Sasuke had been unhappy lately.
He rarely said so.
But Uchiha Gen could tell.
Children could not hide their unhappiness.
He struck a little harder during training.
He glanced at the doorway a few more times during meals.
When he heard Itachi's name, his ears perked up first, but he deliberately turned his face away.
Those reactions were all too obvious.
Itachi noticed them too.
But he did not know how to handle them.
He was used to keeping complicated things to himself.
Anbu missions.
Clan meeting records.
Root contingency plans.
Shisui's eyes.
None of these were things he could tell Sasuke directly.
So all he could do was stay silent.
And in Sasuke's eyes, that silence became something else.
My brother was drifting away again.
When Uchiha Gen found Itachi, he was organizing training records.
"How long has it been since you trained with Sasuke?"
Itachi's hand paused.
"I've had a lot to do lately."
"Sasuke doesn't know that."
Gen said, "All he knows is that you're not there."
Itachi fell silent.
He wanted to explain.
But when the words reached his lips, he felt again that Sasuke was too young and should not know about these things.
Uchiha Gen saw what he was thinking.
"You don't have to tell him everything."
Itachi looked up.
"Then what should I tell him?"
"Tell him you're still there."
It was a simple sentence.
Yet it left Itachi silent for a long time.
That evening, Itachi went to the Training Ground.
Sasuke was practicing with shuriken.
One after another, his throws were far off the mark.
When he saw Itachi, his eyes lit up briefly, then he quickly set his face into a scowl.
"Aren't you supposed to be busy?"
Itachi stood beside him.
"I'll train with you today."
Sasuke huffed.
"I