#1 – Roommate
"I'm sorry Itachi-kun. You're a good boy and I really don't want to do this, but this is the house rule. I'm sure you understand right?" Without waiting for his response, the landlord plucked the keys from his hand, offered one last apologetic smile and left. As the condominium gate clicked shut, Uchiha Itachi released a small sigh, feeling slightly ticked at himself for allowing this to happen. Of his list of priorities, paying his rent on time happened to be on top.
He reached for his phone and began scrolling through his impossibly long list of contacts, which excluding the preinstalled emergency hotlines, were 'Uchiha,' 'Shisui's Home,' 'Shisui's Apartment,' 'Shisui's Workplace,' and 'Sasuke.' Returning to his parent's home was not an option, and if Uchiha Shisui were to find out he was kicked out of his apartment, he would positively die laughing his ass off and use this knowledge to have his way around him. No way was he giving him that satisfaction. Shaking his head, he clicked on Sasuke's name and waited.
"Nhmm?"
"Where's the money?"
"What money?" Uchiha Sasuke answered groggily into his ear, his voice tinged with sleep. It was after all, seven in the weekend morning, where the only people awake were those going for a jog with their dogs, and the landlord; apparently there were rumours that the spinster killed her dog and was afraid it would come back to haunt her in her dreams, so she slept just enough to get by.
"The money for my rent." There was silence on the other end. "The envelop that I passed to you three days ago, when you came over?" He reminded with forced patience.
"Ah, that." There was a rustling sound, and he can imagine Sasuke getting up and ruffling through his spiky bed hair. "Sorry, Itachi, I think I lost it."
"You what-"
"It wasn't intentional, I was mugged! Damn that Orochimaru, he paid a hostess to spike my drink. I think he's still pissed off that I beat him to getting that handcuff supplier deal- "
"You went clubbing with my rental money? Weren't you supposed to head to the bank first?"
"I did, but the deposit machine broke down so I figured I'll just come back again tomorrow…" Itachi was speechless. He knew Sasuke was a smart kid, but growing up in luxury and savings account with a routine bank in had left him clueless to the concept of hard-earned money. "Look, I'm sorry, I'll head down to the bank and pay for your rent immediately. My latest dividend just came through yesterday-"
"I'll pay you back next month."
"No! It was my fault, you don't have to worry about that." Sasuke knew Itachi was cash strapped, and it was nice that he was not rubbing that fact on him.
"Don't forget to drop Hanazuki-san a call." After a couple more apologies, the call ended and he headed to the bus stop opposite, going towards Sasuke's apartment. He knew the apartment was popular, but he was only a day late, and he knew the landlord had a soft spot for Sasuke, so if all went right he might be able to reclaim back his home by tomorrow.
There was no way he was giving up his room, not after investing in that bucket of paint and revamping that space into a decent place. A place he could finally call home.
Itachi felt his shoulders slackened. It had only been a day.
"I'm sorry Itachi-kun. I'm sure you know, the apartments here are always on demand, having a good distance between the university and shopping district. Besides, this poor boy has been on the queuing list for the past months! I called him and told him there was a room, only to realise you've just banked in the money, but I can't possibly boot him off after that…"
Actually, you can. Itachi barely bit back that retort as Hanazuki Yukiko continued on, completely missing that flash of fire burning in his onyx eyes.
"Then Sasuke boy called and requested me to please keep the room vacant for you. I didn't want to disappoint him, so I decided this is the next best option, for all of us," She declared with a hand towards the door, as they waited for the new occupant to open the door of his home.
So you can't disappoint my little brother but you can disappoint me, the person who's actually paying. Itachi thought with resignation as the tenant finally showed himself.
"Kisame-kun, meet Itachi-kun. Itachi-kun, this is Hoshigaki Kisame, your new roommate."
So… These random scenes have been flitting through my mind for a while now, and I've decided to snip and fix them together to form a short story. Short as my goal is to make this a daily thing, ranging between 100-1000 words, depending on what strikes. Guys, feel free to drop your ideas – this is for made you after all.
