Itachi paced in the waiting room. He knew Sasuke would be fine. He was just getting teeth removed to make room for braces. Itachi had it done when he was younger and came out perfectly fine. He still worried. It was Sasuke's first time going under general anesthesia and there was no telling how he would react to it. Itachi suspected that reading articles on all the things that could go wrong in teeth removal may in fact have been a bad idea.

"Uchiha?"

Itachi looked up at the nurse.

"Your brother is in the recovery bay. Would you like to see him?"

Itachi gave a curt nod and followed the nurse into the backrooms.

"Sasuke did great! There were no complications with the procedure. He will be in and out for a little while so please take him straight home and let him rest," the nurse informed him.

Itachi listened with half an ear the rest of the care instructions as he took in his brother's state.

Sasuke lied propped up by pillows on a small bed. His eyes opened briefly when they entered before closing again. He looked pretty good if his swollen cheeks and slight pallor were ignored.

The nurse and Itachi helped Sasuke into the wheelchair by the bed and rolled him out to Itachi's car.

Sasuke was silent until about a block away from the oral surgeon's office. "E icure ay."

"What was that Sasuke?" Itachi asked. He couldn't understand him around the gauze and swelling.
"It picure day," Sasuke tried again.

"Picture day?"

Sasuke nodded.

"And?"

"Goda go."

Itachi glanced over at Sasuke before returning his eyes to the road. "No."

"Ya."

"Do you really want to take photos in those clothes?"

Sasuke paused and looked at his sweatpants and faded t-shirt. "Home first."

It wasn't long before the lull of the drive pulled Sasuke into sleep like Itachi hoped it would. They made it home and Sasuke was still passed out. It took some maneuvering, but Itachi managed to get Sasuke out of the car, into the house, and tucked into bed without him waking.

A good ten minutes later, Itachi was sitting in the living room reading a book when a loud thud broke the silence. It came from Sasuke's room. Itachi was immediately down the hall and walking into Sasuke's room.

He scanned the room. The bed sheets were rumpled, messily made. A hanger lay on the floor by the closet. A few books lay spilled from a backpack, the source of the thuds Itachi concluded. Otherwise the room was as immaculate as ever. The phrase "Cleanliness is next to Godliness" was perhaps taken a little too far in their household.

Itachi was avoiding the elephant in the room.

Sasuke was fine.

Sasuke was no longer asleep.

Sasuke was dressed for school. Kind of.

Sasuke stood in the middle of the room in a dark blue button down with a tie and a pair of dress slacks as per his school's uniform requirements. All acceptable, except the buttons were off by one, the tie was knotted like he was tying a double knot with shoelaces, and most importantly…

"Sasuke, what is in your hair?"

"Gel. Obito left it." The gauze was no longer in Sasuke's mouth. The swelling has not gone down. Sasuke bent down to gather his books in his bag.

"What are you doing Sasuke?"

Sasuke looked at him like he was asking something trivial. "Going to school. It's picture day." Blood dripped down Sasuke's chin. He promptly wiped it away with a handkerchief.

"There are retakes in a week. You've already decided to get them then."

"But what if the retakes are bad. There's no retakes of retakes."

"And how do you suppose you'll get there?"

"Bus."

"The bus doesn't run here."

"Walk."

"It's over 5 miles."

"Bike."

"You're not allowed to do strenuous activity."

"Drive."

"You're twelve."

"Chauffer."

As an older brother, Itachi needed to come to a decision. It was a matter of what was more important to his morals. Sasuke was clearly under the influence of pain medication and should be in bed not getting ready for school. Itachi also knew that Sasuke would be mad if Itachi let him go through with it. On the other side of the dilemma, it was prime blackmail material. Itachi, first and foremost, was an older brother.

"Alright, but you're not staying for classes. Doctor's orders."

A/N: Thank you for reading.