Sasuke's hair stuck stubbornly to his forehead, little beads of sweat making their way to his jawline, as he waited impatiently in the car. Any attempt to tame the rebellious bangs resulted in making a greater mess out of them, so resigned, the young man did what he'd always done: let them live their own life.
After interminable minutes into watching himself in the rear-view mirror, three familiar raven heads finally made their way in his general direction.
Sasuke quickly hopped out of the car, smoothed the creases on his pants and swept his fingers one last time through his hair.
The first thing he saw was his mother waving ardently at him and the corners of his mouth curled into a smile. His arm held (a little too) tightly into her secure grip, Itachi seemed a little dazed, he frowned slightly as his eyes were getting used to the blinding sun outside. As for their father, he was falling a little behind, (and it was so uncharacteristic of him) at a complete loss of what to do with his own hands. Every now and then, he would awkwardly stretch them forward, as if he was expecting the ground to swallow his eldest son.
The sight of Sasuke's mocking smirk had the Uchiha patriarch glaring at the young man, before quickly letting it go and displaying a little smile of his own.
Itachi, for his part, was completely oblivious to it all, or most likely he chose to ignore it, in such a good mood he seemed. The sight of his big brother actually hurt Sasuke's eyes, the bright colors he wore contrasting against his pale skin, literally putting the sun to a shame. All of it was very likely Mikoto's doing, (after all, Itachi was such a sober person) in another attempt to bring out Itachi's 'livelier' side. All of them had their own ways to cope, hers was this.
He quickened his pace, followed closely by his fretting mother. Sasuke's face hurt from the smile stretching it, if any of his classmates saw him now, his reputation would be ruined.
"Little brother, I missed you."
Sasuke gestured for a high-five. Instead, he was engulfed into his brother's choking hug, Itachi's nails digging painfully in his little brother's skull.
"I told you." Sasuke complained into Itachi's shoulder. "Not when there are people around."
"Silly little brother." Itachi admonished. He tilted his head and raised his eyebrow in a way that conveyed his exact thoughts on how there was no more proper way for one's big brother to greet one's little brother.
Sasuke sighed.
"Don't be grumpy, Sasuke, we were looking forward to spend time with you." Mikoto said helpfully, swaying happily back and forth, before grabbing his cheeks and planting a kiss there.
This half of the family cared very little about Uchiha fashion.
"How are you feeling, Itachi? Not too tired?" Fugaku inquired, breaking Sasuke out of his thoughts as his brother let go of him.
"Father, I barely walked ten feet."
"If you say so."
It was a truly fascinating thing, how Fugaku struggled to express basic concern (Sasuke, in contrast, could be quite vocal), despite the fact that he genuinely longed to. As it turned out, he kept looking at Itachi, not quite believing his son but reluctant to say another word.
Itachi softly shook his head.
"I insist, please do not concern yourself so much over me." He reassured as he planted his hands firmly on his father's shoulders. Fugaku blinked, but no other sign of acknowledgment transpired from his demeanor.
"Ah, all right." The man conceded, at last. "Help your brother settling Sasuke, we're going."
The brothers exchanged a look. The elder's shoulders sagged slightly.
"There there." The youngest soothed, pressing Itachi forward, "Come on, we can't have you hurting yourself unnecessarily."
Sasuke's laugher soon followed, loud enough for only his brother to hear, and the latter shot him resigned look. Before long, everyone was settled, Mikoto's jovial voice filled the closed space in the car, telling anecdotes ranging from hospitals to 'I bought your brother the cutest outfit!'
The mental image of his brother being tagged along like an over-sized human doll, at the mercy of the woman's whim, penetrated Sasuke's mind, he shuddered, "My poor brother." He sympathized.
"Ah, but it's not as bad as you think." Said brother answered, seemingly content. "We do spend enjoyable time together."
Of course, his brother was the worst person he could choose to make fun of. He didn't retaliate or even take offense, he would just take things in stride. Maybe it was because they were brothers, or it was due Itachi's overall pacific nature.
Under Sasuke's gaze, Itachi slumped lazily, his head resting against the car glass. Most of his hair slipped out of his ponytail by now and the hair tie was threatening to fall anytime.
"Hey." The younger started. "You look skinnier than last time I saw you, are you doing everything right?"
"So do you." Itachi countered. "Tell me, little brother, is father pushing you too hard?"
Fugaku unsurprisingly, once nurtured the hopes of seeing his eldest son walk on his footsteps as chief of the police. Life and circumstances wouldn't have it this way, (and really, Itachi never showed any interest in pursuing this path). This left him with his available son, which he discovered, given enough attention, proved himself to be quite brilliant. He'd been overjoyed when his youngest started showing interest on the job. Sasuke didn't really mind, he rather liked the undivided attention and praises he received from his father.
"No." Sasuke brushed off. "He's manageable and, I have to say, that was a pretty lame attempt at changing the subject, hm?"
His brother didn't dignify him with a response, but he was granted an infuriating smile and a forehead poke.
The house was smaller than the one Sasuke and his father lived in, but it was definitely livelier, flamboyant and full of flowery curtains and warm carpets. The wheelchair discarded in a corner of the living-room looked out of place, and as much as everyone wanted it gone, it would probably stick around for a while.
Everyone dutifully washed their hands before considering doing anything else. It would probably be one of their last once-in-a-month gathering dinner, but each of them yearned the consistency of the event, and that implied walking on eggshells when it came to sanitary measures. No one wanted to be the potential instigator of an unfortunate event.
Sasuke was currently leaning his head heavily against his palm, half-heartedly spinning a spatula into a pot, the result of Itachi proposing to help their mother for dinner and dragging his unwilling brother into his own idea of 'quality time'. Ten minutes into it, he mercifully declared:
"You are not having fun."
Sasuke was ready to throw his hands in the air.
"Duh. Can't we do something else?"
Itachi studied him and after a few seconds, he said, "All right. Come." and he tugged his little brother's arm.
"Where to?"
"Anywhere you want. I will spoil you." Itachi smiled fondly.
Sasuke smirked "About time!"
It was another unofficial little tradition that the brothers would always spend some time away from their parents. They usually would not go very far, as they would stop and rest every few minutes, enough for Itachi to regain his breath if there was any need.
Furthermore, it happened to be one of those few times Sasuke would show things around for his brother. Sometimes, Itachi's eyes would widen just a little, which Sasuke relished fully, but god forbid he expressed that out loud.
He did find his voice, however, when an individual leapt through a window like a cat, threatening to get in the way of their brotherly time. Itachi merely shrugged like it was an everyday thing.
"Sasuke!" Shisui ruffled his head, most likely to break to awkwardness, since the young man certainly knew -Sasuke's face could be quite expressive- how his little cousin despised the gesture.
He batted the offending hand away.
"You."
He turned to his brother, beckoning for him to follow.
"Itachi, I'm waiting for you." He added in his most disinterested -non-whining- voice.
"I see he's still not over his little dictator phase?" Shisui pretended to murmur into Itachi's ear, clasping the young man into a one-armed side hug, all the while being loud enough for Sasuke to hear.
"Oh? I think he's fine."
"Because you are such an incurable martyr."
The cousins smiled at each other. The one-sided embrace had them practically head-bumping by now. At that moment, Itachi appeared so incredibly worn out. All of his previous life-force seemingly gone, he looked like he could collapse right there in Shisui's arms and not wake up for the next twenty-four hours.
"Nii-san?"
"Hm? Oh yes, we're going." He turned to Shisui, "Did you want something?"
The older smiled sheepishly, running his hand through his curls, "I heard you were discharged so I came to see for myself, but" a tentative look at Sasuke got him a challenging stare, "I guess you guys haven't seen each other for a while so, I'll see you later."
He blew a kiss and was out of the window before Itachi could ask 'Are you sure?'
Later that day, they had supper together, purposely around the littler kitchen table for the occasion.
Sasuke munched on his food. Itachi carefully picked every piece of chicken in his plate, placing them one by one near its border, Mikoto glared and pushed it back right in the middle.
That mother of theirs could be scary when she wanted to.
Going as far as to threaten his brother into eating an innocent chicken.
Fugaku, who had been with them a few minutes before, was now on the phone, probably scaring some subordinates away.
He sat back. "Something came up, I am expected back by this morning." He frowned.
"For how much time?" Mikoto asked.
"I can't tell yet."
Mikoto leaned back a further into her seat. "In this case, I'll have to call Kushina and report our plans."
Fugaku raised his eyebrows. "What? Did you plan to do something else this week?"
"Yes, I did." Her voice was sharp, yet strained. "But I don't want the boys to be alone." Everyone was silent. Itachi inched closer to his mother.
Up close, it was obvious that years of built-up tension and worry had finally taken their toll on the Uchiha matriarch. Kushina was her best friend so she saw Fugaku coming around as an opportunity to have some time for herself.
"You can go. We'll be fine." Her eldest son uttered gently, his hand poised on her shoulder.
She swept the hair framing his face and tucked it behind his ear, "Are you sure you two will be okay on your own?"
"Why not?" Sasuke asked.
"What Mother is trying to ask, otouto is, will you not be afraid of staying alone with me?"
"Well, we'll pay extra attention." He gave his brother a pointed look. "won't we?"
In response to which, said brother nodded very slowly.
Fugaku and Mikoto looked at each other and somehow came to some unsaid agreement, as they nodded their heads almost in slow unison.
"We'll have to ask your cousin to check on you from time to time." Fugaku decided.
"And I'll leave Sasuke with the list of allowed food and the medicines ..." Mikoto added.
"Mother, he doesn't have to do that. I can handle it, I always did." Itachi complained.
Three pair of eyes stared at him.
"Of course you do, sweetheart." Mikoto smiled and winked at her youngest son very -not- discreetly.
At that point, Itachi shot his brother such a desperate look that Sasuke actually shuddered.
Because it was the only sensible thing to do, Sasuke gave his brother's shoulder a compassionate squeeze accompanied with a solemn nod.
"Just call us." Their father intervened.
More nods.
"And you will listen to your brother Sasuke, in everything he says." She turned to her eldest "In return, I know you can take care of yourself, but listen to Sasuke from time to time, he can be quite mature when the situation calls to it."
Sasuke savored his little victory.
Itachi languidly brought his knees up to his chest and rested his head there.
Later that night, when everyone was tucked in their respective beds, Sasuke found that he was unable to sleep. He quietly rolled over to face the adjacent bed and watched.
A full minute passed before he could distinguish the soft rise and fall of a chest.
Reassured, he closed his eyes and went into a peaceful slumber.
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