WH00T! I've updated A LOT sooner then last time, huh?! XD! YAY! Naki actually updated?! -GASP- I'm improving...slowly. Give me time. Grrr. XD
Notes: ...lmao. 2 people caught on to the Neji thing. XD BWARHARHAR! Was it a mistake by Kitty? Or...was it in there on PURPOSE?! XD You will never know....Or maybe you will. Man... Someone guessed so close to the secret of this whole thing it scared me O.O
/././././ Marks a flashback.
OoO Marks the changes of a scene.
All the other regular markings apply here as well.
ItaNaru will be in the future! Sorry, fans!
Shounen-ai HINTS! ...So far. There will be shounen-ai in the future and maybe...-GASP- Yaoi!?.. Maybe not. Oh ho ho.
Dedicated too: Everyone!
XD: My beta, Beth, and my twin!
Warnings: Boys smooching each other. Eventually. Maybe lil' hints thus far, but nothing graphic yet! You'll know when things get graphic! X3! SasuNaruSasu, ItaNaru in the future.
Disclaimer: I dun own anything except a few pretty pennies. So there...I own this version of Shin too XP And the plot. They count as pennies.
Bunraku: A large scale Japanese puppet theatre. The puppets are operated by many people, and about 2/3 life size. The puppeteers are on stage and not hidden during the show
Bunraku
It's sometimes just like sleeping,
Curling up inside my private tortures.
I nestle into pain,
hug suffering,
caress every ache.
I play dead.
It stops the hurting.
I play dead,
and hurting stops.
-Play Dead, Bjork
Dai 6-Ka: Of Theories and Eyes
Sasuke watched Shin warily, the boy moving around the kitchen in a flurry of energy. The question still waited on his tongue, and he wanted to ask it as soon as he had discovered its existence. That would mean he had no tact though, and he had to plan out everything carefully. He absolutely had to ask at the right moment.
The boy that had been making breakfast stopped in the middle of the room, his hands curling into small fists and rubbing his eyes furiously, as if there was something in them.
This, Sasuke decided, was the exact right moment.
"What happened? Took out your contacts wrong?"
Shin looked up, one green eye still covered by the small fist, other looking at him in surprise. "Y..Naw. Y-Naw." Even the black-haired boy had to admit that had been a stupid mistake. And the attempt at covering it up had been even worse.
"Why do you have blue eyes?" Cobalt eyes stared over the rim of the cup he was currently holding, before he took a sip. His eyes never left the standing boy.
The teen sighed, throwing his hands up before pulling a chair out across from Sasuke, plopping down in it and resting his elbows on the oak table. "I don't. I barely ever wear 'blue eyes'!"
"I saw them this morning!" A protesting tone, because Sasuke wasn't crazy, God Forbid! He was in perfect mental -and physical- condition.
"Those," He emphasized the word (Even the young prodigy could hear the underline); eyes turned into thin slits and chin resting in his cradled hands, "were contacts."
"Prove it." If he were more childish, a kid before he was an adult, Sasuke would have thought that what had just spewed from his mouth was some sort of challenge.
The green (blue?)-eyed boy threw up his hands in exasperation (a gesture he seemed to make quite often when Sasuke was involved) and stood up. He winced when he heard one too many bones pop and crack, but continued to his room anyway, completely ignoring the fact that the food he had cooked would go to waste.
Sasuke followed, for the simple fact that he did want Shin to prove this certain thing to him. The shade of blue that he had seen this morning was the shade that had haunted his dreams previously, the shade of blue caught between the sky and the sea and the sun. The shade of Naruto's eyes. The shade he loathed and liked.
He shook his head clear of wandering thoughts; instead intent on following Shin's muffled footsteps.
He stopped when Shin stopped, recognizing the room immediately as the guest room that he had shown (and, inexplicably, given) him. He resisted the urge to laugh at the crude sign tacked on the dark wood of the door.
ShIn'S RoOm. If YoU sTaY oUt, He'Ll GiVe YoU a CoOkIe!!!
What an idiot.
If the other teen noticed Sasuke amusement, he didn't show it. Instead, he opted for pushing open the (what seemed to be) heavy door, stepping over the things strewn across his path as an acquired habit.
When Sasuke seen this particular room, he swore that he felt his eye twitch.
Every. Single. Frickin'. Empty. Space had been taken up either by garbage, a piece of clothing, or some unidentifiable object.
There was something written on both mirrors visible (in what, Sasuke didn't want to know). The covers of the bed looked like they had been torn off in a frantic attempt at... something. The closet door was broken, and in fact, hanging off one very desolate looking hinge. There were clothes draped all over the door and everything else was as if they were curtains. The once pure white plush rug was now stained with what looked like... pizza stains? So that would explain the 3 or so boxes strewn across the room, two in front of the small T.V. There were also several of Sasuke's good glasses sitting on various stands in the chaotically disturbed room, one with a chip in it that made Sasuke want to smash it over Shin's pretty little head.
And Sasuke didn't even have to check the drawers to know that there were no clothes in them.
He didn't even want to see the bathroom.
But, Sasuke, being the brave soul he was, slipped (stepped, stumbled, and every other word that could mean to hurt your-self making way across a room) towards the white door that represented the entrance to the probably just as hectic bathroom.
What Sasuke saw, disturbed him.
The bathroom was flawless, spotless, and immaculately clean.
The sinks were still white, as was the tub and the toilet. None of the light bulbs were broken, there were no flecks of anything on the mirror, and all of Shin's things were in a neat little row in the cupboard.
He barely noticed when said teen shoved past him, leaning toward the mirror with one finger stretched in front of him.
Now this was a rather odd gesture (concerning Sasuke). He looked like he was pointing at himself in the mirror, face screwed up but eyes wide.
And then Shin poked himself in the eye.
Now, if Sasuke had been a girl, or a girly guy, he would have immediately thought something along the lines of, "Ew." But Sasuke was not a girl. He just found this particular action weird in itself. Who would willingly poke themselves in the eye? Even to him, having something in his eye annoyed him.
He knew the reason as soon as Shin turned to him though. The explanation was that the eye that that guy had just poked was blue, the other being a bright, vivid green. It looked quite surreal, and struck Sasuke as odd. At least... Now he knew that Shin had not been lying.
Sasuke leaned forward until his nose was almost touching Shin's, cobalt eyes staring into green and blue ones. He shifted his concentration to the green eye. Slowly, black faded into red, spinning into the trademark eye that all Uchiha's were famous -or infamous, depending on your view- for.
He pulled back a moment later, red eyes gone as soon as they had come. He scowled at the triumphantly smirking teen in front of him, instead of walking out.
"Be ready in 10 minutes, baka. We're late as it is."
OoO
Twenty minutes later, Sasuke Uchiha developed a tick.
It was quite annoying to try and keep himself under control. And obviously, even more annoying was the cause of it. Hadn't he told Shin to be ready in 10 minutes? Not 'wait 10 minutes then start to get ready so I can piss Sasuke off'. Definitely not that. So he had enough. He was far too annoyed to wait around for another 20 minutes. They were 10 minutes late as it was. At this rate, they were going to be an hour or so late.
He padded up the stairs, scowl fixed on his face and hand gripping the rail (Apparently, Sasuke's knuckles couldn't get any paler, gripping the banister and staying the same color as they were). Reluctantly, his fingers curled away from the poor wood, feet taking him to the room he had visited 23 minutes and 46 seconds ago.
Sasuke didn't even bother to knock. Why should he? It was his house. He just pushed open the door, and he kind of wished he hadn't. Had he entered the twilight zone?
Everything was clean. The bed was made, the mirrors were speck-free, the rug was returned to its original white and clean state, the lampshades had nothing draped over them, the boxes were in the garbage, and the glasses were neatly on the table. And a shirtless Shin was busy folding the clothes and putting them back in the drawer. The only thing out of place were the cleaning supplies sitting on the counter, and even those were in neat rows. His eyes wandered over the room, wary of any tricks that Shin might pull.
"You did this all by yourself?" This time, Sasuke couldn't even make it out to be his usual 'statement-not-a-question' tone. He was far too baffled for that.
His voice made the other black-haired boy jump, but he continued to do his work, and Sasuke could almost feel the small smile playing across his face. "Yup. Sasuke looked pretty pissed when he saw my room, so I cleaned it up for him! Is it ok?"
Sasuke made a small noise of acknowledgement in the back of his throat, but he had barely heard Shin. He was too busy staring.
On the other boys' back was... something. It looked like a scar, because he could see the tiny upraised ridges that happened whenever someone got cut that deeply but... It was colored in. Like a tattoo drawn inside of a scar, but that tattoo was perfectly filling out the scar's shape... It was a tipped-over cross, so much that it looked like it was on its side. Connected to the top of the cross was a crescent moon, the ends nearly touching but not quite. And an arrow was on the bottom, pointing in a random direction that made him want to look to where it was beckoning him too, but his eyes were to busy being distracted by the mark itself.
"...You have a tattoo on your back." It was a statement now, because he was too amazed to make it a question.
"I do." A statement and it sounded so calm that it made Sasuke's eyes turn up from their staring to the owners' face. Why didn't he sound surprised? Shin must have read the look on his face, because he grinned sheepishly, tugging a shirt over his head.
"When you have amnesia..." It was muffled, because of the fabric over his head, "You try and find out everything about yourself..." It was clearer now, because Shin had gotten his head through. "So I started by looking at myself. I found out I had it at the old lady's house. Should I have told you?" He looked genuinely apologetic, and Sasuke sighed.
"Yes. You should have. Now be downstairs in 10 minutes. And for God's sake, brush you hair." With that, Sasuke left to Shin's laugh.
OoO
"Hey Sasuke!" He ran down the stairs, a wide grin on his face. The grin disappeared as soon as he saw Sasuke. "Ah... I didn't know you had a tic problem..."
"I don't." One could almost hear his teeth grinding together in an attempt to not reach over and smack the boy across from him, "Now... Hurry Up." Overcast eyes watched Shin stumble to tie his shoes, and accidentally trip, landing against the wall with a 'thud'. "Are you really this stupid, baka? Are you sure there was no brain damage?"
"No, I'm not sure, because I haven't been checked yet, Sasu-chan. Now-" Shin was up against the wall before he could finish.
"Not Sasu-chan. You cannot call me Sasu-chan." There was an underlying edge to Sasuke's soft tone, one that was barely heard. His quiet voice was deadly enough, and it could strike fear in the hearts of most. "I hate that name." He saw something in the green eyes before him, a flash of...something. He couldn't describe it.
It didn't send shivers down his back. It didn't.
Shin's eyes were back again. Back to normal.
"Woah! You have a problem? Talk about over-reactive!" His haughty voice cut through the silence tailing the Uchiha's words, and he scowled at the unnaturally calm face before him. "Now get your knee out from between my legs, and get your hands off my shoulders. I feel like I'm being molested or something!" Only now did Sasuke notice the position that he had undoubtedly gotten them in, and he hurriedly removed himself, walking jerkily over to the door.
"Come on. We're going to need a good explanation to give Hyuuga." A frown was fixated on his face, and it was the most natural look for him.
OoO
"Uchiha-sama."
They bowed stiffly, politely to each other, a customary greeting that was played out inexplicably well.
"You do know the details of this particular 'mission', right?" The word 'mission' was said with a note of wit, but gave the impression of being humorless. Ah, hence was the path of cold bishonen.
"I do." Neji's voice had the same tone, but he looked more amused than Sasuke. "And where would my charge be?" Now, he noticed that Shin was... hiding behind him.
Sasuke could feel his tic coming back.
"Hiding behind me." A dry, but annoyed response as he sidestepped the boy behind him, who looked sheepish.
"Ah... Sorry. But..." Shin threw his hands up, still embarrassed but at least more open, "How come everyone in this damn village has the freaky eyes going on?!" They both stared at him, and he stared back. "I mean, Uchiha right there has the red swirling spirals going for him (Sasuke was quite offended hearing the Mengakyou Sharingan being called 'the red swirling eye spirals'), and you!" He pointed a finger at Neji, as if accusing him of something. "You have no pupils to speak of!"
"..." All the long-haired boy did was arch an eyebrow at him.
"...You look so scary when you stare at someone, you know that?"
"I do now." Neji turned his 'freaky eyes' to meet Sasuke's black ones. "I have to keep him under control until 9 tonight?" Sasuke nodded, entertaining the thought of just leaving Shin with Neji for the entire night.
Neji held in a sigh. "Easier said then done."
OoO
"Hey Saaaaasuuuuuuu-keeeeeeee!" A whiny voice rang through the air of the silent house, and Sasuke smothered a groan. Nine O'clock had come entirely too soon. He was used to the silence that accompanied him.
"Guess what?!" He skidded into the room where the unfortunate Uchiha was, a wide grin on his face. Sasuke stared at his teeth. Was his mouth bleeding? "I said guess what!" Sasuke jerked his gaze up to Shin's face.
"What?" The prodigy's slow drawl was dragged out with sarcasm.
"I got my tongue pierced." Sasuke's surprised gaze caused an even wider grin from Shin. "Yeah! Isn't it cool?! Neji even paid for it!"
"I stand by my earlier statement of 'You're an idiot.'." Shin pouted, crossing his arms. "Did you blackmail Hyuuga?"
The green-eyed boy stuck his tongue out at the disbelieved sitting at the table. "For your info, I'm not an idiot. And I didn't blackmail anyone! I just asked, and he shrugged and said sure!"
Obviously, Sasuke didn't believe a word of it.
Shin held a hand to his heart. "I swear on all my relatives' graves that I'm not lying!"
"You don't remember any of your relatives."
"...You suck, Sasuke. I'm going to make a snack for myself. Want some?"
"...Sure." The black-haired Uchiha rubbed his temples when the other teen padded out of the room, and he twitched when he heard a myriad of noises (specifically, what sounded like pots crashing down, and a surprised yelp) come from the kitchen.
He really needed to get his this tic checked out.
OoO
Times of war weren't the best kind of thing to witness, as a 16-year old boy. Even worse, he was on the front lines as much as he could be put on. The deaths' didn't bother him. He'd be fine if he wasn't the one committing the mass murders. The worst thing was that some of the more cowardly countries were putting children on the front line.
Children.
Not some genius children like Shikamaru or Neji or himself. The kind of children that looked frightened, and only knew the basic Jutsus. The kind of children that were useless in battle.
His thoughts drifted towards the darker parts of his mind, and his eyes slipped shut. Bored eyes watched as pale fingers flipped through each of the brittle pages, taking in the words without realizing what they meant. His gaze wandered out of the window, and he was thankful that this particular room had a window seat.
It was really dark. He could see the outlines of things... Well, no wonder it was dark. It had been raining the past couple of nights. Even though there was no rain coming down at the moment, the clouds still covered the moon. There were virtually no stars either.
He saw a movement out of the corner of his eye, and he followed where he had seen it. Brows knotted in confusion.
Who'd be out so late at night?
He could only see the silhouette of the person. All he knew for sure is that it was a short boy... Why would a kid be out this late at night? Judging by his height he wasn't much older then himself.
Ah, it wasn't his problem.
The genin stretched, deciding to sleep early, and wake up early. He was tired, and maybe he could just do a minor workout before bed this time... He sighed, slipping off his perch at the windowsill and making his way out of the room.
Maybe he'd get Naruto to spar with him tomorrow. April 2nd was their day off.
Dai 6-Ka: Owarita Desu.
WHOO! Finally done! And I finished a lot sooner then later!!! Who's proud of me?!... Well....I'm proud of myself. XD So boo on you. Or not. I LUFF MY REVIEWERS!
Notes: M'sorry T.T This stories going to slow, huh? Well...maybe that my plan? XD;; Eh heh...Every chapter seems to be fillers, huh?
Anyways! I know for a fact this chapter is confusing! I'm confused MYSELF....Well...no...I'm not. It's my story. But I promise, I'll try and clear it up!
...Smells like Plot Holes.
Editor's note: Cat finished this chapter a long long time ago, but my lazy ass, and my stupid schoolwork, have kept me away from finishing my editing job. I am deeply sorry.
Well, now for a poll!Who's your favorite Naruto pairing (besides SasuNaruSasu)?
I want to know, reviewers! For...future references XD You'll see...And I promise I'll get to the good stuff soon!
Well...that's all I have to say.
I'll be back, baby.
...I'm sorry. I bet that hurt you all.
...Please Review? XD