"I can't believe Mom and Dad are making me do this with you," Sasuke sighed. "Look at these leaves. Why can't they rake them?"

"It'll be fun," Makoto promised, "if you sing while you work or something. See?" She launched into song. Sasuke plugged his ears. Makoto let out an annoyed cry upon noticing that. "I'm good at that song! Even Ritsuko thinks so! Jerk…!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He raked some leaves into the giant pile. "If you jump in this before we finish, I'm going to kill you."

Makoto rolled her eyes. "Dang…if we try to put all these sticks in the bag then they'll poke a hole in it," she pointed out.

Sasuke shrugged and picked up a stick. He broke it in half with his knee and dropped it in the bag.

Makoto picked up a slightly bigger stick and snapped it in half with her hands, then dropped it in the bag.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her. "What was that?" he asked.

"Just a challenge," Makoto responded casually. "Nothing big."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and picked up a bigger stick, then snapped it in two with his hands and tossed it in the bag.

Makoto found an even thicker stick and broke it with her knee.

Sasuke took a bigger stick and smacked it against the trunk of a tree. It broke in two.

Makoto picked up a thicker stick, set it up length-wise across two rocks, and kicked the center of it with a cry. It broke. She looked triumphantly at Sasuke, who frowned.

He searched around for a good-sized log and lay it across the rocks, then slammed his hand into it and it snapped in half. He smirked at Makoto.

She pursed her lips and put a hand on her hip. "You actually think you can win? I trained like this pretty much my whole life!" she scoffed.

"I trained harder than this literally my whole life," Sasuke pointed out.

"So?"

"So, I'm better than you. Just admit defeat."

"Never!" Makoto turned and looked around at the branches that were still on the tree. She pointed at one. It was a good-sized branch and looked like it was firmly attached to the trunk. "See that branch?"

Sasuke nodded. "What about it?"

"Watch," Makoto ordered. "I'm going to kick it off the tree."

"You're going to…kick it…off the tree."

Makoto smiled her signature catty smile. "I sure am! And you can't do better than that, can you?"

"Sure I can," Sasuke sighed. "But seriously. That branch is too high for a weak little girl like you to reach with your foot."

Makoto's eyes narrowed. "What did you call me?"

"A weak. Little. Girl."

"…well, at least you acknowledged the fact that I'm a girl." Makoto winked. "Just watch, OK?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "You can't do it."

"I said watch!"

Makoto looked over at the branch and took a deep breath. She took a few steps back. After another deep breath, she took off running. Sasuke watched her, amused.

When she was close enough, Makoto jumped up into the air, flipped over, and hooked the back of her foot on the branch. With a cry, she finished her rotation, tearing the branch off the tree with her foot. Both branch and girl crashed to the ground, and Makoto looked expectantly at Sasuke.

In response, Sasuke knocked down a tree.

Makoto yelped. "What the heck, bro?! That was like…my favorite tree!"

Sasuke shrugged. "I told you I could beat you."

"But…b-but…" Makoto hung her head, dejected.

Sasuke chuckled and walked over to her. He ruffled her hair playfully. Makoto swatted at his hand.

"You did OK," he praised. "Not as good as me…you'll never be as good as me, but I was impressed. For a girl of your stature you did OK."

"…I cheated," Makoto said quietly. "Those defense abilities…I solidified my foot so it would be harder and heavier, and overall easier to knock off the branch."

"I cheated too, then," Sasuke admitted, smiling a bit. "Of course, I didn't need too, but I used the Chidori."

"Chi…dori?"

"A ball of electric energy."

"I didn't even see you make any hand signs…"

"I did them while you were knocking the branch over."

"Oh…" Makoto blinked and smiled. "…you know what, Sasuke, you're a pretty cool brother."

"You're a horrible sister," Sasuke replied.

"Hey!"

"But," he continued, "I think I can learn to put up with you." He patted her head. Makoto pursed her lips in annoyance.

"You're mean," she decided. She gave Sasuke a quick hug and ran to go get the rake. "OK! First one to clear a whole pile is the winner! Ready…go!"

"Don't you ever touch me again."

For the rest of the time, the two siblings raked up their yard as their parents had ordered, occasionally pausing to compete in some random competition, which Sasuke usually won. Unbeknownst to them, Azusa and Kakashi were watching from inside through the window.

"I knew it," Azusa declared. "I knew being forced to cooperate would make them get along better."

"Secretly, that boy misses the older brother he used to know," Kakashi muttered. "Before Itachi went and killed his family, those two got along really well. It's a shame."

"So then…in the end, he's glad to have another new sibling." Azusa pondered this. "And Makoto-chan is older than him by one year too, so it's like having his older brother back." She slid her hand on her cheek and smiled. "How cute~"

"…Sasuke is definitely more mature than her."

"Yes, definitely…"

They watched the two for the rest of the day until they came inside, smiling and walking closer than usual. They immediately went for some water, which turned into a water-chugging contest, which Makoto won this time. Azusa and Kakashi knew better than anyone that their little plan had secretly helped to bring the family together.