Authoress' note:
Hey! It's been a long time since I've written... And, as usual, Sakura-chan is still the star of the story.... Minus Uchiha Sasuke-kun since.... I placed Naruto-kun in! Of course, this is because of a gorgeous picture of Naruto that I saw... with his hair down and his eyes dark! (Swoons) He seemed a bit mysterious, you know... But I still love bubbly Naruto-kun!
Hahaha, anyway... Still a fan of Sasusaku... so, family is all I can manage.... hehe, enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto... XD
word count: 1500 (minus the notes?)
P.s: I threw in some japanese words.
Shitsuji means butler
Twinkle, Little Star
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Light flashed brightly through the tiny opening in such surprised frenzy that her emerald eyes were forced to momentarily close.
The pausing silence that followed was broken by a deep sigh.
"You should be going home at this time." A gentle voice told her. She only hugged her knees closer to herself in response to his sudden suggestion. After all, he had always let her be. She was silent for a while.
"I don't want to go home yet," she said in a firm resolve, staring at the peering eye from the opening.
"They will look for you." He insisted, motioning to open the door completely. She immediately stuck her little feet against the entrance, effectively blocking his attempt. He sighed again.
"They never look for me." She told him as her eyes sharpened to stare at his beautiful onyx orbs clearly.
She had always loved his clear eyes, his understanding eyes. But... she can't love them today. His eyes showed pity.
Finally, he sat to her level, peering into her sad emerald orbs. It always seemed so watery, always ready to shed tears, whenever he looks at them.
"Sister will be very worried." He said, looking at her with his heartening gaze. Her eyes were blank with apathy as she continued to look at him, though a tinkling laughter blubbered from her lips. This time, he looked as if he was about to cry.
Seeing this, she stopped laughing, but still, an ironic smile remained.
"Ne, uncle Kakashi, did you know?" she said in a conspiring whisper that hid underground secrets of the heart. She laughed a bit, before telling him with childlike wonder, "She never worries…"
He stared at her twinkling eyes with poignant onyx orbs, shook his head in defeat and gently closed the door, filling her sanctuary with the darkness she seeks.
He said, "When she's lonely, she always hides in absolute dark places… She never likes knowing she's alone, you know?"
"Onee-san," he said in surprise, rising from the seat where he had fallen asleep waiting for her. He waited for her to enter the room through the window safely, worriedly searching her face as if for clues of her whereabouts. His sister looked at him with hooded eyes, still crouched by the window.
"What are you doing here, Naruto?" she asked him, her hand supporting her entire weight. Naruto watched her silently, his normally bubbly azure orbs were anxious--- he looked almost ready to leap off after her in case she went out of balance. Her room was, after all, on the second floor of their gigantic house.
"Naruto," she repeated. Naruto ran his fingers through his bangs, laughing nervously.
"You always come home early, but apparently, not today and… Iruka-shitsuji-san called for a search team since mother was coming home today. I thought that I might possibly wait for you so that you can slip in and we can greet her together and…" he trailed off, his eyes flicking nervously as she stared at him with blank eyes.
"Naruto…" she murmured, sitting down on the window sill and playfully swinging her legs back and forth. Her eyes were calculating, dangerously cunning as she studied the figure of her beloved little twin brother.
Her eyes smiled at his anxiety. It made the room smell murky, taste bitter.
"Stop trying to protect me," she said with a dark voice filled with sinister lace, her eyes bright in the dark room. He swallowed thickly; she added, "I might eat you behind your back."
He stepped back in surprise-- in sudden fear-- as her face momentarily seemed to show insanity. He almost ran out in fear, as he was supposed to.
Yet…
Yet, his feet stayed glued to its placed, enticed by a picture of the night:
her sitting at the window, one knee hugged by her right arm while her left hand was on her hair, her fingers weaving through her cherry blossom hair that was sparkling ethereally against the moonlight. Her face was curtained by the darkness of the moon, but her eyes still shined dazzlingly, with sharp glimmers adorning her emerald orbs. The dark face was focused on him, the sparkling eyes staring through him… then…
She smiled at him, her canine glittering with a dangerous glint. He finally ran out, saying a hasty goodnight to his beloved sister. It was the perfect reaction to her perfectly planned actions, he thought.
Later, leaning against the wall perpendicular to her door, he could hear her laughter from her room. At that moment, there came droplets cascading from his eyes, the tears she was supposed to be shedding, not him. But, he thinks he was supposed to—in place of his sister.
After all, they robbed each other of human essence.
He said, "She thinks she's the enemy… always distancing herself from me. She thinks she's dangerous, but all I can see is the tenderness she always thinks she's hidden perfectly well."
He added, "She has many facades; she likes to contradict her feelings with them. I see through them, and I try to match myself to her moods, 'cause, a twin is supposed to be like that, you know? It's a natural law."
Still sitting at her place by the window, Haruno Sakura watched the far-off moon nestled gently against the velvet sky. Closing her eyes, she imagined her little fingers gently running through that night sky blanket, fingertips smeared with the luminous stars.
Twin-kle, twin-kle lit-tle star…
How I won-der what you are…
Her eyes opened, unshed tears gleaming from her eyes. She hummed the little star song, until sleep hugged her quietly, gently… like the mother she'll never have would. Very, very tenderly…
Up a-bove the world so high…
Like a diamond in the sky…
The hum ran through her head, like a lullaby. She snuggled closer to a void of dreamless sleep. It had been so warm and comfy…
She said, "If there is one hell and one heaven, I'll be stuck in the middle far thinner than the earth's crust. It's destiny, because I was born with no place in both. It's because I'm just his shadow—a shadow as troublesome as an added existence. After all, I stole his other half…"
"What are you doing, Naruto?" Mother CEO asked Naruto, waiting for him to finish placing a medal in the vast collection. Naruto turned, bowing to her as she took a seat behind her desk. "Come sit down and tell me. You seem very composed and polite today… unusual, but I guess you are, after all, maturing."
Naruto complied—ignoring her tease, a bitter smile on his face.
"Sakura-chan… Sakura won a contest a while ago… but she left the grounds very early so teacher asked me to get it instead. I placed it for her in there, because she was very tired tonight and cannot greet you as well." Naruto muttered, a 'polite son' façade tipping his face towards apathy.
Mother CEO stared at him, studying him for a while. Finally, she said, "How is your day? You seem tired, Naruto."
Naruto bit his lip, aware of her evasion to his sister's concerns. Then, Naruto smiled. "I am fine. I started practicing archery today, mother."
Mother CEO nodded in approval. "You have very tasty ideas, Naruto."
She said, "My daughter is born to be a wife. She has no place in popularity and fame. In contrast, my son will inherit the company. I must support him with all that I could."
In the cradle of the night, underneath the twinkling stars… just when she succumbed to the numbness of sleep, as she held oblivion close with a hearty embrace… her arms had dangled limply by her side, her weight unsupported by her strength… Then…
Gently, like a cherry blossom fluttering from its abode, she weaved through the night air… falling down like a melody dancing in our ears.
In a flick of time, under exactly 3 seconds… earth hugged her entire body close as she painted it with crimson smears...
Beneath the twinkling stars, against the thick walls of their gigantic mansion, no one heard the woman born to be a wife as she danced with the darkness tonight.
If there is one hell and one heaven, I'll be stuck in the middle far thinner than the earth's crust.
But there is one heart, to which she has stolen the other half, where her fall was as loud as a mermaid's wail; he looked up in a jolt of surprise, an electric shudder running through his entire body.
Then, he knows.
I see through them, and I try to match myself to her moods, 'cause, a twin is supposed to be like that you know? It's a natural law.