Matriculate This >.

Itachi returned to the apartment to find Naruto and Sasuke sitting on the couch, together, watching some movie he didn't recognize, and didn't have any desire to. There was silence between them, but it wasn't as awkward or tense as it had been, but he noted that Sasori and Dei were sitting in the kitchen, having some sort of argument about what exactly went into whatever it was Dei was trying to cook this time. he rolled him eyes. He was a little relieved that they were here still though, keeping an eye on Sasuke and Naruto. His plan would be ruined if the two worked everything out now. He needed the boys to give up on each other.

He'd had a conversation with Naruto when they had gone out on Saturday, and it had put him in a foul mood at the time. The blond liked Sasuke, no one was supposed to like Sasuke, no one except him that was. Thats the way things had worked since they were little. He was the only one who cared about his brother, the only one that showed him any sort of affection. Thats what kept Sasuke by his side in the end.

Even if he let the boy go, eventually he would always come back because Itachi was the only one who loved him. Thats the way everything was supposed to work, and he'd put so much energy into keeping it like that he couldn't let some stupid blond brat break it all now.

So he'd reiterated things, took Naruto in front of Sasuke, to show him how things had to work, how things had always worked. He'd done his best to put a wall in between the two of them. Still, it annoyed him a little how comfortable they looked now, sitting in silence on the couch. He almost felt like dragging Sasuke away, bringing him back upstairs and locking him in so he couldn't escape. But that would tell the boy too much, let him know how important he really was, and Itachi couldn't let that happen. Sasuke was smart, if he knew how much he really meant he'd find a way to use that to change things. Itachi couldn't let anything change.

He settled for walking over and sitting down on the couch between them, smiling a little at the way they both scooted out of the way to make room.

"I got the tickets for our return flight this evening. I took the liberty of adding your name to the list, Naruto-kun. I wasn't sure how you were getting home so I wanted to make sure we got you back by tonight." Naruto smiled up at him.

"Thank you, 'Tachi-senpai. I was going home on the train, but I really don't want to see Gaara right now. Besides, spending more time with you is always a plus." He was beaming now, and Itachi smirked a little at the uncomfortable shifting he felt on his other side. He turned to his brother.

"Are you all packed, otouto? You might want to get everything ready, we only have two hours till we have to leave for the airport." Sasuke stood with a silent nod, moving to the stairs. Itachi didn't miss when his brother's eyes met Naruto's for a single second before he turned again, disappearing to the second floor to get his stuff. He wasn't sure he liked it, but right now there was nothing he could do. He sighed a little, wanting to get back to Konoha as quickly as they could.

X

Shikamura was spread out on one of the more isolated tables in the back of the library at Konoha Institute. He had books open around him, pages of notes scattered in among them, notepads sitting open with pencils resting lightly on top. He wasn't really making any good use of them however, unless you counted using them as props to keep the other students of the library at a fair distance, which he most certainly considered the best use of such supplies. He wasn't sleeping then either though, instead he was staring at the scrawled writing lining the ruled pages, trying his best to puzzle out a riddle growing in his head.

He'd heard from Neji that Gaara had gotten back in yesterday afternoon, back early from his weekend in Tokyo for Itachi's party. He had come back alone though, which had been the thing to make it gossip worthy. When he'd left, he'd had a rather detached but still peaceful Naruto with him, but he returned by himself, pissy and short tempered. He'd blown up in Neji's face when the boy had inquired as to how much fun he'd had there, calling the older Itachi That Fucking Meddling Asshole.

It seemed something had happened at the party, and it bothered Shika that he didn't know what it was. He didn't care exactly, when the Uchihas were involved it was normally too much trouble to pay real attention. Still, his mind was restless now, trying to go through each possibility as to what had happened, but deciding that each one was highly improbable. He wasn't quite sure though, Itachi was capable of pretty much anything, especially where his brother was concerned, and knowing what he knew of Sasuke's interactions with Gaara the previous week, Sasuke was definitely somehow involved. He just couldn't puzzle out how.

He heard familiar footsteps approaching, and closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep. He didn't want anyone to talk to right now, he wanted to sit in silence at figure out this puzzle so he could get back to his usual naps and dodges. He dropped the charade when Neji plopped down next to him though, opening his eyes and glaring at the boy.

"You interrupted my studying again, Hyuuga. What do you want from me anyways?" The boy just smiled, reaching into a small bag of candy he was carrying. He knew something, Shika could tell, something he hadn't told Shika yet. He frowned.

"Oh Shika-kun, you can't be studying, your eyes are still open. I got the impression that the great Nara Shikamaru absorbed information better through head to paper contact." Shika glared again before looking down at the paper in front of him, a list of date and places for his history quiz next week. He kept one ear on Neji though, hoping the boy would spill whatever it was he knew. Shika wanted to hurry up and figure things out so he could get back to his life.

X

Gaara slammed the book he'd been trying to read down on the table forcefully. He was still livid inside. Sasuke had butted into something that had nothing to do with him, after Gaara had specifically warned him against coming too near the blond boy. He would have re-arranged the boy's face if his brother hadn't walked out like that when he did. It also bugged him that Itachi had let his little brother do that. It wasn't fair at all, and he'd put so much effort into everything, too much for it to just backfire like that.

He vowed that come tonight, when the Uchiha's came back, probably with Naruto in tow, that he would find some way to kick Sasuke's ass so hard he wouldn't be able to stand up straight for a week. He sat back and thought about all the horrible things he could so to the younger Uchiha, and it actually lifted his spirits a little bit. He fingered the pocket of his coat idly, rattling the bottle on the inside. He figured he still had enough in there to slip the Uchiha one hell of a fucking spike. While the thought was appealing, he wanted the boy to feel it a little more. No, Rohypnol was too easy for him, he wanted the boy to be able to feel it.

He wondered what he could get his hands on with this much short notice though. He didn't want to do any permanent damage either. He knew he'd be crossing a major line by fucking with Sasuke once, but he also knew exactly how much more Itachi would hurt him if something went wrong and the effects were more permanent. Still, he needed to put the little Uchiha back in his place.

He sighed, leaning forwards over his book again, anger ebbing out of him as he tried to find a plan that would work. He tried to pull it back when he felt eyes on his back, but he couldn't quite manage it. He felt like there was a void in his mind, where the anger and pissed off angst usually sat, but it was filling now with a sort of calm quiet resignation.

He was pretty sure he knew who it was, watching him. The boy had been doing it off and on since he'd gotten back yesterday. Half of him wished the boy would just stop watching him, the other half wished he'd just come over and talk to him, say or ask whatever in the hell was so fucking important, and then stop it. He sighed, laying the book down on the table, counting to ten in his head, then turning his head to look in the direction he felt the stare coming from.

But the boy was gone, as usual. He sighed, closing the book and putting his head down on his arms, folding them in front of him on the table. He was tired of this. Everything in his life was like some demented game of tag, where all the other players were just beyond the reach of his fingers. Neither of his siblings hung out with him unless there was something they could gain out of it, like getting into parties or scoring drugs, just like the rest of this miserable school.

He supposed some of that was probably his own fault, the unbreakable mask of distant, anti-social boredom wasn't the most inviting front he could put up, but still. He did it as a defense mechanism mostly, a wall around himself that no one could breach meant no one could hurt him. Being the youngest, he'd been the most made fun of in the house, until he'd gotten old enough, and tough enough, to kick anyone's ass who stood against him. Then he'd gotten smart enough to really plan and he'd pulled off even more ruthless shit. That was why no one fucked with him anymore.

That was why he'd come to like Itachi really. Itachi was cool and distant, he schemed and orchestrated to a degree Gaara could only dream at, like shots in the dark. He'd planned the rest of his life, and his own brother's, dragged the boy into some twisted incestuous affair that he was now buried too deeply within to ever escape. Yet he still managed to have friends, like chess pieces all around him. He had people who loved him, even Sasuke, whose life he'd ruined, broken and reset to his own liking a thousand and one times, the boy still loved him, still followed him, even if he didn't want to.

That much power fascinated him, he wanted to have it one day. So he'd gotten in close, managed to sneak into the older boy's circle as far as he could. It had seemed like Itachi liked him too. Now though, he'd been thrown out of the boy's plans, out of his life, for one step that crossed over the line of whatever plan he'd made. It was an impressive move, one he would admit he himself forced out of him by doing something so drastic as that. Still, it hurt a little, to know even Itachi didn't need him much. No one needed him much, he was just the bratty third son to some minor capitalist dynasty in a small island country with entirely too many people.

He sighed, letting his head fall forward. He could feel those eyes on him again, but he couldn't even bring himself to scowl. He was too tired. Still, he managed to haul himself to his feet, packing up his things and heading upstairs for a drug induced nap.

X

The plane ride was a little awkward for Sasuke and Naruto, but Itachi was enjoying it to no end. He whistled quietly to himself, headphones securely on his head, leafing through a pointless and dull magazine he'd found in the seat back pocket in front of him, right behind the emergency evacuation instructions. The younger boys sat one on each side of him. They were in the first class cabin, seated in the three seats in the middle row of the giant airliner.

There was some vapid comedy playing on the overhead screens, and Naruto at least was fully absorbed in it. Sasuke was staring at the window seats longingly, and Itachi couldn't help but jostle him a little, in a way that could pass for accidental to anyone else's eyes. He knew that Sasuke, however, knew he never did anything by accident. The boy did seem to snap back to attention then, blushing slightly at being caught spacing out.

Still, the three of them sat in a rather weird but not entirely uncomfortable silence. Itachi read the vapid magazine he'd found cover to cover, then set it back carefully, more out of wanting to appear occupied then any actual care for it. He sat back then, head resting on the seat back, closing his eyes and counting his breaths until the bizarre twitching fidgets from his brother's seat beside his distracted him into losing count for the third or fourth time.

It was quite uncharacteristic of him, to act like that in public. It was satisfying for Itachi though, knowing that he was somehow superimposing himself into the dynamic. He knew the boys would act differently if he wasn't there between them, though how exactly they would interact then he was no longer quite sure. He hoped he'd succeeded in his quest to make that interaction less than pleasant for Sasuke from this point forth, but he knew he'd have to keep one eye on each of them for the rest of the week, just to see what they did.

X

Neji wondered out of the library, bored out of his mind, and not finding anyone even remotely interesting wondering the hallways of Konoha Institute. It wasn't usually half this boring here on weekends, even if most of the other kids did leave to go to summer houses or ski cabins or apartments in the city. Usually there was someone around to entertain him. There hadn't even been any parties here this weekend, usually there was at least one, and that usually meant someone getting a little too drunk or doing a few too many illicit substances, and doing something they thoroughly regretted the next morning. Even if Neji didn't do any of those things himself, he found it endlessly amusing to hear tales of someone else's brief stardom and eventual misery. It gave him something to talk about after all.

He couldn't wait until the Uchiha's brought the blond kid back, because he seemed to be a veritable vortex of gossip lately, and Neji had managed to install himself in Naruto's inner circle, such as it was at this point, so he was usually one of the first to know. He didn't really like the way Gaara hung on him all the time, but what could he do? It wasn't like the stupid kid was going to do anything with him, he was too busy being hung up on Sasuke, who was so clearly not available it wasn't even funny. Neji had his doubts about Sasuke ever being "available" really, Itachi was much too possessive a person to let anyone touch things he saw as his.

Still, he'd heard some fantastically twisted rumors about Naruto this weekend, about Itachi's party, which he almost regretted not attending at this point, and about afterwards. The boy had apparently spent the weekend with the Uchihas, he'd gone shopping and stuff, but oddly enough it hadn't been with Sasuke, it'd been with Itachi.

Neji paused by the elevators, inspecting his nails carefully, like he always did. He leaned up against the wall, pushing the up button carefully, idly wondering if the kid was in fact installing himself into the Uchiha dynamic. Hadn't taken him very long, but if Sasuke had liked him then Itachi probably liked him as well, and Itachi didn't let things go if he liked them, he brought them home and put them on his shelf.

Suddenly Neji had to shiver from the images his mind had created, of Naruto actually installing himself in the bizarre sibling dynamic there. He knew the Uchihas fucked, everybody who wasn't completly brain dead knew that. He didn't like thinking about it though, it made him feel dirty, and not in the rather enjoyable way that came from the rumor mill or staring at other boys in the showers. This was different, a creeping toxic sort of dirty. Still, if Naruto had gotten pulled into that, it would be the news of the century.

A smile spread across Neji's face, just when the elevator dinged, and the doors opened in front of him. By the time he was in his room he had the story all planned out in his head, and was digging out his cell phone. The weekend had just gotten good, with only hours to spare.

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A/N: the author would like to appologize for sucking, its short, but it needed to end there. more is on the way, and im thinking of finishing the alternate ending to the party scene with date rape and crying and itachi being an utter bastard. anyways, Good? Bad? Ugly? Read, Review, and Let Me Know!! ^.^