Forget It

Holding Hands

He wished he was like his brother. He wished he could push his emotions away. He wished he was Itachi. His older brother had always been his idol, since he was born. Itachi was handsome, smart and could get anything he wanted.

He had gotten Naruto. No, he had taken Naruto. He had taken Naruto from Sasuke. It was unfair, it was unfair and cruel.

He, Sasuke, had been the one comforting Naruto when he had a hard time home. He, Sasuke, had been the one laughing with Naruto when they pulled pranks at the neighbours. He, Sasuke, was the one who had fallen in love with Naruto first.

And yet, Itachi was the one ending up with the blonde beauty. How he hated his brother for that.

He wished he was the only child, so he could have had Naruto to himself. It was probably really childish to think so, but Sasuke couldn't be angrierwith Itachi for being so perfect.

Sasuke groaned and hid his face in his arms, nose pushed against the table. He felt the dark orbs tear up and closed them, a single drop landing on the wood underneath.

"Don't cry, Sasuke-kun, he'll be back." Sakura tried to comfort. Sakura and Ino exchanged looks.

They were still in their uniforms, sitting at a diner close to the hospital. They had been trying to cheer their friend up for a week now. Seven days they had tried to stop his crying.

"He's alright, I promise." She could tell him this, hundred percent sure. Because she knew.

Ino sighed in annoyance. She was getting irritated. "Suck it up and be a man, for Kami's sake. I've been meeting you for a week straight now instead of meeting up with Shikamaru. He offered to actually make an effort and take me out if I stopped hanging with you so much."

Sasuke looked up, his eyes still teary. She regretted her harsh tone and mean words. "Sorry, Ino."

She held it to herself, but she really wanted to tell Sasuke to get a hold of himself and act like the Uchiha he was. He didn't see Itachi go crying to his female best friends, did he? But then again, she doubted that the elder Uchiha had female friends. He would scare them away.

"How is Itachi-san doing?" She asked, hoping to make the younger Uchiha feel better. But instead he mewled and started crying again.

She glanced at Sakura, who glared at her. She blamed Sakura for this. It was the pink-haired nurse that had made her come to Sasuke the first time, and then a second and so on. But she guessed Sakura didn't have anything better to do, newly broken up with her boyfriend and all.

She probably saw Sasuke as a new hobby. It wouldn't surprise Ino at all; Sakura had a tendency to play with people when she was bored.

"We have to go now, Sasuke-kun," Sakura said in her overly loving voice. Ino hated it when her best friend babied people. Especially Sasuke. Because he sure as hell didn't need someone to baby him. He had been spoiled all his life, and now he was a little bit upset over his best friend being gone-

She stopped her thoughts. Even she realized that she was very unfair right now.

But Sasuke smiled at them through his tears. "I'm so lucky that father isn't here right now." He dried his tears away. "I'm so un-Uchiha. I'll stop bothering you." He paid for himself and the nurses before he walked off.

They glanced at each other, Sakura's sea-foam eyes hardening into a glare.

"What?" Ino muttered and stood up. Sakura followed her outside.

They walked towards the hospital. "You're selfish. Naruto is his only friend, of course he is worried."

"But we both know he's fine," Ino pointed out and they stopped for some cars.

"But he doesn't know it! No one but we, at the hospital, know! This system is sick. Why can't we just tell the police?" Sakura started a rant she knew was unnecessary. She knew how this worked: that they weren't allowed to tell the cops, they weren't allowed to tell anyone.

UAUAUA

It was getting colder, and darker. But it was something Sasuke couldn't care less about right now. He was sitting in his apartment, on the kitchen floor to be exact. He was unsure of how he had ended there in the first place, and also unsure if he wanted to know.

So there he sat, his vision blurry from all the tears. One would think he would dry out, go wrinkly, but somehow the salty water just leaked and leaked and leaked out of his eyes. Was Itachi suffering like this? Was Itachi crying? Could he sleep? Because Sasuke sure couldn't.

He had been trying all different kinds of methods, but he always ended up crying himself to sleep somewhere that was not his bed. He was pretty sure that he would fall asleep here in a few hours.

"Naruto ..." He whined. He wondered if the blonde was scared. Was he hurt? Was he alive at all? He just wanted to know...

He gave a strange sound, somewhere between a mewl and a hiccup, and tears ran down his pale cheeks again. Just the mere thought of his best friend made his stomach turn. He puked right there, on the floor, not bothering to move an inch afterwards either.

UAUAUA

Being awake was painful - all his thoughts were focused on his best friend. Being asleep was painful - all his dreams were about his crush.

Uzumaki Naruto, please, come back.

He wanted to scream, curse, and yell out vulgar confessions. He wanted to cry, whimper and hide. And yet he sat there the next day, as if he hadn't cried himself to sleep at all yesterday night.

"What do you think, Sasuke-kun?" Fugaku, his father, asked. Sasuke, who hadn't been listening very much, but had a vague idea of what this was about simply nodded. Fugaku nodded too. "Who agrees with Sasuke-kun?" The oldest Uchiha looked (glared) at the other people around the table, who nodded in agreement. "Now, go and get your brother. I believe that he is on his office."

Sasuke nodded once again and stood up, bowing before leaving the room. He couldn't help but hear his father, before he exited.

"We have to hear what Itachi thinks about this. His voice is very important in this matter."

Sasuke didn't even bother to become upset or sad, not even annoyed. Of course Itachi was important, he always was. Hell, even Naruto - Sasuke's best friend - found Itachi more important.

He was the youngest Uchiha, he was alike his mother. All emotional and weak. He wished he had become more like his father, like Itachi. Then, maybe then, Fugaku would have been proud over him. Maybe then Naruto would have liked him more.

He knocked on Itachi's door. There was an "hn" from the other side, and Sasuke opened the door.

Itachi looked paler than usual, and his suit looked a little too big. Had he lost weight? "Father wants your opinion. Your voice is very important in this matter."

Itachi snorted. "It means he can't decide himself." But he nonetheless stood up and walked past Sasuke. "Coming?"

As they walked next to each other, back to the conference room, Itachi took his little brother's hand. It was very comforting. To think that such a simple gesture as holding hands could ease so much pain, that it could have such a soothing effect.

In that moment, the younger had to admit, that it was good to have an older brother.

To Be Continued

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