A/N: The prize has been won, by Puppet Master. He is the first of 500 readers that noticed (or had the guts to review) that the cracked wall was not in Naruto's apartment building but in the outlying town when Naruto and the perverted hermit were leaving town the first time. Virtual Goodies to the Puppet Master! But I have to say that I liked the idea of the cracked wall leading to the apartment, and I put it there.
I promise that they will at least be nek'ked by the end of this chapter which is about twice as long as the last couple chapters. And that the next chapter is the longest one and almost all lemony. Hopefully it won't get me kicked - which is why I setup a special profile to post this. It will be posted tomorrow without fail, about the same time, you can use a watch. Thanks for the hits, there seems to be a couple hundred that are reading consistently and I thank you for getting this far. My beta reader is very jealous, but she writes Pokemon stories. And remember About Dot Com for any Japanese phrases- but for those who are put off by that, by request, I've put the phrases in this chapter at the end of the story. I've also put some info on my homepage here since I saw that some people were clicking it. I am willing to read suggestions as to what should happen AFTER the next chapter.
In Naruto's Apartment
Naruto closed the door behind a quiet Sasuke.
"Naruto, just walking through your apartment the way we are now, will track dirt inside. Would you mind if I took off my shirt and shorts, here? Onegai shimasu."
Naruto was shocked by the formal please in Sasuke's request, Sasuke saying please….something is not right…" Ano…Daijoubu, Sasuke? Hai, hai, I'll take mine off, too."
Naruto was flustered; he had to take off his jacket and pants so that Sasuke wouldn't be by himself in his underwear. Missions had made the two share tents and bed rooms, so it wasn't that strange but why did it feel strange in his apartment? He sat on the edge of the floor where it dropped to the doorway and kicked off his boots. Unzipping his jacket, he could smell that it wasn't that proverbial rose garden. He stood and unzipped his pants, and sat to get the legs off.
Turning away from the undressing Sasuke, "Let me get the laundry basket and we can put this stuff right in the wash," and he stepped up to the floor and went to get the basket." He hurried out of the room. When he returned, he was glad that Sasuke wasn't still sitting there, and picked up his clothes and Sasuke's, placing it into the basket. I hope I have some laundry detergent left.
He looked up when he heard Sasuke speak, "Naruto, my stuff has to be washed in cold water or it will bleed colors." That was the teme, I know! Grinning and placing his hand behind his head, "Yosh. I have to wash it cold or we won't have enough hot water for a bath!" Stupid teme, doesn't he know that? I better start filling the tub, too, it takes a while. Leaving the room with the laundry, Naruto heard Saskue call out, "I'm going to boil some water."
RAMEN, RAMEN! What flavors will I pick? I'm so hungry, I can't wait! Naruto's stomach growled in agreement.
Naruto shook as much dirt from his and Sasuke's clothes as possible into the trash before putting the items into the machine. He added the last of his detergent and set the machine for the longest wash cycle.
Hurrying into the bath, he started filling the large tub. Even in the artificial light it looked shiny and almost new. He glanced at the window where he could see the moon shining brightly. Something flashed across the window making the moon seem to blink, he started to walk to the window to see what was there, and then he heard the high pitch whistle of the kettle. Raaaameeeennnnn! He hurried toward the sound.
Walking into the kitchen, he saw Sasuke had fallen asleep and had left a scattering of dirt on the table surface. He went to the stove and turned off the burner. Opening cabinets he pulled out two bowls of instant ramen. One was shrimp flavor and the other spicy chicken. Pulling back the lids a little bit, he took out the vegetable and seasoning packets. Opening each packet he placed their contents into each bowl. He crushed the empty packets together and tossed them in a high arc towards the trash. When they went in, he made pumping movements in the air with his fist.
Picking up the kettle, he poured the boiling water into each cup. "1, 2, 3" stopping the pour in the first cup. "1, 2, 3" he said pouring boiling water into the second. He folded down the lids and looked at the clock. It was 11:47. Midnight we eat! I can't wait, anymore!
"Sasuke, which flavor do you want?" leaning over Sasuke, he gave him a gentle shake. "Shrimp or spicy chicken? Sasuke?"
Sasuke, roused by the hand on his shoulder, heard, "Shrimp or spicy chicken, Sasuke?" He was so tired, but he hated shrimp flavor anything.
"Chicken," he mumbled, raising his head from the table, leaving more crumbs of dirt. Sasuke looked at the table and the dirt left in a semi-circle around the area where he had laid his head. He was embarrassed. He took one hand and with the callused edge swept it along the arc, pushing the dirt together, and to one side. "Gomen… gomen nasai," he stuttered, nodding his head to the table. He heard Naruto, chuckle, and respond, "K-k-ki ni shinaide, Sasuke-kun," and felt a waif of steam hit his closed eyes and a salty smell that was reminiscent of chicken with chilies.
Opening his eyes he saw the bowl of ramen in front of him; little flecks of green, red and orange floated on the surface along with what seemed to be large flecks of dried hot chilies. Square white chunks that were probably tofu and not dehydrated chicken, were sitting on a bed of ramen that was still folded into a square. It was all floating in a neon bright yellow-orange liquid. Not quite like the bowls of ramen at Ichiraku or even the better brands of instant ramen which had larger pieces of vegetables that looked like vegetables and chicken that could be re-hydrated.
He looked up to see Naruto once again, with his hand behind his head, grinning like the baka he was; "I'll get you some hashi. Do you want some toasted sesame oil and more chili powder on top of that?"
Naruto turned away opened a drawer bringing out sets of chopsticks. Another cabinet yielded up a bottle of dark liquid and a salt shaker with red powder inside. Naruto placed these in front of Sasuke. Naruto sat down opposite Sasuke, picked up his own chopsticks and said, "Itadakimasu!" Sasuke thought, How can he be so loud and cheerful…. Sasuke picked up his own hashi and looking straight at Naruto said, "Doukan desu, itadakimasu." Naruto's face colored again and quickly busied himself with his ramen bowl, separating the noodles so that they could be eaten.
"Chicken." Hearing this, Naruto was disappointed, he loved the spicy chicken. The shrimp was boring. Well, I can put lots of chili powder and sesame oil on it that will make it much better. The smell is making me nuts, I'm so hungry, I could eat both of these. I wonder if there is enough hot water to make another bowl…. He glanced at the clock, it was midnight, the 3 minutes needed to hydrate the noodles had passed. He tore the plastic off the tops of the ramen bowls and turned around with a bowl in each hand.
He saw Sasuke lifting his head from the table and arc of dirt left behind. Sasuke was using his hand to move the dirt to one side. "Gomen… gomen nasai," Sasuke uttered, again bowing his head to the table. Naruto could hardly keep from dropping the bowls, right there, Sasuke never ever uttered those words together, not in his presence anyway, and certainly not to him. Maybe he's not such a stuck up teme underneath… Naruto quickly placed the bowl in front of Sasuke. "K-k-ki ni shinaide, Sasuke-kun," he sputtered between chuckles. They never talked this politely to each other before.
Rubbing the back of his head he grinned as Sasuke looked up at him. "I'll get you some hashi. Do you want some toasted sesame oil and more chili powder on top of that?" Naruto turned to get the eating utensils and condiments. He was blushing furiously. Sasuke looked so earnest; there was none of the usual hauteur in his eyes.
Placing the hashi and bottles in front of Sasuke, he sat in his own chair, lifting his chopsticks up, and said "Itadakimasu," in a loud and cheery voice, just as he would have if eating at Ichiraku. He started to fiddle with his ramen cup, waiting for Sasuke to finish with the condiments. He knew that these were the cheapest ramen that you could buy that came in their own bowls. He hated washing dishes, and these didn't break when dropped on the floor. Ichiraku's rich tasting ramen soup was not that cheap on his pay and miso-ramen was the cheapest ramen bowls they served. Miso added extra protein to the dish in lieu of bbq pork or the more expensive katsudon or even more costly tempura shrimp. Everyone always bought him miso since that's what they saw him eating all the time and he could have more than one or two. He really would rather have katsu or a tempura ramen bowls but couldn't afford them; he would seldom ask anyone to pay for one of the pricier bowls and was thrilled when Teuchi or his daughter Ayame surprised him with an upgraded order with bbq pork slices on top.
His apartment was only partly subsidized by the Hokage's account since he was a child, so most of what he did earn went to pay for the apartment. Ramen was just not his favorite food because he liked it; it was the only food he could really afford so he had better like it. Milk, eggs and cereal was things that he only bought occasionally because he just had to have something different. Baa-chan and Shizune were always on his back about what he ate, but he never learned to cook beyond boiling water and making hard boiled eggs. Naruto looked up from his bowl at Sasuke who had his chopsticks lifted and looked him straight in the eye without that smirk, "Doukan desu, itadakimasu," came out of his lips. Naruto was again embarrassed by Sasuke's open politeness, blushed and took a few noodles on his chopsticks and slurped them into his mouth. I don't get it, what's with him. Blah, this is so bland…
Seeing Naruto start to eat the ramen, Sasuke thought; here goes. I wonder if I can eat this, picking up a few of the noodles out of the bowl. The hot noodles slurped into his mouth. I must be really hungry because that doesn't taste that bad. Sasuke felt a burning sensation grow in his mouth as the red pepper flakes started to take effect. "Karasugiru!' came out of his mouth as soon as the noodles cleared his ulna.
"Karasugiru!' jolted Naruto out of his own thoughts. "It's too spicy? Gomen, Sasuke, gomen." He said as he looked at the pale Uchiha's face turn a pale pink. "Here, take the shrimp, it's not spicy at all," swapping bowls. Sasuke grabbed the shrimp bowl and proceeded to drink the salty hot liquid in an attempt to clear his mouth of the hot pepper taste. It was only partly successful. Once he put the fire in his mouth out, Sasuke started to taste what it was he was drinking. It really wasn't shrimp like, at least with the residual taste of the spicy chicken flavor. He put the bowl down and picked up the sesame oil bottle and put a few drops onto the noodles now sticking out of the bright liquid. Again, picking up his hashi he separated some of the noodles from the rest and slurped them down. Now, he mostly tasted the sesame and that was okay by him. Looking up over his bowl, he saw Naruto, practically inhale the spicy chicken. Sasuke blushed realizing that they had just had an 'indirect kiss' by swapping the bowls of ramen. His empty stomach, primed with salty broth accentuated that he was still really hungry. Sasuke attacked his bowl with improved effort and made short work of the contents.
Sasuke looked up from his empty bowl, and saw Naruto looking at him with a smile. "Arigato, Naruto."
"Dou itashimashite, Sasuke. Ikaga deshita ka?"
"Mazui, Naruto," Sasuke said with as big a smile as he could muster. "But I was so hungry, thank you for having me over."
Naruto was a bit taken back by Sasuke's honesty that the ramen was awful, but that smile took the embarrassment away.
"Sasuke, we better get to the bath, the tub must be almost full."
He stood and picked up the bowls and tossed them into the trash. The hashi was tossed into the sink, and the oil and chili powder were returned to the cupboard. Sasuke was getting up from the table, slowly. Sitting had again cramped up his legs, with a hand on the table for support he started to walk out of the room and barely made it to the doorway, when one of his knees buckled. Naruto watching grabbed him again across the shoulder, "here, let me show you the way," feeling Sasuke leaning his weight against him, they walked to the bath.
Across the living room into a alcove where Sasuke saw there was a churning washing machine, and some laundry racks filled with Naruto's clothes. Naruto let go of him for a moment, and opened a partially glass door, and wisps of steam came out.
"The tub must be full. Come in, Sasuke." Naruto went ahead into the steamy room, and Sasuke heard the sound of the taps being shut. He walked slowly into the warm damp air, closing the door behind him to retain the heat. Naruto came over and pointed to a short stool by the wall, "Sasuke, let me get a washcloth for you. You can change out of your stuff there, and I'll put it into the wash, right away."
Naruto went back to the alcove and got out some washcloths, towels and opening a cabinet, took out some of the bath soaps and shampoo that Baa-chan had given him once, which he didn't like. Piling them on top of the towels, he returned to the bath. Sasuke was sitting facing the wall; his remaining clothes were piled next to him. Naruto put the bath soaps next to him and held the wash cloth out to Sasuke, who was breathing the steam deeply. The high humidity had started turning his hair into a muddy mess. He seemed exhausted. Naruto put the cloth on Sasuke's shoulder, and placed the towels on the rack. He picked up the clothing from the floor. Sasuke's got to start moving; the tub's going to get cold. Back again to the alcove, Naruto tossed Sasuke's clothes into the washing machine. He looked at his own shirt and under pants, shrugged and shucked them off, placing them also in the churning device. Naked, he hurried back into the bath.
Japanese Words and Phrases:
Onegai shimasu: a formal form of please. In the usage here, he's making the request to take his clothes off, which socially would mean that Naruto would also have to take his clothes off so that he (Sasuke) would not be embarrassed by his state/status.
Ano: a verbal pause, like saying 'uh' or 'huh'
Daijoubu: no problem
Hai: affirmative answer often used as 'yes'
Yosh: a expressive answer either 'yeah' or 'all right'
gomen nasai: I am sorry.
ki ni shinaide: never mind or it's not a problem
hashi : chopsticks
itadakimasu: "Let's eat!"
Doukan desu, itadakimasu: "I agree, let's eat."
Karasugiru: too spicy
Gomen: sorry
Arigato: thank you
Dou itashimashite: you're welcome
Ikaga deshita ka : "How was it?" or "How have you been?"
Mazui: it's awful
Katsudon: a fried crispy cutlet usually pork coated with panko (japanese style bread crumbs)
Tempura: usually a vegetable slice or shimp (ebi) or other seafood dipped in a thin batter (the batter usually has ice chips in it) that is deep fried. so ebi tempura is 'shrimp tempura'