Ch. 2: You're Worth More Than You Think

After running for the past ten or fifteen minutes and believing themselves to be safely away from that area and those scientists, both Uchiha brothers stop behind a tree and collapse on the grass. They sit down at the base of the tree with their backs against the trunk and they start panting from the excitement and the panic of that area and for sprinting for so long. One of them isn't used to so much sprinting. Both brothers are physically exhausted. Their chests are rising up and down with each breath they gained back for their lungs. They ran a good ten miles away from that danger zone, the sweat starting to appear on their brows. It took them a moment to relax enough to breathe in through the nose and out the mouth. As their heart rates go back to normal beating, Itachi raises the kunai knife and stares at it.

"Suigetsu better appreciate getting this back or there'll be hell to pay," he mumbles, putting it down on the ground, along with his arm. It feels like lead.

Sasuke looks up at his older brother and he sees that his eyes are back to onyx but the blood is still there on his face. His own eyes become glossy and they're full of guilt and shame. "I'm sorry, nii-san."

Itachi looks at the little boy besides him and asks, "For what?"

"If I haven't been so careless in getting the kunai knife back or when we were training, this wouldn't have happened. I was so scared, nii-san." He brings himself closer and wraps his arms around his older brother's arm. He snuggles closer, not wanting to look up at Itachi and reveal his soon-to-cry eyes. Itachi is a little surprise to hear this but soon a warm smile appears on his face.

He stabs the knife on the ground and uses his now free hand to pet Sasuke's head. Sasuke look up then and he sees Itachi's smile. "It was a trap and you're still training. One day, you will detect them instantly and I'm gonna need you to save me next time." He moves his hand to behind Sasuke's head and pulls him closer as he leans his cheek against the top of his baby brother's head. "But until then, I will protect you from anyone who tries to hurt you, my precious otouto."

Sasuke's cheeks turn red from the kind words and the warm touch of his brother but that wasn't why he was blushing. He wasn't scared for his own life. He was scared for his older brother. If anything happened to him because of his carelessness, Sasuke would never forgive himself or the men who would dare hurt him. For now, he let it go and close his eyes to relax in his brother's hold. "Thank you, nii-san. I'm sorry I ruined the day though. It's our last day together and you were finally able to teach me some shuriken techniques. Hashirama-sama should have chosen you to go to Konoha instead of me."

"Sasuke, listen to me." Itachi allows Sasuke to pull away so that he could look at him. He stares at his little brother in the eye as he tells him, "I'm the one who should be sorry. I've been so busy with things that weren't even important when you are far more important than them. I chose the day you were leaving to spend time with you. I'm sorry for being so last minute." His hands cup his little brother's face and he softly kisses Sasuke's forehead. Sasuke felt warmth when his brother kissed him and he missed the warmth when the kiss ended. But it came back when Itachi wraps his arms around his tiny form and brings him closer. "Besides, you will learn great things in Konoha and became an amazing shinobi, even greater than father. There was a reason why Hashirama-sama chose you."

"But I'm not amazing," Sasuke mumbles, his voice muffled by Itachi's chest. "You're the best at everything and all I do is mess everything up."

Itachi's hold around his little brother tightens and he tells him, "You are by far the most amazing person I know. Let's not be so negative all the time, okay? I don't want the day to end with me trying to convince you that you're wrong about yourself."

Sasuke feels the same. He doesn't want his last moments to keep denying the fact that he's not as special as his older brother and how it should be Itachi who should be the shinobi of Hashirama's prophecy. But that would mean Itachi would have to go instead. Either way they will be separated but at least Sasuke would feel a little better with the fact that his amazing brother would be off to become an even more amazing shinobi.

Sasuke raises his arms a little more and returns the gesture. A warm, happy smile appears on his face. "Alright, nii-san." Every time that he gets a hug from his brother, he feels the love that Itachi has for him. He hopes when he hugs his nii-san, he feels the same love his younger brother feels for him, too. Itachi's arms are always so warm and strong. He feels safe in those arms and he feels so free and light, as if he were to turn into a feather and fly up to the heavens. If only he can stay like this forever, but even sweet moments must be short lived.

Cry, cry

Itachi looks up at the blue and white sky above him and he sees a hawk flying by over head. He knows what that means and he had to suppress a groan to not upset Sasuke further. He breaks the hug and Sasuke looks up at him, like he just suddenly came back to reality. All he sees on Itachi's face is his smile and his gentle, loving eyes. Itachi raises his hand to his face and uses two of his fingers to flick his little brother's forehead.

"It's time to go, otouto. Otherwise, you'll miss your flight," he says.

Sasuke rubs the spot on his forehead that Itachi just flickered and he grumbles, "Why must you always do that to me, nii-san? It makes me feel like you think of me as a pest."

"Well I promise you this," Itachi says, this time lightly tapping Sasuke's nose with his finger. "You are certainly not a pest and you're the only person who I do that too. Don't tell but Suigetsu is the real pest and what do I do to him when he's annoying?"

"You glare daggers at him, causing him to shiver uncontrollably and allow him to see his own death become a reality in your eyes?" Sasuke asks, trying to remember what happens.

Itachi nods. "Correct, otouto. I don't do that to you now do I?" Since the smile is still on his face, Sasuke couldn't stay mad at his eldest brother for long. He soon smiles and his cheeks turn a bit pink from the blood flowing through his face. Then Itachi remembers something. "Oh yes. I have something for you, Sasuke." His face lights up.

"You do?" he asks, now excited. "What is it, what is it?"

Itachi is rummaging through his pockets while Sasuke is ready to jump and down with excitement and impatience. "Hold on…" Then he found it. His face told Sasuke that. "Now close your eyes."

"Ah…" Sasuke whines. "Why?"

Itachi's two fingers go to one eyeball and it gently presses against the lid. "Let's not be difficult, okay otouto?" Pouting but obeying, Sasuke closes his eyes at the same time that Itachi pushes an eyelid down, the excitement still bubbling up inside despite the sour expression on his face. Soon he feels something over his head and then something a little heavy resting on his neck and chest. "You can open your eyes now."

When Sasuke did, his first reaction is looking down on his chest to see a rather long necklace. It looks simple but to Sasuke, it's the most beautiful thing he's ever seen in his life – even more beautiful when a young girl sees a wedding ring. It's a locket and from the front, it looks like the Uchiha crest; a red and white fan. It even has a small white handle sticking out. When Sasuke holds the locket, he feels that the handle is only on the front and it feels a little different on the back. When he flips it over, he's surprise to see only the sharingan symbol – a red cylinder with three tomoes surrounding the black pupil in the center. The reason why Sasuke thinks it's so beautiful is because the necklace is homemade and very well crafted like it was created by the gods. Itachi is a god, to Sasuke's eyes. Also the fact that Itachi made it for him and him alone, it makes the locket all the more special. His whole face brightens into a truly happy expression and the smile proves to Itachi how much he likes it.

"Nii-san!" Sasuke looks back at his older brother and says, "It's beautiful! I love it! What's in it?"

Now getting all excited, Itachi couldn't help but laugh at his little brother, especially when the boy tries to open the locket but can't. Sasuke's excitement turns into frustration as he continues to try and open the stubborn locket but so far, no luck. When he was able to stop, he answers, "It's a picture of our family. That way, you will know that your family is always with you and if you ever feel lonely or sad, you can always open it up and we'll be right there to comfort you."

"That would be nice, if I can open it." Sasuke tries a little harder to open it now with teeth gritting together and eyes closed tight shut. Soon he feels his nii-san's fingers brush against his. He sees Itachi grasp the locket from his hands before he broke it.

"There's a trick to it," he tells him. Then like magic, the locket opens. Itachi made it so easy that it made Sasuke feel like an idiot.

But before he could say anything, he looks inside and he sees two pictures. Itachi hands him back the locket and Sasuke looks at the two pictures inside. The first picture he sees is the picture of his family. He recognizes the family picture that they took several weeks ago. They were all lined up into two rows for that picture. The back row has their mother, Mikoto and Sasuke's other two siblings. The mother is standing in between her two children and she looks nervous to be there, like a lost kitty in the middle of a dog fight. One of them is a female who could be no older than Sasuke than by three years. She has the most unusual hair style. Half of it is long and neat as the other half is short and rather messy as the ends of it defies gravity. Her hair color is red and it matches her crimson red eyes. Unlike Sasuke's and Itachi's skin tone, which is usually moon pale, her skin is several shades darker. It's actually the same shade as the other teenager. He looks like he could be five years older than Sasuke. He has a rather cute face with big beady purple eyes and short white hair complimenting his tan skin. Sasuke knows that the boy would be willing to smile twenty-four seven, if he wasn't glaring at the female on the other side of mother. She's glaring at him the same way and they look a little childish. Standing in front of them, in the front row is Sasuke and Itachi. Sasuke remembers that day where he asked Itachi to sit down so that he could wrap his arms around him from behind for the picture. Itachi wasn't looking at the picture. He's looking at Sasuke from the corner of his eyes with a small, gentle smile on his face as Sasuke's face is just beaming with happiness. The second picture on the other side of the locket has a picture of only him and his nii-san. Itachi is holding him in his arms, Sasuke's arms are wrapped around Itachi's neck and his cheek gently presses against Itachi's cheek. They're both smiling with the exact amount of joy and happiness for being so close. The only difference in the smiles is that Itachi doesn't look as excited as Sasuke's. He just looks really happy to have his otouto in his arms. Sasuke remembers when that picture was taken. It was on the same day as the family picture was taken. Suigetsu and Karin were going crazy with it and that was why they both have sour faces in the family picture. They're always fighting.

Remembering that, Sasuke's cheeks turn into a light color of pink and his face is beaming with happiness. "Suigetsu nii-san and Karin nee-san were acting so silly that day."

"Yes, very silly," Itachi agrees. "Childish more like it. Now let's go."

"Hold on!" Itachi looks at Sasuke in confusion before he felt Sasuke's hand on the nape of his neck and leaning closer. "You still have blood on your face, nii-san." Before he could say anything, Sasuke's tongue begins to lick off the blood. Itachi feels the blood rushing to his face as he continues to feel the warm tongue lick his face clean.

"Sa-..Sasuke!" he tries to call, his eye that was bleeding closed and the very soft shade of red on his cheeks. Sasuke didn't notice and when he was done, he kisses his brother's closed eye.

He asks, "Does it still hurt?" His hand that was on his brother's neck moves to his face and his finger trace the area where the blood trail was. The confusion on Itachi's face melts away into warmth at the sight of his little brother's concerned, still sorry face.

"It's fine now. Thank you."

Itachi leans his forehead against Sasuke's with a smile still on his face and Sasuke has some blush on his cheeks for what he's going to say next. "But after you use your Mangekyo Sharingan and the Amaterasu, doesn't your eyes still hurt?"

Itachi knows where he's getting at. "Don't worry about it so much, otouto. As I told you before, it's all worth it so long as you're safe. Must I keep repeating myself?" Then after he said that, he lets out a frustrated sigh, making Sasuke confused. The older Uchiha pulls away from the younger Uchiha and turns to the bushes at the side. "You might as well come out. You know you can't hide from me."

Sasuke soon hears ruffling in the bushes and looks to see the short white hair man from the locket picture come out with a half smirk on his face, revealing his shark-like, sharp teeth. "Sharp as always. But you gotta give me credit for one thing. I'm getting a little better at sneaking up on you two."

Uchiha Suigetsu, the second eldest child of the Uchiha family; older than Sasuke by five years but younger than Itachi by two.

"Why are you here?" Itachi asks, getting rather annoyed with his other younger brother.

Suigetsu pouts from Itachi's foul attitude. He gets out of the bushes and tells them, "I came to find you two. Didn't you hear mother calling? Jiraiya isn't going to wait for Sasuke otouto forever you know." He even points up at the sky to prove his point. Sasuke looks up and he sees the same hawk from before circling around them.

Cry, cry

Itachi closes his eyes to keep his frustrations within himself as Sasuke pouts again. Suigetsu asks, "But one question! Can I have my kunai knives back before you leave?"

"You can have this one now." A second later, Itachi throws the kunai knife that was resting at his side at Suigetsu and he only had a second to stop it by clapping his hands together in front of his face. Sasuke stares at this in awe at his eldest brother's speed and Suigetsu looks rather nervous and taken by surprise by that attack.

Suigetsu mumbles, "I swear, every time you do something like that, it's like you're trying to kill me."

"Just keeping you on your toes, little brother." Itachi then stands up and bends down to reach for Sasuke. He picks him up, his hands lifting him up from under his armpits. "Okay. Let's go, otouto."

"Nii-san," Sasuke whines, his cheeks pink again. "I can walk."

"Don't push yourself," Itachi tells him, his gentle smile on his face again. "We were running non-stop for ten miles and you're going to need your energy for when you arrive in Konoha. I believe there will be a big celebration for the arrival of the great hero of prophecy."

Now Sasuke is even more embarrassed. "Nii-san…"

"Not to interrupt you two," Suigetsu interrupts the touching brotherly love being played in front of him. "But we can't waste any more time. Come on, let's get going." This time it becomes Sasuke who pouts from the rude interruption. He looks so cute that it causes Itachi's smile to become sweeter instead of turning it into an annoyed frown. He's acting like Suigetsu isn't even there.

'Why is it that Sasuke otouto always gets the special treatment? I'm his brother too, you know. He only smiles like that with him and he treats us like strangers. Like intruders…'

Suigetsu then turns around and starts walking back home. Itachi follows with Sasuke safely in his arms.

'Never mind. I already know the answer anyway.'

So there's the third. I hope you're all enjoying this.