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Glue between the Cracks	By : Sasunarufan13 Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male > Naruto/Sasuke Views: 4116 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor make profit of it. Kishimoto owns it.

Chapter List
- 4
- 5
- 6
Author's note: A bit later than I had planned, but morning classes do not agree with me - and hey, at least this chapter is longer than the previous one! Small victories, guys, small victories.
Warnings: Some angst; small time skips
I hope you'll like this chapter!
Chapter 5
He finished his grocery shopping on automatic pilot; the sight of Deidara kissing another man branded onto his retinas. Somehow he managed to arrive home without getting into or causing an accident, which should probably be considered some kind of miracle with how distracted he was throughout the entire trip.
The grocery bags were dumped on the kitchen table and he was about to start putting everything away when he just stopped and stared blankly at the bags. He didn't understand why he was feeling out of sorts right now. Of course Deidara had found someone else to love; why wouldn't he? They hadn't seen each other in eight years and all those years Deidara had been led to believe that Itachi had died. It was only natural he would move on after a while.
Itachi knew all that, was rational enough to realise that, yet his chest was still smarting for some reason and he rubbed it absently. It wasn't like he had expected Deidara to remain single for all those years; he wasn't naïve or stupid. For some reason, however, the sight of the blond Omega with another man … It stung.
He was being ridiculous, he berated himself. So what if Deidara was together with someone else? That was his right. It shouldn't matter to him at all who the blond man was seeing. Eight years was a really long time after all, especially when they were still so young.
All that mattered was that Deidara was happy and he had looked quite happy in the grocery store. That was the important part. He was happy that Deidara was happy; the gods knew Deidara deserved to be happy.
Frowning, angry at himself for reasons he had trouble identifying, he slipped his phone out of his pocket and pressed on the first speed dial he had installed since he came to live in this city.
"Hey, good timing; I just finished class," Sasuke greeted him. He sounded in a good mood.
"I was wondering whether you and Naruto-kun wanted to have dinner at my place tonight?" Itachi inquired, forcing his voice to remain even. He just had to focus on his plans for the evening; he'd wanted to invite the couple over for dinner and that was exactly what he was going to do – if Sasuke and Naruto wanted to come to his apartment naturally.
"Dinner at your place?" Sasuke echoed a bit surprised. "Yes, sure, why not? Naruto mentioned he wasn't in the mood to cook tonight, so that works out well."
"Perfect, then I'll see you both tonight around six if that's okay with you," the older Alpha suggested.
"Sure, looking forward to it."
They hung up and he stared at the grocery bags for a moment longer before he shook his head and set about putting everything away. He had a dinner to prepare.
He thought he'd managed to hide how well the encounter in the grocery store had unsettled him, but he had forgotten one crucial thing: just as he had always known how to read his little brother, Sasuke had always known how to read his face. Eight years hadn't changed that at all apparently.
They were mid-way their dinner when Sasuke suddenly voiced his concerns. "Are you okay?" He frowned, his fork resting on the plate for a moment. "You look … distracted."
"I'm fine," Itachi said dismissively, picking up his glass to drink. "Don't worry."
"You don't look fine," Sasuke remarked, narrowing his eyes slightly.
"You don't look like shit, but yeah, you do look a bit distracted," Naruto added, shrugging apologetically. He was eating with one hand, as the other one was busy rubbing his stomach, leading Itachi to assume that the baby was being particularly restless at the moment.
"If you want to talk in private with Sasuke, I can leave the room for a bit," the Omega added, raising his eyebrows questioningly.
"It's really nothing," Itachi insisted.
"Is that why you've barely eaten anything yet?" Sasuke questioned, looking pointedly at Itachi's plate which looked a lot more filled in comparison to his and Naruto's plates.
The older man pursed his lips and debated whether he should blame his distraction on work being difficult. He couldn't find the energy to bring the lie convincingly, however, still feeling a tad too out of sorts for that.
"I saw Deidara in the store today," he said, slowly cutting a part of his tuna.
Naruto perked up. "Oh, did you get to talk to him again?" He then deflated just as quickly, worrying his lip between his teeth. "Did he get angry again?"
"No, we didn't talk," Itachi muttered. "Because he was kissing his partner."
"Ah." Naruto winced, looking incredibly uncomfortable.
"I'm sorry, Itachi," Sasuke said quietly. "I thought he had mentioned it last time."
Itachi smiled humourlessly. "No, we weren't exactly in the mood for an idle chat back then."
"I'm really sorry; it sucks discovering it like that," Naruto said soberly.
Itachi released his breath slowly. "Yeah, it really does."
They all were startled when a phone suddenly started ringing loudly and Naruto flushed pink, quickly slipping his phone out of his pocket. He grimaced when he checked the screen and the hand on his belly stilled.
"It's mum. I'm sorry, I have to take this just in case …" Naruto trailed off, giving them both an apologetic look.
Itachi shook his head, smiling faintly. "No need to apologise for that."
The younger man nodded and stood up, disappearing into the living room to accept the call.
"I should have warned you that he's seeing someone," Sasuke murmured; his eyes darker than usual.
"Not your fault," Itachi sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He'd pulled the hair tie out of it after preparing the meal. "I should have expected that he had found someone by now. It's been eight years after all."
"Do you still feel something for him?" Sasuke asked softly, leaning slightly forwards.
Itachi rolled his shoulders, feeling a bit called out by the question, innocent as it was. "If I do, then it really doesn't matter, does it?" he replied flatly. "He's with someone now; nothing I can do about that."
A touch on his arm had him looking down, watching pale, slender fingers curl around his wrist loosely. When he looked up, he gazed straight into sorrowful, dark eyes.
"I'm really sorry, nii-san," Sasuke whispered.
"Yeah, me too," Itachi agreed quietly.
"You're taking the news about Deidara well," Sasuke observed a couple of days later when they met up for lunch in a little café one block away from the university.
They were waiting for Naruto to show up; the blond man having texted that he would be there soon. Sasuke had offered to pick him up with the car, but Naruto had adamantly refused, stating he could easily walk the small distance between their apartment and the little café. Sasuke hadn't been particularly happy about that, but he'd acquiesced without further protest – though he still kept checking his phone every two minutes.
Exactly two minutes; Itachi was keeping count.
Itachi leant back in his chair and cocked his head slightly to the left. "What else did you expect me to do?" He lifted an eyebrow. "Like I said, there's nothing I can do about it."
"I know, but still," Sasuke said, frowning. "I'm not sure whether I would be able to take it as well as you have if I returned after several years only to find Naruto in love with someone else." His face darkened slightly; the thought of it alone obviously not settling well with him.
"I faked my death, I can't exactly claim he had no right to move on," Itachi remarked.
"True," Sasuke agreed, linking his hands together and resting them on the table. His gaze flitted to his phone for a couple of seconds. "Still, seeing him like that can't have been fun for you."
"It wasn't, no," Itachi had no problem admitting that. At the same time he was done talking about what he'd witnessed in the store a couple of days ago and he settled on another subject. "How are your sessions with the therapist going?"
Sasuke hesitated, nibbling on his lower lip. He must have taken that particular quirk over from Naruto, because Itachi couldn't remember his brother being the type to bite down on his lips before.
"They're going," Sasuke said carefully; his fingers twitching. "I'm trying to be less overbearing, less … overprotective. Naruto's helping me by texting me every once in a while when I'm not home." He looked ashamed to admit that; his cheeks gaining a very light hue. His eyes were downcast; his whole posture screaming he was uncomfortable confessing that part.
"You're a lucky guy to have found someone like Naruto," Itachi smiled softly.
Someone who was willing to deal with Sasuke's fears stemming from his past trauma without making Sasuke feel ashamed … Itachi wasn't sure how many other people would be willing to do that. He doubted many people were willing to accommodate the ones with a trauma; it made him all the more happier to know that his younger brother had managed to find someone good for him.
"Yeah, I really am," Sasuke smiled softly; his finger tracing the edge of the phone's screen. "I don't know what I would do without him."
"Traffic lights were a bitch!" Naruto appeared next to their table, sounding a bit out of breath. Half of his face was hidden by a dark blue scarf; the edges of it trailing over his stomach. He unzipped his coat before pulling off his gloves. The tip of his nose was cherry red when he loosened his scarf.
Instantly Sasuke stood up and pulled a third chair from underneath the table, clucking his tongue as he helped Naruto out of his coat. "I told you I could come pick you up," he reminded the pregnant man.
"And I already told you that would have been ridiculous seeing as this place is close to our apartment," Naruto retorted, rolling his eyes. He draped his coat across the back of the chair and sank down in the seat.
"Who cares about the distance? You're due next month!" Sasuke fussed, sitting down as well. He reached out to touch Naruto's stomach.
"Being due next month doesn't mean I can't move around," Naruto pointed out and tangled their fingers together on his stomach, leaning towards Sasuke to kiss him. "So stop worrying. I'm fine!"
"Don't give me cause to worry then," Sasuke shot back, continuing the argument.
Itachi just sat there and listened to them arguing, hoping he would be able to one day find what Sasuke had found in Naruto.
He was in the middle of translating a text from Japanese into English on Saturday, all his focus on trying to figure out how to translate a particular sentence the best, when a knocking on the door jarred him out of his concentration.
Furrowing his eyebrows, he blinked and checked the digital clock of his laptop: ten past three in the afternoon. Who could that even be? It couldn't be Sasuke; his brother hadn't said anything about coming to visit him. Naruto? But no, aside from that one time when he came over to ream him out for pretending to have died, the blond man hadn't shown up unannounced again.
Someone of his neighbours then perhaps? Although he couldn't fathom why either one of them would show up at this hour …
The knocking grew more insisting and he sighed softly, saving the document quickly before he stood up and strode to the door. Clearly whoever was at the other end of the door didn't have much patience.
He stiffened when he saw who his visitor was. Not Sasuke, not Naruto, not one of his neighbours. Not even someone accidentally knocking on the wrong door.
"Hey," Deidara greeted him, a bit nervous as he rocked back and forth on his heels; his hands stuffed into the pockets of his jacket. "Can I come in?"
"Where did you get my address?" Itachi asked bemused, but stepped aside nevertheless. He was pretty sure he hadn't let it slip where he lived now last time they had spoken to each other – which was nearly a month ago by now, he realised.
His question had Deidara reddening slightly and he cleared his throat, looking away as he toed off his sneakers. "Well, I might have asked Sasuke-kun, un," he admitted begrudgingly.
Itachi hummed and closed the door. He was surprised Sasuke had done that – even more that he hadn't warned Itachi about it. That didn't really sound like Sasuke at all.
"Don't be mad at your brother, un," Deidara implored, worrying his lower lip between his teeth. "I asked him not to tell you."
"And why's that?"
"Because I wanted to talk to you and I wasn't sure you would be home if you knew I was coming," Deidara replied, following him into the kitchen.
The dark haired man raised an eyebrow. "Why wouldn't I have been home if I knew you were coming? With me not knowing, you could have easily come all the way here for nothing," he pointed out.
"You've never been the type to go out to party, let alone go away during the day, un," Deidara sniffed, bracing his hip against the kitchen table. "Naruto-kun mentioned you work from home, so it was easy to guess that you would be here now."
"That still doesn't answer my question as to why I wouldn't have been here if I had known you were coming," Itachi remarked and nodded at the kettle. "You want some tea? Or something cold like soda or water?"
"A soda, please," Deidara muttered and the red colour in his cheeks deepened when he went on, "I wasn't sure whether you would want to talk to me."
"Why wouldn't I?" Itachi asked calmly and went to the fridge to grab a can.
Deidara shrugged, accepting the can with a nod. "It's been nearly a month since I last heard from you," he muttered, staring down at the top of the soda can like it held all the answers of the universe.
Leaning against the counter, Itachi crossed his arms loosely. "It's not like I had a way of contacting you," he remarked. "Besides, you didn't look like you wanted to talk to me again when you left their apartment."
"I was pissed, can you blame me?" Deidara bristled before taking a deep breath. He appeared a bit uncomfortable when he questioned, "So you not trying to seek me out – that has nothing to do with the fact that you saw me with Sasori in the grocery store, un?"
At Itachi's surprised look, he explained, "Naruto-kun told me you saw us in one of the aisles. I didn't know you were there; I didn't see you."
"No, I was nearly finished with my shopping when I saw you," Itachi murmured.
So Sasori was the name of Deidara's partner …
"Why didn't you say hello at least?"
A dark eyebrow rose up. "Like I said, you didn't give me the impression last time that you still wanted to talk to me," Itachi answered calmly.
Deidara scowled down at the can, fiddling with the lid.
The Alpha let the silence continue for a little while longer, before he sighed. "Why are you here, Deidara?"
Bright blue eyes peeked up at him through a blond fringe. "Like I told you, un: to talk."
"Talk about what exactly?"
"About …" Deidara trailed off uncertainly; his gaze flitting back and forth across the kitchen, never landing on one particular spot. "I don't know, un. Just … I'm sorry you had to see me with Sasori like that."
"Why apologise? You did nothing wrong," Itachi said and shrugged stiffly.
"Yeah, I know, but …"
If he kept fiddling with the lid like that, he would break it off before he was able to open the can.
"It's been eight years, Deidara," Itachi said softly, watching the other man deflate slightly. "I didn't expect you to remain alone for the rest of your life."
"I know, but …" His fidgeting grew worse. "Are you seeing someone?" he blurted out, looking as equally surprised as Itachi was by his question.
"No, I'm not."
"Were you seeing someone during all those years you'd gone off the grid, un?"
Itachi raised both eyebrows now, honestly baffled by this line of questioning. "No, my job didn't give me much private time," he answered dryly. More like he couldn't afford to get close to someone while he was still tracking everyone down from the group. Not that he had come across anyone interesting enough to attract his attention in the first place.
"Oh." Deidara licked his lips, nodding almost mechanically.
"What does it even matter to you?" Deidara had clearly moved on; why would Itachi's potential romantic relationships in the past interest him now?
"It doesn't, I was just – seeing you again, it just had me wondering whether … whether we would have been good together, you know?" Deidara refused to look at him now; his shoulders hunched and his hands wrapped around the can so tightly, it was a wonder the can hadn't burst yet.
The almost wistful question tugged at something deep within him and he shifted slightly; unease swirling in the pit of his stomach. "I think we could have been," he replied carefully, slowly; weighing his words. "But there's no sense in wondering about what could have been."
If there was, he would still be spending his days wondering how his and his brother's lives would have looked like if their parents hadn't died that night. Would he and Deidara have remained together? Would Sasuke have ever met Naruto or would he have found someone else instead? Would they still be living in their old hometown or would they have eventually moved after all? Would Nagato have ever introduced him to the underworld if the burglary hadn't occurred?
So many questions which would never be answered. He could either spend the rest of his life lamenting what could have been or he could accept what had happened and move on. He'd chosen the latter.
"Yeah, I guess you're right, un," Deidara muttered rather subdued. "Do you – do you still feel something for me?" His face was entirely red now and he ducked his head as if that would hide how flushed he'd become.
Dark eyes studied him and Itachi thought about the red haired man in the store, about how happy Deidara had looked. How they had kissed each other with an ease that came from being together for a while already.
He thought about how they had never got their actual official date, how they had only just started exploring what could grow between them when those men had attacked his house.
Keeping those thoughts grounded to the front of his mind, he said, "Even if I do, it wouldn't make a difference."
Because Deidara was with Sasori and Itachi had lost his chance the second he'd accepted Nagato's offer.
He'd made his choice back then and now he just had to live with it.
He didn't see Deidara again in the weeks which followed his surprise visit. That in itself wasn't so strange; he was busy with his work and Deidara with his own. And while Deidara knew his address, he didn't have a clue where the blond lived nor did he have a phone number he could contact him with. He could ask Naruto either the address or the number, he supposed. Even his brother would be willing to give it to him, if only to restore the balance between Itachi and Deidara.
He didn't ask either of them. Wasn't sure what he would even do if he knew the address or the number. Try to rekindle their friendship? Perhaps. Although that had a better chance of succeeding if his feelings for the Omega would finally die out completely.
It was ridiculous, really, how even after eight years his feelings for the other man hadn't disappeared. He had thought he had got over him, too busy with systematically decimating everyone who had even the slightly link to the group who'd attacked his home. Instead of getting over him, though, instead of his feelings dying out completely, it seemed they had only been lying dormant, ready to burst back to life the second he'd laid eyes on the blond man.
Perhaps he wouldn't feel so pathetic about still having feelings for the Omega if the Omega in question hadn't already been taken. The fact that he was obviously happy with someone else while Itachi still had feelings for him, just drove home the fact how ridiculous this whole situation was. There was no point in pining after someone who was already in a relationship with someone else.
Realising that was a lot easier than getting rid of said feelings, though.
He checked the time on his phone: a quarter to ten. He wondered how Sasuke's and Naruto's exams were going. Today was Naruto's last exam, while Sasuke had one more exam after this one. Itachi was waiting for the both of them to finish so they could have lunch together before his brother would bury himself in his notes for his last exam.
Absently he wondered how Naruto was doing; with so close to his due date, having exams couldn't be easy for the younger man. A part of him couldn't help but worry slightly, but he figured Naruto knew his body well enough to know whether he could handle going to the campus or not. Besides, he had a feeling the Omega wouldn't appreciate having another Alpha fussing over him. Sasuke was doing an excellent job of that already – perhaps a bit too excellent if one would ask Naruto.
Smiling faintly at the memory of an exasperated Naruto telling Sasuke to quit his fussing so much before he would shove the extra fourth pillow up his arse, he didn't take notice of the person lingering near his table in the café until they cleared their throat discreetly.
He looked up and frowned when he saw who was waiting for him. A man he recognised despite not having been officially introduced.
Sasori.
The red haired man was dressed in a smart, light grey suit; a black briefcase held loosely in his left hand. His red locks were windswept and his gaze was piercing when he locked eyes with Itachi.
"You're Uchiha Itachi." It wasn't uttered as a question; merely a statement.
Nevertheless Itachi nodded warily. "Yes, I am. You're Sasori."
The other man smiled faintly. "Deidara told you my name."
He nodded, narrowing his eyes slightly. What on earth could Sasori possibly want from him? Tell him to stay away from Deidara? That would be weird, considering he hadn't tried contacting the blond man ever since he'd left his apartment – and that had been a bit more than a month ago by now.
Sasori glanced at the empty chair. "May I sit down?"
"I'm waiting for my brother and his mate," Itachi said calmly.
"This won't take long," Sasori assured him and he shrugged, waving his hand at the chair.
"Be my guest," he drawled. He waited until the other man had sat down before asking bluntly, "What do you want from me?"
"Straight to the point, I appreciate that," Sasori smiled, setting his briefcase down on the floor next to him.
"I've never liked idle chatter," Itachi smiled thinly.
"Me neither," Sasori smirked; his brown eyes glinting. "So I'll be getting straight to the point as well: I know about your past with Deidara."
Resting his arms on the table, Itachi remarked, "So you know we were friends."
Sasori inclined his head. "And I also know that you were on the path to becoming a bit more than just friends when the incident happened."
Incident. Itachi snorted quietly. He supposed that was a polite way to refer to his parents being killed by burglars and him subsequently getting rid of the entire group.
"If you're here to tell me to back off, there's no need to," Itachi informed him. "I'm not the type of person to chase after someone who's already in a relationship."
For some reason that made Sasori look satisfied, as if Itachi had confirmed a suspicion of his.
Leaning closer to him, Sasori inquired, "And what if I told you, you're free to chase after him?"
"What? Did you break up with him?" Itachi eyed the other Alpha suspiciously, wondering what his aim was.
"Of course not." Sasori raised an eyebrow. "Deidara and I are happy together; why would we break up?"
"Then this conversation doesn't make much sense, does it?" Itachi shot back, supressing a flare of irritation. If Sasori was just here to mess with his head, he could fuck off. Itachi wasn't in the mood to deal with any mind games.
"It does make sense," Sasori disagreed; the corners of his lips curling into a smirk. "Because I'm offering you exactly what you and Deidara want."
"Which is?" Itachi inquired suspiciously, narrowing his eyes.
Sasori's smirk widened. "A relationship with each other."
"But you two didn't break up, so how - "
"A triad relationship: you, me and Deidara together in one relationship." Sasori gazed at him expectantly. "What do you say about that?"
AN2: *grins* How many of you did see this particular twist coming?
Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.
I hope to see you all back in the next chapter!
Cuddles
Melissa
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Glue between the Cracks