"Oi, Naruto, there's a family at table five that needs drink refills."
"Hm?" Azure eyes rolled lazily toward the brunette. Kiba, who was currently standing in front of him, held two empty water pitchers in his hands and a frown on his handsome, tattooed features.
For the umpteenth time since he'd met the boy, Naruto had wondered just how drunk Kiba had been the night he'd gotten his clan symbol: two bright red fangs, emblazoned upon his cheeks. To date, the man had maintained his story that the decision had been his mother's before he was old enough to protest. Though Naruto had met Mrs. Inuzuka and he wasn't sure that Kiba would've done much protesting of his mother's wishes even if he had been older. That woman was frightening.
"Man, are you sick or something?" The dog-lover asked, concern and frustration mingling in his voice. The frustration probably had more to do with the amount of customers and a recent fight the blond had overheard between Kiba and his girlfriend Hinata. The two were as opposite as day and night, she was sensitive, shy and soft-spoken while Kiba embodied audacious energy. It was why the two were so incredibly attracted to one another; it was also why they got into such big misunderstandings. But the blond wasn't all that concerned, Hinata was Kiba's precious person, the fights never lasted long. In fact, the brunette had even confided that he planned on proposing soon.
"I have never seen you more out of it than you have been all day today. Are you coming down with something or what?"
"I didn't…get much sleep last night." Naruto mumbled. The blond quickly apologized and headed out to the dining room. He had a ton of work to catch up on. He didn't mean to worry his friend. He wasn't sick or anything like that. He'd been telling the truth when he'd said lack of sleep was playing a huge part; the blond actually hadn't gotten to bed until early that morning. Naruto couldn't help that, and even if he had gone to bed at a reasonable hour last night, he probably would've been tossing and turning all night anyways.
He had too much on his mind right now.
Kiba was just looking out for him; he was a decent friend that way. But at the moment, Naruto didn't want concern, he didn't need sympathy, he needed to talk to someone, to verbalize his frustrations and…decide what to do about the really screwed up situation he was in with Hebi and Akatsuki. And that someone was not Kiba.
Maybe all he really needed was to get his mind off of his problems for a few hours, let it work itself out on his own. Naruto knew what the real problem was. He was out of control right now and he hated that feeling. He needed to get a grip.
The blond slipped through the thick double doors and into the dining area, his feet automatically taking him to table five. It was a family he'd seen in 'Leaf' before; Asuma and Kuriena is he recalled correctly. He could see the third member of the Sarutobi family, the dark haired toddler shrieked with delight as Asuma began pock/tickle the child. However, the blond couldn't come up with their kid's name to save his life. Ah, well, he thought dismissively. He'd ask when he refilled their drinks. The small-talk would probably be the best way to keep his mind off his current set of troubles.
The chime on the front door jingled lightly as the glass entrance swung open. Naruto's gaze shifted towards the source of the musical disturbance and froze.
At first he thought he was hallucinating; lack of sleep and all that. It was really the only reasonable explanation for why Naruto's eyes were showing him the tall lean figure of a certain raven haired man who'd only been to the café once before and to whom Naruto had been expressly rude.
"Oh, merde…" The blond hissed in French before he started laughing at himself. It had been one of the…three words he'd actually managed to glean from the stupid high school class; the other two were less flattering. The story would've been amusing if it wasn't so tragic. The teacher he'd taught his class to swear, in fact, Naruto had discovered the word by accident. He'd been trying to recite the days of the week and apparently had substituted some Spanish in. The result: well, the class' reaction couldn't have been better. However, Naruto had spent a good hour after school writing out the days of the week correctly on the professor's chalkboard and later explaining to Iruka that it had in fact been an accident. He'd been kicked out of the private school, their strict principal making it quite clear to Iruka that his foster son wouldn't be welcomed back to the academy unless he wrote and recited in front of the entire student body, a formal apology. Naruto refused to do any such thing and was then black-balled from Konoha high schools, branded as a trouble-maker. Iruka had no choice but to keep homeschooling the blond after that failed first semester.
Needless to say, after that sad incident, Naruto had chosen Spanish as his second language.
The waiter took a deep, steadying breath. It didn't really matter that the guy had come back; it really wasn't any of his business where the jerk chose to go. Besides, he reasoned, he was on his way to table five, so the jerk would get seated be someone else and the blond wouldn't have to deal with him.
Unfortunately, the man didn't seem interested in waiting for someone to seat him. To Naruto's shock, the brunette strode fluidly over to the back corner, towards the surprisingly unoccupied conference table…his table.
Biting back another of his French curses, Naruto moved to intercept the nuisance before he got too far into the restaurant.
"Excuse me sir," He popped up before the raven, stopping the man in his tracks. The blond plastered on his fake smile before attempting to lead the guy back to the front of the café so someone-anyone-else could see him and take him away.
"But if you could please just wait over where you were. I'm sure someone will be able to seat you shortly."
The response was mild. "You look available."
Azure eyes widened in surprise. Naruto opened his mouth to protest, but when his gaze locked with the ravens, his excuse died on his lips.
The man's eyes were strange, otherworldly. Black on black…the impossibly dark irises melded together with the man's black pupils creating a fathomless void, a galaxy of empty space that pulled like a vacuum and held less oxygen. Those eyes held nothing and everything all at once, as full as the multi-verse and as empty as death, but permeated with a spark of some alien intelligence that enthralled and frightened the blond all at once. Naruto was caught and somehow he could not look away…wasn't even certain that he wanted to. He could all but feel himself being sucked in, into the beautiful, bottomless pools of liquid ebony.
The strange smell of oncoming rain and fresh sheets swirled around Naruto, creeping along his senses to thread a new dimension through his already hazy reason. He felt something stir, a cold shiver that traveled down his spine and whispered along his skin. But as the chill teased his backbone, a strange heat began to tingle and shiver along his skin. He didn't know what it was or what was happening, but the blond knew that he enjoyed the sensation of a million tiny hands pressing into his flesh.
The scent was from him, the man in front of him. If Naruto were analytical, he might call the scent unique. He might've praised it for its clean, for it was that novelty which drew his senses like a magnet. However, the analytical portion of the waiter's mind was no longer accessible. He was lost in the sight and smell of this man. He was still being drawn into those eyes… He would drown in them-he knew-if he were pulled too far into that terrifying blackness. But for some reason, the blond thought that it might be the death he preferred.
Naruto inhaled sharply, allowing the overpowering scent of rain and fresh laundry to wash over him one last time as he took a quick step backwards.
The wave of power and passion which had engulfed him broke, leaving the Uzumaki drained, tired and very shaken.
It was the realization that he was starting into the eyes of what many, (heck, the whole world) would've considered a gorgeous man in the middle of a very crowded café which spurred Naruto into action. Snagging a menu from Ino who was, thankfully, coming from table five; the blond waiter spun on his heel and stalked purposefully to the back corner. As he assumed, when he laid the menu down, his customer was there to sit.
"You're lucky that I'm so generous." The Uzumaki growled, moving away to get a glass of water for his 'royal highness '. "Or else I would've just let Ino or Sakura seat your frosty butt and let the two of them feast on your immortal soul."
"One pot of hot green tea." Was all the man said in response to the blonds' insinuations.
"Cold bastard," Naruto muttered, (the pleasant affects of their staring contest long gone) a little too loudly as he turned and walked away.
.:xXXx:.
He was glad that he came back. Of course, the tea was a decent enough incentive, but it was the atmosphere here which Sasuke liked.
He had felt the subtle washes of calm and peace his last visit; two elements which the raven currently lacked in his life. It was the same now. Even with the place as nicely busy as it was, there was still a warmth generated here which the young Uchiha found…soothing.
But then there was his waiter. Sasuke had not missed the strange time stop when the blond and he had locked gazes. He was not vain enough to deny a lack of participation on his part. But while his waiter seemed to be lost in some sort of sensual coma; Sasuke had maintained the presence of mind to examine the effects of the bizarre phenomenon. He had studied the man, really studied the blond while he was so near. The first feature he noticed, besides the oddly fascinating eyes and the unruly golden hair, were the scars. Six horizontal marks, three on each tanned cheek, were cruelly etched into the otherwise flawless face. There was a story behind those scars.
The man was handsome, the Uchiha mused. His blond hair and sun kissed skin brought with it a unique attractiveness which was rare in Konoha's largely china doll populous.
The blonds' smell had drifted over the raven as he assumed his had done. It was not subtle, it assaulted and overpowered, the distinctive mix of spices and musk. The smell of spices hit first, the fragrance of innocent, street-ignorant man, but what the undercurrent washed along with it…ah. The musk had carried a dangerous edge that Sasuke found as intriguing as it was addictive. The Hebi leader's instincts had talk him that this man was something out of the common way, and now his intellect was beginning to concur.
Even the man's name was different. Sasuke had read the gold tag pinned to the man's light blue T-shirt. 'Naruto' it had displayed in gleaming black letters; it was a name Sasuke had never heard before, which fit the blond perfectly. After all, the raven had never met anyone so…brutally honest about his emotions, in his life.
It seemed as though any of the other three staff members Sasuke had seen scurrying back and forth would've been a vast improvement as far as social graces went.
But no matter how the Uchiha sliced it, the back table was the most strategically situated. So, if Sasuke was going to enjoy the placid comfort of 'Leaf', he would put up with an inferior waiter. Granted, the man was attractive, but inferior nonetheless.
The Uchiha's eyebrows furrowed slightly.
Perhaps inferior was too much, conceivably moronic, maybe imbecilic. But there was that irrefutable fact that 'Naruto' had actually given him some astonishingly sound advice.
So the blond was no fool. It was more likely and sadly obvious that his waiter was unused to having his instructions disregarded. Sasuke knew the feeling well, but he, unlike the waiter, was in a position where he didn't have to take disobedience. And the Hebi leader had no intention of being ordered into a less than ideal location just to stroke the ego of an over opinionated plebian.
Besides, 'Naruto's' frustration was…amusing. It was feasible, he reasoned, to assume that it was the raven's disregard which was causing the disturbance and incorrigible attitude.
Sasuke's perfect forehead smoothed back to its' typical inexpressiveness. The beginnings of a plan started to swirl around in his mind.
.:xXXx:.
In retrospect, Naruto should've seen the change in his customer's body language when he got back to the conference table. It was slight enough, but knowing the raven as he would come to, the memory of the man's anticipation was nearly palpable.
Naruto set down the coaster and pot; placing the tea mug within his client's reach…barely.
"Have you made your decision yet?"
He'd meant to sound harsh and impatient, but the raven-haired man stared up at him, obsidian eyes unwavering in their calm.
Naruto hastily looked away, unwilling to be caught flat-footed like he had been the first time. He clutched at his notepad, quickly flipping through its pages.
"Brazed chicken breast," The customer spoke evenly. "A baked potato to side: butter, no sour cream," Naruto almost made a comment about the man's face curdling milk anyway, but had to keep writing. "…chives, of you carry them and I my vegetable will be brussel sprouts-"
"Hold on," Naruto interrupted, his incredulous gaze shifting back and forth between his notepad and the brunette. "You mean you actually like brussel sprouts?"
The question had almost been an accusation the way his waiter had shouted it.
Refusing to be goaded, Sasuke replied mildly. "I do not pay you to make comments on my meals choices."
"No," The blond agreed, chuckling. "You just pay me to give you advice."
He looked up at the exasperatingly perky blond and asked. "If I offered you payment, would you consider not talking?" The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them.
Naruto blinked. His hands dropped to his sides and he began to laugh. "You…" He managed. "You told a joke. I can't believe it. A frosty little jerk like you, that's awesome!"
Sasuke arched an eyebrow, turning to pour some of the steaming green liquid into the nearby mug.
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Naruto regretted them. It didn't matter how he felt about a customer, it was his job to make them feel welcome and at home. It didn't matter if this guy was cold or he never smiled and he just plain rubbed the blond the wrong way. What mattered was that Naruto had just screwed up and now he had to fix it, before an angry customer got him fired from his job. He couldn't let that happen, not after Iruka had pulled in as many favors as he did, just for his son. He was just going to have to suck this one up.
The blond sat. For the second time in two days he was sitting with a customer and it wasn't even someone he liked talking to.
"Hey, I…uh…" He wasn't even sure how to start. Man, he was bad at apology's "I didn't mean that, what I said. I'm sure that you're really a great person."
The raven lifted the gently steaming mug to his lips. Maybe not.
Naruto tried again. "I'm sorry for my bad manners. It was very rude of me to speak so casually to you."
"Not at all."
The raven continued to gaze ahead as he addressed his server calmly. "Your frankness is comprehendible, inexcusable, but comprehendible nonetheless."
"How…magnanimous of you." The blond was hard-pressed to keep sarcasm from his tone. Seriously, did this guy have to talk like he was from a freaking' Jan Austen book? Although, he had basically let Naruto off the hook; the blond should be grateful, but instead all he was was irritated. It was the thought that he owed anything to this man that was…frustrating.
"Idiot," The man murmured. "Don't use such large words when you have no idea what they even mean."
"Hey don't be a jerk." Naruto growled defensively. "I totally can use big words."
When the raven made no answer, the Uzumaki persisted. "Just because I'm not all egotistical about my intelligence like you and show off with my huge vocabulary, don't assume that I'm stupid."
"I never assume." Sasuke said matter-of-factly. "And by no means those who serve me."
Naruto grit his teeth. This guy didn't get it.
"Nobody likes you when you get like this, you...you…Teme."
Sasuke tried not to laugh at the blond. Apparently, the waiter thought that Teme, meant something insulting when the word, literally just meant: 'you'. Schooling his features, the raven looked directly into Naruto's eyes and said. "Would your opinion of me change if I were to become more like yourself: loud and angry?"
Naruto was taken aback by the man's bluntness. In return, his own answer was a little more honest than he intended.
"Well…um…it would make it easier…I mean, to tell what it is you're really thinking."
The raven laughed. Naruto couldn't believe his ears. Well, okay, it wasn't a full laugh or anything; it really didn't even qualify as a chuckle. I was more of a 'che' combined with the slightest hint of upturned lip. But to the Uchiha and Uzumaki both, it was monumental; one because he never smile, the other because it was a sign.
"Uzumaki," Naruto, spurred on by the raven's show of expression, risked putting his hand out first. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto."
For a moment neither moved. The blond was afraid for a second that the man would leave him awkwardly hanging, a punishment for his rude comments. But the instant passed and his hand was encased by strong white fingers. They were slender, but surprisingly strong.
"Uchiha Sasuke."
The blond shook the hand and grinned so wide it threatened to spill off his face. He released the brunette…Sasuke's hand and rose to go. "Your order should be out in twenty minutes. I'll even personally make sure that your brussel sprouts are cooked to your exact specifications." Even though both knew that he had been given no such specifications.
"Idiot." The Uchiha went stoically back to enjoying his tea, mildly surprised that the culmination of his plan had been more pleasant that he had anticipated.
And the blond went back to the kitchen, steadfastly certain that he had made a friend from a former enemy.
The day, eased by an unexpected and newfound camaraderie, passed quickly for them both.
.:xXXx:.
The air was cool, not cold, but held in it the biting promise of winter. The night had brought with it a fresh breeze from the Northern region of Sand; the warm undertones staving off what would've undoubtedly been a chilly evening.
Overhead the stars winked in and out of view from behind the ethereal wisps of cloud, flashing their brilliance like a million paparazzi flashbulbs. The moon was still full, one of the last nights this month that its luster would paint Konoha's sidewalks and streets white with its glow. Its impressive radiance, however, would not have much opportunity toward that end, for its light was intermittently interrupted by the same vaporous interlopers which played with the stars.
Sasuke was not worried about the lack of consistent light. This celestial tendency in fact aided the plan he was ready to set in motion should the need arise tonight.
At the moment his musings tended towards the actual amount of time he was going to have to stay up in this rooftop, waiting for Kyuubi.
He was not dressed like the head of Hebi. His wardrobe instead was that of every homeless street rat he'd seen scampering around Konoha's dirty back alleys. After all, there was no need to give the man any clues about 'Sound' or how well off he actually was. Sasuke's jacket was thick, tattered, dark blue and hooded, his jeans were battered, as dark as his coat and for the first time in many months, the Uchiha was wearing tennis shoes. But he knew his casual appearance would not be a hindrance. Kyuubi would find him. In fact, The Uchiha was sure that the man was out even now, searching the city for Boss Hebi.
Sasuke was not by nature, a suspicious man. Years of living amongst thieves and murderers had a way of reshaping one's naive preconceptions about humanity and tended to make one more fundamentally cautious. He knew that the vigilante superhero would come to him eventually and, if the man were smart, he would try to kill Sasuke. The Uchiha was not bothered. He lived with that particular threat hanging consistently over his head; an axe ready to drop. And he, as always, was prepared.
Something moved behind him. Sasuke felt the shift in air around him; it was one of the few useful things his father had drilled into his youngest son before his untimely death along with an unparalleled affinity for knife, gun and hand-to hand combat. Sasuke could do it all.
The raven spun his arms already fluidly in motion. His right hand gripped and drew the modified 9mm handgun concealed at the small of his back; his left deftly flicked to the hood of his jacket, making sure it didn't fall off his head in the sharp turn. It hung partially over his features, covering his distinctive raven hair and pale face. No clues.
He'd judged the angle correctly. The moon was behind him as he turned so to the onlooker, his face would appear a disembodied voice at best.
"That's far enough." He held his gun high and pointing straight at the superheroes chest. It was point blank range. Sasuke was slightly surprised and warily impressed that Kyuubi had managed to come so close without him noticing. It reaffirmed what the Hebi leader had already suspected: this man was far more dangerous than even Karin had guessed. However, the raven was vastly confident that he had the situation in hand, no one, not even the hero of Konoha could take a bullet to the chest from three feet and survive unless he was packing protection. And from the way the man's black shirt fit to his toned abdomen, Sasuke doubted that he wore a flack-jacket underneath.
Kyuubi stopped and raised his hands over his head, but the gesture was flippant, casual, as if the whole thing had been his idea. His face was mostly hidden by the cursed mask he wore, so his actual expression was hidden from view. But Sasuke would have laid down money that the fool was grinning. He filed the adjective: 'unflappable' under the Kyuubi folder in his brain, along with 'tool' and 'moron'.
"You have something to say to me." It was not a question.
Kyuubi chuckled, a dark, forbidding sound that echoed ominously into the night. "Boss Hebi…I think that I would be ten kinds of fool not to look at your offer as anything except the trap it more than likely is. But…" The hero's hands eased down to his sides to swing loosely by his hips. Sasuke didn't stop him. "I also see that you are alone, and have been for some time, which is convincing. I think that I would be another ten kinds of fool to refuse such an offer from the head of Hebi himself. Truce."
"You have learned enough about Akatsuki to satisfy you then." This wasn't a question either.
"I have," The vigilante's red eyes glowed in the dim light, eerily bright and focused directly on Sasuke's face; as if the man could pierce the deeper shadows which surrounded the gang boss' features with his bloody gaze. That thought made Sasuke pause. He was not completely beyond the reach of police. If he were identified and arrested, even if the charges produced no conviction, his legitimate business at 'Sound' would be hurt. "But I think that you know all sorts of yummy details about them this group that I haven't heard."
Sasuke put the gun down, sliding it into its place at his back. "East."
"The ruined part of town," Kyuubi mused aloud. He quieted for a moment as he digested this piece of information. "They are worth my full effort for the time being." The superhero went on at length before his voice took on an amused undertone. "Lucky for you."
The statement irked the Uchiha, something his body and face reflexively hid. This man had forgotten quickly that he had been three feet from a bullet in his chest. "Or for you."
The blond laughed, it resonated deep in his chest and emerged from his throat, a profound, satisfying rumble. "If you think that I'm intimidated by you, you've got another thing coming." His gaze was deadly, murderous. "Once I have annihilated the Akatsuki, I will come for you, in the night, when you least expect it. I will find you and I will enjoy hearing you scream."
Sasuke snorted. This guy was nothing but a posturing blowhard after all. He hoped that the man actually did live through Akatsuki, that way Sasuke could kill him himself.
"Fool," The raven's tone was bland. "I always expect it. If you want to kill me, you will have to come much closer than anyone in the world has ever come to me." He wasn't sure why he added it; perhaps Sasuke wanted to know just how far the 'Hero of Konoha' would go to destroy him.
Kyuubi didn't respond, for a moment. After a second though, the blond shrugged. "All this talk of me killing you is pointless right now. Once I have dealt with the Akatsuki, then…then…" His smile this time was visible, even through the man's mask. "Well…the future is full of possibilities, isn't it?" The man shook off some of his cheer. "But for now, we've become…the unlikeliest allies, haven't we?"
He didn't wait for the gang leader's response, turning instead and walking to the edge of the building. Without as much as a good-bye, the man jumped.
The man wasn't dead. Sasuke wasn't that lucky. As the brunette casually leaned his back against the building's high edge, he pondered the night's meeting.
His proposal had been accepted, he'd been threatened, he'd been a hair's breath away from killing the man in front of him…all in all, a typical night's work.
Sasuke's mind flicked to the superhero. He would seek Akatsuki in earnest now and with any luck, one or both of his enemies would be dead by the end of the month.
But the Uchiha had a feeling that it would not be Kyuubi who fell.
No…he and the masked hero would meet again.
Author's note: My usual call for rates and reviews.
I wanted to make Sasuke smell all dangerous and sexy, giving Naruto the innocent, clean smell, but the smells didn't fit their personalities. Besides, I like the way it worked out: Sasuke with the fresh scent and Naruto with his spicy smell and dangerous undertones of Kyuubi.
Oh, just so you all know, this is going to be a true SasuNaru, not a NaruSasu. I hate those. I'm sorry if I just broke anyone's hearts because they were enjoying the story and now they can't finish because Sasuke doesn't catch in my narrative.
Until next time...