Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto -.-
A/N: Ciaossu! So I know it's been like a freaking year since I updated last and to tell you the truth, I honestly forgot I was even writing a story haha -.- Earlier this year I was doing some strenuous work for an art competition and that completely threw me off course because I had to do like 18 pieces in like 2 weeks. Then the whole registration process was a complete mess. Then between work and more pieces and getting ready for college it was only about a week ago when I thought "hey wait a second aren't a writing a couple of stories?" haha. But here I am and I promise you, cross my heart, that I will not forget about you this time. And I finally figured out where I wanted to take this story...it's gonna be long so I hope your can stick with the ride. And thank you all soooooooooo much for still supporting me even though i've kinda let you down the past 12 months haha -.- Anyway here's chapter 4!
The smell and sound of sizzling bacon was what roused Sasuke from his slumber. That and the fact the Satsuki was practically bouncing on top of him in excitement. Sasuke opened his coal black eyes only to be greeted by a 100 watt smile, puppy dog eyes, and silky strands caressing his face. The brunette wanted to turn over and go back asleep before he realized he wasn't in his bed. Sasuke shot up, nearly knocking Satsuki off of him as he looked around the orange prison he was confined in. Oh man, he thought the whole thing was a dream! He really was captive to a blond moron for who knew how long it would take the idiot to let his guard down. Sasuke ran a hand through his hair as he sighed heavily. What had he done to deserve this.
"Good morning papa!" Satsuki exclaimed crawling back on top of her father. Sasuke looked at his daughter's face and smiled softly.
"Good morning Satsuki," the raven replied, placing a small kiss upon the top of Satsuki's hair. The five year old giggled happily and did the same to her father before climbing off the bed and nearly bouncing on her toes.
"Papa, Mr. Naruto is cooking us breakfast. Breakfast papa! Can we eat it please?" Satsuki cried giving her best puppy dog look that she knew her father just couldn't resist. Sasuke looked upon his child with mixed thoughts going through his mind. The last time the two had a decent meal that wasn't laced with any kind of experimental concoction was when his brother Itachi used to wake up extra early and cook it for them. He understood the child's desire to eat a home cooked meal, he wanted to as well. However it was installed in him to be distrusting and no matter how much Satsuki liked this "Naruto", Sasuke barely knew him as a person, only an obstacle that was in his way of freedom. Yet, Sasuke looked at the pouting lips and tearing eyes off his offspring and heaved yet another sigh, he just couldn't deny his Satsuki anything. Sasuke moved to get out of bed and paused as his feet touched the floor.
"Go wash up and put on clothes and maybe I'll think about it," he said which caused Satsuki to squeal at her father's consent before giving him a big hug and running off to go get ready. Sasuke smiled and climbed off the bed to get ready himself. They didn't have many clothes since he had packed their bags in such a hurry. They had at least three or four good outfits at best along with a couple of pairs of underwear and a few random belongings Sasuke might have swept in in his rush. Sasuke dug into his bag and pulled out the few crisp bills he managed to scavenge before his left. It wasn't enough to buy even a couple of train tickets. He was hoping to at least use it for food and to hike it somewhere where he would be able to get a job. However, Sasuke glanced at Satsuki who emerged from the bathroom with a small frilly pink dress and her hair wrapped nicely into a bun, the longer they stayed there in the dumb blond's apartment the more nervous he became. He would give his life before he let Satsuki go back into that hell-hole.
"Papa, can we go eat now?" Satsuki asked grabbing her father's hands and putting her puppy dog face on. Sasuke nodded and allowed himself to be pulled out of the bedroom by the elated child. He would give his life before he let Satsuki go back into the hell-hole. But he also wanted to make her happy and if staying there a while would keep her this elated and her mind off the past troubles, Sasuke supposed that living there couldn't be all bad.
Naruto grinned as he watched Satsuki pull Sasuke into the kitchen. An obvious bounce was apparent in the young girl's step as she sniffed the air hungrily and quickly raced to the small table that resided in the middle of Naruto's small kitchen. Sasuke followed at a much slower pace with a sordid expression though Naruto could tell he was amused by his daughters antics. Naruto wished that Sasuke would allow him to see just one smile. The raven was so beautiful it was a pity that a smile never graced those wonderful features. But Naruto was going to change all that. He had four or more months to get Sasuke to trust him enough so that he would testify against Orochimaru. In that time Naruto was determined to get him to smile even if it killed him.
"Good morning Mr. Naruto!"
Naruto snapped out of his train of thought as Satsuki pulled herself into a chair, still bouncing in excitement. Naruto's eyes flicked over to Sasuke as the raven pulled out his seat to sit before a bright smile that could rival the morning sun lit up his face.
"Good morning Satsuki. Good morning Sasuke. I hope you both slept well." Naruto said as he placed two plates in front of the father and daughter. The latter nodded eagerly as Sasuke simply scoffed and turned to stare at anything but the irritating blond before him. Naruto felt his smile falter a little before turning back to the eggs frying on the stove. He had to get used to Sasuke's attitude quick or his anger would get the best of him again. And he definitely couldn't afford another slip-up like last night.
Taking a deep breath, Naruto pulled the pan off the stove and scooped the burned and sizzling eggs onto the two plates. Satsuki delightedly dug into the food with eagerness. Sasuke looked upon the food as if it were the most horrible thing in the world. Naruto sat down at the table across from the two with his own plate and begin to eat with vigor that could only be matched by the five year old across from him. Sasuke alternated glaring between the atrocity that tried to pass for food before him and the atrocity who made the food sitting before him. He really didn't know what was worse but he knew one thing. He would rather starve that eat anything the blond cooked.
Naruto felt chills go down his spine and he looked up to see Sasuke glaring daggers into him. Naruto couldn't help the grin that found it's way to his face. Despite his attempt at glaring, right then Sasuke simply looked like he was pouting and Naruto found it unbelievably adorable.
"Aren't you going to eat your food Sasuke?" the blond said, punctuating his sentence with a wink that only seemed to intensify Sasuke's glare. Satsuki looked at her father's plate and felt a frown pull at her features. Why was her father eating? There was no way Mr. Naruto could have poisoned the food. And he didn't have half of the strange experiments that snake used to lace their food with. Suddenly a thought hit her and she glanced down at her almost empty plate. When she was little, Itachi used to make sure she and Sasuke ate everything they could to make them full. She never knew exactly why, thinking that Itachi was so motherly he wanted them well-fed. Eventually when she grew older, and after Itachi disappeared, did she realize that he did that so they wouldn't be hungry when Orochimaru fed them. Maybe Papa was so used to eating so much that he didn't want to eat something that he knew wouldn't fill his appetite. Maybe looking at the home-cooked meal reminded him of Itachi and now he wanted way more than Mr. Naruto could provide.
Sasuke was just about to open his mouth to hiss out a retort and knock that stupid looking grin off the stupid blond's stupid face when the scraping sound of china echoed in his ears. Both he and Naruto looked down to see Satsuki's plate rested in front of Sasuke, bacon mostly gone and the eggs more than halfway eaten. Sasuke looked at his daughter's bowed head in confusion. Was she not hungry anymore?
"Satsuki what's wrong? Are you done eating?" Naruto asked, his stomach knotting at the solemn expression on the little girl's face. Was his food not any good? Usually he only ate instant ramen for breakfast but he felt compelled to at least try to cook something for the two. Satsuki shook her head slowly at the questions before pushing the plate toward her father even more. Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other, for once not in anger or frustration, but in confusion. What was wrong with Satsuki? Why didn't she want her food?
Satsuki looked down at her shoes and bathed in the silence around her. She wanted her father to be comfortable here. She wanted to stay here. Mr. Naruto was nice and kind. Grandma Tsunade (as Naruto called her) was just like the mom she never had. They bought her nice things, gave her all kinds of attention, read her stories at night, tickled her when she felt sad about her father not getting better, never pushed her when she didn't want to answer questions. Satsuki knew she could trust them, but she couldn't betray her father either. Maybe, if she showed him how great they could be, he wouldn't remember sad things like Itachi.
"Satsuki?" Sasuke softly placed a hand on Satsuki's back, trying to comfort whatever troubled feelings the young girl was experiencing. Finally, Satsuki pulled her head up and looked at Sasuke with glazed eyes and a watery smile.
"It's okay Papa, look", Sastuki replied shoveling a pile of eggs into her mouth, "it's not bad. It's good. It's really good." The five year old pushed her plate forcefully at her father whose eyes were wide with surprise at the young girl's actions. "It's really good," she repeated, mouth full of eggs and tears running down her face, "so...so you don't have to think of Itachi okay? I'll share mine with you so you can eat a lot like Itachi used to make us do but...but it's really good so...so..." Satsuki felt her father's arms scoop her up and cradle her to his chest as sobs burst from her. She didn't want to cry. She was tired of crying, especially in front of Sasuke. She wanted to show her papa that she could be a big girl. But remembering that place, how fun and great it had been when Itachi was there to make everything better, and thinking that her father missed it so much he wouldn't even eat, she just couldn't help the tears that escaped.
Sasuke stroked Satsuki's hair as the young girls sobbed into his chest. He couldn't help but feel a little guilty watching Naruto quickly throwing away to food and tossing the plates into the sink. He knew there was nothing wrong with the food. Naruto would gain no merit by poisoning their food or lacing it with weird concoctions. Sasuke was certain the blonde didn't even know what a concoction was. Part of him was still cautious about it yes, but the other part just couldn't find it to eat the meal for some reason. Maybe it was because charity damaged his pride. Maybe it was because e just wanted to difficult with the blonde, hoping as a result he would give up and allow them to leave. Whatever the reason was it, it didn't excuse the horrible feeling of guilt as his daughter soaked his shirt with tears.
"Satsuki," Sasuke cooed, pulling Satsuki away from his dripping clothes and grimacing at the wet and puffy face. Satsuki hiccuped terribly, trying to calm her cries to listen to what her father had to say. Sasuke gingerly wiped the tears from his daughter face and Naruto felt his heart melt at the sight. Sasuke was so gentle and his face so tender with Satsuki. It made him even more beautiful in Naruto's eyes to see all the tension and irritation flow from his features as if they were never there. Naruto quietly made his way to the kitchen door, feeling as though the moment would be ruined by his existence. When Satsuki's face was as dry as it could get, Sasuke placed a small kiss upon her forehead.
"Satsuki, why would you think I wasn't eating because of Itachi?" questioned Sasuke softly. Satsuki stared at the now empty table. She knew if she looked into the eyes of her father she would cry again.
"Because you weren't eating and...and I know you knew Mr. Naruto didn't poison us or anything. So the only explanation would have been that seeing a home cooked meal was reminding you of Itachi..." Sasuke's eyes softened at the explanation and once again the guilt stabbed him. He had to bee more careful around Satsuki. He had to be less stupid.
"Satsuki, I wasn't not eating because I thought of Itachi." Satsuki looked at her father in surprise.
"Then why weren't you eating Papa? I know you were hungry. Are you sick? Do you feel bad?" Satsuki exclaimed, reaching for her father's forehead. Sasuke gently caught her hands and lowered them. His finger wrapped around hers and Satsuki looked down at the intertwined digits.
"Satsuki, I want you to listen to me. Itachi is gone. I know that. You know that. So we can't think about him anymore okay?" Sasuke said softly, watching as his daughter's eyes filled with tears. It was a sore subject for both of them. Itachi was their savior in the hard times of Orochimaru. He made sure that nothing ever happened to them while he was around. He tried to rescue Sasuke multiple times from Orochimaru's "experiments" but to no avail. The day he went missing everything just went downhill and Sasuke vowed to never speak of him again. Satsuki adored him. Sasuke loved him like no other.
"Papa," Satsuki croaked, breaking Sasuke from his thoughts. Sasuke looked at his daughter with a stern but caring look and Satsuki nodded in consent. No more Itachi. That was that.
Naruto watched as Sasuke pulled his daughter into a hug and whispered softly into her ear. Suddenly he felt a pull at his heart from the overheard conversation. It should have been pleasant pull, something that warmed his heart at the sight of the two together. But it wasn't. Naruto gripped his chest as he turned away, leaning his head against the wall supporting him. The only thing he felt like was an intruder. Naruto dropped his head into his hands as Satsuki's soft sobs echoes around his mind. He was supposed to gain their trust, to get to know more about them so that Tsunade baa-chan could finally put Orochimaru behind bars once and for all. But all that talk about Itachi, someone that they both seemed to care for deeply, just made him want to push away. What kind of horrors lie behind the wall Sasuke built around his heart? What kind of misery had the two gone through? No matter where he turned Naruto only seemed to hit a dead-end. He wanted to help, he really did, but what if he just couldn't take it? What if he managed to weave himself into Sasuke's and Satsuki's life and couldn't bear it if they actually told him the truth, if they actually trusted him fully?If he drew away, if he backed out like the coward he knew he could be sometimes, it would ruin them.
Naruto felt his body slide down the wall and immediately he threw his head into his knees and wrapped his arms around himself for some sort of comfort. He was in way over his head...
...and there was no way to get out.
Sorry it ended so...like it did. I hope this chapter was a little worth the one year and some months wait haha -_-; I've been experiencing writer's and artist's block for so long now. I actually started writing this chapter months ago. Please forgive me for such the long wait I won't ever let that happen again. Also I'll be updating Feed Me to the Forest soon and probably starting on Love Story so please keep reading! I love you all so much! *blows a fancy kiss* MUAH! Reviews are welcome ;)