The Ardor of Every Day

2.

The next morning Naruto woke up feeling just ordinary and had forgotten about his feelings and the incident from the day before.

He had a very mundane life. He had a couple of good friends and some others that he was friendly with. He was very likeable and usually carried a smile on his face. He went about his way of life with a happy go lucky mindset. In school, he had average grades and was involved in some sports teams as he had a grand sense of community. Otherwise, he spent his free time gaming and learning how to cook from his mom.

Summers for Naruto had been the same for a couple of years now since he started helping out at the store almost every day of his vacation. During the rest of the year, he would help out occasionally when his uncle needed him. This was the summer in his final year of high school, with just some months left, the thought of his future decisions seldom crossed his mind. He liked working at the Uzumaki convenience store as he could ask for a day off anytime he wanted, and the hours weren't too bad either. Plus it was an opportunity to earn some spending money. He would make the most of summer in his time off by doing some homework, spending time on the beach surfing, taking in the sun, and also learning different recipes from his mother.

He and his dad would usually take shifts together at the store and he would start a bit later as well. After waking up and taking care of his hygiene, he stepped in the kitchen and made breakfast for the family. After eating he got ready to go surf with all his stuff.

"I'll be back in an hour! And I'm taking the car!" He shouted to let his parents know as he grabbed the keys and made his way out the door.

Even though they lived close to the beach, it wasn't close enough to walk, especially on a day he had work. Also, it was just way too hot.

Parking his car, he stripped and put on his surf suit. He waxed his board, put a large amount of sunscreen and made his way to the water. He also put his watch on as to keep a check on when he should leave.

He loved the way the water made him feel, just sitting on his surfboard, a few meters from the sand, in the water, he felt incredible peace and calm. Any negative thoughts just evaporated. He wasn't a pro surfer or anything. He had a few skills and liked to have his fun in the lukewarm ocean water. Sometimes he would sit there and stare in the way of the endless ocean. He loved the way the sun shined on the top of his head in the morning. He also loved how everyone on the beach was always in a good mood and having fun, it was like meditation for him.

After an hour, which only felt like a few minutes for Naruto, he knew he had to make it back in time or his dad would have a little fuss about it. He got out of his suit, dried himself off and made his way home.

He took a quick shower, changed into his usual white t-shirt and burnt orange shorts and made his way downstairs. He grabbed his white apron and headband from the kitchen chair and leaned on the wall as his mom sorted lunch for him and his dad.

"I didn't forget it today!" He said to his mom after he kissed her on the cheek and grabbed the lunch from the counter.

"Bye, be safe!" Said his mom as he made his way outside.

It was about a ten-minute walk to the store. He swung around the bag of lunch a little bit while walking before realizing it might not be the best idea. He was just a couple of minutes away when he realized he was a tad late. He started running just to save himself from a scolding. As he reached and opened the door, he completely missed the sight of the boy from yesterday, standing outside the shop beside his.

"You're finally here. As usual, you're gonna be on cash and keep an eye at the storefront and I'll be in the back." Naruto nodded to this and put the lunch on his chair.

"Also just to remind you, I'm not gonna be here tomorrow, you're on your own. That's ok right?"

"Yeah, I'm old enough to handle the store." Naruto said as he lightly rolled his eyes.

"Ok, ok, I'm just making sure." His dad shrugged and went to tend to his duties.

Naruto stood around for a while glaring at the door, desperately waiting for a customer to start his day off. When no one came in for a while, he started walking around in the aisles to check if everything was proper. At this moment he thought that he liked his life like this. Although he knew that this was no way to make money and build a future, he didn't want things to change. He liked living in this small town, where he knew people, where it wouldn't get too cold in the winters, where his routine was filled with tasks he willingly wanted to do. It felt fulfilling but it also stressed him out because he knew it wouldn't last long. He sat back down in his chair in the hope of some customers.

It had been a few hours now and he had turned off the open sign to eat his lunch for the day. While eating, he heard a knock on the door, and the memories of yesterday came rushing back to him. This person looked awful too similar to the boy he saw yesterday. The person outside the door mouthed, "Can I come in?" as Naruto gave him a thumbs up.

He opened the door and walked in, that's when Naruto realized, it's not the person he saw yesterday and felt a little relief, even though they appeared to look similar.

"I'm so sorry to bother you, but we forgot our water bottles and my dad said I could just come to the store next door and buy some." The stranger said.

"Yeah don't worry about it, the water is right there." Naruto pointed towards the refrigerator.

The stranger brought over the water bottles and was fumbling his pockets for cash when Naruto just couldn't wait anymore and had to know who he was.

"Are you Mr Uchiha's son?" Naruto asked. He was squealing on the inside, thinking he might have overstepped.

"Yeah, I'm one of his sons, my name's Itachi, you're Naruto, right? Dad told us about meeting you guys last night." He smiled and handed Naruto the cash.

The door slightly opened, and the hot air rushed in once again. This time it was definitely the person he saw yesterday, Itachi's brother. Naruto didn't even realize how his gaze was locked on him.

"Itachi, dad needs your help ASAP, can you please hurry?" The boy said in a low voice.

"Sasuke, why can't you help him?"

His name was Sasuke.

"Because he needs both of us to help him." He spoke again.

"I gotta go! But catch you later." Itachi said and left.

Naruto didn't even pay attention to when Itachi left. He was too focused on just watching Sasuke's every move. His stomach felt weird when Sasuke didn't even look at him. But again, he had no idea what kind of person he was. He just knew his name. For now.

The rest of the day went by slowly for him. He kept thinking of the day before and the incident today. He had this urge to know who Sasuke was. Naruto was a curious person in general, so this feeling wasn't out of character for him and Sasuke's peculiar aura didn't help his situation. He felt a bit melancholic as his mind was the thing holding him back from just going next door and talking to him.

His dad had left early so he was the only one locking the store today. With his lunch bag on his shoulder, he locked the store and went outside. From his peripheral, he saw a tall structure on the left and turned to look. It was a ladder and a person was sitting on the top. He squinted his eyes to focus and realized that it was Sasuke painting the signage of their flower shop. He built up some courage and took a few steps towards the ladder. The street light illuminated Sasuke's overalls with spots of scattered paint everywhere.

He looked to his feet before facing Sasuke's direction and said, "Hey."

Sasuke didn't notice him. Naruto didn't have it in him to try again. He just kept looking at him for a minute before realizing that Sasuke was wearing earphones and listening to music. He couldn't hear Naruto's voice or his actions. After this, Naruto just made his way home. Sasuke was too intimidating for him to try anything else.