Az: Well, here I am again with another story. Sorry I completely forgot to introduce this at the start of the first chapter, that was dumb. I've been working on this for a while, and have a lot of it down (whoo, slightly organised!) and I don't know if it might be confusing at first… Hopefully everything shall become clear in a few chapters or so if that is the case. Read and review, et cetera.
Chapter Two
It seemed like almost an eternity until the end of Kabuto's shift, during which Itachi paced around outside his brother's room. He had only looked in once, and that was only for an instant, just to check that his brother really did seem dead to the world once again. The room was dark like it was supposed to be; Sasuke's pale, thin arms lying carefully at his sides, the drip doing its job once more. The elder Uchiha could almost believe that the afternoon hadn't happened, if not for the slight frown cast across his brother's features. Somehow, he didn't want to see that again, so instead he paced, senses straining for some sign of awareness from the other side of the wall.
Itachi had managed to convince his mother that Sasuke wouldn't be awake until morning, which was true, and that it would only be a waste of time and energy to stand in his room until he awoke.
In the same gentle, persuasive way that came from knowing a person for years, Kabuto managed to convince Itachi himself that Sasuke wouldn't hate him (he hadn't added 'even more than he already does', as they were both avoiding the topic of Sasuke's outburst like it had never happened) if he went home and slept.
And so, when the doctor finally knocked off at six and came to join the anxious brother, he turned away from the door he still hadn't managed to open again, and, with a great deal of restraint, managed to leave the hallway outside his brother's room without glancing back once.
He stood, calm and composed in the elevator, and walked home again with his head held high, not glancing at anyone or anything, not even Kabuto, though he could practically see the sympathy rolling in waves off the white-haired doctor out of the corner of his eyes.
No, he wouldn't let his public façade fail, most of the citizens still respected him, even after what had happened between him and his father.
When the apartment door finally shut the rest of society out, Itachi only waited until both outer coats had been removed before wrapping his arms around the doctor from behind and nibbling lightly on his neck.
"So I suppose this means you don't want any dinner?"
The only reply Kabuto got was being shuffled closer to the stairs that led to the bedroom.
He complied.
Kabuto always knew what was best. Itachi supposed it came from being naturally sensible. The doctor never needed explanations to go with sometimes inexplicable actions; didn't ask for confessions of love, knowing it would be very difficult coming from a person like him. He always seemed to know what Itachi needed, from a cup of tea when his throat was getting dry after reading aloud to Sasuke from his current favourite novel, to time to be alone when he'd had yet another fight with his father. In this case, it was comfort that he desired, and the other man seemed more than willing to give it.
Itachi might even go as far as to say that he trusted him.
When Sasuke woke up again, faster this time, and not nearly as comfortably, there were voices conversing outside his door. He smouldered, biding his time until the torturers came into the room. It had become obvious to him when his cursed brother and the traitor had worked together to restrain him that Orochimaru and Akatsuki had decided to work together, and that he had been kidnapped, but the sensible part of his mind was having trouble believing him.
For one thing, he wasn't strapped to the bed, or in any way restrained. The door was the usual plywood affair, and there were no locks in sight. Even the window, bar-less, he had come to see, was partially open to let in a spring breeze.
His bedside clock, which sat next to a framed picture of his family, read 8.59 AM, and everything seemed rather domestic. It made him suspicious. Domestic hadn't been a part of his life for several years. Not since his family had …
Sasuke sat up. What if his brother was back again? With the flick of a hand, slightly slower than it would have been had he been in top condition, he removed the needle from his wrist again, ignoring the stinging pain it caused, and sat, ready to attack if it was necessary, which seemed fairly likely.
A few minutes of tense waiting later, the door finally opened, a white-sleeved appendage attached to it. Sasuke's eyes narrowed as Kabuto walked into the room, murmured something to the people standing outside, then closed the door. He didn't approach the bed, just looked at its occupant with even eyes.
"How are you feeling this morning?"
Sasuke didn't reply. If there was one thing that he had been taught about being tortured, it was that saying nothing is better than even insulting people. You never know what might slip out. Instead, he just glared again.
The 'doctor' rolled his dark eyes behind his trademark round glasses.
"If I come near the bed, are you going to lash out at me?"
Sasuke glared.
He could almost see when the infiltrator started down a different reasoning line. He took a deep breath in, eyes flicking to the left for a moment as he quickly thought of what to say next, then looked back at the boy.
"I know you're anxious to see your family, but I'm not supposed to allow you any visitors until you've answered some questions for me."
Kabuto took a step away from the wall where he had been standing, paused as if to gather strength, then crossed quickly to the seat by the bed where Sasuke's brother had been sleeping the day before and sat down uncomfortably, perching on the edge of the seat like he was ready to bolt away at any second.
Sasuke did not attack. Instead, he continued to bide his time. His true target was his brother. Traitors could wait until he had finished with him.
As the Uchiha boy glared a hole in the wall, Kabuto took a pen out of the pocket of his white coat and put it to paper, quickly filling in the date, and patient's name.
"Alright, this is a fairly obvious question, but it has to be asked. Do you remember your name?"
Silence.
"Alright, what about your parents?"
Yet more silence.
The interviewer sighed wearily, and lowered his clipboard. It seemed that Itachi's younger brother either had something seriously wrong with him, or was holding a serious grudge, which seemed unlikely, since this was the second meeting the two had ever had while Sasuke was awake. His discouraged eyes dropped to the reddened skin around the place where the needle in the younger Uchiha's wrist was supposed to be, and sighed.
"Cute." He muttered dryly.
Sasuke continued to stare at the wall like it had personally offended him.
The door burst open, and Sasuke's father tumbled into the room, followed closely by his mother, uncles, aunts, and brother.
"I'm sorry… doctor, but this interview is taking too long, and I am anxious to see my son."
Sasuke's head turned slowly until his vision encompassed the entirety of his extended and close family, all milling around and giving him teary and relieved looks. As they started towards him, everything seemed to slow down. He could hear the blood roaring through his head, and his pulse picked up, the machine at his right starting to beep distressingly. The rage at his brother increased tenfold, that he would have the audacity to torture him like that, and, not really knowing what he was doing, just knowing that he wanted the impersonators to leave the room, he picked up the nearest solid object, and hurled it into the thick of the crowd.
"GET OUT!"
Confusion rippled through the ranks, the photo frame bursting on the wall behind someone's head, and he ripped the clock away from the wall, and tossed that too, still screaming.
The world collapsed back into black like a television being suddenly unplugged from the wall.
His last cogent thought was a curse towards Kabuto for hitting that damned nerve again.
Az: Well, that was another chapter… Please tell me what you think … It makes me happy.