A/N: Oh god sorry for that first chapter, I forgot that ffnet documents couldn't be edited like in AO3 orz I missed a page break and even forgot to put the author's note in the first chapter god I fail so much. I'll be more careful from now on. Um okay, just so you know, I'm a pretty slow writer, but I'll try to update weekly. And there will be several time skips, though the years won't be too far inbetween. Thanks for reading everyone! And also to those who favorited and followed this series. Hope you guys enjoyed it. Feel free to call me out on shits I do.
Also the usual disclaimer that Naruto is not mine, and I'm just borrowing the characters to play with me for a while.
Sasuke was four when she made her first friend. Itachi's diary was getting thick with notes and photos of memories throughout the years. They have had so many of Sasuke's firsts that Itachi needed to get another notebook.
It is a hot summer, during Itachi's fourth year in elementary school. He has finished doing his holiday homework, so he has nothing else to do while Shisui is off to visit his maternal grandparents. His father is busy at work and his mother is busy socializing with the neighbours.
Itachi rolls around the tatami trying to get rid of the heat, but he only gets hotter in the process. He finally stops moving in front of the fan and let the wind it generates cool him down. I'm going to die. Tomorrow's newspaper would have my picture on it, reporting the Uchiha boy who died of overheating.
He can hear Shisui's voice in his head telling him how he is being an overly dramatic princess again. The fact that his cousin's imaginary voice could mock him even in his mind shows just how close they are.
I hope Shisui would come back soon, so I can lounge in his air- con-blessed room. Ugh, hurry and come back, idiot.
Hoping his telepathic message will somehow reach Shisui, Itachi flops back on his back and calls out in a dragged voice, "Sasukee..."
Itachi can hear the 'thump thump thump' of little feet making their way to the living room. When Itachi opens one eye to peek at the direction of the sliding doors, there his sister is, body half hidden by the doors, peeking back at him. "Yea', Nii-chan?"
"Wanna go get popsicles?"
Itachi doesn't need to wait long to hear a 'whoop' of agreement and smiles to himself. He remembers his mother's words to stop pampering his sister, that he's going to spoil her rotten. It's not that Itachi had forgotten them; he just decided to ignore them. Let's just say he's going into the rebellious stage early. His contemplation is interrupted by a sudden, sharp pressure, and a heavy weight settling on his abdomen. The boy opens his eyes completely from the surprise and tries to sit up. His sister has charged and jumped at his stomach, now giggling and covering Itachi's belly with her body.
"Why you..." Itachi says teasingly and starts to tickle Sasuke's side. The young girl lets out a screech and starts to flail her limbs, in an attempt to get away from her brother, and is laughing and grasping for breath before long. Itachi joins her in her laughing and continues to attack her also-ticklish feet.
To Itachi, Sasuke's laughter have always sounded like the tinkling of windchimes. So light and clear, the image of a clear and breezy day. A sound that makes you want to hear it all over and over again. It is such a nice sound.
But as the older one, Itachi is supposed to show mercy and so he grants his mischievious sibling reprieve from his tickling attack. The two siblings lays there, one on top of the other, trying to regain their breath. When their breathing have evened out, Itachi takes Sasuke to change into her outdoor outfit.
He puts her into a sleeveless top and a comfortable shorts, her usual clothes for going outside during summer. He combs her short, silky hair back with his fingers. The hair on the back of her hair has stuck up because of how light it is. No matter how Itachi tries to brush it down, it stubbornly sticks up again, so Itachi cedes his momentary defeat.
Before leaving, Itachi also makes sure to apply sunscreen on both of them and sprays Sasuke with insect-repellant. She has had a nasty bug bite after playing in their home's garden one afternoon, and he isn't going to risk Sasuke crying over itchy painful bites if he can help it. He also coaxes his refusing sister to wear a hat. She is in a difficult of period of no-hat-wearing right now, and it takes all of Itachi's persuading and negotiation power to get her to wear one. After finishing up with their preparation, they finally don their sandals and heads out.
While locking the doors behind, Itachi ponders over where they should head for. Hmm... the grocery store is closer, but Family Mart has more varieties of ice cream and popsicles. He goes back and forth between the two, until he remembers that there is a park near Family Mart. He decided to brave the heat so he could let Sasuke play in the park for a while. It's not like I have anything better to do anyway.
And so Itachi takes Sasuke's smaller hand in his, and they set off to Family Mart.
When they step through the automatic doors, Itachi savours on the cool blast of air-conditioning. Itachi turns towards the cashier when he hears the person says "Welcome" indifferently, only to be greeted by the sight of a familiar mop of silver hair poking out behind a small orange book, sitting behind the counter.
"Kakashi-nii." Itachi calls out. The silver-haired teen put his book down to get a better look at his customers. When he realises who they are, Kakashi leans forward against the counter to give them both a quick ruffle on the head.
"If it isn't my favourite siblings." Sasuke giggles when Kakashi pinches her mochi-soft cheeks. "What are you kiddos up to?"
"We're gonna get popsicles!" Sasuke answers with enthusiasm while rubbing her cheeks against Kakashi's palm. Ever since Kakashi visited their home with their older cousin Obito and their friend Rin some time back, his sister have somehow gotten herself attached to the teenage boy. She likes him so much that Sasuke sometimes acts like a spoiled little girl- something she usually only does with her brother- with Kakashi. Itachi could admit to himself that he had felt jealous when he saw the scene of Sasuke laughing happily, sat in Kakashi's lap. He tried not to feel spiteful, but Sasuke is his sister.
"Popsicles, huh." The teen keeps pinching and rubbing Sasuke's cheek. Then, with a final pat, he leans back on his seat and assumes his reading position once more. "You guys know where they are. Call me when you're ready."
As they make their way to the ice cream corner, Sasuke hums to melody of the Digimon theme song under her breath. She has memorized the song quickly, after occasionally watching it together with Shisui and Itachi. Itachi holds her up so she could peer into the cooler box more clearly.
"Tell me when you've picked out the one you want, okay?"
Sasuke only lets out a long and contemplative 'hmmmm' in response. Itachi himself is leisurely trying to decide on one. They are in no rush. The longer Itachi can bask in the heavenly invention called the air-con the better. And his sister always gets grumpy if pushed, so he lets her take her sweet time choosing.
"I'm gonna get the grape Gari-Gari and Nii-chan is gonna get the Double Soda!"
"Oy, why are you deciding mine too?" Itachi grumbles without heat and thunks his chin on his sister's head, getting a yelp in response. "I won't be able to finish a Double Soda on my own."
"It's okay, I'm gonna help Nii-chan eat it."
"If you're sharing with me then don't get the Gari-Gari-kun."
"But I wanna eat Gari-Gari!" Sasuke states with a pout and folds her hands across her stomach, clearly not budging on the issue. Itachi can only sigh inwardly. The Terrible Two and Three period is over, but people probably aren't aware of the Forceful Four period. It's either equally troublesome or even more so.
"You won't be able to finish them all, Sasuke." Itachi explains patiently, "And you'll get a stomach-ache if you eat too much popsicles."
"But I wanna." The girl mumbles in a low, wobbly voice. Now that is just unfair. Itachi is weak if he hears that sound on Sasuke. Sometimes he suspects his baby sister uses it on purpose. She definitely is smart enough to pull it. He tries not to relent, but he can already feel his resolve slipping.
"How about we share both the Double Soda and the Gari-Gari, hm?" Itachi says gently, trying to reach a compromise. "That way you can eat both but not too much." Itachi hopes it wouldn't be too much. His mother will kill him if she finds out he was spoiling Sasuke so much that she got a belly-ache.
Sasuke is silent for a while, seemingly deep in contemplation. Then she finally nods her assent, and Itachi blesses the gods Sasuke isn't in one if her more difficult moods. Itachi slides the cooler open and grabs the popsicles. Sasuke skips and hums again, now to the theme song of Hamtaro, towards the cashier, and as Itachi follows her, he grabs two bottles of mineral water along the way. Knowing Sasuke, they will be in the park for a while, so it's important to keep their bodies hydrated. On that note, Itachi also grabs an onigiri, just in case Sasuke gets hungry.
Kakashi rings up their items and holds up a hand when he sees Itachi taking out money from his pocket. "This one's on me, kiddos. Enjoy your popsicles."
"Eh? But we can't possibly-"
"Don't be such a stranger." Kakashi ruffles Itachi's hair once more, mussing it up. "I don't mind, really. I'm earning money by doing part-time anyways."
"But we'd feel bad…." Well, Itachi is feeling bad. Sasuke is just excited by the thought of popsicles.
"Well." Kakashi rubs his chin with his hand. "If you feel that strongly about it, I guess you could do something for me." He leans over the counter and turns his head so that his cheek is facing Sasuke. "Give me a kiss, Sasuke."
Itachi's eye twitches at the request. Sasuke just giggles and gives Kakashi's a loud and wet 'smack!' on the cheek. Kakashi lets out a chuckle and pets Sasuke's head again before handing over their purchase.
He is definitely going to be a useless adult in the future, Itachi determined internally. "Say thank you to Kakashi-nii, Sasuke." He instructs with his parental voice, nudging his sister gently.
"Thank you Kakashi-nii!" Sasuke says cheerfully, with her usual toothy grin. Itachi echoes his sister's gratitude in a flatter, less spirited tone.
"You're welcome, princess." Kakashi replies, while waving goodbye to them and going back to his book.
The pair of siblings head out of the convenience store, each with a stick of popsicle in their hands, and make their way to the park across the street hand-in-hand.
As always, Sasuke heads to the swings first. She is holding the popsicle she is sucking with one hand and the chain of the swing with the other. The girl rocks herself back and forth, achieving a slight yet steady sway on her own.
Satisfied that his sister is holding up on her own, Itachi proceeds towards the bench not far from the swings. Before he gets to sit though, he hears the sounds of dogs barking and turns to see a girl with brown hair tied up in a low ponytail, busy handling the leashes of three Siberian Husky pups at the same time. Recognizing his classmate, Itachi approaches her.
"Hey, Hana." The girl looks up from her dogs at the sound of her name. When she recognises it's Itachi calling out to her, she gives him a small wave, which must've been an effort seeing how she is struggling to keep the three dogs in place.
"Hey, Itachi. What're you up to?" She is obviously trying hard to divide her concentration between keeping an eye on her panting, active pups- who are all trying to drag her in three different directions- and holding a conversation with Itachi. "Hold on a sec'."
Hana begins to whistle and tries to direct her pups to the jungle gym. The puppies perks up their ears and circles her legs with wagging tails, following her way. Hana ties their leashes on the jungle gym, then crouches down and gave them doggy treats out from her pockets. She gives them brief pats on the head before coming back and joining Itachi.
"So. What're you up to?" Hana repeats her question.
Itachi crunches the bit of popsicle in his mouth quickly and gestures towards Sasuke's general direction. She is still enjoying her popsicle quietly on the swing. "Taking my sister out for a walk. And you?"
Hana gestures at her puppies. "Taking my children out for a walk. They're always so restless." Hana's tone when talking about her dogs is fond, as if they are truly her children. In a way, Itachi suppose they are. Hana's home is a vet hospital, and so she has always loved animals, particularly the canine ones. As her mother—Inuzuka Tsume, the renowned vet in Konoha is always busy with work, Hana is the one who has to take care of the dogs and acts like a mother to them. Itachi knows this because Hana was constantly gushing about her puppies to her close friends in class during breaks.
"And so, I also had to bring my little brother along." She adds exasperatedly while pointing at a brown-haired boy who is playing in the sandbox, talking animatedly with another little boy with blond hair.
"Kiba-kun…isn't it?" Itachi furrows his eyebrows and guesses unsurely.
"Yup. My idiot brother, Kiba. Your sister's name is Sasuke-chan, right?" Itachi only lets out a low 'hmm' as confirmation. "You're so lucky. She seems like a nice, quiet girl. My Kiba is such a handful."
Itachi lets out a small scoff, "Only because you haven't seen her at home."
Hana sniggers, "Little siblings, huh. Put them in their habitat, and they quickly turn into the little monsters that they are."
Itachi sniggers back and starts making for the bench under the shade of a big tree. If they are going to talk, might as well stay out of the scorching sun. He throws the stick of the popsicle he has finished into the trash bin, and reaches into his plastic band to start on the Grape Gari-Gari-kun. It must be half-melted by now. He feels bad for eating alone, so he waves it in offering towards Hana. Itachi is secretly relieved as she waves her head in refusal. The convenience store is just right across the street, but it would look silly for him to offer her a popsicle just to leave to buy another one for Sasuke. Hana walks next to him, and they half-collapse on the bench together, looking out to the park.
"Is it just me, or is summer getting hotter and hotter by the year?" Hana uses her hand to fan herself, with little success.
Itachi stops sucking on his popsicle for a while to reply in a serious tone, "I think you're right. Gari-Gari usually doesn't melt this quickly."
Hana barks out a short laugh. "Only you would measure the heat by how fast Gari-Gari melts!"
Itachi just gives a lazy smirk, bordering on smile in response, while he watches his sister more closely- she is making a move. Itachi guesses Sasuke has finished her half of the Double Soda, and is making her way to the trash bin to properly dispose of the stick. A slight trickle of pride blooms in Itachi and he smiles at his sister's well-mannered behaviour.
He watches on as Sasuke turns to him and then suddenly makes a dash towards his direction. She doesn't drop her speed as she gets nearer and nearer, and she charges at his stomach. Itachi managed to hold up the Gari-Gari at the last moment, so that it won't get knocked out of his hand. With an 'oof' he catches his sister by her waist, as she punches him repeatedly with her tiny fists and raises her voice in complain, "Nii-chan that's unfair! You're eating the Gari-Gari without me!"
"Ow, stop it Sasuke, it hurts." Itachi tries to fend off his sister's attacks with one hand to no avail. He hears a snigger, and diverts his attention towards Hana who is grinning in amusement at the two of them.
Finally noticing they have an audience, Sasuke stops her attack in exchange for hugging her brother closer and tries desperately to hide her face from view. Sasuke has always been strangely shy when meeting strangers outside, though she is fine meeting new people at home. Perhaps it was the feeling of safety that only their home can give.
Itachi gives her sister an encouraging poke and tries to get her to sit properly on his lap. "Come on Sasuke, say hi to Hana-nee."
"Hana-nee…?" Sasuke says hesitantly, peeking up to have a look at the new person she's being introduced to.
"Oh my gosh you are so precious." Hana cooes at Sasuke and stretches out a palm towards her, "Hi Sasuke! I'm Inuzuka Hana, your brother Itachi's classmate!"
Sasuke looks back to her brother to search for confirmation, but Itachi just nudges her again so that she won't forget her manners. Shyly, Sasuke takes Hana's hand and shakes it a little, uttering a quiet 'hello'.
"Aren't you a cute one! How old are you, Sasuke?" Hana asks in a kind tone. Sasuke holds up four fingers, apparently still unwilling to speak up.
"Four, huh. Then you're the same age with my brother." Hana adds, not disheartened by the almost one-sided conversation they're having. Sasuke only looks at her in faint interest. Then she remembers her Grape Gari-Gari and faces her brother again.
"Nii-chan, gimme the Gari-Gari." Sasuke orders in a matter-in-fact tone. Hana looks like she was holding her laugh. The star-student, class president of 4-2 being ordered around by his dear little sister is a scene you wouldn't be able to see everyday. Thankfully Itachi isn't Shisui, so he isn't overly bothered by this kind of thing. If it were Shisui, his head would be red like an overly ripe tomato by now.
"Say it properly first." Itachi says sternly.
Sasuke scrunches up her face, "Can I have the Gari-Gari? Please?"
Itachi gives her an affectionate smile, and then proceeds to bite the Gari-Gari in half, offering Sasuke the stick with the other half. Sasuke grabs the stick with a sound of victory. Having achieved her goal, she scrabbles down the bench and takes off for the swings again. Itachi continues to watch her leaving back as he works on crunching the block of ice in his mouth.
When Sasuke has reached her usual position on the swing, Itachi turns towards Hana. He was going to apologize for his sister not greeting her properly, when he looks at Hana's horrified expression. Itachi wrecks his brain on what could've made Hana look so aghast, but he can't churn out any answer, so he just stares back at her while still crunching his ice. After a while, after the ice has started to melt in his mouth, he mutters out a garbled 'what'.
"Isn't your mouth cold?" Hana asks, still with a disturbed expression.
Itachi quickly chews the last bit of ice and swallows it down, and Hana winced at him. "Of course it's cold. It's ice."
"No, I mean," Hana makes a gesture towards her own mouth, "Don't your teeth hurt?"
Itachi just shrugs. Hana just winces some more.
"Never mind then, I guess it's just me with my sensitive teeth," Hana explains, "Just looking at you crunching ice in your mouth felt painful."
After that, their conversation stops and they just looks at the park, the sound of cicadas filling their silence. Itachi never minds silence, but Hana looks a bit uncomfortable with it. And sure enough, she starts talking again.
"Have you done any of the homework?"
Itachi had started on his homework early and had worked on it consistently, so he has finished it quite early into the vacation. "Yeah. You?"
"Almost. Only maths left." Feeling another conversation ending, Hana immediately rambles onto another topic, "Oh yeah, why does Sasuke-chan have such a boyish name? I've never heard of parents naming their daughter Sasuke, not that it's a bad name, but you know…"
"It was because my father insisted," Itachi answers, "He didn't want to settle on another name, and he beat my mother to the birth certificate registration."
Hana laughs at his answer and is about to comment on it when they both realise something is happening in the playground. The two boys, Hana's brother and his blond friend, are chasing and throwing sand at each other. They run and run, and they are closing on to Sasuke, who is still concentrating on savouring her Gari-Gari.
Hana growls 'that stupid idiot' under her breath and quickly moves to interfere the unfolding scene, but it is too late.
The blond haired boy, in his excitement, has forgotten his surroundings. He only knows that he is going to get his new friend this time, completely ignorant of the small person who is sitting on the swing, innocently sucking a popsicle. And when the sand in his chubby hand is thrown, his new friend dodges, and all hell start to break loose.
