A/N: Okay, so I made some changes in chapter one (kind of important) so if you want to go and reread it, or at least the middle of chapter one, this chapter will make slightly more sense. If not, I will just brief you all. While in chapter one I implied that Mikoto and maybe even Itachi were dead and then they were alive in the later chapters. Yeah, kind of a WTC moment. I realized this and fixed it. Mikoto ALMOST died. She didn't actually die, she just came really close (the doctors revived her at the last minute) and Itachi... well he has issues. Sasuke doesn't know the extent of his issues, but he does know that something bad happened to Itachi and he feels as if he could have prevented it. And thus the little bit about his not being able to prevent his mother's "death" or protect his brother (Itachi). *Claps hands together* 'Kay, so hope that helped you all who were confused! Onto the disclaimer!

DISCLAIMER: If I owned Naruto or at least made money off of this I wouldn't be broke. So there. XP

Kyuubi smirked as Itachi approached him, dressed in all black (per usual). "So your brother's in the hospital? That's not a surprise. He's so weak," the red head chuckled darkly, "I bet he broke a nail, the little-" he was cut off when a fist smashed into the brick, not a hair's width away from his face, leaving cracks as the crumbled material fell away. His eyes only widened slightly, "Woah, I was just messing with you," although his voice betrayed his fear, not by much, though.

"And I was just messing with you," Itachi said tonelessly, withdrawing his fist and giving his hand a little shake. "We have a job to do, you know we don't have time to waste," Itachi said turning away from the almost shaking red head.

"Yeah, yeah I know. I was the one waiting for you," Kyuubi rolled his eyes, pushing himself off the wall and falling into step with the raven haired teen. "It's no big deal, really. We break in, steal the crack and whatever else we can find, eaves drop a little, then scram. You make such a big deal out of everything Itachi, you seriously need to just chill. Maybe have some fun." Itachi made no comment as Kyuubi chattered on, "Oh, I know what it is!" Kyuubi exclaimed, the proverbial light bulb appearing over his head (ha ha), "you haven't gotten laid yet, have you? Jeez man, it's not that hard to get a girl... or a guy if that's what you're into. Just... I don't know, walk into a bar and order a drink? Watch the girls on the pole, and as soon as you wink at one of 'em... well, it's lights off, having a party unclothed! I mean... have you even seen the way girls drool over you? All you have to do is blink and the clothes are coming off. Heck, you could even get a guy if you wore fitted clothes and batted your eyelashes..." Kyuubi put his hands in his pocket. "Man, you are one lucky dog. Yeah..."

Itachi ignored his partner and hoisted himself up onto the window ledge of the abandoned looking house they had reached. He momentarily examined the window before pulling it up and sliding in. Kyuubi hopped in after him, landing silently. The two shared a look before stealthily advancing into the hallway. Itachi pressed a button on the blue tooth in his ear and crouched in the shadows, recording the conversation taking place below.

"Did you hear they found the brat?"

"Yes, I heard, Kisame-san. They found Uzumaki Naruto. Wouldn't it be ironic if we recruited him? Ow! You didn't have to hit me!"

"Shut up, stupid. If you keep saying stuff like that out loud, then just anybody can hear you! We don't want them getting to him before we do."

"But Kisame-san," the voice whined, "they probably already know!"

"That doesn't mean they do! You don't have to go blurting top secret information out loud. You are such an idiot sometimes, Tobi. I don't know how anyone else puts up with you!"

"Waaah! Kisame-san is so mean!"

Itachi stopped recording. He'd heard learned he needed to know. They knew.

Kyuubi tip toed back into the hallway and made his way next to Itachi. Watching the two through the banister, he signed, "ready to go?" (Ah, the uses of American Sign Language) Itachi nodded imperceptibly and the duo headed back out, as silently as they came. They slouched through the streets as if they had no important destination to reach. "They're some real idiots, huh?" Kyuubi asked.

"You heard?"

"Of course," Kyuubi grinned. Itachi just sighed and shook his head. "Oh, come on, Itachi, it's not like they were all that quiet. It's not like I was supposed to make special effort not to listen, jeez. You know what you need? A smoke and a drink, that's what you need." Itachi smacked Kyuubi in the back of the head. "Okay! To the bar it is!" Kyuubi said cheerfully.

They strolled into the bar and casually made their way to a table where a man with white hair sat. He slid a couple of beers to them across the table as they sat. "Hey, nice blue tooth," the man said casually, eyeing Itachi's ear piece.

Itachi sat, catching his beer. He tore the piece out of his ear and tossed it to the man without comment. Kyuubi chuckled, "you didn't even tell him if it was any good." Itachi simply glared at the laughing teen. "Okay, okay, yeah it's good, don't listen to it, the music's terrible, but yeah. So, Mizuki, got anything interesting for us?"

"No, sorry. How did it go?"

"Oh it was easy, you know there's this guy, Tobi, he's a real idiot."

"Really? Tell me about it." Kyuubi began an animated retelling of their previous activities. Itachi ignored the two in favor of staring at his drink. Shaking his head slightly, he stood, leaving the man and the teen chatting companionably without him. He didn't really care too much as he was never one for friendly conversations over beer. The stench of the pub gave him a headache and all the noise and chatter made it worse. Itachi honestly didn't understand what was the appeal of these things. He breathed deeply in relief as he exited the stuffy building.

He arrived home to an empty condominium. Not that this bothered him, he rather enjoyed the peace as compared to the packed and noisy pub. He threw off his clothes and hopped in the shower, eager to rinse off the stench of alleys, sweat, and alcohol. The freezing water pelted his skin and made his breathing quicken and his heart rate increase. Itachi barely held back a gasp as the water made icy contact with his skin. Wasting little time, he quickly and efficiently cleaned his body. Itachi spent more time on his hair, thoroughly soaking it before massaging the shampoo into his scalp and from his roots to his ends. He meticulously scrubbed at his scalp and hair, making sure to rinse away every last trace of shampoo before opening the conditioner. He let the conditioner sit in his hair and grit his teeth slightly at the freezing water. Itachi felt a little numb, but he was glad because it distracted his mind from memories he'd rather not face at the moment. Rinsing his hair once more, Itachi shut off the water. He gingerly stepped out of the shower and toweled himself dry. He pulled on a pair of boxers and brushed his teeth before heading to his room.

Itachi plopped down onto his bed where he carefully combed out his long hair. When it was free of tangles he blow dried it, re-combed and brushed his hair before braiding it into a single french braid. Itachi took time to carefully prepare himself for bed like this every night. It didn't matter if it cut into his sleep time. He didn't want to dream anyway. It was important that he focus on rubbing his aloe vera gel into his skin and not on the image of his fathers face covered in sweat and contorted in effort... 'No!' Itachi scolded himself, 'bad Itachi! You don't want to think about that. Focus! Pay attention to the gel, you can't use too much or too little. Make sure you rub it in fully. And get every last inch of your skin.' He would not think of that until he absolutely had to. When Itachi had finally pulled on a loos white t-shirt and grey sweat pants that hung on his hips. He at last crawled into bed and submitted himself to his nightly torture as he could put it off no longer. It wasn't long before Itachi was writhing in his sleep, haunted by nightmares that would make lesser men wet their beds and sweat buckets. Itachi, however, only squirmed uncomfortably, his face twisted in agony with only slight moans escaping his lips to alert any one else of his suffering.

His cries did not go unheard, however. Mikoto happened to walk in a few minutes after Itachi had fallen asleep. She took just as much care readying herself for bed. Before settling down to sleep, she crept into Itachi's room. She watched her son with sadness evident in her eye as she witnessed her oldest child's pain. She knew what he dreamed of, and at times, blamed herself for it. She ran a delicate hand over his cheek, caressing his face. He calmed slightly and no longer wriggled in his tangle of sheets, although a frown did remain on his countenance. Mikoto straightened his sheets and tucked her sleeping son in. She regret not being able to do more for Itachi. A tear glittering on her cheek as she withdrew her hands and silently exited the room, heading to face her own nightly terrors.

Mikoto cried even more as she slept. She couldn't breath and no matter how she clawed at the hands gripping her throat. Her silent pleas went ignored and the precious oxygen surrounding her, taunting her as she was not able to take a single breath...

Mikoto gasped, as she shot up in bed. Panting, Mikoto tried to calm herself as she reminded herself yet again that her brush with death was but a memory. She could breath. That was all she needed to be sure of. Mikoto lay back down, staring into the night, tears still rolling down her cheeks.

To distract herself, Mikoto thought of Sasuke. She would have to visit him in the hospital. But oh how she hated hospitals... she could remember the horrible continuous beep that had sounded as she struggled to breath, a terrifyingly painful sensation in her chest. Switching her thoughts back to Sasuke, she wondered how he had found the Uzumaki boy. He had unwittingly uncovered vital information. Her thoughts wandered to the cuddly little boy with blond hair which was the last she had seen of Naruto "Uzumaki". Kushina had been so happy with him... oh how she missed Kushina. Sasuke! She was supposed to be thinking of Sasuke. Mikoto sighed and rolled over, not looking forward to braving a night with her mind.

Another A/N: I know this chapter didn't have that much Sasuke and Naruto in it (don't hit me!). But it did have a point, it developed Itachi and Mikoto's characters and gave kind of a preview to the things you will later learn about Sasuke and his family's past. It also explains his little rant in chapter 3 about how no one ever told him anything. Mikoto and Itachi didn't really ever tell Sasuke all that much about their nightmares and horrible memories. CHECK MY PROFILE FOR UPDATES! IT'S IN BOLD LETTERING AND AT THE BEGINNING! EASY TO FIND! So that's it for now, bye!

P.S Killing of the author is not under any circumstances allowed; if I die, who would continue the story? Minimal abuse is allowed and all flames will be shamed and discussed in A/N's to be made fun of and responded to.