Chapter Three
Naruto relaxed on the couch inside of his apartment. The silence was unsettling and the darkness only made it even more so. He wasn't sure of what to do about food. He was hungry, but he didn't want to open the refrigerator and let out the cold air inside of it, seeing as how that was the only thing keeping the food from going bad. He couldn't cook anything since the stove was electric. Obviously, the microwave and toaster were out. He sighed and stood. He dragged his feet across the floor and made his way into the kitchen. Reaching up, he grabbed a half-empty cereal box from on top of the refrigerator, opened it, and pulled the bag out. After tossing the box into the garbage he slid back into the living room and sat down. With a groan, he began eating.
After his "meal," Naruto showered and climbed into bed. He wasn't sure what time it was, but it was dark outside and he was tired. That was enough to convince him to get into bed. He wouldn't be paid until Friday and it was only Monday. He wasn't sure of what he was going to do if the water was cut off. He figured he would have to stay with a friend for a while, but he hated the very thought of having to do that. Naruto hated to impose or ask for help. That was probably why he never made a big out of being hurt whenever Sakura was around. Despite himself, Naruto wished he was just a bit more selfish sometimes. He couldn't fathom how Sakura had put up with him all that time, but it wasn't like he wasn't appreciative of it. As a kid, Naruto wasn't allowed to be lazy.
He had grown up with a strict foster family. His father had died when he was an infant and his mother was no where to be found. He wasn't sure if she just hated him or the idea of having to raise him, but he did know that she handed him over to foster care with all the clothing she had for him and left. No one tols him where she went or why she left. After a while, it didn't bother him anymore. He wouldn't let it. He decided he needed to try and be happy for himself no matter how hard it was. Even though it was difficult, he found that just faking confidence made him feel better. Faking a smile would eventually make it a real one. It was that determination that won the friendship of Sakura and others.
Naruto sighed through his nose and pulled the blankets over his head. He couldn't fake confidence to get through this. He would have to stay with a friend for a while and get caught up on the bills and somehow find another job. Plus, avoid those two bastards he had met.
That made his stomach churn.
The idea of asking others for help was one thing, but the idea of whoring himself out in front of a camera made him feel unclean.
The blond decided not to think about it anymore. He turned over onto his stomach and slid his arms under the pillows, drawing them closer to his face. He breathed in and relaxed himself. It took a while, but he finally fell asleep.
- - -
The only light in the apartment came from the windows.
Naruto was relieved when he had discovered the water hadn't been cut off and showered. Breakfast included a bowl of more dry cereal, a banana, and water. He wasn't too fond of these things, but he had to eat something. After putting on his work uniform, Naruto came to the conclusion that the only person who he would be able to stay with was Ino. Everyone else either already had roommates or were tight on money themselves. Ino had a steady flow of cash and was nicer than she seemed. The blond sighed at the thought and grabbed his wallet. He stuffed it into his pocket and grabbed his keys. Upon opening the door, he yelped.
“Oh. Hello.”
It was the Uchiha. Naruto stared at him in shock. The taller man blinked and lowered his right arm. He was obviously just about to knock, but Naruto had answered a bit too early. Though, he was wishing he hadn't opened the door at all. The shock fell from his face and was replaced by irritation. Sasuke stood still, though he clearly noticed the blond's displeasure. The Uchiha merely took in a deep breath and released through his nose.
“How did you know I live here?”
“I asked your coworkers.”
“And they just
told you?”
Naruto groaned loudly and leaned against the frame of the door. Sasuke quirked a brow. The smaller male muttered something about “assholes” and straightened himself. He stepped out of the apartment and pushed Sasuke back a bit to allow himself some room. He then turned and quickly locked the door. After that, he faced the other again and glared. “I don't know why you're here. I thought I was pretty clear yesterday.”
“Crystal, actually,” Sasuke said in a low tone. “But I'm not here to ask you to be in the movie.”
“It's not a movie. It's a porno.”
There was no recognizable expression on Sasuke's face as Naruto turned and walked away from the Uchiha. Sasuke resisted the urge to rub his temples and trailed after the blond. He kept up with the other's quick steps, managing to walk directly beside him. “Fine, porno,” he admitted. “But I'm not here to ask you to be in it.” Naruto tried to ignore the man, figuring anything he wanted would be perverted in nature either way. When the two approached the stairs, Naruto made sure he was the one in front. The blond practically ran down the stairs, frowning deeply when he heard the other's steps behind him.
“I'm here to apologize.”
Naruto stepped onto the asphalt of the apartment complex parking lot. He turned sluggishly to glare daggers at the dark haired man. Sasuke paused, still standing on the last step of the stairs. The blond's face radiated disinterest, his head tilting just slightly to the side. Blue eyes were lidded and one golden brow was lifted. There was a brief silence between them and it seemed as if Naruto was waiting for an explanation. Before Sasuke could speak, Naruto broke the silence.
“I honestly don't want an apology. I want you and Sui-What's-His-Face to leave me alone. Forever.”
“Well, I'm sorry,” Sasuke said flatly, arms crossing over his chest almost triumphantly. Naruto's eyes widened a bit and his head leveled out. It became clear that this man wouldn't listen. He would persist and bug Naruto until the blond's ears bled. There was more silence, and Naruto pulled his keys from his pocket and continued towards his car. Sasuke blinked but followed. Once Naruto had the driver's side door unlocked, he got in and reached over and unlocked the passenger's side. He closed his door and motioned for Sasuke to get in. The Uchiha did just that, sliding into the seat and closing his door. Naruto groaned softly when he noticed the obvious distaste on Sasuke's face.
“Yeah, yeah. It ain't no Porsche.”
Naruto glared at the steering wheel and shoved the key into the ignition. Once the car was started, he shifted gears and began to maneuver out of the parking lot, which was actually pretty packed. Sasuke watched the other and leaned against his door, settling his chin in the palm of his hand. In all honesty, Sasuke hadn't expected to get as far as he did. His next move was undecided. He figured he would have to sort of analyze the blond carefully in the amount of time he had. Suigetsu had suggested getting to know Naruto on a personal level. It would take longer, but once Naruto had lightened up to Sasuke, maybe things would go a lot smoother.
Sasuke wasn't too fond of the idea, but he agreed that it was the only solution.
Naruto pulled up to the exit of the lot and caught Sasuke staring at him. He grimaced. Porno stare, he thought, and quickly reached back to grab something. Sasuke watched, and when the blond pulled out a large hunting knife, the Uchiha's eyes widened to the near size of plates. “Sweet Jesus,” he said breathlessly, backing up against his door. Naruto tried not to grin and instead looked at the other with an all too serious expression.
“You lay one finger on me and I can legally use this,” Naruto said.
“It's not like I'm gonna
rape you!”
Naruto shook the knife a few times before lowering it and placing it under his seat. “Yeah, well. I don't know you well enough to trust that.” Sasuke wasn't sure if he should be charmed for some sick reason or pissing himself. He did relax, however, slowly moving back into a more comfortable position in his seat. He the blond turned right, Sasuke thought the pull of the car would make him throw up.
As Naruto drove, the air seemed to be calmer, though. Sasuke figured he would simply just hang out with the blond all day. That was all he really could do, especially now that he was in the car with him. That must have been a good sign, though. Naruto had let the man in his car. Sure, he had a knife pulled on, but at least he wasn't stabbed. “Why do you even have that thing?” Sasuke asked. Naruto glanced over to the Uchiha and swallowed.
“My, uh, dad was a hunter. He wanted me to be one and got me the knife when I was a kid.”
Sasuke rolled his eyes. There was some common ground there, at least. “I guess you didn't want to be a hunter?”
“I hate it,” Naruto said bluntly. “I don't mind that people do it unless they stuff what they kill.” The blond pushed his lower lip to the side, not really sure why he was telling the other these things. He glanced over at Sasuke again briefly. “Deer heads freak me out.”
Sasuke nodded his understanding. His own father had expectations for him that Sasuke simply had no intentions of fulfilling. He didn't exactly plan to be in the pornography business, but the Uchiha's father saw Sasuke on the top floor of a tall building, surrounded by piles of papers and chained down by responsibility. Sasuke saw how well that worked out for his older brother. Yeah, Uchiha Itachi was rich and powerful, but the man had an everlasting migraine and bags the size of Texas under his eyes. Sasuke had affirmed that it simply wasn't worth it. The work he was doing now wasn't something he necessarily wanted to do, but...
Naruto turned onto the main road. The blond wanted to ask Sasuke how he got into the “business” he was in, but decided against it. A big part of him really didn't want to know, anyway. The awkward silence simply called for it. He resisted, though.
Once they arrived at the restaurant, Naruto parked and turned the car off. He pulled his keys from the ignition and leaned back. He tapped the steering wheel a few times, then reached over and opened his door. “Well, that was a nice chat,” he said with a smile. Naruto quickly got out of the car and shut the door. He watched as Sasuke did the same and the two stared at each other. Naruto looked at his feet and dropped his keys into his pocket. Sasuke smirked.
“I guess I'll be hanging out here with you today.”
“I figured. I don't want you to, though.”
“Then you shouldn't have let me in the car.”
“I thought you were going to apologize.”
Sasuke chuckled and watched as Naruto watched the Uchiha expectantly.
“I apologized on the stairs. Remember?”
“That didn't count,” Naruto stated and started walking towards the door. Sasuke smirked, amused, and followed the blond.
When they entered, it was relatively empty. Sasuke stood by the door for a moment, then decided to take a seat at the table he and Suigetsu had sat at yesterday. The dark haired man leaned against the window and watched Naruto move behind the counter. The blond greeted a few of the others working there when a girl walked up to him. She was obviously higher up in the fast food hierarchy than him as she wasn't wearing much of anything resembling a uniform other than a red shirt tucked into a pair khakis. The girl smiled and held up a visor. Naruto groaned and rolled his eyes, but grasped it.
“Do I really have to wear this, Tenten?”
“You sure do, blondie.”
“But what's the damn point?” Naruto questioned as he put the troublesome head wear on and adjusted it so that it fit him somewhat comfortably. Tenten merely shrugged and shook her head, smiling the entire time.
“It's part of the uniform. I don't make the rules, I just enforce them. Also, quit cussing. I'm getting tired of telling you that.”
Naruto made a mocking face in front of the girl, tucking in a few locks of his blond hair under the strap of the visor. The girl smiled wider and chuckled. She reached up and gently smacked Naruto's left cheek, causing him to flinch, then turned her head to look at Sasuke. The Uchiha blinked.
“Do you need anything, sir?”
“He's just loitering,” Naruto muttered, still fussing over the visor. Tenten glanced at Naruto. The blond looked at her. “He's got nothing better to do, so he's stalking me.”
Sasuke looked unamused by that statement, even though it was partially true. Tenten shrugged.
“As long as he doesn't cause trouble.”
With that, the girl quickly made her way back into the kitchen. Naruto looked over to Sasuke and smiled. “Hear that? Be a good boy.”
Sasuke glared momentarily before deciding it was all just a joke. Naruto snorted before turning his attention to a woman who had walked in. Sasuke sighed and rested his arm on the back of the seat. He figured he may as well get comfortable.
- - -
It got crowded around eleven. Naruto was too busy with customers to even look in Sasuke's general direction at that point, passing out bags of food and talking over people's loud chattering and screaming kids. The noise had obviously bothered Sasuke, but the Uchiha tried his best to drown them out. He had been fooling around on his phone for about half an hour and had even ordered some food for himself. Boredom was settling in and he wondered if Naruto would be getting off of work at noon again. He couldn't exactly ask, so he leaned forward and yanked a napkin from the napkin holder on the table and began to idly tear it into thin, near perfect strips.
For a while, Sasuke thought that there must have been a lot of people living in the small town, but then figured that this was probably the only food joint in town. He sure as hell hadn't seen any others.
Sasuke rolled his eyes when he heard a little girl complaining about pickles and stood. After throwing away the shreds of the napkin, he walked towards the counter. Naruto glared at him briefly before quickly turning his attention back to a customer and handing him his food. Sasuke calmly leaned on the counter and spoke.
“When are you getting off?”
“Same time as yesterday. Go sit back down.”
Sasuke hung his head for a second before looking back up at the other. Instead of going back to his table, he turned his back to Naruto and leaned against the counter. Naruto shot the man a dirty look and continued to pass out food and take orders. The Uchiha had clearly gotten tired of his surroundings. He looked annoyed in every sense of the word. Naruto almost felt like he was looking after a bad tempered teenager. The blond quickly looked down at his watch. They didn't have much longer to wait. Naruto was ready to take the man back to the apartment complex just to make him go back to wherever it was he was staying.
When his shift ended, Naruto practically scurried out from behind the counter and yanked his visor from his head. Tenten watched him with mild amusement and when the blond looked as if he was about to purposely leave the head wear behind, she called out to him and pointed at it. Naruto merely scowled and shoved the hated object into the pocket of his apron. He stormed out, Sasuke following behind, and stomped towards his car.
“When we get back to my place, go home.”
Sasuke quirked a brow. Naruto seemed to be easily angered, and though the blond was definitely pissed about something, Sasuke didn't know what that something was. He thought that it might have been because he didn't sit down when he was told to, but he wasn't some little kid who could be bossed around. He watched as Naruto tugged his apron off and tossed it into the back seat. When Naruto pulled his keys from his pocket, Sasuke smirked and leaned against the side of the car.
“What's got your knickers in a knot?”
“You,” the blond said bluntly. “You, my job, my life in general. Everything.”
“Well,” Sasuke started, obviously amused with the blond's anger. “Why don't I take you somewhere?”
“No. I wanna go home.”
“To an empty apartment with no electricity?”
Naruto froze and stared at the other man. He blinked, then sneered. “Lemme guess: my coworkers told you?”
“You work with a lot of blabber mouths, it seems.”
“I'll kick their asses tomorrow,” Naruto muttered. He got inside of the car and sighed when Sasuke did the same. They both closed their doors, but Naruto didn't seem to want to start the car. Sasuke watched him for a moment before turning his body slightly so he could get a better look of the man. Naruto could feel Sasuke's stare on him and it made him uncomfortable, but instead of telling the Uchiha to stop staring at him, he leaned forward. His forehead hit the steering wheel with a thud.
“I already know you want me to be in your sex flick.”
“Well, you're smarter than I gave you credit for,” Sasuke said, a hint of disappointment in his voice.
“And you're just as sleazy as I thought you were.”
“I'm not sleazy,” the Uchiha stated almost defensively. “I'm just... interested in the different concepts of sex.”
“That's stupid. It only makes you sound more sleazy.”
Sasuke sighed and shifted a bit in his seat.
“Well, at least you know I'm educated.”
“That makes no difference. You're still a pervert.”
Naruto wasn't able to see the look of hurt on Sasuke's face, though it only lasted for a few seconds. The Uchiha turned to sit properly in his seat and sat in silence with the blond. When Naruto sat up suddenly, Sasuke turned his head to watch him calmly. Naruto sighed.
“You know my situation and you know I need money.”
Sasuke quirked a brow.
“But,” Naruto continued. “I'm not gonna be in your porno. I don't even like men. So it's just not gonna happen.”
That complicated things even further. However, Sasuke still didn't want to give up. The Uchiha reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. The movement caught Naruto's attention and when the taller man opened that wallet, Naruto's eyes nearly bulged.
That was a lot of green.
“How much do you owe to get your bills caught up?”
Naruto shook his head, his brows furrowing. He held his hands up and waved them from side to side.
“No, no. I just said I wasn't gonna be in it.”
“This isn't payment. It's a gift. How much?”
Naruto pressed his lips together. He knew he would feel bad later, but all that money was tempting. He figured as long as he didn't have to do anything, he should accept it. After all, it was rude to reject a gift right?
“Ahhh,” Naruto groaned loudly and leaned back against his seat. “Let's see... Electricity is about ninety. I don't need the phone--”
“Just tell me how much.”
“
Ugh, forty. Water bill is fifty.”
Sasuke pulled out more Benjamins than Naruto had probably ever seen in a lifetime. The Uchiha placed the money in the blond's hand with a smile and watched as Naruto counted it all. “This is too much,” he said. When Naruto tried to give some of the money back, Sasuke pushed the other's hand away and shook his head.
“You got rent, right? Just take it.”
“I'd feel even worse if I did that.”
Naruto's voice sounded as if he was whining when, really, some part of him was jumping for joy and telling him to shut his big mouth. Sasuke continued to smile silently, seemingly firm on the matter. Naruto reluctantly folded the money and put it into his own wallet. “Well it's mine, now,” he said. Sasuke frowned and blinked questioningly. “So don't think I owe you a blow job or something.”
“I'm not
that sleazy, idiot.”
“At least you admit that you are,” Naruto said with an amused smile. He started the car and pulled out of the parking lot, laughing when Sasuke glared at him childishly.
