This idea is torturing me! So I'll write. Don't know how long it'll be, but hey, writing is writing.
Disclaimer: I only own plot here, and Shiro. Steal from me, you die.
Rain. Pounding down noisily on rooftops, shrouding the sky with an expanse of dark clouds. Then again, here it was so common, I'm not so sure that I've ever even seen a perfect blue sky. Half-covered, maybe, but never clear. Can't regret coming here though, I honestly don't think I'd even wish to leave.
I grew up here. I know the streets like the back of my hand. Every turn, every shop, and everyone. Not that I was very sociable. My younger brother was all I had, along with a big, half-empty house and the rain.
My name is Itachi Uchiha, and I live here, in Amegakure, the village of rain.
Footsteps of many travelers echoed around the streets. The uneven grey cobblestones don't trip any of the citizens here. We took our first steps on these streets; we can move along here at any pace without worry. Of course, it was raining. No one spoke as we trudged down the road, heads bowed. Sometimes, I'd look up at the sky, hoping to see blue.
It was always grey. The buildings were grey, the roads were grey, people wore various shades of grey, and even the heavens above us were grey. I myself wore black, with our once- proud clan symbol on the back of my t-shirt.
Today was just normal; I was heading to work in the rain after school. This was my senior year in high school, but I feared that I would not be able to enter college because of my responsibility to take care of Sasuke, my little brother. I had an innate ability to learn, and received Distinguished Honors every marking period. Every day after school, I headed to the mine just out of town to work. It was all I could get. I was only 17 and had to support myself and my brother, who was about eleven when I got the job.
"Hey, Itachi!" I half-turned, knowing the voice of my brother. He ran up, spraying water all around him. I wiped some water off my face and waited for him to speak.
"Can I come down with you today?" he asked, hardening his gaze. My brother always did have a bullish attitude.
"Absolutely not," I said immediately, regretting the coldness in my voice, "It's too dangerous, Sasuke." I never had been able to show many emotions. Sometimes, I felt like a shell of myself, not even human. However, I tried my best and Sasuke's safety is more important than if he is mad at me or not.
"But you go! I just feel… useless…" he said, gritting his teeth and staring at his shoes. His fists balled up, shaking at his sides.
I turned to go, "But I'm older. Please, Sasuke, go home now before it gets any later," I worried for his safety on the streets after six, for the ruffians that came out at night were bold in this town. Finally, after a wordless standoff, he turned back in the direction of home. His grey shirt was sticking to his torso from the rain.
I watched him walk down the sidewalk. Then, out of an alley, a girl appeared in front of him. He stopped abruptly and looked up at her pale face. She held a dark blue umbrella over her head. The color was rare around here, and I just couldn't stop staring at it. I knew I looked like an idiot, crimson eyes widened slightly and unblinking, but I didn't care all that much. It started to irk me that I couldn't see her face as she bent over down to his height. From a distance, I saw her hand Sasuke the umbrella, cock her head to the side, and walk off in to mist and rain. Sasuke, who was surprised, continued on after a bit, shielding himself from the rain that poured from above.
Later that evening, I strode home exhausted at about twelve. Hands in my pockets, I avoided the alleys and seedy places until I reached our family home.
Or what used to be. Now only Sasuke and I lived there, along with haunted memories and the sound of rain pounding on the slate-grey roof. Unlocking the front door and opening it, I hung my black jacket on the doorknob of the closet and went into the kitchen.
Sasuke sat at the table, staring at a dark blue bundle at eye-level. It was the umbrella that girl had given him before. He lifted his head from the table when I came in. My hair dripped on the table slowly as I, too stared at the curious object. Sasuke looked at the umbrella, and then me again.
"Hey Itachi, do psychics exist?" I snapped out of my daze, shaking my head clear.
"I don't know, Sasuke. Why?"
"Well… you know, when she handed me this," he lifted the folded umbrella, "She said, 'Dark blue is your favorite color. Why?' and then just walked away before I could answer. Dark blue is my favorite color, so I wanted to know how she knew that." I once again stared at the umbrella, contemplating my answer.
"I… have no idea. Sorry, Sasuke." I said, hurriedly towel-drying my raven-black hair and heading for the stairs, "You should go to bed now, Sasuke."
"But tomorrow's Saturday!" he complained, but still got up and trudged upstairs. I went after him. He stalked into his room, closing the door behind him.
When he was younger, he always left the door open.
I walked into my own room. It was grey, just like everything else. Even the faded photograph that was placed on my bedside was black and white. A happy family, with a mother, father, and two sons. That was long time ago. About eight years ago, my father became mentally unstable and murdered my mother in front of my eyes. Sasuke had been at a friend's house, so I did the only thing I could do as my father shambled towards me with a knife in hand.
I had grabbed the handgun on the hallway table and fired. To this day, I remember the twisted smile on his face as fresh blood came from his lips. He had fallen and never gotten up, and so had my mother.
Thank god Sasuke had been away. I had woken up in the hospital screaming, and had been fiercely protective of him ever since. If something like that ever happened to him, I would most likely go insane, like my father. Now, I shield my heart from others. I suppose that after the betrayal of my father, I've only trusted my brother.
Insanity runs in our family, it seems. My uncle, Madara, gouged out his younger brother's eyes and watched and allowed him bleed to death. And then my father killed my mother.
I just wanted to protect Sasuke from that rage, that red glint of the eyes that screamed malice. I had already seen it; so why bother protecting myself anymore?
Slipping into my bed, I felt my eyes start to close. As my consciousness dimmed rapidly, I remembered that I forgot to ask Sasuke what she looked like. That umbrella girl.
The next day, I woke up early as always, checked on Sasuke (who was still sleeping… foolish little brother), and strode out into the rain again. I headed down to the grocery store. We needed milk, rice, eggs, and bread because Sasuke tended to raid the kitchen at night and unfortunately, so did I.
After a few minutes in the small shop, I was able to leave without being harassed by Sukie, a girl that seemed to enjoy stalking me. Her sister, Yukie, was better but was consequentially never around. Their younger sister, Karin, was just as annoying to Sasuke, but easier to remedy. I knew she'd probably straighten out eventually. Sukie, on the other hand… was insistent, annoying, and always around.
The rain grew harder, but I ignored it for my sanity's sake. I gazed down at the ground in front of me as I walked leisurely through the fog. Suddenly I was stopped by a voice from behind.
"Are you wet?"
I turned around a little too fast. I did not recognize the voice, and therefore my brain was programmed to find it a threat.
There, under a dark red umbrella, was the umbrella girl. I resisted the urge to stare at the umbrella, because it just happened to be my favorite color…
She held out the black handle towards me, "Crimson is your favorite color. Why?" she asked, head cocked to the side slightly. And then she turned on her white rain boot clad heel and walked away.
Well, I wouldn't be getting any more wet now. I couldn't help but wonder. Who was she, and why was she handing out umbrellas to strangers in a town such as this? I looked after her white-clad form. She couldn't be much shorter than me. Her white dress hung down, clinging to her thighs from the rain.
But her eyes were blue, like the fictional sky that people like myself have never seen. Around the edges was a bright green, making her overall eye color a bright aqua. From far away, her hair looked like white or light grey, but when she had been standing right in front of me, I had seen the exotic cloud blue coloring. The odd color reminded me of a girl in Sasuke's class called Sakura. Sakura had bright bubblegum pink hair. One of the workers at the mine, Nagato, had a friend named Konan whom had azure blue hair. Kakashi, another fellow worker, had white hair that always looked silver in the half-light.
'Crimson is your favorite color. Why?' I remembered her query. Why was crimson my favorite color? It was the color of blood. Perhaps my own past had inspired my idiotic mind in its color choice, but how could I know?
Fighting my irrational want to chase her and ask why, I walked home. Sasuke was up when I came in, and he stared at the crimson umbrella.
"No way… you too?" he exclaimed, watching as I folded the umbrella up and placed it on the hall table.
"Yes…"
"Y'know, Naruto dropped by a minute ago and he had an orange one. He said she gave it to him." Sasuke continued. Naruto was a good friend of his, and sometimes I was a little regretful of my lack of social interaction. I have always hid behind my mask of indifference to hide my shyness. When I was younger, I never approached anyone else because of my sensitivity and shy nature. A defense mechanism, if you will. I glanced at the clock. The hands moved slowly towards twelve. On the weekends, I worked all day at the coal mine, so with one last look at my brother, I stepped outside again.
The mine was busy, and I was soon covered with soot. Hours passed and we settled down to eat lunch at about three o' clock. I sat with Kakashi, Nagato, a blond guy named Deidara, and a red-head called Sasori. I could consider them to be friends of mine, but since my heart already had lost people close to it, it refuses to register the fact that I indeed did have friends.
"My little sister is annoying, un!" Deidara complained. His long blond hair was pulled back into a ponytail, with some escaping in the front and covering his right eye. His eyes were grey-blue, and he was loud and angered easily. Not to mention he had an odd accent.
"Not as annoying as you…" Sasori, a calm, lucid thinker who argued constantly with Deidara, spoke up. He had messy red-brown hair and grey-green eyes that screamed, 'Leave me alone please.'
"Stop arguing, you two…" Kakashi, the oldest of all of us at twenty seven, ordered lazily. He was always late and constantly lost things. His white hair seemed to lean to the side a bit, and his one visible eye was black as night. A mast covered the bottom part of his face, effectively puzzling all those who saw him.
Nagato, the last of the group, was silent. His strawberry red hair covered his right eye like Deidara, but it was short in the back and choppy. His grey eyes countered the brightness of his ridiculous hair well. Nagato was shy and hardly ever spoke, like myself, although he wore no mask of indifference.
By now, Kakashi's halfhearted attempt to quell the impending argument had failed and Deidara was yelling a waving his hands in the air. His nails were dyed dark purple from a strange chemical in the mine that caused the strange effect on some individuals. Sasori, Nagato, and I also suffered the consequences of working here. Kakashi did not have a problem, but we were constantly asked why we had nail polish on.
The hours dragged on, filled with men yelling and jumping around with picks and buckets and such. Finally, the time to leave had come and I went out into the rain, allowing it to wash of my face and arms. Kakashi just took off his shirt and walked home with it slung over his shoulder. Nagato slunk home with his hands shoved in his pockets. Deidara and Sasori, who lived next door to each other, bickered the whole way home as they wiped of soot from their faces and hair.
The streets were eerily quiet at night. The flickering streetlights did nothing to quell my increased uneasiness. I knew all too well the dangers of being on the streets at this time. Only men and the occaisonal brave barmaid ventured on these streets. The rain had paused breifly, but the fog made my vision limited to directly in front of me.
Suddenly, my keen ears picked up a scuffling. It was two people, one most likely trying to get away from the other. The scuffling stopped, and light footsteps came rapidly in my direction. I recognized that sound…
The sound of rubber rain boots.
Not far behind was the clopping of heavy leather shoes. Narrowing my eyes, I walked forward a bit until two silhouettes came into my view. One was much, much larger, and bulky. It was clearly masculine. I tensed when I traced the form of the other person. Slim, and shapely, and most definitely female.
I wasn't stupid. The puzzle pieces fit together.
Rain boots… a girl, not much shorter than me…
It must be the Umbrella Girl.
Weelll? Depending on how this is recieved, I may update faster~! But remember, I also have Broken Like China so I'll be busy!