Chapter 34

Sasuke

I know I told Itachi this morning to tell Naruto that I was going to the library after school to work on homework with Temari and Kankuro … but I didn't think I'd actually be doing it after visiting Gaara in the hospital. I know I promised the two siblings that I wouldn't tell Naruto how Gaara was doing or that he was even in the hospital, but I'm telling him when I get home.

"Hey, Sasuke, it's after six and the library closes in two hours. Wanna stay until then or go home now?" Temari whispered over to me, the table the three of us were occupying was littered and completely covered with our homework, and my laptop. And I sighed heavily as I looked at the time on my laptop. It was going on six-thirty … Itachi might have left hundreds of messages on my phone asking where the fuck I am now.

"Yea, lets call it a night, meet back over tomorrow?" I asked. This was, after all, the best way for me to get less Naruto and more time for myself to get my grades back up since they slipped slightly.

"Sure." Kankuro said as he started picking up his stuff.

"Wanna car pool tomorrow?" Temari asked. "My car sounds like it's needing some work here soon."

"Sure, I'll come pick you guys up on the way to school." I offered, and she looked grateful.

"Thanks Sasuke." Temari smiled, already finished up picking her things up and all I had to pick up was the laptop. I had my stuff put away half an hour ago since I'm doing research for our next Psychology project, mine just had to be domestic abuse and how it changes the mind towards the one that's abused. Stupid really, but I took the project so it'd help me know how Naruto thinks better … I guess.

"See you tomorrow Sasuke." Temari said as she waved.

"Bye Sasuke." Kankuro said just before he walked out of the library before Temari did, and I waved back before I sighed heavily and packed up my stuff before pulling my cell phone out, ready to call home and get my ear chewed out. But when I looked at my phone, I didn't have a single message or missed call.

I shrugged at the rare opportunity and got up, browsing through the mystery shelves again and found another interesting title. I grabbed it and checked it out before I went outside to my car and hopped in. I wanted to call home, but I figured not and buckled up before I started the car and drove home.

"I'm home." I said as I opened the front door, wondering who's cars were outside and stopped in my tracks as soon as I closed the door … and saw Tsunade and Ibiki. Apparently, I seem to have come home at the worst time possible … because Tsunade looked like she was ready to rip someone in half.

"Get to your room now!" Tsunade yelled, and I saw Itachi sitting on the couch talking to Naruto who looked like he was having a nervous break down.

I didn't ask any questions and rushed off to my room. When I had the door closed, I tossed my bag onto my bed before I threw myself onto it and laid there on my stomach, thinking about what I just witnessed in the living room.

Naruto having a nervous break down … Ibiki here and Tsunade here … Naruto must have wanted to talk to Ibiki about some things and let the others stay in the room.

"Hey, Sasuke, may I come in?" Itachi's voice said through my door and I grunted just before he opened the door, hearing it close before I felt my bed shift a little bit.

"You wondering why Ibiki and Tsunade are here?" Itachi asked.

"Of course, but I think I got it figured out." I said, moving my head towards his direction so he could understand me.

"Yea, Naruto wanted to talk to them …" He sighed.

"And I guess I'll find out whenever he wants me to?" I asked, now rolling onto my back and heaving myself up into a sitting position next to him and scratched the back of my neck.

"I think so." Itachi said as he put a hand on my shoulder. "But know this … he needs you more than ever, you and all of his friends."

"It was that bad?" I asked, now looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

"You, have no idea, Sasuke." Itachi said, and that's when I realized how exhausted he sounded, plus a little bit of sadness and extreme worry. "And, since we haven't had dinner yet, how about something out? I'm too tired to cook."

"That sounds nice, and I'll let Naruto chose." I shrugged, laying back down on my bed and putting my hands behind my head as I closed my eyes.

"I'll let him know, and if you hear Tsunade yelling at the top of her lungs, try your best to ignore it, okay?" Itachi said as he got up off my bed. I grunted my answer before I heard him open my bedroom door and close it as he left.

To make sure I wouldn't hear Tsunade, I reached into my back pack and grabbed my iPod and head phones. The only way to drown out her loud mouth was listening to scream music and Asking Alexandria was the best way to go.

"Hey, Sasuke, wake up." I heard as someone shook my leg.

I groaned angrily and tried to kick them away as I rolled over, only to find that I was falling out of bed and landed on the floor with a loud thud and my iPod falling onto my face and I sat up faster than I wanted because my head started to spin.

"Where's the fucking fire?" I mumbled as I rubbed at my eyes and slowly got back onto my bed.

"It's after eight, I tried to wake you up an hour ago when our food arrived, but you were too out of it and I turned your iPod off then too because you had it too loud." Itachi sighed as he stood by my bed.

"I don't remember falling asleep though." I yawned and stretched before I stood up, stumbling because I hadn't regained my balance quite yet.

"I'm guessing school is starting to get to you, and I know your project with Ibiki is draining you mentally." Itachi said.

"It is, I have this stupid ass project that's pissing me off." I admitted, but I'll never tell him what the project is. Not in a million years.

"And Naruto's in bed, just thought I'd let you know. And there's a couple things I want to talk to you in the kitchen when you come out." He said, and walked out before I could say anything back.

I grumbled before shuffling out of my room and down the hall and into the kitchen where I saw Itachi digging into the fridge for something.

"We had pizza, and Naruto was very adamant about getting a vegetarian pizza for you since you don't like pepperoni or anything of that sort." Itachi said, pulling a small pizza out of the fridge and handing it over to me along with a couple cans of soda.

"Thanks." I said, taking the items from him and pulling a plate from the cabinet and put the whole pizza on it and shoved it into the microwave for two minutes before sitting down at the table. Opening up my soda and sipped at it.

I was dying to know what Itachi wanted to talk to me about.

"Sasuke … Naruto's being prescribed anti-depressants." Itachi said, out of the blue, and all I could do was stare up at him, shocked.

"When was this established?" I asked.

"While you were sleeping." He answered.

"Of course." I sighed just when the time was up on the microwave and it buzzed endlessly until Itachi opened it and handed me my plate for me. "Thanks."

"Tsunade is stopping by in the morning, to give it to him. I don't know what it is she's prescribing him, though it's probably Prozac." Itachi said. "And don't bother telling Naruto about Gaara …"

"What do you mean by that?" I asked. I was about to take a bite of my pizza when I stared up at him.

"She told him when they got here." He answered. "Naruto was complaining about how he was going to bitch Gaara out and she felt like she should tell him."

"Did he take it well?" I asked after eating a few bites of my dinner.

"Better than I thought he would, we went straight into the counseling session before we really got to understand how it affected him." Itachi said as he sat down across from me.

"Has he hurt himself at all?"

"He has two cuts, but they look like they're accidental. Tsunade doesn't want to take any chances either and wants us to make sure we have him under constant surveillance." He said. "I also found one of our steak knives under his pillow when he was taking his bath last night. He hasn't said anything, but he was avoiding me most of the day so he knows that I found it."

"How can we make sure he doesn't take anything into his room or when he goes and takes his bath?" I asked after a few minutes of silence so I could get some more food in my seemingly empty stomach.

"We'll just have to make sure we have everything where it's supposed to be before we leave him alone." Itachi sighed. He was right, of course.

"Or we could just body search him." I suggested with high sarcasm as I took another bite of pizza.

"That will just piss him off even more."

"I know, but that's the best thing I can come up with right now." I said, now pushing my pizza away half eaten since I officially lost the rest of my appetite.

"Well I can say I hate you all, but then that'd be selfish of me." Naruto's voice rang into the kitchen, startling both of us and I whipped myself around to see Naruto dressed with shoes on and everything sitting in his wheelchair and acting like he's going somewhere.

"And where are you going?" I asked, trying my damnedest not to sound pissed off when I actually am.

"I want to get out of the house … and I can't sleep." Naruto said, and I could tell he was frustrated with himself.

"How about some ice cream?" I asked, though I hated the stuff myself.

"I just want to go around outside." Naruto said, shaking his head, and I knew then that something was up with the blonde tonight. He never refuses to get anything sweet. "In actuality, I would love to go and visit Gaara, but I know that neither of you are fit to drive because you're both exhausted."

"I'll take you to visit Gaara in the morning. And I can give you some pain medication to help you sleep, Naruto." Itachi offered.

"I wanna go out for a bit …" Naruto said, shaking his head a little bit. "I'll be out back for a while." And he wheeled himself through the kitchen towards the back door, opened it and wheeled himself outside and closed the door.

"Should he be alone?" I asked Itachi.

"Maybe, but he needs to come inside in no longer than an hour. I'll stay up, you have school tomorrow." Itachi sighed, now shooing me out of the kitchen as he put my food away for me.

"Good night Itachi." I sighed as I got up and stretched.

"Night Sasuke." Itachi told me with a smile and he went outside. So much with leaving him alone for an hour.