Romance D'Amor
By: Asagi Tsuki
Note: cliché title? Sorry for that. OOCness? Can't help TT. No Akatsuki? I haven't watched that far, I only know Kisame and Itachi. Itachi's kind? Please, don't ask me. AU? Well, haven't made one in a while… Oh, and Haku's name? I chose to stick with Yukio Haku for the time being
Oh! And there's a Q&A corner at the bottom of every chapter where I'll put my own questions regarding the stories, and I'll put your questions if you asked one, so be sure to check it out. All questions will be answered so no worries!
Summary: Uchiha Sasuke is an ordinary high school boy, that is, until his life decided to make a turn to chaos
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
Chapter One
It was a sunny day, just perfect to darken his already dark mood. Because of the heat, most of his teammates skipped practice with the cliché excuse of 'it's too hot' although he had suggested using the indoor court. And here he was, training all by himself on the outdoor court.
He knew he wasn't supposed to do that, but he wanted to. Not after his teammates mocked him and said that he wouldn't be able to stand the heat. No. He will, and he will make them notice their mistakes. He wasn't the captain of the basketball team for nothing, although it wasn't the main team.
There were two basketball teams in his school, an all-boy high school. Unlike the other high schools which have girls' team and boys' team, they have the main team and the side team. The side team members liked to slack off and do nothing, like that one from his team, Nara Shikamaru, who settled on the grass and watched the clouds instead of training with the rest.
He gritted his teeth as he dribbled the ball from the end of the court to the other end of the court. He stopped three feet away from the ring and did a jump shoot. The ball went down the ring silently and he stood there, panting as he watched the ball roll towards his feet.
"Still training, Uchiha?" a cold and deep voice asked from behind him. He knew who it was without having to turn around to actually look. No. He knew that mocking voice all too well.
He stood up straight and sighed, "What do you want?" he asked back harshly, hoping the other boy –of course, what did you expect from an all-boy high school?- would go away and leave him to practice in peace.
"I won't be here unless someone from the side team actually be foolish enough to train in this weather," the voice said and soon, a wet towel was draped over Sasuke's head. "It's from your friend, Yukio-san," he added coolly.
"If your team doesn't stop making fun of us, I won't stop," Sasuke said seriously, turning around to face the long brown haired boy behind him. "And what do you care? I'm just a member of the side team," he huffed as he turned around to pick the ball up from the ground.
The boy took it right before he did, and spun it on the tip of his thumb. "I'm not giving you this," he said, "Morino-sensei ordered the members of sports club to return the equipments," he explained.
"I'll give it to him later, so give it back to me, Hyuuga," Sasuke glared at the other boy and tried to snatch the ball away, and failed.
"Where's the –senpai?" Neji asked, smirking at the younger boy. He walked into the school building, and conversed with the PE teacher.
"Damn him," Sasuke grunted and took the towel from his head, and dried his face up with it. He had to thank Haku later. He has been his friend from middle school, and he was the only one to truly acknowledge the side team.
"Sasuke," a boy with long dark brown hair called, waving at him, "Here's your bag, want to go home?" he asked, tilting his head to the side. He slung his back on his shoulder while he held onto Sasuke's shoulder with his right hand.
"Yeah, let's go," Sasuke nodded, taking his bag, "Thanks for the towel," he added, shoving it into a plastic bag before he shoved it into his over-sized bag.
"What towel?" Haku asked curiously. "I've been talking with Zabuza-san, and well, taking your bag, though Zabuza-san did tell me to ask you to stop, you're going to get overheated," Haku explained.
"It's not you who gave me the towel?" Sasuke asked, blinking his eyes. "Then who gave it? Hyuuga said you gave it," he added, remembering what Neji had said earlier.
"Nah, I don't have any towels with me, anyway," Haku frowned, "Well, let's go home now, your brother is probably worried, and I heard his band mates are coming over today, no?" he asked, smiling brightly.
"Yeah, yeah, stay for lunch?" Sasuke offered as he started walking towards the school gate with Haku. "I think Umino-san is a bit hyperactive recently," he added with a shrug.
Sasuke was living together with his brother, Uchiha Itachi, and a butler, if you must say so, named Umino Iruka. Their parents are abroad, doing business trips and others. They had trusted Iruka to take care of the both of them while the two of them are away, and he did the job wonderfully.
Itachi had just graduated from high school recently and was focusing onto his band. He formed a band with three other people, and named the band Four Gods, taken from the four Gods, Suzaku, Byakko, Seiryuu and Genbu.
The two hadn't met with the rest of the band's personnel but they didn't mind. Hey, they got to know the vocalist, isn't that enough? One of them even got to be related to the vocalist.
"Oh? I'll think about it," Haku nodded his head offhandedly.
They arrived at a rather big mansion not long after that. It wasn't far from the school –they had chosen a school that was near from their house-. On the first floor, were the living room, kitchen, guest's bathroom, dining room, a sound-proof room and a garage while on the second floor, there were Sasuke's room, Itachi's room, Iruka's room and a guest's room.
"Tadaima," Sasuke called out as he stepped into the house, taking off his shoes right before he stepped onto the hallway, Haku in tow. They were soon greeted by the butler who was preparing lunch for them.
"Ah, I see that Yukio-san is with you, Sasuke-sama," Iruka nodded his head as his left hand held a spatula. "Would you like to join lunch?" he asked to Haku who merely nodded.
"And you know that, I think he's hyperactive because he fell for someone…" Sasuke murmured to Haku as he walked across the living room to his own room.
"Please don't talk about me behind my back, Sasuke-sama," Iruka said suddenly and Sasuke had to suppress the urge to jump up and run away.
"Looks like he has nice hearing," Haku commented as they reached Sasuke's room. It was rather big, but very neat. Everything was in order, and nothing was scattered randomly on the floor.
"Make yourself at home," Sasuke smiled at his friend as he placed his bag on his desk, letting Haku do the same. He sat on the bed and stared at Haku for some time. "What are we going to do?" he asked.
"Well, we could always do homework or projects," Haku suggested as he reminded Sasuke of their ten-page essay project.
They were asked by their counseling guidance teacher to write an essay about the straits of people they found annoying. Sasuke was about to describe the teacher when Haku said that if he got the description even near the teacher's description, he'd cut their point by half. That's what he called annoying.
"I've done it," Sasuke huffed, "I described those annoying members of the main team, I hate them," he explained with another huff as Haku threw him a questioning look.
"Oh, I see," Haku nodded his head, "I haven't written anything yet, maybe I'll describe those annoying girls we found out of school," he shrugged.
"You ought to," Sasuke agreed as he shook his head in disbelief. Girls could be so annoying sometimes. And that's why he didn't wonder why his brother hadn't gotten himself a girlfriend.
"Oh, and Sasuke," Haku called out suddenly, "Mhm, I think Hyuuga-senpai thinks highly of you and your hardwork," he muttered, remembering something he had seen earlier, right before he went to search for his teacher.
-.-.-.-.-. flashback -.-.-.-.-.
"Hyuuga-san? What are you doing here?" a boy with spiky dark brown hair walked down the hallway with a chubby boy with fair browh hair and a brown-furred dog in tow. They were members of the main team.
"Nothing really," Neji replied as he sighed. He leaned on the pillar and looked away from the spot he was looking at previously. "Well, Inuzuka, Akimichi, what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at the court, training?" he asked as he looked at the other two boys.
"Well, we were just passing by," Kiba –the boy with the dog- shrugged as he stood beside Chouji, "Right?' he asked at the other boy who merely nodded.
"Go to the court now and practice then," Neji commanded, "There's a tournament and you know that," he reminded.
"We know that," Kiba nodded his head, "Though I'm sure that the side team won't make it through the preliminary matches," he added with a laugh.
"Yeah," Chouji nodded in agreement, "Almost all members of the side team didn't practice, and the leader couldn't even get them to practice. What kind of captain is he?" he asked Kiba who merely laughed harder.
Haku was leaning behind the pillar next to the one Neji leaned on, trying his best not to be heard, nor spotted. He gritted his teeth with anger. How could they make fun of someone so hardworking like Sasuke?
"Shut up," Neji said and the three boys were surprised. "Don't make fun of someone who had worked so hard," he added.
Kiba and Chouji looked at each other for a while, before they bowed their head and muttered their apology.
Haku smiled to himself, before he left to find the teacher of his.
-.-.-.-.-. end of flashback -.-.-.-.-.
"He does?" Sasuke asked confusedly, before his expression changed from confused to a determined one, "Well, he ought to! I'll make sure that someday, I'll beat him!"
Haku smiled at him.
"Yeah, he pro- I mean, we are on the same level! We're both captains!" Sasuke huffed as he sat cross-legged on his bed. "Erm, well, so what are we going to do now?" he asked.
"I wonder," Haku mumbled. He took his bag and shuffled through it to find something. Later, he was holding a small piece of paper with a list on it.
"What's that?" Sasuke asked as he raised an eyebrow. He extended his right hand towards Haku, wordlessly telling him that he wanted to see what it was.
"It's a list of songs I want you to burn into my CD," Haku shrugged. "Well, if you get free time then why not try to be useful?" he asked as he gave the piece of paper, along with a blank CD-R.
"Haku…" Sasuke growled as he stared at the list. Ever since Haku saw the list of songs he had on his computer, he had asked him to burn multiple audio CDs for home-use –at least he won't be arrested that way-.
"Yeah, that's my name. Something wrong?" Haku asked as he smiled innocently at Sasuke.
"Fine, I'll get it done," Sasuke grunted and stood up, walking over to his computer. Turning it on, he leaned on the chair and heaved a sigh. His eyes started to read the list as he wondered whether he had the songs or not.
"What's this supposed to mean?" Sasuke asked as his eyes squinted on a word. Beside the title 'Marion Raven – End of Me' was a word that suspiciously read 'ARBC'.
"Hm? Which? Arbc?" Haku asked as he turned to see his friend. He was looking at a row of book on Sasuke's shelf. The boy was a maniac if it comes to books. No, not the Icha Icha Paradise type, the ones that taught us something we need to know… well, Icha Icha Paradise does… probably. Anyway, he was looking at a row of educational books on Sasuke's shelf when Sasuke suddenly asked.
"Yeah, did you miswrite it? I suppose you meant acoustic," Sasuke asked as he stared at the piece of paper. He opened the folder where he had kept his songs, and began to browse it for the aforementioned song. He found it, and was about to add it into the list, when Haku interrupted.
"Arbc right? I didn't miswrite it, it's supposed to be the abbreviation for Arabic," Haku explained lightly.
Sasuke froze.
"HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO FIND THE ARABIC VERSION OF THIS SONG?"
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
Loud music boomed throughout the room. Luckily enough, it was soundproof. Band equipments could be found in the hands of professionals as the band started their training session after a short break. They had been training since ten a.m., and had only taken a half-an-hour break at twelve.
Actually, they were trying to kill time before the call for lunch finally came because they've finished practicing. Soon, they would hold another concert in a nearby hall, and they'd have to prepare for it. They won't want to go onstage unprepared now, will they?
The bassist and also the backup vocalist, a boy with long sky blue which was tied up and was wearing glasses, played the bass professionally. His eyes eyed the strings as his hand plucked the strings.
The guitarist, a boy with bright blond hair and whiskered cheeks, did exactly the same. He couldn't even tell the difference between a bass and an electric guitar.
The drummer, a boy with silver hair, headband that covered his left eye, and a mask, drummed silently. His hands moved swiftly and tapped the drums with the sticks.
The vocalist, you ask? Well, how does Itachi look like? That explains.
They practiced another song before they stopped for a break. No wonder people who went on stage often ask for drink and towels. It was so damn hot on the stage.
As the fans have known, the group band Four Gods was known for the personnel's nicknames. Itachi had taken the nickname Suzaku, Naruto had taken the nickname Byakko, Kakashi had taken the nickname Seiryuu and Kabuto had taken the nickname Genbu.
"Great job," Itachi commented as he passed each one a bottle of drink. They had made a pit stop at the convenient store before they went home to buy some bottles of water, and they were nearly run over by their fans.
"Can you expect less?" Naruto asked as he gulped the water down rather greedily. He knew that it wasn't him who was supposed to be the thirstiest, but he could care less. He was thirsty so what?
"You shouldn't flatter yourself," Kabuto said calmly as he gulped the water down, "Though I agree with him about that," he added and was automatically getting a loud 'boo' from the others.
"It sure is lively here," Kakashi commented. He lowered his mask to allow him to drink the water.
"Yeah," Itachi nodded in agreement.
"Oh right, hey Itachi, how come we never see your little brother?" Naruto asked suddenly and the others stared at him as if he had downed a poison that wrecked his brain.
"Does he have a little brother?" Kabuto asked, raising his eyebrow at Naruto.
"You don't know?" Naruto asked disbelievingly. "I heard that he has a little brother," he added.
"How did you know? I mean, hey, Itachi never spoke of it and we haven't seen him and all," Kabuto asked once again.
"That's what magazines are for," Naruto answered haughtily.
"It's that supposed to be a joke?" Kabuto asked to both Itachi and Kakashi as he pointed at the blond. Both merely shrugged their shoulders.
"Well, I don't think it's necessary to introduce him to you, so, yeah," Itachi explained rather confusingly and the others merely raised an eyebrow at him. "I mean, hey, what are you going to do with him if I introduce you to him?" he asked.
"We only want to know how your little brother looks like, right Kabuto, Kakashi?" Naruto asked as he turned to the two other personnel for agreement.
"Yeah, something like that," Kabuto agreed.
"Ah well," Itachi sighed, "If you wanted to know, I'll introduce him when he came down, probably at lunch," he suggested, and was cut off by an overly loud scream.
"HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO FIND THE ARABIC VERSION OF THIS SONG?"
"Ah, at least you know how his voice sounds," Itachi sighed.
"That's your brother?" Naruto, Kabuto and Kakashi asked.
"Yeah… maybe his friend came over," Itachi shrugged. "So, what are we going to do until the call came?" he asked.
"Let's practice again," Kabuto suggested and the others agreed almost instantly.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
"Ow, Sasuke, you didn't need to shout that loud," Haku sighed as he rubbed his buzzing ears. "Now it felt like I'm surrounded by bees," he added.
"Well, have you heard of the Arabic version of this song, then?" Sasuke asked sarcastically. "I have no damn Arabic songs, period," he finished harshly.
"Oh? Hm, wait, did I request an Arabic song?" Haku asked.
Sasuke's eye twitched.
"You just said that it meant Arabic!" Sasuke shouted at the long haired boy. "I don't care. I'm putting in the English one," he huffed and added the English version of Marion Raven's End of Me, followed by Lifehouse's You and Me.
"Fine with me," Haku shrugged. He went back to scanning the row of book, when suddenly a knock was heard. The both of them turned to look at the door and waited for the second knock.
Sasuke hurriedly added the rest of the songs and burned the CD with the lowest speed possible to get the best result possible. He knew that it was Iruka asking them to come down for lunch, so he had to hurry up and finish it.
"Sasuke-sama," the voice behind the door called, "Lunch's ready, please call Itachi-sama for lunch as well, I can't call him," the voice finished, and there was the sound of footsteps descending the stairs.
"Alright," Sasuke exhaled as he stood up from his chair, starting towards the door, "Coming?" he asked Haku who merely nodded and followed him towards the door.
They descended the stairs, and decided to leave Itachi and co. to starve for a while. In other words, they decided to eat first, call Itachi and the others later.
"Are you participating in the oncoming tournament?" Haku asked, playing with his chopsticks for a while before he started eating.
"Nope," Sasuke replied gingerly. "I don't have enough team members, surely you don't expect me to play all alone on the court, right?" he asked.
"Yeah…" Haku mumbled. "Anyway, I wonder, what made you play basket?" he asked.
"Me?" Sasuke asked, "Hm… it's a secret," Sasuke added as he laughed. Of course he had his own reason, but he didn't want to tell it to anyone, well, except the ones involved in his reason.
"You're mean," Haku huffed. They ate lunch as they exchanged talks, jokes and discussions.
"Oh, and I heard that your brother's band is holding a concert next week. Is that true?" Haku asked hopefully.
"Am I supposed to know?" Sasuke asked rather hesitantly. "Well, I don't really know, but I thought he did mention something about concerts and such," he added.
"Such a caring brother you are," Haku said rather sarcastically, "I wonder why he cared about you so much," he added with a shook of his head.
"Hey, what's wrong with that? He was being responsible!" Sasuke protested, defending himself, "And I'm not the one who is supposed to care for him, he is," he added with a growl.
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Haku waved his hand slightly.
After they finished their lunch, they put the bowls in the sink, and walked over to the soundproof room. They were definitely in there if Iruka said he couldn't call them.
Raising his right feet and placing it on the oak door, Sasuke turned the knob slightly before he kicked the door open.
"DAMMIT ITACHI! IF YOU KEEP ON DOING THIS YOU WON'T HAVE LUNCH, EVER!" he shouted rather impatiently at his shocked brother and his shocked friends. "Umino-san said he called you already but you didn't hear him," he explained, softer this time.
"Oh," was Itachi's only reply as he stood up and walked over to Sasuke, patting his head. "Thank you," he said as he patted his head once again, "Go back to your room, I'll take you out later," he promised, and Sasuke nodded.
"Very well, I'll be in my room with Haku if you need me," Sasuke said as he walked upstairs followed by Haku who tried to get a good look on each personnel.
Hey! Even VIP class audiences don't get to look at them from this close.
Silence filled the room after the two left them alone.
"Hey? Are we going to have lunch or not?" Itachi asked, waving his arm.
"Hey," Naruto started, "Hey Itachi you never said you have sisters!" he exclaimed excitedly. "What are their names?" he asked.
Itachi stopped. "Sisters?" he asked back.
"Yeah, aren't they… your sisters?" Naruto asked, while Kabuto and Kakashi waited for the answer expectantly.
Itachi thought for a while, before he tried to suppress a laugh. "Oh! No, it was my little brother!" he said between suppressed laughters, "The one with him is his friend, Yukio Haku," he added.
"Oh… oh, I mean, oh," Naruto muttered as the information slowly sunk in. It took him a good fifteen seconds before it really sunk in. He was a bit slow and he didn't deny it.
"Well, so are we having lunch or not?" Itachi asked, and the others went to the dining room with him.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
"Is it done yet?" Haku asked as he looked over to the computer's monitor.
"Not yet," Sasuke grunted. It wasn't supposed to take this long. What had happened to his CD writer? He looks at it intently and noticed that it was still running, just a bit slow, I mean, just slow.
"Oh, okay then," Haku nodded his head. He took a book out from the collection of books and stared at it. It had a black hard cover, and on the front cover was written the words 'Journey to the Past'.
"That's good," Sasuke said as he turned around to face Haku who was still holding the book. "Itachi bought it for me last year," he added.
"I see," Haku nodded his head slightly. He opened the book and started to read the contents of the book.
Sasuke sighed in boredom. Looks like Haku had found something to do. Well, he hadn't.
He looked around the room to find something to do. What did he usually do? Play basket with Itachi? Read books? Do homework? He had read most of the books in his room, and so was not really content on reading the books all over again.
"Ah, damn, I'm bored…" Sasuke muttered as he stared at the computer screen, waiting for the message box that said 'done' came out. He felt the sudden urge to click the OK button right away.
"Try doing something as you wait," Haku suggested as he continued to read. "You write, right?" he asked.
"Yeah, I won't be able to take notes if I don't," Sasuke replied sarcastically, thought what Haku said was true. "A bit stuck at the time being…" he added sheepishly.
"People experience that," Haku said, slipping a bookmark on the page he was reading and closed it. He walked over towards the computer and stared at the screen, "I'd like to see if I could help," he said and Sasuke knew that it meant 'Show me the story and I'll see what I can do about it'.
He quickly run Microsoft Word and let Haku read the story while he lied on the bed, staring at the now-interesting white ceiling of his room.
"A girl who loves basket and her childhood friend who equally loves basket," Haku muttered as he quickly scrolled down through the pages, catching the main ideas only. Reading all of it would take a lot of time and he was sure he didn't want to stare at a computer screen for long.
"Yeah," Sasuke nodded lightly. Somehow he felt uneasy. It was like… he was talking about someone he knew the most.
"Gets distant when they entered middle school. Thinks of each other as a rival due to the fact that they're both captains, and… hey, why does this story sound so… familiar?" Haku raised an eyebrow, before he turned towards Sasuke.
"Huh? What?" Sasuke asked back, trying to sound as innocent as he could.
"Nothing…" Haku mumbled as he continued to read the story. His eyebrows furrowed as he continued the story. It just became more and more familiar.
"Well?" Sasuke asked as he sat on his bed.
"Erm…" Haku mumbled, thinking of the best way to continue the story. It was good so far, but he didn't really know how to continue the story. "How about… the boy shows concern or something to the girl? It's long enough, and you can end the story not long after this," Haku suggested.
"It's probably the best," Sasuke nodded as he muttered sourly. The sound of a bell's chime was heard and a message box appeared. The both of them nearly jumped in joy as the burning process was finally done.
Sasuke bent down and picked the CD before he gave it to Haku. "Well, so what are we going to do? I suppose you want to come with us later?" he asked to Haku.
"With you? Where?" Haku asked.
"Don't know," Sasuke shrugged his shoulders, "Well, if Itachi said something, he won't take it back, so I guess we're going out later," he explained.
"Ooooh?" Haku asked. His voice raised a notch at the last o. "Well, I won't want to disturb your quality time together, now, will I?" he asked teasingly as he grinned cheekily.
"Whatever you say," Sasuke grunted. True, he was extraordinarily close to his brother, but what's the problem with that? He did feel like he was treated like a little sister instead of a little brother, but he didn't really mind about that.
"No, I was kidding, really, Zabuza-san told me not to come home later than six," Haku said as he glanced at the clock. "It's two and it's probably past six when you two came home," he added.
Haku had lived with Zabuza for ten years now. Ever since he was an elementary student, he had lived with the older man. He lost his parents at such an early age, and Zabuza took him in, and cared for him since then. He was strict –at school at least, yeah, he's a teacher at their school, that's why Haku gets some discount in his monthly fee- but he was kind as well –erm, hypocrites?-.
"Oh," Sasuke muttered, he went to work on his story, thinking of the best way to end it. Maybe he should have the two make up after some time? Or maybe he should have them separated? He himself preferred to make them end up making up with each other because they somehow resembled himself and a particular someone.
It was then, that he decided to just leave the story on a cliffhanger –thought it made him uneasy at times-. Maybe readers would read the sequel if he did it. He didn't know what to write, anyway, not until he knew what'd happen next as the story was nearly a rewrite of his own life.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
"She's pretty,"
"He, Naruto, he,"
"Oh right! I nearly forgot,"
"You forgot,"
The four boys were sitting on the couch in the living room, chattering idly about nothing at all. They were actually talking about Itachi's little brother, Sasuke, much to Itachi's disapproval.
"You're going out later right? Mind if we come along?" Naruto asked as he grinned toothily at Itachi who stared at him like he was some kind of an obsessed fan. Weren't their places reversed? Sasuke was the one supposed to be head over heels, not Naruto.
"We, Naruto?" Kabuto and Kakashi asked almost simultaneously and while Naruto and Kabuto stared at Kakashi, Itachi and Kakashi stared at Kabuto.
"Yeah, of course we, this is some kind of band's gathering!" Naruto shouted excitedly as he jumped around the living room, nearly tripping over some big vases.
"Didn't we gather often enough?" Kabuto asked idly as he leaned back on the couch, simply staring as Naruto made his way round and round the living room.
"Ah, Itachi-san," Haku greeted as he nodded slowly. He was walking down the stairs with his bag slung over his shoulder. Looks like he was ready to go home.
"Going home, Yukio-san?" Itachi asked as he nodded back to Haku. He had been Sasuke's best friend for a while –after they moved to their new home- and he appreciated his care for his little brother.
"Yes, I have to prepare dinner for Zabuza-san," Haku nodded his head and heaved slightly, "See you next time, then," he added as he put on his shoes.
"Oi Haku! You forgot this!" Sasuke shouted as he ran towards Haku, handing him a CD. "Have fun with your Arabic songs," he added with sarcasm dripping in his tone.
"Thank you," Haku smiled sweetly –though Sasuke knew that it was fake- at him and waved goodbye as he walked out of the house and down the street to his own apartment that he had shared with Zabuza for so long.
"Na, Sasuke," Itachi sat on the couch, his face passive, while his hand was waving up and down, signaling that he wanted Sasuke to come over to him, "Would you mind if these people come with us?" he asked when Sasuke sat down next to him.
"Should I?" Sasuke asked, eyeing Itachi's band mates warily before he broke into a smile, "I won't," he said.
Naruto nearly jumped and cheered but Kakashi had prevented him from doing so by covering his mouth with his hand and holding the boy down with cushions.
"Well, get ready then, we're going at five," Itachi said, and with that said and done, everyone scrambled throughout the house to get ready, nearly giving Iruka a heart attack when Naruto suddenly ran past him and into the kitchen.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
"Everyone ready?" Itachi asked as he looked around. He himself was wearing a black shirt and black trousers that made his skin looked paler, and a jet black coat that had red streaks all over it. Sasuke was wearing a pretty much the same outfit with him, except his was less big and less tight –not that Itachi's is tight-.
Kabuto was wearing a white shirt, dark brown trousers, and a dark brown vest over his white shirt. His hair was tied just like Itachi's and he was still wearing his glasses as usual.
Kakashi was wearing black shirt and black trousers, and his face mask of course while Naruto wore an orange shirt, pale orange pants and bright orange jacket.
"Why do I get the urge to eat orange?" Sasuke muttered as he glared at the unfortunate floor in front of him. He leaned on the walls as he stood cross-armed, his left leg was crossed on top of his right one.
"Ready!" Naruto shouted excitedly as he held onto Kakashi's back, shouting and jumping up and down like a little kid would. One would wonder if he really is a nineteen-year-old boy or not.
"Okay then, we're going to the mall," Itachi said and was soon followed by Naruto's energetic shout –it was always like that whenever they did a small gathering by going to the mall or a restaurant-, "To have dinner and shop for some books," he finished.
"What books?" Kabuto asked. Sure, he knew that Itachi likes to read books as he was seen with a book often, but Itachi wasn't the type to randomly buy books.
"I want to check on something," Itachi answered simply as he shrugged slightly. They walked out of the house and into Itachi's car. Itachi sat in the driver's seat while Sasuke sat beside him and the other three sat at the backseat.
It was a fairly fun trip –excluding Naruto's some-times-too-loud remarks- to the mall. They had chatted idly about their interests, hobbies, their day –whether it was fun or disastrous- and else. Surprisingly, the personnel of Four Gods weren't all cocky and arrogant. They're kind of fun to talk to.
They had arrived not long after that to have dinner at a fairly cheap restaurant –they could afford the expensive ones, but weren't really inclined to having expensive dinner- and went to a bookstore to check on the latest releases, one being Sasuke's last finished novel he had sent to the publisher two weeks ago.
He had been working on the novel he had just finished for three months now, and it was such a surprise that he took so little time to finish such long literature –Naruto had said that because he was the worst at literature class-.
It was a story of an elfin boy who joined a thief's guild although he was a prince. He got into various misunderstandings and fight, but it ended well.
"Haven't published your newest work?" Itachi asked as he browsed the section of the latest releases. He picked a book up occasionally to read its summary.
"I haven't," Sasuke shook his head, "I got a bad feeling, so I rethought it," he added uneasily.
"Bad feeling?" Itachi put the book down and looked down at his younger brother. He seemed so unsure… so scared. "What is it?" he asked, bending down so that he was on the eye level of Sasuke.
"I- I ended the story with an accident, the male main character got an accident and had to be sent to the hospital, of course he didn't die, but…" Sasuke babbled quickly and stopped to catch his breath when Itachi had stopped him by giving him a squeeze on his left shoulder.
"It's alright," Itachi patted his shoulder. "You shouldn't publish it," he added as he walked to leave to the other part of the section. Sasuke merely stared at his back, wondering what he had meant by saying that.
"Shouldn't publish it?" he asked himself out of curiosity. He sighed and decided to comply. Maybe the bad feeling he had gotten would be eased that way.
"Wait up, Aniki!" Sasuke called out as a smile grew on his face. Itachi stopped on his track and smiled as well, before they walked side by side throughout the bookstore to search for something good to read.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
"Finished?" Itachi asked as they gathered in front of the bookstore after window-shopping, scanning, browsing and such. The others merely nodded and they were off to the parking lot, each bringing their own plastic bag that contained their bought books while Itachi brought an extra plastic bag that contained some goods from the convenient store.
They had split up as soon as they entered the bookstore. They were free to roam throughout the entire mall, but had to be in front of the bookstore at eight or else, he had to go home on his own, be it with taxi or on foot.
After they got out of the mall area, they were stopped because of a noise that seemed to come from the intersection in front of them. They stopped and stepped off of the car to take a better look since a crowd has formed around a certain spot.
After making their way in, they finally spotted the source of the ruckus. An accident has just happened and a young boy –at the age of seventeen- was hit. He was bleeding from top to toe, but he wasn't dead. Yet.
Sasuke gasped while Itachi's eyes widened in terror as they saw who was there. There, lying on the ground with his long dark brown hair all over him, was one Hyuuga Neji.
End of Chapter One
Enjoyed it, readers? I hope you do. Well, now here's the Q&A section!
Q: It seems like Neji cared a lot about Sasuke -what with the towel and such-. What really happened between them?
A: Well, it's still a secret. It'll be revealed in the later chapters, so, stay tuned for the later chapters!
Q: A band named after the Four Gods?
A: Yes, I'm quite obsessed by Yondai Ogi -also known as the Four Gods- right now. And I'm dreaming of having my own band that is named after those Four Gods.
Q: Why is Itachi Suzaku?
A: Well, come to think of it, Itachi's the most feminine-looking among them all.
Q: And what about the other Gods? Did you assign them randomly or is there a reason behind that?
A: Of course there is a reason behind it. Kakashi is calm and cool, so I assign Seiryuu to him. Kabuto is tactful, calm and cool, so I assign Genbu to him, while Naruto is childish and a rule-breaker, so I assign Byakko to him. It's taken from the reference in the manga Yami no Matsuei, so even if it's not like that in the actual, I won't change it.
Q: Is Iruka really in love?
A: Why yes, he is. But who he's in love with will be told later.
Q: How do you make Haku's list of songs?
A: Well, my cousin had just asked me to download Lifehouse's You and Me, and Marion Raven's End of Me. He said they are cool, but I don't really think so.
Q: Is Naruto really in love with Sasuke?
A: Well, how does he act? Considering the summary, it is not yet known, but yes, Naruto is.
Q: Band's gathering?
A: Well, sometimes, people who work at the same place would hold an event where they'd go to the nearby mall and do various things. It's just like that.
Q: Sasuke sounds like a good writer. Is he?
A: Well, he IS. No, I mean, well, his latest release, is my newest project. I'm planning on making a novel like that, and why not mention it in my fic? It goes like that.
Q: Sasuke calls his brother 'nii-san when he's still little, and not Aniki.
A: I know that. Since Itachi betrayed his village, Sasuke had never called him something akin to Aniki, but I prefer it if he used Aniki and not 'nii-san. I mean, hey! He's sixteen already!
The Q&A section ends here! Hope you enjoyed it as well! Please leave a review if you enjoyed the story. Thank you very much!