They Hold the World
Chapter 28: Veracity
Sasuke
The Uchiha household had never felt so . . . bustling.
Mikoto was in the kitchen, rolling dough and checking on the dish in the oven. She worked her magic in that way that, when young, Sasuke used to stand back and watch in awe - because, sometimes, he figured his mother had to have an extra arm hidden somewhere. How else had she made meals big enough for all sixty-some members of the Uchiha family? But today, she wasn't working double-time for the Uchiha. Not at all. It was because . . . the Hyuuga were coming over.
Fugaku was surveying the house, eyeing every oriental table and silk drapery to spot any sort of flaw or wrinkle that could be quickly tidied up. Sasuke couldn't count how many times he was asked to sweep the porch and vacuum his bedroom (why did he have to do any of that, anyway? It wasn't like their guests were going to snoop out the dust bunnies in the garage closet). And the Uchiha mansion had always been a grand, clean place; but that day, it was absolutely sparkling. All because . . . the Hyuuga were coming over.
Shisui was . . . well, Shisui was in the same boat as Sasuke.
"Search the cabinets for Merlot."
Being dragged around to do most of the chores.
"Wait, dear," Mikoto called from the kitchen to her husband. "Are you sure Merlot will do? I was almost sure Hiashi preferred something more tart."
Fugaku hummed as he paused on the steps, eyes sweeping the main hall for about the tenth time that hour. His eyes narrowed in thought, and then he turned to Shisui, who hovered by the wine cabinet. "You're right. Bring out a few bottles of Sangiovese."
Shisui frowned and looked through the cabinet. "I don't see why we can't have water and tea." His neck bent forward as he searched, rotating some of the bottles to read their names. "More practical, and you won't wake up with a massive hangover." He stood and shook his head. "And we're out."
Fugaku frowned and walked over, checked himself, and saw that they were, indeed, out. Clicking his tongue, he went to his office, only to return with a half-torn envelope and something that Sasuke didn't get a good look at. He tossed Shisui the object, and the two shared a look.
"Get some with it," Fugaku said. "After that, well . . ."
They looked at Sasuke for a split second.
Shisui nodded and left for the garage, and before Sasuke could even begin to comprehend what had just transpired, his father turned to him and ordered that he help his mother with setting the table. What the hell? he thought, begrudgingly entering the dining room. Aren't we supposed to hate these guys?
...
5:00 pm, everything stopped when the Hyuuga came.
Because Hyuugas had a way of doing that, somehow.
And immediately, Sasuke saw a line, almost invisible, between his family and the other. It was as clear as the white button-down that Hiashi wore that so openly and purposefully clashed with Fugaku's black dress suit. And the frost in Neji's eyes was as cold as Mikoto's smile was warm. So distinct and powerful, the families filled up the entire room just by standing alone - no words had passed yet, and quietly, Sasuke worried what would happen when conversation began to arise.
I've always known we were different, he thought as he watched Hinata help her little sister out of her fur coat. But has it always been this obvious? He looked around at the deep, royal colors of his home; the dark blues and velvet reds; the accents of black and rustic oak - it looked nothing like the Hyuuga mansion, so beige and still and simple. Did it go beyond the homes? Beyond the clothes? When he and Hinata were in a room together, was it like this? Did they look . . . different?
What are you thinking? He pursed his lips. Does it really matter?
No. It didn't.
It . . . shouldn't.
But it was just so weird.
The Hyuugas stepped out of the entrance way, gazing around the home. A noticeable frown was on Neji's face as Hanabi seemed to try to hide her fits of giggles as she peered off at a portrait of Sasuke's great grandfather. Still, no one spoke. Mikoto wiped her hands on her apron, smile simmering down to a simple quirk of her lips. Why was she so silent? Just moments ago, she couldn't stop talking about their guests.
And now -
The front door opened, bringing in sunshine and cool air, as Shisui Uchiha shuffled in, kicked off his boots, noticed the mismatched eyes on him, and smiled.
"Sorry I'm late." He held up the box of wine, causing Fugaku's shoulders to relax and Hiashi's head to cock. "I got the Sangiovese."
...
A few months ago, Shisui told him that he had partied the night away in Spain.
Sasuke did not doubt that for even a second.
Because, well . . .
"It's hard to believe that you remembered my taste in wine, Shisui."
"Of course I didn't. Don't you know who I am, Hiashi? I've never had a red in my life. No, it was Mikoto who knew - go prattle to her."
"Oh, Shisui, don't go around sharing that I know the favorite wines of men beyond my husband! It makes me feel like I'm sixteen all over again!"
If anything, Shisui was the party.
Sasuke stood by the wall as his family and the Hyuuga gathered around the living room to wait for dinner. Mikoto was finishing up her spinach cuisine and had asked Hanabi to help her, who agreed and practically ran away from the boring, old men in the other room. Neji sat next to his uncle, who sat across from Fugaku. Shisui was in the middle of it all, soaking up everything, easing the tension out of the air and getting even the stone-cold Fugaku to smile every now and then. It was magic, Sasuke was convinced as he watched it all from a few feet away. Magic was the only way Uchiha and Hyuuga could be so -
"I-Is it bad that I was e-expecting worse?"
Compatible.
Hinata shuffled up to him and leaned next to him, eyes shining in the sparkling light of the chandelier above. He couldn't help but watch that golden shine, feeling a bit prideful that he was the only one to see it at the moment. Scoffing, he turned back to the rest of his musing family. "I don't understand it, either."
"It's not a b-bad thing," she said, gleaming. "Actually, I'm glad I get to m-meet your parents again." They watched as Shisui threw his head back in barreling laughter as he patted Hiashi's shoulder, who shook his head in amusement. "Ah, u-um, and him, as well."
"Do they know each other?" He nodded to her father. "Shisui and Hiashi."
Her eyes crinkled a bit. "Yes." Glowing eyes blinked as a bit of an unsureness tugged at her lips. "But . . . I-I don't know how."
Nor did he, and it was a bit unnerving to see him act so casually with the Hyuuga head. But before he could think about it any longer, everyone in the living room stood and called him over. He and Hinata shared a glance before joining them in the room, where Shisui walked up to him and handed him a pair of car keys.
"This was for Christmas," he said, "but you were so keen on seeing little, Miss Hinata that you didn't even open it." Sasuke examined the key and the small, leather tag that came with it. Why does this look familiar? "Though I suppose it worked for the best since you wouldn't be able to drive the damn thing until now, anyway." He watched as Shisui walked to the front door. "Don't worry, it drove just as well as when he had it."
Him . . .
Wait a minute.
Sasuke walked over and looked out the window to find that Itachi's dark red '67 Mustang Shelby was parked out in the driveway, looking as clean and new as when Itachi had first gotten it. His heart stopped as his thumb grazed the keys in his hand.
No way.
Sasuke looked back at his family. "How . . ."
"It wasn't easy." Shisui walked behind him and looked out the window, snorting. "God, I would have killed for that thing. I'm sure you remember how Itachi would always drive it around when I was over to get me jealous. And you - well, I don't need to tell you how much you liked it." Rolling his neck, he turned back to Sasuke. "But we all knew you wanted it, so we took it to a place, got it spiffied up, and did the paperwork - the damn paperwork. When you turn eighteen, it'll officially be under your name, and then, well, I guess there will be someone out there you can show it off to."
And for the first time in a while, Sasuke felt . . . speechless.
"Sasuke." Mikoto frowned from the kitchen. "Where are your manners?"
Tugging at his hair to hide his warming ears, he muttered a thank you that surely no one would hear, flipped the keys in his hand, frowned in thought, and then went to put on some shoes. Upon opening the door, he looked over his shoulder, and asked, "You want a ride in it?"
Shisui laughed. "Why not."
"I was asking Hinata."
"I gave you the car out of the kindness of my heart. Least you could do is let me tag along."
Hanabi bounced out of the kitchen and was already pulling on her coat. "I'm coming, too!"
Sasuke sneered. "No way!"
"Oh, that will be fun!" Shisui had a cheeky grin as he pulled the door further open to let everyone outside. He sent Hanabi a sly smile. "Siblings chatting it up with siblings. Oh, I can't wait to tell you all the things Sasuke did when he was your age."
Somehow, Shisui and Hanabi were already out and waiting by the car by the time Sasuke calmed himself down enough to not blow up. Hinata was next to him, grinning, and adjusted his green scarf before tilting her head to the mustang and asking, "Ready?"
He frowned and shook his head, but knew, somewhere in his heart, this was all he ever wanted in the world.
Thankfully, dinner passed without much excitement. There was some business drawl, but it was mostly full of Shisui's stories of Spain and all the trouble he got into while there ("So I was kicked out of the place - and if I weren't so damn good looking, I'm sure the lady officer would have hauled me to the cárcel, as well.").
Light conversation passed between Hinata and Mikoto ("Eat as much as you can, Hinata, dear. I still have my wedding dress in the back that I'm sure you'll look smashing in within a couple years, if you'll just gain a bit of weight." "M-Mikoto, p-please - why would I n-need to wear your dress?") as Neji and Sasuke, who were tragically sat next to one another, struggled with keeping to themselves and not continuing where they left off at the last dinner they had together. Were it not for Sasuke's promise earlier that morning, he would have boiled over a good twenty minutes ago; but that and the warm, small hand squeezing his under the table kept him sane until they were finally separated after dinner.
But then . . .
"Open a bottle for us, Shisui," Mikoto called as she sat next to her husband on the sofa. "I'm sure Hiashi is dying to get into it."
And both Sasuke and Shisui flinched because, well . . .
Uchihas were many things.
Powerful, selfish, sly, and lightweights.
Mostly lightweights.
...
Example 1: two glasses in, and his mother was already reminiscing.
". . . And you were such the charmer."
"I know, dear."
"Why, that's why I didn't snatch you when I should have, Fugaku. You were with all those other, pretty ladies, and I was sure you were more into them than you were into me - so I figured I'd play around until I was sure. Real sure."
"Play around, Mikoto?" Hiashi leaned back in the arm chair, twirling his glass around and letting the scarlet liquid slosh around in a rhythmic motion. Something of a smirk was threatening his stubborn frown, and though he kept his lips pursed, his eyes were lit with amusement. "Back then, Hitomi and I had a word for it, and 'playing around' wasn't it."
She waved her hand at him and took a sip from her glass. "Oh, leave me be, Hiashi. We all had our things. You were rebellious and I loved men. Surely, I don't see a problem."
"Loved men?" Fugaku snorted. "Mikoto, my love, you adored them - to the point of a new one every four days, I'm sure." His dark eyes found Hiashi across the way. "How many times did she snag you in high school alone? Five times? Six?"
"At least a hand full," Hiashi mused, smirking, eyes dimming in memory. "You got Hitomi so jealous. I recall once during sophomore year that she confronted me after having seen me with you on a date - not even a date, but rather I was helping you at the store. But she was so sure it was a date, and right there, she had yelled 'Well, if you just love shopping with her so much, you should marry her!' And were I not so head-over-heels for her, I probably would have just to spite her."
What?
Sasuke sunk back into the sofa as Hinata, next to him, leaned forward. Wide-eyed and a bit pink.
Marry my mom?
"Oh my God," he groaned, rubbing at his eyes. "I'm going to be sick."
...
Example 2: three glasses in, and Fugaku was seeing ghosts.
"Hitomi."
The room paused, waiting.
"Hitomi, I'm talking to you."
Dark eyes fell on Hinata, who blushed and gave a shy, shaky smile.
"U-Um," she whispered, gaze falling, "m-my name is Hinata, s-sir."
Mikoto giggled behind her hand as Hiashi sighed into his glass.
"I'm sorry, hon," Mikoto said. "You just look so much like her. Even I - well, I was so sure you were her a moment ago. But then I realized Shisui wasn't all over you, so I supposed that was what snapped me out of it."
WHAT!?
Sasuke glared over at Shisui, who had the most panicked expression on his face that he had ever seen . . . ever. Where was the collected Shisui? The one with dead eyes and a single, blank expression? Nowhere, from what Sasuke could gather, because all he saw was a rigid, swaying Shisui as he downed his water in one gulp before slamming it on the coffee table.
"I think you drank enough tonight."
"Don't be like that, dear," she said, smiling, a bit of a reddish color to her cheeks as she ran her finger along the rim of her glass. "I didn't mean to slip that you were in love with -"
"I wasn't in love with anyone!" His eyes found Hiashi, who sat back and listened closely. "I loved her, sure, but because I thought of her as a sister. There was no -"
He huffed, blew a bit of hair out of his face, and scowled. "Either way, that's Hinata, and I'm not 'all over her', either."
"Like hell!" Neji yelled.
"She doesn't need some old man when she's got Sasuke!" Hanabi said, grinning.
Shisui shook his head, face cooling back into its usual, nonchalant façade. Nothing but a quiet 'Twenty-eight is not that old' escaped him that only Sasuke heard as he sat himself on the carpeted floor and stared at the bottle of wine like it was the Devil Himself.
...
Example 3: five glasses in, and Hiashi was beginning to feel a bit tipsy
"Being a twin is troubling, at times."
Scratch that - more than a bit.
Because Hyuugas were better drinkers than Uchihas.
"Often I wonder, was I the twin or was he the twin?"
But that didn't mean they were good drinkers.
And just to drill it more in, once he finished his glass in two gulps flat, it slipped from his hand and fell to the ground, shattering instantly.
"Good God, Hiashi," Mikoto muttered, eyes becoming razors the second she leaned forward and caught sight of the sparkling, shattered glass. Her mouth twisted in trepidation as she tucked her feet away and grabbed the arm of the sofa. "Rebellious and clumsy, I suppose."
Neji and Hinata worked on cleaning up the mess before anyone was hurt, but Sasuke was too distracted to help him. Instead, all his focus was on Shisui, who had backed away a good two feet the moment the glass shattered. Something was on his face - a sort of dreadful expression that Sasuke wasn't used to seeing on an Uchiha - and he held his hands to his chest as if his life depended on it.
What the hell?
And Fugaku must have noticed it, as well, for he snapped Shisui out of his trance by telling him to go get Hiashi a new glass, which he did without a noise or slug in his step.
...
Example . . . 8, maybe?
"Go ahead and drink some, Shisui."
Drawled by Mikoto, those words alone were said more than anything else that night.
And Shisui did what he always did: smile politely and shake his head.
"You look like you need to relax, dear," she persisted, smiling at him. "Go ahead. One glass will do."
"I'm alright, Mikoto."
She scrunched her nose. "'Mikoto', he says. I prefer the other one."
Sasuke and Shisui locked eyes, Sasuke looking for an answer and Shisui . . . hiding it?
"Oh, please, this bottle won't finish itself."
Sighing, Shisui nodded and filled his water glass with red wine, sipping it, eyes narrowing a bit at the taste, but never once complaining. Because Shisui, for all he was, wasn't a complainer.
...
That is . . .
"It's too cold in here."
. . . Unless he was drunk.
Cold? Sasuke scoffed, staring at the nearby fireplace, which was lit. It's barely even tepid.
"Here, dear," Mikoto mused, walking around her husband's chair to pull out a familiar-looking, hand sewn blanket. She threw it over his shoulders and ran a hand through the back of his hair. "This will warm you up."
Shisui looked down at the fabric and frowned. "Mom," he groaned, "this is Sasuke's." He shrugged it off and threw it on Sasuke's lap, who didn't even flinch.
Because, well, he was too flabbergasted to do much else but stare.
. . . Mom?
It was getting late, and just before the Hyuugas were getting ready to leave, Mikoto brought out something from her room. A scrapbook, full to the brim with pictures of . . . him.
Oh God, Sasuke thought as she began flipping through it, showing off pictures of him as a baby to Hanabi and Hinata. She can't seriously be -
"Who's that?" Hanabi asked, pointing at one of the pictures. Sasuke slunk over and glanced over Hinata's shoulder to find that she was questioning the image of a twelve-year-old Itachi helping his toddler, little brother with walking.
Mikoto smiled as she grazed her fingers along the young faces. "That's Sasuke's brother."
Hanabi looked over at Shisui, who was talking to Fugaku and Hiashi. "Him?"
"Not exactly." Mikoto flipped through about ten pages. Now the pictures were of Sasuke at age six, playing with Shisui and Itachi at a park. "Here's Shisui. It took us a couple of years for us to be able to take pictures of him."
Hinata's brows furrowed. "Wh-Why?"
"Why?" Shisui walked over and stood by the window, getting a good view of the scrapbook. He looked at it fondly before turning to Hinata. "Well, I suppose you could say I was," he smiled, "camera shy."
And maybe it was the lighting or the fact that he was near a window that looked over the indigo yard outside, but Sasuke could have sworn his smile was blue.
...
It was nearing 11:00 pm when the Hyuugas finally left. Mikoto and Fugaku saw them out at the door, but Sasuke didn't stop there and followed them to the driveway. He watched as Hinata helped Hanabi in the backseat before she closed the door and turned to him.
"It was f-fun," she said, eyeing her father, who sat in the passenger's seat, rubbing at his temple. "Confusing, but fun."
He smirked. "Let's not do this again."
Her laugh was drowned out by the start of the engine, a not-so-subtle sign from Neji for her to get in the car. They said their farewells, leaned close to soak up as much of each other's warmth as they could, and Hinata leaned in to kissed his cheek before turning to leave.
"What?" He frowned. "That's my big reward?"
She blushed and shook her head. "My family is r-right there."
He glared at the car before nodding. "Later, then."
She got in the car, and he watched as it backed out and drove off down the street before rubbing his cheek tenderly and returning the warmth of his house.
...
His parents had already gone to bed, but Shisui was awake.
"Going to bed soon?" he asked Sasuke, though his eyes never left the window as he spoke. Sasuke stood next to him and followed his gaze. He could see the path out to the side of the house that led to the private cemetery they owned. "You should. It's pretty late."
"I'm not the only one." Sasuke turned to him, eyes turning into steel. "You're drunk."
"I don't drink for a reason, Sasuke."
He knew. "Then why tonight?"
Shisui's eyes were foggy, but still stared right into his soul. "There's many reasons, I suppose," he said, voice drifting off a bit at the end. "None that I want to discuss right now. So if you'd please -"
"You lied about being camera shy," Sasuke said. He knew what he was trying to do - change the subject. Which only got Sasuke more curious. There were more pressing things he wanted to ask, but decided to start with something softer. "Why?"
"Does it matter?"
"I'm asking for a reason."
Shisui sighed and turned away from the window. "Later, Sasuke."
He got a few steps away before Sasuke continued. "What are you hiding?"
"I said later."
"You keep doing this!" he snapped, not meaning to let so much frustration into his voice. But he couldn't help it. Shisui was always like this, even when Itachi was around. Always being vague and subtle and sneaky around certain subjects. Sasuke was tired of it. "When will you start talking to us? To me? I finally have you all back, but you keep on . . ." He frowned. Shisui's back was still. "Is it wrong that I just want to know what you aren't telling me?"
"Sasuke . . ."
"Can't I just . . . learn more about my brother?"
A sharp intake followed by a hard flinch from Shisui before he pulled a hand to his face. Sasuke's resolve wavered at the reaction, but he stood his place and was ready to face whatever consequences there may be. Because . . . he was finally willing to admit that, sure, Shisui was his cousin - but after all his jealousy and anger faded, Sasuke clearly saw him as he saw Itachi: his brother.
...
Something wet hit the floor.
Tears?
Sasuke eyed Shisui's still shoulders.
He's not . . . crying, is he?
Feeling awkward, he walked closer, tilting his head to try and see Shisui's reaction.
And what he saw was not tears at all, though there was a bit of wateriness in those dead eyes of his. No, what he saw was a red, soaked hand before it fell to hang at the side.
And Shisui turned and looked at him.
...
Smiling something bloody.
Chapter Twenty-Eight - End