Itachi could not bring himself to eat, sleep, or care. Sasuke was the last thing he had. The last thing to love and be loved by, the last thing to remind him of his life, his good life……….the one he missed so much. He saw his otouto in everything, seeing children running by outside as he sat in the tavern next to an open hole in the wall used as a window. These children were smiling, happy, and playful; his little brother used to be like that…..but he ruined him. It was his doing that stripped Sasuke of the safety and security he had known all his life. It was his doing that left him cold, hungry, and lonely in a cave in the middle of some god-forsaken forest. And it was his doing, by not being there for him, that had his precious sibling eaten by some wild beast. And for this, he could not forgive himself.

He desired for, yearned for, lusted after death…..surely being tortured by demons or some sort of suffering would be better than knowing that his entire family, all that he cared for, he had bloodily murdered with his hand. Sasuke had been the only reason he went on. Now his hand rested on the shorter blade that was strapped to his side. It was a hidden weapon incase his abilities should fail him and physical force was needed to deal with a target, though this was highly unlikely.

He had it decided in his mind that despite his being a ninja and not one of the 'noble' samurai, he would practice one of their more gory rituals….self-disembowelment. It was a painful, terrible way to go….but he, Uchiha Itachi…..he deserved worse. The black-haired prodigy brought the edge of a glass to his lips, lightly sipping the sake inside. Only two or three times before had he ever taken part in this foolish practice. Anytime before it was because he was tricked or pressured by his teammates to partake in their fun and merrymaking. Now he just wanted something….he wanted anything that would help dull the pain he felt in his heart.

Sadly, despite the empty keg due to a drinking spree, nothing could quell that incredible injury to his soul.

X.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.X

Sasuke awoke to the sounds of pots and pans knocking against each other in the kitchen. His room was void of the boys that he had befriended the day before. After the initial shock of waking up in a new place, he calmed down and looked around. The room was plain yet pleasant. Wooden floors, white walls with wooden borders, the doorway to the balcony was wide open, allowing a warm breeze to caress his pale white skin.

The smell of breakfast was in the air, the unique odor of rice and salty sea goods were a welcome scent. His leg was still bound in the splint, but he was determined to not be stuck in this room all day once more. Pulling himself up, he used the walls to support himself as he awkwardly placed on leg in front of the other. By the time he made it out of the room and somewhat down the hall, he was downright exhausted, but at least he was no longer alone now.

The younger boys were tackling and play wrestling with Maro, all of them against him was surely an unfair fight. But despite having his throat closed off by a rambunctious sibling, the blonde kept his smile and pulled another to the ground.

"Morning Sasuke, what are you doing out of bed hm?" Maro had finally noticed him leaning against the wall.

The older brother stood with a smaller brunette still clinging to his neck and made his way over to the young guest; picking him up with ease. "You are not supposed to be out of bed little one, what do you think you are up to?" He asked with a smile.

"I woke up and no one was around…." He answered shyly, hardly noticing the light reprimand. "I suppose that excuse will suffice, this time" He teased as he leaned back to made his younger kin let go of his grip around his neck that he may devote all of his strength to carrying their new little friend. Taking him to the dining area he sat him down at the table and served him a bowl. Sure Maro was one of the kids, but he also knew how to be a great caretaker, something he definitely did not get from his father.

"Maro, as usual you are watching the boys, make sure nothing happens to them or to our guest is that understood?" She was scrubbing out burnt rice from the bottom of a pot with vigorous force. The lone Uchiha in the room felt a pain come in his chest and behind his eyes, it reminded him of his own mother…..but she was gone now…..

"Yes Mother, don't worry I'll be sure and not let Sasuke hurt himself any farther." His hand ruffled the boys' raven black hair, making it even mussier than before.

Sasuke let out a sigh before smiling a little. Allwell, he would at least get to spend another day with his new friends…though he did miss his Aniki a lot….He ate his breakfast of rice and fish, though the food was new and the smell left much to be desired, it was food, it was warm, and it was actually kind of good…

Later on the boys locked up the small house on the mountainside and, with Sasuke riding on Maro's back, they went down exploring through the paths. Of course they had taken this route many other times in their lives, but they swore that there were the coolest things ever that only they knew about, or something to that effect.

Maro held a long dagger in one hand to cut through the brush and incase there was any trouble, he also held one of his uncles' old bows with several spare arrows in his belt. Sure he was not the best marksmen in the village but he was coming along nicely, he looked up to his uncle and wanted to be just like him….a childhood dream that had carried on throughout his life….something Sasuke would find out about…or at least would have….

The sun bore down on the ruthlessly, although they did consider themselves thankful that there was no signs of rain, because the usual hour-long hike up the hillside would take double or triple that time if you are fighting against the flood of water coming down.

All five boys were covered in dirt, even the baby had smudges on its tiny chubby cheeks by the time the group had gotten through the forest path. They had taken Sasuke to see a cave filled with a lightshow of worthless crystals and skiddish bats. This cave was much better than the one that his older brother had left him in, for starters it was much, much bigger, and not so cold and dark…..

Now they were heading into town to pick up groceries both for Uncle Akira and the mother of all but one of the group. It seemed that they all practically lived together in Akira's home, though the young Uchiha did not dare ask, he was taught manners early in life.

He had been with his mother shopping many, many times in his short lifespan, but these people had different selections and styles, not entirely different from Kohona but different enough all the same. Though his arms and body were tired from clinging onto Maro for the entire day, he settled with resting his head on the older boy's shoulder and watching what kind of foods they picked out, trying to make wild guesses at what would be for dinner.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

Itachi and Orochimaru walked through the dirty streets of Amegakure, the sun be shielded by their full headgear. They were on another mission and had just left the inn where they were being given rooms, complements of Pein himself. The paled-face Akatsuki member looked ahead to the job infront of them, whilst the lonely Uchiha just hung his head, not honestly caring. It would all be over soon enough anyway……

Their unison walking was suddenly broken when a group of brats burst between them in a foot race. Two younger ones squealing and laughing as they carelessly held bags of groceries in their hands while an older one who should really know better followed them, another young one clinging to his back with a baby in a wrap hanging from his chest. Itachi barely noticed as he recovered and kept walking, it was unlike him to not know when someone was coming from behind, especially a group of heavy-footed kids at play. Orochimaru had heard them coming and saw them running by….his trained ninja eyes catching sight of something, or better-yet someone as they had went speeding by..….well….what do we have here……there was no mistake about it…there was another Uchiha in their midsts….