Let me just say that I've always been the brat of the family, so I don't know what it would be like to have a younger sibling to care for. Bare with me; I'm working with what I know.

Itachi continued chucking shuriken at the stump in front of him with exact precision. The sun had just begun to rise, the light barely peeking over the horizon. The Uchiha boy, who had recently turned eight, preferred to train in the mornings when there were less people milling about their neighborhood. His younger cousins especially liked to stand behind the fence of their backyard and watch him practice, making obnoxious comments every so often.

He heard the door open behind him.

"Nii-san," called a timid, child-like voice. Itachi glanced at his little brother before turning back to the stump.

"Why are you up so early, Sasuke? You should go back to sleep."

The little boy stared at his feet nervously as he used his hands to fiddle with the ends of his shirt. He would get so scared when talking to his older brother. He always got the impression that the older Uchiha didn't like him. He often wondered if he was doing something wrong.

"I can't sleep anymore. Can I just stay here?" he asked, still looking at his feet. Itachi sighed.

"Fine, but don't get in the way or you'll get hurt," Itachi said and continued training. Sasuke perked up, looked at his brother with slightly widened eyes and smiled. He sat on the wooden walkway overlooking their backyard and watched.

After a few moments of silence, Sasuke asked, "When can I throw shuriken?"

"When you're older. You're too young now," Itachi responded, not bothering to look at his younger brother as he spoke. Sasuke frowned at the response, but said nothing. Occasionally, Itachi would shift positions, hitting the stump at different angles. The entire exercise had become so routine for him that he could throw the shuriken blindfolded without giving it a single thought. His mind often wandered as he trained and at that moment, he could only think of one thing.

Itachi would never get used to having a younger brother. He didn't mind it at first. Sasuke didn't even cry as much as other babies and Itachi was rarely expected to look after him. Then, he learned to talk...

Even at the Academy, he didn't enjoy mingling with the other students. Whenever a classmate of his tried to befriend him, he would only ignore the other child and they would eventually get discouraged and leave. However, it didn't work with Sasuke. No matter how much Itachi ignored his younger sibling, Sasuke was always so persistent in spending time with him.

"Nii-san," Sasuke called out.

"What is it, Sasuke?" Itachi pulled another shuriken out of his holster and prepared to throw it.

"I want long hair like yours."

Itachi paused and almost dropped the weapon. Finally, he turned to his brother.

"What?"

Sasuke flashed his brother an adorable smile before continuing, "Mom said the same thing. Then, she laughed and said I'm too small for long hair." Sasuke frowned at the memory. Itachi almost smiled.

They spent the next hour in silence. Itachi had begun to practice his taijutsu after the stump had too many scratch marks on it and Sasuke quietly watched him. Soon, various relatives passed by their yard and greeted the boys. Itachi decided to finish before the other kids went outside.

"Sasuke, let's go back inside," Itachi said as he picked his shuriken off the ground.

"Already?" Sasuke asked with a small pout. Itachi nodded.

"Mom started making breakfast. You can see her through the window behind you."

Sasuke turned to look as Itachi headed for the backdoor. Itachi reached for the door handle, but froze when he heard a voice.

"Nii-san, wait!" Sasuke yelled and ran after his brother. Itachi frowned, but waited for his little brother to reach him. Sasuke grabbed Itachi's wrist with both hands, making sure he couldn't escape.

"I want to go to the park."

Itachi's frown deepened.

"Later, we don't have time right now."

"Yes, we do!" Sasuke protested, "The food is still cold."

Sasuke's grip on the older boy's wrist tightened. "Please? Just for a little while," he pleaded.

Itachi paused before finally responding, "I'll ask mom and see what she says."

Sasuke smiled and Itachi sighed. He hated kids.

Unsurprisingly, their mother hadn't objected. She knew that Itachi was now a genin and he could take of himself and his little brother for at least a couple hours. Also, their mother had frequently told Itachi that he should spend more time with his younger brother and this was the perfect opportunity.

Itachi watched Sasuke run around the small playground area and sighed for what had to be the fifth time that day. The park was mostly empty, yet Itachi couldn't take his eyes off Sasuke for a second. The older Uchiha knew he had responsibilities as a genin and protecting his little brother was one of them. Though, even Itachi had to admit that he was really bored.

He was sitting on a bench on the side of the playground. Sasuke was riding on all the slides, glancing at Itachi every now and then, as if checking to see if he was still there. After going on the longest slide for the third time, Sasuke walked towards Itachi, his eyes dropping to the ground as he got closer.

"Are you done?" Itachi asked. Sasuke shook his head.

"No," he said, "I want to go on the swings."

Itachi, eager to do anything at that point, led his little brother to the swings for toddlers and lifted him into one of the empty seats. Itachi tried to push Sasuke, but the little Uchiha insisted that he try to swing by himself. After several attempts and no success, Itachi pushed the back of Sasuke's swing. The boy pouted, but soon began to enjoy it. He laughed happily each time the swing flew upwards, enjoying the feeling of the cool morning breeze blowing through his hair.

Sasuke caught sight of another set of swings on the other side of the playground. These swings were larger, black and, best of all, they didn't wrap around the waist!

"Nii-san, stop," Sasuke yelled, kicking his legs for emphasis. Itachi grabbed the chains attached to the seat.

"Do you want to go home now?"

"No, I want to go on the big swings," Sasuke said and pointed at them. Itachi shook his head.

"You can't go on those swings."

"Why not?" Sasuke whined.

"You're too small. You'll fall and get hurt."

"I'm not too small!" Sasuke yelled, "And I won't get hurt! Just let me try once, you'll see!"

Sasuke squirmed in his seat, trying to get himself out. Itachi looked down at his brother, surprised at his outburst and the determined look on his face. Then, for the first time that day, he smiled.

"Fine, but if you fall off, then you can't go on those swings again until you're older," Itachi said as he lifted his brother out of the seat.

"I won't fall," Sasuke said stubbornly and grinned as he ran across the playground. Itachi helped him onto an empty "big" swing and told him to hold onto the chains. Itachi pushed the swing, expecting Sasuke to be thrown off, but his little brother had planted himself firmly onto the seat and gripped the chains as hard as he could.

Sasuke immediately decided that these swings were much better than the stupid baby swings. He felt much more free and comfortable. The younger Uchiha kicked his legs happily as Itachi pushed him higher and higher. The older of the two was careful to make sure that he didn't push Sasuke too high up or he would probably fly halfway across the playground.

Itachi spotted a certain grey haired shinobi leaning against a tree on his left. He had a black mask covering his neck and most of his face. His forehead protector leaned at an angle and covered his right eye. From the vest the man was wearing, Itachi could see that he was a jounin. What was a jounin doing at a playground?

Suddenly, the Uchiha heard a crash in front of him and a yell. Itachi ripped his attention away from the man and looked back at the swing, only to find it was empty. Sasuke was on the ground with another boy partly laying on top of him. Sasuke pushed the boy off and picked himself up, staring at his scraped knee.

"You pushed me!" Sasuke yelled.

The boy stood up and brushed himself off. His clothes were sandy, but he was unscathed. He looked to be around Sasuke's age, had long black hair tied in a braid, but his most prominent feature was his thick eyebrows.

"Sorry! I was trying to catch this," the boy said, holding up a green rubber ball. "You can play with us, if you want! I'm sure the other guys won't-"

"I don't want to play catch," Sasuke said, angry with the boy for pushing him.

He was a bit hurt by the way Sasuke responded, but the look was immediately replaced with a friendly smile.

"Well, if you change your mind, we'll be at that sandbox!" that boy said and waved as he left.

Sasuke frowned and looked at his knee. Now, he would never go on the big swings again! Itachi kneeled next to his younger sibling and inspected the wound. It was nothing serious, only a small scratch, but he saw tears begin to gather in Sasuke's eyes.

"It's nothing to cry over," Itachi said. Sasuke glared at the ground and balled his hands into fists.

"I'm not crying," Sasuke argued, but his lip had begun to quiver. Don't cry, Sasuke thought. His brother would like him even less if he cried. Yet, the tears began to fall uncontrollably. Sasuke wiped his face with his sleeves and wished that he could run and hide from his older brother. For a few moments, Itachi only sat there, at a loss of what to do. Whenever Sasuke cried, his mother would carry him away and care for him. Now, Itachi was alone with the boy and completely inexperienced.

The prodigy wrapped his arms around the younger boy's small body and awkwardly held him, which only made Sasuke cry harder. Itachi gently pat him on the back, not knowing what else to do. Itachi sensed someone approaching and looked up to see the jounin from earlier standing before him. The man leaned down and offered him an object. Itachi cautiously took the object from the strange man's hand and stared at it. It was an orange see-through bottle filled with small white tablets.

"Aspirin," the jounin explained, "You'll need it."

Then, he walked away. Itachi looked at the bottle, then at the man's retreating figure before attending to his crying baby brother.

A few minutes later, the pair headed home with Sasuke rubbing at his eyes and Itachi still patting his back. Itachi had put the aspirin in his pocket, just in case. Sasuke sniffled and stared at his feet, ashamed that he had fallen off the swing and cried.

"N-Nii-san?"

"Hmm?" Itachi asked. His patting turned into a soothing rub as Sasuke's hiccups and sniffling began to cease.

"I'm sorry," Sasuke mumbled.

Itachi looked at his brother and raised an eyebrow.

"For what?"

"For falling off the swing and crying. You don't have to take me to the park anymore if you don't want to."

Sasuke felt Itachi's hand leave his back and for a second he thought he might start crying all over again. Then, he felt his brother's hand rest on his head.

"We can come back tomorrow morning."

Sasuke's head snapped up and he stared at his brother with wide eyes.

"Right now, we have to get home. We're already late for breakfast."

Sasuke nodded and smiled. This time, Itachi smiled back. Maybe having a little brother wouldn't be so bad after all.