A/N: if I do this once in the first chapter, I don't need to keep doing it, do I? Do I? *paranoid* I don't own Naruto! There! I said it!
Onward! :D
The next half hour had been spent with Kakashi showing them where all the decorations were kept. In the storeroom, cardboard boxes were stacked on top of each other, some almost touching the ceiling, and a decent-sized spruce tree lay on the floor, still packed. The two boys listened carefully as Kakashi outlined a rough plan of how he wanted the place to look. Naruto had a fair idea of what he was talking about, since he'd seen something similar for himself last year.
"Good luck boys!" Kakashi beamed, putting his coat on. "And don't forget to lock up once you're done. Make me proud!"
He placed a set of keys on a nearby table, and then marched out of the front entrance, leaving Naruto and Sasuke standing in the middle of the lounge floor.
"This is all your fault." Naruto spat once the door shut. "If you weren't such a bastard, I wouldn't be in this mess! You know, I've been here all day. You only came in at three! This is the last thing I wanna be doing! I'm so tired that I could-"
"Naruto." Sasuke cut him off, a serious look in his eyes. "I'm sorry."
The blonde just blinked up at him, the steady rant dying on his lips. There was definitely something wrong with the universe right now. This is no longer planet Earth, Naruto reasoned. I've been transported to another realm, where everything is backwards. There is no way in hell Uchiha Sasuke would ever apologise. Apologise to me, on top of that. Never. Period. Pigs are gonna come flying through the door any second.
"Hello?" Sasuke frowned, flicking the other boy on the forehead.
"What the fuck?" Naruto cried, taking a step back. He rubbed his head for a second, then mumbled, "Why...why are you apologising?"
"Because you won't shut up unless I do." Sasuke replied, grabbing a mop. Naruto scowled in response. "I hate to admit it, but I could have lost my job just now. Same goes for you. And it really would've taken the piss, getting fired over something so petty. But he's given us one chance, and we can't afford to fuck it up."
"Sure..." Naruto said slowly, still not believing his ears.
"Here." Sasuke said, holding the mop out to Naruto. "If you get started on the floor, I'll do the tables and machines. Then we can get the windows washed together. It doesn't make sense to decorate the place if it's not even clean to begin with."
He glanced up at the clock.
"It's just after six." The raven said, considering. "If we get all the cleaning done now, we might be able to get decorating around seven. It'd be nice if we get to leave here before midnight. So..."
He fixed Naruto with an unreadable expression. "So, let's just forget our differences for now and concentrate on getting this done. I want to go home as much as you do. Sound fair?"
Then he smirked. That fucking Uchiha Sasuke trademark smirk, which never failed to make Naruto's blood boil. The blonde grit his teeth and snatched the mop out of Sasuke's hands.
"I don't need you to tell me what to do, bastard." He hissed. Then he moved to the furthest corner of the room and began angrily dragging the mop across the floor, muttering under his breath.
Sasuke stood there a moment, completely bewildered. Then he sighed, and headed for the back room, where the disinfectant and cloths were kept.
They were silent after that.
Naruto seemed to be in some kind of work frenzy, Sasuke noticed. In less than ten minutes, the vast expanse of the floor had been wiped to a brilliant shine. He had already made a start on the windows, kneeling on the tables that ran against the walls, dipping a cloth in soapy water, before leaning up to viciously scrub at the glass.
The Uchiha watched from behind the coffee machine, absentmindedly cleaning one of the nozzles. He couldn't understand what had suddenly made the other boy tick. Since when was saying sorry against the freakin' law? Stooping down as low as apologising to someone - when he hadn't even done anything remotely life threatening to begin with - had left a massive dent in his pride. He was not a happy bunny right now. Sasuke had tried to be the more mature man, attempt to wave a white flag of peace, and it had all just been thrown right back in his face.
Like a jug of milk.
He could still smell the shit on him, coating his skin and clothes with its sick, vomit-like creaminess. There was only so much he had managed to wash off. The Uchiha was willing to bet that Naruto had deliberately chosen milk as his weapon because the blonde knew how much he hated the stuff.
Fuck him, he thought bitterly. The raven slammed his hands down onto the counter in frustration. Naruto didn't seem to notice, too absorbed in his window-washing. Sasuke could feel himself getting more and more irritated with every second that went by. It was like a little claw, lightly scraping against the side of his head; almost unnoticeable, but incessantly gnawing at the same spot, over and over and over.
He wanted nothing more than to walk out right now. And smash Naruto's head into the glass on his way.
"Hey, why do you always do that?" the blonde called over his shoulder, out of nowhere.
The claw scratched again, a little deeper this time.
"Do what?" Sasuke answered through clenched teeth.
"Piss me off." The reply was immediate.
Impossibly, the raven felt something pull at the corner of his mouth, tugging his lips up into a tiny smirk. He couldn't help it, despite everything. Naruto's tone of voice always had that effect on him; so blunt and stupid, and to the point. His shoulders began to relax. He shut his eyes, and felt some of his anger begin to evaporate away, being replaced by that familiar sense of amusement.
"Because you make it too damn easy, dobe." He smiled.
Sasuke looked up, expecting to see Naruto's classic reaction- the flushed cheeks, the comical angry eyes, and that incredibly foul mouth... No doubt it would be opening and closing stupidly, failing to get any words out. Absolutely fucking priceless. He could almost feel himself slipping back into a good mood again.
But no...
The blonde was still kneeling on the table, one hand on the glass and the other clutching the rag in a fierce hold. Sasuke watched the soapy droplets fall past his fist and onto the dark wood. Naruto's expression was far from pissed off, he realised. If anything, the other boy looked unbelievably calm, almost detached. As though he were listening intently for a very faint sound.
"If you finish these windows," he began, his voice devoid of any emotion. "I can get started with the snow spray."
What the fuck? Sasuke thought, baffled. What's with that? Why didn't he respond like he usually does? What's happening?
"Sure," the Uchiha replied instead. "Just make sure you don't miss the glass and spray the tables instead, idiot. We're only too familiar with your usual retarded cock-ups."
That should do it.
"I won't, don't worry." Naruto answered, unfazed.
Then, with the grace of a feline, he leapt off the tables and headed towards the store cupboard. For the second time that evening, Sasuke stood and watched Naruto walking away, feeling totally and utterly confused.
"Call that a snowflake?" Sasuke snorted. "I've seen more artistic stuff coming out of my freakin' backside. Could you get any more idiotic?"
Silence.
Naruto just sat there, quietly snipping away at the coloured card, as though the raven didn't even exist. For an entire hour and a half, Sasuke had thrown taunt after insulting taunt at the other male, determined to elicit some form of response. The boy wouldn't even blink back at him. Unless he'd been asked an outright, non-sarcastic question, Naruto just refused to speak.
It would have unnerved Sasuke, who had never seen the blonde quiet for such a long period of time, but the Uchiha was just too angry to be worried. He was royally pissed off; even a ten foot brick wall would've produced a reaction by now if it had been on the receiving end of Sasuke's jibes. He had never felt so... unsuccessful in his life. It made his blood boil with rage.
However, as far as the coffee house itself was concerned, the time had been well spent. It was now eight o'clock, and the numerous windows running along the walls were done. The bottom edges of the glass, which had been layered generously with the frost-like spray, contrasted beautifully against the night sky. In the centre of each window, there were many white flecks dancing across the glass. It gave the impression that it actually was snowing outside. The windows could have been photographs, depicting a frozen image of the snowflakes' graceful descent. Naruto silently noted they looked better than they had last winter, and smiled to himself.
In addition, once the remaining windows had been washed, Sasuke had returned to the counter and gotten the entire preparation area spotless. Then he'd rummaged around in the cardboard boxes and located some tinsel and a few miniature figurines, hurling more insults over his shoulder to Naruto (but to no avail) as he worked. Now, the front of the counter was sparkling with festive decorations, complete with a little Santa atop the cash register, beaming wordlessly to invisible customers in an invisible queue.
The chairs had been stacked. The refrigerators and grills were squeaky clean and switched off. Each table had been polished to a shine and adorned with a 'Roast Christmas Special' menu, which showed lovely little pictures of the mince pies and gingerbread snowmen that were all part of their December-exclusive range.
They were making good progress.
All that remained was the ceiling, the dull walls near the sofa area, and the Christmas tree itself. Presently, the two baristas were sat at one of the tables, with scissors, staples and sheets of different coloured card. Sasuke had come across a booklet containing instructions on how cut simple decorations, which they could use to hang from the ceiling. Naruto was in the middle of making a chain of blue and white snowflakes, and contrary to the Uchiha's remark, they were coming out pretty damn nice.
After a moment, Sasuke sighed and stood up, heading for the bathroom.
Naruto stayed focussed on his decorations. He had concluded that simply giving up was the best tactic for today. Sasuke could prod and provoke him all he wanted, but he wasn't going to lash out now. He was tired, on the verge of losing his job and wanted to get out of this blasted coffee house as quickly as possible. Just don't react to his taunts, Uzumaki. He told himself, sternly. The bastard is trying to get a reaction out of you, and you'll just be playing right into his hands if you get all worked up. And maybe keeping your mouth shut isn't a bad idea anyway - I swear he's getting annoyed 'cause of it, the prick! Ha!
He wants you to react, don't give it to him. Over and over, like an insistent mantra, he kept repeating the words to himself as he worked. And it would have gotten him through the entire evening without another problem. And Sasuke would've ended up walking home in a massive huff, ready to kill the first unfortunate soul in his path.
But just as the raven was coming out of the men's room, drying his hands on his jeans as he walked, he almost tripped over another cardboard box. Cursing, he glared down, ready to kick the thing into oblivion. Then he noticed its contents.
And in that instant, he saw his chance.
A sinister smile played across the Uchiha's lips as his mind calculated rapidly. This could work. No, this would work, dammit. He'd make sure of it. There was no way Naruto was leaving this place tonight without giving Sasuke the satisfaction of pissing him off first.
No way in hell.
A/N: Please review! ^.^