There was something incongruous to Zeppelin pounding down through the speakers in the diner. The waiters didn't seem entirely to know how to act, trying to walk calmly even as badass harmonica and odd time signatures threatened to trip them up. The waiter by Kabuto's table, was shifting back and forth to the beat, his head shakily swaying to Page's twisting guitar. "Your coffee."

Ino didn't seem to even notice it as the guy set it down. She stared straight at the mosaics on the table. "I still can't believe it. I can't believe he's in town."

Kabuto wanted to strangle her. It'd been half an hour now, with Naruto sitting opposite him and Sasuke firmly planted opposite Ino.

"He gave me a promise ring, you know," Ino said. "I mean, I know they're stupid and sentimental but I kind of -- I kind of liked it. I'd take it off and look at it every now and then and I-- goddamn him."

"Well," Kabuto said, pushing his glasses up until his nose. "The best part of having an old flame in the territory is the ability to show him what he lost by parading a new guy around."

"How immature would that be?" Ino said. "Actually I like it. That's sort of a good idea, isn't it?"

"I've heard it works sometimes," Naruto said. "I knew this guy once who used to have these women on hand, like they were his friends and stuff, but whenever he wanted to make someone jealous, he'd get them to dress up and he'd go walk around with them on his arm. They liked it I think. The attention, I mean."

"I like the cut of your jib," Kabuto said. "Yes, Ino, it's time to pick up the pieces. You'll need to find someone serious, handsome, someone with similar interests."

"Yeah I bet." She leaned forward, wrapping her fingers around her cup. "Maybe I should just get pregnant or something. There's something to fill the void in my life with -- motherhood."

"You're not talking seriously, I hope," Naruto said.

Ino stared at him. "Are you suggesting I wouldn't be a good mother?"

"Well, I just think you might be a little young-"

"I'd be a great mother."

"Well, yeah, a teenaged mother."

"Well, I didn't mean now."

"Sasuke," Kabuto said. "What kind of karate did you say you studied?"

Sasuke glanced up, surprised at the question. "Uh. No particular school. Hard to find a particular school in North America."

"I know," Ino said. "Isn't it awful?"

"Well, considering what the form's become, I don't think it's too much of a disadvantage."

"Really? I think it's awful. I think we should all be specializing in one particular thing -- keeps everyone distinct. It'd make competitions more fun, that's for sure. You ever watch old kung fu movies, where everyone in the tournaments have different powers?"

"No."

"You don't watch old chop-sockey flicks?"

Sasuke shook his head. "No, not a fan."

"Really?"

"I'm shocked, too," Naruto said. "When someone's not a fan of the Flying Guillotine, I have to question their sanity."

"Oh I don't know about that one," Ino said, looking delighted. "I'm a Deadly Venoms fan. I mean, god some of the slow-motion in those movies--"

"I just like how cheesy it is."

"Sure, but you have to appreciate some of the low-budget artistry going into something like that."

"Oh, yeah, sure, artistry. Nothing says artistry like buckets of red paint exploding out of your actor's mouth. Backflipping over a camera; that's Oscar-material right there. Samurai films, now there's a genre."

"Oh, I don't like those samurai films."

"What?"

"They're so solemn. They're, uh, shit, what's the word? Pretentious. I think they're very pretentious."

"That adds to the charm!"

"Well, maybe I'll have to give them another try sometime." And the way Ino smiled at Naruto then set Kabuto's teeth on edge.

"Naruto," Kabuto said.

"Yeah?"

"Come out to my car, I need to show you some CDs. Loan them to you, rather."

"Oh! Wow, okay."

Outside the restaurant, it was getting darker, and Naruto felt the wind get colder even as he walked towards Kabuto's car.

"So I think they're really hitting it off," Kabuto said, opening the car trunk.

"Who?" Naruto said.

"Ah, here we go. You like REM?"

"Never listened to them much."

"Where the hell were you during the 90s?"

"Uh. Really young? Where were you?"

"Okay, same thing. What about Ani DiFranco? You a fan?"

"I don't know."

"What music do you listen to?"

"I don't know. You like Thelonious Monk?"

"Never heard of them."

"It's, er, him, actually. He's a musician."

Kabuto glanced back towards the restaurant, looked through the window. Ino seemed to have struck up a conversation with Sasuke, and Sasuke was smiling. Good stuff. "Yeah," he said. "REM. You want to talk about artistry, you should watch the video for Losing My Religion."

"Oh. Okay! Thanks."

"Thelonious Monk. Who else do you like? Let me look at you. Okay, I guessing... you're into that screamo crap, right? Lost The Hero, or whatever that band's called... Plenty The Hero... Protest the Hero, that's it. You into them, I guess?"

"Never heard of them."

"Well, that's good."

"Miles Davis is good."

"Who?"

"You're not into jazz?"

"Oh. Jazz." Kabuto looked back at the restaurant. Excellent stuff: Sasuke was leaning forward. He laughed at something Ino said. Served to prove Kabuto right: put two attractive people with similar interests together, and it greased the wheels of matchmaking immensely. "Yeah, well, I'll loan you Automatic For the People. It's an album everyone should hear."

"Oh. Okay. Thanks!"

ooo

Naruto waved to Ino and Kabuto, and felt the glow of her smile fall onto him and then vanish as the two of them turned and walked away into the night. "Well," he said. "That was fun, wasn't it?"

"I'm never really one for hanging out at diners," Sasuke said. "But yeah, that was fun."

They set off into a dark autumnscape, the last little bits of the sunset setting fire to the swarming clouds that the wind sent tumbling over the treetops, leaves still cascading down to the street and along the sidewalk. Walking home was usually no problem for them -- Sasuke lived five minutes from Naruto, and they could usually walk to the bridge together and split up there. Sasuke's house was the closer one; Naruto could see it from the bridge.

"I'm a little concerned for Ino," Sasuke said.

"Ino? Why?"

"Just all the attention Kabuto's putting into her. That guy just doesn't do things unless he has some ulterior motive."

"Aren't we paranoid."

"I'm speaking from past experience."

"So what was his ulterior motive in lending me his CDs?"

"I don't know. All I'm saying is that he has one."

"So-"

"Quiet!"

Sasuke was aware the last bits of the sunset had dropped down beneath the horizon. Now he walked to the edge of the bridge, gazed at the treetops that grew over the side of the rocks, suspended over the river. Movement? He reached into his coat pocket and drew out the crucifix he kept there. His heart stopped beating for a moment, and the hairs on the back of his neck raised. He hated to see this. he wished he wasn't seeing it.

The crucifix was burnt, the edges curling up, the wood peeling and blackening.

"We have to go," he said. "We have to go now."

"What?"

"Run!"

Naruto didn't wait to ask more questions; when Sasuke took off he took off behind him. He was aware that Sasuke was frightened, seriously frightened, and he got the sense that there was something chasing them, something he didn't want to look back at. Their shoes clattered across the metal grate of the bridge, and then they were on the sidewalks, running for Sasuke's house.

Naruto sensed something reach out for him, something cold, but something balked when they reached Sasuke's lawn. The unmistakable smell of garlic hung over the narrow house, and sure enough, as Sasuke fished his keys out of his coat for the door, Naruto saw garlic cloves hanging over the porch.

"Inside," Sasuke said, pulling open the door. "Quickly."

Stumbling in, pausing for breath, noticing the cloves of garlic hanging over the stairs, on the walls, noticing the horseshoe nailed into the drywall. "What-- what the hell was that?"

"What?"

"I felt something. What was that?"

Sasuke shut the door, locked it. "Don't worry about it." He went to the windows and shut the drapes, went to an old-fashioned lamp on the table, turned it on, revealing an old-looking room, done in dark colours. "You better call Iruka. You shouldn't head back out tonight."

"You mean stay here?"

Sasuke lifted one edge of the drape, and looked out. "Yeah."

"Would your parents mind?"

"I doubt that. They're dead."

Which shut Naruto up. "Oh," he said.

"Yeah, call Iruka," Sasuke said, turning around. "We could do dancing lessons tonight, I guess." He seemed to attempt to try for some cheer; he forced a small smile on his face. "It'll be fun."

ooo

Houses this big required people, Naruto thought, as he walked into Sasuke's room. The place reeked of loneliness. He couldn't believe Sasuke lived in this dark house all alone, with only garlic cloves keeping him company.

"Your music?" he asked, when he saw Sasuke kneeling by his shelf of cds.

"Yeah."

"What do you listen to?"

"Well, this section is my older stuff. Classical, romantic, that sort of thing."

"Yeah."

"Down here is... well. I listen to ska."

"Ska?"

"I have some Reel Big Fish here, some Five Iron Frenzy-"

"You listen to ska?"

"Yeah."

"I wouldn't have pegged you for a ska-listener."

He shrugged. "What shall we dance to?"

"Got any Jackson-5s?"

"Who?"

"Never mind." He leaned over, looking at the cds. "You've got Duke Ellington?"

"It was my father's."

"Oh, we're dancing to that then."

ooo

Sophisticated Lady. The treacly piano came out the speakers. Now the slow songs, Naruto said.

Sasuke had been a fast learner when Naruto showed him the fast-dancing. Scratch that: Sasuke had been an impossibly fast learner. He watched Naruto's every movement with intense, learning eyes, then got up and did almost precisely what Naruto had done. Sasuke's problem, of course, was the improvisation, rather than expertly memorizing the dance moves. You have to try and blend them together, Naruto tried to say, start out doing one thing and then switching to another. Think of it from a musician's point of view -- you have all these chords at your disposal, and it's the way that you put them together that makes a good song. Same with dance. Still, Sasuke had a hard time of it.

Slow-dancing, then, Naruto said, where Sasuke's incredible memorization of the intricate structure of the moves wouldn't be a hindrance.

"Come on," Naruto said, taking Sasuke's hand in his. "Slow-dancing is the easiest dance in the world, unless you wanna be good at it, which you do -- put your hand on my waist."

Sasuke pressed his hand against Naruto's waist, and Naruto leaned in, drawing Sasuke around the room. "Keep your feet moving -- you want it all to be smooth, and all to the time signature, hear it, bip, bip bip--"

"I never liked this song before," Sasuke said.

"Stay focused, man," Naruto said. "Sway to the side now. How old is this house, anyways? No, no, you lead, you lead, keep me moving."

"It's old," Sasuke said. "Hundred years old maybe. It was my grandfather's."

"How do you live here all alone?"

"I don't mind being alone."

"Still, being not alone is better than being alone."

"Sometimes."

"What caused you to stop hanging out with the Popular Kids?"

"I don't know. It just seemed to stop being so important."

The piano seemed to fill the room like bubbles, dancing around their skin. "Three steps here," Naruto said. "See, that's jazz. You heard the change in the time there? Have to do more steps then, to keep up with the song--"

"I can do that."

"You'll win the competition yet."

"Yes, so I like ska. What music do you like?"

"What?"

"This evening's been all around music, right? Here--I'm supposed to spin you here -- ah, very nice spin there, Naruto--"

"I'm good at spinning."

"Apparently. But yes, this music's been about music. What music do you like?"

"Everyone likes that question."

"Inquiring minds--"

"I like--" Tell him the truth, Naruto, he thought; you like the same music Iruka does. "Jazz. That's what I like. That's what I listen to. I don't think I've listened to a pop song in three years. Intentionally, I mean, of course."

"I haven't listened to much Jazz."

"God, it's like the music is dancing. That's jazz. It's like the music's-- shit, I don't know-- alive or something."

The song stopped and Sasuke drew Naruto around to a halt. "You're a good dancer," he said.

Naruto laughed. "No I'm not."

They looked at each other. Naruto realized just how dark Sasuke's eyes were. And his lips were-

Something rattled against the window. Sasuke turned sharply towards it, eyes wide. But it was just the tree branches rapping against the glass. "All right," he said. "We should get ready for bed."

ooo

Sasuke opened the balcony doors, and looked out onto the night. He walked out, toothbrush stuck in his mouth. There was garlic strung along the railing of the balcony. He'd had to replace some of them soon. The wind swept down and ruffled his hair.

He stared out into the night and said, quietly, "Why can't you leave me alone?"

He stepped inside, closing the doors behind him. In his bed was Naruto, already moving towards sleep. Sasuke insisted Naruto took his bed, and Naruto knew enough to only protest once. Sasuke settled down in the small guest mattress he set up next to the bed and pulled off his shirt.

Naruto turned around, opened his eyes. "You've a nice body," he said, half asleep.

"Sorry?" Sasuke said, but Naruto had already turned about under the covers and had drifted off.

Oh, Sasuke thought. He lay back in the bed and said, "Thanks, Naruto."

And then there was sleep.