Author notes: Keep your heads up for OOC-ness, since the show never did portray Itachi around the time Sasuke was born. Also, there are some original characters, because I needed relatives.
Chapter Title: Baby Brother
Chapter Rating: Probably T, for content. Nothing sexual (they're like four and an infant), but some dark themes.
Genre: Drama/General
Chapter Summary: Introspective to Itachi's thoughts when Sasuke was born. Apparently the Uchiha heir doesn't like not being the center of attention.
Disclaimer: Don't own the lovely Uchiha boys. If I did… Well, some things are better left for fantasy.
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On Itachi's fifth birthday, he was awoken earlier than he normally would have woken up. The sound of dishes hitting the floor in the kitchen traveled through walls that at times felt paper-thin, and reached his sensitive ears. That sound clicked something in his subconscious, which rather rudely shifted his mind to a waking state.
Still rubbing his eyes, though all ready dressed for the warn June day in a pair of tan shorts and a short-sleeved black t-shirt--Uchiha fan proudly displayed on the back--the young clan heir made his way into the kitchen, a critical, if sleepy, eye taking in the bulge where his mother's slim stomach had been. It seemed to grow more and more each time he looked.
He had been told that this growing bump would be his little brother or sister, and today when his mother set down his breakfast--his favorite foods, since it was his birthday--she sat down across from him and smiled.
"Thank you, kaasan" He had said, always polite, even at that age. He had begun to eat, motions slow and calm, as was expected by him.
"I went to the doctor the other day, Itachi-kun(1), and he said that in about two months, I'll have the baby. Aren't you excited?(2)" She smiled again, and Itachi was struck by the thought of how different his parents were. It didn't linger, since he had to focus on chewing and swallowing to answer his mother's question.
"Yes, kaasan. Very excited." If Mikoto noticed the monotone her son spoke with, she didn't mention anything.
That afternoon, Fugaku came home early, as he always had on Itachi's birthday. There was a quiet lunch, just the three of them--how it should be, in Itachi's mind--before relatives started showing up with boxes wrapped in colorful tissue paper, and covered dishes.
Itachi watched from his place with the other children--cousins, second cousins, et cetera--as the women all crowded around Mikoto, asking questions about the new baby, exclaiming over how big she had gotten. His dark eyes stared as men slapped his father on the back in congratulations, a gesture that was taken with silence, not even a smile. Much like himself, his father never smiled.
"Ne, Itachi-kun, aren't you excited? You're going to have a little brother or sister!" One of his cousins squealed. He never tried to keep track of all of them at once, but he was pretty sure this girl's name was Michiru, a couple of months older than him. If he was right, she had a little brother who was almost a year old.
"I remember when little Daisuke was born, it was so exciting! Kaasan and tousan said that I was going to be able to help take care of him, too." She grinned, to which Itachi stared. He didn't even want this new baby, there was no way he would help take care of it.
Hours later, as the sun set, and the various relatives packed up and left, Itachi found himself standing next to his father, thanking people for coming, and for the gifts, as they walked away from the house.
He had wanted to ask Fugaku why there had to be another child in the family, why they had done something so stupid. Instead, he had said his thank-yous and farewells to the last of his relatives, and gone up to his room to sleep.
Itachi watched over the next month as his mother's stomach continued to grow. He watched and he grew to understand that a new baby would be like his replacement. Somehow, in his five-year-old logic, he decided that two things must be done: he would have to get rid of this new baby as soon as possible, and he would have to become the best at everything he did, so his parents would still need him.
Itachi put his plan into action immediately. He began to study ninja arts, while most children played at the park, he secluded himself away with some shuriken he had taken from the house, holding target practice on some trees. More often than not he'd come home with his hands bleeding, and when questioned stated that he wanted to train to be a ninja. Of course, neither of his parents found anything wrong with that, and his father even showed him how to properly hold a shuriken so as not to slice his hand open. Itachi's skills increased.
It was late at night, or maybe early in the morning, when Itachi heard noise coming from his parents room. Getting out of bed and making his way down the short hall, past the closed door of the room that would be the baby's, he stopped outside of his parents door, seeing light from underneath it. He heard what sounded like crying, before the door was shoved open, the sudden light making his eyes screw shut, as he moved aside to let whoever it was that wanted out get past.
Before Itachi entirely understood what was happening--for even if he was a genius at his age, he was still young, and tired--his parents were gone to the hospital, and his aunt was sitting in the living room with him, waiting up for his father to come home or call(3) with news.
"Itachi-kun, you can go to bed if you're tired." The older woman had said, smiling gently, after the third time he had begun to drift off on the couch.
Itachi snapped awake again, shaking his head. "I want to be up when tousan calls, Yumi-obasan." He had explained. Somehow, though, Itachi found himself waking in his bed the next day, sunlight streaming through the curtains.
He got up, not hearing any noises. Normally there would be the sound of his mother cooking in the kitchen, or his parents talking. There was silence.
Wait, no there wasn't. As Itachi stepped into the hallway, he heard the sound of his father talking softly with someone. Making his way as quietly as possible down the hall, towards the kitchen, the words became more clear.
"…doctor say that he was born a little early, but should be fine." His father was speaking, probably to Yumi-obasan.
"Have you picked out a name yet?" His aunt asked, neither of them noticing the small boy in the doorway.
"Hai. Uchiha Sasuke, second son of Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Mikoto." He answered, and Itachi frowned. His father was smiling.
Three days later--after bad meals cooked by various relatives--Mikoto finally came home from the hospital, carrying something wrapped in a blue blanket. She smiled when she saw Itachi, handing the something over to Fugaku--who had sent all the relatives away, so that the family could have some rest--and hugged him. She had cooed about how much she missed him, and told him he was brave for being alone all that time.
Then she had taken the something back, and sat down on the couch, motioning for him to sit next to her. Itachi did as directed, staring with narrowed dark eyes as Mikoto shifted the blue blanket, revealing the slightly red sleeping face of his new brother, Sasuke. He didn't voice his immediate dislike of the little thing, instead just staring.
A few days later, after Fugaku had gone back to work, and sometime between relative visits, Itachi woke up from his afternoon nap--a habit that he dropped last year, except the new baby always cried at night and kept him awake--to silence. Making his way out into the hallway, he looked around, seeing his mother asleep on the couch. No one else was in the house, except little Sasuke. An idea struck the older Uchiha.
Tip-toeing into his younger brother's room, he stared into the small crib his brother was in for a few minutes, before reaching forward with a hand, as if to stroke the baby's hair. He held the back of little Sasuke's head, turning him slightly--for the baby was on his stomach, head facing out into the room--and pressing his face into the sheet. He'd heard his parents worries about this, how they had put in the baby monitor in case he were to stop breathing. But the other end of the monitor was in his parent's room, at the opposite end of the house from the living room.
He pressed down, feeling the small body under his hand squirm, and moved his hand away, quickly. Little Sasuke's head turned back, the baby making a soft noise, still asleep. Itachi stared, reaching forward and turning his little brother's head into the mattress again, this time not moving his hand when he squirmed. He heard faint crying, and before he could think of what he was doing, his hand was gone again, and the thing that was supposed to be his brother was curled up on his stomach, crying.(4)
Mikoto rushed into the room, looking nervous. "Itachi-kun, what happened?" She questioned, seeing her first son standing there.
"I don't know, kaasan. I was looking at him, and I reached over to feel his hair, because it looks funny, and he started crying." Itachi lied, face completely serious. In the crib, Sasuke's cries subsided, and in Itachi's mind, his plan to get rid of the little thing that was taking away his parent's attention died away. Something about nearly taking away the young life that afternoon had seemed wrong. If he was going to kill his little brother, he wanted to have him fight back.
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End Notes: 1500-plus word drabble about when Sasuke was born. I like it, in my own sick mind.
Story notes:
(1) I'm assuming she would call him 'Itachi-kun' when he was little, since in the anime, she calls Sasuke 'Sasuke-kun' when addressing him.
(2) We'll just pretend like the doctor was able to effectively tell her about when she would have the baby. Two months seems right, anyways.
(3) I'm assuming that they have telephones. If you pay close attention, I think they have a TV, so why not a phone?
(4) This scene is sort of adapting from Stephen King's book, IT, when the five-year-old suffocates his baby brother. I did change it a bit, but I thought I'd credit my inspiration.
Please review if you read, I like feedback.
Edit: Fixing ages. I forgot Itachi was five years older than Sasuke. I suck at being a fangirl, huh?