AN: I've been coming up with a bunch of ideas for chapters and I have been writing non-stop! This chapter is AU, where the massacre never happened. Anyways, here's another chapter!

Itachi: age 13

Sasuke: age 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

It was a lovely morning in Konoha. The sun danced and the weather was perfect.

Sasuke was still in bed, fast asleep. Itachi had come home from a mission last night and told Sasuke that he had two days off, meaning he had two days to spend time with his nii-san!

Itachi had been on missions non-stop lately and barely gets to spend time with Sasuke anymore. So Sasuke was really looking forward to spending time with his big brother.

Sasuke began to slowly open his eyes, his eyelids feeling unusually heavy. He sat up, putting a lot more effort into the action than he normally would and watched as the room started to spin.

His head throbbed and it felt as though his face had just come out of an oven.

Sasuke clutched his head.

No, no, no! I can't be sick! Sasuke thought. These are the only two days I get with nii-san before he goes back on missions again! Maybe I'm tired and I just need to shake it off.

Shaking his head slightly, Sasuke got out of bed. A shiver went through his body and he had a hard time focusing on his surroundings, but he refused to accept that he was sick.

The little Uchiha walked out of his room, ignoring his pounding head, and headed towards the bathroom. On his way there, he bumped into someone.

"Good morning, otouto." Itachi greeted, as he wrapped his arms around Sasuke.

Sasuke wrapped his arms around his brother as well, returning the hug, and in the best, non-sick voice he could muster up, he said, "Good morning, nii-san." Then nuzzled his face in his brother's warm chest.

The older Uchiha slightly frowned as he felt an alarming amount of heat radiating off his brother.

"Are you ok, Sasuke?" Itachi asked. "You feel awfully warm."

Sasuke froze. He didn't want Itachi to know he was sick or else he would bedridden all day, meaning he couldn't spend time with him.

Sasuke quickly released the embrace.

"I'm fine. It was really warm under my blankets, that's all."

Itachi eyed him suspiciously.

"Are you sure?"

Sasuke nodded.

"Ok…" Itachi said, doubt in his voice. "Breakfast is ready, I was just about to get you."

The thought of breakfast made Sasuke's stomach lurch. He really didn't want to eat, but it would make him look suspicious if he didn't.

"Ok, I was about to brush my teeth,." Sasuke said. "I'll be there in a sec."

"Alright." Itachi nodded, uncertainty still in his voice.

With that, Sasuke headed towards the bathroom.

Once Sasuke was done brushing his teeth, he walked out of the bathroom and headed towards the kitchen, somehow feeling a bit better.

Good, he thought. Maybe this is just a temporary thing and I should feel better by the time I get home from the academy.

Sasuke walked into the kitchen finding his brother sitting at the table with two plates of food in front of him. Looking at food made Sasuke remember how nauseous he felt at the thought of eating.

Sasuke entered the kitchen, looking around for his mother and father.

"Where's kaa-san and tou-san?" Sasuke asked

"They're out doing errands, but they should be back before you get home." Itachi answered, looking up at Sasuke.

Sasuke sat across from Itachi and looked down at the food in front of him. He took his chopsticks and hesitantly took a bite from his plate. It tasted good, but his stomach thought otherwise.

Sasuke put down his chopsticks, looked up at his brother.

"Can we play together when I get home, nii-san?"

"Sure, otouto. What do you want to do?" Itachi asked.

Sasuke thought for a moment.

"Can we do some shuriken training, nii-san? Oh! And maybe we can play tag after!" Sasuke said eagerly.

Itachi smiled

"Okay otouto, if that's what you want to do." Itachi replied

Sasuke smiled and checked the time. His eyes widened as he realized how late it was.

"Ah! It's already that late? I still have to change." Sasuke said, as he ran out of the kitchen.

Itachi chuckled at his brother, he was so cute!

He then looked at Sasuke's plate and frowned. Sasuke barely ate anything. Itachi felt a twinge of worry shoot through him, his brother usually ate everything on his plate.

When Sasuke got to his room, he flung off his t-shirt and shorts he wore to bed and started looking for clothes to wear. Suddenly, a wave of dizziness washed over Sasuke and he felt like he was going to pass out. He quickly sat down on his bed and waited for the dizziness to go away.

The little Uchiha then heard a quiet knock on his door.

"Sasuke? Otouto, your going to be late if you don't leave soon." Itachi said through the door.

Silence.

"Otouto?" Itachi tried again.

When he still didn't get an answer, Itachi slid the door open and found Sasuke, who was barely dressed, sitting on his bed, staring at nothing in particular.

"Sasuke, are you ok?" Itachi asked concerned "You don't have to go to the academy if you don't feel well. You look a bit sick."

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine, I just couldn't find anything to wear." Sasuke lied, as he forced a sheepish grin on his face.

"Are you sure?" Itachi asked, not totally convinced.

Sasuke nodded and continued to get dressed as Itachi left his room still feeling worried.

When Sasuke finished getting dressed, he ran out of his room and put his shoes on.

Itachi came out of the kitchen and gave Sasuke a hug.

"Have a good day at school, otouto." Itachi said as he released the hug, ruffling Sasuke's hair.

"Thanks, nii-san. See ya later!" Sasuke waved as he left the house, completely missing the worried glance his brother gave him.

All that rushing made Sasuke feel even worse than he had when he woke up. His head pounded, he felt really drowsy, and he was freezing, even though it was warm outside. But he especially felt bad for lying to his nii-san.

Dazed, the young Uchiha made his way to the academy.

A couple of hours passed by and school was finally over for the day.

Sasuke was trudging his way home, feeling worse than ever. His head was pounding in his ears, he felt really cold, and really weak. He couldn't focus on anything while he was at the academy because of his terrible headache.

Sasuke finally got home and tried his best to act normal.

"I'm home." Sasuke called out, while he was taking off his shoes.

His mom walked out of the kitchen to greet him.

"Welcome home, honey. How was your day?" she asked.

"It was good." Sasuke replied "Do you know where nii-san is, kaa-san?"

"He should be in his room." she answered, as she walked back into the kitchen.

Sasuke dragged himself to bedroom where he could change in a long sleeved shirt, he was freezing!

Once he was done changing, Sasuke flopped onto his bed, not wanting to get up, but also wanting to go find Itachi so they can play together.

Sasuke about to get up when he felt the bed dip and hand ruffle his hair.

"Tired, otouto?" Itachi asked, amused.

Sasuke immediately sat up and looked at his brother.

"Oh, hi nii-san. I was just about to look for you." Sasuke said. "Wanna go play now?"

"Sure, otouto." Itachi replied with a smile.

As Itachi looked at his brother, he noticed how red Sasuke's cheeks were and became worried again, remembering how strange his otouto was acting this morning.

"Are you ok, Sasuke? Your cheeks look really red." Itachi asked concerned as he reached out to feel his brother's crimson cheek.

Sasuke froze for a second, but caught Itachi's hand before it could make contact with his burning face, putting the large hand in his little ones.

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine nii-san." Sasuke lied.

"Come on, let's go!" Sasuke said pulling his brother out of the room.

Itachi reluctantly followed his brother, not really convinced his otouto was really okay.

The two brothers walked to the Uchiha clan's private training grounds to practice shuriken throwing.

When they got to the training grounds, Sasuke sat down under a tree feeling very light headed all of a sudden.

"Do you want to try first, otouto?" Itachi asked

Sasuke shook his head.

"You can go first, nii-san." Sasuke said, rather wearily.

Itachi frowned. Sasuke was usually very eager to do things like this and would jump on the opportunity to go first, but today was different, which made Itachi worry even more.

"Alright….." Itachi answered reluctantly.

Itachi turned around, having his back facing the targets and activated his sharingan. He had three shurikens in each hand and threw each of them directly behind him, all of them hitting the middle of the target.

He then jumped up, spinning in mid air and threw four more shurikens, hitting the rest of the targets perfectly.

Sasuke was trying his best to focus on what his nii-san was doing, but failed as a new found headache took over.

Itachi finished and looked over at Sasuke who was looking at nothing in particular.

Realizing his brother had finished and was now looking at him, Sasuke came out of his daze and forced a smile. "Wow! That was so cool, Ita-nii!" Sasuke said.

Sasuke got up and walked over to Itachi.

"Ok otouto, your turn. Be careful." Itachi said, as he stepped back to give his brother some space.

Sasuke walked over to a target and prepared to throw his shurikens. He was about to throw one, but abruptly stopped when everything around him started to spin and the feeling of passing out overwhelmed him.

He stumbled to the ground, but felt two strong hands catch him before he could hit the floor.

"Sasuke! You're burning up, otouto!" Itachi said extremely worried, as he felt a dangerous amount of heat coming off of Sasuke.

Before Sasuke could say anything, he lost consciousness.

When Sasuke regained consciousness, he found himself in his room with a wet towel across his forehead, and was met with onyx eyes that were very similar to his own staring back at him.

"Nii-san?"

"Sasuke, how are you feeling otouto?" Itachi asked, sounding worried.

"I feel a bit better." Sasuke answered, attempting sit up. Itachi put a hand on his brother's chest to prevent him doing so and gently pushed him back down.

"You need to rest otouto," Itachi said as he felt Sasuke's cheek and frowned at the heat. There was moment of silence before the older Uchiha asked a question that made Sasuke flinch.

"Sasuke, why didn't you tell me you weren't feeling well?"

Itachi's tone was slightly reprimanding, but still gentle. Unlike his father, the older Uchiha was never one who would chastise others, especially his dear baby brother.

Sasuke averted his gaze. "I…." he bagan, trying to find the right words.

"I..don't know," he finally managed to say quietly. "It's just that, these were the only two days you had off before you go back on missions and I wanted to spend as much time as I could with you. If I was sick, I would be stuck in bed and then we wouldn't be able to do anything together."

Itachi heard his heart snap in two.

His baby brother acted like he wasn't sick just so he could spend time with him. Some older brother he was, he had neglected Sasuke so much that his little brother felt the need to lie about how he was feeling, just to spend time with him.

Itachi pulled Sasuke into a hug.

"Sasuke, please don't ever think you're obligated to lie just so you can spend time with me otouto, especially about being sick. It's my fault, I've been going on too many missions lately." Itachi said, tightening his hold around Sasuke.

Sasuke hugged him back.

"I'm sorry nii-san, I just miss you," Sasuke replied. "Besides, I know it's your job to protect the village."

Not entirely true…. Itachi thought, but quickly pushed it away.

"I miss you too otouto, but it's also my job to be your older brother." Itachi said. "From now on, I promise I'll try my best to spend as much time as I can with you, even if it means taking fewer missions."

Sasuke looked up at his brother in shock.

"Really, nii-san?" Sasuke asked

Itachi nodded

"Are you sure?" Sasuke asked again

Itachi nodded again

"But won't tou-san get mad?"

"Sasuke, do you want me to be here with you more often?" Itachi asked.

Sasuke nodded instantly.

"Then I will." Itachi said gently, as he kissed the top of Sasuke's head.

The two of them stayed like that for a while, before they both fell asleep in each others arms. Itachi wrapped his arms protectively around Sasuke, while Sasuke hugged him back, seeking comfort.

The bond between them was truly unbreakable.

AN: Whew! This was a super long chapter! But I finished it! Stay tuned for more chapters! Happy Easter!

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