Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with Naruto, or it's characters or concepts. They belong to their rightful owner and not me.

Warnings: Usual warnings apply. Yaoi, angst, swearing, and possibly some bad writing.

A/N: I actually had most of this chapter written at the beginning of the week, and I probably would have had it finished, edited and posted long before this but I got distracted/addicted to the game Bubble Shooter. That game is addictive...

Thanks go out to my wonderful beta Chibikoi as usual. She does a wonderful job!

Chapter 25: Be My Downfall

Naruto wasn't exactly sure what had compelled him to open his mouth to begin with, but he knew he couldn't stop once he had started. Sasuke had a right to know what he was getting himself into, and Naruto wasn't going to let this go any further until he knew just how much of a mess he was.

That was the truth of it though. When his father had died, he had lost his feet and hadn't ever been able to get back up again. Only once Sasuke had come along had he finally been able to gather his bearings. And he wasn't anywhere near alright, wasn't sure if he ever would be, but he had to tell him. Even if it meant that they could never be together again.

Sasuke was sitting beside him quietly, not saying anything, and for once Naruto didn't have even the faintest idea what was running through his head.

Naruto was staring at the picture of his smiling father. His arms were wrapped around his mother, and they were sitting bareback astride a pretty looking appaloosa pony. His eyes were glued to the picture and he knew that if he even looked at Sasuke he would probably lose his nerve and not be able to finish what he had started.

Keeping his eyes averted, Naruto began to talk, unable to raise his voice much above that of a whisper but knowing that Sasuke could hear him anyway.

--------

That morning before his dad had left to go to the stables, they'd had a fight. It was something that only happened once in a blue moon, and the fact that it had happened at all should have forewarned him of what was to come somehow.

Naruto could remember his father getting angry- the clenching of his jaw, and the steely blue of his eyes- but he hadn't backed down. Eventually, his father had left, shutting the door with a calm which was very clearly forced. His father never yelled, which had only served to anger Naruto even more.

They were staying at a big commercial breeding farm, which raised purebred thoroughbreds. Many of the horses were temperamental and unpredictable, and Arashi had firmly ordered Naruto to stay away from them unless he was around, or someone he trusted was accompanying him. Naruto, resentful that his father was still trying to protect him despite him being twelve years old, had grudgingly agreed.

However, there was one horse that Naruto was drawn to. A huge, bay stallion, with a fierce disposition and a restless spirit. Arashi had strictly forbidden Naruto to go near that particular stallion, stating that he was dangerous and had a mean streak a mile wide. Naruto hadn't liked that order one bit and his stubbornness had raised its ugly head.

That morning Arashi had found out from a co-worker that Naruto had been around the horse yesterday afternoon, and he had been furious with Naruto.

Naruto hated making his father angry or upset with him but that morning he had been unusually surly and irritable, and he refused to acknowledge his mistake.

After his father had left, Naruto had gone off to sulk somewhere alone, although he couldn't remember where he'd gone or what he'd done with the morning when he thought back. That morning had passed uneventfully after that fight.

But he did remember that at lunch time, Arashi had found him sitting on the fence of an empty round yard. His father had hoisted himself up onto the fence beside him, his long form settling on the narrow perch with ease. Naruto had refused to acknowledge his presence at first, looking away with the grumpy demeanor that prepubescent children often had about them.

"I'm sorry for getting upset with you this morning. But it's important that you realize why," Arashi began. "Will you look at me please?"

Naruto had glanced sideways at his father for a brief moment before he'd looked away again, refusing to say anything. Arashi had sighed.

"I'm only worried about your safety Naruto. Horses are big animals, and there is always a risk that you could be injured, especially with the stallions here. Many of them don't have nice characters, and are too headstrong for you to handle. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Naruto had shook his head.

"You just don't want me to work with you. I can look after myself."

"I know you can Naruto. I just…I don't want to see you hurt that's all. So for now, can you just do as I ask and be careful?"

"Fine," Naruto snapped

"One day you'll see what I mean Naruto," Arashi had said softly. "I know that you're mad at me, but can you at least try to see it from my point of view?"

Naruto had remained silent, and after a moment, Arashi had slid off the railing.

"Okay. Come and talk to me when you're ready, okay?" he'd said, before kissing Naruto's forehead and leaving him alone.

He'd never gotten to sort things out with his father. He'd been too stubborn and too selfish to see past his own feelings, to try and understand his father. Arashi had been trying to treat him as a mature adult, and he had thrown that back in his face with a childish temper tantrum.

Two hours later he'd been walking along a small strip of grass that separated two fields when he heard shouting coming from the directions of the stables. His ears heard the staccato sound of irregular hooves, and he dismissed it immediately. Some horse had probably escaped from its handler, or stall. In awhile they'd catch the runaway horse, and it would all settle down again.

Alarmed when he heard the sound of his father's voice joining in, he broke into a run, wondering why his father sounded so upset.

Once he reached that stable yard, panting hard from his run, he'd been faced with pure chaos. A ground of stable hands had trapped a chestnut horse in one corner of the stable yard, but there was another commotion inside the stable.

"Dad? Dad where are you?" he called uncertainly.

"Naruto, stay where you are! I'm coming to get you now-" his father's voice was cut off and he could hear his muffled cursing.

Scared now, he stayed put for a few moments, but when his father didn't come, he tentatively moved towards the stable, gathering speed as he went.

"Dad? Dad?" he called, as he checked one isle after another.

He rounded a corner, and stumbled when two men pushed by him, and he fell to the ground. The sounds of an angry horse reached his ears, and the yelling became louder.

He scrambled backwards in fright when the huge, daunting shape of that bay stallion skidded around the corner and thundered angrily towards him.

Naruto cried out in fear and scrambled backwards, trying to find his feet and escape at the same time. He managed to stagger upright but it was too late- the horse was upon him, rearing angrily, and screaming shrilly asits huge hooves thrashed angrily at the air above his head.

Naruto was too scared to cry out, too scared to move out from underneath the stallion, too scared even to acknowledge his father screaming his name. He could remember being frozen on the spot like a rabbit caught in the glare of headlights.

Everything was a blur after that. He found himself pushed violently to one side, and he'd crashed into the wooden wall of a nearby stable. Groggily, he'd shaken his head, and sat up slowly, realizing that he was safe and still alive.

The relief he'd felt at that discovery was short lived when he'd spotted the crumpled form of his father lying on the cold stone of the stables.

For a moment, an impossible silence hung over the stable yards, before he'd stared screaming and scrambling towards his father. He'd thrown himself to his father's side and had started to shake him, calling out for him desperately to open his eyes.

The pool of blood slowly growing around his fathers head had Naruto almost paralyzed with fear.

Some one had pulled him forcefully away, and he'd watched hysterically as his father had been given emergency treatment by the paramedics.

The stable manager had driven him to the hospital. He'd sat in the waiting room for three hours before someone had come and talked to them. His father's skull had been fractured - the horse's hoof had struck the back of his head. They'd done all they could for him, and Naruto had gone in to see his father.

His head had been wrapped in bandaged and he remembered sitting by his father's side, holding his hand and talking quietly into his ear. He remember thinking that when his father woke up, he'd apologize for disobeying his orders and for making him angry. He'd made all sorts of promises to his father as he'd sat there; he'd be a better son, he'd do what he was told, he'd try to be good, and act like a grown up. All the while he'd sat there, his father had remained still and unconscious.

An hour later he'd died. Naruto never got the chance to say he was sorry.

-----

The silence was almost deafening as they sat there. It had started raining again, he noted dully. The death of his father had been so sudden. One minute he had been there, and the next he was gone. Naruto had lost everything in a heartbeat. Maybe if he hadn't been the stupid, headstrong kid he had been, things would've turned out different. If he'd actually listened to his father then maybe his father wouldn't have lost his life saving Naruto's.

He could still remember the shrill ring of the heart monitor as his father had died. He'd been holding his warm hand and he had watched his father's chest stop rising and falling. After that he had no recollection of what had happened.

"What happened after that?" Sasuke's voice rang out in the quiet like the sound of bells, and Naruto closed his eyes.

"Don't really know. I remember finding myself in a run down group home where the adults paid little attention to the children. Let them run wild like a pack of feral dogs, didn't make them go to school, and served horrible meals." Naruto paused for a moment, deciding that he may as well complete the sorry tale of his early teenage years.

"I quickly fell out of favor with the older boys for some imagined failing of mine. The beatings started a week after I arrived, and they didn't stop until I left. You were wondering where these came from right?"

Naruto pushed his sleeve back to reveal one wrist, which he ran his fingers over.

"I'm not proud of the measures I took to escape. I had lost my only family and had been thrown into another type of hell all together, but that was no excuse. I couldn't seem to...pull myself together." Naruto let out a humorless, flat laugh. "I don't think my father would like the person I've turned into."

"Didn't the government do anything about..."

"They didn't care," Naruto interrupted. "After all, they have better things to do than worry about the living conditions of a bunch of homeless kids. The people who ran the place were corrupt and good at covering their tracks. Doesn't matter now anyway."

"How'd you get out?" Sasuke asked quietly.

Naruto searched for the words to tell him. Each word that he spoke felt like someone was stabbing a dull knife into his stomach. It was as if he were reliving everything that had happened to him, and it made him feel unclean and unworthy all over again.

"I didn't always try to kill myself when I did this," he said as he ran his fingers over the scars once more. "But...the last time I stayed there, I did. They'd beaten me so badly that I could barely move. I was angry at them, angry at the whole thing. I was so angry..."

He had to swallow as the tears started again, but he continued nevertheless, the words coming easier once he had started.

"Someone found me. I don't remember who, but I think it was someone who lived nearby. They called the cops and I was taken to hospital. After that, social service took me in and started looking for a place for me. But I didn't want to live somewhere I wasn't really wanted or needed. So I told them that I would find work and live by myself. My social worker found work at your place for me."

"And how long was it before you stopped hurting yourself?"

Naruto shouldn't have so surprised at how astute Sasuke was, but he was. Still there was no hiding the truth now that it was all out there, and it wasn't really that hard to say it after what he had just confessed.

"About...a little more than a year. It wasn't easy for me to settle down there, but I did. I just...I've never really told anyone about what happened. It was easier to try and ignore it than try to deal with it, you know?"

Sasuke nodded, but didn't say anything and Naruto's heart was constricting painfully in his chest. He was blinking back tears as he forced his next words free.

"If you...if you don't think you want to see me anymore I'll understand. I wouldn't even hold it against you. If I were in your place I wouldn't want anything to do with me. I'm not...I'm not a good person and nothing I do will ever make up for what I did."

Sasuke's hands tightened around his own, and he looked up into his dark eyes.

"Shut up, you idiot boy," Sasuke whispered as he raised Naruto's hand to his lips once more. Naruto gasped as he turned his hand over and brushed his mouth over his scars tenderly.

"I don't think any less of you. What happened wasn't your fault. It was a horrible accident and nothing more. And one day I'll find a way to prove that to you."

A half sob escaped Naruto as Sasuke traced the horrible thick, jagged scars one his wrist with his lips and tried to tug his wrist away.

"T-that's not true...I killed him, it was my fault, no one else's..."

Sasuke tightened his grip to the point of pain, his eyes fierce as they bored into Naruto.

"No. I won't ever believe that. You're not guilty, Naruto, no matter what you think. Your father chose to risk his life to save you because he loved you more than he loved himself. Don't dishonor his decision by thinking that it was anything else."

With that, Naruto was pulled roughly into Sasuke's arms. He fought him for a moment, wanting to deny the words and wanting to run away. But he was no match for Sasuke, not when he felt so drained and weak. Sasuke wouldn't let him go though, so he found himself sinking down into the warmth of his body as his grief washed over him in endless waves. He wanted nothing more than to disappear into the comfort that Sasuke offered, needing his voice and his touch to reassure himself that he was indeed still alive and that his father's sacrifice hadn't been in vain.

No matter what Sasuke said, the guilt he felt would still lie close to his heart, and there was nothing anyone could say that would convince him that it wasn't his fault.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Sasuke closed his door behind himself and leant back against it, closing his eyes as he exhaled slowly. His head was killing him. Ever since he had parted with Naruto, he hadn't been able to stop thinking. The revelation of the death of Naruto's father had been unexpected and quite a shock. And learning that people had deliberately hurt one who was already suffering such terrible grief was enough to make him sick.

The mere thought of Naruto trying to kill himself sent chills up and down his spine and put a terrible fear in his heart. He was feeling angry and upset and he wasn't quite sure what to do with himself. The doubt that had resided in Naruto's eyes as he'd kissed him goodbye made him fiercely protective. Naruto honestly thought that he would stop seeing him because of his past, like he wasn't worth the effort.

Sasuke was partly angry at himself. Naruto had him all twisted up and confused, and he wasn't sure what to do about it or about him. He'd always known what he wanted in the past, what he liked and disliked with a clarity that sometimes surprised even him. But with Naruto he wanted so much he was unsure how to go about it. Worse yet was the indecision of how he felt.

How could you tell if you were in love or not when you he never experienced it before? Sure, he had been attracted to people, and he had feelings for several, but love? That was a completely different playing field all together, and he was a novice.

What he needed was Gaara. Gaara had an answer for everything, and he was usually always right. They'd been close friends since forever, and confidents as well as allies against the forces that were their fathers. While Sasuke had led an active business life in regards to his father's companies, Gaara had been shoved aside and ignored in favor of his older siblings. Not that Gaara had minded all that much since it gave him freedom to do whatever he wanted but it had left a smattering of resentment towards the man.

Sasuke needed to talk to Gaara, that was for sure. But first he needed to shower and get ready. His mother had asked that Itachi and Sasuke join her for brunch, and while he enjoyed spending time with his mother, spending time with Itachi was another matter entirely. He doubted very much that Itachi disliked him as much as he disliked Itachi, but that didn't really matter. Spending more than fifteen minutes with the man was enough to make his gut churn with bitterness and irritation.

Sasuke pushed himself off the door and headed for his bedroom. If he was going to hold his own in the eternal battle of the wits he and Itachi engaged in, then he needed to at least look presentable. God knew that Itachi didn't need anything else to criticize him on.

Fifteen minutes later and dressed smartly in a pair of business pants and a gray silk shirt rolled up to the elbow, Sasuke opened the door into his mother's sun room and closed it behind him.

It wasn't a particularly sunny day; in fact it was gloomy and threatening rain again. But his mother's taste and style when it came to decorating was enough to lighten even the darkest of spirits. Flowers were displayed unobtrusively around the room, releasing pleasing fragrances and bringing splashes of bright color. Couches and chairs were set strategically around the room in places where one could overlook the gardens with the best view. A simple glass and stainless steel table and chair set was situated near one of the largest windows.

His mother was fiddling with a bunch of flowers off to one side. She was dressed in a long, flowing dark red skirt and a ruffled white short sleeved top. Her dark hair was swept back off her face by an elegant silver hair clasp.

Lady Mikoto was without a doubt the most beautiful woman that Sasuke knew, and he knew a lot of women. But she was modest too, and had a quiet intelligence that often surprised some people.

"Sasuke," she turned and greeted him with a smile.

Sasuke returned her smile and went over to her to place a kiss on her smooth cheek.

"Good morning mother."

She smiled up at him, her dark eyes warm.

"Where have you been keeping yourself, my love? I've hardly seen you since you returned home."

"I'm sorry Mother. I've been organizing things for the Competition, and trying to keep my friends busy. I'm sorry I haven't spent time with you."

She led him over to a small wicker seat and they sat down together.

"Don't worry about it. I understand how it is with you young things. Always off doing one thing or another," she teased gently.

He smiled at her, trying his best to participate in their conversation, but was unable to put any heart into it. His mind was stuck firmly on Naruto, and the way that misery had turned them an even darker shade of blue.

He opened his mouth to make some sort of effort to reply but was cut off by Itachi's untimely entrance. Sasuke watched with distaste as Itachi kissed their mother's cheek in greeting before he looked down at him.

Itachi and Sasuke were physically similar in many respects, but that was where the resemblance ended. They shared the same dark haired, dark eyed looks as their father and the same pale complexion as their mother. Itachi carried more muscle whereas Sasuke was approaching the same height but had the more slender and sleek look about him. There was no doubt that Itachi looked sophisticated. He had women flocking all over him, despite his wife (a woman that Sasuke found as distasteful and annoying as his brother) and that only seemed to boost his already inflated ego.

Sasuke was more willowy than Itachi, but possessed muscles of a man who did a fair bit of physical work. Itachi wore his hair short, almost military style, whereas Sasuke wore his longer.

Itachi was known for his sharp intelligence and his ruthless business tactics. He followed his father's word to the letter, but usually paid little heed to anyone else.

Sasuke was known for his recklessness and his disregard for the rules. There were also rumors about the tensions between his father and himself, but that didn't bother Sasuke as much as it bothered his father. While the man did his best to make Sasuke fall in line (and Sasuke was usually forced to whether he liked it or not) he made it blatantly obvious that he didn't like it, usually in the form of making bold, and head strong decisions when it came to the business world.

Lady Mikoto wasn't oblivious to the tensions between her sons, or between her husband and youngest son, but she stayed out of it for the most part. Sasuke often wondered if she had given up on the idea of some kind of reconciliation. On his behalf, at least, he doubted that there would be. The man was a stubborn ass, and that had very obviously been passed onto Itachi, along with whatever genes made them both such menacing business moguls.

Sasuke had long since discovered that he lacked their ambition when it came to making money. He leaned towards the more creative ways of making money, most of which didn't involve blatant disregard for the average working person. He had no interest in the media, or importing and exporting manufacturing goods, or investing in oil and fuel shares. He wasn't interested in constructing towering buildings meant to strike awe into the hearts of people.

No, he was interest in art, and music and sports. Horse riding being the main one, but skiing and snowboarding he wasn't bad at. If he had his way when he inherited, he would take more interest in these. Not unless Itachi had anything to do with it, but Sasuke was prepared to fight for what he wanted, and he wasn't afraid of his father or his brother.

Being aware of the simmering dislike between her sons, Lady Mikoto still had insisted that they spend some time together. Sasuke knew for a fact that Itachi disapproved of most of what he did, and it irked him that he got so irritated at the man about it. On some level in the tiniest corner of his heart, he must still care what he thought of him on some level.

"Sasuke. I trust that your holidays have thus far have been productive?" Itachi enquired by way of greeting.

Normally Sasuke wouldn't have cared how Itachi talked to him, or what words were exchanged between them, but after experiencing such raw emotions that morning, he found he had little patience or tolerance to engage in their usual subtle struggles.

He frowned at Itachi, but nodded tightly.

"Not that it's any of your business, but yes."

"What's your business is mine, little brother. What kind of sibling would I be if I didn't take an interest in the goings on in your life?" Itachi replied calmly.

Yeah, Sasuke thought to himself. Only so you can report everything you learn back to father. Weasel...

"Come along, you two. Let's sit down. I have some news," their mother intervened smoothly. Sasuke managed to suppress the twinge of gratitude he felt towards her at that moment and followed her over to the table.

A simple breakfast of fresh fruit, lightly toasted bread and croissants lay in wait for them, and Sasuke helped himself to a cup of tea and fruit which he had no appetite for. He picked at the food moodily, setting his chin in his hand and narrowing his eyes into his tea before taking a mouthful and going back to playing with his grapes.

He wondered what Naruto was doing at that moment. Had he shut himself in his room alone? That didn't seem like Naruto. He was probably out there working his ass off and would keep going until he dropped of exhaustion. That was more like him. Naruto went out of his way to avoid his problems, it seemed, not because he was cowardly in any way, but because in his past experiences that had bought nothing but pain. No, Naruto had learned how to survive without thinking too deeply about the terrible things that had happened to him. He took each day as it came, striving just to get through another day instead of thinking about the future.

It was a bleak way to live life, Sasuke thought to himself. No hope for the future, no plans or anything to look forward to. Sasuke had thought his lifestyle was constricting before, but Naruto was rapidly opening his eyes to just how badly things could go wrong.

He wanted to go down there and make sure he was alright. Hell, he wanted so much when it came to Naruto, but he knew that there was no coddling Naruto. The young man had seen it all. There was no longer anything to shelter him from, and he wasn't sure how to deal with that. Most of the people he had been in contact with were materialistic, and hadn't really developed a larger view of the world. Except for Gaara that was.

Sasuke needed to get away for awhile so he could think. There wasn't any point in him attending the little brunch his mother had set up, as he wasn't participating at all in the Itachi was holding with their mother.

Sighing inwardly, he raised his cup to his mouth and took another sip of his lukewarm tea.

"Sasuke?"

He looked up at his mother in surprise.

"Yeah?"

She smiled at him.

"I was just saying how I'm planning to hold a charity event here next weekend. I was hoping you didn't have plans."

"No. No plans, mother. What kind of charity event?"

"The committee is hoping to raise enough funds to revitalize the run down children hospital in the city. Nothing out of the ordinary, but I thought it would be nice to hold an event here for once. We have more than enough staff to help out. I'm sure it will run smoothly."

Sasuke nodded.

"Sounds good. I'll be there."

"I hope you'll bring your friends that are visiting. I haven't yet had a chance to meet them," Itachi put in, smiling slightly.

Sasuke fought the urge to glare at him. Knowing Itachi, meeting his friends would be more like an interrogation, with Itachi gleaning all he could about them, and leaving them quivering in their boots with either fear or admiration, or both. The only person it hadn't worked on had been Gaara, and for good reason. Gaara was practically fearless. When they had traveled around Europe during the last holiday, Gaara had been right there with him doing all the things that none of their other friends would be caught doing. Bungee jumping, snow boarding, skiing, sky diving.

Besides, Sasuke and Gaara had grown up together, so like Sasuke, Gaara had developed an immunity to Itachi that was unshakable.

"Maybe I will," he muttered.

"I've also invited Gaara's family. I believe that only Gaara and his older brother are able to attend however," his mother said, as if reading his mind.

No great loss then. Sasuke wasn't overly fond of any of Gaara's family. They were a bunch of assholes in his opinion, but the rest of his family hadn't gotten that impression from them. Of course, he could be a little biased, but that was beside the point.

"And what about father?" Sasuke asked, trying to hide his sudden tension.

There was no way he was going to let his father anywhere near Naruto, lest he find something out about their relationship...or whatever it was between them. He couldn't afford risks at such a fragile point in time. Naruto was doubting Sasuke and his intentions after that morning, and there was no way Sasuke was ready to give him up yet.

"He's still detained on overseas business," Lady Mikoto replied serenely as she stirred her tea. "He passes on his regrets that he hasn't been able to see you since your break began. He was looking forward to talking with you."

Interrogating, more like, Sasuke thought darkly to himself. Wanting to know what I've done wrong since we were last face to face. Heaven forbid I do something that smears the impeccable Uchiha image...

But he kept his mouth shut firmly. There was no way he was giving Itachi anything to use against him.

Speaking of Itachi, the man had that considering look on his face that he always had before he dropped some big bombshell and stood back to watch the fall out.

"Whatever happened to that lovely young lady you were seeing a couple of months back?"

Sasuke froze for a moment with his heart in his throat but forced himself to move and picked up his tea jerkily.

"Ayaka?" he asked in a slightly strained voice.

How the hell had he known about her? She had been the last person he had dated. Not that he ever dated anyone all that seriously until Naruto. They all got too clingy, asking questions like where they were heading and referring to him as their boyfriend. The guys as well as the girls, and Sasuke hated it. All they were clinging to was his fame, his money and his title. Not him. Not what he wanted, or what he liked or who he was. Just what he represented.

The only reason he had kept on with Ayaka was because she had been a strange mix of sweet and cute, but had turned out to be wild in bed. She had shown him things that he hadn't known existed until she had come along. But after a couple of weeks she had started to get clingy like all the others and he had suffered from that crippling claustrophobia once more.

"Yes, Ayaka. Who did you think I was referring to?" Itachi asked innocently.

"Who was this girl, Sasuke?" his mothered asked with interest. "I wasn't aware you were dating anyone."

"I'm not. Not anymore." That particular lie was like a punch in the gut that made him feel nauseous. "It ended a couple of weeks ago."

"A difference of opinion then?" Itachi asked, watching him with a knowing look in his eye. "Or something else perhaps?"

A trendle of suspicion worked its way into Sasuke's mind, and he wondered just how much Itachi had guessed about his relationship with Naruto. It struck a fear so fierce and deep within him that it was almost paralyzing and he wanted to choke. Maybe he was in over his head with Naruto? He wasn't even sure he was ready for what was going on between them, and yet he was flinging himself in head first without looking where he was going.

Or maybe it was just Itachi messing with his head as he always did. Anger was stirring within Sasuke and he fought to retain his control on it.

"I don't want to talk about it," he replied tightly.

"Itachi, perhaps..." Lady Mikoto began, but was interrupted by the shrill ringing of Itachi's phone.

His older brother glanced at the phone before standing up.

"Excuse me, mother, Sasuke. I have a telephone conference I need to deal with."

Itachi leaned across the table and kissed their mother on the cheek before leaving the room.

His mother smiled at him and took his hand.

"I'm sorry about Itachi's behavior, honey. He's under a lot of stress at the moment, what with your father gone and him having to stand in for him..."

"He's also an ass," Sasuke grumbled, before glancing at her guiltily. "Sorry..."

"He can be that, too," his mother smiled. "As can your father."

Sasuke exhaled as his anger began to diffuse. Now that Itachi was gone and he didn't have to put on that act, he felt drained. The anger may have started to disappear, but the doubt his brother had planted hadn't.

"What's bothering you, Sasuke? You seem troubled."

He glanced up into his mother's concerned eyes and managed a strained smile.

"Nothing you can help with, mother. I just...I need some time, that's all."

She nodded and patted his hand.

"I understand. If you don't mind me asking though...it isn't about that girl your brother mentioned, is it? Did she hurt you in some way...?"

Sasuke shook his head and smiled genuinely at his mother.

"No, it isn't her."

"But there is someone, isn't there? I just hate to see you so torn, Sasuke. I want you to be happy."

Sasuke nodded and squeezed her hand gently.

"It's nothing for you to worry about mother. I'm handling it well enough. If you don't mind me leaving you, I think I need to go for a run to clear my head."

"Go ahead, Sasuke. I'll see you at dinner tonight."

Once he was standing, he leant down and kissed her soft cheek.

"See you later mother."

He left that room feeling considerably more troubled than when he had entered.

A/N: Writing Sasuke's POV is always difficult for me, but a challenge is good for the mind, as they say. I hope it lives up to your expectations. I wrote it because I have received several requests for more from Sasuke, so here it is. Let me know how you think it went, and what I should improve on if you please!