Part Two
Sasuke was positively livid. Of all the stupid missions Kakashi had sent them on, this had to be one of the worst. And what more, it was to retrieve his idiot teammate. At 1:42 in the morning. Seriously, there had to be something wrong a man who invades his student's house that late at night, to tell him there was a mission to find a blond baka and that it had to be done now. And when he had asked why Sakura wasn't with him sharing this cruel and unusual torment, the jounin abashedly admitted that she had chased him out with a metal lamp, screaming about pervert teachers climbing through a girl's bedroom window. Never mess with a girl's beauty sleep, he had learned.
So here he was, trekking through the city Kakashi pointed him to, alone, because the said man had mentioned something about "getting his boo-boo treated" and disappeared off in the direction of a certain school teacher's house. And again, Sasuke had to wonder what he did to end up with that lecher for an instructor.
As he searched street after street for the club name that had been shouted at him at the last minute, his mind was drawn once again to the source of his problem. Naruto. That blond was always causing trouble for him, if not annoying him with his rambunctious talking, then by doing something stupid where he would have to save him. Such as now. What did that dobe think he was doing? Sneaking out of Konoha at night by himself, and what more, to go clubbing? What was wrong with him?!
Despite his angry thoughts, the Uchiha could not help but wonder if this disappearance had something to do with the boy's sudden change in personality two months ago. To others, it was not as noticeable, but for him, who had been studying the boy ever since that first sign of his increasing power, because one must know everything about one's rival, the shift was as obvious as the sun.
It became noticeable after the day Kakashi had actually showed up early to tell them there were no missions, and that one of them should tell Naruto, who had yet to show up, before poofing away in that annoying way he did. He remembered he had left without a word to get away before his pink-haired teammate had a chance to ask him for a date, and that he thought she would surely go inform Naruto, being the most responsible one of the group.
The next morning, Naruto was late, even more so than Kakashi. He had grinned sheepishly, saying he forgot to set his alarm clock, while trying to dodge Sakura's enraged fists. But Sasuke could see the bags under his eyes and knew the boy had not slept as much as he claimed, and there was something off about his smile, as if it didn't quite reach his eyes. But he had shoved it all away, snorting at his sudden concern for his rival. It must have just been a case of insomnia, and as long as the dobe performed as he always did, nothing would be wrong.
But something was wrong. For one, as much as he acted, for it really was just an act, Naruto was not as energetic in the mornings when they met at the bridge. And that was when he was on time. Not to say that the blond was getting as bad as Kakashi, but before, the two of them would usually get there at the same time, sometimes Naruto first. But after that day, the boy would be the last of the trio to arrive, usually far later than Sakura. And that voice, while still loud to most, was not the same excited loudness from before. Finally, and this one bothered him the most, he found that the number of times Naruto pestered him with challenges or the number of times he asked Sakura for a date had decreased, and while his female teammate may have put aside this change as a stroke of luck, it screamed at him that something was Very Very Wrong.
Even with these warning signs, Sasuke found himself ignoring them again. After all, it was not his job to take care of the dobe. He had more important things to worry about, like getting stronger. And every time he reminded himself of this, all thoughts of Naruto would disappear from his mind.
After all, rivals did not worry about each other.
But when the other's performance during missions began to falter, whether it was slipping from a tree branch or missing the target, Sasuke found himself becoming increasingly angry. And he did not know why, which enraged him even more. So earlier today, when Naruto had accidentally let Tiger go after three hours of chasing the cat for the 57th time it had run away, he had finally had enough and slammed the boy against the nearest tree, ignoring Sakura's half-hearted protest.
/ "What the hell is wrong with you?" His grip on Naruto's orange jacket tightened. He was sweaty, tired, and pissed off. And he wanted answers on the blond's strange behavior. Now.
The boy's reply was surprisingly quiet, and he doubted anyone other than him could hear.
"You look at me like everyone else does."
"What?" Before he could ask what he meant, the blond wrenched himself from his grasp and was off, gone, leaving him with more questions than before. /
Now, according to Kakashi, Naruto had run off several hours after their mission, which Sasuke and Sakura had completed themselves. When he had asked how he knew the exact place, the jounin had just smiled cryptically and said, "A teacher knows everything about his students." Sasuke didn't know whether to believe him or not.
The silent boy was pulled out of his reverie when he noticed the sudden increase in bodies before him, and he glanced at the name of the place with such a line of people waiting to get in. In blue neon lights, the words "Blue Skies" were written across the top of the building.
/ "It's called Blue Skies." /
So this was the place. For a club, it looked decent enough, and the number of people outside was further evidence. But while he felt relieved that the blond hadn't chosen some red-light district place, the club's popularity was a problem. From the size of the line, he would be waiting until dawn, and there was no way in hell he was standing five hours in line for the dobe. But neither was he going back empty handed, not after being rudely awaken from his comfortable bed at an ungodly hour and forced to trek through the forest and the city looking for him.
With that set in his mind, he marched past the line of people, ignoring protests from some that almost immediately turned into jeers, and Sasuke quickly decided that he did not like older women and men staring at his ass, so he hurried to the front door where a tan bouncer with a bandana stood guard. The two stared at each other, unspeaking, and Sasuke was all ready to fight him if he had to, but before he even lifted a hand, the man let out a low whistle and a friendly grin.
"Wow. I swore I'd never see someone that could match Blue in looks, but I may just have to retract that statement."
Struck rather speechless by that comment, and not knowing how to respond, Sasuke decided to ignore it and carry on with his mission. Settling into his normal, impassive expression, he addressed "Mika," according to the golden pin on his shirt.
"I'm looking for someone inside."
One dark eyebrow rose—he was obviously under-aged—but no question was asked. Instead, the man just placed a hand on the door and opened it for him, the loud music from within suddenly assaulting his ears, and he fought not to wince, though he must not have completely succeeded, because it looked like Mika was laughing at him.
"Alright, my boy, in ya go, though I wouldn't tell anyone your real age, if I was you. And watch yourself, eh? It's not often these people get to see two beauties in one night, and they might not keep their hands to themselves."
Sasuke did not like the wink he was given, but gave a slight nod in thanks for the advice, before steeling himself to step in. The door behind him shut not seconds later, and he was effulged in the dark room. The music pounded in his ears and he had to cover them lest he burst a vein, and once again, he cursed his teacher and teammate for putting him in this situation. But, the sooner he found Naruto, the sooner he could get out of here. That thought alone drove him to walk into the crowd.
He found that the bouncer hadn't been kidding when he said to watch his back, for not mere seconds of being amidst the mass of dancers, all surrounding eyes were on him, and before he could glare at them all, he felt the first hand touching his butt. Ninja reflexes kicking in before his mind could stop him, the perpetrator was already on the ground when he turned around, face red. Crap. He just blew his cover. Most of the normal people of the cities in the Fire Country did not know of the Hidden Leaf, or that there were people out there killing to keep them safe. It was probably rare for them to see any fighting outside of the slums.
But looking around, he saw no one screaming, no one staring at him in horror. They were staring, but with now restrained lust. And he knew no one would touch him again, even if they wanted him, but he could deal with that. Hell, it was probably better than what he had to deal with from the girls at home, who never seemed to know when to quit.
Even with their new wariness for him, he didn't want to risk how long their restraints would last by being in the crowd. After all, there was a chance someone did not see his reaction, and would try again; he could not stand another such embarrassment. And so, he quickly headed over to the bar at the side of the room, sliding into a stool at one end away from the other patrons that was placed at the side of the bar table, giving him both a view of the bar and the rest of the room without having to put his back to either.
"Hello, sir. My name is Hunter. Is there anything I can get you?"
Sasuke turned to see a blonde woman, wearing the typical uniform of a bar host, with the addition of what looked like a ribbon under her hair and tied at the top. She was smiling pleasantly at him while drying out a glass. He noticed that she was a pale blonde—Not like his— to where it was almost white.
"Just water, please."
Her smile widened, and something mischievous, as if she was laughing inside, glinted in her gray eyes.
"Oh good! If you'd answered anything alcoholic, I would have had to kick you out. I can't believe Mika let in another under-aged kid, but he's usually a good judge of character. So you don't say anything and I won't say anything, 'kay?"
With another smile, she placed a tall glass of water before him, and he couldn't help wonder when, during all her talking, had she moved to fill his order. But he couldn't be distracted from his mission. Though shifting through the crowds of people did not look particularly appealing to him, and he would've liked to avoid it at all costs. Perhaps this woman could tell him where that blond baka was, seeing as she seemed rather familiar with the place. But before he could ask, another patron had raised his hand, and she had made a quick apology before whisking herself away.
So after taking a sip of his drink, Sasuke turned his eyes back to towards the dance floor, scanning through the numerous people for a flash of gold, a sparkle of blue, or a hint of a voice he knew probably better than his own, after being subjected to hearing it, rather loudly he might add, day after day.
Almost immediately, his eyes were drawn to a certain area, sort of off-center in the room, that seemed different. The mass of people seemed to flow around it, creating a bubble around whoever was at the center. And so he sat himself a little straighter in his chair to look over the numerous heads, and finally glimpsed the person everyone was gathered around. A person with a familiar head of sun-golden hair…
His eyes widened.
Instead of the short clumsy boy he thought he'd see, before him, dancing in the most sensual way, was definitely a girl. A long-haired girl with a cherub face that lacked the pair of markings adorned on his teammate's face, and while any of those features could be products of illusion jutsus, the way she moved could not, and he was certain that Naruto could never moved in that way. He could not imagine it possible.
But something told him, despite how his mind insisted it was ludicrous, that this was it…that this was Naruto…
Open your eyes…let me see your eyes…
As if sensing him, her head turned in his direction, looked straight at him, and—
/ his eyes were of the purest blue, like the sky after the sun appears from a rainstorm and all the clouds are gone, and he thought, he'd never see another person with such blue eyes /
— he knew.
Thank you to all who reviewed. I never expected so many so quickly. Anyway, I hope this second installment was also satisfactory. Sasuke is very hard to write for, so I apologize if he seems OOC.
Again, please review if you would like to see more. Though the story is basically finished, I may change things based on your feedback. Thanks again.