THE FARM || ITASASU

Part 4

Sitting in complete silence, the two brothers couldn't have been closer yet further away from one another. There was an uncomfortable atmosphere, thick and heavy, swirling all around them. Itachi's hands were now gripping the steering wheel even more than before, but Sasuke was paying it no mind. His hands rested in his lap, it took everything in him to not mess about with his fingers from the nerves. Was wifi worth this silent torture?

The car came to a stop in a small parking lot of a local market. Itachi looked out of the window, it has started to rain and the dark clouds seemed so low in the sky, as if he could touch them if he reached out. For Sasuke it was a nice change, he wanted to roll down the window and enjoy the smell of rain on asphalt, the sound of the raindrops hitting the roof of the car. But that would mean moving a muscle, dragging any sort of attention to himself, no matter how small. And so he instead just sat in the backseat of the old car and stared outside.

"You should have signal here. I will be a while." Itachi's voice, though he has heard it since he's come here, sounded to his ears just like a strangers would. It was jarring hearing him speak before, but now he was speaking to him. And that was making him unexplainably nervous. He didn't respond, not verbally. Ever so slightly he tilted his head in something of an acknowledgment. Once his brother was gone, he grabbed his phone and surely enough, the wifi was private. He didn't even attempt to guess the password, which was just the market's name, instead he turned his data on and watched his phone get spammed with messages.

A strange one but unsurprising one caught his eyes, and then another, and another... until finally, one popped in written just two minutes ago.

"I know you can't respond or read these, so I will continue treating this like diary entries. Today it's day... I've lost count. It hasn't been so long yet it feels like you've been gone forever. Today I saw someone who looked like you from the back and cannot put it into words, how much I'm missing you. It's like I see you in everyone. I count the days until you come back and I will finally get to see you."

He rolled his eyes, he's read enough. He dialled his emergency contact and waited, holding the phone next to his ear.

"Look who's come back from the dead!" He heard from the other side, followed by a laugh. "I was worried when you went off the grid."

"Tell me about it, there's no signal where I'm staying. Naruto, I feel like I'm rotting here."

"You're prolly right on that one," another laugh ringed through the speaker. "So where are you, actually?"

"Like, in the middle of nowhere, literally. I'm in this hole of a village right now, I think we drove like two hours to get here. I'll text you the name later. I think I could possibly ask someone to drive me here if you can arrange a pick up. I can't stay here with..."

"Right, right. I'll see what I can do. Fuck- sorry I'm in a game right now- gotta go. Text me!" The annoying beeping sound announced that Naruto hung up.

"Right..." Sasuke murmured and opened his map to see the exact location. He texted it to his friend and then went out of the car. There was a smoking area nearby, and he hid there under the shabby roof.

"I didn't know you smoked." Itachi said, only realising more how little he actually knows his little brother. He stood there with two big bags full of groceries and other necessities.

Sasuke looked up from his phone, mulling over if he should respond, "I didn't know it was any of your business." He's more of an occasional smoker, some of his friends do and sometimes when they were hanging out, they would offer and he would sometimes accept. He wasn't smoking now, though. He just wanted fresh air.

"Fair enough. Hidan called me, they will be there for about two more hours before they're done. Are you hungry? There is a pub that serves food." Itachi was rambling and his knuckles couldn't catch a break when Sasuke was nearby. He was clutching the bags for his dear life, and this time the younger Uchiha noticed. Maybe the bags were too heavy.

"I could eat." He said, pushing his phone back into his pocket.

"Maybe we could,.. talk?" Itachi said and his eyes wandered off into the distance, his voice unsure.

"Maybe we could."

While Hidan was sitting in the waiting room and Deidara was finally getting his cast for his broken arm, Itachi and Sasuke were already seated in the pub, both of their drinks untouched on the table. Neither of them could have imagined anything more awkward.