A/N: This one's a doozy!

Sasuke ran a hand through his hair as he sighed.

He had just woken up and was sitting in his bed, in his still dark room, the curtains preventing any light from coming in.

He's had a lot to think about since his talk with Sakura. He's thought about it over and over and he still didn't understand what he was thinking about.

Like right now, even his waking thoughts were about what could be wrong with him.

Were there really not any happy memories from before his parents' accident or was he suppressing them?

Sasuke had half the mind to just flop back down and stay in bed all day, but he can't. Sakura was coming over today. He needed to get out of bed and get ready to see her.

He smiled at the thought of his girlfriend.

Even when his mind was in the not-so-brightest of places, just thinking about her brought him reprieve.

What did he do to deserve her?

If anyone asked her, she would say it's because he helped her when she was stuck in limbo after everything that happened to her. She would also say it's because it just felt so right. Their relationship, be it when they just first met or when they started developing quiet feelings for each other, was never forced or uncomfortable. They just fit together.

How ironic though, a broken him trying to fix a broken her, and now that he's somehow succeeded, the fixed her was trying to fix the broken him.

Sasuke leaned back on his hands, his eyes unfocused as he was deep in thought.

Is that was people needed? To find their counterparts in someone just as damaged as them to cope?

Some would say that's unhealthy, while others would say that was how it should be. Because come on, who else to help heal you than someone who's been through what you've been through?

With a sigh, he ran a hand down his face and finally got out of bed. He made his way over to the bathroom and took a long hot shower, standing directly under the shower head to use the sound of the rushing water to drown out the sound of his thoughts.

When he finally got out of the shower, he was quite pink and the bathroom was absolutely steamed up. He quickly finished his morning routine and headed down to the kitchen to make something for a late breakfast. On his way there, he went through the living room but didn't see the photo albums that Itachi had left out.

Hm, where was his aniki?

It was Saturday and before, Sasuke automatically knew or would assume that Itachi was at work, but after meeting Sakura's brother-in-law and becoming good friends with him, it was a toss up between being at work or hanging out with Suigetsu.

Shrugging to himself, all he could say was that he was thankful for their friendship, Suigetsu really helped Itachi lead a more normal life where he wasn't trying to drown himself in his work.

Just as he finished eating the two onigiri that were in the fridge, the doorbell rang.

Ah, that must be Sakura.

With a small smile on his face, he went to go get the door. His smile widened when he saw Sakura smiling up at him. He moved to the side to let her come in and greeted her with a kiss after she took off her shoes.

"Hi," she said softly.

"Hi to you, too," he replied. He bent down to kiss her again. He seriously couldn't get enough of her. He felt her smile against his lips. His heart skipped a beat in happiness.

Sasuke didn't need to solve the mystery of his past, at least not right away, as long as he had Sakura.

He subconsciously reached for her hand and led her into the living room to sit down and talk.

It was only then did he notice the stack of photo albums on the coffee table.

"Oh, what are these?" Sakura asked as she took a seat on the couch in front of them. She looked at Sasuke to see him confused.

"I don't know. I've never seen them before."

"Never?" Sakura asked as she picked one up and put it on her lap. Studying the cover she realized what it was. "Sasuke-kun, I think these are photo albums." She looked between the one on her lap and the rest on the table. Then she looked back at Sasuke and carefully asked him, "Do you want to see what's inside?"

Sasuke was scared.

He didn't recognize these at all and he was sure that Itachi hadn't been the one to put them together, so that could only mean one thing.

His mother had put these together.

Inside were the pictures of their family when it was still whole and there wasn't a care in the world. When he was still innocent and not emotionally confused.

Did he want to look inside? Yes. But he was also scared to. These albums could be the answer to all his questions but it could also be his breaking point.

What if once he found out and remembered all the happy times, his mind can't take it and he spirals down even more into the darkness? Because the fact that he actually had parents that left him behind so early in his life, would be too true. What would he do then?

Right at that moment, he got his answer.

He felt Sakura squeeze his hand reassuringly, reminding him that she was there for him and whatever happened, she'll be by his side.

"Yes," he nodded.

Sakura nodded comfortingly and looked down at the photo album in her lap. She waited until he moved to a comfortable, safe position behind her, so that he could have her in his arms at all times, before she took one more deep breath and opened it up for them to see inside.

She gasped and felt Sasuke stiffen behind her.

Looking back up at them were pictures of a tiny, raven-haired baby, smiling softly up at the camera.

"Is that you?" Sakura asked in wonder as she tried to keep her squeals at bay. Whoever this was, either Itachi or Sasuke, they were too cute!

"I don't know," Sasuke responded softly. He really couldn't tell, as this was essentially the first time he's ever seen any baby photos.

Sakura turned the page. "Oh, I think these are pictures of Itachi-san."

"Yeah," Sasuke said noncommittally, his eyes were stuck on the two adults carrying the baby.

His parents.

Of course he knew what his parents looked like, from memory and from photos, as there was at least one family portrait hanging somewhere in the house, but this was his first time seeing them in an informal setting.

His mother smiled up at him with a baby Itachi in her arms, clad in only his diaper, his father undoubtedly behind the camera in one picture. In another, it seemed like the camera was on a tripod because all three members of the small family were in the shot. In this one, Itachi was in his highchair, their mother on one side smiling brightly at the camera, while their father was on the other side, trying to feed Itachi some baby food and inevitably failing because he was spitting it back out. His father seemed unaware that the photo was being taken because he was so focused on his only son.

Sakura laughed at a lot of the pictures, cooing at most of them.

Soon they were done with that album and Sakura put it back on the table and leaned over to pick another one out. "Let's try to find one with you in it." She peeked into a few before letting out an "Ah ha!" and pulling it onto her lap.

On the first page was a picture of a 7-year-old Itachi carrying a sleeping baby Sasuke on the very couch Sakura and Sasuke were sitting on right now.

Sakura cooed at how cute of a baby he was.

Sasuke's mind had gone blank.

Sakura slowly turned the page, letting Sasuke's absorb all the good vibes from all the heartfelt pictures. Halfway through the album, she felt Sasuke's arms tighten around her waist and his head nuzzling into the side of her neck. It took her a while but when she realized it, she let out a slow smile.

She felt bittersweet as she reached up with her hand and cradled Sasuke's head against her neck and turned to kiss his hair.

Sasuke couldn't take it anymore, he couldn't hold it in anymore. Looking at all the pictures was doing things to him, things he didn't know he could feel or do. He kept his face buried in Sakura's neck as the tears kept coming. He didn't know where they were coming from or how he was even producing them. He thought that he couldn't cry, that he didn't even know how to cry. But it seems like it was all coming back to him.

Sakura carefully closed the album and set it aside on the couch next to the both of them. She leaned back into him and caressed her crying boyfriend's neck with one hand and held the top of his hand that was around her waist with the other.

Sasuke couldn't stop but then he realized that he didn't want to. This is what he needed, all along. He needed this release from his past.

Sakura let out her own tears as she heard and felt Sasuke's sadness, her lip trembled with all the love she felt for the man behind her, the man who finally let go of the little boy who didn't know, the little boy who didn't feel, the little boy who didn't forgive.

She turned her head and whispered sweet nothings into his ear, knowing he needed her support and how important her presence was to him at this very moment.

It felt like an eternity, a very soothing and freeing eternity, before Sasuke raised his head and rested his chin on Sakura's shoulder, finally admitting to himself, "I miss them, Mother, Father. I miss them so much."

"I know, Sasuke-kun, I know," Sakura cooed. She was very proud of him, he was finally able to accept that the emptiness he felt all this time was because he did miss his parents and all the happy times and memories they had together. "It's hard, but it'll get better with time. I'll be here with you, always."

"I love you so much," Sasuke whispered before he captured his beloved girlfriend's lips in a passionate yet very sweet kiss. Sakura could feel everything he was having trouble conveying to her through words. She pulled back and whispered back, "I know. I love you, too, so much that sometimes I feel like I might go crazy if I lost you."

"Don't think like that, I'm not going anywhere either. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I lost you either. You are my love, my life, my future." He kissed her. "My forever."

Sakura felt her heart bursting with love as she turned around in Sasuke's arms, innocently straddling him as she kissed him back with as much emotion as she could. When she broke the kiss, she gently held his face in her hands and wiped away at the streaks of tears on his cheeks and the fresh ones coming from his eyes. But now, they were happy tears.

She couldn't help but laugh through her own tears. She just felt so happy right now that she couldn't hold it in. Slowly, Sasuke returned the smile and craned his neck up to kiss her again.

This time, after they broke apart, Sakura just wrapped her arms around his neck snugly and stayed there, Sasuke's arms tightening around her waist.

They finally both felt the bliss of a peaceful mind and a peaceful heart.

They weren't afraid of their past anymore, it wasn't going to tie them down anymore. Now they could look towards their futures without any restraints or any emotional limitations.

They were finally free.

Itachi waited for Suigetsu to come back from putting Mari down for her nap. His long fingers thrummed against the top of his knee almost nervously. He had no idea why he would feel nervous though. But he did feel it deep down that he was finally going to be able to get a lot of things on his chest and the burden off his shoulders that he'd been carrying since his parents passed away.

Suigetsu could feel Itachi's restlessness. It seems like it was finally time for Itachi to forgive himself and move on. He sat back down in his vacated seat on the adjacent couch and waited patiently for the younger man to open himself up.

The quiet lingered between them as Itachi gathered everything he wanted to say in his mind and prepared himself to deliver it.

"Suigetsu-san," Itachi started, making the older-brother figure look at him. "I want to start by saying 'thank you.' So thank you, very much, for your help. I don't know what I would've done without it. Without your help, I would still be lost in my own head, trying to bury and busy myself with work and logic."

Suigetsu smiled softly at him and nodded his head in appreciation.

Itachi continued, "It was only after I met you and your family that I was finally able to contemplate letting myself see the light. All these years, I've been punishing myself for how I dealt with things after our parents' death and how it affected Sasuke. I was young, yes, only twelve-years-old, but Sasuke was even younger, only five-years-old.

"I was able to understand what was happening, especially with my advanced intellect for my age, but Sasuke couldn't and had no idea how to process the fact that our parents weren't coming back anymore and that they couldn't. I thought I was doing the right thing and being a responsible adult when I threw myself into my studies to prepare myself to take over the family business. It was the most logical thing to do.

"We were both young and Mother and Father left us both with a sizable inheritance each, but that wouldn't last without hard work. Also, it was my family's company, I couldn't let someone takeover my father's place when I knew that it was my rightful place to be. At least that's where I thought I should be. Instead, I only realized this in recent years, my rightful place was next to Sasuke, helping him understand what was happening and why his life suddenly wasn't the same anymore. I neglected him."

That's when the first tears came. Angry tears welled up in his eyes, obscuring his vision. He was angry at himself, furious, even.

"I abandoned him because I didn't know what to do and I wasn't ready to admit that. I looked out for myself first. I made sure I was too busy to think about anything else other than my studies or the family business." He clenched his fists against his knees. He was extremely disappointed in himself. He would've continued his internal self-blame it if wasn't for the hand on his shoulder. He jerked out of his mind and realized that he was so absorbed in his thoughts that he hadn't even noticed Suigetsu moving to sit next to him.

Itachi tried to blink the tears away but he couldn't, they just kept coming.

"Itachi, you have to stop thinking like that." Suigetsu squeezed his should comfortingly. "Yes, it's good to acknowledge your mistakes but it's not healthy to dwell on them."

"I know, but they've been looming over my head and no matter how hard I try to push them to the back of my mind, they always came back whenever I saw Sasuke. It hurt so much to just look at him that I started avoiding him. I mean, what kind of brother does that?" Itachi started frantically. "What kind of person am I for turning my back on the one person that needed me the most, knowing that I'm the sole person responsible for how he turned out?"

He was ranting now, his vision blurry with tears. "I don't deserve to call myself his aniki. It was all my fault. If only I hadn't left him alone he wouldn't be so broken, he wouldn't be so lost, he wouldn't be so scared."

"Itachi-san," Suigetsu tried getting his attention but failed.

"I failed him, I failed him. He looked up to me but I failed him. He didn't have anyone else to turn to. No family, no family. No sanctuary to hide in. Nothing, nothing. It was like he didn't have brother at all. I failed him, I fai–." Itachi jolted out of his self-hate induced haze when he felt a sharp pain on both sides of his face. He was startled and looked up to see Suigetsu looking determinedly back into his own eyes.

Suigestu kept his hands on Itachi's face to make sure that he couldn't turn away when he was talking to him. "Stop, Itachi, You need to stop this. I thought you were going to accept your mistakes and move on, not dwell on them and make yourself go mad." He stared straight into Itachi's onyx eyes to make sure his words were getting through. "You'll never be able to move on if you keep beating down on yourself like that. I've been there and I know how ugly it is, and how easy it is to just keep those hateful thoughts on loop in your head.

"After I lost my wife, I was an absolute mess, I left everything in Sakura's care and I hated myself for that. I was disgusted at my behavior and at how insensitive I was being. I wasn't the only one who lost someone. Sakura lost her sister, yet another family member, and Mari lost her mother. I wasn't the only one grieving but because of what I did, or didn't do, I wasn't letting Sakura grieve for her own sister. She was too busy holding up the household for that. She had to make sure I was still alive, she had to make sure that Mari was adjusting well with the disappearance of her mother. She's only a baby but she could still feel it.

"While I focused on my own hurt, trying to bury myself in my work, I was hurting Sakura and Mari. It wasn't until Sakura collapsed from exhaustion on the way school that I finally realized that I was doing. If it wasn't for Sasuke, I don't know what I'd do if Sakura hurt herself beyond fainting just because I couldn't be the adult and handle things better. If Sasuke hadn't been there to catch her before she fell, she would've gotten a concussion and in her state, it would've taken much longer time to recover from it.

"I am thankful everyday for Sasuke's presence in Sakura's life. He let her have some semblance of a normal life and he also helped her through her own troubles when she couldn't let herself grieve for her lost sister. There is not one second that I don't regret my foolish and irresponsible actions, but I was able to accept them and move on. Sakura helped me by not blaming me, she helped me by accepting my mistakes and making sure that I don't hate myself anymore than I need to for them. She helped me by making me realize that I was hurting not only myself when I shouldered the blame but also her and Mari. She didn't like seeing me blame myself for something I couldn't control."

Suigetsu took a deep breath and finally let go of Itachi's face. The Uchiha was looking him, shocked. He leaned his forearms on his top of his thighs and looked up at him with tears in his own eyes. "What I'm trying to say is that Sasuke wasn't the only one hurting. You were, too. You acted the way you did, not only because that was the only way you knew how to act, but also because you were deeply affected by your parents' death, too.

"We all make mistakes but to get past them you have to accept them and leave them behind. You can't keep holding onto the past, you won't be able to look to the future with your back turned to it."

The blue-white-haired man gave him a teary smile when he saw that Itachi had started crying again, but this time it was for the breakthrough he knew he was finally experiencing.

Itachi hunched over and held his face in his hands and just cried his eyes out. It all made sense now. He was trying to hate himself for doing something he did because he couldn't do anything else. He had understood that his parents were gone forever and that he missed them but it wasn't until last night and now that he really understood the impact of his parents' tragic passing. Last night, he was finally able to face the happy memories that he had locked away for so long when he looked through the family photo albums his mother had put together with so much tender love and care. And now, after his breakdown and talk with Suigestu, he understood how much harm he was doing to himself and to Sasuke when he couldn't come to terms with his past actions.

Itachi breathed in through his nose and couldn't prevent the sniffling.

Suigetsu burst out laughing and Itachi sent him an unimpressed look.

"Look at us, two grown-ass men, crying like little girls over something that we can never change. I'd say, if someone saw us right now, they'd think we were crazy or doped up on something."

Itachi couldn't help but chuckle after that, there was no denying how funny they must look.

"Come on," Suigetsu got up from where he was sitting on the coffee table and found his phone. "Let's tell Sakura to come home and to bring Sasuke with her. We both need to talk to our baby sister and brother." He saw the time on his phone, "And we should start on dinner."

Suigetsu purposely noisily blew his nose to get a laugh out of Itachi and smiled when he succeeded and threw away the soiled tissue before offering the tissue box to the other crying man. Itachi pulled a few out and blew his nose, too, but much more civil mannered.

Suigetsu dialed Sakura's cell and put the phone to his ear. After a few rings, his little sister-in-law, who he saw as his real sister, picked up, "Nii-san?"

"Hey baby," Suigetsu greeted softly. "What are you and Sasuke up to right now?"

"Just relaxing and figuring out what to make for dinner. Why? Is there anything wrong at home?"

He smiled when he heard her immediate concern for him. "No, no. I'm just here with Itachi-san and the both of us were bawling our eyes out not even a few moments ago." He yelped when he felt the corner of the tissue box hit him in the head. He turned to see Itachi glaring at him, but with his puffy, red eyes, it wasn't as effective.

"Oh my god, are you two okay?"

"Yes, yes. Why don't you come home and bring Sasuke with you so that we can talk about it together."

"Okay," Sakura said quietly. "We'll be there as soon as we can."

"Thanks, I'll see you at home."

The two siblings bid goodbye to each other before hanging up. Suigetsu turned to Itachi and announced, "They'll be here in a bit." Then he left to the bathroom to freshen and to let the other man collect himself in private.

Sakura walked in with her hand in Sasuke's only twenty minutes later. They tentatively walked into the quiet house and poked their heads into the living room and saw their two brothers sitting there, chatting normally, on the couches. She immediately saw the evidence of their crying in their puffy red eyes. She automatically went over to her brother-in-law and threw her arms around him in a tight hug.

She had a feeling she knew what they had talked about to elicit such a reaction and couldn't stop the tears from that morning from coming back.

"Shhh, it's okay, shhh," Suigetsu cooed as he smoothed his hand over her hair and held her close to him. He looked up to see that the Uchiha brothers were having a stand-off, he saw that the older one wasn't the only with evidence that he had a good cry.

"Nii-san, I love you so much," Sakura mumbled into his neck.

"I know, baby, I know. I love you so much, too." He placed a kiss on the side of her head. "I'm so sorry for how I acted when–," he was interrupted by a silencing finger on his lips.

Sakura pulled back and glared at him. "I've told you time and time again, stop blaming yourself for that, nii-san. You couldn't help it, you had just lost the love of your life and the mother of your daughter. You had every right to act the way you did. I'm just happy you eventually came back to me and Mari. I wouldn't have forgiven you if you stayed lost." Sakura then continued to hug the life out of her brother-in-law, unaware of the pondering looks of the Uchiha brothers as they mulled over her words.

"Otouto," Itachi started. Sakura shifted in Suigetsu's lap to turn and see what was happening. "I also want to say sorry for how I've been acting and how I reacted to Mother and Father's death. It was only today that I realized how much I had hurt not only you but myself with my actions. I just hope that one day you can forgive me and then we can finally move on with our lives."

Sakura gasped and held a hand to her mouth in fear that she was going to blurt out that Sasuke never blamed him for anything, she knew that it had to be Sasuke who said it for himself.

The silence was tense as the two brothers really looked at each other for the first time in over ten years since their parents' death. They searched each others' eyes for the answers they were looking for from the other.

It was clear Sasuke found the answers he wanted when he threw his arms around his brother in what was probably the first and only hug they've had since their parents' death. Itachi's arms wrapped back around his otouto and held onto him tight, never wanting to ever let go.

The tears started again for both of them. Sasuke was ecstatic to finally have his brother back and Itachi was relieved to finally get that off his chest.

Sakura and Suigetsu smiled at each other, also with tears in their eyes, and quickly but quietly left the living room to give the two brothers some privacy. They went upstairs to check on Mari.

"Well, today was quite eventful, I would have to say," Suigetsu chuckled as Sakura cleared the table with the help of Sasuke.

"Yes, indeed." Sakura picked up a few dishes and went to put them in the sink and came back before saying, "Let's not do that ever again. All that crying tired me out, and I think I've officially run out of tears for the rest of my life."

All three men laughed at that.

Sakura leaned into Sasuke as he wrapped an arm around her waist and held her close to him.

When she looked up at him, she saw him looking down at her with all the love in the world. She couldn't help the huge smile that spread across her face.

"Yeah, let's not," Suigetsu agreed as he smiled at the young couple and looked to see Itachi smiling at them, too. His smile was soft and delicate as he was finally at peace with his past mistakes and both him and his otouto were finally ready to move on together.

Mari babbled in her baby speak, clapping her tiny hands excitedly as she felt the happiness in the air. Suigetsu pulled his baby girl out of her high chair and sat her down in his lap. "You agree, too, don't you, Mari baby? Hm?" He nuzzled into her little neck and blew a loud raspberry against it, causing the little babe to giggle uncontrollably.

Sakura yelped when Sasuke unexpectedly decided to do the same to her. "Sasuke-kun! Stop!" She tried to get out of his arms but he didn't let her. Their two brothers didn't do anything to help either of them, they only sat back, watched, and laughed.

When Sakura was finally able to escape, she ran around the dining table and Sasuke playfully chased after her. She laughed wholeheartedly and freely as everyone else laughed louder and harder, too.

Mari was the loudest as her shrill giggles touched all their hearts with her healing innocence.

They all vowed to themselves that they'll never lose themselves ever again and if they did, then they'll make sure to find each other and quite literally knock some sense into them if need be.

Finally, none of them were lost anymore and all of them were found.

Owari

A/N: Phew! Longest chapter I've written in a long while, for any of my stories; right under 5000 words. That's about 4 or 5 times longer than the normal chapter for this story! And there's a good reason why, too, haha. This story is finally complete! I wanted the last chapter to have both Uchiha brothers finally have their turns to cry their hearts out. I didn't want to split them up as they really needed to figure it out together. It's been a while since my last update but I hope this makes up for it!

Wowee, it's almost been 2 years since I first published this story! I can't believe it, time flies by so fast. Well, I would like to thank all my readers and reviewers who stuck with me since the beginning, through the highs and the lows and surely whatever nonsensical things I could think of in this emotional roller coaster ride.

I hope you all enjoyed this story and thank you for reading and please review one last time!

Updated – 2/27/2015