Wows. Thanks for the reviews! This fanfiction is as much as an escape for me, too! And sorry again for the slow updates. I'm usually going to get these up at least on Thursdays or weekends. Damn, school gets in the way so much. I think that this chapter will be a little shorter than usual. Not sure. A little more 'drama'. I'm not sure. I don't think I'm a good drama writer.

Chapter Seven: I met him.

My brother used to have to go to a therapist. He needed it. He was in a way depressed at school, even though he passed with flying colors. The only way you'd really get him to talk if you provoked him or something like that.

Still, the therapist things never really worked. Mom was worried about him a lot. Dad seemed to only care about his grades. Shisui was the only one (other than me, sometimes) that Itachi really talked to. But whenever I ask my cousin what Itachi told him he'd say that it's a secret.

All I really wanted back then was to be close to my brother.

Naruto was the same as before he disappeared for the first time. I think that everything's all good now, that I don't have to worry about my friend anymore. It was safe for now, I assured myself. Naruto told me that he wouldn't disappear again. He promised. I'm glad that the blonde always keeps his promises.

The Sadistic Smart-Ass told me that he was going to be busy for a few days. I was okay with that. As long as he told me that he was going, and that he'd come back, everything would be fine.

Kakashi announced that he's going to assign another report about our 'pen pal' pretty soon. (I didn't say that word in the last chapter and I wish that I wouldn't need to use those two words any more.)

The class groaned, Kakashi yelled at them, gave some detention, and gave us our assignment.

After class, I approached my sensei and asked him about my older brother. Like, is he doing okay and stuff like that. I was trying to lead the conversation to the right direction. I needed to know what they were talking about in the library.

"And what were you talking about?" I asked, after a long stream of questions. I wanted Kakashi to answer. I crossed my fingers in my pocket, hoping that he was caught off guard.

"Oh, we were talking about you and-" Kakashi paused, staring at me.

"And?"

"Nothing. I said nothing."

It's too hard to try to trick your English teacher. Especially if he's Kakashi.

I sighed in disappointment, muttered, 'Don't worry about it' and left the room. Naruto was waiting for me, and he asked me what I was talking about. "Nothing. We said nothing." I'm turning into my English teacher.

Naruto shrugged, and we just started talking about part-time jobs. Just the subject I needed. I had about an hour before I had to go to that perverted restaurant. Don't ask me why I didn't quit yet. I wish I did.

Naruto is just so happy about his part-time job at Ichiraku's Ramen. I'd work there any day, but the pay wasn't so good. Naruto just liked it because he got a big discount for ramen there. Discounts weren't a big bonus for me. I cook my own food, because I don't want to waste money on the all expensive restaurants here at Konoha.

The place where I work is like a normal restaurant. It's basically a seafood restaurant, but perverts still come there and irritate me of all people. I find nothing good about me that perverts would like, and I think that's a good thing. All of the workers there are about my age, too. There's about six of them. Tayuya, a bad mouthed girl, Jiroubou, a fat ass, Sakon and Ukon, two creepy twins, Kidoumaru, this spider-crazy guy, and Kimimaro, this kid who coughs up blood and knows every single bone in your body. And I mean he talks about them. Your bones. It's just weird.

Tayuya's pretty much plain old cruel to me. Jiroubou ignores me. Sakon and Ukon just make snide comments about me behind my back. Kidoumaru keeps putting spiders on me. Kimimaro's the only person that I can relate to. He's better than the rest of them.

"You must have it tough in there," Naruto said. "Everyone that works at Ichiraku's is real nice."

That's because you're a lucky kid.

I never told him about the perverts in there. There's pervert number one: Orochimaru. He nearly raped me, but I escaped. Barely. The Smart-ass knows him, too. He said that Orochimaru came after him once, too. I think we have too much in common, but that's not what I'm talking about. There's pervert number two: Jiraiya. He's not as bad as Orochimaru, but he does try to touch you in places that he shouldn't at times. Pervert number three: Ebisu. He's more of a closet pervert, but I think that he put a camera on me once. Not sure. I know he's one of them, though.

There's more, but those three are the only ones that I really know.

But still, if I told him about the perverts I'd think Naruto would march in, try to stop them, and then get himself raped or something. Reckless blonde.

"Okay, I have to stop here," Naruto said, walking away from me and to the stand that was Ichiraku's. He waved to me with a big smile. I forced one on, too, though I dreaded the thought of the perverts that were going to wait for me today.

I ran the rest of the way. Naruto made me late, but I didn't want to tell him that. I think I'm being to nice, but whatever, who cares right now. I was so going to get yelled at. I ran in at the right time, muttered a hello to Kimimaro when I passed him, got changed in the bathroom (I don't want to wear what they want me to wear out side of the restaurant) and got started immediately. Jiraiya and Ebisu were sitting near a window, talking to each other rather loudly. Orochimaru sat by his own lonesome, giving me the 'eye', though. There was a noisy group out in the back, and I happened to be serving them. I approached the group, putting on a fake smile.

"Deidara, you're too loud!" the red head said.

Huh?

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, hmm," a blonde said, playing with a strand of his (His?) long hair. It was Deidara, I could tell. He said that 'hmm' at the end of his sentence, he looked like a girl, as the Sadistic Smart-Ass told me, and he was too loud. Just as I imagined.

"Get off of me," the red head repeated.

"Whatever, Sasori, hmm," Deidara had a big grin on his face, something that reminded me a bit of Naruto.

The guy named Sasori pushed Deidara off. "Why me? Get on Itachi instead, darn it!"

Oh, god, no.

It was someone else named Itachi. Who just happened to also have a friend named Deidara who looked like a girl and said 'hmm' at the end of his sentences. I took a quick glance at the young adult that was supposedly named Itachi. There he was, his long hair tied back, his beautiful eyes staring at me intently. He had a smirk on his face.

Wait, was he really staring at me?

Of course. He was the one who hung up on me after calling me by my old nickname. He was the one who called me cute when I encountered in at the library.

Speaking of, what the hell was so cute about me anyway? I'm too old to be cute. My fourth grade teacher said that now that you're in fourth grade you're no longer cute. Then again, he never specified how I was cute. It was either little-kid cute, or sort-of-hot cute.

I stood here thinking until I realized that I was the one who was supposed to be serving them. I blushed slightly as I approached the noisy group.

Act like a waiter should act. Say what a waiter should say.

If he asks if I'm Uchiha Sasuke I'll just say that I'm Uchida Sasuke. Ha. That'd work.

"Hi, my name's Sasuke, I'll be your waiter tonight," I said with that waiter-smile. I suck at acting, you should know that. I knew that Itachi's smirk just grew a bit wider. Is that the only way that guy can smile? "Can I start you off with some drinks?"

I just noticed that there were a lot of other people sitting around the table. There was Itachi, Deidara, and the red-head Sasori.

Sitting next to Itachi was a blue haired (I don't think he dyed it that way) tall man with shark-like teeth that he seemed to enjoy displaying.

There was a guy with silver hair that was gelled (Is that a word? I mean hair gel, if you didn't know) back. He smelled like incense. Obviously he was religious.

The guy sitting across from the incense-smelling dude smelled, too. Of money. The obvious smell of the green paper I call dollar. He just looks really weird. All I can say.

Next to guy whose favorite thing probably is money, was a man with green hair (Is that seriously his natural hair color?). And I really think he has a green thumb. He was staring intensely at a plant that was sitting in the corner.

Then there was a scary-looking guy. He had a lot of piercing, and he had spiky hair similar to Naruto. He had the same kind of hard stare as Itachi, whose eyes are still glued onto me.

The only girl in the group was last. She was gothic looking, and she had blue hair too. There was a flower nestled in that hair. She looked a little gothic in my opinion, but…yeah, she's gothic. I have to feel sorry for her. The only girl in the group. Though I bet she fits in perfectly.

Does my older brother really hang out with such weirdoes?

"Okay, your drinks will be coming in a few moments," my cheery waiter self said after they set down many random orders. I think someone ordered a kid's slush. Weird.

I was glad to get away from that group for a while. I was lucky that Kimimaro was serving Orochimaru and Kidoumaru was serving Jiraiya and Ebisu. The rest of the people were being taken care of by the rest of the waiters/waitress.

I got some of the other customers in my small area taken care of. I got the drinks after a short while, which I considered to be too short, and brought it to them, putting back on my waiter happiness. After I set down all of their drinks I asked if what they wanted to order.

More random orders. Did someone just order from the kid's menu? Itachi stayed silent the entire time. Apparently he wasn't going to eat anything. Not a surprise. He never ate much at home, anyway. If he ate, it was if no one was around.

And yet he somehow kept his body so fit. He's really athletic.

I barely stopped myself from ranting again.

He cornered me. He asked all of his friends to go on a head. Then he cornered me. I kept saying to him that I had work to do, but Kimimaro yelled at me that I was already off of my shift. My shift was always short on Mondays.

"Okay, what do you want?" I asked, trying to sound firm. I tried to sound like I didn't want him back. I tried to sound strong. I know that I'm not strong, though. I know that I want him back.

I just acted because of my pride.

I saw his eyes narrow slightly. I envied his eyes. Even though they were supposed to belong to a female, he had them instead. And he deserved them. He forces you to look into his eyes. And you do. Just because.

When he still didn't answer my question, "Why did you hang up on me? Why did you call me cute in the library?" I asked, leaning against the wall. Technically, he cornered me, so I was stuck against the wall. I just leaned to make myself look better. I didn't want to look weak. No one does.

"I hung up on you because you didn't. You called the wrong number, didn't you?" He said. I looked down. I didn't want him to see me blush. But, like I said, he forces you to look into his eyes. Itachi grabbed my chin and pulled my face up, forcing me to look into his eyes. He hasn't changed. He gets what he wants because he wants it. That doesn't make sense at all, but it's true.

But now, he can see my cheeks reddening of embarrassment. That's the last thing that I want him to see. I wanted to push him off, but my hands were too numb to do anything. I just let him do whatever he wants to me.

"And I called you cute in the library because it was true."

He has good answers. Answers that don't give me any answers. That's what he wants. And he gets what he wants because he wants it. Wow. This guy has it lucky. Like Naruto.

"I still don't get it. Why come back to see Kakashi and not me?" I asked, praying that I won't start to cry. I always cry when it comes to my brother. It's hard to admit, but it's true. And the truth hurts. I've always felt different when he's around. Different then what I was feeling when he wasn't around.

He just busted my happy bubble today.

"What? You jealous?"

"I'm your little brother!"

"Hn. Kakashi's an old friend."

"What happened to family first?"

"What happened to 'I hate you'?"

"I…" It was bit my lip. He really did leave because I got an F on my test? Or is it just because I told him that I hated him? I think it's the second one. Maybe both. I stayed silent. I wanted to tell him that I'm sorry, and that I meant to apologize to him in the morning, but my mouth went all dry. I needed a drink of either ice cold water or hot tea.

"Tell me, do you really want me back?" His voice was taunting. Mocking. He was toying with me again. I could feel his breath against my ear. People were staring at us as they passed by, but he didn't care obviously. I would've cared, but right now wasn't the time.

Itachi moved his hand to my cheek. His hand was cold, yet somewhat gentle. Not what I expected. Maybe it was just gentle because it was soft and he has perfect skin. Whatever.

I opened my mouth and closed it again. I wanted to say yes. I needed to say yes. "Aniki…I, um…" I really needed something to rant about right now. I needed to keep him here – to stall, without answering. Usually I start ranting without thinking twice, but this situation made ranting hard.

"Answer me," He whispered. His voice tickled me a little, and I bit my lip harder. My hands were in tight fists. Breathing became a little hard for me all of a sudden. He was so close to me. Too close for comfort. There were more people staring at us.

I stayed silent because my mouth was too dry to say anything else. I was too scared. I didn't know if he wanted to come back or not. I didn't want to say anything that would disappoint him. So I just stayed silent. I thought that he was going to attack me, so I closed my eyes bracing myself for whatever was going to come.

I felt his cold breath leave my ear. Is he going away? His hand lifted my chin again. Apparently not. He was close again, I could feel it. I lifted my hands, and tried to push him away.

In the end, I gave up, because he was kissing me. I was surprised. I wanted to really push him off, to whack him in the head and scream, "That's wrong!". My eyes stayed shut.

This wasn't my first kiss. Like I said, he stole my first kiss the day before my parents died. Sure, I kissed a few girls now and then, but that's it. Once, by accident with Naruto, too. But I wouldn't say that that would count.

For some reason this felt a little different. I was still surprised that my older brother was making out with me. I was surprised that I let him.

He wasn't rough at all, actually. Since I didn't react at all, he used his thumb to lower my jaw, and granted himself entrance. Then I reacted. Not in a bad way, though. I just went along with it, wrapping my arms around his neck with a little difficulty. I need to get used to the fact that he was a little taller than I imagined. When I started getting really into it, he pulled away. I was a little disappointed, yet a little relieved. I gasped for air for a while, resting my head against his chest.

"What did you do that for?" I asked once I caught my breath.

"What? Did you enjoy it?"

"Answer my question, first."

"…"

I realized that we were out in a public restaurant and people were bound to stare. My face turned completely red. I didn't want anyone to see so I buried my face in his chest as if I was a scared little kid. And I'll admit it. I am a scared little kid.

"Will you stay now?"

"No."

"Why?"

"I've got to go."

"Huh?"

And he was gone.

Smart-Ass said that he still wanted to keep sending letters to me. Yeah, yeah, whatever you say. At least I get to rant about what happened today.

I was about to turn on my computer and e-mail him about it, but my computer hated me today so I wrote to him instead.

To the Sadistic Smart-Ass

I'm having a bad day. You must be asking why. I had a good day yesterday. And Naruto did act normal today. But it's got nothing to do with that.

I met him. My older brother.

I asked him why he hung up on me. He just said something, I don't remember, but it didn't give me any answers. Then I asked him why he called me cute. His answer was, 'Because it's true'. Geez.

But he kissed me. No more comments on that one. He left after that, though.

I've got nothing more to say, mainly because I'm still dumbstruck. Totally dumbstruck. Sorry. Reply, tell me something that'll comfort me, maybe I'll feel better. That's optional, of course.

From, Anonymous

P.S.: My brother knows Deidara. What's up with that?

It was short, but the topic was awkward. Very awkward.

A few days later, we started Driver's Ed…Ugh. Just a side note. Back to reality, even though driving is a part of reality. Ugh.

And the Smart-Ass wrote me back.

To – Whomever it concerns.

That's hilarious.

Seriously. I'm not putting exclamation points because that just makes me sound dorky.

He doesn't want to give you answers. Give him a reason to. And like I said, your brother's got problems. Since you said, 'No more comments on that one' I think you either hated the kiss, or you enjoyed it completely. Yeah, I think you enjoyed it, since your brother seems to be one of your favorite topics.

Hmm. If it's optional, then maybe I won't do it. I've really got nothing to say, either. It's just hilarious. You get yourself into weird situations that cause your brother to kiss you. It's just priceless. Don't do anything reckless again, okay?

Don't get yourself into trouble.

And about Deidara, everyone on campus knows that guy. The guy that nearly blew up the entire art section of campus when the teacher asked him what he thought art was.

Art is a bang!

Explosives are his specialty. He goes to art class instead of military school.

From, Anonymous

I smiled at the last part. I think he saved that last part to make me smile, I don't know. But I was happy that I could tell Smart-Ass this, too. And that he didn't totally laugh at me, even though he thought it was hilarious.

Still, I don't think I'll see my brother again for a while.

Okay, thank you all for your reviews and support! Review again now, please! This chapter isn't so long after all. Oh well. Dramatic chapter. Bringing in the ItaSasu a little.

Most of the ItaSasu will be in the last chapter. There might be fifteen, I don't know. Fifteen, fourteen, whatever. Thanks for reading and enjoy next chapter!