Little Brother

By TwinEnigma

Warnings: Massively AU, includes the anime-only character Sora and some passive references to that arc.

1.

For Sasuke Uchiha, this was supposed to be his first time going home in three years. It was supposed to be a happy occasion, where he would arrive just in time for his birthday, and his mother would hug him and his brother would smile and his father would tell him how much he'd grown and won't you stay, I am proud of you, son. He'd show them the moves he'd learned, show them that he was one of them now and maybe his father would teach him a jutsu.

He couldn't wait.

And yet...

A part of him didn't want to go. It wanted to stay right there, in the temple. After all, a nasty part of his mind suggested, hadn't his family just left him here those years ago?

"Your father was wise," Chiriku had once told him, "After all, a sapling cannot flourish in the shadow of a tree. Cut off from the sunlight, it starves and dies. You are one such sapling and your brother is the tree that starves you."

He recalled vaguely trying to argue that Itachi wouldn't do anything to hurt him, but Chiriku had just laughed and explained that sometimes people can hurt others by doing nothing or being too protective.

Sasuke sort of understood now.

For the longest time, he'd clung to the hope his brother would come and rescue him, because Itachi would save him, he always did, and he'd make Father listen. Sora, his roommate, got sick of him always mentioning Itachi after that first week and punched him for it. Eventually, Sasuke stopped talking about him out loud and he and Sora got along much better, but Itachi was always on his mind. When he dreamed in those first months, his brother was there. When he woke, he was always expecting his brother to come around the corner and say "You can come home now, little brother."

But Itachi never came.

No one did.

And eventually, Sasuke stopped looking for him.

Without Itachi always hounding his thoughts, life at the temple got profoundly better. The monks were more open, the lessons easier, and Sora was friendlier.

...Well, friendlier for him, anyway.

Life settled into a very comfortable rhythm after that.

At dawn, Sasuke would wake up and kick Sora out of bed, sometimes with actual kicking and not the customary shove. They'd change into their robes and head into the main temple for meditation. Breakfast was rice porridge (and fruit, if they were lucky) and then they would go with the other initiates to clean the temple and grounds. After that were the group taijutsu lessons and sparring sessions. He and Sora always enjoyed this best, especially when the older students went into weapons practice and they could talk about what weapon they wanted to study when they got older. Sasuke liked swords and Sora liked claws.

Lunch was more rice porridge and then the initiates would all have lessons. Sasuke would fall asleep somewhere between penmanship and the sutras and Sora would nudge him awake, but sometimes he'd be too late and Sasuke would have to stand outside with a bucket of water balanced on his head. He'd gotten better at balancing now and the bucket only got too heavy some of the time. Then there was dinner and you had to be fast with your chopsticks or you wouldn't get any meat dumplings with your rice. Sora wasn't very good at that, but Sasuke was and he'd try his best to nab two – they'd both split his dumpling if he couldn't. After that would be evening meditation in the garden and sometimes they fell asleep, but it was okay mostly because someone would nudge them awake and take them back to their quarters.

And then the whole process would start all over again the next day, until every day was the same: a blur of routine and time that never seemed to pass. Only the seasons and the occasional letter home served to remind him that time actually was not standing still.

That is, until the last letter was delivered and the possibility of going home for his eighth birthday was brought up.

At first, he didn't know what to do. He was so surprised that he hadn't an idea of how to react. Then, as it sunk in, he started to get excited. He was going home again and he'd hug his mother and have her much missed soup. Maybe Itachi would finally let him spar with him and maybe his father would be impressed with the knowledge that he, too, had activated their most precious bloodline (and, he thought proudly, was able to use it to help Sora with his... episodes).

But thinking about his family started to get him thinking in turn. Once he got there and all the hugs were exchanged, the soup was eaten, and his progress revealed, what next? What could possibly follow? After all, what did you say to the family that suddenly sent you away, far from home, to be raised by others because you were being naughty? How did you face the clan after your shame?

Sasuke did not know.

"Maybe you're still mad at them," Sora suggested. He was picking at his bandages again.

"Stop that," Sasuke said automatically, brushing the other boy's hand away from the injured arm. "How's it supposed to heal if you keep picking it?"

"I'd be mad," Sora said, looking up at the sky. "Sometimes... I think about what I'd do if my dad were still alive. And I can't decide if I want to punch him or not."

Sasuke watched as the other boy drew his legs up towards his chest, hunkering down, injured arm cradled close to his chest.

"It's different for you, though," Sora admitted.

Sasuke squirmed uncomfortably and tried to resettle in the lotus position. It was true – things were different for his friend than they were for him. He still has a family to return to, after all, even if they did abandon him here, he was still the second son of the clan's head and he had an older brother that loved him.

He clenched his hands into fists, suddenly struck with the oddest urge to punch Itachi.

Itachi, who never came to rescue him.

Itachi, who smiled and laughed and carried him on his shoulders, but never had time for him anymore and lied when he said he'd always be there to protect him.

Itachi, the tree whose roots strangled his growth.

Shaking his head, Sasuke tried to clear his mind and began mentally reciting the first thing he'd ever learned here: On mani peme hun. He let his brother's shade go into nothingness and, with it, his parents, his clan and his anger, until it was just him, empty and free. His hands automatically flowed into position, and next to him, Sora started to relax and do the same.

In the stillness, they were at peace.

Far above them, a messenger hawk glided down on the air currents, unnoticed.

AN: At last, inspiration to continue. I sort of realize I like using Sasuke as a spanner in the works, but I suppose that's just because so much of the plot in canon is predicated on him flipping out or running off or being traumatized.

Anyway, so Sasuke has unresolved issues. Not much changed there. Better control of his anger, an earlier, more established Sharingan and a BFF, though, that is new. I will go more into detail about how Sora's "episodes" led to Sasuke getting Sharingan later on.