A/N: This is a very graphic story (extremely twisted). If you don't like, don't read. Themes of substance abuse, psychological manipulation, and many more will be present. TRIGGER WARNINGS.

UchiSaku. AU/ Graphic content, Rated M for a reason. Don't like? Don't read.

Summary: A rare and debilitating disorder took away her chances of living a normal life at a young age, now she is finally coming to a point in her life where she will have to traverse through different waves of crippling difficulty and revelations. UchiSaku. Dark themes ahead.

IMPORTANT NOTE AT THE BOTTOM PLEASE READ IF YOU CAN, THANK YOU. 3

Ch 8: Breaking of Bread

The morning came without a single hitch, further elating the already bursting happiness Sakura was feeling within. Her body ached with the events from yesterday, just thinking about the amount of fun that she had with her big brother made her extremely happy. For a good moment, Madara was able to make her forget just how much of her life she had spent either with her eyes closed or just within the confines of a house or hospital. She was in such a good mood that she began combing her hair on her own, even to the end of the tips.

Sakura began trying to make her bed, tucking in everything that she could and should. Itachi caught the sight of Sakura, brimming with actual happiness. The sun was already up high this morning, not a single ominous cloud in sight. The way the light hits her face made her look like she was glowing. Green eyes caught the sight of black eyes observing everything she was doing; a smile spreads on her face. "Good morning, Itachi!" the man couldn't help but give her a smile in return, a bit of bliss escaping him as he did so. "Breakfast is ready, Sakura." Sakura whips her head a bit too quickly the very second the aroma of waffles hit her senses. "Were having waffles, Itachi?" it was a rare treat when Itachi would make something very sugary for breakfast. Normally anything he feeds Sakura was something that was supposed to be healthy and balanced. He nods at her, and caught her right before she bolted past him. "You're just bursting with energy today aren't you Imouto?" Sakura giggled as she tried to struggle futilely out of her brother's grasp. The soft contours of her body rubbed against Itachi, and her hips met his when she tried to lean forward, forcing his locked arms around her to let her free. In an instant Itachi lets her go, watching her teasingly bring out her pink tongue to mock him, leaving him alone with a trail of pink hair to be the last thing he saw as she raced to the kitchen.

It was this type of naivety and innocence that he had forgotten about, the situations that raced in his mind. For a moment he almost forgot that yesterday Madara had her all to himself, the anxiety and the jealousy he had lost for a moment returned with full force. Sakura caught sight of the quick change in demeanor when Itachi reached the kitchen, his lips pressed to a thin line. Sakura made a guilty sounding squeak, almost slamming the syrup pitcher that was half gone down too loudly at the wooden table. Her good mood evaporated easily in fear that maybe she had also abused the good mood of Itachi with the obviously syrup doused waffled on her plate. Itachi, ever so calmly gestured for her to continue. Sakura was too distracted by the wonderfully sliced colorful fruits in front of her to match the waffles on her plate. She didn't notice how Itachi removed the apron he wore and how he rolled his sleeves up to his elbows all too calmly.

The first bite she took felt like it was too good to be true. The sweet crunch followed by the pillowy soft interior of the waffle was heavenly. "This is amazing Itachi." She almost moaned out. She looks at him with a smile on his face, but the kind that didn't exactly reach his eyes. "The blueberries are almost as sweet as the syrup this year!" she exclaimed. Although the sight of Sakura genuinely enjoying something that he made just for her was enough to melt his bones it didn't deter him from making sure that there was nothing wrong that happened with Sakura from yesterday. "I'm glad you like this, Sakura."

"This is amazing, Itachi. I want to have a husband just like you someday!" her statement caused a light spark to travel up his spine at her flattery. "You seem to have had fun from yesterday with brother Madara." Sakura swallowed the sickly sweet treat with a little difficulty. She knew where this was going, Itachi will start scolding her soon after, he's going to cut as much fun as he could if- "Tell me, Sakura, what did you guys do yesterday." Itachi's voice cut her thoughts off, 'here we go' she thought.

She looked beside her where Itachi sat, lips turned a little with a faint smile, the kind that Uchiha's only have. The light hitting Itachi made him look almost as happy as she was, too bad she couldn't notice how fake everything else was with his appearance today. Her eyes looked up as she happily recalled the events of yesterday with stark clarity and excitement. "It was amazing Itachi! Madara-ani brought me to this arcade like place. It was fun with bright games and cool people! Some of them even watched me shoot the zombie monsters." She popped a kiwi slice in her mouth as she told her story. Itachi chuckled at some of them, melting away her fears. Maybe Itachi just genuinely wants to hear about her day. That wasn't so bad… was it?

A bite sized peach found its way in her mouth, the juice of the peach dribbled down a little from her lips, and before it could landed on her pajama top Itachi was able to stop it with his forefinger on her chin. "Oh, sorry Itachi-ani, I didn't mean to. I was just too excited about yesterday." She said bashfully. Instead of reprimanding her he just chuckled, Sakura's brow rose a bit higher. This was not a normal thing for Itachi to just brush off her bad behavior. He was quick to chastise any unladylike manners from Sakura.

"It's alright, I do understand. I'm just glad to see you the way that you're happy right now." Itachi breathed out a little, seeing as Sakura's expressions reverted back into a relaxed one. "Oh, and we went to this cute place Itachi! There was a lot of amazing food, but they could never compare to just how good you cook!" Sakura unknowingly flattered Itachi, buttering him up further. "Go ahead, tell me more." He encouraged.

A few minutes went by, the fruit on the table was finally sparse and so were the waffles. Sakura was blushing pink a little from a bit of elation as she explained in detail what happened yesterday, only to come to realize how tiring it was to actually have that much fun.

"And then we went to this place with a lot of rides! We went to one called a ferriswheel where you go sit in the booths and it lifts you up! Have you ever ridden one Itachi? Anyways it was so much fun even though the line was long and-" Black eyes wandered at how animated Sakura was telling the story. So far so good, based on the story she was telling with zero hesitation. In his lifetime of taking care of Sakura, the only kinds of lie she tells is when she hides sweets from him or when she hides her homework.

"And when we were finally on top we saw the entire city Itachi! It was so amazing, I want to go with all of you there next time." She couldn't help herself but wrap her arms around Itachi, who all too willingly caught her. Sakura snuggled a little too closely to the crook of his neck, and Itachi felt all the little vibrations whenever she was still talking. "Although, I feel a little bad about Madara-ani." She trailed. Without even looking at her, Itachi just cradled her head where it was on the junction where his neck and shoulder met. His hands trailed down feeling the silkiness of her pink hair. He can already imagine how her lips have already formed into a pout, and her eyes mixed with worry.

The warmth Itachi exuded and the gentle gestures he was doing eased her into resting the rest of her upper body weight on him.

Itachi was sure that Sakura was the only person living alive to feel bad for a man like Madara; even children know when to stay away from a man like him. "Madara asked me something weird too." Itachi didn't notice the slight rocking motion that he was doing while holding Sakura until she said that. The abrupt stop went past Sakura to notice. "Oh? And what may that be?" Itachi continued his light rocking motion since it seemed like it didn't bother her much. "He made me promise that whatever it is I find out, I'll love him just like I do." She murmured into Itachi's skin. For some reason it made Sakura blush just thinking about saying that to her other brother. "And then what happened?" Itachi urged on. "Nothing, Madara-ani just hugged and kissed me like always." She looked up at him innocently.

"And we were just like this too while riding the ferriswheel. I think Madara-ani is sad." Itachi's eyes softened a little bit as he stared back at the green ones looking right back. He couldn't help but feel a little guilt towards the way he treated Madara from last night but that wasn't enough to weaken his resolve. He knew what Madara had meant when he made Sakura promised that. The threats loomed over his family nonstop, and everyone was just as suspicious. Sakura was the most innocent one of them all, and it was unfortunate that she was the one that got caught in the crossfire's of this petty war they were currently going through. The worst casualty was always the innocent ones.

Soft hands cupped both sides of Itachi's face making him look right back at her. Pink lips in a sad pout, "Now you're the one who looks like he's sad, please tell me if there's something wrong Itachi-ani. It feels like I'm the only one being left out." Her grip on him demanded attention, not like her entire presence demanded it in the first place without her meaning to.

Itachi's other hand left her back and trailed back to her face. "I understand what you are saying, Sakura. Madara is a strong man, and it is nice that we have someone like you to be here for us. Right now, what is important is that you do what you do best, don't worry about us… Itachi-ani will still be right here. You'll love me too right, no matter what happens?"

The hanging question was left in the air. Although Sakura never really know what they meant by 'no matter what happens' it always left a heavy sense of dread in her. She won't know yet how heavy of an implication those promises will be in the future.

Itachi's hand trailed to her right wrist, and holding it tenderly while rubbing soft motions on the skin "Whatever it is we do, we do it because we love you. Remember that."

Itachi brought out a familiar black band from his pocket, something that Sakura thought she had kept hidden underneath her bed. "I-Itachi, its-" a thumb met her lips, silencing her immediately, but there wasn't a single threatening gesture to it. Itachi proceeded to wrap the band on Sakura's right wrist, securing it in place and making sure that it wasn't too loose or too tight. "You're growing up now, Sakura. You should expect more liberties to come the more you grow responsible." He said. "Just, please no more secrets."

Sakura felt like she was about to cry now, coming from Itachi this was something that meant big to her. It felt like she wasn't going to be belittled or treated like a child anymore. Her arms wound tighter on Itachi's waist and snuggle closer to his neck. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, Itachi!" she squealed with joy.

Sakura missed the way his face turned blank as he breathed out.

"I do it because I love you"

The night was a quiet event for all the brothers inside the house. It has been almost four days since the last sleeping spell of Sakura and it was almost like a miracle that she wasn't in bed with her eyes closed for an extended amount of time. They were so used to attending to her in a silent fashion that seeing her lively was something different, albeit in a good way.

The space they lived in seemed all the livelier, and the proceeding checkups she had with Dr. Tsunade was giving them more helpful information with helping Sakura cope with her new state. Today was just a simple day but she still glowed with happiness which affected them all greatly somehow. All four brothers were gathered in the living room, each with a cup or glass of their preferred beverage at hand.

Shisui took a sip of his beer loudly earning a glare from the ever prim and proper Itachi. "I think Sakura should start going to school."

"She's seventeen years old and her education level is for a tenth grader. She already stands out as is, and you want to throw her into a cesspool full of horny turds and emotional conflict? I'm sorry but it's a no." Madara brushed Shisui's statement off easily.

"You got any better ideas? She should be out there meeting people her age, at least let her do something normal that every person should go through." Shisui scoffed.

Sasuke was oddly quiet the entire time, so quiet that even Itachi noticed. He fervently typed on his laptop while occasionally grunting a response back just to remind everyone that he was still listening t to the conversation.

"Sakura can take her time, introducing her slowly to external activities can take time. Maybe walking her to a park everyday-" Itachi was cut off of his sentence with a loud chortle from Shisui, "She's not a dog, Itachi. And I highly doubt your ominous looking ass would help Sakura make friends if you scare everyone except the single moms."

Madara won't admit it but he was secretly laughing at the drunken expanse of Shisui. "I think it would do good that she spends a couple of days in my office, she could learn practical skills there while meeting a variety of people-"

"Crime syndicates and corrupt politicians barely count as people, Madara." Itachi's tone was cutthroat in his special way, it made a vein in Madara's neck pop out a little as he turned a light shade of red from anger.

"And I guess playing house with her is any better?" he retorted back. Shisui eyed the two of his brothers quarreling. There was something different about the two of them and there was definitely something that happened that caused them to be up one another's neck even more than usual, he just couldn't pinpoint what exactly it was.

"You're all dumb and wrong." Finally Sasuke chimed in just before Madara and Itachi could stand and wring one another's neck. All three of them diverted their attention back to Sasuke who didn't even give them the exact same courtesy until he turned his laptop back to face them. The bright screen glowed with a page full of part time classes. Most of them were crafting activities.

"Before any of you shut this offer down, I want to inform all of you that I know her better than all of you and I'm the designated best friend." He shot a glare in Itachi's direction to prove a point. "Sakura needs a stress free environment right? Small classes like this can help her socialize and earn actual skills where she won't need us twenty four seven, which is the actual fucking goal." This time all of them looked at Itachi who just simply brushed off their scrutiny.

"Now, gentlemen, here is my proposal. Since Sakura only does her schoolwork in the morning until one in the afternoon, She can take two classes but not in the same day.-" Sasuke navigated to a link showing a simple cooking class.

"Here's a bare basic cooking class, she can earn a life skill here and have an actually useful hobby." All three brothers focused on the next "Here's another one, it's an ikebana class. It can instill discipline in her and help her focus on one thing at a time. Her motor skills can relax here." All three of them couldn't argue with the way Sasuke presented his suggestion. Shisui was amazed, "Well look here, your medical degree is finally paying off." Sasuke sneered back at the misplaced comment. "Maybe if you spend enough time stuffing your nose in useful articles instead of unknown substances you can finally be as useful as me too."

"Why you little.-" Madara and Itachi caught Shisui right before he could comically smash the bottle on Sasuke. Itachi managed to hold a drunken Shisui on his own and Madara looked at a focused Sasuke pulling up the sign up forms and what seemed to be Shisui's debit card. Madara never noticed how mature Sasuke's features have finally gotten, and how he too, almost, like him, was earning bags under his eyes.

Madara pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to gather his thought this early in the night. "All of you, listen." Madara's booming voice commanded attention and screamed authority.

"Sasuke is right. This is a good opportunity for her. She has to finally meet other people. In these classes she can hone her social skill; at least in a intrapersonal way… which means, Itachi, your work will double a little. We no longer have control with whomever she meets, which means we'll do a scan of every class attendant and also any person in the facility, we have to eliminate the possibility of someone who might recognize her." Even though the chances are slim of anyone noticing her, but none of them just could bear the thought of Sakura hating them if one bit of information leaks.

Sasuke groaned in frustration at Madara's statement.

"THAT DEFEATS THE PURPOSE!" Sasuke exclaimed.

Although the night was long hostility in the air eventually evaporated into mutual agreement. All four of them too tired to argue or even bare each of their teeth to one another's necks.

A/N: Hi guys, thanks for the support. I'm sorry I wasn't able to update due to work.

Also, my laptop is dead. Officially. I've been using the same laptop for the past 8 years and it finally gave out on me.

For those who know me (or at least when I started posting.) I frequently update. Like almost every day if I could. I'm trying to earn money right now to earn money for a laptop, and if you'd like to help, it would be a treat.

I'll be opening commissions, I'll take requests. And if you want a personal piece, I'll make it for you in a heartbeat. My coworker has given me their laptop to use until I get mine, but they'll be leaving the country in five months so I need to earn enough by then.

Message me here if you're interested and I'll send you my price details for story commissions, and depending on your request I can add a little juicy extension here and there for the same price. (If it tickles my fancy.)

I love you all, thank you for your patience.

-TAK