AN: New character. Guess who?
"You didn't have to wait for me," I sigh in frustration, plopping down on the grass with my lunch.
"You're right. I didn't."
I narrow my eyes at him once he shoots me a look, before we fall into a companionable silence as we eat by the prohibition sign. Sasuke seems a little tense (-r) than usual, if his clenched jaw and animalistic bites mean anything, so I find myself debating on whether I should pretend I don't notice it or call him out on it. I decide to sip my juice loudly instead while staring at him intently, until his brows furrow and he grunts irritably.
"I can't come with you today," he confesses after a beat, eyes avoiding and fingers idly picking on the poor grass underneath him. I almost ask him to stop. It isn't like we don't go see Ice Cream every Friday for the past two months, we don't go to the arcade, he doesn't show me around the streets, or we don't go to the park – because we do exactly that. One Friday isn't going to matter, unless –
"You're worried about Ice Cream," I state rather than ask, watching a flock of birds fly as a constant. It's been two months she's been pregnant, which means she could give birth at any moment now, and by the slight flinch I see I was on point.
"Yeah…I'm worried about her."
I raise an eyebrow at his tone. "So you're not?"
"Whatever Kushina," at this I look at him questioning, but he waves his hand dismissively so I sigh and swipe a cherry tomato from his bento as revenge; he surprisingly lets me.
"Okay, is there something I should know?"
Sasuke stares at me for a moment, as I gesture for him to spit it out, before starting cautiously, "Do you know Itachi?"
"Yeah it's hard to ignore rumours about him when they're so constant and extensive," I admit boredly, rolling the tomato between my fingers as I admire how smooth it is. "But honestly, even though I've never really met him, he seems like a try-hard kiss-up to me."
I glance at Sasuke when I don't receive a response, only to find him smirking to himself as if he was satisfied with something. It was ominous.
"It seems to me that you hate my family members."
I straighten and my eyes widen. "No way!"
His smirk stretches. "Way."
"What in the actual hell?" I screech. "Why are all you Uchihas so weird?"
His elated expression drops faster than I've ever seen.
"You think I'm weird?"
"We have bigger problems Saucey," he glares a little harder and I smile a little wider. "What is he to you? Better yet, why are you telling me this?"
He packs his empty bento sluggishly, avoiding my eyes before he puts it aside and gives me his attention, so I roll my eyes. "He's my elder brother, and I asked him to get you the supplies since it is my turn."
"AWW!" I lean forward and grab his cheek, tugging it like he was a five year old child who did something nice. "You're such a good daddy!"
He starts to struggle, so I grab his other cheek as well and shake his face from side to side. "You don't have to be so shy!"
"Are you done?" he doesn't wait for my response as he swats my hands away and pins it together on his side. "Itachi is going to get you the stuff and don't freak out if she isn't there –"
" – because she's searching for someplace to pop 'em out, yeah."
"Oh?" he raises an eyebrow of amusement. I roll my eyes.
"Don't look at me like that; I know how to use a library."
"I'm not that surprised."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
A bell is rung by the school doors, indicating that the students in the courtyard get back indoors to continue with the classes, so Sasuke refuses to release me until he pulls me up, and from his expression, he doesn't plan on addressing my question, so I elbow him.
"So peaches means I'm indifferent, and guavas means I want to bury him."
"What's that supposed to mean?" he asks after a moment, a suspicious look painted across his features that seem to rise when his brother is the topic of discussion, but I merely shoot him a peace sign and leave him without a response.
And I feel guilty about it. How the hell does he do it so casually?
When I arrive at the alleyway, I release a relieved breath for two reasons. One is that Ice Cream is still lounging in her box and hasn't left yet, and two is that I managed to find this place without Sasuke. That calls for some ice cream with Ice Cream.
"Hey Ice Cream," I cross my legs as I sit an arm-length away from her, as per Sasuke's unimportant instructions, and scratch her behind her ear since he isn't here to stop me. "You seem to grow in size every day; why don't you just push 'em out and claim your figure again?"
I believe her purring is her way of proclaiming her undying love and gratitude towards me, so I grin in satisfaction.
"Daddy couldn't come today, but of course, your ever diligent Auntie is here and kind of doesn't have your tuna yet."
I yawn a little and stretch, before checking my watch.
"I don't believe I took long."
I cock my head in his direction, what seems to be no doubt Itachi Uchiha since he resembles Sasuke quite a bit, carrying a small plastic bag and his book-bag. I gesture for him to pass me the tuna, and when he makes no move to do so, I narrow my eyes.
"Thank you," I say slowly, raising an arm.
He clears his throat, before placing his hand in my outstretched one and shaking it. "It's nice to meet you, I'm Itachi Uchi –"
"I know who you are."
He smirks a little similar to Sasuke, only his is horribly ominous; I find that I'm leaning towards peaches.
"Your name is notorious at school, it's too hard to ignore," his smirk widens, as if he's pleased by my statement, so I quickly add, "Sasuke's brother."
I fight off my smile when his expression drops. It's barely a second, but I manage to catch it, so I wonder what his motives are when he seemingly refuses to hand over the can of tuna and be on his way.
"Ice Cream kind of needs that," I try again, pointing at the plastic bag.
"You're Kushina, right?"
I raise my eyebrows. "Do you just casually talk to strangers until you question who they are?"
He abruptly sits down, albeit it was an oddly graceful display, and finally hands me the bag. I scowl at him.
"Took you long enough."
He's quietly observing, as I notice from the corner of my eye, as I open the can and place it in front of Ice Cream, who sniffs it and decides not to ravage it immediately.
"You seem like a lovely person."
I turn to him in order to tell him exactly what I make of that remark, only to stop in my tracks when I find his face mere inches from mine. He strongly smells like a minty aftershave, and I feel goosebumps erupt on my arms that I forcibly blame on the weather.
"How come I've never met you?"
I startle him with my sudden laughter.
He doesn't move away, not in the slightest, but his expression shifts according to his curiosity. Once I calm down, I fold my arms across my chest, forcing some space between us while dropping my smile.
"I kind of understand why Sasuke behaved weirdly when he mentioned you," I take care in watching his reaction as I continue, but it seems to be stuck on a smirk. "And when it seems like you have everything, you can't leave his friends alone?" his eyes narrow slightly in calculation, but I don't stop there. "I'm not as incompetent as you believe – I knew what you were doing the moment you started and let me just say that for a try-hard kiss-up, you added horrible older brother to the list."
Itachi Uchiha leans in further, until our breaths are mingling, but I refuse to react and give him the satisfaction so I remain as placid as I can.
"You seem to have me figured out," he whispers darkly, his hand coming up to cup my cheek, his onyx eyes holding contact with mine, leaning in a little more. "Anything…else you'd like to add?"
I take a deep breath as he caresses my cheek. "I may be wrong and you could be looking out for him."
His hand freezes.
"In your own, twisted way, you may be trying to keep him from getting hurt by doing this," I let my eyes gesture towards his hand on my cheek. "But since I don't like you, I'm going to settle for horrible older brother instead."
I shake his hand off and stand up.
"I hope your reputation and looks doesn't fail you again," I nod towards him as I dust myself off. "And thanks for the tuna."
He stares at me with his suddenly chilling smirk, and I stop in my tracks and narrow my eyes suspiciously at him.
"You're my new plaything," he states as nonchalantly as if he were talking about the weather; I bristle.
"Excuse me?!"
"I will be seeing you soon," he promises darkly, ignoring my outburst, I wonder if I wrecked his face would Sasuke ever forgive me or not.
"You're lucky as shit that you're Sasuke's brother, otherwise I'd bash your head in," I turn away before I see his reaction, and frankly I didn't care for it, as I had planned on avoiding him as well as I had before.
"I'm luckier now that I've met you."
I roll my eyes and walk away, not dignifying him with a response besides –
"Tell Sasuke I said guavas."
AN: Muses are horrible things.
