A/N: Hellos! Excited to actually be writing fan fiction again!!!! Before we get into it Let me just say two things:
- I am not really sure about the timeline of things, so if something is off, please let me know! This story works off the presumption that Sasuke starts the academy when he was six before the massacre
- And this story is canon to Being a Monster, but you don't have to read it to understand this!
Sasuke Uchiha had always found the academy boring. The people there were annoying, and everything came easy to him, so it was more often than not that he found himself not paying much attention. That day was different, however. Today, Sasuke and the rest of his classmates were taking a break from their typical lessons in order to talk about lying and interrogating. It was supposed to be a more fun lesson than others, and while his classmates disagreed, he found the lecture interesting.
"A lot of people, when they lie, have certain actions that they do. They're called tells. If you have ever played cards with someone, you might know what I'm talking about," Iruka sensei was explaining, nearing the end of his lecture. "Some people fidget, some people look away, some people do something particular with their voice. Whatever it is, unless the person has practiced getting rid of it, it stays with them subconsciously."
The bell rings right at that moment, dismissing everyone for the day, but as people start to leave, Iruka calls out, "Wait! For homework tonight, find someone in your family and try to figure out what their tell is!" That got some grumbles from his classmates, but Sasuke didn't mind it. It would be interesting to see how his family reacted, especially his older brother. 'I wonder what sort of tells nii-san has. Does he even have any at all? Maybe he got rid of his if he did, so he could lie on missions… ' Sasuke considered all of this as he walked out, before he got unexpectedly surprised. "Nii-san!" His brother was picking him up today, so he ran towards Itachi.
"Otouto." He put his arm around his younger sibling when he caught up. "My mission ended early, and my next one isn't for a while, so I thought I'd come pick you up today," he explains, smiling down at his little sibling.
Sasuke smiled up at him, quickly speeding up and walking backwards in front of Itachi. "Nii-san! Does that mean that you can help me train today? 'Cause I really want to show you some new things I've been practicing!" Itachi hesitates, and Sasuke takes it as the perfect time to study his brother. He notices something small when he motions for Sasuke to come closer, poking him in the forehead when he does and responding, "Maybe another time, Sasuke." 'Could that be it? Something that simple? ' Sasuke feigns disappointment and nods before they start walking home, watching for his brother's odd movements. The rest of the way was mostly silent. Itachi did not make the same movement again.
The next time Sasuke tests out his theory, it's at dinner. Things were as tense as they usually were these days. His father sat silently eating, his mother was humming a little, and Itachi was just as silent as their father. The only thing that let Sasuke know something was off was that Itachi's food sat mostly untouched in front of him. Still, despite the tension, Sasuke tries to break the silence by asking, "So, nii-san, do you have a mission tomorrow?" ' He said he didn't, but seeing as he isn't feeling well, nii-san might say he does just to leave the house tomorrow. '
As Sasuke expected, Itachi swiftly answered, "I'm sorry, Sasuke, I know I told you I didn't, but one just came up." Sasuke watched his hands, and sure enough, the same movement was made. He quickly donned a disappointed look to mask his excitement over having figured his brother out.
"Okay nii-san… I understand." He finishes off his dinner and brings his plate to the sink before hurrying off to his room. ' I've got you all figured out now, nii-san! You won't be able to hide much from me now! ' Sasuke giggled to himself about it for a while in his room, content to know a little more about the brother he rarely got to see these days.
Sasuke would go on to study Itachi each and every time he asked the elder something. What started out as fun and interesting soon became eye-opening as the young Uchiha realized just how much his elder sibling lied to him. There wasn't a single day that went by that Itachi was completely honest with him, even over the most basic and simple stuff.
When a week later Iruka-sensei asked how the class's progress was going with figuring out a family member's tell, Sasuke simply lied, saying none of his family members had one.
He tried not to let his disappointment show each time, but it was getting harder and harder not to cry. Had his brother always lied to him this much? Has he ever been honest with Sasuke for more than a few hours at a time? What was going on that made him need to lie so much? All of this was hurting the poor 6 year old's brain, so he tried not to think about it too much, past the nights when he just couldn't bear it. He always made sure not to cry for too long, then.
Itachi, ever observant and caring, wondered what had changed in his brother. Why had the younger Uchiha started asking him for help less and less, and why had their conversations together been getting shorter and shorter? What was wrong? Did Itachi slight him in some way? But the child didn't seem mad at him, just… sad. The problem would keep Itachi up for a few nights, as he questioned where exactly he went wrong to have one of the people he loved the most so distraught. Through all his thinking, never did he realize the way he tapped his fingers subconsciously. First, his thumb, then his thumb again. His thumb a third time followed by his index, then both together. He would continue this through his whole hand. It was methodical, practiced, something Itachi had done hundreds of times before for each and every lie he had told since he was a child. And yet, he didn't even think about doing it. He wasn't even aware he had a tell; he just presumed since no one was particularly good at catching his lies, he didn't have one. He didn't know it was a mistake that would cost him everything.
When the people from the police force came over one day informing Itachi of Shisui's death, Sasuke watched extremely carefully. While Itachi's hands did move in the way Sasuke was very, very familiar with, it never happened when answering whether he killed Shisui. While Sasuke was learning not to trust his older brother, he was sure of one thing: Itachi did not kill his best friend. The fact brought him a little comfort, though not enough to want to spend more time with Itachi. By now, he was avoiding his brother; he just couldn't handle all the constant lies he was being fed.
Itachi tried not to let his distress at this fact show to anyone. ' I have had more important things to worry about, ' he tried to remind himself each time, though it did not make it hurt any less.
All remaining trust was shattered on that night . It was already running thin, but when Sasuke came home to… that , he knew that he had made a grave, grave mistake. ' Why did I just let this liar, this traitor, this sick, twisted, monster walk around when I knew Itachi was lying to everyone all the time? Why did I not tell anyone to look for the tapping? Why did I not do something about it, instead of being a coward and keeping silent? If I hadn't, maybe my parents, my family, the entire Uchiha clan would be alive instead of… ' He couldn't bring himself to finish the thought, but all of those questions paired with everything else infuriated him as he chased his brother that night. Sasuke wanted to scream at his brother, to call him out for all his trickery, but all he managed to ask was why.
The things his brother said stung. They cut through him slowly and painfully like a dull, serrated knife. It was like his entire world was being shattered and consumed by anger. The only thing that remained whole in his life was a memory of something important, and confusing, something that was worse than the actual words: Itachi tapped his fingers when speaking to him that night. Sasuke had paid special attention to it, hoping, praying that he wasn't seeing the full picture, especially because he knew Itachi was lying about killing Shisui. And he was right. He wasn't sure whether he hated that less or more.
The image of Itachi standing there, of Itachi's specific movements, would be ingrained in Sasuke's head for the rest of his life as he recalled it over, and over, and over. Something wasn't adding up. Why had Itachi lied about why he killed all of their family? Why had he lied about what he wanted Sasuke to do? If that wasn't the reason Itachi had killed their family, what was? Did that even matter anymore? Was there any good reason even possible for what Itachi had done? Should that change anything? Sasuke was tired of all of his brother's lies, tired of all of the things his brother ensured he could never know on his own. It was too much. Tired and conflicted and in the hospital, Sasuke made a promise to himself. 'Just watch, Itachi. I will get my answers, and then I will kill you. I will show you the true meaning of pain and insanity. Just wait.'
It would be a very, very long time until Sasuke fell asleep without thinking about the hand movement he saw that night. He reviewed it so much that he was able to convince himself it was nothing more than a trick his mind and memory had played; a final attempt to make the night untrue. Still, even when he dismissed it as a trick, the memory never left his head, along with the other weird part of the night. It was always with him, a ghost and a tiny bit of knowledge creeping at the back of his mind. It was always whispering that something more than insanity must have been working in his brother's- in Itachi's mind. Something must have been wrong, but he just can't figure out what.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed the chapter, if there are any spelling or timeline errors please let me know! Till next time folks.