Sasuke

When morning finally came, I was exhausted and angry. The handcuffs binding me to the bedframe had made sleep difficult, but the nurses had made it fucking impossible. Every hour someone would come into my room and wake me up- presumably to make sure I was still alive. I'd thought their cheery attitudes were irritating the day before, but in the middle of the night? They were downright infuriating. After several hours of this, I was royally pissed off, so the next time the door opened, I hurled a pillow into the nurse's face with enough force to knock her back a few steps. Apparently that was enough to convince her I was fine because she left.

I hurled a second pillow into the face of the nurse who came in an hour later. She left as well, and by now the rest of the nurses seemed to have gotten the message. Unfortunately I'd only ever had two pillows, and the handcuffs prevented me from retrieving either of them from the floor. It was several hours before anyone else came in, and by the time they were returned to me the sun had already started to rise.

The only benefit of the sleepless night was it had given me time to analyze Itachi's behavior from yesterday. He seemed to be under the impression that he could repair our relationship, and if he was taking time off from his job, he was willing to go pretty damn far to make it happen. He must consider me a personal failure, and he was used to being perfect. I doubted he'd ever failed at anything in his life. Regardless, I had no intention of forgiving him.

I wouldn't be back in school for a few more days, which meant I'd be stuck spending a lot of time with Itachi. I'd give him what he wanted- I'd stick close, and I'd use the entire time to make him miserable. Starting by punching him in the face when he comes to unlock me. If handcuffing me to a bed was his way of showing he cared, he was seriously twisted.

True to his word, Itachi showed up early, holding a stack of black clothing. Apparently he really had thought this out because he tossed me the key from the doorway. For a second I consided letting it hit the floor and forcing him to come get it, but that seemed petty and I did want to get out of here as soon as possible. I caught the key deftly in free my hand and unlocked the cuffs. As I walked over to him, I noticed the clothing he was holding wasn't mine. I blinked at him.

He cleared his throat and looked away. "I, uh, know you don't like people in your room, so I figured I wouldn't spend any more time in there than necessary. I grabbed some old things of mine. They should fit you well enough."

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh you took my privacy into consideration this time? Looks like you get a gold star." I huffed and grabbed the clothes. If only he'd done the same before barging into my bathroom. I closed the door in his face and got changed.

Itachi's clothes were comfortable and their faint scent was nostalgic. It brought back memories of my childhood, although I wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or not. I still had the cuffs- Itachi seemed to have forgotten about them. I snickered and slipped them into my pocket. Hopefully an opportunity for revenge would present itself.

What the hell did he do for a living that meant he carried around handcuffs anyway? I really couldn't see him as a cop, and if he was he could have been fired for what he did last night. Besides, why would he hide that?

I followed him out to his car in silence. glaring into the back of his head and silently willing it to burst into flames.


Itachi

Sasuke stared at me with murderous intent all the way to the car. Home was only a fifteen minute drive, but it sure felt like a lot longer with his piercing gaze biting into me. It was a good thing looks couldn't kill.

The anxiety all this was bringing me was an entirely new feeling, and I honestly had no idea how to handle it. It was probably good that I was staying out of work for a few days; in my current condition I could easily make a mistake that would have serious repercussions. My next assignment was especially important too. I needed to get myself together before I started to make my move. I was the best person for the job and I couldn't afford to lose my edge.

I brought my attention back to Sasuke. When we were kids I knew everything about him, but if the waves of evil intent drifting from the back seat were anything to go by, he was an entirely different person from the cute kid who used to follow me around with a bright smile on his face. I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel and glanced at him in the rear view mirror. He narrowed his eyes. Seriously that stare was sending shivers down my spine.

It was undoubtedly my responsibility to fix whatever problems Sasuke had developed. I was his brother, and as such I was supposed to look out for him. Something it seemed I had failed spectacularly. I could have at least been watching him from afar even if I wasn't an active part of his life. I should have noticed long before it got this bad. I shivered as I recalled the scars up and down his arms. They went back months.

It hurt, but I definitely deserved to have him hate me. What I did to him in the name of responsibility was unforgivable. And now I had to figure out how to undo it. The tender loving approach clearly wasn't going to cut it. He seemed to be focusing all his negative emotions on me. But at least that gave me something to work with. I tilted my head. It was a lot better than being shut out entirely. But right now I had no idea what was going on in with him besides the anger and hatred. Well, and the severe depression. If I was going to be of any help to him, I needed to get to know him a lot better.

As we neared home I struggled to think of how on earth I was supposed to do that, and how we were going to spend the next few days until he went back to school. I hadn't attempted to socialize since I was in school, and even then friends hadn't really been my thing. My closest friend had been my partner, Shisui. But I lost him, just like I almost lost Sasuke. And that was my fault as well.

I swore I wouldn't let Sasuke, who idolized me, get caught up in my darkness the way Shisui did. I ignored him and pushed him away so that he would be safe, but I never moved out because I couldn't leave him. Now Dad was usually working or traveling for work, so if I moved out Sasuke would effectively be living on his own. Yeah, not happening, even if I was already twenty one.

My worry grew stronger as we neared our house. I still had no idea how to hold his attention or influence his behavior in any way. If he chose to run off or lock himself in his room, I had no idea how to stop him short of using force. If it came down to it I could use force, but that didn't seem like a very productive method long term.

The only thing I did have any control over was his anger, seeing as it was largely directed at me. If I could keep him focused on that, then at least he wouldn't have time to be self destructive. I really wanted to repair our relationship, but at present, I doubted it was possible. I didn't deserve forgiveness from him anyway.

The best way for me to help him was probably to be there for him to hate. The more time we spent together, the less time he'd have to focus on himself. So it was a matter of keeping him with me, keeping him occupied, and pissing him off. Ok. That was doable.

We reached home and went inside. Sasuke sent the door to our father's study a nervous look.

"Oh that's right," I said. "Dad left on a business trip while I was with you in the hospital. He won't be back for several weeks."

He bit his lip. "Did you tell him what happened?"

"I just said you were in the hospital. He didn't ask why so I didn't tell him. I simply said I would take care of it and he should enjoy his time abroad." He breathed out a sigh of relief and started towards the stairs.

I frowned. "Where do you think you're going?"

He sent me an annoyed look. "Relax. I know you want me in the living room. So you can stare at me like a creep and make sure I don't try to off myself."

"Well, I wouldn't have used those exact words," I drawled, trying not to look too relieved. That took care of step one.

"I'm just gonna grab my stuff," I sent him a pointed look as he started to turn towards the stairs. He rolled his eyes. "Oh relax, if I'm not back in two minutes you can come kick down the door again."

Which made me remember the door to his bathroom was still broken. I actually had gone into his room long enough to clean up the blood and thoroughly search it for sharp objects, although I didn't want to advertise it. The door, however, would take a professional.

"Alright. I'll call someone to repair your door," I said as he headed to his room. Then I remembered that I was supposed to keep his attention on hating me and added, "And if you're not back here in two minutes, they really will have two doors to repair." He shot me a dark look.

I had a huge box of files to go through for my next assignment, so I slipped into my room to grab a couple and returned to the living room, sitting on the couch. Sasuke came down holding a book and headphones a moment later. He glared at me when he realized I'd taken by far the most comfortable seat in the room. I smirked.

In a way I was issuing him a challenge. He had two options, suck it up and sit next to me, or admit defeat and take the rocking chair by the window. I was curious which one he would choose- I'm sure he hated me more than he hated losing (which was a lot) but it was a different matter altogether if he was losing to me. He grit his teeth and came over to sit on the couch. It was spacious, so we weren't stuck particularly close together, but he still leaned against the side with a disgusted look on his face, putting as much space between us as possible.

Even as a child he would never back down from a challenge, going after it enthusiastically. It was a convenient way of getting him to do what I wanted. Admittedly this had taken a turn for the far darker but it was the same idea. Apparently all it would take to get him to listen to me was to turn it into a challenge.

That was a great way for me to keep him occupied, really- keep issuing challenges, and hopefully winning. It was painful, but I suppose I could enjoy getting under his skin, especially since I knew it was in his best interest. Despite everything, I enjoyed being around him again.

I watched him out of the corner of my eye. He was starting to relax into the couch a bit, clearly engrossed in whatever he's reading, and occasionally huffing out a slight laugh. I leaned forward a bit to see the cover. Stephan King's IT. And he was laughing. Yeah, that was fitting.

We spent most of the day like that, until it was time to eat. "You want me to make dinner?" I asked.

"Fuck no."

"You do have to eat. Otherwise you'll end up back in the hospital." He made a face, but stood up and went to the kitchen side of the open concept room.

He opened the refrigerator and spent a moment rummaging around. "Why is there no food?" he called.

I sighed. "The fridge is full, Sasuke."

He peered around the door and gave me a disgusted look. "I am not a rabbit, therefore none of this can be considered edible."

I raised an eyebrow. "There are tomatoes in the bottom right drawer."

Silence. He disappeared behind the door and came back with a large tomato in his mouth and another in his hand. "There were only two. Let's go shopping."

"I really can cook something for y-" I started, but the dark look on his face told me the offer was pointless. "Fine let's go." I should just be glad he was willing to eat.

Shopping consisted largely of Sasuke glaring down everyone who came near us as he searched for food- mostly prepackaged or frozen junk. "Sasuke, besides the tomatoes I'm not sure any of this qualifies as food," I said once, but there wasn't much point. I was going to have to work on his eating habits, but something told me right now I should take what I could get.

We didn't even have to wait in line at the cash register- the other customers shied away from the potent waves of hatred rolling off Sasuke. When he was a child he nearly always got what he wanted due to his extraordinary cuteness. It didn't seem he'd lost any of his persuasive power now that he was older- just changed his approach. It actually wasn't all that different from the intimidation tactics I often employed. No one wanted to mess with the threatening stranger with a dangerous glint in their eye. I was impressed, I hadn't mastered that art until I started working.


I knew Sasuke will realize I couldn't let him sleep alone, the question was what he was going to do about it. It didn't look like he got much sleep last night, probably due to the nurses. That combined with his recent ordeal meant he had to be exhausted. I didn't think he'd been getting much sleep before that either. I smirked internally as a thought occurred to me. Yes this would definitely piss him off. I stood up, smiling innocently. He gave me a wary look.

"Alright Sasuke, I'm going to my room to sleep," I said. His expression darkened as he fully understood my implications. It was another challenge. Choosing another sleeping location would be avoiding it- plus, he knew it wasn't an option. By letting me be the first to speak up, he allowed me to set the parameters- namely the location. This left him with only one option.

"Fine, but I'm taking your bed." His tone was bitter and indignant.

I raised an eyebrow. "Sasuke, it's my room, my bed. You may sleep on the floor if you wish."

Of course, he couldn't really. Not with his pride. Not if he wanted to win. He was fuming as he stalked up to his room to get changed. If he took this opportunity to pull something, we'd both lose. Letting him up there alone was a bit of a risk, but it would tell me whether I'd made any progress. I wouldn't leave him for long enough to pull anything, and he couldn't escape through his window from the second floor either. I went upstairs to my room and put away the files.

Sasuke came in a couple minutes later in much better spirits. "Oh, Itachi. Just so you know, I'm a very violent sleeper." He grinned, climbing into my queen size bed and flipping over. By the time I'd taken a shower, Sasuke was already asleep- really asleep too, I could tell he wasn't faking it.

I climbed in beside him and tried to fall asleep as well. Ten minutes later I admitted defeat, getting up to grab an extra blanket and pillow and settling on the floor. Sasuke hadn't been kidding when he said he was a violent sleeper. I vaguely remembered him tossing and turning a lot as a child, but now that he was nearly full grown it was on a whole different level. Queen size bed or not, there was no way was I getting any sleep without waking up suddenly and painfully to a black eye. I was rather pissed, but I supposed it wasn't too big of a deal. It was actually more fun if victory wasn't always guaranteed.