Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

Artist	By : emochickenbutt Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male > Itachi/Sasuke Views: 2684 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and I do not make any money from writing this.

Chapter List
- 6
- 7
- 8
Where did the summer go? Ah, it was horrible I moved and have been struggling to get a job and now that I have one I have no life and also my step-mother like the worst person ever she makes me feel guilty for doing human stuff like eating and sleeping and I think I’m going crazy for real and I miss my friends too much it’s really lonely so much fun.
As always, enjoy the chapter.
CHAPTER 7
Itachi sat on the couch, contemplating that this was probably the most awkward silence he’d ever endured, compounded by the fact that Naruto had never been so silent before. The blond made plenty of noise as he moved around the kitchen fixing dinner, but he’d barely said a word after handing Itachi an unasked-for bottle of beer.
The sounds coming from the bathroom—which for one moment he’d foolishly believed to be Sasuke—could only be Haku. He’d forgotten completely about the boy. Sasuke and Naruto seemed to think he was a good kid despite whatever trouble he’d gotten into, but Itachi wasn’t so sure. The boy clearly didn’t know how to choose the people he associated himself with. There was no call to insult Sasuke. Was this boy that stupid that he’d hang out with a low-life—
Here he stopped himself. Mom had a point—Haku was only in high school. He hadn’t lived enough to make good decisions—kid wasn’t properly a man yet. Itachi couldn’t think of him as more than a boy. The kid was what, fifteen? sixteen? And from what Sasuke had said, it seemed like they’d received pretty limited guidance at the Home. Understandable, naturally, though… well, Itachi himself had received typed-and-printed memos from his father as soon as he’d learned how to read. Surely Haku had had some good influences in his life, but… well, if Itachi could help at all, then he needed to.
He polished off his beer, glancing at Naruto in the kitchen. The blond looked like he was trying to look busy, though evidently he was nervous. Whether because he was more or less alone with Itachi or because he hadn’t decided what to say to them yet, he couldn’t tell, but at the very least Naruto appear angry anymore. The hurt look on his face was probably from fighting with Sasuke. From what Itachi had heard from both sides individually, they’ve had tense moments and disagreements, but this seemed like the biggest problem they’ve had with the other. Which made Itachi feel pretty shitty, considering he more or less came between their friendship.
Itachi was still awkwardly tracing patterns on his bottle when Naruto spoke. “I’m sorry.” The blond wouldn’t look at him, gaze determinedly focused on the steaming red mug in his hand. “It was rude of me to try to kiss you like that. Even if you’d been single and regardless of if you’d wanted it or not, it’s rude to just attack somebody like that.” He aimed the full force of his blues at Itachi; apologetic and maybe a bit humiliated still, but altogether unyielding. “I know I should wait till Sasuke gets back and I’ll apologize again when he gets here, but I’m bad at waiting.”
“There’s nothing to forgive. I didn’t mean to lead you on—”
“Don’t do that.” He shook his head vehemently. Itachi taking the blame made it so much more humiliating. It was his own stupid fault; if anybody deserved to be happy, it was Sasuke, not someone like himself, and Itachi’s a really great guy. Sasuke is a much better match for him. “It’s not like I’ve never been rejected before. I’ll apologize when Sasuke gets back, and then we’ll pretend it never happened. I get the feeling you’re going to be here pretty often, and it’ll be awkward to have to remember about it.”
Not sure what he should say—Naruto didn’t want apologies, and obviously he couldn’t argue that he’d be here sometimes—so rather than uncomfortable silence, he fell back on the old failsafe. “It’s snowing quite a bit out there.”
Naruto agreed. “Maybe we’ll get a snow day tomorrow.”
“It wasn’t sticking to the road. Only a few inches, if that.”
Naruto pouted and wondered if Itachi was a Debbie Downer on purpose. His hand froze in the air, mug still clutched in his fingers, halfway from the cabinet to the counter. “Where is Sasuke? He’s late.” Abandoning the mug, he went to the table and retrieved his phone. “He hasn’t called you, has he?”
Itachi shook his head. Sasuke hadn’t ever, as yet, called him.
“Well, I might as well—oh!” The Star Wars theme burst forth from the phone in his hand. “Hello?”
Itachi absentmindedly started peeling the wrapper from his bottle. “Yeah. I’ll let you know.” He hung up and ran for his shoes and coat and keys. “That was Orochimaru. He said that Sai showed up at his house and he told Sasuke to hide, but after he got Sai to leave, he realized that Sasuke had left from the back door. Sasuke doesn’t have his coat and his phone is either off or dead.”
“I’ll help you look. How long ago did he leave?” he’d worry later whether the story was true or not, and if Sasuke had really met Sai, and if Orochimaru had forced him to leave and for that matter why Orochimaru had Sasuke's number, but right now it just mattered that Sasuke got back okay.
“No,” Naruto said, seeing Itachi standing and also preparing to leave. “Someone needs to stay here with Haku.”
“He’s your responsibility.” Now wasn’t the time to argue, his heart starting to pound at the thought of Sasuke frozen out there in the snow, frostbitten and hypothermic. “I have to go get Sasuke, he’s my boyfriend!”
“He’s my family!” The blond yelled. Naruto’s eyebrows were narrowed and his jaw clenched tight, and Itachi froze in the face of it. He lowered his voice to a normal level, but his fierce tone didn’t change. “I don’t care how much you think you like him, he’s my family. Sasuke should be easy to find, he’s not stupid, he’s probably on his way home, but anyway, if anybody’s going out to look for him, it’s me.” He ran out, leaving Itachi with no choice but to wait.
8
Okay, it was much colder than he’d expected. Sasuke was man enough to admit that this hadn’t been his best idea ever. His feet were fine, since he had his thick socks on and his sneakers weren’t holey yet, but his thighs felt half-frozen. Denim wasn’t the best insulator. On top of that, his sweater wasn’t warm after the first layer of snow had landed on him, melted with his body heat, and become damp. His nose was dripping and he shivered every other step, but he was only three streets away from home. His recent lack of exercise was apparent now, because it shouldn’t have taken him half as long to get back, and his coordination sucked, too, because this made it the fifth time he’d stumbled. Exercise hadn’t been at the top of his list, but he had someone to look good for now. Did Itachi like muscular guys? I’ll ask when I get back, he thought. He’d looked behind a couple times and no one was following him, not even the imaginary Juugo, so that’s something.
He coughed, lungs aching, and he really hoped it was just temporary. There wasn’t time to be sick—finals weren’t over yet. Plus he needed to start looking for a job. A real one. He could probably handle more people now. Well, not tons. He sniffled, snot freezing in his nose and thawing when he exhaled. Working at a bookstore would be nice. Not too many people, but working with the public would help him get back to normal. By now, he was shivering almost constantly, and despite the sharp cold he was getting tired. It must be because I haven’t exercised in a while, he thought, but once I get a job I’ll get a gym membership. Itachi will appreciate that. A bookstore job would be nice, he thought, then realized his thoughts were starting to go in circles.
Not a single bus had passed by the entire time, and few cars either, so while ordinarily he wouldn’t notice a car on the road, his eyes perked up at the sound. The car slowed down as it approached him, then pulled sharply into a street just past him. Sasuke shook his head. For a moment he thought he’d recognized the car, but Naruto was at home right now, waiting for him.
He tried to increase his pace, but started coughed again, the cold in his lungs and throat burning. He needed to get home soon. Worry was setting in, distantly, and his fingers, though shoved inside his armpits for warmth, didn’t really feel like anything. He just wanted to get back to home. Then he and Naruto and Itachi and Haku could watch movies and drink tea and just be warm on the couch…
The car pulled up next to him, and he definitely recognized it as Naruto’s car. Of course, it was cheating to say he knew the car when the man himself stepped out, leaving the flashers on and ignition running. “Are you all right?” It wasn’t a real question, just something he had to say. What he meant was, ‘what is wrong with you’ and ‘you had me so worried,’ but he was hugging him and patting his cheeks (Sasuke sort of forget he had cheeks) and the blond dragged him into the car, saying something about the doctor.
“No,” Sasuke groaned, coughing around it.
“No what?”
“No doctor.”
“Sasuke, you’re sick. Maybe hypothermic. I don’t know. What I do know is that you have no right to say no. This supersedes your hatred of hospitals. Health is more important than comfort.”
“Itachi's… a nurse,” he choked out.
Naruto frowned. True. And they couldn’t really afford the medical bills until his next paycheck came in, so… “Fine. But no arguments. You do whatever he says to the letter. And if he says we need a hospital, I don’t care if I have to drag you in kicking and screaming.”
“Okay,” he tried to say, but it was sort of difficult to get words out with his teeth chattering and lungs coughing, so he nodded, hoping Naruto didn’t mistake it for a shiver.
They were home in moments, making Sasuke realize he’d been much closer than he’d realized. Unable to acknowledge much beyond the cold that had seeped into his flesh, Sasuke did not register Itachi's immediate take-charge attitude, sending him into the bathroom with Naruto to help him change from his wet clothes. It was slow, trying to move such frozen limbs, but by the end Sasuke was coherent enough to use the toilet on his own. Naruto exited, confident Sasuke would be fine on his own, since Sasuke had begun to assess… himself, apparently finding no harm done. Naruto made a mental note to check online if it was possible for dicks to freeze and fall off. He shuddered.
By the time Sasuke came back out, Itachi had heated milk with honey and set blankets up, sitting Sasuke in the middle of the couch and handing him the warm red mug. He checked Sasuke again, squeezing his fingertips and patting his cheeks. “There’s no frostbite damage and hypothermia shouldn’t be a problem. In any case, you need to rehydrate and get your temperature back up. I brought over a couple water bottles, and it looks like dinner is just about ready, nice and hot. Naruto, get in on that side.” They squished beneath the blankets on either side of the unresisting Sasuke as he sipped at his hot drink, shivering as he accustomed to their warmth.
Sasuke let the moments pass, awareness increasing. The more he thought about it, it was kind of embarrassing.
Naruto broke the silence first. “Are you alright?”
“Better,” he nodded. “How did you know?”
“Orochimaru called.” At the reminder, Naruto pulled his phone from the table and texted an update on Sasuke's status to the man. “What happened over there?”
“We were talking…” it’d be better to tell everything, but not all the secrets were his to tell. “He never meant to help Sai, not really, and then when he tried to fix it apparently it got worse, and then Sai showed up at his house right when we were trying to leave.” Next to him, Itachi shifted; Sasuke couldn’t look at his face, unable to handle an ‘I-told-you-so’ right now. “I tried to hide, cause I didn’t want to see him again, but… well, I thought I saw Juugo again—but I stood up to him this time. I didn’t back down. So I left… that part didn’t work out so well.”
“Sasuke, I’m glad you’re safe. This was, er…” Naruto struggled for phrasing other than ‘stupid beyond all reason.’ “Reckless, but you’re safe.” He leaned his head on Sasuke's shoulder, attempting to transfer his relief through touch.
“I… I’m sorry.” It was only right that he apologize first. The mess from earlier was mostly his fault, anyway. “And I’m sorry for about before, too. I never should have hidden it from you, but the one I am dating is Itachi.” Feeling Naruto tense, he wished he hadn’t brought it up so soon. “I wanted to wait until I was more secure in our relationship, at least take it slow, but instead I hurt you and I am so sorry.”
“You know me—I haven’t gotten laid in a few months. Just feeling desperate.” He leaned forward, looking at Itachi. “No offense. I really should have noticed, though, looking at it now.” He peeked sideways at the other two men on the couch, both heads tilted down to look at their laps. “What’s up with Orochimaru, then?”
Itachi explained himself. “Back in high school, he betrayed me and since then, whenever I encounter him, shortly after Sai makes an appearance and whoever I’m dating starts getting pranked. I can’t actually prove it—other than that time he tried to follow us home—but I believe that he’s been tipping Sai off on new ways to harass me. So when I grew close to Sasuke, and it looked like Orochimaru was taking an interest, I felt I had to warn him. That didn’t work out so well.”
Sasuke bristled at the accusatory tone. “I was in a tough spot, and he helped me out. I never intentionally broke my promise not to get close to him, and honestly, it didn’t seem like he was making any particular advances towards me. He actually warned me about you, Itachi, and said you could cause trouble for me. Then he really helped me, and if that doesn’t convince me to give him a chance then today certainly did. From what I heard, he doesn’t really like Sai, much, either.”
“I can understand that, I guess.” Itachi allowed, thinking of what his mother said and objectively listening to Sasuke's words. “Was it that hard to tell me?”
“No, like I said, we just kept getting distracted.” Itachi didn’t look angry, but he was definitely pouting. “I know that you’re not happy about this. There’s no way I’m going to cut ties with him, but I can put some distance between us—“
“No.” Itachi shook his head. “You said it before. You are an adult and can do as you like. Maybe I was being a bit unreasonable…”
“I’m still not okay with this.” Naruto cut in. “Even if the harassment is relatively mild, you have the right to not be harassed. And I need to know if something like that’s going on. Not because I’m trying to control you, Sasuke, but because I am your guardian. If anything were to happen to you, that’d be on me, and doubly so because you’re my best friend. These sorts of things affect me, too.”
“I’m sorry. It just didn’t seem that serious. Honest.”
“I know you mean well. Really. I know what I’m about to say is going to seem like punishment—“ black eyebrows narrowed with suspicion. “However, hear me out. You tell me you’ve been seeing Juugo in places where it’s impossible for him to be, and—and while you may feel that you’re fighting this off, the fact is that you are experiencing and interacting with things that are not…” to say ‘not real’ would belittle him, but he could hardly think of anything else. “Not in this reality. I’m not saying you need meds, but as soon as we can secure an appointment, you will be going to a doctor.”
“No!” He slammed his mug down on the coffee table, liquid spilling out the sides. Twisting so he was facing Naruto, he curled his fingers into fists. ”I’m fine, honestly, I swear. There’s no need for that.” Sasuke pleaded desperately. “I’m not crazy!” Itachi's hand was on his shoulder, and he pulled it off and held it beseechingly. “Itachi, tell him.”
Naruto shut down the argument before it could properly get started. “It’s not for us to decide. This will be for the best, I promise. Just try it. You are my closest friend. My only family.” His voice cracked a little. “This is not a discussion. There will be no negotiation.”
There was a tremor in Naruto’s hand, and Sasuke realized this was not the time to stress him out further. Maybe he could fight it later; perhaps Naruto’s resolution would falter when the emotional reaction was further away. This in mind, he did not voice consent. “What about you, though? Can we afford that? It seems like we’re in a bit of a financial situation right now.”
Naruto rubbed his head, making his spiky hair go in all different directions. “Ah, yeah. I really don’t know how much you noticed and what I just think I got away with, but if things had worked out the way I thought they would, you’d have had the best Christmas present ever.”
“You mean we’re getting a dog?”
Naruto laughed nervously. “Maybe I should have tried that. Would have been cheaper, anyhow. No, what I was trying to find was, well,” he hesitated again. “I’d been hoping to find our parents.”
“Ow.”
“Sorry.” Sasuke had forgotten he’d been holding Itachi's hand. He released it from his painfully tight grip and faced Naruto once more. “What did you say?”
“I researched as much as I could, though eventually I was forced to hire a guy. Don’t get too excited,” he advised, noting Sasuke's expression. “It’s not really good news.”
He shook his head. “That’s not it. Just… /knowing/. That’s… yeah. You know.” He smiled painfully wide. “Even if they were psychopathic serial killers, at least I’d know.” Eyes shining brightly, he pulled Naruto into an hug. “Thank you,” he mumbled into the blond’s shoulder. “Thank you, Naru-nii.”
The blond chuckled at that and hugged him back. “You sound five years old again.”
“You never stopped sounding five years old.” He leaned back, self-consciously wiping the corners of his eyes. “…So?” he asked.
“Well, it’s not good news, but I can at least say no serial killers. I have the information packets he sent me in my desk, but basically… no. And no.”
“Oh.” Sasuke exhaled. “I see.”
“Sorry, what?” Itachi felt lost.
“Well, the two biggest questions we’ve always had were, ‘are my parents still alive?’ and ‘why did they abandon me?’ But this guy said that both our parents are dead, which sucks for so many reasons, but on the other hand, they didn’t abandon us. There was just no one else who could take us.”
“Yours, too?” Sasuke asked.
“Yeah. A bit complicated, seems like, but my mother was in a car accident and giving birth to me was the last thing she did. There’s some conflicting information on who my dad was, because she was always seen with one guy but she had a secret marriage to someone else, but no matter which one is correct, it all means the same thing.” He shrugged. “The investigator couldn’t find any relatives of any sort from any side. I’m the last, looks like.”
“I’m sorry.” Sasuke shook his head. “Do you know her name? Are there pictures? What was she like?”
“I’ve got his whole report in the other room, so I’ll show you later. Kushina. Kushina Uzumaki.” He blinked slowly, staring at the mug on the table. Eyes flicked to Sasuke after a moment. “Want to know more about yours? It’s not pretty.”
Sasuke nodded. He’d been waiting for Naruto to offer more. “I never expected much, honestly.”
Naruto rubbed at his head, taking a moment to remember. “Your father was a doctor, pretty good, I think, but he committed suicide after a malpractice scandal. You mother was hospitalized for a variety of successive illnesses, culminating in cancer, and she passed away soon after that.” He watched Sasuke carefully, surprised that Sasuke was taking it so well. He’d barely kept it together when he’d found out.
“I don’t remember any of that.” Sasuke shook his head slowly. Not even the faintest wisp of memory seemed anything like what Naruto was saying.
“It’s alright. You might remember more later, once you think about it more, but that might just be your mind creatively filling in the gaps. There is a bit of good news, though. My informant located a friend of your mother’s and a relative of your father.”
“Really?” After this, Sasuke didn’t care if Christmas never came again. This was more than enough. His smile was making his face ache but nothing could dull the relief.
“Yeah.” Smiling back at him, Naruto felt relieved as well. Reading the report and talking to Orihara hadn’t had much of an impact, to the degree that he assumed he’d just been too shocked at finally knowing. The worry was wiped out—sharing this here, with Sasuke, was the reaction he’d wanted. Truly, the only reason finding out meant something was because of the family had now, not the pseudo-perfect setting from his childhood dreams. Sasuke would love this next bit, too. “They seem receptive to the idea of meeting you, too.”
Seemingly against the laws of physics, the brunet’s face lit up even more, which in itself was its own Christmas present to Naruto. “How can I possibly thank you?”
“Enjoy it. We’re best friends.” Smiling enough to break his face, he looked away out of embarrassment of all the love directed at him. “You don’t owe me anything; I just want you to be happy.”
Leaning over, he put his forehead against Naruto’s shoulder. “Thank you,” he whispered, trying to put all his feeling into it.
Itachi edged away and went to the counters, letting them have a moment of relative privacy. He put together dinner plates and brought them over, and they all ate and chatted pretty normally, working out details of the holidays intermittently—every few moments both Uzumaki relived their mutual relief.
The door opened the down the hallway, and Haku appeared a minute later. He glanced at them all sitting cozily on the couch and failed to hide his jealousy and wanting as he placed his empty mug in the sink. “Come on over,” the blond called. “We’ve got a spot for you right here,” patting the half foot of space on his left.
Haku pulled off doubtful and grateful simultaneously, not moving past the counters with typical teenage reluctance for anything deemed too childish. “You can have my seat.” Itachi stood, meeting Sasuke's concerned gaze. “I have finals tomorrow. Even I might do poorly if I don’t work on it a bit tonight.” The corner of Sasuke's lip twitched, a suppressed chuckle at Itachi's egotism. “Make sure to drink plenty of water, Sasuke, and go to ER immediately if you feel worse at all. That said, you should be alright. As far as the whole Orochimaru thing goes, I mean, I’ll play nice. On the other hand,” he shook his head. “I’ll maybe talk to some old contacts at the firm, and see if there’s anything to be done about Sai. There must be someone who can make him back off. If he does anything else, well, my father’s the last resort,” he promised.
“If Sai tries to pull anything, so much as ding-dong-ditches our door, I’ve got a couple cop buddies who owe me. Now that I know about it,” he looked at Sasuke, letting him feel just a bit more guilt for that one, “I can handle it, ” the blond declared, the set of his jaw showing no mercy. “Drive safely, and good luck on finals!”
“I’ll walk you to the door.” Sasuke stood, losing the blanket as he moved.
“No need to get up—you should rest.”
“No, I—I want to see if it’s still snowing outside.”
“Oh.” Itachi got it. “Yes. Snow.”
Sasuke pulled the blanket over his shoulders and followed Itachi, shifting on his feet as Itachi suited up and pulled out his keys. The younger man looked between the door and Itachi, and Itachi nodded. They stepped out on the porch, closing the door behind them most of the way for privacy. “So it is still snowing.”
“Yes.” Itachi wasn’t looking at the snow, though. “I, um, I’m sorry. I can judge pretty quickly, and since I’m usually right, well—it doesn’t excuse my assumptions—”
“It’s fine. I’m sorry, too. It wasn’t enough to just not lie; I’ll be more straightforward and make sure I say what needs to be said. Speaking of,” he tugged lightly on the end of Itachi's scarf. “I want you to kiss me.”
Itachi smiled and obliged, cradling Sasuke's face with his gloved hands and softly brushing their lips together. He deepened the kiss, sliding a hand behind Sasuke's neck and the other down to the small of his back, moving his lips more firmly and opening his mouth slightly. Sasuke responded with his tongue, clutching the blanket around him still. Their tongues slid together wetly, their kiss deepening in intensity; Sasuke's free hand fell from Itachi's cheek down to his hip and he shivered at he felt the first flare of arousal.
Itachi felt the shiver and ended the kiss quickly. “It’s too cold out here. You should go back inside.” He didn’t let go of Sasuke, instead leaning their foreheads together and closing his eyes.
Sasuke watched the cloudy puffs of his breath get whisked away with the wind. He could hardly feel Itachi beneath his layers of clothing, and the wind ruffled the edges of his blanket, insistently reminding him that he was too cold to be out here.
“I really like you,” Itachi said quietly.
“I really like you, too,” Sasuke smiled. The small, goofy grin on Itachi's face had his heart pounding all over again. Well, he knew what kind of dreams he was having tonight. “I really should go inside.”
“Yes.” Itachi released him, looking regretful. “I need to study. Can I see you tomorrow?”
“I’ll be studying all morning, but if you get here before two, we’ll have more time to hang out.” He said meaning fully. “Before Naruto or Haku get back.”
“Oh. Yes. I will definitely get done quickly, then.” Still smiling, he climbed in his car and left.
Sasuke tried to calm the flushing of his cheeks and, feeling the futility, decided to blame it on the cold whether he was believed or not.
Upon reentering, he saw that Naruto had retrieved his computer and was typing away, checking the textbook lying open next to him frequently. Sasuke grabbed his water bottle from the counter and sat down next to Naruto again. “Are you going to be alright? I thought you were going to take a break.”
“I just have to finish this test review,” he saved the document and closed the laptop. “But I can finish it during homeroom tomorrow. I’m in the mood for a movie.” Sasuke grabbed the remote and started flipping through the channels. “Haku? Are you joining us?”
Haku, having waited in the kitchen for Sasuke to come back under the pretense of washing out his teacup, slid over gracefully into the still warm seat on the couch. Sasuke shifted uncomfortably as Haku’s wet hair dampened his shoulder. “Is this good?” Sasuke asked, stopping on a comedy that had just begun. The boy nodded, and Naruto put his arms over the back of the couch in a weary stretch.
“It’s been so long since we’ve done this,” he said regretfully. Sasuke nodded, leaning into Naruto some, a sort of domino effect with Haku. The blond’s stomach twisted as he remembered how much preparation he still needed to do for tomorrow, but quickly decided that whatever tiredness or pain he had to pay later, it would be worth it to extend this warm feeling of family now.
And once the movie was over, they helped the hardly conscious Haku back to his bed, with Sasuke off to dream sweet dreams as Naruto worked late into the night.

888
So that’s it for now. After this story, I think I’m taking a break from writing in this fandom (though I definitely want to write more in it!) but there are other fandoms I’m part of that don’t have as much fanfiction, and it makes me sad that there just isn’t much written for it, or that the stories that are there generally fall into two or three patterns (plus I have like two Viewfinder/Finder Series stories already written and another a third into it. it’s going to be epic)
Ahhh it’s dinnertime so I’m going to eat (I had like ice cream and candy corn today soooooooo)
any criticism always welcome
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