Hey, everyone, I'm back! Sorry for the long wait - it's just that I had exams and now I've got bronchitis!!! Anyway, the chapter below has really given me a headache, and I hope you like it!!!

Disclaimer: I own Naruto? I don't remember winning a lottery?

Chapter 3: Perspective

Itachi sighed impatiently as he waited for his medic to make an appearance. His old one was out of commission after he had complained against her constant and unending perverted gestures. Though the old woman had denied it vehemently, she could not defeat the testimony of the heir of the Uchiha clan. She had been practically dragged away, and the head medic of the department had personally come to give an apology. "She's a bit mad," he had stated sheepishly. "She causes a lot of trouble, but she's well-versed in the art of medical ninjutsu, so we have to keep her. I don't know what my deputy was doing, assigning her to you like that – she's well known for having an unhealthy interest in young men, especially those whom she considers 'attractive'. We have assigned a new medic to you – one of our best. I will personally make sure that both the medic and the person in charge will be punished – so there'll be no reason to complain to your father, eh?" he had said, while laughing nervously.

Itachi grit his teeth. The director hadn't cared at all about how he was faring – all he cared about was to make a good impression on the heir of the Uchiha clan, and, subsequently, the Uchiha head, Fugaku Uchiha. The head of the Uchiha clan held great importance in the village council, and those who were on favourable terms with him had a great advantage. The little episode with the director had been no new thing – it was common knowledge that Itachi was the apple of his father's eye. People naturally assumed that if anyone struck a favourable impression on Itachi it would automatically work on his father as well. That was why they had always bothered him, not Sasuke. They always overlooked his younger brother, and Itachi was well aware that his little younger brother resented him for that very fact. As his father's firstborn, and thus his heir, he had been treated like a prince from the very start. People were eager to make his acquaintance, to please him, to attract his attention. His own father had done nothing to discourage it – it pleased him that people admired his son. He knew that what they said was true – that Itachi was a truly exceptional young man, that he would make the clan very proud one day – and fully believed it. For as long as he could remember, his father had always favoured him over Sasuke. Whenever Sasuke had tried to gain their father's attention, he had failed, because Fugaku was too busy with Itachi to bother about him. It definitely didn't help when Fugaku compared Itachi with Sasuke, either. Sasuke was smart, but Itachi was a genius; Sasuke had passed in class with 95% marks, Itachi had passed with 97%; Sasuke had learnt to do the shadow clone ninjutsu when he was 11, Itachi had mastered it by 5. It had been, and would always be like that. His father favoured him because he could and did bring glory to the clan. Sasuke was just another spectator to him, born to praise his heir. He didn't matter as long as Itachi was doing well. Itachi knew that Sasuke resented him for being the one that their father always cared about, but, at the same time, could not help admiring the sheer determination and will of his brother. No matter how many insults he had to suffer, no matter how many put-downs or comparisons, the younger Uchiha had always only shown utmost respect to his father and his brother. Even he himself hadn't managed that – inevitably, his father would criticise him for some trivial matter and Itachi would lose his cool. There had been several incidences. One of them had taken place in his early pre-teens – but he did not want to think about that – who would? Another was when he was slightly elder, in his early teens, he had protested against his father's training methods. He was always training, and sick of it. He just wanted to be like the other boys his age – hang out in the park, comparing their missions, bragging, and, occasionally, giving appreciative comments on the girls that they knew. Instead, he was forced to train and keep on going on ANBU missions. He had completely lost his control, and disobeyed his father in an unforgivable manner. He had been severely punished, and had felt extremely guilty about the matter afterwards, but there was no one there to comfort him, to ensure him that everything would be fine, no one like his mother…

Ah, his mother. Itachi didn't think he had ever met anyone with a kinder soul. She was the only one who had ever really understood him. He used to feel happy just seeing her, or by hearing her voice or just feeling her presence near him. He had loved her more than anyone – more than his father, even more than Sasuke. She had always been kind and supportive, always with this special ability to spread happiness, even though she had never been happy herself, not really. She used to tell Itachi otherwise, that he and Sasuke were the most important parts of her life, that just thinking about them she felt happy. He had believed her at first, had desperately tried to, but could not hide the fact that she was very sad for very long. Desperate, he had asked his great-aunt Matsuki what was wrong, and she had looked at him gravely for a while, then told him. He had tried to tell himself that it wasn't true, that his mother couldn't have loved anyone else apart from his father, but knew inside that it was true – his mother had never loved his father. She had been shoved into this marriage, had been forced to, and had never once protested for fear of shaming her family. It had been a marriage of convenience – all people of rank and power were forced into them. He himself knew that he would have to marry someone rich or powerful, and probably a complete stranger, one day. He had finally known what the reason for his mother's sadness was, even if could not fully understand it. But she had never complained. Never once, in the entire time that he had ever known her, had he ever heard her even mutter so much as a word of complaint – except once when he was 10. He had heard his mother yelling at his father, but could not discern what was being said. The argument had abruptly ended with a crash, and the next day his mother had a huge bruise on her cheek. He had been too ashamed of his own eavesdropping to ask her what she was fighting with their father about. She had always supported him, even when his father had ridiculed him, which was often in itself. He was pretty sure that she would have supported him through all the other arguments he had had with his father as he grew up. Unfortunately, she had never got a chance, all because of him…

He shook his head. It was no use of thinking about it now, no matter how much it hurt or the fact that he still blamed himself despite what the others had told him. It would only cause pain and misery. He tried to remember what he was thinking about before he had started reminiscing about his mother, and nearly heaved a sigh of relief when he remembered his brother. His little brother had never once spoken back to their father. He was always the model of utmost respect, and yet his father would never once acknowledge it, too blind in his pursuit for power, recognition and ambition todo so. He sighed mentally. When would his father notice that, in reality, it was really brother who had strength superior to his won – spiritual strength. He had never lost hope, and had continued to persevere in his dreams of their father noticing him, despite the continuous rejection he had received. He let a small, proud smile decorate his face, but that quickly turned into a frown. His little brother had been hurt far worse than he had, having suffered several wounds to his torso and legs. He had been stable the last time he had asked Shizune, though, so there was no need to worry. Even though his little brother did not know it (since Itachi was such an expert in hiding his emotions – it was necessary for a good shinobi to do so) and probably would not believe it even if he was told so, Itachi cared a great deal about his otouto. Sasuke had really been far too young when their mother had died (it took all his willpower not to say 'when his mother had been murdered') – only 7 years old – and could not really remember her. This had always made Itachi slightly possessive over him – he couldn't help it, really. He had always been brought up being protected by his mother, so his subconscious mind refused to believe that Sasuke could survive without someone protective and shielding like his mother hovering over him. Since she was not around to do the job, Itachi took the responsibility himself. It had been 10 years since he had decided on that, and even though he knew it was pointless to worry over his brother like a mother chicken, he really could not help it. It had become a habit, and one that he frequently criticised himself for.

He shook himself out of his reverie once he heard the unmistakeable sound of footsteps in the corridor outside. He cast a glance at the huge, ugly griffin clock on the wall in front of him (seriously, did Tsunade have no taste, or what?) and saw that it was 15 minutes past the time that his new nurse was supposed to come. He narrowed his eyes into slits in displeasure – there was nothing that he hated more than tardiness. Furthermore, the steps of the person rapidly approaching his room were light and carefree, obvious signs of being a females footstep's. He mentally groaned in frustration – hadn't the stupid director learnt from his previous mistake never to assign a female human to his room? Evidently not. He mentally groaned again – he couldn't even get rid of the medic now! Tsunade had warned him not to leave the bed, and threatened to beat him black and blue if he did. He wasn't scared of her, not really – he was just wary of the huge and inhumanly powerful punches she threw. He would have to wait until tomorrow, until the male orderly came. He wasn't too fond of Itachi (apparently the girl that he fancied was 'madly in love' with Itachi) and would gladly get the warden for him. Then he'd be able to get rid of this annoying fangirl. He sighed once and then hardened his face, preparing to show the fangirl from the very beginning that he wasn't interested in her, although it wasn't likely that she's notice. No one did – he wondered if it was a rule in their guide of rulebook. Or did fangirls even have a rulebook. He let out a startled gasp as the door slid open, immediately mentally reprimanding himself for losing attention on the immediate situation at hand. Such a mistake could be fatal on the battlefield. He slowly rose his head to see…

"You!" he gasped.

Sasuke Uchiha was in a very bad mood. The S-rank mission he had been sent to had turned out to be a complete failure, AND he had suffered more injuries then his elder brother. It was the first S-rank he had, and he had hoped to, for once, outshine his brother on this so that his father would actually notice him for once. But, as usual, fate was against him, and he had returned badly bruised and beaten up. The only consolation was that Itachi had, technically, failed his mission too, and had also not returned unharmed. However, while his brother only had a slight concussion, he himself was suffering from a pierced torso and almost mauled legs. The Hokage had earlier told him that the only reason his brother was still in the hospital was because he was one of Konoha's most important shinobi and had to have a complete check-up before he went anywhere. Otherwise, he was completely fit. And even if Itachi had failed his mission, his father would turn a blind eye to it, continuing to brag about the missions he had completed successfully. He wouldn't even notice Sasuke. And even if he did (which was highly unlikely), all he would do was compare Sasuke's failed mission with Itachi's own successful first one, or comment on how his brother had managed to become an ANBU captain at the tender age of 13, whereas Sasuke wasn't even a jounin by 17.

But that was how it always was, wasn't it?

It would be both unfair and untrue to say that his earliest memories consisted of how to please his father – they had come a little later on. No, those special places were kept for memories of his mother. He could only vaguely remember her. He could remember the swish of her pretty pink house yukata as she moved around, straightening cushions, gently directing the kitchen staff, making sure that his husband and sons were comfortable in every way and at every time possible. He remembered her smiling face every day after coming home from school, as she enquired how his day had gone. He remembered her slicing tomatoes, his favourite fruit into slices to make a salad just for him. He remembered her staying up all night after he had caught a cold, gently soothing him, wiping his running nose, giving him honey and lemon to soothe his cough, putting a wet cloth on his forehead when he turned feverish. He remembered her kindness, her gentle nature, her motherliness, her affection, and, most of all, her love.

It was all too less.

He had been with his mother was such a short time – only 7 years, and he couldn't even remember what had happened during the first 4. He had wracked his brain for memories of her apart from the ones that he already remembered, staying awake until late night, searching, searching his brain for just one more glimpse of her lovely face, and sobbing himself asleep when he failed each time.

He missed her so much.

His mother was the only one who had really defended himself against his father. As for Fugaku, he hadn't even cared about his younger son, the unwanted one, the spare, to be used if something ever happened to the first, more precious one, just like a spare tyre. It had always been about him, his elder brother, his aniki, Itachi.

His father had always preferred Itachi to him. Itachi was the genius, the brilliant one, the pride of their clan, the one who brought glory to his father. His father was proud to be called 'Itachi's father.' He did not care for the second son. The only reason he had agreed for him was because his wife, Mikoto, used to complain about the conspicuous absence of their son every day from the house, and how she did not bear a child only to see him during breakfast and dinner. What his mother had actually been trying to do was lessen Itachi's training, however, his father would not hear of it, and insisted that she have another child to keep her busy. 'It will keep you off my back,' he used to say, Sasuke was told, 'and off Itachi's, too. Honestly, are you trying to ruin his future, woman?'

And despite all this, Sasuke had never hated his elder brother.

He had tried to do so, at first. He had wanted to despise his brother, to loathe the man that had taken the possibility of both fatherly and motherly affections from him. But he could not. He could not because he loved his brother.

His aniki had always been kind to him, always been there for him, always helped to train him. He had always attempted to protect him from their father's attacks, both verbal and physical. He had taken Sasuke's beating, Sasuke's insults, Sasuke's blame, and had always tried to be the best brother that he could be. Sasuke knew that he had always attempted to protect him, always tried to shield him from the harsh realities of the outside world, and he loved his brother for it. He knew that, at the end of the day, Itachi didn't want their father's attention as much as Sasuke wanted it. And he loved the fact that his aniki believed that, as well.

But there was no time to daydream just now. As mentioned above, Sasuke was in an extremely mood. Why, you ask? Not only was it because

He had failed his first ANBU mission

but also because

His medic had tried to molest him. He vaguely suspected that she was a member of his fanclub. She had the same whiny, violin-being-played-by-a-complete-amateur-who-really-had-no-talent-for-it voice.

He had managed to get a new medic with great difficulty. The hospital deputy director's secretary had angrily snapped at him (well, really Naruto. He couldn't even stand on his feet, much less walk down several floors on them) that most of the medics were in Suna, and that they could not afford to keep on reassigning him a new one. Even Sasuke's name and clan title hadn't worked at all – the deputy director's secretary was male, and his wife had apparently left him to join Sasuke's fanclub, so he wasn't exactly jumping from his seat to help Sasuke. Sasuke shuddered at the idea of the secretary's wife being his fangirl, or, more accurately, fangrandmother since the secretary was actually 75 years old. The secretary had only sent agreed to send another medic after Sasuke had requested Sakura to down there and threaten the wife-losing secretary.

His new medic was a female one.

Naruto was screaming in his right ear about how cute Sakura-chan looked in her new dress.

His new medic was supposed to be arriving in about 15 minutes. He was sure that she would be another fangirl – either his or his brother's, which equals groping for him or gossiping and prodding about information for his brother.

Could his day get any worse???

He closed his eyes and tried to shut out Naruto's obnoxious, orange voice. Honestly, had the dobe never learnt anything except how to annoy people at the Academy? He tried to concentrate on other senses. Training while in the hospital. His father would be proud if he ever took so much of a glance at Sasuke.

Suddenly, his senses pricked up. A very soft pair of feet were walking towards his door, small, hesitant, and definitely female. He would have thought that it was one of his fangirls if they weren't so soft – fangirls were always loud – hadn't known that Shizune had banned them from coming anywhere near the Uchiha brothers. God bless that woman.

But back to the problem at hand. The feet were slowly but surely approaching his room – most unlike a fangirl's. Naruto was still snorting obnoxiously. And Sasuke knew exactly what was going on outside.

He only opened his eyes when the feet finally stopped at his doorway. The person outside hesitated for a moment before twisting the knob and opening the door to reveal…

"N-Naruto-kun! Wh-what are y-you d-doing h-here?"

So? How was it? Good? Bad? Positively shit-worthy? Tell me by reviewing!

Also, I won't be able to write another chappie for this story for a while. I have 2 other sasuhina stories, and I have me with bronchitis to care for, and exams to cram for. But anyway, don't foget about me or this story, and be sure to REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!