It was a hot morning, one of those summer mornings that was so miserably hot that any sort of movement was unquestionable. But it is July after all, Itachi thought, trying his best to ignore the bright light glaring through his bedroom window. He lay flat on his back with his eyes closed trying not to sweat and trying to ignore the fact that it was morning and he would have to get up and be awake in the heat.

The front door slammed and there was a loud thump from down the hall followed by the sound of running feet. All of a sudden his door flew open and a small figure threw itself onto his bed causing him to bounce off the mattress and onto the floor.

"You don't have to do anything today!" an excited voice squeaked from the bed.

Itachi groaned and sat up, "Sasuke can't you knock?" then he smiled at his little brother, "is there some special reason I'm free today? I don't know, some kid's birthday or something, I could be wrong…"

"It's my birthday and dad said that he would let you have today off so you could hang out with me! Mom went with dad to work because she wanted to be in air conditioning so it's just us, we can do whatever we want!" Sasuke crawled to the edge of the bed and looked down at Itachi on the floor, "I say we run through the sprinkler."

"Why only run through the sprinkler when we could do anything?" Itachi stood and sat on the edge of his bed, "we could go to the pool?"

Sasuke's face lit up and he smiled, "really!?"

"Yeah, I'll make you some breakfast and we can go. Now let me get dressed." He reached over and tapped Sasuke's forehead with two fingers. He stood up and walked over to his dresser and pulled out a t-shirt and bathing suit, but as he pulled the clothes out of the drawer an envelope dropped to the floor.

Sasuke rolled off the bed a picked it up, "Itachi…what's this?" he read the front of the envelope then pulled a folded up piece of paper out of it. "What is this place?"

Itachi looked over and saw the envelope in Sasuke's hands. He sighed, "Well, I wasn't going to tell anyone yet… but I've been accepted to college and they were impressed with my grades and I got a lot of scholarships. Don't tell anyone Sasuke, it's really important that I do this myself, ok?" he took the envelope back and put it in the drawer and gave Sasuke a smile.

Sasuke looked up at his older brother, "when did you apply for school? Dad doesn't know does he…?"

"No, he doesn't. And I would like it to stay that way until the time is right, ok?"

"Alright!" Sasuke smiled then ran for the door, "I'll be ready to go soon!"

Itachi closed his drawer and changed quickly, "Sasuke! We aren't going until you've had breakfast!" then he pulled his hair back into its usual ponytail, grabbed his towel, and ran to the kitchen. He turned on the stove and quickly started making eggs then grabbed the orange juice from the fridge.

Sasuke ran into the room and sat down at the table, "I'm not that hungry. Why do I have to eat anything?"

"Because food is important if you are going to grow up to be strong and tall." Itachi replied and brought the plate of eggs to the table. He quickly made some toast then sat down with Sasuke.

"But you don't eat much…" Sasuke said as he started shove eggs in his face.

"That's because I'm already tall and strong." Itachi laughed, in truth eating made him feel nauseated sometimes. They ate quickly and then cleaned up the kitchen. Sasuke washed while Itachi dried and put away. After they cleaned they slipped on flip flops, threw their towels in a backpack, and headed out of the house.

The pool wasn't that far away so they walked through town. As the sun climbed higher their pace slowed down. It was getting so hot that sweat was dripping off their foreheads. They didn't see anyone else on the street which was pretty normal. The people of Konoha mostly avoided them unless they were with their mom. It made things a little odd because it felt like they didn't live in a town at all, it just felt like they existed in a fake place where no one else actually lived.

They got to the pool and it was almost empty. There was a sleeping lifeguard under an umbrella and an old lady on a chair in the corner. Itachi and Sasuke looked at each other and smiled then opened the gate, threw their bag against the fence, pulled off their shirts and shoes, then threw themselves into the pool.

The water was cold and refreshing and they stayed for a long time, splashing and jumping in. They swam around for a few hours until they were both exhausted, then sat on the edge of the pool with their feet in the water. "Itachi?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah?"

"Why do you want to go to school?"

Itachi sighed, "Sasuke, there is a lot more in the world than just Konoha. And I know that at some point I'm going to be stuck here forever because of… well, what our family does. I just want to experience life before that happens."

"Does that mean you're going to be going away?" Sasuke asked, he looked down at the bright blue pool water.

Itachi was quiet for a second, "yeah. The school is about an hour away. That means I'll be living there." He put a hand on Sasuke's head, "You'll have to hold down the fort while I'm gone."

"It's gonna be a lot quieter without you around…"

"You can liven things up I'm sure." Itachi laughed, then pushed Sasuke into the pool. Sasuke spluttered and pulled himself back out of the water and grabbed a towel.

"I'm tired. Let's head back before mom and dad get home." Sasuke laughed then shoved Itachi off the edge and into the water. Itachi pulled himself out of the pool and grabbed his towel and dried off, then pulled on his t-shirt.

"Alright Sasuke, grab the backpack and hop on." He said and let Sasuke jump onto his back. They walked back through town talking and laughing quietly. As they walked down the sidewalk they bumped into a man sweeping.

"Itachi! How is your mother?" the man asked.

"She's good," Itachi smiled, "this is Sasuke. He's my little brother. Sasuke, this is where mom buys tea." Itachi nodded in the direction of the man.

"Hi!" Sasuke waved. They didn't hang around very long and kept walking. They eventually made it back to their street and slowed down. Itachi hesitated to go up to their house and let Sasuke slide off his back.

"Do you think they're home?" Itachi asked.

"Maybe…" Sasuke said, "It is my birthday so dad might come home early today." They walked up to the door and entered the house. There was noise in the kitchen and some shuffling in the living room.

"Glad you two are back! Get changed and we can have some lunch!" Mikoto yelled from the kitchen.

"Ok!" Sasuke yelled and ran for his room. Itachi grabbed the backpack and headed back to his room where he changed quickly out of his wet clothes into a fresh t-shirt and shorts. He went to the bathroom and re-did his ponytail, using his fingers to get his hair to look mostly ok then walked down to the kitchen. He was finally hungry now.

When he got there he sat down between Sasuke and his mom and started eating. The meal was mostly silent, but Mikoto tried to make small talk. "Sasuke, are you excited? Someone's birthday is today."

Sasuke smiled, "of course I am! Today has been the best day ever!"

Fukaku managed to not look angry, "I'm glad. You have a big year to look forward to." He went back to eating.

"Yeah, Sasuke. An exciting year in school coming up. Starting fifth grade is an important time, and you get to actually go to school and make some friends." Itachi added, glaring at his father then turned quickly to smile at Sasuke.

Mikoto stood up quickly, "I think we might have something for Sasuke in the back yard, should we all head out now?" she smiled at Fukaku and Itachi. They silently stood up and followed Mikoto out of the house with Sasuke running out ahead.

"Hold on Sasuke, let's take a picture first since we are all here and it's nice out." She pulled a camera out of her pocket and put it on the porch rail. "Alright, now smile everyone!" then she put her arm around Fukaku and another around Itachi with Sasuke in the front. Sasuke smiled big but Itachi couldn't muster a smile, the best he could do was an almost half smile. Fukaku just frowned.

After the picture Mikoto disappeared inside the house and returned shortly with a box. "Happy birthday Sasuke." She said smiling and handed it to him. Sasuke took it and excitedly started ripping the paper off. He pulled out a backpack and looked at his mom. "It's for when you start school in a few months. But that's not the only thing, look inside!"

Sasuke opened the bag and pulled out a plastic package that held two rolls of bandages, "what are these for?" he asked.

"it's for when you start training. Itachi was younger than you when he got his hand bandages, you use them to wrap your hands so you don't damage the bones and muscles when you punch." Fukaku stood and walked over to Sasuke and put a hand on his shoulder then smiled down at his son.

Itachi tensed, what was his father doing? Sasuke wasn't supposed to start training, that's why he was going to start middle school. He bit back saying anything. This was Sasuke's birthday and he didn't want to ruin it. Sasuke was excitedly talking to his parents so Itachi decided to head in and get out of the heat when Sasuke casually mentioned something that made him tense up again:

"When Itachi is away then we can just train you and me, right dad?"

Itachi froze. There was silence behind him. He could feel his father's gaze settle on the back of his head and stay there. It felt like it was burning, he knew he couldn't go inside now and that the time to tell him had come whether he wanted it to or not.

"Sasuke, where exactly is Itachi going?" his father's voice had changed to a dangerous octave, almost a growl.

Itachi turned around and faced his father and his mom. "I'm going to school."

"And what makes you think that?"

Itachi looked over at Sasuke, "Sasuke, mom, I think you should go inside now." His voice stayed steady. He waited until he heard the back door close then looked back over at his father. "I was accepted to a college about an hour away. And I'm going."

"With what money? Because I sure as hell am not paying for this."

"I got scholarships, the rest I can afford myself." He could feel the itching start behind his eyes and he knew what was coming.

"Oh please, you have no money. And you know that you can't leave here. Not with your eyes." His father was inches from his face.

The itching was turning painful now and he could feel his eyes starting to water. "You know the deal, you said I had to have an education to be head of this family and that's where I want to get it." the volume of his voice was dropping because of the pain.

"You can take classes online and learn how to run the family at home. Going to school is out of the question and that is final." His father's voice was getting dangerously low. "I can't believe that you went around my back and thought you could get away with it."

"I've already put in my housing deposit. I'm not backing out. I want to have some kind of life before you make me stay here forever." He resisted the urge to scratch at his eyes, but the pain was starting to get unbearable. Tears started to pour down his cheeks.

Fukaku smirked, he knew Itachi was at the beginning of an episode it almost always happened when they fought. "Well then, go to college. Have a roommate. Good luck trying to hide your eyes from curious people and trying to explain those scars on your face. Have fun dealing with your episodes alone with no one there who you can tell," he grabbed the front of Itachi's shirt, "See if I care when you have to drag yourself to class bleeding from scratches around your eyes." Then he let go and walked toward the house.

Itachi heard the door close again and he collapsed onto the ground, his eyes burned and he started to claw at his face. He felt the pressure building behind his eyes and he curled up in the grass and screamed.

.:.

There was a faint beeping sound as Itachi breathed in deeply. Something wasn't right, he couldn't move. He opened his eyes and saw a white ceiling with bright lights. He tried to sit up, starting to breathe harder. Something wasn't right, he had to go. There was a sharp pain in his shoulder and he fell back against the bed.

"Well well well, look who's finally awake!" there was a cheerful voice to his right. "Never had to be a doctor for a former student before, but I guess there's always room in life for a new experience." A girl around Itachi's age moved into his line of vision.

"Dr. Ramona…" he managed to say, though his voice was raspy and quiet and his throat hurt.

"Don't stress yourself there buddy, you've had a long day." She smiled, "you do have some visitors though, you feeling up to it?"

Itachi nodded, his mother was probably anxious to see how he was doing. He closed his eyes trying to bring back the start of his dream. It had been one his favorite days, the start of it anyways. He heard footsteps and opened his eyes again, "mom….." but stopped, his father was standing in front him with an odd character he'd never seen before.

"Your mom was busy today so I thought I'd pick you up. I also wanted to talk to your doctor about your stomach and see how bad it is." His father was the quietest he had ever been before while talking to Itachi.

"Who's that?" Itachi nodded at the stranger.

"Ah. Itachi, this is your new best friend." Itachi raised an eyebrow, it was the only way he could react at the moment. "This is Deidara. Since you won't be able to do much on your own he's going to look out for you."

"A babysitter." Itachi rolled his eyes, "I'm fine on my own, I don't need some kid tagging along everywhere I go." He could barely make the words out.

"Hey! I'm not just some kid! I can fight better than most of the people who work for your dad!" then he turned to Fukaku, "Boss, I don't need this. Get somebody else to watch your brat." Then he turned to leave.

Fukaku grabbed the hood on the back of Deidara's black sweatshirt, "this is your job. Do it." then he turned to Dr. Ramona, "you are the doctor for his stomach, yes?"

Dr. Ramona nodded, "yes, you are his father? We need to talk about medications."

Fukaku turned back to Itachi, "I'll leave you two to get to know each other." Then he turned and left the room with the doctor.

The room was silent for a while as Itachi looked Deidara over: the guy looked shorter than him and was wearing all black and sneakers. He had long blonde hair with the front pulled back except for one long chunk that covered the side of his face. "So, your name is Deidara?"

Deidara scowled at him from across the room, "yeah."

"How long have you worked for him?"

"None of your damn business."

Itachi nodded, he didn't really want to talk to this guy either. They sat in silence staring at each other. Having a babysitter was the last thing Itachi wanted to happen, not only would this enable his father to keep track of everything he was doing, but it also meant that he would have to drag this kid everywhere, including Minato's and on his rounds.

Fukaku came back into the room with the doctor and walked to the side of the bed, "you can head out in a few hours. Your test results are coming back and then you'll get some medicine and then we can go." He didn't sound angry or disappointed. Itachi nodded. "So, I hope you two got acquainted you'll be spending a lot of time together."

A few hours later they were pulling into the driveway at the Uchiha house. Itachi was in the passenger seat with his arm almost completely immobilized and Deidara was in the back slouching as much as he could. Fukaku sighed and got out then walked around the car to the passenger side. Itachi scowled and opened the door before his father got there.

"Hey, boss. Do I have to hang around anymore?" Deidara was standing down at the end of the driveway and looked like he was ready to run down the street.

Fukaku sighed, "You can stay for dinner. And no that is not a request that is an order." Deidara scowled deeper and dragged his feet walking up to the house.

Itachi walked up to the door and let himself in. all he wanted to do was go to sleep. As soon as he stepped into the house he heard movement in the kitchen, "Itachi! You're back!" Itachi frowned, he thought his father had said that his mom was busy. He was about to ask her but then his father and Deidara appeared behind him.

Mikoto paused in the doorway of the kitchen, "how are you feeling? Glad you are on your way to getting better again!" Itachi nodded then moved to go back to his room.

"Mikoto, could you set another place for dinner? Deidara is joining us tonight." Fukaku said.

"Boss…" Deidara started. Fukaku just glared at him.

"Deidara, go do your job."

He sighed then followed Itachi down the hall. Itachi got to his room then turned around, "you really don't have to come all the way here." Itachi said.

"Apparently I do. So just deal with it." Deidara said and followed him into his room. Itachi carefully lay down on his bed and closed his eyes. "Geez do you do anything aside from clean?" Itachi opened his eyes.

"I don't need you to watch me when I'm sleeping."

"Actually, you might. Now that I think about it." Deidara sat at Itachi's desk, "considering that the Dragon Triad has been trying to get back together again. There has been some odd activity over by the abandoned apartments."

Itachi raised an eyebrow, "so that means I need someone to watch me when I sleep?"

"Probably not. But considering your current state," Deidara motioned at the sling, "if they decide to attack you or something you couldn't do much."

Itachi closed his eyes again, but he couldn't even doze off regardless of how tired he felt. There was one question gnawing at the back of his mind. He sighed and pushed himself up into sitting position, "He's making you do this because he doesn't trust me, right?" he glared at Deidara across the room.

Now Deidara raised an eyebrow, "look, he's just my boss. I do what he says and I get paid. I don't deal with politics or alliances I just stick with what gives me money." Then he gave Itachi a weird look, "why would he even tell me that? Geez you think I rank up there with the top dogs? Hell, I just started two months ago! The only reason he's making me do this is because we are around the same age so I would blend in better." He snorted, "Or he thinks you don't need much in the way of protection. Not that I'm bad at my job." he added quickly, "just not as seasoned as his older cronies."

"Great." Itachi said quietly. So his father's act of supposed concern was actually just another sign that he didn't trust him. He had someone to watch his every move even in his own house. On top of that, he was new and didn't even have much real world experience. If anything happened to him his father could just shrug it off and tell himself that he tried. He clenched his jaw, he could feel anger rising inside of him, but it felt pointless. He had one arm and a permanent babysitter, how much lower would he have to sink before his father would stop mocking him?

.:.

Sasuke panted, he was sore all over. He coughed and saw a small spray of blood hit the wood floor. He clenched his fists and grit his teeth then he slowly picked himself up off the floor and looked up into the face of his great uncle. Madara stood about five feet away with arms crossed and a disapproving look on his face. They had been training for hours but he had barely broken a sweat. "Stop wasting my time." Madara sighed.

"One more time!" Sasuke growled. He took a deep breath and launched himself at Madara. There was a quick exchange: Sasuke aimed a punch at Madara's face but it was casually swatted away and when he came around for a counter attack he got kicked in the chest and was sent sliding across the floor. This time he stayed down, partially stunned by the last hit.

Madara frowned, "I've been here for weeks and you don't show any signs of improving." He started to walk to the basement door, "I told your father you were too young. You're not ready for this. If only the other one wasn't so… problematic." He looked over his shoulder, "you're done for the night."

"No!"

Madara turned around. He looked over at Sasuke who was standing straight up and breathing heavily. This time, however he had black marks all over his skin and they seemed to be moving, spreading over his entire body. "Oh?" Madara smirked, "has the baby been hiding something?"

There was a horrific animal growl as Sasuke sprinted across the room and body slammed Madara into the door. Madara fell backward but managed to block most of Sasuke's hits as the two began to spar. The movements were entirely different this time around: the hits were more aggressive and came with more strength. The pace was a lot faster and soon both of them were breathing hard.

Sasuke was barely thinking, all he could feel was the burning covering his body. He hurt so much that he could barely see, all the movements had become one giant blur and his body was reacting purely on instinct. He wanted to scream and curl up until it was over. His stomach was full of knots and he could feel panic rising in his throat as the burning intensified. All of a sudden he pictured Itachi's face the night he'd found him locked in the training room, how he'd looked at him sadly then walked away. He let out one loud yell and pulled his arm back for a blow and struck blindly. He felt something solid under his hand then he blacked out.

He faintly heard laughing in the distance, a deep laugh that made his spine start to tingle. He slowly opened his eyes and saw that he was staring at the ceiling. He felt numb all over and his mouth was dry. He sat up slowly and felt his head start to pound, "w-what happened…" he asked, but his voice was quiet and strained.

The laughing got louder, "you actually showed potential for once." Madara stepped into his line of vision. He was smiling and there was blood oozing out of his split lip.

Sasuke frowned, "what did I just do?"

"You landed a punch." Madara replied and wiped his lip with the back of his hand.

"No, everything was on fire and I couldn't see…" Sasuke started.

Madara bent down so he was eye level with Sasuke, "I'm going to take a wild guess and say your dad doesn't know about this." Madara smiled again which made more blood start dripping down his chin, "let's keep this our little secret shall we?"

Sasuke gave Madara a weird look, there was something off-putting about his great uncle. He looked pleased with himself and the blood slowly dripping off his chin onto the floorboards made him look slightly psychotic. Sasuke stood up quickly, ignoring his aching body, and headed for the door, "yeah, sure, whatever." He said then left the basement.

Madara watched Sasuke leave then slowly stood up. He smirked, this kid is hiding something. He had seen some interesting curse marks and other enchantments used by people to make themselves stronger or live longer, but this one was new. And on a kid so young, he thought. He slowly licked some of the blood off the back of his hand. He closed his eyes and savored the taste of iron, it had been a long time since someone had landed a hit on him and he had forgotten the adrenaline rush that came with fighting someone who was an actual challenge.

"Oh Fukaku, you have some interesting kids." He said to himself quietly, then headed for the door to the basement. He walked up the stairs and headed for the guest room to change his shirt. As he was walking down the hallway Itachi walked past to get dinner. As he passed he caught Itachi's eye and smirked. Itachi gave him an uncomfortable look and quickened his pace. Yes, Madara thought, these kids are definitely interesting.