Chapter 4 - Flames so hot that they turn blue
I've seen so much in so many places
So many heartaches, so many faces
-Extreme Ways
AMÉRICA RESTAURANT AND BAR
2001
" Ma'am, I suppose you have a reservation?" Spoke the restaurant manager, bubbly, leafing through the guests list, turning page to page, slowly.
A song was being played by a small orchestra in the background, but it was muffled by the sound of passerby waiters holding trays of dishes and of guests conversing.
" Hn."
"Ma'am?"
" Get out of the way." Said Sasuke, icily while pushing the manager aside.
I will find him myself. Thought Sasuke, in annoyance.
Sasuke despised useless conversations. For her, it was a waste of time and of effort. Everytime she had to chitchat, it made her want to vomit in disgust.
People are gross, ew.
Sasuke could see her brother who sat next to the bar area as he held the wine menu, reading it. Itachi's gaze turned upward to his sister he hadn't seen in years. Sasuke gave a quick look at his brother's attire: black suit, black pants, and a black tie. The black tie. Sasuke gave it to him on his birthday, six seasons ago. And he still has it. That fucker was always sentimental and that made Sasuke angry.
The same old Itachi. He didn't even bother to upgrade his outfit, did he?
Being fashionable wasn't a thing for Itachi.
" My sister, how are you?" Itachi who happily spoke, stared for infinitesimal minutes at Sasuke, with eyes almost watering and his heart tightening with infinite brotherly love. He went over her for a warm embrace but got a chilly handshake, instead.
A handshake from a ghost.
They exchanged handshakes and unspoken words.
Deep emotions were overflowing Itachi's stares, but Sasuke's eyes were colder than the North Pole.
Itachi lived for these moments. He loved family gatherings.
When he found out that his sister was coming home, he almost had a heart attack in happiness.
Itachi analyses his sister's facial expression. She was older, that's for sure. More matured with age, but that freshness, that natural elegance, but above all, that unfathomable vibe that makes Sasuke Uchiha incomprehensible to the outside world, were still there, embedded even more.
"You are still a looker, huh? The look of a killer that breaks thousands of hearts."
"Don't play nicely. Can you see the lines on my face? I am becoming an old hag." Spoke Sasuke, hard-eyed, throwing herself, with abruptness on the mahogany chair carved with leather.
"I can see you are still rude and disrespectful."
"And you are the same old Itachi. For you it has always been easy, hasn't it? My big brother." Scorned Sasuke, sending cold-eyed stares at everybody that glared at them, eavesdropping.
Itachi sat down with grace and as quietly as possible, still looking at his sister, in disapproval. His eyes sparkled with sadness.
"Izumi is pregnant."
"Congratulations , you always longed for a happy nuclear family."
"Actually, this is our fourth child, Sasuke."
"Hd."
"Is this all you are able to say? Asked Itachi, astonished.
"I just didn't gather you and Izumi had more children."
"I asked you to be the godmother to our first child, little Shusui, four years ago, remember? You said you would gladly be, but you didn't show up at the baptism. We waited for hours, but you never arrived."
"I don't remember that."
"You don't recall or you don't want to remember?"
Little bit of both. Thought Sasuke.
" Mm-mmm, that was ages ago, I don't quite recall much of anything else. Sometimes the past feels like a dream, like it never happened."
" You never returned Mother's calls."
" Why should I?"
"Mother was worried, you never called her back in all these years you were away."
Like Sasuke cared.
" I don't have a phone."
" It is the twenty-first century, everybody has a phone nowadays. You ought to have a phone, my sister."
" I am an old soul. I was born in the wrong century, my brother."
I throw my phone away, you bastard of a brother. Thought Sasuke really wanting to kick Itachi's regal butt.
"Where have you been all these years, Sasuke? Have you been drifting? Wandering around the globe, pole to pole?"
"Travelling."
"A free spirit, then."
" My work has led me to many places."
"You work?" Itachi said, amused.
"Hd. Just because I ditched my job at our family's firm, it doesn't mean I don't work." Puffed Sasuke.
"Like they say, work is important."
" Hd."
" Where do you work?"
" National Geographic."
" Photographer, huh?"
"Photojournalist to be precise."
" Good for you. Have you succeeded in the ranks of that workline?"
" Hd."
" Whatever you are doing with your life, I am proud of you, Sasuke. Father and mother were proud too."
" Why are you really here, Itachi? You didn't just come here just to lecture me, have you?"
" I just came here to be certain you were alive and to give you this."
Itachi rested a letter on the mahogany table, near the candlelit.
" I don't want it."
" If I may ask, why?
She ignored him and his remarks.
" Here, you have to take it." Itachi spoke seriously, still,she ignored him.
" From whom is this letter?"
" Father."
" What does it say?"
" It is a letter he left for you in his testimony."
" What do you mean by his testimony?" Grumped Sasuke, almost laughing.
" Father is dead."
" What?" Sasuke with widen her eyes, disconcerted by Itachi's words.
" So is mother."
" What did you just say?" Sasuke stood up in a frenzy manner, heart beating fast.
" Mother and Father died."
Sasuke felt a whirlwind of emotions flash in her being.
A force darker than hatred, more powerful than love had begun to take hold of Sasuke's tormented heart.
Her pain was too deep to be locked away.
Sasuke broke into tears.
She cried in silence.
She cried for her mother and for her father.
Sasuke felt a need to scream. But she was unable to.
"Shedding teardrops won't make the dead come back, Sasuke. Read father's letter."
"Why didn't you tell me this before?" Whispered Sasuke, sorrowful, sending a downcast glance at her brother, who was still sitting, gracefully.
"You don't have a phone, remember."
" They are buried at our family mausoleum, right?" Stated Sasuke, almost falling onto her knees.
"Their final resting place, yes."
Sasuke, put both hands on the table, leaning forward.
The dimly lit light only enhanced Sasuke's demeanor like those stage lights that illuminates the performer's dramatic acts.
" Father always wanted to see you again."
" I must know how they departed. " wreathed Sasuke.
" Car crash."
"When?"
" Two months ago."
" And you didn't bother to tell me." Sasuke called out, vexed.
"You are one ungrateful spoiled wretch, you always looked down on us, your own family. I tried to tell you. We looked half the world for you. But no one knew where you were."
" I am entitled to know everything that happens in this goddamn family!" Shrieked Sasuke, hitting the table with clenched hands.
" Oh I am sorry, I wasn't aware that we can't take matters in our own hands without consulting you first. But you can cast us aside and be a globe-trotter and see the whole world, huh?"
Sasuke didn't have time to reply.
" You just said bon voyage and you left. You ran out on us in a matter of seconds. You did not even kiss goodbye to our mother. And she never stopped talking about you. She waited every single day, hoping you would come home."
" You are always finding a fault in me, Itachi, you always had. You were Father's successor, goddamnit! All eyes were on you. You were like the sun while everybody else circled around you. So, I left. I went away because there was nothing left for me here. What was I going to do? Lick your boots? Marry some man father would have ordered me to? What do you want me to do? Want me to say that I am sorry?" Shouted Sasuke, in indignation.
" We have a habit of hurting each other every time we are together." Whispered Itachi, looking away.
" Old habits die hard."
" I am sorry, Sasuke. You are just one awful hellraiser, that's all."
" And you are a royal pain in butt." Snorted Sasuke.
"Well, someone has to be the responsible adult."
Sasuke took a deep breath, burying her face in her hands.
" Oh brother, this is all my fault. If only I didn't leave."
" Don't start with your drama show again, please don't. This is not your fault."
" If only we had more time."
" Sasuke, will you kindly stop."
" Hn."
" Read the letter."
" I can't."
" Sasuke."
" Will you take over the firm as C.E.O?" Asked Sasuke.
"I already did."
" Good."
" Here, take the letter."
" I won't read it."
" No ifs and buts. Just read it, it won't bite you."
Sasuke didn't respond, she just gazed at Itachi, lost in her thoughts.
"For how long will you be in town?" Asked Itachi, concerned.
" It is pointless to ask such banal questions, Itachi, when we both know the answer."
" I imagined you would leave the country soon, again."
" I am, after I pay respects to our parents, I plan on leaving. Tokyo is for loners, Itachi."
"Like yourself, right?" Mocked Itachi.
Sasuke ignored him, giving the cold shoulder.
"When can Izumi, the boys and I come to visit you? The boys are dying to meet you. It will be good for us to change scenery. They are still mourning their passing, especially little Shisui who was the closest to our mother. The two were inseparable."
" I can't. I just can't. I am sorry, Itachi." Whispered Sasuke.
" Sasuke, please-"
She left, picking the letter from the table, leaving a worried Itachi, alone.
She didn't say goodbye.
She left without looking back.
While she called for a taxi outside the restaurant, she opened the letter.
From Father,
To Sasuke of the Uchiha Clan,
I hope this letter reaches you in time,
It has been years since you left us. Since you disappeared under our radar, it has been quite hard to contact you. You vanished like a ghost.
Nonetheless, I have the impression that I have somehow failed you as a father, although I only tried to be the best one a child could ever have.
I set high standards for you and for Itachi because I wanted my children to be of noble character.
Your mother and I have been worried for so long. You have no idea Sasuke how we miss you and long for your return home.
Be that as it may, if we shall never meet again, I want you to know that your mother and I love you so much.
Sincerely yours, Fugaku Of The Uchiha Clan.
Sasuke's heart shattered apart.
She felt broken from inside out.
She never felt so lonely.
She felt disgusted with herself.
Six years away and all the fuckery that was supposed to break out earlier, outbreaks in one single take: when Sasuke comes back to town.
Sasuke opened the taxi door.
"Where to, madam?"
" To Hell."
"Address?"
"Just drive, I'll tell you on the way."
To be continued….