TWO WEEKS LATER

Grabbing the first bundle of flowers he could see, Sasuke was in and out of the Yamanaka flower shop within three minutes. He happened to grab peach colored azaleas, which he thought was a little too girly, but he didn't care that much. While he knew he was buying the flowers for Kakashi, he also knew that Itachi would be there by now, and talking to him was of utmost importance. He just needed an excuse to see him, because he knew if he had just walked up to his brother at any other time, he would probably blow him off.

He made his way to the hospital, quickly making his way through the groups of people walking around outside. He did his best to make sure he would not be seen by anyone who would report to Sakura that he had gone without her, as she had asked him earlier to go with her, and he had declined. However, he knew that if he had gone with her, he wouldn't be able to get the time to talk to Itachi alone.

He made it to the hospital without any trouble, aside from people bumping into him here and there. He signed in and made his way to his sensei's room.

About two weeks had passed since Kakashi was found, and he had only just woken up two days prior. Everyone was swarming him then, and he figured it would be best to let everyone else get their time in with him before attempting to see him. After all, he couldn't shake the feeling that it was his fault. He didn't really want to have to confront that possibility then, either.

Stopping in front of the door to Kakashi's room, he took a deep breath, and knocked.

"May I come in?" He asked, remembering his manners.

Itachi's voice answered in place of Kakashi's.

"Come in."

Sasuke opened the door, taking a moment to nod to his brother, who was staring at him blankly, and then closed the door. Kakashi smiled at Sasuke, an eye patch covering his left eye.

"What brings you here?" Kakashi asked.

"I just felt that I should come visit, since I didn't come yesterday or the day before." He set the flowers down on the stand beside Kakashi. "How are you feeling?"

Kakashi let out a soft mm, looking down for a moment to gather his thoughts.

"I'm not quite sure," he responded with a small chuckle. "I suppose it could be worse, right?" He lightly touched the pad over his eye. "I'm still getting used to only having one good eye." He winced as he moved his arm back down. "And having three new cuts on my stomach doesn't really leave much room for comfort, either." He did his best to keep his complaints light, but he was honestly terrible at small talk, even though keeping conversations minimal was his strong point. Perhaps his lack of seriousness made people simply give up on talking to him.

Sasuke didn't know how to reply, only giving a slight nod of understanding,the room now in a slightly awkward silence.

"Did I interrupt something..?" Sasuke inquired hesitantly, shooting his brother a glance. He quickly looked back at Kakashi when he realized Itachi had already been looking at him.

"Oh no," Kakashi shook his head, "We were just chatting about the good ol' days, and how normally this situation would be reversed, weren't we, Itachi?" He grinned at the end of his statement.

Itachi grunted, and shifted his right leg over his left, crossing his arms and leaning back into his seat. He didn't answer.

Sasuke cleared his throat, wanting to move the conversation in such a way where he could ask Itachi to leave the room with him.

"Well, I'm glad you're doing okay." Sasuke then turned towards his brother, and in the most nonchalant way he could muster, asked, "Would you accompany me out for a moment?"

Itachi gracefully moved to his feet, his arms still crossed.

"Would you like anything while I'm up?" Itachi questioned Kakashi, knowing that he would go get himself some dango anyways.

"Hmm, perhaps some mochi, if you can manage it." Kakashi figured indulging his sweet tooth while he still could wouldn't hurt any more than he already was.

Itachi nodded, opening the door and walking out, leaving Sasuke to follow behind him.

"Uh-okay," Sasuke stammered, not expecting Itachi to comply so easily. "Uh, oh," he turned to Kakashi and bent over slightly, respectfully. "Excuse us." He then followed Itachi and closed the door behind him.

Itachi was already almost all the way down the hall. Sasuke jogged to catch up with him as he kept a brisk pace.

"What's on your mind?" Itachi looked down at his younger brother, having known something was bothering him from the moment he entered the room.

"Uh, well..." Sasuke didn't know how to just say what had happened, nor did he really want to have to explain all of it. He knew that his brother would probably be pissed for not saying something sooner, but at this point, not saying anything at all was only putting everyone at more risk.

"I mean," he continued coolly, "something happened that I think is my fault, and I don't really know how to handle it."

Itachi glanced at his brother while continuing to walk.

"Oh?"

"Well..." he lowered his voice. "I mean this happened a short while ago but I feel like because I didn't make a decision..." He took a few moments, slowing down slightly, forcing his brother to slow down with him.

Before he knew it, Itachi had actually let them to a small court yard that was in the middle of the hospital floor. It had an out door feeling, as there was a stone walk way and two ponds on either side of them, with a small, wide bridge stretching across the center where the two ponds connected. Itachi made his way to a bench that was positioned near the corner, facing the rest of the yard. Sasuke promptly sat down beside his brother.

Sasuke sighed, not knowing where to pick up. As he was about to speak, Itachi cut him off.

"You know, this would be a lot easier if you would just tell me the whole truth, and not bits and pieces."

Sasuke let out an almost annoyed exhale, and carefully thought about what he was going to do. If he told him the whole truth, there was a good chance he could get severely punished, now that Kakashi was hurt. But if he didn't, there wouldn't be a good chance that something could be done...

"Alright," Sasuke gave up. "It happened back in camp.

"I don't know why, but something was pulling me away from everyone. I ended up outside of the camp grounds alone, maybe about a kilometer out." He checked to see Itachi's expression.

Itachi's poker face was excellent.

Sasuke sighed again. "So before I knew it, I realized that I actually wasn't alone."

Itachi's eyebrow peaked up for a millisecond, then returned back to normal. Sasuke noticed.

"There were these two guys... but I had never seen them before. And as soon as I got close enough, one of them tried to attack me. Obviously, I defended myself, but instead of finishing me off, the guy who attacked me told me he wanted me to... well, join this... group."

Itachi stiffened.

Cautiously, Sasuke continued.

"I don't really remember a whole lot about their explanation of this group and what their intentions were, but I do remember them talking about how they wanted to restore peace. And when he asked for my name, he..."

Itachi stared sternly at his younger brother. Sasuke looked away.

"He told me you knew of this group. Er, or that you had run into them before. I don't remember, either way, they knew who you were." He glanced back at his brother. "They told me... that they would welcome me into this group, and that they liked the potential they saw in me. And the guy's name..." he shifted uncomfortably.

"The guy who charged at me, he said his name was Hidan. I don't remember the other guy's name."

Sasuke turned back fully towards his brother, expecting the worst.

But Itachi was completely motionless.

Hidan and Deidara... Itachi tried to keep his thoughts in order. Those are the names Kakashi said he had overheard from his attackers. The two escapees from before...There's no doubt about it. They're Akatsuki.

He was impressed that his younger brother was able to hold his own against these two men, if it indeed was them. They were, after all, serial killers. Things were starting to slowly click together, like pieces of a puzzle slowly but surely coming together. Memories from his past assignments with ANBU and with the task force come forth to his memory, assigning bits and pieces of information together.

"Sasuke, I want you to fill out a report. You'll hand it to me when you're done. I'll make sure it gets to where it needs to be." He paused for a moment, then stood up.

"Now come on, let's get Kakashi's ice cream."

"Wait," Sasuke jumped up. "Aren't you going to tell me what that guy was talking about? What did he mean?"

Itachi squinted. "That doesn't concern you."

Sasuke scoffed. "Nothing ever has anything to do with me in your mind, not even when my own instructor gets hurt because I was stupid enough to not warn anyone."

"Don't start, Sasuke. I'm letting you off easy, why can't you just be grateful?"

"Grateful? What do I have to be grateful over? Ever since mom and dad died, you've been different. You hardly pay attention to me! I'm always alone; I always have to do shit on my own. You haven't even cooked a meal for me in years. When was the last time we sat down together and had breakfast?"

Itachi closed his eyes, exhaled sharply, and then re opened his eyes.

"The group they were talking about is a group of people I was assigned to spy on a few years ago. I ended up having my cover blown, and they almost killed me. Kakashi was actually the one who saved me. That's why he made that off hand comment earlier."

"I'm your own damn brother and I didn't even know about this." Sasuke couldn't keep the aggravation out of his voice. "What would I have done if you died, too?!"

"Arrangements would have been made for you to be able to sustain yourself."

"You say that like it's nothing."

"It's what we signed up for, Sasuke. This is what we are willing to do for the people we love; we follow through with these missions and are trained to do everything, even give our lives, for Konoha. That is what we do."

"God - Fuck Konoha! Konoha doesn't give a shit about us! Don't you see all the people every day who walk us by without any second thoughts? All the people who couldn't care less about the shit we do and go through, they don't give a damn!"

Itachi balled his fists at his sides, trying desperately not to hit his brother.

"We do this because we care. It's not for the valor. It's to protect those who we love the most." He then took one of his hands, and, pointing with both his index and middle fingers, poked Sasuke's forehead forcefully. "I do this to protect you."

The two of them stayed frozen like that for a moment, Sasuke being on the verge of tears. Itachi softened his stance, and gently wrapped his arms around him, pulling his younger brother in for a hug.

"I don't hate you, Sasuke. I'm sorry I have not done everything that I could have to be the best brother I could be for you. If I could take the things that have happened back, I would in a heartbeat, if it meant easing your pain. I know how you have shouldered the death of our family; I have seen how it has affected you, and I'm sorry I couldn't protect you from that."

Tears fell down Sasuke's face. He was not expecting this to be the turn out of their conversation.

After a few moments, Itachi placed his hands on Sasuke's shoulders, taking a step back to look directly at him. "Now, how about we get that mochi? We'll get some dango, too. My treat."