Crossroads (A Naruto Fanfiction)

Hypocrisy

I panicked and on impulse, moved irrationally. However ironic, my muteness had saved me from ruining the little peace I had of only being seen as the sick child of the Uchiha clan head. That type of attention was only pity, maybe disappointment as well.

If I had been able to speak, I would've spouted about a Kyuubi attack. The number of bad ends far outweigh the good ones if I had. I didn't even want to imagine it.

For four days I was kept in the hospital in one of the private rooms. It made me feel guilty from the people who actually deserve to be cared for, like the shinobi's injured from the war. It also made no sense. They wouldn't leave someone in the hospital when they were physically fine. Even I was aware that my little episode was due to a panic attack.

My attention turned to the door of my hospital room when Mother came in with a basket in her hands. She smiled as she met my stare, putting the basket on top of the bedside drawer before taking out fruit from it. When she finished cutting the apple into little slices, a nurse came in. "Uchiha-sama, a word?" She called her out. Mother placed the plate of fruit beside me and left and my heart wavered.

Mother wasn't talking to me.

It was a while before someone came back into the room and it was the medic in charge of me and Mother. The medic showed me a practiced smile before explaining the situation, "I've spoken to your mother on a certain matter. I've decided to give you a roommate to accommodate the number of patients."

I didn't respond or show any indication of my thoughts on the matter. If my mother accepted this new roommate, it should be fine. When the medic left, Mother stayed and took the seat beside the bed again. She just sat there, not having anything to do as I had done my job in eating the fruit slices.

Why didn't she speak? Did I do something to upset her? I had been upsetting her for a while now.

The sun was lower to the horizon now and colored the sky an orangey-yellow hue behind the gaps in the clouds. It shadowed the faces carved into the Hokage monument and all the three faces faded into a sort of aesthetic beauty which overlooked the entirety of Konoha. It did feel as if all the past and current Hokage's were looking over the village. It was a bit weird to know that they'll have another two faces there in less than fifteen years.

I had a sudden urge to ask where Itachi was. He usually visited with Mother in the afternoon, or with father in the evening. But the evening had arrived and Mother was still here and with Itachi's presence nowhere. Times like this are when I feel angry at my voiceless self.

There was a knock on the door which took me out of my concerned thoughts. "Uchiha-sama, Satsuki-Kun." The medic came in once again. "Let me introduce you," he motioned behind him and I found my breath take a small pause. A brown-haired girl with her trademark purple facial markings bowed with a small smile on her childish face. "This is Nohara Rin. She had already been in the hospital for the last two weeks. With our growing numbers, we've decided to move her here with you. She's a kind girl so I hope there'll be no problem." The medic finished.

Shouldn't she be dead already?

"Thank you for your generosity, Uchiha-sama," Rin said sincerely.

Mother stood and shook her head with a warm smile to the girl and said, "It's no problem. It would be good for my son to have company with him."

My breath came back.

Mother spoke.

"Thank you," Rin repeated.

I looked at her again as the medic and Mother conversed with Rin, slight smiles on all their faces. In a single instant, this girl, Nohara Rin, for all purposes she should be dead or would be, was something special to me as of the moment. She let me hear Mother's voice.

It wasn't until the next morning when Nohara Rin settled into this little private room of ours that I saw Itachi when I woke up the next morning. He was asleep, his figure bent forward to rest his head on the side of the bed, exhausted from whatever he had been doing. I didn't need to ask as a strange sense of understanding filled my senses. The dark bags and the first signs of the large lines he would have in the future told me all I needed to know.

Father had taken him to see the war.

I moved the small locks of hair that had fallen over his cheeks, allowing me to see a clearer picture of him. Slowly, my hands started to run through his hair and the crease between his eyebrows loosened back to the smooth skin he had. Involuntarily, a hesitant smile made it's way across my lips at the sight of him despite what he had just been through. Right now, he wasn't being the perfect heir or son, nor was he training and beginning to uphold his reputation as one of the greatest prodigies. Right now, he was as he was; a child who had worked up too much, resting before he had to begin it all over again.

I should be beside him with all he's doing. I had already seen his growth in my previous life, despite only being made out of ink and another person's imagination. Seeing this was as if he was suffering for the second time.

I looked away from him, only to catch myself meeting the brown eyes of Rin. Rin had sat up in her bed that faced the opposite of mine. For how long she had been watching me, I cared not to ask. I didn't like it.

As always, looking at the people around me, I could only see the face they made at their time of death.