Chapter Text
Itachi could not wait to leave and Naruto never wanted to end up here to pick up Itachi in the first place.
And yet, here they stood. An awkward yet warm smile on Naruto’s lips as he made contact with Itachi as he exited the Meadow View Rehabilitation Facility.
“‘Hiya, Itachi.”
Naruto looked excited yet nervous as Itachi approached him and exactly the same as Itachi remembered, vibrant blue eyes and scarred cheeks, dressed down in cargo pants with an orange cut-off that showcased a colorful set of tattoos. The only difference being a freshly completed sleeve since Itachi had yet to see the piece finished.
“Hello, Naruto. It’s been a while…”
“Ready to go?” He asked.
“Yeah, let’s go home,” Itachi confirmed.
Naruto nodded and waited for Itachi to fall into step with him as they walked back to Naruto’s car.
The walk back was silent, which was uncharacteristic for Naruto and made Itachi feel uneasy… While he knew Naruto was an adult now, Itachi would never be able to shake the image of the hyperactive 12 year old he had met all those years ago. He knew that kid still existed in Naruto but at the moment he only existed as a ghost in his warm smile.
“Happy to have you back,” Naruto said as the smile pulled into that grin Itachi didn’t realize he was waiting for.
Itachi sighed with a weak smile, “Happy to be back.”
“I got something for you, actually,” Naruto said as he shuffled around his pockets and sifted through the junk in his cup holders.
As Naruto scoured his car for something, Itachi took in the beat up old jeep and found himself once again comforted by the lack of change in his pseudo-little brother. Naruto had this jeep since he could drive and boy, was it a piece of shit. Although, despite being able to afford a brand new, and much nicer car, he insisted the Jeep was okay and would be until it finally broke.
Maybe Itachi would buy him one, he thought idly, lord knew he owed him something, his mind added with a guilty pang.
“Shoot, I swear I had it!” Naruto frowned, his brows coming together in a genuinely sad expression, “can you check the glove compartment?”
Itachi nodded and opened up the glove compartment, only to find it stuffed with papers and random other trinkets. With a frown Itachi, pulled out a small toad bobblehead, that was orange with purple markings around it.
“You’ve got to clean out your car, Toto,” Itachi said, pulling out his firm older brother voice.
Naruto turned to him with his hand stuck in the sun visor, an expression of amused shock on his face as Itachi held back a small smirk.
The nickname caught Naruto off guard but it warmed his chest. After a moment longer and not being able to hold back the grin that split across his face, Naruto burst out laughing, “you haven’t called me ‘Toto’ since I was 15!”
Itachi smiled, it had been a while and it still rolled off his tongue just like it did back then.
Naruto then suddenly perked up even more when he pulled out what he was apparently looking for from the sun visor.
“Ta-Da!!”
With a stupid grin, he pulled out a CD case with something taped to the front.
“For you,” Naruto said, holding out the small gift to itachi.
Itachi’s eyebrows raised, “you didn’t have to-“
Naruto shrugged, “it’s nothing crazy.”
Itachi looked carefully at the CD with Naruto’s chicken scratch handwriting on it, which said “Naruto’s Super Shitty Mixtaqe To Spite Chi Chi: Vol. 6”. It still took Itachi a moment to read it but it was certainly better than when Naruto was a kid. Still, he sort of loved the fact that he knew immediately when something was written by Naruto when he spotted some qs that were supposed to be ps.
The CD case had something else taped to the top of it as well, which Itachi carefully peeled up so he could get a better look at it.
It seemed to be a blue poker chip and when itachi flipped it over there was a tiny fox painted quite poorly with a ‘60!!!!’ Painted above it.
Naruto laughed lightly, “I know this whole thing technically isn’t AA but I thought you should get a momento, sixty days sober is a pretty big win.”
Itachi smirked at the chip and fished around in his pocket. He had been paired with a sponsor the moment he arrived in rehab and upon exiting, he had given itachi one as well. When his fingers found purchase, he held the official chip up to Naruto.
“They beat you to it...it’s karma for calling me Chi Chi,” Itachi replied, holding up the CD with his other hand.
Naruto frowned, “damn, guess you don’t need mine…”
Naruto held his hand out as if expecting Itachi to hand back his shitty homemade sobriety chip.
“I like this one better,” Itachi said, his smooth voice quiet but still firm as he hid Naruto's creation in his fist.
“I’ll keep that in mind. You know the real one’s cool and all but… kinda boring. Makes it look like you might be in the Illuminati,” Naruto smirked.
Despite a nervous energy still floating about the car, Naruto’s causal tone finally settled into itachi and he felt more at ease as it seemed everything could maybe go back to what it was before so Itachi’s face went blank as he cracked his first joke in a while, “how did you find out?”
Naruto’s eyes went wide, “wait, what? What do you mean?”
With a solemn expression, Itachi whispered, “such a shame. We’re going to have to kill you now, Naruto, you know too much.”
Naruto’s brow furrowed in a very panicked and very confused expression, “Itachi… are you actually in the illuminati… I thought this-“
Itachi couldn’t contain himself any longer and burst into a fit of laughter, “No, Toto.
I’m not in the Illuminati, I promise… I went to rehab like I was supposed to.”
“You fucker!”
“You’re still the most gullible kid on the planet,” Itachi smiled.
“It’s ‘cause I trust you asshole, you’re my big brother. Always will be,” Naruto said looking playfully irritated.
There was no bite to his words and yet Itachi felt it all the same. He knew Naruto trusted him implicitly and it made his chest ache knowing on some level he had betrayed that trust before he finally agreed to go to rehab. Then again, Itachi was trying to move forward now, not be stuck in the past. That was the root of the problem that got him sent to Meadow View in the first place. So if Naruto could forgive him then maybe he could start to forgive himself.
“Thanks, Naruto,” Itachi replied gently.
“Ah no problem! I hope you like the CD, I found some of the weirdest gems of metal yet. I think you are going to be pleasantly disappointed!”
Itachi smirked but shook his head, “Not… not that. I mean yeah, thank you but… for everything.”
“That’s what family’s for,” Came Naruto’s confident and immediate reply.
Were Naruto and Itachi related by blood? No. Although Naruto thought they might as well be. Itachi had been in Naruto’s life longer than his own parents had at this point. In fact, all of the people that Naruto called family were found. Kakashi who was the closest thing he had to a father wasn’t related to him, Jiraiya his godfather wasn’t related by blood neither was tsunade.
To Naruto, family was found, chosen and fostered into something he would go to the ends of the earth for because when he had nothing he found people who still tried to give him all they could, especially Itachi.
On the opposite side of the coin, family was a very complicated word for the man sitting next Naruto and it was a large reason he was now being picked up from 60 days of inpatient rehabilitation by someone he thought of as his second little brother despite not having an ounce of blood relation.
“Yeah,” Itachi muttered, idly spinning the sobriety chip in his fingers, “how’s the band?”
Itachi didn’t want to think about his actual blood relations.
Naruto started the car and started to pull away, heading the 2 hours it took to get back to Kakashi’s place.
“Which one?”
“Tell me about yours,” Itachi replied.
Naruto nodded and a satisfied smile, “Fox Tears just went platinum,”
Itachi smiled softly, “I knew it would do well.”
Naruto shrugged, “Couldn’t have done it without you.”
Itachi frowned, “please, that’s not true.”
“The title track was all wrong and you were the only one who helped me fix it… Everyone said it was fine and was gonna let it slide,” Naruto argued.
“Well, either way, congratulations. It’s an exceptional album,”
The compliment warmed Naruto. When praise came from Itachi it always felt earnest, he had never known his older brother-figure to mince words or use them carelessly.
“Thank you, Itachi. We really are proud of it. Best one yet.”
Itachi nodded, “and how are the rest of the band members?”
“Good, Sakura and Sai were really worried but they were a lot of help, honestly. Lee was… uh, wayyyy too much. But they’re all super excited to announce the tour!”
A sense of shame bubbled up in Itachi’s throat as he learned how Naruto’s band mates were worried about him and then let his mind wander to his own band, The Akatsuki. The last tour date hadn’t exactly ended on a good note.
“And… How is my band?”
Naruto blew out a heavy breath and Itachi inwardly cringed. That nervous energy festering in the air, now stifling everything else.
“They were totally pissed for a while. Hidan especially… That guy really has a talent for cursing.”
Itachi put his head in his hands, “Shit.”
“What do you remember from that night?”
Itachi grimaced, “They told me everything in therapy. But there are holes.”
Naruto nodded, “Well, then I won’t go into it.”
Which was fine since Itachi was playing back what the therapist had already told him.
“On the last day of your band's tour, you were in an altercation with two members of your band… Hidan and Kisame. After some provocation from Hidan where he mentioned an incident from your past concerning the suicide of your older cousin; the altercation turned physical. During which, Hidan received a black eye and fractured collarbone. In addition, Kisame’s guitar, Samehada, was damaged irreparably by your hand.”
When Itachi awoke the next day on the floor of the bathroom in their tour bus, aching from a few mysterious bruises, he knew he really fucked up that night. When Hidan chucked a beer bottle at his head first thing in the morning and Kisame refused to talk to him at all, it was incredibly obvious.
And so in a defeated, hungover stupor, Itachi realized it had gotten too bad. The worst part was people had tried to tell him… warn him. Naruto had. Kisame had. Even fucking Deidara who barely ever took his head out of his own ass. It was only after he overheard Kisame talking to Naruto that Itachi realized the damage done wasn’t just to himself. He was dragging everyone down with him at this rate. Now Itachi’s little issue wasn’t so little anymore. Slowly but surely he was hurting the people he loved. Itachi believed it wasn’t a problem as long as it remained self-contained but that night, along with the splintered remains of Samehada and bruises on his and Hidan’s bodies screamed at Itachi that he was finally out of control. Embarrassed and ashamed, he called Kakashi for help and when he got home, went with him to check into rehab.
“Kisame?” Itachi mumbled.
“I think you need to talk to him more than anything. He seemed angry but sounded worried when he called for updates,” Naruto explained, “and they’re ready to have you back.”
Itachi raised a skeptical eyebrow.
“Really! I swear! Deidara kept saying how you were the only one who really appreciated his art and I swear I heard Kazuku mumble about how you were the only other member of the band with any class.”
Itachi scoffed with a sad smile, “what does Kazuku know, he’s fucking the biggest idiot in the band,”
“Deidara?!” Naruto exclaimed.
Itachi raised an eyebrow and shook his head.
“HIDAN?” Naruto yelled, even more surprised.
“You didn’t hear that from me,” Itachi replied.
“Huh…” Naruto mused, “it’ll be good to seem ‘em again soon. When you’re ready, ya know?”
“I’ve still got much more outpatient to do,”
“Yeah, yeah but they can visit…” Naruto started. His sentence faded off uncomfortably like the stifling anxiety was not just in the air but suddenly radiating from Naruto.
“What?” Itachi deadpanned.
“Um,” Naruto glanced at him nervously, quickly bringing his eyes back to the road.
“Spit it out.”
The bubble of anxiety in Naruto popped, “Well, since we’re speaking of visiting… Wheniaskedthetherapistshowicouldhelptheytoldmetotryandgetyoutoseeifyoudreachouttoyoirfamilybuttomakeitseemlikeitwasyourideaandontthinkiwasuppsedtotellyouthatbutyouknowicantkeepasecret.”
Itachi stared back, perplexed, “one more time Naruto, and slower.”
Naruto took a deep breath, an embarrassed blush coming to his cheeks, “Between me n’ kakashi, we talked to the therapist a couple of times over the weeks and we wanted to see how we could help, ya know?”
Itachi nodded, something in him dreading where this was going and the sense of anxiety coming from Naruto finally making sense. The therapist had explained a bit of what he thought was coming but he was hoping he could have kept that back in Meadow View.
“They want us to encourage you to reach out to your family… maybe visit them,” Naruto said with worry tainting his expression.
Itachi guess was spot on and he couldn’t help the sour expression that rose, “you said it yourself. You’re my family.”
Naruto sighed, “You know who they mean.”
“I haven’t seen them in 11 years,” Itachi whispered with venom.
“Yeah but…” Naruto started.
Before Naruto could finish Itachi sighed heavily, the anxiety Naruto felt made him feel like shit since he knew directly where it came from. Itachi shut down any conversation about his biological parents and refused to acknowledge them if someone would bring them up. His biological brother was a special case but Naruto would never bring him up himself, only if Itachi spoke of him first but he hadn’t talked to Naruto about Sasuke in years.
Cutting Naruto off, Itachi explained, “I know… the therapist told me that as well… She even suggested family therapy.”
“And?” Naruto asked.
Itachi knew he should do it. The incident that put him in Meadow View was frighteningly similar to the night that he ran away from home. A part of Itachi knew that if he didn’t do what the therapist told him he was going to end up in Meadow View again but when he thought back to his home life before he left, all he felt was despair and frustration.
But Sasuke was one exception.
During his childhood, Sasuke wasn’t ever apart of the constant pressure from his parents or misery from the suicide of his cousin. He was the one person who was still so innocent and now when Itachi thought of him all he felt was guilt for leaving him behind.
“I… want to start with Sasuke.”
Naruto nodded, he had never met Sasuke but he remembered the days where Itachi still talked about him with an immense amount of affection. Even now, years after Itachi stopped speaking of him, Naruto still kept an eye out for when Sasuke would appear in the news or earn an award of sorts.
Sasuke was the first chair violinist for one of the most prolific orchestras in the world and Naruto found himself watching videos of Sasuke when a new one came out on the official video channel. Naruto wasn’t sure if Itachi simply stopped talking to Naruto about Sasuke or he just stopped keeping up with his biological brother altogether so Naruto kept a note in his phone of the good videos in case Itachi ever changed his mind. He had a knack for recognizing the Uchiha’s guilty conscience.
A part of Naruto hoped Itachi would some day reach out to his other little brother especially since Sasuke meant so much to Itachi but Naruto never wanted to press him because his birth family was always a tender subject, it was like a storm cloud appeared above his head when anyone but Sasuke was mentioned. Although, Naruto was always optimistic and wanted the best for everyone he knew so even if Itachi’s bonds were broken, Naruto still held out hope that at least some were reparable unlike his own biological bonds… So he kept up with Itachi’s baby brother from afar… and maybe somewhere down the line Naruto also had developed a teeny tiny infatuation with Sasuke.
But based on the interviews Naruto had seen in recent years, now that Sasuke had really made a name for himself, Naruto thought he could be incredibly boring. He seemed quite straight-laced and rarely spoke more than what was required of him. When an interview was bothering him it was quite obvious, although no interviewer seemed to ever catch on. Maybe it was because Naruto had learned to read Itachi exceptionally well.
“Sasuke, huh, so how do you want to do this?”
Itachi thought for a moment. He had wanted to reach out to Sasuke before but that was a long time ago. Before Sasuke turned 18, Itachi was petrified that his parents would find out where he was and once Sasuke went to college when he had turned 18, Itachi had been caught up in the life of a rockstar and was well on the road that had ended in rehabilitation, meaning a part of him had given up on ever seeing his beloved brother ever again. Itachi had even convinced himself that Sasuke didn’t even remember him.
Nerves ate at Itachi’s breath, “I- I don’t know,” he stammered.
“Do you know what he’s been up to lately?” Naruto asked, a hopeful note in his voice.
Itachi shook his head, ashamed but took note of the tone of Naruto’s voice.
“Do you?” Itachi responded.
Naruto gave a small nod, “mmhm.”
“Why?” Itachi asked, his face blatantly confused.
Naruto squirmed in his seat and explained, “I never knew why you stopped talking about him… and you were always so proud. I guess I still wanted to make sure he was someone you could be proud of… if you ever talked about him.”
‘I do not deserve this kid in my life,’ was Itachi’s first thought. Naruto kept track of his brother for years so he could still be proud of him. Itachi was speechless.
“Naruto, you’re the kindest person I’ve ever known,” Itachi mumbled quietly.
Naruto blushed, embarrassed as an image of a sharp jawline, full cheeks and flintlock eyes came to mind. “It’s nothing really, he’s not that hard to find… Actually he’s really successful.”
Itachi raised his eyebrows, he was much too perceptive to miss that blush but he kept quiet instead, “so where is he?”
“First chair violinist at USSO.”
“Ah, of course,” Itachi mumbled quietly.
It was no surprise that Sasuke took up the family tradition and joined the family founded orchestra, USSO, the Uchiha Senju Symphony Orchestra. It’s what Itachi was supposed to have done before he left and it’s what their father did as well. For generations, it had been an Uchiha man at the helm and now, with Itachi gone, it was Sasuke’s mantle to take on. But once again the bitterness associated with his biological family reared its ugly head, USSO was an exceptional orchestra but from his own experience he knew Sasuke had been given other offers and their father had undoubtedly convinced his baby brother that there was no reason to explore other options beside the path that had been laid for him.
“We can draft an email when we get home if you’d like?” Naruto asked, yanking Itachi out of his anger.
He nodded silently, pondering every possible thing that could go wrong, “may I ask a favor?”
“Sure, anything!” Naruto replied.
“I will assist but will you write to Sasuke? Your name won’t set off immediate red flags like mine will,” Itachi asked, a concerned frown on his face.
More than anything, he absolutely could not speak to his father.
“Yeah, I can do that.”
Itachi breathed a sigh of relief and flipped open the CD Case and pressed it into the player as he looked at Naruto expectantly, hoping he would accept the non-verbal end to that conversation.
In response, a grin broke out across Naruto’s face as he realized what was to come.
“I take it you’ve found some new nonsense to show me?” Itachi smirked.
“You’re not ready, you think you’re ready. You’re not. This is the best thing I’ve ever heard, you’re gonna be so mad,” Naruto giggled.
“It will be hard to beat your last selections,” Itachi mused.
“They only get better, ‘tachi,” Naruto sang.
“I’ll be the judge of that.”
Itachi prepared to listen intently and while seven times out of ten, the music was not good, Itachi enjoyed it all the same.
The peculiar trend of Naruto’s Shitty Mixtapes started when Itachi first started showing Naruto music when they were kids.
He had quickly discovered that playing music that was as hyperactive as Naruto was an incredible way to get him to shut up and keep him distracted with the face-paced, complexities of metal. It also kept him close to Shisui, his cousin and closest friend who he would forever mourn. In fact, Shisui was the one who had shown him metal music, and the two of them found solace in its power and chaos. A desperately needed release in the face of their high-stakes, traditional family and the genre was something truly special to them both. Between the two of them they had a dream to run away from the Uchiha’s claustrophobic career path and start a metal band together. However that dream would never come to pass for Shisui.
But still, Itachi clung to the music and found a way to cope with the grief by sharing the music with someone new who took it in stride. That person was Naruto. He listened with rapt attention as Itachi explained how metal evolved into what it was today and all of the different kinds. Showing the hyperactive kid a wealth of examples from death metal to doom metal to power metal to nu metal and beyond. Itachi played Naruto almost all of his and Shisui’s favorites. He explained how the lyrics were crafted from famous myths and legends to poems and protests and how the genre has been vilified for all the wrong reasons.
But that fact was already a lesson Naruto had come to learn on his own, before he ever knew Itachi.
Then when Naruto was 14, he handed Itachi a CD he burned himself that said “Naruto’s mixtaqe for tachi!!” Explaining that he had found new sub genres of metal and while not all of them were new to Itachi, Naruto was so excited that Itachi just went along with it and Naruto kept creating mixtapes. Somewhere down the line though the mixtapes had turned into Naruto trying to find the most ridiculous songs he could to see if he could make Itachi laugh while he tried very seriously to give an honest review of Naruto’s selections.
After a full listen through of volume three or Naruto’s mixtape, Itachi had proclaimed that every song was “an affront to the science of sound” and the name was changed from ‘Naruto’s Mixtape for ‘Tachi’ to ‘Naruto’s Super Shitty Mixtape To Spite Chi Chi’.
But now, it was time to evaluate volume six.
As the CD started, Itachi heard a riff he could play blindfolded; the static shred of Metallica.
Except.. the harsh shredding sound that indicated the original song was missing, and instead was mimicked by a grating human voice…
Itachi’s eyes flicked to Naruto who looked like he was trying absolutely everything in his power to not break into a mess of laughter.
“Naruto… What in god’s name have you picked for us this time?” Itachi asked calmly.
“This… is an entirely a cappella rendition of Metallica’s Master of Puppets,” Naruto said with the stupidest grin on his face.
Itachi blinked, “Master of Puppets has almost 4 minutes of guitar solo,”
“And you’re gonna hear all of ‘em,”
Naruto finally lost it when Itachi physically paled at the concept of a human person trying to sing that second solo.
“Naruto, this might be your shittiest mixtape yet.”