XD this chapter was really difficult for me to write, mostly because my plot really is that complicated for this one XD but i got it done! YAY!


Chapter Eight: Thrift Store Mayhem

Naruto woke up that morning half-expecting the familiar presence of Shikamaru snoozing away beside him, but then he remembered Shikamaru's text that night about his step-dad being a good mood and how he didn't even get mad when Shikamaru told him about the suspension.

That guy was really weird.

Pushing all the crazy aside, the blonde opted to continue his morning in the usual fashion. "It's time to wake up!" he called to into the darkened halls, the humming sound of his air conditioner the only one to respond as Naruto rose from the bed and stalked toward his dresser.

It was going to be a very boring day with Shikamaru being suspended, now he'd have to walk the halls mostly alone excluding the few times he would run into Kiba during the course of the day and the one class they shared together.

Not to mention Choji fell of the face of the freaking Earth.

Fully dressed, hair groomed, and teeth actually brushed; Naruto walked into his living room, shoving various papers and notebooks into his backpack with a curse as his stomach growled. Why does he always forget to eat when Shikamaru isn't here? And to make matter's worse; he'd already brushed his teeth.

Grumbling into the kitchen, Naruto took out all the necessary ingredients and utensils for an egg and toast breakfast for one. It was when the first egg was being guided by the grip of his hand toward the skillet that his phone blasted the beats of "Where's your head at" by Basement Jaxx, indicating that Kiba had been messing around with his phone again.

Naruto set down the egg, turning around to unplug his phone, pulling the small object away from its resting place on the kitchen counter and shoving it onto his ear while he continued to make breakfast, "What do you want?"

"Is that anyway to greet a person?!" Kiba barked on the other end, forgetting his rant instantly as the sound of a sizzling egg penetrated his ear, "Are you making me food dumbass?"

"My ass might be dumb but at least I have a head." mumbled the blonde, interrupting Kiba before he could get another word in, "I'm making food for me, I don't know about you."

"I got you a job." replied Kiba's flat voice.

"So?" Naruto replied, cracking another egg into the skillet after he removed the first one, what was he forgetting to do?

"So you owe me ass-hat." Toast! He was forgetting toast; Naruto abandoned the egg to hunt for the fluffy loaf of bread hiding nearby. "I'll deduct 30 dollars from the money you owe me?"

"Really that much?!" Naruto exclaimed instantly extracting more pieces of bread from the bag at the sound of the offer, "I'll do it!"

Kiba arrived just as the last piece of toast poked its head out of the toaster, which scared the shit out of Naruto and cause him to fall backwards, effectively sending his skillet flipping through the air to land in the sink with a loud clang. Dog boy only pounded on the door impatiently as Naruto dusted himself off from the fall, noticing a chip in the wall above the sink that he was dreading explaining to his land lord. "Shove it Kiba, I'm coming!"

"Well then hurry your ass up and get here, I'm starving!" yelled Kiba's muffled voice just before Naruto yanked the door open, a plain brown package was instantly shoved in the blonde's hands as Kiba invited himself in. Naruto inspected the box sealed with chopped up bits of duck-tape and some gashes on the side were clearly signs of frustration. Kiba ignored the questioning gaze being directed at him as he picked up both plates of food from the kitchen and slapped them down on the small dining room table.

"What is this?" Naruto closed the door behind him, his gaze never lifting from Kiba as he bounced forward and set the box on the table next to his plate of food. Could it be snakes? A bomb? A giant ass toad with a fondness for getting drunk and smoking out of a pipe? Naruto mentally laughed at the image as he shoved a piece of toast in his mouth, still inspecting the box, unaware of Kiba's irritated expression.

"Will you just hurry up and open it already!" Naruto jumped in his seat at the sound of Kiba's impatient voice clamoring toward him. Kiba pulled out a switchblade, handing it over the table to the blonde with a slightly noticeable blush painting his cheeks. He continued to babble on as Naruto went about the task of opening the damn box, "I tried to warp it, but I'm not very good at that girly kind of stuff. I just looked at my calendar and realized it was your birthday so, and I kinda forgot but then my sister came home with the clothes, and I know I didn't buy them but when I saw them I thought of you so I thought you might like them, it's really stup-"

"Awesome!" interrupted Naruto, holding up the fire orange shirt to his face, snuggling the soft material to his skin, and if he dared to hear it, Kiba would swear the blonde giggled into the material. "I really needed new clothes."

Naruto rose from his seat and bounced down the hall toward his bedroom, ignoring the complaints of Kiba calling behind him, "What are you a girl? Don't get so fucking excited about clothes for crying out loud you're supposed to complain about it or some shit?" Despite the tone of his voice, Kiba was smiling into his breakfast with every word out of his mouth while the door slammed shut behind the blonde.

Naruto held up the clothing to his face, smiling as he pulled the various items out of the box. Oh yes, today, was going to be an awesome day.

And up until now that's exactly the kind of day Naruto was having, an awesome one. Then Sasuke just had to go and ruin it all by starting a fight with him.

He was just trying to say hello to the jackass.

And what did that get him? A trip the office where the old grandpa would look at him with those heavy disappointed eyes and then send him home with a weak wave of his gavel. As expected the old man called out to him, "Naruto." There it was that look, and that tone.

Shame filled his insides immediately; he let down Mr. Sarutobi again by breaking his promise not to fight for the remainder of the year. Naruto already knew from the beginning that it might be a lost cause but…he wanted to try so badly.

In the end it was only that feeling on top of a three day suspension that he was left with, the burning reality that he failed to keep his promise drowning him so far down in an ocean of disappointment that he nearly forgot about his new job.

Kiba refused to tell the blonde what it was, opting instead to force Naruto to meet him outside of the small still existing local grocery store across from the school. Naruto parked himself just a few feet away from the front entrance, why did it have to be this grocery store? He wasn't even allowed inside!

Though Kiba didn't exactly plan on Naruto getting suspended, so that gave him somewhat of an excuse for forcing the blonde here.

After about two hours of sweating in the heat, sending mean texts to Kiba's phone, and people watching; Kiba finally just decided to skip his last class to attend to Naruto, much to the blonde's relief. "What the hell do you do to get yourself suspended?!"

"Oh so when Shikamaru does it, it's cool, but when I do it I'm in trouble?!" Naruto crossed his arms, sending a wary glance to the grocery store entrance. Kiba smacked him upside the head with a growl, "OW!"

"Yes that's exactly how it fucking goes! What Shikamaru does is his business, that's fine he's got other shit to take care of anyway, but you!" the brunette jabbed him in the chest, his voice rising, "Naruto you have too much to lose to fuck up like that!"

"Shut-up, I know that already!" Naruto screamed back, shoving Kiba back a few steps with a weak force. He clutched his chest, inhaling deeply, his eyes closing as the realization that even one of his best friends was disappointed in him stung even harder than the broken promise.

Kiba shifted where he stood, scratching the back of his head, guilt sweeping over him as he watched Naruto struggle before him. "Look….I'm sorry, I over-reacted okay! Let's just move on and go get you settled in that job I got you okay? Hey, what happened to your clothes, what are you wearing?"

Naruto opened his eyes, saying nothing as he reached down for his bag, along with the plastic bag of his practically ruined clothes and swung it over his shoulder. Kiba took this as a silent agreement and dropped the subject of his gift as he lead the way down the strip of shops beside the grocery store. He finally paused at the end of the corner where a thrift shop was placed, un-noticed by anyone who passed by. "This is the place?"

"Yep!" replied Kiba, opening the door with a smile and gesturing for Naruto to enter first, continuing to jabber on as they entered the store, "My friend's family owns this place, I met him in art at the beginning of the year and well…let's just say he owed me one for a particular assignment….anyway, this is where you will be working so try not to embarrass me okay? Naruto? Are you listening?"

"Huh?" Kiba tried not to growl as the blonde explored the cluttered shop, what the hell was he thinking? Naruto is probably the clumsiest person in the world; he'd end up breaking half of the merchandize in a week. Oh well, too late to go back now. With that thought, Kiba reached down and loudly pounded the bell sitting on the check-out counter obnoxiously.

"Please don't do that Kiba."

"Ah!" both boys jumped in surprise at the voice that sounded from the other end of the counter, Naruto crept forward carefully just making out the shape of a hooded coat, a kind in sunglasses hiding in it. Though he seemed not to take any interest as he continued on, arranging beetle's in his container.

"Why you ask? Because the loud noise is really very annoying, it disturbs my insects and my ears." Naruto realized that, to his horror, the beetles were moving. "Who is this? The kid you told me about that's starting today right, because if it's not and you're not going to buy something then you really need to leave."

"No-no this is the guy, Naruto meet Shino." Kiba shoved the blonde forward to introduce himself.

"Uh….hi?" Naruto gave him a small wave that went unnoticed as Shino eyed him, adjusting his sunglasses carefully. He shifted nervously under the stranger's gaze, slowly pointing over to Kiba, "Excuse me, I'm just going to…talk with Kiba real quick."

Shino seemed indifferent and gave no response as Naruto nervously dragged out Kiba, the door barely managing to swing shut behind them before the blonde busted out with his complaints, "You're going to leave me to work with that guy! In this place?! Are you crazy!"

"Oh shut up! Where else are you going to work huh?" Kiba shut Naruto up instantly with a glare, jabbing his finger toward the door, "Naruto, get your ass in that store and work or I will shove my foot so far up your ass you'll be spitting out clumps of shit from your mouth for weeks!"

Pouting, Naruto stalked back in the store with a sigh, Kiba had a point, and there was no other option in this place, at least not really any legal options. Kiba smiled, patting the blonde's back as he addressed Shino again, "Sorry about that, he's ready to work! I'm going to go ahead and leave so…bye!"

And then Naruto watched in horror as his friend ran out of that place, leaving him behind to deal with this creepy sunglasses guy.

It was going to be a long year.


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