Stalk. Me.
By: Chibi
Author's Notes: Again, thank you for the reviews. I'm so happy that people like this story so far. A lot of people think Sasuke is creepy, which was my intention. He is a stalker after all, right? Here's the next part, enjoy!
Warnings (for this chapter): Excessive use of bubblegum and Chemistry problems discussed (I cheated and went to my old professor's website where he had notes up).
Wild.
Cherry.
Gaara tried not to look bored. He tried to look interested in the world and all of its ongoings but all he could do was lean against the counter and stare at the ceiling, chewing on two squares of sour apple Bubbleyum. Once the gum was successfully made into a green apple goo he stuck his tongue into the mess and blew, a large sour haze escaping his lips.
"So, does this look good on me?" The woman asked. Gaara spared her a glance, his eyes moving over the leather encased curves that stretched over her body in the form of a cat suit. The bubble exploded and the air was momentarily filled with an overly sweet apple perfume.
"Yeah. Sure." Gaara muttered, chewing his gum again.
"Or would this be better?" She held up an outfit of similar fashion, only it was made completely out of fishnet, the back missing from it. Gaara looked at the outfit, then the woman, then back to the outfit. He shrugged and blew another bubble. "What shoes would I wear with it?" She asked. Gaara sucked his bubble back into his mouth and looked at the outfit again. For a brief moment he imagined Naruto in the long piece of fishnet and he smirked. It would wrap around the blond's body like a lover's arms and Gaara would kiss at Naruto naked back. His hands would move over the fishnet as if trying to press it against Naruto's body more. Gaara smirked more; now what kind of shoes would he make Naruto wear in such an outfit?
"Don't wear any." Gaara said to the woman. "It would look better without shoes." Then he stared up at the ceiling again and blew another bubble.
"Hey, yeah you're right!"
Gaara popped his bubble and licked his gum back into his mouth, his tongue and teeth playing over his bottom lip to peel off the extra film of gum that stuck there. He watched the woman step back into the dressing room to remove the leather cat suit in favor of fishnet. Gaara couldn't help but smirk. Someday, he would make fishnet take over the world.
"Yet another satisfied customer." Gaara glanced over to see his manager standing next to him, her arms crossed over the cotton pink halter-top that covered the fishnet shirt she was wearing. Temari. The only manager the store ever had that could go head to head with a personality like Gaara's. She was wearing a matching pink skirt that covered her ass when it felt like it and fishnet stockings that dipped into boots with a heel high enough to make her almost half a foot taller. Her hair probably could've looked like Naruto's had it not been in four wild ponytails. While she only wore one earring in each ear she proved to be made to work in the store with the emerald colored stud she had in her nose, the small silver hoop she had hocked into her bellybutton, and a tattoo of a large fan etched into her back which she said was her symbol for being as unpredictable as the wind.
Temari. Gaara smirked. He'd bet his life on the woman being related to him in a previous life.
"What can I say? It's what I'm here for." Gaara blew another bubble and frowned when Temari stuck one of her nails into it, purposely making it explode all over Gaara's face.
"And while you aren't being your spectacularly helpful self, do you mind at least looking busy?" Temari glanced at her watch. "The district manager is visiting today."
After removing the sticky mask of gum from his face Gaara began using the glob of Bubbleyum to pick off the little specs that were left on his face. "You mean you're actually going to keep me in the store while he's here? All the previous managers always found some way to get me as far away from his as possible."
"Yeah well, I trust you." She smirked. "And I know that Naruto is in class right now anyway."
"Ha ha." Gaara paused for a moment. "But you're right, he is in class. I do have to pick him up later so he can go to work."
"Of course." Temari looked up when the woman Gaara had been helping stepped out of the dressing room, back in her normal clothes and holding the fishnet outfit she was getting ready to purchase. Temari raised an eyebrow and couldn't help the grin that appeared on the face. Business suit. Woman who comes to stores like this during her lunch breaks and away from nosey colleagues and friends. Wears these outfits in the midnight hours only, behind the closed doors of her bedroom with her lover. "I can help you with that, ma'am." Temari walked over to the register to help the woman while Gaara sighed, leaning back against the counter.
He was bored again.
"Hey, Sakura-chan!" Naruto made his way down the steps of the lecture hall, squeezing in between two other students who were chatting about some party in some part of campus that was apparently the biggest and the best party the campus had ever seen. Sakura looked up from her Chemistry book and smiled, waving to Naruto when he sat down next to her.
"And who is this? Why, it's Uzumaki Naruto! He has finally returned to class after a week of being abducted by aliens!"
"Sakura-chan, now you know I have good reasons for why I can't make it to class."
"Of course you do." Sakura stared up at the ceiling and pushed a couple of stray strands of strawberry pink hair out of her eyes before she spoke again. "Let's see, last week it was Gaara's fault that one day, helping the new neighbor unpack the rest of his things the day after, a stomach ache from too much ramen the day after that, and Gaara again on Thursday. There's no class Friday so you didn't have to show up."
"All that stuff did happen, honest!" Naruto clasped his hands together, giving Sakura a tiny pout. "I would've come, really!"
"Uh huh." Sakura smiled. "Though I can't say I blame you, the entire week has been nothing but him going on and on about balancing equations."
"Word for word from the notes online?"
"Bingo." Sakura sighed. "I wouldn't come but then that would mean staying in my room with my oh so lovely roommate." She rolled her eyes and reached down for her bookbag, looking inside for the homework that was due. Naruto did the same. The only reason he would ever come to this lecture was to turn in homework.
"Still having problems with Ino I see."
"All she does is argue with me! Stupid Ino-pig!"
"Ah, the first signs of true love. Bickering." Naruto held up his bookbag to protect himself from the punch Sakura threw at him. "Hey, it's true! Gaara and I argued all the time!"
"You two still argue all the time." Sakura muttered.
"Yeah…" Naruto smiled, his eyes looking up at the ceiling in a far off haze. "… we also make up all the time too."
"I feel sorry for your new neighbor." Sakura began to look over her homework, having to be absolutely sure that each problem was done perfectly and with legible handwriting so the professor could read it. Naruto glanced over at her then quickly began to look over his own homework, a soft frown on his face. Formula for barium hydroxide? Ba… Ba(OH)… right? "Don't forget the two at the end of that formula." Sakura muttered.
Ah, of course! Naruto smiled brightly and corrected the problem. "Thanks, Sakura-chan."
"You know, from the looks of things…" she looked over his paper, tilting her head to the side. "… it looks like you're getting the hang of this stuff."
"Really?"
"Yeah." She leaned over and wrote in another number on a formula. "Besides remembering when some of the formulas have numbers at the end, I'd say you're doing pretty good."
"All right!" Naruto gave a nervous smile when some of the students turned to look at him. "What? I'm understanding chemistry, I'm allowed to be happy!" He turned and looked over at Sakura's paper then smiled, taking his pencil and erasing something off of her paper. "Sulfuric acid."
"Huh?" Sakura blinked as he wrote in the write answer. "Oh… yeah." She smiled and shook her head. "Keep this up and you're going to become a chemistry major."
"Ha! Never! Chemistry and I have an understanding. I do good enough to pass and it will leave me alone for the rest of my days."
Sakura laughed. She may had only known Naruto for a year but even so she knew that was a total Naruto response. He started to laugh too, her laughter brushing against his throat and coaxing the laughter out of him. Uzumaki Naruto. She smiled. A year ago he had been that boy who sat down next to her in class, wearing a smile that was eager to soak up any knowledge the professor would pass on. At the same time he was that boy who, if you couldn't keep his attention, he'd tune you out like a bad record and have a new song to listen to in his head. Maybe an assignment from another class, maybe an idea on what he would have for lunch, or maybe his boyfriend and seeing him once classes were over and he went to work at the mall.
What was it that brought Naruto into her life? Ah yes, the first day icebreaker. They had had a class together freshman year and they were sitting together, both with notebooks open and pens in hand. It was the first day of college, everyone was anxious to know just how the college game was played out. The teacher had surprised them all with the first assignment: turn to the person next to you and learn about them so you can share it with the class.
And she had turned and saw him, him who was staring at her with the cutest look of what the hell did he just say? Sakura tried to finish the assignment, but the minute Naruto opened his mouth and said, "This is so preschool," she just started laughing, which made him start laughing, and made the professor smile at the both of them thinking that his ingenious first day introductions idea had actually worked. Naruto and Sakura had spent the entire time talking to each other, is this really college? These lame introductions? And, we haven't done that since middle school, he might as well give us nametags. They had both been smart enough to get: name, year in school, major, and where are you from information before the professor had called an end to the exercise.
Ever since then they had been friends. The email and phone number exchange had actually been put to use instead of being forgotten at the bottom of a bookbag.
"Well, you better tell Chemistry that." Sakura said in between giggles. "It looks like it might actually like you since it's letting you understand it."
"Nope!" Naruto crossed his arms at his chest and turned his head away from his homework, squeezing his eyes shut.
Sakura laughed harder. "Na-Naruto! Stop that!" That was the problem with Naruto. Once he made you laugh he didn't make you stop laughing! It was around this time that Sakura began to notice that they were being stared at. It wasn't the first time, really. Her and Naruto always had something to laugh about and it tended to make people stare, as if they weren't allowed to find anything funny. However, this time it wasn't a group of people staring, it was just one.
A young man who looked to be around their age, maybe a year older but no more than that. He was standing over by the entrance into the lecture hall, watching the two of them. Or was he just watching Naruto? Sakura couldn't tell which it was but for some reason him staring gave her some kind of bad feeling. It was only for second, but something in those dark eyes chilled her spin. Why are you laughing with him? That stare seemed to say, no, demand from her. You aren't supposed to be laughing with him, you aren't good enough to share his laugh. And normally if someone stared like that for too long she'd be the first to call them out, ask if they needed something or if they had a problem. She certainly hadn't been that bold freshman year, but something about getting through that first year of college gave her a bit more courage.
At least... she thought it had.
"Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked. "What's the matter?" Why had she stopped laughing all of the sudden?
"That boy..."
"Hm?" When Naruto turned to see who that boy was he felt his eyes widen from the surprised feeling that suddenly trickled down the back of his neck. "Sasuke?"
"Gaara?"
Gaara leaned back against the counter, staring at the ceiling with an almost depressed look on his face. It was gone, completely gone.
"Gaara."
Why couldn't it last any longer? Why did the good things always have to end so quickly?
"Gaara!"
"What!" Gaara turned to look at Temari, frowning at her. "What do you want?"
"Are you that upset that I made you spit out your gum?"
"Yes. Yes I am." Gaara glanced down at the little green garbage can behind the counter. Green. His gum had been green. Still full of flavor that he could still taste on his tongue, still ready to blow up into several sour green bubbles that echoed around the store with it's fragrance and loud crack. Gaara sighed. Now he'd have to waste another piece when his shift was over. And wasting a piece meant that he'd have to buy another pack when he ran out, which meant wasting the precious change that had settled at the bottom of his pants pocket. I mean, what if he needed that change? What if he bought a new shirt or something that was fifteen dollars and fifty cents? Where would the fifty cents come from since it would be donated to the cause of getting him more gum? He sighed and stared up at the ceiling again. "You had no reason to make me spit out that gum. It didn't do anything to you."
"Gaara. You are not chewing gum while our district manager is here."
"That's unfair." Gaara glanced over at Temari. "What if he walks in here chewing gum too? What if he believes in a world where everyone chews gum? Then I'd feel left out. We wouldn't have anything to connect to."
"Gaara! He won't walk in here chewing gum. He is a professional businessman."
"That's a little judgmental, don't you think? Who are you to assume that businessmen don't like chewing gum?"
"That's good, Gaara. Real good." She suddenly smirked at him. "I think that type of logical thinking is perfect for putting out some... things... onto the sales floor."
Gaara winced. "Temari..."
"No, really!" She kept smirking. "When someone comes up to you asking if you know how to use the products they can say well, how do you not know how to use them, you work here it's only logical. And with the way you think you'd come up with the perfect response and save yourself from the flirtatious hell that is overly horny customers."
"But... overly horny customers are an entirely different breed..."
"I know." Temari crossed her arms at her chest, damn, she was still smirking. "So you better get to work, maybe you'll finish before they come in here." Gaara sighed and headed to the back but stopped when he heard Temari speaking to him again. "Just so you know, we got a brand new shipment of handcuffs that need to be put out onto the sales floor."
"Bitch..." Gaara muttered.
"What was that? Did you want to put out the sex dice too? And the massage oils, edible underwear, dild-"
"No!" Gaara turned and forced out a smile. "I was just saying how happy I am to be a part of this wonderful organization you run." Then he turned and walked away to grab some boxes. Once Temari was out of earshot he sighed. "Bitch." He muttered again. "This wouldn't have happened if she would've just let me have my gum."
"So, he's your new neighbor?" Sakura asked. Her and Naruto stood together outside of the lecture hall, waiting for Sasuke to come back. He had been nice enough to turn in their homework papers for them since he had to talk to the professor about getting the class added.
Naruto glanced back at the door for a moment before he looked back at Sakura, nodding his head. "He moved in about a week ago. I didn't know he was going to be going to school here."
"Because if you would've known you would've told me so I'd be ready to see a nice looking guy like that, right?"
"Huh? Oh Sakura-chan, how could you cheat on Ino!" Naruto quickly ducked away from Sakura who tried to punch him for that comment. He smiled brightly, laughing a bit. "It was a joke!"
"It better had been." Sakura muttered, crossing her arms at her chest. "Anyway, what's the story on this guy?"
"Oh, you know... I really don't know."
"What! You helped the guy move in and you didn't talk with him at all?"
"Yeah I did! But... it seemed like I was mostly talking about myself..."
Sakura blinked a bit at that, looking confused. "You're not really the type to go on and on about yourself..."
"I know, but he kept asking..."
"Really?" Sakura frowned a bit. She had remembered that look Sasuke had been giving her when she saw him in the classroom. She remembered how he had approached them. Sasuke. Naruto had said. This is my friend, Sakura, but I call her Sakura-chan. And he had looked at her in the way a boyfriend looks at one of his lover's friends. It was that oh great, I have to deal with this person so I don't end up sleeping on the couch, so I'll just smile and nod lookShe wasn't expecting him to instantly like her but those eyes of his and the way they totally dismissed her... that was a bit much. He didn't have to like her, but something about the way he looked at her... he didn't even know her and here he was looking at her like she was worse than the mud you accidentally stepped in on a rainy day.
But he didn't look at Naruto like that. Those harsh eyes almost seemed to... was adore the right word?
"Sakura?" Naruto waved a hand in front of her face. "Hey, stop fantasizing about Sasuke."
"Who's fantasizing about me?" Naruto and Sakura turned to see Sasuke standing behind them, an amused look on his face. "Gaara would be pretty upset if he knew that, Naruto."
"Wh-what! Oh no, it wasn't me! It was Sakura-chan! She was doing the fantasizing!"
Sasuke glanced over at Sakura and for a moment she could see disappointment in his eyes. He wasn't joking about what he just said, was he? He wanted Naruto to be... Sakura mentally slapped herself across the face. That was silly, absolutely ridiculous... right? "Oh." Sasuke muttered, breaking her out of her thoughts. "So it was you?"
"No!" Sakura playfully tugged at Naruto's ear. "He was joking! I wasn't doing that!"
"Yes you were!" Naruto giggled. "Yes you were yes you were!"
"Was not!" She shouted back.
"Was too! It had to be you, I have no reason to think of anyone else in such a way except for Gaara."
She knew she wasn't seeing things. That was definitely a glare on Sasuke's face. What was with this guy? "Anyway…" Sakura glanced down at her watch. "… I should get going. I'm done for the day so I, unfortunately, get to go home and take a nap."
"You suck." Naruto muttered. "You know, some of us have jobs to get to."
"Job? Oh! You mean the, 'Calling my hot boyfriend to come and pick me up so we can mess around in the car, then going to work and having him come visit me so we can mess around in the backroom, then meeting him for my break so we can mess around in the food court hallway?'"
Naruto was quiet for a moment, thinking. Then he smiled brightly and nodded his head. "Pretty much."
"You're hopeless." Sakura muttered.
"And you're jealous." Naruto said sweetly as he pulled out his cell phone to call Gaara.
"… I hate you." Sakura said just as sweetly before she turned and walked away, waving to both Naruto and Sasuke before she disappeared amongst the crowd of students moving around the campus.
Naruto just smiled and waved back to her before he turned his attention back to his cell phone. Before he could call Sasuke grabbed his hand, stopping him. "What?"
"Is it really o.k. for you to pull him away from work like this?"
"Oh, he doesn't mind." Naruto smiled. "Sakura-chan was right in what she was talking about. He's probably staring at his cell phone going ring, damn you ring!" The thought made Naruto laugh quietly to himself. An image of an extremely bored Gaara appeared in his head, smacking on his bubblegum and having a staring contest with his cell phone. "Besides, he just tells Temari," Naruto cleared his throat, making his voice a bit lower and more bored to the world, "consider this my lunch break. Bye."
"So… when does he eat?"
"Eat?" Naruto scratched the back of his head as if eating were a new concept for his boyfriend. "Gaara calls the food at the mall crap. Then Temari's cooking is worse then the food at the mall. So instead, he comes to get me and we make use of the large back seat in his car."
"Oh." Sasuke managed to swallow away the large frown that was forming. "It just seems like a waste of his time."
"Sex is never a waste…"
"That's not what I meant." Sasuke sighed a bit. "I just meant that, well, I'm going to the mall right now so I could drop you off."
"Oh. Well that makes sense." Naruto smiled. "Let me call and tell him."
"Ring." Gaara muttered, staring down at his cell phone. "Ring, damn you, ring."
"You can't leave today." Temari said. "Remember? District manager?"
Gaara ignored her. "Ring." He muttered, staring down at his cell phone. "Ring, damn you, ring."
"Gaara." Temari reached over and grabbed his cell phone, frowning sadly. "I regret to inform you that your cell phone has yet to ring. I'm sorry for the shocking news."
Gaara rolled his eyes. "You're skills in sarcasm amaze me."
"Thank you. So, you did hear what I said right? That you can't leave to pick him up today?"
Gaara proceeded to look at his phone, took a deep breath, and then spoke again. "Ring. Ring, damn you-"
"All right! Stop that already!"
"I can't stop."
"Why?"
"Because, with my, 'omg teh awesome111,' powers I will make the phone ring."
Temari rolled her eyes and groaned. "Don't you ever talk that way again. You know I hate that."
"I know." Gaara said with an overly sweet smile.
"You know," She said, looking like she was in deep thought, "I knew a girl who chatted with me like that all the time."
"Really? I thought it was that guy you knew. The one with the tongue ring."
"Nope. It was a girl and she had a nipple ring." At this Temari smirked. "That ring was quite interest-"
"RING!" Gaara shouted, glaring at the phone. "For heaven's sake, ring!" If there was anything worse than Temari's cooking it was her… stories. Not because of what happened, but because of how detailed she got. And… who cared about anyone else's stories if Naruto wasn't in them?
"Maybe Naruto is busy with… another man."
"That can't be possible." Gaara suddenly grinned, a sadistic little grin that made Temari take a small step back. "Naruto is surrounded by my I belong to Gaara and if you touch me you're going to be engulfed in burning hot sand like a coffin and crushed waves."
"What's with your fascination with sand?"
Gaara shrugged, about to answer but the phone had finally decided to ring. Gaara reached for it but Temari ducked away, answering. "Hey baby." She purred out. "What are you wearing?"
"Temari…" Gaara said in a low, warning tone of voice. On the other end Naruto laughed as he began to slowly describe the outfit he was wearing.
"Oh really? That sounds hot." Temari licked her lips. "Are you thinking about me right now?"
"Te… ma… ri…" Gaara gritted his teeth, his eyes narrowed. "Give me the phone."
"I'm sorry, Naruto. Gaara can't come to the phone right now. He's preparing for our visit from the district manager." Temari smirked and Gaara sighed in defeat. He could already hear Naruto's response in his head. District manager? That sounds important. "Yes." Temari said. "It is important. So he needs to be here for the visit." Oh, of course he does. I understand. "Thank you for understanding, Naruto."
"All right, so I'm stuck here. Can you at least ask him how he's getting to work?"
"Oh. Yeah, I guess that is importa--what? Oh." Temari looked over at Gaara. "Some guy named Sasuke."
"Sasuke?" Gaara blinked. "The neighbor?"
"Apparently."
"He goes to school there?"
"Naruto says, 'He's in my Chemistry class, he just transferred here.'"
"Oh." Gaara rested his elbows on the counter, propping his chin with his hands. That was pretty convenient. The neighbor just so happened to suddenly go to the same school and was in the same class? Gaara sighed to himself. Temari would call him jealous for thinking that way. Damn her. So what if he was jealous. Gaara let his eyes wander around the store while Temari continued to talk to Naruto. He was bored again and the last thing he needed was jealous thoughts to cure him of his boredom.
He blinked when he let his eyes move over to the entrance of the store. Then he smirked and straightened himself out. "Hello, sir. Welcome to our store." Then he looked over at Temari. "This is our manager."
Temari blinked and slowly turned around, her eyes widening when she saw the most out of place looking man enter the store. Business suit. Notebook. Glasses.
District manager.
"Yes, yes we are hiring right now." Temari stammered into the phone. "Just come into the store and fill out an application. Thank you." She clicked the phone off and set it down on the counter. "Good afternoon! You must be the district manager."
"Your store phone is a cell phone?" He asked, a disapproving look on his face.
"Um… o-our…"
"… store phone isn't working. We need to talk to the phone company." Gaara let the lie slip easily from his lips. "So? Want to take a look around?" The man nodded, walking past the two to look around the store. Gaara smiled sweetly at Temari who gave him a murderous look. "You're welcome, by the way." Gaara said. "For me saving your ass."
Open the car door. It was a simple gesture really but for some reason it always made people smile and say their thanks when someone opened the door for them.
Sasuke opened the car door for Naruto. He was given a smile and a thank you in return for his kindness.
Before starting the car tell your passenger to fasten his seatbelt. Three little words that could be taken two ways: you care for the person's safety or you don't want to get a ticket.
"Fasten your seatbelt." Make your voice a bit warmer, more welcoming than usual. Naruto smiled and nodded his head, slipping his seatbelt on.
"Didn't know you cared so much." Success. The response Sasuke had been looking for.
Start the car. Warn your passenger of your driving skills. "I tend to move pretty fast." Be thankful that your passenger doesn't read more into that statement.
"That's o.k." Naruto leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes. "I've been well trained in how to handle fast drivers. Gaara drives like he was a race car driver in a previous life."
"Oh." Disappointment. Did he have to put Gaara into every sentence? Gaara Gaara Gaara. Was it the only word he spoke? Grip onto the steering wheel. Be thankful that your passenger has his eyes closed or he'd notice your death grip on the wheel and your aggressive turn of the keys to start the car.
Drive. Drive fast. "O.K." Naruto muttered as he opened his eyes and looked over at Sasuke. "Maybe you drive a bit faster than Gaara, jeez!"
Sasuke smirked. Damn right he did. He was not Gaara.
Not. Gaara.
The dangers of having a mall in between a college campus and a big city. The parking lot was nothing but a big tease. There was nowhere to park, ever. If you wanted to park in a reasonable spot you had to stalk a person to their car and just sit and wait, wait until they put their bags in the trunk, wait until they balanced the cup of lemonade and cinnamon sugar pretzel, wait until they maneuvered each bouncy kid into the backseat and strapped them in with seatbelts the kids didn't want to wear. Then you had to wait for the person to get in the car, stop kid one from making faces at kid two while kid two tried to eat ice cream. Had to wait for the person to stop kid one from pouting because kid two still had ice cream and kid one had wolfed it down in the toy store. Then had to wait for the person to start the car and slowly pull out, turning on the radio to some kiddy station that made both kids scream and sing along.
There was no hope of finding a seat in the food court if you wanted to eat. You always had to walk around the people who insisted on strolling along and blocking everyone's way. You had to feel sorry for the people who worked there, dealing with questions they weren't trained to answer. How should I know if that shirt would look good on your husband when he isn't even here to try it on? I have no idea if that race car game is better then the previous one, read the back of the box.
Fortunately for Gaara and Naruto, they had the best jobs to have in the mall. Naruto loved the bookstore because the people who came in already knew what book they wanted. Or they would grab a book and sit there, reading the first few pages to see if they were interested at all. And Gaara…
"Does this collar look good around my neck?"
Gaara glanced over at the girl standing behind him, a rather large black collar wrapped around her neck. Gaara sighed a bit. "It looks like you're choking."
"Gaara!" Temari hissed out at him. "Don't you think you should be a little nicer to the customer?" Then she whispered into his ear. "Especially when our district manager is standing right behind us?"
Gaara shrugged. "I'm only telling the truth." He looked back at the girl. "You look like you're choking to death."
"Honesty." The district manager said from behind them. "I like that."
Gaara smirked and Temari glared at him. Meanwhile the girl unlatched the collar, rubbing her neck in a bit of pain. He had been right. It had definitely been too tight.
"Well, this has been a rather interesting store visit." The man said, nodding to Temari and Gaara.
"Interesting good? Or interesting bad?"
"Good." The man smiled at Temari who sighed in relief. "However, there is one thing I would do differently."
"Oh? Name it, sir, and I will get right to work on it."
"I would make this young man assistant manager." He said, nodding to Gaara.
The devil shivered, for hell had just frozen over.
"You… would what?" It amazed Temari that she was still able to speak. It amazed Gaara that pigs could really fly.
"He's perfect for this store, is he not? I think he could be more than just a sales clerk. He practically helps you run the place, right?"
"Well… I mean…" He pretty much did, didn't he? Despite the fuck off attitude and obvious boredom with anything non-Naruto related… well… that was the perfect attitude for the store, right? "I… I suppose you're right, sir."
The devil sneezed. Hell had just gotten even colder. Arctic blast. Soon polar bears and penguins would enter the scene doing ballet. Had Temari just agreed to this? Had she really just said that he, Gaara, was good enough to be assistant manager? That was it. Screw ballet, those penguins were break-dancing.
"Well then, I suppose I should say congratulations."
"Huh?" Gaara blinked, looking up at the man. Congratulations on what? Oh right… they were still insisting that he was about to be promoted. "Oh, yeah, whatever."
Temari rolled her eyes and walked with the district manager to the door. As they walked over Naruto made his way into the store with Sasuke, the two of them finally making it to the store through the mall crowd. Was the mall really that much of a fascinating place? How was it possible to just wander around a mall and not actually do anything there?
The store Gaara worked at was that store every mall had, the one furthest away from all the stores with welcoming bright lights and displays of women in nonexistent sizes. How could zero be a size? No, this was the store with dimmed lights, with music you wouldn't hear in an elevator or from teenage heartthrob number two hundred and sixty seven. The store that only the bravest wandered into or kids who were trying to rebel but couldn't make it past the knee-high boots with so many shoelaces that their fingers got tangled in them.
"He's in the back, staring off into space because he just got promoted." Temari said, walking out with the district manager.
"Oh o.k." Then Naruto blinked, the sentence registering fully in his head. "Wait… what!" Temari chuckled softly while she left, watching Naruto rush to the back of the store to talk to Gaara. She nodded to Sasuke who nodded back to her in greeting, hands shoved in his pockets as he looked around the store. Hn. So was this the type of guy Naruto went for? It wasn't really his style, the whole fishnet dark make up around the eyes that Gaara had going. Sasuke stepped into the store more, taking a moment to glance up at the man who walked out with Temari. The man looked back at him, the two of them looking at each other for a moment.
Quickly. Barely even noticeable.
Sasuke brushed his fingers against a pair of dark jeans, belts wrapped around the back part to surround a person's ass. He rose an eyebrow at the pants then took them down from the rack, looking them over.
"Those are cool." Naruto said from behind him, Gaara standing by his side, still muttering about polar bears doing the limbo while the devil salsa danced and sipped martinis with a penguin. "Are you gonna buy them?"
"I'm not sure. I usually don't wear stuff like this."
"Well, you should." Temari stepped back into the store, her eyes looking over the pants then over the lower half of Sasuke's body, painting herself a perfect image of him in those pants. "They would be hot on you."
"You think so?" But he wasn't asking her. He was looking right at Naruto when he said it.
"Yeah." Naruto smiled. "They're perfect for you." Naruto was one of those shoppers who could compliment you without it meaning anything… and meaning everything… depending on the person's interpretation.
"But this type of stuff is what he wears." Sasuke said, looking over at Gaara.
"Well… not really. Gaara is the oh so complicated fishnet goth boy. That's different." Naruto said with a knowing look.
Different. Different look. Not Gaara. Different look that Naruto liked.
Sounded like a plan.
"In other news." Temari sighed, looking over at Gaara. "It looks like I need a new bubblegum chewing bored with the world sales clerk."
"Oh, so he won't be doing that at all anymore?" Naruto asked.
"Well, he can. But not as much. He'll be around me more doing the whole manager thing."
"Around you more?" Gaara seemed to snap out of whatever icicle hell vision he had been having.
"That's right." Temari smirked. "And you can start by putting up the "Help Wanted" sign in the window." Naruto chuckled softly then promptly stopped when he saw the look on Gaara's face.
"I'm sorry, love. It was funny."
"No it wasn't." Gaara muttered.
"Yes it was." Naruto smiled. "You looked like you saw a ghost."
"More like a zombie. With one of its eyes slipping out of its socket, leg bent backwards and dragging across the ground. Flesh rotted, a large chunk of its arm missing as it comes closer to you, arms stretched out in hunger and a need to bit--"
"Gaara!" Temari screamed. "Stop that! Gods Naruto, how can you stand this guy?"
"I ask myself that everyday." Naruto muttered, then he squeaked when Gaara wrapped his arms around him, pulling him close as he grazed his teeth across his neck. "Stop that, you evil zombie stop it!"
"Mmmmm, Naruto."
"Gaara!" Naruto smiled brightly, laughing. "I said stop!"
Smack.
Everyone turned to see Sasuke leaning back against the counter, his arms crossed at his chest as he watched them.
Smack. Pop.
He was wearing the pants he had grabbed, the pants having a much appreciated tight fit, looking like a fresh coat of paint on skin instead of clothing.
Smack. Smack. Pop.
Bored look. The world was a pointless place indeed. Nothing was important. Except Naruto.
Naruto.
"So," Sasuke looked up at Temari, smirking, "Do you prefer sour apple or wild cherry bubblegum?"
"Well… Gaara had a thing for sour apple."
Good. Wild cherry it was.
Smack.
Smack.
Pop.
Wild. Cherry. End.