Holy reviews Batman! I got TWO of 'em! YAY! What I don't have, however, is Naruto. Dang.
Many thanks and worshippings to:
anna
InSaNe-AnImE-SLaVe
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'Mm-unng… What… Happened? Ugh, I feel like crap… And it's freezing…' Shivering, Lucien curled up tighter in his little ball, conserving heat. 'I guess I should open my eyes now…' Reluctantly, he pried one hazy, out-of-focus eye open, then the other. 'This is NOT my room!' Jerking upright, he swiveled his head around quickly, panicked. He was on a sofa in a deserted room. Aside from a dusty bookshelf and a closet, the room was bare. Clutching the blanket draped haphazardly over him to his chest, he gazed around, wide-eyed. What the bloody Hell was going on here!
Breathing erratic, he slowly climbed to his feet, still hugging the rumpled blanket. There was a door to his left. He edged toward it, gaze still flicking around the room. Fumbling for the doorknob for a moment, he found it, twisted the knob, and was out of the room and scampering silently down a hallway before he fully realized it. Slowing to a walk, he crept along the wooden floor toward the open room at the end. When he reached it and peered out, he found a living room and connected kitchen. Both were a bit messy, but not very lived in, as if the person living here rushed in, did what they had to, and rushed out again. Breathing slowing a bit at the normalcy of it (no rusted manacles or bloody knives), he straightened and slipped in quietly.
He couldn't hear a sound except for his own steady heartbeat and his soft breathing. He took in the appearance of the rooms from the scrolls scattered on the floor of the living room to the mugs and bowls piled in the sink. Just as he was inspecting a stray spoon forgotten on the table, someone knocked on the door at the other end of the room. Startled, Lucien hesitated, then cautiously edged over to it and cracked the door open. A beaming face was on the other side. Opening the door some more, he was surprised when the person stated cheerfully (and without opening his eyes), "Hey, are you ready to go Naru-" It was at this point his smile died down enough for his eyes to open and see it was not the person he expected to be talking to. Lucien blinked up at him blankly, then stated blandly, "If you're wondering what I'm doing here, you're not the only one." The man flushed pink, then grinned again, making Lucien's eyebrows rise in befuddlement.
"Oh, hello again! It's Iruka, we met earlier?" 'Oh, yeah…' The strange events of the day now came crashing back, and he remembered Iruka, along with quite a few things he didn't want to remember (this whole 'Different World' fiasco being at the top of his list). Vaguely he wondered who had put his shirt back on.
"Oh, yes. Nice to see you again. Please come… In?" It felt odd inviting a sort-of-stranger into someone else's home, but of the two options (the other one being leaving Iruka out in the quickly cooling night air) it seemed like the best. The young man beamed again and entered, finding a seat on the less messy side of the living room couch.
Lucien trailed after him, and after shoving a few books aside, found his own little patch of couch.
"So how do you know Naruto?" They both asked at the same time, then looked at each other, surprised. After a small pause, Lucien went first.
"He was one of the ninja that escorted me into the village." Not a total lie, really. In fact, not a lie at all, just not the whole truth.
"Ah. I was his teacher before Kakashi-sensei at the academy." Iruka's voice was tinged with pride and nostalgia.
"He's a great kid. A little loud and very energetic, but it seems like if you made friends with him, he'd stay with you no matter what. Where I come from, it's hard to come across loyalty like that." Iruka was looking more and more amazed, though Lucien couldn't see why.
"Not many people see him that way," Iruka observed, watching Lucien carefully. At his curious expression, he continued, "Naruto's not a very popular kid around here."
Lucien's brows rose a little. "Why not? He seems like a perfectly fine kid to me. What've they got against him?" His voice rose a bit by the end of the sentence, betraying his dislike of the situation. At that, Iruka smiled.
"You'll have to ask Naruto for the answer to that question." Before Lucien could argue, the front door flew open and the aforementioned orange-and-yellow ball of energy shot into Iruka's chest, nearly knocking the wind out of him.
"IRUKA-SENSEEEEEIIII! Are we going out for ramen tonight?" Laughing, Iruka nodded, hugging the blue-eyed blonde with an almost motherly tenderness.
Naruto noticed Lucien for the first time as he pulled away and exclaimed happily, "Oh, you're awake!" He gave the teenager a sheepish grin and finished, "Sorry for scaring you earlier. I didn't mean to…"
Lucien gave him a small smile and replied, "That's okay. The way I see it, it was better you than some random guy on the street." Noticing Iruka's curious eyes watching them, he explained, "I was educated on jutsus the hard way. What did you call it?" he finished to Naruto, who in turn puffed himself up proudly.
"The Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
"Twelve Narutos. You would've fainted in fear, too," Lucien said jokingly, and Iruka laughed.
"Hey, hey! Iruka-sensei! Can we go now?" Iruka turned to Lucien asking, "Would you like to come with us? We're going out for ramen at Ichiraku's."
Lucien opened his mouth to say no thank you when his stomach growled- no, snarled at him. Flushing, he ducked his head a little and nodded meekly, mumbling, "Uh, that would be great…"
Iruka hid his laughter with a cough, Naruto rushed off to throw his ninja gear in his room (he still had Lucien's bag), and the three of them were off.
It was dark out, but Lucien couldn't tell what time it was as they made their way through the emptying streets to a small outdoor restaurant. Iruka and Lucien sat on either side of Naruto, who barked out an order to the elderly man behind the counter. Lucien bent over to Iruka behind Naruto and whispered, "Would you order for me? I have no idea what to get."
Iruka gave him a questioning look but politely ordered two bowls of miso ramen before asking him about it.
"You mean you've never had ramen before?"
Lucien laughed slightly. "Nah. In fact, I've never used chopsticks in my life."
Iruka looked amazed. He opened his mouth to comment further when-
"Hi." -a platinum-haired, masked man seated himself beside Lucien, giving them all a small wave.
"Good evening Kakashi-sensei," Iruka replied politely, and Lucien wondered how he could be so civil all the time. Naruto mumbled something unintelligible around his mouthful of noodles (their ramen had just arrived, steaming and smelling delicious). Lucien just nodded to him
Lucien picked up his wooden chopsticks doubtfully and looked over to Iruka, observing him as he easily broke them apart and started eating. Lucien snapped his own chopsticks and tried to copy the way Naruto and Iruka held theirs. His brows furrowed as he found one of them kept slipping from his grip. Mouth twisting, he tried again, only to have the other chopstick fall. Huffing, he was about ready to give up and just drink the ramen when long pale fingers wrapped around his hand, changing his grip gently and then showing him how to open and close them.
"Like this," murmured Kakashi's low voice close to his right. "O-oh," Lucien stammered back, just as quietly. Kakashi's bowl of tonkatsu ramen was placed in front of him at that moment, and he released Lucien's hand to pick up his own chopsticks.
Even after they had finished their dinner (with minimal mess-ups by Lucien), paid and said goodbye to Kakashi, and were heading back to Naruto's apartment, Lucien's hand still tingled oddly.
The trio stopped in front of the door, Iruka bidding them a goodnight before moving off with a cheery wave. Lucien turned to Naruto and said softly, "So, I guess I should get my stuff and go, then."
"No, no! You're staying with me! After you passed out, Kakashi-sensei looked at that scroll the ANBU gave you, and it said you were staying with me!" Naruto flashed a foxy grin before leading the way into the apartment. He paused in front of a familiar doorway and Lucien recognized it as the room he'd woken up in. Naruto smiled sheepishly and said, "Well, this is your room. The old man (AN: Also known as the Hokage) said he'd give you some money to start out with 'til you can find a job, so you can get some furniture an' stuff… Sorry it's so empty…" And he truly looked it. Lucien ruffled the unruly yellow-blonde hair and grinned at Naruto.
"Nah, it's fine, Naruto. G'night."
Looking relieved, Naruto mumbled, "Night…" and hurried off to his own room.
Once in his new room, Lucien stripped off his shirt, shoes, and socks and, after moving his bag ('Naruto must have put it in here when he put his ninja stuff away'), he flopped onto the sofa, pulling the blanket over himself.
Under the safety of the blanket, he brushed the fingers of his left hand over the back of his right, shivering. It still tingled.
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Holy crap, I took forever posting this! Please don't kill me? hides