Chapter 18
Advanced Bloodline: The Sharingan
"Thanks for coming. I know your family shop is usually busy on Saturday afternoons, but this was so important!" Sakura said brightly, as the two were stationed at the Fire Country café, while talking over a small shake.
"Still," Ino replied, taking something out of her pockets, "isn't it weird to forget this at someone's house?" She handed her the black leather wallet, which happened to belong to her father.
"Yes, well apparently my Dad can be quite forgetful at times. But I don't even see why he needed to bring it out at your place last night anyway. I mean, it was just dinner right?" she held onto it tightly. It was actually a rather bulky looking thing, and didn't seem to fit in her parka pockets.
Ino didn't answer for a moment, her mind temporarily elsewhere. "What? Oh, right…" she said without thinking. Her blue eyes had actually been fixed upon Sasuke, and she had a weird feeling upon her. Valentine's day had just past, and the memory of him and the girl in front of her was still vivid in her mind. "Well in any case, Sakura, I just had to deliver this and go. Mom still needs my help. I'll see you on Monday."
"Right, I'll treat this time. See you." With a quick zip of her coat, the door once again opened, and she took her exit.
That left the pink haired teen sitting by herself, she too wondering if she should leave. What were the chances that someone she knew would walk in? Then she spotted Sasuke, reemerging from behind the counter. She didn't actually expect him to walk over when she waved. "Good afternoon, Sasuke-kun," she said politely as he sat in Ino's pervious spot.
"Hey," he responded, and continued before she opened her mouth, "I'm on a break."
"Oh, alright." They sat there in silence. The two never actually had sat down like this together. "Um, Sasuke-kun? How long until you get off work today?"
He straightened up subconsciously. "Why?"
"Oh, nothing really. It's just…well Ino came by to give me this," she showed him the wallet, "it's my Dad's. He left it there last night. It's too large to fit into my pockets, so I was wondering if you could hold it for the time being. I just don't feel comfortable walking home alone with this out in the open."
"Somehow I doubt you'd get mugged…" he started, then looked at her pleading eyes. Damn, it was getting harder to ignore them. "Whatever."
"Thanks so much!" she walked with him to put it inside his locker, and stood in the hall for a few moments.
"Look, I don't know what you're going to do for the next five hours, though," the Uchiha said, running a hand swiftly through his hair.
"Can I help you?" Sakura asked out of curiosity. By the look on his face, it was like he hadn't heard her properly. "Well I was just asking…" she said rather irritably.
It turned out that someone else was temporarily listening in on the small chat. "I don't see why not," a man said, making himself known. Sakura nearly jumped. The tall and intimidating man began to laugh. "You could help my daughter and myself in the kitchen. I'll let Sasuke off early for your help."
She understood now; he was Sasuke's boss, the manager. "Okay!" she said happily, since housework wasn't at all new to her. She disappeared without further word with the man. Sasuke hardly had enough time to register what had happened. Shrugging the matter off, he went back to counter duties.
For the next few hours, Sakura worked at odds and ends around the place. Things such as wiping down the counters, and doing the dishes mostly. She was a surprisingly fast worker too. Her hands now smelt like lemons, from using the soap so often. When Sasuke came into the kitchen around 5 o'clock, he found her still hunched over the sink, scrubbing away. Her hair was tied back, and the apron over her clothes was slightly wet.
"The boss says another half an hour and I can go," he said, receiving a nod in reply, as she continued to clean. The nagging voice in his head was telling him to thank her for the help. But he was never that great at thanking people. "Sorry you had to waste your afternoon here," he said instead.
"Oh that's fine," she replied without sparing a glance, "I had nothing better to do anyway. Might as well have done something productive for once." She noted that he'd left shortly after that, as she head only the running water from the sink again.
Sure enough, at 5:30, Sasuke came to fetch her again. The manager had thanked her again for her help, which she shrugged off as no big deal. So in no time at all, they were off down the busy streets of Konoha. "Hey, Sasuke-kun? Where is it exactly that you live? I don't think I've ever seen the place," she asked out-of-the-blue.
"Yes you have," he replied flatly, making sure that the wallet was still in his pocket. "It's the same place as before you moved away."
"But like I'd remember that…" she said, scowling slightly about how little she actually did remember. "Can I see it anyway? Just the outside?"
The Uchiha didn't know exactly why she was asking, but saw no real reason to argue. "Sure." He could feel her smiling. When they got to the outskirts of town, Sasuke had turned to the right.
"Uh, Sasuke-kun, where are you going?"
"You wanted to see the place, didn't you? This way's a bit longer, but we'll pass my place first." He paused for a second. "And I think you'll find this way…prettier," he'd put it in simple words.
She followed him, slightly pleased with herself. Looking back no more then a month ago, he'd never been this…free with her before. Maybe he was just getting used to her; that was all. Either way, the newer Sasuke she got to know in her spare time was certainly much more appealing to her.
The way he'd chosen didn't seem to have steps up the escarpment, rather the path slowly tilted upwards as they went further. It was shaded with tall trees, only the twigs were visible during the winter. The flats that she saw so far were all sort of hidden behind some of the trees. Sasuke had been right, well, in the summer this place must have looked gorgeous.
A flying object hit her on the shoulder, snapping her out of the trance. There stood Sasuke, a good gap between them. "Did you just throw a snowball at me?" she asked, hints of annoyance flickering in her voice.
"No, the little bird over there threw it," he replied sarcastically, "you were spacing out. I was ready to leave you behind. I should have…" then he felt snow thrown upon his hair. His onyx eyes fell upon Sakura, who was right behind him. It seemed as if she'd taken a bunch of snow and dumped it on his head. "You have ten seconds to run before I kill you."
"Oh I don't need ten seconds," she replied with an innocent smile, "just enough time to make a snowball." Then she ran several feet away, and gathered up snow, because she knew that he'd come after her again. She assumed the hair was off-limits. She threw one at him, which he dodged, moving closer. Another, and the same outcome. One hit her on the arm again, and the other on her back (she turned to avoid her face). "Okay, I give!" she sighed.
"Never challenge me to anything. You'll always lose," he said, still trying to brush the snow from his hair. Before she could retort, and he knew she would, Sasuke pointed to a two-story condo that was nearly hidden by the trees. "That's the place."
The front was made of stone, and it sort of looked like marble from where she stood. A stone awning covered the doors to each apartment, and the doors themselves make of dark carved wood. "Wow, it looks like an expensive place…"
"You think so?" he said as more of a statement. All of a sudden, his eyes began to sting. He rubbed them with his hands.
"Sasuke-kun?" she said, noticing this, "are you alright?"
He said nothing for a moment, then with his back facing her asked: "What time is it?"
"Huh? Oh, it's almost seven. Wow! 7! We've been outside for a long time…Sasuke-kun? Where're you going?"
"Sakura. You can walk home by yourself from here, right?" and without another word, he ran down the narrow driveway and up the metal stairs to the second floor. He'd gone inside the last door on the right side.
"Weird," she said to herself, just noticing how cold she'd gotten. "Well, better get home…oh shit!" she put a hand to her mouth. He still had her Dad's wallet. If she didn't get it to him by tonight, she'd really be in for something. Yet, she didn't really want to bother Sasuke now. He sounded almost rushed to get home. Not knowing exactly what had gotten into that weird head of hers, she was already slowly climbing the stairs.
Sakura stopped in front of his door labeled 201. Hesitantly, she knocked loudly. With a tiny creak, the door had opened slightly. He must not have closed it properly, him hurrying and all. Not really wanting to invade the privacy of the Uchiha, but still desperately needing the wallet back, she poked her head inside. Since it was almost dark outside, and no lights at all were turned on inside the room. It made it very hard to see anything. "Sasuke-kun?" she asked the darkness, which gave her no answer in return.
She stepped inside, and closed the door behind her. She didn't want the heat of the room going out too much. She began to unzip her jacket, as her green eyes adjusted to the dark. She was standing in a rather large (for an apartment) sitting area from what it looked like, the kitchen visible at the back. There was a hall off to the left, and she assumed he was in one of the rooms down there. Sakura set her jacket on the floor, and took off her shoes. "Sasuke-kun?" she tried again.
Straining her ears, she tried to hear if there was any sort of movement in the house whatsoever. But it was still dead quiet. Her feet moved silently across the carpeted floor. She didn't really want to be a pest, but she was sure he was here somewhere. If only he'd left his coat by the door, she'd have taken what she came for and then left. But things weren't so simple.
Her emerald eyes scanned the kitchen area. There wasn't anything really there. She moved down towards the hall. There were two doors on either side. Two were open; a bathroom and what looked just like a spare room for anything. It was used for storage now, it looked like. The last two rooms were placed at the end of the hall.
"Sasuke-kun," she tried again, this time rather annoyed that he wasn't answering. "Where in the world are you?" Gritting her teeth in frustration, she slowly turned the knob to one door, making sure it wouldn't creak. It was just a closet. So that left the last room.
Sakura sighed; he'd probably be mad at her for this. But her father being angry was worse for her. Her watched read that she'd been inside for about fifteen minutes, as she pressed the glow button. Great, now her mom would be angry because she'd be home late. This was all stupid Sasuke's fault!
Holding her breath, she slowly opened the last door. She bit her bottom lip as a small creak was heard. Then she looked up. It must have been his bedroom, since there was a bed. It was lined against the wall, a small space between another. The blinds of the window were shut. The room was darker then the rest. But to her astonishment, she also saw no one.
Sakura wasn't exactly sure how he couldn't have been in his home (when she'd seen him go inside with her own eyes). Turning to leave, she felt a shiver go up her spine. It felt quite familiar, but she couldn't tell exactly what this felt like.
The air seemed a lot heavier now. Turning back around, there was still nothing. It was then, however, when she spotted his jacket lying in the middle of his floor. She dearly hoped he'd forgive her for intruding. Slowly, she pussyfooted over to the jacket, and fished out the leather wallet from its pocket. 'Right, now I'll take my leave,' she thought, just before turning to where the small space between the bed and the wall met.
Not being able to see too well, she thought it looked like a pile of clothes, or something like that thrown in the corner. She fell back to a sitting position, seeing now that it couldn't possibly be that. "S…Sasuke-kun?"
She saw the figure in the corner move slightly. Then she heard a muffled and quiet reply. "What do you want?"
"Uh…sorry to come back, but…I-I needed my Dad's thing back…"
"So take it and go."
Strange much? "Is something wrong?" she asked again, slowly getting up and walking towards him. He flinched right before she touched his shoulder. "Sa—"
"Get lost!" he said, shrinking even lower into his corner, if that was even possible.
His voice was like a whip. "W-well I was just making sure you were okay!"
"Your sympathy is wasted," he replied venomously, which slightly reminded her of the time he'd pulled a knife on her. It all seemed like a blur, since the next thing she knew, he was standing, and she'd gotten pushed to the side, the bed making a soft landing. "Now get lost."
Once again, Sakura held her breath, looking into the Uchiha's face. She couldn't see clearly in the dark, but one thing that stood out, was a pair of gleaming red eyes. "Sasuke…kun…"
"What?" he snapped, and she could see his eyes narrow, "don't tell me…you're scared. But of course, who wouldn't be?"
Somehow, this situation seemed all too familiar. "Is that…an…advanced bloodline?" the outline of his eyes had released from its narrow state. He went back to sit in the corner, but this time not as cramped. "It is, isn't it?"
"What do you know of them?" he asked, his voice once again monotone.
Somehow, Sakura imagined that speaking of the Hyuuga household and the Byakugan wasn't the best idea. "Well, I just know someone…who has one."
"I see," he said moving to a more comfortable spot by lying down on his bed. She remained upright. "The Sharingan is the bloodline that all Uchiha's possess. It appears just before sundown, and disappears at daybreak. That, and there's one day…one day every month that it stays for 24 hours. The day of the new moon. It also comes out for every Uchiha when they're desperately scared."
Somehow, this conversation seemed extremely familiar too. "But I've seen you at school on the day of the new moon, I think. You've never missed a day…"
"Contact lenses," he said simply.
Sakura smiled, "See? It's not that bad. You can conceal it at least. I don't see what the big deal is."
"It let's me see…things I wouldn't normally," he explained, closing his eyes. He stayed silent, deciding on spilling the rest to her. "I can anticipate movement, and such. But…it irritates my eyes. My…" he paused, frowning though his eyes still closed, "older bother said that it eats away at your sight, and eventually if you use it a lot, you can go blind."
His features were still set in a frown. It looked like he was thinking of something not very pleasant. "However small the Sharingan may seem, it's filled with pain. Sorrow." Sakura looked away. She was listening to Sasuke intently, but silently wondering how many more friends of hers had these bloodline abilities. "And…there are two levels. The regular one, which most possess, and the rare few…like my older brother, have the Mangekyou Sharingan."
She hesitated, wondering if he was this talkative enough to explain that one. "Mangekyou?"
"The ultimate treasure of the Uchiha, or years ago it was. The one who possess that one, can activate it anytime. In addition to that, it masters at curses."
"Curses?"
"It's hard to explain. It's like a forced thought into your head. My brother…was fond of it," he said bitterly, but it didn't look like he was going to stop talking now that he started. "So basically if he said 'You'll die in two days'…you'd die in two days." Somehow, it sounded like a twisted mindset to her.
"I didn't know you had a brother…"
"Yeah, well I had a whole family once," he said, finally revealing the red eyes again. "A big family. And it was all taken away in one night…"
"Itachi!" an older man bellowed fiercely, even though his son was standing at the door. "We need to have a talk." The teen Uchiha looked back, somewhat bored, yet an unreadable expression set upon his face.
"Is it important, Father? If not, I have some matters to attend to."
"Your girlfriend can wait, if that's what it is," he said harshly. Two sets of dark eyes were placed upon each other, stares matching equally.
In the meantime, an eight-year-old Sasuke was listening from around the corner. This'd been one of the many disagreements lately. He didn't like what was happening. Earlier, his brother had come up to him and said a few words: "Sasuke, I know I haven't been the best brother in the world, and one day you'll end up hating me. Forgive me, for you're far too young to understand. But stay strong."
He wasn't quite sure what he meant by that, though. "Sasuke!" the woman from the kitchen called, her long raven hair swinging behind her, "off to bed. There's school for you tomorrow."
Without a word, he obeyed, and went into the room that he and his brother used to share. Recently Itachi didn't stay home at night anymore. He now used his brother's bed (because it was bigger and far more comfortable then his own) and climbed on top of it. He usually thought best there. He'd always come when a problem at school had arisen, or he was stressed. He'd sat there when Sakura left for the first month. He'd sat there when he was chosen as the top student for his year. The list went on.
Now he listened to the voices outside. His father was definitely yelling, his brother doing the same. Sasuke hopped out, going to tell them to keep the volume down.
"…but I'm sure you've heard the stories. I'm not sure exactly how it happened, but there was no other possibility."
"So you're accusing me of murdering my family?" Itachi asked bluntly.
The little Sasuke stood frozen in place. Someone in the family had died? Murdered nonetheless? "Itachi…" his father's voice was calm again, "I want to know what grudge you hold against this family."
"I hold no grudge," he said honestly, getting up, "but you two are awfully nosy. I can take care of myself, and what I want." He strode towards the door, not noticing Sasuke standing in the hall.
"While you live in this household, you will follow my rules, young man!"
That was the first time Sasuke had gotten a good look at Itachi's famed Sharingan. His red eyes were the same as the rest, but if one looked closely, a small triangle-like form was also present. "Then hurry up and die. It'd make my life easier!" He exited with the slam of the door.
It'd be the last time Sasuke would ever see his brother.
"They…Mom and Dad…were in a car accident the next day. He…he would kill the family members, all of them. Except for me and my great grandmother, but she died when I was thirteen." Sasuke scowled again at the memory. "I was too young to understand at the time, just like he'd said. But I've found out the reason why…money. The Uchiha family was very wealthy, and those who died, the money would go to the heirs. So if there was no one left, of course my brother would be the one to receive it."
Sakura, who'd stayed unusually quiet throughout the evening spoke up. "But there was you. What about you?"
"By law, I can't inherit anything until I'm eighteen. The time is coming in a few months, and that's what I've been studying. He robbed them all of their lives for money, and I won't allow it. Half of his assets rightfully belong to me. I don't think he's realized that yet."
"All for money…" she repeated, thinking how he must have felt. A kid lose his family in a blink of an eye, yet still remains to live a relatively normal life. It'd happened while she was gone. Suddenly, she felt really bad. She'd always assumed it was a weird attitude he'd picked up, but she never knew the reasons behind it. Slowly and without thinking, she slipped her arms around his waist and laid her head to rest on his chest. "I'm sorry…so sorry," she spoke in barely a whisper.
Sasuke didn't reply, still thinking of why he'd said as much as he did. Still, he'd half wanted someone to hear it. So for the second time that month, the two of them stayed in each other's arms, without the exchange of words. None were needed.
"Sasuke-kun?" she finally asked, looking up to meet his bloodline-affected eyes. They looked almost sad. Reasons unknown to Sakura, her face felt warm. It was like some invisible force, and she was slowly moving up to meet his face. If he could anticipate movement, he wasn't doing anything to stop her from moving closer. They could feel the other's breath upon their faces. Things, even for the Sharingan wielder were going in slow motion.
That is, until the phone rang. It'd scared both of them out of the embrace (and Sakura actually fell off the bed while Sasuke answered the phone). "For you," he said, extending the receiver to her.
"Me?" she took the phone and listened, "Mom? How in the world did you know where I was?…Yes, I was on my way. I got sidetracked… Yes I have it… Alright, see you soon." She replaced it in its cradle. "My Mom wants me home," she said, avoiding his eyes.
"Yeah…well it is almost 9 now. He walked her to the door where she picked up her coat and the wallet. "Sakura, not a word to anybody, right?"
"Right, right…" just before leaving, she asked something else, "you're coming to the trip in a couple of weeks, right?" He shrugged. "Well you'd better. It'll be fun. Bring those contacts and you'll be fine." She didn't wait for him to speak another word, if he was even going to say anything. The way back to her house was filled with thoughts about the story he'd told, and about…how close they'd been. Her face reddened at the thought. She wasn't in control of her body at that point. But she shook the thought from her mind, and replaced it with a completely different thought:
"The trip is going to kick ass!"
AN: Urg. I have flashbacks from chapter 11. Well, you couldn't expect me to do the Byakugan and not the Sharingan…right? -sighs- I know I'm going to get complaints about this from someone, so I might as well just say it now: this is an AU fic. I'm trying to keep these guys in character as much as possible. But if this is going to move anywhere, I need to get things moving along. Thinking realistically, the story's almost over. Yup, weird, isn't it?
Okay, sorry about that little rant there. About the Sharingan eating away at the eyesight, I got that after reading the manga, when Kakashi asked Itachi how good his eyes were. My guess is not very good. Also, curses just seemed to fit, since I didn't want to use the Tsukuyomi. (I mean, how weird would that be?)
Well, I don't know what else to say really. Thanks guys who reviewed (again!) Oh yes, since got a little stricter with the "no replying to reviews" thing, I'll use my lj to do that. If anyone is interested, the link's in my bio. You can comment on it if you want (since anonymous comments are allowed) or you can friend me, or whatever.
Next update will probably be sometime nearing the end of the month (like in the 20s somewhere). I'm working on 2 SasuSaku fics after all, and the ideas kind of clash, so it's whatever I feel like writing. But next chapter comes the Sand Sibs (yes, finally for the people who've been asking!) It also brings fierce competition, misinterpretations, and all that jazz.