Ｓｅｌｆｉｓｈ Ｐｒｉｎｃｅ

XIX

Eyes full of wonder, the blond and his friends walked into the beautifully decorated hallways of the palace. Naruto and Sasuke walked next to each other, Sasuke leading the way to his room while Kiba and Shikamaru followed. Pain, Tobi, and Deidara walked slowly amongst themselves and whispered about the relationship between the blond kid and Sasuke.

"We're here." Sasuke announced, opening the large doors to his room.

"Sasuke, darling, don't you think he might want to have his own room?" Deidara asked, "I mean, sharing a room is nice and all but-"

"I want him to sleep in my room." Sasuke said, his voice determined as he looked towards the blond. "You don't mind, right?"

Naruto could only shrug, "I don't mind. Not that I have a say in anything, though."

"Of course you do." Sasuke smiled, "The only thing you don't have a say in is in whether or not you stay here. I've decided already and it'll be done." Happily, Sasuke grabbed Naruto's hand and dragged him inside the room. "Now, that wall over there is going to be taken down and the room there will be yours. If you ever decide you actually want your own room, we can also arrange that. Actually, I'll have one of our spare rooms be yours exclusively, that way you can have this room with me and your own room for privacy."

Naruto ignored the wall and took in the spacious room. Room? This looked more like his apartment multiplied by five! Kiba and Shikamaru too, stared in awe.

"How about you guys? Wanna come live here, too?" Sasuke asked, and he hoped they'd say yes. One could never have too many friends.

"As tempting as that sounds, Your Highness, we're fine." Kiba declined.

"As for the reward..." Shikamaru added, "we'd like to use it for something I'm sure is within your power." Nodding, Sasuke continued to converse with them, leaving Naruto to stare in wonder at the room.

Pein and Deidara smiled, Tobi looking lost in thought. "Guys, don't you think he's a bit possessive?" He asked them.

"Now what are you talking about, idiot?" Deidara grunted.

Tobi threw Deidara a look, "Really? You don't see what's going on here?"

"Well, I mean... it is kinda cool if you share rooms with a friend. Right?" Deidara looked over towards Pein, who was busy noting Sasuke's overwhelming excitement.

"Yeah, this could get a bit complicated." Pein said after much thought. "Something's going to go wrong and he's not going to like it. He's new to this having a real friend thing."

"I find offense in that," Deidara said. "We're real friends, too."

"I meant actual friends of his own, not friends he knows because of his brother." Pein elaborated.

"I guess I see what you mean. But aside from that, do you really think he could get carried away?" Deidara looked over at Sasuke. "Isn't that what we're here for?"

"You mean that's what you're here for; we have a busy schedule this week." Tobi reminded the blond as he pointed towards himself and Pein. "You're free this week, so good luck." He smiled, patting the blonde on the back.

"Why you little-"

"Alright, you losers, listen up." Anko walked in, interrupting Deidara. "Itachi says he strongly disagrees, but he knows Sasuke's going to be a little bitch about it so I guess he has no choice."

Everybody turned their heads to Naruto. Sasuke looking at him with a beaming smile. "He's staying." Sasuke announced.

"Alright then." Anko huffed. "Kid, get ready to move in. I got work to do." With that, she left and began making calls to carpenters and other people.

Sasuke jumped in excitement. "Aren't you excited? We're going to be together!"

Naruto smiled back, truly happy for the Prince's generosity but still, although he couldn't help but feel sketchy about this, he smiled and let the happy Prince cheer along with the others.