That's What Friends do

Chapter one

"Sasuke, you are going to be late for your mission if you don't hurry up and get out of bed." Sasuke heard his older brother yelled, his voice sounding like it was far away. Which meant Itachi was probably in the kitchen making breakfast already. Sasuke groaned, he really didn't want to get out of bed, he was still tired even though he had gone to bed early the night before.

Sitting up, Sasuke tossed his legs over the side of the bed wincing as his feet met the cold hardwood floor. He shivered, as he pushed himself to his feet and shuffled across the floor to his dresser. He pulled open the drawer and grabbed a blue shirt with the Uchiha crest on the back before slamming that drawer shut and reaching down and opening the drawer below to grab a pair of white shorts.

Once he was dressed, Sasuke exited his room and headed towards the kitchen where he figured his older brother would be. Sure enough Itachi was standing in front of the stove concentrating on the eggs that he was cooking.

"Morning little brother." Itachi said, not taking his eyes off of the eggs.

"Morning." Sasuke mumbled as he sat down at the table and laid his head down on the table. He wasn't hungry, and he didn't really want to go on a mission. Sasuke hadn't told his brother this, but he hadn't been feeling well lately. He was tired all the time, and at the end of the day his feet were so badly swollen that he could barely walk. Sasuke knew these were signs that something serious was going on, but he didn't have the time to go to the doctor to find out.

"Want something to eat before you leave?" Itachi asked, turning to look at his little brother. Sasuke was tiredly resting his head on the table, Itachi frowned. He knew that Sasuke hadn't been feeling well, despite the way Sasuke was trying to hide the signs Itachi still knew.

"I'm not hungry." Sasuke replied, tiredly.

"Maybe you should go to the doctor." Itachi suggested.

"I don't have time. Too many missions lately." Sasuke mumbled.

"You're health is more important than any mission." Itachi replied. "you can always go on more once your health is better." Sasuke shrugged not bothering to lift his head from the table.

"What if something happens to my teammates and I wasn't there to help them?" Sasuke asked, "I wouldn't be able to forgive myself for that."

"What if something happens to you during the mission because of your health and they have to bring you back here?" Itachi asked. "Your putting your teammates at risk if you do go and something happens to you, not to mention your putting your own self at risk."
"You have a point." Sasuke mumbled. "But I don't want to be the one to let Kakashi know."

"How about you go to the hospital and get checked out and worry about your team meeting later. If I have to, I'll let Kakashi know." Itachi said. He was worried about his brother, worried that Sasuke had something serious going on with him.

"Fine," Sasuke mumbled but remained sitting at the table, he didn't want to go to the hospital either but he supposed that Itachi was right. He would put his teammates at risk if something happened to him on their mission.

"Come on Sasuke. Get to the hospital." Itachi said "And I will let Kakashi know what's going on."

Lifting his head up the table, Sasuke groaned as he pushed himself to his feet. His lower back was hurting and it made him wonder if that was part of the bigger problem or if he had just pulled a muscle. He really hoped it was the former, he didn't want to think of the possibility of what it could be.

"What hurts?" Itachi asked not missing the grimace on Sasuke's face.

"I think I pulled a muscle." Sasuke replied, his hand going to his back and rubbing at the sore area. Itachi frowned at his brother, he had promised his parents that he would take care of Sasuke. Allowing his brother to hide his illness wasn't taking care of Sasuke. When Their parents had been killed on a mission Itachi stepped in to take care of Sasuke, what Sasuke didn't know was that their father Fugaku had been dealing with kidney failure and was in need of a kidney transplant. Itachi couldn't help but wonder if Sasuke was starting to have kidney failure after all kidney disease could be genetic. Itachi really hoped that that wasn't the case, he had watched their father go through dialysis treatments and that hadn't been easy, their father had suffered. Itachi didn't want Sasuke to have to go through any of that. Sasuke had suffered enough after their parents had died, Itachi knew that from time to time his little brother still had nightmares about their parents. Sasuke tried to hide it from him but Itachi always knew.

"Do you need help?" Itachi asked watching as Sasuke grimaced again as he started towards the door.

"I don't know." Sasuke said, "maybe." the pain in Sasuke's back was growing worse. Itachi turned to the stove, and flipped it off. Turning back around, Itachi approached Sasuke, and helped him onto his back.

"I don't need to get carried." Sasuke mumbled.

"I think you need more help than you realize." Itachi said as he headed out the door, Sasuke laying his forehead on Itachi's shoulder, leaving Itachi to feel the heat radiating from Sasuke. Yes, his brother was certainly sick and Itachi had the feeling that he wasn't going to like the diagnosis.

Fifteen minutes later, Sasuke was lying on a bed in the ER and Itachi was explaining Sasuke's symptoms to the nurse. Once Sasuke was taken back to be tested, Itachi headed towards the Hokage's office. Tsunade would need to know that Sasuke was in the hospital and wouldn't be able to go on their latest mission and depending on Sasuke's diagnosis, probably wouldn't be able to go on any missions for a while. Sighing, Itachi stuffed his hands in his pocket and headed out of the hospital, Itachi had given the nurse instructions to have a message sent to Itachi.

Exiting the hospital, Itachi quickly made his way towards The Hokage Tower. He hoped that Tsunade would actually be there, or it could work out that she was at the hospital. He wouldn't complain about that either. When he reached the Hokage tower, he quickly made his way up the stair to where the Hokage office.

Knocking on the door, Itachi entered when he heard Tsunade call come in.

"Itachi what can I do for you?" Tsunade asked looking up from the paperwork she was working on.

"I'm here to tell that Sasuke won't be able to go on his mission today." Itachi replied. "He's currently undergoing tests at the hospital."

"What are his symptoms?" Tsunade asked, curious as to what could keep an Uchiha from their missions.

"Back pain, swollen feet that he tries to hide when he thinks I'm looking, trouble using the restroom that he also tries to hide along with lethargy and fever." Itachi replied.

"That sounds like the early stages of kidney failure." Tsunade replied thoughtfully. "if that's the case he's going to need to go on dialysis and we may need to start looking for a kidney for him."

"I was afraid of that." Itachi admitted. "After all our father was dealing with it when he died."

"And you still haven't told Sasuke about that?" Tsunade asked, standing up from her desk.

"No, I haven't." Itachi replied. "I don't really know how to do that. Sasuke's had to deal with so much, I don't really want to add to his stress."

"I'll see what I can do for Sasuke, and while I'm at it, I'm going to go on test you to see if you are a match for your brother. I'm assuming that you are willing to donate a kidney if it comes to that?" Tsunade said.

"Of course I will." Itachi said. "There isn't anything that I'm not willing to do for him."

"Let's go." Tsunade said as she followed Itachi out of the office and down the stairs her mind already whirling with ideas on treatment options for Sasuke. "I'll have to let Kakashi know that for the time being their missions are canceled."

"That's not really fair to Sakura or Naruto." Itachi said. "Especially Naruto since he's supporting himself."

"I'll make sure that Naruto is taken care of." Tsunade said. "Don't worry about that, besides I'm sure as soon as he finds out about Sasuke he's going to be staying at the hospital any how."

"Probably." Itachi said thinking about his little brother's best friend. The blond was never far away when Sasuke was sick or hurt. Itachi wondered if it was sheer loneliness that made Naruto stick to Sasuke's side all the time. Itachi didn't mind because he was gone on missions almost as often as Sasuke was and he didn't want his brother to be alone all the time. Naruto could provide Sasuke the friendship and company that Itachi couldn't when he wasn't there. So for that he was glad that Naruto was good friends with his little brother.

At the hospital, Itachi discovered that Sasuke was still having tests run on him. Tsunade disappearing behind the doors to assist with the testing, leaving Itachi worrying in the waiting room. Sitting down, Itachi stared at the floor wondering if Sasuke was really going to be facing the same battle that their father had been dealing with. If that was the case Itachi hoped that his blood type matched his brother's so that he could donate a kidney.

Twenty minutes later, Tsunade exited the emergency room doors and headed towards Itachi. She found him staring down at the floor.

"Unfortunately, Sasuke's left kidney is in the early stages of failure." She announced. "For the time being he's going to need to be on dialysis once a week which means for the time being team 7 will need to be shut down. Eventually if Sasuke's kidney doesn't respond to treatment he's going to need a transplant. So why don't we go on and get your blood work done and see if you are a match." Itachi nodded and stood and followed her to the lap where the blood would be drawn from his arm.

Sitting on a stool, Itachi rolled up his sleeve and watched while Tsunade tapped his the crook of his elbow in search of a vein. Once she found a vein, she slid the needle into his arm and connected the small needle to a tube that quickly filled with blood. When it was full, she removed the needle and placed an bandaid on Itachi's arm.

"How long will it be until I know if I'm a match or not?" Itachi asked.

"Usually about a week." Tsunade replied. "but I'm going to do the work myself so maybe a couple of hours. For the time being you can so sit with your brother since he's being admitted." Itachi nodded and stood up, Tsunade led him from the lab to the room where Sasuke was. He found his brother staring blankly up at the ceiling.

"How are you feeling?" Itachi asked.

"Tired." Sasuke answered. "And annoyed with being poked and prodded."

"Can't blame you for that." Itachi said, sitting down in the chair beside his brother. He hated seeing his brother so pale and sick looking in the hospital bed.

"Did Tsunade tell you what's going on?" Itachi asked.

"With my kidney?" Sasuke asked, "yeah, it's scary."

"You do know that she is also checking to make sure I'm match so I can donate a kidney for you." Itachi said.

"You would do that?" Sasuke asked, staring wide eyed brother.

"There's nothing I wouldn't do for you." Itachi replied. "I promised mom and dad that I would take care of you and I intend on keeping that promise."

"So if the dialysis doesn't work I'm going to need a transplant?" Sasuke asked. "Tsunade explained it, but I'm not sure I understood most of it."

"Why don't you get some rest and then I will explain it." Itachi suggested, seeing the fatigue in his brother's eyes. He was certain that Sasuke had had a ton of information tossed at him already. He wasn't surprised that Sasuke hadn't been able to keep up with it.

"Why is this happened now?" Sasuke asked suddenly. "Why did my kidney's decide to start failing."

"I think it's likely genetic" Itachi replied. "it seems to run in the family on our father's side." Sasuke frowned yawning.

"Someone is going to have to tell Kakashi about this." Sasuke mumbled.

"Don't worry about that." Itachi said. "Tsunade is going to take care of it. Get some rest." Itachi watched as Sasuke's eyes closed and his breathing evened out as he fell asleep.

A little while later, Tsunade entered the room and quietly approached Itachi who was staring down at his hands, lost in thought.

"I guess you've already found out whether we match or not." Itachi said when he noticed her standing there. She nodded.

"Unfortunately, you're not a match, which means we are going have to look elsewhere to find him a match. I don't have to tell you that that could take months or possibly even years." Tsunade said.

Thanks for reading and reviewing! I hope you like it. This is mainly a friendship fiction. Liz