Chapter 9: The Interim
Pairing(s): Naru/Sasu and Gaa/Neji and mentions of Ita/Kisa
Rating: M
Disclaimer: Naruto... yeah I don't own it. It's the sole property of Masashi Kishimoto...how I envy that sheer, utter, total, unparalleled genius.
A/N: Warning...I know less than squat about American football. You've been warned, all mix ups, freak ups and total crap, are the fault of the fact that I don't really know anything about football (just that quarterbacks are hot and every high school teenage girl's fantasy.) Remember I tried my best.
A/N2: Oh and 'maxridelover' yes Gaara-chan is back with a vengeance but you will see later. –smirk-
Beta: Nope. I'm awesome like that –another smirk-
"A theme park, baka?"
"A theme park..." the blond said incredulously gesturing to the towering view of steel constructions featuring multiple roller coasters, "This is the holy grail of theme parks; Six Flags is the most awesome, magnificent creation on this side of the world."
"Hn." The Uchiha said, "I never knew you were catholic."
They were standing at the entrance of the huge megalith structure that the previous government had allowed to be constructed two years ago in upper state Tokyo. It was a haven for kids, teens, and the (really) sporadic adult. And this is why the Uchiha was wondering who or what took his sanity and disappeared with it.
"And what are we doing here again?" he asked drolly, fiddling with his watch, still not completely comfortable with his clothes. He was sporting tan cargo pants, a blue and white t-shirt, and white sneakers, all brightly new and dangerously casual.
"This." The blond said jabbing his finger to the brochure that displayed a picture of a huge, blood red roller coaster, "It's the 'Jinkurichii', the most awesome, breath-taking, dangerous and scary ride in here and we're gonna ride it... I hear it's made some people crazy."
'It's made people crazy and you want to ride it.' he thought acerbically. Sasuke was tempted to run but he knew, based on previous experiences, the blond would just pick him up like he was a toy.
"I'm not setting a foot on that thing." He stated, eyes lowering slyly; "...but you can have as many rides as you want gaki."
The blond just smirked at the insult, "No, bastard, you are coming with me."
"No, I'm not." He deadpanned; eyes flat like slate.
"Yes you are," Naruto sing-songed, "The challenge, remember."
'And damn you for that too.' He mentally cursed. "Oh that...when am I going to be free of that, again?"
"Tonight teme...right after you come to see the final match tonight."
He paused, "What?"
The Uzumaki was scanning the map on the brochure, "Oh that." He said absently, "I'm playing tonight, and you're going to come, no excuses."
"...Shouldn't you be practicing right now?" he asked, a black brow arched.
"Oh no." the blond replied, "Kabuto-our coach- doesn't want us to tire ourselves out before any match. The hours before we are free do anything we want."
'Unconventional'. A sigh, but he was still bound by the agreement. No one could say that Uchiha Sasuke doesn't hold up to his promises, "Let's get this over with, dobe."
The made their way over to the booth that was selling the armbands for the ride, and predictably, they were about the only adults in the line, at least as far as the raven could see.
'Adults...in body maybe,' he thought glancing over the blond who was basically bouncing on his feet in anticipation of the ride opening. 'Naruto...he's still a child.'
The booth opened and the bands were being sold. The blond appropriated the slips of paper, one of which he promptly latched onto the ravens arm.
"You haven't eaten anything, have you?" he was asked.
"No." he replied, 'If you don't count a protein bar and the cup of coffee.'
"Good."
The ride came to the stop and the handler waved the over to get strapped in. Sasuke wasn't the least enthused, this activity, he deemed, was for children. Surly he took his seat beside the blond and completely ignored everything else.
The hydraulics hissed with the release of the brakes and the ride took off steadily gaining speed.
'Not so bad,' he thought when the car dipped down a sink, 'Did he say it was scar-"
A sharp curve around a bend and the car shot in the air to pull a mad max around the next bend. Sasuke was stunned beyond belief. The coaster then shot up in the air with a g-force that almost crushed him and then, in a second, plummeted down like a crashing plane.
Thought, reason and anything even remotely considered common sense fled from the raven in mini-seconds. He was both terrified out of his mind and exhilarated beyond belief. Adrenaline flooded his system and his heart rate was nearing the rate for cardiac attack. The blond beside him was screaming his head off and grinning manically.
'Oh FUCK no!' Sasuke's eyes widened comically when he saw the next stunt. A massive nearly vertical loop of shining iron and gleaming bolts loomed in his vision field. Nearer and nearer the thing approached until the car shot into the vertical band. Sasuke, reacting unconsciously, grabbed the blonde's hand squeezing like mad.
The car paused at the apex of the bend and stalled upside down; for those five seconds when the wold flipped upside down his heart stopped. The ride resumed. Dimly the raven heard echoes of screams resounding in his head but didn't realize he was the one screaming.
A few more turns, rises and falls, a curve and a slight slope downward and then the car came to a rest. He was officially hyperventilating. The bars released by he couldn't move; not one inch. His head met the back of the seat and he was desperately gasping in air. He was officially hyperventilating.
"...S'uke?"
His ears were ringing. His name seemed to come from a mile away.
"Breathe, babe."
Still completely out of it he didn't hear or comprehend his new title. A gentle hand slipped under his arm and helped him up, and off the ride. His world was still spinning, and his stomach was revolting. Black eyes flew open and he blindly grabbed at the blond. Naruto seemed to instantly understand and rushed him over to a trash can that was either way to convenient or strategically placed there.
Hot and sick bile and god knows what else raced up his oesophagus and violently burst out into the iron drum. He threw up for a small eternity and leaned on the edge of the can like it was his lifeline, only dimly realizing warm hands bracing his waist. Finally finished he retracted his head from the can and was immediately met with wad of tissues and a sympathetic smile.
"Don't worry about it...it happens all the time. My first time, I threw up for about an hour, Iruka did warn me to not eat that whole tray of hot dogs but I didn't listen."
"I need to sit." He barely managed to say, his throat felt like it was scrubbed with sand-paper.
A small gazebo was in sight so they sat went over and sat down. The cool air, brushing over the raven's face blew some life back into him. He sighed. The blond, for once, was quiet until he broke the silence.
"You do this frequently?" he asked softly.
A curious look. "...Well...yeah."
A smirk, "No wonder."
"No wonder what?"
"No wonder...you're certified idiot." He said a note of humour colouring his words slyly referring to the 'It's made some people crazy.'
"And you're a bastard, but you don't see me calling you names."
Sasuke smirked as his words were flung back at him. "You're learning."
The keys missed the bowl but Sasuke didn't care. He toed off his shoes, and headed straight for the kitchen, yanked the fridge open and grabbed the carton of orange juice and promptly put it to his head.
The day was, well...strange.
He closed the fridge and went into his room and flopped down onto the bed and reflected on what, exactly, happened.
He went to a theme park...he allowed the blond to, (he firmly maintained) 'con' him into binging on a selection of junk food (which he also firmly maintained as nutrient worthless and hideously unhygienic); pizza, candy corn and soda, then they went to a video game store because the blond played something named 'Tomb Raider' and apparently the new version was out.
He hadn't received a call or any notifications from the office for three days and he was a little apprehensive (a.k.a. going bat shit crazy) of what was going on in his absence. Grabbing his phone he was about to call the office, rules be damned, when the unread e-mail from Neji was glaring him in the face.
"Sasuke,"
"I have arrived safely," a snort, trust the Hyuuga to never use contractions like the rest of the world. "I will be back in Kohona in five days. New developments have occurred." Huh...what new developments, about his contract he presumed, "The details have been sent to your office for the official release and transfer of my contract.
Oh, he was right then.
Your assistant has notified me that you are on a small 'leave of absence' and that all the necessary transactions will be satisfactorily taken care of
On refection I wonder what miracle or minor apocalypse caused you to actually take time off."
Smug bastard.
Hyuuga Neji,"
That's it then, since everything was being handled sufficiently by Haku and his team he could relax. Glancing at the clock; it read four pm; the match was at seven so he had two hours to take a short nap and to get ready.
'All right then,' he said, setting his alarm for the time and closed his eyes.
The stadium was rife with life; blaring lights, loud noises and frosty cold; he'd been prudent and grabbed his fur lined jacket and leather gloves on the way out. He was expected to be seated in the skyview seats a.k.a, the 'nose-bleeding' seats, but he was placed at nearly field level just as the game was starting. He'd heard that this was where the 'wives' of the players were seated but discarded that thought immediately.
The teams ran onto the field. The Kohona's Wolfs were dressed in red and white jerseys and black leggings. The opposing team, the Raptors were dressed out in blue and silver from head to toe.
Sasuke couldn't fool himself, he knew exactly shit about football, besides what he had hurriedly googled on the sport. Apparently Naruto was the Quarterback, a.k.a. the field general and his job, per se, was to direct the plays and manage the scoring. As to why the blond wanted him here, he had no idea.
Glancing over the crowd, he stalled. Hinata Hyuuga, Neji's cousin, was not more than five seats away from him, bundled up in thick scarfs, fleeces and mittens. Why was the Hyuuga princess at a football game? He was damn sure it was way out of her social grouping.
'Maybe she's here to cheer on Naruto.' He thought mildly; then something unidentified cut through his chest like a razor.
'What the hell?' he wondered, 'was that...je... jel... jelo.' Unable to even mentally pronounce the emotion he ruthlessly cut that train of thought off immediately. He got up and moved over to where she was seated and softly tapped her on the wrist. She looked up with that deer-in-headlights look that, if he remembered correctly, she always had.
"Uchiha-san." She said relaxing and pale cheeks slightly colouring, "...I didn't know you were an f-football fan?"
'Impressive,' he thought, 'she is getting more control over her stutter.'
"I'm not really." He drawled, "Just here to support a client of mine," 'that he blackmailed me into.' He mentally tacked on.
"Oh," she said pale eyes turning back to the game, apprehension profound in her eyes, "I'm here to cheer on my fiancé."
The Uchiha mentally reeled back but kept his visage impassive. 'A fiancé?'
"I'm sorry, Hyuuga-san," he said, "I didn't know you were...engaged."
She smiled, "Not many know...we are trying to keep it until the formal announcement."
"Hn." He agreed, not unusual for the clan, they were traditional to their roots, "May I ask who?"
"Inuzuka Kiba." She replied a flush that Sasuke judged didn't have anything to do with the choppy wind rose on her cheeks.
'Inuzuka Kiba...that name sounds familiar."
"Congratulations." He said warmly to the heiress. She flushed.
The game started and absently the raven was watching the moves of the players. He had to admit, the men were the epitome of athleticism, the ripped bodies aside, they had sportsmanship down to a science, according to what he could see, there was no skirmishes or disagreements in the team. They were at the second down and the Wolf's were at flat zero points when the Raptors were ahead on ten. The game went to half time. The crowd was acting up and getting tetchy at both the time and the lack of score.
Sasuke could barely see the blond in the backfield, helmetless running a hand through his hair and a frustrated look on his face. Sasuke paused and an insane idea occurred to him. Grabbing his phone he called the coach Kabuto and when the man answered he ordered him to put the Naruto on the phone.
"Yes." A terse and tense answer.
"Naruto, calm down," he said, "close your eyes and breathe and listen to what I'm telling you."
Apparently he obeyed and Sasuke growled low and dangerously; "Get it together baka. You will not lose this or I promise you I will beat you till next year." Then in a steady voice; "you can do this, you can get this victory and most of all," he said smirking, "...you will not let me down...or else."
"...You do know how to talk to a man, you know." The blond replied his voice slightly amused.
A small smile, "My specialty, now get to it."
The game resumed. The kick-off was immediately grabbed by the blond and passed to Nara, then in a move like lightning the ball was passed back to the blond and he took off to the end-zone. Heart beating Sasuke watched as the blond twisted and turned, dodging the opponents, he passed the ball to the running back and he ran like lightning up to the end-zone just reaching it by jumping clear over an offense lineman and slamming the ball down into the zone. The scream from the crowd nearly deafened the raven.
The scoreboard lit up with a six.
They rallied again and peering over the huddle he saw the blond briefly rose up and gave a swift salute to him before sinking back into the cluster.
He smiled. Hinata privately marvelled.
A break and another kick-off this time the blond ran straight to the twenty-nine yard and gained additional five points.
One point ahead and the team was celebrating but a cruel turn of events and the Raptors gained another ten points. The ratio: twenty to eleven.
Damn.
Sasuke was slightly apprehensive about the time, the game started two hours and odd ago; they had less than five minutes left.
'Come on, dobe,' he willed, eyes burning, 'Man up.'
The hike was shot into the air and swiftly grabbed by the blond, the ball firmly tucked into the crook of his arm and he was running down the field. Sasuke couldn't see but he knew there was a determined look on his tan face. Gripping the edge of his seat he leaned forward chanting under his breath, "Go, go, go, go, go, go."
The ten yard line was in sight but out of the blue he was slammed by two huge defence players who were determined to block him from the end-zone.
'Oh shit.' Sasuke cursed, standing up and gripping the railing of the banisters and with the adrenaline rushing through his body he felt like he was a second from exploding.
Ba-thump...
If Sasuke had a slow motion and a rewind setting for his brain he still couldn't come to grips with what happened.
Ba-thump...
The blond was blocked for a second by the two huge players but he- and this was the part that got sketchy- he seemed to hunker down over the ball, get a foothold and pushed against them.
Ba-thump...
The men, while holding, had to compensated for the force the Naruto was exerting and were pushed back, one line, one more line...one more yard...the clock was ticking down...one more yard and:
The crowd exploded.
The scoreboard lit up twenty-one, and summarily declared victory for the Wolf's. Sasuke slumped back into his seat. He felt like he had just gone through a hurricane. Unknown to him, Hinata smiled silently approvingly.
The chaos was still resounding around them but Sasuke was in a world of his own. Eyes closed, and a fist slowly clenching and releasing on his thigh he sighed relief.
'You did it, dobe.'
A small tap on his shoulder, he looked up, from weary but obscenely pleased obsidian eyes. "Hinata-san?"
She smiled, "It's over..." Here she paused and glanced up slightly from under her bangs, "...ummm, would you like to come see Naruto with me? I m-mean I have a-access to see Kiba after the games... but I can always bring someone too." She asked.
"Arigato." He said, closing his eyes again to regain composure.
The shower room was packed to its limit, but that didn't stop the whole team from horsing around like children. The euphoria in the room was palpable, what with riveting memories of the spectacular win.
"I swear man!" Kiba shouted to the gathering rubbing his wet hair, "I thought Naru was going to be road kill when those two, tweedledumb and tweedledumbfuck were done with him."
"YEA!" was shouted.
"Tell me man," Kankuro said, "What got you to even find the strength to push those fuckers...they looked like elephants."
The blond just smirked mysteriously and ripped off his sweaty and dirty jersey and pads.
Silence.
"Whoa..." someone said, "Who was the hell cat that did that... I want her number."
Naruto just brushed a hand over the red scratches across his chest. "No dice, kid...I guarantee you can't handle it."
"Oh yeah," Kiba said stepping up, "...from the size of the scratches and the finger placement, I'd say..." a smirk, "...it's not a woman."
Another silence, this time so loud it was ringing in everyone's ears. Naruto just playfully clasped the Inuzuka's head in an arm lock hold and rubbed his knuckles across the messy head.
"So what?" he said releasing Kiba, "Ya'll know I'm Bi."
"Was it Gaara?" Kankuro asked.
"No." was the succinct reply, "And stop nosing in my business."
"Why?" the Sabaku said, "I know he was in town last night."
"Yes he was." That's all he offered up, fully dressed Naruto turned around to find himself barricaded against the lockers. Blue eyes tripped from one person to another, "Guys...what exactly is going on?"
"'Fess up, Uzumaki." Kiba said arms crossed and eyebrows lowered, "Who gave you those?"
"Nope." He said blithely, "Not telling."
"Then you aren't going anywhere." Kankuro said in the same tone. "...Unless you confess."
The blond leaned back against the cold metal, and scanned the room. "Like ya'll have a chance in hell of stopping me."
"Maybe not but we do have-"
A knock pounded on the door, "Guys," was hollered though the door, "Kiba and Uzumaki, You have visitors."
A pause...then a comprehensive unholy smile crossed almost every face in the room. "Five minutes guys."
"It him, isn't it?"
Naruto flung a towel at the inquisitor, "None of your beeswax."
"Hinata is out there, so whoever she is with must be your 'hellcat'." Kiba said, while finishing pushing his head through a sweatshirt.
Naruto rolled his eyes. "Did I say, I really don't give a damn what ya'll think." He said lacing up his sneakers and hefting his duffel bag up on his shoulder and opening the door, glancing over his shoulder to the Inuzuka. "Ready."
A shove and a smirk, "Yea."
They didn't even try to stop all the peering faces craning their necks to see who was on the other side of the door.
Kiba dipped down and hoisted Hinata in the air, spinning her around. Sasuke just leaned on the wall, observing the happy couple before his eyes shifted to the blond. Unfolding his lean body he sauntered up to Naruto, hand in his pockets and paused just inches before him.
Eyelids dropped half-mast over dark irises, "Not bad Blondie... not bad at all."
Knowing that every freaking body in the adjacent room was staring at them Naruto reached out and grabbed the Uchiha by his lapel and pulled him in, bending down to his pale ear he whispered, "Do I get a reward, teme?"
"Yes," he said, now comfortable with Naruto in his space, "I won't beat you into next year."
"Uh huh." He replied, "I was thinking more like this."
"Wha-" he started to say but was cut off by a pair of soft peach lips on his own.
For the record, time stopped. Kiba's (and basically everyone who was observing the act) jaws dropped to the ground.
A/N: Nope, for all you those who want to know what happened between Naru and Gaara-chan...You're out of luck. XD...yep I'm evil.
(Oh come on... I can't give everything away... I'll reveal everything in time.)
Oh and for the football scene, I admit that I blatantly stole a scene from 'The Best Man's Holiday' and for the record I don't own that also...please don't sue.
Peace Ya'll.
Reviews and mad rabid screaming for my ultimate demise will be welcome. I can just imagine the eye-daggers I'm gonna get for this cliffie...bring it.
-smirk-
