The restaurant is technically abandoned. It is one of several empty buildings on this decrepit street but because of its placement in the grunges of the city, nobody is in any hurry to claim it. Which, I suppose, is why no one would notice if a certain pale youth should decide to use this place as his own personal abode on occasion.
Said youth is now glaring at me. There is no emotion accompanying his glare; his eyes are as empty as his heart. No, that's wrong. His eyes may be empty, but I know his heart is full of emotion, just not the kind I'd like him to have.
"Welcome back," he says quietly.
"I should say the same to you" I reply. It is our customary exchange. Call it pleasantry, if you'd like. The words are simple enough, thrown out casually by a voice I imagine you might hear from a psychologist: sympathetic and disarming. It's supposed to make a less intelligent person put down their guard, but Sasuke knows me better than that. He is translating my body language instead, silently and quickly, into a language he understands.
My arms, crossed across my chest, issue a challenge to him.
He steps aside anyway and lets me through. I walk in and do a double take. The place is gem. I tell him so with a low whistle. He may be a total ass, but I have to admit he's done a good job. New plaster covers old holes and white paint covers everything else. Aside from Sasuke's ascetic aesthetic, the restaurant looks like it did in the old days, before the war broke out and took with it all the landmarks of my childhood.
I turn to Sasuke.
"Isn't it ironic?" I ask. My voice is husky, and I try to imagine what he's feeling. Is my voice, deeper than the last time we spoke, sending tingles running down his spine? Or is he smirking at my incompetence, even at seduction. So I try again, "Such white walls, hiding such dirty secrets." This time, my eyes smolder into his and he blinks. I wonder, for a moment, if his heart is hammering as fast as mine.
"All my best secrets are the dirty ones," he replies. His blithe tone lifts the hairs on the back of my neck. I break our stare and look out the window.
The bar table been replaced since last time too. I grimace, remembering sharp splinters of wood and a dull thud. Nothing is said, but Sasuke's eyes, following gaze, let me know that he remembers it too.
This is how it happens. I'll hear a chuckle, and it'll sound so close that when I turn towards it, I half expect Sasuke to be standing here with a customary smirk on his face. But it's not, it's a rustling in the trees or an extra shadow behind me, and I'll swear that shadow has the shape of someone I used to know, but when I turn around there won't be anyone there.
I'll follow a shadow that turns into a ghost when I'm close enough to reach out and grab the end of that stupid purple bow just disappearing around the corner. If I'm seeing him now, it's because he's letting me.
"You know I'm obligated to tell ANBU you're back. They'll be pissed they didn't detect you first," I tell him. "They have orders to kill you on sight."
"Well then they're pretty shitty about fulfilling their orders aren't they? Or are you just as bad following directions as an ANBU as you were as a genin?"
Suddenly, he's moved in front of me. His nose is brushes my neck and he puts his hands on my thighs, slowly sliding them to my knees. I tense up because the closeness is unnerving but it's been so long since I've had him near me. I tense up, waiting for his hands to move up again, a sign that this isn't just some casual visit, that being here means something to him.
He smiles and puts his lips on mine. They are smooth where mine are dry and chapped. I don't kiss him back. He'll only pull back and laugh at me—laughs at me for wanting more, laughs at me for being weak.
"Good, you're starting to learn. I was wondering when you'd stop being so pathetic," he says when he pulls away.
Pathetic. In one word he has managed to crack me. My eyes burn from unshed tears, making my eyes glisten. Though the reflection in his eyes, I can already see myself shifting. My glistening eyes heightening the red that's starting to creep in.
Power though, it goads Sasuke. He loves it when I lose control, resort to using the Kyuubi's powers to fight him. You'll never best me on your own, he'll say and if I lose to him, then it's even worse. I see his contempt rising to the surface. It's his smirk and his too-cool-to-care slouch that set me off. I always have my weapons on me, but I think a solid punch to the face will be infinitely more satisfying.
"Who says that I don't plan on fulfilling orders?" I hiss as I propel my fist towards his face while simultaneously aiming my other hand for Sasuke's neck. I just need one blow to land. That's the challenge with these fights. It's not so much the striking as it is landing a strike. Sasuke blocks and dodges the next blow I aim at his chest. He reaches for his sword.
"Oh no you don't," I interrupt him with kunai. They're faster to draw out, and he's forced to duck to avoid being skewed.
"Surely you don't expect to land a blow with those moves?" he says.
"No, I was just warming up" I retort. It's back to our training days, before the war, before the betrayal. Before he left. It's about to devolve into two teenage boys rolling on the floor, before dodging a kick to the ribs and colliding back together again.
Sasuke deftly sidesteps a roundhouse kick. There's a sudden pinch in my leg. Sasuke's pulled out a syringe. My body starts to stiffen. My chest hurts, and my arms feel like lead weights. I can't move; he's used something on me. I suspect it's one of Orochimaru's poisons. He bends down and I see his eyes, a little less focused than before.
"You're improving, Naruto. Maybe one of these times you'll actually manage to kill me on sight, like you're supposed to," says Sasuke as he straightens up. The edges of my vision are beginning to darken. The last things I see are the soles of his sandals as he turns away from me. He is devastating, ever more so with each retreating step.
"I'll see you next time." The words caressed deaf ears, as Naruto had already blacked out. Still, it gave Sasuke something to look forward to.