SCREEEECH.
Naruto immediately regretted buying the new alarm clock. In the electronics store it had looked so nice, with a shiny black surface and multitudes of knobs that allowed one to do things such as set an alarm clock, show the temperature and date, and oh, of course, show the time. But now the evil device was screeching its mechanical heart out, the sounds penetrating through the walls to the other apartments.
He had half expected
his mother to come in, stepping gingerly over the mess in his room.
"Wake up, Naru-chan. It's time for school," she would say
in that sweet voice. But all he received was an impassive alarm
clock that only shut off once he banged the top of it twice.
The boy, after spending fifteen years with his mother, decided it might be nice to have some change and go off to live with his father in Tokyo. However, Naruto didn't realize that the man had become a little busy in the past decade and a half, not that warm presence Naruto remembered as a child. Sure, he loved Naruto with all his heart, but business was the path he chose long ago.
Naruto found a note and his school's uniform. It was a deep navy blue suit, with his year, one, embedded on the collar.
Sorry I wasn't here in the morning, Naruto. There's breakfast in the fridge, along with a lunch box I bought yesterday. I've also written down the name of the train and station to get to your school. Have fun!
Love,
Arashi
The blonde shook his head, but he donned the uniform quick enough. A bit tight on the shoulders, but it was nice enough. He looked toward the largest poster on the wall, depicting Akatsuki in all their glory. Itachi was standing near a graffiti-covered garage door, dressed up in red and black. His posture and expression were extremely casual, perhaps even sleepy. It seemed like the man had the power to lean against the very air itself. The others were there, each somewhat similar to Itachi, but Kisame was the only one who was sitting down.
"Your guys' lives aren't this boring even in retirement, right?" His blue eyes scrutinized Sasori's face. It almost looked as if the other was smirking at him. No no. It had to be because Deidara was decked out in a skirt, complete with lace.
-
The fresh air was an absolute relief
His first day at that blasted school wasn't very interesting, to say the least. He was surrounded by students who were the epitome of perfection. They were dough from rigid cookie cutters. The straighter their tie or the faster their hands shot up to answer a question the more identical to the rest of the batch they became, and thus closer to the top student grade.
Naruto sighed and moved toward the edge of the rooftop. The view was grand from here, and allowing the blonde to finally realize how big his father's town was compared to his old one. Cars traipsed along the roads, piloted by men in dark business suits and even darker sunglasses. There was the occasional merchant calling out sales to plastic-covered women who stomped about in heels as long and thin as rulers. The entire area, although composed mostly of cold cement and steel, had a few trees dotted here and there splashes of brilliant green against dull grey.
Naruto clipped his mp3 player on his jeans and then popped in his earplugs to be greeted by the warm voice of Itachi. He grabbed half of his sandwich and started to eat, getting lost in Akatsuki's song. It was a soft ballad this time, dominated by repeating strings of guitar notes. Itachi's voice seemed to float through the music, only growing louder when Kisame struck off two beats. He was so into the music that he never noticed the dark-haired figure walk up behind him, a cancer stick dangling from his slender fingers.
"Why are you listening to that rotten junk?"
The intruding voice was loud and too confident, contrasting harshly with Itachi's soft murmurings as he rambled on about pouring his own tea in an empty apartment room. This sound was deep, but would have been rich if it weren't for the annoyed feeling in the tone.
Turning on his heel, Naruto was quite prepared to pummel whoever had insulted his favorite band. Plus, someone who was that harsh deserved to be silenced no matter the subject. But what he saw threw his determination off.
Dark feathered bangs swept over a pair of eyes as black as soot, and tamely framed the smooth fair skin around it- strangely though, his hair stuck out in unruly spikes in the back. One corner of his pinkish-beige lips was just slightly pulled down in a frown, as if to say "You annoy me but you really aren't worth it."
As Naruto quickly trailed his gaze over the boy again, (stopping for a moment to look at his cigarette with some sort of annoyance) he realized that he had to tilt his head up to meet the young man's condescending gaze. Tall and slim, but carried well. It was a random thought, but just looking at him was like the feeling of eating a mint in a cold, snowy place.
"…How the hell do you know they suck?" Naruto's tone wasn't as strong as he'd like it to be.
The boy merely smirked and shot out a hand to grab Naruto's wrist. He, with surprising strength that betrayed his lithe frame, pulled the other forward. "Your hands are too soft," he mused. A haughty look fell over his features, sharpening his eyes.
Naruto, whose face was too close to other boy's chest, took some time to respond. Mm… he smelled like cinnamon, wait no… his hands are too soft? His warning radar went off, screeching as loud as his alarm clock. The blonde attempted to reel backwards, only to be held firmly in place by the boy's lethal death grip.
"What are you trying to get to! Argghh, let go of me!"
"Don't freak out, dobe. It just means you've never played an instrument, right?" He answered coolly.
Naruto's mother had never allowed him to play music since it was too "passionate and unruly." He had never understood why she thought that because her paintings was just as volatile, but it might be because he had starting bringing in posters of Akatsuki by then. Although the band was popular, they never made a good impression on the older generation by appearance alone.
His composure faltered even more. "And…?" he managed to say through gritted teeth. Naruto was still trying to futilely wriggle out of the boy's grip.
"It means you aren't a musician. It means that when you listen to them--or any other band, I bet--you only listen to the notes, right?" He let go of Naruto's wrist, causing the blonde to tumble back against the rooftop's gate. The boy's tone had lowered, all serious now. Naruto would have gladly listened if it weren't for the undertones of impatience. "Do you really feel it, instead of just listen? There is no feeling in Akatsuki's music. It's just glamour."
The blonde was taken aback. Why did this complete stranger just come up and bash him so badly? Was he just pissed off because Naruto had taken his hiding spot during lunch? What bothered him more was the talk about feeling. Naruto had been at countless concerts before the band's retirement, sneaking in by telling his mother he was merely going downtown to eat with friends. He had grinded to the beat with the crowd, getting high off the music alone. But what did this other boy mean by feel? The stranger's voice was so confident that it made him almost believe him. Almost.
"You don't know them at all!" Naruto hissed.
The dark-haired boy took a long drag on his cigarette and exhaled, causing the smoke to drift right into Naruto's face, bending like a fictional chloroform-soaked cloth. The blonde coughed, but the other boy started to talk, "I know them a lot better than you." A pause. "You know what though? You're so cute and flustered that I'll show you what I mean. Come meet me at the bus stop right in front of the Yamanaka Flower Shop. As soon as you can, but I suppose you can change." He flicked the cigarette so that a few ashes landed on Naruto's uniform.
Naruto's gaze lowered. He was unable to say a word.
"Okay then." Sasuke smiled, but the emotion didn't reach his eyes. He turned and walked off, just as quietly as he had entered. The cigarette was tossed over the edge of the roof, still releasing its lethal smoke into the air.
Itachi's voice suddenly swelled, riding on Sasori's intricate bass notes.
The heart I've forgotten somewhere is starting to hurt a little.
I keep searching for you in a night lit by the stars that are bound to that time.
-
Naruto didn't quite know why he was here, standing under the shade of two monstrous oak trees underside the Yamanaka flower shop. For one, it was spring and owners displayed almost all of their wares outside. The splashes of red and glimmers of purple were nice to look at, but the open flowers let loose pollen that tickled Naruto's nose like multitudes of feathers. He sighed, a deep audible sound tinged with annoyance, and stuffed both fists into his pockets.
Maybe it was out of curiosity; maybe it was because he really didn't have anything else to do anyways. But this was most definitely how teenagers felt when that dark stranger offered illegal drugs in alleyways. Naruto knew it was stupid to go when there was no solid reward in sight, but that's what made things exciting. …Right?
The bus had gone by twice—no, three times and still no damnable black-haired boy. Ino, a loud blonde in Naruto's homeroom stuck her head out of the doorway, starling him. Her family must own the shop, Naruto guessed. Students at his school weren't allowed to have part time jobs.
"Hey Naruto-kun! Are you waiting for someone?"
Naruto inclined his head toward her and gave a brief nod. She didn't seem so interested in him during class, so he felt no obligation to talk now.
"Oh wait. You're waiting for Sasuke, aren't you?" Ino went on. There was a smirk dancing on her lips. However, it was more amused than malicious.
He shook his head mentally. He was only curious about what the other boy had said, and whether or not there was any god-given proof to his earlier proclamation. It was an ego thing, nothing more.
"Sasuke's his name? There's no way you can know who I'm waiting for," Naruto managed to reply, feigning disinterest.
Ino moved completely out of the shop, revealing a sultry figure with her arm crooked at her waist. She was definitely not the innocent girl in class anymore. "That boy might seem anti-social to you, since he doesn't eat in class," the blonde emphasized the last few words, noting that Naruto does the same thing, "but he has his friends. Well, at least people he talks to. Shikamaru said Sasuke was shirking on cleaning duties to meet a 'cute blonde boy.' And you're the only cute blonde guy in this town."
Naruto shrugged and held back the need to sneeze. "Okay… so?"
"There's only one thing that Sasuke does on Friday. But I'll let you find that out." The girl grinned, eyes shining dangerously. "Oh, look!" Naruto followed the direction of her finger to see a certain figure. Ino quickly entered the shop and slammed the door shut.
Sasuke was slumped over, a beanie squashing down most of his hair, which only served to make the other strands stick out at odder angles than before. He carried himself with an indifferent air, almost cocky. There was no cigarette. However, his gaze rested on Naruto for some time, trailing up from his shoes to the other's cerulean eyes. But there was no smile yet, only a brief nod to acknowledge him.
"Let's go."
At first Naruto wanted to yell at Sasuke. Not even an apology for being late or an explanation of where they were going was offered. But when he opened his mouth to give the other boy a verbal lashing, Sasuke finally smiled.
Now it wasn't anything that lit up his entire face. It was rather like a single crack upon a stone statue. One wouldn't normally notice it, but once the difference was identified it impacted the viewer greatly. Naruto was shut up immediately.
The two took their time down the streets, following a difficult path that made them stumble through large crowds and crush fresh grass in overgrown parks. Although they were both walking next to each other, the silence continued to envelope them the entire length of their journey.
Naruto was disgusted with the knowledge that it was only quiet because Sasuke wanted it. But he was even more disgusted with the fact that the silence was almost comforting, no doubt because Sasuke willed it that way too.
Sasuke found no need to talk, and thus Naruto didn't either.
This will be the only time he controls me like this, Naruto thought.
A shame he was wrong.
-
A/N: My muse is so volatile it hurts. I'm sorry that this is most probably going to come later than I expected it to. (Edit: Almost a three weeks later.) By the way, an invention is pretty much an exercise for the piano. It has to do with adding two or three part counterpoints, or basically two or three independent melodies. Thus, Sasuke and Naruto. Yeah, I'm a dork…
And as always, thanks for my darling beta arriku. Go bother her on dA. She helped me tons in this fanfiction; I can always count on her honest opinions. Sasuke's initial description is written by her. I was totally failing in writing it. xD Any errors left are all mine.
Please review? Constructive critiscm is welcome, as always.