Itachi Uchiha-a seventeen year old dropout- had just stepped in from dead man's shift and was exhausted. He worked two jobs, one in the very morning and in the middle of the night. He was a drive threw operator at Mc Donald's and a busboy at the local diner; the pay wasn't the best, but he needed the money.

You see, his parents were arrested for taking part in a plan to overthrow the White House, leaving his only little brother without a guardian.

Being the older brother, he found it was his job to take care of the child. He sent his little brother, Sasuke Uchiha back to school, paying for it by himself. Sasuke was still a young boy, only nine years old, so Itachi always made sure he was home before Sasuke came in from school and out way after he was deep asleep.

Now, as I said before, Itachi Uchiha had just finished the dead man's shift and was exhausted. Sasuke would be home soon and he'd probably want an after school snack.

The man went to the kitchen and pulled out some apple sauce and a juice box (though Sasuke would much rather have tomatoes than apples for some reason, he always apples for Itachi)

Itachi sat back down in the rocking chair in their living room, turned on their small TV and closed his eyes for a second, letting the exhaustion take over him. Soon, he was fast asleep.

He was surround by the smiling faces of his family. They were all so happy, but why? They all were in jail, with his mom and dad. It's just him and Sasuke now…everyone else is gone…he didn't even have friends to help him out. It was only him and Sasuke. They were the only Uchihas left and Itachi would make life as good as possible for him…

"-chi…"

A little nine year old should be living life to the fullest…

"-chi?"

He needs friends and a mentor…

"-chi!"

…so that he can be happy…

"Itachi! Wake up!"

His eyes popped open as he felt himself being shaken awake.

Sasuke was staring at Itachi; he was still in his school uniform.

"Itachi, I caught you!" The boy said excitedly.

"Caught me doing what?"

Sasuke flashed a big, wide grin at him. "I caught you sleeping! You never sleep! You're like a bat- or an owl!"

The older Uchiha picked Sasuke up and started hooting in his face like an owl, making him laughed.

"He-he! Stop, Itachi! Stoppit," he giggled in between each word.

"I'll only stop if you answer my question correctly." Sasuke nodded. "Did you have a good day?" The younger brother nodded, adding in a 'uh-huh'. Itachi smiled. "Good to hear. Are you hungry?"

"Yeah, yeah! Can I have a tomato, 'Tachi?"

Itachi place his brother on his hip and walked over to the kitchen. "No, Sasuke. After dinner. Now you have to eat some apple sauce, okay?"

"O~ka~ay," Sasuke said in a disappointed voice.

"Oh, and, Sasuke?" Itachi added thoughtfully.

"Ye~s, big brother?"

"Did you bring that picture from art class for me?"

Sasuke face immediately lit up. He loved when Itachi took interest in his work and hung it on the fridge. "Yeah! It's in my pocket!" He took it out and unfolded it, handing it to Itachi.

Itachi took a second to look over it. The topic of the picture, the teacher had told him, was 'when you're most happy'. In the picture, there was two people holding hands in front of a rainbow and a smiling sun. A closer examination of the people revealed them to be Itachi, smiling with sleep filled eyes, and Sasuke, wide eyed and excited.

The youngest Uchiha was beaming at this big brother. "Do you like it, Tachi?"

The oldest Uchiha gave him a big grin right back. "Yes. I love it."

Sasuke wrapped his arms around his big brother's neck for a hug. Itachi squeezed him back.

"Good, Tachi! It's you and me- we're both happy because we still have each other!"

"Yeah. We still do." He gave Sasuke a kiss on his cheek. "Sasuke, I promise that I'll always be here for you and you can tell me anything because I love you. You know that, right?"

Sasuke nodded. "I know, Itachi." He laid his head down on the crook of Itachi's neck. There was a moment of silence, no one speaking, just breathing. They were in the kitchen, leaning on the table.

"Itachi, you won't get annoyed with me, will you?" Sasuke asked in a strained voice.

Itachi felt a tear get absorbed by his shirt. "No, Sasuke. I may be mad around you some times, but you are never the reason for it- I could never be mad at you." He pet the little boy's hair comfortingly. "You're the best thing that ever happened to me, Sasuke." He lifted his chin up a bit, to look him in the eyes.

"I remember when you were born. Mom fell asleep and Dad was working so the doctors said I could hold you first. You were crying so loud," he smiled contently at Sasuke while the scene played out before his eyes. "I tried my best to calm you down, but you just wouldn't stop." Itachi paused to wipe away another tear and laughed a bit. "The doctors told me it was normal for newborns to cry a lot and that you'd calm eventually, yet I felt terrible; I almost cried because I kept thinking 'Oh, no, my only little brother must hate me!'"

"Then, by the grace of God, you stopped crying. You opened up your big dark eyes and just blinked, staring at me. Like you're doing now."

Itachi wrapped his arms around his brother again and squeezed him tighter.

"You were so cute, Sasuke. You had a beautiful head of hair, your cheeks were pink and all you could do was stare. You were so defenseless." He smiled weakly, on the brink of tears. "I vowed to keep you safe- from that day to the day you die. I will always be here for you."

Sasuke continued to look his brother in his tear filled eyes. Is Itachi about to cry, he thought. The last thing he wanted was for Itachi to be sad.

He reached his little hands up to Itachi's face and place one on each cheek. "Don't cry, big brother. Don't be sad." That was he could say- he had never seen Itachi even come close to crying- not even when their mother and father were taken away, when Sasuke had cried so hard all he could see was tears.

"I'm not going to cry because I'm sad, Sasuke. I'm just remembering something happy; I'm nostalgic."

Sasuke cocked his head to the side. "What does that mean: nose-ow-jic?"

"It's when you miss the good times or a certain person."

Sasuke smiled again. "You don't have to miss those good times, Tachi. We can always make more!"

The man blinked, registering what his nine year old brother just said. It was probably the smartest thing he's ever said.

Itachi smirked- he was right, of course. They make happy memories everyday.

"You're right, little brother. Now, how about we make another one?" Sasuke nodded enthusiastically. "Whoever can eat a cup of apple sauce fastest gets to pick the books we read tonight." Itachi put Sasuke on the stool in front of the table and got out some more apple sauce in a cup.

"On your mark…get set…GO!"

They both dug in. Itachi refused to drink it quickly so he used a spoon and tried to shove as much in to his mouth as possible. Sasuke, on the other hand, had his head tilted back and the cup basically glued to his mouth as he gulped down the contents.

In a few minutes, Sasuke thumped his cup on the counter and laughed victoriously. Itachi slumped his shoulders in mock disappointment (not that he let Sasuke win because the tiny boy would get enraged if he even tried).

"Big brother, I win!"

"Yes, little brother, I know."

The youngest chuckled. "You kinda' suck, Tachi."

"I know that, too, Sasuke," he stated lightly.

"Now, Itachi, I demand," he grinned as he used his 'big boy' voice," that you read The Cat in The Hat."

"Okay, Sasuke, if you use the magic word."

"Itachi, please can you read the Cat in The Hat…."

"Of course."

"…because I demand it," added the boy.

They both laughed on the way to their 'family' room.

One more happy memory made, but how many more to go?