Hey, Hi, Hello.
Welcome to chapter three, titled 'Falling Down' for the song 'Falling Down' by Atreyu. I've kind of lost where I was going with this story, so I'm pretty much gonna tie everything up within the next two chapters. This wasn't really what I was hoping it would be, but that's mostly my fault for taking so long to write it. I'm really sorry! T/.\T I've just not been writing much at all lately. I'm juggling too many writing projects, so I'm gonna finish up as much as I can and stay with only Indebted, Freedom, TMK (until it's done in a few chapters) and then the short story I'm writing for Shadow_ (hint: Sonadow :D) and I'm kind of seriously writing a NaruSasu...that's a oneshot, mostly done.
But anyway! enough with the rant. Please enjoy the chapter, kiddies 3
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto or the songwriters.
WARNINGS: Nothing really. A brother bonding moment or two?
~LGIS~
'You're always looking
back, running from
the past. You're
always sweating me
about the next big
heart attack. You're
looking over your
shoulder staring
down the path.'
~LGIS~
A knock sounds on my front door. This was a bit strange- almost nobody ever knocked here, not even for Mangetsu. So who was it? I rise from my seat on the couch, where I was completing my Calculus AP homework (shoving my textbook unceremoniously off to the side) and head to the front door. I open it to reveal- Orochimaru? My boss?
"Orochimaru-sama? What're you doing here?" I ask, completely confused. Not once have I ever seen Orochimaru outside of the workplace, which was a bit weird taking the fact that I'd been working there for almost two entire years. Like he didn't exist outside of the grocery store. It reminded me of how when I was a kid I thought teachers lived in school, except for in the back of my mind I always knew Orochimaru lived in his own house. But what's not surprising is how flamboyantly he was dressed. Tight cheetah print leggings under a jean skirt, a heavy fur-lined winter coat over a black wool sweater, and black fur snow boots. I had always known my boss was gay. Takes one to know one, or something like that.
"Hello, Suigetsu~" he cheers. "May I come in?"
I nod. "Sure, Orochimaru-sama," I murmur, opening the door for him. He was here for a good reason. Briefly, I glance past his shoulder. His car, something dark and sleek, sat idling in the driveway. A silver-haired man with glasses sat in the passenger seat, looking down at something in his lap. His boyfriend, maybe? It was a possibility.
He grins. "Thank you, Suigetsu!" He dances past me into the hallway. I close the door and follow him into the living room. He plops down on my couch, into the only empty space available. My textbook occupies the other cushion. He looks all around the room, seeing the pictures of my family before my parents died. I never had it in me to take them down, no matter how much I wanted to or how many times I tried. It felt like my fingers were burning off every time I even thought about taking them down. Something heavy would settle in my stomach if I looked at them. So I did my best to direct my gaze away. I swallow heavily- Orochimaru was silent, still looking all around the room. He has a semi-sad look on his face, the smile having slowly turned to a frown.
I break the silence. "Um, so, Orochimaru-sama..." I trail off.
He blinks, like he hadn't been paying attention. "Yes? Ah, you're probably wondering why I'm here."
I swallow and nod. "Yeah."
He shrugs. "Figured so, Suigetsu-kun!" The smile's back up on his face in an instant, and he lifts his purse- black with a big flower dead-center -into his lap. He searches through it until he produces an envelop from the depths. He waves it in the air, smiling victoriously. "This!"
I give him a questioning look. "What is...?"
"Well, I've recently found myself with a bit of extra money and I thought I should give it to you. You're one of my best employees, after all," he informs me.
I frown immediately. "Listen, Orochimaru-sama, I don't know what sort of impression I must've given you but I'm definitely not interested in any sort of hand-outs-"
"No, no, no!" He corrects. "It's not a hand-out, dear Suigetsu. Think of it as a bonus of sorts!"
"Well," I murmur. I did need money... "Okay, fine. But only because you insisted."
He jumps up from his place on the couch. He dances forward and hugs me, his wiry arms wrapping briefly around me before he releases me. "Thank you tons, dear! Now, I have to go but I will see you later! Here's the envelope. Have a great weekend!" After shoving the envelope into my limp hands he goes off, heading back down the hallway and out of the front door, not forgetting to close it behind him. I look down at the envelope. Well, I might as well count it.
~LGIS~
I think I am going to have a heart attack.
Within the little envelope is $2,000. That was an insane amount of money. I could pay off the bills, fill the gas tank of my car, get Mangetsu a new comforter like he needed, and get a new pair of shoes for myself, because the ones I had now were duct taped to keep them together. I was now seriously considering Orochimaru to be the best boss in existence.
Well, Mangetsu would be home soon. Maybe, if he weren't drunk, we could go shopping together.
About thirty minutes later, around 7 o'clock, Mangetsu comes in. Thankfully sober, oddly strange for a Friday night. I'm finishing up my Calculus homework, the envelope sitting next to me. Mangetsu walks into the living room. Almost immediately his eyes narrow in on the envelope.
"What's that?" he asks, his expression carefully guarded.
I look first at him and then at the envelope. Then back to my Calculus homework. With a shrug I answer, "My work bonus." I fill in an answer on my worksheet.
"How much?"
Another shrug, this one almost absentminded. "2,000." I frown down at my paper and erase an answer, replacing it with a different one. I glance up at my little brother, a gentle smile taking place on my features at his shocked expression. "I figured, you know, if you wanted, we could go to the store. Together."
He looks surprisingly happy at this. A smile lights up his face. He looked so much like Mom when he did that- it made my heart ache with bittersweet pain. "Yeah. I wanna."
I feel a pressure in my chest lift. I wasn't quite expecting that answer. I was expecting a 'hell no'. "Cool. You wanna go now, or...?" I keep myself calm. No need to get excited, right? Or at least no need to let him see that.
"Sure," he tells me. "Just let me change, okay?" I nod, standing. I should probably change out of my ratty sweats (which reminded me that we were almost out of laundry detergent), and maybe make a list so I didn't forget to buy anything I needed. I go to my room and change into my only pair of decent jeans and a plain black t-shirt. I put on my dad's old jacket- leaving the zipper undone- over a pull-over sweater with a hood and grab my wallet and the envelope, folding it in half so it would fit inside of the pocket. Then I head back out into the living room. Mangetsu's already waiting there.
We go shopping. We have fun, goofing around in the stores and liking like six year olds, like we used to before everything was fucked up and I had to grow up too soon. Before Mom and Dad died. That causes a brief moment of soberness, feeling like it was wrong for me to be happy, but then I see Mangetsu's smile again and I bury the feeling deep within my chest. Mangetsu and I were actually spending time together, and I needed to focus on that. It was vital to keep us together.
We get home around nine. The sun has long since gone down, disappearing behind the mountains. The street lights are on, glimmering off of the snow so it looked like it was glowing. The wind blew at infrequent intervals, kicking up snow and swirling it around through the air. It was so pretty my chest ached with phantom pain.
I pull the car into the cracked-and-faded driveway. Mangetsu and I both get out once the car's off, slamming our doors shut and getting bags out of the back seat. We got everything we went there for, plus a few extras. And I still had over three fourths of the money. At the thought of the money Orochimaru gave me I smiled. I'd likely be thanking him for a long time.
I don't notice the figure crouched on my porch until I'm almost upon him, nearly tripping over the snow-covered combat boots. Those snow covered combat boots lead to thin, black skinny-jean covered legs, a thick black sweater that clung to pale skin. Onyx eyes gazed mournfully up at me.
Sasuke.
~LGIS~
TA-DA.
This is the beginning of the conflict resolution. Please enjoy it! (: Not edited. Most of it was typed up on my phone. Sorry for any errors.