After their confrontation at the river, Sasuke walked in silence with his head down all the way.
After they reached their home, Sasuke spoke softly: "Big brother, I'm sorry, I blamed you wrongly."
"Sasuke…"
Itachi reached out to touch his head, but halfway through, he placed his hand on his shoulder and said, "I'm not angry, don't take it to heart."
"Big brother, accompany me to train!" Sasuke lifted his head, and his eyes gradually regained their spirit.
"Okay." Itachi nodded heavily.
After a pleasant day, Sasuke got up early the next morning and hurried to the Academy. When he walked out of the Uchiha Clan's settlement, the smile on Sasuke's face gradually disappeared. When he got closer to the Academy, Sasuke had already transformed into a high-cold and arrogant little prince.
"Sasuke-kun, good morning."
"Sasuke-kun, you look so handsome today."
"Sasuke-kun, you're so cool~"
Faced with the lascivious greetings from the girls around him, the proud Sasuke chose to ignore them. Of course, when facing the girls from the same class, he would give them a respectful nod.
This nod immediately made those girls excited, stomping their feet in excitement, and couldn't help but shouted that he's so cool, very handsome, so classy~~
Sasuke remained unfazed, and walked straight to his own class.
Entering the classroom, a large group of girls immediately gathered around him. This one asked about his well-being, that one shared her weekend, and another invited him to share her lunch.
'So annoying!'
"Get out of the way." Sasuke frowned, hands in pockets, pass through them emotionlessly, come to his seat and sit down.
Not long after, Naruto, who was still dressed flamboyantly, with his hands in his pockets, entered the classroom.
"Naruto, good morning." Hinata waved her hand and greeted him.
Except for her, the rest of the girls in the class were clamoring around Sasuke's seat, including his goddess, Sakura.
Naruto's good mood for the day was ruined.
'Damn it!'
'I must become the strongest in the Shinobi World as soon as possible, so that Sakura will like me!!'
With this in mind, Naruto instantly regained his energetic self and cheered up again.
After the bell rang, Iruka walked into the classroom and started the class.
"Everyone, what I'm going to talk about today is…"
Iruka frowned slightly, suddenly feeling that something was wrong in the classroom, but he couldn't pinpoint exactly where it was. So he continued, "It's about the relevant knowledge of the Great Shinobi Villages in the Shinobi World. This is the knowledge that everyone who aspires to become a Shinobi must master, Naruto, especially you!"
"Yes!" Naruto responded excitedly, but after a while, he started dozing off to Iruka's voice.
At the same time, near Sasuke's seat by the window, a vague and invisible figure was quietly lying in wait.
'Iruka…'
'I remember he was of the same grade as Captain. Although he only has Chunin-level strength, he's quite sharp.'
Itachi, who was using Transformation Technique to blend in with the surroundings near the window, affirmed Iruka's capabilities a bit, then focused all his attention on Sasuke.
Since Sasuke left home, Itachi had been following him all the way, from home, to the Academy, to the classroom. He had personally witnessed Sasuke's changes in demeanor and his heart couldn't help but trembled slightly…Although he cannot exhibit his feelings in words, but from how the lines on his face becoming deeper and deeper, the heaviness of his heart at this moment can be guessed!
A day quickly passed, and Sasuke, after class, went home with his bag. As he approached the Uchiha Clan's settlement, the arrogant and prideful expression on his face gradually disappeared, replaced by a look of expectation: 'Big brother is resting today. He must be waiting for me at home~'
'So happy~~'
As for Itachi, he has already returned home before Sasuke, and is reporting to Mikoto at the moment.
"Mom, today I followed Sasuke all the way and found that there is indeed some problems with his mentality." Itachi's expressionlessly told Sasuke's performance at home and in the Academy in full detail.
Mikoto glanced at Itachi slightly reproachfully, and said: "Itachi, why go to such lengths? What if Iruka-sensei finds out? He will surely be angry."
'He can't find me…' Itachi didn't argue and changed the subject: "Mom, after Sasuke comes back, I want to talk to him alone."
Mikoto nodded, and just then, joyful noises could be heard from outside. She smiled, got up and walked into the kitchen.
"Big brother!"
Sasuke ran in with small, quick steps, "Big brother, let's go training!"
In this afternoon's actual combat class, he was provoked by Naruto again, so Sasuke vowed to train even harder, aiming to take revenge as soon as possible and redeem himself.
An idea flashed through Itachi's mind, and he immediately took Sasuke to their secret training stadium.
When practicing kunai throwing, Itachi started to speak gently while guiding Sasuke: "Sasuke, why are you so indifferent to your classmates?"
"Huh?" Sasuke's hand movement changed, and the kunai immediately lost its accuracy, falling into the grass heap.
"Big brother, what are you talking about?" Sasuke looked at him in panic.
Itachi stared at Sasuke expressionlessly, and said, "Do you need me to tell you more about your performance at the Academy today?"
"Big brother… Are you following me?" Sasuke's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Don't change the subject!"
Although Itachi loves his little brother, he knows that if he doesn't change Sasuke's mentality, when Sasuke grows up, he will definitely become a radical in the clan, maybe even the leader of the clan's radicals!
The village will be in trouble by then!
"Big brother, I didn't mean to, I'm not, I…" Sasuke stammered, unsure of how to express himself.
"Don't rush, take your time." Itachi gently reassured, "I will always be by your side."
"Big brother…"
Sasuke lowered his head, "I, I, I… I just feel, I feel…"
"Do you feel they are not worthy of being your friends?" Itachi asked.
Sasuke glanced at him, then lowered his head embarrassedly: "Big brother, I have you, that's enough for me, I don't need friends."
"But I can't always be by your side." Itachi said.
"Big brother, you just said you'd always be by my side!" Sasuke raised his head abruptly, his eyes staring at him uneasily.
Itachi frowned: "Sasuke, I will always be by your side as your big brother, but we will both grow up. In the future, we will set up our own families, and…"
"Big brother, you still want to be with the woman named Uchiha Izumi, right?" Sasuke gritted his teeth and asked.
"We're talking about your problem now, Sasuke, don't change the subject!" Itachi felt a little uncomfortable in his heart.
"I don't have a problem, I'm not wrong, Big brother is!"
Sasuke cried, tears streaming down his face, "Big brother, you obviously said that you will always be with me. With Big brother by my side, I don't need friends at all!"
"Even if you don't need friends, you shouldn't be so indifferent to your classmates!" Itachi said anxiously.
"As far as I'm concerned, the only important people are Big brother, Dad and Mom. The opinions of other people are not important at all!" Sasuke roared angrily.
"Sasuke!!!" This time, Itachi was really angry!
"Big brother…You actually scolded me for someone else…"
Wu wu wu…
Sasuke broke down and cried, turning around and running towards the depths of the forest.
Itachi was about to catch up, when suddenly a hand rested on his shoulder.
"Who?" Itachi was startled. Although he relaxed his vigilance because of Sasuke just now, to be able to approach him silently… 'Big Brother Shisui?'
He turned his head abruptly, and sure enough, saw a Shisui with a smile on his face.
"Big brother Shisui." There was joy in Itachi's eyes, followed by a hint of bitterness, "You heard everything?"
Shisui nodded gently: "Itachi, let Sasuke be alone for now, he needs time."
Itachi turned his head to look at where Sasuke disappeared, and asked with a little bit of self-blame: "Big brother Shisui, is it because I spoiled Sasuke too much when he was young that he has become like this?"
Shisui chuckled and said: "Sasuke is still young, so many things can be guided, don't be too hard on yourself."
"I hope so." Itachi sighed.
Shisui patted his shoulder twice and thought to himself, 'If you can't solve it, I'll go to Kanpū. That guy has a lot of strange ideas and he will definitely be able to help Sasuke!'
...
"Ah, ah, ahchoo!!"
Kanpū, who was lying on the roof of Ichigo Hot Spring and enjoying the moonlight, sneezed fiercely on Mei.
Mei was furious, and without saying anything further, she flipped over and started punching and kicking Kanpū.
Kanpū offered weak resistance, secretly thinking to himself: 'Which big brother is thinking of me, it's really a godlike assist!'
'Tonight, the moon is still as enchanting as ever!'