AN: Here's another chapter for you guys!

Itachi: age 13

Sasuke: age 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

"Okay Sasuke, if anything bad happens just go over to the neighbours house and they'll take care of you. Itachi will be home a few hours after you get back from the academy. He'll look after you while we're gone." Mikoto said rather stressfully

"Hai, kaa-san. You told me this last night." Sasuke replied.

Mikoto and Fugaku were going on a three day mission to the land of Rice Patties, and Mikoto was worried about leaving her youngest son.

Normally she would be fine leaving Sasuke alone with Itachi, but the older Uchiha was coming home from a mission later in the evening. This meant Sasuke would be alone for a couple of hours before Itachi gets home.

This would be the first time Sasuke would be left home alone while everyone was some ways away from the village. This concerned Mikoto even though the young Uchiha would be alone for only a couple of hours.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine, kaa-san." Sasuke reassured with an innocent smile.

Mikoto couldn't help but smile back at her son.

"Alright. Have a good day at the academy. Be good for your brother and I'll see you when we get back. I love you." Mikoto said, kissing Sasuke on the cheek.

"Love you too, kaa-san! See ya later!" Sasuke called back as he ran out the door.

Excitement swelled in the young Uchiha's chest as the made his way to the academy. He was looking forward to the next three days he was going to spend with Itachi.

School finally ended for the day and Sasuke was walking back home with a smile plastered on his face.

He finally arrived at his house and started taking off his shoes.

"I'm home." Sasuke called out and right after the words had left his mouth, he remembered that nobody was home.

Sasuke looked around the house.

It was so quiet.

He's been home alone before, but knowing that all of his family was at least a few hours away from the village made him feel somewhat unsettled.

Pushing down the feeling, the young Uchiha made his way to his room and began doing some homework.

Sasuke was well into his work when he heard hushed whistling coming from outside.

Curious, he looked out the window and realized it was raining.

That's odd, it had been such a beautiful day out. But not thinking much of it, the little Uchiha shrugged and went back to work.

It wasn't until the young raven was just about finished his homework when he heard a crash of thunder. His soul nearly left his body as he jumped at the sudden sound that echoed through his vacant home.

He looked down at his homework and frowned. A huge pencil mark had ripped across the page due to his sudden jolt. Sasuke then glanced at his window with big, frightened eyes. Lightning illuminated the sky as crashing thunder followed, causing the child to flinch violently.

The little Uchiha's face went pale as he began trembling, his heart beating out of his chest.

Sasuke had always been afraid of thunderstorms. Smaller thunderstorms didn't him scare as much. The really big ones, however, were the ones that terrified him the most. It was his family that helped him pull through many storms like this in the past, especially Itachi.

Except, Itachi wasn't home. No one was.

Sasuke felt panic rising in his chest. His mind raced for he didn't know what to do. His mother told him to go to the neighbours house if anything was wrong, but he couldn't go outside! If he went outside, he would get caught in the storm.

The young Uchiha stood up from his seat as he tried to sort out his thoughts. However, lightning lit up the room once again with a loud boom, causing Sasuke to jump as tears started racing down his face.

Stay calm, stay calm. Sasuke thought as he wiped away his tears. Itachi should be home soon and everything will be alright.

Itachi…

Itachi was outside in the storm.

Sasuke's body started to shake as fear gripped his heart tightly. What if Itachi doesn't make it back?

There was no use trying to wipe away the tears coming down the child's face for he couldn't control them any longer.

His aniki has to come home. The thought of never seeing his precious older brother again was unbearable.

But words continued playing around in Sasuke's mind. Itachi's not coming. He'll never make it back home. You'll never see him again. This storm will lead to his death.

The little Uchiha clutched his chest as he sank to his knees.

Thunder rumbled through the empty house, along with an ear piercing scream.

Meanwhile, Itachi was on his way home from his mission. His mission was to track down and eliminate enemies who stole a secret missive from the Hokage. This was an easy mission for Itachi and his team. It took them only about a day to track down the enemy and eliminate them, and it took another full day to return back.

Itachi was just a little ways away from the village when it started to rain. There was a vague nagging feeling in the back of Itachi's mind, telling him that there was something wrong. However, he didn't pay much attention to it and headed to the Hokage's office to return the missive and give him a report.

The prodigy stayed at the Hokage estate for about an hour, giving a full report on what happened during the mission.

Once everything was wrapped up, Itachi headed home. He was eager to get rid of the blood on his body and to see his otouto. After assassinating a bunch of ninja, being around Sasuke's pure innocence and joy was what the older Uchiha truly needed.

When the prodigy stepped out of the building, he realized it had begun thunderstorming.

Itachi frowned.

The nagging feeling from before came back as he looked up at the sky. A jolt of worry shot through the Uchiha as he thought of his brother. I hope Sasuke is okay…

The nagging feeling grew stronger as he began walking.

Sasuke should be back from the academy by now. He'll be fine at home with-

Itachi's heart dropped as he finally realized what was bothering him.

No one is with Sasuke. He's home alone.

An uneasy feeling began creeping up inside the prodigy as he made his way to his house at full speed. Itachi knew his brother, and he knew him well. Sasuke is terrified of thunderstorms. He could only imagine what his poor brother was doing right now.

The older Uchiha arrived at his house in a flash and burst through the door. He swiftly took off his shoes and began searching the house.

"Sasuke?" Itachi called out.

No answer.

The worry in his chest grew.

"Otouto?" Itachi called out again.

The older Uchiha headed towards Sasuke's room and slid the shoji door open.

Inside, Itachi saw homework on his brother's desk, but no Sasuke. He walked further into the room.

"Sasuke?" Itachi called out once again.

As he moved farther into the room, the prodigy's trained ears pricked up as he heard faint sobbing and sniffling.

He turned towards the source of the sound and realized it was coming from the closet. The older Uchiha didn't waste a second before opening the closet doors.

A crushing feeling erupted in the prodigy's chest as he witnessed what was in front of him.

His poor baby brother was pressed up against the wall as he desperately hugged his knees to his chest. The child didn't dare look up as sobs racked his little body.

Another boom went through the air causing the little Uchiha to jump and allow a small whimper to escape his lips. Itachi's heart ached horribly.

"Otouto…" the older Uchiha said as he kneeled down in front of his sibling.

Sasuke's sobbing abruptly stopped with a small gasp as he reluctantly looked up.

"Ita-nii?" Sasuke whispered as looked up at his brother, tears spilling down his small face.

Itachi reached out for his little brother who rushed into his arms.

"Nii-san! Ita-nii!" Sasuke cried.

The poor child's body shook with fear as he desperately gripped on to his big brother.

"I know, I know. Don't worry, I'm here now." Itachi comforted as he held his distraught brother in his arms.

The older Uchiha placed a hand behind the younger's head who continued sobbing miserably.

"I-Ita-nii…" Sasuke sobbed out brokenly as he hugged his brother tighter.

Itachi rubbed his back soothingly.

"It's ok, you're ok. I'm here now, otouto. Don't worry." The elder said gently. "I won't leave you, I promise."

Sasuke nodded against his brother as his violent sobbing continued.

It was a long while before Itachi managed to calm Sasuke down. The young Uchiha's sobs had stopped, but some tears still ran down his pale face. The prodigy could still feel his brother's ragged breaths as he still held him close.

Itachi glanced out the window. The thunderstorm continued to rage through the village and it didn't look like it would stop any time soon. He then glanced down at the both of them only to realize his uniform was soaking wet. The older raven hadn't noticed since he had been so worried about Sasuke.

"Otouto?" Itachi said as he looked down at his brother's face.

"Hmm?" Sasuke hummed out rather wearily.

"I still need to change out of my uniform." Itachi replied gently. "I'm getting you all wet."

And as if on cue, the sound of thunder exploded in the air causing the young Uchiha jump and tighten his grip around his brother. Tears squeezed past closed eyelids as Sasuke buried his face into his brother's shoulder even more.

"No Ita-nii! Don't leave me!" Sasuke cried out.

The elder instinctively held his sibling closer to his body.

"Shhh, it's ok Sasuke. I won't leave you." Itachi comforted as he rubbed his brother's back.

Having no other choice, the older Uchiha sighed inwardly as he picked up his brother and walked over to his room.

He made his way to his bed as soon as he entered his room and tried placing Sasuke down, but he refused to let go.

Itachi looked at his brother and wiped away the tears that were still running down his face.

"Don't worry otouto. I'll be right here, I promise." Itachi said as he rubbed Sasuke's back reassuringly. "I just need to change out of my uniform, that's all."

Sasuke stared at his brother with large, scared eyes for a moment before hesitantly letting go.

Itachi smiled warmly at his little brother as he placed him on the bed. He kissed Sasuke's head then proceeded to get changed.

The elder finished in a flash and looked over at his brother who had brought his knees up to his chest. And although Sasuke's bangs covered his little face, Itachi could still see the tears streaking his cheeks.

The older Uchiha stared at his baby brother sympathetically as he made his way towards the bed.

Itachi reached out for his sibling and held him in his arms as he kissed his temple.

"Stop crying otouto," Itachi said gently as he wiped away Sasuke's tears with his thumb. "I'm here with you."

Sasuke wiped at his eyes. "I thought you weren't coming back." He mumbled. "That's what scared me the most."

Itachi rested his cheek on his brother's head and gave him a gentle squeeze. "I'm sorry I scared you otouto."

"It's not your fault nii-san, but I'm glad you're here." the young Uchiha replied. "I hate thunderstorms."

Itachi chuckled.

"I know otouto," The older Uchiha said playfully as he poked Sasuke's sides unexpectedly.

A small yelp came out of the little raven's mouth as he squirmed under his brother's grasp.

He looked up at his brother as a smile crept onto his features. "Hey, no fair. I'm scared and sad, you can't tickle me."

The prodigy laughed. "At least I got you to smile."

Sasuke instantly changed his smile into a pout once he realized he was smiling and leaned up against his brother who simply chuckled.

They stayed silent for a while as they basked in each other's presence. The thunderstorm still continued causing the little Uchiha to jump every now and then, but Itachi was there to help him get through it.

"Thank you Ita-nii." Sasuke murmured as his eyelids began slipping closed. After all that crying, the poor child must have cried himself to exhaustion. And although his small sentence of gratitude was quiet, the elder had heard him loud and clear.

Itachi smiled as he kissed his baby brother's head. "Anytime otouto, anytime."

AN: This one was a long one! But I loved writing it, so much fluff! Sorry if the ending wasn't the best, I couldn't really think of anything. But I hope you enjoyed!

Please Review!