She Deserves Better

Silver's Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. In this chapter, there is going to be a lot of brotherly bonding between Sasuke and Itachi. That and Ino loves to meddle, but in a good way. Anyway, we hope that you all enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 2

Sasuke smiles faintly as he hides his latest poetry book on its usual shelf. Not that he really needed to hide it, it's not like anyone but Itachi ever went snooping through his stuff. And he could trust Itachi to keep a secret. Especially one that their father might disapprove of. The last thing he wanted was to see those eyes glaring at his poetry book, or worse, someone throwing it out.

He was never really good at the whole…expressing his feelings thing. Naruto could draw out some of the more volatile emotions, mostly the brighter stuff, but sometimes, the darker stuff crept up on him, and that's when he would take pen to paper. Writing things don was always so much easier than talking about it. And it let him go back to consider his problems and work towards solutions, as well as monitor change.

Which is why he always hid his books, because if his father saw what was in them, he'd get THOSE eyes. It didn't matter that he was top of his class in everything, Fugaku Uchiha would always find something wrong to silently criticize. So cold and unapproachable, it's no wonder he'd always turned to Itachi for help, if he needed it.

"So I heard there was an incident in gym." Itachi wanders into his room. He didn't bother to knock, viewing such things as pointless. If Sasuke wasn't aware of his environment enough to hear his footsteps coming, he deserved to be snuck up. "Kisame's brother, Suigetsu says that there was a rather vicious game of dodgeball yesterday." His lips quirk upwards in amusement. "In his words, it was "fucking awesome." Itachi chuckles.

At first Itachi had been confused as to how Kisame could be brothers with someone who looked well...someone who wasn't blue skinned, but that confusion didn't last long. "Anything I should be concerned about or just the usual gym class soap opera?" Apparently, Kisame had been adopted when his parents thought they couldn't have children and a few years later, along came the 'miracle baby', Mangetsu. Not long after that, Suigetsu had been born.

Thankfully, Mangetsu was relatively mild mannered compared to his more mischievous and boisterous siblings. "To hear Kisame tell the tale, it almost sounds like WWIII was fought with dodgeballs." And their parents had stopped at three children. The world could only handle one Kisame and one Suigetsu. Thank you very much!

Sasuke rolls his eyes, a motion that was becoming something of a habit. "It wasn't that bad. Ino and Tenten were being stubborn and decided to tag-team me and Naruto. We got a bit…worked up, I guess." Well, that was putting it mildly, since it wasn't every day that Sasuke put his track team training to use, or the two years he'd secretly spent in gymnastics, thanks to Itachi's help. Well, before he'd had to quit. Still, he kept up with his exercises every day or the sake of all his other sports. "So we tag-teamed them right back."

Itachi chuckles. "Ah I see. Well I'm glad to hear there were no fatalities." He was joking, of course. Well mostly.

"You're an ass sometimes, Itachi." Sasuke shakes his head as he tosses some books into his bag. "Anyway, shouldn't you be getting ready for class? I'm not the only one who has school today."

"Mmm my first class isn't for another two hours." Itachi smiles and pokes his forehead. "Foolish little brother, one of the advantages of university is that there is some flexibility during scheduling. I'm not taking any class before noon, if I don't absolutely have to."

Sasuke grunts and rubs his forehead irritably. "And I thought I was the family night owl." Sasuke would love to be able to sleep in that late and not have to worry about class. At West Point, he probably wasn't going to be able to keep up his night owl habits much. "You're not here just to check up on me after our dodgeball game from hell, are you?"

"I'm a morning person by habit, not by design." Itachi smiles. "Anyway, no. Though it did make for a good excuse and your gym exploits are always fascinating." He smiles dryly. "I wanted to talk to you about what happens after high school. I'll admit that I'm worried about you."

Oh no, not again. Sasuke sits back against the desk in his room. "I've already applied to a dozen different schools, Itachi. Even Harvard, like Father wanted. With my grades, I'm sure to get in somewhere."

He shakes his head. "Harvard is very prestigious and earning a degree from such an institution could only be a benefit, of course." The elder Uchiha Brother sighs as he sits down next to Sasuke. "And they'd be foolish not to admit you, but this isn't about what Father wants. It's about what you want."

Great, now Itachi was fishing for answers. And if he didn't want to get Spanish Inquisitioned, Sasuke had to think fast. "Well, it's not like any of them have a program shortage. I'll be able to take anything once I'm there. And Harvard has one of the best criminal law programs in the world. It's better than business law." Sasuke scrunches his nose up at the very thought of business law, bland and dry and where ultimately, the good guys don't win.

"That's all very true." Itachi sighs and ruffles his hair. "But whatever you actually want, I don't think that's it. Don't let your autobiography be written by someone else, Sasuke. Not even Father."

Sasuke twitches, but doesn't smack his brother's hand away, after all, there was only so much longer that he'd be able to do that. "Alright Itachi, and what is it that you think I want?"

"Honestly..." Itachi pauses. "I have no idea. I just don't think it's the path that Father has cut out for you." He smirks mischievously. "It also wouldn't hurt for you to act as a normal teenager once in awhile." Itachi knew that he was pushing his luck here, but teasing Sasuke was his guilty pleasure. "And get a girlfriend. Or a boyfriend. Whichever interests you more."

"Itachi!" Sasuke's cheeks flush a light pink in his embarrassment and he shoves Itachi hard. "I already told you, I don't need a girlfriend, and I'm NOT interested in guys!"

"Well you've shown no interest in women." He shrugs. "So it's only natural that I would consider the possibility that you prefer men." Itachi smiles serenely. "There's nothing wrong with it, if you did. Though I suppose you could just be dedicating yourself to your studies instead of your love life." He sighs dramatically. "And I know that most high school students can be rather...frivolous. Which likely doesn't appeal to you."

Sasuke returns to packing his bag, throwing the last few items in it. "Like I told Naruto, the whole high school sweethearts thing is a myth. Why look for someone now, only to leave for school next year. We're not going to the same place, so why bother?"

"I suppose that's reasonable. Well." He shrugs. "You still have a few months to decide, I'll drop the matter for now. I just want you to be happy. And father wants the same, he just has a very bizarre way of expressing it."

True, he did still have months to decide. But he already had. And if Itachi was only dropping the matter for now, then he was going to find out sooner or later, probably sooner, rather than later. "Bizarre is putting it lightly. He glares at me whenever he's home, and hasn't said a word to me in two weeks."

Itachi chuckles. "Would you care to trade places? I'd rather have the glares and silence." He rolls his eyes. "The man has been making recommendations for me. He wants me to essentially be ready to start wedding planning when I graduate." He shakes his head. "You would think we were discussing thoroughbred horses instead of life partners, sometimes."

Well, that was true, he supposed. "Glad I won't have to worry about that. Sounds like a pain in the ass." Their father was rather traditional, to put it mildly. Not so traditional in his discipline, but in his expectations. Luckily, Sasuke was the younger brother, and not quite old enough for their father to be interested in picking out a wife for.

His older brother shrugs. "Well I'm the eldest. I'll probably be pressured more than you, but in a few years...he'll probably do the same to you. Just with less vigor." And Itachi knew that wasn't going to end well.

Itachi was wrong, but Sasuke wasn't about to tell him that. After all, it'd be hard for their father to try and pressure him to get married if he wasn't even on the continent by the time he took an interest in it. "I'll be fine, he won't be able to get me to cave."

Itachi laughs. "Mmm who do you think you are? Mother?" Quite possibly the only person who refused to be intimidated by Fugaku Uchiha.

"You're the one who keeps saying that I look like her." One of the banes of his existence. He was 'pretty' because he looked like his mother. "And no, I'm not. I'll just be somewhere he can't harass me about it."

"You really are foolish if you think geography will save you from him. At a certain point, you just have to stand up to him." He pat pats him. "Well that's really all I had to say, did you have anything you wanted to tell me?"

It sounded like an innocent question, but Itachi was the kind of person who always wanted an answer. Sasuke clenches his fists. He trusted his brother, he really did, but…Itachi would probably try to stop him. Or maybe not, after all, he supported Sasuke in making his own path, so why would he stop now? "…I've already been accepted to the school I want to go to."

Itachi blinks. "Well that was fast. Which one was it?"

"Do you promise not to get angry with me for it?" Because Sasuke knew full well that was a possibility. Itachi had always been protective of him, so there was a fifty-fifty chance on how he would take this.

"Well I can't promise that." That didn't sound good at all. And Sasuke's tone worried Itachi. "But I won't yell at you and alert father and mother."

Sasuke swallows nervously. That was probably the best he was going to get out of Itachi. But if he was going to get support from anywhere, he hoped it would be from his big brother. "Well, Naruto's been going on and on about going to the police academy after high school. But…I haven't told hi yet that I applied to West Point. I got in." He reaches into his secret book rack for the letter, putting it down on the desk. "As long as I keep my grades up, I'm guaranteed a spot next year."

Itachi blinks. "Sasuke, I want you to be happy, and it's very noble that you want to go into the service." He sighs, "But do you understand how dangerous it is? You could get blown up." He pauses. "I won't fight you on this. In some ways, that's even more prestigious than Harvard. I just wish you had…chosen something a little safer."

Yeah, he saw that argument coming. "Itachi, we live in New York. I'm just as likely to get shot or run over here as get blown up because I can't figure out where a land mine is." Sasuke had been practicing this defense in his head for months. "You've been telling me to make my own path for years, and…this is it."

He nods. "Well I suppose I did somewhat ask for this." Itachi sighs. "I'll support you, but I really wish that it had been something a little more...stereotypical for rebellious teenagers."

Sasuke laughs quietly. "Since when have I been one to adhere to stereotypes?" He slings his backpack over his shoulder and sits back down next to Itachi. "Just…don't tell Mother and Father, please. I don't want them to try and stop me."

"I won't tell them." He looks a little guilty. "You're a big boy now. It's your decision."

"Thank you." Still, Sasuke wrinkles his nose. "But never call me a big boy again, it makes me think of those damn diaper commercials."

"Only you, Sasuke." He chuckles. "And I suppose I was hoping that you would tell me about this. It fell out of your backpack." He hands him the golden letter from the day before.

Sasuke blinks at the envelope, before pulling it from his brother's grip. "Ah, that's just some love letter that got slipped into my locker." He'd forgotten that he'd taken it home with him.

He chuckles. "I figured as much. Still not every day you see someone who can paint in cursive that well. Anyway, you should probably be going. You're going to be late for school."

Sasuke rolls his eyes, the motion becoming effortless and natural. "That's because someone decided to Spanish Inquisition me." If he wanted to make it to school on time, he'd have to take his bike instead of walking. That meant dragging the Suzuki out of the garage.

"Mmm well it is what I'm best at. After all, I fully plan on joining the FBI, after I graduate." And Itachi was actually serious about that.

Sasuke shivers at the thought. Right, that's why his brother was taking a master's in psychology and criminology, with a side of law, because he wanted to join the FBI. "You're a scary asshole sometimes, Itachi."

Itachi winks. "That's correct and don't forget it." He chuckles and heads off.

Sasuke takes his motorcycle to school that morning, making it just in time for the warning bell, and into class without any issues. He hadn't meant to talk to Itachi this morning, and especially not for so long, or about what they'd talked about. But…he felt lighter, sharing that with his brother. Because keeping secrets to himself was slowly driving him insane.

Speaking of driving him insane…his locker was one again messily filled with even more letters than the day before. Damn it!

This time there was another golden letter. This one had H20 written on the front. The secret admirer clearly hadn't wasted any time.

Tossing the other letters into a bag that he planned to burn at the first opportunity, Sasuke reaches for the golden letter, opening it carefully. "Wonder what today's clue is." He hadn't expected another clue so fast, after all, prom was months away. But if the admirer was eager, then he'd solve this amusing puzzle.

You probably don't remember this, but we took Chemistry in Junior year together. I always thought that was appropriate because I need you like water, like rain. Though...we probably could have used some more water that day that the Chem Lab caught on fire. The fire didn't scare you in the way it scared most of the others.

Sasuke smirks, he remembered THAT incident. It had been during one of their labs for the class, and Naruto had gotten a little over-enthusiastic with mixing the test tubes together. If Sasuke hadn't been there to stop him, the whole lab probably would have gone up in flames. And while the other students were running around, trying to evacuate, he'd been the one to grab the fire extinguishers and toss one to Naruto so they could put the fire out before it scorched the whole room.

Still, that meant that he knew her, to an extent. But there were a lot of girls in that chemistry class, their school was pretty big. That only narrowed it down to about twenty people. He was going to need another hint.

Elsewhere, Hinata was still blushing from the night before. Some of the dresses that Ino had suggested were well outrageous. At least, by her standards. "I guess we're going to Queens later on." And things had only gotten worse when Ino had decided she wanted to make sure Hinata got shoes to go with the dress AND some lingerie. The Hyuga woman thought that she was going to die of embarrassment when the blond had walked down THAT aisle. The lingerie aisle.

"Good, there's a much better selection in some of the dress shops." Ino beams next to Hinata. "There's this one place I like that specializes in evening gowns." She'd frequented it herself, seeing as she helped out in her family's chain of flower shops as a floral designer in training. She hadn't graduated yet, so she couldn't be called that officially, but everyone knew better than that and she often was asked for help. That meant attending some rather elaborate functions to help with decorating. The evening gowns were for those ties when decorating turned into an invitation to stay and mingle.

"Yes, I'm sure that we'll find something." Hinata smiles. Evening gowns were better. "So what class do you have next?" They probably covered more than the other dresses her friend had suggested.

Ino elbows her friend gently. "Now, why don't you tell me who you're hoping to go with to prom? If you're willing to go shopping with me, it means that you must have someone in mind."

She blushes more. "Well...maybe. I don't k-know if he likes me though." Actually, Hinata doubted that he was even more than marginally aware of her existence.

"So there is someone!" She knew it! That had to be why Hinata was acting so excited and uppity the last few days. Ino could press this advantage. "Are you going to ask him, or are you waiting for him to ask you? If you don't know if he likes you, then you have to take the initiative and put yourself out there! Make him see how amazing you are."

"Well I w-was hoping that he'd ask me." If he figured it out and liked her. "If not and he g-goes to prom alone, I was going to ask him to dance or something."

Ino's face falls a little. "Hinata, if you don't make it known that you're interested in going with him, he might not ask you. Though it's great that you're planning to ask him to dance, anyway. Who is it? Maybe I can help you!"

She blushes. "I'd rather not say." Hinata pauses. "I know that you're trying to help, but I'm not sure how he'd respond to your methods. He's more...casual, I guess?"

The blond blinks slowly. "So…you mean he's not into pushy methods, or you're after some kind of playboy? Hinata, you're way too good to date a playboy! Please tell me that you mean he's just really laid back." If not, this could be a disaster in the making. Ino didn't know if Hinata was capable of handling a guy who played around and was too pushy. In fact, she believed the opposite.

"Oh no!" Hinata knew that she would have to defend Naruto. "He's definitely not a playboy. He doesn't really date that much." Naruto had had a couple girlfriends since middle school and throughout their high school career. Four. Each one had been like a dagger to her heart, but none of them had been 'The One'. At least three of them had just been puppy love. "He is very kind though. Friendly and approachable." For awhile, she had been really worried about the fourth, but that relationship only lasted six months.

"Oh, good." Ino breathes a sigh of relief. There was a big difference between a casual attitude, and a casual dating life. The latter was a big no-no for her friend to be wading into. And not dating much meant that he didn't sleep around, but that he wasn't a total novice, that was good. "Okay, well he sounds like he could be good for you. How long have you had your eye on him?"

She blushes. "Well I've always liked him since elementary school, but it didn't turn into more until middle school." And even then that had been puppy love. It had just grown into more.

"Wow…" Ino hadn't ever liked someone for that long. And she'd had more than her fair share of boyfriends. Even a couple of girlfriends. Hm…speaking of which, maybe Tenten would be interested… Wait no, not the point. "Okay, so you've liked this guy for a while, so what's stopping you from approaching him? You're not exactly a stranger if you've been around him since grade school."

"Well...I'm not like you." Damn. That could be taken the wrong way. "I'm not as brave about approaching guys and he's really popular. So he's rarely alone..."

"Ah…so you need to get him alone…or confess in a way that won't embarrass you in front of the whole school." Ino taps her lip, thinking the situation through. "Well…what about love letters?" It was pretty old school and childish, but their school seemed to love that. Girls were always throwing love letters around, there were probably enough of them to make a storm of confetti for prom every year.

She nods. "Exactly, well I started doing that this year. I already sent him two." Hinata fidgets nervously. "I thought maybe the s-secret admirer thing might get his attention."

Ino claps her hands eagerly. "That's perfect! And by doing the secret admirer thing, you'll get him interested in who you are, and he'll try to figure it out so he can ask his Cinderella to the ball before prom!"

She blushes. "Yes, that's what I was hoping for." Well most girls hoped for that sort of thing. So maybe, that wasn't surprising.

"You're leaving him clues, right? If you don't leave him clues, he'll never know whose foot the glass slipper belongs on." And Ino knew that any guy special enough to catch Hinata's attention would end up with the wrong girlfriend if he went around asking all of the girls if they wrote the letter. Some bitch could claim she did it before Hinata could. And like hell was that happening.

"Yes, I'm leaving him clues." Hinata smiles. "It would…defeat the purpose, if I didn't."

"Okay, good." Ino nods with approval. "But make sure not to give him too many clues too fast. Like maybe one a week, or every other week. You don't want him to figure it out too fast and lose interest. So…maybe put a clue in every other letter, drag it out, let him get to know you, make him fall for you even before he figures it out!" Ino's face lit up excitedly, she was a genius!

She tilts her head. "That's a lot of options." Hinata didn't really know which one to pick.

"Oh, pick the last one, it'll have the best results!" Ino grabs Hinata's hands, squeezing them tightly. "We're going to get you a date for prom, alright? Maybe even a boyfriend!"

She smiles. "Alright." Hinata could do that. "That's what I'll do. Thanks, Ino."

"Perfect, so all you have to do is pick a day of the week and time to drop the letters off, and your sweetheart will start to expect them and it'll increase the anticipation!" Ino could see so many ways to milk this. "So, for your next letter…"