With you till the End - Uchiha Itachi Fanfic [Edited]

Chapter 6 - Shattered

Emiko pov:

"What did you say?! Do you not understand how important tomorrow is?" Tou san's voice echoed through the hallways and had me waking up from sleep startled. I sat up and gazed at the room door and then at the space next to me - Itachi was not sleeping next to me and had me guessing that he was with Tou san.

"You don't understand your position!" came Tou san's voice again and I got off the bed to leave the room. I stepped to the office room silently and stopped a little away, but close enough to eavesdrop on their conversation even though I figured it wasn't the best thing to be doing.

"I have a mission tomorrow," Itachi answered curtly, sounding unaffected by Tou san's anger. 

"What mission?"

"Forgive me, it's a secret mission I cannot talk about," Itachi said and it made me frown slightly.

"Itachi, you are the link between us and the village. You know that, right?" Tou san questioned, sounding incredibly upset.

"I'm aware of that."

"Then make a good impression and attend the meeting tomorrow." 

I was not aware of a meeting being held tomorrow - then again, I usually did not know of any Uchiha Clan meetings because it was restricted to the higher ups of the clan. I was aware that Itachi had to go out on a mission tomorrow though, but where and what the mission was about was a secret as he had said earlier.

They were silent for a few moments before Itachi suddenly spoke, "Sasuke, use the bathroom quickly and get back to bed." 

I spotted Sasuke a little away and I hid myself in the shadows. Surely Itachi had sensed me too but he had remained silent about it - did it mean that he was alright with me listening in on their conversation? Or was it a warning for me to go abck to our room?

When Tou san began to scold Sasuke for being out of bed so late, I took the chance to leave too, for I did not want to be scolded too. I could not fall asleep after I had returned to my room though, and Itachi did not return during the rest of the night. I tossed and turned until morning and pretended that nothing was out of the ordinary even though the atmosphere in the house was obviously tense.

It remained tense for the next two days, and the tension between Itachi and Tou san was nearly suffocating. Nonetheless, the days passed and it was soon the end of Sasuke's first semester at the academy. He had brought in his report card and showed it proudly to Kaa san and Tou san - while Kaa san had appreciated him, Tou san had only compared him to Itachi again. It had Sasuke pouting and complaining to Itachi about it. They sat together in the hallway talking about it while I was a little away cleaning.

"Tou san always talks about you," Sasuke mumbled, pouting cutely as he looked over his report card that had all straight A's.

"I am really bad, aren't I?" Itachi said in a slightly teasing tone, then smiled with as he looked into the distance. "That's alright. Shinobi are always hated by others, so its not surprising."

"I didn't mean it in that way!" Sasuke hollered, surprised at Itachi's words and probably worried that he had said something mean.

Itachi merely chuckled though. "This is what happens when you're skilled. Power makes you isolated and arrogant. In the beginning, you aim only for what you dream for. Just as I said that we are unique brothers, I am the one you should overcome for us to continue to exist together. Even if you hate me. That's what big brothers are for."

There was the negativity again. I couldn't understand why Itachi sometimes sounded so desolate, all the more when speaking to Sasuke. And as anyone in the entire clan and village would know, there was no way Sasuke would ever hate Itachi. So, why was he speaking this way?