It's a hard life, being different
But life's no fun when it's easy, right?
Something Sasuke had quickly come to realise was that when you went to school with supernaturals, life was never boring.
It was second period on that same Monday, and he'd somehow managed to survive a whole week in the same class as an array of very strange, probably slightly unstable people. Currently, he and his desk were floating about a metre above the floor, since Shikamaru was asleep.
Half the class was levitating in mid-air; apparently quite used to this sort of thing happening. Naruto had assured him that whenever Shikamaru went to sleep he tended to lose a bit of control over his telekinetic abilities and sometimes things went a bit haywire. Sasuke was a little relieved that the worst thing that he'd had to deal with was trying to reach his pen when it fell to the floor and he was still dangling in the air.
"Hey, Naruto…watch this…" Suigetsu whispered while their teacher was busy writing something on the board. Naruto grinned widely as a small orb of water began to bead on the end of Suigetsu's fingertip. The white-haired teen chuckled to himself and flicked his hand, sending the water pellet whipping towards Shikamaru and hitting him in the neck hard enough to bruise.
Immediately, Shikamaru jolted awake and the desks and chairs thudded to the ground; Sasuke's chair collapsing out from under him and his body slamming into the floor. The entire class burst out laughing as he let out an annoyed groan and gathered up his bruised body from the crumpled chair.
"Spare chairs are in the hall cupboard," the teacher remarked in a bored tone; not even bothering to turn around. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at Naruto; asking for an explanation.
"…Shikamaru falls asleep quite a lot," Naruto replied with a short laugh. All of a sudden, Kiba's head bolted up and he sniffed the air in delight.
"Window!" Ino yelled out and the window sprang up immediately as Shikamaru clicked his hands; just before a huge brown, shaggy shape went bounding out through the window; barking as he went.
"…Squirrel," Sakura replied when Sasuke just stared. He blinked several times and sighed heavily, rubbing his forehead in exasperation.
Fortunately he managed to survive until lunchtime without another broken chair, and it was to his great relief that they were dismissed by the bell. He grabbed his bag and was one of the first students out of the classroom.
"Hey, Sasuke, want to come hang out with us for lunch?" Naruto asked; like he had every lunchtime for the past week. And just like every time he asked, Sasuke snorted a "No" and stalked over to one of the trees by the courtyard to hopefully eat in peace.
Naruto's shoulders slumped and he glared at the raven's back; sticking out his tongue.
"Hey, new kid; what're you doing talking to the weirdo kids?" a guy appeared at Sasuke's elbow as he sat on one of the benches. Dark eyes slid across to glare at him.
"…He won't leave me alone," he offered as a flat response.
"Yeah, that asshole's a bit like that…" he snorted, taking a seat and apparently not noticing the Uchiha's eyebrow twitch at being forced to spend time with someone, "Yo, Kabuto! Tayuya! Over here!"
From what Sasuke had experienced, this school day was like any other day. He'd learnt pretty quickly that the 'normal' and the 'supernatural' kids all knew who was who, and that the 'normals' hated the 'supernaturals' and were often jackasses to them –the supernaturals unable to use their abilities in case any passers-by happened to see. And Naruto appeared to love getting into fights; even if he was likely going to lose.
Sasuke was pretty sure he'd watched Dosu tip the blonde into a trashcan about a dozen times in just over a week; Naruto seemed to thrive on the challenge. Of course, he would always be fished out by one of his sisters, who would scold him for ruining his clothes…then Naruto would go right back to challenging Dosu or Kimimaro or one of the other guys.
Neji seemed to be the one to step in the most. Apparently he at least was a little respected among the normal students; probably because he was a martial arts expert without any need to rely on his supernaturalism. Sasuke had chuckled along with the rest of the school yard when the assholes had backed down when faced with Neji, and the long-haired brunette had dragged Naruto aside for a stern talking-to.
Unfortunately, those same assholes had decided that since Sasuke was 'normal', he wanted to hang out with them, and since they didn't bother him, and they kept Naruto from bugging him, he didn't protest.
After school, much like the week before, they all headed off in their separate directions; Neji went to the library with Sakura…actually, Sasuke didn't know where they all went because he didn't care to ask.
Most of the other days he'd walked home with Suigetsu, but today he apparently had soccer practice, so the Uchiha was left to walk the lonely road back to Samehada Manor. It didn't bother him really; it was nice to finally have some peace and quiet; he knew it was probably the closest to alone he was going to get.
Itachi was sitting on the porch reading a book when he arrived back.
"Afternoon, Sasuke," Itachi greeted cheerfully, "How was school?"
"Boring," Sasuke replied flatly.
" –Have any homework?"
"I did it all in class…"
"Well that can't have been easy," Itachi chuckled, closing his book and following him into the house, "…I've been talking to Deidara –he mentioned that things can be difficult when Shikamaru falls asleep…"
" –He falls asleep literally every twenty minutes," Sasuke snorted, heading to the kitchen to fix himself a snack, "He's got to have been cheating to have a full scholarship…"
"Now, now Sasuke," Itachi tutted, setting the kettle on to boil, "Play nicely."
"Play nice?" Sasuke snapped, "You drag me out of school; to this fucking nuthouse and expect me to play nice?" Itachi expression darkened slightly and he folded his arms.
"…You should at least make an effort with them," he remarked flatly, "Sasuke, we might be here for another few months –"
"A few months?" Sasuke repeated darkly.
" –Yes, that's what I said," Itachi informed him, "I don't think Kisame is going to be willing to sell; so it won't be easy to convince him…"
"You expect me to –"
"Sasuke, we all have things in life we don't want to do," Itachi reminded him coldly, "If you're ever to enter into the family business, you're going to have to grow up and accept that." Sasuke just folded his arms crossly, "Why don't you just try getting to know these kids; they're all about your age…"
"They're only a few years younger than you; why don't you hang out with them?" Sasuke snorted coldly.
"Well, if I'm being honest, you could use a few more friends," Itachi replied mockingly.
"I don't need friends."
Itachi just sighed again at his brother's stubbornness and took a seat to have his coffee as Sasuke finished making himself a snack. Before his elder brother could lecture him any more, the younger Uchiha stalked from the kitchen with a snort of "I'm going to do my homework."
"…But you said you finished…" Itachi tried to say, but the door was already swinging shut behind him. He sighed, brushing the bangs back off his face in exasperation. True, he and Sasuke had never had the most friendly of relationships…but it would be nice if he listened to him sometimes.
"Your little brother has one serious attitude problem, yeah," the familiar voice of Deidara remarked in amusement as he entered through the sliding door in an apron covered in clay.
"No kidding," Itachi replied dryly, sipping at his coffee, "How's the art going?"
"Slow, yeah," the blonde shrugged, helping himself to some of the pre-prepared coffee, "Portfolio is coming along well, but it's hard to get it together with a job and all…"
"Oh, you work?"
"…Supermarket, yeah," Deidara muttered, "…Used to run art classes for kids…then people found out about the whole…" He clicked to prove his point and a nearby apple went up in flames and dissolved into ash.
"Ahh," Itachi remarked conversationally, "I see…" He was silent for a moment as Deidara brushed his hair back across his face.
"So, you like our house, yeah?" he inquired flatly.
" –It's beautiful," Itachi replied thoughtfully, "A little…water and fire damaged perhaps…" He gave Deidara a pointed look, "But the architecture itself is truly spectacular and the grounds…"
Itachi and Deidara were still conversing when Shikamaru was dragged downstairs by Ino for dinner.
"Hey Dei, you want something?" Ino inquired, rummaging around in the fridge, "I'm making pasta for me and Shika…"
"Nah; I still have coupons for a free meal at the diner downtown," Deidara replied, "We probably need to do another shopping trip, yeah?"
"Maybe," Ino replied honestly, holding the fridge open. Itachi nearly dropped his coffee when he realised that the fridge was practically empty except for a block of cheese and some various jams, "I'll go get some vegetables from the garden…Itachi, could you make sure Shikamaru doesn't fall asleep?"
" –Is that all the food you have?" Itachi remarked flatly, "To feed ten of you?"
"Nine," Deidara corrected, "Dad doesn't come home for dinner much so that he doesn't use up the food; his bosses are usually pretty understanding and give him a free feed each shift."
"Actually, I was wondering where Kisame was," Itachi frowned.
" –Probably got called into work today," Shikamaru shrugged as Neji entered the kitchen and headed for the freezer.
"…He told me he had the day off today to show me around the gardens," Itachi queried.
" –Yeah; it's his day off at the freezing works," Shikamaru yawned, "But he could've got called in to work at the building site or out on the farm…"
"What?"
"He works three jobs," Neji informed Itachi calmly, "Sometimes more, when he can fit the hours in."
" –Three jobs…" Itachi remarked; very shocked but trying not to show it, "Why –"
"…There are nine of us to feed," Neji replied haughtily, "Seven of whom are male; and three of them are bottomless pits." He gave Itachi a cold look, "He's just trying to keep us fed. Naruto and Deidara are useful for some heating expenses, but not all."
"Oi," Deidara snapped.
" –I meant no offense," Neji snorted, "Can you please defrost my dinner?" He slid the frozen container across the bench and Deidara huffily tapped it with a finger and caused it to melt until it was steaming hot.
"I hope you choke on that," the blonde snapped snidely.
"I can't believe you're older than me," Neji sniffed in response, rolling his shoulders superiorly and heading off to eat his dinner in his room.
"Little asshole, yeah," Deidara muttered, rolling his eyes as he stuck his tongue out at the door as it swung shut behind Neji.
"I saw that, Deidara!" Neji's cold voice could be heard hollering back.
"I'm gonna go to the diner before it closes, yeah," Deidara informed Itachi, "If you want food, just get one of the others to make it for you when they get home. Or, since you can afford it; restaurants in town have good food."
Somehow, after seeing that fridge, Itachi didn't feel hungry. He sat there and made polite conversation as the teenagers all came and went; all searching desperately for some food in the fridge or the freezer. Apparently some of them, like Neji, had made a heap of meals and frozen them while the food was still around.
Ino had brought in an abundance of vegetables from the garden and made a meal for herself and Shikamaru; even offering some up to Itachi. The elder Uchiha had refused; it didn't feel right eating their food.
"…Do you always eat like this?" he inquired of Suigetsu when he, Kiba and Naruto made an appearance after their soccer practice.
"Like what?" Naruto inquired curiously; halfway through a carrot, "Like, not together? Well, yeah; we all get home at different times and since dad isn't home…" He shrugged and took another bite of the carrot as Suigetsu busied himself with makeshift sandwiches for the three of them.
"…Why are your cupboards all empty?" Itachi rephrased his question, "Are they always…"
"…Usually," Kiba chuckled with a shrug, "I mean, sure, we could steal food, or money and stuff…but dad's raised us better than that. And he makes sure there's always something around –Ino's helpful for growing vegetables too…" It was then that Itachi noticed something that he hadn't bothered to pay attention to earlier.
The teenagers had had such vibrant personalities that he hadn't looked at what they were wearing. Their clothes were worn; patched up; a little stained, but like someone had obviously gone to great lengths to disguise this. Naruto apparently seemed to notice Itachi's eyes widening because he laughed.
" –Yeah, we look a little second-hand, right?" he laughed, tugging at his shirt, "These are Deidara's old things. Kiba got most of Hidan's things since he's bigger than the rest of us…" He scowled; apparently quite cross about this. Kiba just laughed and ruffled the blonde's hair.
"We should probably take better care of these things," Suigetsu admitted, and Itachi was drawn to the fact that all their clothes seemed to be a little ill-fitting, "With all the work dad's had to do on the house because of us –" He coughed self-consciously, " –And food and power, and school…he sometimes can't get us new clothes for our birthdays…"
" –Oi! Guys! Come play!" Ino hollered from somewhere outside. Instantly, Kiba had turned into a dog and had wolfed down his sandwich; bolting out the sliding door and down the porch stairs to the lawn.
"You should come play with us some time," Naruto grinned as Itachi headed out onto the porch, "You're a whole lot nicer than Sasuke –"
" –Ahem…" there was a cough from the side door and Naruto stuck out his tongue as he noticed that Sasuke had overheard everything. Not caring, the blonde and Suigetsu ran down off the porch to join where Ino, Neji and two large dogs were kicking around a ball. Itachi just smiled as he looked over at what appeared to be an after-dinner tradition several times a week; a bit of a game of soccer, or something.
"Why don't you play, Sasuke?" Itachi inquired, mostly just mocking the fact that Sasuke never would've considered joining in. He'd expected some sort of smartass comment, but received nothing.
Little did he know that Sasuke had been sitting on that porch for quite some time now. He'd overheard most of the conversations that had been going on in the kitchen and was mulling over what he'd heard.
Back in the city, he'd lived a life of luxury. Everything he ever wanted was paid for; hell, he had his own car and a healthy trust fund. He was the most popular kid in school; when he spoke (though rarely), everyone listened. People waited on him hand and foot. But here…
Sure, the weird kids lived in a massive mansion, but they were practically broke; struggling for food and stuck in rags. They were hated at school; forced to live in secret and cut off from society…their lives were practically the opposite of his in every respect.
So as Sasuke looked down at the lawn and saw them gambolling across the grass; laughing (and Suigetsu dousing his siblings with water), he had to wonder…
…Why were they so happy…when he (he had to admit) had never really been anything but miserable?
Will Sasuke make an effort to find out?
He's finding himself intrigued, despite himself! How's the dynamic going to change?
xx K