"The flowers won't make it past autumn." Naruto frowns sadly, his fingers delicately brushing dew off the rose petals. The various color and hues that surround him give off an almost ethereal aura, as if he was part of something that just simply doesn't belong in this world. Despite my initial doubt, he has managed to grow and tend to this small garden with very little help from Tanaka. Although at first it was a challenge, he learned well enough how to water and trim and fertilize the various pots that he had arranged around a small part of the patio, the one were the sun shone the most during the summer. Now that the weather was transitioning towards autumn, a few pots have already begun to wither, and that was making Naruto worry. "Well, that's the circle of life." I almost scoff at myself for saying such a ridiculous thing, but chose to instead contemplate how much Naruto's hands had grown. It seems like only yesterday they were small enough to loose themselves against the folds of my pajama shirt, and now it would appear that they are catching up to mine. I'd better stop feeding him so much, just in case my growth spurts don't match up to his speed. "I thought flowers could grow year round, otherwise they wouldn't sell flowers during winter."
"They come from greenhouses." He sends me a puzzled look. "How can a green-house keep flowers alive during winter?" Seriously, is he learning nothing at school? I'm beginning to think that at-home teaching is better suited for this outgoing-bundle of joy that puts more attention into his mischief-making than his homework. More than once we've received notifications that Naruto is becoming more and more restless, surely due to those friends of his that I always knew were nothing but trouble, especially that Kiba kid that is quickly coming to resemble a street dog every time I see him. Iruka, who I knew wouldn't be his teacher forever, tries his best to control him from afar, but it doesn't seem to be working. Itachi believes that it's his new teacher who's at fault, blaming him time and time again that it's because he's too strict. Like he loves to say all the time, "kids will be kids", and everyone around just has to learn to cope with it, but I'm sure that he's becoming rapidly exasperated with the amount of complaints that are coming from that Mr. Mizuki. Of course, only I think Naruto is the one at fault….well, not him exactly…just those brat-friends of his that are obviously at fault. They're a bad influence on him.
"A greenhouse isn't really a green-house. It's like an indoor garden with adjusted climate to keep flowers growing even if it's cold outside." The glint in his eyes don't forebode well things. "No, you can't bring the flowers inside, that's not how it works."
"Then how does it work?!" He's easily frustrated, which is actually quite amusing to see. The furrow of his brow, the red that contrast against those tan cheeks and the pout that makes it all the more amusing. "Homework."
"What do you mean homework?"
"It's your homework. If you can find out, by your own means," I quickly add when his eyes shoot towards Tanaka who is supervising the cleaning near the patio door, "I'll make one for you." Despite the initial scowl, his face lights up instantly as he nods enthusiastically.
I'm still not used to sitting before the altar and having Naruto place the prettiest flowers he could find before them. Every time I see him cut a few from the garden I feel a strange sense of apprehension for what comes next. Itachi always accompanies us whenever he's home for this small ritual that Naruto created, a smile always gently placed on his weary face. He doesn't say it, but I know that for him, it's actually a relief to do this small act for them. I know he's always regretting not having been here when it happened and, although I know that I shouldn't, I like the bittersweet taste of knowing that he's suffering because of it. When he wasn't there, I had wished, sincerely wished that he had been the one to have died instead of them. I actually hated him for it, as much as I still loved him. Because he didn't seem to care. Because he decided to leave me here alone despite knowing that I was young and needed my brother with me. Because he knew that I was in pain but decided to turn his attention to taking care of strangers instead of me. Even now, despite having him here at home, I sometimes still find myself silently despising him when he smiles at Naruto or leaves to go to the hospital for an emergency. It's like a splinter that refuses to come out, and only digs deeper every time I come here to sit silently before the portraits that I had avoided looking at all these past years in fear of feeling that wretched sorrow over their absence again.
Still, it was just one more thing that I couldn't deny my blond midget.
He holds his hands in prayer, silently saying something to them that he always refuses to tell me. In that same silence, I light an incense stick, placing it carefully in the stand between the two portraits and stand to leave. Itachi sends me a side glance, exasperated like always for having expected me to pray much like Naruto was doing, and realizing that I wasn't going to do it, again. And never will. Ever.
"The dead, dead are. There is no point in speaking to a portrait." I had once told him cooly when he had asked for a reason. "I play along for Naruto's sake, not for any self-compassion you might actually think I have."
Naruto follows me soon after, his hand finding mine as he falls into the same pace alongside me. "You think they can hear me?"
I raise my eyebrow and send him a side glance. "You should ask Itachi that, he knows more about those pious things than I do." Another puzzled look. I think it's time to give him vocabulary flashcards, so that just maybe, he might not be at all academically lost as he appears to be.
"Hey Sasuke, how's my blondie doing? I haven't seen him since summer" An exaggeration.
"You saw him last Tuesday when you came over." Which he really did, for an endless second when Naruto ran across the hall towards the greenhouse that I had ordered made for him. Itachi had been more than happy to comply, and the construction didn't take more than a few weeks to complete. Now that blond ball of energy had an area all to himself, and was more than happy to spend all day in there. Painting had taken on a whole new meaning for him now, and it was rapidly becoming a task to get him out of there for meals and sleep.
Obviously, I had needed to restrain Suigetsu from tailing after Naruto. He always loves to gush over how much he's growing and how much more beautiful he's becoming. Clearly, I have already taken note all of that, and don't need him to be constantly reminding me that soon my blond doll will be the center of tremendous amount of female (and male) attention. "Just imagine, if you were such a hit at 13, in four years, Naruto will be a teenage idol!" The glare I had given him that day had scared him enough to keep distance for the following three days.
"That's B.S, I demand to see my future trainee today." I roll my eyes and glare at him as Jugo coughs a laugh into his hand. "And what exactly would you be teaching him?"
"To be sexy as all hell like me, of course—ow!" I control my hand from striking him a second time as he clutches unto the top of his head painfully. "For future reference, if you ever try to teach Naruto that, I WILL kill you." The petrified expression on his face as he nodded a quick yes was enough to calm me down adequately to mentally laugh at the situation. As if Naruto would be able to learn something like that from him.
However, as I walk into my last class, I can't help but to picture a teenage Naruto with that dazzling smile and cerulean eyes surrounded by a flock of girls. Surely, he will be as handsome as Suigetsu says, so I don't need worry about the Uchiha-family line being tainted with an unattractive member. He might even make for a good spokesman once he grows older and becomes involved in the family business. Finding him a proper wife will be troublesome though. The family line must be kept free of unsightly offspring, given that I will obviously not be having any children, and seeing as Itachi has yet to announce any kind of interest towards the continuance of our bloodline, Naruto's bride has to be a natural beauty. One that may match his. My stomach clenches painfully at the thought of seeing him walking down the aisle alongside that fictitious woman. Surely, by that time, I will have understood that all birds must one day leave the nest, and the thought of seeing him leave mine will no longer produce such a heart wrenching feeling as it does now. It must be something all parents learn to do at one point in their lives, but since Naruto is still just a kid, I can calmly enjoy the last 4 years of his childhood before he turns into a taciturn, rebellious, and starry-eyed teenager that I am more than certain he will become.
"Mother hens are always such doting creatures. Even during class, they can't help but think about their young." Suigetsu laughs silently as I send him yet another glare. He definitely doesn't have a self-preservation instinct.
I am confronted once again by Uonuma as I approach my locker and send him my signature Uchiha-glare before he reaches me. "The school superstar, class model, and every girl's dream, yet that pretty face of yours only serves to turn other boys on." He smirks as he circles around me, his brown eyes sneering down at me. Once, I could have considered him a good friend when we were younger. We were always in the same class and before the accident, I had been a pretty outgoing and we had been inseparable. Unfortunately, I became withdrawn soon after returning to school. "Come'n Sasuke, don't be sad. I'll always be with you." Innocent words from innocent lips. I don't know what had broken inside of me then, but the anger that single sentence made me feel was enough for me to turn around and tackle him to the ground, punching him until our teacher pulled us apart. A few stitches and a broken nose later, Uonuma came back and decided to make my life a living hell. I don't blame him for hating me still after all these years, but there's a limit to how much of a bastard you can be, and he has clearly crossed that line ages ago. Uonuma leans down a bit to reach my ear, that same sneer still plastered on his face "Jugo isn't here to protect you this time." My silence only seems to frustrate him and as I gather my things and turn to leave his hand reaches out and his fingernails dig painfully into my arm. "You lose much of your cockiness when you're this small you know."
"If you don't want me to kick the hell out of you, let go." He laughs but lets go of me when he spots a teacher turn the corner towards us. "We'll see." Suigetsu and Jugo appear soon after, their faces cross with worry as they see his back disappear around the corner. "I can't leave you alone for one second!"
"Sasuke can take care of himself." Jugo says calmly after he notices my unruffled demeanor. Suigetsu isn't convinced and notices that something is bothering me despite the calmness in my expression. "Sasuke what happened?"
"Am I…really that short?" Their eyes widen to match those of deer caught in headlights, their bodies stiffening instantly. "Y-y-you know Uonuma is a freak of nature, you're taller than most guys in school, besides you're only just 14, you're still growing and-" Suigetsu's voice drowns out when I notice that he has actually grown about an inch taller than me since we left for summer vacation a few months ago. Jugo has always been tall as well, so I never noticed the difference in height. Surely, Itachi has something that can make me grow a foot or more, or can find someone who can, otherwise Naruto really will outgrow me. "-Itachi is really tall so you'll be too." He finally finishes, out of breath and a look of pure pride on his face over what I think he considers the speech of the century. "Remind me to properly beat you later." Jugo holds back a laugh as Suigetsu's face falls, his shoulders slumping and making his sidebag fall unceremoniously on the floor. Tanaka is waiting for me when I walk out into the parking lot, his weary eyes smiling at me as I climb into the back of the car. "Young master, Naruto has come home early today. Master Itachi has asked me to beg you not to scold him, as he has a shift at the hospital and wasn't able to stay." That's great, Naruto has gotten into trouble again. "What did he do this time?"
"It would seem that he was caught breaking the lock from the fence that encloses the old gym that is to be demolished next week."
"Did he say why?"
"No sir."
I remember that old, shabby gym that was still in use despite its obvious rundown state back when I was in that same school. Takumi and I used to run around the back and hide behind the benches, giggling to ourselves as our gym teacher went nuts trying to find us. It had been closed off when the roof started to cave in a few months ago, and only just recently had it been approved for reconstruction. The bile that made its way up to my mouth was bitter and acidic. If Naruto had somehow made it inside that crumbling building...he really had it coming to him now. The inside of my lip was already swollen and close to bleeding as we rode into the driveway, my legs close to trembling from the sheer anger that I felt. His lack of consideration for his own well-being was beyond comprehension.
"Sasuke, please listen." He quickly signs as I walk into the living room where Tanaka told me he was completing his punishment. I simply glare down at him, feeling clearly how his body starts shivering under that cold stare. "You're punished, don't speak to me." I turn to leave but his arms are already around me, his face buried against my back. When did he get so tall? I really need to talk to Itachi about my vertical problem. There's a dampness on my back where there wasn't before and I turn around to face the small blond that was weeping silently. "What happened Naruto?" there's more concern on my voice than I had intended be there. My feeling always betray me when it comes to this blundering mess of a child that I have. "Kiba and I were playing during recess when I noticed a puppy limping towards the gym. I don't know how he got in there, but he was holding his front paw up this high," he raises his hand up to his shoulder, mimicking the broken leg that was already in my mind, "there was blood Sasuke." He stops to rub the tears from his eyes. "I told Mr. Mizuki, but he said that it wasn't his problem. That orphaned dogs deserved to die. He said it so quietly, Kiba didn't hear…but that puppy doesn't have to die right? I tried to go save him but I was suspended instead for breaking the rules." His head lowers, the tears falling more heavily now. "He's going to die now, isn't he?"
"I…I don't know…." He throws his arms around me and still cries silently, the only way he can.
"Sasuke I can't fit through there, I'll get dirty." Suigetsu frowns at me exasperatedly, his arms crossing in front of the white t-shirt he had put on when Jugo and I went to pick him up. "Get. In" I glare at him from the other side of the fence. There had been an opening around the back, surely been cut off by some hormonal teenagers hoping to find someplace to have some fun from the amount of wrapers and used condoms that were spread out not far from the gym's back doors. How anyone can get it up being around a place this dangerous is beyond me. "Seriously Sasuke, what are we doing here anyways. I didn't know you liked a certain feeling of danger when doing it," his nose scrunches up slightly as he notices the wrapers on the ground, "Next time, let's go to the pier. The feeling of being caught has its perks too you know" he smiles at me suggestively.
"No, I don't know, and I don't care to know. Now shut up or I won't be able to hear anything."
"Hear wha-" he pauses when the sound of a weak whine echoes almost inaudibly from within the gym. "I didn't know you were the kind that rescues animals in distress. You really are a gentle person despite that angry face of yours." I punch his arm forcefully before he begins to think that I am actually a caring person. I don't care for other people or other animals. Ever. "How are we going to get inside anyways? The roof might fall on us." Suigetsu's eyes search the outline of the roof against the dark sky, his hand instinctively rubbing the arm I had just punched as small pieces of tile fall to the ground close to us. "Last night's storm must have worn it down further, but its fine, it will hold on." He doesn't seem convinced and walks cautiously around the back. "There's an opening over here." I turn to find him pointing at a door that seemed to almost fall off its hinges. "Looks like an emergency door. We better hurry, Jugo's parents might get home soon and they'll kill us if they find out we took the car out for a joy ride."
The inside of the building smelled of mold, its walls chipping from the humidity that ate away at its paint. The wooden floorboards creaked noisily beneath our step, and it would seem as if they were about to give at any moment. The weak whine that we had heard before echoed once again louder this time. "Behind the benches." I whisper to Suigetsu before making my way to them. "Sasuke, the roof." He warns me, trying his best to follow me despite his fear. I can see the outline of a small creature from afar before Suigetsu lets out a yell and I am forced to jump aside before a good piece of the decaying roof falls on top of me. The dust and debri clog the air and I can barely hear Suigetsu yell my name over my own coughs. "Sasuke!"
"I'm fine, I'll find a way around it." Another small whine turns my attention back to the benches. His pale blue eyes stare at me weakly as I approach, his whole body curled into a tight little ball as his left leg lay spread out before him, coated with dried blood and dirt. Probably a half-breed, a voice echoes from the back of my mind as the air clears up enough for me to notice that his fur was a strange dark-red color, his ears pointed and down cast. His long, bushy tail wagged feebly, his head resting back down unto the floor when I stretched my hand out to pet him. "Come'n little guy, let's get you out of here." Even I'm surprised at the gentleness in my voice. I pull my jacket off and carefully cover him with it. He's as small as can be, probably about 4 or 5 months old, though he appears to be of the cross of a large breed. The debris that had fallen left a small opening big enough for me to crawl under comfortably, and for the first time today I didn't feel like my compact size was something of serious concern. "Sasuke!" Suigetsu almost runs to hug me when I find him waiting for me impatiently at the other side of the debris. "What happened to the little guy? Poor thing"
"You think Jugo can take us to the animal hospital?"
Kiba stares at me apprehensively from the other side of the desk. I should have known that the overall savage nature of his personality had to do with his proximity to animals, but for some reason I had never thought of connecting his name to that of the animal hospital's. His mother was the owner of the hospital afterall. "You're Naruto's friend aren't you?" he nods quickly towards Suigetsu, who was apparently having a lot of fun being here. "Is he a good friend to you?"
"Yes sir, he is." Ah, how innocent kids are. Makes me want to punch them. "Mr. Uchiha." I stand as Dr. Inuzuka walks through the door. "Luckily, the leg was able to be saved, it seems like he was run over only just barely, but I would like to keep him for tonight so that we can treat his dehydration and give him an overall check-up. I'm sure you'll want him in tip-top shape."
"No fleas. No worms."
"Of course, he'll be all cleaned up in no time. You can trust in my team, he'll be all set and ready to go to the shelter and be put up for adoption within a few days if no one comes to claim him," I nod and she turns her attention towards her son, "Sweety, it's time to go home, you have school tomorrow." There's a small pang of something I can't put my finger on against my chest after hearing her speak to Kiba. Maybe I'll pay her a visit tonight before going to bed.
Naruto is already in bed when I get home, and luckily Jugo's parents hadn't arrived by the time he dropped me off. "Naruto didn't want to say what happened." Itachi comments idly as I enter the kitchen, hoping to find something to kill the hunger from not having eaten dinner. "Well, kids will be kids." I answer uninterestedly. He smiles at me playfully and sets his cup of coffee down unto the counter. "Why are you so dirty?"
"Why are you so nosy?"
He laughs tenderly, his head shaking side to side softly. "You're my baby brother, how can I not worry about you?" The hairs on the back of my neck rise as my back stiffens. "Yeah, you sure know how to show that concern after spending years away from home."
"Sasuke, tha-"
"I'm going to bed." The hunger I felt mere seconds ago seemed to disappear as I walked out and towards the warm bed that was most probably all used up with sprawled limbs. Regardless, as I sit next to Naruto's curled up body, I can't help but feel a sting behind my eyes. Naruto hiccups softly and I become aware of the puffiness in his eyes and the streaks of dried up tears that run down his face. He must have cried himself to sleep. Why does he have to be so emotive over something so little as a stray dog? My fingers brush the hair from his eyes unconsciously, my stomach relaxing and once again giving another pang of hunger as I do.
Itachi is no longer in the kitchen when I return, saving me from an embarrassing encounter. Tanaka had, thankfully, left my dinner wrapped inside the fridge. He had probably planned to serve it to me once I came home, but he was probably already asleep by now, and waking him up just to do something I can do by myself is a waste of time.
As I make my way back to my room I take a small detour towards their altar, but find the door open when I arrive. Silently, I edge myself closer to the door and peak inside to find Itachi sitting before them, his hands in silent prayer. The moon that entered brightly from the window shone on two silvery trails that ran down his cheeks. There's another pang in my stomach. Weird, I just ate. Still, I make my way once more towards the kitchen for a glass of milk just in case.
Naruto's eyes widen when I come home with the small kennel I bought at the hospital. He had spent all morning sulking around the house, since Itachi had forbid him from watching TV or going out to his greenhouse. "You have to name him." I say to him coldly as I settle the kennel down for him to see inside. "Sasuke, is that really him?" I nod curtly and he smiles for the first time since he had left for school the morning before. He peers inside and smiles once again. "The vet gave him medicine for his parasites, and for his leg, which is healing so you can't hold him yet. We have to take him back in a few days so that she can check up on it." I hand him a paper bag I had been given at the hospital, trying my best to hide the smile that he was provoking me. "Ask Tanaka to help you with his medicine. Now, give him a name so that we can go buy him a bowl and leash."
"Kurama"
"What?"
"Kurama…I like it…" I roll my eyes and notice the bushy red tail that waged cheerfully from within the kennel. "Kurama then. Fine, do you want to go buy his things with me? He can't come, he has to rest." I add when Naruto grinned towards the small red-furred dog that was sniffing his hand. "Can we buy him an orange bed?" I only had planned to buy him a bowl and leash, but as Naruto hastily put his jacket on and beams at me with such delight, I can only imagine the amount of nonsense he will probably make me buy, but still, as he turns around to say goodbye to Kurama, I allow my lips to tug upwards and smile quietly at him. I'm sure Tanaka will have a heart-attack when he sees the dog.