Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Genius And The Idiot ❯ Crossroads Part I ( Chapter 2 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Chapter 2: Crossroads Part I

Naruto shaded his narrowed eyes against the strong sun beating down his neck. He surveyed the surroundings and discovered nothing but huge houses surrounding him. By huge, he meant real HUGE. He has never seen such big houses before. At first, he thought it was some first class hotels but a confirmation from an ojisan from one of the houses proved that he was on the right track - That his father is living here, in one of them.

Naruto snorted. So, father has been living here comfortably while mother and son was left rotted in the streets. He began to have second thoughts in meeting this father of his. But the injustice he felt for his mother sent him stomping his feet ahead, determined to find out what the hell was going on between the generation before him.

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# The Genius and The Idiot #

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Sasuke twisted his lips in annoyance as he tried to drive his convertible Mercedes out of the gates of the Uzumakis'. The paparazzi waylaid his car as if bees swimming towards their pots of honey. Some of them flashed their cameras; some of them muffled their questions; some of them knocked on the window to get his attention.

Frustrated with the overwhelming attention, Sasuke pressed the car honk long enough to get them out of the way. Then he sped away, leaving the reporters to eat the dust of the road.

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# The Genius and The Idiot #

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Naruto spotted a car coming towards him in a distance. And he wasn't about to let it go. He dropped his bag on the ground and stationed himself in the middle of the side road, hands outstretched.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the idiot intercepting him in white T-shirt and ragged denim jeans. He braked his car to a slow stop right at his feet, his black orbs staring at him suspiciously.

The idiot grinned, hurried over to him, and gestured him to roll down his window. Sasuke simply rolled his eyes at him and was about to step up on his accelerator when the fool scurried right back to block his car upfront.

Sasuke frowned. (What an idiot…)

Naruto frowned back. (What a bastard…)

Finally, Sasuke gave in. he rolled down his window. Naruto smiled over the win as he bended down to look on the inside. It is a posh car alright. Everything about it is just so classy and the air-con… it feels just oh-so-cool against his s-

“What do you want?” Sasuke asked gruffly.

In an equally gruff manner, Naruto handed him the paper that has the address on it.

“May I know where…” Naruto trailed off when his senses instinctively perked up at the two cars coming on fast towards his way. The way the people in the cars popped their heads out of their cars seemingly trying to snap something out of their cameras caught his attention.

Then he heard the car beside him roared. Before he could stop it, the Mercedes beside him sped away…

“Hey!” Naruto shouted, remembering his address is still with the driver. “Give me back my address!!”

The Mercedes just swerved itself away in the corner…

Naruto swore and was forced off the road when the two cars zoomed past him, sending him toppling his foot one against another. He landed the ground with a thud. He groaned with a grimace to match the throbbing pain in his ass. “That bastard…”

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# The Genius and The Idiot #

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Holding up the small paper scribbled with words, Sasuke smirked wryly. (Another damned paparazzi trying to whip money out of Neji…)

Without a second thought, Sasuke crushed and tossed the paper out of his window. “Son of a bitch...”

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# The Genius and The Idiot #

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Naruto trudged his feet, dragging his bag along instead of carrying it. He was hungry and he felt sticky. And the incident just now didn't help matters. It made his blood boil instead.

“Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!” Naruto ranted, throwing his hands up in the air.

“Young man!” Naruto turned at his voice. It was another ojisan. The ojisan glared at him behind the towering gates. “We're going to call the police if you keep up with your crazy ranting!”

Feeling sorry, Naruto quickly apologized. When the ojisan turned to leave, Naruto called out for him.

So he lost the address.

But the memory was there, at least for the door number.

“What?” The ojisan replied gruffly.

“Ano sa, ojisan! You know where number 50 is?”

The ojisan's brows immediately knitted together. Then he gave Naruto an once-over. In his opinion, Naruto fitted the description of a reporter from a run-down news station with his big bag and all. “Are you one of them?”

Naruto misunderstood the question. He thought the ojisan was asking him whether he is one of the Uzumakis.

He nodded.

And was rather taken aback when he was shooed away. And he found it weird that the ojisan ended their meeting by calling him a bastard. But before he disappeared behind the garden, he called out loud enough for Naruto to hear. “Turn to your left corner ahead. The one standing alone.”

Naruto scratched his head in puzzlement. “Huh?”

Then realization hit. “Thank you, ojisan!”

…

Turn at the left corner ahead indeed.

Sounded so near yet so far.

It seemed to Naruto that the corner just drifted further with every step he advanced. Finally, he gave up and slumped at the sidewalk, wiping his perspiration with the back of his hands. “When will I ever reach there…?”

A van scooting in a distance caught his eyes. And to Naruto's surprise, it stopped right beside him. When the side door was pushed aside, a funny looking man with fuzzy eyebrows called out to him. “Are you going there as well?”

“Huh?”

“The heat must be getting you! Hop right in!”

Naruto was dragged into the van instead.

The moment he was in the van, three pairs of intense eyes focused on him, making him rather uneasy within the small space they shared.

Naruto gulped. “Nice to meet you guys.”

“I'm Rock Lee form Konoha newspapers!” The fuzzy eyebrows stretched his hand out. Naruto took it and shook it halfheartedly.

“And this is Chouji, our cameraman!” Lee pointed to the round-looking guy munching his potato chips away. Chouji smiled and Naruto smiled back.

“And the one driving the van, Shino is his name.” The cool-looking guy pushed the rim of his glasses up after he was introduced. And Naruto could feel he is staring at him through those dark sunglasses of his.

Naruto nodded politely though awkwardly towards Shino. (What a funny group of three…)

“What about you?” Lee asked.

“I'm Naruto from Chiba.”

“…”

The silence became so awkward that Naruto thought a black bird might be flying above them. He was relived when Lee broke the silence. His round eyes sparkled excitedly at him. “So Naruto-kun, what do you know about the Uzumakis?”

“Huh? Oh… I'm one of them.”

Again, the group fell silent. And that smacked the grin off Naruto immediately.

Luckily, the van came to a screech halt and saved the moment. Naruto got down after Chouji and was dumbstruck at the scene in front of him.

“Are they shooting movies here?” Naruto asked faintly when he managed to find his voice.

“You've got a weird sense of humor, Naruto-kun. This is the Uzumaki Mansion.” Lee was securing the microphone on his collar, so he missed the astonished look etched on Naruto. He scurried away with Chouji and Shino after that, leaving Naruto alone to remain dumbstruck.

(This… this house.. is the… my father…THIS IS THE UZUMAKI MANSION?)

Naruto whirled around excitedly to survey the surroundings.

“Turn to your left corner ahead. The one standing alone.”

The Mansion is indeed standing alone. The neighbors are all far away from this one. From the angle he was looking at, he thought he was staring down at the top of a hill.

(The ojisan is right!)

He turned his attention back to the Mansion. It was majestic-looking with all the tall elaborate windows, nicely mowed gardens and ornate fountains. Why, Naruto thought it was possible to house thousands of him!

But why are there so many reporters swarming around?

He straightened his bag on his shoulders and strode towards them. But he was shoved aside when the front gates creaked open. The reporters began shoving and hammering each other, trying to get to the front. Naruto heard the honking of a car, and surmised there must be a car trying to get its way through.

(Could it be my father?)

At this thought, Naruto elbowed his way though the crowd of reporters and even tried to tiptoe to get a better glimpse. But the more he tried, the more he was yanked away from the centre of attention.

Then, amidst the shoving and pushing, Naruto caught a glimpse of the figure in the car, supposing a polished silver Jaguar. It was a stern-looking elderly woman. She remained impassive despite the repeated flashing of lens directed at her.

The tidy blonde tresses with some highlights of gray…

The pair of authoritative brown eyes…

No doubt about it.

It was THE grandmother!

Naruto froze as his mind instinctively brought him back to that day…

-Flashback-

“Mother, I beg you! Please let me see Hatori! Just once, please!” His mother was on her knees at the door of Naruto-couldn't remember. But he did remember he was very young then, perhaps not older than two or three.

“Naruto!” His mother tugged on him, intending to make him kneel with her when the stern-looking obachan remained indifferent. Tears flowed uncontrollably down her flushed cheeks. “Plead wit-”

“ENOUGH!” The booming voice startled Naruto then, and he faltered, almost hitting the ground if not for his mother's firm grasp on him.

“This is Naruto. Hatori's son. Your grandchild.” His mother said, not giving up as she pushed him forward but he cowered instead, running to the back of his mother for the towering look on the old lady's face looked scary enough for him to pee his pants.

The grandmother didn't even spare him a glance. “Go before I call for the guards!”

“Mother! Please!”

“I have only one my daughter-in-law! And that is Shizuka. You can stop hurling relations with me. Take this money and go before I'll make decisions you regret.”

A thick envelope was tossed to the ground. When the grandmother disappeared behind the doorway, Naruto went to pick it up and earned a whack on his hands.

He cried out loud, matching his mother's anguish sobs.

“We will not take it.” His mother muffled out firmly in between her sobs as she embraced him.

-End of Flashback-

No wonder they say first impression last…

Even catching bits and pieces of her through hordes of reporters made him shuddered inexplicably. Disheartened, Naruto turned to walk away.

As the Jaguar maneuvered its way out of the gates, Tsunade gave a perfunctory glance out of her side window and caught the back of a retreating figure in white T-shirt looking quite like his late son, Hatori…

But within a split of a second, the figure was blocked by a detestable face belonging to a reporter, who got his face whammed on the window.

Tsunade winced at the sight. “A bunch of infidels!”

Kenshiro beside her quickly seek to appease the foul mood. “Step it up, Akira.”

The Jaguar slowly but steadily maneuvered out of the vultures' clutches. The moment the chance of freedom came, it sped itself high and away from them, leaving them to eat the dust of the road.

Naruto sighed as he watched the Jaguar passed him and turned at the corner. (Uzumaki Family…-snorts- I must be crazy to want to come to them…)

Brushing it off, Naruto swung his bag over his shoulders. (Now… -looks around- Where do I go from here?)