Disclaimer:I do not own Naruto or Loveless.
A/N:Wow! I've never had such a good response on the first chapter before! I'm so glad you like it so much. And, by popular demand, here is the next chapter, where we have some proper Itanaru interaction. Ahh, Naru-chan, he's just so cute you know? Anyway, this chapter is mostly set up for the next few...happenings, so i apologise if its a little dull- or maybe i've just read over it too many times! At any rate, enjoy, and hopefully review too!
Warnings:Yaoi, of the Itanaru variety, and super-cute naruto! Well, i think you should be warned anyway.
Crash and Coffee
It was evening once more; the sun was dipping its last swathes of orange across the darkening night sky and rising cold required still a thick jacket.
And once again, Uchiha Itachi was making his customary walk through the park, on his way home from the office.
The day had been taxing, as it usually was at this time of year, and the past week had been nothing but full of torment; one that awaited him outside the distractions of work.
It had been a week since he had seen that blonde fox, and though he had managed to banish him from all thoughts during the daylight hours, full of work and errands, the boy had unwillingly come to haunt his thoughts during his usual peace of the night.
Images of tan skin and fair hair, with the odd fleeting glimpse of blue distracted him from all restful thoughts, keeping him awake from sheer frustration that he could not remove it from his mind. And then, when he finally fell into slumber, the damn fox would appear in his dreams, though these images were far less innocent, often involving the dark pleasures of sweat, heat and sweet moans.
Not even as a teenager had he had to endure such dreams, and having to put up with them now was degrading in the extreme.
The entire episode had left him flustered and irritable, not that one could tell; it was translated into anger and snappishness, which was circumvented by his underlings tiptoeing everywhere around him all day.
Even now, he was determinedly using his fabled self control to banish all thought of the blonde. To both fear and frustration, it wasn't working.
"Uh!"
Lost in thought, Itachi had been paying less attention than usual to his surroundings, a mortifying fact to be sure. Then again, the person that had just crashed into him, had seemingly appeared out of nowhere in the dark shadows of evening.
Itachi felt dark eyes widen imperceptibly, as the very blonde boy he had been thinking of tottered unsteadily on his feet, blue eyes wide in surprise, and reached out to grab onto his shirt to stop himself from falling. Instead, the boy just pushed himself further against Itachi, causing the dark haired man to instinctively reach around the boy's waist to halt his own fall backwards.
As they both steadied themselves, dark eyes couldn't help but bore into clear blue ones, and the boy's name, referred to in one's of his brothers various complaints he had duly half listened to, sprang from his tongue.
"Naruto-kun."
He was amazed he hadn't been able to remember before.
Naruto's eyes darted wide even further, and he glanced up to the taller man who he was still unconsciously holding onto.
"Eh?" asked Naruto in apprehension, "how do you know my name?"
Itachi merely gave an "Hn," in response and gave the blonde a pointed glance.
He delighted in the pink dusky blush that stole across the blonde's cheeks as he realised he was still holding on. He also felt the warmth of the other's body leave as he was quickly released and Naruto stepped back a few paces.
He made no move as the blond observed him critically through squinted eyes.
"Hey, you look a little familiar," he mused, black hair, dark eyes, pale skin, short responses… "you don't happen to be related to Uchiha Sasuke are you?"
Itachi blinked slowly, appearing unaffected by the impromptu conversation, though the darker parts of his mind were offering various suggests at all times.
"Ah, so you are a friend of my otouto?"
Naruto spluttered and the strap of his school bag fell from his shoulder to the crook of his arm, causing him to stumble slightly. When he resurfaced, his golden fur seemed a bit fluffier than usual.
"Eeeh? Otouto?! Then you must be Itachi, right?"
At the man's questioning eyebrow raise, he added, feeling inexplicably embarrassed, "Sasuke talks about you sometimes."
Itachi let the smallest of curves tilt the corners of his mouth.
"Oh? And what wonderful things has my dear little brother said about me?"
The Uchiha felt something jolt when the blond blushed again, ears flattening a little, and tail twitching nervously.
"Ehehehe, well actually he only mentions you to complain most of the time, but I'm sure you're not really like who he says!" he added hurriedly, the man's unreadable dark stare causing his stomach to jitter nervously.
"Ah, that's alright then," said Itachi feeling, against all will and laws of nature, amused.
Silence descended across them; Naruto shifting slightly, uncomfortable with his inability to meet the others eyes and well aware of the stare fixed on his head, and Itachi taking the opportunity to make further observations of the little fox, who by his shyness was really appearing coy.
Finally not being able to take the building tension of something, Naruto snapped, words cascading form his mouth at high speed.
"Well, I'm really sorry for running into you like that!"
Itachi observed him intently.
"No need for that Naruto-kun," he said dismissively.
The blond, completely unaware that had it been anyone else, Itachi would have most likely reduced them to tears with only a few, well placed words, gave an energetic nod, tail perked, before making a hasty exit past Itachi and into the night with a passing "Goodbye!"
He was also unaware that the dark man turned slightly to watch him as he ran out of sight into the dim night, and the way eyes followed the movement of his blonde tail as it waved behind him.
Well, there definitely be another uncomfortable dream tonight, though this time it would surely include breathless whispers of a name.
'Naruto.'
"That'll be three forty-five, please."
After a quick gape of astonishment, Naruto cursed and began a furious rummage through his pockets and school bag.
Today was the sum of bad days, in the blonde's personal opinion. It had started okay, like all bad days do, but by mid-morning had turned into a disaster; he'd missed his train so he'd had to run all the way to school, he'd forgotten an essay he was supposed to hand in, he'd had to skip lunch in order to carry out the ensuing light detention, the afternoon had been a dragging piece of hell, and now, he couldn't find enough fucking money for a fucking scandal of a cup of coffee! He swore it wasn't that expensive when he last came here but oh no, they had upped the prices. Again!
And he couldn't find his money, which he knew he had slipped in his bag somewhere this morning…
The woman behind the counter was beginning to look impatient, and Naruto sent her a weak smile, before hurriedly trying to snag his bag that hung over his back, spinning around in the process and losing balance slightly. He ended up nearly crashing into the person behind him.
Who, he noticed, when he glanced up, had eyes that were a familiar onyx colour. He paused as he tried to remember from where he knew them.
There was a sigh from above him, and then the slap of two notes hitting the counter.
"I'll pay for him," said a cold voice.
Blue eyes widened and watched the scene in disbelief as Uchiha Itachi, the guy-who-is-more-scary-than-Sasuke went ahead and paid for his coffee. It was somewhat surreal, and he could only manage a dazed nod to the woman who glanced at him questioningly.
She huffed, and racked up the bill, and before Naruto could quite comprehend it, the Uchiha was shoving him a coffee cup in his gentle, but cold manner.
Why would Itachi pay for him? It was only coffee, but still…None of the other guys he knew would do that, not Kiba and certainly not Sasuke. As he took the cup, feeling the warmness spread to his palm, pale and tan fingers brushed slightly, and Naruto felt something flutter and squirm somewhere in his stomach.
"Eh…you didn't have to do that you know," he began awkwardly, ears twitching a little in his bemusement.
"That's quite alright Naruto-kun," said Itachi smoothly, sounding just as disinterested as he had been the other night.
"Though I do believe that when we meet, we should stop doing so while nearly crashing into each other."
Naruto flushed and glanced down to the tiles that covered the floor of the coffee shop. His clumsiness had always been a source of embarrassment for him, ever since he was little and during his first encounter with a swimming pool, he had managed to fall in, fully clothed.
"Still," coughed Naruto, "I owe you one."
He gave a small smile in Itachi's direction, but couldn't quite bring himself to look into the others eyes. Whenever he did, he tended to space out a bit.
"Hn, if you want you can just keep me company for a while, and we'll call it even."
Naruto started, and gazed at Itachi in surprise, his eyes wide as he watched the older man innocuously gesture to one of the free tables. The cup in his hand suddenly seemed far too hot all of a sudden, and he couldn't for the life of him remember what he had been planning to do once he got home.
"Yeah," he nodded his head, "sure."
They quickly got settled in a corner on the raised part of the shop, with a good view of the window where the bleak light of the spring afternoon shone through.
" I don't actually have a practiced eye for it, but I can at least appreciate it, and I made sure that woman knew what real art should be; for that certainly wasn't it."
Naruto nodded along enthusiastically, golden ears perked and alert as he stared bright eyes at Itachi, fiddling unknowingly with the rim of his slightly crumpled coffee cup. He was also unintelligible to the fact that said cup was only filled with the soggy dregs, and that any warmth had left long ago, just like the daylight from the window.
Who knew that they could come up with so many things to talk about? Or, for that matter, that Itachi would talk at all? He didn't exactly seem the sociable type; even his words were cold and articulate, with a smoothness that a normal man just shouldn't be able to produce.
And though he had felt more than a little awkward, Naruto had soon forgot about any of that, even that this Itachi was a brother of Sasuke. The younger blonde had quickly eased himself into the surprising comfort of conversation, and had lost all track of time some time ago. His voice was even going a little hoarse from talking so much, and having finished his coffee when the sun was only setting.
"Uhuh, I can imagine. Though, what did you do? I mean, I know Uchiha's often have this scary-thing going on."
Itachi observed him through his dark gaze, the tips of his lips curving just a little.
"Oh, I'm sure you don't need to know the details of our little conversation, though I do believe she was beginning to cry when I left."
Naruto, despite the involvement of female tears, grinned in response.
"That's what I thought, what a bad man you must be, making girls cry- I'm sure you do it more often than you think. Still," he added, pausing to take a drink of coffee and disorientated when he found nothing in his cup, "she was trying to swindle you, so I guess it would be too much to ask you to be anything less."
He sighed mockingly, and, upon looking up to temporarily lock gazes, he flushed a little and refocused on the black table top with determination. He was feeling hot again, and the squirms that had transcended into full out flutters weren't helping.
"Hn, I much prefer urushi anyway; perhaps due to the fact we have several heirloom collections at home."
"Oh?"
"Most recent are some Suganuma."
Naruto glanced up at that, blue eyes sparkling, and ears ramrod straight.
"Eeehhh? You do? Suuuugoi! That is so cool, I love her, and I can't believe you have some of that in your house!"
Itachi looked over him, dimly amused at the little blonde's pout, ears quivering a little. The boy really shouldn't do that; it was like an open invitation.
"How come Sasuke never mentioned that? He knows how much I like it."
The little fox was also obviously not aware of how husky his voice had become either.
"Tch, my otouto has an even worse eye for art than myself."
Naruto settled down into his chair once more, slightly surprised to find he had been sitting right on the edge, coiled to spring. He relaxed back to slouch over the tabletop.
"You're welcome, of course, to come over any time you like, to view them."
Blonde hair darted up and slightly wilted ears perked again. What was this boy doing to him?
"Really? Are you sure, really I-"
"I never say anything I don't mean, Naruto-kun."
That halted anything that was about to come from Naruto's mouth, and he shut it with a slight snap, suddenly unsure of what to say. It was as if someone had stolen his tongue- he couldn't say a single word.
Itachi gave a slight sigh, the little coldness that had seeped from his eyes returning. His voice was as smooth and frigid as always, though perhaps there was the slightest more warmth.
"As enjoyable as this has been Naruto-kun, I'm afraid that our time has run short."
Naruto frowned in confusion, and his tail unconsciously dipped down limply.
"However, be sure to stop by soon, I would greatly enjoy showing anything you like."
Naruto could merely nod, his inability to speak lingering even as Itachi started to walk out the door. He recovered enough only to shout out a garbled goodbye as the door shut; though he was certain Itachi had heard.
He sighed and morosely flicked at his empty cup. He slouched in his seat, and felt a tingle of surprise when he saw the dark of the outside through the nearby window. How long had he been here?
But, Itachi was just so….cool. Sorta. In his own, strange way. He was certainly different from anyone he had ever met before, including Sasuke his brother.
Though that still did not quite explain the slight hollow feeling that had replaced the flutters in his stomach. It wasn't as if he could miss the older man, he had barely known him for a few hours, properly at least.
With another sigh, Naruto picked up his bag and slung his coffee cup into a bin on the way out, cursing a little as he left the establishment, suddenly remembering that he had to go shopping sometime tonight, as Kyuubi had raided his fridge again the day before, destroying most of everything remotely edible.
Damn, the bad day was back.
A/N: So, itachi and naruto properly meet! And now our little fox has an excuse to seek out Itachi too...ahh, the wonders of knowing whats going to happen next. And thankyou all very much for your reviews last chapter, i'm sorry if i couldn't reply to all, but they were wonderful. And i wouldnt mind if i got more this time too! :P
Urushi- i think is some kind of old japanese laquer artwork. or something. And Suganuma- is a name of an artist. After 20 minutes of research i gave up and have probably butchered the art world in my deep, deep ignorance. I deeply apologise, but i needed an excuse, i mean art, and thats what i found.
Next chapter should be out soon, though my exams are still on, so reviews do make a difference. Ja!