Formal Attire
Mikoto sighed and glanced at the kitchen clock. Only ten minutes before they had to leave.
Fugaku's cousin's wedding was today. It was deemed proper that, as one of the oldest and most prestigious clans in the Leaf Village, all Uchiha weddings were to be traditional Japanese weddings, like her own had been. However, the bride wanted a modern wedding, and Fugaku's cousin bent to her every whim.
So here she was in her dark blue dress and black high-heels that clicked with her every step. Ultimately, uncomfortable clothes that she wouldn't be wearing if it weren't for this occasion. Mikoto had never met this cousin of her husband's. And image meant so much in this family...
There was the softest of sounds behind her. Mikoto turned and found Itachi standing in the doorway. He must have wanted to alert her to his presence.
"Good morning, Mother."
"Good morning." Mikoto smiled at her eldest son.
"Are you all right?"
The question caught her off guard. "Yes," she answered. "I'm fine."
"You sounded anxious."
Of course. The whole house must've heard her pacing up and down the hallways and back and forth through the kitchen. She tried to sound reassuring. "I'm fine. How are you?"
Her twelve-year-old picked at the collar of his tux. "This is stupid," he muttered.
Mikoto was a bit taken aback, though she covered that expression so fast that even her prodigy son couldn't see it. This was the closest Itachi had come to complaining in years. Being considered for the Anbu at age twelve, it passed right over most people's heads that, no matter how mature, Itachi was still, more or less, a child.
Mikoto bent down and began to retie Itachi's tie, which he'd done a very poor job of tying himself.
Itachi seemed equally surprised. It had been so long since someone had attempted to help him with anything. He was expected to learn to do things himself. Needing assistance was looked down upon. When his mother finished, she smiled at him. Itachi fingered his correctly tied tie.
"Arigato..." He said a bit awkwardly.
Mikoto had to concentrate to make sure her smile didn't waver. His response had seemed so formal. Children were supposed to respect their parents, and the boys often addressed their father using traditional Japanese but still...
She straightened and saw that she was no longer that much taller than he was. The thought made her heart break, but she smiled at him.
"Let's go find your brother, shall we? I'll bet he's having even more trouble than you did."
Review please!
I don't own Naruto.
I should have gotten around to revising this quite some time ago... It took two recent reviews for me to really be bothered by the mistakes. ^^' But this is officially revised.
