AN: Hey guys, sorry it took awhile to make another chapter, school work go in the way! Anyway, here's another chapter! Enjoy!

Itachi: age 13

Sasuke: age 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

It was a sunny morning in Konoha and Sasuke was on his way to the academy with a slight pout upon his features. He didn't want to go to the academy today, or any other day for that matter. Which was kind of strange, considering how Sasuke actually enjoyed going to the academy.

No, he didn't feel sick, nor was he falling behind on his school work. The reason behind this was because he was being bullied.

Sure, he was popular with the girls, but there were a few other children who despised the young Uchiha.

The bullying wasn't too extreme. It usually came from a group of three boys. They would insult Sasuke, and make fun of him behind his back. Sasuke tried to brush it off, but the insults were getting to him.

When Sasuke arrived to the academy, he took a seat and prepared for the day ahead of him.

Shuriken training had just ended, and everyone was given 30 minutes of free time outside. The day has been good so far, none of the bullies have bothered him yet.

Sasuke gave a small smirk.

Maybe the bullies forgot about him and they-

"Hey, Uchiha!"

Sasuke frowned.

He knew who that voice belonged to. It was one of the bullies.

Sasuke turned around, glaring daggers at the boy in front of him.

"Why are you all alone, duckbutt? Are you having trouble making friends, you emo little bastard?" the boy jeered. "I don't get what anyone sees in you. Your just a pathetic wimp."

Sasuke became annoyed, he really wasn't in the mood to deal with this.

"Get lost, loser." Sasuke said, still glaring.

The smug look on the boy's face disappeared and was replaced by a look of anger.

"What did you just call me, brat?" the boy spat.

He suddenly launched a punch at Sasuke, who easily dodged and gave the boy a hard side kick to the stomach as a counterattack, causing him to fall over.

"Oww…." he said, glaring up at Sasuke.

Sasuke just nonchalantly put his hands in his pockets, and walked away with a smirk, pleased he got to teach his bully a lesson.

"I'll get you for that, Uchiha." the boy said, glaring at Sasuke's back. "I'll make sure I do."

The rest of the day went without a hitch. The bullies didn't bother Sasuke for the rest of the day, making Sasuke feel proud of himself.

The young raven was on his way home, with a big grin on his face. Itachi should be coming back from a mission today, and he couldn't wait to see him.

As he was walking home, Sasuke spotted the bully coming towards him.

Sasuke glared at him.

I thought I took care of him already. Sasuke thought, angrily.

"Hey, Uchiha." the boy said with a sly grin on his face.

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked, annoyed.

"That kick you gave me really hurt. Now it's time to get even."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked, skeptically. This kid would be no match for the young Uchiha.

"It's true I probably would have no chance against you alone…." the bully began. " But I wonder….. are you able to fight against all three of us?"

Just then, two other boys came up behind Sasuke and grabbed him, dragging him to a forest where they couldn't be seen.

They threw Sasuke's bag on the ground and two of the boys restricted his movements and covered his mouth. Sasuke tried to break free from their hold, but their grip was too tight.

The seven year old scowled at the the leader who was in front of him. The boy then gave Sasuke a sharp kick to the stomach causing him to grunt out in pain.

The other boys laughed.

"How does that feel, Uchiha?" the leader taunted, kicking him again.

Sasuke tried his very hardest not to grunt out in pain, not to show weakness. But when he received a really hard punch in a very sensitive area, he couldn't help but cry out in pain, causing the boys to laugh.

Sasuke hated this. He hated how the bullies found such happiness in his suffering. He hated himself for being so weak, what would his family think of him?

He hated himself even more when he felt tears well up in his eyes. But he wouldn't let them fall, he wouldn't give in.

After awhile of harsh kicking and punching, they finally released Sasuke, making him fall to the ground.

The leader went up to Sasuke's face.

"If you tell anyone about this….I'll kill you." the boy threatened. After giving Sasuke one last kick to the stomach, the leader and his friends walked away laughing.

Sasuke laid there on the ground, feeling defeated. His body ached so much from all the the abuse he received, it felt as though he couldn't get up. A single tear rolled down his face and he cursed himself again for being so weak.

After lying there for a couple of minutes, Sasuke mustered up all the strength he had and got up. He gathered his stuff and limped his way back home.

Once he got home, Sasuke went straight to his room, not even bothering to announce that he came back. He was all dirty and probably covered with bruises.

All the feelings he had felt before hit him with a bang and he couldn't stop the tears that began to roll down his face. He couldn't believe what just happened. The more he thought about it, the harder he cried. He was so weak! So pathetic! He was probably the only Uchiha who couldn't save himself from a school bully.

No matter what, he couldn't let anyone know about this, especially his family. They would disown him if they found out. But he felt so lonely. This was way too much for him to handle. He needed someone to be there for him, to comfort him.

Itachi was the first one to come to mind.

Sasuke shook his head. Even if he did tell his brother, the death threat the bully gave sounded serious. So he decided to keep this to himself.

Dinnertime rolled around, and the Uchiha family was sitting around the table enjoying dinner. Itachi came home and was currently talking with his father about a mission.

Sasuke, on the other hand, had his eyes locked in his plate, not daring to look up. He was trying his hardest not to start balling his eyes out in front of everyone. Most of the pain from earlier had subsided, but there was this heart wrenching feeling in his chest that refused to go away. The little Uchiha did a good job of hiding his injuries with his clothing and hair, so no one noticed anything.

Sasuke was almost done eating when Itachi glanced over at him and realized he was awfully quiet and looked quite sad, making him concerned.

"Are you ok, Sasuke?" Itachi asked.

Sasuke froze. He could feel everyone's eyes on him and it made him uncomfortable. After a few seconds, making sure he wouldn't burst into tears, Sasuke answered.

"I'm fine…" He replied, in a small, sad voice.

Itachi wasn't convinced at all. He was about to say something else, when his father interrupted and started to talk to him again.

Sasuke quickly got up and put his dishes away before his brother got a chance to examine him. He started walking towards his room with his head down and bangs covering his face. As he left the kitchen, Sasuke felt the older Uchiha's worried stare drilling into him, but he didn't look back.

Otouto? Itachi thought, worriedly.

Two weeks had passed and same thing happened everyday after school. The bullies would beat the Uchiha up, and Sasuke would go home and lock himself in his room.

This gradually made Sasuke feel depressed and he couldn't get a goodnight's sleep due to the discomfort his injuries gave him.

Sasuke couldn't take it anymore, he needed to tell someone. He needed someone's help. After thinking long and hard, he decided he was going to tell Itachi, even if he would think poorly of him.

Although no one else noticed, Itachi knew something was wrong. His otouto hasn't been acting like himself lately and not knowing what the problem was drove him crazy. Sasuke usually told him everything.

Itachi was just about to head off to go train with is ANBU team, when Sasuke came up to him with his hands behind his back and his head tilted down.

Itachi noticed bags under his otouto's eyes and how pale he had become. He obviously hasn't been getting enough sleep.

"Hey, otouto." Itachi greeted.

"Hi nii-san. Are you busy today?" Sasuke asked in a small voice.

"I have to train with my team for most of the day and I won't be home till later." Itachi replied.

"Oh...then, nevermind." Sasuke said, about to walk away when Itachi stopped him.

"Wait, otouto." Itachi began. "You know you can tell me anything right?"

Sasuke nodded.

"Was there anything you needed?" Itachi asked, hoping Sasuke would open up to him. "Because I'm here if you need anything. It's my job as your older brother to be."

Sasuke hesitated.

"I was just wondering if we could….. talk." Sasuke answered, reluctantly.

Relief flooded through the prodigy's chest, this was just what he was looking for. But the relief soon disappeared when he realized the timing couldn't be any worse.

"I would love to talk, otouto, but I have training and you have to go to the academy. So how about we talk when I get back from training? You should be home by then."

"Ok, aniki." Sasuke answered.

Itachi smiled, it's been a while since Sasuke has called him aniki.

"Have a good day at the academy, otouto." Itachi said, ruffling Sasuke's hair.

With a final wave, he walked out the door.

Sasuke felt a little better knowing that he was going to tell Itachi about the bullying, meaning this nightmare would end soon.

Once class was dismissed, Sasuke rushed as fast as he could home, hoping the bullies wouldn't get to him.

Sasuke thought that he was off the hook, but he then felt himself being dragged into that same damn forest for what felt like the hundredth time that week.

Sasuke was violently thrown on the ground, making some of his old bruises hurt him.

He looked up and saw all the bullies towering over him.

"You didn't think you could get away from us now, did you?" the leader spoke up with a evil grin on his face, kicking Sasuke in the ribs.

Sasuke couldn't take this anymore. Sorely, he stood up and started attacking all the bullies.

One by one, he started attacking them with taijutsu that Itachi taught him. He was just about to win, when he felt an excruciating pain all over his right arm.

Sasuke fell to his knees, clutching his arm. He felt something wet and sticky coming from it. He soon realized it was blood gushing out from a wound.

Where did this come from? Sasuke thought, wincing at the pain.

He looked up to see the leader holding a kunai, stained with his blood.

"You're really stubborn, aren't you. That's what you get for being difficult." The leader said. "And there will be more where that came from."

Sasuke's eyes widened in fear.

The other boys who Sasuke attacked, got up from the ground and gripped onto him tightly. Sasuke received multiple strong hits, as well as some slashes from a kunai. He felt too weak and sore to struggle against them and he started feeling hazy.

All he could do now was hope someone would save him.

Itachi was on his way to his house from a hard training session. He was eager to get home so he can finally know what was bothering Sasuke.

When Itachi walked through the door, he expected Sasuke to jump on him, greeting him with a hug. He wasn't surprised when Sasuke didn't come. He's been acting really strange lately.

Anxious to help his brother return to his happy, cheerful self, Itachi headed to his room to change out of his uniform and search for Sasuke.

After changing, Itachi looked around for his brother, but he couldn't find him, which was strange. Sasuke should be home from the academy by now, it was almost dinner time.

Itachi decided to look in the kitchen. He was met with the sight of his mother finishing up dinner, but no Sasuke.

"Hi, kaa-san." Itachi greeted.

"Oh! Itachi! Thank goodness you're here. Sasuke hasn't returned home yet and I'm getting worried about him." Mikoto said, concern written on her face.

Itachi immediately became worried. It wasn't like Sasuke to come home late. What if something happened to him?

"I'll go look for him." Itachi said, heading towards the door.

Itachi rushed out the door and began searching for Sasuke. He checked the park and the academy, but he was nowhere to be seen. Itachi was extremely worried now. Where could Sasuke run off to?

Itachi began to search for his brother's chakra signature.

It was faint, but Itachi found it in a forest, along with three other chakra signatures. Itachi raced towards the forest, keeping his eyes locked on his destination.

When Itachi got there, he was met with a horrifying sight that stopped his blood cold.

Sasuke was on the ground, barely conscious, completely beaten up. What made it worse was that three boys were throwing punches and kicks at him as if he wasn't hurt enough.

Anger coursed through Itachi. He was furious. How dare they hurt his otouto. Although Itachi hated violence, he wanted to slaughter every one of those boys.

In a flash, Itachi appeared in front of Sasuke with crimson eyes scowling at them, making every one of the boys take a step back in confusion. Another second later, all the boys were on the ground, moaning in pain.

Once his head cleared up a bit, Sasuke looked up and saw Itachi standing in front of him. Relief washed over him. He was about to call out to him, when he saw a grim, almost frightening look on Itachi's face. From the looks of it, Sasuke could tell his nii-san was extremely angry.

The leader managed to stand up again and glared at Itachi.

"What the hell are you doing!" the leader bellowed. "I swear, if that bastard snitched on us, I'll kill him!"

Hearing those words made something snap in the older Uchiha.

From where Sasuke was, Sasuke could feel the killing intent leaking out of Itachi, making him flinch. It took a lot to anger Itachi and Sasuke knew that if you crossed that line, you could be as good as dead.

Itachi flashed his sharingan at the boy, with a frightening look in his eyes. Suddenly, the leader was violently smacked against a tree with a firm grip around his neck. Itachi started punching the boy repeatedly.

Sasuke watched as his brother punched the boy non stop. He's never seen his aniki this angry before. Itachi was usually calm and collected, but now, it seemed like he could lose control at any moment. Fear started creeping up inside of Sasuke. What if Itachi killed the boy? No, he couldn't let that happen.

Itachi was about to punch the boy again when he heard a quiet, trembling voice call out to him, making him stop abruptly.

"Nii-san…" Sasuke said in the loudest voice he could muster up. "Please….please stop, aniki."

Itachi slowly put his arm down, and released the, now unconscious, boy's neck, making him fall to the ground. He then turned around to face Sasuke and deactivated his sharingan, his gaze softening. He rushed over to Sasuke who was still on the ground.

"Otouto, are you ok?" Itachi asked worried.

With his brother's help, Sasuke managed to sit up. Itachi then gently picked up Sasuke in his arms, minding his cuts and bruises and began to walk, leaving the bullies behind.

Itachi walked to a clearing in the middle of the forest and gently placed Sasuke down against a tree without saying a word.

He then examined the cuts and bruises on his brother's arms and legs, noticing a particularly big wound on his right arm. Itachi took some bandages that were wrapped around his ankles and wrapped it around Sasuke's arm to stop the bleeding.

"Otouto, where else did they hurt you?" Itachi asked, looking directly in Sasuke's eyes.

Sasuke looked down at his lap, not wanting to answer the elder's question. Itachi then took Sasuke's chin with is index finger and thumb, and gently lifted his head.

"Sasuke…..please show me." Itachi said with pleading eyes.

Sasuke only averted his gaze and remained silent.

Itachi sighed.

He pushed his brother's bangs out of his face and revealed bruises on Sasuke's cheeks and forehead, making him frown. He then lifted Sasuke's shirt revealing tons of bruises all over his torso. Itachi grazed the bruises with his fingers, anger bubbling up inside of him again. There were so many bruises. It infuriated him that those boys were causing his otouto so much pain.

"How long has this been happening?" Itachi asked, still looking at the bruises.

Sasuke hesitated.

"...about two weeks."

Two weeks?! Itachi thought, shocked.

"Sasuke, why didn't you tell me about this?" Itachi asked putting down Sasuke's shirt.

Itachi then felt something wet hit his hand. It was a tear. Itachi looked at Sasuke and saw tears racing down his face.

"I-I don't know!" Sasuke sobbed out."I-I didn't k-know what t-to do. I w-was so scared and c-confused. I-I wanted to t-tell y-you, b-but I j-just couldn't."

Itachi's heart contorted in pain as he listened to his otouto talk. He couldn't stand seeing his dear little brother like this. The older Uchiha wrapped Sasuke in a hug, and Sasuke continued crying in his chest.

"Shhhh….it's ok otouto, I'm here." Itachi comforted. "No matter what, you can always come and talk to me, I'll always be here for you."

Itachi pulled away from the hug and looked directly into Sasuke's eyes.

"But please otouto, don't ever hide such things from me again. You can tell me anything, okay?" Itachi said wiping away Sasuke's tears.

Sasuke nodded.

Itachi hugged him again and Sasuke nuzzled his face in his brother's chest.

"Nii-san?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you think we can keep this between us?" Sasuke asked. "I really don't want kaa-san or tou-san to know about this."

Itachi nodded. Their parents probably wouldn't take this lightly.

"If that's what you want, otouto." Itachi replied. "Come on, let's go home so I can take care of your injuries better."

Itachi put his brother on his back and began walking home.

"I love you, aniki." Sasuke said, as he rested his head on Itachi's shoulder.

Itachi smiled and held onto Sasuke tighter.

"I love you too, otouto."

AN: That was soo long! Once again, sorry it took so long to post another chapter, school is just so busy! But I hoped you enjoyed!

Please review!