Naruto Fan Fiction / Naruto Shippuden Fan Fiction ❯ With You I Will Journey Life's Path ❯ Beep Beep, All Aboard! ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: The characters, items, places etc of Naruto are property of Masashi Kishimoto. These objects are used without permission for entertainment only, not for making money. No infringement is intended.

Chapter 2: Beep Beep, All Aboard!

"What a pleasant day you picked," Sasuke complained the moment he got out of Itachi's car, wrapping his coat tightly around himself as frigid winds circled them ferociously.

The snow had stopped leaving ice to crunch beneath their feet instead, prompting a glare from the younger Uchiha as he almost slipped over on it.

"You could have said no," Itachi told him with a shrug.

"You offered to pay and they have that new game I wanted to play here," Sasuke muttered, glaring at his sibling who returned him a saccharine sweet smile. "You bribed me."

"I did," Itachi admitted. "But we're here now, and we're going to enjoy it. Play nicely you two. And Deidara?"

Deidara glanced over, eyebrow raised in question. Itachi reached over and snatched the sketchbook he had tucked under his arm, opening the car again and putting it inside.

"No sketchbook," he chided. "You can sketch anytime. That isn't what we're here for."

He grabbed one of each of their arms and pulled them across the road to the arcade, despite their protests that they could walk. Once inside he let them go and pulled out his wallet, handing one note to Sasuke and another to Deidara.

"I swear it's like being with two children when you two get anywhere near each other," he told them sharply. "Go enjoy yourselves."

Sasuke immediately vanished to find the game he had wanted, leaving Deidara to attach himself to Itachi's arm and give him a beseeching look.

"Can we leave him here now?" He whispered.

"Follow him," Itachi told him firmly, pointing in the direction Sasuke had gone. "I'm sick of your bickering. I want you to get along if we're going to spend hours in a car together."

"Why do you want to go to the wedding anyway?" Deidara asked as they headed to Sasuke. "You don't know the people. From the sound of it your crazy uncle's going to be there. It's miles away- what's the appeal?"

"My father asked," Itachi replied quietly. "Nagato and Konan are important figures in his company, as is Madara unfortunately. If he shows up with his sons at his side and mixes with the right crowds, it'll look good for him. I'm not going to deny him that."

"I don't understand how that works."

"Family power. I'll explain later."

They joined Sasuke's side, where he was slipping coins into a gun game that was presumably the one he had wanted to try.

"If you want to go draw pictures Deidara, go ahead," Sasuke said airily. "Go on. I won't stop you."

"You are such a little jerk, yeah."

"And you are such a prick," Sasuke muttered, rolling his eyes but not looking at the artist.

"I am standing right here."

"Yes, I'm aware. Please move away and stop inhabiting the same space as me."

Deidara growled in disdain, eyes narrowing dangerously. "You brat, Uchiha-"

"Enough!" Itachi interjected, raising his voice slightly. "What's going on between you two lately? You've always been harsh with each other but lately you've been unbearable."

He received two stony silences in response.

"It's because you broke up with Naruto again, isn't it?" Itachi finally spoke up. "You've been snappy for the last couple of weeks now."

Sasuke's cheeks immediately turned scarlet and he haughtily tossed his hair in a manner that suggested Itachi was inferior to him, and thus he didn't have to answer.

"That tells me all I need to know, Sasuke. Thank you. Deidara- stay here."

"What?!"

"Stay here," Itachi repeated, before turning and heading away.

Deidara watched him, tempted to follow, but he decided against it and turned his attention to Sasuke's game instead. Eventually, he slipped a coin into the other side, picking up the gun like it was diseased and pointing it tentatively at the screen.

"What do I do?" He asked cautiously.

"Does your lowered IQ rub off on people?" Sasuke asked casually. Deidara shot him a confused yet offended glare.

"My brother asked the same thing once. You shoot the zombies. Boom, boom- with the gun, see?"

"I know that much! I mean... How?"

"You pull the trigger," Sasuke responded flatly.

"I know that!"

"Then stop asking stupid questions if you know the answers! Go left, would you?"

Deidara almost took a step to the left in the real world to anger Sasuke, but decided against such actions in case the younger Uchiha thought he was being serious and smacked him round the head with his gun.

Instead he pointed at the screen and took aim at the leftmost zombies, managing to miss every single shot he fired.

"Shoot the fucking zombies!" Sasuke told him sharply. "Not the space around them!"

"I'm sorry I'm not a superior marksman like you, you little terrorist!"

"It isn't hard! Aim it at their heads or their chest or their fucking arm for all I care, just shoot them!"

"I'll shoot you in a second," Deidara growled, aiming the gun in Sasuke's direction and pulling the trigger a few times. Of course it did nothing in actuality, other than annoy Sasuke.

"Please gather the small amount of brain cells you do possess into once space and shoot at the screen, Blondie."

Deidara took some more shots that finally landed when he got his bearings, giving Sasuke a sidelong glare of annoyance. "I haven't done this type of thing before, yeah."

"You learn something new every day," Sasuke marvelled, sarcasm lacing his tone.

They stayed silent, neither of them pointing out that Deidara was a fast learner. Together they made it to the end of the level, Sasuke recounting the tactic for the boss.

"His head is the weak point. You need to aim for-"

Deidara ignored him and set the gun back in the holster, turning and giving Itachi a smile as he returned. His eyes widened when he realised what his partner was holding, looking at him in wonder.

"Cotton candy?"

Itachi held the stick he was holding up. Pink, fluffy strands of spun sugar wrapped around it lightly, taking on the air of crystallised cotton wool. "I presume you like it?"

"Deidara, are you going to help?" Sasuke asked tetchily from their side.

Deidara glared at him and swiped some of the cotton candy off the stick with his fingers, answering an effective no. Itachi sighed and stepped forward, lifting the gun and shooting it towards the screen to help Sasuke without even looking at it. Instead he turned to Deidara, holding out the stick.

"You can take it. I can always go and get more."

"Are you sure?"

"Go ahead," Itachi shrugged, thrusting it forward slightly once more. Deidara reached out and took it, though not before Itachi gave him a tiny smile and leant over to snatch some off the stick.

"Are you aware you're hitting this guy perfectly?" Sasuke asked, a hint of disbelief in his voice.

"Huh?" Itachi hummed, glancing towards the screen. "Oh. Is it dead yet?"

"How the hell are you hitting him squarely in the head without even looking?"

"Practise?" Itachi shrugged with a smirk, watching the boss on the screen collapse and lowering the gun. "I presume that's all you need my help for?"

"You know what? Give me that," Sasuke sighed, snatching the gun from his hand. "I'll just play with both and you two go make out in a cupboard or whatever it is you do."

"Call Naruto," Itachi told him sternly, before finally allowing Deidara to slink away.

He followed, leading him to the cafe that was attached to the arcade and ordering them both coffee while Deidara attacked the cotton candy in his hands with vigour. Itachi tore a piece off as well, a small smile on his face at how happy the small gesture seemed to have made his partner.

"About the family power thing," he said, continuing his explanation.

"Businesses tend to get passed through family lines, especially in traditional Japanese families. Madara is currently the head of the company but since Nagato is a favourite in the company, it's possible Madara might hand the reins to him when he retires since my uncle has no children of his own." He paused, smirking lightly.

"That is a good decision for everyone involved, I must say. Regardless- in order to compete with the potential threat of Nagato, my father will use his familial status instead as leverage to inherit the business."

"Right," Deidara replied, nodding slowly. "So what does you and Sasuke being there mean?"

"It looks good for him. It..." Itachi tailed off, looking uncharacteristically nervous for a moment before he lowered his eyes to the table.

"Eventually, the idea is that I would inherit the business. By reminding Madara that our father has sons that could continue to run the company, he might be more inclined to pass it to my father. That, and it would keep it within the Uchiha name."

"But you don't want to do that kind of thing, do you?" Deidara exclaimed, narrowing his eyes at how cagey Itachi had become.

"I can't say it really interests me, no. I don't wish to discuss that side of things, Deidara."

"Why? So you can avoid it until one day you're told you have a business to run?"

"For that to happen my father would have to retire or die," Itachi told him pointedly.

"I know which will happen first. He may have cut his hours a little, but he won't ever retire. It's not his style. Besides, it could pass to Sasuke. It would automatically default to me as the eldest of course, but that doesn't mean Sasuke is ineligible."

Deidara sighed heavily, fixing Itachi with a stern look. "I don't like the sound of this, yeah."

"Don't worry about it," Itachi reassured. "It's my burden, not yours."

"And you're my boyfriend. It matters to me just as much."

"There's another matter I should point out," Itachi noted, glossing over Deidara's words. "My father told me something else about the wedding. It doesn't affect you, but it does affect Sasuke and I."

"What is it?"

"Nagato is Japanese. Konan is not, but between them they are combining traditions. Nagato will be dressed in traditional Japanese wedding attire, as will Madara. Since my own heritage is Japanese, I'm expected to wear a kimono and so is Sasuke."

"One of those robe things? The flowy ones with pretty patterns that look like really fancy girls dresses?"

"No Deidara," Itachi sighed heavily. "Male ones are generally quite plain if compared."

"Oh. I bet you'll look great in it, yeah."

"Thank you," Itachi murmured, giving him a small smile as Sasuke approached their table. He seemed to have brightened up, which led to Itachi shooting him a knowing smile.

"You spoke to Naruto?"

"Yeah, yeah. So did you, apparently."

"Oh?" Itachi said innocently. "Did I?"

"He said you called him about five minutes ago."

"Hmm. Maybe I did, then. I hear you were the cause of the argument, as usual. You really have to start keeping your temper in check, Sasuke. One of these days you'll throw him out and he won't come back again."

"Whatever," Sasuke muttered. "Don't lecture me. We're seeing each other tonight."

Itachi smirked, rising to a stand and beckoning for the other two to follow.

"We're here to have fun," he reasoned. "Shall we?"

They made their way towards the main arcade once more before Deidara became distracted, heading straight for something that was beeping at them from near the entrance. It was a child's sized ride labelled the Playbus, painted in neon colours and rocking backwards and forwards merrily to entice people to ride it.

"It's for children," Itachi pointed out. Deidara promptly ignored him and jumped straight into the back compartment, managing to just about fit inside while hunched over.

Unable to resist, Sasuke stepped forward and slipped a few coins in to get the machine going. Music began to play and the machine rocked back and forth, which only enticed Deidara to hoot with glee and stay right where he was to enjoy the ride.

"You realise your boyfriend's a moron?" Sasuke mused as he pulled his phone from his pocket.

"I'm aware," Itachi muttered, looking anywhere but at Deidara or the Playbus.

"Good good," Sasuke nodded, snapping a couple of photos while Deidara posed happily for them. "I'll get these on Facebook later then so everybody realises it as well."

"I'm going to go over here," Itachi replied with a heavy sigh, indicating behind him at absolutely nothing before practically running away from them both.

Sasuke snickered as he did so, eyeing the rocking Playbus for a moment before discarding his own pride and jumping into the back with Deidara.

"There's no room!" Deidara shrieked.

"Then make room!"

"Hey! Stop shoving me!"

From his safe distance, Itachi pulled his own phone from his pocket and aimed at them both to snap a shot with a tiny grin on his face. Once he had a couple of discreet photos, he turned his attention to... Well, anything else at all that wasn't his partner and his brother making fools of themselves.

"Come and play that game with me again," he heard Sasuke say a minute or so later, sounding closer than he should be. Itachi deemed it safe to turn back, noticing the ride had stopped and they were both walking towards him.

Deidara raised one eyebrow slowly in question and said nothing.

"Are you deaf as well as dumb, Blondie? Follow me."

"Why should I?"

"Just do it!"

Itachi gently nudged Deidara and shoved him after Sasuke, earning muttering and growling from his partner in return.

"If he asked you to join him he has to be in a good mood," he hissed to him. "Take advantage!"

"Alright, you're on Uchiha," Deidara exclaimed moments later, jogging to catch up to Sasuke. "And I'm going to kick your ass, just you watch!"

Itachi watched them banter from a few paces behind, a small smile on his face. Even if they were both verbally abusing one another, the stance they had fallen in to as they walked could only be labelled as that of two begrudging friends.

Chapter End