[A/N: Of course you all wanted brotherfluff for Christmas...]

Turning Points Christmas Special

"Nii-san, Nii-san!"

Itachi stirred drowsily, then jerked awake as he felt the bed shake under him. "What—" he said quickly, reaching under the pillow for a kunai before he realized that it was just Sasuke trying to rouse him.

Even though it had been more than a year already, he still hadn't gotten used to caring for a child. He'd always paid attention to Sasuke when he was home between missions (when they still had a proper home) but that was nothing compared to being the only one responsible for his brother's wellfare. "What is it?" he mumbled blurrily.

"Nii-san, look!" Sasuke cried, bouncing off the bed now that he was sure Itachi was awake and darting over to pull the curtains of their little hotel room open. "It's snowing!"

"Oh, is that all," Itachi murmured, flopping back down and pulling the covers over his head. There was quiet (blessed, blessed quiet—Itachi was not a morning person, and he had no clue how Sasuke had so much energy so early), but only for a few seconds until Sasuke took matters into his own hands and tugged the blanket off the bed. "Sasuke, stop that!" Itachi snapped, now really annoyed.

"But Nii-san, I want to go outside..." Sasuke said, beginning to pout.

Itachi knew this was in part a ploy to manipulate him, but that didn't mean it didn't work. Sighing, he sat up and tried to get himself into some semblance of awakeness. "What do you want to go outside for, Otouto? It's freezing out."

"But it's snowing," Sasuke repeated insistently, and Itachi finally realized what he was getting at. While Itachi had encountered snow far more than he would have liked while on missions to sundry places, Sasuke had never been out of Konoha. Of course he would want to do out in the snow—he'd never seen it outside of pictures before.

"Alright," Itachi conceded. "Just let me get dressed and then I'll take you out to play, okay?"

Sasuke nodded eagerly and began running around the room trying to find his shoes. Thankfully he was excited enough about the snow that he didn't think to ask about breakfast; the two of them were almost out of money again, which was why Itachi had headed up north. He'd barely been able to pay for the hotel room, but he could search for a job more easily here without worrying about running into anyone from Konoha.

It only took Itachi a couple minutes to get dressed and tie his hair back, but Sasuke was already waiting for him impatiently. After making a few futile (and protested) efforts to get Sasuke's hair to lie flat, Itachi gave up and opened the door.

It was bitterly cold out, but Sasuke didn't even seem to notice as he dashed down the stairs and threw himself into a snowbank. Itachi followed a bit more slowly, and found a bench to sit on so he could keep an eye on Sasuke. He didn't have any hat or gloves, and Itachi knew Sasuke would be too busy playing to notice or care if he got frostbite.

There weren't any other children in the street. They were probably all in school, as it was a weekday. Hopefully no one would come along and enquire as to why Sasuke wasn't in school as well; Itachi hadn't had a chance to forge Earth Country papers for the two of them yet, as they'd only just arrived.

He was trying to remember what the last Earth Country travel pass he'd seen had looked like when something cold and wet and hard hit him squarely in the chest. Gasping, Itachi looked up just in time for Sasuke's next snowball to hit him in the face.

Sasuke giggled exuberantly as Itachi wiped the remnants of snow off his face, then fled as Itachi started to form a snowball of his own. Itachi chased after him.

They ended up in a playground a few blocks away. Sasuke took shelter under the jungle gym, but as he had left clear little footprints in the snow all the way there Itachi didn't have any trouble finding him. However, he was in the open, which left him vulnerable to the stockpile of snowballs that Sasuke had amassed, while trying to get close enough himself to throw his snowball through one of the gaps.

As Itachi started to run to close the last ten yards, Sasuke darted out from under the jungle gym and sprinted away again, but tripped over a bump hidden by the snow and ended up flat on his face. Itachi pounced.

Sasuke rolled out of the way just in time, and Itachi landed full-length in the snow. Before he could pick himself up, Sasuke jumped on his back.

"I've got you now, Nii-san!" he shouted, laughing as he stuffed snow down Itachi's coat.

For the sake of Sasuke's fun, Itachi put up with this for a minute or so before deciding that he was quite chilled enough and grabbed Sasuke's arm, deftly flipping them both over to reverse their positions. Sasuke was panting, his breath making warm little clouds in the cold air. Itachi forgot all about his desire to smash a handful of snow into his little brother's face as he took in Sasuke's delighted smile and sparkling eyes. "Having fun?" he asked.

Sasuke nodded. "Can you help me make a snowman, Itachi-nii-san?"

"Okay, but then we've got to go back to the hotel," Itachi said, standing up and helping Sasuke to his feet. They had likely attracted a great deal of attention with their little snow battle, and he didn't want anyone to start wondering what two boys were doing wandering about by themselves.

Sasuke had a very specific idea as to what a snowman was supposed to look like, so Itachi found himself pushing snow around for almost half an hour before Sasuke was satisfied enough with its shape to start looking around for things to make its face and limbs with. Itachi found a couple of suitable sticks for its arms as Sasuke started pushing little rocks into its body for fake buttons.

"Nii-san, I can't reach the top," he said finally, holding up two more rocks which were apparently intended for eyes.

Itachi promptly picked him up so he could reach, realizing a little sadly that his little brother was growing up. Soon he would be too big for Itachi to carry, or need to, and then what if he realized how strange their living situation was? He must have noticed how all his short-time acquaintances had houses of their own to go back to while the two of them kept on wandering.

"I'm done," Sasuke said. "You can put me down now."

"Oh, right," Itachi said, setting Sasuke on the ground. "Sorry."

Sasuke nodded, taking a few steps back so he could inspect the snowman. "You did a good job, Nii-san," he announced finally, nodding in satisfaction.

"Thank you, Otouto," Itachi replied. "Shall we go home now?"

Smiling happily, Sasuke took his brother's hand, and the two of them ran off through a gleaming world of white.