Chapter 10

"You're late, Uzumaki."

Naruto kept on wheezing, trying to regain his breath, unable to defend himself at the moment.

Stupid restaurant just had to be one and a half miles from the two nearest bus stops: school, and some shady neighbourhood. Well, Naruto sure as hell ain't getting off at the shady neighbourhood, even if that stop was slightly closer to his work place than the school.

Breathing normally again, Naruto complained to the manager, his face still flushed from the run, "Change this place's location if you don't want me to be late," he stated, pushing the blame childishly on them.

"Or buy me a car," he added as an afterthought.

His manager just walked away, ignoring the blond. With a sharp jab of her head towards the employee changing rooms, she went back to her office.

Getting the point, Naruto mumbled as he rushed to his locker where his restaurant uniform awaited him. Since the restaurant was fairly fancy, they had some clean cut uniforms too.

Pulling on the black vest over his orange tee and changing into the black dress pants, he set to the more difficult job of tying his necktie. At least he didn't have a shirt collar to get in his way; the tie was going straight onto his neck. Call it individualism, if you will.

Struggling with the damn thing, Naruto failed to notice someone creeping up behind him. With his eyes squinted and his cheeks puffed in annoyance, he sure was a cute sight to behold.

Suddenly, Naruto was spun around, his heart almost dying at the sudden attack.

"Wha-?"

He was met by rich, black eyes and equally black hair, and a slight smirk on thin lips.

Almost about to shout some curse words, followed by an indignant Sasuke-bastard, Naruto stopped himself just in time to realize it wasn't the Uchiha, but Sai, whom he had met the day he started working here.

"Oh jeezus, you scared the bezoolies out of me!" Naruto exclaimed, clutching his heart dramatically. God knows where he came up with the world bezoolies.

Now that he had made the mistake, Naruto noticed how similar Sai was to Sasuke. Or the other way around, didn't really matter. Both had pale complexions, but dark eyes and hair. The only difference between them was probably that Sai's hair was a bit blacker and shorter, while Sasuke's had a tinge of blue mixed in.

Oh yeah, and Sai actually smiled once in a while, though a bit phony if you ask Naruto.

Wait, when had Naruto started addressing the Uchiha by his first name? Sure, he had planned on calling him Sasuke-bastard just to annoy him, but in his own mind, it was kind of tiring to say a bastard after every Sasuke...

But Uchiha sounded weird on the tongue...

Gah! Sasuke will have to do!

While Naruto's mind was wandering off, Sai had tied his tie for him and straightened his vest.

"There, you look presentable now, rookie...except that hideous orange tee. You look like Halloween in the summer."

Coming out of his daze, Naruto glanced at himself in the mirror and laughed at what Sai had said. He did look kind of pumpkin-y!

"Thanks for the help, Sai! I never got how to tie these, the stupid things." Naruto tugged at his own, grimacing as he pulled a bit too hard. What a child.

Sai smiled that fake smile of his, as if he always had some evil plot hidden behind it.

"No problem. Please wear a white T-shirt next time though, 'cause if the manager catches you in orange more than once, you're dead. And if you're late, you're also gonna be dead. You do know that you start at five on Tuesdays and Thursdays, right?" Sai asked, not too surprised if Naruto had actually forgotten.

"Yes, surprisingly I do still remember that. Not just that, I know my shift's from six to ten on Fridays, eight to ten on Saturdays, and nine to eleven on Sundays. Yeah, yeah, I remember," Naruto recited, having gone through the info himself a few times before also. It was only his second week here, what do you expect?

"Well, those tables aren't going to wait themselves," Sai reminded, his smirk growing wider.

Naruto clasped Sai's hands, gratitude in his eyes. "Thank, man. I don't know what I'd do at work without you. You're a saviour!"

He shook both their hands once and then disappeared out the door, eager to get the two hours over with.

Sai just stood there for a minute, looking at his hand, before shaking his head and leaving too.

Out in the dining area, Naruto was just getting into the work. He practically waltzed around, grinning from ear to ear, taking people's orders and giving recommendations once in a while. Not that he liked anything in the restaurant, but he couldn't deny the costumer's from getting their meal.

The restaurant Naruto worked at was called Refined Sushi. On the fairly large building's outside, the characters were spelled intricately and had an impressive air around it. For many people, this was a very appealing restaurant.

Naruto, on the other hand, thought the name and the whole restaurant was stupid. The place sold mainly sushi and other raw fish dishes, which in Naruto's view was completely disgusting. For Kami's sake, the thing was raw! Uncooked! Possibly containing some weird fish disease! It had smelly fish...smells! What could possibly be appetizing about that?

It wasn't like Naruto really wanted to work here. He had walked down millions of streets, looking for Help Wanted ads, but to no prevail. Well, actually, he had been offered a few jobs as a male stripper, but his brain just overloaded whenever he was asked if he wanted to work at a club, resulting in him punching whoever said it.

There were some restaurants that needed help, but they were all almost broken down and had very...scary...people in it. Refined Sushi was the only place that seemed decent with a fairly medium amount of pay.

"It'll be out in a moment!"

Naruto whizzed by other waiters, taking his job in stride. Going back inside the kitchens, he picked up a big giant plate of raw fish; complete was dipping sauce and some powdery stuff that made him sneeze. Possibly some form of pepper.

Crinkling up his nose at the fishy stink the plate was giving off, Naruto hurriedly read which table this order was going too.

Table Twelve. Okay.

Naruto took the order and headed out the kitchens in the direction of table twelve. Almost there, the blond nearly slipped in his hurry, so he decided to slow down. With wary eyes on the plate balanced precariously in his hand, he set it down on the table, scrunching his nose for the last time.

Who the heck would eat this stuff? He wondered to himself for almost the billionth time.

Naruto looked up and said in a cheery voice, "Please enjoy your—" but stopped short as he realized who he was talking to.

"...fuck!" was all he could say in the face of a very impassive Uchiha Sasuke.

"I beg your pardon?" said a voice to the side.

Naruto spun around to look at the person across from Sasuke-bastard. It was a very handsome man, around his twenties perhaps, though the two creases down each side of his face from below his eyes to his corresponding cheek did not do him justice. He looked like Sasuke, though broader and positively more intimidating.

Realizing he had just told two customers to enjoy their fuck, Naruto blushed prettily, his hands kneading in worry. The stare both men had on him was nerve-racking!

"Ah! I-I mean, please enjoy your meal! Sorry!" And with a last glance at a still expressionless Sasuke, Naruto hurried back to the kitchens.

Tch, just like a stinky bastard to eat stinky food.

Sasuke watched the blond run off then turned back to his brother who was also watching the blond.

"Itachi," said Sasuke, catching his big brother's attention again.

"That waiter sure was strange," the man stated, a small smirk on his face. He saw the recognition in his little brother's eyes, regardless of how well he hid it. And it was obvious the blond knew Sasuke too.

"Indeed. Now, back to what we were discussing, about the finances?" Sasuke egged, trying to make this dinner finish faster. Not that he didn't like his brother, but whenever he was in his vicinity, he felt too jealous. Of what? Of everything his brother had. He had smarts, power, and a seat on the throne of possibly their whole country. Itachi got to be all that while he, the little brother, had yet to achieve that supremacy. All he had right now was some stupid crummy school that he could pull some strings from.

Growing up in his brother's shadow had not been good on Sasuke's emotions. He had always come in a step behind his brother, no matter what he tried. If he got first place at a piano competition, his brother had gotten the grand prize at an even younger age. If his team won a debate because of him, his brother had won it with one-man team. If he bought his parents a present on their anniversary, Itachi had given them a whole week's worth of vacation money. It was truly frustrating to try your hardest but never get any closer to the looming tower that was his brother.

Itachi didn't seem to care about Sasuke's frustrations. In fact, he seems a bit amused at the whole thing. Smirking over the plate of fish, he observed his little brother. He seemed to be fuming about something. Aww, his little sibling was so cute.

Finally, Itachi decided to answer his brother's question and get to the point.

"Our mother and father have decided to go overseas for business. It will most likely take a year or so. In the mean time, I'm in charge of all the money, but being the generous man that I am, I'm allowing you to use one fourth of the money for whatever you want it for. The other two thirds will be for our living expenses and such." At this point of the information, he paused to see Sasuke's reaction.

True to form, Sasuke was expressionless as ever. Giving a simple nod to state his agreement, he picked up a piece of raw fish with his chopsticks and dipped it gracefully into the sauce. Sticking it into his mouth, he savoured the flavour of his favourite food. Mmmmmm.

"Okay, now that that's settled, I wish to discuss something else with you," Itachi said, his voice lowering as his eyes shifted slightly towards the blond that just emerged from behind the kitchen once more.

Sasuke, missing the glance, thought by the hushed tone his brother was using meant it was something very important. Lowering his head towards Itachi a bit, he stiffened himself for whatever he was about to say.

"...What's his name?"

Sasuke merely stared at Itachi, confused. Name? Who?

Itachi jerked his head in the blonde's direction, a small smirk on his face. Sasuke turned to see who he was talking about and was surprised to see the Uzumaki kid being the target.

"Him? The waiter from before?" Sasuke asked, bemused.

"Yes, brother. It seems that you know each other and I would like to know his name." Itachi grinned at the scowl that appeared on Sasuke's face. Ooooh, he had found a touchy subject.

...

Still the original writings of xXCabbageXx.

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