Author's Note: Hello everyone! This is my very first attempt at a Naruto story so I hope you enjoy it. This story takes place when Team 7 were still kids before the chunin exams. Hopefully Sasuke isn't too much out of character in this story, sorry if he is. Anyway, enjoy the story and pretty please tell me what you think with a review. :)
Disclaimer: This is a nonprofit story written expressly for the purpose for entertainment. Naruto and it's characters are property of Masashi Kishimoto.
Laundry Day
Naruto sighed as he pushed the glass door open with his back, his small arms wrapped around a large basket of dirty clothes. Today had been a really long day. He was beginning to get frustrated doing all of these D and C rank missions and today's mission, tending the garden and fixing up the rickety old house of a little old lady, was particularly exhausting not to mention boring. On the bright side he got to spend the day with Sakura, so the day wasn't a total loss.
Naruto was really tired and didn't really feel like doing his laundry tonight but he didn't have anymore clean clothes so he didn't have much of a choice. Whenever Naruto did his laundry he always waited until late in the evening when most people would be home eating dinner, leaving the small launderette empty and free of those hated stares the villagers always gave him. As Naruto spun around and let the door fall shut his eyes narrowed and his jaw jutted out in a pout of sheer annoyance. Why in the name of all that was good was that jerk here Naruto thought as he glared at spiky black hair. Naruto debated whether he should just turn around and leave. Looking down at his basket full of rumpled clothes Naruto sighed.
Sasuke sat in a hard plastic chair with his legs crossed and his nose buried in a book as he waited for the coin operated machine to finish cleaning his first load of laundry. He sat next to a long table that sat several feet from the wall of washers with two rows of driers pushed back to back lined up behind the long table and the long line of plastic chairs. Naruto slammed his basket of clothes onto the table and glared at his aloof teammate.
"What are you doing here?" Naruto shouted indignantly, pointing at the seated boy accusingly with his chin jutting forward in anger. The book in Sasuke's grip sagged and he glared at the obnoxious blonde from the corner of his eyes with a look on his face that clearly asked if Naruto was really that stupid. "You jerk!" Naruto bellowed. "Shouldn't you be at home doing… whatever it is you do at home?" he shouted testily. "Go act cool in front of your fan club or something!" Sasuke's left eye had begun to twitch in irritation throughout Naruto's rant and after the blonde had finished shouting Sasuke snapped his book shut with more force than was necessary and glared death at Naruto.
"What the hell is your problem you moron?" Sasuke shouted. "If you don't like the fact that I do laundry just like everyone else then get out!" Almost as an afterthought he added haughtily, "I was here first." Naruto roared in anger and the two boys murderously glared at each other, their bodies tense and ready to pounce. Naruto's fists shook as adrenaline pumped through his veins. He didn't understand it but there was just something about Sasuke that made Naruto want to fight him almost every time he laid eyes on him. Naruto focused on Sasuke's spiky black hair and immediately decided that wasn't it; he didn't care what Sasuke's hair looked like. Maybe it was his nose. Nope, not Sasuke's nose either. Maybe it was something about Sasuke's mouth. Sasuke grew wary and wondered what in the world Naruto was thinking as the dense blonde continued to study him so intensely.
"What are you reading?" The simple question was devoid of any anger and Naruto's muscles suddenly relaxed as his anger was swiftly replaced by curiosity. Sasuke felt like someone had just dumped a bucket of cold water on him. He was so stunned by Naruto's sudden change in mood that it took him longer than usual to process what exactly Naruto had asked him.
"None of your damn business!" Sasuke replied defensively as he hugged the book to his chest.
"Come on!" Naruto whined. "Just tell me!" he pleaded while leaning closer, trying to catch a glimpse of the cover.
"No!" Sasuke replied, leaning away from the nosy blonde.
"Why not?" the blonde asked offended.
"Because it's none of your business!" Sasuke retorted angrily, doing his best to keep the book out of Naruto's sight. "Besides, you're too stupid to understand anyway," Sasuke snarled.
"Am not!" Naruto shouted angrily. "I bet it's porn isn't it? You dirty pervert you're just like Kakashi!" Naruto accused childishly.
"I am not a pervert!" Sasuke shouted as he leaped out of his chair, completely forgetting to hide the book from Naruto in his anger. Naruto quickly glanced at the book clutched in Sasuke's fist and nearly doubled over in laughter.
"Poetry?" Naruto laughed loudly. Sasuke belatedly realized his mistake and quickly hid the book behind his back with a furious blush.
Sasuke scowled and muttered, "You're just laughing because you're too stupid to understand poetry."
"I am not stupid!" Naruto snapped his mirth at Sasuke's discomfort completely forgotten. "Stop saying that, it's not true!" he shouted angrily.
"Yes it is!" Sasuke retorted. "The only reason we're even on the same team is because you got the lowest scores in our whole class you loser!"
"I'm not a loser!" Naruto snarled as he lunged for Sasuke. Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise as he barely dodged Naruto's sloppy charge and bumped into the table. Naruto reached for the book Sasuke was hiding and Sasuke managed to just keep it out of Naruto's reach by holding it high over his head. "Give it to me!" Naruto ordered angrily.
"No!" Sasuke barked while clutching the book to his chest and turning around in one swift movement. Unfortunately while spinning around and trying to lean away from Naruto all at once Sasuke lost his balance and fell onto the table. Naruto quickly pinned Sasuke to the table and forcefully grabbed Sasuke's shoulders, trying to force the slender boy to roll to the side just enough for him to snatch the book being crushed between the table and Sasuke's chest.
"Give me the book!" Naruto yelled.
"No!" Sasuke shouted defiantly.
"Give it to me!"
"No!"
"Oh my!"
Both boys immediately stopped struggling and their heads snapped up towards the entrance in perfect unison. In the doorway stood a horrified looking elderly woman with a small basket of clothes in her hands with a bright red blush spreading across her wrinkled face. She coughed and quickly averted her eyes.
"I um… I'll just… come back later. Have fun boys!" she said awkwardly before ducking out the door as quickly as her old legs could carry her. Sasuke's entire face turned red with embarrassment when he realized the position they had gotten themselves into.
Sasuke hid behind his long bangs and growled, "Get off of me."
"Huh?" Naruto asked, completely clueless as to what had just happened.
"Get off of me!" Sasuke screamed as he dug his heel into Naruto's foot. Naruto howled in pain and started to fall backwards. He grabbed the closest things within reach to regain his balance. Unfortunately those things happened to be the back of Sasuke's shirt and Sasuke's laundry basket. Sasuke choked and was yanked backwards as his laundry basket went crashing to the floor. Naruto landed on his rear hard and Sasuke's clothes tumbled out of the overturned basket.
A small silver locket fell onto the ground and bounced across the tile floor, skidding to a halt a few feet from the boys. Naruto watched in fascination as surprise, fear, relief and then horror danced across Sasuke's face in quick succession. Their eyes met and Sasuke stared at Naruto as if he had been trapped in a horrible genjutsu. Seconds seemed like hours as they stared at each other. Suddenly Naruto smirked and panic flooded Sasuke's veins. Both boys dived for the necklace but Naruto was able to snatch it first since he was closer to the heart shaped locket. Sasuke watched in horror as Naruto sprang to his feet with a triumphant whoop and twirled the delicate necklace on his finger.
"Give that back!" Sasuke shouted, cursing the fact that his demand sounded more like a plea.
"Hahaha! Sasuke has a girlfriend!" Naruto teased. "Or maybe it's yours? Ahahaha! Sasuke wears girly jewelry!" he laughed loudly.
"Stop spinning it around!" Sasuke shouted nervously as Naruto continued to play with the delicate necklace. Naruto stuck his tongue out at the nervous raven and Sasuke felt his heart leap into his throat as Naruto tossed it into the air. Naruto caught the necklace and laughed in Sasuke's face. "Stop! …Please!" Sasuke shouted, his voice quivering in fear. Naruto's laughter died in his throat and all mirth drained from his face as he took in Sasuke's countenance. His body was rigid and his dark terror filled eyes were transfixed on the delicate necklace dangling in Naruto's grasp. Sasuke swallowed the lump in his throat and pleaded, "Give it back, please. It…it's my mother's."
Naruto's eyes widened in surprise and a sharp pain tore through his heart. He stared at the silver necklace grasped in his hand in wonder. This necklace belonged to Sasuke's mom. All of a sudden Naruto was overwhelmed by guilt and shame. The necklace clasped in his hand was probably Sasuke's only remaining link to his mom and Naruto had flung it around like a worthless trinket.
He had forgotten. Naruto had forgotten that Sasuke was just as alone in the world as he was. Sasuke was so popular and he always worked hard without complaining about their missions no matter how easy or boring they were. He had forgotten that Sasuke knew the pain of loneliness. If the fragile necklace he held helped ease some of that pain then he had no right to take that away from him. With his shoulders slumped and his head hung in shame Naruto stood before Sasuke and held out the silver locket.
"Sorry," Naruto muttered, his voice laced with guilt. Sasuke wordlessly took the necklace from Naruto, unable to look the remorseful blonde in the eye. He stood frozen in place as Naruto silently picked up Sasuke's scattered clothes and placed them back into the basket. Naruto set the basket on the table and looked at Sasuke's back with regret shining in his sad blue eyes. Sasuke remained still as a statue and Naruto's eyes fell to his feet. Naruto sighed and listlessly began tossing his own clothes into an empty washer two machines away from the one Sasuke was using. A loud buzz filled the silent room and Sasuke's dark eyes wandered to the machine that held his wet clothes.
He had wanted to punch Naruto so bad but he was so relieved when Naruto gave the necklace back he felt like someone had sucked out the last of his energy. He hadn't dared to try and take the necklace by force because he had been afraid that Naruto would have broken it in the struggle. Sasuke sighed as he felt the last remnants of tension drain from his muscles and he carefully set the necklace down onto the table. The two boys worked in silence neither one paying attention to the other but painfully aware of each others presence. It wasn't long before Naruto was wallowing in boredom. His eyes kept drifting to the silver necklace resting on the table and guilt kept his mischievous side from messing with Sasuke any further. Sasuke had gone back to reading his book of poetry and Naruto had long since grown tired of counting ceiling tiles as the two boys waited for the machines to finish their work.
"So…" Naruto drawled after a prolonged silence. Sasuke resisted the urge to smirk at the sound of Naruto's voice. He was impressed the blonde had managed to sit still and remain silent for as long as he had. "Was that hers too?" Naruto asked quietly, gesturing towards the book Sasuke was reading. Sasuke tensed at the question and debated whether he should actually answer his annoying teammate or not. Not really expecting an answer Naruto groaned as he slid down in his chair and stared up at the ceiling with his hands folded behind his head.
"No." Naruto glanced at Sasuke from the corner of his eye in surprise. "It was my father's," Sasuke replied. Naruto continued to watch Sasuke for a few moments before closing his eyes with a hum.
"Hey Sasuke," Naruto said after another long silence. "…Would you… read it… to me?" Naruto asked a bit nervously, hoping that Sasuke wouldn't laugh at him or insult him. At first Sasuke was taken by surprise by Naruto's request. Gradually a smirk formed on his face and he mentally scoffed as he realized Naruto must be bored out of his mind if he wanted him to read poetry to him. Naruto sighed at Sasuke's lack of response and berated himself for even asking. He knew it was a stupid idea.
"Ah but the beauty that my eyes have seen…" The sudden sound of Sasuke's voice startled Naruto out of his brooding and he looked at the young ninja in surprise as he continued to read. "…and yet the words still fail to come, for that which made my dumb heart sing made ashes of my tongue." Naruto's mouth slowly curved into a smile and his happy blue eyes were fixed on Sasuke as the pale boy read on. Naruto reclined in his chair once more and smiled up at the ceiling as Sasuke read his father's poetry book out loud. Naruto decided he liked laundry day after all.
Well I hope you enjoyed my story! The poem Sasuke read is a very small excerpt from one of Dad's poems. Thank you for reading my story and please, please, please leave me a review telling me what you thought about it. :)