Okay so from here on all italicised words means that its spoken in English. Hope you like this!
Chapter 5: Moving in
"My name was Joel, what was yours?" He asked.
In English.
I stood there gaping.
"Hello? Anyone there?" he waved his hands infront of my face.
"Catlyn. My name was Catlyn. But... how is all this possible? Why are we here?" I asked.
He shrugged. "Who knows?"
"Seiichi! Mizuno-chan! Dinner is ready!" Mikoto called from below.
"We better get going." I said. "Don't speak English in front of others, understand?"
"I'm not stupid." He rolled his eyes.
We made our way down to the dining table, where Naruto and Sasuke were quarelling who had the larger bowl of ramen.
"There's more in the kitchen dears, theres no need to fight." Mikoto told them.
Both children 'hmped' and turned away. Naruto, who turned to our direction, widened his eyes when he saw us.
"Mizuno! The ramen is really delicious! Like, even better than Ichiraku's!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Really?" I smiled. I walked over and sat down beside him.
Mikoto brought over two bowls of hot ramen and placed one in front of me, the other going to Seiichi who sat opposite.
"Itadakimas!" We said in unision, before digging in.
Man it sure was good. I downed it almost at Naruto's speed before asking for a second helping.
Just then, the door opened to reveal Itachi who was wearing his ANBU gear without the mask.
"Itachi-nii!" Sasuke, and to my surprise, Seiichi, got off their seats and pounced on him. Itachi gave a small smile, hugging both of them before gently putting them down. His face then went back to a stoic façade when he spotted strangers in the house.
"Nice to meet you." I said, giving him a smile. Naruto followed suit, but had half his body hidden behind me.
"Nice to meet you too." Itachi responded.
"Itachi-kun, did you see your father on the way back?" Mikoto asked, placing my second helping in front of me.
"He's still in the meeting with the elders." He said. "I'll take a bath before dinner."
We watched as he climbed the stairs to the second floor, entering the room beside mine and Naruto's.
"You're brother is scary." Naruto whispered to Sasuke.
"He's like the best older brother ever! He's so cool and strong... I'm gonna be just like him when I grow up!" Sasuke exclaimed.
"Itachi-nii's fierce to anyone he doesn't know. He'll be nice to you after awhile." Seiichi explained when he saw Naruto's doubtful face.
The room went back to silence, save for the slurping sounds Naruto made while eating.
After dinner, I cleared the plates and went to the kitchen to help wash the dishes.
"Thank you, Mizuno-chan. You can leave the bowls there and go play with the boys."
"It's okay. I actually miss washing dishes..." I said the last part in an undertone.
Mikoto, who was a ninja, obviously picked up what I said. "Have you washed dishes before?" She asked.
"Ahh... yea... I helped at Ichiraku's sometimes as payment for food." I replied.
"I see..." she said. "Life was pretty tough for you huh..."
"What do you expect? We were living alone as infants. Stupid villagers who can't even tell the difference between a child and a demon." I growled.
Tears welled up in Mikoto's eyes. Kneeling down, she pulled me close into a hug and whispered, "I'm sorry... I promised your mother I would take care of you two but... it was difficult to convince the elders to take you both in. I'm sorry..."
My eyes widened. Mikoto knew my mum? So that was why she would suddenly take us in. However, the elders wouldn't know that we were the fourth's children, so how were they convinced?
"It's okay." I told her. "Living out there allowed us to learn many things. Both of us are grateful that we are now allowed to live here."
She pulled away from me and smiled. "You're just like your dad, you know? Even though you look like your mum..."
"Who were my parents?" I asked.
Her eyes grew sad again. "They... I'll tell you when you're old enough."
"Okay." I shrugged and went back to the dishes.
While we were washing, Itachi came in looking for his food. I heated up his bowl of noodles before passing it to him, only to receive a grunt as thanks.
Grumbling about rude Uchihas, I finished the dishes and made my way up to my room.
"Ouch!" I shouted when something hit my head hard as I opened the door. Looking down, I saw a scroll rolling on the ground.
"HAHAHAHAHAH she fell for it!"
Sasuke and Naruto had collapsed on the ground laughing, and Seiichi was leaning against the wall clutching his stomach.
I stomped over to teach them a lesson, but ended up tripping over the fallen scroll.
More laughter erupted from the three boys and soon I found myself laughing as well.
"Don't think you boys are getting away with this." I growled once the laughter calmed down.
"Aww Mizuno. You know it was just a joke." Naruto said.
"I can't believe you didn't notice, though. It was a classic!" Seiichi laughed.
I rolled my eyes. "Who would've expected to be assaulted on their first day here? By my own brother even." I sent him a glare.
Naruto grinned and scratched his head sheepishly.
"Okay get out both of you. I need my sleep." I chased the Uchihas out of the room.
"Goodnight." Both of them said as they left.
I went to brush my teeth before going to bed. Lying on the bed, I stared at the ceiling, unable to sleep.
"I like it here." Naruto suddenly broke the silence.
I smiled in the darkness. "That's good. But it doesn't mean you can slack off okay? We're still going to train everyday."
"Hai haii. Goodnight, Mizuno." He yawned.
"Goodnight." I said.
When Naruto began snoring, I crept out of bed and left the room. There were too many things on my mind to sleep. Seiichi, Itachi, the massacre, Orochimaru, Akatsuki, Madara, just too many things.
I strolled along the corridor of the second floor and spotted Itachi leaning on the railing of the balcony. Deciding quickly, I walked towards him.
"Couldn't sleep?" I asked him.
"Hn." He grunted.
Thirty seconds of awkward silence.
"You.. don't seem too happy about us moving in." I stated.
He was silent for awhile before answering. "Is that so? I apologise for my hostility. It was not intentional."
"Oh."
One minute of less awkward silence.
"You..." I dragged on, looking for something to say.
"I?" He asked.
"Uhm... you should show more expression." I blurted.
He was visibly surprised at my statement. "The Shinobi rule is that one should get rid of all his emotions to be able to best serve the village. I consider myself a failure for being unable to do so."
A failure? Itachi was the epitome of a Shinobi. Is he thinking of the struggle of choosing between loyalty to his family and his village as a failure on his part?
"Shinobi rules... they're more like guidelines aren't they. You cant find a single leaf Shinobi who doesn't have emotions. Even the Hokage, the most powerful ninja of the village is overflowing with emotions. Hell, I'm going to be a ninja, and there's no way I'm going to follow that rule." I declared.
"Are you saying... that my way of being a ninja is wrong?" He accused.
"What? No! I'm saying that you shouldn't get rid of your emotions just because you're a ninja! We're all humans, you know." I said.
"Humans make mistakes because of emotions. Emotions cloud their judgement and make them weak." He argued.
"That's not true. Emotions is where strength comes from. When you have something protect is when you can surpass your limits and become stronger." I quoted future Naruto. "You're just afraid, aren't you, of the pain that having feelings bring."
"Shut up." He growled, sharingan activating. "You don't know anything."
"See? Anger. That's an emotion isn't it. You have emotions too. Don't suppress it. I saw how happy you were today when you saw Sasuke and Seiichi. Being happy feels good, doesn't it?" I told him, smiling and staring straight into his sharingan. "You should smile more too, it looks better on you."
He stared back awhile longer, before walking away.
I collapsed when he went out sight. The intensity of the sharingan was too much for me to handle. It was scary, the way it seemed as if your soul was laid out for him to see, and he could destroy it anytime he wanted. But staring into his sharingan was probably the only way I could get him to trust me.
I picked myself up and stumbled back to my bed, allowing myself to fall to blissful sleep.