It didn't look like Itachi's mother was going to get out of the hospital anytime soon, and the Uchiha's father refused to let the kids spend their evenings outside the house. He'd call every fifteen to thirty minutes on the house phone and demand to speak to both Uchiha siblings before hanging up.

The weasel was currently in his room, staring up at his ceiling in complete silence. He missed Kisame; it had been over a week since he'd been to the shark's apartment, and he was missing his boyfriend terribly.

The phone rang from outside his room, and he sighed as he rose to his feet, exiting the room.

Sasuke was already there, having picked up the phone. He was listening to his father speak, a frown on his face. "Here's Aniki," he said, quickly handing the phone to Itachi and bolting from the room.

"We're still here. Quit calling," Itachi muttered, slamming the phone down. He turned around and walked back up to his room, knowing full well that soon enough, he'd just have to return to the phone and endure a long, colorful lecture from his father about respect towards your elders.

-n-

"Angel, you look awful."

Itachi turned his head to glare up at the shark. "Your dad?" the shark asked.

"Hn," Itachi confirmed, returning his head to the dark sanctuary of his folded arms.

"I swear, I'm going to kill that guy one day," Kisame muttered, stabbing into the food he'd gotten from the cafeteria's lunch line.

"Hn," Itachi replied, a smile crossing his face.

"I'm going to take a wild guess and say there's not a chance in hell that you can come over tonight?"

"Mom's getting worse," the weasel replied, as if that would answer the question. Fortunately for him, it did.

-n-

Itachi was in the kitchen, making dinner for him and Sasuke. He frowned as the water on the stove finally came to a boil, allowing him to add the ramen. Kisame was right; he really did need to learn how to cook for himself.

As he waited for the noodles to cook, his thoughts turned to annoyance towards his father. The man had yet to call home tonight; if he had known that this was going to happen, he would have just accepted Kisame's offer to spend the night-

The door to the front of their house slammed, making Itachi raise a brow. Their father was home early? That never happened, especially not now that his wife was in the hospital. "Tachi, Sasuke!" a slurred voice called out, followed by the sound of a door shutting.

Itachi's eyes widened. Oh no.

He quickly shut off the burner on the stovetop and ran into the living room, where Sasuke was sitting and watching some sort of reality TV program. Itachi barely took notice of this as he grabbed his younger brother's forearm, yanking him up off the couch. "Aniki, what the-"

"Shh!" Itachi ordered, trying to drag his brother out of the room, only to be met with firm resistance.

"Itachi, are you alright?"

"Where the hell are you two?!" their father called out. Sasuke's eyes nearly popped out of his head at the voice.

Taking advantage of his brother's shock, Itachi dragged him down the hall, up the stairs, and into his room. He shut the door behind him and ran to the closet, jerking open the door. "Stay, and be quiet," he commanded, shoving Sasuke inside and slamming the door before his younger brother could protest.

His actions were not a moment too soon. He barely had time to turn around before the door to his room was thrown open, revealing a flushed Fugaku Uchiha. "Where the hell is your brother?" he demanded, words slurred as he approached the elder Uchiha sibling.

Itachi wrinkled his nose. He could smell the alcohol from here. Not good. "I gave him permission to spend the night at Naruto's."

"WHAT?!"

"Father, he needed-"

SLAP

"How dare you go against my orders!" the elder man bellowed, grabbing the weasel by his forearm. "Your mother's been sick, and you just go behind my back! You little punk," he spat out, slamming Itachi into the wall. The weasel had to bite back a small cry; there would be several lovely bruises on his arm and head in a few days. He sank to the ground, trying to block out his father's rant. "Going around, doing Kami knows what, while your mother dies in the hospital!"

"Mother's…dead?"

"Why else would I be here?!" A sob escaped the man as he turned around, stumbling forward. "My wife…she's gone…leaving me with two worthless sons…" he continued his wailing down the hallway, until he was out of hearing range. He'd probably gone to bed, or passed out on the couch.

Itachi slowly rose from the ground, clutching his head. "Sasuke, come out."

Slowly, his brother turned the doorknob, and stepped into the room. "Aniki?"

"Go to Naruto's house. Tell them I told you mom was getting better, so it was ok for you to spend the night."

"Aniki-"

"I'm going to Kisame's," the Uchiha stated, exiting the room before Sasuke could say anything else.

Half an hour later, he was at the door of an apartment, looking into the eyes of a horrified shark.