If Sasuke were the mature adult he made himself out to be, then sitting down the next day and having a simple conversation with him wouldn't be a problem, Itachi reasoned.
The murderous glare he received upon sitting on the opposite couch, however, said differently. "If you're going to tell me that I'm too immature to live on my own, you can give it a rest." He spat at Itachi, browsing through a selection of on demand movies on TV.
Itachi sighed. "I'm just asking you to think about this a little more, Sasuke. You don't want to rush something like this." He calmly explained.
"Itachi. I already told you that this was something I'd been researching for months now. I know what I'm doing. Stay out of it."
How? How can I stay out of it when I'm the only family you have, Sasuke? What if something happens to you? Who'll be there to take care of you? To protect you? To keep you safe? Itachi wanted to ask him but didn't. There was nothing he could say or do that Sasuke wouldn't interpret the wrong way and would lead them to have argument like the one they had the day before. If that happened, Itachi feared that Sasuke would never trust him again and perhaps stop speaking to him altogether.
Since then, Itachi never asked about Sasuke's plans and Sasuke never said anything about them. In fact, the brothers hadn't spoken to each other much until the next week when Itachi returned home from work to an odd screeching sound.
Sasuke didn't need to tell him how quickly he was moving into this new apartment he'd found; the large cardboard boxes scattered around his bedroom told him all the answers he needed to know.
Inside his bedroom, Sasuke was stretching a roll of packing tape – the perpetrator of the shrieking Itachi heard when he came in – over the seam of one of the boxes and glanced around for the scissors.
"You said that it's an efficiency apartment," Itachi said, handing him the scissors, "so I assume you're not living with any roommates?"
Sasuke looked between his brother's inscrutable features and the proffered object he held in his hand, contemplating Itachi's sudden change in attitude. "Thanks." He muttered, taking the scissors. "And no, I'm not living with anyone else."
Itachi opened his mouth to speak when Sasuke continued. "I know what you're thinking, 'it's easier to live with a friend when you first start out so that you can split the expenses.'" He stood up, exhaled, and glared at Itachi. "Even though you didn't live with anyone else when you got an apartment."
He didn't meet Sasuke's penetrating gaze, and instead fixated his eyes on the various boxes littering the floor. "You're right. I didn't live with a friend once I graduated college and it would have been much easier if I had any friends to live with."
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Sasuke staring at him before looking away. "You think I didn't consider that?" He asked. "If I thought living with someone else would make my life any easier, I would've done it in a heartbeat. But all the people I can think of would only be a burden to me." He said.
But all Itachi heard was "If I thought living with you any longer would make life easier, I wouldn't have thought twice about moving out. But staying with you would only be a burden to me." He felt for the bed behind him and sat, feeling as though a knife had gone through his heart. "When?" He whispered.
Sasuke turned. "When what?"
"When are you moving out?"
Itachi could feel Sasuke's eyes, looking him up and down, studying him. And in that moment that felt like forever, Itachi kept his gaze focused on the floor beneath his feet – the only thing that seemed to stay constant in his life. "Saturday." Sasuke finally replied.
"Saturday?" Sasuke nodded and continued to pack up the clothes in his closet. Itachi smiled, absently running his hand over the plush surface of Sasuke's comforter. There's still time. "Do you need any help?"
Sasuke looked around the room and then back at his closet. "No, I'm good."
"I meant on Saturday." Itachi asked. A week ago he was attempting to talk Sasuke out of his decision, but now he had surrendered to the idea and was offering to help. It was miraculous how quickly things could change.
After about a minute of silence, Itachi began to wonder if Sasuke had heard him or not. If he had, maybe he didn't want to answer the question. "Sure. If you want."
It may not have been the most enthusiastic reply, but if Sasuke was willing to accept the help, who was Itachi to say no? Even if he didn't quite agree with Sasuke's motivations for wanting to live on his own so suddenly, he didn't want to miss helping his little brother move into his first apartment.
"And Itachi?" Sasuke asked. Itachi sat up a little straighter at the mention of his name. "I've been planning this for months now. I'm moving into my apartment on Saturday no matter what you have to say about it." He said, fixing Itachi with a look of unparalleled determination.
It was a complicated position to be in. Having just learned of Sasuke's master plan to move out only a week and a half ago, he had hundreds of questions he wanted to ask him like "did you pay the security deposit and first month's rent?" and "will you be able to pay your bills on time?" or "how much money do you have saved? Will you be able to support yourself?" All of these questions flooded Itachi's head every second of the day whereas Sasuke didn't seem the least bit concerned at all. If anything, he was calmer than Itachi was, and he was the one moving out.
But the way Sasuke had looked at him just now. The confidence and the motivation in his eyes meant that Sasuke was 100% serious about moving out this weekend and was certain that everything would work out fine. Itachi had been that way too at one point. However, it's miraculous how quickly things can change, he thought solemnly.
Ooh, the tension...without his feisty baby brother around, whatever will Itachi do with himself?
We'll just have to wait and see...
Until next time!
~Sasori33-001
PS The next chapter is an Itachi chapter~