Chapter 2
Sighing gratefully, Naruto lowered himself into the large slightly rusty white tub, carefully resting his heel beside the drain plug in case it decided to pop out.
'What a day..wake up with 30 degree weather and rain. Have to walk to work with no breakfast and run into a foreigner who it turns out is a gradeschool rival who had been stalking me since god knows when because he loves me. And the girl I thought I loved really never loved me back and just wanted the gay guy that was stalking me. Yup, wonderful day.'
Steam lazily caressed his slightly pink cheeks and twisted in spirals to kiss the ceiling. Clear water fell away in ripples around his calloused feet as he propped them on the end of the tub.
"Naruto, chap, you need to take a day off.."
He glanced mournfully at his waterproof wristwatch and groaned, sinking under the water until his nose was submerged. Blowing bubbles angrily, he seethed and glared at the clock.'A half an hour until I go to work. I won't get home until eleven. I only have one cigerette left. Please don't let the list grow any longer.'
The phone ringing in the narrow hallway seemed a mocking sign from god. Naruto growled and took one step from the tub, grabbing the corded phone and quickly flopping back in.
"Uzumaki Naruto, who's calling?"
"Oh...hi Naruto."A shy voice whispered.
Grinning in relief, Naruto cradled the phone to his ear and began scrubbing his legs with his free hands,"Oh hey Hinata, how're things going back home?"
"G-good. How are you?"
"Ah, pretty good. I'm tired though, and I have to go to work tomorrow all over again."Naruto winced.
Maybe you s-shoulder call in sick?.."Hinata murmured in concern.
The blonde laughed, practically seeing the shy blush on Hinata's pale cheeks,"I've called in sick too many times already. How's Neji doing?"
"He's doing fine, he got accepted into Penn State."She replied happily.
"Did he!That's great!"
"Mmhm, would you like to talk to him?"
"That's ok, you dont have to-"
"Naruto?"A deep voice interrupted.
"Eh?Neji? How-"
Hinata stuttered nervously for a moment before hanging up. Neji and Naruto chuckled.
"Jeez, you were listening on the other phone the entire time?"
"A bad habit."Neji replied without a pinch of guilt.
Rolling his blue eyes, Naruto began scrubbing his arms,"So when are you planning on going?"
"I'm not sure."
"Eh?"
"I might not go to Penn State."
Naruto stopped scrubbing and furrowed his brows, leaning forward,"Why?What's wrong?"
"I just want to keep my options open...what are you doing in Quebec?"
Naruto sighed,"Its not easy..but whatever. I brought this on myself."
Neji inhaled hesitantly,"you could come back here and live with us. We have a few extra rooms and you wouldn't even have to deal with my uncle-"
"Neji, you know I can't do that. But that reminds me."
"Hm?"
Naruto examined his nails before running them through his damp hair."Do you know someone named Sasuke?"
"Uchiha Sasuke?"Neji muttered in confusion.
"Hai, I ran into him here."
"...what did he do?"
"Well...did you go to the same school or what?"
"Well, he started going to my school in what would have been your fifth grade I believe. He was really quiet and...mean. He always was the last one to leave, and he never really spoke to anyone.Never made any friends."Neji reminisced.
"Yeah, I can imagine that."Naruto smirked and shook his head.
"Why?"Neji questioned.
"I dunno.Just wondering."
"Naruto-"
"I have to go now. Work is in fifteen minutes and I got to wash my hair yet.I'll call you on Friday night, okay?"Naruto rushed.
"Fine, but you'd better tell me-"
"Kisses!"Naruto tossed he phone onto the bathroom tile and cackled, knowing Neji had hung up in exasperation. The blonde had learned long ago that you could easily fluster any Hyuuga with any talk or action of physical contact. It amused him to no end.
But back to the present, the blonde shook himself back into awareness and slipped back into the now lukewarm water, hissing in disappointment that most of his beloved steamy water had cooled. With a stretch and a yawn he leaned back against the flawless porcelain and blinked hazily, stretching and resting his arms languidly on either side of the tub. Naruto tilted back his head to stare at the ceiling and felt his eyelids twitch before they fell shut.
---------
A violent shiver brought the teen back into awareness. He tried desperately to allow them to close again but another shiver jolted him fully awake. Icy water crawled along his blue-tinged sunkissed flesh and the clock outside of the bathroom door read 1:00 in the afternoon.
A cold feeling of dread slithered down his spine and twisted around his stomach in a icy cold coil. The blonde swore and stood, trying in vain to ignore his painfully aching and stiff muscles as he stumbled drunkenly from the bathroom to stagger into his living room, forgetting to wrap a towel around his naked form.
A heavy, yet polite knock echoed through the small room to signal a visitor at his door. Naruto grimaced, knowing that the only person who would visit him is one of his fellow employees to check up on him because he hadn't turned up at work or called the restaraunt.
"One second!" He shouted, swearing and sneezing miserably as he hurried into his room and threw on an oversized black t-shirt that fell off both shoulders and comfortable plaid pajama pants. Lastly, he wrapped his large bright orange comforter around his shoulders and trudged to the door, wiping at his nose with the back of his hand before jerking open the door.
"Gizelle-...shit. It's you." Naruto sighed in defeat, sniffing wetly before pushing open the apartment door and shuffling to his worn couch to plop down and completely emerse himself in warm insolating blankets.
Sasuke raised his perfect dark eyebrows in mild amusement and mock offense, following him inside and shutting the door quietly behind himself as he curiously surveyed the room.
"How -sniff- do you know where I live?" Naruto muttered tiredly, blinking as if in a daze at the other's relaxed form.
"I'm stalking you, remember?" Sasuke replied dryly, sitting in a armchair near the blonde."But seriously, one of your co-workers, Gizelle, saw me sitting in the restaraunt and after I asked about you she said she didn't know and was worried and when I mentioned we were aquaintances, she happily gave me directions to your dwelling and here I am. She apologizes, but since you didn't show up she's working double shift so she wasn't able to check up on you." He finished smoothly.
Naruto's tired and strangely cold brain drank it in slowly before he groaned, completely covering his head in his covers,"I'm probably fired..."
Sasuke broke in,"Are you sick?"
"Hm?...No...I fell asleep in the bathtub last night and-"
"You fell asleep in the BATHTUB?"The brunette broke in incrediously, back stiffening as he regarded the room's other occupant."Do you know how dangerous that is!"
The blonde merely waved a hand lazily in response, followed by a muffled sniff," I didn't TRY to fall asleep in the bath, teme! Its just what ended up happening..."
Uncomforable silence and tension permeated the air, suffocatingly so, in Naruto's apartment. The two eyed eachother, Naruto albeit from the safety of his blanket nest.
The blonde was the first to break eye contact, flushing lightly,"Well, I suppose you delivered your little message, didn't you?"
The other cocked a brow in question.
"So...get the hell out of my apartment."Naruto replied cockily, sticking out his tongue. He realized his mistake when he saw the other's starless eyes briefly flick to his appendage before returning to his eyes.
"Sakura called my cellphone this morning...before I went to the restaraunt." Sasuke started casually, running his slender fingers over a dusty bookcase, tone noncommital.
Naruto's eyes narrowed instantly, remembering what the brunette had said about Sakura using him. He opened his mouth to ask his guest once more to leave, but stopped when he saw Sasuke was going to continue.
"She was begging me to get back together with her... I said I'd think about it."
Naruto saw red and shot up, ignoring the way Sasuke eyed his bare shoulders with interest. He jabbed a calloused finger into Sasuke's chest and stood on his tiptoes to get to eyelevel with the other man. His anger only intensified when he saw amusement in the other's eyes.
"What the fuck are you smiling at, you heartless bastard?" He bit out through clenched teeth.
Sasuke smiled slightly, startling him,"You're so easy to manipulate, dobe. Did I make you jealous, hm?"
Blinking in confusion, Naruto stepped back and ran a hand through his messy locks with a frown. "Look, like I said Sasuke, I barely remember anything about you. If Im jealous of anything, its Sakura's attention and genuine attraction to you. One of the major things I DO remember about you, however, is that you always loved putting me down and turning everyone against me. I bet you've never been taunted and teased to the point where you just want to fucking jump off a roof, have you? You were one of the major contributors to that pain inside of me and I'm not ever going to forget that, you bastard! So if you're done fucking with me, I'd really...REALLY appreciate if you took your pompous ass out of my apartment and general presence."
The blonde offered his stunned guest a small amused smile before grabbed his blanket and shuffling into his room, slamming the door and flopping onto his shitty mattress, stubbornly blocking out unwanted memories and old wounds.
A few moments later the front door shut loudly and footsteps receeded down the hallway away from his apartment. Naruto let out the breath he had been holding and straightened across the bed, throwing a tanned arm across his eyes.
"I finally got rid of him... So why do I feel so fucking empty?"
o0o0o00o0o0o0o0o0o
Naruto sat up after lying prone for three hours, entertaining himself by counting dots on the ceiling. It was about 3:30 when he decided he had completely cleared his mind. He picked up the phone and dialed an international number, swinging his legs to the side of his bed as he stared dully at the floor and yawned, waiting for the opposite line's owner to pick up the phone.
-Now Speaking in Japanese-
"Hello, Umino Iruka speaking."
"Heya sensei!"Naruto chirped, flopping back on his bed and twirling the phone cord around his index finger and thumb with a genuine grin on his face.
"Naruto! Why didn't you call me yesterday!" Iruka demanded scorn.
Naruto released a suffering sigh and grumbled,"Yesterday was a long...long day."
"...Are you alright?Did something happen, Naruto?"
"Nono, nothing like that. Its fine. Im still working on getting enough cash to pay you back for the plane ticket, Iruka-sensei.."
"I told you not to worry about that,"Iruka chuckled,"just remember when I'm an old man not to put me in one of those crappy retirement homes..."
Naruto laughed and replied hesitantly,"Actually...the reason why I brought it up was I was thinking about going back to Japan to maybe stay with you for awhile?"
"What's going on Naruto?" Iruka questioned, no longer joking. "Do you want me to fly over there instead?"
"No! You have kids to teach, sensei. Its nothing serious... I just don't really like it here as much as I thought I would."
"Well, that's understandable! You're living in a major city where nearly the entire population, exception of tourists, speak French!"
"Some of them speak English..."
"But that's still not your native language!"The older man protested.
Naruto smiled to himself and glanced at the clock,"Shit-"
"Naruto!-"
"I have to go and get ready for work."
"But what about-"
"I'll call you either tonight or tomorrow. I promise Iruka, luv ya."
The hysteria and anger drained from his adopted father's voice at his last words,"I love you too, Naruto. I just wish you wouldn't worry me so much, I swear, my hair is going grey!-"
"Alright, buh-bye!"Naruto chirped and hung up the phone."Phew... those calls to Iruka-sensei are always mentally taxing.."He mused with a small smile, standing and walking to his dresser to change into his designated work outfit, tight leather pants and mesh shirt, both black. He finished it with a bulky collar.
"Good thing Iruka doesn't know about my second job.." He sweatdropped and quickly snapped the collar in place around his neck, not bothering to glance in the mirror as he strode from his room, slinging a black Nike dufflebag over his shoulder and sliding on worn flip-flops.
o0o0o0o
End chapter 2..
The first chapter was written last summer in Quebec, Canada on vacation :XD My computer died...so I took out my older IBM Thinkpad laptop from the closet and looked at all the old files I had on here and I have a few stories with lots of potential that I wrote while on vacation and haven't given a thought to since... So I finished up chapter 2 (From the point where Naruto ended the phone call with Neji) And...lo and behold... so I guess I just might put this on a disk and upload it via the school's computers since the modem on this laptop refuses to work..
Yay...'nother story... I know... Im sorry...but all of my story files are on the other computer and till we get it fixed and figure out if all of the files are still there I can't update anything... so..yeah...-waves hands and sweatdrops- im actually gonna make this like...five chapters long and then there will be a sequel... -wiggles fingers- of when he goes back to America! So...this first little installment probably wont be too exciting but I feel like doing a full-out like...trilogy fic! lmao... Ive never done one of those but I think Ill actually be able to do it this time cause it might take WEEKS..yes...WEEKS to get my beloved Farschufin (What my dell desktop is named) back and in action...-twitch- Im so glad I have two computers... one little IBM thinkpad that had about...seven or eleven thingies of memory that I got used for like...hundred and twenty five bucks and my dell desktop that was four hundred somethin dollars that I bought on my own that had around...eighty thingies of memory..
Ehhhhh long author's note. Sorries. -sheepish grin-
-Flashes peace sign to NNCS- I dedicate this story to yew!