you are home

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20

[ current day ]

Daylight hadn't broken out yet; it was evidence that winter was coming in a few weeks. From the window of his bedroom, he could clearly see the dark sky, shadowing over Konoha City. The usual sounds of traffic were starting to pick up. People were awake and ready to start their day. 

Sasuke heard an alarm clock ring from another room. The walls weren't thin, but they didn't do much to filter noise in the too-quiet apartment. He glanced at his bedroom door—closed and locked to ensure no one got in. After a minute, he heard shuffling in the hallway outside.

The boy waited a few seconds, rolling his eyes when he heard a gentle knock. It was routine; there was always a knock at his bedroom door at 6:31 a.m.

”Sasuke,” a voice called out from the hallway, “You have school today.”

After a second knock, the shuffling of footsteps made their way down the hallway and away from the door. He knew Itachi was headed for the kitchen now—most likely to start on breakfast.

He didn’t need a reminder every morning to wake up. Matter of fact, he’d been awake an hour before the alarm clock rang, pondering whether or not he should walk to school earlier. He wasn’t particularly fond of seeing his brother the first thing in the morning these days.

Then again, it was nearing winter. It would be a pain to walk in the cold. 

The boy shuffled deeper into his bed, pulling his covers over his shoulder as he laid comfortably on his side. His bed—his mattress, his blanket, his pillows—were warm, inviting him to stay longer. Through the closed door, the noise of pans cluttering came from the kitchen. As Sasuke's eyes grew heavy, his nose picked up on the smell of something frying (eggs, he realized, given his half-asleep mind).

It was a wonder why he chose to stay awake an hour before he was supposed to be up. His ignorance was slowly being overcome by his dire need for sleep. 

But, dammit, he had to get to school.

Sasuke counted in his head, willing himself to get up before he actually fell asleep. Kicking his legs out from under his covers and throwing himself out from his bed, he trudged towards his closet and grabbed his new school uniform. He might as well get ready for school before Itachi was done with breakfast. He didn’t think he could bear seeing that man’s face this early in the morning. 

Itachi carried two sets of dinnerware to the dining table. He was done making breakfast, hoping that Sasuke would like it—like it enough to eat something, or anything, really. He knew his brother hadn't eaten dinner last night; he preferred to lock himself in his new room when they finished setting it up.

The move was tiring. Settling into a new home wasn't always easy. 

But they had to leave.

It was the perfect chance. They were packed and ready to go before dawn broke yesterday, and they completely moved in before the night settled in fully. The nervous jitters, not daring to ease up until the last box was unpacked and broken down, were still so present, making Itachi's hand shake slightly as he rested the plates onto the table.

Everything would be fine now.

"Oh—! Sasuke!" Itachi called out, seeing his younger brother walk towards the front door of their apartment. "Come have breakf—"

"Not hungry," Sasuke interrupted, putting on his shoes and adjusting the straps of his backpack.

"Are you sure? I made you an omelette."

Sasuke didn't answer. 

"Just a few bites, please," Itachi tried to reason. "It’s important to eat, little brother."

Sasuke looked back at his older brother. A piercing glare was sent in the man's direction, but all Itachi could do was gently smile at the boy.

"Don't call me that, Itachi," Sasuke hissed, emphasizing his brother's name.

Itachi knew, deep down, that his younger brother refused to acknowledge their relationship. Ever since that night, Sasuke resorted to using Itachi's name instead of...

"You used to call me ‘big brother’ when you were younger," Itachi teased. "Don't you remember?"

Sasuke placed his hand on the doorknob and scoffed, "Fuck off."

The man watched as his younger brother opened the front door and stepped out. Even as the door slammed shut behind him, Itachi kept staring, resting his hands on the back of one of the dining room chairs to steady himself. The sound of the dining room clock ticking with every passing second filled the void in the too-quiet apartment. He just stood there, keeping his eyes fixed on the now-closed front door.

Quietly, Itachi picked up the dinnerware and carried it back into the kitchen. As silently as he could, he put away the dishes he wanted to use for breakfast. A lump in his throat formed as he started to pack the simple tomato-and-egg omelette into tupperware, mentally labeling it as leftovers in case Sasuke wanted to eat anything after school.

The clock in the dining room told him that it was a few minutes after seven in the morning. Itachi felt the need to get ready for school. Even though his classes started near noon, he just wanted to be ready. He needed to shower. That way, if he shed a few tears, he can feign ignorance and blame it on the water.

Then again, it's not like he deserved to cry. It had been years (two, maybe three?) since he last cried.

The city's mornings were quiet when it was early enough. The occasional car raced by, and the stoplights were leniently green—barely ever red—if it was too early for traffic. The city's noise was dulled to a minimum; some shopkeepers had managed to start their days sooner than most, but even their businesses kept quiet.

Sasuke didn't realize how close his new school was. The walk to his old school was around thirty minutes long, unreasonably so, but he put up with the distance like a madman. This new school, however, was only ten minutes away from their new apartment. It was barely 7:20 in the morning; he still had a little under an hour before school started. 

Standing in front of the school gate, it was obvious the campus just recently opened itself to the public. There seemed to be no other student in sight; if there were any, they were probably inside the building already. 

Breathing in the cold morning air, he decided he'd go to the front office to get his schedule. Perhaps he could request to add another class, or ask about extracurriculars—anything to avoid going back to the apartment too early. Sasuke knew Itachi went to college, as well as work. Their unaligned schedules still made them run into one another more often than Sasuke would want.

Well, coupled with the fact that it was now just Itachi he'd be running into, Sasuke counted the move as a win. Itachi's schedule was a little more predictable than—

Don't jinx it. Don't say it.

Sasuke shook his head, clearing his mind. Pushing the wooden door, he entered the front office, instantly taking note of how... unorganized, he'd say out of respect, the place was. Files were stacked on both the floor and the desks. The trash was clearly overflowing, but pushed down to make it seem like it wasn't. There was a pig staring at him—

A pig?

This school was a shitshow. Sasuke didn't know if he should stay the rest of the day or go back to the apartment. Itachi had thrown him into a hellhole by enrolling him into this school. Sasuke would argue that he was fine at his last school—except for the fact that he wasn't, but at least they didn't have a messy environment nor a pig dressed in tailored silk clothing.

At least it gave him something new to think about.

Moments passed with him having a staring contest with the pig in question. The pig didn't blink, only flinching when a door slammed open to its adjacent wall. A woman scurried out of a room with another large stack of papers.

Sasuke only stared before he managed to call out, "Excuse me?"

"Huh?" The woman seemed stressed out. "You're one of the new students, right?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Please, just Shizune is fine. I'm the vice principal. It's lovely to have you here."

Sasuke watched as the woman put the stack of papers on the floor, sighing at the mess around her. 

"Please excuse the mess," the woman pleaded apologetically. "It's usually not like this. We're just trying to reorganize everything and secure all the details of each students, just in case of— Well, I'm sure you've heard on the news, right? About the gangs?"

"The drug rampage?" Sasuke asked to confirm.

"Exactly! The school's just trying to make sure we have all of our students accounted for. We need to update our system in case of an emergency. It'll be easier for the police, you know?"

Sasuke nodded as the woman rambled. It made sense. He'd heard it all—on the news, from the students at his old school, at late nights while he was eavesdropping on Itachi and that man when he should have been sleeping.

Honestly, he wasn't even sure if other schools were taking these measures for security, or if other schools were as serious about protecting their students.

Itachi tried to mention how safe Konoha High was; it was the best in the district. He didn't know why he doubted him at the time. His previous schools wouldn't have even bothered to keep records of their students to begin with.

Or, if Sasuke was being honest with himself, he didn't want to go to any other high school. All of his friends were going to Root Senior Academy at the time; he was adamant on going to the same school, despite the amount of times Itachi tried to convince him otherwise.

As safe as this school seemed, that didn't explain the pig.

"You're staring at Tonton," Shizune observed, smiling at Sasuke.

"The pig," Sasuke pointed out, as though it wasn't obvious from the start.

"She's our school mascot."

"A pig?”

"Correct. We also have a couple of dogs!"

This school didn't seem all that good to Sasuke now. If he could stay at Root Senior Academy, he would, but he couldn't—because he transferred, and because he was genuinely struggling to stay sane in that school, and because Itachi thought it was the best decision, and because Sasuke was a child, so therefore, any decision he wanted to make had to be run past the guardian in charge of his wellbeing. 

"Let's see..." Shizune went over to the nearest computer, typing away before asking, "Remind me of your name?"

"Sasuke Uchiha," he answered.

"Perfect," Shizune mumbled, clicking on a few files before finding what she was looking for. "Oh! Looks like you got lucky! You have Mr. Hatake for homeroom!"

Sasuke had the audacity to feel relieved. Such a positive reaction would be warranted for a reason.

Life, he realized, wasn't so fair when he heard Shizune excitedly add, "He's the one with the dogs!"

Great. How fantastic. It was just what Sasuke needed: a couple of mutts drooling over him. He could already imagine wiping dog fur from his seat every day. How lovely.

Shizune printed out Sasuke's school schedule, handing him his classes. She mentioned that there were signs all over the building in case he had trouble finding where to go, but if he ever got lost, he could always ask around for directions.

The students were 'nice,' as she put it.

Impossible, Sasuke thought to himself, though he wouldn't disagree with the woman out loud.

"I understand it might be overwhelming on your first day," Shizune empathized. "Even though the office is a mess, you are more than welcome to come by anytime to recharge. I'll let the principal know, but she hardly minds students being here, as long as you don't commit a felony in her presence."

"Thank you," Sasuke said, ignoring the joke at the end, even though it made him force down a smile.

It was too early for jokes. This woman was trying too hard to be funny (note: it was working, just a little).

Konoha High was nothing like Root Senior Academy. Sasuke wanted to miss his old school badly.

He had to prove Itachi wrong. He had to prove that sending him to Konoha High was a big mistake.

"We might have another new student coming in this week, if that's any reassurance," Shizune said, noting the small upward turn of the boy's lips before he regained his stoic composure. "He might be here by today, in fact. You two might end up in the same homeroom."

Sasuke nodded. At least he wasn't alone. 

"Great, so," Shizune sighed, looking around the office, "I'll get back to making sure this place looks tidy. Any questions before I send you on your way?"

Sasuke looked down at his schedule, noticing that the school day ended around three o'clock. He wondered if he could stay out longer than that. He really didn't want to see Itachi.

"Do you have any clubs or...?" Sasuke struggled to come up with a legitimate excuse that didn't involve explaining how he felt about his brother. He cautiously settled on, "I don't want to trouble my guardian with picking me up too early. He has other... obligations, if that makes sense."

"That makes sense, no worries," Shizune reassured him. "Many of our students have parents and guardians that work late hours or are unable to pick them up in the afternoon for whatever reason. We have a school library reserved for study hall. You're free to spend some time in there to do your homework or read before pickup. We do also have a few clubs if you want to participate in an extracurricular. Most of them are mainly after school. There should be bulletin boards in the hallways with information about the latest clubs and openings."

He nodded, using his thumb and his index finger to fidget with the corner of the paper he was holding. He was sure, by the time the vice principal was done explaining everything, his printed schedule would have a torn edge. If she gave him any more information to process (so early in the morning), he might just combust.

Though, combusting in a messy front office was quite enticing, if he thought really, really, really hard about it. At least he wouldn't have to go back home to Itachi.

"You can also ask your homeroom teacher about what he knows," Shizune ended with, sensing the overloading in the boy's mind. "I do believe Mr. Hatake has a club he's recruiting for."

Sasuke nodded once more, looking back down at his schedule. It seemed doable, if he didn't add more to it. After a quick 'thank-you' to Shizune and a quiet glance at the silk-wearing pig, he made his way out of the office.

The interior of the school looked modernly-inspired. True to the vice principal's words, there were directions listed in almost every corner of the school. He figured he still had some time before his classes officially started. It'd be better to explore and search for the location of his classes now. There were only a handful of students in the building; a crowded hallway would make anything and everything impossible.

He honestly didn't want to look like an idiot on his way to his classes later on in the day. It'd be better to memorize the locations now, while he had the chance to do so.