Chapter Five: Welcome to the Family
Sasuke hated how his father never looked at him with pride.
Sasuke hated how he never seemed to measure up to his big brother.
Sasuke hated, with every fiber of his being, how he wasn't good enough.
But more importantly, he hated how Sakura's family was becoming more of his family than his own flesh and blood.
Sasuke thought Haji was odd, when he first met the towering man. He literally glowed, like he had been dipped into a pool of gold. He was also bald. Sasuke had never seen a man so young looking and fit with a completely bald head. It was weird. Haji was weird.
And for some reason, Sasuke was okay with that. He was fine with Haji being weird, because Haji had nothing but kind words for the poor boy and he desperately needed a strong male figure in his life right now. His father was non-existent, and his big brother, Itachi, was barely home so he didn't really count. He loved his mother, truly, but sometimes she wasn't enough. He needed a man to look up to, to idolize, and he was jealous that Naruto had that, when he didn't.
He hated being jealous, hated being so angry, hated hating.
Haji seemed to have noticed how lonely he felt, and would always offer him a piece of advice, or a kind word to boost him up.
"Your stance is quite excellent, Sasuke-kun."
"Move your foot closer towards the other- now doesn't that feel easier to hold?"
"Perfect, you are far ahead for your age."
Even when Sasuke messed up, when he couldn't hold his stance for a long time, or when he couldn't get the kata right the first time, Haji would always tell him he had done a good job. And he soaked up that praise like a sponge, feeling a warmth bloom in his chest every time he saw the man.
And that same warmth would bloom whenever he saw Sakura and Naruto, but he would never admit that. Oh no, if he ever told them how much they meant to him, they would start to cry and tackle him in a weird hug.
"Wow, Sasuke! That's so cool, how did you do that?" Sakura was always impressed with his moves.
"Not bad, duck butt, bet I can learn that new kata faster than you!" Naruto was always ready to playful challenge.
They were his friends, probably his only friends, and he cherished them and their friendship. So much so, that whenever his family asked about what he did all day, he would tell them he was training. And that would seem to satisfy them, or at least it would satisfy his father for a minute or two. His brother, if he was home, would just give him a weird look before going back to whatever it was that he did all day. His mother knew, but she would never tell, as she felt it wasn't her place. She just wished her son would stop trying so hard to be like Itachi, he was perfect as Sasuke. But what she didn't know, was that Sasuke no longer wanted to be just like his brother. He had found a new role model, someone else to idolize and look up to. And it was Haji, the seven foot God, who would always smile when he saw him, and ask him what he wanted to learn today.
Sasuke no longer cared about what his father thought of him.
Haji's opinion, however, mattered the world to him.
"Hn, how's your training coming along?"
"Good, otou-san,"
"What have you been doing?"
"I've been practicing my katas."
"That's it?"
"Otou-san?"
"Your brother had already mastered his Sharigan at your age."
"But-"
"He was already learning how Katon techniques."
"Otou-san-"
"Disappointing. You will stop with your katas and start learning Katon, understood?"
"No,"
"What did you say?"
"No..no...I said no. I said no!"
"Sasuke-"
"I'm not like him, I'm not Itachi! I'm Sasuke! I'm Sasuke! I'm Sasuke!"
Sasuke ran to the Haruno home, the Dragon district. He ran as fast and as hard as his little legs could carry him. His eyes burned from his tears, they were blurry and unfocused, but he knew that he would get there without incident. All he wanted to do was run as far from his family as he could, run away from the clan that only saw him as a replacement to Itachi, and not as an actual person. After yelling at his father, Sasuke didn't even stop to realize what he had done. He just took off; his shoes were still in the hall by the front door, untouched.
Sasuke threw himself over the red line that marked the Haruno clan's district. He laid on the dirt road, panting hard as tears ran down his face and his lungs fought for air. He curled up into a ball, wrapping his arms around his legs and closed his eyes. He felt his chest heart, but more importantly, he felt his heart hurt. Why couldn't his father just love him the way Haji loved him? Without expectations? Without disdain?
He curled up tighter and began to sob, for once not caring what people thought of him and what they would say. He didn't care.
And neither did the people around him. They knew who he was, knew who he was best friends with. One of them ran off to get Haji, to let him know that Sasuke-san was crying and possibly in pain. Another, an apprentice to a geisha, approached him and knelt down next to him. She began to rub soft, soothing circles on his back, cooing at him in an equally soft voice. She coaxed him out of his ball and got him to sit up so that he could lean against her. He clutched at her yukata (she was glad it was an old one) and continued to sob. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him closer, her heart clenching at the sight of a child so young crying in such a way. She held him, bowing her head to lay a gentle kiss on his crown, before looking up and glancing through the crowd. She caught sight of Mikoto, looking torn. She was standing outside, on the other side of the red line. She hesitated, like she wanted to approach, but stopped herself when she saw Haji approaching.
Haji saw her and titled his head in her direction, but that was all he did before turning his back so he could retrieve Sasuke. The young girl picked him up and tried to give him to Haji, but Sasuke clung to her. He was still crying, but they had tempered out to quiet sniffles.
None of them noticed his mother smile sadly before turning to walk away. She had a husband to put back in place.
Sakura and Naruto refused to leave his side for a week after his running away. And he was fine with that; he clung to them at night, scared his father would come and take him back home.
He was terrified that he would be forbidden from seeing them ever again.
He would shake at night, curled in on himself.
He would cry out for one of them, and they would always be right there.
He would cling to their tiny bodies as he slept, none of them caring about sharing a bed.
And Haji would look on, his lips tugged down in a frown at the sight.
Fugaku would rue the day he threw his own son away, Haji thought, before pressing a kiss to each of their heads while they slept. He would make sure that that man learned just badly he had hurt his own child.
Sasuke woke up on the last day of his second week with them, and stumbled into the bathroom to brush his teeth and take care of himself. When he blinked his eyes clear, he looked at himself in the mirror.
And stared.
And stared.
And stared some more before letting out a high pitched scream.
When Haji raced towards him, a dagger in hand, he found a shell shocked Sasuke staring at himself in the mirror. More specifically, staring at the fresh, bright pink dragon with green eyes under his right eye.
Haji swore that these children would give him a heart attack one day.
Naruto noticed the mark and beamed at Sasuke like the sun.
"Sakura! Sasuke has the mark!" He shouted, before turning to Sasuke with a smaller smile, "Welcome to the family, duck butt."
AN: Ayeee, what chu think? Sorry if I hit you guys in your feels, but it was kinda necessary (not really) to the plot. I had a reviewer (MademoiselleRED) ask if the massacre would happen, and well, it won't. But things won't be easy, or nice, for the Uchihas.
I got plans, you see, to make them regret pushing the two boys the way they did, and that involves forcibly taking them from their clan and making them Sakura's. Not sure if Itachi will join them, I'll have to see what happens as the story goes on.
So you guys know, I don't care much for canon, as it treated all three of them pretty badly, so while some events might be similiar, a lot of it won't be.
Also, Cruisegirl86, I will have to see where this train takes me, but don't worry, they'll get some love, too.
