Chapter Text
~~oOo~~
"Ipaglalaban ko ang ating pagibig
Maghintay ka lamang, ako'y darating
Pagka't sa isang taong mahal mo ng buong puso
Lahat ay gagawin makita kang muli,
Makita Kang Muli."
-Sugarfree
~~oOo~~
Naruto has had thoughts, sometimes, about how many faces has passed him by, day after day after day. Some only gave him momentary eye-contact, while others provided a small smile. But those... Those people only took up a brief moment of his life, nothing special, nothing worthy, and then he went on with his life without giving it another thought. Those people were strangers; their stories hidden behind a mask, not to be told to fellow strangers.
Then there were those who stayed and chatted with him, taking up a minute, or two, of his life until eventually, they wormed their way in and built a permanent home inside. It was startling at first, really - he wasn't too sure on how to adjust his life around them - but eventually, he, too, saw how he has crawled his way beneath their masks and have taken up a permanent residence in their hearts.
His eyes landed on a familiar figure at the far side of the park. Dark hair, pale face and impossibly black eyes, always so calculating; always so guarded. Naruto straightened himself up on the bench as he discreetly tried to hide how his eyes remained drawn to this dark-haired stranger.
It was always the same play, every single time. For two months the brunette would take up residence at the far right of the park, watching, always watching, his elbows propped up on his lap, his fingers laced together. And Naruto - well, Naruto would always catch himself watching him, no matter what. There was just something about him that Naruto couldn't quite figure out, and it played with his curiosity, always, always - but Naruto restrained himself. He couldn't let himself get too close, even though he wasn't too sure why. He has always been a bit cautious when it came to other people.
The first time that Naruto noticed the stranger was when he was out with Sakura on a stroll through the park. He could still remember how time had gone still for a moment; an hour; an eternity. He had felt frozen in place, his heart beating erratically in his chest as his whole world narrowed to just him. It was only him.
It was… an unusual reaction, he had to admit. There was hardly anything that stuck out about this particular stranger – if anything, he would just be another face in the long list of people that he has encountered – but something had captivated him then, and even now, weeks after.
Despite Sakura’s many protests about how this was wrong, and it could only end up hurting him, and Naruto please, you can’t, he still ended up at the park just to get a glimpse of him. Maybe, just maybe, he would eventually get some courage to talk to him.
Naruto's phone rang from his pocket, loud and cutting, shaking him from his musings. He let out a soft curse as he took it out and checked the caller ID.
"Yeah?" Naruto answered slowly, twisting his body away from the direction of the park.
"Naruto, you idiot! Where the hell are you?" The voice on the line yelled; sharp, angry, concerned. Naruto winced imperceptibly as he brought some distance between his phone and his abused ear.
"Sakura, hey!" He chuckled nervously, biting his lower lip. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"
"You ass! We were supposed to meet up for our group project half an hour ago," she gritted out, barely constrained anger colouring her voice.
Oh... yeah. He must have lost track of time. "I, uh, I just got side-tracked for a bit, but I'm headed over there right now!" He tried to appease her, quickly gathering his bag and getting off the bench.
"Hurry," Sakura hissed out before the line went dead.
Naruto heaved out a sigh, closing his phone and making his way out of the park. Instinctively, he turned his head towards the dark-haired man's direction, unable to leave without getting one last glimpse. His shoulders deflated minutely once he noticed that the man was gone, probably having left a while ago.
Naruto forcibly tore his gaze away from the previously occupied bench, shouldering his bag and heading off to the library. He couldn't afford to waste any more time.
He straightened up as he picked his way across town, mentally preparing himself for the verbal (and possibly physical) beat-up that Sakura undoubtedly has prepared for him. He silently cringed, quickening his steps further. He really hoped that Sakura wasn't too mad at him.
~~oOo~~
He was wrong - so, so wrong. Sakura was not only mad - she was steaming with anger, so much so that Naruto thought her face might explode any minute.
Naruto clutched his head between his arms, looking very much like a kicked puppy. He avoided any possible eye-contact with Sakura, hoping that she would take pity on him and not use his head again as her personal piñata. Again.
"...And another thing - !" Sakura added to the endless list of why Naruto needs to be more time efficient, and his endless procrastination would get him nowhere, and what would you do without me, you idiot?
Yeah, fat chance of that happening, he thought to himself, burying his head even further beneath his arms. He would forever be known as The Man That Became A Piñata.
"Are you even listening to me, Naruto?" Sakura bit out, grabbing a hold of Naruto's ear, lifting him up from the table he was currently using as a pillow of some sort.
"Ow, ow!” Naruto yelped, swatting Sakura's hand away. “I am, Sakura, I am!"
Sakura narrowed her eyes as she examined Naruto’s face for any hints of a lie. Her features softened at the look on Naruto's face, dragging one of the seats and sitting beside him. "You were at the park again, weren't you?"
At Sakura's question, Naruto turned his head away, his face downturned and closed off.
"Yeah," Naruto replied after a beat.
"Oh, Naruto,” Sakura said softly. She then placed her hands on top of Naruto's, a look of understanding and sympathy passing over her features. "You've got to stop this. It's not healthy."
Naruto remained silent, keeping his face turned away. He knew it was completely unconventional but he was just so attracted to that dark-haired stranger. Try as he might, he was unable to control this - this need to be near him. After a moment of quiet contemplation, he shook his head to rid himself of his thoughts. Now was not the time, he reprimanded himself.
"Maybe we should - ," Naruto cleared his throat, "uh, we should get back to work." He then plastered on a small smile, bringing the paperwork scattered on the table together. Sakura stared at him for a moment longer before she gave him a minute nod, gathering her own research and notes and arranging herself more comfortably on the chair. Naruto gave her another reassuring smile before he grabbed his laptop and read off the case scenario once more.
"Right, time to work!"
~~oOo~~
After three hours of endless work and research at the library, Sakura was kind enough to send him off to bed. Naruto personally believed that it was her way of getting her revenge for having to wait an agonising half an hour for him. Though, Naruto had to admit that it was not his fault this time. He truly just lost track of time.
Naruto dragged himself inside his apartment, resolved in taking the evening off to relax and catch up on some much needed rest. His apartment was pretty much nondescript, having to rely on government help to pay off his rent. He was only a student, after all. There was a single room at the far corner, a single bathroom right across from it and the kitchen and living room connected together. It was small but it was home, at least until he found a decent job for himself.
Despite living alone, he tried to keep his space neat and tidy. There were minimal clothes strewn about the place, and he even kept any and all posters limited to his bedroom. It was home sweet home, and Naruto wouldn't trade it for all the riches in the world.
Naruto threw his bag onto the sofa situated in the middle of the room, taking off his jacket on the way to the bathroom. A nice bath was in order, he thought to himself, stripping the rest of his clothes off as he got into the bathroom.
Turning on the faucet, he allowed his head to rest gently on the tiles adorning the walls of the room. It was an exhausting day, no doubt, and the added thoughts of a certain stranger and how, weeks after watching from afar, he still remained anonymous to this guy. Naruto wanted to know more – no, he craved to know more about the dark-haired person. He wasn’t satisfied with just seeing him from afar, always, always. Was he new here? Why was he always at the park? What was the story behind those black, black eyes?
Naruto banged his head against the tiled walls, letting out a soft groan as he felt the beginnings of a headache begin to form. Thinking about this guy would only get him nowhere, not until he got the courage to go up to him and actually speak with him. Otherwise, he was only wasting his energy.
Turning off the faucet, Naruto climbed gingerly inside the bathtub, relaxing almost immediately into its warm embrace. He tilted his head back, closing his eyes and letting himself get lost in his thoughts. Why was he so fascinated by this one person in the first place, anyway? It just did not make any sense, and it grated at Naruto’s nerves, slowly, steadily.
It ate at him so much sometimes that he thought, more than a few times, to just quit while he was ahead and actually listen to Sakura’s advice. However, Naruto was anything but a quitter. He was determined and motivated. Tomorrow, perhaps, he thought. Perhaps tomorrow might be the day that he would get the courage to go over and talk to him. Now, however, he would just take the time to relax into the bath. Goodness knew that he desperately needed it.
~~oOo~~
A shrill ring echoed across the bedroom, pulling an annoyed scoff out of its only occupant.
“What?” An irritated voice sounded out into the phone, his eye twitching ever so slightly as he saw the caller ID.
“Ah-ah, now, now, is that anyway to greet an old friend?” The other voice on the line reprimanded him none-too-gently.
“What do you want, Kakashi?” The voice grounded out, sitting up and walking over to his bedroom’s window, looking down onto the lighted streets below. The moon has risen well above the ground, playing its borrowed lights against his face, highlighting the sharp contrast between his dark hair and pale face.
“Now, now, no need to be so rude,” Kakashi replied. “You’ve wounded me, really. When were you planning on telling me that you were back in town?”
“Tch, hardly,” the occupant bit out, his poison eyes observing the people milling below. Pathetic, really. People these days have no concept of time, wasting their days away doing tedious things with other people that would only get in their way, or leave them.
“We need to meet up,” Kakashi said nonchalantly. It was a demand, rather than a request. He knew him for long enough to distinguish between his different tones. It was a bother, but he knew that he would eventually be called out.
“Fine,” he agreed. “Where?”
“Ah, I’ll think of someplace,” Kakashi answered, a cheerful note injected into his tone. That bastard. “Welcome back, Sasuke.”