Chapter 27
The household welcomed them with intense graciousness. Everyone knelt down and expressed their joy and appreciation. Sakura, for the first time, does not have to kneel down with them to Sasuke. She was still dazed, and Sasuke asked the servants to quickly take her back to her quarters, which was newly prepared while they were gone. It's a wing near his residence quarters, and he purposely decorated it to her liking to surprise her. It's already dark, she won't notice any difference now, but when she wake up next morning she'll be thrilled, he's certain.
The next morning, very early, Sasuke got dressed in casual clothing, and quickly headed to the palace. This time there was no grand entrance of any kind, the guards let him in, and he only took two soldiers to accompany him, and he rode on horseback.
He went straight past all the courtyard and steps and the court, and headed to the Emperor's personal quarters. He waited outside for a couple of minutes before the servant girl said he could enter.
Itachi was already dressed, getting ready for early morning court assembly.
"You're early today." Sasuke remarked.
"Call it an intuition." Itachi said, his expression softened at the sight of his brother.
"You know what I want to know then?" Sasuke was restless. He's unable to stay still, so he paced back and forth in the large quarter.
Itachi sat on a chair while drinking tea and watched him pacing back and forth, "You're entitled to ask, but I might not be obliged to give an answer."
"Ok." The Prince faced him straight, "Whose idea was it?"
Itachi averted his gaze.
Sasuke laughed, "Brother, you and I are twins."
"Yes, what a shame." Itachi said mockingly.
"Why did she do it? Is it just because of her status? She wasn't of noble birth?" He asked in obvious disgust and distaste of his mother's opinion.
The Emperor chuckled at his brother's naiveness. Sometimes short emotions are snuck within his demeanor when he's alone with his loved ones, and currently that is only limited to Sasuke at the moment, at least, one who could response back. Then he wondered mildly if Sasuke is correct. When did these tradition establish to be so complicated and excessive?
Sasuke is getting nothing out of his brother. He often doesn't. Sometimes he would try to act more childish than usual to incite a reaction from his brother. Sometimes it would work, with Itachi tapping his forehead and say he's being foolish. Sometimes Itachi sits and looks at him with a slight smile on his face, which Sasuke finds very irritating. It makes him feel smaller than he actually is. Sasuke only behaves this way with Itachi, sometimes with his mother. He found that in recent years the older he gets the less he does it to his mother. There's a sense of something coming in between them, he couldn't tell. The Dowager Empress still dotes on Sasuke exceedingly, as does Itachi, but Sasuke could tell that she expects more from Itachi, as she often does throughout their lives.
When conversations turn wry, Sasuke often switch to childhood memories, and that never fails to put a slight smile on Itachi's face. One of the Emperor's favorite topic with his brother is to reminisce the rare and happy moments of childhood they spent together. During that time, it was them teaming up together against all of their other siblings and the adults around them.
"Brother, do you remember how I always took away your toys?" Sasuke asked with enthusiasm. Bullying his brother when they were young was one of the few moments he felt equal to Itachi.
Itachi, from a very young age, already learnt how to surrender his desires. He always let Sasuke take whatever Sasuke wanted from him, knowing Sasuke was already at a very unfair position since birth.
"How could I not?" Itachi replied, chuckling a little, "you were always making a fuss, and I wasn't allowed to, so I had to give them to you."
"I didn't really want them." Sasuke said nonchalantly, "I wanted your attention."
Itachi, for the first time in a long while, looked towards his brother with surprise and slight respect. "Really." His remark wasn't a question, it was laced with affirmation and mild sarcasm. He did not realize Sasuke had the mental maturity to admit that. It's one thing to acknowledge it, but another to actively admit it in public.
"Yeah. Remember that Ivory cyclical thing, the one with carvings and one layering inside another." Sasuke said, "I took that away, but I knew you really wanted it. But you were shut in that room all day, and I was bored."
"No matter." Itachi was always quick to forgive his brother, "I was planning on smashing it anyways, just to see what was inside making that tickling noise."
The object they were talking about was an ivory octarine ball. It's made from pure ivory and superlative craftsmanship carvings, and 9 balls of different size layering inside on another, with no open clasps. Each layer is carved with mystical creatures in filaments, and right in the center is something of an mystery object, but it clashes against the ivory and making the most exquisite sound. The only person who knows what lies in the center is the crafter, as in its complete form one could only see beyond past three or four layers.
It was uncommon to make it from pure ivory, as each layer may need months or even years of careful craftsmanship, but this ivory ball happens to be a gift bestowed from a foreign country to Flames for its surrender and graciousness of not eradicating its citizens. The gift was one of the most prized possession in that small country, and was placed on an holy alter for many many years, and given away symbolizing their desperate plead for peace and mercy, and it was being purposely handed to the young Crowed Prince as a toy to play with.
Sasuke took it, and he didn't care for it. Even at young age he showed immense interest in different weapons. He took it away and played with it for a while before neglecting it in his room. And one day when he came back from his studies, he found the ivory octarine ball on the floor, smashed to pieces.
He didn't think much of it, assuming one of the servants accidentally smashed it. He was mad though, and he banished a couple servants because of it.
It was such a trivial moment from their childhood Sasuke neglected to fully recall his memory. "I didn't know you wanted it that much."
"I was only curious." Itachi said, finish drinking his last sip of the tea and stood up, "I did find out what was inside. It was a silver ball."
Sasuke looked at his brother with intense scrutiny, to which Itachi looked back at him with equal bluntness. Sasuke then finally asked, "well, were you disappointed?"
Itachi turned around, and as he was walking out the door, he tapped Sasuke's forehead in a swift motion.
"Immensely."
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TBC
A/N: for those who were curious on what the ball looked like, google "ivory ball carving".
