[Aim Log] [Ramen is not a meal] [Naruto and Sasuke] [Closed]
[OOC Note: Nothing too bad here aside from a little language and a lot of insulting comments and thoughts =D?]
It wasn't often - or at least it felt that way to him - that he had the apartment to himself. Without one flatmate or another holed up somewhere, threatening the potential of interaction. Now that he had the chance [and it was a risk sitting out there in the open like this, but one he needed to take. Though his sanctuary most of the times, even his room became unbearable at times, the need for some sense of freedom compelling him out.] he was going to take it.
Settled down with his back against the edge of the couch [couldn't quite bring himself to sit on it. Texture was...off. And God knows what had happened to it, on it, with it. . . .He was going to stop contemplating that right now.], several books stacked next to his figure, the youngest Uchiha was currently thumbing through his copy of Arabian Nights. The whole book was rather intriguing, especially with the way its tales had spun off so many other popular ones. Not to mention to whole idea of 'justice' - you betray you die - suited his tastes rather well.
Absently his foot rolled a black and red soccer ball back and forth. Away. Back. Away. Back. Each movement carefully controlled. Never once did he over shoot the movement. Another page was turned, dark eyes swiftly working over words and spaces, filling up his mind with odds facts to be later sorted through and organized. Ready to be called upon when he needed them.
Shrugging his way up the stairs with half a ton of library books in his backpack, Naruto whistled cheerfully to himself and looked forward to his dinner. He'd just gone to the store and bought enough instant ramen to feed an army (so, enough to last him the week) and he was more than ready to eat it.
Assuming the door was unlocked (like it tended to be) he shouldered his way into Apartment 11 and spotted Sasuke sitting carefully on the floor, rolling his ball back and forth with a precise movement of his foot.
"Yo, jackass. You okay sittin' down there?"
So much for peace. And quiet. And the comfort of being alone. Sasuke removed his gaze from the book, mentally bookmarking the word, along with its position relative to the page, he had last read. A scowl moved his lips, not from any sense of hatred, but it was the closest thing he got to acknowledging loss. The loss of his supposed freedom.
"If I wasn't, I wouldn't have chosen the spot, moron" Sasuke answered. It wasn't coldly spoken. Well, at least it wasn't that Artic freeze of words that left you wondering if he had any shred of decency when it came to human interaction. More of a brisk winter chill. The kind that had that long-buried promise of spring. Or at least a melting of ice in his case.
Naruto rolled his eyes and ditched his backpack on the floor, bursting the zip and letting a half dozen books on basic maths and english flop out onto the floor.
"You want some ramen? I'm gonna make some ramen." he called on his way to the kitchen - feeling bizzarely generous.
Who knew, maybe he was just getting used to Sasuke and his perpetually arseyness. Wonders would never cease.
Sasuke eyed the new mess with disdain. Couldn't that idiot keep it to his own room? Granted he didn't spend that much time out in the common areas of the apartment, but still, despite his general I'm-better-than-you-thus-I-can-be-an-asshole nature, he still kept his things in his room. Neatly in his room. It was a common courtesy.
"There are better things to eat, you know." That was one thing - one of the first things, one of those blaringly obvious things - he had noticed about Naruto. The ramen. The endless ramen. Did that even really count as a meal? There was no way it was nutritionally sound.
A smirk jumped to his lips at that thought. Maybe it explained the unusual denseness exhibited by the blond.
Naruto took a moment out of flicking on the kettle switch and stuck his head back around the door between the kitchen and living room. The packet of ramen he was tearing open with his teeth gripped in the corner of his mouth, making him look a little shy of compus mentis. Ah well. "Fwaht?" he asked.
This would be where Sasuke's palm meets his forehead. If he were that sort of guy. Mentally though, it was being very well expressed. He stared flatly at the blond instead, eyes narrowed just slightly in that Could you be anymore stupid? prelude to a glare.
The movements of the soccer ball slowed. Stopped.
"That stuff tastes like shit," he stated with cool efficiency. In other words, he didn't want any ramen. If that was what was causing [it couldn't be helping if anything else] Naruto's bouts of idiocy - which seemed to be falling further into the permanent-state-of-being category - then he wanted nothing to do with the stuff.
Naruto's mouth gaped open - and only a miraculous reflex of his hand kept his noodles from crashing all over the floor.
"They DO NOT!!!!" he shrieked, blue eyes blaring in shock.
Good lord! Was there no end to how much of a jackass this guy knew how to be? Naruto shook his head in shock. "Sasuke... look, you obviously haven't eaten good ramen... even if I never saw bad ramen, I guess you did. Anyway, look. You gotta try some!"
And with that Naruto vanished back into the kitchen, this time cracking open two packets of ramen.
He blinked. Of course he knew good ramen. It was homemade. From scratch. His mother had been quite the cook. Always prepared with that warm smile every time he stepped into the kitchen. And that thought immediately sobered him up a bit, masking the arrogance that normally greeted the people around him.
A shake of his head, the hope that by doing so he would rid himself of that reminder of his past. Though the image faded, the feeling did not, and with a growl Sasuke let the soccer ball roll off to the side. Rising quickly to his feet, he dog-eared the page he had been reading. Sent the book to the couch with a carelessly toss.
He'd shake himself of that feeling, and what better way than by throwing himself directly into the presence of that blond loser. When he got to the kitchen, he leaned against the counter's edge, eyes glued to the figure and his packages of ramen. "Oi, moron, there's no way in hell something from a package can be considered 'good' ramen."
Hopping up to sit on the counter, Naruto shook his head at Sasuke blankly. "Why not? It's not just tasty - it’s so easy to make! I mean, I'd be dead by now if it wasn't for this stuff."
To illustrate his point (to the ramen, not to Sasuke), Naruto picked up his bowl of dry noodles and hugged it happily.
And possibly a lot smarter. It was settled. Naruto was in fact a certified idiot. It all made perfect sense now.
Easy to make. Easy to buy. Not a thought given towards nutritional content. To someone like Naruto, this probably was food for the gods. Sasuke gave a shake of his head, amused more than annoyed now. Could you really be pissed off at the mentally challenged?
Though amusement was probably just as bad. At least it made him smile. Slightly. And Naruto could interpret that any way he wanted to so long as he didn't voice it to him.
"Must have some dull taste buds then," he replied. Folding his arms over his chest, he shifted his gaze from Naruto's figure and surveyed the kitchen. Idly wished he hadn't forgotten his soccer ball back in the living room. At least the idiot could be entertaining in his own way.
Pouring the boiling water over two bowls, Naruto shrugged and stuck his tongue out at Sasuke's turned face. Some people just didn't know how to appreciate the finer things in life. But on the plus side, if Sasuke really, really didn't want his ramen... Naruto could get a double helping.
The possibility put him in a good mood, and he cocked his head at the dark-haired guy. Curious. "So, you met anybody from the building yet?"
His attention was once again focused on the hyperactive menace to his peace. A brow rose, questioning, then quickly settled back into place. He got the feeling there was little Naruto didn't say or directly express through his mannerisms. That wear-it-on-your-sleeve type of guy.
"In person? Just one. . ." And Sasuke wasn't sure she counted. After all, he had known Sakura from high school, so she wasn't exactly a 'to be met', but rather a 'reacquainted with'.
That was all he offered up though. He was relatively unimpressed with the occupants. A fact, that while not surprising, had left him slightly disappointed. Then again, was the need for human contact really that, a need? More of a want, a desire. Either way, not something he needed hindering him.
Though, this wasn't so bad. . . .Not that he'd ever readily admit it.
Naruto gave him a despairing look and rolled his eyes again, sticking a fork into each bowl and prodding the noodles around in the boiled water. "Geez, Sasuke you've been here for weeks. I was here for two minutes and I met like, half the people in the building! You gotta get out more, even though -y'know- I wouldn't want to inflict you on anybody who didn't deserve it," he smirked, pushing one bowl towards Sasuke's elbow. "Food's ready."
Well, there was that one guy he'd already pretty much told off. Damned if he actually remembered his name though. Wasn't important. Sasuke eyed the bowl with a mix of disdain and repulsion. It didn't exactly smell appetizing.
Sliding the bowl over a bit, he hefted himself up onto the countertop. Again, his gaze dropped to the ramen. It was like the coffee with Sakura. Maybe he was reading way too much into this again, but the last thing he wanted was a 'I offered you ramen, jackass, you owe me' somewhere down the line. Owing people was not a good thing. It tended to tie you up when you least needed to be.
"That's because you're nothing but impulsive energy. Kind of like that dog at a park that's gotta greet everyone." He left the whole ass-sniffing part out, but gave Naruto that arrogant smirk, letting the blond know there was more left unsaid than said.[ There was the chance that that would completely go over Naruto's head though. Well, at least it could entertain him in his own mind.]
Reluctantly, he took the bowl up and stirred the contents with the fork.
With a vague suspicion that Sasuke was mocking him, Naruto picked up his own bowl of food and started happily slurping up his dinner. Awh man this stuff was soooo good. How on earth could Sasuke turn his nose up at this? Naruto shook his head and gave his flatmate a skewed look. Maybe his nose was just stuck that way. He inhaled another mouthful of noodle and prodded Sasuke in the shoulder.
"Hey, there's too many good people in here to not try and meet 'em. I mean, there are some jackasses - like yourself - and some people who are a little whack - kinda like Gaara, but he's still cool - but so far I've only met people I'm glad are around, y'know?"
Sasuke gave Naruto a half-glare at the poke. Not really angry. More like a cat that had had a patch of fur shifted out of place by a careless pet. Indignant, but not quite ready to bite.
"I can't say the same," he muttered before taking the first bite of noodle. Nose wrinkled slightly at the scent that wafted up from the bowl, the taste that hit his tongue. A little too salty. A little too...fake. But it was food, and it was now that his stomach decided to remind him that he hadn't eaten since last night. It would do.
Another bite was taken. He glanced at Naruto every now and then from the corners of his eyes. Almost curious. How could this kid think that way? It was disturbing. It surpassed logic. And yet - he gave a small smile before blowing on the next forkful of ramen - it was different.
A good sort of different. Only in that it was a concept he couldn't quite understand. Something to be picked apart potentially. [Though oddly, some small sliver of himself whispered that this was not something that could be examined, thrown under a microscope and fully exposed. It was beyond reason, and was perfectly fine just like that.] But it left him with no feeling of emptiness, of hate. Irritation, maybe. But a whole lot more.
Most of Naruto's ramen had vanished inbetween Sasuke's slower forkfuls, and he'd already flicked the kettle back on to heat more water for a second bowl. "Ah... whatever. Hey, how's the ramen? Good, right?"
It was kind of strange, actually - how much less of a jackass Sasuke was being. Appaently ramen had that effect on him: once more reaffirming its god-like status in Naruto's mind.
"It still tastes like shit, moron," Sasuke retorted after swallowing another mouthful. Definitely not his first choice for a meal. But, food was food. And it beat having to scrounge up his own dinner for the day, which ultimately meant more time for him to read and formulate.
The fork scraped along the bottom of the bowl as he worked on corralling the noodles against its sides. A glance upwards as Naruto went about making more. His ramen addiction was disturbing. Had the kid ever eaten real food? "I can't believe you love this crap. Probably what stunted your growth."
A flash of that characteristic Uchiha smirk, the one dripping with biting arrogance. Another bite. With the noodles were almost gone, he stared down at the liquid remains. . .no way in hell was he finishing that off. With no more thought given to it, he leaned over and set the bowl in the sink.
"Yeah, stunted my growth so bad I can only tackle wuss-asses like you to the ground," Naruto shot back, blue eyes fiercely cheerful as he poured the hot water over his second bowl of noodle goodness. He was gonna have to wait a whole three minutes before they were ready though - and he didn't know if he could survive that long
Then his eyes drifted to the noodle-water in Sasuke's bowl, sitting enticingly in the sink. His eyes flicked to Sasuke - who was clearly done with them. For a brief second the notion of Pride perked up in the blonde's brains... and there was a brief tussle between it and Hunger and The Fact That Was Ramen Juice. It ended before Naruto bothered to find out the result, he scooped up the bowl and downed the contents in one gulp and replaced it. All in one movement.
No matter what Pride or Hunger or Noodle Imperatives said; Naruto was probably never going to get over the fact that food was a luxury. To someone who'd grown up like he had, anyway. And screw what anybody else said about it.
"I..." And the retort was cut short as Sasuke witnessed the defilement of what had been his bowl of noodles. He was speechless. Literally speechless. Could only stare a bit wide-eyed, a bit confused at the blond.
"Did you....?" Eyes fell to the floor as the shock was worked out of his system. Yes, yes he did. He just picked up someone's food, abandoned as it was, and gulped it down. Like they were best friends. Or brothers.
Never in his life had he witnessed such a thing. He’d never even thought of doing anything like it with Itachi. Sasuke tilted his head to the side, black strands of hair falling over one another, shifting into haphazard disarray. "Most people would have asked, loser." He sealed the statement with a scowl throttled by surprise.
It was the best he could manage given the circumstances..
Naruto was too busy impatiently poking his noodles to pick up on most of Sasuke's wheeling shock. But he did catch the tone in his words. "I'm not most people," he explained frankly, giving up on restraint and starting in on his half-soaked noodles. "Anyways, you weren't gonna eat it! Can't waste food and everything, oh hey! You want an apple or somethin'? I think Shino had some in the fridge..." Naruto swallowed a mouthful of noodles and nodded approvingly. Still good. "Shino's always trying to get me to eat that stuff. Apples and pears and all. Guess he'd know if its good for people or not."
What was it with this guy? Sasuke blinked at the blond. Something more than an idiot. Beyond stupidity. Pulling a hand away from the countertop, he ran it through his hair, disheveling the locks further. Gave his temples a brief massage.
Finally, the shock faded, dissipated until there was only the calming presence of self. Everything he knew, was comfortable with right there again. "Tch. . .Better than that crap you're eating right now. You should try it sometime. Might do something about your lack of intelligence."
At least that confirmed for him the fact that his other flatmate was far more sensible about things than Naruto. Also reaffirmed that the blond was a walking example of logic defied by sheer luck-coupled idiocy.
By this stage Naruto was barely hearing Sasuke's repeated insults about his height, brain power, mentality, height, lack of brains, height, height, love of ramen, height, stupidity etc, etc. He was starting to just screen them into the background of what was being said by the raven-haired bastard. Like white noise, or something.
Anyway, he had more important things to concentrate on: like eating his noodles and maybe getting an apple out the fridge - just so he could try and bounce it off Sasuke's face.
No. No. He wasn't going to do that because he'd said to Shino he'd try and keep it civil and he'd said to himself that maybe Sasuke would be okay if he... somehow... became somebody else. Who wasn't an ass.
"Hey - I eat lots of stuff!" he snapped around a mouthful of processed noodle goodness. "And you can't talk like that - jerk! I have a backpack full of books for studyin' out there and I'm gonna read them all! Hah!"
"Curious George doesn't count as study material, loser," Sasuke stated, the beginnings of a smile playing about the corners of his mouth. That slyly teasing one, tossed with a bit of mischief and a handful of arrogance. "Try not to stumble over the big words."
Oddly enough, the blond did remind him of that monkey. And that nearly made him laugh. Nearly. Instead, the smile grew. Easy-natured, but deceptively so. After all, the damn thing was born out of his amusement, and generally, amusement bought at another's expense wasn't suppose to be. . . right. It still entertained him, correct or not.
Besides, his eyes carried all that his smile did not. That pride-infused twist of devilry. Not quite wicked, but hardly innocent. He knew what he was doing, saying. And if he burned for it, so be it. Black had always looked good against a backdrop of fire.
"What's 'Curious George'?" Naruto asked, giving Sasuke a suspicious and slightly cock-eyed look. "'cos I don't have that one. I got maths and english and a cool one with lots of trees in it - so nyah!"
Naruto stuck out his tongue and went back to polishing off his noodles with noisy enthusiasm.
Sasuke was going to have to learn to lower his caliber of insults in order to get them to hit home with Naruto. Lucky for both of them, his efforts were proving a little hit and miss right now.
Sasuke blinked. How deprived had this guy been as a child? It was almost...pitiable. "Tch. . ."
With that one statement, he had lost all sense of amusement garnered from insulting the blond. It was pathetic now. The guy didn't even know who Curious George, a staple of youth, was. Not even the comment about the 'cool one' with trees - ironic really given what paper was made out of - could stir him into action.
He shook his head, then slid off of the counter. Fingers made quick work of straightening out his jeans, pulling them down so they rested comfortably upon his hips once again. "Moron. . ." he muttered.
Naruto dropped his dish (empty, and licked clean) into the sink and watched Sasuke begin to slouch for the living room. It was kind of weird, watching him go. For an insane second Naruto knew he was feeling put out. As if he wouldn't have minded trading insults and random comments with the other guy for a minute more. Or something.
He shook his head hard and turned on the tap to wash the dishes (Naruto tended to wash all the dishes - because Shino could never tell which ones were clean, or which ones had been licked clean - and the fact disturbed him.).
"Yeah, you too - jackass!" he called over his shoulder, whistling again - off-key and cheerfully. Like he always did when he was happy.
It wasn't often - or at least it felt that way to him - that he had the apartment to himself. Without one flatmate or another holed up somewhere, threatening the potential of interaction. Now that he had the chance [and it was a risk sitting out there in the open like this, but one he needed to take. Though his sanctuary most of the times, even his room became unbearable at times, the need for some sense of freedom compelling him out.] he was going to take it.
Settled down with his back against the edge of the couch [couldn't quite bring himself to sit on it. Texture was...off. And God knows what had happened to it, on it, with it. . . .He was going to stop contemplating that right now.], several books stacked next to his figure, the youngest Uchiha was currently thumbing through his copy of Arabian Nights. The whole book was rather intriguing, especially with the way its tales had spun off so many other popular ones. Not to mention to whole idea of 'justice' - you betray you die - suited his tastes rather well.
Absently his foot rolled a black and red soccer ball back and forth. Away. Back. Away. Back. Each movement carefully controlled. Never once did he over shoot the movement. Another page was turned, dark eyes swiftly working over words and spaces, filling up his mind with odds facts to be later sorted through and organized. Ready to be called upon when he needed them.
Shrugging his way up the stairs with half a ton of library books in his backpack, Naruto whistled cheerfully to himself and looked forward to his dinner. He'd just gone to the store and bought enough instant ramen to feed an army (so, enough to last him the week) and he was more than ready to eat it.
Assuming the door was unlocked (like it tended to be) he shouldered his way into Apartment 11 and spotted Sasuke sitting carefully on the floor, rolling his ball back and forth with a precise movement of his foot.
"Yo, jackass. You okay sittin' down there?"
So much for peace. And quiet. And the comfort of being alone. Sasuke removed his gaze from the book, mentally bookmarking the word, along with its position relative to the page, he had last read. A scowl moved his lips, not from any sense of hatred, but it was the closest thing he got to acknowledging loss. The loss of his supposed freedom.
"If I wasn't, I wouldn't have chosen the spot, moron" Sasuke answered. It wasn't coldly spoken. Well, at least it wasn't that Artic freeze of words that left you wondering if he had any shred of decency when it came to human interaction. More of a brisk winter chill. The kind that had that long-buried promise of spring. Or at least a melting of ice in his case.
Naruto rolled his eyes and ditched his backpack on the floor, bursting the zip and letting a half dozen books on basic maths and english flop out onto the floor.
"You want some ramen? I'm gonna make some ramen." he called on his way to the kitchen - feeling bizzarely generous.
Who knew, maybe he was just getting used to Sasuke and his perpetually arseyness. Wonders would never cease.
Sasuke eyed the new mess with disdain. Couldn't that idiot keep it to his own room? Granted he didn't spend that much time out in the common areas of the apartment, but still, despite his general I'm-better-than-you-thus-I-can-be-an-asshole nature, he still kept his things in his room. Neatly in his room. It was a common courtesy.
"There are better things to eat, you know." That was one thing - one of the first things, one of those blaringly obvious things - he had noticed about Naruto. The ramen. The endless ramen. Did that even really count as a meal? There was no way it was nutritionally sound.
A smirk jumped to his lips at that thought. Maybe it explained the unusual denseness exhibited by the blond.
Naruto took a moment out of flicking on the kettle switch and stuck his head back around the door between the kitchen and living room. The packet of ramen he was tearing open with his teeth gripped in the corner of his mouth, making him look a little shy of compus mentis. Ah well. "Fwaht?" he asked.
This would be where Sasuke's palm meets his forehead. If he were that sort of guy. Mentally though, it was being very well expressed. He stared flatly at the blond instead, eyes narrowed just slightly in that Could you be anymore stupid? prelude to a glare.
The movements of the soccer ball slowed. Stopped.
"That stuff tastes like shit," he stated with cool efficiency. In other words, he didn't want any ramen. If that was what was causing [it couldn't be helping if anything else] Naruto's bouts of idiocy - which seemed to be falling further into the permanent-state-of-being category - then he wanted nothing to do with the stuff.
Naruto's mouth gaped open - and only a miraculous reflex of his hand kept his noodles from crashing all over the floor.
"They DO NOT!!!!" he shrieked, blue eyes blaring in shock.
Good lord! Was there no end to how much of a jackass this guy knew how to be? Naruto shook his head in shock. "Sasuke... look, you obviously haven't eaten good ramen... even if I never saw bad ramen, I guess you did. Anyway, look. You gotta try some!"
And with that Naruto vanished back into the kitchen, this time cracking open two packets of ramen.
He blinked. Of course he knew good ramen. It was homemade. From scratch. His mother had been quite the cook. Always prepared with that warm smile every time he stepped into the kitchen. And that thought immediately sobered him up a bit, masking the arrogance that normally greeted the people around him.
A shake of his head, the hope that by doing so he would rid himself of that reminder of his past. Though the image faded, the feeling did not, and with a growl Sasuke let the soccer ball roll off to the side. Rising quickly to his feet, he dog-eared the page he had been reading. Sent the book to the couch with a carelessly toss.
He'd shake himself of that feeling, and what better way than by throwing himself directly into the presence of that blond loser. When he got to the kitchen, he leaned against the counter's edge, eyes glued to the figure and his packages of ramen. "Oi, moron, there's no way in hell something from a package can be considered 'good' ramen."
Hopping up to sit on the counter, Naruto shook his head at Sasuke blankly. "Why not? It's not just tasty - it’s so easy to make! I mean, I'd be dead by now if it wasn't for this stuff."
To illustrate his point (to the ramen, not to Sasuke), Naruto picked up his bowl of dry noodles and hugged it happily.
And possibly a lot smarter. It was settled. Naruto was in fact a certified idiot. It all made perfect sense now.
Easy to make. Easy to buy. Not a thought given towards nutritional content. To someone like Naruto, this probably was food for the gods. Sasuke gave a shake of his head, amused more than annoyed now. Could you really be pissed off at the mentally challenged?
Though amusement was probably just as bad. At least it made him smile. Slightly. And Naruto could interpret that any way he wanted to so long as he didn't voice it to him.
"Must have some dull taste buds then," he replied. Folding his arms over his chest, he shifted his gaze from Naruto's figure and surveyed the kitchen. Idly wished he hadn't forgotten his soccer ball back in the living room. At least the idiot could be entertaining in his own way.
Pouring the boiling water over two bowls, Naruto shrugged and stuck his tongue out at Sasuke's turned face. Some people just didn't know how to appreciate the finer things in life. But on the plus side, if Sasuke really, really didn't want his ramen... Naruto could get a double helping.
The possibility put him in a good mood, and he cocked his head at the dark-haired guy. Curious. "So, you met anybody from the building yet?"
His attention was once again focused on the hyperactive menace to his peace. A brow rose, questioning, then quickly settled back into place. He got the feeling there was little Naruto didn't say or directly express through his mannerisms. That wear-it-on-your-sleeve type of guy.
"In person? Just one. . ." And Sasuke wasn't sure she counted. After all, he had known Sakura from high school, so she wasn't exactly a 'to be met', but rather a 'reacquainted with'.
That was all he offered up though. He was relatively unimpressed with the occupants. A fact, that while not surprising, had left him slightly disappointed. Then again, was the need for human contact really that, a need? More of a want, a desire. Either way, not something he needed hindering him.
Though, this wasn't so bad. . . .Not that he'd ever readily admit it.
Naruto gave him a despairing look and rolled his eyes again, sticking a fork into each bowl and prodding the noodles around in the boiled water. "Geez, Sasuke you've been here for weeks. I was here for two minutes and I met like, half the people in the building! You gotta get out more, even though -y'know- I wouldn't want to inflict you on anybody who didn't deserve it," he smirked, pushing one bowl towards Sasuke's elbow. "Food's ready."
Well, there was that one guy he'd already pretty much told off. Damned if he actually remembered his name though. Wasn't important. Sasuke eyed the bowl with a mix of disdain and repulsion. It didn't exactly smell appetizing.
Sliding the bowl over a bit, he hefted himself up onto the countertop. Again, his gaze dropped to the ramen. It was like the coffee with Sakura. Maybe he was reading way too much into this again, but the last thing he wanted was a 'I offered you ramen, jackass, you owe me' somewhere down the line. Owing people was not a good thing. It tended to tie you up when you least needed to be.
"That's because you're nothing but impulsive energy. Kind of like that dog at a park that's gotta greet everyone." He left the whole ass-sniffing part out, but gave Naruto that arrogant smirk, letting the blond know there was more left unsaid than said.[ There was the chance that that would completely go over Naruto's head though. Well, at least it could entertain him in his own mind.]
Reluctantly, he took the bowl up and stirred the contents with the fork.
With a vague suspicion that Sasuke was mocking him, Naruto picked up his own bowl of food and started happily slurping up his dinner. Awh man this stuff was soooo good. How on earth could Sasuke turn his nose up at this? Naruto shook his head and gave his flatmate a skewed look. Maybe his nose was just stuck that way. He inhaled another mouthful of noodle and prodded Sasuke in the shoulder.
"Hey, there's too many good people in here to not try and meet 'em. I mean, there are some jackasses - like yourself - and some people who are a little whack - kinda like Gaara, but he's still cool - but so far I've only met people I'm glad are around, y'know?"
Sasuke gave Naruto a half-glare at the poke. Not really angry. More like a cat that had had a patch of fur shifted out of place by a careless pet. Indignant, but not quite ready to bite.
"I can't say the same," he muttered before taking the first bite of noodle. Nose wrinkled slightly at the scent that wafted up from the bowl, the taste that hit his tongue. A little too salty. A little too...fake. But it was food, and it was now that his stomach decided to remind him that he hadn't eaten since last night. It would do.
Another bite was taken. He glanced at Naruto every now and then from the corners of his eyes. Almost curious. How could this kid think that way? It was disturbing. It surpassed logic. And yet - he gave a small smile before blowing on the next forkful of ramen - it was different.
A good sort of different. Only in that it was a concept he couldn't quite understand. Something to be picked apart potentially. [Though oddly, some small sliver of himself whispered that this was not something that could be examined, thrown under a microscope and fully exposed. It was beyond reason, and was perfectly fine just like that.] But it left him with no feeling of emptiness, of hate. Irritation, maybe. But a whole lot more.
Most of Naruto's ramen had vanished inbetween Sasuke's slower forkfuls, and he'd already flicked the kettle back on to heat more water for a second bowl. "Ah... whatever. Hey, how's the ramen? Good, right?"
It was kind of strange, actually - how much less of a jackass Sasuke was being. Appaently ramen had that effect on him: once more reaffirming its god-like status in Naruto's mind.
"It still tastes like shit, moron," Sasuke retorted after swallowing another mouthful. Definitely not his first choice for a meal. But, food was food. And it beat having to scrounge up his own dinner for the day, which ultimately meant more time for him to read and formulate.
The fork scraped along the bottom of the bowl as he worked on corralling the noodles against its sides. A glance upwards as Naruto went about making more. His ramen addiction was disturbing. Had the kid ever eaten real food? "I can't believe you love this crap. Probably what stunted your growth."
A flash of that characteristic Uchiha smirk, the one dripping with biting arrogance. Another bite. With the noodles were almost gone, he stared down at the liquid remains. . .no way in hell was he finishing that off. With no more thought given to it, he leaned over and set the bowl in the sink.
"Yeah, stunted my growth so bad I can only tackle wuss-asses like you to the ground," Naruto shot back, blue eyes fiercely cheerful as he poured the hot water over his second bowl of noodle goodness. He was gonna have to wait a whole three minutes before they were ready though - and he didn't know if he could survive that long
Then his eyes drifted to the noodle-water in Sasuke's bowl, sitting enticingly in the sink. His eyes flicked to Sasuke - who was clearly done with them. For a brief second the notion of Pride perked up in the blonde's brains... and there was a brief tussle between it and Hunger and The Fact That Was Ramen Juice. It ended before Naruto bothered to find out the result, he scooped up the bowl and downed the contents in one gulp and replaced it. All in one movement.
No matter what Pride or Hunger or Noodle Imperatives said; Naruto was probably never going to get over the fact that food was a luxury. To someone who'd grown up like he had, anyway. And screw what anybody else said about it.
"I..." And the retort was cut short as Sasuke witnessed the defilement of what had been his bowl of noodles. He was speechless. Literally speechless. Could only stare a bit wide-eyed, a bit confused at the blond.
"Did you....?" Eyes fell to the floor as the shock was worked out of his system. Yes, yes he did. He just picked up someone's food, abandoned as it was, and gulped it down. Like they were best friends. Or brothers.
Never in his life had he witnessed such a thing. He’d never even thought of doing anything like it with Itachi. Sasuke tilted his head to the side, black strands of hair falling over one another, shifting into haphazard disarray. "Most people would have asked, loser." He sealed the statement with a scowl throttled by surprise.
It was the best he could manage given the circumstances..
Naruto was too busy impatiently poking his noodles to pick up on most of Sasuke's wheeling shock. But he did catch the tone in his words. "I'm not most people," he explained frankly, giving up on restraint and starting in on his half-soaked noodles. "Anyways, you weren't gonna eat it! Can't waste food and everything, oh hey! You want an apple or somethin'? I think Shino had some in the fridge..." Naruto swallowed a mouthful of noodles and nodded approvingly. Still good. "Shino's always trying to get me to eat that stuff. Apples and pears and all. Guess he'd know if its good for people or not."
What was it with this guy? Sasuke blinked at the blond. Something more than an idiot. Beyond stupidity. Pulling a hand away from the countertop, he ran it through his hair, disheveling the locks further. Gave his temples a brief massage.
Finally, the shock faded, dissipated until there was only the calming presence of self. Everything he knew, was comfortable with right there again. "Tch. . .Better than that crap you're eating right now. You should try it sometime. Might do something about your lack of intelligence."
At least that confirmed for him the fact that his other flatmate was far more sensible about things than Naruto. Also reaffirmed that the blond was a walking example of logic defied by sheer luck-coupled idiocy.
By this stage Naruto was barely hearing Sasuke's repeated insults about his height, brain power, mentality, height, lack of brains, height, height, love of ramen, height, stupidity etc, etc. He was starting to just screen them into the background of what was being said by the raven-haired bastard. Like white noise, or something.
Anyway, he had more important things to concentrate on: like eating his noodles and maybe getting an apple out the fridge - just so he could try and bounce it off Sasuke's face.
No. No. He wasn't going to do that because he'd said to Shino he'd try and keep it civil and he'd said to himself that maybe Sasuke would be okay if he... somehow... became somebody else. Who wasn't an ass.
"Hey - I eat lots of stuff!" he snapped around a mouthful of processed noodle goodness. "And you can't talk like that - jerk! I have a backpack full of books for studyin' out there and I'm gonna read them all! Hah!"
"Curious George doesn't count as study material, loser," Sasuke stated, the beginnings of a smile playing about the corners of his mouth. That slyly teasing one, tossed with a bit of mischief and a handful of arrogance. "Try not to stumble over the big words."
Oddly enough, the blond did remind him of that monkey. And that nearly made him laugh. Nearly. Instead, the smile grew. Easy-natured, but deceptively so. After all, the damn thing was born out of his amusement, and generally, amusement bought at another's expense wasn't suppose to be. . . right. It still entertained him, correct or not.
Besides, his eyes carried all that his smile did not. That pride-infused twist of devilry. Not quite wicked, but hardly innocent. He knew what he was doing, saying. And if he burned for it, so be it. Black had always looked good against a backdrop of fire.
"What's 'Curious George'?" Naruto asked, giving Sasuke a suspicious and slightly cock-eyed look. "'cos I don't have that one. I got maths and english and a cool one with lots of trees in it - so nyah!"
Naruto stuck out his tongue and went back to polishing off his noodles with noisy enthusiasm.
Sasuke was going to have to learn to lower his caliber of insults in order to get them to hit home with Naruto. Lucky for both of them, his efforts were proving a little hit and miss right now.
Sasuke blinked. How deprived had this guy been as a child? It was almost...pitiable. "Tch. . ."
With that one statement, he had lost all sense of amusement garnered from insulting the blond. It was pathetic now. The guy didn't even know who Curious George, a staple of youth, was. Not even the comment about the 'cool one' with trees - ironic really given what paper was made out of - could stir him into action.
He shook his head, then slid off of the counter. Fingers made quick work of straightening out his jeans, pulling them down so they rested comfortably upon his hips once again. "Moron. . ." he muttered.
Naruto dropped his dish (empty, and licked clean) into the sink and watched Sasuke begin to slouch for the living room. It was kind of weird, watching him go. For an insane second Naruto knew he was feeling put out. As if he wouldn't have minded trading insults and random comments with the other guy for a minute more. Or something.
He shook his head hard and turned on the tap to wash the dishes (Naruto tended to wash all the dishes - because Shino could never tell which ones were clean, or which ones had been licked clean - and the fact disturbed him.).
"Yeah, you too - jackass!" he called over his shoulder, whistling again - off-key and cheerfully. Like he always did when he was happy.