One can wonder what someone would or should be doing on a cold, whitewashed winter night. The mind instantly conjures up images and thoughts of warm seats by a fire; people bundled up in woolen, scratchy sweaters, and cups of steaming hot cocoa. The sounds of children tittering at the sight of the dancing steam that wafts off the surface of a mug.
This isn't the case, although, for Itachi Uchiha, who happened to be alone in his dark home. The nights alone have plagued Itachi for some while, the solitude driving him internally insane. He couldn't take it, the silence. It reminded him of just how alone he was, with no one to hear him, or even talk with. His mind was constantly wrapped and harassed with emotions that picked and tore at his mind, prying into dark crevices that weren't meant to be inspected.
Walking through his house, the raven decided it was another night for his mind to wander, while his body stayed in the confined walls of his home. The sound of black, leather shoes echoed through the halls of the Uchiha mansion, the said man racking at his mind to find something that could bring him some sort of sound. Slim arms were crossed behind a slender back as vermillion eyes fixed themselves on the long hallway, occasionally glancing to the odd portrait or two hung perfectly along steel gray walls.
The stoic Uchiha wandered the hall until he reached an open room, where black, velvet curtains were parted slightly behind a large window overlooking a crystalline lake, frozen over in the fierce cold that was old man winter. Crimson eyes trailed the shafts of moonlight slipping through the parted curtains, watching the dust dance in the chill of the midnight air. Narrowing his tunnel of sight, he followed the vast area of light to the foot of an ebony chair leg, his eyes moving to the supple leather of the seat, accompanying a large, spotless, eerily black, grand piano.
Striding over to the velvet curtains, Itachi pushed them back in a swift tug, watching the room fill with the light of the luminescent moon. Standing there for a moment to observe the craters that marred the moons features, he was suddenly distracted by the way the light bounced off the snow. The now twinkled and snowflakes gleamed in the light of the moon, the reflecting light turning the snow from a comforting empty white, to a chilling blue. Transfixed by the way the snow was falling so softly, the raven haired man stood there for a few moments more, pondering nothing but silent and empty thoughts.
It was comforting, in a way, to think of nothing but those empty, meaningless thoughts. But of course, reality was always the bearer of bad news, and interrupted this hopeful moment of eternity with a pang of paranoia. Paranoia about noise. Itachi needed a sound, any sound, to drown out the paranoia.
Turning towards the grand piano that was situated within the middle of the room, he strode over to the plush seat, and sat himself down, placing his hands in the appropriate positions over the gleaming ivory and ebony keys. He didn't know what to play, if anything, to drown out that poking sense of paranoia.
Calming himself down with simple breathing exercises and straightening out his back, his shirt shifted around his toned frame to hug his skin and stature, comforting him with an invisible warm reassurance. The emptiness of even that was calming, and he relaxed his tense muscles enough for him to think clearly, pushing the paranoia to the back of his mind.
Closing his eyes, he let his mind wander, but in the form of musical notes. As he rose his hands it seemed the room held it's lingering silence, standing on it's 'last-limbs' while the crack in the glass of quiet was soon approaching.
Digits were suddenly in contact with the keys, creating a slow, but calm tempo, which gradually picked up both in speed and emotion, the piece currently conveying Itachi's very thoughts and innermost feelings. His fingers danced just like the snow in the moonlight did, almost mimicking their very movements.
Itachi kept his eyes closed, though the corners of the Uchiha's mouth were slowly being pulled upwards in a soft smile, rather enjoying the great sense of accomplishment. Defeating the everlasting silence was a great feat to Itachi, now that he had found a source of sound. He had battled this silence for so long that he had forgotten what a sound that a piano could make.
His playing was music to his ears, the paranoia now gone; his mind was finally at ease. His fingers continued to dance and mingle over the keys, the lingering edginess that was present in his mind, now gone with the paranoia, the great sense of accomplishment radiating from his very being.
As his fingers slowed into the last minutes of the song, the room seemed to slow down in tempo with the music. Even the snow that continued to fall outside had reduced in size and speed, now fluttering down like the migration of small specie butterflies. The music echoed throughout the Uchiha household, filling the normally emptied rooms and halls with the sound of triumph, longing and hidden emotion.
Slowing his fingers down to the point where nothing but ringing silence remained; Itachi finally opened his eyes and smiled to himself. He had come to the realization that it doesn't matter if you're alone or not. Or who was there to listen or hear you. All it matters is that happiness and complete soundness comes from within yourself and your own actions.
By breaking through the harsh silence of his life with the sound of a piano, he was able to connect that if you're able to break through such a feat yourself, you don't particularly need another person at your aid. You could work with yourself when ever you'd like without having to rely on another, and find your own happiness within.
With that, Itachi got up from his seat, the music still resonating through his mind, he stepped over to the curtains and looked up once more at the glimmering moon. The Uchiha was still smiling though, as the change from silence to the echoing sound of piano music chisled itself into his mind, which replaced the constant negative senses of paranoia and aloofness.
Extending both his arms, his eyes stood locked on the moon as he grasped the soft surface of the curtains, remaining the eye contact as he slowly shut them, leaving the room and himself to reminisce in darkness, still with a smile adorning his features.