Chapter 4: The Brothers' Childhood (Part-I)

Six months ago, when little Sasuke was born, everyone was certain that Itachi was going to be a great big brother. He'd love Sasuke and care for him like no one else. No one knew though, how the younger brother would be like? Would he love his big brother? Would he look up to him? Everyone definitely hoped for it to be like that including Itachi. Especially Itachi. However, there was a chance that instead of looking up to Itachi, Sasuke saw him as a competition. Instead of loving him, Sasuke envied his brother. When Sasuke was just born, Itachi had those fears in his mind. He feared being hated by his otouto. Feared any negative emotion that might come from Sasuke. Fortunately, only six months after baby Sasuke's birth, all Itachi's worries evaporated. It became obvious to not only Itachi but everyone else as well that Itachi's love for his otouto was not only returned but was returned tenfold. Little Sasuke simply adored Itachi. And despite being only six months old, the baby had no problem showing his love for his big brother.

Baby Sasuke was very amusing, to say the least. Not a single day Itachi felt bored since his little brother was born. Sasuke managed to entertain other people too. Madara and Izuna frequently stopped by their home just to visit baby Sasuke. There wasn't one single person who didn't find baby Sasuke to be extremely cute. In short, the six months old Sasuke practically had everyone wrapped around his little fingers. Itachi however, was enslaved to him the most. The boy's world revolved around his otouto. It was truly endearing. And speaking of Sasuke's way of showing his love for his big brother, well let's just say he had a very intriguing way of making it absolutely clear about what he wanted. Or rather whose attention he wanted the most.

For an instance, baby Sasuke didn't accept toys just from anyone. If his mother or father gave him any toy to play with, he'd accept them and play with them for a little while but eventually, he'd discard them. As if they held no value to him at all. Most times he wouldn't even look at a toy given to him. But it was an exception when it came to Itachi. Whenever Sasuke's big brother gave him a toy to play with, the kid would hold it close to his chest as if it was the most precious thing to him. Then also there was the fact that, when Sasuke was in his mother's arms, he enjoyed it. He played and smiled. The same went for his father Fugaku. He didn't really mind being held by his uncles or his cousins. However, only in Itachi's arms, the baby was the happiest. He'd squeal, giggle, and make all sorts of baby noises to show his happiness.

Whenever he was in Itachi's arms, little Sasuke wouldn't let anyone else take him away. In fact, he wouldn't even let Itachi put him down. He'd grab onto Itachi's hand or clothe and he'd hold on tightly with the intention of never letting go. Many a time, poor Itachi lost all the feelings in his arms due to holding Sasuke for too long. But the boy never complained nor showed the slightest annoyance. In fact, he was just as happy to have Sasuke in his arms. Itachi felt only thankful that being held by him made Sasuke so happy. That was all that mattered to him. Besides, it was partially Itachi's fault for suffering from numb arms. Because even though he carried Sasuke in a baby carrier, he'd always keep his arms tightly wrapped around his otouto. He simply trusted his own arms better than the baby carrier for his brother's safety. No matter how many times his mother had assured him that the carrier was quite secure but Itachi just wouldn't take any chance. The phrase 'over protective' didn't even begin to cover Itachi's actions.

Being so overprotective of his little brother definitely made Itachi's job a lot difficult. It didn't help the fact that Sasuke was too cute and as soon as someone saw him, they would automatically want to smother him with kisses and pinches on his chubby cheeks. No one was sure how it happened but pretty soon a rule was developed- no one but family members were allowed to touch Sasuke. And a handful of people outside of family members. But they were people, baby Sasuke was really comfortable with. This rule however wasn't developed by the overprotective big brother though. It was Sasuke himself. The baby would cry, scream at the top of his lungs and make a huge fuss if someone he didn't like or didn't know tried to hold him. And it might sound funny but the kid had the power to make someone go deaf. Itachi appreciated this behavior nonetheless. He too didn't like any stranger touching his baby brother.

An incident took place not too long ago when this unspoken rule became all too obvious to everyone. The Uchiha family was taking a little vacation on a beach resort. Itachi was walking by the pool with baby Sasuke in his arms. The younger brother was squealing with joy while the elder smiled affectionately at him. Suddenly, a girl about Itachi's age came running up to the brothers. As it appeared, she came on vacation too along with her family.

"Hello, my name is Izumi. What's yours?" She asked Itachi. The girl's intention was clear. She wanted to befriend Itachi. However, neither the girl nor Itachi noticed the scowl on Sasuke's face. Someone made his big brother look away from him. How audacious! Little Sasuke did not like it at all. The look on Sasuke's face could be called irritation but it was so much more hilarious. And cute too. The poor girl had no idea what she was getting herself into.

"Itachi." The five-year-old replied but said nothing else. Itachi certainly wasn't making it easy for the girl to make a conversation with him. Izumi felt lost for a moment about what to say next. But then she smiled again.

"Is she your little sister?" She asked looking at Sasuke who was still giving her a dark look. But the girl didn't realize it. She was just a kid herself after all.

"It's my little brother." Itachi clarified.

"Aww, he's so cute. Can I hold him?" Izumi asked excitedly. But Itachi's answer was short and to the point-

"No." It made the girl pout angrily.

"Why not?" She demanded an answer.

"Because I don't want him to cry," Itachi replied back with a flat tone of voice as if that was the most obvious reason. Alas, Izumi didn't heed his warning. She insisted on holding Sasuke.

"He won't cry." She said assuring Itachi. Not to mention with utter confidence. As if Itachi didn't know his own little brother. It annoyed him a bit but Itachi didn't let it show.

"You won't cry, will you?" Izumi cooed at Sasuke and then took him from Itachi's arms before he could do anything to stop her.

And that was it. Without even realizing it, Izumi had committed the greatest crime ever. Sasuke hadn't only started to scream and cry at the top of his lungs but he started to scratch the girl's face and pull her hair as well. To put it simply, baby Sasuke had waged a full-on war with his enemy who dared to take him away from his nii-san. Not even his mother Mikoto was allowed to do that. Izumi immediately gave Sasuke back to Itachi as if horrified. And she definitely was. Itachi on the other hand instead of apologizing to the girl got busy calming down his otouto and making him smile again. Well, he had warned the girl, hadn't he? Therefore, he owed her no apology.

At that time, it seemed that was the first and last time Itachi and Sasuke were gonna cross paths with Izumi however that wasn't the case. In the future, they'd meet again. And that encounter wouldn't be so short nor insignificant. Their lives would be much more complicated then. Especially Itachi and Sasuke's lives.