Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Art of The Business ❯ Facing Flaws ( Chapter 12 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Naruto and Sasuke looked to one another before they could even think of coming up with an answer. It didn't seem like a wise idea to mention that this thing had been planned when it obviously didn't end in such a harmless prank. But if they kept their silence, their lives would still be at risk here.

"Well...you see...um" Sasuke began but had to hesitate in thought for a moment.

"Sasuke was just tutoring me at my house all night. When I drove him home this morning we were ambushed by those guys!" Narrator declared quickly. He turned to Sasuke with an approving look. "Right Sasuke?" It wasn't entirely a lie. Sure he stripped out the parts of his mistakes in starting this whole thing, but it still wasn't too far from the truth.

Itachi glanced over into the review mirror, giving Sasuke a skeptical look. "Tutoring? Since when have you offered any other type of service than 'company' Sasuke?" Itachi questioned, idling mocking him of course for his peculiar behavior with changing bedmates.

"Shut up!" Sasuke hissed. He thrust his knee into the back of Itachi's seat so that he pushed forward a bit. "Naruto wants to be a model, so why not learn from the best?!" Sasuke insisted proudly.

Itachi arched up a brow. "The best? Then why isn't he learning under that Haku character that’s been in all the magazines lately? Didn't he get the position in that shampoo commercial you were trying so hard for just a week ago?" Once again Sasuke violently pushed up against Itachi's seat.

"Who cares about that tranny?! They only picked him because he had longer hair. And he's not the best for your information! Even if he has the most diverse pictures" Sasuke grumbled. He couldn't believe Itachi would even bring up that guy. People only liked him because he looked good as a boy or a girl. Personally Sasuke didn't favor that at all. Who wanted a sissy boy anyway? His anger was dispersed by the time he feet a slight vibrating in his pocket. "Naruto, can you get that?” He asked turning around so Naruto could get his cell phone out of his back pocket.

"What the hell Sasuke?! You had a phone on you the whole time? And you didn't even bring up the fact we could call for help?!" Naruto exclaimed. He didn't give shit that the whole point was to have Itachi save them. After being really kidnapped he couldn’t care less who saved them just as long as they got out of there soon. With feral groan the blond reached into the back of Sasuke's pants and pulled out his phone. Sasuke graciously took and flipped it open.

"What?" he answered. Naruto couldn't help but sigh. What type of person answered their phone like that? It was rude and so arrogant...fitting Sasuke perfect. Sasuke merely nodded and replied okay for the next minute before hanging up. Of course Naruto and Itachi were expecting some sort of explanation for the interruption. Sasuke turned to Naruto, giving him a stern look. "That was Orochimaru. He says you have two days left to get your act together. We are going need to work harder tomorrow because we practically wasted all of today. Meet at my house tomorrow" Sasuke announced.

Naruto nodded. Well at least he didn't have to wait quite as long to achieve his goal. Itachi was intrigued with what he heard. So Naruto was really trying for this. When he talked to the boy on the subway he merely thought he was full of crap, aspiring to be someone because it paid well. But if he was truly desperate enough to seek Sasuke's help then he must have been serious about this. Of course Itachi doubted he could accomplish much working under Sasuke. He was all too sure his younger brother had less intent to teach than to woo Naruto like he usually did with anyone he wasted time with. It was a real shame though. Itachi couldn't be sure for now, but there was just something different about this kid from all the others and he certainly found Naruto more tolerable than all the bimbos Sasuke seduced.

Itachi didn't push on any further. He simply drove Naruto home. He doubted the boy's guardians would be there again if they didn't live with him. Leaving Sasuke in the care, he helped Naruto up the stairs and into the building. He had grabbed a knife from the kitchen to cut the ropes at Naruto’s wrist. There was no reason to take the teen to his own for that when he would be there tomorrow regardless. "Stay out of trouble Blondie. I can't have Sasuke in any more situations." Itachi insisted firmly before heading for the door. He was perfectly aware that the two couldn't simply have only done what Naruto claimed. He merely had a sense in him that told him whenever someone was lying or was extremely nervous in which they would try to stretch the truth. This time was no different. He could only hope Naruto heeded his words. His occupation made this too complicated for his brother to understand. And he didn't want to have to explain himself to Sasuke if he didn't need to. He was kidnapped because of their company not because of Itachi's odd jobs on the side, that was all Sasuke needed to know.

As far as Itachi could remember, he slept pretty soundly that night. He hadn't spoken a word to Sasuke since Naruto had left their side and he didn't intend to. He would have to be up bright and early tomorrow for work again so he didn't want to ruin the evening with idle gossip with his brother who was obviously curious with everything that was going on. Everything seemed to be going according to schedule except...Itachi didn't wake up nearly as early as he had wanted to. In fact he woke up near ten in the morning when was hours away from his intentional wake up call.

Much to his irritation he got out of bed and headed downstairs for the kitchen. He would simply have to get dressed and get to the office to make sure those idiots weren't screwing things up, after he had had a well balanced breakfast. Yes, that was the only thing to bring Itachi out of a grumpy morning mood and into a seemingly tolerable nonchalant mood. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he was accustomed to seeing an empty side living room but there was no such luck on an odd day such as this. Instead there were two teenage boys ogling over a pile of magazine down at the coffee table.

Apparently Naruto and Sasuke could sense the daggers glaring at them from the stair case since they turned to look. Naruto's face flushed slightly at the sight. For a man he had met in the utmost sophisticated apparel, Naruto was seeing a different side of Itachi. A side of him that was somewhat shameful for Sasuke to even put up with. Trying to keep down the utter discomfort Naruto felt, he turned his back to Itachi so that he was addressing Sasuke once more. "D-does Itachi always sleep in the nude?" Naruto asked in a hushed whisper.

Itachi heard the question and was so kind to answer before Sasuke could even open his mouth. "I have no reason to be ashamed in my own house." Itachi stated in a loud and decisive voice. "If you have a problem with it maybe you shouldn't be here so damn early in the morning in the first place" Itachi nearly hissed. With that he marched off into the kitchen.

Sasuke sighed and brushed back his hair. "Sorry about that Naruto. Itachi is always cranky in the morning. We don't have guest here often" Sasuke puffed out, laying his chin in his palm. "I believe we have Itachi to blame for that. Anyway, back to business. We have already covered all the history and basics here. Now we need to work on your runway walk. If you return with anything remotely similar to your last performance Orochimaru will have you dragged out by your balls." Sasuke so bluntly put it.

Naruto swallowed softly. Well that was certainly something he didn't want to find out on his own. “So how do I practice that?"

"I'll teach you the walk. Come on." Sasuke rushed. He pulled Naruto up by the hand and dragged the teen down the hall. "Itachi, can you get your grumpy ass over here too!" Sasuke called out. They stopped by a door and Sasuke let them both in. Naruto was astonished to find room decorated just like a catwalk. A long platform stage was centered in the room and a few chairs were on each side. A curtain covered the back of the stage where Naruto assumed the models were suppose to out. The entire back walk was covered in large 360 mirrors. "This is my training room. I don't need it that much, but it came in handy during my first year. Now I can put it to good use again." Sasuke explained. "There are already some clothes in the back of every kind."

Itachi came strutting in shortly after. For their connivance he had put on a silk robe. He didn't think he would like whatever Sasuke had called him in here for.

"Itachi you're going to be the audience alright!" Sasuke proclaimed without accepting any opinions. "You don't have to talk much. Just cheer or what not. And if it sucks, 'boo'. Just make it seem realistic." Itachi and Naruto both made sour faces at hearing that job title given to Itachi. "We're going to be the models Naruto" Sasuke declared, tugging Naruto along to the back. "One thing you should know. When you are a model you give up all rights what so ever to having privacy and a normal life. Everyone will be watching your every move. You won't be able to take a piss without some paparazzi person showing up. Well...that’s more like when you are more famous. But none the less, you will most likely be seen naked a hundred percent of the time, especially during run ways. You have to change into several outfits in only a minute or so, so you can't even worry about flashing some other model."

Itachi inwardly smirked to himself. it figures Sasuke would choose to go over this part of the job. he just wanted to see Naruto in all his naked glory without shame. Children... He sighed and took a seat in the front row at the end of the cat walk where the models would have to pose. He had better things to do then watch the boys play dress up. None the less he was still there and Sasuke was about to start.

The lights turned down and only a few stage lights were cut on. Heavy techno music suddenly began to play and the show began.

Naturally Sasuke began first to show Naruto the ropes. He hustled out of his clothes quickly and slipped into casual wear from the rack on set. "Start getting dressed" he told Naruto. But the blond was a little distracted with seeing Sasuke nearly naked up close. He didn't know why he never noticed Sasuke before, the guy was hot. Naruto flushed with that thought. He hadn't the time to admire his fellow model's physic, no matter how firm and muscular his chest looked or how majestic Sasuke's height was in comparison to his stern face.

He watched with the deepest blush as Sasuke stuttered on the catwalk. Though Itachi showed no approval or disapproval for that matter, Naruto was sure he had to have noticed Sasuke's natural talent in this profession. Naruto was just a little reluctant when it came his turn to walk. He remember Orochimari mentioning his walk was one of his worst practices. As Sasuke returned to the entrance, Naruto walked out. It showed through rather easily how uncomfortable he was but at least he managed to keep his balance and a steady pace this time.

Sasuke had to muffle his laughter after watching. "You can do better than that Naruto. That walk was just pathetic."

Itachi sighed and stood up. "Look as much as I would like to watch the two of you prance around like pixies, I have real work to attend to." He headed for the door, completely ignoring Sasuke's glares of hatred.

Naruto looked a little distraught as if his walking alone had drove Itachi away wih disgust or boredom. "Naruto forget him, we have a lot of work to do." Sasuke hissed, slipping his arm around Naruto's shoulder.

To Be Continued...

A/N: Gah!!! T_T I fail as a writer when it comes to timing. I will try my best to put up more chapters sooner. And sorry I couldn't quite give you what I promised in this chapter. But you can look forward to the next! I hope to hear from you all soon, and thanks for sticking with me this far. It gives me so much joy.