Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

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
- 94
- 95
- 96
Chapter Ninety-Two: Guardians
Naruto woke up with a horrible hangover, and Sasuke spent the morning looking after him, bringing him water and food, massaging his shoulders and later taking him on a walk to get some fresh air. He was content with himself again, feeling useful and no longer inferior to Naruto, the star of yesterday's show.
The feeling of inferiority wore off even more when he received news that his official documents were ready and that he could pick them up at the head quarter of the police: He had been accepted as a citizen on probation eligible for full citizenship within a year provided that he chose a musical instrument and began to take lessons. He was advised to take his time however: if he chose one he didn't really like he wouldn't practise and it would all be in vain.
It was more urgent to name some guardians, as he was still underage according to the laws of Music Town. “We'll find someone for you”, the woman in the office told him, “but only if you can't name anybody yourself.”
Sasuke asked one of Juugo's fostermothers, and she signed the form without asking any questions. She congratulated him on that major step towards citizenship, calling it a wise decision and telling her sons to buy some cake to hold a small celebration and welcome Sasuke as a citizen of their town.
He also asked the husband of the guy from Earth Country. He had some reservations about this, as the man was only in his late twenties and seemed too young for such a role, yet he asked him all the same:
“It's just a formality”, he said. “I'm a minor here, because that's your law, but this does not mean that I lose my ability to look after myself and take responsibility for my own decisions. It's just that I need someone to sign forms for me. I can't even get a library card without a guardian's signature. It's not much work, and I'll be eighteen anyway in less than a year.”
“It will be your laws too once you are a citizen of Music Town”, the man said. He signed the form. “I feel honoured”, he said and got up to embrace Sasuke. They did not just lightly touch each other's shoulders as they did on other days, but held each other for several seconds, their cheeks touching. Naruto, who was watching them, got nervous, and when Sasuke sat down he took his hand to claim him as his own.
The guy from Earth Country asked whether he should sign too, but Sasuke told him that he had already found someone else. “A true conservative”, the man said when he had a look and saw that it was a female name. “Still thinking that a child needs father and mother.”
“I have parents, even though they're dead”, Sasuke answered in an icy voice. “I don't need any new ones.”
“No one suggested this”, the husband of the guy from Earth Country hurried to say. He went to the kitchen to fetch a bottle of wine, and they, too, celebrated Sasuke's acceptance as a citizen of Music Town.
They mostly made smalltalk, but several times the conversation turned to more serious matters, most of course to Sasuke's new status, but also to his plans for the future, concretely the progress of his application to the training center of the police. Sasuke told the men about the entrance test, that he was practising for it with a book, and that the tasks in the book were more difficult than he would have thought.
“It's not that important anyway”, he said. “There's only a small chance that I can start at the training center right away. It got known that during my years as a rogue nin I attacked the younger brother of the Raikage in order to deliver him to Akatsuki. It may be that I have to go to prison for this for some years. There I have time to catch up with learning.”
He said this in a casual manner as he was a bit drunk and as he had already made his peace with the idea of several years in prison. (He hoped that it wouldn't be too many years, of course.) All the same the two men were in shock.
“You attacked the brother of the Raikage?” they asked. “Why?”
“I had a deal with Akatsuki. They would support me if I brought them the Eight-Tails' jinchuuriki. I did not do it in the end, however. I regret now that I ever attacked the man.”
The men were silent. They could not accept this easily, Sasuke realized.
“I regret it, and I'm ready to go to prison for it”, he said. “I gave a full confession to the police.”
The abyss opened again as he waited for the men's answer, horrified by the idea that he might lose their friendship, including the signature on the form for guardianship. The abyss was not without ground as it used to be – even if the men withdrew their friendship there'd still be people who cared about him, and the administration of Music Town would name a guardian for him – still he had difficulties to keep himself from panicking.
“What happened to the man you attacked?” the local-born of the two men asked.
“He's well. He lives in Music Town too. He has started a career as a musician. I've met him and made up with him.”
Again there was silence.
“It's good that you have told us now”, the man continued. “Now we are prepared that we have to organize a defense lawyer for you. It's better than receiving a surprise letter from the police.”
Sasuke had no idea what a defense lawyer was. The man explained it to him.
“I don't need that”, Sasuke said. “I told you already: I gave a full confession to the police. I am ready to accept my punishment.”
He could see from the men's expressions that they considered his words rather foolish.
“I would not have thought this of you”, the man said.
Again Sasuke braced himself against what would follow. Even if he lost the men's friendship it was good that he had told them about his attack against Killerbee, he thought. Not telling would have constituted betrayal.
“I guess we have to accept that you're a ninja and that you were raised to different standards”, the man said.
“That's not the case”, Sasuke replied, taking recourse to an attitude of pride and aloofness as always when he felt under strain. “I was taught to distinguish between right and wrong just as anyone else. What I did was wrong, and I am ready to go to prison for it. I – I agreed to do this when I first heard that my family was murdered on order of the authorities of Konoha. Then I thought that there was no such thing as good or evil, and that everyone was just fighting for himself and his people, so I'd do the same, avenging my clan. I was wrong, however. I should not have done it.”
He remembered how he had felt back then: his clan had been designated for extinction, and there weren't any laws to prevent it. He had still been wrong.
He had to stop talking as he was no longer able to maintain his facade of aloofness. He had been all alone at that moment – he could have accepted Itachi's choice, and with it Itachi's death and his family's death and ultimately his own – or he could insist that the murder had been wrong and stand up against the universe itself.
Still he should not have attacked Killerbee. He should have insisted that murder is wrong no matter who commits it and for what reason, standing up against the whole universe even if it meant his own death or, worse, abandoning his revenge.
“We'll see you through this”, the man said, sensing Sasuke's despair and misinterpreting it. “We'll ask around for a good defense lawyer for you.” He got up and embraced Sasuke. “We'll help you – don't be afraid.”
Naruto watched: he was jealous again. Sasuke had tried to commit the worst possible crime, murder, and he was rewarded with people embracing him and comforting him.
The next day Sasuke went to the head quarter of the police with his future guardians's signatures and picked up his new documents, then he spontaneously invited Naruto to a glass of coke and some ice-cream in one of the street cafes. He, too, suddenly felt the need to celebrate his new status as an aspiring citizen of Music Town. He had not expected that a single piece of paper would make such a difference, but it did: no longer being a rogue nin, no longer excluded from human society. Even if he had to go to prison he still wasn't fair game for any regular ninja. The piece of paper in his pocket was proof that he was welcome in town, that it was his right to live here, that no one could turn him away.
He flirted with the waiter (who did not flirt back but just looked very irritated) and smiled at two policewomen who were on patrol on the opposite side of the street. They blushed and turned away: they had to remain focussed on their job. Seeing Sasuke every day Naruto no longer noticed his extraordinary beauty, but when it was enhanced by a smile he was still struck by it to a point that he forgot to breathe.
Sasuke went on to the library, proudly presenting his new ID and smiling when he received his new library card and the form that had to be signed by his guardians. He borrowed some books just for the fun of it, even though he did not need them. He even enjoyed standing in queue waiting for his turn to register his books.
He also bought seasonal cards for the swimming-pool and the museum. Having an ID made life much easier, opening a lot of doors, he realized, allowing him to live like an ordinary citizen of Music Town. Life would be even easier when he was off age and no longer needed the signature of a guardian for simplest activities as opening a bank account. In this case the husband of the guy from Earth Country had even insisted on accompanying Sasuke, while with the library card he had signed the form after a short glance at it. Sasuke had been annoyed, but in the end he had been grateful: the man had turned down several of the advisor's offers, pointing out risks and traps Sasuke would never have noticed by himself. It seemed that he had to become a ninja in a completely new way in this town, looking at the underneath of the underneath of paper instead of stones and leaves.
Naruto watched his activities and often, yet not always, he accompanied him. He saw Sasuke's joy, he listened to his words: “I am human again, not a wild animal that can be hunted down by anyone if it's not strong enough to defend itself”, but he didn't understand them. Sasuke had been human all the time, hadn't he? He had been protected in Konoha, too: he, Naruto, but also Kakashi and Sakura would have protected him against any threat if he had not chosen to leave the village. He was also jealous because of the fuzz people made about him: not only signing forms, but also asking about his projects and plans. Juugo's fostermother even went with him to the assessment center of the police to make sure that he did not miss any deadline for enlisting for the entrance test, and she told him to practise diligently.
Naruto felt jealous, even though he did not fail to notice that Sasuke was not entirely happy about the woman's activities: he had been able to look after himself and apply for the job by himself, and he had not lost this ability just because he had chosen her as a guardian.
The other woman noticed Naruto's restlessness and took him to the side. “You should apply for citizenship too”, she said. “And you should consider learning a trade. I know you plan to become Hokage of Konoha one day, so you should consider learning something that comes useful in this office. Learn about economics or about administration – you'll need it. Stop wasting your time as a waiter.”
Naruto did not answer.
“Now for the moment you can practise looking after small children”, she continued, and to this Naruto agreed. He had looked after the little boy several times now, and he was getting better at it. He called the boy and helped him put on a jacket (he already knew how to do this, but he still could not help wondering about the child's smooth skin.)
“Go to the river for a walk and feed the ducks”, the woman suggested to him. “You haven't been on a walk with him before, have you?”
Naruto had not. All the times before when he had looked after the boy he had stayed in the garden with him.
“You don't have to walk a certain distance. Just spend some time outside, looking at things.”
Naruto took the boy's hands. “We'll go to the river”, he said. “We'll have fun! We'll feed the ducks and throw stones into the water.”
He carried the boy until they reached the river (not the big river where he and Sasuke hang out in the evenings, but a smaller one quite near to the women's house), then he put him down and let him walk.
“Stone”, the boy said and headed straightaway to a big stone that was lying on the ground, just next to the path they were following. He lifted the stone (it was quite heavy for him), looked at its underside and gave it to Naruto.
“You'll be a great ninja”, Naruto said. “Ninja look for details. They check everything. Here for example, that stne is all smooth. It must have lain in water not long ago. Someone must have put it here on purpose.”
“Stone in water”, the boy repeated. Naruto took his little hand and let him feel the stone's surface. Then the boy picked up a leaf and gave it to Naruto.
“And the leaf is an oak leaf. There's oaks here, so there's nothing suspicious about this.”
The boy took back the leaf and gave Naruto a pine cone.
“But this is strange. There's no pine anywhere. Someone must have left it here. Look, there's another one.”
The boy picked it up and gave it to Naruto.
“They might be a sign”, Naruto said.
“Sign”, the boy repeated. He had spotted a third cone already and headed towards it. Some children must have played a game that included laying trails, Naruto thought. He enjoyed himself: going on a walk with the boy had turned out a lot of fun.
Slowly they went on to the place where they were supposed to feed the ducks. Naruto had been given some old bread, and now he gave some of it to the little boy, and both of them broke off crumbs from it. Soon the ducks came out of the river to pick up the crumbs, one after the other, quacking loudly and demanding more food. For Naruto it was fun: he teased the ducks, throwing crumbs at different places so that the ducks had to turn around. They got confused, never knowing where to expect the next crumb.
The little boy however was overchallenged. The ducks were quacking angrily at him as he did not feed them as quickly as he should (in their opinion) and the boldest were threatening to take the whole piece of bread out of his hands. The boy was scared and began to cry. Naruto picked him up and tried to comfort him:
“Don't cry!”, he said. “They won't hurt you. I'll protect you.”
He shouted at the ducks and threatened them and they fled back into the river, but the boy kept crying, no matter how often Naruto told him that the ducks had gone. He was relieved when Sasuke arrived to call him and the boy for lunch. He took the boy on his arms and asked Naruto what had happened.
“We got attacked by a couple of ducks”, Naruto said, but when Sasuke raised his brows he knew that this had been a mistake.
“I did protect him”, he said. “It's not my fault he's still crying.”
The boy had calmed down almost immediately after Sasuke had taken him. Sasuke did not even have to say anything, just “there's no ducks” in a matter-of-fact way. Naruto felt envious and hurt, as he had no idea what he did wrong and Sasuke did right. Sasuke knew how parents dealt with their kids, and he didn't...
The two mothers comforted Naruto. “You'll learn it when you look after him more often. And with your own kids, they'll trust you more than anyone else, and they will come to you for comfort and protection.”

A/N: Thanks again for your reviews and your plusses! You can find my answers at http://www2.adult-fanfiction.org/forum/index.php/topic/14965-blessed-realm/ .It is now possible to access the thread without registration at the forums.
- 94
- 95
- 96
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

The Blessed Realm