Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Younger Brother: Pretending

When Sasuke used to think of 'pretending', he'd think of how he'd pretend to be the Hokage or a special Jounin ninja when he used to play with his brother or cousins. He'd think of how he pretended to be surprised on his "surprise" birthday parties that Itachi had previously warned him about because he knew that Sasuke hated surprises. Or maybe he'd think of the pretend missions the Academy set up to train them.

It was all innocent, accomplished easily enough and just another part of life. Even those heavier moments, when Sasuke had to pretend not to notice that his Father had ignored him for the whole of an afternoon and spent the time with Itachi. Or how Mikoto gushed over Itachi's talent to her friends but failed to ever give Sasuke any praise. It was still just another little piece of his life.

You choose your moments of when to put on the mask, begin pretending, and when to take it off. The luckiest people have no need of a mask but most people often find themselves putting it on at least once every day. Sasuke had been no different; wearing the mask when he needed to, taking it off around those he felt most comfortable with.

Now he was wearing the mask constantly. It had only been a few days since he'd put it on permanently but already it had become a second skin.

Sasuke had made the decision to go the Academy, even though Itachi had asked him – nearly forced him – not to go. He just wanted to resume his life. Go to the Academy, come home, rinse and repeat. Going to the Academy had seemed like the best option for enforcing some sort of normalcy.

And because he couldn't stand being in the house with Itachi for a moment longer.

Sasuke wasn't stupid, he could see that Itachi was struggling with the loss of their family, and, like Sasuke now, was putting on a front to cover his real state of being. Itachi would never let his real feelings show through, at least not when Sasuke was around. He was the image of calm and controlled.

However, Sasuke had this little feeling. It was a niggling thing, something that worried at him always in the back of his mind. Maybe, deep down, Itachi blamed Sasuke for what happened. If he hadn't been so scared on that night, perhaps he could have stopped those people from murdering his parents. Maybe if he hadn't lost track of time and got home late, he might have been able to do something to stop it all from ever happening. If Itachi did blame him, or hate him, he would probably never say. Itachi was just far too good a person.

…..

Going to the Academy felt like a mistake. The usually welcoming sight of the building now resembled a tower of doom to Sasuke.

Sasuke gathered his courage. He settled his features into the purest look of absolute boredom that he could muster, and walked carefully ahead. He didn't miss the way people struggled to avoid staring at him and the sad eyes of the all the staff. He forged ahead and sat down in the classroom, ignoring everyone around him. It was already pretty crowded but no one approached him. Not even one of the girls who always seemed to be asking to sit next to him.

Sasuke waited. He had to keep himself from grimacing when it began.

The gossip.

"Hey, you see Uchiha? I heard his whole family was killed in a single night," someone sitting behind Sasuke whispered. It was appalling that a ninja could whisper so loud.

"Wow, really? Did they catch the ninja that did it?"

"Dunno…"

"I can tell that you do know! Your Dad is in the investigation squad, he must have told you something."

"Well…I did overhear him saying to one of his friends that he thinks some of the killers might have gotten away. Apparently it was ANBU."

"Seriously!"

Sasuke froze. Something tugged at his memory but it was like trying to catch smoke. He grappled for a moment but had his attention drawn away. Iruka had entered the class and was ordering everybody to sit down.

The lesson ran pretty smoothly; Iruka allowed no room for chatter and treated Sasuke almost exactly as he normally would. A glance out of the corner of his eye at the desk where Sasuke was seated gave him away.

It wasn't surprising when during break Iruka asked Sasuke to stay behind for a moment.

Here it comes, he thought. He looked expressionlessly at Iruka as the teacher approached to where he was sat.

"Are you okay, Sasuke?" Iruka asked, somewhat sheepishly. Sasuke wanted to say something like 'what do you think?' but held back. He simply nodded his head, unable to help himself from disconnecting eye contact.

"I thought you were going to take two weeks leave. It's honestly fine for you to take it, don't feel like you have to come in." Sasuke said nothing, just shrugged slightly. "Do you want to talk about anything?" Sasuke shook his head. "Okay then…" Iruka left the classroom, leaving Sasuke to slowly make his own way out.

He stopped short when he heard the sound of crying as he closed the door to the classroom. The hallways were quiet and no one else seemed to be around. His first thought was that someone might be injured, and he supposed he better make sure they were okay. He stopped in his tracks again when he heard a gruff voice say,

"Pull yourself together, Iruka!" Iruka was crying? Sasuke knew this was something Iruka would never want his students to know about but at the same time, Sasuke felt like maybe he should know.

He crept along the empty corridor, stopping at the corner, back pressed against the wall. He carefully hid his chakra and listened closely.

"I feel so awful. I was horrible on the day it happened – to all the class - because I'd been given an emergency mission and then I forgot my notes-"

"Everyone has bad days, Iruka."

"I was so unfair. And I was supposed to be patrolling the village that night. You should see the look on that kid's face; he looks like he's been completely broken inside."

"It couldn't be helped that you got a bigger priority mission than patrol. And you couldn't have known it was going to happen," the gruff voice said.

"But maybe I could have stopped the massacre if I had been on patrol!" Iruka cried. "I feel like I've betrayed him."

Sasuke's eyes widened with realisation. Iruka was supposed to be on guard duty that night but got called away. The news was a little shocking to Sasuke but it was what he heard next that really made his blood run cold.

"Come on Iruka, you can't blame yourself. Everyone knows it was that group of ANBU that was found responsible. You need to get it together before the kids come back and see their Sensei crying. Doesn't that go against Shinobi conduct rule number something or other?"

"Jeez, I'm a mess," Iruka half-laughed.

"Actually, while I've got you here, Iruka, I need to talk to you about something. Sasuke was all set to enter the graduation exams a little earlier, probably this year's, but I think we should hold him back. You understand why, right?"

"Yeah, I know. His mental state is unreliable and we can't send him out on the field so soon. I've also been told not to…well, make sure he doesn't over-excel. Someone higher up says they don't want him becoming too powerful. I really would like to teach him some more advanced stuff but…." Sasuke stopped listening.

They were holding him back? Why did they fear him becoming too powerful? It wasn't like he was a threat; he'd barely been able to walk straight during that night. Nothing was making sense.

And his mental state – what did that mean?

Disgusted with his teachers and himself, Sasuke stalked away, heading back towards the classroom. He sat down, trying to figure this all out. Why wouldn't someone want him to become a powerful ninja?

His thoughts were plagued for the rest of the day. Sasuke wondered if maybe there was something wrong with his mind. He thought that maybe he should try a little harder to pretend that things were okay. Yes, he just had to make out like he wasn't in constant agony, the nightmares and the memory of all the blood, his parent's corpses so vivid he thought they might materialise in front of him when he woke up.

That was what Itachi was doing. Pretending. If Itachi could keep a brave face on, Sasuke could as well. He didn't want to worry Itachi and he thought that, maybe, if he pretended that things were okay, maybe they would end up being okay.

Edited 3/7/15

I know there wasn't any interaction between Sasuke and Itachi in this chapter but I honestly just feel like it didn't fit. They're kind of growing apart and it will all tie in with what happens next.

Thank you to KARASU25, akasukifangirl, AutumnsDownFall, Guest and Veraison for reviewing last chapter.

KARASU25: I'm glad you agree with me on the mental health thing. My knowledge of mental health isn't great so I probably won't expand on specific issues but I will definitely show that they are very conflicted, confused and suffering. Yeah, I think if Sasuke (and Naruto as well for that matter) had been given more help then he might be less inclined to hate the village. Anyway, thank you for reviewing and I'll try to do a little better in the next chapter!

akasukifangirl: Yay, another person agrees about the mental health thing! It really annoys me when people say that Sasuke has no reason for vengeance; he's probably one of the few villains in any series that has decent reasons for turning evil. (I don't even think of him as a true villain since he has pretty good reasons for his actions.) I get that Naruto was also alone and was hated through most of his life but he didn't suffer the pain of losing everything, curse of hatred etc. Anyway, I digress. Unfortunately the brothers are falling apart but they will not completely sever. As you said, all they have is each other. I will probably add other characters in a little more, Team 7, a few others I haven't quite decided on yet. They won't be as central to the story but they will have a part. Thank you for reviewing, I always like to hear your thoughts.

AutumnsDownFall: Yes! Somebody else who agrees with the mental health thing! I'm really glad this has been taken so well. I mean, I get that they are ninjas and have to get used to seeing death but witnessing your entire family murdered has to leave some severe mental scars. Thank you so much for reviewing, it means so much to me

Guest: We should so start a Danzo-hate-club. I detest that slimy fuuuu- er, man, with all my being. He will be the villain of this story. I think he should be the villain of the manga as well. I understand that he was trying to protect the village but he just went about it in the entirely wrong way. I think you're on to something; he probably did mess up the peace talks and discriminate the Uchiha. Danzo-hate-club has two members! Anyways, thank you for reviewing and I really think you've pinned Danzo's character there.

Veraison: Thank you! Just knowing that people enjoy what I write makes it really worth it. I'll try to update a little sooner next time but I can't make any promises.

Thanks for reading,

Cipher.