A/N This is my first fanfiction to be published. It was done in collab with my friend, KillerMay. Check her out sometime, she's hilarious.
Sasuke, West Virginia Ranger
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
"This town ain't big enough for the both of us," Shino said as he stared down his opponent. His hand was inches from his gun and it was almost time to draw, but not before his adversary got in a few words. It was common courtesy in these situations.
Besides the showdown, it was really a rather typical day in Konoha, West Virgina. The sun was in the sky, blazing down, so not many people were out. Most of them were in the saloon that was next to the action going on outside. People that did happen to be outside and pass by would almost immediately rush inside to one of the nearby buildings for protection.
Showdowns were serious business and in this particular one, neither of the participants were people that anyone with brains would mess with.
"Really?" Shino's opponent drawled out. His face was mostly hidden by his black cowboy hat that was tipped down. He was also inching near his gun, but he didn't make it as obvious. He made a large, obvious looking around motion. "It doesn't seem too crowded to me."
Shino's eyes narrowed behind his sunglasses. He pushed them up with his left hand and pulled out his gun with his right.
His opponent pulled out his own gun and tipped his hat up.
Turning off the safety, Shino replied, "Well, Mister 'Chiha, that'd be 'cause you're the one that don't belong."
The two stood with the sun high in the sky, facing off with death in their eyes. A tumbleweed rolled across the dirt road between them, and all became still. The town was now Gunslinger's territory.
The two spun around simultaneously, and began walking in opposite directions. Some stray children watched from the dusty windows of their homes.
"One..."
Sasuke Uchiha, Shino's opponent, was once the son of a very rich cotton plantation owner. His older brother, who was now a wanted man, joined a gang of bandits, and killed off his entire family, leaving only the young Uchiha boy alive.
"Two..."
Shino Aburame was the village tough guy. Always, whenever a newcomer would arrive in the town, Shino would scare them off by challenging them to a draw. If they did happen to say yes, it was nearly guaranteed that they would lose against him.
"Three!" Shino fired while the word was being said rather than after, like a gentleman. That was why he always won—if anyone confronted him about cheating he would just say they saw it wrong and no one dared to go against anything he said.
Sasuke, however, was rather experienced in the art of dueling. He had seen every trick in the book and had several wounds to prove it. He anticipated the action and he jumped out of the way right as the bullet was fired. After dodging the bullet, he fired one of his own.
Unfortunately, jumping out of the way had put him in a rather odd position and it missed. They kept firing and neither one was getting hit. Once they had each fired six they needed to reload the gun. They did it quickly because whoever was the last one finished would surely lose.
"Excuse me, fellas!" someone called out from somewhere behind Shino. They both stopped what they were doing and turned to look at the newcomer.
Whoever it was seemed incredibly mysterious. The sun was hitting him from behind, making his appear almost dark. His large hat shaded most of his face. He was riding a black horse.
"Either of you know where I can find a saloon 'round here?" he asked.
Sasuke and Shino exchanged a glance as he got closer.
The saloon was /right next to them/. It even had huge, bright red letters that hung above it reading "SALOON". It was hard to miss, really.
Sasuke pointed to it. The guy let out a a small "Ooh..." before nodding. When he was closer to them, the sun didn't reflect off of him quite so strangely and he wasn't a black blur anymore. He was wearing a bright orange shirt under a white vest. It didn't look that threatening. His hair was a bright blond and his skin was freakishly tan.
He tied his horse up outside of the saloon and nodded at the two. "Thanks," he said. When he got off the horse, a gun was very obviously strapped to his thigh in a mildly threatening way.
"Who are you?" Shino asked, narrowing his eyes. He would have to have a showdown with this guy.
The strange man took off his hat and looked Shino up and down. He then looked around the rest of the town. He wasn't used to people not knowing who he was.
"Well, most people just call me the Lone Rider."
With that introduction, he entered the saloon.
A few people sat around, playing cards. A lone bartender stood behind a counter, cleaning the glasses he used to serve his guests. He appeared to be finanically well-off, for his clothes were made of fine materials, and his posture was that of a gentleman's. The "Lone Rider" approached the bar and gave the man a glare.
The whole saloon had turned to stare at the newcomer. Tourists were rare around these parts, and most people that came didn't stay long. Some of the townsfolk wondered just how long this one would stay.
"I sure am thirsty," the blonde spoke, looking the bartender straight in the eye.
"What'll you have?" asked the bartender, focusing more on the glass than the newcomer.
The boy looked at all the different drinks, unsure of what to get. Decisions, decisions.
"I'd like a glass of apple cider."
The people at the saloon were all focusing on him now, wondering if their ears had decieved them.
The bartender shrugged and pulled out a smaller barrel from under the counter, and began pouring the drink.
"Thanks a lot, er..."
"My name is Neji. Neji Hyuga. From the looks of it," he paused, watching how strangely the blonde acted. "You ain't from around these parts, are ya?"
He was grinning widely when Sasuke and Shino, who were taking a break from their showdown, also entered the saloon to see what would happen.
"Nope, you could say I'm a drifter, I suppose. I actually come from Whirlpool over yonder. I've been to a lot o' places and I ain't been known to stay in them for long."
Neji nodded to show he had been listening. "I didn't ask for all that information, but okay. We serve e'eryone here—drifter or not."
"Well that's right kind of you, I've been t' several small towns that won't e'en look my way when I come into a saloon."
"Aa, again—didn't ask."
The Lone Rider was about to say something else when a loud excited "Whoop!" cut him off. "Well boys, ya' might as well give up now since none o' y'all act'lly know how t' play!"
He looked over to see a girl with pink hair sitting at the card table, pulling all the chips toward herself. She had obviously just one what seemed to be a lot. Probably a lot of nickels in that pile.
The guys around her grumbled and threw all of their cards in the middle. They were almost positive she had been cheating, but there was no way to actually prove it.
In actuality, she was just that good at cards.
"Ah, come on, boys! I was just kiddin', how 'bout anoth'r round?" she pushed, leaning over prettily.
"Nah, you're feminine charms ain't gonna work on us this time, Har'no!" one of the men exclaimed. "We know all o' y're dirty tricks and they ain't gon' work this time!"
She smiled as they walked away. They didn't know all of her tricks.
Shino and Sasuke sauntered across the saloon over to where she was sitting down, counting her winnings, and sat down on opposite sides of her.
She glanced at both of them. "Hey boys! Wanna play some cards?" She waved her previous hand in Sasuke's face. He smirked slightly and grabbed them from her.
"Nah, not t'day," he replied.
She pouted mockingly. "Well, you're no fun. I bet Shino'd want t' entertain me, wouldn't ya'?"
Shino grunted politely, however it is that one does that, and sat across from her. "What're we playing? Poker?"
The girl smiled. "Yessir, same as usual!"
Sasuke stood up from the table when he was very suddenly greeted with an inapropriate hug from behind. He turned to see who it was.
"Why, Sasuke! It's been a while, ain't it? You sure are fine, as usual!"
"Hello, Ino."
"By the by, did you happen to meet that strange kid o'er yonder? The one sittin' at the bar?"
"I did. Barely."
"What's he like?"
"Um...different."
The Lone Rider turned back towards the bar.
"Need a refill?" asked Neji.
"Naw, I'm good. That sure did hit the spot though, Mister! Here's a tip," he said, handing him some cash money.
He wasn't used to recieving tips.
"Um, thank you kindly, good sir-"
"You know, everywhere I go, people call me the Lone Rider." Interrupted the blonde.
"You don't say..." Neji replied, slightly annoyed. "Why's that?"
"'Cuz I travel alone, 'nd I ride a horse. I guess the nickname made sense."
"...interesting." he said, even though it wasn't actually interesting.
As the Lone Rider continued discussing random and trivial things with Neji—who really didn't care at all—, the saloon door swung open again.
The newest arrival let out a loud whistle as he pushed through people to get to the bar. "Sure is crowded t'day, huh Neji?"
"Sure is, Sheriff," Neji replied, nodded towards him as he continued to clean a glass. At some point, he held it up towards a window where the sunlight was streaming in so he could see if there were any stains still on it.
"Ya' must me doin' pretty well t'day then," the sheriff continued, taking off his hat and placing it on a nearby rack.
"Nah, most people 're only in here to play cards—they get one drink 'nd then get distracted by that 'nd only drink half of it."
"Y'need to start chargin' 'em for tables!" he exclaimed, laughing. The Lone Rider had been watching the scene unfold and it was only then that he noticed the huge dog that had followed behind the sheriff. And it was only then that the sheriff noticed the Lone Rider.
"What's 'ur name?" he asked.
"Well, most people just call me the Lone Rider," he replied.
The sheriff began laughing again. "I didn't ask what people called ya', I asked f'r your name."
The Lone Rider blinked. He hadn't ever gotten that reaction before. "Well then, I s'ppose I'm Naruto Uzumaki."
"You s'ppose?" the sheriff asked.
"...Well then, what's 'ur name!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Well, most people call me Sheriff," he replied, taking the badge pinned to his shirt between his thumb and index finger.
"I didn't ask what people called ya'," he mocked.
The sheriff began laughing again. "I like you, Uzumaki—you're alright. I'm Kiba Inuzuka, sheriff of this here town." Naruto was going to tell him that he figured that one out, but decided against it.
He had figured it out though.
He wasn't that stupid.
.
.
"Oh, well, lookie there—it's the sheriff," Ino observed. She was sitting across from Sakura, who was still playing poker with Shino and Sasuke—who had asked to be dealt in after Shino decided to play.
Ino would never understand men, no matter how many she had the company of.
The three didn't seem to acknowledge her saying anything at all. She blew her bangs out of her face. She was getting pretty tired of this whole thing. They were ignoring her and she didn't like to be ignored.
She looked over at the three. They all their poker faces on (which for Sasuke was just his normal face—which was incredibly pretty). It was kind of freaking her out, actually.
"Y'all are no fun," she muttered under her breath before standing up. There was no business there anyways.
The sheriff noticed her rising up.
"Howdy there, Miss Ino," he smiled, politely tipping his hat. Ino did a curtsey and approached the bar for her chance to talk to both the sheriff and the newcomer.
"How've ya been, sheriff?" she asked as she bent over to pet his dog. "I haven't spoken to you in a while."
"I ain't been here for a while, Miss. I've been travelin'. They say they've spotted some bandits a few miles out. Thing is, I didn't even spot one."
"That's a shame. Sounds like you had a pretty rough time."
"Sure was, and the things is—we got even more reports this mornin'. 'm afraid the people might start panickin' if we don't find anyone soon."
All of sudden, Ino got really serious and leaned forward closer to him, like she was going to tell him a secret. "You don't reckon it's..." she trailed off and her eyes flickered over to the table she had just left.
"His brother? Nah, I wouldn't think so—don't know why he'd be stupid enough to come back around these parts. We ain't got any leads on him either though," he said with a sigh. It wasn't all that fun being sheriff when the police force was full of morons who couldn't catch one person.
That is, of course, if you overlook the fact that the "one person" was a genius and mass murderer who could only be identified because he decided to leave one person alive...
"Well Sheriff, I'm sure you'll get a lead soon," she replied.
Naruto, who was still sitting at the bar next them was pretty confused. This was the town his dad had grown up in and it seemed rather fitting—these people seemed pretty fucking weird.
He had never met a bartender who didn't at least /pretend/ to care. Honestly, if you couldn't count on barmen to help you through your emotional problems, who could you trust?
He sighed and looked around. He didn't know how long he was going to stay here, but so far, he didn't think it would really be long enough to find someone that wasn't a freak.
That reminded him though... "Hey Neji, you know of a place 'round here where I could stay a couple nights?" he asked, but Neji was distracted.
The damn glass would not. Get. Clean. It was annoying and bothersome. He had tried hiring someone to do it, but the only person who applied was Rock Lee and he refused to go there. Lee was less likely to clean glasses and more likely to stand on the bar and preach to everyone.
The town of Konoha had one little church in it. The preacher - Might Guy - was a loud, proud man. It was nearly impossible to fall asleep during a sermon with him speaking. Rock Lee was his apprentice, who would no doubt take over as preacher when the time came. They certainly were a happy duo.
"There's an inn o'er yonder, should be the last buildin' on the right. You get a discounted stay if you sign in early. But that would mean you'd have to leave. Right. Now."
Naruto stood up and turned towards the sheriff.
"Nice meetin' ya, I suppose."
"You too, Uzumaki. So how long you plannin' on stayin', anyways?" asked Kiba, who put his hand out for Naruto to shake.
"Just a couple o' days," he replied, not noticing that Kiba had put out his hand in the first place.
"Shame. Well, maybe we can meet up again sometime, have a couple o' beers or somethin'."
Kiba put his hand down after giving up hope on ever recieving a handshake.
"Maybe."
Naruto left the saloon short afterwards. He wasn't really into the whole alcohol thing, so he doubted his beer meet with Kiba would ever really happen.
.
.
"Yahoo! I dun' won again! I swear, it's like ya'll 're goin' easy on me!" shouted the pink haired girl. Sasuke shook his head.
"I think you're just good at this," spoke Shino, wanting to get in a compliment for her before Sasuke did. Not that Sasuke ever actually expressed interest in her, or anyone else...
"Well of course I'm good at this, I didn't think y'all would've been so bad at it, though!" she replied, laughing. Shino pushed up his glasses and didn't say anything.
"Do you want another drink?" he eventually asked once she had stopped laughing.
"I think she's had plenty," Sasuke answered warily, looking down at the large amount of mugs that were sitting on the floor, as to not get in the way of the game.
"I think she can answer for herself," Shino replied, bitterly, shooting a glare his way, not that he could actually tell.
"Boys, please," Sakura interrupted, grinning. "Sasuke's right, I've had enough f'r t'day." Shino crossed his arms. That was so not cool. "I should pro'lly be gettin' home pretty soon—either of y'all willing to walk me?" she asked, glancing between the two.
"Sure," they both said in unison. "I'll do it," they both said. They eventually just settled for glaring at each other.
Sakura laughed again. "C'mon Sauce-y, it's more on y're way," she said, standing up. Shino could be pretty creepy when they were alone anyways.
The Uchiha stood up immediately, straightened out his black vest, and put his hat back on before walking over next to her. He appreciated the victory. If he could one-up Shino, it was a good day.
"C'mon!" she said again with a grin before grabbing his arm and pulling him out of the saloon.
.
.
The bell didn't seem to be working. Naruto had rung it at least thirty-seven times and no one had come to the front desk yet.
He really needed a room. It took him five hours to get into town and that wasn't counting the breaks his horse had to take. He was getting pretty tired actually, even it was still pretty early in the day.
He rang the bell seven more times.
"I-I'm coming!" a small, feminine voice yelled from a back room. They sounded slightly angry. It occurred to him that she could have been saying that the whole time and he wouldn't have known because even when she was yelling, she was quiet.
A few seconds later, a girl appeared in front of the counter, looking like she had just wrestled a bear. Her hair was a mess and her light purple dress—which looked incredibly expensive—had lace trimmings falling off of it.
"S-Sorry," she stuttered. "There was s-some kind of m-mouse back there..." Her eyes seemed to widen slightly as she realized that this man was a potential customer. "O-Oh! B-but we d-don't n-normally see th-that kinda thing here! We-We're a very clean establishment!"
Naruto nodded slowly. "Uh-huh, okay. Well, I just wanted a room for a couple nights."
"S-Sure, s-single bed?" She felt weird asking that. The guy in front of her was awkwardly attractive.
He grinned. "Yup!"
"Wh-What name sh-should I put it under?" she asked.
He rubbed his chin in thought. "Well, most people just call me the Lone Rider—I've said that a lot t'day, you'd be surprised—, but you could put it under Naruto Uzumaki if ya need to."
She nodded and scribbled down his name and wrote "Lone Rider" next to it. "Okay sir, y're room is number six," she said, handing him a key. Then she pointed to a hallway. "It'll be down that way on the left."
"Thank ya, Ma'am!" he said, smiling before taking his key. "How much is this gonna cost?"
"O-oh, um, it'll be s-seven-fifty."
He let out a wolf-whistle before pulling out a frog-shaped coin purse. "Well, I suppose that's cheaper than us'al..." he said.
After he paid her, he went to his room and promptly fell asleep.
The girl who had shown him his room stood in silence for a while. They rarely saw business around here. In fact, the only reason there even was an inn was because her father was rich and she was bored, so running an inn seemed fun.
This boy was the first customer in a long while.
.
.
"You know you don't have to hold onto my arm, right? You're pulling me."
"Aw, Sauce-y! Don't pretend like you don't like it!"
"Sakura, you're a terrible drinker. How much did you have?"
"That's..." she said, placing her hand on his vest as if her fingers were walking. "Private information."
She flicked his nose.
"Seriously. Too much to drink. We're at your house."
"Oh really? I didn't notice."
The two stood there, staring at each other awkwardly for a while.
"Well ain't ya gonna go inside?" asked Sasuke.
"You should know that it's a gentleman's job to walk the girl to the door!" she said, losing her accent a little.
He sighed and rolled his eyes before grabbing her wrist and pulling her up to the doorstep. Sakura just giggled and stumbled after him.
Once they were standing on the porch, she still made no move to go inside. "...Are ya goin' inside now?" he asked, raising his eyebrow. She gasped in mock shock and then moved her hand to cover her mouth and laughed.
"But Sasuke! You still gotta kiss me goodn'ght!" she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Now Sasuke was confused and had no idea what he was supposed to do—and he hated not knowing things. It bothered him and made him want to punch a wall in the face.
Instead of going for it—like any normal guy would do, even if they weren't dating or whatever, seriously, Sakura was hot, but whatever—, he just stood there and gave her a stupid look. A mouth-slightly-open-and-head-tilted-and-eyebrows-furrowed-in-confusion stupid look.
So, instead, Sakura got really close to him and he was pretty sure she was going to kiss him. Until she started laughing, patted him on the head, and went inside—closing (and he heard the click of the lock too) as she did.
"...What just happened," he mumbled under his breath as he left the property and went home.
end-of-chapter notes: I've always sort of wondered what it would be like to write an author's note. I kinda feel like Hiromu Arakawa. But not really.