The blond chuckled to himself. "Mhmm... No special girls yet?"

Hidan made a sympathetic face before grinning, "That's too bad! I mean... How are you planning to propagate, Sasuke? You need a girl you know."

The man beside him was starting to mumble under his breath how expensive it was to raise children lately.

"Aww come on, Hidan! Women aren't just making kids... It's also for making kids happy. Sasuke's still a kid right?"

Kisame nodded all too enthusiastically at the comment. Oh yes, he was a big kid indeed and so in need of female care...

The redhead shrugged and rolled his eyes. "I'll---I'll be at the library if any of of you need me. One of my puppets fucked up. I need to go look it up why."

Itachi's mood began to lighten up a little. Though he couldn't help but feel terrible for his younger brother - being his peers' focus and all.

Sasuke's mantra currently consisted of "Not a child. Not a child. Not a child. Not a child." as he practically seethed under the senior's unwanted attention.

"I'm only a sophmore in High School. I highly doubt, even if I did have a girlfriend, that our relationship would last until after we graduate."

If he was a kid, then they were all kids in slightly larger bodies... honestly...

Kisame grinned toothily, "Well you know what they say about men being the wive's fi---"

Itachi did not allow the man to finish speaking, elbowing him in the gut and promptly making the taller senior cough and pause to clear out his wind pipe.
He did NOT need the horrible mental images of infantile fetish and what not in his mind right now!

"Too bad then," sighed Hidan. The blond nodded and pouted, at the statement, "Well... Not even someone special in mind? I mean we're not saying you HAVE to keep it up till prom day you know."

Kakuzu sighed, "You do realize how expensive it is to be in love? Look --- the gifts. The monthsary gifts, not to mention the dates in between and---"

Hidan made a face that just said STFU.

But that didn't phase the money lover which soon erupted into a full scale argument full of explosive words between the two partners.

The older Uchiha glanced at Sasuke at the corner of his eye -somewhat secretively- as he chewed on the tomato half, teeth biting through the fruit and juice sliding down on his lips and into his mouth.

Sasuke was glad Kakuzu had managed to distract Hidan, even if it hadn't been on purpose. He started on his food, ignoring the usual calamity around him.

And especially not looking at his brother. That could prove to be disastrous, especially following a question like that... Hopefully no one was paying attention to him anyway.

He found it strange that none of them considered the fact that he was gay... There was certainly no way everyone in this group was straight... They were just too... them.

Deidara was also joining in the growling and shouting by having his own share of curses that spelled along the lines of shut up and what not, "Stop arguing like a damn married couple!"

The "married couple" paused and soon started attacking the blond, with an all too eerie synchronization on what to say.

As expected, the big two of their group was once again missing. Kisame wanted to just throw his salad at them so they'd shut up.

"Deidara-sempai!," chirped a boy in a mask so literally pushed the blond aside so he could sit beside him, "I miss you!"

Tobi's appearance made the said sempai stop and cringe. "He-Hello, Tobi... Where's Zetsu? Aren't you with him?"

The kohai shook his head and scooted even closer, "He said he's busy with detention sooo he told me to go to you. Don't you miss me?"

Then without warning, Itachi stood up and grabbed Sasuke along the way, leading the younger out of the cafeteria and into the open fields which was also a popular eating place for the school goers.

"I can't eat when it's too noisy. Thought you felt the same way too."

Sasuke's eyes widened in shock for a minute as Itachi grabbed him and dragged him off, before he registered what was happening and a neutral expression slipped over his face.

"Yeah... If they're always crazy like that, why do you eat with them every day, Aniki?"

"Because they're only noisy when you're around."

Itachi opened the plastic bowl and continued picking at his salad. The only things left now were mostly tomatoes, red cabbage and the leafy greens.

After what seemed like a deafening silence, he pricked a good amount of leafy vegetables and turned to Sasuke, putting the bowl under the fork's way.

"You want?"

Why in the world he was offering his lunch, the semi formal dressed one did not know. But there was no harm in doing so.

Sasuke shook his head. "No, I've got my own lunch..." He picked through his own bento box, picking through the food.

"They seemed to be just as noisy while not talking about me... Am I really so interesting to them?" He raised an eyebrow.

Itachi chuckled as he fed himself with salad, "They're not that noisy really. It's as if they want to draw a reaction from me...perhaps even you. But of course we're not that easy, are we Sasuke?"

The raven cast a look at the smaller Uchiha, smirking somewhat victoriously, "They can only try so much to play with us, Uchihas. They shouldn't really try us to begin with. We're not ordinary like them."

Arrogant as it was, the teenager simply wanted to point out that they were above such mundane things. More than anything, they were able minded enough to be able to discern such trivial matters. It was not for them to dabble on.

He was scooping out the dressing with a spoon, playfully licking at the utensil, like a cat.

Sasuke tried hard not to look at what his brother was doing to that spoon, but it was hard not to look. He couldn't help but think of what Itachi would do if that spoon were something else. He pushed the thought away as quickly as possible. Now was most definitely not the time.

He nodded along with his brother's words, smirking. "I intend to get back at them for not calling me by my name." This, of course, was an unspoken invitation for Itachi to help.

"You ought to," replied the older teen who had now put away the cafeteria provided utensils and bowl. After settling by his bag, Itachi raised his bent knees against his chest and took on a more comfortable pose, "It really wouldn't be too good on your part if your aniki always came to the rescue now. Though I wouldn't mind but then what would happen to your honor after?"

Then he took a final lick at his lips upon realizing there was still leftover dressing, about to drip down his chin. As much it was embarrassing to do in front of the younger, the raven thought it would be more embarrassing if the dressing dribbled down his chin and stained his clothes now.

Once he had dealt with the dressing, he mused out loud, "Though somehow I know that those idiots do care somehow. And I begin to understand the rationale for asking you---pestering you about finding a lover."

And like his peers, he did not also consider that Sasuke could be gay or bisexual.

Sasuke blushed slightly as the realization that he wouldn't really mind if his aniki was always there to rescue him hit him... He liked calling Itachi that... "his" aniki. It was special, something only he could call him. But Sasuke digresses...

"I just don't like any of the girls here. None of them even properly know me and most are "in love" already. It's annoying, I don't want anything to do with them." He just couldn't tell his brother he was gay... it would be too awkward. He didn't even know how Itachi felt about homosexuality, much less what he would do if his little brother were one.

"I see... Girls are quite a difficult matter. They're like a species separate from men. I myself find difficulty dealing with them."

Itachi found himself looking back at the instances where he would find himself being paired with some beautiful girl from kami only knew where. Though the raven would admit that they were indeed easy on the eyes, that was only up to the point he would deal with women. Watching from a far. Not that he lacked confidence to deal with their kind. It was just that---once they opened their mouths and let out a sound, it was anything but lovely for the teen's ears.

He looked at Sasuke as he spoke and nodded. Somehow a part of him empathized with the boy's plight.

People were shallow at this point in their lives.

"Kaasan called me. She wanted me to cut class again. A friend of hers had a daughter that I should meet. I refused."

A great load had been taken off his chest at the confession. Itachi trusted the boy somehow...that he could tell him his woes and not feel paranoid about it getting out to the public.

"Hence the scene I caused. I really shouldn't have done so. Though the cellphone casing can be replaced, I'm lucky that specific unit happens to be very tough against common mishaps such as accidental falls. I don't know about intentional tosses such as that though..."

He had to admit, it was a very loud clank when the cellphone hit the hallway tiles.

Sasuke allowed himself a small smile, since no one was around to see besides Itachi. That was one thing he didn't envy about his brother. His mother had yet to try and set him up with some girl, fortunetly.

"Kisame has your phone, I saw him pick it up. It didn't look too bad... I guess."

"It's with me now."

Itachi reached into his bag and took it out to show to Sasuke but was surprised that it had a new MMS.

When he saw it was from Kisame, he began to frown but opened it anyway.

Somehow, he regretted doing so.

His partner in crime had been secretly video recording what had happened after the brothers left and sent it to him. It was a one minute long video filled with screams and cussing -courtesy of Hidan-. The older Uchiha didn't bother finishing it, flipping his unit close and putting it away.

"I believe my phone is alright. This shouldn't cause any worry for me now."

Sasuke watched the video over his brother's shoulder, smirking in amusement.

"How is it that we both ended up with such loud, spastic friends?" He asked wryly, thinking about his own group of friends. Naruto was probably arguing with someone right then... most likely Kiba, since Sasuke himself wasn't there.

Itachi stared at Sasuke as if the younger had grown an extra head on his shoulders with such a comment. He shrugged and shook his head, "Let's go. We still have class to go to."

The boy did have a point. Was it genetic or was it simply coincidence that they ended up with such a lot of so called friends while they were here in high school?

He picked up his backpack and slung it over a shoulder then turned to Sasuke.

Sasuke pretended not to notice Itachi's gaze, staring off to the side.

"Yeah." He stood up, grabbing his backpack and slinging it over his shoulder. He wouldn't mind eating lunch out there with just his brother everyday, but... he doubted Itachi would agree. "See you later, Aniki..."

The raven nodded and then turned his way towards the classroom. He did look over his shoulder and looked at the boy making his own way to the classroom as well.

"Don't forget I won't wait till past fifteen minutes our agreed meet up time."

"I'll be there in time." He nodded and walked the opposite direction, to his next class.

Another uneventful day. He got chewed out by Naruto for eating with his brother again. Sakura and Ino were annoying fangirls. Kakashi-sensei was late after visiting a certain dolphin in one of the bathrooms... nothing new.

He made it out to the designated meeting spot at a more relaxed pace than the day before, but still about ten minutes early, since he had managed to escape from the rabid fangirls.

When Sasuke arrived, he was bound to be shocked with the sight that greeted him.

Itachi was not alone by his car.

There was a taller, older looking man with long black hair and a pale complexion, paler than their own who was talking to the teenager. As always, the Uchiha didn't seem to be too interested in him.

"Itachi-kun...", hissed the man who then reached for the raven's face, turning it forcefully to look into his own.

"Do. Not. Touch. Me."

The teen slapped the offending hand like a hot iron and growled low in his throat. Itachi's eyes looked murderous.

It only made Orochimaru seemed amused. "My, my...Is that how you treat your elders now, Itachi-kun?"

Itachi stepped closer to his brother and the man, eyes narrowed.

He most definitely did not like the way that man was staring at his brother.

"Itachi, who's this?" He pointedly ignored the creepy man, talking to his brother instead.

"No one you should worry yourself about," replied Itachi as he went pass the elder and towards the driver's side of the car, "Let's go."

Orochimaru having been ignored let out a slitted glare and then turned to Sasuke, "Well who do we have here? Sasuke isn't it? Itachi's precious little bro---"

The man was about to do a personal assessment over the boy when the raven honked the car's horn even if it was illegal in school premises. Inside Itachi was glaring at Sasuke, ordering him silently to get in the car now or forget it.

Sasuke got in the car as quickly as possible, not willing to become the victim of his brother's wrath. He looked back at the man curiously, then turned back to his brother, buckling in.

He deduced that now was not the best time to ask and decided to save his questions for a time when Itachi was not feeling homocidal.

Once his brother was inside, Itachi sped past Orochimaru and clucked his tongue in regret when he didn't manage to injure the man. He was purposedly driving his car against the snake in the first place. Lucky bastard it wasn't raining or that fine looking three piece suit he wore would have been soaked in rain water.

"Do not...EVER talk to that man. Whatever be he says, you are not to by all means trust and go with him. I don't care if you're with the head mistress or with your friends, Sasuke. If you do, I will NOT even try to save you."

Today...was definitely not his day.