A.N.- Hello everyone! I'm back with another chapter of JAJ!
This one is centered on Sasuke and its a cute chapter I think. Oh and for any of you who read this and wonder why it went this way, I made a girl to go with Sasuke simply cuz I didn't want any of the Naruto girls to be with him... So I made Mizuki.
This is a big turning point for the story (as explained in the summary) and so I'm excited to see what happens after this chapter. lol It's often as much a surprise for me as it is for you guys XD
Anyway I hope you all enjoy this chapter (even those of you who aren't huge fans of Sasuke, give him a chance I won't make him a douchebag or anything in this story I promise)
Thank you everyone for reading! I appreciate it so much and all of your wonderful reviews make me smile and blush and dance in my chair with happiness. XD It is honestly quite a sight to behold... it amuses my family and friends who happen to witness this. :3 So if you'd like to keep amusing my family and making me dance with joy please continue to review. I love knowing what you guys think about my chapters!
Please enjoy this next chapter of JAJ!
Love FanggirlX
Sasuke strolled through downtown looking for…something. He wasn't sure what really. He just wanted something, anything to distract him. Naruto hadn't been at school. Sasuke had debated going over to the loudmouth's house to check on him but decided against it. After all, the guy was probably just sleeping in, trying to catch up on his much needed rest, and no one really wanted a guest over when they just wanted to sleep.
Thus, he found himself wandering around the little shop area.
He came upon a quaint coffee shop and decided that a cup of coffee would actually be really great. It had been some time since he'd taken any pain medicine and the caffeine from the coffee could help him endure the sharp stab that occurred in his side every time he so much as breathed too deeply.
A bell tinkled overhead when Sasuke entered the small shop. Immediately upon entering, his nose was greeted with the bittersweet fragrance of fresh coffee.
There was a cute brunette girl behind the counter. She had striking blue eyes and a streak in the left front of her hair that was even bluer than her gaze.
"Hello there." she greeted, as every good service employee was taught to.
Sasuke smirked, "That sounded fake. Try again."
The pretty girl's eye twitched, she muttered under her breath, "Great, it's gonna be one of those guys…"
Smirk still in place, Sasuke laid on the charm. "No, you have it all wrong. I just wanted to hear a genuine greeting from you, not a preprogrammed response. You're way too pretty to be a robot."
The girl rolled her eyes, "Right. My apologies, sir." she said with a decent robotic voice.
The little coffee shop was empty apart from the two of them, Sasuke noticed.
Good, that meant he could enjoy some company from a gorgeous girl; that would numb the pain better than any amount of caffeine.
"I'll have an iced coffee, good robot ma'm." he teased.
"Dear sir, I thank you for your patronage and you compliment." she said with a sexy grin as she walked away to make his order.
Sasuke watched her prepare his drink and he brought his best charming smile to the table as she came back, drink in hand.
"Join me." he said, leaning on the counter in a stance that screamed of the arrogance he'd been born with. "I can't." she stated simply. Sasuke glanced around, making his silent point very obvious.
The barista girl actually smiled. "You're quite the cocky one, huh?"
His signature smirk was the only response he gave.
He handed her the money for his order. "Come on." Sasuke said with a friendly smile, "Sit with me."
She crossed her arms over her chest and studied him, a skeptical look in her stunning eyes. "I could get in trouble."
Sasuke began his exaggeratedly obvious search for another soul around the shop.
The girl laughed and gave in, "Alright, alright. I get the point."
Sasuke was about to take her hand and lead her around the counter and over to a table when she added a stipulation."But only if you buy me a drink as well." she grinned.
Sasuke stared at her. "Don't you get an employee discount or something?"
She shrugged, "Doesn't matter. You want me to join you? I call that a coffee date, a mini date but a date none the less. You can't go on a date and only pay for yourself. That's just indecent." she laughed.
With a playful sigh, he motioned for her to get something. "Just ring it up and tell me how much it'll be, ok?" he said, deciding that a date, mini date or not, with this girl would be alright. Besides, minidates weren't too bad and she was cute.
She prepared her drink quickly with clearly well practiced hands. She rang up her coffee and said with a sickeningly sweet smile, "Fifty cents."
Sasuke stared at her. Again. "Really?"
"Yup.", the girl nodded.
With a shrug, he handed her the two quarters needed and waited for her to come around the counter.
"But, of course, the date is instantly over if a customer comes in." she warned him.
Sasuke nodded, "Of course."
After choosing a table and taking a seat the girl thrust her hand forward, "I'm Mizuki."
"Sasuke." the boy grinned, taking her hand in his. His breath hitched for a moment as if he were fighting back pain, and Mizuki wondered if he was hurt somewhere on his shoulder or his side.
"Nice to meet you, Sasuke." Mizuki giggled, pushing away her concern for the moment. She was always a nosy worry wort type of girl, and honestly it was none of her business if he was hurt, he was obviously trying to hide it anyway. Which rang an all too familiar a chord with her.
"Pleasure's mine." Sasuke purred.
The brunette held up her hand, "That sounded fake. Try again."She stuck her tongue out at him and winked.
Sasuke laughed softly, "You got me. Am I laying on too much charm?"
Mizuki shrugged, "You've got a nice voice and a pretty face. Don't try so hard to seem cool."
Sasuke blinked. No girl had ever told him to stop acting cool. They'd just always gushed about how cool he was…
The girl laughed, it was actually quite a sexy laugh, soft, light, and throaty. "I take it you don't get that often."
Shaking his head, deeply amused, he said, "Hn, try never."
Mizuki seemed surprised, "Never been called on it before?"
He shook his head then paused and grinned a little, "Well, once. My best friend did."
Mizuki pointed at him, "Marry that one. She knows you best. It's hard to go wrong with falling for your best friend."
With a chuckle, Sasuke killed that little tidbit of advice. "My best friend's a guy."
Or so he'd thought he killed it. Mizuki simply shrugged. "Whatever. Different pronoun, same truth. You can hardly go wrong when you fall for your best friend."
Sasuke shook his head, "Nah, not with Naruto. He's…kinda an idiot. A nice idiot, but all the same, an idiot."
Mizuki eyed him for a short while then shrugged, "Fine. Stay lonely and misunderstood. I'm sure it's better for the whole broody image you embody anyway."
"I'm not broody." Sasuke argued.
She smiled, "Sure seem to be."
"How could you possibly see broody in me? We've only just met and I was playing it cool with you. No brooding anywhere." Sasuke said fiercely.
Mizuki held her hands up, "Wow, ok, geez. So no calling you broody. Got it." she eyed him and then added, "But humor me, explain why being broody is the end of the world?"
Sasuke sighed, "It's also something Naruto tells me. He has for years. Saying I'm too broody. It's just a word that has always annoyed me."
"Why does it?" she asked, keeping the conversation ball rolling.
With a tiny half shrug from one shoulder Sasuke muttered, "He's always saying I brood too much, that I keep too much inside. I'm not bottling anything but he insists it's true so he's always bothering me about it."
Mizuki smiled her understanding. Sounds like Naruto may actually know Sasuke better than Sasuke thinks. Poor little bestie…probably in love with this dunce…
Changing the subject, she asked, "So, you a high schooler?"
The boy nodded, "You make it sound like you're not."
Mizuki grinned, "I'm a second year college student. I attend the university here in town, actually."
Sasuke raised a brow at this news, "You don't look that old." he admitted.
She looked his age…just like all the other girls at his school…yet different. Her blue eyes held something in them that none of the girls' at school did. It was raw and real seeming, but whatever it was…Sasuke couldn't quite place it.
She smiled at him and winked, "That's a good thing you know. A lady never wants to look as old as she is."
Sasuke scoffed, "You're not old."
That grumpy statement was rewarded with a giggle from the girl across from him. "Well, thank you." Mizuki grinned. Sasuke returned the gesture, a nice comfortable silence passing over them for a few seconds. In the silence Mizuki noticed something that made her heart break for the guy. His breathing. It was shallow to disguise the fact that he was having a hard time breathing, he was in a lot of pain. The fact that he knew to hide his troubled breathing and that he was very good at keeping it shallow and even, saddened her. He was hurt often.
She reached into her pocket and pulled out two aspirin she had with her in case a migraine struck. She laid them on a napkin and slid them across the table for Sasuke.
The raven haired boy stared at the offering with surprised eyes. "Why?"
She shrugged, "You need them. I can tell."
Sasuke took the pills and swallowed them down with a swig of ice cold coffee. "Thanks…"
The brunette girl smiled kindly, "I won't ask why you're breathing the way you are but I am going to ask this; have you been walking?"
He answered with a nod, still embarrassed this girl had noticed he was in pain. He must be losing his touch…
Mizuki frowned, "Sasuke, you don't seem too well off. I don't think you should be walking. Is your car nearby?"
The boy shook his head no. "I live nearby so I just walked." Sasuke thought about adding more and was about to decide against it but something in her expression told him he should go ahead and say it anyway. "Just wanted a little while out of the house, you know? Get away and relax."
Mizuki nodded, "I totally understand. But in your condition…you shouldn't have walked. You must've really wanted out, you had to know walking was a bad idea."
Sasuke glared at her, "What gives you the idea that you have the right to reprimand me?"
The girl laughed. "Wow you are grumpy. Geez, grumps, I'm only stating what I see and what I think about what I see. Why does that anger you so much? Maybe because I'm too close to the truth?"
Sasuke said nothing he just sipped his coffee.
Mizuki smiled, her face gentle and kind, "Look, you don't have to be all flustered or upset. I probably understand your situation better than you think. And if I'm guessing wrong, then oops my apologies, just thought we were the same. But you have someone at home, he drinks too much, am I right?"
Sasuke continued to glare at her, he wouldn't say shit about it. It was none of her business.
Mizuki gave him a sad smile, much weaker than any smile he'd seen on her face since he'd walked in the shop. "My dad did. It made him mean. Well, meaner. Even sober he was no walk in the park."
She had more she wanted to say, he saw it on her face. His angry glare lessened and he angled his head in a way to show he was listening. He'd hear her out, what gave this girl the presumption that she could talk like she knew anything about him?
Seeing that he was open to listening, Mizuki continued to tell him her story. Sasuke's angry gaze lessened with each passing word and soon he was simply looking at her, listening. The abuse had torn her family apart, much like it had his own. It had driven her older sister away, escaping when she could, not caring of the little Mizuki she'd left behind.
That was almost exactly what Itachi had done. He'd picked the college farthest away from home and left in the middle of the night, not even bothering to say goodbye. Her mother had finally committed suicide, no longer able to handle any of it. She had lost one daughter, and the other she was powerless to protect from the man that she'd once believed loved her. Which left Mizuki to deal with her alcoholic dad from age twelve right up to her graduation day, a day he apparently ruined for everyone in her graduating class with his disruptive actions. This also was a lot like his own story… though his mother hadn't actually committed suicide in the more traditional means, everyone who knew how she died had said that's what it had been. The beautiful brunette wiped a single tear off her eye lash before it could slip down her cheek.
She blushed when her eyes met Sasuke's, "Sorry to just lay that on you like that… I usually don't even talk about it. I just…I thought it'd help you to know that there are people who live through the nightmare you are in, and they survive it. And even though they don't walk away unscarred, they do manage to walk away."
She reached across the table and gently took his hand and gave it a soft squeeze, "So, no need to be embarrassed. Your situation doesn't make you any less of a man, it actually, in my opinion, makes you more of one. You're surviving shit most guys wouldn't even dream of ever happening to them."
Sasuke nodded, incapable of words, Mizuki had rendered him speechless. She…had known exactly how he felt, even down to being embarrassed by it and feeling less like a man for not standing up for himself more.
Standing up she took their now empty coffee cups and went to refill them.
Sasuke simply sat in his seat, numb. It was so weird to have someone confront him about it all, and basically congratulate him on living.
It gave him a comforting feeling inside to know she understood. That…was something he'd always wanted, just to have someone actually get it. Naruto tried, but he never seemed to fully grasp it all. He just offered Sasuke a friendly distraction and a safe place to go anytime he needed it. Not to say Naruto didn't understand his pain, just that…he didn't understand it the way that someone who'd lived it would.
Mizuki came back with two fresh cups of their coffee orders, she also had a black hoody on over her work shirt, with a purse slung over her shoulder.
"Time to close up. Business in this district is so slow. Can't compete with the big corporations. Star bucks kicks my little shop's ass."
Sasuke shook his head and looked up at the girl standing beside him. He must've not heard that right. "Your shop?"
She'd made it seem like she had a boss who could come walking through the door at any minute and fuss at her for taking a break.
Mizuki nodded, a mischeivious grin on her face, "Yeah, I took out a loan and started this place on my own. It was a rough year when it started, but now, even with the slow business I have enough money to pay for classes and a roof over my head. Which, that's all that matters to me."
Sasuke looked around the little shop, taking in the interior much closer this time. This place was something precious to her. Great love and detail had been taken in matching the decoration design. It was classic coffee house, modern but cozy.
"Wow. You really did alright for yourself." Sasuke mumbled, standing from his seat.
Mizuki winked at him, displaying a V with her first two fingers for a victory, "Yeah. I didn't just survive after escaping. I thrived!"
Sasuke smiled and nodded. "Good to know it's possible."
She handed him his coffee."Come on." Mizuki said ushering him toward the door. "You said you don't live far from here, so I'll give you a ride."
Sasuke started to protest but Mizuki placed a finger on his lips, "Ah, ah, ah. Don't you dare. You come into my pathetic little shop and order my slop, even flirt with me? You get a ride."
Again, Sasuke was going to protest, this time around the finger on his lips and Mizuki leaned close to his face and whispered, "Trust me." she leaned back a little and continued, "You don't need to be out walking like this. So, as a friend and fellow survivor let me help you out even if it's just a little."
Finally, Sasuke nodded and walked with her to her car, pretending that his heart hadn't stalled a moment when she'd touched his lips or that he hadn't felt flushed when she'd gotten so close to his face.
Mizuki drove a busted up piece of shit but she called it her baby and showed it off like it was indeed something she'd birthed.
She laughed at the expression on his face, "Shut your trap, you'll eat a fly. There's nothing wrong with my precious baby. I bought this thing with my own money I earned, it is mine, all mine. And I love it."
She made a gushing fan girl like face and lovingly stroked the top of her tiny faded blue car.
Sasuke got into the car and saw immediately that his legs were a millimeter from being too long to fit.
Mizuki laughed as she got in and started the car with a puttering rumble. "You look like you had to fold up just to get in here."
Sasuke grinned and nodded, "Almost did."
Mizuki reached over and took hold of one of his hands, she squeezed it reassuringly and then returned her hand to the steering wheel so she could back out of the parking place and head down the street.
As before, he ignored the flutter in his stomach from her touching him, it meant nothing…he probably just needed something in his stomach besides coffee and aspirin.
Sasuke muttered the directions to his house and she started on the route to his house.
Mizuki glanced over at her silent passenger, he seemed to be deep in thought. He looked so weary and downtrodden. She wanted to help him… she knew what he felt, and she wished there was a way to show him it could get better, that he could survive it. Sasuke seemed to be a guy on the brink of giving up. Though he walked and talked with arrogant confidence, when he got quiet…there was an air of sad defeat about him. It worried her, he was a nice guy; the world would be a little uglier without him in it…she didn't want him to give up.
"In my bag is my cell phone. Put your number in. When I get home I'll send you a message so you can have my number, that way if you ever need anything, and I really mean it, Sasuke, anything; you call me, ok?" Mizuki said, concern truly in her voice. Maybe…having someone to talk to would be enough.
"Why are you being so fucking nice to me? I don't wanna be some damn charity case or anything." he snapped, no longer able to just swallow all the niceness and understanding. It was bullshit, she may have lived through a similar ordeal but she wasn't in his house and she had no right to act like she fucking knew everything.
Mizuki laughed at his anger. Sasuke felt she seemed to always respond to it with a smile.
"I'm helping you because you seem interesting. I think we could be good friends." she told him.
Sasuke's anger slowly faded away and he accepted this logic, it was much like Naruto's had first been.
Sasuke punched his number into Mizuki's phone and as he was replacing it in the purse he wondered something.
"Hey, why don't I just use your phone to send my phone a message now? It seems simpler…" he said, staring at the cup of coffee in his hands.
Mizuki chuckled, "Well, because if you did that you wouldn't have to wait for my message."
"So? Isn't that the point?" Sasuke asked.
She shook her head and pulled the car to a stop in front of the house that he had to call home.
She turned to look directly at him, "Then there would be no anticipation, and anticipation is half the fun."
Sasuke smiled and moved to open the car door, he paused and turned back to face her.
He didn't want this to be the end. He didn't really want to just be someone who called to rant and vent. He…wanted more…
"I wanna go on another date with you." he told her with pure honesty, no charm, nothing fake; simply Sasuke.
Mizuki smiled and shook her head, "I dunno, Sasuke. We have quite the age difference…"
"I'm a senior. It's not that big a difference." Sasuke insisted.
She stared at him a moment, contemplating something; what, he was unsure.
The brunette leaned forward, bringing her face closer to his, she hesitated for a brief moment but Sasuke didn't give her a chance to change her mind. He took the plunge. He kissed her. Bringing his hand up, delving his fingers into her silky shoulder length brown hair, he held her close to him as he ravaged her mouth with an intensity she hadn't expected. Mizuki sighed happily when he finally released her and she backed away panting breathlessly. Their eyes locked and they stared at each other in a euphoric daze brought about from the endorphins now surging through their blood streams.
Mizuki snapped out of her daze and backed up more, two fingers on her lips, eyes wide in surprise. "It was not supposed to go like that." she whispered.
Sasuke grinned and laughed, still a little breathless, "What? You hadn't expected to like it?"
She shook her head, "Honestly, no… at least not as much as I did."
Sasuke leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss to her lips. "So then don't say no. Let me see you again. On another date."
Mizuki looked like she wanted to refuse, "Sasuke… our ages…"
Sasuke shook his head, "Not as big a deal as you're making it."
His onyx eyes blazed as he said, "Look, I'm not so big on the whole love deal, but I do know what we have here is chemistry, and if either of us are ever gonna feel something for anyone, chemistry is needed first. We have that. Why not at least explore what it could be?"
"Because you could be my little brother?" she asked, her tone slightly teasing, but her eyes spoke of fear and uncertainty; she was scared of what she felt for this troubled high school kid and scared that he was completely serious… and worse, completely right.
He smirked, "Yeah, but I doubt you'd ever kiss your little brother like you just kissed me."
Mizuki looked like she was still going to disagree but he cut her off. Sasuke took her hand, making his next sentence all the more genuine by not using sex to sell his point. "Give me a chance, Mizuki."
She frowned and looked toward the house, "You should get going. Having a strange car outside your house too long could cause you trouble."
"Not until you give me an answer." he insisted.
Mizuki gave him a swift peck on the cheek, "Go. Wait for my message. I'll think about your offer. But honestly… I need to think about it. So…just wait. Ok?"
Sasuke nodded, his black eyes fiery as he said softly, "I'll wait for you as long as you need."
Shocked to feel a blush heating up her cheeks Mizuki laughed and shook her head, "My god, you are a snake charmer! Get out of my car, you scoundrel."
She grinned and winked at him, "I'll see you again, Sasuke."
He nodded and got out of the car and hurried up the walkway and into the house.
Mizuki stared at the house a moment before driving away. She should've known she was in trouble the minute that boy with his haunted eyes and too serious face came into her shop and grinned at her like he thought he was a king and acted like he was the cat's meow.
The minute he'd smirked at her and started flirting she should have whipped out her ID and screamed "I'm twenty two! My face lies! Don't believe it!" but she hadn't. She'd let the little hot shit waltz in and sweep her off her feet and now she sat in her car trying to figure out the exact age she'd been her senior year of high school. Seventeen maybe? Damn. Seventeen and twenty two… that was still a fairly big age gap….
An image entered her mind, and she doubted she'd ever forget it. It was the image of Sasuke's blazing black eyes boring into hers silently pleading for her to give him a chance, a plea backed with confidence, promising he could fulfill all she desired from a boyfriend if she let him.
She pulled up to her apartment complex and pulled out her phone and stared at it. He didn't have her could avoid a lot of trouble if she just went up to her apartment and went to bed and pretended that Sasuke had just been a dream. Things would be so much better for the both of them if she let him forget about her and move on. He was still a kid, surely he could move on from this crush quickly…
Frowning, she flipped her phone open and stared at his name. He'd even put his last name. Sasuke Uchiha. She saw that he'd put something under 'notes for this caller'.It read, Call me anytime you need me. No matter what it is, I'll come.
Ok…so he'd been planning on asking her to give him a chance before the mind blowing kiss… that made everything a tiny bit better… it meant he wasn't simply asking because he wanted sex with her. The kid was actually interested.
Sighing, Mizuki cursed her very soul and selected Sasuke's number. She shouldn't do it…but the idea of that boy forgetting her actually upset her. So, perhaps this chemistry he insisted they had, was worth exploring…She typed out her message.
Ok. Let's see where this takes us. Goodnight , Sasuke Uchiha.
Closing her eyes, unable to watch herself hit send, she blindly pressed the button and then closed the phone. She was a bad person, going straight to hell for this. For developing feelings for a younger guy… she deserved to burn.
Her phone buzzed, signaling she had a message. It was from him.
You're right. Anticipation does make it more fun. See you soon.