chapter 4. hooray! also about previous chapter. fugaku did overreact, but he was meant to. the uchihas aren't evil, but they sure as hell aren't nice. also, sasuke did get in trouble as well but Fugaku would have hit him somewhere where the bruises wouldn't show. he's not supposed to be abusive, but he is big on using punishment as a lesson. so sorry if people start to hate fugaku, but you're not really supposed to like him anyway.
on with the story.
"Sasuke hurry and get down here!" Mikoto yelled up the stairs to Sasuke's room.
"I know, I'm coming." Sasuke yelled back.
"What's going on?" Naruto asked as he sat on Sasuke's bed and watched the other boy running back and forth trying to find his socks and tie.
"My brother is coming home today." Sasuke said. Itachi had left four years ago when Naruto was 2 to go to a special school so Naruto didn't remember him at all.
"Oh?" Naruto asked.
"Yeah, you probably don't remember him because you were still a baby, I don't remember much about him either." Sasuke said. He clipped on his tie and sat on his bed to put his shoes on. Naruto stayed on his spot in the middle of the bed. He was still in his oversized sleep shirt, his hair was pushed to where it was all sticking out on one side, his cheek was still imprinted from the fabric of the pillow he had been laying on. All in all, he looked like an adorable six year old boy who had just woken up.
"Did you ever miss your brother?" Naruto asked. Sasuke shook his head.
"No, I'll always have you so I won't ever have to feel lonely." Sasuke smiled. "When I go down, you can sneak to your room and get dressed." Sasuke said. Naruto nodded. Sasuke smiled and crawled onto the bed and kissed Naruto softly.
"Sasuke!" Mikoto yelled.
"I'm coming!" Sasuke yelled back. He turned to Naruto. "I'll see you later. I love you." He smiled before leaving the room.
"Okay, I love you too." Naruto smiled as the door shut. Naruto waited a few minutes before he ran to his room to get changed. After getting dressed he went to look for Sasuke.
"What's this, a lost little lamb?" A greasy voice hissed. Naruto turned around to see a tall pale man with black hair and yellow eyes looking down at him. Naruto could feel himself shaking slightly in fear of this man. "Where are you going, lamb?" The man asked stepping closer to Naruto, Naruto took a step back.
"Who are you?" Naruto asked.
"Orochimaru-sensei." The man smiled wickedly. Naruto had never met this man. The only sensei he had met was Iruka, Sasuke's sensei.
"What do you want?" Naruto asked his voice was quiet because he was too scared to talk any louder.
"Oh, nothing, little lamb." The man smirked and gave Naruto an uncomfortable feeling.
"Orochimaru, what do you think you're doing?" Another voice came down the hallway. Naruto looked up to see a boy standing there. He had dark hair and black eyes just like Sasuke, but Naruto had never seen him before either.
"That is Sensei to you, Itachi-san." Orochimaru hissed.
"You are no longer my sensei, Orochimaru. Now, my father is wanting to speak with you in his office to discuss your new duties." Itachi said. Orochimaru hissed angrily and walked away. "Come along, Naruto. I'll take you to Sasuke." Itachi said coolly. Naruto just nodded and followed after the boy.
"Um," Naruto said softly. Itachi looked at him. "Are you Sasuke's brother?" Naruto asked. Itachi nodded.
"Uchiha Itachi. I'm sure you don't remember me, Naruto-kun. But I do remember you." Itachi said.
"Really?" Naruto asked.
"Yes, you were very precious to my brother. And because of that fact I will warn you, do not be alone with Orochimaru. Got it?" Itachi asked looking down at Naruto. Naruto nodded. Itachi's look was cold, but his words seemed kind. Naruto was confused by it.
"Oh, Itachi here you are." Mikoto said seeing Itachi in the hallway. "Oh, and you're with Naruto?" She asked her smiled faltering slightly. Ever since that day when she saw Sasuke kiss Naruto, Mikoto had been acting strange around Naruto. She always smiled and said nice things, but it always seemed forced.
"Yes, I'm taking him to Sasuke." Itachi said. Mikoto sighed.
"Oh, okay." She said. Itachi put his hand on Naruto's back and moved him forward a bit so that they passed Mikoto and then they kept walking. They went out to the garden where Sasuke was reading.
"Naruto." Sasuke smiled seeing Naruto walking out to him. Naruto smiled and ran to sit down next to Sasuke.
"Sasuke, I need to tell you something." Itachi said coolly looking down at his brother and Naruto on the bench. Sasuke frowned but nodded and stood up.
"I'll be right back." Sasuke said, handing Naruto his book. Naruto nodded and watched Sasuke walk off with Itachi. "What did you need?"
"How much do you remember Orochimaru?" Itachi asked.
"Not much at all. He was your teacher, but that's all I know." Sasuke said.
"He's dangerous and he seems to have his eyes on your friend. You should be careful and watch Naruto closely and make sure he's never alone with Orochimaru." Itachi said. Sasuke nodded. He didn't really understand what Itachi meant by it but knew that Itachi was serious and only trying to look out for them.
"Okay." Sasuke said. He turned to walk off.
"By the way, what has Naruto done to annoy mother so much?" Itachi asked giving a glance at Sasuke. The glance let Sasuke know that Itachi had already figured it out but just wanted confirmation from Sasuke.
"It's none of your business." Sasuke told him. Itachi sighed and shook his head.
"You need to be careful, Sasuke." Itachi said warningly. Sasuke rolled his eyes and walked away. It wasn't like he didn't know that already. He went back to the bench he had been sitting on and saw Naruto sitting there looking at the book. His finger was in the place where Sasuke had stopped, but he had turned ahead to look at the pictures.
"Naruto." Sasuke said softly. Naruto looked up and smiled at him. "You want me to read that to you?" Sasuke asked.
"Yes." Naruto nodded. Naruto loved the books Sasuke read to him. Just after he turned six the question of Naruto's education came up. Although he was noble by blood, at one point in his life he would be a servant and servants were not allowed to be educated. In the end, because Mikoto and Fugaku saw Naruto as a threat, they decided not to educate him. Sasuke sat on the bench and took the book from Naruto and opened it to the beginning. Naruto leaned on Sasuke's shoulder so that he could see the pictured. "One day when I can read, I'm going to read you stories." Naruto said. Sasuke smiled.
"Really?" Sasuke asked. Naruto nodded.
"I'll read you Cinderella all the time." Naruto smiled at him. When Fugaku and Mikoto had told Naruto why he wasn't going to have school lessons they only told him that he was a servant. So after Naruto found out that he was really just a servant he began to love the story of Cinderella even more. It quickly became his favorite story for Sasuke to read to him.
"How will I know you're actually reading? You can recite it all by heart, you know." Sasuke smiled. Naruto gasped. It was true.
"Well, then I'll read you another story." Naruto said. Sasuke smiled and put his arm around Naruto.
"Okay," Sasuke smiled as he picked up a book on the bench beside him. "You can read me this book."
"That one? But there's no pictures." Naruto said. Sasuke smiled.
"I know. But this is the book I want you to read to me when you can read." Sasuke said. Naruto looked at the book and then up at Sasuke.
"Will you teach me to read?" Naruto asked. "Iruka-sensei won't teach me and that other sensei that came back with your brother scares me." Naruto said. Sasuke smiled and nodded.
"Sure, I'll teach you. But you can't tell anybody, you know that right?" Sasuke asked. Naruto nodded. Naruto was also aware of their situation being a secret. Three hard slaps to the face and getting locked out in a thunder storm would let anyone know that something was wrong with what they had done. Although Naruto, being six, was still too young to comprehend what exactly was wrong about it, he also knew that it was something special that needed to be protected and preserved.
"I know." Naruto said. Sasuke smiled at him and kissed his cheek.
"Smile, Sunshine. Sunshine is supposed to be happy." Sasuke told him. Naruto smiled and nodded. "It looks like storm clouds are coming, we should go inside and I'll teach you to read." Sasuke said noticing a dark line of clouds headed towards them. He felt Naruto start shaking slightly. "Don't be scared, Naruto, I'm right here and I'll protect you." Sasuke said. Ever since Naruto had been locked out in that storm he had been terrified of storms.
"Promise you'll protect me?" Naruto asked softly. Sasuke smiled at him and nodded.
"Always." Sasuke told him. Naruto smiled and nodded. "Lets go inside." Sasuke said as he stood up. Naruto picked up the books Sasuke had on the bench and Sasuke put his hand on Naruto's back to lead him back to the house. They went up to Sasuke's room and sat down on the bed. Sasuke pulled out his "Reading" book he had used when he was five and handed it to Naruto.
"What is this?" Naruto asked.
"It's my lesson book from when I first started. I'll help you go through it." Sasuke said. Naruto smiled brightly. They started with learning the alphabet. It was simple enough, Naruto picked it up pretty easily. As they were going over the alphabet a third time the storm started. A flash of lightning made Naruto whimper but the thunder made him scream. Sasuke knew he wouldn't be able to get Naruto to focus on learning the alphabet so instead he just pulled Naruto into his lap and held him against his chest while rocking back and forth slowly.
"Sasuke, I'm scared." Naruto whimpered softly. Sasuke could feel Naruto's tears soaking the front of his shirt.
"Don't cry, Sunshine." Sasuke said softly. He started humming as he rocked Naruto. Naruto seemed to calm down a little but when the thunder shook the house Naruto screamed again and started crying harder. Sasuke kept humming and rocking Naruto.
"Sing to me, Sasuke." Naruto said softly.
"You are my sunshine, my precious sunshine. When you're not with me, my skies are grey. I'll always tell you how much I love you. So shine for me, my Sunshine, always." Sasuke said.
"You changed the words." Naruto said.
"Just for you." Sasuke told him. He could feel Naruto smile.
"Sing it again." Naruto told him.
"You are my sunshine, my precious sunshine. When you're not with me, my skies are grey. I'll always tell you how much I love you. So shine for me, my Sunshine, always." Sasuke sang again. Naruto calmed down and sighed contently while cuddling into Sasuke's chest. "You want me to read you a story?" Sasuke asked. Naruto nodded. Sasuke grabbed Naruto's favorite story and began reading. Naruto stayed against Sasuke's chest and listened to the vibrations in Sasuke's chest as he spoke. Even if the storm scared him, he felt safe against Sasuke's chest while he read. Sasuke started reading another story but they both fell asleep before Sasuke finished.
"Sasuke, dinner is ready." Fugaku said as he opened the door to Sasuke's room. He saw the two boys sleeping there, curled in each other's arms, and felt sick and frightened. He sighed heavily, knowing he had to stop whatever was going on between his son and the blonde boy before it got too far. Fugaku went to the bed and picked Naruto up. He carried the sleeping boy back to his own room and put him in his bed before going back to tuck Sasuke in. He then went downstairs to tell the cooks that Naruto and Sasuke were sleeping and if they came down later to fix them something to eat. He then called Mikoto into his office for them to discuss the problem of Sasuke and Naruto.
end. so if you were wondering where itachi was all this time, he was at school. and i don't really know why it's a school for kids ages 10-14, but it is because it works out fo rthe story. ps itachi is good in this story. which isn't really ooc because you can just go and watch the episodes of sasuke's flashbacks where itachi was the kind older brother. that's who this itachi is. (just warning cause i don't want to get crap later on for it)
review!