May The Best Uchiha Band Win

Ah here we are with chapter 4 after such a long time. This chapter is mostly brothers time but on a general note it's Itachi spending time with people he cares a great deal about.

Chapter 4: Bothers, Uchiha

Sunday morning, yesterday Itachi and Konan had done the photo shoot for their upcoming music video. Itachi got out of bed and walked to the bathroom to take a shower and get ready for the day. Once dressed in black jeans and an oversized white shirt he headed downstairs, hearing food being prepared in the kitchen.

He walked past the spacious living room to the kitchen table and saw his younger brother, still in his sleepwear, standing in front of the stove frying eggs.

"You made breakfast?" Itachi asked as he took a seat. It was a rare sight to see Sasuke in the kitchen cooking in the morning. He'd made lunch and dinner a few times times but breakfast only happened seldomly since he was usually the last one to wake up.

"I figured you'd sleep in after yesterday and I was hungry so here I am." Sasuke explained as he turned off the stove and served the eggs on Itachi's plate as well as his own.

"So are you guys shooting the music video for your song soon?" Sasuke asked.

"Not too soon, we're still working on getting the group's name out there."

"Who came up with 'The Akatsuki' anyways?"

"Pain did, Konan's boyfriend."

"Wait, I thought you were her boyfriend."

Itachi raised his eyebrows in surprise at how casually made his statement was. "You're not the only one." he said under his breath. "And since we're on the topic of music," he quickly changed the subject of conversation from himself to Sasuke. "Is there a reason you've been playing the piano so much lately?"

"You've heard me playing recently?" he asked.

"Musical instruments aren't exactly meant to be quiet, I've heard you playing melodies a number of times whenever I walk past your room. You don't need me telling you this but, you're really talented. You ever think about taking music seriously?"

"I have a few times but, you've been doing music for way longer. The last thing I want is to be in your shadow." There was an unreadable look in Sasuke's eyes.

"Our whole family does music, it wouldn't be strange if you did as well."

And indeed The Uchiha family were all involved in the music industry in one way or another. Their father, Fugaku, ran Uchiha Records along with their mother and he was a world famous music producer. Their mother, Mikoto, had written music for who knows how many films now and she'd accumulated just as many awards over the years. In fact, the score from the film Itachi had been listening to while writing 'Our Season' was his mother's work. However, she never spoke about which films she was writing for so her sons would find out at the same time as everyone else, while watching the end credits. And while he was used to this since she'd worked on so many productions, there were still times when seeing 'Music by: Mikoto Uchiha' would catch him off guard. Some of his favourite scores were written by her.

"And what did you mean by being in my shadow?"

"Well that's… kind of complicated." Sasuke shifted in his seat and picked at the food on his half empty plate. Itachi could tell that this matter went further but, he could also tell that Sasuke was uncomfortable and didn't want to discuss it further so he let it be. Sasuke would tell him when he was ready, that's just how he was.

When they were kids, Sasuke would follow Itachi everywhere and try to do everything Itachi did so when he'd heard Itachi playing the guitar for the first time, Sasuke quickly decided that he'd wanted to learn it too. Needless to say he learned it in a short amount of time and whenever he learned something new, with whichever instrument he was trying to master, he'd all but race to Itachi's room to play for him. Itachi had enjoyed those moments of their youth, the innocence and determination in his brother's eyes as well as the excitement radiating off him always warmed Itachi's heart. But then after Sasuke's first music competition, the one Itachi hadn't been there for, Sasuke began playing music exclusively in his room. Itachi assumed it was because he was mad at him for missing such an important moment in his life, which was more than reasonable. Itachi himself had been furious at himself that he couldn't make it, granted he'd had no choice in the matter and his life had been in danger, however, that did little to make him feel better. Calling that moment a dark period in his life would be a massive understatement and rather than force the situation and make Sasuke tell him what was wrong, he wanted to give his little brother space and wait for him to bring it up if he wanted to. But now that Itachi was seeing Sasuke like this he was starting to consider that maybe it was more than what he thought.

After that the conversation moved in a lighter direction with Sasuke telling Itachi what he'd been up to when he was away with Naruto and Sakura the day Itachi was doing the photo shoot. He gloated about beating Naruto at most of the games they'd played at the arcade and then told him about the movie they'd watched at Sakura's house. With an amused grin, already knowing how Sasuke would react, he asked him about the progress of his and Sakura's relationship to which Sasuke expertly dodged the question but, couldn't quite hide the slight blush on his cheeks and finished the rest of his breakfast.

After they finished eating, the two of them cleaned up the kitchen before Itachi asked Sasuke what he wanted to do. Sasuke was surprised at this because Itachi was almost always busy but this was one of those times where he was totally free for the day and decided he'd give his time to his brother. Sasuke tried to hide it but he was immensely happy about this revelation. So many options, so little time. Sasuke ended up challenging Itachi to video games and the two of them spent hours in front of the tv. After twenty matches they ended up in a draw, each having won ten games.

It was just after two p.m. when the weather started changing, dark clouds rolled in and the wind was picking up. A storm was on the way it seemed. The brothers turned off the game they were playing and split up to close all the windows throughout the house, as the wind made a few doors slam. Itachi took care of the ground floor while Sasuke headed upstairs. Ten minutes later Itachi headed up himself to see if Sasuke had finished. He walked past their bedrooms, the bathrooms and the guest rooms that had been done and saw Sasuke standing in the middle of their father's study. Large floor to ceiling windows were behind his desk that had any number of papers, his desktop computer and a few books. The walls were white and the curtains black. The left side of the room had a black leather couch and two single seater's all in front of a small fireplace. The entire right of the room were shelves dedicated to the awards, trophies and certified records the family had accumulated over their years in music. Fugaku's awards took up a large amount of room: music awards, gold, silver and platinum records on the walls as well.

Mikoto's awards for the scores she'd written were almost as numerous as his. Fugaku had always talked about either installing another shelf or moving all the awards to a single room specifically for displaying them all. If things kept up the way they had been, his study would run out of space quickly, especially since the number of awards Itachi had was only a few less than his mother's. And that was saying something since Itachi was still so young and yet he'd participated in many music competitions and come in first place each time.

Now that wasn't to say Sasuke wasn't well on his way to becoming just as successful as the rest of his family. He'd even won a few competitions himself however when compared to the large number his older brother had, there were times when he'd felt that it wasn't enough. He knew their parents were proud of them both and always made sure to celebrate every achievement their sons had obtained however, seeing the difference between them so boldly on display was a bit too much for him sometimes.

Itachi walked in and stood next to Sasuke looking at all the trophies and he understood how his brother felt a little more.

"The last thing you want to be is in my shadow, that's what you said right?" It was inevitable that some people would compare the two brothers and he'd heard, more than a few times, Sasuke being referred to as 'Itachi's younger brother.' Instead of acknowledging him and his talents they focused more on who he was related to.

"Yeah," Sasuke sighed.

Sasuke never enjoyed feeling this way but sometimes he just couldn't help it. The rational part of him made it clear that since Itachi was older he'd obviously had more chances to be in more music competitions and therefore have more awards than him. And if nothing else his brother never boasted about any of his achievements so it's not like Itachi was always reminding him how much better he was, heck he'd even go so far as to say Itachi was too modest about his boundless talents. There was always that part of his mind, however, that told him he'd never measure up to Itachi, that deep down he was just a failure compared to him. And he'd resent his brother at those times, and there was always the memory of Itachi not being there for his first music competition that seemed to back up his negative thoughts. 'He didn't come because he doesn't consider you worth his time' his thoughts would jump at him. And of course he could never say these things out loud, especially not to Itachi. 'But Itachi isn't like that, not at all.' He'd have to remind himself.

Complicated wouldn't even begin to describe all of his feelings regarding Itachi but he also knew that no matter what he loved his older brother, that would always remain.

"Being in a talented family is hard, isn't it?" Sasuke spoke up after a long pause. The third side to Sasuke's thinking was acknowledging that Itachi didn't exactly have it easy either.

"More than I think you understand just yet." he chuckled.

Everyone has their limits, Sasuke knew that much but, he'd never seen Itachi reach his. And being the youngest sometimes meant that he wasn't always noticed so there were definitely times when he'd seen Itachi and their father have heated conversations, and even been in room with them but they were so focused on each other that they hadn't notcied him. Nothing too explosive but still enough to make Sasuke wonder how he was always so calm about everything, and how he could keep going when there was always so much attention on him. What had his life been like when Sasuke was still a baby or even before he was born? Sometimes these questions crossed his mind.

"Hey, Itachi..." he looked up at his brother who was also staring at the trophies with an unreadable expression. Itachi turned to him, "There's something I want to tell you but I don't think I can say it yet. Could we talk sometime?"

"Of course." he put his hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "Anytime you want."

Sasuke nodded with a smile before leaving the room. Itachi watched him leave. There are things I need to tell you too, he thought to himself before leaving the room as well.

Xxx

It was early evening, the storm from the afternoon had come and gone. Itachi was in the kitchen making dinner while Sasuke was upstairs finishing up some school work. He heard the front door open and didn't even need to guess to know who it was.

"My stomach is already rumbling, I can't wait for dinner." Shisui loudly proclaimed and joined Itachi in front of the stove and continued the theatrics. "How did you know to make enough for me as well?" he slung his arm around Itachi's shoulders and took a whiff of the meaty aroma.

"Because I know you so well and you're here almost every weekend." Itachi replied with an amused smile.

"It is the least you could do since I'm basically your driver and I don't even charge. Oh by the way I came with Izumi so..."

"Like I said I know you so well, I made enough for all of us." he returned his attention back to cooking.

"You seem a little off, more serious than usual and that's saying something. Did something happen today?"

"Not particularly." he didn't look up.

"Does it have something to do with Sasuke?"

"No…"

Itachi hardly ever gave such short answers and he wasn't usually this avoidant. And Shisui having knowing Itachi as long as he had knew there was definitely something bothering him.

"You want to tell him the truth but you still haven't, how close am I?"

"You're completely right." Itachi sighed in defeat, he knew trying to keep anything from Shisui was a futile effort since he'd always been able to read him pretty easily.

"You're going to have to tell him eventually, you know that."

"I do and I want to tell him but it's not something easily brought up especially since he's the only one who doesn't know."

"And because of the wrong impression he has about back then things have changed between you two. It's obvious that Sasuke still cares about his older brother but its also just as obvious that he was hurt by what he thinks happened." Shisui put his hand on Itachi's shoulder and got serious. "I know better than most how self-sacrificing you can be. You're putting this off for Sasuke's sake, you don't know how he'd take the truth but for once do something for your own sake as well."

"Why are you right so often?" Itachi took in Shisui's words.

"Wisdom that comes with age." he said proudly.

"You're a year older than me."

"Exactly, that's an entire years worth of extra knowledge I have over you."

Itachi innocently rolled his eyes before they carried on chatting about lighter topics like the upcoming music video Shisui was directing. Shisui, although young, was grabbing a lot of people's attention for his incredible work of the music videos he's directed. Almost everyone in the business knew the name Shisui Uchiha.

A while later dinner was ready and served. Itachi, Shisui, Sasuke and Izumi had dinner together, enjoying their time eating and talking.

An hour after dinner after the kitchen had been cleaned up, Shisui was working in Itachi's studio while Izumi was on the top floor in the training room. Itachi had gone up with a jug of water knowing she'd need it when she was done. The back wall of the room hosted full length mirrors which Izumi was currently facing as she went through dance steps to the beat of the pop song playing on the speakers. Izumi was a very talented dancer and began choreographing when she started high school. He stood outside the glass doors and watched her dance. The choreo she was doing now looked new, he'd never seen it before. Her moves were sharp and powerful yet fluid matching the high energy of the song. As soon as she finished and landed the final pose, she threw her head back and let out a content heavy sigh.

She took a seat on the floor then lay flat on her back, her long brown hair spilling out behind her in each direction.

"Looks like that took a lot out of you." he said as he walked in and set the glasses and jug down.

"Well this choreo has a lot of steps and complicated moves so it demands a lot of energy."

"Weren't you the one who came up with it? In a way you did this to yourself." he teased.

"You know if I weren't laying on the floor right now, I'd throw something at you." she let out a small laugh before sitting up and starting with her cool down exercises.

"Working on a new project?"

"Uh-huh, the music video Shisui is directing, he put my name down to do the choreography for it and here I am." she walked over and poured herself a glass of water. They continued talking about the music video she and Shisui were working on for a while longer before they took their conversation to the balcony, they stood shoulder-to-shoulder. The cool nigh time air was a welcome relief for Izumi.

"And what about you leader and main vocalist of The Akatsuki? You guys are going to be beyond famous I can tell."

"And if not, Shisui suggested I go into culinary." they both laughed.

"He's got a point though, the way you cook you could be a chef."

He always enjoyed talking to and spending time with Izumi. The two of them had been close friends almost as long as he'd been friends with Shisui.

As they headed back inside Izumi had asked Itachi to dance, something they'd done together for years. It was more of a hug and a slow dance mixed in one and whenever they did this one of them would start a rather serious topic of conversation. As kids it was because talking about heavy things was difficult to do when you had to look the other person in the eyes, so Izumi had suggested this idea and they'd never really outgrown it, even though they were very much capable of having serious conversations while maintaining eye contact. The first time they'd done this was when Izumi's father had passed away. The problem with doing this now that they were older, well not a problem really but an observation is that it complicated their already complicated feelings for each other. Being so intimately close when they were still deciding if they were best friends or something more was interesting to say the least.

And so they did what they had always done, they embraced each other and slowly swayed from side to side.

"I probably should have showered first before I suggested this." Izumi half laughed trying to hide that she felt a little self conscious hugging Itachi in her dance outfit. She got over it pretty quickly though and focused on his rhythmic heartbeat.

"I don't mind." he reassured.

It had been a while since they'd done this and he'd almost forgotten how much he enjoyed hugging Izumi. She fit so comfortably in his arms.

"Shisui caught me on my way up here after dinner. He told me a bit about your talk with him, you okay?" she felt him take a deep breath before letting it out. "There's no doubt what you went through was worse than anything but back here what we went through, Shisui, Sasuke and me, was a whole other painful time. Having to explain all that to Sasuke sounds overwhelming."

"I just don't know what to say."

"You'll say it when you're ready." she hugged him a little tighter.

Around nine p.m. Shisui and Izumi were headed out, Itachi walked them out. The breeze from earlier had stopped and the stars were out. Itachi thanked them both for coming over and giving him advice where it was needed. The two people who knew him best, he'd barely given them any information about what he was thinking and yet they were still able to help him where they could. He truly had great friends.

After waving goodbye and watching them drive out he went back inside. After locking the front door he turned off the lights for the kitchen and living room and went upstairs. On his way up though he could music coming from Sasuke's room, he was back at the paino playing a beautiful melody. The piano in his room was near the windows so his right side was currently to Itachi as he played. Probably not noticing he'd left his door open, Itachi stood at the entrance to Sasuke's room and watched him play.

As soon as he'd stood by the entrance Sasuke's playing became more focused but Itachi could see the smile on his face. Sasuke was letting him know he knew Itachi was there. After a few more minutes of listening Itachi went back to his room and took a shower before getting changed into his sleepwear. He'd gotten into the blankets and had a book in his hand and was about to start reading when he heard a knock at his door.

"What's up?" he asked Sasuke who stood at the door.

"I had fun today, you should have free weekends more often."

"I agree." he smiled.

"You think we can do this again sometime, although next time we play music together like we used to."

"Of course we can although, I thought you'd outgrown it."

"It's not that I'd outgrown it, I wasn't sure if I could still ask you to."

Sasuke's words pierced Itachi's heart. Had things really changed that much that Sasuke felt he couldn't even ask him for something like that? Yes things had been different since that day but they were still close. The fact that Itachi was looking at things from a 'it could be worse' perspective meant that he never actually got the full scope of what it actually was. Sasuke said goodnight and closed the door before heading back to his own room.

Itachi closed his book and lay back against the pillows, looking up at the ceiling.

I guess I cant avoid telling him forever.

And that's ch4 done, hope you enjoyed it. And yes there is a massive question mark regarding what the heck that day even is and why Sasuke is the only one who knows nothing about the truth behind it but, that will be revealed in due time. Hopefully you keep reading until then, anyways

That's it from me-

Until the next chapter:

Ketsui Tasogare :-)