Gah! I'm so sorry! This was supposed to be for yesterday, but I was soooo busy, I didn't have time to post it! I'm so very sorry, Itachi-san, please don't be upset with me! I'll always love you! XD
Anyway folks, here we are. Today is the birthday of the great Uchiha Itachi! -crowd of random people starts cheering- And, as I said at the beginning of Konan's chapter, this will be the second of the two Akatsuki birthday fics which doesn't involve the other members. Though I doubt Orochimaru's fic will involve other members, but he doesn't count. XD He ditched the Akatsuki, so therefore the only way he can be considered a member is if we delve into the past. Incidentally, delving into the past is exactly what we'll be doing today.
Yes, that's right; this is a (sort of) flashback chapter. It takes place before Itachi had to kill off his clan. Little Sasuke decides to throw his brother a birthday party...I'm sure you can imagine the horrors waiting to unfold. XD And of course by "horrors" I'm referring to cute, fluffy scenes.
Chapter 10
Itachi
"Surprise!" Itachi blinked, rather shocked to see what looked like all the young children of Konoha – at least, all the ones who lived near the Uchiha complex – in his house, with Sasuke standing at the front, grinning from ear to ear.
"Happy Birthday!" the young Uchiha declared happily, hugging his older brother.
"Sasuke," Itachi began, and Sasuke looked up, still smiling. "Did you plan all this by yourself?"
"Yep!" Sasuke said with pride. "I wanted your birthday to be special, so I invited everybody. Mom is in charge of food, but everything else is me!"
Itachi smiled. "Thank you." Sasuke pulled away, then grabbed Itachi's hand and pulled him through the crowd of little kids and towards the living room, where a massive pile of presents tried to fit on the table, but ended up spilling over as well.
"Open them!" Sasuke instructed.
"Yeah, open them!" all the other kids chorused, giggling. Itachi smiled and sat on the couch, the one area not covered in presents, and began opening each of them, thanking whichever child gave the gift. Most of them were things like stuffed animals and some toys, stuff that kids their age would enjoy but was mostly useless to someone Itachi's age. However, being the kind of person he was, he acted as though each of the gifts were exactly what he wanted.
"Cake time!" Sasuke announced once all the presents had been opened, and at those words, their mother came in with a large, oddly shaped cake.
"The kids made it," Mikoto said in response to Itachi's questioning look, smiling at both her sons. "I supervised, of course, and did the actual baking, but they did everything else."
"You guys made a cake for me?" Itachi asked, looking at the kids in surprise. They nodded, proud of themselves.
"Only some of us," Sasuke clarified. "Not everybody could fit in the kitchen, so half of us did the cake and the other half did the decorations."
"Well, thank you," Itachi said before blowing out the candles on the cake and cutting it up. He took a look at the crowd of excited kids and tried to count them before stopping. "I don't know if there's enough cake for everyone."
"That's why I made a second one," Mikoto said, saving the day just as any good mother would. She walked back into the living room with a second, much larger, cake, then set it on the table beside the one Itachi was cutting up. The kids cheered, and Itachi grinned, then resumed putting slices on plates. There turned out to be just enough cake for all the guests, though not a piece for Itachi. As he was handing the last piece to Sasuke, the youngest Uchiha frowned.
"But this has to be yours," he said, trying to give it back to his older brother. Itachi shook his head.
"No, no," he protested gently, "you helped make the cake, you should get a piece."
"It's your cake, though, it should be your piece!" Sasuke insisted and shoved the plate back into Itachi's hands. Itachi got an idea, then beckoned Sasuke closer. Sasuke got as close as he could, and Itachi lifted the plate of cake up to him, smooshing the cake into his face.
"There, now you have to eat it," Itachi said with a grin. Sasuke blinked a few times, then wiped the cake off, pouting cutely up at his brother. All the other kids were silent, staring at the two, most of them not even halfway through their piece of cake.
"Food fight!" somebody yelled, and suddenly there was cake flying everywhere, being flung by shrieking and giggling children. Itachi helped Sasuke wipe all the cake off his face, still grinning as he did so.
"There, all clean," he said. "Now enjoy the rest of this cake."
Sasuke gave Itachi a small smile and grabbed a forkful of cake. Instead of eating it, however, he shoved the fork into Itachi's mouth, forcing the older Uchiha to eat it. Itachi blinked in surprise, then chuckled and ate the cake.
"It's good, you should have the rest," he said. Sasuke shook his head.
"If you like it, then you eat it," he insisted. Itachi sighed dramatically.
"Fine," he agreed, taking a forkful and shoving it into Sasuke's mouth with a grin. "There, now you have to have some too."
Sasuke giggled, and from then on, it became a battle to see which of them could make the other one eat more cake. Itachi had the obvious advantage, but he let Sasuke win instead, just so he could see his beloved little brother smiling and happy.
Once everybody was finished their cake – or rather, finished flinging their cake around at the others – Sasuke declared that it was time to play games. So, while Mikoto cleaned up the mess in the living room, the kids dragged Itachi outside and spent hours playing games that they came up with on the spot, all of which involved Itachi being some sort of hero and having to save one of them, usually Sasuke. It was during this long time of playing games that the number of kids slowly started to dwindle down, since many of them got tired and just went home, until finally it was just Itachi and Sasuke. The two brothers lay outside on the grass, staring up at the slowly darkening sky. Sasuke rolled himself close to Itachi.
"Did you have fun?" he asked, looking up at his big brother in childish innocence. Itachi smiled down at him.
"Of course," he replied. "You put a lot of effort into making this day special, and I really appreciate it."
"Boys, it's dinner time!" Mikoto called from within the house. Itachi got up, then picked up Sasuke and carried him inside. Sasuke giggled all the way into the kitchen, where Itachi deposited him on the floor. They each sat in their designated seats, then ate dinner with their parents. After dinner, Sasuke begged Itachi to spend more time with him. Itachi smiled softly.
"I've already spent the entire day with you, Sasuke," he said. "I need some time to myself." Sasuke pouted.
"But most of today there were other kids around too," he complained. "I want you to spend time with just me!" Itachi was saved from having to answer by a knock at the front door. He went to answer, and was surprised to see a bunch of very pretty girls from the area. They giggled as he opened the door.
"Hi, Itachi," one of them said, blinking up at him through long lashes. "We heard it was your birthday, and that you had to spend it with a bunch of little kids."
"So we wanted to know if you'd like to come with us and celebrate for real," another said with a flirtatious smile. "You know, go for a few drinks, hit the town, just have fun...so whaddya say?"
Itachi heard the patter of little footsteps and turned to see Sasuke standing there, a sad look on his face. "Don't go, big brother," he pleaded. "You said you'd spend time with me..."
Itachi looked back at the girls. "Sorry, but he's right," he said. "I did promise, and you know how younger siblings are. I'll never hear the end of it if I break my promise." He smiled apologetically and closed the door, leaving the girls standing out there in surprise.
Sasuke smiled, and the two brothers spent the rest of the day together until it was time for Sasuke to go to bed. As Itachi was tucking him in, Sasuke looked up. "Itachi?" he said sleepily.
"What is it, Sasuke?" Itachi asked, keeping his voice soft.
"Did you really want to go with those girls earlier?"
Itachi chuckled lightly. "No. Believe it or not, I actually wanted to stay here with you."
A wide smile crossed Sasuke's face. "Really? You mean it?"
"Of course," Itachi said. "Now, go to sleep." He headed to the door of the room.
"Itachi?" Sasuke said again before his brother could leave.
"Yes, Sasuke?" Itachi replied, turning.
"I love you," Sasuke said, smiling. Itachi smiled as well.
"I love you too." With that, he left.
The next day, Itachi was given his assignment to slaughter his clan.
End
There! It's done now! Tee hee...I always loved how much Itachi loved his little Sasuke. XP I will forever and always think of Itachi as the loving older brother that he was...sigh. Alrighty, well, please review! Next chapter will be an AU one, just so you're warned.