AN: Hey guys, I'm back from my trip! So here's another chapter. This is another Sickfic, I can't help it, I just love writing those kinds of fanfiction. I also realized that I always put Sasuke in a bunch of terrible situations and then have Itachi come and make everything better, but I can't help it! I just love protective older brother Itachi stuff! It's so cute! But anyways, I decided to let them switch roles, so now Itachi is in a vulnerable situation and Sasuke makes everything better….kinda. Enjoy!

Itachi: age 18

Sasuke: age 12

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

It was a sunny afternoon in the Leaf Village. Itachi was trudging his way back home from a three day ANBU mission in Amegakure.

When he left Amegakure, he bagan feeling a bit off. His head pounded, he felt groggy and his nose was runny.

He didn't pay any attention to it until it got worse. He then came to the conclusion that he was coming down with something, which was strange considering how he barely ever gets sick.

"I'm home." Itachi called out weakly.

Sasuke was at the front to greet his brother like he always does.

"Hi, nii-san. Welcome home."

Itachi took off his shoes and patted Sasuke's head with a very nasally "Hi, otouto." as he walked to his room.

Sasuke frowned.

That was strange. Itachi would always greet Sasuke with a smile or a hug or something, but Itachi just gave him a lousy pat on the head. He barely even looked at Sasuke. Not to mention, his voice sounded very congested. Was Itachi sick?

Worried, Sasuke followed his brother to his room.

Itachi collapsed on his bed feeling terrible. He cleared his throat and winced at the pain that came after, oh the joys of being sick. What he really needed now was a nap.

Itachi closed his eyes, trying to ignore the pounding in his head, but before he could drift off, he heard someone come into his room. He turned his head to find Sasuke by the door.

"Nii-san, are you ok?" Sasuke asked, concern clear in his voice.

"I'm fine, otouto," Itachi answered sitting up. "I have a bit of a cold, that's all."

Sasuke walked over to his brother and put a hand on his forehead.

"I think it's more than a cold, nii-san. You're burning up." Sasuke said, worried.

"I'm ok, otouto. Don't worry about it." Itachi replied as he sniffed.

Sasuke opened his mouth to say something but their mother called for Itachi. Itachi ruffled Sasuke's hair and walked out of his room with Sasuke following behind him.

"Yes, kaa-san?"

"Itachi, I've been called away for a couple of hours so I need you to take care of your brother. Dinner is in the fridge and I also want you clean up around the house." Mikoto said, about to walk out the door.

"Hai." Itachi answered, trying his best not to sound sick. He didn't need his mother fussing over him, especially since he has a very important mission coming up in a few days.

Sasuke stood beside his brother, his eyes darting back and forth from Itachi to their mother. Itachi couldn't clean, he needed to rest.

"Kaa-san, Itachi is-"

Sasuke abruptly stopped when he was met with a hand to his mouth. He looked up at his brother and pouted.

"Stay safe, kaa-san." Itachi said, smiling as he covered his brother's mouth.

Mikoto looked at her sons in wonder for a second, but then ignored it.

"Thanks, dear. See you later." She said as she walked out the door.

When Mikoto left, Itachi released his brother who was now pouting at him.

"Why did you do that?" Sasuke asked, slightly annoyed.

"Sorry, otouto. I can't let kaa-san know I'm not feeling well." Itachi answered. "I have an important mission in a couple days and you know how she gets."

Sasuke gave him a look.

"Yeah, but you're sick." Sasuke said. "You can't clean the house, let alone go on a mission. You need to rest. Let me clean for you."

Itachi looked at his little brother and saw nothing but concern in his adorable onyx eyes, sending a ping of guilt through his heart.

Itachi sighed.

"Alright, otouto," Itachi said in defeat as he coughed slightly. "If you really want to, I won't stop you."

Sasuke smiled.

"Ok, go take a nap or something. I'm going to wash the dishes, if you need anything just call for me." Sasuke replied as he turned towards the kitchen. "I'll bring you some medicine later."

Itachi smiled as his heart filled with warmth at the amount of love his baby brother had for him.

"Thank you, otouto." Itachi said as he rubbed his nose. "But be careful, there are knives in the sink. Don't cut yourself."

He was answered with a vague "Yeah, yeah…" as Sasuke entered the kitchen. The older Uchiha chuckled, then headed towards his room to take that long awaited nap.

Itachi was only thirty minutes into his nap when he jolted awake from a loud crash coming from the kitchen and a very audible cry of pain afterwards.

He immediately got up and rushed to the kitchen, trying to ignore his throbbing head and dizziness.

When the older Uchiha got there, he found broken glass on the ground and his little brother looking at it, dumbfounded.

"Sasuke? What happened?" Itachi asked, worriedly. "Are you hurt?"

The younger Uchiha discreetly put his his hand behind his back and forced a smile.

"No, I'm fine." Sasuke lied. "I accidentally dropped something. Don't worry, I'll clean it up, just go back to sleep."

While putting away the dishes, Sasuke accidentally dropped some thinking he could carry more than ten plates, as well as ten cups at the same time. He then somehow got broken glass all over his hand.

Itachi eyed him suspiciously.

Sasuke smiled sheepishly at him as he tried to ignore the burning pain in his hand. His hand hurt a lot, it felt like a bunch of senbon were jabbed into it.

"Show me your hand." Itachi suddenly said.

Sasuke flinched. Trust Itachi to see right through him.

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked, playing dumb.

"Sasuke..." Itachi warned with a stern look, but in a way still gentle.

The younger Uchiha sighed and reluctantly held out his hand.

Itachi began examining the injured hand and noticed the blood oozing out of the broken glass shards. Sasuke looked at it with wide eyes as he felt panic slowly rising in his chest.

Sensing his brother's anxiety, Itachi led him to the kitchen table and sat him down. He then got a med kit from the cupboard and sat next to Sasuke. He took Sasuke's injured hand and looked at him.

"This is going to hurt, otouto, but you need to work with me, okay?." Itachi said, his voice still very much congested.

Sasuke nodded hesitantly and Itachi began removing the glass with from his brother's hand. The young raven winced as Itachi quickly extracted the pieces of broken glass, trying to cause his younger brother as little pain as possible.

Once finished, Itachi cleaned the wounds and began wrapping Sasuke's hand securely in bandages, clearing his throat every now and then.

"All done." Itachi said as he kissed his brother's forehead. "Next time, be more careful, otouto. You take a break, I'll clean the rest of the kitchen."

Sasuke was about to object, but decided not to since he already caused his brother enough trouble.

"Alright. Thanks, nii-san." Sasuke replied, disappointment hidden in his voice.

When Itachi finished cleaning the mess in the kitchen, he went back to his room to take another nap. His head was killing him.

He slept for about three hours straight and by the time he woke up, the sun had already begun to set.

The prodigy coughed slightly as he turned over on his side. He was surprised to see Sasuke sitting on the ground near his bedroom door.

"What are you doing, otouto?" Itachi asked, his voice hoarse. "Why are you sitting on the floor?"

Sasuke looked up at his brother.

"I came here a while ago to give you some medicine," Sasuke said, pointing to bedside table where some pills, a cup of cough medicine and a glass of water were. "But you were sleeping and I didn't want to wake you up."

Itachi smiled.

"Thanks, otouto." Itachi replied as he cleared his throat. "How's your hand?"

Sasuke's gaze went to his bandaged hand as he glared at it for a second.

"It's fine." Sasuke answered, his voice quiet, almost sad sounding.

The older raven frowned as he heard the quiet reply.

"What's wrong?" Itachi asked.

Sasuke looked at his brother, then averted his gaze.

"Nii-san, I-"

The young Uchiha stopped when his brother went into a violent coughing fit.

Sasuke immediately got up and went over to the older Uchiha. He helped him sit up and patted his brother's back in attempt to help him. The young raven then reached over to the nightstand and grabbed the cup of cough medicine.

"Here, aniki." Sasuke said as he put the cup of medicine towards Itachi's mouth.

Itachi took in the medicine and suppressed a grimace as he swallowed. Sasuke handed him the glass of water as he rubbed his brother's back.

"Thank you, otouto." Itachi said as he coughed slightly. "Now tell me, what's wrong?"

Sasuke sighed as he took the now empty glass from his brother and placed it on the bedside table.

"I don't know, I guess I kinda feel bad for being such a hassle for you while you're sick." Sasuke replied. "I'm the one who told you to rest, but you still had to clean the mess I made. I'm supposed to be taking care of you right now, not the other way around."

Itachi looked at his little brother with an amused look on his face.

"Come here." Itachi said as he suddenly pulled his brother into bed with him.

"Wha- hey!"

The Uchiha prodigy wrapped his brother in a hug so that he was facing away from him.

"My foolish otouto, no matter how sick I am, you need to know that I'm always going to take care of you and clean up whatever mess you may make." Itachi said, lightheartedly. "It's my job to."

He gave his brother a gentle squeeze and kissed the top of his head.

"So please don't feel bad, otouto."

Sasuke smiled.

"Okay, aniki. I feel a bit better."

"Good." Itachi said as he tightened their embrace.

It wasn't until Itachi cleared his throat again that Sasuke realized something.

"You know, if we stay like this, I might catch whatever you have." Sasuke said, sounding a bit paranoid.

"Don't worry, otouto. If you get sick, I can give you that delicious medicine you know and love to make you feel better." Itachi replied playfully, knowing fully well of his brother's deep hatred for medicine.

"What?!" Sasuke practically screamed. "No, no ,no, no, no. There's absolutely no way I'm going to let that happen."

The young Uchiha struggled to break free from his older brother's embrace, but it was no use.

"You can try to break free Sasuke, but you know it's useless." Itachi said, amused.

"Niiii-saaaan!"

The rest of the day was spent exactly like this and it was just what Itachi needed to get over his terrible cold.

AN: I know there are a bunch of fics out there like this, but I couldn't stop myself from writing one! And although Itachi is supposed to be the one who needed to be taken care of, of course Sasuke still gets hurt. Ugh! I'm sorry! Once again, I couldn't help myself. I wanted to get this out to you guys as soon as I could so the ending isn't the best. I also apologize for the infrequent updates. I've been trying to edit some of the chapters so it might take a while to come out with new chapters. Thanks for understanding! I hope you enjoyed!

Please Review!