AN: Alright, I'm back, but this time it's not Writer's Block. It's a little
something I call, 'Procrastination'. I'm sure you all understand what that
is. *sigh* I don't want to study...
Thank you for all the lovely reviews. I'm glad you enjoy this ficlet. ^^
Disclaimer: I own nothing of value; therefore, I do not own Naruto.
"...Chicken...gave me a bad coupon..."
-- Peter Griffin, Family Guy
"Get ye flask." "You can't get ye flask!" ... "Graphics, shmaphics...for sooth!"
-- Strong Bad, HomestarRunner.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kerosene:
Madness at the Ramen Place
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Naruto scratched his head and looked towards the older Uchiha for a clue. The latter shrugged and pointed to the right. The four people walked in that direction for several minutes, with Naruto at the head, and somehow eventually found their way back to where they had started: In front of Naruto's apartment.
"My brain is focused on sleep right now, so I probably subconsciously made my way back here. No worries, after a good wake-up call, I'll be ready to go." Naruto slapped himself on both cheeks lightly and blinked rapidly. Tired of waiting for Naruto to finish, Sasuke threw a bucket of water, conveniently lying there on the sidewalk, at the orange clad boy. "Damn, that's bloody cold, bastard! What are you doing?!"
"I want to get this over with as soon as possible, so hurry your ass up and lead us there! Aniki's apparently forgotten --"
"Temporarily misplaced!" Itachi interjected indignantly.
"-- Where the place is, and I'm too lazy to look up the address in the phone book!"
"That's not something to be bragging about, you know, Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru drawled. Sasuke cringed away from the hand snaking along his arm and slapped it away.
"Pedophile!" Sasuke pulled out a can of pepper spray and, well, sprayed it in Orochimaru's face. Inhuman screeches filled the air, drawing the attention of several pedestrians. They wisely averted their eyes and walked away quickly when they saw Orochimaru trying to scratch his eyeballs out. When the pale, snake-like man moved the hands from his face, his eyes were red and puffy, as if he'd been crying.
"You look like you just cried," Itachi stated the obvious. Orochimaru glared, but ended up looking like a hamster, what with the way his cheeks were starting to puff up, too. "Hey, I think you're having an allergic reaction to the spray." He turned to his brother. "Is that normal? Where did you get that stuff anyway, Sasuke? Why do you even need it?" Sasuke uttered two words, which seemed to satisfy his brother's curiosity.
"Rabid fangirls."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Itachi hummed a merry little melody to himself, which, unfortunately to those around him, was horribly out of tune. The once soaked Naruto was now completely dry, but sporting a mean sniffle. He sneezed occasionally, which broke the painful noise coming from the older Uchiha. A mumbled 'Bless you' came each time from Orochimaru, whose face was even more swollen and red than before. Sasuke had run out of pepper spray after several more attempts of what most people would call sexual harassment. Sasuke was a patient person, but even he had his limit.
"Do you know where you're even going?!" Sasuke shouted as he noticed that their group had passed the same garbage can for the nth time. "How could you forget where your favourite restaurant _is_?! The measure of your love for ramen is rivaled only by your extremely horrible sense of direction -- or lack of one thereof. Oh no, _wait_, your idiocy reigns supreme, doesn't it? I can tell. Who else would invite his arch-rival and two of the most wanted men from the Leaf?! Hmm, maybe Kiba, but that's beside the point --"
"Will you shut up and let me concentrate?! It's been a damn long day, so give me a freakin' break!" Naruto rubbed at his temples and muttered more unintelligible things. Itachi whacked his little brother upside the head and frowned.
"I really don't remember you being this whiny, Sasuke. How did you come to be like this? Where did I go _wrong_?" Itachi dramatically brought the back of his hand to his forehead. "Has my absence in your life driven you to become a spoiled brat?! Oh, woe is me!" Sasuke glared.
"Maybe I would've been spoiled if you hadn't _killed the entire clan_!"
"Nonsense! What are you talking about? There are," Itachi counted off his fingers, "You...Me...That's two still alive. See? Not the _entire_ clan." The prodigy crossed his arms and looked at his younger brother smugly. Sasuke's finger twitched towards his concealed kunai.
"...The sad thing is, I don't think he's joking." Orochimaru commented, earning him a cold look from Sasuke. Naruto, having completely ignored the current on goings, raised his head to the air and sniffed loudly.
"I _smell_ it! It's pork ramen! Come on!" Naruto motioned for the others to follow him and took off like a gasoline-soaked rag-dog on fire. They gave each other blank looks and ran after the boy.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Finally!" Naruto said, throwing himself at the counter and kissing it reverently. Some of the customers stared and started edging away. Ichiraku's owner rapped him over the head with a pair of chopsticks.
"Get your sorry ass off my counter, Uzumaki!" After one quick shove, Naruto was sprawled on the ground. He rubbed his head and sat up.
"Jeez, Carl, I thought we were on a first name basis by now! How could you treat your best customer like this?" Naruto scowled and stood up, brushing his pants clean.
"In your dreams, boy! After your disappearing act yesterday, not to mention last week's attempt to buy ramen with bits of string --!" The wide, middle-aged man named Carl began heatedly, but Naruto silenced him with a hand.
"Not today, nope! Today I can legally get my dru -- er, my ramen!!" Naruto said proudly, thumping his chest and sitting down on a stool. After hearing this, Carl's ears perked up.
"Oh, really?"
"Yup! Tonight's a special occasion!" Naruto flashed a 'V' sign. He leaned in towards the older man and grinned his fox-like grin.
"How so?" Carl asked, curious. The fact that Naruto didn't even _try_ to get free ramen from him was surprising enough. He was half expecting another false claim that today was Naruto's birthday, and that the blond deserved a bowl on the house. Suddenly, three more potential customers, concealed in the shadows, started to slow to a halt in front of his restaurant. Acting on years of experience running a ramen place where Naruto was a frequent visitor, he pushed the boy out of his seat and waved to the mysterious figures. "Welcome, welcome! Please come in! There's a special going on tonight: Buy one bowl, get another bowl of equal or lesser value half price!"
"Carl, what the hell --?!" Before Naruto could finish, from his awkward position on the ground, a sauce plate from no where smashed into his skull. He howled in pain. His agonizing screams, however, were shortly drowned out by delighted squealing from one Uchiha Itachi.
"Half price?! Are you serious?! Ohmigosh, ohmigosh! This is so fan_tas_tical!" Instantaneously, Itachi was in Naruto's former spot, rattling off his order to the attentive man behind the counter.
"...one deluxe bowl of today's special, hold the octopus, okay, got it." Carl muttered while scrawling on a pad of paper. "...beef ramen, large pork ramen...chicken, miso..." Beads of sweat formed on his forehead as he tried to keep up with his customer. "...three bowls of...! Itachi-san, please slow down!"
"How can you say that, Carl-san?! You should've realized the consequences when you told me about the special! I have my needs and -- Oh, Naruto! I didn't see you there!" Itachi said, surprised when Naruto's face appeared next to his. He was oblivious to the glare from the short teen. "Would you like to order as well?" Naruto shoved Itachi off his stool and sat back down. Bewildered, Itachi looked to Carl, who was positively fuming.
"How _dare_ you treat my most honoured patron like that! You ingrate! After all I've done for you!" Carl reached out to wring Naruto's neck, but the blond pulled back.
"No, how could _you_, Carl? After all we've been through? That one sneaky cockroach, that drunk who groped the waitress...how could you choose _him_ over _me_?!" Naruto said vehemently, pointing to Itachi, who just looked confused.
Carl looked indecisive for a moment, as if he was reliving the memories Naruto talked about, but he steeled himself and said in an icy tone, "Simple. It's about the money. It's always about the money. Let's face it, brat, you have none, and he has a lot."
Naruto turned away and let his bangs cover his eyes. "I knew I should've gone to the ramen place by the academy since the beginning." Carl gasped. "Their beef ramen has more beef anyway..." Naruto's voice cracked at the end and his lip quivered. Gentle arms pulled him into an embrace and he sobbed pitifully into Itachi's chest. The dark-haired man petted the top of Naruto's head.
"Shh, you shouldn't say things you'll regret later on. Just calm down and relax..." Itachi continued to whisper soothing words to the crying boy. Naruto hiccupped and cried even harder. "C'mon, let's eat some ramen. Trust me, it'll help in the healing process. My treat!" At those words, Naruto's tears miraculously dried and he looked up with bright eyes.
"Really?!"
"Really-really." Itachi said with a warm smile. Naruto flung his arms around the cape-clad man's neck and applause erupted from the small crowd that had started to form around the pair since Carl's initial outburst at Naruto. One old lady wiped a tear from her eye. The entire crying fit totally forgotten, Naruto energetically started ordering multiple bowls of ramen, specifying the order at which they were to be served. The crowd dispersed once they realized the drama was over and went back to their seats. Still by where they originally stopped, Sasuke looked at Orochimaru.
"What the _hell_ just happened there?" Sasuke whispered harshly to his older companion.
"No clue, but that has got to be the strangest thing I have ever seen." Orochimaru replied, half in awe at the recent transpirations, and half in mortification at the scene of two of the most powerful men stuffing their faces with noodles. Sasuke nodded.
"I'm glad we agree on something."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sasuke was sitting silently, three seats away from Naruto, occasionally wiping the splatter of soup that reached him even there. He slowly ate his own, single order of ramen. Orochimaru, with his hamster- cheek face, flirted. Apparently the pepper spray was still affecting his vision, because he did not notice that he was trying to sweet talk a plastic plant. The four of them managed to scare off all other customers, but, frankly, Carl didn't give a damn. As long as he was going to make a lot of money tonight, (and, boy, was he going to, since Itachi-san was going to be paying for both his and Naruto's food) he could put up with rude demands from the two ramen-fanatics and their slightly odder-than- average friends. Heck, those two could order him to serve their food in a dress and he would comply if that meant they'd stay and eat more. He could already sense enough money coming in to close the place for a week and relax at the hot springs...
The clatter of bowls knocked Carl from his daydream. Naruto was clutching at his stomach with soup dripping from the corner of his mouth, moaning pitifully. Itachi politely wiped his lips with a napkin and leaned back a bit in his stool. He turned to look at Naruto and frowned. "What's wrong? Full already?" Naruto glared and waved off Itachi's concern.
"In your dreams, Uchiha! I'm just getting started. Just watch and --!" Naruto clapped a hand to his mouth as his face turned a sickly pale colour. He bolted from his spot and ran to find a trash can, only disappointed to discover that the restaurant was really dirty and had none. He spotted a plant pot and shoved someone out of the way before emptying his stomach into the container. Naruto leaned his head on the edge of the pot and groaned.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Orochimaru screamed at the ill boy. "You saw me trying to seduce her! You have some nerve trying to look up her dress now!" On the other side of the room, Sasuke made a face.
"I did _not_ need that mental image. I just lost my appetite," the raven-haired teen said, pushing his bowl away. It was quickly placed back in front of him by his brother, who gave him a reprimanding look.
"Sasuke, don't waste perfectly good ramen. What if _you_ were starving on a deserted island one day with a pirate captain that saved your life?" Itachi scolded in a condescending tone.
"..." Sasuke just stared.
"Suit yourself." Itachi shrugged and took the bowl of ramen back to his seat. Naruto groggily came back and sat beside Itachi, resting his head on the counter. Orochimaru was apologizing to the plant about his friend's rude behaviour, and Sasuke sat and looked off into the distance. Itachi finished off his food with a satisfied slurp. "I haven't had such a good meal in ages!"
"Ugh, the day when ramen gives me indigestion...reminds me of the time I jumped Sasuke in the academy..." Naruto said, not really paying attention.
"..." Sasuke didn't comment.
"...Oh, it looks like my friends are just about done. Here, I'll give you my cell number. Call me." Orochimaru suavely tucked a piece of paper into the plant's leaves and winked. He spun on his heels and walked towards his 'friends'. "Ready to go yet?"
Itachi nodded and called for a check. Carl hastily provided the bill and rubbed his hands together greedily, getting weird looks from Naruto. The blond had never seen the owner so...giddy...before. It was eerie.
Itachi reached into his cloak and frowned. He felt around a bit, checking all his pockets, and his frown deepened.
"Itachi-san, is there a problem?" Carl asked, his nervousness growing by the second. The hesitant way Itachi was acting could really only mean one thing, though he hoped against hope he was wrong. His suspicions were confirmed, however, when Itachi's frown was replaced by a calm face.
"Sorry, Carl-san, but it seems like I've misplaced my wallet."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AN: Did you guys catch my reference to One Piece? Man, I love that series. Luffy is so great. ^^
You may be wondering what the hell I was smoking when I wrote the first scene at Ichiraku, so let me explain: I was making fun of soap operas. Didn't you see the cheesy and over-dramatized lines? "It's about the money. It's always about the money." *snickers*
I *heart* Itachi. I can't wait to hear his voice in the anime. ^^ I hope it's not really deep. *shudder*
Obviously, Carl is an OC. Personally, I am not too fond of OC's, but since I didn't know the name of the actual owner if Ichiraku, this had to do. Please bear with him. He will most likely be gone by the next chapter.
Anyway, I actually have a slight idea to where this is going. I'm thinking of making this mainly a gen-fic, with shounen-ai hints (because I have no clue as to how any of them will get together), but if enough people complain, I might change my mind. *winks* It's always about pleasing the readers.
What do you guys think of karaoke? *cackles insanely* No wait, scratch that thought. Whatever happens next will depend on my state of mind when I'm procrastinating for a different project. Thanks again for all your pretty reviews! I hope you leave some more for me to read!
If you find that something I wrote in the first chapter doesn't match with this one, please tell me. It's a problem of mine. I write that he's 16, and the next time I add more to the fic, I think he's 12...-___- Please note that I write bits of the chapter when I have free time (when I feel like it), so my train of thought may be a little off-track at times. ^^;
Thank you for all the lovely reviews. I'm glad you enjoy this ficlet. ^^
Disclaimer: I own nothing of value; therefore, I do not own Naruto.
"...Chicken...gave me a bad coupon..."
-- Peter Griffin, Family Guy
"Get ye flask." "You can't get ye flask!" ... "Graphics, shmaphics...for sooth!"
-- Strong Bad, HomestarRunner.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kerosene:
Madness at the Ramen Place
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Naruto scratched his head and looked towards the older Uchiha for a clue. The latter shrugged and pointed to the right. The four people walked in that direction for several minutes, with Naruto at the head, and somehow eventually found their way back to where they had started: In front of Naruto's apartment.
"My brain is focused on sleep right now, so I probably subconsciously made my way back here. No worries, after a good wake-up call, I'll be ready to go." Naruto slapped himself on both cheeks lightly and blinked rapidly. Tired of waiting for Naruto to finish, Sasuke threw a bucket of water, conveniently lying there on the sidewalk, at the orange clad boy. "Damn, that's bloody cold, bastard! What are you doing?!"
"I want to get this over with as soon as possible, so hurry your ass up and lead us there! Aniki's apparently forgotten --"
"Temporarily misplaced!" Itachi interjected indignantly.
"-- Where the place is, and I'm too lazy to look up the address in the phone book!"
"That's not something to be bragging about, you know, Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru drawled. Sasuke cringed away from the hand snaking along his arm and slapped it away.
"Pedophile!" Sasuke pulled out a can of pepper spray and, well, sprayed it in Orochimaru's face. Inhuman screeches filled the air, drawing the attention of several pedestrians. They wisely averted their eyes and walked away quickly when they saw Orochimaru trying to scratch his eyeballs out. When the pale, snake-like man moved the hands from his face, his eyes were red and puffy, as if he'd been crying.
"You look like you just cried," Itachi stated the obvious. Orochimaru glared, but ended up looking like a hamster, what with the way his cheeks were starting to puff up, too. "Hey, I think you're having an allergic reaction to the spray." He turned to his brother. "Is that normal? Where did you get that stuff anyway, Sasuke? Why do you even need it?" Sasuke uttered two words, which seemed to satisfy his brother's curiosity.
"Rabid fangirls."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Itachi hummed a merry little melody to himself, which, unfortunately to those around him, was horribly out of tune. The once soaked Naruto was now completely dry, but sporting a mean sniffle. He sneezed occasionally, which broke the painful noise coming from the older Uchiha. A mumbled 'Bless you' came each time from Orochimaru, whose face was even more swollen and red than before. Sasuke had run out of pepper spray after several more attempts of what most people would call sexual harassment. Sasuke was a patient person, but even he had his limit.
"Do you know where you're even going?!" Sasuke shouted as he noticed that their group had passed the same garbage can for the nth time. "How could you forget where your favourite restaurant _is_?! The measure of your love for ramen is rivaled only by your extremely horrible sense of direction -- or lack of one thereof. Oh no, _wait_, your idiocy reigns supreme, doesn't it? I can tell. Who else would invite his arch-rival and two of the most wanted men from the Leaf?! Hmm, maybe Kiba, but that's beside the point --"
"Will you shut up and let me concentrate?! It's been a damn long day, so give me a freakin' break!" Naruto rubbed at his temples and muttered more unintelligible things. Itachi whacked his little brother upside the head and frowned.
"I really don't remember you being this whiny, Sasuke. How did you come to be like this? Where did I go _wrong_?" Itachi dramatically brought the back of his hand to his forehead. "Has my absence in your life driven you to become a spoiled brat?! Oh, woe is me!" Sasuke glared.
"Maybe I would've been spoiled if you hadn't _killed the entire clan_!"
"Nonsense! What are you talking about? There are," Itachi counted off his fingers, "You...Me...That's two still alive. See? Not the _entire_ clan." The prodigy crossed his arms and looked at his younger brother smugly. Sasuke's finger twitched towards his concealed kunai.
"...The sad thing is, I don't think he's joking." Orochimaru commented, earning him a cold look from Sasuke. Naruto, having completely ignored the current on goings, raised his head to the air and sniffed loudly.
"I _smell_ it! It's pork ramen! Come on!" Naruto motioned for the others to follow him and took off like a gasoline-soaked rag-dog on fire. They gave each other blank looks and ran after the boy.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Finally!" Naruto said, throwing himself at the counter and kissing it reverently. Some of the customers stared and started edging away. Ichiraku's owner rapped him over the head with a pair of chopsticks.
"Get your sorry ass off my counter, Uzumaki!" After one quick shove, Naruto was sprawled on the ground. He rubbed his head and sat up.
"Jeez, Carl, I thought we were on a first name basis by now! How could you treat your best customer like this?" Naruto scowled and stood up, brushing his pants clean.
"In your dreams, boy! After your disappearing act yesterday, not to mention last week's attempt to buy ramen with bits of string --!" The wide, middle-aged man named Carl began heatedly, but Naruto silenced him with a hand.
"Not today, nope! Today I can legally get my dru -- er, my ramen!!" Naruto said proudly, thumping his chest and sitting down on a stool. After hearing this, Carl's ears perked up.
"Oh, really?"
"Yup! Tonight's a special occasion!" Naruto flashed a 'V' sign. He leaned in towards the older man and grinned his fox-like grin.
"How so?" Carl asked, curious. The fact that Naruto didn't even _try_ to get free ramen from him was surprising enough. He was half expecting another false claim that today was Naruto's birthday, and that the blond deserved a bowl on the house. Suddenly, three more potential customers, concealed in the shadows, started to slow to a halt in front of his restaurant. Acting on years of experience running a ramen place where Naruto was a frequent visitor, he pushed the boy out of his seat and waved to the mysterious figures. "Welcome, welcome! Please come in! There's a special going on tonight: Buy one bowl, get another bowl of equal or lesser value half price!"
"Carl, what the hell --?!" Before Naruto could finish, from his awkward position on the ground, a sauce plate from no where smashed into his skull. He howled in pain. His agonizing screams, however, were shortly drowned out by delighted squealing from one Uchiha Itachi.
"Half price?! Are you serious?! Ohmigosh, ohmigosh! This is so fan_tas_tical!" Instantaneously, Itachi was in Naruto's former spot, rattling off his order to the attentive man behind the counter.
"...one deluxe bowl of today's special, hold the octopus, okay, got it." Carl muttered while scrawling on a pad of paper. "...beef ramen, large pork ramen...chicken, miso..." Beads of sweat formed on his forehead as he tried to keep up with his customer. "...three bowls of...! Itachi-san, please slow down!"
"How can you say that, Carl-san?! You should've realized the consequences when you told me about the special! I have my needs and -- Oh, Naruto! I didn't see you there!" Itachi said, surprised when Naruto's face appeared next to his. He was oblivious to the glare from the short teen. "Would you like to order as well?" Naruto shoved Itachi off his stool and sat back down. Bewildered, Itachi looked to Carl, who was positively fuming.
"How _dare_ you treat my most honoured patron like that! You ingrate! After all I've done for you!" Carl reached out to wring Naruto's neck, but the blond pulled back.
"No, how could _you_, Carl? After all we've been through? That one sneaky cockroach, that drunk who groped the waitress...how could you choose _him_ over _me_?!" Naruto said vehemently, pointing to Itachi, who just looked confused.
Carl looked indecisive for a moment, as if he was reliving the memories Naruto talked about, but he steeled himself and said in an icy tone, "Simple. It's about the money. It's always about the money. Let's face it, brat, you have none, and he has a lot."
Naruto turned away and let his bangs cover his eyes. "I knew I should've gone to the ramen place by the academy since the beginning." Carl gasped. "Their beef ramen has more beef anyway..." Naruto's voice cracked at the end and his lip quivered. Gentle arms pulled him into an embrace and he sobbed pitifully into Itachi's chest. The dark-haired man petted the top of Naruto's head.
"Shh, you shouldn't say things you'll regret later on. Just calm down and relax..." Itachi continued to whisper soothing words to the crying boy. Naruto hiccupped and cried even harder. "C'mon, let's eat some ramen. Trust me, it'll help in the healing process. My treat!" At those words, Naruto's tears miraculously dried and he looked up with bright eyes.
"Really?!"
"Really-really." Itachi said with a warm smile. Naruto flung his arms around the cape-clad man's neck and applause erupted from the small crowd that had started to form around the pair since Carl's initial outburst at Naruto. One old lady wiped a tear from her eye. The entire crying fit totally forgotten, Naruto energetically started ordering multiple bowls of ramen, specifying the order at which they were to be served. The crowd dispersed once they realized the drama was over and went back to their seats. Still by where they originally stopped, Sasuke looked at Orochimaru.
"What the _hell_ just happened there?" Sasuke whispered harshly to his older companion.
"No clue, but that has got to be the strangest thing I have ever seen." Orochimaru replied, half in awe at the recent transpirations, and half in mortification at the scene of two of the most powerful men stuffing their faces with noodles. Sasuke nodded.
"I'm glad we agree on something."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sasuke was sitting silently, three seats away from Naruto, occasionally wiping the splatter of soup that reached him even there. He slowly ate his own, single order of ramen. Orochimaru, with his hamster- cheek face, flirted. Apparently the pepper spray was still affecting his vision, because he did not notice that he was trying to sweet talk a plastic plant. The four of them managed to scare off all other customers, but, frankly, Carl didn't give a damn. As long as he was going to make a lot of money tonight, (and, boy, was he going to, since Itachi-san was going to be paying for both his and Naruto's food) he could put up with rude demands from the two ramen-fanatics and their slightly odder-than- average friends. Heck, those two could order him to serve their food in a dress and he would comply if that meant they'd stay and eat more. He could already sense enough money coming in to close the place for a week and relax at the hot springs...
The clatter of bowls knocked Carl from his daydream. Naruto was clutching at his stomach with soup dripping from the corner of his mouth, moaning pitifully. Itachi politely wiped his lips with a napkin and leaned back a bit in his stool. He turned to look at Naruto and frowned. "What's wrong? Full already?" Naruto glared and waved off Itachi's concern.
"In your dreams, Uchiha! I'm just getting started. Just watch and --!" Naruto clapped a hand to his mouth as his face turned a sickly pale colour. He bolted from his spot and ran to find a trash can, only disappointed to discover that the restaurant was really dirty and had none. He spotted a plant pot and shoved someone out of the way before emptying his stomach into the container. Naruto leaned his head on the edge of the pot and groaned.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Orochimaru screamed at the ill boy. "You saw me trying to seduce her! You have some nerve trying to look up her dress now!" On the other side of the room, Sasuke made a face.
"I did _not_ need that mental image. I just lost my appetite," the raven-haired teen said, pushing his bowl away. It was quickly placed back in front of him by his brother, who gave him a reprimanding look.
"Sasuke, don't waste perfectly good ramen. What if _you_ were starving on a deserted island one day with a pirate captain that saved your life?" Itachi scolded in a condescending tone.
"..." Sasuke just stared.
"Suit yourself." Itachi shrugged and took the bowl of ramen back to his seat. Naruto groggily came back and sat beside Itachi, resting his head on the counter. Orochimaru was apologizing to the plant about his friend's rude behaviour, and Sasuke sat and looked off into the distance. Itachi finished off his food with a satisfied slurp. "I haven't had such a good meal in ages!"
"Ugh, the day when ramen gives me indigestion...reminds me of the time I jumped Sasuke in the academy..." Naruto said, not really paying attention.
"..." Sasuke didn't comment.
"...Oh, it looks like my friends are just about done. Here, I'll give you my cell number. Call me." Orochimaru suavely tucked a piece of paper into the plant's leaves and winked. He spun on his heels and walked towards his 'friends'. "Ready to go yet?"
Itachi nodded and called for a check. Carl hastily provided the bill and rubbed his hands together greedily, getting weird looks from Naruto. The blond had never seen the owner so...giddy...before. It was eerie.
Itachi reached into his cloak and frowned. He felt around a bit, checking all his pockets, and his frown deepened.
"Itachi-san, is there a problem?" Carl asked, his nervousness growing by the second. The hesitant way Itachi was acting could really only mean one thing, though he hoped against hope he was wrong. His suspicions were confirmed, however, when Itachi's frown was replaced by a calm face.
"Sorry, Carl-san, but it seems like I've misplaced my wallet."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AN: Did you guys catch my reference to One Piece? Man, I love that series. Luffy is so great. ^^
You may be wondering what the hell I was smoking when I wrote the first scene at Ichiraku, so let me explain: I was making fun of soap operas. Didn't you see the cheesy and over-dramatized lines? "It's about the money. It's always about the money." *snickers*
I *heart* Itachi. I can't wait to hear his voice in the anime. ^^ I hope it's not really deep. *shudder*
Obviously, Carl is an OC. Personally, I am not too fond of OC's, but since I didn't know the name of the actual owner if Ichiraku, this had to do. Please bear with him. He will most likely be gone by the next chapter.
Anyway, I actually have a slight idea to where this is going. I'm thinking of making this mainly a gen-fic, with shounen-ai hints (because I have no clue as to how any of them will get together), but if enough people complain, I might change my mind. *winks* It's always about pleasing the readers.
What do you guys think of karaoke? *cackles insanely* No wait, scratch that thought. Whatever happens next will depend on my state of mind when I'm procrastinating for a different project. Thanks again for all your pretty reviews! I hope you leave some more for me to read!
If you find that something I wrote in the first chapter doesn't match with this one, please tell me. It's a problem of mine. I write that he's 16, and the next time I add more to the fic, I think he's 12...-___- Please note that I write bits of the chapter when I have free time (when I feel like it), so my train of thought may be a little off-track at times. ^^;