Kin: It's been SOOOOOOOOOOO long since I updated ANYTHING! I'm really sorry. I lost the inspiration to write for Naruto-related stuff completely. But now I felt guilty, for not at least finishing one of my stories off. I can't finish KnS, I'm afraid. I've lost inspiration for that completely, and it's not coming back. But I will at least finish Best Friend! I actually know where this story is going. It's shorter than the usual length but this is the longest I can write.
I hope you enjoy the new chapter, and again I'm sorry for how long it took to update.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto does.
Best Friend
Chapter 10 – The Day Everything Changes
Maito Gai dressed in a bright green apron with the words "world's most youthful chef" would usually be enough to make anyone stop and look twice. Or at least falter a little.
But not for Narumi. Not today.
Because today was the day that everything changes.... and that is-
"Narumi!! I made eggs and bacon today, come and ea-"
"PAY CHECK DAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!"
The yellow-coloured gust of wind named Narumi Uzumaki sped past Gai without a single glance, bounding towards the door, and the letter-box without so much as a 'good morning'.
Fishing the few envelopes out of the letter box, she quickly leafed through them to bring out the one envelope addressed to her.
With a triumphant grin she opened it and looked at the sum of money which was her payment from her part-time job at Zabuza's Kiri Cafe. She had been working there for nearly two months now, and with the payment money she'd accumulated, today was the day.
"Now I can finally pay back that stupid debt Gai-chichi landed us in! Finally!" Narumi said happily, then rubbed her chin thoughtfully, -Hmm, but this also means that there's no real reason for me to earn money fast... Should I keep working there anyways?- she thought.
She and Sasuke had both been working together for 4 or 5 weeks, and though it was annoying at first as Sasuke felt the need to criticize her every move when it came to waitressing (as she seemed to have a lousy time controlling her temper when his fan-girls came in), it was actually a little fun.
Seeing Sasuke in an apron was a big bonus.
Haku was always supportive of her and gave her constructive criticism unlike Sasuke. He was like a big brother to her. Zabuza was a tough boss, but apart from being a little scary he was also fair with her. Suigetsu, while being an irritating guy, was also supportive of her, as in backing her up against the fan-girls of Sasuke.
Everyone she worked with at Kiri cafe were like a family... almost.
She didn't feel like walking out just yet, so she decided, she would continue to work there. A little pocket-change never hurt, right?
"Gai-chichi! I'm going to school!" Narumi began, only to be pulled back with an arm around her neck.
"First eat your breakfast! A youthful school-girl like you needs her nutrition!!" Gai ordered her. Well, that was over in ten minutes, and Narumi again head out to school, dodging Lee as usual.
She was meeting up with Sakura and Sasuke on the way to school today. She just hoped Sakura was keeping up her routine and was being shy-but-slightly-flirtatious like usual, and Sasuke was keeping up his routine of being stand-offish and cool.
If that was the way things were, Narumi knew things would be fine. Seeing Sasuke and Sakura all over each other... it made Narumi's skin crawl in more ways than one. These days, it felt weird.
She was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable with Sakura's presence, which she didn't want at all. Apart from it being plain weird for her to act this way (it's just Sasuke after all!), she didn't want things to change.
But sometimes things are inevitable.
Pausing on her journey to the train-station, Narumi spotted someone that caught her eye. He was standing across the road from her apartment, just staring at it through his thick, expensive-looking aviator glasses, his hands pocketed in his equally expensive looking pockets (and outfit overall). His hair, a vibrant blonde that gleamed like the sun.
-What is that guy doing? ...I thought blonde hair was rare around these parts... Ah well...- Narumi shrugged, thinking nothing of it and went on her way.
A block or two later, she felt rather uncomfortable... like someone was following her. She looked over her shoulder. That blonde guy with the shades again!!
-Crap!! A stalker?!- Narumi widened her eyes, and decided to run for it, as fast as her legs would carry her. Soon, she arrived at the meeting point, where Sasuke and Sakura waited for her.
Narumi bent over, huffing madly for air as the two looked at her strangely.
"What's with you??" Sakura asked, baffled.
"Hahah.. N-nothing...! Just some early-morning exercise...?" Narumi shrugged, grinning. –Who the hell was that guy anyway? What a creep!- she thought.
"Well, whatever, idiot. Let's get going, we've got school." Sasuke shrugged, and the three went on their way to school.
A couple of blocks back, that 'stalker' wiped a bead of sweat from his fringe and grinned slightly, "Well she's certainly liely. All of that office-work really cuts away from your exercise... phew.." he murmured, leaning against the wall of a building, -But she's doing well. That's a relief.- he thought to himself.
And with that, he walked away.
"Order up!! A tuna salad, two coffees and a ham and egg sandwich for table 3." Sasuke said, placing the order on the counter. Narumi picked up the tray and nodded her head.
"Right O'!"
"Heeey, we need a coffee over here too, Sasuke." Suigetsu called to him.
"On it..." Sasuke said with a sigh, heading towards the coffee dispenser.
"Oh, that table needs cleaning. Can you do that after you're done, Suigetsu?" Haku asked.
"Yep."
Hours later, school finished for the day, and Narumi and Sasuke were hard at work for another day at Kiri Cafe.
It was as busy as usual, thanks to Sasuke's fan-base. Most of the school's girls always ended up hanging out after school at Kiri Cafe in hopes of being served by the brooding waiter. While Narumi and Suigetsu found it annoying, Zabuza liked it though. Sasuke became an employee he wouldn't want to let go of with this boom in his cafe's popularity. It was certainly an improvement from before.
Narumi however...
"Nooo, we don't want to be served by you, bring out Sasuke-kun!" one of the customer-fan-girls whined.
"Tough luck, he's busy!! What do you want?" Narumi groaned, frowning at the girls. Then, after feeling a cold aura, she straightened up, "Uh, I mean, please may I take your order?" she said, forcing a big smile.
Well... she was improving a little.
Certainly, she was learning.
"Naru!!" Kiba suddenly exclaimed, bounding into the cafe with a big grin. Narumi looked at him curiously as he approached her. "Summer vacation's coming up. Are you free in the 1st week?" he asked her, a subtle blush on his face.
"Eh? Why, what's going on?" she asked, her eyes slanted in confusion.
"Remember the lodge in the mountains that my family owns a share of? My sis and I are going there since our parents are out of town. I was wondering if you wanted to come with?" Kiba asked her.
"Ooh, that sounds cool! What'll we be doing?" Narumi asked.
"Narumi, don't get distracted from your work." Sasuke called over.
"Yeah, yeah!" Narumi waved her hand non-commitingly. A trip to the Inuzuka mountain lodge was more exciting than serving annoying girls.
"Lots of things! Like hiking, maybe a scavenger hunt, fishing, swimming, and many more things." Kiba said, grinning at the interest Narumi was showing. He threw a smirk at Sasuke –he'd get to spend the first two weeks of summer vacation with Narumi and Sasuke would be all alone!
Sasuke merely shrugged, and went back to work. Not like it bothered him as much.
-Hmmm...- Narumi thought about it, weighing the pros and cons only for a second, then nodded, "Yeah I'll come - Anything to get away from Gai-chichi for a while! It'll be fun!" Narumi agreed.
"YEAH, sweet! We'll pick you up on Sunday then!" Kiba pumped his fist.
"Okay." Narumi nodded again.
Kiba took this as another change to 'rub it in' at Sasuke, pulling down on the skin under his eye and sticking out his tongue. –Haha, I win, you lose!- he jeered mentally.
Sasuke just ignored him. He was used to this immature behaviour for a while now.
It was best to ignore him and just keep working despite the Inuzuka's interruption. Narumi should take a leaf from Sasuke's book on that.
Later on in the evening, Sasuke returned to his home, the Uchiha complex to find his elder brother on the phone. His voice was stony cold and serious, and his eyes were ragged.
"I've already told you, I'm not coming back. Nothing you say will convince me. Your methods are cruel and unnecessary. I'd had enough a long time ago." He said into the phone and then noticed Sasuke, "Stop calling me." He added, and hung up the phone.
Sasuke only looked at his brother, mildly interested.
His brother was a law and psychology student at Tokyo University, and he usually lived away from home at the on-campus dormitories. But now more often than not he frequently came home, and he had been getting a lot of phone-calls similar to that one.
Sasuke was a little concerned, but he knew his brother could take whatever it was with a pinch of salt. He was a strong person, and his judgement and morals were good.
Nothing could sway his opinion.
It was reasons like this he admired his brother. It was Itachi who had been there for him the most apart from Narumi after their mother died after all.
"Sasuke." Itachi greeted his little brother.
"Itachi..." Sasuke nodded in return, dropping his shoes by the shoe-rack and stepping onto the wooden floors.
"Father is on a business call in Seoul, for the next few weeks. And I will be returning to university tomorrow." Itachi informed him. Sasuke nodded to him.
"Ah." He nodded, "I'll be fine on my own." Sasuke replied.
"Hana-san told me she was taking her little brother to their lodge in the mountains. I asked her to take you with her too, Sasuke. Don't forget. She'll be picking you up on Sunday." Itachi said and Sasuke sighed.
Well... he wasn't bothered. But he was sure Kiba wouldn't like it.
"Okay."
But it wasn't like he could to anything about it. He wondered why Itachi didn't want him left on his own though...
Sunday morning came around before anyone knew it. And as Sasuke expected, Kiba was anything but happy about it.
"WHAAAT!! What is he coming with us for?!" Kiba asked his sister, pointing at the Uchiha. Sasuke looked at the finger pointing between his eyes with an annoyed frown, and swatted it out of his line-of-sight.
Hana looked over shoulder from the driver's seat and sighed, "I already explained it to you. His brother asked me to look out for him while he took care of some important business, and so he's coming with us. I owed him a favour, so there you go. Stop complaining about it, be a man." She said with a roll of her eyes.
The things she went through because of her little brother's little jealousy.
"Hey but isn't this great? The three of us can hang out this time over the summer holidays! We didn't get to much last time because of Gai-chichi taking me on that training trip with Lee." Narumi said, and leaned forward, "Hana-neechan! Can we put some music on?!" she asked, already hyped about the road-trip to the lodge.
"Okay." Hana nodded, and turned on the radio.
She wondered how this little 'summer camp' would turn out? It sure wouldn't be relaxing...
Kin: Thanks for reading. I hope you'll review too. I don't know when my next update will be but I'll try not to leave it so long again. *bows*