Let It Begin

17. The Village of the Wolfs Cry

I'm back!!! I'm so sorry for such a HUGE delay. A lot of things had happened in my life and I didn't have time to work on my story. 

I'm back now but I do have a small problem. Because I've been out of touch for so long, I've lost my beta reader. I'm currently searching for another one, so excuse me if there are some mistakes left. 

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After they had spent the night tidying up the place, Kina had made some breakfast. Right after hearing the two brothers mention Itachi's name, Sakura managed to avoid Sasuke the whole night. She knew sooner or later, she had to explain herself.

Sasuke and Sakura had breakfast together with Reishi and Kina in the morning. Kina had purposely cooked Itachi's favorite meal for Sasuke; a dish of vegetables, some broth, and some onigiri.

At first, he hesitated to eat, but after seeing Sakura had already begun to eat hers, he gripped his chopsticks and began eating.

He was somewhat dumbfounded at how he had eaten everything up, despite not knowing these people. Not only that, but Itachi's favorite dish was simple and he hadn't expected that it tasted so pleasantly.

Even Sakura was surprised at how good the dish was. It had been a very long time since they had eaten a hot meal.

"Thank you for the meal," Sakura thanked them and glanced a look at Sasuke, hoping he would say something.

"Itachi loved seaweed onigiri. Are you fond of it too?" Kina asked.

"I like the ones with dried tuna in it best," Sasuke answered as he lowered his head and continued eating some onigiri.

Sakura observed the two brothers as they ate their breakfast. Reishi kneeling with his back straight, ate quietly while Kina was sitting with his leg crossed and he was loudly drinking his broth. When his brother scolded him for it, Kina drank even more loudly.

"When will you understand, Kina?" Reishi sighed, "People get to know who you are by observing your attitude."

"I don't give a damn about what the villagers think!" Kina yelled.

"Please forgive his insolence," Reishi apologized after looking at Kina with a stern expression.

"No, it's okay," Sakura replied.

"Do you like it, Itachi's brother? I cooked this seaweed with my own hands!" Kina announced proudly.

"My name is Sasuke," he replied, "This onigiri is not bad, despite having been made by a brat."

Sasuke continued drinking the broth, ate the salted vegetables, and took another onigiri. Sakura watched quietly, in a corner, the interaction between Sasuke and these two brothers. She had noticed Kina's caring behavior started to melt Sasuke's grumpy mood.

These two brothers reminded Sasuke of himself and Itachi. The younger version of himself that naively followed his elder brother's every step.

"Could you tell me a little about Itachi?" Sakura asked,

"Truthfully, I don't know much about him," Reishi answered,

"He came and bought his medicament once or twice a year. But..."

"But?" asked Sasuke. After a moment of hesitation, Reishi continued,

"But he said that if one day his brother had come here, it would have meant that he, probably, had already died....he's dead, isn't he?"

"I'm sorry..." Sakura apologized as she glanced between Reishi and Sasuke.

"H-how did he die?"