Chapter 2: If I only could…
"COMMON!" Naruto buried his face in the pillow to avoid the sharp sunlight that poured in through the window.
"Rise and shine!" Kiba grinned as he made sure that the curtains wouldn't fall back to cover the window again.
It was Saturday aka freedom-day and the sun was shining bright over Konoha's snow covered streets.
"What about my beauty sleep?!" Naruto whined as he sat up and scratched his stomach.
"You would have to be in a coma for decades to even come near beauty" Kiba laughed.
At the moment it seemed true. Naruto's hair was a complete mess, and his face was pale and full of wrinkles from his pillow, but Naruto ignored the comment.
"How can you get up so easily?" he yawned. "I'm so frikkin' tired"
"If you want rest, then I can assure ya that it'll be plenty of that when you're lying in your grave. Get up now, if you don't want your toasts to be cold". Kiba went out of the room to give Naruto some private space to change his clothes.
Naruto rubbed his eyes and sighed. He hadn't been able to sleep this night either but collapsed around 5 AM. The sleep hadn't gotten him that much rest though. Before Kiba woke him up he had been dreaming several different nightmares that were horrible but not frightening enough to wake him up.
With half-closed, dizzy eyes, he started to pull a black t-shirt over his head and kept his orange sleeping-pants on. He stood up from the bed with legs that felt more like jello than muscles and bones. He stumbled out of Kiba's room and into the kitchen. Kiba sat at the old kitchen table and munched at his toast while reading the horoscopes in the newspaper. A plate with toast and a glass of orange juice was prepared for Naruto on the table, opposite to Kiba.
"To think that you were such a responsible, housekeeping person" Naruto laughed. "I have to tell you that I'm surprised"
"Well, mom travels with her work all the time and my sis' has to study a lot now since she's becoming a nurse, so I'm kind of stuck with all the housekeeping stuff" Kiba shrugged, still focusing his eyes at the horoscopes.
Naruto sat down and took a mouthful of toast. 'Delicious!'
"Where is your mom now anyway? I haven't seen her since I came here"
"In Suna I guess. I think that some high status person needed her as a bodyguard or something".
Naruto almost choked on his toast.
"Your mom's a bodyguard? I thought only men had those kinds of jobs"
"Well, you can't say that she's a normal woman"
He laid down the newspaper and looked at Naruto.
"I'm going to hop into the shower and then I have to go. I might be home late. Are you going to be alright?"
"Yeah, I have to go soon too, I work at Ichiraku in the weekends" Naruto propped the rest of the toast into his mouth and took a sip of the juice.
"Fine then" Kiba stood up and started cleaning his plate in the sink since the dishwasher was broken.
Naruto took another sip and observed Kiba's dishing.
"Who's the girl you're seeing today anyway?"
Kiba accidently dropped the plate and a loud bang was heard from the friction of porcelain and the metal sink.
"Eum… ah… You don't know who the person is so… it's kinda pointless to tell you…" Kiba was red as a tomato and Naruto couldn't suppress a smile.
"Common! Tell me! What's she like?"
"Eh… nice, you 'know. And handsome like, I guess…"
"You like handsome girls? I like pretty and cute girls more, I want them to be girly"
"Yeah… Um… I should really get a shower now… Um…" Kiba went out of the kitchen with an embarrassed expression and crimson cheeks.
Naruto laughed, he didn't know that Kiba was so embarrassed when it came to talking about girls. He finished his juice and put his dish in the sink. He figured he could dish it later and went back to Kiba's room to switch clothes to his white Ichiraku uniform. It felt kind of silly to wear it, but he needed the money so he wasn't complaining. He felt much more awake and was actually eager to get to work. He went out to the hall and started to put on his sneakers.
"Kiba, I'm going to Ichiraku now!" Naruto shouted while he finished the last knot.
"Okay! See ya later!" Kiba replied through the bathroom door.
Naruto grabbed his jacket.
"Good luck on the date!"
Something crashed in the bathroom, followed by Kiba's 'for fuck sake!'.
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"Naruto-kun! I need two pork ramen and one 'Ichiraku speciality'!"
"Roger that, Ayame-san!"
It was a normal day at the Ichiraku. It hadn't been too stressful, the customers came and went with an even flow. Naruto loved working at the ramen bar. Teuchi-san and Ayame-san was really wonderful people and to work in the kitchen all day with the smell of ramen and to get paid for it was pure heaven. Plus, it kept his mind busy.
He stirred the pork soup and then poured it into two bowls with noodles and started to decorate the ramen with eggs, narutos* and salad. He grabbed the two bowls and went out of the kitchen, into the bar.
"Two pork ramen are ready to be served!"
There was an old man sitting in the farthest corner of the bar and two youngsters in his own age sat in front of him at the bar disk. A pinkhaired girl and a boy with black, piercing eyes staring at him.
"It's for us!" the pinkhaired girl waved with a big smile on her face.
Oh, it's Sakura-chan! And…
He realized who the boy was.
…Sasuke?!
God how slow he was. But it was a shock to see them outside of school, and at Ichiraku of all places? It was also strange to see them without their uniforms. Sakura wore a pink miniskirt and a white t-shirt with a sakura flower at her chest. She had also some make-up and some silver rings in her ears. Sasuke wore a white sweater and a black pair of tight jeans, nothing outstanding but it still looked nice.
Sakura seemed to realize who he was too.
"Uzumaki-kun? I didn't know you were working here!"
"Well yeah, I do. I've always been one of Ichiraku's most loyal customers, and then they needed an extra hand and I took the job" Naruto smiled sheepishly.
Sasuke didn't say anything, he just observed the blonde with those judging, dark eyes and Naruto didn't feel too comfortable about it.
"So… You're just hanging out together?" Naruto started to scratch his neck, one of those habits he had when he was nervous or uncomfortable.
"Well, actually, more like a date" Sakura grinned.
"Oh!" Naruto felt his cheeks grow hot. Of course they were dating. GOD he was so stupid.
"Yeah, and I wanted to have something neat to eat, like sushi or thai food but Sasuke-kun insisted that we should eat here" she laughed and turned to Sasuke. "I'm kind of surprised that you like ramen Sasuke-kun, you seem to be so healthy with your food and training!"
Sasuke didn't answer her, he just kept staring at Naruto.
"Naruto-kun, I need the 'Ichiraku speciality'! NOW! Ayame shouted from the kitchen.
Naruto put the bowls of ramen in front of them as fast as he could without spilling out the soup.
"I hope my ramen won't disappoint you guys then! I have to get back to work so, I'll get going"
"Nice talk Uzumaki-kun!"
Naruto made his way back in to the kitchen as fast as he could.
That was AWKWARD!!!
And seriously, what was up with that Sasuke guy? Creepy!
"Who were the couple you were talking with?" Ayame asked as she was chopping leeks incredibly fast.
"My classmates from Konoha High" Naruto answered as he started to prepare the soup for the 'Ichiraku speciality'.
"Your classmates? The guy looks like he's at least two years older than you!"
"Never thought about that" Naruto took down the spices he needed from the shelf above the stove.
"He's really handsome though" Ayame giggled. "Such a pity he's too young for me"
Handsome?
"Yeah… I guess…" Naruto replied.
Handsome? He knew that Sasuke was extremely popular among the girls and was considered as one of the most good-looking students at Konoha High but he had never really thought about it until now. But come to think of it, Sasuke was really attractive.
"Naruto-kun! That's way too much salt!"
"Yipes!! I'm sorry!!"
X
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"That's everything for today! Good work you too!" Teuchi smiled at Ayame and Naruto as he wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand.
They were closing Ichiraku for the day and had spent the last hour of cleaning up in the bar and the kitchen, planning tomorrow's business and refilling the pantry so they were a 100 % ready the next day.
Ayame and Naruto walked out of the bar and Teuchi locked the door to the kitchen. As soon as he got out, Naruto drew down the grid so no one would get into the bar either.
"See you guys tomorrow!" Naruto waved and then started to walk in the direction of Kiba's house.
He was so frikkin' tired. They got a HUGE order of ramen just one hour before closing. It was some people that wanted to serve ramen at their party so Naruto had been working his ass off those last hours. It was colder than usual outside. He HATED the cold.
Eventually he reached the door post to Kiba's house. With trembling fingers, he pinched in the code to the door. He heard the lock click and went in. The elevator had been broken for about two years so he started dragging himself up the stairs. Kiba's apartment were at the seventh floor which was the last thing he needed right now. After a lot of work and with aching leg muscles, he finally stood before Kiba's door. Exhausted he stumbled into the apartment.
"Kiba?!"
No answer. He was probably still out on that date. He untied his shoes and walked into the kitchen.
Suddenly a vase crashed into the wall beside him. Just an inch closer, it would have crushed his face. A furious woman stood before him. She grabbed another vase at the shelf beside her and threw it against Naruto.
"JESUS!!!" Naruto ducked and felt how the vase merely touched his hair.
She took the opportunity to jump at Naruto while he was avoiding the vase and knocked him down to the floor. She sat at his stomach, using her knees to press down each of Naruto's arms to the floor.
"What are you doing here?!" She smacked a fistful right into Naruto's cheek which caused him to bite his tongue. The taste of blood filled his mouth.
"AOCH! FOR FUCK'S SAKE WOMAN!!"
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"
Naruto felt another fist smack his cheek.
"Please! Just CALM DOWN!"
"TELL ME WHAT YOU'RE DOING HERE BASTARD!"
Another fist rearranged his face.
I'm getting beat up of a girl, this can't be happening!
"HELP!!!"
He heard the door smash open and Kiba rushed into the kitchen.
"Hana?! What are you doing?!"
"What?" The woman's expressions switched from being the closest imitation of a pissed off dog that Naruto had ever seen, to confuse. She was slightly frowning.
"Wait… what Kiba? You know her?!" Naruto looked at the woman, then at Kiba and back at the woman. Then he realised the red markings on the woman's cheeks.
"Of course I know her! She's my sister!"
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They were sitting at the kitchen table. Naruto had switched from the Ichiraku suit to his comfy clothes and had a package of frozen hotdogs pressed to his cheek. Hana sipped quietly at a cup of tea.
"So… Naruto, this is Hana. Hana, this is Naruto!" Kiba laughed a little nervously.
"I know, she had a fistfight with my face" Naruto muttered, he really wasn't in the mood.
"Hey, you could at least have knocked on the door or told me that you were a friend of Kiba!" Hana banged her cup in the table.
"I fucking tried to!"
"BOTH OF YOU!!" Kiba shouted. Hana and Naruto became quiet in an instant. "That's all in the past now. And I'm sorry I forgot to tell you about each other"
He turned to Hana.
"Naruto's staying here at the moment, he has nowhere else to go. I promise he won't bother you."
He turned to Naruto.
"Hana lives mostly at her apartment near her university, but she comes over at the weekends every once in a while. Again, I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys."
An awkward silence broke out in the room. Naruto looked down at the table, scratching his neck, and Hana stared stubbornly into the wall.
"Common Naruto, let's watch a movie or something" Kiba rose from the table and put his teacup in the sink.
Naruto followed Kiba into his room. Kiba had a small TV at his desk. There was no sofa in Kiba's room so they usually sat on the bed and rested their backs to the wall.
"Sorry for putting you into trouble" Naruto scratched his neck. "But I want you to know that I really appreciate that you've been taking care of me these last weeks"
"Dude, it's not a problem" Kiba inserted a disc in the DVD player.
"Thank you, Kiba"
Kiba grinned.
"Don't be such an emo! Let's watch the film and then we just forget about all this!"
Naruto smiled and sat down at the bed.
"How was the date?"
Kiba almost dropped the remote and his cheeks turned into a deep colour of red.
"We're kinda… together now I guess…" Kiba smiled awkwardly.
"Wow! Congrats man!"
"Thanks, but let's drop it at that" Kiba laughed. "How was your day?"
"It was okay I guess. Hey, you know Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura in our class?"
"Yeah?"
"Apparently they're dating! They were at the bar today and Sasuke was really weird! He kept staring at me all the time and it frikkin' gave me the creeps!"
"You haven't noticed that he always looks at you until now?" Kiba raised an eyebrow.
"What?! You've noticed?!"
"Yeah, I noticed it when we got back from the Christmas vacation"
Naruto stared confused at Kiba.
"But… Why would he do that? It's frikkin' creepy!"
"Why don't you ask him? Now shush, the film is starting"
But there was no way that Naruto could concentrate on the film. Kiba was right, there had been something weird between the Uchiha and himself since the vacation. It used to be usual "guy-picks-at-the-other-guy"-relation but now it was like a tense aura between them. Something electric and kind of a stirring feeling. Heck, Naruto couldn't even explain it, but he sure felt weird about it.
Whatever.
Everything will be normal on Monday. YAAAY! Second chapter, woohoo! Sorry it took so long for this chapter to get finished. I only write when I'm bored and have nothing to do and I've been really busy lately. I've started a new school and had a lot of activities with both old and new friends. But now I'm sick so please applaud my creative uncreativity xD And I also am sorry about things going so slowly between Naru-dobe and Sausage-Gay. I just want this fanfic to be as realistic as possible and not a "Hi Naru-chan, I have candy, wanna make out?" kind of fanfic. I don't have a problem with people writing those kind of fanfics, it's just not my style xD For those who gave me reviews for the first chapter, packages of rainbow cookies have been ordered to your houses. If they never arrive they've probably been stolen by pirates, rainbow cookies are very rare these times you know! ANYWAY! Have a AWESOME time everybody :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D