Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Prodigy ❯ A Past Better Left Buried ( Chapter 25 )

The Prodigy

Chapter 25

A Past Better Left Buried

 

 

It had been two weekends since Sasuke had left Itachi. He had stayed with Kiba the whole time. At first, he was okay, keeping himself preoccupied with anything he could think of, but of the late things were starting to get bad. He found himself snapping at Kiba and yelling at Shikamaru. He didn't want to move from the couch and he refused to eat. What he did manage to put in his stomach, seem to come back up an hour later. Even if his mind wasn't dwelling on Itachi, his body was.

 

He felt sorry for his friends and having to deal with his attitude but he couldn't seem to bring himself to stop being a whinny little bitch. All he knew is he needed to get Itachi in a position where the man was forced to listen to him. This unresolved matter hanging over both their heads needed to conclude, before it destroyed him all together.

 

The front door opened and Kiba came walking in with some groceries, Akamaru close on his heels. Sasuke pretended to ignore him but the tension was thick in the room. It had been this way for two days now and Sasuke knew Kiba was on his last straw. Sasuke couldn't bring himself to care though. He was so tired of dealing with issues that he just didn't care if Kiba was going to explode or not.

 

“I brought home some doughnuts, if you would like some Sasuke.”

 

“I hate sweets.” Came Sasuke's stark reply.

 

Kiba turned to glare at him and placed the doughnuts on the table. Sasuke just watched him with indifference. It seemed like neither boy was going to budge from the staring contest that had begun between them. Akamaru whimpered from behind Kiba, feeling the animosity rising in the room.

 

“This pity party you've been throwing for yourself ends now. Either you get off your ass track Itachi down and talk to him or you get the fuck out of my house, go home and explain to your parents why you aren't with Itachi.” Kiba stated with no room left for arguments.

 

Sasuke was a little surprised to say the least. That wasn't exactly the reaction he had expected. He was waiting for Kiba to yell at him, call him a few colorful words, maybe even hit him, but not this. The guy didn't even lose his cool. He just stated the facts and left Sasuke to decide his own fate.

 

“Fine, I'll leave.” Sasuke snapped, grabbing his bag that was sitting next to the couch as he rose to his feet.

 

“Why do you have to be so goddamn stubborn, Sasuke? How hard is it to admit to your brother that you made a mistake and you're sorry?” Kiba growled.

 

“You don't even know the half of it Kiba, so shut the fuck up.” Sasuke fired back as the memory slid over him. “I may have made out with a guy and Itachi caught me, but you have no idea what he did to me.”

 

“You're right, I don't Sasuke. But you know your brother isn't the type to come to you so are you going to be as prideful as him and let it end like this?”

 

“Yes!”

 

“Fine! Whatever! Leave I don't fucking care, but know this Sasuke, the choices you make now will forever be the ones you are stuck with. Do you really want to live with the regret of knowing you were too much of a stuck up ass to go to your brother?”

 

Sasuke chose to ignore that as he slipped his shoes on, pushing the door open and slamming it shut on his way out. He was so pissed that Kiba would even suggest such a thing. Why did it feel like the whole world was out to get him? Why couldn't he find some one who could understand what he was going through and feeling over this fucked up situation?

 

He headed out of the dorms and into the slightly drizzling dusk. He didn't worry about anyone catching him. He just didn't care anymore. All he wanted to do was curl up in a corner and die. He didn't care if his parent's found out. He didn't care if he ran into one of his teachers who would most likely drag him back to his parents and most of all he didn't care if Itachi burned in hell for the rest of his life.

 

“Well, what do we have here?” Came a deep slightly disturbing voice.

 

Sasuke lifted his head, not realizing he had it down while he was walking. Way to appear emo, he snapped to himself as he met bright yellow eyes of the person who had spoke. He almost cringed at the blatant hungry look on the man's pale face.

 

“You look a lot like Itachi Uchiha. Are you related?” The man asked with a purr that make Sasuke want to puke.

 

“Yes, what's it to you?”

 

“I was just curious, because I happen to be a close friend with your brother.” The way the man said the word `close' perked Sasuke's interest and he found himself not being able to stop his curiosity.

 

“Who are you?” The smile that spread across the man's thin lips made Sasuke's blood run cold.

 

“Orochimaru.” Sasuke took a step back without realizing it.

 

What was the weird feeling Sasuke was getting in his gut? He couldn't place it, but something inside him was telling him he needed to get away from this man. That Orochimaru was the last person he needed to avoid being alone with. Still he didn't heed the warning. He was too stubborn.

 

“You're the guy my brother is going up against in the finals.” It wasn't a question.

 

Orochimaru's eyes seemed to narrow on him as a lecherous smile appeared on the pale man's face. He stepped closer to Sasuke as he raised a hand lightly touching the wet strands of his hair. He fought down a shiver of repulsion as he watched the man with guarded eyes.

 

“So you're brother had exposed you to his club huh? Well I'm surprised I figured after Shisui that he wouldn't let any more of his family know about the club?” Sasuke's skin crawled at the name of his cousin.

 

“What do you know of Shisui?” Ssauke hissed.

 

“I know a lot of things about him. I was really close with him at the time, but not as close as I was to Itachi.” Jealousy slammed into Sasuke full forced that he couldn't hold back the gasp.

 

“What do you mean?” Orochimaru offered him a knowing smile as he leaned down so his lips brushed against the shell of the boy's ear.

 

“Wouldn't you like to know?” He purred, and then pulled away. “I really don't have time to chat right now. I'm actually heading off to your brother's club. I want to see how things are progressing before finals are held.” Orochimaru turned to walk away with a wave of his hand.

 

“Wait!” Sasuke called running to catch up with the man. “What do I have to do to get you to tell me?” A victorious smile slid over his face as he stared at the young boy.

 

“Come with me to the club tonight… As my pet.” Sasuke paled visibly and stood there numbly.

 

He couldn't do that. Itachi was already pissed at him for cheating so if his brother saw him at the club with Orochimaru he'd blow a gasket. Sasuke didn't want to have to be touched by the mysterious man that seemed to know too much about both Itachi and Shisui, which made him slightly sick to his stomach. On the other hand, he would get to learn all the things about Itachi that he had never known and he could find out how his brother was when with Shisui. In addition, Orochimaru's earlier comment was crawling under his skin. Just what was Orochimaru to Itachi? The one time this man was mentioned Itachi had been almost pissed. So why was this man telling Sasuke something differently.

 

“Okay.” He knew he was going to regret this, but his curiosity was too much for him.

 

The smile that spread across Orochimaru's face was his first sign that he had made a terrible decision. His second was when the man reached inside his jacket and pulled out a collar with a leash already attached to it. He placed it around Sasuke's neck before he could react. His only thought was… Itachi's going to murder me.

 

 

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Itachi had been at the restaurant all day, but he had been working downstairs with Pein, Kisame, and Sasori trying to get things ready for the finals coming up next weekend. He had planned to work on the days decorating the club and the spending the nights of the weekend enjoying the company. He had been impressed when Sasori had handed him a theme for the finals and he decided that they needed something new.

 

He was deliciously preoccupied and hadn't had much time to think of anything, but he could still feel the emptiness growing within him each passing day. He knew it was getting worse too. Especially since, he had randomly punched some guy in the face who had only bumped into him on accident. Deidara had been teasing about the colors that Sasori had picked out for the theme. He said how they had reminded him of the color of a calico cat and Itachi slammed him up against the wall threaten him. Sasori and Kisame both had to drag him off and forced him to go outside, getting some fresh air.

 

He knew he was riding on his last leg. Almost everything reminded him about Sasuke and he was starting to attack people because of it. He wasn't sleep very well at all, not being able to shut his mind off. When he finally did fall asleep from over exhaustion, it took him forever to actually get out of bed. He had dark circles under his eyes and he had lost about five pounds since Sasuke left. He wasn't doing well physically or mentally.

 

Itachi heard his name called from up the stairs and turned to see Genma waving him up. He excused himself and went to see what the older man needed. He climbed the stairs, glancing at the clock on the way up. It was already nine. That meant Genma was closing the restaurant down. They always opened the club up at ten on Friday, then around six on Saturday and Sundays.

 

Itachi reached the top of the stairs and turned the corner heading into the lobby area. Genma was standing by the register talking to one of the servers. When Itachi stopped next to him, Genma turned to face him. He could see the man looked slightly concerned. Itachi's eyes narrowed.

 

“What's going on?” Itachi asked in a hard voice.

 

“Your parents called looking to talk to you tonight. They wanted to know how Sasuke was doing.” Itachi cursed.

 

He stormed out of the lobby walking to the back office. Genma followed. He knew this would be the result of telling Itachi the news. As soon as Itachi was in the office, he was throwing things and cursing his baby brother, literally going insane. Genma was struck speechless as he stared on to the scene in front of him. Itachi looked livid, but there was something else there that only Genma or someone else close to Itachi would notice. Itachi was trembling slightly and it wasn't from anger, because the man always had a tight hold over it. This was different. This was like Itachi didn't know what to do with him, like he was feeling some unknown emotion that he had never experienced.

 

“What is that little shit thinking? Where the hell could he be?” Itachi growled out as he fell to his chair looking exhausted and strung out.

 

He let his head fall against the back of the office chair, hair cascading down around him, having long ago fell loose of the hair tie in his emotional out burst. He looked almost defeated that Genma felt sorry for him. Itachi actually looked his age instead of the older persona he seemed to carry around himself. Genma found that he was hurting, because Itachi was so confused over the whole thing.

 

“I'm sure he's fine. He's probably just stay with a close friend because he doesn't want to face his family. You know your parents would hound him with questions.” Genma tried to reassure.

 

Itachi knew he was probably right, but that didn't stop him from worrying. Anything could happen to Sasuke and if it did, he would feel responsible for it. He just didn't want that to happen. Yeah, he was mad at Sasuke. Yeah, he was hurt over the things that happened. Yeah, he really did feel like strangling his brother, but that was his job, no one else would get that privilege.

 

He leaned forward and placed his elbows on his knees supporting his face in the palms of his hands as he stared down at his feet. Why did he feel so uneasy? Why was something tell him deep down inside that something bad was about to happen? He never cared much for his intuition and never really felt the need to follow it, but it had never hit him this strongly before.

 

Something was going to happen soon and he had a feeling Sasuke was going to be right smack dab in the middle of it. Itachi felt an overwhelming urge to protect his brother no matter what the cost. Even if it was his life on the line, but he couldn't do that if he couldn't find the boy. He growled and pushed himself up off his chair, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket as he did so.

 

He pressed one on his speed dial on his phone and paced the room as he waited for his brother to pick the phone up. There was a loud beep and then a message error. `We're sorry to inform you that this person is not accepting calls at this time. Thank you.' Itachi cursed again as he snapped his phone closed and tossed it on top of his desk. What was going on? He was really starting to panic, but he forced it down so not to lose his cold exterior. That didn't stop the way he felt though.

 

“It's almost time for the club to open. Let's get things set up.” Itachi snapped as he walked out of the room, leaving his cell where he had tossed it.

 

Genma followed the younger Uchiha, but he was concerned. Itachi wasn't doing well at all. Sasuke needed to come back soon or Itachi was really going to lose it and then everyone would be in a load of shit. Itachi was already heading down the stairs, when Genma entered the lobby. He decided that he would greet the guests considering Itachi was in no mood to do it.

 

He nodded his head to the bouncer and the doors opened, people flood in excited for what the night was to bring. Genma putting on his most flirtatious smile and played the good host. Neji came up giving him a hug and a small kiss on the cheek. Gaara just nodded his head in greeting.

 

“Where's The Prodigy?” Neji asked over the now pounding music blaring from down stairs.

 

“Hopefully not getting wasted down stairs.” Genma answered.

 

“Still in that mood?” Neji made a face.

 

“Worse then normal.”

 

“Great another boring, uneventful night with the great Uchiha.” Neji said sarcastically and headed down the stairs with his boyfriend in toll.

 

They came up to the group that was always huddled around the Prodigy chair. Itachi was indeed drinking and watching the people filter through with an uninterested expression. Neji sashayed his way over to his Master and fell to his knees, nuzzling his face on the front of Itachi's pants trying to get some kind of response from him.

 

“Not now, Koboshi.” Itachi growled pushing his pet away.

 

Neji glared at the Prodigy but sat in his designated place and kept quiet. He was really getting sick of the way Itachi had been lately. This Itachi was no fun when it came to club nights. He crossed his arms trying to avoid all curious stares. It was apparent that people knew that something was going on.

 

Itachi was oblivious to everything around him. He was too caught up in the thoughts of his brother. He was really worried and that was saying something because the man never let the petty things get to him, but lately he has been realizing that Sasuke wasn't as petty as he first would have wanted himself to believe.

 

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Genma pushing through people trying to get to him. This caught his attention as he sat up straighter and took in the man's almost panicked expression. That worried him. Genma was always laid back so for him to look so distraught there must have been something serious happening. He rose to his feet and was about to move to meet the man, when he was stopped by a voice that he dreaded.

 

“Good evening, Prodigy. You look like you are doing well.”

 

He spun around to see Orochimaru standing in front of him. He fought down his initial reaction, which was to rush forward and deck the man he hated more then anything in the whole world. He hoped to god his face hadn't paled at the man's sudden appearance.

 

“Orochimaru, what I surprise. I hadn't expected you here so early.” Itachi tried to keep the anger out of his voice.

 

“Well, I thought I would come and see how preparations were going. Plus, I wanted to see you.” The implication was so blatant that Itachi thought he was going to hurl.

 

Orochimaru just smiled that knowing smile and tugged hard on the leash he was holding. This in turn caused the one on the end to come into full view and Itachi did pale at this. Everyone around him fell into a dead silence. Sasuke stared up at his brother with a light blush on his cheeks and a look of fright.

 

Itachi took in the sight. His heart tearing to pieces in his chest. His brother was wear leather purple hot pants and black kitty ears complete with a tail, boots, and mittens that were cat paws. He almost fell to his knees from the pain that washed over him in overwhelming waves. How did Orochimaru know about Sasuke's club name? Moreover, what was Sasuke doing with his archenemy? What was the boy thinking? Was he trying to destroy him? If he was, it was working. Hitachi had never felt so completely helpless and hurt in his life. Only Sasuke could do this to him. Only Sasuke could make him fall to pieces in front of everyone and fall to pieces he did.

 

He turned furious Sharingan eyes to the snake known as Orochimaru and balled his hands into tight fists as he took in the shit-eating grin that was plastered on his enemy's face. Orochimaru had known about his feelings for Sasuke. Still, Itachi didn't know how, but now it didn't matter.

 

“What the hell is this?” Itachi hissed as he held on tight to the last strand of his sanity that was slowly but surely slipping past his reach.

 

“I wanted to introduce you to my newest pet.” Orochimaru was trying to antagonize him and he knew it but he couldn't seem to stop himself from falling into it.

 

“The fuck if he is. You took away one of the most important things in my life once. I'll not let you do it again.”

 

 

 

TBC….