Chapter Two
Sasuke laid wide awake on his bed. He was still getting used to his new home. Still, it was foreign; too foreign, and it was making him lose sleep. The wooden floors didn't creak beneath his weight. The smell of ashen wood was absent. Sasuke curled further into his blankets, alone in that dark room of his.
His mother had been the saving grace for Sasuke. Normally when he couldn't sleep his mother would be there for him to lull him to sleep. Her gentle soothing voice, her warm hands held tightly in his hands…
Your mother would be ashamed!
Sasuke gripped his pillow tightly, feeling the cold sheets crumple within his fist. He buried his face into the pillow to hide from the chilly night air. The boy began to toss and turn, and soon realized that he wouldn't be getting a good night's sleep.
The other Uchiha girl was not awake when the sun rose. Sasuke though, conditioned to wake early was already at the kitchen counter. A couple of plastic bags were on it, the aroma of takeaway food caused Sasuke's stomach to growl.
The young boy climbed into the dining table seat, tore into the plastic bag, and began to eat the breakfast the Anbu had brought. There was no tomato though, much to the boy's disappointment. Wooden chopsticks in hand, he slowly ate at the shredded chicken pieces, chewing slowly as he had a couple of hours before he was required to go to the academy.
The kitchen remained deathly silent. Normally, Sasuke loved to bask in the quiet, he found refuge in its embrace. However, the only sound in the quiet apartment was that of his chewing. It was unnerving.
And it was too quiet.
The two Uchiha's walked in silence, the fake Uchiha made sure to linger behind, as if they were there to keep an eye on him. He internally scoffed at her antics.
As Sasuke passed through the streets, he could feel the stares. He could hear the whispers. His eyes gazed around him at the countless faces of pity. He internally shuddered and tried his best to ignore them; not used to the sudden attention he was given outside of the academy.
He was not a target of pity, he was an Uchiha. The strongest, most noble clan of Konoha Sasuke tried to tell himself.
"It's annoying isn't it?" Izumi muttered. "To be pitied like we're some animal on display."
Sasuke doesn't want to agree with her, so he opted to ignore the girl.
They walked in uncomfortable silence the rest of the way to the academy, the large looming gates greeted them like an old friend. Sasuke felt an uncomfortable void next in his stomach, as he looked to the floor.
"You going to go in?" Izumi asked, crossing her arms.
"Aren't you supposed to meet up with your genin team by now?" Sasuke snarled. "Why are you even walking me to the academy?"
Izumi's shadowed eyes narrowed, and Sasuke nearly flinched at her cold look. He expected her to explode in anger, possibly strike him. But to his surprise, she took in a deep breath and stormed off.
"As if I had a choice."
Sasuke could have sworn he heard that being muttered under her breath.
By the time he reached his seat in the classroom, he let out the breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. He slumped down into the small seat.
The classroom was still relatively empty with only a few of his classmates that he recognized. The Nara clan heir kid was dozing off across his desk, his friend the Akimichi heir was by his side shoveling chips into his mouth. The others were more or less civilians that were beneath Sasuke's notice.
The boy couldn't help but sneer at their naivety. How they could sit there wasting away like nothing was wrong with the world? But as if his day couldn't get any worse, in comes the girls that idolize him. If pitying was humiliating, then their cooing was anger-inducing.
Sasuke closed his eyes and ignored the frantic awes and whispers of his fangirls, hoping to maybe get some more sleep before the lesson started. His finger started to tap steadily on his desk.
Tap. The solid sound steadied his mind. It was calming. To calming.
Tap. The squeals broke into his concentration, the pitying whispers at the back of his mind. Taunting. Haunting.
Tap. The painful squeals soon turned into screams. The pitying whispers turned to frantic mercies and begging for life.
Tap…
"Sasuke Uchiha?"
"What!?" he snapped.
Sasuke's chest rose and fell, winded from his yell, his eyes wide and angry. He gripped the sides of the table till his knuckles were white. He blinked as he slowly took in the classroom. Sasuke hadn't realized class had started, and now everyone was staring at him.
"A 'present' would have sufficed for the roll Sasuke," Iruka said humorously. He gave a gentle smile in his direction. But it wasn't one of pity, but just a calming smile to let Sasuke know he was not treating him any differently to other students.
"I-I… It won't happen again," Sasuke stammered, sitting back down in his seat.
A couple of snickers could be heard coming from behind him, but Sasuke did his best to ignore them. They weren't worth his time. And like that, his outburst was soon forgotten like it never happened.
"Naruto?" Iruka called out.
There was no response for a good few seconds, as a heavy sigh came out from his lips. Soon followed by a massive explosion from somewhere in the academy grounds.
Iruka's eyebrow twitched.
"NARUTO!" he exploded, as he blurred out the room, slamming the door shut, leaving the classroom in silence.
Then the talking happened once more. More squealing fangirls, hushed whispers, and the haunting whispers and screams filled his ear, biting at him. Reminding him of that night.
Unable to do anything else, Sasuke slowly laid his head on his desk, clamping his arms around his ears so he could block out everything.
After all, he was an Uchiha.
And an Uchiha was beyond the concept of pain.
Izumi opened the apartment door for him. He scowled, still confused as to why she even bothered walking him from the academy. Closing the door shut, the two Uchiha's slowly shook off their shoes before putting them into the designated shoebox in the foyer.
"I'm home," they both called out in unison.
They both blinked in confusion at their antics. Sasuke scoffed, rushing into the house first, much to the annoyance of Izumi who simply crossed her arms. He threw his bag onto the sofa and started sifting through his homework and kunai set.
Izumi cleared her throat, interrupting him. Sasuke looked up expectingly.
At first, the girl doesn't say anything, as if pondering about what to say. Finally, after what seemed like an hour, she asked, "How was your day?"
Sasuke blinked, wondering if she hit her head on something earlier today or something.
"Why are you asking?"
Izumi twitched, fist tightening behind her back. "Humour me."
"... It was fine."
"I see... that's good."
"..."
"..."
The two stared at each other, not knowing how to lead or stop the conversation. Sasuke's eyes narrowed in on Izumi's, only just noticing the dark shadows that lingered ever so slightly around her eyes. He'd seen the same thing.
Each time he looked in the mirror ever since the night of the massacre.
By a stroke of fate, Izumi yawned, politely covering her mouth with her hand. "I'm... going to take a quick nap. Just... do your own thing till dinner then I guess."
Sasuke blinked. Izumi doesn't elaborate, giving a cheery fake smile before leaping onto the couch beside him. "Wake me up if you want to go outside."
Within minutes, the young girl was peacefully snoring softly on the couch. Seeing this, Sasuke was so tempted to follow suit with his own nap...
Foolish little brother...
Sasuke flinched. No... he couldn't rest, not yet.
He grabbed his kunai set and bag, slipping it across his shoulder, before quietly leaving the apartment.
Thud
Sasuke tsked in annoyance as the kunai he threw completely missed the center of the target. He threw another, missing once more. What was with his aim?
It's been a while since he last came back to this forest clearing. It was the only place he knew no one would bother him. He threw a few more kunai, landing a hit on each target pinned to each tree. But none of them struck the center. His frustrations continued to grow with each throw.
Sasuke growled in frustration, letting himself fall onto his back. His breathing was hard, as sweat poured down his forehead.
'It's not good enough… I'm not good enough…'
He didn't remember this being so difficult. The boy looked up towards the night sky, letting out a tired sigh. It looked so peaceful, and deep down he pondered on the last time he watched the night sky like this.
The nighttime breeze ran past, caressing his skin with a gentle touch. He closed his eyes and imagined.
He imagined a warm and golden world where his brother held his hand, the kindest most caring brother in the world by his side to reassure that he was safe. His mother was always by his side to catch him whenever he fell. His father behind him, filled with pride towards him...
Then Sasuke opened his tired eyes and the dark greeted him. He was being carried on someone's back, the cold blue light of the moon shining through the trees and onto him. He was too tired to wriggle out.
"I thought I told you to tell me if you wanted to go outside."
Izumi sounded annoyed as she carried Sasuke.
"Do you know what it was like, waking up at midnight and seeing you were gone?" the girl continued.
Sasuke didn't say anything.
"What if you were kidnapped by an enemy ninja? Killed? Enslaved? Have you ever thought about that? You're lucky that the Anbu told me—"
"I was just training," he mumbled through her hair.
Izumi stopped. She slowly let out a deep breath to calm herself, then continued walking. She was older, so thus, she had to set the example as the mature one.
"What happened to your forehead protector?" Sasuke asked quietly.
To her credit, Izumi didn't stop, swallowing the emotions that threatened to gush out.
"You walked me too and from the academy instead of meeting your genin team," Sasuke continued. Sasuke blinked as the gears moved in his head. "Did you…"
Izumi sighed. "I returned it... I'm no longer a ninja."
Sasuke swore he could hear a hint of deadly steel in Izumi's voice as they moved through the forest.
"Why?"
Sasuke felt Izumi flinch at the question. "I rather not talk about it. What's done is done."
"You can't quit being a ninja."
"I said I don't want to talk about it."
"Y-You… but why?"
"I said," Izumi growled. "We're not talking about it. Now shut up before I drop you and leave you here."
Sasuke was determined to seek answers. But stopped. The haunting memory of the girl sobbing in the foyer, broken and trembling. So he forced down his curiosity, and his need to know. Regardless, an uncomfortable silence lingered between the two as they journeyed back towards their current accommodation.
Within the distance, the first hint of the sun barely started to rise, signaling the new dawn that was approaching.
Responses to Reviews
SomeOne456
I have a good feeling that I got this story finally down pat. Not going to lie, I've been struggling to find a way to fully express what I wanted with this story, especially since the original wasn't going in the direction I wanted it to. So crossed fingers that all goes well this time around.
Whatever
Thank you for your kind words XD
kiwinks
An og reader. Thank you for your kind words. Hopefully, this new direction is still to your liking.
