Cat Beats: It's all too keep it from feeling like the world revolves around the main characters, plus it helps make events! And thank you for that, I'm really only basing this off of stuff I've read, because I (oddly) don't know anyone with a soul crushing love for their sibling. So, I'm glad you think so. Also, in case you didn't notice, it is next time, so hi!

Spring: Yeah, the Neiji-Haruka thing... it's a mess. And, the thing is that he's always noticed her, he just couldn't stop thinking of her as a child. And I actually really liked Yosuga no Sora, and I think it was one of the first incest anime I ever watched. So it brings back nostalgia for you to bring it up! And as for who will support them and what they'll do, those are spoilers so you'll have to wait ;). And, thank you.

Guest: Thanks, I just did. Hope you like it :)

kk: Well if you want to see that you'll have to keep reading, so I hope you like what you read. And thank you, I'm not sure what I'm doing but I'll try to keep doing it :)

"Sensei!" There was no reply. "Oi! Sense-OW! What was that for Sakura-chan?!"

"Just shut up Naruto! Can't you see Kakashi-Sensei's really glum over something?"

"But this is the third study hall in a row we've had. I don't even know what I'm supposed to be studying anymore!"

"Just study anything." With that Sakura just went back to her notes. Their conversation ended, and, of course, Kakashi didn't even blink to a word they had been sharing. Afterall, their conversation was only slightly louder than the bustle going throughout the rest of the classroom.

Sasuke looked over to their teacher, and his face was planted on top of his desk with a gloomy aura floating around him. He heard Naruto just sigh. "What do you think is up with- Haru-chan?!"

Sasuke looked at his sister and saw that-at this point he wasn't surprised-she was in the exact same state as their teacher. Her hair was scattered across her desk, and there was a gloomy aura around her. She'd been like this since the morning, but when he tried to ask her she just told him that she'll tell him when they get home. So, it's safe to assume why she's like this.

He didn't have an idea of what it was until he overheard from his mother that Itachi had to give her a ride from her outing last night. There's no telling what exactly happened in the car, but it was no mystery why she was upset over it. So, he'll just wait until they get home for her to explain the details.

Naruto, on the other hand, didn't want to be patient with Haru. "Hey, what's wrong Haru-chan? Is Kakashi-Sensei contagious or something?"

"Naruto!" Sakura shrieked at Naruto, but Sasuke caught her quick glance in his direction. To be fair, he wasn't that bothered by Naruto's question, after all it did look like that.

Then, to Sasuke's surprise, Haru stirred. She peeked up through her hair with eyes that were as looked to be drained completely. "Huh?" Was all she quietly said as she looked at Naruto.

Both the knuckle head and Sakura visibly shivered at the dead look Haru gave them. Sasuke even slightly widened his eyes to her expression, but just quickly shook it off. "You finally woke up?"

Haru sighed and leaned back into her chair while rubbing at her eyes. "I wasn't asleep…" She quietly mumbled. When she looked back at the trio, she actually looked normal, just a little tired.

"Are you ok Haru?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, you looked like death for a second there." Naruto said.

Haru just blinked a few times and looked down at her desk-to which there was no work on top of. "I just had a rough night. Watching two grown adults start a fight in a restaurant and having to clean afterwards is pretty tiring." She was convincing enough, but Sasuke could still catch that slight squirm of discomfort and light tint of pink on her cheeks.

"I still can't believe Tsunade-sama did something like that." Then her attention turned to Naruto-suddenly annoyed. "And weren't you supposed to stay with Haru? Why did you just leave early."

Naruto suddenly held his hands up in a defense gesture. "I couldn't help it, Oka-san was ready to rip my head off when she found me at the restaurant."

It looked to have been funny because Sasuke noticed Haru's smile. "It's fine. I'm not mad at you Naruto." Haru said. "Besides, even if I was mad I'm sure your Oka-san lashed out enough anger on you to repay both of us."

This made Naruto go slightly pale. "Wait, so are you mad at me or not?" He asked almost desperate now.

"Not mad at all~." Haru said pleasantly, but she looked off to the side when she said this.

"Haru-chan!"

Haru laughed-helping ease Sasuke's worries-and looked at Naruto with a smile. "I'm kidding."

Naruto looked like some sort of combination of annoyed and relieved.

Sasuke wanted to ask Sakura something, but… he didn't want to ruin Haru's sudden jump to being in a good mood-even if it was only on the surface. So, instead he just looked to said pink haired girl-who was looking amused at the conversation between the two. "Sakura," this quickly caught her attention and she looked at him with slightly widened eyes, "I want to ask you something. Can we go outside?"

This immediately makes her face flare up to a pink about the same shade as her hair. "S-Sure."

. . . . . . . . . . . .

'Well that was weird.' Haruka thought to herself as she watched the pair walk out the door.

She suddenly remembered Naruto and looked over to him expecting him to look at least a little jealous. However, he just peeked over at Sakura's work to see what she was studying… This observation made Haruka smile just a little bit.

"Hey, Naruto."

Said boy quickly flinched and dropped Sakura's papers back on her desk. "Yeah." He said, trying to look innocent.

Haru leaned her cheek on the palm of her hand as she observed her blonde childhood friend. "How have things been with Hinata-chan lately?"

Naruto looked confused by the question-which wasn't that great of a sign to Haruka. "Hinata-chan? Hm… Well not much, I've hung out with her a few times lately with Kiba and Ne-I-I-I mean!" Naruto suddenly looked worried over almost mentioning one of Haruka's most infamous exs.

She sighed at the reaction and tried to reassure him. "We've been broken up for a month now Naruto, I don't mind you hanging out with him. In fact, I wouldn't mind it even if it was the minute after we broke up. I'm fine, really." Haruka tried to sound as convincing as possible, but she still found it hard to even say Neji's name.

"Ah…" Naruto looked relieved but still uncomfortable to be on the topic of their big break up.

Haruka didn't mind his reaction so much, she just wished he'd get over it. "Anyways though, that's all that's been going on with Hinata-chan?"

"Yeah I guess…" Just when Haruka was disappointed in whatever development happened to have made Hinata blushing red at the mall, she noticed sudden realization in Naruto's eyes. It looked like a memory just hit him out of nowhere, and-to Haruka's absolute surprise-there was a tint of pink on his cheeks. "Although..."

"Yeah?" Haruka asked, trying to hold back all of her anticipation.

Naruto looked a little lost in thought over something for a second before he just smiled his little goofy smile. "Hinata-chan managed to flip over this one guy while we were out! He was trying to steal from this old lady and Hinata had him flying like if he was nothing!"

Haruka could only give Naruto a deadpan look with a forced smile. "Is that so?" 'Not what I was expecting.'

"Yup! Hinata-chan's pretty cool isn't she?" Naruto's smile looked very sparkling at this point and he looked lost in his memory of the moment with the pink on his cheeks slightly darkening.

… Haruka sighed, but smiled happily at the smile on Naruto's face. 'Well, it's something at least.'

It did make Haruka feel a little guilty from time to time to be rooting for Naruto and Hinata to develop. However, he's assured her numerous times that she'd free to help Hinata with Naruto… So long as he stays out of it… She wished Sasuke could end up with someone he could be happy with, but the only girl he's ever had feelings for is already head over heels for someone else. Haruka has had to watch along with Sasuke to see that there was no way of breaking Hinata away from her feelings for the knucklehead, and…

Well, what with all the heartbreak in their home, Haruka at least wanted someone to come out of this mess happy. So, she always hoped that Hinata would be the one to come out with the one she's wanted to be with. Afterall, NaruHina was the most likely candidate to succeed… This thought manages to somehow both be fortunate and tragic…

. . . . . . . . . . . .

"So, what did you talk about with Sakura?" Haruka asked Sasuke as they made their usual walk home.

Sasuke just looked at the rain filled walk ahead of them. "Nothing important, just wanted to ask her a little more about this Tsunade woman."

"And?"

"Nothing much, just a doctor at the hospital Sakura works at."

"Ah…"

With that, they were once again left in silence on their walk home. Which, again, was fine for them both. This left Haruka time to observe her surroundings, and she noticed the skys really were getting darker and colder. Even as she let out small breaths, she could see the dusts of frost leave form by her exhaling. She slightly tightened her grip on her umbrella as she began to realize it was going to begin to snow anytime soon. It's not that Haruka disliked snow, it's simply that she'd prefer to observe it from inside her home than be outside with it.

Not to mention, the rain was just giving her deja vu of yesterday. This made her face tint red and she could only sigh tiredly. She noticed Sasuke give her a questioning look, but he also dropped it-much to her relief. The more she looked at the sky the gloomier she realized it looked… She then remembered something she'd been seeing at school, and looked to Sasuke-happy to have found a distracting topic. "Why do you think Kakashi-sensei's been out of it lately?"

Sasuke just gave her a raised brow as he looked down at her. "How should I know?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, I was just hoping you at least heard something. He's been out of it for a while now."

Sasuke looked back ahead as he opened the gate to their home. "He's always in and out of it, just like he's late and on time at random too."

"I guess. It's just that lately he's been really moody. He doesn't notice when others are talking during class, and he's been having us do a lot of study halls too." Haruka tried to think about it-she noticed Sasuke also lost in thought. Then, it hit her, and when she looked back at Sasuke he looked like he'd come up with a resolution himself. "Do you think...?"

Sasuke looked at her and-somehow-knew what she was suggesting. "Could be, he hasn't been coming by lately."

Haruka couldn't help a pitiful smile as she looked at the door to their house. "It does explain a lot."

Once they entered the house they both shouted: "We're home!"

In response, was their mother shouting "Welcome home!" from the kitchen.

Curious, when the pair of twins finished putting on their indoor shoes, they wondered to the kitchen to find their mother making… 'Okayu?'

Haruka stalked over closer to her mother, and Sasuke followed. Their mother looked over to them with a warm smile on her face. "How were your days?"

Haruka shrugged. "It was fine, except Sensei's gloomy again."

"Why are you making Okayu for one?" Sasuke chimed in.

With that, their mother went back to making it. "It seems like Itachi got sick all of a sudden, so I'm making him something to help him feel better."

Haruka immediately stiffened and she went slightly pale. However, before she could do anything, she felt Sasuke's hand grip her arm and slightly pull her back. "Nii-san is sick?" With that Sasuke dropped his grip on her arm.

Their mother nodded. "I'm not too surprised, I checked in his car earlier and the drive and passenger seat were both covered in water. I'm only surprise you didn't get sick Haru." Their mother sent Haruka a concerned look.

All Haruka could manage was a small smile and shrug. Their mother just finished up the food and went to go give it to the boy upstairs.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Haruka was pacing back and forth inside Sasuke's room. She was even starting to fidget around with his stuff and moving them from one place to another. Anxiety and worry were swelling inside her chest, and she tried not to look back to her phone-which was on a website of different critical conditions. She wasn't able to breath until the door opened to reveal her younger twin.

Once he closed the door he made his way to sit down on his bed, and Haruka stalked over to him and immediately began bombarding him with questions. "Sasuke, are you sure he was ok?"

Obviously annoyed already. "Yes, he's fine."

This wasn't enough for Haruka. "But what kind of fine? Was he able to sit up right? Was his breathing ok? Is he green or red? Was he coughing a lot? What about sneezing? Did you ask him where it was hurting? Because there's this one disease that's like the cold except you have a really bad pain in the abdomen? Was it hurting him in the abdome-?!"

"Haru calm down!" Sasuke yelled at her through her rambling.

This didn't help her. "I can't help it! Why did he have to open his window in the first place? He should have known better that I would only need mine open! And he didn't have to give me his sweater either! He's always done stuff like this! Like how I forgot my umbrella in the first grade and he gave me his, and then he ended up sick the next day! Or when you lost your kite in the tree and he went up to get it and came back down in cuts and bruises! Why doesn't he know how to take care of himself?! It's not that hard-!"

"Haru shut up! And stop pacing, you're going to make markings on my floor."

Haruka paused since she didn't even notice she was pacing again. She finally took a breath and sighed. "...I'm just worried." 'It's my fault he got sick in the first place.' Even though she thought this, that was only part of the reason she was worried.

There was a moment of silence in the room-with Haruka looking deep in thought at the floor. Then, she heard rustling on Sasuke's side, and looked over to see him pulling out a mange from his dresser and began to read it with mild interest.

Just when Haruka was beginning to think she'd just go back to her room, Sasuke spoke again. "Why don't you just go check on him yourself?"

Haruka's wide eyes snapped back to her younger brother. "What?" 'Why would you of all people be suggesting that?!'

"You've already made me go in there three times to make sure he was ok, and then I have to come back in here to here you talk a mile without taking a breath. So, you won't be satisfied until you see him for yourself."

Haruka knew Sasuke was right, and she had thought about just going in there herself at least half a dozen times. "But…" 'The whole point is that he's there.'

"He was asleep last time I checked, so it should be fine." It was also surprising Haruka how calmly Sasuke was saying all of this.

"But-"

"I'm not telling you to do it, I'm suggesting it might make you feel better."

"...I mean… It would…" 'But should I really go?' The swelling of anxiety and worry wasn't depleting no matter how many times she had Sasuke go in there, and she was getting no better looking up nonsense on the internet. She wanted to see him, but she wished it was that simple. 'I-I just don't want to slip somehow…'

Finally, begrudgingly, Haruka made her decision. She looked back at Sasuke-whose eyes were still locked on the manga.

"F-Five minutes." With that, Sasuke looked at her slightly confused, so she went on. "In five minutes, y-you have to get me out of there."

. . . . . . . . . . . .

It was warm, very warm. It was making it hard to think. Or course, Itachi has felt worse before, and this cold was only a cold, but that didn't make it feel any worse. He kept dozing off without really sleeping. Though, he suppose it was better than last night, at least he was getting some sleep. The night before he could only find himself tossing and turning as he couldn't get a certain image from last night out of his head... 'My head hurts. Maybe I should try taking some more medicine before I go to-'

He looked up and realized he'd once again dozed off only to wake up, because there was someone else in the room with him. They weren't there before.

'Is that Sasuke again?' He blinked through the darkness and couldn't really make out who it was until a bright light came out in the dark. She had turned on her phone and was looking through something as she stood over his bed. 'Haruka?' She was scrolling through her phone with a face scrunched up in both concentration and concern.

Itachi just found himself staring up at her confused to why she was suddenly in his room. She'd always tried to keep him at a distance, but here she was as close to him as one could be right now; alone with him in his room standing over him.

It took her awhile to look back down at him, and when she did it was only a glance before quickly looking back down to her phone. Itachi thought that was going to be it, but then her eyes slightly widened and she looked back down at him again. He realized it's because she noticed his eyes were opened now.

Haruka let out an odd sound of surprise and quickly-for some reason-put her phone behind her as though she were hiding it-which was impossible since the light was still shining from it. Even with his back vision, Itachi could see she was on some sort of website about sicknesses.

She stiffened, and looked down to the floor-her hair covering her face-but the light was enough to show her face turning red. "...I-If you're awake… A-At least say something…" She, like before, was trying to sound aggressive but it only came out meak.

...It was quiet for a while, and Itachi was confused why she wasn't leaving-since that was what she would have usually done. It was odd, but he was happy to see her staying. Once the light on her phone finally turned off-probably by her finally clicking the button-Itachi began to try sitting up to look at her closer. This caught her off guard and her eyes snapped to him. "Haruka, what are yo-?"

Itachi was quickly cut off by Haruka-roughly-shoving him back down onto his bed. He looked up at her in surprise to her sudden contact. "D-Don't get u-!" She stopped short as she looked down at her hands on his chest, and quickly jumped back-even in the dark he could see her face was a brighter red. She quickly looked to her hands-as they fiddled in from of her chest. "Y-You're sick so…"

He couldn't take his eyes off her. He'd seen her flustered before; in the airport, in the house, and in the car. But this time was different somehow. He couldn't figure out why, but it was different. Just like he couldn't figure out why he was having that that feeling in his chest again.

Then, she looked like she noticed something on the floor, and she quickly went down to pick it up. While she looked around the room for something, Itachi noticed it was the rag his mother had put on his forehead. 'It must have fallen when I sat up. I didn't even notice it.'

Finally, Haruka looked to the bowl of water on Itachi's desk-that was right there to begin with. She quickly began trying to clean it off and rinse it out. Watching her, in her oddly clumsy manner and her flustered state… Itachi couldn't help but chuckle. He didn't really know why, but he just felt a warm feeling from seeing her here grow in his chest, and he couldn't help it.

Once she heard it she glance over to him, looking bothered. "Wh-Why are you laughing?"

He didn't really think about his answer, he tended not to when it came to Haruka, he just said what first came to mind. "I missed you."

...There was a silence that took over in the room, and Haruka was just still…

'Did I say something wrong?'

...Then, Haruka suddenly pushed the newly moistened rag onto his forehead. She held her hand there, as an attempt to keep his eyes covered, but he could see through a crack of an opening and saw her face. It was bright red, her brows were furrowed, and her eyes were scrunched out of frustration. He found it was suddenly harder to breath.

"...Y-You… You're worrying Oka-san, and Sasuke, and… S-So…" Then, her expression softened. Her brows were still furrowed, and her expression strained, but it wasn't out of frustration, it was purely out of concern. "Get better already…"

...There was no aggressiveness, or attempt of it. Her voice was soft and passive. It was something Itachi had never heard from her before, not even when she was little… Once again, that feeling in his chest grew, and he felt his breath stuck in his throat. He also felt heat rush up to his face, but shouldn't that be because of the cold?…

After a long moment of silence, Haruka eventually left the room without another word. This left Itachi, like the night before, at a lost for words.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Sasuke looked down at the pages of his manga, but he didn't even know what he was reading. He was still just thinking about whether or not it was a good idea to send Haru off to Itachi's room. Of course, if it was a few days ago he would think it, but he'd never say it out loud. However, he remembered yesterday, when he looked in the hallway and he saw Itachi standing in front of Haru's room with his face contorted in confusion and red… Maybe he was trying to mess with things that aren't even there, but he couldn't be certain…

Tired of thinking about that-since that's all he's been thinking about since he's gotten home-Sasuke just put his book down and thought back to what he asked Sakura in the halls. Yes he asked for more information about Tsunade-after all, she worked with his dad-and yes Sakura told him she just worked at the hospital she volunteered at. But, what he didn't tell Haru was that Sakura also told him Tsunade used to work as a psychiatrist, and that he'd asked to see a picture of her.

Oddly, when he saw the picture of the blonde woman-who didn't look as old as Sakura told him she was-she did look familiar. Except, unlike Haru, he could actually remember from where, but only slightly. It was when he was young-kindergarten if he remembered right. He remembered images that he'd long forgotten. Images of that woman in their home, and whenever she was there, there was a gloomy aura that hung in the air around her and the rest of his family… Except Itachi and Haru, but that's because Sasuke couldn't really remember seeing them back then… He also remembered that woman would spend a lot of her time in Haru's room, but he didn't know doing what. He also couldn't really remember why he never went into Haru's room, but he thinks it was because someone told him not to go in there-who he can't remember.

...One of the reasons he didn't tell Haru this was because he was still holding a grudge from when she didn't tell him about the nightmares. But the other reason was because, for some reason, he was worried that if he did he'd be bringing up memories that would be better forgotten. Afterall, he couldn't remember much from those days other than the house being very gloomy. And Haru can't remember anything. Something about that fact made him feel sick.

(AN) If there were any grammar or spelling errors, please look that over, I didn't proof read this chapter! :(