Sasori was gazing after the kid with the silver hair, who was running towards the academy building. What an annoying little brat. To attack him out of the blue with a kunai… The teacher looked at the weapon in his hand. He wondered who might have given it to the boy. He was definitely not ready to use one of them. He, Sasori, was of course able to avoid his half-baked assault, but what if he got mad at other children? That boy really had to learn to keep his temper, otherwise he would get into trouble.
The red head heaved a sigh. He hoped he hadn't hurt the boy too bad. He had acted instinctively when he was attacked, but usually his opponents were adults, not kids. Being a teacher was harder than he had thought. It was so difficult not to have prejudices about the students, especially if they belonged to a creepy religious cult.
Sasori had continued his research after Hidan had mentioned the name Jashin, and now he had also found the symbol in one of the books in the library. The boy didn't belong to a clan, he was part of a confraternity, consisting of people of different origins and ages. Hidan was probably the youngest member. There wasn't much information in the book about the belief itself, apart from rumors about bloody rituals and human sacrifices – but Sasori didn't think much of rumors.
He didn't like the kid much, though, even if he had told him he didn't hate him. Sasori had no idea how the other teachers managed to treat all their students as equal. He himself wasn't able to do so. There were kids he would never get along with, kids who were rude and stubborn, like Hidan. He didn't dislike all the kids who were rude and wild, though. Some of them had potential, like Kisame. But he liked students like Itachi better, intelligent and calm minded and not causing trouble at all. Sasori was looking forward to their training, as they were about to become one of the best shinobi of their village. But the most interesting individuals were the artists and loners. People like Sasori himself. And like Deidara.
While walking back to his workshop, the teacher wondered what was wrong with this boy. He must be having great difficulties to adjust himself to his new home. Sasori himself enjoyed exploring the village – but he was twenty, and Deidara was seven, maybe eight years old, and on top of that a very shy individual.
Sasori had reached his workshop and looked at the little owl with the dented wing. He had put it onto a shelf instead of destroying it after Deidara had left yesterday. The art teacher was still astounded. It looked so realistic, as if made by a professional sculptor, not by a child. He couldn't believe nobody had discovered the boy's talent so far. He would definitely try to help him develop it.
Realizing that he had lost himself in thoughts again, Sasori hurried to prepare for the upcoming lesson.
"Have you ever seen a boy with yellow eyes somewhere around the academy?", Itachi asked Kisame out of the blue. They had just finished their biology lesson with Tsunade and were about to leave the classroom together with some other students.
"Huh?", Kisame exclaimed and started to think about it, "Not that I remember. Who do you mean?"
"I don't know who he is", Itachi shrugged, "I saw him in the woods yesterday."
"We can go search him", Kisame asked, "What does he look like?"
"It was dark when I met him", Itachi explained, "I could only see his eyes, they were yellowish and glowing in the dark."
"Glowing yellow eyes?", Kisame chuckled, "Sure it wasn't a cat?"
"He talked to me, you baka", Itachi huffed, "he and his mate."
His blue-skinned counterpart lifted his head. "So there were two of them?"
"Yes", the young Uchiha said, "but I couldn't see the other one. It was too dark."
"Yeah, you said that already", Kisame interrupted, then frowned, "why were you in the woods at night, anyway?"
"Ah, never mind." Itachi really didn't want to get on to that subject again.
"Whatever", Kisame shrugged. He grabbed his bag and waited for his black haired friend to come along. The weather outside was sunny and warm, just right to skip homework and have some fun, in Kisame's view.
"Oi, Itachi-san", he asked, "do you wanna go swimming with me today in the afternoon?"
"I'd love to", Itachi smiled. It had been a while he had been going out with his friend, and he wasn't very keen on being around his family at the moment, anyway. But then again, he wasn't sure if his parents would allow him to go, after all what happened. "But I have to ask my parents first", he added.
"Of course", Kisame said. To Itachi's surprise, he then addressed the blond who was walking behind them in silence.
"Oi, kiddo. You wanna come as well?"
The shy boy lifted his head and gave Kisame an anxious look.
"You", Kisame repeated, drawling every word, "and us – this afternoon – swimming?" He moved his arms as if swimming to make clear what he meant. The blond pressed his books against his chest, as if Kisame had threatened him.
"You know what swimming is?", Kisame asked impatiently.
"He isn't stupid", Itachi hissed. He was happy that Kisame had asked him, but he didn't like the way he was talking to the boy.
"Just ignore that blue brat", Itachi smirked, "do you want to come with us?"
The blond shook his head, slowly but firmly.
"Suit yourself", Kisame shrugged, "I didn't think you would say yes, anyway."
When Itachi came home, his mother was hanging out the laundry. The boy had been living in the village forever and knew almost every street here, so he didn't have to be picked up after school by her. He gave her a shy smile and sat on the stairs.
"How was your day?", Mikoto asked.
"Okay." He picked up a small stone from the ground and watched it, as if it was something special.
Mikoto smiled. She knew when her son had something on his mind, but she wouldn't ask but just wait until he came out with it.
"May I go swimming with Kisame today?", he finally asked. Ah, so that was what he had been thinking about.
"You may", Mikoto said. She had already accepted that this blue-skinned boy would be around her son more frequently from now on, even if she didn't appreciate it.
Itachi looked up at her joyfully. "Thank you, Mama", he smiled.
"But", Mikoto continued, "you'll have to take Sasuke with you."
Itachi's face froze. "Sasuke?", he stumbled.
"I'll go help your father at the office later", his mother explained, "and I don't want your brother to stay here alone. He won't bother you two."
"No", Itachi agreed, "but…"
The black haired woman turned around and sat down next to her son, who looked guilty. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tenderly.
"Don't worry about yesterday too much", she said, "Sasuke was just scared. He doesn't hate you, and neither do we."
When she wanted to go back to her work, Itachi clung to her, restraining her from getting up.
"Huh?" Mikoto ran her hand through her son's raven hair and tilted his head up, to see that his dark eyes were full of tears. He must be feeling really guilty.
"A future ninja like you shouldn't be crying", she said and wiped his tears away, "all of us make mistakes from time to time. Now go and have fun with your friend."
But Itachi wasn't crying because he felt guilty. The tears he shed were tears of joy. Because he had been forgiven.
"This is going to hurt", a young woman exclaimed before pressing her hands down onto her opponent's back sharply. A cracking noise could be heard throughout the room.
"Gross", Kakashi exclaimed and looked up from his book, "don't kill him, Tsunade."
The blond kunoichi didn't pay any attention to her colleague but pushed her hands down on her victim a second time.
"Jeez, you're tensed up", she sighed.
"I know", the guy underneath her groaned, "that's why I'm here."
He writhed in pain when Tsunade put pressure onto his spine again, but then sighed with relief when he felt every bone was adjusted in its right position again.
"Thank you", he said, "feels so much better now."
"You really have to take care of yourself, Sasori-sama", Tsunade frowned.
"It's not that bad", her red haired patient said and stretched his limbs.
"Yes, it is", the blond woman replied, tapping her foot, "you shouldn't strain yourself."
"Yeah", Sasori huffed with an angry look on his face while he put his shirt back on, "that's why I'm working as a teacher and don't go on missions anymore."
He clenched his teeth. What a pathetic figure he had become. He had always wanted to be a soldier, he had wanted to be on missions all his life, fighting in battles up to his death. But now he needed to see a medic already on his second working day. If he hadn't come to Tsunade's office in time, he would have become unable to move within the next hours. And all because of that little silver haired brat.
"Make sure you see me whenever you need my help", Tsunade said.
"Thanks, I will", Sasori said with a wry smile before he closed the door behind him.
Tsunade sighed and massaged her fingers after her patient had left.
"That was odd", Kakashi said. He had never watched a chiropractor at work before.
"He's in bad shape", Tsunade frowned thoughtfully.
Kakashi gave her a quizzical look. He had known the blond woman for a few years, but he had never seen her so worried.
"Is he ill?", the gray haired asked.
"I don't know yet", Tsunade shrugged, "but he was in severe pain when he came here. I wonder how he was able to walk upright, after all."
"Oi, brat, you wanna sit there all day?"
Kisame was splashing about in the water near the shore.
"Why don't you come in?", he yelled at the black haired boy who was sitting on a bath towel in the shade of a tree.
"Leave him alone", said Itachi, who had just come up to the surface as well.
"You will get a sunstroke if you don't cool down", Kisame called out and swam across the shore. He didn't really care about Itachi's brother, but as he had to spend the day with the little one, he at least wanted to have some fun with him. He got out of the water and walked over to Sasuke, who gave an anxious look at him.
"Why don't you come in, kid?", Kisame asked him and shook his head.
"I don't know how to swim", Sasuke mumbled.
"Huh?", Kisame asked and bent down, cold water drops dripping onto the black haired boy's head, "I can't hear you."
"I don't know how to swim!", Sasuke squeaked, clenching his fists against the blue-skinned boy in front of him.
"Say what?", Kisame asked with surprise, then smirked. "I can teach you."
Sasuke was frightened, but he tried not to let show.
"I don't want to learn it", he said bravely.
"Come on, you scaredy cat, it's easy", Kisame said, "you'll love it."
He grabbed the arm of the little one and pulled him along. The black haired shrieked and tried to break free, his eyes widened with fear. Kisame chuckled. In his imagination, he could already hear the scream Sasuke would utter when thrown into the cold water. Little brothers could be fun, after all.
When Itachi saw Kisame drag his little brother towards the shore, he nearly jumped out of the water. Blind with rage, he tackled his friend roughly, causing him to let go of Sasuke, who fell down on the ground. Although Kisame was taller than him by a head, Itachi pinned him against the tree.
"If you put a single scratch on him, I'll kill you", he huffed at his mate.
Kisame could have broken free easily, but he was frozen by the sight of two angry red eyes glaring at him. It was the second time he saw his friend's sharingan, and the look of it made cold shivers run down his spine.
"I'm sorry", the blue-skinned boy whispered, not daring to make one single move.
Itachi frowned. He had never seen such an anxious expression on his friend's face before. Was he frightened of him? The young Uchiha smirked. He liked the feeling of scaring somebody. It felt good. Strange, but good.
Two hot hands clasping his left leg brought Itachi back to reality. He let go of Kisame, who slumped down on the ground, and kneeled down to his brother in order to pick him up. Sasuke shyly snuggled against his chest.
"Man, that was creepy", Kisame said and tried to regain his feet, "for a moment I really thought you would kill me."
"If you scare my brother ever again, I do", Itachi said. He meant it. He had almost lost his brother one day ago. From now on, he would keep his eyes glued to him.
"Yeah, I got it", Kisame grunted. He ran towards the shore and dived into the water with a splash.
"Thank you, neesan", Sasuke smiled and gave his bigger brother a little kiss on the cheek, "you're cool."
"Nah", Itachi answered, blushing.
"Of course you are", Sasuke affirmed, his big dark eyes sparkling with excitement, "you scared that blue boy away from me."
Itachi hugged his brother. He turned around and let his eyes wander across the surface of the water, but Kisame wasn't there.
"Has he drowned, neesan?", Sasuke asked.
Itachi laughed. "No", he said, "Kisame-san is good at swimming and diving. He can hold his breath for several minutes, you know?"
"I see", Sasuke said. A few beads of sweat were trickling down his temples and dripping onto Itachi's arms.
"You're hot, aren't you?", the Uchiha asked his younger brother, "Don't you want to cool down a bit?"
"No!", Sasuke called out, "I don't want to!"
"Come on", Itachi tried to calm him down, "I keep my eyes on you."
He started to walk towards the shore and into the water, holding his sibling in his arms tightly. When the water reached Sasuke's feet, he shrieked and tightened his grip around Itachi's neck.
"Neesan", he whined, "I'm scared! You know I can't swim!"
"The water is shallow here", Itachi said, "you can still see the ground."
"Please don't let go of me", Sasuke begged.
"I won't let go of you", Itachi said, "I promise."
He made a few more steps until the water reached his and Sasuke's waist.
"It's cold", the smaller Uchiha whined.
"You'll get used to it within a few seconds, and then it will feel good", Itachi said.
Right at that moment, a blue figure appeared from under water, gasping for air.
"He he, you're finally in", Kisame chuckled as he saw Itachi's brother, "I told you you would like it."
Sasuke gave him a shy smile. It wasn't as bad as he had thought, after all. But he was glad he hadn't been thrown in by the blue boy.
"You wanna learn how to swim, eh?", Kisame asked, paddling around the Uchiha siblings, "I can teach you."
"I want my neesan to teach me", Sasuke mumbled. He didn't trust that weird boy.
"Awww", Kisame squealed, pretending to feel sore, "honestly! Your neesan is a bad swimmer. I'm a much better teacher than him."
Itachi giggled. He wasn't angry with Kisame anymore. His friend was right, he was a much better swimmer than him. Actually, the blue-skinned boy would beat anyone when it came to swimming, even adults were unable to hold a candle to him. Maybe that was the reason his parents had named him after a sea animal.
Sasuke was shaking his head furiously.
"I guess there's no way you can persuade him, Same-san", Itachi said.
"Too bad", Kisame sighed, then frowned, "Same-san?"
Itachi didn't dwell on the new nickname. "I have an idea", he said, "we could swim across to the isle, you and me and Sasuke-kun."
Sasuke froze. "But…", he started, but was interrupted by his brother again.
"You on my back", Itachi smiled at him, "how about that?"
The smaller Uchiha wasn't sure.
"What if I go down?"
"You won't go down", Itachi promised, "my head is out of the water, and so is yours."
"And what if I slip off?"
Itachi sighed. "You're always on Mama's back", he said.
"Yes."
"You're up there for hours when she goes shopping, aren't you?"
"I am."
"And even when she travels in the treetops, right?"
"Right."
"So, did you ever slip off her back?"
"No."
"See. Then you won't slip off mine."
Sasuke blinked. "But, we're in the water", he said, "it's all wet and slippery."
"Oh, come on, you scaredy cat", Kisame yelled, "let's go already. If you or your brother goes down, I'll rescue the both of you."
Sasuke looked at the blue boy, then at his brother. He remembered what he had said earlier. If Kisame put a single scratch on him, Itachi would kill him. The younger Uchiha took in a deep breath and decided to be brave. His brother had saved him once, he was sure he wouldn't let him down now.
"Okay", he whispered.
Itachi gave his sibling a look of approval, then put him down. Sasuke kept clutching his brother's arm. He was still a bit scared, as the water almost reached his chest now, and his heart was racing, but he didn't change his mind. Riding on his mother's back wasn't bad at all, it was rather comfortable and relaxing, so he guessed riding on Itachi's back in the water wouldn't be bad, either.
The older Uchiha turned around and crouched down, so both of them were on the same level. Suddenly Sasuke felt two rough hands grab him and push him forward. He wanted to scream at first, but then he realized Kisame wasn't ducking him but helping him to get up Itachi's back. The small black haired boy wrapped his arms and legs around his brother's body tightly.
"There you go", the blue-skinned boy grinned, exposing his terrifying, spiky teeth. Itachi was right, he did look a bit like a shark. Within a moment he had dived into the water and come up again a few meters apart.
Itachi pushed off the ground and splashed into the water as well. His brother's body was light and easy to carry in the water. If he didn't grip his neck so firmly, Itachi wouldn't even notice he was on his back.
As expected, Sasuke didn't slip off. They reached the isle a few minutes after Kisame, who was able to swim nearly twice as fast as Itachi. All three of them were dozing in the grass for a while before they headed back. Itachi helped his brother to towel himself and get dressed, then gave him a piggy-back again.
It was already dark when they reached their house. Fugaku heaved a sigh of relief when he saw both his sons arrive together. At last their relationship hadn't worsened.
When Itachi left the bathroom after taking a shower, he was glad to see that Sasuke was lying in his bed, the king-size mattress they used to share for about three years. He knew that he wouldn't be sleeping next to his brother all his life, but right now he was very happy to have him there. He quickly slipped into his clothes and under the covers.
Sasuke was almost sleeping when he wrapped his arm around his waist. He snuggled up to him and sniffed his hair, breathing in that familiar, sweet smell he had missed so much the other night.
"Are you still awake?", Itachi whispered into his ear.
"Hmm", Sasuke sighed, "yes…"
"Did you enjoy the day?", the older brother continued.
"Hmm…" The smaller Uchiha couldn't manage to open his eyes again.
Itachi smiled and nestled his head on his pillow. "That's a yes, I suppose."
