Touching the untouchable

Chapter 15

Deidara was grinning in his seat, happy to see the tattoo on Naruto. "You kept it un!" Deidara exclaimed. Naruto smiled as he pushed his sleeve down and put his jacket back on. "They said I could." Naruto muttered as he sat down, folding his arms over his chest and shrinking into himself again.
"Will you be returning to Anbu?" Deidara asked, curious. Naruto folded his arms again, getting anxious about the attention when Deidara asked that question.
"Probably not. I have a nice job." Naruto said, "well except for the idiots that think that they can do whatever they want. Calling straight to Itachi's office thinking he would answer? Pfft." Itachi laughed, his previous secretaries would just let the call go through. Naruto had wired the calls from Itachi's phone in the office to his own so that he could interrogate them about their business first before the big boss has to speak.
"You were in the Anbu before, Naruto-kun? But you look so young." Konan said.
"Naruto was in Anbu since he was a teen. He was quick at learning so he became the best of the elites. But Naruto just disappeared all of a sudden." Deidara said, glaring at Naruto who shrugged at Deidara as if going MIA without a word to your friends was a normal thing to do.

"It doesn't matter anymore." Naruto muttered, opening his hand to examine it. Naruto shook his head when he heard Deidara huffing childishly. Naruto picked at his bandaged arm, Itachi subconsciously reached over to smack his hand away gently. Naruto sent Itachi a look but Itachi blinked at him innocently, making Naruto flick the peanut he was holding at Itachi. The peanut flew straight towards Itachi's mouth, Naruto watched as Itachi opened his mouth and caught the small object. Naruto sent Itachi a mock glare when the Uchiha smirked at him whilst chewing.

Itachi's guards watched the interaction in surprise, Itachi never touches anyone unnecessarily or in the way he just touched Naruto. "You said Naruto was the best of the elites? How come we have never seen you before?" Yahiko asked, confused when he saw Naruto and Deidara sharing a smirk. "Are you sure about that?" Deidara asked, wiggling his eyebrows. Itachi frowned, turning to look at Naruto who shrugged with a mysterious smile on his lips.
"What are you talking about, blondie?" Hidan snapped, throwing some of the snacks on the table into his mouth.

"Oh boy. You guys don't remember?" Deidara said, laughing and clapping. They looked over to Naruto but all they received was a smile and the boy tugged his hood over his head as if it was a hint. The group stared blankly, confused. Naruto sighed, he didn't think they were that forgetful. "That was like the biggest hint ever." Deidara grumbled, mumbling something about why he was friends with dumb people. Naruto leaned back in his chair, waiting for anyone to remember him.
"That was not even a hint!" Kisame snapped.
"Naruto was the kid that kept sitting on the ledges above our training rooms and he would sit for hours, waiting for someone to notice. But no one ever did and that was the story of how Naruto got mad and left Anbu." Deidara said, finishing off dramatically. Konan smacked him, "Be serious!"

"I am serious! Naruto used to sit there for HOURS but no one found him. He had to drop himself down to attack people for anyone to even realise he was there. We are Anbus for god sake and we didn't even notice him. The instructors let him because they said he helped us get a better awareness of our surroundings. Naruto did this surprise attack with us the most. That's why we even graduated top of the class." Naruto laughed, pushing his hood back off his head. When the food came, it became increasingly clear to them that Itachi, the ice king, seems to be attracted to Naruto. However, the blond is either really dense or he is playing hard to get. Itachi would help the blond get food when it seems too far away even though all the Uchiha had to do was push the turn-table a little towards the blond. Naruto would be having quiet conversations with the taller male, unaware that the others are observing their interactions. Itachi would never get up and get anything for anyone, not even his own friends but when he was going to get more drinks, he asked the blond if he wanted any. 'How interesting.'

"How did you end up in the Anbu, Naruto?" Nagato asked curiously, confused when both Naruto and Deidara tensed. Itachi turned to look at Naruto but all the blond did was shake his head. Naruto quickly finished his dessert as Deidara attempted to divert the question, however, it was not successful. Deidara looked to Naruto with pained eyes, asking a question. Everyone else noticed the expression, frowning. Did something really bad happen that made Naruto decide to join the Anbu? Naruto sighed, why is everything suddenly spilling out today when he kept his life hidden for many years already. Naruto gave a small nod and Deidara swallowed, he really didn't want to tell the story but it seems there is no way around it. Naruto would never be caught dead talking about his past to anyone.

Naruto glanced at his phone when he felt it vibrate. A call from work. "I'm going to take this call, text me when you're done." Naruto said, before muttering the last part to Itachi. Deidara nodded and watched with sad eyes as Naruto left. He knew it was hard for Naruto to even think about it but running away forever isn't the ideal solution either. Deidara sighed loudly when Naruto left, rubbing his face as if exhausted suddenly.

Deidara turned to face the group, his face hardening making them stiffen. "Whatever I am about to say does NOT leave this room, not even to Naruto. Itachi, this should not influence how you view Naruto; the Naruto now is not the same Naruto as before but you should by no means treat him differently to how you are treating him now. Am I making myself extremely clear?" Deidara asked, scrutinising everyone and waiting for them to nod. Once he was satisfied, he leaned forward. "Alright, let's begin."