Hello. Wrote this with almost no difficulties, which is a first. I'd like to give a shoutout to any of my TinierMe buddies (yeah, I'm a member. Deadsilence1317, remember?) who actually care enough to read this. Love you guys!

Disclaimer: I don't own naruto, carrie underwood (fisher, whatever. Can't get used to the new last name), etc.

The next two weeks following, Sasuke and Kimiko made landmark progress. Sasuke was almost back to normal, and Kimiko was able to sit up by herself again, and was now trying to stand on her own. Everyone was able to relax some now, knowing that it was almost certain that Sasuke and Kimiko would pull through.

Itachi sat there in his bedroom, sharpening his kunai and shuriken since he had nothing better to do. Sasuke and Kimiko weren't allowed out of bed unless it was to go to the bathroom, and he didn't want to bother them, as they were both probably asleep.

He sat there, his sharpening stone in his hand, a kunai in the other. He wasn't actually thinking much, just focusing on the task at hand. He'd already thought over everything at least twice, from the most serious stuff to the silliest little ideas and memos in his head. Was he really that organized?

Sasuke lied in his bed, his mind running a pretty low line of thought. He was half asleep when Itachi found his way into Sasuke's head.

'I wonder how Kimiko felt when she found out her brother died… (1) I know I would never be the same again. Itachi's the best older brother in the world and I don't wanna think about life without him. Kimiko was always so happy when her brother was around… She was still giggly, even at his memorial service. But after that, her eyes always looked… lost… sad even… I think I know why she always tries to stay strong… She does it for us… If we weren't here, she probably wouldn't be alive… I wonder why she cares about us so much… I… really want her to start showing what she's really feeling on the inside, but you never really know what she's feeling, since she's so good at hiding it… I think I'll talk to her a bit more once this whole thing is over…' he thought, his dark gray eyes blankly staring at the ceiling. This thought train let him to one conclusion.

He was damn lucky to have such a good brother.

Just as he was finishing the last few knives, Mikoto came into his room, carrying the cordless phone.

"It's Pein." His mother said, handing him the phone before leaving to check on the two currently ill preteens.

"Hello?" Itachi answered, resting the phone between his shoulder and his ear so he could go back to what he was doing.

"Itachi? What are you up to?" Pein asked, his tone sounding rather mutual.

"I'm just sharpening some kunai and shuriken…" Itachi said, his tone lined with boredom.

"How are Sasuke and Kimiko doing?" Pein questioned, making Itachi roll his dark gray eyes.

"Like I haven't heard that in the last three days… But they're getting better. Sasuke's almost back to normal and Kimiko can sit up by herself now. In fact, she should be able to stand up on her own any day now." Itachi explained, packing up the now extremely sharp knives.

"That's great. Have you heard from anyone besides me? I'm getting the cold shoulder from everyone else…" Pein murmured, a depressed chibi rain cloud most likely forming over his head.

"Yeah actually. Konan, Kisame, and Hidan have been talking to me. What did you do to make them ignore you?" Itachi asked, only partially curious.

"I don't know! Why, have you heard anything?" Pein questioned suspiciously.

"No. I don't know how to help you either, so I guess you're on your own." Itachi said, waiting for Pein's reaction.

"C'mon, man! I don't wanna be alone!" Pein begged, using his whiny voice.

"Look, I won't give you the cold shoulder or anything, but I seriously don't know what to tell you. Just hope that everyone will forgive you eventually." Itachi said, rolling his eyes and smirking evilly just because he knew that Pein couldn't see him do it.

"Alright… Well, I'd better let you go now. Bye." Pein said drearily, hanging up.

Itachi pressed the end call button, feeling the chibi depression cloud pass on to him.

'Everyone's getting faster at hanging up than me…' he thought, the chibi rain cloud soaking him.

"Aniki?" Sasuke asked, suddenly standing just outside Itachi's bedroom.

Itachi suppressed the chibi cloud and quickly looked up at his ill brother.

"Sasuke? What are you doing out of bed? Mom's gonna kill you." Itachi said, his eyes locking with his brother's.

"I know. I was just going to the bathroom and I wanted to tell you something." Sasuke said, stepping inside Itachi's room.

"What is it?" Itachi asked, his eyes still locked with his brother's.

Itachi suddenly felt Sasuke hug him.

"I love you." Sasuke muttered simply.

"Love you too, otouto." Itachi said, wrapping his arms around Sasuke. After several minutes, Sasuke and Itachi let go of each other, and Sasuke left and went to the bathroom.

Itachi smiled to himself.

Kimiko heard Mikoto come into the dark bedroom. Kimiko slowly sat up and yawned.

"Oh, good to see you're getting better at it." Mikoto said, smiling warmly, referring to the fact that Kimiko was getting to be a pro at sitting up in such a way to conserve her energy.

Mikoto gave Kimiko a dose of medicine, made sure to change her bandages, and left. Kimiko decided to listen to some music, which she hadn't done in over 3 weeks.

She slowly reached down on the side of the bed and found the front pocket of her bag, which held some of her basic essentials, which was about all she had.

She pulled it out and turned it on. She put it on shuffle and set it down, waiting for a song to come on.

A little boy, six years old

A little too used to being alone

Another new mom and dad

Another school, another house that will never be home

When people ask him how he likes this place

He looks up and says with a smile upon his face

This is my temporary home, it's not where I belong

Windows and rooms that I'm passing through

This is just a stop on the way to where I'm going

I'm not afraid because I know

This is my temporary home

Young mom, on her own

She needs a little help, got no where to go

She's looking for a job, looking for a way out

'cause a halfway house will never be home

At night she whispers to her baby girl

"someday we'll find our place here in this world"

This is our temporary home, it's not where we belong

Windows and rooms that we're passing through

This is a just a stop on the way to where we're going

I'm not afraid because I know

This is our temporary home

Old man, hospital bed

The room is filled with people he loves

And he whispers

"Don't cry for me, I'll see you all some day."

He looks up and says,

"I can see god's face."

This is my temporary home, it's not where I belong

Windows and rooms that I'm passing through

This was just a stop on the way to where I'm going

I'm not afraid because I know

This was my temporary home

This is our temporary home

Kimiko smirked and shook her head.

'Damn universe knows everything…' She thought.

Any good? Reviews are welcome. You should know how desperate I am for approval by this point.