Chapter 4:
"But . . ." the raven simpered, swaying.
"No buts," was the barkeepers stern response. He turned away to a cabinet and locked the keys away, out of the ravens reach and the reach of anyone else who could possibly want to steal them. "Go make sure you packed up that guitar of yours and then sit there and sober up a bit while you wait."
The man pouted, slipping sideways off the bar. He folded his arms childishly across his chest and then promptly made a face. "I f'l sick . . ." he informed.
The barkeeper shook his head and turned down the bar to face Naruto and Kiba. "One of you take him to the bathroom. Make sure he doesn't lose his lunch on the way." He started to turn away to help another customer when he stopped, turning back to make a final note. "If he does, make him clean it. He knows where the mop is."
Kiba had latched onto the ravens arm almost before the barkeeper had left. "Why are you such a fucking drunk?" he asked.
The man looked at him in utter bewilderment. "I on . . .ly h'd . . .one beer," he managed to get out as he was jostled about.
"Of course," Kiba growled, pulling him toward the back. "You're such liar."
The raven didn't fight the brunette, letting him pull him towards the bathroom. "'m not sick anymore," he murmured.
"You aren't?" Kiba asked, slowing to a stop. Naruto watched, faintly amused at his friends antics. The raven haired man shook his head and staggered sideways into Kiba. He turned toward blonde and after a moment his dark eyes lit up. "I—I had s'methin' for you!" he exclaimed.
Naruto sighed in relief. "You have no idea how glad I am to hear that."
The raven grinned happily. The expression slipped away after a brief moment, and he reached up to press the heels of his palms into his eyes. "I n'd to lay d'wn . . ." he mumbled, swaying again.
"Yeah, I bet!" Kiba huffed. "You're sure you aren't going to puke, right?" The man nodded in answer. "Alright, here's what we're gonna do; I'm gonna leave you with this guy while I go and get your stuff. His name is Naruto. He'll be nice to you." Kiba led the raven toward the blonde without waiting for an answer from either of them. "Don't let him out of your sight," he warned before moving away, toward the little platform stage.
"Hi," the raven breathed fuzzily, clutching at Naruto's arm. He mulled over his thoughts for a moment. "Kiba's nice to me," he finally said, nodding his head ever so slightly. Evidently, he recalled that nodding too much had nearly made him fall over before.
"How long have you known him?" Naruto asked curiously. After watching Kiba's antics, he had the tinniest inkling as to who this was, but he wanted very much to hear Kiba confirm it.
"Mmm . . .s'methin' . . .long time . . ."
The blonde noted the decrease in intelligibility of the ravens speech, and was relieved when Kiba reappeared moments later. The brunette had a guitar case in one hand and was gesturing toward the door with his other. "Let's move your drunk ass," he said, amused when the raven jumped and stared at him.
"W . . .where?" the raven asked, trying to follow Kiba. He only managed to succeed when Naruto took his arm and held him steady in his stumbling.
"My house. We'll take you home with us." Kiba paused at the door, watching as Naruto helped the raven through. "I'm always afraid to leave him alone when he's like this," he told the blonde. "Anything could happen to him."
"You two are close?" Naruto asked. The raven shrugged him off, the colder air from outside apparently sharpening his senses just enough to allow him to walk in some semblance of a crooked line.
Kiba just frowned, declining to answer for the moment. He took point and led the blonde and the raven down the street to where he'd parked the van. When they got there, both Naruto and Kiba had to work together to convince the raven to get into it. Kiba started the engine and Naruto looked into the back, where the raven had curled up comfortably on one of the seats.
"At least he had the decency to pass out once he was in the car," Kiba said with a snort. "I like it when he does that. He can't sing in tune when he's drunk, and if he doesn't pass out, he sings. He blackout writes, though, which is always good. A lot of my favourite songs are ones he's written when he's blacking out."
Naruto studied the ravens face for a moment. He felt like his inkling was pretty close. The only thing that didn't add up in his mind was the idea that this person, if they were who he thought they were, would be a cashier working at a drugstore in the middle of nowhere. That didn't quite make any sense. "So, Kiba," the blonde started. "Is this, um, is this . . .him?"
The brunette pursed his lips and glanced into his rearview mirror, where he got just the briefest view of the raven sleeping in the back seat. "Yup," he said with a nod. "You just met Sasuke."
Read and review? Thanks! And don't just ask for more soon . . .I don't want to sound mean or ungrateful, or whatever, but I really won't be writing anything more over here for a while.