Pick up the Phone (Part 1)
Pick up the Phone
Title: Pick up the Phone
Beta: argent_aurora
Genre: Drama/Romance/Suspense/Psychological Thriller
Rating:R /shounen-ai
<< Prologue
Part 2 >>
Words to remember
apaato-apartment
boke-idiot
Part One
At 10 AM sharp, Sasuke was awaken by the obnoxious ringing of the telephone. It’s an after-a-missions day. And after-a-missions day meant sleeping in as much as he wanted to. He scowled and absently sidestepped a heavily laced skirt as he ripped the phone from its cradle and answered in a disgruntled voice.
“Hai…yes?" He stifled a yawn.
After three second silence from the other line, the caller's voice came through. "Saki? Babe, we've talked already. I'm sorry but can I speak to Sasuke please?"
Naruto.
Several different emotions came rushing through him followed by the loud thundering of his heart. It had been so long since they had started this pretend game of boyfriend and girlfriend that Naruto had grown adept on being able to identify who he was talking to by voice alone. So why the hell would Naruto mistake me for his ‘girlfriend’?
Suddenly a disturbing realization came over him.
Who am I right now?
“I’ll call you back,” was all that he (she?) managed to say before slamming the phone down and staring blankly at the wall. He was positive that he had not called Naruto earlier as Saki.
Or the other day.
Or the day before that.
Sasuke swallowed and felt cold all over. Then his world went black--he didn't feel it as his body collapsed on his bed.
-Several hours later-
“OE BASTARD! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR!” came an enraged screaming from outside his door accompanied by the wild banging on the wood.
Sasuke blinked. Then scowled. And lifted himself off the bed. Then scowled some more.
“Teme… I was just going to ask you to bring my set of scrolls that I’ve left at your house yesterday and you just slam the fucking phone down right on my fucking ear!”
“Shut up, moron. I didn’t do that!” Sasuke snapped and marched to his door to throw the door open. Naruto stomped past him, kneeled at the table and started to stuff the aforementioned scrolls in his satchel.
Sasuke’s scowl deepened as he folded his arms over his chest and waited for Naruto to finish. He was not going to move from his post near the door until he saw the idiot out of his apaato.
After finishing his task Naruto stood up and fixed Sasuke with a glare. Sasuke glared back. Then the blond boy’s glare slowly vanished and he instead gave him a weird look. Sasuke started to feel uncomfortable.
“What are you looking at? Go away. Get out already.”
“Fine, fine, whatever you say, Princess.”
But before Naruto could even wave a cocky goodbye, Sasuke grabbed Naruto by the collar and threw him through the window and locked and double-locked every opening of his apaato. He heard more outraged screaming of his rival outside but ignored the noise.
“I’m hearing voices.” Sasuke rolled his eyes. “I probably woke up the wrong side of the bed today.”
Sasuke waited for a while until the noise died down before going to his bathroom and washing. He was already drying his face when from the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of himself dressed as Saki passing behind his back. Startled, Sasuke dropped his towel into the full basin and stared directly at the mirror.
Nothing. There was nothing, but him in the reflection.
He cursed himself for being idiotic as he fished the soggy towel from the water and turned to fetch a dry one.
----
The next day he found Naruto at the bridge, glowering at the water, and a sighing, worried Sakura giving an occasional stolen glance at Naruto. As he got closer, he heard what the orange monster was saying.
“…And I have to thank him for his hospitality yesterday,” said the irate Naruto, hands crossed behind his head, still pouting childishly. “He even threw me out of the window and locked every entrance of his house…”
Naruto stopped talking once he noticed Sakura looking at the dark-haired shinobi. Sasuke frowned at her and attempted to jump out of their view.
“Oe teme!” Too late. “You slammed the phone down and made my ears almost bleed! Can’t you be more fucking considerate even for a bit?”
Sasuke furrowed his brows. When did that happened? “Slam the phone down on you? I don’t...”
“You don’t remember? You gotta be kidding me, right?”
Sasuke stiffened at that. What would he say? He did not recall any phone call from yesterday morning. Maybe the usaratonkachi was lying, but the look in his eyes told him otherwise. No, he was telling the truth. Naruto was like an open book. You could easily see what he was And he’s a bad liar. Some feminine voice at the back of his head told him. But what to do? Make an excuse? The genius credibility would decrease if he did that.
“You’ve never been the forgetful one, Sasuke. Is there something wrong with you?” came a cheerful voice of an adult man out of nowhere. Really, Kakashi’s habits and weird quirks were so disturbing to him. Sasuke only heard Sakura vaguely scream a shocked “Sensei! You’re not late!?” before turning his head away in thought to ignore the rest of his team as they bickered.
“Naruto, do you see some changes in Saki?” Sasuke suddenly asked him with distant eyes.
That question caused the noisier part of the team to turn its attention to their silent teammate. “What are you talking about asshole? Why-” Naruto had almost blurted out the non-too intelligent remark that was: She’s also you so you’re the one who should notice these things in the first place. but caught himself for fear of being ‘cut’ away from his happiness and ‘appetite’.
Sasuke was silent throughout the rest of the mission.
---
The young Uchiha gave a big sigh of relief as another stupid mission passed. He was readying himself for his bedtime ritual when suddenly...
‘I want out.’
"Who’s-" Sasuke immediately whirled around. He was met by silence. Everything except what was illuminated by the fluorescent light was completely cloaked in darkness. He resumed his activities, but his awareness of his surroundings had sharply heightened. No, he couldn't feel any chakra within his sensing range and he gauged that the voice was approximately withi-
‘Let me out.’
Sasuke whipped his head to the left. But all he could see was his bare room.
--Approximately within this room. Kuso, I’m going crazy. Sasuke gritted his teeth. He immediately showered, changed, went to bed, but after tossing and turning, he found out it was hard to sleep. What am I so getting worked up for? He asked himself annoyed. But his body can’t help flinching whenever the smallest of sound disturbed the complete dead silence of the dark room. And I’m not scared, damnit. That thought irritated Sasuke more than the bizarre incident earlier. No, Sasuke chided himself. I’m just tired. Or perhaps I really did wake up in the wrong side of the bed today.
---
He didn’t know when he started drifting to sleep, but a few hours later, he found himself clutching his kunai tightly under his pillow. But what surprised him more was the little squeak that he produced when he found out that he was holding a ninja knife, and why in the thousand blazes would he throw that kunai on the ground as if he was scared of the sharp pointy object?
Sasuke immediately laid back down. Instead of attempting to sleep again, he tried to organize and separate everything inside of him, all of his thoughts, emotions, and mannerisms that existed in that imaginary division of his mind known as "Saki." God, I’m so messed up, he groaned to himself as he covered his eyes with the back of his hands.
And then he felt some other creeping up inside of him. He sat back in alarm. He tried to push it away but in the end, his consciousness was entirely enveloped in darkness
---
Sasuke being late for anything meant the end of the world. And Naruto, despite being the simple boy that he was, knew this fact. Briefly, Naruto glanced up at the sky to chance sighting a flying pig or a white crow as they wait for not one, but two people at Team 7's ‘ideal’ meeting time.
“Chikusho! It’s not normal for Sasuke to be late like this! What is happening?” Naruto ruffled his already messy spiky hair in agitation.
Sakura tried her best not to look worried, but it showed in her wavering smile as she clasped her hands together tighter against her chest. Naruto was currently screaming and scratching his scalp raw when Sakura spotted somebody. Sakura blinked. But the image did not go away. “Naruto..?” She said distractedly. “Is Kakashi-sensei going to send the two of you off to another cross-dress mission today?” Naruto halted from his rants to look behind him. A shy and shimmering smile greeted him. His eyes widened.
“Ah, Saki-chan,” Naruto grinned uneasily at the pretty brunette dressed like a doll, carrying that basket she always brought whenever they were on some picnic.
“Naruto-kun,” she called gently as she stepped closer to her boyfriend. “I brought something for you because I thought you might get hungry while training.” Naruto and Sakura stood there stupefied. Saki stared at the two worriedly. “A-anou… Did I come at the wrong time?” She clutched the basket tighter. Naruto and Sakura could not think of a proper answer and that was when their silver-haired teacher popped in with a smoke.
“Yaa, Saki-chan,” Kakashi greeted with a salute and a smile. “I see that you even bothered to bring us something to eat. How sweet of you. Would you like to watch our training for today?”
“But, Sensei, I thought… the missions-“ Naruto protested, but Kakashi simply cut him off by a wave of his hand.
“Saa, Naruto. It’s not nice to say no to a kind and pretty lady is it? Especially if that kind and pretty lady is your girlfriend. Ne, Saki-chan?”
Saki demurely smiled at the weird masked teacher and just nodded. Kakashi nodded with satisfaction and leered to the point that even Naruto gave him a dirty look.
“Ma, let’s go before some perverted old fart starts to check you out!” Naruto burst out in an impudent tone and dragged Saki (quite forcefully) to their usual training ground. Kakashi’s lips twitched, but he tried not to show his mirth in his uncovered eye. Sakura sweat-dropped and followed the couple.
When the kids were several meters away from him, Kakashi’s smile dropped. He summoned Pakkun and wrote something on a slip of paper. “Take this to Hokage-sama."
“Roger,” the little nin-dog replied and jumped away. Kakashi thoughtfully stared around the area for a while before following his subordinates.
----
“Naruto-kun,” chided Saki. “I don’t think you should eat while lying on the ground.”
“But I’m not lying on the ground, Saki-chan. I’m lying on your lap,” Naruto replied as he happily devoured the tamago suspended in the air. Saki smiled tightly and fished out a sashimi from her packed obento and fed the silly blond on her thigh who was unsurprisingly also fiddling with her skirt. She sighed. It was a stroke of luck that Sakura-chan and Kakashi-san were here so as to keep the wayward hands… less wayward.
Then Naruto, who couldn't keep away from temptation for too long, sat up and went to her side to snatch up more sushi. “So…anything you wanna talk about?”
Saki was about to reply in the negative when she suddenly felt hands snaking up her legs. She froze. So much for expectations. But as suddenly as the tan hands had skimmed under the layers of her skirt so was the swiftness of the fist that came out to defend Saki's dignity. Naruto tumbled away into the tall grass.
“Boke! How dare you make a pass on Saki like that! Doing indecent things especially when there are people around and Sasuke…”
“Sasuke?” Saki echoed. Sakura faltered.
“Oooh, am I hearing it right? I might have some wax in my ears again, but I think I heard Saki, yooo,” Naruto quickly amended and whispered to Sakura, “You should never mention the name Sasuke in front of her, Sakura-chan. It won’t be pretty.”
Sakura laughed apologetically. Saki drew a blank stare at the female ninja before her gaze became steely with cold intentions, but the moment that she blinked, the look faded away. She gave a warm smile to the blonde with amusement in her eyes. But there was no way that Sakura had missed it. The hard gaze gave her shivers up and down her whole body the next time their eyes met.
“Hora? Did Saki-chan just chuckle?” Naruto grinned and positioned to get a better look at her face.
“Stop it, Naruto-kun.”
“I wanna see it, come on, show it to me.”
“I said stop it,” the brunette protested weakly.
The pink-haired kunoichi ignored them as they started flirting with each other. She glanced briefly at their teacher and judging from Kakashi’s almost indiscernible covered face, he also seen the look.
“Sakura, accompany Saki-chan while me and Naruto train. Naruto, you need to control your chakra more. Come, follow me,” their masked sensei said as he stood up. As if to make up for the serious atmosphere, he gave a reassuring smile.
“Kakashi-sensei…” she said as she watched his back.
“Sakura-chan, could you help me clean up? Sorry, but Naruto is such a messy eater…” The timid voice snapped her out of her thoughts, and the emerald eyes focused on the pretty creature with the right clothes (not to mention heinous boots) and perfect make-up that matched her pretty face. Her hair framed that lovely face neatly--the tresses so soft and smooth that anyone would die to touch them. She sighed with a bit of jealousy. Life sometimes was just not fair. And to think this person was a guy.
Too pretty, I say. Sasuke should really be a girl with these awesome cross-dressing skills he has, Inner Sakura bitterly remarked.
Sakura smiled beatifically on the outside and enthusiastically offered Saki a hand in cleaning.
----
“Hey, Saki,” Naruto called out. It was already afternoon, and Naruto was now standing at the front of her door to say goodbye. “Got something to talk about?” He stepped closer and caressed her hips.
“Naruto-kun…” She breathed against his lips. Naruto dove in for a kiss.
Saki was enjoying their little goodbye kiss when she felt something heavy move inside her. Her brows creased. Deciding to ignore it, she held unto Naruto’s neck tighter and moaned as she felt his tongue slid inside her mouth. Then that something started to struggle inside. She sighed in irritation. After some more kisses, she pushed Naruto away from her.
Naruto practically growled when Saki pushed him (albeit gently) away. Just when it’s starting to get hot and nice, she’s going to reject me? He glared at his girlfriend. This time was actually the first that she said no. Well, not that she had really said no but that was the idea. But like hell was he going to let this moment pass.
“Saki...” he growled. Saki shivered at the aggressive tone. She hated to do this, don’t want to do this, but something or rather, somebody really, really wanted to get back in control right now. She whimpered a little when Naruto pressed her into the door. She refused to look him in the eye.
Seeing Saki with that troubled look made Naruto furrow his own brows. He slowly released his girlfriend from his hold and looked at her. Of course she wouldn't make eye contact. He knew that much. The blond boy sighed.
“Alright, I’ll see ya tomorrow then?” And after a peck on the lips, he was gone.
“You idiot…” Words were directed inside rather than at the person who had just left. “It’s your fault that he got mad! I won't forget this.”
For at least thirty seconds or so, the brunette stood stationary at the front of the door until she abruptly started hyperventilating and clawing at her frilly front. After a couple of seconds later, the black-eyed person calmly stood up straight and faced the door like nothing had happened.
Sasuke opened his eyes. He was at his door. It was already afternoon and…(eye twitch) he was wearing a goddamn dress. His hands were undoing the locks while he gazed blankly out into the open.
It was the first time that Saki had taken over without his consent.
---
It was already evening. Sasuke had just put the phone back to its cradle after dismissing Naruto’s insistent checking in. And that was where he felt a subtle touch of cold hands on his arms. He almost toppled over the table when he jumped.
Don’t fuck with me, this isn’t real, Sasuke said in his thoughts. (Or more like convincing himself that that was the case.)
What are you talking about? I hate you. Do you think you are the only one capable of hate? We’re just one, after all, came a feminine voice deep inside his consciousness. Of course, Sasuke couldn't shut up whatever impaired part of his brain that involuntarily responded, could he? So he glared his best at the wall, more specifically the mirror on the wall. His heart stopped.
In the mirror's reflection, he saw himself standing, pale and stricken, as Saki crawled up and over his back, her slender hands slithering up his arms to his neck. Several seconds passed before the imagine fully registered in his brain and without thinking he threw his fist into the reflective glass. Millions of shards fell like rain around him, the sound of their breaking resounding through the apaato.
He idly wondered if the blood that run slippery over his knuckles and the pain from the resulting wounds would snap him out of this self-induced schizophrenia. His eyes focused on the destroyed reflection. The broken glass had left a semblance of a spider's tangled web. He cursed. He was alone in his shattered reflection. But the air was still cold and it was not tension he was feeling in his muscles.
He proceeded to go and wash the blood and bits of glass out of his skin, intending to not look at the mirror in front of the basin. This is the second night. He gritted his teeth. And this time he was not faring as well either. Of course he didn't believe in ghosts, it was just a silly myth after all. Everything and anything can be done with chakra as long as you were a skilled shinobi. He tried to calm himself by taking in deep breaths. Yes, this is just a genjutsu. He ignored the tingling of his skin. He ignored the icy air that surrounded him like a thick fog. He activated his sharingan. Then, from the corner of his eye, he saw a familiar figure in ribbons wearing a short, laced skirt. Surprised, he fell down to the floor and his sharingan deactivated. When he looked back at the spot, the apparition was gone. His skin suddenly felt clammy and he tried to calm his racing heart.
Needless to say, he spent his whole night, building another set of traps in his apartment.
---
The sun rose up to produce yet another pleasant day with the birds happily chirping from their branches. However, there was one person who was more gloomy than usual. It was dampening Naruto’s mood and their cute little picnic that Sakura had made with love. And it was pissing him off.
Naruto looked over Sasuke. As much as the dark-haired prodigy tried to hide it, Naruto could notice the tautness of the boy's muscles and the general air of exhaustion that he only seen previously whenever they stood watch overnight. Of course he knew. Heck, they were partners after all.
“Usaratonkatchi,” that simple insult cut Naruto from his reverie. “What are you looking at?” Sasuke glared at him. Naruto snorted and looked away.
“Heh! As if I’m looking at you! What made you think that way, you conceited asshole?”
“I’m surprised that you even know that word despite your mental capacity, moron. Or should I say mental incapacity?” Sasuke sneered while he took a bite out his rice ball.
“Teme…” Naruto growled.
Sakura just sighed in defeat. She resisted the urge to smack Naruto’s head again. Her knuckles hurt from repeatedly bonking that hard blond head. She couldn't imagine how they managed not to get tired of arguing. As if they are not doing weird things together at night when Sasuke is in drag. She blushed from her own thought and focused on her tea.
Naruto cursed and stood up in attempt to beat the bastard up, but Kakashi held his palms up. “Now, now kids. Don’t ruin the atmosphere. We’re at a nice picnic that aims to improve our teamwork. Instead of fighting, we should look towards the sun and see our bright future!”
In Kakashi’s delight, he earned a massive sweat-drop from all of his students. His smile widened a bit more.
“Kakashi-sensei… stop speaking like Gai-sensei. It’s creepy.” Naruto grimaced.
Sasuke snorted and stood up, but before taking a step, the soft ground underneath him was suddenly covered in a flat black. Kuso, Sasuke swore in his mind. What is this? Genjutsu? But I can’t sense anything like it. Is it back again? Am I going crazy? It's getting colder…
Kakashi narrowed his eyes when he saw Sasuke’s muscles tensing. He decided to remain silent and continued to observe as the more energetic member of his team sprang from his feet and approached the frozen dark-haired boy.
Sasuke could not see them now. When the hell it did became all black? He can’t move his legs or any of his other limbs. Saki had appeared from amongst the blackness, but he was not relieved to see her. Instead, his attention was directly focused on her porcelain white dainty fingers protruding out of the lacy sleeves. Abruptly, she reached up for him, the bony digits coming close, and closer still--coming to crushing his throat--
“Sasuke.. OE, Sasuke!” Naruto screamed into his stiffened face. He blinked slowly and took in the peaceful surrounding of the forest of Konoha. The next detail that he noticed was the heavy things on his shoulders. He immediately balked when he realized that they were Naruto’s warm big hands on him. The blond boy instantly received a kick in the face.
Naruto howled in rage as he cradled his beloved face. “You asshole! I was planning of asking some pretty girl to hang at my house tonight and be nice to you the whole day but now you have to hit my face! I take it back!”
“What nonsense are you talking about? Is screaming at someone’s face nice? You have an outrageous standard of civility, Uzumaki.” Sasuke glared.
Scratching his head, Kakashi ordered the boys to come back under the shade and Naruto suffered another hit in the head courtesy of Sakura’s knuckles.
---
Naruto couldn't suppress his grin of victory when that night, Saki showed up at his doorsteps.
“Hmmnn…” Naruto inhaled deeply. “You smell nice, pet. Missed you, yanno.”
“Naruto-kun.” Saki blushed. “I don’t think we should do this in front of your door.” Naruto laid several little kisses on her exposed neck
“You didn't protest when I did you in some dark alley, love. You should have gotten used to it by now.” Naruto gave a long lick to her neck and smiled wide and big. He grinned wolfishly when he felt a minute tick by. “Just joking, come on.” He ushered her in. Saki quietly sat down on the only furniture that he had in his little room.
She smiled and beckoned him to sit beside her. Naruto happily responded and gave her a big hug. She was happy--happy that Naruto was here--happy that she felt more alive and that they would just stay like this. The shinobi part of her would recede and Sasuke would be okay with it and she could live with Naruto while he could disappear for good...
-What am I thinking?-
Sasuke suddenly opened his eyes. Naruto didn't notice as he released him from his hold. “Hey hey, you’re kind of cold. Is it windy outside? I’ll get you some tea, kay?”
Sasuke just nodded dumbly, lost in his own thoughts as Naruto (who still hadn't noticed The Change) stood up to prepare some tea.
After some time, the blonde came back and was about to announce himself, but the creasing of his girlfriend’s delicate brows stopped him. What is she thinking? Or he is already...He put the tea down and stood in front of Saki with his hands on his hips. Even with the powder and make-up, he could still see that tension on her(his?) brows and the uneasy tugging of the hem of her sleeves. He knew for certain that Sasuke would never tell anything to him even if his life depended on it. He noted the sunken eyes (probably from lack of sleep). As for Saki, it was hell of a lot easier to pull information with a few touches here and little words there. Well, at least he could take care of the bastard this way. Even if it felt sneaky and hurt his nindo a little bit. He smugly grinned, thinking of his brilliance.
On the other hand, Sasuke was too occupied with himself that he did not notice Naruto looming above him. What kind of fucked-up idea made me think that it wouldn't affect me since Naruto was here?
“Yosh! I’ve decided that you’re going to sleep here at my house tonight!” Naruto declared.
Sasuke, still lost in his own thoughts, ignored blabbers of the person standing in front of him. “I… think I’m going, Naruto.” Naruto blinked at the absence of suffix added to his name. He tried to look closely and saw some unease in his girlfriend’s eye. There was a hint of firmness in his voice but then there was the usual timidity in the way she speaks. Like hell that he’s going to let Saki or Sasuke, whatever (s)he was right now be alone like this by himself (or herself).
“You’re not going anywhere, Saki. You’re staying here with me 'til morning.”
(S)he did not glared, but her lips thinned. “Naruto-kun… I think I really need to go.”
“It’s fine. You need your sleep. I’ll be here so don’t worry about it now. I’ll protect you.” Even if you don’t want me to. He didn’t need to say it. And yeah, Saki might love to hear it but Sasuke did not. So, Naruto thought. This will be enough. There were still some things in this relationship that must be kept up. He smiled.
Finally, Saki’s eyes started to sparkle and she smiled back at him. She took the tea and sipped from the cup, indicating her submission to his decision. He let out a thankful breath that he hadn't realized he'd been holding.
In the middle of the night Naruto woke up when he felt Saki trembling in his arms. Oh shit, Naruto thought in despair. Sasuke is going to kill me if he wakes up like this. He watched his girlfriend flailing beside him. Then his eyes hardened. There’s no time to hesitate, here I go. Then he climbed onto Saki and sat on her abdomen while catching her struggling hands. “Calm down, Saki-chan.”
Sasuke felt as if something was crushing his chest and he struggled blindly against an invisible opponent. He opened his mouth wider to let air come in. A nightmare. He was well aware that this was a nightmare, but it wouldn't let him wake up. His heartbeat doubled. And for a second, he came to the half-thought conclusion that it was someone who was sitting on his chest. He felt the coarse texture of laces brushing his neck and chest. He couldn't see the face of the owner because it was veiled by its black bangs and everything was dimmed by the bleakness of the night.
The only thing that he could observe clearly was its lips--colored by a cherry gloss.
He tried his best in opening his jaw in an effort to wake himself up. His ribs hurt and he was almost afraid that all of his air supply would be gone soon. He struggled more as his visions started to darken up. I’m not going to end up like this. I’m not going to end up like this... chanted his brain in a mantra.
His head suddenly snapped to the side and his world became clear and real again.
Naruto hoped that the punch wouldn't show in the morning. But at least it had been forceful enough to wake up the sleeping princess from her nightmare. Naruto sighed when he saw Saki's eyes shoot open, but inwardly he swore as he recognized those eyes as belonging to his teammate, not to his girlfriend. Crap, I have to think of how am I going to leave my position properly and what am I going to say about this. He fidgeted a little as Sasuke fixed him with his dark eyes.
“Ahh…well…you were having a bad dream and I had to wake you up and…ahehe, hehe..” He tensed when he felt Sasuke shift underneath him. But no attack came. He looked back down at Sasuke and saw that he was still looking at him.
Shit, I’m really going to die.
<< Prologue || Part 2 >>
edit:Mar14(GMT+8) dont the final editings, yoosha! onwards to the last and second part XXDD
Title: Pick up the Phone
Beta: argent_aurora
Genre: Drama/Romance/Suspense/Psychological Thriller
Rating:R /shounen-ai
<< Prologue
Part 2 >>
Words to remember
apaato-apartment
boke-idiot
Part One
At 10 AM sharp, Sasuke was awaken by the obnoxious ringing of the telephone. It’s an after-a-missions day. And after-a-missions day meant sleeping in as much as he wanted to. He scowled and absently sidestepped a heavily laced skirt as he ripped the phone from its cradle and answered in a disgruntled voice.
“Hai…yes?" He stifled a yawn.
After three second silence from the other line, the caller's voice came through. "Saki? Babe, we've talked already. I'm sorry but can I speak to Sasuke please?"
Naruto.
Several different emotions came rushing through him followed by the loud thundering of his heart. It had been so long since they had started this pretend game of boyfriend and girlfriend that Naruto had grown adept on being able to identify who he was talking to by voice alone. So why the hell would Naruto mistake me for his ‘girlfriend’?
Suddenly a disturbing realization came over him.
Who am I right now?
“I’ll call you back,” was all that he (she?) managed to say before slamming the phone down and staring blankly at the wall. He was positive that he had not called Naruto earlier as Saki.
Or the other day.
Or the day before that.
Sasuke swallowed and felt cold all over. Then his world went black--he didn't feel it as his body collapsed on his bed.
-Several hours later-
“OE BASTARD! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR!” came an enraged screaming from outside his door accompanied by the wild banging on the wood.
Sasuke blinked. Then scowled. And lifted himself off the bed. Then scowled some more.
“Teme… I was just going to ask you to bring my set of scrolls that I’ve left at your house yesterday and you just slam the fucking phone down right on my fucking ear!”
“Shut up, moron. I didn’t do that!” Sasuke snapped and marched to his door to throw the door open. Naruto stomped past him, kneeled at the table and started to stuff the aforementioned scrolls in his satchel.
Sasuke’s scowl deepened as he folded his arms over his chest and waited for Naruto to finish. He was not going to move from his post near the door until he saw the idiot out of his apaato.
After finishing his task Naruto stood up and fixed Sasuke with a glare. Sasuke glared back. Then the blond boy’s glare slowly vanished and he instead gave him a weird look. Sasuke started to feel uncomfortable.
“What are you looking at? Go away. Get out already.”
“Fine, fine, whatever you say, Princess.”
But before Naruto could even wave a cocky goodbye, Sasuke grabbed Naruto by the collar and threw him through the window and locked and double-locked every opening of his apaato. He heard more outraged screaming of his rival outside but ignored the noise.
“I’m hearing voices.” Sasuke rolled his eyes. “I probably woke up the wrong side of the bed today.”
Sasuke waited for a while until the noise died down before going to his bathroom and washing. He was already drying his face when from the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of himself dressed as Saki passing behind his back. Startled, Sasuke dropped his towel into the full basin and stared directly at the mirror.
Nothing. There was nothing, but him in the reflection.
He cursed himself for being idiotic as he fished the soggy towel from the water and turned to fetch a dry one.
----
The next day he found Naruto at the bridge, glowering at the water, and a sighing, worried Sakura giving an occasional stolen glance at Naruto. As he got closer, he heard what the orange monster was saying.
“…And I have to thank him for his hospitality yesterday,” said the irate Naruto, hands crossed behind his head, still pouting childishly. “He even threw me out of the window and locked every entrance of his house…”
Naruto stopped talking once he noticed Sakura looking at the dark-haired shinobi. Sasuke frowned at her and attempted to jump out of their view.
“Oe teme!” Too late. “You slammed the phone down and made my ears almost bleed! Can’t you be more fucking considerate even for a bit?”
Sasuke furrowed his brows. When did that happened? “Slam the phone down on you? I don’t...”
“You don’t remember? You gotta be kidding me, right?”
Sasuke stiffened at that. What would he say? He did not recall any phone call from yesterday morning. Maybe the usaratonkachi was lying, but the look in his eyes told him otherwise. No, he was telling the truth. Naruto was like an open book. You could easily see what he was And he’s a bad liar. Some feminine voice at the back of his head told him. But what to do? Make an excuse? The genius credibility would decrease if he did that.
“You’ve never been the forgetful one, Sasuke. Is there something wrong with you?” came a cheerful voice of an adult man out of nowhere. Really, Kakashi’s habits and weird quirks were so disturbing to him. Sasuke only heard Sakura vaguely scream a shocked “Sensei! You’re not late!?” before turning his head away in thought to ignore the rest of his team as they bickered.
“Naruto, do you see some changes in Saki?” Sasuke suddenly asked him with distant eyes.
That question caused the noisier part of the team to turn its attention to their silent teammate. “What are you talking about asshole? Why-” Naruto had almost blurted out the non-too intelligent remark that was: She’s also you so you’re the one who should notice these things in the first place. but caught himself for fear of being ‘cut’ away from his happiness and ‘appetite’.
Sasuke was silent throughout the rest of the mission.
---
The young Uchiha gave a big sigh of relief as another stupid mission passed. He was readying himself for his bedtime ritual when suddenly...
‘I want out.’
"Who’s-" Sasuke immediately whirled around. He was met by silence. Everything except what was illuminated by the fluorescent light was completely cloaked in darkness. He resumed his activities, but his awareness of his surroundings had sharply heightened. No, he couldn't feel any chakra within his sensing range and he gauged that the voice was approximately withi-
‘Let me out.’
Sasuke whipped his head to the left. But all he could see was his bare room.
--Approximately within this room. Kuso, I’m going crazy. Sasuke gritted his teeth. He immediately showered, changed, went to bed, but after tossing and turning, he found out it was hard to sleep. What am I so getting worked up for? He asked himself annoyed. But his body can’t help flinching whenever the smallest of sound disturbed the complete dead silence of the dark room. And I’m not scared, damnit. That thought irritated Sasuke more than the bizarre incident earlier. No, Sasuke chided himself. I’m just tired. Or perhaps I really did wake up in the wrong side of the bed today.
---
He didn’t know when he started drifting to sleep, but a few hours later, he found himself clutching his kunai tightly under his pillow. But what surprised him more was the little squeak that he produced when he found out that he was holding a ninja knife, and why in the thousand blazes would he throw that kunai on the ground as if he was scared of the sharp pointy object?
Sasuke immediately laid back down. Instead of attempting to sleep again, he tried to organize and separate everything inside of him, all of his thoughts, emotions, and mannerisms that existed in that imaginary division of his mind known as "Saki." God, I’m so messed up, he groaned to himself as he covered his eyes with the back of his hands.
And then he felt some other creeping up inside of him. He sat back in alarm. He tried to push it away but in the end, his consciousness was entirely enveloped in darkness
---
Sasuke being late for anything meant the end of the world. And Naruto, despite being the simple boy that he was, knew this fact. Briefly, Naruto glanced up at the sky to chance sighting a flying pig or a white crow as they wait for not one, but two people at Team 7's ‘ideal’ meeting time.
“Chikusho! It’s not normal for Sasuke to be late like this! What is happening?” Naruto ruffled his already messy spiky hair in agitation.
Sakura tried her best not to look worried, but it showed in her wavering smile as she clasped her hands together tighter against her chest. Naruto was currently screaming and scratching his scalp raw when Sakura spotted somebody. Sakura blinked. But the image did not go away. “Naruto..?” She said distractedly. “Is Kakashi-sensei going to send the two of you off to another cross-dress mission today?” Naruto halted from his rants to look behind him. A shy and shimmering smile greeted him. His eyes widened.
“Ah, Saki-chan,” Naruto grinned uneasily at the pretty brunette dressed like a doll, carrying that basket she always brought whenever they were on some picnic.
“Naruto-kun,” she called gently as she stepped closer to her boyfriend. “I brought something for you because I thought you might get hungry while training.” Naruto and Sakura stood there stupefied. Saki stared at the two worriedly. “A-anou… Did I come at the wrong time?” She clutched the basket tighter. Naruto and Sakura could not think of a proper answer and that was when their silver-haired teacher popped in with a smoke.
“Yaa, Saki-chan,” Kakashi greeted with a salute and a smile. “I see that you even bothered to bring us something to eat. How sweet of you. Would you like to watch our training for today?”
“But, Sensei, I thought… the missions-“ Naruto protested, but Kakashi simply cut him off by a wave of his hand.
“Saa, Naruto. It’s not nice to say no to a kind and pretty lady is it? Especially if that kind and pretty lady is your girlfriend. Ne, Saki-chan?”
Saki demurely smiled at the weird masked teacher and just nodded. Kakashi nodded with satisfaction and leered to the point that even Naruto gave him a dirty look.
“Ma, let’s go before some perverted old fart starts to check you out!” Naruto burst out in an impudent tone and dragged Saki (quite forcefully) to their usual training ground. Kakashi’s lips twitched, but he tried not to show his mirth in his uncovered eye. Sakura sweat-dropped and followed the couple.
When the kids were several meters away from him, Kakashi’s smile dropped. He summoned Pakkun and wrote something on a slip of paper. “Take this to Hokage-sama."
“Roger,” the little nin-dog replied and jumped away. Kakashi thoughtfully stared around the area for a while before following his subordinates.
----
“Naruto-kun,” chided Saki. “I don’t think you should eat while lying on the ground.”
“But I’m not lying on the ground, Saki-chan. I’m lying on your lap,” Naruto replied as he happily devoured the tamago suspended in the air. Saki smiled tightly and fished out a sashimi from her packed obento and fed the silly blond on her thigh who was unsurprisingly also fiddling with her skirt. She sighed. It was a stroke of luck that Sakura-chan and Kakashi-san were here so as to keep the wayward hands… less wayward.
Then Naruto, who couldn't keep away from temptation for too long, sat up and went to her side to snatch up more sushi. “So…anything you wanna talk about?”
Saki was about to reply in the negative when she suddenly felt hands snaking up her legs. She froze. So much for expectations. But as suddenly as the tan hands had skimmed under the layers of her skirt so was the swiftness of the fist that came out to defend Saki's dignity. Naruto tumbled away into the tall grass.
“Boke! How dare you make a pass on Saki like that! Doing indecent things especially when there are people around and Sasuke…”
“Sasuke?” Saki echoed. Sakura faltered.
“Oooh, am I hearing it right? I might have some wax in my ears again, but I think I heard Saki, yooo,” Naruto quickly amended and whispered to Sakura, “You should never mention the name Sasuke in front of her, Sakura-chan. It won’t be pretty.”
Sakura laughed apologetically. Saki drew a blank stare at the female ninja before her gaze became steely with cold intentions, but the moment that she blinked, the look faded away. She gave a warm smile to the blonde with amusement in her eyes. But there was no way that Sakura had missed it. The hard gaze gave her shivers up and down her whole body the next time their eyes met.
“Hora? Did Saki-chan just chuckle?” Naruto grinned and positioned to get a better look at her face.
“Stop it, Naruto-kun.”
“I wanna see it, come on, show it to me.”
“I said stop it,” the brunette protested weakly.
The pink-haired kunoichi ignored them as they started flirting with each other. She glanced briefly at their teacher and judging from Kakashi’s almost indiscernible covered face, he also seen the look.
“Sakura, accompany Saki-chan while me and Naruto train. Naruto, you need to control your chakra more. Come, follow me,” their masked sensei said as he stood up. As if to make up for the serious atmosphere, he gave a reassuring smile.
“Kakashi-sensei…” she said as she watched his back.
“Sakura-chan, could you help me clean up? Sorry, but Naruto is such a messy eater…” The timid voice snapped her out of her thoughts, and the emerald eyes focused on the pretty creature with the right clothes (not to mention heinous boots) and perfect make-up that matched her pretty face. Her hair framed that lovely face neatly--the tresses so soft and smooth that anyone would die to touch them. She sighed with a bit of jealousy. Life sometimes was just not fair. And to think this person was a guy.
Too pretty, I say. Sasuke should really be a girl with these awesome cross-dressing skills he has, Inner Sakura bitterly remarked.
Sakura smiled beatifically on the outside and enthusiastically offered Saki a hand in cleaning.
----
“Hey, Saki,” Naruto called out. It was already afternoon, and Naruto was now standing at the front of her door to say goodbye. “Got something to talk about?” He stepped closer and caressed her hips.
“Naruto-kun…” She breathed against his lips. Naruto dove in for a kiss.
Saki was enjoying their little goodbye kiss when she felt something heavy move inside her. Her brows creased. Deciding to ignore it, she held unto Naruto’s neck tighter and moaned as she felt his tongue slid inside her mouth. Then that something started to struggle inside. She sighed in irritation. After some more kisses, she pushed Naruto away from her.
Naruto practically growled when Saki pushed him (albeit gently) away. Just when it’s starting to get hot and nice, she’s going to reject me? He glared at his girlfriend. This time was actually the first that she said no. Well, not that she had really said no but that was the idea. But like hell was he going to let this moment pass.
“Saki...” he growled. Saki shivered at the aggressive tone. She hated to do this, don’t want to do this, but something or rather, somebody really, really wanted to get back in control right now. She whimpered a little when Naruto pressed her into the door. She refused to look him in the eye.
Seeing Saki with that troubled look made Naruto furrow his own brows. He slowly released his girlfriend from his hold and looked at her. Of course she wouldn't make eye contact. He knew that much. The blond boy sighed.
“Alright, I’ll see ya tomorrow then?” And after a peck on the lips, he was gone.
“You idiot…” Words were directed inside rather than at the person who had just left. “It’s your fault that he got mad! I won't forget this.”
For at least thirty seconds or so, the brunette stood stationary at the front of the door until she abruptly started hyperventilating and clawing at her frilly front. After a couple of seconds later, the black-eyed person calmly stood up straight and faced the door like nothing had happened.
Sasuke opened his eyes. He was at his door. It was already afternoon and…(eye twitch) he was wearing a goddamn dress. His hands were undoing the locks while he gazed blankly out into the open.
It was the first time that Saki had taken over without his consent.
---
It was already evening. Sasuke had just put the phone back to its cradle after dismissing Naruto’s insistent checking in. And that was where he felt a subtle touch of cold hands on his arms. He almost toppled over the table when he jumped.
Don’t fuck with me, this isn’t real, Sasuke said in his thoughts. (Or more like convincing himself that that was the case.)
What are you talking about? I hate you. Do you think you are the only one capable of hate? We’re just one, after all, came a feminine voice deep inside his consciousness. Of course, Sasuke couldn't shut up whatever impaired part of his brain that involuntarily responded, could he? So he glared his best at the wall, more specifically the mirror on the wall. His heart stopped.
In the mirror's reflection, he saw himself standing, pale and stricken, as Saki crawled up and over his back, her slender hands slithering up his arms to his neck. Several seconds passed before the imagine fully registered in his brain and without thinking he threw his fist into the reflective glass. Millions of shards fell like rain around him, the sound of their breaking resounding through the apaato.
He idly wondered if the blood that run slippery over his knuckles and the pain from the resulting wounds would snap him out of this self-induced schizophrenia. His eyes focused on the destroyed reflection. The broken glass had left a semblance of a spider's tangled web. He cursed. He was alone in his shattered reflection. But the air was still cold and it was not tension he was feeling in his muscles.
He proceeded to go and wash the blood and bits of glass out of his skin, intending to not look at the mirror in front of the basin. This is the second night. He gritted his teeth. And this time he was not faring as well either. Of course he didn't believe in ghosts, it was just a silly myth after all. Everything and anything can be done with chakra as long as you were a skilled shinobi. He tried to calm himself by taking in deep breaths. Yes, this is just a genjutsu. He ignored the tingling of his skin. He ignored the icy air that surrounded him like a thick fog. He activated his sharingan. Then, from the corner of his eye, he saw a familiar figure in ribbons wearing a short, laced skirt. Surprised, he fell down to the floor and his sharingan deactivated. When he looked back at the spot, the apparition was gone. His skin suddenly felt clammy and he tried to calm his racing heart.
Needless to say, he spent his whole night, building another set of traps in his apartment.
---
The sun rose up to produce yet another pleasant day with the birds happily chirping from their branches. However, there was one person who was more gloomy than usual. It was dampening Naruto’s mood and their cute little picnic that Sakura had made with love. And it was pissing him off.
Naruto looked over Sasuke. As much as the dark-haired prodigy tried to hide it, Naruto could notice the tautness of the boy's muscles and the general air of exhaustion that he only seen previously whenever they stood watch overnight. Of course he knew. Heck, they were partners after all.
“Usaratonkatchi,” that simple insult cut Naruto from his reverie. “What are you looking at?” Sasuke glared at him. Naruto snorted and looked away.
“Heh! As if I’m looking at you! What made you think that way, you conceited asshole?”
“I’m surprised that you even know that word despite your mental capacity, moron. Or should I say mental incapacity?” Sasuke sneered while he took a bite out his rice ball.
“Teme…” Naruto growled.
Sakura just sighed in defeat. She resisted the urge to smack Naruto’s head again. Her knuckles hurt from repeatedly bonking that hard blond head. She couldn't imagine how they managed not to get tired of arguing. As if they are not doing weird things together at night when Sasuke is in drag. She blushed from her own thought and focused on her tea.
Naruto cursed and stood up in attempt to beat the bastard up, but Kakashi held his palms up. “Now, now kids. Don’t ruin the atmosphere. We’re at a nice picnic that aims to improve our teamwork. Instead of fighting, we should look towards the sun and see our bright future!”
In Kakashi’s delight, he earned a massive sweat-drop from all of his students. His smile widened a bit more.
“Kakashi-sensei… stop speaking like Gai-sensei. It’s creepy.” Naruto grimaced.
Sasuke snorted and stood up, but before taking a step, the soft ground underneath him was suddenly covered in a flat black. Kuso, Sasuke swore in his mind. What is this? Genjutsu? But I can’t sense anything like it. Is it back again? Am I going crazy? It's getting colder…
Kakashi narrowed his eyes when he saw Sasuke’s muscles tensing. He decided to remain silent and continued to observe as the more energetic member of his team sprang from his feet and approached the frozen dark-haired boy.
Sasuke could not see them now. When the hell it did became all black? He can’t move his legs or any of his other limbs. Saki had appeared from amongst the blackness, but he was not relieved to see her. Instead, his attention was directly focused on her porcelain white dainty fingers protruding out of the lacy sleeves. Abruptly, she reached up for him, the bony digits coming close, and closer still--coming to crushing his throat--
“Sasuke.. OE, Sasuke!” Naruto screamed into his stiffened face. He blinked slowly and took in the peaceful surrounding of the forest of Konoha. The next detail that he noticed was the heavy things on his shoulders. He immediately balked when he realized that they were Naruto’s warm big hands on him. The blond boy instantly received a kick in the face.
Naruto howled in rage as he cradled his beloved face. “You asshole! I was planning of asking some pretty girl to hang at my house tonight and be nice to you the whole day but now you have to hit my face! I take it back!”
“What nonsense are you talking about? Is screaming at someone’s face nice? You have an outrageous standard of civility, Uzumaki.” Sasuke glared.
Scratching his head, Kakashi ordered the boys to come back under the shade and Naruto suffered another hit in the head courtesy of Sakura’s knuckles.
---
Naruto couldn't suppress his grin of victory when that night, Saki showed up at his doorsteps.
“Hmmnn…” Naruto inhaled deeply. “You smell nice, pet. Missed you, yanno.”
“Naruto-kun.” Saki blushed. “I don’t think we should do this in front of your door.” Naruto laid several little kisses on her exposed neck
“You didn't protest when I did you in some dark alley, love. You should have gotten used to it by now.” Naruto gave a long lick to her neck and smiled wide and big. He grinned wolfishly when he felt a minute tick by. “Just joking, come on.” He ushered her in. Saki quietly sat down on the only furniture that he had in his little room.
She smiled and beckoned him to sit beside her. Naruto happily responded and gave her a big hug. She was happy--happy that Naruto was here--happy that she felt more alive and that they would just stay like this. The shinobi part of her would recede and Sasuke would be okay with it and she could live with Naruto while he could disappear for good...
-What am I thinking?-
Sasuke suddenly opened his eyes. Naruto didn't notice as he released him from his hold. “Hey hey, you’re kind of cold. Is it windy outside? I’ll get you some tea, kay?”
Sasuke just nodded dumbly, lost in his own thoughts as Naruto (who still hadn't noticed The Change) stood up to prepare some tea.
After some time, the blonde came back and was about to announce himself, but the creasing of his girlfriend’s delicate brows stopped him. What is she thinking? Or he is already...He put the tea down and stood in front of Saki with his hands on his hips. Even with the powder and make-up, he could still see that tension on her(his?) brows and the uneasy tugging of the hem of her sleeves. He knew for certain that Sasuke would never tell anything to him even if his life depended on it. He noted the sunken eyes (probably from lack of sleep). As for Saki, it was hell of a lot easier to pull information with a few touches here and little words there. Well, at least he could take care of the bastard this way. Even if it felt sneaky and hurt his nindo a little bit. He smugly grinned, thinking of his brilliance.
On the other hand, Sasuke was too occupied with himself that he did not notice Naruto looming above him. What kind of fucked-up idea made me think that it wouldn't affect me since Naruto was here?
“Yosh! I’ve decided that you’re going to sleep here at my house tonight!” Naruto declared.
Sasuke, still lost in his own thoughts, ignored blabbers of the person standing in front of him. “I… think I’m going, Naruto.” Naruto blinked at the absence of suffix added to his name. He tried to look closely and saw some unease in his girlfriend’s eye. There was a hint of firmness in his voice but then there was the usual timidity in the way she speaks. Like hell that he’s going to let Saki or Sasuke, whatever (s)he was right now be alone like this by himself (or herself).
“You’re not going anywhere, Saki. You’re staying here with me 'til morning.”
(S)he did not glared, but her lips thinned. “Naruto-kun… I think I really need to go.”
“It’s fine. You need your sleep. I’ll be here so don’t worry about it now. I’ll protect you.” Even if you don’t want me to. He didn’t need to say it. And yeah, Saki might love to hear it but Sasuke did not. So, Naruto thought. This will be enough. There were still some things in this relationship that must be kept up. He smiled.
Finally, Saki’s eyes started to sparkle and she smiled back at him. She took the tea and sipped from the cup, indicating her submission to his decision. He let out a thankful breath that he hadn't realized he'd been holding.
In the middle of the night Naruto woke up when he felt Saki trembling in his arms. Oh shit, Naruto thought in despair. Sasuke is going to kill me if he wakes up like this. He watched his girlfriend flailing beside him. Then his eyes hardened. There’s no time to hesitate, here I go. Then he climbed onto Saki and sat on her abdomen while catching her struggling hands. “Calm down, Saki-chan.”
Sasuke felt as if something was crushing his chest and he struggled blindly against an invisible opponent. He opened his mouth wider to let air come in. A nightmare. He was well aware that this was a nightmare, but it wouldn't let him wake up. His heartbeat doubled. And for a second, he came to the half-thought conclusion that it was someone who was sitting on his chest. He felt the coarse texture of laces brushing his neck and chest. He couldn't see the face of the owner because it was veiled by its black bangs and everything was dimmed by the bleakness of the night.
The only thing that he could observe clearly was its lips--colored by a cherry gloss.
He tried his best in opening his jaw in an effort to wake himself up. His ribs hurt and he was almost afraid that all of his air supply would be gone soon. He struggled more as his visions started to darken up. I’m not going to end up like this. I’m not going to end up like this... chanted his brain in a mantra.
His head suddenly snapped to the side and his world became clear and real again.
Naruto hoped that the punch wouldn't show in the morning. But at least it had been forceful enough to wake up the sleeping princess from her nightmare. Naruto sighed when he saw Saki's eyes shoot open, but inwardly he swore as he recognized those eyes as belonging to his teammate, not to his girlfriend. Crap, I have to think of how am I going to leave my position properly and what am I going to say about this. He fidgeted a little as Sasuke fixed him with his dark eyes.
“Ahh…well…you were having a bad dream and I had to wake you up and…ahehe, hehe..” He tensed when he felt Sasuke shift underneath him. But no attack came. He looked back down at Sasuke and saw that he was still looking at him.
Shit, I’m really going to die.
<< Prologue || Part 2 >>
edit:Mar14(GMT+8) dont the final editings, yoosha! onwards to the last and second part XXDD