|PHOTOGRAPHER| hiatus

18 - Sasuke Isn't Watching Me

A young, bored Sasuke sat in the back of the classroom as always, looking outside the window as a white fluffy cold snow blanket covered the playpark. The raven waited patiently for the first bell to ring so the class could start. And as if on queue, the bell ran and Iruka-sensei walked into the classroom and headed for the blackboard.

"Good morning class. I hope you all didn't have any trouble getting here today with the snow and all." The class answered with different replies, while Sasuke still looked outside the window. He loved the snow. Especially at night when he would sit on his roof and read a book with Itachi-niisan and Suigetsu with some hot-chocolate under the moonlight. Suddenly he got drawn out of his plans for later by Iruka's voice.

"Today we have a new student joining us. His name... Uzumaki Naruto." Iruka-sensei gestured at the door for someone to come in. In walked a boy with sunshine blonde hair with a scene hairstyle and sun-kissed skin. He wore black pants and a baggy orange sweater with fox ears in it and orange sneakers. He had sparkling bright cerulean eyes, yet still, they looked somewhat sad.

'What kind of 7-year-old is depressed?' Sasuke pondered. Sasuke heard the girls in the class all being too awe and staring at the new kid, some of them saying 'Sasuke looks way better.' Sasuke had to admit, he looked kinda cool.

"So, Naruto, why don't you sit next to Sasuke," Iruka-sensei said as he pointed at the ravenette. Sasuke's eyes widen in surprise, but what surprised him, even more, was the terrifying glare the blonde boy sent his way while striding towards him.

He sat next to Sasuke with his hands in his pockets, eyebrows knitted together, glaring at the empty desk that sat before him. He looked... angry. Sasuke let out a small gasp when the boy suddenly started talking.

"Listen here. I can already tell by all the whispers that you're the 'boss' around here. But I'm gonna be the new number one, got it? So don't let you and your pretty reputation get in my way."

. . .

December 4th Wednesday | 3:00 PM | The Graveyard: Itachi's Friend

White snow falls from the heavens as Sasuke watches each cold flake carefully from the security of his bedroom window. Sasuke was fueled with guilt. But he just couldn't find the courage to apologize. So here he was, alone, all to himself... until an idea came to him: visiting his brother. And so, he took his bike and set off to the graveyard.

Minutes later, he found himself standing outside in the cold. Sasuke walked slowly over the graves of his mother, father, and brother. He put out a hand to rub the snow off of the headstones and kneeled at the same time. Sasuke remembered that day more vividly than anything else he had ever experienced.

He didn't mean to get so angry once he saw Naruto reaching out for the photograph, nor should he have yelled at the blonde boy either. Sasuke already decided that he was going to apologize to Naruto once he got home. After all, it wasn't Naruto's fault that he didn't know he wasn't allowed to touch it. Frankly, it is one of the only things Sasuke has that he doesn't want anyone to put their hands on, including Naruto, the person he loves.

That photograph of him and his brother was the last one they had taken with each other before he was killed.

The raven-haired boy, with his head close to the ground of ice, quickly lost himself in thought. A dark-haired man walked up behind him and put his head down close to Sasuke and said in almost a whisper, "You shouldn't put that face of yours so close to the ice."

Sasuke gasped, then made a sharp turn, looking into the eyes of the owner of that voice. He saw black, a black so sad and so pure, clearly showing pain and slight hints of confusion. Sasuke didn't realize how long he was staring at those eyes. They looked so... familiar.