Chapter 8: The Gathering of Kin
It was the twenty-second of July, one day before Sasuke's birthday. Over the past month, Naruto had asked him about what he had wanted countless times, but Sasuke merely shook his head and said nothing was necessary.
He had, since the departure of Itachi, put aside his birthday as a normal day; it had been too painful for him to celebrate his special day without his special someone, but nevertheless Naruto had been insistent. And Sasuke shook his head once again and said he didn't want to be showered with any of the attention.
On this hot summer day, Sasuke was more nostalgic than ever. He had raided his closet for all the photos that he had taken with his brother; this was his method of soothing his nerves, and it worked fabulously, he realized after laying out the albums on his bed.
On this hot summer day, his t-shirt laid limp on the floor near his desk and Sasuke was on his stomach flipping through pictures and was too busy smiling at the memories to do other things. Naruto had disappeared somewhere, Sasori wasn't home, and Neji had boarded a plane about seven hours ago in the States and was now on his way over.
Two years ago, his uncle had sent him to study abroad and he did not have the power to refuse the order that was given to him by his guardian. Sasuke sighed. He remembered how devastated he was when Neji told him he'd be leaving.
"Hey."
Good 'ol, Neji with his soothing voice, always wanting to comfort Sasuke.
"It's alright," he softly said, as he gripped onto the trembling shoulders of the ravenette. Neji wasn't much older than Sasuke, their birthday only several days apart, but he always sounded like he had everything under control.
"I don't understand," the young Uchiha murmured. "Everyone's leaving me. First, Itachi and now it's you." Sasuke let out a small laugh that sounded more like a scoff than anything. "What did I ever do to deserve this?"
"Don't say that," chided the Hyuga heir. "I'm right here promising you that I'll send letters frequently. You just gotta wait for that god-awful mail carrier who's slower than the end of time. But, hey," he cupped the Uchiha's face into the palm of his hands and stared into those midnight black orbs, "since you're so special to me, I'll put it through Global Express Guaranteed." The brunette winked and Sasuke felt a growing blush blossoming upon his pale cheeks. "So expect a letter from me within one to three days, and don't worry: I'll keep 'em coming!"
That had lifted the young Uchiha's spirits, but not enough to stop him from gripping onto Neji when it was time for him to enter the gates.
"What if you come back and you're different?" was Sasuke's disconcerting question.
Neji chuckled, a sound that sent tingles up Sasuke's spine. "Dear Sasuke," he said, "if I come back any different, you'll just have to whip me back into shape."
Sasuke had relaxed his grip then, enough for the brunette to slip past them. He ruffled the younger's hair and smiled sweetly at him. "Take care. Expect to hear from me."
And just as swiftly, all Sasuke saw was his best friend disappearing through the gate.
The young Uchiha only turned his attention back to reality when the low buzz of his phone reached his ears. Picking it up, he noticed that he had received two text messages. And just as he suspected, both of them were from Naruto. He opened the first one and nearly cringed.
HEY, TEEEME! PICK UP YOUR GODDAMN PHONE BEFORE I BESTOW UPON YOU SOME SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES AND-
Message deleted.
He loathed the way the dobe texted. Absolutely no decorum or any sense of self-preservation, Sasuke thought. The second message was better, but it still needed some work.
Sasuke dear, please pick up your ridiculously sexy phone so I may have a gentlemanly conversation with your heavenly self.
The Uchiha snorted. The second message must have been Naruto's way of begging him to pick up his phone. The blonde knew that only by being nice was he able to get into Sasuke's good graces.
He hit the call button and waited for the blonde to pick up. As soon as he heard the click on the other side, he spoke, aware of the fact that he'd save himself from a severe case of hearing impairment.
"What is it?"
"What are you doing?!"
"I get five miscalls from you and two absurdly urgency-laced text messages and I end up getting a 'What are you doing?' from you?" he asked incredulously.
Sasuke heard laughter on the other line and scowled even though he knew Naruto couldn't see it. Sighing, he replied, "I was busy daydreaming in the land of the free."
His explanation was accepted with a snort. "Whatever, teme! This is like the millionth weird thing you said since forever."
"Hn."
"Anyways, want to go see a movie?! I'll treat you!"
Sasuke rolled that thought around his mind for a bit, mostly to tease Naruto with his silence, but after some bribing from the blonde to buy him whatever he wanted, he agreed with a grin.
"Sure, what time?"
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
It was more of a "bang" that reached Sasuke's ears than a knock. It had startled him slightly, before he narrowed his eyes upon hearing the blonde's answer.
"Right now."
Then came the young Uchiha's eye roll. So typical of Naruto, he thought, as he went downstairs. He wrenched open the door and asked, "Are you stalking me now?"
He was met with laughing eyes as Naruto scratched the back of his head. Another typicality of his when he pulled off an infamous action of his. He scrutinized the blond momentarily, as if he was suspicious of his motives, before he noticed the tinge of pink that dusted itself across Naruto's face.
It was then that Sasuke realized that he had yet to put on a shirt. His briefs didn't help the situation much either, as anyone could see the outline of his manhood with the briefest glimpse down south.
The Uchiha muttered a quick apology and held the door open for the blonde. "Give me a couple minutes," he said as he headed upstairs. The last thing he saw was Naruto raiding his fridge.
Sasuke had thrown on a black, cotton t-shirt and a pair of cargo shorts and went into the bathroom that was adjoined to his room to wash his face. The heat was seriously suffocating him. He was back downstairs in three minutes tops and was fiddling with his hair. Sasuke noticed that Naruto had already helped himself to a bag of tomato-basil chips that he had kept in the kitchen cabinets.
He frowned; that had been his last bag of heavenly goodness, but shrugged it off when the blond smiled innocently at him. It didn't matter, he thought; Naruto said he'd buy him anything he wanted anyway.
-H.J.-
The chocolate raisins were exquisite, Sasuke concluded after finishing his first box. Even though didn't match up to the ones he usually got at the Sweet Factory, they sufficed. He reached over to Naruto to get a second box and mentally gave himself a pat on the back for demanding Naruto to buy him four spare boxes. That had been over twenty dollars washed down the drain because he decided he deserved such a reward if the blonde was going to eat all of his chips.
They chose to watch the newest Bruce Willis film, a film that Naruto was gushing over when the commercials began airing. Even worse, when the movie actually reached theaters, he was begging Sasuke to come watch it with him.
About forty-five minutes into the movie, Sasuke was halfway done with his box of raisins. He sealed it and instead, leaned over to grab a handful of popcorn from the huge tube that was in Naruto's lap. Unbeknownst to him, as soon as he did so, Naruto eyes trailed from the screen to him and stayed rooted on him.
Their upper biceps pressed against each other. That was the first thing Naruto noted when Sasuke first leaned over to take some of his popcorn. When Sasuke leaned back, he had thought that their contact would have been broken, but the Uchiha had not assumed his original position. In fact, every time Sasuke leaned over to grab a small handful of popcorn, Naruto could feel his skin against his and that fact delighted the blonde.
He turned his head back to the movie after marveling at the Uchiha, unable to deny Sasuke's blinding beauty. The way his dark lashes flushed against his cheeks. The way he licked his lips when he was in thought. The way he brushed his hand through his hair out of habit.
Naruto smiled sadly.
Sasuke was right next to him, but it felt like he was in a different world. He felt like they were both from different worlds, and Naruto didn't deserve him.
-H.J.-
It was difficult for him to reflect a neutral countenance when the giddiness in his chest could easily overwhelm him. He was out.
He was finally out.
He was finally done with this prison.
Itachi had to bite the inside of his cheek to refrain from showing emotion. Stepping out of the front doors without a single nurse watching over him, he felt the elation wash over him in waves as the sun flooded into his vision.
He went as far as pinching himself on the arm, something that he had seen Sasuke do countless times to rid dreams from reality, to assure that he wasn't daydreaming. Sure enough, there was a sting and a little welt where Itachi had done so and he could no longer contain it. He smiled a small, secretive smile to himself as he walked further and further away from the tall, white buildings.
The timing couldn't be any more perfect. Sasuke's birthday was tomorrow. He had already missed two of his birthdays, and he didn't want to miss another.
Looking down at his attire, a pair of dark-washed black jeans and a crimson t-shirt, the same attire that he had when he first entered the place, he shook his head and decided that it wouldn't do. The shirt was no longer a comfortable fit for him. It had grown tight due to the muscle growth in his biceps, abdomen, and torso. He did not look ridiculously toned like those body builders on television, but he looked like a leaner and slimmer version of them. His jeans were still a perfect fit, but Itachi wanted more presentable attire.
The inheritance he had received years ago combined with the amount of money that he had made prior to this engagement was more than enough to live a comfortable and cozy life, he thought. Maybe he'd buy the boy a car. Itachi shrugged, batting that thought away. That was too dangerous to even consider.
He needed to find a suitable gift. A suitable, perfect gift.
Patting the same picture that he had kept under his covers for the last two years, the one that was safely tucked away in his wallet in his front, right pocket, Itachi smiled and waited for a cab.
It would take him a while to find a suitable gift.
-H.J.-
"Huh."
Sasuke had to admit A Good Day to Die Hard was an exceptionally good movie. He hadn't expected that, especially when he didn't care much for the first one. He took one glance at the time on his phone and noticed that it was only midday, 1:35 pm to be exact. Beside him, Naruto gave him two thumbs up, having deciphered his opinion of the movie.
"Let's get something cold to drink and head to the department stores." He eyed the blonde. "Since you're being particularly nice today and offered to buy anything I want, I need a few singlets to battle this weather." Sasuke smirked and crossed his arms.
"'Che! Whatever, usuratonkachi! A promise is a promise."
But Sasuke was already walking off in the direction of the closest noteworthy store, one that was opposite to a photography studio. Naruto was running behind him, calling him to wait up, and garnering quite a few annoyed looks from people all around. Sasuke, too, had whirled around and glowered at him, hands deep in his pockets and shoulders stiff.
And at that moment perhaps… perhaps if Naruto hadn't been two inches taller than him and physically bigger he would have seen the back of a familiar lithe figure across the balcony from him. Perhaps, if Naruto hadn't blocked Sasuke's view, he would have seen an identical copy of himself purchasing a gift at the register.
-H.J.-
Sasori was home early for more reasons than one. It was true that he often worked many hours, but he did so in order to provide for himself and, more importantly, Sasuke. Thus, he was home because he missed the boy.
However, when he came home to an empty house and a sticky note on the fridge, he sighed, poured himself a quarter of a glass of Black Velvet on ice, giving it a splash of cranberry juice, and sat down in his armchair in the living room. He only had a chance to set it down on the coffee table before a knock resonated through the house; the source came from the front door, directly in front of his line of vision.
"Come in."
A twisting of the brass knob. The 'clack' of boots. The soft click of the door closing behind the guest.
Sasori had just invited the second reason he was home early nowadays into his house.
FB:
A letter had arrived from the asylum, and it was addressed to Sasuke; however, Sasori was the first and only person to read it when it came by mail on July 18th.
Dear Uchiha Sasuke,
The following patient has been scheduled to be released from our institution's medical treatment:
Uchiha Itachi
This is due to favored results from a wide expanse of behavior analyses, mental stability, and the lack of any form of relapse in faulty actions for a long-term period of 18 months and 3 weeks. The patient has been greatly scrutinized for bipolarity and paranoia by a high class medical team that is composed of 13 people, 7 Japanese doctors and 6 foreign doctors from the States.
This letter is informing you that the patient will be released early morning on July 22, 2013.
Thank you for your time.
"I've been waiting for you."
The clinking of ice sounded against his glass when he pushed it in the direction of the sofa to his right. The coaster under the glass added to the gracefulness of this movement.
"I know."
The murmur was almost too low to hear.
Sasori watched as Uchiha Itachi strolled towards the sofa with the grace that he had always possessed. He sunk gently onto the plush furniture and rested his chin on the hand of the elbow he had propped up. His dark lashes fluttered against his pale cheeks, and the humble smile on his lips almost made him look like the same Itachi from ages ago: cool, composed, as if he was seducing the world with that single smile.
-H.J.-
Itachi picked up the glass and took a sip from the glass. The corner of his lips tilted upwards in appreciation at the combined flavor of the liquor.
"It's been a while. I see you still remember my tastes." He gestured at the glass.
"You forget how many times you've ordered that when we went out clubbing together."
Itachi crossed his right leg over his left and rested his right arm on the back of the couch. "Clubbing," he said, tasting the words on his tongue, "it has been a while since that, too. Shall we experience it tonight?"
"What happened to your mental capacity to only think about your brother?" Sasori grumbled, giving Itachi a suspicious glance.
"Sasuke? Oh yes, is he doing well?" the Uchiha inquired with a curious gaze directed at the redhead.
Sasori didn't answer straight away. He pierced Itachi with a soul-grabbing, heart-trembling gaze that stroked at the Uchiha's hidden agenda. He searched hard, far, and wide, but sighed in the end when he wasn't able to make a single dent against that hard exterior and shrugged his shoulders. "He's doing very well, top of his class and everything."
Itachi smiled, tilting his head back to look at the ceiling. His long hair cascaded over the couch in such a manner that showed his exquisite beauty. "He's paving quite a path, isn't he?" He said it with such assertiveness, as though a parent was boasting about his child.
"Well, he certainly takes after someone," Sasori replied, eyes inching their way back to the glass. "Want more?"
"Mind giving me half a glass and filling another 25 percent with cranberry juice?"
Sasori snorted. "I never understood why you like mixing those two together. It's repulsive."
Itachi rolled his neck briefly, listening to the gentle cracking that followed, as his neck and eyes trailed after the red-head. "It just so happens to be deliciously bittersweet," he replied, rolling his tongue as he had done many times in the past in what seemed like a purr.
"Tch, whatever."
The sound of a cabinet opening and closing soon followed after Sasori disappeared. Itachi's eyes made an idle sweep around the room, landing on various trinkets and photographs adorning the mantle and escritoires. "I thought you weren't the type to be sentimental," the Uchiha called out when his eyes snagged up a photograph of himself and his friends outside of Club Zero. It was framed in what seemed to be an assortment of macaroni shells and painted over with a deep gold.
"I'm not," Sasori replied, setting the glass back down on the table. "Sasuke made that frame and insisted on putting that particular picture up." He made a face, undoubtedly referring to how ridiculous they all looked in the image—drunk and incorrigibly obnoxious. Sasori and Deidara were playing a game of spit-swapping, Hidan was in his briefs and making an obscene gesture at the camera, and Itachi had an arm slung around Hidan's shoulders and a lazy smile was plastered on his face.
Good times, he thought. "Is Sasuke upstairs?" Itachi asked, placing his palms on his knees in a motion to stand up. "I would like to see him."
"He's actually not home right now," Sasori replied, shrugging his shoulders.
Itachi stilled at the response. "Where'd he go?"
"To the theater. It's summer break, after all."
"Oh? With who?"
"He left a note saying he left with Naruto, so I'm guessing they'll be back pretty late. When those two are together, there's always some sort of argument that drags them down."
Itachi tilted his head, regarding Sasori with an unreadable gaze. Seconds ticked by in silence and, at last, prompted by the redhead's arched eyebrow, his shoulders twitched in a shrug, and Itachi invited himself to raid the refrigerator.
"As long as he's safe," he murmured, more so to convince himself that to regard his friend.
-H.J.-
Los Angeles, California to Tokyo, Japan- 5:30 pm.
"Looks like Neji's plane just landed. I'm going to the terminal and—"
The young Uchiha paused as he caught a glimpse of large, uncertain eyes. "What's up?"
"What's this Neji person like? What if he doesn't like me?"
"Why wouldn't he like you?" Sasuke asked absent-mindedly as they weaved through the hundreds of people walking in the opposite direction.
Naruto kept up with him fairly well, only murmuring curses when people shoved passed him in a hurry. He shrugged in response to the teen's inquiry, but noticed that Sasuke had squeezed his way through a crowd in front of one of the terminal gates. He somehow found a way next to the ravenette after earning a few glares and hisses, but he shrugged them off and watched slowly as the teen inched closer the entrance. He followed suit.
The expression on Sasuke's face went from stoic to warm and welcoming in seconds. That occurred when his dark orbs settled on a particularly familiar figure with beautiful, chocolate brown tresses and mesmerizing eyes that were disappointedly covered by tinted shades.
The man who exited was an individual that commanded everyone's attention. He was impressively tall for a teenager, standing at six feet. The attire that coiled itself snugly against his flesh was nothing short of expensive and pristine, shifting ever so slightly at each step to reveal a man who took great care of his body. He strolled with a natural grace, walking as if he was leisurely gliding on water, and the smile on his face was positively flattering and seductive.
From Sasuke's side, Naruto watched as this figure, who was undoubtedly Neji, reached out a hand to tug at his friend's arm. In a blink of an eye, they were crushed together in a snug and seemingly overprotective (on Neji's part) hug.
"Well, don't you look lovely?"
This was accompanied by a kiss to the cheek, but Naruto had not yet processed the seemingly similar voice to think about the implications of a kiss. The voice did its part to send shivers down his spine. It was low and deep—a sound akin to his past encounters with a certain older ravenette. Frozen in fear as memories gripped at him, he did not notice that his hands were trembling until he looked back at the scene before him and made eye contact with the whitest, most piercing eyes he had ever seen. His clammy hands scrunched themselves into fists as he struggled to maintain eye contact.
Those milky-white eyes narrowed at him, and Naruto noted that the glasses were lowered and were currently perched at the bridge of Neji's nose. He didn't know whether to be friendly with this foreign man or to fear him. He didn't need to dwell on that thought for long, because Neji opened his mouth to speak in the next moment.
"Who the fuck are you?"
He may have dressed like a million yen and strutted gracefully on his feet, but he was not a man who spoke humbly. Simultaneously, when Neji opened his mouth and barked at him, the blonde experienced a sense of déjà vu.
Fear it was.
