May Heat

Chapter Five

Sasuke had returned to his hotel after that, defeated and tired. He woke up late in the afternoon with a skull splitting headache and his body was sluggish and sore. He was still in the smelly clothes of last night and the overbearing odor was disgusting. He forced himself to get up and take a shower.

He kept thinking about Naruto. How was it possible that he would appear there last night? There's so many questions running through his head but he had the answer to none of them. He waded about in the hot stream of water pelting his bare skin. The shower cleared his mind for those few moments but his hangover still buzzed in his skull.

All he could do at the moment was to get something to fill his stomach and deal with the issues later. Sasuke settled for a meal at a seaside diner, old and kept up the appearance of a fishermen's hangout, but served dainty menu items.

He took his meal to go, taking it with him to the beach to eat and try to savor some rays of warmth on his skin and clothes. He chewed his fish and chips in a slow manner, his moleskine journal sat underneath the cardboard box like a table of sorts on his lap. The salty breeze helped to satiate the beaming heat, but it was excruciating. He unbuttoned his blue button-up a third of the way to let air flow.

His mind felt more at peace, but the memories of Naruto reappeared at the forefront of his thoughts.

'God...if only I can talk to him again.' He held his face up, closing his eyes. The light still blinding over his closed lids. The crashing waves against the shore was white noise under the bearing weight of his thoughts. It's been so long since something has ever made him feel bundled, confused and overall lose his sense of balance.

He opened his eyes and subjected himself to returning to him hotel room when the sky began to turn a muted orange. Sasuke patted off the sand off the back of his cotton slacks, picking up his shoes with his socks tucked in them. He headed up the wooden steps that embedded themselves on the side of the sandy incline. The sun created sharp contrasts of color and shadow that fell like dominoes on the side of the sandy hill.

He kept his hand off of the railing that looked full of splinters and rusted nail, relying on his own sense of balance to get up to the paved street.

This 'break' was going to drag him in the sun and leave him burnt and sore.  He finally got to the top, throwing his trash in the public wastebasket. Sand lingered on his feet and the cement felt warm under his soles. His ear burned as he leisured home.

Sasuke felt the need to make a phone call, tapping through his phone to see who he'd want to hear. College friends were none except for exes and envy, high school was too long ago... The silence was beautifully lonely, it made him feel lonelier than ever. He put the phone up to his ear, waiting.

The sound of a breath and an answer felt like it cut through the warm sun.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Kakashi-san? It's Uchiha Sasuke from Class 7."

"Ahh~. Is life treating you well?"

"I wouldn't know how to answer that."

"That means you need some guidance from this ol'guy, huh."

"Do you still live down by Old Lady Yomi? I'm in town tight now."

"Oh no, I cohabitate with Iruka-sensei now. We old men take care of each other. Come over, we'll prepare some tea for you."

"....That'd be nice."