Sasuke got back home with a relieved sigh.

School that day was finally over.

Ever since the first day of school two months ago, he had been bogged down with handwritten assignments and scenario tactics made by his sensei. It was exhausting work to learn so much in that time and not be stressed physically. He was just glad there were breaks like these where he could go home at the end of the day and relax.

And he knew just the way to do it.

He smiled to himself and walked up the porch steps to his home, taking off his shoes before sneaking in.

He immediately sensed Itachi's presence in the kitchen, and darted to the couch for the little nook he liked to use when hiding from his big brother.

Right on time Itachi came through into the living room, wiping his soapy hands with a towel. He must have just finished the dishes, Sasuke snickered inside his head. It was always fun to know his mother liked to pile work on the two older males in the house. Since Sasuke was still a kid, he got off Scott-free.

Itachi looked around with his dark eyes as if hearing something. Then he shrugged a shoulder and moved to go back into the kitchen.

But he didn't.

And before Sasuke realized what he was planning, the taller boy had him by the waist and tossed him playfully on the couch.

Sasuke yelped, surprised at the quick movement, but glared up at him with a blank face as the older boy laughed.

"That was a nice hiding place you had there," chuckled Itachi. "next time pick one I haven't picked you out from."

"I knew you'd do that, Itachi. I'm no fool."

"Oh?" His brother asked curiously. Sasuke grinned then, wide and mischievous.

"I hid here to do this!"

He leapt up and used Itachi's shoulder to drop onto his back, squeezing his legs around his chest and his arms around his eyes.

"Surprise attack!"

Itachi shouted with surprise, wobbling in place as Sasuke laughed and led him around the room.

"Mmph!" Itachi played along, until he tripped on something and they both went down. Itachi landed on his back, effectively shielding Sasuke from the fall.

On top of him now, Sasuke grinned down at him, knowing by the calm look in his eye that the fall didn't hurt him one bit.

"Will you train me today?"

Itachi smiled like he always did when Sasuke asked him this question, and raised his finger. Immediately Sasuke put his hands over his forehead, sticking his tongue out at Itachi when he stopped his progress.

Itachi sighed like the act was the most dreadful thing to make. "Sasuke,I can't. I have to work."

Not that again.

Sasuke frowned, his merriment gone like that. "Itachi, you promised!" He stressed.

In his moment of frustration he put his hands down, and Itachi used that moment to poke him-in the side.

"Gah!" Sasuke cried out, and held his most ticklish spot, glaring down at him. Itachi chuckled.

"Later, Sasuke. I prom-"

"Stop it, Itachi," he said, upset. "I'm not a little kid anymore. You have to work, whatever, just don't say you'll do it and make an excuse the next day!"

He leapt off him, running for his room.

"Sasuke."

Itachi's voice stopped him in his tracks like it always seemed to do, and Sasuke turned to glare at him. Itachi was standing, giving him a faint smile now.

"What happened today? You don't get upset so easily."

Sasuke blushed, angry that he was so observant. Something had been bothering him, but he figured it was his usual egging to train harder than his peers. He wanted to be good enough for his family after all.

"What do you mean?" he asked him, crossing his arms.

Itachi walked into the kitchen, having Sasuke quickly following him.

"Hey, Itachi-"

Sasuke stopped as he saw his father sitting at the table eating. He looked up when they came in.

"Father," said Sasuke, a slight tremor in his voice. His father was the only one who could make him feel less than himself. Like a child.

The man raised his coal black eyes to him and briefly nodded his head before returning to his plate.

Didn't even think to greet me when you obviously sensed my presence.

Thought Sasuke. Then Itachi spoke. "Father, we're going for a walk."

Sasuke was surprised at that, he turned to look at his brother. "Huh?"

His face was unreadable. Their father continued to eat. "And where do you plan on going?"

"The Haruno village." He said truthfully. "There was a shoot out there that piqued a friend of mine's interest. It was said an Uchiha resident went over there that same night, but she never came back. Sasuke and I will stroll over there so I can investigate the matter. "

His father gave him a look. "That hardly concerns you. And why take Sasuke to such a dangerous place?"

"I was asked by a member of the Uchiha police, father." Itachi said with a slight frown. "And Sasuke will be fine under my protection."

Sasuke stared at Itachi. How did an Uchiha policeman know him? Did it pertain to his "work"?"

Their father looked like he wanted to know too. He gave his eldest son a knowing look.

"Itachi, how did you come to this information? If I recall, you were here the entire week."

Itachi's expression never changed, but his demeanor did. Suddenly, Sasuke felt the sudden urge to protect his father.

But it quickly went away when the shinobi smiled. "I might have sneaked around a bit. It's so boring here when you're grounded."

Grounded?

Their father closed his eyes as if pained. "Yet, you have been disobeying. Your mother is the one who grounded you, you know that, right?"

Sasuke's brother looked down. "Yes, of course. I knew what I was getting myself into if I did that. But," he added, lifting his head. "It was worth it."

Their father narrowed his eyes, but said nothing after a moment of silent consideration. Then he gave a little nod.

"Go. Before she gets here from work and I'll have to tell her what you did."

"Of course," Itachi bowed, and started to lead Sasuke out of the house, but was stopped by another inquiry from their father.

"Who was this Uchiha that was dumb enough to venture there?"

Itachi didn't turn around.

"I do not know, I never got her name."

"Hmm," he replied, waving at them to go.

What was that about? Thought Sasuke as they put on their shoes and headed toward the main village.

Sasuke watched his brother as they walked, wondering what he was talking about with his father. There was obviously more to the situation than what they were willing to reveal around him. Once again Sasuke felt frustration as he realized his family didn't trust him with anything important. And something in the Haruno village? Wasn't that where that pink-haired girl stayed?

An old lady passed close by them, suddenly, carrying an old broom in her hands. She stopped when Sasuke glanced at her in startlement. She surprised him.

"Hi there, you two. Will you mind helping an old lady clean her front porch?"

The woman was plump and dressed in the Uchiha's main color, black and blue. The Uchiha crest was on her back. Sasuke watched Itachi stop to give her a warm smile. The way she blushed made him stifle a laugh. People, especially the women, always did that to him.

"Sorry, ma'am, we're in a hurry." said Itachi.

"Oh," the lady's smile saddened. "It was a try, huh?"

Itachi nodded politely and they walked on, and Sasuke saw more people with brooms, spades or sickles in their grips.

He begun to realize everyone, not just that woman, was cleaning up. "Uh, what's going on, brother? How come they're cleaning?"

"It's just something the clan thought of doing today," Itachi replied mysteriously. "No big thing. More importantly, though," he said as the two of them passed through a small passage to the Konoha village.

The villagers here wore more brighter colors than Sasuke's clan, and crests of different clans or simple villages adorned the backs of everyone.

"Why did you laugh when she blushed at me? You have a number of girls your age vying for your hand as well."

Sasuke glared up at him. "That's not funny. It's annoying."

Itachi chuckled. "Still funny."

Then, Itachi spoke again, startling Sasuke when he sounded very serious.

"We will not discuss why I was grounded, but I will say it had something to do with a stuffed bear, and ripping."

Sasuke winced at the word. "Sounds painful." He said thinking of Itachi ripping up a stuffed bear with amusement. Then he thought of his mother's stuffed bears, and he gasped. He stared up at Itachi to blurt the question out, but his brother expertly changed the subject.

"What happened in school today?"

Sasuke looked away from him.

"I don't know. Why are we going to the Haruno village?"

"We're not." said Itachi. They made it to a restaurant, Ichiraku's, and Itachi took a seat on a stool. " At least, you're not." he finished.

Sasuke just stood there.

"You're gonna abandon me?"

Itachi's eyes widened at the hurt look he gave him, and his brother chuckled, poking him in the forehead.

"Hey!" Sasuke shouted, angrily backing away from him. But not too far.

"Sasuke, I just wanted to talk with you. We never get to, you know. Come, tell your brother why you are upset."

"I'm not upset!"

"Sasuke..."

Sasuke looked away again, reluctant to indulge him.

He heard his brother heave a heavy sigh and talk to the owner about getting two bowls of ramen to eat, then turned back to him.

"The Haruno girl. That's what's bothering you."

Sasuke felt his heart stop at the accusation, and he turned slowly to meet his brother's calm gaze.

How could he possibly...but wait, why would he think Sasuke would be bothered by that pink-haired girl?

"Wait," said Sasuke with a sudden thought. "How do you know about her?"

As far as Sasuke knew, Itachi never went to the Academy to see him or anyone else.

Most likely because he was busy "working", Sasuke mocked in his head.

Itachi gave him a small smile, not answering his question at all.

"Itachi!"

"Here's your order sir," spoke up the owner of the shop, he held two big bowls of steaming ramen noodles. He was a big man with soup stains on his cooking apron, so it was very uncomfortable for Sasuke to see him looking at Itachi like he wanted to eat him.

Itachi, however, payed the attention no mind, as he handed over some yen and gave the man his thanks.

He left and Itachi scooted Sasuke's bowl to the empty stool beside him. "Eat" he commanded.

Sasuke, still rubbing his head from his brother's earlier poke, refused. "I never said I was hungry, Itachi."

"I don't care. You never came home during lunch period, so I know you didn't eat. So, eat."

Sasuke gave him an incredulous look. "Why are you always so nosy! I don't have to come home just to eat lunch, you know! Maybe I ate at the cafeteria like everyone else!"

Itachi's look said he didn't believe him for a second, and Sasuke decided to change the subject.

"Anyway, back to the village thing-"

"You're not going. Final word."

And Itachi turned to his food, his back facing Sasuke. He glared at the Uchiha fan displayed large on his brother's dark shirt, and wanted to kick him.

"First, you won't teach me how to throw Kunai knives, now you won't let me go with you to the village! I wanna help, too-"

"Sasuke, first of all, they teach you all about throwing Kunai knives at the academy-and Shuriken- and you practice constantly at home. And second, the reason why you're not going with me is because I don't want you to get into trouble with our parents. I'm grounded, remember?" He said all this while eating his noodles, as if discussing this with Sasuke was a burden.

Like Sasuke was a kid needing to be talked down to.

He growled, seriously wanting to kick his brother now, but thinking it would only prove how childish Itachi already thought he was.

He crossed his arms, glaring like his mother liked to do with them when she noticed their rooms were still dirty from the night before.

"Is that really your excuse for not taking me with you, Itachi? Because you're grounded? Thats bull."

Itachi froze at that last statement, and finally turned his head to look at him.

He seemed to contemplate something for a moment, and then he spoke with a heavy sigh. "The Haruno village is extremely dangerous. I don't want you hurt."

"Then why tell father a lie? If I'm not to go?

Itachi's eyes darkened at that, but he quickly looked away.

"I had to tell our father something. Like I said, I only want to talk..."

"Alright then," he said, uncrossing his arms. "Talk. Tell me what's going on in the Haruno village. Why did an Uchiha go over there?" he asked, thinking back to his father's last words.

When he didn't speak, Sasuke almost yelled at him again, but cut himself off when Itachi turned around and he saw his expression.

Sadness, deep and profound, was full in his older brother's eyes, and it scared Sasuke.

"Itachi-"

He was enveloped in a hug.

"Mmmph! What are you-"

"Sasuke, why won't you just trust me with your problems? I'm here for you now, so you can...It's stupid to keep things to yourself." He sounded so raw, so unlike his shinobi brother that Sasuke almost forgot the weird choice of words he'd used, or the fact that he changed the subject so abruptly. But, it didn't matter now.

Sasuke gripped his hands tight, swallowing hard as Itachi held him. With his chin on Itachi's large shoulder, Sasuke finally spoke.

"It's because of her," he said in a whisper. "That pink haired girl hasn't come to school this whole week."

Itachi pulled back. "Sakura Haruno hasn't been to school? What day is it?"

"Friday."

Itachi looked skeptical. "And this is the reason why you are so sad?"

"No!" Sasuke balked. "I-It's just we made this vow on the first day of school to help her, is all! Its just weird she isn't there anymore, ok!"

Itachi chuckled silently to himself. "Sure, Sasuke,"

"I'm serious!"

He remembered the girl, of course. She was hardly someone to ignore as the "cursed one" walking around the school. She was constantly getting bullied, always needing help...and it was worser that she was the type to let it all happen to her.

It frustrated Sasuke immensely. She frustrated him immensely.

And then Sasuke had a thought. He gulped hard, nervous of Itachi's predictable answer when he asked it. "Itachi, she lives there, I can go with you and we can stop by her house-"

Itachi's amusement immediately vanished, and a hard look replaced the light expression. "No."

Sasuke knew he'd say that, but he still froze at the word, crushed.

"It's always like this with you and dad." he growled. "Always 'no Sasuke' and 'It's too dangerous', well, have you ever thought I could help and not get in your way? No, of course you don't, because you're never around when I train by myself, and it hurts! Especially when I know dad trains you everyday and never sees fault in anything you do!"

Itachi wasn't surprised by his outburst, but he wasn't relaxed either.

He put a big hand on top of Sasuke's head, and smiled tightly.

"The Uchiha woman was following someone who entered their village. A man with a high chakra that could possibly be greater than our father's." He waited until he saw it sink into Sasuke's mind, then continued.

"It turned out she only followed his trace. He was gone an entire week ago. Like your friend."

"What are you saying,Itachi?"

Sasuke asked uncertainty.

Itachi frowned. "No one goes to that place unless they are part of the Uchiha police or lives there themselves. The Haruno village is too far for normal travel, and this man is not from Konoha. There might be a connection between your Sakura and this man,"

Sasuke's heart leapt in his throat at his next words.

"She might have been taken by him."