Uchiha Itachi, yes the Uchiha Itachi; reduced to a mere shadow of his former self, hiding away in his room- listless, pale, tired. Yes indeed, sickness is a bitch.

First story! I finally whipped up the motivation (after 3 years of reading fanfics) to write one- this is a really short chapter- later chapters (if I decided to continue the fic) will be much longer. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Kishimoto-san owns Naruto!

He had been in bed for quite a while now. Time passed at such a slow rate; it was like watching glue drip out of a clogged and stubborn dispenser. Everything went in slow motion, and the interminable ticking of his clock was enough to put anyone to sleep. But no, he could not fall asleep.

It was utterly silent. By the insistence of his all-too-caring mother, he was not to be disturbed. Yes, Uchiha Mikoto was a caring one. A lovely woman that made it her life's mission to care for and love her two beloved kids and her handsome husband. But it annoyed Itachi. He needed to speak with another human. He had been sick with some odd sickness that had yet to be diagnosed by the doctors. He was so fatigued, yet could not sleep. Countless headaches, dizzy spells, weakness in every single one of his limbs… Not one of the expert doctors-that his rich parents hired from all over the country- could diagnose him. So here he was; lying in his bed listening to the ticking of his clock.

It was even somewhat embarrassing. The prodigy son of Uchiha Fugaku, listless in his bed, not even able to stand up without assistance. His parents were optimistic; they always were. Always encouraging him, always telling him that he was the best. Not that he felt it right now. Now, all he could feel was the pounding of his head.

Mikoto peered into her elder son's room.

"Darling, how are you? How do you feel? Do you need anything? Would you like anything to eat? Drink?….."

And so she went on and on. Itachi had recently acquired the skill of blocking her out until she stopped her list of questions.

"Fine. Good. No. No. No….."

And so came her rebounds… " Are you sure? Look at you- so skinny! Well, not in a good way- you're all skin and bones!….." And so on so forth.

A few more exchanges afterwards, she left, leaving him in silence again. He looked around his room, peering at his laptop on his bed-side table. If only he had the strength to reach for it… There was a small creaking sound. It came from the door. Now if he were healthy, Itachi would have identified the intruder minutes ago. But, alas, he wasn't. It unnerved him a little- he would be helpless if it were a killer outside his door. Well, good thing it wasn't. It was his little brother, Sasuke. They were close, the two of them. He was the prodigy and the most handsome guy in Konoha; Sasuke was the cute one. Well, bluntly stated. Sasuke was really cute and very small for his age. He was the one handed from adult to adult at parties. Sasuke's life was one of constant cuddling and cooing. It wasn't his fault he was so damn adorable…

The door squeaked some more.

"Come in", Itachi said in his now very quiet and tired voice.

Sasuke's head popped in through the door, followed by his little body. His face held a wide smile and his eyes were lit up like Christmas tree lights.

"How are you? Are you okay? You don't look okay but whatever I had school today and those really annoying girls kept talking to me and it really sucked and I practiced using shuriken today and I'm pretty good at it even though you'll help me when you're better right? Of course you will and you know that one guy that……"

Yes, Sasuke definitely inheirited Mikoto's talkative genes. Yet Itachi listened patiently as he studied the features of his little brother. The bright eyes, the little hand gestures he used while he was ranting, the tiny of tinyest scrunches of his nose as he talked about girls…

Sasuke's voice rose with excitement as he began ranting about training. Which, of course, led to the inevitable interruption of his mother.

"Sweetheart, what are you doing here? Ni-san's tired. Let's leave him to rest. Why don't we bake some cookies? I know you love to cook!"

Sasuke gave a pouty look. Mikoto walked forward and picked him up much like a person would pick up a cat. They left. And again, there was silence.

You like? Should I continue the story?