Chapter Five
The feeling was almost vomit worthy when Sasuke pulled up at the restaurant later that night. Naruto had to stay until closing, which was ten at night, so he had hoped the Uchiha would be asleep or that he just wouldn't want to go see the blond that late. But he forgot that Sasuke was pretty much a stalker at that point. People at work were beginning to note the Uchiha's presence., mostly because whenever Sasuke did come by, it was to ask or wait for Naruto.
Crickets were chirping loudly and there was the occasional sound of a car passing by, but there was no such thing as traffic jams in the small town, especially so late at night. Most people were in bed by that time and whenever Naruto had to close, he would follow close behind them, jumping into bed as soon as he got home. But instead, he was standing by the doors of his work place and glaring rather harshly at a dark haired man, who was strolling up to the blond with his hands in his pockets. Naruto crossed his arms over his chest and sighed.
“Why are you here?”
“I wanted to ask you something.”
“No.”
Sasuke pressed his lips together and watched as Naruto's glare only hardened. It was obvious that the blond was still very wary of Sasuke's intentions, but much to the Uchiha's surprise, Naruto didn't walk away or try to make a break for his car. Sasuke wasn't sure if he could log that as “progress,” but he would take it.
“It's not about the movie.”
“Porno. It's a porno. And if it's not about that, then what is it about?”
“What's your favorite place in town?”
Naruto's brows lifted and he stared at Sasuke with a slightly shocked expression. He hadn't expected that, but the Uchiha was full of surprises. Naruto knew it was all a ploy, though. Sasuke surely didn't care about making friends with the blond. Yet, Naruto continued to talk with Sasuke and put up with him. He wasn't sure why he was doing it himself. Maybe he was just humoring Sasuke or maybe he was doing it so the Uchiha could pay his bills again, but the latter made him feel disgusting. Perhaps he was just humoring Sasuke, playing along.
“I don't know...”
Sasuke blinked. The blond wasn't unsure of where the location was, but he was unsure of whether or not he should show Sasuke. The Uchiha could tell by the tone of his voice. Naruto looked down and rubbed his arms. Before Sasuke could try to convince him, Naruto spoke. “We'll need flashlights, since it's dark out.”
Sasuke quirked a thin brow, but nodded. He decided not to question why. It wasn't like he really had a choice in the matter. Naruto narrowed his eyes at the Uchiha for a moment, then sighed and made his way over to his car. He opened the back door and pulled out a flashlight, as well as that hunting knife. Sasuke tensed.
“Fuck, I'm not going to do anything to you.”
“You're only ten percent of the reason I am bringing this,” Naruto said angrily. He checked to make sure the flashlight was working, then shut the car door. Sasuke only felt more nervous. Where were they going and why did it call for a weapon to be on their person? Naruto seemed to sense the other's thoughts and grinned.
“The place isn't guarded, but someone's been hangin' around it for a few months. I haven't seen them, but they keep leaving their trash all over the place.” Naruto locked up his car while Sasuke watched, visibly nervous. Naruto felt like a little kid who had successfully scared the piss out of his younger sibling. Sasuke seemed to have caught himself and hid his nervousness, but Naruto already knew the Uchiha was having second thoughts. Once his car was secure, Naruto patted Sasuke's shoulder and walked to the taller man's car. Sasuke followed. Once the two were in the car, Sasuke pulled out of the parking lot and followed Naruto's directions, debating whether or not he should just drop the blond off at his apartment and go back to the hotel.
- - -
It took them around forty minutes to get to their destination and Sasuke wasn't any more relaxed. Naruto had been fiddling with the knife the entire time, and when the blond told Sasuke to turn onto a dirt road that looked like it hadn't been driven on in years, the brunette was hesitant to comply. Trees lined the road and shrouded the area in darkness. All Sasuke could see was what the headlights hit. Rocks were kicked up and flung against the bottom of the car, the loud thuds making Sasuke flinch every few seconds. Naruto had told him to calm down, but Sasuke was used to pavement and street lights.
They had come to an old bridge and Naruto told the Uchiha to drive over it slowly. Sasuke did just that, tensing when he heard the metal of the bridge creak from the weight of the car. They bounced a few times and once they were over the bridge, Naruto leaned forward and squinted. Sasuke drove slowly and Naruto was finally able to see where the road split. He told Sasuke to turn to the right onto more dirt. Grass was growing over the road and there wasn't much dirt to be seen, but Sasuke obeyed. It was a short drive after that.
Sasuke's eyes widened when his headlights illuminated a small, obviously abandoned house. It was white, but the inside was complete and utter darkness. The lights couldn't seem to go through the windows, some of them being boarded up. Sasuke looked over to Naruto, who looked much more calm than Sasuke was. The blond glanced at Sasuke.
“Keep the lights on,” he said. He then stepped out of the car. Sasuke locked the doors of his car, but kept the headlights on as he was told to do. He stepped out and made his way over to Naruto, who was fidgeting with the flashlight. The blond cursed and shook the device. It finally flickered on and he smiled briefly. They were a small distance away from the house, but the flashlight was obviously malfunctioning, so Naruto had decided he should make sure it was going to work ahead of time. The blond slid the hunting knife under his belt carefully and made his way to the house. Sasuke followed close behind.
“Ah. See?” the blond pointed out. He stepped onto the small porch and nudged a soda can with his foot. “That wasn't here a few days ago. I usually come and clean the place up.” Sasuke swallowed something in his throat and watched as Naruto set the flashlight down on a small table beside the door. He then pressed his hands flat on the glass of a window and began to push it upwards. It rattled the house slightly, not wanting to give way, but Naruto was able to open the window without much trouble. The blond used one hand to hold the window open and the other balance himself. He swung one leg up and over the *stool, bumping his heel once. Next was the other leg, and Sasuke winced when he saw the knife poking dangerously against the blond's thigh. Naruto knew what he was doing, though. The blond held the window open and dusted his butt off with his free hand, coughing softly.
“Alright. Your turn.”
“I don't know if I can lift my leg that high.”
“Oh,
whatever,” Naruto said mockingly. “You're
taller than me. Are you seriously chickening out, Uchiha?”
“No, you dumbass.”
“Then get in here, princess.”
Sasuke glanced down at the soda can and frowned deeply. He let out a sigh and stepped to the window. Naruto moved over to the side a bit, still holding the window open with his hand for the other. Sasuke managed to slip inside without much trouble. Naruto reached out and grabbed the flashlight from the table and carefully closed the window.
Sasuke took note of the sudden drop in temperature. It was much colder inside than it was outside. Naruto didn't seem to notice or care, but was breathing rather heavily. The blond shined the flashlight around the empty living room. There were a few things here and there. A decorative candle lay on its side in a corner, a laundry basket sat by the entryway into the kitchen. The most noticeable thing was the yellow crime scene tape criss-crossing over a closed door.
Sasuke began to breathe heavily, as well.
Naruto looked over to him briefly before stepping into the middle of the room. “Well, here we are,” he said, his voice echoing faintly through the usual silence of the empty house. “My favorite place in town.” Sasuke watched as the blond began to move about the area. Naruto bent over and picked up the candle, then placed it on a shelf that was built into the wall. Sasuke crossed his arms over his chest, trying to create some warmth for himself.
“Why here?”
“Ah, well,” Naruto let out a breathy chuckle. “I used to live here.”
“What happened?”
Naruto didn't seem to want to answer that one. He instead turned away from the Uchiha and moved into the kitchen. Sasuke felt a twinge of confused guilt, but quickly trailed behind the shorter man. The kitchen was more furnished than the living room. There was a stove, a refrigerator, and even a table with a couple of chairs. Sasuke curiously reached out to open the fridge, but Naruto grabbed the man's wrist and laughed. “You don't wanna do that,” he said. “Someone left some food in there and, trust me, the smell will knock you off your feet.”
Sasuke grimaced and stepped away from the fridge. There wasn't much counter space, and there were only two cabinets. There was a laundry room, but it looked like it was an addition that had been built on long after the house itself had been built. All of the walls were white, even the ceilings. What was worse that it looked like it had been painted with spray paint. Naruto's family must have been poor, Sasuke assessed. The house clearly wasn't insulated and there was a hole in the kitchen floor that had been covered up with some cheap plywood and a rug.
Sasuke was pulled from his thoughts when he heard some loud rattling. Naruto had pulled open a sliding door that led into another room. Sasuke followed.
“I'm pretty sure this was meant to be a dining room,” Naruto explained. “It's the only room with carpet, and that sliding door obviously didn't come with the house.”
The blond walked through a door into a small hallway with three other doors. One of the doors looked like it had been busted down. It lead into a tiny bathroom. The other door didn't fit right into its frame but was closed, and the last door wasn't even really a door. It was really just a thin board that was kept closed with a nail. Naruto gestured to it with the flashlight.
“That leads to the attic, but you can't get up there because it's boarded up.”
“Probably to keep the drafts out.”
Naruto laughed softly. “Yeah, probably.”
A tanned hand reached out and shook the crooked door open. They stepped into the room. “Pretty sure this was my room,” Naruto stated.
Only two of the walls had been painted blue. An old chest sat in a corner next to a tiny dresser. Across from those was a wooden crib, splintering and devoid of any bedding for a baby. Other than these things, the room was empty. Sasuke turned his head to look at Naruto, who had moved to lean next to the crib. The blond was smiling rather cryptically. He lifted the flashlight to shine it on Sasuke's face.
The Uchiha frowned, finding the pain in his chest unbearable.
- - -
The two exited the house through the same window and got back inside the car. Sasuke had mixed feelings about the entire adventure. He was hoping Naruto's favorite place would be a skating rink or something, not some old house with an obvious tragedy behind it. The Uchiha was beginning to see the danger he was getting himself into. If he continued on this path, there would be emotional factors at play.
Sasuke hated emotional ties. He hated feeling anything for anyone. It only caused problems, especially in his line of work. If someone felt something for him, that was fine. He could easily dismiss them and tell them there was no chance. It may give him a headache later, but it was merely a matter of setting the person straight. But to feel something for another person was simply unacceptable and, quite frankly, bad for his health. That was why he never bothered to listen to anyone's personal matters. As he drove, the Uchiha considered pulling the plug early. Just drop the entire thing and leave this place and Naruto behind and never look back.
“Good thing we didn't encounter any murderers,” Naruto said, breaking the Uchiha's train of thought. Sasuke let out a brief chuckle and gripped the steering wheel tighter. Naruto held the hunting knife in both hands and leaned back, staring into the dimly lit blackness outside of the windshield. Blue eyes lidded drowsily, sleep trying to take over the blond's senses. Sasuke seemed to notice this. He cleared his throat.
“Naruto.”
“Hm?”
“Do you have enough money to pay for the rent this month?”
“Oh, yeah,” Naruto said with a smile. “Thanks for that, by the way.”
Sasuke sighed quietly.
“Is there anything else I can do for you?”
Naruto looked over to Sasuke questioningly. Sasuke kept his focus on the road. Naruto blinked slowly and turned his sights back to the road, as well. He wasn't sure how to answer, and instead changed the subject.
“Sorry for dragging you out here just to see some old house.”
Sasuke shook his head. “I asked what your favorite place was and you took me.”
“Yeah, but it wasn't like a skating rink or some shit.”
Sasuke nearly choked on air. Naruto sat up in his seat and leaned against his window. “It must have been creepy to you.”
To the Uchiha, that was an understatement. He had never been so afraid in his life. However, he was confident the entire time that Naruto knew what he was doing. It was merely the personal nature of the area that bothered him the most. He almost couldn't believe Naruto had so easily showed him the house. Though the blond did keep the history a secret. It was as if Naruto had met some middle ground within himself. He was honest with Sasuke, but still kept the fact of not knowing the Uchiha well enough to disclose his past with him in mind. Still, the shorter man's past was there. It settled into the back of Sasuke's mind and made itself known. Sasuke's own human nature was trying its best to decode Naruto's past, hundreds of different scenarios flashing in his mind.
Sasuke was relieved when they reached the main road. After that, it was a short drive back to Naruto's place of work. Once parked, Sasuke kept the car running and turned his head to look at Naruto. The blond made sure he had everything and opened his door. Before stepping out, he looked at Sasuke and frowned. The Uchiha blinked.
“You gonna be here tomorrow?”
Sasuke furrowed his brows at the tone of Naruto's voice. He sounded annoyed, but hopeful. Sasuke shrugged and leaned back.
“Maybe. I might sleep in.”
Naruto chuckled and nodded, stepping out of the car without further questions. Sasuke watched as the blond made his way to his own car and got in. The blond didn't look back at Sasuke. He simply started his car, backed up, and drove off. Sasuke watched the car move down the road, seeing nothing much of it other than the tail lights. Once those red lights were completely out of his sight, Sasuke let out an exhausted breath and shifted gears.
The sound of the engine was the only thing he heard as he pulled out onto the road and turned, heading towards the hotel. He tried to suppress it, but worry surged through his mind.
AN: *stool – the outside bottom of a window, in case no one knew. I had to look it up myself... Thanks for reading! R&R!
