Chapter Text
The thrum of the bass had been getting on Sasuke's nerves. Combined with the smell of sweaty bodies around the club and the flashing lights, he was bound to get a migraine tonight, all thanks to one Naruto Uzumaki. He clenched his teeth trying to remember that Naruto had convinced him to come here with the promise of doing laundry for the next whole month. Their washing machine has been broken for a while now and Sasuke despised going down to the laundromat. He will make sure to dirty more clothes just to take revenge on his ass of a best friend.
Sasuke doesn't completely hate going to the club but he had been buried under his law books busy with an impossible mock trial but Naruto wanted to come and relax. He had said Sasuke needed to chill too. And that he would be lonely without his one and only best friend.
How would Naruto be lonely with twelve of his other friends at the club along with a crowd of people, is beyond Sasuke. He had agreed begrudgingly when he was lured with the laundry deal. But his self proclaimed best friend himself wasn't here yet and Sasuke was forced to be in the company of Naruto's friends. Yes, because they were not Sasuke's friends, no thank you.
And the worst part of it all was, all of them were either dancing or hollering at the T.V. above the bar except one Hinata Hyuuga who sat across from him in the booth the large group had picked. Out of everyone in the group, Sasuke had to be stuck with the one person he wished did not exist.
Sasuke felt the migraine coming the moment Hinata opened her mouth as if to say something. She looked spooked just by Sasuke's long sigh. That girl had the personality of a wet paper towel, he thought. What Naruto saw in her was beyond him. What did this girl have to offer that Sasuke didn't? Then his eyes flicked to her bosom once.
Oh yeah. That.
Something that Sasuke lacked. Something that made him entirely incompatible with his sunshine of a roommate slash childhood best friend with whom he had been irrevocably in love for Kami knows how long.
Naruto was straight.
Big deal.
Sasuke could get any man he wanted. Guys would line up right now in this club if he just put himself out there. But nobody caught his eyes because nobody was hot, blonde and dumb enough. All of Sasuke's past hookups had been with guys not blonde enough or not dumb enough to be him, but yeah they had to at least be hot.
"Um...Sasuke?"
"What?" He bit back without even realising it was Hinata who had asked.
"D...do you know when Naruto will be...here?"
Sasuke wanted to say something snarky like how Hinata expects Sasuke to know where her boyfriend was on a Saturday night. Or maybe even smugly claim that he does know what's taking Naruto long unlike Hinata because he was closer to Naruto and Naruto had let him know, but not his girlfriend. But he reined it in our of maturity.
"He had to drop some books at the library" Sasuke rasped instead.
"The library is closed on Saturday evenings though?" Hinata had the audacity to question Sasuke's knowledge on Naruto.
"Drop box" Sasuke rolled his eyes.
Hinata was about to reply when they were interrupted by loud cheers from the bar. The T.V. was on a news channel live telecasting a fight between a group of bank robbers and a Hero. One of the bank robbers also had meta-human abilities. The patrons, including Naruto's friends, were cheering on the young man apprehending the robbers alone with his powers.
"Are ya'll seeing that!" Kiba came running back to the table while his arm pointed to the T.V. "Kyuubi is beating their ass!"
"Tch" Sasuke sneered.
"Oh yeah I forgot you hate Heroes" Kiba groaned as he flopped down beside Sasuke. Sasuke preferred the neutral term "meta-humans" because most of them did not deserve to be called Heroes.
"Is that so?" Hinata said with astonishment. As though Sasuke's disdain for Heroes had personally offended her. Of course, pure angelic Hinata would love such symbols of power and justice. "May I ask why?"
No, you may not, thought Sasuke.
Be nice, said the angel on Sasuke's shoulder, she is your best friend's girlfriend. She was trying to make a conversation. She was trying to build something with her boyfriend's best friend.
"They are just a bunch of self centred celebrities" Sasuke said almost snarling in disgust. "Half the time they are doing advertisements, giving autographs and attending galas instead of actually helping people. And then people like you-" he pointed to Kiba "put them on a pedestal like they are some god! They just got lucky with evolution!"
The meta-human abilities were officially declared to be the result of evolution when they had been first discovered. No further explanations had ever found. And even now, a small percentage of people existed with such powers, unevenly distributed globally. Unfortunately for Sasuke, Konoha had many. Some chose to be Heroes, other chose to rob banks, as he could see on the T.V.
"Damn dude" Kiba's whisper was almost lost in the loud noise around the club "but nobody even knows Kyuubi."
That was true. Kyuubi was a recent Hero who showed up a couple of months ago. Unlike the pre-existing popular Heroes of the country, he hadn't gained the celebrity status yet. More because unlike the others, he never revealed his true identity. Unlike the other Heroes, his mask wasn't a costume but something that actually kept his identity secret. But Sasuke wasn't stupid. This Kyuubi guy was probably doing this as an act too, to create curiosity, to keep up the mystery. Or as Ino would say "for clout". He can't wait to see the whole country make a big deal out of his face reveal. Kyuubi was new, but he will soon become one of those celebrity Heroes who shamelessly promoted their merch in post-fight interviews.
Naruto, on the other hand, was a big fan of Heroes. Especially of the retired Yellow Flash. But Sasuke would give Yellow Flash the pass because he never revealed his true identity. Even after he retired. While some say he was probably killed off, most people, including Sasuke, believed that he was happy and retired somewhere with a family and a warm home.
The bar patrons cheered once again and Sasuke noticed that the robbers had been immobilized and Kyuubi gave a final wave as he disappeared into the night sky in his golden glory. That guy shone like he had swallowed the sun, it hurt Sasuke's eyes.
Then he saw the flashing red and blue lights on the screen and the reporter shoving her microphone in the face of a cop. Well, not just any cop but one of the youngest Sergeants in Konoha.
"Oh man, Sasuke, isn't that your brother?"
An unsolicited groan left Sasuke's lips.
"Sergeant Itachi Uchiha, what do you have to say for Kyuubi's role in helping with tonight's incident?" The lady asked and Sasuke knew what was coming. Sasuke's brother also had a respect for Heroes. He was not a fanboy like Naruto but he agreed that they helped in making the world a better place, something Itachi himself set out to do as a cop.
Why was he surrounded by such idealists?
"I would like to state that Kyuubi is not a registered Hero" Sasuke watched as his brother's words quietened the cheering people across the bar. "He has not revealed his identity to the authorities and has not been given clearance to do what he did tonight and has been doing for a while."
Sasuke gulped at the frown on his brother's face. Never had he seen his brother be pissed at a Hero. He also became aware that if Kyuubi wasn't a registered Hero, he wasn't on a payroll.
"Oh shit" exclaimed Kiba.
"Kyuubi is not a Hero, he is a vigilante" Itachi continued as the bar patrons began to boo. Sasuke wondered if he should hide his face in case someone sees the resemblance and starts throwing hands at him too. "Times have changed, and so have laws. This isn't the era of Yellow Flash. If he doesn't register himself with the Hero Oversight Bureau, we are bound to arrest him for obstruction of justice and property damage. Thank you."
"THE FUCK?!" Someone yelled at the T.V.
"What a fucking loser."
"He just did your job for you."
"And for free!"
"Of course a cop would say shit like that."
"Fucking pigs, man!"
Sasuke just let out a long sigh. Kiba and Hinata kept quiet.
Naruto showed up ten minutes later looking happy as a horse with flushed cheeks. He looked out of breath. The idiot probably ran here because he forgot his bus pass like always. The first thing he did was squeeze Sasuke and ruffle his hair.
"I am so happy you came, Sas!" He grinned.
Sasuke shoved him making a grossed out face while internally wanting to flaunt to Hinata that her boyfriend came to him first. Sasuke knew he was a petulant little bitch. But he had the right to be bitter because he was the one with a broken heart.
"Get off" Sasuke huffed.
As soon as Naruto showed up, all his friends flocked back to the booth like a bunch of bees going after a sunflower. He had that effect on people. Naruto bumped fists with some, half hugged Sakura, high fived Kiba until his eyes fell on Hinata.
"Oh hey babe" he chimed like he didn't even know Hinata was gonna be here. He planted a quick peck on her cheek and she smiled sweetly as Sasuke averted his eyes.
"Gonna get a drink" Sasuke mumbled as he left the booth. He couldn't watch.
"Oh wait, me too" the idiot followed him. Sasuke could hear his friends listing their own orders. He didn't give a fuck. Naruto could order those.
When Sasuke reached the crowded bar, hoping nobody sees his resemblance to Sergeant Uchiha, his eyes fell on a group of girls oggling him. Two of them were pushing the one in the front towards Sasuke.
Here we go again.
"You're drawing a lot of attention, huh?" Naruto chuckled from behind him. His breath hit Sasuke's neck almost giving him goosebumps. "How about we get you a pretty girl to dance with tonight, eh?"
And then the goosebumps were gone.
This absolute moron had no clue about Sasuke's sexuality.
Sasuke avoided Naruto the whole night after that. The idiot followed him around for quite a while trying to understand what he did wrong. He put his all to convince Sasuke to join the group on the dance floor. He even offered to buy all of Sasuke's next drinks. Sasuke could have enjoyed himself if he wanted to, but he was too pissed off- at himself and his own crush on a moron- to care about fun.
The group decided to leave a little past midnight but instead of taking cabs and going to their respective homes, they decided to take the long route through a market street that remained open all night. Of course these drunk losers wanted more fun, Sasuke groaned internally. He himself was a little tipsy and all he wanted to do was faceplant on his bed. He was growing old. At the mere age of twenty two.
As they walked the narrow route the group had split into pairs and Sasuke found his idiot best friend beside him, grinning like he always did. God, he was too bright to look at. Naruto was giving him the puppy eyes asking if Sasuke was still mad until Shikamaru, wise, big brained, Shikamaru shoved Naruto to go walk beside Hinata instead.
Sasuke felt a bitter pang but he knew that Shikamaru was a good friend. If Sasuke wasn't in the picture, Shikamaru would have been Naruto's undisputed best friend. Hell, the guy deserved the spot way more than him. Shikamaru didn't hate Naruto's girlfriend nor was he secretly in love with Naruto. Sasuke was a horrible friend.
He watched as the pretty couple stopped in front of a stall selling knick-knacks. Hinata intently admired a pair of earrings as Naruto hovered with a blank stare. Sasuke was about to pass by them when his eyes fell on something interesting at the stall. Lost under the pile of many other Hero keychains was one keychain with a tiny figurine of Kyuubi in his yellow jacket. None of these were actually official merchandise, otherwise they won't be so cheap but Sasuke was surprised to see Kyuubi keychains were already being made. The guy had been around for just a couple of months and he was already gaining popularity.
"Oh!" He heard Naruto "You want this, Sas?" Sasuke blinked as Naruto held up the Kyuubi keychain, the tiny golden figure catching the glow of the stall lights. It gleamed like a tiny sun. Naruto’s eyes also shone in a similar way under the lights.
Sasuke was about to roll his eyes and leave when his vision fell on Hinata standing behind the smiling Naruto. She held the earrings she had liked in her hand but her eyes looked glassy. At that moment, an epiphany happened for Sasuke.
Sasuke hated Hinata. But Hinata hated him more.
Because Naruto, in his oblivious, sunshine-soaked way, had noticed Sasuke's interest in a cheap little keychain faster than he had seen what his girlfriend truly wanted. Naruto was not only breaking his heart but also Hinata's. Why did Naruto have to go and pay so much attention to Sasuke if Sasuke couldn't have him? Why did he have to act like Sasuke was special if he wasn't? It was unfair.
A part of Sasuke felt satisfied that Hinata wasn't any better because she also hated Sasuke back. But unlike Sasuke, she had redeeming qualities, she was nice. Sasuke wasn't. Sasuke deserved the heartbreak, she didn't.
Suddenly, Sasuke’s leather jacket wasn’t enough to keep the cold out.
Sasuke walked away without looking back at the Kyuubi keychain as Naruto's calls of his name faded away.