Arc 04

To Lose

Sasuke woke up with a sore feeling in his back and he did not realize why until he felt the hard surface underneath him and the itchy, red blanket on top of him. He sat up in confusion, looking around the living room. He had been sleeping on the couch? His eyes directed towards the blanket he held in one hand. It was strange. Itachi usually carried him to his bed whenever he fell asleep in front of the TV, but this time all he got was a blanket.

There was a clattering outside the front door and Sasuke turned to look at it. Soon after, the door was unlocked and in came Itachi, Mei's stomach and silver haired man that Sasuke recognized easily. His name was Kakashi and he had been there many times before. The black haired boy had even been looked after by that man a few times before. He supposed it was one of Itachi's close friends.

"Let's take it to the living room," Itachi said, finding his way through the kitchen, carrying an armful of baby things. "Hey, Sasuke. Wait, shouldn't you be in school now?" he asked once he had eyed the wall clock after discovering Sasuke's presence. Itachi seemed extraordinarily cheerful that day.

"It's Saturday." Sasuke was confused by his question. How could he forget what day it was?

"Oh, that's right." That was all he had to say before he went back to focusing on the things he dropped on the middle of the floor. "So, how are we gonna do this?" he asked, looking up at his slightly taller friend.

"Guess we just have to put it together. Isn't there an instruction following with it or something?"

"I have it." Mei handed it to Kakashi with a wide smile crossing her face.

"What're you building?" Sasuke asked when Itachi had taken off all the plastic from the white painted wood pieces.

Itachi did not look at Sasuke when answering. "A cradle." He sounded so happy. "Kakashi, you can read the instructions while I put it together."

"Sure."

Mei watched the two men working their magic. She leaned back and supported her heavy body against the kitchen counter, resting both her hands on top of her stomach. Sasuke thought she resembled an elephant more and more as she got bigger.

His black eyes glided back to the two men. "Can I help?" he asked and got ready to jump off the couch.

"No, it's okay, we can handle it," his brother told him with a smile. "Why don't you call one of your friends? Maybe you could go to the park." Itachi was not looking at him anymore.

Sasuke dropped back onto the couch and mumbled to himself, "I don't wanna go to the park with a friend."

Kakashi stayed and ate dinner with them that evening. Mei had taken her time in the kitchen to make a real feast and they all ate till their stomachs were about to burst. Well, Mei's were on the verge of that to begin with, Sasuke thought and wondered how she could have such a huge stomach without the rest of her body looking fat.

A tipsy Itachi called a cab for the drunken Kakashi while the entirely sober Mei put Sasuke to bed.

It was late and Sasuke was kind of tired, but something prevented him from sleeping. Thoughts rushed through his mind and he just could not shake them off. So he waited until his big brother and his girlfriend had gone to bed. Then he waited a little longer. Finally, he got up and walked out of his room.

He stood in front of their bedroom door for a while before he dared to carefully crack it open. He positioned himself so he could take a peek inside. The first thing he saw was the cradle that had been moved in there after they had finished it. He looked at it with narrowed eyes, but opened the door further when he heard a weird noise coming from inside the room that was only lit by the moon light that sneaked inside through the half closed blinds.

Sasuke craned his neck and tip toed so he could take a better look at the people in the bed. They did not seem to have detected the young boy who was watching them closely.

There were a lot of alien noises coming from Mei. She was lying on the bed – completely naked. Sasuke cocked his head when trying to figure out what his brother was doing. He was lying with his head between Mei's legs. He was not moving around much, only his hands traveled around her round belly.

The pale boy's head tilted down and he buzzed, sending them a long, black look before slamming the door hard, returning to his own bedroom.

He lay in his bed for some time before someone pressed down the door handle and entered.

Quickly, Sasuke replaced his resentful expression with a innocent and tired one.

"Sasuke?" Itachi walked over by his younger brother's bed and squatted down beside it. "What are you doing up?" Sasuke turned to look at his brother with a sad look on his face.

"I... had a bad dream," the black haired boy whispered pitifully as he locked eyes with his brother.

"That's all?" Itachi just barely smiled while caressing Sasuke's cheek with his fingers.

"Can I sleep with you tonight, nii-san?" he asked and looked away from his older brother's observant eyes. Itachi chuckled lightly and leaned forward to give his brother a hug. Sasuke pressed himself closer into Itachi's embrace, missing being in his arms already before he let go off him again.

"Sorry, Sasuke, but I think you should stay here tonight. Mei needs to sleep properly at night. And you know, she needs a lot more space now too." Itachi tried to lighten the mood, but he could tell the smile on his brother's face was fake.

He stood up straight again and was just about to walk out the door when Sasuke stopped him.

"You promised me that we would go to the park today."

Itachi blinked a couple of times, remembering the day he promised. He scratched the back of his neck and lowered his head ruefully. "That totally slipped my mind. You know I've been really busy lately and-"

"When are chichi and haha coming back? I miss them." He was not sure why he told Itachi that. Especially not when it was a lie. He did not really care that much about his parents, but for some reason, he wanted Itachi to think so.

Sasuke did not even remember his parents that well. His brother had been the one to take care of him practically ever since he was born. The Uchihas were busy people – their parents in particular. They always went abroad to settle some deal with other important people. That was how it was and that was how it had always been. They had not changed, but Itachi had.

The older brother smiled pained at Sasuke and answered him flatly before returning to his sleeping place beside Mei. "I don't know, Sasuke. I have no idea." Then he left.

That night, Sasuke cried himself to sleep.