To Be Loved And Cherished
Chapter 10
AN- It's with a heavy heart that I must tell you that this is the last chapter of this story to be posted on fanfiction. If you want to continue reading you can find it on wattpad. The link to the story will be in my profile.
When Itachi noticed Sasuke's eyes were open he turned to his brother, offering him a small smile. He wondered if everything Tsunade had said about his brain damage was true. Would Sasuke be able to learn how to speak again? Just how changed would his life be? And was Tsunade right when she said that it would be too much for Itachi to handle by taking on two disabled teens? Itachi was determined that he was going to take care of both of them. No way in hell would he give his brother up to a nursing home, not while there was still breath in his body, Naruto on the other hand deserved to know that there was kindness in the world, that not everyone was out to hurt him. Although if it came down to it, Itachi would have to choose his little brother, after he had made no promises to Naruto, but that didn't mean that Itachi wouldn't try to care for both of them.
"Hey little brother." Itachi said softly, at the sound of his voice, Sasuke's head turned in Itachi's direction and he blinked once.
"He seems to remember your voice." Tsunade said from the doorway, having watched the episode between Sasuke and Itachi. "That's good."
"What does that mean for him?" Itachi asked.
"Not much. I'm afraid." Tsunade said, "his memory may not have been as affected as much as other areas. But he is still going to need a lot of help in the coming days."
"I'll do whatever I can for him." Itachi said determined, his brother was going to get the best possible care there was.
"You know." Deidara said. "I wonder if Sasuke's attack was because he caught Madara in the act of something that he shouldn't have been doing." Itachi frowned. If that was the case there wasn't any way that Sasuke could tell them.
"If that's the case, Madara had better run. Because I will track down into the deepest parts of hell to make him pay for what was done to Sasuke." Itachi said, the more he was hearing the less he liked his uncle. How could so called family damage someone so much that the person wasn't even really a person anymore.
"He'll get caught." Deidara said. "Him and Arashi, they can't run forever. They will make a mistake."
"Forget arresting Madara, you should just put a bullet in his brain and put an end to him. That way he won't ever be able to come after Sasuke or Naruto again." Itachi said.
"But at the same time it's depriving him of the right to a fair trial." Deidara said. "And that's against the law."
"What about the kids right to live?" Itachi asked. "Is he not depriving them of that? No one has the right to murder someone else."
"Of course they have the right to live, and I agree that no one has that right, but Madara and Arashi seem to careless about that. Of course, if they try to avoid apprehension then there isn't any reason that we can't put a bullet in them." Deidara said and Itachi chuckled. He wouldn't put it past Deidara to do just that, he wouldn't let a child murdering physchopath get away.
"Maybe you should go home and get some rest." Deidara suggested, finally taking note of the dark circles underneath Itachi's eyes. "You look like you haven't slept in a while."
"I feel like I haven't gotten a decent sleep since Sasuke was first brought in." Itachi said. "Every time I try to sleep I have nightmares of Sasuke leaving me."
"That's understandable." Deidara said. "After everything that you guys have been through with your parents deaths, its only natural to be scared of losing him as well. But you can't let that stop you from taking care of you. Unless you want to end up in here right beside him."
"Of course, I don't want that. I want to be able to protect both boys. I'm just afraid to close my eyes." Itachi murmured.
"Tsunade can give you something for that. A light sedative or something, that way you wouldn't be too drugged up if someone decided to break in or something." Deidara said. "I know with your past substance abuse that you don't want anything that will get you addicted to it."
"You bet your ass I don't. My addiction got my parents killed. I don't want it to be the reason I lose my brother too." Itachi said. "I can't let that happen again." Itachi swallowed hard, not liking the memory of his parents trying to get to the hospital after he had overdosed. It hadn't only been his parents who'd died that night, Itachi had come so close that it still scared him to think about it. After that Itachi had become determined to get clean so that he could take care of Sasuke. Itachi didn't want to die and leave his little brother alone, so while Itachi was in rehab trying to get sober, Sasuke had been living with Madara. Which could have been when Sasuke had witnessed something that he wasn't supposed too. Itachi only hoped that they could fine Madara and Arashi quickly, and that fate hadn't already dealt with them.
Scowling, Itachi stared down at the floor. Was this situation his fault? Was Sasuke in this position because of something that Itachi had done when he'd been addicted to drugs? Was this Madara's way of somehow getting revenge on him, his way of telling Itachi that he thought Itachi was a shitty person?
"Whatever you are thinking. Don't." Deidara said. "This isn't your fault and neither of you deserve to be dealing with it."
"Do you think Madara is doing this because of the drugs I used?" Itachi asked.
"You're Uncle is doing this because he's insane." Deidara said. "Your past has nothing to do with it." Itachi sighed, he supposed that Deidara was right.
"I don't think that's going to be a good idea to take the boys back to the Uchiha Mansion." Itachi said. "that will probably be one of the first places that Madara would go to find them."
"I know a friend in Suna that will likely let you stay with them." Deidara said. "The further you are away from Konoha, the better off that you will be."
"Unless that's where Madara and Arashi decided to go." Itachi said. "Then I'll be screwed."
"I doubt that they would go somewhere with as much security as Suna has." Deidara said. "Their police forces makes the Konoha police force look like sissies." Itachi raised his eyes brows at Deidara's description. The blonde man shrugged when he caught Itachi's stare.
"I'm saying the police force is a stripper's wet dream." Deidara muttered. "All well muscled and shit. Not that I particularly care about how well built they are. I just know that it would someone pretty damn strong to get past them. And as far as I know both Arashi and Madara are pretty damn weak."
"How would you know what a stripper's wet dream is?" Itachi asked, a smirk on his face. "Been a stripper have you?"
"I..." Deidara spluttered, his mouth gaping for a moment before slamming shut unable to think of anything to say. Itachi laughed, it was very rare to see his friend so speechless, it was more of a welcome sight than even Deidara could know. Itachi needed that laugh as it has released some of the tension that he was feeling after dealing with this entire situation. He only hoped that with everything on his shoulders, that he could continue to find something to laugh about.
Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoy it. Liz