1: Runaway
The two brothers faced off against each other, Sharingan flashing. Tension stiffened tightly corded muscles as Sasuke gripped his kunai knife with all the strength a seven year old could muster. Itachi, only three years his senior, seemed to be fairly relaxed. His own kunai was held in a loose grip, clearly expecting Sasuke to make the first move.
With a loud yell, Sasuke drew back his arm and threw with all his might. The clearing echoed with the clang of metal on metal as his kunai was easily deflected by Itachi's.
Another knife was quick to follow, and Itachi barely had time to register this when it whizzed harmlessly past his ear. His lips quirked into a small smile as he noticed Sasuke's mouth forming a pout of frustration.
"You did something, didn't you?" he asked accusingly, unable to face the fact that his aim had simply been off. "You did something with your Sharingan."
Itachi raised his hands defensively and deactivated his bloodline limit. "I didn't do anything, Sasuke," he replied. "Look, I'll fight you fairly. All right?"
His little brother nodded, albeit a little sulkily. He bent his knees slightly, lowering himself into a stance ready for battle. With a fierce shout that no doubt was aimed to have Itachi quaking in his shoes, he launched himself with a kunai in each hand, meeting Itachi head on. To his annoyance, Itachi didn't seem particularly scared by Sasuke's battle cry and parried each blow. It was clear to see that Itachi had the advantage, being older and taller, but the younger Uchiha conveniently ignored this and swung and kicked and blocked despite the fact that it was having little to no effect on his opponent.
Itachi suddenly dodged and Sasuke stumbled past him, carried forwards by his own momentum. Itachi casually moved his foot and Sasuke tripped over it, falling onto his chin with a pained grunt.
"Oh, dear," Itachi said in a concerned tone. "Sasuke, are you all right?"
Small arms pushed a small body off the ground and the boy turned, sending a sulky dark-eyed gaze at him. "You did that deliberately."
Itachi blinked owlishly. "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about."
It seemed that Sasuke was not fooled by the blank tone his brother was using. "You cheated even though you said you would fight me fairly." He folded his arms. "It's not fair."
Itachi bent down and poked Sasuke in the forehead. "Foolish little brother," he said fondly. "I believe you're just a sore loser."
"Am not!"
"You are too."
"Am not!" Sasuke drew himself up to his full height, which, if Itachi was honest, was not particularly impressive or intimidating, and took a deep breath.
From past experience, that was an indication that he was going to either break into a tirade somewhere along the lines of I'm telling mother on you, start sniffling to himself (he wouldn't be crying, he'd insist), or start attacking Itachi again. Itachi himself was prepared for all three eventualities and so had packed his pouch with a small box of sliced tomatoes (yes, shameless bribery), a couple of tissues and several kunai.
But nothing could have prepared him for what happened next.
Sasuke clenched his fists. "I'm leaving!" he announced.
Itachi blinked. "…Pardon?"
"You heard me!" Sasuke replied impudently. "I'm running away! I'm going to find a worthy adver- adversa- opponent who'll take me seriously and I'll fight them instead!"
Just because he knew it would annoy his younger brother, Itachi folded his arms loosely and raised an eyebrow at him. He said and did nothing to indicate that he was even remotely affected by what Sasuke had said. As it was, he was fighting the urge to smile at Sasuke's rather admirable attempt at saying adversary.
The smaller boy frowned. "Didn't you hear me? I said –"
"I heard what you said," Itachi interrupted. "And I fully support your decision."
"You –" Sasuke began, then hesitated. "What?"
"You can go." Itachi waved a hand towards the forest around them, giving his assent.
Sasuke cast a cursory glance at his surroundings. "All right. I will go." He sounded quite determined.
Itachi offered him a reassuring smile. Sasuke looked at him suspiciously in return.
"I'm leaving now," he said.
Itachi said nothing.
Crickets chirped.
Sasuke shoved his hands in his pockets, picked up a fallen kunai, and walked away into the forest. Itachi sighed and returned home, mentally preparing an excuse for his parents as to why he had decided to let his little brother run off into the big wide world.
Sasuke came back shortly before dinner. Not even a murmur escaped Itachi's lips.
When he was sure Sasuke wasn't looking, Itachi smirked, victorious.