Hi. So.. this isn't my first fanfiction, I actually have 2 more going on on Wattpad.. but I am new to writing .. here. But lemme say this for myself 1st be4 you read.. Im really bad at writing and my writing will seem rushed.. i think, so criticism is welcome. Gimme any feedback and Ill try making it better nxt chapter! DISCLAIMER: i do not own Naruto
"AND DON'T COME BACK HERE AGAIN!!" the white-bearded man waved his rolled up newspaper in the air twice before going back inside the small convenience store.
Naruto was left speechless as he witnessed his former employer leave him out on the streets without a second thought. What stabbed him in the heart the most was that he looked happy about it, too, if that's what his smirk meant.
But that's beside the point. What's important now is that now, he has literally nothing.
Okay, on second thought, he still has a half empty box of instant noodles and keys to his apartment which still had around another few months left before the landlady calls again demanding for money.
But other than that, he has absolutely nothing... not even a single penny left in his wallet.
Sure, the convenience store he was fired from just 10 seconds ago is pretty small, but a lot of people came and went which earned him enough money to have at least one cup of ramen a day as his meal.
In his opinion, it was the best job he ever had... even though it was the only job he ever.. had...
Naruto started walking slowly back to his apartment, shock still written on his face.
Okay.. no more moping face. This is reality, and you signed up for it the second you left the house.
He picked up the pace and speed walked silently up the deserted street towards the old building that stood next to a large dumpster. It really was a wonder how his apartment never smelled like garbage, considering the fact that his only window was facing the dumpster.
As soon as he reached the other side of the door to his apartment, he made a beeline towards the large white cardboard box leaning against his mattress.
He looked inside and counted.
1...2...3...4...5...6..7...8...
8...
8...
8...
8!?
Naruto's eyes widened before standing up and immediately started to pace the floor.
Okay, keep calm. There's 8 left, just the right amount to last at least a week more...
He stopped and looked around the small room. The walls were gray with age and a layer of dust covered every surface save for the small table, his bed and kitchen counter... if you could call that a kitchen counter at all. It was more like a .. taller table.
Oh gawd, he was panicking. The only thing that could be heard was his sharp breathing and loud heartbeat.. oh wait.. that could be just him, too.
"Maybe I can stay at Kiba's 'till I find a job and get money... " Naruto sat down again. He imagined himself moving into Kiba's large house.. petting all the dogs... .. a job that pays a dollar per hour..
"No.. that's gonna take forever.."
Naruto started to massage his forehead with his palm. His brain was overheating.
Just a moment to catch my breath... Yeah.. that's it..
He stared at his floor while resting his head in the palms of his hands.
That's when his stomach started to grumble.
Naruto even made the effort to translate the grumbling noise to "fooood". It was a poor effort, honestly.
He glanced at the box of ramen in the corner of his eyes.
Too far away, and his legs had no strength in them anymore.
He looked up at the boiler sitting on the counter.
Ugh.. double far away ...
He looked in the opposite direction, behind him, and spotted a water bottle. He reached for it and drank a mouthful before tossing it in the direction of the plastic trash can.
Even the water tasted bad.
His stomach continued to make loud noises.
That's when he started to feel queasy.
Naruto stood up again to head towards the small bathroom. The bathroom was at least cleaner than the actual apartment room, thank gawd.
He slowly lowered himself in front of the toilet seat and sat down.
Was it something he ate that's making him feel like this? But all he ate today was a cup of rame-
Naruto quickly moved to the toilet and gagged. Not a few seconds later and the toilet was full of what used to be inside his stomach.
When he felt like he finished, he collapsed onto the tiled floor, physically and mentally exhausted.
He didn't recall doing anything to make him feel so tired. All he did was eat, go to work, become jobless and return home.
He was still for who knows how long, listening to the sound of the second hand of his clock tick from outside the bathroom.
As he felt himself become somewhat more calm, his eyelids started to become heavier. Now actually thinking hard about it, he did sleep pretty late last night... and work started around 5 in the morning.
It's still pretty early... now that there's no work, maybe I can sleep...
Naruto probably jinxed himself immediately when he thought that. But he was too tired to register anything in his head. His body felt hot, too, but cold at the same time.
The banging on his door that started mere moments ago was immediately drowned out by the sound of his breathing.
...I don't remember ordering anything... or anything.. just go away...
Thankfully, the banging stopped. Instead, there was a loud crash and large tapping noises.
Only dress shoes could make that kind of noise. Naruto was pretty sure he didn't know anybody who owned or wore those fancy types of shoes that office people wear.
Before he could add a few more thoughts to that, he saw a face appear in front of him.
Ooh.. pretty...
He saw a glimpse of red. Did he say that out loud? Oops.
Then, the person's mouth started moving.
It's too bad Naruto didn't know how to read lips, cause his ears were starting to slack off.
The person's mouth stopped moving and instead, the person turned as if calling for somebody.
More tapping.
Oh..!
Arms found themselves under Naruto's knees and neck, lifting him up like a groom would a bride. The smell of cologne hit Naruto first. Then, it was the warmth that hit him next. It was the safe kind of warm that makes you feel secure.
He liked that warm.
Attempting and failing to clearly make out the person's face, Naruto had no choice but to ask who this person was and what he was doing with that other person in his apartment.
"Who...?" Alas, he had to fail again.
Before he could say anything else, the blackness that had already started to seep in his vision took over completely.
So much for that...
§ At the same time...
Put the entire day so far into one word.
Terrible.
In the morning, Itachi 'accidentally' spilled coffee on his shirt, which made a need to change shirts. It was only 5 am.
Then, in the car halfway to Uchiha Tech., Sasuke recieved a call from Gaara, one of his ... colleagues.. from university. Gaara planned to call him earlier but apparantly couldn't find the time and wasn't able to tell him that he was going to arrive in Konoha tomorrow. Gaara lived in Suna, a country that Konoha was friendly with. Sasuke was fine if somebody other than Gaara was coming because Gaara just had to be an ambassador of Suna in foreign affairs. If Gaara was coming to visit, it's better to assume it's business related and not become disappointed later.
When he arrived at his office, Sasuke was ready to take a nap.
Surprise surprise!
Inside, instead of the couch, he met 10 stacks of paperwork that need to be filled out.
By the start if lunch break, not even a third of the work was complete.
Sasuke was prepared to inhale food by the time he was downstairs in the lobby. But..
He found Obito waiting for him.
Out of all the family members he had, relatives included, Obito was probably the most annoying one. He was a distant cousin, but according to his mother, that meant closer family...
Sasuke literally spent the entire 40 minute lunch break trying to convince Obito to leave immediately. Of course, Obito being Obito, he tried to stay as long as he could before Sasuke kicked him out through the exits.
By that time, break was over and he had to go back upstairs without lunch.
Thankfully he got through more than half of the work by 6 pm without paying attention to what any of the papers said.
It was a miracle that Sasuke even remained functional for so long without food.
And now...
Sasuke turned around in his chair to face the large window behind his desk. His office was set up on the 100th floor, giving him a good view of the city below him.
Though, he preferred the view most during the night when the city lights lit up in the darkness.
He turned back to his desk and sighed. He picked up his pen and started clicking it.
For the next 3 minutes, the only noise in hid office was the clicks of his pen...
Until the door opened revealing Shikamaru holding another stack of papers in his hands. He was another one of Sasuke's colleagues from university. Out of all of those he knew from university that came to work at Uchiha Tech., Shikamaru probably contributed the most.
To be perfectly honest, though? That's just thanks to his natural genius... ness. His brain also got him a position higher than a secretary's, which gave him access to things that others couldn't. Sasuke also preferred it this way. He was tired of female secretaries and their constant feeble attempts to look good in front of him.
Sasuke stopped clicking his pen and leaned back on his chair, observing the new face make his way to his desk.
"How many times have I told you to knock before entering."
Shikamaru set the stack down and pretended to think.
He looked up and
".. too much work.. and my hands were full.." Shikamaru gave a small shrug and turned back to where he came from.
After the door shut, Sasuke dropped his pen on the desk. He watched it as it dropped to the floor.
Great. More work and a pen down.
He gave up. His face clearly spoke for itself, saying Nope, Imma can't do this no more. Sasuke sighed for the umpteenth time.
"Too much work? Who the hell has too much work here?" he muttered.
Ugh.. another all-nighter if I want to get this done in time.
Sasuke thought for a moment before taking out his phone.
He really should call his mother and tell her that he couldn't come to the family dinner tonight. She would surely get angry at him for this.
.. Or he could call Itachi and avoid Mikoto's silent fury..
No, nevermind. Calling Itachi was not an option.
Isn't now, never will.
Sasuke dialed the house number and held the phone to his ear.
"This is the Uchiha household, Mikoto speaking.." Sasuke sighed.
"Hello, mother.."
§ Approximately 4 hours earlier..
"Look at this one! How about him?" Mikoto pulled up a small photo of another boy with dark hair. Fugaku analyzed the photo carefully before taking it gently from his wife's fingers and throwing it in the growing pile of photos behind him.
Mikoto sighed and took the next photo from the neat stack beside her. Her eyes widened immediately and she tapped Fugaku's shoulder.
"What is it!?"
She showed him the photo and Fugaku took it. He stared at it in awe.
"He looks just like him, doesn't he?" he said after a few long minutes.
Mikoto quickly looked through a stack of papers beside the photos and found the one she was looking for.
"Isn't he Kushina's son? Says here 'Naruto Uzumaki'. I'm pretty sure that's Kushina's name." Fugaku took the piece of paper from her and looked over it quickly.
Mikoto looked at her husband intently, seeing recognition flare in his dark eyes. She smiled. Fugaku was never this emotional when it came to things like this.
He put the photo and paper together and set it aside.
Mikoto frowned. "What's wrong?"
"Next."
"What? What about him?"
Fugaku glared. "Next."
"Why not? Give him a chance! At least he's not some stranger from an unknown alleyway. He's Minato and Kushina's son." Mikoto pulled back the paper and photo towards her and set it in front of him, urging him to reconsider.
Fugaku glanced at the next person's photo on the stack.
... purple eyes...
He sighed and nodded his head once. "Okay, fine."
Mikoto cheered and swept the neat stacks of photos and papers beside her to the floor with on sweep of her arm.
Fugaku felt content at his wife's happy face.
"But," he turned serious again, "If he doesn't meet my expectations, he's done."
Mikoto nodded and stood up with the paper. "You won't regret this, I promise."
"I'll tell them to get him immediately.." and she left, leaving Fugaku alone to his own thoughts.
He smirked. Mikoto never failed to keep a promise. Might as well see how this all turns out.