Chapter11 Recall:
Sakura got a personal 'ride' from Itachi to school; a promotion for Minato, Sakura gets the cold treatment from Sasuke (what's new), a HTHT between Itachi and modern Sasuke and an unexpected (albeit indirect) date (?) with Itachi.
Chapter12 – How to Fasten A Seatbelt
Tapping his admin card on the sensor, the door released a 'bip' sound before it slid aside. Itachi welcomed the cool gush of air as he stepped into the university's library. He stood still on the entrance mat, scanning and drinking in the huge and pristine white space in awe. Located on the topmost floor of the building, it boasted a high ceiling with arched white pillars and white bookshelves, in stark contrast against the black carpeted floor.
Slipping the card into his breast pocket, he made his way towards the service counter.
"Come in." At Minato's prompt, Itachi cleared his throat and entered through the door labelled 'Principal's Office.' He was busy tidying the document laden desk, steadying and watching the wobbly pillars with jittery eyes .Itachi mentally smiled, noted that nothing changed other than the office and height of the piles.
"Good morning, Minato-san, you were looking for me?" Minato darted his head up, his eyes instantly relaxed and smiled a smile as warm as the sunlight filtering through the window behind him.
"Ah, Itachi ka? Good morning indeed. Why are you standing behind the chair? Come on have a seat." Itachi nodded and made himself comfortable on the cushioned chair.
"Congratulations on your promotion, Minato-san." Minato laughed softly and humbly shook Itachi's outstretched hand.
"Thank You, though you must be thinking whether this school is living up to its expectations," He quipped much to Itachi's confusion.
"What do you mean…? Oh, what are you saying, Minato-san? Even though I just joined, I have zero qualms about your capabilities, much less doubt your competency as the leader of this school," Itachi countered ardently.
"I-Is that so? Well, thank you Itachi. I'm glad that I made such a good impression on you," Minato replied behind his still surprised face. "Anyway, I called you here to pass you this." Itachi looked down on the red and gold card between his fingers.
"This is a specially generated admin card that is unique to each students and staffs. It is used for identification purposes and access to restricted areas within the uni."
"What kind of restricted areas?"
"For instance, the computer labs, gymnasium, library…" At his quizzical expression, Minato smiled gently.
"This is to protect our student's privilege and ensure that they get to use what they paid for."
"Were there used to be a lot of high schoolers hoarding the uni's facilities?"
"Something like that." Briefly closing his eyes, he motioned for Itachi to lean forward.
"Just between you and me, every card is infused with a drop of the owner's blood to eliminate chances of forgery; you know what this means right, Itachi?" Itachi's face remained dead serious while Minato slipped a smile and nodded to the card.
"Look after the card, or you'll be looking at an appointment to the Infirmary."
On the surface it may appear that the school is protecting the student's rights, but the type of system erected is no doubt to monitor the access in and out of the library... But to his credit, he was able to maintain a poker-face throughout the conversation. As though being a 'Graduate' from a ninja academy was not flashy enough; the last thing he needed was another reason to watch him.
It was hard to fathom the modern era resorting to such primitive methods of identification - they are definitely hiding something.
"I'm looking for the History section; may I know where it is?" Itachi watched as the girl behind the counter registered shock at someone talking to her. From the way her widened eyes enlarged in recognition, he had to resist from releasing a narked sigh. Bearing resemblance to that singer is starting get on my nerves.
"So, do you know where that is?" He repeated when there was no response from the visibly stunned girl, and noted her high school uniform. He wondered if library club members were issued a separate pass for access, since this library was strictly for uni students.
"O-Oh, yes I do! S-so sorry… Facing the shelves, you take a right turn and turn right again when you reach the end. From there the fourth shelf to the left will be the section you requested." Amazingly, the flustered girl was able to answer without stumbling over her words, as the persistent blush threatened to take over her consciousness. Itachi mentally frowned, but nodded his thanks before moving as per directed.
The place was littered with students, many choosing to camp by the shelves either leaning against the shelves or glued to the floor in favour of the seating areas provided. He quickly located the shelf, this time frowning physically at the jarring sign that denoted the directed bookshelf.
"If you are looking for the History section, it's three shelves down. Bloody contractors got the signs mixed up," A muffled gruff voice came from the back of the shelf, and his frowned deepened at its familiarity. The man stepped out from between the shelves and revealed himself to be a student, with notable sewed scar marks running along his tanned skin and half of his face hidden behind a grey mask.
"Thank You."
"You are the new student who joined the APEX class?" He asked as Itachi was walking away. At his inquiry, he stopped and turned around. Their eyes met and he nodded.
"So I assumed you know Deidara." Itachi also assumed news of his arrival spread even as he was roaming the library. Apparently news about him never ceased to spread, even across the Universe.
"That zealous guy with a fragrance? Yea, what about him?" Intrigued by the sudden turn of the conversation, he held the mysterious guy's emerald orbs and waited.
"You are not the first to mention his… Disturbing scent; someone needs to talk to him soon," He answered with a chortle before continuing, "I don't usually do this, at least not without a fee, but take it as a welcome gift. Do not ever lend him your money, no, anything for that matter. You won't get it back," He concluded sombrely, causing Itachi to wonder at his unknown traumatic experience with Deidara.
"Thank You…"
"Kakuzu. I guess I'll see you around, Uchiha Itachi." Itachi's eyes narrowed slightly at the sinister edge in his words, but Kakuzu's attention had already returned to the hardcover in his hands. As he was turning away, the girl from the counter came barrelling along the lane, nearly crushing into Itachi.
"A-Ano! I'm so sorry I got the Business and History bookshelves confused! I-It's actually three shelves down…" Itachi shook his head and gave her a hint of a smile.
"No worries, we're all bound to make mistakes; you did what you have to." The girl was left gaping at his retreating back, filled with self-reproach and appreciation for his kind overlook.
"Maybe you should take that as a cue to get the signboards switched, Hyuuga-san." The intrusion of the throaty voice caused her to jump, and muttering another apology to the floor, she scampered back and contacted the library maintenance crew.
True to both of their words, he finally arrived at his destination, and to his luck, he was the only occupant in this section. His hands immediately shot out to slot out a forest green paper back etched with the Konoha leaf symbol on its cover. His first thought was it smelt of age, but he recalled the incident in the public library. Leaking some of his chakra into the papers, he waited for a moment, but could not sense any reaction. Mentally nodding in approval, he began to peruse "Life in Konoha - Ninja as an Occupation," the tiny Kranji texts causing him to squirm in discomfort.
… To aid in their tiresome and often treacherous missions, the ninjas of Konoha underwent quotidian trainings and perilous trials to ensure maximum proficiency and minimum rate of failure, making Konoha one of the most feared and sought-after village for hiring qualified ninjas.
He continued and repeated this process for almost all the books across the shelf, most of them replicas of what he had read and paraphrased. What unsettled him was the hasty generalisation of several facts, especially when they were bordering onto the omitted truths, but was met with red herring.
…. They were said to practice Secret Techniques that were passed down from generations to generations, with skills that were exclusive to the clan and Konoha. Countless battles over the centuries were as a result of trying to obtain these classified techniques.
… Konoha also boasted the finest medicinal practitioner and medical ninjas of across The Five Great Shinobi Nations. Apart from being adroit in battlefields, their delicate and efficient administration of first-aids kept the soldiers strong on their feet and spurred to emerge victorious for Konoha.
Itachi slapped the last book shut and sighed in stupefaction. All these redundant genteelism – secret techniques, trials and first-aids; what's wrong with dojutsu, moulding chakra and medical ninjutsu? Who, or why, were the elders hiding these facts?
Earlier today…
"Sasori-danna, I changed my mind, let's go back-"
"Don't make me castrate you in the middle of the walkway." At the warning and baleful glance in his direction, Deidara shoved his hands into his pants and sulked all the way to the high school's canteen.
"Wait, you don't really mean that do you, danna?" When Deidara casually mentioned about getting sick of the uni cafeteria and suggested visiting their sister institution, he was not really expecting anyone to comply with his needs, nor Sasori agreeing to tag along.
They were causing quite a commotion, but then anytime when university students visited the canteen, it would typically stir up the restless high schoolers.
People seemed to anticipate their arrival even moments before they stepped into the canteen. Daydreaming students who happened to glance out of the window and happened upon them, frantically texted their pals who were having lunch break, who then informed their lunch mates, and so forth.
Both were aware of the attention they were attracting, and each had their own technique to handling limelight. While Sasori maintained his nonchalant poise and was hell-bent on getting his taste bud satisfied and stomach pacified, his bosom buddy was busy winking to any ladies who made eye contact with him.
"You go and find seats; I'll go take my order first-"
"Don't fret, we have plenty of places to rest our sore butts," Deidara assured, gesturing to a few groups of eyeing ladies who were dedicated to making spaces to fit the boys. Sasori sighed and mentally gagged at the lady's taste (or lack of) in men and went towards the food vendor. Since he made it a point to show on his face that he was not interested, if not he would be the one they would be ogling at, not him.
"You don't really think you are a celebrity, Deidara."
"Don't be a spoilsport, danna. Just live in the moment, hmm!" He said cheerfully when he caught up behind him in the queue. He merrily looked around for a familiar face, when she ghosted passed him. Instinctively, he shot out his hand to grip her arm.
"Not going to say hi to your ex-neighbour, hmm?"
"Dei! What are you doing here?" She began to look around frantically.
"Aw, what do you mean by that? I miss you so I came to see you, hmm," Deidara confirmed with a firm nod, to a part-sceptical and part-disappointed Sakura when Itachi was nowhere in sight. She held his eyes as though trying to see through his façade, and smirked.
"Oh who are you lying to? You just want to see Ino," She replied eventually with an off-handed shrug.
"Who's that?" Sasori's deep voice rang out behind Deidara's frame and voluminous hair, startling Sakura. Seeing Deidara was understandable, but Sasori too? She glanced at the Chinese noodles store, and her cynicism towards him increased by tenfold. Since when did Sasori do Chinese?
"Oh, let me introduce, this is Sakura-chan, and Sakura-chan this is-"
"Not her; I'm talking about who she mentioned," He interrupted curtly.
"Oh hey Sasori-san! Ino is my classmate and best friend, and Dei's-"
"What? You two know each other?"
"I see. That's why this idiot insisted on coming here. Did you know he nearly had a panic attack at the canteen entrance and wanted to go back after coming all the way here?"
"Hey- What? I so did not have a panic attack-"
"Ahh that's so typical of him... To suggest something and drawing out half way..." Sakura drawled, eyeing Deidara and willing the ditching incident at the cafe to resurface and to draw out some guilt in him. Sasori turned to him for an explanation.
"Oh, so now you two decided to stop ignoring me huh? Sakura-chan, I've explained a hundred times there was an emergency at home, and w-who said I came here to see her? It's not like I want to see her or anything…" Deidara trailed off, suddenly interested in the courtyard's scenery.
"Riggggght…" They were patronising him, and he knew he was losing the battle. Sakura's heart reached out to him, and she toyed with the idea lolling in her head.
"You know what; I've decided to help you. I have let this charade gone on far too long. So you want to see her; she's over there by the pillar by the way," She discreetly pointed with her thumb. "But seeing is not enough, you need to act on what you see and I have just the excuse for you," Sakura began enigmatically.
"And that is…" Deidara asked uncertainly as Sasori ordered his Chinese dumplings noodle while sticking one ear in their conversation.
"The Annual Hanami next Tuesday! You can ask her to be your date," Sakura exclaimed as she writhed at her brilliant idea.
"A-Ask her out huh? Haven done that in ages…" Sakura took the fact that he was pondering the suggestion as a good sign and nodded on encouragingly. Sasori scowled, as though bitten by a scorpion.
"And I was wondering what ingenious idea you've had. I don't even see the purpose of this festival, standing around to watch sakura fall off and get swept away by wind. Before you know it, they're all gone, pointless," Sasori added as he twisted around to shake his head disapprovingly at Sakura.
"Back off, Sasori-danna. I-I think this is a perfect idea, Sakura-chan. I might finally have the opportunity to talk to her while admiring this true art by nature-"
"True art? You can't be serious."
"W-Well, and if things don't turn out so well, I can always go with you," Deidara commented as he engaged her in an affable one arm hug.
"E-EH? S-Sure, Dei!" She was going to make sure that Ino would accept his date, and felt that it would then be redundant to reveal that she was already going with someone else.
"… The Annual Hanami is the epitome of transient beauty and is in line with my belief of art as ephemeral… This spring shall be my springtime of love!" Crushing Sakura with a bear hug, Deidara whispered his fervent gratitude, and she helplessly returned his affection, grinning sheepishly at an irked Sasori. He crossed his arms while drumming his fingers impatiently, waiting for them to separate from their shameless display of affection.
"… So what now? Do we go over there and sit with your woman, or you are so happy that you longer have any appetite for food?"
"My dish's here, I'll go find us other seats," Deidara claimed his plate and went on ahead. Sasori waited until he was out of earshot.
"Sakura-"
"Yes Sasori-san?" When she spun around to look at him with her placid smile, he felt himself bereft of speech. I can't do it…
"No, it's nothing."
"Hey Itachi, Sakura here! How's school today?"
"Hello Sakura, today was alright, lots of lectures. Are you at the hospital already?"
"Yes, I'm taking a break now and was wondering how are you," She admitted bashfully over the phone, glad that the only one seeing her blush was an elderly lady. Before she entered through the sliding door, she delivered a knowing wink in Sakura's direction, causing her blush to deepen.
"That's nice of you, Sakura. Well, I have no Taijutsu lesson today so I'm heading over to one of my classmate's house now. I'll be home by the time you return," He added before she could ask.
"I see; I'm glad to hear that! I was kinda worried you might not…"
"That I might not fit in?" At her silence, Itachi closed his eyes and smiled ruefully to himself before continuing, "It's okay, Sakura. I was trained for this sort of thing, though whether I'm feeling what I show is another thing."
"So… Are you? Are you comfortable, that is?" She asked timidly into the speaker. He thought for a second, and was surprised to find himself breaking into a genuine smile.
"Yes, I am."
As she thanked Shizune for her phone and began her way to Chiyo's ward, she replayed their conversation in her mind, and she swore she heard the smile in his voice at her last question. The image of his smiling face drew out hers as she greeted Gaara and Chiyo with her silly grin.
"My, my Sakura-chan sure looks happy today!"
"I-Is it? I'm still the same as usual!" She proclaimed as she reached for her health chart. Hmm, classmate's house huh? I wonder what kind of person he is.
"Does Chiyo-baasan have any children or grandchildren?" Gaara contemplated over her question, and she could tell he was battling with his conscience over whether to spill or to remain mum.
"... She has a grandson," He admitted at last.
"O-Oh, that's nice, though I never heard her mentioned before." Gaara stared at the opposite wall contritely.
"That's probably because they don't exactly share a close bond with one another."
"Are they still in contact?"
"Not to my knowledge; he did not contact us once since he left the Sand nearly 16 years ago. No one knew of his whereabouts, or whether he's alive," Gaara regarded pensively as Sakura struggled to remain blasé to this unexpected news. She glanced at the helpless godson and wondered what sort of person was Chiyo's grandson.
"What's his name? Who knows I may have seen him; recently there's lots of people who came to Konoha from Sand!" Gaara's eyes widened momentarily in hope, then he realised she might be just trying to uplift him.
"Well…?" Gaara sighed, eyes hardening at memory of Chiyo's weeping form at his departure.
"His name is Sasori."
"Danna, why did you leave Sand and come to Leaf?" Sasori gave a brief look at Deidara as they dawdled along the street.
"Why do you ask?" With their individual artwork submissions accounted for, they were free after school and were on their way home after lunch.
"I'm just thinking – it's not like Leaf specialises in sculpting or wood sculpting. In fact, Sand is one of the best, if not the best when it comes to creating wood sculptures," Deidara reasoned to himself, and became more perplexed the more he thought over his question.
"I have my reasons." That was Deidara's cue to stop his Q and A session. As they were crossing the zebra-crossing, they passed by a group of middle school students, and two of them waved in their direction. Deidara frowned in bemusement; why were the boys waving to them?
When they stopped by the vending machine for sodas, someone tapped on Sasori's back.
"Hi, Sasori-san!" A pair of girls chorused energetically. When he meekly nodded in response, they giggled among themselves and scampered away, as though in embarrassment from speaking to some 'cool onii-chan.' After collecting his drink, he turned and continued walking in the opposite direction of the girls. Deidara peered at the girls, and then regarded Sasori with an amused grin.
"Danna, you seemed to be very popular among kids, hmm," Deidara observed and nudged him playfully by the elbow.
"Don't speak nonsense, they were merely… Acknowledging me, no big deal," Sasori responded unconvincingly, with his head tilted slightly back in the direction of the girls' jabbers.
"Well, at least they acknowledged you. Considering the stony mask you always wear on your face, they must really like you, hmm," Deidara, the self-proclaimed kid psychologist analysed.
"The kids… Like me huh." At the back of his mind, he could not help but wondered how much of those smiles were true.
As a kid, Sasori could not understand the way people behaved around his parents, particularly when his Mother was concerned. Whenever she was in the company of Father, everyone who walked by would bow in reverence and offered pleasantries. Some even went as far as to bend to Sasori's level and nuzzled his curly hair and enquired about his day.
He was a shy one then, and he did not like to interact with people, opting to lower his head in discomfort. However, he found that he did not mind the body contact; it reminded him of his Father's nuzzle when he did something good and the smile that would dance in his eyes that rarely graced his lips. He loved that he could make his Father smile.
He remembered his Father was suddenly summoned for a meeting, which left him and his Mother for the rest of the shopping trip. On their way home, they saw the ojisan who talked to them from earlier, walking towards them. His Mother nudged his puny fingers in his direction and told him to greet him. He obliged and waved at him, but the gesture was not returned. Maybe he did not see his small frame.
"Hello, ojisan-" When he whisked passed without acknowledgement, that was when he knew that was intentional.
"Mother, why did that ojisan ignore us?" He caught his Mother's slightly fazed expression but it was swiftly replaced by a gentle smile.
"Oh, he didn't ignore us Sasori; he was just deep in his thoughts. Sometimes I do that too. Once, I walked right into your Father and we nearly fell!" She recounted chirpily, her tone filled with assurance. Not wanting his Mother to worry, he gave a small nod and continued walking, deciding to bite back the comment of the eye contact he was sure he made with the ojisan. At the end of the day, he barely convinced himself that it was no big deal and he was just someone who lived down the street, someone they barely knew.
Then, it happened, and it happened again. Each time it occurred, his Mother would relay the same words, and each time the words sounded more for herself than for her son.
A year later, Sasori still could not understand why people behaved that way around him. However, what was more puzzling for Sasori was witnessing this behaviour from his relatives.
His Grandma was a woman of authority, who nurtured and worked alongside his Father and lived with them in a modest two-storey house. Every night without fail, no matter how tired she was, she would snuck into his room to read him a bedtime story because she knew how much he loved her folk tales and Sand myths.
That night, he heard her muffled voice beyond the mahogany door of his bedroom, shortly after she had left when she thought he had fallen asleep. Rolling off the bed, he crept towards the door, his baby green blanket in tow. He flinched at the chastising tone in his Grandma's voice.
"Why are you even being so friendly to them? Even if you offered them these measly oranges it's not like they will suddenly agree to my son's proposal!" In her agitation, her hand smacked against the basket of fruits, and they went toppling out of Mother's grasp.
"I'm trying to help, Mother. Sasori's Father looked really stressed these few days and it is my duty to-"
"To sit still in this house and tend to the chores, not making things worse than it is." With a final glare at his Mother, she slammed her bedroom's door shut, the resounding slam reminiscent of a slap. He watched as her Mother squatted into the folds of her maxi-skirt and gathered the scattered oranges into her bosom.
Since the day he could remember, other than his Father and him, everyone else had treated Mother like a punching bag, and any unctuous remarks would be instantly replaced with pernicious comments, backed up with a cavalier attitude when Father was not around. It was frustrating to watch how she never retaliated and continued to smile, and he could do nothing to thwart their behaviour.
Not even her Grandma.
"Chiyo-baasan, can I ask you something?" It was bedtime, and she had just coaxed him to sleep with promise of advanced lessons on manipulating wooden puppets.
"Sure, Sasori boy, what is it?"
"Why are you always so mean to Mother?" He watched her fingers paused at the edge of the storybook, and observed how her smile seemed contrived around the edges.
"Since when am I 'mean' to your Mother, Sasori?" He deliberated for a moment.
"You scold her whenever she's alone. Did Mother do something wrong, that's why you are always scolding and beating her arms?" Chiyo's eyes widened a fraction, and she chided herself for not noticing Sasori the day before when she hit that woman for leaving the laundry out in the sandstorm.
"O-Oh, Sasori boy what should I do? I just remembered I have work to submit by tomorrow morning. I'll save tonight's story for tomorrow alright?"
"What? And I really looked forward to today's story…" Smiling down apologetically at his pouting face, she petted his head and left the room with a kiss.
The last time he saw his parents was during the night of a terrifying sandstorm, with its sinister hiss that was preventing him from falling into a slumber. He had wanted to find solace (and hopefully sleep) in her parent's bed, when he saw Chiyo hastily exiting their room. He wormed his way behind the door, where his Mother's snivel could barely be distinguished from the seething storm.
The next thing he saw was a heavily masked man crouching on the window sill, pointing his brandished knife at his Mother. His Father caught the reflection of the blade and threw himself in front of Mother, right when the blade sank into his heart.
Instead of running away, he saw his Mother wrapping her arms tightly around Father's still frame. She tilted her face towards the mystery man and whispered something to him, and a dribble of colourless liquid hit the hardwood floor as the same knife slid easily into her chest.
Just when he thought the interminable ordeal was over, a gush of coarse wind broke through the window and blew away the man's disguise. Sasori gasped silently and watched through his teary eyes as the man who called himself his Father's confidant, his Mother's 'sister' and his 'old man best friend' speedily picked up his fallen mask and replaced it, before slipping out of the window and vanished into the sandstorm.
Sasori could never comprehend the way people behaved around him, but one thing was certain for him, as he later came to master the term for such behaviour.
Sand is filled with hypocrites.
Hopping onto a metallic blue sedan, Itachi was instructed to 'fasten the seat belt' while Kisame started the engine. Before he hit the gas, he noticed Itachi squirming around the leather seat as though searching for something.
"What's wrong, Itachi-san?"
"How does this 'seat belt' works? I can't pull it out," He explained as he tried futilely to shunt the strap. Kisame raised his brows in amusement, and took a few seconds of sadistic pleasure to watch as Itachi mishandled his car.
"Come; let me give you a hand." Itachi released his death grip on the grey strap and pressed against the backrest as Kisame leaned across him, easily pulling it over his shoulder before attaching it to the buckle by his thigh with a solid 'click.' Itachi touched the belt in amazement. Kisame chuckled to himself and drove them out of the university's parking lot.
"Is this meant to keep the passenger safe?" He asked, pointing to the seatbelt.
"That's right. Itachi-san, don't tell me you have never rode in one of these?" Kisame asked jokingly.
"In this… Car, yes it's my first time. It's a lot quieter and smoother than the public buses I took to school though," He remarked causally as Kisame stopped for a red light.
"Of course! Do you know how much this baby cost?" He sounded slightly offended by the comparison, which baffled Itachi. Even though this was admittedly a more comfortable alternative to the schlep by foot through the foliage that he was so accustomed to, the numerous instances where they had to stop for those traffic signals proved this to be less efficient than travelling on foot and chakra.
"Maybe you were ripped off, it still took us quite a while to reach the destination," Itachi mentioned as they came to a halt by a white building next to the sea.
"What? You are kidding right, Itachi-san. What do you use to travel back at your place?" He asked as he unlocked their buckles simultaneously and leaped off the car.
"By foot." Kisame shrugged his brows and motioned for him to stand aside as he reopened the door and slammed it shut.
"Is it spoilt?"
"Yea, the door sensor is faulty; it's second-hand after all. The next time, you pull it back, gather some force and thrust it in!" The second slam did the trick; he locked the car and led Itachi around the narrow path to the patio.
Kisame's house was located on the South-east of Konoha, by the seaside along with rows of stand-alone houses and shops. A vegetated mountain towered over the area on the east side facing the sea, giving the place the impression of an isolated beach.
He then led him into a white interior living room, with three large adjacent windows that faced the sea. There were matching white sofas with blue and white stripes pillows, a recycled timber coffee table that was resting on a blue and yellow stripes rug on the fir floor. He gestured for him to sit and poured them green tea.
"Kisame, do you live alone?"
"Yea, though this is not my house. I'm helping at the diving centre next door and the owner rented me this beach house at a cut-price. He has a few houses along the coast," He elaborated.
"I see. This is a great place," He commented, drinking in the carefree sway of the coconut palms and serene atmosphere.
"What about you, Itachi-san?"
"I'm staying with a relative. Heard of the Haruna Residence? Thank you," He took a sip of the freshly brewed tea as Kisame settled at the adjoining armchair.
"Ah, can't say I did. But bring me there some time; I'd love to see it." After a moment of indulging in the idyllic afternoon of affable company and soothing beverage, Itachi spoke his mind.
"You aren't from Konoha right?" Kisame opened an eye in surprise in his direction.
"Is it that obvious? I thought my Leaf accent is pretty neat," He shook his head in awe; other than Pein and Minato, Itachi was the only one who had discovered that in a long time.
"Let me guess – you're from the State of Mist."
"Itachi-san, are you a fortune-teller now?"
"And you are a strong swimmer." He wondered if he also practiced swordsmanship like his ex-partner.
"Now, the last point is rather obvious; you're just humouring me huh. Oh I heard you graduated from a Ninja Academy? Why ninja?" Fortuitously Kisame did not enquire about the academy.
"My... Father was a ninja and he intended for me to inherit his will."
"Uh-huh, then why are you here in an urban area?"
"There has been… A change of plans." At the lack of elaboration, Kisame nodded understandingly and ceased to press on further.
"What about you?" Kisame's eyes found his concerned ones but beyond that, he saw a trustworthy face, a confidant; this inexplicable feeling that he had known him for a long time. He released a dramatic sigh and fell back against the backrest.
"It was more than ten years ago, I think. After my parents died in a scuba malfunction during one of their barrier reefs exhibitions, I had to support myself while I struggled through my elementary and middle school days. Orphaned kids got it real bad, you know?" Itachi felt his heart cringed at his last comment, and nodded on encouragingly for him to continue.
"Luckily for my incredible luck at job interviews and affinity with water, I was able to pull through with the bare essentials. Then one day, I noticed an ad about hiring part-time diving coaches at Konoha with considerable pay, and I jumped at the chance. I haven looked back since," He ended as he stood up and did some stretches.
"What do you say about a quick dip in the water?"
"Sounds good,' Itachi answered softly.
After what she heard from Gaara, Sakura felt the need to confront Chiyo.
Chiyo eyed Gaara pointedly before she admitted to what he had told Sakura, and went on to share a little of Sasori's tragic past.
Apparently, he realised Chiyo and everyone's dislike to his Mother and was upset by the discovery. Then, shortly after witnessing his parent's death, he decided could not stand living with her, or Sand in general, and left the State. There were no last words or hugs shared. There was certainly no farewell letter.
Chiyo remained strong and shed no tears throughout her recount, but even Sakura, a stranger, could detect the sadness oozing behind her eyes. She wondered if that was why Sasori's smile seldom reached his eyes, and if that shed some light on his cynicism towards mankind.
She valued Sasori as a friend, as her benefactor and believed that he wanted to see Chiyo as much as Chiyo did.
As she stepped through her door, Itachi glanced up from the newspaper on his lap.
"You're back." She felt a tug in her heart as he resumed his reading, hit by the image of her Father spread on the sofa with his newspaper who welcomed her home like before. Itachi sensed her eyes on him.
"Is something the matter, Sakura?" She shook her head; as her Father had ingrained in her – be thankful. Even though his Father had passed on, at least she still had a roof over her head and company. A hot company.
"What are you reading about?" She kicked off her pumps and plunged down next to him, leaning over his shoulder. A waft of sea salt and shampoo teased her olfactory senses, and she smiled at its healing properties and what it was doing to her fatigued mind.
"Another child has gone missing; the boy is only six." He pointed to the coloured image of the beaming boy.
"I hope the police can find him soon, like they always do," She added confidently, and he offered what she could call a smile. She continued to skim the pages with him, and whenever he wanted to flip a page, he would turn to her, in case she was not done.
"So, did you find anything?" Sakura started.
"Like what?"
"Whatever you said you wanted to check in the library," She asked, referring to the day he had decided to study and be a teenager again.
"Oh, unfortunately I didn't." He set the papers down and angled his body to face her. "Sakura, are you sure the archive is in the uni's library? I didn't see it when I went there this morning."
"I'm sure; one of my best friends is in the library club and once she mentioned it. I can call and ask her now," She finished and instinctively reached into her pockets, but his arm shot up and grabbed her wrist.
"No, it's okay. I'll look for it again." He loosened his grip and reached into his pocket to pass back her phone. She blinked at his outstretched hand.
"Oh, right, I keep forgetting to get you a phone." She slammed her fist against her palm in self-reproach, before her eyes lit up and she reached into her bag. Itachi gingerly took the item from her palm.
"What's this?"
"I imagine it would be quite embarrassing for you to carry around a phone with the pink casing, so I got you a temporary relief," She answered and signalled for him to turn it around. Against the black background lay his pride and honour – an Uchiha fan symbol on the top half of the metal casing.
"Come, let me help you." She quickly replaced her old casing and passed it back for his inspection.
"I-I have no idea; I assumed the design was fixed." His gaze was fixed on the Uchiha symbol in awe, and she giggled at his plain appreciation to such simple things in life.
"That's the beauty of phone cases; every time you change it you can't help but feel you've got a new phone."
"I imagine these things come at a price," He remarked, tapping on the phone's glass screen.
"Well, yea but in this age this is practically a necessity, especially for curing boredom, and ICE of course," She grinned and demonstrated the wonders of YouTube to a frowning and nodding Itachi.
"They have many tutorials of all sorts– some as lame as demonstrating 'how to fasten a seatbelt;' I nearly spilt my drink at that! Like you don't say?" She shook her head in disbelief and recalled how she had choked on plain water when she confirmed twenty thousand views beneath that faithful video.
"Well, I have no idea…"
"What?"
"So I just type in whatever I want… And thousands of these videos would surface? That's rather unbelievable." He scrolled down the endless list and made a mental note to check out this YouTube in private.
"That's nothing. You being here, now that's unbelievable." Itachi's fingers paused and he thought about what had happened since he winded up in this strange yet familiar world.
"I'm glad we met, Sakura." Sakura's smirk gave way to surprise at his softened eyes.
"W-Well, I'm glad I met you too." Her reply was immixed of sincerity and perplexity.
"I mean it, and I'm sorry for all the trouble I must have imposed upon you," He continued on, gazing deep into her widened eyes as a raising perturbation overtook her.
"H-Hey, it's no trouble okay? I was the one who agreed to this… Wait, are you leaving? Have you found a way to return home? Is that why you're saying these now?" She knew it was eventual, but the thought of it, and so soon; she was uncertain how she felt about that.
"… No, that's not it. And there's really no point in me going back anyway," He looked down at her cool palms rested anxiously atop his and back at her as she regained her composure.
"W-Why not?" She breathed out in bafflement and watched as his lips pulled into a humourless smile, with eyes that had seen too much blood, ears that had heard too much screams and heart that had experienced too much death.
"Didn't I mention I'm already dead?"
School's starting next week, and when that happens... I'll have to compromise the progress of this story for a least a month. It sucks so I'll try to write as much as I can while I have time!
