The closer Sasuke got, the more the excitement in his chest began to falter. While Tobira had looked like his normal serious self when scanning the schoolyard, his mood seemed to shift when he saw Sasuke.
Dark eyes blinked up at Tobira as the young Uchiha came to a halt in front of him, holding onto his backpack. When Tobira didn't say anything, the elder shinobi instead looking him over briefly with those sharp red eyes, Sasuke's gaze moved elsewhere. Looking to his bag, he saw his own hands messing with the strap. Maybe Tobira didn't like fidgeting?
"Did you have a good day?" the silver-haired shinobi's words snapped the boy out of his thoughts, hands locking to his sides as he looked up at the elder clansmen. Tobira was turning to leave, so Sasuke made way to follow after. The two walked side by side, heading away from the school as they spoke. Huh. He guessed Tobira wasn't in a bad mood after all. It was hard to tell with him.
"Yeah. We just did history, chakra theory, shuriken-- that kind of stuff. It was pretty normal." Painfully so, outside of the talk with Kiba. It felt off to sit through class and continue on training so soon after Tobira arrived. He knew it was necessary to focus on his academy work so he could grow into a good shinobi, but it was hard. If Sasuke was being honest, he'd much rather spend more time with Tobira. They might not know each other very well, but they were still sort of clan.
The elder shinobi had said he would make sure the compound and him were alright. Everything was going to be alright. As alright as it could be, anyway. Nothing was really right, but maybe Tobira could at least make it better. The red-eyed shinobi had said he would, and had helped a lot last night. Not to mention how strong and smart he must be, to be able to talk to the Hokage. He wondered briefly if he had actually been able to.
Sasuke couldn't resist glancing over at the other as he considered this, blinking lightly when he saw a look of what almost seemed to be amusement. Why was Tobira looking at him like that? The masked man merely nodded, apparently having no interest in sharing whatever it was that he found so funny. "That's good. Do you have any homework tonight?"
Oh, the homework. The young Uchiha would have done it during the second half of the lunch period, but with Iruka letting him train outside, it hadn't really crossed his mind. "Yeah. I have to do some history, and he asked us to practice meditating if we had time. It's supposed to be good for your chakra."
The boy listened as Tobira merely nodded, agreeing, "It is, especially late at night. Your chakra recovers and replenishes after a long day." seeming prepared to begin one of his painfully detailed explanations. While they were usually pretty lengthy, Sasuke didn't mind it too much. As much as he'd tried to hold it back, the young Uchiha was a curious person. He knew it was a bad trait to have. Father and brother- no, he corrected himself with a small scowl, Itachi- were always telling him he needed to learn to not pry into things so much. Shinobi did as they were told, no matter the details. That's what he'd heard many times before from outside the compound too. So it didn't seem like one of the things that only their clan did.
"Are you paying attention?" Tobira's words caught him in his distraction, his back reflexively straightening as he looked up at the silver-haired man. The elder had his brow raised, much to Sasuke's discomfort.
He glanced away from the sharp red eyes that reminded the young Uchiha a bit too much of the sharingan for comfort, head moving back and forth. It was better not to be caught in a lie, he was sure. "...Sorry."
Sasuke really didn't like the sound of his voice. It was so low and thin sounding. He hated it.
Tobira at least didn't comment on it, the silver-haired shinobi seeming to let him off as he excused, "It's fine. We're here anyway."
Well, now Sasuke kind of wished he'd been paying more attention. Both to what Tobira had been saying and where they were going. Why had they gone to the market? Glancing around at the stalls and then the elder, he questioned, "But I just went shopping the other day?"
Sasuke blinked as Tobira moved a hand, motioning for him to follow. "Yes, but you don't have any meat. I'd also like to pick up a few other things, and would rather you weren't home alone while I was shopping."
A small pout formed on Sasuke's lips, even as the ravenet followed after Tobira. "I can take care of myself, I told you." he muttered the reminder more to himself than anyone, not sure why the man was so against leaving him at the house if he knew exactly what they were getting. It wasn't like Sasuke wouldn't be fine. Even if everyone was gone, Sasuke was strong and smart enough to handle it. He was, he reaffirmed to himself even as he followed behind the taller male.
It wasn't like the boy wanted to be alone, or that he didn't like Tobira's company, but it was strange to be with the older shinobi so often. Being put to bed, walked to school, shopping together-- it all felt so strange. He'd been entertaining himself long before the murders.
That must be it, the somber idea occurred to him. The murders. Maybe Tobira was worried Itachi would choose to come back. It had been something that he himself worried about a lot, no matter how unreasonable it was. Sasuke trailed behind the other as the items were bought and paid for, a bag of meat, ice, and spices filling his arms. Maybe he should mention it. "Itachi won't come back to kill me, you know."
The words were more uncertain than he'd like, though they were spoken with a matter-of-the-fact expression. Sasuke forced himself to ignore it despite the pain in his chest. "I'm not worth killing yet."
That must have been the wrong thing to say, if the way Tobira paused meant anything. The vendor they were buying spices from seemed uncomfortable, though Sasuke paid him no mind. Instead, dark eyes were cast upwards to look into lighter red ones.
"...Itachi is not the only danger in the world." Tobira seemed to settle on, motioning Sasuke to follow after he quickly paid for the groceries. "There is plenty to fear, as you well know."
Shoulders sagging slightly, he trailed after Tobira. The man's voice was low, though a few passersby still eyed the two of them. Sharp eyes landed on him, Tobira seeming to watch him for a long moment. The man let out a sigh.
For the briefest of moments, Sasuke couldn't help but feel a flicker of familiarity in the way Tobira looked at him. He didn't know why, but something felt painfully familiar about it. The young Uchiha decided easily that he didn't like it.
When Tobira turned back to the road, continuing on towards the shopping district, he kept his head down. "It's not that I think you'll be harmed, there are just too many unknowns for you to be alone right now. It's better for us to stay together, for now. When we get back to the compound and settle in for the night, you can do as you please. Alright?"
"Alright," Sasuke conceded, trying to keep the huffiness out of his voice as he followed the other. He watched as Tobira swiftly paid for five outfits, each of them identical to the one he was wearing now. Sasuke couldn't help but deadpan, "You really like turtlenecks, don't you?"
Without missing a beat, the older merely nodded. "I do." seeming to glance around for a moment before moving on.
Tilting his head, the young Uchiha pushed lightly, "Why didn't you pack clothes when you came?" tailing after the man and eyeing the passing civilians and shinobi. They slowly began to dwindle, the closer they got to home. "Or anything."
"The Land of Water is a long way from here, so it would have been a hassle to bring my things along." not seeming to mind the question as much as Sasuke would have thought. "It's much easier to just buy new things."
Moving to stand more by his side than behind him, Sasuke leaned forward to look up at Tobira. "Don't you miss some of your things, though?" brows furrowing in thought. Sure, he'd go back to them eventually, but he'd hate to go to a strange new place without at least his clan embroidered clothes. Then again, Tobira probably didn't have a clan other than the Uchiha. He hadn't seen any crests on the elder shinobi, anyway.
Looking down at him for a brief moment, Tobira had a look Sasuke couldn't quite understand. "Some things, perhaps, but it doesn't matter. I don't need them anymore."
That made sense, he guessed. The want to bring it and the need to leave it clashed. Sasuke didn't ask further, turning to look forwards and towards the road. They were almost to the compound and, frankly, the conversation died in his throat as he saw the gates.
The young boy tried his best to look unbothered as they reached the gates, the smell of death assaulting him. Whether the smell really still remained or not, he wasn't sure. All he knew was that, as he moved ahead to push the gates open, his hands ached.
Sasuke stepped in, leading Tobira along through the blood-soaked compound. The air felt different here. It was heavy, like someone had burnt something and refused to air out the room. He took step after step, moving past the blood and doing his best not to identify it even as memories flashed in his mind.
He moved a bit faster than was probably necessary as he passed the bakery. They needed to get to the house. The food would go bad if not. If he wanted to do his homework while it was still fresh in his mind...
The front door of the compound was right ahead of him. Pulling it open, he quickly took off his shoes. He blinked as a pair landed beside his.
With a thick noise, the door shut. Sasuke could feel Tobira watching him as they finally made it in the house, though the boy made himself look away. Moving past the opening room, he made way for the kitchen. It took a moment, but Tobira was right behind him, setting the bags on the counter.
Slowly, the drumming in his ears began to die down. How it hadn't been noticed up until this point, Sasuke wasn't sure.
Busying himself, the young Uchiha set out to help put away the meat and fruits. Sliding some hunks of fish and chicken into the fridge, a question popped up. "Wasn't this expensive?" hoping the man hadn't got and used the monthly funds from the Hokage or something. Sure, it was more practical to have meat in the house now that he had someone to properly prepare it, but it was still expensive. He didn't know how reliable the village was anymore, now that Tobira had confirmed his worries about the village acting weird.
"It's fine. I used my own cash so don't worry about the cost." the silver-haired shinobi didn't even bother looking over, continuing to stack and put away spices.
Well, as long as he wasn't using the monthly funds, Sasuke wasn't going to object. It seemed like forever since he last had a meaty home meal. "Alright..." he settled on, finishing putting things away first. Then again, Tobira didn't seem like he was in a rush. The man was setting up the spices in groups, very orderly.
While he did that, Sasuke moved to set his bag down on the table. If he got his homework done now, that would mean more time to do other things. Like asking Tobira to train with him.
Out of the bookbag came a binder filled with history work. They were going over more past clan leaders. Again.
The young Uchiha looked over the pages of the school book, flipping through them one by one. The book was to his right, a piece of paper to his left. One by one, Sasuke wrote down the names of the clan leaders and their significant accomplishments. A paragraph for each...so five sentences...they were going over ten of them--
He should probably stop counting and focus. Blinking heavily, his attention shifted to the first leader. An Uzumaki. Conquered lands, had an unnecessary amount of children, known for his justice...sounded about right. Just like every other leader they'd learned about over the last week, the young Uchiha thought with bored amusement.
Then the Hyuuga leader. Conquerer, children, just, wealthy-- mhm. Sounded about right. It seemed this was a cycle in the history books. Only a few clan leaders had differing reputations. The Nara leader was a moderator...the Yamanaka's was known to be intelligent...the Akimichi was one of the most reasonable--
The Uchiha was unyielding. This one, he recognized vaguely. Tajima. A strong leader, based on the few clan stories he'd heard. His fingers absent-mindedly traced over his image. His greatest accomplishments? His rise to power, gathering of wealth, and children. His rival was Batsuma... whose greatest accomplishments were likewise. His children in particular. His son would go on to create the leaf village.
History really was dull. Sasuke had never got Itachi's interest in it. Especially not the Senju Hokage. Sometimes Sasuke wondered what the elder found so interesting about him. He seemed like any other leader in the book. Other than the added list of pages with more information on him. Sasuke would bet the brunet was evil, just like Itachi. Some sort of secret monster. He smiled so brightly in the photo, but then, maybe he was an actor too.
"What are you doing?" Tobira's voice came from behind him, the young Uchiha dropping his pencil from where he had been jabbing at the photo maybe a little too roughly with its eraser.
The voice was firm, mimicking how he'd sounded back when he had almost set the house on fire. Sasuke didn't look back at him, though he lifted his hand to retrieve the pencil. "...Nothing. Homework."