Chapter 19: Exchange
Sasuke fiddled irritably with his bow tie, trying desperately to pull it together; he'd fumbled for half an hour with no success.
Geez, who wears these anymore anyway? He pulled the scrap of cloth from around his neck and resisted the urge to incinerate it.
"I'm home." Sakura's voice resounded to his left as the door squeaked shut. "Sorry, I'm late. I picked some cherries on the way home."
Sasuke grunted as he pulled at the bow tie.
Sakura sighed.
"What?" Sasuke inquired.
"So you did get a job."
"Of course. We agreed that I should."
"Oh well, not much we can do about it now. Nice uniform, by the way."
Sasuke turned around. The bartender's suit made him feel like a wedding cake.
"Really? You think so?"
"No" Sakura placed a large scroll by her pack. "You look dorky in suspenders."
"Gee, thanks. What's with the scroll?"
"Awww, nothing. Just something on loan to me. Where's Naruto?"
Sasuke stopped fiddling with his bow tie.
"I thought he was with you."
"He was. You mean he hasn't come back?" Sakura placed a large bag of cherries on the stained counter by the stove.
Sasuke stretched the black fabric absent-mindedly.
"I haven't seen him."
"That idiot! He promised he'd go straight home and to bed!"
"Why? What happened?"
"He got sick when we were at Sorano Fuuka."
Sasuke looked up from his tie and gave Sakura a stern look.
"Are you serious?"
"What? Of course. Why?"
Sasuke rubbed the ridges of his bottom lip.
"Naruto shouldn't be getting sick…"
"Why not?"
"Naruto never gets sick."
"We're at a higher altitude then Konoha. It's not strange to feel queasy or unusually out of energy."
"That's not what I mean." Even with the altitude, Kyuubi should have protected Naruto. Is there something wrong with the fox?
"Then what?"
"Nevermind." Sasuke began his battle with his bow tie again.
"I'm worried." Sakura leaned against the grimy wall. "I hope he's okay."
"I'm sure he's fine. He's tough." Sasuke grumbled. "If he doesn't show up in half an hour, we'll go look for him." He failed once more with his tie.
"Come here." Sakura sighed.
"It would be easier if I had a mirror or a diagram or something."
"Nah, you don't need any of that." Sakura reached up and took the ends of the tie from Sasuke. He blushed as her fingers brushed his chin.
"You need a woman."
Sasuke's face burned like a furnace and his heart skipped enough beats to kill him.
"S-sakura-chan!?"
"I didn't mean it like that, lover boy." She pulled the tie tight. "My mother used to say that to my father a lot..." Sakura whispered. "I still miss them."
"You'll miss them forever." Sasuke whispered back.
Sakura looked up into his eyes, eyes tainted with the pain of loss, and the acceptance of understanding. She smiled in unspeakable thanks.
"HEY!"
Sasuke and Sakura jumped and whirled at the door. The frame held the collapsed, panting form of Naruto. Leaves stuck crookedly out of his black/yellow hair; dirt and bruises clung to his skin like an extra layer. Something shiny glimmered on his back.
"What the hell are you two whispering about so close together!?" He fumed, pointing an accusing finger at them. "Get your hands offa her, Sasuke, you bastard!"
"I'm not touching her, dumbass."
Sakura dashed to Naruto and thwacked him cleanly on the head. Naruto kissed the floor as in cracked beneath his face.
"You have a lot of nerve telling us what to do! Where the hell have you been?!"
"I'll tell you once you tell me why you were getting all snuggly with Sasuke!"
Sakura's face blossomed into a tomato color.
"Stupid! We weren't 'getting snuggly'! I was fixing his tie!"
Naruto blinked and took a second look at Sasuke's ensemble. With a great heave, Naruto fell over, bawling with laughter.
"You… look so… stupid!" He wheezed, rolling around on the floor as a vein in Sasuke's forehead throbbed.
Sakura pulled Naruto's cheek.
"Hey! Ow!" He cried in a muffled voice.
"I think it's safe to assume you're not sick anymore."
She dragged him all the way inside, shut the door and let go of his cheek. Naruto rubbed his aching face.
"So, where have you been? And what's with the sword?" Sakura pointed to the long, shiny, reddish/brown object strapped to his back.
"Oh Sakura-chan," He blared, "it was so horrible! I was gonna come straight home, but this stupid old man stole the necklace I won from Tsunade-obachan! I followed him to this cave and there were all these swords and he said he needed to teach me stuff or he wouldn't give the necklace back. So now I have to go back to that stupid cave tomorrow. Awww man…"
"Wait, you just left the necklace there?!" Sakura exclaimed.
"Idiot." Sasuke fingered his bow tie. "That guy's probably just going to run off with it."
"He gave me this sword in exchange." Naruto held it up so Sakura could see the intricate fox pattern that adorned it. "He said he was from Konoha too. He knew Kakashi-sensei."
"Really?" Sakura inquired, "What's his name?"
"Roronoa Zoro, or something stupid like that."
Sasuke and Sakura exchanged fearful glances.
"Ronoa?" Sasuke asked tentatively.
"The Great Zoro of Fire Country?" Sakura flinched.
"Yeah, that's the guy! You guys know him or something?"
Sakura pulled at Naruto's cheek again.
"Ow! Stop that!"
"Seriously, did you sleep through all of Iruka-sensei's lectures?!" She berated as she stretched his face like rubber.
"You say that like it's a bad thing!"
Sakura let Naruto cheek snap back into place.
"Ronoa-sama is a legendary ninja." She explained. "He's up there with Jiraiya-sama and Kakashi-sensei's father. He's mainly credited for combining Ninjutsu with the art of Bushido; he's like the one-man Honōmoto clan of Fire Country."
"What's the Honōmoto clan?"
Sakura glared down at Naruto.
"You really did sleep through all of Iruka-sensei's lectures!"
"The Honōmoto clan of Rock Country integrates firearms with ninjutsu." Sasuke explained irritably. "They say that clan is the reason we lost so many in the Ninja Wars. But forget about them, I thought Ronoa was dead."
Sakura nodded.
"So did I. Maybe that's what we're meant to think and he's really undercover."
Sasuke grinned and crossed his arms.
Naruto cocked his head quizzically.
"What?" Sakura mumbled.
"I guess our fake death wasn't an original idea after all." Sasuke chuckled.
"You're right." Sakura laughed sheepishly.
Naruto reached up and tugged playfully on Sakura's white mesh sleeve.
"Ne, Sakura-chan? What did that Kouji guy say? Did he give us any money? Can we eat ramen tonight!?"
Sakura collapsed to the floor. Her two friends glanced questioningly at her.
"He's…. not here." She muttered.
"What?!" Naruto freaked, "But Akari said-"
"I know what Akari said, and he was here. He's just not here anymore. Apparently he left after Akari did."
"Where'd he go?" Sasuke asked as he joined Naruto and Sakura on the ground.
"Hidden Cloud Village… He lives there."
A queasy feeling tickled Sasuke's stomach.
"Well, we can't leave now!" Naruto cried. "I have to get Shodaime's necklace back!"
"I don't think leaving is an option." Sasuke said. "I can't just quit my job; I haven't even started."
"I would also like to stay here a bit longer." Sakura looked distant and didn't articulate. The two boys exchanged glances but didn't ask.
Sakura stood up and stretched, her back cracking the several places.
"Well, I guess we'll stay here until Naruto gets his necklace back. So who wants cherries? And I don't want to hear anymore about ramen!" She caught Naruto as he opened his mouth to complain.
-
Sasuke scrubbed at the dingy window and squinted at the skyline. Black, writhing buildings twisted in the florescent dawn, hiding the most spectacular aspect of a sunrise, the sun. The day-glow pink, laced with orange and yellow reached out over the horizon like outstretched fingers, but the magnificent white orb, the epicenter of it all, remained belittled by the grimy row of apartment in this ghetto. Funny how a few poverty-stricken buildings could ruin the highlight of your day.
Sasuke grumbled, pulled his dark cargos up over his boxers, and turned back to his comrades asleep on the floor. The night had burned like a fever; even though they all slept on top of their sleeping bags, each was beaded with sweat. His stomach grumbled unpleasantly, cherries didn't make a good dinner, but Sasuke shoved the feeling out of his mind. There wasn't much he could do about it.
A small groan erupted from the floor and Sasuke turned to see Sakura roll out of bed. She sat up on her knees, smacked her lips and looked around the room with half-shut eyes. She slowly tilted to her feet and staggered toward him, her red halter clinging haphazardly around her neck, white panties plastered across her hips.
Sasuke felt his chest heat and a dollop of sweat roll down his neck. Due to their lack of clothing, they all slept in their underwear. Sasuke thought he'd be used to seeing her like this, but there was something about the way her hair stuck out arbitrarily, yet encompassed her sleep-veiled face, and how the sweat glistened off her radiantly glowing skin and ran down the curve of her thigh that made him ogle.
Sasuke shook his head violently. He had more important things to worry about, like his aching stomach. He felt so wrong gawking at her; he wasn't Jiraiya… or Naruto for that matter. Sasuke cursed himself for his own weakness and something soft thudded hard against his back.
"Sasukeeeeeeee…" Sakura whined, half asleep, as she lean her cheek against his bare shoulder.
"Wh-what!?" Sasuke felt his pulse in his ears.
"Are you hungry?"
"No." He lied.
"You're a liar. I'm hungry too." She muttered. "And if you're hungry and I'm hungry, then Naruto is going to be a ravenous beast when he wakes up."
Sakura fell against the wall as Sasuke turned to look at the sleeping blonde. Naruto lay sprawled over his sleeping bag like a crab. His yellow shirt drifted casually over his stomach, which he scratched with his right hand, and his mouth gaped open as he snored, drool cascading down the side of his face. Sasuke had the incredible urge to poke him with something, like one would a beached jellyfish, but resisted.
"It's too hot and too early to be this hungry…" Sakura slid down the wall. "What time is it…?"
"Around 5:30."
Sakura groaned again.
"You're inhuman, Sasuke… an inhuman crab…"
Sasuke pulled his mesh shirt over his head.
"You're not making any sense, Sakura."
"Who?"
Sasuke threw her shorts at her; they landed on her head like a hat.
"Wake up and get dressed. I'll wake up Naruto."
Sakura mumbled something incomprehensible and lazily pulled the shorts out of her hair.
Sasuke leaned over Naruto and gently kicked him.
"Hey dumb-ass, wake up."
Naruto didn't respond. Sasuke kicked him harder, but there was still no response.
"It's no use." Sakura said as she hoisted up her shorts. "You know he sleeps like a rock."
"I guess it's time to play dirty." Sasuke bent down next to Naruto's ear.
"What are you doing, Sakura?! Put your clothes back on!"
Naruto shot up like a rocket, snorting gibberish. He looked around blankly.
"Perv." Sakura muttered as she fixed her jeans.
"Why am I up…?" Naruto mumbled, rubbing his eyes.
"That's good question…" Sakura stretched.
Sasuke threw Naruto his shorts.
"Let's go for a run or something. Just because we're not in Konoha anymore doesn't mean we can slack off."
Naruto blinked blankly and fell back against his sleeping bag.
"I dun wanna…"
Sakura reached down, grabbed Naruto by the ankle, and proceeded to drag him out the door.
"C'mon, idiot. You have to see Ronoa in a couple hours anyway."
They ran around the awakening town for several hours in the dim light, fished for breakfast and hit the public baths. By the time the errands were over, the sun had fully risen in the sky.
At 11:30, Naruto finally decided to visit Ronoa and at 12:30, Sasuke huffed to work in his uniform. Sakura was left to her self, and her scroll, for the rest of the day.
-
Sasuke walked through the door of the bar and walked up to the counter.
"Oh good, Aoi, you're here." Kujoh cried as he tossed Sasuke an apron. "Put this on and clean some cups, will ya?"
Sasuke caught the apron and hopped the bar. The door's squeaked open and shut again.
"Yogen!!" Kujoh bellowed at the newcomer. "It's been so long!! Where have you been!?"
Sasuke bent under the counter and grabbed a wash cloth and a dirty mug. Absent-mindedly, he began to scrub it.
"Oh, I've been out in Wind Country." This man, Yogen, sighed. He had a scruffy, worn voice of a traveler, but unlike he other merchants milling around the bar, he seemed to be educated.
"Wind Country!? Wow, that's far!" Kujoh exclaimed heartily.
Sasuke scrubbed at a blotch of lipstick on his mug's rim. No matter how hard he scrubbed it, the pale, translucent patch would just smear. Sasuke dunked his wash cloth in a bucket of hot water and attacked it again.
"It's been crazy over there." Yogen was saying. "They say there might be a civil war!"
"A civil war!?"
"Yeah. You remember that attack they did on the Hidden Leaf Village a while back? Well, a lot of Wind ninja died in that attack. The former Kazekage was murdered by a Leaf ninja too."
Sasuke's ears pricked and he scoffed to himself.
"A lot of people in Wind Country want revenge." Yogen went on. "They're calling for the new Kazekage to attack Fire Country. But it's really controversial; the whole country is polarized over it. It's gotten so out of hand, riots have started breaking out."
"Well, I'd go for it." Kujoh said. "I'd love to give those Konoha bastards what they deserve, those lying cheating excuses for human-beiungs! Am I right men?!"
The bar erupted with cheers, which ended abruptly with a loud bang as Sasuke slammed the clean mug on the bar. He could feel the whole establishment staring at his back and he shook off his rage.
"Sorry." He muttered and reached for a new cup.
Author's Note: Okay... I know, boring chapter... (but yay for One Piece references! btw, I love Marimo head... so don't kill me! I know that section 2 of this was cu short (I really wanted to show them running and stuff) but it got too long, so I was forced to make cuts... besides, it's not like it matters to the storyline. I apologize for all the "SasuSaku moments" (they're not really. I believe I've stated my views on pairings in this fic already). I needed to give Sasuke some props b/c he wasn't in the last chapter at all. I also apologize for this chapter being so damn fluffy, I'll try and create some action next chapter!
Next Chapter: The real training begins!