Title: Walk on Broken Glass

Author: Risa

Pairings: NaruSasu/SasuNaru, MinaKushi, and lots of Itachi and Sasuke (platonic) brother love. There will be many other pairings, but most won't last, so I don't really find them worth mentioning here. Feel free to PM me if this concerns you.

Rated: M

Disclaimer: Kishi owns Sauce and Weasel and Dead Last and all those other lovable weirdos that I can't seem to quit writing about.

Genres: Romance, Friendship, Family, Angst, Humor, Hurt/Comfort

Full Summary: Modern AU. Best friends Sasuke and Naruto have slowly been falling in love for years, and have a hard time dealing with it. With overprotective parents, a brutal rumor mill at school, and Sasuke's negative world view to contend with, is there any hope for their relationship? Will friends, family, and other circumstances serve to help, or hinder them? This story is an answer to a question I once asked myself: "What would Sasuke be like if his parents were alive, his brother didn't kill anyone, and they all lived in today's world? What would change? What wouldn't? And where does Naruto fit into all of this?" It's also a very loose parallel to the canon universe, so this story will have its high and low points, and lots of humor, because life is funny.

Warnings: Family dysfunction, one instance of child abuse, violence, foul language, depression/anxiety, bullying, mentions of suicide, drug/alcohol abuse, non-communication, and lots of heartbreak. I take none of the above lightly and they will not be sugar coated when they happen, but if you came in here for a happy story then don't let this deter you! This is a story about life, with its ups and downs. There's plenty of love, happiness, humor, hope, and healing to balance it all out.

Setting: This fic's officially set in a made up town called Farwell, Connecticut in the US. It's based on where I grew up. The fic starts in 2005 when the boys are eight years old. There will be no use of Japanese honorifics or the "pet names" (dobe, teme, and such) at any given point, and everyone's names will be first name first and last name last (Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki, and such.) I may go a bit crazy with pop culture references at times, but it's all in the name of immersing the boys into our world. If we didn't care about the things that entertain us then we wouldn't even be on this site, after all. ;)

OK, I think I've covered everything.

PART ONE

An Issue of Brotherhood and Friendship

Ants and a Curious Midnight Invasion

The Uchiha family lived in a large home comprised of four bedrooms, two bathrooms, many closets, a wide open yard in front and back, and very little character. They were the type of family that hung more generic oil paintings of pears than family photos on the walls, which were off white with wooden trim and floors all over the house. Basically it was the same color inside as it was outside, with a possible what-you-see-is-what-you-get logic behind it. A fire place sat in the spotless living room unused as the day Fugaku Uchiha signed off on the mortgage. He was an incredibly thrifty man, and managed to get the house paid off in full in less than a decade, which his peers swore was impossible in this economy. Not so, apparently. Without that monkey on his back he didn't have to worry about his high blood pressure getting the better of him at any given moment as much, and he could even start smoking cigarettes again if he wanted to, though his wife didn't like that.

For Itachi Uchiha, this was the last of several homes he had bounced around. Father always seemed down on his luck, thus wasn't always a very prominent presence under this roof. Not that Itachi minded. He didn't have to put up a front of studying without the old man breathing down his neck. It didn't matter either way, because he could sleep in class and still get straight A's. He would know. He's done it. After all, when he graduated Middle School at the top of his class, giving the school a better reputation than complete crap, they bought him a top of the line laptop computer. Father claimed it was for academic purposes only, but what kid actually ever listens to that crap?

As soon as Itachi got her alone he asked mother immediately if she would be willing to supplement him with a World of Warcraft account, and promised profusely that he would only play it on the weekends and earn every penny she spent on it by doing extra chores. She was reluctant at first, typical mom, didn't want weirdos stalking her son or sending him inappropriate messages and images. At first she was against giving him his own computer at all, to be honest. She thought he was just too young, even if he showed an uncanny amount of sense for a boy his age. He told her that he would be playing it with his friends, who he hardly got to see anyway because he was always too busy studying. There wasn't much that he got to do for himself, and it was his first video game ever under this roof, or so she thought anyway. She detested video games, and Fugaku was even worse, hence why Itachi didn't even exercise the thought of asking him, but then again Itachi was just such a good, studious kid.

"OK, but you can only play it on the weekends, and I'm cutting you off if I see so much as a B+ on your progress report."

"Yes, mother."

"Also, under no circumstances is Sasuke to see, or know about this. He's not old enough. You're not even old enough, but I absolutely won't tolerate him on that machine for even one minute without my supervision. I don't want him going online and talking to strange people that would lure him away and do terrible things to him. The world's gone crazy these days."

"I understand, mother. The runt will never touch my computer."

He held true enough to the latter. Sasuke didn't show much interest in Itachi's computer anyway. With mother's supervision he was content to sit downstairs on the family's ancient Dell that still ran on Windows 2000 with jack shit for RAM and draw stick figures on MS Paint until he got bored and decided to kick a soccer ball around the yard instead. Like his brother, Sasuke was also studious, but mostly because education was the gospel under this roof, and you weren't anyone if not a straight A student. Sasuke must have done well enough. Like Itachi, he won every Student of the Month award in first grade, and his teachers adored him. Apparently he was an extremely quiet and serious boy, who only spoke when called on. He wouldn't even ask to go to the bathroom unless it was an emergency, but he would soon learn to get over that when a girl named Hinata wet her pants one day because she was even more quiet than him. Mean kids called her Pee-nata now, and that was really the only story about Sasuke's peers that Itachi knew about at the moment. Poor girl.

That was school, though. Sasuke could be a real motor mouth when he got home. Mother seemed to deal with the lion's share of it these days, which worked for Itachi. He loved his little brother more than anything in the world, but he was busy now. He had his own work load, his own friends, his own life. Sasuke seemed to be off to an OK start establishing his if his grades were perfect, his teachers loved him, and he was at least brave enough to ask to use the restroom. Itachi remembered Sasuke's first day of kindergarten. He cried on the first day because he had to go all by himself.

Two years later, he was into his second month of second grade. They still had him reading picture books, but he found those boring. Itachi dug some old favorites out of the closet and let him have the entire box, which was just as tall as Sasuke. His teacher didn't question him for reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on a day too rainy for recess, but on the second rainy day she asserted that it was impossible for him to be able to read Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, not to mention its contents weren't age appropriate. Half the kids in the class had never even seen a book that big, and the teacher probably didn't want them feeling self-conscious. Sasuke didn't bring a book that size with him for awhile, seeing as he didn't like the attention that was drawn to him because of it.

Itachi sort of knew the feeling, though rather than being ashamed of it he always just sort of owned it. In second grade he was reading The Fellowship of the Ring already, but his teacher let him be, probably because it was a much smaller book and she didn't read it anyway, so probably assumed that it was kiddy. He remembered when his friend Kisame tried reading it. It was like gibberish to him, but that was OK, because he supplied the video games that Itachi's parents (well, father) assumed he knew neither heads nor tales of. All he had left to do in Kingdom Hearts was fight Sephiroth, but Kisame's PS2 was busted and he had to get a new one. Lame.

In any case, Sasuke's social life wouldn't start until late one Thursday night, when Itachi was participating in a raid on WoW with Kisame, Deidara, and Nagato. By no means did he want to be disturbed during this pressing and earth shattering endeavor, and under normal circumstances he wouldn't be. Everyone under this roof seemingly went to bed at nine o'clock at night, every night, and if his parents were ever in the throes of wild and kinky sex, he wouldn't know about it. He was too busy with his game to care, and the fact that it was midnight and well past the time he should be down and getting his beauty rest did nothing to deter him. He could school on one hour of sleep if need be. He's done it. He's even done it without falling asleep in class. It was a non-issue.

Suddenly there were three small knocks at the door. Now, they were so soft that they could have very well been a part of his imagination. Not one to take any chances, though, he threw his laptop shut, effectively abandoning the guys. They would grill the everloving shit out of him, but they'd get over it eventually. After all, they wouldn't actually be his friends if they weren't aware that his parents had sticks the size of Florida up their asses.

"Come in," said Itachi, as he turned to a random page in Crime and Punishment just before the door knob clicked open. No matter who it was, he'd get less shit for staying up reading than doing anything else.

"Itachi... " said Sasuke with a hiccup. Oh. Well, it was difficult to say if this warranted ditching the raid. After all, the kid had two perfectly good parents to bother if he wet the bed, threw up, or something, even if they were already asleep. Well, whatever. Itachi put down his book and told Sasuke to come in. His Sponge Bob boxers appeared dry enough, and he didn't look sick, but for the snot and streaks of tears smeared across his face and pajama sleeves. Itachi pulled a small pack of unopened tissues and hand sanitizer out of his desk drawer and told the kid to blow his nose and sanitize his hands before touching anything. For good measure Itachi grabbed him an old Pantera t-shirt that hung around his brother's knees like a dress when he put it on. Itachi pinched the befouled flannel pajama top that was part of a very old set of Shisui's and threw it into his hamper, then sanitized his own hands. The absolute worst thing about having a baby brother was the damn snot. Even diapers didn't get to him as bad as the snot did for some reason. Sasuke was eight now, so the snot portion of his life should very nearly be over, or so he hoped.

"You want some chocolate milk?" said Itachi, pulling a Nesquik out of his bedside minifridge. See, he treated his room sort of like his fortress, where everything he could possibly need at any given moment was there, except for a bathroom. Dad refused to let him knock out a wall and install his own, even though the house was now his, which was bullshit, but whatever. He checked the sell by date on the milk, seeing as he barely drank the stuff, but had some every once in awhile. It was good, so Sasuke took it.

"It's midnight, Sasuke, and you have school in the morning."

"I don't want to go," he whimpered.

Oh, here we go.

"Are you sick? If you're throwing up it wouldn't be wise to drink that."

Sasuke took three little gulps, and then he burped, but not very loud. "Excuse me."

Itachi placed his palm on the little kid's forehead, and earned himself a pout. Sasuke did feel a bit warm, but that's probably because he'd been crying. "Stop it. I'm not throwing up. And don't take my temperature."

"Well, you can't exactly get out of going to school if you're not sick."

"Sure I can," said Sasuke, taking another swig of milk. "I'll climb up the highest tree in the yard. Between mama's arthritis and dad's bad back they wouldn't be able to catch me."

"No, they'd just leave it up to me to catch you," said Itachi.

"What? Aww." Sasuke resumed his daily penchant for pouting and sulking. Whatever the reason Sasuke had for not wanting to go to school in the morning, it was bound to be some overblown nonsense that would obviously result in the end of the universe. Tomorrow was sloppy joe day, or tomorrow was hula-hoop practice in gym, something like that. For the record, Sasuke's hatred for sloppy joes and hula-hoops knew no bounds, as he would remind all two of the people in his life he would actually talk to as much as possible.

"Indulge me, kiddo. Why don't you want to go to school tomorrow?"

Sasuke crushed the empty milk bottle in his tiny little fists, and the amount of hatred that radiated from his skin was venomous enough to kill every unsuspecting squirrel and crow in the neighborhood. But not the evil bunnies. No, never the evil bunnies, as was evident through Itachi's allergies, especially when he went into the back yard. Itachi was more of an indoor kind of guy.

"There's this kid. His name is Naruto, and I want him to die."

"Now, now. Don't go around saying things like that, or the school will search your bags and pockets for guns and knives. They might even perform a cavity search."

Sasuke frowned. "What's a cavity search? Like the dentist?"

"You don't want to know."

"Yes I do."

"Google it."

"Is it something that'll get me in trouble with mama if I look it up?"

"Probably."

And that was the end of that discussion.

"Tell me what a cavity search is." Or not.

"Not unless you tell me why you think this Naruto kid should die."

"Ugh, fine." Sasuke hopped off of Itachi's bed and started ranting. If he got loud enough he'd wake their parents up, and then Sasuke would become their problem. One could hope. "He's like the most loud and stupid person in the world. We were watching a movie in class, which we never get to do, and it was really good. I was trying really hard to listen, and Naruto wouldn't stop tipping back in his chair and talking to everyone. He was doing spit balls at Kiba, and he tried to put gum in Ino's hair, but then our teacher caught him and put him in the corner. Then while he was in the corner he was making stupid fart noises, and the corner is right under the TV, so every time it was on a good part Naruto made fart noises with his arm and his lips, and then he backed up into Shikamaru's desk and actually farted, and the teacher sent him to the principal. And then the whole room stunk for like an hour.

"Then it was recess, and I didn't want to play because all the swings were taken and my toe hurt from kicking Naruto's chair. I just wanted to read. So I brought Among the Hidden with me, and I was reading it under my favorite tree that Naruto was sitting in, but I didn't know it. And then Naruto dropped a juice box on my head on accident. I got fruit punch in my hair, and on my book, and it was really gross and sticky and mom made me take a bath as soon as I got home. There was ants on me!"

"There were ants on you, Sasuke," Itachi corrected.

"I hate it when you do that," grumbled Sasuke through his teeth. "Anyways, Naruto is always causing trouble, and he won't leave me alone! He says that my head looks like a duck's butt, so you know what I said? I said "Yeah, well your head looks like doo doo!""

"You sure told him," said Itachi. He was having a hard time trying to keep his face from cracking into the most obnoxious grin. His little Sasuke actually had a social life of sorts.

"Yeah."

"And is this the reason why you came into my room crying?"

"NO!" said Sasuke, thoroughly offended that Itachi would suggest such a thing. Naruto. Make him cry. Ha! "I was crying because I fell out of bed and hit my elbow really hard."

"Do you want me to kiss it and make it feel better?"

"No." Sasuke crossed his arms and looked away from Itachi. The older brother took that as his cue to kneel before the younger and assault his sides with tickles.

"Ahhh-hahaha-nostop-hah-" he said, and then he started screaming way too loud for half past midnight. If that didn't wake their parents then they were probably dead. Sasuke was reduced to a puddle of shallow breaths and a tangle of limbs that were all flailed out. One elbow looked a bit redder than the other, and Itachi showered it with sloppy kisses.

"Stop, stop, stop! That's gross."

"That's revenge for coming into my room with snot-covered sleeves."

"I'll blow my nose in your pillow if you slobber on me ever again."

"Sounds like something Naruto would do."

Sasuke was about to stamp his feet and start ranting again, but father barged right in and took the wind right out of Sasuke's sails, not to mention his lungs.

"Sasuke, do you have any idea what time it is?" said Fugaku, with the spanking of a lifetime just cooking underneath that gaze. He wasn't a man that took well to being woken up. Never was. That's why Itachi typically made a point to be as quiet as possible, but Sasuke was either too young, or too dumb to be discreet. Though Sasuke tended to reject affectionate gestures, he managed to back up right into Itachi's side and bury half his face into the older boy's shirt. Fugaku stepped into the room, gave Itachi one reproachful look, and went right back to glaring at Sasuke, whose knees were ready to buckle.

"I was just saying u-ud-night to T-tachi, dad." Sasuke hiccuped like he was going to cry again. In coming snot storm. Itachi wasn't having it, even though he knew he shouldn't be as soft on his brother as he was, there was no place for boogers that weren't his own in this universe.

"Goodnight? It's twelve-thirty in the morning. We say goodnight at nine o'clock on the dot, and we don't do it screaming at the top of our lungs."

"He had a bad dream," Itachi interjected. "I was trying to cheer him up and things got out of hand. Blame me." Sasuke's face was fully emerged in Itachi's night shirt, his fist gripping clumps of it while Itachi wrapped his arms around him.

"Is this true?" asked Fugaku, and Sasuke sniffled and nodded into Itachi's shirt. "Look at me when I'm talking to you, Sasuke, and don't mumble."

"Yes, sir." Sasuke managed to poke one eye out from under Itachi's protective arms, and his enunciation was barely passable. Fugaku nodded and turned around.

"I want you both in bed. Now."

With that he closed the door behind him, and Sasuke started sucking air in and out as though he had run the worst mile of his life. Fugaku was an intimidating man. He wouldn't lay a finger on his kids even if he wanted to, because that's what his parents did to him and he chose to refrain from such behavior. However, if Itachi had to guess he'd say that Fugaku really only refrained because Mikoto did not approve of hitting as punishment. Frankly, Itachi didn't either. If Sasuke was this panicked from a glare and a few choice words then what purpose could violence probably serve?

"I'm sorry I got us in trouble, brother," said Sasuke, and amazingly enough he refrained from shedding anymore snot or tears. That was good enough for Itachi.

"Sasuke, I'm going to bed. Would you like to sleep in here tonight?"

Sasuke asked Itachi every so often if they could sleep in the same bed together. More often than not Itachi said no, because homework and WoW were priorities of utmost importance. It had gotten to the point where Sasuke almost never asked anymore. However, Itachi offering was an occasion much more rare. Not just rare, but welcome, judging by the smile on Sasuke's face.

"Yeah!"

Just like that he hopped onto the bed, searching for his favorite pillow and was never one to pass up the opportunity to pull the blanket back himself. Once he got his pillow he crawled underneath, snuggled and comfy in the cocoon of comforters. Itachi turned the lights out and crawled into bed next to Sasuke. Leaning down he pecked his brother on the forehead and rolled over on his side.

"G'night, peanut."

All he heard from beneath the comforter was "mrr-nrr-wuh" which he guessed meant "Don't call me peanut." Then he drifted off to sleep to the sound of his brother's tiny snores.

TBC

References

Books

Among the Hidden, by Margaret Peterson Haddix. It's a children's book, but it's pretty good. I tend to think of these quick reads, because I read whatever the fuck I want, haha. Now pretend that makes sense.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl. Read the book, fuck both of the movies (or just watch the old one because Gene Wilder is amazing, but those orange fucking ommpa loompas... ugggh... ), and then read Matilda because Matilda is one of my favorite books ever.

Crime and Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoevsky. So who's actually read this? Not me, and it would seem Itachi hasn't either.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, by J. K. Rowling. Now repeat after me, kids: CEDRIC DIGGORY IS NOT EDWARD FUCKING CULLEN. FUCKING DAMN IT! FUCK! The Cedric in my head's WAY better looking than Rob anyway, though Rob makes a decent cancerous looking vampire... thing, much to his chagrin, he mused.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, by J. R. R. Tolkien. Frankly all I've retained from the movies was Frodo's emphatic cries of "Oh, Sam!" ... What? A dirty mind is a terrible thing to waste.

Fanfiction

The Real Reason, by RuneWitchSakura. Bunnies are evil.

TV

Sponge Bob Square Pants, owned by Nickelodeon. By the way, mayonnaise is not an instrument. Neither is horseradish.

Video Games

Kingdom Hearts, a PS2 game brought to you by some assholes called Square Enix. Maybe you've heard of them.

World of Warcraft, a PC game by Blizzard that my sister's been playing obsessively for the past four years. Shoot me.