/ (as I lie stuck in my bed) / when I say / I'm losing my / (you made me reach the edge of) /
/ sanity / (sanity) /

Epilogue

"Sasuke?"

Sasuke glanced up from his computer and fixed his gaze on his brother in the doorway. He didn't say a word, keeping the smile that wanted to creep up away when he spotted what Itachi had in his hands.

"What's this?"

Itachi was holding out a bottle of water. Sasuke simply raised an eyebrow and indicated at it as though his brother was mentally deficient.

"It's a bottle of water, Itachi."

Itachi shook it a couple of times for emphasis. "It's the third bottle of water to land itself on my desk this morning from the catering department and I've only been here a couple of hours. What are you trying to do?"

Sasuke finally freed the smile he had been suppressing. "Are you drinking them?"

"Yes?"

"Then you must need them," Sasuke concluded. "Get back to work."

"Sasuke," Itachi sighed, leaning one hand on the doorframe. "Please stop attempting to mother me. I survived before and I'll continue to do so without you attempting to look out for me."

"No, your original regime lead to a breakdown on my office floor," Sasuke pointed out bluntly. "Go on, get to your desk."

Itachi did so, unsurprised when Sasuke followed so they could continue the conversation. The night before had clearly shaken the younger Uchiha and he had spent most of his time so far that morning constantly checking on Itachi and trying to make up his shameful behaviour. Itachi had made it quite clear he handled pressure just fine usually so Sasuke should just leave him be, but he hadn't complained at his midday break being extended to thirty minutes.

Sasuke would never admit it, but while he'd been trying to get Itachi to snap the fact it had actually happened was awfully disconcerting and he never wanted it to happen again. On top of that, he certainly didn't want to be the cause if it did. The feeling had manifested itself into almost an almost obsessive compulsion to make sure his brother was as happy as possible.

As he had mentally noted once before, Uchihas didn't do things by halves. Yesterday he had been the world's biggest asshole by his own definition, and today he wanted to be the world's biggest saint.

Well- the biggest saint besides his brother, of course.

"I think I have a solution," Itachi told him once Sasuke was seated on the edge of his desk. Sasuke raised an eyebrow in interest, and let him continue. "I have some savings. If I put them-"

"No."

"Listen," Itachi sighed. "I've worked it out and I wouldn't offer if I wasn't confident it would work. I've indentified what you were doing wrong and I've rectified it as much as possible- you'll need to make a couple more job cuts, but other than that I can stabilise things. I can't make enough to get us out of the debt fast enough though, which is where my funds come in. I can take them back later if you really care."

Sasuke wanted to say no once more, but he quieted the thought. He hated the idea- positively loathed it in fact, but he knew if Itachi was suggesting it then there probably was no other choice.

"Alright," he agreed quietly. "If you're certain it'll work."

"Positive," Itachi nodded, looking instantly brighter at the thought. "Thank you, Sasuke."

"Why the fuck are you thanking me?" Sasuke muttered with a heavy sigh. "You always do this!"

Itachi looked genuinely taken aback. "You could have said no, that's why."

"Then I'd be a moron."

Itachi gave him a tiny, coy smile. "I thought we established you are sometimes."

Sasuke conceded that line of reasoning, sobering after a moment and casting his eyes to the floor. "Itachi? Why did you continue to try and help me when it was obvious I was just trying to make life hard for you?"

"Because that's what you do," Itachi shrugged simply. "You've always been that way with me, so why should this be any different? You're proud and you don't like help- I understand that."

"But if you'd walked away, this would have collapsed."

"I didn't walk away," Itachi pointed out. "And I wouldn't have until it ended one way or another. I'd have kept trying."

"Because you wanted to save the company?"

"Not really," Itachi admitted. "Because I wanted to save you. I'm your superhero, remember?"

"Yeah," Sasuke agreed in a whisper, pushing himself off of Itachi's desk to head to his office once more, glancing over his shoulder for a second to finish his sentence. "Something like that."

When he was safely out of ear shot, he smiled to himself and mouthed a 'thank you' that couldn't be heard. Regardless, Itachi knew it had been at least thought as he watched his brother retreat, and that was good enough for him.

-.-.-

/ what I gave you was never enough / "oh dear I'm sure you'll understand there was a setback, but / wait a few weeks it would be good as it can ever be" /

-.-.-

Author's Note: And it is done! :) This was fun. I love writing this dynamic. Lyrics this time are The Electric Diorama- Oh Dear, Now I'm Sure I Hate You.

Thank you so much for reading, reviewing, and hopefully enjoying!