Take Me Away

  “Madara-chan?” Hashirama knocked on the bedroom door, awaiting Madara’s response.  After the police had gotten information about Tobi’s disappearance, Madara had locked himself in the bedroom to cry.  “Can I come in?”

  “Yes…” Madara called weakly from inside the bedroom. 

  Hashirama opened the door and stepped in.  He was distraught by the sight of his best friend.  Madara seemed to be broken-hearted, judging by the way that he was curled up on the bed and crying his eyes out.

  Hashirama approached the bed and sat down beside Madara.  He reached out to stroke the younger’s arm.  “Madara-chan, it’s okay.  We’ll find Tobi-kun – I know we will.”

  Madara reached out and pulled Hashirama down to lay beside him.  He snuggled in close as he tried to seek the comforting warmth that his brother wasn’t there to radiate.

  Hashirama was calm and allowed himself to be manhandled.  He reached out and held the Uchiha close in an attempt to bring comfort to the troubled man.

  “Hashirama…” Madara sobbed.  His body quivered.  “I want my son…!  Hashirama…!”

  “Madara-chan…” Hashirama stroked Madara’s long hair and plated kisses on the pale cheeks.  “…The police are searching for Tobi-kun as we speak, okay?  They’ll find him.”

  “What about Sasuke-kun and Itachi-kun?” Madara whispered.  “How are they holding up?  Are they okay?”

  “Izu-kun is with Sasuke now.  He’s pretty torn up about this.  Itachi-kun… is trying to keep his usual poker-face up, but…  I think that he’s upset, too.  It’s just the way he seems to be acting.”

  “What makes you think that…?” Madara asked in a weary voice.

  “He won’t look up and his shoulders are tenser than they usually are.  I can see it in his eyes.  He’s hurting because of Tobi’s disappearance.”

  “…” Madara nuzzled in closer to Hashirama.

  “…Do you think…”  Hashirama sighed before continuing on.  “…Itachi had something to do with this…?”

  Madara gasped and shoved Hashirama away from him.  He looked up with teary eyes.  “Itachi-kun may have problems, but he wouldn’t do something like this…!”

  “…I’m sorry, Madara-chan…”

  “…It’s okay…  Just, please…  Don’t say things like that…”

  Hashirama nodded.  He pulled Madara back close to him.  “I apologise sincerely, Madara-chan.”

  Madara nodded and wiped at his tears.  He tried to distract himself from his thoughts.  “…When is Mito coming back…?”

  “She’s coming back now.” Hashirama whispered.  “I rang her and told her about Tobi.  She wants to make sure that you’ll be okay.”

  “…”

  “Go to sleep, Madara-chan.  It’s okay – we’ll wake you up the second we hear something about Tobi – I promise.”

  -XX-

  Tobi had lost track of how many days he had been in that tiny room for, but it wasn’t important – he was just wanted to go home.  Katsumi was an awful person and always hurt him.  He had even been touched by the elder on several occasions when Itachi wasn’t around.

  Right now, Tobi was curled up in the corner, crying again.  Katsumi had bashed him after he had tried to keep his pants of.  The child was terrified out of his mind.  He only wanted his father.  He didn’t understand why Itachi was hurting him – especially why the elder had brought him here at all.

  Did Itachi really hate him that much…?

  It sure seemed like it – Itachi had allowed several ‘friends’ to come over and see Tobi and, more than once, he had been forced into sexual things.  The boy had never felt as dirty and unloved as he did right now.

  Tobi flinched when the door was opened and Itachi stepped in.  Itachi, for once, was by himself.  The older Uchiha approached him with hesitation.  The closer his cousin for to him, the more fearful he became.  When Itachi was standing over him, he was cowering, flinching violently and crying hysterically – terrified by the thoughts of what Itachi was going to do to him.

  What Tobi wasn’t expecting was for Itachi to reach out and stroke his head.  He looked up at Itachi with horror-filled eyes.  He gulped and choked on his cries.

  “I-itachi…?” Tobi whimpered in disbelief.

  “Shh…” Itachi smiled weakly.  He sat down beside Tobi and pulled him into a tight hug.  He stroked the younger boy’s back in a comforting manner.

  Everything was silent for quite a while before Itachi gently pushed Tobi off his lap and stood up, heading to the door without a word.  Tobi watched him go, confused greatly – what was that about?  Tobi couldn’t remember the last time that Itachi had shown him such kindness.

  -XX-

  Itachi sat in the living room of Katsumi’s home, watching as the older male pulled a bong out from behind the couch.  The Uchiha smirked when the object was handed to him.  He took a long puff before giving it back.

  “I’m thinking of taking Tobi back.” Itachi said softly after moments of silence.  Katsumi gasped and looked up with wide eyes.  “My uncle really does miss him…  He’s a wreck…”

  “But you hate Madara!” Katsumi snapped, getting to his feet.  “Isn’t that what you wanted?!  To cause pain to your family?!”

  “Well, yeah, but…” Itachi frowned.  “…Not like this…  Tobi doesn’t deserve this…  He deserves so much more…”

  “Why?  He’s just a little cocksucker!  You can’t back out now, Itachi!  You cannot!”

  “He’s my cousin.” Itachi growled, looking up at Katsumi with red-tinged eyes.  “He’s my cousin and I want this to stop.  I’m sorry I even did this!”

  “But this is your ticket to freedom!”

  “… I don’t want it to be like this...  I never did…”

  Katsumi let out a snarl and slapped Itachi across the face.  “You try and take him away from me, Itachi, and you won’t like what I do…”

  Itachi glared, unfazed by the slap.  “What will you do?  Hn?”

  Katsumi let a slow smirk cross his face.  “I will tell the cops everything you’ve been doing.  I still have all the messages in my phone and there is so much evidence to be traced back to you – you’ll be convicted without a doubt, Itachi.”

  “…”

  “Heh.  So don’t try and fuck with me, Itachi.  You’ll lose.”

  “…”  Itachi lowered his gaze down to the ground, not knowing what to say.  What could he say?   “…Okay…”

  Katsumi laughed.  “I knew you’d see it my way.”

  “…”