"Drink." Itachi commanded, slamming a tall glass of water next to where Sasuke's head rested on the countertop the next morning.
Sasuke peered up from his crossed arms. "Jesus Christ, Itachi, don't do that shit, I have a splitting headache." He groaned and burrowed his head into his forearms again.
"Which you wouldn't have, if you drank some water." Itachi said loud enough to make Sasuke's ears ring.
"Fucking hell, Itachi!" Sasuke moaned, sitting up a little. He reached out to grab the glass Itachi had set down and misjudged the distance, accidently knocking it over.
Itachi lunged to keep the glass from rolling off the edge of the counter. He grabbed it before it could roll any closer and placed it next to the sink – out of Sasuke's reach. On top of caring for Sasuke, cleaning up the shards of a broken glass was the last thing that Itachi needed right now.
"Sasuke," Itachi sighed, soaking up the mess on the countertop with a wad of paper towels, "how many times do I have to tell you: if you're gonna drink, do it in moderation."
He glanced over at Sasuke to see if he was listening to him or not and found that his sibling had burrowed his head into his arms again. "You don't have to go out every weekend to drink with your friends, Sasuke. I know that yesterday was a special occasion, but you probably don't even remember a second of it, do you?"
"I remember graduation. And dinner." He mumbled and after a moment added. "And going out for a couple of drinks."
Itachi made a noise of disapproval, which Sasuke didn't catch. It was apparent to him that Sasuke had more than just a couple of drinks last night, but didn't remark on it. "And do you remember stumbling through the streets last night trying to make your way back home?" He asked instead.
"No."
"Or throwing up in the bathroom at 3 in the morning while I held your hair out of your face and helped you to bed?"
"Don't talk about throwing up. I still don't feel good." Sasuke answered and looked up when he felt Itachi's hand on his shoulder.
"Then drink." Itachi commanded again, holding a new glass of water in front of his face. He made sure not to let go until he could feel Sasuke pulling the glass from his hand and watched him drink half of the liquid inside of it. When he was done, Itachi took the glass from him and placed it out of his reach until he was ready to drink it again. Even if Itachi had to remind him for the rest of the day to do so. "Have you learned your lesson?"
Sasuke was partially sitting up now, his head cradled between his shoulders and his arms still crossed him front of him as he stared into space. "It's your fault I drank too much?"
"My fault?" Itachi asked incredulously. "How can it be my fault when I wasn't there to keep track of how much you had to drink? If you remember, you were the one who left me alone at the restaurant so that you could go out with your friends!"
"It's your fault because you made me mad yesterday." Sasuke answered, glaring daggers at his older brother. "If you had been more supportive of my decision to move out instead of grilling me about the details – things I'd been researching for months now, I wouldn't have drank myself to oblivion!" He shouted when Itachi flicked him in the forehead, halting his tirade dead in its tracks. "Fuck! Itachi! That fucking hurt like a fucking bitch! I'm still hung over you know!"
"Which is why you're not ready to live on your own, Sasuke." Itachi pointed out, unfazed by Sasuke's words. "You may be twenty-four years old, but you're acting like a child. You're too immature to handle the responsibilities of living on your own."
"Here we go again!" Sasuke yelled, pushing himself up to stand and then lowering himself back onto the chair. "This is the reason that I got so wasted yesterday night, because of you telling me what to do!"
"I'm telling you what to do because it's obvious that you can't make the right decisions on your own, Sasuke! Take this for example!" He said gesturing at Sasuke's hung over state. "If you were living on your own, who would take care of you when you're hung over and don't know what medicines will help or harm you? Who will force you to drink water when you're dehydrated? You couldn't even pick up the glass without knocking it over! I'm surprised that you even remembered our address." He muttered under his breath and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Get off your fucking high horse Itachi, you drink too. You're not God's gift to mankind."
Itachi quickly stalked over and leaned over the opposite side of the counter so that he was inches away from Sasuke's face. "Don't even go there, Sasuke. I seldom drink, and when I do, it's a special occasion like yesterday and unlike you, I'm not hung over."
"Stop treating me like a fucking child, Itachi! I am old enough to make my own decisions, and if it bites me in the ass, so be it, I'll learn from my mistakes, something I can do on my own without your help!"
He yelled so loudly that Itachi was sure that the next door neighbors could hear him. Raising his hands in surrender, Itachi walked out of the kitchen. "Fine. If you want to learn from your mistakes, be my guest. There's no time like the present, right?" He said.
He had just reached the door to his bedroom when he heard the screeching noise of the chairs followed by 195 pounds clumsily crashing against the wood flooring.
Despite what he'd said just a few seconds ago, he found himself next to Sasuke's side in a flash, checking his younger brother's skin for any abrasions before helping him onto the couch.
"What happened to learning from my mistakes and taking care of myself?" Sasuke asked Itachi, who sat watching him from the opposite couch.
"The headache you're suffering from and the bruises you'll have tomorrow morning should teach you a lesson."
Sasuke's headache would fade and his bruises would heal, Itachi knew, but as for the words Sasuke had said that pierced his heart, Itachi wasn't sure would heal so quickly.
Ooh, it's getting good! I forgot what this chapter was about (since I wrote it back in December/January of last/this year) but when I glanced through it again I was so excited! I hope you all felt the same.
Until next time!
~Sasori33-001