CHAPTER 41: Between Brothers

A/N: Hey people~ (^o^)/Here's another chapter for you guys! To be honest, this was another hard one to write, especially the ending. I really hope you enjoy it!!😅🤗

Naruto's heart pounded in his ears, and his body trembled with nervousness as he slowly opened his eyes. He was worried that he was dreaming and that it might all be the same once that dream was broken. He was almost afraid that he might see Sai ridiculing his another attempt at escape again.

However, what he really saw once his eyes were truly opened was nothing but his own reflection in the mirror.

"He's... gone...?"

The blonde blinked a few times, his expression one of disbelief. He hesitantly retracted his hand from the mirror before looking around the room nervously, wondering if it was some joke his subconscious was playing on him. However, when his blue orbs finally landed back on the mirror, his eyes widened as he stared at himself, the realization slowly settling in.

"He's really... gone."

The blonde's surprised expression slowly morphed into the widest grin that had ever graced his face as he took in his new reality-the reality in which, from now on, there would be no guilt and no Sai stopping him anymore.

He had just won the battle against his inner demons and his guilt, using a weapon he thought was impossible for him to wield again: love.

"I really did it, dattebayo."

A single tear of happiness left his eye as his chest felt lighter than it ever had in the past few years. He drew a deep breath as if to check, and indeed, the tormenting weight of guilt was no longer constricting his breath.

There were other regrets that still lingered in his heart, for a few minutes weren't enough to get over a past that had stuck with him for years. However, those regrets weren't the ones that posed an obstacle to his love for the raven. Furthermore, Naruto was too busy focusing on his man to even consider dealing with them right now.

Sasuke was the only thing that mattered at this moment.

'I want to go to him... fast.'

The blonde's heart raced for a different reason altogether now as he rushed out of the washroom with a skip in his step that caught Kurama off guard, leaving the poor fox to wonder why his human was so unusually happy while he munched on his food, sitting on top of the blonde's cupboard. Meanwhile, Naruto, who was unaware of the predicament of his fox, speedily got ready to go back to the hospital. To Sasuke.

He grabbed his signature orange jacket and even dragged Kurama along. He was about to head out the door when something caught his eye, making him stop just before he turned the knob. He turned his face to look at the source of his momentary distraction: the high school photograph of him and his friends hanging on the wall.

He stared at it for a while, his eyes scanning the picture before landing on Sai. A small smile formed on his lips, something that rarely happened whenever he looked at any of Sai's pictures. The blonde felt... warm. The memories of those days were precious to him, but not enough to hold him back this time. He turned to the door again and walked out, never looking back.

He had a whole new saga to live with the man he now loved.

The blonde wore the jacket on his way downstairs to his bike. He zipped it up to his stomach before placing Kurama in the makeshift cocoon against his chest. He then carefully zipped it up the rest of the way, leaving some space for the fox to poke his head out.

He wore his helmet, sat on his bike, and rode away to the hospital, remembering to drop Kurama off at his mother's place on the way. The cold wind bit into the exposed skin of his hands, but it was nothing compared to the warmth spreading within him at the thought of being close to the raven, especially without it paining him to love.

To Naruto, loving didn't hurt anymore. It felt liberating. Thinking about Sasuke made him feel... alive.

And he couldn't wait to make full use of his newfound freedom.

MEANWHILE, AT THE HOSPITAL~

Deidara had called just a while ago, informing him that he had already taken Mikoto back to the hotel, not risking bringing her back to see Sasuke in such a vulnerable state of mind. This left Itachi to worry only about his younger brother.

He hadn't moved an inch from beside the younger raven, examining every little injury over and over again, as if to remind himself of the pain his outoto had endured and was still enduring. He was devastated, to say the least. How many tears the elder raven had shed in silence, no one knew; no one saw. However, it wasn't hard to tell how disturbed he was by the whole ordeal, despite already coming to terms with all that had happened.

"Wake up fast, outoto... and talk to me."

His faint voice echoed in the otherwise silent room. The elder raven's hand, which had been stroking Sasuke's hair a while ago, was now clutching onto the said raven's hand almost desperately, wanting to convey every bit of the love and guilt he felt towards his outoto through that simple action.

After a few more agonizing minutes, Sasuke stirred, alerting Itachi immediately. The man sprang up from his chair, done waiting patiently for so long. His free hand joined the other that had been clutching his otouto's hand all this time, engulfing the slightly smaller hand in the safety of his own.

"S- Sasuke?"

The elder Uchiha's voice trembled as he spoke, successfully grabbing Sasuke's attention. He was still adjusting to the intensity of light in the room while slowly turning his head toward where Itachi stood.

Having just woken up, his vision was momentarily blurred, and seeing the all-too-familiar black, long hair caused a wave of dread to wash over him.

'WHAT IS HE DOING HERE AGAIN?!'

Sasuke's breath picked up pace as his eyes widened. The blurred image of his brother caught him off guard, proving to be enough to remind him of the very man who had hurled brutal tortures at him: his father, Fugaku. However, the bigger issue was that his mind was stuck on the thought that it was Fugaku who was standing near him, refusing to see the reality despite his full vision returning later.

"G-Go away!"

His voice trembled as fear slowly consumed him. The events from his past wasted no time flooding his mind, rendering his reason useless against his trauma. Itachi, who hadn't expected these words from his otouto, wasn't all that surprised either. His face settled into a knowing frown as he tried to talk to Sasuke.

"Sasuke, it's me-"

"I SAID GO AWAY, ASSHOLE! Don't... don't come near me..."

The younger raven's hoarse voice roared, causing Itachi to step back, his hands falling from around Sasuke's. He knew those words weren't for him, yet they hurt in an odd way.

"Stay away from me..."

Sasuke was unable to break through that false vision. For him, 'Fugaku' was still here and was trying to harm him. Only he knew the fear with which his heart raced.

'Go away... please... not again...'

His injured body had already curled defensively on the bed, with his hands covering his head, shielding him from seeing Itachi. The pain of changing position was disregarded due to the adrenaline that was now coursing through him.

"Stay away... stay away... no more... stay away..."

The raven chanted with every breath, as if it were a holy mantra. The treble in his voice was evidence of how shaken he was, of what the years of abuse had done to him, and it pained Itachi to see his little brother like this. He stood there almost helpless as he watched his brother writhe before him. Moreover, knowing that he could've saved his younger brother from all this didn't help.

However, Itachi wasn't going to give up easily. He knew his brother needed him. Now.

'That's right... there's still time... I can still help him.'

Using this little newfound hope as his catalyst, Itachi let out a shaky breath in a somewhat successful attempt to steel himself before he took a step towards Sasuke. Noticing that the younger raven wasn't paying attention to his advancement, Itachi stealthily moved forward until he was beside him.

His heart was beating frantically as he proceeded to touch his otouto's shoulder gently, placing his hand on him with a slightly firm yet comforting touch.

"Sasuke."

He called out in a soft, consoling voice, causing the raven to flinch in uncertainty. However, he still didn't dare to look up.

"Look at me, Sasuke."

Itachi tried again, his tone commanding but reassuring, a stark contrast to his father's, and Sasuke seemed to realize it. He slowly, almost reluctantly, let his arms fall to his side. The tears he had been holding back were now slipping down his cheeks as he mustered the courage to look up, his breath still bated.

As soon as the two brothers' ebony eyes locked on each other's, the elder one smiled a gentle smile, hiding the turmoil in him behind the perfect mask.

"Sasuke... it's me, Itachi."

He spoke as if testing whether his otouto would push him away again.

"I- Itachi...?"

Sasuke spoke shakily, his mind slowly clearing the fog to finally let him see the reality.

"Yes, it's me."

The younger raven scanned the room, only to find it empty of people except for the two of them. There was no Fugaku there, to his relief. He sniffled and let out a small sigh of relief before he looked up at his brother again. He silently stared at his elder brother for a while before looking away.

"W- What are you doing here...?"

"Kakashi gave us a call and told us about what happened."

"I know... I mean... *sigh* leave it."

"Sasuke, why didn't you say anything?"

Itachi asked, despite knowing the reason. He wanted his brother to open up to him, which he knew wasn't going to be easy.

Sasuke stayed silent in response. He could feel the fear within him dispel, giving way to shame, his tears replaced by a small frown. He didn't want his brother to see him in such a vulnerable state. He didn't want to be seen as weak by his near-perfect brother. However, what he couldn't anticipate was the fact that Itachi was just as stubborn as he was.

"Say something... You know I won't leave before I get my answers from you."

The elder's voice was firm, leaving no room for argument. His words did earn him a distasteful look from his little brother, but that was a price he was willing to pay.

"Tsk. There is no answer to that question-"

"Don't lie to me, Sasuke."

Sasuke's frown deepened upon being called out for his lying.

'So annoyingly perceptive, tsk.'

The raven contemplated which version of the truth to tell, not wanting his brother to know anything about his father threatening him using Itachi.

"You really want to know why?"

Itachi, caught by surprise at Sasuke's sudden cooperation, knew something was amiss. Yet, he nodded anyway, wanting to know what his little brother had to say.

"Because I didn't need your help. I'm not weak."

It was half true. Sasuke was never taught how to accept help, and neither was he taught how to ask for it. However, Itachi already knew that he mainly did it to save him from Fugaku.

"Is that it?" Itachi asked. His piercing gaze was devoid of any malice, yet enough to make Sasuke reconsider his words.

"Yes. That's it."

The younger raven said resolutely, his eyes boring back into his brother's in an attempt to make him believe his words. Itachi sighed, seeing right through his brother's technique. However, he simply nodded and sat back down in the chair, removing his hand from Sasuke's shoulder.

'If that's how much he wants me to know, so be it.'

He thought as he reached for Sasuke's hand. With Sasuke's eyes fixed on him, he took the smaller hand in his and held onto it tightly.

"Sasuke, in a world full of suffering, each one of us needs help at some point in life. But we hide our need for it behind others' expectations, thinking that not asking for help is proof of our strength. But you know what? It's brave of you to try to deal with everything yourself, not strong."

The sudden speech from Itachi got Sasuke thinking, arousing his curiosity, due to which he asked,

"... Then what is strong?"

"Strong... is when you accept the truth, going against the many people you're always afraid of disappointing. So, outoto, you aren't weak if you accept that you need help. You're strong. Because you know you do need help, and someone else's expectations were unable to stop you from looking for it. Do you understand?"

Itachi concluded, his gaze never leaving Sasuke, who was left speechless by his words. The young raven was finally able to see just where he had been going wrong all this time, and with this enlightenment acting as his courage, he nodded subtly.

"... yes."

A small smile graced Itachi's lips as he heard the soft affirmation from his brother.

"Good."

Satisfied, Itachi sat in silence with his brother, which was broken by Sasuke's soft voice.

"Thank you... Nii-san."

A wave of warmth washed over Itachi as soon as he heard Sasuke call him that. He could feel the tears pricking his eyes as a small chuckle managed to escape his lips.

"It's... been a long time... since you've called me that in person."

"Hn. Don't get used to it."

A faint blush crept onto Sasuke's cheeks as he turned away while clearing his throat, causing Itachi to break into a genuine laugh.

"You've learned how to be funny too, huh? Naruto must be rubbing off on you."

The elder Uchiha teased as he wiped away that little tear from before.

"Y- You've already met him?"

"Mhm, I have. You were asleep."

"Oh... and where is he now?"

"*smirks* Already missing him, huh?"

"Shut up."

Itachi simply shrugged with a small smirk, causing Sasuke to huff as his face flushed, knowing that he was caught red-handed.

'I... do want to see him, at least.'

Sasuke admitted to himself. His heart was longing for the blonde, and somehow, his brother seemed to notice it.

"Don't worry, he'll be here soon. He's just gone for a trip home."

"Hn. Who said I was waiting for him?"

Itachi shook his head as he observed Sasuke's gaze, which occasionally drifted towards the door, as if expecting a certain someone to barge in from there.

'Your eyes say so, outoto.'

The elder raven sat there for a few more moments before sighing and standing up from his chair.

"I'll be back. Don't move around a lot."

Sasuke nodded as he watched Itachi proceed to the restroom. Since he was in much less pain than the last time he woke up, he took the opportunity to look around the room, which wasn't anything special. There were a few monitors and a drip attached to him, and he was bandaged all over. Nothing out of the ordinary, except for his diary that was on his side table.

'What is this doing here?'

Sasuke's eyebrows had furrowed as his eyes had landed on it, a sick feeling formed in his stomach. It was unusual enough that his diary was there when it should've been in his room back home, but what was weirder was that there was a pen between its pages.

'Did someone read it...?'

A bead of cold sweat trickled down his nape as he wished for his assumption to be wrong. He reached out to grab it and opened it shakily, directly at the pages between which the pen lay.

His eyes widened for a second before his morphed into an expression of confusion and disbelief. On one of the pages was a message written in a familiarly messy way. There was no mistaking it.

'... Naruto?'

A/N: Well, how did we like it?? 🫠I don't know... I really hope you did. I'm just so nervous all the time... but honestly, your comments make me feel so much better. So I'll take this little note to thank all of you for all the comments you've been posting here. I'm glad I have you as my audience. ＼(_ _)Thank you! See you all in the next chapter!Author sound out~ ✌🏻