Alternative Uchiha

Chapter 1: Thoughts

Twelve-year old Uchiha Itachi was on his way to his bedroom.
He was dressed in a navy-blue T-shirt with the Uchiha emblem
on the back. He had white shorts with a shuriken holster on the
right leg. His long coal black hair was tied in a ponytail.
The young Chuunin looked and was bored.
His eyes were only half-opened.
(Why do I always have to do the A-Rank missions? I don't even
know why they call them A-Rank... They're more like B-Rank
missions to me. Well, I guess one of those fan-girls had a point.
Everything's easy when you're a prodigy.
Still...I wish that it wasn't like that. I wish that I wasn't a genius.
Because if I wasn't... If I was like Sasuke... Then father wouldn't
bother me with all these secret training sessions and peeking over
my shoulder every five seconds. It feels like I'm being kept in a leash.)
Itachi thought.
The black haired man sighed. It was tough being a prodigy sometimes.
Still, it had it's advantages. He got perfect scores on everything he did
and he didn't need to tire himself out during missions.
Then he heard something. Footsteps.
Itachi turned slightly, and smiled softly.
Running towards him, was his seven-year old brother. Uchiha Sasuke.
The black haired boy was wearing a light-blue T-Shirt and white shorts.
Itachi turned to face his little brother and smiled.

"Niisan! Niisan! You're home!" Sasuke yelled with a smile.

Itachi put a hand on his hip and sighed. The everlasting smile on his face.

"My, Sasuke. You're all up-and-going today! What's the occasion?" Itachi said.

Sasuke reached his older brother and hugged his waist.

"I'm just happy that you're home, niisan!" Sasuke exclaimed.

Itachi ruffled his hair with a grin.

"Oh? I'm home everyday, Sasuke. Why would today be any different?" Itachi said.

The little boy giggled at this. Sasuke looked up at Itachi with a playfull look on his
face.

"It's going to be special! Because now that you're home, Itachi-niisan, you can help me
practice my shuriken techinques!" Sasuke exclaimed.

Itachi rubbed the back of his head before letting his grin grow into a full-fledged smile.
If it was one thing he couldn't resist in this world, then that was his little brother's
smile.
Itachi put his hand on Sasuke's forehead and nodded.

"Alright then, Sasuke. I'll help you practice." Itachi declared.

Sasuke's smile turned into a grin as he spun around.

"It's not practice, it's training!" Sasuke stated.

Itachi watched the little boy run towards his room to get ready.
One of the things that kept Itachi from going berserk at all the attention he was getting
because of him being a genius, was simply one thing. And that was the small
seven-year old boy running down the hall before him. Sasuke saw him as something
more than just a prodigy ninja. Sasuke saw Itachi as his big brother. A sibling to
look up to. That fact alone made Itachi strong enough to bear his father's constant
so-called favours. Any other son would have been thankful, but Itachi was growing
more and more furious at his father. He wanted to live his own life.
Itachi didn't want to be just an important connection for the clan. He wanted to be
his own person.
A cough behind him alerted Itachi of a certain person's presence.

"You're home, son. I trust that the mission went well?"

Itachi turned and faced a tall black haired man. He was dressed in a brown kimono with
the Uchiha emblem on the back. His black eyes met equally black eyes.
Itachi's eyes narrowed even further than before.

"Father." Itachi adressed the older man with a barely noticeable nod.

Uchiha Kogetsu stared at his oldest son. The cold stare he got from his son unnerved him.
He knew that Itachi had been growing more and more irritated at his "helping hands" he had
been giving him lately. Kogetsu sighed. Didn't his son know that he was just trying to help him?

"Itachi, my son. What is wrong? What is bothering you? Why are you so distant?" Kogetsu asked.

The grown man wasn't sure if he knew why Itachi had been growing so cold and distant.
He only had a few theories so far.
Itachi looked over his shoulder to make sure that Sasuke was out of earshot.
Then he turned back to his father. He opened his mouth to finally let his father have the
verbal onslaught he had been wanting to give him for a long time, but he stopped himself in the
last second. Itachi swallowed and changed the sentence that was resting on his tounge.

"Nothing, father. I'm just tired." Itachi answered.

Kogetsu eyed his oldest son suspiciously for a few moments, then he relaxed and smiled.

"Alright. Just checking. Go and rest son. You look like you need it." Kogetsu said.

Itachi nodded with a completely cool expression on his face. While on the inside, he was fuming.
(What's wrong, you ask? You are! That's what's wrong! Always doing me favours and using
your contacts to give me a higher and higher ninja rank. You're always talking about me
at your meetings and you're always giving me credit. Can't you just lay off me?
I want to live my own life, father! I want to be my own person!) Itachi thought.
Itachi calmed himself as his father disappeared down the corridor. What was he thinking?
He couldn't let loose with a verbal onslaught against his father of all people! He would never be
forgiven if he did that. Itachi sighed heavily.
The sounds of small running footsteps brought him out of his depressed state.
Sasuke stopped behind him and grabbed his arm.

"Come on, niisan! Let's go!" Sasuke said.

Itachi felt his depressed state dissolve at the sight of his little brother's eager face.
The older Uchiha ruffled the younger one's hair.

"Alright then, squirt. Let's go!" Itachi said.

"Yay!" Sasuke cheered and ran down the hall while pulling his brother with him.

Itachi looked into the kitchen as they passed it on their way out, spotting his father inside.
The black haired man growled briefly before turning back to Sasuke. His small grin returned.
(You know, Sasuke. You might just have saved our old man's life.) Itachi thought.
As the two Uchiha's left the house, the clan head raised his eyes from the newspaper he had been
reading with a confused expression on his face.

"...Honey! Did Sasuke bring a dog home again?" Kogetsu called.

His wife could be heard rustling around in the bathroom.

"I don't think so, dear!" She answered.

Kogetsu looked down into the newspaper he was reading. A few seconds passed in silence, then he
looked up again. He was frowning.

"If Sasuke hasn't brought home another dog...then, where did that growl come from?"

Kogetsu mumbled.

His eyes returned to the newspaper.