Disclaimer: Characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto, who's a creative genius, but sucks at telling stories.
Please notice that the way orphanages, convents, and nuns are depicted in my story don't reflect my personal views on them nor how the real deal is. This is nothing more than a fictional story.
English is not my first language so please forgive me and if possible, give me your opinions and constructive criticism so I can improve. This is a translation of my story Orfanato, the same thing but in Spanish. Hope you enjoy it.
Food
Food was, without any doubt, one of the worst things that existed in that cold and gray place.
Many times he had been complimented, admired and even envied for having the eyes he had, a wonderful and privileged pair of eyes that he had inherited from his grandpa; a truly powerful sight that allowed him to see way more than what was normal. But in occasions like these, he fervently wished he wasn't like this, because with his exceptional black eyes he was able to see the fat nuns eating delicious food in the table at the very front of the dining room, away from where the kids like Itachi and Sakura were sitting.
He was perfectly able to distinguish how they gave giant bites to their food that barely fitted inside their big, gross, and greasy reddened cheeks. He could also see how little they chewed their food with their mouths wide open, looking like disgusting frogs eating insects, and how they were almost choking trying to swallow the entire mouthful at once. However, the worst was watching the crumbs and greasy juices dripping down from the corners of their mouths to their clothings, staining and dirtying them.
Itachi felt his shirt being softly tugged down from below the table. He turned his head to his right and saw those beautiful pink strands that adored so much. Sakura's little face looked sulked.
- Itachi, it tastes so bad - she said in a whisper while looking at the "food" she had in the bowl in front of her. It was a gray looking paste, with giant lumps that looked like marbles, which definitely wasn't eatable.
- Eat as much as you can handle and the rest give it to Chouji, he will finish it- as surprising as it sounded, the kid with round cheeks ate everything that was in front of him without any hesitation. The little girl nodded and smiled, with one of those smiles that all kids make when they understand something. With a determined look and holding her breath, she took a spoonful of the weird looking paste and put it inside her mouth without thinking much about it, trying to swallow it as fast as possible so as to not taste it.
Itachi wondered why they were treated so badly, why the few good things that existed within that confinement were exclusive to the old fat women with yellow teeth, skin blemishes, and stains in their clothes, but not for his little sister or the rest of the kids. They turned a blind eye, as blind as they were to their own unhealthy selves, as they almost killed them from starvation and neglect, but they preached the lord's word with such fervency that was intimidating... Old, nasty, and hypocrite women, thought Itachi angered and disgusted, if only they realized what came out of their mouths, both words and leftovers.
It wasn't enough with feeding them those nasty and harmful meals, but they forced them to eat them too, whether they wanted it or not. Furious, while he watched with his penetrating stare the women at the end of the room, he focused on swallowing what he had in front of him without bringing it up like the poor guy on the next table had done, even though the heaving was making it a very hard task. Surely, the kid that vomited would have to take a bath with cold water or wash everyone's clothes of the day for "wasting" that food that wasn't even adequate for an animal. But things were just like that in that damned place.
Truly, he didn't understand why these women that so obviously hated kids had to make an orphanage out of their convent if they didn't have the vocation for it. But of course, money talks and orders around, and attracting donors and charity out of pity for kids without parents was an easy route. Even so, Itachi didn't get why they had to live in such poverty, with walls and roofs filled with cracks, dry and rotten paint, chipped and discolored wood, ramshackle, half broken, and fragile furniture that would definitely break if it wasn't for the fact that almost all the kids were malnourished. They did something with that money, because it was clear as water than they didn't invest it on improving the conditions of that place.
Itachi, annoyed and surly, and still enduring the retching that that nasty food caused him, looked down to his sister that was repeating the same thing he was doing, trying to swallow while fighting the urge to puke. He saw her make gestures of disgust, how she tried to breathe far away from the bowl to not smell it, and how she held her breath when she again got closer to the bowl to take a small and smelly mouthful more.
And Itachi thought that it was enough. It was enough of such torture to his sister and to himself. So he decided he would steal a little bit of the leftover food from the nun's table, hide it under his dirty and baggy clothes, and share it in his bedroom with his little Sakura. Although it wasn't as simple but risky, having an opportunity to reach his goal and have a little bit of decent food was worth it. Besides, he was agile, fast, sneaky, and evasive, just enough to try it and believe his own skills would get him to complete his auto assigned mission successfully.
Finally, he couldn't take a single bite more and passed the bowl to the kid that, even though it seemed incredible, ate and swallowed everything. He, delighted, accepted the extra bowl. When Itachi saw the confused look in his sister's face, the black haired boy indicated her to do the same, to only eat what she was able to while enduring not throwing up, without forcing herself anymore, and to give the rest to Chouji once she was done, just like he himself had done.
He turned his head and intently watched the only fat child in the orphanage. He wondered often how that boy could still be alive after eating the food they were given and in so much quantity. Probably, he thought trying to cheer up and entertain himself a little bit, that the plump kid had a worm hole inside his stomach, or that maybe, with so much food that seemed to come from the sewers, his taste buds had died and his stomach had become immune to the effects of the close-to-poison food.
Dinner time was finally over with the ringing of the bell that sister Mariya tried so hard to ring loudly. The chaos in the room started when the children began to stand up from their tables, getting ready to put the bowls and cutlery that they were carrying into the giant sinks to later get in line to be taken to their bedrooms. With innate mastery of his young and light body, although quite skinny, Itachi, taking advantage of the chaos in the dining room, scurried in between and below the tables until he reached the farthest corner, hitting his left leg with the corner of a table but without noticing it, he quickly took some cookies and an apple, he shoved them inside his clothes and just as quickly as he had gone, returned, again scurrying between and under the tables, to the line of kids, taking his own place. He attentively looked around, trying not to move too much to avoid looking suspicious, trying to find any indication that he had been exposed by any of the supervising nuns in charge of keeping the order. But no one was staring at him, so it was probable no one saw him when he stole the food, he thought.
He felt the adrenaline flowing through his body, disturbing his breathing and heart rate to levels almost suspicious. Itachi tried to dissimulate as much as he could, he even held his breath when he walked in front of one of the nuns, however, she didn't notice anything weird. The black haired boy started to feel guilty and disappointed of himself. Stealing was a very dishonest thing that he had never done before. He was too proud and dignified to do something like that, however, he didn't mind denting his own dignity, be punished, or having a bad reputation if with that he managed to get a little bit of proper food to feed his little sister. Without liking the idea, he accepted that even though he was a victim of certain circumstances, he was still fully conscious of his decisions.
The journey to the bedrooms was tense, even more for the black haired boy. He still wasn't safe of being discovered. It wasn't until that moment that he started thinking where would he hide the leftovers (were they left), how he would conceal the little crumbs or the dirtiness in the floor, or what if they noticed the bulge in his hip or he accidentally dropped the food when he made a funny movement. The stress was accumulating in his shoulders, he realized having stolen the food was the easy part and the difficult one was to make sure no one realized it, ever.
The children had to walk in perfectly ordered lines, one for boys and another one for girls, however, at a certain point, the lines stopped having that perfect order since Sakura walked by his brother's side on the boy's line, holding his hand, because with her small steps she usually was left behind by the sisters that were always in a hurry. Every few steps, in the different corridors to the bedrooms, they all stopped to leave a couple of kids (a pair of boys or a pair of girls, but never a pair of a boy and a girl) in their bedroom and locked them, because kids were not allowed to be outside their bedrooms at night. The farthest bedroom was Itachi and Sakura's, the only ones exempt from the rule.
The nuns left them, warning them with that annoyed tone that always used when they talked to the kids, to get ready soon because in a few minutes they would come again to take them for their daily baths in the late afternoons.
Itachi was able to breathe once he heard the latch turn when the nun closed and locked the door with the key, the keys leaving the door lock hole and the steps of the nun walking away. He finally was able to feel somewhat safe, his shoulders relaxed immediately, if only a little, and he left out a big sigh which caught Sakura's attention. She looked at him with questioning and curious eyes. He heard the low growl that came from Sakura's little and slightly plunged stomach indicating she was still hungry.
Guiltiness scourged him with full strength and he started doubting himself. What if the food he stole wasn't enough to fill her unsatisfied stomach? Maybe, from the very start, he shouldn't have taken the chance because had he failed, he would now be definitely with hands as empty as Sakura's stomach... but at the same time he had to consider if forcing themselves to continue eating that foulness was the best option. He then decided that if it was necessary, he would somehow get out of the bedroom to go and steal a little more food so Sakura could be full. After all, he had already done wrong, how much could affect him to do it again if it was for a good cause.
-Come -he said while he sat down on the bed and took out the food from below his shirt. She approached him timidly. -Look - he indicated, showing her the apple and the cookies.
-Itachi...you shouldn't have -she mentioned faltering, surprised. Her eyes became a mix of concern, sadness, and a little bit of happiness. She knew what that food being there meant, and if before she was confused as to why Itachi told her to give her bowl to Chouji, she now understood. With teary eyes, in a single look she thanked him a thousand times and scolded him a thousand and one more. But she couldn't deny it, she was happy to finally eat something that looked delicious and so appetizing, even though at the same time, thinking of what her brother had done was painful and saddening, without even mentioning her guilty conscience that was starting to make her feel bad.
- Hey, stop crying and eat quickly. If we are discovered, we'll be in a lot of problems - he pressured her with some haste. Even though they were already in their bedroom, he was still worried, without being able to relax completely because there were still chances that something went wrong.
The little girl promised to herself that that night she would make a lengthy and special pray so God could forgive them for sinning, and in the next instant, the girl's eyes enlightened and she happily took one of the cookies that his beloved brother's hand offered her. It tasted sweet and the texture was crunchy and overall really nice. She quickly devoured the small cookie and asked for another one.
Itachi was delighted watching her eat with so much excitement, overflowing with joy. That was precisely what he meant before, he could go to hell and violate his own values all for that sweet smile. He gave a few bites to the apple, taking off some of the apple's skin so she could bite it easily since her mouth was small, and gave it to her. The juicy apple filled Sakura's lips of its sweet juices which he wanted to clean, but he let her eat until she was satiated.
From the small amount of cookies he had taken, only two remained along the apple's core, which no one eats because it contains the seeds. Not enough to satiate the boy's stomach, but enough to give him the strength needed to endure the hunger until the next morning when they were given the breakfast. He begged internally that they didn't decide to simply give out the reheated pasty and lumpy meal of the dinner.
-Itachi, thank you. I love you so much -she said with a cute smile, she threw herself at his brother's arms and gave him a chaste peck in his lips.
That kiss had taking him by surprise, the crumbs that had stuck to her sister's mouth as well as the apple's taste now were in his lips, and he gladly licked them.
- I love you too, Sakura - and he smiled, with one of those rare but warm smiles that showed only to her.