Necropolis demon

Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters are the property of Kishimoto-sensei, all hail Kishimoto-sensei. Oh…and if there's a daycare center out there called 'PlayHaus' I don't own it too.

Necro: I know the summary is in Sasuke POV but this starts with normal POV, later on I'll be incorporating some Sasuke POV in this ok. I'm just going with the flow right now. This is gonna have parts, this chap is CHILDHOOD…basically the two Uchihas are growing up in this fic ok. Uh, …I got the inspiration from a dream wherein Sasuke and Itachi were chibis and chibiSasuke was crying all the time while chibiItachi was trying to make him quiet down…it was so cute!…then I woke up and thought "hey…was that a plot bunny?" so yeah…this is AU, set in the real world…yeah. I was SUPPOSED to be concentrating on my Bloodlust 11…another ItaSasu fic of mine as most of you know, but I got side-tracked a bit when I got the idea for this fic, Bloodlust is still being worked on don't worry.

oO…A BrOtH3r's Pr0mIse…Oo

o0…CHILDHOOD…0o

teh ag3 of InNoc3nce

Life has always been rather simple for the innocent children of the wealthy Uchiha family, Uchiha Itachi the young 8 year old prodigy was quietly reading a College Algebra book, a book that for many people would be considered to be rather advance for one so young. On the other side of the playpen was his adorable younger brother Uchiha Sasuke playing with a simple ball as most 4 year olds are known to be so fond of. Although Itachi hated playpens, often saying that he was 'too old for such childish retaining' he agreed to be sent to 'PlayHaus', a small daycare center so that he could look after his sweet little brother while their parents were away on yet another one of their frequent business trips.

"Stop it!" at the sound of the cry Itachi immediately looked up from his book and scanned the room for Sasuke.

"Sasuke-chan!"

At a secluded corner were a couple of older kids picking on Sasuke, pulling on his hair as the poor child cried for them to stop, apparently the adult in charge of looking after the children was too busy cleaning up some kid's barf.

"Hehe, look at him and his stuuuuupiid hair!"

"Yeah, it looks like a-a…"

"a chicken's butt!"

"Yeah! A chicken's butt!"

"Chicken butt! Chicken butt! Hahaha!"

"What are you doing with my Otouto?" came Itachi's hauntingly cold voice from behind the bullies, making them freeze over with chills running down their spines.

"I-Itachi-kun! We-we were just-" on of the bullies stuttered.

"Stay. Away. From my Otouto.", his voice menacing as ever, Itachi gave the bullies a malicious glare that supposedly no 8 year old could pull off, sending the miscreants running for their mommies.

Little Sasuke continued to cry in his corner.

"Sasuke-chan, are you ok? Please stop crying, Nii-san is here now." Itachi crouched down and placed his hands on the little one's shoulders to comfort him, the child's cries eventually tuned down into soft sobs.

"Itachi-nii…" Sasuke whimpered, tears in his adorable puppy dog eyes. Everyone in the playpen agreed that of all the kids Sasuke was the most irresistibly pretty one with his big innocent eyes and that cute pout he makes when he's upset or trying to be cute…not that he wasn't already. Right now, Itachi was torn between smiling at how precious his Otouto looked and trying to look upset at Sasuke being picked on.

"Don't cry anymore ok Sasu-chan? I'm here to make it all better." Itachi smiled, giving his brother a warm hug.

Still, Sasuke felt like crying.

"What's wrong Otouto? Are you hurt somewhere?" the older Uchiha asked. Sasuke nodded and pointed to his tiny elbow to show the small scrape he supposedly got from the older kids.

"Kiss it better?" again with those teary eyes, Sasuke pouted, "Pwease? It really hurts…really REALLY bad." he added, blinking adorably and sniffling to add to the cuteness.

Not able to resist his younger brother's antics, although Itachi knew Sasuke was lying about the hurting part since said injury was from about week ago, Itachi sighed and gave in, smiling as he bent down to kiss the injury. Gently he placed a light kiss on the young one's elbow, earning a giggle from the child.

"There, does that feel better?" he smiled, a rare occurrence coming from the 'silent and brooding Uchiha boy' that people knew of.

"Un! Thank you Nii-san!" back to his cheerful little self Sasuke went back to playing with his ball which had rolled away somewhere.

Despite being a child Itachi has always been known to be serious and far more mature then other children his age, he was a very responsible kid to an extent that most grown-ups trusted him more than they trusted teenagers. He was also very quiet and was known to be anti-social with other kids, child experts said that this was because he was a genius and that children like him did not enjoy associating with normal kids. Although cold to children and adults alike, his own parents included, Itachi had a soft spot for his little brother Sasuke whom he loved more than anything in the world.

Sasuke was the only person in the whole world that he showed affection and kindness to, such character was due to the fact that their parents were never home and often left the two brothers in the care of babysitters and daycare centers. Being raised without his parents' love made Itachi rather pessimistic about the workings of the world, but he held on for the sake of his little brother whom he did not want to become like him.

Their parents were always away on business, and they didn't know any of their uncles or aunts and even if they did, their relatives hated them for being the richest in the family…their grandparents on both sides had long ago passed away before Sasuke was born too. The Uchiha brothers virtually had no one to love them except for each other…no one at all.

Their childhood days passed like this…simple enough though they lacked a mother's warmth and a father's guidance…all seemed well enough for the siblings…Sasuke was blissfully unaware of troubles and Itachi was coping well enough with life.

Until the incident…

o0……0o

t3h f1rSt 0f Tr0ubl3S

"Itachi-kun…we…don't know how to say this…" said one of the daycare center's employees. Itachi knew it had to be really bad, the adults never used '-kun' when talking to him since he was no ordinary child by their standards, "Well, you see…your parents were…well, the private jet that your parents were on…crashed and-"

"They're dead aren't they?" questioned the prodigy, eerily calm as though he were talking about the weather. The adults surrounding him were surprised to see such composure from one who had lost their parents; clearly Itachi did not want to be babied.

"Yes, yes they are Itachi." Another adult said, "They're gone…" he paused, unsure of himself and then continued, "the bodies were severely burnt and…and due to the circumstances…being you and your brother not having a legal guardian…we…we have no choice but to hand you both to this person over here." He gestured towards the kind-looking woman sitting at a corner, waiting for her cue.

At the mention of her the lady stood and approached the group surrounding the poor parentless child, she was dressed in a formal suit and skirt; clearly she was working for the government. Softly she spoke, "Hello Itachi-kun, I'm a Social Worker who works for the government and I'm here to make sure that you and your little brother are taken care of." She smiled, although Itachi could see it was forced.

"By 'taken care of' you mean what exactly?" the boy replied coldly.

"I'm here to take you and Sasuke-chan to an orphanage so that you-" before the woman could finish her sentence she cut off by an outraged reaction from the Uchiha.

"An orphanage?! What do you mean an orphanage?! You can't take us THERE! I will NOT stand for this! I refuse to!" for the first time Itachi yelled out loud, his fists shaking in rage after listening to what the Social Worker had to say, "Do you realize you'll be sending Uchiha children to an orphanage? UCHIHAS! Children of our financial status should not be sent to such-!"

"I am sorry Uchiha Itachi-kun but it is part of my job to make sure that-"

"I could care less for your job! You will not take us to such! Name your price and I'll pay you the money from my parents' bank accounts. Just Leave. Us. Be." With a final glare at the incompetent adults, Itachi turned away and left in search of his little brother.

The conflicted child went to the playground outside where he knew was where Sasuke was at, confused and panicking as the sad news finally sunk in. For sure he was distressed with the death of his parents, they were after all the ones supporting him and his brother, but he wasn't sad to the extent of crying over them since he had never known them that well with all the traveling they'd done. But it hurt to know that those parents were gone forever…he didn't weep for parents he barely knew…he wanted to, honestly, just so he could show a bit of humanity in him…but the tears never fell, instead he felt somewhat…numbed…the pain was there…but it was a dull ache

They had deserted him early on in life…depriving him of both parents' love…they sent gifts from abroad but those were store bought…he'd received letters of praise for his unwavering high scores but those were more like business letters rather than a father's pride.

…they were never truly there for the two Uchiha brothers.

The adults followed behind going after Itachi…the child did not make an attempt to run. Finally the Social Worker caught up with the boy and noticing the more distressed expression on Itachi's face, she became a bit more sympathetic.

"Itachi…I know this is hard. But there is nothing I can do."

"…Why…why an orphanage? Don't we have…relatives or something who would take us in?" the boy asked, somewhat desperately.

A somber expression was all the woman could give.

"We…don't? How? How can that be? Do they…" the child's eyes widened in realization, "they don't want us…they just want our money don't they?" he said, voice piercingly cold once more.

"I'm sorry Itachi, there is nothing I can do. Your parents haven't prepared any papers for your inheritance or any trust-funds for you and your brother at all since you're still so young…and as for their money…you cannot access their bank accounts with what little influence you have…you're just a little boy."

"What happens to our money then? What happens to my brother?"

"…You will both be sent to an orphanage…your parents' accounts have been seized by your relatives…"

"That-that has to be illegal!"

"Certain…underhanded paperwork and negotiations have been arranged for the equal distribution of your funds to your relatives…the government couldn't protect your parents' assets, assets meaning-"

"I know what that means." Itachi interrupted.

"Alright…well…all I can tell you in the simplest terms would be-"

"Our parents didn't leave us anything…they were too stupid to plan ahead and anything they might have owned…have been taken by jealous relatives manipulating the judicial system. We're broke." The child spoke acidly, anger building up at the thought of his parents. What was it really? …Pity for their deaths or frustration?

… "I'm sorry…for your loss." The woman gravely spoke, feeling sorry for the boy and his sibling. It wouldn't be easy losing everything…money…a home…their parents…

"Losses, you mean."

"Itachi-kun."

"Please…I'm ashamed enough as it is…just let me go get my brother…I have to tell him we're going to be orphans." Sullen, defeated, the boy spoke.

"All right then, I'll be waiting outside." With that the Social Worker left Itachi alone.

Itachi had no other choice but to surrender to the will of the adults around him…

o0……0o

Itachi later found his younger brother by the playground swings, trying to play with the swings without anyone pushing him.

"Itachi-nii! There you are! I need help, could you please push me? please?" asked the little boy, oblivious to the dread his brother felt, but as he continued to watch Itachi for any sign of response he realized with childish wonder what was wrong with his Nii-san. Itachi was subdued, not even bothering to pretend to be happy in front of the younger Uchiha.

Worried, Sasuke got off the swing and came towards his brother, holding his arms out. Seeing the sweet gesture of worry Itachi opened his arms and met the child's embrace, hugging back and kneeling so that he could look at Sasuke straight in the eye.

"What's wrong Nii-san? Why are you sad? Did somebody hurt you?" Sasuke asked, blissfully innocent and genuinely worried. It was rather heart-breaking to watch.

For a moment, Itachi looked at his brother, carefully contemplating on how to tell the child that they had not only lost their parents but now were going to be sent to an orphanage. A part of him didn't want to tell Sasuke, knowing that it would just crush the child's fragile heart…but it couldn't be avoided…Sasuke had to know.

"Sasuke…" he said, "…we won't be seeing Mother and Father for a while."

The child merely blinked, not seeing their parents was after all a normal occurrence within their family. Their parents were always gone for weeks, sometimes even months at a time before coming home for a while to be a 'normal' family.

"How long are Mama and Papa going away?" asked the adorable child, clueless.

…A heavy sigh. "A long. Long. Time…Otouto…"

"Like…a month?" Sasuke asked…but Itachi shook his 'no'.

"Half a year then?" again…no.

"A…whole year?"…no

Sasuke's brows furrowed in concentration, "I don't get it. When will they come home? Will they be home for Christmas? My Birthday? …Nii-san…?"

"I'm…afraid they won't be coming home anytime soon Sasuke…they're in heaven now."

"…I don't get it. Can't they come back?" asked Sasuke.

"Sasuke…remember your old pet canary? The one that fell asleep and never woke up ever again?"

"…Mister Chickee?"

"Yes…"

It took a while for Sasuke to process the meaning of it all, mostly because as a child he was still in denial…but when it finally sunk in…

"Mama and Papa went to where Mister Chickee went…" he concluded…distraught.

"Yes Sasu-chan…they died…"

…That was it took for little Sasu-chan to burst into tears…his eyes watered and tears flowed freely down his porcelain cheeks, he held desperately onto his brother, wrapping his arms around the older sibling for comfort as he bawled and sobbed continuously…loud enough for everyone to hear his heart-wrenching cries. Itachi just knelt there, composed, hugging back his brother whose head was buried in the crook of his neck…tears making his shirt wet…those tiny hands clenching at the fabric of his back.

Mama and Papa were never coming back for little Sasu-chan…

…Itachi had never seen his dear Sasuke-chan cry like that…

…And he never wanted to ever again…

…he vowed, on that day, in his eight year old self, that he would never ever let anything or anyone make his Sasu-chan cry like that ever again.

Never…

…the promise…

"Sasuke-chan…I will never…ever…leave you…"

"You promise? You won't leave me for heaven?" tear-stricken eyes looked up to sincere ones…

"…I promise"

…With that, Itachi kissed the younger one's forehead…tenderly…lovingly…and whole-heartedly…

oooo

Necro: There you have it, a little experiment of mine if you will. Hehe…I swear, I saw this introduction play out in my mind in like…5 minutes…it was so easy to write. I hope it turned out ok. Please Review! I love hearing from you guys and replying, it's great fun. Your reviews keep Sasuke-chan, Itachi-kun, and me happy! CHIBIS!!