To Be Loved And Cherished

Chapter 7

Itachi sat beside Sasuke, his mind wondering over how he was going to keep Naruto safe. He was sure that once Arashi discovered that Naruto was still alive, he would come back and finish the job. Itachi couldn't let that happen, he had to find a way to toss the child abuser in jail. No one should get by with what they had done to Naruto. No child should ever have had to face what Naruto had gone through, and to make matters worse he had been left permanently disabled. Itachi was sure that Naruto would likely suffer even more from the scars that he carried. Would Itachi be able to convince Sasuke to drop whatever vendetta that he seemed to have against Naruto? Naruto was going to need a lot of help in the coming days, and he wasn't going to allow Sasuke to continue whatever it was that Sasuke had against Naruto.

Itachi heaved a sigh, and lowered his head into his hands, he was exhausted. He had been sitting here for the last several hours, waiting to see if Sasuke would wake up and still be Sasuke or if he would be forever changed because of what he had been through, and then finding out that Naruto had been blinded by his ordeal and it made Itachi wonder how he would get through the coming days. One thing was certain that Itachi would not allow Naruto to placed in a different home, he would do whatever he had to make sure that Naruto was placed with him.

Looking up, Itachi found Sasuke staring at him, a frown on his face.

"How are you feeling?" Itachi asked, knowing that Sasuke probably wouldn't be able to respond to him, his speech seemed to have taken a huge hit with the brain damage. Itachi only hoped that with time, Sasuke could learn how to talk and move on his own again. Right now though it looked like Sasuke wouldn't be able to do much. Sasuke blinked at Itachi, before turning his head towards the unconscious Naruto, whose eyes were wrapped with bandages and had a tube inserted in his mouth that was helping him breathe.

"He's been going through hell." Itachi said noticing where Sasuke was looking. "Apparently his father is a monster, and he never once said anything, likely fearing for his life. After this, we're going to try and make things better for him. He's going to need to know that not everyone is out to hurt him." Sasuke heaved a heavy sigh, and closed his eyes. It hurt Itachi's heart to see his little brother in this condition, hated knowing that Sasuke might never be the same again because someone thought it was a good idea to teach Sasuke how it felt to be bullied.

Itachi watched as Sasuke fell asleep, hoping that Sasuke would be able to catch up on his sleep, and soon return to the land of normal. He hoped that Sasuke could somehow beat the doctor's diagnosis about the brain damage. Itachi didn't know what he would do if Sasuke was never the same again. He loved Sasuke more than life, he didn't want to see this happen to him.

Turning his head, Itachi found his eyes raking over the unconscious form of Naruto. It was pretty clear that Naruto wouldn't be leaving the hospital anytime soon, both he and Sasuke were in for a long recovery. Itachi wasn't sure that either of them would be perfectly recovered. Itachi sighed, he hoped that he would be able to help the both of them, but if it came down to it, he would have to choose his brother over Naruto. It made Itachi's heart hurt to think about Naruto going to a home that would only hurt him further. Itachi hoped that it wouldn't have to come to that, because he wanted to be able to care for both the boys. However, considering the severity of Naruto's injuries, Itachi might not be able to do anything for him.

"I will find the person that done this to you." Itachi said softly. "If I can't do anything else for you, I will do that." Sighing, Itachi rubbed at his forehead, he could feel a stress headache coming on. He wondered how people survived caring for a loved one on a daily basis. The stress must have been hard to deal with, there was no doubt that Itachi would give up his career for his little brother, he just hoped that it wouldn't come down to that.

"Looks like I have some serious decisions to make." Itachi murmured. "I just hope that I can make the right ones for both of you guys. Because you both deserve the best out of life." Itachi sighed and leaned forward and rested his head on Sasuke's bed, he would only rest for a minute. He was so tired but he wanted to make sure that nothing happened to either teen, but he wouldn't do them any good without some rest first.

An hour later, Itachi was jolted awake by the sound of blaring alarms. Sitting up, Itachi stared in horror at the monitor that once had showed a steady heart beat but now showed a long flat line. The sound of rushing feet, and hands shoving him away from his little brother's bed didn't do anything to distill the shock that was setting in, as he watched the doctors surround Sasuke's bed. Naruto, he could understand flat lining since he was so badly injured, but not Sasuke. Sasuke had been doing okay, there was no reason for him to flat line. Unless, Itachi glanced at his watch and grimaced at time, someone had to have slipped in while Itachi was sleeping. Because two hours ago Sasuke hadn't been close to flat lining, he had been conscious and doing okay.

"Is he going to be okay?" Itachi asked, watching as the doctors placed a defibrillator on Sasuke's chest, his little brother's body jumping as electricity was shot through his body.

"We're going to do our best to save him." Tsunade, the doctor in charge of both Naruto's and Sasuke's case said. Itachi watched in terror as Sasuke's body continued to arch on the bed, but the line remained flat on the monitor.

Finally after several minutes of CPR, Tsunade called everyone to a halt and glanced at the clock on the wall. She looked over at the shocked Itachi, sympathy in her eyes as she called.

"Time of Death 9:00 PM." She said softly as she walked over and squeezed Itachi's shoulder. "I'm sorry, I couldn't save him. Take the next few minutes to say goodbye to him." Itachi nodded numbly, still not believing the scene that had just played out in front of him. How the hell had Sasuke been okay one minute and the next he was dead? Did someone do something to Sasuke while Itachi was sleeping?

"I'm sorry little brother." Itachi said, going over and standing next to Sasuke's bed. His little brother looked peaceful, more so than he had in the last few weeks. "I completely failed you, your death is on my hands because I had to sleep. I could have protected you if I didn't need to sleep. Please don't do this to me." Itachi pleaded. "I don't want to be alone! I need you, Sasuke please come back don't leave me like this!" Tears poured down Itachi's face and dropped down onto Sasuke's face, leaving a wet streak trailing down Sasuke's cheek.

"Why did this happen? Why did you leave? Don't you know how much I need you!" Itachi said, "how am I supposed to go on without you?"

"He's probably better off." Tsunade said from the door way. "The test results showed that he was severely brain damaged. He never would have been the same. You would have spent the rest of your life taking care of him, and he would have ended up in a home if something had happened to you. It wouldn't have been fair to him to ask him to live like that. I know you are hurting now, but think about Sasuke, he's back with your family again."

"I don't want him with our family." Itachi sobbed, his heart beyond broken. "I want him here with me."

"He can't be here with you anymore." Tsunade said coming over and gently running her hand over Itachi's back. "He's in a much better place now."

"There's no place that doesn't have us together that's better." Itachi said, wondering how this nightmare had even begun. How would life ever be the same without his little brother?

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