Friday, April 13, 2007

My Fanfiction Separation - ItaSasu - {Arc 1 Prologue and Chapter 1}
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto...or...something about Itachi would have happened in the new manga this week.

Separation –ItaSasu- Prologue

Uchiha Itachi, the ANBU squad leader, just came home, fatigued. He could hear own heart beating from weariness as he stumbled into the house. Unlike Sasuke, he didn’t announce his arrival. For now, nothing really mattered except finding a nice, cozy bed to rest in.

Oh, how the silence should have lasted.

There were loud voices coming from a certain room in the house, and it was disrupting all peacefulness. Itachi scowled at nothing as he staged over to the door of the room, noting that it was his two parents that were arguing. He wasn’t exactly paying attention to what the arguement was about until...

“How could you do that? Do you realize that you are pressuring the both of them?” Mikoto’s voice rang in Itachi’s ears. There she was, always standing up for the good of the children.

“Sasuke is useless as he is.” That was Fugaku’s blunt reply. Itachi frowned, but pushed all thoughts of busting in there and joining in the dispute away. It was then when his little brother – Sasuke – decided to get out of bed and observe the row, too.

“Sasuke, shouldn’t you be in bed,” Itachi muttered, not glancing at his younger brother. Sasuke shrugged as an answer, and stood beside him, biting his lip at ever insult Fugaku said about him. Itachi watched Sasuke with growing worries. “Sasuke…you should go to bed.”

“Iiya, I don’t feel like it. I’m not sleepy anyway,” Sasuke replied. Itachi was tempted to retort, but he held back that feeling of rudeness. “Why are you listening in? Haven’t you heard them fight before?”

Sasuke’s question made Itachi jolt up for some reason. “I never really did hear them before… They probably only do so when I’m at ANBU…” Itachi hated to mention ANBU. Sasuke seemed to hate him for always leaving him because of that elite thing.

“Doesn’t matter,” Sasuke shrugged again. Right at that moment, there was silence. The two brothers saw their parents walk away from each other, and Mikoto opened the door.

They instantly took normal positions, trying to look inconspicuous. “Kaa-san,” Sasuke mumbled an obvious worried look on his face.

“Why are you up Sasuke?” Mikoto questioned. Sasuke replied with another shrug. “Go to sleep,” Mikoto concluded, walking away.

“Hai,” Sasuke mumbled again. He turned to his brother, and opened his mouth to say something. He closed it and walked away. Itachi watched his brother as he disappeared behind his bedroom door.

“Sasuke-” Itachi knew what Sasuke was going to say to him.

Nii-san, can you help me with training tomorrow?

Itachi had another important mission tomorrow and Sasuke probably figured that out because of the past let-downs.

Gomen…I should have spent more time with you.

Morning, at breakfast.

“Ohayo...” Sasuke said with a grin on his face as he sat down for breakfast.

“Ohayo, Sasuke,” Mikoto was the only one who answered him, and Sasuke nodded at his mother.

Sasuke noted the disturbing silence that had settled on the family. “Itadakimasu,” Sasuke muttered to himself. It was only after that when Mikoto finally spoke up.

“Fugaku, I suspect you already know this, but its over- I’m filing for a divorce.”

“Nani?” Itachi and Sasuke both said at the same time. Sasuke knew this was coming, though- let’s just say that it was a premonition that Mikoto and Fugaku couldn’t keep their relationship on good terms.

“You can do what you want…But I’m taking Sasuke. He doesn’t belong with you,” Mikoto quietly said. Fugaku didn’t have a surprised expression at all- he looked like he was about to say the same thing.

“Fine, but, Itachi will stay with me.”

Sasuke felt a pit grow in his heart. It was a black hole that was sucking up his brother away. He felt Itachi’s eyes upon him. “Sasuke,” he heard him say with concern.

Sasuke put on an act and stuck to it for the moment, trying to look strong. “It’s alright…I have to go to the academy right now, so…”

Itachi watched him solemnly as he walked away.

Gomen...

~~~~~~~~~

Chapter One – News –

Why?

Sasuke wondered as he was sitting on the wooden dock - the one where he finally mastered Katon: Goukakyuu No Jutsu (Fire Style: Grand Fireball Technique). The news of the divorce still haunted him throughout the school day, like a ghost who wished to scare him away. There was only one spark of hope - they would be still staying in one village.

Sasuke flinched when he heard footsteps behind him. He tried to stay calm when he found that it was his brother who settled down next to him. “Sasuke,” He quietly said to him.

“Nii-san…I don’t want you to go,” Sasuke whined as if he was a three-year-old. Itachi gave him a glance filled with worry, which indicated that he felt the same way. Sasuke sighed. “I just don’t want to be separated from you…You’re the only one who really ever paid attention to me…other than Kaa-san…”

Itachi gave his little brother a blank stare this time. Obviously, Itachi didn’t under stand Sasuke’s sentiments. “Look, Sasuke,” Itachi said after a long silence. “I know how you feel…and I don’t want to be stuck with chichioya.” Sasuke grinned at the remark- no one really ‘liked’ Fugaku anymore. “But…it’s a change that we both have to deal with.

“And, I really hate to be the bearer of bad news, but,” Itachi continued, hesitance written all over his face. “It turns out Mikoto is planning to move out of Konohagakure.” Sasuke opened his mouth to ask for the reason, but Itachi was already ahead of him. “I don’t know the details, nor will she tell me.”

“I don’t want to go!” Sasuke cried, tears breaking out as he hugged his older brother close. Itachi stroked his younger brother’s hair gently, whispering words of comfort into his ear. Itachi’s expression remained impassive, but there were apparent hints of sadness on his face.

For what seemed like an eternity they stayed there- only staying on one each other’s world. Sasuke’s tears slowly stopped until they were only sitting on the dock, locked in each others’ embrace.

“Nii-san, do you really have to…do we really have to…?” Sasuke sniffed. Itachi didn’t reply for a while.

“I…I have to go, Sasuke. I’ll see you later, okay?” Itachi said to Sasuke. Sasuke’s tears came again when Itachi said that. Itachi gently smiled at his younger brother as he stood up, leaving him alone again on the dock. Sasuke hugged his knees close to his chest, trying to end the pain that was growing at his heart.

For some reason, whenever Itachi was around, Sasuke felt some ‘warmth’. He sighed, knowing that there wasn’t really anything he could do about it.

Or was there?

Sasuke strolled back home, not wanting to come face-to-face with his father. Though he never really ‘liked’ his dad, now his mother didn’t seem any better…Sasuke thought she knew that he always admired his older brother, and now she wants to separate them?

~

“Kaa-san,” Sasuke muttered, walking into the kitchen.

“What is it?” Mikoto asked, hovering beside the stove.

Sasuke avoided his mother’s gaze and said, “Why are you and Tou-san divorcing? I thought things were fine the way they were…”

Mikoto sighed and turned back to the stove. “Sasuke, I’ve had it with your father…it’s like he doesn’t care about me or you…But I’m sure Itachi will survive with him. Besides, he is supposed to take your father’s place as the head of the clan when he gets older.”

“Then what’s going to happen to me? I always wanted to become a shinobi- are you just going to take that away from me?” Sasuke demanded his fist clenching. He never before got that angry at his mother.

“I’m sorry, Sasuke,” Mikoto gently said, though she didn’t turn to look at him. “It’s hard for me, too, but I think that a different environment would be good for you…that is all.” Sasuke was about to protest, but he kept his mouth shut.

“It’s more like you care more about yourself,” Sasuke mumbled. The young Uchiha walked out of the room before his mother could speak the truth.

“I’m so sorry, Sasuke,” Mikoto choked, tears rolling down her cheeks. “I just hate this desolate life of a shinobi…”

~

“Chichioya,” Itachi muttered, finding his father. Fugaku was home early from work that day. Fugaku nodded his head at Itachi and the young prodigy spoke. “Why are you divorcing with mother?”


“I didn’t divorce with her, she’s the one who filed it against me,” Fugaku replied frankly. “I really don’t have any objections to that.”

Itachi’s eyes narrowed. “Why not?”

Fugaku just sighed. “I guess I’ve had it with her, and your little brother.” Itachi frowned, crossing his arms. He couldn’t care less about his mother, but Sasuke…for some reason felt important to him. It was a feeling that he couldn’t explain.

“You have…?” Itachi muttered quietly. Fugaku glanced at him with a stern look on his face. “When will Mikoto move away?”

“In a month.”

A month? That’s…Itachi sighed, hiding his emotions as swiftly as they appeared. “Why are you interested?” his father’s question caught the young prodigy off guard. Itachi shrugged.

“Just…these kinds of things don’t come normally don’t they…?” Fugaku scowled at Itachi. The thirteen-year-old boy did have trouble with these so called ‘emotions’. He always questioned them as if they were math problems, and that was probably why he usually kept an impassive look to him.

“No,” Fugaku simply replied. Itachi shrugged again, tempted to move away.

“When I grow older…I’m going to take over the clan in your place?” Itachi asked, although both already knew the obvious answer. Fugaku nodded, and then he told Itachi to go away. Itachi reluctantly obeyed, walking away.

Sasuke…I’m afraid that I can’t fulfill my promise to you. There’s nothing we can do.

~

Sasuke banged his hand on the alarm clock on his bedside table. His mother told him before he went to sleep to inform the teachers in the academy that he was going to move away. Iruka-sensei (I don’t care if Iruka isn’t their teacher or not, but just stick with it) would probably hold a good-bye party on his last day, but it wasn’t like any of the classmates cared. He was just Uchiha Itachi’s younger brother.

“Ohayo,” Sasuke muttered as he plopped down to eat. This time none of the family members replied back execpt for a quiet, ‘Ohayo’. The young Uchiha looked up and his eyes met with a just-woken up older brother. Sasuke nodded at his brother as Itachi sat down across from him.

“Itadakimasu,” Sasuke whispered to himself as he picked up his chopsticks and began eating silently. He could feel his brother’s eyes upon him again, so Sasuke tried his best to try and ignore him.

Mikoto handed Sasuke his bento box when he finished up his breakfast. Fugaku had already left and Itachi was in his room packing up his ANBU things. Sasuke picked up his bag for the academy and walked out of the door. “Itekimasu.” he said aloud.

Walking away from the Uchiha household he awkwardly ambled past his other Uchiha relatives and followed his regular path to the academy. He entered his classroom in his usual seat, waiting for Iruka-sensei to come. When the peppy chuunin entered, he slowly sauntered over to him, trying to look as inconspicuous as he could. “Iruka-sensei, my mom told me to tell you that I’m moving next month…so…” Sasuke almost inaudibly said to the chuunin.

Iruka-sensei gave Sasuke one of his stern, gentle gazes. “So, this will be your last month in Konoha? Do you know why?”

Sasuke was surprised at the man’s inquery. Iruke didn’t usually butt into people’s personal lives. “I…My mom said that it would be ‘good for me’…but I’m not sure.” Iruka-sensei nodded at the young Uchiha.

“Hai, hai. Would it be okay with you if I told the class?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Sasuke timidly murmured. Iruka nodded and announced the news to the class. Some seemed surprised, others seemed like they could care less.

“How troublesome…” the boy named Shikamaru groaned lazily. “Now I can’t be in his group and let him do all the work for me…”

“Ne, Shikamaru…did you want to be in my group, too?” Chouji asked the deer boy.

Shikamaru shrugged. “Well, yeah, it would make my life so much easier.”

Sasuke eyed his amazed classmates. He scowled like his older brother at him, trying to act like Itachi as much as possible. Nii-san, why can’t I be like you? You’re so perfect, and everyone looks up to you…like I do…

~

“Ugh,” Itachi muttered, meeting up with his ANBU group. They had just been briefed on their mission - it was just to find this rogue ninja and bring him back or kill him…anything was fine, just bring him back, dead or alive.

“Itachi-san, you’re acting…more animated,” one of his ANBU members blinked at him. He was at least seven years older that his captain. (I’ll just name him Yoshito, because he’ll talk a little more later on…)

“Shut up…” Itachi simply replied. The other two other shinobi and one kunoichi glance at each other worriedly. He never really replied to Yoshito, no matter what the older shinobi said.

“Itachi-san, are you sure you’re alright?” Yoshito pushed on. The concerned elder shinobi was like Naruto in a way- only the fact that he was the ‘whoever abandons their teammate is even worse scum’ type (Not that I have anything against that, I think it’s a great thing).

“Yeah, let’s just go,” Itachi muttered. They no longer pursued the topic and went on with the mission. While they were following the rogue ninja’s trail, the prodigy’s mind wandered away.

Sasuke…I really wish that I could spend more time with you.

~
Hope you enjoyed...Well, I wrote this some time ago, and there's three arcs in all. The second one is by far my favorite, though. All three of the arcs should be at least five chapters, but the last one might be more or less.

Anyway, in shinobilegends I shall soon be Genin!!! YAY!!!

FOOFY!!! Foofy gone...

~MeikoUchiha >/.\<

(=^.^= My new Naruto face!!!)
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