Silent Lucidity
Chapter 2
Itachi stared down at his hands, he really hoped that Sasuke wouldn't take his own life. But considering the fact that neither of his parents were even here waiting to hear about Sasuke's condition told Itachi all that he needed to know. They hated him, for something that wasn't even in his control, and Itachi couldn't help but hate them for it. Sasuke's life was going to be much harder because of them and it only made Itachi hated deeply.
Sighing, Itachi looked up when he heard footsteps coming towards him, he really wanted to know what was going on with his brother. He was tired of waiting, but he supposed the longer that he went without any news the better of he would be. As was often said, no news was good news.
"Sasuke Uchiha?" A blonde-haired doctor asked, and Itachi stood up, and the doctor headed towards him.
"I'm Tsunade, Sasuke's doctor." The woman introduced herself. "And you look pretty young to be Sasuke's parent."
"That's because I'm his brother Itachi." Itachi replied. "Our parents aren't going to be here tonight."
"Why not?" Tsunade asked. "Considering Sasuke's situation, he's going to need his parents."
"Because our parents are angry at him right now." Itachi replied, wondering if he should even tell the doctor that the reason Sasuke was here was because of his father. Something told Itachi that that wouldn't go over very well with the doctor in front of him. Itachi just hoped that he wouldn't end up in this position again because his father decided that it was a good idea to beat the shit out of Sasuke again. Itachi didn't want his brother to end up in foster care because their father couldn't keep his hands to himself. Tsunade shook her head, she'd seen cases like this before where the parents didn't show up with the child. It was usually because the parents were abusive and didn't want to get caught. She seriously hoped that that wasn't the situation with the young Uchiha because Tsunade would have CPS on the phone as quickly as possible.
"I know what you're thinking." Itachi said. "But that's not the case, our father and mother are just busy with work, which is why they had me bring him in. The fact that they aren't here right now, isn't important, I want to know how my brother is doing." Tsunade frowned.
"He's got a serious concussion, and when I done a head scan there were signs of bleeding on his brain. It was big enough to require surgery to repair but not big enough to be life threatening." Tsunade said. "That's the most serious injury that you have to worry about, he's got some minor bruising but it's not anything to be concerned about. I want to know how he ended up in this position."
"He's a teenager." Itachi replied. "He went out riding his bike and crashed his bike. He was unconscious when I found him." Itachi lied, he really hoped that Tsunade wouldn't look deeper into the situation, the last thing Itachi needed was for someone to take Sasuke away to a place where Itachi couldn't keep an eye on him and protect him.
"I don't know if I believe that." Tsunade said. "Because his injuries aren't consistent with that of a bike accident. So why don't you tell me what really happened to him?"
"I know what you're thinking." Itachi said quietly. "But I can't say anything about what really happened, because I don't want Sasuke to end up in a place where I can't keep an eye on him. He's my little brother and I will do everything in my power to keep him safe." Tsunade sighed, she wasn't sure what to think but the kid in front of her was so sincere that she could hear the love that he held for his little brother.
"But if he's being abused, doesn't he deserve for that to come to an end?" Tsunade asked. "Doesn't he deserve to see those that hurt him pay the price for doing that?"
"This doesn't happen all this time." Itachi said. "In fact, it's the only time that I've ever heard about it happening."
"If it happens again, I won't have any choice but to remove him from your home." Tsunade replied. "And I can't guarantee that he'll be placed anywhere near you. So, you better do your job and protect him."
"Of course, I will." Itachi replied. "This wouldn't have happened at all if I'd been home at the time."
"Something tells me that your brother is going to angry over the things that have happened." Tsunade replied. "My grandson is a very angry person and as much as I want to give him his space, I know that eventually he's going to need someone to talk to about whatever is hurting him."
"You're talking about Naruto?" Itachi asked quietly, he'd heard of Tsunade and he knew that Kurama had gotten his volunteer position at the hospital because of her. She nodded.
"That boy deserves the best that life has to offer, instead he's dealing with his own personal hell." Tsunade replied. "I would do anything I could to change that, even if it means that Naruto ended up in foster care."
"Being away from Kurama wouldn't have done him any good." Itachi said. "No matter what's going on in his life, Naruto adores Kurama."
"True enough, but if someone had looked into what had been happening to Naruto sooner, maybe Naruto wouldn't be where he is now." Tsunade said, scowling.
"Damn Minato and Kushina for being too damn busy to realize that something was wrong with Naruto before it came to this. I know you love your brother, but don't you think it would be better for Sasuke to end up somewhere where he is loved? You don't want him to end like Naruto? Angry and bitter. The way Naruto is going right now, he's either going to get himself killed or he's going to end up in prison. I don't want to see that happen to him; he was always a good kid. And I'm sure that you don't want anything to happen to Sasuke."
"I won't let Sasuke end up in that position." Itachi replied. "I don't know what happened to Naruto, but I'll be there for Sasuke, he won't be left alone."
"I hope not." Tsunade replied. "I hope Sasuke doesn't go through the hell that Naruto's been forced to go through. If I can save another kid from being put through hell, I will do whatever it takes, even if it means separating him from the only ones that love him."
"I understand." Itachi said quietly. "Can I see him now?"
"He's likely being moved into recovery." Tsunade replied. "It'll probably be a few minutes to get him settled. I'll have one of my nurses come and get you when he's ready." Itachi nodded and sat back down. He really hoped that Sasuke was going to be able to pull through this, without too much trauma being caused. If Sasuke was traumatized and terrified of their father, there was going to be hell to pay. Sasuke shouldn't have to be afraid for his life in his own home. Itachi was going to make damn sure that Sasuke was going to be okay. He wasn't going to allow Sasuke to end up in the same position as Naruto.
Itachi would do everything in his power to make sure that Sasuke ended up happy, he didn't care what he had to sacrifice himself. He didn't want to see Sasuke go down the same troubled road that Naruto was traveling down.
"I'll keep Sasuke from going down the same road that Naruto is currently on." Itachi said. "I won't have him end up in jail."
"It's not your brother that I'm worried about getting into trouble." Tsunade replied. "Something tells me that your father and your mother need to be locked up, if Sasuke ends up in the ER again, I'll do what I need to do to make that happen."
"Neither of them has ever hurt Sasuke until now." Itachi said. "And my mother certainly didn't have anything to do with it. My father overreacted, not that that makes it right, because it doesn't. But normally, he wouldn't lay a hand on Sasuke either."
"I believe you." Tsunade said quietly. "But something tells me that it's not very hard to make your father overreact, I just want to keep Sasuke from becoming like Naruto. If someone had tried to make Naruto talk about what and whom was hurting him, maybe we wouldn't be where we are with him right now."
"It's not too late to make Naruto talk." Itachi said quietly. "And I doubt it's too late to make the person that hurt him, pay for what they done."
"Naruto won't say anything, he won't even give us a clue about who it is." Tsunade said. "So, I don't hold on to too much hope of him giving up his secrets."
"Is he trying to protect the one that hurt him?" Itachi wondered. "Because that's the only thing staying silent is doing. It's not helping his case in any way."
"I think he's been hurt so bad, that he wants to protect those he loves from knowing about the pain that he went through." Tsunade said. "I've tried telling Minato that maybe Naruto needs some therapy, but he won't have it. He won't have something like that blemish his families name."
"Yet, he'll want Naruto to go around getting in trouble all of the time?" Itachi wondered. "Clearly, he hasn't thought about that very much. Naruto's getting into trouble all the time will earn his family a bad reputation."
"I tried telling that to him, but he's being a stubborn jackass." Tsunade replied. "Which is where Naruto gets it from, I guess."
"Maybe," Itachi said thoughtfully. He hated that Naruto felt like he couldn't tell anyone about what he was going through. If he could trust someone enough, felt like they wouldn't judge him for what he went through, maybe he wouldn't be reacting the way he is right now.
"I'll make Sasuke talk to me." Itachi murmured. "I don't care what I have to do, he's not going to be keeping anything to himself."
"I hope you can make him understand the importance of talking about it, I'm sure he's probably traumatized because it was the last thing, he expected anyone to do." Tsunade said quietly, turning her head when she heard footsteps coming towards them.
"It looks like they have him in a room, you can go and see him now." Tsunade told Itachi. Itachi nodded and turned and followed the nurse down the hall. He wasn't going to forget about the things that he'd discussed with Tsunade, but he wasn't going to be willing to just hand Sasuke over to the foster care system either, where it would give someone else free reign to hurt Sasuke. Itachi was going to protect Sasuke at all costs, even if it meant that Sasuke had to live under the same roof with the one that had hurt him.
Entering Sasuke's room, Itachi walked over to Sasuke's bed. Sasuke lay still with his eyes closed and his head wrapped in a bandage. Itachi grimaced, he knew that Sasuke hadn't been too badly hurt but that didn't mean that he liked seeing his little brother in the hospital. Itachi was going to make sure that his father didn't get the opportunity to put Sasuke here again, or Itachi would ensure that his politician father would end up in jail, regardless of what it done to the man's career. Sasuke deserved to live in a home where he could be free from getting hurt.
"I'm sorry Sasuke, maybe if I had been there, this wouldn't have happened." Itachi murmured, reaching out and touching Sasuke's arm. He hated how pale his little brother was, but he figured that was because of the pain that he was in due to the concussion.
Feeling the touch on his arm, Sasuke opened his eyes and turned his head towards Itachi. Sasuke frowned as he watched Itachi's mouth move, but he heard no sound. What exactly was going on? Why couldn't he hear whatever his brother was trying to say?
Itachi saw the puzzled expression on Sasuke's face as Itachi quietly spoke.
"What's wrong?" Itachi asked, but got no response, leaving Itachi feeling just as confused as Sasuke looked. It appeared that for whatever reason that Sasuke couldn't even hear him, if this was a permeant injury, Itachi was going to kill their father.
"I'll be back." Itachi mouthed. "I'm going to find out what's going on." Sasuke nodded, he wanted to know why he couldn't hear his brother talking. He just hoped that whatever was going on, it wouldn't be permanent, he didn't know how he would be able to survive if he couldn't even hear when his father was coming after him. Because it was clear to Sasuke, now that Fugaku Uchiha knew that Sasuke was indeed a homosexual, he wouldn't leave Sasuke alone. Sasuke doubted this would be the only beating that he got.
Leaving the room, Itachi headed down the hall where he found Tsunade standing with an angry blonde-haired teenager, whose jaw looked like it had been wired shut. Itachi wondered how the kid was still able to express his anger without saying anything. Itachi stopped a few feet away, allowing Tsunade to finish whatever speech she'd been giving Naruto, who threw his hands up in the air and followed the police officers back down the hall a few short minutes later.
"I don't know what's going to happen to that kid." Tsunade said, and Itachi could see how much she was hurting just by looking in her eyes. She clearly cared about what Naruto was going through, and the teen was being too stubborn to tell her what was going on.
"He'll have to find a way to deal with his pain, or he's going to drown." Itachi replied. "and by drown, I mean that he'll likely end up taking his own life."
"I can't let that happen." Tsunade murmured. "I can't let his life end on a tragedy. Are you done visiting your brother already?"
"No. There's a problem with him." Itachi replied. Tsunade frowned at him.
"What's that?" Tsunade asked.
"He can't hear a word that I'm saying, and I'm wondering if that's a permanent side effect or if it's temporary." Itachi replied.
"Damn." Tsunade murmured. "If he hit his head hard enough, chances are that it's likely permanent, but I'll come look him over." Though she doubted she would have good news, if Sasuke hadn't regained his hearing by now chances were that he wasn't going to regain the ability at all. Which meant that Sasuke was going to be living in a world of hell.
Tsunade followed him back down the hall and headed into Sasuke's room. Sasuke was staring blankly up at the ceiling, lost in his own thoughts. Crossing the room, Itachi reached out and gently placed his hand on Sasuke's shoulder, so as not to startle him.
Sasuke turned his head towards Itachi and Tsunade, who had Sasuke's chart in her hand. She frowned, before looking back up at Sasuke, she leaned over and snapped her fingers right at Sasuke's left ear, and when he gave her no response, she repeated the gesture with the other ear, still Sasuke gave no response to her.
"Looks like it's complete hearing loss." Tsunade said quietly. "Sometimes the hearing comes back after some time, but in Sasuke's case and the severity of the head injury, I'm not entirely sure that it will come back at all." Itachi frowned, if Sasuke was now deaf, how would he be able to protect himself from their asshole father? Itachi was going to have to make sure that he either took Sasuke with him when he went places, or that he stayed with Sasuke whenever possible. He wasn't going to allow Sasuke to be hurt any more than he already had been.
"He's never going to be alone again as long as I'm around." Itachi murmured. "I'm going to protect him, no matter what."
"Sadly, that shouldn't be your job, it should be your parents." Tsunade said. "I wish I had better news for you."
"It is what it is, I'll help Sasuke get through this." Itachi said. He didn't care what he had to do; his little brother was going to feel safe in his own home. Tsunade nodded and left a few minutes later. Itachi reached out and grabbed Sasuke's hand, squeezing it tightly, he didn't want Sasuke feeling like he was alone right now.
"I'm sorry, little brother." Itachi murmured when Sasuke turned his tearful gaze towards him. "But I'm not leaving you, you won't have to face any of this alone, I can promise you that!" Sasuke nodded, and closed his eyes, but not before Itachi saw the tears drop from Sasuke's eyes and trail down his face. Itachi's heart broke knowing that his little brother would be dealing with a kind of hell that no one could truly help him with, but that didn't mean that Itachi wouldn't try. Sasuke deserved the best that life had to offer, Itachi was going to make sure that he got it. Sasuke wouldn't end up being a troublemaker out on the streets like Naruto. Naruto was going to end up killing himself or someone else because of the pain that he was dealing with, Itachi wasn't going to let that happen for Sasuke.
"When can he come home?" a harsh voice asked from the doorway, and Itachi turned away from the sleeping Sasuke to find his father and mother standing in the doorway.
"He has a severe head injury, that he had to have surgery for." Itachi replied. "So, it's probably going to be a few days. By the way, he's now completely deaf because you overreacted and were an asshole towards him." Itachi was pissed, he wanted to beat the hell out of his own father for what he'd done to Sasuke.
"Maybe if he wasn't gay, I wouldn't have had to do that." Fugaku replied harshly. "He should know that being gay is a disgrace and it dishonors the family."
"So, does beating the hell out of him." Itachi said. "To me that's a bigger disgrace than being gay is. He can't help the way he is."
"Being gay is unnatural." Mikoto said quietly. "I'm sorry that he's been hurt, but he brought it on himself. His father believes that beating him may straighten him out." Itachi shook his head, unable to believe the words that were coming from his mother's mouth.
"You would rather your son be so unhappy about himself that he would kill himself just so can you keep up with the farce of being a happy, normal family? Do you even know how difficult staying in the closet would be for Sasuke? Not to mention that it's grossly unfair."
"He should have thought about that before he became gay." Fugaku replied.
"Are you not even listening to me?" Itachi asked. "Being gay wasn't just something that he decided he would try out? It's just something that he is, just like your just an asshole, now there's a decision that you have a choice over. Sasuke has no choice over who he is."
"Itachi I know that you don't understand your father's position." Mikoto said quietly. "And I know that you're just trying to protect Sasuke, but maybe it would be best if he didn't come home again." Itachi frowned, just what was his mother trying to say?
"What do you mean by that?" Itachi asked, his eyes narrowed on her. "Do you mean like putting him up for adoption?"
"I mean perhaps it would be better to have him euthanized." Mikoto replied. "So that no other family would have to suffer such dishonor by having him in their home."
"Dear Kami." Itachi breathed, staring at his mother like she had gone nuts. She couldn't really believe that having Sasuke put to sleep like a dog was the right decision to make. "how the hell can that choice be the only that you have? Sasuke deserves to live!" Itachi was going to take his brother and disappear if she kept talking, he wouldn't let them kill Sasuke just because they were ashamed that he was gay.
"You don't have a say in the matter." Fugaku said coldly, as a doctor that Itachi didn't recognize entered the room. "It's what's going to happen, and then he's going to be buried in an unmarked grave so that no one will remember what a disaster he was."
"You're committing murder." Itachi seethed, disgusted by what his parents were doing. "I won't let you touch him." Itachi blocked the doctor from reaching Sasuke's IV line.
"Is it murder if he's a faggot?" Fugaku asked, and Itachi shook his head. He was beyond pissed. He didn't know what had happened to make his family think like this, but he was disgusted.
"Your acting like he's not even a person with feelings!" Itachi said. "You're not taking anything into consideration except for your own feelings? Never mind that Sasuke has his own."
"Get out of the way Itachi." Fugaku said as he stepped forward. "I don't want to hurt you, but I can't allow that faggot to live."
"He's more than that, he's a human being who deserves to live!" Itachi protested, Fugaku reaching out and grabbing Itachi by the throat and slamming into the wall, allowing the doctor to inject the medicine into Sasuke's IV.
"You can't just erase his presence." Itachi said with tears in his eyes, hatred filling him for his father and his mother. "There will always be signs of him around the house."
"Signs that can easily be destroyed." Fugaku replied. "It won't be hard to erase him from the family records."
"I hope you both burn in hell for what you're doing to him!" Itachi said as his father released him. Itachi went straight to Sasuke's bed, if this was going to happen. Itachi was going to make sure that Sasuke wasn't alone for it. Afterwards, Itachi would end his own life, because he didn't want to be in a world where his little brother didn't exist.
"Kami, I hate you." Itachi seethed with tears in his eyes. "I really hope you burn in hell for what you just done."
Once everyone left the room, Itachi gently pushed Sasuke over onto his side and climbed into the bed behind him. Tears rolled down Itachi's cheeks as he pulled Sasuke back against his chest. He couldn't believe that his parents thought that Sasuke would be better off dead because he was gay. To make matters worse they wanted him buried in an unmarked grave so that his life could so easily be forgotten. Itachi's heart so bad that he wondered if he would haven't even have the time to end his own life. His broken heart would end up killing him faster than any suicide plot ever could.
"I'm sorry they're such heartless bastards." Itachi whispered against the back of Sasuke's head. "I tried to make them understand that you can't help who you are, and it's unfair of them to expect you to be any different. They only care about how it's going to make them look." Itachi pulled Sasuke closer, he could feel his brother start to pant and knew that the drug wasn't going to take Sasuke peacefully, it was going to be pained.
"I'm sorry Sasuke, that I couldn't keep this from happening, you deserved better than this." Itachi said, his tears dropping from his eyes and falling onto Sasuke's head.
"You done what you could." Sasuke said, his voice sounding gruffer to Itachi's ears. "It's not your fault, and maybe I'll be better off." Turning on the bed, so that he could face Itachi and read his brother's lips.
"You don't deserve to die for being gay." Itachi bit off. "You should be allowed to live a full life."
"I won't have to suffer anymore." Sasuke murmured. "We both know that father's beatings won't stop, he would have eventually killed me anyways. At least the way it'll be mostly pain free." But even as he spoke, he could feel his chest tightening, constricting to the point that he could barely breathe. He didn't want to die like this, didn't want Itachi to suffer and grieve for him, but since he had no choice in the matter, he would gladly go and be rid of his parents. "Just promise me that you'll live your life to the fullest."
"I don't intend to live much longer than you." Itachi said. "You're not going on this journey alone."
"You deserve to live." Sasuke said, saddened that his brother thought that his was his only option. "You shouldn't have to end your own life because of me, father should have an heir after all."
"After what they just decided to do to you," Itachi said. "They deserve to have their family line come to an end."
"I love you Itachi." Sasuke said, he could feel the pull of unconsciousness, and he feared what would be found in the darkness. "I'm scared."
"Don't be." Itachi murmured, leaning forward and pressing his lips to Sasuke's forehead. "Because I'm with you, you're not going to die alone."
"Why couldn't they just accept me for who I was?" Sasuke asked. "Why couldn't they just love me?"
"Because they don't have the heart to love anyone but themselves." Itachi said, pulling away far enough so that Sasuke could read his lips, he hated that his brother was feeling like this, nothing Itachi said or done was going to change how Sasuke was feeling. Soon enough though it wasn't going to matter because Sasuke's beautiful heart was going to stop beating. The world wouldn't know the kind person that Sasuke was, Itachi was determined that despite his parent's efforts, Sasuke was going to be remembered.
"I love you Itachi." Sasuke murmured closing his eyes and growing tired.
"I love you too." Itachi murmured as he pulled Sasuke closer as he lost consciousness, Itachi lay his head over Sasuke's heart, listening to the heartbeat until it came to a stop. It didn't take long, and the moment it stopped, Itachi pulled the limp body tighter against him, as sobs tore through him.
"Itachi!" A gentle voice broke through his pained cries.
"My little brother is gone, leave me alone!" Itachi said mournfully. He wanted to die right then so his little brother wouldn't be alone. Sasuke had deserved better than this.