Hi! Back again…and thanks to all those who reviewed. I'm particularly tired and lazy today, so I won't list all those who reviewed. But, I want to say that I appreciate the reviews very much.
Shikamaru: Lazy ass…
Me: Shut UP! You shouldn't be talking…
Shikamaru: -sigh- Troublesome…
Me: -rolls eyes- You think EVERYTHING is troublesome…
Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, Kakashi and Iruka would meet a lot more, and there'd be a whole lot of fluffy scenes between Sasuke and Naruto. Do you see that happening in the series? No? That means…I DO NOT OWN NARUTO!
Chapter Three: Blackmail
Sometimes, Sasuke hated Kakashi. Despite him glaring at Kakashi all the time, and despite Kakashi annoying him to no end, they were really like father and son. Since Sasuke's family…did not exist anymore, Sasuke was eternally grateful to Kakashi, because he posed as family to him, and it was one of the things that made his life bearable.
And, like all families, there were times when they hated each other. These were one of those times. Sasuke just knew he should have ran for his life when he entered his house. He couldn't believe Kakashi made him do this…But the bad thing was, he couldn't even use his work as an excuse. He'd finished all he had to do in the café that day, and he had about at least a month of free time because of that.
Of course, he could have just refused to go-I mean, Kakashi didn't control his life or anything…but….he had taken out the dreaded picture to use as blackmail against him. The damn man…he had thought he'd destroyed every last copy…but, as you can see, obviously not.
He scowled at the masked man as he held a picture of a three-year old him in pink bunny pajamas curled around a big stuffed animal and looking utterly adorable. His hair was messily splayed against a dark blue pillow and he was slightly drooling, but his expression was light, not like he was in consciousness-his mask was off in this picture, and he didn't like that. Plus, he shuddered to think what the fan girls would do if they ever saw the picture.
Sasuke mentally gulped.
He sighed, "Very well, I shall go."
Then, he trudged up to his room, more tired than he was before.
-SasuNaru-
It was finally the dreaded day…Sasuke sighed; and there was no avoiding it. Kakashi had kept in under watch for the longest time-as if he didn't, Sasuke would somehow find a way to worm out of this situation-which he would've, had Kakashi not kept such a close eye on him.
Sasuke had always secretly admired Kakashi's intelligence and intuition; now, needless to say, he hated those attributes of Kakashi's now.
Sasuke donned a dark blue sweatshirt and baggy, black pants. To mask his identity, he pulled the hood of his shirt over his head, and then, feeling a bit paranoid, went to Kakashi's room and snatched up one of the many masks he had.
Sasuke put it on, the mask covering half his face. Kakashi suddenly appeared behind Sasuke, and put a hand on his shoulder. He barely stopped himself from jumping in surprise.
He turned around stiffly to find Kakashi looking at him with a curious glint in his eye and a raised eyebrow. He looked to be smirking, though you could never be sure, what with that mask always covering the lower part of his face.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"What does it look like I'm doing?" Sasuke retorted, stoic.
"Stealing." Kakashi's eyes curved up in a happy arch.
"Well, I'm not. I'm merely borrowing one of your many masks-I don't want any interference from fan girls…I really can't deal with them today…"
Kakashi snorted, as if he wanted to reply with something clever and-no doubt-perverted, but then glanced at the clock behind Sasuke and changed his mind.
"Oh come on, we've got to get going."
Sasuke nodded and put on the mask. If he had no choice in the matter, he supposed it would be best if he made the most of it.
He followed Kakashi out into his normal car-a limo would attract too much attention-and boarded it.
Thankfully, it was in the garage, so no fan girl would be able to see who boarded that car or whatever. Outside, the guards would shoo the girls away. They stayed in the garage for awhile, awaiting the signal.
All of a sudden, they heard a shout.
"OH GOD! IS THAT SASUKE'S BODYGUARD WITHOUT HIS MASK ON!"
Kakashi's eye twitched, and cursed a name under his breath, but it was too soft for Sasuke to make the word out.
There was a chorus of excited screams, and then, silence.
The radio that Kakashi always had crackled to life, and a guard said, "The fan girls are gone, sir. However, there was an unidentified girl from before that drove them all away before we could even start our normal "eliminate fan girls procedure.""
Kakashi grimaced under his mask and replied simply, "It's safe."
With that, the garage doors opened, and Kakashi burst through and drove past the open gate, leaving only a trail of dust behind him.
If it was any other person, and not Sasuke himself, they'd be screaming their heads off. The way Kakashi drived….well, let's just say, if you ever rode in a car with Kakashi as the driver, and after, if you went on the scariest ride in the scariest amusement park, while the other people barfed their guts out, you'd be sleeping in the roller coaster car, yawning, and asking, "Is it over yet?"
Used to this speed-demon's driving, Sasuke sighed, and then reclined into the plush leather seat.
"This…" Kakashi took a sharp turn, nearly slamming Sasuke's head against the tinted window, "Is going to be a long day…"
Satisfied after eating a bowl of ramen for breakfast, Naruto talked with Iruka, former teacher and present friend, to pass the time.
Naruto suddenly flopped onto his back.
"GAH! HE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE HERE AN HOUR AGO!"
Iruka stared at Naruto, amused. "Well, he IS always late…"
Naruto suddenly developed a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. He grinned slyly at Iruka. "You don't usually make friends with those who lack punctuality. I mean, you ARE always on time…" Naruto snickered.
"And, you know what they say…. 'Opposites attract'…."
Iruka scowled at Naruto, but a blush still spread across his cheeks. Iruka was fortunately saved from any further teasing from Naruto when the doorbell rang. Naruto was given a pointed glare, which was ignored.
Naruto shot like a bullet to open the door, and came face-to-face with a masked man with silver hair.
"GYAH! ROBBER!" Naruto screamed, and sent a round house kick in Kakashi's direction.
Kakashi caught the leg easily and flipped Naruto onto the floor. Naruto thrashed around on the floor like a fish out of the water, trying to escape the older man's hold on him. Iruka sighed at the sight, and then, rubbing his temples, said, "Let him go Kakashi."
"No can do!" Kakashi chirped, his one visible eye curving up into a happy arch, "See, he might attack me again!"
Iruka rolled his eyes and crossed his arms across his chest. "I would've too, if I didn't know you. You really should stop looking like a thief." Iruka said with a deep sigh.
Kakashi gave the impression of a pout, and then released Naruto. Naruto jumped to his feet, a scowl upon his usually sunny face and turned to Iruka, hands on his hips.
"I really should talk to you about your lo-" Naruto was cut off when Iruka suddenly jumped on him, and covered his mouth.
The rest of his statement was muffled by his hand, and Iruka laughed nervously as Naruto tried to pry his hands away from his mouth.
Kakashi and Sasuke watched, amused. Before, Sasuke had been behind Kakashi, but now he had stepped forward to stand beside his father figure.
Iruka gave Naruto a warning look. Naruto gulped and became still and quiet. That look meant that Naruto wouldn't be able to eat ramen for a long while, if he continued with what he had been saying.
Now, you may ask, if Naruto is an adult already, what hold does Iruka have over him? Well, in normal cases, Iruka wouldn't. But, it's NARUTO we're talking about here! Iruka, see, was a prankster in his earlier days. To be a prankster, you need to be cunning, discrete, so that the prank will carry out smoothly. These characteristics enable the prankster to steal without a problem. As Iruka was a legend in his prankster days, Naruto had no doubt that Iruka would be able to steal his ramen at any time of the day.
Sure, he could always buy new packs of ramen, but what's the point if it's going to be gone before he could even eat it?
When Iruka confirmed Naruto's surrender, he cautiously brought his hand away from Naruto's mouth. Naruto pouted like a child who was denied his sweets, and sat crossed-legged on the floor.
After a moment of awkward silence, Iruka said, "Shouldn't you be going, Naruto?"
"Hai, hai." Naruto grumbled, lazily taking his frog wallet from the top of the table near him and placing it carefully into his pocket.
Then he reached out, tan fingers ceasing pale ones and led the surprised CEO in disguise out leaving behind a perverted bodyguard and an amused and relieved teacher.
From down the hall, Naruto shouted, "LOCK THE DOOR BEHIND ME SENSEI!" and there was a sound of a door being slammed open, signaling Naruto's leave.
Iruka sighed. While the world around them changed, it was a comfort to know that Naruto would be a constant, unchanging thing in his life.
---
"Sorry I was so rude earlier," Naruto apologized once they were a few blocks away from his apartment building. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto, nice to meet you, and what's your name?"
The blonde graced the pale man with a smile.
Sasuke smirked behind the mask. He admits that he was a bit surprised to find out he'd have to spend time with that annoying, and, cute waiter, according to a lecherous part of his mind, for a month or so.
"My name is none of your business."
Naruto's face turned from friendly to angry in a mere moment.
"FINE THEN, I'LL JUST CALL YOU TEME!" With a huff, he unceremoniously stomped away down the block.
Sasuke followed at a more sedate pace, long legs making it easier for him to walk beside Naruto, who was walking as fast as he could.
After a while, Naruto seemed to calm down, and after a moment sighed.
"You're not a really talkative guy, eh, teme?"
"Hn."
Naruto sighed.
"So what do you want to do now?"
"Hn." Sasuke shrugged.
Naruto's eyebrow twitched. Naruto turned forward and noticed a Seven Eleven not too far away.
The sun was making him hot, and an idea struck him.
"Fine then. Let's get a Slurpee!" Naruto said, cherubic face brightening with childish glee.
Sasuke's eyebrows knitted together in confusion.
"What the hell is a Slurpee, dobe?"
In his shock, he forgot to react to the insult.
"You've never had a Slurpee before?"
As a child grown up in a rich society, all he'd ever had to eat was gourmet food and fancy drinks-he'd never even heard of this "Slurpee" before.
So, this being so, he confirmed it with a nod.
Naruto gasped dramatically. "YOU'VE NEVER HAD A SLURPEE BEFORE! WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN MISSING!"
And with sudden strength, Naruto started pulling Sasuke toward the Seven Eleven store.
---
The door of the store was opened with a loud "DING!" and Naruto stormed in, grabbed a cup to fill the Slurppe in and a cap for it, then grabbed a straw as well.
Sasuke did the same and, watching the other people fill their Slurpees, imitated them and did the same.
Naruto put the hole on the cap right on the place where the Sunkist Slurpee would stream from and pushed the handle thing.
Immediately the Slurpee was sent flying everywhere, covering the whole of the cap and spraying Naruto. It was weird how the Slurpee was anywhere but in the cup. Sasuke couldn't stifle the laugh he emitted and quickly sipped at his Coke Slurpee to hide it. Well, anyone would laugh at the sight Naruto presented.
His whole face was splattered with orange and there were flecks of it in his hair as well. His orange T-shirt was splattered, creating deep splotches on the fabric because of the wetness. He had the cutest, confused look on, as if he couldn't quite grasp how he was suddenly covered in Slurpee.
The people around them ignored this scene and merely went on. Feeling slightly guilty, Sasuke went to the counter and asked for napkins. He got them, and went back to Naruto, who was currently arguing with a man.
"Why can't I take another cup? This one is all sticky!"
The man merely glared, got the cup from Naruto and sprayed it with a liquid. Sasuke blanched. The man had sprayed the cup from the Windex-looking container and Sasuke reasoned, the man surely wouldn't have become that stupid and spray something a costumer drank from with Windex...right?
Naruto grimaced, having the same thought. The man calmly handed it back and Naruto sighed, snatched it away, filled it up with a different kind of Slurpee, went to the counter, paid for it, and left.
Sasuke, having already paid for his, silently followed the boy out.
---
The black-haired CEO cast a glance at the glum boy beside him. The usual bright man was sipping at his drink slowly, devoid of his usual hyperactivity.
"You're actually drinking that?" Sasuke asked. Something was wrong with him, Sasuke thought. For, he had had a nagging feeling in his heart, something that made it unbearable for him to see Naruto sad, and frankly, it scared him-this new feeling.
"Hai." Naruto replied, and then forcing a real smile on his face, Naruto said, "So how's the Slurpee!"
"Fine." Was Sasuke's only reply.
Wanting to get rid of the sadness in those soulful blue depths, he went to a stand a few paces away. He quickly bought a back of water balloons and rushed to the fountain in the park they were currently near, before Naruto realized he was gone.
Ripping the package open, he started loading up on his supply of water balloons.
He was up to his second balloon when Naruto finally noticed his disappearance and walked up to him.
"Hey, what are you doing, t--" Naruto was cut off as a balloon suddenly flew toward his mouth, popped on it, and drenched his face in water.
Blue eyes blinked stupidly for a minute before it took on a devilish glint.
"You're going to pay for that, teme!"
"Hn." Was all the other said, and continued throwing water balloons accurately, every ball thrown not missing its mark.
Soon, however, Sasuke ran out of ammunition and had to turn back and fill his balloons. Naruto took this chance to buy a pack, but then, as an afterthought, bought two, just in case. He rushed to the fountain that was conveniently just across Sasuke's and started filling balloons up.
While he was not as good in his aiming as Sasuke, he filled the water balloons at an almost inhuman speed.
And so the water balloon fight raged, neither showing signs of tiring or giving up. The people that had before wanted to cross the path they blocked sighed and settled down to watch, while others, who were in a hurry, quickly took a detour, glancing regretfully back and looking as if they wanted to stay and watch.
Finally, Sasuke ran out of balloons. He grimaced as Naruto held up his two last balloons, grinning evilly.
Sasuke took on a relaxed pose, eyeing the balloons that Naruto held almost unconcernedly.
Then, all of a sudden, the balloons were flying at him, and smirking, he dodged them. Naruto gaped at his wasted balloons.
He pouted. Sasuke only smirked and walked out of the park. Naruto brought his eyes to the ground in defeat and then spotted a balloon on the floor that had miraculously not popped. Grinning, he picked it up and ran toward Sasuke.
Sasuke turned and smirked, just in time to see Naruto's horrified face and a water balloon that was hurtling toward his crotch. Too late to even react, the balloon hit its mark, making a deep splotch on that particular part of his pants.
There was silence for a moment, the calm before the storm, and then….
"I'm dead, aren't I?"
Sasuke nodded.
---
When Naruto returned that evening, he sported a black eye. When asked, Naruto merely sent them a chilling glare, but one could see the slight twitching of his lips.
When Sasuke returned that night, Kakashi had made the mistake of questioning why he looked like he had pissed in his pants. Needless to say, Kakashi was limping and holding a broken arm the next day.
But Kakashi was unusually pleased, and when asked why, he merely smiled (or what looked to be a smile anyway, what with the mask and all), and didn't reply.
The reason why was quite simple really, for those who knew Kakashi and Sasuke really well. The reason why Kakashi was smiling was because, until that day, when teased, Sasuke merely gave you a chilling glare and left. And, if one looked closely into those cold, onyx depths of Uchiha Sasuke, they'd see a spark of sunshine, of emotion, in those formerly, haunted, dead eyes.
"Maybe," Kakashi whispered to himself in his room that evening, "Maybe," he closed his eyes. "A little sunshine was all he really needed."
And so, began the weird relationship between Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto.
---
Well, how was it? I found it a bit rushed, since I typed this late at night, and I'm sorry if there are many mistakes in it. Well, no witty comment from me here, so JAAAAA!