Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

Freshmen Chronicles	By : afficek7 Category: Naruto AU/AR > General Views: 1630 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 11
- 12
- 13
Author's Note: This update is coming a day late, but I don't mind, because it is the most important chapter of the story, and I had to do it justice. I will try to post twice tomorrow, because as fun as it is to work on this, I need to move on, because my schedule is going to be intense in March. I will probably be able to post some short one-shots if an idea hits me, but I'm done with chaptered fanfiction for a while. In any case, I will be celebrating a completed story tomorrow, hopefully. ^_^

Chapter 12

'It's about time!' I think as the door shuts behind Sasuke, leaving me alone in our room. Kiba emailed me the translation program on Tuesday, but I haven't been able to do much with it, because I'm trying so hard not to blow my cover. I already feel like a jackass for having to do something this slimy, but more importantly, I need for Sasuke and his bitch father to stay ignorant to the fact that I'm on to them. If I log onto Sasuke's account while he's using it, we'll both be locked out, and Sasuke's going to know that something is up; that's the last thing that I need. Fugaku may not think so, but both of his sons are geniuses, and I don't need a genius snooping around here. Luckily, Sasuke's saddled with two Friday classes, while I have none this semester, and he never takes his laptop with him. I still have to worry about his damn 'keitai,' but I think that this is the best opportunity that I'm going to get.

'Alright Sasuke, time to reveal the real you,' I think as I walk over to my computer, and access Gmail, quickly punching in Sasuke's username and password. The page loads, and I see a hodgepodge of English and Japanese characters, and for a second, I'm tempted to just log back out and exit the page. I already know that I'm not going to like what I'm about to see, and besides that, I'm likely about to see blatant betrayal from a person that could have easily become my best friend under different circumstances. Fuck, I need to man up. My family is on the line.

I click a few buttons and my screen grays before a box pops up with "initializing" emblazoned across it, then after 10 seconds or so, Sasuke's email homepage looks no different from my own. I don't know how Kiba cooked this up so fast, but babel-fish has nothing on this.

'Are you kidding me?' I think as I see that there are over 10,000 emails in Sasuke's inbox. What the fuck? You would think that a neat freak like him would manage his account better than this. More importantly, how in the hell am I supposed to find the emails to and from his father? Fuck my life! By the time that I scroll through all of these pages, cancer will be cured and Fugaku will be the face of biotechnology.

Without much of a choice, I start from the top, and quickly read over the sending addresses and subject lines. I actually get five pages in, before I notice that there are different icons next to each sender. Feeling like the king of all dumb asses, I look over at his left sidebar, and see an entire row of folders. The very first one is titled 'Father.'

'Damn, maybe I am stupid. Maybe everybody else saw what I couldn't see all of these years,' I mentally berate myself as I click on the folder. Starting from the date that Sasuke and I met until now, there are 287 emails between him and his father; I read them all. Like Itachi said, my and my family's names are scattered throughout them, but only a few are of particular importance to me.

09/13/2010

Fugaku Uchiha to me

Sasuke,

Make nice with that Namikaze kid. I believe that that neuro-chip, the SPSC65, is the key to unlocking a lot of the mystery behind some of the major diseases, such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. If Uchiha Corporations can get exclusive access to it, there will be a lot of prestige coming our way, and the Uchiha name will become synonymous with God in the biotechnology field. So, get in good with him any way you can.

09/13/2010

Sasuke Uchiha to Fugaku Uchiha

Father,

That guy is a total moron, so I highly doubt that he has any pull in Yamanaka Enterprise. Besides, we're not on the best of terms. We nearly got into a fight earlier today, and I had been here less than an hour.

09/14/2010

Fugaku Uchiha to me

You truly have a low capacity for knowledge, and it utterly embarrasses me that you're my son at times. I can't help but to wonder whether you suffer from some unknown birth defect that hinders your brain from working properly, because it's quite clear that you can't comprehend simple logic. Since I now realize that I'm not working with very much, I guess I'll take the time out of my busy day to explain it in as simple of terms as possible. One, people with a low level of intelligence are easy to manipulate. Two, your roommate, nephew of the head of Yamanaka Enterprise, is of low intelligence. Connect the dots.

Also, what is this about you almost getting into a fight? I've spent thousands of dollars trying to find a university to accept you, and had to settle for a little shithole in the backwoods of America. I swear that if you're relapsing into your previous ill behaviors, I will ship your ass back over here, before you have the chance to mentally form a protest. Do I make myself clear?

09/15/2010

Sasuke Uchiha to Fugaku Uchiha

Yes sir. I apologize for my behavior, and I promise that it won't happen again. Naruto seems too friendly for his own good, so I'll use that to my advantage, and get access to the SPSC65.

11/25/2010

Fugaku Uchiha to me

Sasuke,

You have not sent me your weekly correspondence regarding the Yamanaka. I require an update on the situation at once.

11/27/2010

Fugaku Uchiha to me

Sasuke,

This is the last time that I am going to request your compliance. Send me the damn update.

11/28/2010

Sasuke Uchiha to Fugaku Uchiha

I apologize, father, I haven't checked my email in a few days, because I spent the American holiday, Thanksgiving, with the Namikaze and Yamanaka. As soon as I get back to my room, I'll send a longer email.

11/28/2010

Fugaku Uchiha to me

You were invited to a family affair? Excellent work, Sasuke. Provide me with the full account, and all of details on how you pulled this off. I'll be standing by.

11/28/2010

Sasuke Uchiha to Fugaku Uchiha

Honestly, father, I am uncertain why I was invited. I would like to take the credit for setting everything up, but I didn't even know that Thanksgiving was a major holiday in America. Perhaps my invite came from me tutoring Naruto. He was quite excited about his exam grade.

As for the break itself, it was kind of fun. We ate lots of food, talked about sports and politics, played cards and board games and went to a play. For the most part, I went under the radar, except for when Naruto's little cousins attached themselves to me, and when Ino saw me naked. That was kind of embarrassing! But, that was pretty much it.

11/28/2010

Fugaku Uchiha to me

Have you contracted 'stupid'? That is the only justification that I can produce to explain the level of excrement that just spewed. I do not care that there was "lots of food" or that it was "kind of fun." I need names and faces, ages, likes and dislikes, interests… You say that they discussed politics; well what are their political stances? They talked about sports, well tell me which sports, what teams and which players that they are routing for? I don't want to hear frivolous details that are not going to get me any closer to my goal, so stay focused. Now, you mentioned a person named Ino. Let's begin there.

01/04/2011

Fugaku Uchiha to me

Sasuke,

Do not forget all that we have discussed. It is clear that Ino Yamanaka is quite taken with you, so this should be an easy mission, even for you. Do not fail me.

01/11/2011

Fugaku Uchiha to me

Have you made contact?

01/12/2011

Sasuke Uchiha to Fugaku Uchiha

I spoke to Ino briefly on Sunday, but other than that, no. I haven't left my dorm since I got back on the second. I'm just trying to settle in, so that I can do better this semester.

01/12/2011

Fugaku Uchiha to me

You've been back in America for nearly two weeks, and all you have accomplished is a brief conversation? I swear that your incompetence makes Itachi's defection that much more irritating. Do I need to hire a shadow for you?

01/13/2011

Sasuke Uchiha to Fugaku Uchiha

No, father, a shadow is not required. I promise to pick up the pace. I'm supposed to be meeting Ino tomorrow at noon for training. I will make more progress then.

01/13/2011

Fugaku Uchiha to me

Don't you think that important detail should have been told to me immediately? Are you once again losing yourself to the affections of an American whore? I guarantee you that whatever she offers will not be worth the hell you would endure for crossing me. You will sit in an urn on my mantle before I allow another son of mine to betray me.

01/13/2011

Sasuke Uchiha to Fugaku Uchiha

Please, father, forgive me. I swear I'm not trying to betray you. I'm just trying to get everything in order, and make sense of it all. I promise that from now on I will tell you every single detail. Please don't be mad at me!

01/30/2011

Fugaku Uchiha to me

Sasuke, how are things coming along with you and the girl?

01/30/2011

Sasuke Uchiha to Fugaku Uchiha

Everything is going fine, father, but I'm not sure what good any of this is doing. Yamanaka-san isn't going to just hand his company over to us, because I'm dating his daughter. I'm already engaged to one girl, and polygamy is not recognized in either country, so I can't just marry into Ino's family's company. What exactly am I doing?

02/01/2011

Fugaku Uchiha to me

You need not worry about those details. My lawyers are making the final changes to a proposal that will tie up all loose ends. You just need to do your part, which is to get as close to Yamanaka Ino as you possibly can. Do whatever it takes, be it you wine her, dine her, fuck her or some other action. Just do whatever it takes.

02/05/2011

Fugaku Uchiha to me

Sasuke,

I have attached the final version of the proposal. See to it that Yamanaka Ino signs it as soon as possible.

02/05/2011

Sasuke Uchiha to Fugaku Uchiha

Father,

I've received and read over the proposal, and I see what you mean about it tying up all loose ends; it's airtight. But, I don't quite understand how Ino's signature is going to do any good. It's her father's company, not hers. She has just as much power over Yamanaka Enterprise as I have over Uchiha Corporations.

02/05/2011

Fugaku Uchiha to me

Sasuke, leave the decision-making up to me. We both know that it isn't your strong suit, and it apparently isn't Yamanaka Inoichi's either. As you may already know, Yamanaka Enterprise is considered a sole proprietorship with Yamanaka Inoichi controlling the reigns. However, on the girl's 18th birthday, she was made a partner in the same way that Yamanaka Deidara was made partner two years prior. Her signature is just as good as having her father's.

02/05/2011

Sasuke Uchiha to Fugaku Uchiha

Father, this is crazy! If I present this proposal under false pretenses, then we're all going to jail. At least let me present it to Yamanaka-san himself, so that we can claim that he had a full understanding of what he was signing.

02/05/2011

Fugaku Uchiha to me

That is unacceptable. The senior Yamanaka would see through the ruse, so it must be his daughter. As for false pretenses, that remains a very gray area. Our lawyers will bury any argument that they produce, so that is of little consequence. Present the proposal as soon as the girl seems receptive, and then contact me immediately.

02/10/2011

Sasuke Uchiha to Fugaku Uchiha

Father,

I'm going to present the proposal this coming weekend.

I read the proposal, and Sasuke is right, it's airtight. As it is laid out, it comes across as one hell of a deal for both companies. But, Uncle Inoichi once broke down the components and wording of several types of proposals to me, and it's clear as day, if you know what to look for, Uncle Inoichi will be out of a job and Yamanaka Enterprise will become Uchiha Enterprise, if this thing is signed.

My mind is racing with everything that I just read, and I really don't know what to say or do, or where to even begin. It's just too much. I think that I am officially in over my head. But, I don't think that even Kiba and Shikamaru can do much with this. Great, now my leg is buzzing due to my vibrating phone. Is it wrong that I'm happy for the distraction?

'Naruto, please come over here. I think that I fucked up. I really fucked up!'

-Ino

Aww, shit!

"Ino, open up!" I yell as I bang on my sister's door. A nanosecond later, I'm pulled inside, and am practically attacked by a hysterically sobbing girl that I only recognize as Ino by the thigh-length blonde hair.

"I'm so stupid! I should have listened to my instincts," she wails against my chest, and I am seriously ready to panic. So many images of what could happen are playing out in my mind in vivid detail that I can barely keep sight of reality. I have to focus before I completely fall apart.

"Ino, tell me that you didn't sign that proposal? Please, tell me that you didn't sign it!" I ask as I forcibly remove her from my body, shaking her slightly. She looks slightly dazed and dumbfounded, but she's slowly coming around.

"Wha?" She asks, and I can't stop my hands from tightening around shoulders even more.

"The proposal, Sasuke's proposal! Did you sign it? When did you sign it? Maybe I can catch him and beat his ass, before he can do anything with it!" I say quickly as I look swiftly around the room as though he's going to emerge from a corner or a crack. Of course, I see nothing, so I focus my eyes back onto Ino's face. I'm just in time to see the look of utter confusion morph into one of rage.

"What the hell are you talking about? What proposal? I didn't see nor sign no damn proposal!" She screams as she takes a step away from me, and just stares. I'm experiencing an emotion that I can't explain. All I know is that it feels as though I've been dowsed with liquid nitrogen; the cool kills the heat, but there's a stinging sensation left behind that seems to hurt more than the initial fire. Okay, I know what this is. It's the false sensation of hope when you know that it's only going to be killed a moment later.

"Ino, you were made a partner of Yamanaka Enterprise," I say calmly, and then add nothing else to it. With hindsight, I will likely think that it made no sense. But, right now, my brain isn't working properly, and it seems perfectly logical that me stating this fact will make Ino understand what I'm talking about. It doesn't.

"What the… How the fuck do you even know that? Besides the public listing that went into the newspaper, my dad told nobody," She replies with heat, and I am struck mute. She's not.

"And what does that have to do with anything? I know that you don't think that I'm making business deals on my father's behalf. Is that why you keep talking about some proposal? Dude, Deidara and I were made limited partners, meaning that we can't say or do shit about the inner working of my dad's company. We are only liable for our initial investment, which is the grand total of one dollar. The only reason my dad even bothered to list us was to build our credit and teach us responsibility. Ugh! Why am I even talking about proposals and Yamanaka Enterprise while my heart is breaking? Just go, Naruto. You can leave, now," she says as she walks over to her bed, and pulls her legs up to her chest. She then rests her head onto her knees, and I watch as her body quakes. I finally take in her appearance, and realize that this is the first time in ages that I've seen her with her hair down. It's an unkempt, stringy, tangled mess, and the lack of makeup highlights the blotchiness of her skin and the puffiness of her eyes. She looks like shit.

"Ino, what's going on? Start from the beginning," I speak quietly as I sit next to my sister, patiently waiting for her to compose herself. I've had a hell of a day, no, hell of a semester, and I am utterly confused. I can feel the numbness building from the tips of my toes and spreading upwards. I really want to succumb to a breakdown, but I can't afford to do that right now. I'm needed.

"In the beginning, everything was fine. Sasuke and I would meet at the dojo, he'd train me, and then we'd just sit around and talk for a while. Then, we started hanging out outside of the dojo, going to the movies, studying and eating dinner together, stuff like that. After a while, he started spending nights over, and I made a crack about him being around as much as a boyfriend. He got all weirded out, before getting serious, asking me questions about how I felt about him, and could I see myself with him. I didn't think anything of it, because he did the same thing when I first kissed him. I figured that was just how he was. I'm so stupid! We became official on the fourth of this month, but kept it quiet, because I was tired of my family's name being gossiped about. He seemed cool with it, so… Oh my god, I get it! He's gay isn't he?" Ino inquires loudly with appalled dismay, and I actually jump, because her mood swing catches me off guard. I would love to lie to her, but I know for a fact that Sasuke isn't gay, and that knowledge is openly displayed on my face. Ino's face immediately contorts back into one of pain and dejection.

"Of course, he isn't gay. No gay dude can handle himself with a woman like that," she speaks, and it takes several moments for me to interpret her meaning. Once I do, it's my turn to have a mood swing.

"You slept with him?" I ask accusingly, and Ino's face just crumbles further, making me flinch at my own insensitivity. Luckily, I don't have to ponder it too hard, because she starts explaining herself.

"Normally, I wouldn't have! I have a three-month rule, and I never break it! Well, until now, and look where it's gotten me," She says quickly, before letting out a tired sigh, and then speaking again.

"Most guys start pestering me for sex on the very first date, so I have no qualms making them wait for three months. If they can't tolerate me for 90 days, then they have no business trying to sleep with me. Luckily, Sasuke didn't seem to mind at all. It was almost as if he preferred it, which made me drop my guard a little bit. So, after spending Valentine's weekend and day together, I figured it would be okay, because we had been hanging out for a whole month, and I had already known him through you. He seemed a bit hesitant at first, saying how I didn't really know him, and I may not like what I find. Damn it, I should have listened, but I didn't! We slept together, and later that night when he thought that I was asleep, he said that he loved me. No guy outside of our family has ever told me that he loved me. Man, love sure does dry up quick, because he broke up with me two days later, the fucker!" She rattled off quickly, almost without pause, before putting her hands over her face, and crying into them. I'm pissed off, but more hurt than anything, because though Ino acts tough, she wears her heart on her sleeve, and feels things deeper than most people do. This is exactly what I wanted to avoid.

"I'm so stupid! I feel so used!" She cries, and all I can do is wrap my arms around her. I don't think she even notices.

"I just don't get it. What the hell happened in two days? Was it all lies? And, what does he mean that he can't do this? Obviously, he wasn't referring to breaking my heart, because he did that just fine," she says, and once again, I'm a bit confused. I think that I'm developing a phobia over being confused, but I can't focus on it right now.

"Ino, what are you talking about?" I prompt, and anger instantly decorates her face. I'd rather see that than despair.

"Two days after the asshole fucked me and said that he loved me, I was dumped. I was loved on Monday, and then tossed aside on Wednesday! I should have known that something was up on Tuesday when he wouldn't look me in my face, but he always had mood swings like that, so I thought that he would get over it. Wednesday morning he called and asked me to meet him at Joanie's, because he had something important to discuss with me. I crawled out of bed at eight in the morning in the freezing cold, walked a half mile to Joanie's, and still maintained a smile when I met him at our regular table. He just stared at me without blinking for minutes on end. For a second, I thought that he had fallen asleep with his eyes open, but just when I was about to shake him awake, he said, 'I can't do this.' He then glanced around a few times, before looking up and saying, 'Fuck this, I can't do this.' After that, he switched over to Japanese, and I don't know what he was saying, or if he was talking to God or Casper the fucking friendly ghost, but I'm quite sure his next words were for me. 'Ino, I think that we should call it quits.' He then just got up and walked out. I tried to call him and talk about it, but he's not taking my calls. He doesn't even go to his usual hangout spots. It's like he's fallen off the face of the Earth," She responds, and then immediately dissolves into tears again. For the first time in months, all of the little factoids that I have collected are starting to make a narrative.

"Am I really that annoying that no one wants to get serious with me? Or, maybe I just suck in bed. I'm not as experienced as other girls are because of my rule, so maybe my lack of skills scared him off. Or, maybe…" Ino berates and questions every little thing about herself, and I can't stand to hear it. No one should be allowed to reduce another person's self-worth to this level, and I'm not going to tolerate it.

"Ino, stop it! There is nothing wrong with you! You're smart, beautiful, kind, honest… You take people as they are, and make good friends wherever you go. You stand up for what you believe in even if it isn't popular or mainstream. You're just as comfortable being the butt of the joke as you are cracking the joke. So many guys have been trying to get to you, but Deidara and I have been showing them the door. You don't need to do this over one guy, even if he says that he loves you. If he's dishonest, you can be sure that an honest one is not too far behind. There's no way that you're going to be alone forever. In the meantime, you have all of us to keep you company," I inform, and Ino looks at me briefly, before lowering her head again. She's hurting now, but I know she'll be fine.

"It's not fair. You treated Sakura like she was gold and Deidara always treats all of his girlfriends well. Am I going to have to cause another scandal by shacking up with one of you in order to get a good guy?" Ino mumbles after I place my arm around her shoulders. Her words shock me so much that I let out a bark of laughter that I didn't know was forming.

"Hey! There's no need to go all incestuous in order to find love. You'll find someone," I reply, and the corners of Ino's mouth rise slightly. It's nowhere near her standard mega-watt grin, but I'll take it for now.

"I have to head back. Maybe we can go out to eat tonight, my treat," I say. I then wait until I get a firm nod, before leaving out. Now, I have a certain bastard to deal with.

When I walk into my room, Sasuke is standing at my desk, and holding the proposal that I had printed out and left on my keyboard. Normally, I would be kicking myself for my blatant stupidity, but as he looks at me with a look of guarded blankness, I'm just glad that we're on the same page.

"You rat bastard!" I yell, and in three steps, I'm all the way across the room, punching him in the face. I hit him so hard that my knuckle is cut on his tooth even though his mouth is closed. He falls back into the window, before hitting the floor, but he gets up with ease, albeit slowly, and then sits on his bed. There are two streams of blood running from the corners of his mouth, but he does nothing to stop them, and I'm past the point of caring. In fact, I couldn't care less.

"I see that you found out," he says quietly with a wry smirk painted onto his face. I make a mental note of how odd it looks when matched with eyes that seem pained and hollowed out, but that is quickly filed away to be looked at at a later time. I'm too pissed off to focus on little bullshit like that right now.

"Naw, that was making sister cry, you horse's ass! I haven't even begun dealing with that bitch move you and your father tried to pull," I shout back, and Sasuke averts his gaze, looking anywhere but my face. It royally pisses me off, so without even thinking about it, I tightly grip his hair, and force him to look up.

"Don't fucking turn away from me! If you're going to have the audacity to lie and manipulate a guy for months on end, at least have the decency to look him in the face after you have finished pissing on him! Yeah, I know all about it, so having Jimmy the Cricket show up at the last minute doesn't negate shit!" I scream in his face, and I want nothing more than to hit him again. I know that with how close I am, and with the grip that I have on his head, I can break his nose and black both of his eyes with one blow. The only thing that stops me is the single tear that rolls out of the corner of his eye and down the side of his face. I let him go as though I had been burned even though I am still livid.

"You knew allru alrong, huh?" He says quietly with a hint of bitter amusement, more so to himself than to me. For a second, I just stand there and simmer. I'm so heated that I don't think that I can speak clearly.

"Believe me, if I had of known this shit back in September, you would be just now getting out of the hospital. Luckily, Itachi…" I finally start to reply, and Sasuke lets out a loud, bitter back of laughter, before speaking.

"Itachi! Of course! Ha," he says while laughing, yet his eyes are rapidly filling with tears. He appears to be torn between reality and his own little world, so I begin again.

"Itachi came to me back in December and told me about what a bastard your father is, and how he was planning something against my family, so I had Kiba hack into your email account, and provide me with a real-text translator. What the fuck is wrong with you, dude? Are you that weak that you just follow whatever your father orders no matter how fucked up he or his orders are? What the hell, man? Grow a pair!" I say with frustration, tightening my fists to try to relieve some of the returning rage. Sasuke is just staring at the floor shaking his head slightly from side to side as though in a trance.

"That's just lrike Itachi. Let me guess, he toruld you how my father was a tyrant and how shitty my childhood was, huh? He toruld you how my father onry cares about Uchiha Corps, and how he would do anything for success, right?" Sasuke says, while staring at me, but he isn't looking for any real confirmation. His eyes have become nothing but two orbs of liquid, but there is fire behind them.

"Let me tellru the parts that Itachi so conbenientry, left out! The Uchiha were poor rice farmers that just barery made ends meet, so hardry anybody went to school past the ninth grade. But, because my father was the onry boy among both his father's and his uncle's kids, they scraped together what they had, and sent him to a pribate high school. The tuition was too high for them to afford, and they didn't want to tellru my dad, so they borrowed against their property from yakuza. It worked for another semester, but then their crop failed, and they couldn't make the payments. My dad came home to rotting bodies cut into lrittle pieces, scattered across the house in poolrues of congealed blrood. They killrued his parents, his three sisters, his aunt and uncle, and four of their daughters. The onry reason my mom was spared was because she was off helping a neighboring farmer. The minute that the polrice found out that yakuza was inbalbed, they closed the case. My dad had no choice but to torch the house, because he couldn't pay for the cremations. While it was burning, he bowed to bring honor to the Uchiha name. He was determined not to lret them die in bain. So, he worked odd jobs to take care of my mom and pay for unibersity. He then built Uchiha Corps from nothing without any outside help. So, don't you dare judge my father! Would you be any different?" He asks, and I can't even close my mouth, let alone form words. I would love to say that I would be, but I honestly don't know. Even as I'm hearing this, I can't imagine living through something like that, and I think that my silence says it all.

"My mom takes sixteen pillrues a day; anti-depressants, anti-psychotics, anti-anxieties, you name it, she take it. I can't remember eben one night where my dad didn't wake us all up, screaming in his sleep. But, Itachi neber cared either way. It's lrike he feels nothing," Sasuke adds, and finally, the amass of water spills forward, and I quickly realize that this is what it looks like when a person is shattered. There has been a lot of crying going on this week, but I've never seen anything like this in my life. No Oscar or Academy Award nominee can imitate this level of brokenness. I'm seriously wondering if this guy can even be put back together.

"Fuck!" I say exhaustedly as I sit beside him on his bed, letting the back of my head rest against the wall. For several long minutes, I sit in placid, numbed shock, and let Sasuke's sobs create background noise. I'm beyond drained, but I find the energy to wrap my arm around him. Normally, if one man sees another man crying, you follow the man laws, and act as though you don't see it, letting him save face. But, the man laws weren't created with these extremes in mind. Sasuke is seriously hurting, and it's displayed the moment my body makes contact with his, and he promptly collapses into a fetal ball of nothingness. But, I say and do nothing further. Guys don't need empty words and pats on the back. Just being there is more than enough, and I have no plans on leaving any time soon. This goes on for some unknown length of time, but eventually all is silent, yet painfully loud.

"Why didn't you do it?" I ask quietly, and there really isn't any need to explain what "it" is. Sasuke knows what I'm talking about.

"I don't know if you noticed, but my familry is kind of fucked up. My dad is a maniac, my mom is a walking pharmacy, and my onry brother is cold. I didn't want to do that to another familry, and your familry is nice, bery clrose-knit… Fuck! My dad is going to disown me for this," he replies, and then places his hands over his face, running his fingers across his forehead. He's done crying, but I can feel his pain loud and clear.

"This is going to killru him," he adds, and I finally speak up.

"Maybe, but what's worse? Death or leaving him a festering, open wound?" I reply, and my own words are what provide me with clarity. Certain words, phrases and instances resurface, and I finally have the solution.

"What if I told you that I did it to save them?"

"Hn, it would appear that way, but everything is not always as it seems…"

"I had a natural gift for just about anything that I attempted, but nothing truly interested me."

"I was known for being stoic and apathetic, but Sasuke was vibrant and energetic from day one."

"I am perfect in all of Sasuke's imperfections, just as he is perfect in all of mine."

"Sasuke, when I was eleven years old, I fell and broke my forearm in three different places. The doctors put it in a cast, and sent me on my way. X-rays later showed that it had healed wrong, so they took the cast off, reset the bones, and then put another cast on. Your father is like my arm, but nobody reset him. He is majorly fucked up, dude, and he's been that way for nearly thirty years. They should have sent him to get some serious, serious counseling a long time ago, but society just let him fall through the cracks, and now he is done. You have to stop him at all costs. He started out with good intentions, but he's been walking down this road for so long that he lost himself along the way, and it's only going to get worse. That's what Itachi meant when he said that he defected in order to save you all. He had to counter your father's power in some way in order to keep him under control, but that's as far as his abilities go. He may be a genius at all things, but you said it yourself, he's cold. He can't feel empathy or sympathy. But, even though you both grew up in the same environment, you can. A cold-hearted genius is the last thing that Fugaku needs, because he has enough of that within. He needs someone that can feel and show love, because he can't do it anymore. Sasuke, you have to stop your father. You're the only Uchiha left with enough heart to care about him and his goals," I explain. Sasuke remains silent, while looking straight ahead at the wall across from us. I don't avert my gaze.

"You say that as though it's going to be easy. He's stillru my father, and this is going to killru him," Sasuke replies slowly and softly. His words punctuate the gravity of the situation, and just like that, I lose my will to continue staring at him.

"I know," I respond. My eyes stay locked onto my jeans.
- 11
- 12
- 13
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Freshmen Chronicles