another Chance

#34

Sasuke had all his attention on his aniki, all his senses focused and hightened and with how close was standing to his brother he could clearly listen to Itachi's weak and laboured breath, he realised that his aniki was again thinking about something that made him feel burdened or guilty, he could for the first time clearly read the emotions in his aniki's obsidian eyes, those still as a calm lake eyes finally showed him some ripples but it was nothing good, he could clearly see and sense the pain and guilt his aniki was feeling and was no longer trying to hide these feelings, he extended his hand and grabbed Itachi's hand that he (Itachi) had raised towards him to hold him, he after a little hesitation leaned over and gently helped his aniki to sit up and he didn't forget to prop some pillows behind Itachi's back so he'd be comfortable, just as he was about to step back and straighten his back Itachi stopped him from doing so as he cupped his face, sasuke froze for a moment. Itachi was aware how sasuke froze as soon as he cupped his cheeks, he was also aware how many people were in the ward but he didn't care, he slowly closed up the small distance between their faces and bumped his forehead against sasuke's forehead gently and the rested there not moving as he said "forgive your aniki sasuke...." he wanted to continue but before he could he saw sasuke's eyes reddening and they looked watery as well as his long lashes where tears were accumulated as he tried not to let them fall, but there was something wrong his eyes  were dull and he seemed not to be listening to him, he became aware of the abnormality in his brother's state, he turned his eyes to the audiance present in the ward that still hadn't left and was watching them interact, his single gaze was enough to snap them out of their trance....
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Kakashi and others had not expected this kind of development and were surprised, not knowing wether they should move or not because the atmosphere seemed as if slightest movement from them would for sure cause it to fall apart, they were in kind of awkward position right now. Suigetsu, karin and juugo looked at each other and didn't know what they should do they wanted nothing more than to leave this room but were afraid of disturbing the two brothers, they tacitly decided to avert their gazes, look at their feet and pretend they were not there, afterall knowing too much could lead to certain death and if they kept on looking they'd for sure won't be able to properly face sasuke, this docile and overly cautious sasuke was totally different from the usually cold and dead faced sasuke who terrified them sometimes, the contrast was too much. Naruto and sakura looked on and felt worried about how things are going to develop between the two brothers, especially Naruto who was more or less aware of the frustratingly awkward relationship between the two brothers as he had witnessed too much already and was very wary of how Itachi was going to now to resolve their problems, he was well aware of how much of an impact Itachi has on sasuke, he wanted to give them their privacy to solve their 'family matters' but he was aware that a slight movement was enough to ruin this opportunity,  as they were choking on their breath and awkwardly looking for opportunity to leave they felt a gaze on them, sure enough the older uchiha was looking in their direction obviously wanting them to leave so they took his signal and quickly and quietly left the ward....
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Itachi quickly turned his attention back to sasuke who still looked dazed "sasuke?" he gently called his name, sasuke flinched but he grabbed Itachi's hands tightly and pulled them away from his face his tears has already fallen from his eyes at some point of time, wetting his long lashes as they flowed down his pale cheeks, his dazed eyes showed a kind of stubbornness, hate and anger as he firmly kept his grip on Itachi's hands, he gritted his teeth as if holding something back....
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The moment Itachi had placed his hands on his(sasuke) cheeks, he froze, not really used to his aniki's sudden actions afterall his aniki was for some reason mad at him in the morning....it was because he had refused to go to the hospital.... so what was his aniki wanting to do now....as he was wondering he realised that the distance between their faces was closing in....he was very familiar with this gesture, back when they were younger his aniki used to poke his head as a gesture of apology and then promise 'next time', sometimes he would bump their heads gently and say 'sorry sasuke maybe next time'....he was so familiar with this affectionate gesture and the soft tone, suddenly another memory overlapped....the familiar broken wall, the vastly destroyed forest surrounded by black amateratsu flames, the rain that kept falling, soft usually harmless raindrops felt as burning as acid, he could see the dull blood splattered everywhere, a hand covered with blood came into his view, the familiar helpless numbness of his body, he saw his aniki who seemed tired, his eyes showing some kind of relief as if he has finally put down a very heavy burden off his shoulder, blood flowed down the corner of his lips leaving a particularly bright red trail on his pale chin as his lips moved and the distance between them shortened as he dragged his every step laboriously to shorten their distance, sasuke felt that horrible feeling of dread, anger and helplessness bubbling in the pit of his stomach making him feel queasy as he tried to increase the distance between them, wishing himself to drill into the wall behind him, willing his body to move get away and then do something to help his aniki, do anything just move, don't let aniki touch his forehead but his body was somehow not listening to him, it just stayed where it was......