THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU TRY TO MAKE FRIENDS
That night, the usual nightmares kept me up. I eventually just stayed up until my alarm clock started buzzing. Sometimes it was easier this way. Because when I did actually sleep, it was always like trying to come back from the dead. This often made me flat out ignore the alarm clock in favor for just a few more minutes...in consequence...lateness and rushing, and running into sleepy, grumpy mini-ninjas ensued. Of course, the consequences of staying up all night aren't exactly any better. When the alarm clock went off, I jerked out of my blank eyed daze—well, maybe not completely, judging by what happened next—the blanket around my shoulders slipping off and the cold morning air sending a chill through me. Of course, since my mind was moving slowly enough, the buzzing sent me into a flurry of movement as my normal morning routine kicked in—and that was moving like there was a demon fox on my ass.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuuuuuuck!" I cursed, hopping into my shorts one leg at a time and heading for the door. Having shoved my boots on, I then took off at a flying run, tearing the door open and—promptly took a face plant as it would seem... There was a long awkward silence afterwards until I slowly raised my head with a pitiful groan to pinpoint what I could've possibly tripped over, and spotted the now scattered containers I'd left in front of Sasuke's door the night before, completely cleaned out. No doubt they'd been stacked perfectly neatly right in front of my door before I'd gone and took my flying leap... How nice of him.
Unsteadily, I made the painful transition back to my feet to see the culprit staring at me, one foot hovering above the first stair down the complex building. When our eyes met, all he did was arch his brow at me. Raising my finger at him in warning, I spoke in a serious voice, "...You saw nothing."
He didn't answer for a long time, until finally, he spoke slowly. "Believe me. Nobody wishes that more than I do right now..."
I gave him an exasperated look, shaking my head in frustration, then shot at him, "Why are you always out here when I wake up anyway? Are our alarm clocks synchronized or something?"
"I don't need one." He told me in explanation. "You make enough noise in the morning that I decided against wasting the money."
"...I honestly can't tell if you're serious or just fucking with me."
Another raised eyebrow in response, then he turned and began descending the stairs with a careless, "Believe whatever you want. It's not my problem."
I hesitated before following him, but thought of my raise, and forced myself to move my feet until we were exiting the building side by side. And tactically, I questioned him. "Where are you going?"
"You're nosy," he noted.
"I'm also very stubborn when I want something," I hinted, my stare intensifying.
He turned his head to face it head on and he tried again. "You're annoying."
"We've already established this," I agreed. "We've also established that it won't stop until I get what I want."
He scowled at me and snapped, "What do you want?"
"Where are you going?" I asked again.
"Why should I tell you?" he countered.
"What's the worst that could happen if you do? It's not like your head is going to explode, or something..." I argued.
"You could follow me there," he said pointedly, getting more annoyed as the conversation persisted.
At which I pointed out, "I'm already following you...but I promise to stop if you tell me where you're going. I've got better places to be anyway."
"Then why do you want to know?" Stubborn dick...
"I was simply curious, since we seem to be headed in the same direction."
"You expect me to believe that?"
"Believe what you want." I shrugged. "How's this, I'm headed to the orphanage to make cinnamon buns for the brats. And you are...?"
He sent me an odd look. "What are cinnamon buns?"
"If you really want to know, you can come with and find out," I offered.
"I have training to get to," he grumbled.
"Aha! So that's where you're going. I knew it." I nodded sagely as he shot me a glare. "You know, I honestly felt a little sorry for you when I saw Naruto was on your team. He knows how to give anyone a headache. And that girl seems to be just as effective at it." I shivered as I remembered the fist she slammed into Naruto's noggin. "She's a sort of scary, that one, isn't she? At least she seems to like you."
"...You talk too much," he grumbled. But the way he said it made me think I'd hit the nail right on the head anyways. "What do you care about any of it in the first place? You're not a ninja. Why are you suddenly so interested?"
"Well, Naruto and I sort of grew up together in the orphanage. He was there before I was though, so I don't think he ever knew his parents... It's kind of sad, don't you think? To not even remember what they were like..." A picture of a red haired woman and a fair featured blonde flashed behind my eyes and I looked over to see a sort of...hollowed out one in his, then I murmured, "I've got a couple crazy theories you might find interesting though..."
"Then why don't you stop bugging me, and tell him?" he asked pointedly.
I shrugged. "We grew apart after I quit the academy. Plus, I think it might freak him out a little..."
He eyed me darkly for a long moment, then replied reluctantly, "...I'm listening."
"Well, you know the nine tails attacked twelve years ago, right? ...Guess when Naruto's birthday is." If I hadn't had his attention before, I certainly had it now. "It could be a coincidence but..."
"Coincidences don't exist," he stated plainly.
"My thoughts exactly," I agreed, then pointed out, "Also, you ever wondered why practically the entire village treats him like a pariah? And don't say it's the pranks, because I knew him before he started all that shit, and it was the same then as it is now... Then there's the big fucking elephant in the room—or rather a demon fox...where the hell do you suppose they put the damn thing?"
He sent me a searching look. "Probably some sort of advanced sealing technique—"
"Sealed into what?" I interrupted pointedly. "...or who?" His eyes widened a fraction of an inch. I then went on to say, "You probably don't remember this—hell, I barely even remember it—but the three of us were in the same class at the academy the year I quit, and we had that stupid history project we had to present with research and all that good shit... Well, mine was on the tailed beasts. Cause, I mean, come on, what's more interesting than sentient giant chakra monsters through the ages, man?" I chuckled humorlessly, "Well, let's just say I found out quite a bit more than I was expecting... You ever hear of the term 'Jinchuriki'?" At his insistent stare and lack of response, I decided to fill him in. "That's what the human container of a tailed beast is called... And that's just scratching the surface. The chunin who guards the restricted section in the library is surprisingly easy to sneak past if you're really determined. Oh, I got full marks on that project, in case you were wondering." I smirked darkly as I hammered my point home, "But Iruka-sensei wouldn't let me present to the class...and confiscated it as soon as he took two looks at it without any explanation. Never saw or heard from the thing again."
"...That doesn't prove anything," Sasuke pointed out after a long moment of thought.
"Oh, I think it proves a lot..." I begged to differ, and went on, "That's not the only thing I found out in the restricted section either... It's really not that hard to figure out if you dig down deep enough. Since the beginning, when the village captured all the tailed beasts, they passed them out to the other villages to keep the balance of power and stop war. A nice gesture and all, but it obviously didn't work out the way they wanted it to..." I scoffed softly shaking my head. "In any case, Konoha has always had the nine tails. They used Jinchuriki to keep it under wraps and under control, and the host has always, always, been of Uzumaki descent." And with that, I believed the point had finally sunk in. "Try to argue with that. If you don't believe me," I flicked his head band, making the metal 'ting', "you don't even need to sneak past the guard to get into the restricted section anymore, ninja boy."
We stopped in front of the orphanage. Despite the fact that we'd passed the path to the training grounds some time ago, it seemed Sasuke was the one that ended up following me instead of it being the other way around. I didn't feel the need to point that out, however, as he spoke softly, "...Do you think he knows?"
It was a complicated question, so I thought about it for a long moment before answering. "...On some level, yes. I think he knows that he's different from everyone else. It took me a long time to understand him. And I still think he's an annoying idiot...but I get it. And as for the long term implications of the condition...I don't think he has a clue." I stared at him meaningfully. "You also said there are no such thing as coincidences... Do you think the fact that you two were put on the same team was a coincidence? You know the one thing besides the Senju wood release that was said to control the tailed beasts was the Sharingan of the Uchiha?" I tilted my head and concluded. "I don't believe in coincidences either. And if you think Naruto is the worst of Konoha's dirty laundry...you better think again."
"...What's that supposed to mean?"
"People who come here die...that's what it means," I scoffed. "And they wonder why I want to leave. It's too late for you now." I flicked his headband again. "You've already been sucked in, like a big, giant sucker—"
I'd been aiming another flick for his headband, but he grabbed my wrist tightly. "Stop doing that."
Something in his voice made me pause, and an image of an older boy poking a younger Sasuke in the head flashed through my memories briefly. After a moment, my wrist started to hurt, and I forced my voice to remain calm as I agreed. "Okay. Would you please let go now? Ninja strength kind of hurts."
He seemed to snap out of whatever haze he was in, and let go of me as if he'd been shocked. There was no apology, but he took a step back from me with an uneasy expression on his face. Close enough. He shook his head. "Why should I believe any of this?"
"You shouldn't," I told him. "In fact, I'd call you stupid if you did. Like I said, go do your own research. Who knows," I shrugged. "you might find something I didn't... Just be careful no one finds you snooping around where you shouldn't be." I lowered my voice. "You never know when some ass hat might flip out and cause a massacre around here..." What can I say? I was vindictive. And as he stared at me, stunned, I looked down at my watch with a sigh. "Oh look, I'm probably going to be late again. No point in hurrying anymore, I guess." I turned on my heel and began walking at a leisurely pace towards the orphanage, but I didn't forget to wave and call cheerfully back over my shoulder, "Have fun training! Say 'hi' to Naruto for me and I'll save a cinnamon bun for you!"
One mind successfully blown in the short period of one morning...check. I think my job here was complete.
"I see you've made a friend," the matron observed, her hands knitted at her waist as I ambled over to the gates.
"Possibly." I shrugged. Though I hardly suspected that was anything close to what you'd categorize us as... Maybe research buddies at best if my hunch was correct. Still, it should be enough to convince Hanako that someone needed a raise...
"Well, in that case, I suppose I can excuse your tardiness just this once," The ghost of a smile played at her lips. "Get to work."
I saluted her and marched off towards the kitchens. "Ma'am, yes Ma'am..."
If I thought baseball with cutthroat shougi strategy was eventful, it wasn't until I saw it with kids on a sugar high that I truly comprehended the idea of complete, utter chaos. Sparky's team won this time around, and I was patching up both blue and red in the infirmary.
"Nice one, Kid." I ruffled the boy's green hair. "Mii-chan never saw the ball heading over into the Inuzuka compound coming. That said, never do that again. Someone might actually get eaten. And I don't see us getting our ball back any time soon..." I paused and added, "That said...seriously, don't go anywhere near that place. Ever. Those ninken are no joke."
Sparky pouted, and I glared at him until he gave up. "Fine..." I looked down at my watch again with a sigh. Sparky eyed me curiously and asked, "Are you late again?"
"Close to it, yeah. I'm out. Be good. Keep an eye on Mii-chan. It's not good to fall asleep with that big a bump on your head."
I arrived at the bakery in a rush, and, for a change, this time I was the one nearly getting ran over. A shady guy bolted through the back door, pushing hurriedly past me without apology, sending back a wary glance in my direction, but then he hurried the hell out of there. Bizzare. Nobody used the back door but me and Hanako. And, with horror filled thoughts about the place getting robbed, I flung open the door and ran straight to Hanako...who was calmly stirring something in a mixing bowl with that same gentle, closelipped smile of hers.
But I still wasn't convinced just yet, and I shot at her, "Are you okay? Who was that guy?"
"I'm fine." She blinked, the picture of utter confusion. "What guy?"
I narrowed my eyes at her suspiciously. "...I'm going back to check the inventory. There's something fishy going on here."
"So," Hanako smiled at me as I returned tying on my work bandana. "any progress?"
"Not sure." I craned my neck to look out the front window at a suspicious flash of orange. "We may soon find out though..."
The bell on the door nearly flew off as Naruto slammed it open, "Told you I'd be back, Quitter!"
"...Please excuse me while I find a container for my joy." I sighed, dragging myself up to the counter. "What do you want, Twerp? Make it quick. I don't have time for you. I've got work to do." I paused, looking around for the other two, and raised my brow, "And aren't you supposed be off...you know, doing ninja things with your happy little band of ninja pals?"
"It's just stupid D-rank missions," he pouted like Sparky the eight-year-old. "A cool ninja like me doesn't have time for painting fences or weeding lawns—"
"Oh, you have my total sympathy, Great One," I cut him off insincerely. "After all, it's not like a cool ninja like you needs to pay rent or anything..." He winced and I cut to the chaise, "Why are you here, Naruto? If you wanted to catch up on old times, I'm seriously not in the mood—"
"I think that's a great idea!" Hanako cut in happily. "Yuka, you've got the rest of the day off. Have fun."
I openly gaped at her. "You can't be seriou—gah! Shit, Naruto! I don't—OW!"
"Let's go, Yuka-chan!"
"Don't call me that, dammit—LET—GO—" In desperation I called out, "Hanako-sensei!" But at the peaceful smiling look on her face, I realized I would receive no sympathy from her and finally just shouted, "You're evil!" at the top of my lungs as Naruto dragged me out the door, still in my apron and bandana.
She waved her fingers cheerfully at us and hummed, "I've been called worse..."
That didn't make me feel any better.
Finally, since Naruto had obviously gotten a lot stronger since our last tussle, I had to give up. "I hate you..."
"No you don't."
"Yeah. I really do."
"Not like everyone else does."
I closed my eyes briefly in frustration and replied sarcastically, "Yes. That's right. I hate you in my own 'special' little way. That's exactly why I've been avoiding you for years!" He stopped suddenly and rounded on me. That look...the searching one he gave me with those eyes. It made me feel pinned down. Held accountable. I hated it. I had to say something. "...Look. That was a lie, okay? I'm sorry. I'm just...I can't be friends with you. Not like before, not ever. I don't...hate you. But that's just the way it is."
"...Quitter." He glared at me. "You always give up, Yuka-chan. You don't fight for anything or anyone. I might not understand a lot of things, but I know what it's like to be alone... What I don't get is why you stay like that."
Scowling back at him, I growled, "You're right. You don't understand anything. How could you understand what it's like to lose something? You were alone from the start!" Ignoring his stricken expression and the echo in my head of similar words over the roar of a waterfall, I snapped. "You don't get it do you? I'm different from you! I like being alone. When I'm alone...I can't be hurt by anything." I took a deep breath, and recited, "The moment you love something...the world has something to use against you."
After a long moment he replied, "...Maybe you're right about that." But then he stared me hard in the eye and said. "But I think you're a liar. I don't think you really like being alone at all..."
I stared back at him until I couldn't anymore and I had to look up to hold back the tears that threatened to spill. "Just...please stop talking, okay?"
Thankfully. He did just that.
Later, after he somehow talked me into buying his ramen, I reminded him, "You know, this doesn't magically make us friends again. Nothing's changed."
"I know," He said through a mouthful of noodles, swallowed, then grinned, "That's why you're going to come train with me every day from now on! Just like before!"
I gaped at him. "Did you not understand what I just said? When exactly did I decide to do this? I don't have time for that!" Especially not with weirdass creeps hanging around at Hanako's place.
"I'll make time!" He slapped his hand down on the counter for emphasis. "Besides, that Hanako lady seemed really—"
"Evil." I supplied. "She's evil. And don't you dare think I'm going to be giving up any of my hard earned hours just to go off and play ninja with you!"
"We'll see," hummed.
I didn't like the sound of that.
And, what's worse, when I got back to the apartment, tall, dark, and gloomy was waiting for me. I sighed, with a slightly bitter smirk pulling at my lips. "Guess you really wanted that cinnamon bun, huh...?"
"I went to the library."
"Thought you were supposed to be painting fences and pulling weeds with your fellow ninja pals," I noted quietly as I took out my key, walking past him towards my door and unlocking it.
"The idiot took off somewhere. We can't do missions without a four-man cell..." He growled in explanation.
"I may have had something to do with it. He dragged me away from work today to have a heart to heart chat... Nearly made me cry... I hate it when he does that. It's actually something he's good at... Making people see the truth about themselves..." I winced, then stopped, shaking my head. Why was I telling him this? I glared at him. "So, what you you want, Punk?"
"I went to the library," he repeated.
"And?" I prompted, leaning against the doorframe. "Find anything interesting?"
"You could say that..."
I shrugged. "I really hope no one saw you. I'm not exactly your biggest fan, but it'd suck if you ended up dead. I hate new neighbors." I opened the door, and sent a pointed look back at him, "Want to come in?"
He stared suspiciously into the dark of my apartment, but at the insistent glance I sent down the hall, and the tap I gave my ear, he complied without a word. I then went about rummaging through the mess to find the object I was looking for and slapped the thing on the wall. I then gestured to him and asked, "Can you activate this thing? My chakra control is shit."
"What is it?" He examined it closely.
"Take a good guess." I shrugged. "I call it the 'better safe than sorry' button. Walls are thin."
With one last wary look he charged up and placed his hand over the rectangular symbol. It glowed blue for a flash, and so did the four walls around us. "Silencing seal. Where'd you get it?"
"Nicked it. Thought it might be useful...and lo and behold..." I grimaced. "This isn't the sort of thing that you just talk about out in the open. Only reason I told you this morning is because nobody but crazy people like us get up that early..." He looked slightly insulted to be included in my definition of crazy, but didn't say anything. I took the moment to make something clear to him. "Forget everything you think you know about this place, Kid. If you keep digging, people can, and will kill you for what you know."
"Then how come they haven't killed you yet?" He countered.
I smirked bitterly. "I'm a nobody. Orphan. Academy dropout. Social recluse. Call me whatever you want. But don't ever say I don't know how to remain under the radar... Until you and your happy band of ninja pals showed up that is..." I sighed. "I guess I couldn't exactly ignore you forever. And now Hanako-sensei says that if I don't become friends with you, I don't get my raise. And if I don't get my raise, I'm sure as hell never getting out of this hell hole."
"So that's what this is about," he scoffed.
"Partially, yes. Something you should know about me if we're going to be research buddies is that I will use any and every resource at hand to get the fuck out of this place. Unless given a proper incentive, if I see my ticket out of here, I'm going to take it. No questions asked. So, if we're going to be 'friends,' it might be smart of you take that into account. It's simple, really." I narrowed my eyes at him, "You make all nice nice in front of Hanako-sensei, and I'll tell you everything I know. Everybody wins."
"If you're expecting me to trust—"
"I'm not," I pointed out. "That's why I told you to do your own research. But there's some stuff research just can't back up. And you are going to need to take my word for it, because I can't possibly explain how I know it without the men in white coats coming down to take me to the funny farm. I don't know if it's some sort of fucked up bloodline limit, or what, but the moment I met Naruto, I started to have these freakyass dreams..." I pointed out the dark circles under my eyes bitterly, and went on in an increasingly agitated voice. "I haven't slept well in years. And the day I met you just made everything a hundred times worse. I started having dreams about a certain clan...and woke up screaming after I watched them all get brutally murdered, every—fucking—night. I used to think that's all they were. Nightmares. And then guess what?" I said to his stunned form, and whispered. "I woke up...and the nightmare came to life."
The silence in the room was deafening. And it wasn't because of the humming seal on the wall. Eventually I raked my fingers through my hair and turned towards the kitchenette, tension in my every movement. When I was stressed out, I cooked. It calmed me down. It was an island of 'normal' in a sea of chaos. The only good dreams I had were about food. Strange, outlandish food that I got major cravings for, and that I tried to recreate as best as possible with the ingredients at my disposal. At this point, I didn't even care if I had a 'guest' over. I was making fucking pizza.
During the whole time I was working, Sasuke didn't say a single word. He seemed more like the kind where there was more noise inside his head than out, though, so I let him stew in his own juices for a while. But after a while, I felt his eyes boring a hole into the back of my head. And so I tried to figure out a way to present things to him in an easy to understand way that didn't include my crazy prophetic dreams I'd just confessed to him. And it dawned on me that I had just professed my deepest, darkest secret to my messed up neighbor. Honestly...not my first choice in confidantes, but if it meant I'd get my raise, I didn't exactly care.
So after I stuck the pizza in the oven, I rummaged around to find a notebook and a pencil, sat down in front of him, and started drawing. It's a skill I always had, but like the dreams, I had no idea where it came from. After about ten minutes, I ripped out the paper and passed it across the table to him. "This is you, in the future. Not exactly the most practical fashion sense, that one." He stared down at it dubiously as I started on another sketch, this time, of a man in a cloak. After it was finished, I tore it out, and passed it over to line it up with the other one. He noticeably flinched, and instantly reached out to snatch it from me. I let him. And as he raked his eyes over it, a mad sort of feverishness to them, I said needlessly. "This is the one you want to kill..." And then I started on the third and final drawing. It took longer than the other two. And when it was done, his eyes darted to it warily. "This..." I told him, meeting his eyes, "is the one you should want to kill..."
"...I have no idea who that is," he admitted.
"You wouldn't," I agreed, but then pointed to the paper still clutched tightly in his hands. "...But he did."
"What does that mean?" he questioned.
"It means..." I told him, pointing to the picture of the bandaged old man, "that this is your next research target. You have access to much greater resources than I do. And if you want to know the truth—the real truth—find out everything you can about Shimura Danzo. But be careful," I warned. "He's not to be trifled with. Don't go asking stupid questions where the wrong sort of people can hear you, and for the love of everything that is good and holy, don't go looking for him. If he suspects you know something, he will kill you without any hesitation...or worse. What he did to Itachi...is worse."
"...You know," he realized, then shot at me accusingly, "If you know, then why won't you just tell me?!"
"Because, you said it yourself. How can you prove that anything I'm telling you is the truth?" I pointed out. "You're not going to be able to help anything if you can't back this up with cold, hard evidence. And even if you do end up trusting me, like an idiot, a bunch of prophetic dreams still aren't going to prove anything to anyone." I stared at him hard. "Here's something to remember: Trust. No one." I paused, rethinking that, "...Except maybe Naruto. And that girl, what was her name? The scary one. Sakura, right? They'll be on your side. Be careful around that teacher of yours though. He might not know everything, but he is a loyal Konoha jounin. You're going to need to give him the evidence you find if you want him as your ally."
He held his head in his hand, the picture of his brother still clenched tightly in the other one. "I don't even know where to start..."
I thought for a moment, tapping my chin and the soft lines between my brows furrowed as I went over the list of things I already knew, then slapped my hand on the table as I exclaimed, "The Uchiha Military Police Force!"
He looked up at me in confusion. "...What?"
"All those records passed to you, didn't they? The case files, and all the information they gathered over the years is confidential clan stuff, isn't it? That's not to say nobody's gotten their claws into it since then, and it might not be completely accurate any longer, but there might be something they missed, so it's still worth a try, right?" I stared at him avidly, "Do you know where those records are stored?"
"...They should still be at the station," he remarked with some bemusement.
"Well then, it's a start." I smiled at him. "I can help if you want."
His eyes were suddenly guarded, "...No."
My smile widened and I told him, "Good call. You're learning." He scoffed at me and shook his head. I took that to mean he didn't approve of my condescending attitude but he couldn't be bothered to confront me about it. Mostly because I was right. But it was at that point that the timer on the oven buzzed at me and I asked him, "Have you eaten yet? I doubt you've ever tried anything quite like this. It's my own personal favorite creation." I grabbed an oven pad and quickly removed the thing before the hot pan could burn me. The waves of heat that still poured out lifted my hair up on the air currents and warmed my face. And of course, I was met with a tantalizing smell that made my stomach growl. After it cooled down a bit I brought the thing over to the table and crossed my arms proudly over my chest.
He stared at it like it might bite him. "...What is that?"
I rolled my eyes. Everybody reacted this way. Losing patience, I grabbed myself a slice and said, "Try it, and you'll find out."
Naturally, due to reasons of irony, he ended up eating more than I did and I gave up the last piece without a fight. Afterwards, he left without even a thank you or goodbye, but I figured that's just the way he was. Progress was still progress.
That night, I dreamed of a magical potato sliced up into little fried chunks. I think I knew what my next creation would be.
So, as promised: Chapter 2. Wednesday. On time.
(This is a little scary for me. Nobody jinx it!)
Reviews help a lot.
Thanks bunches, or screw you, respectively.
