Hey, everyone. This is my first posted fic, so I'm sorry if it isn't exactly up-to-par. Nothing like my fellow writers on here x)
This is SasuNaru, so if you don't like it, well… c'mon.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot. I do own a pan flute, though. Like a beautiful woman once said, "Every song sounds better on the pan flute!"
Un-beta'd. Read at your own risk.
-SasuNaru-
"Sasuke, what do you think?"
The entire room was quiet, waiting for the inevitable genius comment to come from the beautiful man. Living rooms all over America were quiet.
Even Naruto Uzumaki was quiet.
He'd been working as a cameraman for CNN for a little over two years, and had watched Sasuke work for just as long. Sasuke knew he was beautiful, and always played it up with his business-casual attire and relaxed attitude. The make-up artists didn't know what to do when they were assigned to him, and he was all right with that. His spiked black hair and deep black eyes were startling complements to alabaster skin. Sasuke had been almost unreal to Naruto, and he'd spent his career at CNN admiring the man.
So there he sat in a cushioned black chair, black slacks on with a white button-up shirt. His sleeves were cuffed up to his elbows and his deep blue tie hung from his neck. He leaned back and put his hands in his pockets, the anticipation rising.
"The flat tax is something that has not been around for such a long time that citizens need Cain to inform them on his idea." His silky voice rang through the room with certainty.
"It isn't a one-of-many tax on an object. He's simplifying the many taxes from the middle man, producer, government, etcetera. We need tax reform, yes, but I'm not sure this is the reform we need."
A small pause.
"Thank you, Sasuke Uchiha. When we come back..."
Naruto had been stunned into almost forgetting when to dramatically zoom back and slowly turn the camera angle.
-SasuNaru-
"Fuck! He did it again!" Naruto kicked the wall of the sound booth he was in with his best friend, Kiba.
"I'll never understand how you can kick things in small spaces, dude."
"He fucking... I thought that, too! Every word that comes out of his mouth, I agree with. And the fucking assholes call him an uninformed liberal! Herman Cain is a fucking idiot, with his apples and oranges-"
"Dude. Chill with your crush. I get it." Kiba said, trying to quell the enthusiasm of his best friend. "Why don't you talk to the guy?"
"Kiba, he hardly talks when it's his job. How is he going to talk to me?"
"Because you're cuter than Richard Quest."
And Naruto punched the wall again.
He walked up to the area of his crew, sporadically taking gulps from his water bottle. Sneaking a peek at Sasuke, he took notice of how annoyed he always seemed off set. At the moment, he was snipping at someone on his cell phone. Typical television star actions.
"Yo!" He said, plastering a smile on his face as he walked up to Shikamaru, his fellow camera bud.
"What's up on Camera 2, my friend?" Naruto leaned on the back of his friend's chair, looking into the sleepy eyes of their laziest employee. He preferred to manage the second camera because it was stationary and had an easy lens to clean and adjust. As opposed to him, Naruto worked Camera 3, which was closer to the spotlights on a weird balcony. He loved the ability to move it around and easily and adjust the lens in order to give it an interesting angle. It also had nothing to do with the fact he could always see Sasuke's face.
"Shhhh. It's nap time." said Shika, moving sluggishly.
"You know they have medications for insomnia, right?" Shikamaru looked at Naruto with something along the lines of playful contempt, but much, much sleepier.
"Oh, right. I forgot that you're a genius."
"Don't you have a job?"
"Fine, fine," he sighed, realizing he had seven seconds until they started to record again. "I'll be back!" he said in a lame impression of a terminator voice, heading past the booth the run up the back stairwell to the camera balcony. He failed to notice charcoal eyes on his back as he walked around, subtly checking up on his coworkers, watching him with attraction.
-SasuNaru-
"Naruto!" a blonde woman said enthusiastically.
"Hey, Ino. How are things?" Naruto meandered into the coffee shop around the corner from their studio, having just got off of work.
"Better, now that I have someone to talk to." She winked at Naruto and he smiled.
"What, toddlers and business men aren't enough for you?" he joked.
"Oh, don't get me wrong, they definitely keep me busy." She laughed to herself, already preparing his usual order. "Aren't you freezing, by the way? It's like sixty-five degrees outside."
"Wha? Oh…" Naruto looked down at his t-shirt and basketball shorts bashfully. "Spotlights and whatnot. You know how it is."
"Yes, because a barista understands the temperature at your job." she said seriously. "Don't you network people usually congregate at Starbucks?"
"Oh, well, I support small businesses in order to remain self-important. You know, high and mighty stuff."
Ino shook her head and laughed silently. "It's 3.75, kid."
Naruto gasped in false indignation, "How dare you charge me so much for your second-hand goods?" he put a hand to his heart lightly. "And I am no child! How can you treat such an important customer so unappreciatively? Have you not read the incredibly small credits on Newsroom lately, young woman?"
Ino faked horror, "Oh, sir, I'm so sor- oh. Oh, my…"
"What? Did I say something wrong?" Naruto followed her eyes to the front door of the small café only to see Sasuke Uchiha.
Well, fuck.
The bastard was even more attractive in daylight.
Naruto slapped his debit card on the counter, blushing wildly. The bastard was also looking directly at him.
"Hello, sir. Give me a moment and I'll be right with you." Ino purred, leaning over the counter in an effort to show off her cleavage. Naruto became so irritated that he forgot to be embarrassed.
Until Sasuke slid a ten dollar bill onto the counter and handed Naruto's card back to him.
"I'll be paying for his order, as well." His velvet voice was distracting enough that the words didn't register until Ino was making a large cup of peppermint tea for the CNN correspondent.
"Bu- wha- why?" Naruto sputtered out, not knowing how to react.
Sasuke smirked and leaned against the counter. "You can pay me back later."
What the fuck?
"Is that not okay?" Sasuke tilted his head slightly, making Naruto's head spin a little bit.
"Uh, no, it's fine. So um…" Naruto floundered for a conversation piece while Sasuke's shoulders relaxed a decent bit. "How's Dick?" Naruto blurted out, having referred to Richard Quest as Dick Quest for a laugh for the longest time. Almost as surprisingly, Sasuke replied, "Which one?"
Silence.
"Haha- ahhh-hah, oh, man." Naruto laughed, wiping tears from his eyes. "That's great. I was referring to Sir Quest, though."
"Dick Quest. I like it." Sasuke grabbed his tea from Ino while quietly telling her to keep the change. "He's still very enthusiastic about Congressional decisions."
"Ah, I see." Naruto hummed into his coffee. "And how are you?" Sasuke turned to him with such piercing obsidian eyes that he had to look away.
"I'm doing well, thank you. Not incredibly enthusiastic about the decisions of our Representatives, but I'll manage. Yourself?"
Naruto snorted, "Fine. Curious, though, if Bachmann knows what Reganomics are and who instituted them."
-SasuNaru-
"And I'd love to be a vegetarian, but I really, REALLY like bacon. Y'know?" Naruto said earnestly. Sasuke chuckled and looked at his watch, a small frown appearing.
"Hmmm. I actually have a family commitment, so I'll being seeing you tomorrow, if that's all right?" The beautiful man said, facing him completely.
"Uh, yeah. You should mention the jobs plans tomorrow. I'm sure people would love to see your coworkers reactions to actual news." Naruto joked, trying to cover up his disappointment. Sasuke genuinely smiled, nodded at him, and walked away, leaving a stunned Naruto watching him leave.
*This should also have a barrier*
"This time won't you save me, this time won't you…" Save Me by Nicki Minaj played in Naruto's headphones as he ran another lap around the perimeter of his gym. He breathed heavily and felt his legs getting weaker and weaker as he was running the third lap, equivalent to over half of a mile. He couldn't even admit to himself that he wanted to get Sasuke's attention, nor that it was part of the reason he pushed himself so hard. Perfect bastard.
They had talked for so long. He kept remembering the way Sasuke looked at him, and the way he would occasionally struggle when trying to talk about his life.
"It was either politics or talking about politics. It leaves a good distance between you and the audience when you're just taking about it, so I ended up at CNN." He'd said that after Naruto had asked him about his career choice. "I'd been in Stage Crew in high school, so it wasn't really something I wanted to go back to."
Fucking bastard understood him so well, too. Once or twice, he had to restrain himself from straddling the taller man and kissing the living daylights out of him. Work the next day would be a blast.