Naruto Fan Fiction / Naruto Shippuden Fan Fiction ❯ Every Light on this Path is For You ❯ Perfection is Impossible ( Chapter 13 )

Disclaimer: The characters, items, places etc of Naruto are property of Masashi Kishimoto. These objects are used without permission for entertainment only, not for making money. No infringement is intended.

Chapter 13: Perfection is Impossible

If Itachi needed any proof that nothing could ever be perfect, he got it at two am that night. He awoke to the sound of someone ringing his door bell, deafening in the quiet of nightfall, causing him to sit up slightly and check the time.

"Are you kidding me?" He murmured to Deidara, who was sleepily looking at him as though he might have an answer for who the mystery visitor was without checking.

"Are you going to answer it?"

"I'll worry if I don't," Itachi sighed, grabbing his dressing gown and heading for the front door. He flicked the hallway light on as he went, shielding his eyes to the sudden brightness.

He wasn't expecting to see a police officer standing before him. It banished the last traces of sleep from him immediately, causing him to straighten up from his position leaning tiredly on the door frame. The man was tall- much taller than he was by at least a few inches, giving him a mildly apologetic look.

"Uchiha Itachi?"

"Yes? What's the problem?"

"I have your brother in the car."

Itachi put one hand back to the door frame, exhaling lengthily. "I see. Why?"

"We found him outside a bar unable to walk and decided it would be prudent to escort him home. He managed to tell us he lives alone but he needs to be with someone right now, and your name is the only one we could get out of him."

Itachi wisely kept his mouth shut that Sasuke was a minor, and technically shouldn't be drinking anyway.

"Will you take him? If you don't, he'll be taken to the station to sober up."

"I'll take him," Itachi agreed- he'd have every intention of doing so the moment they'd told him the problem. "Can he walk inside?"

"Unlikely."

"Let me get dressed," Itachi sighed, leaving the door open and heading back towards the bedroom. Deidara was sitting up in the bed, a concerned frown etched on his features.

"Did you hear?" Itachi asked as he quickly dressed.

"Yeah. What's going on?"

"I don't know," Itacih murmured.

He was grateful to find that Sasuke had already been escorted to the doorstep when he returned, holding his arms out once he was on the doorstep and taking his sibling easily.

"Thanks," he told them, though really he wasn't quite sure why he was thanking them for handing over his drunk, underage sibling at two in the morning.

"Take care."

Once the door was shut and they were alone in the privacy of the hallway, Sasuke fell to his knees, wrenching out of Itachi's grasp. Itachi knelt down next to him, seeing him put a hand to his forehead and squeeze his eyes shut.

"Not feeling good," he muttered.

"That's because you're completely trashed," Itachi told him bluntly, a little bit of anger sweeping through him. "Get off my floor."

Sasuke didn't do as requested, half-crawling to the living room where he collapsed on the sofa and placed an arm over his eyes with a moan. Itachi shook his head firmly, kneeling on the floor next to him and shaking his shoulder.

"We're going to talk."

"Not right now."

Itachi thought for a moment before standing, retrieving a glass of water and offering it to his sibling. Sasuke uncovered his eyes long enough to give Itachi a murderous glare, earning a scowl of disapproval.

"If you think you can get away with this kind of behaviour then you're mistaken," Itachi told him firmly, glancing at Deidara hovering uncertainly in the doorway. "Deidara, give me a hand, please."

He beckoned and whispered something in his partner's ear, who nodded and headed back off out of the room. Itachi filled in his part of the plan by dragging Sasuke off the sofa, forcing him to walk back out to the hall- supported, but at least on his feet.

Itachi pushed him into the bathroom, where Deidara was waiting with the shower running. Sasuke seemed to realise what was about to happen but the alcohol hindered him in reacting. Itachi forced him to kneel at the side of the bath and pushed his head over into the shower spray.

"You're going to sober up," Itachi snapped at Sasuke as he struggled, keeping his head firmly held down. His patience was always much thinner when he was tired, let alone the circumstances they were currently in playing a part. "And then you're going to give me an explanation."

"Fuck you!"

"Language, Sasuke."

"I don't fucking care! Let me go!"

Itachi eyed the shower on the wall, standing up with his hand still firmly on Sasuke's back. Deidara had set the temperature to a pleasant, warm one- Itachi praised his consideration before spinning the dial straight to cold.

Sasuke gasped underneath the spray of the shower a few moments later, his voice shrill as he protested.

"You fucking jerk! Turn it off!"

"If you don't stop cursing at me I'm going to get the soap and rinse your mouth out."

"Just try it, jackass."

"It is two o' clock in the morning!" Itachi yelled at him, finally losing the minute reign he had over his temper. He didn't anger easily, much less shout at people, but something inside his tired mind had simply decided it was fed up being restrained.

"I have better things to do with my time than sober you up because you're incapable of both moderation and employing common sense!"

He finally released Sasuke, flicking the shower off once he had his temper in check. "Please make some coffee," he murmured to Deidara, guiding him to the door.

Deidara wasn't offended at being exiled from the room, letting Itachi close and lock the door behind him before turning to his brother. He was on his hands and knees on the floor, coughing.

"I'm sorry I'm such a bother," Sasuke growled at him when he had recovered slightly, glaring up at him. His sodden bangs were plastered to his face, dripping water into his eyes. He shook his head furiously to loosen them, finally clawing them off of his face and behind his ears.

"Talk, Sasuke."

"I have nothing to say."

Itachi shrugged and sat down on the floor, back up against the door and knees to his chest. He had no intentions of moving until Sasuke talked, even if it took all night.

"You've sobered up."

"You just tried to drown me."

"Don't be melodramatic."

"Just throw me out if I'm too much to handle, then."

Itachi shook his head firmly. "You were handed to me, so you're my responsibility. Why did you think getting horribly drunk in a public place was a good idea?"

"I didn't plan it! It just happened. I thought you had more important things to do than talk to me?"

"I'd quite like to sleep," Itachi told him truthfully. "And I didn't say I didn't want to talk to you. I'm trying to do just that, in fact- please start so we can both go to bed reasonably soon for college tomorrow."

"I'm skipping tomorrow."

"Like hell you are."

Sasuke raised a cocky eyebrow, catching the curse immediately.

"Didn't you just scold me for that?" He pointed out.

His observation caught Itachi off guard. He hadn't been expecting Sasuke to have noticed the mild slip-up born of barely-restrained exasperation.

"I did," he replied with a shrug, not wishing to be a hypocrite. "But that's not the issue here, is it Sasuke?"

"That was pretty not-perfect, right?"

Itachi glared at him, pursuing his lips. "Don't even think about playing that game, Sasuke."

A little of the harsh fire in Sasuke's eyes died away, and he averted them quickly. "Sorry," he muttered. Itachi nodded in acceptance, pushing it aside and jumping straight to the crux of his complaint once more.

"Tell me what's going on, Sasuke. You've never been the most compliant person, but this is unusual even for you."

"Can we talk tomorrow?" Sasuke requested quietly after a moment of consideration.

"We'll be at college tomorrow."

"I'm not going to fucking college, I told you."

"You're going, even if I have to drag you inside the building myself. One more curse and I will get the soap, Sasuke."

"Hypocrite."

A gentle knock on the door Itachi was leaning against interrupted them, Deidara calling that coffee was ready and asking if he could go back to bed. Itachi thanked him and told him to go, turning his attention back on Sasuke. He still looked a little hazy around the edges, but he wasn't as drunk as he was angry which Itachi deemed a good start.

"Let's get that coffee," he suggested, pulling himself to a stand and suppressing a yawn. Ideally he would have liked to stay locked in the room until Sasuke spoke but he was in danger of falling asleep if he did.

He didn't get any confirmation from Sasuke but he followed Itachi out into the hall and to the living room a few moments later, which was all the elder Uchiha needed to see. Two coffee cups were at the table with the sugar pot.

Itachi smiled slightly at that, sitting down and picking up the spoon. Deidara either knew he would probably want more than the usual amount, or he was clueless about how Sasuke drank his coffee.

In reality, Sasuke hated the stuff, but he still picked it up and sipped at it gently. He declined the sugar and looked unimpressed with the taste before setting it down again.

"I can't stop thinking about Dad," he finally admitted.

Itachi nodded, understanding that sentiment. He had been in the same one not long ago, after all. He wasn't surprised that the issue at hand had been this one, either- Sasuke was a live wire at the best of times, let alone when he was under pressure.

"I can't help with that," he replied, wishing with every fibre of his being that he could.

"I know. I should just call him but I'm a moron."

"I'm not going to disagree with that tonight," Itachi replied demurely, finally halting his stirring of the coffee. "You realise the problem is still going to be there whether you're drunk or not, right?"

"You said yourself common sense isn't my strong point," Sasuke murmured, surprising Itachi with his self-criticism. "Do you have any painkillers?"

"I'm not giving you painkillers with that much alcohol in your system," Itachi told him firmly, smiling slightly as he remembered back to Deidara once telling him the same thing.

"What? Don't be a jackass!"

"I refuse to be responsible for you gaining even more liver damage," Itachi echoed Deidara's other statement, the smirk growing larger. Sasuke gave him a confused glance that asked him to explain. "I suffered the same thing when I got hung-over last. Deidara refused to give me anything."

"Proving what a jerk he really is. Can I sleep now?"

"Drink that first."

"You want me to drink a caffeinated drink then sleep?"

"It'll help sober you," Itachi told him firmly. "I'm going back to bed."

He threw the almost-full coffee down the sink with a sigh, choosing bed rather than caffeine. Sasuke had a point about drinking such things before attempting to sleep, but Itachi really didn't care that he sounded like a hypocrite once again that night.

"Is he alright?" Deidara uttered tiredly when Itachi crawled back under the covers, sighing as he did so.

"No," Itachi replied truthfully. "He will be, though. He needs time."

In the back of his mind before he fell fast asleep once more, Itachi mentally chided that he'd ever attempted to use the word 'perfect' in regards to life. He was a living example that true perfection was impossible, after all.

As suspected the following morning, Sasuke was hung-over. Itachi knew the moment he walked into the living room- the fact his brother was awake and willingly drinking coffee, looking like he wanted someone to just murder him on the spot spoke volumes.

"Itachi?"

"Yes?"

"Next time I decide to go out drinking, can you knock me out first?"

"Happily. Good morning, Sasuke."

"It's an awful morning. Your painkillers suck, they haven't worked."

"Headache?" Itachi called sympathetically from the kitchen. "You should probably try to sleep. You've got some time yet."

"If I lie down I feel sick."

"Ah."

Itachi had no more to say to that, busying himself with toast and coffee. Sasuke declined the former, looking nauseated at the thought of food. He seemed distracted but he also didn't seem to want to talk- Itachi respected that, knowing the problem was unsolvable as it was.

"I think I should go home," Sasuke declared when they'd been sitting in silence for close to ten minutes. Itachi halted on his way to the kitchen to wash the things he'd used, frowning and glancing over his shoulder.

"If you think you're going to slink off home and skip college, you are mistaken."

Sasuke didn't argue. Itachi took that to mean he had seen through his sibling's plan before heading off to shower. He diverted to the bedroom first, sinking down on the edge of the bed where Deidara was awake, sitting up sketching.

"Morning," he greeted, earning a quick peck on the cheek from Deidara and a smile that said 'I love you but go away please, I'm busy'. "I'm going to leave you, don't worry," Itachi assured him. "Drawing anything interesting?"

Deidara hesitated before turning his sketchbook round, presenting an amusing image of Itachi washing Sasuke's mouth out with soap. Itachi couldn't resist a smile at it, putting a finger to his lips.

"Don't you dare show Sasuke," he warned before vanishing to the sanctuary of his shower. Once beneath the warm, relaxing spray he let his mind wander to the night's events, wondering if he should just call their father and kick start the much-needed conversation for them. He decided against it in the end however, realising that Sasuke might not actually want reconciliation.

Once he was standing in his living room doorway twenty minutes later, towel drying his hair and dressed, he realised leaving Sasuke alone for so long probably hadn't been a smart idea.

His brother was missing- it wouldn't be a stretch of imagination to believe he was no longer in the house, but a quick once over confirmed it.

"Sasuke's gone," he told Deidara, who had finally got out of bed and was getting changed.

For once, Deidara didn't have a sharp comeback regarding his boyfriend's younger sibling. "He'll be fine, Itachi."

"He's going to skip college."

"He might not."

"He will."

"Even if he does, it's his decision. You can't baby him forever, yeah."

"I'm not babying him," Itachi protested, but he knew somewhere deep down it was true. To him, Sasuke was still the cute child who stole cookies for him and bounded around like sunshine personified- when had he become a brooding young man? Itachi felt suddenly old, shaking the thought as soon as it came.

"Stop worrying about him," Deidara scolded lightly, giving him an unexpected hug. Itachi fell into it easily, thankful for the light comfort. "If you don't see him around college by the end of the day, call him."

"Yeah," Itachi agreed. It was a sensible suggestion and he was willing to give Sasuke the chance to prove himself. All Itachi had to do now was get to the end of the day without worrying- he sighed to himself, a tiny smile on his lips.

Being an older brother could be a lot of work sometimes, especially to someone like Sasuke, but he wouldn't change it for the world.

Chapter End