Naruto had gone to conventions for over a decade. His first was when he was eighteen. He'd gone with friends who were excited about the freedoms that came with turning eighteen. They were able to go to the "After Dark" panels and workshops they wanted. When they were sixteen, they'd considered sneaking in. Teens who tried to were turned away and in some cases, banned from the con. So now, at eighteen, they didn't need to worry. Naruto hadn't had to wait. He was already an adult. He liked that he could be among people who were nerds about TV shows and even books, but movies too. His friends dressed in all kinds of costumes each year. He did, too. If he didn't, he'd just walk around the convention feeling like Friend Who Tagged Along Since He Didn't Have Better Plans.
A few years ago, he'd started up a video channel critiquing movies and a book series he'd loved as a kid. He understood the 54-book war epic series differently as an adult. As a kid, he'd liked the alien invasion and the fact that kids successfully fought back. He'd thought about it a lot upon rereading the whole series as an adult a few times. Naruto put his thoughts into his first few videos. He was shocked when they went viral within a week, and he got tens of thousands of subscribers within a month. There was a slew of people now who followed him on social media. Even silly things he said were reposted in fun.
Sometimes he had great conversations over social media with people. Sasuke_dancer was one of them. Strings of comments spooled between them so easily. Sasuke seemed to take Naruto seriously, enough to stand out, and drew attention to Naruto's videos on social media. Naruto didn't know if Sasuke commented on his videos. He had a friend moderate them. His video comments sections could turn into war zones. His social media, too, but not as often. He directed more legit comments and business opportunities to his business email. He'd set one up and emails poured in. Now, three years later, he was asked to speak on a panel at a convention he'd regularly attended for years. It would be his first speaking thing. He was twenty-eight, nervous, and frantically asked others how to prepare for it. He was so glad to get great advice.
He was overwhelmed and shocked with how much and how fast he was succeeding, in that first year. He was still boggled by it sometimes, even having done this for three years. He edited videos for a living and generated good closed captions, as well. Sasuke_dancer had started commenting on social media when he went viral. Naruto had been curious about him. He'd looked him up online since Sasuke_dancer's account was 99% reposting and drawing attention to people he liked.
The first thing Naruto saw was professional headshots. They were of a man Naruto's age who looked…sexy. Sasuke Uchiha had the same username for every account, even his email. Sasuke was a man with inky black, stick-straight hair that didn't quite reach his shoulders. In most of the photos, it was tied back simply. Enough to show that it was long. His eyes were the brown of intense dark chocolate. Naruto felt like if he ever met Sasuke, he'd look into his eyes and forget everything he'd planned to say. Sasuke had high, sharp cheekbones and a sharp jawline. Naruto liked guys with those. Naruto saw only a few headshots of Sasuke smiling. Maybe it was a stylistic thing.
Then he saw the videos. Sasuke turned out to be a professional lyrical jazz dancer and choreographer. That string of words made no sense to Naruto. Sasuke also did hip-hop a little, which Naruto sort of knew. The videos were on a site for professional dancers to network with one another, and everyone had at least five videos up. Naruto watched all five of Sasuke's. Dance wasn't Naruto's thing. Something seemed vaguely familiar, though, and it was going to bug Naruto until he figured it out. Naruto figured Sasuke_dancer was a personal screen name for social accounts, not the one he used professionally.
The next few weeks whizzed by. People were excited he'd be on a convention panel, and many commented that they were flying out to see him. Naruto's two hour flight was uneventful. Naruto was normally a chatterbox, and said whatever popped into his head, but couldn't think of a single thing to say to either stranger he was sandwiched between on the flight. He'd tried stuffing three days' worth of clothes plus a set of pajamas, and his laptop and charger, into his old backpack he'd worn everywhere in university. He wound up having to borrow a suitcase from his parents. They couldn't get time off work to fly out, but were so happy for him and wanted all the details.
