I pulled this from my da; however, it is my most recent update from that site. This only had a few days before making the jump here. Basically this (eventually three part) fic is a prize for my first place recipiant from a contest I held on da...back in August or September.... Yeah...it's taken me this long to get this started. The other two parts will arrive as I get them done.
Warnings:
This is an AU, SasuNaru, three part story. There is most likely some OOC…sorry about that…(I have a habit of making Sasuke perverted). Oh, and a crazy Anko is present as well. If you don't like SasuNaru, or other warnings, then hit the back button.
Oh...and this story is rated for language and suggested themes....for now.
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Grumbling, Naruto rolled out of bed, hoping that he wouldn't have to fight his roommate for the bathroom again, especially since he had to get to the library for work study. Yeah, Uzumaki Naruto was a sophomore in college and worked in the library some mornings. It wasn't so bad since the blonde was able to wake up early and stay up late if he had to…and he really had to in order to pay for school.
Thankfully, for Naruto, Kiba was still out cold in his bed, so there would be no fighting over who got to have control over the bathroom that morning. Still, that didn't mean that Naruto took forever, in fact his morning routine took a total of ten minutes at most, mainly because of his habit of showering the night before; Kiba was the one who took forever. With that done, Naruto then left the room and began his walk across campus.
That morning the sun was brightly shinning and the sky was clear, but Naruto knew better than to think that the entire day would be so nice. The school was in an area where the weather could change from bright and shinning one moment to a complete downpour the next. Oh well, at least it was nice while he was going to work.
Opening the door to the library, Naruto made his way over to the circulation desk and plopped himself into the seat that was recently vacated by his 'morning boss', Anko.
"Hey, I was wondering when you would get here, blondie."
Glancing at the clock, Naruto noticed that he was five minutes early. Really, was Anko really that desperate to have a break when she just opened the library not even an hour ago?
"I'm early…."
"Yeah, well, I don't want to deal with these brats walking in and out, and besides, isn't that boy supposed to be coming in soon?" Anko questioned with a sly grin.
Glaring at his boss, he still couldn't help but to mutter under his breath.
"What was that, blondie?"
Freezing up for a second, Naruto realized he was caught, so he might as well tell her what he said before she got a crazy idea of embarrassing him somehow.
"I said 'he'll be another half an hour', now don't you have some work you can be pretending to do?"
That sent Anko away into her office…which had a giant glass window that allowed her to see who was in the lobby of the library, and it was conveniently placed behind Naruto's post. With Anko finally gone, Naruto let out a sigh. He always wondered how someone like Anko managed to get a job in a library of all places.
Glancing at the clock, Naruto realized that he had yet to deal with the coffee. Getting up from his spot, Naruto wandered over to the back counter where two coffee pots were waiting. One held decaf and the other was regular, and that was the one he was going to be messing with. See, while he wouldn't openly admit it, for fear of Anko getting evil ideas, Naruto had a bit of a…fascination with the young man who would come in at the same time every morning. It wasn't a crush or anything…there was just something that made Naruto want to know more about him. At least…that's what the blonde told himself.
Taking the full pot of regular coffee and pouring it back into the coffee maker, he replaced the filter and coffee grounds. He got into the habit of double brewing the coffee on the mornings he worked. It started with the tired, grumpy-looking young man that would be entering later. The dark-haired young man certainly didn't look like a morning person…so Naruto decided to try and jump-start the other male's day one morning. The muttered 'thanks' that he got afterward was enough to make him repeat his actions from that morning on.
Some minutes later, Naruto returned to the coffee and poured it into a dispenser and wandered away from the circulation desk to put it up in their "coffee area" that was probably the only reason some people ever came to the library. Free coffee would make anyone want to go to the library. Once he completed that task, Naruto went back to the circulation desk and as he took his seat, the door of the library opened.
In strode the dark-haired young man, looking as if he was ready to kill the first person that tried to talk to him that morning. He was about to walk right past Naruto sitting there, but the blonde wouldn't allow him to get away so easily.
"If you hate mornings so much…why don't you just come in at night? We are open until two in the morning…."
Naruto watched as the other turned his glare toward him, but it no longer fazed him. After receiving the same glare from the dark-haired stranger for a full semester and a half, it did lose its potency.
"The coffee is double brewed, so you better get some before it's taken by other morning haters," Naruto mentioned when he realized that the other wasn't about to say anything to him.
The small nod he received would have seemed like it was just to throw the blonde off of an actual answer, but Naruto eventually knew how to decipher certain messages from the young man. It was kind of funny, he knew how to translate the gestures, but he still didn't know his name. The other never checked any books out while Naruto was on duty, so he couldn't find out that way. Oh well…he would eventually learn it…he hoped.
~*~*~*~
Thursday night, a notorious party night on many campuses, and of course, it was no different at this campus. However, Naruto certainly wasn't complaining about party night, especially since he worked at the library on Thursday nights. It meant that the library was practically a ghost town, except for those few 'good students' that came in to actually do work on the week night.
At the moment, Naruto was shelving books that had been returned while another student, Sai, was downstairs at the circulation desk. He didn't mind shelving books, but it was always annoying when he had to get a stepladder to get to a shelf just out of reach. Though, being upstairs shelving meant that he wasn't around his 'evening boss', Ebisu. That man was just weird….
"What are you doing here, idiot?" someone questioned.
"Huh?!"
The sudden appearance of the dark-haired stranger surprised Naruto, nearly causing the blonde to fall off of the stepladder he was on. Luckily, he managed to catch his balance and not fall over.
"W-what are you doing here?!"
"Quiet. You're in a library, are you not? Besides, I asked you that first."
Naruto blinked in confusion. Was this really the same glaring stranger that would silently enter the library in the mornings?
"I…work here?" Naruto managed to get out.
"A question? You don't know if you work here? You must really be an idiot."
Glaring at the dark-haired male, Naruto didn't give a damn if he was fascinating in some way, he wasn't about to take this shit from him.
"I'm working, you bastard, so unless you have a question, I suggest that you let me get back to shelving these books."
Watching the other, Naruto then decided that the odd conversation was now over, so he went back to putting the books where they belonged. However, he did notice that he was being followed by the annoying bastard. It really was getting irksome when he would wander off to another aisle to put some more books away, only to turn around and see two dark eyes watching him intently.
"What do you want?!"
"Hn."
If anything, that one…could it be called a word? Well, whatever it was drove Naruto to be even more annoyed with the stranger.
"Isn't it a party night?" the other asked.
Naruto paused for a moment before returning to work. He could talk and get things done…as long as the bastard wasn't difficult.
"Uh…yeah, why?"
"You seem like someone who would be out partying, not working."
Frowning, Naruto jumped down from the stepladder, only to realize, to his dismay, that he was shorter than the stranger. This made him wish that he had stayed up on the damn thing.
"Sorry to disappoint you, but partying isn't the highest priority on my list. Paying for school and trying to keep my grades up are more important," Naruto huffed.
"So you don't party?"
"I…wouldn't say that, but I just don't go searching for one when there are other things to do."
Naruto turned back to the small stack of books that he still had to put away and sighed before turning a suspicious gaze toward the stranger.
"You sure are talkative right now…why's that?"
If Naruto didn't know that the dark-haired bastard was quite emotionless, he would have said that there was a faint flush of pink that crept over the stranger's face after his question. However, since a second later it seemed that there never was even a slight moment of embarrassment, the blonde let it go.
"Hn."
Oh hell no, not that again. Naruto glared at the other, only to see that he was turning and was about to walk away. Hey, wait, he never got his name and who was to say that he would ever get the chance to find out again? Not to mention that the bastard never did answer his question.
"Hey! You never answered my question, you nameless bastard!"
This seemed to catch the dark-haired stranger's attention since he paused in walking away from Naruto, but the bastard simply glanced back and shot the blonde a smirk before continuing to walk away. This of course made Naruto peek his head out from the shelves, only to see the bastard sitting at one of the tables with books and papers spread out. Hmm…so it seemed that he took Naruto's advice about coming in at night rather than morning.
Forgetting about catching the other's name, Naruto went back to shelving the books.
~*~*~*~
A little over week had passed and it seemed that the dark-haired bastard liked to come around and bother Naruto for a few minutes before getting to his homework, but this annoyed the blonde greatly. How long could the damn stranger avoid from sharing his name and making Naruto forget about asking until it was too late to ask? However, now was not the time to be wondering about bastards and their bastardly ways. No, Naruto had a midterm paper that he had to complete, and thankfully he didn't have work that night. Sure, it was a Friday night, and most people were out partying and the library was closing earlier than the other days of the week, but Naruto needed to get the paper done since it was due on Monday morning. The blonde knew better then to think that he would be able to do it over the weekend, he had other obligations over the weekend, so it was one of those 'now or never' deals.
Frowning as he tapped his highlighter over his packets of copied research, Naruto sighed. Really, how hard was it to explain the beginning of the development of language? Okay, strike that, it was annoyingly difficult. Not because the subject matter was all that hard…but because he just couldn't bring himself to care. It also didn't help that the teacher didn't actually teach the class anything. It was one of those 'look at these chapters, know it all, and then write about some obscure topic that no one knows a damn thing about' type classes. Well…maybe not that bad…but Naruto still didn't have to like it.
"I'm getting nowhere," the blonde grumbled while dropping his forehead onto the space beside his laptop.
"You're only now figuring that out, idiot?"
Naruto's gaze instantly hardened at the taunting voice. He knew the voice but, damn it all, he still didn't know the name of the bastard.
"You're a bastard."
"So I've been told."
The soft thump of books being placed on the table across from him made Naruto angle his face to see what the other was doing. Great, the bastard was sitting down and reading across from him. Now he definitely wouldn't get anything done.
Making the attempt of ignoring the other, Naruto picked up a random packet of research and started reading the parts he highlighted, only to throw it back down and drop his head back down on the surface of the table.
"You're probably just killing brain cells by doing that," the bastard reprimanded.
"Screw you."
"Offering?"
Naruto picked his head up from the table, only to glare at the other smirking at him. Really, what was up with this guy?
"No."
The blonde watched as his dark-haired tormentor simply shrugged and went back to reading some book. Naruto then went back to his own work…or rather…he tried to. The lights began to turn off in the building, causing the frustrated young man to grumble. It was closing time it seemed, and he still didn't have the damn paper finished.
"Time to go."
"Thank you, captain obvious," Naruto muttered.
"Hn."
Now, Naruto was usually an energetic and happy young man, but after being unable to finish his paper during library hours, and having to put up with the bastard—who's name he still didn't know—the littlest thing would set him off. It just happened that the little pseudo-word was enough to piss him off.
"Damn you, you damn bastard!"
He watched the bastard in question simply raise a dark brow as if silently wondering if the young man in front of him was even sane.
"You're so infuriating! You don't say a damn thing in the mornings, and then when you do say anything, it's to bother me! Is it your life mission to bug the hell out of someone you don't even know the name of?!"
"Hey, dickless, it's time for your boyfriend and you to leave," another cut in.
Naruto spun around and glared at yet another tormentor of his…Sai.
"He is not my boyfriend! I don't even know this bastard's name, and…what the hell?! Are you two related or something?"
Naruto stood there, as the library lights continued to turn off, and glanced back and forth between the two most annoying people in his life. They looked eerily alike…and Naruto found that just plain creepy.
"Hn. Come on, idiot, the library is closed."
Glaring at the annoying stranger and then at Sai, Naruto stuffed his backpack with the things on the table, and then stormed off ahead of the two, muttering something about annoying dark-haired bastards. However, once he got outside, Naruto didn't know why, but he waited out by the door.
"Waiting on me?"
Glaring at the bastard, Naruto huffed and crossed his arms.
"No. Why would I wait for you?"
"Hn."
Naruto decided that it just wasn't worth the effort and began to walk away. Unfortunately he wasn't able to get far without being stopped by the bothersome stranger he still had a slight fascination with.
"Naruto."
"Huh?!"
The blonde immediately paused when he heard his name being said by the bastard. How the hell did he know his name?
"My name is Sasuke."
Turning around and blinking, it seemed that Naruto would let the past annoyances go for the time being since he grinned and poured all his attention back on the other.
"Sasuke, huh? Well, it's nice to finally have a name to call you by; though, I still like the term 'bastard' to tell the truth," Naruto announced. "I'll see you around then, Sasuke."
Wandering away, the blonde was in a surprisingly better mood than before…until he remembered that he still had a paper to write before Monday morning.
~*~*~*~
The end of the semester was coming in about a month, meaning students were rushing around trying to sign up for classes and housing for the next school year, leaving Naruto and his roommate, Kiba, in an interesting fix.
"So…are we moving to the apartments or not?" Kiba questioned.
"There's only us two, I don't want to be stuck with two people I don't know at all," Naruto argued.
"You'll have your own bedroom."
"But still…."
"Fine," the brunette sighed, "how about…we each find one person who will be willing to live with us for a school year? That would solve our problem, and you wouldn't have two people you wouldn't know living with us."
"Hmm…I don't know…."
"Damn it, Naruto!"
"Okay, okay…geez…. If in one week we can't find two people, we're living here again," the blonde reasoned.
"Alright! We're off to the apartments!"
"B-but we haven't found anyone yet…. Kiba, listen to me!"
Sadly, for Naruto, Kiba rushed off in his excitement, leaving Naruto to sit there wondering who would be willing to live with them for a whole school year….
~*~*~*~
A few days later, once again spending a night working in the library, Naruto was doing the monotonous work of edging. Bringing the books to the end of the shelf and making sure they were all even…it had to be some sort of mental torture, and considering that Ebisu was the one who wanted the blonde to do it, Naruto wasn't going to doubt it. He swore that the man had some sort of issue with him.
Naruto sighed as he finished one aisle and moved to another. He wanted some sort of distraction to get him out of such boring work.
"Naruto."
Blinking, the blonde inwardly grinned; he was saved by the bastard.
"What?" he questioned while turning to see Sasuke watching him blankly.
"Find this for me."
Narrowing his eyes at Sasuke, Naruto huffed while snatching the piece of paper in the other's hand to see the call number of the book that bastard was having issues finding.
"Yes, master," Naruto hissed out of annoyance.
Just before Naruto turned around to find the aisle he needed, he noticed Sasuke smirk. He knew that damn smirk all too well.
"You damn pervert, you liked that, didn't you?"
He watched as Sasuke just shrugged, neither denying nor confirming his question. This made Naruto mutter to himself as he stomped off to find some book while Sasuke followed. Skimming the titles in the section, Naruto sent Sasuke a curious glance.
"History? I didn't take you to be one interested in history, bastard."
"Hn. It's interesting, and it's something to keep me from going insane with business classes," the other replied.
"So…what's your major?" Naruto asked.
A moment of silence passed between the two before Sasuke shook his head, leaving Naruto slightly annoyed with the other.
"That's usually a generic question for people who just meet, not those who've been talking for some time now," Sasuke pointed out.
"Just shut up and tell me."
The look that Naruto got after his comment made him glare at the bastard.
"You know what I meant!" Naruto shouted.
"Quiet, you're in a library," Sasuke teased. "Anyway, I major in both business and history. What about you?"
"Eh…I major in theatre and minor in history."
"Hn."
Pulling out the book that he had been sent to find, Naruto handed it over to Sasuke.
"Hey, maybe we'll have a class together next year or something. I don't need as many history classes as you, but we could help each other with the work!"
Naruto decided to ignore the look of suspicion from Sasuke and go right into an unrelated topic.
"Hey, do you want to live on campus next year?" Naruto questioned.
"Huh?"
"Well, you commute, right?"
"Yes…so why would I move on campus?"
"Because my roommate and I want to move over to the apartments, and I don't want to move in with people I don't know…. So…want to move in with us?"
The look that the blonde received made him pout slightly, especially when Sasuke seemed to ignore his question and walk away with the book. This made Naruto realize that the bastard hadn't even thanked him for finding the book.
"Damn bastard," he muttered.
Naruto then decided that he didn't want to push his luck with bugging Sasuke, not to mention that he still had to return to the mind numbing job of edging.
~*~*~*~
"Hey…."
Naruto's head shot up as he heard someone talking to him. Normally he would be more alert during the morning shift…mainly because he was afraid of what Anko would do to him if he wasn't paying attention, but hearing Sasuke talking before noon caught him by surprise.
"…yes?" Naruto asked suspiciously.
"If I agree to this whole rooming on campus thing…you have to give me something."
Although a normal person would be suspicious of the agreement, Naruto seemed rather excited that Sasuke was willing to agree with the apartment on campus idea. The more the blonde got used to the idea that he wouldn't have to listen to Kiba's snoring, the more he was really hoping that he could find someone to move in with them.
"What?"
"Your virginity."
"WHAT?! I knew you were a pervert!"
Luckily for Naruto and Sasuke, there wasn't anyone within hearing range of his outburst. Even Anko wasn't around…she said that she was taking a break, but she was probably stalking one of the professors or a student….
"I'm kidding."
"Oh…" Naruto muttered while calming down. "Then what the hell do you want?"
"You—"
"I knew it!" a voice shouted from the door.
Naruto groaned. Anko was back.
"You and the Uchiha are going to make man babies!" she shouted while gathering Naruto into a headlock.
"No we're not!" Naruto shouted at her. "Now let me go and do your work!"
Anko just gave the boys a wink before wandering into her office, to which she left the door open, most likely to be able to listen in on the conversation.
"…as I was saying…" Sasuke started again. "You would have to make coffee for me in the morning, so I don't have to come here and get it."
"I'm not your damn mother!"
"I was thinking more along the lines of wife really…" Sasuke mentioned with a smirk.
That comment had Anko erupting with laughter, and leaving Naruto irritated.
"I'm not your wife either, you damn bastard."
"Well, it's that or you find someone else for the apartment."
Glaring at the final comment the Uchiha made, Naruto sighed. If he really wanted to get the apartment on campus, and not deal with some stranger, then he would have to agree to Sasuke's request. It's not like it was difficult or anything…. Feeling his resistance give away, the blonde looked back up to meet Sasuke's gaze.
"Fine."
"Good, now you can fill out the paperwork and all that; it is due tomorrow, isn't it?"
Reluctantly, Naruto nodded and watched as the Uchiha wandered away, and during this, he felt that the next school year was going to be a long one.
"Ah…now you two are going to live together? I bet you lose your innocence before the end of the first semester!" Anko hollered from her office.
Oh yeah…a long next year was ahead of him….
