Chapter 2:

Uchiha Itachi

Uchiha Sasuke laid sleeping on his bed. There was no sign that he was aware of the world around him. His handsome face was expressionless; his onyx eyes were tightly closed, his black pitch hair was messy, and his deep breathing was controlled.

The dim room slowly was illuminated by the sunlight that came through the window. In an instant Sasuke's onyx eyes were opened abruptly as if triggered by the sun young light. Sasuke growled; annoyed by his own habit. His body seemed to have its own internal alarm that determined when he had to get up. His body did not care that he had just returned from an S-class ANBU mission and he had just closed his eyes for about 3 hours ago. Sasuke snorted indignantly. He put his wrist upon his eyes; trying to block out the sunlight and hoping that his body would allow him to go back to sleep.

His efforts to get back to sleep failed because of a familiar smell of food on his olfactory senses. Automatically he grinned; because he knew the one responsible for creating that aroma. Sasuke inched out of the bed, cleaned himself up in the bathroom and then went down the stairs to the kitchen.

"Good morning ..." Sasuke said while rubbing the back of his head as he slowly walked towards the dining table. The food had been served on the table and they let out a mouth-watering smell.

"Good morning, Tousan! Did you sleep well?" a 13-year-old teenage boy who was busy cooking by the stove greeted him.

"If only a 3 hours sleep could be considered a decent sleep," said Sasuke lazily while sitting down facing the teenage's back. A small laughter that was heard from the teen made Sasuke quirked the corner of his lips.

This boy whom was wearing a cooking apron, with a frying pan in his right hand and spatula in his left, was his entire world. His only remaining treasure left in this world. Itachi's dark shoulder-length hair was tasseled; his hairstyle followed his late uncle's. Sasuke bet that Itachi grew a few inches taller since the last time he watched him a few weeks ago.

"Then eat first and then get some sleep again!" Itachi said, sitting in front of his father.

"Maybe later, after I finished the report for Hokage-sama."

Itachi laughed again hearing his father emphasized the word 'Hokage-sama' as if he was saying something very repulsive. Itachi knew that even though his father and the yellow-haired Hokage looked like they were at each other neck, they were actually the very definition of nakama. The three of them often spent time together in between the Hokage's tight schedule. That was the reason why Itachi was dubbed as 'Hokage's favorite' by his friends at the academy.

Sasuke was the Captain of Konoha Anbu Forces. Only when it was really urgent Sasuke would then be on a mission outside Konoha. And the last mission yesterday was one in the category of 'extremely urgent'; so he had to leave Konoha for 3 weeks, away from home and away from his only child.

"How is it, tousan? Is it delicious?"

They had started eating; enjoying their time together after 3 weeks away from each other.

"Delicious," Sasuke answered briefly.

"I must have inherited my cooking skill from okasan, because yours really suck!" said Itachi while smirking towards his father.

"Was okasan's cooking as good as mine, tousan?" Itachi stared deeply at his father.

"Much better" Sasuke said honestly.

Itachi's mother was an expert in cooking. She always turned anything she touched into a succulent dish. From the corner of his eyes Sasuke could see Itachi smiled brightly at him.

Sasuke rarely discussed about the mother of his son. Itachi never knew the reason why Sasuke seemed to conceal his mother identity from him, even her name. So for Itachi, no matter how small the information he got from his father about his mother, was considered something that was very valuable.

Itachi's happy smile because of that little information made Sasuke's chest ached. He really wanted to tell him everything; to tell all about his mother to Itachi. But it was not possible if he wanted to continue to protect Itachi.

Nevertheless Itachi was a very smart boy. He always put small questions about his mother in their daily chatter and Sasuke would only reply casually or even refuse to answer if he felt that the question should not be answered.

In the past when small Itachi had began to have the ability to think and to digest the information around him, he realized the difference between him and other children. One day small Itachi came home crying, asking his father why he was the only boy who had not been picked up by someone whom they called as 'mother'. Itachi cried and asked Sasuke why he did not have a mother. That was the first time small Itachi learned about the concept of death; and that was also the first and last time small Itachi saw his father's tears.

One thing the small Itachi knew that tears would only come out when someone was crying; and Itachi usually cried when he felt sad or ill. So the small boy concluded that asking about his mother would make his father felt sad and in pain. Small Itachi then stopped doing it. He did not want his father to feel sad and in pain. Over time Itachi's curiosity grew; but he learned to understand the sad gaze on his father's eyes everytime his mother was mentioned. He knew that there was something that his father was trying to hide from him. But he did not want to force it out. He believed that his father had a reason for all his secrets.

"Today is a the day our Genin team is chosen. It's my first day as a genin!" Itachi said cheerfully.

Sasuke smiled slightly seeing his son grinning brightly, showing his passion and excitement for being a Genin. Although he was raised by a cold Uchiha, Itachi grew into a warm and friendly child. In contrast to Sasuke, Itachi made everyone around him loved him because of his nice and calm personality and also attributed by his handsome face. Itachi was physically a duplicate of his father from head to toe, as if shouting to the world that he was the son of an Uchiha Sasuke. Itachi often joked that his father was too greedy on him because he bequeathed all of his body to him without leaving a slightest part of him for his mother, and Sasuke would laugh quietly hearing it. But there was one thing that Itachi did not know...

"Are you happy? ..." Sasuke propped up his chin with the back of his hands, staring at Itachi's glowing face.

"Of course!" Itachi rolled his eyes, feeling funny about his father's question which the answer was certainly the most obvious in the world. His dream was finally becoming a reality, soon he could proudly call himself a ninja.

"I will try to make you proud father," Itachi whispered softly with a shy smile in his face.

A small smile graced Sasuke's lips. He kept silent as he continued to stare intently at Itachi.

One thing Itachi did not know was... that his smile was very similar to his mother's.

oooooooo

AN:

Hyuri and Me are very grateful for your reviews. Please do review again..