Hey, Hi, Hello.
Welcome to chapter three of 'Freedom', titled 'Tattoos and Aneurysms'. Enjoy it, please! :D Anyway, get to reading :P Dedication to mainki!
DISCLAIMER: The author doesn't own Naruto, despite the fact she really, really, really wants to.
WARNINGS: Sasuke-chan's tattoos, plus someone has an aneurysm (they don't literally have an aneurysm, just a bit of a freak out). OOC-ness.
~FREEDOM~
I feel like a wet dog.
My hair's not matted down (it's gravity defying, remember?) but the entire back of my suit is sticking to my skin. It's pouring down my face, too, blocking my vision. Someone hands me a hand towel and I take it, pressing it to my face. I hold it there, just relaxing myself. Then I run it through my hair, blinking away all of the excess water. Itachi is sitting across from me, rubbing his throat. His neck was red, each one of my finger marks easily visible. I gulp, feeling guilt begin to seep into my stomach. Asshole or no, he didn't deserve to die. I feel the impulse to apologize to him. I still loved him, just like I promised him so long ago. I doubt I will ever stop, either.
"Well, no point in wearing wet clothing!" Madara chirps. "So take that jacket and shirt off, little Sasu-chan!" I glare over at him, at which point he childishly sticks his tongue out at me. I roll my eyes, give him the finger and begin unbuttoning my jacket. Now what would I wear?
Judging from the look on Itachi's face, he wasn't genuinely upset about how I tried to kill him. This was unexpected, I muse, reaching the last button. He doesn't seem entirely surprised either. I pull my suit jacket off, then begin unbuttoning my dress shirt. I wonder what he would think of my tattoos? Would he like them? Why do I care? My fingers move to the last button on my shirt. Well, I'd find out soon. Cause he was about to see them.
"Whoa." A brief glimmer of a smirk passes over my features, but other than that I remain expressionless. I watch his face as his eyes glide over each visible tattoo, a strange look crossing his features. Like he was surprised I grew up.
"Surprised? I did mention them," I inform him, keeping my tone brusque. I keep my eyes on him. I have three tattoos- my first one, a swirl design on my upper left arm (AN: ANBU tattoo), the second one I got, a snake twisting around my lower left arm (AN: from his wrist to a little bit below his elbow) and then my most recent, just recently completely finished about a month or two ago. It was a giant dragon, coiled around my arm. Its tail rested just above my right elbow, and its body twisted up and around my arm, shoulder and chest, its head settling on my right pectoral. It was inked almost completely in black and red. It was pretty badass.
"...gorgeous..." he mumbles. I roll my eyes at his words, leaning back in my seat. Madara and Izuna are quietly discussing something. I eye them carefully, but soon dismiss it as Itachi leans in, peering at my tattoos. His fingers twitch, like he wants to touch them but won't.
Silence remains for the rest of the ride. We're one of the first groups back, aside from my mother, father, uncle Teuchi, Shisui and Obito. I enter the house and find them in the living room. Itachi, Madara and Izuna are following close behind me.
My father's the first to see me, and he looks down right shocked at the state I'm in. His face turns an alarming shade of red, eye twitching dangerously and his pupils dilating. For a while, he doesn't say anything, just looks and looks and turns a purple-ish red color. "What in the world happened?" He finally asks, voice coming out choked. I raise any eyebrow at his state. Seemed like he was having an aneurysm.
I shrug. "Madara found it necessary to pour a bottle of water on me." I'm hyper aware of the fact my tattoos are very visible and that everyone is looking at them.
"Why in the hell did you do that?" My father seethes, turning to Madara. He never really liked Madara.
Madara-nii shrugs. "He was choking Itachi. What did you want me to do?"
"Sasu-chan? Why would you do that?" My mom demands, turning to me
I shrug just like Masao-nii did. "'Cause. Anyway, I was wondering if you might have an extra suit for me to wear? It's not appropriate to be wearing a tank top at a funeral."
Itachi speaks up. "I do. Let's go, otouto." He turns and heads upstairs to his room. I follow him. There's only silence between us. We go to his room, where I take a hesitant seat on his bed as he looks through his closet briefly before withdrawing a dress shirt. He turns to me and offers me the shirt. "I can't find a coat that will fit you properly. If needed you can find an undershirt in the top drawer of my dresser. I'll be heading back downstairs now." He turns to leave. His eyes don't meet mine and it registers in my brain that he probably felt extremely upset. The impulse to apologize comes around again and this time I can't deny the overwhelming feeling.
"Aniki! I-I...don't go!" I shout. He stops in his tracks, looking almost comical. His form is still tensed as I continue on talking. "I'm sorry! For leaving you and for trying to strangle you! But you have to understand, you hurt me so much..." My voice trails off and I feel dangerously close to tears. Why was I getting so emotional about this?
He turns to me, a suddenly sympathetic look on his face. He steps forward hesitantly and I can't look at him. My gaze focuses onto the tops of my knees instead. He settles down next to me, a polite distance away. My heart aches at how far he felt. "Sasuke...I know..." He pauses, seeming to have difficulty finding the words. "I know I was a horrible brother and lover. I was unkind and unfair and I'd take my stress and confusion out on you. I felt torn, because I wanted to keep the facade of having a girlfriend up so Hahaue and Chichiue didn't suspect that I was gay, and so were you and that we were together but I also felt like I was cheating on you. That caused a lot of inner...turmoil, which I handled badly. So, in short, I regret my actions heavily, and... I'm sorry, koi."
I blink back tears. So that was why he kept her around. Maybe...it wouldn't be so bad if I forgave him? I was still in love with him. And he apparently felt the same, or to that effect. I feel a tear make its way down my cheek. "...you have a lot to make up for, Ita-nii," I murmur, absent-mindedly wiping the tear off.
His voice sounds hopeful. "So...you forgive me? At least partially?"
I summon the courage to look into his eyes. They seem hopeful, too. "Yes. Partially."
He's visibly relieved, his semi-tense posture relaxing. I lean forward, closing the distance. "I meant what I said when I told you I wouldn't be able to move on," I murmur lowly, burying my face in his chest. His arms wind around me, holding me close. He sighs softly, and I feel safer and more complete than I have in the past two years. And this moment feels perfect.
Until my cellphone rings.
"Kami-dammit, Suigetsu, what is it?" I ask him, pressing my phone to my ear. I'm still snuggled up to Itachi's chest, and I can feel his breath ruffling my hair.
Suigetsu is clearly panicking. "I'm so sorry for callin' and interruptin' but there's an emergency! Karin's just called in sick and can't make it! And she had four people scheduled for tattoos. One's already shown up and I got two people waitin' on me, one just for a labret piercin' but the other for a full sized outline!"
"I'll be there within the hour. Get whoever's labret piercing done with, placate Karin's client with something trivial like picking out colors and start in on your schedule. Okay? I gotta go now, but like I said I'll be there within the hour. Just calm down and do what I said. Bye now," I instruct.
He sighs slightly in relief. "Hai, Sasuke-kun. Thanks!" There's a slight pause and the line goes dead. I slide my phone into my pocket and then snuggle into Itachi's chest again.
"What was that about?" He asks me. His voice rumbles in his chest.
"Emergency at the place I work and I gotta go up there," I explain.
"Do you happen to work at a tattoo parlor?" He asks, a slight chuckle in his voice.
"As it is, yeah, I do. I make good money," I inform him. I take a deep breath, soaking in his scent. Soap and cinnamon.
"Ah," he says, "I see. You'll need a ride there, ne? I'll take you, if you want." He seems a little bit nervous at me potentially saying 'no'.
"Sure," I say, a hint of a smile in my voice, "we'd better get going soon. It'll take about twenty minutes to get there."
"Let's go then," he tells me.
~FREEDOM~
Just over twenty minutes later finds the two of us arriving at the parlor. It was a bit difficult getting out of staying but once I explained I was normally there at this time and happened to be shift manager then my father finally accepted it and let us leave.
We enter to see Suigetsu already in the middle of completing an outline on someone's leg. At the sound of the bell on the door ringing he looks up, sighing relief at seeing me. He switches the tattoo gun he was using off, pausing momentarily to tell him he was giving him a break and not to move his leg around too much. Then he scurries over to us.
"Hello, Sasuke-kun. Hello, older version of Sasuke complete with scars. Anyway, Karin's scheduled customer is sitting over there picking out colors. She's just gettin' her colors filled in for an already done outline. A touch up for the outline, too, 'cause she's been waitin' and not been an asshole about it. Her next customer is due in thirty minutes. Have fun," he explains. I nod and he heads back over to his station.
I turn to Itachi. "I work over there," I say, indicating the station across from Suigetsu. "You can go make yourself comfortable or explore the shop, I don't care which." With that I leave him and head to the girl sitting with her friend.
"Hey," I say, "Sorry about the wait. The artist that was supposed to be working with you called in sick, and I was at a family thing when Suigetsu over there called me. Now, what colors do you wanna get?"
The blonde one of the group speaks up. "Oh, it's okay. I wanna get this red, and then little bit of gray..." She was getting a Gothic style flower on her back filled in. It was a small little thing, and it would take me about twenty minutes to get done.
"Sure, sure, I can do that," I assure. "Should take about twenty minutes. If you could go wait in the chair across from Suigetsu I'll be back to you in a bit. Gotta go get the colors and stuff."
She nods and goes over there. Itachi's standing at the counter, flipping through a photo book with pictures of piercings you could get. I walk over to him, moving around and reaching under the counter to get a box full of alcohol wipes. "Hey, Aniki," I tell him as I pass. I set them down on my station's table before opening one of the cabinets next to it and pulling out a pair of sweatpants. Wearing the pants of my suit was way too uncomfortable. I change into them in the bathroom and finish gathering up the rest of the stuff I'd need, including the colors and plastic gloves.
Then, after a brief explanation and checking to make sure I had colors she wanted, I begin to work on the girl's tattoo. It was easy work, and in the middle of it Itachi wanders over. I glance at him as I dip the tattoo needle into the color, but my gaze quickly returns to the work at hand. "Hey, Ita-nii," I murmur, absentmindedly dabbing at the excess color that welled up. Just a little bit more to go...
"Otouto," Itachi replies, peering at the girl's tattoo. I had one last petal to fill in, and after that I would be finished. "That's good work."
"I'd hope so. You wanna get a tattoo?" I ask him. He did seem rather interested in them. One last dab at excess color and I lean back, setting the tattoo gun down and switching it off. "Well, that's it, Yamanaka-san. Here, a mirror for you to see..." I lead her over to a big mirror on the wall. She looks, gasps and thanks me. I tell her it was just part of the job, then run her through the register before instructing her how to care for it. She leaves with her friend after thanking me again.
"I'm considering it," Itachi confesses. He's leaning against the counter next to me. I'm sitting on top of it, kicking my feet back and forth.
"Oh, you are? So where and what?" I ask.
"You remember the tales of the Uchihas of old, when they could supposedly use ninja techniques? And how we're named after possibly the two most famous Uchihas, Itachi and Sasuke? Well, I remember specifically old Uchiha Itachi joined a criminal organization named the Akatsuki. I wanted to get something related to that," he informs me.
"Ah, that'd be fuckin' awesome," I exclaim, "you should totally do that! Maybe get the kanji symbol he had on his ring?"
"You think so? And yes, that would be my best option," he says.
"Yeah. As for where, I'm thinking maybe the inside of your wrist. It can be easily covered by a watch or a wristband," I inform. The conversation would've continued on, if it weren't for the arrival of another of Karin's scheduled appointments. Itachi stays with me all the while, and that makes me happy. The conversation about him getting a tattoo is dropped, but it stays on my mind for the rest of the night.
~FREEDOM~
TA-DA.
I hope you guys enjoyed it! Sorry it took so long to type out. Love you kiddies 3