Sasuke sneered as he passed his older brother and the man's boyfriend making out on the living room couch. He stomped his way up the stairs, went into his room, and slammed the door. His scowl was still deeply etched into his features as he turned on his stereo and cranked the volume to the max, until it was so loud that he couldn't even hear himself think.

Good.

He didn't want to think.

xXxXxXx

Orochimaru pulled away from Itachi as he heard the banging of the door from upstairs. Itachi ground his teeth.

"Fucking immature brat…"

The latter half of Itachi's sentence, however, went unheard because of the sudden pulsing emo music blaring through the house. The twenty-year-old's glare darkened and he stood up abruptly and marched to his younger brother's room.

When Itachi threw open the door, Sasuke ignored him in favor of staring at the cover of the case of the CD he was listening to. The older of the brothers strode over to the stereo and violently hit the off button. Sasuke looked up.

There was his brother, standing with one hand on his hip and his glare firmly in place. Sasuke stared at him hard for a moment before simply stating, "Don't touch my shit." before reaching to turn it back on. Itachi slapped his hand away.

"Don't you dare turn that on again!"

"Why shouldn't I?"

Itachi rolled his heavily lined eyes. "Because it's disturbing Oro and I!"

Sasuke grimaced and then shrugged. "He only wants you for the sex anyway." He reached over and turned the music back on.

"UGH!" Itachi yelled over the blaring speakers in frustration. "You're so immature! No wonder you only have one friend!" He spun on his heel, leaving the room.

"Fuck you!" Sasuke yelled to his brother's retreating back.

xXxXxXx

When Itachi returned to the living room, Orochimaru was already gone. He sighed dejectedly and flopped onto the couch. He lay staring at the ceiling for several minutes before someone came bursting through the door.

That someone happened to be Uzumaki Naruto. Sasuke's only friend. Naruto was in the same grade as Sasuke, but, really, they couldn't be more different; like night and day. One of their major differences was that Sasuke hated Itachi and that Naruto got along with him fine.

As Naruto entered the house unannounced, he took note of the blaring music. He smiled crookedly at Itachi. "Want me to fix 'im?" he asked good-naturedly.

Itachi smiled back. "What would I do without you, Naruto?"

The blonde shrugged. "Probably run around like a headless chicken."

Itachi fake-scowled and smacked the sixteen-year-old on the back of the head. "Get upstairs before I go ninja on your ass, Uzumaki."

Naruto laughed and pecked his best friend's brother on the cheek. "You love me too much for that." He claimed, before racing up the stairs.

Itachi rolled his eyes and sighed with a smile, in a considerably better mood than before.

xXxXxXx

Naruto entered the room rather discretely and shut off the music before Sasuke even noticed I was there.

"I told you to keep your fucking hands off of my," Sasuke cut himself off as he looked up. "Oh, hi."

"Hi, yourself." Naruto stated, plopping down on the bed. "I sat around for fifteen minutes after school waiting for you, what's up with that?"

The brunette sighed, looking down. "I cut sixth."

"Again?!"

"I just wasn't in the mood, okay!" the teen exclaimed defensively, trying to avoid an explanation.

"Not in the mood, my ass, Sasuke! You always have a reason for ditching."

"Neji." Sasuke stated, as if that was explanation enough. Hyuuga Neji was Sasuke's X-boyfriend, after all.

It nearly was enough of an explanation.

"What about Neji?"

"He's with Haku, now. I saw them kissing in the hallway."

Naruto sighed, draping himself over Sasuke. "So what? He's allowed to kiss Haku now, you two aren't together anymore. You need to move on."

"Yeah I guess…"

"What else is bothering you?" Naruto said, mind registering the hesitance in Sasuke's demeanor.

"…Something's wrong with Itachi."

Naruto grinned. Sasuke could pretend he hated Itachi all he wanted, but when it really came down to it, Sasuke cared about him. They were each other's only family, after all.

"How so?" The blonde asked, lying down on the bed.

"He cries every night."

Naruto frowned. "Just randomly?"

Sasuke lay down next to Naruto. "No, after he and that Orochi-creep do it, snake man leaves, and then he cries."

Naruto smiled, trying to put some humor into the conversation. "How do you know they do it. Listening?"

Sasuke blushed and sputtered. "Hell no! His room's right next to mine! I mean, I play music but they're fucking loud!"

Naruto chuckled. "Do you want me to talk to him, then?"

"Only if you don't tell him I told you." Sasuke replied quickly.

The blonde rolled his eyes. "How am I supposed to say I knew he was crying ever night, then?"

Sasuke furrowed his brow. "Fine, then tell him I told you to talk to him because it's annoying the fuck out of me. Because it is."

Naruto laughed, hugging his best friend. "Alright."

(A/N) how's it sounding?