Rescue Me
My breathing dries up in my chest as I feel arms wrap around me. His breath rustles my hair. "Why are you crying, Sasuke?"
I squeeze my eyes shut, willing the tears to stop. No such luck. A small hiccup comes out and I shake my head, indicating that I would rather cut off my own finger than tell him.
His entire body envelopes me with warmth as he hugs me closer. Another hiccup comes out while I try to convince myself this isn't real.
He doesn't care, I tell myself. He's just taking care of you because of what you did for him. He doesn't care, he doesn't really love you, and you don't care because it doesn't matter to you.
The salty tracks down my face get wider as the crying gets worse. I shake my head over and over in denial of this whole situation. All my pride crumbles, making me want to curl up into a ball and die.
Why did all of this have to happen? I wouldn't have been okay with killing him, but it's better than this shame, this pain I feel when he treats me as no more than an annoying pest. A little brother.
He makes a small soothing noise that makes his chest vibrate against my back. My brother's face presses into my neck.
My entire body freezes as I realize his inhale had words in it. Soft words that sound too much like 'I love you.' to be anything else. Beautiful, precious...lies! Lies! My heart screams in agony at the thought of this cruel lie.
"Stop it!" I sob. "Please, Itachi, just stop! You're hurting me...stop lying..."
He stiffens, raising his head to look over my shoulder (about the most accurate point for him to look at). His hand comes up and strokes my wet cheeks, brushing tears away. When he speaks, it's cold, professional, and just like the old Itachi, deadly. "What makes you think I'm lying?"
"You don't." I whisper fervently. "To you, I'm just you're little brother. You act like I'm nothing to you, less than worthy of even touching. You talk to me like I'm a child, like I'm unimportant to you, insignificant. You hurt me, brush me aside, ignore my emotional needs."
He lowers his head, using his long bangs to shade my view of him. His voice comes out a croak. "I had no idea."
Moisture lands in his lap and I have a horrific realization. My aniki is crying.
To be continued...