Alright, so i don't know exactly when the next chapter will be posted, though i am aiming for the 16th. I apologize for getting this up late, some bad things have happened recently, so if my writting REALLY starts to suck, or this ending is bad please understand i am just really distracted. On the other hand, it makes me feel better to have updates. Thanks for taking the time to read this story. Oh, that reminds me I DONT OWN NARUTO CHARACTERS! I always forget to say that.

Chapter Eight: More Value in Care

It doesn't matter if we say we don't need anyone, that we can hold our own and hold our heads high with strength and resolve like no other. We all have one thing that we need.

We need someone to care.

It was beyond humiliating, it was….it was…..I don't know what it was, but I could feel my blood boiling underneath the pores of my skin, itching to be released. Damn Itachi, now even though I have my key he comes around every day now to bother me about seeing a doctor or how I'm doing lately or some crap.

I don't need a doctor; it was just a stupid nightmare that's all not really a big deal.

I wonder what Naruto is doing right now. Probably dropping all the plates Kakashi owns at Juogo's while trying to serve customers food. Technically I can go out of the apartment, but more precisely I can't go to Juogo's because then Kakashi will call Itachi and then Itachi will know I've been out. No matter how much I hate Itachi, he is a fearsome person to cross.

I spent my day cleaning the house instead, doing laundry and scrubbing around the surfaces of various objects. The whole thing was annoying, but what annoyed me more was that I wanted to go see him; it was killing me being here by myself with nothing else to do but more homework.

But then again there was always that knife thing to think about…tons of ideas popped in my head that I didn't want to even begin to wrap my head around, but then it also occurred to me that a lot of people keep blades like that around for protection. But not all of those knives had those stains on it. That small detail rushed to my head, it was something I pushed back so that I wouldn't freak out.

Why was there blood on that knife?

I was late.

He was late.

Sasuke Uchiha was late.

I ran down the streets with cars honking in every direction as I speed pass at the risk of being late. There was no way in hell I was going to start modeling after Kakashi! 20 minutes before first period would end I rushed into the room, handing a tarty slip to Kakashi as I passed to go sit in the seat next to Naruto.

Naruto was laughing at me, in complete hysterics until an eraser came flying and smacking him in the head, then it was my turn to laugh silently. What a dork as usual. He turned to me, whispering or at least somewhat whispering. "How was your weekend?"

I rolled my eyes in response and he cracked his smile even wider, "Annoying and boring, as usual."

Naruto's smile faded slightly, replaced with grin. After that we interacted very little but when class was almost over he leaned over and placed a square envelope on my desk that could only contain one thing, an invitation. I sent him a questioning look but was ignored as I picked up the envelope and opened it.

Shikamaru was having a birthday party; it seems a little weird for him to bother with invitations. Then I remembered he had a mother who nags him about those sorts of things. Why would Shikamaru invite me? He doesn't even like me.

I looked over at Naruto for answers once again, and was once again ignored. Maybe the Dobe had something to do with it and doesn't want to admit it. I could feel my mouth stretching into a smile for a brief second before I grimaced and whipped it off with the flick of my wrist as my hand moved across my mouth. Smiling makes me look stupid; I can feel the IQ points falling out of my head every time I do it.

I really wonder about my mental health sometimes.

Eating lunch with Naruto and his friends has become a regular thing now; I don't even bother asking if I can anymore. Gaara no longer glares at me the whole time, and occasionally someone will speak to me or ask me about something. I didn't mind not being totally involved in the conversations, mostly because the topics could get out of hand.

Today the person to randomly ask a question was Kiba, "Hey, you help Naruto with Math right? Can you help me with this one problem? Lazy ass over there doesn't feel like it."

Friends help each other with stuff even if it's annoying right? So becoming close enough to Kiba in order to quiz for info on Naruto would also require becoming friends and helping him even though it's annoying right? Well then I had no choice but to say "yes."

Teaching Kiba was easier than teaching Naruto, but they were similar in a lot of ways. Including the way he howled with delight every time he got something. It wasn't any more annoying and I could feel my tolerance for idiots growing.

Choji seemed to take notice and joined in also; he even shared a chip with me which I guess is something. I really don't like the brand though. Ino and Sakura joined a moment later, swooning over me every chance they got before I finally got fed up and told them to go away, retreating to the next class as fast as humanly possible.

After school I waited for Naruto as usual, weird….that's become "usual"…especially since "usual" used to mean glaring him down from my desk while he said a bunch of stupid crap. However this day was anything but "usual", I realized that when Naruto walked out of the building with all of his friends following behind him. "Hey, everyone is going to hang out, wanna come Sasuke?"

I winced covering my ears at the sheer volume, "What are you doing Dobe? I'm standing right in front of you, idiot…..well…I don't have anything else to do so I'll tag along."

"Yay! LET'S GO!" Naruto screamed running ahead with Kiba nipping at his heals; I walked beside Choji and Shikamaru who may as well be attached at the hip, watching them. I barely noticed Shino and Gaara walking behind me, because they were in a deep discussion about a project coming up. As time went by nothing event full really happened, well….except Kiba sent a car screeching to a halt by running directly in front of it, causing everyone to pause with shock before resuming whatever it was we were doing beforehand. But eventually, we all made it to Naruto's house in one piece, which better still be clean.

And to my surprise, it is.

"What happened to your house?" Quizzed Kiba as everyone entered the living room, taking seats on the couch. Actually, only Shikamaru, Choji, and Shino took the couch while the rest of us sat on the floor around it. There wasn't any room after Choji sat down.

Naruto beamed at Kiba while taking out his cellphone, I completely forgot…."Sasuke and I cleaned it last weekend! Want to see a picture?"

"Don't you dare NARUTO!" I yelled, lunging forward to grab the phone from his hands. He pulled as I made contact and we struggled for the phone while rolling around on the carpeted floor. I managed to tug at just the right moment after pinning Naruto to the floor, and with him screaming beneath me as I sat on his stomach; I took my victory by deleting the photo he took of me.

Naruto pouted up at me, the light shining down from above only heightening the gleam in his eyes as he spoke, "Why did you do that Sasuke?"

Feeling a blush coming on, I hurriedly got off of Naruto and stood up holding his phone out for him to take, "Because, I….it's embarrassing!"

I heard the sound of a phone taking a picture…no wait multiple phones taking pictures. Shikamaru and Kiba were exchanging high fives when I turned to view them. Kiba smirked at me, showing me the picture on his screen. I was my own face blushing back at me from the side, I froze, and Kiba smirked triumphantly, "I've never seen you blush so hard…Sasuke."

Then everyone in the room decided to laugh at me.

Maybe this wasn't the best idea, but on the other hand there is no way I can just run from the situation. So I sat down and sulked while they began shuffling through channels on the TV, talking about random stuff that I didn't care about. But everything was alright, until…

There was a knock at the door. (Most common use of ditching a moment and creating a new situation in a story right?)

Don't tell me Itachi knows where Naruto lives. I hate it when I'm right, the one standing behind the door was none other than Itachi. He walked into the room with a smirk on his face and pointed at me, "Aren't you grounded little brother?"

How annoyed I can be reached its limit, "Will you stop calling me that! Why do you do it anyway?"

"Because lit-tle bro-ther" Itachi smiled, drawing out his words as his finger slowly rested on my forehead, "it annoys you."

Everyone started laughing at me again "Fuck you Itachi!" I grumbled getting off the floor, picking up my backpack and following him out the door, "It's not like you're my parent so leave me the hell alone. When does this "grounding" of mine end anyway?"

Itachi froze for a second before resuming his pace; it was embarrassing to be dragged out of an apartment by your older brother. "Until you go to counseling, just one session is all and if you don't want to go after that than fine, just once."

I let out a sigh, just one boring waste of time session and I could be free from his constant presence. It might be worth it. "Alright fine. I'll go to the stupid session!"

I knew he was smiling even though I couldn't see his face, a bad feeling settled into my stomach as he said "Good."

It was just one simple word, but it was enough to shake me a little. I knew that there was no taking back the agreement I just made, no matter what.

The next day I had an appointment, which was just as boring as I thought it would be. The doctor/counselor went on and on with pointless questions, so natural I gave him pointless answers if I even answered at all. I groaned at the thought of having to do this more than once, and knowing Itachi he would find a way for make me come again.

Itachi's smile made everything worse as he drove me to school, it was just a stupid nightmare I don't see what the big deal is but if it got me out of this hell than sessions with an idiot doctor who draws smiley faces on his notepad isn't such a bad thing.

As he dropped me off at the school entrance, Itachi turned to me and stated, "You are no longer grounded; feel free to pursue your love interests in peace."

I froze, "I don't have any kind of love interest to pursue"

"Whatever you say.", Itachi's smile was creeping me out more than ever now, but it was also annoying to the point where I really just had to complain about it. About two weeks ago, I would have just pounded the Dobe, now he's someone just to talk to.

"I hate him." I fumed to Naruto after school, the others weren't around today. It was just me and Naruto again, eating chips at the kitchen table. "He never knows when to give up."

Naruto was unusually quiet again, and I sensed that maybe I was saying something stupid, I watched him pick up a chip and insert it in his mouth, chewing, "Well….at least he cares for you."

Cares for me? Itachi cares…about me? I could feel myself tensing up at the thought, "It's not something you would understand. Itachi doesn't care about anything but his own affairs. So don't talk about it like you know anything."

Naruto sent me a hurt look and I instantly regretted my words, I didn't mean that. I didn't mean that.

I didn't mean it.

"Yeah you're right. I don't know what it's like for someone to care for me." Naruto said quietly, standing up from the table, slamming his hands down on the wood. "AND I WOULD DO ANYTHING TO HAVE A BROTHER LIKE YOURS!"

A silence filled the air, all I could hear was Naruto's deep breathing as he calmed down his emotions. Guilt overcame me, and I made eye contact with the wooden table. "I'm sorry." is all I said, before getting up and making my way out of the front door without a goodbye.

There were two questions on my mind as I walked home.

Did I just do something completely stupid? But the more important question was, do I under value what I have?

It's difficult to see who's right.