Crown & Anchor
by Nilladriel

The worst thing about writing fanfiction is, I tend to re-read the manga for, uh... research purposes. Right. Research. Only of course I end up reading entire volumes instead of writing. Sigh.

Sorry this chapter is so late. I've been distracted.

Chapter Five: Lucky Draw

The sunlight woke Naruto, a full spread of heat across his arms and chest. Someone was talking, probably not to him. He flung out an arm and blindly groped until he hit his cell phone. He brought the screen up close and squinted. Nearly noon. Damn.

"Mmrfgh," he mumbled. The talking stopped. There was the click of a phone being set back down.

"I've ordered lunch," Uchiha's voice said from somewhere beyond Naruto's protective cocoon of blankets.

"Okay," Naruto murmured.

"It's already ten past twelve," Uchiha added, sounding disturbed.

Fuck, hadn't he ever met anyone who didn't deal well with mornings before? Offended, Naruto rolled onto his back, pulling the blanket down just far enough that he could see Uchiha. Uchiha's upside-down face made his hair look pretty decent.

Wait.

"No gel!" Naruto yelped.

Uchiha jumped, and then looked like he regretted the action. "So?"

"It looks good," Naruto said. "You don't look like some scene kid at my school anymore."

When Uchiha didn't say anything, just gave Naruto a long look that probably translated pretty well as what the fuck, Naruto added: "That's a good thing, by the way. Uh, when's breakfast getting here?"

"Lunch," Uchiha said, "will be here in twenty."

"Cool. Call me when breakfast," Naruto said, "gets here."

He managed to get off the couch without falling on his ass. Uchiha snorted and went back to his book. Naruto wondered how long he'd been there, just sitting and reading.

In the bathroom, the cold tugged at his feet from the tiles, and Naruto yawned. His teeth felt disgusting. There was a toothbrush provided by the hotel--unopened, because Uchiha had his own bag of toiletries. It was black and half-opened and full of suspicious-looking, small bottles.

Applying a liberal amount of tooth-paste to the bristles, Naruto looked at his reflection. He had bed-hair, and his skin looked terrible, but otherwise he looked normal. Naruto felt like he should look different--maybe more like a dead criminal's son--but it was just the same old face. His eyes were still blue, he still needed a hair-cut, and he was still short.

Maybe things don't have to change, Naruto thought. He spit, rinsed, used some of Uchiha's mouth-wash.

Or maybe things can change, if I want them to.

"Oi! Food's here, idiot!"

"I'm taking a shower!" Naruto yelled back, and tugged his shirt off.

Breakfast ("Lunch," Uchiha said, and Naruto rolled his eyes.) was sandwiches, milk, and juice. Naruto didn't touch the milk, but he ate most of the sandwiches.

They ate in the dining area by the door. Naruto was amazed there even was a dining area. The food had been brought up on a tray by a professional-looking woman in black and white. It came with utensils wrapped in patterned napkins, which Naruto ignored.

Uchiha kept staring at him. Naruto shoved damp bangs out of his eyes and glared back. "What," he said.

"Nothing," Uchiha replied. "Are you free next week?"

"Why are you asking?" Naruto asked suspiciously.

"Isn't it obvious?" Uchiha said, raising an eyebrow.

"My week's kind of busy," Naruto said. Strangely enough, this wasn't a lie.

"And your weekend?"

Naruto looked at his glass. It was half-full. The apple juice glittered. He picked it up, put it back down. "I don't think so," he said, slowly. "Um, I usually go out on Friday." He frowned.

Uchiha leaned forward and tapped his brow. Naruto jerked his head up, eyes widening.

"You look better like this, too," Uchiha told him easily. The words were smoother on his tongue than Naruto's.

"Um," said Naruto. His fingers drifted up of their own accord; he jerked his hand back before he could do anything stupid. "I guess I'll go now. Thanks for breakfast."

"Lunch," Uchiha corrected. "Thanks for dinner."

"Sure," Naruto said. He didn't stand up. He hadn't finished his juice. That was a good enough excuse; he reached for it, and then stopped when Uciha wrapped long fingers around his hand. He looked at their twined digits blankly.

"Give me five minutes," Uchiha said.

"Um... what?" Naruto said, completely and absolutely undignified.

"Five minutes to convince you to go on a second date with me."

Naruto couldn't help grinning at that. For a moment Naruto just shifted his blue gaze to Uchiha's. And then he glanced at the clock behind them, which stood discretely next to sun-bright, yellow flowers. He waited until the second hand hit the twelve, and then he said, "Okay."

Just like the first time, Uchiha didn't speak, but this time it wasn't because he was stunned. He was obviously thinking, gaze fixed somewhere beyond Naruto's right ear. He was frowning again. Someday his eyebrows were going to fall off.

Naruto said, "Three minutes left."

"Last night was fun," Uchiha said, and then seemed to re-consider his words. He added: "Before the phone call. I meant what I said. I miss you.

"I know a lot about you, from before, but... I wouldn't mind getting to know you now."

Uchiha licked his lips. "I'm going to kiss you now," he said.

"Why the hell are you still frowning, then," Naruto started to say, and then Uchiha leaned forward and their lips met.

Naruto froze. They were still holding hands. The yellow flowers next to the clock seemed to be staring at him, like they were asking him what the hell are you doing.

Naruto closed his eyes. Uchiha's lips were warm. It was better than their first kiss, because it didn't come after a fucked-up conversation or an earth-shattering phone call. Uchiha was more sure, now.

He let go.

"Time's up," Naruto said. He didn't say anything else.

Uchiha put an elbow on the table, leaning his chin on his palm. "Thanks for coming," he said. He was staring again.

"Sure," Naruto repeated stupidly. "I better go and change, right?"

He stood up. The chair complained, and he still hadn't finished his juice. He reached for his plastic bag. Empty of pizza, the containers were light in his hand. Uchiha was dressed in red today, Naruto suddenly noticed, like a blurred camera suddenly focusing. The color made his eyes lighter, like the in right light they'd shine russet.

At the door, Naruto turned around. "I have faculty meetings all next week. Something about the cafeteria. And the dress code," he added, and made a face. "And Friday I have to supervise some brats while they argue about the Halloween dance. But I'll keep Saturday open."

Uchiha tilted his head. "Okay," he said. "Saturday."

On impulse, Naruto held out his hand.

After a long moment, Uchiha took it. They shook.

"It was nice meeting you," Naruto said.

Uchiha didn't say anything. He squeezed Naruto's hand once, then let go. "Don't bring food next time," he said.

Near the elevators, Naruto looked back. Uchiha hadn't closed the door; he was leaning against the doorway, one crutch tucked loosely against his arm but bearing no weight. His thumb snaked through a belt-loop. He looked like a model, face lit a soft yellow by the light in the hallway, outlined by white from the lights behind him.

Naruto raised a hand in goodbye. Uchiha nodded back.

The elevator dinged impatiently at him. Naruto stepped in. He grinned to himself, and hummed under his breath.

When he got home, Sakura was sitting in front of the front door. She hadn't put her hair up and she was tapping a rhythm against the floor. She sat with her legs crossed, and her shoes were in front of the door in a careless pile. They looked new. As soon as she heard him, her eyes snapped up like weapons.

"I called you five times," Sakura hissed, tone sharp against the still air.

Naruto stopped two meters in front of her. "You did?" he said. "Uh. My phone probably died after lun... breakfast."

Sakura threw her head back. It thudded against the door; she didn't seem to care. She was staring at the ceiling, not him, but somehow Naruto could feel the full force of her rage, anyway, like a heavy weight against his shoulders and chest. "I called Neji," she told him. "He says he's sorry, he didn't know your Dad's name. He feels like an absolute ass, Naruto. Why were you at Sasuke's?"

Naruto didn't even know what she was mad about, so he just said, "Uh," and took a step back.

"I've been here for four hours," Sakura added.

"Uh. Sorry?" Naruto tried, and then flinched when Sakura snapped her gaze on him, ice-blue and furious.

"You're calling Neji later and apologizing," she said, and slowly stood up. "My ass is numb."

"Coffee?" Naruto suggested tentatively, and took another step back, ready to run. The plastic bag swung against the back of his knee.

Sakura sighed. "I didn't sleep after you called," she told him, because she always wanted to explain things. "So I called Neji, and he wasn't sleeping, either, and he told me what he told you, so I told him your Dad's name, and afterwards he said maybe I should check on you, so that's why I've been sitting here for hours waiting for you to get your ass back home."

She took out the keys Naruto had given her years ago and expertly fit them into the door. Naruto always had to struggle, but the door slid open easily for Sakura. Maybe it'd been cowed by her temper.

Naruto waited outside until Sakura turned back to look at him and sighed. "I'm not mad at you," she sighed. "I was just worried. And pissed off. Get your ass inside, you need to make me coffee."

She narrowed her eyes. "Why are you smiling?"

"Nothing," Naruto said, and dodged around her. His phone charger was in his bedroom. He plugged it in and impatiently turned his phone on. It sang at him, something tinny and high, while a happy .gif played on the screen.

When everything loaded, he spent a few seconds pondering his background, which slid between pitures every few seconds. Currently it was featuring Sakura's very drunk, very red face. It made her eyes even more blue.

heard you were worried, wuss, he carefully typed out. i'm okay.

He hit send, and then considered. He pulled up a new window.

yeah, his name was namikaze minato. he was a good dad. i'll show you pictures later if you want.

That was enough of an apology for now. He'd call Neji properly later.

After changing into fresh clothes, Naruto wandered back into the kitchen and took the kettle out of the top-most cupboard, which always squealed when he opened it. The kettle had a completely stained bottom. He stuck it under the faucet.

Sakura was looking through her purse which, thanks to current fashion trends, wasn't actually a purse but a highly fashionable sack. Zippers glinted. Naruto wondered just how much stuff she could fit inside it.

Sakura suddenly made a noise of triumph. She pulled out something bright and long--

"My scarf!" Naruto said.

"Yes," Sakura said. "Come here."

Naruto did. Sakura hit him with the scarf, and then slung it around his neck before he could complain.

She stepped back. "Wow," she said.

"Huh?" Naruto said. He couldn't decipher her wide eyes.

"Well, you actually look good," Sakura said. "Bright colors suit you." She tapped a finger against her lower lip, thinking. "Right! Wear this with that brown jacket you have. Oh, and those jeans we bought last month."

"Uh, why?"

Sakura beamed up at him. "You're going to make it up to me," she said, "by taking me out. And then you're going to tell me why you were with Sasuke."

"Are you... mad?" Naruto guessed.

"Why would you think that?" Sakura said. Her smile widened.

"Uh, the coffee--"

"I changed my mind. I want a smoothie," Sakura said. "The reallly expensive kind, with actual fresh fruit. And cheese-cake."

She was still smiling. Naruto resolutely stared back. "Sounds fun. I'm going to call Lee," he said. "He loves smoothies."

Her smile disappeared. "I'd be happy with cheap coffee, though," she said. "Lee hates coffee. Too bad!"

Naruto sighed in relief. Sakura put her hands on her hips. "What are you waiting for? Put that kettle away--let's go!"

"Why are we going for a walk in the cold?" Naruto complained. At least he hadn't forgotten his gloves.

"Shut up," Sakura said, and sighed happily. She cradled her cup of coffee in her hands, enjoying the warmth. To their right, the river lay deceptively serene. The wind bit childishly at their exposed noses.

Naruto huffed, the air puffing up his bangs. "Geez, you're such a--" he started, and stopped when Sakura gave him a look. "Nevermind."

Sakura smiled. She took a sip from her cup and made a happy sound.

"You wanna sit down and finish that? Before it gets cold," Naruto said.

"No," Sakura said. "Let's cross the bridge and take pictures."

She pointed. Naruto squinted. "Uh, why?"

"Just shut up and come on," she said, and before he could agree grabbed his hand and rushed forward. Coffee slushed against the plastic top, droplets leaking out of the small hole at the top.

The bridge was one of many that darted across the river, describing a low arc with dark steel. Naruto could feel the cool of the metal even through his gloves.

"Hold this for a sec--"

He found himself with Sakura's coffee. He glanced at her; she was taking her camera out of its case. She'd taken off her glove so she could handle it better, and it dangled out of her mouth from between clenched teeth. She definitely wasn't looking at him, so Naruto felt free to down half of her coffee.

"Okay, here," Sakura said, sounding satisfied. She brought the camera up and slung an arm around him.

"Don't you want your coffee back?" Naruto asked, just as the camera clicked.

Sakura switched the screen to playback mode and frowned down at the picture. She'd caught the tips of Naruto's spiky, messy hair and, beyond that, a pretty good view of everything behind them. "Way too high," Naruto said. "All you can see are the people behind us. Aren't you normally good at this?"

"Again," Sakura said, clearly ignoring him.

"Oi, you're raising the camera too high again--"

The camera clicked. Sakura brought it back down, frowning hard at the display screen. "Those guys are still there," she said thoughtfully. "Those two." She tapped the screen with a long nail, pursing her lips in thought.

"Because the camera's too high," Naruto said, rolling his eyes.

Sakura said nothing, slipping the camera back into the case. She put her glove back on. "Naruto," she said, "I love you, but you're really dense sometimes."

"Huh?"

Sakura was turning. She seemed to have forgotten about the coffee, which Naruto normally wouldn't mind, except it was getting cold. "Let's go. I want to test something out. Sorry, Naruto, but we're going to walk for a lot longer than I thought in this weather."

"... What?" Naruto said.

Sakura laughed, holding out her hand. "I'll make it up to you later," she promised.

Naruto drank the rest of his coffee and made a face. "I don't get you," he complained, but he took her hand anyway.

It was four, and Naruto was freezing his ass off.

"If you're going to go shopping," he said, "can't you do it in the mall?"

"No way," Sakura said. "The outside shops have better stuff. Thanks for carrying everything, by the way." She smiled at him. Naruto glared back.

Naruto shifted the bags to his opposite hand. He sighed, squinting up at the sky. With the afternoon sun lone gone, the wind seemed sharper and more unforgiving. And, shit, he just hated the cold.

Sakura must have been madder than he thought, to drag him around like this.

"Okay, let's sit down," she decided, clearly in control of this outing.

"Finally," Naruto said, and yelped when she hit him.

"Here looks good," Sakura said.

"But why are we sitting outs--"

She grabbed his jacket sleeve and yanked down hard. His ass hit the chair. The bags hit the floor.

"Oi, Sakura--"

But she was gone.

The place she'd chosen jutted right over the river, shadowing a couple riding on boats. Artists sat in the grass and sketched, apparently oblivious to cold. Everyone was dressed up warmly. October in the city sucked. The chill just sank down, thick and heavy, and bleached colors dead. Naruto sighed and checked Sakura's stuff, making sure nothing was damaged. She'd bought a few decorations for her place.

Geez, but she was acting strange today. Naruto tugged his scarf tighter around him. He cupped his hands around his face and puffed warm air into them to try and bring feeling back into his nose.

Sakura came back with food--warm tomato soup, thank you--and hot chocolate. Her cheeks were as pink as her dyed hair. "Here," she said. "And someone's going to come with yellow chicken later."

Naruto stared hard at her as she sat down. "Okay, what's wrong?"

"You know, they're still here," Sakura said, picking up a fork.

"What?"

"Those two guys I pointed out on the camera? They're still here."

"What?" Naruto said again.

Sakura picked up her spoon and, very calmly, whacked his cheek with it. Naruto flinched back. "Naruto," she said, very slowly, "we're being followed."

"Is that why you've been acting all weird?" Naruto said, and then: "Wait a minute! How'd you know? And why didn't you tell me?"

"Because then you'd act all weird and give us away," Sakura said. "I wanted to see how long they'd stick with us. I don't know if we should go home...."

Naruto looked down at his soup. At least it looked tasty. "Why not?"

"Because then they'd follow us there," Sakura said. "Geez, and I wanted to ask you about Sasuke, not spend the day trying to shake off a trail."

"Why," Naruto said, "do you sound like you're used to this?"

"Oh, that's because I am," Sakura said easily. "Comes with my work. No, I'm not ever telling you what I do. Are you going to eat that?"

"Yes!" Naruto said, and protectively tugged his bowl away from her.

"It's nothing to worry about," Sakura said, smiling, but Naruto saw the tightness of her eyes, the way her gaze dropped down to her hot chocolate instead of meeting his. He didn't press her, though. Besides, the soup was good.

"I, um, went on a date with Uchiha," he said.

"Why are you still calling him by his last name, then?" Sakura said. Then she dropped her fork. "Wait, what? But you said you didn't like him! You punched him!"

Naruto didn't mention that she'd done worse to Uchiha. "He's not a very good kisser," he said, and then dodged her slap. He didn't dodge the hit on his arm.

"You're freakishly violent today," Naruto sulked, and raised a hand to ask for a new fork for Sakura. A sullen-looking teenager in an unfortunate-looking uniform shuffled forward with all the enthusiasm of a snail.

"I thought it was weird," Sakura said finally, after the teenager had left. "He kept asking about you. So he was gunning after you from the start, huh...."

There was, Naruto thought, a lot more to it than that. "Sorry," he said.

"It's not your fault. Still, he was so polite--Oh, there's our chicken."

Sakura gave him her remaining soup and half of her chicken. The sullen waiter came with a new fork. His expression kind of reminded Naruto of Konohamaru.

"It's a messed up situation, huh," he said.

"Kind of," Sakura agreed. "How was the date?"

Naruto thought about Neji's phone call. "Uh, okay. The guy stays at this suite in the Millennium. It was huge." He swept out his arms to demonstrate, splattering a few drops of tomato soup onto the floor. "And we had sandwiches for breakf--"

"You stayed overnight?"

"We didn't sleep together!" Naruto hissed immediately. "Shit, Sakura--"

But she was laughing, uselessly trying to cover up her giggles with her hands. "I know, I know," she said. "I just--oh, don't make that face, I was kidding."

"It was just one date," Naruto said, sinking down into his seat. He kicked the chair opposite him. "It doesn't really mean anything."

"So you're not seeing him anymore?"

"... We might do something on Saturday."

Sakura grinned. "Oh?"

"Oh," Naruto parroted. "Shit, I don't know, it wasn't like it was a spectacular date or anything."

--except Uchiha had said, I missed you, and clutched at him and made him feel important, like a treasure long lost recovered--

"I don't know," Sakura said, looking at him thoughtfully over a piece of cut chicken. "With that dumb look on your face, it kind of looks like it was spectacular."

"Not in the way you'd think," Naruto muttered, but he didn't deny her words. "So? Where are we going after this, if we can't go home?"

"We're going to see a movie," Sakura said decisively. "If they're still here after that, we'll stay at a motel or something."

"Really?" Naruto leered. "Why, Sakura, I--"

"Naruto," Sakura said pleasantly, cupping her chin in one hand and picking up her knife with the other, "don't you dare say anything perverted."

Wisely, Naruto shut up.