Here I am again, with more story. Due to popular request, it's longer than the last few (barely, I want to make my material last), and I hope you all enjoy it in all it's crazy, mixed-up glory.
Kabuto wasn't the Uchiha family doctor. In fact, there was a member of the Uchiha clan who did that, and occasionally came in to help when the hospital needed extra staff. Kabuto had only been a certified doctor, instead of an on-site medical ninja for about three months, and certainly hadn't specialised his training yet. But somehow, when Itachi's father led his inconsolable wife to a place where he knew he could get some form of an answer for his younger son's behaviour, he knew that Kabuto was the best person to go to.
Though he was wroth to admit it, the young man was practically a member of the family. Some wry part of his mind told him that the doctor was about as close to a wife as his elder son, the Uchihas' heir, was going to get.
Needless to say, that thought didn't go down well, and he secretly hoped that the boy thought that it was anger that was making his neck to red as he helped his wife into the doctor's office.
The pale man looked up, his eyes grimacing while his face stayed perfectly still, and seeming perfectly composed as he pushed some paperwork away, and linked his fingers on his desktop.
In a way, Itachi's father could see how the two suited each other so well. Itachi was hard to read, as he showed next to no emotions. Kabuto was hard to read, as he showed next to no emotions. He wasn't really sure they were good for each other, but they certainly suited one another.
"I suppose you want to know about your son's behaviour?"
The head of the Uchiha clan nodded gravely.
"Well," Kabuto shifted, glancing away uncomfortably, "we're not precisely sure why he reacts so violently to the presence of people that he knows."
That did not sound good. The Uchiha family was always rational, unless there was something seriously wrong. Even as a child, Sasuke had been no exception to this rule. To see him lose his rag like that had been …
His wife, after finally drying her eyes, started to tear up again.
"You mean it wasn't just us?"
The young doctor looked even more uncomfortable than he had been before. He cleared his throat, mind obviously searching for a nice way to say what was probably to be bad news.
"Well, when he first woke, he … expressed violent emotions towards your other son, by… attempting to kill him."
The father let this slowly digest through his brain.
"You're telling me after waking up from a 6 year coma, the first thing my son tries to do is kill his brother?"
He sank back into his seat and covered his face with his hands, stifling a sigh. He hadn't expected things to suddenly go right when Sasuke woke up, he had been prepared to finally open up and help his disorientated younger son get back upon his feet again. He was not prepared in any way, name, shape or form for such open hostility. Even Itachi, who had absolutely no reason to care for his father didn't radiate such hate.
Where had he gone wrong as a father?
Kabuto cleared his throat again, snapping the head of the Uchiha clan out of his widening pit of gloom.
"We're planning to run some tests on your son tomorrow, and we should have the results by that afternoon. You're welcome to visit again then."
A dismissal.
Gathering his wife to him, Sasuke's father stood up and thanked the boy quietly, before leading the poor woman home. It seemed that their presence could do no good.
At noon the following day, the young doctor once again found himself sitting next to his partner's younger brother's bed.
Of course he had lied to the Uchiha family. Any medical ninja worth their salt needed to be able to tell almost instantly if there was something wrong with one of their companions. There was nothing physically wrong with Sasuke besides having been in bed for too long. His mind was not even slightly unfocussed; rather it seemed to display pinpoint precision on any thought that was currently in his consciousness. Like he was constantly on the alert.
"Sasuke-kun, I know that you understand me perfectly. No doubt you're disorientated, but there is no reason to treat this like an interrogation."
At this, the Uchiha's hands clenched slightly on the hospital bed sheets, and his glare, focussed on the wall opposite, seemed to intensify.
He'd struck a nerve, huh? Now to throw in the other deciding factor to sort out Sasuke …
"This isn't an interrogation. Your brother, Itachi, is rather upset about the way you've been acting." Kabuto let a few personal facts slip in, trying to provoke the boy… "Your family is upset too. Especially with the way you've been treating your brother, which is quite a big thing, considering how they haven't been on the best of terms for years …"
Sasuke snorted, then finally replied. "Dead doesn't leave much room for good terms."
Kabuto blinked. "Dead? Who's dead?"
The dark-haired boy glanced sharply over, his eyes penetrating Kabuto's, suspicion clearly evident. "My family."
Kabuto decided not to point out what he considered obvious, and instead pushed on to what he considered the root of the problem.
"And why are your family dead?"
Itachi chose that incredibly bad moment to enter the room, and Kabuto practically swore as Sasuke almost visibly clammed up.
Kabuto sucked in a deep breath, attempting to calm down. Slowly, he swivelled in his seat, and fixed the older brother with a positively glacial look.
"Itachi, do you mind waiting outside for a while?"
The older Uchiha nodded and left the room again, but Sasuke was back to glaring at the wall. Discouraged, Kabuto's eyes dropped down to the bed covers, and the abandoned IV tube.
"Cute."
At this point, the doctor decided it would be best to retreat and regroup. He doubted he'd get any more out of the younger Uchiha that day.
Standing, Kabuto politely told Sasuke to have a nice day, then strode out of the room to Itachi, who waited patiently in the corridor.
"That was particularly bad timing."
His partner didn't apologise, just nodded. As to be expected. Kabuto had always thought that apologies sounded hollow, and they sounded even worse coming from a sociopath like Itachi, frankly, was. He knew that his father didn't find that such a bad trait in a ninja, but it still didn't make for good personal relations.
"Oh."
They both left it at that, Kabuto leaning against the wall with a sigh, and Itachi continuing to wear a blasé expression.
"He thinks his family is dead."
That sparked a reaction, and Itachi stared suddenly at the doctor, dark eyes intense.
"And…" Kabuto sighed, continuing, "my belief is, judging his reaction to you, that you were the murderer."
Just as the younger had done, the elder scowled slightly, sticking his lower lip out slightly, and seemed to visibly cut himself off from the topic.
The doctor glanced at his watch. "Today I get off at nine. It's best that I meet you at home tonight, or your parole officer will have your head."
Itachi scowled darker than he had been moments before, then looked away. "He can try."
Kabuto sighed again. Neither of the two appreciated having Hatake Kakashi as their 'caretaker', but the Hokage had deemed it somehow appropriate to safeguard one sharingan user with another. All three of them knew that Itachi was strong enough to beat Kakashi if he ever had the need to, but for the sake of appearances, and escaping harsher punishment than he had already received, he found it best to just to cooperate with the jounin. And that meant sticking to the curfew. He had to be home at eight each night, or, if he had to be out later, he had to be accompanied by Kakashi, and sign what seemed like a tree's worth of forms. In blood.
Finally, the Uchiha heir nodded slightly and turned to go. Where he was headed, he wasn't precisely sure. Possibly to the training grounds, maybe home…
He didn't know what to do with himself, now that his brother was awake. Before he had woken, sitting next to his brother had just been part of his daily schedule when not on missions. It was odd, how it had happened. Few would have believed that the elder Uchiha would show so much devotion to his ailing brother. And few knew the truth behind it all. His partner interrupted his thought process just as he reached the elevator.
"I'm having dinner with my father tomorrow night. Are you going to come?"
Oh good. Another dinner with the smuggest man in all of Konoha. Itachi carefully weighed up his options. On one hand, he'd be stuck in the same room with as Kabuto's obnoxious extended family for several hours. On the other hand, if he shirked away again, the doctor might get put out. Humans were odd creatures. Mentally sighing, he finally conceded defeat. It was the only place that particular anomaly ever happened.
"Fine."
Then the doctor was there, and in a rare display of public affection, wrapped Itachi in a hug from behind, leaning his head against his shoulder blades. "I'll get the forms ready, then."
The elevator, which had been summoned before, dinged merrily and opened, letting Itachi's mother and father out. Smoothly, without a trace of embarrassment, the two withdrew from each other, the Uchiha sidestepping his parents and moving into the elevator before it closed, not sparing either a glance, and Kabuto adjusting his glasses.
"Good afternoon, sir, madam." The doctor greeted mildly, nodding his head slightly to each of them.
Itachi's mother, less inclined than her husband to condemn the pair, but still preoccupied with thoughts of Sasuke, smiled wearily at her elder son's partner. "Good afternoon, Kabuto-kun."
Itachi's father grunted, sticking his lower lip out in a stubborn scowl, just as his sons did, and glancing away from the end of what he considered a shameful display.
Kabuto, thoroughly used to receiving that sort of reception from the head of the Uchiha clan, spoke calmly and pleasantly to his 'mother in law' as he lead the couple towards Sasuke's room.
Finally, formalities were put aside, and Sasuke's mother asked the question hat had been burning a hole in her tongue: "What's wrong with my son?"
The white haired doctor paused outside the door to the young man's room, and turned back to the two visitors. "There's nothing physically wrong with Sasuke-kun. He does, however appear to have a psychological problem of sorts."
Sasuke's mother looked distressed once more. "What do you mean?"
"I'm not quite sure at this point in time." the doctor replied, keeping his eyes carefully trained on Itachi's mother's face. He couldn't afford for the couple to know he was lying, or he might lose their trust. And he might not get to finally figure out the younger Uchiha. In a way, Kabuto didn't consider it lying. He preferred not to come to people with half the story, and at this stage, he was still fumbling around for the light-switch; nowhere near actually figuring out the situation. The Uchihas would have to wait.
Unsure whether the distrustful look on Sasuke's father's face was because the policeman had figured out that Kabuto was concealing something, or merely because he was still sulking about catching the two in the middle of a rare moment, he motioned towards the door and the two entered their son's room.
Kabuto waited in the hallway to pick up the pieces afterwards.
END CHAPTER
Well, that's another chapter done. In case someone hadn't noticed, I have a slight grudge against Sasuke. Let's just say he's never been my favourite character. So why am I writing a story about him, you ask? Not because I want to see him suffer (though it is rather amusing), but more to try and expand and stretch his character. It's interesting to try.
Next chapter: We meet everyone's favourite blonde kitsune.