Majestic Creatures | By : Sasunarufan13 Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male > Naruto/Sasuke Views: 792 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0 |
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor make profit of it. Kishimoto owns it. |
Author's note: Another evening right before an exam, another random oneshot. This started out as a cute idea and then spiralled straight into this mess and I have no idea what to think of it. My apologies if it sucks *hangs head down*
Warnings: Sasuke's pov; Alternate universe; starts when they're children; socially awkward Sasuke; cats; time skip; slash; implied mature content; fluff
I hope you'll like it, despite the weirdness and the randomness of it.
Majestic Creatures
Sasuke didn't do well around other people.
At nine years old that had become painfully obvious when he remained friendless, because he didn't feel comfortable around people who weren't his closest family. He did more than well in his classes, getting top scores with every assignment and test, but clamped up around the other children and teachers. The other students thought he was arrogant, too standoffish, accusing him of thinking he was better than them simply because of his higher marks.
He didn't think he was better than them, but couldn't bring himself to talk with them either, and as the years went by, the other kids stopped trying to talk to him, because it never went anywhere.
The remarks kept coming, however, as if they figured that him not talking to them meant he was also deaf to their comments. He listened to them complaining to others how rude he was, how stupid that he didn't want to talk to them. That him getting better marks didn't mean he was so much better than them.
In the beginning he had wanted to defend himself, tell them it wasn't like that, that he just found it difficult to talk to them, but even at only nine years old he realised there was no point in that. They had formed their opinion about him and they would cling to it, even when it wasn't true.
Their callous words only served to push him further away to the point that he only felt at ease when he was home, surrounded by his parents and his older brother.
And his cat Kai.
Sasuke's grandparents had got two cats two years ago and the second seven year old him had laid eyes on them – one having grey striped fur, the other a chubby ginger one – he'd become fascinated by them. Fascinated and enthralled. Because these cats were soft and beautiful and most of the time silent, unless they wanted food or snacks, and most importantly: they didn't expect anything from Sasuke.
They didn't expect him to talk to them if he didn't want to, didn't expect him to do something he wasn't in the mood for. They were simply happy to be petted and stroked and played with; their purring often the only sound rising up between them.
When he was with them and could pet their soft fur, he felt at ease, like the harsh words of the outside world couldn't reach him through their loud purring, which made their furry warm bodies vibrate wildly every time. When he cuddled them, he didn't think about the other kids muttering disparaging remarks or the teacher's disappointed sigh that he once again didn't play well with the others. It was easy to forget all that with two fluffy bodies pressed up against him, his fingers stroking through their soft fur time and time again.
His fascination with his grandparents' cats hadn't gone unnoticed naturally, and one year ago, mother and father had surprised him with a kitten of his own. His fur was completely black, not even a single speck of white hair to be found, and his eyes were like molten gold. His meowing could act like a siren, so loud he was when he decided to open his mouth, and he loved cuddling with Sasuke, waiting at the front door every day for the boy to return so he could rub his slim body against Sasuke's legs and tell him about all the mischief he'd pulled off that day.
Sasuke absolutely adored his cat, managing to convince his parents to let the kitten sleep in his room at night even, and to keep him safe, he'd even taught him to go outside with a leash on. He had heard some of the neighbours commenting on it, thinking it was weird and useless to put a leash on a cat, but he didn't want Kai to be hurt by cars or something else and the cat was surprisingly easy about having to wear a leash to go outside.
Everything was going fine, Kai making it easy to forget the kids' commentary, when one day, two months after Sasuke had turned nine, he was outside with Kai when a motorcycle raced through the street, tires screeching immensely loud. Loud enough to scare both Sasuke and Kai and only one second was all it took for Sasuke's grip on the leash to loosen in surprise.
One second was enough for Kai to run away, rushing straight into a tree.
"Kai, come back!" Sasuke called out worriedly, running to the tree immediately. It was right next to his house, but too close to the street for his liking and he wanted Kai out of the tree immediately.
"Kai, come, I'll give you treats!" he called out again, looking up and peering through the leaves, trying to spot his cat.
It took him a moment, but then he found Kai crouched down on one of the branches. Thankfully he wasn't at the top, but he wasn't that close to the ground either, and as Sasuke looked up at him, biting down on his lip, Kai looked down and released a pitiful meow, as if he had only just realised in what a predicament he had put himself in.
"You can do it, just climb down just like you climbed up," Sasuke encouraged him, but Kai only meowed again, crouching down even further on the branch.
No matter how much Sasuke tried to coax him down, offering him extra treats, encouraging him, Kai didn't dare to move, looking petrified on the branch. All he did was meow pitifully each time, making Sasuke's heart clench with every small whiny meow Kai uttered.
He wanted to run inside, call mother for help, and then remembered that she'd gone to the store and wouldn't be back for a while. Father was at his work still and Itachi was at a classmate's house, working on a school project. He wouldn't be home for another hour at least.
What could he do? He tried climbing the tree, but he lost his grip soon and fell down hard on the ground again, scraping his hands against the tree bark in the process.
Paying no heed to the stinging pain in his hands, he called out again, becoming a bit desperate now, "Come on, Kai, I know you can do it! Just climb back down, it's easy!"
"What's wrong?"
Sasuke jumped in fright at the unexpected voice and whirled around, coming face to face with a blond boy, who couldn't be much older than him. His blond hair was wild, sticking out in every direction, and he had the brightest pair of blue eyes Sasuke had ever seen. He wore shorts and an orange white T-shirt to combat the heat and his knees looked scuffed as if he had fallen down a couple of times.
The boy cocked his head to the right. "I heard you yelling," he continued, wandering closer. "What's wrong?"
For a couple of seconds his tongue seemed frozen in his mouth, his throat constricting like it always did when he was faced with the prospect of having to talk to people who weren't his parents or his brother, but then he thought of Kai, who was scared and trapped in the tree, and this time he did find his voice.
"My-my cat, Kai, he – he's stuck in the tree," Sasuke brought out, pointing up at the branch in question. "I – can't get him out."
"Your cat?" The boy came to stand next to him, making Sasuke's skin itch funnily at the unexpected closeness, and looked up, squinting. He looked around for a moment, his hands resting on his hips, and then his face cleared up when he noticed Kai on the branch.
"Oh, there he is! Oh no, he looks really stuck. Do you want me to try to get him down?" the boy suggested unexpectedly.
"You can do that?" Sasuke stared at him in wonder, because the boy was a bit smaller than him, so how could he climb into the tree then?
"Sure," the boy grinned and shrugged. "I love climbing trees, I've even climbed into ones bigger than this one!" he boasted.
"Oh well, yes, please," Sasuke hurried to say, fearing the other one would change his mind.
"Okay, give me a sec," the boy said easily and studied the tree with a deep frown on his face, gazing at it from all sides before he nodded determined.
He took several large steps back for some reason and ran straight at the tree, leaping at the last second. Clinging to the trunk, his left hand easily grabbed onto the lowest branch, using it to heave himself up, and from there on, Sasuke watched in growing amazement how the blond easily climbed higher and higher, as if scaling a big tree like this one was nothing, like it came as natural to him as walking.
Soon the boy was basically at the same level as the branch Kai was stuck on and he reached out his arms, clenching his legs tightly around his own branch to keep himself seated.
"Hey there, kitty, kitty, kitty," the boy sang softly, murmuring coaxing sounds as he beckoned the cat closer to him.
Kai didn't want to move at first, refusing to even look at the blond, but the boy refused to give up and kept coaxing it, making ridiculous kissing noises as well.
Just as Sasuke wanted to tell the boy to give it up, that he would wait for mother to come back home and figure something out, Kai meowed pitifully again and –
Started crawling towards the blond.
The second Kai was in reach, the blond grabbed him and clutching the scared cat to his chest, he somehow managed to climb out of the tree without falling down. When his feet touched the ground, he grinned and held out Kai to Sasuke.
"Here you go, you've got your cat back," the boy grinned widely.
Sasuke hurried to grab the leash first before he gathered Kai in his arms; nails instantly digging into his shirt as Kai tried to bury into his chest. The poor kitten was completely tensed up, the occasional shiver wrecking his slender frame, and Sasuke pressed a kiss on his head to calm him down.
His cheeks heated up when he looked up and saw the other boy grinning at him, his blue eyes glistening.
"Thank you for helping me," he mumbled, feeling inexplicably shy that the other one had seen him kissing Kai's head.
"No problem, glad I could help you," the boy said cheerfully. "My name's Uzumaki Naruto. I live in that house." He pointed at the house right across the street, where a red haired lady was puttering around in the front garden; a large hat protecting her from the sun. "We moved here three days ago!"
That explained why he hadn't seen Naruto around before, in spite of the fact that they must be around the same age.
"Naruto, where are you?" a woman's voice suddenly called out quite loudly.
Naruto turned his head, wrinkling his nose. "Ah, that's my mum. I have to go. You've got a cute cat!"
Just as he hurried away, Sasuke blurted out, "Uchiha Sasuke! That's – that's my name."
Naruto offered him a grin and a wave. "Nice to meet you, Sasuke-san!" Then he crossed the street, running to his mum.
And Sasuke stood there, cheeks hot, heart beating madly, and Kai tense against his chest, realising this was the first time he'd been able to talk to a stranger.
"Sasuke, honey, what are you doing?" Mother asked surprised when she entered the kitchen, her arms loaded with grocery bags.
She put them down on the table, regarding him curiously as he guiltily turned away from the kitchen counter, putting the carton of milk back.
"I, erm, I want to bake some chocolate cookies," he admitted somewhat shyly. Behind him on the floor, Kai was gulping down his dinner, still calming down from his tree adventure.
"Oh? If you want some, I could make them for you," she offered, smiling.
"No! Erm, they're not – they're not for me." He cleared his throat, feeling his cheeks reddening underneath her surprised look.
"Who are they for then, Sasuke?"
"Naruto-san. He – he helped Kai get out of the tree," he admitted begrudgingly. "A motorcycle scared us both and Kai escaped into the tree, but Naruto-san helped getting him out of the tree, so now I want to thank him again with cookies."
His cheeks felt like they were literally burning by the time he finished explaining, especially when mother's face lit up as if Christmas had come early, and her mouth dropped open in surprise.
He knew why she was shocked right now, because he never talked to strangers and definitely wasn't in the habit of baking them cookies, but Naruto had helped him get Kai out of the tree and he deserved cookies for that. And everyone liked chocolate cookies, no?
"Is he someone in your class?" Mother questioned, rolling up her sleeves.
"No, he moved into the empty house right across from us a couple of days ago," he answered and she nodded, looking thoughtful.
"Well, why don't I help you bake the cookies, hm?" she suggested, smiling.
He nodded, secretly relieved, because he wasn't sure how exactly chocolate cookies should be made and he didn't want to mess this up, not when Naruto had been nice to him and hadn't even mentioned how awkward Sasuke must have acted. That was the first time he could remember that another kid hadn't complained about the way he acted.
"All right, let's make some chocolate cookies," Mother announced cheerfully.
Naruto's surprised but pleased face when Sasuke showed up later that evening with a box full of gooey chocolate cookies – double chipped ones, because he had rescued Kai after all – told the dark haired boy that he had made the right decision.
Perhaps he wasn't so bad at dealing with other people after all.
As it turned out, Naruto was the same age as him, his birthday being in October instead, and he joined Sasuke's class two days after the tree incident.
Big was everyone's surprise when Naruto greeted him cheerfully and Sasuke nodded in return, still not comfortable enough to talk near others. But Naruto didn't care about that. He didn't care that Sasuke was silent in class and he didn't care whether others told him about Sasuke.
He did come to care about Sasuke, though. A whole lot even.
When Sasuke was nine years old and four months, he got his very first best friend. And that all thanks to Kai, which only proved what Sasuke had known from the moment that he'd laid eyes on his grandparents' cats: that cats were the best.
Fifteen years later
"Did we unpack everything?" Naruto questioned, straightening out and stretching his back with a groan.
Placing the cat sofa right next to the couch, Sasuke nodded. "Yeah, everything's unpacked."
As if that was their cue, their four cats lumbered into the room, yawning widely as if they had spent the entire day unpacking. Kai, at an impressing twenty-three years old, meandered into the room first, still looking great for his old age, followed by Fuku, Haru and Momo. The latter three were brothers of the same nest and Sasuke and Naruto had come across them in the street, the poor kittens dumped by a heartless person three years ago.
The decision to adopt them had easily been made and Kai hadn't made any problems about the addition, even though he'd been a solitary cat for so long.
"Well, what do you say we order some takeout to celebrate our first evening living together?" Naruto suggested hopefully, wrapping his arms around Sasuke's neck.
Sasuke snorted. "You're just hoping to get away with ordering ramen."
"Hey, it's been a week since I last ate it!" Naruto protested and pouted. "Besides, Momo loves ramen too!"
"Momo just likes getting something to eat from our plate," Sasuke retorted dryly.
It didn't matter what it was, as long as Momo could steal something from their plates, the black white cat was happy.
"He's got taste, I tell you," Naruto insisted and pecked his lips. "If you let me get ramen, I won't judge you for getting a salad full with tomatoes," he bargained mischievously.
"You're an idiot and I don't know why I like you," Sasuke told him, making the other man laugh.
"Oh please, you would be lost without me," Naruto insisted and turned away to search for his phone to order takeout.
He didn't see Sasuke's face softening and didn't notice him smiling when he called out, "Come on, my lucky charms, I'll get you some food first before you steal mine!"
It had been a running inside joke for the two of them for years now, Naruto claiming that cats had become his lucky animals because it had allowed him to meet Sasuke. Sasuke would scoff every time Naruto mentioned it and would smack his arm for being so goddamn cheesy.
Secretly, though, Sasuke agreed: the cat was definitely his lucky animal, because it was thanks to a cat that he had met Naruto. Naruto, his best friend of fifteen years and boyfriend of five now.
They had graduated a year ago and today they had finally moved in with each other. Sure, they had lived together in university, sharing the same dorm, but there was something inherently different about living together in a place they had purchased for themselves. It felt a lot more intimate for one, even with four cats running around and disturbing them every chance they got.
Sasuke wouldn't have it any other way, though. He might have become better at dealing with other people, thanks to Naruto's help, but one thing he was still certain about: cats were still infinitely better than most people.
A shudder ran through Naruto's body when he came, Sasuke's name cut in half by a deep groan, as Naruto clung tightly to him, sucking yet another bruise in Sasuke's neck. Sasuke followed not much later, his vision flashing white, and Naruto's name spilling from between red bruised lips before their mouths found each other again in a deep kiss.
It was when Sasuke dropped down next to them, both still panting like mad, that Naruto turned his head to him and asked, "What do you think about getting another cat? To celebrate a new milestone in our lives? I mean, we did get those three when we first started going out, and now we're officially living together. New milestone, new cat."
Sasuke chuckled and closed his eyes, burying his face in Naruto's neck. "We'll see," he murmured, slinging his arm around Naruto's waist.
They did end up getting a fifth cat. Because cats were still the best and they deserved to have a nice home.
And nothing was more home to Sasuke now than having his boyfriend and their five cats near him.
The End
AN2: As I said, I had a cute idea, but the execution was a whole other thing *winces* Sorry if it sucks, this sounded a lot better in my head *sweatdrops*
Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.
I hope to see you all back in my future stories (which should be less weird than this one)! Please stay safe and take care of yourselves!
Cuddles
Melissa
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