Thank you to all who followed and favored!

...please bear with this chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Uchiha Sasuke had a secret.

Well, it wasn't his secret, per say, but he still had to keep it.

It was the shame of the Uchiha family. A scandal, if you will. It wasn't something that directly affected Sasuke, but he knew that if the secret got out, things would change.

If there was one thing youngest Uchiha knew, it was that he did not like change. He didn't like it when his Aniki was gone on missions. He didn't like it when his mother had to go into town and left him with a relative whose house smelled like stale raisins.

Basically, he didn't like his daily routine being disturbed for any reason.

Mikoto thought it was adorable how particular her younger son was. He was so different from what his older brother had been at his age.

Of course, that was partly due to their natures.

Sasuke was an alpha, whereas Itachi was an…

…omega.

One of Sasuke's earliest memories was of his mother, Mikoto, sitting him down and explaining in the simplest way possible why his aniki was in so much…pain. The conversation went a little like;

Mikoto: Your aniki is what's called an 'omega'. That means that he can have babies. Right now, his body is practicing how to have a baby.

Sasuke: Why?

Mikoto: So that it's ready when he does have a baby.

Sasuke: Why?

Mikoto: Because I said so.

Sasuke: Oh. M'kay.

(He was at that age where he was starting to figure out the wonders of what the word "why" could do for a little guy like him).

Mikoto didn't forget to make sure that Sasuke told no one about what he found out that day. She claimed it was because people treated omegas badly. It wasn't untrue, but also was the full truth as to why no one could know Itachi was an omega, either.

That was the first and last time Sasuke could recall his older brother going into heat for the next few years. At the time, he never thought of it as weird or abnormal because he didn't know any better. He couldn't have; he was far too young to fully understand how second genders worked.

Sasuke and Itachi were close growing up. Such was almost always the case when the older sibling happened to be an omega. Their inner maternal instinct naturally compelled them to have a soft spot for young children. Itachi was no exception.

Likewise, Fugaku was much more attentive to Itachi than he was to Sasuke, something the young alpha picked up on early on.

The Uchiha patriarch didn't coddle his oldest son by any means, but he was fiercely protective of him. Since Sasuke was an alpha, Fugaku adopted the parenting method of remaining both emotionally and physically distant.

If Fugaku caught either Mikoto of Itachi giving Sasuke any form of physical affection, he quickly reprimanded them. It was "detrimental to Sasuke's development."

Both mother and brother thought it was a ridiculous notion, and didn't hesitate to hug the youngest Uchiha when the clan head wasn't looking.

Sasuke didn't yet understand what his father was trying to do; that the only reason Itachi was treated more "favorably" was because he was an omega. He only saw that his brother got far more "praise" and "attention" than he did from their father.

He didn't understand how binding second gender identities were. He figured that Itachi got the attention he did because he was so talented and skilled.

With that line of logic, all Sasuke had to do was be as talented and skilled as Itachi.

But Itachi wasn't a protégé for nothing. No matter how hard Sasuke tried, he couldn't master the same techniques and jutsus Itachi had when he was Sasuke's age. It seemed as though he had to work ten times harder that his older brother to get a fraction of the same progress.

To make matters worse, the more Sasuke tried and failed, the more Fugaku distanced himself. The utter disappointment that radiated form his father was enough to make any kid feel shamed, much less one who was such a perfectionist as Sasuke.

Every time he asked Itachi for help, the older boy only poked him in the forehead and told him, "maybe later".

"Later" never came.

A time went by, Sasuke gradually became more and more distant from his mother and brother. It wasn't anyone's fault; as Sasuke failed to progress at the same rate Itachi did, Fugaku took certain measures to ensure that he was isolated as much as possible. The Uchiha patriarch thought it would help motivate the boy to work harder.

Itachi became consistently "too busy" to spend time with his younger brother, thanks to the immense amount of miscellaneous missions Fugaku always had ready for him. Mikoto was downright not allowed to give Sasuke any emotional or physical comfort.

The young alpha found himself very alone very quickly. It was ironic, how someone could live in a compound that was practically its own little community of family, yet be completely ignored at the same time.

Sure, fellow Uchiha exchanged pleasantries with Sasuke (usually in the form of old ladies telling him how adorable he was), but they didn't really see him as his own person.

It was the same when he started school. Beta females absolutely fawned over him, for the same reason the old ladies did. He was just "so incredibly cute". He once tried to talk to one of them, but the girl hadn't said a word in response, opting to making little noises in the back of her throat and turn completely red.

His male classmates simply didn't like him, and he wasn't one to go out of his way to make friends or socialize. He might have not been a protégé like Itachi, but Sasuke was easily more talented than any of his classmates.

That, combined with his natural anti-social tendencies and popularity amongst the beta females, is what gave him the reputation of being stuck up and unfriendly. Neither was entirely untrue, but his classmate's exclusion of him drove him to be much more arrogant that he initially was.

Like many a child would, to protect himself from loneliness, he convinced himself that he didn't care.

He didn't care that his brother no longer spent any time with him.

He didn't care that his mother treated him like a stranger in his own home.

And he most certainly didn't care that all his classmates seemed to hate him.

The only thing he cared about was pleasing his father, which was a seemingly impossible task. He would do whatever it took to get on the good side of the man and receive the same treatment Itachi did.

He began to spend all his free time training. Any time between meals or before bed, he spend in the Uchiha training fields, practicing whatever he had learned at the academy that day.

On school days during morning breaks and lunch, Sasuke asked the chunin instructors to teach him more taijutsu instead of playing with the other kids. (Not that he would've spent free time actually being with kids his own age anyway).

Sasuke knew not to ask Iruka. That guy was all about being "fair". In other words, each kid got the same amount of instruction and one-on-one time. Such a concept was foreign to Sasuke.

Instead he went to Mizuki, who was too afraid of getting on the bad side of the Uchiha to ever refuse him.

The more and more he distanced himself from others, the more Sasuke began to go from merely telling himself he didn't care to actually believing that other people were a waste of time. In his mind, training and bettering oneself was a much more practical application of time than being with people was.

That line of thinking tricked his brain into believing that it was his own choice not to associate with others instead of something that was forcefully thrust upon him. After all, not many people simply choose to withdraw from everyone around them at such a young age, unless they had some sort of anti-social disorder (something Sasuke was showing heavy tendencies towards).

By the time Sasuke turned seven, Itachi was an ANBU captain. Already, the boy had tried to talk his teachers into giving him the genin test (without his parents knowledge), but apparently they changed the rules since Itachi graduated. No one could take the genin test until they were twelve years of age.

It angered Sasuke to know that, no matter how hard he worked, he would always be a million steps behind his older brother. There was no way he could be promoted to ANBU captain at the age of thirteen if he couldn't become a measly genin before age twelve.

It was official. Fate hated him.

Lately, he had begun to notice that the atmosphere around his house was always very tense. He rarely ever saw Itachi, and when he did, the omega's muscles were bunched together, like he was constantly paranoid about something.

Fugaku also seemed even more severe than usual. He and Itachi seemed to be at odds, something that had never happened before. After all, Itachi wasn't likely to be rebellious because he was an omega. It was in his genes to be submissive, especially to a high-ranking alpha such as their father.

Itachi always seemed to defy the norm.

Aside from that, Itachi just…wasn't looking good. His skin was paler than usual, and when he moved, there seemed to be just the slightest bit of tremors. If it had been any other seven-year-old, they wouldn't have noticed.

But, even with the distance that had come between the two brothers, Itachi was Sasuke's idol. He knew when his brother was looking to be in less that subpar condition.

His father also began giving him more attention, something that had thrilled the young alpha. He was so happy about it that he didn't even question why.

Fugaku began teaching him the signature clan jutsu: Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique.

It would be his first elemental jutsu, and his own father was taking time out of his busy schedule just to teach it to him. It was like a dream come true.

He had trouble with it. Any other parent would tell Sasuke to be patient, that no one got their first jutsu right the very first time, even an Uchiha. Fugaku wasn't like the other parents (except for maybe Hyuuga Hiashi. They shared some similarities, but their techniques were a little different).

The man only shook his head at any trouble Sasuke displayed, and walked away.

Sasuke could practically hear him say, you're not worth my time.

It made him work even harder. He practiced relentlessly for a week, barely even stopping to eat. Never before had he felt as incredibly worthless as he did every time his father bowed his head in disappointment and walked away.

At the end of the week, he finally got it. He ran to find his father, which felt strange, considering he rarely ever sought anyone out.

He showed Fugaku his perfected jutsu. For the first time in Sasuke's memory, his father smiled at him and said, "That's my boy."

Motioning a hand to his youngest, Fugaku said, "Walk with me, Sasuke."

The boy hesitated for a moment, eyes wide. When his father turned to him with a cocked eyebrow, Sasuke shook himself out of his shock and practically ran to older alpha's side.

For a few minutes, the two leisurely walked side by side. The only sounds to be heard were the rustling of leaves overhead, the soft shuffle of their feet on the ground, and the pleasant hum of a busy clan compound. Despite how tense the clan had been, there was still jovial laughter that could be heard.

The Uchiha compound was a relatively sunny place.

Sasuke continued to sneak glances at his father, wondering if he only wanted to go for a walk or if he actually wanted to speak to him.

"Sasuke," abruptly, the man stopped to give the boy a much leveled, meaningful look. "Do you know what sets you apart from Itachi?"

He stilled. An all too familiar feeling of inadequacy and disappointment settled in the pits of his stomach. This is what he wanted to do, the kid thought, he wanted to tell me that it's not okay how far behind Itachi I am. Swallowing the lump that began to form in his throat he said, "Is it because Itachi is a protégé?"

He had heard the word tossed around enough with Itachi's name to know it described how incredible his brother was.

"Well," Fugaku was uncharacteristically thoughtful, "That's one thing. But I was referring to something else. I assume you know what an alpha, beta, and omega are, right?"

He nodded. If he had been a certain pink-haired bane of his existence, he would've proudly listed what each one was and their different roles in society. But he wasn't, and Fugaku hadn't asked him for all his knowledge on the subject.

"Good. That makes things easier. You know that Itachi is an omega."

It was more of a statement than a question, but he still looked at Sasuke for confirmation. Sasuke, again, nodded.

"You might not know this yet, but omega aren't supposed to become shinobi. Most don't even have jobs." He sighed, as if greatly troubled (and he probably was). "I knew Itachi wouldn't be weak like most omega. I didn't want him to be treated the same.

"The body and minds of omegas aren't built for combat, much less the shinobi lifestyle. Yes, Itachi has incredible talent, but to be where he is today, he needed special attention and training.

"You on the other hand, are an alpha." He turned from looking at the horizon back to Sasuke; brown eyes met large black ones. "As an alpha, you don't require the same treatment Itachi had. The minds and bodies of alphas' are hard wired for battle. Giving you as much attention and care I bestow on Itachi would be detrimental to your development."

Remembering that he was speaking to a seven year old, he clarified, "That means that too much attention isn't good for you. In order to be the best you can be, you have to find your own way.

"When I was your age, my father gave me the best advice I was ever given. As your father, I will tell you the same: An alpha raises himself. If he does that, he will become truly strong."

That was the first and last full conversation Sasuke ever had with his father.

Everything began falling apart after that. The catalyst for that was when Itachi ended up in the hospital for over-dosing on omega heat-and-scent suppressants, something that could kill, or render infertile, any omega.

Sasuke knew something was wrong when Itachi didn't come home for a whole week, and he wasn't on a mission. He didn't ask where he was, because he knew no one would tell him.

(Last time he had tried being "nosy", his father had took him to the willow tree outback and gave him five good lashes with the switch).

When he did come home, he was in a wheel chair and then confined to bed.

If things weren't tense before, they definitely were after that. The whole clan seemed to know something was very wrong. No one smiled and no one laughed; people barely even talked anymore.

Fugaku rarely was at home. This prompted Mikoto to try to talk to Sasuke more, but the boy, remembering what his father told him, kept his distance and tried to find an excuse to be outside of the compound as much as possible.

He couldn't stand the stifling atmosphere that lingered in the clan like the smell of rotten eggs. He spend most of his time walking by himself, training in unused training grounds outside of the compound, or, when he was too tired to do anything else, sitting on a secluded dock of a lake hardly anyone ever went to.

It was a good place to actually be alone, by himself, without the annoyances that were his fan girls or the grueling expectations his father put on him.

He didn't know why, but he knew that he felt better when he was away from it all. (He also felt lonely, but well, he'd never admit that to himself).

It was one of those days he sat on the dock in which he almost…felt as if someone was staring at him. Sure enough, when he turned around, there was a wild-looking blond boy he recognized from class.

He didn't remember the other's name, but he knew it had something to do with swirls and fish-cakes.

They blinked at each other. Then the blond, for some reason beyond Sasuke, scowled, yelled, "Teme!" and ran off.

Teme? The Uchiha thought, what does that even mean?

He found out the boy's name was Naruto in class when Iruka-sensei yelled at him for a prank. He then remember that the boy was a dead last—a dobe.

The next time Sasuke caught Naruto staring at him he said to the blond, "Stop staring at me, dobe."

That struck a nerve. The other boy huffed, called him a "teme with a duck-butt attacked to his head", and ran off again.

The two started to insult each other not only outside school, but inside it as well. It often resulted in all-out brawls that Sasuke always won, much to the other's chagrin. The alpha didn't know what even possessed the blond to instigate fights with him in the first place, since he always lost.

Sasuke had little to no interaction with others his age, nor did he care to pay enough attention to the others in his class to know what normal friends looked and acted like. What he did know is that his daily fights with Naruto distracted him from everything bad happening in his life.

In that sense, Sasuke actually liked Naruto in a weird, twisted way. He told himself that it was just nice to beat the crap out of another kid his age.

One day, he happened to actually be home (he had written homework due the next day) when his mom was making dinner. His father, once again, wouldn't be able to make it back in time for the meal, so it would just be the two of them (and Itachi; but he still slept most days and was confined to his bed for the foreseeable future).

Their meal was eaten mainly in silence. Mikoto asked the occasional question about school and friends—

"Friends?" Sasuke pondered the question. "There're a group of beta girls that follow me around, and there's one boy who likes to fight me. He always loses."

—but all of Sasuke's answers were short, and to the point.

After dinner, when he was about to excuse himself, Mikoto handed him a hot tray of the meal they had just eaten, and asked him to take it to his brother.

"He's been home for over a week now, and I don't think you've spoken to him once."

He fidgeted where he sat, looking guilty. "I've seen him. And that's because he's always sleeping."

His mother frowned. It was very uncharacteristic of him not to want to see Itachi, especially when he was sick. Itachi never got ill, and the few times he did, she practically had to pry Sasuke away from him so that he didn't end up sick as well.

I wonder, the beta thought to herself, did something happen between the two of them? No, Fugaku must have done something.

"If he's sleep, just leave it by his bed. He'll eat it when he wakes up."

The seven-year-old huffed, but his relieved look betrayed how he really felt. "Okay, if you say so."

In all honestly, Sasuke had been very worried about his brother, but Fugaku forbade Sasuke from seeing him. (Sasuke still snuck in the room sometimes when his father wasn't home, but always made sure he did it when Itachi was asleep).

Apparently, Mikoto didn't know what Fugaku said to him. That was okay; he couldn't disobey his mother, and as long as she didn't tell his father about it, everything would be fine.

Itachi was awake in bed, reading a book. He had just turned a page when Sasuke opened the door with back; his hand were occupied with the tray carrying Itachi's food.

When Sasuke saw that his brother was awake, he dropped his head, cheeks aflame, and said, "I'm sorry for barging in, Aniki. I thought you'd be asleep again."

Without taking his eyes off his brother, the omega places his bookmark inside his novel, shut it close, and placed it on his nightstand. "No apology needed." His movements were lethargic but deliberate.

Itachi just kept staring at him. Sasuke moved from foot to foot nervously, feeling like an amoeba under a microscope. "I brought your dinner for you," he broke the silence.

"You can set it on the nightstand."

After he did so, Itachi scooted over in his bed with a wince, and patted the vacant spot beside him. Sasuke hesitated, but ended up climbing on the bed beside Itachi.

The omega put his arm around his brother and held him close to his chest.

Sasuke stiffened; no one had held him like that for at least a year or two. Heck, Fugaku monitored Mikoto too closely to even let her so much as pat him on the back.

"An alpha raises himself."

The words echoed in his head, prompting him to pull away from his brother. I can't be coddled or I'll never be strong, he thought, and if I don't get strong, father will never acknowledge me.

"What are you doing?" Itachi asked. "I know it's been a while, but you aren't too old for a hug from your aniki, are you?"

Sasuke nodded rigorously. "I'm an alpha," he stated without pride, "so I'm not supposed to hug anyone."

Itachi leaned over and poked Sasuke in the forehead with his index and middle fingers. "Foolish little brother. It's not a sign of weakness to hug your brother, especially if he's a sick omega. Now come over here."

That did the trick. The young alpha nearly tackled the older omega in a feverish attempt to be as close to him as he could.

A low chuckle vibrated Itachi's chest. He stroked Sasuke's hair, "I said a sick omega. Being gentle would be appreciated." His tone was light, but his voice was laced with slightest hint of pain.

Sasuke loosened up a little. "Sorry, aniki." He sniffed, dangerously close to tears. "Are you…are you going to be okay?" He rapidly blinked his eyes.

"Yes, I'll be fine." The omega answered softly. "I need time to heal, but I will be okay. After all, who else will protect you, otouto?"

"Hn," the younger grunted in his brother's shirt, "I can protect myself."

"One day you will," he mused the alpha's hair fondly, "but you're still too young."

"Aniki?"

"Hm?"

"I missed you."

"I missed you too, otouto."

The two silently held each other like they used to when Sasuke was younger.

The young alpha figured it was okay to hug Itachi like that. After all, he was an omega, and Sasuke heard that omegas need physical contact like hugs, and whatnot. There was nothing wrong with hugging Itachi.

Shouting sounded from the kitchen.

The Uchiha patriarch was home.

Itachi's grip tightened on his brother, but Sasuke just grew ridged. He silently sent a prayer to Kami that his father wouldn't come in to the room.

"Fugaku, all I did was ask him to bring Itachi's dinner to—"

"I don't care. He's knows he's not supposed to see Itachi."

The voices were coming closer.

"It's my fault, I didn't know, but please don't—"

There was a loud smack that seemed to ring on forever. They shared a look. Their father had hit their mother.

Sasuke tried to untangle himself from Itachi, but it was too late. Fugaku already opened the door. His long strides carried him over to the bed much more quickly than what would have seemed possible. He grabbed his younger son by the hair, and ripped him off of the bed.

Itachi sat up, startled. "Father—"

"Stay out of this, Itachi," he all but growled at his oldest. His words were slurred—he was drunk. There was no reasoning with a drunk alpha. "You shouldn't indulge that type of behavior. It you need a cuddle thing that bad, go find an alpha to fuck yourself on and have your own kid."

"Fugaku!"

He ignored his wife's cry, and continued to drag the seven-year-old out to their back yard by his hair.

Sasuke knew what was coming. Behind the Uchiha head family's house was a weeping willow, grown there for the sole purpose of disciplining naughty children—alphas and betas, that is. It was generally frowned upon to beat any child, much less an omega child.

He threw Sasuke against the trunk of the tree, and coldly told him to take of his shirt and turn around.

"Father," Sasuke protested, tears growing in his eyes, "please, I'm sorry, aniki said it was okay so I didn't think—"

"That's no excuse. You should know better than to listen to a damned omega. Now shut your mouth and do as I say!"

With trembling fingers, the boy lifted his shirt off. He shivered as the cool night breeze touched his skin. (At least, he hoped that's what his father thought the shivering was from. If he knew Sasuke was so terrified that he was shaking, he would no doubt give a harsher punishment).

Sasuke heard Fugaku break off one of the slim branches and test it against the ground.

Without warning, Sasuke felt the sharp sting of the switch [1] rip the skin of his back. Initial contact never hurt that bad, but only a few seconds after being whipped, it stung more than any pepper spray.

Every time Sasuke cried out, Fugaku screamed that he was a coward, corrupted by his soft omega brother.

He couldn't help crying out—he was only a little kid, and it hurt. It was no better than getting a lash from a whip, which would could make any grown alpha cry out in pain.

Sasuke lost count of the lashes after ten; he was growing much too dizzy to keep count of anything. He vaguely heard shouting in the background, but it was distant, like he was underwater.

He thought the edges of his vision was growing black. It was hard to tell since it was already dark out.

He doesn't remember anything after that.

Fugaku forced Sasuke to go to school the next day, despite his injuries. After the previous night, the boy only nodded his head as a response. It seemed to satisfy the elder alpha.

Sasuke doesn't clearly remember what transpired in the next couple of weeks. Something snapped—he knew that. But he wasn't exactly sure as to what snapped, or why it snapped in the first place.

One night when he had been walking home, the same as he did every night, he was intercepted by Itachi. He still had a few blocks to go before he reached the compound, and Itachi had only been back on his feet for five days. He wasn't even cleared to leave the compound.

"Aniki?" Sasuke questioned, confused. "What are you doing outside?"

Itachi didn't answer and instead grabbed his arm, forcibly throwing the boy onto his back.

"Hey!" He protested, "What's going on? Why are we running away from the compound?"

"I can't explain right now," the omega responded shortly, "but it's not safe. It's…being attacked."

"…"

Sasuke's mouth hung open. "If—if it's being attacked, shouldn't you help? How come you're running away?" His demands became more frantic and loud with each word. "Aren't you the strongest shinobi in Konoha?! You could beat anyone!"

"I'm not stronger than the law," was the only thing Itachi said. He stubbornly remained silent as Sasuke yelled and screamed, and beat against his back.

He ended up taking him to an underground bunker, where they stayed with their mother and other Uchiha families. There weren't as many alphas as there were omegas and betas, and most everyone present were a part of distant branch families.

The next morning, over half of the whole Uchiha populace was dead, including Uchiha Fugaku.

No matter how many times he asked Mikoto and Itachi what had happened, the only thing they would tell him is that the Uchiha compound was attacked and his father hadn't made it out in time.

They wouldn't tell him who attacked or why they attacked.

Shinobi know the meaning of death much sooner than anyone else. However, it's something else entirely when a person understands death at the tender age of seven.

Mikoto and Itachi both tried to spend as much time as humanly possible with Sasuke, most likely to make up for all the time Fugaku isolated the young alpha.

If it had only been a couple months ago, Sasuke would have grown to appreciate and relish in the attention from his mother and brother. He had been attention starved for the past two years or so.

But his father's final advice to him rang clear in his mind—

-"An alpha raises himself."

His dad was dead. He wasn't coming back. Sasuke would never see him again.

The man whose attention and acknowledgment Sasuke craved above all others—even above Itachi's—was gone, never to return.

He didn't know how to feel about it. He was too young and emotionally inexperienced to even begin to sort through the torrent of emotions that ran through him at such break-neck speeds that he couldn't even feel one of them.

It was like trying to touch a single strand of chakra in a swirling rasengan—so impossible that the one who was going to touch it in the first place decided to give up.

He didn't understand it—he didn't understand any of it. He was sad, he was mad, he was disappointed, he was confused, he was—he was everything, yet he was nothing at the same time.

At the funeral, Sasuke found himself crying, and he didn't even know why. Father wouldn't want me to cry, he thought.

But he just couldn't stop.

Standing before his father's grave, he swore to him that he'd make him proud—that he'd be an alpha and raise himself.

"Father wasn't a bad person."

The young alpha's heart almost leaped out of his chest. There was no need for panic, though. It was only Itachi.

"Itachi-san," he addressed his brother formally once he calmed down, (They were at a grave site, which meant that Sasuke needed to be on his best behavior).

The elder ignored the formal tone of address, and continued on with whatever he was saying. He wouldn't look at Sasuke—only the grave stone. "Father wasn't a bad person," he repeated emotionlessly, "but he had a flawed perspective."

Sasuke's eyebrows furrowed together. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that father believed in all the wrong things for all the right reasons."

The young alpha only stared at his brother with a blank expression, trying to look like he understood.

"Let's see," Itachi looked up to the sky, thoughtfully. "Father kept you away from us because he thought it was the best way to raise you. In reality, it has only made you socially inept and disassociated—ah, it's only made you bad with other people and bad with your own emotions."

Itachi's gaze turned to Sasuke's for the first time since their father was murdered. The omega's eyes held so much love and care that Sasuke began to feel a little uncomfortable, unused to such a blatant emotion openly expressed for all to see. "I'm sorry I couldn't do anything about it earlier, that Mother and I couldn't show you how much we love you.

"It's okay to laugh, hug, and cry, even if you're an alpha." He poked Sasuke's forehead and in a lighter tone added, "Just not when you're a shinobi on a mission. Then it's best to remain as emotionless as possible, but all in good time."

He held out his hand for Sasuke to grab. The boy was so confused—he didn't know who or what to believe anymore.

Was Itachi saying their father had been wrong and lied to Sasuke his whole life? Or, had he not lied, but was wrong about everything he ever said to Sasuke?

Or is Itachi wrong? After all, he wasn't an alpha like Father and me. He couldn't really know.

Even as he thought it, he knew that couldn't be true—while Itachi didn't tell Sasuke a lot of thing, he had never outright lied to him. Itachi had to be telling the truth.

Not wanting to think anymore, Sasuke grabbed Itachi's hand, and let him lead him out of the graveyard.

"It'll take time," Itachi told him as they walked, "but you'll be okay. I promise."

He squeezed the younger boy's hand and gave him a small, but genuine, smile. In spite of everything, Sasuke couldn't help but smile back. He couldn't remember the last time he'd seen a real smile on his brother's face.

"So otouto, do you have any friends at the academy?"

"Not really. But there's an annoying blond kid, his name's Naruto, that tries to fight me and always calls me 'teme'."

"…Sasuke, have you tried being nice to this Naruto?"

"No, why would I do that?"

"*sigh* Never mind."

[1] A switch is a thin branch, usually from a willow tree, that parents use to beat the kids in the south. It's by no means common, but I've known more than a couple people whose parents favored that method of punishment. Ah, good old south…

PLEASE READ: Before anyone flames me about how many holes there are, keep this in mind: this is primarily from Sasuke's POV, and since people don't tell that kid shit and he's only seven, there's a lot missing.

Review Prompt: Once again, anything anyone want to see happen in particular? Do you guys want to see Naruto and Sasuke become friends earlier on, or do you want their friendship to be long and drawn out, or what? Seriously, I am open to any suggestions.

Instructive criticism is always appreciated, but please, no hard-core flames. If I made a major error, kindly inform I did so.