Deidara tiredly made his way upstairs, his head was filled with memories of a turmoiled past. He wondered when someone, anyone, would tell Naruto about it. About Itachi. Deidara sighed, he was getting a headache and felt really down. To say that he wasn't worried about Itachi would be a wished that Itachi would talk to him more. When he came back to Konoha he thought that everything would be like usual, that their friendship would be the same. In some ways it was, but in others it wasn't. He could tell that Itachi was holding back. Deidara frowned. How could he expect honesty from Itachi, when he himself had not told Itachi everything. Both back then and now, Deidara was still hiding things. His head pounded.
"Itachi, open the door" Deidara pleaded and softly knocked on the door. As expected, no answer. Deidara slid down against the wall next to the door. Now all he had to do was wait.
Meanwhile, Naruto was also about to head upstairs to Sasuke's room to see if he was okay, when Mikoto entered the dining room, wringing her hands. Her graceful eyes looked a bit red and puffy. She must have been crying! Naruto thought. He suddenly felt terribly out of place. Before his thoughts made sense enough for him to ask her if she was alright, Mikoto started talking.
"How about we have a talk, just the two of us?" She asked with a sad smile. Naruto felt nervous but nevertheless, he nodded. He had never really spoken one on one with Mikoto. He watched her with hesitant curiosity as she sat down on a chair next to his, the one Sasuke had used earlier. How much time had passed since that failed dinner? Naruto did not know. Mikoto waited a few moments before speaking again. Naruto frowned, she looked concerned, nervous even.
"I should have told you this a long, long, time ago...I-I really should have, but... your mother was my best friend." She finally revealed. The guilt was eating her alive. Naruto blinked. His mother...? Out of sheer surprise Naruto didn't know what to say, this was the first time he heard anything, any information whatsoever about his mother. He stared at Mikoto in shock, the clouds in his blue eyes had cleared and even his eyelids were to stunned to perform their duty. Mikoto though, deep in her ashamed frame of mind, interpreted his silence as anger and disappointment; she dared not look up to see his face. "I'm so sorry Naruto. I wanted to tell you so many times. But... The years went by and the memory of her was still so painful! I know nothing can excuse what I have done but please, I will do anything I can to make it up to you. I will make sure that you have lots of happy memories here! I will take care of you and love you, as I should have done many years ago." Somewhere along her quick rambling she had grabbed Naruto's arms tightly, almost to a painful degree. She looked into his eyes with such a pained intensity that it shook Naruto to the core. Mikoto looked didn't bother to wipe the escaping tears from her pale cheeks. She had finally told him. She had finally atoned to Kushina, if only a little.
"What... What?" Naruto asked, still feeling a bit out of it. Mikoto eased her grip on Naruto's shoulders slightly and got a fond look in her dark eyes. She gave him a smile, it was small but radiating of happiness, relief and nostalgia.
"She... She was fantastic." Mikoto started. "She was spectacularly beautiful, brave and marvellously spunky. Nobody could ever tell her what to do... She was so, so incredibly strong. And also very loving." She continued with new tears in her eyes. Naruto felt is own eyes tear up. Was it due to the news or his dry eyes? Naruto couldn't tell, he felt confused beyond comparison."Your poor father had quite a challenge, courting that one." Mikoto revealed with a smile. Naruto bit his lip. He wasn't even sure if he was awake or dreaming anymore, he was happy but very, very shocked.
"Tell... Tell me more." Naruto pleaded tentatively. Mikoto nodded.
"She had very long red hair and blue eyes." Mikoto caressed Naruto's cheek. "You have her face, Naruto. You're so very similar to her." Mikoto almost whispered. Naruto his tears fall down.
"I am?" He asked quietly. Mikoto nodded and pulled him into a hug.
"Your eyes are the same colour as your fathers, as well as your hair; besides that, you look just like her." Mikoto shared tenderly and pat his back lovingly. Naruto sniffled. Normally boys would be a bit (very) disappointed or offended if told that they looked like their mothers, but Naruto felt happy. Really happy. "I have so many photos I can show you, of both of them." Mikoto revealed. Naruto returned her hug at those words. Mikoto was a saint. She had to be a saint, or an angel of some sort.
"Thank you." Said Naruto with a raspy voice.
"You're welcome, honey." Mikoto whispered. "Just ask me if there is anything you want to know about your parents." Mikoto urged. Naruto gulped.
"I... I don't know where to start..." He admitted. Naruto honestly felt a bit overwhelmed at the moment.
"It's okay, you can have all the time in the world to think. I won't rush you." Mikoto assured.
Naruto and Mikoto chatted for a good while that evening. In the beginning Mikoto could hardly tell a story as Naruto began crying suddenly. His entire life he had been wondering about his mother and father. He had always wanted a connection to someone, and now that it was here it was like the tension he had been piling up for years was released, causing him to be very emotional. Mikoto told Naruto stories about her and Kushina and about little adventures they had. She decided to not talk to much, as to not overwhelm him; he was already looking tired. After a few stories the time had flown surprisingly fast and Naruto seemed ready to fall asleep any minute. Kushina smiled at him, he looked so adorable. On his face was a big content smile and his eyes shone with more joy than she had ever seen from him. Mikoto also felt content, and more relaxed that she had in a long while. This had been a healing experience for both of them. Mikoto had released a burden she had carried for many years and Naruto finally got some information about his parents. He had even seen pictures of them and the happiness that gave him was indescribable. Now he had some faint image of family in his head. Naruto felt now that even he was a part of something. He had also belonged somewhere. With someone.
"You should go to sleep now, we can talk more tomorrow." Mikoto said softly. Naruto looked a bit disappointed bit a yawn stopped him from complaining. He grinned.
"Yeah. I guess that's a good idea." Naruto said. After that they exchanged good nights and parted ways.
When Naruto headed up to his room he was too distracted to remember that he was originally planning to see Sasuke. In his almost delirious -but oddly calm- state, he headed straight to his room and flopped onto bed. Not surprisingly, it took him a while to fall asleep. What is surprising though, is that he quickly fell into a worried sleep. He was tossing and turning and got a cold sweat. In his confusing dream images of the old matron at the orphanage surfaced, as well as images of people burning, screaming and dying. In the midst of it all was a manic laughter. Suddenly a hot gust of wind hit him and an eery, forceful voice burst 'you're the cursed one'.
It hit him like a punch in the face and he woke up with a start, abruptly sitting up. His heart was pounding awfully. Naruto almost screamed his eyes flickered to the window and he saw the shape of a menacing face. In the blink of an eye it was gone. A few terrified second later his blood froze. He noticed that he wasn't alone in the room. There, in a dark corner of the room stood a terrifying sight. Itachi stood there, silently glaring at him - with an intensity unrivalled. Naruto was too afraid to even yelp. He had never thought of Itachi as scary before, but now the word seemed very fitting. Slowly, almost like a cat or wolf closing in on its prey, he walked from the corner to Naruto. For some reason Naruto could not tear his eyes away from that piercing stare. Itachi quietly looked at him before speaking.
"You had a bad dream" Itachi said simply, his expression didn't change. Naruto gulped.
"Uh.." Was all that he could utter. His heart couldn't calm down and an uneasiness kept creeping up on him. Itachi pulled Naruto's desk chair next to the bed and sat down.
"You... Were muttering something about fire and death." Itachi pointed out. Naruto blinked. He was definitely weirded out now. Why was he even here?
"Um, excuse me but, uh why are you in my room? In the middle of the night." Naruto nervously asked. Itachi smirked.
"I like watching you sleep. It fascinates me." Itachi deadpanned. Naruto screeched.
"What the hell?!" Naruto pulled up his covers very comically. Itachi chuckled.
"I see, you lack a sense of humour." He claimed with that arrogant smirk. Naruto opened his mouth a couple of times to retort but his brain failed him.
Oh.
"Twilight?!" Naruto burst with wide eyes. "What the hell are you quoting in my room?!" Naruto looked at Itachi with an absolutely horrified look. Itachi's eyes held an amused glint. Naruto was not done yet. "You sir, disgust me!" He flailed decidedly. Another chuckle escaped Itachi. Naruto opened an eye to look at him. He had never seen Itachi looking amused to such a degree.
"What's so funny?" Naruto asked suspiciously. He hadn't said anything about Sasuke in his sleep, had he? Oh god, what if he had? Naruto hoped that was not the case.
"You are" Itachi answered easily. Naruto let out an indignant huff.
"I am not!" Naruto puffed his cheeks in annoyance and crossed his arms.
Oh wait.
"I mean, I can be funny when I try. But not like, when I just talk dammit!" Naruto hastily clarified. Itachi nodded.
"Of course." He agreed, but Naruto could still see how amused he was. He was smirking and his eyes glinted still.
"Seriously though, why are you here? Are you really like a vampire or something? Did you come to bite me?" Naruto put his hands around his neck protectively. Maybe Sasuke and Deidara had it all wrong, and Itachi didn't eat food because he needed blood instead. Itachi blinked in surprise.
"How terrible, I am discovered. And my secret was kept for so long, you must be a genius." Itachi said with a slight feigned dread. Naruto squinted his eyes in suspicion.
"You're just fucking with me, aren't you?" He said and removed his hands from his neck.
"No."
"What do you mean with no? You're obviously fucking with me." Naruto let out a groan in frustration. This was not what he would ideally do in the middle of the night.
"I am talking with you. Naruto, I don't know what you have been taught but we are most definitely not having sex at the moment." Naruto pursed his lips. He didn't even know what to say. He had no idea, no idea whatsoever that Itachi had this kind of annoying sense of humour. He had no idea. Wow.
"You don't say." Naruto replied with sarcasm.
"I do say. You see, sex between two men is fundamentally like this. One is on top-"
"OH GOD stop it!" Naruto said and flailed wildly. "What the hell dude?" Naruto shook his head in disbelief. Itachi was so much weirder than he had ever suspected.
"I suppose I'll let you have your innocence preserved for tonight." Itachi almost sighed. Naruto looked at him with a perplexed squint.
"You, are so weird." Naruto pointed out.
"Hm. That seems to be the common opinion of blonds." Itachi said amusedly. Naruto dragged a hand through his hair.
"Did you come for anything else than bothering me when I should sleep?" Naruto's frustration leaked out to his voice. Itachi turned somewhat serious.
"I was walking in the hallway and heard noises from here." Itachi explained. "It sounded to me like you were having a bad dream, so being your adoptive older brother I felt the need to check up on you." He added. Naruto took in the words. Had Itachi been worried about him?
"Oh... Well... I guess I kind of had a nightmare." Naruto murmured after a short pause. After glancing at Itachi and seeing that he was listening Naruto continued. "It was like super confusing and stuff. Someone laughed and there was fire everywhere and people were dying... There was no escape. And then a super creepy evil-sounding voice yelled 'you're the cursed one!' at me and after that I woke up. It was so creepy that when I woke up I hallucinated a face or something in the window. " Naruto twisted his hands together. That dream had been so uncomfortable. Itachi pursed his lips in thought.
"How interesting. Tell me if you dream anything like it again." Itachi said and got up.
"Oh, sure... Hey, you're leaving?" Naruto asked wide eyed. Itachi nodded.
"You seem to feel better, no?"
"I. Well... I um yeah, yeah of course." Naruto grinned to seem more credible. Itachi glanced him over.
"I could stay for a while" Itachi said with a subtle understanding in his eyes.
"Really?" Naruto asked with pleading eyes. Itachi nodded and at down again. There was just something with blue eyed blonds.
...
Sasuke did not know what to make of it when he snuck into Naruto's room to secretly watch him sleep, and found Itachi sleeping on a chair next to Naruto's bed. Bewilderment was written plainly on his face, Sasuke was just too genuinely surprised to even think of hiding his emotions. Was Itachi's hand resting by Naruto's hair. Sasuke's faces twisted, if possible, into an even greater expression of chock and confusion. This situation was just too... Peculiar and unexpected. Odd, just odd. After a while of standing there feeling dumb Sasuke went to poke Itachi's side. Itachi woke quickly.
"Good morning Sasuke." He said and squinted slightly. Sasuke raised a brow.
"Good morning?" He asked with an amused smile. Itachi glanced at Naruto.
"He had a nightmare" Itachi yawned and got up. Sasuke watched after his older brother as he left the room. Itachi could be so strange sometimes. Sasuke walked up t Naruto's bed. He looked at Naruto's peaceful face, his pink lips and long lashes. He's beautiful. Sasuke thought as he sat down. He almost snorted to himself. Since when was he, Uchiha Sasuke, such a romantic? Sasuke's personality was usually not one that allowed people to be beautiful. Sasuke frowned as he wondered what Naruto dreamt about. Was it the orphanage? He wondered if he should ask him when he woke up, but at the same time he felt insecure about the idea. He felt that he maybe had ignored Naruto a little yesterday when he just left the dinner table. He hadn't talked with Naruto after that so he didn't know of Naruto was upset about it or something.
"Sasuke..? Naruto's sleepy murmur pulled Sasuke from his thoughts. Naruto chuckled. Were you watching me sleep or something?" He asked teasingly. Sasuke scowled.
"Of course I didn't. I was just waiting for you to wake up you idiot." Sasuke explained. Naruto nodded in mock understanding. Sasuke looked at his smiling face, and that hair that was even messier than usual.
It was tempting.
So he kissed him.
Naruto was surprised, but didn't push Sasuke away. He hesitantly put a hand on Sasuke's shoulder and pulled him a bit closer. When they parted Sasuke actually smiled at him.
"Good morning" he almost whispered before he stood up. "I'll wait for you downstairs." With those words Sasuke waltzed out of the room with a smirk. Naruto brought a hand to his lips. The hand traveled to one of his cheeks, they were burning. Naruto buried his head in his pillow, and then began flailing around the room, skipping with too much energy for his own good. He liked it when Sasuke kissed him. He really did. Thinking about Sasuke brought his thoughts to Itachi. Naruto dragged a hand thorough his hair. Man, he had acted like such a baby and even made Itachi stay until he fell asleep. If Sasuke ever found out about that, Naruto would die of embarrassment. While deep in pondering, Naruto changed to some other clothes. He found an excellent orange shirt and OH SHIT even orange jeans! Mikoto must have given them to him secretly. Naruto allowed himself a moment of being moved by her kindness as he grinned widely. Happily, he pulled on the bright jeans and looked himself over in the mirror. Perfect.
...
Deidara was on his way to the kitchen, in a better mood than yesterday since he had managed talk to Itachi last night, when he saw something very orange coming towards him.
"Holy fuck. What the fuck are you wearing?" He asked Naruto, who grinned that stupid signature grin.
"Clothes." He answered. Deidara rolled his eyes. The an idea struck him. His eyes lit up and an evil smirk fell upon his lips.
"Wait for me here Narupie!" Deidara ordered and ran off. Naruto quirked a brow, but nevertheless waited for him. After a couple of minutes Deidara returned, dressed in pink from top to toe. Naruto laughed loudly. He understood Deidara's plan.
"This will fry Sasuke's brain!" Naruto laughed.
"It will explode!" Deidara laughed with him.
After a little while of laughing at and with each other, they continued downstairs. Sasuke nearly choked on the water he was drinking when they walked into the kitchen. He gave them an incredibly incredulous look, and somehow looked offended by the sudden blur of colour before him. Sasuke was indeed not a man fond of colours. Especially not strong colours. Especially not orange and pink. Seriously, that orange was so... Orange. Naruto and Deidara laughed some more, loudly and obnoxiously, at their success. Sasuke's face had been priceless. It was simply splendid, fantastic, magnificent.
"How do I look Sasuke?" After wiping a few tears from his eyes and managing to calm down, Naruto asked this with a wiggle of his brows.
"You look like an idiot." Sasuke snorted. Naruto laughed and hit Sasuke playfully on the shoulder. Sasuke smiled at those blue eyes. How lucky he was.
