There was a loud crack as Itachi's back slammed into the floor. He rolled to the side in time to avoid a kick aimed at his head then picked himself up and met his opponent's eyes. The red irises glistened back at him, almost mocking him. He yelled and threw himself forward attacking with all his strength. He landed one punch, he felt a shoulder joint buckle then dislocate. He felt this and smiled to himself then attacked again with a sweep kick bringing his opponent to his knees. He went in to use a headlock but felt an explosion of pain in his side. The next thing he knew he slammed against the wall and slid to the floor.

"Better." The voice was stern and cold, "but you'll need more than simple strikes to beat me."

Itachi sighed and closed his eyes, he had been so close. "I'll remember that for next time, father." He picked himself up off the floor and leaned against the wall with one hand, the last blow had been hard. "Again."

His father looked at him, it was one of the rare times where he didn't have anger or spite in his eyes, "Itachi… we've been going at it for hours, get some rest for tomorrow." His son had changed, he didn't fight anymore. It had started the day Sasuke was attacked mysteriously, though Itachi had never told him exactly what had happened.

Itachi looked down then nodded. "Whatever you say… father" he said the last word with disgust, he still hated his father more than anything else, but that needed to be put aside for now, for Sasuke's sake. He walked up the stairs then went to his room, it had been a month since that day. He quickly showered and changed out of his exercise clothes into jeans and a t-shirt.

He sat down at his desk and pulled out a thick book. He tried to read, but like most days his mind wandered off. He thought about the look on Orochimaru's face as he had squeezed his throat, how he had still managed to smirk. Had he really hated him that much? Was it possible that one thing could totally rip them apart after all they had been through? He shook his head. He had to focus on Sasuke and make sure that he wasn't attacked by Orochimaru again. Of course, Sasuke was a separate matter in himself. He had been unconscious for a week after the incident and woke up groggy and confused. Itachi sighed, Sasuke had blamed him of course. He had overslept and been late to get him.

Itachi closed the book then leaned back in his desk chair and stared at the ceiling, he wished that Orochimaru was here, that he was reading Wikipedia articles about reptiles and making small talk, he wished that Hidan and Anko would burst into the room and drag them both into some wild adventure on campus, he even wished Kabuto was there. A single tear slid down his cheek, there was so much he wished hadn't gone wrong, and that he blamed himself for.

A quiet knock on the door dragged him away from his thoughts, "Who is it?" he didn't feel like seeing anyone at the moment.

"Sasuke." The voice was quiet and hesitant.

"Come in." Itachi replied, then set his jaw and stood up.

Sasuke cautiously opened the door, then stepped in closing the door behind him, "Dad said you were done training for the day…"

"So?" Itachi looked down his nose at Sasuke's face, "do you need something?"

"I was hoping we could hang out…dad said he was too tired to train with me today and I have nothing to do now…" Sasuke looked uncomfortable, he hadn't spoken to Itachi in weeks.

"I'm busy." Itachi turned around and sat back down, opening up the book again.

"You're lying. You never do anything." Sasuke was starting to get irritated.

Itachi squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his fists, "get out of my room."

"Fine." Sasuke turned to leave but paused in the doorway, "you used to be fun." Then he slammed the door shut.

Itachi relaxed and felt tears coming again so he put his head down on his book. The hardest part of the whole situation had been his father ripping Sasuke away from him and making them enemies. He hated acting the part and with all of his heart he wanted to take Sasuke and leave Konoha forever. He had to push Sasuke away for his own benefit, now that they were competing for head of the family Sasuke wouldn't accept his help anymore.

He unconsciously touched a dark purple bruise that had formed on his right forearm, that morning had been bad. He thought that if he had started being the perfect son and not talking back, that if he just stayed quiet and obeyed then his father would stop getting angry. He had been wrong. Instead all of the anger shifted from him onto Sasuke. Itachi slammed his fist onto his desk. Nothing was turning out right.

He stood up and grabbed a jacket then pulled on socks and sneakers. He left his room and walked down the hall to the front door.

"Where are you going? It's almost dinner time?" his mom's voice came from the kitchen.

"out." Itachi left quickly, he needed to be out of this house and away from all the politics and underlying tension. He walked down the sidewalk toward the center of town, they didn't live that far away from it, considering that his father owned the majority of the small businesses in Konoha. He looked up at the dark sky, no stars were visible under the streetlights. He breathed in the cold January air and let it fill his lungs, then winced. He had forgotten about his side.

He walked past a small pet shop and saw snakes in aquariums along one of the shelves. Oro, he thought, why did your parents have to live here? He looked away.

A figure walked up next him, then stopped. "A nice night for a walk don't you think?"

Itachi looked over, a man about his size with spiky yellow hair stood next to him, smiling up at the sky. "I suppose." Itachi was wary, talking to strangers was strictly forbidden, especially when you are the son of a mob boss.

"Nights like these remind me of why I moved here, the cold air and dark sky, they remind me of where I was born." The stranger didn't seem to be moving on.

"This is a dark place, you should find somewhere else to be nostalgic." Itachi replied and squinted at the man.

"You don't like it here?" he looked at Itachi curiously.

"Bad memories." Itachi said quietly then stepped away.

"That's unfortunate that your memories have marred such an exquisite small town. Though I do hear that it's nothing like it used to be since the mob took over." He started to follow Itachi and match his stride.

Itachi didn't respond, he was getting creeped out that his guy wouldn't leave him alone. "I guess."

The man stopped suddenly, "is it safe for you to be walking around in the dark? If there is mob activity then you should be more careful."

Itachi looked at the blonde man, he didn't know how to respond. "I've never had trouble before…" he turned and started moving back in the direction of his house.

"You are fortunate then. I should probably be getting back before my wife misses me, nice talking to you!" he held out his hand.

Itachi shook it then walked away, he felt something odd about this man, like he knew all about him and was just pretending to ask questions. He seemed too friendly and too open. Itachi frowned, wasn't that what normal people were supposed to be like though?

He walked up the steps to this front door but hesitated to open it, as soon as he stepped inside he would have to go back to being the obedient son and the cold brother, both roles that he hated. He sighed and entered the house.

His family was all sitting around the table eating, so he removed his shoes and joined them. No one was speaking and he could feel Sasuke glaring in his direction. His father was busy reading some papers and his mother tried her best to smile. Itachi looked down at his plate and started to eat, another normal family dinner.

"Sasuke, can you pass the salt?" Itachi asked, he couldn't even meet Sasuke's eyes. The salt shaker slid down the table, ricocheted off of his plate, the fell on its side. "Thanks…" Itachi picked it up and salted his food.

"Not too much salt, Itachi. It's unhealthy." His father's voice drifted down from the other end of the table.

Itachi almost broke the salt shaker in his hand, "yes…sir." Then he placed the shaker back on the table as softly as he could.

"It's not all that unhealthy dear, salt is necessary in the diet." His mom smiled at his father, "besides, at the rate Itachi exercises he should be eating more anyways."

His father looked over at his wife, he half smiled, "you're right, but excessive salt consumption is too much." Then he looked over at Itachi his smile fading, "who knows what kind of crap he ate while he was at school."

Sasuke continued to glare at Itachi, his eyes hadn't left his brother since he had walked into the house. Even as he ate, his eyes were fixed on Itachi. Sasuke had started doing this when Itachi hadn't said anything the first time their father had yelled at him.

Itachi finally met Sasuke's gaze, "do you want the salt back?" he asked calmly.

Sasuke just squinted and didn't say anything.

The rest of dinner passed in silence. Then Itachi's mom stood and started to clear the plates and Itachi and Sasuke followed her to kitchen to clean up. This was something they had been doing together since they were small and had been one of the few times when they were able to have time away from their father.

Itachi filled the sink with hot water and started to wash the plates as Sasuke silently put food away, he slammed the refrigerator door closed. "I won't let you win." Sasuke said, he stood facing the refrigerator.

"Win what?" Itachi asked, though he had the feeling he knew where this was going.

"Dad said I was going to be the head of the family. You think I haven't noticed you training harder? You think I haven't noticed you stopped fighting with dad? You're jealous of me, you don't want me to have more power than you." He faced Itachi, "I'll win, I don't care if you're older I will beat you."

Itachi just stared back, "You have a long difficult road ahead of you if you want to beat me." Then he turned back around and started washing again. They continued in silence until all the dishes were done and they started to put them away.

Sasuke picked up the stack of plates and walked over to the cabinet and climbed up onto the counter to put them away.

"Be careful, you know you aren't supposed to do that." Itachi said as he put the glasses away in the next cabinet over.

"You can't tell me what to do." Sasuke snapped.

Itachi sighed and started putting the silverware away, Sasuke was becoming more and more like their father: angry, abrasive, and impulsive.

There was a loud smash. Itachi whipped around and saw shattered glass all over the floor. Sasuke stared down at the mess from the counter, they both held their breath. There was the sound of a chair being pushed back then heavy footsteps down the hallway. Sasuke scrambled off the counter then looked over at Itachi, his eyes were wide.

Itachi felt a tug in his chest, he stared down at the broken mess. He walked over and got the broom and started to sweep it up, hoping that if he played it off like it was no big deal nothing would happen.

The door to the kitchen swung open. They both looked up and saw their father staring down.
"What happened." He didn't even phrase it as a question.

Neither Itachi nor Sasuke said anything, they just looked guiltily at the floor.

"Who did this." His father's voice was getting louder.

Itachi stood up, he knew what was coming. "I did." Then he met his father's gaze. "It must have slipped out of my hand." He heard Sasuke breathe in next to him.

His father scowled deeper. "That set was a wedding gift, you should know better." He was on the verge of shouting.

"I'm sorry, father. It won't happen again." Itachi said back steadily, he still maintained eye contact.

His father's gaze shifted to Sasuke then to Itachi's hand which was still holding a few pieces of silverware. "Do you think I'm stupid?" he asked, his voice was now dangerously low.

Itachi could feel heat rising to his face and he looked down at this hand, "it was me," was all he could think to say.

"Sasuke, come here." His father's attention had shifted completely to Sasuke who stood as still as he could.

"Y-yes." Sasuke walked over slowly.

His father looked down at him, "did you break it?" he asked his frown was deepening with every second. Sasuke nodded. "Were you climbing on the counter again?" Sasuke nodded again.

Itachi stood helplessly, this was ridiculous. He understood that it had been a special set of plates, but it had been an accident. "It wasn't his fault." They both turned to look at him, "It was an accident. They happen." He hoped that would be enough to divert attention.

"Itachi, don't get involved in things that aren't your business." His father replied, his voice was harsh. Then he turned back to Sasuke, "How many times have I told you not to climb on the counter?"

"A lot…" Sasuke's voice was quiet.

"Then why did you do it?"

Sasuke didn't respond, he just looked down at the floor.

Itachi watched as his father raised one arm, an all too familiar gesture. He closed his eyes and his body moved on instinct.

Sasuke looked up, he saw Itachi's back in front of him. Then he looked down and scowled, it always ended like this.

There was silence, then his father turned and left the kitchen. Itachi turned and went back to sweeping up the broken glass. Sasuke stood rooted to the spot. Twice today Itachi had stepped between him and his dad. It wasn't necessarily the fact that Itachi had done this that bothered him, it was that his dad had never tried to hit him before.

After the glass had been swept up they quickly finished putting the dishes away then left the kitchen and separated at their rooms. Itachi sighed then sat down at his desk, he pulled out his computer and started scrolling through websites. He noticed an e-mail icon in the corner of his screen, intrigued as to who would be e-mailing him he opened it. It was from Hidan.

Hey Itachi!

We all miss you at school. Your friend Sakura probably misses you the most out of everyone though. We haven't seen Oro or Kabuto either, do you know if they are coming back? I figured something happened between you two since you didn't talk at all for all of finals week or the week before. Anyways, I hope everything is going good! Anko says hi, I met her parents over break and they are just like her, figures I guess. Well, have to go. Don't be stranger, you can text me anytime that's why you have my number after all!

Hidan

Itachi sighed and closed the e-mail, he missed his friends. His cheek stung, he hadn't planned on stepping in, his body had just moved. He didn't know how Sasuke was feeling, but he was pretty sure that Sasuke still hated him.

Sasuke walked into his room and slammed the door. He scowled, why was everything so awful all of a sudden? He felt something slide down his face and he realized that he was crying. He stood next to the door and stared into the blackness of his room letting the tears flow freely, why did Itachi have to be so confusing? He switched from being cold and heartless to still preventing his dad from ever touching him. But he never smiled anymore, never talked to him anymore, and never hung out anymore.

Sasuke turned the light on and sat down on the floor next to his bookshelf and pulled a home work sheet out of his bag. He tried to solve some of the problems but ended up frustrated. He ripped the sheet in half and watched the pieces float to the ground. He started breathing hard and snarled, then slammed a tiny fist against the floor.

He felt an odd sensation on his shoulder, it tingled and burned slightly. He tried to calm down his anger, every time he got like this he could feel the snake bite from that day; a constant reminder of Itachi's failure.

The burning intensified despite any attempts he made to calm down. He started to squirm. He could feel the burning spread over to his shoulder then move across his chest and down his arm until he felt like his entire body was on fire. He looked down frantically at his hands, they were covered in black markings. He screamed then punched the wall leaving a massive dent.

When Sasuke opened his eyes he was lying on the floor of his room, the light was off and the street light shone in through the window. He was covered in sweat and was breathing hard, what had just happened? He checked his hands, they were back to normal now. He winced, the back of his neck still felt like it was on fire. He sat up and hugged his knees, this had never happened before. He wished that Itachi was there then remembered that if Itachi hadn't been late none of this would have happened in the first place. He scowled.

He picked himself up, he thought it was odd that he had yelled and no one had come to see if he was alright. Were they just ignoring him? He crawled into bed and wrapped himself in blankets, of course they didn't come they all hate me. He tried to close his eyes and fall asleep but every time he tried he could see Orochimaru's face grinning with snakes wrapping around his head.

Sasuke just lay there for an hour with his eyes open. He was exhausted but he didn't want to sleep. He thought about his dad, the one person who told him to embrace his strength and to let it flow in his veins. It was because of his father's training that he'd never had to go through the painful episodes that Itachi had with his eyes, but he was harsh. His dad had never been the cuddly parent who gave their kid high fives for doing well that was his mom. The more he thought about it the more he realized that his dad had spent his entire life training him. He sighed, hadn't he been the same way Itachi? What made him treat Itachi so badly? He could feel a tiny pang of guilt for not forgiving his brother.

He felt tears coming again; he stared at a picture of him and Itachi that he kept on his bookshelf they were both smiling and happy. He missed those times, he missed having an older brother who cared about him more than he cared about impressing their dad. His face twisted in anger, was running the family and having power really more important than your own little brother? He got up and put the picture face down so he wouldn't have to look at it.

The guilt came back, Itachi had stepped in for him just like had before. How could his brother be so cruel and so loving at the same time? Nothing made sense. His hand paused over the picture and for a second he thought about picking it back up again. He sighed, no, that time had passed. He slowly walked over to his closet and changed into shorts and a t-shirt then quietly left his room. He walked down the hallway and down the stairs to the basement.

As he approached, he noticed that the lights were already on, that's weird he thought. He slowly stepped into the room and saw his dad hitting a punching bag in the corner. "Dad?" his voice sounded small in the large room.

His father turned around saw him, then he managed to not scowl. "Sasuke, shouldn't you be sleeping?"

"I wasn't tired… figured I could at least make myself tired…" he looked at the floor, in truth he just needed to hit something.

His father nodded then walked across the room, "you can go ahead, I'll leave you." Then he started to pick up his things to leave.

"It's ok, I don't mind if you're here. We didn't get to train today like usual because of…" he didn't want to say Itachi's name in case that would make his dad angry.

His dad paused, "I know. I'm sorry." Then he looked down at Sasuke, "we could go now if you like?"

Sasuke looked up smiling, "really?!"

"Sure," he put his things back down and walked to the center of the room, "come at me with everything you've got."

Sasuke started running and jumped in for an attack. They sparred for a while, pausing a bit now and then for his dad to show him a better way to parry or block. Pretty soon they were both exhausted and they sat against the wall.

"Dad…"

"Yes?"

"Why are you so rough on Itachi all the time?" Sasuke asked, "I know he's changed a lot recently but he's just trying to make you proud…"

His dad was quiet for a long time, "Itachi never wanted to be part of the family. He hates what we stand for and he hates you. Before you activated your eyes he was able to be your friend so he could try to turn you against me. He even tried to stop me from training you. I had to put him in his place, as the head of the family you are going to have a lot of enemies and you will need someone to watch your back. That is the path he has ahead of him and hates you because he wants to run the family not watch his little brother gain the power and strength that he always craved. He hasn't accepted his fate yet. Thiat's why I am hard on him, because he needs to be strong and have the right mindset. Even now he acts like he has it but he's still fighting me."

"Then did he ever love me?" Sasuke looked up at his dad.

"No."

Sasuke could feel his stomach drop. All those times that Itachi had pretended to care about him, had pretended to help him, and pretended to look out for him. They had all been a lie. He wasn't surprised, he was more talented than Itachi; he had heard this his whole life. Itachi was jealous and had tried to undermine him since the beginning.

"I'm going to bed now Sasuke, we can train more tomorrow. Don't stay up too much later." His dad got up and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Sasuke stood up and walked over to the punching bag. He started to hit it repeatedly, getting slowly faster and faster until he was hitting without even thinking. Tears streamed down his face, of course it was true. It all made sense now, Itachi hated him. Slowly the memory Itachi getting hit for him slipped away and was replaced with thoughts Itachi trying to manipulate him with smiles and hugs. "I'll be head of this family and you'll work for me!" he started shout as he punched harder, "no one will control me! No one!" he gave one final yell and fell forward exhausted.

He dragged himself back to his room and crawled into bed still sweaty from training. He didn't really care, he could shower in the morning. He checked the clock in his room, it was midnight. Then he closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

As he left the basement he smiled to himself, Sasuke was well on his way to becoming a strong leader. He quietly walked into his room and looked down at his wife's sleeping figure, she was the most beautiful person in the world. He changed into shorts and crawled into bed. He lay staring at the ceiling for a while, slowly letting his brain turn off and letting sleep take over. There was a gentle rustle and he felt a cold hand touch his shoulder, he looked over and saw his wife looking at him. "Mikoto, I thought you were asleep." He whispered.

"I was." She smiled. Then her smile faded and she looked concerned, "Is Sasuke still awake? I thought I heard him scream…"

"He's fine. He's getting stronger." His voice was proud, "He will be a good head of the family one day."

There was silence from the other side of the bed, "Itachi is getting more distant, I'm worried about him, Fukaku."

"He'll be fine." Hearing Itachi's name made his smile fade. "He's strong, he can protect Sasuke well."

"You're awfully hard on him, even when he doesn't argue with you." Mikoto's voice was soft and she held her husband's hand as she said this. She loved her children more than anything and watching them fight and slip away was unbearable.

Fukaku rolled over and looked into Mikoto's eyes, "he'll never forgive me, which is exactly what I want. The more he hates the stronger he gets, it's what I need from him and he is starting to play the part."

Mikoto looked down, "when you hit the children…" tears welled up in her eyes.

Fukaku reached over and gently touched her cheek, "Itachi shoved away my love a long time ago, and Sasuke has accepted it. You know how it is with our family's eyes, even if he hates it he has to stay." He rolled onto his back, "I was thinking of getting Sasuke a personal trainer for his eyes."

"Who?" Mikoto's voice was tense.

"My uncle. He is the most talented Uchiha in the history of the family."

There was a long pause as Mikoto absorbed this new information, "what about Itachi?"

Fukaku sighed, "I'll continue to train him, though he is progressing far faster than I expected, he has already mastered his new eyes. I suspect he is training on his own to hide it from Sasuke."

Mikoto rolled over so that she was on her back as well, then moved closer to her husband and pulled his arm around her shoulder, "Fukaku, I know that your life isn't easy and that you have to do what you must because of it. But please, remember that they are your children."

Fukaku didn't respond, he just wrapped his other arm around his wife and closed his eyes. He hadn't spoken to his uncle in months; he was a harsh and brutal man and he had trained Fukaku when he was young. He was just the person Sasuke needed to be trained by. His mind went back to Itachi and he clenched his jaw, he'd had so much promise and so much skill and he'd thrown it away. He'd tried to teach Itachi and to raise him, but he had pushed it away choosing books and philosophy instead. Then he had started fighting back. When Sasuke had come along it had gotten worse because Itachi felt like he had something to protect. Fukaku sighed, that was all over now, Itachi had finally given in. he closed his eyes and drifted off slowly into sleep.