Sasuke

I headed back to school about a week after I'd been discharged from the hospital. With all that had happened in the past year, I had never gotten around to getting my license, so Itachi was driving me. Of course, he probably wouldn't have trusted me to drive alone even if I could.

I rested my head against the cool glass of the window, doing my best to ignore my brother. It was a beautiful day- birds were singing in the trees, and the gentle spring sunshine was coaxing the first flowers into full bloom. It was seriously pissing me off.

"Looking forward to being back?" Itachi asked me, breaking the silence. His voice sounded a bit apprehensive, like he was expecting me to start yelling at him again. Which was justifiable considering how the past week had gone.

"Beats being stuck with you all day." I forced my voice to remain flat, but in reality I was dreading my return. I doubted anyone knew about my stay in the hospital, but my mother's death had been in the news, so everyone would know. No need to tell him about my misgivings though.

Itachi relaxed and smiled slightly, shaking his head. Lately, he didn't seem to be able to make up his mind about how to deal with me. He'd spent the past few days going back and forth between guilt ridden and almost gleefully cruel. It had been years since I'd seen him anything less than perfectly composed, so his displays of emotion were unnerving, but they also provided me with a great deal of amusement. He was apologetic enough to abuse, and mean enough that I didn't have to feel guilty about it. Although I probably wouldn't have felt guilty either way- he did deserve to suffer.

"I'm going to talk to your principal for a bit," Itachi said as we pulled into the parking lot.

I glared at him. "You're going to interfere with my school life now too?" He chuckled, climbing out of the car.

"Don't worry, I just want to make sure they know how to reach me if anything happens, and you neglect to give them the, ah, proper contact information."

"How considerate." I drawled. In truth he was probably making sure they kept a close eye on me in his absence.

"I will pick you up after school, so meet me here at exactly three thirty five." He sent me a sharp look. "Don't make me come track you down."

I scowled and turned my back on him. As I walked towards the front entrance, I heard an excited squeal from nearby. A girl with a long blond ponytail and too much makeup came bouncing over to me. I stiffened. Already? You've got to be kidding me.

"Sasuke, you're finally back!" Ino cried. She threw her arms around me looking overly distressed, and oh god, did she have to use so much perfume? "I heard what happened. You can cry on my shoulder if you need to," she said, dead serious.

"Ino, get off me," I said in a bored tone.

"Yeah, get off him, he doesn't want you." Another overly made up girl grabbed Ino by the hair and, to my relief, dragged her away from me. Ino turned her attention to the newcomer.

"Sakura!" she screeched. "Leave us alone, you're spoiling our moment!"

"You weren't having a moment idiot. Sasuke's probably really upset right now, you should leave him alone."

"What, so you can steal him out from under me? I don't think so," Ino snapped.

"I can't steal him, he's not yours. He doesn't even like you!" Sakura yelled back. I slipped away while they kept each other occupied. And they didn't even notice. I really wished they would stop using me as a convenient cover for their rivalry and what I assumed was sexual tension. They were acting like children.

When I stepped inside the school building, an only slightly less annoying blonde ran up to me. Naruto was wearing an eye-searing orange shirt, but at least his pants were a sensible black. His face was pinched with worry.

"Sasuke, how are you?" he asked. I glared at him. "Right sorry, stupid question. Just remember I'm here if you ever need to talk, alright?" I nodded curtly, glad that for once he seemed to be keeping himself under control, but still in no mood to 'talk.' He smiled hesitantly and followed me down the hallway.

Our first class was advanced chemistry. How Naruto was even in advanced chemistry I had no idea. He spent the entire period scrutinizing me from the next seat. I tried to get him to stop by glaring back at him, but it seemed he was either immune, or too stupid to notice the vitriol.

"Naruto, what is it?" I demanded when the bell finally rang.

"Huh?" He gave me a blank look, and I grit my teeth in annoyance.

"In case you hadn't noticed, you've been staring at me for an entire hour."

"I'm worried about you."

"That's great Naruto, really, but I'm tired enough of my brother constantly watching me, I don't need it from you too."

"Itachi?" he asked, his face darkening instantly.

I sighed. "Yeah, apparently he's had some sort of epiphany and now he won't let me out of his sight. He wants to be a part of my life again, not that it's any of your business," I warned. I wished Naruto would just leave me alone but I knew I wouldn't be so lucky.

"And you're letting him? You remember what he did to you, right?" he pressed on, ignoring my tone.

"Stop sticking your nose where it doesn't belong," I snapped. It wasn't like Itachi was giving me a choice anyway.

He frowned. "Itachi made it pretty clear that he's only interested in himself. You can't let him drag you down any further."

"Naruto that's enough!" I got to my feet and stared down at him coldly, anger sparking.

"You'll only get hurt again if you let him back into your life," he said, ignoring me. "I know you're smarter than that."

I shoved him hard, knocking him out of his chair. "Don't fucking talk about Itachi!" I snarled.

He stared up at me with a confused expression that quickly turned stormy. "What the hell, teme!" he yelled, rolling back onto his feet and balling his hands into fists.

I mirrored his stance as he charged towards me, darting out of the way as his fist flew past my ear. I punched him in the gut and he doubled over with a hiss of pain. I grabbed his head and brought it down into my knee with a dull thud.

The rest of the students were on their feet with expressions ranging from excitement to fear. Naruto and I fought often but it had been a long time since we had actually come to blows. Hinata was the first to react.

"Sasuke, s-stop it," she stuttered, trying to get in my way. I pushed her aside, harder than I'd really intended, and she lost her balance. But I didn't have time to worry about that.

I moved to hit Naruto again, but strong arms wrap around me and held me back. I struggled helplessly, anger only growing stronger as I was caged in.

"Sasuke get a hold of yourself." It was Kakashi, the teacher for our next class. I threw my weight to the side, trying to dislodge him, but it had little effect against his tight hold.

I grabbed a pencil off the table next to me and stabbed backwards into his blind spot. He jolted, and something wet dripped onto my hand, but he didn't let go. He moved his arm and pressed into my neck, and the room began to fade. I kept struggling, but my limbs grew heavy and I moment later I lost consciousness.

Itachi

I watched Sasuke slip away from the arguing girls in amusement, then turned towards the main building. I'd gone to school here as well, so I knew where I was going. A few minutes later, I stepped through Tsunade's open door.

She looked up from her desk and a smile spread across her face. "Itachi. What dragged you back here?"

"I just dropped off Sasuke," I said, closing the door and taking a seat in front of her heavy wooden desk.

Her face clouded. "How is he?"

I sighed. "He's had a rough time, and had to spend a few days in the hospital, but I'm looking after him now."

"Are you two brats finally getting along?"

I sunk backwards into the chair, rubbing my forehead. "He hates me. I don't think there's anything I can do about it."

She raised an eyebrow. "Mikoto would never forgive you if you gave up on him."

I scowled. "I don't plan to. I've let them both down far too much in the past."

Her face softened. "Your mother knew what you were dealing with. But things are different now. This isn't the time to worry about corrupting him."

I stiffened. "How…?"

She pursed her lips."I used to be the chief surgeon. I had to sign a special non disclosure agreement before working on the rather extensive number of injuries you lot came in with. Mikoto spent a lot of time volunteering in the hospital, so she noticed as well."

I slumped down in my chair. "She knew the whole time." I guess I shouldn't have been surprised, but it still came as a blow.

"I'm sorry." Tsunade gave me a moment to process, then changed the subject. "Anyway, did you want something?"

I pulled myself back together, berating myself for letting my demeanor slip, even if it was only Tsunade. "Yeah. Our dad is traveling, so if anything happens I wanted to make sure you had my contact information."

She narrowed her eyes. "Do you think something is likely to happen?"

I winced. "Honestly? I wouldn't be surprised. He isn't doing well." I hesitated for a moment. "Call me if he disappears for too long. He… shouldn't be left alone." She slid a pad of paper over the desk with a worried frown and I scribbled down my number.

She slipped it into the top drawer and gave me a tight smile. "Thanks, let's hope I don't have to use it." I nodded and turned to leave. "Good luck with Sasuke," she added as I walked out. I sighed. I was certainly going to need it.

After a short drive away from the school, I found myself pulling into the cemetery where my mother was buried. I hadn't planned on coming here, at least not until Sasuke could handle it, but I needed to think and this felt like the right place to do it.

I opened the car door and stepped out into the warm sunshine. I smiled slightly as I approached her grave. A multitude of flowers lay at the foot of the tomb stone, a clear show of how much she'd been loved. It was hard to believe she'd given birth to someone as heartless as I was.

Sure, I started out avoiding Sasuke for a good reason, but in the end that turned out to be the worst possible mistake. Very nearly a fatal one.

I shivered as I recalled the image. My beautiful brother, lying on the cold tiles with his life spilling out from open arteries. In my line of work I'd seen plenty of death- caused plenty of death, but nothing could have prepared me for that. Especially when I hadn't even realized something was wrong.

I was so ignorant. Whatever led him to try and take his own life didn't appear overnight. How long had I been oblivious to his suffering? I'd completely failed in my duty as a brother.

Tsunade had been right though: our mom would never have forgiven me for giving up on him. I wouldn't forgive myself. It didn't matter whether he wanted me around or not. He needed me, so I'd be there for him. If all I could offer him now was a distraction, than I'd take whatever he threw at me. He'd never be alone again.