Ughhhh...I'm reeeeaaaalllllyyyy sorry for not updating in a while, but let's just say that schoolwork and a computer ban was involved.
Disclaimer: why do I even bother...
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"Hey bastard?" Naruto said, cutting up the last of his double-blueberry pancakes. Sasuke shot him a glance from over the top of the menu he was reading.
"Hn?"
"Thanks for stopping for breakfast."
The Uchiha snorted lightly. "It's your car, dobe. I wasn't driving."
The blond glared at him, the effect slightly ruined by a bit of blueberry smeared onto his cheek. "I was being nice, asshole. Something you could do."
Slightly surprised, Sasuke tilted his head. "You're welcome I guess..."
Naruto nodded before stuffing a fork-full of pancakes into his mouth, clearing up the plate. Standing up, he stretched and shoved his chair under the table with a loud clatter. The ghost sighed and did the same. Without the stretching and loud clattering of course.
"So bastard, you ready to go?" Sasuke smirked slightly at the blond's bubbly attitude, no doubt refueled by pancakes. He nodded in agreement.
Naruto noticed the odd looks he was getting from the other customers. Shit, did I really talk to Sasuke that loud? Panicking slightly, he made his way towards the door, locking eyes on anyone who seemed to be staring at him. The others seemed to get the message and went back to their food. The only one who seemed unfazed, was a man sitting next to the door. Naruto gave him an intimidating stare, hoping to make the man stop staring. Instead, the man reached up and stroked his own cheek.
What the fuck! Naruto shrieked in his head, unaware that the man was simply pointing out the smudge on his face. Exiting the place quickly, the blond ran his hands through his hair in an effort to calm himself down.
"Fucking weirdos everywhere..." he muttered under his breath, just loud enough for Sasuke to hear.
"You think I was too loud?" Naruto turned towards his companion. The raven raised an eyebrow at the question.
"You're always too loud." Getting a glare from the blond, he rolled his eyes. "But that wasn't the only reason people were staring."
"Whaddaya mean?"
"Hopefully you're smart enough to figure this out yourself." Getting a confused look from Naruto, the ghost sighed. "It's got something to do with your appearance." he gave a hint.
"...I look really awesome?"
Sasuke groaned at the blond's ignorance. Any normal person would have figured out by now that there was something on their face.
Sighing, the spirit dug into his jeans pocket and pulled out a paper napkin he had stored there for reasons unknown to even himself. Holding out the napkin like an offering, Sasuke turned to face the shorter man, who still didn't seem to be catching up.
"Something wrong teme?"
"Blueberries on your goddamn face."
"...Oh...On my cheek?" Naruto's mind seemed to understand the stranger's actions. The spirit nodded. The blond grabbed the napkin and tried to wipe off the purple blotch. But since he didn't know exactly where it was, he only succeeded in making it worse. A LOT worse.
"Did I get it?"
The raven only stared at the tan cheek, now completely covered in mushed-up blueberry. Rolling his eyes, Sasuke snatched the napkin back from the other man, ignoring the yells of protest.
"Stand still."
Naruto crossed his arms and snorted. "Why should I do that?"
Pinching the bridge of his nose, the ghost sighed. Instead of answering, he grabbed the smaller man's chin harshly and tilted it up, gaining better access to the smear. Carefully, Sasuke dabbed at the cheek, wiping up the mess.
Blue eyes widened in shock as Naruto realized what the ghost was doing. Sure, he could have tried to push the Uchiha away, but most likely his hands would have gone through him. Besides, it was much more fun to watch the spirit's eyes screw up in concretion.
Finishing the task, Sasuke took a moment to run a pale finger over the three scars on Naruto's face, feeling the blond shiver oh-so-slightly at the touch. The spirit leaned in carefully, before catching himself. Drawing back, he let his arms fall to his sides and took a step back. It would do him no good to freak out the dobe.
Naruto let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding as Sasuke stepped back. His skin tingled where the ghost had touched him. Coughing once, he shuffled his feet.
"Is it clean?"
The raven nodded once. "We're going to be late unless we leave now."
Bending his face into a scowl, the blond huffed. "Well somebody decided to take time to run their hands all over my face."
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Would you rather go walk around with blueberry all over your face?"
"...No."
"I thought so. Next time, pick something that doesn't make a mess."
Naruto fished his car-keys out of his pocket and unlocked the Lamborghini. "Like ramen?"
The spirit raised an eyebrow. "Ramen?"
"Yeah. For breakfast."
Hearing this, the sprit actually stopped dead and stared at the smaller man. "Breakfast?"
The blond nodded. "Yeah, breakfast. When else?"
Sasuke's eyes widened slightly in disbelief. "Lunch. Or dinner. Like a normal person."
"Nah. It tastes just as good in the morning. Maybe even better!"
"Goddammit dobe."
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Sakura's hands were tightly clamped around the steering wheel of her car. Her mind kept going back to the restaurant, lingering around the two people who walked in. Not wanting to be seen covered in crumbs and surrounded by empty plates (mostly Ino's), she had gotten out of the door before either of them had noticed her.
She didn't get a chance to meet the manager. Oh well, there's always next week. Besides, the pinkette had seen something that was much more interesting.
The black-haired spirit who had walked in. Sakura had sworn never to fall in love with a ghost, it was impossible romance.
But damn it, he sure was hot!
Sakura cursed to herself. If he had been alone, somewhere more private, she would have wasted no time to go talk to him. Talking to ghosts in public made her look crazy.
Did that person even know that there was a spirit following him? the pinkette wondered to herself. The only times when she had seen ghosts follow people around was either when the person had asked the ghost to accompany them, or the spirit was haunting the person.
Sakura shuddered to herself. Personal hauntings were scary and annoying. Her grandmother had followed her dad around for three months to ensure that he treated Sakura's mother right. Of course, the pinkette's parents were unaware of the ghost, leaving Sakura to wonder if she had gone crazy.
She had recovered from her shock as soon as her grandmother had realized that her grandchild could see her. The pinkette had received a big lecture on people called 'spiritwatchers', finding out that her granny had been one as well.
Not what she had meant by granny-grandchild-bonding-time. Sakura's grandmother had moved on as soon as she was pleased with her son-in-law's behavior towards his wife. The pinkette had never seen her again.
But this was different. Sure, loving your grandmother was one thing, falling in love with a long-dead spirit was another.
Sakura snapped back from her thoughts just in time to realize she was nearing the apartment complex once again. Sighing, she pulled up in front of her dorm, switching off the car.
The pinkette grabbed her handbag from the front seat, fishing out her keys to the front door. Unlocking the door, she sighed again. There was a high possibility that she would never see the spirit again.
Sakura didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
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"YOU BITCH, YOU DID THAT ON PURPOSE!"
"DID NOT!"
"THIS WAS MY FAVORITE SHIRT!"
"YOU WERE THE ONE HOLDING THE CUP!"
"YOU'RE GOING TO PAY FOR THIS, FOREHEAD!"
"MAKE ME YOU PIG!"
Sasuke frowned slightly at the loud yelling from the other end of the hallway. He already had to deal with one overly-loud person everyday, for the college to have more was just annoying.
However, Naruto seemed to perk up at the sound. "Teme, that's that cute girl I met yesterday! Come on!"
The spirit barely had time to react before the blond had taken off towards the source of noise. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he followed. As much as he hated to admit, he had no idea where the next class was supposed to take place. Following Naruto seemed reasonable. Besides, if the dobe got lost and was late for class, it wouldn't be his fault.
Walking through the hallway, the shouting got louder, accompanied by an occasional crash. The center of the ruckus turned out to be two girls fighting in the hallway. Apparently, the pink-haired girl had spilled coffee onto her friend's clothes and hair.
Quite a big crowd had gathered around the girls, watching and cheering for their favorite. The spirit spotted Naruto amongst it, supporting both the girls. Making his way next to him, Sasuke made sure not to pass through any people. He always hated doing that. The blond noticed him and grinned.
"Didn't think you'd come."
"You took off before I could ask what the hell is going on."
The smaller man grinned again. "Cat fight. That's going on." He turned back to the two girls currently trying to rip each other's clothes to shreds. Sasuke shuddered inwardly. These two sure didn't hold back in a fight, even against each-other. The crowd yelled excitedly as the pinkette opened her bag and pulled out a handful of objects. A few of the cheers were cut off as some of the crowd either ducked or stepped aside to avoid the textbooks hurtling towards their heads.
The spirit noted that the pink-haired girl was definitely more aggressive that her opponent. The pinkette's eyes held a fierce gleam, her face twisted into a scowl as she jeered at the blonde in front of her.
She might be worth trying to talk to.
"GIVE UP YET, INO-PIG?" Sasuke swore his ears curled inward to protect his hearing from the loud screech.
Or not.
"NEVER!"
Are women always this loud? The Uchiha winced as the girls continued yelling insults at each other. Naruto, on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying himself. Sasuke rolled his eyes and tugged on the blond's sleeve.
"Time to go dobe."
"No way bastard! Chick fight!"
"You're going to be late."
"The teacher can wait a few more minutes, I gotta watch th-" Naruto let out a loud squawk as Sasuke yanked him to the side by his shirt collar; just in time to avoid being hit by a trash can sailing through the air, accompanied by loud swears from the fighters. The ghost was pretty sure that the trash can had been attached to the ground earlier.
Letting out a low breath, he turned to the shorter man he was currently holding by his shirt. Thin eyebrows rose in amusement at the look on Naruto's face. The spiritwatcher looked he could collapse any moment, eyes wide and face unnaturally pale. Sasuke could feel the blond trembling like crazy. Who could blame him? It wasn't everyday that a trash can was thrown at you, intentionally or not. He tried waving a hand in front of the smaller man's face; getting slightly worried when he got absolutely no reaction.
Did he go into shock? The raven had spent enough time around people to know a shock-state when he saw one; his father had reacted the same when Itachi had come out of the closet.
Sighing, the spirit pulled the shorter male slightly backwards, leaning the blond against his chest. Surprisingly, he got no objections from the action. Naruto's trembling calmed down soon enough, his breathing reduced to it's normal pace. The only thing remaining the same was the blond's heartbeat, thumping hard enough for Sasuke to feel it in his own bones. Cocking an eyebrow, the Uchiha raised his hand and gently stroked the blond mop of hair in an effort to calm Naruto down. To his surprise, the spiritwatcher's heartbeat seemed to quicken even more at that.
"You okay dobe?" Sasuke asked, hand still caressing the surprisingly soft locks. The smaller man jumped up, only now seemingly realizing his whereabouts. Pulling away from the spirit, he nodded vigorously.
"Hell yeah! I was just..."
"Scared?" the ghost interjected. The look he got from the blond for the comment almost made him smile. Almost.
"Naruto Uzumaki doesn't get scared!"
"Hn. So you were just pretending to be a statue?"
Clearly pissed off, the smaller man turned towards him. "Fuck. You. I'm gonna rip off your h-" He fell silent as he felt a tap on his shoulder.
"Are you okay? You've been talking to yourself for a while now."
Naruto turned around and smiled to the half-amused-half-worried girl talking to him. "Yeah, I'm fine. I sometimes do that."
"Oh, okay."
The blond turned back to watch the fight, doing his best to ignore the smirking ghost beside him.
The pink-haired girl grinned to herself as she threw another textbook at her friend. She knew she was going to have to pick them up later, but right now they made excellent long-range weapons. Fighting against Ino in close-range was rather pointless; the blonde had a knack at guessing where her opponent would strike, blocking it perfectly before it hit her. Not that it really mattered right now, neither of them was fighting really seriously.
Sakura had her own reasons for fighting Ino right now. Sure, the two got along rather roughly at times, but right now, it was different. Right now, Ino could he called her...wingman, if girls could have those.
The two had discovered a long time ago that whenever they fought, a large crowd would gather to watch. Most of the crowd was usually male. After the fight, a few boys would always stay behind to help patch them up and/or just stay to chat. That's how Ino had met Sai in the first place.
Why men were attracted by a fight between girls, Sakura had no idea. All she knew was, that if it helped get her a boyfriend, she would fight with Ino.
Emerald eyes scanning the crowd, the pinkette looked at the 'selection' of boyfriend candidates there, deciding who would be more likely to stay after the fight.
No...no...he definitely won't...oh, he's cute...no...maybe...
Her opponent used her moment of distraction to launch a textbook of her own at Sakura, only to slip on a small puddle of coffee and miss her by a long shot. Inner Sakura laughing at the attempt, the pink-haired girl picked up the fallen book, getting ready to throw it back at the blonde, when her eyes fell onto the person behind Ino.
Shit.
Sakura's arm trembled at seeing the dark-haired spirit. Why the hell is he here?
Beside him stood the blond man from yesterday. The pinkette realized that he had been at IHOP earlier as well. He seemed oblivious to the ghost, though Sakura couldn't blame him for that. If she talked to every ghost she saw in public, she would have been carted off to a mental hospital a long time ago.
I can't stare or he'll realize I can see him. With difficulty, Sakura tore her eyes from the handsome spirit, turning back towards Ino. Her opponent had taken the pinkette's moment of confusion to start drying her hair with some paper towels Sai had conjured from somewhere. The raven was kneeling next to her, wiping up the small puddle of coffee steadily dripping from his girlfriend's hair.
The pinkette looked down at herself and swallowed hard. She was a mess. Her clothes were rumpled up and speckled with small blotches of coffee; her arms had occasional scratches and the pinkette was sure that some places were going to have bruises. Nothing too serious. Still, being seen in a state like this was embarrassing. Especially when the ghost let out a barely audible annoyed huff, Sakura felt as if she had disappointed him somehow.
Turning back to her opponent, the pinkette sighed and gave a small smile. "Truce?"
Ino narrowed her eyes before nodding carefully. "For now."
Huffing, they both picked up their handbags which had miraculously survived the fight. After shaking hands, they headed toward the restroom to change clothes. Violent fighting between the two was no odd thing, that's why they always kept at least an extra shirt with them.
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The pinkette glanced at the duo sitting in front of her. The spirit seemed to be bored, ignoring the blond's constant attempts to get him to talk.
So he knows about the ghost. But I won't tell him that I know.
Sakura's train of thought was cut off by a person shoving past her and plopped into the seat next to the blond. Recognizing the person as Sai, she groaned. The raven would annoy the blond, causing him to sit somewhere else, and since the ghost would most likely go with him, she wouldn't see him properly. Unless she traded spots with somebody, but that would seem suspicious. Leaning in to hear the conversation, she prayed to whatever god was listening, that Sai wouldn't be a total asshole.
"Come on teme, I know you're bored too, just talk to me! Come ooooooonnnnn! Don't ignore me! Te-" The blond's whining was cut off by somebody sitting into the seat next to him. Not bothering to turn around, he continued to stare at the ghost until suddenly
"Hey dickless!"
Hearing that, Naruto whirled around in his seat, coming face-to-face with the same male who had hit on him yesterday.
"Who you calling dickless!"
"You obviously. Nobody else here is as girly as you." Sai plastered the fake smile onto his face. (A few rows behind them, Sakura was resisting the urge to go and strangle Ino's boyfriend.)
"Are you an idiot? I. Am. MALE!"
The raven tilted his head. "Then you should look like one."
"I LOOK NOTHING LIKE A GIRL!" Everybody in the class turned their heads to look at the cause of commotion. Aware that everyone's eyes were on them, Sai chuckled.
"Not with those clothes you don't. Luckily, " he picked up the bag by his feet and started rummaging around it before continuing. "I can help with that."
Naruto's jaw dropped in shock as the raven in front of him pulled out a short purple dress and a pair of matching shoes. Sai's fake smile widened as he waved the dress in front of the blond.
"To match your pretty little face."
The teacher walked into the classroom just in time to witness Naruto trying to stab Sai in the chest with a handful of pens.
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Chewing her lip nervously, Sakura glanced over to the blond man and the ghost beside him. If she remembered correctly, the man's name was Naruto. She still hadn't found out the spirit's name. Going over the plan in her head, she twirled a strand of hair between her fingers.
Worst case scenario: Naruto yells at her.
Best case scenario: The raven falls for her.
She couldn't afford to screw up, not now. Taking a deep breath, she conjured up the cutest face she could, confident that no straight man could resist her. Slowly, the pinkette stepped forward, making her way towards the blond mop of hair. About ten feet away, the ghost seemed to notice her approaching. Rolling his eyes, he waved a hand in front of the shorter man, catching his attention.
"Dobe. People."
Sakura's breath hitched at hearing his voice. If hearing the ghost talk would mean staying around Naruto, the pinkette would happily endure it.
The blond turned around at the spirit's words, giving Sakura a confused look which quickly turned into a smile.
"Hey Sakura! Whatcha doing here?"
"Look, I'm really sorry about what I said yesterday." Sakura glanced down, shuffling her feet awkwardly. The blond blinked, clearly surprised.
"I didn't really mean that gay people shouldn't exist. I just...I..." the pinkette sighed and brushed her bangs out of her face. "I...kinda had a bad experience with some and let's just say...I'm a bit...untrusting around them."
Inner Sakura wasn't half as apologetic. What a load of crap. Me, have bad experience with gay people? Ugh no. But she kept her eyes glued on the ground, hopefully making a convincing shameful face. Thinking up a fake apology story had been a ridiculous idea, but it was the only way to get close to the blond. Now all that was left to do was hope that it was believable enough.
"I'm sorry, I had no idea."
YES!
" But not all gay people are bad, some are really cool! I could introduce you to some of my friends sometime." Naruto continued happily.
Ugh. Suppressing a shudder, Sakura looked up and forced a smile. "That would be...nice." she said hesitantly.
Oblivious to the lie, the blond beamed at her. "So, we cool now?" he asked, extending his hand. The pinkette grinned as well before shaking it.
"Sure."
I can't believe he bought it!
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*Yes, double-blueberry pancakes are a real thing at IHOP.
Well then, Sakura is gonna be a bitch...