Onii-chan

Three years later

"Onii-chan~ You're back?"

The sound of the door opening came from outside, and our adorable little Sasuke came bouncing over to the entrance.

"Sasuke." Itachi gazed fondly at his little brother and ruffled his hair.

"By the way, where's Josuke?"

Sasuke pointed toward the backyard. "Big Brother Josuke is practicing throwing shuriken."

Itachi's eyes flickered slightly. "And what about you, little brother Sasuke? Why aren't you practicing with him?"

Sasuke's little face turned red. "I... I want you to teach me, Big Brother."

Itachi smiled gently. "All right. You have to work hard, okay? You told me you wanted to become Hokage."

Sasuke waved his fist with fierce determination. "I'm definitely going to become Hokage!"

Itachi didn't say anything. He took Sasuke's hand and led him toward the backyard.

As soon as he opened the door, he saw a child who looked almost exactly like Sasuke practicing shuriken throwing.

He was doing a pretty good job of copying the proper form, and five out of ten shuriken landed right on the target.

Itachi spotted the problem at a glance, but didn't point it out. Instead, he slowly walked over to Josuke. "Little brother."

Josuke turned around and saw Itachi. "Big Brother, you're back!"

Itachi nodded. "Would you like me to give you a few pointers?"

Josuke felt a little embarrassed, but could only ask his onii-chan for help. Itachi didn't waste time on small talk and adjusted Josuke's stance.

Using the new stance, Josuke found it much easier to throw.

"Big Brother, didn't you say you'd teach me?" Sasuke said, puffing out his cheeks.

Hearing his other little brother call out, Itachi exchanged a few more words with Josuke before heading over to Sasuke.

Over the past three years, Josuke had gradually grown from a little dumpling into an adorable little shota. Everyone who saw him loved him.

But since Josuke and Sasuke had been so well protected, they'd never left the clan compound. They had no idea how cruel the outside world could be.

Josuke lightly wiped the sweat from his face and continued throwing shuriken. Itachi really was amazing. Just by having him change his stance, his accuracy had improved.

Although, over the past three years, Josuke was still a total disaster.

But he had already reconstructed most of the Naruto story in his mind.

Emmmm.

While Josuke was lost in thought, Sasuke had already worn himself out. Distracted by a butterfly, he'd gone off to play.

Itachi could only sigh. Sasuke was his little brother, after all.

Josuke stopped too. He'd already thrown two hundred shuriken for the day, and doing any more wouldn't be good for him.

If only he were strong enough, maybe the tragedy of the Uchiha Clan Downfall could be prevented.

Never mind. He'd just let things take their course. As Josuke thought this, something suddenly occurred to him, and he walked over to Itachi.

Josuke tugged on his big brother and said in a sweet, babyish voice,

"Onii-chan, can you take me out to play?"

Itachi looked down at the little boy who came up to his knee and smiled. "Why do you want to go out, little brother?"

Josuke would never reveal his little secret, so he answered, "I just want to go out and play. I wanna meet more friends."

Itachi nodded.

"Sasuke, do you want to come?"

Hearing the voice of his favorite onii-chan, Sasuke stopped chasing the butterfly. "Sure! Let's go play together."

And so Itachi led the two little ones out of the clan compound. Shops began to appear, growing more numerous as they went. Though Josuke was holding Itachi's hand, his ears were sharp enough to catch the whispers around them.

"Are those the damned Uchiha brats?"

"Hey, see that older Uchiha kid? He's in the same class as my son! I heard he's already a Chunin."

"Hey, keep your voices down. What if they hear us?"

As a ninja, Itachi heard the villagers gossiping. The Uchiha clan crest was on the back of their clothes, so anyone could tell who they were.

Itachi couldn't change the villagers' opinion of the Uchiha. During the Nine-Tails' Attack, Fugaku had forbidden him from leaving the clan compound, but he had still counted every member of the clan.

Every Uchiha who hadn't died or gone missing was inside the compound. Years of investigation had convinced Itachi that some unseen hand was behind all of this.

But with his abilities as they were, Itachi had no way of knowing who that unseen hand belonged to.

As Itachi stood lost in thought,

Josuke gently tugged at his pant leg. "Onii-chan, look at the ramen up ahead!!!!"

Itachi looked ahead. They'd been walking for so long that they'd actually reached Ichiraku Ramen.

Itachi glanced at the two little ones. "Do you want ramen?"

This was Sasuke's first time outside the clan compound, so everything excited him. He naturally shouted, "Yes!"

Josuke saw Ichiraku Ramen and couldn't stop drooling. Ichiraku Ramen! The legendary delicious ramen made by Otsutsuki Ikkaku.

Everyone in Naruto loved Ichiraku Ramen.

Especially our Crown Prince.

So Josuke answered too, "Yes!!!!"

Itachi nodded.

He led the two little ones into the ramen shop.

Inside, a large figure and a small one were busy at work.

The owner greeted Itachi cheerfully. "Itachi, you're here! And you've brought your little brothers out today. They're so cute."

A faint smile spread across Itachi's face. "Yeah."

Looking at the original, soy sauce, tonkotsu, salt, and miso flavors,

Itachi thought for a moment. "Two bowls of tonkotsu ramen, please. And two small bowls as well. Thanks, boss."

"Big Brother, can you teach me Ninjutsu?" Josuke asked in his babyish voice.

Itachi couldn't help wondering why.

So he asked, "What's wrong? You're still so young. Why do you want to learn Ninjutsu so soon?"

Josuke suddenly grew serious.

"Because I want to become as strong as Grandpa Third Hokage and become Hokage. I want to protect you and my little brother."

Itachi's heart trembled. He had no idea that an adult soul lived inside Josuke's three-year-old body; he just assumed it was a child's innocent talk.

So Itachi gently patted Josuke's head.

"You're still too young, little brother. But I can teach you to throw kunai."

Hearing Itachi's answer, Josuke happily raised his little hand.

Heh heh. (￣ヘ￣o＃)

All of this was just an act for that old Third Hokage and the Anbu Ninja hidden nearby, though Josuke's feelings were genuine too.

But who the hell would want to be Hokage?

In the Hokage's office, the Third Hokage watched the scene through the Crystal Ball, his heart swelling with emotion. This was the Will of Fire!!

Protecting our beloved Konoha.

Just look! Even the most hateful Uchiha brats—no, Uchiha children—had such lofty ideals. It seemed Lord Third really was the greatest Hokage of all.

So the Third Hokage summoned an Anbu member and said slowly, "The Anbu monitoring Josuke and Sasuke can stand down. Also, approve Itachi's entry into the Anbu."