Guess who back? (back back) Back again (again again). Yeaaaaah that joke sucked, but hopefully the story isn't as bad as my lame humour...Enjoy!. Oh by the way reviews are highly wanted! So please tell me if I'm doing a bad job or not!. Thx! By the way some of the time line will be incorrect and I apologise I tried to do some research but there was more than one answer so the main thing to remember is that in this fic the massacre happened when Sasuke was 6, Kakashi was 19, Shen was 20, Mikoto was like 26 or something and Itachi was 8, yeah I know that make hardly any sense, also BEER! but once again the beauty of fanfiction!. On with the story!.
6 in the morning in Gecia was peaceful as the streets were empty apart from the occasional early bird, the breeze blew through the streets and passed a figure who was shrouded in mystery. The man walked down the pier silently as the the old wooden walkway made no sound, the man had stopped outside a boat that was whiter than the first fall of snow and stared along the edge of the boat and eyes stopped at the name that was painted across the boat, though no bigger than a feet had a big impact.
"Sasko..." The man whispered thoughtfully as if the name was so fragile that it could break at the mere mention. He looked up and jumped on the boat silently and as Shen had his back to the mystery man humming to himself, the man leaned on the wooden post watching the humming man and stayed silent as he observed him taking in every little detail. "It really is you..." The man stated softly causing Shen to turn around and freeze, but managed to move slightly as he hesitated to even move.
"Kakashi..." Shen whispered out staring at the one eye he could see as a happy look graced his face, causing Kakashi to smile back. "My god I've not seen you since, well since..." Shen trailed off sadly, remembering a memory, but shook his head lightly, seeing this Kakashi frowned equally as gloomy watching the other man come out of his depressing daydream. "Well since forever!" Shen exclaimed happily, walking over to Kakashi ready to give a bear hug, lurching forwards Shen hugged the empty space that was previously occupied by the silver-haired man, surprised at the lack of a body, he glanced around to see that Kakashi had went behind him, avoiding his hug. "Uwaa! Kakashi! So meaaan!" Shen whined reminding Kakashi of Naruto when talking to Sakura, Kakashi simply shook his head as if he took pity on the whining man.
"You were never able to hug me" Kakashi stated smugly folding his arms, making Shen grin with mischief as if he was Cheshire cat.
"We'll see about that Kaka-chan!" Shen proclaimed jumping around in a battle stance ready to pounce as Kakashi smirked at the old nickname that he had not heard for years, unfolding his arms he got ready to dodge when suddenly Shen jumped at him.
The battle had begun.
Both men out of breath they stared at each other sweat on their brows and chuckled, collapsing into the leather booth Shen kicked his legs in the air and grabbed a beer from the mini-cooler before Kakashi walked over and sat opposite catching the beer thrown his way. Shen smiled and sighed contently, cracking the beer open, Shen swung back the beer and Kakashi shook his head and leaned back.
"So you just sit here all day drinking beer?" Kakashi asked watching Shen gulp down the beverage, Shen shook his head and smiled.
"Noooo Kaka-chan, I sit here all day and drink non-alcoholic beer" Shen replied motioning with the bottle, Kakashi looked at his own beer to see it was in fact non-alcoholic and shrugged, opening the beer and took a swing from it. Kakashi looked at Shen questioningly and Shen shrugged. "I dunno, I just never liked the real deal of alcohol and besides I got a puma on here, I need my wits about me or I'll probably ride on her through the streets of Gecia and the mayor will skin my butt" Shen explained sipping from his bottle again. Kakashi nodded and sighed looking at Shen who felt the gaze and looked back.
"You haven't changed at all..." Kakashi mumbled putting his face in hand as Shen surprised by the comment stopped and put down his beer and stretched his arms and rested them behind his head.
"Heh, Sorry to be the one to tell you this, but you have a few more wrinkles and I swear you gained a couple pounds, heh" Shen joked as Kakashi was unresponsive and continued to observe the man with half-lidded eyes as if a tiredness had over-washed him, well not getting any sleep and not being late for once was new to Kakashi's body. Shen noticed the lack of reaction and arched an eyebrow. "Ah Kaka-chan, don't be so sensitive! You know I was only joking!" Shen reassured, but Kakashi continued to be silent, Shen who was now worried asked.
"Kaka-chan are you-"
"Why did you stop contacting us?" Kakashi interrupted catching Shen off guard, but Shen sighed and turned his head away, Sasha who had been laying away watching the whole scene with lazy eyes, suddenly perked up at her owner's sudden spike of sadness and jumped on the leather seat and comforted the man.
"She told me to stay away...so I did." Shen stated petting Sasha who looked up at him with doleful eyes, smiling down as the animal Shen gave a soft ruffle on the her head. Kakashi gripped the bottle tighter and exhaled angrily.
"You had everything, everyone and you even admitted you were happy, you promised to always be with us even when you left, for god sake you even had the fucking Hokage wrapped around your little finger, but one person tells you to stay away and suddenly it's like your dead" Kakashi grinded out, shaking slightly as his usual self control was breaking, Shen looked astonished at the man who looked ready to burst, Shen's face softened and put a sorry hand on Kakashi's shoulder, causing Kakashi to flinch at the touch, but remained with his head looking down, avoiding the stare of the man in front him.
"It wasn't just a person, it was the one and for the best." Shen said calmly as Kakashi still refused the answer as if he was someone else, acting in rage, showing true emotion, it was what Kakashi had avoided for years and now it was crumbling.
"The whole village was a mess" Kakashi mumbled looking at the hand that held on to his shoulder, Shen's eyes looked down for a moment before looking back up.
"I know, I'm sorry" Shen said removing his hand and leaning over the table, he pushed the silver-haired jounin's protector up, revealing his forehead, and pecked at Kakashi's forehead. Sitting back down he smiled gently as Kakashi looked up, but averted his gaze.
"You did that after the first time as well..." Kakashi mumbled, finally looking him in the eye. Shen tilted his head and shrugged nonchalantly, closing his eyes in a relaxed manner.
"You are the one who came to me, saying you wouldn't have it any other way and besides I did that for everyone who wanted help" Shen yawned, once again stretching his arms and placing them behind his head. Kakashi huffed and placed his face in hand closing his eyes as well.
"Hn, you helped anyone who needed the experience for their first time and didn't even hold it against them" Kakashi said gaining another shrug from Shen who seemed to quieten down as they both sat in an comfortable silence. Sasha laying across Shen and felt into slumber as the two men sat in the quiet, enjoying the sounds of nature with wild birds and singing winds. Yes. Kakashi thought. I can forgive him, no one could stay mad at Shen for long...No one and with that went back into the silence.
After Kakashi had returned a few hours later he met the wrath of team 7 as they all complained about his disappearance and had demanded an answer, of course Kakashi the father of all excuses said he heard a cat in the distance and went to rescue the poor thing and of course they called bullshit, but it was quickly disregarded as another one of Kakashi's lame excuses and sat down outside the café. Pulling out all the information they had, they begun to work out the details of the robbery. An hour had passed and they had made no progress due to the entire complicity of the situation. Though some had complained. Naruto. And cried to let it rest for the day. Naruto. They had to gather supplies thanks to someone forgetting them. Naruto. Though some said not to point fingers. Naruto. While Sakura and Naruto had went to get the supplies, Kakashi said he would work on the case a little more while Sasuke said he'd take a walk. The entire time of the walk he was clutching to the sharktooth necklace that he held in his pocket, even though it was a necklace, it was rare for him to actually wear around his neck, but it was always with him no matter what. No one knew where Sasuke was going, not even Sasuke, but he continued on walking even though he had no fucking clue what he was actually doing, he just carried on walking and of course somehow walked on to the pier. Stopping and realizing where he was, Sasuke thought about just turning around and never coming back again, but he still had so many questions and he'll be damned if he wasn't going to get any answers. Striding over to the boat in full confidence with complete determination, Sasuke felt invincible and as cliché as it sounded he really felt that nothing could stand in his way. Suddenly Shen popped out of the boat and waved.
"Hey Skip!" Shen yelled smiling with full energy, Sasuke stopped in his tracks as the assurance he held only moments ago had vanished. Fuck me. Sasuke thought as he nervously returned the wave. Hopping aboard, Shen gave another smile as Sasuke was jumped on by Sasha who began the lick Sasuke's face. Sasuke couldn't help but smile at the animal's friendliness and petted Sasha who leaned into the touch, purring and finally settling down. Sasuke looked up at Shen, but quickly looked away, Shen chuckled at his nervousness sat down in the booth and took out two beers, Sasuke sat with Sasha following behind and hopping up behind them laying down. "Want one?" Shen asked waving one in the air.
"O-Oh, um I..." No fucking way in hell, not after last time... Sasuke cringed at the memory of the first and last time he drank. They were 13 and losing a bet to Naruto, so he had to pay for Naruto's ramen. At the time, the place was crowded and while Sasuke had been drinking his water, putting it down he accidentally picked up another person's drink which was a mix between Sake and Shochu and if you don't know, that's the most hardcore drink you can drink. Sasuke hadn't really been paying attention to the taste as Naruto was insulting him at the time and he was insulting back so when he gulped down the beverage, when the alcohol took effect he said he felt weird. Naruto was instantly caught off guard since Sasuke never admitted any kind of weakness or submission no matter how little, Naruto had noticed his drink and was shocked to find out that it was in fact another person's beverage, after raging to the owner of the drink who felt horrible for getting a minor drunk, Naruto had carried Sasuke home on his back and had taken care of Sasuke who was completely out of it and didn't really act 'drunk', but just wobbly and less reluctant for asking for help which Naruto was happy to give. Sasuke had woken up with Naruto on the end of his bed hunched over, when Sasuke remembered what had happened, before he could tell Naruto to never tell anyone Naruto had begged Sasuke not to tell on him about getting him drunk. So Sasuke and Naruto agreed to forget about it, they seem to do that a lot. Snapping out of his thoughts he looked back at Shen and shook his head.
"I don't drink" Sasuke stated plainly forgetting the humiliating memory, but Shen pointed at the label on the bottle.
"It's non-alcoholic, so don't worry" Shen explained, but Sasuke still felt at risk so he kept his wits about him and shook his head once again, looking into Shen's eyes he forced himself to ask the question that had burned deep inside of Sasuke.
"How did you survive?" Sasuke asked gripping to the necklace in his pocket tighter than before and gulped waiting for the impossible answer. Shen blinked at the question and laughed slightly.
"Well food and water are the necessities and shelter, that's definitely needed and also having a puma as your protector helps." Shen joked and Sasha gave a grunt as Shen rolled his eyes. "Sorry! A puma as my best friend" Sasha huffed happily, but Sasuke wasn't happy, he needed answers or he felt like he would actually die.
"No! T-The massacre! How did you survive the massacre?!" Sasuke exclaimed desperately, trying to keep calm, but was failing, Shen's happy expression had turned into one of worry.
"Whoa there Skip, what massacre?" Shen asked putting down the drink and looking at Sasuke worried, "What are you talking about?". Sasuke looked down staring at his hand which was below the table, watching his knuckle turn white from clenching the sharktooth.
"Your a Uchiha right? You should know what I'm talking about!" Sasuke said shakily taking in breathes to calm himself down, as Shen just sat confused about what the boy was talking about.
"Heh, your acting like they're all dead or something!" Shen said jokingly, Sasuke shot his head up in disgust only to have it turn into one of surprise. No way... Sasuke stared into Shen's eyes and saw what was missing, the sadness and hatred of losing everyone you loved. Sasuke grew up alone and hated what he had to deal with, he even considered going after Itachi after what Itachi had told him, but Naruto convinced me to stay...
FLASHBACK
"SASUKE!" screamed the blonde-haired boy who was covered in blood, a lot of it was not of his own as the raven-haired boy in front of him was stained with blood from Naruto and himself.
"Pathetic!, Your not even worth my time, Orochimaru promised me revenge and it's what I intend to get!" Sasuke yelled turning around, looking at Naruto who was currently on his knees, arm wrapped around his waist with blood seeping out. Naruto's eyes were almost consumed by red and his felt his body lose control, Sasuke stepped back and saw red chakra engulf Naruto, he gulped slightly, when suddenly it simmered down and blue overcame the red and Naruto looked up refusing to lose control.
"Sasuke why are you doing this?!" Naruto screamed as Sasuke composed himself after realizing he was safe, for the time being.
"I told you, you dead last, I'm going to get my revenge and kill-"
"That's not gonna bring them back!" Naruto interrupted as Sasuke stood silently as the rain poured heavily on them, Naruto looked at Sasuke who was unable to talk.
"Going after your brother! Killing him! It's not gonna bring them back! Your willing to destroy your own life, dedicate it to someone's else's demise and not even care about the consequences?! All for some god damn revenge that you might not even get?!" Naruto screamed at Sasuke who had stood dumbfounded at the seriousness Naruto was portraying. Sasuke felt the strong urge to help Naruto who was bleeding more than him and another urge to just run away, Sasuke knew it was too late to apologise and go back with Naruto to Konoha as he knew that he would be put in prison and executed the second he got back. So without another word he turned around and walked away, he heard Naruto shift and scream again.
"Sasuke! I-If you leave then!...Then!...Then I'm coming too!" Sasuke stopped wide-eyed and whipped his head around, clenching his fists he shook his head violently.
"Idiot! You can't come with me! You have a duty in Konoha! You have your future there!" Sasuke yelled angrily, he didn't want Naruto to get involved at all and now the idiot was claiming that he would go with him. "You think this is some fairy tale? Where you and I go live happily ever after? No! This is real life and I have to deal with it alone!" Sasuke shrieked losing the control in his voice as hot tears came running down his face, but you wouldn't be able to tell with the rain. Naruto however could tell and was slowly losing his own control and began to wobble slightly.
"But without you I have no future...who's gonna tell me I'm a dobe?...Who's gonna beat me at almost everything?...who...who's gonna protect me from Haku if he comes again...who's...gonna...be...my...friend..." Naruto trailed off as he hit the ground with a thud, the energy he had was gone and from massive blood loss was probably gonna die. Sasuke stood there in shock, when his face softened and he walked over, kneeling down he put Naruto's head on his lap and got out the radio from his pocket.
"Sensei, Naruto and I have been hurt and Naruto looks as if he's gonna die, are you close enough to sense our chakra signals?" Sasuke stated plainly into the radio and waited for a while before Kakashi responded.
"We're on our way now, sit tight and hold on" Kakashi ordered, Sasuke put the radio down and looked down at Naruto who was still unconscious on his lap, he removed a wet strand of hair from Naruto's face and smiled warmly towards the boy, but the smile faded as he removed Naruto from his lap and hit the floor, but before passing out, whispered out a small word.
"Dobe..."
END OF FLASHBACK
That was the first time, Sasuke thought, the first time I saw another side to Naruto where he could actually be serious. Sasuke shook his head and came back to reality, this was not the time to be daydreaming about some memory from years ago. Sasuke looked back up at Shen who was still confused about what had happened and was waiting for some kind of explanation from Sasuke. Sasuke however was waiting for it to hit Shen about what he was talking about when it actually hit Sasuke instead. He doesn't know...
"You don't know?..." Sasuke said almost in sympathy for the man, Shen arched his eyebrow and took a sip from his drink.
"Know what?" Shen asked unaware of that the next minute was going to be the worst of his life. So Sasuke sighing sadly and gulping down his fear had told the story of the massacre, how everyone was killed, how Itachi had murdered everyone, of course he left out the part where he was a child and witnessed everything, but that didn't seem to matter as Shen had taken in the information and was silent, he sighed and put his hand on his head, not believing what was happening.
"I'm sorry that your only hearing about this now-"
"When?" Shen stated emotionless, still looking down at the table, his hands covering the face, Sasuke watched as his heart was breaking at the scene in front of him and had the overwhelming need to be comforted, but stayed strong.
"Ten years ago" Sasuke answered as Shen's head shot up in surprise with eyes filled with a dying hope as his heart clenched at the painful words.
"Everyone? Even Mikoto?..." Now it was Sasuke's turn to go wide eyed, How did he know my mother? Sasuke blinked and snapped out of it as he looked at Shen who was just as desperate as him for answers.
"Yes..." Sasuke whispered out, but it was loud enough for Shen to hear and he sat back in total disbelief and was silent before asking Sasuke one more question.
"Mikoto had a son..." Shen said but trailed off thoughtfully, Sasuke sighed and nodded lightly.
"Itachi..."
"No...Sasuke" Shen breathed out causing Sasuke to just become voiceless and that was enough for Shen to think that Sasuke was in fact killed. " He must have been 6 at the time, Itachi wouldn't...He couldn't have...Not Sasuke...He...He was..." but Shen just sat and shook his head lightly to himself at a loss for words. Sasuke had just about much as he could take and stood up.
"I-I truly am sorry to be the one to have to tell you" and with that left the boat and walked away leaving Shen in a emotional mess. Sasuke walked on and held back the tears that were threatening to fall down his face, Sasuke was strong, but not that strong so he went down a small ally that left the busy street and continued to walk, restraining the tears that were about to fall. When suddenly he bumped into someone and fell down on his knees looking up see saw a women with brown unruly hair and green eyes, in her 40s with a simple long brown dress with a dirtied white apron with simple black shoes, she held a basket which smelt like freshly-baked bread, but was covered by a cloth. The woman looked down worried and gasped.
"Oh me lordy! Ye alright duck? Come inside love" The woman insisted kindly as when Sasuke fell, the tears he had kept back had fallen and he looked like a small child who had hurt himself. The woman helped him up and opened a wooden door to a cottage like house, though it was embedded into the city, but it seemed like she was the only one who lived around this area. The woman had sat Sasuke down on a bench which was dusted with flour like everything else in this place, Sasuke would have probably have deducted that this was a bakery but with tears coming down his face all he could think about was the pain he was going through right now. The woman had came over with a napkin and gently wiped the tears from Sasuke's face, Sasuke blushed from embarrassment as he felt like a child being taken care of like he was completely defenceless, which he pretty much was right now. The woman smiled kindly and chuckled lightly. "Aww Sasuke babe, Ye not cried like this since ye were a wee lamb!" Sasuke snapped his head up at the woman who giggled slightly and walked away to clean the cloth in the sink as Sasuke sat in silence. "Aye, I remember ye when ye were just learning to do handstands, oh the faces ye would make when ye tripped and fell, but Mamma Soma Lia took good care of ye!" The woman chuckled, Sasuke now thinking he fell and hit his head too hard was also paranoid that he was in some witches house, What? It could happen!. Sasuke not wanting to take any chances stood up quietly and took out his kunai and stepped towards the woman, with her back turned to him she calmly said. "Unless you want a spanking, ye better put that away and set the table" Turning around she was handing Sasuke a tablecloth and some cutlery and pointed to a the stone table and nodded her head. Sasuke at a loss for word just did as the woman said not really knowing what had just happened, Not even an S-ranked nin could have sensed that!. Sasuke begun to set the table just as the woman had said to do and turning around faced the woman who looked at the table with her fingers on her chin, "Hmm, not bad laddy, now plop ye self down while I get the food." the woman spoke patting Sasuke shoulder, now as you can guess Sasuke had assumed he died and was now to spend the rest of his afterlife in some devil's house doing chores. What? It could happen?. Sasuke sat down and watched the woman mumble to herself as she prepared food, after a few minutes she came to the table holding a bowl full of fresh lettuce, cucumber, tomato, feta cheese and dressing. Sasuke's eyes zoomed in on the the delicious food and licked his lips hungrily, the woman put the bowl in front of Sasuke while she had her own plate with grilled Onigiri. Sasuke stared at the food like he was an animal and the salad was a piece of meat, any other time Sasuke would have been out of there in a second and refused to eat food given to him by a stranger, but by god was he hungry and for the woman to serve one of his favourite meal? It was torture! Sasuke grabbed the fork and took a bit of the delectable food, but before the sweet food could reach his mouth, the woman had said "Now that ain't how I taught ye, no manners have ye, duck?" Sasuke stopped in his tracks and felt instantly guilty for not acting with proper etiquette, he put the fork down and cleared his voice.
"Itadakimasu" Sasuke said and continued when the woman gave a nod of her head giving Sasuke permission to eat, while she herself began to eat.
"Ye probably wonderin' bout how I know ye, well me and ye mammy were good friends" The woman explained gaining the attention of Sasuke who just silently ate his food as he continued to listen. "Oh when yer mammy was havin' a bit of a break, I would take care of ye like one of me own! Oh all ye would eat was this or all me bread!" The woman said jubilantly as he finished her own food quicker than Naruto, if that was possible. Sasuke suddenly felt uncomfortable as the woman knew his name and a lot about him, but he was having trouble remembering this woman.
"Um, so who exactly are you?" Sasuke asked awkwardly feeling guilty for not knowing the woman. The woman smirked playfully something that Sasuke had mastered and was renowned for, so to see another person do it just as skilled was rare.
"Ye wouldn't know me, but I used to look after ye when ye were a wee child!" The woman laughed at Sasuke's reaction as he stared open mouthed and eyes wide at the woman, "By the way I'm Soma Lia, but call me Soma, love" The woman gave another smirk before taking a sip of water from her cup. Sasuke had some questions, and even though he would never admit it, this women was kind of terrifying since no one had treated him like a child since, well when he was a child.
"You knew my mother?" Sasuke asked curiously finishing off his salad as Soma nodded her profoundly.
"Aye, pretty young lassy she was, tis a shame what happened." Soma said regretfully, Sasuke looked down sadly as Soma noticed the look and gave an empathic smile, "Oh I'm sorry love that I couldn't have been there for ye, but I wasn't allowed to take ye under me wing, cuz I ain't a high earner ye see" Sasuke nodded understandingly, but sighed because he had a chance to be with someone after everyone had left him alone in the world. Soma put her hand on his and looked into his eyes, "I'm here for ye now, lamb and I promise I will never let ye go again" Soma expressed sympathetically, Sasuke smiled with the innocence of a child and glowed with happiness as he found someone who was willing to take care of him and to protect him from now on from the world. Soma had gotten up and brought Sasuke into an embrace, Sasuke accepted the warmth and leaning into the touch began to cry softly in her as she held on to Sasuke shushing and rocking him. Soon Sasuke had fell asleep in her safe arms, Soma looked down at Sasuke and gave a motherly smile, she stroked his hair back and laid him down on the stone bench. She covered him with a blanket and removed a stray hair that fell on the young beauty's face, she sighed contently and wiped a tear that had welled up in her eye. "Gosh Soma get a hold of ye self, ye meant to be the strong one here!" Soma told herself as she watched Sasuke sleep away peacefully, she continued to watch the sleeping boy and began to clean up the table while the boy dreamt away.
Sasuke woke up with puffy and sore eyes, blinking a few times he lifted himself up scanning the room for Soma, Soma appeared and smirked towards Sasuke, who smiled shyly at the woman. Getting up he stretched and yawned loudly, Soma walked over and dusted the flour off of him and straighten his clothing. Sasuke let the woman fuss over him as it was a feeling similar to when his own mother would fuss over him.
"Ye should be gettin' back, so don't be a stranger lamb, now off ye trot" Soma said in a sing-song voice, while lightly pushing Sasuke out the door she turned him around and gave a quick hug before, closing the door and walking down the street waving Sasuke goodbye. Sasuke gave a small wave back as he chuckled to himself.
"Strange woman..." Sasuke mumbled, looking at his watch he suddenly jumped up in shock, "Fuck!, I was meant to meet Naruto an hour ago" And with that ran off in the direction of the main street. After running for 10 minutes, he saw Naruto pacing outside the Inn, hands fisted and face red from anger, Sasuke sighed he was not in the mood for one of Naruto's rants. Walking over, Naruto noticed him and had his face of simple rage turn into a hell storm of fury as Naruto stomped over, growling under his breath.
"Teme! You were meant to meet me over an hour ago to help me with this jackass witness and here you come strolling like your freaking queen of the fairies with all the time in the god damn world, well let me tell you-! Have you been crying?" Naruto questioned Sasuke who was caught off guard by the question, Great I probably look like shit since it's been freaking waterfalls today. Sasuke quickly wiped his eyes and gave Naruto a weak glare.
"Don't be stupid, of course I haven't" Sasuke said in masked annoyance averting his eyes as he waited for Naruto to speak, Naruto looked blankly at Sasuke and shrugged.
"OK!" Naruto exclaimed, naïve and blissfully unaware as always, while Sasuke whipped his head up at Naruto and gave an angry glare, but quickly shook his head free of the cursing expression, So what if he can't tell if I'm lying about crying? That was what I wanted him to think in the first place, so you can't blame him and give him death glares like he would care, seriously need to get a grip Sasuke!. "Sasuke?" Naruto voiced, gaining the attention of said Uchiha, Sasuke looked back at Naruto who seemed to be annoyed at him for spacing out.
"Let's just get this over with Dobe" Sasuke stated pushing past Naruto, I feel like I have gained some of my pride back, when he suddenly heard Naruto chuckle behind him.
"It's this way, Teme" Naruto giggled as Sasuke stopped in his tracks, Annnd pride is down the toilet once again, Sasuke took a breath in and turned around walking back and passing Naruto, who had his mouth open to say something, but Sasuke quickly intervened.
"Shut up"
Sasuke gave Naruto a quick glare as he passed him and Naruto just grinned triumphantly and caught up with Sasuke who was brooding over the humiliating scene that he should have looked cool in, but looked like a sad loser. Damn it!. After Sasuke and Naruto walked through the streets for half an hour, with Naruto just blabbering in Sasuke's ear, Sasuke was about to blow a fuse at the talkative blonde when suddenly Naruto pointed at a strange looking shop, which seemed to stand out from the other shops, since it was on the outskirts of the city for a start and unlike other wasn't made of marble or stone or rock, it was in the middle of a junk yard and made completely of metal and wood, it was obviously handmade and was no bigger than a large room, with many pieces of metal sticking out with a crooked sign that read 'Marty Tao's Top Shop'. The door was old and wooden, looking ready to fall apart as it seemed to only be hanging on it's hinges, in summary this place was a dump and it suited it's surroundings. Giving each other a quick glance, Sasuke lead on and pushed the creaking door open, stepping inside with Naruto following behind they looked around the strange shop as it had stacks of odd bits and bobs with dirty metal shelves holding anything ranging from an stuffed turtle to a eyeball in a lemonade filled jar. The place was weird and definitely was creeping the boys out as the sun was the only light in the place and with limited windows made it slightly dark, but clearly light enough to see what was going on in this shack of wonders. Suddenly there was a clinking and clacking from what looked like a back room as a round figure emerged from the dark room, a grunt was heard as a fat man in a dirty wife beater and brown slacks with many patches and discolouration, most of the top was covered by a handmade belt which had many tools hanging off it. The man himself was balding with grey-brown hair surrounding his round face which was messy and the man seemed to be giving off an unfriendly aura, much different to the people in Gecia. Sasuke was unphased by the intimidating attitude and stepped towards the shorter man, who put his hands on the filthy counter and stared at the two newcomers judgementally. The man's eyes narrowed when he saw Naruto and growled angrily.
"Didn't I tell you to take a hike, Barbie?" The man grunted spitefully while Naruto just stuck his tongue out childishly, Sasuke stepped in front of Naruto to distract the man as he didn't need to be kicked out along with the blonde idiot. The man leaned on his forearm and grunted in an cannibalistic manner, Sasuke challenged the man's glare with his own and with this had created the most intense stare off the world have ever witnessed in mankind. As both males fought for dominance, each one eyeing each other fiercely as the tension began to rise with each passing second. Naruto stood in silent awe as he watched both males motionlessly fight with nothing but the stare of which both possessed, the man's eyes suddenly squinted harshly increasing the effect of the stare while Sasuke did the same matching the man's glare. The man growled quietly warning the boys, but Sasuke stood his ground.
"I got all day, old man" Sasuke said trying to speed things up, the man glanced between both boys and grunted unhappily.
"What?" The man grounded out grumpily, Sasuke who didn't care for his tone folded his arms and shifted his weight to one side.
"We need your statement" Sasuke stated methodically, the man's eyebrow twitched in anger, he was not a patient man and his worst enemies, teenagers...
"Yeah, and I want a boat made of diamonds and gold" The man responded meanly causing Sasuke to roll his eyes in annoyance.
"Well, it's good that one of them are achievable"
"Yeah! Your right! I heard there was a boat show in town" The man answered sarcastically, sighing Sasuke turned to Naruto who was clearly aggravated by the pungent man and shook his head gaining Naruto's attention.
"It's obvious that he's not gonna tell us anything so let's just go" Sasuke sighed again, but Naruto wasn't happy with the idea of giving up on and pouted at Sasuke.
"But-!"
Sasuke gave Naruto a glare before he could finish his sentence and Naruto quietened down, but folded his arms in childish protest. Sasuke rolled his eyes and gave the man one last glare before turning around, but the man suddenly perked up in surprise.
"Hey hey, wait a minute...not you Barbie, you sunshine!" The man exclaimed causing the boys to turn around at the insulting nicknames in annoyance, expecting to see an unfriendly face they were met with a rather bewildered look as the man leaned forward squinting his eyes at Sasuke. Sasuke felt uncomfortable as he felt like he was like some animal in a zoo, just being watched and analysed and honestly the man didn't look like the most respectable person, so instantly felt somewhat self-conscious with himself and disgusted with the man. Naruto hadn't caught on and was just looking back and forth between the two. "Only one person can glare like that..." The man suddenly grinned joyfully and had burst into a hearty laughter, he walked from the counter and over to Sasuke, suddenly gripping Sasuke in a bear hug lifting him off the ground even though the man was only taller than Sasuke's chest. Sasuke went wide-eyed and looked towards Naruto mouthing 'What the hell?!', Naruto just as shocked returned with a shrug and stood watching the man. "Ah! It's good to see you, my boy!" The man cried out jubilantly, finally putting Sasuke down who was completely traumatized by the entire event. Suddenly silent was the only thing heard as the man realized his mistake, "You're probably wondering who I am, I knew your mother Sasuke, and you when you were young too" The man explained going behind the counter and leaning down to get something from behind it. While Sasuke was even more wide-eyed, but this time silent, Naruto put a comforting hand on Sasuke's shoulder.
"You OK?" Naruto whispered looking at the Uchiha with worry as mention of his mother was a sensitive issue for Sasuke and Naruto knew this, Sasuke was still for a moment before giving a slight nod to indicate he was OK, Naruto still watched Sasuke who looked uneasy.
"Ah! Here it is!" The man suddenly called out as he lifted a dusty box that was maroon in colour and small in size. The man blew the box causing the dust to dance in the air, the man coughed and looked at both of the boys "Well don't just stand there, get yer keisters over here" The man beckoned, both boys gave one another a look before making there way over to the counter. "By the way, call me Tao" He mentioned wiping off the rest of the dust on the little box.
"What's in the box?" Naruto asked curiously as he leaned forward and was about to touch the petite box, when it was smacked away by Tao who gave Naruto a glare before turning his head back to Sasuke.
"This was your mother's" Tao said looking at the box mirthfully while holding it up, Sasuke stared at the box before realizing he was meant to take it and shakily took the box and looked at the box, but wasn't opening it. "I understand if you don't want to open it, but take it" Tao told Sasuke who looked back up him, it was true he didn't want to open it, he wasn't sure why, he just felt uneasy about opening the box which may or may not give him some kind of closure. Naruto looked at Sasuke and nudged his shoulder bringing him out of his thoughts, Sasuke looked at Naruto then looked back at Tao who stood up and walked back into the room his was in and yelled back. "I'll tell you everything, but for now ya look like you've had all the information you can process for the day, so come and see me at a later date" And with that they both left the shop and walked in silence. Naruto was uncomfortable with the silence as Sasuke didn't hold his head up high and stride with confidence in each step, warning others of his superiority with his aura instead his looked like a shadow; vague, anxious and actually pretty pitiful due to the lack of confidence. Naruto disliked seeing anyone like this, so for his best friend to look like such a thing, he hated it. Naruto knew that he wasn't good with words, and with Sasuke he just seemed to annoy him, so Naruto struggled to find words to help his friend.
"So...um...crazy weather we're having right?" Naruto said awkwardly, scratching the back of his head, but Sasuke didn't respond, he didn't even look at Naruto, did Sasuke even hear him?. So Naruto tried again, "How bout them...err...um...people that we may...know?" Once again Sasuke had continued to walk on with no kind of reaction or response to Naruto. Naruto didn't give up though as he had another go one more time, "I hear...um...Sunagakure is nice round this time of year...um...the new Icha Icha Paradise is out?..." Naruto sighed and felt like an idiot for coming up with the stupidest things to say to Sasuke who was probably ready to rip his head off.
"This is your lamest attempt at making conversation yet..." Sasuke stated emotionlessly, continuing to walk on with his head low, Naruto felt internally crushed as he knew it was true, so he decided he was going to shut up before Sasuke killed him. "But..." Naruto perked and listened to what Sasuke was going to say since Sasuke wasn't one to continue conversation or to even initiate it, "Believe it or not, your stupidity is actually good company right now" Sasuke looked up at Naruto and gave a small smirk, Naruto gave a smile back and looked forward once again.
"Well in that case! Have I ever told you about the time me and Kiba pranked Shikamaru and bushy brows? Aw man, it was awesome! We got them completely covered in this weird goo! How we did it was-" Naruto continued to babble with Sasuke listening to Naruto, not the story as the moron's voice was distracting so Sasuke could just be ignorant of his problems for the moment. Walking back they looked around for Sakura and Kakashi who were in the Inn's mini library looking over the case again, well Sakura was, Kakashi was reading his porn book as usual.
"Please tell me you guys got the statement" Sakura pleaded, noticing their presence and looking up from the mass of paper work that was stacked high and almost engulfed the poor girl. Naruto shook his head causing Sakura to sigh loudly and painfully, letting her head slam down on the table, she groaned, Naruto chuckled sympathetically and walked over, patting her shoulder as she had a mental breakdown.
"Sorry Sakura, but if it helps we'll be able to get it tomorrow" Sasuke explained causing Sakura to give a grunt. Naruto continuing to pat her back saw Sasuke leave the room silently, making him sigh. Sakura looked up at him and followed his gaze.
"Can I ask?"
"No..."
"Did something happen?"
"Didn't I say not to ask?"
Sakura shrugged and put her head back on the desk and sighed.
"Tell me and I'll tell you how I brought in that weapon on the mission in Chiav"
"I'll pass, but for now, we gotta work on this, so let's get started!" Naruto exclaimed sitting down next to Sakura, grabbing one of the stacks of paper. Sakura gave a weak smirk and took another piece of paper to work on. Both shinobis worked into the night, with their sensei helping them from time to time, while Sasuke had gone to bed and listened to the soft guitar in the distance which lulled him to sleep, preparing for the next day.
Yeah this chapter was kind of angsty! But we finally saw all the main characters that are going to be in this fanfic! So very small development for the Narusasu area, but here we are beginning to see Sasuke starting to trust again and opening up! So next chapter we'll solve the robbery! And also we take a sneak peek about what goes on in the boy's room at night! ;) LoL Sorry this chapter took so long, hopefully the next one will be out in like 3-5 days! Thank you for reading!