The Other Uchiha
Five-year-old Itachi eyed the tiny pink bundle with suspicion.
"I thought I was getting a little brother," he said finally.
Fugaku looked away. Mikoto offered a strained smile. "Well, the healers can't always be certain…" she hedged.
"We're still calling it Sasuke," Fugaku announced, storming out of the room.
"Ta! Ta!"
"Can't you control that child?" Fugaku hissed.
Mikoto frowned at him but continued her attempts to soothe Sasuke—with no greater success.
"Ta! Ta!"
Itachi appeared at his parents' side, eyeing the new baby like it might bite. He'd deigned to spend time with the thing at Mikoto's insistence, but mostly the two sat and stared at each other until Sasuke got hungry or Itachi started poking her like some exotic zoo animal. Sometimes Mikoto despaired of her eldest child.
It took a few moments for the small family to realize that they were now standing in blissful silence.
Itachi raised an eyebrow at the baby.
"Ta!" she shrieked, reaching out for him with a toothless smile.
"Aww, she knows your name!" Mikoto cooed.
Itachi reached up and poked her, sending Sasuke into delighted giggles.
"Itachi dear, can't you just pinch her cheeks like everyone else does?"
"Wow, nii-san, you're so cool!" Sasuke announced, wrapping her chubby arms around Itachi's leg.
"Sasuke, behave yourself," Fugaku said sternly.
Sasuke started to pout, but Itachi's awkward pat on her head immediately revived her high spirits. "Th—Ch—Chuunin!" She stumbled a bit over the unfamiliar word. "Wow! How come all the other kids are bigger than you? It is 'cuz you're the best?"
"Hn."
"Yes, well done, Itachi," Fugaku said, nodding. "Now come, we're going to be late for the…party."
"Party?" Sasuke repeated, eyes wide. They never had parties!
"Yes, your mother thinks it appropriate, after Itachi's accomplishment today. He has brought much honor to our clan."
Itachi's eyes widened slightly at this lavish praise.
Sasuke scuffed her foot in the dirt.
Fugaku moved off to graciously accept the (occasionally grudging) congratulations of the other parents and Itachi poked Sasuke's forehead.
Sasuke scowled and rubbed her forehead. "Itachi!" she whined.
Itachi raised an eyebrow.
Sasuke's patience broke first—to no one's surprise—but she didn't confess what had caused her sudden change in mood. Instead, she looked up with that bright, sweet smile that her father disdained as 'not Uchiha' but Itachi secretly encouraged. "You're the best, nii-san," she said with a determined nod. "You should have a party."
Several hours, two reprimands for undignified behavior and one (mostly) successful attempt at forcing Itachi to have a bite of cake, Sasuke was curled up on her futon with a filched candle and the rest of Itachi's piece of cake.
"Happy birthday to me," she sang softly.
"Nii-san, nii-san!"
Itachi's famed reflexes almost weren't up to the task of catching the pouncing six-year-old, but fortunately for his reputation he turned just in time.
"Come train with me!" Sasuke yelled, clambering up his body with practiced ease and fastening her arms around his neck.
"I'm busy."
"You're always busy," Sasuke complained, pouting outrageously. "We started throwing kunai today at the Academy, and I want to be just as good as you! So come practice with me!"
"Ask father."
Sasuke sighed heavily, and Itachi actually stopped arranging his weapons to see what had caused this change in mood. Sasuke used her devastating pouts to great effect, but she was seldom anything but bright and happy. He raised an eyebrow.
"I did," Sasuke mumbled. "He doesn't want to waste his time on silly little girls."
Itachi had a mission in less than three hours. He really needed to check his weapons and pack.
"Well," Itachi said finally. "You're an Uchiha; you should have only the best instruction."
Sasuke blinked at him, then beamed. "And you're the best, right nii-san? Right? Yay! And no poking my forehead this time!"
"Hn." Poke.
"Hey!"
"Father, father!"
"Sasuke, don't shout."
"Yes, father. Sorry, father."
"Now, what did you need to see me about?"
Sasuke stuck a scroll under his nose. "Look, father!" She attempted to stand with appropriate Uchiha dignity, but her excited wriggling belied her efforts.
Fugaku undid the scroll and looked it over critically.
"I'm top student again this year!" Sasuke burst out, unable to wait any longer. "Sensei says that my taijutsu is the best out of everyone!"
Fugaku calmly rolled the scroll back up and regarded his youngest from behind his desk. "When Itachi was your age, he was graduating."
Sasuke deflated slightly. "I know, but—"
"Try harder." He went back to his work.
"…yes, father."
"Uchiha-san, thank you for coming."
"Hn."
The flustered chuunin didn't know quite what to make of the solemn pre-teen. He'd heard of Uchiha Itachi, of course—who hadn't?—but hadn't ever expected to actually meet the boy prodigy in person.
"Uh…well, I had actually requested a parent or guardian…" the poor Academy sensei trailed off under that implacable gaze. "Well, I guess it doesn't actually matter. Sasuke has refused to attend class these past few days."
Thankfully, that gaze turned to the sulking girl swinging her legs under her desk and the chuunin took a much needed breath.
"Sasuke?"
The girl scowled. "I don't see why I have to take these stupid flower-arranging classes."
"It's an important part of becoming a kunoichi," the sensei lectured, not for the first time that day. He wilted under the dual Uchiha-glare. "I'll just be over here…" he mumbled, grabbing a stack of essays and hiding behi—working on them.
"Did you have to arrange flowers?" Sasuke demanded.
"No."
"Why not?"
"I am a shinobi."
"Well then I want to be a shinobi, too!"
"You'll have extra taijutsu practice instead of…flowers."
"Good! I'm not afraid to work hard! I want to be as strong as you!"
"Hn."
"Umm…" the chuunin (probably unwisely) interrupted. "She can't actually do that. 'Shinobi' just means a male ninja, and she's a female, so she needs to go to the kunoichi classes. I explained all this in my note…"
Sasuke fixed Itachi with a look he'd seen many times before, the look that said 'you're perfect at everything and I know that you can fix this for me.' So far, the only time that look hadn't worked was in relation to their father.
"Clan children can't get special treatment," the chuunin persisted stubbornly.
They stayed locked in that position for several, long minutes: Sasuke with her lower lip stuck out and her wide eyes shining, Itachi glaring death at the hapless chuunin, and the chuunin-sensei attempting to hide behind a stack of papers.
Itachi blinked first. "I will speak with Morino-senpai," he announced. "I'm sure he knows a way around this rule."
The chuunin went even paler. "Morino Ibiki? As in ANBU? As in T&I?"
Itachi merely looked at him.
"Oh, are you making friends now that you're in ANBU?" Sasuke asked, completely distracted from her own plight. "Who's Morino-san? Is he nice? Do you like him better than me?"
"I don't get paid enough for this," Sasuke's (soon to be ex-)sensei muttered. "Fine, whatever. I'll exempt you from the kunoichi classes." He buried his head in his hands.
"Yay! Ow, stop poking me!"
"Uchiha-sama, could I have a moment of your time?"
Fugaku took in the moderate tone, appropriately downcast eyes and subdued demeanor. "Very well, Sasuke, what is it?"
"Please come with me to the training area."
Raising an eyebrow, the Uchiha clan head followed his daughter out to his private training area—the same place where, only a week before, she'd failed to perform their clan's signature Great Fireball jutsu.
He watched silently as she ran through the familiar seals, pursed her lips, and produced a giant fireball. He didn't blink as it passed close enough for his skin to break out in a sweat at the heat.
"I did it all by myself," Sasuke said, panting slightly after using so much chakra. "Itachi didn't help me at all." She attempted to keep her features arranged in a perfect Uchiha mask, but he could still see the hope and pride in her eyes.
"Obviously, since your brother managed it on his first try."
"I'm sorry, father."
"Well, I suppose one week isn't completely hopeless," he allowed. After all, it had taken him almost two months, and he was a year older than Sasuke was now. But still, she was no Itachi…
Sasuke beamed at him. "Thank you, father!"
"Control yourself!"
"Sorry, father!" She blanked her expression, bowed reverently, then backed out of the training area at a dignified walk. As soon as she was out of sight, she broke into a run and started yelling. "Nii-san! Nii-san, guess what?"
Sasuke whimpered slightly, stuffing her fist in her mouth to muffle the noise. She was eight now, and much, much too big to need her mother to baby her. Father said so.
She coughed miserably and burrowed deeper into her blankets. She hated being sick more than anything.
If Itachi were here…but he was on a mission.
He was always on missions now.
"Sasuke?"
"'Tachi!"
She jumped out of bed and attached herself to his legs like she had when she was very small. Itachi never thought she was stupid or silly, even when she was acting like it. Her head spun and she almost threw up on his feet, but with a supreme effort of will she calmed her rolling stomach.
"Why are you so hot?"
"I'm sick," she whined, sounding like a two-year-old and not caring. "Can you get me some water before you go to bed, nii-san?"
When he didn't answer, not even a 'Hn,' she peered up at his face. His expression was positively thunderous, the way he looked when he was talking to Father.
"S-sorry," she mumbled, pulling back and hugging herself instead. "I—I know you just got back and you're tired…"
He grabbed her by the back of her sweat-soaked yukata and pulled her closer. "Where is—nevermind. What's that smell?"
"I threw up," she said miserably. "I tried to lean out the window…"
She squeaked as he picked her up. Even though she was too hot and sticky, his warmth was comforting, and she decided not to ask questions. He dug through her closet, then carried her out into the hall and deposited her in the bathroom.
"Take a shower. Then put this on," he ordered, handing her a clean yukata.
"O-okay."
She did feel a little bit better once she was clean. To her surprise, Itachi was waiting for her in the hall. Wordlessly, she followed him down the hall, past her room and her sleeping parents, and into his room.
Eyes wide, Sasuke tried to see every detail of the room even in the dark. She'd never been allowed in here before! Then a sudden coughing fit put a damper on her excitement.
Itachi touched her shoulder, guiding her over to the futon and indicating that she should lie down. She started to, but was hit by another coughing fit.
"Not all the way," Itachi said. "When you lie flat it makes the coughing start. It's probably why you were throwing up, too."
Sasuke just stared. How did he know all this stuff?
With a sigh, Itachi reached out and pulled her against his side, so she was half sitting, half reclining. He pulled the blanket up to her chin. "Go to sleep."
"What about you?"
"I'll watch over you."
Sasuke blinked rapidly and caught herself wishing she could be sick every day. She coughed a little. Well, maybe not every day.
"I love you, nii-san," she whispered, cuddling against his side.
Sasuke sprinted through the village, berating herself for losing track of time. She was so late!
Skidding slightly as she rounded a corner, it took Sasuke a moment to recognize what she was seeing.
A body.
There was a body.
Sasuke stifled a scream.
The street was full of bodies.
Even at this time of night, there should have been a few people making dinner, moving around…but there was nothing. It was completely, eerily silent. And there were bodies everywhere, filling the air with the thick smell of blood.
Sasuke fought not to panic. Something awful was happening. Had happened. Where was Itachi? No one could ever beat him—maybe he was late too?
Her feet took off without her, and before she knew it she was at her own front door.
"N-nii-san?" she called—softly, in case whoever-it-was was still out there.
"Don't come in!"
"Nii-san!" Awash with relief, she pushed open the door—and froze.
Itachi, dressed in his full ANBU uniform, was pulling his katana out of their mother's body.
"I told you to stay out," Itachi said impassively.
"How could you?"
Sasuke blinked, then touched her mouth. No, it was still closed. Her confusion resolved when her father stepped out of the shadows.
"How could I?" Itachi hissed, sounding angrier than Sasuke had ever heard him. "How could you be so selfish?"
Sasuke's feet remained rooted to the ground as her father and brother faced off. It didn't take long before her father's body slumped to the floor.
There was blood splattered on Sasuke's face. She didn't want to think about it.
Itachi was giving her that analytical look that he never, ever used on her. She didn't want to think about that either.
"What did you mean 'selfish'?" she asked finally.
Itachi blinked, like that wasn't what he expected her to say. Now that she was looking, she could see that there was something wrong with his Sharingan. And he looked like he'd taken a bath in blood.
She focused on the Sharingan.
"It doesn't matter," Itachi said finally, his voice devoid of any emotion or life. "I wanted to prove myself, and now I have."
"Prove…? Why would you—"
"None of them could stand against me. Will you be any more of a challenge?" He brandished the katana.
Sasuke couldn't bring herself to move. "Wha—?"
A kunai flashed past her face, carving a bloody line into her cheek before sticking in the wall beside her head.
She blinked slowly, then reached up and pulled it out. Even though she'd been using kunai for years now, and her technique was among the best in the class, tonight she held it as clumsily as a civilian. She raised her eyes back to Itachi's.
"Foolish child. You can't kill me. Your hatred is not strong enough. So run away, and let your hate grow, so that one day—"
"No!"
Itachi actually stopped talking, looking faintly surprised.
"I—I could never hate you! You promised you'd watch over me! You protect me! And I—I love you!"
"Don't you understand, foolish child? I killed everyone: Mother, Father…our whole clan. To prove my strength."
"You said that already! That's stupid! Everyone knows you're the strongest ninja ever! Why would you do something so dumb!?"
She'd surprised Itachi twice in one day. "…dumb?" he repeated incredulously.
Sasuke started to cry, something she hadn't done in years. "I—I don't know why you killed everyone but—but I know you, nii-san. You never do anything unless it's important. And if you think it's important that everybody dies…then I believe you." She dropped his kunai and closed her eyes, clenching her hands into fists at her side. "Okay. I'm ready."
"Sasuke, open your eyes."
"I won't! I—I'm sorry, nii-san, but I don't want to watch…"
Her breath hitched, and she tried to stop crying, to be brave like a real ninja—like Itachi. Still, as she heard him walking closer, she couldn't help shaking a little.
He reached out and took her hands.
Sasuke broke into noisy sobs, but forced herself not to move.
"Father thought that you were nothing like me—but I think we are the same. Despite all his efforts, you love fiercely and without reservation."
At this wholly uncharacteristic declaration, Sasuke started to open her eyes—until the sick sound of a blade piercing flesh hit her ears. Her whole body flinched as she waited to die…
And waited.
And waited.
Was she already dead? Shouldn't there be more pain?
She finally cracked an eye open.
Itachi was on his knees, their hands wrapped around his katana—that was buried in his stomach.
"NO!" Sasuke screamed, ripping her hands away. "What did you do? Nii-san!"
He easily pinned her against the wall, even as the blood pool reached her sandaled feet. "Not…much time."
She continued to cry hysterically, not sure what she could possibly do, but determined to do something.
"Go to sleep now," he murmured, as if there was any possibility of that happening. "And live in peace, Sasuke."
His strange eyes seemed to glow.
"Tsukuyomi."