Just for the record: finished my first exam of the semester! Hopefully will be updating more frequently and with a few new fics soon! Review and let me know what you think; also, feel free to PM me requests or something :)

With a yawn, Sasuke stalked up the driveway towards the manor; brushing his hair back off his forehead. As he did so, he winced as his fingers passed over the nasty bruise he was sporting beside his right eye. A brief look at his watch told him that it was nearly seven. Itachi should be out; he had a dinner meeting scheduled in a city a few hours away. Good; he'd be able to sneak in without him noticing the black eye; Itachi would definitely scold him for fighting in school.

"Evening," Neji greeted flatly as he ascended the stairs when Sasuke opened the front door. Usually they exchanged cold glances whenever they met like this, but this time, Neji just nodded at him. Sasuke rolled his eyes and headed for the kitchen; tired after having been studying after school.

It had reached the month mark of living in a house of weirdoes, and he didn't think he was ever going to get close to understanding them; let alone tolerating them. They still refused to let him sleep in; Suigetsu insisted on drenching him in the mornings, and for some reason no one seemed to think he had the right to a shower without someone seeing him naked.

He headed towards the pantry and mini-fridge that he and Itachi had claimed as their own and began rummaging through it to sort out some dinner. Pasta. It was definitely a pasta kind of evening.

Hmm…it would probably be more energy efficient to make a large meal and freeze it instead of cooking several different ones, he thought to himself before emptying an entire bag of pasta into a pot and filling it with water to boil on the stove.

As he settled with cutting up vegetables and opening tins of tomatoes, he felt his face throbbing again. Damn, that Dosu guy had a good punch on him when he was running scared.

"What you doing, Sasuke?" Sakura's voice suddenly chirped in interest from the kitchen door.

"Playing the piano," Sasuke replied sarcastically. It was blatantly obvious what he was doing. Sakura perched herself up on the kitchen bench and swung her legs; watching him. "…Do you want something?" he asked irritably.

"Do you want some help?" she offered, and then saw his face, "Or maybe some ice?" He didn't reply, so for a moment she just sat there watching him chop things, before leaping off the bench again and joining him in dicing.

"…That was really nice what you did today," she commented conversationally; only to be met with a dark scowl.

" –Don't mention it," Sasuke snorted, "Ever." He moodily tossed his handful of vegetables into the pot he was making the pasta sauce in. Sakura just chuckled to herself.

"Are you ready for that big test that's coming up?" she inquired curiously.

"Hn," he responded noncommittally.

"I know you are," she teased, and then her expression saddened slightly. His black eyes slid across to her; knowing that she had something further to say. "I don't think most of us are…Naruto especially."

"The guy's a moron," Sasuke sniffed, and then averted his eyes when he realised that he was insulting the brother of the supernaturally strong girl who was currently holding a knife.

"He is," she agreed, after having let him sweat for a moment, "But, you know; we all have work and such."

"You all work?" he commented flatly.

"Of course," she replied brightly, "How else are we going to get Deidara through college? We all know that dad can't pay for it." Her voice was light, and there was a smile on her face, but Sasuke had already grown used to the way her smile seemed painted on. He could see the sadness in her eyes; which was strange, because he'd never been too good at reading people.

Not that he'd ever cared.

"Naruto works at one of the cafes down the road," she informed him, "He's good with tourists. Ino's at the florist, I work at the bakery, Suigetsu's a lifeguard, Neji works at the library, Shikamaru sometimes helps the cops, and Kiba works at the pet store…" She just shrugged again.

"…That's enough," was all Sasuke replied with; indicating the vegetables she'd cut. She just gave him a small smile before heading over to the other side of the kitchen to rummage through the cupboards. Sasuke looked over his shoulder and saw how bare the pantries looked. Even with all Kisame's jobs, the money just didn't seem to stretch far enough. It probably didn't help that Kisame had finally decided that Shikamaru looked far too scruffy, and had bought him some new clothes. Suigetsu had already called shotgun on them for when his brother grew out of them.

"Listen here, you little shit; give my fucking arm back so I can fucking punch you with it!"

"That'll be the boys home, then," Sakura laughed, and the door was flung open and then slammed shut again as Naruto pressed himself against it.

"I'm not here," he hissed in horror, "Kiba and Akamaru attacked Hidan and he's gone mental!"

"Have you seen the guy? He belongs in an institute," Sasuke snorted. Naruto pressed an ear to the door and appeared to believe that Hidan's attention had been directed to Kiba.

"Oh, hi Sasuke," Naruto mumbled, heading over to scour through the cupboards. The raven just sighed.

"…Don't worry about it," he said flatly; to no one in particular.

"What?" Sakura and Naruto inquired in unison; looking over at him. He didn't bother looking at them; just busied himself with draining the pasta.

"There's enough here for you guys," he muttered flatly.

"Serious?" Sakura inquired. Sasuke didn't deign to respond a third time, but simply began pouring the massive amount of pasta sauce into the huge pot of pasta. The pinkette gave a light squeal.

"I'll go set the table!" she exclaimed in delight; darting from the kitchen gleefully, "Naruto! You help Sasuke dish up!"

"…Why do I get stuck with him…" Naruto grumbled moodily, and Sasuke's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. Naruto began taking out plates while Sasuke mused to himself.

"…You didn't need to do that today," Naruto finally commented hesitantly, "I had everything completely under control."

"From where I stood, it looked like you were getting the crap kicked out of you," Sasuke retorted, looking across the bench into those bright, blue eyes. Naruto's face was a little bruised; much like his own, and he could see the beginnings of an ugly bruise peeking out from underneath the collar of his ill-fitting shirt.

"Yeah? Well, I didn't ask for your help," the blonde sniffed stubbornly, "You didn't need to join in."

"Those guys were assholes," was Sasuke's simple reply, and the topic was dropped. Sasuke didn't want to have to explain to Naruto that he pitied him a little; disapproved of the way that he and his siblings and the other supernaturals were treated at school and looked down on. Today at school, Sakura had practically been in tears. Neji had been pulled away to a meeting and no one else could step in; and Dosu and his gang knew it.

So Sasuke had kicked him in the face.

And he didn't know what it was, but when Kimimaro had delivered a hefty punch to him as he defended Naruto, he'd seen something cross the faces of Naruto's siblings. When the teachers came to break up the fight and he and blonde had been hauled away from their attackers, Sakura had looked at him in…gratitude; and Shikamaru had just nodded at him in quiet acknowledgement.

Annoyed at himself for the flashback, he just made a 'tch' noise.

"What?" Naruto inquired curiously. The raven remained quiet for a moment, and Naruto wondered if he'd just been hearing things. And then Sasuke spoke.

"…There's a big test coming up," he commented.

"Yeah?"

"I could…maybe…help you…if you were getting caught up with work?" the raven muttered quietly. Naruto was immediately about to burst out crossly at having been accused of needing tutoring, but then realised that one; he really was getting behind because of work, and two; this was Sasuke Uchiha making an effort. So he took a deep breath to calm himself.

"That'd be great!"

So it was that Itachi arrived home to discover the dining room filled with noise. He stuck his head in and chuckled to himself when he saw his darling baby brother sitting sullenly amidst a sea of chaos. Hidan's severed head was sitting in a bowl (and quite unimpressed about it), and the younger teens were taking turns throwing food at him.

"Just fucking feed me the goddamn food!" Hidan snarled aggressively, "Hey! That tomato got in my fucking eye!"

Sasuke's eyes flicked up and caught his brother's gaze. Itachi just waved at him with the observation that that was his brother's patented 'kill me now' look; reserved for idiots and situations he hated being in. Naruto, having apparently noticed this particular look, was quite enjoying poking the raven's pale cheek with a fork. Itachi chuckled again, wondering how long it was before Sasuke snapped and started joining Hidan with the death threats. The dogs were scampering around the table, and Suigetsu was practically melting all over the place; but the atmosphere was light and friendly; minus Sasuke of course, who apparently went out of his way to act like a brat.

It was beginning to get dark. Itachi, having tired of his book and of his mother's incessant phone calls, had headed down to the kitchen to discover that Kisame had arrived home and was busying himself with something.

"Evening," he greeted and Kisame looked over his shoulder with grinned toothily.

"Well aren't you dressed for casual Friday?" the blue man chuckled. Itachi looked down and realised for the first time that he was wearing something other than dress pants and a dress shirt; having decided that jeans and a t-shirt was far more comfortable.

"Very funny," he replied flatly, "What are you doing?"

"Making lemonade," Kisame replied with a chuckle, eating an entire tablespoon of straight sugar, "The kids are playing soccer out on the lawn." He gestured with his stirring spoon and Itachi peered out the glass sliding door to see that the garden lights were on and they were kicking around what appeared to be Hidan's head. The rest of Hidan's body was apparently an obstacle that both teams had to overcome.

"What's the score?" Itachi inquired.

"Three-nil to Kiba's team," Kisame replied.

"Kiba's team never wins," the raven snorted back, taking the glass of lemonade offered to him.

"I know; but your brother's quite good," Kisame informed him casually. Itachi ungainly choked on his drink at his words, and immediately recognised Sasuke's form out on the grass, racing towards one of the goals with Naruto hot on his tail. Naruto immediately teleported until he was about to intercept the ball; only for the dog-Kiba to bowl him over as punishment for trying to cheat.

"Sasuke…is socialising?" Itachi exclaimed in astonishment.

"He seemed a little unsure about using Hidan's head as a ball," Kisame shrugged; apparently satisfied with the lemonade, "…But then I think Hidan called him a 'fucking pussy little bitch' and he was suddenly all right with it." Itachi just smiled to himself and followed Kisame out onto the porch.

"Dad, you're the best!" Ino squealed in delight; running over and helping herself to a glass. Kisame ruffled her hair affectionately as the blonde girl giggled and gave Itachi and intrigued look.

"I told you, Ino; stay out of people's heads," Kisame scolded, folding his arms.

"…Yes, daddy," she muttered; prancing back over as Suigetsu and Deidara both slumped down on the stairs; exhausted.

"What happened to you?" Kisame inquired with a chuckle; Suigetsu's shirt was completely grass-stained and torn. He took a long scull of lemonade before replying.

"…It's pretty much a one-on-one out there," he commented; nodding to where Sasuke and Naruto were going head to head against each other in what appeared to be an all-out battle, "It's getting bloody. I think I stepped on like three of Hidan's teeth…"

"You should probably get a tetanus shot, yeah," Deidara smirked spitefully, "You don't know where that mouth of his has been –"

"Come here and say that you little bitch –" Hidan's head snarled before letting out an aggressive snarl as he was viciously booted across the lawn.

When the kids had finally decided to call it quits for the night (and Sakura had reminded Naruto that he had homework to do), Itachi and Kisame were left out on the porch.

"Kisame?" Itachi suddenly inquired, and the blue man stopped drinking mid-sip to raise an eyebrow at him, "I was wondering what I might be able to do to make things a little easier for you." Kisame apparently didn't understand the statement. "I mean, Sasuke and I have been living here a month and I have a lot of spare time, so I'd like to start helping out around the house."

"I wouldn't expect it of you," Kisame snorted, "You're our guest."

"I'd still like to help," Itachi informed him firmly, "Consider it payment for your children fixing my brother –" Kisame had to laugh at that. Itachi had to smile as well; he'd seen the laughter in Sasuke's eyes that evening; even if his brother didn't want to show it. "I know that there's a lot of pressure on you financially; what with feeding and clothing them and schooling."

"We get by," Kisame assured him with a shrug.

"…They're good kids," Itachi commented casually, "You've…you've done well with them."

"Why thank you, mister big-shot city businessman," the other man chuckled, "High praise coming from someone no older than them –"

"I am twenty-three, I'll have you know," Itachi scowled crossly.

"…Same age as Hidan," Kisame informed him with a laugh, "Though he'll never grow up, I swear." There was silence for a moment as Itachi frowned to himself; wondering how he could help them.

"Why do you put on such a brave face?" he inquired curiously, "It is obvious that you are struggling to afford this house –"

"These kids are all I have," Kisame replied with a shrug, beginning to gather up the empty glasses and carrying them inside. As he walked shoulder-to-shoulder with the elder man, Itachi realised just quite how much bigger he was than himself.

"My parents locked me up here because I was unusual," he added, "These kids were all abandoned too. I wanted them to have a stable home and to not have to grow up alone." He laughed to himself again, "Ahh, you're really bringing out the sad sack in me, Itachi."

"…Stable?" Itachi repeated flatly, "You used the word stable in reference to the inhabitants of his house?" Kisame smirked at him; rolling his eyes and brushing the soft hair of Itachi's bangs out of his eyes.

" –Ino left some flowers in your hair," he offered as explanation when Itachi flushed at the gesture.

" –And you let me sit there all evening with them there?" the raven snapped crossly; tossing his hair and deciding that he should probably head off to bed; berating himself for blushing whenever someone brushed up against him.

En route to his room, he spied the lamp still on in the living room. Curious; because the kids tended to study in their rooms, he headed over. The sight he saw there made him smile in genuine happiness.

Sasuke was lying on his back on the couch; snoring softly and looking completely content. One foot was dangling loosely off the side of the couch, and one hand still had a book held in it. If that wasn't cute enough, it appeared that a certain blonde didn't have limitless energy.

There Naruto was; lying completely dead to the world with his head rested on Sasuke's chest; pen still poised in his hand as if to continue writing. As if feeling eyes on him, he shifted; only to nestle into position a little more comfortably.

"Well, it's no wonder they're exhausted," Kisame commented quietly, coming up behind Itachi and smirking. There were piles of paper and books scattered across the floor, (probably mostly Naruto's doing), from where the pair of them had been studying until they had fallen asleep on the couch. "They sure look comfy."

"…Oh, mother is never going to believe this," Itachi smirked; quickly pulling out his phone and snapping a picture. Kisame, shaking his head in exasperation, headed off to bed with a brief 'good night'. Itachi looked at the scene before him one last time; taking in the casual way Sasuke's lips were turned up into a small smile; the bruise on his face visible like some kind of trophy. He looked tired; beaten up and still a little grass-stained, but Itachi had never seen his brother look so…content.

He flicked the light off, smirking in the knowledge that in the morning, Sasuke was going to get quite the fright.

It was nice, that Sasuke might start making friends.

Yaaaaay! Sasuke's being *nice*! How does Itachi choose to help them out? And man oh man do I love fatherly Kisame!
Much love, my pretties!

xx K