Chapter 11

"Why do you want to know his name?" Sasuke mumbled, a bit out of character. He never mumbles.

Except near his brother. But ignore that.

Itachi raised a slender eyebrow. Why was his dear little brother so reluctant to give only a name? Was there something Sasuke didn't want him to know about?

This is going to be fun. Itachi gave an evil smirk.

Sasuke gulped. Itachi could always somehow weasel things out of him, and he wasn't prepared to tell him of how he almost got beaten by some stupid blond in his most skilled sport, or of that...grope...

Sasuke mentally shuddered, pushing the memories into the back of his head. He'll deal with them later, when Itachi wasn't reading every single twitch of his face trying to figure something out.

"Fine. His name's Naruto U...U..." Sasuke racked his brain for the kid's last name.

"Uzubaka," he provided. It was close enough, and pretty accurate, he thought. That's what Sakura had told him, if he remembered correctly. (Flashback for the readers; not in Sasuke's head; from chapter 4: "So he and that new guy, Naruto Uzubaki whatever, were imitating you." XD get it? Sakura got all mixed up, saying Uzubaki, and now Sasuke mixed up what Sakura said, making it Uzubaka. XD baka means stupid in Jap. Just so y'all know. :: laughs at my own stupid cleverness:: Everyone else::sweat drop:: loser)

Itachi folded his hands in front of him, elbows on the table. He doubted that was the kid's last name, but didn't make any statement on it.

"Naruto...interesting enough name. A friend?" He also highly doubted that, but asked nevertheless.

"No, a stupid new transfer from Sand High," Sasuke retorted, his scowl back in place.

Ah. Itachi knew of the tension between Sasuke and Sand High. Deciding he had pressed enough for now, he settled back into his chair and ate some fish.

The conversation, though, had completely removed Sasuke of any appetite he had. Just thinking about Sand High made him want to punch something.

Scowling at the plate in front of him, he missed Itachi wave for the bill. It was only until Naruto's cheery voice sounded right next to him that he snapped his gaze up.

Locking eyes with the blond, Sasuke glared for all he was worth at him, envisioning Naruto sizzling under the intense stare and melting into a drooling pile of mush onto the floor.

Naruto more than happily returned the glare, completely ignoring Itachi, who was watching the whole thing play out before him with an amused grin. Who knew Sasuke had such a burning relationship with a classmate?

But, getting bored of just looks and no action, Itachi cleared his throat, catching the attention of the blond once more.

Naruto blushed, realizing he ignored a customer completely, and stuttered, "Y-yes, sir?" Hopefully no one's watching him mess up this badly, so he won't get fired.

Does he blush this much normally? Itachi absentmindedly thought; because of the two times he's seen him, his face has been flushed pink both times.

...awww, just like how Sasuke used to be.

"Bill, please," Itachi smirked.

"Yes, sir. Right away sir." Naruto piped, hurrying off again.

"Yes, sir. Right away sir. Nice weather sir. You look spectacular, sir. I love you sir." Sasuke mocked in his head, once again scowling at his plate. Everyone around Itachi was like that, kissing up to his big brother all the time. Why should some teenage punk be any different? Just because Naruto didn't show nearly that much respect towards him doesn't mean he won't fawn all over Itachi like the rest of them.

Was there really that much of a gap between them two? So much that a teenager could yell obscenities at him and be a complete ass-kisser to Itachi?

The thought got Sasuke angrier than ever. The whole brother rivalry was so damn FUSTRATING! Especially when he was the only one that considered it a rivalry, the only one trying to outdo the other, the only one getting angry over these little things!

Damn Itachi for being so perfect! Sasuke cursed, his anger peaking over.

"Now now, little brother. You'll scare your blond away if you keep that scary face on," Itachi teased, watching closely for his brother's reaction.

Like that'll happen. I have the intimidating power of a squirrel. Sasuke thought, finally resorting to self-bashing statements.

But on the outside, he just hn'd, leaving it at that.

"Here you are, sir!" Naruto exclaimed, skidding to a halt next to their table. He knew he wasn't supposed to run, but he didn't want to upset the scary man by making him wait too long.

Itachi took the bill offered and put his credit card onto it, handing it back instantly. Smiling at the blond, he found it less surprising than the last two times when Naruto blushed again.

This time, Sasuke caught on to the pink that spread across Naruto's face.

Tch, is he really that much of an ass-kisser? He's blushing like some girl, the loser. Sasuke scoffed, thought secretly, he wanted to wipe the stupid blush off his face. For what reason, he blamed on him brother for being so influential on other people.

"One moment!" said Naruto, running back again.

Loser, loser, loser...Sasuke kept repeating in his head. Really, the more the blond talked, the more he wanted to throw up. His stomach is feeling really queasy right now.

"Little brother, to conclude our dinner, do you have anything you wish to ask about the finances? Or do you have anything you wish to say?" Itachi asked, drawing the evening to an end.

Sasuke shook his head, though he really wanted to tell Itachi how annoying he was. Really really annoying. So annoying that Sasuke sometimes wanted to bang his head on a wall.

But of course, he didn't tell him that. He was such a good person.

"No, big brother. I'm fine with everything."

"Good." Itachi nodded.

God, that guy is scary. Maybe it was something about his oddly red eyes, or the way his bangs were casting menacing shadows all over his face, or it could be the fact that he had such an air of importance around him that you could practically see the little waves coming off him.

Whatever the cause, Naruto was sure that the guy wasn't someone to mess with. He could only hope his mess ups wouldn't put his life in danger or something!

Sighing, he charged the bill to the guy's, Uchiha Itachi it seems, credit card.

Better get back before I'm killed, thought Naruto, shaking off the stares that he could feel on his back.

As he neared the table, Naruto sucked in his breath, puffing out his chest, and then breathed out again. It was a great stress reliever, really.

Putting on his smile again, he approached the two men.

"Here's your credit card!" Naruto handed the card back to him. Itachi took it and stored it back into his inside coat pocket.

"Anything else for you, sir?" asked Naruto, remembering his restaurant waiting manners.

"Yes, actually," answered Itachi, his eyes shifting towards Sasuke and a smirk spreading across his face. Naruto shivered involuntarily. "Do you by any chance know Sasuke here?" He nodded his head in the direction of Sasuke, who was looking more and more mortified by the second (though normal people couldn't tell).

Naruto glanced at the bastard and huffed, completely forgetting he was a waiter and the man was a customer. A very frightening customer.

"No way, I don't know him, except that he's a bastard and that he goes to my school."

You mean you go to my school, Sasuke mentally corrected, a scowl appearing on his facial features.

"Ah...I see." And Itachi said no more, only standing up and brushing past a still irate Naruto.

Sasuke stood up too, gave Naruto the fiercest glare he could muster, and followed after his brother.

Naruto gave him the finger and stuck his tongue out to the side childishly. Sasuke just ignored the offense and continued on.

"Naruto!"

Aww, crap! Naruto spun around to see his manager glowering at him. Apparently, a lot of customers had been shocked by such a rude gesture.

"Come here, NOW!"

Sheesh, she sounded like his mother or something.

Naruto took one look over his shoulder at Sasuke who was just going out the door. He could see very clearly a victorious leer on his lips.

Tch, I'll get you next time, prissy ass, Naruto fumed.

"NOW!" His manager yelled, though not too loudly in case it disturbed the customers any more than necessary.

"Coming!" Naruto sighed, preparing himself for a good round of sucking up and pleading for this job.

Sasuke was going to pay. He would make sure of it.

Abruptly, a light bulb ping'd on Naruto's head as he walked towards the irritated manager. He just had a great idea!

The COMPETITIONS! Ah, what splendid events to beat prissy boys like Sasuke! Yes! This was totally going to work!

And Naruto schemed for the rest of his work time (thank goodness he didn't get fired!).

...

Still the original workings of xXCabbageXx.

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