Title: Brother
Author: Sal
Rating: PG
Notes: I have nothing to say.
His favorite word is Brother.
Please, brother, or brother, look what I—
Brother, I'm going to be just like you! Because, he is even if he can't compare to Itachi's genius, he is an Uchiha, he has the ability, just give him time.
But older brothers do not wait, and Sasuke cannot catch up.
He practices throwing kunai until the sky turns dark and the stars glow bright, knowing that Mother will notice his absence from dinner but Father will not. Itachi, he doesn't even know if Itachi is back from his mission yet.
The sounds of crickets fill his ears in a buzzing melody of late night songs that trickle through the forest and the dusty paths underfoot. He wants nothing more than to be like Itachi, he doesn't know anything else, and he doesn't know how to be himself. He was never encouraged to be his own person. But all of these things Sasuke does not know. So, Itachi is his final goal, a good goal for a little boy barely past the age of six.
His dinner is cool on the tabletop. Wet, slimy noodles stuck together and drying out in patches that make them hard to set in his mouth. The taste is bland, the spices have bled into the juice at the bottom of the bowl and Sasuke can't be bothered to reheat it. Reheating it would require the noise of the microwave fan and the sharp, piercing sound of the buttons. He doesn't want to wake up Mother or Father, the only thing he would get is a scolding for staying out late. He stays out late most nights, anyway. No one really cares. The Uchiha are a big clan, and Sasuke is not the heir.
He doesn't hear Itachi behind him, watching him slurp his noodles. He jumps and falls out of the chair when Itachi touches his shoulder, his bowl of noodles slipping off the table and—
onto Itachi's outstretched palm.
Itachi is not like Mother or Father, Sasuke does not get scolded for slopping juice over the edge of his bowl or almost dropping the china. Itachi just hands him a towel and sets the bowl back onto the table.
"Time for bed, little brother."
And Sasuke cannot bring himself to argue against the voice of reason. Itachi is, after all, everything he wants to be – how can he argue with perfection?
Perfection that will morph into a stranger, unrecognizable and feared by a little boy of eight.
And one day, when the Uchiha clan is no more than two people, the only word in Sasuke's mind is Brother.