Naruto (c) Masashi Kishimoto
The hospital was had a sickening sterile smell of rubbing alcohol ad soap. The walls were stalk white, with neutral scenic pictures. The bright lights glared off the glass protecting those pictures. Madara hated it. He followed the nurse, down the silent halls of the oncology wing of the hospital. He wondered how much longer he could keep paying for the medical bills. Ever since three of his brothers made it big in another country, he hadn't heard from them much. He felt bad about it, but he couldn't exactly afford a cell phone, not with nearly all of his paycheck going to the medical expenses.
"Room 232," the nurse said as she opened the door. "Visiting hours end at eight o'clock," the nurse added. Madara glanced at his battered old wrist-watch. In clear black digital numbers the time read: five fifty-eight pm.
"Thanks," Madara nodded and entered the room. There was one other patient, a middle-age woman, with her teenage daughter and son. Madara vaguely wondered where the husband was.
"Madara!" a bright voice called out to him. Madara looked up at his youngest brother, Izuna. He was sitting in the hospital bed, a thick blanket on his legs and dressed in a pale blue hospital gown. He had a bright smile and his a black and red bandanna on his tied around head. The chemotherapy had caused his hair to fall out. It was strange at first, seeing his brother without hair or eyebrows for that matter or the fact that his brother was so thin. Izuna looked utterly frail beneath that thick blanket and hospital gown. "How've you been?" Izuna asked when Madara sat down next to him.
"Good," Madara held up a wrapped package. "Brought you something to eat that's better than the slop the hospital feeds you."
"Aah, you're so sweet." Izuna smiled and took the offered food. "Heard anything from our brothers?"
"No," Madara shook his head. "What have the doctors said?"
"This and that," Izuna have a little shrug, as he began to eat the food, "they say I'm on the mend. That the chemo is working."
"That's... good," Madara allowed a little smile to creep on to his face. It was the first good thing he had heard since his brother's diagnosis. Madara pulled out a cigarette and began to twirl it around in his fingers.
"You should stop smoking, you'll get lung cancer," Izuna said around a mouthful of food.
"I don't smoke much. About a pack every month and a half," Madara replied.
"How do you make that stuff last?"
"Well for one I tend to go to places that forbid smoking, I chew on toothpicks, and Mito won't allow me to smoke when I'm working," Madara added, "cigarettes aren't cheap you know."
"Then you should quit. Save you money."
"Beat this thing, then I won't have to worry about money," Madara replied. Izuna grinned back at him.
"I plan to."
Madara grabbed his brother's hand, he shuddered at the fact he could feel his brother's bones beneath his skin. "Good," he gave those boney fingers a firm squeeze. "You eating well? You need to keep up your strength."
"Chemo makes me lose my appetite," Izuna grimaced, before shoving more food into his mouth.
"It's only for a little while longer," Madara said.
"Yeah," Izuna gave a firm nod. Madara glanced down at his watch.
"Is... is there anything you aren't telling me?" Madara asked. Izuna's face went placidly blank, just like always whenever Madara asked that question.
"I'm being completely honest with you," Izuna replied, a smile dancing on his lips.
"Izuna..." Madara whined.
"I would never lie to you," Izuna snickered, "you big worry-wort."
"You're my brother! My precious little brother!" Madara huffed. "I love you..."
"I know, I know," Izuna patted his brother on the knee. "I love you too, and I'm sorry for making you worry."
"Just get better Izuna. Then I won't worry so much." Madara stood up. "Well, I have to get going. I took Hashirama's shift so he could study, plus I need the overtime."
"Okay, you'll come by tomorrow?"
"Maybe. I'm going to see if I can't find another job."
"I see," Izuna grinned, "so have you met any girls?"
"Izuna, I don't have time for girls."
Izuna gave Madara a mischievous little brother grin, "So, you have met a girl! Tell me!"
"Izuna."
"I have cancer, I'm slowly dying and my fondest wish is for my brother to find a woman to keep him happy and sane when I'm gone!"
"Is that really your wish?" Madara whispered.
"Well..." Izuna paused tapping the back of his hand with his fingers, "I'd have to say my dying wish would just be for you to be happy. Live your life to the fullest, even if I go."
Madara squeezed his eyes shut. He didn't want to think about his brother dying. It hurt to much. He lost his parents, and his other brothers had all but abandoned him and Izuna. "Don't you dare die," Madara growled, "I'll rip the damn cancer out myself if I have to!"
"I don't plan on dying, Madara."
"Good," Madara rubbed his face, "I have to go." He leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss on his brother's forehead.
"Bye," Izuna whispered softly, and watched his brother leave. With a sigh, leaned back against the fluffy pillows and put the dinner his brother brought him onto the nightstand besides him. He hated lying to Madara, but truth was that he didn't have much longer. Not without a bone-marrow donor, and finding a match was difficult and expensive. The doctors put him on the Transplant List, but since the chemo seemed to be working, he wasn't an urgent case. The doctors said he had six months to a year with the chemo treatment, but with cancer those things could change.
It was always the same routine. Madara would visit and ask about what the doctors say, Izuna would lie, and when Madara left the doctors will tell him everything Izuna wasn't. Madara would brood for a few days before coming back as if nothing happened. "I'm sorry, Madara..."
Yuzuki couldn't believe it. She stared at the clothes she just bought, lying out on her bed. Skinny jeans and sneakers, baby-doll t-shirts with silly anime characters on them. A denim jacket with some crazy band logo on it, and a black beanie with a metal-horns patch sewn on the front. Clothes that her step-mother would never buy and burn if she ever found them. But Yuzuki grinned devilishly at the thought as she shoved the items into the dark corner of her closet. Tonight she'd go out, back to the ramen place and maybe see Madara again. It had been a week since she last when to that ramen place and she couldn't stop thinking about him. The way the silver smoke curled around his face, how the light reflected in his iron grey eyes or how he carried himself with the easy grace of a leopard. Just thinking about him made her heart flutter and a blush color her cheeks.
Yuzuki closed her closet door with a soft click, before sitting back on her bed. With a sigh she leaned back and stared up at the cream color ceiling. She didn't understand where this rebellious streak came from. Maybe it was her step-mother's controlling nature or her father's utter apathy when it came to her.
She didn't care either way, since it was fun suddenly being a bad girl. She didn't really feel like studying anyway. She grabbed her MP3 player, shoved the headphones into her ears and began to listen to the operas she had downloaded onto it. Every so often she glanced at the fine watch on her delicate wrist. When it showed ten-thirty on it's analog face, Yuzuki grinned. She paused her MP3 player, pulled out her new clothes and changed before sneaking out of the penthouse apartment she and her family lived in.
Yuzuki found the ramen shop easily enough. It had a silly little leaf made out of a swirl pattern on the banner and door. Yuzuki entered with baited breath and was surprised when she didn't see Madara behind the counter with the redhead cook. A tall, mild manner brunette was there instead. Nervously, Yuzuki walked up to the counter and sat down. The brunette noticed her and gave her a inviting smile. "Welcome, may I take your order please?"
"Uuuh..." Yuzuki blushed and looked at her hands. She even bought a new purse to along with her outfit. "I'm looking for a man named Madara. I saw him here, seven days ago. He was working."
"Oh," the brunette's eyes grew wide, "today is his day off. Sorry 'bout that."
"Oh... I see, no, it's okay." Yuzuki shook her head, feeling like her heart was made of glass and it just shattered into ten thousand glittering razor sharp shards. She told herself it was foolish, because she never bothered to ask him his work schedule or anything about his life. "I didn't know," she finally muttered.
"That's okay. I can give you his address. You can visit him tomorrow in the morning."
"I can't!" Yuzuki's eyes nearly popped out of her skull. "I have school tomorrow."
"Then what are you doing out so late on a school night?" the brunette asked, with a frown. "You should be in bed sleeping."
"I... well," she looked away, "I wanted to see Madara."
"I'm sure he's still awake at this hour," the brunette said grabbing a napkin and writing something on it. "This is his address. It's not far from here."
"Th-thank you," Yuzuki said taking the napkin and standing up. "I'll be sure to pay him a visit."
"Okay," the brunette replied, "he works day after tomorrow."
"Thanks!" Yuzuki grinned and left the ramen shop.
Yuzuki found herself standing before a shady looking apartment complex in an equally shady part of the city. She looked around nervously, before looking at the address on the napkin. "This is the right place," she told herself, before walking up to the landlord's door and knocking. A hunchback old woman with a wrinkly face opened the door and stared at her. "Hello, I'm Yuzuki and I'm won—"
"No whore!"
"I'm not a whore!" Yuzuki gasped.
"I tell him okay to bring friends. I tell him okay to bring family. Friends and family can stay night. I tell him no whores."
"Ma'am," Yuzuki squared her shoulders, "I'm not a whore. I'm simply looking for a man named Madara. A co-worker of his said he lives here."
"No whore!" the landlady said.
"I'm not a whore!" Yuzuki screeched. "I'm simply looking for Madara!"
"No whore! Go now! Go, go!" the little old lady made shooing motions at Yuzuki. "No whore!"
"H-Hey!"
"Yuzuki?" a familiar voice. "Ma'am, I know. She's not a whore."
"No whore?" the landlady asked.
"I've been trying to tell her I'm not a whore," Yuzuki informed him.
"No, she isn't a whore. She's a friend," Madara said walking up to them. He had a plastic bags in his hands, having gone shopping at one of the twenty-four hour convenience stores.
"Friend? Girlfriend no fuck."
"Girlfriend!?" Yuzuki's face went bright red and she looked at her feet.
"No," Madara said levelly, "she isn't my girlfriend. Just my friend."
"Girlfriend no fuck," the landlady said again before closing the door and muttering loudly in her native language.
"Erm..." Madara looked away from Yuzuki, "sorry about that. She's kinda... strict."
"It's okay," Yuzuki smiled.
"C'mon, let's get off the street," Madara jerked his head in the direction of his apartment.
The inside of the apartment was neat and tidy, with a few pictures and a small shelf of books. A couch, a kitchen with a refrigerator that was half stocked, a narrow hallway leading to the bathroom and the bedroom. "Well, this is home," Madara said kicking off his shoes before setting the grocery bags on the kitchen counter top. "Nothing fancy, and she has fair rates."
"It's... homely... I guess." Yuzuki said looking around, and realizing that it was nothing compared to her penthouse apartment home. She took her shoes off as well, out of politeness.
Madara closed the door, locked it and began to put his groceries away. "So, why were you arguing with my landlady?"
"I went to the ramen shop," Yuzuki said. "I wanted to see you again."
"Oh," Madara ducked behind the open refrigerator door, to hide the fact that his cheeks had colored slightly. "Yeah, I don't work Thursday and Friday. Sorry for not telling you."
"It's okay, I didn't know."
"How did you get my address?"
"One of your co-workers gave it to me. The tall brunette."
"Remind me to kill him later," Madara grumbled.
"Why? He was very nice."
"Oh, Hashirama is sweet as sugar," Madara pulled out a cigarette, stuck it into his mouth and lit it. "Do you mind?" he asked as he breathed out smoke.
"I'd prefer if you don't," Yuzuki said, waving the smoke away from her face. "You can die."
"I'm suicidal," Madara chuckled, but Yuzuki didn't find it funny. "Sorry. Dark humor..." he trailed off looking to the side. "My brother tells me to stop smoking all the time."
"You have a brother?"
"Four actually. They are all... better off than me," Madara gave her a forced smile, "three of them went abroad and my littlest brother is local."
"That's nice," Yuzuki smiled. "It's good to have siblings."
"Mmhmm..." Madara took another drag on his cigarette, turned on the fan to the stove and exhaled into the noise fan. "They are. They are Buddha's way of making sure you can deal with all types of people."
"I'd really wish you won't smoke," Yuzuki muttered almost as an after thought. Madara scowled at her.
"You know, it's my apartment, I can smoke in here if I want to. The landlady doesn't care. As long as I pay the rent."
"I thought you liked me?" Yuzuki asked.
"I never said I liked you or didn't like you," Madara growled, flicking some ash into the ash tray. "And I don't have to do anything for anybody."
"Well," Yuzuki said.
"Well what?"
"Uhm..." Yuzuki chewed on her lip, realizing that there may be no way for her to blackmail Madara. "I'll leave."
"Go ahead, the door's right there. I'll unlock it for you."
"Strange, you wouldn't let me walk home at night from your ramen shop. This place is even more shady than the ramen shop."
Damn. She has me there, Madara thought. "Fine," he grumbled. Damn his honor. He stubbed the cigarette out. Took the full pack out from the back pocket of his jeans and tossed it in the trash. He opened a drawer and took another pack he had and tossed that as well. "There, no more cigarettes."
"Thank you," Yuzuki looked around, "may I sit down?"
"Uh," Madara opened a box of toothpicks and stuck on in his mouth. "Sure." He watched her sit down. He walked over and joined her.
"I told Hashirama I have school tomorrow."
"Do you?" Madara asked.
"No," Yuzuki shook her head. "I don't. It's summer break."
"Aa. How old are you by the way?"
"Eighteen, you?"
"Twenty," Madara said, putting his arm along the back of the couch. Yuzuki smiled at him easily and he couldn't help but smile back. They quickly lapsed into easy small talk about their lives. Both left out details that didn't wish to share, and both realized that building a relationship on half-truths wasn't the best idea, but they didn't care.
The clock struck one o'clock in the morning, and Yuzuki yawned sleepily. "I should head home," she murmured.
"Why don't you spend the night?" Madara asked.
"I have to get home. I can't let my parents worry."
Madara shrugged and pressed his forehead against hers. "Let them worry, you are eighteen. You're old enough to make your own choices."
"But my step-mother..." Yuzuki muttered.
"Forget about her for once. Live life the way you want to."
"I...
"You have the bed. I washed them this morning so they are clean. I'll sleep on the couch."
"I don't have... a change of clothes... or a nightgown..." Yuzuki pointed out.
"Wait one," Madara got up from the couch, Yuzuki watched him walk off, noting he had a hole in the heel of his sock. He disappeared into his bedroom before coming out with an old shirt and a pair of boxers. "If you don't mind wearing some of my clothes, you can wear these. Don't worry, there's not cum stains on this pair." Madara said with a chuckle. Yuzuki stared blankly at him, her cheeks tinting pink. "Hehe... uuuh... sorry," he looked away.
"They'll do," Yuzuki said after a long moment. She got up with a feline grace, took the offered article of clothes and left to take a quick shower. Madara rubbed the back of his head, before taking off his shirt and jeans. He sat on the couch in his underwear, before getting up and going to his bedroom closet, where he pulled out a spare blanket and pillow. He was setting up his bed on the couch when Yuzuki came out.
"I think they are a bit big on me," Yuzuki muttered, plucking at his clothes.
"Oh..." Madara felt his cheeks tint and a familiar warmth in his groin. "Well," he looked away. "They'll do for the night," he pulled back the blanket on the couch and got under it, lying on his stomach. "Bedroom is directly across from the bathroom. Hope you sleep well."
"I will," Yuzuki said and walked into Madara's bed room. "Good night," she called.
"Good night."
Yuzuki woke with a start. Sunlight was pouring in with golden gentleness from the window, and it took her a moment to realize where she was. It came to her that she was in Madara's apartment, in his bed. She had set her cell phone on the nightstand next to her bed and it was ringing loudly. She glanced at her and her stomach dropped her feet. Her step-mother was calling.
Clifhanger! Muwhahahaha!
I can't really say, due to popular demand, I'm continuing this...
But I wanted to anyway, so here you go! This cutesy little AU love story between Madara and Yuzuki. ^_^
20 is the legal drinking age in Japan. I used the Japanese legal drinking age for Madara's age to fit with the story and to make Yuzuki at least in her senior year of high school. The setting is a mix of Tokyo and Seattle. It's not really either of the two cities but more of my impression of them.
Izuna has some type of terminal leukemia, and he needs a bone marrow transplant to live. Madara's other three brothers are in another country, thus they aren't in the story and his parents are dead. Also, I'm not sure if chemo patients lose their eyelashes, but I know they lose their hair and eyebrows.
I hope you are enjoying this story thing. A lot of it is inspired by Paramore. Anyway, R'n'R. Next update will be Friday. I'm going to try to update this at least once a day. :3
Sanguinary Toxicity