Catch-as-Catch-Can
folder
Naruto › Yaoi - Male/Male
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
2
Views:
1,192
Reviews:
18
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
Naruto › Yaoi - Male/Male
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
2
Views:
1,192
Reviews:
18
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own Naruto, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Chakra Fallout
For EnGee.
Catch-as-Catch-Can
Chapter 1: Chakra Fallout
The sun bore down lazily on the viridian countryside. Cicadas droned on in the distance, their insistent chirruping providing an endless chorus marking the progress of summer that never once was broken -- even when a light breeze picked up. Dust clouds were few; the rain two days prior had helped to dampen the roads and the fields just enough to keep the landscape's verdant appearance and to stay the more annoying points of traveling by foot on dirt roadways.
Groves of mismatched deciduous trees caused the landscape to appear as a broken quilt, sometimes pale golden or a glowing celadon where the farms encouraged their crops, other times a deep jade as the taller vegetation speckled the hilly terrain. In the distance, the faint sound of bells and bleating mingled with a light trickle of running water.
Tea Country was always lazy in the summer. Its denizens reflected the mood in their own mannerisms.
The lone waitress at the pub on the outskirts of town was no exception.
"Maa... It isn't often that we have foreigners come to visit outside of the festival," she had remarked when the pair arrived just as the sun reached its zenith outside. Her sleepy expression had seemed out of place set against her curiosity .. although the lackadaisical manner in which the comment had been presented placed doubt as to whether or not she truly was interested. That she had not attempted further conversation after receiving only a curt nod in response confirmed that it was merely a polite front of offering small talk. She did not try to do so again.
Half an hour later, the pair finally were served their food. They had chosen a table far enough from the bar to afford them the necessary privacy with which to brood uninterrupted, yet close enough to one of the front windows that they could observe the traffic on the road. Although the traffic was virtually nonexistent.
The larger of the two patrons growled something that might have been a word of gratitude at the arrival of the food -- but it was more likely another sour remark regarding the poor service. The other figure merely nodded. He had not spoken a word since their arrival; his eyes were dark and brooding.
The waitress hurried away from their table and pretended to clean the counter; it was quite possibly the first time she had moved swiftly that entire month.
Helping himself to a large portion of the served noodles, the larger man glanced across the table at his companion from beneath the wide brim of his hat. "You shouldn't let good food go to waste," he growled. After taking a large bite, he half-coughed and half-growled out another choice phrase before amending his previous statement, "You shouldn't let food go to waste. Besides, you need it after using those eyes earlier like that. Tch.. Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi. Twice. I'm rather surprised that you can still walk straight."
The smaller man took a slow sip from his tea, then set the ceramic cup down on the table. His eyes -- which were nearly the only portion of his face readily visible from beneath his own hat and above the high collar of his robe -- stared back directly at the other. They were jet-black and cold. His voice was also cold. But quiet. "If I hadn't, we would have been consumed by the frog he had summoned."
His larger companion grinned. The teeth he flashed were all longer and flatter than normal -- and all sharply pointed. "I don't know.. I have a pretty mean bite, too." With a low chuckle, he resumed eating his noodles.
The dark-eyed man raised his teacup again, apparently content drink it in silence. "Really, Kisame." Or near-silence. The whispered phrase did not reach the ears of the larger man. It was probably for the better, as it was impossible to discern if it was said out of exasperation or annoyance or merely out of reflex.
A quiet fell on them again while Kisame ate. The only other patrons at the pub were three older men seated at the far end of the bar, all of whom seemed more interested in their sake than the subject of their own muted conversation. The waitress had since moved to sit on a stool behind the bar and across from the trio. Although she had a book in her lap, her eyes wandered disinterestedly over the pages.
The food was not that bad, Kisame decided, after finishing three quarters of what the two had been served. Not that bad, although it certainly could stand a great deal of improvement. Absently tapping the end of his chopsticks against his teeth, he watched his companion sip a second cup of tea. /Tch. Itachi always gets moody like this whenever he uses up too much chakra with those eyes of his. Although it is disappointing that that Sannin showed up right when our target was nearly walking out with us. Damned summons.. I'll have to show him one of mine sometime../ It was at that point that he realized that Itachi was returning his gaze. He did not know how long the two had been staring at one another.
Itachi broke the silence. "I'm done. Let's go."
"But you haven't even eaten anything yet," Kisame nearly scolded him. "Not since we left that city yesterday afternoon. And we've been on the road since then. If you keep this up, especially after using those eyes, you'll--"
"I'm fine."
The smaller man abruptly stood. He dropped a few coins on the table -- most likely more than necessary, Kisame noted with some degree of annoyance -- then strode purposefully toward the door. His companion tossed the chopsticks on the leftover noodles, then stood to follow Itachi outside.
It was still hot, and the cicadas were still droning on. Kisame found his sour mood returning upon realizing these two facts. His companion's curt silence did not help, although that was almost always a given at this point.
They had only traveled a short distance down the road when Itachi stopped in his tracks, fingertips of one hand pressed lightly to his brow. His eyes were closed.
Kisame stopped, too, glancing over to examine his companion. "Is something wrong?" he growled, his gaze reflexively darting to scan their immediate surroundings.
Itachi shook his head. "No, it's just.." He took a deep breath, then dropped his hand to his side as he started walking forward again. "No, nothing's wrong."
Skeptically eyeing his companion, Kisame watched the smaller man take a few paces forward. His gait was visibly unsteady; although he maintained his forward momentum, each step brought his foot forward an exponentially shorter distance.
/Fuck./
With speed that seemed contradictory to his large form, Kisame darted forward in time to grab Itachi's shoulders before his face painfully made contact with the dirt road. For the smaller man, everything had faded to black.
Catch-as-Catch-Can
Chapter 1: Chakra Fallout
The sun bore down lazily on the viridian countryside. Cicadas droned on in the distance, their insistent chirruping providing an endless chorus marking the progress of summer that never once was broken -- even when a light breeze picked up. Dust clouds were few; the rain two days prior had helped to dampen the roads and the fields just enough to keep the landscape's verdant appearance and to stay the more annoying points of traveling by foot on dirt roadways.
Groves of mismatched deciduous trees caused the landscape to appear as a broken quilt, sometimes pale golden or a glowing celadon where the farms encouraged their crops, other times a deep jade as the taller vegetation speckled the hilly terrain. In the distance, the faint sound of bells and bleating mingled with a light trickle of running water.
Tea Country was always lazy in the summer. Its denizens reflected the mood in their own mannerisms.
The lone waitress at the pub on the outskirts of town was no exception.
"Maa... It isn't often that we have foreigners come to visit outside of the festival," she had remarked when the pair arrived just as the sun reached its zenith outside. Her sleepy expression had seemed out of place set against her curiosity .. although the lackadaisical manner in which the comment had been presented placed doubt as to whether or not she truly was interested. That she had not attempted further conversation after receiving only a curt nod in response confirmed that it was merely a polite front of offering small talk. She did not try to do so again.
Half an hour later, the pair finally were served their food. They had chosen a table far enough from the bar to afford them the necessary privacy with which to brood uninterrupted, yet close enough to one of the front windows that they could observe the traffic on the road. Although the traffic was virtually nonexistent.
The larger of the two patrons growled something that might have been a word of gratitude at the arrival of the food -- but it was more likely another sour remark regarding the poor service. The other figure merely nodded. He had not spoken a word since their arrival; his eyes were dark and brooding.
The waitress hurried away from their table and pretended to clean the counter; it was quite possibly the first time she had moved swiftly that entire month.
Helping himself to a large portion of the served noodles, the larger man glanced across the table at his companion from beneath the wide brim of his hat. "You shouldn't let good food go to waste," he growled. After taking a large bite, he half-coughed and half-growled out another choice phrase before amending his previous statement, "You shouldn't let food go to waste. Besides, you need it after using those eyes earlier like that. Tch.. Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi. Twice. I'm rather surprised that you can still walk straight."
The smaller man took a slow sip from his tea, then set the ceramic cup down on the table. His eyes -- which were nearly the only portion of his face readily visible from beneath his own hat and above the high collar of his robe -- stared back directly at the other. They were jet-black and cold. His voice was also cold. But quiet. "If I hadn't, we would have been consumed by the frog he had summoned."
His larger companion grinned. The teeth he flashed were all longer and flatter than normal -- and all sharply pointed. "I don't know.. I have a pretty mean bite, too." With a low chuckle, he resumed eating his noodles.
The dark-eyed man raised his teacup again, apparently content drink it in silence. "Really, Kisame." Or near-silence. The whispered phrase did not reach the ears of the larger man. It was probably for the better, as it was impossible to discern if it was said out of exasperation or annoyance or merely out of reflex.
A quiet fell on them again while Kisame ate. The only other patrons at the pub were three older men seated at the far end of the bar, all of whom seemed more interested in their sake than the subject of their own muted conversation. The waitress had since moved to sit on a stool behind the bar and across from the trio. Although she had a book in her lap, her eyes wandered disinterestedly over the pages.
The food was not that bad, Kisame decided, after finishing three quarters of what the two had been served. Not that bad, although it certainly could stand a great deal of improvement. Absently tapping the end of his chopsticks against his teeth, he watched his companion sip a second cup of tea. /Tch. Itachi always gets moody like this whenever he uses up too much chakra with those eyes of his. Although it is disappointing that that Sannin showed up right when our target was nearly walking out with us. Damned summons.. I'll have to show him one of mine sometime../ It was at that point that he realized that Itachi was returning his gaze. He did not know how long the two had been staring at one another.
Itachi broke the silence. "I'm done. Let's go."
"But you haven't even eaten anything yet," Kisame nearly scolded him. "Not since we left that city yesterday afternoon. And we've been on the road since then. If you keep this up, especially after using those eyes, you'll--"
"I'm fine."
The smaller man abruptly stood. He dropped a few coins on the table -- most likely more than necessary, Kisame noted with some degree of annoyance -- then strode purposefully toward the door. His companion tossed the chopsticks on the leftover noodles, then stood to follow Itachi outside.
It was still hot, and the cicadas were still droning on. Kisame found his sour mood returning upon realizing these two facts. His companion's curt silence did not help, although that was almost always a given at this point.
They had only traveled a short distance down the road when Itachi stopped in his tracks, fingertips of one hand pressed lightly to his brow. His eyes were closed.
Kisame stopped, too, glancing over to examine his companion. "Is something wrong?" he growled, his gaze reflexively darting to scan their immediate surroundings.
Itachi shook his head. "No, it's just.." He took a deep breath, then dropped his hand to his side as he started walking forward again. "No, nothing's wrong."
Skeptically eyeing his companion, Kisame watched the smaller man take a few paces forward. His gait was visibly unsteady; although he maintained his forward momentum, each step brought his foot forward an exponentially shorter distance.
/Fuck./
With speed that seemed contradictory to his large form, Kisame darted forward in time to grab Itachi's shoulders before his face painfully made contact with the dirt road. For the smaller man, everything had faded to black.