Sighing, he dropped the empty syringe to the floor.
It clinked against the floorboards and rolled away under Kisames bed, probably never to be seen again.
They were so easy to find, abandoned warehouses, burnt down hospitals, medicine shops.
Morphine was everywhere.
Slumped in a rickety old wooden chair, Itachi reflected on his 'drug' habit.
When he really thought about it, he came to the conclusion that he did it to counteract depression, boredom and just flat out suppress anything else that might pop up…
And of course, to ease the pain of his crippling disease.
He sniffed and wiped his arm, tiny pin pricks of blood rubbing off onto his fingers.

He hadn't missed the comments the others made about him either.
When ever he entered a room with dilated pupils, red eyes and bulging vein in his arm; the whispers always followed.
Not that he could very well see who it was that said anything.
He mainly distinguished people by their blurry colors, speeds and sizes.
Pein knew he had impaired vision, but Itachi was smart enough to never let on that he was practically blind.

Maybe he was just paranoid… a side effect of the chemicals no doubt.
It wasn't as though he wasn't wanted… They were just… Worried is all…
The whispers were getting to him though.
They clung to him when he passed through room and haunted him like spirits.
He could never be free of them.

They all had their own way of describing him. Despite everything, it did kind of interest him.
Deidara had said that although Itachis fuse was burning slowly, he was still about to blow.
Trust Deidara to compare him to an explosive…
Pein added his lack of sleep into the equation and had puzzled over it; although Itachi never dreams because he barely sleeps, he somehow kept his head in the clouds.

He had never really been one for complaining, Itachi just kept whatever pain he may have had to himself
The less people I tell, the less people it bothers, he had figured

Leaning forward, rubbing his heads in his hands and fisting his hair he whispered,

"Why is it that when I'm getting high I feel so damn low…?"

I must be getting out of control.