Chapter Text
Sasuke scooped out a large spoonful of a rather questionably smelling minestrone soup for the umpteenth time this evening, the pewter ladle making a low scraping sound against the large bucket. This was his second week working in the Saint Magdalene's soup kitchen, and by all means, it had not grown on him. The people smelled funny, his "coworkers" were obnoxious, and he wasn't getting paid a cent. His face clearly spoke for him: I don't want to be here. And if he had any choice in the matter, he would have broken through the exit doors the second after he'd arrived.
However, as the situation stood, he had not the slightest choice in the matter. The lesson everyone wanted him to learn was not to fight in school. In truth, this had expressed the importance of not getting caught. Sasuke would never dream of breaking another student's nose in front of his history teacher, so by all means, Sasuke's punishment was wholly effective . After his day in court, of which he'd had several, he was suspended for two weeks and appointed with one hundred hours of court-ordered community service. It was either this or juvenile hall. The steely judge made it clear that if Sasuke so much as jay-walked, he wasn't leaving that ugly grey building for quite a while. He could thank his brother, an aspiring lawyer, for garnering him such a merciful verdict.
The large room was bordered by cream-colored walls, decorated with ads for church musicals and a schedule for weekend services. The room smelled of chicken, antibacterial soap, and the slightest hint of body odor. There were seven large circular tables around the room. As their parents chattered, children zipped between the tables, playing with a couple cheap plastic toys and banging them against the legs of the table. The elderly would smile at them, or perhaps stick to themselves and mutter over a salad. The denizens chattered loudly, a steady level of laughter at times punctuated by a child shouting or someone coughing.
An elderly man in a stained sweatsuit shuffled up to Sasuke, humbly holding forward his bowl in supplication. Sasuke's outfit and his meticulous hairstyle offered quite the juxtaposition, the two standing in front of each other now. With a flat face, Sasuke poured him a bowl. The man's gratitude was received with a curt nod as the worker next to Sasuke offered him a chicken breast.
"Oh, Sasuke!"
Sasuke closed his eyes and let out a long sight through gritted teeth. He forgot the woman's name, but he could recognize that nasally tone in an instant.
"What?" he answered out of pure obligation, knowing that she wouldn't leave until he acknowledged her.
The turkey-necked coworker to his left nudged his arm, smiling at him widely.
"You wouldn't be interested in coming to service on Sunday, would you?"
Sasuke opened his eyes again, preparing his ladle to serve an older woman with a slight hobble in front of him.
"No."
"Oh, but Sasuke… We worry about you. Have you accepted Jesus into your heart?"
Sasuke waited to serve the next denizen before responding.
"No," Sasuke answered, in a tone growing still icier.
The woman prattled on, Sasuke tuning her out adeptly. He finally just gave up and stopped responding. He expected this much, volunteering in a soup kitchen owned by the church. They were determined; he'd give them that. He knew they saw another "soul in peril" the minute Itachi sighed him up for this. They knew why he was here. They'd smile at him and try to pry their way in, for his own good, they'd say. Sasuke thought it looked a lot more like trying to converting another poor, misguided sap to their God squad so that they'd feel that their life was just a little less pointless. But Sasuke didn't want to hear about God. He didn't want to humor any of these people. He just wanted to do his job and go home.
His eyes scanned the room. It was an especially busy night. It was then that he took note of the scrawny boy several people down the line, the right side of his face and his shirt collar lightly covered in dirt. He remembered this kid. This time, just like last week , he had been one of the first patrons to enter, loudly shouting "Soup's on!" the instant he cleared the doorway, children giggling. Never mind the fact that they hadn't even served soup last week. He had half a mind to ask one of the other volunteers if the kid said this every week, but given how difficult it could be to end these conversations, beginning one was the last thing on Sasuke's mind.
Even aside from his noisy entrance, the boy caught Sasuke's attention. It wasn't often that he saw people his age in the kitchen. He couldn't have been older than 16, and he appeared to be alone. An oversized grey Led Zeppelin T-shirt contrasted with his wirey frame, a pair of (unintentionally) ripped, faded blue jeans completing the picture. He had wild blond hair, rather intense blue eyes, and scarred cheeks. Sasuke momentarily wondered how the boy had come by such peculiar scars. They were three lines working outward on each cheek, just the slightest bit jagged but for the most part straight. He was bouncing in his spot, a wide, dopey smile on his face as he excitedly waited for his fill.
As his turn came, he trotted up to Sasuke, stumbling over his shoelace in his eagerness. He pattered forward a couple small steps and caught himself against the rail where he sat his tray.
"So, chef, what's on the menu?" he asked, leaning forward and looking up at Sasuke with a bright smile.
"Minestrone. Enjoy."
He unceremoniously plunked the sludgy substance in the diner's bowl. Said diner made quite a display of sniffing in the scent, deep into his lungs.
"Mmm, this smells delicious! Like if God were to eat a garden of tomatoes and the tastiest vegetables on earth and shit them all out, it would be this soup right here."
Sasuke twerked an eyebrow at him, appearing rather unamused. The kid's spirit seemed boundless. The wheat-colored head of hair looked back into the line, which stared back impatiently.
"Right. Well thanks for the grub, sourpuss!"
Sasuke quietly watched the boy move forward in the line, slightly distracted but not lagging for a moment when the next person in line asked to be served. With that, Sasuke forgot about the miniature twist to his standard day in the soup kitchen. The sky darkened, and the number of diners slowly began to dwindle. Sasuke glanced at the clock, eagerly awaiting cleanup time. There were always a handful of people who stayed until closing time. He noted that the teenager remained even after finishing his meal, chatting it up with strangers and entertaining the children. He seemed to thrive on it, beaming as he imitated voices for the kids with plenty of dramatic hand movements, joking with their parents. They seemed familiar with each other. Naruto must have been a regular.
The lead volunteer then stood, giving a short speech before announcing, "Thank you so much for coming, everyone. It was a joy to have you for dinner. We're closing up for the night. I hope you join us next week."
All of the guests left… That is, except the kid that had addressed him earlier. He walked up to Sasuke, the smile never leaving his face.
"Hi! I'm Naruto."
Sasuke rolled his eyes, "Didn't you hear her? We're closing."
"What's your name?" Naruto asked, holding out his hand to shake Sasuke's.
"Go home."
Sasuke was tired. He just wanted to clean his dishes and go, not entertain some idiot. Naruto scrunched his nose in distaste, speaking in a tone of mock hurt.
"Go home? Geez, you really know how to make a hobo feel loved."
A tan finger raised up to his eye to rub away an imaginary tear, sniffing playfully. Sasuke inwardly cringed at his choice of wording. He should've anticipated that Naruto might be homeless. He sighed, feeling like a bit of a dick now.
"My name's Sasuke."
Naruto gave a toothy grin.
"Well nice to meet ya, Sasuke!"
Yet again, reached out his hand, which Sasuke grabbed limply, for a shake. He stared back dully at Naruto as he flung their hands up and down for far longer than was socially appropriate. Sasuke jerked his hand away.
"So, can I stay while you guys clean up? I'm really booored."
"N-"
But Sasuke was interrupted by the same woman who tried to convert him earlier.
"Of course you can, dear! The more the merrier!"
The woman had to open her trap, yet again...
"Wow, thanks, ma'am!"
Naruto leaned on one foot, resting his head in his hand.
"Hmmm..."
Naruto took a few second to ponder, and then he made his way around the dining room to gather plates. He returned to hand Sasuke a stack of them, which Sasuke took to the deep sink which was stationed against the wall. Naruto's excess enthusiasm was quickly getting on his nerves. Sasuke faced the wall as he cleaned the dishes, steam working its way up from the sink. Naruto leaned against the railing, staring at Sasuke's backside as he worked.
"So Sasuke, what made ya wanna work in a soup kitchen?"
"The California legal system," Sasuke said without moving his eyes.
Again, he made no pretense of wanting to be there. Naruto paused, failing to catch Sasuke's implication.
"Huh?" he asked, dramatically tilting his head and raising a brow.
"It's court-ordered. It was here or juvie."
Naruto scrunched his nose in the same motion he had made seconds ago.
"Oooh. What'd ya do? Are you a thief? A drug dealer? A hardened criminal with a surprisingly soft interior and a heart of gold?"
Sasuke rolled his eyes, finally turning to face Naruto when he gave his response.
"All I did was break someone's nose."
"I broke my nose once! See, look… If you stare really hard, you can see it's a little crooked to the left."
Sasuke grunted as Naruto leaned towards him, pointing to his nose. Naruto's face lit up, apparently enthralled by the coincidence. God, this kid was both odd as all hell and absolutely starved for social interaction. Sasuke tried to ignore him, hoping that the boy would become discouraged and finally leave. However, his eagerness didn't waver for a second. He simply went back to gathering the dishes, handing them to Sasuke until they were finished.
After finishing the dishes, Sasuke wrapped around to wipe down the tables.
"Cleaning the tables?" Naruto asked preemptively.
Sasuke, who was clearly running a dishrag over a table top, gave Naruto a look.
In response, Naruto grabbed another rag and made it over to the table next to Sasuke, smiling at both Sasuke and another one of his coworkers. Sasuke and Naruto worked next to each other, silently now. It wasn't as though Naruto hadn't tried to start a conversation. Sasuke just seemed ingenious at ending them.
Despite Naruto's loquaciousness, Sasuke couldn't say he minded. It just meant he'd get to leave earlier. It wasn't long before they'd finished cleaning up. Sasuke walked out the door, Naruto following him closely. The shorter male practically begged for eye contact as Sasuke willfully looked in the opposite direction. Itachi's red Nissan waited for Sasuke by the curb.
"This is my ride."
Naruto frowned, dramatically gesturing his hands out towards Sasuke.
"Welp, I guess this is goodbye. Sasuke, I will always remember you fondly. Farewell, dear friend."
"Bye," Sasuke answered flatly, walking forward, sitting down, and closing the door behind him.
A knowing smile rested on his brother's lips, and dark circles rested under his eyes. Sasuke figured that he'd have looked like that too if he had to work thirty hours a week while attending law school.
"So, you made a new friend today?"
Itachi seemed pleased, and his smile reminded Sasuke just a little bit of the smile the other workers at the church would give him, the gentle push. It made him want to resist, if only out of principle.
"That guy? He's not a friend. He just won't stop following me."
Itachi shifted the car into drive, chuckling softly.
"It's interesting to see you talk to pretty much anyone new."
Sasuke scoffed, looking out of the passenger window.
"As if I had a choice in the matter…"
And it was the truth. Itachi shook his head with that same chuckle, just quieter now.
"Whatever you say, Sasuke."