Author's Notes (Best not to be skipped):
I've rewritten some parts of the previous chapters, though I would only suggest you read the ending of the previous one.
Take Notice:
This is an Alternative Universe (AU) story set in our Earth – modern day world. Take this into consideration, especially when you are thinking/"frowning" about the reactions/choices or the general personality of the Characters that will be depicted.
This story is a Yaoi (male x male). This means that the homosexual relationship(s) between males is (are) illustrated.
If you're particularly young or aren't familiar/comfortable with this topic then I suggest you do not proceed to read this story/chapter.
Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Anime or the Characters!This work is for entertaining purposes only; I obviously make no profit from this.
All rights go to the creator: Masashi Kishimoto.
The only thing(s) that I DO OWN are the Idea (behind the story) and the story itself.
PS: The rating may change, as well as the title.
You, my friend(s), have been both informed and warned.
Chapter IV
With his eyes snapping open, Naruto jumped out of the bed, grabbed the clock and threw it out of the window like a baseball player throws the ball.
That should do it...! He...hehehe...
Appeased, his breathing slowed down and, sighing, he scratched his head annoyed.
"Nh...Sorry for the noise Itachi-san, I hope-"
Itachi was nowhere to be found.
Hm... AH! It can't be that I threw him out of the window too!?
He jolted, and ran to the balcony, looking down. Thankfully, there was no body.
...Of course not... haha...ugh...
He wiped away the sweat off his face, annoyed at his foolishness.
Looking around the room, he soon found the note Itachi left by the bedside table.
"Naruto-kun, good morning.
Thank you for taking care of me. I'm sorry I couldn't stay, however I had something urgent to do.
I have already left some money for the hotel.
If you need to contact me, my number is ..."
He glanced over at the table. Couldn't he just let it go? Naruto took the money and his phone, dialling the number.
Well, the number was correct all right, but... He turned around, grimacing at the phone ringing on the bed.
He grabbed the phone, dressed, and then called a taxi.
There was only one place- well, at least only one place that Naruto knew of- that Itachi could be at: his uncle's house. And even though he had only visited a couple of times, he considered himself lucky to be able to remember the address.
...
The closer he got to the neighbourhood, the faster his heart beat.
The reason was hazy, but it might have had something to do with seeing Itachi again... or with the fact that he didn't remember the house. He remembered the street and the address, just not the number.
He recalled the garden... and the trees shadowing the street, and... maybe the drawings on the fence? Don't blame him; the last time he had visited he was around four years old, a year prior to his parents' death.
Whichever it was, the taxi had reached the desired destination.
Now he had a choice: going around like a salesperson and ringing each and every bell until he found the Uchiha residence or to try and distinguish the house.
Instead of opting for total embarrassment this early in the morning, he decided to stroll around in hopes of sparking a memory.
Luckily for him though, he needn't walk far as he happened upon Fugaku, Mikito, and Sasuke's uncle on their way out.
They greeted him warmly and continued on their way.
It was nice seeing them. He hadn't in so long.
Fugaku and Mikito were wonderful parents. A bit overbearing at times, but still wonderful. After his parents died, Fugaku and Mikito treated Naruto as their own child and he was certain that they viewed him as part of the family.
At the very least he felt more at home with them than he did with his current guardians- his uncle and aunt.
In contrast to them, Sasuke's and Itachi's parents were more open-minded... which really came as a surprise since they were traditional in their ways.
Then again, Naruto thought, maybe it wasn't open-mindedness. Maybe it was just that the love for their children was stronger than their discomfort for their differences.
Naruto took off his shoes as he stepped inside and moved to the leaving room, where he found Itachi, Sasuke and Hinata.
They were comfily sitting on the floor, drinking what smelled like tea, and had a plate full of cookies.
"Naruto?" , "Dobe!", "N-Naruto-kun!"
"Didn't expect you would actually visit." Sasuke remarked, actually happy he was seeing his friend after so long.
"Ah, yeah, your brother- ... er, Itachi-san, you forgot your phone to the hotel." He said, handing the phone to him, and prepared to leave.
"Woah-woah!", Sasuke stopped him, hanging himself on Naruto's shoulders, "Where do you think you are going? You came all the way here, so sit with us for a while! How often do you get the chance to meet with your best friend- especially now that I live in the Netherlands? Plus, Itachi won't mind, isn't that right, Aniki?"
Itachi nodded, and made room for Naruto to sit as Hinata went to the kitchen to bring one more cup of tea for Naruto. By the time she brought him a cup, Naruto was already feeling like home, naturally chatting with Sasuke.
"Right, now that we're all sitting comfortably... where was I?"
"About your kid"
Naruto choked on the tea. Couching violently and patting his chest.
"WHAT!? Sasuke! Why didn't I know of this!? Aren't I your best friend!?"
"Shut-up usuratonkachi! We don't have a child!" he paused.
"Well" he looked over at Hinata, "We are trying. But... well, how do I say this... there's a good chance I may be impotent..."
"No way- no way!~" Naruto cheered. "You were such a flirt in High School! There's no way you're impotent!"
"This and that are two different things, usuratonkachi!" he fumed.
"Are they? Well, in any case, I can always rent you some of my genes! And stop it with the usuratonkachi!"
"Like hell I'm letting you touch Hinata! U-SU-RA-TON-KA-CHI."
"Wha- Who said I would touch her!?"
"Who do you think you are!? My wife is the most beautiful woman in the world and you dare not-"
She coughed, hiding her giggles. Though Hinata wasn't going to shout it out to the world, she loved being pampered by Sasuke. He was always complimenting her, and getting mad at anyone who would try putting her down. Not to mention he was protective, and sometimes overprotective, and easily got jealous. She loved that Sasuke, she loved teasing him.
He groaned. "Enough about my life. Let's talk about yours.", he gestured at his brother.
"I believe you are quite familiar with my life, little brother.", he lied.
"...What you will be doing from here on out."
"For now, I will be moving in with uncle. He has agreed to allow me to stay here until I can find a new place.", well, at least this wasn't a lie.
"You...will be moving?" Naruto mumbled.
"I thought about what you said yesterday... and you were right. I can't continue to stay in the house I lived with Shisui. Everything in it has his scent...",
"Either way" he rubbed his eyes, "Sasuke, will you help me pack?"
"Um...er, that's...I want to, but I can't. We-"
"I-Itachi-nii-san, w-we have a couple of appointments today. In case we really can't have a child of our own, we have already arranged for some interviews so that Sasuke and I will be able to adopt. S-so..."
"It's alright", he tried to smile. "I understand. I better get going then. I have a lot to do." Itachi stated, standing up.
"Ah! But Naruto can help you! Isn't that right?" Sasuke looked at him.
"Me? Hm..." he thought over it for a second. "Of course and I'll help! I don't have anything to do today anyway! Nah, Itachi-san, let's get going then! I'll help you pack!"
"You don't need to."
"It's fine, it's fine! ~ I've been through some hard moments myself, so if I can help you with anything, I want to."
Seeing as he wanted to return to his thoughts sooner, Itachi nodded.
Since he was about to leave, he took the cups and the plate to the kitchen in order to wash them, with Hinata joining him.
Once they were gone, "Hinata has gotten more beautiful." Naruto remarked.
"Hn..." Sasuke affirmed, leaning forward and peeking at her, "But, it's too late for you to have her. I... cannot live without her." he grinned gently.
"Yeah...! Especially those..."he gestured, as though squeezing something in his chest.
"! YOU!" he growled, grabbing his Naruto's collar.
"Hehehe... Calm down. You know you don't have to fear me, right?" He winked.
Sasuke groaned, letting him go.
"At least I know how to kill you." Naruto joked additionally.
"Riiiight..." Sasuke teased, but his expression became a more serious one.
He peeked through to the kitchen once more and then, leaning towards Naruto, cautiously whispered.
"So? What happened? Did you go to the funeral? I made sure to wait some more outside of the cemetery after it was finished but..."
"Oh, I did go, but fell on traffic- seriously, no kidding! I ended up running all the way there!"
"Talk about bad luck..."
"Yeah... Thanks though. If you hadn't told me..." his face darkened.
"Don't mention it."
Just as Sasuke finished his sentence Itachi and Hinata walked into the room, and Itachi with Naruto quickly left for his apartment.
...
Arriving around noon- as the apartment was situated near the centre of the city, in the opposite direction that his uncle's house was- they started packing immediately.
Upon entering, Naruto easily noticed the blend of cultures the design effortlessly merged.
Shisui and Itachi had the entrance customised to a genkan, a traditional Japanese entryway.
It is something of a combination of a porch and a doormat. The primary function of which is for the removal of shoes before entering the main part of the house. They are usually built a level lower from the floor, or recessed into it, to contain any form of dirt.
However, that wasn't the only Japanese feature. From paintings to flower arrangements, the house carried the scents of Japan.
By cleverly managing the space and even applying forced perception, the apartment looked Japanese but gave off a European air, which only added to its appeal.
They had to restrain themselves from any radical changes of course, as the house didn't belong to them.
They had made sure that all changes were reversible and, even if they did make any 'major' changes, then, upon moving out, they would pay for the apartment to be reverted back to its original state.
It was truly a lovely apartment, with many, many, MANY things that had to be packed, divided, given away or thrown.
It had to be noted that Shisui loved over packing the place.
It had taken them a 1 month, 3 days and 69 minutes until they had moved in.
And, just like in an orchestra the maestro orchestrates and the orchestra plays, Itachi did all the hard work and Shisui was waving his hands around, giving instructions- or 'supervising' as he called.
As Itachi and Naruto had a lot of stuff to pack, they started working right away.
The first thing they had decided to work on was to divide Shisui's belongings.
Books, clothes, gadgets and photo albums were but few of the things that had to be sorted out.
...
With the moon rising above them, they dropped onto the couch, groaning.
Not before he could have time to rest, Itachi forced himself up and with small, heavy steps, stumbled his way to the phone, going to the balcony to answer it.
He came back in a few minutes later, noticing Naruto holding Shisui's notebook.
"Ah, sorry, I just... It seemed interesting so I..." he tried to apologize.
Itachi moved closer, "It was Shisui's. Something like a Scrapbook. He would stick photos of the places he wanted to visit, or write about his wishes and dreams".
He took it and flipped through the pages to the last ones, where Shisui used to write the most important stuff, and began reading.
"... I want to eat a lot of sushi, sleep in a huge bed with Itachi, take warm baths with him, and cook for him. Getting a degree sounds nice as well. I want to travel all around the world and then boast about it. I want to work hard for many, many years and then, when I've finally grown old, I want to..."
He shut the book closed, giving it back to Naruto. "... to die surrounded by the people I love"
He paused right there. What an irony.
The deafening silence filled the room, before Itachi broke it.
"Naruto."
He jolted.
"We are finished for the day. You can stay here if you want... but I don't recommend it. The place is a mess."
"A-ah... Then, I'll see you tomorrow." He said, reluctant to leave Itachi.
He sighed. Finally alone.
He didn't really want to be alone, but at least when he was, he could be himself.
He could brood and sigh and groan and cry without anyone trying to console him.
Thinking about it from a different perspective, his situation was cruel.
His only sanctuary- the only place he could take off his mask- was the one place he didn't want to be at. At least his mind kept him busy enough.
From the endless list of responsibilities, at least he could cross out hiring a detective.
If all went well, he would start working on his case within the following days.
...
It hadn't even been five minutes since Naruto left that he heard the bell rang.
"Naruto? What..?"
"Nah, Itachi-san, since you're dressed come with me!"
He looked at him skeptical.
"Remember yesterday when I mentioned Ero-senning? Well, he's here! I'm going to meet him right now, and I'll even stay at his place! So..."
Itachi denied it.
"Come on! You need to-"
"-LOOK! ... IT'S NOT SO SIMPLE! You DON'T KNOW!" he barked at the top of his lungs.
"I just lost someone dear to me. Someone I was prepared to spent my life with! And you are here telling me to... what? Visit your family?
I don't mean to be rude- it's the last thing I want. But this entire week I kept hearing about how people can help me, how I should go see some psychologist, how I should simply 'let go'. This entire week I kept hearing people telling me that they 'know how I feel'." He paused for a measly second.
The person I loved is dead. He was raped, beaten, humiliated and stabbed. Left to suffer all alone.
And now the monster that attacked him is taunting me to go after him.
So...no. You don't know how it is. You don't know how I feel.
I don't want to forget. The only thing I want is to see that monster dead."
"You are right", his voice shivered. "Truth is, I don't know what you are going through.
But the pain is the same, right?"
"Losing someone", he patted his chest; "I know how devastating it is! You can't ever see them again! You can't hear their laughter and they can't hold your hand!"
"They can't... drive away your fears. And they can't soothe your pain"
"They can't... they can't comfort you when you fail... And..." He snuffled, not wanting the tears so show.
And the loneliness ensnares you.
"There's no one to help you pick up your pieces once someone breaks you..."
"Because they are dead. And..." He sobbed, "No matter how much you pray..."
"No matter... how many cranes you fold... or how many four-leafed clovers you find..." his chest spasmed.
"They won't come back..." He completed, and fell right into Itachi arms, crying.
"I'm sohgry... I'm so... so s-shohry..." He mumbled in between his hiccups.
Itachi shook his head, "Don't be- you don't have to be! I... I was the one...", he hugged him back tightly.
In the end, Itachi was subdued and, after Naruto had calmed down, they went to meet with Jiraiya, Tsunade and Orochimaru.
Chapter IV: the end
«To be continued»
Afterword:
I bet right now you are thinking "Well, this chapter was uneventful"
Yay! Well done, what do you want? A cookie?
...
Any complaints that you have, please put them on your review.
Do you think I could improve something?
I'd love some constructive criticism... or some encouragement.
Even the tiniest bit counts! Please help me improve.
