AN: Heyy. Sorry it's been so long since the last update! I gave up fanfiction for lent and let me tell ya, it was ROUGH. And then after that I had trouble coming up with ideas and once I got some ideas school came along and smacked me with a bunch of assignment crap. But I'm back now with another chapter! Enjoy another saving Sasuke- I mean, enjoy the chapter!

Itachi: age 18

Sasuke: age 12

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

It was late morning in the Uchiha household and Sasuke was laying on his bed, extremely bored to death.

Team 7 was supposed to go on a mission today, but Kakashi had cancelled last minute because he had a "very important matter to attend to". However, Sasuke was positive it was just some lame excuse to get away and read some of his perverted books, instead of going on a stupid D-ranked mission again.

The young raven sighed.

He would go and bother his brother, but he was pretty sure he was still asleep.

Sasuke blinked.

Since when did that ever stop him from bothering Itachi? And since when did Itachi start sleeping in?

With this thought in mind, the young Uchiha sprang up from his bed and made his way to his brother's room.

Sasuke entered Itachi's room without knocking and collapsed on his bed.

He would have knocked, but he knew Itachi didn't mind. The elder rarely knocked on his door anyway, so it seemed to be an unspoken agreement between the two.

"Itaaachii, I'm bored!" Sasuke complained, his face pressed against mattress.

"Good morning to you to otouto." Itachi replied, amused at how childish his little brother was acting. The prodigy was on the ground, reading some scrolls when Sasuke had come in. "I thought you had a mission today?"

"It got cancelled." came the muffled reply. Sasuke turned his face towards his brother. "Have you been reading those all morning?"

The elder nodded as he continued reading through his scroll.

Sasuke stared at him for a moment before rolling over and sighing.

"Come on nii-san, spend time with me." Sasuke whined. "Let's go train or something."

Itachi stopped reading for a second and glanced at his brother with a small smile.

"Actually I take that back. You're probably going to say 'Sorry Sasuke, I'm busy, some other time' or 'Sorry Sasuke, you can die in your own boredom while I finish reading my scrolls'" the younger said as he tried to mimic his big brother's voice.

Itachi couldn't help but chuckle a bit at how juvenile Sasuke could be sometimes. He knew his brother always had a stoic and unreadable demeanor in front of most people, but whenever he is around Itachi, the young raven's facade crumbles and he can't help but act like himself, which the elder really appreciates. And the more Itachi thought about it, the more he realized that he was the same way when he was around his brother as well.

"As a matter of fact otouto, I'm free all day today." Itachi said as he rolled up his scrolls and stood up. "I was already thinking of training with you when you got back from your mission."

Sasuke sat up. "Really?"

"Yes," the elder replied as he poked his brother's forehead. "Now get ready, we leave in 5 minutes."

Sasuke nodded his head vigorously, gave Itachi a quick hug and ran out of the room, eager to spend some time with his brother.

"So, what are we going to do nii-san?" Sasuke asked once the two brothers had arrived at the training grounds.

"I thought we could do some sparring." Itachi replied.

"Sparring?"

The prodigy nodded. "No sharingan." he said as he got into a defensive stance. "The first one to immobilize their opponent wins."

Sasuke got into a defensive stance as well as he nodded his head.

Just as a single leaf touched the ground, the two brothers lunged at each other and began sparring.

Itachi wanted to test his brother's sparring skills so he didn't want to go all out, but that doesn't mean he'll make it easy for him.

Sasuke threw a punch at Itachi, who effectively ducked and sweeped Sasuke's legs from under him.

Sasuke fell to the ground as Itachi sat on top of him and tried to restrict his movements. However, Sasuke somehow got out of his brother's grasp and turned the tables by reversing the mount so that he was on top.

The young Uchiha thought he had gotten the upper hand before he saw a smile cross Itachi's face.

"What?" Sasuke asked suspiciously.

"Nice boxers Sasuke." Itachi stated, amusement in his voice.

"Wha-?!"

The young Uchiha looked down to find the zipper of his shorts undone. Sasuke shot a look at his brother. "Hey! Did you-ahh!"

Before he could finish his sentence, Sasuke found himself being flipped over Itachi's head, and landed on his back as the elder reversed their position.

Itachi firmly immobilized his arms above him and gave his little brother a triumphant smile.

"I win." he said.

Sasuke pouted. "That's not fair, you distracted me!"

The prodigy chuckled.

"A ninja must see through deception otouto," Itachi replied as he helped his brother up. "But nice escape back there."

"I want a rematch." The little Uchiha said as he redid his zipper.

Itachi poked his brother's forehead, "Maybe later otouto. I want to try some new training on you first."

Sasuke rubbed his forehead. "New training?"

The elder nodded.

"It's similar to Kakashi's bell test, but this time you're by yourself and instead of a bell," Itachi pulled out a small scroll from his pocket. "you have to get this."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "There's no time limit or punishment is there?" he asked cautiously. "I get to eat lunch, right?"

Itachi's raised his eyebrows. "Yeah, don't worry there's no time limit or punishment. I'll even buy you onigiri if you manage to win, but keep in mind, I won't go easy on you."

Sasuke smiled as he nodded. "When do we start?"

A moment of silence.

"Now."

And just like that, Sasuke disappeared.

The older Uchiha grinned.

Nice move. He thought.

Sasuke was hidden in a tree, concealing his chakra as he tried to come up with a plan.

I can't come at nii-san head on, not when I'm by myself. And launching a long range attack from here is just plain stupid. Hmm… I don't have very many options.

A few minutes passed before Sasuke had come up with a plan. It was risky, but it was worth a shot.

However, before he could carry it out, he heard leaves rustling in the tree beside him.

His head jerked towards the source of the sound as he expected to see his brother emerge from the tree.

Sasuke's eyes widened. "Tch-!"

Itachi was still in the clearing, all five senses alert. He wondered what his brother was planning, this would test his judgment and his retrieving skills.

The prodigy waited and waited for Sasuke's next move, but it never came.

Itachi's eyes narrowed. His brother would surely have a plan by now, it's been far too long for him not to. If this were a real mission, the enemy would have already gotten away.

Something about this didn't seem right.

"Sasuke?" Itachi called out. "Your taking you time, huh otouto? Well since you're not making the first move, I will."

The older Uchiha ran soundlessly into the forest as he searched for his brother's chakra signature. He could sense it, but it was very faint. It seems he improved on concealing his chakra, but not enough for Itachi miss it.

The prodigy abruptly stopped running as he caught a whiff of the sharp yet familiar smell of metallic.

Itachi's eyes narrowed.

Who was bleeding? Why?

His head then jerked to the side as he saw Sasuke tumble out of a tree.

The older raven's heart nearly jumped out of his chest as he took a better look at his brother. A giant wound ripped across Sasuke's body as an alarming amount of blood gushed out.

"N-nii-san…help me." he choked out, his body trembling.

It took everything within Itachi to not immediately rush over to him.

This might be a trick.

And if it was, he was so going to get him back after.

The prodigy tried to swallow the lump in his throat as he took a tentative step forward.

"Sasuke..." he said carefully. His heart sank as Sasuke looked up at him, real pain etched on his face.

Genjutsu? Itachi thought. No, Sasuke isn't capable of performing genjutsu this realistic yet. And I would have already sensed it when he first activated it.

All the blood in his face drained when he saw his baby brother cough up a frightening amount of blood.

"Ita-nii..!" Sasuke pleaded, tears unwillingly gathering in his eyes.

Screw this.

The older Uchiha rushed towards his sibling, panic flowing through his veins. Sasuke hasn't called Itachi "Ita-nii" since he was nine, and that was after he got badly injured from a shuriken incident.

"Sasuke, what happened?" Itachi asked in an urgent tone as he tried to take a better look at the wound. He quickly unwrapped the bandages around his ankles and put them around his brother's chest to try and stop the bleeding.

The young Uchiha grabbed a hold of his brother's arm. "Nii-san, we can't stay here." he breathed out.

Before Itachi could question him, he felt unfamiliar chakra signatures surround their area.

Itachi's eyes narrowed.

He quickly got Sasuke on his back and shunshined to the clearing in the training ground.

The enemies were hot on their heels as Itachi ran out of the Uchiha training grounds. He would try to get rid of them, but he had to get Sasuke to safety first.

"Are they the ones who did this to you, Sasuke?" he asked, fury hidden in his voice.

Sasuke's head was resting on his brother's shoulder as he gave him a small nod.

"Stay with me, okay otouto?" Itachi said as he lightly patted his cheek. He didn't like how pale Sasuke has gotten in such a short amount of time. "No falling asleep."

"Hai," Sasuke answered weakly.

Itachi hadn't quite made it out of the Uchiha compound before he ran into Shisui.

"Itachi!" Shisui called.

"Shisui?"

The body flicker ran alongside his friend. "Itachi, several ninja's have infiltrated the compound." he informed. "They seem to be searching for you."

"So I've noticed." the prodigy said as he glanced over at Sasuke.

Shisui frowned.

"What happened to Sasuke?" he asked.

"I'm not quite sure myself," Itachi answered. "But I'm on my way to the hospital."

Before Shisui could reply, ninja suddenly surrounded the three Uchiha.

"Damn," Shisui said with a grin. "They're fast. Go on Itachi, I got this."

Shisui pulled out a kunai and got into a defensive stance.

"But Shisui-"

"Don't worry 'tachi!" Shisui flashed him a grin. "This will be easy. Plus, Sasuke isn't looking too good."

The prodigy nodded. "Thanks Shisui."

Itachi was running across the rooftops as fast as he could. So far, he hasn't sensed any enemy ninja.

A chill went up the prodigy's spine as he felt a sudden wetness seep through his shirt. Realizing it was Sasuke's blood, he looked over to his brother who was about to pass out.

"Hey, Sasuke," Itachi said gently as patted his hip. "I know it's hard otouto, but you have to stay awake."

"I'm trying," Sasuke answered wearily. "It's not that easy."

"I know otouto, we're almost at the-"

"Well, I assume you must be Itachi Uchiha?"

Itachi stopped running and pulled out a kunai in a matter of a second. He watched as a shinobi landed in front of him.

"Can I help you?" Itachi asked as his eyes narrowed. Just from the killing intent this guy was giving off, it was obvious that he was behind all this.

The shinobi scoffed,

"Yes actually, you can." he grinned. "Do you remember a shinobi by the name of Sora Wajihara?"

The prodigy's memory was flawless. Sora Wajihara was a rogue shinobi he was ordered to assassinate in order to prevent a full out war from raging. On top of that, his reasons for war were exceedingly absurd.

"I do recall a shinobi of that name." Itachi replied, his tone dark.

"Good. I'll have you know Sora meant a lot to me." The shinobi said with a pained smirk. "He was my precious younger brother after all."

Itachi focused his gaze on the shinobi as he instinctively tightened his grip on Sasuke.

Sasuke on the other hand winced and clutched the cloth of his brother's shirt as a wave of pain came crashing down on him.

The enemy smirked. "Oh, how the tables have turned. Now it seems like your brother is on the brink of death."

The shinobi's gaze darkened.

"Allow me to finish him off."

The shinobi lunged at Itachi causing the older Uchiha to jump back to avoid the attack.

This wasn't good.

Judging by the way the shinobi carelessly lunged at Itachi head on, he clearly didn't have much fighting experience, making him an easy opponent. However, having Sasuke with him restricted Itachi from fighting this guy fully, and also means he doesn't have much time. Sasuke had completely bled through his bandages.

This was going to be difficult...

After dodging countless attacks, Itachi found an opening.

The shinobi launched a fire jutsu at Itachi and after doing so realized he was gone.

He looked around him trying to find the teen only to be met with the malicious gaze of the sharingan.

"Being an older brother myself, I can't say I don't somewhat concur with your thoughts." Itachi's dark voice was laced with malice. "However, you're awfully brave to have dared lay a finger on my brother in hopes of seeking vengeance."

The shinobi stood there frozen, unable to move a muscle.

With a final scowl, Itachi put the shinobi under a genjutsu that would keep him busy until the ANBU finds and takes the bastard into custody.

Sasuke slowly opened his eyes and found himself in a hospital room.

The last thing he remembered was the beginning of a battle his brother had with a shinobi. He must have passed out at some point during the fight.

The young Uchiha looked over to see his brother sitting by his bedside as he glanced out the window, his face grim.

"Well, this is one way to overcome boredom." Sasuke stated bluntly, his voice barely above a whisper.

Itachi's attention immediately fell on Sasuke as he realized his brother had woken up

"Otouto," he said as he leaned over. "How are you feeling?"

The young Uchiha shrugged slightly. "I've been better."

A ghost of a smile graced Itachi's features as his face softened.

"What happened?" Sasuke asked.

The elder sighed.

"Long story short, shinobi infiltrated the compound because someone was seeking vengeance against me." Itachi said as he ran his hand through his brother's hair. "But he wasn't very successful with that. Although, he was somewhat." He glanced over at Sasuke's bandaged chest.

Sasuke's averted his gaze as silence fell between the two brothers.

"I'm sorry nii-san," Sasuke suddenly blurted out.

Itachi's gaze snapped back to his brother in confusion.

"I was useless the whole time. I was merely a liability for you." Sasuke continued, frustration in his voice. "If I wasn't so weak, I would have been able to help out. It would have been easier to handle if I wasn't such a burden. This my fault."

The older Uchiha stared at the younger for a moment before he leaned back on the chair.

"You're right," Itachi stated as he crossed his arms and closed his eyes. "It's all your fault that you got injured and therefore made yourself a liability."

The sarcasm was clear in his voice.

But regardless, Sasuke's face fell as he accepted his brother's words.

Itachi opened one eye to take a glance at his brother, only to find a dejected expression on his face.

The prodigy sighed.

"Sasuke," he began. "None of this was your fault. If it's anyone's, it's my fault for triggering the situation. You getting hurt isn't because you were weak. You couldn't have known there were enemy ninja around."

"Yeah, but I was such a big burden." Sasuke replied, guilt in his voice. "If I wasn't bleeding all over you, you could have dealt with the situation better. You could have gotten hurt because of me."

Itachi couldn't help but smile a bit at his brother's concern even if it was unnecessary.

"But I wasn't, was I? Sure, the circumstances weren't as easy as they could have been, but you're way more important than having something be easier." The elder explained, hoping Sasuke would see it in his perspective. "It's my job as your brother to keep you safe. You were no liability. So, don't worry otouto."

The young Uchiha closed his eyes and sighed, somewhat relieved by his brother's words.

"Fine," he finally said and then smiled. "Thanks aniki."

Itachi returned the smile as he put his hand on Sasuke's head.

"Anytime otouto." he said as he ruffled his brother's hair gently.

Itachi was sure Sasuke had fallen asleep, but he soon felt something tugging at his pocket. He looked down to see Sasuke's pale hand rummaging through it.

He watched as the young Uchiha pulled out the small scroll from earlier, his eyes still closed.

Sasuke brought the scroll up to his brother's face and waved it in front of him.

He opened one eye and grinned. "A ninja must see through deception, nii-san." His grin grew wider. "You owe me onigiri."

Before he knew it, Itachi was laughing along with his foolish little brother. He had to admit, he did not see that coming, but it's ok. He'll just get him back by somehow getting Sasuke to buy him some dango when he gets better.

AN: And finally done! Sorry for the crappy ending and this whole drabble, especially the "fight scene". I wanted to get something out to you guys and this was what I came up with. And I know Sasuke is some sort of "Damsel in distress" again, but I don't know, I just really like writing these kinds of stories :) Once again sorry for not posting in a while, I'll be sure to try and get back into things now that school is almost over. I hope you enjoyed!

Please Review!