Hidden Villages

I: Duck, Duck

"So..."

Sasuke didn't look up when his father spoke.

"How is school going?"

The question simply got a shrug in answer. Sasuke's head remained so he was looking down at the table.

"Could I possibly see the assignments you're teacher gave back?"

Sasuke's head darted up slightly. The man sat there watching him carefully. Rarely did the man try making conversation with him. Every time he did the situation felt awkward. Sasuke stood up from the table and headed to his room. The stack of papers sat next to the table he did his school work at. He picked them up and headed back to the room. He handed them to his father, but stood with his arms behind his back.

The man looked over the papers until he came across one of the few times Sasuke got the answer wrong. His father turned and pointed at the red mark. "You got this wrong?"

"I..." Sasuke felt his chest tighten. "I asked Iruka Sensei and he explained what I did wrong."

"Oh." The child was sure he heard disappointment in the man's voice.

"I'm sorry."

The cycle repeated for the few other answers Sasuke got wrong, but when his father got to the first page again he set the papers down. "You're school work certainly isn't perfect like Itachi's." He turned to the youngest child. "Are you sure Iruka sensei explained what you got wrong to you?"

"I..." Sasuke swallowed. "I'm sorry."

"What for?" His father looked at him. "You're not Itachi."

Sasuke felt his throat tighten, but he shifted from one foot to another. "I could... I could graduate early... I could..."

"No. There isn't a need." His father already turned back to the papers which he slipped into a stack of papers Sasuke knew involved his father's business and thus he would not be able to retrieve them. The man pushed himself up from the table. "I'm going for a walk."

The child took this as an order to come with him and took a deep breath. He watched his father walk ahead, but also watched the looks the other Uchiha's gave him. Most of the looks were full of admiration, but Sasuke was sure he saw one or two adults give his father looks of irritation. When they realized Sasuke was looking though, they instead looked away.

Sasuke followed after his father until they came to the body of water near the family compound. "So... I hear school's not been going well for you."

"I'm making really good grades and I can do better. I promise I can."

"That..." His father stopped short, but then looked down at him. "That's not what I meant."

Sasuke looked up at his father in a rather confused manner. A few ducks swam up and his father removed a pouch from his sleeve and handed the bundle to Sasuke. "Why don't you feed them?"

The child frowned, knowing full well the Uchiha family raised ducks on the pond for their eggs and meat. He reached in and tossed the crumbs into the water. Any thought of being regulated to duck feeder became lost as he watched the ducks swarm the crumbs and gobble them up. A smile spread across his face, but Sasuke didn't notice his father smile as he stood behind him. Every so often he'd toss more crumbs and the ducks would gobble the treat up.

"Lord Uchiha?"

The smile fell from Sasuke's face. Whenever someone approached his father it meant the family head was needed for something important, or at least his father always told him this. He turned his head to see the man whisper to his father. The look on his father's face said his father wasn't pleased. The man walked over and ruffled Sasuke's hair. "Behave. I have to go and take care of something."

The man left with the other man and Sasuke found himself sighing heavily. He continued tossing crumbs to the duck, yet this didn't seem to cheer him up anymore. The sun slowly set over the body of water and Sasuke ran out of crumbs. The ducks still remained nearby.

"Sasuke?"

"Hi Itachi."

"What are you doing out here all alone? Actually, why aren't you training. Normally when I find out here alone I find you training until you collapse."

"I was feeding the ducks."

"Oh. Why?"

"Father made me."

Itachi sat down on the ground next to where Sasuke sat with his knees pulled up to his chest. Neither seemed to care about the mud they were getting on their clothing. "Father never did such things with me."

"You weren't an over... over..."

"Over glorified?"

"You weren't an over glorified duck feeder."

"I don't know. I think I'd rather be an over glorified duck feeder rather than have father breathing down my neck every time I make a mistake."

"You don't make mistakes!" Sasuke turned towards his brother. He began to move over towards Itachi who'd become caught off guard at Sasuke's action. The smaller child almost climbed into his older brother's lap just to clutch onto the folds of Itachi's clothing. "You never do!"

Itachi's calloused hand reached up and rubbed the top of Sasuke's head in a far more affectionate way than their father did. "Yeah. I do. Lately I've never been on his good side. That said, how is school going?"

"Terribly." Sasuke turned away. "Why do they want me to be friends with that Uchiha kid?"

"Oh? What about this Uchiha kid?"

"He's from outside the village, but apparently just because he grew up outside. He burps, skips class, does really stupid justu he made up himself."

"He made up his own justu?" Itachi let out a laugh. "I'd have thought with how much you idolize me that would interest you."

"He turned into a naked lady." Sasuke's hands went up and down to emphasize his point. "A naked lady Itachi!

"A what?" His older brother was still trying to smile, but what Sasuke said obviously caught him off guard.

"The teacher asked the first day if we knew any jutsu. Uzumaki said he'd made up his own jutsu. He walks up front and turns into a naked lady. I couldn't eat lunch, but then he gets into a fight. When I get home mom says I should be friends with him."

A grin spread across Itachi's face. "You didn't want to tell mom what he did, did you?"

"Don't tell her. Please don't tell her."

"I won't, but she may still end up finding out about it." Itachi reached out and ruffled his little brother's hair. "No wonder your first day was a bad day."