MY LOVE

to everyone who would read this. I just remembered a story I read and tried typing it. And it turned out like this! Ahh…my first oneshot!

Sasuke's POV, femnaru, mute Naruko

There would be an OC…Sasuke's unrequited love and no yaoi. Enjoy!

I would have not minded at all if only my older brother, Itachi, had just shut up and forgotten the whole mess this morning. But he kept his lousy mouth open,the veins on his red face almost jumped off as he shouted at every damned body in the house. I could have socked him right in between the eyes. Only, I was not in the mood this morning. Besides, he was not really mad at me, or anybody. But he kept damning everybody; Itachi was really deriding Naruko. Naruko, who had not been able to finish polishing the floor, since the moment my brother got mad. She kept running the wet rag on the already white floor. The varnish had peeled off and she had not even noticed it.

Anyway, Itachi did get mad and I knew it was because of something Naruko, our 16-year-old maid, had done. The booming sound that my brother emitted hurt ears. He kept asking who stained the white, cotton shirt he was going to wear this morning. The shirt was a gift from Ciara, his girlfriend. And he had worn it only once. The rust left an uglycresent stain at the back of the shirt. It really did look awful especially when the shirt is immaculate white and 100% pure cotton. Exasperated, he took it from where it lay on the table and bellowed at Naruko.

"Damnit! You little imp did it, didn't you? Say you did it, say it!"

But he could only get a weak "uhmmm…" from Naruko who was on the verge of tears. She is mute. There was a feeling of desperation about her as her lips twitched. It was pitiful, the way she looked.

Itachi could not stand it. I couldn't either. I took the book I was reading to our room and left the two of them. It was very nauseating, having to shut myself in a room when everything outside is in a turmoil. It was crazy. You feel you have escaped and are secure, and yet inside, you know you have not and are not.

The house was suddenly silent. A moment later, Itachi barged into our room. He hurriedly took a shirt from the cabinet which we shared and looked haphazardly at the mirror. He was gone before I could tell him anything. Anything at all.

From the door that was flung open, I saw Naruto wiping her eyes with the hem of her printed dress. I pushed the door close and threw the book I was reading. I lay on my bed for hours. Just thinking.

Today is Saturday and we have no classes. Father and Mother are both out in the province. They had to attend some political caucus. I do not know if they did some hocus-pocus there, though. So Naruko and I are the only ones left in this two-storey housewe could have been three if my brother did not go out. We are not entirely alone, though. There are three families living in the three-door apartment below.

Besides, there are people living in our garage, too. Naruko's mother and two younger sisters live there. How did they get there? Well, it happened three months ago. Tsunade-san, Naruto's mother was washing clothes for the people down below when my mother asked her to do the laundry for us. Mom had a hard time asking for maids in the agency that she gambled on Tsunade-san. Naruto was not with them when they moved in. After two weeks, Tsunade-san suggested that she would get another daughter from a cousin so that we could get a maid. That was when Naruko came. She did not look like any of her sisters. Her shiny blond hair was left to remain down. She had smooth tan skin and beautiful, cerulean blue eyes. She also has three whisker-like scars on each cheek. Well, she was really beautiful, the first time I saw her. And I knew why she didn't look like any of her sisters. Her father was different. I don't know the whole story but Naruko's father deserted her mother the day she was born. Tsunade-san lived with another man after that and he became the father of Naruko's younger sisters. They were not lucky, though. The man was knifed to death after a drinking spree a year ago. That is why they had to continue washing clothes for a living.

Now why am I telling you stuff about Naruko? I want you to know her and understand her, if that could be possible. That's why. And there are many others like her who need to be understood, too. Have you ever wondered how many of them cry every night and lose hope every second of the day?

If I sound solemn at all, just forget it. My emotions sometimes overpower me at a time when they shouldn't.

"Sasuke!"

Someone is calling me. The voice didn't sound familiar to me. Could it be Naruko who started to talk because she was shocked at the outrageous words Itachi said to him? But it sounded too deep and doesn't seem to fit Naruko's petite figure. Naruko must have gone down to cook lunch so I'm pretty sure it's not her.

"Hey, Sasuke, you home?" the voice called again.

I went down to our front stairs to see who it is. Pein, my classmate was already holding the doorknob. I had no other recourse. Although I was not very enthusiastic, I had to let him in. Pein is one of the guys in our school you would not want to talk to. He's too perverted for my liking.

"Hey, kiddo. I caught you right this time." He said patting a hand on my shoulder. I nearly slumped off the stairs. I told you, I never like him. "Come on, have a seat." He even had the nerve to say that to me when we got into the living room.

I took a seat, though. Then he took the footstool of my father's divan and sat in front of me. He is really like that every time. Always cool and casual.

"Well, what now?" I asked him outright.

"Did you know that there are new talents at White devil?"

White devil is a cocktail lounge on the other side of our town. It is where some boys and girls from exclusive schools hold their a-go-go disco affairs.

"Yes?"

I have been there with Pein and the boys. I did not like it. It was so dark, you don't even know whether you're standing on someone else's foot or what.

"Boy, the new talents are really terrific! I've invited the whole gang except you. I didn't see you at the gym yesterday."

I have been avoiding them, Pein and the whole gang, for almost a week now since the school started. That was four months ago. Pein is a newcomer in our school. He was kicked out of his former school. He was aloner during the first days of classes, so our gang had sort of in vited him to join us. I didn't know he was like that. I mean, his being a pervert and all.

"But I can't go with you. I've got to study for the unit test on Monday. I can't, really."

"All right, what's eating you, Sasuke? I'm telling you all about these gorgeous talents and now you're telling me you've got to study for the unit test. Boy, you'll be missing lots of fun!"

"Why not invite me some other time? I really do not feel like going."

"Oh, come on, Sasuke. I'll pick you up at seven. Unit tests are no match for the 36-23-36's you'll see there!"

"I don't want to go! I told you I don't want to!"

I really flared up, I didn't even notice Naruko enter the room. Pein wasn't even listening to me. He was looking at her like a wild dog who had not eaten for days. Naruko was taking something from the fridge at the corner of the dining room(our living room is a combined sala-dining room). Her head was bowed all the while.

"ok, ok. Cool down, Sasuke. Now I know why you didn't wan't to come. There's a lovlier talent here."

He was starting to walk down the stairs before he said, "I'd better be going." How relieved I was, after that the jerk was gone.

I was hitting the air with blows when I heard a faint giggle. It was from Naruko. Her small hand tried to suppress the sound, and she had gone behind the curtain before I could tell her anything. It seems people like to disappear whenever I try to tell them anything. They just don't want to give it a try. I feel like an imbecile sometimes. Anyway, I'm happy Naruko could giggle now. She has a courageous heart. Imagine, forgetting about the rumpus this morning. Maybe that's why I like her. A brave young lady…

You know something? I feel like giving her a genle kiss on the cheek. Just once. Only, I don't have the guts to do so. But if I did, I would do it and even give her the poem I wrote last night. It goes like this:

The moon told me to prepare

For some task I did not know

The sun told me to go

To some place I never trod

The violet bade me to tell

Something I never thought

The wind gave me courage

For something I never dared

And they all said in chorus:

It's time! It's time!

It baffled me for days

Before I realized-

My heart's been dead for days

And dead til now

Because only the flame from you

Can spark it to life anew!

Of course I didn't write it in english. She never reached the first grade. But she could read hername even when when it's held upside down. I don't know where she learned how to read, considering that her mother never teached her any.

However, I postponed the poem-giving ceremony till the next day. I wrote the verse on the pink stationery which I got from Itachi's drawer. I wrote in print so Naruko wouldn't know who sent it. She is very keen, Naruko is. Then I folded the letter in the 1-4-3 style my gang taught me. My gang knows all the tricks. Careful that nobody would see me, I placed it in the dirty clothes basket just before dawn. Everybody was asleep, I'm sure, because the 'symphony of snores' filled the air. Only Naruko could get the letter. Nobody in the house dared to examine our soiled clothes. They have such a musty smell.

Then, a week later, I was lying on my bed reading my favorite manga when I heard the doorknob being turned. 'It can't be Itachi,' I thought. He usually stays late in his office. And certainly, he could not open the door as cautiously as that.

Then a hand, small like a child's, emerged from the half-flung door. I knew whose hand that was. Naruko's. immediately, I covered my face with the manga and pretended to snore. So Naruko, her little body and all, walked into the room holding a small, white envelope. She was smiling in her own sweet way as she opened the drawer and put the letter inside. Then she went out just as quietly as she came in. I jumped out of my bed to see what she had written in her letter.

My dearest Itachi,

Before everything else, I hope that you are in fine condition. You know, Itachi, I was wondering right now because of the poem you gave me. I never thought that you have a hidden sentiment for me because you never gave any hint of your feelings for me. However, I am willing to forget what you did to me before since you purposedly did that so nobody will know what you really felt.

I also love you, Itachi. And I hope your love will not change.

Love,

Naruko…

P.S. please don't tell our secret to anybody. Not even Sasuke.

I felt crushed. So Naruko thought it was Itachi who wrote her the poem. And if somebody discovers this letter, it would be the end for her. Kami-sama, I wouldn't want that. Not even if Naruko really loved my brother. I took a matchbox from Itachi's desk and burned the letter. I was so engrossed looking at the burning paper that I didn't notice Itachi enter our room.

"What's that, Sas?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing. Just another one of those Physics experiments."

"Where's Mother? Tell her I've got a date with Ciara tonight."

"Yes, Itachi."

"Are you sick or something, Sasuke?"

"Of course not."

"Just tell Ma for me, okay?"

Itachi was humming a tune when he went out of our room. I was alone again. I didn't bother to pick u p the ashes on the floor. I knew somebody would sweep the floor.

Naruko did, the next morning. And Naruko did so many things in the days that followed. She waited for Itachi to finish his meals before eating hers. She now looked after Itachi's clothes—a thing which she never did before. It was Itachi this, Itachi that, while I nurse my broken heart.

It really hurts when you see your loved one loving another. Naruko was my first love and first heartache. I even wished I was dead. Everything seemed murky and bleak. Yet somehow, I realized that I could not have all the things I wanted all the time. My gang, sensing that I didn't act the way I used to, tried to console me. Pein was no longer with them. He had been expelled from the school for punching our history teacher. It was like facing reality for the first time. Basketball, in the weeks that followed, took all my time. I still had my thoughts for Naruko, though.

But the biggest blow in my whole 16 years of life came when Mother told me Naruko would no longer be with us.

"Why, Mom?"

"It's your brother, Sasuke. Do you still remember the day when Ciara came over?"

"Yes."

"Well, she saw Naruko. Itachi told me that she got jealous when she saw her."

"Jealous of Naruko?"

"Yes, you know how girls are nowadays," Mother replied with a teasing look in her eyes. "Ciara didn't stop nagging your brother until he promised that Naruko be fired in a week's time."

"But, Mom…"

"But what, Sas?"

"Nothing, I was just thinking…"

I really wanted to protest then. Their actions were unfair. If Itachi did not like her attitude, why didn't he just ignore he? After all, what could a mute girl do? She couldn't even kill a fly! Her only fault was that she was really in love. It's not impossible after all.

Naruko went back to her aunt's place. Never to come back, perhaps.

Her mother and two sisters still live in the garage, though. You can still hear Tsunade-san shouting at her children on who would do this and that. And the families downstairs still having their own domestic affairs on who ate the remaining pound cake from the fridge; will the yellow curtains match the sala; and why is the weather too hot today; etc.

Before, the scenesand time were complete. Not now. I'm missing a lot of things. I miss the times when I can talk to Naruko with only our hands. We got confused at times but we somehow managed to get the meanings.

I wouldn't say that I cry at night. Yes, I get lonely sometimes but I try to be how Naruko was when she was still with us. Strong. I'm almost a man now, you see.

Tomorrow, I'll be

End

Hello there! How was it? Give me comments! Constructive criticsm is welcome, too…