Chapter 8 - Five Months Later
Sasuke stood on the pier with a fistful of plat pebbles, looking at the lake. The breeze ruffled his hair like a gentle caress. His father used to come here with him. Sasuke's face crunched up in anger. He took a pebble and threw it with his other hand, watching it skip five times on the surface of the water before sinking.
It had been months since then and he had thought the pain was finally starting to fade, yet this place brought back memories that opened the wound anew. He threw another pebble and watched, disconsolate, as it disappeared after only skipping three times.
"What are you up to?"
Sasuke turned around at the sudden sound. He had been too distracted to notice the blonde boy approach. "What does it look like I'm doing?" he said, dropping the pebbles. Some of them rolled off the pier and into the water. Naruto took one which had not, and threw it. Sasuke watched with interest, but it skipped only twice before sinking. "Dobe," he said with a scoff and a shrug, turning around to leave.
"They hate me too, dattebayo," Naruto said all of the sudden, making Sasuke stop.
The hands he had shoved into the pockets of his shorts curled into fists. He thought of all the glares he got walking on the street, all the harsh words whispered in his wake and how the other children at the Academy avoided him. He had tried not to let anyone see how much it affected him and still wore the Uchiha symbol on his shirt, if only to show them he did not care.
"So?" he asked, glaring at Naruto. "I don't want to join your losers' club."
He thought Naruto would bristle up and start shouting, but was surprised to notice he rather looked dismayed. Sasuke scoffed and walked away, leaving him standing on the pier like the idiot he was. How was it any of his business, anyway?
The sun was beginning to set as Sasuke walked along the street, lost in thought. At least the usual group of squealing girls had stopped following him everywhere after the downfall of his clan. He passed by a group of older boys talking under the shade of a tree and pretended not to notice their hostile stares.
"Oi!" one of them called after him.
In return for generally being avoided, Sasuke had become an expert at ignoring those who picked on him. He kept walking, directing his thoughts elsewhere with practiced ease. This time, however, things went a step farther than they usually did.
"I'm talking to you, Uchiha scum! Why don't you do the world a favor and throw yourself off a cliff? There'll be one less treacherous wretch walking around like nothing happened."
Sasuke's feet stopped seemingly of their own accord. He half turned and saw that the boys were already coming at him. Two of them grabbed his arms and a third was pulling back his arm to throw a punch.
"Leave him alone, dattebayo!"
Naruto stepped in and punched one of the boys holding Sasuke while the third delivered a blow into the Uchiha's stomach. Sasuke doubled up and vanished in a puff of smoke. The real Sasuke watched from a nearby tree as the three boys turned their attention to the idiot. One of them caught him by the collar of his jumpsuit and pulled him close. Sasuke tsked in annoyance.
"Why don't you learn to mind your own business, loser?" the bully asked, pulling his fist back as Naruto stared, wide-eyed.
"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"
A fireball erupted from Sasuke's mouth, blazing in the air close enough to drive the assailants away rather than actually hurt them. Naruto fell in the dirt, gaping. As the fireball shrunk and disappeared, Sasuke gave him a pointed look.
"I can take care of myself, you know." After a moment of thought he walked up to Naruto and held out a hand to help him up. "Thanks anyway," he said with a smirk, making Naruto grin all the way up to his ears.
It was already dark when he arrived home, at the apartment he now shared with his brother. Itachi was away on missions most of the time, but he usually arranged for his ANBU teammate, Akane, to keep an eye on him and make sure he had everything he needed. Consequently, he was not surprised to find her in the kitchen when he arrived.
"Go wash up, dinner will be ready soon," she said when he poked his head in. "Itachi will be home in a minute, too."
"Nii-san?" Sasuke asked, his interest piqued. He had thought Itachi would be away for a few days longer.
"Yeah, he sent word."
Sasuke found himself giddy at the thought and rushed to the bathroom to wash up for dinner. Itachi arrived not ten minutes after Sasuke stepped out of the shower and he was carrying a bag with a box full of dango. Sasuke poked his nose in the paper bag and made a face, pushing it away. He hated sweets.
"What are these for?" he asked.
"To celebrate. I got promoted to ANBU captain," Itachi said.
"Congratulations, Itachi," Akane said, setting bowls on the table. "It was about damn time, too."
Itachi chuckled, looking happier than Sasuke had seen him in a long time, in spite of the tiredness. He took a spoonful of miso soup and wrinkled his nose.
"Too salty," he said.
"Sasuke," Itachi admonished him gently.
"It's okay," Akane told him. "I never seem to get it right. Clearly they shouldn't let me anywhere near the medicines to-be-mixed."
"Speaking of, how's your studying going?"
"I have the final exam next week and I still have a lot of ground to cover, so to speak, but it's going, I guess," she said, smiling.
Sasuke looked from one to the other, feeling content. He had put today's trouble behind him the moment he had walked through the door. In spite of everything they had been through, he and Itachi were alright, he thought. Not everyone seemed to hate them just because they were Uchiha. And who knew? Maybe someday they would redeem the family name.