Chapter 5 :
-How a Brother Worries-
I hear your voice, it's drowning in the whispers,
It's just skin and bones, there's nothing left to take,
You'll never know the way, it tears me up inside to see you,
I wish that I could tell you something to take it all away-"Save You" Simple Plan
Itachi didn't think. He didn't think things that would call up the other, and he didn't search his mind for the other. He didn't have to. He could feel the other in the back of his head, waiting and watching. The other seemed content to only watch, but for how long would that last?
Fugaku opened the door out onto the porch and stepped out beside his son. Itachi looked up at him from his perch on the porch. He had been looking mindlessly out over their meticulous garden. It helped keep him from thinking, but at the appearance of his father he felt a flurry of images from the other trying to push through to Itachi. He forced them down.
Fugaku crouched down by Itachi, and his knees popped. "Are you feeling better today?"
Itachi took a deep breath and let it out slowly. he looked away across the garden. "A bit." No, he felt worse. There was something in his head that had killed Itachi's family, and it was going to take over Itachi's body. It said it was Itachi too, but Itachi would never do the things it had done. He was incapable of them.
"Ah," Fugaku nodded and was silent for a few seconds. "I ran into Genma-kun when I went to report your medical leave. His squad said they say you pretty drained looking last week."
"Last week?" Itachi cocked his head to the side and shook his head. "I don't..." What did he remember about last week? There had been one mission, but not a bad one. There had been something with the T&I, but...
Itachi dug back deeper in his memory, and he found nothing. There was a gap, he knew, somehow. He was missing something, but he couldn't for the life of him figure out what it was. That disturbed him greatly. It was like finding out you were standing on a high building with no guardrail when there had been one just a moment before.
"You think they were mistaken?" Fugaku pressed gently. Itachi knew that voice. That was the voice his father used when coaxing victims to give testimonies.
"No, I don't doubt they did. My memory is not the best of late." Itachi shook his head, ignoring the growl in his head. He wasn't a victim. He wasn't the sort to allow himself to be used.
But you will be.
Itachi sat up straight, eyes flashing wide. His digging in his own memories had somehow allowed the other to get closer to the surface, or had the other managed that by himself? Itachi tensed and pushed the other down, horrified to find that his awareness of the other didn't diminish but grew.
"Itachi."
Itachi glanced up at Fugaku, and immediately knew it was a bad idea. The sight of his father's face was the cue for the other to push unwanted images into Itachi's mind, all gruesome and disturbing and-stop it, stop it, stop it.
Itachi gasped and doubled over as his sharingan activated, whirring like mad and burning. He couldn't see. he was going blind. Everything was a blur and pain and his eyes were-
Itachi felt his father's fingers on his temples. He shook himself loose of the other's thought and remembered feelings. "No, it's fine." The words came out breathless. Itachi squeezed his eyes shut and struggled to get control of his eyes. He couldn't manipulate his chakra like he wanted to. Why was it so hard? This was easy stuff. Itachi had been doing this for years.
Itachi took a deep breath of relief as he finally managed to release the sharingan. His face was streaked his tears, and he felt shaky, but he'd managed it. Even better, Fugaku had let him. Itachi rubbed the wet marks off his cheeks, and tried to make himself stop shaking.
Fugaku put his hand on Itachi's shoulder. "Come eat some breakfast." Itachi could hear the smile and relief in his father's voice. He nodded and stood slowly, blinking away the darkness that ate into his vision as he stood. His father reached out an automatic hand to steady him, and Itachi didn't flinched away from the touch. In a family where hypotension ran rampant, it was almost reflex to reach out and steady someone when they stood.
Itachi stepped away as his vision cleared and his head steadied. Fugaku's hand lingered on his shoulder, and Itachi thought he felt it give a squeeze before it pulled away entirely. Itachi glanced up and give his father a curios look, but Fugaku was striding away to the kitchen. Itachi gave a mental shrug and followed.
Sasuke was already in the kitchen, devouring his breakfast. Mikoto was laying out three more places. She smiled at Itachi, and asked how he felt. Itachi repeated what he had said to his father and sat down beside Sasuke. Sasuke looked at Itachi sideways through his bangs, eyes large in his face. He bit his lip and paused in his head long race through his food.
"Good morning, Sasuke," Itachi greeted, picking at his own food. He wasn't hungry, which was alarming. He was always starving, but he hadn't used any chakra at all in the past few days. Maybe that was why, or maybe he was sicker than supposed. Itachi made himself eat, and he thought it tasted like ash and sulfur. His stomach twisted and knotted like a snake.
"Good morning, Nii-san," Sasuke almost chirped. He gave Itachi a hesitant grin, and then an almost worried look. Itachi frowned a little. Why should Sasuke be worried?
Why shouldn't he be?
Because there was nothing to worry about. Itachi was getting better and there had really been nothing wrong with him that rest wouldn't fix.
And how should he know that? How does he know you'll be okay?
Itachi was always coming out 'okay.' Poisoned, bleeding, supposedly dying, he was always bouncing back with a bored expression. Sasuke should know that. Itachi was always okay.
"Time for you to leave for school, Sasuke, are you ready?" Mikoto was holding the boy's lunch and smiling down at her youngest child. She usually walked him out of the Uchiha District at least, but today she thought it best to stay home with Itachi.
"Nn," Sasuke nodded. He shoved the last bit of breakfast into his mouth. Itachi got one more look from his brother, and he thought Sasuke was going to ask him the same questions everyone else had. He didn't. His eyes drew in, and he looked down before heading for the door. Mikoto walked with him, making sure he had his bag and remembered to get his shoes.
Say something. Tell him goodbye at least!
Itachi opened his mouth, but he hadn't. Fugaku got up to wish Sasuke well for the day, and Itachi's hand knotted into fists. The other was yelling at him softly, telling him to get up, to go after Sasuke. Itachi didn't trust the other. The other was the one who wanted to kill Itachi's parents. The other was the one who remembered drowning Shisui, and for what? Why had the other done those things?
"Itachi..." Mikoto's hand touched Itachi's hand. Itachi jerked away, whirling to face his mother. His balance shifted, and he saw images and felt impulse flashing through him that weren't his. Part of him knew he should dodge one way and catch himself, and the other insisted he should do it another way. Itachi felt himself falling back, and he knew he wasn't going to be able to catch himself in time.
Itachi hit the tatami mat with a jolt, and his instinct took over again. He rolled back and into a crouched position. His mother and father were giving him startled looks, and Itachi felt a flush creeping up onto his cheeks. They had every right to stare at him like that. What had happened anyway? Itachi should not have overreacted like that, and he shouldn't have toppled over like that either.
Itachi felt the other sliding back, retreating slowly from a panicked grabbing at control. Itachi almost shuddered with a feeling he could not name and went meekly back to breakfast. His parents didn't ask him what had happened, but the looks they kept sending each other were worse.
"Naruto! Stop pulling on Ino's hair!" Iruka was shouting and moving across the playground with menace. Naruto let go of Ino's hair and ran straight into Mizuki, who dragged the boy off to deal out punishment. Naruto was always getting punished for one thing or another.
Sasuke watched the drama unfold from his perch in one of the trees. It wasn't one of the great trees, but it was pretty high for an eight year-old. Sasuke didn't mind heights. He liked climbing trees. Itachi had taught him, back when Itachi had time to teach Sasuke things.
Sasuke frowned to himself and picked a bug off the tree's rough bark. He held the little beetle bug delicately between his fingers and watched its legs flail for a hold. He wondered if it was one of Shino's bugs, or something else. Sasuke released the bug, which grabbed onto Sasuke's finger. He watched it climb down his finger, and then it flew away. Sasuke watched it go and sat back, lips pushing forward in an almost pout.
He should be down 'playing' with the others, but he didn't feel like it. He kept thinking about Itachi, and how no one would tell him what was going on. Everyone kept telling him that Itachi was fine, just a little sick, but Sasuke knew better. He wasn't stupid. Itachi didn't get sick like that. Sasuke had seen the blood on his brother's face, and he had heard the screams.
Sasuke had nightmares all the time. Sometimes he woke up trying to scream, but unable to because he was just too scared. Only once had he ever woken up screaming, and then the first one to get to him had been Itachi. It had been Itachi who had checked him for injuries, but Itachi had left as soon as their parents had arrived, leaving Mikoto to tend to Sasuke's fears. Sasuke knew all abut having bad dreams, and Itachi wasn't just having bad dreams. There was something else going on.
Shisui thought it was something bad, or maybe he was mad at Itachi. he hadn't been back to the house since the last time Itachi had started screaming. He had stayed with Sasuke for a little while, but he hadn't come back after leaving. It was strange, because Shisui was always coming to see Itachi, or Itachi was always going to see Shisui. Shisui was like their other brother, far closer to Itachi than Sasuke was, and if Itachi was sick Shisui should be there.
Itachi was sick, even though everyone just said he was tired. Sasuke was sure of it. Everyone was keeping the real secret of what was wrong with Itachi from Sasuke, because he was a little kid. They didn't want him to worry about things like that. Sasuke usually didn't. Itachi didn't make people worry. He took care of himself. He was like one of the stray cats in the district, which managed to sleek despite the fact no one expressly watched out for it.
Sasuke was worried anyway. Itachi looked so strange this morning, and he was acting strange. He was sick and no one would say anything. Sasuke pressed his face against the rough bark of the tree and squeezed his eyes shut. He was scared. His brother was sick, and if adults didn't say anything about someone being sick, it was bad. Like Kiki-baa-san, who'd gotten sick and just wasted away. Sasuke bit his lip, and he hoped Itachi wasn't sick like that. He didn't want to see his bother withering away into nothing.
"Sasuke, everything okay? Why aren't you playing with the rest of the kids?"
Sasuke blinked and found Iruka was crouched in the tree with him. Iruka was nice. He was a new teacher, since the old one was getting ready to retire. He liked kids, he said, but he got mad and awful lot. Of course, with a kid like Naruto, Sasuke could see why.
"My stomach hurts." That was true. His stomach was a cold knot that made him feel like he needed to throw something up, but he didn't. He wasn't sure he could get rid of the cold, heavy feeling in his gut even if he did throw up.
"Is that so?" Iruka sat down on the branch beside Sasuke. "Are you sick? Maybe you caught what Itachi has. I heard he was sick."
Sasuke didn't question how Iruka knew Itachi was sick. Iruka knew a lot of things Sasuke thought he shouldn't. Maybe that was part of being a teacher. Sasuke shook his head and kicked his feet. He looked past them to the ground, which was a long way down. Sasuke wasn't scared. Itachi had taught him how to climb trees, so Sasuke was an expert.
Sasuke shook his head. "No. Itachi's sick in a different way. He's more sick than I am."
"Oh?" Iruka sat down on his branch. "How sick is he, Sasuke-kun?"
Sasuke shrugged. "I dunno. Mom and Dad say he's getting better, but he doesn't act better, and he..." Sasuke looked down and kicked his feet. "I think he's sicker than they wanna tell me he is. Itachi doesn't ever get sick, and no one wants me to know how sick he is. They're whispering in halls." Sasuke nodded, half expecting Iruka to laugh at him.
Iruka nodded sagely. "It's a little scary when someone gets sick, isn't it? I used to worry a lot when I knew something was wrong but my parents wouldn't tell me." Iruka kicked his feet like Sasuke was. They were bother wearing blue zori, but Iruka's feet were way bigger than Sasuke's.
"But, you know-" There was always a 'but, you know' when Iruka talked. It was usually pretty good. "even when my parents did whisper in halls and I got scared and worried, things turned out okay. Parents are really good at making things work out, no matter how much they whisper in halls." Iruka smiled, and his scar crinkled up. Sasuke always wanted to know where that scar came from, but he thought it would be impolite to ask. Iruka hadn't told Naruto when he'd asked, so he probably wouldn't tell Sasuke either.
"I guess," Sasuke admitted sulkily. He kicked his feet again. He didn't think his parents were so good at handling Itachi being sick. They were fighting a lot now. They did it quietly, but Sasuke could hear the harsh whispers through the walls, sliding easily to his ears like a dagger through the soft dark of the house. He didn't mean to eavesdrop on them, but he did. Sasuke heard a lot of things he knew he wasn't supposed to, but the air in their house was really good at carrying whispers.
"So, how bad is your stomach-ache?" Iruka asked.
Sasuke shrugged. "Kind of bad." His breakfast was sitting in his stomach like a rock, and that just made his stomach feel heavier and worse.
"Bad enough you want to go home?" Iruka asked kindly. "If your are sick, you should go home and rest."
Sasuke frowned a little. He didn't want to be at school today. He wanted to be home making sure Itachi was okay. He didn't like Itachi being sick. He didn't like the cold heavy feeling in his stomach. He wanted Itachi to get better and be normal again.
"Yes," Sasuke decided. He slumped against the tree truck and stared out through the branches. Tears suddenly pricked his eyes and he blinked rapidly. "I-I want to go home." I want my brother. Iruka's broad hand touched Sasuke's shoulder, warm and comforting. Itachi's hands were always cold.
Enjoy
-How a Brother Worries-
I hear your voice, it's drowning in the whispers,
It's just skin and bones, there's nothing left to take,
You'll never know the way, it tears me up inside to see you,
I wish that I could tell you something to take it all away-"Save You" Simple Plan
Itachi didn't think. He didn't think things that would call up the other, and he didn't search his mind for the other. He didn't have to. He could feel the other in the back of his head, waiting and watching. The other seemed content to only watch, but for how long would that last?
Fugaku opened the door out onto the porch and stepped out beside his son. Itachi looked up at him from his perch on the porch. He had been looking mindlessly out over their meticulous garden. It helped keep him from thinking, but at the appearance of his father he felt a flurry of images from the other trying to push through to Itachi. He forced them down.
Fugaku crouched down by Itachi, and his knees popped. "Are you feeling better today?"
Itachi took a deep breath and let it out slowly. he looked away across the garden. "A bit." No, he felt worse. There was something in his head that had killed Itachi's family, and it was going to take over Itachi's body. It said it was Itachi too, but Itachi would never do the things it had done. He was incapable of them.
"Ah," Fugaku nodded and was silent for a few seconds. "I ran into Genma-kun when I went to report your medical leave. His squad said they say you pretty drained looking last week."
"Last week?" Itachi cocked his head to the side and shook his head. "I don't..." What did he remember about last week? There had been one mission, but not a bad one. There had been something with the T&I, but...
Itachi dug back deeper in his memory, and he found nothing. There was a gap, he knew, somehow. He was missing something, but he couldn't for the life of him figure out what it was. That disturbed him greatly. It was like finding out you were standing on a high building with no guardrail when there had been one just a moment before.
"You think they were mistaken?" Fugaku pressed gently. Itachi knew that voice. That was the voice his father used when coaxing victims to give testimonies.
"No, I don't doubt they did. My memory is not the best of late." Itachi shook his head, ignoring the growl in his head. He wasn't a victim. He wasn't the sort to allow himself to be used.
But you will be.
Itachi sat up straight, eyes flashing wide. His digging in his own memories had somehow allowed the other to get closer to the surface, or had the other managed that by himself? Itachi tensed and pushed the other down, horrified to find that his awareness of the other didn't diminish but grew.
"Itachi."
Itachi glanced up at Fugaku, and immediately knew it was a bad idea. The sight of his father's face was the cue for the other to push unwanted images into Itachi's mind, all gruesome and disturbing and-stop it, stop it, stop it.
Itachi gasped and doubled over as his sharingan activated, whirring like mad and burning. He couldn't see. he was going blind. Everything was a blur and pain and his eyes were-
Itachi felt his father's fingers on his temples. He shook himself loose of the other's thought and remembered feelings. "No, it's fine." The words came out breathless. Itachi squeezed his eyes shut and struggled to get control of his eyes. He couldn't manipulate his chakra like he wanted to. Why was it so hard? This was easy stuff. Itachi had been doing this for years.
Itachi took a deep breath of relief as he finally managed to release the sharingan. His face was streaked his tears, and he felt shaky, but he'd managed it. Even better, Fugaku had let him. Itachi rubbed the wet marks off his cheeks, and tried to make himself stop shaking.
Fugaku put his hand on Itachi's shoulder. "Come eat some breakfast." Itachi could hear the smile and relief in his father's voice. He nodded and stood slowly, blinking away the darkness that ate into his vision as he stood. His father reached out an automatic hand to steady him, and Itachi didn't flinched away from the touch. In a family where hypotension ran rampant, it was almost reflex to reach out and steady someone when they stood.
Itachi stepped away as his vision cleared and his head steadied. Fugaku's hand lingered on his shoulder, and Itachi thought he felt it give a squeeze before it pulled away entirely. Itachi glanced up and give his father a curios look, but Fugaku was striding away to the kitchen. Itachi gave a mental shrug and followed.
Sasuke was already in the kitchen, devouring his breakfast. Mikoto was laying out three more places. She smiled at Itachi, and asked how he felt. Itachi repeated what he had said to his father and sat down beside Sasuke. Sasuke looked at Itachi sideways through his bangs, eyes large in his face. He bit his lip and paused in his head long race through his food.
"Good morning, Sasuke," Itachi greeted, picking at his own food. He wasn't hungry, which was alarming. He was always starving, but he hadn't used any chakra at all in the past few days. Maybe that was why, or maybe he was sicker than supposed. Itachi made himself eat, and he thought it tasted like ash and sulfur. His stomach twisted and knotted like a snake.
"Good morning, Nii-san," Sasuke almost chirped. He gave Itachi a hesitant grin, and then an almost worried look. Itachi frowned a little. Why should Sasuke be worried?
Why shouldn't he be?
Because there was nothing to worry about. Itachi was getting better and there had really been nothing wrong with him that rest wouldn't fix.
And how should he know that? How does he know you'll be okay?
Itachi was always coming out 'okay.' Poisoned, bleeding, supposedly dying, he was always bouncing back with a bored expression. Sasuke should know that. Itachi was always okay.
"Time for you to leave for school, Sasuke, are you ready?" Mikoto was holding the boy's lunch and smiling down at her youngest child. She usually walked him out of the Uchiha District at least, but today she thought it best to stay home with Itachi.
"Nn," Sasuke nodded. He shoved the last bit of breakfast into his mouth. Itachi got one more look from his brother, and he thought Sasuke was going to ask him the same questions everyone else had. He didn't. His eyes drew in, and he looked down before heading for the door. Mikoto walked with him, making sure he had his bag and remembered to get his shoes.
Say something. Tell him goodbye at least!
Itachi opened his mouth, but he hadn't. Fugaku got up to wish Sasuke well for the day, and Itachi's hand knotted into fists. The other was yelling at him softly, telling him to get up, to go after Sasuke. Itachi didn't trust the other. The other was the one who wanted to kill Itachi's parents. The other was the one who remembered drowning Shisui, and for what? Why had the other done those things?
"Itachi..." Mikoto's hand touched Itachi's hand. Itachi jerked away, whirling to face his mother. His balance shifted, and he saw images and felt impulse flashing through him that weren't his. Part of him knew he should dodge one way and catch himself, and the other insisted he should do it another way. Itachi felt himself falling back, and he knew he wasn't going to be able to catch himself in time.
Itachi hit the tatami mat with a jolt, and his instinct took over again. He rolled back and into a crouched position. His mother and father were giving him startled looks, and Itachi felt a flush creeping up onto his cheeks. They had every right to stare at him like that. What had happened anyway? Itachi should not have overreacted like that, and he shouldn't have toppled over like that either.
Itachi felt the other sliding back, retreating slowly from a panicked grabbing at control. Itachi almost shuddered with a feeling he could not name and went meekly back to breakfast. His parents didn't ask him what had happened, but the looks they kept sending each other were worse.
"Naruto! Stop pulling on Ino's hair!" Iruka was shouting and moving across the playground with menace. Naruto let go of Ino's hair and ran straight into Mizuki, who dragged the boy off to deal out punishment. Naruto was always getting punished for one thing or another.
Sasuke watched the drama unfold from his perch in one of the trees. It wasn't one of the great trees, but it was pretty high for an eight year-old. Sasuke didn't mind heights. He liked climbing trees. Itachi had taught him, back when Itachi had time to teach Sasuke things.
Sasuke frowned to himself and picked a bug off the tree's rough bark. He held the little beetle bug delicately between his fingers and watched its legs flail for a hold. He wondered if it was one of Shino's bugs, or something else. Sasuke released the bug, which grabbed onto Sasuke's finger. He watched it climb down his finger, and then it flew away. Sasuke watched it go and sat back, lips pushing forward in an almost pout.
He should be down 'playing' with the others, but he didn't feel like it. He kept thinking about Itachi, and how no one would tell him what was going on. Everyone kept telling him that Itachi was fine, just a little sick, but Sasuke knew better. He wasn't stupid. Itachi didn't get sick like that. Sasuke had seen the blood on his brother's face, and he had heard the screams.
Sasuke had nightmares all the time. Sometimes he woke up trying to scream, but unable to because he was just too scared. Only once had he ever woken up screaming, and then the first one to get to him had been Itachi. It had been Itachi who had checked him for injuries, but Itachi had left as soon as their parents had arrived, leaving Mikoto to tend to Sasuke's fears. Sasuke knew all abut having bad dreams, and Itachi wasn't just having bad dreams. There was something else going on.
Shisui thought it was something bad, or maybe he was mad at Itachi. he hadn't been back to the house since the last time Itachi had started screaming. He had stayed with Sasuke for a little while, but he hadn't come back after leaving. It was strange, because Shisui was always coming to see Itachi, or Itachi was always going to see Shisui. Shisui was like their other brother, far closer to Itachi than Sasuke was, and if Itachi was sick Shisui should be there.
Itachi was sick, even though everyone just said he was tired. Sasuke was sure of it. Everyone was keeping the real secret of what was wrong with Itachi from Sasuke, because he was a little kid. They didn't want him to worry about things like that. Sasuke usually didn't. Itachi didn't make people worry. He took care of himself. He was like one of the stray cats in the district, which managed to sleek despite the fact no one expressly watched out for it.
Sasuke was worried anyway. Itachi looked so strange this morning, and he was acting strange. He was sick and no one would say anything. Sasuke pressed his face against the rough bark of the tree and squeezed his eyes shut. He was scared. His brother was sick, and if adults didn't say anything about someone being sick, it was bad. Like Kiki-baa-san, who'd gotten sick and just wasted away. Sasuke bit his lip, and he hoped Itachi wasn't sick like that. He didn't want to see his bother withering away into nothing.
"Sasuke, everything okay? Why aren't you playing with the rest of the kids?"
Sasuke blinked and found Iruka was crouched in the tree with him. Iruka was nice. He was a new teacher, since the old one was getting ready to retire. He liked kids, he said, but he got mad and awful lot. Of course, with a kid like Naruto, Sasuke could see why.
"My stomach hurts." That was true. His stomach was a cold knot that made him feel like he needed to throw something up, but he didn't. He wasn't sure he could get rid of the cold, heavy feeling in his gut even if he did throw up.
"Is that so?" Iruka sat down on the branch beside Sasuke. "Are you sick? Maybe you caught what Itachi has. I heard he was sick."
Sasuke didn't question how Iruka knew Itachi was sick. Iruka knew a lot of things Sasuke thought he shouldn't. Maybe that was part of being a teacher. Sasuke shook his head and kicked his feet. He looked past them to the ground, which was a long way down. Sasuke wasn't scared. Itachi had taught him how to climb trees, so Sasuke was an expert.
Sasuke shook his head. "No. Itachi's sick in a different way. He's more sick than I am."
"Oh?" Iruka sat down on his branch. "How sick is he, Sasuke-kun?"
Sasuke shrugged. "I dunno. Mom and Dad say he's getting better, but he doesn't act better, and he..." Sasuke looked down and kicked his feet. "I think he's sicker than they wanna tell me he is. Itachi doesn't ever get sick, and no one wants me to know how sick he is. They're whispering in halls." Sasuke nodded, half expecting Iruka to laugh at him.
Iruka nodded sagely. "It's a little scary when someone gets sick, isn't it? I used to worry a lot when I knew something was wrong but my parents wouldn't tell me." Iruka kicked his feet like Sasuke was. They were bother wearing blue zori, but Iruka's feet were way bigger than Sasuke's.
"But, you know-" There was always a 'but, you know' when Iruka talked. It was usually pretty good. "even when my parents did whisper in halls and I got scared and worried, things turned out okay. Parents are really good at making things work out, no matter how much they whisper in halls." Iruka smiled, and his scar crinkled up. Sasuke always wanted to know where that scar came from, but he thought it would be impolite to ask. Iruka hadn't told Naruto when he'd asked, so he probably wouldn't tell Sasuke either.
"I guess," Sasuke admitted sulkily. He kicked his feet again. He didn't think his parents were so good at handling Itachi being sick. They were fighting a lot now. They did it quietly, but Sasuke could hear the harsh whispers through the walls, sliding easily to his ears like a dagger through the soft dark of the house. He didn't mean to eavesdrop on them, but he did. Sasuke heard a lot of things he knew he wasn't supposed to, but the air in their house was really good at carrying whispers.
"So, how bad is your stomach-ache?" Iruka asked.
Sasuke shrugged. "Kind of bad." His breakfast was sitting in his stomach like a rock, and that just made his stomach feel heavier and worse.
"Bad enough you want to go home?" Iruka asked kindly. "If your are sick, you should go home and rest."
Sasuke frowned a little. He didn't want to be at school today. He wanted to be home making sure Itachi was okay. He didn't like Itachi being sick. He didn't like the cold heavy feeling in his stomach. He wanted Itachi to get better and be normal again.
"Yes," Sasuke decided. He slumped against the tree truck and stared out through the branches. Tears suddenly pricked his eyes and he blinked rapidly. "I-I want to go home." I want my brother. Iruka's broad hand touched Sasuke's shoulder, warm and comforting. Itachi's hands were always cold.
Enjoy