The Spark Before the Flame

Disclaimer: All characters in this fanfiction belong to Masashi Kishimoto. I am making no money by writing this, only bliss!

Uchiha Itachi, it was said, had not smiled the day he'd been praised by his father for successfully performing the Katon for the first time. He'd simply absorbed the praise as he would a lecture, and simply asked to learn another jutsu. The reaction troubled Fugaku, though he made no mention of it to his wife. Itachi was simply young and eager to learn, he told himself and tried to think no more of it.

Uchiha Itachi did not cry whenever he was hurt. He studied his bruises or cuts with a solemn intensity, not even flinching when Mikoto gently applied a salve to the wounds. He's simply trying to be tough like all the other boys, she told herself, there was no reason to feel worried. Her baby, still safe within the womb, kicked eagerly. Itachi's cold eyes flickered to her stomach, where the bump now stuck out.

"Will the baby come soon, hahaoya?" he asked calmly, as though asking if dinner would be ready soon.

Mikoto tried to smile despite her uneasiness around her ingenious and eerie son.

"Very soon, sotsu," she replied, putting away the salve, "Soon you will have a younger brother or sister who will look up to you."

"They will not look up to me," he replied.

Mikoto turned at his strange words as she felt her stomach churn unsteadily, although her morning sickness had left her alone for weeks now.

"They will try to surpass me," he continued, now staring at the bamboo fountain in their garden, "They will try and they will fail. They will hate me."

"Itachi," Mikoto protested gently, "You will be their ni-san. They will never hate you!"

Itachi finally turned to look at her, and his eyes made a chill go through Mikoto.

The first time that anyone ever saw Itachi smile was when he first held his new little brother. He held the tiny bundle with unpracticed arms and had stared into the bright black eyes that regarded him with wonder. Sasuke Uchiha peered up at his older brother for the first time and reached for him with one impossibly-small hand. Itachi extended a forefinger, which Sasuke reached for, and playfully poked Sasuke's forehead. The baby looked shocked but did not cry. Mikoto watched with worry, still weak and tired on the hospital bed. Suddenly, impossibly, Itachi's solemn face brightened with a small smile. His eyes crinkled with laughter and the same forefinger now gently stroked Sasuke's thin baby hair.

"He'll be strong," Itachi whispered, softly as a prayer, "I'll make sure of that."

Translations:

hahaoya: mother (formal)

sotsu: my son

ni-san: older brother

(A/N: This is just a drabble: I don't plan to expand it nor turn it into Uchiha-cest. The brothers are trickier to write when they get older! Reviews still would be nice, if you would be so kind…)