A/N: Hello there. This is a little something that it's been on my head like a few weeks ago now, and I been working on it for the last few days. I initially wanted to be a one shot, but it turned out way to long for my taste to be oneshot, so I divided in three chapters, I finished writing the story, but I would update it in the fallowing days.

Warning: Towards the end in ch 2, there would be some disciplinary actions towards a minor, nothing over the top, nor graphic, just a simple paragraph.

Also, be warned that in the last chapter could be OOC, but i tried to keep them in chapter as I could.

Edit 4/30/15: Revised and edited by my awesome beta een nihc, thank you!

Itachi was heading home from a simple D-Rank mission, as simple as it could be. The twelve-year-old protégé had the simple task to stop a wild boar from destroying the vegetation field, one of the biggest farms on the outskirt of the village. His little brother was standing a few feet away from him. Sasuke was telling the story of how his awesome Nii-san knocked down the over-sized animal for the fourth time. The six-year-old had insisted to tag along even after Itachi told him not to.

The elder brother could not help but smile. Even if he was there and knew how the story went, he still paid attention to the excited kid. After stopping by the tea house to get some rice balls for Sasuke and some dango for Itachi, they headed home.

Itachi opened the door; letting his Otouto went in first. Sasuke took his shoes off and placed them tidily at the entrance, all the while still talking about the big adventure of the day. Itachi proceeded to do the same, but he noticed something that was not there when he left the house - his father's sandals. His father was supposed to be at an important meeting at the police headquarter. He wasn't sure why his father was being home early.

Just then, Fugaku walked to the entrance, arms folded against his chest, still wearing his military uniform. The younger Uchiha, still oblivious of his father's presences kept relating his tale, "And then the way you landed was so cool."

Fugaku seldom smiled but at that very moment, it was clear to Itachi that he was not pleased at all. Noticing that his big brother was looking at something or someone behind him, Sasuke turned around and he was stunned to meet his father's furious gaze. Startled, Sasuke took a step back unconsciously and bumped into his brother who was standing behind him.

"Take a shower first. Then I want both of you to meet me in the meditation room in fifteen minutes." Having that said, Fugaku left the two brothers and walked towards the said room.

Sasuke gulped. His father was furious but he didn't know why. Itachi helped Sasuke to remove his archery set from his back and said with a warm smile, "We better get going. I'll help you to wash your hair."

"Nii-san, I'm not a little kid anymore. I can do it by myself."

"Really? If this is the case, why did you sleep in my bed last night after claiming you heard noises?" Itachi teased.

"I- I just wanted to be close to you. In case we were under attack, I could aid you." Sasuke's face turned red but he didn't want to appear weak in front of his brother.

"Oh I see, thank you. Come on, let's hurry before father gets angrier."

They took the quickest shower they had in their lives and changed into their casual clothing in record time. And with just one minute to spare, the Uchiha brothers were kneeling on the wooden floor of the meditation room. Their father, who was in front of them, was now wearing his usual kimono.

Fugaku started talking to his sons with his usual tone, which had always sounded harsh to people who weren't familiar with him. "Today I was supposed to chair a rather important meeting. However, I was being interrupted by an old man who said he needed to talk to me urgently in the middle of the meeting. This man turned out to be a very grateful farmer who wished to express his thanks to 'the Uchihas Brothers' for saving his farm from a wild boar with a wagon full of fresh vegetable." The Uchiha leader paused momentarily to study his children's expressions. As usual, Itachi's face didn't betray any emotion. Sasuke, on the other hand, seemed to be confused and anxious.

"When I left this morning, I have already heard of your mission, Itachi. However, if I recall correctly, you, Sasuke, were to be in this house. And the reason why I allowed you to be alone in the house, instead of following your mother to visit her aunt at the hospital, was to let you practice archery. In our training grounds, not in your brother's mission."

Both of the Uchiha brothers remained silent and kept their eyes looking down to the floor when they finally understood why their father was furious. Neither of them dared to refute their father's words. Sasuke started to worry that not even his Nii-san would be able to escape their father's rage.

"Sasuke?" Fugaku asked.

Sasuke looked at his brother nervously, eyes pleading for help. And the older boy did not have the heart to turn him down.

"Father, I-"

Fugaku continued to glare at his youngest son as he held up a hand to stop his elder son from speaking further. Itachi promptly shut his mouth and shared an apologetic look with the boy next to him. Sasuke had no choice but to speak for himself and Itachi.

"I just wanted to help Nii-san. He said not to follow him but I didn't listen."

This time Fugaku turned his attention to Itachi for an explanation. Itachi began explaining, "Once in the farm, I let him stay and…" But before he could finish, he was cut off by his father once again.

"Sasuke, go to your room and wait for me there. I'll be with you shortly after I'm done talking to your brother."

With that, Sasuke got up to his feet, bowed his head and retreated from the room as fast as he could. Once Fugaku deemed Sasuke was far enough from earshot, he resumed the little conversation he had with his heir.

"You let your brother stay? I would never imagine such irresponsible action from you."

"With all due respect, father, he was already there. Telling him to go away would be useless. You know he is stubborn and he always do as he pleased. I preferred to let him believe that he was helping me, on my command, then let him act on his own."

"Your obligation was to take him back to the compound and make sure that he didn't follow you again, which you shouldn't have let it happen in the first place." Now, the Uchiha leader was raising his voice.

But Itachi was unfazed by it as he continued to explain the situation calmly to his father. "I know it was my mistake. It was a simple mission that took me no more than five minutes to complete. Bring him back, convince him to stay and then going back, would take me more time - time that would allowed the animal to do more destruction to the fields. I had a mission to complete. I'm a ninja who sworn to protect and aid this village, no matter what. And that's what I did." The older boy never raised his voice once, nor showed disrespect towards his father. He understood perfectly why his father was mad.

"Yes, you are a shinobi of Konoha. But, you are also part of the Uchiha clan. You are not a mere member of it. You are my heir. Your duty is to protect the clan and not expose them to danger. Your loyalty for your clan should be above anything else, including the village."

"I'm perfectly aware of my duties towards the clan and Konoha. My actions today didn't betray my responsibilities as a member of this clan, or as a shinobi. Sasuke was never at risk…"

"Not at risk?" Fugaku yelled, "'When I fell and saw it charging at me, I thought I was done for it.' That's what your brother said."

"If you've heard that, then you must've also heard when he said, 'But then, Nii-san, you knocked that beast over in a blink of an eye.'"

Itachi never talked back to anyone, especially to his parents. They could accuse him for betraying the clan, Konoha or the Country of Fire, but not his precious little brother. "I would never jeopardize my little brother's safety. I'm more than competent to protect him, you know that. I will not let him get hurt, I promise you that much. And I give you my word that this won't happen again. And now, knowing how much this troubled you, I'll make sure that this would be the first and last time it happened."

Fugaku grunted as he tried to find the words to counter the mature-beyond-his-years boy in front of him. He knew that most of his eldest son's words were true. He could entrust Sasuke to Itachi without a doubt. Itachi was an elite ninja and he would make a great leader one day but he was also a caring older brother. Questioning his loyalty towards his younger brother was unfair. However, Fugaku was a concerned father after all.

Deciding to let this subject slipped, Fugaku spoke, "All I need to hear is that you will not let this happen again. And since you understand that, you are dismissed. I strongly suggest for you to rest in your room and stay there until dinner time." With that, he got up on his feet and walked out of the meditation room. Now, there was another child of his that needed to comprehend the seriousness of this matter.

TBC...

A/N: I don't really know, nor didn't found the exactly ages of Itachi and Sasuke when they did this mission, If I had to guess for Sasuke height I would said he is about 10, but I know that by that time the clan was long gone, so I choose the younger ages, they could fit for my fic.

Please let me know what you think.