Won't Let You Go

Chapter Four Theme Song: N/A

Author’s Note: The measures I find myself taking with Iruka’s and Kakashi’s (KAKASHI-SENSEI IS HAVIN’ MAH BABIES!!) personalities in order to make this plot work are truly killing me. I apologize if, as a result, they come off as underdeveloped characters. (proceeds to shred paper for a hamster house)

On a different note, my original plan was to wait until after midterms to slowly proceed with writing this chapter up. Those plans changed when I realized that I’ve reached my one year anniversary at Ochiba.net. chiba-chwan has loved me for ONE WHOLE YEAR now!! (feels special) And since this is the story that got me in the door of one of my favorite online hangouts, what better way to show my love and appreciation than FINALLY updating, yeah?

Also, I’ve got this spiffy Naruto contest going on in which I’m giving away a bunch of prizes. If you’ve got time between now and June 30th, you should look into it! Details can be found on my profile.


Chapter Four

“They said there’s a place to eat across the street from the inn…”

Fate, Sasuke concluded as he stepped out of his car to stare at the building before him, was decidedly against him. Struck by the most extreme sense of déjà vu, he ushered Sakura into the very same place he had been to not even 24 hours prior. The same lighting, the same tables, the same bar…That was it. The next chance he got, he was killing Fate. Then Naruto. Then Kiba while he was at it just because.

Shit! Kiba!

Taking a long moment to look around for any signs of the loudmouth as Sakura talked to the hostess, Sasuke deemed it safe only after glaring at every brunet within the vicinity and making sure none of them sported the deep red clown makeup Kiba so religiously wore. Figuring he had lectures throughout the day, the businessman let out a sigh of relief – dealing with Kiba was something Sasuke was more than happy to do without, especially with what he was about to do.

“Hey,” Sasuke softly called out, grabbing Sakura’s arm before she could move to follow the young hostess. Taking note of her questioning glance, Sasuke pulled a small box out from his pocket and opened it.

“What…?” Sakura’s voice died in her throat as her eyes widened to the point where her boyfriend was quite sure they might pop out of her head.

It wasn’t until Sasuke realized she was no longer breathing that it occurred to him that an explanation might be in order.

“Don’t get the wrong idea,” he said hurriedly. “It’s just to help keep up appearances.”

And cue blue lips.

“I…did tell you about Naruto’s dilemma, right?” Sasuke hesitantly asked, finding himself second-guessing the phone conversation he was positive happened only several hours earlier thanks to Sakura’s more than a little worrying reaction. “And…you did agree to go along with this…didn’t you?”

He was seriously debating on snapping the box shut and hiding it behind his back as if nothing had ever happened when Sakura finally breathed. “It’s beautiful…”

Those two words did little to alleviate Sasuke’s fears.

He frowned, shrugging. “It looked like something that would catch Naruto’s eye; plus it was actually affordable, so…”

“So I can keep it?” Green eyes finally pulled away from the gorgeous display of set diamonds to look hopefully up at the man still holding the ring.

“Uhm, no,” Sasuke said as Sakura gently pulled the ring from the box and placed it on her finger. “The place I got it from has a fourteen day return policy on its engagement rings, so as soon as this is all over, it’s going right back to the jewelers.”

Shoulders tensed then slumped in defeat. Her boyfriend truly did have the emotional sensitivity of a rock most times. This knowledge was probably the one thing that kept her from completely losing her head when he approached her with this whole crazy plan of his.

But even with all the allowances she was used to giving him, she couldn’t deny the hurt at being so bluntly told that marriage wasn’t even a tiny blip on Sasuke’s mind. Before Sakura could properly recover from such an emotional blow, a loud voice sounded across the restaurant.

“SAKURA! You CAME!”

The couple turned to see Naruto standing at one of the tables in the distance, waving like a madman.

Sasuke groaned as the lunch crowd fell silent and collectively turned their heads to stare.

“That idiot…” Sakura took a moment to suppress her rage and school a smile on her face. “Right. Keep your eyes on the prize, girl.”

Sasuke merely blinked as his girlfriend moved ahead, wondering if talking to herself was something she had always done and he had just failed to notice, or if this was a newly developed habit brought on by long school days and even longer nights of studying and working on her dissertation.

The first thing Sasuke noticed as they approached the table was that Naruto was looking decidedly less frumpy than usual. This more than likely had to do with the simple fact that the normal, poorly-sized suits were decidedly absent in favor of a fitted grey sweater and black slacks that did a much better job of letting the world know of Naruto’s body type than his suits ever did.

For some reason, the drab colors made Naruto’s personality shine that much brighter. Or maybe they just made you notice his eyes and hair that much more and that made his personality more noticeable.

And why am I even pondering this?

The corners of Sasuke’s lips tugged down as he realized his mood didn’t worsen the closer he got to Naruto. Huh. Maybe he should have his coffee on an empty stomach more often.

“Hey, sweetie,” Sakura greeted, putting her arms around the blond and giving him a peck on the cheek.

The resulting blush and stuttered reply pretty much ensured this plan was doomed from the start.

Turning away from Naruto before he could dig himself any deeper than he just did, Sakura continued, not even batting an eye at the strangers’ frightening appearances. “Hello, you must be Iruka-sensei and Kakashi-sensei. It’s a pleasure to meet you, but I’m sorry to say Naruto hasn’t actually told me much about you.”

“That’s perfectly understandable,” Kakashi said with a smile as he pulled out a chair for their female guest. “Growing up, Naruto had an interesting habit of not telling people he was associated with us, though I really can’t imagine why. Ah, may I?” Waiting for the consenting nod, the older man gently took Sakura’s hand and peered down at her fingers. “Lovely. Definitely something that would catch Naruto’s interest.”

“Yes,” Sakura agreed amiably, blushing a bit at the close proximity of the eye patch and scar behind it as he leaned in to examine the ring.

At Kakashi’s comment, Naruto’s eyes widened and his gaze snapped down to Sakura’s fingers where, true to Kakashi’s word, was an engagement ring that would have caught his attention from even a mile away.

Holy shit, Sasuke had to ask Sakura to marry him in order to go along with this plan?

If his partner had been able to hear such blond thoughts, he surely would have hit the idiot.

“I apologize,” Sasuke spoke as he took a seat as well, “but I have to ask that we make this lunch quick. Since Naruto was given the morning off in preparation for your visit, we’re a little backed up on our work for the day.”

“Eh? You mean I don’t get to take the whole day off?”

Sasuke flipped his menu open. “No,” he said with a tone of finality.

Naruto, far too used to such conversation-ending tactics to be deterred, whined on. “Why not?”

Memories of the day before still running rampantly through his head like the cold sweat of a bad nightmare that refused to go away, Sasuke’s eyebrow twitched as he peered over the top of his menu and uttered two words, “Damage control.”

It took a moment for the nervous laughter to start, seeing as how Naruto was slow in interpreting the obvious.

“Trouble at work?” Iruka asked, feeling a bit concerned as he looked between the two men.

“Don’t worry,” Sasuke reassured. “It’s nothing we can’t handle.”

Feeling just as confused, yet able to figure out the obvious that much quicker, Sakura decided it was high time to do her womanly duty of steering the conversation.

“So, Kakashi-sensei?” Kakashi nodded in acknowledgement and Sakura continued. “What exactly do you do for a living?”

Kakashi grinned in a way that couldn’t be taken as anything less than friendly. “Damage control,” he said, repeating Sasuke’s words.

Sakura’s own smile faltered as a glower could be felt from the menu Sasuke was hiding behind. “Oh? Like…security? Or police work?”

“Something like that,” Kakashi answered proudly, folding his hands before him.

A simultaneous thought ran through both Sakura’s and Sasuke’s heads. Suspicious…

“W-what about you, Iruka-sensei?” Sakura asked, forcing her smile to recover.

Iruka perked up. “Me? Well, I’m a professor over at Hidden Leaf Academy.”

Once again, Sakura’s pleasant façade fell, this time in favor of shock. “The Hidden Leaf Academy? As in one of the top ten prestigious private schools in the country?”

“The one and only,” Iruka laughed. “It was a real pain back when Naruto attended because all the other professors would come complaining to me whenever he got into trouble, which happened just about every day, actually.”

The conversation momentarily failed to move on, thanks to Naruto being the centered focus of his companions’ stares, Sakura and Sasuke both in disbelief that such a dobe once went to one of the best schools in this area of the world.

Far more used to recovering from outrageous situations than his girlfriend was (he did work with Naruto, after all), Sasuke closed his jaw with a soft click and began to drag his eyes back to his menu only to have them freeze on a figure several meters away, heading towards their table with purpose – Kiba.

Abruptly, Sasuke stood. “Bathroom,” he quietly excused himself just as Iruka was about to continue on, breaking the awkward silence the best way he knew how – with a few embarrassing stories from Naruto’s school days.

Confident that such tales about the blond would hold the group’s attention far better than him walking away, Sasuke made no move to be subtle in his actions as he grabbed Kiba and whirled him around, dragging him off to an empty area of the restaurant near the back where a small stage was located that was reserved for local bands during the later dining hours.

“What the hell, Sasuke?” Kiba screeched softly. “I know I’m a few minutes late for my shift, but it’s hardly my fault if the person before me decided to take off without even offering your group drinks first! Yours was going to be the first table I served, I swear!”

“What? Will you just relax? I could care less about this place’s inability to properly serve its guests,” Sasuke scoffed. “I have a favor to ask you.”

“Oh,” the waiter sounded stupidly. “What is it?”

“When you serve my table, I need you to act like Naruto and Sakura are engaged and that this is old news to you,” Sasuke explained.

“You want me to what?!?” Kiba’s mouth fell open furiously. “With who?!?”

Sasuke scowled. He was starting to see a trend in the way people were reacting to this whole scenario. First Sakura, then Hinata back at the office (although there was a lot more stuttering involved, followed by an immediate apology for the outburst), and now Kiba. Was the coupling of Naruto and Sakura really that far-fetched for everyone?

“Look-”

“Was it your fault that Naruto was here getting himself piss drunk yesterday? What the hell did you do to him that warrants you handing over your girlfriend?!” Kiba demanded.

Wincing as the volume of his old roommate’s voice increased, Sasuke shushed at his friend. He would hardly call it ‘handing his girlfriend over’ really. After the near Full Monty show he had been forcibly graced with last night, Sasuke was positive Naruto could have just about any girl he wanted if he played up the sex appeal factor at all. Geez, where the hell did he workout to even get abs like that?

Was he jealous? Hell yes, he was jealous! When he wanted to show off his muscles, he had to flex. And even then it was as if he barely had anything to show for it, despite the amount of time he spent at the gym.

When Naruto wanted to show off his muscles, all he had to do was take off his damn shirt and BAM! there they were. And because that obviously wasn’t enough, he had some sort of hypnotic power that activated when he chose to flex. You just couldn’t pull your eyes away!

“I mean, true, I don’t even know the guy, but just from listening to him babble on and on made me think he’s a really great person, and someone like him shouldn’t have to put up with all the shit you insist on carrying around-”

Sasuke found himself pulled back into the conversation.

“I don’t carry any shit around!”

Kiba snorted. “Yeah, right. And what about Sakura and her feelings, hmm? She’s a total sweetheart and doesn’t deserve to be put through something like this. Look, whatever crazy shenanigan you’re trying to pull – I want no part of it. At all.”

That last bit of Kiba’s self-righteous statement reminded Sasuke of a little detail he wasn’t quite sure how he managed to forget in the first place.

“I also need you to act as my gay lover for the next two weeks.”

It took a few moments for the request to fully sink into Kiba’s brain, and when it did, the results weren’t pretty.

“…You want me to WHAT??!? NO! FUCK no!!”

“Will you keep it down!” Sasuke hissed. “It’s no big-”

“NO BIG DEAL?” Kiba mockingly (and loudly) finished. “What the fuck are you on? ‘No big deal’ is picking up your dry cleaning, or borrowing a couple hundred from me, or having me bail you out of jail, or hell! Even having me go to jail with you! Your version of ‘no big deal’, however, involves me watching you marry off your girlfriend in some twisted form of a peace treaty, and not only getting me to swing for the other team, but to be attracted to you of all people! God, why you, even? Why can’t I be gay for someone else? Your face is like this all the time!” Kiba used his fingers to contort his eyebrows and push his mouth down into a scowl.

Sasuke’s face fell into a much better-looking version of what he was being mocked with. If Kiba was going to be an ass about this, then he could be an ass as well.

“Remember all those ‘Thanks, Sasuke, I owe you one’s in college?” he asked, crossing his arms and fixing his old roommate with a leveled stare.

Kiba’s hands drew away from his face as his eyes grew large with horror. “N-now, Sasuke, I’m sure there’s a reasonable alternative-”

“I’m calling in every single one of them,” Sasuke stated, a triumphant smirk crossing his face at the look of defeat that flashed through brown eyes.

“But…my manhood!”

Sasuke scoffed. “I’m not asking you to kiss me or grope me in public, dumb ass. Just…throw your arm around my shoulder a lot and buy me drinks and stuff if the occasion calls for it. You know, like you used to.”

Kiba’s mouth opened and closed a few times before he was able to form any words. “Those actions weren’t gay! They were signs of the manly bonds of the O Chi Ba brotherhood! I thought you understood!”

“Bonds of brotherhood, signs you want to get into my pants, it’s all the same to the uncaring or untrained eye,” Sasuke dismissed. “The focus of this is Naruto, not us, and if you hadn’t showed up today you never would have had to be included in the first place.”

“If that’s the case, then why are you dining at my restaurant?” Kiba countered.

“I’m not here by choice if that’s what you’re implying. I’m just as much a victim in this as you are.”

Kiba’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Are you sure this isn’t some poorly concealed attempt to seduce me? Because if it is, let me warn you now – if anything between us were to happen, it would have been during that conQUEST of Dreams party a few Springs ago. But seeing as how it’s over and I came out of that party with my backdoor virginity intact and you dating Sakura – which I still would like to know how the HELL that one happened – I’d say there’s no chance of an ‘us.’ Ever. Even if I am God’s gift to-”

“You know you’re one of the reasons I finished school early,” Sasuke interrupted, cutting Kiba off before he got too into his egotistical monologue that the businessman had heard more than enough times in previous years.

Shortly after they had started sharing a room, Kiba had realized the quickest method to get his way with Sasuke was to annoy him to death with pointless chatter that centered around ramblings either on his thoughts on certain matters or on how he believed his great body was put on this earth with the purpose of being worshipped and bringing pleasure to the greater female population.

Ever since that Dreams party, Sasuke had learned to cut Kiba off at the start if he had any hope of surviving through the rest of school in peace. What had happened at that party and what led to his approaching Sakura immediately afterwards were secrets he had every intention of taking with him to the grave.

“Will I at least get an explanation?”

Sasuke snapped away from his thoughts of the past. “What?”

“Will I get an explanation as to why I’m pretending that Naruto guy and Sakura are engaged while you and I are playing the signature gay couple on the side?” Kiba elaborated seriously, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his black waiter’s apron.

“Yes,” Sasuke said. “But not right now.”

Kiba seemed to ponder this for a moment before nodding. “Alright.” He clapped his old roommate on the shoulder and moved to get back to his job. “Call me when you’re ready to let me know. Or if you want to meet up for a quick romp in the sack.”

Sasuke decided it best not to dignify that last statement with a response.

Doodle-eh-doo! Doodle-eh-doo! Doodle-eh-doo!

Kiba nodded in absent-minded agreement as he jotted down the group’s order below their list of drinks, mentally cursing Ichigo for skipping out of her waitressing duties early and making his job that much harder. Luckily, aside from the warm greeting from Sakura whom he bumped into regularly on campus and the enthused smile from Naruto, he was not pulled into further conversation and had no need to play the gay lovers card.

“Excuse me if I come off as presumptuous, but would you happen to be the same Kiba that Naruto mentioned earlier?” Iruka asked.

Or not. God damn it.

“I don’t know,” Kiba answered with a roguish grin. “It depends on how I was mentioned.”

Sakura cast Naruto a curious glance as the man suddenly looked extremely nervous. When it became obvious that everyone was waiting him to give the explanation, Naruto forced himself to speak. “Oh…you know…just how you and Sasuke aresmfdmgmmfer.”

Despite the mumbled ending, Kiba got the message loud and clear. So this was all blondie’s fault? Dick. Rather than be pissed over such a fact, the waiter found himself wondering how he got Sasuke to agree to play along.

“How he and Sasuke are what?” Sakura pressed, frowning as she looked away from Naruto and up to Kiba.

Extending his pinky away from his fist, Kiba put the small finger to his lips and offered an easy smile. “An item.”

“You…er…didn’t know, Sakura-chan?” Naruto asked as he noticed the way the pink-haired woman’s whole frame stiffened as she instantly caught on to Kiba’s meaning.

Slowly turning with an icy parody of a smile on her face, Sakura gritted out, “I’m sorry. He failed to mention to me his flavor of the week.”

Kiba remained silent, wondering if he should be offended by such a statement, regardless of the fact that he wasn’t really gay and wasn’t really dating the man.

“He’s not a flavor of the week! They’ve been dating for several months now and they really love each other!” Naruto argued, seemingly taking true offense on Kiba’s behalf. “Sasuke even said he thinks Kiba may be the One!”

“Oh? Don’t get me wrong, that’s great to hear and all, it’s just a pity that I’m the last to find out.”

Kiba took immediate pity at the loss Naruto was clearly feeling and decided it best to intervene. “Speaking of Sasuke, is he here with you guys? Is he going to eat as well?” The group collectively looked at the empty seat. “Should I come back for his order…or maybe you know what he wants?”

“The scampi salad.”

“The teriyaki chicken burger.”

“Uhm…” Kiba’s pen remained hovered over the paper as Sakura and Naruto shouted out two very different items.

“A burger? He’s not a teenager anymore, dear.”

Kiba swallowed. He had been on the wrong end of Sakura’s temper a few times and knew the warning signs. And oh shit, that last word was practically screaming ‘DANGER, WILL ROBINSON, DANGER!’

Sadly, Naruto was oblivious to the thin ice he was trampling on. “So? He likes sticking teriyaki chicken between bread slices! He does it all the time at work! You should see the way he pigs out when we order the stuff. We’ve had to stop announcing the arrival of the food to make sure Hinata-chan and I at least get our fair share, 'cause if we don’t, he steals all the chicken for himself and locks the door to his office so we can’t even get in!”

This side of Sasuke was obviously news to Sakura. “…Okay, but we’re in a restaurant. I’m sure Sasuke wouldn’t want to show off such poor mannerisms to our guests.”

“It’s fine. He’s probably too hungry to care,” Naruto said over the ‘oh no, we wouldn’t mind’ from his senseis. “I don’t think he ate breakfast today, so he’s going to need something better than a measly salad. Green leaves aren’t enough to fill anyone up.”

“It’s a scampi salad,” Sakura corrected.

“So? It’s still a salad. And what the hell is a ‘scampi’ anyways?”

Returning from the restroom (where he did in fact go after Kiba’s departure), Sasuke was more than a little troubled by the tension the table was immersed in.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, sending a questioning glance to the two older adults who seemed to be a little nervous at the dark auras floating around the soon-to-be wed couple.

“They couldn’t agree on what I should order for your lunch,” Kiba replied a little sheepishly, clutching his small pad of paper before him as a shield.

The glare directed at Naruto and Sakura was not only enough to banish their bad moods, but make them feel guilty for being so childish as well.

“Why not just let Kiba choose?” he asked, immediately settling the issue without even having to listen to the arguments from both sides.

Kiba found himself to be the center of unwanted attention, blue and green eyes both demanding he backed them up on this.

If he were to be honest with himself, Sasuke certainly did have a soft spot for greasy fast food; something Kiba had introduced him to during their early college years. But then again, Sakura would probably kill him if she ever found this out, seeing as how she preferred the life of higher end dining. However, being both a man and college student, he was more than familiar with the hunger pains associated with missing breakfast.

“The vote was between the shrimp scampi salad and the teriyaki chicken burger.” There was no way in hell he was about to put his own neck on the line in this fight, no matter how many IOU’s he had dished out through the years.

Sasuke barely cast the menu a cursory glance, choosing instead to lean forward and give Kiba a smile that sent unnatural shivers down his spine. “Whatever you think is more filling.”

The innuendo in those words freaked out more than just one person as Kiba did his best to counter with, “You got it, princess.” before moving away to place the order.

Bringing his attention back to the matter at hand, Sasuke sincerely wished Sakura and Naruto would pull themselves together for the remainder of lunch.

“So what did I miss?”

It was Iruka who answered. “Just me embarrassing Naruto with a story about him running down the Science corridor with the seat of his pants on fire.”

Sasuke decided he didn’t want to know.

“So, Sakura.” Iruka turned his attention to the female. “I know Naruto can be a real pain at times, but what made you realize he’s the one for you?”

Sakura blinked and glanced down at her ring. “I…don’t know, really. I mean, I always used to think he was just annoying based on what I heard about him from Sasuke,” the evil glares from both businessmen went ignored, “but as I got to know him myself, I realized that he’s actually a great guy and I guess my feelings just sort of took off from there.”

Sasuke had to give points for the arm rubbing and the subtle way Sakura took Naruto’s hand in hers, regardless of the barely-there flinch on Naruto’s part.

“What about you, sweetie? When did you first know I was the one?”

Sasuke tensed. It was one thing to cover up a lie by playing along. But to actually sit there and make it bigger, especially with small details such as that, was definitely an area best left alone.

Naruto almost visibly went through and discarded several scenarios, his mouth opening and closing several times, with his cheeks actually tingeing pink and eyes growing somewhat sad at one point. Everyone was left in suspense for several moments before Naruto hesitantly began, sending a nervous glance in Sasuke’s direction before gluing his eyes to his folded napkin on the table.

“You…may not remember, but…you were at the office…er…you stopped by the office, I-I don’t really remember why, and none of us were there and you had been trying to make copies of a report or something – a, er, school report or essay or whatever – that was due by noon and you only had half an hour left to turn it in. But the ink cartridge needed to be replaced and since there was no one else around, you did it yourself and when I walked in, I saw you glaring at the copy machine as if it had insulted you…with ink stains all over your hands and this smudge across your cheek and one on your chin. And then you looked up at me as I just sort of stood there and gave me this self-satisfied smile because I teased you about not even knowing how to refill the paper tray once…”

“Oh, Naruto…”

“And then you pushed the start button and the ink cartridge popped out and ink spilled on some of the wires inside the machine and the whole thing started smoking and caught fire, but that’s not really relevant to the point, I guess,” Naruto finished awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head as Sakura continued to gaze at him with nothing short of newfound adoration.

Apparently the story had touched some sort of ‘Awwww’ factor that was genetically instilled within the female species, because it took her a few seconds to collect herself and reach out to gently grab Naruto’s head, turning it to face her. She seemed to notice the slight panic in his eyes at their close proximity and at the last moment, altered the course of her lips slightly so that the light kiss was pressed against the corner of his mouth rather than centered on it.

Sasuke hardly noticed the ‘aw’s and teasing that followed. Hell, he hardly even noticed the kiss that his girlfriend had just so freely given away. His mind was still focused on the ink cartridge story. Even though Sakura had no idea where Naruto had pulled it from and had gone along purely for however oddly sweet it seemed to her, Sasuke knew exactly what his partner had been talking about because the story was actually about him.

He had a meeting at noon and was trying to make copies of his report. Rather than going to find another copy machine in the building and have someone else tease him about his inability to fix the damn thing, he decided to simply change the ink cartridge himself. After all, if Naruto and Hinata could change it with no problem, why couldn’t he?

It turned out it the old ink cartridge didn’t appreciate being pulled out of its place without some tab being pressed first and decided to let its anger be known by leaking all over Sasuke’s hands, proving that it wasn’t really empty in the first place and therefore didn’t actually need to be replaced as the copier’s display screen had said. But in the end, vengeance was Sasuke’s and he threw the stupid cartridge away regardless.

The new ink cartridge put up just as much of a fight as the old one, refusing to properly fit until Sasuke’s fists did a little persuading.

When he closed the side panel, the machine hummed in satisfaction for a few seconds, allowing Sasuke to believe he had done the procedure correctly before it began to beep loudly, telling him not only did he fail at changing ink cartridges, but now something else was wrong as well.

He wasn’t sure how long he had been standing there, glaring at the display screen while attempting to figure out what the hell, ‘Error 88: Paper jam in rollers. Check panel 4.’ meant when he hadn’t even had the chance to start making copies, but the next part he remembered quite clearly.

He had felt the presence of someone else in the office and had looked up to see Naruto standing near the door, just sort of staring at him with a mostly blank expression. The main reason this bit stuck out in Sasuke’s memory was because he had found it odd that Naruto wasn’t laughing at him and had yet to make any sort of remark. Deciding the moron was merely in shock at the fact that Sasuke had been tinkering with the copy machine and hadn’t blown the place up, the Uchiha smirked and pressed the start button, feeling he had something to prove.

Of course, what followed had more or less humiliated him for life with coworkers dubbing him ‘The Copier’s Curse’ and going out of their way to ask Sasuke if he needed anything copied lest he break their own machines as well. Naruto, however, never really teased him on the incident, offering instead half-hearted chuckles and choosing to skirt around the nudges asking for the witness’ perspective. Sasuke had merely tossed it up to some odd quirk of Naruto’s, wondering if the blond had some sort of emotional attachment to the old copy machine and if he should apologize for being the one to bring it to its untimely death.

Now, however…now there was something deep inside Sasuke’s gut that wasn’t so sure. Perhaps it was high time he confronted Naruto on the issue.

Right after he finished the burger that had just been placed in front of him.



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