Hi, I'm Sasori33-001 and this will be my...sixth story on this account (my...13th(?) if you count my other work under the pen name Itachi012110) I hope you enjoy yourself, and leave a review when you're done, please! (It'll help me update faster)
WARNING: There will be some slash/yaoi/homosexual actions and or tendencies displayed throughout this story. If you do not like, do not read. I will try to warn y'all when anything explicit is to take place.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters; all rights go to Masashi Kishimoto.
"I'm just saying, Itachi," Shisui explained as they walked through crowded city streets, "you can't just watch one episode and be done with it."
"Shisui, I watched three episodes and I'm still don't see what you see in it." Itachi replied. His cousin was currently obsessed with a new online crime-drama and wouldn't stop nagging Itachi to watch with him so that he could talk with someone about it. Itachi, having nothing better to do during his spare time, surrendered and watched an episode but didn't see the appeal so he watched another. And another.
"You only watched two episodes." Shisui said and stopped when they reached their destination; a café that had taken the place of a failing Chinese take-out restaurant that was rumored to have flunked its last health inspection due to findings of dead cats in the fridge or something. "You can't count the pilot episode."
Itachi nodded a thanks and walked inside, taking in the pleasant aroma of coffee beans and permeating the air. "Aren't pilot episodes meant to capture the audience's attention and whet their appetite for what's to come? The pilot I watched did none of that."
Shisui's face suddenly took on a devilish grin. "Was your appetite not sufficiently whetted, Itachi?" He asked, raising a suggestive brow.
Itachi sighed at his cousin's immaturity. "I'm going to go to the restroom."
"To whet your appetite?"
Itachi shook his head. "No."
"Do you want me to wait for you to get back?" Shisui asked, already taking a step out of the line.
Itachi shook his head and gestured for him to get back in line. "That's alright. Go ahead and order and find us a table; I'll get in line when I return."
Shisui flashed him a mischievous smile and returned to his spot. "Okay." He said.
Itachi regarded him carefully as he walked away, waiting for him to comment something along the lines of "have fun whetting your appetite, Itachi!" or something like that. Surprisingly, he didn't and was instead studying the list of beverages displayed on the menu, leaving Itachi to honorably take his leave, but not without stealing one last glance at his cousin just to make sure.
"Hello, what can I offer you today?" The barista asked Shisui.
"I'll just take a tall iced coffee with milk." Shisui answered, digging in his wallet for exact change.
"An iced coffee with milk?" The barista asked. Shisui hummed in affirmation. "Coming right up! That'll be $2.68 at the register."
Shisui smiled. "Thanks."
As he waited for his order to be completed, his gaze perused the shop's assortment of snacks, pastries, and candies illuminated by the soft glow of the fluorescent lights above them. Itachi will probably order one or two of those. He thought, making an internal bet with himself to see if he could correctly guess which ones his cousin might buy. Maybe the cranberry orange scone…he thought. Itachi's stuck-up like that. Then his gaze roamed over something particularly sweet looking. Iced lemon pound cake…the jerk loves stuff that's iced and pound cake is helluva sweet…probably loaded with calories…or maybe he'll get the iced vanilla bean scone...it's giving me a toothache just looking at it…
"Iced coffee with milk?" The barista beamed, handing Shisui his beverage accompanied by a green straw.
Shisui nodded. "Thanks." He said and handed the man first the dollar bills, followed by a drizzle of change into his open palm. While the barista counted out the change, Shisui glanced over the pastries one last time when he noticed an iced raspberry swirl pound cake and in that instant knew what Itachi was going to order. Hook, line, and sinker!
"Here's your receipt; enjoy!" The barista said, high fiving another barista in the fashion of a tag-team.
"Thanks!" Shisui called over his shoulder and set out to look for a table.
Although he would've preferred to situate himself in a dark cozy corner surrounded by windows that overlooked the busy streets before them, all of the window and corner seats were taken. And as more and more people flooded in, he settled for a seat close to the wrought iron fence that separated the line at the counter from the general dining area. Guess this'll have to do. He submitted and tasted his coffee. Damn, that's good.
"A 16 oz. toffee mocha Frappuccino blend, please." A familiar voice said from nearby.
Shisui glanced up to see Itachi at the front counter, eyeing the same pastry assortment he himself had been pouring over a minute ago.
Come on, you know you want to buy the raspberry swirl pound cake...
"Got a sweet tooth?" The barista asked Itachi.
The edges of Itachi's mouth quirked upwards, a tiny hint of a smile. "I guess you can say that." He said.
"People keep telling me how good this one is, and I've been wanting to try for myself, but God I think I'm going into diabetic shock just thinking about it!" The barista laughed and said. "Anyways, that'll be $3.75, please."
Shisui watched Itachi produce a five dollar bill from his wallet and falter handing it to the barista. "Actually," Itachi said, "can I also have two blueberry scones, please?"
Dammit, Itachi! Shisui mentally cursed. He thought for sure that he was going to get the thing with the most sugar per serving on the menu, darn it!
"What's got you in such a slump?" Itachi asked when he sat down at the table.
Shisui raised his eyebrows in ignorance as he sipped his beverage. "Nothing. I thought sure you were going to get a slice of pound cake, though."
Itachi sipped some of his own drink and sighed. "I thought about it, but to order something as sweet as pound cake when I've already ordered such a sweet drink…I think I'll pass for now."
Shisui nodded and glanced at the steady line of customers waiting to order. "I'm surprised that this place is so busy after only opening a week ago."
Itachi shrugged. "I'm not. It's a nice installment to the neighborhood. Definitely better than an abandoned Chinese take-out restaurant."
Shisui chuckled at the memory of the decrepit cement building with its nameless sign and boarded up windows. To think that in only seven months it would be refurbished to what it is now; a high-end brick building with large windows, exposed rafters with low hanging lights.
"I'm surprised that you only ordered an iced coffee, Shisui." Itachi addressed him, bringing the older man's attention back to the conversation.
"Ah-hem! I ordered an iced coffee with milk, I'll have you know!" He said, raising his glass as if to prove his point.
Itachi pursed his lips, unimpressed. "You could've ordered that at any fast-food restaurant for less than what you paid here."
Shisui rolled his eyes. "Sorry I'm not as sophisticated as you are Mr. I-attended-Harvard-and-want-everyone-to-know."
Itachi released a sigh of frustration. Why was it that he couldn't seem to have a normal conversation with his cousin anymore these days? "I don't want everyone to know about it."
"Really?" Shisui asked incredulously. "'Cuz you make it sound like you do."
"What does ordering a pricey drink have to do with my feelings towards my college alma mater?" Itachi scoffed.
Shisui raised his eyebrows. "Everything!" He said and beckoned for Itachi to lend him his ear. "In fact, I can tell you right now that the couple over there is judging you for it," he pointed to the couple seated by the door, "as well as that guy with the newspaper over there," he said briefly glancing over his shoulder, "and…the barista as well." He said, nodding in the direction of the counter where the barista was busy cleaning the insides of one of the blenders. "And because of you," Shisui said, leaning back in his chair, "they're judging me too."
Itachi shook his head in exasperation. Why did he think it was a good idea to bring Shisui anywhere with him? He could have easily waited until Monday or Tuesday to visit this place after work but being the considerate person that he was, he just had to include his cousin in his plans. "Tell me something." Itachi said to him.
"Shoot." Shisui replied whilst drinking his iced coffee.
"Just why did I bring you along with me today?"
"Because you're worried what people will think of you if you came to a coffee shop on a Saturday afternoon alone." He answered matter-of-factly.
"You know what? You're absolutely right." Itachi laughed. "It's not because I enjoy your company or anything like that."
Shisui smiled. "I know. You're just using me, but I'm okay with that. In fact, I'm used to it."
"Please." Itachi shook his head and brought the drink to his lips.
Shisui smirked and mentally marked the moment's banter in his favor. Shisui – 1; Itachi – 0. "What were we talking about earlier?" He asked.
Itachi shrugged. "I don't know."
He was lying. "Oh yeah! That's right! You can't just two episodes of a series and be done with it! You gotta give it time!"
"I already gave it an hour and twenty minutes of my time." Itachi said. "How much more of my life do I need to dedicate to something that I won't remember down the road when I'm in my forties?"
"You'll remember watching it with your favorite cousin when you're forty!" Shisui argued. "Just give it, like, two or three more episodes; I guarantee you'll be hooked by the end of episode five. Wanna bet?"
Itachi wasted no time in answering. "No." He'd made bets with Shisui in the past and every time, Itachi came out the victor, leaving Shisui broke and in need of money for the parking meter the next day. Money he'd have to borrow from Itachi and insist on writing out an I.O.U for, only to forget that he hadn't paid Itachi back three weeks later and pretend that they were even. "Yeah-huh! I paid you back! I paid for last week's pizza delivery!" He'd argued once. Itachi couldn't even recall ordering pizza the week before.
But at the end of the day, Itachi loved his cousin and all of his shortcomings. Even if it left Itachi tight on cash when he craved a snack in the middle of the work day. And it was because of the bond that they shared, Itachi engaged in his pointless conversation. "And why is it that I'll be hooked at the end of episode five instead at the end of the pilot?" He asked.
"Pfft! Itachi, Itachi, Itachi." Shisui shook his head and rested a hand on Itachi's shoulder. "The pilot's sole purpose is to 'whet the appetite' of the viewers; to pique their interest! The producers of the show didn't know if their fledgling of an idea would take flight or not so they set it at the edge of the nest like a father holding onto the back of his daughter's bike while she pedals on her own for the first time!" He explained.
Since when did hawk fledglings and little girls learning how to ride their bikes relate to one another? Itachi did not know. Beside him, the line was dying down slightly as the younger barista attended to the orders while the older one knocked back half a bottle of water before prepping the next order.
"—so by the time you get to episode five, the ground work has been set, the plot laid out, and the main characters introduced. You, my friend, have not seen everything this show has to offer; in fact, you don't even know the half of it." Shisui was saying.
"You're only on episode ten out of how many? Two hundred? I'd say that you don't even know the half of it." Itachi quipped.
"Ha, ha, very funny. You know what I mean. But yeah, anyways, you don't even know the half of it!" Shisui continued and throughout it all, Itachi continued to sip his Frappuccino and break off pieces of his blueberry scone, nodding occasionally.
It did not, however, escape Shisui's notice that Itachi would glance at the pastry counter every now and again. He's not gonna leave here without that raspberry swirl pound cake. He thought when Itachi's attention shifted from the pastry display to the various syrups shelved behind the counter. What's he looking at syrups for? Shisui thought when Itachi focused his gaze on him once more. Did he see me staring, I wonder?
A few seconds later, Shisui noticed the other barista, the one who had waited on the both of them, reappear from the storage area. "It'll be ten minutes before I can thaw any out, ma'am, sorry for the inconvenience." He told a customer.
And that's when it hit him. Itachi wasn't drooling over the lush assortment of sweets in the pastry display, or examining the various syrups shelved behind the counter. He was eyeing the barista he'd made small talk with earlier!
"But anyways," Shisui said, "I don't wanna spoil it for you. Let's get back home we can pick up where you left off, shall we?" He suggested.
"If I must." He begrudgingly replied and rose to a stand, bunching up the tissue paper he'd been given with his scones to throw in the trash on the way out.
Shisui took the lead, noting the subtle glances his cousin stole of the barista's muscled arms and infectious smile. Although he wasn't so obvious to glance over his shoulder on the way out, he unabashedly took a good long look at him through the signage on the store-front window.
He's into him. Shisui confirmed. And from that moment on it was decided:
Shisui would be Itachi's wingman.
Rule #1: One need not be asked to be a wingman.
So...let me offer a few apologies first.
1. Sorry, I'm a perfectionist, and while I am proud of my work here, I feel as though I should apologize every now and again for any shortcomings.
2. I know that Shisui seems a little, erm...immature...here, but I don't usually write Shisui's character all that often, so I just kind of wing it. Hope you liked how I portrayed him, if not, so be it. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, right? (And Shisui shows up so little in the canon, how can anybody correctly portray him?)
3. I'm not used to writing in the 3rd person omniscient, so forgive me if anything seemed out of whack. I'm trying to adjust.
And end scene! Enough of the apologies, down to the REAL author's notes! - So...I really wanted to write this story (can't say what inspired me this time 'cuz I don't know) and I really wanted to upload it but I didn't want to rush. I started it like, 3 weeks ago, and have worked on it like, once every week thus, the end result. I can't say that I'm going to upload very often (hell, I don't even know what the rest of the story will look like yet!) But I just wanted to upload this chapter to..."whet your appetite." XD
Until next time~
Sasori33-001
PS If you're curious about my progress on ANY story, feel free to check-out my profile under "Story Statuses." I update that pretty regularly.