*hides in corner*

I'M SO SORRY FOR HOW LONG IT TOOK FOR ME TO UPDATE.

At least I'm not one of those people who takes 6 months to update though, right? *sheepish grin*

Well, my computer broke (AGAIN) and it's out getting fixed. I FUCKING HATE THAT PIECE OF SHIT ASDKHJGLHSFJ

So I had to type this up on my phone and stuff. Yay. /fuck/ and now I'm on my parent's computer doing "schoolwork". Yeah. Schoolwork.

Ooooh I have to thank my darling uke for helping me plan out the next four chapters c: I will be sure to thank your bum later. Less than three, bb.

I apologize for the shortness of this chapter, but ladfsnjk YOU TRY TYPING OVER A THOUSAND WORDS ON A TINY LITTLE PHONE KEYBOARD AND SEE HOW YOU LIKE IT ;-; my thumbs...

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"Hey, Sasuke, would you mind unloading the dishwasher for me?"

The raven glanced up from his manga to pout at his mother.

"Isn't it Itachi's turn?" He whined. Mikoto turned her most bone-chilling glare towards him.

"Sasuke, get over here. Now."

The young raven flinched a little under the glare he was receiving. Damn, that woman could be scary. He quickly dog-eared the page he was on in his manga, shut the book, and placed it on the table before getting up and making his way to the kitchen. He sighed dejectedly as he rolled up the sleeves of his black hoodie in order to commence this soul-sucking chore.

Sasuke began with the top shelf of the dishwasher, and opened the cabinet that the cups belonged in. He grabbed a random glass and reached up to put it in its designated place. He was a little bit short for this task, seeing as the cup belonged at the very top of the cabinet, so he was forced to stand on his tippy-toes and stretch his arm the farthest it would go in order to set it down.

Mikoto happened to glance up from the sink and over at her son at the exact moment Sasuke's injured wrist was suspended in mid-air. Her eyes widened, and she quickly closed the short distance between the two of them.

"Sasuke," the lady raven began while grabbing for his wrist. "What...what are these?" Her voice was shaky. There was no way her baby could have done this to himself...right?

Sasuke gulped. He felt so stupid for exposing his wrist like that! He completely forgot they were still there since they stopped hurting and his normal scratches would be healed by now.

"It's nothing, Kaa-san," he said as he tried to pry his wrist away from his mother. What was it with his family and their iron grips?!

"Sasuke," Mikoto sighed. Her eyebrows furrowed together as she brought his wrist closer to her face. She could see a couple of faint white scars on his arm alongside the recent-looking wounds. Just how long had this been going on? "Baby, how long have you been hurting yourself?"

Sasuke finally yanked his wrist back with as much force as his small frame could muster.

"That's none of your business!" He snapped. Truth be told, he wasn't exactly sure why he was getting so angry with his mother, but nobody was supposed to know about this! It was bad enough Itachi had already found out- now his mother, too? "It's not a big deal! Just leave me alone!" He cried as he stomped his way out of the kitchen and towards the stairs.

"Sasuke!" The lady raven shouted after him, but the boy was long gone.

Mikoto didn't know how to deal with this. Her son was self-harming? She didn't know much on the subject- she only heard about it from Kakashi when he mentioned that it was common in pre-teens and teenagers- but she knew that it could be a symptom of depression. But what could Sasuke possibly be depressed about? She slumped over the counter with her face in her hands.

God, I really am a fucking terrible mother. She thought to herself miserably as she wiped away the tears she could feel welling up. She'd tried her best to always put her boys first and make sure they were happy, but what did that get her? One son who was sexually abused for years without her knowing and another who was sad enough to physically hurt himself.

I really have failed as a mother.

Sasuke fell back on his bed with a huge sigh. He had no idea what his mother was going to do now that she knew about his self-harm, but he really hoped it wouldn't be anything too drastic. After all, it's not like he was really cutting himself, so it wasn't that serious, right? At least, that's what he told himself.

He'd actually tried cutting a couple of times, but they left scars behind and he didn't really like having those. It just made him remember how sad he was when those certain cuts were made and he'd rather not be reminded of that. So, he stuck to scratching himself. Those marks faded quickly so he wouldn't have constant reminders of unhappy times marring up the pale skin of his wrist. But of course he just had to be stupid and scratch himself to the point of leaving really noticeable marks last time! He groaned and draped an arm over his eyes.

Well, knowing his mother, she'd probably completely freak out.

"Itachi, open up!"

There was the sound of shuffling behind the door, and soon it was opened partially to allow Itachi to regard his visitor. His eyes widened at the sight he was met with and he swung the door open the rest of the way.

"Mother, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" He asked as he moved aside to let her into his room. She trudged in and sat down on Itachi's bed. She wiped away at her eyes with the back of her hand and sighed deeply.

"Am I a terrible mother?" She whispered with a sad smile.

Itachi's eyebrows furrowed and he closed the door softly before joining his mother on his bed.

"Why are you asking me this, Kaa-san?"

Mikoto sighed.

"Well...I'm going to tell you because I don't really know what to do about this. I saw Sasuke's wrist today, and..." Her voice gave out, and fresh tears began falling down her cheeks before she had time to stop them. She soon wiped them away, and tried her best to smile at Itachi. "I'm sorry you have to see me like this," she whispered.

Itachi frowned. He couldn't bear to see his mother upset, and he knew exactly why she was upset, too.

"You saw Sasuke's scratches?"

Mikoto's eyebrows shot up, and she threw a questioning look towards Itachi. "You know about them?"

Itachi sighed and nodded his head. "Yes, I found out about them recently."

"And you didn't tell me?!" She exclaimed. Itachi winced.

Great job, Itachi.

"I'm sorry mother, but I didn't know what to do. I have been checking his wrists daily ever since I found out, though."

Mikoto's face softened slightly.

"Well, I suppose that's good but...how long has this been going on for?"

"He told me he started around the time he turned ten."

"Ten?!"

Itachi nodded, and Mikoto's face contorted with sadness. Her baby had been doing it for an entire year?

"What are you going to do about it?" Itachi asked. Mikoto shrugged.

"I suppose I could try to get him into therapy...maybe with someone who specializes in things like this?"

Itachi nodded. "I suppose that's our best bet."

Mikoto nodded in return, and soon fished her cellphone out of the front pocket of her jeans.

"I guess I'll see if Kakashi can recommend anyone..."

"Otouto, come out of your room."

"No!"

Itachi sighed.

"Sasuke, come out."

"No!"

"Sasuke..."

"I said no, asshole!"

Itachi could feel a vein pulsing in his temple. His brother really had no manners whatsoever.

"I'll just pick your lock again."

There was no response from the other side of the door. Itachi smirked to himself.

"Or I could convince mother to buy you a new doorknob without a lock."

There was shuffling coming from the other side of the door, then the sound of the door being unlocked. Itachi pushed it open and was greeted by the sight of his pouting Otouto.

"Bastard."

"Hush," Itachi said as he poked Sasuke's forehead. The younger raven yelped and clutched at his injury, then began glare-pouting at his older brother. He's so cute when he does that... Itachi's eyes widened for a moment in realization of what he just thought and he quickly shook his head to dispel such things. "Kaa-san and I want to talk to you."

Sasuke's hands dropped to his side, but his glare hardened. "I don't want to talk to either of you."

"Well, you're going to. Now, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way."

Sasuke seemed to be thinking through his options for a moment until his shoulders slumped forward in defeat. His older brother would always win.

"Fine," he muttered under his breath. Itachi smirked in victory and motioned for his little brother to follow him down the stairs. Once they arrived in the living room, the two boys sat down on the couch opposite the love-seat their mother was sitting on. She was biting at her thumbnail almost aggressively as her eyes shot between the two of them.

"So," Sasuke began with a disinterested look on his face. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

Mikoto sighed and lowered her thumbnail away from her mouth.

"Well, your brother and I are both worried about you, and...we think it might be good for you to start therapy."

Sasuke's eyes widened.

"No fucking way!" He shouted. He didn't need therapy! He was perfectly fine without it! "If it's the scratches you're worried about, then forget about them- it won't happen again!" He was on the verge of angry tears, but he refused to let them fall. He didn't want to talk to anyone about his problems. There was a reason they were his.

"Sasuke," Mikoto began softly, choosing to ignore his cursing. "It's not just about that. I've been thinking that...that maybe all of us should be in therapy. It's been good for Itachi." She said, motioning towards her eldest. Itachi's eyes widened. Mikoto hadn't mentioned the part about considering getting herself into therapy to him and needless to say, he was quite surprised.

Sasuke scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I refuse."

"Sasuke, please," she pleaded. "It will be good for all of us."

"Then you can go! I'm perfectly fine!"

"Sasuke, you obviously aren't fine."

"If it's about the fucking scratches, I already said you could forget about them!" Sasuke nearly yelled. Mikoto flinched back and once again began biting at her nail.

"Otouto, calm down."

Sasuke was breathing heavily and his face was becoming red with anger and frustration. Itachi scooted closer to his baby brother and brought the smaller boy close to his chest. He began softly petting the boy's hair and soon Sasuke's breathing began slowing down.

"Will you please just go for a couple of sessions? For me?"

Sasuke's eyes widened. There was no fucking way his brother was using that to get him to go! He knew his little brother could never refuse him...

"Fine," he mumbled. Itachi's face softened, and a small smile graced his lips.

"Thank you, Sasuke."

The smaller raven just grumbled and buried his face in the front of Itachi's shirt. Mikoto mouthed a silent 'thank you' to Itachi, and he nodded in return.

Now, how would Sasuke react when he learned his first session was tomorrow?

Again, I'm sorry about how short this was, but I really just needed to use this chapter to set up stuffs. Okay?

Please review and favorite and follow c: