Sasuke forcefully calmed his stressed nerves enough to be able to knock on Fugaku's door again, plastering on the politest smile he could muster.
"Good morning," he greeted his father. Fugaku stepped aside to let him in, seeming to examine him.
He didn't expect several Uchiha to be waiting for him, all grouped together on Fugaku's sofa, staring at him with montone, yet curious, vigilant eyes. Some of the Uchiha, probably about fifteen in total, seemed alarmed and unnerved, whereas others looked excited at the prospect of a new family member. Seeing them again was like a breath of fresh air.
It was like he internally expected to see them again, in the future when they were dead, probably because he turned into a major theist and believer in the afterlife. Because he needed something to hold onto, and in this case, it was the hope that they were in a better place. Since Sasuke fully expected to die before he turned twenty, he expected to see them, and Itachi, again. Just not alive.
"Hello," he greeted, slightly bowing his head. The Uchiha were suckers for politeness. They seemed to stare into his soul, examining and analysing him, but Sasuke knew it was just curiosity and he appreciated it.
"It is nice to finally meet you," He withheld himself from saying 'again'.
And that was all they needed to burst into a quiet uproar, approaching and greeting him with much enthusiasm (contrary to popular belief, not all Uchiha were stuck-up and reclusive, it was mostly the ones with a lot of emotional baggage).
Fugaku looked apologetic.
"Have I overwhelmed you?" Sasuke shook his head in reply, flashing him a small smile. He was smiling a lot more lately, with good reason. Things were finally starting to look up in this sad, pathetic, lonely, depressing life.
After roughly twenty minutes, all the Uchiha that came to greet him had left, and it was just Fugaku and him.
"My wife and son will be back in a few minutes. They've gone shopping. Mikoto knows, by the way." Fugaku informed him. Then, he became confused.
"I meant...your mother and older brother." Fugaku hid a smile. Sasuke was his son. This strong, cool, charming, if a little reclusive, teenager was his son. The fact that he didn't use honorifics didn't even bother Fugaku.
He heard the door unlatch. A few seconds later, Mikoto and a quiet toddler peered at Fugaku and Sasuke. Mikoto quickly set aside her bags and rushed to embrace him.
"Hi Sasuke!" She pinched his cheeks, "Oh, it's so good to see you!" Sasuke was a little overwhelmed by her sudden bubbliness, but nevertheless embraced her back.
"Hello." He had to stop himself from saying 'kaa-san'. He spotted little Itachi's curious, pudgy face. His mother released him so he could greet Itachi. It was such a strange sight. He never saw a toddler Itachi before now, unless the baby pictures Mikoto would scrapbook counted.
"You must be Itachi. Hi." Itachi clutched his teddy bear, staring up at him with big, pensive eyes.
"Hi," he greeted back. He set his teddy bear aside, glimpsing at it one last time before announcing that he was going to train. Then Itachi fixated his gaze on Sasuke again.
"Do you want to come with me?" He asked, almost pouting. Sasuke withheld his surprise. Apparently, Fugaku and Mikoto were equally surprised. Itachi wasn't this open with strangers.
Sasuke mustered up a toddler-friendly smile (his usual smiles consisted of some varying degree of insanity), seeking Mikoto and Fugaku's permission before nodding. Itachi stalked off in some direction, turning his head a small angle to check if Sasuke was still behind ever so often.
It was a cute, toddler-sized playground that doubled as a mini training ground. Itachi brandished some baby-proofed kunai, and began hitting the targets perfectly. He looked to Sasuke for some sort of approval, to which the latter was confused as to why Itachi even sought a stranger's approval.
He wanted to be as close as possible with his brother, whether a toddler now or not, but he wasn't so deluded as to think their relationship could be so close so quick, because Itachi wasn't that trusting. Still, don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Weirdly, it wasn't hard to come to terms with the fact that his older brother was now a little kid, and that he was the older brother now.
Naturally, this led to thoughts about himself being born, and how he'd feel about his later birth, which Sasuke immediately set aside in order to give Itachi the feedback he was looking for.
"You're accurate, but in order to be faster, adjust your stance," he spoke, looking to Itachi for permission to touch him. The toddler nodded.
Sasuke adjusted Itachi's stance, finding a strange fascination with the idea of helping Itachi, the brother that was always looking out for him.
"I think I like you, Sasuke-san," Itachi muttered. Sasuke smiled.
"Why?" He asked teasingly. Itachi pondered for a few seconds.
"You're helpful, and you don't mind using big words around me." Sasuke knew what he meant. Itachi was incredibly prodigal, but he was also just five, and adults often struggled to find a middle ground in how to treat him.
"Well, I think I like you too," that was a bit of a lie. He loved Itachi, which is a really awkward thing to say when you barely spoke three sentences to the kid.
Itachi showed him a small smile. It was cute how easily toddlers showed emotion. In the future, Itachi never showed even a tidbit of emotion in fear it could be used against him (and it often was).
"So, what's the biggest word you know?" Sasuke asked him, for once actually wanting to continue the conversation.
Itachi flung a kunai, hitting the target perfectly.
"Promiscuous, or expatiating, or viscous. I read them in a novel," he looked at Sasuke again, practically having to arch his neck. Sasuke really didn't want to find out what novel he was reading to have read the first word, and he really hoped Itachi didn't know the meaning.
"What about you?" he asked.
"Probably 'pulchritudinous,' or 'psychotomimetic,' or 'gasconading'." Itachi was slightly slack-jawed.
"Wow," he muttered, "How do you know all those?" Oh, because they were all words that somebody used to describe him, the only flattering one being the first. But he couldn't tell Itachi that.
"I read a lot," he said instead.
Several kunai hit their mark at once. Itachi turned to him, the slightest eagerness present in his expression.
"Would you please show me a jutsu?"Itachi requested politely. Sasuke internally shrugged. Why not?
The Fireball Jutsu was something every Uchiha had seen, but he couldn't exactly pull out an S-rank jutsu on a kid. He settled for a mild, showy A-rank, rubbing his hands together in preparation. Sasuke slowly went through the seals and mumbled the jutsu name for Itachi. It was the same jutsu Obito had learnt.
Several things were noted, like an in-depth description, the name, rank etc. He wouldn't be able to learn it until a few years since his chakra capacity was too small, with him being a literal toddler and all.
Itachi lightly kicked at the ground - his way of fiddling.
"Let's go back. Kaa-san is making inarizushi." Sasuke helped Itachi with his things and they made their way back.
As soon as Itachi walked through the door, he shouted to Mikoto that he needed to find a dictionary. She handed him one, and Sasuke's spirits fell as Itachi flipped to the 'v' section.
"Itachi," he interrupted the boy in his search, who looked up at him with big black eyes, "Where did you read your first word?"
His gaze turned to his father, who seemed to shrink into the corner in shame.
"Father was editing a manuscript from Jiraiya-sama. I took a peek." Itachi bluntly stated, practically outing his father as the editor of Icha Icha Paradise. Sasuke was shocked many times, but never did he experience a shock like this. His father...the editor of the worst book series in the world?
"I need to go check on a clan member who broke his leg," Fugaku excused himself, rushing out the door in utter embarrassment. Sasuke allowed himself a chuckle. It was unexpected, and so, so surreal. He was learning little things about the past while knowing the details of the future.
"Well," Mikoto cleared her throat, looking at him affectionately, "I'm making inarizushi. Would you like to stay for lunch?" Sasuke was elated at the prospect, but sadly had to decline.
"Thank you for the offer," he smiled in gratitude, "But I'm meeting up with a friend for lunch. I have to go now."
Mikoto nodded, opening the door for him. He bid Itachi goodbye, and left with a bigger-than-usual smile on his face.
Note: Thanks for your amazing reviews! I do read everyone's btw. and shoutout to Whatever! I love y'all.