My Ex Want To Marry Again

Part - XIX

8th Nov, 2023
16:53

"Karin!" Suigetsu called out as he saw the redhead heading into her office to start the day.

Karin turned, needing to tell Suigetsu what she had learned from one of her co-workers over the weekend. And she needed to hurry before Suigetsu's mouth got them both fired. She had noticed their boss had just exited his office, most likely to discuss his appointment calendar for the week with his assistant who had just arrived at her desk.

"Did you hear? It finally happened! They were evidently at it all weekend. Yahiko limped into Onyx Sunday night. Limped! Looking smug as hell of course. He said Naruto was in even worse sh-" at that point Karin, who had literally been sprinting across the office, had finally reached him and clamped her hand over his mouth, bodily dragging him into her office and ignoring the rabidly curious stares following them.

Her door slammed, and there were a few moments of murmured voices before a shout was heard through her thick door, "How could Naruto have been married to such a tight-ass as him? Are you fucking serious? What the hell do they even have in common besides both being hot?" There was the sound of someone being pummeled, and a few minutes later a slightly bruised but still shocked looking Suigetsu was walking out of her office, and cheerfully called good morning to his pale, dark-haired boss who had been standing across the hall discussing his morning agenda with his assistant, pretending not to have heard anything. Only his assistant had noticed the white-knuckled death grip that Sasuke had on his folio, and she wisely chose to not address it.

Everyone in the office was torn between relief that the incredibly awkward outbursts of the new head of creative marketing would be over, but disappointed that they would evidently no longer get to hear the latest exploits of their former boss, and secretly gloat at the impact they had on their remaining boss.

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Sasuke had been debating whether or not to go into the exhibit at Akatsuki galleries. The earliest Gaara had been willing to give him an appointment on his calendar was Thursday. Sakura had not returned any of his calls, and when he had swung by the hospital where she worked he had been told she had called in sick that day and wasn't available. Hinata was still out of town. But he was sick of waiting around. He had been waiting for two fucking years.

Itachi had told Sasuke about meeting with Naruto to sell his share of the company. And despite the fact that Sasuke had been pushing for almost a year for that exact thing (which Gaara had evidently neglected to even fucking tell Naruto about), Sasuke was now uncertain that he really wanted to buy Naruto out. But he definitely didn't want him selling to some random idiot, either.

So in the end, he found himself standing outside an art gallery at 10 o'clock at night, with people in formal dress going in and out, trying to decide if he should go in and talk to Naruto, and - if so - what the hell he should say to a man he didn't know if he should crucify or abjectly apologize to. It would be a bit of a tricky situation.

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Naruto stood in the long room full of strangers looking at his paintings. To him, it felt like the emotional equivalent of being stripped naked under flood lights and searched. In fact, he thought he'd probably be more comfortable in that scenario than the one he presently found himself in. At least he had not contacted any of his old friends yet. He had purposely waited until after this exhibit was over before reaching out, not wanting any to feel 'slighted' that he didn't invite them but also really not wanting any of them here. This was personal. He could allow strangers to view this, since they had no context to connect it to and would look at his works more objectively. And he had invited Gaara, who already knew far worse than even what these paintings reflected. But that would be all. None of his friends had been particularly into art, except for maybe Neji and Sasuke who had the wealth to collect some of the classics, but they would never attend something like this. Naruto breathed a small laugh. This was not nearly high society enough to attract either of them, so he should be safe.

His eyes darted periodically to Yahiko, glaring at the man who had talked him into this. Yahiko smiled serenely back. Fuck him. Naruto glanced at the clock. In less than an hour, he could leave. Thank fucking god.

He felt a tension between his shoulder blades, as though someone was staring at him. He slowly turned, praying it would not be someone he knew. Only to be confronted by the specter of the absolute last person he wanted to see here.

"Sasuke," he said, not moving from his spot in the middle of the gallery, watching as the man who had ripped his life to pieces two years ago walked casually towards him, a smirk on his beautiful face. Naruto felt completely frozen. He was not prepared for this. Not here. Why the fuck did Sasuke have to find him here? What could he possibly want?

Naruto fought the urge to look to Yahiko. He didn't need help dealing with his past. He was strong enough to put on a polite social mask in public, and not make a scene. But his shock was slowly melting away into a bubbling anger that swirled just beneath the surface.

Sasuke had some fucking balls to just walk in here and give me that look, as though he had any right to be involved in my life anymore. Naruto wasn't practiced at hiding his emotions. But that didn't mean he couldn't do it if he really tried. So he focused on schooling all his feelings of confusion, anger, and hurt from his face. He thought of the meditation techniques that Sifu Shima had taught him for calming the mind. If Sasuke wanted to play mind games, Naruto could too. By the time Sasuke had reached him, Naruto was fully in control of himself again.

"Slumming it, Sasuke?" Naruto said lazily, allowing a cynical smile to twist his lips. "I wouldn't have thought something so far beneath you would warrant your interest."

Surprise and wariness flashed across Sasuke's otherwise stoic features. Cynicism wasn't something he was used to seeing from Naruto. He had expected a major explosion of some kind, or Naruto ignoring him completely.

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TBC..

Well, don't forget to check out my other stories as well 😉
I'll be back soon with the new chapter..
Take care and stay healthy and hydrated. love you all 🥰❤️

Cr: NaruLove11
Dt - 08/11/2023 - 16:53
1166 words