Title: "Competition"

Author: Shaitanah

Rating: G

Summary: There're three things Itachi knows about Sasuke for sure: he's foolish, he's little and he's Itachi's brother. Please R&R!

Disclaimer: belongs to Kishimoto Masashi and whoever else that is not me…

A/N: No idea where this came from. I just wondered how Itachi and Sasuke got along even before the adorable kawaii Sasuke asked his nii-san to teach him about shuriken. At the age of three Sasuke was even more kawaii!

COMPETITION

Yesterday is a wrinkle on your forehead

Yesterday is a promise that you've broken…

This is your life: Are you who you wanna be?

Switchfoot.

The cute little creature playing in the grass a few metres away from him could have been funny if it (He? Whatever, Itachi thought with a sigh of exasperation) had been if only a little less bothersome. Sitting on the porch, Itachi tried to relax and rearrange his thoughts. The black-haired wonder chasing grasshoppers in the garden laughed merrily; the sound rippled through the air like a bell ring.

Itachi slid into the grass and lay back, feeling the soft green blades caress his face. 'Was I like that in his age?'

Little brother was nice… at times. Around three years ago Itachi had no brother. Life hadn't changed much since the little one was born. A little noisier at nights, a little fussier at days. The little one was round-faced, with huge naïve black eyes and a loud voice. Pretty much like Itachi himself. He didn't remember but that was what Mother had once said. "He's very much like you."

And she had also said once to his father, thinking Itachi wasn't there: "Itachi has stopped smiling since Sasuke was born. What's wrong with him?"

Itachi was always there to hear something important. Like a good ninja should. His father hadn't expressed much concern. In fact, he merely shrugged and said: "He never smiled much. Boys… Two boys in the family are always rivals. And it's a good thing. Let them both strive to excel."

Itachi pondered these words sitting by the crib that day, looking at the peaceful face of the sleeping baby. This… would be his competition. Oh, really? This little thing? Itachi smirked coldly.

Now, almost three years to that day, Itachi had almost forgotten this. Almost. The tiniest things wouldn't let him forget completely. Sasuke this, Sasuke that… Itachi wouldn't admit even to himself how tired he was. Even the sound of that name made him want to scream. Biting the inside of his cheek, he would tolerate anything. Like a good ninja should. But sometimes… just sometimes… Itachi wished Sasuke had never been born.

"Itachi!" his mother called. He looked up at her inquiringly. "Keep an eye on Sasuke, will you? I'll be back in a couple of hours."

He nodded wordlessly and closed his eyes. The ground transferred the echo of his brother's footsteps, and the child's lisping voice cried out cheerfully:

"Bye-bye, mama!"

'School'll be over soon,' Itachi mused. 'And for him it hasn't even started yet.' How could anyone that little someday grow into his rival? And why would their father cultivate rivalry between his sons?

Choked sobs snapped him out of his sombre thoughts. Itachi sat up. The little one fell and flayed his knee slightly. Blood welled up, mixing with dry dirt. Rubbing it forcefully and hurting himself even more, he tried to fight back the tears. Without saying a word Itachi took him in his arms and carried him inside the house. He wetted a cloth and cleansed the wound gently. Sasuke blabbered something about how the fall had happened; Itachi switched his mind off like he had always done dealing with the child and treated him mechanically.

"There," he said once the bandaid was wrapped around the boy's trembling knee carefully.

"Where are you going?" Sasuke asked.

"Out."

"Can I come?"

"No."

Sasuke grunted and stomped his healthy leg on the floor. "Why not?"

"For your own good, you'd better stay indoors now," Itachi said without looking back. That might have come out a little too harshly.

The boy got up and ran after him despite his injured knee. He leapt at Itachi from the back and hugged his waist tightly.

"Why don't you play with me?" asked Sasuke in a deadly serious voice. Itachi craned out his neck and squinted at him; the boy's lips pursed, his obsidian eyes goggled, he looked a little too adorable. A grave threat to Itachi's peaceful day.

"Should I?"

"Of course! That's what brothers do!"

Itachi made a few steps, dragging the considerable weight around his waist that Sasuke was forth. The boy laughed. He probably thought it was a game. Oh good. Now he couldn't accuse Itachi of always ignoring him.

Itachi unlocked Sasuke's hands and dropped the boy on the porch. He hoped the boy would go play somewhere else, but Sasuke was just as stubborn as any Uchiha. He forgot about his trauma quickly enough, and he kept running, and laughing, and fussing about, jumping around Itachi as the older brother tried to concentrate on the book he'd decided to read.

'They say patience is a virtue,' Itachi thought dismally. 'But how can anyone afford to be virtuous under such circumstances?'

He walked up the tree effortlessly and made himself comfortable on a thick branch. Soft breeze ruffled his hair. He sighed and tilted his head back, feeling the warm moist hardness of the trunk. Everything around him breathed with summer. From here he had a good view on the garden. He'd keep an eye on the little one without falling prey to his hyperactive mood.

If it was dark, the little one would be glowing. How could such a fragile creature have so much energy? He did have something special about him. There were times when Itachi actually tried to convince himself he liked his younger brother.

The tree was rather branchy. Itachi noticed that the little one was climbing higher only when the child's soft grunting reached his ears. Itachi barely refrained from rolling his eyes: he was just relentless.

Sasuke's foot slipped. Losing grip, he staggered and began falling. With one swift change of position Itachi reached him and gripped him by the hand. The boy was hanging in the air, numb with fear; Itachi's palm was suddenly damp and sticky.

'What if I just… let him go? Can I do this? No one will know. Maybe he won't even die. At least he will shut up for a while…'

No, his brother didn't deserve death. At least not like this. Itachi pulled him up and seated him on the branch carefully. The boy's chest heaved convulsingly with each sharp intake of breath. His cheeks flushed, eliminating the paleness, as the fear subsided little by little. Sasuke threw his arms around Itachi and whispered breathlessly:

"Thank you!"

In a few minutes Sasuke's usual garrulity returned. He commented on everything he could see from above. Itachi listened to him with averted head and vacant eyes. Something else consumed his mind. He imagined Sasuke fall, drop on the ground like a damaged rag doll, and never again would that cheerful voice ring, and never again would his mother ask him to baby-sit the little brother…

And he wouldn't grow up to become his rival.

Sasuke was watching him with a shy smile.

"You're so brave, aniki. When I grow up I want to be just like you."

"I liked you better when all you did was sleep and eat," Itachi said coolly. "Aren't kids supposed to sleep in the afternoon?"

Sasuke grinned and lowered his head on Itachi's lap. The older boy stroked his hair absentmindedly. Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing after all – to have a brother.

Sasuke dozed off. The sun blinked from behind the clouds, shedding a few generous golden beams down on the street. Passers-by strolled leisurely, minding their own business. The wind rustled through the pages of Itachi's book.

Looking at Sasuke's peaceful face, Itachi poked him gently in the forehead.

"Foolish little brother," he smirked quietly.

July 10, 2007