Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Chapter One

BEEEP!

Hinata gripped the steering wheel harder and spun it so she swerved her car to the left to avoid the oncoming truck that she almost ran into due to the ice one the road. She breathed a sigh of relief that she and her tan Acura Legend were still in one piece. She pulled her car into the parking lot of her job and turned off the engine, instantly missing the heater as she watched the windshield begin to fog up. She pulled down the mirror and began to pull her long navy tresses into a tight fitting bun then placing some mascara to her pale eyes that had a strange tint of lilac. She put the mirror back up and then reached for her black bag and she pulled out her glasses and placed them on. On the way out of the car, she grabbed her white colored trench coat and slipped it on before opening the door to the brisk winter air.

Crud, it's really cold!

Hinata ran to the entrance of the building, rushing to the elevator. She was already 10 minutes late for her first patient of the day. As she stepped into the empty elevator she quickly pushed number 6. As the doors were closing a pale hand came between them and forced them back open. Hinata wanted to scream. She hated being late and today was no exception. She couldn't help a small glare as she watched the man step inside. She noticed he didn't make eye contact and he kept looking to the floor. He then pressed the number 2, then 3, then 4, then 5, and then his finger reached for 6 but stopped when he must've noticed it was already lit up.

Hinata clenched her fists in irritation. They were now going to make stops to every floor up until 6. Hinata thought about her poor patient sitting up in her office waiting for her. The worst part was it would be her first appointment with him and she wasn't even on time. She made a mental note to ignore her cousin Neji's next call.

"Is this correct?" The man next to her began to mumble to himself. Hinata took a quick peek over at him after hearing his voice. It was low but she could pick up what he said. She strained to hear what he was saying.

"No… I don't want to." Hinata took in what he said. Then she looked him over and took in his appearance. He was tall, about 5'11. He had dark black hair that was mangled and unruly and covered his face. He wore basic light blue jeans and a black sweater with a navy scarf wrapped around his neck with a pair of red earmuffs covering his ears. She began to notice his fingers twitch and turn everyway. His feet were rocking his body back and forth. She wished she could see his face.

"E-excuse me, sir?" She turned to face him. She noticed his body tense up. He lifted his head but still avoided eye contact. She immediately noticed his dark onyx eyes that held different emotions but at the same time almost looking blank. He began making strange facial expressions as he watched the elevator doors open to the second floor. After a while they closed again and started their way to the third floor.

"Sir, are you alright?" she managed to leave a stutter out. Hinata had a small case of stuttering on occasions. He stopped rocking for a moment then continued. His mouth moved but no sounds came out. His hand reached out palm facing up and he whispered, "Do you see it? It's been following me and now I finally caught it." His face held a small child like smile that made it finally clicked in Hinata's mind; he was a patient for her office.

Hinata worked for a doctor's office for the mentally ill. She was a psychiatrist and she had also taken some night time classed that gave her a degree for Neurology. She had been a brilliant girl who managed to graduate high school her junior year and she had went straight to college, her mind set on becoming a doctor for the mentally ill. After that she graduated when she was 24 making her a well-known name in the small city of Buffalo. Two of her friends who were also psychiatrists followed her footsteps, but specialized in different areas, they all worked in the same office though. Hinata had been extremely happy about the whole idea of working with people that she could help. Hinata did really well in the categories of Schizophrenia and Depression. She only ever lost one patient that had killed himself, and ever since then she was determined to do whatever it took to make sure she wouldn't lose another.

Hinata smiled kindly at the man before her before she shook her head. "No, but are you here for and appointment with either and Dr. Haruno or Yamanaka?" The man began to shake his head, withdrawing his hand.

"Hyuga… Hyuga." He looked at her but he focused on her nose. "Are you Hyuga?" Hinata calmly nodded her head. His eyes narrowed for a second but then returned to staring at the floor.

Hinata quickly processed what was happening. He must be her 9:30 appointment, the 25 year old man that moved with his older brother to Buffalo to receive better help. "Are you Sasuke Uchiha?"

The man looked toward the elevator doors, appearing to not have heard her, and saw that they finally opened to the 6th floor. He swiftly walked out and toward the glass window where the receptionist sat. He told her he was looking for Hyuga. The lady kindly smiled and pointed at Hinata who stepped out of the elevator. He turned to look at her.

"Mr. Uchiha will you please follow me." She smiled and began to walk towards her office. She heard the trudging of his sneakers on the carpet behind her. She stepped inside and held the door open for him. He slowly walked in, taking in his surroundings before fully coming inside. Hinata pointed to a chair and a couch. "Take a seat if you would like."

He shuffled around a bit then took a seat on the couch. Hinata took off her trench coat revealing a black pencil skirt with black tights and some black heels, all topped with a beautiful cream colored dress shirt. She went over to her desk and sat down. She pulled out his file and read through his history, and notes from his previous psychiatrist.

"Mr. Uchiha, I understand that in the recent years you've been moved from doctor to doctor. Can you te-"

Knock Knock.

Hinata looked to the door. "Enter." The door opened and inside stepped a clone of her patient. The only difference was he was taller, looked a little older, and his hair was neatly pulled back into a small ponytail. "M-may I help you, sir?"

"Yes. I am Itachi Uchiha. I am the one you spoke to on the phone with." Hinata nodded at pointed the couch and chair again. "Have a seat." She smiled warmly at the man. He nodded and took a seat in the chair and sent a smile towards his younger brother that just sat there and stared at the carpet.

"So Mr. Uchiha," She made sure to look directly and Itachi, "First I want to know why he has been switching doctors quiet often?"

"None of the other doctors were really getting anywhere with him. They would talk to him but sometimes it felt like it was just getting worse. So I finally looked up some of the top psychiatrists and your name appeared. I read through your history and you've only lost one patient out of the 33 you've had. Most of the others are well and back on their feet ready to take on life. So I guess you could say I was impressed. That and you were the closest to where we previously lived."

Hinata blushed at the complement and nodded. "Yes you moved here from Lockport?" Itachi nodded.

"How long has your brother been diagnosed with Schizophrenia?" She got out a note pad and pen and got prepared to write.

"Since he was about 12, that was when we finally took him to a doctor." Itachi's face was sullen. She couldn't blame him. Who would want to find out that a family member has a mental illness? Hinata still needed more information, so she pressed on regardless of his expression.

"What symptoms did he have that made you go to a doctor?" Hinata noticed that Sasuke wasn't even close to paying attention. He just kept mumbling incoherent words and making weird facial expressions.

"It started out as he wasn't focused in class and he never made eye contact with anyone. Even at home he tried to avoid it. He was also obsessed with reading, it's all he would do, but then he just suddenly stopped. He had said he lost interest in it, and if you knew how he felt about reading, you would know that just giving it up wasn't normal. He was also a major hockey fanatic and he used to play with his friends, but he gave that up too. Said the same thing, it just didn't interest him anymore. So I took him to a doctor and the doctor diagnosed him as schizophrenic. He told me that children over the age of five can develop schizophrenia, but it is very rare before adolescence. So he told me not to worry because he wasn't so sure that schizophrenia was the case." Itachi watched as Hinata's eyes were focused on her writing while her brows furrowed in concentration.

"When was his first hallucination or delusion?" Hinata looked up at Itachi and then looked at Sasuke who was looking at her. Sasuke then spoke.

"It wasn't a hallucination. I saw it. I felt it. It was a large snake and it was in my bed. Wrapping itself around my entire body, I couldn't breathe or move. I started to shake uncontrollably with fear. I guess it shook the bed to make enough noise 'cause then Itachi came in and it suddenly disappeared." Hinata listened and couldn't help but notice the smooth and deep tone of his voice. She quickly scribbled away in her note pad, turning over the page and continuing.

"How old where you Sasuke?" Sasuke's face twisted into confusion.

"What do you mean? I was there when it happened." Sasuke shook his head and looked to the ground. That was when Itachi stepped in realizing Sasuke wasn't stable yet.

"He was about 13, just turning 14." Hinata nodded. It was pretty early to start having delusions and hallucinations.

"Does he hallucinate often?" She questioned. Itachi nodded.

"He will sometimes ask me to hold things that aren't there or tell me to kill a bug that is on his arm."

Hinata nodded, and then remembered back in the elevator. "Yes, in the elevator he held out his hand and asked me if I saw… it?" Itachi shrugged.

Hinata was writing trying to get down every word. She made side notes such as began at early age, hallucinations, no eye contact, didn't focus in school, lost interest in hobby. Hinata looked to Sasuke, surprised to see him not fidgeting or even making facial expressions. It was almost like he shut down.

"Does he do this often?" Hinata pointed and Itachi looked over at him. He nodded then opened his mouth to speak, "Actually yeah. He will be like for a few minutes." He shrugged as if it was nothing. Hinata watched for a moment then went back to taking notes.

"Have you ever put him on medication?" She looked up and noticed his face got darker.

"Yes." His reply was short and blunt. Hinata waited to see if he would elaborate and when he didn't she let out a sigh.

"And what was his reaction to the medicine? I need to know so I can put it down as a note." Hinata watched as he tensed up but the relaxed as he looked to his still brother.

"He attempted to take his life. It made him depressed beyond belief. I took him off the medicine right away. I won't put him on anymore medication." He looked her in the eye as if to dare her to try and give him medication. She nodded in understanding.

"What kind of medication was it, do you remember?" Itachi sat there for a moment with a thoughtful look. The he responded, "It was a paliperidone palmitate I think." Hinata nodded. She looked back at Sasuke. She was really hoping to at least try and talk to him.

"Do you mind if I ask a more personal question?" Itachi nodded. "What happened to your parents? It says in this f-file that they died."

Hinata noticed he crossed his arms unconsciously; body language telling Hinata that he was defensive about this topic.

"They did die. They were murdered when Sasuke was only 10. He witnessed the whole thing." Itachi stared at her, making her feel a bit on the edge. The silence was thick and Hinata was processing her thought before she wrote down some more notes. For about thirty more minutes she continued to ask questions and Itachi did most the answering.

"Well I believe that is all for today. W-when would you like to schedule your next appointment? Next time, I would like to do some tests on him, so it will be an hour or so long." Hinata took out her planner and waited for a response.

"As soon as possible but it can't be this Thursday. I have a meeting and I would like to stay with Sasuke during the first few appointments to see how your office does things around here." Itachi said and Hinata nodded and looked at her planner.

"I have a date open on this Saturday at 3 o'clock. Is that good?" Itachi nodded. She quickly scribbled down the date and time. She then stood up and walked around her desk. She grabbed a piece of paper and a card. She held out the paper and began pointing out a few things. "Okay, this appointment is free of charge and this is the date and time of your next appointment. Next appointment will be 75 dollars because we will be starting some actual testing, and there will also be a 50 dollar down payment for this month's appointments. Then this is my card. You can call me anytime and on the back is my home phone and cell in case you can't get in contact with me through my email or work." She handed the paper and card to him.

Itachi nodded and then stuck out his hand. "Thank you Ms. Hyuga. It was very pleasant to meet you." Hinata shook his hand and then looked at Sasuke who had come back to life and was now looking at the two pale hands clasped together. She looked at Itachi who was smirking at his little brother.

"Sasuke, would you shake Ms. Hyuga's hand please?" Sasuke stood up and looked at Hinata's hand. Then he shook it. It was a quick shake but he shook none the less.

"Well, we best be on our way. I'll be sure to call you if we need anything." With that he began to walk towards the door. Sasuke followed behind him. Hinata watched their retreating forms until the turned the corner. Hinata walked over to her desk and looked at the notes she took. She had trouble deciding if it was a serious or mild case. She looked back at his folders. Not once had he ever hurt or gotten into fights with anyone during his years at school. Apparently all he did was sit and make faces. This was definitely an interesting case.

Hinata slouched back into her chair behind the desk and scanned the file over once more before putting it back in the file cabinet. She stood up and looked at the time. The appointment only lasted 40 minutes. She still had 20 more till her next patient came in. She walked out of her office and walked towards Dr. Yamanaka 's. She knocked and heard a soft 'come in' before she opened the door and walked inside.

"Hi Ino, I'm sorry to disturb you right now." Ino shook her head and waved a hand at her dismissing her apology.

"Oh Hinata, you aren't disturbing me. In fact I'm glad you're here. My patient isn't coming until another hour. I just came in early to get some more paper work done. Anyways, watcha' need?" Ino gave her a smile. Hinata smiled back. Ino Yamanaka was always a happy-go-lucky kind of girl and she truly lived her life to the fullest. Ino has long platinum blonde hair that was always in a pony tail that has bags covering part of her face. She also has ice blue eyes that shown with pure joy and happiness, but Hinata learned that as much happy as she has, she is a walking time bomb. Rub her the wrong way and she will go off and probably destroy any sense of pride you have in a matter of seconds.

"Oh nothing really, I was just wondering if Temari was back yet. I need her to do a little digging for me on this new patient I have." Hinata said. Ino's eyes sparked with interest as a sly smile came across her full pink lips.

"What's the case?" Ino looked at Hinata waiting for her reply.

"He's a 25 year old male and he's Schizophrenic." Hinata answered. Ino's eyes lost interest.

"You always have schizophrenics, why is this one different?" Ino's hands shifted to where one of her palms held her chin.

"Nothing really, he just isn't your average case. Plus he witnessed his parent's deaths." Hinata knew that it was against the rules to share her patient's information but her and Ino had been long time friends and they've even worked with the same patients before, so she knew she could trust Ino.

"Oh my, that's terrible." Ino's forehead wrinkled as her thin brows furrowed. Hinata nodded in agreement. Then her face returned back to normal and her smile came back. "Anyways, I'm sorry to say that Temari doesn't return until Wednesday. Remember, she went to the city to visit her boyfriend, that genius doctor guy… dude… person. Whatever." Her hand left her chin and waved off what she just said.

"His name is Shikamaru Nara. Don't you even listen to what she says?" Ino shook her head and laughed.

"No way! She always makes fun of me when I talk about my boyfriend." Ino said with a teasing tone.

"That's because your boyfriend isn't human and he barely even calls you." Hinata and Temari both knew that Ino was completely in love with her boyfriend but he just didn't feel the same plus he was already engaged at one point but broke it off right before the bride walked down the aisle. He just wasn't good news.

"Hold up now. Sai is to a human!" Ino protested. Hinata shook her head and mumbled 'whatever'. Hinata decided to change the subject.

"So how is Tenten doing?" Hinata asked. Ino worked well with people who had unhealthy obsessions and bad eating habits. Tenten was a patient that collected weapons. It was never a problem until Tenten's friend Lee went to her house and saw that her entire house was covered with weapons. There were weapons of the walls, floors, tables, couches and even some in her bed. That's when Lee had gotten her help.

"She's actually doing fine. She has been able to let go of some of her weapons now. In this past month she gave away 17 weapons." Ino's smile showed how proud she was of Tenten. Hinata smiled.

"That's good. Well I best get going. My next appointment is with Gaara and you know he likes to get the appointments d-done and over with." Hinata waved at Ino as she made her way back to her office. She sat back down and took out Gaara's file preparing for another hour of just hearing herself talk. She prayed that today would be the day she would get Gaara to talk.

With one last thought of the Uchiha, she stored him away in her memory until next time.

R&R