A/N: A present for i AM the Random Idiot... Happy Halloween, everyone!

"Nii-san..." Five years old, Uchiha Sasuke crossed his arms and pouted. "I don't want–"

Itachi patted his little brother's head with a smile. "It'll be fun, Sasuke." The two Uchiha brothers stood opposite each other in the hall between their rooms.

The younger boy stuck his lower lip out further and shook his head vehemently. "I don't want–" he tried again, waving the masses of black cloth Itachi had shoved into his arms mere moments ago.

Poke. A quick jab to the forehead with two fingers, and Sasuke's words were cut off by a startled outcry as he dropped the cloth and put his hands over his forehead. "Nii-san!" he protested, voice muffled by his arms.

"Come on, Sasuke... for your big brother?"

Behind his arms, Sasuke's lower lip trembled. Though Sasuke couldn't see through the protective wall he'd erected with his body, Itachi's lips twitched in a nearly-invisible smirk.

"Even ninja have to have fun..." he offered a harder verbal prod.

A tiny crack opened between his arms. "Really?"

"Would I lie?"

He paused, trying to think of an occasion, but then shook his head. "No, but I still don't want–"

"Just put the costume on, Sasuke. You don't want to be the only one not trick-or-treating, do you?"

Grumbling under his breath, Sasuke bent to snatch the dropped mass of black costume off the floor. "I don't mind being the only one," he muttered to himself, stomping down the hall into his room. "It's dumb." Why was Itachi so insistent that they go, anyway? For Sasuke, Halloween was just another day of training to surpass his brother, with maybe a gift or two from the festival thrown into the mix. He shook out the cloth bundle to reveal a shirt and pants, both black as his eyes, and a brilliant red cape. "What am I, anyway?"

"A vampire, Sasuke!" He heard Itachi call from the hall.

"Why?"

A fractional pause. "It was all I could find," Sasuke heard him admit. "I didn't imagine Halloween costumes would be completely sold out the night before."

"That's really dumb, nii-san." He slipped off his navy-blue shirt and white shorts to pull on the baggy costume. "I don't think it really fits, either."

"It the spirit that counts!"

He poked his head out the door of his room with a glower. "I can't get the cape on."

"Here," Itachi pulled it from his hands and wrapped it around Sasuke's shoulders. "Ready?"

"But nii-san, what about your costume?" Sasuke pulled back and crossed his arms unhappily.

Itachi looked down at himself, clad in dark blue pants and his green chuunin vest, then closed his eyes with a small grin, matter-of-factly explaining, "I'm a ninja."

The child's mouth dropped open in disbelief, but before he could protest, Itachi called, "Father, Mother, I'm taking Sasuke trick-or-treating."

"But–!"

"Let's go, or there will be nothing left," Itachi prompted, extending his hand for Sasuke to take, opening the sliding door and gesturing with his other hand.

"But nii-san...!" With a heavy sigh, the younger boy grabbed his brother's hand and followed him out the door, dreading, like last year, the inevitable–

"Oh, Itachi-kun!" The first house with a lit Uchiha lantern would set the precedent for the rest of the night. "You're taking Sasuke-chan trick-or-treating? That's so nice of you to take time to make your little brother happy!"

"Oh, Sasuke-chan, you look so cute! Here, have a little extra candy, but don't tell anyone I gave it to you."

"Did you come straight from a mission so you could take Sasuke-chan trick-or-treating tonight? My, you're still in your uniform!"

With each progressive house, Sasuke's step grew heavier; partly from weariness of the same routine, mostly from having the carry the insane amounts of candy, "for the two Uchiha brothers to share."

"Can we go home yet?" Dangerously close to whining, Sasuke extended the pillowcase Itachi had shoved into his hands. "It's almost full."

"Mm..." Itachi considered it, then finally nodded slowly. "I suppose this is enough."

The crescent moon might as well have been laughing at them; there were no more houses in the Uchiha compound to hit. Gravel crunched beneath their shoes as they walked side-by-side, Sasuke puffing and struggling to cart his full pillowcase. "Nii-san, will you carry this for me?"

"Nonsense. You're getting stronger." With a self-satisfied grin, Itachi stuck his hands in his pockets, visibly resisting the urge to smirk. This night had been even more of a success than last year's raid.

After all, they both knew–

"But nii-san, I don't like sweets!"

A/N: Based off the fact that Sasuke doesn't like sweet things, and Itachi does. XDD I couldn't resist. Thanks for reading; I hope you enjoyed it, and don't forget to review! Happy Halloween!

–Jade