Bullet Proof

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters.

Chapter 7: Hauntings of the Past

"Ani, what are those things?" he pointed upwards, his wide onyx eyes following the path of his pale finger.

A matching set of eyes also rose to where the small hand gestured too, and he watched the twinkling, natural lights in the sky, and smiled, placing his hand on the boy's hair, ruffling it slightly. "Those are stars, Obouto…" The voice was calm and gentle, and soothed the raven haired boy as he gazed upwards.

A cold breeze stung the taller boy on the cheeks, and he glanced down in slight worry, seeing his pink-faced little brother. He shucked off his sweatshirt, and placed it over the boy's shoulders, "Take this, Sasuke… I don't want you catching a cold…"

The boy proudly slid his arms into his older brother's sweatshirt, as though he were the coolest person in the world. But sadly, he glanced at the other male, "What about you, Ani?"

"I'll be alright…" He nodded and smiled, but this didn't satisfy the boy. He sluggishly pulled off his small gloves, carefully making sure they weren't inside out before holding them up to his brother.

"Here!" His face was dead serious about him taking the gloves, and this caused his big brother to laugh, though slipped them on.. He recognized them as his own, only making his smile grow fonder.

"Look Sasuke!" In a sudden moment, his older brother pointed to the sky, dropping to his knees to be at the same height as Sasuke, trying to gain his attention quickly, "There's a shooting star!"

His face glowed brighter than the glittering stars at that moment, eyes enlarged in wonder, mouth open in awe. He watched as it shot by, leaving a pretty, dusty trail of its tail for just a moment before disappearing.

"Make a wish!"

A thoughtful look spread across Sasuke's face before it lit up in realization, "I'm going to wish for you, me, mother, and father to be together forever and ever!" He nodded his head, as though he was determined to make that happen. "Are you sure it'll come true, Itachi?"

"I'm one-hundred percent positive!" He promised with the same unwavering nod.

?

Sasuke's eyes snapped open, as he sat up in bed. His sheets were moist with cold sweat his body had drawn out in the middle of the night. The same God damn dream… He knew which one would be tonight then… His dreams were a repeat of the past, and they played in order until the worst of the suffering was over, then… It would start again at the beginning.

He closed his eyes and slowly pushed the blankets off of him. For some reason, he just knew it was going to be a long day… Glancing at the clock, he realized that he had woken up an hour and a half earlier than he had desired.

5:15 a.m.

He sighed melodramatically, and pushed open his door, in an attempt to be quiet. He didn't want his brother lurking about, bombarding him with his "let's talk" argument again. That was awful.

When he had finally gotten home last night, he had had the excuse of showering and going straight to bed… Since he showered less than twelve hours ago, he didn't have the lucky excuse this morning.

As he slowly let his feet drop each step of the staircase, he suddenly stopped and ducked down, holding in all the breath he had, not wanting to make a single noise.

"I'm worried about him, Uncle…" someone on the other line must have been speaking, because Itachi sat up straighter, and opened his mouth as though he wanted to speak, but stopped short.

"I'm just not sure what to do… He still won't talk to me, but he's fine with Naruto…" He then let out an exasperated sigh, and ran a hand through his hair, "I know he trusts him more than me…" There was a short pause, "I understand that he blames me! You think I don't blame myself as well?" He hissed into the phone, his brow creased in anger, before letting out a breath, then leaning back.

"Alright, I'll give him his space. I hope he comes around though – I would love my little brother back…"

As Sasuke heard the last bit of their conversation, he was already back at the top of the stairs, laying on the floor in fear of catching Itachi's attention. His eyes stared towards a black ceiling, it too dark to be able to make out any shapes.

Itachi had seriously said those things about him? One part of him tugged towards the older Uchiha – the small, scared little boy in him wanted to have his role model, his best friend, his big brother once again.

He stopped, suddenly glaring at nothing. What kind of sappy thought was that? With a grunt he stood, and noisily, making sure the dark haired senior heard him. He glanced over, but didn't say anything at first.

"Hello, Sasuke."

'Hi…" He grunted, and went into the kitchen, pouring himself a glass of orange juice. He expected the guy to follow him, breathing down his neck – the works.

After waiting for a few moments, his shoulder tense, and a wince ready to burst out of him, he opened his eyes that were previously squeezed shut. No one followed him into the kitchen. Snorting about his cautious attitude, he tipped the glass up once more, gulping down the refreshing juice as quickly as he could.

Suddenly a loud ring seemed to boom throughout the house, making Sasuke jump five feet in the air, throwing his glass up, and watching it as it shattered on the floor. A slight chuckle wafted into the room from his brother sitting on the couch.

Sasuke glared and opened his mouth, ready to yell, "What the hell is that?"

"The phone, dear Obouto…"

"When the fuck did it get so loud?" He demanded, eyes angry.

"When there were no longer enough people to fill the house to hear it all the time…" He replied with a slightly dark tone – Sasuke regretted asking instantly.

"Hello?" Itachi's voice was monotone as he answered, eyes bored as his little brother peered around the corner, curiosity leaking about who it was. With all the silence in the huge house, Sasuke could hear very easily who it was.

"Itachi! I looked up your phone number in the phone book!" The hyper voice made both of the brother's eyes widen. "I can't sleep so I decided to call and see if I could talk to Sasuke!" The raven haired teen could almost hear the grin.

Itachi smirked at him and motioned to the phone on the wall. With a grunt, his brother picked up.

"What do you want, Naruto?" He asked, glaring at the wall.

"Wow… Someone isn't happy in the morning!" He snickered. "So, I was thinking… Since by the time we get to school, I won't have had ramen for about two hours and –"

Sasuke slammed the phone back against the wall in a fit of irritation, and stormed into the living room, sighing exasperated and flopping onto the couch.

Itachi stared at him for a few moments, "Would you care for breakfast since we're both awake?"

"Hn…" He mumbled back in reply.

"I'll take that as a yes…" He stood and moved towards the door, Sasuke peeking his head over the couch to watch him go.

?

Breakfast was awkward. Every time Itachi began to ask about Sasuke, or anything involving him, he began coughing erratically, and his stupid older brother never got the hint and attempted his interrogation all through the meal.

As soon as Sasuke had scarfed down as much food as was thrown onto his plate, he bolted for upstairs, though began to seek a new hiding spot instead of his room – it wouldn't be a danger-free zone in there forever.

His mind galloped as he quickly wandered around the halls of the giant house. Those charcoal orbs luckily spotted something a floor above his room that could save his life.

A single wooden door with a golden handle was his discovery, and cautiously he pushed it open, afraid perhaps he would stumble upon a room he didn't want to see. But there in front of him was a wooden staircase, much less classy than the rest of the sparkling house.

He stepped on the first step, suddenly curious as to what his old attic held – he was never allowed up there as a child unless accompanied by his mother or father – not even Itachi was allowed upstairs on his own.

What he saw was nothing special like he anticipated. There were a few things of his – things he hadn't seen in forever a few black, plastic covers slipped over hangers of only God knows what, oodles of boxes, a few ancient things he barely remembered, and some littered things of Itachi's.

There wasn't anything special, and he sighed.

This place was perfect…

He moved towards the window, pushing open the curtains to see an amazing view of the lake not too far out on their property, and he actually let on a smile. Next to the window, propped against the wall was a painting easel. It was a lot shorter than him now, but it still had an old painting hanging in it – never finished by Sasuke himself.

It was a starry night with two figures sitting in the grass. It wasn't half bad for someone who was six at the time, and he bit his lip.

Itachi and himself – that night, just like in his dream. His older brother had explained to him what those unknown dots were in the sky – what it was like to have a wish completely shattered…

Narrowing his eyes, he took the picture off and threw it across the attic, suddenly glaring out the window, and storming out of the attic, slamming the door, and not saying a word to Itachi when he passed.

?

Kisame chuckled darkly as he dialed Itachi's number, and held the phone up to his ear.

There was a hello on the other line before Kisame chuckled, "Meet me at the school with your brother, I've got a plan…" With that he hung up, and grinned as Sasori walked by, chatting with his little sister, completely oblivious to the plans behind his back.

?

"Homeroom was… interesting…" Sakura shrugged, nonchalantly, "It wasn't that big of a deal, I just stayed away from Karin. You know… she calls me the cow!"

Ino laughed and sat at the table, "So this drama from algebra – did you get it settled today?" She wondered out loud.

The pink haired girl snorted, and opened her carton of milk, "Oh no… Mesuki wasn't there and the sub refused to just listen to everyone in the class. Instead we had a damned pop quiz that I bet completely stumped that dumb ass Uchiha!" She growled, narrowing her eyes.

"My dearest sister!" Sasori slammed his hands down onto the table, causing Sakura and Ino to jump.

It was the beginning of lunch – actually… It didn't start for another ten minutes, but the girls miraculously got there early, slipping out of foreign language after a smooth talking by Sakura – picking up French had always been a cinch for her, and the teacher loved her for it.

"What do you want?" She questioned skeptically. Her brother was too happy once again.

"I'm going to Itachi's tonight… I thought I would let you know."

"Thanks for sharing?" She glanced at Ino, kind of confused.

"You see – I called mom… She said she wasn't letting you stay home alone… She and Father are having a 'date night' tonight…"

"Shit…" She cursed, glaring at the redhead, "Why tonight? That means I have to go with you!" She whined to the older Haruno.

"Itachi is okay with it… You can torture your friend even more now! Think about it – over twenty-four hours with him!" He chuckled, watching his sister squirm in her chair, "See you after school!"

She grumbled, and turned back to her plate.

She had to spend quality time with Sasuke? Well at least pissing him off was one of the more fun activities of her day…

?

A/N: I know that might not have been quite as interesting as everyone wanted it to be, but the attic leads up to things, and the dream was too – Itachi and Sasuke's relationship was explained a little more, and there's a little more information on Sasuke's past :)

I hope everyone is excited for the ending of the chapter though :) Please come back and read more!

Oh yes – don't forget to review!

-zesty-