[The next day...]
Ayuda's P.O.V
I didn't know how many hours had it been since I woke up on my bed and just stayed there. The thought of getting up from bed never occurred to me. I believed that bed is my 'safe haven'. Although it felt totally safe it's still not peaceful enough.
There were a few moments when my parents came into my room and I pretended to sleep and they left me alone afterwards. But if the matter is so urgent, then they will wake me up by yelling into my ear. They have the tendencies to enter my room like shinobi preparing for war while I am being a good daughter by entering their bedroom as quiet as a mouse.
I glanced at the clock that stood on my nightstand. It's eleven in the morning. Then I stared back on the white ceiling above me.
Last night, my mother pulled me roughly into the training room where my father was waiting for me. Every word my father threw at me had stabbed me and wounded me emotionally to the point I cried until my eyes were red and puffy. I had no guts to look at his face but my mother grabbed a fistful of my hair and forced me to look at him, snarling and throwing loud curses at me for being 'ungrateful daughter'.
The only physical abuse I had was when my father took control and pulled my hair in random directions brutally. I heard Reina calling out to stop him but my mother prevented her doing so. I was relieved that my father did not pull my hair mercilessly to the point it literally ripped out of my head. I love my hair.
After my parents were done throwing a fit on me, they told me I was grounded for only one day, because apparently they also cared about my missions. They knew that if they grounded me for weeks, I won't be able to do ninja missions; this will undoubtedly lower down and put bad image on our family's reputation.
So I had to stay in this hell called 'home' this entire day. I truthfully had nothing against my house. It's just that there were two households that turned this innocent house into hell for me. Whenever I returned home, I always felt these heavy weights on my shoulders. These weights were actually my worries. I had deep worries of what was going to happen when I came home.
Reina knew I couldn't meet up and go on missions with my team today, so she volunteered to go there in my place and told them I was sick.
After ten minutes of lying around on my bed, I got up and took a shower. Then I proceeded to wash dirty plates out of boredom. I was aware that the house was empty. My parents were always out on their businesses at times like this.
After washing all of the dirty plates, I rested myself on the couch in the living room. I smiled contently while closing my eyes and relaxed my body there.
I was about to drift off in a short nap when I heard the door creaked open. I quickly shot up from the couch, looking at the hallway to see who it was. I began to feel anxious because the thoughts of my parents returning crossed into my mind. I was still not ready to see them after last night's event.
I breathed out a sigh of relief when Reina came into my line of vision. My tensed body, which I did not realized was tensing, relaxed in an instant and I let gravity took over me as I fell on my back to the couch. I heard an amused chuckle coming from my sister while she took off her shoes.
A few seconds later, she came into my sight and sat down on another couch across from me. She informed, "I had told your team about your fake sickness. They were worried about you, except Shiori-san. She seemed to know that you're grounded, so she quickly told her team to proceed with the mission."
"Thank you, onee-san," I muttered without looking at her.
The only thing I heard the next few seconds were the birds chirping unknown melody which they created while communicating with one another. The euphonious chorus of songbirds had effectively relaxed my mind and body.
One of the few things that are able to put my body in ease is mellifluous songs. I've heard people singing songs they produced and I like six songs so far. I really want to listen to them again and again, but unfortunately, I can only hear them only if I ask these part-time singers sing for me. Some would do it for free; others would do it with prices. If only the technology these days are advanced enough to create an object in which you can listen to songs whenever you like.
I felt a hand reached to the back of my head, lifted it from the couch and pulled me gently to rest on something soft yet firm. Reina's face came into my view; her jaw was pointing down at me. I became conscious of the position we're in. I now rested my head on her lap and her face towered over mine. When her hand touched my hair, a small wave of pain washed over my scalp. The pain instantly reminded me of what had happened last night and I began to shift uncomfortably.
As if sensing my uneasiness, her hand started kneading my scalp. Despite the waves of pain that continuously washed over my head, I liked the way Reina showed her sisterly affection towards me. That's why I did not display any painful look on my face; instead, I remained calm and blank, silently allowing her to massage my scalp.
"Remember what I told you about my arranged marriage?" my sister's soothing voice penetrated my ears.
I gazed up into her face and answered, "Yes."
Now that she mentioned it, I could feel my curiosity kicked in. I had never heard of anything or saw anything suspicious which might indicate my sister's involvement in an arranged marriage.
Reina began to explain without looking at me, "You were a young kid when our parents told me I had an arranged marriage. They paired me with someone from the Uchiha Clan. His name is Itsuki Uchiha. I was devastated and angry just like you. I screamed back at father and mother's faces and even threw mother's favorite vase to the wall out of rage. I was punished afterwards. Believe me, Yuda-chan, your punishment last night was nothing compared to mine. The only common thing we had in our punishments was when father pulled our hairs. Then, my mother grabbed a whip and lashed on my back ten times. She was furious, of course, that I broke her vase. When they were satisfied punishing me, they left me alone to tend to my wounds which I healed them myself. Two days later, they pulled me to the Uchiha compound to meet up with Itsuki, and there I met my longtime crush."
My eyes widened in an instant, stunned by her last words. She paused for a while to see my reaction and she showed me an amused smile, before she continued, "His name is Itachi Uchiha. He's a prodigy in shinobi arts and everyone in the Uchiha Clan knew that. Itachi and I are same in age so we went to the ninja academy together. Err... I did not mean together like we walked to the academy side-by-side, talking casually like friends do... I mean like... we were in the same classroom in the academy. Yeah, that's it."
I smiled when I noticed she was flustered and blushes were forming on her cheeks. She added, "I admired him since I first laid my eyes on him in the academy. He was always alone and never made attempts to make friends. Most of the girls in our class liked him because he has charming looks and also a talented ninja. We were all struggling to throw our shuriken to the target in the center and we failed many times, except Itachi who did it in one shot. His shuriken was perfectly in the center and we were all left in awe. We even clapped for him hahaha..."
I watched my sister laughed, but I sensed something in it. Yes, there were happiness and fondness in her laughter as she recalled her memory, but also something else like... it's as if she missed him so much.
"I was sitting a few seats in front of him so I took glances at him every so often. I made sure to do it discreetly so I won't get caught staring at him. We were separated a year after we started enrolling the academy. He graduated from the academy at the top of his class at the age of 7."
I widened my eyes in shock and stared at Reina incredulously. She looked at me with an expression I knew so well. Her expression held no lies. So she was telling the truth.
She added, "I was so proud of him because he graduated that early, but also disappointed because it means that I cannot see him again in the academy. On his last day in the academy, I wanted to say goodbye to him. I feared that we might not see each other again. But I was so shy. I watched helplessly as our classmates came to him so easily and bid their farewells. I was so shy, Yuda-chan. There was a great opportunity to talk to him; a great chance for him to notice me. But I did not take it. I was so foolish. You could say that I am the girl he never noticed."
"The next day, he was gone. He was no longer our classmate and I proceeded with my academy. I did hear some news about him. At the age of 10, he passed the Chuunin Exam. At age 11, he became an ANBU. By age 13, he was promoted to ANBU captain."
What the... I swear I heard no trace of lies in her voice. I just stared at her with wide eyes in disbelief as if she had three heads. How many talents does this guy have? Reina graduated from the academy in the age of 12 and started as genin, but at that same time, Itachi was already an ANBU, and a year later, he's an ANBU captain.
"I rarely saw him after that. He was probably busy with his duty as ANBU captain. But I really wished to be able to see him. I was a fool for thinking that. I knew that if I did have the chance to see him, I wouldn't make any attempts to talk to him; instead, I might just stare at him and stalk him from a distance. A few years later, when I was told to meet with Itsuki, I saw Itachi again.
"He actually saw me, but I did not know if he recognized me as his ex-classmate. I also noticed there was this cute small boy sleeping in his arms. I was panicked for a moment there. I kept questioned myself if that was his son. Did he marry? Did he have a wife? Did he have children? The boy had great resemblances as Itachi! But then I realized, the boy was actually his younger brother. Oh! Yuda-chan, try to guess who his younger brother is."
I blinked my eyes a few times. Why did she ask me that kind of question?
Before my mind began to process, Reina already gave me the answer, "It's the boy who burned your arms a few days ago, Sasuke!"
I gasped. I did not know Sasuke has a big brother! I have never heard of it!
"I was surprised too when I visited you in the hospital and saw him," Reina continued, "Back to my story... the head of the Uchiha Clan, Fugaku-san, who was Itachi and Sasuke's father, agreed to my arranged marriage with Itsuki. Then he told Itachi to show me around the Uchiha compound while informing me of Uchiha's traditions. I was delighted, you know that!"
I chuckled softly when a huge grin plastered on Reina's face. Then she added, "I started to introduce myself to him but he cut me off before I could say my name. He admitted he recognized me and I felt this warmth spread across my entire body in a good way. He took me around the Uchiha compound and told me their traditions. I guess, the only good thing about my arranged marriage was I had this moment with Itachi. I also met someone named Shisui who was actually Itachi's friend."
Suddenly, Reina's expression turned dark, "Two weeks before my engagement with Itsuki, the entire Uchiha clan was massacred. The only known survivor was Sasuke. The worst thing was, Itachi was the one who murdered them."
I was speechless. My jaw dropped in shock. I did heard about the massacre and I had great sympathy for Sasuke. I heard about it because there was one time when my classmates were gossiping about him and his clan. I was shocked, of course. Sasuke went through all of that in such young age. No wonder he was so distant and unfriendly. But I did not know that it was his brother who killed the entire clan.
Many questions flew into my mind. Why did Itachi massacred his clan, but spared Sasuke? Did Itachi kill all of them to prove how strong he was? What does Sasuke feel about Itachi right now?
"Itsuki was killed too, that's why my marriage was cancelled. I thought our parents had stopped with their tendencies to plan arranged marriages for their children, but I was clearly wrong when they shifted their attentions to you and put you in an arranged marriage."
I stayed silent. Reina's gentle hand continued to rub my scalp and I finally realized that I no longer felt pain. I stayed still, savoring this moment while her other hand brushed her thumb against the back of my hand soothingly. She had this motherly aura exuding from her and I liked it.
However, we were interrupted when we heard the door opened. I rose from Reina's lap and we both glanced to the door. I felt my blood ran cold at the sight of my parents entering the house.
Mother went straight to their bedroom while father sauntered towards us in the living room. His eyes fixed on me and I could see that he had planned something for me. Reina's hand moved to my shoulder and gripped on them reassuringly as if silently telling me that she'll be there to protect me.
"Ayuda," father began, "Be ready in ten minutes. I'll take you to the Hyuuga compound so you can meet Neji."
I wanted to tell him that I was not ready. I wanted to tell him that I was still too shy to meet my soon-to-be betrothed. I desperately wanted to tell him but my mind flashed back to last night's event. I froze; my body tensed immediately.
Father's gaze was burning on my head, his eyes unmoving from my form. He was waiting for me to make a move, but I was too scared.
"Otou-san, I have an idea," Reina spoke up, gaining father's attention, "I've heard Neji Hyuuga and his team registered in the Chuunin Exam. Yuda-chan is one of the many participants, too. So why don't we let them meet each other on their own? They will definitely stumble upon one another in the exam. With this way, they will form a bond easily. They probably will help each other in the exam, too. The chances of them getting to know each other will be pretty much higher in the exam than today's meeting."
Father did not reply. He was pondering whether he should accept Reina's idea or not. I took a deep breath slowly. When I felt a little bit relaxed, I looked up at my father's eyes. His eyes shifted slightly to me. I need to give a signal that I agreed to Reina's idea.
As if figuring out my hidden signal, he averted his gaze and walked out of the living room saying, "Fine. I will cancel today's meeting and arrange another one after the exam."
A huge smile graced my features after I heard my father entered his room. I quickly tackled my sister to the couch and hugged her as tight as I can. I giggled happily while my sister was trying to pry my hands off of her.
"Yu-Yuda-chan! I don't have any plans of getting killed by my sister's deathly hug!" Reina yelled.
This is why I love my sister so much.