"Bittersweet Symphony"
Act III: Brothers
The sun shined down against the young Uchiha's face, awakening him from his deep slumber. For some odd reason, he couldn't remember most of his dream. The one thing he did remember, however, were the pink flashes of light. His eyes squinted a bit before fully opening. Sasuke covered his eyes with his hand and sat up slowly. He could hear footsteps coming from the living room, giving him the idea that Kakashi was still around.
"What kind of dream was...?"
Usually, he wasn't the type of person to worry about dreams, but the dream he had last night was really bothering him. It irritated him knowing that he did not know the cause of it. He stretched his arms, positioning himself against the edge of the bed. His feet touched the cold floor, standing up. He walked towards the bathroom but was interrupted by that oh-so familiar voice:
"Good morning, sleepy-head." Kakashi called out from the living room.
Sasuke decided to ignore him and entered the bathroom, closing the door abruptly.
"Just as I thought..." Kakashi remarked to himself as he walked towards the kitchen. His eyes glued themselves towards the telephone. The conversation he had with Itachi wasn't too long ago.
He sighed, his fingertips slowly working themselves up to his face. His fingertips found themselves at the very edge of his mask as they slowly peeled it off his face. He quickly grabbed the cup of orange juice he prepared himself a few minutes ago, pursed his lips and enjoyed the taste of the drink before settling it down on the table once more. Only this time, the cup was completely empty.
His lips pursed into a straight line wearing the mask once more. Now that he thought about it, ever since that incident, he's never ventured outside without his mask on, nor did he remove the mask for a long time. He almost forgot how it felt to have the fresh cool wind from the morning play with his cheeks. He closed his eyes for a couple of minutes and tried to remember that incident.
He could hear the screams, the blood splattering against the floor. He remembered seeing his limp body on the floor. Kakashi hated that day more than any other day. The memory of that day was fresh in his mind...
"How long are you going to daydream?" Sasuke asked impatiently, watching him with a stern expression.
Kakashi glanced up at him, "Oh excuse me..." he stood up glancing at the young Uchiha and smiled. "I was daydreaming, heh..."
"Right, whatever." Sasuke sat on one of the wooden chairs that were next to the small table in the kitchen and sighed. "How long have I been sleeping?"
"Well," Kakashi began, placing his thumb against the edges of his chin. "It's the afternoon, and you fell asleep around two o'clock in the morning..."
"I see..." Sasuke placed his lips against the glass cup, and drank the juice whole.
Kakashi glanced at the younger Uchiha with keen interest. "Oy, did you get a good night's rest?"
"Why do you ask?" Sasuke cocked his brow, curious to know why Kakashi would ask him such a question.
"Well, my room is next to the one you're sleeping in. I heard you groan in your sleep..."
"Whatever," Sasuke replied, taking the fork and impaling the piece of pancake left on the plate.
"I also heard you say something funny..." Kakashi replied with a grin on his face.
"What did I say last night that was funny?"
"Oh, well you were trying to say a girl's name..."
Sasuke gulped the piece of pancake down and then sweat dropped down his face. Was Kakashi implying that he was having some sort of naughty dream? "Well, whatever you're thinking, it's not that."
"Oh really, now?" Kakashi's grin grew wider before walking towards the window.
"Look, if you have something to say then just say—" Before Sasuke could finish his sentence, Kakashi interrupted it.
"Why don't you go take a shower?"
Sasuke cocked his brow once more, giving Kakashi an odd look. "Why?"
Kakashi scoffed, "Good hygiene, Sasuke-kun." The 'kun' at the end of that sentence made Sasuke believe that Kakashi had purposely said that to bring insult to injury.
Before Sasuke could give a witty remark, Kakashi spoke. "Look, I just want to take you out for a treat."
"We aren't going back to that crappy 'Akimichi Bar,' are we?"
"Heh, don't worry. I'm taking you out to eat, not to get a few drinks." Kakashi replied, walking back towards the table. "Besides, Akimichi Bar only gets interesting during the night, not the afternoon."
Sasuke shrugged. "Whatever, as long as you're the one paying for it. I'm broke."
"Don't worry about it, I said it was my treat, didn't I?" Kakashi placed his hand on Sasuke's shoulder and then smiled. "Besides, this will be the last time we will ever get to spend time together."
Sasuke blinked. Usually he wasn't the type of person to lose his cool, but what Kakashi had said a few seconds ago really bothered him. "What do you mean, 'last time'?"
Kakashi sighed, and spoke once more: "Itachi's coming to pick you up in the evening."
"Oh, I see…" Sasuke had waited all this time to await the news of his brother picking him up from this dump to finally live with him, but now everything seemed so empty. It seemed as if the young Uchiha was getting 'used' to this environment around him...
"So how about we head down to Mitarashi Street?" His foot shifted as he walked down the hallway that led to his room. "We could head off to this really nice restaurant. I'm sure you'll like it," he told Sasuke without turning his back. His hand gripped the doorknob, then opened the door and walked into his room.
Sasuke was left there to himself. It was as if Kakashi had purposely left him all alone to ponder what just happened. He didn't know that his brother would come so quickly for him, and it surprised him, yet made him feel a bit relieved. The family he was seeking was going to come from the only relative he has left, instead of the idiotic people of the city. He didn't need that prostitute Ino, or that stupid old singer "Tsunade-Hime". All he needed was his brother, and him alone.
He stood up and walked towards the window. From this view, you could only see the glimmer of lights that came from the tall buildings in Genkai Street, and nothing else, except small specks of light. Sasuke had hoped for so much more to see from this view, but by the evening, he will see everything that Genkai Street and the underworld business of the syndicate had to offer. To be honest, he didn't know much about syndicates nor did he agree to its terms. He just wanted to have someone by his side, to give him a familiar sense and feeling of love and family. Itachi was that person for him...
"By the way, Sasuke…"
Sasuke turned around and noticed Kakashi standing before him. His eyes would glance at the object in Kakashi's grasp. "That's…"
Kakashi handed the silver gun to Sasuke. The gun was like none he had ever seen. The name 'Uchiha' was engraved on the handle, along with the first name of the person who once beared it. Sasuke read the letters and right away knew whom the gun had once belonged to. "Obito…?"
Kakashi nodded. "That's right. Uchiha Obito, your cousin. He was a good guy, that ol' Obito…"
Hm..." Sasuke continued to stare at the silvery gun to admire its beauty and its oddness. This gun was no ordinary gun, he knew. Sasuke walked to his room, placed the gun on top of his night table and then turned towards Kakashi. "So, when are we going?"
Kakashi was right when he said that the restaurant they were going to was a nice restaurant. If Sasuke had really thought about it, it almost seemed as if they were in some other world or dimension from the way it looked. The outside was absolutely beautiful. Once they entered, Sasuke felt as if he were rich himself! His family had been wealthy, but not as wealthy as this! Kakashi and Sasuke found a table for themselves and then prepared to order their meals.
"I told you this place was nice." Kakashi remarked, disturbing the silence that crept before them. "Besides, I know a waitress here. We happen to be old friends."
No sooner than Sasuke could ask who the waitress was then a woman stood in front of them. She smiled, then said cheerfully "Welcome to Sannin! I'll be your waitress—" she glanced at Kakashi. "Oh? Kakashi!" Her finger positioned in a point. "I haven't seen you in ages!"
"Same to you, Rin." he grinned putting his menu down. "I see you still have not changed…"
Rin gave him an odd look and then looked at Sasuke. "Oh? I've never seen him before. Though, if I really think about it, he kinda looks like Uchiha Ita-"
"I'm Kakashi's nephew, Jubei." Sasuke replied, obviously lying to the waitress.
Rin blinked, "Kakashi! I never knew you had a nephew!"
Kakashi sighed, "I never knew I had a sister…"
Sasuke glared dangerously at Kakashi and then peeked his head back into the menu. He decided that if anyone had asked him if he was related to Uchiha Itachi, or asked for his name, he was simply going to lie. That way, they wouldn't act the way they did in Akimichi's Bar.
"This is Uchiha Sasuke, Rin. Itachi's younger brother..." Kakashi replied placing his elbow on the table and leaning his head on his hand. "Mind him, he's a bit 'taken aback' from what happened last night at Chouji's bar."
Rin sighed, "I see. Well Sasuke, I hope you enjoy your stay in Konoha. Just don't get yourself into too much trouble, ok?" She smiled. "Now, back to work. What will you two have for lunch?" With pen in ready, Rin began to take down both of their orders.
Half an hour later their orders were served to them. Kakashi suggested to Sasuke that he ordered as much food as he wanted, but Sasuke only ordered a small portion of a meal. Kakashi, on the other hand, ordered quite a few meals. Rin scolded him, saying that he needs to tone it down with all the money he receives.
"I don't understand you, Kakashi. You receive so much money and yet you live in a dump!" Rin replied, placing a hand on her hips as she watched him. "It's as if you don't even care about the filth and dump you're living in. Seriously, why don't you move around here? You do have the money, don't deny it..." she grinned, grabbing a chair to sit down besides him.
"Shouldn't you go back to working, Rin?"
"Oh no, I'm free for an hour. So I decided to bother you." She stuck out her tongue, and then smiled once more. "So, how about it? Why don't you move around here? I'm sure there's a free apartment somewhere around he—"
"I like living on Scarecrow Street. I've already gotten accustomed to it, to say the least." He smiled. For once, Sasuke could see what his smiles actually looked like. Kakashi had to, of course, remove his mask. Sasuke could tell that this Rin girl was eyeing Kakashi with a keen interest. He noticed the blood rush to her face when he smiled. Another thing Sasuke noticed was a visible scar that ran down from the top of Kakashi's right eyebrow all the way down to his cheek. Also, that right eye seemed... familiar, yet unfamiliar. He wasn't sure why it seemed strange to him, but he decided to keep that to himself.
Maybe that's why Kakashi keeps that stupid mask on...?
She smiled in return. "That's typical of you. But seriously, how about fixing your place up a bit eh? I mean seriously, the buckets? Why don't you fix the roof?"
"I haven't gotten to fix the roof, as of yet. I will soon..."
"Heh, I see…"
To Sasuke, it felt like Rin and Kakashi talked for what seemed like hours, when in reality, it only lasted thirty minutes. Sasuke didn't pry into their conversation. All he did was eat his meal and stayed quiet. After all, he felt he shouldn't pry into Kakashi's business...
After an hour, Rin interrupted her conversation with Kakashi on politics when she glanced at her watch. "Oh! Looks like my break is up." She stood up. "It seems like you two finished your meals, can I collect your plates please?" Kakashi offered his plates as well as Sasuke's. She grabbed them tightly and then walked towards the kitchen.
"By the way, Kakashi..."
"Hmm?" he remarked, glancing at Sasuke.
"Where do you receive all that money?"
Kakashi paused for a second, placing his mask back on. "That, Sasuke-kun, you will find out on your own." he grinned standing up.
Sasuke soon followed, both leaving the restaurant.
Evening was slowly creeping on them, as the sun began to settle down allowing the moon to shine afterwards. Kakashi glanced at the town clock, noticing that it was exactly 6 o'clock.
"Kakashi..."
"Hmm?"
"When I leave with my brother, will I ever see you again?"
This was the first time, to say the least, that Kakashi had seen some sort of 'caring' from the young Uchiha. He was acting so different, and he knew that it was the city somehow. After all, Konoha City gives people many different feelings and emotions about things. Konoha City also changes people, be it good or bad. "Well, that all depends." he remarked.
"Depends on what, exactly?" Sasuke replied, awaiting his answer. He didn't know why he asked such a stupid question, but before he could take it back, it was already too late.
"If you come to see me. Also, you can find me at Akimichi Bar. I doubt you'll ever enter that place again, from what you said…" he grinned and then patted him on the shoulder.
"Like I'll ever go back there, stupid bastards."
"But hey, now you know that not everyone's like that. Look at Rin, when she found out that you were Itachi's brother she didn't even flinch! But then again, she is a doctor in training and she has seen and heard worse things…"
Sasuke cocked his eyebrow in response. "What are you trying to say by that?"
"Oh, nothing!" Kakashi remarked, removing his hand from Sasuke's shoulder.
The rest of that walk back to Scarecrow Street was quiet. Neither Sasuke nor Kakashi said a word to each other. Sasuke was too busy thinking about his new life with his brother while Kakashi was pondering about the past. Especially about Obito. Ever since Kakashi gave Sasuke that gun as a parting gift, he kind of felt as if he was giving a part of himself away. Obito and himself were good friends ever since Obito and Itachi arrived in Konoha City. They were rookies, and they needed guidance. He was there to help them out and sooner than they thought, they became good friends...
Kakashi was interrupted and taken away from his memories abruptly when he noticed a car on his driveway. It was different then usual, a car that rich men would usually buy. Kakashi went to a stop, as did Sasuke when he saw the car, too. Before they could walk towards the car, the passenger door opened and out came a man.
It was Itachi.
He wasn't as tall as Sasuke expected him to be. Itachi was dressed in a fine black suit, with a red tie. On his left middle finger was a ring with the kanji "Scarlet" engraved in the middle of it. His hair was long and had to be tied in a ponytail. His eyes were dark onyx and his eyelashes were very feminine. Sasuke noticed that his brother had not changed throughout the years. Itachi walked up towards Kakashi removing a couple of strands of hair that came from his bangs away from his face. His lips pursed into a straight line. "Kakashi-san, it's been awhile since I've seen you in person."
Kakashi held out his hand, " Likewise, Itachi."
The two shook hands. They both looked into each other's eyes as if holding some deep dark secret underneath them. No sooner than they had, Itachi was distracted by the figure that stood behind Kakashi. "Sasuke?"
Sasuke nodded. "Brother, it's... been awhile."
Itachi gave a soft smile removing his grip with Kakashi's hand. He walked towards Sasuke and stood before him. "Likewise. Well, seeing as Kakashi-san gave me a phone call yesterday, you have accepted my offer?"
Sasuke nodded once more. "I'd be honored to work for you, brother."
I can finally have a sense of family. Now that my brother's here for me
Itachi turned to Kakashi and spoke: "Thank you for taking care of Sasuke for me…"
"No problem, Itachi." Kakashi glanced at sasuke.
Sasuke glanced back at Kakashi and then nodded. "Thanks, for showing me around and…treating me to lunch."
"Coming from you, that must really mean something, eh Sasuke?" he grinned and then patted him on the head. "Take good care of yourself, alright?"
Sasuke nodded and then went upstairs into Kakashi's apartment to get his belongings. He searched for the clothes he left in the drawers as well as any other materials he had taken with him from his home in Oto City to here in Konoha. Once he was finished, there was only one more thing to pack. Obito's old gun. Sasuke grasped the silver gun in his hand and then placed it inside his suitcase. He quickly ran down the stairs until he was standing outside, in front of his brother.
"We should leave." Itachi added. He looked at Kakashi and then retreated back into his car. Sasuke followed, and sat besides his brother inside the automobile. Kakashi watched as the car left his driveway and made its way to Genkai Street.
"Take good care of yourself, Sasuke." Kakashi remarked. He sighed, and then walked down the other way. He was going to go get himself a good drink at Akimichi's Bar.
Sasuke watched the buildings and the people pass by from inside the car. He also noticed that today wasn't as gloomy as it usually was in this weird city. It was cloudy, but it still seems like a beautiful day. To him, at least. He was finally reunited with his brother and his life was about to start anew.
"Sasuke..." Itachi began, disrupting Sasuke from his sightseeing.
Sasuke glanced at his brother. "What's wrong, brother?"
"Nothing." he remarked.
It didn't take the car that long to finally arrive in Genkai Street. The one thing that Sasuke noticed about this place was that almost everything was red. The only things that weren't red were the buildings. They were usually cemented silver, or beige. Most of the cars that were lined up on the driveways were black, red, or midnight blue. There was one car that was white and he could've sworn that he felt something eerie when he saw it. Many of the syndicates in Genkai Street seemed so small. The one that was at the very entrance of Genkai Street was especially small.
The eerie silence between Sasuke and his brother irritated him, but to a point. He decided to go against his feelings, and make believe that perhaps his brother was too much in some "shock." Before Sasuke could continue sightseeing Genkai Street, the car stopped abruptly.
Itachi glanced at Sasuke, placed a hand on his shoulder and then spoke. "Welcome to your new home, Sasuke."
Sasuke glanced outside the window and noticed how huge his brother's syndicate was. The doors were decorated with long red curtains covered with golden lines. The name "Uchiha" was engraved in the middle of the building. The steps seemed to go on forever. Sasuke couldn't believe that his brother could possess such…power.
Author's Notes: It's been awhile since I've updated this fic. So far, the way I wanted this story to "flow" in a sense, is coming out quite well. I appreciate you guys for reading and reviewing. I've been having some personal problems at the moment, so I'm not sure when I will be able to update the ItaSaku fic. I promise I will before the end of the month. As for my NaruSaku story, I'll place that aside for now. Until I finish either this fic, or the other one. Sankyuu once more to my BETA reader, Nikusan! I'm sorry, but I couldn't see the italics you placed it. So, gomen gomen!
