© Masashi Kishimoto
Hands
His hands reach up to tug on his brother's clothes. Desperately, tightly clinging to the teenage boy was the tiny hands of a boy.
"Don't go…" Dejected he can't help but watch; he knows that his brother has to leave. "Don't go! Don't go!" Tears sprout from his big eyes, dribbling over his chubby cheeks and dripping off his chin onto his brother's toes. His brother gives a sad smile that makes the boy bawl.
"I'm sorry, I have to go." The big brother bends over, running his hand into his brother's hair and kisses his baby brother on the forehead before hearing the shuffle of his father's pants. He kneels beside his little brother but drops face to look his father in the eye.
"Sasuke, stop crying right now. You know that Itachi is busy." His hands twitch and Itachi is worried for a second that his father might actually strike his baby brother, but he remembers that Fugaku wouldn't dare to as long as he is there to witness it.
The boy hiccups and shouts with a cry, burying his face into his brother's shoulder, tiny hands clenching onto his vest. The brother hushes him, one hand massaging his little brother's hand, the other comfortingly rubbing his back. Sasuke calms down to a sniveling child but it is enough to get his father to give a sigh and Itachi stands after feeling little Sasuke calm down.
"You're still here?" Their mother comes out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel and tucking it away in her apron. "Shouldn't you have left already?"
"I'm leaving now." Itachi gives the slightest of smiles and ruffles Sasuke's hair to comfort him. Sasuke's small hands are still hanging onto his brother's shirt, eyes watery.
Mitoko stands unmoving for a second and admires her eldest son, smiling at how much he's grown. But she fears for him. She walks up to him and smoothes down his ponytail, her hands cupping his face and realizes that she wants to cry too.
"Come back safe." The proud expression for his new position does not make him feel any better, but he nods in response because he knows that his baby brother wouldn't forgive him if he didn't.
"Sasuke," After being released from his mother the big brother kneels before the boy again, "I'll be home soon." Sasuke can only give him an eager look and gives signs of panicking again. "I promise," Big brother pries little hands from his shirt and hangs onto them for a little while more, "so promise to be a good boy, okay?"
The little hand is passed from big brother's to mother's and father steps forward to give Itachi some gentle reminders, hands stiff and unsure of how to move. Itachi stands still and listens like he always does, quiet and unmoving. There was no hand shake or hug or "come back safe" just a curt nod and expected success as Itachi left out the door leaving Fugaku's hand on the door, Mikoto gently coaxing the boy from the doorway and Sasuke wiping his tears.
This is just random idea that spouted in my head one night and I was going to write about how Sasuke doesn't want his brother to leave but then it turned into this... Haha. But I still like it! What do you think? :D