OH MY GODS. I wrote this in like, two-three hours maybe? XD It's so random. TwT
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO! MASASHI KISHIMOTO DOES! I also do not own any of the OCs introduced in this fan fiction, except the following:
Tsukuyomi Clan
Nero
Roku
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Chapter Twenty-Three: A Walking Black Hole! Face-To-Face Is Better!
Two hours into the trip, we were heading for Konohagakure, and already I was becoming homicidal. Suigetsu and Karin have this thing where they argue about absolutely nothing in particular, the topics changing suddenly like a bipolar. As for Juugo, he was pretty nice and calm… Until he suddenly went into attack mode, but Sasuke seemed to handle him perfectly, being a show off that he was the only one that could control him.
As for Roku, he had only one word that he used the entire trip. Bye-bye. Of course, it was pronounced oddly, but he couldn't help it. At least he was learning because he kept studying everyone in the group. Oddly enough, he watched Juugo and Sasuke the most, which unnerved me. Juugo's nicer personality was a good example for a child, but Sasuke?
He was a terrible role model, but Roku seemed to stare at him a lot. For example…
We stopped in a heavily wooded area, mostly because Sasuke was being cheap and saying we would run out of money if we stayed somewhere now. So I just rested my head on the ground, watching the smoke curl through the air while Roku sat near my feet. I glanced at him, noticing that he was looking at something with those wide, gold eyes of his with a curious expression. I frowned and followed his gaze to Sasuke, who was sitting on a log, leaning on his knee and staring at the fire.
He didn't look mad, but he didn't look too happy either. He seemed more thoughtful, resting his head on his fist. He looked like he was falling asleep. I felt pretty sleepy just watching him so I rolled over and closed my eyes to sleep. I felt someone snuggling up to me and my eyes popped open. I looked down to find Roku pushing his way up under my arm, snuggling his face in the crook of my neck. I frowned a little, then felt someone's eyes on me and looked up at Sasuke, who was frowning at me.
"What?" I demanded.
"You're stupid… He's going to start thinking of you as his mother and then he'll never go away." Sasuke muttered. I sat up a little, glancing at Roku, but he was dead asleep. I jerked my head back at Sasuke, frowning.
"He knows I'm not his mother…"
"Ruriko, you fed him for two weeks and just taught him how to be a cannibal."
"Shut up, little Uchiha." Within seconds of finishing, Sasuke was on me, his hands on either side of my head, his face inches from mine in a deadly glare.
"If there's one thing I want to go through your head, it's that you listen to me, got I? I don't want to be dragged down by another big mouthed brat." He snapped down at me, his Sharingan glowing. I glared up at him, but even so, I could hear my heart pounding in my ears. My dug my nails into the ground underneath me, gritting my teeth behind my lips. I wanted to punch him, but something about his cold, hard red eyes kept me frozen. Sasuke smirked now, as if he could tell what I was thinking.
"That's better… Every shinobi has to have someone that they follow… They have to have a leader. And right now, I'm yours. Or are you going to go back on your word?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. I bit into my lip, then nodded slightly.
"Got it… I said I wouldn't break my word and I meant it." I stated. Sasuke frowned at me, then he spat a curse and jerked his hand up, leaning away. I blinked in surprise, then sat up to see that Roku had bitten his hand, glaring at him.
"Sasuke-" I started, but Sasuke glared at me and grabbed my throat quickly, making me wince.
"Control your pet, Ruriko."
"Or what?" I demanded, then flinched when he tightened his grip. I didn't say anything for a while and Roku was whining at Sasuke, saying something that neither of us could understand. He finally let go and rose to his feet, heading across the clearing after kicking dirt on the fire and lying down to sleep. As soon as the fire went out, Roku grabbed onto me. He surprised me by kissing me repeatedly on the cheek and snuggled his face close.
I felt a little bad. I couldn't keep disobeying Sasuke in front of Roku. He practically tried to eat Sasuke for just threatening me. It made me wonder if Roku was actually smarter than he let on, but I didn't really think about it. I was way too tired after walking so much…
We slept until the sun rose and Sasuke was kicking us all awake, of course, he just nudged me with his foot because Roku was still snuggled under my arm. I was surprised I woke up in the same position as when I fell asleep. Usually I sprawl and kick. I shrugged it off and rose to my feet, forcing Roku up since he seemed pretty stubborn. In fact, he didn't wake up, so I had to carry him! It was so unfair, but I did it without complaint, much to Sasuke's surprise, I bet.
He gave me a weird look, but led the rest of the way as we shot through the trees, Suigetsu and Karin arguing the whole damn way.
"You're such a fucking pervert, Suigetsu!"
"If it pisses you off so much, then why don't you just leave?"
"Because I'm not leaving Sasuke!"
"And you have the nerve to call me a pervert, you rapist!"
"FUCK OFF, YOU DICKHEAD!"
"Suck my dick, whore!"
"Ew, disgusting! I-"
"For gods' sakes, will you both shut up?" I barked in annoyance. Karin scowled and Suigetsu snorted. They stopped. For a couple minutes before starting back up again. By this time, Roku was awake, though, so some stress was relieved as he ran along side us.
I looked at Sasuke when Karin and Suigetsu's argument got a little physical, but he didn't even seem to be paying attention, his expression set in a thoughtful frown. I looked at my feet after a while, running at Sasuke's right and Juugo on the left. We left Suigetsu and Karin to argue behind us. Roku giggled every so often and seemed to be trying to trip me at one point, but I scooped him under my arm, muttering.
"That'll teach ya to bring kids!" Suigetsu called up to me with an obnoxious laugh. And to think I thought it was cute! Che!
"Yea! Leave your kids at home!" Karin booed. I twitched, a vein pounding in my forehead.
"If you both want to live long enough to see Sasuke kick ass, I suggest you shut it before I kick your asses and devour your bodies whole!" I yelled.
"Who're you threatening, girl?" Suigetsu barked.
"Why don't you say that to my face?" Karin challenged. I gritted my teeth and was oh so tempted to stop when Sasuke spoke up.
"We're going to rest stop at the little town up ahead, but don't wander around too much…" His voice trailed and I got what he meant. I rolled my eyes.
Eventually we came to a small little town that was placed at the center of a random, deep valley. They sold a lot of outrageous foods, like monkey and rats, but I didn't care. I was starving.
"I'm taking Roku out for some clothes and food," I told Sasuke when I peeked into his hotel room, "Just letting you know." Sasuke frowned and me, gave a short nod and went back to getting comfortable on his futon. I took Roku's hand and led him into town, my eyes scanning the fancy food shops and clothing stores. I pulled the leftover money I had in my pocket from before as well as some that Sasuke had ripped off Orochimaru.
It looked like enough to buy some clothes and food, thank the gods. Roku clung to me the entire time, looking a little scared of the groups of people that huddled in the streets. You were either all by yourself or with a gang of four in this town. I think Roku sensed something bad about it, but I reassured him as I took him into a clothing shop. I found a mirror and borrowed a brush to fix up his hair. He pulled out an inch long, red bead from a shelf, staring at it with wide eyes, then pointed at it.
"Bah-ee, buh-ee!" He told me eagerly. I smirked, then took the bead and some of hair near his temple, slipping it through and keeping it there. Roku blinked and looked at it out the corner of his eye before beaming up at me before taking my hand and trying to lick the tips of my fingers. I sighed, shaking my head and bending down in front of him.
"Roku, when you want to thank someone, you say thank you. Okay?" I asked. Roku tilted his head at me curiously, putting a finger to his lower lip thoughtfully. I smiled.
"Come on, try and say it. Th-an-kuh youu…" I tried. Roku beamed.
"Thuunk yaa."
"Eh, close enough. Come on, let's get you out of those dirty rags and into some good clothes." I stated.
"Thunk ya!" Roku beamed. I smirked and we went digging through the clothes. Unfortunately, to join Roku's lack of understanding with vocalization, he also did not know how to put on clothes. I sweat dropped when I checked on him in an aisle of pants, one pair pulled onto his right leg, another pair hanging off his head. I sighed.
"No, Roku. You put pants on your bottom. Here, let me show you." I walked up to him and bent down, taking the pants off him and watching him laugh at me. Silly kid had the nerve to laugh at me when he was the one who put those pants on wrong!
I managed to get a pair of beige pants on him, but they just wouldn't stay up and there wasn't a size smaller, so I found a white scarf and tied it in a bow on his right side, the ends of it touching the floor. I thought it was so cute, I laughed out loud, making Roku beam up at me. Next was the shirt. I managed to get him into tan, long-sleeved shirt that hung off his shoulders. It was slightly big, past his fingertips, but it worked. I bought him some bamboo sandals and he seemed pretty content with his new outfit, brushing his sleeves across his face and yelling 'thunk ya' and 'bah-ee, buh-ee'.
It was cute in a sense.
I eventually took Roku to a food stand where I ordered some kushiyaki, skewers of veggies and meats, and some udon noodles to go with. I ordered a sakurayu (pickled cherry blossom tea) for me and sweet tea for Roku. We sat at a table and Roku seemed very confused on how to eat the kushiyaki, so I sighed and held up one of the skewers.
"You don't eat the stick, whatever you do, don't eat it… You bite the food off them, then throw the sticks away, okay?" I showed him and he clapped his hands as if I had just done the best magic trick in the world. I smirked, then handed him a beef and cabbage skewer.
"Try it." I stated. Roku paused, looking a little nervous before taking it and sloppily eating the food off it. I nodded and clapped my hands, getting way too excited for this.
"Great! That was very good, Roku!"
"Thunk ya?" Roku tried. I nodded, beaming. Wow! He was pretty smart! A faster learner! I felt so proud of him and then I felt a screeching halt as something slammed into my mind. Am I an idiot? I'm acting like his mother already! Oh gods, sixteen and I'm already excited to have kids! NOOO!
Roku tilted his head at my flailing and I stopped, twitching and laughing meekly, rubbing the back of my head.
"Don't mind me! Just keep eating, silly. The noodles you twirl around your chopsticks, like this… Remember how I did that with daddy's tummy? Yes! Good job!" I cheered, then slammed my head into the table.
Oh gods. Someone kill me.
Roku continued to eat happily, picking up on drinking his tea perfectly. I had to order some more kushiyaki for myself because Roku practically wolfed it down. I smirked a little as he collected the skewers, using the string that was unraveling off his scarf to tie them like little key chains along the scarf. So cute!
Damn it! Not again!
I sighed, sweat dropping before perking up when Roku made a whining noise. He pointed to a picture that was advertised at the front of the store for Taiyaki, a fried fish-shaped cake filled with red bean paste. I raised an eyebrow. I had never heard of those things before, so I ended up ordering some.
I watched Roku's eyes filled up with excitement as he ate one, just one! He ate a bit more, having a stomach almost worse than mine! I only had one and I was about done! Damn, that kid could eat!
I felt like I had just been out-eaten.
I laughed a little at the thought. I ended up buying some kushi dango too, but I think Roku just wanted it for the skewers because he kept adding them like a chain around the right side of the scarf. I smirked, taking his hand as we finished our meal.
We headed down the street, back for the hotel, but Roku pulled on me several times to stop, flailing a lot and pointing at everything in sight. This included little plush toys he saw in the shop windows, little pinwheels, those yo-yos that you fling and they roll out before rolling back in. He even stopped to beg me for a freaking puppy!
I groaned, pulling on Roku's arm.
"Roku, come on! Sasuke's gonna get super pissed if I blow off all our money on puppies and toys, rather than… Uh, weapons, food, and other stuff that guys probably care more about!" I yelled. Roku whined, pulling back on my arm.
"Na!" He cried back, which I believe meant something along the lines of 'no'… Or 'kiss my ass', but I would rather stick with the first one better.
"Roku, I mean it! If you don't listen to me, I'll…! Well… Uh… I'll… Do something." I muttered. What the hell do parents do to their kids as punishments? I let go of Roku for a moment to think about this, letting him press up against the shop window with the puppy in it.
It was hard to remember my parents and if they ever punished us. I think Hioshi mentioned that if Akira ever got in an argument with him, our father would spank him. I twitched. There was no way I was gonna hurt Roku like that!
"Na! Na!" Now I was confused on what 'na' meant as Roku pointed frantically at the puppy. I glared.
"Not now, Roku!" I insisted, then sweat dropped. Then again, a good spanking didn't sound that bad right now. I smirked, then blinked when I turned back to Roku.
Well, where I had last left him because now he was gone! I yelped, looking around.
"Roku? Roku? Oh, for the love of the Kazekage! Roku!" I yelled angrily and went inside the store, glancing around at the puppies, almost getting distracted before I ran to the shop owner.
"Excuse me. I had a little boy with me earlier? About as tall as my leg, maybe a bit smaller, with brown hair, gold eyes? He had a lot of skewers looped onto a scarf around his waist?" I asked hopefully. The woman blinked, then squinted at me.
"Aren't you a little young to have a child?"
"NO! Lady, I need to find that kid! He's not mine!"
"You lost someone else's child?"
"FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, WOMAN! Tell me where my kid is!" I yelled at her, slamming my fists on the table, causing all the puppies to bark and the cats to meow, some monkeys shrieking. The woman flailed a little, pointing all over the place.
"I-I don't know! He was standing at the window! Maybe he ran into the alley!" She wailed, knocking off her glasses and toppling over to find them. I rolled my eyes and barreled out of the shop, slamming right into Suigetsu, who leapt back as if he had touched fire.
"I was not going in there." He stated defensively, preparing for an argument, but I scowled at him.
"I don't care, you idiot! I lost him!" I barked at him. He blinked.
"Lost who?"
"ROKU! The kid!"
"You lost your kid already?"
"He's not MY kid! Well, I mean, yea, I'm- Oh, never mind! Tell Sasuke I'll be back as soon as I find Roku!" I yelled, running toward the alley beside the shop. I rounded the corner, but saw nothing and continued running. My heart was practically pounding in my ears, blood rushing like crazy.
I even felt like crying, but I knew that would be no use! I had to find Roku!
Oh gods, the things that could happen to a five-year-old in a town this big! I mean, what if there were perverts out there? Or freaking murderers? Ack, no! I only had him for a little while!
… Argh! I didn't mean it like that, I meant- Never mind!
I bolted down several streets, but found nothing. I was getting desperate and started asking around. I finally came to a halt, panting as I bent over, putting my hands on my knees.
Damn, that kid could be out of the town by now! I found a bench and plopped down, throwing my head back and covering my face with my hands. I sighed, peering past them to stare at the sky, which had turned multiple purples, blues, and oranges. They were getting blurry too. I groaned and pulled my knees to my chest.
Maybe he found someone to take him in? Yea, that's got to be it… He's probably got a nice family now…
Oh gods, but what if he's hurt? He could be all by himself again. And that means I broke my promise to the old man! I pressed the heels of my hands to my eyes, trying to stop the flow of tears that threatened to come up.
No, I can't cry! It won't help me at all! I need to keep looking! I'm not giving up!
I swung my feet down and stood up, dropping my hands and frowning after taking a bit deep breath and running off again, completely not sensing that someone was behind me.
I raced down the street again, this time yelling out loud and ignoring the dirty looks I was receiving. I didn't give a crap what anyone thought as long as I found Roku! I felt so bad for not buying him that puppy! Or the yo-yo! Or the plush toys and the pinwheels!
If I found him, I would blow off all the money for those things for him!
No, WHEN I found him!
I rounded a corner, skidding to a stop, glancing around quickly before I saw it. A flash of a white scarf. I whipped around and ran in that direction before I rounded the corner. I found Roku all right. He was holding a little plush puppy under his arm, beaming up at someone.
"Roku! Roku, you…!" My voice drifted as my eyes flicked up to meet a pair of tired-looking onyx ones. I completely stilled, unable to believe my eyes.
In a simple grayish shirt with a fishnet v-neck and a pair of matching pants with familiar silvery gray straps that held dark shoes to their feet. Dark, black hair hung in a ponytail over his shoulder, his headband completely missing. I felt like the whole world just slapped me across the face with one name that screamed in huge, neon letters.
Uchiha Itachi?
He looked down at me, much like everyone else, looking a bit curious. I tried to say something, anything, but it was all trapped in my throat. Roku tilted his head back to look up at me with wide, gold eyes, blinking, before beaming up at Itachi.
"Na! Ru-rai-ko!" He exclaimed, pointing at me. My ears finally stopped ringing and I got my voice back.
"I'm so sorry… Was he bothering you?" I asked, glancing behind him for a split second to see that he had been sitting down, drinking some kind of tea and eating onigiri. Itachi lifted his eyes slightly back to me.
"No… He kept asking about you… I take it your name is Ruriko?" He asked. I nodded, laughing a little nervously.
"Uh, yea… I could of sworn I was watching him…" I mumbled. Roku pouted.
"Na! Ru-rai-ko!" He protested, but I covered his mouth, holding him to me.
"Uh," I averted my eyes -why was it so hard to look at his eyes?- "Anyway, I'm really sorry. Uhm, if you want, I can give you money for a meal or something. Anything to make it up." Roku giggled behind my hand and gave my fingers a tug. I winced and let go on instinct.
"Na! Taaa-chi!" He exclaimed. Itachi looked at him and I almost expected him to frown, you know, like Sasuke did with Roku did something that was so obviously adorable. But no! He shocked me by smiling lightly, giving his head a little tilt before looking back up at me.
"Is he your little brother or something?" He asked. I shifted, smiling, still feeling the worried sensation nagging at me. I could have sworn I was forgetting something… But I couldn't place my finger on it.
"I'm glad you suggested that rather than what everyone else thought… Actually, no. I rescued him from… Uhm, somewhere." I almost told Itachi everything and I don't even know him!
… Except he was twenty-one, five foot seven and 128 pounds, his ninja registration number being 012110, blood type AB, date of birth June 9th. As well as one of the youngest murderers in the history of the world, having wiped out his entire clan single-handedly. I mentally kicked my ass for thinking this all while smiling at him so innocently.
MAN, I suck.
"Na! Na!" Roku whined, poking his belly and pouting up at us. I blinked, glancing down at him.
"Roku, it's only been two hours since we last ate." I muttered, but even as I said it, I could feel my stomach growl. I sweat dropped, blushing slightly. Roku grinned up at me, as if to say 'haha! Now we can trick him into having dinner with us!'
"You wouldn't mind if we say with you, would you?" My mouth asked before my mind could catch up. Itachi looked at me, almost suspiciously at first, or so I thought, before he shrugged and sat back down. I sighed a little and Roku hopped up on the bench beside me. I ordered him something small, just some more dango, which he gulfed down, keeping the skewers again. I sweat dropped, watching him and trying my best not to look at Itachi.
I can't believe I was getting like this around a criminal that I had done so much research on. I had no problem chatting it up with Deidara and Kisame, but nooo! Itachi just had to be the one to get me stumped! I looked the other way now, taking a sip of my tea.
"How old is he?" Itachi asked suddenly. I blinked and looked up. He was watching Roku play with his plush dog, an almost nostalgic look on his face. I bit my lip, trying to remember real face, then smiled.
"Five. I… Really don't know that much about him to be honest… He was sitting in a cell with some old man, who said he'd been taking care of him ever since Roku's mother died in child birth." I explained, forcing myself not to rant nor give out any information of the current situation I was in. Itachi watched Roku a while longer in silence before a sad smile faintly crossed his lips.
"I see…" He wasn't much of a talker, which I had heard from the files and experiences that Hioshi gave me. That made me feel kind of sad now. Itachi was probably remembering Sasuke as a little kid… And that reminded me of my own brother. I missed Hioshi so much right now. He'd know exactly what to do. He wasn't very social, but Hioshi had no problem being himself. Nor judging others, but he was still a very nice person once you got to know him.
"Uhm," I said, trying to push the thoughts away, "You never told me your name." Itachi looked up, studying my face. He looked pretty amused to say in the least. I suddenly felt something shoot up through my spine, making me straighten up.
Oh gods. Had my brothers, Osamu, Kin, the villages- Had they been putting up posters? Or going around and questioning everyone? Maybe Itachi already knew who I was! He probably knew I was working for the criminal organization and knew that I was totally thinking about him, even when I looked away and oh my gods, he probably-
No! What the hell am I thinking? Itachi's smart, yes. I know that, but he couldn't possibly know who I was. The villages were probably keeping my disappearance under lock and key, to prevent any other enemies from knowing my whereabouts or whatever…
"Itachi." Wow, he could say his name really nicely. What the hell? I heard Roku giggle from beside me and I wondered for a split second if my face was turning pink because I felt a little numb before I smiled.
"I see…"
"Na!" Roku pointed up. I frowned and looked up. Then it hit me.
SUNSET. SHIT. I jumped up, banging my knee on the table and yelping out loud, almost spilling all our tea and food. Roku laughed out loud and Itachi raised an eyebrow, glancing up at me. I sweat dropped.
"Uh, sorry about that! But, Roku and I really need to get home, or, er… To our hotel. Uhm, because… I promised this person that I'd be back by then and I don't want to get in trouble! I hope I'll see ya around! Come on, Roku! I'll buy you that yo-yo you wanted on the way if you promise never to scare me like that again." I added under my breath, picking Roku up unconsciously and carrying him off after setting some money down. I couldn't meet Itachi in the eye as I walked away. I only heard a murmured 'bye' as I left.
Coming to the last block, I laughed out loud, hugging Roku tightly.
"Oh my gods, he's so beautiful in real life, Roku! It's like a dream come true!" I cooed, stopping by a store to grab him a yo-yo, a pinwheel, and a plush monkey. Roku grinned at me, poking my cheek as I carried him back to the hotel.
"Na! Ru-rai-ko… Taaa-chi. Na?" He asked.
"Uh, if that's what I think it means, then no way!" I cried defensively, making Roku giggle wildly before clinging to my neck. I smiled and walked into the hotel, squeezing Roku tightly.
Best night since I've been kidnapped, I'll tell you that!
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A/N: And now you meet the fan girl inside me. T.T I'm sorry. I couldn't help myself. D': I had to put him in already. LOL. I hope I got his character right. -3- It'd seem like he'd like kids, ya know? Cuz of his brother and stuff? Yea, never mind. :'D Thank you so much for reading, well, when OCs show up again, I hope they're in character, and I also hope the original characters are in character too! Please review, but… No Mary-sue attacks please. :C Those are no fun…