A/N: I'm sorry for the long wait. I had half of this sitting around for a while because I couldn't seem to write the other half. I hope you still enjoy it. Please review; especially if you're also going to put this on alert or as a favourite. It's only polite.
Disclaimer: Non-profit only. I own none of these characters.
Warnings: Un-beta'ed.
Undercover Babysitter
Chapter Seven: Party Hard
Law and Society was cancelled for the next two weeks. On the course website, someone had put up a notice for Professor Umino saying he was going to be absent due to emergency situations. The media had already caught hold of the news of Professor Touji's arrest. Although nothing had been released to the public concerning the facts around his arrest, Sasuke had already heard most of the rumours. The boy had never been one to believe rumours, knowing people just created stories to satisfy their own curiosity. However, he couldn't help but wonder about the true story. He wanted to know what had happened that night and the reasons why Naruto had been caught in an attack from Mizuki. But no matter how much he thought about it, he could think of nothing. And there was no way he could get the truth either. After all, Naruto has been asleep for two days since that night.
Sasuke whipped an egg in a bowl in the silent kitchen. The apartment was always much too quiet whenever Naruto was away or passed out. It wasn't often that Naruto would be unconscious for days. This was his second time in a month and a half. That shouldn't be normal. "What the hell do you do to get yourself in these situations, moron?" Sasuke mumbled to himself as he began to toss his ingredients together in his frying pan. With the fan blaring loudly overhead and the oil in the pan sizzling and crackling, Sasuke didn't hear the muffled sound of movement coming from Naruto's room. It was only when Naruto called out to him did he realize that his roommate was awake.
"Sasuke?"
The brunet spun around before relaxing when he saw Naruto leaning heavily against the doorframe, looking extremely exhausted. "You're awake." He stated, turning back to his cooking and stirring the ingredients slowly.
"W-What day is it?" Naruto asked, stumbling to the washroom where he began to brush his teeth.
"Saturday." Answered Sasuke, "You've been asleep for two days straight."
Naruto didn't reply to this as his mouth was currently full of toothpaste foam. He spat the foam out into the sink and rinsed his mouth before resting his head against the mirror. "So it wasn't just a bad dream…" he murmured to himself. He splashed some water on his face, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. With a sigh, the blond wiped the excess water off his face before returning back into the kitchen, taking a seat at the small table.
Sasuke finished up his fried rice, turning off the stove and the fan. From the drying rack, he took two ceramic bowls and filled them with food. He set a bowl in front of Naruto silently before taking a seat at the table with his own bowl. Naruto stared at the bowl in surprise before a small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "You didn't have to do that, Sasuke." He said quietly and both boys looked away, embarrassed. "Thanks though." Naruto picked up the chopsticks and began to eat.
After a few minutes of silence, Sasuke finally let out a huff and put down his bowl and chopsticks. "What were you doing at Professor Touji's house?" he demanded, glaring harshly at Naruto.
The blond looked up, confused, "How did you know…?"
The brunet faltered for a minute before he answered, "Th-there were about five police cars there and ... and a campus police car. And Gaara and Yugito ran there and –" Sasuke was stumbling over his words now, losing face as he became more agitated. He grinded his teeth, "I followed them because you were gone for a whole day and I had no clue where you were and Gaara said you were in trouble and –"
"Were you worried about me?" Naruto asked, looking surprised.
Sasuke looked away, a blush tinting his pale cheeks. "Of course not, idiot." He mumbled. A smile stretched across the blond's face and he began to eat his rice again, looking a bit more cheerful. Sasuke watched him for a minute before he sighed again, "You didn't answer my question."
"Ah…" Naruto said quietly, "Do you know what happened to Mizuki?"
"From what the media says, he's currently recovering in the hospital right now but once he's better, he'll be taken to jail." Sasuke answered, keeping a steady eye on Naruto's expression.
The blond bit his lower lip hesitantly before letting out a relieved sigh. He massaged his temple. "So he's alive…"
Sasuke frowned. "Did he attack you and Professor Umino? Why weren't you hurt? Our Law and Society class is cancelled right now because apparently he's in the hospital in the IC unit!"
Naruto didn't reply to this as he silently finished up his rice. He placed the bowl to the side and looked hard into Sasuke's eyes, studying him for a bit. The younger man tried not to shift uncomfortably in his seat as he stared back, waiting patiently for a reply. Finally, Naruto sighed and looked away. "Iruka and Mizuki…used to be part of the police force that Tsunade leads. I've been under the care of Tsunade and Jiraiya since I was really young so I basically grew up in the force. Iruka is like a father to me and … I trusted Mizuki. But he turned on us that night and Iruka got shot trying to protect me."
"But… Mizuki's hospitalized…" Sasuke said slowly, trying to put the pieces together.
A wry smile twitched at the side of Naruto's mouth and he looked away. "Ahh, yeah… I got my act together after that and beat the crap out of him." When Sasuke didn't reply to that comment, Naruto relaxed, figuring that this was all he needed to say to satiate his roommate's curiosity. "So, I missed two days of school. Can I borrow your notes?"
Sasuke scoffed, standing up and collecting both their dishes before heading to the sink to wash them. "You missed them, it's your fault."
"Aw, come on, Sasuke! That's what friends are for!" Naruto complained, following him to the sink where he tried to help him clean. Sasuke shoved him away with a soapy hand causing Naruto to laugh as his arm got covered in suds. He reached towards the stream of running water, cupping some in the palm of his hand and splashing it all over Sasuke.
The brunet froze in shock as water dripped off his face. "Oi, idiot…" He growled and set down the dish he was soaping up. He used both hands to cup the water and threw it towards Naruto who laughed and twisted out of the way, getting the back of his shirt wet. Sasuke reached out and grabbed fistfuls of Naruto's t-shirt, yanking the blond towards the sink. In a few quick movements, Sasuke managed to shove Naruto's head under the faucet, turning the tap on high, drenching Naruto's locks through.
Naruto struggled in vain, sputtering indignantly as water dripped into his mouth and eyes, before finally yelling, "Alright! Alright, I give!" Sasuke smirked triumphantly and released his hold on the blond. Wrenching himself from out under the tap, Naruto shook the water droplets from his hair. "That was so cheap." He complained, yanking his soaked t-shirt off, using it to dry his hair. Water ran down his bare chest which Naruto wiped off with his soaked shirt. Sasuke glanced at him with a smirk before turning back to the dishes.
Someone knocked on the door and the two turned towards the sound. "Come in." Naruto called as he tossed his wet shirt onto the back of his chair.
The door opened and Hinata walked in, Neji's cousin and a fellow first year student rooming with Ino, looking extremely nervous. "A-a-ah, N-Naruto…" She said, her eyes fixed to the floor.
"Oh, hi, Hinata, what's up?" Naruto asked casually, leaning against the counter, completely forgetting that he was still half-naked. The dark-haired girl looked up to give him a small smile, only to notice his current condition. She gave a loud squeak before she promptly fainted on the floor. Naruto took two seconds to gape at her fallen figure before he straightened up. "Eeeh? Hinata?" He called. Sasuke rolled his eyes and resumed washing the dishes.
To Naruto's surprise, another girl rushed into his apartment to Hinata's side. "Hinata, get a hold of yourself!" Ino scolded as she propped her roommate up against the wall. "Naruto's not that scary, right Naru…to…" Ino had turned to Naruto with a cheeky grin only for it to falter when she noticed his half-nakedness.
"W-What?" Naruto asked nervously as Ino eyed him up and down.
Ino licked her lips and gave the other blond a sly grin. "Naruto, you are hot." She stated plainly. By the sink, Sasuke turned around to give her a look as if to say she was completely crazy. "Oh, don't worry, Sasuke, you're also hot." Ino replied, completely misinterpreting his meaning. "But sheesh, Naruto, who knew you had such a hot body under your clothes?"
Naruto slowly glanced down, now realizing he was inappropriately half-naked and that it was his chest that Ino was so hungrily staring at. "Uhhh… thanks?" He said sheepishly, looking embarrassed.
Sasuke snorted irritably and turned to look over Naruto. Just what did Ino and Hinata see in the idiot anyway? Sure he was well-built and muscular, but that was no reason to go speechless and faint, right? "Sasuke?" The brunet's head snapped up to Naruto's face before he realized in mortification that he had been staring. His face flushed a bright red and he turned away awkwardly to avoid the amused look Naruto was giving him.
Much to his chagrin, two more people dashed into the apartment and loudly called out, "What? Naruto's hot?" Sasuke cringed, recognizing that to be the voice of Sakura. No doubt it was Karin, her roommate, who was following close behind her. One peek towards the front entrance confirmed his suspicions as true. The two girls with clashing red-tinted hair pushed in front of Ino to stare at Naruto with unabashed openness.
"I love how none of you believed it was possible until my shirt was off." Naruto grumbled under his breath, his ego being wounded even more as Sakura and Karin both stared at him as if he had grown a second head instead. "Is my face not good enough?" He demanded. Ino only giggled in response as Naruto stormed into his room to get a dry t-shirt.
Sasuke dried his hands and turned to the group of girls who had now gathered in his kitchen. He crossed his arms, "Why are you here?" he demanded, his eyes narrowing at Hinata who was slowly waking up. Ino steered her towards Naruto's chair and gently sat her down.
Sakura grinned widely, "I don't know if you've seen the fliers around the building lately but there's going to be a Halloween party next week!"
Sasuke's frown deepened. Of course he had seen the posters; they were everywhere. Hell, someone had even managed to sneak into his apartment and tape one onto his bathroom mirror! "Your point?"
"We're trying to get everybody from our house to go!" Karin chipped in, her eyes sparkling with anticipation behind her thick-rimmed glasses.
"No." And with that, Sasuke looked away (he couldn't go to his room as the girls were blocking his way and walking towards them would be like walking into the clutches of a pack of hungry hyenas).
Naruto exited his room, now dressed properly, and cast a glance at the stoic brunet. "Why not, bastard? It sounds like fun." He gave the girls a friendly grin and Ino clapped her hands in excitement.
"Naruto, you're hot and amazing." The blond flushed in embarrassment, clearly looking lost as to how to deal with such open flirting. He gave Sasuke a quick glance as if to ask him for help but his roommate only smirked at him.
"A-anyways," Naruto stuttered with a grin, "you should go too. Everyone else will!"
Sasuke snorted. "I highly doubt that." And Naruto knew he was right as there were some highly anti-social people in their house, such as Shino and Gaara, and some people who would think parties are way too troublesome, like Shikamaru.
The blond bit his lower lip as he began to think. "Well… if everybody did, would you go too?"
The two exchanged looks and Sasuke could see where Naruto was going with this. "Perhaps." He said ambiguously.
"So, if I convinced everybody else in our house to go to the party, then you promise you'll go too?" Naruto pressed on, looking eager.
Sasuke smirked. "If you can, then I'll go. But I mean everybody." From the other side of the kitchen, the girls looked on eagerly as the challenge was presented.
Naruto grinned and immediately accepted the task. "Great! C'mon girls, we have people to convince!" And with that, he quickly hustled the girls out of the small apartment, sending a wink towards Sasuke before he left too. "Bye, bastard! We'll see you at the party."
Sasuke scowled darkly as he leaned against the vibrating wall and took another sip of his beer. He eyed the crowded dance floor where his idiotic roommate was currently dancing with the other girls and boys from their house. He couldn't believe that Naruto had successfully managed to convince every single person to go to the party. How did he do it? And of course, Sasuke had his pride to keep up and gracefully accepted defeat to the challenge by agreeing to go to the party. But that didn't mean he had to enjoy it.
The party took place at the underground university pub and was packed with students. The heavy bass shook every surface with current popular remixes and tunes while people danced with each other, grinding to the beat. Most people from his house were dancing with each other in the centre of the dance floor, Naruto jumping from girl to girl, dancing equally with all of them. Not all of the guys from their house were with the dance group. The ones who were more wary of dancing were hanging by the bar to Sasuke's right.
Sasuke was alone against the wall, trying to look as anti-social as possible. Unfortunately for him, it seemed as if he was in fact, just inviting the drunken girls to come up and grind against him into the wall. The raven scowled as a bleached-hair blonde came up to him, giggling, and began to shake her hips into his crotch. "Leave." He ordered harshly, as he pushed her away. She stumbled backwards looking shocked before shooting a hurt scowl at him and moved onto her next victim.
"That was kind of harsh, don't you think, Sasuke?" A hot voice whispered into his ear.
Sasuke jumped about a foot in the air and scrambled away from the voice. "What the fuck, Suigetsu!" He snarled, glaring heatedly at the older boy.
Suigetsu smirked and took a casual swig from the beer bottle in his hand. "Someone's feeling prissy tonight." He commented, siding next to the dark-haired boy and turning his gaze to their dancing housemates.
"What do you want?" Sasuke asked grumpily as he stared at Naruto holding Sakura close in his arms as they grinded together.
The light-haired boy shrugged, "I got bored of trying to grope Karin while dancing. My head started hurting after getting hit for the fifth time." He snickered into his drink as he watched the redhead and Ino dance with each other.
Sasuke shook his head. "You're both idiots." He answered.
Suigetsu laughed before frowning. "Is Lee crying?" He and Sasuke looked to where the don was standing.
"Why would he be crying?" Sasuke asked. He followed the direction of Lee's gaze and saw that he was staring at Naruto and Sakura's dancing figures. "He can't really be crying…" He muttered under his breath.
The other boy shrugged. "There are tears streaming down his face."
"It's because the moron's dancing with Sakura." Sasuke said, rolling his eyes.
Suigetsu grinned to himself before leaning closer to Sasuke. "You've been staring at Naruto the whole night, Uchiha. Not jealous he's not over here, are you?" He chuckled into the ear, causing Sasuke to shiver and step away with a glare.
"Stop." He ordered. Suigetsu complied with a smirk and the two turned back to watching the group.
Naruto was having the time of his life; he had never had the opportunity to go to clubbing before and it was better than he imagined. He loved feeling of the pounding bass shaking his very core, the way everybody just danced to the music without any inhibitions, and the fact that he was dancing with girls for the first time in his life.
He grinned as he swayed with Sakura, his hands on her hips. To his side, Karin and Ino danced together while Hinata moved shyly next to them. Kiba kept close to her, holding her hands and trying to get her to loosen up a bit. Surprisingly, Neji was also in their circle, dancing with Tenten and Temari. Naruto hadn't pinned him as the dancing type and although the don didn't exactly look like he was in his element, he was there for his friends' sake.
As the song blended into another, Naruto stepped away from Sakura and Lee practically flew over to take his place. Sakura gave the don a polite smile and continued to dance, although she didn't look too particularly happy with the partner change. Naruto had already disappeared from the dance floor anyway, making his way over to the bar where several of his housemates were sitting and drinking. Since he was the one who had convinced every single one of them to come, the blond felt that it was his responsibility to make sure they were enjoying themselves.
Pushing his way through the crowd, Naruto barely felt the small pin prick at his neck. He slapped a hand over his neck but felt nothing there. Whatever it was had quickly disappeared. Maybe it was a bug? With a frown, Naruto continued to push through dancing bodies, his eyes squinting as his vision began to blur slightly. "Shit…" he groaned as he stumbled slightly. He felt the same pricking feeling again on the other side of his neck and he slapped his hand over that area as well. Whatever was making the needle-like pain had disappeared already.
Naruto knew that he was being attacked now and he desperately tried to control his body, but whatever drugs were in the needles were leaving him unable to properly stay on his feet, much less run away. Before he blacked out, he stumbled forward into someone's body. He could feel them throwing his arms over shoulders while strangers' arms slipped around his waist to hold him up from both side.
Perhaps he could have believed that it was one of his housemates who had caught him if he hadn't heard the last words before falling unconscious: "Payback time."
Gaara lifted his head from the beer bottle he had been gulping out of previously to glance at the crowd of dancing people. Something was wrong and he needed to find Naruto now. He got out of his seat hastily but his vision swam. Reluctantly, he sat back down and held his head with a quiet groan. He hadn't drunk that much tonight had he?
"Are you feeling alright, Gaara?" Deidara asked. He was Sasori's roommate and the two often hung out with Gaara in the dorms. Both were currently at the small table Gaara had been sitting quietly at, keeping the redhead company. "Not drunk, are you, un?" He teased.
Gaara managed to glare at him before lolling his head back down into his arms. Such a bad time to be drunk. "I'm fine." He insisted even though he knew he wasn't.
"Should we take you back to your room?" Sasori asked in his monotone voice.
The feeling that Naruto was in trouble was starting to become irritating and Gaara was getting frustrated with himself for being stupid. "No." He said, forcefully getting up from his seat. He stumbled forward and Deidara caught him, holding him steady. "I need to go find Naruto." He pushed away the support and took a step forward before his head spun again, causing him to stumble backwards into the table. "Dammit!" The redhead hissed, feeling furious and helpless.
Sasori threw one of Gaara's arms over the older man's shoulder and dragged him from the table so that he leaned on him instead. "Come on. We're taking you back."
"No." Gaara insisted. "Naruto."
He couldn't see the exasperated look on Deidara's face as he helped support the other side of the intoxicated redhead. "Fine, un. We'll go find Naruto. Let's go, un." The three made their way towards the exit.
Naruto had disappeared into the crowd and Sasuke couldn't figure out where he had gone. That same uneasy feeling that he had felt the night Naruto had been found unconscious in Mizuki Touji's house was returning. His gut instincts were telling him that he should go look for the blond. But how much trouble could the blond possibly get into at a packed underground pub? If there was a fight or something, Sasuke would have already seen it.
"I'm leaving." He said to Suigetsu, pushing himself off the wall.
The light-haired boy pouted, "Aw, stay a while, Sasuke. Don't be such a party pooper."
Sasuke rolled his eyes, not wanting to waste any more time explaining himself to him. "No, I've had enough." He ignored the rest of Suigetsu's protests as he walked through the crowd, leaving the boy behind.
When Sasuke couldn't find any traces of his blond roommate in the club, he left to search outside. "Naruto!" He called into the air as he eyed the few people leaving the club and walking off into the distance. Several people turned their heads towards his sudden call, but none were the blond idiot. With a grumble, Sasuke began to head in the direction of The Academy, hoping that Naruto had just decided to bail on the party to sleep or something. However, deep inside, he knew that it was most likely not the case here.
As he trudged along in the brisk autumn night air, Sasuke barely heard the sounds of the approaching footsteps until they were right behind him. Before he could react, the stranger slipped a cloth over his mouth and nose, holding it tightly to his face. As Sasuke struggled against the strong hold, he felt a hot breath next to his ear. "And snap goes the trap."
A/N: Reviews, comments, and constructive criticisms are strongly desired. Thank you!
