Orokanaru Otouto

by BitterEloquence

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, you'd see a lot more Itachi and there would never hve been Lipstick Sasuke version lvl 2 Curse Seal Sasuke!

For as long as he could remember, Sasuke had been doggedly chasing after his brother. He tried following in Itachi's rather astounding footsteps with a stubbornness that was oddly endearing in one so young.

'He's so cute! Look at him, he wants to be just like his brother!' The young mothers of the next generation of Uchiha would titter and gush as Sasuke sought to perfect a move he'd seen his brother do the day before.

He hated being called cute. No one ever called Aniki cute!

At age five, Sasuke's pout was so powerful that few adults would withstand its power. He was pouting now of course because it was his birthday and aside from his mother's warm embrace and whispered encouragement, no one seemed to remember. Neither his father nor brother seemed to remember that and the child sat on the step near the main gate and just pouted sullenly at those passing by.

A soft thump found the back of his head and he turned those sullen dark eyes on the person who'd dared to touch the duck-butt spiky hair. Itachi's dark and expressionless eyes met his and Sasuke looked away with a humph. That got a raised-brow look from his brother considering Itachi had never seen Sasuke willingly scoff at his attention.

What a troublesome development, he wasn't sure how much he liked being turned away by a pouting five-year old. with me." Itachi murmured and picked Sasuke up by the scruff of his shirt to land him on his feet. The boy yelped and flailed for a moment but fell obediently into line.

If Aniki ordered it, Sasuke would have crawled across broken glass so he followed his brother back inside and down the hallway to Itachi's room. Their father passed them on the way and offered his elder son a civil nod but barely even glanced at Sasuke.

This stung more then the boy was willing to admit and he could feel the pout returning in full-force. Itachi smirked faintly as he noticed his brother's expression and opened the door to his room with a soft rustle of the shoji panels. "I've got something to show you." Itachi explained simply as he stepped in. Sasuke blinked but hesitantly followed his brother into previously forbidden territory.

Itachi never let him into his room.

The eldest Uchiha son snorted softly with a quiet sort of amusement and walked over to a box sitting atop his dresser. There was a wink of light across a razor-honed blade then as Itachi drew out a kunai and turned back to Sasuke. The unnerved just a bit by the appearance of the weapon but he stood his ground as his brother approached him with a lethal sort of feline grace in his stride.

"Otousan gave this to me when I graduated the Academy." Itachi explained simply as he knelt in front of Sasuke to place them at near eye-level. Those dark eyes bore into Sasuke's as his brother stared at him for a long moment. There was a flash of calculation in his eyes before he held out the kunai to the child. "Happy birthday, Sasuke."

He'd remembered! Sasuke felt his little heart twist just a bit as he reached out to accept that heavy metal blade. He had to hold it in both hands as he held the blade delicately as if it were made of glass rather then sturdy metal. "B…But, Aniki." That soft protest was cut off with a sharp shake of Itachi's head.

"Take it, I have no use for it." Of course, how was Sasuke to realize just how true those words were? And how little his precious Aniki cared for their father's gift and his approval? "You'll probably put it to better use anyway." A familiar thump found the center of Sasuke's forehead and he recoiled like normal as a shy little smile curved his lips.

He held the kunai in a tiny hand and then Sasuke lunged forward to hug his older brother awkwardly with one arm. "Thank you so much, Aniki!" Itachi grimaced a bit before lightly ruffling Sasuke's hair. The Uchiha were never the most demonstrative of people after all.

"Orokanaru otouto…." That fond endearment filled the air as Itachi allowed his brother to cling to him for a minute longer. Sensing his presence wouldn't be tolerated for long, Sasuke broke away then with a sunny grin for his brother.

"Imma go so 'kaasan!"

"You do that." The man who would one day slaughter Uchiha murmured with a laconic smile as he watched Sasuke scamper away. Out of all of them, this boy seemed to hold the most potential. Perhaps he would be the one to surpass him, it was an interesting thought and one Itachi puzzled over all that afternoon.

At dinner, as Sasuke sat there with a bandage on one hand from what could only have been a cut from a newly gifted kunai, Itachi merely eyed him from the corner of his eye and plotted.

A chill smile curved his lips briefly but no one noticed it.

A/N: I normally hate mixing Japanese in with my fiction but in this case, orokanaru otouto holds so much more weight then 'foolish little brother'

Trans:

Orokanaru Otouto- Foolish little Brother
Aniki- Older Brother
Otousan- Father (formal)
'kaasan- Mother (informal)