Sleep
Summary: That was the last time Uchiha Itachi slept so peacefully. That was the last time he felt so safe. The next day, he prepared for his mission. That night, the Uchiha clan was reduced to two.
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Uchiha Itachi had been a deep sleeper as a child.
Being as great of a ninja as he was, Itachi could not get himself up for missions after he made Chunin. His father had always scorned this flaw of his.
Ninja cannot be too relaxed around enemies. Deep sleep only meant slow reactions and an aptitude for laziness. And no child of his was going to be lazy.
But his mother said something different and with such a sweet voice that it lured him to sleep every time.
Being able to sleep soundly just meant he felt safe. There was nothing wrong with feeling safe at home. Especially on a mother's lap.
At the age of six, Itachi would look at her through his bangs as he rested his head in her lap. When she smiled down at him and threaded through his hair pulling the ponytail loose, he would let his eyes close and drift off while baby Sasuke curled up on his stomach.
But necessity soon prevailed.
In less than a year, he managed to acquire the skill of light sleeping. Getting rest while still completely aware. His hair always tied neatly as he lied down.
Once in a while, his mother would force her son to get a restive nap. He would lie on her lap and let her take off his hair tie. His eyes would flutter closed and Uchiha Itachi became dead to the world for the next few hours.
The next time he opened them, Sasuke would have settled himself next to his side, fast asleep, and his mother would be reading. Her reading glasses would sometimes hit the sunlight just right to blind him.
His father disapproved of such "nap times." This time, his mother relented. Eleven was getting a bit old.
But to me, you will always just be a child, she had said with a wink. But his mother never pulled him out of his schedule and he never sought her out.
Sasuke stopped taking naps soon after, declaring he was too old for it.
When his father revealed his mission in the coup, Itachi hardly got a good night worth of sleep. His mother's hand would always be there, but she always hesitated and he never took the initiative.
When he joined the ANBU, Itachi never got a good night of sleep. Always alert for enemies or summons. He soon learned to fear these calls more than any opposition.
Finally when that mission came, Itachi gave up on sleep entirely for a week.
It took his mother and Sasuke's collective concern to force him to bed. That night, Itachi had the first nightmare since he was four. Sasuke had tip toed into his room and offered his brother space on his bed.
Nightmares aren't as scary when someone was there, the younger Uchiha said quietly.
Itachi laughed at himself and retied his hair, neatly. He remembered saying that to Sasuke a few years ago. Pathetic. To have worried his younger brother to the point they reversed the roles.
The next morning, Itachi sought out his mother.
She had just seen Sasuke out. Her apron from her morning chores was still on. But he didn't mind, he said. His mother had smiled and motioned for her oldest son to come.
Feeling like a child again (was he not a child anymore?), Itachi leaned into his mother's lap and allowed her to pull free the hair tie. His eyelids fell like a curtain as he felt the soothing waves of sleep washing over him. He slept soundly that day.
His mother had read her book. The Tale of a Gutsy Ninja.
Sasuke came home later and curled up against him. His mother's reading glasses blinded him. And he dreams of rice balls and tomatoes.
That was the last time he slept so peacefully. That was the last time he felt so safe.
The next day, he prepared for his mission and tied his hair up neatly. That night, the Uchiha clan was reduced to two.
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A/N: Haha, I'm on a roll! Here's another Itachi past thing. Dude, I'm having waaaay too much fun with the whole Itachi's past being a blank slate. XD