Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ For the Love of My Brother ❯ A Day in the Life of the Brothers ( Chapter 2 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Since I haven’t seen a mention of other family members outside of Mother/Father/Brothers, I’m going to add a few uncles and aunts for ‘Tachi and Sasu. If anyone #couch# G_man #cough# has any RE-LI-AB-LE info on the Uchiha family, I’d welcome it. My resources are limited, my time and money even more so.

I’ve gone off of manga-based data for the most part as well as my own conclusions. The furor that was caused earlier with my assumption on age was caused by that. The manga is sketchy on Itachi’s age, so I guess based on appearance during the flashback scene. Sasuke looked six-ish and Itachi looked sixteen-ish, so that’s what I guessed them to be. I mean, c’mon, Itachi is adult size in the flashback and Sasuke is definitely a chibi. Without an age reference, is that really such an erroneous guess?

One further thing: NO HOT GAY BROTHER MONKEY SEX!!!!!! I do not believe in incest, it’s just sick and wrong and I ain’t doin’ it! Not to mention the ages here, yeah I’m going to be jumping forward six years but they’re still going to be nineteen and twelve! 19 and 12 people!!! Nope, no, nu-uh, nada, iie, ain’t goin’ there, you can FORGET ABOUT IT!!! The only hot gay monkey sex that’s going to happen is going to be between Sasuke and N-

Oops, almost let out a spoiler there… Well enjoy! And don’t yell at me for honest mistakes! I’m only half-human, yeesh!
Kakashi sighed and stretched slightly as he walked down the street heading towards the Hokage’s office. He did not relish the idea of reporting the fact that a thirteen-year-old boy, however skilled, had escaped from him and his team. The fact that said boy had also successfully kidnapped his younger brother only made the situation worse, since the child had been an evident handicap.

He passed into the Uchiha dominated part of town, so declared by the Uchiha family crest designs everywhere, and mulled over the other implications of the event. Hmm, maybe I won’t be in as much trouble as I thought, he admitted to himself as he watched the Uchiha’s scurrying about with troubled looks, each and every one of them. If the Uchiha’s hadn’t even been aware of the escape, then how can I, an ‘inferior’, be held accountable for letting them go?

He continued to head in and had to pass by the house of the clan head, the house that Itachi and young Sasuke had fled from. There was a very large commotion there, for some odd reason that completely escaped Kakashi. Not. I’d have to be quarter-witted deaf-mute to not understand why the people here are a trifle upset.

Fugaku was standing outside his house, stone-faced, with his wife Mikoto beside him, weeping silently. Fugaku’s half-brother, Akira, was reading from a letter that Kakashi guessed that Fugaku had given him; a letter that was apparently upsetting in content. Kakashi couldn’t hear what was being said yet, and was almost tempted to use his Sharingan eye to assist in reading Akira’s lips. Almost. He wasn’t suicidal. Even if his eye was a gift, it still wasn’t naturally his and the clan deeply resented his having it.

A resentment that was demonstrated yet again as he paused at the edge of the crowd to listen. Poisonous glares were sent his way frequently as he listened to an equally poisonous tirade against the clan. Kakashi guessed that he was listening to Itachi’s views about the Uchiha clan, a guess that was compounded as Mikoto wept more and more fervently with each verbal attack.

“’And so I am taking Sasuke with me, not that you, so-honored Father and so-honored Mother, will notice save that your ‘replacement’ of me is no longer available. Worry not for his sake, if you even can, I shall place no harm upon him. Unlike the rest of you ‘marvelous’ Uchiha’s, Sasuke is innocent and worthy of care and respect, care and respect that was not forthcoming here at ‘home’. Perhaps, in time, I may even bring him back to show you what it was you scorned. But only if Sasuke himself desires it; I will not be the hypocrite you are to claim to take him for his safety and happiness and then disregard his wishes. Fare you well, or not. I care little which.
Your former Son,
Itachi’”

My, my; so that was the base of it. Interesting. Kakashi thought as he moved on. He’d known of course that Itachi was less than impressed with his family, but he hadn’t been aware that the resentment went so deep. The young Anbu was fully able to read between the lines, and what he read there was a load of contempt, scorn and hate that defied the perception people normally had for thirteen-year-olds. Itachi was amazing however, mature beyond his years. So perhaps this mature view of his clan wasn’t so incredible after all.

What was incredible was that the only ‘harm’ that he had done in leaving was in taking Sasuke with him and then only attacking those pursuers that had attacked first. Given the level of hate in that letter, I’m surprised he didn’t go on a murderous rampage; Kakashi though, half in jest.

He paused for a moment outside the Central Office Building to give that idea further thought and couldn’t bring himself to entirely dismiss it. Itachi was certainly capable of it, even against other Uchiha’s. And if he had that level of Anger, he had the motive. And he sometimes spoke of wanting to test his abilities in full…

Kakashi shuddered for a moment, realizing that a mere kidnapping was probably something that they should be grateful for. Maybe I’m jumping at shadows, but if what I’ve deduced is right and Itachi and Sasuke have never received love save maybe from each other, then Konoha got off damned lucky. Someone who doesn’t know love is someone who is capable of anything, because he has nothing of real value to loose.

Kakashi gave another shrug and moved into the building to report his actual and theoretical observations and then leave the case in the Hokage’s hands. Again, that was all he could do at this point. Aside from pray; pray that the two brothers were finding that needed love and respect in each other. For if not… I really need to find a good book to read after all this, my thoughts are getting morbid and depressing. There was that one book that looked interesting, what was it called? ‘Icha Icha Paradise’ or something like that?
Sasuke was in pain; his eyes itched, his jaw ached and his limbs throbbed; all in the effort to not go cross-eyed, yawn and/or fidget in extreme boredom. All this, because the current employer of Sasuke and his elder brother, Itachi, was an absolute moron without the mental capacity to know when to shut the hell up.

I so cannot wait until he’s no longer our employer, then I can flip him off. Gotta keep that in mind; if I flip him off now, we don’t get paid for having to put up with him. I just have to be patient and wait. The fat merchant continued to blather on about how the attack had not gone completely according to plan; oh please. And on, and on, and for a change of pace, on some more!

Oh. My. Gods. I had no notion that anyone could be this annoying!

“”How are you doing, chibi?”” A familiar voice said in the youth’s mind.

“”Fine, I think”” Sasuke replied via Ishindenshin no Jutsu, or Art of Telepathy, “”Can I kill this guy after we get paid? Please? And don’t call me ‘chibi’””

A mental chuckle answered that half-serious plea, “”No, I’m afraid you can’t. It would look bad if every idiotic employer we had died suddenly after the job was done. In spite of the good it would do for the gene pool.””

“”Oh phooey,”” Sasuke said back, “”Can I at least make his life miserable? Pretty please?”” The request was accompanied by a sideways Sad-Puppy-Look. Sasuke knew his brother was rather weak against this particular technique. Itachi met the look and heaved a purely mental sigh; the younger brother still wasn’t certain how the elder did that.

“”Alright, fine,”” Itachi relented, “”Just don’t get caught.””

Sasuke had to catch himself from snorting his derision aloud at the sheer thought that he would get caught at something so minor. The brothers returned their attention to the blathering idiot whose trade caravans had been raided by minor rouge Nin’s recently. Or at least, they had until the rouge Uchiha brothers had broken the minor Nin’s heads in.

The two brothers were now able to demand higher wages than they first had, due to the fact that Sasuke was now of an age where he was recognized as Genin, apprentice level. At first, it had been a lot harder. No one wanted to hire a thirteen-year-old boy with a six-year-old child in tow, no matter how skilled the teenager claimed he was.

The two had had to rough it in the first couple of years, foraging the woods and fields for food, even stealing at times. Then, as Itachi grew older, another problem developed. Rouge Nin’s had a hard time getting reputable employers who requested reasonable, i.e.: not illegal, work. Itachi didn’t want to assassinate someone just because he was a commercial competitor.

But no one wanted to hire him to do that anyway, again because he had a kid brother in tow. It took him a while to figure out how to market himself, and how to market Sasuke as an asset instead of a hindrance.

Then he stumbled upon bodyguard work. He could hire himself out as a cheaper guard than the reliable Village-bound Nin’s, but still as trustworthy as they. Didn’t he have a healthy, active child attached to him? Wasn’t that child devoted to him and happy to be with him? After that, the Uchiha brothers began to make a name for themselves; or rather, Itachi made a name for himself. Now, at ages nineteen and twelve, the two could hire themselves out as a working pair and could demand appropriately higher wages.

That was probably the reason that the fat, foolish merchant was going on at length about how they had deviated from the plan; he was trying to make a point from which he could drop their wage. Idiot, it’s not going to work, not with us.

If they were such great Ninjas, the man complained, why couldn’t they have accomplished everything according to plan? Spare me… They had been so highly recommended, he wouldn’t have paid them nearly so high a commission if he’d known they weren’t perfect. Hah! You did not pay all that high a commission and everyone knows that there’s no such thing as perfection; that’s a know fact of life dimwit. Perhaps thing would have gone better if Itachi hadn’t insisted on including his less useful, little brother in the counter attack. Warning, warning; do not bash younger brother in the presence of the over-protective older brother. Major bad idea there genius.

“Forgive me sir,” Itachi interrupted, “I’m afraid that your exalted position has given you a false view of the real world. It is commonly known that even the best-laid plans are set to the side once the enemy has been engaged. After all, we can only hypothesis as to what the enemy is going to do. We were indeed very fortunate that so much did go as we wished, and that we captured the bandits with so few injuries on our side and only one death on theirs. The objective has been achieved. Now if you’d be so kind as to give us our agreed upon pay, we will take our leave and get out of your hair.”

The merchant, who had been gaping like a landed fish at being interrupted by a hireling, turned a furious glare at Itachi at the end of the last sentence. The man’s shiny pate was completely hairless, but he couldn’t actually claim that Itachi had insulted him simply because what the Nin had said was a commonly used phrase.

But the glare was utterly ineffective, Itachi just returned the glare with a bland stare that had thus far never failed to intimidate. I have got to learn how he does that. The merchant gulped, then gestured for the brothers to turn around while he opened the safe. They obliged him with much amusement. Bravo Einstein, putting a glass-face portrait on the opposite wall in just the right place to reflect the combination lock.

Finally they saw him toss a small sack onto the desk between them, but made sure not to start to turn around until they heard the jangle of coins. Itachi made a small show of pouring out the coins and counting them carefully. When the fool blustered over this, the elder brother, oh so innocently, protested that he thought all mercenaries did this; just to be safe of course.

The merchant went red-faced with rage, but couldn’t protest after that, it was a wise ploy to ensure that you got paid your agreed upon amount after all. After what seemed like far too long a time the Uchiha brothers were finally able to take their leave of the obnoxious person. They bowed their way out, Sasuke proceeding Itachi. The older teen had a good reason for doing things that way.

When he was just in the doorway of the merchant’s office, he paused to cast a look back over his shoulder.

“I feel that it would be wise to advise you,” He said softly, causing the merchant to glare up at him. The paper-pusher had thought he was finally rid of these annoying people! “When one is complaining about another person, it is wise to ensure that that person’s close family isn’t present.” Itachi blinked and his eyes went from jet black to blood red, and continued his warning. “It isn’t healthy otherwise.” he growled.

The merchant fell back in his overstuffed chair, shuddering in sudden mortal terror as Itachi glared over his shoulder for a full thirty seconds before continuing.

The Nin suddenly closed his eyes and gave a fake, sunny smile, “Have a pleasant day.” He ‘chirped’, then walked out. The merchant later would not be able to say which expression had been worse, the death glare, or the ‘happy’ mask that did nothing to cover up the bloodlust. Itachi had a truly frightening smile.
Outside, Sasuke was waiting patiently for his brother to join him. He really is turning out well, Itachi thought. I was afraid that in taking him to save him, I would only succeed in ruining his childhood. I have no idea how I avoided that.

Sasuke gave a soft, genuine smile when he saw his brother, then sniffed exaggeratedly back at the merchant’s manse.

“What are you doing?” Itachi sighed.

“Huh, you either must have gone easier on the idiot than you usually do, or that fool was tougher than I thought.” Sasuke said, looking up at his brother, “The smell of urine isn’t as strong as I thought it’d be.”

The older brother shook his head, chuckling almost silently. He gave the youth one of his rare, real smiles, which made the boy beam in happiness. Few people other than Sasuke would have even been able to tell that Itachi had smiled at all, since the expression involved only the minutest up-curve of the mouth, but more warmth in the eyes.

But Sasuke had grown entirely used to Itachi’s seeming lack of normal emotions and had learned to read the signs of his brother’s emotional state. The elder Uchiha brother had learned how to feel normal emotions over the course of the six years, but still had trouble expressing them. Not that it was a real problem for Sasuke, the near-teen had become incredibly adept at reading people in general and Itachi in specific.

One more thing for me to be proud over him about. “We have plenty of spare time today, do you want to go to the place where we can train?” Presenting a puppy with a new toy would have had a less dramatic effect. Yes, Sasuke did want to train and could he hurry up so that they could do it now? Itachi chuckled again as his kid brother carefully did not pull him along to get to the training grounds. The fact that this job had ended in a city that they were familiar with was part of the reason that Itachi had accepted the job.

Eight hours later revealed the other reason. Sasuke had put in six hours of concentrated effort and had progressed quiet well, Itachi was proud of the boy all over again. But the effort the near-teen had exerted had exhausted him; which is what Itachi had hoped for.

The young adult still had enough of an edge over his younger brother that he merely felt a little tired, as if he had put in a decent day’s work. That was just fine. The two had gone to an inn that they had slept in many times before and had reserved their usually room. Upon reaching it, Sasuke had flopped onto the bed and passed out. Perfect.

Itachi put their few things away, closed up the room then proceeded out into the city after giving the innkeeper an acknowledging nod. The innkeeper returned the nod and the elder brother went on his way confident that Sasuke would be watched over by the man and his prolific family. This meant that Itachi didn’t have to worry about his brother getting into trouble, or coming after him.

Not that the latter would be a problem, mind, it was just that… One didn’t take one’s twelve-year-old brother with you to a whorehouse! A very particular whorehouse in fact, one with a tenacious reputation for its dedication to cleanliness, but still a whorehouse

Itachi entered the lobby and met the wary gaze of the proprietor, Sakura-Kaa-san. Her establishment, The House of the Night Blossom Tree, used to be the place she sold her favors from, as her still-handsome looks would contest to. She had inherited the name Sakura when she had inherited the House from the previous Sakura.

Itachi didn’t know anything about the previous owner, but the current one was very smart, and exceptionally observant.

“Orchid will be free in a few minutes, Itachi-kun, if you’re willing to wait.” She said respectfully when she noticed that Itachi was a little on the tired side. The two Lady’s he favored were the languid yet thorough Orchid and the energetic and inventive Apple Blossom. Itachi didn’t have the energy that night to humor Apple Blossom, which would disappoint the Lady greatly.

The women here were pro’s pros, they didn’t take favorites normally. Itachi was a favorite; he was as concerned with his bed partner’s satisfaction as he was with his own. This had the effect of making the Lady’s work even harder to show their appreciation, but surely Itachi hadn’t known that they’d do that, right?

Well, whatever; when the exotic Orchid saw whom it was that she would serve next, her face lit up with a quiet smile, while Apple Blossom pouted as discreetly as she could, which wasn’t very. Itachi promised that he’d be back in a few days, then followed Orchid up the stairs to the small rooms where the Lady’s served their customers. It turned into a very pleasant night for them both .
When Ninja mercenaries went looking for work, it was often difficult to find. Work usually found them, and the more famous, or infamous, your name, the more often you had clients. Still, it was always useful to keep your ear to the ground for rumors of a job that needed doing that may suit you talents.

So when Sasuke heard a rumor over breakfast that a man need a skilled bodyguard or two, but needed trustworthy ones above all else, he stretched his ears to take in every detail he could to take to his brother. He had to take the information to his brother, instead of his brother getting it for himself, because Itachi was still in bed; an unusual state of affairs since it was usually Sasuke who would laze about in the morning.

But the event of Sasuke getting up before Itachi did happen sometimes, and more often in this village than out. The younger brother had his suspicions as to why this happened, and he planned to confirm it soon, but… If it was what he thought it was, then it really wasn’t his business beyond that.

Sasuke finished his breakfast, thanked the waitress, the young adult daughter of the innkeeper with her eye latched on Itachi; and trotted up the back stairs to the guest rooms. Sasuke tapped on the closed door to insure that if Itachi was in the midst of changing, he could warn his little brother off before Sasuke barged in. A vague grunt answered the pre-teen’s tap.

Still asleep? Must have been quite a night for him! Sasuke poked his head in and watched as Itachi grabbed the spare pillow so he could hide his head under it. The younger Uchiha brother cast a wry glance out the tiny window to judge the hour and glared fiercely at the prone form of what was supposed to be his role model. It’s two hours to midday! Even I’m not this lazy! It’s more than time for my dear brother to be up and at least semi-coherent.

Sasuke cocked his head as he regarded the problem his brother presented. Past experiences had revealed that when Itachi did not want to get up, he did not want to get up. It could become a bit of a hassle rousing him, a hassle the younger Uchiha would rather avoid right now, thank you!

Itachi was laying sprawled face down, one arm hugging one pillow, the other arm holding the second pillow over his head to block out the little sunlight that made it through the dinky window.

Everything about the room was dinky, except the bed, but that was standard in the common inns that the two could afford. Even floor space was at a premium, let alone bed space. It was a measure of the innkeeper’s fondness for the two brothers that they got the small room to themselves and that the bed they shared would easily hold four people, making it very comfortable for two.

But that was the heart of the current problem; the large bed took up perhaps seventy-five to eighty percent of the room, making Itachi’s removal from it difficult. So perhaps it’d be best if I found another way to rouse him. Sasuke grinned mischievously; Itachi’s feet were sticking out from under his blanket, and he wasn’t wearing socks. No one aside from Sasuke knew that the fearsome ex-Konoha Anbu was exceedingly ticklish…

Five minutes later found an exceedingly grumpy Itachi wide awake, sitting on top of his little brother, arms crossed over his chest, grousing.

“C’mon, lemme up!” Sasuke said, trying not to eat bed sheet, which was hard in his position, “I could have found a worse way to wake you up, ya’ know!”

“You could have not woken me up in the first place!” Itachi growled down at his brother. Sasuke was in the position his elder brother had been in, sprawled face down on the bed. The big difference was that Itachi hadn’t had a person half again his own weight sitting in the middle of his back pressing him down.

“Yeah but then, umble-mumble….” The younger Uchiha tried to say as the bed sheets partly stifled him.

“What was that?” Itachi asked, mildly curious in spite of himself. His blood was beginning to flow at a less lethargic rate now.

“Lemme up and I tell- umf!” Sasuke managed. Deciding that the boy had been punished enough, the young adult reluctantly got off of his current seat. Sasuke sat up, turned his back to his brother, stuck out his chin and lower lip and turned stubborn. Here he was, trying to give his brother important news and he wound up being sat on! How’s that for gratitude?!

Itachi let out an exasperated sigh; he could tell where this was going. “I let you up as you asked, now what was so important that you had to- had to-tickle me awake?” the elder brother’s lips twisted in distaste, he hated the fact that he was ticklish, and hated the fact that Sasuke would exploit that trait at times even more.

“I don’t know that I want to tell you now.” Sasuke growled, crossing his arms over-dramatically across his chest. He could feel Itachi watching him with narrowed eyes, plotting something… and tensed his muscles ready to move. He was right to do that, but it didn’t help him any. Just as Sasuke got ready to leap away, Itachi pounced, grabbing at the younger boy’s arms, making him yelp in surprise.

Sasuke was able to partly squirm away, keeping one arm free. He reached for one of the pillows so he could beat Itachi with it, but was forced to continuously dart his arm out of the older sib’s reach as the ex-Anbu tried to pin him down.

“Enough of this, Sasuke!” the older Uchiha said, and ducked under the pillow that the younger had managed to grab, “I’m not letting you go until you tell me what’s so Gods-damned important!”

“And I’m not telling you until you let me go! Ha!” Sasuke successfully managed to bap Itachi in the side of is face, which startled him into loosing his grip with a yelp of his own. The younger sib scouted back across the bed and managed to turn around to face his brother and defend himself against the pillow Itachi now wielded. Itachi whapped, Sasuke blocked and found himself partly pinned with his brother’s knee on his chest.

“Tell me!” Itachi warned, involuntarily almost-grinning.

“Nu-uh!” Sasuke responded, fighting down what was not a giggle. Uchiha’s didn’t giggle; they chuckled, laughed, chortled and even cackled. They did not giggle. But the not-giggle partly escaped in a snicker as the light quarrel turned into an all out pillow-fight until-

“Are we having fun?” a mature woman’s voice drawled wearily from the partly open door. Leaning against the door frame was the innkeeper’s wife, veteran mother of five energetic boys of her own. She was neither impressed nor intimidated by the Uchiha’s prowess in battle; when they were in her establishment, they were just another couple of rambunctious boys, just with a touch more dignity that made them easier to control.

Sasuke struggled to hold down a full-out laugh as Itachi froze as he stared in shock at the woman with his pillow still raised to whap Sasuke, turning beet-red in humiliation. “Yes ma’am, we’ll stop now. Sorry for disturbing you.” The younger brother managed to say.

“Whatever, just don’t burst my pillows unless you’re ready to replace them.” She said, giving both of them The Look that all successful mothers everywhere develop to control their offspring, or any other young person in their presence.

“Yes ma’am, we understand, ma’am.” Sasuke said humbly.

“Very well,” She said, moving on her way with her bundle of linens. Sasuke worked his way out from underneath his still-frozen brother and lost his fight against the humor of the situation. He hunched over, laughing silently as Itachi slowly un-froze.

The elder sib glared at the younger and whapped him lightly with his pillow.

“Now, now,” Sasuke laughed, “you don’t want to start that again and bring her back now do you?” He fell over onto his back, laughing helplessly as Itachi turned red again.

“Are you entirely done yet?” the elder brother growled. Sasuke shook his head as he curled up on his side laughing so hard that he made no noise aside from breathless gasps for air. Itachi sat himself down at the far corner of the bed, sourly waiting for Sasuke to regain control of himself.

“Now,” he said as Sasuke went from convulsive laughter to normal hard laughter to the sporadic breathless chuckle, “what was it that you were trying to tell me earlier?”

“Job- #snicker# -heard about it- #chuckle# -down stairs- #snigger#.”

“And why couldn’t you tell me about this in the first place?”

Sasuke rolled onto to his back to look up at his brother. “Because you were asleep and didn’t want to wake up!” He laughed softly. Itachi snorted and reclined to lay belly down next to his brother while leaning on his elbows.

“Alright, fair enough,” he admitted, looking down at his brother. “What can you tell me about this job?” Sasuke complied, propping himself up on his elbows to look at his brother more evenly. The pre-teen had done a remarkable job and relayed the information he had like a pro. He stated clearly that what he had heard was rumor, who he had overheard talking about it and finally the rumors themselves.

This was more than enough information for Itachi to be intrigued. “Lets head down and see if these knowledgeable gentlemen are still here, shall we?”

“Sure.” Sasuke agreed, hopping off the bed. The two headed back downstairs and Itachi had breakfast while talking with the individuals that his brother ID‘ed for him. The three in question were people that the brothers had seen before and Itachi had actually worked with one of them, and so knew that one at least to be trustworthy.

The more details that Itachi received, the more he wanted to look into this job. Apparently there was a rich man with a pretty, young, reclusive daughter who wanted a bodyguard or two to keep himself and his daughter safe while they traveled to some unspecified location. So far, no one who had been interviewed had succeeded, but the people who had been interviewed were nowhere near the same category as the Uchiha brothers.

“Thank you gentlemen for your time.” Itachi said politely while he finished eating. The innkeeper’s daughter came and cleared away the dishes, making doe-eyes at the elder brother, which he ignored. “I hope you three aren’t interested in this potential job?”

One of the men laughed, “Heck fire no! Look at us, we ain’t in the same noble class as this feller’s s’pposed to be in, but you twain are.” The other two men smiled ruefully, and without malice. “Na, we know our place, an’ we know that when some high-class gent’s lookin’ fer guards, he’s lookin’ for somthin’ near his own class.”

“Not that we b’grudge ya that.” Another of the men said, “Nay, you two’s alright. You may be noble-class, by ye don’t put on airs like some o’ them will.” Itachi sat back, taken a little by surprise and unexpectedly touched. He knew that the ladies were fond of him, but he hadn’t known that he and Sasuke had the respect of the working men as well.

He cleared his throat self-consciously, “Well, uh, thanks?” He cleared his throat again and glared at Sasuke who was smirking at his discomfort. The other men chuckled while Sasuke ducked in mock fear. “Anyway, I think we’ll take our leave, thank you again.” The men waved him on kindly and went back to their beers. Although how they can stand alcohol so early in the day I will never know.

“What are you grinning at?” He growled down at his brother when they walked out into the street. Sasuke turned wide, innocent eyes on him. Innocent… Bull…

“Why, nothing Nii-san. Why would I be smiling about anything?” The pre-teen responded. Itachi snorted his disbelief, but decided to leave it.

“So, what do you think?” No need to state about what.

“I think that they were definitely retelling what they heard as accurately as possible.” Sasuke said, “They believe that they were telling the truth as well.” Itachi nodded; he sometimes had trouble gauging the emotions of others and relied upon Sasuke to read people for him. The elder brother hadn’t been let down thus far, what Sasuke read was accurate, and if he had trouble reading someone he said so.

“Do you want to look into this job?” Itachi never forced Sasuke into anything if he could help it, and they didn’t need to take a job just yet, but it was always a good idea to take what they could when it was available.

“I think we should look into it.” The younger brother said thoughtfully, “We can always refuse, and we just might be refused ourselves.”

The older brother nodded, then flinched as he felt an all-too-familiar sensation. It was the sensation of the prey being sized up by the predator, hoping for an ambush. Sasuke noticed the flinch.

“What-?”

“You know, I’d forgotten about those two!” Itachi said nervously, casting a frantic glance over his shoulder. The younger Uchiha glanced back as well and started to walk more quickly when he saw what, or rather who, was making his brother nervous.

“How in the Nine Hells did you forget about them?” He yelped. The elder Uchiha started to move quickly as well.

“Well, you know, that whole selective memory thing?”

“Yeah, right, great…”

“Itachi-Sama!!” Cried out one love-stricken young woman.

“Sasuke-kun!!” Cried out her equally love-stricken younger sister.

“I’ll be running now.” Itachi stated calmly, matching action to words.

“Right behind you.” Sasuke stated with equal calmness as he too ran at near-top speed away from the two village girls who had decided that the Uchiha brothers were their soul mates. Needless to say, the brothers didn’t agree with them. The long time residents who had seen this before lined up near the road to watch and began to take bets on whether or not the sisters would catch the brothers this time around. From the looks of things, this was a well established past time. The brothers didn’t agree with that either!
A.S.: Authors Notes 1: I know, I know! The bros are WAY Out Of Character. But note Exhibit A: the difference in the childhood. Technically, Itachi still counts as a child at age thirteen, and Sasuke definitely was at age six. Both left the village and relied on each other for company. This is known; what I haven’t yet described is how people behave when they are around those who genuinely enjoy each other’s company.

In my made up world here, Itachi sincerely wanted Sasuke around him, and Sasuke sincerely wanted to be around Itachi, compare this to the series timeline. Itachi goes off and joins Akastsuki, Sasuke is seen as the Uchiha massacre survivor, not Sasuke-the-kid. Believe me, who you’re with and how they view does affect how you act if this condition lasts long enough. I use myself as an example; I hung out with a person who hung out with quasi-law-breakers. My behavior did change a little when I was with her because she and her group viewed those who obey the law and like cops as unworthy of respect. I changed back when I disassociated with her and hung out with my law-abiding friends more.

Compare this story with Itachi, who’s to say that he wasn’t associating with Akastsuki a bit even before the massacre? In my world this clearly doesn’t happen and he hung out with the law-respecting Sasuke the most. Thus…. Well, I hope that came across coherently.

As for Sasuke, he’s hanging out with his older brother who is unable to easily express affection, but would respond to Sasuke’s expressions. So, my way of think on this is, Itachi would not only accept Sasuke acting expressively, he’d encourage it by responding positively to Sasuke initiating an exchange.

This kind of encouragement, starting at age six and continuing for six-plus years would have the effect of altering behavior, of that I have no doubt. And touching back on Itachi, for Sasuke’s sake he’s going to try and alter his own behavior, and Sasuke is going to encourage him by responding positively to any show of positive emotion. I know it sounds like I’m thinking about this too much, but that’s because I am. I’m trying to make all of this sound plausible, and that requires thought.
A.S. Author Comments: Tee-hee-hee, I am so evil…
Itachi: Yes you are! Now will you give me that Gods damned crowbar already??!
A.S.: Yes, yes, fine! Here you are. #Hands Itachi a crow-bar which he first uses to try and pry psycho-lady off, then uses it to beat her with# #snicker# anyway, I hope you all had as much fun with this chapter as I did. Sasuke and Itachi having a pillow fight… now that’s something you don’t see ever day!
Sasuke: For good reason. Nii-san are you done with that crowbar yet?
Itachi: Erk! Not quite!
A.S.: #snigger# Movin’ on, I’m still ridiculously busy, and only likely to get busier. I need to get good grades this semester and, um, so far not happening! Heh-heh…
Sasuke: Slacker.
A.S.: Yeah, well… Next chapter will hopefully come out some time next month if things go well, but if it’s late, don’t worry. I like this story line, I will continue it. I have four other fics that deserve my attention and I work by which one is in line for an update next. This fic just go an update, so it’s last in line for its turn. Weelp, until next time!
‘Tachi & Sasu: Will you make these freak-women disappear already?!?!?
A.S.: Fine, fine, ruin my fun….