Stumble [Rewrite]

Eleven (1)

Sakura was reading a book in her room when a chameleon appeared on her window sill with a message in handwriting she'd never seen before.

It's only right for you to know that the way your diamond shines is in the hands of the leaves that gather.

::

"Sasuke, we've been back for a week and you still haven't gone to see your family."

A scowl.

"Hey, don't give me that. You need to go back at some point."

On their first off day back, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura decided to walk one of Konoha's many park trails and spend their sunny morning talking at one of the picnic tables that lined the path. Naruto sprawled himself across the table top, his casual black shirt riding up halfway with his cargo pants filled with all kinds of small snacks. Sasuke had on a purple tank top (too reminiscent of Orochimaru's coloring for Sakura's liking) and plain black joggers as he idly picked out some hard candies from Naruto's pockets.

"How was your first week at work, Sakura?" he asked. She sighed as she leaned back against the tree by the table.

"The old man's been running me ragged ever since I got promoted. You know those errands he and Genma had me do before? Now it's official and Anko jumped in on the fun. Paperwork sucks."

Upon their return to Konoha and delivering the news to Dan, she was granted her flak jacket and an official position in T&I. There, she worked on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and sometimes Sundays filing paperwork and being assistant to her three sensei.

"But enough about me," she said. "This is about you and the fact that you need to go home."

Sasuke rubbed his eyes.

"Then what? I attacked a clan member before leaving the exams and came back a genin. I'm a main house member and all I have to show for it is being a disappointment. Tou-sama hates failure, and I know that's all I am to him."

He unwrapped one of the hard candies and popped it into his mouth. He didn't appear too bothered by the fact and was more resigned than anything, like he'd been sitting on such a depressing thought for quite a long while. 

Naruto sat up.

"Wait. Hold on- is... is that what you really think?" he questioned worriedly. Sakura scooted closer to her friend and narrowed her eyes in thought. Sasuke shrugged and reached for another candy.

"Clans work a certain way, especially main houses. If the eldest heir is more than enough, the younger ones don't matter. Uchiha Itachi is my brother," he stressed. "He became ANBU Captain at thirteen and made chuunin his first try at my age. I failed and he passed with flying colors."

Naruto sputtered incredulously.

"Bu-But you're still his son!"

"His second son. He never cared before."

Sasuke glanced towards the grass.

"He never cared until the mangekyou. Then they all started breathing down my neck because of it."

A short breeze flitted through the air.

"I don't like being at home," he muttered quietly. "When I'm there, I feel like I can't breathe."

Naruto looked torn between trying to comfort him and holding his tongue because he didn't quite know what to say about it. He never had problems that involved family like that before. First he had no one, then he had Sakura and Sasuke, then he was able to make his group of loved ones even bigger with the addition of Iruka and Mari.