Sasuke loved his brother.
For as long as he could remember, Itachi had been the only constant in his family. Constantly better than him, constantly away protecting the village, the family, him. Sasuke didn’t mind. He loved his brother; loved the way they trained together.
Target practice in the forest; Itachi could flip into the air with his eyes closed and hit numerous targets with barely any effort. Sasuke could only hit one, and that was with his eyes open. But Itachi always helped him, always told him he was getting better, even when he wasn’t. Sasuke loved his brother; loved the way Itachi was always so calm and cool.
For Itachi’s fifteenth birthday, there had been a big party at the Uchiha Compound. Sasuke’s mother had taken her youngest son shopping, and Sasuke had spent all of the ryou he had saved up to buy his brother something special. When they got home, Sasuke dressed carefully in his silk kimono with the family crest on the back. Smiling in the mirror, he thought he looked just like his big brother. Grabbing the present he’d wrapped in bright blue paper (he’d drawn himself and his brother on the front, hugging, because that’s what little brothers did), Sasuke ran down the hallway to his brother’s room.
Itachi was getting dressed as Sasuke pushed the door opened, and he didn’t turn or acknowledge his brother. Sasuke called out to his brother, eyes closed to afford the older boy some privacy, that the party was starting. Itachi merely nodded, and Sasuke left.
Later at the party, when Itachi opened his birthday gifts, he’d saved the blue wrapped gift with the bright crayon drawings on it for last, making his brother dance nervously in anticipation. So many nicer, more expensive gifts littered the table, and Sasuke wanted to cry. How could Itachi like his gift when there were so many better things for him, already out of their decorative paper and waiting to be used?
Itachi picked up the last present, face impassive as he inspected the drawing. Looking up, he sought his brother.
“Sasuke-kun… Come here…”
Sasuke shyly stepped closer to his brother, fidgeting with the hem of his sleeve. Itachi’s eyes softened as he watched his brother squirm nervously.
“Is this your present?” Sasuke nodded. “And you drew us all by yourself?” Sasuke nodded again, pleased that his brother had been able to tell that he’d drawn them (his mother thought he’d drawn a large squirrel with a candy cane). Smiling softly at his brother, Itachi opened the gift, carefully opening and smoothing the paper. Inside the carefully smoothed paper rested a delicate paper fan, an elegant crane painted on the folds. Itachi carefully opened it, inspecting the craftsmanship before setting it on the table on top of all the other gifts.
Sasuke’s heart dropped; he didn’t like it. His eyes welled up, and he turned to run from the room when a hand snaked out and grabbed his wrist. Looking back, he could see his brother’s pale hand latched to his, beckoning him back. Sasuke sniffled and tried to pull free, but Itachi was stronger, and he was pulled back to his brother’s side.
“Sasuke-kun.. What’s wrong?”
“Aniki doesn’t like my present…” Another sniffle, and a shift of bodies, and Sasuke was pressed to his brother’s chest in a hug, much like the one he’d drawn that morning. Sasuke stiffened, and Itachi ran a hand over the back of Sasuke’s hair, mussing it.
“Sasuke-kun, why would you think I don’t like your gift? I cherish it because you gave it to me.”
Sasuke tipped his tear-stained face up to look at his brother, and smiled cautiously.
“Really?”
“Really. I’m going to hang it on my wall. Do you want to help me?”
Sasuke nodded and wiped his eyes on his kimono sleeve. Itachi stood, lifting his brother up to rest on his hip, picking the fan up with his free hand and handing it to his brother. Starting towards the stairs, he turned to the family and guests, giving a short bow.
“Excuse me. I have to help my brother hang a fan.”
Itachi abandoned his party, his friends, and family to take his brother upstairs and to his room. Setting Sasuke on the bed, Itachi reached up and removed the ancient samurai helmet his father had given him off of the wall and set it carelessly on his bed, hoisted Sasuke up onto his shoulders, and stepped up to the wall.
Sasuke carefully opened the fan and rested the wooden edges on the several nails that had held the helmet, adjusting it until he was satisfied. Stepping back, Itachi admired Sasuke’s work. Pulling his brother from his shoulders, he set the young boy on his feet, crouching in front of him, running a hand across the boy’s head.
“Thank you, Sasuke-kun.”
Itachi leaned forward and pressed a careful kiss to Sasuke’s forehead, stood, and left the room to rejoin his guests downstairs. Sasuke stood silently, watching his brother leave, before turning back to admire the fan. Sasuke smiled softly to himself. He loved his brother.
Several years later, after Itachi had murdered his family, save Sasuke, Itachi had packed his belongings to leave. As he looked around his room one last time for things he might need, his eyes fell on the paper fan on his wall. It was coated in a bit of dust, and the paint had faded a bit. Reaching up, he pulled it from the wall, folded it, and wrapped it carefully in a piece of fabric he’d cut from his bed sheets. Slipping the fan into his pack, he leapt onto his window frame and out into the wild, making his escape.
He would later reflect on that night, and ask himself why he’d taken the fan. Out of all the things he could have packed, he wasted space on a deteriorating fan with fading paint. The answer was simple; Itachi loved his brother.
[Reviews - 4]
Table of Contents
- Text Size +
Chapter notes: I may turn this into a series. I dunno. Depends on responses I get...
Chapter end notes: The end. I hope you enjoyed. R AND R!!! Feed a starving author!