"Sasuke." His voice was low and monotonous, turning his body to face the younger boy. There eyes connected and Sasuke narrowed his gaze, eyebrows knitting together. Both men stared each other down for a moment in silence before Itachi made the first move, stepping towards his desk and using his fore and middle finger to push forward a picture that had been burning a hole in his desk since it had arrived. "Do you know what this is?" The older boy asked, his disappointment masked by his calm tone.
Sasuke eyed him wearily, taking a few steps towards the desk and reaching for the photo and studying it for a moment. Itachi was surprised by how little he seemed to react. "Just some girl." Tossing it back on to the desk, Sasuke put his hands in his pockets and shrugged his shoulders lazily. "I don't see what the big deal is." It was almost as if the boy was testing him. Itachi kept his stoic expression, eyes flickering from the picture, to Sasuke's face, before he faced the window.
"You surely don't believe that, do you?" Linking his hands behind his back, Itachi turned his eyes skywards to watch the clouds roll by without a second glance. He could hear Sasuke shift in the almost eerie silence, but did not turn to watch his blatant comfortableness. "You know exactly what the big deal is, Sasuke, and why you are here." Itachi's voice was authoritative, and did not betray just how hard this was for him. He heard Sasuke snort from behind him, and once again turned his coal black orbs to his brother. Tapping his foot impatiently, Sasuke glared at his brother with his arms folded over his chest like a child who was being reprimand. But his immature stature only irritated Itachi, and the words his spoke even more.
"So what are you going to do? Tell me off? Pay off all the papers?" Sasuke asked defiantly, turning his nose up with an almost snarl to his lips. These past two years had been hard for both brothers, as Itachi rose to take over the company and watched as his brother took the opposite path and spiralled down towards rock bottom. Partying 'til dawn, drinking until he was blind and violent, having sex with anything and everything that moved. It made Itachi feel sick to his stomach with pity, more so than disgust. He was trying his best to steer the boy in the right direction, but his time was so consumed by work it was difficult to keep up with the younger teenager.
Letting a deep sigh escape his lips, Itachi hung his head. He knew his next words would not bode well with the other, but that was inevitable. Sasuke had pushed him too far, and now he had no other choice but to take extreme precautions. "No, Sasuke. This time you have gone too far." Raising his eyes, he locked them on to his brother's own and frowned deeply, breaking his expressionless mask to show he meant business. "Despite the others pleading me to pay off the media again, I have decided to release the picture and an article about your antics in to the paper we own so people will know it's the truth-" He watched as Sasuke's face dropped in horror, stuttering out protest. He carried on "I have also admitted you in to rehab and frozen all of your accounts. You will be put under twenty-four seven surveillance until you are in complete recovery." He didn't trust his brother enough to let him run wild whilst he was away. Itachi had private matters he had to attend to and didn't need the stress. Sasuke was speechless. He flapped his mouth but no words came out, eyes wide and wet with frustration.
"Your irresponsible behaviour is to blame. I am sick and tired of having to pay off people to keep their mouth shut all because you think that you've been handed the shit covered stick of life. It's pathetic. How am I supposed to rest easily knowing that if something happened to me, you would be given this company? God knows what would happen." Despite the fact he knew he had said enough, the words kept flowing out after years and years of holding his tongue.
"That's it, isn't it? That's all you care about! This stupid fucking company. You don't care, YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT ME-"
Smack.
In almost an instant Itachi stood in front of Sasuke, his hand raised. His eyes seemed to glow crimson with anger as the shorter male reached up to place a hand on the swollen skin of his cheek; looking to Itachi with almost fear in his weeping eyes. "Get. Out." His voice was a growl, an emotion that Itachi had never shown in his life up until this point. Sasuke's bottom lip trembled with a mix of fear and embarrassment, and he turned around sharply to stalk out of the room, still holding his bruised cheek.
That was the first and, hopefully, last time he would ever have to hit his brother.
