I don't own Naruto.

Notes: The second part of my gift for the Naruto secret santa thing. It's Itachi and Sasuke centered, but not yaoi.

XXX

"You're gonna be here, right?" the little black-haired boy whined. He tugged on the his brother's sleeve. "It's Christmas Eve and the tree still isn't decorated." He received a sigh in reply.

"Sasuke I've already told you, I don't know how long this mission's going to last," the older boy explained patiently as he slipped his feet into his sandals. This explanation did nothing to satisfy Sasuke.

"But the tree!" he exclaimed, "The tree needs to be decorated for tomorrow and I want you to do it with me!" Sasuke pouted as he clung to his brother.

"Get Dad to help you."

"He's going to be gone until late tonight."

"Then get Mom."

"Mom?" Sasuke whined, "She's not cool. I want you to help."

Itachi sighed. Then he rustled his brother's hair. "Fine, fine, I'll do my best to be back as soon as I can."

The pout disappeared from Sasuke's face and he beamed. "But it has to be before my bedtime. If I stay up longer than that Santa won't come."

Itachi gave a tiny smile. "Right. I'll make sure you're in bed on time." And with that he headed out the door.

For the first few hours Sasuke trained to pass the time. But as the sun started to set, he began to get impatient.

Finally, after dinner, when it was almost an hour from his bed time, Sasuke began to start without his brother.

"Stupid Itachi," he muttered, his lower lip trembling, "I didn't want his stupid help anyway." With that he started to put decorations on the lowest tree branches. He went all around the bottom of the tree and then began to work his way up, all the while waiting to hear the doorknob turn and for his brother to arrive.

But by the time he was standing on his tippy toes to hang ornaments, Itachi still wasn't home.

When Sasuke had decorated all the branches that he could reach, he gave a small groan of annoyance. He stared at the tree for several moments before racing over to the box that the decorations had been in. He dragged it over to the tree and stood on the weak box. He smiled in triumph. Now he could decorate almost all of the tree.

He hung up several ornaments, each one making him reach even more. Sasuke leaned sideways to try and get another one up, but suddenly the box gave way and he found himself falling to the ground.

Except he ended up in a pair of sinewy arms.

Sasuke looked up at his brother with an irritated expression. "You're late."

Itachi raised an eyebrow. "Actually, I think that's what they call perfect timing." He set his brother down. "Do you still want help?"

Sasuke peered up at him. "Hmm. I don't know if I want someone to help who's always late." Itachi gave a barely audible sigh.

"I'll let you sit on my shoulders."

Sasuke squealed and Itachi kneeled down so he could climb on. Itachi then handed some more ornaments to the now very happy little boy so he could put them on the tree. It wasn't long until the tree was decorated and Sasuke finally put the star on top of the tree.

Itachi kneeled again so Sasuke could slid off. The little boy smiled brightly. "Isn't it pretty?"

The older boy nodded. "It's beautiful."

"Sasuke!" the boys looked at their mother as she entered the room. "Sasuke, it's time for bed," she said walking over to them. "Remember, if you don't go to bed Santa won't come," she said in response to his pout.

"Fine," he mumbled, looking very cross.

Itachi scooped his brother up and balanced him on his shoulder.

"Nii-chaaan!" Sasuke protested.

"C'mon, if you go to bed without protest, I'll tell you a story." This had the desired effect and Sasuke smiled and let himself be carried to his room.

Itachi waited on Sasuke's bed as the boy brushed his teeth and changed into his pajamas. Then Sasuke jumped into bed and quickly pulled the covers over him. He looked up at his brother expectantly.

"What kind of story do you want?" Itachi asked, making himself comfortable on the bed.

"A ninja story!" Sasuke replied enthusiastically.

"Of course," Itachi said without inflection. Sasuke squirmed impatiently as his brother searched for a story. Finally, Itachi started. "Once a long time ago, there was a very powerful ninja,"he paused as he tried to make up the story, "But his clan was very close minded. And one day he decided to get rid of them-"

"With pirates?" Sasuke asked.

Itachi looked at Sasuke with slight exasperation. "I thought this was a ninja story."

"There can be pirates in a ninja story," Sasuke assured his brother.

Itachi took a calming breath. "Ok. So this very powerful ninja decides to get rid of his clans with... pirates."

"But his clan fought back, didn't they?"

"No, the pirates-"

"I think his clan fought back."

Itachi drummed his fingers against the bed covers. "And what did they fight back with?"

"Dragons!"

Itachi was suddenly remembering why he stopped telling his brother stories. "Alright," he sighed, "The clan fought back with dragons. But this ninja was stronger than his clan and their dragon. So when it came down to the final fight-"

"Santa came!"

"What?" Itachi asked dead panned.

"Santa came and stopped the fighting."

"No, he didn't. They're ninja; they fight to the death. Oh fine, fine," he said in response to Sasuke's growing pout, "Santa came and stop the fighting."

"And they all lived happily ever after?" Sasuke asked with bright eyes.

"Yes, they all lived happily ever after. Now go to bed," he said as he stood. He turned off the lamp and walked to the door.

"Good night nii-san!" Sasuke called after him.

"Good night Sasuke. Go to sleep," Itachi said as he closed the door.

"Merry Christmas!" Itachi heard through the door.

"Merry Christmas Sasuke. Now go to sleep!"

XXX

Hmm. Overall I like this.