Chapter 7. Burden.

"I'm sorry Akane-chan. We tried to ask someone else to do it, but they were all very busy." My brother stood at our door with both Itachi and Sauke in tow.

Shisui, as well as Itachi were fully geared up, and with Sasuke carrying a bag as well, one didn't have to be a genius to figure out what was going on. I thought about simply refusing, but seeing Sasuke himself was pretty disgruntled with the whole situation, I decided against it.

"You both owe Sasuke and me dango and training for an entire week." I said as level as I could. They were not getting out of this one without giving us something in exchange.

Shisui sighed in relief and agreed instantly, showering me in empty compliments. I knew I was the best sister ever; he didn't have to say it. But Itachi hesitated. He didn't know if he could keep that promise, but with how things were going, he would have to make do. Knowing his tendency to bail out on Sasuke, I stared at him, hard. Act like the older brother your brother wants you to be.

Itachi sighed as well.

I had won.

He nodded his agreement and I flashed Sasuke a triumphant smile. The six year olds eyes brightened in awe, not believing I got his brother to promise something like that. I knew for a fact that older brothers could be difficult, we young ones had to stick together. I put an arm around Sasuke's shoulders and started dragging him into our house. It would be good to have an ally, Shisui and Itachi wouldn't outnumber me anymore.

"Okay, great! Now that that's settled, you can be on your way boys!" I smiled, and my spirits flew higher when I saw Itachi's disapproving face. "Come back in one piece."

As I closed the front door, I held Shisui's gaze for a moment. My brother nodded gravely and made the unspoken promise. They would both be back. When the door was finally shut and locked, I turned to the boy who would become my ally. Sasuke stood in the hallway, not entirely sure about what to do or where to go. We hadn't seen each other in a while, and I found his awkwardness very much like Itachi's, but unlike his brother, Sasuke was much more obvious about it.

"Okay let's get the basic rules established." I said setting my hands on my still undeveloped waist. "Morning training starts at five, breakfast at six. You can skip training if you want and only do the evening one at seven."

I continued to lay down the rules of our household with all the authority a ten year old could have. Meals were at six, twelve and nine; all of them compulsory. One training session a day was the minimum allowed, schooldays or not. He could bring friends home but only if they were well behaved. He could go anywhere within the village if and only if he let me know about it beforehand; and his curfew was at six.

Sasuke stood before me, attentive at everything I said as if it were a mission briefing. He let out a little annoyed scoff when he was told about his curfew, but made no further objections. He was smart enough to know he wasn't the one in charge. Not like he could complain either, since I had ensured an entire week of training with his brother.

"So, I wasn't finished with my morning training. Do you want to join me or would you rather I made you something to eat?"

It wasn't unusual for shinobi to leave on missions at the crack of dawn, but I didn't want to risk Sasuke not having had any breakfast. Turns out he had, and we ended up extending the hour long training session up until seven. Being it a Sunday, Sasuke didn't have to attend the academy, so we decided to push ourselves a little further. Or more accurately, the kid decided. Sasuke was so excited to have someone to train with, that he asked me to keep going for a while longer; and I couldn't bring myself to refuse him.

An hour later, we were both covered in sweat and he was panting like he had just ran a marathon. I couldn't help but notice the immense smile on his face, and my heart sank a little when I realized that one of the reasons why Itachi didn't spend much time with Sasuke, was me. I sent him away to take a bath while I prepared breakfast, and when he replied with: yes, nee-san! I couldn't help but smile myself. This, I realized, was Itachi's precious brother; and I could now understand why. His energy and enthusiasm almost entirely obscured the huge pride that had been imposed on him by his father. And to see such thing in an Uchiha- with the exception of Obito-nii- was very rare. He was pure, unbroken by the ways of shinobi lifestyle, and I found myself wanting to protect that.

….

Four days had gone by, and we had already settled into our own routine. In the morning, we would rise and start our morning training. After an hour long workout, we would have breakfast and, following a shower, go our separate ways. Sasuke would head for the Academy and I to my team meetings. In the afternoon we would do our chores and maybe go grocery shopping, before coming back home for our evening training. After dinner and a shower, we would go to bed, only to wake up the next morning and repeat the entire process.

Sasuke was very well behaved, as one would expect of the head's son. He barely threw tantrums or complained, he even made sure to never break any of the rules I had set that first day. He brought friends over on rare occasions and when I asked for the reason why, he said that he would rather spend time with me. And as one would expect, with every passing day I grew fonder of him.

I disarmed the traps at the front door before giving Sasuke the all-clear. We had gone grocery shopping, and had stopped for dango and tea on our way back. The six year old took his shoes off as he rumbled on about the newest prank the Uzumaki kid had managed to pull off that day. Even if he would deny it to death, I could see the admiration in Sasuke's eyes when he spoke about the other kid. The way he would retell the story as if the Uzumaki boy were a genial traps master, gave him away.

"You should try to befriend that kid, Sasu-kun. From what you've told me, he seems like a cool guy, someone fun to be around." I said casually, pretending not to notice how the kid's ears perked up.

"But Nee-san, he's dead last! And he always gets in trouble!" I chuckled at Sasuke's matter-of-fact attitude. Children had always paid attention to the wrong things. Even if I was a child too, I felt like the boy in front of me desperately needed to be rid of that burden.

"Then you better be the cool guy everybody thinks you and help him out. Besides you said that he's never been caught red-handed. He can't be that bad If he's been getting past patrols this entire time."

Sasuke's eyes widened, as if he had just realized the potential in his classmate. Good. I thought. Even if his intentions aren't the best at first, it would do him good to have a close friend, not like the lap dogs he's been bringing.

I had seen the Uzumaki kid around, he was no clan child and his manners couldn't be worse even if he had been raised in the red district; but he was also genuine and kind. He could outmaneuver chunin when retreating from a crime scene too. He could teach Sasuke some flexibility of mind and could polish his own skills with him as well. If they actually became friends, they would be a dangerous pair.

I felt a smile creeping its way up my face as Sasuke considered what I had just said. If I managed to get them together, I would be responsible for the creation of one kick-ass tag team. I didn't need to convince myself any further. As Sasuke put away everything we had bought, I took it upon myself to adopt Naruto as my next otouto.

Kami knows he needs the help anyway.

I was brought back from my musings when I noticed that Sasuke's mood had dampened. I didn't realize what had caused the shift right away, but when I looked at the calendar hung on the fridge and back at the kid; it dawned on me. That night was his last at my place. His parents were coming back from their mission the next morning, and Itachi and Shisui would be back by noon.

"You could always come back after the academy. Itachi can come for you when they get back." I said, trying to cheer him up.

"I am grateful that you arranged for Nii-san to train with me, but…" Te child looked down, trying to hide his face from me. "But he won't anymore once the week is over. Nii-san isn't like you. Why isn't Nii-san like you!?"

I felt horrible. It had never been my intention to make Itachi look bad in his otouto's eyes; and now he was comparing us in the worst way possible. I put both my hands on Sasuke's shoulders and waited for him to look at me. When he did, I had made up my mind to restore Sasuke's faith in his brother.

"Itachi isn't like me because he's better, Sasu-kun." The child looked at me with confusion and sorrow in his misty eyes. "He's an incredible shinobi, and he's doing his best to be an example to you. He is trying to meet every one's expectations of him and still be able to protect and care for you." I paused in my little speech to see if he was taking in anything of what I was saying. He was. "He has little time for you because he has to be perfect in everything he does. That is what is expected of him. That's why you should cherish the short moment you have together and support him however you can. Someday, he'll return the favor."

Sasuke was still not happy about the whole situation. Why did he need to be perfect? Why did everyone expect him to do things he didn't have to? Why did he have to tolerate what everyone asked of him without complaint?

"Because he's a shinobi, a prodigy at that. And so is Shisui. We just have to do our best to lighten the weight they both carry, and avoid being a burden to them."

Sasuke seemed to freeze at the word. He Uchiha Sasuke had never been and would not allow himself to be of be called a burden. His brother was working hard, so was Shisui-nii. And if Akane-nee was working hard so she wouldn't burden her brother, then he would not be left behind. No one would ever call Uchiha Sasuke a burden.

"Good. Now that you're done pouting, how about we get some training done? You might be top of your class, but your taijutsu is still mediocre compared to what I could do at your age."

Sasuke went all out on training that day, and I couldn't help but feel his relationship with Itachi would grow stronger from then on. I just hoped the emotional constipation my friend had wouldn't get in between them and ruin everything; I had worked hard for that to happen. And as for Uzumaki Naruto, I would have to plan my actions very carefully. Someone who's been treated badly for their entire life was bound to have some trust issues. I would just have to work around it if it ever came to that.