Bring the Game

Chapter 4 - The Ball's in Your Court Now...

“All hail the conquering young heroes!”

Kiros Seagill, a tall, brown-skinned, middle-aged man tossed his hand-towel over one shoulder so he could loudly applaud the Balamb SeeDs as they strolled into his restaurant. Seifer was among the first to enter and when the patrons stopped eating to join in the ovation he encouraged them by raising his hands, like a conductor, instructing its orchestra to play louder so he could soak up their praises.

“Thank you! Thank you! You’re too kind,” and he had to yell over the loud cheering that could even be heard from outside as the rest of their group filtered in. Siefer then held up his palms in a ‘Stop’ gesture and a hush fell over the room. He reached over to take up a glass of soda from a nearby table and ignored the protests of the young lady who was sitting there.

“Fellow students of Balamb Garden,” he said as he raised the glass high above his head. “It is with great pride that I proclaim to you tonight, that we are still the reigning champions of college basketball and the cup will remain within our hallowed halls, where it belongs,” and as he said that last part he turned to look Kakashi square in the eye with a smug expression on his face. “And it will remain there as a testament that we are the best.”

The white-haired coach met his gaze with a very flat one of his own, not at all perturbed by his cocky goading, in fact he pretty much ignored it but his Ninjas seethed with rage and Kiba literally had to bite his tongue to keep from blurting out his rude retort.

The patrons cheered loudly and some even started banging on their desks but when Seifer raised his hand again they became silent.

“You see,” he began once all attention was glued to him. “Had it not been for my great coaching we never would have made it this far and I remember when I was younger, I had a dream; a dream that-“

The rest of his sentence was drowned out when the college students, who were very familiar with his theatrics, started groaning loudly.

“Oh God!,” one cried out. “Seifer’s giving one of his long-assed speeches again.”

“Cheque please!” another piqued up.

“Fuck off!” he growled when everyone, especially those behind him, started laughing and he downed the rest of the beverage with one gulp and slammed the empty glass back on the table but the girl knew what kind of person he was and, valuing her ability to walk without the use of crutches, she kept silent, content to just glare daggers into his back.

“Come on Seifer, you’re not even drunk yet, so you don’t have an excuse for acting like a prick,” Irvine sighed with an agitated roll of his eyes.

“Like he needs one,” Zell muttered under his breath and fortunately for him the crass teen hadn’t heard the remark.

Kiros chuckled and ushered the party towards the large, round table he’d reserved in a far corner of the diner but when he saw the strangers closely following the SeeDs he had to stop and ask, “are these guys with you too?”

“Yeah but I have no idea why,” Seifer sneered nastily before he plopped into a chair and was immediately flanked by Irvine on his left. “This is the team we mopped the floor with tonight. I guess they wanted to tag along just to see what it’s like to celebrate a victory, or something.”

Kiba’s mouth did open then and he wanted to inform the arrogant bastard, just for his information, that they’d won many games back home but Shikamaru, who was conveniently standing next to him, quickly clamped a hand over his mouth.

Kiros nodded and mentally calculated how many more seats he’d be needing. “Wait a second,” and Kiros re-counted the heads of each one of his regulars. “Aren’t you guys missing a team-member?”

“Yeah, Wedge,” Zell answered and slipped into the seat a few chairs away from Seifer and was accompanied by Biggs who sat one seat away.

“Wedge’s mommie called,” Seifer added in a whiny adolescent voice. “She wants him to baby-sit his little sister so she can go to spin class…spin class, huh. Is that what they call it now?”

His friends were familiar with Wedge’s domestic situation and Seifer’s insensitivity, though expected, was uncalled for, yet no one said anything but if they were going to comment they wouldn’t have got the chance since Seifer spoke up immediately after.

“Man I hate kids,” he ranted and threw one arm over the back of his chair while resting the other casually across his abdomen. “Snot-nosed savages demand too much attention, always wanting something. If I ever have kids I’m shipping them all off to military school.”

Kiros shook his head and laughed to himself as he brought more chairs so those who hadn’t found seats yet could occupy them. “Seifer you really must let me know when you get married because I have to meet the woman stupid enough to agree to be your wife.”

“WIFE,” he sputtered. “Who said I’m getting married? I said if I had kids they’re hauling ass to military camp, I never mentioned a wife.”

“Pardon my ignorance,” Zell cut in, “but how do you expect to have kids without a woman? Are you some kind of asexual?”

Seifer flashed him a long, middle finger and kept it erect until he finished his sentence. “No, I’m no fucking asexual you fucking jackass. But these fucking women nowadays like to fuck around and if I ever get one of the fucking bitches fucking pregnant then I don’t want her fucking kids any fucking where near me.”

“Bitches hit you up pretty hard for child support too,” Irvine yawned and slipped deeper into his seat while tilting his cowboy hat further down his face.

“Fuck yeah, and most of the fucking time the fucking brats aren’t even yours.”

“Dammit Seifer, you’re in a public place,” Zell reminded him with a loud whisper from his side of the table. “Can’t you go five minutes without dropping an F-bomb?” and the disgruntled assistant coach shot the other blond a look as if he was certifiably nuts.

“Fuck no, I fucking can’t and further-fucking more, fuck, fuckity-fuck fuck fuck!”

Zell gave up and thanked Kiros for the menu he handed him and wondered why he, as the owner, hadn’t thrown Seifer out of his restaurant yet… or at least have him banned.

By now, most had occupied a seat and were already browsing through their menus, all but Naruto, who had dragged Squall over to the juke box and was perusing the selection while asking his boyfriend what song he wanted to hear, to which the other boy would respond with a shrug and “Whatever you want to listen to.”

Shikamaru was using his menu as a pillow as he listened to the exchange between Seifer and the others at the table and it was hard to tell if the Nara was too annoyed with all the noise or too intrigued with the conversation to fall asleep. Lee was next to him but he was too worried about Neji to even think about eating and leaned his head against one hand on the table while tapping his menu on the flat surface with the other. There was an available seat before the one Kiba sat in next to Sasuke and he was glowering at the loud-mouthed Seifer who was blissfully unaware that there were daggers being lodged into the side of his head. Sasuke pretended to be disinterested in everything that was going on around him but his eyes kept darting to a particular blond patch of hair hovering very close to a brown one.

There were only a few chairs available now and everyone made sure to leave the one next to Seifer vacant, probably reserved for Laguna, but Kakashi was so caught up in his call he didn’t even realize that he slipped into it and Seifer hadn’t noticed yet because he was still trying to piss off Zell and he had to face the opposite direction to do so.

So the layout at the round table, in a clockwise direction, was as follows: Seifer, backing the entrance, with Kakashi sitting next to him. Shikamaru, Lee and an available space before Kiba and Sasuke. Another free chair and next to it sat Biggs then Zell, and one more available seat before Irvine.

“Who’s working the grill tonight, Kiros?” Zell asked loudly when Seifer changed the topic to menstrual cycles.

“Ward and his son,” the dark man answered from behind the counter as he retrieved a six-pack of beer he’d been keeping on ice and two large mugs.

“Wow! Well in that case I’ll have the usual then,” he grinned and put his menu aside, now that he no longer needed it.

“It’s already on,” Kiros added with a wink and approached their table so he could place the beer and glasses before Irvine and Seifer.

“Much obliged,” the cowboy thanked him with a nod and a flick of his hat before taking the chilled beverage to his lips.

“You’re so good to us, Kiros,” Zell smiled up at the dark-skinned man who returned the gesture whole-heartedly.

“Yeah, well someone’s gotta take care of you boys, since Laguna doesn’t seem to be doing a good job,” he teased, making sport of their coach’s absence. “I swear he’s just like a kid sometimes. Where is the big baby anyway?”

“Right here.”

Kiros turned to face his friend that had just entered the diner and arrived, just in time, to catch his droll remark.

The dark man flashed sparkling white teeth and extended one hand in greeting. Laguna grabbed his forearm, just before his elbow and Kiros did the same. “C’mere you,” he laughed and yanked him into a manly hug and they patted each other hard on the back.

“Good to see you, Kiros.”

“Same here,” and he pulled away so he could look his friend up and down with an approving eye.

“Time has been good to you, my friend,” Laguna smiled down at the slightly shorter man.

“Not as good as she has been to you,” Kiros scoffed and pointed to the grey hair that sprinkled his temples.

“What? It makes you look distinguished, besides I can hardly see it.”

“Yeah right, you’re only saying that because you don’t look like you’ve aged a day since we got back,” the dark man snickered and led Laguna to the bar so he could fix him a complimentary drink which he sipped gratefully.

“So…how was Michigan?” his friend inquired after he downed the glass in five gulps.

Laguna sighed, completely refreshed, then shook his head. “Michigan is…Michigan,” he finally replied and eased into a high, leather stool.

“You say that all the time,” Kiros complained with a roll of his eyes. “Is it really that difficult for you now? Come on, you used to be so good, and I know you’ve still got it,” he encouraged with a slap of his hand against a sturdy shoulder

“You have so much faith in me it’s almost sickening,” the other man chuckled softly, but those crystal, blue eyes that were staring at the bottom of his glass were just as empty.

“Laguna, don’t bring yourself down like that,” Kiros frowned. “Sure it’s been a few years and things have changed but you’re still the same journalist that used to write for our school paper, the same journalist that used to work for the ‘Galbadian Times’. You’ve written hundreds of proses, thousands of poems and, do you remember those dirty limericks you used to doodle on the boy’s bathroom stalls?”

“Yeah I remember,” he laughed at the memory of one in particular he’d written about the physics teacher and his ‘chemistry’ with the biology teacher that almost got him expelled from school.

“They’re still there, man.”

“Hmm.”

“Laguna, you can’t give up now,” he urged and poured him another drink to help lift his spirits. “Just tell the publisher you need more time.”

“It’s really not that easy, Kiros,” the man sighed and took the glass, but this time he didn’t sip from it, instead he cradled it between his hands and looked at his murky reflection in the amber liquid. “Even if I do extend the deadline I’ll never be able to meet it through this writer’s block. Ever since the war it’s been like…I dunno…a part of me died in it, and then with Squall and…and everything…” he took a quick glance over at his son who was fiddling around the jukebox with, who Zell told him was, his boyfriend and he sighed heavily.

He had missed so much of his life and now that he was available, now that he wanted, so desperately, to play the part of the doting father, Squall had already moved on and was making sure to keep him locked out.

“I dunno, Kiros. Lately my thoughts have been so messed up I can’t even put them down on paper anymore. Nothing makes sense and everything just seems so chaotic. It’s getting harder to articulate and I can’t express what’s on my heart in words, I just…I’ve just lost my inspiration…I’ve lost my muse.”

“Then find it!”

Laguna laughed heartily. Kiros was always the straightforward one; the one that got straight to the point and made things seem easier than they really were, while he, Laguna, was the poet; the dreamer, with his head in the clouds and a pen in his hand. Ward was the strong and silent type, but his clumsy appearance betrayed an intellect far greater than either man could ever hope to fathom.

They made quite a team.

“Where should I begin looking?” Laguna asked as if he were confronting a great sage.

“You could start with a wife.”

“Here we go again,” he grumbled and took a sip to wash down the groan that was rapidly rising in his chest.

“Come on Laguna it’s not that hard, there are plenty of women who wouldn’t mind being tied down to a man like you.”

“I’m sure,” he groused sarcastically. “But I’m too old to start over Kiros, I don’t think I can-“

“Bullshit!” Kiros spat, breaking the oath he’d made to himself, never to curse again, after having his first daughter. “The war’s been hard on all of us Laguna, and even I thought I’d never be able to get my life back together, especially after the way we got screwed over by the very same country we laid down our lives to protect, but I did it Laguna,” and he reached out to place his large hands on his friends shoulders and gave him a genuine smile and the light that reflected in his eyes could only be described as hope. “I pulled myself together and started over, and if I can do it and Ward can do it then you can do it too.”

He reached up to pat his friend’s reassuring hand with one of his but the smile on his face was not as confident as the other man’s. Kiros knew Laguna, knew him well, and he could tell that he wasn’t going to take what he said to heart and he predicted that, ten years later, he’d still be that lonely old bachelor, trying to find his niche in the life of the son that didn’t want him while moping over dusty, old books and banging his head against the wall that obstructed his creative flow.

“You’re a fool, you know that, right?” Kiros smiled sadly and traced the outline of a ring of water left by the condensation of a wet glass.

“Yeah, I know,” Laguna nodded in agreement before emptying his glass for the second time and relishing the heat that burned his insides. “Anyway, I gotta go find this kid,” he sighed and rose from his seat.

“Oh? You’ve got another kid stashed somewhere that I don’t know about?” and Laguna laughed at the other man’s jest.

“No, no…nothing like that. One of the boys on the other team is missing so I volunteered to go look for him.”

“Ah, you’re always playing the Good Samaritan,” Kiros said with a dramatic wave. “The kind-hearted Laguna, always taking care of others but won’t let any one take care of him.”

“I don’t need anyone to baby me, Kiros,” the other man smirked and fished his car keys and cell phone out of his pocket. “I’m too old to be playing night nurse.”

“Yeah well, when you get even older you’ll be needing someone to change your diapers and wipe your ass and that’s when you’re gonna wish you had someone to play night nurse with you.”

Laguna smiled and punched in a number on his cell phone but when he didn’t get a response he shook his head and stuffed it back into his pocket. “He’s still not answering,” he muttered with consternation and a deep frown etched in his face.

“Well I hope you find him,” Kiros added, mirroring his concern. “The streets are no place for a kid to be wandering around alone at night, especially if he’s a foreigner.”

“Yeah I know,” and a sense of dread wrapped itself around Laguna’s heart at Kiros’ words but he tried not to think of the worst that might happen to the child. He could only begin to imagine how Kakashi must feel and it may seem inconsiderate of him to force the other man to stay here while he looked for the missing teen but if he could take the worry off his shoulders then it would suffice. “Send me the bill in the morning and I’ll write you a cheque, okay?”

“Nah, this one’s on the house,” and he extended one arm to give his friend a gentle knock against his shoulder before adding, “good luck, man.”

Laguna returned the gesture with a smile and turned to leave the restaurant but made a stop at their table and leaned over to give Kakashi a light tap on his shoulder. “Have you heard from him yet?” he asked of the white-haired man that had just hung up from a very annoyed hotel clerk after calling there for the fifth time in twenty minutes before dialing Neji’s cell phone number again.

“The clerk says he hasn’t checked in yet and I can’t reach him on his cellphone,” Kakashi replied despondently.

Laguna clapped his hand against the other man’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’ll find him,” he reassured him with a light squeeze and Kakashi nodded, even though he didn’t share the man’s apparent optimism, but what he didn’t know was that Laguna didn’t feel very optimistic at all, in fact, his confidence was just a façade for the other man’s benefit.

He didn’t loiter any longer and bid the others farewell before admonishing Seifer to be on his good behavior since he was leaving him in charge.

“Hey, old man,” Seifer called out to him and removed another can from his pack before tossing it to Laguna who dexterously caught it with both hands. “One for the road.”

Laguna thanked him by saluting with the beverage in hand before disappearing into the cold, dark night.

“Hey, you ever notice how Seifer’s nice to Irvine and Laguna?” Biggs whispered to Zell after he observed how the usually selfish boy shared not one, but two of his drinks without either one having to ask…or beg.

“That’s ‘cuz they both have licensed guns,” the blond muttered before adding in jest, “I’ve been thinking of getting one too.”

Seifer’s selective hearing picked up that remark and he turned to the other boy and nastily replied, “Yeah, and it’ll be the only thing in your family that doesn’t shoot blanks.”

Zell stiffened and the hurt expression blanketing his face let everyone know that the insensitive insult cut him deep. Irvine almost choked on his drink and had to cough a few times after some of the liquid went down the wrong way and Biggs looked away in embarrassment for the other boy, suddenly finding the pattern on the carpet somewhat interesting.

“Shit, Seifer,” Irvine rasped, still not fully recovered from his coughing fit. “That was low.”

The other boy shrugged indifferently. “What? It’s not like he takes me seriously anyway, right Zell?” but the other boy did take it to heart and his morose countenance affected everyone at the table, everyone except Seifer, that is.

“Dincht? Are you crying” the older blonde laughed but his class mate only shot him a nasty glare before rising to his feet.

“I’m going outside to get some fresh air,” he said in a cold, hard voice and, for just a moment, he sounded just like Squall.

“Yeah, see ya later…Dick,” Seifer muttered under his breath as the tattooed blonde made his exit before inhaling another glass of alcohol but when a quick look around the suddenly quiet table revealed seven pairs of eyes on him, Seifer dismissed them all by cutting his eyes. “What? It’s not my fault the little pussy can dish it out but can’t take it.”

“That’s not the point, Seifer,” Irvine reprimanded him sternly while keeping his voice low to prevent the strangers at their table from hearing him over the song Naruto eventually chose after failing to get his impassive boyfriend’s input. “Making fun of someone because their clothes suck or because they have a huge ass is one thing but making fun someone’s handicap, illness or deformity is going too far.”

“Zell’s not handicapped…his sperm is.”

And when Seifer broke out laughing, Irvine shook his head in disgust.

Naruto wondered what was so funny as he led his super hunk back to the table but when he realized that it was only that guy laughing he figured that he’d said something particularly nasty. Squall had told him all about the guy named, Seifer and Naruto made sure that he didn’t add him to his ‘Gonna make my Friend’ list…a list that he was sure would never have Sasuke’s name either.

“Hey, Kiba, can you move over?” he asked nicely of his team mate.

The spiky-haired brunette obliged and scooted over to the available seat next to a very downcast Lee and Naruto felt his stomach twist painfully when he turned to look at the raven-haired boy he was going to address next.

“Sasuke…could you move over one seat, please?”

“Why?” came his sub-Celcius response.

“So me and Leon can sit down.”

“There’s a seat on my left and a seat on my right, use those.”

“But I wanna sit next to Leon,” he ground out and his voice almost cracked under the strain of trying to keep it composed under his rising anger.

“Tough,” the Uchiha scoffed.

Naruto took a quick glance in Kakashi’s direction and when he realized that his attention, along with everyone else’s, was drawn to Seifer who was now trying to make Biggs run home, crying for his mommy, he leaned over and brought his head closer to the other boy’s.

“Listen, Sasuke,” he whispered loudly so only he could hear him. “I don’t know what your problem is and I don’t care anymore, so whatever it was I did, whatever it was I said, I’m sorry. Whether you forgive me or not is up to you, if you want to continue hating me then that’s fine with me too because, quite frankly, I don’t give a shit, but I’ve had enough and I just wanted to let you know that you’re going to need to find yourself another rival because I’m sick and tired of this game of yours and I’m not playing anymore.”

A game? Was that what he thought this was? Was that what he thought he’d been doing this whole time? Playing some fucking game?

Sasuke’s body wound taut and the idle chatter in the restaurant ambience seemed to fade behind the blood rushing through his veins, he felt his muscles tense and his fingers curled themselves into tight fists and for one brief second…Sasuke saw red and he wasn’t responsible for what happened next.

“GET OUT OF MY FACE YOU FUCKING FAGGOT!”

If Zell had been wounded by Seifer’s comment then Naruto was gutted and his insides torn out by sharp claws at Sasuke’s words. He couldn’t speak, couldn’t breathe and as he stared wide-eyed and open-mouthed at the face distorted with hatred and disgust he couldn’t blink.

Squall wasn’t dumbstruck as everyone else but he was just as livid as the dark-haired boy and was just as unaccountable for his actions because in his rage he grabbed Sasuke by his collar, twisting his fist within the fabric, lifted him from his seat and swung a hard fist into that arrogant jaw.

“That was for insulting my boyfriend,” he said flatly after knocking him to the ground but before the other boy had a chance to figure out why he was hunched over on the floor, Squall lifted him again before reacquainting hi s jaw with that same fist. “And that was for earlier.”

“Come on, Leon,” Naruto managed on a low whisper, his voice fairly weak through the hurt and humiliation he was now feeling. “Let’s go somewhere else.”

He didn’t look back, didn’t want to look back. He didn’t want to look at Sasuke at all.

‘So that was it? That was why he treated me the way he did…It makes sense now,’ Naruto mused with a wry smile as he allowed his dark knight to escort him out of the eerily silent restaurant and into the misty darkness.

Rain?

It didn’t feel like it was raining, then why did outside look so blurry?

Something wet burned his cheeks and Naruto rubbed at his eyes and his shoulders shook at the tiny sobs that came out like hiccups.

Not rain…Just tears.

***

“Umm Sasuke, you alri-.”

“Get your hands off me,” Sasuke snapped at the Inuzuka boy that was trying to help him as he staggered to his feet and Kiba backed off and raised his hands as if under arrest.

He brushed himself off and straightened, while giving the impression as if nothing happened but when he noticed all eyes on him he glowered and cursed Naruto with every breath he had.

Why were they looking at him as if he was the bad guy here?

They didn’t know…no one knew, they wouldn’t understand…no one would understand.

Sasuke gathered what very little of his pride he had left and stormed out of the diner, completely ignoring Kakashi’s command for him to stay behind, but there was no way he was going to remain in there with those condescending sneers and pitying stares.

He’d gone through so much suffering because of Naruto, why should he endure anymore.

He didn’t know where he was going, didn’t know where his blind steps would lead him or what he would do when they reached their destination. He didn’t know what to expect when he got there, didn’t know what to do when he did, and he also didn’t know that the person who was following him would be the one who held all the answers to the questions he was too afraid to ask himself.

-----

Sorry for the delay but this had a lot of dialogue…I suck at dialogue. Okay Seifer’s really pushing the envelope here and there’s a reason for that because when he brings his shit to the wrong person then sparks shall surely fly.

Oh man, still a little way to go before the lemons…Aye Carumba! Can’t wait til I get there though…lemons are easy to write…not much talking goes on…rofl!

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter because it gave me soo much stress writing it…Ugh! I need a break...and where on earth do I find these lame-@$$ed chapter titles...seriously XD