AN: Hey guys! I hope you are stll following this story... its been three months! i am so sorry :( I worked really hard on this chapter and can only hope that you like it. It couldn't be rushed, as it it an important one. There are some footnotes, but they don't interfere with the story so you can ignore them unless you're curious, in which case look them up at the bottom.

Story summary: Naruto meets a perfect stranger who turns out to be a bastard and keeps meeting him over and over again. And why does it seem that elevators conspired against humanity? Modern AU. SasuNaru, KibaNeji, implied KakaIru

Chapter summary: Both Naruto and Kiba struggle to cope with recent developments in their love lives and those damn elevators are not helping, or are they?


DAMN ELEVATOR


Chapter 7.

Miserable.

And angry.

That's how the weather seemed outside when Kiba stopped to look at it through one of the windows in the control room. He stood there with both hands in the pockets of his jeans and watched as snow blew in horizontal blur making the scenery impossible to recognize. He couldn't see the parking lot that was just to the side of the building as the red lamps [1] were not powerful enough to light it. The fields that he knew were just outside the premises were now one with the sky and not in a pretty way.

Miserable.

And angry.

This is how Kiba felt inside after the blow he received from Neji just yesterday. Sure they weren't friends now: they didn't hang out after work, didn't share their personal stuff, their lives outside the observatory almost never crossed. It took Kiba over a month just to have a civil work related conversation after the Christmas soirée fiasco, so chances for him winning Neji's heart were next to nothing. That was especially true with the evil-raccoon-bastard-of-a-demon-Gaara in the picture who was everything he wasn't: super rich heir to one of the most prominent families in Japan, not long since graduation and already made a name for himself as a successful lawyer, childhood friend, always so freaking attentive... One thing was to see them both together talking like they normally did, it was different to see them being so intimate yesterday. He squeezed eyes tight fighting off the scene that flashed in his memory and noticed again the dull pain at the pit of his stomach.

Since when did the nature of their relationship change? How could Kiba miss that? And again, hearing Neji say that even friendship was not possible between them hurt like hell. Was his existence that insignificant? He would be damned if it wasn't infuriating.

Kiba shook his head, chasing away the dark thoughts that seemed to only increase with the sound of raving storm outside. He couldn't deal with it now, he was at work for damn sake. Which was a problem of its own, he wasn't supposed to be here, no one was supposed to be here...It was a nasty night, with nasty weather and most importantly—

"NO STARS!" The brunet lashed out turning swiftly away from the window towards his colleagues inside. "Care to explain what in the bloody hell are we doing here?!"

He was right. The weather made it impossible to even open the hood of the telescope, the gears were snowed in and frozen so tight. Still, his idiot of a friend—if he could still be called that—insisted they all get to the lab. Just in case.

Let's translate that: he forced everyone to get their butts out of their warm comfy homes into the freaking blizzard at night and risk driving off a cliff or in a ditch from the icy unlit country road that led to the observatory, dying along the way either from crash or freezing cold.

Just. in. case.

Insane!

The worst part: the good for nothing blondie hasn't uttered a single sound. He was already in the control room when Kiba arrived two hours ago, didn't say a word of welcome, didn't react even when Temari came.

"Well, I am looking at the weather satellite images and it does seem like it will clear up—" the blonde physicist tried to soothe the atmosphere in the room, but— "by 3am" she added dejectedly.

"Three of the five asteroids will be gone by then!" Kiba fumed "We agreed that if it was a storm night, we just let it go. We covered everything that was needed yesterday anyways. What exactly were you thinking Naruto?"

Temari looked at the blond that was slouching over papers and scribbling something frantically, completely oblivious to the murderous intent in the eyes of the heavily breathing brunet. She wrapped her hand around Kiba's and tried to nudge him as far away from the silent astronomer as possible. He didn't budge and instead with another arm threateningly close to the blond's neck giggled maniacally. At that Temari had to forcefully drag him away and towards the couch.

"We are here, Kiba, so let's just wait out the storm and go home. While we are at it, might as well catch up on other things." She said trying to quickly think of a safe topic to calm the raving beast inside the lead mechanic. "How is your family doing? It's been a while since you talked about them"

Instantly, Kiba's dark eyes brightened up and he started talking nonstop, allowing the nervous blonde release a sigh. Kiba's family was everything to him and there was nothing that could elevate his mood better than talking about them. The mechanic smiled and quickly took his phone out to show most recent pictures: there were his sisters Hana and Kiko playing with Akamaru in the snow, whole family at a dinner they had last weekend with cousins that decided to simply drop by, his usually grumpy dad grinning widely at the sight of the steak they had then, oh and of course, there was his mom with super cute puppies at the animal shelter and clinic she and Hana managed. Temari sighed in relief again, thanking the gods that Kiba was so easy to distract.

"By the way, thank you so much for the donation you sent to our clinic!" the mechanic said suddenly.

"Donation?" Temari asked confused. She didn't remember anything of the sort.

"Yeah! Last month my sister received a nice and shiny cheque with a bunch of zeroes. She didn't want to show me, for some reason, but you know, I have my ways" he grinned happily "mom had this falling out with the landlord, had to search for a new place and this donation really helped them to settle in a nice new spot. So, thanks"

"Why do you think it was from me? It could be anyone"

"It had Sabaku name on it, duh. Who else from your family would do that?" He said and started showing pictures of the new location of their clinic, missing a rather lost expression from his colleague's face. The only other Sabaku who knew about Kiba and his family's dog shelter was Gaara, no one else. What was he up to? "Though I am super grateful, I'm just curious why you did it? It wasn't a small amount"

"I don't know... it's just—" Temari was going to press her precious baby brother for explanation later but for now she needed to find the right words to get out of this situation. "Um..It felt right" she said to Kiba and the sudden sound of screening chair, papers and pens fluttering to the floor made them both jump in the air.

"Like hell it did!" Naruto shouted and then immediately brought a hand to his mouth to silence it, as if realizing where exactly he was. "I am sorry. I didn't mean to shout..." he mumbled and walked out of the room leaving the two completely dumbfounded.

"Whah—? What just happened?" Temari asked and Kiba only shrugged his shoulders in response.


Naruto stood in the washroom breathing heavily, face flushed and wet from vigorous splashing with cold water.

It felt right...

As soon as the words reached his ears, he was taken back to the moment that exact thought appeared in his mind: when he was trapped underneath Uchiha's firm, bare body, and when the world around them became almost nonexistent. He remembered the slow jazz music coming off the speakers in the pool, the gentle warmth in the dark eyes that held him captive as the man's face came closer and closer to his, the smell of salted bergamot—then mixed with chlorine—overwhelming his senses as he took a shallow breath in anticipation of what was coming next. Naruto felt as if his whole being was going to be captured the moment their lips meet, and—

It felt right...

Naruto squeezed his eyes tight and shook his head hard, trying to rid of the nauseating thought. Was he out of his damn mind? There was nothing right about being trapped underneath a total stranger! Thank heavens, right before their lips touched, a group of teenagers stumbled into the gym loudly and diverted their attention from— whatever the hell that was. It gave him a chance to come to his senses, push the brunet off of him and hurry off to the side. Then, faster than light, the blond was on his feet and on the way to the elevator. He didn't turn to look at the other through the window, even though he felt the eyes on his back so vividly.

He run away.

Because it shouldn't, it couldn't, it didn't feel right.

The demonic device brought him to the wrong floor again and he cursed and kicked and shouted 'Damn Elevator!' in frustration, most likely waking up a few neighbours along the way. As soon as he was in the safety of his home, Naruto vaguely remembered collapsing on the bed and falling asleep immediately, not even bothering to undress or get under the covers. He was drained: physically, from the long night of working at the lab, and emotionally, from whatever was happening between him and the Uchiha. It was just too much.

Naruto fell asleep, alright...but the dreams he saw made him wish he didn't. Once again, they were filled with the certain dark-haired bastard and left him hot and bothered by morning. Staying at home knowing that the cause of these dreams was somewhere in the same building, made him uncomfortable and he decided to go to the lab and spend the day there, fully absorbed in work. That somewhat helped, but then Temari went and said that...thing...reminding him...

"Dammit" Naruto cursed quietly looking at his reflection in the mirror. It was time to stop denying the strong attraction he felt to the stranger. No matter how wrong or disturbing, it was something he never felt before. He was certain now that the feeling he got of something changing in his life was related to the bastard.

Honestly, Naruto knew this even before he first looked the brunet in the eyes. And it scared him. The eyes of the colour of cold cosmos made him wish to run away to the furthest parts of the Universe, but the man's burning heat was like that of the Sun's and made him want to stay close and never let go... This conflicting feeling was making his head ache.

"Shit" he cursed again. Out of all people in the entire world, why did it have to be him? Not only was he a stranger and a total asshole, but also a crazy rich, hot-shot businessman and well known public figure. Even if both of them wanted to get to know each other better, not that they did, what could possibly come out of it? The entire thing was stupid to even think of.

Naruto splashed his face with cold water again and walked out of the washroom. There was no more running away: the pull he felt towards Sasuke was no longer something he could brush off, he admitted. Now, he just needed to figure out what to do with it. And for that, he needed his best friend. He needed Kiba.

When the young astronomer was walking back to the control room, he heard a heated argument coming from the kitchen.

"You don't know what you're yapping about, Suigetsu!" A fiery redhead pointed an accusing finger at a white haired young man, sill holding a milk frothier in that same hand and consequently spraying tiny drops of milk all over the kitchen.

"All I am saying, Karin," the guy looked unaffected but still took a small step back from the dangerous object pointed at him "is that if you're making an espresso, have guts to drink it as an espresso! Don't dilute it in milk, foam, and sugary syrups! It doesn't even taste like coffee"

"It's called a latte!" the girl exclaimed, expressively turning away and returning back to her main task at hand, which was frothing the milk in a tall cup.

"It's called a crap! And tastes like one, too!"

"It tastes like heaven, stupid!" She countered, dumping the frothier in the kitchen sink with a little more force than necessary, then pouring milk in the mug with coffee and generously covering it with a thick layer of caramel sauce.

"Oh, and you would know how heaven tastes like—"

"As someone who studies atmosphere for a living, I might as well"

"Only you two idiots would argue about coffee" Kiba said coming from behind Naruto, who just stood there laughing at the bickering couple.

Karin was working on her PhD in planetary physics, same area of science that Temari was from but within UofT. Her field became very popular in the last few years, and with all the competition around she was spending most of her nights and days in the lab working on her research, not wasting any time on other things. Like life, for example.

Suigetsu was one of Kiba's crew members assigned to assist her when needed, but with personalities so far apart, the two were arguing constantly. Very much for the amusement of others. Hearing these two sure raised Uzumaki's spirits a bit. At least something was still right with the world.

"Man, you ok?" The brunet asked him "You really surprised us back there. I am still angry at you though, for making me drive here"

"Yeah, sorry about that. I honestly thought it would clear up sooner." Naruto apologized sincerely, then noticed something behind his friend's back "What the hell is that?!" He shouted and brought everyone's attention to a piece of paper taped to the fridge, which happened to be the results of the The Konoha's Heartthrobs contest. "Why is this guy's name here?!"

"Whose?" Karin asked, happily sipping her sugar and foam overloaded latte, while Suigetsu looked at the mug in her hands with disgust.

"The second!"

"Oh, Sasuke-kun!" The girl squealed in delight. "How could his name not be there? Not only he is tall, dark and super handsome, he is also a successful businessman, most desired bachelor in Japan, philanthropist, and past Olympian gold medalist in freestyle swimming! Oh my gosh, you should have seen those abs he is hiding underneath the tailored business suits he wears. He is just so dreamy!"

Naruto instantly blushed at the mention of muscles beneath the suit and thought of how the man looked just after the swim..mm.. Gold medalist? Freestyle swimming? Well, that explained a thing or two, but not why exactly his name was on the list "It still doesn't make sense!"

"You are right! He should have been the first!" Naruto could swear Karin's eyes went heart shaped, when she clasped his hands and giggled. "But well, after Hidan went and blurted out in front of his psychotic partner that we are doing the contest, everybody knew that Deidara had to be the first. Do you know how scary a lunatic with an access to a chemistry lab can be? Last Christmas, he mixed a cocktail for Suigetsu that made his irises go purple!"

"Sabaku?! Why is that evil bastard's name here?!" Kiba looked at the piece of paper in disbelief. He didn't care about the Uchiha, nor about Dei, who indeed was scary as shit but whose explosive personality was kind of expected of someone working on the next generation rocket fuel with JAXA [2]. What Kiba did care about was just how many hearts in the lab throbbed enough for the raccoon-eyed jerk to get the third place.

"What's wrong with that?" The icy aristocratic voice suddenly pierced the air as Neji walked into the kitchen. He calmly went towards the fridge where the crowd stood, took out a packet of orange juice and poured himself a glass. "Gaara is just as famous and good looking as the Uchiha, and contrary to the first, actually shows his face here once in a while when he visits me."

There it was again... Neji taking Sabaku's side, as always.

"He is very friendly towards both employees and scientists—ask Hidan. Oh and don't deny the fact that you ordered him to not let Gaara through the gates. Why is it that you have this hostility towards him?"

"What's the point of this contest if the top three people don't even work here?" Choosing to ignore the question, the lead mechanic ripped the paper off the fridge and threw it in the garbage bin with a quiet "This is stupid" He then headed out of the kitchen, there was no way he would be able to stay calm with Neji there. His heart was not prepared to deal with it now. Forget the coffee that he initially came here for...

"Inuzuka" the young professor called out and Kiba turned to look at him. What could he possibly say? Apologize? Ask to be friends? "I asked you a question" Ah, that—

"This question, Professor Hyuuga," the dark eyes hardened, as did the tone "has no relation to my job as the lead mechanic and thus I am not obligated to respond. Should you need any help at your lab, I will assign someone to the task. It is an important night for Uzumaki's research and I will be busy with that. Naruto?" He finished, inviting the blond astronomer to leave the room with him.

"Wow, and I thought Neji was the ice queen here" Naruto whispered with a low whistle, once they got into the hallway.

"Shut up"

When they both returned to the control room, they found Temari hurriedly packing her things.

"Umm, hey Temari. Sorry about before—" Naruto said timidly "Did something happen?"

"Yes!" She interrupted her packing to look at them both with a grin that could rival Naruto's at the sight of a huge bowl of ramen. "I just received a confirmation that an explosion over Russia that was registered earlier today was actually a meteorite!"

"What?!"

"This is so great! They are sending me samples of the meteorite, air after the explosion, and snow with meteorite dust, for further analysis, we can actually get some understanding on how our atmosphere was affected. I need to be in Suna by morning!" she sounded so excited that all of her four ponytails actually bounced with every word. "And Naruto," Temari continued while packing last of her things "The explosion happened in daytime." She smiled at how surprised Naruto looked at the words. "Yeah, this must be related to the asteroid that you warned them about and if true, this could mean a lot for your research on PHAs [3, your algorithm of locating these small objects is actually working"

"Wow, man" Kiba affectionately patted his shocked friend on the back. "Temari, do you need me to drive you? Is it still nasty out there? Do the planes actually fly in this weather?"

"That's ok," she smiled. "It doesn't look so bad now and Shikamaru kindly offered me a ride to the airport."

"I am sure he did—"

Temari hugged them both and left barely containing a hop in her step. There was an actual meteorite waiting for her in Suna!

Naruto on the other hand had to sit down: the news still needed to sink in. A few months ago, the method he developed identified a few asteroids which orbits crossed that of Earth at potentially dangerous distances and rather soon. These asteroids were small, no more than 70-100 meters in diameter, so generally very hard to detect. What made them even harder to see was the orbit: most of it was between Earth and Venus, meaning that they needed to be observed during the day (which is virtually impossible), and the danger would have come from the same part of the sky where the sun was. When he presented the findings and warned about previously undetected PHAs, his peers laughed. Because no one could see them...They kept telling him that because they can't be seen, they don't exist, that his calculations are not right... And even if they were out there, their size meant that most of the mass would burn in the atmosphere, yes, resulting in an explosion, but nothing that could reach the surface and do any harm. But this—

"Kiba" the blond drew both hands through his hair in frustration as the brunet joined him on the couch "They said in the news that more than 7,000 buildings were damaged and about a thousand people injured" if only he tried harder to prove that his calculations were correct...maybe there was something—

"There was nothing you could do. Those pricks decided for themselves what to believe and what not, and now they know better"

"I just don't know what to do" Naruto sighed. "I am happy that I was right, but angry at just how exactly we got to know it"

"There is only one thing to do: get drunk"

"That's your answer?"

"What? We will celebrate, be sad, beat the shit out of some elevator, then celebrate some more. Plus with all that's been on my mind, I could certainly use a drink" the brunet scratched behind his ear and stood up from the couch with a grunt. "You coming?"

"I am always up for beating the shit out of some elevator!"

"Good. Let's start with the one that leads to the basement.." Kiba added, to which Naruto just laughed.


It was late on a Saturday night and when they got to the bar, which was located on campus of the UofT, they were greeted by loud music and an even louder wall of drunken people: students, alumni, professors, with waiters in between. It was impossible to tell who was who in this mess but they all seemed to enjoy each other's company and were simply spending a night out drinking and having fun. Everyone deserved a little break once in a while and the bar was there to assist.

Naruto navigated through the crowd to a tall table that was just vacated by two laughing girls that decided to join another group of students at a different table. Perfect timing. Kiba hanged his jacket on a stool and went straight to the bar for the first round of drinks.

"This one is on me!" The brunet shouted through the surrounding noise upon return, placing the drinks on the table and taking a seat across the blond. Each took a shot, gulped it down and laughed. Finally, things started to look up.

Some time and a few shots and bottles of beers after, the bar became slightly less crowded and the music changed making it actually possible to have a conversation, so Naruto decided to approach the subject that made his friend act weirdly since yesterday.

"So, what's up with you and Neji?" He asked munching on a deep fried piece of something that a waiter placed on their table. It was hard to keep up with what Kiba ordered but everything tasted nice.

"Dunno, really" was a lifeless response. Naruto watched as his friend fiddled with an empty bottle then pushed it aside and laughed bitterly "I thought, we had a nice thing going. He actually laughed at my jokes, can you believe it? But then.." Kiba's shoulders dropped and a long sigh escaped him "I don't know man, I still don't get it. Every time I call him by his first name something happens. Like a switch," he snapped his fingers to highlight the point "he becomes all distant and all—"

"It's Professor Hyuuga to you" Uzumaki mimicked Neji's tone which drew another bitter laugh out of his friend.

"Yeah, that. But this time he went further, he basically said we aren't ever gonna be friends"

"Do you want to?"

"Want what?"

"Be friends. Is this really what you want?"

"You know damn well what I want, man!" Inuzuka put both hands over his face and groaned "But this ain't gonna happen, so I wanted to at least be that"

"You're a moron" Naruto took the last sip of his beer and pushed the bottle aside "You tiptoed around the guy for a year, trying to show yourself as a nice and helpful colleague, all the while the other guy was sabotaging your efforts with cheap tricks. Now you're being told that a colleague is all you ever gonna be and you just sit there, do nothing? Shouldn't this be your cue to just confess already? It's not like you got anything to lose anymore!"

"What if I make things worse?"

"There is no worse! How can you be so slow? You're like a damn ele– ele— shit! You know what I mean!"

"About that" the brunet tilted his head in suspicion "what's up with you and elevators? It's not the first time you did that"

Embarrassed, the blond looked away to hide his face that flushed instantly. "Umm" Naruto sat there for a full minute contemplating weather or not Kiba really needed to hear his story when he obviously had his own drama going. Deciding that there was no way he could sort out his feelings without help he started "I am—" was there an easy way to put it into words? "Shit" there wasn't, so— "IfeelanotherguyslipsonmineeachtimeItrytosayit!", he blurted out in one go, burying his face into folded hands on the table and groaned in frustration and embarrassment, and could his face get any more flushed?

"What?" No human could possibly understand what he just blurted out.

"...I feel another guy's lips on mine each time I try to say it..." the blond repeated slower, still not looking at his friend. When no response came, he looked up and saw Kiba furiously typing something on the phone.

"What are you doing?" Uzumaki asked furrowing his brows in disapproval. He was flat out admitting to the worst thing ever and what was his so called friend doing at a time like this?!

"Texting Kakashi"

"You what?!"

"He'll be so pumped to know that you're finally showing interest in another living person!" Kiba chuckled gleefully but then paused and looked back at Naruto "He is a living person, right? Not an alien from one of your precious asteroids, is it?"

"Give me that!" The blond tried to get the phone out of the brunet's hand but failed when the other leaned back on his stool just enough to be out of reach.

"Nope. Sent"

Naruto sat back, crossed both hands over his chest and looked away pouting "I wanted to ask for your advice, but you're behaving like a pig!"

"Oh, come on man" Kiba let out another chuckle "He ugly?"

"If he was, I would't be having this problem" the blond mumbled under his breath unhappily.

"Cheating type?"

"I don't know! I only met the guy yesterday!"

"So what? He killed anyone?"

"Where did that come from? And what do you mean 'so what', isn't it important to get to know someone first?" He was already regretting starting this conversation.

"Not at all. Married, kids?"

"Karin called him 'the most desired bachelor of Japan', so I guess not"

"Then you'll be fine! Kakashi is gonna be so happy!" Kiba let out another snort and fought the urge to look at his phone that chimed, indicating that Kakashi just read his text.

"You're useless"

"Wait. The most desired—?" The mechanic inquired suddenly "are you talking about the Uchiha? Sasuke Uchiha?"

"Yes"

"And you say, you met him yesterday?"

"Yes" was a short reply that got the brunet in another fit of laugher.

"Dude. You danced with him last Christmas!"

"What?!" Naruto couldn't believe what he was hearing. This good for nothing dog-lover was loosing his mind. There was no such thing.

"For like the whole night, until Kakashi had to take you home because you snored and drooled all over the guy's designer suit." His friend continued "And he sponsors your research, by the way. Personally."

What Kiba was saying didn't make sense. Sasuke Uchiha was a man that he met for the first time yesterday morning and who acted like a jerk to him since then.

"I don't get it! Who asked him to do that?! I don't know the guy!" Like a damn meteorite, he appeared out of nowhere, barged into his quiet world uninvited and contaminated it with foreign emotions! "Damnit, I don't need this. I don't need him messing with my life!" Naruto frowned but then his eyes went wide as another infuriating thought appeared in his mind "Now I fucking know who the stalker is. Damn teme!"

Seeing the hurricane of emotions going through his friend, Kiba needed to intervene before the idiot thought of something dangerous. Having an Uchiha blood on his conscience was not something he signed up for.

"Man, chill the fuck out. I am sure the Uchiha had his reasons"

"You don't get it Kiba! He called me a stalker, when he was the one doing the stalking! And he tried to kiss me!" How, why, and when exactly did he get himself into this whole pale-skinned-night-sky-eyed bastard-related mess?

The blond stormed off to get another round of drinks as he was still far from being drunk enough to either forget about the teme or come up with a plan to deal with him. He also needed another plan to help his friend to win the cold heart of that good for nothing genius. Who in their right mind would not want Kiba as a friend? He was kind, funny, and loyal as a dog, had a terrible taste in music and movies, a little too obsessed with baseball, but still fun to be around. Maybe Kiba got too insistent on occupying all of Neji's time, but he wasn't the only one. The professor also did all in his power to monopolize the lead mechanic's time, even other scientist complained about it. Though never to his face, ever, he was too scary to deal with. Remember what he said to Naruto yesterday? Truly frightening.

It was after two more shots of tequila that an idea formed inside his rather cloudy brain.

"Lesshttate!" Naruto blurted out, expression changing to that of confusion as the words reached his ears, all slurred into something unrecognizable. All the alcohol must be kicking in. "I..'m..tdrunk!" He said grinning, clearly happy with an accomplished goal.

"That you are" Kiba acknowledged nodding, feeling pleasantly woozy but still able to form coherent sentences. He was notorious for drinking others under the table. "What did you say?"

"Let'sh date!" Choosing to ignore the nonsense, the brunet asked a waiter to bring them both some water and the bill, the blond though persisted "I mean it! I don't want that guy...he'sh mean...called me a dobe...and shmirked! You should see him shmirk! 'nd you! You don't need that prick! You're kind, and fun, and the besht frientd in the whole huge universe!"

"Okay man, we need to get you home." Kiba mumbled hoping the waiter would hurry the hell up with the bill. The water was placed on their table by another person and he did his best to hydrate his drunken friend. In the midst of him explaining to the blond that the straw was meant for drinking through and not chewing, a tall dark haired man stopped at their table.

"I take it, you didn't lie about being from UofT" through the thick fog in his mind, Naruto recognized the voice. He heard it before, but very briefly. It certainly resembled the one he didn't want to hear right now, but not quite. In need of confirmation, he raised his head with the straw still in his mouth and grinned, dropping the thing on the table.

"Creepy dude with a ponytail!" The blond said gleefully, pointing a finger at the guy.

"Hey!" Kiba looked at his friend accusingly and forced the raised hand down. No matter how drunk, no one talked to that man like that.

The brunet put hands in pockets of his expensive trousers, straightened his shoulders and then, to Kiba's surprise, laughed out loud whole heartedly.

"Fair enough, little stalker" he said and then stretched his hand towards the blond "Itachi Uchiha"

Naruto may have been drunk but he still remembered his manners and shook the man's hand in return "Narwuto Uzhumaki" then followed with "not a shtalker!"

"Or, but my little brother says otherwise" Itachi countered with a little smile. The blond was an adorable little thing when drunk, too bad Sasuke was occupied with work matters tonight. This would have been so much more fun.

"Your lil' brother can shtick that "otherwise" up his mmpfh!" Kiba had to interfere, he still wished to walk out of this bar alive and unharmed. He apologized to the brunet for his friend's rotten mouth but then got his hand slapped off. "Kiba! Don't take his side! Kissh me and prove this jerk I don't need no bastards in my life! And you—" the blond pointed at Itachi again "—get your hot lil' brother off my back!"

"But he is not on your back, little stalker" the young politician noted, his smile widening as he leaned in to whisper into Naruto's ear "but once he is, I doubt you will mind" Pleased with himself, the brunet straightened and walked away leaving the suddenly frozen wide-eyed blond blushing furiously at the table.

When the bill finally arrived, Kiba shook Naruto back to life and sent him to the washroom to sober up a bit. He took care of the bill and just sat there waiting for the blondie to come back.

"Are you into blonds now?" came a cold silky voice from behind him.

"Sabaku" saying the name out loud left as horrible taste as ever "You came here to pick a fight, didn't you?"

"No" the redhead flatly responded taking the blond's seat at the table "But if you want me to, I could add it to my plans"

"What do you want?"

"Help" Kiba's brow raised suggesting that he didn't believe Gaara in the least "As a matter of fact, I've been searching for you for the past hour."

"What? And why would you be looking for me?"

"Got a text from Neji." The brunet's attention peaked at hearing the name "He is stuck in an elevator, there is not a single life in the observatory, even Hidan left, so I couldn't get in. Looks like you're the only one who can help him"

"Dammit!" The mechanic cursed, jumping off his stool "I will send that demonic device to the elevator hell where it's going to be broken down to tiny little pieces, melted into a pathetic puddle, and then wiped from existence!"

When Naruto came back, Kiba apologized hastily and explained that Gaara would drive the blond home, then hurried off to the cab that was already waiting for him outside.


"Are you sure you'll be fine?" Gaara asked parking his car just outside Naruto's building "I can walk you to the apartment"

"Nah, that's ok. I sobered up a bit, just tired" the astronomer said yawning "I really appreciate the lift"

"No problem" the redhead said helping the blond untangle the safety belt and get out of the car.

Frosty air outside felt incredible on his flushed skin and Naruto stood there for a bit, watching Gaara pull of and drive away. He looked at the sky and noticed that it cleared up completely, if he wasn't within Tokyo, for sure it would have been full of stars. With cold quickly creeping in under his clothes, Naruto shivered and went inside. It's been another long and confusing day and he couldn't wait to sleep it off.

The elevator was right there, when he came in, and within seconds he arrived to his floor. Outside of the apartment, the astronomer felt the fatigue gradually overwhelming his whole body. With arms heavy, as if they were full of led, he struggled to get the keys out of the pocket of his jeans first, then had an even harder time finding the keyhole. Once in, the key refused to turn and the blond mumbled murderously under his breath all sorts of things. With no luck opening the door, he raised his head in suspicion and looked carefully at the suite number.

"Dammit" He cursed and his forehead hit the door with a thud tiredly. The damn elevator skipped his floor again and dropped him off on the third. And like a moron he was trying to unlock the wrong apartment.

Not a single cell in his body had any strength left and the blond slid along the door to the floor making an executive decision to rest there for a bit before heading home. As his consciousness slowly drifted off into the unknown, he caught a glimpse of soft steps approaching and stopping right next to him. He heard a quiet "Hn" then, but was too far off in the dreamland to do anything about it.


AN: you probably hate me for interrupting the kiss that was supposed to happen in the pool, but everything has its own time! Please do leave a review if you enjoyed this chapter. I am not sure when the next chapter is going to be, but it will be :)

Footnotes:

[1] in the only one observatory that I worked in (well, did an unpaid internship in), we occasionally had red lamps around the parking lot - enough light to see the road but not enough to interfere with the work of our telescopes. Still, we all tried to get to the place before dark, as we were in the mountains and the drive in the dark was suicidal.

[2] JAXA - Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency

[3] I think I explained it in ch 2?

By the way, the meteorite in Russia did happen, during the day, and 7,000 homes were indeed ruined. You can read about it in the news. I think it was 2013?