I have no clue where this came from, but here it is. This won't be a long story, a few chapters probably, but read and tell me what ya think!
Warning: As always, naughty language and yaoi. Everyone is just a little OOC, but if you're an avid reader to my stories, you know that's the way it goes.
Disclaimer: Nothing to my name, I'm afraid.
Enjoy :)
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I was in love with Sasuke Uchiha. Not that I had ever spoken to him or anything. We'd gone to the same school since kindergarten and while I saw him plenty in passing, we'd never had classes together. Our paths had never crossed. But I knew everything about him, like a professional stalker should, of course. ..Just kidding.
But really, I was friends with a couple of girls from his 'fanclub,' or his group of girls that followed him around and swooned at the way he chewed and stood and scowled, and while listening to their incessant chattering, I'd picked up a couple of things. He apparently loved raw tomatoes and hardcore music, his favorite movie was Fight Club, favorite color dark blue, he barely ever talked, and his whole family was dead.
Well, not his whole family, and I didn't really need the fangirls to know this. Sasuke lived with his older brother in a large house just outside of town. I remembered the accident very vividly. About four years ago Sasuke's parents, two aunts, and uncle took an extended vacation for the summer. They traveled for an entire month, seeing all the things they'd wanted to see their whole lives apparently. On the way home, their plane hit a rough patch of turbulence. While trying to make an emergency landing, the plane went uncontrollably off course and crashed. Everyone on the flight included - including all of the Uchihas. Sasuke's older brother, Itachi I believe, was nineteen at the time and attending the local university, his freshman year there. Sasuke - and the rest of our class - was about to enter the eigth grade. Sasuke was fourteen. Because his brother was of age and the last living member of his family, Itachi gained custody of Sasuke. I heard it had changed Sasuke drastically and while I didn't know for sure or from firsthand since I didn't know him, I was sure it had changed him. It something that was fucked up. And I knew fucked up well.
I knew that Itachi had graduated from the university last year and became a dentist or something like that. As for Sasuke - and of course, the rest of us - we were going into our senior year at the high school.
In fact, I had just picked up my schedule. Same old shit, twelfth grade level. Wonderful. While digging my phone out of my pocket, I remembered back to why the accident that took Sasuke's family was so embedded in my memory. Maybe it had been that I was two years from the legal age of sixteen like Sasuke, and the accident put Sasuke in the same boat I was in - one family short of a normal person and about to enter high school. I frowned as I texted my schedule and sent it out to a few of my friends. That memory triggered other memories, of turning sixteen and moving into my own apartment, of the rough first year, of being beaten on the way home, of being eight again and standing in the front yard of a house I hadn't seen since the police came and took me to an orphanage that I'd spent eight years in.
None of these were particularly happy memories, so I tried to rid myself of them as I walked down the safe, well-populated route to my apartment complex.
I looked down as my phone vibrated and answered Gaara's call. His voice was a good distraction from any bad thoughts, and I'd quickly pushed them out of mind to dwell on much later. To keep me from sleep like they did most nights.
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I was bored. I hated classes of any kind, but my hate was intensified when it came to math. Which was what class I was in at the moment. Last class of the first day of Hell. So I had to distract myself with the only interesting thing in the classroom at the moment..
Sasuke Uchiha himself.
Yes, the gods had smiled upon me the day I picked up my schedule because I'd managed to score every class with the young Uchiha and, with our last names being so close together, sat next to him in almost every class as well. In this class, I sat right beside him.
So while the teacher rambled on, teaching some thing or other that I would just teach myself later like I did with everything else, I stared quite blatantly at Sasuke.
I'd made up my mind that, this year, I was going to make him mine. I was going to slowly but surely make him fall in love with me. Sure it might be difficult, but I had faith that I could do it. The first thing I needed to do, though, was talk to him. I'd thought of the many ways that I could do this, but I wasn't sure which would work best.
The first was to just walk up and start talking to him, but I'd canceled that one out quickly. I mean, with the 'fuck you' attitude that he adorned, I doubted that one would work too great.
The second was to drop a note on his desk telling him I loved him and had thought of our children's names, but then that too sounded batshit crazy, so I scratched that one out as well.
So I came to the conclusion that I should just hit on him and become friends with him the good old Naruto way, and I was proceding to put that to work.
At first, he didn't notice that I was staring at him. He was too busy drawing something or other in his notebook, wearing a bored expression, to realize that my gaze was glued to him. After a minute or so, the hand wielding the pencil slowed before coming to a stop. I watched as he put the pencil down and looked up. We were seated in the back, so no one else was taking note of us, as their attention was for the most part directed toward the teacher, currently writing on the board behind her. He took a glance around the room before looking back down to the paper in front of him and picking his pencil back up. I smirked.
A couple of minutes later, he stopped once again, realizing that someone was still burning a hole in his direction. He looked up, a hint of puzzlement on his face. He glanced around the room once more and was about to look back down when he caught sight of my stare in the corner of his eye.
"Can I help you with something?" he asked briskly. I noted the small look of confusion that he hid so well from others in his eyes.
"I'm Naruto," I answered, smiling and ignoring his question. He looked very slightly surprised at the brush off of his question but did not dwell on it.
"Uh, I'm.. Sasuke. Why are you staring at me?" he asked, looking at me as if I was extremely odd. My smile transformed into a smirk.
"Because you're hot and I'm pretty fuckin' bored. Nothin' else to look at," I stated, shrugging. I smiled inwardly. I'd just initiated my plan to hit on Sasuke and make him mine. His eyebrows shot up, and a barely noticeable blush rose to his cheeks.
"You don't think that what the teacher is saying is important?" he questioned. I looked up at the board momentarily before looking back.
"I already know how to do what she happens to be teaching, I'm afraid," I answered with a smile. I hated math, sure, but that didn't mean I was bad at it.
"You already know, huh? Well maybe you could run it by me, then. 'Cause I can never make heads or tails of the shit," he grumbled. And just like that, it clicked. My in with Sasuke, unfortunately, could be math. I hoped it wasn't.
"I could, actually," I stated, wondering if I would regret it later. His eyebrows shot up.
"What?" he asked.
"I could help you. With math. You know, tutor you. I wouldn't mind," I told him. He studied me for a moment before saying anything, his cold eyes boring into me.
"That's be be.. kind of you. But isn't that strange?" he asked mockingly. I was confused.
"What would be strange?"
"You being randomly nice," he said with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. I smiled a toothy smile and rolled my eyes.
"Now, why would it be so strange for me to be nice?" I inquired, acting innocent. He gave my act a quick look of disbelief before continuing.
"Well, we're not friends or anything, right?" he asked to start off.
"Not yet," I answered, smirking. He rolled his eyes in turn.
"And you have quite the reputation." Bad move, Sasuke.
"Are you saying, little Uchiha, that you don't have a reputation yourself? I believe the latest gossip to be that you stabbed a guy or some shit in a parking lot last weekend, and then went off to do kegs at some party that was later busted up, by the cops no less?" I teased. They weren't lies, they really were rumors going around, but I doubted there was too much truth to them, except maybe Sasuke was at the sites of all of the festivities.
"Sure that shit's going around, but none of it's true!" he said hurriedly. It was the first real reaction I'd gotten out of him in the entire conversation. I let a beat go by before I answered, letting his own statement sink in.
"And what was the last thing you heard about me, Sasuke?" I asked. I didn't like to blow my cool, but for some reason I was quickly nearing just that. I was frustrated that what Sasuke knew about me might be bullshit, and that he wouldn't even give me a chance based on stupid ass rumors.
"Well.." He suddenly seemed hesitant to answer.
"Well?" I asked in mock-impatience. He sighed.
"The last thing I heard about you was last week. Apparently, you were high as a kite and ran butt naked into the Crazi Cheap on the corner of main."
"Oh," I replied. He looked up from the spot on the floor that had become interesting.
"Oh?" he echoed. "Is it true or what?"
I smirked.
"Oh, it's true. But I wasn't high. Kiba and Gaara dared me to. And I'm not one to back down from a good dare," I stated simply. It had been a crazy night, that night.. He smiled.
"See? Sometimes you can believe what you hear," he answered.
"Okay, well what else have you heard?" I quizzed. He was a master of hiding his emotions, but I spent most of my day doing the same thing, so the hint of hesitance on his face was almost plain for me to see. But after a moment of silence, he went ahead and said what I knew he would say next.
"Well.. everyone says that you're gay. And that you've fucked countless guys over at The Cliff, and that you don't give a shit who's watching or what you're doing." He didn't quite look down after saying this, but the stare that met my eyes lost some confidence. It was my turn to sigh.
"I love how everybody thinks they know me. And every damn thing about me, like it's their business or something. Like I'm some kind of whore that goes around humping everything I can get my gay little hands on, and it's everyone's duty to spread the word. No, Sasuke. I don't spend every weekend up at The Cliff fucking sleazy guys. Thanks anyway though, Sas. You're such a great guy."
I hadn't meant to, but I'd let my anger at all of the stupid rumors get to me. Anger at what they made Sasuke think about me take over. And when I got mad, it was never a good thing. But I had pretty good control of it after many years of anger management with the school counselor and handled the anger after a couple of deep breaths. I grabbed my textbook and binder off of the desk in front of me (the ones that had yet to be opened) and stood from my seat.
"See you around, Uchiha. Maybe up at The Cliff, or over at Crazi Cheap. But you'll probably know where to find me, right? Just follow the rumors." After letting all this out, I walked up to the teacher now seated at her desk, told her I was ill, and waltzed out of the classroom. I couldn't bring myself to look back, but I felt eyes follow me as I stepped out of the door and into the hallway, heading in the opposite direction of the nurses office and instead walking out of the double doors.
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At about six thirty, Gaara called. After having the same old first day conversation, we agreed to meet up in a half hour at Hinata's party. As the conversation wound down to the goodbye point, though, Gaara seemed to remember something.
"Oh, and I have a message for you from Sasuke Uchiha?" He sounded confused as he said the name, but he was probably more curious than anything. I chose to wait before I explained.
"And what, exactly, did he have to say?" I asked.
"Well, he came up to my locker after last period. Said hey, you're good friends with Naruto Uzumaki right? So I said yeah, what's it to you? He just shook his head and said the he didn't mean trouble or anything but that he wanted to apologize to you. I said I didn't know if you'd wanna talk since I didn't know what went down, but told him that we might drop by Hinata's tonight and if you wanted to talk to him we'd show up there. Then he said thanks and walked off. So.. care to fill me in or will we be chatting later, after the party?" he asked, and I could hear the smirk in his voice. I smiled my own cocky smile and felt a fondness for Gaara, a protectiveness. Though he'd kill me if he heard those thoughts because Gaara was a badass and could probably kick my ass.
"Oh, I'll fill you in sooner or later, old chap. I'll see you in 30, man!" I replied cheerily. I heard his snort of laughter before he said goodbye and we hung up.
I sighed and looked in the mirror that hung in my bedroom. I had been mad earlier, but I was totally calm now and kind of felt bad about being so harsh on Sasuke and maybe, maybe, overreacting. My anger problems definitely added snags in my foolproof plan to get Sasuke to love me.
I stood and walked over to my closet, opening the door and peering inside. I was suddenly worried about what to wear, something that usually didn't cross my mind. After some contemplation, I pulled out some straight-legged jeans and a black t-shirt reading "LIKE A BOSS" in purple and orange. I slipped on some neon orange, high-top Nikes and said to myself, "Well done, grasshopper. Your task is complete. You have made your sensei very proud." Then I realized I was speaking aloud and mentally slapped myself silly.
I shook my head and headed to the kitchen. I was in the mood for an ice cream sandwich and a moment of silence before I had to leave the house and head over to Hinata's place. Aaah ice cream, the sweet answer to soothing every problem.
While sitting at the kitchen table in my quiet apartment, I thought back to all the rumors that circulated about me. Mostly, ones about me and The Cliff. The Cliff was exactly that, a cliff that jutted out over Konoha, a piece of Konohagakure Mountain whose side Konoha was nestled into. It was a well known spot in town, but mostly because a lot of whorish activity went down up there and if you were spotted there, you were either a god, a whore, or a lovebird. And because I wasn't with anybody and it wasn't a girl I'd 'been with', I was deemed the second of the three. Most people didn't believe the hype, because most people knew me better than that. But a couple people believed whatever they were told, and these were the people that helped to spread the rumors. Only a few people knew the real story that began all of the shit with me and the stupid mountain, but what happened was worth a few bad stories about me if I could help a friend out. I stood and stretched, looking at the clock on the wall facing the table. It was about six fifty, and with a fifteen minute drive to Hinata's I'd have to speed a little to get there and meet Gaara promptly at seven. But that was no problem, really.
I grabbed up the essentials and headed out to my ride, an '07 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, baby blue. I hopped in and peeled out of the parking area, taking a left to the house that Hinata and Neji rented. I tapped my fingers on the steering wheel to a Michael Jackson song, Thriller, that was being played once again on the radio and squinted at the last rays of the setting sun invading my vision. I flipped down the visor and took the next right.
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When I pulled up at the Hyuuga party, it was in the early stages of full-swing. Already, cars cluttered the yard and the street in front of the house. For the safety of my Jeep, I parked across the street and a couple houses down.
I got out and leaned against the vehicle, hands in my pockets. The sun was setting and the sky was dark blue, magenta, deep purple, and orange mixed together. A couple of stars were visible, but no moon yet. I sighed. My fingers itched for a cigarette, but I was trying to quit. I studied the cars across the road and wondered what Sasuke drove and if he was here yet. I pushed away from the car and, checking both ways of course, crossed over to the other side of the street. I decided, as I bounded up Hinata and Neji's front porch, that I would just do whatever my instincts said to do when Sasuke confronted me, as I was sure he would if he were there.
I knocked on the door before going ahead and opening it. Judging by the sound level inside, I knew no one would be able to hear something so quiet as a knock at the door.
I took a couple steps in and was surprised when I immediately spotted Gaara. Usually, I would have to make a five minute sweep of the house before coming across him tucked away somewhere with a beer and some guy or girl trying to hook up with him. But tonight, he was practically right in front of me. He was standing on the bottom step, looking down and nodding along to whatever the dark-haired guy in front of him was saying. He had a beer in his hand that he sipped absently at and his usually-bored eyes were relatively attentive.
I closed the front door behind me and took a couple of steps toward him. After the second or third step, he looked over the head of whoever he was talking to and grinned. This caught the other guy's attention and he turned to follow Gaara's gaze. I stopped dead in the middle of a step. It was Sasuke that Gaara was speaking with so nonchalantly. My eyebrows shot up so high were almost lost in my hair line. I took the remaining steps in their direction and looked at Gaara first, then Sasuke.
"Uh.. What's up?" I asked, noticing how tense my voice was. Gaara smirked before answering, while Sasuke's expression stayed mostly blank, but slightly apologetic.
"Hey Naru. Sasuke and I were just talking about you," Gaara said. I rolled my eyes. Of course that was an accident.
I looked over at Sasuke and tried not to drool. I had to immediately apologize to this handsome god and get back on the trail to making him love me, because he looked absolutely delicious and I couldn't stand to have all that angry at me. He was standing there before me in some tight ass jeans and a black hoodie, zipped halfway and exposing a white t-shirt. The Chuck Taylor's on his feet looked new, but most everything he wore did. Meeting his eyes, I proceeded to pull my thoughts together and successfully form a coherent sentence.
"Hey Sasuke.." I prompted.
"Hey.." he answered.
Before an awkward silence could set in, Gaara decided to speak.
"Oh, guys, let's head down the hall. We can all sit down and chill." Sasuke and I looked at him before nodding and following him down the hall to a vacant room. Upon entering, Gaara let out a curse.
"You know what guys? My beer's running a little low, and there's this thing I have to do anyway. You guys stay and talk, I'll be back soon." Gaara grinned, winked in my direction, and backed out of the room, closing the door behind him. I sighed.
"Gee, he's tactful," I said, looking over to where Sasuke sat next to me on the couch. He was nodding.
"Yeah, pretty slick," he replied, letting a short chuckle slip out. I smiled in his direction.
"But I guess we should talk, huh?" I asked, making an attempt at starting the conversation.
"Yeah, I guess. Look, I wanted to--" Sasuke started, but I interrupted.
"There's no need to apologize, Sasuke. I overreacted, big time. I mean, everybody hears and believes rumors. I shouldn't hold it against you that you did the same thing, because you don't know me. So how could you know what really went down, right? It was wrong of me, and I'm the one who should be sorry," I told him. I waited anxiously for his reaction.
"No, Naruto. Sure they were rumors, and no, I don't know you very well, but still I didn't have to word everything like a total prick! That was all on me, and I'm sorry for that. If I were 'tactful', like your buddy Gaara, we probably wouldn't have had a problem!" Sasuke shouted. I shook my head.
"Look, we're both sorry, let's just put it behind us and move on. Okay? I'm cool. I hope you're cool. That's all that's important, right?" I questioned. He was silent a moment before nodding.
"Yeah, I guess it'd be best to just forget about it. I'm cool, too. As long as you know that I really am sorry."
"You were forgiven about the time my dumb ass made it out to the parking lot," I said, grinning. He smiled his own smile and I changed the subject to more joyful matters.
"Okay, so we're here at this party. Let's go see if it's a bust or not. You in?" I asked him. I stood, offereing a hand to pull him to his feet. He looked at my hand for a long moment before reaching up and taking it, answering my prayers.
"I'm in," he said. We stepped out of the room and back into the loud hallway. I smiled when he didn't pull his hand out of mine.
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It was about three hours later that Sasuke, Hinata, Neji, Gaara, Kiba and myself were sitting outside around a large patio table in the backyard. The table was just in reach of the porch light, allowing all of us to make out everyone else's features, barely. People milled around us and on the porch, spilling out of the packed house. The music was louder than it had been when I'd first arrived at the party and the party-goers more intoxicated. Not that I had too much room to talk, I had a pretty solid buzz going on.
We were all sitting around now having a conversation about whatever came up, occasionally talking with someone who stumbled up to the table.
"So, you see what I'm saying?" Kiba questioned, looking around the table for confirmation. There was a moment of silence before I decided to answer for everyone else.
"No, Kiba. What the hell are you even talking about?" I asked, fighting a chuckle. He looked at me for a second before grinning.
"I don't remember. I'm going to get another beer," he said. I caught his arm as he tried to move past me.
"Wait, wait, wait. You really think that's a good idea? You can't even keep a steady train of thought," I pointed out. He shook his head, staggering slightly.
"Nah, it's a good idea. There comes a point in time, young Naru," he swayed in my direction before planting a hand on my shoulder, for emphasis or support I was unsure, "when you're at the in-between time of alcohol levels."
I raised an eyebrow in question.
"In-between time?" Gaara asked, looking just as incredulous.
"Right. It's when you could choose one of two options. This is a very important.. um.. decision that you have to make," he said, looking steely into my eyes.
"What decision is that, Kiba?" I tried not to smile, but couldn't help it. I glanced over to meet Sasuke's eyes briefly. He smirked and I cut my eyes back to the dog-loving guy in front of me.
"At this monumental moment, you can go one of two ways. One, you can go get a bottle of water or something and find a nice, quiet place to sober up a little and successfully ward off the hangover the next day. Or, you can get totally shitfaced drunk and have better stories to tell." Kiba said all of this with the gravest expression until he was finished, face breaking out with a huge grin.
"And now, I'm off to make the wrong decision. Or the right one, depending on who you are," he shouted, turning and walking unsteadily to the porch. I could hear him yelling from inside the house, asking where the beer was.
I turned back to the table and we all looked at each other for a long moment before bursting into laughter, even Sasuke managing a chuckle. Hinata wiped here eyes, still smiling when she spoke.
"He is so gonna regret that decision tomorrow," Hinata stated, shaking her head.
"Of course. He always does. But then, it's always good for some laughs," Neji replied, rolling his eyes. Gaara and I agreed as Sasuke raised an eyebrow.
From inside the house, a crash resonated, making us look up and the Hyuugas to utter curses.
Neji rose to his feet and looked to Hinata.
"What do ya think that was?" he asked. Hinata sighed.
"I don't know, but if it was Kiba, I'm killing him. Excuse us, guys."
Gaara, Sasuke and I nodded as Neji and Hinata walked off to confront whoever had gotten out of hand in the house. It was a moment before any of us said anything.
"Typical party, man," Gaara said, leaning his head back and crossing his arms.
"Mhmm," I replied. I downed the last of the beer in front of me and crunched the can, leaving it dejected on the table.
"I think I'm gonna take off," Gaara said, moving to stand.
"So soon?" I asked.
"Yeah, don't want Temari to worry," Gaara joked, knowing his sister was probably out somewhere and not worried about anyone but herself.
"Nice to hang out with you, Uchiha. You're not so bad," Gaara told Sasuke, reaching over to shake his hand. Gee, I thought. How gentlemanly.
"Yeah, you too man," Sasuke answered, leaning up to shake the offered hand.
"See ya, Naru," Gaara said, clapping me on the shoulder as he passed.
"Call if you need me!"
"Mhm!" he shouted over his shoulder, already disappearing. I knew he probably wouldn't need me, but I felt like I always had to remind him after everything up at The Cliff.
When I looked back at Sasuke, he was smirking in my direction.
"What?" I asked.
"You're pretty protective of him," he pointed out. I nodded.
"Yeah, I guess. So?"
"I don't know. It's just funny. Sweet I guess," he said, still smirking. I felt a blush turn my cheeks hot, but rolled my eyes and pretended it wasn't there.
"Well, he needs somebody to look out for him. Even if he's totally badass/hardcore. Everybody does.." I looked up at the stars twinkling above us and trailed off. A short lived silence settled between us before Sasuke surprised me out of it.
"So, who looks out for you?" he asked. I tore my gaze from the sky down to meet his eyes. He wasn't smirking anymore, just looking at me
"I.. Well.." He'd thrown me a curve ball. I didn't quite know what to say.
Sure I had friends that were there for me and all, and my guardian Iruka was pretty protective of me, but I was always the mother hen of the group. Nobody really worried about how I was getting along because I was so worried over everyone else all the time that they assumed I was fine. And that was how I wanted it to be. I didn't want everybody all worried about me and junk, no way.
"I do. I look out for me," I answered finally. Sasuke didn't seem happy with this.
"That's hard to do, isn't it? To just look out for yourself?" he asked.
"No. That's life. That's what you do. You look out for yourself, take care of yourself, 'cause the world's not going to do that for you," I told him.
For a moment, he just looked at me. Then he shook his head.
"It's so weird."
"What's weird?" I asked, eyebrow raised.
"That's pretty much exactly how I think. I mean, I have my older brother who looks out for me pretty good, I guess. But since our family died, I knew that I needed to start watching my own back in case Itachi wasn't there one day," he said, looking at me and past me at the same time.
Surprisingly, I understood exactly what he was talking about.
"Yeah, I understand," I replied. He looked at me for real this time and snorted.
"How could you possibly understand?" he asked, like he genuinely wanted to know. I sighed.
"'Cause my family's dead, too." I rose from the patio chair and stretched. When I looked back down at Sasuke, he was looking back at me, surprised.
"I.. I didn't know that," he said, rising as well. I didn't say anything, but asked a question instead.
"Do you wanna go to one of my favorite places?" I asked him. After a moment of silence, he nodded.
"Sure. I rode here with Shikamaru though, let me tell him I'm leaving."
"Okay. I'll wait out front."
I watched him jog up the steps and disappear inside, in search for the Nara kid. I made my way through the side yard to the front, standing by the mailbox. My fingers itched for a cigarette again. Trying to quit, Naruto, I reminded myself.
It was a minute later when Sasuke joined me. I grinned at him before motioning to follow me. I led him across the street to my car.
"Hop in," I ordered.
I peeled off of the curb and headed out of the neighborhood, taking a right back into town. I made a mental note to call Hinata tomorrow and tell her the party was great (though it had kind of been a flop).
"So, where are we going?" Sasuke asked me. I felt his eyes watching me and I glanced over to meet them.
"Have you ever heard of Paula's Diner? Over on Norton?" I questioned.
"Um, no, I don't think so," he replied.
"Well, that's where we're going. Paula's a friend of my guardian's. And not only does she make the best burger I've ever eaten, great for somebody a little tipsy, but I have my own private table." I smirked thinking about Paula's, my favorite place to eat since the very first time Iruka took me there to meet her and have our first dinner together.
"Great," Sasuke said, half-smiling. I directed my eyes to the road and in minutes, we were pulling up, the scent of grease and burgers wafting towards us from inside.
"Come on," I said, climbing out.
Inside, Paula's was slow. It was late (or early, depending) and the night crowd was sluggish. But it didn't really matter how late/early it was, Paula's was open 24/7. With Sasuke at my side, I walked up to the bar and smiled at Paula's son, Craig, who was working the register. I liked Craig. He was always kind and, though he was a couple years younger than me, he'd always seemed a lot older. I could see the cook, a creepy guy that looked like a snake, behind him sporting a stained apron and greasy hair.
"Hey Craig," I greeted.
"Naruto! Hey! What can I do for ya?" Craig asked in his friendly tone.
"We'd like a coupla burgers, fries on the side, two Cokes please," I requested.
"Sure," he said and shouted the order back to Orochimaru. "So, it's been a while since I've seen you or Iruka in here. Everything been okay?"
As he finished, his tone got a little darker, more concerned. I tried to quickly brush that off.
"Oh yeah, everything's fine Craig. You know you don't have to worry about me," I said, rolling my eyes. He smiled.
"Yes, I know. You, the ever capable Naruto? Nah, no need to worry about you. But you know, you can't help but do just that sometimes," he said and I shrugged.
"So who's your friend?" he asked and I was glad for a subject change.
"Oh! This is Sasuke! Sasuke, this is Craig."
They shook hands and greeted each other as I took a look around.
"Hey, where's your mom, guy?" I questioned. Paula was almost always there for the night shift.
"Ah, she's in the back doing inventory, I think. I'll get her to bring your food up to you. I assume you want your usual table?" He smirked as he said this. Everytime I came in, I ate at the same table.
"You assume correctly, my friend. I'm gonna take Sasuke on out there," I said, grabbing Sasuke's wrist and leading him around the counter to the back, where a door marked 'Roof' was hidden.
"Nice meeting you, Sasuke!" Craig called after us.
"You, too!" Sasuke shouted back.
I could feel Sasuke confusion as we climbed the staircase to the top of the building.
"The roof?" he questioned. I just laughed and pushed through the door leading outside.
On the roof, strings of white lights were wrapped around the top of the building. In the middle sat a table with a couple of chairs surrounding it. It sat under a lattice canopy, vines and lights wound through it. From the roof of Paula's Diner, you could see right into downtown and be awed by all the lights and people. You could see the Cliff off in the distance, on the other side of town. It really was one of my favorite places to be.
While Sasuke twirled around slowly, looking at the building and into town, I sat at the table and watched him with a smile on my face. It was a few minutes before he came to join me, but when he did he was smiling.
"It's pretty amazing up here," he commented and I agreed.
"So, why did you bring me here?" he asked.
"Because I wanted to. I wanted to talk to you, wanted you to see how beautiful it was here," I said, looking directly into his eyes. I didn't add that I knew the conversation we would have would help me make him fall in love with me, but it was there in my mind (buahah).
"Well.. I'm glad you did. Bring me here, I mean. And I'd like to talk. I've.. got a couple questions. You don't have to answer them or anything, but they're things I'd like to know."
I mulled this over. I knew what he'd want to know. Most likely about The Cliff and my parents and my past. There were things I wanted to know about him, too. So I thought up a deal.
"I'll tell you if you tell me."
Now it was his turn to think, but it didn't take long for him to agree.
"Okay. It's a deal." We reached across the table and shook the other's hand. I laughed and shook my head.
As my hand returned to my own lap, the door to the roof opened and Paula stepped out carrying a tray with our food on it.
"Naruto! I was so excited when Craig told me you and your friend were here!"
I smiled and stood to help Paula with the food. Paula was a pretty woman. She was short and thin, with small features and pale skin. She had dark hair and eyes and a laugh in her voice just like her son, who looked very much like her. She was kindhearted, too, and always worrying over Iruka, which I thought was sweet. I had a soft spot for Paula and her family, just like she had for mine. After a short conversation with Paula and introducing her and Sasuke (which I felt like I was doing a lot of that night), she left us to talk.
But before we did, Sasuke took a bite of his burger. And practically moaned.
"This is delicious!" he exclaimed. I sighed.
"Yes, it is the magic of Paula's. Her food is just that wondrous."
"I didn't believe you but now, mmm, how could I have ever doubted you?"
"I agree, how could you doubt me?" We laughed and ate in silence for a moment.
"So.. About my questions," Sasuke began. I nodded and put my burger down.
"Shoot."
"Well.. first things first, I'd like to know what happened to your family." I nodded and looked off, towards town, before speaking.
"I was eight. When it happened. The only family I had really was my parents and grandparents. Both of my parents were only children, like me, and Mom's mother and father passed away before I was born. It was just Mom, Dad, and Dad's parents. It was just after my birthday and Christmas was just around the corner. My parents and I didn't live far from Grandpa and Grandma. One day, Mom and Dad were going to go over and have a light lunch with them. But I wanted to stay home and play. Me and Kiba.. we were outside playing ninjas or something, and when my parents came outside, ready to leave, they decided to leave me home. So I could play. Kiba's parents were right across the street, they'd be at Grandpa and Grandma's if I needed them. Kiba and I played for hours out in my front yard before.. Before the police came. Kiba's mom and dad came across the street. They didn't want to let me go with the policemen, but the cops took me anyway. They took me to the station and I sat in this room with one light for what felt like forever. It had one of those one sided windows in it. You know, that looks like a mirror? I remember being bored and wondering what was going on and thinking that the mirror was cool and I'd have to tell Kiba I'd seen one in real life. Before this woman came in."
Sasuke was watching me intently, our food forgotten in front of us.
"'What's goin' on?' I asked her. She looked depressed. Had like zero expression. I remember thinking that she looked like she had a stick up her ass. But then she started telling me what had happened, and I wasn't thinking anything about her expressions then.."
I trailed off for a moment, eyes unfocusing before Sasuke pulled me back into myself lightly.
"Naruto.."
"They had entered Grandpa and Grandma's house at lunchtime. There were a couple of guys inside. They were robbing the house. They'd already killed Grandma and Grandpa. The woman said that my parents didn't feel a thing. That when a goes through the brain like that, there's only a moment of shock before they die, so they weren't in pain or anything. She said I was 'lucky I'd stayed home'. Lucky that I hadn't been there. They would've killed me too. I remember looking at that woman, that woman with no expression who thought she was comforting me by telling me that sure my family was dead, but how lucky was I that I hadn't been there? When I looked up at her, she stopped talking and I could see expression, finally. She looked almost pained. I told her that I wasn't lucky, that that was a stupid thing for her to say and that she was a fucking idiot. And later, I heard her out in the hall, telling someone that my face.. There was so much anger and pain on my face that she almost cried."
"Naru-" Sasuke started, but I shook my head.
"I sat in that room for another few hours before someone finally came. This time a pretty blonde woman, named Tsunade. She took me to this orphanage, and I was there 'til I turned sixteen and moved into my own apartment. Only condition was that my new guardian had to check in once a week and make sure I was okay. Iruka was my dad's best friend. He'd been off living in Italy or something and didn't even know about my parents until my fifteenth birthday. Then he started making plans to come back and he found me my apartment and moved into a house down the street and he's been in my life since then."
I was finished. After a few moments of silence I picked up the burger in front of me and continued to eat.
"Naruto, I'm so sorry," he said.
"It's okay. Shit happens."
"That's brutal though.." he argued. I sighed.
"Sure. But I'm not the only one that's lost somebody. You've lost everyone, too. I'm over it now. It's something that happened. It sucked, but there's nothing I can do about it. I like my life. The people in it. I'm okay, and that's all I try to be," I told him, reaching over and grabbing his hand. I locked eyes with him to emphasize my point. He nodded and I withdrew my hand.
We finished eating, paid, said our goodbyes and got in the Jeep. I let the car sit there, idling for a minute.
"So. Where to?" I asked, tapping my fingers on the steering wheel.
"Well, it's getting pretty late. I guess.. I guess to my house."
"Mkay," I replied. "Lead the way."
It was ten minutes later that I pulled up in front of a large, two-story, brick house. I let out a low whistle.
"Nice place you've got here, Sas," I said, smirking. He rolled his eyes.
"It's all right."
"So, you're questions?" I asked, remembering that I'd only answered one.
"We'll get to those later," he answered. I was surprised.
"Okay. Say, what are you doing tomorrow night?"
"Nothing, why?"
"Me and some friends are going bowling. Would you like to come?" I asked, trying to sound nonchalant instead of hopeful.
"Yeah! I mean, sure.." he said. I studied him for a moment before realizing he was blushing. Pretty intensely.
"Great. I'll pick you up here around six. Here's my number." I grabbed a pen and a napkin from the dashboard and jotted down my cell number, passing it to him.
"Thanks. I'll.. I'll see you tomorrow," he muttered and reached for the door handle.
"Okay. See you tomorrow," I replied. But he didn't get out of the car. It was silent for a moment before I questioned him.
"Um.. Sasuke?" I questioned. Sasuke turned back to me and we looked at each other for a minute.
"Naruto, I.. Tonight was really fun. And I think you're really cool. The thing is.. See.. I think I might like you."
My eyebrows shot up in surprise. My plan was going surprisingly well.
"I mean," he continued, "you probably don't like me, I realize this. Because you know so many people and everybody loves you and it's not like I'm anything special so-" Sasuke's eyes were directed toward the floorboard.
I was smirking as I listened to him. I watched the surprise form on his face when, in the middle of his rant I scooted over and pressed my lips to his cheek. I hovered there, right beside his face, and listened to his voice stutter to a stop.
"Um.. Naruto?" he asked.
I didn't answer but kissed his cheek again, trailing kisses down to his jaw and ending with a kiss on his neck, right below his ear.
"I like you, too," I said, and pulled back.
His face lit up. I could see the blush on his cheeks even in the shadow of the Jeep.
"See you tomorrow, okay?" I asked, trying to help him function properly again. He nodded and pushed the door open, hopping out and turning back to look at me.
I grinned and nodded. He grinned back and shook his head.
"'Bye, Dobe," he said, closing the door and backing away from the truck. I rolled my eyes.
"'Bye, Teme!" I shouted. He waved and turned and I watched him until he was safely inside the house. I watched until I saw a hall light come on, and then a trail of lights as he made his way deeper into the house.
I smiled and pulled off, reaching into my pocket for my phone. I needed to make some calls. I had to get some people together, 'cause we were going bowling tomorrow.
Why the hell did I say bowling?
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First chapter. :) I don't really know where I'm going with this, or where it came from, but it probably won't be longer than about three chapters since I still need to work on There's More Than Meets The Eye. School starts back soon. Blehh :P
Anyway, please oh please oh por favor, review and tell me what you thought! :D I love each and every one of you!
Later!
Maci