Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ All-Girl's Sasuke ❯ Barbed Fences ( Chapter 13 )

Info: This chapter is not only shorter than what I'd have hoped to have made it, but also quite late. Quite late. I'm terribly sorry, but I've been so preoccupied lately! Ack... I can't even write out a complete apology... u.u; Ho-hum. Well, if it boosts your spirits, I've written the first couple chapters for I Only Love Myself, the prequel to this story. -punches air dramatically- Huzzah! And, um... I'm sorry, again. -snivel- Could you ever find it in your hearts to forgive me? Merr..... -sobs in the corner-

 

Warnings: Nothing much. Hmm... some Haku and Zabuza touches, nothing too big. Oh, and questionable themes over the two Uchiha brothers. Awk. O.o; What is my problem? Sasuke was so little..... -shame shame-

 

Disclaimer- This one does not own Naruto. Speaking of which, has anyone read the most recent manga chapters? Oh, MAN, is Naruto some hot stuff. XD And what about Neji? -purr- Can't wait to see Sasuke...!!! -dance-

 

Chapter 13 - Barbed Fences

 

-

 

A cold breeze caressed his cheek, passing him as he walked. Haku unconsciously replaced the misplaced strands of his dark hair back in place behind his ear, keeping eyes forward.

 

If I look back, I might turn around.

 

Haku was headed back to the bus stop where he and Sasuke first met. The thing left at two... it was still noon. Plenty of time. Why couldn't he have just left later?

 

If I look back...

 

And the day was breezy. Damn.

 

As soon as I get home, I'm cutting my hair, he thought with a huff, finally reaching his lonely destination. Back then... when was it? Only a few weeks ago? At the most, a month. Yes, that must be it. It had been a month since he'd first seen the Uchiha. A scowling boy, the last thing Haku would have thought to find at an all-girl's school. He smiled just remembering how confused he must have looked when Sasuke introduced himself.

 

“But, you're a guy....! Er, I think.... sorry if you're not.....”

 

“I'm not going to rape you, if that's what you're afraid of.”

 

“Liar,” Haku dispassionately whispered as he sat down on the icy, metal bench beside the sign. He smiled soon after. “Sasuke.” The name was so familiar now, whereas before it felt like it still had to be learned to be remembered. And now it would be forgotten. Perhaps a year, two years at most? No, Haku was never quite that lucky.

 

“Uchiha-kun...”

 

-

 

“Naruto... why do we get so attached to people?” Sasuke's voice echoed his empty room, the silence colder than when he'd last encountered it over a month before. One hand held the silver cell phone close to his ear, Sasuke laying on Haku's bed because it was closer to the window (better reception this way).

 

“Blergh... I don't know. It's early, why are you calling me? You... rawr...,” Naruto's sleepy tone drawled out of the phone.

 

Sasuke hardly looked surprised at the statement. “It's noon.”

 

“Same thing... and where have you been?” The dreary voice began to regain full consciousness, as Naruto waited for the answer.

 

“Hospital.”

 

“What? Why?” Now he sounded fully awake, Sasuke mused. “What happened to you? Oh, by the way, I met Haku. Yeah, he's nice. Why'dya hate him so much?”

 

Usual Naruto conversation lapses. Sasuke glanced skyward. “I don't hate him. And he and I were... in an accident.” Not exactly a lie. And he included Haku in there rather than `forgetting' to mention him. Double the points.

 

“Really? When? I just saw him last Friday! Geez... what'd you do?!”

 

“Not me. Someone else... whatever, it doesn't matter.”

 

“Tch, fine. Be a silent bastard. That's Sakura's favorite kind of guy anyway. At least she'll be happy.” He could practically hear Naruto rolling his eyes.

 

“Shut up, dobe.”

 

“You could have called... Maybe tell me why I've been left alone for a whole bloody week!”

 

“Whatever.” Sasuke's gaze trailed to the clear window, the midday sun right in the center of the sky.

 

“Come over today, bastard. Maybe then I'll forgive you.”

 

Sasuke made a sound at Naruto actually forgiving him for anything. “You still haven't forgiven me for looking at you the wrong way back in third grade.”

 

“You got that right.”

 

A pause. “Hn... I don't think I can make it today.”

 

“Awk! Why not?!” A short rant of how much Sasuke sucked at life followed, mostly ignored on the recipient's part.

 

“I don't...—” Silence, as Naruto waited for the rest of the sentence.

 

“You don't...? What?”

 

“I'll get back to you later,” was the quick response, followed by a dead line. Naruto glared at the phone before yelling, “FINE!” at it and throwing it somewhere in his room randomly, with a smack. A few moments passed before what he'd just done registered.

 

“Dammit!” the blonde cursed, looking ready to rip out his hair as he realized he'd regret tossing his phone later.

 

Meanwhile, back at Sasuke's dorm, the Uchiha was watching his window intently as his brother slipped in through the opening.

 

“You should really lock that,” Itachi stated, glancing back at the windowpane before returning his full attention to the teen before him.

 

“Stop following me,” was Sasuke's response, the spiky-haired male feeling the usual seething at the very sight of his older sibling.

 

A brief smirk graced Itachi's features before disappearing again. “Tell that to Zabuza. The poor fool doesn't know when he's obsessed.”

 

“Where is he? If he hurts Haku, I'll...”

 

“Shh.” He silenced his brother with a finger, the nail painted a dark purple. “Women are much too perceptive, you know. If you speak too loudly, they'll hear.”

 

Sasuke pulled away sharply. “And that's good.”

 

One of Itachi's fine brows rose, as he seemed to appraise his younger brother. “You're always so dour. It's a wonder why you're so popular among these girls.”

 

Of course, I'm no better... Itachi's mind instantly added onto that statement, much to his better judgment.

 

“You're a perverted freak,” Sasuke spat, making his way across the room backwards, as far away from Itachi as he could get. “Don't think I'd forgotten what you were like back then, either.”

 

He smirked, even if it did hint at slight melancholy. “And you killed them because they finally found out, huh?”

 

A glare formed in Itachi's red-rimmed eyes. “You don't know anything about what happened. Just because you saw it does not mean you understand.” His arms crossed in front of his chest, as he looked down on his brother. “You're as naïve as ever, little brother.”

 

“Hn.” Sasuke made a sound of vexation. “Does that mean you still want to kiss me when no one's looking?”

 

“Shut your face,” Itachi stated heatedly. “If I were you, I'd be worrying over whether or not my older brother was merely directing my attention away from more important matters.”

 

“What...?” A fleeting look of realization crossed Sasuke's features, as Itachi mocked a look of regret.

 

“Oops. I suppose Zabuza-san wanted that to be a secret.” He shrugged, nonchalantly. “Oh well. Better hope that Yukio still wants you after Zabuza's done with him.” A smile made its way across Itachi's face, reflecting a bloody memory in the back of Sasuke's mind.

 

“Tch. If you're just trying to get me riled up, it's not working,” said Sasuke, despite the gnawing feeling in the back of his mind that stated that perhaps this wasn't the case.

 

“Hm, too bad,” Itachi grinned, despite his words, only further unnerving his younger brother. “You can't be fooled, huh? My, hasn't Sasuke become so clever after all these years. Mom and Dad would be proud.” The smirk on his face gained a faintly dour tint. Jealousy, perhaps?

 

Now that Sasuke thought about it, perhaps Itachi had merely been jealous all this time. Though that certainly wouldn't explain the close touches from before, maybe it did clarify the reason why Itachi used to always give him this look. He still did, as apparent from just a few seconds before. That look that so clearly stated, “Why you?”

 

Why me? Sasuke wondered, as he glared against Itachi's oddly-colored eyes. ...is this why?

 

He faintly remembered what'd he'd heard so long ago, upon reaching his house from school. Sasuke had thought Itachi had forgotten to get him, and so he had walked home by himself, only to find his father and his older brother arguing behind the front door. The words said... they were the precursor of the bloodbath that would happen next.

 

--

 

“You let Sasuke do whatever he wants! Why can't I?!”

 

“Sasuke is not an excuse, Itachi. He's still a child—

 

“And what am I?”

 

--

 

“Is... is that why?” Sasuke finally said.

 

“Is what why?” questioned Itachi, though his face held a certain smugness. “Just what have you realized, foolish little brother?”

 

--

 

“You're the top student of the country! You want to keep that up, don't you?”

 

“I don't want that!”

 

“Then what do you want, Itachi?”

 

“What I can't have...”

 

--

 

“That's why you killed them?!” Sasuke leapt forward at his brother, forcing Itachi against the wall harshly. “That's why you fucking killed them, you fucking bastard?!”

 

Itachi held off his brother's hands by the wrists, gripping them so hard his purple-painted nails dug into the skin. His look had turned into a glare all too familiar to Sasuke; the younger Uchiha had performed that same glare many, many times before.

 

“Pray tell, brother,” Itachi stated, “what the hell are you talking about, exactly?”

 

Sasuke fought harder against Itachi as he spoke, replying, “Just because you couldn't do what you wanted?! Everyone has their problems... everyone! Yours are no more special than anyone else's...!!”

 

“Tch, is that all?” Itachi's hold on Sasuke tightened painfully for the younger sibling. Still, Sasuke did not back off from his brother. “I know that. I'm supposed to be talented when it comes to know things, aren't I? Fool...”

 

“Then why? Why are they gone?!”

 

Itachi smirked, thrusting Sasuke off of him, looking as though it wasn't such a great amount of effort in doing so. Sasuke hit the floor loudly, a sound sure to have been heard downstairs. “Because I was tired of them. And because I had to make a choice.”

 

“Choice....?” Sasuke repeated weakly, suddenly finding himself unable to get up. He stared blankly up at the white ceiling, wanting more than anything for Itachi to disappear into walls like a bad dream.

 

“They said either you or our parents,” Itachi said, hanging over Sasuke with his arms folded once more. “If I didn't choose, it would be both of you. And I didn't want to see you dead, Sasuke, so I did.”

 

“What...? Who made you choose?”

 

“Akatsuki.”

 

-

 

Haku gently turned the page of his paperback, only half as enthralled as he should've been by the book. The other half was much too busy think of other, more existent matters. He really had liked Sasuke, hadn't he? Not more so than Zabuza but... Haku had definitely learned to become fond of the Uchiha, despite all the trouble it seemed to have brought them both.

 

Hearing a sound coming down the sidewalk, Haku's heart felt like it sped up inside his chest. Who was he hoping it would be anyway? However, two voice other than anything familiar quickly quelled the fluttery feeling rising in him. Haku set his game face on, trying to look as involved in his reading as he could so as to not attract attention from the two strangers.

 

It worked, as a very small girl and her mother passed by him, though it hadn't made him invisible.

 

“That girl was pretty, Mommy,” the child said, her pitch making it apparent that she was unafraid of whether or not Haku would hear. “And she was reading.”

 

“She certainly was,” the girl's mother replied, but in a much quieter tone.

 

“If I read, will I be pretty, too?” the girl suddenly asked. Haku couldn't help but smile inwardly at the statement.

 

“You're already pretty, but reading wouldn't hurt,” the woman answered, as their footsteps faded. “Now come on.”

 

Haku looked up when the turned the corner of the sidewalk, catching the light pink of the young child's dress before it vanished. Taking a last look at the book in his hands, Haku abruptly stood and quickly followed after the girl and her mother.

 

“Excuse me,” he said from behind them, the woman and her child turning at the sound of his steps behind them. Standing over the girl, Haku smiled softly. She was only about a third of his height.

 

“Here,” he said, handing her the paperback in his hand, the small girl having to use two hands in order to hold it. “Do you know how to read yet?”

 

She shook her head in reply, her mother watching Haku in a perplexed state.

 

He patted the child's head. “Then make sure that's the first thing you read when you learn how.”

 

“Th-thank you...” she said, having just remembered her manners at her mother's prodding.

 

Haku smiled, before turning back around. A new warmth was now fitted in his chest, simply shielding the icy fact that he was leaving this place. However, the smile on Haku's face drifted off as quickly as it appeared once he came back to the metal bench he'd been seated on mere moments before.

 

“That was kind of you,” said Zabuza, lounged rather comfortably on the bench, as if he'd been waiting there the whole time.

 

Haku's expression stayed stoic as he replied, “Sure.” Despite Zabuza's sudden appearance, Haku sat on the side opposite of where Zabuza was, determined to ignore the man.

 

“Don't be that way,” came Zabuza's voice. When no answer was sounded, he continued, “You know the only reason why you came here was for me. And now I'm the reason, yet again, that you're leaving.” Haku could hear the smirk in his voice. “So don't pretend like you hate me or anything. I know you don't.”

 

“I do,” Haku stated, cringing away when Zabuza's hand strayed to his shoulder.

 

“You don't,” he repeated, playing nonchalantly with the ends of Haku's hair.

 

“I do. I hate you!” Haku restated, more persistently, knocking Zabuza's hand away. He glared at the man, warning him to try anything more. “I hate you so much!”

 

A minute of silence passed between them before Zabuza laughed. Haku's glare deepened, as he scooted further away from the one he was most fond of. He wanted so much to be near him, to tell him to stay with him like before but... Haku also wanted to know why Zabuza came so willingly to him again.

 

“You're hilarious, Haku,” Zabuza finally said, watching Haku's movements with little wonder. He was quite predictable to the man, trying to seem hard-to-get. “But I'm not so easy to fool like that Uchiha boy.”

 

Haku winced visibly at the sound of Sasuke's last name.

 

“Want to know a secret?” Zabuza questioned, quirking a brow. Haku didn't reply, though the wary look in his eyes was all Zabuza needed to go on. “It seems you and Gaara weren't the first fools to try and get into Uchiha-kun's pants,” he mocked the name he'd heard Haku call Sasuke. “No... it seems his brother wanted a piece of him too.” Zabuza's eyes narrowed. “Isn't that nice to hear? Even his own brother is lusting after him. I guess I can't blame you then, huh, for falling under the kid's charms.”

 

“Shut up!” Haku finally cried, standing. Zabuza followed suit, though in a more languid motion. The steam left Haku as Zabuza walked towards him, his words sounding more and more timid the less space there was between them. “You... you don't talk about Sasuke like that...”

 

“I can talk however I want.” He ran a hand through Haku's hair again, before resting it on the teen's shoulder and bringing him closer. “...right, Haku?”

 

“....” Haku stalled replying, knowing what his answer would be. As much as he wanted to fight it, as much as Haku wanted to kick, scream, and bite... he couldn't. “R... right.”

 

-

 

After notes: See? Sorry little chapter, huh? -sniffsob- I sort of just posted this to show you guys I'm still alive! u.u;;; Really, this is only about half of what was supposed to go up... murrr. If you're still interested in more, review. If not.... ehhhh.... -pout- I suppose I couldn't blame yah.