Home is Where the Cat is
Chapter 7
Sasuke led them into a house near the end of the tiny street, right next to the perimeter wall. This house seemed just as dead as the other but… it held an aura, as though it had seen grief, over and over, but never really given up hope of better days. There were wild flowers in the garden. Soft pinks and deep purples with speckles of vibrant blues looked as if they'd been tossed out to land where they may. But it was ok, those who lived here now didn't care, as long as they bloomed in the first place.
Unlatching the wooden gate, the Uchiha wasn't surprised when it collapsed altogether into a pile of half rotten boards. It had been there as long as he could remember. Gingerly taking Naruto around it, he made sure not to trigger any of the hidden traps (no telling which were still active or not). The couple that had owned this house may have been old, but they were still Uchiha. An Uchiha was an Uchiha – age could only do so much.
Having successfully gotten the semi-comatose blond past the traps and through the front door, the older boy led him down the central hallway. Past the kitchen and through the somewhat large pantry, out the back door was an altar in the middle of a small clearing. Well, it wasn't really an altar so much as a stone slab in the middle of the yard. Sasuke remembered cousins and other relatives would come here to burn deceased pets (it had always been a tradition in the family to burn the dearly departed). The old lady that had lived here had become a potter when she retired from being an active ninja, and had become the local pet cremator in the process.
Setting the now stiff body in the middle of the altar, Sasuke took both of his team mate's hands in his own, led him of to the side and sat him down in the grass.
"Naruto? Naruto, look at me." Taking his chin, Sasuke forced the blond to look him in the. Though he doubted if Naruto actually saw him or not. "I have to go inside, ok? I'll only be gone a second, so wait here. Don't move. Just stay right here." Naruto stared for a moment, before blinking and giving a tiny nod.
Standing up, Sasuke watched as Naruto went back to staring at his cat again. Pondering the younger boy's attachment to the feline, he walked back into the pantry, feeling along the right wall as he went. Finding the catch, he opened the hidden door to the storage closet. Careful not to nock anything of the selves attached to the door, he propped it open with a crate of empty glass jars. The room beyond was dark and musty from years of concealment. Deep shelves on either side left little room to actually move in the small room, but you really didn't need much to begin with – it was storage after all.
Near the back of the room to the right, he found a faded, yellowing, label that read 'Cats' in semi-neat scrawl. The shelf was nearly empty but in the far back, he could see a few urns left. He just hoped the one he needed was still there. Having to half crawl into the cramped space he managed to reach the first urn. It was simple, traditional and solid black. Not the one he needed. Setting it gently to the side, he stretched a little farther and snagged the next one. Striped orange and yellow - still not the right one. Sighing, he placed it next the first. Stretching still further, he just barely hooked his fingers in the handle of the next urn. A handled cremation urn splotched white on black. Perfect.
TBC
That took forever and it's not even a long chapter… well, the next one will be longer, promise! School end this Friday and I got absolutely NOTHING to do this summer. Joy. Make sure to REVIEW. Gawd, you guys read and ditch! A 'good job' or 'update soon' will suffice!
me chapters look weird...