After

Three

He had been awake before dawn. The noises behind the walls had woken him up. Doors opening and closing. Steps on the stairs. People coming and going. This place was really a dumpster. But it was cheap. And it was temporary. So he got up and he lighted a cigarette. He only smoked when he was alone. Usually before morning so he could take a bath afterwards. Or late at night when his thoughts became more loud and sleep didn't came. He had picked up that habit six years ago. He was on a mission at the time, watching a suspect in a bar. He had to blend in with the crowd and he had took a pack and pretended he smoked. He had forget it on his pocket for a month until a night he was close to Itachi's grave. He had taken a detour, to see him, pay his respects, to just talk to his dead brother, to hear the sound of his own voice before he forgot it. That night he discovered the forgotten item and it was the first of many other times, he lighted the smoke without purpose. But he didn't want people to know. He wasn't sure why exactly. At first it was the smell. It could give him away in a situation he would want to stay hidden. Then he had seen his reflaxion in a river. He seemed more broken, more sad than before. So he chose to hide it.
He opened the door just enough for the air in the room to escape. There was no window in this shitty hotel he had picked. A thought passed that he always made bad choices.
It was a cold morning and the sky was still blue. The moon was still up but Sasuke couldn't see it. He sat on his bed, a dark figure in a dark room, with only the orange dot blinking every time he took a breath. His stare was fixed on that small crick that let the night come inside. He didn't know how much time had passed but it must had been long enough because the dark had started to retreat and the first light of the day was trying desperately to invade inside. The bed made a cricking sound as he got up and closed the door. He hid his package again and threw the evidence of his loneliness away. The water was half heated when he entered the shower but he didn't care. He was used to clean himself in cold lakes and rivers formed from the melting snow. This was luxury he thought. But still he morphed when be entered, because the sound he was hearing was rusty pipes and people yelling from afar instead of the usual quietness that the cold water was offering.
He walked on the street, his hair were still a little wet and the wind that had rose for the past week didn't let him forget it. He bypassed through the people who were walking to their lives, their routines and their chores and he pretended his mood wasn't sullen.
He arrived at the grand building and stopped for a moment to look at the leaders of the village he was born in. He imagined their stares looking far away in a future that Sasuke could not see. He believed that if he kept staring he would find love and worry for the houses hidden by the vast forest, two feelings he could not relate to. He passed through the door, noone questioned him or kept their eyes on him for a split of a second. His hand found the door and he opened it without knocking because his mood was bad and he wanted to end this quickly.
He didn't miss Shikamaru's frown on his rudeness. Yet the man said nothing. Because Naruto didn't seem to mind.
"You came early." He said, more reluctant than usual. He waited to see if Sasuke was mad, to access the situation to behave accordingly. That was a new thing that his friend had picked. Naruto didn't use to think through. Not for a second in the future.
"I woke early." He answered in a monotone voice that one could not possibly understand if that was a good thing or a bad. Not anyone could. But Naruto was not just anyone.
"You are an old man." He said and he laughed and Sasuke shot him his usual glare. Because Naturo could tell. At least that hadn't changed yet. And he felt better for now.
"Here is the offer." The advisor spoke as he gave him a pack of papers.
"We had a team of people to access the whole cost." Sasuke saw the side glare the man gave to the blonde. The Hogake must had insisted on that.
"There all there. Read it and tell me what you think."
Sasuke sat on the couch with the papers on his hand. The man was surspised. He surely meant later , not here in this office that work was done. But the last Uchiha wanted to end it today. Now. So he sat and they began to talk after a while about things that didn't involve him. His eyes scanned the pages, the words on them. They had truly did a throughout work. Each inch of ground was scanned and evaluated. He read everything with almost care. He saw the potential of every spot that his childhood self had run, seen and laughed. He observed the accessment and he found it generous. More generous than he had thought it would be. Yet he felt hollow. Because the words of the experts, with their logical writing, spoke of things without sentiment. Because the ground closer to the lake, had been evaluated as promising, as a great land, as something worth to invest, and Sasuke knew it was more than that. It was his father teaching. It was his first attempt to release the technique of his family. It was the first time he had seen the will of fire that he had heard of, manifest into something he could understand. It was his father's proud look and his mother's dinner afterwards to celebrate. It was their family together for one of the last times.
He closed the papers and placed them on his lap. The other men stopped their conversation and looked at him. He focused on Shikamaru. It was easier that way.
"What do you think?" He asked and tried to hide his anxiety.
He tasted the onigiri and smelled the freshly cut tomatoes.
"It's a good offer." He said and saw the small eyes of the man relaxed.
"If you believe it's worth more we can arrange that." Naruto said with worry.
The glare his advisor gave him, made Sasuke almost laugh.
"I will take it." Sasuke said with his eyes on the genius.
"The papers are ready if you want to sign them." He imagined that Nara wanted to get over with it as well. For different reasons.
"Hey Shikamaru, give him a moment." Naruto barked. "He can sign them later."
"Why?" The man responded with an absolute neutrality.
Sasuke got up. Despite his bad mood, he knew the man was right. There was no reason to postpone it. He had made his decision.
"A pen." He said and looked straight at Naruto this time.
The blue eyes fell and he seemed paused.
The item he requested came from the other man. He took it and then painted the papers with his signature. He left it to the side when he was done and raised his gaze to the blonde again.
"Done." He said with the same flat tone.
"Eager are we?" Naruto laughed nervously.
"I except the money to come shortly. I will see some houses today." He said as if he was a businessman that dealt with that kind of thing everyday.
"Sure. Of course. Yes. Today. Now." With every word Naruto's previous mood dissapeared and replaced with excitement. Sasuke wanted to punch him.
He turned and left the building and his grounds, hoping that the people who would use them, would do a better job than the previous ones.
He walked, almost fled to the far end of the village. He stopped on the spot where the entrance would be and looked at the ruins and the dirt. He wondered if that was another one of his bad choices as he looked at the place that no longer belonged to him. His hand itched for a cigarette. He sat on a tree, his feet on the air as if he was a child. The smoke filled his lungs and he smirked on the very thought. He was not a child. The opposite of that. He had been one for a while, for a short period of time, when the district on his front was lively and the rocks were houses. When he didn't need a cigarette to calm his nerves. He imagined the image of his mother scolding him as he took a breath. You are grounded Sasuke Uchiha. She would say and her hands would be crossed on her lap. I'm twenty five. He would answer irritated. And I am your mother. Until you learn your lesson you are grounded. And she would tell his father who would not mind, who would say that she should stop spoiling him. And she would ignore him with a loud huff.
The men would exchange a look, and his father would speak with his eyes on his partial agreement about the smoke, on the weakness it showed. And of his expectance to stand his ground. But his mother voice would be heard again and Sasuke would compel to her at the end.
He throwed off his cigarette. The taste was still alive in his mouth and he felt the need to erase it. He suddenly craved for onigiri and freshly cut tomatoes.