Blinded By Very Strong Like-Like

by blueduende

Summary:

A grumpy, raven haired man is charmed by a certain blond employee who works at the Co-Op across town.

Notes:

I was watching a tv show and the supporting character mentioned that she went to the same shop a few times because the woman was nice to her and I immediately thought about how I could turn it into a one shot for SNS.

Unbetta'd but I proofed (kinda).

I do not own Naruto or Kill Bill Sirens lmao

Hope you enjoy!

---

“Hey, welcome to the Co-Op," he greeted from the top of a teetering latter. The customer casually ignored him.

Naruto didn’t really expect a reply whenever he greeted people. He greeted out of courtesy but also because people visiting the Co-Op generally ended up being a pleasant break from his boring day job.

However, when a man wearing an Armani suit (or whoever was in style this fall) walked in with a confident stride, perfectly done hair, and looking as sheltered as a prissy cat staring beyond the window at stray dogs in bewilderment, Naruto debated whether to say something more.

As he watched the man pull out a fucking handkerchief to pick up the basket, Naruto scoffed and then decided to let him fend for himself in this apparently disease-ridden shop. He turned his attention back to restocking the noodles when the man called out to him.

***

“Excuse me,” he said loudly, giving the stock boy a cursory glance.

Sasuke tried his most polite tone that likely came off rather irritated. Though if the stock boy noticed, he didn't say anything as he climbed off the latter and walked over with a half smile on his face.

“Yeah?”

He mentally prepared himself for the tedious small talk bound to happen as he looked up with and felt his stomach swoop. Sasuke noted that they were the same height with starkly different features.

The blond had what appeared to be a natural tan, a golden halo of hair, and the most piercing blue eyes he’d ever seen. All the features that should have radiated confidence were contorted into the same guarded look Sasuke himself wore. But where Sasuke looked grumpy, the blond looked resigned to being told off by the inconsiderate customer.

And it made Sasuke relax somewhat.

“I require assistance locating these items.” He handed the stock boy the list, who looked it over briefly.

“Sure, no problem.”

He beckoned him to follow and Sasuke strolled along next to him, pausing whenever the blond did. He plucked items from the shelf and then set them carefully into the basket. Sasuke mentally thanked him for the tactfulness of his actions.

Naruto lived in the city long enough to know not to make small talk with a man wearing shoes that cost as much as his rent for the month, but the ingredients brushed his memory and it would have bugged him all day if he didn't ask what they were used for.

“Wait a minute…” Naruto said almost to himself. Sasuke could almost see his brain working, looking from the vegetables in each hand then glancing at the ones in the basket, piecing together the ingredients to figure out what he was making. “Sukiyaki?”

Sasuke nodded tightly.

Naruto looked at him appraisingly. “Don’t chef’s usually cook this dish? It’s a bit complicated.”

“I know that.”

A look of understanding passed over the blond's features. Then he laughed, a deeply amused laugh, that had him throwing his head back slightly and brought the lines of his profile out against the off-white wall next to him. “Really? You’re a chef?” He asked, wiping his eyes from how hard he was laughing.

If the Uchiha name had not been behind him, nobody would have taken Sasuke seriously in his actual line of work due to his inherited looks. But this, coming from a stock boy who made not even a fraction of what he did, grated on his nerves immensely.

“In my free time,” Sasuke replied tersely, turning back towards the vegetables. He was determined to ignore the annoying blond now but instead of taking the hinted dismissal, he turned slightly so he could lean against the ledge to face Sasuke.

“Wow, I would never have guessed,” He continued, oblivious of Sasuke’s desire to exit the conversation. “You’re so-” Sasuke mentally sighed “-tense.”

Surprised, he turned and faced him. “Tense?”

“Yeah. Tense. Or maybe the way you hold yourself is just stiff.” The blond shrugged. “Cooking is supposed to be an art- a dance. You’re running around the kitchen, keeping an eye on things and chopping food up. You can’t be stiff. You gotta be light on your feet, y’know?”

Sasuke was quite a loss for words. Regardless that he put very little of his time into cooking, he knew that he had a natural gift. Tense or not. “That is ridiculous.”

The blond smiled. “Maybe so, but that's the way my dad always said cooking should be done.”

Sasuke rolled his eyes, looking at the many gluten-free noodles before flicking his eyes back towards the blond.

“Just because your father told you something - most likely a lie, by the way, meant to satiate the mind of a child - does not make it true.”

He meant it light heartedly, but he was never good at banter.

“And just because something's stupid doesn't make it untrue.” The blond reasoned. He quirked an eyebrow and waited for the snippy response he thought would come.

But Sasuke floundered. This whole conversation had been unfamiliar and lighthearted from the get go. When was the last time he debated the proper way to stand?

After a moment's pause of sizing each other up, Naruto blinked first and then cracked a smile. “Let’s go ring you up.”

Sasuke watched him go skeptically. The man was earnest in a way that was a refreshing break from the people he dealt with usually. He had people acting superficially or panting and being jealous over him daily, but no one took the time to treat him so… normal. Though if he was being realistic, if someone else had treated him like this, he wouldn't be nearly as kind.

Naruto quickly scanned the items, read the total, and Sasuke paid. And he did take his time to laugh at Sasuke for only having fifties on him.

“I’m pretty sure your meal will kick-ass! Especially since you got my help.” The blond commented, oblivious of Sasuke lack of replies.

“It would have been regardless of your help.” He mentally rolled his eyes at himself this time. His immediate reaction was to be patronizing despite that being something he had no interest in displaying in the face of someone so genuine.

“I believe you.” He walked around the counter, double bagging the one with vegetables, and then transferred them to Sasuke who held them both in one hand. “Enjoy your meal!” He waved as Sasuke walked towards the exit, a tiny part of him wishing he could stay longer.

He uncharacteristically waved back as the doors opened to release him from the dizzying air inside the store and walked to his car.

---

Two weeks passed and Sasuke was leaving his office for the day. He found himself itching to visit the Co-Op across town which got so irksome that he gave into the urge and scratched.

All the time he spent deluding himself into thinking that he did not want to go back to see the ridiculously attractive blond went to waste when he stepped into the cool shop and searched for the golden mess of hair.

He stubbornly maintained that even if he did see him, it was because he worked there. Sasuke wasn't obligated to say anything to him.

Until a group of Stevie Nick wannabes passed through the aisle, gasping and giggling as they passed. He hoped, for a blissful moment, that it wasn’t directed at him until the leader, a short woman, spoke.

“I think I can help you find what you’re looking for.”

Sasuke glanced up at the girl, narrowing his eyes and then looked over her head at the man he was hoping to see.

“I already found it.” He replied, and in that moment the blond looked up and locked eyes with Sasuke.

Almost rushing over, he threw an arm around Sasuke. “Can you come here for a minute?” Then, without waiting for an answer, he pulled Sasuke to the end of the aisle.

“What do you want?” Sasuke asked as if he hadn’t been seeking the blond man out.

“You, you, only you!” Naruto framed Sasuke’s face in his hands but didn’t get close enough for Sasuke to hit him for invading his personal space again. “Oh, they’re gone. I was helping you, thank you very much. Groups of girls are scary.”

Naruto looked dramatically passed Sasuke with haunted eyes.

“Che. People in the West are different than those of the East.” His nose scrunched in annoyance.

“Oh? And how do they make them in the West?”

Sasuke nearly resisted the urge to look him up and down, but gave in when the blond stood to his full height and raised both his eyebrows, bringing an almost childlike curiosity over his features.

Tantalizingly slow, Sasuke’s eyes dragged down to the high cheekbones, plump lips, sharp jawline, and down the tan, velvety throat that made his mouth water. He swallowed. His dark eyes remained unblinking and he managed a passive facade as he surveyed the broad shoulders covered by the short sleeves of a blue t-shirt, bringing out his eyes, and tapered down to a lean waist.

He almost forgot how attractive this man was, but before he was tempted to look further down, his eyes snapped up to the eclipsed blue eyes and Sasuke smirked.

“Sub-par.”

The blond blinked a few times, punch drunk, then made a wounded face as he brought a hand to grip the opposite shoulder self-consciously.

“Ouch.” Naruto smiled, turning his attention back to the rows of spices. “But, that's how we like ‘em, I guess. Lucky for me, I was born in Japan because fate didn’t want you to think I was ugly.”

I don't think you're ugly regardless of where you were born, he thought. “You’re from the East?”

“Yep. Same as you,” he said smugly, reaching up to rearrange the scattered spices, making Naruto tower over him for a moment. “And how do they make them there?”

“They make the brunettes smart-”

“And the blondes pretty!” Naruto burst into a fit of laughter which Sasuke met with a glare that tamed the blood creeping into his cheeks. “Simple stereotypes are winning my case.”

As he continued to laugh, Sasuke looked away to hide the small smile playing on his face. He was growing fond of this man.

---

It became more frequent for Sasuke to go to the Co-Op. And each time, he spent more and more time with the charming blond who's name he learned was 'Naruto', who'd spent fifteen minutes guessing his name before Sasuke folded and told him. Sasuke was reluctant to reveal his last name which kept them on a first name basis, but they got along as easily as if they'd known each other for years.

And it was the first… friend he had made that wasn’t through work and he cherished the mans fleeting company. They only ever discussed pointless things, but things that made them laugh nonetheless.

With only a small part of him thinking about how pathetic it was to visit the same store with increasing frequency just to a see a pink collared (or rather orange v necked, Sasuke corrected, when he recalled that the blond favored the color) worker.

Yet, he was more eager to follow the instructions of the larger part that wanted to pursue the man that caught his interest.

When the 'ding' of the digital bell sounded, alerting to the arrival of a customer, Naruto didn’t even look up. He continued scanning the items of the woman in front of him, unsmiling.

Sasuke went about as usual, radiating a chill and confidence as he went for the cold teas and then to the check stand. He managed not to ‘tisk’, but being ignored was wearing on his patience. He noticed the bags of his eyes, the pallor of his skin. Annoyance fled as he realized that something was wrong.

When it was his turn, he wasted no time lending an ear.

“Alright?” He found himself asking the blond, who still wore an unusually stony expression.

“Fine.”

“Good," He commented. “Though, as someone who cares deeply for the atmosphere of the Co-Op, I should warn you that the storm cloud above your head is sending mixed signals.”

Naruto looked up and gave him a begrudging smile before it fell. “Today’s my parent’s anniversary.”

Sasuke quirked an eyebrow. “Not a fan of their marriage?”

Naruto looked up aghast, bringing his hands up and waving them in an attempt to physically erase the idea (Almost back to normal, Sasuke thought). “No of course not! They were perfect! I always went to dinner with them to celebrate it!”

“Then?”

Naruto looked at the cash register, making change for the fifty. “Coincidentally,” he laughed humorlessly, “it's also the anniversary of their death.”

He said it casually enough that it seemed to have no affect on him but the slightly misty eyes and frown gave him away.

Sasuke stilled. What a horrible thing to have in common with someone: no parents.

“Where did they usually take you?” He asked tightly, not sure where he was going with that line of questioning.

“Anywhere here. This was home so every restaurant was like eating at a neighbor's house.”

As difficult as it was, he refrained from mentioning how impractical that thought was. Instead he chose to say the very next thing on his mind.

“Come to dinner with me. I can make you something better than you'd find in this area.”

Naruto looked up, shocked. While he looked visibly frozen, Sasuke looked like he could have easily asked how the weather was. He thanked his forefathers for the god-tier poker face they passed down to him.

“You-”

“Ye-”

“Continue.” Sasuke allowed when he was sure he heard the beginnings of an agreement. Though if he’d heard the opposite, pride would have yanked him out of that store and never let him return.

“I was gonna say ‘yeah’,” Naruto brightened immediately. No one was in line so he could spare a minute or two. He walked around the counter and stood waiting for Sasuke to give him the details.

Not showing how excited he was that they were going to spend time together outside the shop, Sasuke pulled a card from his pocket plus a pen and wrote the information on the back.

“Oh-ly shit!” Naruto's eyes widened when he saw the name of the restaurant and Sasuke's last name. "You're an engineer?”

"Almost. Still in University.”

“Me, too!” Naruto said enthusiastically. “Except, I'm a humanities major. I want to be a philosophy professor.”

Sasuke thought he heard ‘Kill Bill’ sirens after Naruto had said what he was studying. It was no secret that STEM majors and Humanity majors had an unquashable rivalry. And it was rather disappointing to find out he liked someone so... aimless.

“You alright?” Naruto asked.

“Yes, I… I'm reconsidering. Give me my card back.” Sasuke reached out to retrieve it but Naruto held it up high over his head childishly.

“What? No! This is happening. I don't care that you're a STEM major!" He gulped dramatically as if it was the most repulsive thing to come out of his mouth, playing along with Sasuke's stupid logic. “Nor that you're an Uchiha.”

Sasuke paused his actions at his words. Evidently the blond had looked him up. But what made him truly freeze was the proximity between them as he basically pawed at the blond, sliding himself over his unyielding form in a fruitless attempt at rescuing his personal information from the humanities major. Sasuke relaxed to ease himself away from him when Naruto simultaneously realized how warm Sasuke was against him, how soft the sleeves of his button up felt against his temples, and in a completely indulgent act, he moved to press their lips together.

That made Sasuke relax.

It was a kiss meant to calm the raven down, meant to stun him into listening, meant to last only a moment. But they both surrendered to the feel of the other’s lips, smooth and warm.

Sasuke, not caring that he was on the clock, was ready to yank him into the closest supply closet. Unfortunately, Naruto broke the kiss while keeping the closeness between them.

“Thank you, Sasuke.” He said softly. And Sasuke knew that he was thanking him for more than the kiss.

He cleared his throat and pulled away completely. “I've changed my mind. Keep the card, if you want, but be ready and don't keep me waiting.”

Before he left, Naruto spoke again.

“It's kinda funny, don't you think?” When Sasuke didn't reply, he continued. “I mean, I didn't really think we had anything in common anyway but this… I mean, don't get me wrong, I really like you but we're as different as night and day.”

“I, for one, am glad we are different and like different things.”

Naruto blinked.

“Because if we liked the same things, I'm inclined to believe that everything you’d like would be the stupid things and that would annoy me.”

“I think I already annoy you, but that's nothing compared to a nervous me on a date.”

Date.

The word replayed over in his head like a buzzing until he regained the ability to speak.

“Can’t wait.”

He sounded almost as condescending as he did when they first met, but this time it was to cover his anticipation.

***

End.