Perfect

Chapter 14: Big Brother Itachi

The phone call came just as Itachi was getting out of the shower. He held the towel around his waist and picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

Itachi Uchiha?

"Yes?"

This is constable Fujiwara calling from Konoha Police Services.

"All right."

There's been an incident.

Itachi tensed. He instantly began to worry about Sasuke and his parents. What if they had gotten in a car crash? What if they were…

Itachi stopped his train of thought.

"What kind of incident?" Itachi asked.

Neji Hyuuga got into a fight with his uncle Hiashi Hyuuga. It ended when Neji stabbed Mr. Hyuuga with a knife. I have reason to believe it was self-defence, so I don't think there's much to worry about.

"Okay." Itachi said faintly. "So, why are you calling me?"

Mr. Uchiha, Miss Hinata Hyuuga stated that you were the only person she and Neji trusted. I am requesting that you come down to the police station immediately.

"All right. I'll be there. Give me a few minutes." Itachi stated, all business. He only took the time to say a goodbye and hung up the phone. He quickly got dressed and threw on his shoes before taking off out the door.

.oOo.

Hinata, Neji and I sat in an empty interrogation room of the police station. Neji still leaned against my shoulder.

There was a sharp knock on the door, bringing us all out of our stupor. Neji lifted his head off my shoulder just as the door opened. An officer walked in with a familiar face just behind him.

"Itachi!" Hinata cried, jumping to her feet and throwing her arms around him.

Itachi returned the embrace, and looked up at Neji and I. He offered a warm smile.

"How are you doing, Neji?" He asked.

Neji merely gave him a half-hearted shrug.

I watched as Itachi questioned Hinata next. I could see the concern in his eyes. It wasn't that I didn't believe what Sasuke had always said about his brother being someone who really did care. It was just that I had a hard time believing it.

But now, as I watched Itachi interact with Neji and Hinata, I knew that Itachi was probably the most gentle and caring man I had ever seen. His dark eyes were similar to Sasuke's, and yet, they were very different. Sasuke's were always blank, but Itachi's held a kind of reassuring warmth that made you want to trust him. He had a kind smile, and always seemed to want to do everything he could to help.

Honestly, if he had said he puts long hours in at the local orphanage, or cooked food for homeless people, I would've believed him. In fact, I wouldn't have been surprised.

"Itachi, Hanabi gets out of classes at three." Hinata stated.

"Oh, your little sister?" Itachi asked.

"Yes."

Itachi nodded. He looked towards the police officers. "If I may, I have a place they can stay until further notice. I know you probably don't trust me, in fact I was astounded you called me, but I can honestly say, and testify under oath if need be, I never kidnapped these kids. They came to me for help, and I gave it to them."

Hinata and Neji were nodding at everything he was saying.

I merely watched the whole exchange. I couldn't do anything to help the three of them. However, I did breathe a sigh of relief when we all left in one group and jumped into Itachi's car.

"Neji, I'm going to drop you off at my place, all right?" Itachi stated from the front seat of the car.

Neji merely gave him a grunt.

"Tenten, will you stay with him?"

"Of course."

Itachi nodded. "Hinata, you and I will go pick up your sister."

"Yeah."

"You'll have to show me the way, because I have no idea where Hanabi's school is."

.oOo.

Upon arrival at Itachi's house, I couldn't help but be awestruck. Yeah, Sasuke had said he was probably rich, but his house was just as big as Neji's, if not just a little bit smaller. What did make it awesome however, was the size of the yard.

Itachi stopped the car and pulled a key off his key ring. He handed me the key and let Neji and I out. I lead Neji up to the front door and put the key in the lock, opening the door to Itachi's house. I have to say, I was very surprised when I opened the front door. The inside of the house was enormous, but at the same time, it was simple. If it wasn't for the size of the house, I would've said that this was just any ordinary house, like mine.

"Itachi doesn't believe in luxury."

I whipped towards Neji. It was the first coherent sentence I'd heard him say since…well…you know.

"What?" I asked.

Neji looked at me. "Itachi doesn't believe in luxury. That's why all of his things are so simplistic."

I nodded slowly, looking around the house. "But he can afford it, right?"

Neji nodded. "Yeah. He can afford it, but that doesn't mean he wants it."

I followed Neji into Itachi's living room. It was a beautiful living room, really. Everything matched up to the point where you could swear it's straight out of a home decorating magazine.

"It's so…simple. Yet at the same time, it's beautiful." I stated.

Neji nodded. "He did it all himself. This entire house."

My jaw dropped. "I thought he was an animator, not an interior designer."

"He is." Neji stated. "But sometimes he has free time on his hands."

I nodded slowly to myself. My eyes widened as I saw a swathe of blue in the backyard. "Wow! Look at the pool!"

"Tenten."

"Huh?" I turned towards Neji.

I gasped in surprise as he wrapped his arms around me. He held me close, a hand on the back of my head.

"Thank you." He said softly. "For everything."

I stood there like a brick wall for a few seconds. Then I wrapped my arms around him.

"It's not a problem." I replied.

And we just stood there, me with my head against his chest, the sound of his gentle heartbeat in my ear.

.oOo.

"Take a left here."

Itachi did as he was told, following Hinata's directions to Hanabi's school. In his mind, he ran over the things he could say to Hanabi to reassure her. He had never met Hanabi before, so he was concerned about how she would take him. He hoped Hinata would help reassure her.

"There. It's right there."

Itachi raised his eyebrows. Now this, was the fanciest school he had ever seen. It was beautiful.

"You and Neji went to school here too?" Itachi asked, pulling into the parking lot through the gate.

Hinata nodded.

"Sheesh," Itachi stared around at the environment. "This looks more like a university than an elementary school."

"Really?" Hinata raised her eyebrows.

Itachi nodded. "The university I went to was really high end. Beautiful campus. I spent hours outside, just enjoying the environment I was in." he parked the car and turned it off. "So, is she out of school now?"

Hinata nodded. "Yeah. She should be."

Itachi and Hinata watched the children mill around for a little bit. It was really hard to pick out anybody in the crowd. They just seemed to know where they were going.

"Does Hiashi have a designated spot to pick her up?" Itachi asked.

Hinata shrugged. "I really don't know."

Itachi opened the car door. "Right then. Let's get out and ask the office if we have to."

Hinata nodded and opened the door.

Itachi followed Hinata wherever she went, knowing full well he could never find his way around this place.

"I think I'll try the place where he always picked Neji and I up." Hinata stated. She began walking towards the side of the building. Itachi followed her, trying not to gawk at the spectacular building.

"There she is!"

Itachi snapped to attention as Hinata waved over her sister. A girl with loose, dark brown hair began walking slowly towards them. Itachi thought she was probably in eighth grade, though he had imagined her to be quite a bit younger.

"Hinata?" Hanabi seemed surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Hanabi, this is Itachi." Hinata pointed to Itachi.

Itachi gave her a wave.

"S-Something happened to dad, so he's going to look after us for awhile."

Hanabi frowned. "What happened?"

Hinata immediately began to stutter. She looked to Itachi for help.

Itachi sighed. He didn't want to give too much away, for fear of telling a story that wasn't his.

"Neji and your father got in another fight." Itachi finally said.

Hinata nodded. "Yeah."

Hanabi's frown disappeared, turning into a look of just plain disappointment. "Again?" She asked.

Hinata nodded. "Our father didn't get out unscathed this time. Neji's okay, but dad's in the hospital."

"What did Neji do?"

Hinata bit her lip.

"I don't think that's Hinata's story to tell." Itachi stated. "Nor is it mine. Neji's back at my place, so if you want to ask him, ask him then. But, he's pretty messed up right now so I think it would be best to just wait for him to tell you himself."

Hanabi pouted for a moment, her brow creasing as she processed the information. Then she nodded.

"Okay."

Itachi sighed in relief. That was one thing out of the way.

Hinata began to walk back towards Itachi's car. Itachi quickly took the lead and pulled open the car door. Hinata did the same on her side, and Hanabi expertly leapt over the seat and shimmied into the back, buckling the seatbelt there. She didn't even step on the cushions. What an acrobat.

.oOo.

I suppose we stood there in the middle of the living room for longer than I had originally thought.

The front door opened, and Itachi, Hinata and Hanabi walked into the house.

Neji released me immediately, and a second later, I shivered. I assumed I had been in Neji's arms for the last ten minutes at least. Maybe even longer. At first, it had just been a comforting embrace, Neji saying "thank you", and me saying "you're welcome". But after the first few minutes, I began to get comfortable in Neji's arms. The sound of his heartbeat was soothing, and pretty soon I had closed my eyes. He held me tightly, his cheek resting on the top of my head. It had felt really good.

"Neji? Tenten?" Itachi called out.

"We're in here." I called out.

Itachi walked into sight, Hinata and Hanabi behind him.

Itachi gave Neji another warm smile. "Are you feeling any better?"

Again, Neji shrugged, glancing away from his cousins.

"What happened, Neji?" Hanabi asked.

I looked at Neji to see him stiffen slightly. He bowed his head and stared at his toes as if trying to find a way to explain just what had happened.

"Hiashi and I got in another fight." Neji stated. "I…Honestly thought he was going to kill me this time. I was afraid. I ran when I managed to get past him, and I pulled a kitchen knife on him."

Hanabi gasped, a hand going over her mouth. So she was smart enough to put two and two together.

"It's not what you think." Neji stated. "I only wanted to threaten him. I didn't actually want to use it. And then he went after Hinata and Tenten, so I tried to stop him. Then he came at me, and I stabbed him."

Hanabi's eyes were wider than saucers. "D-Did you kill him?"

"I don't know." Neji whispered.

I watched Neji carefully. I saw tears running down his face again. He made no move to wipe them away.

"I was so scared…" He whispered.

Hanabi looked away from Neji. I wish I knew what she was thinking. I wondered if Hanabi had also faced the brunt of Hiashi's abuse for her life.

"Tenten."

I looked up to see Itachi looking at me. He beckoned me out of the room. I followed him, understanding what he was doing. The Hyuuga's needed some time to work things out themselves. My comfort was one thing. Neji needed to know that his two cousins didn't blame him for what happened. I hoped Hanabi could give that to him.

"You have such an amazing house, Itachi." I stated as he lead me into the backyard.

"Hm." Itachi sat down on one of the lawn chairs. "Thank you, Tenten."

"It's so big, yet it's so simple." I added. "I could totally live here."

Itachi coughed. "Be my guest. I'll swap this house out any day."

I looked at him in surprise. Then I remembered what Neji had said.

"Neji told me you didn't believe in luxury."

Itachi closed his eyes for a second then shook his head. "No. I don't. In fact, the only reason I have this house is because it's closer to where I work." He sighed. "I don't like it here, really."

I looked at him in surprise. His dark gaze met mine.

"I'm just one person living in a huge house. It's just me in there, every single day." He looked away from me. "Every step that I take echoes off the walls. It's so quiet and empty. It's a house big enough for a family of six, and it's just me living in there."

I looked out at the swimming pool that had been shut down for the year. It must look amazing in the summer time.

"It's lonely."

I looked back towards Itachi. His gaze had lost most of its warmth, replaced with sadness and sorrow.

"I start taking up miniscule tasks to cover up the silence." Itachi went on. "It gets really lonely, really fast. It makes me want to go out and buy things to hopefully occupy my mind and my time."

"Do you?" I asked.

Itachi sighed. "Why do you think everything inside the house looks neat and tidy? Earlier I revamped the whole house to make it look more comfortable. When I was finished, I realized I had made up the house as if I was waiting for family to walk in the front door. That just made me feel even worse. But I can't bring myself to get rid of everything again." He ran a hand through his hair. "So I occupied my mind, and filled the silence by playing music and cleaning as much as I could. It was always just a guise though."

"You're depressed…" I murmured without really thinking about it.

Itachi snorted. "Yeah. I am. I would lay in bed at night thinking that this was what happened to actors and actresses. They buy all of these nice things, a nice home, and at the end of the day they realize they're lonely. So they try to find something to fill the silence, mainly, they get married and have kids." He ran a hand across his face. "Then the divorce because it just doesn't work out.

"Not only that, but they still have all of this money so they continue to buy themselves nice things, and they realize that they're still not happy." Itachi sighed. "That's where drug problems come in. They need a way to escape and just let loose." He shook his head.

"Why?" I asked. "Would you do that, Itachi?"

Itachi shook his head. "No. Not me. I won't ever stoop that low. The only thing I really do is move back in with my parents whenever it gets to be too much. They don't mind. Sasuke's happy to have me back there whenever I can." There was a small smile on his face now.

"But why?" I asked. "Why do you feel that way?"

Itachi took a deep breath and sighed. "Isn't it obvious?" He looked at me. "Money doesn't buy happiness."

I blinked a few times. I'd heard that saying many times. I thought about the life I was living right now. Many people think having a lot of money to have so many nice things is just the life to live. It's luxury. But if what Itachi was saying was true, then that saying was more correct than I'd ever thought.

"What do you think makes you happy, Itachi?" I asked.

Itachi took a deep breath and sighed. "Well, I don't know about other people, but I know what would make me happy."

I waited for his answer.

"It's these simple, little things that money could never buy." Itachi stated. "Friends. Really close friends. Friends you can count on to be there whenever you need them. Friends to share a good laugh with on occasion. But that's just one of a few things.

"I would be happy if the world stopped hating. World peace. I don't want to just make myself happy, I want everyone to be happy. Too many people get killed every day because of racial disputes, wars…" He trailed off. "Look at the Holocaust. Hitler murdered so many people just because he hated them. They were different." Itachi ran a hand through his hair again. "If we could all just stop hating each other…" He whispered. "We could stop living in fear. We wouldn't need armies, or bombs. We wouldn't need to kill each other. I just don't understand." Itachi looked at me.

I breathed in sharply. His dark eyes were filled with this pain I had never seen before. He was like a child, but far more mature than that. I couldn't explain the look in his eyes.

"That's my biggest wish." Itachi stated. "Imagine, people of two different religions meeting up, not arguing about how they believe the world was created, and who's worshipping the superior god, but meeting up to understand what the religions are about. Learning about them so they could learn to respect just what it is they do. Don't you think that would be the world to live in?"

I thought about that. "I guess…if we all just accepted what each other believed…" I trailed off. I could see it. I could see Itachi's world. So many people mingling together, laughing and smiling. Racism gone, skin colour didn't matter. We were all equal. All the same.

I smiled at Itachi. "Yes. I think that would be wonderful."

Itachi smiled back at me.

Then my mind flashed to some jerk who wanted to disturb that wonderful peace. I frowned. "But, at the same time…"

Itachi looked at me.

"I think there'll always be people who want to be better than everyone else. Some people would never learn how to accept. It would be wonderful, yes it would, but it would take a long time, and everyone in the world would have to want to embrace that peace."

Itachi sighed, but nodded. "It's impossible. I know. But at the same time, if I could change the world right now…If I could speak up in every language of this world, I would change it for the better. I would."

"We're humans, Itachi." I stated. "I think most of us are programmed to be selfish."

Itachi scoffed. "I know."

"But I understand how you feel."

"Well thank you for that."

I nodded.

Itachi looked at his watch. "I think you should be getting home, huh?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I suppose so."

Itachi stood up and returned to the house. I followed him back to the living room where Hanabi and Hinata were both hugging Neji on the couch. Neji had an arm around both of them. I couldn't help but smile. I assumed everything would work out for them in the end.

"Listen up you three." Itachi stated. "I don't know how long you're going to be here for, but I think we should go pick up some stuff from your house. I have rooms for you all, so you can take your pick of them."

The three Hyuuga's nodded.

"Come on then." Itachi headed for the front door. "We're going to take Tenten home, and then we'll get you settled in."

I smiled internally. Everything Itachi said about being lonely in this house was pretty much going out the window now. Itachi would have Neji, Hinata and Hanabi to keep him company for however long they were staying. As a bonus, Neji, Hinata and Hanabi could all get away from Hiashi for that time.

It was a win-win situation.

In Hollywood movies, this was the time when things would go horribly wrong.

But alas, real life isn't a movie. Instead of things going in the most predictable, cliché way possible, life could send you, not either left or right where the tracks of cliché were, but straight off in a derail that would send the passengers into fits of laughter because they expected it to go left.

Yes, life was just awesome. You just had to wait and see.