Chapter Text
His keys jingled as he rustled in his pockets to retrieve them, like some sort of sick and twisted taunt. ‘you can hear me, but you can't see me~’ The hallway was cold, his feet were wet, his fingers stiff, and he couldn’t wait to get into his apartment and get in a hot shower. And his damn keys deceived him. How dare they.
Sticking your frozen stiff fingers into a deep kind of tight pocket induces a rage unlike any other, besides maybe pulling the blanket up to accidentally punch yourself in the face.
Naruto’s irritation finally subsided once he finally got his fingers around his key ring, pulling the stupid keys out of his pocket. Shakily, he inserted the key into the lock and finally pushed the door open, kicking his wet work shoes off fervently. Of course, they flew like 10 feet and hit the back rest of his couch splashing mud all over and landing on the cushion. ‘Fuck that.’
Sometimes, that’s all you can really say, you know? So Naruto closed the door behind him, threw his jacket to the side, and dropped his keys on the table. Without sight, as he was pulling his shirt up over his head, he made his way to the bathroom, nearly tripping over random shoes and clutter that acted as obstacles in his path. Finally free, his shirt lay against the wall in the hall. He fiddled with his belt before dropping his pants, sliding his socks off with his toes. The shower knob made a gross screech when he turned the hot water on, but at least it came on.
Last month, the water got shut off. For one whole week. That sucked more than anything else in the world Naruto feared. After testing the water a few times and a piss, the blond finally stepped in to his relief.
He began to replay the day in his head, hot water tickling behind his ears as it fell down his scalp. ‘Gaara… huh…’
The blond had been in the back at the employee desk, scarfing down a cup of ramen he cooked in the shitty work microwave. And Gaara walked in. ‘Hey, we need you asap. How long until your meal is over?’ The blond looked at him with nothing but exasperation. He swore that every time their crew got down to 2-3 people, a rush started. Without fail.
Naruto had to end his meal break early today. If he even wanted to get out of work on time, he needed to just get over it. Stupid shitty job. There was in fact a huge rush. Naruto was on the line, greeting with a smile, packing rice and meat into bowls, yelling back to the grill to start cooking shit up. Kiba- he and Naruto never got along. Kiba would act like he never heard Naruto and of COURSE Kakashi would believe Kiba over Naruto about whether or not Naruto was doing his job and calling shit out to Kiba. “RICE A QUARTER KIBA” Naruto would yell but nOoOoO Kiba “didn’t hear it.” Such bullshit
The day only got worse. Kiba spilt a bunch of oil all over the floor and Naruto slipped on it even in his non-slip shoes, like a cartoon character over a banana peel. Everyone laughed. He could only grumble about how it’s a hazard.
Then, the newbie showed up. He was some dark haired ass with a superiority complex. His name was something like “Satsuki” or “Sasame.” He brushed Naruto off like Naruto wasn’t a kitchen lead. Naruto had to train him on line, and the guy acted like he already knew everything. When Naruto told him how to greet customers, this Satsuki guy or Sasame guy he was like “duh.” When Naruto told him how to call out when something was low, steak at half, rice at a quarter, this guy was like “dobe, I already know this stuff.” It was Naruto’s job to train him; he wasn't insulting the guy!
‘So annoying!’
And then, later on, that weird thing happened. Naruto had just gotten off for the evening, store finally cleaned up for the next day. Gaara and him were the usual closers, along with Kiba and Shikamaru. Usually, they would either go home and go to sleep since it was always near 1 am when they got off, OR they all went out for drinks at Applebees. Tonight was a “go home” kind of night. Gaara and Naruto as the two kitchen leads, they usually were the last ones out. Gaara and him locked up together, walked out together, and started for their cars. But this time, Gaara stopped Naruto.
“Naruto,” Gaara started. “Let’s get outta here man.”
Bars, alcohol, laughs. Shitty bar food. Naruto couldn’t handle all of that right now, not after tonight. He was exhausted. He was ready to go pass out at home. “Ey man, I don’t think I’m up for drinks tonight… Maybe tomorrow night, yeah?”
“Not like that Naruto. I meant like, let’s quit together.” Gaara clarified, although only leaving Naruto more confused. Seeing the confused look on the blond’s face, Gaara laughed and continued. “You know, they don’t treat us right. We’re the two best kitchen leads and they haven’t even considered promoting us to service managers. You and I, we could, go somewhere else together.”
“Ah man, you know I can’t afford that right now! I would leave this dump if I could!” The blond man really just thought this was about quitting, about two workers feeling undervalued. You know, the usual shit dudes talk about when they hate their fucking jobs.
“Well, wherever you go Naruto, I would follow you. I want to be with you.”