Konoha-Suna Union High School
AU: Itachi-OC and Sasori-OC
Chapter 10: Meaning of Flowers
It was kind of hard to believe at first since it felt like a dream, a bad dream. Suki knew it wasn't a dream though. Itachi had actually just broke up with over the phone despite the fact that they see each other everyday and things had seemed to be going well.
Suki ran to her room and threw herself down on her bed and cried into her pillows. She didn't know why this had to happen or what Itachi was thinking all of sudden. It was hard not to take it personally. He was such a great guy and he treated her perfectly. How could it possibly be him? It was unlikely that he would suddenly decide he was too busy for her. This had to be because there something wrong with her, she just knew it. Suki wondered why all they guys she's ever like had to be like this? She knew what would come next. He would stop talking to her altogether at school, their passes in the hall would become silent and awkward, and then he would start seeing someone else in no time.
A while later, when Suki was just about done crying, she heard a loud slam of her neighbor's front door followed by feeling the shake of the walls of the single story apartment building. Raven had came home in a horrible mood.
Suki moved from her bedroom to the living room to sit on the couch and try to lose herself in the TV for awhile. It did not help as much as she hoped. Her mind kept going back to what had happened and she tried to make sense out of it. It was so sudden and he ended it so easily.
She had heard several crashes, loud bangs, and even a shatter from inside Raven's apartment. Suki knew something must have happened to her too, though she had no idea what. Sometimes the strangest things would finally set off her normally nonchalant friend.
Over the next hour or so, the cats wisely stayed out of Raven's way as she took out her anger at Sasori on inanimate objects around her home every time trying to calm herself and clear her head wasn't working. Eventually she cooled down enough to think, the heat in her head and blood pressure finally dropping to more tolerable levels as she lost energy and drive.
Raven and Suki both felt so stupid and gullible. Suki thought Itachi was different from the other guys she's liked, and Raven actually started to believe Sasori was worth it. There were reasons Raven didn't want to get involved with a guy, and she was finally remembering what they were again.
Deciding that it was safe, Suki ventured next door to Raven's apartment and knocked on the door. Raven knew Suki must have heard the banging from her side of the wall they shared.
"Something wrong?" Suki asked after Raven opened the door.
"Nothing worth mentioning right now," Raven said. "But I see something is wrong with you," she said. It was obvious Suki had been crying and her mascara was smeared slightly, though it had been cleaned up.
"Itachi just broke up with me," Suki said and Raven looked surprised then angry again.
The girls ended up on Suki's couch with a large container of chocolate ice-cream. Their topic of discussion was men. Suki explained what Itachi had said, and Raven also said that it seemed strange for him to use his hectic schedule as his reasoning. Raven also mentioned a little bit about what happened with Sasori today.
"First those idiots lied to us," Raven started, "I was going to ask Sasori about what really happened too, but then he showed me his stupid plan, and he actually expected me to like it and be okay with it? I thought he was smart! But it would appear he is just as stupid as all the rest. I don't think he really thought his plan all the way through, in fact, I know for sure he didn't sit down a think seriously about for even two minutes, if he had, he would have realized how idiotic it was and what the consequences of his actions would be," Raven grumbled.
"If Itachi was SO busy, why did HE ask me out on a date in the first place, and why did HE continue to ask me out?" Suki huffed. "It doesn't make any sense! I thought I was giving him enough space, it's not like I've been one of those needy girls that needs his attention all the time. He has things he has to do, well you know what? So do I, we're all busy! It's senior year, and we all have things we have to get done and be prepared for," Suki sighed. "I had called Itachi a couple times today to let him know that our winter formal pictures arrived," Suki said. "I left a message the second time I called, but when I asked if he got the message when he called to break up, he said he didn't get it yet so he must have not even checked."
"Bet he'll feel like a real jerk when he does hear it," Raven commented.
"He better," Suki said. "I just can't believe how easily it ended."
"Men are stupid," Raven said, taking more chocolate ice-cream.
"Men are jerks," Suki added, also taking more chocolate ice-cream
"Men are stupid jerks!" they both said and then each took a large bite of their ice-cream.
The next morning, Sasori was up very early. He hadn't slept much, his mind was filled with too many thoughts, some good, some bad, and others just conflicting. He had thought long and hard about what Raven had said and what Chiyo had told him the day before. Chiyo had been more metaphorical in her story of finding happiness, but Raven's argument of reasoning had been more direct, but still required some thinking to understand the meaning behind her words. There was obviously a lot she didn't say but wanted to.
It had been a long night for him and he had even got out of bed at one point to stare at his work in the workshop. But now that morning had come, he was too tired to think anymore. Since he was up so early, he decided to take a shower and see if his grandma will make him a weekend breakfast, hopefully he would have an appetite by then. He went through his normal routine and set out his towel and clothes, started the water, and then undressed before getting in. Steam quickly filled the bathroom and he started washing himself before he suddenly stopped and closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against the wall.
"Damn," he cursed. Now even the shower reminded him of her, of Raven. Most specifically, their first kiss that cold raining morning. He still didn't know what to do, or what to think and he was getting him nowhere. "Damn it," he cursed.
Itachi had got up and dressed for his weekend long mission to gain some extra cash and valid experience. No one else was awake yet so he left silently. As he left his house, he found Shisui waiting for him.
"Hey, you ready for this mission?" Shisui greeted.
"Yeah," Itachi said calmly. "You're going too?"
"That's right, I heard your father in the office yesterday when I went to check out the extra missions available, so right after he left, I went in and volunteered for this one too," Shisui explained. Since Shisui was still a student teacher, he wasn't making much income so he was taking missions whenever he could as well.
"I see," Itachi nodded. "Then let us be off," he said and Shisui nodded and took the lead. The mission was simple, just escorting a wealthy trader and his son home. Itachi remained quiet, not something that was unusual for him, but Shisui could tell that Itachi had a lot on his mind and grew concerned for his cousin as they traveled.
Itachi was doing fine on the mission by keeping an alert and watchful eye out for thieves and bandits, but he knew he was more distracted than he should be. He was thinking about how he had a paper due on Wednesday that he hasn't even started yet, what each person in his family wanted from him and wanted him to do, what his friends want, what his teachers want, and then his thoughts kept settling back on Suki. He felt rotten for what he had done and more than a little guilty. He knew what he did was a verbal slap in the face, and to have to break up with her over the phone was another slap to add to the wound. Itachi wouldn't blame Suki for hating him instead after what he did. He really hated his father right now.
By the time noon came around, Sasori heard a knock at the front door. His grandmother had left to go to the store shortly before, so Sasori got up from the couch to answer it and was greeted by a rather ticked off Deidara.
"What the hell man?" Deidara started right away. "You were supposed to meet me an hour ago, humph!"
Sasori blinked slowly, his tired mind processing what the younger man was yelling about. "…Oh, that," he started, "I forgot, sorry," he said and moved aside so his friend could come inside and out of the cold winter air.
"You better have a good reason Mister 'I don't like to keep others waiting', I swear if you weren't normally so punctual I might still be waiting for you to NOT show up, because you 'forgot'," Deidara huffed.
Sasori just rolled his eyes and plopped himself back on the couch. He just didn't have the energy to argue with the man. "I said I'm sorry," he muttered bored as he blankly stared at the TV.
Deidara's face fell as he realized that his friend was unusually void of any readable emotion. "Dude, you okay?" First Sasori forgets, acts like doesn't care that he kept some waiting, and he looks like crap. He had never seen his friend ever look so… depressed? Was the always cold and focused Sasori capable of such a feeling? From where Deidara was standing, it appeared so. Guess Sasori was a normal human being after all, just usually kept his feelings well hidden. Whatever the problem was, it must have been serious for Sasori to be like this.
"I'm fine," Sasori said casually. Deidara's eye twitched. Seemed that even if Sasori was feeling different, he still wasn't going to show it. Still typical Sasori.
"Whatever, you're coming with me, Sasori my man," Deidara stated. "Come on!" he urged and opened the door and signaled to get going.
Sasori rolled his eyes and sighed before getting up and putting on his shoes, jacket, and scarf before following Deidara out the door. Whatever this was about, it had to be better than sitting around alone with his thoughts.
After only a minute of walking in silence, Deidara noticed Sasori try to stifle a yawn. "You look like crap, you know that?" Deidara stated, earning him a brief glare from the red-head.
"And you look like a girl from two angles, your point?" Sasori shot back.
"Tsk, touchy, humph," Deidara said. After a few more minutes they reached the park where an empty basketball court was. No one was there because of the cold. "So what's up, my man?" Deidara started.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Sasori said and turned away, finding a basketball on the court floor so he picked it up and spun it between his hands, seeing if the ball was any good.
"I'm not as stupid as you apparently think I am, un," Deidara crossed his arms and stared at Sasori.
"You wouldn't understand," Sasori said and passed Deidara the ball.
Deidara caught and spun it between his hands too. "Well sorry I don't understand you like you're girlfriend does, but whether you like it or not, I'm the next best thing to her and I'm right here, humph," he said and tossed the ball back.
Sasori just held the ball this time and faced the hoop. "She's not my girlfriend, and even if she was, she's not anymore," he said and shot the ball, it bounced against the backboard and then against the inside of the hoop before bouncing back out of the hoop and hitting the ground. It didn't go in.
It bounced a couple of times before Deidara caught it before looking at Sasori surprised, even though Sasori didn't meet his gaze and was still focused on the hoop. "Wait, you guys broke up? When?"
"Yesterday," he answered absently.
"But why?" Deidara asked, tossing the ball back as soon as Sasori looked back at him. "You guys were like on the same wavelength, what happened?"
"Well apparently we're not," Sasori said. "She… well I… we had a disagreement," Sasori said.
"Okay, so you two had different views on something. Well you know what? I'm relieved to hear that. It's not good to be too much alike. Seriously I was concerned you might have a thing for selfcest, or at least as close to it as you could find, un," Deidara said.
"Whatever," Sasori muttered then shot the ball again and this time it went in perfectly so he was satisfied.
"So what was the 'disagreement' about?" Deidara asked. He was actually quite curious, whatever it was had to be serious to break up those two. "Did you try to persuade her into something kinky and she thought it was disgusting?" he asked.
"What? No!" Sasori glared.
"Then what happened? Did you propose and scare her away?" Deidara suggested.
"What is wrong with you?" Sasori dropped his head into his hand.
"Tell me, man!" Deidara urged. "Tell me or I'll have to keep guessing," he added.
Sasori dropped his hand in defeat. "Fine, but you can't say anything to anybody about it."
"Sure man, just spit it out already."
"Remember that secret project I've been working on?" Sasori started.
Deidara was able to put the pieces together. "You showed her?" he asked and Sasori nodded. "Ah, I see what happened…" he said. "What did she say about it?"
"She doesn't think it's art, and that my plan was… 'just wrong'," he explained.
Deidara scratched his head and put his other hand on his hip as he thought about it. "Well I agree with her," he said, earning him the glare he knew would come with that statement.
"How could you say that?" Sasori gritted.
"Hey, you and I might have different ideas about what makes true art, but if she thought there was something wrong with it, she's probably right," Deidara shrugged. "Maybe you should think about it more un," he suggested.
"I have!" Sasori snapped at him, "I haven't stopped thinking about it, and I don't know what to do!"
Deidara was actually relieved to finally get a rise out of Sasori. "What do you want to do?" Deidara asked.
Sasori started pacing, thinking about it again. "I don't know…" he muttered before suddenly approaching his friend. "Punch me," he ordered.
"What?"
"Hit me, right now."
"Why?"
"Do it!"
"No!"
"Do it, punch me!"
"Why?" Deidara demanded and backed away. Normally be would be glad to hit him, but this was just weird.
"It'll make me feel better, maybe the answers have to beaten into me, I don't know!"
"I'm not gonna punch you, man!" Deidara said and Sasori turned around and went to the other side of the court. "Look, I think you DO know what you want to do, but you're just conflicted, you'll figure it out, yeah," he said and then noticed that his friend seemed to be trembling. Was he crying? If he was, Deidara knew better than to say anything about it. Since Sasori was so unstable right now, his life might be at risk if he says anything. "Well I'm going home," Deidara said. "You're in no condition to work on the project right now anyway, later, and good luck my man, humph," Deidara shoved his hands into his pockets and left Sasori there. This whole encounter was so weird, Deidara was unsure if it really happened as he left. He had never seen Sasori like this before.
After dark the very next day, Shisui and Itachi were heading back home after completing their mission. Shisui took this opportunity to try to talk with Itachi. They don't get many chances to chat anymore and now seemed like a good time since it was just the two of them on the same path with the same destination in mind. Shisui had grown quite concerned as he watched the blankness in Itachi's eyes, like there was no one home inside his mind, that is how lost in thought he was.
"Going to fill me in on what's been going on in your life?" Shisui asked casually.
Itachi sighed. He had been thinking about how much he should share over the course of the entire mission. Now he just thought it might be best to get it all off his chest and tell him what happened.
"He threatened you with his Sharingan?" Shusui asked after Itachi filled him in. "He was that upset over you doing a little dating? You're not even falling behind in school or anything." Shisui thought Fugaku was being ridiculous.
"I don't think he was upset, he's just being a douche," Itachi said. It felt good to say that.
Shisui chuckled slightly at that statement. "Surprised a war didn't break out between you two right there, that man is messing with a dangerous fire. Has he forgotten how powerful you are, he'd be no match for you," he said.
"I don't know what he's thinking," Itachi said bitterly. "But I can't say the thought of taking him on didn't cross mind," he admitted. "But going against him won't solve anything and I know it, it would probably just make things worse."
"Itachi, you're a smart, capable guy, and everyone knows that your father shouldn't be so controlling, if you don't think standing up to him won't work, you only have about four more months until you graduate," Shisui said, trying to get Itachi to look at the bright side.
"I might not be able to get out of the house fast enough though, you know what my options are, and they're slim at best," Itachi said.
"You know, I was going to wait awhile longer before bringing this up, but how about you come live with me after you graduate?" Shisui offered. "Still be in the same neighborhood with the rest of the Uchiha, but if even just until you get your own place, it might do you some good to get out of your folk's house for awhile and be your own man," he added.
"I don't know, you think they will accept that?" Itachi asked. It seemed like a great offer, very tempting, but Itachi could already hear his father's argues against it.
"I think so, at least the rest of the clan will accept it," Shisui said and Itachi just shrugged. "Hey, I might have had a promising career in the family police and guard force, but I actually didn't want to do that," he explained. "Even though I wasn't able to get myself out of it until recently, when I decided to try being a teacher for a while instead, the rest of the clan has been very supportive in my choice," he said. "If they supported me with that choice, they'll support you too."
"I don't know what to do," Itachi admitted.
"Well, think about it," Shisui smiled. "If you come live with me, you'll have all the time you want to figure out what you want to do with your life, without the extra pressure constantly hovering over you as often," he said.
"That does sound pretty good," Itachi said, he could even taste that freedom a little bit already.
"I would have to make some rules about bringing girls over," Shisui chuckled.
"Not a problem, I had to break up with Suki, remember?" Itachi then sighed and let his head fall back for a moment. "I want to tell her the truth, she shouldn't have to go on thinking what I told her was real, it was such a lame excuse, but as long as my father knows, I can't keep seeing her… I'm just so conflicted and I don't know what to do and I haven't been able to get it off my mind…"
"You know…" Shisui started with a sly smirk. "There's a thing called going behind the old man's back… rebellion."
"I… actually like the thought of that," Itachi admitted thoughtfully.
"That's the spirit!" Shisui knew he might not be the best influence right now, and if Fugaku found out that he suggested this, he was going to get into some real trouble himself. Shisui decided that if that happened, it would be time to use the power and respect he is gained within the clan to help out his cousin.
"I know how easily I could get caught, because of how closely I'm watched whenever my father suspects anything might be up," Itachi said. "But I will have to think about it. Hopefully I'll come to a decision before I see her after we get back."
"Good luck," Shisui offered.
When Monday came, neither Itachi or Sasori showed up at school. Itachi was excused for still being on the mission, he would be back sometime that day though. Sasori was unknown.
Raven thought that Sasori might have gone ahead with his plan already, despite her warnings, and that he was in the process of becoming an immortal cheap piece of so-called art. She wondered if any of this other friends knew about his plan. Since the girls didn't have lunch with their ex-boyfriend's friends this time, Raven decided to ask Deidara during the senior training period.
"Do you know where Sasori is today?" Raven asked Deidara who just looked confused for a moment. "Has he said anything about a secret project to you?" she asked. Sasori had many projects, so that could have meant anything, but she was thinking about this most recent big one.
Deidara shook his head. "Sorry, I don't know what he's up to today," he said truthfully, but he also seemed kind of concerned.
Suki was actually glad that Itachi didn't come to school that day. She wasn't ready to face him and this gave her a little more time to deal with what had happened and prepare herself for their necessary encounters coming up at school.
Sasuke seemed a little more distant than usual during her Intro to Sensei class with team seven, so Suki thought that the younger brother knew what had happened and wasn't sure what he was supposed to do about it either. Isn't there rules about being around your sibling's ex? He wasn't sure, so he was just trying to stay out of it and pretend like nothing was different. Still awkward though.
Since Suki didn't have anything going on after school, she had gone home after senior training, so Raven walked home after school.
As Raven approached her apartment, she was surprised and confused by what was waiting for her. Sasori was sitting on her porch steps, waiting for her. At least he didn't look like a puppet as far as she could tell.
"What are you doing here?" she asked. Better not be to try to convince her that he was right, as the weekend passed she had only thought of even more reasons why he shouldn't do it. She considered the benefits as well, but determined there wasn't enough.
Sasori looked up and stood suddenly when he heard her speak and then waited while she approached the steps, and him, before holding out a red rose, but remained silent.
Raven looked at the rose and then back at him, processing the meaning of this action. After several dreadfully long seconds, she took the rose and motioned for him to follow her the rest of the way inside so they could talk privately where it is warm and she could put down her stuff. They both knew they were in for a long and serious discussion. They were going to directly define a lot between them.
It wasn't long before it started getting dark. Just after it got dark enough for lights to come on, Suki heard a knock at her door so she moved to answer it. She found a very tired looking Itachi waiting on the other side.
She frowned. "What do you want?" she asked.
"I want to apologize, I didn't mean what I said over the phone, and I need to explain what really happened," he started off and presented her a bouquet of various pink flowers. It was Shisui's suggestion to pick them from the fields they passed when they were getting close to home. It made for a very special and unique bunch of flowers. And he knew that she liked pink.
Suki leaned against the doorframe, noting that he looked dirty and smelled musky, like hard working sweat. She mentally cursed the fact that he was still sexy while she was mad at him. "So what happened?" she asked.
"Can we talk inside?" he asked.
Suki remained leaning against the doorframe for couple seconds before taking the flowers and moving inside and motioning him inside too.
Another hour later, after all the explaining had been done and they were back together, with the understanding that they would have to very private and secretive about their relationship so his father doesn't find out too soon.
"If Raven and Sasori were still together, we could have asked them for tips for how to stay hidden," Suki commented as she led Itachi to the door.
"They broke up?" Itachi asked, thoroughly surprised.
"Oh yeah, you've been gone," Suki said.
"Hmm, I'll have to talk to him about it soon," Itachi said.
Suki nodded. "Yeah, well thank you for the flowers, and I'm glad we are still able to see each other, even if it will be a little differently," she said.
"Yeah, things will get better, just give me a little time," he said and she nodded. "But you know… we're behind closed doors right now," he smirked. Suki giggled softly when he leaned in and kissed her. It was just going to be the one kiss, but he came back as soon as their lips parted for a few more, but then they turned to deep, long kisses that had them using the wall by the front door for support. He was making up for not kissing her in a while.
"I-Itachi," Suki managed to pull away enough to say seriously. "You have to go," she reminded.
"Huh? Oh yeah," he said and stepped away. "Don't want to raise suspicions already," he chuckled.
"See you later," Suki waved as he finally stepped out the door.
"Bye," he waved back. After Suki closed the door, Itachi turned around and was about to head for the steps leading off Suki's porch when he saw Sasori mid step on the bottom step of Raven's porch. "Hey… I heard you guys broke up?" Itachi asked confused as to why Sasori would be here.
"She wasn't my girlfriend in the first place," Sasori said as Itachi joined him on the walkway leading to the street. It was getting weird how often they were walking this path together. It wasn't exactly a wide pathway either.
"Whatever," Itachi brushed off Sasori's statement with a wave of his hand.
"She is now," Sasori added with a smirk.
Itachi looked at the red-head surprised. "Alright then, good to know you worked it out."
"I assume you were fixing things with Suki just now?" Sasori asked. He didn't know the other couple had broken up either until Raven just told him a bit ago.
"Yeah, but now we're going to have a more hidden relationship," Itachi explained and noticed Sasori's questioning glance. "I'll explain more tomorrow, I have to get home and I'm exhausted from my mission."
Sasori nodded and waved to his friend. Both reflected on how long and tough of a weekend it had been, but it ended up better in the end. Guess that means only more interesting things are yet to come.
A/N: Yes, the drama is finally over for now. It's not really my thing, but my friend requested a high school romance story after all. Bromance, however, is. So there's some Shisui and Itachi as well as some Sasori and Deidara bromance in this chapter.
Fair warning, coming up on the end soon. Keep letting me know what you think by review or message, thanks for the support guys.