The deaf raven (SasuNaru)

Do I need a second job?

Naruto awoke and rubbed his eyes to get rid of the sleepiness. He was not ready to do so much extra work, no matter how trivial, the work hours were going to cut into his sleep time, and he knew it. He just couldn't afford anything else, his stomach growled at him softly, but he ignored it, cleaning the shack of a house he had. He had a small house, so cleaning it was easy. To calm his growling stomach and churning mind, Naruto let his thoughts fall the to goddess that had held him when he was less than a child. Her bright red hair more vivid than fire, her emerald green eyes sparkled like a sunset on the water, her soft as silk hands glossed with a light cream color, not quiet tan, but far from pale, she had no flaws, the liv- use to be living- embodiment of perfect. Whenever he was sad, he'd just envision her raising him, sure, it'd make him even more sad in the long run, but he'd be happy with his imagination. As much as the tired blonde wanted to curl back up and go to sleep, to dream of a world where he was happy, work started soon and he couldn't be late for that.

Naruto walked to work, eyes still heavy with sleep, but he couldn't complain. The extra hours were going to put food on his plate. Thankfully for him, he remembered his music player, worn with use, but still working. 'It's gonna be a long day'  he thought to himself. He was a bright, happy, optimistic person, but working at the small store wasn't getting him enough hours, nor pay, he could barely provide himself a solid meal a day. At this rate, he have to pick up a second job, if he could actually find someone to hire a scrawny, mostly hated young blonde kid. Not likely. He was lucky Kakashi was a nice guy who took pity on him, that happening again was sadly, highly unlikely. Naruto glanced at the clock, realizing he had slowed his walking pace while deep in though, and broke into a jog. He couldn't be late! His stomach growled at him with hunger sharp enough to slice metal, he couldn't go to work like this, imagine the customers! He had just enough change to pick up something small, but he'd have to sacrifice taking the bus home after work. Which meant walking home in the dark was his only option. He sighed, but picked up pace once again, he had to get there early enough so that he could eat something. Thankfully, he got there fifteen minutes early, panting and sweating like he's just ran a marathon, but at least he was early. He picked out a small pack of Ongiri and paid his coworker at the register. He ate the Ongiri without hesitation and threw away the trash before clicking in and starting his long shift.

He popped in his headphones, doing tedious task after tedious task. Restocking shelves, helping customers, sweeping the floor, cleaning the bathrooms, and finally to his last task, Naruto was finally at the last hours of his shift, working the cash register. He scanned, totaled, bagged, and did everything else he was required to do. His day had nothing memorable, all up until the last ten minutes of his shift. He wasn't doing cleaning duty after hours, thankfully, due to his long day, but he still dreaded walking all the way home. He let out a louder than planned sigh, just as a customer walked up with groceries. "You okay?" the oddly familiar, silk voice called out to him, "I'm fine" he chirped forcefully sounding happy. "Long day?" the male placed his items on the shelf to be scanned "Yeah, I'm just a bit tired" Naruto replied, not looking up. "Do you have a ride home?" with that, Naruto finally looked up, "I-" he was about to say 'I'm not supposed to take rides from strangers,' but clearly, this was not a stranger. "I-Itachi-san?" Naruto stammered, "U-uh s-sh-sure Itachi-san" he smiled lightly.  Once his shift was finally over, Naruto safely secured himself in the shotgun of Itachi's sleek car. "Do you mind if we stop by my house quick?" Itachi asked the blonde, voice muted by his own social anxiety, just nodded. About five minutes later, Itachi pulled up into the driveway of what was basically a mansion. Naruto had to bite his inner lip to keep his jaw from falling off. The one thing that stuck out to Naruto the most, though, was the top left window. The light was dull, like it was coming from a hall or a closet, instead of the actual room, but siting in the window was a gorgeous male. His pale skin was glowing from the outside moonlight his raven hair was as jet-black as midnight, but the most beautiful thing about him, was his focus, it looked like nothing could break it. Just about as soon as they got there, it seemed, they had to leave. Itachi got back to the car and smiled before driving off to Naruto's house. Being smart, Naruto told him to get off about a block and a half earlier, so his new friend wouldn't see his... living conditions. Not even his best friends, Sakura and Kiba, had never even been anywhere near Naruto's run down "home," nor would he let them. Itachi was no idiot, so he noticed how Naruto didn't walk in the building, he walked around the building. Itachi spotted his bright blonde hair sneaking out of the bushes and farther down the street. Itachi was never one to let his curiosity get the best of him, so he brushed it off. Once Naruto got safely home, he laid down on his bed, his thoughts kept fading to "Do I need a second job?" "Would I be able to get a second job?" "Will anybody hire me?" and so on, and so forth. His thoughts eventually wandered to the beautiful raven boy he'd seen in Itachi's window, but ultimately, he knew the boy was far out of his league. He was handsome, rich, he looked extremely smart, he knew what he wanted, he was a somebody, Naruto was a nobody. They'd never be able to make the connection. His thoughts finally left him as he fell into a beautiful, deep, needed sleep.

Here you go, sorry for the wait, over a thousand words just for y'all hope this will hold you over until I can make the next chapter.
I know what you're thinking, are you gonna change this to ItaNaru yet? It's been four chapters and we've only seen Sasuke! Itachi shows up in all four chapters, he speaks to Naruto, but we've only seen Sasuke in three!! And I'm here to tell you, again, I'm sorry, but I do have SasuNaru planned in the near future, possibly as early as next chapter!! Yay? Nay? Peace