Two weeks.

king & lionheart

If only things had been different.

(for krikanalo, RainToLullaby, janiisaur and angeles)

"No one can go back and make a new beginning, but we can start here and make our own end."

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Blood coated the bathroom floor. Some had already begun to oxidize, darkening to brown and drying up against the tiles, but most was still a bright red, fresh and thick. Itachi retched again, his whole body heaving forward in protest. He spit out any coppery residue left from his most recent bout of illness, using the back of his hand to swipe across his lips. The young adult pulled himself off the floor with support from the nearby sink and took a good long look at the mess on the floor. He cursed under his breath before a shudder wracked his body.

With a sigh, Itachi went to go grab a mop and bucket and, on his way out, he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. He looked like hell — pale, with sunken-in cheeks and large puffy bags under his now dim black eyes. The creases under his eyes were horribly apparent and new ones on either side of his mouth had joined them.

"Sasuke's going to kill me."

The first words that escaped Sasuke Uchiha's mouth the moment he laid eyes on his brother for the first time in three years were "You've been taking care of yourself, right?" complete with frown and a raised eyebrow.

He looks too much like Otousan when he does that, Itachi thought.

Unfortunately for the older of the two, Sasuke was very much aware of Itachi's neglect of his own personal health. Eating and visits to the doctor were usually regular habits for normal people, but it seemed that, for Itachi, they were just things that you could do but didn't have to. With a scrutinizing gaze Sasuke assessed his brother carefully, taking in the lack of color in his cheeks and the protrusion of his collar bones. Naturally, the brothers Uchiha were lean and on the slender side, albeit being fit and strong. They were not, however, bony and thin, as Itachi's body presented.

A very familiar feeling of frustration and loving anger flared up in Sasuke. He scowled.

"Why aren't you eating? You're seriously pale, why don't you go outside? Take a fucking vacation once in a while. If you keep overworking yourself, it's not gonna kill you. We've talked about this and how, if you don't start letting up on all the missions, you're gonna make yourself sick—"

Itachi sighed again, used to the lectures his little brother would give. The pair was interesting in that sense; they would switch off for the role of 'Mother' quite often, always worrying about the other. He used the heels of his hands to rub at his sleep deprived eyes. "Sasuke, I have some very important news for you—"

"It better be that you're gonna get married or something because it is painfully obvious how incapable you are of taking care of yourself when no one's around to do it for you."

"No Sasuke, this is—" he began but was interrupted once more. It was clear Sasuke was in no mood to listen to him, instead opting to go on a rant.

"You told me at graduation that ninjas aren't invincible and that we have medics for a reason—"

The rest of that sentence went in one of Itachi's ears and slid out the other. He rolled his eyes, blowing out a puff of air that tickled at his eyelashes. "Otouto, please. You're starting to irritate me with your foolish tangent."

"Oh, again with the 'foolish' crap? You never listen to me, you prehensile dick—"

"Excuse me?" Curse Naoki and his creative (yet stupid) insults. Itachi had really hoped that his friend's method of insulting someone was something Sasuke wouldn't pick up on that.

"You fucking heard me—"

A stern look overtook Itachi's face and, with an equally stern tone, he said "Sasuke Uchiha, as your brother, legal guardian, and the fifth Hokage, I insist that you watch your mouth and kindly Shut. Up."

Sasuke stopped mid-sentence, mouth still open and ready to form the next word. He blinked several times, trying to decide whether or not he'd just heard correctly.

There was a long silence that ensued, both siblings just looking at each other. Itachi's eyes were calm yet tired while Sasuke shone with indecipherable emotions.

"Seriously?" he finally blurted out in an incredulous tone. "Are you serious? No. No no no no no — you would've told me. This... this isn't something you would keep from me, I know you. ...Right?"

For what he was pretty sure was the umpteenth time in a day, Itachi sighed. This was not the way he meant to break the news — there was too much going on and Sasuke was too much of a hormonal mess to handle it all in a productive, healthy way. The teen may have been serious on the outside, but on the inside he still had the kind soft heart that'd been there since childhood. Add that to the delights of adolescence, and Itachi was a bit too happy he missed the beginning of it.

Black eyes softened considerably as Itachi's hand extended towards that of his brother. "I tried to tell you, otouto, really. I planned on sending you a letter and pictures and everything, but I was suddenly swamped by all of this work and—"

"That's great, Itachi." Sasuke's voice was devoid of emotion, as was his face. "Really. I'm glad for you."

"Sasuke..."

The younger male ruffled his hair and averted his gaze. "Listen, I have a 'team meeting' or something in like, fifteen minutes and I probably shouldn't keep Kakashi and Naruto waiting."

"Oh! Well, um, let me take you, then." His little brother's sudden change in personality was very surprising, if not unnerving. "I'll just put on my shoes—"

"It's fine."

Itachi froze, a very heavy sadness suddenly weighing down on his chest. He remembered when Sasuke was little and would absolutely jump at any chance to spend time with his beloved aniki. "Are... are you sure?"

"Yeah. I mean, you're pretty important now and I wouldn't want you wasting your time on stuff like this—you're probably too busy for me anyways."

And with that last cutting remark, Sasuke walked out the front door, leaving Itachi behind to wonder if his little brother's voice cracked from puberty or from his resistance against crying.

"Ita-nii!" Sasuke cries, running into his brother's legs and wrapping his arms around them.

A kind smile spreads across Itachi's lips. "What's wrong, otouto?"

"S-some meanies pushed me down! And I scraped my knee..." the five year old lifts the leg of his shorts, exposing a large bloody patch. "It really hurts! They called me a — a baby!" Fresh tears make their way down Sasuke's round cheeks, another whine floating from his mouth.

Itachi kneels, now eye-to-eye with his younger sibling. He grabs one of Sasuke's hands with his own. "Sasuke," he says, in a kind and gentle voice reserved only for the youngest Uchiha. "Sasuke," he repeats as he takes the other hand.

"Mm?" the boy is confused.

"Do you know why you're named that? What that name means?"

Sasuke sniffles. "You said I was named after the Third's father, so that I would be a strong ninja like him."

"That's right, and strong ninjas don't let other ninjas call them babies, wouldn't you agree?"

"But I'm not a strong ninja yet..."

"Maybe, but until then you'll always have me, and I'll help you become a strong ninja, okay? Plus, I won't let anyone call you a baby again."

"P-promise?"

"I promise."

"Why don't we have any parents?"

The question is rather random, coming from an eight year old boy's mouth. Itachi knows it was only a matter of time, but it's come a bit sooner than he would've liked.

"Well, families vary from person to person. Some people have two parents, some have one, and some, like us, have none. It doesn't matter how big or small your family is — what matters is how much you love each other."

The response is one that has been planned out for years by the fifteen year old teen's mind. Sasuke absorbs it, but it isn't quite enough.

"Do you love me?" This time the question is tentative.

"Yes. Very much."

"Really?"

In a motion very similar to the one from three years before, Itachi kneels to look Sasuke in the eye. "I know it doesn't seem like it sometimes, but all of my time is spent on you — I want you to know that I amnever too busy for you. "

"I'm never too busy for you, Otouto."

Two weeks till school starts. Blah.

Yeah, anyways, so that was not a filler, this chap kindasortareally matters btw. Um if you liked it, please review! :) Thanks for reading, see you next timeeeeee