For Necessity's Sake

Uzumaki Naruto did not like Halloween. While the perk of free candy and a rush of parties he was invited to was a nice result of the holiday, there were far too many drawbacks. For one, he was terrified of ghosts. So the thought of the veil between this world and the next being at its thinnest was quite frankly horrifying. Add in the abundance of ouija boards and occult summonings his idiotic classmates attended, and Naruto was left a shivering, yelping mess.

So, with all of this, why was he working at a haunted house?

Well, the answer was fairly simple: he was flat broke and needed money.

When you had been an orphan since birth and a constant strain on orphanages, there was little to no money. Naruto had started job searching at fifteen in an effort to save enough to buy his own apartment away from cracked, dirty buildings full of desperate kids and cynical caretakers. Then his goal became less clear and he had lucked out. Finding a friendship with the owner of Ichiraku Ramen, a restaurant he practically lived at after discovering, he had gotten his first job. Assisting Ayame in serving customers, cleaning the abundance of dishes that was a result of large batches of ramen, and even taking lessons and assisting Teuchi back in the kitchen, Naruto had become close friends to the father-daughter duo. For five years he worked there, earning a steady income, enjoying that small portion of his life as he struggled his way through high school and the standard angst any teenager faced. Then Teuchi had confronted him with adoption papers and the father-daughter duo became a trio and Naruto was ecstatic for the life and family he had found due to his own ramen addiction.

Then he was twenty, a sophomore in a culinary college, and an earthquake had desecrated Konohagakure. Ichiraku Ramen was a victim in the wreckage, the insurance covered only so much, and Naruto had struck out for another job. Half his income went to the ramen stand - to his family - and the other half helped pay his way through school.

This all culminated to Naruto's current plight: working with a haunted corn maze. He was fine with horror - jumpscares often sent him into hysterical laughter instead of hysterical screams - but once the horror shifted into the paranormal...well, all bets were off. This left him avoiding the workers pretending to be avenging ghosts or wailing spirits. He and Inuzuka Kiba (an old classmate from Konoha High) were both snarling werewolves, keeping each other company and laughing over any squealing customer they came across. They had had fun throughout the three weeks of October, each night producing more and more victims to the maze. There had only been close incident between a man's fist and his face, and over all that was a fairly good record. Then October 24th came, Kiba had to cancel due to a family emergency (something about the Inuzuka veterinary clinic being overrun with patients and as a trainee he was needed), and Naruto was left without a breathing heater for the night.

Sure, he was pretty warm himself, but it had been growing easier and easier to see your own breath while working through the rounds. Staring outside the changing rooms, Naruto whimpered at the cold sweeping through under the door. His costume was fairly warm: a flannel long sleeve with fake blond fur puffing up at his neck and hands, and he even had a good pair of jeans and thick boots to accompany it. Still, though, the blond would be frozen before his shift was over.

"Uzumaki."

At his boss' call, Naruto turned to the black haired man. Uchiha Obito was...weird. He absolutely loved Halloween - thus his reason for starting his own haunted maze - and he was a cheerful, bright individual with a contrasting wicked sense of humor. Compared to that bastard Sasuke (the only other Uchiha he had met and apparently a poster child for the family's standard attitude) Obito was an oddity. He was a nice person overall though, so Naruto wasn't too nervous when he was gestured over.

Obito smiled comfortably before looking down at the clipboard in his hand. "So, you know we've been getting busier the closer to Halloween we get, so having Kiba out even for a day is unfortunate. Luckily a friend of mine will take his place so you won't be alone tonight, alright?"

Hope flooding him, because maybe the stranger won't be adverse to the huddling for warmth Naruto and Kiba often partook in, the blond nodded. "Yeah, no problem. Who is it?"

"I don't think you know him, he's my age. Kind of a lazy bastard but-"

"Maa, I've been gone ten minutes and you're already insulting me?" A smooth voice interjected, drawing Naruto's attention because wow, the man sounded attractive.

A tall form was silhouetted in the doorway behind Obito, pulling at his sleeves in concentration. "How do you deal with this? It's so itchy."

"Usually I just focus on other things." Like ramen, or the debt he was helping to pay, though now his attention would most likely be focused on his new partner because hot damn, that man was fine.

Dark eyes glanced up, half-lidded and calm, clashing with Naruto's own and internally Naruto was yelling. How was it possible for a man to be so pretty?

Sure, he was thirty-four if Obito's claims were to be believed, but he could easily pass for younger if he wanted to. He had also been given a flannel, the white fur poking out contrasting against the dark material and matching the messy hair decorating his head. He was taller than Naruto, slim and lean, and the blond wondered if it would be too difficult an endeavor to seduce him.

Now if only he would remove the mask. Naruto thought, glancing at the medical mask obscuring the bottom half of the man's face. Coming back to himself, the Uzumaki resisted the temptation of self-flagellation. He didn't have time to chase after a man, especially one he would probably never see again.

Ignorant to Naruto's thoughts, Obito grinned and gestured to his friend. "This is Hatake Kakashi. Bastard, this is Uzumaki Naruto."

"Yo."

Before he could reply, Obito suddenly spoke up."Oi, you said you'd take off the mask. Come on, man, no werewolf is afraid of germs."

Naruto was going to hell. Beforehand he believed that he was living a halfway acceptable life, but as soon as Kakashi reached up and removed his mask Naruto realized the eventual fate of his soul. The man was a sin in the making to any sexually aware human there was and fuck, Naruto could not resist the temptation he presented.