A/N: Many thanks to evil sasuke girl, Gwenhyfer, Dragon77, kuzon234ray, Mizuki hikari and sarahofearth!! Your reviews/favourites/alerts were very flattering and supportive. Yeah, you too Unicorn Sky Rider.

btw, whoever it was that said "I bet Itachi didn't even know Sasuke existed" that was one hell of a guess!! Was it that obvious?

2

Sasuke dumped the groceries on the floor as he locked the door of the apartment. Turning, he picked them up and walked into the kitchen.

And nearly had a heart attack.

"Dad!" Sasuke shouted.

Kakashi and a man with hair and eyes the same as Sasuke watched him curiously. The man turned to Kakashi with his eyebrows raised. "Does he always shout like that?"

Kakashi and Sasuke both ignored him as Sasuke said, "I thought you were going for two weeks, it's only been six days!"

Kakashi pretended to look hurt and betrayed as he placed both hands over his heart. "You don't want to see your dear old dad! In those short six days, you've already forgotten me! How terrible you are!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and muttered "Give me a break." under his breath as the other man looked from Kakashi to Sasuke and back again, clearly wondering if this melodramatic performance was a regular occurrence in their household.

Sadly, it was. Sasuke returned his gaze to his father. "Done being a drama queen now?"

Kakashi tried his best to look indignant. "I am not a-"

"Yes, you are." Sasuke said curtly, folding his arms across his chest crossly.

Kakashi smiled mischievously. "Yeah, I know. By the way, this is Itachi," he gestured to the handsome man, "Itachi this is Sasuke. You haven't seen him since he was born."

Itachi snorted. "I'm aware of that, Kakashi. But still... from the heavy resemblance, it's obvious he's my brother."

Sasuke's jaw dropped. "What?!"

"I told you, he's your half-brother." Kakashi said sharply.

"And I told you it still counts." Itachi countered just as sharply.

"Hang on, back up a minute," Sasuke said, returning the two men's gaze to himself. "What do you mean "brother"? I don't have one."

Itachi frowned at him. Suddenly he turned to Kakashi and said angrily, "You didn't tell him?!"

Kakashi shrugged "Obviously."

"Why?!" Itachi demanded.

Kakashi grinned. "It's more fun to be dramatic. Plus it's interesting to see how long it takes him to figure things out on his own. Then again, he is a genius, so that doesn't take very long."

Itachi scowled before returning his eyes to look at his younger brother. "Yeah, we have the same mother, different fathers. It seems your father likes to keep you in the dark, but how about I make this easier for the both of us and tell you a few things out right?"

This startled Sasuke, he was used to his father's eccentric, 'I love to see how you'll figure this one out' approach, but he preferred this way and was glad his brother was the type who preferred it too, so he nodded immediately.

Itachi seemed pleased that Sasuke had obviously not inherited very much personality wise form Kakashi.

Itachi started "I'm going to be here for a while, renting an apartment in another block a few streets away from the two of you. I'm also the new English substitute teacher at your school so you'll be seeing me there as well. Any questions so far?"

Sasuke frowned. "Yeah, how old are you anyway?"

"Twenty years old. Why do you ask?" (1)

Sasuke's frown deepened. "Is it even possible for somebody to be a teacher that young?" (2)

Kakashi explained "Itachi isn't your average person, Sasuke. He graduated from university at sixteen. He's smart."

Sasuke gave his father a look that clearly said, 'Well, if he graduated from university at sixteen, of course he's smart, dad! Really clever deduction, I don't think.'

Itachi continued. "By the way, our mother and my father don't know I'm here. They think I'm on a trip to look for career offers."

Sasuke shrugged. "I can keep a secret."

(Four hours later)

Kakashi tucked the blanket around his sleeping sons form, watching him breathing deeply and evenly. He had managed to move Sasuke from where he had fallen asleep on his computer to the couch, afraid that if he attempted to get him into his room, he would wake up.

"Why did you check what he was doing on the computer?"

Kakashi turned to face Itachi. "Because I never know what he's doing on there."

Itachi raised his left eyebrow, the resemblance between Sasuke and himself even more pronounced than usual. "Don't you trust him?"

Kakashi frowned. "Yes, I trust him. It's not a matter of trust."

"Yes, it is." Itachi countered. "If you really trusted him, you wouldn't need to pry into what he's doing."

"Whatever." Kakashi tried to change the subject, trying to ignore the uncomfortable twinge in his stomach that said Itachi was probably right.

After a few moments of silence, Itachi said "Alright, I should head to my apartment now. Tell Sasuke I'll see him tomorrow." And with that, he was gone.

Kakashi bolted the door, then returned to the kitchen and sat down heavily, a million thoughts buzzing through his head all at once.

'What's he up to? He just suddenly decided he wants to come and bond with his brother? And even if he does, why wouldn't he tell his family the truth? I mean, I know he doesn't like Fugaku anymore than I do... but still...'

Kakashi winced inwardly. He wondered what Fugaku could have done to his own child to make Itachi detest him as much as he did and sincerely hoping that Sasuke never comes to resent him in that way.

Flashback

Kakashi and Itachi stared at each other from opposite sides of the table in the cafe.

"Let me get this straight," Kakashi said, "The only memory of Sasuke you have is the day he was born because he was actually born in the house instead of the hospital, when you were six years old."

"Yes."

"And you want to come with me to Konoha to meet with him and begin to bond with him, while you work at his school as a substitute teacher."

"Yes."

"And you're not going to tell your parents, it's just going to be a secret between Sasuke, you and me."

"That's correct."

Kakashi looked Itachi in the eye shrewdly. "And you're doing all this... why exactly?"

Itachi looked out the window by which they had been seated. "Well... let's just say I need to get away from this place for a while."

"Why's that?"

Itachi looked back at Kakashi. "Fugaku. I detest him more than you could ever imagine. He's always trying to control me, my life, my way of doing things. And he's so arrogant! I'm sick of him. What makes matters worse is that everyone else in the clan adores him. They call him a great leader."

Itachi snorted angrily. "I'm sick and tired of the lot of them. I never really liked them to begin with, to tell you the truth. Sasuke on the other hand... I think I'd actually be able to get along well with him. At least, I want to try. So, do we have a deal?"

Kakashi hesitated. "...Yeah. You've got yourself a deal Itachi.

End Flashback

Something had not been right through out that whole conversation, Kakashi could feel it. Itachi was definitely hiding something; there was no doubt about that.

But he had been right. He and Sasuke got along very well and thy really seemed to like each other very much. If Kakashi started questioning Itachi or doing something hostile, Itachi might leave and Sasuke would not be pleased. But still...

Kakashi made his decision. He stood, picked up the phone on the kitchen counter and dialled a familiar number. After listening to the dial tone for a minute or two, a man picked up.

"Hello?"

"Zabuza. It's me, Kakashi. I need a favour."

A/N: Yeah, I thought I'd cut it off there. You know what to do.

READ AND REVIEW, PLEASE!!

(1) Itachi is actually 5 years older than Sasuke, not 6. I just felt like changing his age. I was gonna make him 22 so there would be 8 years between them but I changed my mind for some reason.

(2) Is that possible? I really don't know.