Plot: Naruto is roomed with Sasuke Uchiha at Konoha Behavioural Health Hospital. Sasuke's brother is a serial killer in doctor disguise, just waiting to kill off the last Uchiha. What will happen when Itachi's gang, Akatsuki, find out about Naruto? SasuNaru.

Warning: None yet.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or anything associated. Only the idea for this story is mine.

Inspiration: The piano version of Imaginary, by Evanescence, along with the lyrics that accompany the original.

Music Link: http : / / www. youtube. com / watch?v=cWrSjlqZ3y0&feature=related

A/N: I meant to update this last week, but things didn't quite work out that way... I also meant to update last night, but that didn't work out either. Thankfully, I managed to finish the chapter tonight! =D It's shorter than originally intended, and the end lacks emotion, I think, but... yeah. I just really wanted to update tonight. Plus, it might take a while for Sasuke and Naruto to develop a relationship. Sorry that might take a while, but some things need to play out first.

Thank you all who reviewed and subscribed to this! It makes me so happy! And motivated! I hope you enjoy the update! I worked extra hard to get it out this weekend for you guys!

Imaginary ~ Chapter One

PART ONE

I linger in the doorway,

Of alarm clock screaming monsters calling my name.

Let me stay,

Where the wind will whisper to me.

Where the raindrops as they're falling tell a story.

In my field of paper flowers,

And candy clouds of lullaby...

I lay inside myself for hours,

And watch my purple sky fly over me.

At that moment, there was a knocking at the door. "Sasuke," a voice called. A woman peeked her head in through the door. "Dr. Itachi is waiting to see you."

Sasuke stiffened, his eyes going slowly to meet the nurse's. Briefly, she held his gaze, before lowering her eyes. "You should hurry," she said quietly, before turning away and letting the door shut behind her. Sasuke stared at the door a little while longer, feeling his chest tighten. Itachi? What was he doing here?

Without his realization, tears came to his eyes. After all this, Itachi still had to show up. Even if he could have made progress here, and learned to forget his parents' deaths, there was no chance of that now. Itachi, the murderer of his family, had followed him. And for what reason? Was it just to make Sasuke's life worse than he'd already made it? Did Itachi just want to torture him? Was that the reason he'd saved Sasuke three nights ago? It wasn't out of love, that was for sure.

All Sasuke's life, Itachi had lied to him. He had been the best brother Sasuke could ever ask for, had been everything Sasuke dreamed of—his idol! Sasuke grew up admiring his elder brother, aspiring to be just as hard working, just as praised. Itachi had been the best thing that ever happened to him, and now, he was the worst. All that Sasuke's worked to be seemed just a waste now. Not because he wasn't proud of where he'd gotten, but because it'd all been in Itachi's image. Disgust was the only thing Sasuke felt for himself at this point.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Sasuke jumped, startled. Cautiously, and ever-so-slowly, he let his gaze fall upon Naruto. Bright blue eyes stared concernedly back at him. For some reason, this made Sasuke feel even worse. What he saw in those eyes was pity. A pity that he resented, and hated. He didn't need anyone to pity him, or worry for him. It was none of their concern. "I'm fine," he bit out, before rising and stalking toward the door.

A small part of him felt guilty for snapping at Naruto, but he squashed the feeling immediately. He couldn't afford to care about what other people thought or what they felt. Nothing they go through could ever compare to what he's already gone through. They'll never know what it's like, and because of that, Sasuke won't stand for their sympathy.

Ignoring the feel of those blue eyes staring at his back, Sasuke quickly made his way out the door, slamming it shut behind him. The heavy metal door made a loud thud that resonated throughout the entire space. Many eyes turned to stare at him, but these too, Sasuke ignored. His only intention was finding out what the hell his brother was doing here, and how he'd made it into the hospital. As far as Sasuke knew, his brother had never earned a doctor's certificate. And Sasuke was fairly sure Itachi had never taken any medical classes.

The tears were still present in his eyes, but Sasuke didn't let them fall. No way would he give Itachi that satisfaction. Swallowing hard, he willed them away, determined to show only his hate to Itachi. That was all Itachi would ever deserve. Sasuke's hatred. One day, if he still lived, Sasuke would get his revenge on Itachi. Until then, there was nothing he could do except make sure Itachi never saw what he'd put him through. Never would Itachi see him break again.

Confidence regained, and tears disappeared, Sasuke steeled himself as he knocked on the cold white door to Itachi's new office. Dimly, the sounds of chatter from the other patients reached his ears, and out of the corner of his eyes he could see white walls everywhere. But everything was a blur to him; just background noise. Sasuke focused his vision on the white door in front of him, and trained his ears on the footsteps approaching it. His attention could only be given to Itachi now. No more distractions.

Too soon, the door swung open, and the smirking face of his brother came into view. "Ototou," Itachi greeted, flashing Sasuke a kind smile. However, his eyes spoke the opposite of his mouth. Itachi's eyes were black, cold, and hard. They held nothing but malice. Sasuke faltered under the harsh stare of his brother, averting his eyes even as shame overtook him.

Repressing a shudder, Sasuke pushed his brother aside and made his way inside the room. Taking a few deep breaths, he attempted to regain his nerve. He could not be weak in front of his brother! Throwing caution to the wind, Sasuke snapped his head up, his own eyes turned to stone. "What are you doing here?" he spat.

To Sasuke's utmost anger, Itachi chuckled. "Really, otouto, you are not that dumb. Why else would I be here? I'm a doctor, of course." He gave Sasuke a patronizing smile and shut the door softly before returning to his seat. "Please, take a seat." He motioned toward the chair opposite him.

Stiffly, Sasuke sat down in the offered chair. It was a little too close to Itachi for his liking, but there wasn't much he could do about it. The room was really too small for him to move elsewhere. Deciding for the moment not to complain, Sasuke wasted no time in shouting at Itachi. "You're not a fucking doctor!" he yelled, clenching his fists. "Why are you here? How did you get in here?"

Sasuke's breath came in shallow pants, his breathing accelerated. His brother was acting like this was nothing, and it both terrified and frustrated him. Itachi made him feel so inferior, so worthless. Sasuke was nothing but a child, and Itachi made this so painstakingly obvious. He glared pitifully at Itachi, his bangs falling across his eyes and further weakening the affect of the glare. Itachi stared back, no expression written on his face.

Finally, Sasuke's head dropped, and he stared at his hands folded tightly in his lap. "Now that you have calmed down," Itachi started speaking, and Sasuke could almost hear the smirk in his voice, "I would like to discuss with you what type of medicines would benefit you." Sasuke's head snapped up, and he stared at Itachi in disbelief. Medicine? "Dr. Hatake recommended Lamyctal, or Zoloft for you. But I have a different idea."

"I'm not crazy," Sasuke breathed, trying to keep the panic from entering his voice. Itachi knew he didn't need medicine. He knew why Sasuke was depressed! He knew why Sasuke had tried to kill himself! Sasuke felt like he was choking as he watched his brother sift through some papers (presumably about him). Why was Itachi doing this? Wasn't killing their parents in front of him bad enough? Did he have to continue to make his life miserable? Despite Sasuke's protests, tears once again came to his eyes. "Aniki," he whispered.

Itachi looked up, his eyes meeting Sasuke's. Something flashed in his eyes, but it was gone too soon for Sasuke to tell what it was. Had it been remorse? Anger? Regret? Itachi looked away, and pulled out the paper he'd been looking for. He continued speaking, as if he hadn't heard Sasuke. "You seem a little angry today, Sasuke. A little explosive." He glanced toward Sasuke, his voice devoid of emotion once more. "So I was thinking of maybe a drug that will subdue you? Lithium looks good."

Sasuke swallowed. "Wh-what does Lithium do?" he stammered.

"It's a mood stabilizer," Itachi informed him. "It's also used as an anti-depressant, apparently. It's supposed to keep your mood the same all the time. Many patients complain of sleepiness, dehydration, and 'zombie-like' symptoms."

"Why are you doing this?" Sasuke whispered.

Itachi stared at Sasuke for one long moment, staring into his brother's tear-filled eyes. But, like the pro he was at this, he left his face unreadable. "Because you need to be taken care of," he said flatly. "I can't have you keep wasting my time. You know I'm busy. If this is the only thing that will keep you under control, then this is what I have to do."

Sasuke opened his mouth to question him, but Itachi cut him off. "That's it for today, Sasuke. We'll start you off with fifty milligrams. We'll up the dose to a hundred tomorrow. You should be able to handle it." Itachi turned away from Sasuke and started writing on one of the many papers scattered on his desk. "You're dismissed."

Sasuke sat frozen in his seat for a few moments, staring numbly at Itachi. He watched his brother write, trying to believe he wasn't here. Trying to believe he was young again, and he was watching Itachi do his homework. But no matter how many times he blinked, no matter how many times he squeezed his eyes shut and reopened them, this image didn't go away. Itachi, his beloved brother, was really writing up a prescription for him.

This was real.

Tears blurring his vision, Sasuke stood up swiftly, repressing the sobs that threaten to overtake his body. He stumbled to the door and wrenched it open. He looked one last time back at Itachi, and for one moment, with his vision clouded, he could really believe Itachi was sitting at his desk back home. If he just focused on Itachi now, and ignored all the white around the edges, Sasuke could almost believe that this wasn't real. That this was all make-believe. That his brother wasn't sentencing him to becoming a lifeless shell of himself.

A tear slid down Sasuke's cheek, giving way to dozens of others that came crashing down. With a strangled sob, Sasuke slammed the door shut and began walking away. This time, he didn't see anything, or hear anything. The world was spinning, ringing, mocking him. Blindly, Sasuke made his way to his room, down the hall, past the giant space where the others were. If they called out to him, he didn't hear them.

At last, Sasuke made it to his room. Just barely managing to close the door, he threw himself on his bed, unleashing the sobs.

This wasn't a dream. His parents were dead, his brother was a maniac, he was in a mental hospital, he was about to be force-fed drugs. When he'd attempted suicide, he'd tried to convince himself that it wasn't real. That it was all a dream, and that the only way to wake up from it was to kill himself. Because whenever you die in a dream, you wake up. If he just did that, everything could go back to normal. He'd wake up to find that he'd somehow hit his head and ended up in a coma.

But life didn't work that way. Living in a delusion, making fake answers for problems, never help anything. Sasuke learned that the hard way. It was time to face reality. But honestly, he wasn't sure he could do that. How could he face the truth? Why would he want to face the truth? If he just went insane, he could stay here a long time, and get away from Itachi. Just because Itachi was a doctor here now didn't mean he would be forever. Like Itachi had said, he couldn't have Sasuke wasting his time anymore.

Then why?

If Itachi couldn't have his time wasted, what was he doing here now? Why did he need to personally prescribe Sasuke the drugs when he could have had the doctors do it? What business did Itachi have here besides "taking care of" Sasuke? There was more to it. There had to be.

Sniffling, Sasuke brought himself back to the present. He stared blankly at his pillow, wet with his tears. Was this what they'd come to? Their relationship had been so strong. Itachi and Sasuke. They'd been perfect brothers; so close, so happy. What had gone wrong? Was it something Sasuke had done? He didn't understand. Nothing was wrong, and then one night, everything changed.

Sasuke came home to find his parents tied together with Itachi standing over them. They were in the hallway, directly in front of the door, so there would be no chance of Sasuke missing it. After that, Sasuke couldn't remember much. He remembered screaming, seeing blood splatter. But nothing else. The rest was black.

A soft knocking sounded at the door.

Sasuke turned his head toward the door, wondering if it would be the nurse again, coming this time to give him his medicine. "Who is it?" he called hoarsely.

It wasn't the nurse that came in, but Naruto. The orange-clad boy shut the door gently behind him before turning to look at Sasuke. He had noticed the tears before, when Sasuke had come out of his meeting with Itachi, but up close, it was so much worse. Sasuke avoided Naruto's eyes, shifting uncomfortably. He felt like asking Naruto what he wanted, but that might be stupid. After all, this was Naruto's room now, too. He could have just come in here to change into pajamas.

"Hey," Naruto said uncertainly, walking the few steps over to Sasuke's bed. He stood over him for a moment, trying to decide on what to do. After some thought, Naruto took a seat on his own bed. It wasn't so far away from Sasuke, and there was no room on the other boy's bed anyway.

"Do you need something?" Sasuke asked. His voice was muffled by the pillow.

"Well, no," Naruto admitted. "But um, it's bedtime for me I guess. It's nine o'clock."

Sasuke didn't say anything. He knew what Naruto meant. There were four levels that gave the adolescents different privileges: Evaluation, Awareness, Trust, and Integrity. Naruto was currently on EVAL because he'd just arrived. Each level granted an extra thirty minutes to stay up.

Naruto stared at Sasuke silently, wondering what had gotten him so upset. It was obvious Sasuke didn't like whoever this Itachi person was, but was the doctor that bad? Naruto didn't know what to say. He wanted to comfort Sasuke, but he didn't know how. It probably wasn't any of his business, but they were roommates now. He had to look out for Sasuke.

"What happened?" he asked tentatively.

At first, Sasuke had no reaction. He just continued to stare into his pillow, not saying anything. The words hadn't really registered. But when they did, he didn't know what to say. It would take too long to explain everything, and it's not like he was about to spill his entire life story to Naruto, anyway. But he had to give Naruto an answer. Finally, Sasuke replied, "My brother."

Naruto's eyes widened. "You're brother?" he exclaimed. "Wait, so you mean Doctor Itachi is...your brother?"

"Hn."

"But why would that be a bad thing?"

Sasuke glared at the pillow. "Because he killed my parents."

Naruto stared at Sasuke, horrified. "What?" he gasped. He got no answer from the Uchiha. And suddenly, Naruto felt terrible. Not for himself, but for Sasuke. His own brother... had killed his parents. Never having had parents—or siblings, for that matter—Naruto couldn't even imagine what it would be like to have that happen. But his guess was bad enough. "Oh, God, I'm so sorry, Sasuke. Why is he here?"

Sasuke laughed bitterly, rolling onto his side so he could look at Naruto. The blonde had a stricken look on his face, which proved only to anger Sasuke. "To 'take care of me,' or some shit like that."

"I don't understand," Naruto said, clear blue eyes staring directly into Sasuke's pitch black ones.

"Too bad," Sasuke snapped. "Cause I don't either."

Naruto bit his lip, trying to decide what to do. "Maybe he really does want to take care of you. I mean, maybe he cares abou—"

"No he doesn't!" Sasuke yelled. "You honestly think he cares about me? God, you're so dumb! He's putting me on Lithium, because he thinks I need to be subdued!"

Naruto's eyes flashed angrily. It wasn't his fault he didn't know the facts. He didn't know this guy's history, or how his brother felt about him. "Well maybe you do need to be subdued, you prick!" Naruto screamed. "I'm just trying to help!"

Furiously, Naruto reached up to flip off the light switch next to his bed. He settled into the covers, turning his back to Sasuke. It seemed like everyone just shunned him. Here he was, trying to help the guy, and he gets yelled at. What was wrong with him? Couldn't he just comfort one person? Couldn't he help someone when they needed him?

Naruto fell into a troubled sleep, filled with abusive step-fathers, violent gang fights, and a black-haired man with red eyes.