Author: Rasengan22

Note: Look! A new story and not a repost! For my friend, Liyan, who requested a fic where "Sasuke teaches Naruto to play the piano." Sorry, Liyan, but I couldn't fit it into one chapter and have to do two instead. I hope it's not too pretentious.

Part 1 of 2

As Naruto climbed the stairwell, he swiped his hand over the top metal bar of the railing. Flecks of grey paint had peeled away to reveal hints of a stubbornly thick brownish rust. There was a certain wet, musty smell lurking in the space and adhering itself to the cement blocks of the walls. Discarded advertisements and crumpled up newspapers lay scattered about the steps. The neglected periodicals caused Naruto to briefly frown as he passed the door to the first floor and made his way up to the second. He considered the waste and also wondered at whether or not he should be offended that they had been cast aside so carelessly.

The roughly-textured strap of his navy computer bag was beginning to dig into his shoulder and he adjusted it with his right hand to alleviate the stress on his muscles. It had already been a long, dismal day at work because the day had bled well into the night after his editor had asked him at the last minute to cover a meeting at the Cook County Courthouse. Unfortunately, the meeting ended up being closed off to the public and reporters. He was tired and hungry, not having had anything to eat since this morning when he’d grabbed an egg and garlic bagel sandwich from one of the vendors near his apartment.

At the heavy metal door leading to the third floor, he gave pause, giving consideration as to whether this was even a safe neighborhood to be loitering around in at night, especially when he didn’t know the person he was meeting. However, blindly trusting and ever optimistic, he swatted the hesitation away and entered the ill-lit hallway, his eyes wandering over the numbers on the doors. Some of them weren’t even numbered properly, but eventually he found apartment 317.

Naruto inhaled deeply, running his fingers through the hair at the side of his head nervously while tugging at his ear as he stared at the faux-golden plated numbers. From a nearby apartment he could hear a stereo blaring Spanish music and from another, he could hear the television, set on what sounded to be Wheel of Fortune. Slowly, he raised his hand and knocked at the door, unaware he was holding his breath as he waited. There were no particular sounds to indicate anyone was inside. He waited to hear footsteps coming toward the door but heard nothing. A minute passed with no answer until he rapped again on the door. Another sixty seconds passed before Naruto heard the sound of a chained-lock being slid on the other side of the door at which point it then cracked open.

Naruto stared at a pair of dark eyes veiled behind jet black fringes of hair. They narrowed at him accusingly and suspiciously. Naruto openly stared back, too caught off guard by the intensity of the gaze to be able to react instantaneously.

Fifteen seconds must have slipped by before Naruto broke the silence with an awkward, “Hello.”

“Who are you?” The deep voice carried the hint of an accent Naruto couldn’t place. It was almost barely noticeable.

“Uh,” Naruto began clumsily, scratching at the back of his head. “I’m Naruto Uzumaki. We talked on the phone.”

The pair of eyes widened a fraction and then narrowed. The rest of the man’s expression became almost unreadable, however.

Naruto shifted his weight, explaining further. “You know, about the ad on Craigslist.” When the other man didn’t say anything, Naruto felt the need to elaborate further. “Um, you said tonight was a good night for our first lesson?” He adjusted his bag strap again out of uneasiness this time instead of discomfort. “If this is a bad time--”

The door abruptly shut in his face. Naruto opened his mouth in partial surprise, but then the lock sounded as if it was being slid all the way off and the door opened again to reveal an Asian-looking man in a pair of very faded, skinny dark blue jeans and a black t-shirt. He was about Naruto’s height and appeared to be about his age, though he’d thought as much from the sound of his voice when they’d spoken on the phone last week.

The other man still obstructed his way, one hand braced on the edge of the door and the other on the frame as he glared at Naruto. The man, Naruto realized he’d forgotten to get his name on the phone because he’d been in such a hurry at the time, glared at him, his unwelcoming and cynical gaze roving up and down at least twice before his eyes settled on Naruto’s face.

“And why is it you want to learn to play?”

Naruto transferred his weight to his other foot, a nervous habit. He was oddly distracted by the other noises floating around in the hallway and the twittering of the light from the fixtures above as if they were debating whether or not they felt like working tonight. As if it wasn’t part of their union contract to be on the job 24/7.

Apprehensive, Naruto gave a startled laugh, not having expected such a serious inquest. “Well, I thought it would be a good way to impress wom--”

The other man’s expression darkened immediately and he moved to shut the door in Naruto’s face but Naruto instinctively stepped forward, shoving his hand against the door and frowning. For his efforts, he was greeted with a scowl.

“Sorry, I don’t teach idiots.”

Naruto kept his hand pressed firmly against the wooden door, its exterior cool against his palm thanks to the refreshingly chilly air conditioner issuing from the vent above his head. Like the lights, it also stuttered and stalled occasionally like a car engine unable to turn over.

“I was sort of kidding,” Naruto explained with a raised eyebrow, a cool edge to his voice. “Although I didn’t realize there was going to be a quiz beforehand as to whether or not I’m worthy enough to be one of your pupils?”

The Asian man looked at him skeptically, a hint of boredom evident in his features as well as a healthy dose of impatience.

“I knew this was a bad idea,” the young man mumbled scornfully under his breath.

Irritated, Naruto let out a frustrated huff of air and slowly dropped his arm. “Okay, you wanna know the real reason I want to learn to play the goddam piano?”

The man shifted, tone patronizing and snotty. “You don’t have to curse.”

Naruto squinted his eyes and ignored the comment. “While I appreciate you forcing me to bring it up, my grandmother died a month or so ago, and I dunno--” The other man’s harsh look softened considerably and he tilted his head, causing his bangs to slide closer toward his ear rather than in the middle of his cheek. “Ugh, this is so annoying, can’t you just let me come in? I mean I’m willing to pay and--”

“No.” He was quickly interrupted and just as Naruto was about to explode he was graced with a small smirk and suddenly knew he was being fucked with.

Naruto internally wondered whether or not piano lessons were worth all this trouble after he’d trekked across the city looking for this street, let alone this apartment complex, which no one in their right mind should inhabit if they knew the crime statistics for this particular neighborhood. He sighed, eyes on the carpeted floor and then rising again to meet his would-be instructor’s.

“If I’m going to teach you, I need to know why you want to learn. It’ll tell me whether or not you’re serious enough to handle my instruction.”

Naruto stared for a few seconds. He shoved his hands into his pockets as the hallway became more drafty, sighing in resignation. “If I tell you, you’ll let me in?”

“If it’s a good reason, sure.”

Naruto gave a half-hearted glare of protest that garnered absolutely no reaction from the other man, and so he was forced to concede because he really did want to learn.

“So, my grandmother died recently, and I guess…” He looked away toward the other end of the hallway, “Uh, well when I was little, she’d, er, play in this parlor of hers. It was just… awfully decorated in yellows and greens and this hideous Lilly pad wallpaper, and it always had this crazy smell of like bathroom powders and soaps--” He looked back, meeting the other man’s baleful gaze and realized he was rambling.

Naruto scratched at the back of his head, took in a deep breath and continued. “Well she’d have all these old lady friends of hers over and they’d always ask if I could play, and I really couldn’t other than stupid stuff like Chopsticks. Anyway, and, um, I don’t know. She died and I just suddenly wished I’d learned to play so I coulda played for her and her friends ‘cause I liked being the center of attention when they were over for Bridge… and…” He looked away again self-consciously. “Yeah.”

Naruto stopped talking and stared at the other man. Hearing his own reason out loud, Naruto suddenly felt stupid. Therefore, much to his surprise, the door opened further and the man stepped back. His would-be teacher shrugged and gestured for Naruto to enter.

“Okay,” the young man said simply.

“O..kay?” Naruto repeated the word in disbelief as if he hadn‘t heard correctly, his brow furrowing a bit in confusion.

It was odd. He’d gotten what he wanted, but it was like his spirit had suddenly deflated, the weird confrontation sucking out the last vestiges of his energy for the day, so with a weary step he moved past the threshold and into an unknown apartment, ready to begin his first piano lesson.

The apartment itself was small and sparsely decorated. As he entered through the doorway, he passed the kitchenette, the counter meticulously clean of any clutter. On it, a red ceramic bowl with a white strip at the top held a bunch consisting of four bananas, a couple Red Delicious apples and one rather tiny orange that could have very well been a tangerine. The refrigerator, in the brief glimpse he had, was clear of magnets or pictures, its door stainless steel, but there was a single, empty clear vase sitting on the top of it. There were few cabinets, but they looked as if they had been recently painted to a sharp black, giving the tiny space a relatively modern, clean feel. The floor was made of an old, darker wood, the original grain shining through the varnish. There were cracks between a few of the boards, leaving gaps here and there, but it appeared relatively polished and clean. A large, rectangular rug embossed with a circular graphic pattern in neutral shades of browns, reds, and dark greens was laid out in front of a black metal futon covered by a dark red mattress. A bronze floor lamp was pushed into the corner beside it, giving off a healthy glow of flickering light in addition to miniscule amounts coming from two bronze-fixtured sconces in the kitchen area.

The walls had a strange paneling look and had been painted a very calming, very light shade of green that reminded Naruto of the color of grass the day after a heavy rain. It wasn’t dark, but very muted and fresh. One matted poster in a black, thick wooden frame hung against the wall to his right, and glancing at it, he recognized it immediately as Picasso’s Don Quixote. He eyed the tottering, skeletal figure of the horse, fairly sure a past college roommate had bought the same poster. Before he had realized it, though, as Naruto turned around, he now stood completely alone in the living room. It had become a force of habit to take in the details of his surroundings and in the midst of it he’d lost his teacher.

However, his attention was drawn to the tall, narrow hallway as what sounded to be squeaky wheels in need of oiling rolled across its floor. Naruto quickly took off his bag and dropped it onto the futon. He peeked around the corner in time to see his instructor pushing the piano out of what he assumed to be the guy’s bedroom.

“Hey, do you need help with that?” Naruto asked in a rush, already moving to grab at the edges of its side to help pull it into the living room.

The other man stopped swiftly and agitatedly swiped a few lengthy bangs out of his face. He looked at Naruto for a moment and then grunted as he started to push it again. Naruto wasn’t sure if that was a response in the positive or not, but he still helped grip the side of it and guide it into the living area, just managing it to fit by the edge of the futon.

“Against this wall is fine,” the man murmured and Naruto did as he was instructed. His teacher disappeared again, careful to close the bedroom door behind him so Naruto couldn’t see into it clearly. Seconds later he emerged carrying a small black piano bench, which looked to be capable of sitting two semi-comfortably.

The bench was placed in front of the piano. The instrument was not entirely remarkable and looked as if it had gotten a lot of use in its day. The keys had worn down to a dismal shade of dirty ivory. Some of the glossy black paint had been chipped or scratched away on the sides and front.

“It’s old but it plays fine,” his teacher spoke gruffly, apparently having noticed the way Naruto was critically scrutinizing it.

“Oh, yeah, well I’m sure,” Naruto replied distractedly, looking up from the piano. “Uh, by the way, I feel kinda embarrassed about this, but I sorta forgot your name…”

The other man opened the top of the bench to sift through a few music books. He must have found the one he was searching for because the lid clapped closed immediately and the book was set on a narrow ledge in front of them.

“Sasuke,” his instructor answered in a low, impatient voice as he righted the book properly and opened it to the page he wanted. “Sit.”

Sasuke. Naruto chiseled the name into the walls of his brain like a primitive man on a stone tablet so he wouldn’t forget, and while thinking about that his body automatically sat for him as if he’d been an obedient student all his life and that couldn’t be further from the truth.

To his surprise, Sasuke sat down next to him, his shoulder brushing against Naruto’s thanks to the forced closeness, and while he smelled of cologne, Sasuke smelled of a fresh soap, like Irish Spring. It tickled his nose pleasantly. As Naruto was staring off, he felt Sasuke shift against him, turning more in his direction.

“So, you said you could play a couple songs. Should I presume you’re able to read music then?”

“Yeah, I can read it a little bit. Like I know what notes are what, but I might not remember the other stuff, like how long I’m supposed to hold the note and that kind of thing.”

Sasuke’s mouth formed a small, unconscious frown, the skin on his forehead wrinkling as he thought. Naruto watched him think with some amusement showing in his eyes. Sasuke raised his gaze, and he looked as if he was about to speak but then he caught Naruto’s expression, which apparently unnerved him enough to be offended.

“What’s so funny?” Sasuke inquired gruffly, his hands smoothing over the thighs of his jeans before he set them on his knees.

Naruto shook his head. “Nothing, nothing. This is just weird.”

“What is?”

“It’s been a while since I played the role of student.”

Sasuke tilted his head in a thoughtful manner. “Ah, I see.”

Naruto was left wondering why he had the intense urge to smile, but it somehow seemed inappropriate in this atmosphere so he restrained it to a subtle smirk.

Sasuke, for the first time, showed a more congenial type of emotion, answering Naruto’s smirk with his own. “So long as you don’t misbehave and listen to what I say, we should get along just fine,” he said half-sarcastically, shoulders slightly slumping as he reached behind himself to grip the back of the bench.

Naruto thought he looked very young when he did that.

“Are you in school?” Naruto asked, unable to control his curiosity.

“I’m a grad student.”

“Oh,” Naruto responded dully, taking it in as his brain formed more questions. “What are you studying?”

“Just business,” Sasuke replied with a raised eyebrow.

“Business?” Naruto asked. There wasn’t enough room for him to give into the impulse to also grip the back of the bench, so he managed to get his fidgeting hands to rest in his lap as he fought the urge to slump like Sasuke was doing.

“I’m going to be an accountant.”

“Ah.” Naruto somehow found that disappointing. He’d expected maybe something more creative. He wasn’t entirely sure.

“You sound disappointed,” Sasuke commented.

Naruto waved the notion away with his hand. “Sorry, no, I guess I was expecting something else.”

“Like?”

“I dunno.” Naruto smiled warmly. “I haven’t known you long enough to even guess.”

“Hmm. Is it because I’m Asian and that seems the typical response? Accountant? Computer programmer? Engineer? Good with math and science?”

Naruto’s smile dropped and he found himself shaking his head vigorously. “No, no, of course not,” he said adamantly, mouth forming a scowl and his laugh lines deepening.

Sasuke gave a small laugh, startling Naruto. “I’m obviously just messing with you.”

“Oh.”

“Besides, unlike you, I remembered your name and it’s not exactly the typical American name. You’re Japanese?”

Naruto gave a relieved chuckle. “People always ask that, but I don’t really think there’s anything about me other than my name that screams Japanese.” Sasuke watched him closely as he spoke, and the intensity of his attentiveness made Naruto feel self-conscious. Maybe just more self-aware would be the better way to describe the feeling it aroused. Naruto discovered he wanted to pause before replying, desiring to choose his words and his responses more very carefully.

Sasuke hummed thoughtfully, giving a small stretch and returning his hand to the music book, straightening it out for no particular reason. During that time, Naruto tilted his head up, eyes being drawn to the ceiling as he spoke.

“My grandfather was Japanese. Came from Japan in the 40s and moved to California.” He felt Sasuke’s eyes on him suddenly and shifted to meet his gaze. “Bad time to move to the states apparently.”

“I’d say so.”

Naruto stared off, recalling the bits of memories involving his grandfather, which led to him thinking about his grandmother. He closed his eyes briefly and then clapped his hands together, cracking the lids open gradually.

“I guess we should begin, huh?” Naruto’s tone was quiet and reflective. He was eager to change the subject.

Sasuke studied him for a moment as if attempting to figure him out. Naruto answered the look with a reassuring grin and simple shrug of the shoulders. He’d always thought of himself as an open book anyway, and he always preferred to be the one asking the questions.

Sasuke nodded slowly. He reached out with his left hand and did a little one-handed scale, watching his own fingers move gracefully across the keys.

“Alright, we’ll start with the basics so I can see where you’re at. You’ve played scales before?” He looked questioningly from the book to Naruto.

“Sure.”

“Okay.” Sasuke ran his hand over the smooth, pristine page, drawing Naruto’s attention to it. “Then play.”

An hour into their ninety minute session, an exquisite thrashing of rain erupted out of nowhere as it came down in what sounded to be sheets of clanging metal. As far as Naruto had recalled from the forecast, he hadn’t remembered hearing anything about a severe storm. When he’d entered the apartment complex, the skies had been clear. Thunder rattled the foundation, emitting a tremendous boom that shook the walls. Naruto’s fingers trembled as they hovered above the keys as a loud crack of lightning audibly lashed out somewhere in the night.

“Not a fan of storms?” Sasuke asked inquisitively from the kitchen, sans the patronizing tone Naruto would have expected from someone like him. He’d gone to slice them an apple when Naruto mentioned he hadn’t had anything to eat all day.

Naruto twisted around on the bench. “Nah, I do, though I prefer just listening to the rain. I like lightning though. Like looking at it, I mean.” He watched the other man as he quickly and precisely cut up the fruit and arranged the pieces on a square black plate that looked like it belonged in a display case at Crate & Barrel.

“Sorry, I don’t have much in the way of food,” Sasuke apologized, and Naruto raised a curious brow at the comment. Sasuke brought him the plate and Naruto took a couple slices, already knowing the offering wouldn’t suffice his hunger but was thankful nonetheless.

“What do you mean?” Naruto asked curiously around a mouthful of delicious apple, the juice moistening his lips and sliding sweetly against his tongue.

“I just moved, so I haven’t had a lot of time to get groceries yet.” Sasuke sat down on the bench, next to Naruto. He set the plate down between them as he munched delicately on his own share.

Naruto gave an observant look around the room, finding it well put-together, clean and free of any hefty cardboard boxes. “Um, I never woulda guessed that. How long ago did you move in?”

“Three weeks ago.” Sasuke ran his fingers through the spiky bits of hair at the back of his head and let out a sigh before staring down into his lap, glancing at his nails as if the topic bored him.

“Three weeks ago?” Naruto murmured disbelievingly as he grabbed for another piece of apple. “That’s plenty of time to get groceries, don’t ya think? These are really good, by the way. Thanks. I was starving.”

“I’ve been busy with classes,” Sasuke replied brusquely, using the pads of his fingers to gently dust along the keys where he used his ring finger to press down on a high G.

Another crack of lightning was followed by a clap of thunder, causing the lights in the living room to flicker ominously, just as the ones in the hallway had done earlier. Distractedly, Naruto wondered how safe the electrical wiring was in the building, and found himself grateful that he had a job in which he could finally afford relatively decent housing. They were both quiet for a couple minutes, astutely listening to the downpour as if the noise was some kind of magical enchantment that offered a ray of calm despite the violent interweaving of thunder and lightning.

“So what is it you do, Naruto?” Sasuke suddenly asked, studying the open book of music with feigned interest. Naruto shifted to gauge his expression and found his teacher’s mouth curled into a small smirk. Any other day, the mark of condescension might have offended him but after an hour under Sasuke’s helpful tutelage, he just found it amusing.

Naruto released a lethargic sigh, the hands that had been in his lap after finishing off the last of the apple reached behind him to finger the edge of the bench. He pinched the wood between them, running his thumb over the deep grain of the wood. “I work for the Tribune.”

“Oh?” The smirk on Sasuke’s face evaporated as he turned to give Naruto a scrutinizing, suspicious look.

Naruto smiled and gave a light chuckle. “Don’t sound so surprised.”

“What do you do there?” Sasuke asked conversationally, and Naruto was pleased to find he sounded legitimately interested.

“I’m a reporter. Cops and courts, that kind of thing.”

“Ah,” Sasuke said, the smirk returning to his face. “So you write up what happens at city council meetings? To think I almost was intrigued.” He wore a sly grin.

Naruto rolled his eyes. “I do cover them sometimes, but that’s kinda important in a city as big as this. I cover city government and pretty big criminal cases. You know, watchdog stuff.”

“Right,” Sasuke drawled, sounding unconvinced. “Like you can really trust the media these days. They’re all only after their own self-interests, printing the stories that will get them the biggest circulation or the most ratings. I hate the news.”

Naruto released a bark of surprised laughter. “Jeez, Sasuke, tell me how you really feel, why don’t ya?”

“Well it’s true,” Sasuke returned with a frown, offhandedly sweeping away an invisible crumb on the front of his shirt. “Where did you go to school?”

“Northwestern,” Naruto replied quickly and as nonchalantly as possible.

“That’s one of the top schools for journalism, isn’t it?” Sasuke tilted his head, raising an inquiring eyebrow as if it was hard for him to believe Naruto could get in to a school like that.

“Yeah,” Naruto answered through a sigh. “It’s pretty good.”

“Hm.”

“So where are you going to school?” Naruto decided not to counter argue Sasuke’s opinion of his current profession, mostly because he had the same feelings on the matter but wanted to consider himself an oddball among the pack, but that wasn’t something he could prove with mere words.

Sasuke leaned backward and stretched out his left arm to the side before letting it fall again. “Loyola.”

Naruto nodded, but the action was interrupted with another boom of thunder so deafening it sounded like a jet plane was about to crash into their side of the building. Naruto jumped a little, and right when he was about to look over at Sasuke to see whether he should try and come up with an excuse for jumping like a girl, the living room lights flickered twice and then went out completely. The room became enveloped in a dense darkness. There was another succession of noises as loud as explosions. A door could be heard opening and slamming shut again in the hallway.

“Hmm,” Naruto murmured light-heartedly, deciding to make a joke out of it. “Did someone forget to pay the power bill?”

“Idiot,” Sasuke said under his breath and heaved a loud sigh. “It should kick back on pretty soon. It does this every once in a while.”

“Okay, sure.” Naruto shifted on the bench, trying to get his eyes to adjust to the dark. “So long as this isn’t part of some homicidal scheme to like kill me and cut me up into pieces and then throw me into the river, right?”

Sasuke chuckled dutifully. “No, I wouldn’t do that.” He leaned over and Naruto could feel his breath against his ear as he whispered conspiratorially, “At least not until I get paid for the lesson.”

“I see where your priorities lie,” Naruto returned mockingly. “I do believe our lesson was interrupted anyway. I can’t pay until the proper services have been rendered.”

“Stingy,” Sasuke sniped sourly, and Naruto couldn’t help but snigger at the petulant tone.

“Nah, it’s okay.” Naruto hit a couple of keys as he paused. “We can just add it on to the next time.”

“Next time?” Sasuke asked dubiously, a hint of thoughtfulness coloring his questioning tone.

Naruto gave him a sharp look. “Well, yeah. I don’t think I can perform at Carnegie after one lesson. I assumed there would be more?”

“Can I confess something to you, Naruto?” Sasuke whispered, voice barely audible over another slap of thunder.

Naruto tensed for unknown reasons. “I guess, yeah.”

“I’ve never taught piano before.”

Naruto cocked his head, studying the other man‘s face. Sasuke‘s eyebrows were drawn up in all seriousness, the corners of his mouth turned down into a frown. “So?”

“So, I didn’t know if I’d be any good at actually teaching another person how to play. But, despite my first impression of you, you actually caught on rather fast and I can’t help but think that has something to do with my natural gift for instruction.”

“Uh…” Naruto didn’t know how to respond to that.

“I’m kidding,” Sasuke said in a low voice and smirked.

“Oh.” Naruto punched him in the shoulder, missing the mark a bit due to the current level of visibility. “You’re kind of a sarcastic bastard, y’know that?”

“So I’ve been told,” Sasuke replied curtly with a hoarse release of breath. “Actually, I probably have a couple of flashlights, and we might be able to continue if you really want. I’d boot you out of the apartment except I think you might get swept away in the flood.”

Naruto’s mouth parted in surprise and bemusement.

“What?” Sasuke asked, leaning to his side again, his shoulder brushing Naruto’s. Naruto was about to speak but the gesture caught him off guard, and he grew a fraction uncomfortable. He moved to cover it up quickly, but. Sasuke drew away as if sensing Naruto’s unease. He didn‘t say anything though, and Naruto let out an awkward cough to fill the silence.

“Sorry,” Naruto said after several seconds, his voice rough and weird to his own ears. “It’s just you got so…funny all of a sudden.”

“I’m unsure as to whether I should be offended or not,” Sasuke said slowly and carefully. “I do have a sense of humor.”

“Uh ye-eah,” Naruto drawled out the word the same way a ditzy high school cheerleader would. “But from how strict you were with teaching me, I wasn’t expecting that.”

Sasuke remained silent a few seconds before replying, “The world is filled with surprises.”

“I guess so.” Naruto looked upward, finding if he squinted just so he could almost make out a fuzzy white glow that was the ceiling. “So about those flashlights?”

“Mm?”

“Why don’t you play for a while,” Naruto said in a quiet tone, leaning sideways to nudge Sasuke’s shoulder with his own, “And I’ll just try to soak it in.” He could feel Sasuke stiffen beside him and then gradually relax. Naruto left his arm like that and the room became tensely quiet.

“Okay,” Sasuke breathed out finally, and Naruto gave him a smile, which turned lopsided. Sasuke leaned over and Naruto felt his breath against his chin, their faces rather close together as the other man moved in to invade the blond‘s personal space. “Only because it’ll make you wet your pants with envy.”

Naruto smirked at Sasuke’s arrogance. “We’ll see,” he said in hushed tones to the challenge, still feeling the warmth of the other’s breath against his skin. Sasuke pulled away and stood as Naruto watched him. He looked down for a moment and then went off toward his bedroom in search of the flashlights.

After waiting two or three minutes and listening to the crash of what could possibly be closet doors opening and closing, Naruto retreated to the futon. The lights still hadn’t returned, but somehow it offered a tranquil atmosphere: the cloak of invisibility the darkness wrapped them in and the sudden quiet, which had truncated all noises outside of the apartment. At least other than the furious fervor of thunder, but it was akin to a stormy day when he was younger. The kind where he‘d snuggle on the couch with his grandmother. His mood began to turn rather melancholy.

Sasuke emerged eventually, the sound of his shoes scuffing across the floor as he walked. From the outline of his body, Naruto could tell he was looking first at the piano bench and then he swiveled around to notice his guest had moved.

“I don’t suppose you smoke?” Sasuke asked him. He sounded put out and was holding something in his hands that Naruto couldn’t quite make out.

“Uh, no. Why?”

Sasuke sighed in annoyance. “I found a flashlight but the batteries didn’t work. I randomly had an emergency kit stashed away in my closet. It had a couple of candles but the matches were missing.”

Naruto shrugged, his hand sat in the middle of the cushion and he slowly retracted it over the tight fabric. The texture was pleasantly soft but firm against his skin.

“Hm.” Sasuke shuffled off toward the kitchen after placing the candles down onto the bench. “I probably have some in here.”

Naruto smiled despite himself. “Candles, huh?” He gave a wry chuckle of amusement. “How romantic.”

Drawers were opened, sorted through and then shut gently before Sasuke made a small sound that Naruto interpreted as confirmation of having found the matches. Sasuke strolled back into the living area. Naruto watched quietly while Sasuke set the candles on top of the piano. The first match ignited easily enough and the glow cast an eerie quality over the room. The second match wouldn’t light, but the third did and Sasuke used it to get the other candle burning.

“When these kind of things happen,” Sasuke said out of nowhere, “It makes me wonder how helpless we’d be without technology.”

Naruto shifted, leaning the underside of his forearm onto the metal arm of the futon‘s frame, serenely studying the way the flames flickered and swayed, casting shadows against the wall and across Sasuke’s form.

Naruto thought for a while and then responded when Sasuke went back into the kitchen, presumably to put the matches away so he could find them again. “You know what I think is weird?”

Sasuke made a grunt of acknowledgment as he returned to the piano bench and sat down. He closed the book he’d been using to teach Naruto and dropped it onto the floor where it fluttered closed with a whooshing noise. He struck a few keys and then waited for Naruto to finish his comment.

“I wonder, like if some catastrophic event happened and the entire world could no longer rely on the technologies that have offered them such convenience, what would happen?” He scratched at his hairline and dropped his arm. “I mean, if you think about it, pioneers… well, hell, anyone before pioneers, they adapted to life without electricity? Without any kind of modern day conveniences?”

Sasuke turned his head in Naruto’s direction and narrowed his eyes, a small smirk on his face. “Ah, yeah, and now we are all a bunch of pansies who would probably die out because we’d be too lazy and fat to do the huntin’ and the gatherin’?”

Naruto shook his head as he let out an appreciative chuckle, every time still surprised by Sasuke’s sharp sense of humor.

“Sort of,” Naruto replied thoughtfully. “I mean, we consider ourselves so superior and yet, what about stuff like TV or nuclear fusion or MP3 players make us any better than people who lived 400 years ago?”

Sasuke’s fingers tickled along the surface of a few more keys, setting up for something that sounded like a somber, breathtaking sonata. His fingers were sure and accurate, but he stopped again and let out a murmur of contemplation.

“I think,” he annunciated carefully, running his tongue along his teeth, “The real problem lies not in the world’s superiority complex but in everyone’s ignorance.”

“What do you mean?” Naruto asked curiously, his head lazily lolling onto his shoulder to regard Sasuke.

“I think,” he explained to Naruto, “Humans have a tendency to believe they are something very special. Kids grow up thinking they know more about life than their parents--”

“Bah,” Naruto dismissed, interrupting. “I think that’s more our generation and the one before us who have that kinda problem.”

“True,” Sasuke said, chin lifting a bit in hauteur. “But it’s just an example of how self-centered human beings can be. You know, Jean-Paul Sartre believed there was no world outside of our own self-consciousness, and once we die, then the world disappears as well.”

“Well that’s kind of true. I mean sure, the world continues and all when we die, but if you’re dead, it’s not likely you know either way.”

“No, I agree,” Sasuke said with an ambiguous nod of the head. He began the beginnings of some other piece, one Naruto probably should have recognized, but classical music was far from his forte.

Sasuke sighed in what sounded to be frustration. “I can tell you’re a journalist.”

Naruto raised an eyebrow. He leaned forward, his fingers clasping together as he held his hands over the edge, between his legs. “Why?”

“You have a problem with sticking to the point.”

“Hm.” Naruto took that in, considered it objectively and began thinking to himself.

“Did I offend you?” Sasuke asked him after a moment, his voice more amused than sympathetic.

“No, no,” Naruto waved the idea away quickly. “I was just thinking if it was true. Sorry, it’s more like my brain goes in eight million different directions when someone offers me new ways of looking at stuff. But I think I know what you were getting at.”

Sasuke held down a low note with the pad of his thumb. “Do you?”

“Yeah, that, basically, maybe over the last… what? Hundred years or so? We’ve almost sort of isolated or at least distanced ourselves from previous generations. Like as if the people from 200 or 300 years ago were a completely different species from us, rolling around in the muck and killing each other like animals.”

“People still do that now,” Sasuke interjected quietly.

“True. You wouldn’t believe some of the things I’ve seen while reporting in this town.”

“I might.”

“Well anyway,” Naruto continued pensively, separating his hands, leaving one in the spot on the edge of the futon but moving the other onto his knee. “It’s just like…sometimes I think…” He made sure he was looking in Sasuke’s direction, where the pale flames danced along the lines of his teacher’s cheek and forehead. “It feels so lonely not being able to easily relate to those people?”

“Hm.”

“Yeah.” Naruto lowered his head in rumination, listening to the sound of rain and the occasional melody that drifted from the chords Sasuke occasionally prodded, as if they held little interest to him all of a sudden.

A minute passed as Sasuke played something somber. He didn’t tell Naruto what it was, and obviously Naruto couldn’t have even ventured a guess as to what piece it was from. Sasuke stopped playing, swiveled around to look at Naruto, and slipped his bangs behind his ear when they’d lined themselves up stubbornly with the corner of his mouth.

“Requests?”

Naruto squinted his eyes. He slipped out of his shoes, wondering if he was here for the long haul. He considered for a moment before he shifted and threw his feet up on the other end of the futon cushion, stretching out his long legs.

“Yeah,” he answered after making himself comfortable on someone else’s couch. “Know any David Bowie?”

Sasuke gave him a long look, but then turned around, and suddenly the room was filled with the sound of Space Oddity.

“Sasuke,” Naruto spoke loudly over the piano as he tapped his socked toes against the frame, his voice filled with teasing mirth and admiration. “I think I’m falling in love with you.”

TBC