I was actually inspired by the character Alex Mahone from Prison break.
Song: Fake smiles-Phorah
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Respectively owned by Masashi Kishimoto.
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And we all hold onto the past because we miss what it was.
Don't want to feel so we try numbing the pain with these drugs.
He slowly uncovered his face, the sunlight seeping through the hotel blinds warmed his cheeks as he gradually opened his heavy eyelids. He immediately closed them again, the images of his dreams slowly fading. It was frankly disturbing- when dreams become better than reality. When the blurry images of the unconscious mind are much better than the reality of life, where choices are limited.
For a brief moment Itachi appreciated the soft silk sheets, the cool feeling it provided on his back, not a wrinkle could be seen. He lazily yawned as he used his hands to prop himself up, leaning on the large leather headboard.
For a couple of seconds Itachi stared at the wall opposite of him, struggling to clear the remaining sleep in his mind. He was mid yawn when his phone began to buzz, the screen lighting up a familiar name, begging to not be ignored. He hesitated for a moment before answering the phone.
He was going to kill him.
Before the Uchiha could begin the string of threats, Narutos breathless voice immediately stopped him. Naruto was calling him on a Sunday morning, on his personal number which only four people have.
"Itachi" he breathed out, struggling to maintain an even breathing pattern.
"It's Sasuke, he's..." the boy on the other line hesitated. Itachi could vaguely hear the sound of cars passing by, the jostling of traffic, the world waking up to another Sunday morning. He heard the breathless blond footsteps become faster as he pushed a heavy door.
"What is it?" Itachi asked, trying to conceal his worried tone.
Naruto was quite for a while and Itachi sensed the boy had stopped in his tracks, who was struggling to voice out the concern he had for his younger brother.
"Naruto" warned Itachi, he was now sitting upright on his king bed, clenching and unclenching his fists.
"The news" whispered the boy on the other end.
In a flash Itachi had lunged off of the warm bed and ran to the remote that lay innocently on the glass coffee table. With a click the television flickered on, a blur of colours as Itachi registered the words of the headline.
Uchiha Sasuke son of Fugaku Uchiha has been admitted into hospital-
The phone had long dropped on the thick carpet with a soft thud.
There was no one in the hotel room as Itachi left the door jarred open.
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There were dozens of reporters in the hospitals reception, each attempting to gain information that would allow them to jump start their career. The buzzing sound intensified the moment Itachi entered the building, flashing lights blinded him as he dizzily made his way to the hospitals assistant.
The lines between Itachi's eyebrows deepened.
Did these people not know this was a hospital?
The middle aged nurse with a tint of grey in her hair gave him a timid smile before whispering a room number. Without a moment to spare Itachi pushed his way towards the elevators, glad to have separated away from the commotion.
His onyx eyes remained on the electronic numbers of the elevator; it seemed to stop at each level.
He snarled before pressing the elevator button furiously, mumbling a string of curse words only he could hear.
His usual neat (and brushed) hair was a tangled mess as it didn't have its usual coconut fragrance, the lines under his eyes was prominent as ever from the lack of sleep. His slid a hand into his long hair, attempting to untangle a knot.
Sasuke
His eyes snapped open upon hearing the sharp sound of the elevator, indicating the doors were opening. With a deep breath, he entered.
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His mother was sobbing, her eyes red from the constant tears which caused the wrinkles around them to deepen. Her smudged mascara created the impression that she was crying black tears. Her hands wrapped around his brothers fingers, intertwining her fingers with his lifeless ones. Each tear that rolled marked her beautiful face, as if scarring it for life.
On the rare occasions he has seen his mother cry it wasagonizing. There was a certain emotion that unveiled itself when his mother cried. The raw emotions bled themselves through tears as they silently dropped; one by one as she struggled to compose herself.
However this time was different. This time the tears were harsher, colder. The wound was deeper. It showed no signs of healing.
These were the tears of a mothers love.
Itachi almost choked upon seeing his mother in such a state, he pushed back the suffocating feeling in his chest as he screwed his eyes shut, only opening to them to look at his father.
The man stood in the corner of the room, top two buttons of his shirt unbuttoned while his black tie was loosened around his neck, long forgotten. Upon Itachi's entry his father had merely given him a look, his jaw visibly hardening. His mother had not bothered to spare him a glance as a hiccup broke the tension.
And there, laying in the bed, his face pale and sweaty was his younger brother. A number of IV tubes were inserted into the crook of his right elbow which were connected to a heart monitor. A nasal cannula was placed in his nostrils which was connected to a small oxygen tank that lay on the floor.
He looked dead, as if his soul had long gone and he was merely an empty vessel made of flesh and blood. Left to mourn over.
Itachi wasn't sure on how he would react, neither was he sure on how he could hide his reaction. But whatever he thought it was, it was never this. Never had he seen his usual classy mother, the beautiful face of the Uchiha Company, crumbled to this. She looked like she had aged another ten years.
And Sasuke. He looked like he was barely hanging onto a thread.
"Mother" his voice croaked as he licked his lips, attempting to relieve them from their dryness.
"Oh Sasuke" mumbled his mother, still not looking at her eldest son. Whether she purposely ignored him or whether she felt too broken to wake herself up from her world of pain, Itachi would never know.
"Oh my bab-"a sob interrupted her as tears continued to fall. She buried her head into her youngest son's chest, attempting to subside her pain with the frantic beating of his heart, assuring herself he was still there.
The beeping sound of the heart monitor along with his mother's sobs were the only sounds that broke the uncomfortable silence.
Itachi remained standing, arms awkwardly at his sides near the door he had entered from, his eyes fixated on his unconscious brother.
No one had explained to him what had happened and in the middle of the commotion Itachi hadn't bothered to listen to the news.
The sound of the door creaking open snapped him out of his train of thoughts as he hesitantly moved out of the way. The door swung open, missing him by mere centimetres.
Narutos once bright blue eyes were lifeless and dark, almost like the sky before lightning flashed. Clouds of grey and blue loomed as they threatened to spill and wet his eyelashes. As if a storm was brewing behind his optical nerves.
The blond boy hesitated before allowing himself to enter, his gaze not leaving his best friends body.
"This is because of you!" hissed his father, his eyes hard as his fist clenched and unclenched at his sides.
"Look at him" a shaky finger pointed to his youngest son, his lifeless youngest son
Naruto opened his mouth but no words came out, but immediately closed his jaw, only to open his mouth again. Almost like a broken doll.
He decided to remain quiet as he clenched his jaw. This was not the time.
"Naruto"
Since Itachi had entered the room his mother had finally spoken to someone other than Sasuke, however her eyes remained on her son.
The blue eyed boy awkwardly made his way to the side of the bed where Mikoto lay, her fingers still clenching his lifeless ones.
"Yes Mrs Uchiha" he mumbled, it sounded strange for Naruto to speak in such a formal tone.
"What happened to my baby?" her voice barely above a whisper, forcing Naruto to lean in order to understand what she said.
"Mikoto" warned the elder Uchiha, his face slightly red from his random outburst.
"The doctors told you-
"I WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO MY SON!" she snapped, tearing her gaze away from Sasuke only to glare at her husband. Her throat suddenly felt inflamed from the abrupt outburst.
A few moments later she turned towards Naruto, smiling. But her smile did not reach her eyes.
"What happened?"
Naruto hesitated, his eyes darting from the emotionally torn woman to Itachi who had yet not said a word, who remained standing. Afraid if he took any other action the results would be disastrous.
"Sasuke" the blond boy breathed out, avoiding Mikotos gaze to look at the sweaty body under the wet blankets.
"He was..."
He bit his lip down as he struggled to hold down a sob.
How did it all end like this?
Blue worried eyes met dark porcelain ones.
"Sasuke has been taking drugs for a while and-"
"What are you saying?"
In a flash Itachi had materialized in front of Naruto, his wide onyx eyes flickering with different emotions.
"He hasn't been himself lately and-"
"Are you saying my youngest son is an addict?" Mikoto dangerously whispered, her eyes not leaving Naruto.
His blue pupils hardened, lines barely visible around his eyes even for his young age.
"No ma'am, Sasuke has just been going through a hard time and he-"
"My son is an Uchiha!" Fugaku boomed, eyes wide as his face turned crimson. "What kind of hard time could he be going through? Money is not an issue!" he hissed, a vein throbbing in his forehead.
Naruto gritted his teeth. If only these people would let him finish.
Of course, for Fugaku money was everything. Being the CEO of the Uchiha enterprise, he was born into wealth and has been happily swimming in it ever since his eyes opened. For Fugaku accumulating wealth was the sole purpose. Money was the healer and the reason to live, for if you were wealthy, all your issues disappeared.
Hence Sasuke had no right to feel the way he was feeling.
Naruto eyes narrowed, which were gradually getting darker.
"Sir, money isn't-"
"Naruto" Itachi warned him, knowing triggering Fugaku wasn't the wisest decision.
The blond clenched his fists before inhaling and exhaling loudly as he mumbled an apology to the enraged father, however his frown remained.
"I know my son better than you do" hissed the leader of the family, turning his back and making his way to his previous spot in the corner of the room.
Naruto snapped.
"If you knew anything about Sasuke, anything! You would realise what kind of pressure you're putting onto him! What kind of father you are! You emotionally abused him! LOOK AT HIM, LOOK AT WHERE HE ENDED!" Naruto had jumped off the bed he was seated on, his face crimson as he growled.
Before either of the people in the room could react Fugaku had suddenly appeared in front of Naruto and slammed his fist into the boys jaw. The sudden impact caused the Uzumaki to stumble backwards, unable to regain his balance, forcing him to land on the bed. The blond boy immediately recognized the metallic taste in his mouth.
"Fugaku!" cried his wife who had shakenly stood up in an attempt to stop her enraged husband.
Before the situation could escalate, Itachi immediately stood between the trios, attempting to diffuse the situation. Between a bleeding Naruto, his panicked mother and his enraged father, his thoughts still remained on his brother.
"Father" whispered Itachi, noticing how Sasuke stirred in his sleep.
"Not now" as his gaze returned to his father whose eyes had turned a dangerous red, knowing how short tempered he was.
Fugakus angry gaze lingered on Naruto for a couple of seconds before he looked at his eldest son.
"I need to go back to the office, I expect you there tomorrow"
Without sparing his wife a glace, Fugaku immediately took off towards the door, purposely slamming it shut.
Mikoto silently slid back into her previous position, gripping Sasukes ghostly fingers into her hand.
Naruto had clumsily managed to get off the bed as droplets of blood landed on the white sheets, forcing himself to wipe the blood with his sleeve.
"I'm sorry" he whispered, his bangs covering his eyes, his voice evidently shaky.
"For the past few months Sasuke has been hanging around people that don't have a good reputation"
He paused as Itachi passed him the white tissue box that lay next to the bed.
"I knew he'd been doing drugs but he promised he was only taking some bullshit over the counter ones to help him sleep" his eyes narrowed before trailing back to the sleeping body.
"But here he is, almost killed by an overdose"
Itachi knew Naruto was blaming himself and frankly he didn't give a shit. He should have told him, why else does Naruto have his number?
He sighed as he massaged his throbbing temple.
"Naruto it's not your fault" it was his mother; eyes closed and biting her trembling lip.
"It's our fault"
Neither of the two disagreed.
We hurt the ones we love because of our pain.