Title: Trouble Calls
Author: EmeraldMagpie
Chapter: 2/?
Rated: M (As defined by FF .net, an M rating means that: content is not suitable for children or teens below the age of 16 with non-explicit suggestive adult themes, references to some violence, or coarse language.)
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto!
Summary: What started out as the worst blind date Naruto had ever been on leads to a love, and a deadly situation, that could never have been predicted.
A/N: Technology literally detests me. Every time I post something on here, a few days later my computer craps out... But here I am! Uploading chapter 2 as quickly as I was able... guess who shows up this time?
2
Naruto slammed his clenched fist onto the counter, rattling cups and causing the warm liquid inside to spill over the sides.
Kiba held his hands up in surrender at the act, and, with a large smile, said, "Sorry, dude, when you said you were looking for a 'mature relationship' I thought you meant you wanted to go at it with an older woman."
Naruto wished he wasn't at work, so he could hit more than just the counter. From where he was standing, Kiba's face looked like a decent replacement.
Kiba laughed at the look on Naruto's face. "Relax, it was just a joke! A 'welcome to the city' prank. I thought you would appreciate it."
He winked, and Naruto rolled his eyes.
"Yeah," Naruto replied, "I'm sure that it's got nothing to do with the fact that your girlfriend thinks I'm hot."
"She does not!" Kiba cried, taking a swing at the blonde while Naruto laughed and dodged.
"Does too," Naruto grinned, wiggling his fingers at his friend while the dog lover attempted to climb over the counter.
"Naruto," a sharp voice hissed close to his ear. He jumped at the unexpected noise, and turned to look at his co-worker. He glanced down at her nametag. Sakura.
"Stop staring at my boobs you pervert," the girl demanded, glaring at him. "And stop playing around with your silly little friend who smells like a wet dog. You're at work, so start working!"
Naruto grimaced at the words, and heard Kiba squawk indignantly at her jab at him.
"Listen, Pinky," Kiba began, the imaginative nickname a product of the girl's bright pink hair, "I work at a kennel, so it's not my fault if I smell like my job."
"Maybe you should get a different job, then. Now if you're not going to buy anything, leave," she snarled at him.
"I still can't believe," Naruto broke in, "that you two are friends."
"We're not friends," Sakura stated, looking appalled at the idea.
Kiba rolled his eyes at the girl and ignored her comment. "I should get back to the dogs, see ya later Naruto." He turned to leave, and paused, looking back to Sakura. "If he comes in today, tell him I need to see him, okay?"
"Yeah, yeah," Sakura muttered, wrinkling her nose in a show of distaste.
Naruto waved goodbye as Kiba left.
"Hey, who was the 'him' you guys were—" Naruto started.
Sakura interrupted him with the start of another rant. "Really, Naruto, you've only been here a week. You have to be more focused, or you'll never learn how to do the job properly. You have a remarkably short attention span! I swear, one of these days I'll have to punch you in the gut just to bring you out of those daydreams of yours."
"I'm not daydreaming!" Naruto defended. "I'm… thinking."
Sakura merely raised an eyebrow at the word. Naruto felt insulted without the girl even opening her mouth. "Just because I'm blond doesn't mean I'm stupid."
"You're not stupid because you're blond," she rebutted, "You're blond because you're stupid."
Naruto clutched his heart, and faked a hurt expression, exclaiming dramatically, "You wound me."
The girl looked at him, begrudging amusement on her face. She shook her head, and laughed. "You certainly look wounded. Now stop fooling around, and get working. Iruka hired you because he has a soft spot for troubled youth or whatever, don't make him regret it." Her tone was kinder this time, not as irritatingly bossy as before, but still held an element of authority.
Naruto thought about Iruka, the café owner. He'd had kind brown eyes as he shook Naruto's hand. With a smile he'd bid Naruto to sit down and relax. Apparently, Kiba had told the man about his past, and what he was doing in the city. Naruto hated the idea of getting the job out of pity, but the look on Iruka's face stopped him from speaking his thoughts, and instead resolved to work as hard as he could to pay him back for the chance the man was taking on him.
"Yeah, I got it," Naruto replied, properly chastised just by the memory of the kind café owner.
"Great!" Sakura replied, smiling now. Naruto nodded his head at her, his smile reappearing.
As he turned back to the counter, intending to wipe it down, Sakura called his attention back to her, saying, "Would you mind going to the back to check on Chouji's progress with the dark chocolate/mint cookies? We're running low, and he said he's sick of me asking him every ten seconds."
"You'll watch the register?" he asked, already passing her to get to the kitchen.
Sakura smiled her thanks, and answered his question with one of her own, "What else would I be doing?"
Naruto shook his head and smiled, having no answer. He made his way into the kitchen in the back, and called out to the Master of Sweets.
"Hey, Chouji! How're those cookies coming along?"
"Oh God," the man groaned, "not you too. Tell Sakura they'll be ready when they're ready. You can't rush perfection."
Naruto laughed, and held his hands up in mock surrender. "No rushing here man. Just relax, and finish the cookies."
Chouji rolled his eyes, and wiped his hands on his uniform.
"Go tell the scary pink woman that her damn cookies will be ready for customers in five minutes."
"Yes, sir!" Naruto saluted and left the kitchen, the sound of Chouji's laughter following him out.
When he reached the front, Sakura was no longer behind the display case of the café's desserts. Instead, the girl was standing beside a table, making small talk, or at least trying to. Only one person at the table was talking with her. The man had his scarf still wrapped around himself, covering up the lower half of his face. His silver hair looked natural from where Naruto stood, but, from what he could see of the man's face, he couldn't be older than thirty. The man on the other side of the table sat silently, a small crease between his eyebrows. He looked as though he wasn't even listening to Sakura, but thinking about something else entirely.
Naruto debated the pros and cons of telling Sakura about the cookies while she was talking with them. On the one hand the girl seemed to be paying attention to these customers, they could be regulars and it might be considered rude to interrupt them simply because of cookies. However, Sakura had seemed concerned about the cookies' progress, maybe he should go over to let her know. Maybe someone had ordered one and was told they weren't ready? Whatever the reason, after a minute of deliberation, Naruto decided that he might as well go let her know.
He walked to the table slowly, hoping to get there when Sakura wasn't busy running her mouth off.
"—wanted to talk to you," she paused, waiting for some sort of reaction.
When no one at the table said anything, Naruto took the chance to jump in with his comment. "Chouji said the cookies should be ready in five."
Sakura spun to face him, a strained smile springing to her face. "Oh, Naruto, thank you."
The silver haired man turned to look at Naruto. "Naruto?" he asked, glancing at Sakura.
The girl flushed, and floundered for a second before saying, "Yes, Naruto. He just started working here last week, while you were both away on business. Kiba brought him around, and Iruka couldn't resist hiring him."
Naruto looked between the two for a moment, confused. Sakura, somehow sensing this, began, "Naruto this is Kakashi—" she pointed to the man on her right, with the scarf around his neck "—he's dating Iruka," she paused a moment to let Naruto take in this new information.
Naruto wasn't sure how to tell Sakura that Iruka had already told him that he was dating, and living with, a man. For almost three years, he'd told Naruto proudly. For his part, Naruto had been ecstatic that the man was so in love. Despite, or perhaps in spite of, growing up in a small town where everything he did was scrutinised, Naruto was as open minded as they came. And because of how kind and almost motherly Iruka had been since he'd walked in the door, the blonde found he was becoming somewhat protective of the older man.
So instead of the surprise Sakura expected, Naruto used the pause to study Iruka's boyfriend, partner, whatever you called it, closer. He seemed to be about the right age. Naruto had been right when he'd assumed the silver was natural. Kakashi looked young, but he had laugh lines around his eyes. So, Naruto decided, not old, but not as young as he looked. Like Iruka. He had to have some sense too, wearing that scarf around his neck. There had been some crazy ass weather the last few days.
Inspection done, Naruto turned back to Sakura, grinning. "He seems okay, and the way Iruka gushes he must have at least some good points."
"Ah," Kakashi said, amused, if the twinkle in his eyes was anything to go by, "I'm glad to have your approval."
Naruto briefly wondered if the comment was meant as an insult. However, one look into Kakashi's eyes and he concluded it was a joke.
"You should be; you don't wanna know what I would have to do to you if I thought you were bad for Iruka." Naruto tried to act serious, but by the time he was finished he was grinning again.
Sakura had been startled to learn that Naruto had prior knowledge of Kakashi. She hadn't thought the two of them were this close, or that they'd had time to get that close. The surprise must have shown on her face, because Naruto started to talk about how he'd come by the information.
"We had dinner together the first two nights after I started here, while Kakashi was away on some sort of business with his boss or something." He shrugged, signalling it wasn't that big a deal.
Sakura couldn't believe how nonchalant Naruto was being about the situation. It was a big deal, even if he didn't know it. Yet, she amended mentally. She was sure, if he was as good at making friends with people who weren't soft-hearted mother hens, he would find out eventually.
A throat clearing grabbed everyone's attention. Naruto looked at the other man, having completely forgotten there was another person at the table. Now that he was looking, though, he found it hard to look away. The guy was gorgeous, and he wondered how he hadn't taken more notice of him. The man's ink black hair, perfectly styled, contrasted his pale skin and gave his dark eyes a piercing, mysterious look. He was dressed like a well-off businessman in a dark suit, and had hung a nice looking black jacket on the back of his chair.
Sakura flushed, and rushed to introduce the other man at the table. "Naruto, this is Sasuke, he works with Kakashi. I guess you could call him the boss. He comes by here pretty often, but he was on that business trip you mentioned so that's why you haven't seen him around. You'll probably see more of him now that he's back—"
"Sakura," Sasuke said quietly. That was all it took for the girl to stop talking. Naruto shifted, uncomfortable with the whole 'I'm better than you' vibe he was getting from the guy. His eyes narrowed in thought, and his hands twitched. That voice sounded familiar.
Naruto was sure that he hadn't met Sasuke before, never even passed him on the street. Sasuke was the kind of person who left an impression on a person, Naruto wouldn't have forgotten him. But the voice was so familiar. It was smooth like silk against bare skin. Just like the man the voice belonged to, it wasn't easily forgotten.
"Naruto," Sasuke said, appearing agitated. Naruto's eyes widened in realization.
"You!" he shouted, pointing at the pale man in accusation.
Sasuke smirked, and said, "I said I would see you soon."
Naruto stared at the man in astonishment, before another realization settled in. He swivelled to look at Sakura. "This asshole is the guy Kiba needed to see?!"
Sasuke growled, and Naruto recognized the sound for the same growls he'd heard last night, over the phone, when he'd tried to call Kiba. He groaned loudly in something akin to despair. He'd been half hoping the whole thing was a dream.
"Shut up, Naruto!" Sakura hissed, "You'll scare away our customers!"
Naruto wanted to point out that it didn't really matter, since they'd already paid for there food or whatever the hell it was they'd ordered but found that he couldn't quite pull his attention from Sasuke.
Sakura huffed, annoyed at being ignored. She smoothed down her apron and said, "If you must know, Kiba left his phone at Sasuke's… business. He wants to meet with Sasuke so he can get it back."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Naruto said, holding his hands up in the universal sign meaning 'stop', "So I didn't get the wrong number?"
"No, idiot," Sasuke answered, "you got the right number."
Naruto shot the dark haired man a glare instead of answering. He was too busy mentally patting himself on the back to answer him. He'd felt like an idiot for misremembering his best friend's number. It wasn't his fault that Kiba hadn't answered the phone.
Sasuke interrupted his thoughts, clearly annoyed. "Stop looking so satisfied. Don't think for a second that you're getting away with what you did."
Sakura glared at Naruto when Sasuke finished. "What did you do?" she asked, a menacing aura beginning to surround her.
"I dunno, the guy's a psycho, anything could've upset him," Naruto replied, rubbing the back of his head.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "You must have been dropped you on your head a lot as a child. No one could be born as stupid as you."
"Take that back, you bastard," Naruto growled, hands curling into fists.
"Not likely."
"I wasn't giving you an option," Naruto snarled. "Take it back or I'll shove my fist down your throat and remove the icicle shoved up your ass."
Kakashi shifted in his seat, uncomfortable with the way the blonde was talking to his, for all intents and purposes, boss. Sakura's hands curled into fists, and she glowered at her new co-worker.
Sasuke glared at the blonde, his eyes seeming to darken with his anger. "You'll regret that."
"I didn't regret what I said yesterday, and I don't regret what I said today," Naruto scoffed.
"You will," Sasuke assured.
Naruto rolled his eyes. "You sound like one of those fake psychics you go to where they tell you things like 'your life is currently at a crossroads' or 'you have two paths before you, one will bring you great happiness, the other great misfortune' or something about a tall, dark handsome man in you future."
A crease appeared between Sasuke eyes briefly, before he looked to the blonde, anger forgotten, and said, "You're saying I sound ominous."
Naruto snapped his fingers. "Yes! That's the word I was thinking of. Now that I've heard it though, I think it's a little too dramatic. Gloomy fits you more."
"I'm not gloomy," Sasuke said, a little defensively Naruto thought. "Ominous is a better description of me than gloomy."
"I think you're protesting a tad too much," Naruto laughed.
Sasuke just growled in response, and turned to Sakura. "My usual."
"The dark chocolate/mint cookies aren't ready yet," the girl told him, sounding sincerely sorry for it.
Naruto blinked and shot a look to the clock. "Actually they're probably done now. That's why I came over here. Chouji said they'd be ready in five, and its already been more than that."
Sakura looked at him a moment in disbelief. "Why didn't you tell me that earlier?!"
With that, she stomped towards the back, where Chouji was no doubt waiting for her.
"I did," he said, more to himself than to her, since she was already in the back. He stared after her, confused by the outburst. He'd come over here specifically to tell her. He'd made a pro and con list in his head for god's sake! Maybe not a long one, but he'd still made one—that had to count for something. She was mad at him, because she didn't remember when he told her the stupid cookies would be ready in five minutes. Naruto would never understand women.
"Don't worry about her, Naruto," Kakashi said, pulling Naruto's attention from pink haired girl. "She's only grumpy because she has a crush on Sasuke."
Sasuke growled again at the mention of the girls affections. Naruto grinned at the reaction. "Not big on the bossy, stubborn type, are you, bastard? No wonder we don't get along."
Kakashi hid his smile behind the scarf, amused by the blonde, and surprised with the way he handled Sasuke so easily. He'd been worried when Iruka told him about the new employee, since he'd been away with Sasuke, but now he could see that, for once, Kiba hadn't been boasting when he'd said Naruto would be good to have around.
Sasuke scoffed at the nickname. "I preferred God, actually."
Naruto smiled mockingly at him. "Well it's a good thing I didn't ask what you preferred then, isn't it bastard?"
He waved at Kakashi, and went back to the cash register. Sasuke glared after him, and though Naruto tried to stay focused on the job he was doing sometimes his eyes still slid over their table. Once or twice he could've sworn Sasuke had been looking at him when he happened to glance over, but the dark haired man always turned back to his conversation, pretending that nothing had happened. By the time Naruto's shift was over Kakashi and his "boss" were long gone.
Naruto walked home, hands stuffed in his coat pockets, earmuffs securely over his ears, and scarf wrapped around his neck, thinking about this new life he was starting to build. He hadn't been hoping for much when Kiba called and told him about the job he could get him. He didn't want to expect too much. But the dog lover had really outdone himself. Not only had he gotten Naruto a job, he'd also found the blonde a place to live.
He shared the apartment with Chouji, the Master of Sweets, and another guy named Shikamaru who Naruto hadn't talked too much but deemed safe enough to live with, since Shikamaru was either asleep or at work. Chouji had told Naruto that Shikamaru worked at a large company, and he spent most of the day working with numbers and figuring things out for them, and it exhausted his brain power. Well, their had been more technical terms in there, like graphing and equations, but Naruto couldn't remember exactly what he'd been told. He figured if it was really necessary he'd ask the sleepy genius himself.
When he got home, he found himself alone. Chouji was back at the café, prepping for tomorrow and Shikimaru was still at work. Naruto made himself some ramen, and then headed to the bathroom for a quick shower. Hair still dripping, he pulled on a pair of boxers and collapsed into bed, exhausted.
