Thursday, April 19, 2007

Ah...well...

Chapter Five – Running –

I always have this premonition that I was going to lose something.

~The Place Promised To Us In Our Early Days.



The sun was barely rising as the alarm clock of Uchiha Itachi rang through the air. Itachi, out of anger and frustration of being awakened so early in the morning, practically destroyed the machinery by banging his hand impatiently on it. “Damn,” he muttered to himself when someone began to bang on his door. Itachi groaned, not exactly a morning person. The real morning person was…well, Sasuke.

“Itachi, get up! I just received news that your ANBU squad is being dispatched early for an important mission!” Fugaku’s annoying voice now disturbed the usual peaceful quietness in the Uchiha house.

Itachi said nothing in reply, but sat up and got ready. All his regular ANBU supplies were already sitting in a bag near his bed. Itachi casually walked out of the his bedroom, glancing at Sasuke’s room that was directly across from his. He walked over, and snuck a glance into his younger brother’s room, and gently smiled to himself, Sasuke still sleeping peacefully on his bed.

Itachi shrugged off the feeling that something bad was going to happen, and continued to walk off. Mikoto had the warm breakfast lying on the table, but Itachi didn’t even glance at the food. He wasn’t hungry. Not today, for some reason. He refused to even look at his mother – it was her fault that Sasuke was miserable.

Fugaku was staring at him like he expected him to sit down and eat, or break out in laughter, but Itachi didn’t. He ignored his two so called ‘parents’ and impassively walked out the door, hoping Sasuke wasn’t upset that he left the house so early. Itachi heard Fugaku and Mikoto quietly speaking to each other, trying to keep off the verge of arguing. Mikoto was saying something about Sasuke not going to the academy anymore. Fugaku was just listening.

Itachi knew that the fact of Sasuke not going to the ninja academy would break his heart, but he expected that his younger brother already knew that. Because Mikoto was going to a regular non-shinobi village, Sasuke wouldn’t have a chance in the ninja career. It was too bad because the younger Uchiha was for once rapidly improving.

The ANBU squad leader Uchiha shook his head, taking off for the meeting area of his ANBU squad.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

The coast is clear, he thought, as he grabbed his things and jumped out the window. The two adults in the house were too immersed in their conversation that he could stealthily sneak away. No one would notice him.

No one would care.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Orochimaru was on the move that was what Sandaime Hokage-sama had said. It was up to their ANBU squad to just find out what he was up to. Why a thirteen-year-old’s squad, no one knew, but the Hokage simply said that he felt that Itachi would be capable enough to get the information and get out of there without anyone getting hurt.

Still, the reason the Hokage was sending them out with this mission was because they weren’t certain of Orochimaru’s plans. Itachi heard about this Legendary Sannin, knowing that he betrayed Konoha, trying to find key to immortality and to learn every jutsu in the universe.

The squad was setting out, Yoshiro staring at him with his usual worried look. Itachi still had that premonition that he was going to lose something. He just couldn’t put his finger on what it was. “Stop,” Itachi commanded. The other three members of the ANBU squad immediately halted, their gazes on their leader, awaiting orders.

“What is it?” asked Yoshiro quietly when Itachi stayed silent for a while. Itachi seemed to break out of his trance and nod.

“Ah…uh, nothing,” Itachi murmured, shrugging indifferently. Yoshiro nodded and followed his leader, exchanging anxious glance with his fellow teammates. After a long silence of jumping from tree to tree, Yoshiro spoke up, concern filling his voice.

“Are you sure you’re okay? You’re still acting kind of…upset and…” Yoshiro earned an irritated glare from his leader and he didn’t say anymore. Itachi sighed, staring out into the distance in front of him. “Well, just tell me, are you alright?”

“Yes!” Itachi growled in agitation. Yoshiro seemed taken aback, but didn’t say more for another long while. It was then when Itachi paused, a sinking feeling somehow engulfing him. Something was going on. He just had to figure out what. He slowly turned around, facing his ANBU squad. Yoshiro opened his mouth to ask him what was wrong, until he saw his leader pull out his sword, pointing it directly towards him. “I do not want to kill you. Just leave me alone and you will all get out of this alive.”

“N-Nani?” the three other ANBU Black Ops ninja gasped. “What’s going on?” Yoshiro stood up for the other two ANBU shinobi. “Why are you turning against us all of a sudden?”

Itachi felt like just running over and separating their heads from the rest of their bodies, but he held the impulse back. He had more important things to do. Itachi just stood there, staring at them in the eye for a moment. He had another impulse to use his newly earned Mangekyo Sharingan, but he again resisted. Finally, he mustered up all the courage – and the thought of being a probably criminal – he took off, leaving his teammates confused.

Right when Itachi thought he could get away from Yoshiro and the others without rousing up a fight, he heard them yelling behind him and dashing after him. It turned out that Yoshiro was the only one that was following him while the other two went out to alert the Hokage. “Itachi-san! Stop!” Yoshiro yelled at him. Itachi closed his ears to him, his heart intent on finding whatever was missing.

He now had an idea of what was going on. Itachi had did not know if this feeling was true. Itachi had that premonition…that the thing he was going to lose was nearby, he could feel it. He could sense its presence. If only he knew what it was. Ahead of him, he heard a rustle of leaves, and Itachi felt a surge of excitement. It was now, or never. He had to find that source.

Itachi glared behind him, Yoshiro still persistently following. Even though Yoshiro had been a shinobi for a far longer time than the Uchiha, he wasn’t faster. Itachi also had his highly developed Sharingan, which predicted Yoshiro’s movements. He looked back ahead of him, his eyes now set on that bush that rustled only a few seconds ago.

He spotted something. Raven hair, appearing behind that bush. Itachi fully recognized that hair – it slightly spiked up at the back, making an abnormal hairstyle. “S…Sasuke?” Itachi whispered to himself. He completely forgot about the ANBU ninja trailing behind him. He had a sinking feeling inside himself. Why was Sasuke away from home? Fugaku and Mikoto weren’t around, but he had a bag that looked like it was packed with clothes. He was now convinced that Sasuke was indeed running away – and that his premonition of losing something was focused on him.

“Sasuke!” Itachi yelled, but the yell didn’t come out that way. It was more of an uttered murmur to yourself. His fist clenched around the sword, but as he did so he realized that he would probably look like a threat: dashing towards someone with a sword in hand. Itachi swiftly sheathed the sword.

The raven-haired boy was only a few yards away, Itachi’s eyes entirely focused on Sasuke. Yoshiro was right behind him by now. The Uchiha turned around and glared at the ANBU member. “Go away,” he hissed more menacingly than he meant to. He had to make this quick; Sasuke might’ve gotten away.

“Itachi-san, please, reconsider!” Yoshiro barked. “We do not want you to get hurt or anything…so please, come back to Konoha, now!”

There they go again, treating me like a little kid,

Itachi thought irritably. “I don’t care! Leave me alone!” Yoshiro opened his mouth to say more, but Itachi lost his control – that shinobi got on his nerves a little too much. Itachi decided that it was time to test out his Mangekyo Sharingan. “Mangekyou Sharingan!” Itachi muttered. It was too late for Yoshiro. He had glanced at his former leader’s eyes a little too long. It was only a moment until he began to scream as loud as he could. The angry Uchiha began to fear that Sasuke would hear the cries of the ANBU member, and turned on his heel, much to his relief to find that Sasuke was still there, not noticing him at all, but covering his ears, huddled against a tree.

The older Uchiha dashed over as quietly as he could, but not silent. Sasuke jerked up at the sound of Itachi moving through the thick bushes, and stood up. The younger Uchiha started darting away, but Itachi was faster. The Uchiha possessing the Mangekyo now heard other Konoha ninja behind him. He turned around again for a brief moment, using the Tsukiyomi again to stop them. Itachi turned once more, rushing towards his oblivious younger brother. It was silent now, except for the fatigued heavy breathing of both Uchihas in the forest.

Sasuke! Was what Itachi wished to call out. He opened his mouth to cry out his younger brother’s name, but nothing came out. Never before had he felt like this…it felt like he was chasing his life, his hope of summoning up all the might to live. It seemed like it was slipping away. Itachi never had felt so weary before, so weary, in fact, that he might just pass out right there and right now.

That sight of Sasuke kept him going.

Itachi wanted to cry out Sasuke’s name, but still, nothing would escape his lips. The raven-haired Uchiha ahead of him seemed to have endless endurance. It was either that, or both Uchihas’ exhaustion was wearing down at the same rate that both of them weren’t advancing or avoiding each other.

Finally, Sasuke just…stopped. He stopped and seemed to be gasping intensely for breath. He was leaning against a tree, clutching his stomach. Sasuke was apparently experiencing the feeling of running too much than usual. Itachi sighed a sigh of relief, overjoyed that Sasuke had stopped.

Sasuke looked up, and saw his older brother dashing towards him. He seemed afraid at first, not recognizing him. He squinted, but it didn’t help at all. Itachi still ran over to his resting point at full speed. “N…Nii-san?” Sasuke panted, gradually rising from his tree. Sasuke couldn’t say anymore until he felt that warmth that was his brother, hugging him. He closed his eyes, nearly letting tears fall out.

Itachi’s voice halted him. “Sasuke…don’t ever, ever do that again. Don’t run away.” Sasuke looked up questioningly at his older brother, still too frightened to say a word. The young Uchiha shook his head.

“Sorry, Nii-san. I was just…I was…” Sasuke found himself at a loss of words. Now, he felt those letters in his mind place themselves together, forming words, which instantly formed sentences, which almost immediately flowed out. “I couldn’t take it anymore. I felt so…It’s okay, Nii-san. I’ll be fine.”’

“…If you’re running away, then,” Itachi seemed hesitant for a split second, but after that he seemed completely sure. “I’m going with you.” Sasuke was about to let his jaw drop in surprise, but he compromised by hugging his brother instead.

“Okay. It’ll just be you and me. No one else.”

For a while, the two of them stayed there, not saying a word, but keeping the feeling of warmth they had toward each other. Sasuke felt something wet hit his messy, raven hair. He lifted his head when another ‘raindrop’ hit his head. It wasn’t rain at all.

“N-Nii-san…” Sasuke whispered. “Please don’t cry. Please don’t cry, because you don’t usually cry and that means whatever is happening must be really sad…” Itachi shook his head, wrapping his arms around his innocent, younger brother.

“Nothing’s sad,” the weeping Uchiha told his younger brother. “I’m just...happy.”

~

Hope you liked it. I loved this ending, but the next ending of the next arc would be better...I think.

The English Dub is weird...seriously. Naruto's voice is weird. Speaking of Dubs and Naruto, the new manga isn't gonna come out until tomorrow!!! T/.\T

Well, I'll give you a sneak preview of the next chapter:

“Why are you tied on the post?” a young voice said out of no where. Sakura squealed, the chopsticks flying out of her hands and nearly falling onto the ground. A pale hand grabbed the chopsticks and returned it to the surprised girl. Sakura looked up and saw a slightly pale boy, with raven-colored hair that was slightly spiky. He had calm, dark blue eyes. He was wearing a navy-blue shirt and white shorts. He was taller than both of the two Genin members of Team Seven, but there was something about him that told Sakura and Naruto that he was the same age as the two.

“Who are you?” Naruto yelled rudely. Sakura wasn’t paying attention to the idiot tied onto the post. She was staring dreamily at the boy that just appeared in front of him. Naruto began to look at Sakura then the mysterious boy, changing his gaze back and forth between them like he was watching tennis.

“Oh…I’m…well…” the boy mumbled.

Sakura seemed to break out of her dream world. “H…hi! I’m Haruno S-Sakura!” She said. Her voice seemed slightly high-pitched. It was obvious that she was embarrassed, but Naruto couldn’t see why. It was just a boy. Was that a big deal? Naruto’s mind just came to hormones.

“Oh, you’re name’s Haruno Sakura? That’s a nice name…I guess that’s because of your pink hair?” Before Sakura could reply-

“Yeah, yeah,” Naruto yelled aloud. “My name is Uzumaki Naruto-sama, future Hokage!” the reckless boy started laughing so loud that Sakura had to punch him to shut him up. The raven-haired boy seemed to note that Naruto was named after fish cake, which was usually placed in ramen.

“Well…my bro-” the now uncomfortable boy started.

He was clearly going to say the word ‘brother’ but he suddenly stopped. Naruto began nodded intently, wishing for him to continue. “Yeah? You have a brother? What’s it like? Older or younger?” Sakura glared at her spiky haired friend. It was rare for him to make a new friend, though the reason escaped the cherry blossom girl.

“He’s older,” the boy said, laughing slightly. “He’s about seventeen now…"

~

That's it. It's kind of obvious who the boy is. Hehehehe...

SCREAMING FROM THE ENGLISH DUB! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE! GAARA IS KILLING PEOPLE!

Man, that sounded painful.

Oh well. Today was weird. I have a few questions for you, so...

1 - What do you think of my story?

2 - Do you read the Naruto Manga?

3 - I might kill off two people in this fic...should I or should I not?

4 - What do you think about Itachi's English Voice?

Itachi question:
What is his Ninja ID?

Well, bye!
~MeikoUchiha

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