Two hues of onyx blinked open slowly. The blurry view of a closet bathed in darkness was tempted to come into view as the beholder of said orbs forced himself to keep both eyes open. A small noise between a whimper and a groan surfaced on his lips as he tried to roll over, a splitting-headache causing him to stop and tug at his hair; a sickening feeling tilting the world to the right as he did so. The darkness of the room and the cool air from the fan felt good, but it wasn't enough. The boy swallowed, a shiver running the length of him from the sickness he was enduring.

"Sasuke?"

A familiar voice inquired rhetorically into the darkness as the door to the room he was in being pushed open and the fluorescent lighting he knew so well came into view atop him, causing his headache to worsen. Sasuke let out a whimper, entire body shaking in pain. The one opening the door must have noticed this, for they had taken care to shut the door quickly enough. "Itachi…?" Sasuke rasped into the silence as a weight sat down on the bed beside him.

"Here, sit up, drink this."

The boy felt a hand press on his back as he was, most literally, lifted into a sitting position, leaning against the other as he was fed sips of water from a glass.

"You're such a fucking idiot, you know that?" A long pause before this had his brother popping two advil into Sasuke's mouth. "Not only did you get caught, you got caught by your own damn teacher completely drunk. You are such a fucking idiot." Itachi repeated, laying a hand on his younger brothers head and petting him slowly. Sasuke attempted to turn and look at him, but soon learned he wasn't in control of his body quite yet.

"Huh…?" Was all he could think of to say. He couldn't remember anything of last night; especially not the fact he had been caught by a teacher. "Who?"

The boy felt Itachi sigh at his side. "Doctor Hatake Kakashi." He elaborated, throwing his syllables up and down in a mock-elegance. The boy's eyes widened as his body stiffened.

"Ka-Kakashi?" He stuttered, swallowing. "N-no way…" It was his worst nightmare. Of all the teachers that had had to find him…Kakashi? "Wait…this is…?" He started, looking around himself to realize he was in none other than his own bedroom.

"He brought you home around 1am this morning. Needless to say, mom was in an instant fit of tears and dad was cursing up a storm. Not to mention I had to carry your drunken ass all the way up the damn stairs to bed. For someone who's so damn scrawny, you're awfully heavy, you know."

Sasuke felt heat touch his cheeks as the pigments merged into a coral pink on the surface. His nightmare was beginning to worsen. His mom and dad knew, and if Itachi had to carry him, there was no doubt Kakashi had carried him as well. The boy felt himself shrink into himself slightly at the thought of being in his teacher's arms. Though, try as he may, he couldn't resurface a single memory of the night prior.

"Get dressed, it's almost dinner time, you know. You slept all day." Itachi commanded, laying the boy back down in bed slowly and getting up to traipse across the room and out the door. Sasuke attempted to sit up in protest.

"What day is it?" He started in a panic. "I can't go down there! Tell mom and dad I'm sleeping still…I can't-"

"Oh stop being a pussy." Itachi huffed. "You gotta face them some time. Besides, it's your fault you got caught." The elder Uchiha paused at the door, thinking for a moment. "…it's Saturday." He finally said before walking out without another word.

Sasuke let out a groan. The last thing he wanted to do was face his parents, yet, as much as he didn't want to admit it, Itachi was right. He had to face them sometime. As he began to get out of bed, his knees almost immediately gave out below him. The boy let out a half-shriek as he collided with the floor, tears forming at the edges of his eyes as he bit his lower lip, brows furrowing in pain.

Sasuke laid there for a moment, allowing the world a chance to stop spinning, before he pushed himself up once more, swaying side to side as he did so. Both hands grasped the bed for support, pushing himself fully up. He hadn't a clue how he was going to make it down the stairs to dinner. As he made his way over to the closet, a shining black object caught his eye; his Windows Vista. It was only then all the memories that had caused him to do this flooded back to him.

"Naruto…" He whispered, suddenly remembering what he had done. Desperately, the boy stumbled over to his top drawer, searching through it till he found his phone. Whence spotting the small turquoise Samsung Juke, the Uchiha turned it on for the first time in days, having forgotten he had been avoiding Naruto. As he allowed the little phone time to turn itself on, he slowly went about clumsily getting himself dressed, then proceeded to look over as the phone began vibrating endlessly with all the texts he was receiving; majority of them from Naruto, he assumed. A pang struck him in his chest as he realized all of these texts would probably hurt.

Reluctantly, the boy sat down on his bed before pulling a shirt on and began to read them…all eighteen of them.

Sasuke? Are you coming back online?

Where are you?

What was that all about…?

…

Do you really hate me?…

You're not answering…am I left to assume what my mind is thinking…?

…answer me…

…okay….I get it…sorry I ever tried to be your friend…

Don't talk to me…ever again.

I'll just cut it off right here…I'll make it easier for you and block you on AIM…

I'm sorry I can't transfer to a different school…Jiraiya said I couldn't till next year…so you're going to have to put up with being in the same classes for the rest of the year. I'm sorry.

……

But I'll transfer out next year, I promise so you don't have to put up with me, okay?

…Sasuke?

…you really are ignoring me, aren't you…

Are you coming to school today…?

Sasuke looked at the date, suddenly realizing Naruto had sent this one Friday morning.

…guess not…

I'm probably wasting your texts aren't I…sorry…I'll stop here…

It was the last message he had sent before a message from Lee, one of Naruto's good friends.

Is Naruto-kun okay? =/ He seemed kind of off today and you weren't here so I was just wondering…it saddens me to see such youthful glows dulled, you know? I guess you're sick huh? FEEL BETTER!!

Sasuke clenched his teeth, throwing his phone across the room and curling up on his bed, grabbing his pillow and burying his face in it to suffocate the oncoming sobs. "I'm sorry…I'm sorry…!" He choked, clenching his fists around the fabric tighter. "I'm sorry!"

Waiting for what seemed like five seconds, the boy looked up slightly, face stained with tears from the past actual five minutes of hysterical sobs. He sniffed gently, hoping it was just the alcohol that was making him cry like this. He was an Uchiha…Uchiha's didn't cry. Not in this household. Slowly, the boy got to his feet, padding across the room in a zombie-like stasis till he reached his phone, picking it up between his shaking fingers.

"…I love you, damnit…" He whispered, wanting so badly to type the words and send them to his friend. Yet, everything in the world seemed to be against him at this point; even he was against himself.

"Sasuke, time for din-" Itachi started, opening the door. "Huh?" Noticing his brother off the bed, the elder of the two looked through the door to see a shirtless Sasuke standing and shivering in a corner, staring at the dimming screen of his phone as silent tears cascaded down his cheeks. Baffled for a moment, Itachi stood there, then silently exited the room, closing the door softly in his wake after mumbling; "Come down when you're feeling better so mom and dad don't yell at me too much…"

"Where's Sasuke?" A rather demanding voice sounded from Fugaku as Itachi descended the stairs. The younger male sat down in silence, dishing food onto his plate. The elder across from him creased his brow further. "Itachi. I will not ask you again."

"He's in his room."

The apathetic monotone of the boy's vocals caused their father's already irked atmosphere to intensify. "I told you to bring him down here for supper."

"He'll be down."

Mikoto looked between the two as she set a dish of rice on the table, pursing her lips as she did so. "Now, come on, boys, don't argue." She said softly. The stress in the Uchiha household was almost tangible.

"I'm not arguing. I'm demanding my son of an answer I rightfully need to know." The man growled, arms folded across his chest in his light blue evening yukata. Itachi silently spooned rice into his side bowl as his father stared him down. "Itachi. Go get Sasuk-"

"Shut up and eat, old man."

Mikoto dropped the spoon she was holding, causing a clatter to take hold of the silence as Fugaku's eyes widened.

"…what did you just say?"

Two onyx orbs opened defiantly towards his father. "I said, shut up and eat."

The kitchen seemed to freeze as both mother and father's jaws hung ajar in midst of the crude words. Itachi stared unblinkingly towards Fugaku for a moment, allowing a beat to pass before turning to Mikoto. "Will there be takayaki again, mother?"

Sasuke bit his lower lip for the umpteenth time, tasting blood. The advil he had taken was starting to make him drowsy but he knew he still had his parents to face. Not to mention if he left Itachi down there fending for him much longer he was sure their father would either skin Itachi alive or come up and carry him downstairs and chain him to the chair. A light breath passed his lips in a sigh as he got to his feet, having been sitting on the bed. Giving a glance to the phone beside him, as though waiting for another text from Naruto, a disappointment flooded him when the screen remained blank.

Swallowing the blood and saliva mixture in his mouth, the teen began his descent to the kitchen, not at all looking forward to what awaited him…

A/N: Thought I'd bless you all with a short chapter in comparison to those frightfully long ones prior to this. I swear I don't mean to write that much. But now I've got to leave for night school. Yay…not really. Maybe I'll write more when I return and get another chapter up in one night. That'd be strange, wouldn't it? Hmm.

Well, review if you want an update.