T r u t h
C h a p t e r III
She beckoned for me to come, tears falling down her cheeks as she did. I approached her and she pulled me into her embrace. "M…mom." She never hugged me, let alone touched me after my father's death. "Mom…I'm here. Please don't cry."
She didn't say a word, sobbing into my shoulder. I hugged her tighter, hoping she'd be able to go back to her normal self soon. I hated the empty, helpless look she wore each day after Dad's death and since Itachi left. She looked a lot thinner and I came to the conclusion that she didn't eat much anymore. I wouldn't know for sure. She never ate with me at dinner. I'd sit alone on the couch eating cupped miso ramen, watching reruns of television shows.
Then finally, I heard her voice. It came out in a shaky whisper as she told me, "Y…your hair…I-it's so long now…" I felt her fingers entwined with my raven locks. "Y-you look just like your brother…"
I didn't know what to say to that, but soon found that I didn't need to say anything. She grabbed me by the hair, tugging me down onto the cold tile kitchen floor before pulling a knife out of the drawer above us. And then I heard her say with so much hatred and disgust in her voice, "Cut it off."
That night, along with a painful haircut, my mom beat me until I was unconscious.
I didn't go to school the next day.
My eyes snapped open. A dream? No. A memory from my past. The past I've never completely escaped from. Every now and then, I was reminded of my past in dreams. Realizing the tears that were streaming down my face, I sat up in bed, wiping them away before I heard a calm, comforting voice.
"Sasuke, what is it?" Itachi asked me, sitting up beside me and combing his fingers through my hair.
"…s-she wo…she won't leave me alone, Itachi." I told him, my voice barely a whisper. "I can't get her eyes out of my mind…"
My mom's eyes…the ones that stared up at me after she killed herself.
Without realizing it, I started crying again and Itachi pulled me into a hug, whispering comforting words in my ear. "I…I ha-hate it, Itachi…" I muttered into his shoulder. "…w-why w-won't Mom leave me a-alone already?!" Neither of us said anything for a while, but Itachi still held me in his arms until I calmed down. My eyes wandering to the clock at our bedside, finding red digital numbers blinking '7:25' at me. My eyes widened and I pulled out of Itachi's embrace. "Itachi, I'm going to be late!"
Class would start in five minutes.
Pulling my clothes on quickly, I stood in front of the mirror, glaring back at the reflection that was me. My eyes were red from crying. I growled, knowing I couldn't do anything about it now since I had to leave.
"Bye Itachi!" I called, about to leave the apartment when Itachi snaked his hands around my waist.
"Hey. What's your rush?" Itachi smirked at me as he said this. "First of all, it's Saturday, and second, you have a whole week off for spring break."
"Wh…oh." I said in relief, relaxing in his arms. "Itachi, why didn't you tell me?" I hit his chest weakly before glaring at him, very displeased in how I woke up that morning.
"I thought you'd figure it out eventually. And now you have." Itachi said, kissing me lightly on the forehead. "What would you like for breakfast?"
And that was how my day started.
The rest of the day seemed very relaxing to me. Itachi let me sit around the whole time, watching movies and reading books. But when he had to make an errand, Itachi called Deidara to come over. I found it weird that Itachi actually asked Deidara to come over for once, but paid no mind to it. Soon becoming very bored of everything in the apartment, I told the blond man that I was going out for a walk.
Deidara insisted on coming with me.
Slamming the bedroom door in his face, I fell into Itachi's and my bed, feeling very much like a prisoner in my own home. I wanted out of this place, but no one would let me go alone.
Reaching for the phone, I called my best friend.
Yeah, I have friends now. Well…one in particular. Naruto Uzumaki. Once I got past the complete idiot that he seemed to be, I realized it wasn't that unbearable to be around him. He was short, with blue eyes, blond hair and a really loud voice. I used to hate him, unable to make it past the mask he put up for others to see. But I realized he had a pretty tough childhood. I started getting to know him when Kakashi invited me to his house. Kakashi is his foster father. But before Kakashi, Naruto had been abused pretty badly, to the point that his drunken dad had carved some kind of design onto the blond's stomach.
Anyways, as the phone rang, I heard Deidara humming to himself from the kitchen, apparently making himself something to eat. And then I heard, "Hello?"
"Kakashi?" I frowned, expecting to hear my friend's voice.
"Sasuke, you want to speak to Naruto?"
"Yeah, that'd be great." I told him before hearing the blond's voice over the phone.
"Sasuke! You never call me! What's up?" Naruto asked me, sounding really excited.
"Uh, you want to hang out right now?"
"Sure!" I could almost hear him grin…if that's even possible.
"Alright, meet me outside my apartment." I told him before hanging up. As quietly as I could, I stood on the bed, opening the navy blue curtains before silently sliding the window open. I removed the screen from the window, placing it beside the bed before standing on the window sill. I saw the blond boy approaching so I quickly hopped down into the grass.
"SA-!" I motioned for him to keep quiet before running up to him.
Taking his wrist, I muttered, "Come on." And we escaped from the overprotective blond man that was probably sitting in my living room, eating.
We ended up outside a small café, drinking coffee. "…y'know, there was this guy asking for you yesterday. Did he find you?"
I froze. "Y…yeah, he did. What did he say to you?" I asked Naruto.
The blond shrugged. "He just wanted to know where he could find you. I told him where your car was. That's all. He acted like he knew you. Am I wrong?"
"Yeah…you are. I had no idea who that man was. He…kind of freaked me out." I ran a hand though my hair. "Don't…don't tell people who I am or where I am if you don't know them, okay Naruto?"
The blond bit his lip. "He didn't…try to do anything to you, did he?"
"What? No! Of course not. I just…that man was clearly out of his mind. I don't want some creep coming to my house one day." I told him, forcing a laugh. It wasn't a joke though. If Orochimaru knew where I lived…where Itachi lived, there was more of a chance that he could do something to my brother.
"Oh. Okay." Naruto nodded before getting up. "Wait here. I have to use the bathroom." The blue eyed blond left, leaving me alone at our table. Looking around, I saw couples walking around hand in hand and kids running around, laughing. Watching those kids made me remember a time where I thought nothing could go wrong.
We used to play together, even with our six year age gap. I felt Itachi lift me in the air, spinning me around in our backyard. I laughed and commanded him to do it again. Tired, I lied in the grass beside my older brother and I heard him whisper to me, "Sasuke…what that man did to you…I promise I'll never let you get hurt. I'll always be there for you, no matter what."
"Itachi…I think…I think I remember something from that day in the alleyway." I turned over, facing Itachi. "I…was walking near that alley…a-and that man came up behind me. I felt him behind him…I,I turned but I don't remember anything after seeing the man's eyes." I frowned, trying to think back. "I can't get his eyes out of my mind. T-they keep staring at me…"
My eyes widened as something caught my eye. Golden eyes looking straight at me. Orochimaru.
I stood up, moving toward the café door when Naruto came outside, cell phone in hand.
"Sasuke, I've got to go. Kakashi's gonna be pissed if I'm out too long." the shorter boy told me, a disappointed look clearly expressed on his face. "Well, see ya." Naruto waved, running toward his house.
"N-Naruto, wait!" I called out, but the idiot couldn't hear me. Then I turned, realizing that Orochimaru had vanished. My heart was pounding fast, but I was relieved that the man was gone at least for now.
Walking home, my cell phone rang. Answering it with, "Hey, Itachi." I got scolded by my brother.
"Sasuke, why'd you sneak out of the house? I told Deidara to come over because--"
"Yeah, I know. You don't want that man to suddenly appear at our place while you're not there--"
"Exactly. And I'm sorry if it seemed like a prison to you, but I just want you to be safe…" Suddenly, I felt someone grab me by the hair, yanking me back into a wall. I winced, accidentally dropping my cell phone in the process.
"Ngh!" I looked up to find the same pair of golden eyes looking down at me as they had before at the café. My heart nearly stopped as I realized who it was. "Orochimaru…wh-what do you want now?" I tried to keep my voice steady.
The man smirked at me. "Good afternoon, Sasuke. You're just the person I wanted to talk to."
T o B e C o n t i n u e d...
P l e a s e R e v i e w.
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