Disclaimer: DNON
For Sasuke-teme's birthday, even though he is a jerk and it's a day late :P
For the second time in nearly as many months, there was a presence in Sasuke's room. The first time had been over a month ago on Itachi's birthday, and now it was his birthday and the presence had appeared again. For a moment, Sasuke debated on whether or not to open his eyes—last time he had, the presence had disappeared, leaving behind a single black feather that Karin had burned because it "Could carry horrible diseases, Sasuke-kun!". He decided to keep them closed for the moment. The presence felt familiar, almost comforting, like a child's teddy bear.
He did however, want to know who—or what—the presence was.
"Who are you?" he asked, sliding a hand under his pillow until his fingers found the kunai he kept there. If it was an enemy, and he doubted that because they would have attacked while he was still asleep and unaware of their chakra. If it was Karin, which was likely but which Sasuke also doubted, she would have jumped on him already. She wouldn't linger like this.
"Foolish otouto. You don't remember what it feels like to be in the same room as your aniki?"
Sasuke flung the kunai and was disappointed when he saw Itachi had caught it neatly between the index and middle finger of his right hand. His sharingan activated itself immediately. "You bastard." he hissed, so the other members of Team Hebi wouldn't hear. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Visiting my foolish otouto on his birthday, of course." Itachi said. "Did you know your old teammates still buy you a birthday present every year?" Itachi's lips quirked. "It's rather amusing, considering that you have tried to kill them all on numerous occasions."
Except Sakura. Sasuke reminded himself.
"Che. I don't care about them." Much. "I don't care about anything any more. Thanks to you, my only desire—you should know what that is by now... aniki." Sasuke resisted the urge to rip his blanket into shreds. He wanted so badly to kill his brother right now, but he knew the instant he tried, Itachi would vanish and leave him feeling just as foolish as Itachi had always said he was.
"This will be the last time we see each other like this, otouto. Next time, it will be on the battlefield." Itachi smiled suddenly, and the pools of crimson that had been his activated sharingan drained away, leaving behind obsidian pits that resembled Sasuke's own eyes. "Until then—a present."
Sasuke pulled his feet away from the foot of the bed as a package was tossed carelessly where his feet had been only a second before.
"Later, otouto." Itachi disappeared in a cyclone of black feathers, leaving Sasuke to carefully prod the box with a finger to see if it was dangerous—Itachi had taken his kunai with him.
After probing it gently with chakra as well and detecting no traps or poison of any sort, he picked it up and set it on his lap. It wasn't particularly heavy, nor was it very large, about the size of a large book. And that was one of the things he found when he peered inside—a photo album. It had been carefully packed with rolls of bandages to keep it from moving around too much and possibly damaging it.
He pulled it out gently, and an envelope fluttered out of the pages and landed in the box; he picked it up after setting the photo album aside, noting that there were several scrolls in the bottom as well. For now though, he wanted to read the letter. He'd check the scrolls after.
To his surprise, it didn't contain pleas for his return, even though it was Sakura's small cramped handwriting.
Sasuke,
I don't have much time to write this—less than ten minutes, actually. (Thank goodness I'd already put the pictures into the album!)
Happy Birthday, Sasuke. You'll probably be happy to know that Naruto and I aren't coming to bring you home any more—and you know it's true, Konoha is your home whether you like it or not. They say that if you love something, you're supposed to let it go, and if it comes back it's yours.
I've been making this album for a couple of years, and I've got pictures of everything that's happened since you left. The scrolls in the bottom are for you, as are the bandages. The scroll with the blue ends is for storage, the one with the pink ends will summon help for you if you ever need it, and the scroll with the black ends contains weapons—Don't use them on our shinobi.
Naruto's getting married to Hinata in April, I think you should know. He's leaving the best man position open. I hope I see you there.
—Sakura
Sasuke replaced the letter in the envelope, feeling as if a great weight had been lifted off his chest. Now he could do as he wished, without having to worry about those interlopers from Leaf. And yet... a new weight had settled somewhere in the pit of his stomach.
He shook the feeling off and decided to look through the album.
His heart skipped a beat.
The ever-cherished genin photo. He and Naruto glaring and scowling at each other respectively, Sakura in between them, smiling like always, Kakashi, a hand on his and Naruto's head, the tell-tale crinkle around his eye that told everyone who knew him he was smiling.
He, Sakura, and Naruto on the training field, Sakura looking ready to drop, he and Naruto stubbornly remaining on their feet and glaring at each other. Kakashi was hiding in a tree to the... left, reading that familiar and well worn edition of Icha Icha Paradise.
Naruto being scratched up by the runaway cat, Tora. (Was that damn thing still around?)
Kakashi with pink hair. (He remembered that particular prank with glee)
Kakashi with red paint in his hair and orange, blue, and pink paint on the faces of the Hokages. (They had had to run very far very fast to escape him)
Hyuuga Hinata and Sakura making a daisy chain on a hill he had used to frequent.
Sakura, sitting (he noticed with a pang) on the very bench he'd left her on, tears in her eyes and the arm of a girl he remembered as Yamanaka Ino.
Naruto choking on ramen while Sakura pounded on his back and every one else in the shop laughed. (That didn't surprise him at all)
A boy who resembled him—he remembered him as the spy he had tried to kill that first time he had met his teammates after two years—sketching on a small pad of paper. (Caption: Sai in one of his less annoying moments.)
Annoying. The very word he had used to describe her (and every other girl in the world).
Nara Shikamaru, doodles on his face, obviously in the middle of one of his famous naps. Sasuke snorted at the words 'Lazy Ass Genius' scrawled across his forehead in Naruto's untidy handwriting.
Akimichi Choji and Yamanaka Ino fighting over the last piece of meat at a restaurant, Choji looking noticeably thinner.
A girl he recognized from the chunin exams, the one with four pigtails and blonde hair, whacking Shikamaru in the stomach with her way too-large fan to wake him.
So many things he'd missed.
Naruto and Hinata holding hands, Hinata blushing a shade of red he'd only ever seen on tomatoes.
Shikamaru and Ino, in the middle of a street, holding hands and kissing as if the people walking past did not exist.
Shikamaru and Ino at a wedding reception, Ino still in her white dress, Shikamaru looking uncomfortable but happy in his tuxedo. (Caption: They just had a daughter, Yuki, March 15th!)
Sasuke closed the album.
"...See you soon, Aniki. I've got a wedding to attend."
Owari.
A/N: I had to do it. I had to write it. R&R Please! (And expect a companion fic or two to go along with it) :D