Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

Face Down	By : emochickenbutt Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 1190 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any characters from the show. They belong to Kishimoto.

Chapter List
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Yes, this is real. No, I have not created a skillful illusion- you are truly viewing the final chapter!! Yayz! My excuses and explanations are at the bottom, since I believe most people would prefer to jump right in. just know that a ridiculous amount of writing and editing and rewriting has gone in to this chapter, but some things still aren’t what I want them to be. Some famous dead person once said that ‘works of art aren’t completed, only abandoned’ so I guess I’m abandoning this, but really it’s completed and I added a bonus tidbit/mini-chapter type thing so… yeah. It’s as complete as can be.

ON a totally unrelated side note, does anyone know where Ciel Phantomhive lives?!?! It’s somewhere near London but I’m looking for something more specific than that. But you can’t just make stuff up- I need a page number or an official source or something. My summer project is looking like an outrageously researched fic with Kuroshitsuji.

And while I’m advertising, everyone go read Noblesse! It’s on mangafox, and it’s all in color and it’s really pretty and funny at the best moments and there’s practically no fanfics anywhere, so people need to read it and write about it so that I can read that. It’s not a romance but anybody with half an imagination can do SOMETHING with all those pretty boys running around…

Ok. Now I’m done rambling.

* * *

“You know, it never occurred to me to talk to Uncle about this.” Naturally, Sasuke didn’t mean talking to his uncle about screwing his brother; rather he meant the issue of possible blackmail. Bringing in an adult was not the idea he expected from Naruto, but consulting his Uncle Madara, who was the closest person he had to a father, was a decent proposal.

“That’s why you keep me around, right? You want my brains.” Naruto whispered as they dashed out the door and weaved carefully through the parking lot, creeping at tire height and sticking as close as possible to the largest cars they could. “Like a zombie!” he said a little too loudly, and Sasuke shushed him by pulling him down to the ground in a grass patch near the lamppost that sat in the middle of the lot, surrounded by the conveniently bulky maintenance vehicles.

“Check the north side. I’ll watch the east and south.” They sat back to back, scanning the windows to see if they had been spotted. “Clear on my side.” Sasuke said, checking again for any teachers or bored students looking out the windows. From where they were, they should have been pretty well hidden without sacrificing a view. Naruto’s car was still three rows away, and they had to get there before any of the teachers or security officers noticed. It was a straight run, but there was little cover to be had. Most people—seniors included—took the bus to school, except for the people who are “chronologically challenged,” as Naruto called his lateness problem.

“We’re clear on my side, too. Are you ready?” Sasuke nodded, and they both took off at top speed.. They reached his car, and Naruto was unlocking the door when they heard a shout come from the east side. “Hey! You two! Halt!”

Naruto almost dropped his keys from laughing. “Hahaha! Did Iruka-sensei just tell us to ‘halt?’ That guy’s a riot!”

“Naruto! Open the damn door! If he gets to the gate before we do, we’ll be stuck.” Naruto quickly focused—because he certainly did not have ADHD—and unlocked the doors, hopping in and starting it up. Accustomed to his friend’s driving habits, Sasuke leaped in swiftly, yanking the door shut. It missed the side mirror of the Toyota next to them by centimeters.

“Who spotted us?” His eye raced over the windows, looking for one guilty face among many. There! Haughtily smug and flipping his long hair over his shoulder, the boy, Neji, was enjoying the scene below. Rich brats like him probably get off on getting people in trouble. That’s what student council presidents do. Then again, when he spotted which car it was, he looked a little guilty. Asshole probably only meant to report him and was now regretting it because Naruto was caught in the crossfire. People shouldn’t do things they’re just going to regret!

His mental rant stopped short when he thought about how back-and-forth he himself had been recently. That didn’t matter though, because he was going to make it better. He and Naruto were going to… umm…

“Hey… this might be a bad time to ask, but why, exactly, are we ditching school?”

As soon as Iruka-sensei had begun shouting for them to stop, every student (and most teachers) readily accepted the distraction and watched from the windows to see the excitement as Naruto expertly maneuvered through the twists and turns of the lot, racing their fifth period teacher who was running as fast as he could. If he could just get to the gate, then Naruto would have to stop. Not even Naruto would be careless enough to hit a teacher. Naruto pumped his fist in the air as they zipped through the gateway, their infuriated teacher missing them by several feet.

“Did you see that?! That’s got to be a new record. I mean, we’ve outraced people before, but last time it was Kakashi-sensei and he wasn’t even trying and before that was Kurenai-sensei and she’s pregnant so that counts for even less.” He swerved onto the main road, cutting off a car or two in the process. “That’s a good question. And the answer is that…” he looked sheepishly at his best friend. “I didn’t finish writing the paper due in last period, and since I know you already turned it in I didn’t think it was a problem.”

Sasuke wasn’t sure what to do with that. He was all for his friend taking advantage of the lousy security at school to take extra time to complete his work, and he generally wasn’t so selfish, but he couldn’t help but ask: “how does this help my problem?”

“I’m glad you asked!” He did look glad. “Who’s the one person that can get information from Itachi? Your uncle, of course.” Sasuke nodded, having listened to Naruto’s half of the phone conversation; they are fortunately few people in town named ‘Madara’ and even fewer addressed as ‘sensei.’ “And once your uncle gets the information what that person who called over him, then we’ll remove the obstruction and there’s no reason you guys can’t get back together.” He adjusted his rearview mirror for the umpteenth time. “Hey, can you write on a post-it to fix this? It gets all wobbly every time I drive recklessly.”

“The solution might be to drive ‘wrecklessly’ instead.” Sasuke mumbled. He did as asked, and stuck the post-it to the dashboard. He returned the rest of the pad and the pen to the glove box, and remembered his other important question. “Where are we going, anyway? I’m assuming to my brother and Uncle Madara, but aren’t they in class right now?”

“They’re all done with classes for today, and Madara-sensei took him out to eat so he’d be more cooperative. You guys practically PMS when you’re hungry.” He paused, noticing a guy on the sidewalk getting pooped on by a pigeon. “Haha! Did you see that? I wish I caught that on vid… eo…” he trailed off at the glare he received. “Ahem. Anyway, I’m dropping you off at your place. Your uncle suggested we meet there, since it’d be easiest to confront Itachi there. Plus he should be more comfortable in his own house than in the restaurant.”

There were silent for a bit, Naruto bouncing happily in his seat because he had more time to finish his paper (that is, if he remembered when he got home), and Sasuke was trying to figure out why (and since when) his best friend had his uncle’s phone number. Naruto’s grandfather did know a lot of people, so it’s possible he was friends with one of the professors Uncle hung out with. A faint growling emanated from Naruto’s stomach. “So… you wanna stop for lunch? I’m starved.”

He had every intention of being annoyed with Naruto, but his stomach rumbled too and he couldn’t argue that the hungrier he was, the grouchier he was. Not a good mindset to begin with. “Yeah, alright. I’d rather not have an empty stomach. Once we figure out what’s keeping him from me, I’m going to strap him to the bed and make up for lost time.” His body physically ached for his brother—regardless of what went down today, it would end with him and Itachi having crazy, unrestrained make-up sex. He was sure of it.

“Nothing says love like bondage.” Naruto muttered sarcastically. “Where should we eat? Fast food would be quickest—duh—but I can’t put garbage like that into a gorgeous body like this.” He gestured to himself.

“We could just go meet them at the restaurant. I know they’ll still be there. Do you know which one they went to? Uncle never minds paying for us.” He never minded paying because he liked filling in the father role. He had no kids of his own and loved doting on his only nephews.

“Yeah! He told me on the phone, though I can’t believe he didn’t think of this. ‘After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one's own relatives.”~ He smiled happily at the thought of free food and changed their course.

* * *

“So he told you then.” The faintest ripple of worry caused a wrinkle between his nephew’s brows, but other than that his face showed none of the turmoil within. Yet Madara had known him long enough to see the signs of his anxiety—the tightening of the muscles around his eyes, the slightest twitching of his trigger finger. “However, there’s no need for you to intervene. Sasuke and I aren’t doing those things anymore. We talked about it and came to the agreement that we should stop.” Concise, to the point, and not overtly rude. “And we have.” He added, just in case his uncle tried to pursue the point or engage himself further in Itachi's business.

“For two weeks, now, correct?” He could tell it caught Itachi off guard; the child should give him more credit. You can’t grow up in an Uchiha home and dodge the lesson about noticing everything. Details are everything.

“How do you know that?” He watched his nephew work it out as he sipped his drink (probably should have gone non-alcoholic, but too late now). “Naruto told you, didn’t he?”

“Yes.” Internally, he smiled. Fugaku would have been proud of his oldest son. “Charming boy—why doesn’t he hang out with Sasuke more? He’d be a good influence. Unlike some people.” All right, so Fugaku wouldn’t be proud of all the things his eldest was doing. Madara could see the guilt flash across Itachi’s face, and a touch of confusion. Perhaps he wasn’t being clear? “You need to understand exactly what I’m ‘upset’ about, to put it lightly. What you two do in private is none of my affair, so long as your younger brother is not getting hurt.

“But you hurt him.” He said slowly, making sure that every syllable wounded. “You, who swore to protect him *from* everything by *any* means necessary.” He paused for effect, letting the charges sink into guilty ears. “*You* have been hurting him.”

“Ju—”

“Let me finish.” He stopped him in a clipped tone. “You didn’t want to get in trouble with me, so you hurt your brother even worse than that debacle the other Friday—” Itachi was lucky that he couldn’t stop himself from wincing. It at least showed that he knew he was wrong— “all to cover your own ass.”

Itachi looked like he wanted to say so many things that he could hardly decide what to say first. Eventually he settled on “so you’re mad—

“Seething, boiling, raging, horrendously angry is much closer to how I’m feeling right now.” Madara smiled the smile that wasn’t a smile, merely a showing a teeth. He enjoyed a little too much the slight shiver it caused in his young nephew.

“because I embarrassed him—‘to put it lightly—’” Those little air quotes kicked Madara’s anger up a notch. Even six feet under in trouble, Itachi couldn’t lose that damn attitude of his. How the devil did little Sasuke love him? Madara loved Itachi because they were family but the kid was a real brat sometimes.

Itachi dropped his hands back to his lap, as if he hadn’t meant to mock his uncle, and continued. “and that he’s miserable now. But I wasn’t trying to avoid punishment. Honestly. I just thought that if you knew, then you’d take him away from me… to live with you.”

“Still sounds like you’re looking out for yourself again.” It was only halfway true. If he actually separated them, they would both fall apart, and tearing up his favorite relative’s lives was the furthest thing from his mind. No fun in letting Itachi know that yet, though. “That’s the trouble with this generation—all you post-moderns are much too focused on yourselves. What *you* want, what *you* feel. Though, the selfishness of your generation certainly springs from mine.” His philosophical ramblings would have to be postponed; there were other things to discuss now.

The boy sat, looking exceptionally wretched and supremely guilty. He stared at his plate, not budging an inch, and hardly breathing. Madara refrained from grinning, because that wouldn’t be appropriate. But as an adult, he knew it was time to stop fooling around and get down to what he really wanted to do.

“Regardless, Naruto and I have decided we’re going to solve this once and for all. We will go take care of the problem while you beg for forgiveness from your brother and hope he is kind enough to take you back.” His oldest nephew looked way to hopeful now. “I must warn you that if I catch the faintest hint that you are treating him like *anything* less than the precious little child that he is, I will remove him from your care.” With sincere regret, “when your parents died, I swore I wouldn’t; but the unspoken condition was that you wouldn’t hurt him. If you break your side of the deal again, I will not hesitate to break mine.”

Itachi digested that, and nodded. “Understood. I promise.” His posture was proper now, and resolve shone in his eyes. “Thank you, uncle. I won’t let either of you down.”

“Good.” Madara carefully kept the malice off his face, and Itachi was too busy plotting how to make it up to his brother—again—to notice. Of course, when an Uchiha doesn’t notice something, it generally leads to their downfall. As it turns out, Itachi really should have paid more attention. Could the boy really think that all Madara’s anger could be done away with so easily?

* * *

“I’m sorry, sir, but he left a few minutes ago. You just missed him.” The hostess smiled flirtatiously at Naruto. “Is there anything… else I can help you with?”

As politely as he could, Naruto ran out of the restaurant, shouting over his shoulder. “No thanks, I’m gay! I mean, I’m good!”

Sasuke shook his head, following at a slower pace so people wouldn’t think that they were together in any sense of the word. He left the hostess pouting at the podium and walked out the door trying to remember how long his uncle took to eat.

Unless there was an unnecessary delay (and that was unlikely, considering Uncle Madara and Itachi were both good looking and Uncle was generous with his money and it was barely afternoon) Itachi would have taken about seventeen minutes to eat dinner and Uncle usually finished in just under twenty. Then, even factoring in wait time and traveling time, he and Naruto shouldn’t have missed them. He’d been paying attention in the car and had seen neither Itachi’s nor Uncle Madara’s vehicles throughout the drive. At the earliest, his relatives could be just leaving now, but then he would have spotted them. Unless they hadn’t finished, and decided to take their food home?

Looking around the parking lot, he didn’t see his uncle’s car. Maybe they had parked in the side lot? It was worth a shot. He saw Naruto standing by the curb, looking up at the sky. “That one looks like the dancing banana, see? Oh, man. Now I’m craving peanut butter and jelly… hey!” He yelled as Sasuke tugged on the back of his hood and dragged him along to look for Itachi's or Madara's car.

“What happened to your ‘undying love’ for Sakura?”

“You heard about the confession?” Sasuke nodded. “Then you also heard that she threw her mashed potatoes at me in response.” The brunette gave his best friend a consoling punch on the arm and Naruto punched his friend in return. “Thanks for the support. Since forever I’ve had my eye on someone else, a boy, for-your-information, so I’m not too bummed.”

“I hope this one works out for you.” He replied sincerely as he stole Naruto’s phone from his pocket. “My battery ran out at school, so I’m calling Itachi with yours.”

“Why? They said we’d meet at your house. Maybe they got dessert! I’ve been craving cheesecake.” Sasuke pointedly ignored the last half of that; and why would Naruto assume cheesecake?

“Something doesn’t feel right. First off, as much as I love my uncle I know he’s a bit of snob. He’d never miss an opportunity to enjoy an expensive restaurant like this; I bet he got a private room and over-tipped the waitress. Second, they would never get dessert because they don’t like sweet things, but that doesn’t matter because they should still be here. We would have driven past each other if they had left, but I didn’t see them.” Itachi’s phone went right to voicemail. “Damn.”

“Isn’t Madara-sensei’s car… that black one over there?” Naruto raced over and peeked inside, but turned back to Sasuke, who was following at his heels, disappointed. “It’s empty. What’s going on?” Even the blonde was starting to feel uneasy, like there was something he was missing. “Were they kidnapped? We could check the alleyway over there, just in case a hollow got to them. They’re always attacking people in alleys.” He saw Sasuke roll his eyes—too much bleach for Naruto—as he dialed his uncle’s number. “Or it could have been the heartless. They’re actually pretty similar when you think about it.”

“Hush.” They were silent and listened as through the phone came a generic ring.

“What’s Madara’s ringtone?” Naruto asked, completely forgetting that he was checking the skies for unusual weather—a sure sign that *something* might happen. “He’s probably got a catchy one. Well, he’s a professor, so it’ll be like Bach or Debussy. Nice, sophisticated, classical shit…”

Speak of the devil—Auld Lang Syne echoed off the brick walls of the alley Naruto had just been pointing to. “I’ll be right back!” Naruto dashed back to his car.

“What the hell is it now?!” Sasuke nearly stamped his foot in frustration. His family prized control, but when two dominant males spent time together they usually ended up fighting and he needed to get to his brother and uncle before it got that far.

“I forgot to lock the car, and dad will kill me if it gets stolen! Again!” Naruto may run fast, but Sasuke had a feeling he didn’t have the time. He pocketed the phone and ran on ahead towards the alley, straining his ears beyond the ringtone for any clues to the situation.

* * *

“I don’t get pleasure from questioning everything you do,” he said in a tone that implied the opposite, “but why are we back here?” Itachi’s question was a fair one. Why would two upstanding members of society spend any amount of time in an alleyway? Sure, it was located relatively close to Madara’s car, and was a shortcut if you wanted to go the long way to the car, but that was not an answer.

“If you have to ask, then you did not truly understand what I was saying earlier.” Madara stopped walking abruptly, and turned around. He looked carefully at his oldest nephew: the boy had muscles, and was athletic enough, however his build was slender, especially since he wasn’t eating well recently and he hadn’t been sleeping right without his brother in the same bed and that was all the advantage Madara, a man with a stronger build and a consistently healthy lifestyle, needed.

He took a hand to the center of his nephew’s chest and smashed him against the wall hard. The bricks shot out a thin shower of dust as the boy slammed against them with a *thud* accompanied by a sharp exhale, and his nephew doubled over, trying to get air back into his lungs. “What… the… hell?” He gasped.

“You know what! You hurt your brother—making me angrier than I’ve ever been—and you thought it was a matter solved over lunch?” He snarled. “Sasuke would never take revenge on you, but I certainly will.” He gave a kick to his abdomen, and watched Itachi catch it enough to soften the blow but fall to his knees nevertheless. He still couldn’t seem to get enough air in his lungs and somehow that just pissed off his uncle even more.

“Talk, tea and biscuits will not diffuse my wrath. You can’t possibly understand what you almost exposed him to! Face it. You got lucky! Lucky that I’m here, lucky that I’m not like Fugaku, lucky that I convinced your ‘friend’ that I would take care of this problem. And I still have to go deal with him after I drop you off!”

He grabbed his collar and pulled him to his feet. “What were you thinking? Actually, don’t tell me. I’m sure that would take my anger up to eleven.” Angrily he pressed him harder into the wall. “You should have been more careful! It’s a miracle that we have been able to contain the situation!”

“That’s why I told him we were done!” Itachi looked him in the eye with a glare, frustration finally peaking through; he hated himself enough already without his uncle shoving his face in it. “I don’t want to put him at risk, so I had to, regardless of how much it might hurt him!” He simultaneously smashed the heel of his hand into Madara’s nose and grabbed the hand at his collar, peeling it away and pushing into center of the back, aiming between the bones while twisting his wrist to find the pressure point. Madara anticipated the first half of the move and jerked his head backward to avoid major damage, though he could feel his nose start to drip blood. Itachi had Madara’s dominant hand halfway into a hold but his other hand was strong enough to put the kid in his place.

A well-aimed punch to the face knocked him face down into the gravel, and although Itachi gingerly touched his cheek, he didn’t stand back up. His face had returned the impassive mask that he’d perfected over the years. Madara felt his rage cooling at the pathetic sight but went right on yelling. “You weren’t as helpful as you’d like to believe! Other people know what you two have done, thanks to your stupidity!”

Frustrated, Madara kicked him again, but since Itachi wasn’t fighting back anymore, the violence wasn’t making him feel better. He needed to join a fight club or something. Or maybe he should revisit his old karate sensei; it couldn’t be mere coincidence that his sensei’s grandson was his nephew’s best friend.

“You impossible child. What am I to do with you? Maybe I should move in with you guys, just to keep an eye on every little thing you do.” He crouched down, mood swinging from enraged and aggressive to disappointed and contemplative. “Of all the things that could happen, I’m sure this never occurred to your parents. They always told me if anything happened to them that I should take care of you, especially considering what dear Mikoto’s family is like.” He sighed heavily. “I suppose I can’t blame you. Bonding together was how you both survived, yes?

“You aren’t defending yourself very well, either. I’m sure you feel horrible about all the pain you’ve caused him, but remorse is not going to magically make anything better. An emotion is not enough to make something right. The world cannot be changed with pretty words alone.”^ Silence held them in their places a bit longer until Madara knew he was being given the silent treatment, and this wasn’t Itachi's usual uncooperative attitude. “You have no intention to communicate with me any further until you see your brother again, hmm?”

No response.

“I guess that’s my answer then.” Madara stood, and rested a hand on his hip. “I forgot I wasn’t going to hit you where he could see so easily. Oh well. You do not want to stir up my wrath again, so I suggest you make up a pretty lie for our dear little Sasuke.”

Madara’s cell phone rang. ‘Auld Lang Syne’ filled the small alleyway. “Speak of the devil.” A brief look at the front screen showed Naruto’s number. It was obvious why Naruto was calling—he’d told the kid they’d be at the house around now, and the impatient runt was bored. And hungry, too, he’d bet; perhaps they should grab some fast food to take back to the house. He’d taken longer than expected, but that’s just what you get when you let your anger win. Plus the tipsy feeling was gone so he was good to drive again.

Putting it back in his pocket but not answering it, Madara reached down to help his nephew up. Now that he was calmer he reflected that he really should have stopped earlier. Itachi hardly fought back, and Madara knew it was all part of his deep-rooted guilt. It was also true that Sasuke would never really be able to hurt his brother—not that he wasn’t capable, but he wouldn’t have the heart to take revenge. Although he seemed reluctant, Itachi accepted the arm that slipped around his torso to help him up. Nothing like a few hits between men to solve some animosity.

The footsteps they hadn’t noticed stopped abruptly at the entrance of the alley: a shrill voice commanded, “Don’t touch him!”

Sasuke stood with one hand on his hip and the other pointing at the now frozen pair, slightly out of breath from the dash, keeping his back straight to appear as tall as possible. There was no way he could fight his uncle, but at the very least he could startle him. Plus he couldn’t resist the dramatic pose.

In that moment, Madara reflexively obeyed, and dropped Itachi—who fell back down with a grunt—for ‘where there is energy to command well enough, obedience never fails.’^* He faced his youngest nephew, attempting to mask his disappointment at being caught by trying to appear worried. “Sasuke. So good to see you. I found your brother—”

“Don’t even.” Itachi looked at his brother, and saw anger that at least matched Uncle Madara’s in his furrowed brows and scowling pink mouth. “I know what you’ve been up to.” Sasuke’s mad eyes flicked down to his brother. Itachi looked away, partly out of guilt and partly out of shame at being seen so beaten. Worry began to dominate his little brother’s expression. “You have no right to hurt him. I don’t care what you say. Now *move.*” He all but shoved Madara out of the way, who complied mostly out of amusement, and took his place as he struggled to pull Itachi up.

The man rose readily; although the blows had hurt he’d trained long enough in the dojo (like all good little Uchiha children) to have suffered worse. The feeling that he deserved every bit of pain kept him down, but if his Sasuke was going through the trouble of helping him, then he should at least go along with it.

Once standing, however, he gently pushed Sasuke an arm’s length away. “Thank you, but I’m strong enough to stand on my own.” Ignoring the pain in his abdomen, he brushed off his clothes and adjusted his ponytail. If he could convince his brother that all was fine, they could go back to the apartment without their uncle thereby avoid the awkward conversation Uncle Madara had evidently planned.

If anything, his eyes narrowed further and he set his jaw in the stubborn way he’d learned from his mother. “I don’t believe you.” Itachi was never one to wobble nor grasp walls for support. If he thought Sasuke was buying his ‘I’m fine’ act, then he must have been hit in the head.

“You can’t stand on your own, but there’s so many other things I don’t believe.” He dismissed the oncoming objection with a wave of his hand and folded his arms across his chest. “This may not be the ideal place,” he paused, glancing around and observing no one else besides the three of them, continued, “but I feel like if I don’t say it now you won’t listen later. I don’t believe what you said that day. You betting on me has nothing to do with how dedicated you are to us—that’s just your usual arrogance. And while you may have forgotten, I haven’t—could never—forget that we only started *because* we are brothers. You developed your aversion to ‘aniki’ afterwards.”

“Yes, when I realized what we were doing. What kind of man does things like that to his baby brother?”
He ignored Uncle Madara’s smirk at Sasuke’s claim as to why they began. That man didn’t need a bigger ego from knowing how often he was right.

“It’s a real burden, being right all the time.” He mumbled to himself, enjoying the show yet ready to jump in and steer the conversation where he needed it to go. It seemed they would be doing all the work for him, however.

Sasuke cheeks grew hot. “I’m not a baby! I’m no adult, sure, but I’m not some lesser being that you can order around! Both sides of what we were like that, not just our love life! These past two weeks were the nicest you’ve been in years. Or what would I know? I’m just your kid brother, who can’t possibly have my own thoughts or desires.” Or is that really how his brother saw him?

“And I already apologized for it! I hadn’t realized it at the time.” He allowed his facial muscles to show his remorse, because Sasuke had to know his apology was in earnest. “As far as I knew, everything was perfect. It wasn’t until you told me otherwise that I had any idea what you were actually thinking. That’s not your fault, but you could have spoken up the first time I started being an ass. I would have stopped if I knew you were serious.”

“Well you *never* take me seriously! And I had tried before, you know, you just ignored me or brushed it off. You fucking SUCK at communicating!” His voice rose in volume, unintentionally guiding his best friend to them. Naruto was ignored, so he joined the other spectator quietly, who raised a dark eyebrow at his late appearance. Naruto took in Madara’s bloody nose, figured he hit his best friend’s older brother, and promptly decided to ignore Madara. The man wasn’t going to allow that, but Sasuke’s shouting was getting too loud and would soon draw attention. “When you’re grouchy or concentrating you snap at me, and when you’re distracted, sleepy, happy, horny, hungry, or pretty much anything else we can’t talk because we’re too busy fu—”

“Ahem.” Madara cleared his throat. “If you would keep your voice down, please.” There were still in public, after all.

“Yeah. Sorry.” He turned back to his brother. “Anyway, you missed my entire point in breaking off in the first place. I love you. I don’t want to leave you—being without you is my personal hell. All I kept thinking about was how much I missed you! But what was I supposed to do?” Little drops of moisture threatened to blur his vision again, and he wanted to smack himself. He just couldn’t help it. “I loved you and you were killing me.” He couldn’t look at the expression on his brother’s face. He’d never wanted to cause anybody pain like that.

So he spared a glance at the blonde. He looked like he was going to run over and give him a hug, but that would throw off the whole conversation—the conversation they were *finally* having—so he grabbed hold of that inner strength and told his tears to fuck off.

Loved? The past tense? “I think we’re even. You tore apart my entire existence when you left!” Wasn’t it obvious how hopeless, miserable, wretched he had become? “I meant what I said about you being my raison d’être; I didn’t see that you were the love of my life and it kills me...” he trailed off. He hadn’t meant to be so honest, but the dawn of understanding was flickering in Sasuke’s dark eyes.

However, if he didn’t want it to turn into guilt, moving away from his own pain was necessary. “I’m not making excuses. I just… well, Uncle Madara knows now anyway.” His eyes darted to his uncle, and noticed Naruto looked supremely guilty; even his hair was drooping as if the blond spikes were at fault, too. “I’d returned home and intended to make everything right, but then Orochimaru called and threatened to tell Uncle Madara if I didn’t leave you alone. I figured if I couldn’t have you, I’d at least keep you by my side.” Sasuke nodded in reply, accepting at least that last bit. “I was sure Uncle Madara would take you away. It’d be beyond a miracle if he approved of what we’d done, and you’ve always been his favorite so he’d assume the best of you and the worst of me.”
“Kind of happened anyway, huh?” So rarely was Itachi wrong that Sasuke couldn’t help enjoying the moment a smidgen, gesturing at Itachi’s hand holding his torso where the pain throbbed dully. “It never occurred to you to tell *me* what he’d said? Am I that untrustworthy? I’m so helpless, so inferior,” he spat, “that you couldn’t be bothered to mention that? A conversation regarding me?!”

“I’m trying to take care of you! I’m your older brother, like it or not, and my job is to protect you. How was I supposed to keep you safe, and happy, too? I thought I was making the right choice.”

“Yeah. I get it. You probably didn’t realize it, but you were absolutely right when you said you couldn’t handle being the lover of someone you’re related to. I mean, you clearly can’t think of me as being on the same level as you—”

“But you must admit that in some ways you’re not; you’re younger and naïve and there is always some amount of authority older siblings have over younger siblings. It’s just how the world works.”

Although he didn’t like it, his brother was back to being right. “So can’t we just pretend we aren’t?
That would put us on an equal footing.” It made sense; if the problem is that they’re related, they could employ the age-old Uchiha method of coping and just ignore the issue of shared blood.

“I’d still be a college student dating a high schooler. With our age difference, I’d be breaking the law.” He knew Sasuke would roll his eyes at that, and he waited for him to do it before refuting the anticipated retort. “Think of it like this: it’d be on the same spectrum as Uncle Madara dating Naruto.”

The two men started at hearing their names. The blonde’s face grew a bit red as he scowled but Madara’s expression lost none of its customary amusement; his lips’ edges actually titled upward a bit.

Sasuke opened his mouth to reply, then thought about it seriously. Aesthetically there wasn’t an issue, but ethically something seemed off. Madara took the opportunity to step in. “Perhaps, then, you should only resume when you are equals.”

They both turned and looked at him curiously.

“In two years, Sasuke will be eighteen. He’ll be a legal adult and we can reasonably say that he will be able to take care of himself by then. Why don’t you two just wait? You can try again at that point.”

“No matter how old he gets he’ll still be my baby brother.” and “What do you mean, *just wait* TWO YEARS?!” and “You’re encouraging them to try AGAIN?!” were said all at the same time.

The brothers looked at each other, but Naruto spoke first. “Itachi’s problem is guilt, Sasuke can’t handle waiting for shit, and your problem is that Itachi nearly exposed them.” Madara nodded for him to continue, which he did not nearly as calmly. “So you beat him up for messing with Sasuke, then tell them to try again? What exactly are you thinking?!”

Madara was surprised that this kid had no fear of pissing him off, and looked down at the young blonde with interest. “What is it to you?” Was it possible that someone genuinely cared for his nephews, enough to ignore their obvious issues? He thought his nephews were the best children in the world (generally, anyway) but objectively he knew they were difficult.

Naruto looked away from the intense stare. “I just can’t figure out what you’re thinking. Do you want them together, or not?”

“If they keep each other happy and safe, then I honestly don’t care what they do. I’m only involved because that foolish fool~^,” gesturing to his older nephew who was now scowling at him, “thought it’d be a good idea to show a bunch of college idiots exactly how he loves his brother. One didn’t react the way Itachi anticipated, and now he needs to come up with a solution, because for all we know Orochimaru has told the wrong people.” Naruto frowned, trying to remember what that man looked like. He’d only met Itachi’s posse a few times so he wasn’t sure.

At his core, Itachi was a problem solver and he couldn’t help but sound supremely confident. “I can handle that one. I’ve beaten Orochimaru in chess; I can outsmart him in everything else.”

Sasuke rolled his eyes and Naruto giggled at him. “Arrogance just oozes out of your pores, huh?”

“Is it mere arrogance if I can back up my claims?” They smiled, but then Sasuke remembered what they were supposed to be doing and frowned at his uncle.

“How am I supposed to wait two years? I could hardly wait two weeks! Every day was a battle not to jump him, and even though I won the battle over my desires, I still lost my brother.”

“I’m sorry, truly.” He did look a bit sorry, but the way he flipped his hair over his shoulder told he did not intend to change his mind and that he was annoyed at being argued with. “You two are all that’s left of my brother and sister-in-law, and I love you both. But you two weren’t able to solve your problem on your own, so of course I’m involved.”

Silence stretched out. Neither brother was willing to argue with their uncle, especially when they had no valid argument to be found. Surely they couldn’t go along with such an awful plan, but try as they might there seemed to be no other option.

“Group hug!” Naruto shouted to try to defuse the horrible tension. They all ignored him, and he decided to distract himself by drawing patterns in the gravel with his shoe. No wonder the Uchiha were always grumpy. Hugs could fix the world, didn’t they know?

“But this is why incest is a problem, you know. How are you supposed to balance it, when countless others have failed before you? Either you give up your brotherhood, which Itachi can’t do yet, or you give up being lovers, which you’d only have to do for two years.” He grinned without humor. “This isn’t really a suggestion. You may hate me for it, but this is the only way I can guarantee that another incident will not occur before Sasuke is legally allowed.” And here, his mouth dropped all hints of smiles. “If you cannot comply, I will take Sasuke to live with me. His safety is my priority.”

No one said anything, contemplating the mandate. Itachi leaned against the wall, straining to keep the dizziness away. Madara certainly knew how to punch. As for waiting… he hadn’t realized Sasuke was suffering as much as he was; it hadn’t shown at all that his brother was feeling the same pain he was. Could they wait that long? He knew he could—but only if Sasuke wanted to; at least waiting meant they had hope of reunion, one day when he wasn’t burdened by duty.

So... Itachi felt guilty. That would explain some things. Like how he hated being called brother sometimes; he probably thought that he was disappointing mom and dad. How could Itachi have lived with such guilt and never said anything to him? He studied his brother’s face, trying to figure out which way to go. Well, they really didn’t have a choice here, not with Uncle Madara’s decision (and he definitely didn’t want to make him angry again. Separation would be a fate worse than death). So if he just agreed to wait, then Itachi wouldn’t feel guilty anymore. That thought would have to sustain him.

“Fine.” He turned to his uncle. “I’ll wait. Like you said, uncle, waiting is probably the best solution.” His face must have shown he disagreed to his core and merely wanted to be strong, because before he knew it he was being smothered by his brother. The comforting warmth overwhelmed him, urging him to break his resolve.

Itachi hugged him tight, not letting him squirm away. “Just give me a minute. If I try to hug you later, I might not be able to restrain myself,” he whispered. The younger’s face flushed slightly, and he buried his face into his brother’s chest to hide it. He was exactly the same, though, and lamented how careful they’d have to be to keep from exciting each other accidentally.

Madara was satisfied. “Alright, then, boys. I’ll be checking in with you every week, as usual. I’ll give you a ride back to—”

“No thank you.” Sasuke said with a defiant air, and pulled himself away from his brother though he held onto his arm. His brother’s center of balance was off, probably from being punched in the head, and he didn’t want the man falling down. “I’m not really in the mood to be around you right now. Just because I’m going along with your plan doesn’t mean I like it. Also, you hit my brother and I won’t forgive that so easily.” His uncle defied expectations and actually smiled a little at the impudent interruption.

“You’re just like your father with that attitude.”

Sasuke shrugged it off and held out his hand to Naruto. “Keys?” the blonde handed them over without argument. “We’ll see you later, Naruto. Goodbye, Uncle Madara.” He finished coolly.

The elder brother turned. “Thank you. This could have turned out much worse.” They really did get lucky their uncle wasn’t too much like their father. To Naruto, he said, “None of this is your fault, kid.”

“Yeah.” He said, but he didn’t sound convinced.

“You should stop by later.” He smiled at the boy, and Naruto smiled back—it was such a rare event. Itachi caught up with his brother and didn’t look back.

“Why did you thank him?” Sasuke made an effort to keep the annoyance from his tone, but his brother did stuff that made no sense.

“It really could have been a lot worse.” breathing this fast stung his torso so he adjusted his pace. “I don’t like admitting it, but we’re lucky. Orochimaru will be easy enough to bribe. He’s a college student—he’s got to be desperate for money.” He walked alongside his brother, trying to figure what he was thinking. He said he’d wait, but they’d said nothing about getting involved in other relationships in the meantime. Now wasn’t the time to ask about that, though. “Are you alright?” The boy seemed a little shaken up, though which part exactly of the past ten minutes was a mystery.

“I’m fine.” He replied with a frown. “I should be asking you that. He didn’t hurt you too bad, did he? Though, you made him bleed, which is practically a victory by itself.” He reached up to touch the readily forming bruise, but his brother flinched away before he could touch it. “Sorry.” he mumbled, remembering physical contact would have to be extremely limited if he wanted to avoid making his brother feel guiltier. Sasuke hated the tension between them; it made the air feel thick. “Where’s your car? We couldn’t find it before, so we got worried.”

“We dropped it off at our house, since it was on the way. Didn’t make sense to take two cars to the same place.”

“I see.” Activating the remote unlock, Sasuke wondered why Naruto hadn’t used it in the parking lot when they were running away from their teacher. It felt like forever ago. But he was sure that by the time they got home there’d be several messages from his school, informing Itachi what level of trouble his brother had gotten into.

“So you ditched school?” Itachi climbed into the vehicle, hoping he was masking the pain the movement caused. For an old man, Madara kicked damn hard. “It’s Friday, so I can’t blame you for wanting to get out early.” The vague half-smile came out too much like a grimace to convey humor.

He didn’t receive a smile in return, and abandoned his attempts to make things less awkward. The car rumbled to life, and Sasuke pulled out of the parking lot and started the drive home with a gentle touch that the vehicle was unaccustomed to.

“You are absolutely right. We are—that is, *I* am terrible at communicating.” He checked in the mirror to see how the bruise was forming. “Since I can never tell when you’re serious, how about we use a code word? Something that will tell me I’m being ridiculous. Even as brothers, it’d be good to communicate properly.” Sasuke nodded, frowning, clearly bothered by something else. “I want to make sure that by the time you’re old enough, you still want me.” The last was said softly, and the younger began to comprehend exactly what the next two years would be like—two long years filled with aching temptation so near at hand, longings that will have to be suppressed every second of every minute of every hour they spent in the same building.

“What about you?” he asked. All the things his brother never said, for reasons he always seemed to miss, remained just out of focus in his mind’s eye. “I never knew you felt guilty.”

“I didn’t want to worry you.” Why yes, magic did exist, because that was the only explanation for how Itachi's faultless rationale suddenly sounded so lame.

“You realize that causes me to worry more? Way to fail.” It was said gently, but the tension of unresolved issues and unspoken words made him restless, and he fidgeted with a button on the bottom of his shirt. “You said that it didn’t matter how old I got, I’d still be your ‘baby brother,’ right? That’s a problem.” Fingers ran through his hair distractedly, making Itachi jealous he couldn’t reach over and play with Sasuke’s hair too. But he couldn’t, not if he wanted to retain control of himself. “It’s not like some big violation of the hierarchy of nature for you to lean on me just because I’m younger.”

“I suppose.” It just felt unusual. Kind of like a one way street suddenly splitting into two, and the traffic adjusting to flowing both ways. “I felt guilty because I kept thinking how dad and mom would feel about it. I doubt they’d be proud.” How to explain this feeling…

“You know how when you’re swimming underwater for a long time, and all that pressure builds up until the moment you break the surface and breathe again?” Sasuke nodded, unsure where this was going. “I feel a bit like that. That pressure that mom and dad would hate me, that I’m not fulfilling my duty to take care of you no matter what… I feel like it’s been there for so long and suddenly I’m breathing again.

“You know me. I don’t particularly like talking about my feelings. Especially when talking about an issue isn’t going to help—there is nothing you can do to make me feel less guilty or like I haven’t let down our parents. Logically, there’s no benefit to talking about these things. Rehashing such negative emotions and memories only makes it worse. And whenever somebody told me I’d feel better if I shared my emotions, I thought they were just spouting some shit they’d been fed from the TV. But… as illogical as it is, I *do* feel better saying it to you. I guess it’s cause you’re my brother and my love, but right now is the first time in years that I feel like I’m breathing again.” Thankfully his breathing was alright, which meant the damage wasn’t deep.

Had Itachi ever said so much at once? Had he ever been so sincere? Sasuke had no idea, and he didn’t really care then. Because he was sure that no matter how close they’d been physically before, here their bond was transcending what normal people had—that supernatural pull, thrumming between them. Sasuke reached across the car and grabbed his brother’s hand, unable to stop and aching for some form of contact. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” His hand tingled at his brother’s touch; he barely smothered the fire that small action caused in his veins. He continued. “But there’s another problem. What if I’m not best for you? What if the person you’re meant to be with isn’t… me?”

The younger slapped the dashboard in frustration, unable to contain himself. “That’s exactly how I feel! I’ve visited your college before, and I’ve seen how they look at you. It’s hard to imagine that out of all the people there, people your age who share your interests and are probably so much easier to deal with, that you would ignore them all for me.” He swallowed, and went for it. “I won’t blame you if you can’t wait. If you find someone else—”

“Never!” The abrupt interjection startled him. “Unless it’s you, it’s no good. As far as I’m concerned, other people don’t exist … I hear your voice everywhere, I see your face in strangers on the street,” he pointed out the window as they drove through their neighborhood. Itachi pointed, “this one has your nose, this one does that nose-wrinkling thing you do when you smell something gross, that one has a frown that’s almost as grumpy as yours…” he smiled sadly. “All I see is you.

Steeling himself, he made the offer he felt he had to. “But if you want someone else—”

“Of course not!” he yelled. He calmed down very quickly when he realized his reaction was exactly the same as his brother’s had been a minute before. Also, he needed to stop shouting. It went against the way of the Uchiha and was wearing his throat out. “That really was an insulting question to ask you, but I wanted to make sure. I’m sorry.”

“There’s no fault to be had, otouto. This is the sort of communication we’re trying to improve on, after all.” Yes, this was why he hated talking about feelings and sharing and shit. The pain in his head grew, and he was glad he’d be able to lie down soon, maybe even take a nap. “At least now we’re aware that these conversations will likely be unpleasant.” Sasuke nodded in agreement, but they both knew talking about stuff was the only way things would work out. They didn’t have to like it, though.

They were nearly home, and the silence was peaceful; the calm was so at odds with the fights not long before and the pent-up tension throughout recently that they were having a difficult time adjusting. This was all subconscious, of course, but the subconscious knows what it wants and sometimes it has a more powerful pull; it only needs time to gain strength.

“Dolphin.” Sasuke said suddenly.

“Um… Flipper?” He supposed the word association game could improve communication, but it seemed more like something Naruto would come up with.

“No, I mean I’ll say ‘dolphin’ when we need to have a serious discussion.” The younger looked so serious that Itachi had to assume he wasn’t joking. “I’m assuming it won’t happen often, but I’d rather be prepared.”

“…you don’t think that’ll make me laugh?”

“I’m counting on it. If you’re angry, laughing will distract you. And if you’re horny, well… I certainly hope that thinking of dolphins makes that kind of problem go away, too. You can thank Naruto for that one. He convinced Ino that dolphins are just gay sharks, and she believes that blondes can’t lie to each other because of some weird hair-alliance that Naruto also told her about.” His smile faded a bit, though the affection remained. “Naruto called Uncle earlier today. As far as he could see, Uncle Madara is the only person who could find out who called you, since we figured somebody had to blackmailing you. Anyway, he had good intentions so you can’t be angry with him.”

“He does have the best intentions, and I can’t be angry with a person who’s looking out for my brother. I invited him over later, because I think Kisame, Deidara, Hidan and the rest plan on showing up.” He watched an embarrassed blush rise on his brother’s face. “Technically it’ll be to get his car, but I’d understand if you want to leave with him.” Until now, Itachi had been able to avoid talking about what happened the night a few weeks prior and therefore hadn’t given much thought to what he would tell them. Maybe they could play it off as a joke? He ran through the scenarios in his mind, analyzing whether each person would believe the lie and what he’d have to do to convince them.

“That reminds me: you guys kept mentioning Orochimaru, but he wasn’t even there that night. Besides, I thought you two were friends?”

“I told him to stay away from you because he was hitting on you, which evolved into staying away from our house and me, too. Kisame backed me up because he has a raging crush on me.” He tried not to smile at the jealous scowl that statement generated, while not bothering to hide the disgust at his next, “Deidara agreed cause he thought he was ‘defending your honor’ or something. Orochimaru has always been sort of an outsider, so nobody really cared when he stopped showing up.”

“Really?” He parked the car and climbed out, watching, this time, his brother—and there was the wince he thought he’d seen earlier. “We need to get you an ice pack. Are you sure he was hitting on me? He wasn’t just being his weird self?”

“No, I’m sure he’s only ‘weird’ for you. How could you not have noticed?” He unlocked the door and headed straight for the kitchen. “Where do we keep the first aid kit? Though I don’t think there’s any blood.” Finding the kit under the sink, he sat on the edge of the table, got out some bandages and activated the ice pack. Slipping off his shirt and cringing at the swelling and the bruise beginning to form. “Uncle hits damn hard. I thought he’d stopped training years ago, but apparently he keeps up with his exercise.”

“Do you need any help?” He dumped his backpack in his room quickly, then returned to the kitchen to lend his aid. “And did you eat enough? I’m starving. I’ll make you something if you want.” He set some water to boil and retrieved a blue box from the cabinet.

“Isn’t there something more important you should be asking?” Itachi studied his brother, watching his movements in the kitchen come to halt at the question. The uncertain look on Sasuke’s face was adorable. “Throw me an ice pack from the freezer, would you please?”

Sasuke complied, oddly excited at hearing aniki say please. It gave him ideas for when Itachi got past his guilt, all the things he could do to make him say please over and over… “Er, what would you like to eat?” he guessed. He didn’t care; he was making his mac ‘n cheese no matter what Itachi said.

“I thought you’d be curious about the plan for when my friends come over.” He noted the squirm and resolved to set all his fears to rest. It wasn’t right for his brother to be so uncomfortable in his own home; next week he’d arrange for his friends to meet elsewhere. Though, the original point of meeting at Itachi’s was so Sasuke wouldn’t be alone so maybe he’d convince his brother to spend weekends at Naruto’s or something. “At the very least, I assumed you would be wondering if they’ve said anything in the past weeks.”

“Well, have they?” Rarely did Itachi look pathetic, but pathetic it was to see him struggle to wrap the bandages around his torso to hold the ice packs in place. He left the water to heat on the stove. “Lift your arms, I’ll help you.” With his arms raised enough to be out of the way, Sasuke tenderly passed the wrap from hand to hand, meeting in the back in a poor imitation of a hug. This sort of hug felt more intimate than anything they’d done lately, so close they were practically breathing the same air.

“Thanks.” Having otouto near was a comfort in itself, he thought, peering down at the top of Sasuke’s head. “First tell me why you didn’t ask about their reactions before now. Please.” He added, remembering his resolution to treat Sasuke like an equal. Not equal in height yet, thank goodness. He hoped that would never happen. Little else could make an older sibling feel time pass.

“No, you tell me first.”

“*You* first.”

“*You* first, times infinity.”

He almost fell into the childish trap, then relented. “Fine. I’ll go first. I’ve avoided the issue like only an Uchiha could, and I intend to make them think it was an elaborate prank.”

“And you think that’ll work?”

“Why not? I’ve calculated for their reactions, and besides, I don’t need to convince them it was truly a joke. I just need to convince them that they want to think it was a joke.” He shrugged nonchalantly. “All that aside, I’m me, aren’t I?”

“Oh. I see you’ve got your confidence back.” The words were out and he hadn’t really meant to say them. They were true anyhow. His brother had been walking around recently like he’d been waiting for earthquakes to hit.

“No, I’ve got you back.” Overcome for a moment and desperate for contact, he laid a hand on his head and patted otouto’s soft hair.

Unconsciously Sasuke smiled in return and finished, tucking the end of the bandage roll into the other layers. “I didn’t want to ask because I figured you had some ridiculous plan that shouldn’t even work but will work because it’s you—but oh wait, that’s exactly what this is.” He sighed and looked into his brother’s eyes—he’d been avoiding them for so long and now gazing freely again he wasn’t sure how he’d been resisting. “Do you need me to do anything?”

Itachi made a gesture to the stove. “I’ll have some tea in the study, please, but otherwise I need you to relax and allow me to take care of everything.”

“Can I… no, never mind.”

“Don’t start withholding things from me already.”

“I...” he turned it over in his mind. Resolved, he started again. “I want to confront Deidara, on my own. I’m not persuasive enough to sway the others, but I want to do what I can. I led him on, so I will lead him off.” He thought for a moment. “Or out? Off is the opposite of on, but ‘lead him off’ just sounds weird. Anyway,” he squared his shoulders. “Get him to stop hitting on me. That’s what I’m going to do.”

“Confronting people, fending off older men…” He pretended to wipe a tear from his eye. “My baby brother’s all grown up.” A small part of him was sincere, though. Apparently Sasuke was more mature than he let show.

“Shut up” was all he got back but he could hear the smile in the command so he knew it was all in good fun.

True to his word, Itachi let his friends know that they thought it was a joke. In a rare display of his authority, he scared the shit out of half of them and the other half considered it too troublesome to disagree.

“So you’re taken, huh? You would be.” Deidara did not look particularly happy at the revelation, but he didn’t look very surprised either. It seemed as if he was going to walk out of the kitchen, but he dashed back for a moment to give his little crush a quick kiss on the cheek. “If you ever break up with your boyfriend, I’m available.” The blonde winked and ran back out, determined to harass his new best friend playfully, who (like himself) happened to be blonde and somewhat obnoxious.

Sasuke sighed quietly in relief that the blonde hadn’t been difficult. As he left the kitchen, he high-fived his brother in victory.

Naruto had arrived just before the others, so the noise level in the house was consistently loud from just before sunset until about two in the morning. With the house quiet, clean, and finally to themselves, Sasuke plopped onto the couch. “It’s been a long day, hasn’t it?”

“Absolutely.” Itachi agreed and dropped down next to him. “I’m not tired at all though.”

“Wanna watch a movie?” he suggested, though he was already putting in the nearest DVD he could find since it didn’t really matter what they watched. “That puts you to sleep faster than any of the sleeping pills we’ve got.”

“Sure.” Barely an hour into it, Sasuke was snoring against his aniki’s arm. Itachi slipped his arm from under the blanket and held his brother close. Nothing could replace the comforting warmth of his brother beside him. He was tempted, *so* tempted to ignore what Uncle Madara’s mandate. Guilt? What guilt? Admitting to Sasuke that he’d felt guilty at all had released the pressure, and seeing just how mature his brother had been tonight ignited a different kind of pressure altogether.

What could it hurt? Sasuke surely wanted this. Gradually he twisted a little and leaned down, breath falling on his brother’s lips as he inched closer. No reason he shouldn’t ravish Sasuke. No reason to stop, because Sasuke had said earlier that he still loved him…

“Hmm… ’tachi…” his brother mumbled sleepily. Eyelids twitched but didn’t open. Nevertheless, the spell was broken, though. All their troubles sprang from miscommunications, and if he was going to do this with his brother, they were going to do it properly. Plus he didn’t want his uncle coming after him again.

“Let’s get you to your bed.” Although the hushed words were directed towards his brother, he was really talking to himself and therefore surprised when Sasuke opened his eyes and huffed, throwing the blanket off them.

“How did that not work? You were so close, too. Does my breath stink?” Sasuke did not seem sleepy at all. In fact, he wasn’t sleepy because he hadn’t been sleeping. He checked his breath, and finding it as usual, slumped back on the couch.

“I wasn’t going to start anything without making sure I’m understanding you properly.” At least he had been right about what Sasuke wanted. He clicked off the TV to stop the extraneous noise.

A dark eyebrow rose. “I said your name while pretending to be asleep, snuggled against your arm. Is there even another way to interpret that?”

“Are you sure you want to go against what Uncle Madara said?”

“Give me a break. I’m his favorite.” Without really deciding to, he sat up and swung a leg over his brother’s lap. Even after so long, it was all so natural that Itachi didn’t really think about it either as he wrapped one arm around his hips to pull him closer, both softly groaning as their groins met, and the other arm trailed up his back to settle in the soft hair. “He was more upset that people found out than anything else.”

“He nearly broke one of my ribs.” He said defensively with what might have been a pout. Soothingly, Sasuke patted the wound.

“Alright, he cares about people finding out *and* if you hurt me. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.” He murmured. Itachi allowed himself to be hugged tightly, biting back a grin when Sasuke’s breath tickled his neck. “I would give it all to not be sleeping alone.”

“So you want to have doubly forbidden sex behind our Uncle’s back?” This wasn’t hesitation; he just wanted to be absolutely sure that Sasuke knew what he was getting into this time.

“Well I’d rather not do it anywhere near his back, but yes. Please.” He whispered, stroking aniki’s hair and gliding his fingers down his neck, over his shirt to his stomach. “Do you really need me to say it?”

“I love hearing all the fantastically naughty things you come up with, but right now I only want four words.” No longer could he wait. Pulling his brother’s head to his mouth, he finally reunited with Sasuke. They kissed wildly, not building slowly but pushing his tongue to Sasuke’s and groaning aloud when his brother sucked on it. It was rough and needy and perfect. Sasuke tasted as good as ever—this was the taste he’d longed for. He drew back for a moment. “I love you.”

Sasuke breathlessly breathed “I love you, too” before aniki was devouring his mouth again. A string of saliva escaped, sliding down his chin, but he didn’t care. His arousal flared, bright as a bonfire, and he ground his hips into Itachi’s. The answering groan was accompanied by a brief struggle with their shirts, and Sasuke stood above his brother on the couch to step out of his pants and underwear. Below, Itachi slid out of his. “Damn, that’s hot.” Sasuke settled onto his brother lap, their erections brushing against each other as Itachi licked along his neck. “How have I gone so long without you?”

Otouto’s answer was to snake a hand into his brother’s hair and push Itachi higher up on his neck, arching into him as he focused on the spot below Sasuke’s ear that made him squirm. The younger retaliated by grasping both their erections in one hand and slowly dragging his hand up from their balls to the very tips of their dicks, giving Itachi’s a light pinch with the edges of his fingers. “fuck!”

He smirked, tugging on his brother’s ear with his teeth. “That’s right… just fuck me already.” Ever mindful of the bandages, he massaged the skin above and below it, paying special attention to the area around Itachi’s bellybutton. Aniki mashed their mouths together, turned on ever more by the dirty words spilling from his brother’s soft lips. He could practically taste them in the strokes of his tongue and dragged his brother’s lip between his teeth then flicking his tongue out to taste it as he retreated.

“Gladly, otouto.” Gathering saliva trailing between them, he grazed his fingers against his brother’s hole, enjoying the little movement Sasuke’s hips made as they jerked the slightest bit closer to him. His brother watched him, panting, as he gently slid the first finger in. A few pumps were enough, and he slid the second one in with little difficulty. Otouto was helping him along now, resting his hand on his brother’s shoulders and dipping his hips with the motions of Itachi’s hands. “Come on… hurry up.” He mumbled.

The urgency in his voice reminded Itachi of how much he ached to be inside his brother. He slid his third finger alongside the other two. Sasuke, in his impatience to be filled with his brother, waited until the tips of the fingers were inside him then slammed his hips down. They gasped simultaneously; Sasuke hadn’t felt this full in weeks and Itachi had run out of resolve to be patient.

His fingers only stayed in long enough to wiggle a little, but that would have to be enough. Smirking at his brother, he fished around in the couch and brought his hand back out with a condom. “bought a few packs of these, coming home from the gym that morning. I hid them everywhere I thought we might use ‘em.” Sasuke looked pleased but was still impatiently tugging at his ponytail. He laid his brother down on the couch, and Sasuke’s hand found their places in his hair and encircling his shoulder. Itachi put the tip in, and paused to make sure he could watch his brother’s face as he entered. He was sure otouto had never looked hotter. Sweat made the strands of hair stick to his forehead, and his pale face was flushed red.

“Love you. Hurry.” Only Sasuke could sound so impatient, desperate, and adoring at one moment. He smiled and steadily pushed in. Dark eyes opened wide, and he gasped inaudibly as he wrapped his legs around his brother’s waist. There was no holding back the loud moan as Itachi pushed all the way into that tight heat. “Ohh…” slipped out seductively, causing Sasuke to ignore the sting and force his brother’s head down to meet his mouth. Their kiss was messy but passionate, and Itachi licked his cheek as pulled back and started slowly grinding into his brother.

He didn’t have to ask how he wanted it; Itachi knew otouto liked it slow but hard, and grinding his hips in with every thrust drove him crazy. His brother squirmed and moaned and clutched at him, voice rising at each drive into his most sensitive areas. “Ahh… yeah… keep doing that… mmmm…”

Every noise brought Itachi closer to his climax. Going for so long without fucking was too much, and they both felt it building much too quickly but they couldn’t stop. Itachi would pull out, then thrust in hard as Sasuke’s legs jerked him in harder. “So fucking... good!” he nearly screamed. “Ahh! right there! yes, yes!” Nothing could match the feeling of his brother’s long dick reaching deep inside him, filling him.

Itachi’s body moved on its own, thrusting as deep as he could into the tightness of his brother’s ass. “Damn, otouto… you feel amazing.” He hadn’t realized he’d called him ‘brother,’ but it threw Sasuke over the edge. “Ohh… FUCK!” he tightened his arms around his brother as his cum burst out of his dick and onto their stomachs. Itachi managed a few more thrusts, then emptied his seed within his only brother. “Fuck… Sasuke.”

Though he thought Itachi was a bit heavy, the last thing he wanted was his brother to move. Gradually they caught their breaths, and Itachi inched down so he could take most of his weight off otouto’s lungs and laid his head on his brother’s chest. Subconsciously Sasuke’s hand drifted to his brother’s hair, sifting through it, removing the tangles he’d made.

“In about ten minutes I’ll be ready to go again. But for now, I can honestly say I’ve never been happier.”

Sasuke smiled and kissed the top of his brother’s head. “Me too.”

* * *

~ quote by Oscar Wilde. Quite amusing, but unfortunately here, untrue.
The thing about Naruto having “too much bleach” is a pun. You know, like too many chemicals in his brain AND too much of Bleach? Haha? I think it’s funny, anyway.
^ if you haven’t seen Code Geass, then go watch it. Cause Lelouch says “the world won’t change with pretty words alone” often, and even though Madara doesn’t say it here the dramatically awesomely fabulous way that Lelouch says it, he said something very similar before I realized Lelouch’s version is better. thus the quote.
^* a line from Jane Eyre. I found it while writing a paper on it the other week and thought it described perfectly how Sasuke’s tone overpowered the situation (because there’s no other way he could boss people around)
“foolish fool”~^ from the parody of Lady Gaga’s song “Bad Romance.” It’s called “Leather Pants,” it’s Yu-gi-oh themed, and it freakin’ rocks.

And don’t you just picture Madara with a posh British accent? For some reason every time I see him I expect him to go “all right, chaps, stop fighting! It’s teatime, you cheeky blighters so if you don’t behave I’ll summon her majesty and would you like some biscuits?” hahahaha I hope I have now poisoned at least some of you. One of my fantasies is to inspire people… this is not the kind of thing I was aiming for but if I’m inspiring at any level I’ll count it a victory!

And yes, I’m sure there are mistakes and things that don’t make sense. The amount of editing this work has gone through beats probably any legislation passed in the entire US ever.
But I’m writing two papers and coming up with a presentation all just this weekend, so take pity on this poor writer and tell me what I did wrong. Any feedback is good feedback, but great feedback is specific. Feel free to quote me on that! Hahaha everything is funny at this time of night.
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