Disclaimer: All characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto.
Naruto sighed as he pushed away his empty coffee cup and frowned at his laptop screen. Within the two and a half hours he had arrived at the little coffee shop, he had barely managed to write more than ten pages. He lifted up his head and looked around the empty coffee shop. He was the only one there, tucked in a booth in the corner.
"No luck, Naruto?"
Naruto looked to his left to see Sakura, the shop owner, looking at him sympathetically from the counter.
"Unfortunately, no." Naruto closed his laptop. "This case of writer's block is killing me. My deadline for this novel is in six months and I've barely written anything."
Sakura smiled at him. "I'm sure you'll snap out of it, Naruto. You have before."
Naruto smiled in Sakura's direction before getting up. "Thanks, I'll certainly try my best. I need to get going. I'm supposed to have Kiba and Shikamaru over tonight. I'll see you later."
"Tell them I said hi!" Sakura turned her attention away from Naruto as a few customers trickled in.
Naruto nodded and waved. Throwing his coffee cup away, he securely tucked his laptop in its case and throw the strap over his shoulder.
Naruto pulled out his phone and began to text as he walked out of the shop.
One minute he was texting Shikamaru that they could come over in a half an hour and the next he was on the ground.
He slowly blinked as his mind tried to make sense of what happened.
"Watch where you're going, dobe."
Naruto froze as he recognized the voice of the guy that he ran into. There was no way...
He finally looked up at the person- it was none other than Sasuke Uchiha himself.
"You!" he said as he scrambled to his feet.
Sasuke glared at Naruto. "Of course it's you of all people I had to run into- quite literally."
Naruto returned Sasuke's glare. "I thought you were supposed to be in England for another year."
"Keeping tabs on me, eh?" Sasuke crossed his arms over his chest and gave Naruto a smug look. "I knew you were obsessed with me in high school, but-"
"I was not obsessed with you! I simply heard about it through Sakura so you can take your big ego and shove it up your ass," Naruto said and picked up his laptop.
Sakura looked over at the mention of her name. "Oh, hey, Sasuke! You didn't tell me you were going to be back in town this early."
Naruto looked from Sasuke to Sakura then back again. "You knew he was coming back and you didn't tell me?"
Sakura softly chuckled. "I know you two don't get along that well so I didn't see the point in telling you. It'd only make you upset."
Naruto scoffed. "Great. This town is so small I'm bound to run into him more often than I'd like."
"I don't want to see you just as much as you don't want to see me," Sasuke said. "Now if you excuse me, I have places to be." He turned away from Naruto and went up to the counter.
Naruto rolled his eyes. "See you later, Sakura." He exited the coffee shop. Kicking at a rock on the sidewalk, he grumbled to himself. "Of course Sasuke's back. This is great, just great."
He took his time walking back to his apartment complex. By the time he got there, Shikamaru and Kiba were already there waiting at his door.
"What took you so long?" Kiba asked as Naruto unlocked the door and let them in.
"I ran into somebody at Sakura's coffee shop," Naruto said and put his laptop down on the kitchen counter.
"Who?" Kiba stretched out on Naruto's couch.
"Sasuke."
"Uchiha?"
"The one and only."
"Why is Sasuke back already? I thought Sakura said he was studying for another year in England," Shikamaru said. He pushed Kiba's legs off one end of the couch and sat down.
"Dunno." Naruto rummaged through his cabinets before producing a cup of instant ramen.
"Did you talk to him?" Kiba said.
"Yeah sort of. He's still the same dick, though. Always thinks he's better than everyone else." Naruto heated up a cup of water and poured it into the cup of ramen.
"I kind of figured that." Kiba grabbed the remote, turning on the tv. "Anyways, forget Sasuke, how's your novel coming along?"
Naruto groaned.
"Not good, eh?" Shikamaru said.
"Nope. I keep getting stuck on this one part and don't know how to get past it," Naruto said between slurps of ramen.
"You'll get past it. You have before."
"That's what Sakura said."
"Take a break and play some videos games with us. Are we going to order pizza?" Kiba got up, grabbing three x-box controllers.
"Hell yeah."
Half an hour later, when the pizza had been ordered and the three were deep into a game of Call of Duty, Naruto's phone rang. He paused the game when he saw it was his agent, Sai.
"Hello?" he said.
"Hello Naruto. It's Sai."
"Hey Sai, what's up?" Naruto held a finger in Shikamaru and Kiba's direction before getting up and going to his bedroom.
"Kadokawa Shoten contacted me this morning."
Naruto sat on his bed and ran a hand through his hair. "What did they want?" Kadokawa Shoten was the publishing house he currently had a book deal with.
"They asked if you were willingly to stop writing your current novel and collaborate with another author they have published before."
Naruto arched an eyebrow. "They want me to collaborate with another author? Why?"
"They believe if you two write a novel together that it will become very successful. They believe you are the best choice," Sai explained.
"Hm, I guess it would give me a break from this insufferable novel. Plus, I've never co-authored a novel before so this should be an experience. Did they say who the other author was?"
"They failed to mention the author's name. They said they still had to get in contact with him. However, they would like your response as soon as possible."
"I'll do it."
"I'll let them know. Talk to you later."
"Thanks, Sai. Bye." Naruto hung up the phone.
He went back out into the living room where Kiba and Shikamaru now had a pizza.
"What was that about?" Kiba asked through a mouthful pizza.
"It was Sai. Instead of working on my current novel, I'm now going to co-author one," Naruto said and snagged a piece of pizza, sitting down on the couch by Kiba.
"Who is the other writer?" Shikamaru said.
"No clue." Naruto picked up his game controller and resumed the game.
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "You agreed to write a book with someone without knowing who this person is first?"
"Yeah? I'm sure we'll get along. I get along with everybody!"
"Except Sasuke," Kiba snickered.
"Oh shut up." Naruto reached over and punched Kiba's arm. "There's no way in hell I would ever work with Sasuke. He's such a dick with his superior complex."
"'Superior complex,' that's a big phrase for someone like you, Naruto," Shikamaru said.
"Yeah, where'd you pick that up?" Kiba said before laughing.
"You guys are dicks, too," Naruto said and lunged at Kiba, knocking him off the couch.
Kiba yanked Naruto down with him and the two began to wrestle while Shikamaru paused the game again.
"Morons, are we going to finish the game or what?" he said. Receiving no answer, he shrugged and stretched out on the couch. "This is such a drag."
Once Kiba and Naruto finished their wrestling match, they resumed playing the video game.
"When do you find out who this guy is, Naruto?" Kiba asked without taking his eyes off the tv screen.
"Dunno, I never asked Sai. Hopefully soon," Naruto said. "Enough about me. How's it going with Hinata?"
Kiba faintly blushed. "I don't think she understands I'm trying to flirt with her."
"She's almost as dense as Naruto," Shikamaru said.
"Hey, I'm not-AH!" Naruto cut himself off as he died in Call of Duty. "Kiba, you dick!"
Kiba smirked. "You should have been paying attention."
The three continued playing video games until Shikamaru stood up.
He put down his controller. "I think I'm going to call it a night guys."
Naruto pulled out his phone and looked at the time. "It's only 6:30."
"Yeah, but I have other plans tonight. Sorry." Shikamaru said, shoving his hands in pockets.
Naruto wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "Do your plans have anything to do with that one chick you work with?"
"Her name is Temari and maybe..." Shikamaru seemed flustered as he tried to make his get away.
Naruto and Kiba shared a look. Shikamaru never got flustered over anything.
Naruto gigged. "Oooh, Shikamaru has a crushhh," he said in a sing-song voice.
"Shut the hell up. I'll see you guys later." Shikamaru quickly exited Naruto's apartment.
"We'll harass him about it later," Naruto added on, "Well, looks like it's just you and me."
"Actually, I should probably get going to," Kiba said.
"Don't tell me you have a hot date too?"
"Sorry, buddy. I also have a lady friend I have plans with."
"Hinata?"
"Yeah, but she thinks we're just hanging out as friends." Kiba made a face.
Naruto groaned. "Why are all my friends finding someone?"
Kiba rolled his eyes and patted Naruto on the shoulder. "Dude, you're only 22. You have your whole life to find someone."
"I know, I know."
"I have to be off. I'll see you later." Kiba waved and left.
Naruto pulled out his phone after Kiba left to check his messages.
There was one missed call from Sai. He quickly called him back.
"Hello?"
"Hey Sai. I saw you called me earlier," Naruto said.
"Oh, yes. Kadokawa Shoten got back to me shortly after I called you. They want you to come in tomorrow at noon to further discuss co-authoring a novel."
"That's really short notice, but I can do it. Will you come with me?"
"Unfortunately, I won't be able to make it tomorrow because I'm meeting with a new client. I'm sure you'll do fine without me, though."
"Alright. I'll call you tomorrow afterwards."
"Okay, bye." Sai hung up.
Naruto laid back on the couch wondering who'd be working with. He hoped it would be someone tolerable.
Naruto stopped by Sakura's coffee shop and grabbed a cup of coffee. He filled her in on what Sai told him yesterday. She got a strange look in her eyes when he mentioned co-authoring a novel and gave him a sly smile. He dismissed it and went on his way. He took the train into Tokyo, where Kadokawa Shoten's headquarters resided.
Navigating the busy streets of Tokyo, he flagged down a cab. Within a few minutes, he was outside the Kadokawa Shoten building.
When he got inside, he was directed to the 14th floor to Jiraiya's office. Jiraiya was an editor for Kadokawa Shoten that worked with Naruto frequently.
"Naruto, my boy!" Jiraiya stood up to greet Naruto when he walked into Jiraiya's office. "Long time no see." He walked around his desk to engulf Naruto in a hug.
"Jiraiya-sensei!" Naruto smiled widely. "Sai said you wanted to talk to me about this whole co-authoring thing." Naruto sat in the chair adjacent to Jiraiya's.
"Yes. I wanted to make it official." Jiraiya went over to his desk and pulled out a piece of paper. "As we did with your other book deal, we need you to sign this piece of paper. It basically says you agree to have the material by the stated deadline. You know the rest."
Naruto nodded and pulled the sheet of paper towards him. Jiraiya handed him a pen and he signed it. "So who's the other author I'm working with?"
"I already talked to him today. He's agreed as well." Jiraiya paused for a moment to look at his clock on his desk. "You'll meet him in a soon, he should be here any minute. I believe you two have a lot of talent which is why I'm positive that whatever you two come up with will be successful."
"Is there any specific genre or theme we have to write?" Naruto leaned back in his chair.
"No. It's a free-for-all for you two." There was a knock at the door. "Ah, he's here. Come in!"
Naruto turned around to see the mystery person walk in. His eyes widened and he leapt out of his chair, pointing an accusing finger at the person. "You!"
"Just in time, Sasuke," Jiraiya said as he calmly watched Naruto's reaction.
Naruto's heart sank in his chest.
Fuck.
A/N: Hello lovely people of the internet! This is my first time writing a yaoi pairing, but I've very excited about it. This story, however, will most likely progress slowly, so we won't get to that smutty goodness until later!
I hope you enjoyed! Please leave a review with your thoughts. (Constructed criticisms are welcome as well as encouraged. I'd like to make this story as good as it can be.)
Thank you for reading! I hope to update this story as often as possible. :)
-Bluekit5