[A/N]: I just updated this story like...2 days ago? (Damn, I'm on a roll!) Enjoy~
Within twenty-four hours of being admitted to the hospital, Itachi was given an identification bracelet, assigned a room complete with a stiff bed. He was served three meals a day that he wouldn't have found appetizing when he was healthy and attached to an IA bag complete with a cocktail of chemotherapy drugs that would make him feel worse before it made him feel better.
Hospital life, he concluded, was a lot like prison life, and he had thirty days to go before the conclusion of his sentence.
The only difference between him and your common criminal was that even criminals had visitors, whereas Itachi did not.
That was another similarity between hospital and prison life. No cell phones allowed.
What if Sasuke tried calling him back? Or texted him to explain why he hadn't called sooner? Or to ask for directions to the hospital where he was receiving treatment?
Unlike your common prisoner, however, Itachi was allowed use of his tablet to entertain himself during his stay and had already attempted to reach out to Sasuke via social networking websites. The only problem was that Sasuke had long since shut down his Facebook account in favor for a Twitter account like the ones his friends utilized, and Itachi was ashamed to admit that he didn't know the first thing about Instagram or Twitter, or whatever it was he did to communicate these days besides texting.
He reclined in the bed with a sigh and fixed his gaze on the ceiling above him. Of all the times he and Sasuke fought, it had to be when Itachi needed his sibling the most.
And the worst part was that it was all Itachi's fault.
There were times in the past where Itachi had let Sasuke down before that he wasn't proud of. When Sasuke turned sixteen years old, seven months after their mother's death, he begged Itachi to move back home to teach him how to drive because his father refused to.
"Why?" Itachi asked. At twenty-two years of age, Itachi had recently graduated college and started work at an accounting firm he interned at his senior year. It would be un-wise not to take such an offer as the job paid decently, but the firm was located almost three hours away from his hometown by plane and four hours away by car.
Sasuke glanced over his shoulder at his father who was casually talking with a co-worker from the station and hissed "He's paranoid that I'll get myself in an accident and end up like mom!"
Itachi closed his eyes and sighed. "Learning to drive takes time, Sasuke—" Time that I don't have.
"Then at least give me money for lessons!" Sasuke bargained.
I barely have enough money to eat, let alone pay for my rent; how do you expect me to pay hundreds of dollars for you to take driving lessons? He thought. "Did you ask dad if he would—"
"Yes, and he said that if he paid all that money for me to learn, he'd have to pay double when I got into a car accident because 'young people are too reckless to be driving at sixteen.'"
While Itachi partially agreed with his father's sentiment, he knew that Sasuke wouldn't see it that way. "When does he expect you to learn?"
"I dunno! He doesn't want to talk about it!" Sasuke fumed.
"I'll talk to him." He said and moved to interrupt his father's conversation when Sasuke pulled on his wrist.
"Can't you just get a job down here and teach me? It's bad enough that I'm like, the last person in my class to learn – everyone else already has their licenses and cars except for me!"
"It's not about popularity, Sasuke." Itachi said. "It's about your safety, which is why dad's so concerned."
"Even Naruto knows how to drive, and he's a total moron!" Sasuke yelled.
Itachi glanced over to where his father was laughing at something one of his co-workers had said, thankful that he hadn't heard Sasuke raise his voice. "It hasn't even been a year since mom's accident," Itachi said in a hushed tone so that Sasuke would get the message and calm down a bit for attracting any unnecessary attention. Breaking up a fight between Sasuke and his father was the last thing Itachi wanted to spend his day doing. "so of course dad's worried that something like that will happen to you, especially in a city like this."
"This isn't even a city, Itachi! It's a town, for God's sake!" He shook his head. "I should've known that you would've taken his side on this."
"Sasuke, I'm not—" Itachi started before he realized that he was taking his father's side. "Listen, I can't move back home because I just got hired by the accounting firm I interned at—"
"Then lend me some money so somebody can teach me!"
"It's not that simple, Sasuke, I have bills to pay!"
"What's going on here?" Fugaku asked, dislodging himself from his circle of colleagues.
He should've known that the day would end with him playing mediator to his brother and father. What he didn't know was that it would take three hours to settle their dispute, causing him to return back to his apartment just before midnight when he wanted to be back by seven.
It wasn't until their father died, two years later, that Sasuke would broach the topic of driving lessons again.
"I wanted to let you know that I'll be moving back home." Itachi informed him over the phone a few days later.
"Thanks, but I already know how to drive and I can take care of myself." Sasuke responded.
But Itachi was used to this kind of rebellious behavior from Sasuke. When their mother died, Itachi's role was to keep him and their father from killing each other, and when their father died, it was his responsibility to make sure that Sasuke had a place to live, food to eat, and an education. It was Itachi's job to make decisions for him that would have otherwise been up to their parents to make which resulted in a lot of arguments and fights over the years.
But no matter how loudly Sasuke yelled, how hard he glared at him, or how long he ignored him, his anger would fade over time like it always did.
Unlike every other time, however, Itachi could handle it because in each of those instances, there was never a doubt in his mind that he'd still be alive when the storm passed.
The rims of his eyelids began to burn with the onset of tears when the door to his room swung open.
"How's it goin'?" Kisame beamed.
Yassss, Kisame! Let me hear it from all the Kisame fanzzzz!)
So, first thing's first, the next chapter is halfway written and will be an Itachi chapter. I can't guarantee it will get done anytime soon (I expect to update it by the end of next week at the latest) so yeah!
****To The Secret Sal: Hopefully you enjoyed the chapter as alwayssss ;) luv ya, darling!
****To Lookitallthecake: Thank you for giving yourself a name instead of "guest"! (that makes me so happy!) What doesn't make me happy, however, is the fact that I was unable to give you the chapter you wanted :'( ...There's a reason for everything I do (even if I don't know it at the end of each chapter) and there's a reason why Sasuke hasn't shown up yet and a reason why I haven't had him show up yet (they're two different things, but it's super difficult to explain) I guarantee he will show up soon! (it's Saturday, July 14th in the story right now - Sasuke will show up within the next week *don't quote me on that* I can't make any promises yet) but I can't say he'll be...civil...when he reunites with Itachi again (and on that note, I will say no more!)
****To AbsoluteAnarchy: You just read through 25 chapters and alas a 26th has been posted and 27 is on it's way *sorry!* I tend to update quick and thus, expect you to be quick as well! (at least you only have 1,000 words to read this time instead of 40,000!)
****To KamuiMaster and Moo-Cow300: I haven't seen you guys in a while! :(
Any who, tell me what you think, as always!
Until next time~
Sasori33-001
PS (to those of you from the US): I intentionally fudged Sasuke's age in the flashback where he turned sixteen and was arguing with Itachi about driving lessons. You may be asking "What did that have to do with age? You learn to drive when you're 16..." yeah, I know that. What I'm saying is, when Sasuke said "Naruto already knows how to drive" that was pointing to the fact that Naruto's birthday is in October and for Sasuke to be in the same grade as him (and being born in July) would make him younger than Naruto by default. (Also, I'm from a region of the US where the school cut off is at the beginning of September (I know for some states, it's October))
PSS (to those of you who are not from the US - foreigners - who tried to understand what I said above, here is your chance!) Although the story does not take place in any where specific, I write from what I know, and what I know is this: the school year is from the very end of August to the very beginning of June. When enrolling your kid in school, the age cut off (in my region) is in the beginning of September. If you are not a certain age by that cut-off date (5 years old, I think it is), you have to wait to enroll until the next year. For Sasuke to be older than Naruto, he would've been in a grade above him because his birthday is in July and Naruto's is in October. I wanted them to be in the same grade, so I intentionally made it so that Naruto was several months older than Sasuke even though Sasuke is older than him in the canon. Why is this important, or where is this mentioned? It's mentioned when Sasuke complains to Itachi on his sixteenth birthday that "Naruto already knows how to drive." In the US, you can learn to drive when you turn 16 years old. Since Naruto already knows how and Sasuke does not, even though Sasuke just turned 16, it implies that Naruto is older than him (which I know is not true in the canon, but for my purposes, is true here)
Now that you are all thoroughly (or not) confused, have a nice day!