Chapter 9: I Call Him Jealous

October 25th, 2009

Three weeks, twenty-two hours and 32minutes, that's exactly how long Kumiko had been staying with Tayuya. It had been one of Sasuke's most devastating, demolishing days ever. With a lack of sleep and a non-cooperating body, he had dragged himself to school, he had took his seat behind his desk to study, he had cooked, he had finished the laundry, and so on. Until this one day, three weeks, twenty-two hours and 32minutes later, on a Monday afternoon, when Sasuke had a day off and Itachi wasn't home, he suddenly caught the rumbling noise of tiny feet working their way to the door, opening it and getting in. As he turned around, he looked back at bright blue eyes, yet somehow different. They seemed more confident and determined. She stumbled her way in the apartment, not paying attention to the brother sitting at the kitchen table while studying, now his eyes focused on the interferer though, and dropped her luggage on the ground. How she had gotten that luggage was a big question mark, for as far as Sasuke can remember, she had left without any supplies, and now here she was with a bag full of clothes. It was silent in the flat, and she closed the door behind her when her brother started talking.

"Hye," he gasped, not really sure how to begin this conversation. Even more surprised he was when his sister turned around and smiled towards him, still avoiding his eyes though. "Hye," she smiled and opened her bag of luggage. "Has the laundry already been done? If so, I'll take them to the launderette myself."

"I did it this morning…" This was probably one of the most awkward conversations ever. "I can take you, Itachi didn't need his car today so…"

"That's okay, I'll walk."

"How are you going to get there with all those clothes?"

She held her ground and thought about that for a while, decided she had no idea and that she didn't care, and shut the door behind her. Immediately after that the strings of her violin started playing one of his favourite movie songs from Lord Of The Rings. They didn't see each other for 4 more hours. Sasuke took her clothes to the launderette himself, and discovered something interesting.

At his left a girl and her boyfriend were washing their clothes. It was a fresh couple, probably not that long renting an apartment. She was winking at Sasuke who was preoccupied with his sister's mess. Normally he would've taken his chance, now that his sister had returned home he wanted to get back as soon as possible only to endure an utter silence once more. He did not know what it was but, although they did not talk or see each other, his restlessness of the past few weeks had been now dozed off. Knowing his sister was it that room next to his, in their bedroom, was good enough. It made him wonder what was going to happen next. Wonder if his sister would still be sleeping next to him, or rather get in Itachi's twin bed which she had occupied a lot lately. He missed her warmth and reassuring soft snores.

Putting her bunch of clothes in the machine, a small paper swirled to the ground and ended up mocking Sasuke. He picked it up and stared back at it. 731-757-2923. A phone number? From, whom?

"It's probably nothing," he murmured to himself and continued. Pushing the start button on the machine, he returned home to wait for at least another hour. He had planned to study in that hour, however it ended up different. 731-757-2923. Whose number was this? 731-757-2923, 731-757-2923. He repeated the number several times, examined the little paper for any further details, messages, hints. 731-757-2923. Where had he seen that number before. 731-757-2923, 731-757-2923.

The door opened. In a rush Sasuke crammed the note in his pocket and pretended to be studying, his sister walking in. She said nothing, had been playing for over 4 hours, and moved herself to the refrigerator to fetch herself some juice. Popping the straw in the juice, she sucked it hard he couldn't help but stare dreadfully at it. Even the slightest movement got him insane with jealousy.

"When's dinner?"

"When Itachi gets home."

"And when'll that be?"

"I don't know."

He wanted to act nice to make it up for his stupid behaviour, but the truth been told, at a time like this it was important to keep himself in line. She turned around, still sucking hard on the straw, biting it lightly, and nervously tapping her foot because of Sasuke's annoying answer. He tried not to look at her and keep his eyes on his notes, however that wasn't according to Kumiko. In front of him, she sat down while drinking her juice and reading her favourite manga Fruits Basket, a typical shojo manga any girl likes. Her bare foot touched his leg for an instant moment, sending a shiver up to his spine. How could he possibly concentrate on his notes? It was like she was provoking him, having put on her night dress, a short light pink dress with fringes, cleavage, bare legs, somewhat sexy, somewhat cute. Like she knew this was making him feel uncomfortable. Trying to keep his eyes off of her, with every page she turned around it only got worse. He would not finish his own and felt restless. She switched and now placed her left leg on her right, again faintly touching his leg, but now resting against it. This was getting too much.

"Kumiko-chan," he gasped, sweat pouring from his forehead on his notes, like he was sick. "Could you, leave."

"What? Why?" She felt unwanted.

"Just, please."

It was like she understood, without exchanging words, why he wanted her to leave. She got up from her stool with her manga in her hands and closed herself in their bedroom once more. But Sasuke was following her only a minute afterwards. He swung the door open and stared right back at Kumiko's eyes which had been avoiding him up till now. She was a little startled when her brother had barged in, his courage drowning at the bottom of his heart. Both hearts stopped beating as he was staring at his sister in her underwear and a-cup bra, that night dress having already fled. Words were short, but Kumiko was surprisingly relaxed under the circumstances. "What is it?"

"I, you, what – What do you want for dinner?"

She stared questioned at him. Was that any reason to barge in? "... I don't really care..."

"Okay." He had turned around so that he didn't need to look at his sister the entire time. That, and his pants were tight. "Dinner, one hour?"

"Hai." Nothing was to be said anymore. And just as awkward as the conversation they had had, he left and ran towards the phone on their floor. He dotted the numbers one by one, by now already knowing them by heart. The phone rang. One time. A second time. A third time. "Hye there, this is Jiraiya speaki – and Naruto. Narut – what the hell are you?! We're currently not at home so please leave a message bye!" He hated Jiraiya-san's voicemail. Trying to dial the number again, the voicemail talked in Naruto's place again.

"Common Naruto, I know you're there. Pick up. Dobe. Pick it up dobe." The telephone held silence for a while before Naruto started talking. Still sleepy he responded. "Hello?"

"Baka, were you still sleeping?!"

"So what? I have a hangover. Some people among us still like going out ya know. Now tell me why you fucking called me while I was sleeping."

"She's back."

It went silent at the other side of the phone. Next to Naruto, Hinata shifted and turned around, still sleeping and murmuring something about '5 more minutes'. He wanted to help Sasuke now, but Hinata sleeping next to him was risky. What if she overheard something? Not that she was going to tell anyone, Naruto was well aware of that. "You mean your sister?"

"Yeah... I don't know what to do Naruto, I'll lose my mind over here if I stay any longer."

"Okay relax teme. Did you guys, talk?"

"Is talking about laundry a conversation?"

"Well, yeah, I guess. How does she act? Normal, or is she still a little stern?" Hinata pulled the blanket over her head. It didn't seem like she was listening.

"She acts normal. But that's not the point is it?! I can't spend another hour in this fucking apartment with her. We spend 5 minutes in the same room and already I –," he looked down and growled, "I have a boner." Most embarrassing conversation ever.

"Oh, I erm, I see... Can you hold it for five more minutes? I'll pay a visit. Oh and Sasuke?"

"Yeah?"

"Make dinner for 5 will ya."

–

Cook the duck for half an hour while kneading the dough. When the dough is flexible and stretchable, give it a rest till the duck is ready. Once the duck is ready, Roll the dough flat and divide the duck in small portions. Wrap dough around each portion and keep it warm in a pot. Meanwhile chop onions, carrots, omelette and leek as small as possible. The rice should be ready by now. Add the vegetables and egg to the rice and give it a good stir.

Cooking was nice. It was reassuring, and it was okay doing it with three instead of doing it alone. Hinata was okay, she was a nice cook, although he had never expected Naruto to bring her along. It must've meant they had spent the night with each other. They must've had sex, they definitely had. Hinata was one of the few who had never ended up in Sasuke's bed, so probably the main reason for having ended up in Naruto's bed. She used to be with Kiba, but that didn't work out, and everyone knew Hinata had a crush on Naruto for as long as mankind can remember. They hugged stealthy while Sasuke wasn't looking and exchanged butterfly kisses. In a kind of way, they were together, just not yet official. Sasuke could stand the slimy puppy love. Anything but spending five more minutes alone with his sister. And in some way, he was happy Naruto had find a girl.

Hinata also was interesting to examine. She was caring like a mother, although her father had never really offered her his love, and managed to have decent conversations without stuttering once in a while. Whenever she found herself in a kitchen, it was like her confidence increased because she was the only one among them hzving experience with cooking. Naruto practically lived on ramen. Sasuke had, though he was still terrible. Favourite dish to cook: onigiri. Simple, and made once a week since his sister liked it so much. Especially with scrambled eggs or salmon. So Sasuke and Naruto followed Hinata's instructions while listening to Kumiko's music coming from their bedroom, still occupied with her fiddle while making food. The table was being dressed for five, drinks were ready, and dinner was ready. Itachi came home a lot later than expected, happy they had been waiting for him to start dinner. Confused when he heard a prelude from Bach coming from his brother's room. "Kumiko's home?"

"Oi," Naruto smiled widely and wrapped his arms around Hinata's waist. "I'll go get her."

Itachi noticed the sour look on his brother's face when he started talking about Kumiko. They waited for Naruto to come back with their little sister in his hand, and then sat down. The conversations around the table were so normal, and that's exactly what bothered Sasuke so much. Itachi didn't seem mad at Kumiko, why?

"Well I think it's nice not to be the only girl around here. Hinata, you pass," Kumiko smiled while pouring out water. "How long have you guys been together?"

The young couple turned red. "Well actually, we've been seeing each other for a while now," Naruto continued, "but we both felt like not telling anyone yet. Especially since Kiba's a good friend to both of us. Sasuke doesn't really like Kiba, but Sasuke doesn't like anyone," he jokes. Sasuke couldn't laugh with it. Itachi felt the tension around the table.

"Sasuke doesn't like anything," Kumiko corrected while stirring in her rice. One hit after the other. Sasuke was losing his patience. "I do like things. Just not, all of them."

"Like what niisan? I'd be pleased if you were to give us an example."

"Women," he smirked. It was like an epic battle with words.

"And with women you mean girls? Like, under aged and stuff."

Bam, right back in his face. They exchanged faces while Itachi, Naruto and Hinata were watching from the tribune, narrowing eyes, showing teeth, staring. Sasuke smashed his hands on the table and got up to look more threatening, finding his sister doing the same, eying each other to wait who would succumb under the embarrassment first. Sasuke had never been good at these battles, especially between his sister.

"Frankly I don't care about their age, as long as they're useful in bed!"

"The only one being useless in bed would be you!"

"How can you possibly assume that if you never had a boyfriend in the first place!"

"I'm meeting someone!"

He swallowed his own tongue and fell back on his chair, not realizing anymore three other people were watching them. He had managed to make her cry again, really, what kind of a brother was he? Suddenly that paper still in his pocket with the cell phone number written on it became clear. The asswhole that had been dating his sister, that was his cell phone number?

"Sasuke." His brother's words were short and accurate. "That's enough."

"And since when do you agree with this?! She's been gone for over three weeks and now she barges in, claiming she has a boyfriend?! And you agree with that?!"

"I was well aware where Kumiko was as well as why. I knew she was seeing someone because she had told me about him. There's nothing for me to get angry about."

So while Sasuke had been white with fear, Itachi had known where his sister was all along? And she had told him why? He felt like everyone was against him, swung his fists and growled only to turn around and lock himself in his room. He'd stay there till the next morning, not expecting Kumiko to knock that door to get in bed. She'd sleep in Itachi's bed anyways.

I'm meeting someone. Who the heck was this someone? He just had to know. Those numbers, the order, it all looked so familiar, he had seen them before. And why was it that every time he looked at the number he thought about Hinata? He didn't even know the girl, never had a decent conversation with her up till now. He waited till midnight, sneaked out of his room and ran to the telephone for the second time in a row. 731-757-2923. The phone rang. Again. Again. Someone picked up.

"Hello?"

"Who are you."

"I'm afraid I should be the one asking you."

"Listen buddy, if you don't spill the name right now I guarantee you I'll find it out anyways and kick your ass for not having told me. Now, who are you."

It fell silent at the other side of the phone. Maybe Sasuke had been reckless, of course he wouldn't tell him. What idiot would tell a stranger his name?

"How did you get my phone number?"

"I'm the one asking the questions."

"Then I'm afraid you won't get any answers tonight," and Rinji was about to hang up when he heard the stranger calling for him. "Wait!... Fine, what do you want?"

"Your name, pretty boy."

He was mocking him. "Uchiha Sasuke." Kumiko had inherited her mother's surname, so telling his name wouldn't give him away. Still, the Uchiha had a certain reputation among the city.

"An Uchiha huh... Interesting, I wonder what business would bring someone like Uchiha Sasuke, to someone like me."

"Your name you fucking jerk!"

"Hold it right there hothead. First, you give me what I want, then we're square. For what reason do you want my name?"

"To protect someone."

"... Good enough. How did you get my number."

"Found it."

Rinji enjoyed Sasuke's playful answers. "You have any sisters?"

"None interested in you."

He smirked behind his cell phone. "Fine. I'll give you my name. It's Rinji."

That name. That's why he thought about Hinata every time he saw that number. Rinji Kajuji. The phone dropped out of his hand, running as fast as he could back to his room. He did not care whether anyone was going to hear him slamming his door, he did not care at that moment. From all the people, she had chosen Rinji Kajuji, the jerk that once had been dating Hinata's little sister just like many of his victories before. And just like any other girl, he would take her, and dump her the day after. Kumiko was no exception, just one of his many prays. And now he did not know what to do. If he'd tell her she'd get angry, and wonder how he had found out. If he didn't, he'd break her heart. He was getting a headache. This asswhole also had a reputation, just like the young Uchiha, and he was, just like the young Uchiha, known among the city. It was the first time he had ever heard Hinata say she'd kill someone, although it had been in a very insecure way. This guy, he would definitely fuck the brains out of his little sister and run off the next moment. Stirring around in bed, restless, Sasuke couldn't fall asleep that night. He could only think about his sister lying on bed and spreading her legs for – for someone else. And that's when the sick perverted thoughts returned. He listened as Kumiko had stood up to fetch herself some water, greedy running it down her throat. What kind of funny noise would she make when that asswhole – would it be the same as when – it would be different. More intense, more genuine, more wanting, louder, higher.

Rinji Kajuji. He was exactly the same as Sasuke Uchiha.

October 30th, 2009

Just like any other Saturday, Kumiko and Sasuke went jogging together, having to make up arrears for the past three weeks. Usually it was Sasuke who needed to bring along her inhaler, some sugary orange juice and water. This time however, Kumiko had been the one. She had gotten sick of relying on her brothers for as long as she can remember, ready to take care of herself on her own. It was unusually hot for the time of the month, the sun still shining bright, people enjoying themselves in the park, picnicking, children playing, ducklings parading through high grass. Peaceful yet also busy, a great environment for the two of them to act 'normal' since talking wasn't really necessary while running. Enjoying the silence was something both of them had always liked after running. They took a break underneath the same sakura-tree and closed their eyes, thinking about a little bit of everything. That's exactly what they did today as well, only more awkward, only that they didn't enjoy the silence. He was confused, she refused talking about it, they were complete strangers. To not endure the silence any longer, Sasuke took a nap against the tree while she was putting something together. He dozed off for a while, waking up 10 minutes later by his sister's hands. They stared back at each other's eyes, caught each in an individual spell.

"I made you something," she smiled and squeezed his head in a necklace. Above his chest the Uchiha symbol rested. "I made it together with Tayuya. It's a kind of paper you bake in the oven till it gets hard and turns glassy." As gently as possible his thumb and index finger lifted the small symbol to admire it better. It was such a plain present, but he already felt like crying. It just was, even more confusing? His sister was so nice...

"I don't deserve this..." he sighed and untied the necklace to give it back when he saw her hurt eyes. No matter what he did, he always ended up hurting her. "Why do you act so innocent?"

"Because," and also she sighed, pushing back his hands because she wanted him to keep it. "Aishiteru, niisan." A tear rolled down her cheek. "Aishiteru."

"Imouto." His thumb wiped away the tear. He didn't want to see her cry anymore, he had seen it so many times before, and it felt devastating watching it. He wanted to tell her he loved her too, that he was sorry, that he was stupid, the worst brother ever, so so many things yet none of them he said. Was it too embarrassing or too overwhelming, or maybe it wasn't necessary? After all, they read each other like books. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," she responded and rubbed her eyes. Why does she always have to cry in front of others?

"What did you tell Itachi?"

She looked up at her brother.

"I know you didn't tell him the truth. If so he would've kicked my ass and sent me to the hospital. So, what did you tell him?"

She bit her thumb's nail, something she always does when she feels uncomfortable. "I told him I wanted to stay with Tayuya for a while because I felt like I was a bother to you, that because of me you never have the time to go out with friends. And that I didn't want to be so dependable of you and Itachi anymore."

His sister had been lying for him? Why? Because she was afraid that she'd lose her brother. It was either taking the risk and telling her big brother a lie, making sure Sasuke wouldn't be sent to the hospital, or losing her brother for three years so that he would get clean. Maybe it was selfish, but it was understandable. They had already turned their backs to each other lately, it was only a matter of running away now and never coming back. She loved her brother more than anyone it the world, and couldn't afford losing him.

"Kumiko-chan, don't lie for me. Please? I'm not worth it... I would've been better off in that hospital anyways –"

"I don't care!"

He was surprised by his sister's reaction. She seemed so confident and determined it made him proud. "I don't care," she repeated, more tears coming up, "you can't leave me. Not after what you have done to me. You can't leave me Sasuke, not now, never," and she wrapped her arms around his neck to dig in for a hug. "I forgive you niisan. I forgive you."

He responded the hug and softly cried in her arms. There were no words necessary, they already knew how the other one felt.

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