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Moving Memories
2: Paint Me A Memory
~ (^.^) (^.^) ~
A loud ringing pierced a hole right through the peak of Naruto's dream. As his senses were assaulted by the obnoxious sound, the man groaned unhappily. He rolled over in his bed, turning his back to the noise. When the sound persisted for longer than Naruto could simply ignore, he rolled back over and slapped around his bedside table for his phone.
"Hello?" His tone was croaky and cold.
"Naruto!" a far-too-cheerful voice greeted. "Glad to see you're awake at this time! Very diligent of you!"
"I'm not, Jiraiya," Naruto assured irritably. "I'm sleeping."
"C'mon now!" Jiraiya persisted. "Wake up! Get some ramen! Talk to me!"
Naruto groaned. "I haven't found even one good ramen place anywhere around here. I blame that on you," he grumbled. "You ruined my life, took everything that makes me happy away."
"Don't be so sour, Naruto," Jiraiya insisted. "You won't make any friends being a negative nancy!"
He didn't think Naurto had meant that comment too seriously, but he felt the need to be extra light in his demeaner in case his charge was still truly disturbed about the topic of moving.
Naruto scoffed. "The only friends I wanna make are the kind that you meet for a week before travelling off to Peru or Amsterdam. Oh, wait. That's your life, not mine."
"Alright! Alright! So crabby," Jiraiya whined at Naruto, who grunted in response. "I'm going to believe it's because I woke you up before noon. Yeah?"
"Jiraiya... it's one in the afternoon. Where the hell are you?" Naruto asked.
"Ahhh, my bad!" Jiraiya chuckled. "I'm in Amsterdam, actually! Hard to keep all these time zones in check!"
Naruto rolled his eyes. Of course Jiraiya would be in one of the two places that Naruto was dying to be. That bastard.
"Yeah, whatever."
"Well, you're unpleasant. You should start getting into a better schedule," Jiraiya advised. "School starts in a month, right?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever," Naruto said dismissively, sitting upright and rubbing some of the sleepiness from his eyes.
"Okay. Yeah, whatever," Jiraiya mocked. "You're grumpy."
Naruto said nothing in reply, leaving Jiraiya to believe that perhaps the younger man was indeed still feeling upset about the circumstances that Jiraiya had forced him into.
"So... I'm... gonna get off of the phone?" Jiraiya said uncertainly, feeling as though that was what Naruto wanted him to do. He really hoped Naruto would snap into a better attitude and insist on chatting though.
"Yeah, okay," Naruto agreed, yawning in between words.
"Yeah... okay," Jiraiya repeated in quiet defeat. "I'll, uh, call you soon, and try not to be so bitchy when I do."
Naruto snickered quietly at the statement, his attitude softening. "Yeah. Whatever," he answered.
Jiraiya could sense that there was a smile behind those words that time. "Alright," he began, cheerful once again. "Be good Naruto!"
Naruto grunted in place of a salutation and hung up the phone. He fell back into his mattress and sighed theatrically. His life in the city really wasn't that bad. He just didn't want Jiraiya to know that he somewhat liked it. He wanted him to feel bad because, in truth, Naruto really did miss home and he really did wish he could be traveling with Jiraiya. He wouldn't admit a liking to the city. He wouldn't admit defeat.
But since he was living here whether he wanted to like it or not, he decided that he might as well get up and see what the day could offer him. Maybe something interesting would be going on in the area.
~ (^.^) (^.^) ~
Naruto found himself meandering around an art gallery just a couple of blocks south of his apartment building. He'd never had the patience or skill to create any kind of fine art himself, but he didn't mind looking at it. The gallery looked decent enough from outside and he was really curious about what was inside, but the art on display was particularly uninteresting to Naruto.
He couldn't be too critical. After all, it was all immeasurably better than anything he could manage to create. None of the art was terrible, but none of it really caught his attention either. He just wasn't being moved by anything he was seeing. He wasn't sure exactly what he would appreciate in an art piece, but he did know that what he found here wasn't quite nailing it.
Naruto's eyes passed flippantly over a cohesive blend of complex color, and then they snapped back to decide that there was actually nothing cohesive about the way layer after colorful layer cut across the last. His attention was caught raptly by the variety of shades encompassing what seemed like the entirety of the color spectrum - from pale pastels to their counterparts of contrastingly deep and heavy hues, including any and every color to be discovered in the space between.
Moving closer, Naruto picked a wisp of color and trailed it as it crossed atop a thicker stroke and then veered to acentuate the curves of another before it disappeared without a trace. Only then, it beckoned his attention from a whole other section of the canvas before it blended seamlessly into a different color and tossed him adrift to question which colors were which.
It brought Naruto into a deep sense of wonder. Which stroke had been the first? Which had been the last? Which had been the longest, or the strongest? Which had felt the boldest gliding off the brush? Which had been regretted mere moments after canvas contact? Which ones were rising, and which were falling? Which were being covered, and which were doing the covering up?
The wild quality of the painting did nothing to draw the eye toward the small silhouette in the low center of the canvas. Naruto's eyes did stumble upon the silhouette as he got closer, though he first noticed the buffer of unmarred canvas that surrounded the figure. When looking more closely still, Naruto could see that the white space between the figure and the color was edged by miniscule dots that smoothly gave way to the careful chaos of color beyond. Upon even closer inspection of the dark mixture that colored the figure, Naruto could discern the tiny but crisp lines of untied shoelace strings and strands of unruly hair jutting out from a hood. Marbled tendrils colored the figure from the sharp and precise edge inward, winding into the head. In the center of where a face should be was an ever-swirling abyss highlighted carefully by tiny wisps of gray and white.
"What d'you think?" a voice asked from Naruto's left.
The blond pulled back from the painting. When he had to shut his eyes tightly and then blink a few times to be able to refocus his vision, he realized that he'd been scrutinizing the painting at an incredibly close proximity. He smiled politely at the man who'd approached him.
"Uh..." Naruto shrugged, rubbing the back of his head. "It's pretty cool, I guess."
"Cool?" the man repeated. "Pretty simple answer for someone who was staring so intently at it." He raised a dark brown eye brow, silently chllenging Naruto to speak more freely from the heart.
"Um... well..." Naruto chuckled sheepishly. He looked back at the painting, his hand ceasing its nerrvous hair-rubbing and instead gripping the back of his neck as he cocked his head ever so slightly at the painting. "Makes ya wonder."
"Bout what?" the guy asked.
Naruto pondered momentarily before answering. He didn't like making 'art talk' because the people who made it were always pretentious and snobby. He often felt judged before he could even get a real answer out. Although, to be fair, he often started with bullshit right out of the gate. That was partially because he was a playful guy, but sometimes he just couldn't think of anything worth saying. Other times, he just didn't feel bold or confident enough to admit his true sense. This painting, though, was too easy to speak about. The words fell from his lips rather easily for once.
"I get the impression that every stroke was carefully calculated, despite the wild quality of the painting," he began, letting his hand move from his neck to instead rub at the space between his bottom lip and chin. "I grew up in the country, so I can tell you even a wild, untamed animal has been carefully controlled. The hands of nature have calculated the perfect storm within each and every creature, a delicate balance between chaos and predictability." He looked to his left, adding surely, "Even the theory of chaos stands on something steady."
The man nodded eagerly, and Naruto got the impression that the guy wanted him to carry on. Unable to help feeling judged, Naruto diverted his gaze again. He looked into the endless hole of the figure's face instead.
"It... reminds me... of staring into the eyes of a powerful beast," Naruto went on carefully. "First, I sense a total loss of control, but even looking your potential demise in the eyes can't revoke the reliability of your primal instincts."
"Hm," the guy hummed, looking from Naruto to the painting himself.
"You wanna lean over and hurl, but you wanna stand tall too," Naruto said playfully, though he wasn't sure that his joking attitude would be received properly. Smirking weakly, he added, "Just like looking a bear in the face."
To Naruto's pleasure, the guy chuckled in amusement. "Ah, well, I know the artist. And, yeah, I'd say this painting reflects him pretty well according to your interpretation." He offered his hand to Naruto with a kind grin. "I'm Kiba."
Naruto shook his hand firmly. "Naruto."
Naruto was interested in the artist now that he was standing here with one of their friends. "So you know the artist?" he asked.
Kiba smiled mischievously at Naruto's interest. "I do. My boyfriend works with him. I can get you in with him." Kiba paused and wagged his brows suggestively. "—if you want."
"Uh, no, thank you," Naruto denied awkwardly, though he wasn't entirely sure what Kiba was alluding to.
Kiba shrugged. "Most people already know him when they come for his art. He has quite the reputation. They usually just come to shack up with him, y'know? I've tried to hook him up with at least a billion people, but he always turns em down."
The mischief in Kiba's expression doubled, and Naruto go the impression that Kiba was describing his own personal game of annoying the guy. Naruto could appreciate that. Playing was fun, but only if you were playing with the right person.
"You always hang out around his art?" Naruto asked.
"Oh, no! Well, yeah, actually," Kiba amended, laughing warmly. "Like I said, my boyfriend works with him. He's my friend... kinda."
Naruto could tell that the description was awkward for Kiba, as if he didn't know what to consider this guy, but Kiba didn't let that uncertainty linger.
"I always come to help sell the art," Kiba explained. "This particular gallery only started showing em last night. My boyfriend's around here somewhere," he assured, glancing aimlessly around. "Mop of red hair, bright blue eyes. Real hard to miss." He leaned closer to Naruto and nudged him with is elbow, as if he was sharing a secret. "He's really probably desperately avoiding buyers cause his anxiety makes him antisocial." Kiba grinned proudly and then added, "That's what I'm for."
Naruto smiled. "So you try to help this guy out too?" he asked, gesturing to the painting.
Kiba laughed that warm laugh again. "Nah, not really. He doesn't need help. His work sells before I even have a chance to try. Big reputation, remember? Fans flocking all around just hoping that their interest in his art will get them a chance with him."
Kiba scoffed. There was a lightness to the sound, but no amusement reached Kiba's eyes. There was a contrast within that statement that Naruto couldn't quite understand yet.
"I usually only market Gaara's stuff," the brunet went on. "That's my boyfriend, Gaara. It's pretty dead today though, and this is the only one left of Sasuke's that hasn't sold. I saw you really admiring it, and that intrigued me. Nobody ever really admires his work, but he doesn't care. Long as it gets sold." Kiba turned his eyes back to Naruto and admitted, "But I do care. This is the first time in a long time I've seen someone actually look at his work, and it really is a good one to admire too. I'd buy it if I were you."
"You're good at selling these things. Making nice to land a buy," Naruto quipped, though he truly wasn't sure if Kiba's intentions went beyond a potential sale.
Kiba shook his head. "Nah, man. I really don't sell his stuff. It's just that..." He glanced at the painting thoughtfully, and then looked back to Naruto. "—this one is special," he said after a moment's pause. "I asked them to tuck it away and leave the artist's name off it cause I wanted someone really interested to buy it. I want it to be appreciated every day. He won't admit it, but this painting is probably the deepest thing he's ever done." Kiba's eyes floated back to the painting. "I see it. You do too." He shrugged, but his words were far from nonchalant. "You're the perfect buyer."
"So what part of it is him?" Naruto asked.
"What?" Kiba turned a confused expression to the blond.
"Is he the color? Is he the figure? Or is he the barrier between?" Naruto continued to analyze the painting.
"That's a question you should ask him," Kiba answered. "You should meet us," he suggested.
Naruto turned to look at Kiba apprehensively.
'Shit,' Naruto thought. 'I think I'm making friends.'
Kiba smiled warmly at Naruto the way he was, obviously, one to do. "We're all meeting up for beers at Akatsake later."
"Oh, uh, I'm not twenty-one," Naruto answered, feeling instantly uncool.
Kiba laughed and waved a dismissive hand. "None of us are, but the owner's cool with us. It's no problem as long as you aren't driving."
"Alright," Naruto conceded, deciding that having a few beers wouldn't be so bad. "Where's this place at?"
When Kiba gave him a weird look, Naruto explained, "I just moved in around here."
"Oh! Alright!" Kiba smiled with new understanding. "It's about two blocks down the street. Lemme give you my number and you can call if you get lost."
Naruto nodded and handed over his phone, and Kiba entered his number as he spoke.
"We'll be there at eight."
As Naruto accepted his phone back, he asked, "So how much is the painting?"
Kiba clapped him on the back of the shoulder with a grin that somehow looked sort of grim. "That's another thing you should ask Sasuke. He has no idea I tucked it away and took off the price," he informed mischievously. "Who knows what he wants to sell it for. I don't remember." He smiled one last warming smile at Naruto and started backing away. "See ya later?"
Naruto smiled, deciding that he liked Kiba a lot. "Sure thing," he replied with a thumbs up.
Kiba returned the gesture before turning fully and disappearing around a corner.
Naruto looked over the painting one last time. He was very curious about the artist. He actually wanted to buy the painting after talking to Kiba. He'd have to ask Jiraiya to wire him the money for it. Hopefully, he wouldn't complain too much about Naruto needing a job.
Naruto smiled. He was making friends and it actually felt nice. He liked it. Perhaps, it wouldn't be so bad here after all.
~ (^.^) (^.^) ~
Naruto huffed as he furiously unbuttoned his shirt. His search for the proper attire for his meeting with Kiba had quickly grown tiresome. Why was he so stressed out about what he would wear anyway? Who really cared? It wasn't like he even knew these guys.
Naruto groaned. 'I just wanna make a good impression.'
He then wondered why it even mattered so much to him. He had never been this type of guy. He had never cared what others thought. He was never concerned with first impressions because he was very likable and he knew it. He didn't have to care. Back in his hometown, it was a rare occasion that he met someone new and, whenever he did, he didn't have to worry about the kind of impression he was making. He was naturally sociable. People liked him.
So what was the big deal now? Kiba liked him enough to invite him out for drinks. Why was he so freaked out? Why was he so worried about what shirt to wear?
"Fuck," Naruto cursed as a button near the bottom of his shirt popped off.
It was his nicest dress shirt too, and now it was missing a goddamn button. 'Just my luck.' Suddenly coming to the conclusion that a shirt as nice as this one was a poor choice for a few casual beers anyway, he ripped off the shirt, unconcerned with the remaining buttons. He turned from his mirror to his closet and tossed the damaged shirt to the floor. This fashion crisis was making him far too edgy. He was inexplicably troubled about this first meeting with his first potential friends, and he was taking it out on his dress shirts. He sighed with annoyance as he rummaged with little interest through the clothes hanging inside his closet.
"Bah! Fuck it," he finally groaned. "I'll wear..." He looked around his messy room and spotted an orange t-shirt on the floor. "—that! I'll wear that!" he exclaimed decidedly. He picked it up to determine its cleanliness. After smelling it, he nodded in approval. "It'll do."
He pulled the shirt on and looked at himself in the mirror, and then he regretted the choice immediately. He wanted to change... again. He suddenly didn't like the way his washed out, holy jeans looked with the shirt. It was too casual now. He moved his hands to the button of his pants and was just about to rip them off in a flurry when his phone beeped loudly from his bed. He muttered a disgruntled grumble. It was the alarm that he'd set for 7:40 to remind himself not to be late. Since he was suddenly so concerned with first impressions, he didn't want his first potential friends to get the impression that he wasn't punctual, even if he notoriously wasn't.
He contemplated his plan of action for a long moment before deciding to leave the pants in favor of arriving on time, assuming he didn't get lost on the way. He could barely remember how to get back to the art gallery. Plus, he would have to walk all the way there if he wanted those underage beers. Kiba had said it was fine only if he didn't drive. He picked up a black jacket and threw it on. He grabbed his keys, his wallet, and his phone in a rush and shoved them in his pockets. He left his apartment quickly. He wasn't actually sure twenty minutes would be enough time to get there and he didn't want to waste too much of it. He found his way to the art gallery that he and Kiba had met at and continued down the block.
"Kiba said it was two blocks this way," he mumbled to himself. He stepped off of the sidewalk into the street to get a better look down the road. "—but that all looks so... dead. There's no way there's a bar up there."
He continued walking anyway and decided that he should call Kiba just to be sure. He pulled out his phone but suddenly decided that he didn't want to have an awkward phone call be their first post-invitation conversation. They had gotten along pretty damn well at the gallery. If they had a weird exchange on the phone, then that would ruin the illusion of their pre-established friendship-type-thing. He decided that texting would be best.
'Can't be awkward there,' he thought to himself.
He sent Kiba a text asking for confirmation on his whereabouts and then patiently waited for Kiba's reply as he passed a whole other block. He was coming up on his second block, the one that Kiba said the bar would be on, and Kiba still hadn't replied, so he began to search through his contacts hesitantly.
"I guess I'm gonna have to call him," he murmured aloud.
He really didn't want to create any awkwardness between the two of them, but he had no choice. He was lost. The phone rang through to voicemail and Naruto sighed. Maybe Kiba was only joking with him. Maybe Kiba didn't actually want Naruto to come and he had just sent him on a wild goose chase for fun.
"Noooo," Naruto assured himself. "Why would he do that?"
He stopped midway up the block in front of an alley and was just about to try calling Kiba again when he heard Kiba's voice call to him from down the alley.
"Naruto! Hey! I was a little worried, to be honest!"
The first thing that crossed Naruto's mind was the question of why the hell Kiba was in such a sketchy place. He was in a dead neighborhood, in a dark alley.
"Hey..." Naruto answered politely as he began to walk reluctantly toward Kiba. "I... uh... I tried calling you."
"Yeah, and texting," Kiba acknowledged. "Sorry bout that. I didn't notice but I caught a glimpse of the clock inside and noticed it was past eight, so I checked my phone and came out to track you down. I shoulda just offered to pick you up or something but, luckily, you were just right there when I walked out!"
Kiba flashed that inviting smile and Naruto's nerves eased. He had forgotten how nice Kiba was.
"So... inside?" Naruto suggested. "Where's that?"
"Oh," Kiba said, "it's through there." He motioned toward a door just behind him. "Akatsake is pretty underground. A... friend..." There was that apprehension in Kiba's voice again, as if 'friend' might not be the correct term. Naruto brushed it off as easily as Kiba though. "—owns the bar, but his family is really against the whole owning a bar thing, so he keeps it on the down low. Y'know, just tryna keep a snooty parent off of his back. He gets to keep it as long as it doesn't tarnish their reputation. Being underground keeps out all the people we don't want anyway, right?"
Naruto couldn't help the feeling that Kiba's explanation was rushed, which made him question its integrity. Nonetheless, he chose to trust the man and his intentions to be pure enough.
"Yeah, right," Naruto agreed, chuckling softly and relaxing.
Kiba was just like him, Naruto recognized. He was friendly, talkative, and light-spirited. It was like they were long lost brothers. They were definitely going to get along. In fact, Naruto found himself kind of admiring him. Was Naruto experiencing a man crush? Naruto couldn't help the smirk that refused to fall from his face.
Kiba intuitively picked up on Naruto's shift in energy. He could also tell that Naruto was just like himself—open and spirited. It just seemed to take Naruto a bit of warming up to get to that point. Kiba wasn't sure if he should interpret Naruto's new attitude as friendly or something a little bit more suggestive. He was always analyzing people and feeling them out himself, but he was pretty good at doing it inconspicuously. You'd never be able to tell if Kiba was judging you, and that was the point. He didn't know exactly what Naruto's new vibe meant, but he chose to believe it was strictly friendly. More than anyone, Kiba understood how easy it was, being a friendly person himself, for people to confuse nice with flirty. He was always caught in that misconception.
"Let's go in," Kiba offered as he opened the door and lead Naruto in, "so you can meet the guys! I'm glad you came, Naruto," he continued as he lead him down a staircase and then down a hallway littered with drunken couples hooking up. "I was a bit worried that you wouldn't. I thought maybe I was coming on too strong."
Naruto automatically perked up as he heard the words. He couldn't dismiss the thought that Kiba had been intentionally hitting on him.
Kiba laughed heartily. "I do that sometimes. It really makes Gaara mad."
Naruto had almost forgotten that Kiba had a bobyfriend.
"He says I'm too friendly," Kiba added. "Can you believe that? How can you be too friendly?"
"Yeah," Naruto answered, somewhat subdued. He wasn't sure what to make of Kiba anymore. Was he just mixing up Kiba's intentions or was Kiba really coming on to Naruto even though he had a boyfriend?
"He can seem a bit standoffish, but once you get to know him he's really great," Kiba assured. "He's not really social, but he's actually super open. You just gotta get in his good graces. He'll love you, though! You're just like me! You'll definitely get along. He'll have no choice but to submit to that likable personality of yours." Kiba's smiled shined bright as he glanced over his shoulder at Naruto.
When they approached the final door, Kiba slapped Naruto's shoulder reassuringly and offered him another smile before he leaned into the door. As it opened, the music of the band grew exceptionally loud. Naruto followed Kiba in and examined his surroundings.
The bar was a fairly decent size. It was full of people but not too packed. There was ample room on the dance floor. To his left was the stage, on which an alternative band now played. To his right were tables and just beyond, the bar. Even further to the right, in a narrow cove, were more tables. Most of the tables were occupied by groups. Kiba began walking toward the bar and Naruto followed. As they neared the bar, the music dimmed a bit. Here, it made good background music. It wasn't so loud to the point that you'd have to shout over it. Kiba leaned over the bar and requested a pitcher of beer from a tall, slender man with long, black hair that was tied back in a ponytail. He smiled and nodded at Kiba as he filled their pitcher. He hesitated just before handing it over though.
"And who's your friend?" he asked skeptically, nodding at Naruto.
"This is Naruto! Naruto," Kiba continued as he regarded the blond, "this is Itachi. Ita owns the place."
"Oh, okay," Naruto smiled. "I won't be driving tonight. You can be sure of that," Naruto explained as he stepped up on a bar stool rung and leaned across the bar, reaching his hand all the way over to offer a handshake.
His dad had always taught him to do the bulk of the work. Meeting someone and expecting them to reach all the way across a bar to shake your hand was just absurd. Itachi stared blankly at Naruto for a moment before bursting into laughter. He set the pitcher down in front of Kiba and stepped up on something behind the bar to get extra leverage as he swatted Naruto's hand away.
"I like you!" he exclaimed as he trapped Naruto in a friendly hug. It lasted only a moment before Itachi retreated and stepped down, prompting Naruto to do the same. "I hug people that I like here," Itachi explained, "but how did you get here, Naruto?"
"Umm..." Naruto stammered, still recovering from the surprise hug.
"He walked," Kiba answered for him. "No keys to confiscate."
"In that case," Itachi began as he threw his hands up in good cheer, "enjoy the beer."
Kiba thanked Itachi and picked up the beer and one mug. He nodded at the other three mugs, which Naruto grabbed, and then nodded to beckon Naruto to follow him. Naruto gave Itachi a friendly nod as he complied. He decided that he rather liked Itachi too. Naruto had expected to be led through the crowd some more so he was surprised to find that Kiba set the pitcher down at a table that was only a few feet away. There sat two men, both with a scowl. The redhead was scowling at Naruto, and the one with black hair was scowling at the bartender.
"Hi," Naruto offered as he smiled happily at the men. Despite their uninviting expressions, he was feeling rather bright at the moment. He really liked this bar.
Noticing the lack of response, Kiba shot the black-haired one a warning glare, which was entirely unnoticed, as he slapped the redhead on the arm. "Guys! This is Naruto."
The redhead sighed and rolled his eyes, full of disapproval, to rest on Kiba. It was as if they were sharing an unspoken thought. Kiba responded by slapping him on the arm again.
"Hello. My name is Gaara," the redhead finally offered as he sank back in his chair and folded his arms.
Kiba sighed as he offered Naruto an apologetic look. Naruto shrugged off the intensity of the situation and sat down at the table, removing his jacket. He had decided that first impressions weren't important at all, since these guys were making terrible ones. He knew he couldn't do worse as long as he was just himself. He smiled brightly at the redhead.
"It's cool. You don't know me. I'll just tell you something about myself," Naruto offered happily.
Gaara's expression softened. However, the black-haired one kept an unwavering scowl trained behind the bar.
"Okay, so, I'm Naruto. I'm nineteen. I'm starting at University this year. I like the color orange. It's my favorite! And... um... I love ramen!"
Gaara fought it, but his attitude was growing lighter. Naruto had that effect on people, just like Kiba. Recognizing this, Kiba took the opportunity to continue the sharing circle in hopes that Gaara would open up even more. "Okay! So I'll go next! I'm Kiba. I'm nineteen." He grabbed Naruto's shoulder and shook it, grinning excitedly. "My favorite color is... hm..." He smiled coyly at Gaara. "—the color of my dear Gaara's hair." He switched up to run his fingers through it, eliciting a genuine smile from the redhead. "I'm also starting at university. We all are, actually," Kiba explained as he turned to Naruto again. "And I love fish!"
"Way too much," Gaara added with a smirk. Kiba's chest puffed up noticeably with pride at the change of Gaara's attitude. "Gaara. I'm twenty," Gaara continued as he nodded in approval at Naruto. "I like beer," he finished as he sat up to fill his mug.
Naruto and Kiba chuckled as Gaara offered to fill their mugs too. He even filled the fourth mug at the table and Kiba gave Naruto a look that clearly boasted something along the lines of 'didn't I tell you he'd like you'. After taking sips from their mugs, the three turned their gaze the dark-haired man, who had finally dropped his scowl and was now just staring at the bubbles in his beer. Gaara elbowed him, which earned Gaara a glare.
"Well, this is Sasuke," Gaara began. "He's a twenty year old antisocial bitch who likes the soul-sucking color of black and he probably eats innocent kittens for dinner." Naruto and Kiba laughed at Gaara's joke.
"You're the antisocial one, baka," Sasuke countered, but he didn't seem to lighten up. "My favorite color is black though." He turned his attention to Naruto and added, "I hate ramen."
Sasuke's voice was flat and his eyes were devoid of any indication of emotion, positive or negative, but his lips twitched up into a subtle smirk. Naruto cocked his head to the side as he analyzed the boy. He was intriguing. He smiled at Sasuke and got the impression that Sasuke had actually taken a liking to him, no matter how stoic he seemed resolved to remain. Sasuke rejected the smile with a sneer though.
"Sasuke is the artist I was talking about, Naruto," Kiba blurted out, desperate for something to break the tension Sasuke was filling the air with.
It was, apparently, the wrong choice of words. Both Sasuke and Naruto stiffened up at the statement, but both for very different reasons. Naruto was now plagued with questions and new anxiety. He had been obsessing about meeting that artist all day and now he was right in front of him. What should he say? Sasuke, on the other hand, was suspicious of Kiba's intentions.
"What were you talking about me for?" Sasuke questioned. "Is this another one of your projects, Kiba?"
"Please," Kiba scoffed, "does he look like a lady?"
"I just thought you finally got the hint or, rather, gave up on your joke of sending my fangirls," Sasuke informed. "They're not my type."
"Nope," Kiba reassured. "He was admiring your work when I ran into him at the gallery earlier. That's all."
"So, I was wondering—" Naruto began before being cut off. He wanted to know about the work. He wanted the price, the details, the story.
"What work?" Sasuke interrupted Naruto, glaring at Kiba. "It's all been sold."
"Ahhh, yeah, about that," Kiba started to explain.
He knew that Sasuke would probably be mad. Kiba had tried to talk to Sasuke about the piece before it was taken to the gallery. He felt like they finally had something deep to connect over. He was just as curious then as Naruto was now. He wanted to know why Sasuke painted it and how Sasuke felt. That was a joke though, expecting Sasuke to divulge his emotions. Bah! He simply did not speak about his art, but it hadn't stopped Kiba from being curious. This was an especially moving piece if you knew Sasuke like Kiba did.
The conversation had grown pretty tense, however, and Sasuke warned Kiba to let it be. He said that he just wanted to be rid of it like any other piece of art that he painted. It wasn't up for discussion. That was why Kiba tucked it away to begin with. Sasuke seemed so touchy about it. It meant something, even if he didn't want to admit it. He knew that Sasuke would be angry when he found out though. He had done exactly what Sasuke was trying to avoid. He had prompted... no, facilitated someone's desire to find Sasuke and actually try to talk about the painting and, unavoidably, his feelings.
"What the hell did you do, Kiba?" Sasuke questioned angrily.
"Calm down," Gaara warned Sasuke.
"I just thought it should be given to someone who'd appreciate it. Naruto is definitely that guy," Kiba defended. "I put it in a corner and removed the price and your name. I figured that someone who really cared about it would buy it that way, someone like Naruto."
"You son of a—"
"Hey!" Gaara cut in. "Kiba was only trying to do the right thing."
"The right thing would have been to respect my wishes as the artist and kindly fuck the fuck off," Sasuke spat, earning an angry glare from Gaara.
Gaara was, clearly, very protective of his companion. Kiba placed his hand on the back of Gaara's neck, extending his thumb to rest beneath Gaara's ear just behind the hinge of his jaw. He rubbed the skin there with his thumb gently to comfort his partner. Sasuke's lip twitched into a scowl and he clenched and unclenched his jaw repeatedly before sitting up straight to quickly chug his beer. Once done, he slammed down his cup.
He looked at Naruto with an exceptionally hard to read expression. "It's not for sale anymore. In fact, it's coming down tonight."
With that, Sasuke stood, his chair screeching in protest to his quick actions. He seemed to calm down a bit as he looked around the table at all three boys while he shrugged on his jacket. He didn't offer a goodbye, though, when he turned to leave. Itachi shouted goodbye to Sasuke from across the bar, but Sasuke only lifted his middle finger in response. Naruto watched him slip out through the crowd.
"Interesting guy," he said. "What's his issue?"
Kiba snickered at the question.
"What isn't?" Gaara joked.
"Actually," Kiba started as he shared a mischievous glance with Gaara, whose expression softened surprisingly down into the same mischievous glint, "I think he liked you."
To be continued...
Author Note: Check the links section on my main profile page for the links to the layout for Naruto's Apartment.