Plastic jack-o lanterns cast a forlorn glow upon the remains of a rotting porch; the paint peeling with age and neglect though the pumpkin's grin never wavered. Wax candles burned softly between the teeth, lighting the eyes and triangular nose as well as the cutout eyebrows, raised in mock surprise as the fall winds picked up. The gold and auburn leaves were covered in shadow, masking their color usually so bright and festive with a blackened gloom, but this small observation went unnoticed by a pair of boot clad feet, carelessly dragging muddied soles through several small piles of debris before clambering loudly up a house's weak wooden steps.
A willowy teen set the last of the fall decorations on a collapsed bench, several fake squash and various other painted vegetables, a head of dark maize slipping from the badly woven cornet. Pink hair seemed almost fuchsia in the dim light of orange and purple, Halloween colors attached to a string of Christmas lights. A pocketknife was drawn from inside of her bulky red jacket, swiftly carving a smile into a pumpkin rind the size of her outstretched palm.
It was tradition that each year she go to the neighbors house, badly beaten and storm tossed it stood out in the fairly flashy string of condos, but this meant nothing to the young student, she had done so for the last twelve years and even though a fresh coat of paint was needed she could not be deterred. It had once been vary grand, even now it still had a regal appearance what with the French doors and trimming, but no one else seemed to care for it, the owner nearly never home or else locked inside, and so the holiday décor was left in her less than capable hands. Even during the summer she tried to preserve some of the beauty, planting several strawberry and tomato plants which were left untouched for a month before she picked the over ripe fruit and left it on the doorstep, the tomato's disappeared but the strawberries were still there a week later, bruised and bitter for not having been eaten.
"Uchiha. What a mysterious person must live here, like a vampire out of some black and white horror film."
The mailbox read the family name clearly, a colored fan beneath the spidery writing, but this was all she knew of the person who called the deteriorating mansion home. No car was parked in the driveway, she had never noticed until she overhead her parents dinner gossip, "How does he get about," they would say, "There isn't a buss in these parts."
"Maybe whomever it is as handsome as a boy from the storybook's and locked away against his will by an evil step-father…"
At this she had to laugh. It was true she had spent most of her childhood on paper, wishing for adventure to come knocking but always too afraid to search for it. Perhaps this is what drew her to the ramshackle home, the smell of a good story behind the pungent mildew. When preparing dinner she would always set aside a plate of food, left with instructions to microwave on the dust coated doormat, during summer a container of iced tea, and when flu season came a get well card just in case, and though she had never gotten a reply it still made her smile to see the dirtied dishes placed back carefully on the doorstep.
A slice of minced pie was left already cold near the completed decorations. Hopefully he would find it in the mess of orange and black. Brushing off the crumbs on her tailored skirt Sakura stood smoothing the creases in it's lining before giving a last look at the dark windows. And what she saw shocked her…
A pair of crimson eyes staring back. Paled features formed a blank yet beautiful expression, one of both mild hatred and compassion present at the same time, like a marble statue of Adonis glaring at the window pane between them. The intake of breath whistling through her partially opened mouth came as a frozen stream of air, she then dumbly raised her hand in a small wave and the smile that spread across his placid face brought bitter chills.
'Don't be rude, if you run everything you worked on building for years will come crashing down, don't run, don't be rude.'
"Can I help you?"
"I-I brought… you, well you were, I never meant… no I…"
A tall thin stretched boy was now standing where the apparition had been; no they were one in the same, both pale beyond compare and with unmistakable crimson irises. The faint smell of cinnamon aftershave clung to his exposed neck, the rest covered in a black jacket and rather mangled pair of jeans, wet hair slicked back, save the stray bangs framing his chin.
"More pie? With the way you've recently been feeding me I'm bound to gain some weight, especially since I don't get out much."
The plate was balanced in his left hand and Sakura realized his other was outstretched, beckoning her to follow past the forbidden threshold she had wanted to cross her whole life.
"Come, I won't bite. I never got a chance to thank you before, at least let me give you a tour of the inside."
"M-my parents, I should tell them…"
Hesitant as ever she drew back for a second before reconsidering, she didn't need anyone's consent to enjoy an evening and apparently the frown on the archangel's face meant he agreed.
"W-well never mind. Thank you for the hospitality."
And then she was on the inside, swallowed by mothballs and the smell of furniture polish. The deadbolt on the door clicked behind her, several chains finishing the job.
"I appreciate my privacy," he explained nonchalantly crossing the elegant room towards a grand piano which he caressed with the back of his hand, a sudden scowl marring his features.
"I apologize, let's continue to the kitchen, shall we?"
"S-sure."
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Colorful shadows danced across the dining table's sleek surface, the affect of several stain glass windows, which lined the cramped kitchen, a simple touch of glamour in an otherwise plain room. The boy, who had introduced himself as Sasuke Uchiha, was currently washing the discarded Tupperware from the half eaten pie, hands lathered in dish soap, he looked like a god from a Greek mythology book, a Zeus or more like a Hades swathed in polyester black.
"Where is it that you go to school?"
Over the last hour and a half the two had made polite conversation, it seemed as though they were warming up to each other but always there was a small amount of apprehension on Sasuke's part and a hint of fear on Sakura's. The pair didn't seem to want to dig very deep into each other's personal life but easily this set of mind was starting to slip.
"Cranbrook High, home of the socially impaired."
The boy snorted, "You're jokes seemed more funny while I was eating," he drawled, a smirk gracing pale lips as his guest let out a huff of contempt and mock offense.
"Where do you spend your five days of the week then?"
Sasuke looked genuinely amused as he answered, waving his hands about in wild gestures.
"Why here of course, seven days actually, unless I need to go grocery shopping which is rare thanks to you. I stopped attending when I figured the curriculum would be worthless in later years, and I'm glad I did, you make it out to be something like a living hell."
At this they both let out a peel of quite laughter, all before apprehension melting away into the growing dusk.
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"A-are you sure this is ok Sasuke?"
The befuddled teenager was grasping in her right hand a stained bronze key the size of her pinkie finger; slim like a small sliver of tarnished gold, shining in the glow of the surrounding pumpkins. The fall cold made her cheeks blush pink, but they darkened as he intently pressed his gift into her palm.
"I'm afraid that over the last couple years I've been giving you somewhat of a cold shoulder, please except my apology and visit more often. Dropping out of school has its disadvantages, it gets lonely on autumn days such as this."
Sasuke had an elegant tongue, like someone from out of a Shakespeare novel, turning daily conversation into a poetry reading.
"Sure, how about a day from now."
"How about tomorrow."
Sakura was slightly surprised by his aggressive tone but agreed readily and departed with the empty container in which she had earlier placed the desert, but before entering her home she turned to find that Sasuke had vanished and the house was reduced to a pitch dark shadow with not but the small light from her house to make out the windows, even so she could still see his red eyes, even if they were only in her mind.