Chapter Ten

I shivered and grabbed the edge of the bench.

What time was it? What day?

No, I didn't want to know.

It would only depress me if I knew that one or two days had passed and no one was looking for me.

Of course, maybe it had only been a couple hours.

I couldn't tell.

My only clue was the sky, which was a dark blue. It was just a guess, but I think it was about three or four in the morning.

I tightened my grip on the bench. If it really was that time it was obvious why people weren't looking for me.

Everyone could sleep easily with me gone.

Including Itachi.

I wanted to scream.

I wanted to cry.

I just didn't have the energy to.

I already felt dead.

Maybe I was dead...

"God, Sasuke, stop arguing with yourself..." I moaned as I tried to push my self off of the bench.

I couldn't. I just didn't have the motivation.

I didn't have Itachi.

I closed my eyes again.

I just had to be patient...he would find me, I knew he would.

I waited a couple minutes.

No, I couldn't wait any longer.

This time I used all the strength I could to lift myself up so that I was sitting on the bench rather than laying.

I looked around. I was completely alone.

I slowly got up, trying to find some hidden energy inside of me.

"Just go home..." I whispered to myself. "Go to Itachi..."

One slow step onto another started to become faster and furious steps. Furious, because I had stayed away from Itachi too long. I wanted to be close to him. No...let me re-word that, I needed to be close to him. The longer I stayed away from him the more I started to worry about him.

I was bringing a new definition to the phrase "brotherly love".

I tried to push myself to run faster, but my heart was already racing faster than I thought possible.

I could see it.

My house.

Itachi was there

.
I slowed down to a walking speed and took deep breaths before reaching the front door.
Before my hand reached the handle, the door opened and I was pulled into a hug.
My first guess was that it was my mother who had been worried all night long and didn't get any sleep.

"I'm so sorry, Sasuke."

That voice.

It couldn't be.

I moved my hand so that I could pinch myself.

I felt it.

This wasn't a dream.

"Itachi..." I whispered as I now wrapped my arms around him.

"This is all my fault. I'm sorry, Sasuke, I was only testing you," Itachi explained.
"Testing?" What the hell was he talking about?

"Yes...I was seeing how jealous you would have got if I hung out with Sakura, you handled it very well, but I was such a jerk to mess around with your emotions so much."

"No, Itachi, don't blame yourself-"

"But that's the reason you didn't come home-"

"No," I interrupted him, "that's the reason I came home now, because I can't live without you...I didn't have any strength, any motivation when you weren't there."

Itachi let go of me and looked me straight in the eyes. "Is that really true?" He asked.

"What do you think?" I said with a smirk.

Itachi only looked away. "I don't deserve this."

I didn't exactly know how to respond to that. Itachi looked so down, so guilty.

"Well...you deserve it more than Sakura."

He winced at the sound of her name. "Speaking of Sakura, I broke up with her at the end of the school day."

My heart stopped, and my stomach dropped. Now I was the one feeling guilty. I could just imagine Itachi breaking up with Sakura, and her screaming and cursing at him. Then, he would go on the bus and anxiously wait for me...and I would never come.

He would be sitting around, waiting for me.

While I was laying on that bench, waiting for him.

Waiting for each other.

It only felt like destiny now that we found each other.

It only felt like destiny that Sakura would not be involved anymore.

From now on, it was me and Itachi.

I pinched myself again.

Nope, Sasuke, this was still reality.