A walk home from school. It usually is peaceful and the blond enjoyed them, but today seemed to be different. It was nice until the blond ran into a certain snake.
Naruto narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. No way in hell is he ever taking his eyes off of him. "What the hell do you want?"
Orochimaru smirked and shrugged. "What, can't I come check up on my favorite student?" His voice almost seemed to give off a hiss as he spoke.
Naruto didn't show any emotion. "I'm not your student anymore Orochimaru, now just tell me what you want."
"Oh, I was just wondering if you all found everything that you wanted to at the warehouse."
Of course he knew they were at the warehouse. Something tells him that he shouldn't tell Orochimaru anything though. Last time he talked with him, he captured him and almost killed him. "I wouldn't know. They didn't tell me yet."
Orochimaru stares into blue eyes without any form of emotion, then he smiles. "I see." Orochimaru narrows his eyes with a wicked smile. "How about you come with me, Naruto. It's so much easier if you willingly come along."
Naruto scoffs. "Do you think I'm that big of an idiot? I know you want to kill me."
"That may be, but if you don't come with me then I will make you wish you had. "
Naruto loses any kind of smile he had when he hears this. "Not happening."
Orochimaru shrugs starting to leave. "Don't say I didn't warn you." He then stops and turns back to the blond. "Oh, that's right, I almost forgot. You forgot something at the warehouse." He pulls something from his pocket and throws it at the blond. Naruto instinctively catches it and drops his eyes down to it for a second, then back up to the snake. When he looks to him he sees him leaving. "You don't have to worry. I didn't do anything to it. Toodles." He waves his goodbye and disappears from Naruto's sight.
Slowly the blond glances down to the vial in his hands. It was the one they were supposed to get. Why did he ...
Not wanting to waist any time, Naruto looks around and starts walking again, puling his phone out of his pocket and calling Sasuke. "Come on, pick up teme. Pick up."
The ringing stops and a voice sounds from the other side. "Naruto, what's wrong?"
"What makes you think something is wrong? Did you ever think I called to ask how you were or anything?"
"No."
Naruto narrows his eyes and purses his lips. "I see how it is. Well, actually something did happen. I ran into Orochimaru into the street walking home from school today."
"I'll be right there."
Sasuke hung up the phone and Naruto pulls it from his head and looks to the screen then sighs and shoves it back in his pocket. True enough, Sasuke showed up on his bike within five minutes, no doubt he was speeding.
"Get on." Naruto grabs the helmet and get on the back of the bike and wraps his arms around the raven. Of course Sasuke would drive like a bat outta hell making Naruto hold on all the tighter, but because he drives so fast they get back to the mansion in no time.
Sitting down at the dining room table with Sasuke and Itachi, Naruto pulls out the vial that Orochimaru threw to him. "He gave this to me." Sasuke's eyes widened and he takes it from the blond to inspect it. "He said he didn't do anything to it, but we can't trust that for obvious reasons."
"He just gave it to you?" Itachi asked looking perplexed.
"Yeah, he asked me if we found everything we wanted to at the warehouse."
"What did you tell him?" Sasuke brought his eyes to the blond's.
"I said that you guys didn't tell me and I didn't know. He also said that if I didn't come with him then he would make me wish I had." Naruto drops his eyes to his hands on the table. "He's going to go after everyone around me, isn't he?"
Itachi frowns seeing the blond like this. It's not like he asked for any of this, but it's unavoidable. "Yes." Itachi sighs standing up. "I didn't want to have to resort to this." Both Naruto and Sasuke look up to him confused. "But it looks like we are going to go on vacation for a little while."
Naruto furrows his brows and Sasuke narrows cold eyes to his brother, knowing what he was planning on doing. Naruto glances from Sasuke to Itachi. "We can't. Not when Orochimaru could hurt my friends and family. I need to be here for them."
"I've been thinking about this for a while, you don't need to worry about it. Orochimaru is after you so he won't do anything to anyone if you aren't there to witness it. Besides, we are taking them with us. All of you are involved now, so you have to do a little something."
Sasuke stands up, clearly unpleased. "We're not going to visit them, are we?"
Naruto turns wide eyes to the raven. "Who?"
Itachi just smirks. "Indeed we are otouto, it's for the best and they are the best at what they do. Not to mention one of the last."
The blond shoots blue eyes back to the older Uchiha. "Who are we going to see?"
"I refuse. They are evil."
Itachi chuckles at his little brother's reaction. "They aren't evil. You just don't like what they did to you as a child."
"Hey!" Naruto shouts causing the two to look at Naruto a little surprised. "Who are we going to go see?"
"Only the most dreadful-"
Itachi cuts him off, rolling his eyes. "Polite."
"Devious." The raven growls.
"Outgoing."
"Malicious."
"Welcoming."
"Dangerous."
"Kind hearted people we know."
Naruto gives them a slow blink, not really sure who to believe or what to think since he got two completely different answers from the siblings. "Uhm ... alright. I guess I'll just ... go tell Jiraiya and the others then." Naruto furrows his brows as he stands and starts to leave.
"I'll come with you so I can explain everything a little better." Sasuke looks back to Itachi. "You tell the others what we have planned and call Deidara and the others to keep watch on the two we have in the cellar while we're gone." Itachi nods as the two leave the building.
XXXXX
"So what exactly is going on?" The blond asks as they sit in the living room.
"Wait, you don't even know what's going on?" Kiba sighed.
"No, Sasuke and Itachi just confused the shit out of me."
"Language Naruto." Iruka scolded.
"I don't know if my mom is going to like this." Shikamaru sighed leaning back in the seat.
"Nothing bad is going to happen." Sasuke finally chimed in making everyone look to him.
"Then what exactly is going on?" Sakura said crossing her arms. "Why bring us all here at night?"
"I'll explain, just give me a second." Sasuke rubs his face and sighs. "Alright, everyone that is here knows about my family and that vampires exist and Orochimaru wants to kill Naruto. Because all of you are close friends with Naruto, Orochimaru will use you to get Naruto to go to him, so we are taking all of you to a place to learn the basic defenses against a vampire."
"You're going to teach us how to kill vampires?" Sakura gaped with wide eyes.
"It will only be the basics of defense. To become an actual vampire hunter it takes years to master the skill. We all think that teaching you at least this will be better than nothing, just in case Orochimaru does try something to any of you. We want you to be safe if none of us are around you."
"Aw, the Uchiha does care about us." Sakura teases with a smile. Sasuke just gives her an unamused look, which only made her smile more.
"Vampire hunting, huh?" Jiraiya hums, putting a hand on his chin in thought. "I do think it is a good idea. You should all tell your parents and pack your things."
"Well we can't. Kakashi and I are teachers, we would need to tell the principle to get a substitute."
"We've already got that covered." Iruka goes to say something then stops, not knowing what to say. "Alright, anyone else have any problems?"
"Yeah." Shikamaru heaves a sigh. "There is no way my mom will allow me to go."
"Same here." Sakura frowns. "I don't know if my parent's will let me go."
"Tell them it's a school trip. I'll even make it so if they call the school their call will be directed to my phone if you want me to."
"You can do that?" Sakura questioned.
"Yes, it wouldn't take me long. Anyone else?"
"How long would we be gone?" Kakashi asked making the raven look to him.
"A week at least." Sasuke looks around and makes a mental note of who was all going just for safety reasons. Seven of Naruto's friends and the five Uchiha.
"What about Kurama?" Naruto asked looking into onyx eyes.
Eight of Naruto's friends.
"He's coming too." Sasuke stands up looking around. "We want to leave as soon as possible so let's get everyone home. You four come with me." He points to Sakura, Kiba, Shikamaru and Sai. "I'll take you all home." They all nod and follow the raven. "I'll be back later Naruto. Get your things packed."
"I will." The door closes and Naruto sighs standing up.
"You feeling okay Naruto?" Iruka asked, a hint of worry in his voice.
"Yeah, I'm just a little nervous. I was living a normal life not all that long ago, then all of a sudden a vampire attacks me and my life is all sorts of messed up." The blond runs distressed hands through his golden hair. "Don't get me wrong, I love Sasuke and I'm glad he's in my life and without him I probably would be dead already, but I sometimes wish that I had a normal life, y'know?"
The three adults frown a little at him, they know he doesn't want any of this, but that is just the baggage that comes along with vampire blood in you.
"Everything is going to turn out just fine, kiddo. You don't gotta worry about it. Orochimaru won't be able to hurt you." Jiraiya smiles putting a firm hand on his shoulder.
"It's not me I'm worried about, but thanks Jiraiya." Naruto smiles to him then to Iruka and Kakashi. "You all should pack your things. Sasuke isn't very patient." The blond leaves the room and jumps up the stairs with his furry friends following behind, wagging his tail all the way.
XXXXX
"You never told me you guys have a private jet!" Naruto shouted.
Sasuke cringes at how loud Naruto could be at times. Boy can he pick 'em. "I didn't? Must have slipped my mind." Sasuke shrugged. "That's besides the point, where is everyone?"
Naruto glances over to the raven then down to his phone. "They said they would be here around midnight. They've got time." Just as the blond said this they hear two cars pulling into the driveway. "That must be them. I'll go get them." The blond perks up and runs out front, Kurama obviously following, to greet them.
"Sorry if we kept you all waiting, we took a wrong turn." Iruka nervously chuckled.
"It's fine by me, but Sasuke on the other hand doesn't know the meaning of patients sometimes." The blond chuckles. "It's best not to keep him waiting, come with me." Naruto waved for them to all follow as he walks back to the jet.
"We get to ride in a jet?" Sakura squealed with excitement.
"I hope that's okay with all of you." Itachi's voice sounded from behind them making everyone looks back to him.
"Of course it is!" Sakura smiled. "I've never been in a plane though, so this should be fun."
Itachi smiled and glanced at everyone. "Follow me, we have a compartment for the luggage in the side of the jet." Itachi starts walking and everyone follows him, Sakura talking his ear off the whole way. Naruto just smiles and shakes his head.
"Let's get on." Sasuke passes the blond, walking up the stairs to the jet. Naruto turns his eyes to him and goes on eagerly, Kurama right behind him.
It was even better than he had imagined. It was roomier than he had expected and it had a mini fridge as well. He plops down on a seat and practically melts into it. It was so soft. He wasn't going to want this ride to be over. Sasuke takes the seat in front of the blond and turned it so it was facing him, causing the blond's eyes to nearly pop out of his head.
"How did you do that?" He leans forward and looks on the sides of the seat.
"It's the lever on the right, near the wall. Just pull up." Naruto feels around and finds the lever, pulling it and he spins himself around so he's not facing the raven.
"That's so cool." He then turns himself back around with a grin from ear to ear. Sasuke just smirks at him and how easily amused he was. Not long after that, everyone else started getting onto the jet, just as amused as Naruto was.
XXXXX
The trip went a lot faster than Naruto wanted it to. Being on the jet was pretty fun, especially since he had never been on one, or a plane for a matter of fact. It was a whole new experience for the blond. But now it was almost over and they were landing soon.
The blond looks excitedly out of the window to see a island, a little on the smaller side, with a town on it and up on a hill, a little ways from the town, was a shrine. It looks as if it can see the whole town from there. Naruto couldn't help but beam with excitement.
Seeing the runway getting closer and closer, Naruto wanted to get out to explore the little village. All thoughts about wanting to stay on the jet leaving his one track brain. Naruto looks over to the raven who looked bored out of his mind. Naruto ignores him and turns himself to his friends.
When Madara finally lands the jet, Naruto couldn't wait to get out. He was practically bouncing in his seat.
"Dobe, calm down. There is no need to be so enthusiastic."
"Oh come on teme, it looks so fun!" The blond boasts with anticipation practically dripping from his words and Kurama barks to agree. "What could have happened to you that was so bad that makes you hate this place so much?"
Sasuke sighs and stands up walking to the door making it open. "We're here to practice, not have fun." The raven leaves the jet and Naruto give him a look of annoyance. He seriously has no fun.
"Don't worry about him Naruto. He's just like that when it comes to things he doesn't want to do." Itachi stops right next to the blond and looks down to him with crossed arms. "He'll lighten up by the end of the trip. I promise."
"I hope you're right." Naruto sighs and stand up. "Oh well, no since in letting his gloomy attitude get in my way of having fun! Besides, a little fun never hurt anybody."
"That's the spirit Naruto! Go teach my little cousin how to have fun!" Shisui smiled giving him a thumbs up and the blond ran out of the jet with Kurama eagerly following.
Naruto looks over to where he heard a noise coming from. Seeing Mr. Gloomy unloading the suitcases by his lonesome, he decided to go help. When they got everyone's luggage out, they heard Itachi talking. Naruto turns with Sasuke to see him, along with everyone else, talking with some of the townspeople.
The blond grabs his bag and slings it over his shoulder. "Let's catch up with them." Naruto starts walking and Sasuke follows, eventually catching up with the group but they stay in the back. The blond goes on his tippy toes a few times, trying to catch a glimpse of the man that greeted them. Once he did, he couldn't help but chuckle a little bit.
Sasuke casts a confused look in the blond's direction. "What are you laughing about?"
Naruto sends a glance to the raven, then back up to the man. "The guy that came to greet us."
Sasuke creased his brows with puzzlement. "What about him?"
"The hat he's hearing makes his head look like he's got a mushroom for a head. When he turns and you see his face, the blown beard makes it look like a stock."
Sasuke gave him an unamused look, but he looks up to the man and sees that it was true. He didn't think that it would look so funny, but it did. It actually made the raven crack a smile, and a small snicker. Sasuke glances to the blond who was chuckling, his smile slowly fading.
"I'm sorry."
Naruto stopped laughing instantaneously and turned shocked eyes to the raven. "What?"
"I didn't mean to snap at you about having fun when we were on the jet. I want you to have fun, another reason we brought you here is to take your mind off of everything that's been going on recently."
Naruto was stunned. He didn't know what to say. Sasuke was apologizing. The blond turns his eyes back forward and beams a smile. "I knew you didn't mean it, but it's nice to hear you apologize."
Sasuke smirks and turns his attention back to the front where the man was talking to the other Uchiha. "Don't get used to it dobe."
As they walk through the town, people came out of their houses and greeted them. Sasuke just nodded to the ones who came to him and continued on his way. Some kids wanting to play with Kurama and pet him which made Kurama happy for sure.
When they got to the bottom of the stairs that lead to the temple, Naruto was not looking forward to hiking them. There were so many. On the plus side it looked pretty with the trees on both side canopying the stairs, shading them from the sun.
The blond takes a deep breath and huffs it out. Then without any other form of warning, he starts sprinting up the monstrous amount of stairs screaming, "Let's go!" passing everybody and leaving a raven with slightly wide eyes. It wasn't long after Naruto started running, Kurama was right there with him. What has gotten into him?
Naruto skips every other step, but it wasn't long until he started to feel the burn in his legs. Although that didn't stop him, in fact, it made him push harder. He brings narrowed eyes up to see how much further he had. He has to be at least half way there, but that sure looks like a hell of a lot of stairs to go. But he'll be damned if he gave up now and gave Sasuke bragging rights to taunt him with the rest of this trip! He is Naruto Uzumaki dammit! And he doesn't give up!
Back down where the rest of the group was, Sasuke was counting the stairs out of boredom, so far he's at 296. He was almost positive there are at least 1000 steps here. Naruto was going to be exhausted by the end of it all, not to mention it gets slightly steeper near the top. The raven has to admit though, he kinda wishes he followed the blond. He could catch up, but he doesn't want to just randomly run passed everyone and draw attention to himself.
The raven sulks a little bit, sinking his hands into his pants pockets. Also, if he gets there first then he would be the only one there to meet the owner of the temple.
"I'm surprised you haven't chased after him Sasuke."
The ebony haired boy sends a glance to his cousin. "I decided against it. These stairs are a pain in the ass. Besides, it won't be long until we meet up with him again. There is no way he will make it up all of these stairs with that duffle bag."
"I don't know about that. He seemed pretty pumped. Why don't you go have a race? Motivate him to beat you. It will make the trip up these stairs faster." Shisui chuckled seeing his cousin's disgruntled expression. "Or not, you can stay here and count the stairs."
"Otouto."
The raven rolls his eyes to his other side where Itachi was now standing. "What?"
"I bet you that I can beat you up these stairs, how bout it? Just like old times." Itachi elbows his little brother in the arm and smirks seeing the spark in his eyes. "No vampire speed, just normal running. Maybe if we're lucky we can catch up to Naruto."
"Hn." The raven smirks closing his eyes and tilting his head to the stairs slightly. Then without warning he takes off, Itachi hot on his tail.
"That's more like it otouto! Bring it on!"
"You better have brought you're A game Itachi, cause I'm not going easy on you!"
"I wouldn't have it any other way!"
Naruto was starting to slow down. He was starting to think this was impossible. He didn't really take his bag's weight into consideration either. "When are these stairs going to end?!" He wheezes and stops for a second to catch his breath, hand on his hips, eyes closed and head back towards the rooftop of leaves that let little rays of light pass through. Kurama sits on the stair, panting heavily, cocking his head at his owner. He can't believe these people walk this every time. He glances back down the path, he couldn't see the others. How many steps had he gone up already?
He starts to turn back around, but he sees something small coming up the stairs. Actually ... two, something smalls. The blond narrows blue eyes to see if he could see what it was better. "Sasuke and Itachi?" What are they doing? He straightens up and crosses his arms. Are they running? Then his eyes widen. They're running. He whips his head around to the direction he needs to go. He was closer, but there were still so many stairs. He takes one more glance to the brothers, then sprints up the stairs once again. They turned this into a race, huh? Well he was going to beat them if it was the last thing he did! But how did they catch up so fast?!
Two steps at a time. No stopping. Full speed ahead. Don't look back. Ignore the nuisance swinging on his shoulder. Don't trip on Kurama. There aren't that many stairs left. Two hundred if that.
The blond's lungs and legs were burning. His heart drumming against his ribcage. He could feel the sweat rolling down his face the harder he pushed. He was starting to be able to hear the two yelling nonsense at each other, their yelling becoming more and more clear with every passing second.
Dammit! Are they using their vampire speed?! The blond was getting nervous. How were they not dying?! Faster! Come on!
"You may be fast, but I'm faster dobe!"
"Don't be cocky otouto! I'm just as fast as you!"
"I'm not letting either of you losers beat me!"
"We'll have to see about that Naruto!"
Itachi and Sasuke were now only around ten stairs behind the blond. He only had to keep it up for a little longer! He can do this! That's when he sees the brothers on both sides of him. No!
Ten more stairs. Everything was going so fast. The two of them were slowly passing him. Eight. He had to catch up. Six. He felt something kick on inside of him as he watched them gradually get further ahead. He rips the bag off his shoulder and whips it to the top of the stairs. Four. He jumps three steps, nearly tying it. Two. Another three, tying them. One. The three of them all jump at the same time, but only one of them touched the ground first. And Naruto had made it clear that he was the first to touch the sidewalk.
The blond rolls onto his back, legs dangling onto the stairs with a smile on his face. "I won." He raises his fist in the air and chuckles, panting like crazy. Kurama barks and lays himself near the three.
The siblings, who are panting right along with him, both beam smiles of approval to him. "That you did dobe, that you did."
"You did good Naruto."
"I have to admit, that was more fun than it probably should have been." Sasuke sits up looking at them, resting his arms on his knees. "So, do we have to wait for them or can we get inside?"
Itachi and Naruto sit up as well and Naruto turns his eyes to the older Uchiha. Itachi's eyes were staring at the direction they had came. "Well, we should probably wait, but they probably won't be here for a little while longer so we can go in and put our things in our rooms."
"Sounds good to me." Naruto stands, snatching the strap of his bag and slinging it once again over his shoulder.
The four of them walk up to the entrance of the temple and the doors open, revealing a man in an old Japanese robe. Itachi steps forward with a smile on his face. The man beams brightly at him and walks over to him, grabbing his hand and shaking it. "Itachi! It's been a long time!"
Itachi laughs and they drop each other's hands. "Indeed it has."
"I was so excited to hear from you that you were coming here. We have prepared all of the rooms and we cleaned the whole temple, so please com-" He stops abruptly and looks around. "Where is everyone else?"
"They'll be here soon." Itachi waves his hand in front of his face dismissing them. "We just had a race up the stairs and got here first.
"Oh, I see. In that case, please, come on in." He steps aside for them all to go inside the shrine.
"You sure have taken care of this place Takamura, last time we were here is was different.
"Oh yes, a lot has happened over the years. I became the owner of our families temple and I have been teaching my daughter about our family tradition." He glances over to Naruto and Sasuke. "Oh! I'm sorry, where are my manors? I am Takamura Sato, it is nice to meet you Naruto Uzumaki."
Naruto was a little taken back to how he knew him, but he smiled and bowed anyway. "It's nice to meet you too."
Takamura straightens. "I take it you know what you're here for then, right?"
"Yes."
"Great. We can catch up at dinner later with everyone. Why don't I take you to your rooms and you can settle in, get yourselves comfortable. We will start our training tomorrow morning." He leads them down a hall and stops. "This will be your room, Sasuke and Naruto. Itachi told me you would be sharing a room, right?"
"Yes, that's right." Itachi confirms.
"Alright, then Itachi, your room is this way." The two of them disappear around a corner, leaving the blond and the raven alone with Kurama. Sasuke turns his attention to the room and opens the door. Inside was two separate futons with a blanket and a single pillow.
Naruto sets his bag down, not able to tear his eyes from the beds. For some reason he was nervous. He was going to be sleeping in the same room as Sasuke. He doesn't know why that makes him as nervous as it does. He has slept in the same room as him before, hasn't he?
The blond bites his lip and looks to Kurama, who had already laid himself on Naruto's futon. He glances up to the raven to see him laying on his back with his eyes closed on the other futon. There is no reason to be nervous. He should be happy. He gets to sleep beside Sasuke.
Dragging his eyes away from the raven on the ground, he walks over to the window and glances outside. Their room got a view of the forest around the temple, it's actually really pretty.
Sasuke opens one eye and moves it to Naruto. "Those are doors, you can open them and sit out there on the walkway. It's like that around the whole temple."
Naruto glances back to Sasuke, then back to the door. He puts his hand on it and slides it open rather easily making a smile crack on his face. "This place is so cool."
"When I was younger we would come here often. This has always been my room. I would always sit out there and stare off into the distance. Itachi thought the fresh air on this island broke me or something because I never was as calm at home as I was here."
Naruto sits down and turns towards the raven, who was now on his side propping his head on his hand. "You were a hyper kid?"
"Of course. I never sat still. Kinda like you now."
Naruto just smiles and turns back around to the forest. "It does seem calming here. The aura seems so much different. I could just-" He throws his hands in the air and falls onto his back, spreading his legs out onto the walkway. He glances over to see his head was right next to Sasuke's stomach.
Sasuke just smirks and rolls onto his back again. "I understand how you feel."
Naruto closes his eyes for a little while, but opens them soon after. Glancing over to Sasuke, he scootches himself next to the raven and wraps his arms around him, laying his head on his chest. Naruto didn't have to see his face to know he was smirking, he just knew he was when he pulled him closer. Kurama perks his head up and turns his eyes to his owner. Feeling left out, he got up and plopped back down right next to the raven, placing his head on Sasuke's stomach.
The three of them stay like this for so long they almost fall asleep, but Sasuke snaps out of it when he heard the door open, although he didn't move anything other than his eyes. In the doorway stood an overexcited Itachi giving Sasuke hand motions to stay put, then he disappeared. He soon returned with his phone to take a picture making Sasuke roll his eyes, but close them for his brother's sake.
Sasuke glanced over after a few seconds to see Itachi talking to Shisui and Obito. That would explain why Itachi was coming to get them. He glances down to the blond who was knocked out on his chest then he drags his eyes over to his dog who was in the same situation his owner was. Like owner like pet.
"Naruto, wake up." Sasuke taps his shoulder a couple times to wake him up but that clearly didn't work. "Naruto." A few harder taps. All he gets is a groan. "Really dobe."
Naruto grumbles burying his face more in Sasuke's shirt and all Sasuke can hear is a muffled, "Five more minutes."
"No dobe, now. We have to go have dinner." Both owner and dog perk up at the word dinner. Sasuke narrows his eyes at him. "Next time I'm not going to be so nice to wake you up."
Naruto chuckled putting a hand on the back of his neck and stands up with Sasuke. "Sorry teme, food motivates."
Sasuke only rolls his eyes at him with a smirk ever so slightly tugging at him. "Just get your ass to the dining room."
"Aye, aye captain!" Naruto gives him a salute and marches off to the dining room where everyone was slowly filing in.
Naruto couldn't help but smile. Something about this place is telling him that this was going to be a fun trip. Maybe some unexpected things will happen here. Maybe they will learn something new and interesting. Naruto wasn't sure what was going to happen yet, but he knew something was bound to go down, and he was excited to see what it was.