Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Genre: General
Rating? not for children anyway…
Notes: AU, no pairings
Summary: Seven years have passed since the Uchiha clan was murdered and the two children of the clan head disappeared. What happens when Naruto meets a strange boy wearing a strange cloak? And what is a boy around his age doing out in the middle of nowhere anyway?
Authors Notes: An ongoing birthday present for Ryuu.
I may not be able to update for awhile but I'll keep writing. I'm on vacation right now and will post whenever I can. I'm sorry that you're going to have to wait. Thank you for all the reviews!
!Important! THIS IS A PREVIEW OF CHAPTER TWO! Unfortunately I was unable to complete the entire chapter before leaving for my Grandma's house. I will probablynot be ableto access the internet for a week or two. Sorry!
Cursed BloodChapter Two: The Tiger
Slim fingers used a stone mortar and pestle to grind dried herbs into a fine powder. The soft lemony scent of the plant filled the cool cave. Soft footsteps made light shuffling noises on the smooth stone of the cave's floor. Sasuke smiled to himself. His older brother knew how dangerous it would be to sneak up on him while he was mixing poisons and other medicinal tonics.
"Burn salve?" The dark monotone rumbled from the center of the small cavern that made up Sasuke's workshop.
"Deidara used the last of it up the last time he was training with his explosives." The younger answered, hands never ceasing in their movements. Itachi smirked internally. So that was why the little one ditched the blonde pyromaniac. Sasuke's biggest pet peeve was when the Akatsuki used up his remedies without telling him so he could restock as it was used. This meant he had to make a larger batch of medicine; and burn salve was particularly intricate.
The two were silent as Itachi glanced around his brother's 'office'. The cavern was ringed with large stone counters, sinks placed in even intervals along the cool stone. On the counters were various burners and scales to weigh ingredients. Mounted on the wall were wooden cabinets, filled with bottles marked with Sasuke's small neat handwriting.
One of the side walls was filled with a heavy wooden desk and bookcases overflowing with medical texts, cookbooks, and other books filled with useful information. On the desk scrolls were stacked neatly towards the wall; a lamp shining on the younger Uchiha's latest project, a diagram of the anatomy of a fox. On the walls were similar diagrams of various animals and detailed maps of various places on the continent.
Itachi turned as his brother poured the fine gray powder into a small cauldron. "Are you not supposed to pour the water in first?" He asked.
"If you do that it clumps." Sasuke answered, smirking. "No wonder I'm the cook. All of you are hopeless without me." He resisted a grin as the elder Uchiha smacked him upside the head. He removed his cloak and laid it on the counter next to him, showing off a simple black fishnet shirt under black chest armor. His arms were shown to be bandaged from his wrists to his elbows as he placed his armguards on top of his cloak. It wouldn't do him any good if he stained the thing. This particular salve was extremely potent and bleached any dark cloth that came in contact with it. Uchiha were extremely vain creatures after all.
Sasuke placed the cauldron over one of the burners and snapped his fingers. Instantly a small blue flame sprang to life and licked hungrily at the heavy black bottom. Carefully measuring out exactly one liter of water the short-haired boy poured it into the pot. He grabbed a wooden spoon and began to stir the contents of the pot in slow figure-eight patterns. He reached over his head and opened the cabinet above him, running his fingers over each bottle and pulling down the ones he needed. Each bottle was marked in neat kanji, and the small bumps that signified Braille.
"You marked all of the bottles." Itachi commented.
"Hai." Sasuke answered, he tilted his head forward so his bangs covered his eyes. "You squint when you read them." The taller man didn't answer but his silence was not an icy one. "Besides," a playful glint entered black eyes, "It always freaks Kisame out when I just grab bottles without looking at them and add them to the medicine I'm working on." Itachi's lips twitched.
"Oi! Hag! You lost the bet so you have ta buy me lunch!" Naruto burst through the large wooden doors that separated him from the Godaime, Tsunade. Theblonde woman glared at the brat over a mountain of paperwork before grumbling under her breath. She stood up from her seat and eagerly left the important documents she was supposed to be reading.