A/N: I was thinking. This was posted originally in my fanfic, GenderBenderNaruto: Sneaks and Peeks, (and still is, in fact) but as I thought about it, I came to feel that it was a fic in itself, seeing as this is completed and I don't really see where it would honestly ever fit in my GenderBenderNaruto Universe in it's main plot. This is more like a fanfic of a fanfic, if you will. So, here you have it. Enjoy.

(Original) A/N: Okay, this was just a little thing I wrote while thinking about my two Uchiha sisters again. I was thinking about how in all these fanfics I've read (Specifically *coughKisaItacough* ones), where Itachi has had a fear of thunderstorms so... yeah. Here you go!

Title: Thunderstorms

Words: 1606

Characters: FemSasuke (Sakaye), FemItachi (Ichiko), FemNaruto (Nariko), GuySakura (Seiichi), FemKakashi (Kairi)

Warnings: None

Pairings: None

Disclaimer/Claimer: While the original Naruto characters do not belong to me, these GenderBender creations are mine. Do not steal them.... EVER.

'This' means Thoughts

"This" means Talking

Japanese Vocabulary:

Aneki: Polite Form of Older Sister

Sakaye's eyes snapped open, wide and dark with confusion. She only had a moment to wonder why she had woken up in the middle of the night when her room was lit up by a bright streak of lightening that shone through her window followed by the booming crash of thunder.

Ah, so that was it.

The six year old smiled slightly, eyes shining with wonder as she listened to the pounding of the rain upon their roof. It sounded like they were having a big storm tonight. The dark-haired girl's grin widened at that thought.

Unlike most children her age, Sakaye was not frightened of thunderstorms. Never, not even when she was very small and unable to speak. Instead, the storms had excited her. She loved to sit by the window and watching the dark sky just as a brief flash of lightening would pierce through it. Then, anxiously she'd count the seconds until that loud crack of thunder would resound through the air and she'd grin eagerly, ready to start all over again.

The rain was particularly soothing too. She loved listening to the rain drops as they were tossed about by the wind before crashing onto the roof, or the trees, or whatever they ended up landing on, and drenching whatever the object was. She would've liked to have gone out herself so they could pound on her too, but the one time she had, her mother had gotten angry with her. She hadn't risked doing so since.

Another streak of lightening lit up Sakaye's dark eyes, revealing the awestruck glint within them, as she counted the seconds excitedly.

1.

2.

3...

There was an explosion of thunder as it ripped through the air, seeming almost impossibly loud.

The girl grinned widely. The storm was very close tonight. She closed her eyes and laid down on her bed, ready to let the rain and the wind lull her to sleep...

...but then she heard a noise.

Sakaye's eyes snapped open once more as she pushed herself up and glanced at the door. Her eyebrows were furrowed and her black orbs shone with confusion. What was...?

Her room lit up and the thunder cracked through the air once more.

There it was again. She was positive she heard it this time. Slowly, Sakaye pushed the covers off her small form and twisted so that she could slide off the side of the bed. Carefully, she padded over towards the door and, gently so that it wouldn't make too much noise, slid it open.

She poked her head out into the hallway and cautiously looked around, listening once more. There was the boom of thunder and she heard the sound again. She furrowed her brows and stepped fully out in the hallway, peering at the door near the end in confusion. She could of sworn that she'd heard...

Again, the thunder came and Sakaye's eyes widened. The sound was coming from Ichiko's room.

Silently, the six year old walked down the hall and placed her hand upon her sister's door. After a moment's hesitation, she slowly slid it open. Anxiously, she peered into the darkness and strained her ears once more.

"Aneki?..." she whispered softly.

A bright flash of lightening lit up the room revealing her sister's face, dark eyes startled and frightened tears rolling down her cheeks.

Sakaye stared at her sister's dark form, eyes wide with shock.

Her older sister obviously had not been expecting her, because the eleven year old quickly scrubbed the wetness from her face and cleared her throat. "Sakaye-"

There was another explosion of thunder and Ichiko cringed, tightening her grip on her pillow as she choked back a whimper.

It was then that it clicked for the small girl. Her big sister, Ichiko Uchiha, the one she admired so much, the one thought to be the great prodigy of the Uchiha clan, the one who seemed so strong and could look fifty enemy nin in the eye without fear...

...was afraid of thunderstorms.

Sakaye was bewildered. And here she thought that her sister was perfect... She smiled slightly. Sometimes it felt good to be wrong.

"Sakaye..."

The dark-haired girl snapped her eyes towards her sister who was watching her, eyes anxious with a trace of fear that the storm seemed to have brought about.

Ichiko stared at her younger sister and swallowed. "What are you doing here? You should be in bed..." Her sister paused and her eyes turned vaguely concerned. "...Did the storm frighten you?"

Sakaye blinked. What was her Aneki talking about? She knew thunderstorms didn't scare her, but as she prepared to correct her older sister, she stopped, and stared at her for a moment.

There was a boom of thunder in the distance and her sister flinched. Taking in Ichiko's fearful eyes and tear stained cheeks, the young Uchiha came to a realization.

Her sister wasn't asking her if she was scared.... she was looking for an excuse to keep her there.

Sakaye almost smiled again but stopped herself. She found herself remembering the dark nights where she'd been frightened by the vague demon or hungry monster that would haunt her dreams and turn it into a nightmare. On those nights, she would find herself sneaking to her sister's room, where she would open the door and stare at her sister's bed, eyes wide and scared, until Ichiko would sigh softly and sit up, lifting up the covers so that Sakaye could join her. The dark-haired girl would then quickly pad over and crawl into the offered space before curling close to her sister. Ichiko would wrap her arms around the small girl and run her fingers through her dark hair, softly murmuring words of comfort, maybe even hum softly if she felt up to it, until her little sister had fallen into slumber.

Not once did her Aneki question and not once did Sakaye admit to the fact that she'd fallen prey to a nonexistent monster.

The small Uchiha lifted her head up and stared, two pairs of identical dark orbs locking, wide and unblinking. In that same moment, it was as if both came to a silent understanding.

Sakaye nodded her head once in answer to her sister's question, and with a trace of relief within her eyes, Ichiko lifted up the covers just as she had many times before. The dark-haired girl quickly padded over to her sister's bed and crawled onto the bed before wiggling her way to the older girl's side. The eleven year old smiled slightly and wrapped her arms around her little sister.

Though her sister's grip grew just a little too tight after the next crash of thunder, Sakaye stayed silent and allowed her sister to take this comfort she wouldn't admit she needed. And as Ichiko had done to her, the younger Uchiha asked no questions, only pretended that she was the one who had grown frightened and in her fear had turned to her Aneki in the dark night.

After all, her sister had done the same thing for her so many times before. Wasn't it about time she returned the favor?

And with that, Sakaye laid her head against Ichiko's chest and, this time, allowed the sound of her sister's heartbeat lull her to sleep.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Sakaye?"

The dark-haired girl tore her gaze from the rain pounding outside the small shop Team 7 had stopped in to escape the storm and towards her male teammate.

"Are you alright?" the pink-haired preteen asked, olive green orbs observing her with vague concern.

The twelve year old blinked, the familiarity of that emotion reminding her what she had been thinking of moments before. She glanced back at the pounding rain, mind turning over the odd memory that seemed to have come from nowhere.

Seiichi frowned at the female Uchiha's silence, and opened his mouth to speak again.

"Hey! I think it's letting up!" their blonde teammate cried excitedly. She threw her hands in the air before scrambling outside. "Finally! I though we were going to be stuck in there forever..."

The pink-haired boy rolled his eyes and forgetting that he'd wanted to persist in his questioning, followed the hyperactive ninja, complaining about how loud she was being.

Sakaye stared after them, watching the few droplets that dripped down from the edge of the roof for a moment, her mind still wandering, and wondering...

She glanced to the side and noticed her sensei watching her from the corner of her eye, supposedly still reading her book. They stared at each other for a moment, silent and waiting, though for what neither knew.

The quiet was broken with Nariko's loud cry of "Come on! What're you two waiting for!?" and Sakaye looked away.

"Hn," the girl said softly and noncommittally, before following her teammates, silver-haired sensei not far behind.

And watching the slowly-fading, dark storm clouds and the small droplets of water dribbling off the tree leaves, Sakaye still wondered...

Who comforted her Aneki now?...

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this! And if you've already read it in my other fanfic... Ah well! Enjoy it all the same!