The Writing on the Wall

The Writing on the Wall

By: ladygizarme
Betas: ren and Houseki
Spoiler Warning: a very small bit from the new (3rd) databook
A/N: Thanks for all the reviews. It’s really awesome to know what you guys are thinking/what you like/concrit/etc. Thanks so much, I’m glad everyone’s enjoying it!

Chapter Three:

In the morning, Sasuke woke with a groan, the comforting blanket of sleep leaving him bare and vulnerable to the aches and pains of his waking body. The first pain of notability was, of course, the tenderness in his rear, still feeling very stretched and abused. Just moving his legs to a more comfortable position called his attention to that strange but familiar feeling, bringing with it the memories of the night before. Though some of his memories were slightly blurry and images seemed to fast-forward in some places as he recalled them, he remembered everything. He had been so wild and needy, it was embarrassing now that he was sober, laying in an empty bed in the cold light of day. Still, at the time, it had been exactly what he’d needed.

Wait… empty bed? It took a minute for Sasuke to process that thought, but when he did he turned quickly to the clock on the nightstand behind him. It was after 10am. So Shika must have had a morning shift, like he’d figured.

It almost never failed that when Shikamaru would work until closing one night, he would open the next day. Both men found it annoying, but that’s just how it was when you worked a non-office job, Sasuke supposed. He was lucky that the café had lost their full-time night shift supervisor recently and he’d been promoted due to his seniority and responsibility. He now had a steady schedule and didn’t have to worry about shitty hours like Shikamaru.

Groaning again as he moved to sit up, the other aches in his body made themselves better-known. His chest, stomach, and knees were not only still sore from his aunt’s car, but, with a lift of the sheet partially covering him, Sasuke could see the bruises already darkened to a horrible color of purple on his pale skin. Ugh. He hoped Shikamaru hadn’t seen them when he’d gotten up. And, speaking of which, Sasuke was surprised he hadn’t been woken by the other man’s alarm. He must have really been deep asleep. Oh well, he had really needed it. Actually, he could still use a bit more if his slight hangover and headache were anything to go by. So, with the hope for more sleep in mind, Sasuke laid back down, rolling over to try to find a more comfortable position.

As he was just settling back down, Sasuke had the thought that he should probably set an alarm for himself so he didn’t oversleep. He had another shift tonight, after all. Cursing the idea of having to move from his comfortable spot to find his cell phone over by the couch (he wouldn’t do something as audacious as resetting Shikamaru’s alarm for himself), Sasuke then noticed what was sitting on the nightstand besides the ever-present alarm clock. His cell phone was right there, in arm’s reach, and Sasuke smiled as he realized Shikamaru had had the forethought to set it there for him. After grabbing it and setting an alarm for himself, Sasuke noticed the other items on the small bedside table. There was a glass of water and, in front of it, a small bottle of ibuprofen. So, Shikamaru had seen his bruises, Sasuke concluded. A night of rough sex had never warranted him leaving Sasuke a bottle of pills before, after all.

He had to sit up to grab for them, but he knew it would be worth it if they would help him sleep pain-free for the next couple hours. When he picked up the bottle of pain reliever, he saw a note slipped underneath it. It said simply, “-S”, and again, Sasuke found a smile crossing his lips. Shikamaru was so sweet, but in an understated kind of way. It was probably too troublesome to make any more of an effort than that, but what he had done said a lot more than anything Shikamaru could have written on a note. Besides, Sasuke didn’t need mushy love notes, especially not from his friend-with-benefits. Just the fact that Shika had been there for him when he’d needed it, without questioning it, was enough.

Sasuke took a sufficient dose of the pain killers, draining the water from the glass afterward, and then finally relaxed back to the bed, hoping his body would find the same peace his mind currently had and allow him to return to sleep. He was asleep again in a matter of minutes.

When Sasuke woke again, it was early afternoon and the alarm on his phone was chiming insistently at him. He reached for it clumsily, not fully awake yet. Nevertheless, his fingers found the noisy device to cancel the alarm, and he willed his body to sit up and throw off the last vestiges of sleep. Sasuke rubbed his eyes, then passed his hand through his untidy hair, trying to wake himself up completely. Noticing he had a pressing need to use the toilet, Sasuke stood and went in that direction.

Once he’d finished his much-delayed “business”, Sasuke had a glance at himself in the mirror while washing his hands and saw just how disheveled he actually was. His hair was not only crazy, but laying weird due to sleep—something he knew from experience wouldn’t be fixed by a simple comb-through; Sasuke had wicked cowlicks that were only ever tamed by washing and immediate styling. Not only was his hair severely bedraggled, but he looked decidedly beat up with large bruises covering his ribs and stomach. He also had the beginnings of stubble that would need shaved before work, but that would have to wait until he could use his own razor. He decided a shower was definitely in order. It could fix his hair and let his body and muscles get some much-needed reprieve. Plus, he couldn’t deny the desire to wash away the dried and crusty remains of the previous night’s activities.

Finding things in Shikamaru’s small apartment was pretty simple. There was a shelving unit over the toilet that held towels, so Sasuke grabbed one and hung it from the bar outside the shower. He turned on the shower and adjusted the temperature before stepping in, not needing to undress since he was still naked from the night before. He closed his eyes and let the water cascade over his body, soaking his hair and feeling it pulse down onto his sore muscles, warming them and massaging them as best as a standard showerhead could. After allowing himself a few minutes to bask in the slightly-painful-but-still-good feeling, rubbing a few sore places with his hands, Sasuke finally began washing himself.

Washing with Shikamaru’s soap and shampoo covered Sasuke from head to foot in the familiar scent of his friend, and Sasuke frowned even as he found himself liking both the smell and the thought of it. He was getting entirely too sentimental, and he needed to stop. Their relationship wasn’t like that. Sasuke shouldn’t want to smell like Shikamaru. That was something a lover would think, and he and Shikamaru were not lovers. Sasuke should be happy he had a night of great sex and leave it at that. He probably shouldn’t even be in this shower right now. With that thought in mind, Sasuke hurried to rinse the suds from his body and leave. However, before he could actually turn off the water and step out, Sasuke noticed something in the grey and black speckled tile on the far wall of the shower.

There was the faint appearance of lines there—red lines that didn’t seem to be part of the pattern of the tiles. They were a mixture of curvy and straight lines, all seeming to be connected despite having seemingly random gaps in the connection. Finding it odd, Sasuke found himself staring at it, trying to see the pattern it made. When he finally realized what it was, even the warmth of the shower water on his back could not save Sasuke from the cold that suddenly seized his soul, chilling him thoroughly from the inside out.

As his eyes ran back and forth constantly over the shapes of those lines, he couldn’t ignore the answer his brain gave him. It was words, but that wasn’t the only thing that had caused Sasuke’s reaction. It was what the words said. “Bloody blond”, “blue”, and “death” were clearly visible amidst other lines he couldn’t quite make out due to the random gaps. Sasuke rubbed his eyes with his wet fingers, hoping those words would disappear once he blinked his vision clear again. However, that only seemed to make them even more noticeable to him, jumping out at him as if they were written in blood. Indeed, when he closed his eyes again, the image of the wall bleeding those words out for only him to read sprung immediately to his mind’s eye.

Sasuke shook his head violently, as if trying to dislodge both the thought and image from his brain. Of course, it was no use. So, with shaking hands and eyes determinedly averted from that wall, Sasuke turned off the water, clutched for his towel, and nearly fell from the shower in his haste. He slammed the shower door shut and ran from the room, the towel barely wrapped around him as he fled. After drying himself off and redressing in his clothes from the night before, however, Sasuke realized he would have to go back in the bathroom. His hair was still damp and uncombed, and he would surely get sick if he went out into the fall air like that. So, chastising himself for being scared of words on a wall, Sasuke slowly crept back into the bathroom.

All was as he had left it. There was no ghost etching words into the walls with his bloody fingernail, no ominous aura, not even any visions of blood dripping down the shower walls or door, as his imagination had so freely provided to him. With a deep breath, he stepped into the room and searched for the things he would need to finish getting ready.

Once he got into his routine, Sasuke was able to mostly forget about what he had seen in the shower. He used Shikamaru’s comb to comb through his hair after squeezing the water out of it with the towel, then used a small, travel size hair dryer he found. Shikamaru’s hair gel was different from Sasuke’s, but he figured it would work anyway since it managed to keep Shika’s hair standing up from that ponytail he loved wearing. He sprayed the back of his carefully styled spikes with Shikamaru’s hairspray, just for good measure, and finally deemed his hair done. Sasuke wished he could brush his teeth, but would never go as far as to use Shikamaru’s toothbrush, so that would just have to wait for when he got home. Instead, he vigorously swished some water in his mouth and spit it out.

After hanging his towel back on the bar to dry, Sasuke went to retrieve his bag, jacket, shoes, and cell phone. He took another dose of the ibuprofen before finally leaving the apartment, locking the handle before pulling it shut. As his walking brought him ever closer to his home, Sasuke’s already recently-shaken calm began to deteriorate. He couldn’t help but remember what he had seen in his apartment the night before, and wondered how the hell he would be able to make himself walk into that apartment. It didn’t matter that it was daytime now. Time of day; light or dark—those things made no difference. The things he saw were horrifying no matter what; no matter when.

As his building came into view, Sasuke’s hand went into his pocket, fidgeting with his cell phone. Taking it out, his footsteps slowed to a stop in the middle of his parking lot as he stared at his phone. Just a simple speed dial—two harmless buttons, the “4” and “talk”—could bring his brother here. If someone was with him, maybe it wouldn’t be so scary. If someone was with him, even if they couldn’t see what he saw, maybe Sasuke wouldn’t feel so trapped—alone with a frightening ghost. He could even think of an excuse for it, too. He had left his apartment unlocked last night, and he could easily lie to Itachi and tell him he’d found the door open and didn’t want to go in without having a cop check it out first. Itachi gave him trouble sometimes, but if he thought it was for Sasuke’s safety, he would come.

But no, Sasuke shook his head at himself. He could not keep relying on his family—especially his overprotective brother—every time his curse affected him badly. He needed to be strong and learn to deal with this on his own. He couldn’t just keep living in fear! Despite telling himself this, though, Sasuke’s legs were so slow to move that he was practically walking backwards.

A horn honked right behind him in the parking lot, and the surprise jolted Sasuke from his spot, making him jog up to the building on impulse. With thoughts focused on that car, and not wanting to endure the embarrassment if that person came into the building and wanted to ask why he’d just been standing there, Sasuke hurried through the corridor and up the stairs to his floor. But as he got closer to his door, that reluctance returned.

He felt a cold sweat break out on his skin, goosebumps prickling his back, neck, and arms. His breathing and heart rate sped up with each step closer to his door, until finally his frightened panting was audible, almost echoing in the quiet hallway. His vision was tunneling, turning black and blurry on the edges in his state of near-hyperventilation, and he closed his eyes as it began to give him a bit of vertigo. His hand closed over his doorknob, and he gulped, his cottony saliva sticking in his too-dry throat. With eyes still closed and breathing shaky, he turned the handle and opened the door a fraction. The door opened easily, though it creaked with its slow, hesitant movement, and Sasuke geared himself up to open his eyes and peek inside. Just as he was about to do so, a voice came from behind him.

“Hey, are you okay, dude? You’re not having a heart attack or something, are you?”

Sasuke’s heart stopped at the sudden voice, and he thought if he hadn’t been having a heart attack before, he certainly was now! Whirling around to confront his “attacker”, Sasuke’s wide eyes, filled with shock and fear, soon turned icy, directing a glare at the man across the hall from him. The man was about the same height as him, with brown, chin-length, straight-but-shaggy hair messily parted to the right and completely covering his nose and eye. He had a bandage on his chin, a skater beanie pulled down over his messy hair, and the rest of his attire also screamed ‘skater kid’, despite him looking to be a few years older than Sasuke.

At the dark glare directed towards him, the guy put his hands up as if in surrender and said, “Okay, I’m sorry. I see now that you’re fine. I’ve learned my lesson about trying to help my fellow man. I’ll just leave you to…whatever you were doing.” Saying this, the man slipped back inside his open door, closing it with a soft click.

Sasuke let out a heavy breath. That had been annoying, but it had also broken his extremely tense atmosphere. Now, though he still felt trepidation about going into his apartment, that overwhelming pressure of fear was no longer gripping him. Even as he slowly peeked around the cracked door, his caution was more from habit than actual fear at the moment, and when he saw nothing waiting for him on the other side, he found it easy to simply walk inside and close the door behind him. A wary check of the other rooms in his apartment was equally unfruitful, which Sasuke was more than happy for.

Feeling much relief at being ghost-free for the time being, Sasuke brushed his teeth, shaved his little bit of stubble, put on deodorant, and changed into clean clothes. Then, realizing he was starving, as he hadn’t eaten anything since his dinner break at work the night before and it was now approaching 2pm, Sasuke went to make himself a meal. Cooking himself some eggs and sausage, he sat at his table with a book—a recent biography on former President Hiruzen Sarutobi—and read as he ate. Nearly an hour later, he was still reading when the buzzer sounded through his apartment. Looking at the time on his microwave, Sasuke realized it must be his aunt coming to take him to work.

“I’ll be right down,” he answered through the buzzer, and met his aunt outside the building as usual.

Once they got to Borders, he said his usual thank you and goodbye to his aunt, and maneuvered his way inside with as little human contact as possible. He gave Shikamaru a little wave as he passed him, receiving a nod of the head in return, since the other man was with a customer. Shikamaru’s eyes followed him for a little bit as he passed, and Sasuke had to squash down the memories that wanted to erupt from the night before, just from having those dark eyes on him. Ignoring the twinge he felt in his nether regions as well, Sasuke stalked purposefully to the café, and readied himself for work.

When his shift was over and the café closed, Sasuke stood inside the entrance way, between the two sets of doors, waiting for his aunt to pull up. Thankfully, what had happened the previous night did not happen this night, and Sasuke soon found himself climbing into his aunt’s car and going home. His apartment, once again, was also delightfully ghost-free. After getting himself a glass of water, Sasuke stripped to his boxers, used the toilet, brushed his teeth, and was soon relaxing in bed with his book. Sleep came easily this night and, indeed, for several more afterwards.

It wasn’t until nearly a week later that the raven’s newfound peace was once again disturbed by the supernatural.

*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*

It had been days since Naruto had finished Shikamaru Nara’s novel and suggested the company pick him up as a signed author. He had yet to hear any word back from the higher-ups, despite having tried to track down who had the manuscript now. Today, he had finally found out that Neji Hyuuga, one of the senior editors, had had the manuscript last. Naruto was now on his way to see what the progress was on deciding Nara’s fate with Loose Leaf.

After a short rap on the door, Naruto walked into the other man’s office, having learned in a very short time that that was the casual way things were done around here.

“Yes?” a long haired, strangely pale-eyed man behind a posh desk asked in an arrogant tone. Apparently, the ‘office norm’ was not as acceptable to him as it seemed to be for everyone else.

“Um…” Naruto lost his train of thought momentarily at the somewhat hostile greeting. Quickly gaining it back, though, he asked, “Have you read that manuscript I sent you, yet? The one by Shikamaru Nara?”

An eyebrow was raised dubiously at him. “I’m sure I don’t know. I read a lot of things in a day.”

“Come on, you’d know. It came from the junior editor department? A murder mystery with a detective that gets tips on his cases from ghosts? It was called “Tentatively Titled: Spirit Detective”.

He watched Neji’s strange, pale eyes roll. It was strange to watch, since the pupil wasn’t even visible as far as Naruto could tell (how could the guy even see?), and the iris nearly blended with the white of his eyeball. Nevertheless, the action was no less blatant, making Naruto frown at the implications. This guy thought either the book, or Naruto, or both were a supreme waste of his time.

“That thing?” Neji asked, partially-confirming Naruto’s suspicions. “One look at the title told me all I needed to know about that tripe. I tossed it out.”

“What?! When?!”

Neji looked at him boredly. “Today, yesterday… what does it matter? It’s trash now.”

Naruto growled lowly at the man seated before him. “You have no idea! Haven’t you ever heard, ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’?! You just passed up a really good story, just because the title needs a little work?! I mean, sure, it made me think of that anime from the early-90s with that kid that dies and has to earn his life back by being a spirit detective, but that’s nothing like what this book is about! You’ll regret making such rash judgments when that guy gets picked up by a rival company who was willing to work with him, despite his somewhat quirky naming sense!”

Neji’s eyebrows had climbed halfway to his hairline by the end of Naruto’s rant, and he sat there in stunned silence for a few moments before he finally spoke again. “If it’s really so important to you, you can have it back. I tossed it in the bin just this morning,” Neji admitted, pointing to the trash by his desk.

With heavy breath that mimicked the snorting of an angry bull, Naruto stomped over to the indicated trash bin and searched the debris for the manuscript. Once he found it, whole and intact, he turned to stalk out of the room.

“It won’t matter, though,” Neji called behind him. “None of the senior editors will approve that for perusal by the higher-ups. And even on the off-chance they do, it would never make it from the VPs to Ms. Senju.”

Thoroughly pissed by Neji’s smug attitude, Naruto turned around to give him a feral grin, eyes sharp and dangerous, though they still retained their usual mischievousness. “Then I’ll just have to take it to Ms. Senju personally, won’t I?”

Naruto had already heard enough office gossip in just one week that he was now privy to several stories attesting to her weakness for gambling. He was counting on that weakness to give this novel a chance now.

“Suit yourself,” Neji said, sounding highly doubtful. “I feel I should tell you, though, it’s about time for Ms. Senju’s afternoon ‘meeting’, if you know what I mean.”

In other words, Ms. Tsunade Senju was having a ‘private meeting’ with her favorite flask. It was the woman’s second greatest vice. Naruto’s face twisted into a frown at this news. If he interrupted her now, there was no chance of her listening to him. She hated her ‘private time’ to be interrupted.

With a sigh, he turned around again and said, “I’m going to the break room.”

“You do that,” Neji said, uncaringly. “Oh, and Naruto?”

The blond turned around once more to regard the dark haired man.

Neji smiled at him; a dangerous smile. “Don’t touch my cocoa again if you want to keep your manhood intact.”

Naruto’s jaw dropped. “How did you know it was me?” His voice so did not squeak just now.

Neji rolled his eyes, “No one else around here is stupid enough to steal my cocoa, especially not more than once.”

“Hey! I didn’t have time for lunch that day and needed a pick-me-up!”

“There is coffee,” Neji reminded him with eyes narrowed.

Naruto made a face and stuck out his tongue. “Yuck, no thanks.”

“Well, see that it doesn’t happen again, or as I said…” he left the threat hanging, merely making a vague hand gesture as if to say, “Well… you know what I said.”

Resisting the urge to stick his tongue out at the stingy, exasperating man, Naruto stalked away without another word. Oh yeah, he could so be the better man, even if it meant Neji technically had the last word. His mother would be proud; he’d finally learned the lesson about how to deal with bullies. The thought brought a chuckle out abruptly, and Naruto shook his head at the questioning look he received from Temari as he passed her giggling to himself.

He went to his office and put the recently-rescued manuscript in his locked drawer for safekeeping, then with a mournful look at the boxes of manuscripts he’d barely made a dent in, he grabbed his jacket from a coat stand in the corner. He really did need a break. None of the other stories he’d read so far had interested him nearly as much as this Nara guy’s. In fact, a lot of them had just been atrocious. He needed to get out, get some fresh air, and re-energize himself before he could dive back in.

“I’m going out,” he told Temari as he passed her.

“Didn’t you already have your lunch break?”

“Temari, it was ramen. It took like five minutes. I still have fifty-five coming to me,” he answered with a cheeky grin.

She smirked at him. “Whatever you say, blondie.”

Suddenly, he frowned at her. “Hey, Temari, why do you call me blondie? You’re blonde, too!”

“So? I don’t act like a blonde, and you, my friend, do.”

He blinked at her, puzzling obliviously over this. “How’s that?”

Temari put her hand over her mouth and nose to stifle her snort of amusement. “Never mind, blondie. Let’s just say I think it suits you, and leave it at that, hmm?”

He quirked a blond eyebrow at her, but shrugged it off. He had a date with a cup of cocoa!

*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*

Sasuke had just started his shift and business was steady but not too busy, so he’d let his other crew member take their cigarette break while he handled the store. He was just finishing up with a short line of customers when a new one walked into the café.

Sasuke’s first thought as he saw this new customer was, ‘Hot blond!’ The second was, ‘Gorgeous eyes,’ and the third was, ‘Are those scars or birthmarks?’

The man was tan, with a slightly broader build than Sasuke, definition of a muscled chest slightly hinted at through the form-fitting, dark blue button down shirt he wore with the top two buttons undone. He wore a simple leather jacket—black with orange accents—with the zipper undone, and rugged-looking blue jeans that fit snugly in all the right places. Sasuke had to stop himself from leering at the man’s crotch as he walked, again taking in his facial features. He had bright, cerulean blue eyes, three strange whisker-like marks on each cheek, and thick, sunny blond hair that stuck up all over in unruly spikes. It had that ‘I just got shagged’ look that Sasuke suddenly found himself enamored with, despite never having particularly cared for such a look on other people before. It just looked right on the blond somehow, and Sasuke couldn’t help the less-than-innocent thoughts that went through his mind as he watched the attractive blond advance, those bright blue eyes looking right at him as the customer approached the counter with determination.

“Welcome to The Café, how can I help you?” Sasuke gave his usual greeting, despite his somewhat distracting thoughts about the blond’s sex appeal.

The blond grinned, flashing bright white canines as he eagerly replied, “I want a large hot chocolate, please. With whipped cream. No lid.” Satisfied with his order, the blue eyed blond nodded once sharply.

Sasuke gave him the total, collected his money, and made the man his hot chocolate, all while thinking that the blond’s voice wasn’t too bad, either. It was just what Sasuke imagined he would sound like before he spoke, sounding slightly husky in a natural, boyish way, and every bit as cheerful as he appeared to Sasuke.

“Thanks a lot,” the man said with a smile that crinkled the corners of his eyes, taking the cup Sasuke set on the counter.

Sasuke watched his ass flex in those faded jeans, enjoying the view as the customer walked away from him and sat down at a small table near the counter, blowing on his hot chocolate before taking a sip. Sasuke knew it wouldn’t be cooled off enough yet, but this guy was apparently the impatient type. He ended up taking another, longer sip through the whipped cream before setting it aside to pull a book out of a small Borders bag. Sasuke’s eyes were drawn to the man’s lips, now mustached with the white cream. Despite normally hating sweets, the raven haired man found himself wanting to lick that cream off just as the blond’s tongue was now doing. Sasuke was starting to feel a bit hot, watching that tongue travel across the chocolatey, whipped creamed lips, so to distract himself he looked at the book the blond had started reading.

It was a paperback, medium in size and a fraction of the thickness of the books Sasuke normally read. Sasuke also noticed he was reading the book backwards. Raising a brow at this, he tried to see the title without looking too obvious, and finally realized what it was.

“You’re reading manga? How old are you, twelve?” he suddenly found himself snarking aloud.

Those blue eyes shot up at him, blond brows halfway up his forehead before lowering into a scowl. “I’ll have you know you’re never too old for manga! In fact, sometimes it might be better to read it as an adult. Like this one,” he indicated the volume in his hand by waving it. “Death Note. Not something the average little kid should probably be reading.”

Sasuke scoffed. “Death Note? What’s that, a manga about a suicide note? You don’t strike me as the emo type.” Maybe he should rethink those scars on the blond’s face…

The blond rolled his eyes, “No, it’s not about suicide. And don’t call me emo, you bastard!”

“Okay, how about I just call you ‘moron’? Your reading comprehension is obviously suiting to that title.”

Sasuke couldn’t understand where this sudden desire to insult the other man—a customer, no less—was coming from, but it was giving him such a heady rush he couldn’t help himself. Watching the blond’s blue eyes light up in anger, and the expressions crossing his face as he talked didn’t hurt, either.

“Hey!” the blond declared, slamming the graphic novel down as he stood up suddenly, jarring the table so that his hot chocolate sloshed over the sides. “Shit!” he exclaimed, putting off whatever else he was going to say as he rushed to rescue his manga from the quickly-spreading liquid.

“Moron,” Sasuke chuckled again to himself as he watched the blond’s exaggerated antics. Grabbing a wet towel from the counter behind him, Sasuke walked out from behind the counter to assist in the cleanup. “Here, let me…” he told the blond, who now had a wad of sopping wet napkins in one hand, his precious manga safely in the other.

“Th-thanks,” the blond said sheepishly as Sasuke finished wiping the table clean.

Sasuke looked up from watching the cloth move over the table to see the blond flushed in embarrassment. It looked good on him, and Sasuke found himself wanting to smile at the other man, despite the fact he rarely smiled. Instead, he smirked.

“It’s nothing,” Sasuke told the blond. “It’s my job to clean up after clumsy idiots, after all.”

The blond’s eyes went wide and the red flush of embarrassment deepened in his sudden anger. “You bastard! Where do you get off calling me a moron and an idiot? You don’t even know me!”

Sasuke opened his mouth to answer, though he really had no idea what he intended to say, when he was interrupted by a new group of customers walking in. With a smirk alight in his dark eyes, Sasuke dismissed the blond’s outrage with a casual shrug, and returned to his place behind the counter to take care of the customers.

Business picked up after that, and even when his coworker came back from her break, Sasuke had no more time to return to picking on the hot blond. By the time things finally died down again, Sasuke glanced over to the blond’s table only to see he’d left already, but had forgotten that damn manga on the table. Hoping he’d only just left, Sasuke picked the book up and called to his coworker that he’d be right back. Walking quickly through the main store, Sasuke hurried into the parking lot, looking around frantically for that head of blond hair amongst the late afternoon shoppers. Finally spotting that unmistakable head of unruly blond, Sasuke tore after him.

“Hey, wait!” he called out, now wishing he knew the blond’s name to make him stop. “Moron!” he tried desperately, actually somewhat surprised when that didn’t work either.

Finally, he got within reach of the man, though there were some people still between them. Nevertheless, Sasuke reached out a hand to his shoulder. He couldn’t grasp it, though; his hand went through it.

Sasuke’s blood ran cold, the slow, deep thud of his heart echoing one beat eternally through his head as a wave of icy cold flooded through Sasuke’s body—through his bones; through his very soul—spreading out from the hand that had passed through the blond’s shoulder. His vision tunneled and blacked out for a split second. Then he was gasping, drinking in gulps of chilly, autumn air into his aching chest. His vision cleared a little, and he found himself watching in slow motion as the two people in front of him passed through the blond’s back. A back that he now saw was soaked in blood. Then that shaggy, blood-streaked, blond head was turning, and Sasuke was squeezing his eyes closed even as he willed his frozen limbs to move, move, MOVE!

And he was running, running, RUNNING; weaving haphazardly through puzzled shoppers, ignoring dirty looks and calls of, "Watch it!" and car horns blaring as tires screeched. He burst back through the entrance to Borders, his heart pounding in his ears, breathing still haggard, eyes wild as he analyzed the clearest path to take back to the café. He got there, and still didn’t stop until he was in the back, locked in the bathroom, staring at the mirror blindly—unable to see his own reflection, just the image of that blond covered in blood. He turned the water on with a trembling hand—wanting to splash his face, hoping to wash that image away—but paused when something dropped from his hand, clapping against the tiled floor as it hit it.

Looking down, Sasuke saw the manga he’d been trying to return to the blond. A blue book, with a hulking, gangly, gothically-dressed, blue and black creature staring up at him with round, yellow eyes; grinning with a mouthful of razor sharp, yellow teeth. And surrounding the creature, ominous writing covered the “wall” of blue. Death Note.

Somehow, Sasuke felt like someone somewhere was trying to tell him something.

TBC

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A/N2: Sooo… a lot of Sasuke this chappie, huh? Yep, yep…well, I do what needs done for the plot…yes..yes.. Anyway! I WAS going to save this for Naruto’s birthday (I’m hoping to do a massive, though staggered, post that day, but we’ll see if I finish in time…), but seeing as Naruto really only has one scene in his “POV”, I decided it doesn’t really count as a bday gift for him, so I went ahead and posted it now…wow, what a longass sentence…sorry, I’m hyper from a messenger conf with anime friends and anime scavenger hunts (my team won!)…anyway!

Tell me your thoughts?

&hearts

~ lg