Cap 8…
Dumbledore led them through huge doors, up a marble stair case until they hit the third floor. Here he led them through all kinds of hallways and corridors until they came to a heavy wooden door, indistinguishable from the other wooden doors. Dumbledore opened it and Sasuke immediately spotted two beds, a table with two chairs and a nightstand.
"This'll be your room for the duration of the mission. This door," Dumbledore gestured to another wooden door, "leads to a bathroom."
He explained the times when food was served in a place called the Great Hall, but he promised them that Rubeus (so that was Giant Fuzzball's name!) would give them a tour of the place tomorrow.
"For now, please rest. Rubeus'll come collect you in the morning."
After exchanging some polite goodnights the employer left, and Naruto was finally able to burst free from his self-imposed silence. Apart from a couple of "wow"-remarks, his teammate had been unnaturally silent the whole time. Sasuke didn't know if that was because Naruto couldn't express himself in English, or if he was growing up, but probably the former. But now everything he'd held back came out like ash in a volcanic explosion.
"Did you see the giant lake? And the castle? It's huge! I can actually feel the chakra in this place, I bet you can see it. I noticed you used the Sharingan. Can you see it, huh?"
Sasuke gave a curt nod and dumped his backpack on the first bed. The room was large but for the most part empty. Two four-poster beds graced the room, both with red curtains. A single window showed a view of the lake and a red-golden rug lay on the floor. At the foot of the beds stood a trunk large enough to stuff Naruto in and still have room to spare. A nightstand with drawers stood next to the bed and on the wall hung a tapestry depicting some war concerning an unicorn and a leprechaun or some kind of magical creature Sasuke hadn't ever laid eyes on. A fireplace coated with black charcoal and ash was embedded into the wall and a heavy-looking table with two chairs completed the room.
Naruto still babbled away as he walked towards the bathroom, so all Sasuke had to do was grunt sometimes or say "hn". He gave the bathroom a quick glance, but it wasn't a bathroom to brag about. A clear white bath tub, an unassuming toilet and a sink along with a mirror was all there was to it, along with a small glass shower cubicle embedded into the wall.
He'd better start unpacking before sleep claimed him, and he hated rushed unpacking when you had a giant fuzzball banging on your door.
He paused at the first item he grabbed. His mask.
No way. This was Tsunade's way of getting revenge on Naruto for some perceived (or actual) sleight, but for once his teammate had been sneaky and had pawned the mask off onto Sasuke. Without checking what the mask represented he had chucked it into his backpack and had kept on packing in a hurry.
After seeing the look on Sasuke's face Naruto almost laughed himself into a coma (or a Chidori-induced one) but that still didn't change the mask.
It pictured a chick. Not a girl, but the cute little yellow balls of feather that children want to hold in their hands and cluck at. Or at least, that's what Sasuke had observed. He'd been too busy flinging yet another kunai at the target painted on a tree to pay much attention to the chirping chicks in the neighbor's back yard.
Since they weren't ANBU (yet) they were given masks which didn't exist within ANBU. Such as the fox mask Naruto currently examined, and the chick mask. The fox mask wasn't used for an obvious reason, which sat across from Sasuke on the bed.
As for the chick mask… Sasuke doubted any self-respecting shinobi would willingly wear a mask that represented a fuzzy yellow creature. A very non-deadly creature, if you overlooked the salmonella thing. Silently Sasuke let the hidden kunai in his sleeve slide into his hand and with it he scraped off the paint.
"Hey! What are you doing?" Naruto asked.
"Changing my mask," replied Sasuke in an even tone. "Go find me some charcoal."
"Go find it yourself, lazy bum. I'm happy with my mask, if you want to fingerpaint all over your mask, go ahead. But don't order me around."
With a harrumph Naruto returned to unpacking and soon Sasuke lost himself in the task of repainting his mask. The small fireplace provided enough charcoal for his art project and soon the stylized chick was replaced by a more menacing crow. Sasuke blew the last charcoal from the mask and slid a thumb over the drawing. He might have to find some varnish later on, but for now it'd do. He erased the smudge his thumb left and turned to find his teammate already fast asleep.
Sasuke quickly unpacked. With every snore Naruto gave he felt his eyelids getting heavier. He had lost track of how many hours he'd been awake, but it was too long. Especially if they were expected to talk a lot of English tomorrow. He'd need his wits about him.
He bit his tongue on the remark that Naruto'd need to sleep three weeks straight to keep his wits about. No use talking to a sleeping body, but it was so automatic to insult Naruto he didn't even had to think about it. After he finished unpacking he collapsed on the bed and just managed to pull the covers over his body before his mind joined Naruto's in dreamland.
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