Tag: damnedflame

damnedflame:

Sasuke jerks back and shoots his brother a glare.

“Nii-san! What the hell happened? How do I turn back?” 

Ah well, he tried.

“I wish I could tell you, Sasuke. It seems like a henge. Have you tried to dispel it via seals?” Transformation jutsu was usually willing on the caster’s part. Seems simple enough for him to revert it. 

Mother run off on errand and he’s in charge of toddler Itachi. He crosses his arms with a huff and looks down at his brother. What he should be doing is training! Not playing babysitter. He pokes his brother’s cheek as a small retaliation. “Too bad you’re still too small to train against,” he mutters with a sigh.

He’s full today. Full of milk, and some rice mother had softened up into a mash and let him try out. When his parents are gone, he notices the house is a little quieter.

Oblivious to the start of his brother’s jealous issues, Itachi turns his head, reaching up to grip Sasuke’s hand, and hopefully chew on his fingers. 

Sasuke looks at his brother, trying his best to keep his sulking expression. It’s hard when Itachi laughs like that. His brother doesn’t seem to get many chances to laugh. “Plus he kept teasing me.” Sasuke ruffles the back of his messy hair. “Though I have to admit he did teach me…” he says. It’s easier to work through his pride and admit these little secrets to his brother.

“You are the youngest.” Shisui had even teased him from time to time. 

“I’m as strong as I am because of him. Please cherish your time with him.” If Itachi did not have the time to meet Shisui any longer, he absolutely would gladly hand it over to Sasuke. 

“He’s tricky,” Sasuke mutter to his brother. Very clever but he did manage to land a few blows. “Not easy to predict, unlike some of the others. Kind of like you.” Sasuke looks ahead. “Where did you go on your mission? Or is it classified?”

This brings Itachi light laughter. Tricky, and uneasy to predict? That’s what made him annoying? It’s what made him a challenge to Itachi, and he respected it. Shisui was always pushing him further, and he’d like to think he was helping his friend get stronger, too. Sasuke will only accelerate exponentially the longer he trains with Shisui.

“It was simply guard duty for an important leader while he traveled.” It’s not often his missions actually take him out of the village, but even then, they’re rarely that exciting. Quite a lot of them were security detail. 

“I trained with a few of the clan members,” he responds. Sasuke turns to face Itachi. He looks over at his mother for a second, then back at his big brother. “I sparred with Shisui the other day. He’s annoying,” he huffs. Sasuke picks up his tea and wrinkles his nose when the cold liquid touches his lips. “How was your mission?”

Oh? 

Itachi can’t fault him, really. Not with how often he’s gone. It’s only a matter of time before he grew impatient and turned to others. It’s still slightly painful, but it makes sense. It was difficult to  balance his mission load and his desire to spend time with Sasuke.

(It’d be alright in the end, he told himself. It was for Sasuke.)

“The mission was fine. About Shisui…?”

Now this, he’s curious about. Not once did Itachi think that Shisui was annoying, how could Sasuke come to that conclusion?

He’s sitting outside with a cup of tea growing cold beside him. He feels his brother return from his mission. “You’re back,” he calls while leaning back on his hands. He senses their mother approaching as well.

“I am.” Itachi confirms, halting just a moment to allow Mother to remove his arm guards, and take his armor when offered. As is typical, she will put them away, and he will get the chance to rest while he is at home.

That includes some uninterrupted time with his favorite person, his little brother. At least, until dinner is ready. 

A bath can come later, as he sets himself down beside him, bare feet touching the grass beneath.

“What have you done today, little brother.” He’s eager to know.

damnedflame:

Sasuke glances sharply at his brother. His jaw tightens. 

“Easy for you to say. You’ve already gotten it,” he snaps while tightening his crossed arms. 

“I don’t.” He corrects. “In raw skill and my rank, perhaps. But he and I do not fundamentally agree on most things.”

damnedflame:

@uchihasavior

“I don’t even know why I try with father sometimes.” 

Something Itachi learned quite some time ago was that depending too much on their Father’s opinion was only going to affect them negatively. He had to have conviction in himself, first and foremost.

“Trust your own judgement, Sasuke. You’re plenty skilled and carry worth, even if he doesn’t see it.”