A/N: Hey everyone I know its been a while since I've updated a chapter but that's because when I had finished writing this one I just decided to go ahead and write 23, so I could post 2 chapters at one time. I hope you enjoy, please review and tell me what you think. I'd like to give a special thanks to Princess- Samme and MissWilliamsX for reviewing Chapter 21, its much appreciated.

Warning: Bad Language, Yaoi, Mentions of Abuse

Disclaimer: Same as Always

Wednesday ( 5 Days Till Halloween)

"Ugh math was such a bitch today.", Gaara complained plopping down on the sofa.

"You want some lemonade?", Suri offered shutting the door and walking into the kitchen.

"Sure.", Gaara answered closing his eyes and relaxing his mussels.

"Make that two.", Sasuke added taking a seat next to Gaara.

Mere moments later Suri re- entered the room with three glasses of delicious looking lemonade in her hands. She handed a glass to each boy and then helped her self to a seat, taking a long refreshing long drink of the sweet/ tangy liquid. Sasuke and Gaara soon copied suit. The room was silent but it was comfortable.

"So are you guys up for costume shopping Saturday?", Suri asked nonchalantly.

"Don't you think we are a little old to still be wearing costumes?", Sasuke chuckled.

"Speak for yourself. Plus you wont have to get one, me and the rest of the girls just need you there for your opinions.", Suri explained.

"The rest of what girls?", Gaara asked confused taking another sip of his lemonade.

"Sakura, Ino, and Hinata.", Suri answered simply.

"Why in the world would you go shopping with Ino and Sakura? I thought you hated them.", Gaara commented still confused.

"More of dislike with a passion, but since we are on the same team, I think we should at least try to get along, and this is the perfect opportunity. What brings girls more together than a day of shopping? So while I'm "bonding" with Ino and Sakura, you and Gaara will be clearing things up with Naruto and Kiba. Plus Neji and Shikamaru will be there as re- enforcement if things unfortunately take a turn for the worse", Suri said. Sasuke and Gaara groaned in detest.

"What about Sai?", Gaara asked.

"He said he would try to make it if he could.", Suri replied.

"Are you inviting lover boy?", Sasuke grinned.

"Maybe, I dont know...", Suri blushed. "I haven't talked to him since the party."

"What are you waiting for tiger?", Sasuke encouraged.

Suri merely giggled and rolled her eyes.

"Back to Saturday, I'm going to sound very stupid right now… but Temari is still in town and maybe...", Gaara started.

"Don't tell me you were going to say what I think you were about to say.", Suri groaned.

"I'm just saying since you're going to try to squash your beef with Ino and Sakura maybe you should try to do the same with Temari.", Gaara explained sheepishly. "At least give it a chance."

"I can try, I guess but if the bitch makes one move towards anyone else's man, so help me I will shove my...", Suri started to rant.

"We get it.", Gaara chuckled.

"You have to invite her though.", Suri pouted.

"Deal", Gaara agreed. Suddenly Suri's cell phone began to ring.

_*:)*_

Do you know what's worth fighting for

When it's not worth dying for

Does it take your breath away

And you feel yourself suffocating

Does the pain weigh out the pride

And you look for a place to hide

Did someone break your heart inside

You're in ruins

_*:)*_

One, 21 guns

Lay down you arms, give up the fight

One, 21 guns

Throw up your arms into the sky, you and I

_*:)*_

"Hey Itachi", Suri cheered answering the phone. (She has caller id)

"S-s-suri c-can you c-come get m-me please?", Itachi sobbed. Suri's face immediately sunk.

"Where are you Tachi?", Suri asked using Itachi's nickname. She only used it when she got all mother bear on him.

"I'm at m-my a-apartment a-and Deidara is a-at t-t-the door.", Itachi sobbed over the phone.

"How did he find you?", Suri asked.

"I-I don't know b-but he d-did and he won't leave.", Itachi said between tears. "He keeps t-telling m-me how much h-he loves me and how sorry he is. He wants m-me to let him in and I don't know how much longer I can…"

"Don't you dare open that door Itachi.", Suri said sternly. "We will be right there."

"P-please hurry.", Itachi pleaded.

"Itachi I need you to stay on the phone ok, we are coming for you ok, we're coming." Suri reassured.

"Ok", Itachi replied weakly.

"Gaara I need you to stay on the line with Itachi.", Suri ordered springing into action and handing the red- head her cell phone.

"What happened to Itachi?", Sasuke asked concern lacing his voice.

"Sasuke, I promise to explain everything soon, but right now I need you to go start the car. I'll be down in a minute. The keys are on the counter.", Suri said running into her bedroom.

Sasuke did as told, tears filling his eyes. "Itachi.", he whispered to himself.

15 minutes later...

Sasuke was fuming, Suri had filled him in on Itachi's situation during the car ride. Now all he felt was anger. When they had finally arrived at Itachi's complex Suri hadn't even parked fully before Sasuke jumped out the car and sprinted off to his brother's building. He was so mad he could feel his blood boil. As the raven haired teen entered the building hallway, he found Deidara banging on Itachi's door yelling a string of curses. Fueled by rage Sasuke charged at Deidara connecting his left fist with the blondes jaw causing him to tumble to the ground.

"What the fuck.", Deidara growled rubbing his jaw.

Sasuke made an attempt at another swing but Deidara had already gotten up off the floor and dodged it.

"Son of a bitch", Sasuke yelled swinging again but only managing to clip Deidara's chin. Deidara recovered quickly and threw a punch that hit Sasuke square in the eye. At that moment in time he was more than glad he didn't bruise easily or else that would have been a shiner. Sasuke threw another punch landing it, but tripped in the process giving Deidara the advantage. Next thing he knew, he was pinned to ground getting hit in the face repeatedly. Then all the sudden the weight on top of him vanished and he was being helped up off the ground by Gaara. To his surprise a few feet away Itachi was straddling Deidara delivering punches to his face relentlessly. Sasuke could have sworn he saw the steam coming of his brother. The sight in front of him was so un- Itachi like.

"Itachi enough!", Gaara shouted running over to the eldest Uchiha brother. "Itachi its enough!" The red- head easily pulled the older boy off Deidara and drug him into his house. The neighboring residents had opened their doors to see what the fuss was about, but only to satisfy their curiosity. Sasuke prepared to attack Deidara again, but a firm grip on his wrist held him back. When he looked back he found the unknown forced to be Suri.

"Go inside and put some ice on your eye before it bruises its already starting to swell up. Your lip is cut and your nose is bleeding.", Suri said briefly examining the most obvious injuries.

"But ..", Sasuke tried to protest. He hadn't even noticed his nose was bleeding.

"Please Sasuke.", Suri pushed. Reluctantly with one last death glare towards Deidara, Sasuke ran into Itachi's apartment. Now only Suri, Deidara and the neighbors whose heads peeked outside their doors remained in the hallway.

"You need to leave.", Suri hissed.

"Stupid bitch, can't you see he'll be nothing without me. He's a nobody. No one loves him, he a disgrace, a shame.", Deidara shot back standing up slowly.

"I will not ask you again.", Suri continued calmly. "Next time you'll have more than a swollen jaw."

"Was that supposed to be a threat?", Deidara chuckled.

"No.", Suri glared. "That was a promise." With that said Suri turned on her heels, stomped into Itachi's apartment, and slammed the door close with so much force the vibrations could be felt. Inside Sasuke was sitting on the couch, a bag on ice on his left eye, gently rubbing Itachi's back in comfort. Itachi was mumbling apologies to Sasuke through his tears as his body trembled. Gaara was not in sight but he was most likely somewhere close. Suri quickly took a seat on the other side of Itachi and began rubbing circles on his hand soothingly.

"Don't cry Itachi, everything is ok now.", Sasuke reassured.

"Its all my fault, its a-all my fault you got hurt.", Itachi sobbed. Sasuke pulled his big brother in a bear hug, catching the older Uchiha off guard.

"Don't say that Itachi, you were so brave back there. I'm so proud of you.", Sasuke said resting his head on top of Itachi's.

Itachi cried harder. "When he was hitting you, I s-saw m-myself in your place, a-and I just…"

Sasuke visibly tensed.

"Itachi, he abused you more than mentally didn't he?", Suri growled out. Itachi remained silent, but no answer was really needed. Itachi could feel the vibrations from Sasuke's growl as he stayed secure in his younger brother's embrace.

"Itachi…why didn't you tell anyone, why didn't you tell the police.", Gaara asked making his presence known. He had a plate of grilled cheese sandwiches (with tomatoes, Itachi's favorite) in his hand. He set the plate down on the coffee table and took a seat on the floor.

"I was scared.", Itachi answered. "I was afraid that I would lose him, then there would be no one else left to love me. After the last time there were so many times I wanted to call him, just to hear his voice. Just to feel wanted. But I made a promise to you Sasuke, and I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't break it."

"Itachi how could think something like that? What Deidara displayed to you was not love in any way, shape, or form.", Gaara said placing a hand on his knee.

"Itachi, its obvious you love him but I strongly suggest you press charges and if not at the least file a restraining order against the bastard.", Suri commented. "I also think that you should stay with us for a while."

Itachi remained quite but agreed. Finally Sasuke let Itachi go and headed to his room to pack what he knew his brother would need. Suri and Gaara decided to go wait in the car until the two sibling Uchiha's were ready. The eldest of the two sat all alone on the couch (he's not really alone since Sasuke is in the next room) trying to enjoy the grilled cheese he loved so much, sadly it never tasted worse.

Thursday ( 4 Days Till Halloween)

"With all that has happened I think "female bonding" can wait.", Suri said.

"I agree.", Sasuke and Gaara commented.

"No", Itachi said walking into the living room. "I don't want you to miss out on anything because of me." The eldest of the Uchiha leaned against the nearest wall with his eyes closed.

"Itachi it really isn't a big deal.", Sasuke whispered sadly.

Itachi sighed as he kept his eyes closed. "What if I agree to come along?"

"Are you sure Itachi? There is no need to push yourself.", Suri commented.

"I'm sure. What's the worse that could happen? Plus I'd like to meet all the new friends my little Sasu has made this year.", Itachi chuckled although a little sadness was hidden behind it. "Besides I can't hide forever.", Itachi added.

"He has a point.", Gaara commented.

"Well if you're 100% sure...", Sasuke started.

"I'm sure", Itachi chuckled.

Saturday... (2 Days Till Halloween)

Suri woke extremely excited. Today would be full of one of her favorite past times.. shopping! But that wasn't what had her so giddy. Yesterday she had worked up the courage to text Shino and had invited him to come along. She hopped out of bed and ran to her closet searching for the perfect outfit.

"Relaxed but not lazy, sexy but not sluttish...", she thought to herself. After about ten minutes of arguing with her self she picked out a pair a dark blue jeans that made her rump look oh so wonderful and a cute grey blouse the hung off her shoulder. Then she selected a pair of grey vans and rushed to the restroom.

Meanwhile...

Itachi rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as the suns bright rays streamed onto his face.

"Hey sleepyhead.", Sasuke teased walking over to the couch a taking a seat next to his big brother who had quickly sat up to make room for him. Sasuke pulled his pajama robe around his slender body making himself more snug and comfy.

"Hey", Itachi smiled back.

"You still up for today?", Sasuke doubled checked.

"For the last time I'm sure.", Itachi laughed.

"Fine, you should start getting dressed we are leaving in about a hour and half. You'll have to use the other restroom because Suri's already occupying the other one and lord knows how long she'll be in there. What girls will go through to impress a boy sometimes." "Then I'll start getting ready once you're done."

"Ok.", Itachi laughed. "What time is it?"

"About 9:30."

"Ok."

Sasuke placed a soft peck onto Itachi's forehead. "I love you Tachi."

"Love you too Sasuke."

About 2 Hours later...

"Hey sexy!", Naruto whistled as Sasuke walked through the doors of the costume store.

"Naruto why do you insist on harassing me daily.", Sasuke sighed.

"Wow Sasuke, you didn't tell me you had a twin.", Naruto asked his eyes drifting to the slender form behind him.

"This is my older brother Itachi.", Sasuke said moving sideways slightly so the blonde could get a good look at him.

"Hello", Itachi greeted shyly.

"Well, I guess the Uchiha family is just full of stunningly gorgeous people. Nice to meet you Itachi.", Naruto complimented.

"Wow Naruto, the first time we bring Itachi around you and you've already become a shameless flirt. Have you forgotten about Sasuke already.", Suri teased.

"Never!", Naruto gasped. "No offense Itachi but my heart only beats for one raven haired Uchiha, and his name starts with Sas and ends with uke."

Itachi and Gaara chuckled at Naruto's little rant while a little vein in Sasuke's forehead pulsed.

"Anyone else here yet?", Suri asked.

"No, but Kiba should be here any minute, and Ino and Sakura should be here in about 10. Have you heard anything from Neji or Shikamaru?"

"Shikamaru texted me all little while ago, and said he should be here in about 30 minutes.", Gaara answered. "I haven't heard anything from Neji."

A few moments later Kiba walked through the entrance doors. "Can we hurry up and get this over with?", he groaned walking up to the other teens.

"Don't be such a stick in the mud Kiba", Naruto scolded. "Here meet Sasuke's brother Itachi."

Kiba glanced at Itachi just now noticing his presence. "Oh, nice to meet you, if you haven't guess by now I'm Kiba." the muscular boy said offering a handshake.

Itachi accepted the hand but flinched slightly at the firmness that followed it. Sasuke noticed this a placed a reassuring hand on his older brother's shoulder.

"Your safe Itachi, Sasuke's here.", Itachi thought to himself.

30 minutes later...

The costume store started to fill more and more with anxious teens and small children. Almost everyone was there, even Shikamaru's lazy ass happened to make it. Fortunately Sai had made his way there too and now he was currently having a seemingly nice conversation with Ino in the corner. The only people they were waiting for now were Shino, Neji, and Temari. Suri's stomach filled with butterflies at the thought of Shino's name.

"I'm acting like a middle school girl.", Suri scolded herself. "I just met the guy."

Just at that moment Shino walked through the entrance doors with Temari next to him swinging her hips flirtatiously. A vein throbbed in Suri's forehead at the sight, but she calmed down since it didn't seem like Shino was paying the blonde ditz any attention.

"Hey beautiful.", Shino said walking up to Suri and placing a chaste kiss upon her cheek.

"Hey", Suri blushed.

"Suri aren't you going to introduce us to the infamous .", Naruto teased from across the room.

Suri blushed a little harder as Shino chuckled silently.

"Nice to meet everyone, I'm Shino.", he announced and soon after while, everyone had been properly acquainted with each other. Suddenly Suri's phone vibrated and when she pulled it out she discovered she had text message.

"Had a really crazy morning, pulling into the parking right now- Neji", was the message displayed across the screen. A couple seconds later Neji walked through the front doors, his hair unusually messy.

"You look you just done having rough bus sex.", Kiba joked.

"Shut up.", Neji scoffed.

"Well now that everyone's here, let the shopping begin.", Sakura and Ino cheered.