Itachi walked through a haze. The cold of the Ice Country scenery had long stopped being refreshing, instead pinching and burning his exposed skin. Kisame seemed to be taking it harder than him, his panting becoming louder than the crunching of ice beneath their feet.
And then there was a third set of footsteps. He recognized them as a child's, and one running fast. It was being pursued by at least two people. Itachi felt his blood run cold as Kisame held out an arm to stop his stride.
Onto the path burst a raven-haired child no more than five years old. He turned to Itachi, who suddenly couldn't breathe. He looked exactly like his brother did at that age.
"'Tachi!" the child cried, barreling towards the bird-like nin. He grabbed Itachi's robes and buried his face into his stomach. "Help me, there's enemy ninjas attacking me!"
Itachi held up his hand and shouted "Kai!" but nothing changed. The child still clung to him. Kisame brandished his sword and looked in the direction the child Sasuke had came, as the footsteps were still coming.
Three teens arrived seconds later. First was a hulking figure in robes, followed by a red-haired woman, and finally a wild-eyed sword wielder.
The swordsman stared. Then, with a breathed "Itachi," he lunged forward, sword angled to take Itachi's head off.
"You imbecile!" the woman yelled as Kisame parried the strike. She followed her swordsman's movement, grabbing his head with both hands to cover his eyes. "Jugo, he's a Sharingan user."
The first teen got the message and averted his gaze to the ground.
"Do you know who that is? What he's done to Sasuke?" the swordsman shouted. The woman kneed him in the back.
"Now is not the time." She pulled him into the undergrowth, and when he started to struggle, their companion snatched his flailing arms and held them together.
Kisame hilted his sword again.
"Brother, that was weird."
"Don't worry about that," Itachi assured, stroking the back of his head. "Kisame, will you go after them?"
"Yeah, no worries. I'll keep an eye on them, little one." He gave Sasuke's shoulder a pat before following the teens' path of carnage.
"Who was that?"
"That's Kisame. He's a friend of mine. I'll properly introduce you two when he comes back."
"What was that big weird thing on his back?"
"His sword, dear brother. It's very special." He lifted Sasuke up to face-level. "Do you know about the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist?"
Sasuke gasped. "No! Tell me!"
"Of course. I'm going to start walking, brother, interrupt me if you find a good spot to camp for the night."
"It's still light out though."
"We're in Ice Country, brother. What happens in the winter where we live?"
Sasuke thought. "Oh! The sun goes down earlier."
"Correct. We have about fifty minutes now."
Sasuke patted his shoulder. "Tell me about the swordsmen!"
"Okay. Well, let's start with the swords..."
*~*~*~*~*
Kisame trudged through the woods. He had long since lost feeling in his toes, so the smell of a nearby fire brightened his spirits. A minute later he found Sasuke's team's camp.
A small fire, badly in need of some kindling, burned in the center of a clearing maybe six feet across. Suigetsu lay on the ground on his back, not even bothering to move the sword strapped there. The other two huddled together on a fallen log, the girl just a lump under the boy's cloaks.
"What are you all moping about?" he asked.
Suigetsu craned his head back. "What do you want Kisame?"
"Well, your teammate and my partner are hanging out together, and as soon as you guy gets his bearings again, he'll try to kill my guy. And I don't think either of us want that."
"I'd be happy for Sasuke to kill Itachi," Suigetsu muttered.
"Itachi would kill Sasuke. We don't even know he hasn't yet." Kisame knew he wouldn't, of course, but the look on Suigetsu's face was priceless.
The teen stood, now a mere six inches shorter than Kisame--my, how time flies. He grabbed Kisame by his collar and glared right into his face. "There's no way that would happen."
Kisame leaned forward and kissed him on the forehead. "Of course not. I'm messing with you. Besides, your girl would feel it if he did, wouldn't she?"
"Damn straight," said the cloak.
Kisame laughed. "But seriously guys. We need a plan to extract Sasuke when he's big again so we can all leave here with our skins intact."
*~*~*~*~*
"Wow, so Kisame has the scariest one?"
"Yes. When he comes back, you do not touch it at all, understand? It has a mind of its own, so Kisame can only do so much to control it."
"I know, Itachi."
The sun had started setting. Sasuke had started shivering. With some contortion and effort, Itachi unbuttoned his cloak, wrapped it around Sasuke, and buttoned the bottom fastens again. Sasuke snuggled into Itachi's neck.
"Itachi, look over there. That crack between those two boulders?"
The landscape had been riddled with boulders since the moment they entered Ice Country, probably due to glacial activity, but these "two" seemed to have at one point been one. A crack about the width of a thin teenager ran from bottom to top.
"Could there be a cave in there?"
"Let's look." Itachi took them closer, putting Sasuke down so he could squeeze into the crevice. "Oh wow. Come on in, Sasuke."
The little boy followed him. In the center of the boulder's split a tree had grown, strong, thick, and moss-encrusted. It provided just enough space for the two boys to sit down in its shade and huddle together for warmth. "Good find, brother."
Sasuke beamed. Itachi returned his smile, pulling him onto his lap and into his cloak again. For a few moments, he felt at peace. Everything is as it should be. It was beginning to break his heart.
"I miss you, Itachi."
He froze. "I miss you too, when I go away on missions."
"Yeah. I wish you could spend more time in the village."
Itachi held him tighter. "I wish I could too, brother. I love you. I miss spending time with you."
Sasuke looked up. "Are you okay?"
Before Itachi could answer, Kisame's voice cut through the cold. "Itachi? You in there?"
Itachi set Sasuke down, stood up, and peered through the crack. "How did you find us?"
"Samehada. Hey, do you mind coming out so I can talk with you privately?"
Sasuke tugged Itachi's cloak. "You should tell him to come in here!"
"I'm not sure he can fit."
"He can do transformation jutsu, right?"
"Sasuke, I'm going to go meet with him, alright? I'll be right back." With that he squeezed himself back out into the open, to be faced with Kisame and Sasuke's teenaged friends. He said nothing.
Kisame tried to set his hand on Itachi's shoulder, only for the raven assassin to shrug it off. "Okay Itachi," he tried in a hushed voice, "I think it's time to return Sasuke to his own team now before something unexpected pops up."
Itachi began shaking. He tried to blame it on a sudden bout of shivers. "Must I?"
"Look at me, Itachi." He did not. "I don't need to remind you what'll happen when he wakes back up. Are you going to be ready for that? Are you going to be okay if he's ready for that?"
He looked away.
"Come on, Itachi, we'd like to all leave here with our lives intact," Suigetsu butted in, tasting Karin's hand as soon as he finished his sentence.
Itachi slipped back between the boulders.
"What's going on out there?" Sasuke asked, grabbing Itachi's cloak again as soon as he was in range.
Itachi gazed down at his large black eyes, innocent and trusting, trying to accept that he might never see them again. "Don't worry about it Sasuke. You're shivering, let's look through my scrolls for some extra clothes for you, how about that?"
"I thought you said you were going to introduce me to Kisame."
"Yes. Let's do that." As good a place as any to start the genjutsu.
With a whirl of his Sharingan, he took Sasuke on a journey. They exited their cave and met Kisame, who told him what a fine shinobi he was sure Sasuke would be. Together they searched for dry branches to make a fire, which Sasuke ignited all by himself. Itachi and Kisame took turns watching until the morning when they set out again. They caught hares, rolled down snowy hills, followed animal tracks, talked and laughed for three days. He ended the story in a cozy hotel room where they would spend the night, and changed the genjutsu to one that would put his dear brother into a deep sleep.
The tale had its intended effect. When Itachi blinked, Sasuke was his sixteen-year-old self, slumped against Itachi's legs, sleeping peacefully.
Itachi took a moment to examine him--since when did he start pushing his bangs back? Since when did he wear a shirt that exposed his chest? Father would have never allowed it.
He felt like he would begin panicking any moment now. "Kisame, I don't know how to get him out."
"Okay, hold on, let me get something--"
"What are you talking about? I'll get him."
Suigetsu squeezed himself through the crack. He glared at Itachi, daring him to make a move, before stepping fully into the now-cramped clearing.
"He's just under a genjutsu, right?"
"Yes. He will wake up and none of this will have happened."
"You wish." He bent as best he could and hooked his arms under Sasuke's. "Alright, Sassy-poo, up you go."
Itachi watched in fascinated disgust as Suigetsu molded his body around Sasuke's. It was strange beyond belief, but it provided Sasuke's unconscious body with enough of a skeleton to move through the passage unharmed. Itachi poked his head out just in time to see Suigetsu peel himself off and reform, holding Sasuke once again.
"Jugo, can I hand him over to you?"
The hulking teenager turned around and kneeled, and between him, Suigetsu and Kisame, they set Sasuke securely onto him.
"Well it's been nice seeing you, Suigetsu," Kisame said cheerfully.
"Yeah. Wish we could have sparred or something."
"Next time." He ruffled the young man's hair. "All of you take care of yourselves!"
"Nice to meet you," Jugo muttered, before stalking off in another direction.
Karin had been rubbing her temples since Itachi emerged.
"You alright?" Suigetsu asked quietly.
"Just get me out of here."
He held her forearm and gently guided her after Jugo.
Finally left along with his partner, Itachi slumped against the rock.
Kisame picked him up bridal style. Itachi nestled into his chest, shuffling around to try and remove his arms from his coat's sleeves and wrap them around himself.
"That took a lot out of you, huh kiddo? If you want to go nini I'll handle finding us a place to sleep." He knew getting Itachi into littlespace would probably be best for his sleep: let him rest tonight and deal with the encounter later.
His companion's subconscious seemed to agree. With a poof adult Itachi was gone, and in his place, a three-year-old placidly sucking his thumb.
Kisame smiled. "Sweet dreams, 'tachi."
*~*~*~*~*
A/N: OH IT'S AFTER MIDNIGHT RIP MY SLEEP SCHEDULE
Well, I hope you all liked this angst-filled chapter of Suigetsu appreciation disguised as sibling and battle partner bonding. Full credit for this idea and all my appreciation goes to thelittleworld420, did you know they also have a Naruto Littlespace book? I'll link it in a comment so you can all check it out :D