AN: Random idea.

This is completely pointless fluff that I got from pretty much nowhere.

Baby Brother

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When little Sasuke is brought home from the hospital, Itachi approaches him warily, eying with suspicion the blue bundle in his mother's arms. He has heard tales of little brothers from his older cousins; how they scream, cry, steal the attention of parents, and are generally evil little creatures sent up to torment the older ones.

"Itachi-kun, what do you think?" Mikoto asks softly, kneeling down at Itachi's level, holding Sasuke slightly apart from her own body; an offering to her eldest. Itachi stares into the tiny face while his father, standing besides his mother, looks on.

His first conscious thought is that Sasuke doesn't particularly look like anything; just a ball of plump flesh with a nose, mouth, closed eyes, and black, downy hair atop his head. Cautiously, Itachi touched the little head, feeling the soft baby-hair between his fingers.

"Careful, Itachi-kun, his head is still soft—oh!"

The touch prompts Sasuke's eyes to open, and Itachi finds himself looking into eyes as black and as bright as his mother's. The tiny baby mouth twists up into something resembling a smile and his little brother lets out a squeal, eyes darting around, already wide with curiosity.

Itachi finds that he can't look away. One pudgy little fist reaches out, and takes a weak hold of Itachi's finger.

"Isn't he darling?" asks his mother, beaming in delight at both the gesture and the curious expression on her son's face. Itachi wrinkles his nose, an expression that makes Sasuke close his eyes again and squeal with laughter.

"He's weird." He declares, slipping out of Sasuke's grasp and letting his hand drop back by his side. "He laughs for no reason."

"It's better than crying all the time, the way you did." Fugaku responds, smirking a little at Itachi's responding scowl. "Mikoto, we should probably put him in the nursery." Mikoto nods and stands again, and lets Fugaku lead her further into the main house.

Itachi watches them walk down the hallways, watches them until they turn out of sight, before shaking his head and returning to his kunai target.

--

After he's sure that Mikoto has gone to rest in his parents' room and that Fugaku has entered his study, Itachi abandons his practice and sneaks into the nursery. Standing on a stool, he peers suspiciously into the crib that was once his a long time ago, but is now Sasuke's.

As he expects, Sasuke is fast asleep, now wearing a silly bonnet and still smothered in blankets.

"Hey, Sasuke," Itachi speaks softly, as not to wake his brother. "Just to let you know, I didn't mean what I said before. You're a baby, you're not weird. You haven't cried yet, so I guess living with you won't be so bad. It might be fun. I can teach you how to throw kunai, and run, and how to be a ninja. Mother's very nice, and Father knows a lot, so you'll be happy." He pauses, wondering what else to say. "We all have something called the Sharingan. I can't explain it to you now, though, but it's important. We have lots of cousins, but not many aunts or uncles. Obito's the best one, though. He has lots of cool tricks and everything, even if he is loud and set Father on fire once. He's fun to play with, and I'll play with you when I don't have Academy." He tilts his head to one side, "How does that sound?"

Sasuke responds by opening his eyes and letting out a happy gurgle.

Itachi scowls, a little embarrassed that his brother heard everything he said, even if he didn't understand it all. "You're sneaky, do you know that?" But, reluctantly, he smiles. "You'll be a good ninja." Sasuke wiggles around his blankets, and once again a small pink hand emerges, waving helplessly. With a small sigh of resignation, Itachi lets his hand dangle in the crib, but smiles nevertheless when Sasuke latches onto his finger.

From the doorway, Mikoto watches with a small smile, before returning to her kitchen and dinner preparations.

Things will turn out all right with her sons, she is sure of it.

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