Title: Before the Mist
Pairings: none. just some Uchiha brotherly reminiscing.
Summary: Rain brings back memories for Uchiha Itachi.
Disclaimer: It wasn't me.
Warnings: some angst. maybe some OoC-ness. Possibility of not making any sense.
A/N: I wrote this after watching an episode of House. Try to guess which one! It's recent, to give you a hint.
"Where are you going?"
The eldest son of Uchiha Fugaku and Mikoto paused with his hand on the back door. He turned back and saw his baby brother staring at him with wide, curious eyes. Itachi smiled benignly. Sasuke was supposed to be in bed.
"Out," he replied secretively.
"But it's raining. Okaasan and Otousan said to stay inside," Sasuke tried to argue.
"I know." Itachi smirked and turned around again. He slid the door open, letting in the sound of rain drops splattering onto the foliage and dirt beyond the back porch. But even through the soothing ambiance he could hear Sasuke take a few hasty steps forward.
"I want to go!" he said, already standing precariously on the ledge of the living room floor. "Take me with you."
Itachi looked back and saw the sad, furrowed eyebrows above watery eyes, and he gave a quiet sigh. He didn't spend as much time as he would have liked with his brother, but he had something else he had to do. "Alright," he conceded.
The enormous smile on Sasuke's face nearly made Itachi's heart stop because there was nothing that compared to the look of joy on his little brother's face. As Sasuke scrambled to put his sandals on, Itachi added, "How about I share something with you, Otouto? It always makes me feel better after doing work at the academy."
"What is it?" Sasuke asked, grabbing a hold of Itachi's hand.
"Playing in the rain."
They stayed outside in the late summer night for what seemed like hours. The chill of the wind was mild and therefore hardly noticeable to the two siblings playing hide and seek in a forest nearby. Itachi was mindful not to stray too far and was wary of things his four year old brother wouldn't have to worry about until much later. He was intent on preserving Sasuke's youth and freedom for as long as possible; he wanted for his little brother what had been denied to him at that age.
They snuck back inside. Itachi had to use all he'd learned at the academy to keep him and Sasuke from getting caught. He led Sasuke into his room, changed his clothes and dried off his hair. Their parents would surely hear the water running from the bathroom, and he didn't feel like explaining why Sasuke had had to take another shower. Lying in front of the child wasn't something Itachi was ready to do just yet.
Sasuke sneezed as Itachi tucked him into bed, but the younger sibling just smiled right afterwards and Itachi didn't think anything of it.
"Good night," Itachi whispered, but Sasuke's breathing had already evened out.
The next morning, Itachi woke up early to get to the academy. His mother had already prepared him breakfast and a bento for lunch. Sasuke was usually up with her, but he wasn't at the table waiting for him this time. He must have been tired from staying up late, he thought. He left without anyone sending him off.
When he came back home late that night from training on his own, all the lights were off. Itachi stepped in and padded around into the kitchen until a note caught his eye. Sasuke was running a high fever and he had to be admitted into the hospital.
The journey from home to the shinobi hospital had been a blur. Itachi only remembered the words on the slip of paper and the white sterile room where Sasuke was sleeping. There were so many wires and tubes connected to him that Itachi didn't know if he was looking at his baby brother or a biologically engineered test subject. Sasuke's chest rose and fell, but just barely, and sometimes the falls were accompanied by shuddering. He was so pale that he could probably blend in with the sheets and blankets that covered him. Itachi didn't know what to do, but he did know that it was all his fault.
Mikoto was sleeping on the chair by the window, and when she woke up she saw Itachi sitting by the bed, holding Sasuke's hand while he slept half bent over the mattress. She woke him up and told him to go home, that he had school the next day and that Otousan should be home, but he shook her off and remained where he was. She saw that his eyes were red, both his irises and sclera, and left him alone.
Itachi awoke on his own about the time that he usually would to go to the academy and found the doctor checking Sasuke's vitals.
"What's wrong with him?" Itachi asked. "Is he going to get better?"
"He has pneumonia, but we're treating him now," the man replied. "He'll be better in a week or so."
"Is it my fault?"
"I don't think so."
Itachi looked at Sasuke's pale face and the dry, closed lips that he wanted so much to curl in a smile. "We played in the rain the other night. I just wanted him to be happy. Will he hate me?" Because Itachi's worst fear was to make the person he loved the most hate him. The rest of the world could fade away, if only his brother would stay by his side.
"The best part about being a big brother," the doctor said with a reassuring smile, "is that your younger brother will love you no matter what. That bond, I think, is the most difficult to damage or break."
When Sasuke was discharged a week and a half later, Itachi watched from behind as Mikoto zipped up his jacket and kissed him on the forehead. The rosy color had returned to his cheeks, and his eyes were wide and bright again. His pink lips were soft and stretched out in a goofy smile. He hopped off the bed and went to Itachi. His thin arms wrapped around the older boys waist, and even though no words were exchanged, Itachi understood that nothing had changed between them.
"Sorry I was sleeping for so long, Aniki."
Itachi returned the embrace and buried his face in the crook of Sasuke's slender neck.
--- --- --- ---
"We need to get a move on, Itachi-san. Leader said we'd have to be at our rendezvous point by tomorrow."
"I know, Kisame. I'm just waiting for the rain to stop."
The Mist nukenin quirked an eyebrow at his reticent partner sitting by the window of their shared hotel room. Itachi had been in that same position since the downpour had started two hours ago. They had been partners for not even a week and Kisame was already starting to have his doubts, but this was Uchiha Itachi, the S-class nukenin of Konoha who had annihilated his entire clan. He supposed that all homicidal maniacs had their idiosyncrasies. Kisame had his own concerning his notoriety. Itachi, apparently, had a thing concerning rain.
"Why? It won't kill you."
"Do you have any siblings?"
"I can't say I do."
"Then you wouldn't understand."
Kisame was silenced by the reply, and he just stared at Itachi's back a while longer, a flicker of sympathy flashing in his grey eyes before he settled on his bed. As he rested Samehade on the edge beside him, he actually considered what slaughtering your entire clan would entail. All bonds would be severed; anyone who Itachi had ever considered family – blood or no – was lost. Itachi didn't seem like the type to forge any such bonds, anyway, but Kisame had an inkling that Itachi had lost more than he let on.
"Did you?" he asked. He saw the pale, slender hand resting on one knee flinch slightly. That was enough to answer his question. "Nevermind."
Once the weather had fallen to a light drizzle an hour later, they stepped out onto the mist the rain had left in its wake.
Fin.