A/N: UPDATE GALORE!

"Aniki," Sasuke started as he poked at the store-bought bentou with his disposable chopsticks, breaking their usual silence.

This was the norm in the Uchiha household after his parents passed away. Store-bought bentous every night for dinner, with or without his workaholic brother who sometimes didn't even bother coming home.

When he did bother coming home early enough to eat with Sasuke, he would bring take-out or pre-made meals home, and they'd sit together at the dining table and finish their food in complete silence.

So when Sasuke broke the usual silence, his brother couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at it.

"What is it, otouto."

"When will you be free?" Sasuke looked up at his brother. He could already see the rejection in his eyes. But he continued on. "My friend...my friend and her brother invited us over for dinner."

He looked back down at his food and took a bite of the tempura before looking back up. He saw that Itachi was actually thinking it over.

"Your friend," he started. "Is it the one you've been hanging out with a lot lately? And staying over for dinner?"

Sasuke nodded as he swallowed his food.

"Have you been polite to them? Thanked them for the food each time?"

Sasuke nodded twice, though he inwardly rolled his eyes. He wasn't a little kid anymore.

"How rude."

Sasuke looked at his brother, confused.

"How rude of us. They have invited you to their table numerous times but we have yet to return the favor. And now, they have invited me, too."

Sasuke stayed silent, waiting for his brother's answer.

"Very well. I will see to it that I leave early on Friday. Please let them know and please tell them my thanks. For the invitation and for taking care of my otouto when I have not been able to."

"Hn," was Sasuke's answer though inwardly he was smiling.

For some reason, he was actually excited for Sakura and her brother-in-law to meet his brother and for his brother to meet them and little Mari.

Sasuke had always looked up to Itachi ever since he was small, even when he was pretty much abandoned and work took his place in Itachi's schedule. But it was for the both of them. He was doing it because he cared about Sasuke, not because he didn't want to see his face anymore.

The two Uchiha brothers were not the loudest nor the most expressive, but they still understood each other very well, despite the seeming distance between the two as Itachi was always at work and Sasuke was busy with school and was now occupied with Sakura and being a part of her life.

They'll never be sappy towards each other but they'll also never be cold towards each other. If others asked if they were close or not, Sasuke would respond saying, "Neither." Though it did sound distant, it was the truth. They never talked about their daily lives, but they still knew what was going on in them. Sasuke knew that Itachi was busy with his work as a high level executive in their family's company and Itachi knew that Sasuke was now well acquainted with another family.

And now, Sasuke was going to introduce him to them.

Itachi was curious as to who they were. Sasuke never talked about them in detail, only bits here and there, but whenever he did, Itachi, being his older brother, could see the changes in his demeanor. Whenever he talked about his friend, he seemed calmer and more at peace than he usually was.

Sasuke was usually cold and withdrawn. And that was Itachi's fault. He had thrown himself into the family business right after their parents passed away. It was his way of coping for their loss, but at the same time he had deprived Sasuke of his way to cope. He was so young at the time. He barely knew what had happened.

Sasuke never had the chance to sit down and truly accept what had happened. Sure, he knew that their parents had passed away in a car accident and that they were never coming back, but he didn't know what it meant to really mourn for their death.

He didn't know how to cry for them.

Itachi, himself, hasn't cried yet, either. But he didn't let himself. He couldn't. He had to be strong enough for Sasuke for when he realized it. Until then, Itachi holds himself back and drowns himself in his work, hardly coming home and hardly seeing his little brother's face.

When they were younger, before their parents' passing, Sasuke would always follow Itachi like a little duckling.

Itachi couldn't stop the small smile from forming from the memory.

Little Sasu-chan, as their mother liked to call him, loved to hang out with his older brother despite the age difference of five years. Most siblings that far apart would deem it hard to get close to their siblings. But no, not for the two of them. Itachi remembered that their mother would always comment on how Sasuke liked him more than her.

It would bring fake, exaggerated tears to her eyes, and that, in turn, would make Itachi roll his eyes.

Then their father would only look at them without much expression. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the lack of emotion definitely ran in the family. That was not to say that they were all emotionless people, it was just that it was harder for them to show it. Their father was raised that way and so were they, something that they'd probably pass down to their own children when the time came.

Children.

Itachi knew that it was inevitable for him to have kids. If not to continue the family name then to give Sasuke some family members. A sister-in-law with a nephew and maybe a niece.

Right now, it was just the two of them that were left of their branch of the Uchiha family tree. Just him and Sasuke. Their cousins Obito and Shisui had moved away a long time ago with their uncle, Madara.

Not having much of an appetite, not that he usually really had one, he pushed his plastic tray of food away as he looked up at Sasuke. He had heard from Sasuke that his friend was in a similar situation as theirs but also more dire at the same time. Itachi never pressed for details, though curious, as it wasn't his place to ask about intimate details about someone he had yet to meet.

This friend of Sasuke's was a girl and just maybe, it could turn into something more. Maybe they will help each other relieve each others' pains. Maybe she was the sign that Sasuke's turn to cry was nearing. And then soon it'd be Itachi's.

Though it might sound selfish of him, he just couldn't wait for the day to let everything out. He'd been waiting for so long for Sasuke's sake and now it was tiring him out. It added to the daily stress of his job. The lingering effect of built up negative emotions hovered over his head.

There was not a day where he did not think about it. He was slowly getting impatient.

So now, when he heard about the invite to dinner with Sasuke's friend and her family, he almost jumped at the chance.

His dormant heart started beating just a bit faster.

It was almost his turn.

A/N: Sigh. Why the hell am I making everyone cry? Maybe it's saying something about me. Maybe I'm depressed and I just don't know it. Maybe I'm suppressing something in my mind *shrugs*.

Let know what you think! About the chapter! Not about my twisted mind...but you can comment on that too if you want. Can't stop you.

Thanks for reading and please review!

Updated – 12/16/2013

EDIT – I just fixed up a few grammatical errors that I never noticed before and added a few words here and there for a smoother read.

EDITED – 9/6/2014 (Oops...took me so long to go back over and fix all the grammatical mistakes...my bad...XD)