Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters =D
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Naruto looked down towards the Uchiha who was holding onto his ankle, still sheltered by the protection of his brother's body. "Sasuke..."

Itachi pulled himself to his feet before bending down to pick up Sasuke, noticing how half of Sasuke was now wet. When Sasuke was standing on his own feet, but still using Itachi for support, they both made their way into the restaurant and into the seats beside Kakashi and Iruka, avoiding the pink haired ninja. Naruto stormed in seconds later, demanding an answer.

"Well if you sit down and shut up I'll tell you what happened." Itachi didn't even look away from the bowl of ramen in front of him, eyeing it cautiously.

"Fine.. But if I think you're lying I'll kill you." growled Naruto before taking a seat beside Sasuke.

Itachi sighed before finally facing the boy, what he guessed was supposed to be a glare spread over his face. He began to replay the events of that night yet again, occasionally looking towards Sasuke, who's head was buried in his hands, his ramen also left untouched. It took Itachi about half an hour to tell the story because Naruto kept interrupting, asking questions and yelling pointless statements or accusations. When he was finally finished, Sakura was standing in front of him, Sasuke had fallen asleep on the table, Kakashi and Iruka were off in their own world again and Naruto had eaten his way through eight bowls of ramen.

"You expect me to believe that?! I don't know how Sasuke fell for that but I sure as hell won't!" Naruto jumped out of his chair, waking Sasuke and waving his hand in Itachi's face.

"I don't know Naruto, Sasuke spent his whole life training so he could defeat Itachi. If he believes it so should we. We're his team so we should stand beside him no matter what he decides." Sakura looked from Sasuke to Itachi uncertainty filling her head even as she spoke against her thoughts.

"But Sakura~"

"No Naruto, she's right. If Sasuke wants to listen to Itachi, then you should too. Besides, me and Kakashi were there to hear all about it. He's telling the truth." Iruka lookedat the boy sternly, telling him with his eyes to leave the matter alone.

"Not you too Iruka-sensei!!"

"Naruto... Do you ever stop talking?!" Sasuke pushed his chair away from the table and stood shakily on his feet, Itachi standing with him as he was held onto once more. "I don't care what you think! He didn't kill my family so stop acting like an idiot."

"But you've been saying he did ever since you were at the academy!"

"I was wrong..." Sasuke's head fell as he gripped tighter to Itachi, his face hidden by his bangs.

"Come on Sasuke, let's go home..." Itachi pulled Sasuke's arm over his shoulder and put his own arm around his back as he helped the younger Uchiha back towards the mansion, giving his ex-sensei's a simple nod as a goodbye. They both staggered through the village, Sasuke suddenly tripping or losing his balance causing Itachi to stumble every now and then. Itachi knew they were being watched as they made their way back to the mansion, he just hoped no one reported him to the Hokage or ANBU. He made it back to the estate without incident and he entered the only remaining building, Sasuke clutching to him fiercely. He made his way through the darkness and entered the living room and put Sasuke down onto the couch. He stood in front of the shivering boy and with a few quick hand signals, the lights in the house came to life. Itachi looked around the room, noticing all the dust surrounding the room, and then down towards his brother who seemed ready to fall asleep at any moment.

"Sasuke??"

"Mmmm..."

Itachi smirked down at his brother who in his half conscious-state, was really enjoying whatever he was seeing, regardless of the fact he looked like a heart broken widow. He picked up his younger brother and carried him through the rooms and into Sasuke's old bedroom, the younger Uchiha snuggling into his chest as they walked. He placed him on the bed and threw a blanket over him after taking off the boy's crept out of the room again, closing the door quietly. He padded through the house silently, his body beginning to shiver with the cold his damp body brought. He made his way through the silent house, avoiding the squeaky floorboards he knew from memory, and heading toward his bedroom to get clean clothes. He opened his door slowly and walked over to his bag with his clothes on the bed. He opened the bag and pulled out new clothes. He stripped out of the cold damp clothes and quickly replaced them with a pair of long pants and socks while he sat on the bed, cradling his shirt with the Uchiha crest on the back in his arms. He closed his eyes and he was thirteen again, running through the village. He could hear the sounds of murder, smell the stench of death and feel the power of the adrenaline coursing through his veins. The screams sent shivers through his spine, the sight of his dead parents fresh in his eyes as his brother stumbled onto the site.

He was brought out of his memories by the door squeaking as it opened slowly. He opened his heavy eyes, tears dropping from his cheeks and onto the shirt in his hands. He looked towards the door to see Sasuke standing there, something Itachi couldn't make out in the dim light in his hand. He saw the object glimmer and panic momentarily filled his head at the thought that Sasuke was going to try kill him. Sasuke took a few steps towards Itachi, but stopped when he was at the foot of the bed.

"You left me Itachi... You left me to think you killed everyone. Why?"

"I told you before, I couldn't take you... It wouldn't have been fair to you." Itachi's voice was barely a whisper, Sasuke's voice no louder.

"You could have explained it to the Hokage... You could have stayed with me..." The weakness in Sasuke's voice suggested he wasn't whispering because he felt like it, but rather he didn't have the energy to yell at Itachi anymore, he was tired of all the fighting and the desperation was clear in his face.

"Sasuke I was thirteen, I didn't know what to do. I was confused and had just seen the murder of my parents. Given that situation now Sasuke what would you do? I wonder if you would have stayed? I wonder if you would have been stronger than I was..."

"I doubt it... You were the great one. You mastered everything well before I did." Sasuke moved from the end of the bed and sat down right beside Itachi, his head bent as they talked in whispers.

"It came naturally to me so I never worked towards anything. I would get bored doing something if I couldn't do it so I'd give up, but you had a determination like one I'd never seen before."

Itachi looked at his brother, studying his face as the talked in the silence. "I'm sorry Sasuke... I should have been a better brother."

"Shut up. You're here now... I suppose that has to count for something right?"

Itachi laughed lightly at that and wrapped his arm around Sasuke's shoulder, pulling him into a half hug. "Yeah, I guess it does. So tell me brother, when did you get this emotional? Iruka told me you were a cold bastard and the only time you felt emotion was when you were told you beat everyone in something."

Sasuke felt the heat rise in his face when he heard nothing more realised he had to answer. "I ah, I guess Hinata..."

Itachi smiled at his brother, knowing that love sick face when a thought occurred to him. "So you're feeling better then?"

"Just a bit... I'm still tired though. So I think I'll go to bed."

"Good. You need your strength if you're going to take on a Hyuga, and a Hyuga clan." Itachi ruffled Sasuke's hair as he stood up, throwing his shirt over the chair that sat at his desk.

"Itachi..."

"Yeah?"

"Can I sleep here tonight? "

"What?" Itachi stopped walking back to his bed and looked down at his brother who was still on his bed, wondering if he had heard correctly.

"I know it's a weird thing to ask but if I stay here tonight I don't want to be alone. I know I'm not a child anymore but when I close my eyes I see them... mom and dad...the blood..." Sasuke never looked up at the older male when he had spoken, or even when he finished so he missed the look of surprise turn to a smirk on Itachi's face.

"Sure kid, I don't see why not." Itachi laughed at the strange request, thinking Sasuke would have thought asking such a thing would be beneath him. He sat back on the bed and crawled beneath the welcoming warmth of the blankets, keeping them thrown back as he waited for Sasuke. When he finally crawled beneath the blankets, Sasuke pulled them around his neck, attempting to dispel the cold. He felt Itachi's arm wrap around his body and he leaned back into the older male, his presence offering security.

The younger Uchiha was the first to fall asleep, his frail body enveloped by the large frame of his brother. His breathing was deep and slow, but also laboured as he dreamt, terrifying images replaying in his head, over and over again. Itachi watched his brother in the dim lighting, his breathing rate alternating from slow to rapid without any pattern. The object Sasuke walked in with was now clutched to his chest and Itachi saw it was a picture of the two boys when they were younger.

Sasuke was training down by the pier when Itachi showed up. Itachi stayed with the younger Uchiha and helped him train until darkness was beginning to creep about and hunger forced them to lose concentration on anything but the growls sounding from each body. Tired, Sasuke told Itachi he couldn't walk any further, and to Sasuke's surprise, Itachi bent down and threw his arms behind his back, offering it to Sasuke, who jumped on happily. When they got home, their mother saw the boys coming and caught them on camera, but neither knew until she had the photos and framed them, giving each a copy and putting a third into the family album.

"Sleep well baby brother, I will watch over you." Itachi smiled in the darkness at his brother before deciding he was too tired to stay awake much longer. He watched the rise and fall of the younger male's chest until he himself lost himself to a world he couldn't escape. The world where he relives his nightmares and fears. A world, which lives in the back of his mind coming to life only when he could no longer stop them from coming.

Itachi woke but never opened his eyes, the warmth persuading him to stay longer. He turned over, and felt as though a part of him was missing. His mind began to wake slowly the longer he lay there and he realised what was wrong; Sasuke was gone. His eyes flew open and he looked towards the empty spot on the bed. The sheets were no longer warm and he knew Sasuke must have left quite a while ago, but slid out of bed and rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he stood, stretching his muscles to wake them up. He walked through the silent house in search of his brother, hoping he hadn't left so they could still talk. He made his way to Sasuke's room and opened the door. He didn't see Sasuke in the room, and yet he entered and walked over to the bed, sitting down as he feared his brother had already left and he lost his chance like he lost each breath he took, each never to return but was replaced by another, leaving the last behind only to be forgotten. He left the room suddenly to continue his search for his brother. He walked through all of the rooms, calling for Sasuke but he never called back. After thoroughly searching the house twice and finding nothing, it was obvious Sasuke wasn't in the house. He decided he needed to talk to Sasuke and bring him home so he put on his shirt and sandals before running out the door, not even bothering to brush his wild, black Uchiha hair or even taking off the clothes he had slept in.

He ran through the village once again, hoping that he either wouldn't be recognised or people just didn't report him. He thought both were very unlikely seeing as there was an Uchiha crest on the back of his shirt. He went to Sasuke's apartment and slipped inside. He crept about in search of the boy or any clues as to where he went. He walked through the empty apartment as panic and fear crept it's way back into his mind. He walked into the bedroom and tried to spot the clothes Sasuke had been wearing the previous day, but couldn't see them. He walked over to the window with the intention of climbing out when his eyes fell onto the pictures laying on the desk. He stepped away from the window and towards the desk, curiosity proving to be stronger than he thought. He picked up the picture of team seven, smiling sadly at the two happy genin, an annoyed jounin, and a glaring Uchiha. Is this what I let you become? Itachi put down the picture and picked up one of the family, all four of them. He rubbed his hand along the frame of the picture, a drop falling onto the glass. He set the picture down before walking to the window and opening it. "I'm sorry I couldn't save you."

He ran through the village, searching all the obvious places; Ichiraku's, the academy, the training grounds, the pier and even Naruto's house. After finding the places with some great difficulty, he decided to check the one place he never wanted to see again unless it was burning to the ground. The Hyuga clan's estate. He walked up to the main gate and knocked, not wanting to start a fight until he knew Sasuke was or wasn't there. The gate opened and revealed a middle aged male. "What do you want?"

"I'm looking for someone and I was wondering if he had come here." Itachi bent his head and kept the crest out of view, he knew if they knew who he was they would kill him or at least not let him know where Sasuke was.

The man looked Itachi up, then down before barking out his reply. "I don't know what you're talking about. There's no one here other than the Hyugas!"

"Are you Hyugas always so dam gruff? You're even rude to a friendly leaf ninja!" Itachi looked down at the other ninja, a look of disgrace shown over his face. It might be a while before he found Sasuke, he may as well have fun screwing around with people's heads... without the Sharingan.

"No one's here so just leave." Itachi looked at the man once more before sighing and turning around, revealing the crest of the Uchiha clan to him. "Uchiha...." The man's voice was a whisper, awe clearly noticeable in his tone.

Itachi pulled a kunai from his pouch and closed the gap between them faster than the man thought possible, and then brought the kunai to the man's throat, putting enough pressure on to make him be feared, but not enough to harm the man. "Okay, let's do this the hard way. I'm looking for Sasuke. He's not around the village so I'm guessing he's in here with Neji or Hinata. You say he's not here but you can't know for sure without looking. So I want you to turn around and let me through so I can go look for him. You will come with me and tell everyone that it's okay for me to be here. Understand?"

The man nodded slowly, looking into the crimson and black eyes. He turned his back slowly and started to walk through the gate and into the estate, Itachi following beside him. Once in the estate, Itachi ran straight for the main house, the other man falling in step with him. He never paused when he jumped up the few steps the house and continued still as he threw open the door and ran into the house. He noticed how, although it was smaller, the house had a similar layout to his own. He ran straight to the kitchen, then to the dining room, the living room and then checked the bathroom. After none of these showed any sign of life he moved on to the bedrooms. The first he came across, he guessed was the main bedroom. Seeing Sasuke wasn't there he ran to the room next door and seeing the male clothing, he guessed it was Neji's. He checked the few other rooms in the house, but found nothing. When he stood outside the final room, he knew it was Hinata's and hoped Sasuke was in there. He would talk to Hinata, or at least sit with her. He opened the door and held his breath. He looked around the room and his eyes fell on to Hinata, cleaning her ninja tools.

"Itachi... Wh-why are you running around my home... and... and my estate?"

"Hinata have you seen Sasuke?? I can't find him!"

"No... I-I haven't... I hope you find him!" Itachi closed the door behind him, leaving Hinata alone in her room, wondering why she hadn't decided to go look for him.

Itachi left the house and stood in the middle of the buildings, ignoring the stares and glares he was receiving, thinking where he could be if he was with Neji. He told the ninja following him to show him where any training grounds were and the man obliged. They ran around buildings until they came to a building that looked like a dojo, but Itachi couldn't have been sure... They saw the main Hyuga, Hinata's father, and Neji's father talking. Itachi decided to walk straight up to them. It would be an interesting conversation after all.

"I'm looking for Sasuke. Where is he?" The two men, who seemed to have been arguing rather than talking, stopped at the sound of the new voices and both looked shocked to see the man in front of them. Itachi was standing tall, his black hair flowing with the breeze, his dark eyes fixed on the two men and his mere presence threatening.

"Leave here Uchiha! We've got our own problems to take care of. And as for Sasuke, he's not here. Every Hyuga knows he's not allowed in those gates anymore. Not after last time so you're wasting your time here go look somewhere else."

"What do you mean last time? And what problems does the 'almighty' Hyuga clan have?"

"Well your brother came charging in here, quite like you except you have an escort... or rather a hostage, and he tried to force his way into the main house. And our problems are none of your business Uchiha." The main Hyuga took a step away from the other and stood in front of Itachi, staring him straight in the face.

"Well that is what an Uchiha does. We go in head first and let our prey know we are there. We make them afraid by knowing we are there. We don't go attack when they lie sleeping. We don't kill our allies, even if we don't like them. We don't act like cowards! And as for your problems, I may be willing to help if you help me out with Sasuke."

"If you are implying that I am weak or cowardly Uchiha, you're wrong. I was clever. I saw an opportunity and took it. Just because your clan was too weak to fend off it's attacker does not reflect on my clan. And if you must know we can't find Neji so it's not really something you can help with. So turn and leave before I set my people on you."

"Neji's missing?! Shit!" Itachi turned and ran out of the estate, leaving the Hyugas slightly confused but uncaring. Typical of a Hyuga... You tell them one thing and they go and do the complete opposite. If that kid has done anything to Sasuke he'll have hell to pay for it! Itachi ran through the village, hoping to find Kakashi's house. After a few minutes of searching he found it, not really knowing how. He knocked on the door loudly and quickly, deciding not to run straight in, afraid he would walk in on Kakashi's and Iruka's 'fun time'. Itachi heard the shuffling of feet and muffled voices, telling him he was right in not going straight in.

"Kakashi hurry your ass up and open the door! It's about Sasuke!" As soon as he mentioned about Sasuke the door opened,and it wasn't Kakashi that opened the door, but Iruka.

"What about Sasuke? What happened?" Iruka pulled the Uchiha by the arm and into the room, not wanting to show his body to the entire village. Itachi looked at the room in front of him, knowing he had interrupted them. Iruka had a blanket in his hand, holding it around his waist in attempt to cover his manhood. His face was flushed and his breathing was quick, but the worry in his eyes was clearer than his obvious arousal. His eyes moved to Kakashi who was lying on the couch now, a blanket up to his belly button, a smirk obvious behind his mask and was matched in his eyes.

"Eh, sorry for interrupting b~"

"Again!" Itachi and Iruka both turned towards Kakashi who had interjected, and both laughed at the jounin.

"Okay... Anyway I can't find Sasuke. He's not in the village."

"He's thirteen Itachi relax. He's been known to disappear. He's probably on the pier or with Naruto. Go home and stop worrying." Iruka put his hand on Itachi's shoulder for reassurance, but went unnoticed by the older Uchiha.

"He's not in the village sensei! I've looked everywhere and no one has seen him."

"He'll be back, he is a ninja after all. An Uchiha. He can look after himself. He did have the two best senseis in the village after all!" Iruka's laughing stopped and his smile fell when he saw the seriousness in Itachi's voice. "What is it Itachi?"

"My brother is gone and you're laughing. He's not just gone sensei because he took nothing. He came into my room last night and when I woke up he was gone but the picture he slept with was there. When I went to his apartment, he wasn't there and it doesn't look like he has since I talked to him. He's wearing the same clothes as yesterday, you know the dirty ones."

"He'll be fine... He'll come back."

"No he won't sensei he's gone. But he didn't leave on his own. Neji's missing too. Kakashi, Iruka, you have to help me. A Hyuga has fucking ran off with my baby brother when I only just get to him. Sasuke was kidnapped by that arrogant ass Neji Hyuga!!"
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AN: So I hope you enjoyed that chapter! I liked writing it =D