Before everything, I'd like to say that I'm very sorry for the very late chapter. Really very sorry!
And I can't even say that the reason was because I was busy because if I was, I wouldn't have been posting stories like some madman.
So... I do hope that this chapter will be enough of an apology.
If it helps... this chapter has fifty percent more characters than the previous chapters!
Chapter 4 – Chummy or Crummy Relations?
As soon as he got out of the car, the melancholic air around Sasuke disappeared. Instead of being depressed and broody and all that jazz, he became angry. Yes, angry. He couldn't believe it. Not one bit. He already knew that this so wasn't his week when he hadn't received any mail from his brother at all a few days ago, and now! Now! He had gotten his lips severely-severely... argh! There were no words that could express his opinion on the whole matter. He didn't even want words to express such a horrible, horrible event.
Kakashi had a soft smile on his face, which couldn't be seen at all because of his abnormally high-collared shirt – it was too high, too high to be called even a turtleneck. He preferred angry Sasuke more than broody Sasuke. Angry Sasuke had a tendency to be funnier than broody Sasuke in his opinion. But he usually kept this to himself. Angry Sasuke could also be rather violent.
Sasuke stomped to where his house was, a huge scowl on his face. The area around him seemed somewhat dark – Kakashi swore that he heard thunder and saw a spark of lightning from afar. He was a walking omen in the opinion of the other Uchihas in the vicinity. Oh, well. He could do whatever he wanted as long as he didn't hurt anyone enough to send them in the hospital or in a clinic.
Cowards, the bunch of them, Kakashi thought as he looked at the other Uchihas who were steering clear out of Sasuke. Then again, it wasn't as if he could talk. And, then again, it wasn't as if anyone else could hear his thoughts. Last time he checked, the Uchiha did not have any espers.
Though it was quite a sight seeing Sasuke marching to where he lived. It wasn't often that he got that angry. He usually looked bored or calm. His favorite expression, of course, was the good ol' poker-face.
Kakashi was definitely having the time of his life. Who knew that making Sasuke pick up his books or returning them would lead to something as amusing and entertaining as this!
Frankly, Kakashi had forgotten what exactly he made Sasuke do, not that he cared much about that. All he cared about was the effect. The cause wasn't as important as the effect.
... Or, yeah, he was growing old. Really old. And like other old people, Kakashi did not like to talk about his age. Not that he really was old or anything.
When he got his head out of the clouds, he found that he was now near the house where they lived. He also found yet another interesting scene.
There was the one and only Uchiha Itachi regally sitting – though it was lost on Kakashi as to how the man could make even sitting on a meager wooden, well-polished stair step – on one of the steps that led up to the large and traditional-styled house that they, meaning Sasuke, Kakashi, and Itachi himself, occupied.
And there was also Sasuke who was standing still, very still, in front of Itachi.
Needless to say, Sasuke was shocked. No words would come out of his mouth. He couldn't even think of anything to say or want to say to Itachi. To his brother. It had just been... far too long. Far too long.
Writing letters was one thing, but actually talking to the person was a very, very different thing.
Itachi had changed a bit. His hair had grown longer. Not by much, but Sasuke could tell that it had grown. He had burned the image of Itachi before the man left to go study or do whatever it was that he was supposed to do abroad.
Itachi's skin had also darkened slightly. Back then, the two of them were of the same pale complexion. Now, Itachi was acquiring the beginnings of a tan, a healthy tan. It wasn't much either. In fact, Sasuke doubted that a lot of people would notice.
Sasuke could also see that the bags under Itachi's eyes were larger than they used to be. That, too, was something that could easily be bypassed by people when they looked at him. But Sasuke noticed. He always noticed.
That was the thing with most people. They could endlessly admire someone and throw at them praises that could make just about anyone blush like an overripe tomato, but they wouldn't be able to notice the slightest of changes in their object of admiration.
At that moment, Itachi was the only person that Sasuke could see, could sense. He had been the only person that could appeal to all of Sasuke's senses.
And at that point, Sasuke was desperately trying to shake off that accidental – in his mind, he still blamed the whole thing on the idiot – kiss.
He didn't want anyone else to... to affect his life. Kakashi and Itachi and his best friend of sorts were already enough for him. He didn't want more people. He didn't want to let strangers in. No, not at all. Trusting strangers would be his downfall. And that was what Uzumaki Naruto was. Just a stranger. Nothing more and certainly nothing less.
After a few more minutes of brotherly staring, Itachi stood up, made his way to Sasuke, and said, "Sasuke."
That seemed to snap Sasuke out of whatever state he was in.
"Why are you back?" Sasuke asked a little too softly for him to like it. Itachi probably thought that he was going to go all emotional soon. Not cool.
He wanted his brother to see him as someone who could finally stand up on his own. He didn't need Itachi's smothering overprotectiveness anymore. He wanted to be equals now. Equals.
"Do you not want me to go back here?" Itachi asked.
One of the reasons why Sasuke admired Itachi was because his brother was cool and calm at every situation. There wasn't a hint of emotion in his face. But now, this talent of his was becoming quite a bother for Sasuke. The boy couldn't decide what Itachi was feeling so he didn't know how to act appropriately.
Uncharacteristically, he decided to just wing it.
"Aren't you supposed to be away for a few more years?" Sasuke asked.
That was the statement that kicked in his logical side awake. Yes. Why was Itachi back so soon? Itachi was not one to disregard his duties and ambitions for even family – this fact, of course, greatly saddened Sasuke, but he forced himself to accept it for that was how it would always be. This was very fishy business.
... What if someone had threatened Itachi to go back to where he came from?!
No, no. That was impossible. Sasuke internally shook his head. Itachi just wasn't threatened by people. He was usually the one who did the threatening, be it intentional or not. Then again, everything with Itachi was planned.
"I finished early," Itachi said.
"Oh," Sasuke said. That sure would explain it. Itachi was a genius, after all. "Then... why didn't you, well, tell me?"
It hurt, really. Not knowing anything at all. Even if Itachi was trying to surprise him, it would still hurt. Even though it did mean that Itachi was now home, it still hurt. Sasuke just didn't like people keeping things from him. He was sickened by the notion of not knowing anything. God, he wasn't a child or anything.
Sasuke licked his lips, suddenly finding them dry. Anticipation could be seen in his eyes.
Kakashi slinked away. This was getting far too heated. And it wasn't even the kind of heated that he liked!
Couldn't Itachi just have some sort of out of character moment and say, "I wanted to surprise you!", and then that would be followed by an equally out of character Sasuke saying, "Really, Ita-nii?! I love you so much!" At least then, Kakashi would be enjoying the... connotations of such words.
Itachi was quiet. Everything seemed quiet. Sasuke was nervous. It had been a while since he'd been nervous.
"Because I thought that perhaps you'd like it more if I was here myself to tell it to you," Itachi spoke after what seemed to be a million years. "Let's go home, Sasuke."
He turned his back on Sasuke and started walking towards their house, grabbing the handle of his suitcase and trolley as he passed them. Before he could put a foot on the first step of their porch, he felt a slight tug on the back of his jacket.
"It's... it's really nice to have you back, Itachi," Sasuke said, his voice suggesting that he felt somewhat awkward at saying that.
He released Itachi's jacket from his grasp.
As corny as it was, Sasuke had never been happier when Itachi said, "It's nice to be back." The barely-there smile on Itachi's face went unnoticed.
Kakashi, who was leaning on one of the large wooden beams of the house that he and Sasuke and Itachi lived in, grinned as he turned a page of his book.
"And how do you feel about this, Naruto?" Neji asked.
It was lunchtime of the day after what seemed to be Naruto's worst day of the week.
"I don't know! What should I feel anyway?!" Naruto exclaimed. "All I know is that I'm angry at him! Or, yeah, something like that. I can't explain it, really."
After a few minutes, he uttered what he had been saying for quite a while, "Stupid sensitive stuck-up bastard."
Shikamaru let out a sigh. Naruto saying that Uchiha Sasuke was a bastard – or any other evil-sounding name that he could affix to Uchiha Sasuke or the thought of Uchiha Sasuke or anything of the sort – was nothing new at all. He did it quite often. But now that Naruto knew what his... rival-in-love looked like, his "Uchiha Sasuke is the Anti-Christ" – and what was even more funny was that Naruto didn't even believe in Jesus Christ – rants became even more annoying and harder to not pay attention to for some reason unknown to Shikamaru and the rest of Naruto's table-mates during their breaks.
Though Shikamaru got the idea that Neji secretly liked to hear Naruto ramble on and on about his frustrations. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Neji wanted to take Psychology when he went to college and that he was using Naruto as his test subject of sorts.
Shikamaru looked at Neji, noticing the twinkle in those eerily pupil-deprived eyes. It definitely had something to do with Hyuuga's course choice.
"Look deep inside yourself, Naruto," Neji said, "and I'm sure that you'll find the answer."
Naruto blinked owlishly. The hell was that supposed to mean? He had no time – and, admittedly, brain power – to decipher Neji's words of wisdom.
Neji sighed inwardly. Weren't all teens supposed to know what that look deep inside yourself shit meant? Wasn't that something emo and angst-ridden? And weren't those two terms something associated with teens? There was definitely something wrong with Naruto.
"Just... eat," Neji said when he figured that his friend would never figure out what his words meant.
Naruto was more than happy to oblige. He dug in his first bowl of instant cup ramen that had been filled with water that he'd bravely pilfered from the faculty yet again. Most likely, a teacher of theirs was mourning the fact that they were deprived of coffee and they wouldn't be able to handle the brats that they taught.
"But, seriously, what should I do?" Naruto asked as he slurped noodle. "I mean, him 'n me are supposed to go spend..." he scrunched his face in thought, trying to think of a suitable word or term or whatever it was that he could use to describe what in the world he and Sasuke were doing, "quality time together and all."
"Ignore him...?" Shikamaru suggested. The very way he talked already said what he thought about the whole matter. Utter bullshit, really, but he couldn't stop himself from putting his own two cents in. "I'm sure that he'd return the favor, too."
Lee gasped, sounding very much as if what he'd heard from Shikamaru was something scandalous.
"Shikamaru! You can't possibly say that!" he exclaimed. "To ignore another person... it is rather cruel of you!"
"Well, Uchiha ignored everyone else, too," Shikamaru said, all the while hoping that Lee would just stop the topic at that and let him go back to his napping. Damned mouth. Running off without his brain. Damned Naruto, too, for making him answer and cause all of the fuss Lee was making.
"I'm sure that... Sasuke is merely... shy."
Naruto choked on his ramen. He dropped his ramen cup on the table – without spilling a single thing, too – and started flailing. He was also coughing and hacking the ramen that he had eaten.
He was also internally crying for the ramen that he'd wasted.
"... Lee, what the hell did you just say?" Kiba asked.
Lee, having been used to foul language now, looked at Kiba with question in his eyes.
"I merely said that perhaps the reason why Sasuke is so antisocial is because he's too shy to interact with other people," he said.
"That is just... wrong, Lee, wrong. Sick and wrong," Naruto said, finally getting his breath back.
"No, just, no," Kiba said at the same time. "I swear to god that you've just broken some sentence pattern rules there since Sasuke and shy don't fit in a sentence. Unless it's with isn't."
"I beg to differ," Neji said. "Sasuke isn't not shy."
"Neji's right," Shino said, taking a short break from his observation of the ant line that went from the end of their table where he was seated and to the wall that was beside him.
Ants were fascinating creatures. People just had to take the time to notice them.
Kiba merely frowned. Did those two have to take everything seriously?
"Guys, let's just go back to the original problem," Naruto said. "How the hell am I going to survive another afternoon with the bastard without trying to kill him?"
Shikamaru sighed.
"Like I've said, ignore him," he said. "He'd probably be happier that way, too."
"What if he insults me or something?" Naruto asked.
"Ignore him."
"... He does something that manages to lower my pay?"
"Where are you working at today?"
"Still the ice cream shop."
"Let him do it. And while you're at it, quit that job, too." Shikamaru had wanted Naruto to stop working at the ice cream parlor for quite a while now. It was a bit obvious that the owner didn't exactly like the blond.
Chouji, who had wisely stayed out of the topic and dutifully ate his bag of chips, slammed his large hand on the table, deftly surprising most of his table-mates.
"Naruto, whatever happens, don't ever quit your job at the ice cream shop," he said with such force that Naruto quickly nodded and solemnly swore to never ever quit his job at the ice cream shop.
Chouji went back to eating his chips. Naruto went back to irritating Shikamaru who honestly did want to ignore Naruto but didn't since he knew that Naruto would merely irritate him even more if he did that.
"Have you tried busying yourself with your work?" Neji asked. "It'll help you not get in contact with him and make your – what did they call that? – boss happier with you."
Neji came from an insanely rich family and hadn't been quite exposed to the notion of having a boss since his family was the boss.
Shikamaru blinked. And then promptly went to take his nap, feeling like an idiot. Well, Neji could certainly handle the problem.
Sasuke and Naruto heatedly stared at each other. Sasuke was standing right in front of his car's door and Naruto, of course, was standing in front of him.
"Teme," Naruto growled, obviously having forgotten that he was supposed to ignore Sasuke so as to avoid any casualties.
"Dobe," Sasuke replied in a much calmer tone that Naruto's.
They continued to glare at each other.
Kakashi then popped up in front of them and clapped his hands.
"There, there, get in the car now!" he cheerfully said. "Don't want Naruto to be late, now would we?"
"I wouldn't mind. I'm not the one working," Sasuke grumbled.
Nevertheless, he opened the car door and went inside. Naruto followed and closed the door behind him. The two of them gave each other a last glare before they scooted into their own corners, making sure that not a single part of their body would touch.
Even though they wouldn't say it, it was quite obvious that they had been rather surprised – traumatized, to be more exact – by yesterday's outcome.
Kakashi thought that it was just because the two of them were being their adorable, in denial selves.
He softly chuckled as he opened the door to the driver's seat. Oh wonderful. More of his tasteful shouta paradise.
All of a sudden, the day seemed brighter than the usual.
Naruto put on his work clothes and greeted people with a grin. He served tables. He cleaned tables. He was nice to everyone. He had to be. It was a part of his job. Then again, even if it wasn't a part of his job, he'd still be nice to people.
He glanced at Sasuke before he gave some kid a banana split.
It just wasn't fair.
There was the bastard, just sitting pretty and yet he was able to get the attention of almost everyone inside the store. He didn't need to smile to make people like him. He didn't need to do good things for good things to happen to him.
He didn't need to do anything to make Sakura like him.
It really wasn't fair.
Naruto had been pining after Sakura for a long, long time. A lot of people had been pining for her attention and her love for a very long time. And yet she spurned them all – but in a gentle way, of course, since she was Sakura – all for the attention of Uchiha Sasuke.
And Uchiha Sasuke never gave her any attention. But she still wouldn't give up. She was determined to make him hers.
Perhaps Naruto admired her for that. Falling in love with someone who'd most likely never love her back and someone who thought that she wasn't worth anything.
Suddenly, he, being the person who switched moods just as fast as a couch potato changed channels, became angry at Sasuke. He just... really couldn't help it. The bastard could at least be nice to his admirers.
While Sasuke was at it, he could also leave Naruto's mind alone since he really was making Naruto think more than he usually did.
He looked at Sasuke again. That was when a girl approached Uchiha with a shy smile on her face and clutching something behind her. A... letter? Naruto scrunched his face in thought. Oh, he knew this scene. He'd watched this happen to Neji before.
The girl said something to Sasuke and handed the letter to him with quivering hands. But he didn't accept it. Oh no he didn't.
"I don't like you," rang loud and clear in Naruto's ears. And so did the hand-muffled sobs of the girl.
Naruto didn't know what exactly he did, but after that, a scoop of chocolate ice cream was flying over the air and landed on Sasuke's head. It took a few painfully slow seconds for Sasuke to register what had happened. He gritted his teeth in anger.
Kakashi gritted his teeth, too. But that was because he didn't want to laugh since, as mentioned before, angry Sasuke could be very, very violent.
Sasuke retaliated with vanilla ice cream. It had hit Naruto on the face.
It was cold. It was slimy. And it was ruining his uniform.
"B-B-Bastard!" Naruto exclaimed.
He reached for some strawberry ice cream on the table beside him – on the back of his head, the cries of a little girl could be heard, but he ignored that – and raised his arm to throw it at Sasuke who was looking at him fiercely, almost daring him to throw the scoop of gooey ice cream. But before Naruto could move, someone held his wrist, the one that was holding the ice cream, in a grip that he just swore was going to break his bones.
He winced. The ice cream fell on his head, too.
He looked at Sasuke, thinking that perhaps the bastard was smirking. And he was surprised to see that Sasuke looked surprised.
Kakashi was surprised, too, but in an amused way. These days, he was almost always amused. And he owed it all to Uzumaki Naruto.
"What... are you doing to my younger brother?" someone asked in a low voice that was just whispering death threats.
Naruto gulped and faced the speaker. Dark-colored eyes bored into his blue eyes, into his very being.
Oh, shit, was the only thing that registered on Naruto's mind.
That was how one Uzumaki Naruto came to know the existence of one Uchiha Itachi.
Talk about intimidation, huh?
Seeing as how everything ended up being, it's most likely going to be the start of a crummy relationship.
And then that's it for this chapter! I do hope that it was enjoyable to read.
Thank you very much to all who've read this chapter and will comment/review on it. Thank you also to those who've, er, put this in their favorites and/or alerts and also to those who've reviewed the previous chapter/s. It's really very much appreciated as I wasn't at all quite certain that this would be come even the slightest bit loved.
Comments about character portrayal and such will be very much loved as they also help me shape up the characters.
And, um, to those who commented about the grammatical or word usage mistakes... er... I've forgotten the mistakes and so if... um... you're still rather happy to tell me what those mistakes are, I'd very much like to fix them. Please and thank you!