A/N: Hello everyone and welcome to the first installment of 'Caged Little Raven,' I do hope that it rises to the same prestige as my last several Sasuke/Itachi stories have and welcome all encouraging reviews but do not react well with flames. I'm hoping that this story, though not young Sasuke/Itachi will still be a hit even though I'm sort of walking into new territory. I'm also using a new version of Microsoft Word which I am not yet 'grandfathered' into like I was with the old one so please forgive any mistakes I make. Also, this story is subject to slow updates though it is unlikely, I have until January the 11th until I begin college courses again and should have pretty much all the time in the world [that I'm not spending job hunting or placing myself into a comatose state during endless hours on World of Warcraft] to work on this until then. Please do enjoy and remember my rule: The more reviews I receive, the more likely I am to update soon.

Dawn broke over the sleepy village of Kohona. It was the quiet part of the day, before the children awoke and after the beasts of the night returned to their dens and nests. Mae Uchiha stepped out of her home onto the wooden encircling porch. Barefoot and tying the strings of her stained, off-white apron behind her back, she walked to her left, where her beloved pet Songbird Joy was kept. She adored his voice, his beautiful songs that he gave to her and the world every day. Nothing made her happier than to hear his music whilst she worked in the family bakery, kneading dough and keeping the stoves hot. When she did allow herself to go on break she would throw bread crumbs out to the less spectacular, female birds that came around to try and see who was making such a wonderful call to them to come and mate. Of course she had never allowed him to be with another bird, for that would make him be quieter, and she would get no music from him. But today was different. Birdseed fell from her hand as her eyes began to water. In front of her sat Joy's cage, still hanging from the ceiling, but the door was wide open, and her little singer was gone.

X.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.X

Itachi Uchiha sipped his cup of steaming hot tea as his fellow clan member Mae was in hysterics. She could hardly make clear words between her sobbing and wailing. Something about her joy missing? Oh…a bird….this was seriously not supposed to be his problem. As captain of an Elite ANBU squad, it was his job to kill enemies of the village, protect the general population from threats, and to keep peace and order, not find missing winged pests. But of course, just because he held the position as a law enforcement officer, and she was their neighbor and somewhat close relative, he had to stand there in the casual sleeping kimono he had gone to bed in only a few hours before. His hair was somewhat messy and the bags under his eyes were obvious, but whatever, not like anyone cared really how he was doing physically, they just wanted their problems solved and to have it done quickly.

"Alright Auntie Mae, I'll be sure and file a report for you that someone freed your pet. Are you sure that you did not just leave the door open last night and he got out?"

"Of course not!" She looked almost angered and offended. At least it made the tears stop. "I never open his cage door! It was tied shut with wire, no, someone had to unwrap it! And that someone must pay! My Joy is gone!" There went the tears again….if this is what the female gender was like, he was happy to have not found one to call his own quite yet.

"Okay Auntie, I believe you, go back to the bakery and make breakfast for Tun-san, I'll get back to you with any information I find out about your……bird…thief." Actually, the story was quite similar to others he had heard over the past year or so. Pets going missing, to think, when it started was when butcher shops in Kohona's bustling trade district reported that someone was stealing the chickens that were to be beheaded and plucked to sell. At first the authorities rolled their eyes and dismissed the claims, calling them petty and a waste of time. But after a dozen or so hens disappeared, they began to at least make files of the claims.

After that it was other small things, a lost dog here, and a missing cat there. One of the Hyuuga clan claimed that an intruder broke links of a dog's chain while it was raining outside and no one was out to catch him in the act. Another couple claimed that their pet feline, who they had never even let out of the house in fear that she might get lost, say that something or someone came and released her while they were not home. No one sees who does it, and there are never any footprints or telltale signs. Letting out a sigh Itachi turned around and walked back indoors, where it was comfortably warm as his mother was cooking breakfast, her hands carefully packing rice into balls as a special treat for her sons.

"What was that all about, dear?" She asked in her quiet voice. Itachi never once remembered hearing his mother raise her voice. Perhaps it was because of her gentle and caring nature, either that or she just did not have it in her to yell. "It was nothing mother, Auntie Mae's pet bird was let out of its cage, probably some kids pulling a stupid prank." He refilled his cup, he wanted to sleep but he knew that his day was only beginning. "Well that is just cruel…..I hope that whoever is doing such mean things is caught…who would do something like that? Stealing loved members of the family from sweet elderly people like Auntie Mae…" She set a perfect rice ball down and began on another, her eyes never leaving her work. "I do not know, but they will be found out sooner or later, if I know anything about kids it is that they brag about the terrible illegal things they do and there is always a do-gooder tattler in their ring of friends. But do tell your friends to keep an eye on their animals; we do not want this happening any more than it already is."

That is when heavier footsteps entered the room. Sasuke Uchiha. His eyes were dark, the boy suffered from sleep apnea. They had tried taking him to doctors but nothing ever worked. Itachi knew his brother was 'different,' not in the bad way that would make him out to be a freak but in a special way, and perhaps his inability to get rest was but a side effect. The boy had been to every source of help imaginable. From sorcerers of the dark to priests of the light, it seemed no one could aid his ailing otouto. It seemed as if the only relief his little brother got was through extensive physical activity. Knowing this, Sasuke would push himself every day in training until he had broken nearly every bone and torn many of the muscles in his body over the years. Even now he had a disfigured finger from an accident when he was younger. Nowadays he would begin before sunrise and work himself until he passed out and either woke up not remembering where he was and how he had gotten there or if a family friend had brought him home, his tired, dirty body unconscious and covered in blood and bruises……

Sasuke had other few sources of relief, one was discovered when he went missing and was found overnight by a priest in the village temple, sleeping soundly on the floor in a corner….another time was when he had went into his room without permission to search for a missing weapon cloth that he had lent to his sibling and found rather disturbing materials…

X.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.X

[A year or so before]

"Sasuke? Are you awake?" Itachi stood outside the door of his brother's room. He had lent that polishing cloth to Sasuke a week ago and had not seen it since. When he got no response he slid the door open and looked inside, no one was there. Maybe his brother was out training yet again. He needed the cloth back now before he left for his next mission, Sasuke would just have to forgive him for the invasion of privacy.

Stepping inside the smell of dried blood, old sweat, and a sweet, exotic aroma was in the air. Paying no mind to it, he began to search the dresser and the personal items of his to find what rightfully belonged to him. That is when he found what could only be described as a secret stash in the bottom of the trunk of old trinkets and small weapons. There was a half-empty bottle of hard liquor, several pieces of erotic adult literature, and a small bag of what looked to be cooking herbs, but he recognized it right off as being a plant used for a powder. The mixture was used my ninja's to disable their victim, it depressed the blood flow until the target either passed out or worse, died. The line between life and death when using that deadly plant was as thin as a hair. One gram off and whoever consumed it would never awake again.

X.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.X

He had not told his parent about what Sasuke was doing to 'self-medicate.' But he had taken his stash of the drug, even though they never spoke a word about it there was a silent understanding between them that Itachi would not by any means tolerate it.

Sasuke slumped down at the table, taking only nibbles of the rice ball his mother cheerfully set before him. The dark bags under his eyes were a telltale sign of his sleep deprivation. But he had no time for that now, he had to get into uniform and report for duty at headquarters, before another precious pet was stolen. Oh wouldn't that be a tragedy.

Handing the used cup to his mother, he left the room, mussing up his brother's hair as he walked through. Maybe today his otouto would find peace and be able to rest, but even he knew that it was highly unlikely. Itachi Uchiha had won many battles, fought many foes, and overcome countless obstacles in his life, but nothing was harder that having to sit back and watch his favorite relative slowly be destroyed from the inside out in such an agonizing manner….nothing……