Snakes are Venomous, Flowers are Poisonous

Chapter 8: Punishment

 In a village full of ninja, gossip traveled at lightning speed. So, even if Itachi hadn't been at the fights between the Rookie Twelve, he would have inevitably heard about what Sasuke had done.

"Mini-friend killer..."

"How can his comrades ever trust him?"

"He wanted to kill his teammate because she cussed him out."

"Pathetic. What is the Uchiha clan teaching their kids if the clan head's kid is like this?"

"He doesn't deserve to be a shinobi."

"What if he turns traitor?"

Itachi wanted to yell at every single one of them to shut up and that his sweet, little brother wasn't like that. He was a caring boy who just wanted to prove himself and had taken things too far. Kids always said things they didn't mean! But, most kids didn't produce a deadly, high ranking justu to fight in a friendly match with their teammate.

Being Orochimaru's apprentice would have been truly special, yes, but surely Sasuke wasn't so obsessed that he would have done anything to achieve that goal. Right? Itachi desperately wanted to believe that, but truthfully, he couldn't quite say for sure anymore. Ever since he had become a member of Anbu and Sasuke had joined his own genin team, the two brothers rarely saw much of each other. What had happened to the Sasuke he had known and loved?

When the match had been called, Itachi had to use all of his willpower not to rush to Sasuke and demand an explanation and an apology for Sasuke's teammate. The girl had played a smart, but nasty tactic, Itachi could admit, but there was no cause for such anger. There must have been something else going on for Sasuke to act this way.

However, with him still on duty to watch over the Hokage, Itachi could only watch from the Academy's rooftop as their parents frog-marched Sasuke home. They had made a swift escape away from the other clan heads to better mitigate the damage and humiliation Sasuke had caused towards their clan. They would be lucky if the rumors died down before snow began to fall in several months. No doubt they would be talking about this until Sasuke became a jonin.

If he could even further his shinobi career.

Once his shift had finished at the stroke of midnight, Itachi had scrambled to store his mask away and leap across rooftops to get back to the Uchiha district as fast as he could. He knew he was risking damages to houses and businesses by how aggressively he was running across the village with chakra enhanced steps, but he needed to get to Sasuke.

Their father had always been strict with the both of them, but the anger on their mother's face meant that Sasuke would be facing their parents' wrath by himself. While he would never admit it, Sasuke craved their parents' approval, and this would only cause him to fall further into the hatred that was bubbling under the surface. How had they let this go on for so long?

Finally, he could see the Uchiha district come into view. Flaring his chakra in a specific pattern, he barely gave a glance at the guards stationed around the various entrances. He only had eyes for his family home. He could feel three familiar signatures, but there weren't any lights on. But, by the pure agitation coming off the smallest signature, Itachi could guess that the talk between Sasuke and their parents hadn't gone will.

Touching down lightly on the engawa, Itachi was cautious as he entered the house and headed towards Sasuke's room. Pale moonlight guided his path as his bare feet made no sound on the polished floors. The house was deadly still as he stood in front of Sasuke's room, his hand hovering over the door's handle. It would be all too easy to turn around and go to his own room, allowing Sasuke to think on his own actions by himself, but he knew he couldn't do that. He loved his brother too much to abandon him.