded by friends. Sasuke feared that there
might be some secret team hidden somewhere, waiting for an
opportunity to attack and capture him and then drag him back to
Konoha. Well. They would have to learn that there was no such thing
as a good opportunity for attacking him. Though he'd prefer it if he
could just stay here for this night without having to fight.

“They
could have granted you a bigger apartment”, he said casually in
order to continue the conversation.

“Who?
Why? What are you talking about?” Naruto asked thinking that
Sasuke was referring to the publishing-house. “It's Jiraya's
place, I have inherited it. He was always happy with it, and so am
I.”

“Still
it will be a bit crowded if we all sleep here.”

Naruto
looked around and had to admit (though only to himself) that Sasuke
was correct. “I did not expect any overnight guests”, he
said.

He
did not have to invite us, Sasuke thought, though at the moment,
tired as he was and in a rather peaceful mood, he was glad to spend
the night in a room and not under the open sky. “Thanks for
receiving us anyway”, he said. “And we want to apologize
for the inconvenience we are causing you.”

“Oh,
it's nothing”, Naruto answered. “It's a pleasure,
actually.”

He
had to listen to his own words to realize how true they were. How
glad he was that he had not spent this day alone (days off could be
horrible if you were lonely), and how happy that after so many years
Sasuke was with him again, if not as his friend than at least not as
his enemy.

“It's
a pleasure”, he repeated, suddenly smiling widely, no longer
holding back, no longer wary and full of distrust, but finally openly
showing his joy.

At
last Sasuke recognized the boy who had been his childhood companion
under the features of the young man who was so careful not to tell
him anything substantial about himself, and without being aware of it
he smiled in response to Naruto's smile and lowered his eyes. -
Naruto jumped off the table and joined him on the bed. He punched his
shoulder quite badly.

“I
am sorry”, he said. “I just had to make sure it's really
you and no genjutsu and not some kagebunshin.”

“I
don't do kagebunshin”, Sasuke replied, rubbing his shoulder
which really hurt. “That's your jutsu.” And my brother's,
he thought, but he never used more than two or three at a time.

“You
might try”, Naruto said. “Create a kagebunshin to
accompany your team on their search for that place that does not
exist, while you are staying here with me.”

Sasuke
shook his head. “It won't work”, he said. “Kagebunshin
are rather easily destroyed. And then there would be no one to tell
them to return.”

“You
won't be able to persuade them to leave that perfect place anyway.”

„Tell
them to abandon their hopeless search, I mean. We might visit you on
our way back, however.”

So
he insisted on leaving the next day, Naruto thought – and still
he wants to see me again.

“Yeah,
sure, you may visit, as I said it's a pleasure.”

So
it was a mission, Sasuke thought. There was no other reason to stay
in this town for some more weeks when he had already settled his
affairs with the publishing-house. Maybe it was not even about
himself, but just some normal information-gathering. Though he
wondered which kind of information might be found in a town as this.
Still he'd better be on his guard, he thought, but he was not really,
he was far too tired, and a bit drunk, and altogether quite glad that
his and his team's search for that legendary Blessed Realm, which in
itself was an interruption of his quest for revenge, had been
interrupted by their stay at Naruto's place. One day and one night he
could be at peace, not on the alert, but surrounded by a festival
where nobody thought of attacking anyone else, protected by Naruto's
friendship.

He
could afford it, he told himself. He needed some information before
he could even begin making plans for how to attack these Elders and
Danzou, and he might get this information from Naruto. (He still had
to read that newspaper, he remembered.)

He
got up to put his empty glass into the kitchen sink.

“Get
your blanket!” Naruto told him, making use of the opportunity.
“I am tired and want to sleep now.”

He
wondered what Sasuke would do, and indeed, after he had got his
blanket from the backpack and undressed he crawled back into the bed,
as if he was at home there already. He did not even ask Naruto which
side of the bed he preferred but chose the one by the wall. Naruto
thought this behaviour a bit strange - Sasuke seemed to have noticed
his rather irritated looks.

“There's
not enough room for all of us on the floor”, he explained.

He
wrapped himself into his blanket and curled up, ready to fall asleep.

“Aren't
you a bit selfish?” Naruto asked. “Shouldn't you let the
child sleep in the bed, or the girl?”

“You don't
want her in your bed”, Sasuke answered. “She would not
leave you alone. That's also why I won't sleep next to her on the
floor.”

“Not everyone is as prudish as you are.”

“I
am not prudish. I am just not interested in her.”

He
did not say it in an aggressive tone but in a sleepy one, and yet
this was just as effective in preventing a reply from Naruto: He
would simply not have been able to process it and respond to it. Soon
he fell asleep.

Naruto,
in spite of what he had said, was still wide awake, he had not even
undressed. He did it now and got back to his place next to Sasuke,
yet he did not lie down to sleep immediately but sat up for a while,
regarding his friend. He had not changed his sleeping-position, he
thought, he still slept curled up like a very small child, holding
the corner of his blanket as if it were some plushie. If anything, he
was looking cuter than at the age of twelve, more defenseless, more
open. (A grown-up would not have agreed to Naruto, actually, but as
Naruto had been twelve himself at the time, he had perceived Sasuke
differently, and perhaps more correctly.)

It
was a pleasure, he thought, having him here with me, even if he was
doing the best to put me off. Why have I been so foolish to hate him
when I was a child? He tried to stay awake as long as possible, just
being aware of Sasuke's presence, hearing him breathe (no, he did not
snore), smelling his scent, sensing the warmth he was radiating, even
activating his sennin mode just to be able to sense Sasuke's chakra.
Enjoy it while it lasts, he thought, tomorrow he'll have left,
searching for this place that does not exist, to do his new team a
favor.

Naruto
was not sure whether he should be jealous, or glad that in spite of
everything that had happened Sasuke was still a caring person, for
whom his team – his new team – had priority before
everything else.

If
he had cared for me just like this, Naruto thought, but then he
decided not to spoil this moment with bitterness – tomorrow
there would be enough time for this. Slowly he fell asleep as well.

Midnight
Essence and Sneakyfox: Many thanks for your favourable
reviews!
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The Blessed Realm