Face Down

Believe it or not, I started this chapter months ago. But some serious stuff happened to my family (basically my mom died in november and all sorts of 'fun' family drama has ensued; of course without mom it's my job to take care of it). I have just recovered the motivation to do anything again, so yayz! for that (mostly I think Gurren Lagann had something to do with it. Most Motivational Show EVER).

There's a couple parts where I reference a bunch of other anime/shows/movies and such. I was going to say whoever finds the most and names them all wins, but I haven't a clue what he/she would win. Bragging rights? I could send you a hug or a smiley face haha yeah who'd want that.

anyhowwhositz...


* * *

Itachi had managed maybe hour of sleep and it wasn’t enough, but he felt supremely miserable lying in the now-too-big-bed by himself so it wasn’t a priority. He watched the sun move its rays gradually down the wall, getting closer and closer to his face. Other than a few noises Sasuke made settling on the couch last night their apartment remained silent as a 1910 movie.


His mind was carefully numb as he left the apartment for his sunrise exercise at the gym, just able to own up to himself that the reason he skipped breakfast (as unhealthy as he knew it to be) was to avoid his brother, who would have surely woken from the noise.


Stress and anger were nice to burn off with a run, and he jumped on the treadmill without even a warm-up. He waited until his pace was nice and quick and his music was nearly deafening before allowing his brain to analyze that conversation.


What was that brat thinking? Itachi was supposed to boss Sasuke around— he was asserting his right as the older brother! And so what if he was a little rough sometimes? Their dad wasn’t abusive per se, but Itachi never reached *his* level, even when he was angry! Younger brothers are always weak and whiny. What sort of lover was he if he refused to swallow after a blow job? And what nonsense was this with stomach cramps, he sounded like menstruating girl! It was Itachi’s choice as the older brother, initiator of their relationship, and the seme to decide when and how their friends found out. He should also know better than to kiss anybody else. Protecting his older brother? What a stupid excuse to kiss that stupid blonde man. He probably wanted to be punished anyway! And Sasuke knew he loved him, he told his little brother that all the time!


…didn’t he? … now that he seriously thought about it, the last time he’d actually said ‘I love you’ was in that clothing store when they hid the dressing rooms to fix a… ‘problem’… or two. He simply wasn’t very vocal and Sasuke’s known that for years before they became lovers. Sasuke just said it more than he did, that’s all. Like in the morning when they parted ways to go to school… or got back from school… or something made him feel lonely… or when he could tell Itachi was stressing out about school even though he never said anything, or while they were moving slowly but going deep and Sasuke would toss his head to the side as he panted and looked at him with blazing eyes and *moaned* “I love you, Itachi” and then they would move even slower to make the moment last….


Hmm….


…alright so screwing in front of a bunch of college guys was embarrassing for a kid still in high school, especially one who was already uncomfortable with PDA. Itachi didn’t exactly give otouto much warning beforehand, either, so maybe that wasn’t his best idea.


…if he hadn’t picked a fight with Deidara after the movie, they could have kept the sexual side of their brotherhood a secret, and maybe just told his friends they were dedicated to each other because they have few other relatives? It was halfway plausible. And really, Deidara is easily distracted and on top of that probably would have backed off with a mere brotherly threat.


…he was pretty sure he remembered that when they decided to be lovers they promised to be equals foremost but maintain their brotherly bond as much as possible. So yeah, maybe he should’ve consulted his lover before opening up to his friends in that fashion.


…and when he thought about it, he remembered reading somewhere that semen can get far up into the intestines so Sasuke’s stomach pain could actually be legitimate.


…since he’d never given a blowjob, maybe he shouldn’t assert anything about swallowing; for all he knew cum could taste like pickle juice and seawater mixed with crusty jello.


…and while Itachi wasn’t quite sure he understood the precise reason otouto was bothered by the bet (because there wasn’t any risk so really Itachi managed to get them a free drawing despite Deidara’s insistence on being paid for every notebook doodle and origami-crane made from napkin) but it wouldn’t hurt to ask about it. An apology might also be within the realm of his benevolence.


…so yes, they both loved their dad but he was prone to semi-abusive fits and he hated being compared to his father, especially in that way. He could admit that he was rougher than he needed to be sometimes.


“I *am* an asshole.” He repeated Sasuke’s insult, understanding the meaning more completely.


“I’ve always thought you looked more like a bastard. But I guess you would know better than me.”


Itachi knew his headphones couldn’t go any louder, but it was further proof that Naruto was one-of-a-kind that his voice cut through the heavy music. And since Itachi ran into otouto’s friend regularly at the gym, he knew pretending he hadn’t heard him wasn’t a possibility. He tugged his earphones until they were around his neck but didn’t slow down. “What do you want?”


The blonde grinned cheekily. “You look tired. You two stay up all night doing it again?”


He tripped over an invisible bump on the treadmill. “Excuse me?”


The blonde gave him a funny look. “Isn’t ‘be thou graceful’ an Uchiha commandment or something? You two should take it easy—everyone knows he gets worn out really quick. Sometimes he doesn’t even finish his laps in gym class. ” He upped his pace to match Itachi’s because he simply couldn’t resist the competition. “Though maybe that’s the side-effect of your nocturnal activities. I bet you guys do it until he passes out.” He mused. “Anyway, I figured Sasuke would’ve told you that he told me.”


Naruto’s gym buddy wasn’t playing along with the blonde’s childishness today, though. He went right back to his own thoughts, a fact that Naruto ignored since he wasn’t told outright to shut up. “I figured it out before that, though. Like *ages* ago. You guys are like ridiculously in love, you know? That’s why I stopped hanging out at your house when you’re home together. You guys can’t focus on anything but each other which is funny cause you’re usually scolding me and him to focus on our homework even though you’re not focusing on your own because you’re watching him and I know everyone says I have ADHD but I don’t cause g-pops took me to the doctor last week and that doctor was weird. I don’t think he paid attention to anything I said. At the end, though, he just gave me a funny look and told good old grampsy to stop giving me so much sugar. I woke up before him today so I snuck into the kitchen and got the Lucky Charms, but then g-pop caught me and we ended up playing tag and I got to run around the house screaming “They’re after me Lucky Charms!’ so it was pretty fun.”


For the briefest second he paused, not to catch his breath but to try to figure out where the conversation had been going before that. Oh yeah! “I’m not the only one who knows but I am the only one to figure it out (Neji says he knew, but we all know his pride makes him tell lies). But the other people that know would never betray him (or me because they know messing with ‘im the same thing as attacking me) but they’re good guys and we hardly fight and when we do we don’t use blackmail or anything so now worries!


You’re all he talks about, and even when some of the stuff he says you guys do sounds like he’s not into it he’s always got this look of absolute devotion on his face. You’re really lucky. Oh! But I’m not into guys so don’t worry; I’m not the competition or anything. There’s a pretty sweet girl in algebra, and she used to be a bitch in middle school but lately she's been super nice to me and I think I may have a shot. If not, there’s a friend I’ve liked for a while who I bet wouldn’t mind going out with me. I’d ask my real crush first, but I’m kinda worried about ruining the friendship.”


Naruto allowed a few minutes of silence, but that was more for his benefit than Itachi’s (who had unthinkingly fallen into their customary competitive pattern). His dark companion, on the other hand, was focused on how he felt like an even bigger asshole than before. No- he was lower than that, and now he knew it. He already knew how to pick up on the important threads of Naruto’s ramblings without having to listen to all of it; this kid was more or less an idiot, but hearing how much his brother loved him—coming from his best friend—it made his chest tighten further.


They’d never really fought before— he understood now it was his own fault. He generally ignored his brother when he was acting hesitant or trying to argue. In hindsight, otouto was trying to communicate to him what he was feeling, how they could improve, and the things he said last night…


He rubbed his chest. The stabbing sensation had begun when Sasuke… when he… with those five words, his world ended but Itachi had to work through the anger from being hurt to realize that.


Why should he bother with anything, without his brother to stand beside him? This wouldn’t stop them from being brothers of course. But he didn’t know if he could settle for anything less than all of Sasuke. Little brother was the reason he stayed strong during their parents’ funeral, and the reason he was able to fend off all relatives vying for custody (and consequently the inheritance money), and the reason he went to class and worked so hard. It was so his brother could have everything and anything he wanted or needed.


Some genius he was. How could he read his brother so terribly wrong? How had he overlooked the worst mistakes of his life? How could he vindicate this? How low would he have to go to make the situation right again? What could he do to fix this?


What if he *couldn’t* fix this?


“Your brother’s been on edge lately. Are you sure you’re taking care of him? He looks paler than usual and waaay more tense. Insecure, you know? If I didn’t know better, I’d say he’s afraid of you or somethi—”


“Shut up!” Itachi snapped. He didn’t want to hear this. He didn’t want to be told things he should have known. He didn’t want some outsider describing his brother to him. Why was he the only one who missed the change in Sasuke? He didn’t need any more reminders of what a lousy brother, boyfriend, and lover he was.


“I won!” The blonde obnoxiously yelled, defiantly ignoring Itachi’s order and waving his fist in the air, drawing the attention of the few other early risers at the gym. The boy didn’t care, though, because he finally beat Itachi at their mile/minute challenge. He slowed the treadmill then hopped off. “This isn’t a real win because you’re tired and missed breakfast today, but I’ll be sure to beat you for real next time.” Itachi raised his eyebrow at the supposed-idiot’s assessment, then gave up and got off the treadmill to pack up and leave. This was a crappy day anyway.


The blonde beamed when he saw that it bugged Uchiha that he could read him. “You talk to me even less when you don’t eat in the morning and you’ve been blinking more than usual so you’re clearly tired.” He chugged a water bottle in record time and went to go into the weight room, but apparently forgot something because he turned back around and got very close to Itachi.


He hated people in his bubble, but then the blonde started saying things he’d rather not have everyone hear. “Maybe some gentle sex would be good. He’d probably love to be on top more often. You could even give him a blowjob; I bet he’d love that.” He winked and continued on his way, whistling off key.


The Uchiha fought a blush as he finally located the water bottle in his bag. Why and how was that kid so damn perceptive? That wasn’t really the point here, though. He’d at least given him an idea for how to get back on Sasuke’s good side.


* * *


The apartment was so quiet Sasuke’s ears hurt. His head hurt, but that was the lump in the couch’s fault. His back hurt, but that was the couch’s fault. His heart hurt, too, but unfortunately he had done that all on his own. It had to happen, but he missed Itachi already. Seeing his older brother in his room last night almost made him to drop his list of grievances, cause it was rare for Itachi to want mere sleep next to each other.


And his brother hadn’t followed after him! The last Sasuke had seen of him was when he left last night to sleep on the couch, and aniki had hardly reacted to that. If a blank expression was the most he was going get, than that was the affirmation that Sasuke needed to know separation was the right choice. A jerk like that isn’t healthy to be around. Well, they’d still be around each other because they lived in the same house, but at least now they weren’t dating. That kind of love—well, sex anyway—was apparently too complicated for them.


He kept telling himself this as he wiped his face again, annoyed that each time his hands brushed his eyes more tears gathered there. Dammit! He failed again, then gave up. He curled deeper into the couch and let himself cry into the cushion. It didn’t matter if this made him weak because he already felt broken; he was losing not just a lover, but a brother, too. Sort of? Well not really yet he knew there was little hope things would be like it’d been when they were young.


Hah! He thought their relationship was fucked up before; they had brother, boyfriend, lover, and now ‘ex’ issues. His phone buzzed on the table and he opened it to read the text. It was from Naruto, who he knew spent mornings at the gym. Naturally, Naruto’s brief run-in with his brother had tipped him off and he was asking what happened last night. He ignored it, but figured he should do something other than sit and sulk.


His stomach suggested breakfast, so he went into the kitchen and heated a few instant pancakes. It was when he went to get himself syrup that the universe attacked. The lid wouldn’t open, and he was already pissed off at himself for being upset with the break-up and he didn’t feel a container of syrup was worthy of defeating him. He tried everything he could, from running the lid under hot water to using a rubber grip and it refused to loosen.


Although he knew he was being silly, he raised him arm to throw the plastic container into the sink in a mini-bitch fit just when the lid yielded. Sasuke still lost the battle because now he was covered in syrup. “FUCK IT!” He yelled. In his haste to leave the kitchen, he completely missed his older brother watching him from the living room.


He stomped into the bathroom for his second shower in the past twelve hours. He left his pjs outside of the hamper so he could wash them right away and turned the water until it was too hot. It was a pleasant burn on his skin; the same kind of sensation that danced between pleasure and pain that Itachi gave him when they did this and that…


It hadn’t even been twenty-four hours since they’d last done it (and in front of other people, too!), and already he was fantasizing. The water needed some help removing the sticky substance from his skin and hair, so he grabbed the nearest wash bottle to cleanse himself. He scowled at it when he saw it was Itachi’s scent and reached for another. That one was also very much nii-san’s scent, so he tried again. And then another, until he realized that all the shampoo, conditioner, soap, and body wash they owned had been picked out by his older brother and smelled intrinsically like him. They were nice enough smells but he wasn’t in the mood to smell like nii-san. He lacked options though and eventually went with the least used brand.


“I think one more try should do it.” He mumbled to himself after the second round of shampoo left his hair. Showers were his place to relax, and he let his mind stay sweetly numb so it wouldn’t remind him of the ache in chest. Slowly, bigger hands joined his on his scalp, massaging it. Itachi said quietly to him, “Let me help you with that,” and those words ruined the serene spell.


He was angry and no matter how much he liked when was Itachi was being gentle this was unacceptable. “What are you doing?!”


“I’m trying to help you.” He replied as soothingly as he could.


“No, I mean what the hell are you doing sneaking in here while I’m taking a shower?!” He faced his brother, anger helping him resist the temptation to appreciate the naked, wet lover gently touching his shoulders. He physically shook his head back and forth to clear the effects of Itachi’s intense gaze. “I broke up with you! Or do they use different words in college? How about this: I dumped you, we’re finished, let’s see other people, I’m calling it off—”


“I’m just trying to help you.” He repeated. The calm tone wouldn’t have been convincing if Sasuke hadn’t noticed at that moment that Itachi wasn’t hard. He thought it over for a second; either his brother lost all sexual desire for him overnight, nii-san had just had sex, or his brother genuinely wanted to wash his hair. His eyes showed the passion he was used to seeing, so Sasuke knew his brother wanted him and hadn’t gone to someone else, but then the only option was…


“Well,” he hesitated a moment more, then turned around again. “Go ahead.” The younger Uchiha felt like he was letting the devil in the doorway, but Itachi kept his promise and focused on getting all the syrup out. Aniki massaged his head on very rare occasions; the last time he had been horribly sick and could hardly wash himself. He lost himself in the pleasant moment and allowed nii-san to apply conditioner. After that was washed out he moved to turn off the water, feeling a little less angry at his brother, but Itachi stopped him with a hand on his wrist and his guard was up again.


But all he said was “please” and the hand on his wrist was light and he, against his better judgment, gave in. Itachi poured a handful of body wash into his palms and tenderly kneaded his back to work out the tension. Aniki raised the water temperature when he showed the slightest sign of being cold in a surprisingly attentive gesture.


“Please.” He said again, and Sasuke nearly jumped again when he saw over his shoulder his brother go down on his knees. Sasuke lost his breath as an impossibility crossed his mind. Itachi was unsure how to do it exactly, but he pulled Sasuke by the hips to turn and face him, not flinching when the angle sprayed shower water on face. All of his attention was on his younger brother’s cock.


Sasuke had grown hard midway through the back massage, but just seeing aniki on his knees staring so closely at his dick would have made him fully erect. “Itachi…” he trailed off, not sure what to say. As if in slow motion, his brother stuck out his tongue and licked the head, gathering the pearl of precum into his mouth. He gasped as Itachi did it again. “Oh… shit.” His brother took it a step further and grasped the base while he put the head in his mouth and sucked lightly. “Ah… Itachi … why?” His brother didn’t answer; he just took another inch into his mouth.


Not ten minutes ago he was convinced their relationship as lovers was over.


Over? Fuck that! If his words had an impact last night and aniki was going to treat him like this from now on they could stay together. He moaned loudly in appreciation of the way Itachi gently moved his tongue all over the head and caressed his balls. He didn’t dare touch Itachi’s hair even though the spray of the shower head was messing it up; but the elder Uchiha noticed his fists clenched in restraint and pulled off of the cock in front of him for a moment.


“Sasuke,” he held a hand in each of his, “go ahead and pull my hair, it’s alright.” Sasuke hesitated still, but once Itachi had threaded his hands into the long raven hair and resumed stroking the hard cock with his tongue, Sasuke couldn’t help tugging on it.


Itachi wasn’t particularly awesome at this since he’d never given head before but Sasuke didn’t know any better because he’d never received head before. Nevertheless it was enough to know that Itachi was doing what he considered degrading just to please Sasuke.


‘I’ve been at least that mean to you,’ Itachi thought. ‘How many times did I yank and jerk at your hair despite your protests?’ he continued mentally berating himself. He bobbed his head a bit because Sasuke always did that and it usually felt nice. However, there was something else Sasuke did often that he knew must be done.


Gradually he stopped bobbing his mouth over Sasuke’s cock and went down on it as far as he could. Sasuke’s moan and half-shout “fuck!” made it totally worth it. He was still had an inch or so to go but his gag reflex was kicking in so he backed off. He couldn’t remember how long it took Sasuke to learn how to deep throat properly, but now he could appreciate the short time Sasuke mastered it in. He stroked it with his hand and looked up at Sasu—at his brother. He had to get over his aversion to reminders of their familial relationships during sex. He knew that Sasuke didn’t have a problem with it so there should be no reason for him to have trouble with it.


His brother’s eyes were mostly shut, his head tilted down to watch Itachi work; he looked dead sexy dripping wet and aroused and gazing at him with love and admiration. His determination returned and he shoved it back into his mouth, grunting as it slid into his throat. The grunt caused the slightest vibration but in Sasuke’s state it was enough. “‘M coming, tachi!” he whispered.


He drew back at these words, just enough to slide his cock from his throat to his mouth, but the cum started spurting out of the tip just then in thick rivulets. It didn’t taste very nice, a weird salty-sweet mix that was indescribable; he liked how it was very warm. He couldn’t really decide if he like it or not, but it was too late because in his hesitation to swallow he ended up choking on the cum residing in his mouth and sliding down his throat.


Sasuke fell to his knees. Through his heavy panting he asked, “Are you… alright?” Itachi coughed some more and nodded. He put his hand on his brother’s shoulder and waited for aniki to get his breath back. The instant Itachi was breathing normally again he seized his younger brother in a tight embrace.


Sasuke’s face was in the spray and it was uncomfortable but when he realized the hot drips of water on his shoulder were not the shower water but Itachi’s tears he simply couldn’t pull away. He wrapped his arms around nii-san’s torso as tightly as he could.


Itachi knew his shuddering breaths were giving him away but he couldn’t stop himself. “Otouto, you… I’m… I love you. I don’t have any right to ask you to forgive me. I’ve been an asshole and a scumbag and all sorts of terrible to you, and ‘I’m sorry’ isn’t enough to make up for the things I’ve done to someone I care for as much as I do for you. I’m not asking for a second chance, because I don’t deserve it… but I am begging for one.


“I won’t make a bunch of cliché promises, either, but you know once I’ve decided something it’s guaranteed.” He sniffed and his voice regained the strong assertive tone that made people hang on his every word. “I love you, and I need you to know that I will listen to you when you tell me something and I’ll put you first in *everything* and I want to take care of you like a real lover should.


“so… don’t answer now, but if there’s even the slightest chance we could try again—no, even if you say hate me and—” he choked momentarily—“want to move to Uncle Madara’s I would…” he would fall apart, honestly, but saying that would influence Sasuke’s decision. “I would keep loving you. I should probably thank you, because if you hadn’t said anything I would never have known that I could love anyone this much and it made my chest hurt when you said— but I don’t want you to feel guilty or anything, so forget that part but remember that you are *most* important to me—if I were to lose the world and gain your love, I would be able to survive.


“So… um… if you could consider that, you know, that I evaluated my view on this and related things and intend to vindicate what I can and arrange for other things to be better and ensure I do not act like that man and in the way that he acted in the past regarding his anger and the way he treated us sometimes and I want to be better and make all things equal and particularly from your view more equal and so do nearly everything in a very different and more than likely opposite way than it previously has been done—“


“I’ll think about it.” Sasuke wanted to laugh, cry, and fuck all at once. Itachi actually said ‘um!’ And then he rambled!


He was sorry and wanted to change. Well, he probably already had, because formerly Itachi got mad when he asked for a return-the-favor BJ and here he’d gotten his first without asking and clearly Itachi wasn’t about to command him to repay. Though now he totally wanted to do it, because it was hot and he was in the mood for it now.


And Itachi said ‘I love you’ more times just now than he had this past year! Call him romantic, but those words alone were giving his erection a second wind. If the issues brought up last night were addressed, then there was no reason for them not to get back together. All couples had their rough patches, and since they loved each other with unrivaled passion—how could any other lovers compare? He and Itachi were bonded through blood, love and soul.


He wanted to say ‘yes’ right this second but even nii-san admitted how brutal he’d been and Sasuke felt only the slightest remorse at dragging out his decision as punishment. Fortunately for aniki, forgiveness had truly been granted at Itachi’s first tear.


“Thank you.” He wiped at his eyes and put their foreheads together, running his hands over his brother like he was reassuring himself that he really wasn’t pushing him away and conveying how gentle he would be from then on. His older brother still looked pretty dejected, so he caved in and gave him a peck on the lips. That brought a smile. Sasuke stood up to rinse off and aniki did too.


“Are you hungry? I’ll make whatever you want.” He put a fluffy towel around his younger brother’s shoulders before grabbing his own and wrapping it around his waist.


“Yeah, alright. I tried to get breakfast before but the syrup bottle attacked me.” He glanced guiltily at Itachi as he stepped into the hallway. “I... kind of left a mess in the kitchen.”


“Don’t worry about it. I cleaned it up already.” Now he was extra glad he’d done so because it erased the guilty look on little Sasuke’s face. He smiled and nudged his younger brother into his room. “Go ahead and get dressed. I’ll see what’s in the kitchen.”


He entered the kitchen much more happily then he had left it earlier. Sasuke was right! Blowjobs definitely put a strain on your voice when you went too deep. And he would never again insist that his brother swallow. If they got back together, that is. He rummaged through the cabinets; finding nothing otouto liked, he went to the fridge.


He went to open the door when the sudden image of last night— his brother, on the floor by the fridge, looking pitifully up at him— flashed before his eyes. Wow. He grabbed some eggs, milk and cheese and shut the fridge again. He had more to apologize for than he could remember. And he needed to check the scratch on his brother’s forehead and apply some cream. That adorable face should not be scarred because of him.


The eggs were almost ready and Itachi had set the table, really starting to believe that his brother was going to forgive him and they could try again. And as soon as Sasuke said ‘yes,’ Itachi was going to grab him and do all sorts of ridiculously romantic and dirty things to him. They had some whip cream left over—


The phone rang.


Phones are supposed to do that, but the sound interrupted such happy thoughts. It annoyed him. He picked the receiver up off the wall and grouchily answered, “Yes?”


“You sick fuck!” The voice on the other end was enraged and shrill, though it still sounded like a boy.


“Excuse me? Who is this?” Itachi wasn’t sure if he was more astonished or angered.


“You heard me! What sort of shit are pulling, Uchiha!?” The voice was deeper now; less piercing but no less strained. “I heard about you and your precious little brother!”


“I don’t know what you mean.” His voice was neutral, in a calm tone that only a great actor like him could pull off. Inside, though, he was shaking. What had he been thinking last night?


“I never laid a hand on your brother and you beat the shit out of me, meanwhile you’re fucking his little brains out! And in front of everyone!”


The pieces clicked together. “Orochimaru. What do you want?” He tried to sound annoyed and not panicked, but the more he thought about it the more he realized what danger he’d put Sasuke in. Reactions like this were why he resisted telling his friends the full nature of their bond in the first place.


“You’re such a hypocrite! A horny, perverted, hypocritical, pedophile! You’re no better than I am! What sort of lies did you tell him to get into his pants?! How can you call yourself his brother?!”


Orochimaru would’ve gone on, but Itachi cut him off and repeated his question. “What do you want? You surely aren’t calling me to lecture me. You can’t call me a pedophile when you want him and we’re the same age and I have never li—” he wanted to say he never lied to his brother, but that wasn’t exactly true, though he hadn’t been lying the first night they’d gotten together.


“I want you to stop being a hypocrite and break off your sick, incestual fuckfest with the poor kid. Maybe after I get over what utter bullshit you are, Uchiha, I’ll be able to tell you what you can do to make it up to me. Just pray that until then, I don’t tell your uncle.”


“You’re not really that childish, are you?” He retorted, but Orochimaru hung up then so Itachi wasn’t sure if he’d heard the jibe. If Uncle Madara found out, at the very least Sasuke would be taken from him. He wouldn’t be able to take it; life without otouto was empty and meaningless. And judging from how Sasuke handled their parents’ death, otouto would be even worse off. He returned the phone to the receiver and remembered the eggs on the stove just in time to save them.


The words replayed in his head over and over. Technically, he could be considered a pedophile because Sasuke wasn't eighteen yet, though in reality he was a Sasuke-phile. He’d never liked Orochimaru because the man was so creepy. He didn’t act like a college-aged kid and was just… ughhh. That had hit the hardest: for Orochimaru to say they were on the same level was ridiculous. More absurd then a neon penguin doing the hula while listening to Eminem. Ludicrous, like men getting pregnant in those stories girls write online.


Wasn’t it?


He had never been so insecure in his whole life as much as he had been in the last twelve hours. It must be a full moon, because all these weird and unexpected things are happening all at once.


“Itachi?” He jumped at the sound of his name. There was his beloved in the doorway; how he could have treated otouto like anything less than his most treasured person, he couldn’t comprehend. “Itachi?” He said again— otouto’s voice was one of his favorite sounds, especially when he said dirty things and made noises when they…. but that brought his thoughts back to what Orochimaru had said. Was he truly no better than him? Because he had always thought that Sasuke could do so much better than that creepy man, but if they were that similar…


“Is the food ready yet?”


Sasuke looked a little worried, so he nodded. “Have a seat, otouto.” He brought the food over and he tried to act normal; even so, Sasuke knew something was up, though he figured it was because Itachi was still beating himself up. It was time, he figured, to be officially back together. Then he remembered something. “Oh yeah, who called before? I thought I heard the phone ring.”


Itachi felt uncomfortable with this, cause Sasuke had been so unaware of Orochimaru’s intentions and he didn’t want to make Sasuke feel threatened because there was no threat now that Orochimaru was banned from their house. He decided that the truth was better especially after the insinuation that he lied to his brother to get him to love him. “That… was Orochimaru.”


Sasuke twisted his face in disgust. “No offense, Itachi, but of all your friends he’s the creepiest. I’m kind of glad he wasn’t there last night.” He blushed and mumbled, looking down at his plate, “especially that last part.”


Another twinge of guilt struck him. He was absolutely horrible to his brother. He didn’t deserve a good person—child—like Sasuke. As Sasuke obliviously ate his lunch every tiny thing Itachi had done to hurt his brother or make him uncomfortable jumped to the forefront of his mind and the memory of each was like a stab in the gut. He suddenly wasn’t very hungry anymore and put his fork down.


Sasuke did notice now but he assumed it was because he hadn’t given his answer yet. “I was thinking… I mean, I’ve thought about it and I think we should—“


“Stay apart.” Itachi amazed himself sometimes. If he had known he was going to sound that calm, he would have used more than two words.


“You— wait, what?” He asked Itachi, totally bewildered.


“I haven’t acted as I should, and I don’t know if I can change so easily. I bet on you, after all, and if I was willing to take that risk I clearly am not as dedicated to what we have as I should be. I love you,” he added, because Sasuke’s eyes were suddenly very shiny. “Just… maybe I can’t handle the duality of this relationship.”


‘What?’ was Sasuke’s main thought. This wasn’t at all what he’d anticipated. What about that speech in the shower? Was that all lies, too? At least last night he had his anger to buffer the hurt. Plus, he had been the one calling it off and he had good reasons. What was this bullshit? After two years Itachi just suddenly couldn’t handle screwing his brother?


But such a declaration shouldn’t be so unexpected, and he knew it. One of Itachi’s rules was never to call each other ‘brother’ when they were doing it. In the shower… Aside from sucking him off, which might have been his brother’s twisted form of apologizing, Itachi probably meant everything to be brotherly.


The more he thought about it, he had probably had simply daydreamed about aniki sucking him off, as well as the other mushy, romantic things he thought Itachi said. Aniki was not romantic like that.


“Yeah.” Sasuke mentally chastised himself at how shaky that first word was. “Yeah, I was thinking the same thing.” That was much stronger, and the total lack of emotion on Itachi’s face proved to him that this was the right decision. Mentally he smacked himself for allowing his resolve of last night to escape him so easily.


“I have a paper to write for English, a couple of chapters in history to read and I have a grammatical test on Monday. So I’m going to go study in my room now. Thank you for lunch.” Maybe he should give his acting ability more credit, because he looked Itachi in the eyes, spoke evenly, got his plate in the dishwasher and walked out of the room more gracefully than he knew he could; he strolled down the hallway and shut his door normally.


The second he clicked the lock on the door, he crumpled. Why had things happened this way? Was he too greedy? Too picky? Maybe things hadn’t been as bad as he thought they were, and this was his punishment for being a drama queen.


He looked around his empty room and noticed his bed that Itachi had slept in was still unmade. He crawled into it and curled up with his face in the pillow, sniffing it. The evanescing scent of his brother surrounded the whole area; the only thing missing was the warmth of a body behind him and an arm wrapped around his torso while the other played with his hair. Well, this was depressing. He initiated the break up to get peace, and somehow tranquility was now the furthest thing from his mind.


A lesson learned too late: a selfish lover was better than no lover at all.


* * *


Dawn crept in through the open blinds and poked at closed lids. The sun’s rays grew stronger and Sasuke childishly fought waking even harder, rolling over to thwart the sun’s well-meant efforts. He was almost fully back into the wonderful dream about his brother and the last time they’d gone to the movies. Naturally his alarm started beeping at that moment. He ignored it for thirty seconds before he couldn’t take it anymore and threw it as hard as he could against the wall. It beeped once more and hit the ground with a loud thump. The noise stopped but he knew it wasn’t broken. Itachi had bought for him an indestructible rubber alarm clock when Itachi started college because Sasuke left earlier in the morning and Itachi didn’t want to have to make sure his brother was awake. Itachi…


What was he thinking? Was it really that easy to let go? They’d known and loved each other their entire lives, so even if Itachi didn’t love him that way anymore it was hard to believe it would be so sudden. It was just…


His phone buzzed in his blankets, and he remembered that he’d fallen asleep texting Naruto about the test today. In between the review questions they shot at each other he had (rather skillfully) dodged questions about what Sasuke now referred to as ‘the event’ and not even Naruto’s persistence could make him give in, though the blond spent Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday trying to figure it out.


When he opened his phone the message had actually been sent from Sakura, who was inexplicably superstitious about chain letters. “Send to twenty people in the next five minutes or Samara will get you!” He smirked. If Samara killed him, he’d have a great excuse not to go to school today. He felt miserable and being in a place where the teachers were miserable and the students all hated each other and the building looked like a prison would serve the sole purpose of making him more miserable. Before he knew it he’d drifted off again.


Five minutes before the bus arrived Itachi burst into his room unexpectedly. “You’ll be late, otouto! Aren’t you awake yet?” He saw the clock on the floor and rolled his eyes. “Seems you figured out the angle to throw it so it turns off instead of just snoozing.”


He faced away from his brother resentfully. “What are you doing up so early? Your class doesn’t start for another two hours.” Yeah he was grumpy and being a bit childish but it was too early and he was too miserable to care.


“But I’m a full time brother,” and that sounded ridiculous (especially considering certain activities they’d participated in a few days before) and Sasuke couldn’t help a snort escaping. “So I have to make sure you get to school. You’re not sick, are you?”


Maybe it really was that easy to return to brotherness, because the once-familiar concern in nii-san’s voice made him roll over and show his brother Sakura’s text. “I’m worse than sick. Samara killed me twenty minutes ago.” He said seriously.


“Hm.” Itachi looked a little persuaded by his reasoning, since it was rare to have such a legitimate excuse. “Ordinarily a Samara attack would constitute a day off. I think we’ll have to find some way to revive you though,” he smiled when otouto scowled, “because you already told me you have a test today.” Sasuke climbed out of bed reluctantly and dragged his feet to the closet to change into his school uniform.


Itachi walked back into his own room to finish getting ready. “Plus our cleaner is coming today and she always complains we get in her way.” Where had he put his secondary textbook? There was a quiz today on the material in chapter seven and the main text for the class didn’t mention the subject at all so he had to find that book.


“She speaks mostly French. How do you know what she says?” A book came sliding through his doorway as Sasuke walked by. “You left that on the bathroom counter.” Right! He’d been reviewing as he dried his hair earlier.


“Thanks!” He said loudly so Sasuke could hear him over the running water as he washed his teeth and face. He shoved it into his book bag and poked his head into the bathroom. “I’m a genius. Things like language barriers don’t apply to people like me.” Sasuke punched his arm and made a noise of annoyance around his toothbrush. “Mom taught me what she learned in college. I understand enough to know she thinks you’re better looking but way too messy.”


Itachi went down the hall and checked the time on the stove. “I’ll drive you to school because you already missed the bus. If you can finish getting ready in the next two minutes we’ll have time to stop for breakfast.” He barely completed the word breakfast before Sasuke rushed in. “Ready! I vote Starbucks. Your treat, of course.” The dark young man looked like a model from a magazine. The top buttons were undone on his shirt and his hair was untidy but it was a casual sort of messiness that didn’t detract from his overall studious appearance.


It reminded him of the times one of them had woken up early and extremely horny and convinced the other morning sex was the answer. Naturally they would always be late afterwards, but it was usually worth it and his brother’s nearly permanent bed-head looked like the same it did when Itachi grabbed and tugged at it to make Sasuke arch his neck. He seemed to love getting his neck bitten and always came when Itachi found that one spot just below his hairline and sunk his teeth in slowly and the slight jerks of his hair enhanced the pleasure.


He adjusted his tie and looked up to find out why his brother hadn’t said anything to find Itachi staring at him wistfully. All their brotherly banter was forgotten instantly and both felt that deep, supernatural pull to the other. Itachi moved first and in three steps was before his brother. Sasuke loved the way his brother’s dark eyes seemed to devour him and unconsciously licked his lips in anticipation. Itachi’s eyes followed the movement and Sasuke leaned up the tiniest bit, expectantly, but Itachi rather abruptly straightened his tie, refusing to look Sasuke in the eye though the younger could see the passion had disappeared again. He tried to break the tension. “I just got it all comfy, Itachi, why do you have to mess with it?”


“It was crooked. You’ll be strolling into class late, without a pass, and causally sipping a frappuccino. You should at least be in proper dress code.” He turned and grabbed his keys on the way out the door. Sasuke lagged behind a bit to recover, though he wasn’t sure if he was relieved or angry.


* * *


“How do you think you did? That test had questions on it I don’t think we ever went over in class.”


“I bet I aced it,” Naruto told Neji confidently, “but that’s because Sasuke was texting me about it until two in the morning.” He sounded annoyed but was happily sipping his juice box and swinging his legs in time with Sasuke’s munching on his sandwich.


“You always forget all the details, Naruto. Do you even know how many times you asked me about comma splices and dangling modifiers?” Naruto wasn’t the reason he was angry but everything the blond did was irritating when he was agitated to begin with. He put down his sandwich and stole an Oreo from him vindictively. “Do you have to be such a dumbass? Sometimes I think rocks have more brains than you.” He glared at his food; he didn’t want to eat the sandwich his brother made for him.


The table was dead silent for a moment. Sasuke noticed and looked up at Naruto, whose expression was a bit hurt. Sasuke put the Oreo back on his friend’s plate and mentally smacked himself. The blonde was weirdly sensitive about remarks on his intelligence and immediately he felt like an ass. “I’m sorry. I’m just grumpy because…” no way was he telling them all what happened with his brother. “I just get angry at… I mean, it’s not you, but… I’m sorry. I’m having a bad day was unfairly lashing out at you. I didn’t mean it.” He finished lamely.


“Wow, Sasuke! I don’t think you’ve ever been grumpy before!” The blond said sarcastically. He was smiling again so Sasuke knew his best friend had forgiven him, but as the conversation resumed around them he poked the Uchiha’s side and said quietly, “you better tell me later. I think I know anyway, though.” He nodded in agreement. These days they were rarely meaner to each other than the occasional punch on the arm or trip in the hallway, so he at least owed his best friend something like an explanation.


* *


Sasuke didn’t like the feeling of sneaking around, but if that’s what it took to avoid his brother until the storm in his head raged less than he’d stoop to it. Once he was sure the coast was clear, he sighed and stepped into his house fully. Itachi shouldn’t be back for another hour, but it didn’t hurt to be careful.


He left his shoes and book bag by the front door then collapsed on the couch, sighing. He couldn’t blame Naruto—if anything, Naruto helped them. Tomorrow, Sasuke promised himself, he would get Naruto a cupcake or buy him a magazine to make sure the boy didn’t still feel guilty. It was understandable though; hours before breaking things off completely, Itachi had spoken to his best friend. Sasuke and Naruto had talked it out however, and reached the conclusion that while the blonde’s words had some influence, they were not what changed Itachi’s mind.


Something happened between getting out of the shower and when Sasuke entered the room. But what? All he heard was the telephone, yet nothing he could imagine Orochimaru saying should cause Itachi to break up with him. Itachi obviously wasn’t attracted to the man, and Orochimaru didn’t know about their relationship.


Maybe it was as Itachi said, and he tried but just couldn’t handle fucking his brother. Perhaps it really was as simple as that.


So why was it so easy for Itachi to be a mere brother? Why must Sasuke devote every ounce of energy into pretending to be normal?


Sleep drifted in, like a butterfly landing gently on a flower, and he was asleep not minutes later, encased in troubled doubts.


When Itachi walked into the house and hour later, Sasuke lay sprawled on the couch snoring ever so softly. Functioning on automatic, he dropped his books, bags and shoes and quietly padded over to his brother. An arm he outstretched to the back of the couch and leaned on it to hover over his brother. Sasuke’s arm was across his eyes, but a glance from this angle assured him his brother was really sleeping. He grinned and bent closer, aiming to kiss Sasuke softly when he remembered this was forbidden.


He stood and scowled at himself. Though he’d barely lasted the weekend, Sasuke seems to have been much better off. He could even sleep so soundly!


Grabbing his books, he went to his bedroom; it didn’t seem to be a good idea to stay in the same room as the cause of his pain, who also happened to be the biggest temptation of his entire life.


* *


Three hours later, Itachi glanced up from his homework. His appetite neglected to appear, but figured Sasuke would probably be. So he went to the kitchen and to heat up something from the freezer (he was too distracted to notice what) and peeked out into the living room. Otouto was still sleeping; he stuck the whatever-it-was into oven then went to wake up the little angel.


Little noises were coming from the dark form on the couch. By the light from the kitchen, he could see Sasuke’s face scrunched up and as he got closer too waken his brother, he realized the noises were sounds of pain and the pale hands were clutching at his stomach. Anxiously, he took hold of his brother’s shoulders and jostled him. “Sasuke! Are you ok? Wake up!” A breathless moment passed and Sasuke’s eyes snapped open, looking at his brother with relief.


“I had the weirdest dream, ‘tachi,” and he pulled the hand from his shoulder, uncurling it and gliding it down his body to his groin. “Everything was happening wrong, and I couldn’t explain it.” He lifted his hips up into his brother’s hand as he pressed it into himself, but at that second remembered his dream wasn’t such a dream after all.


“You…” he blushed fiercely and sat up suddenly, nearly knocking Itachi in the head. Itachi yanked his hand back and an awkward silence stepped in.


“What did I do in your dream?” The elder asked hesitantly. If Sasuke said *anything* about sex, he was going to forget again all the reasons he shouldn’t. But as soon as he thought that, he remembered how much he didn’t deserve to and it sobered him sufficiently.


“You, um…” He couldn’t very well say ‘screwing me into the floor.’ That would be inappropriate in their current situation. Unfortunately, the dumbest lie he’d ever told came out of his mouth. “You were a penguin!”


“A penguin?” Disbelief oozed from those three syllables. Of all the animals to be compared to, why a penguin?


Sasuke’s inane cover for the awkward moment was weak, and he knew it. He was very nervous Itachi would find out what he had really dreamt but was trying to seem not at all nervous, which unfortunately caused him to ramble. “Well, only for a little while. Then you turned into one of the blue people, like centaurs, you know? From Animorphs. Anyway, you defeated the Galactic Empire with the help of Lestat, but then he turned you into a vampire. But after that, we all joined forces with Lelouch and battled for Narnia to get it from the evil clutches of Sauron and Light Yagami, who had unfortunately teamed up and were using the power of the One Death Ring to steal people’s hearts. So to win ‘L’ recruited us and a giant red robot that functioned on circular energy along with some small Disney characters with keys, but then Naruto turned into a powerful ninja with the power to summon killer ramen noodles to strangle his opponents and he and Dane Cook won the Dark Tournament. They didn’t find Riku there, though, so that was a bummer.” Sasuke received no response to that, so he coughed. “Ahem. That’s why I was confused when I woke up.”


He climbed off the couch and attempted to act nonchalant. “It’s dinnertime, right? I’m starving.” A glance at Itachi showed he’d broken out of whatever trance he’d gotten himself stuck into.


“Yeah. Let’s eat.” They chatted about school, discussed homework, and ate as if nothing was wrong; meanwhile, every brief touch was an electric shock; every word or phrase said ‘I love you, but this is for the best;’ and the food tasted like ash in their mouths as they forced it down, feeding the wrong appetite with every spoonful.


Though they sat across from each other, neither had ever felt more alone.


* * *


“Wait here.” Naruto pulled his best friend back into the locker room as everyone else finished changing and left. Their classmates ignored them; most people liked one or the other of the two boys enough not to rat them out for cutting class. Once everyone had gone, the blond fixed his friend with a look. “Explain yourself, please.”


“What’s there to explain?” Sasuke huffed and untied his gym sneakers. If they were going to skip class, he wished Naruto told him before he changed for gym. “I told you on last week that I broke things off with Itachi. What more do you want?”


Sasuke was unprepared for the hug. “Stop trying to act all unaffected. It just makes me want to hug you.” The blond withdrew but sat on the bench next to his friend. “It’s been two weeks, actually, and you’ve been moody and you won’t talk to me.” Though touched at the attention, Uchiha couldn’t resist giving Naruto a look, to which the blond punched him lightly on the shoulder. “You know what I mean. More moody and unresponsive than usual.”


He didn’t move for a while, and Naruto stayed unexpectedly silent. Finally Sasuke spoke. “I didn’t want to, but I felt like I had no choice.” He rubbed his head, annoyed at the return of the migraine. “I should never have said anything. It wasn’t perfect, but at least I wasn’t alone.”


“Don’t be an idiot.” That startled Sasuke out of his daze. His best friend was supposed to comfort him, not make him feel worse! “If he wasn’t treating you right, then you did exactly what you should have.”


“But why do I feel worse now than before?” he asked miserably. Somewhere, Sasuke understood what Naruto said was true. He just didn’t know what to do now. How was he, who’d never had a relationship other than Itachi, supposed to deal with losing his cherished lover?


“Well, you’re ready to forgive him, right?” Sasuke nodded and subtly checked his eyes—he’d been crying way too often lately and he was never sure when the tears would start. “Judging from what you said that he told you, don’t you think that phone call was connected to this? That’s apparently when Itachi’s stance changed.”


“Yeah. But he wouldn’t tell me who called, and it’s not like you can threaten Itachi with anything. He’s a genius. He can get out of anything.”


“What if someone, somehow, convinced him that you’d be better off without him?”


Sasuke scoffed. “He screwed me in front of his friends. I doubt he cares what’s best for me to begin with.”


They were silent for a while; Sasuke couldn’t think of anything a person could blackmail Itachi with. His brother had perfect grades, near perfect attendance, excelled at everything he did and never did anything embarrassing. The only thing that the perfect brother was doing wrong was… him. But Itachi’s friends knew better than to betray him, didn’t they?


Naruto, for his part, knew Itachi cared. He hadn’t seen him since that day at the gym, but it was painfully obvious he loved his younger brother more than anything. Naruto just needed proof. He also needed to find out about the phone call, because he knew Itachi would give in to any demands to protect Sasuke. Luckily, he had a connection at Itachi’s college so he could look into that and remove whatever obstacle was in the way. Sasuke had been through enough and helped out Naruto more than he could count—he deserved better than misery. The blond gave his friend a one-armed hug, then said, “Alright, I have plan that could get your brother back.”


Sasuke looked doubtful, but his best friend was so sure of himself that Sasuke couldn’t resist believing him. “I’ll hear you out at least.” He grudgingly replied, not ready to admit that whatever plan the blond came up with he would go through with. If there was even a one percent chance of succeeding, he would go through with it. He was desperately lonely, and the only person who could soothe the ache in his heart was Itachi.


* * *


The professor had been droning on for the past half hour and still hadn’t said anything Itachi didn’t already know; Kisame, his only friend in the class, came in late then promptly fell asleep so he had no one to talk to. He wasn’t in the mood for communication anyhow. Mindlessly he took notes while he sunk deep in memories of his brother in the hopes that he could go over everything they’d done and then be over it, or as close to over the love of his life—nay, entire world—as he could be.


A particular memory came to his mind that he deduced was bringing itself to the forefront because he kept thinking about it the day almost two weeks ago. If there was one memory he didn’t want to lose, this was near the top of his list. On one of the rare occasions he and Sasuke went out instead of staying at home screwing, they had gone to the mall for some quality brother bonding time (not *bondage* time, as Sasuke had to point out).

[
“If you consider how guilty he felt, especially for the death of his half-sister, the series couldn’t have ended any other way. For him, the Requiem plan was the only way to atone for it. His best friend felt the same way—that’s why he aided him.” In general, Itachi never let himself get sucked into anime but every now and then one caught his eye.


“The ending made sense, true, but I just can’t understand the characters’ motives behind it. They could have had a happy ending if they wanted. I feel like they gave it up,” he snapped his fingers, salty from the French fries, “like that because they didn’t communicate effectively.” He had to raise his voice a bit for that last part as a crowd of noisy teenage theater-goers passed near their table, getting items from the Food Court before seeing some depressingly shallow movie.


“Five bucks says they’re going to see the sequel to ‘Evening.’” Itachi had followed his brother’s gaze to the ditzy girls squealing and giggling obnoxiously and classifying the entire menu into things either vampires or werewolves would eat, a topic that apparently required shrill arguments. “I thought vampires didn’t consume anything but blood…” he muttered, annoyed at the wimpification vampires had suffered at the hands of a single writer.


Sasuke smirked and finished his drink, reaching across the table to steal an onion ring from his brother. Itachi was more than likely right, but he figured it was healthy for Itachi to have someone disagree with him every so often. “You never know- there’s that movie about the end of the world that just came out.”


An eyebrow rose at that. “Are you sure you want to bet against me? I never lose. Plus, your choice implies they would understand a more complex movie. I doubt they have the brainpower.”


Sasuke doubted it too, but he sensed a challenge. “Fine.” He said. “And let’s bet something other than cash, since our money comes from the same source.” He went to steal another onion ring, but Itachi deftly captured his hand without breaking eye contact. Slowly, he brought the hand up to his mouth and bit the food it held, munching slower for every shade darker otouto’s blush became. “’tachi! Let go already!” he whisper-shouted at his brother, dropping the remaining part of the ring and tugging to get his hand back.


“Why?” Itachi was a master of one word answers— he could pack a paragraph full of meaning into one single syllable. He held his brother’s hand tighter, annoyed Sasuke was resisting a simple touch.


“I’m not comfortable doing stuff like this in public. I’m not embarrassed about being seen with you,” he added quickly to cut off aniki’s expected response. “And my closest friends know, so that’s not the problem…”


‘Why should I care if his friends know he doesn’t like PDA?’ Itachi misinterpreted, brushing it aside as a more exciting thought launched itself to his mouth. “I’ll let go if we change the betting reward. Winner gets to choose where we do it next.” Sasuke still looked hesitant, so he subtly slipped a finger in his mouth without any of the people around them seeing.


The action turned Sasuke on and made him anxious at the same time, furtively glancing around to see if anyone had noticed. “Alright, fine, just let go.” The moment assent was given, his hand was relinquished.


The table the Uchiha were eating at was close enough to the theater that once the girls had obtained their milkshakes and went to get their movie tickets, Sasuke could see and hear all that they did and said. Itachi didn’t bother turning around since he knew the outcome. He calmly finished his burger, musing over the extra time he’d half to put in at the gym to erase the greasy mess otouto convinced him to eat.


Sasuke felt his heart sink a little each time a girl got a ticket for the movie Itachi figured they’d see. ‘Just once, universe. Just once, can Itachi be wrong?’ He looked to the sky in the midst of his irritated plea, but once he looked at the ceiling and through the skylight he saw darkening clouds roll in, “looks like a storm’s starting, aniki.”


He chuckled in response. “Don’t try to distract me. I won.” He added more smugly than was called for. But hey, he liked winning. “You finished? We should go. I hate driving in the rain.” Sasuke nodded, and Itachi disposed of their trash while Sasuke grabbed their coats. Itachi heard a faint rumbling as they walked past the theater, but he assumed it was a movie. Until he went to open the door to the outside parking lot, when lightning flashed and rain poured down with the strength of a waterfall.


“I guess we’re stuck here for a bit.” Itachi said grouchily, his mood turning a bit sour.


“Why? It’s not like you’re incapable of driving in the rain, you just need your glasses.” A thought struck Sasuke as he followed his brother back into the mall proper. “You didn’t bring them, did you?” he accused. Well, it just meant they’d wait longer before having sex when they got home, and on the rare occasions they were forced to wait the anticipation had made it more intense. “What do you want to do until then?”


Checking briefly to make sure no one saw, he snagged otouto’s upper arm and pulled him into a deep, shady alcove that you could only see into if you knew to look for it, and only then a certain angle. Itachi knew this and took advantage of it the moment Sasuke back hit the wall. He pressed his brother into it and went for his neck with the speed of a vampire, licking in a zigzag pattern from his collarbone to his ear to elicit pleasing shivers from his otouto, a dead giveaway that the younger was aroused.


“Itachi, no-nya!” The hand at his crotch stopped all protest as his older brother forcefully massaged the rapidly growing erection that Sasuke’s jeans could barely hide. A passionate kiss dominated his mouth, inhibiting speech until otouto could be convinced otherwise.


The precaution was unnecessary, because every time aniki thrust his tongue into his mouth in mimicry of what their bodies would soon be doing, rational thought banished itself. He moaned, the sound escaping with each withdrawal of his brother’s hot tongue. He didn’t care about how messy his face was getting from their sloppy kiss; he just knew the burning in his veins that ached for his brother could only be satisfied in the most obscene way.


Almost of its own accord his left leg moved up to curl around Itachi’s hip, beginning a grind to ease the sudden need for friction. He looped an arm around Itachi’s shoulder for balance and to pull their bodies closer. Aniki’s moan of approval rumbled against his chest and he reached for his hand to intertwine their fingers, holding hands like Itachi liked to do, to make up before for when everyone was watching—


“Oh shit.” Sasuke mumbled against Itachi’s lips. His brother pulled back, wondering what on earth his brother would want to stop these pleasurable feelings for. “Itachi! People can see us here!” He dropped his leg and pushed Itachi away as best he could though it took all his strength to keep him at an arm’s length.


His brother’s chest rose fast beneath his hands, at least as rapidly as his own. There was the faint flush of need on his older brother’s face. “No one will see us here. I promise. That’s why I chose this spot.” Soothingly he placed his hands over his brothers on his chest, trying to draw Sasuke back to him before he ran.


“Nuh-uh!” He shook his head. “This isn’t right! Not out here!”


“I won the bet, didn’t I? I’m cashing in my favor.” He got a better grip on Sasuke’s hands despite his squirming. It didn’t help that he’d backed himself into the wall again.


But he protested still, trying to explain what he had thought obvious. “I thought you meant ‘where’ in our house! As much as I want you, I can’t do this here.”


Itachi was really getting irritated. “Why not? No one will see—they can’t see—and you’re not giving me a real reason.” The flush across Sasuke’s cheeks was leaving at a fast rate, an indicator that the younger boy was indeed serious. He paled completely when a noisy family of five passed the alcove not even five feet from where they were standing.


Sasuke bit his lip. “I don’t like the idea of other people around when I… give myself to you.” He was avoiding Itachi’s piercing eyes in favor of the floor, though he was squeezing both of Itachi’s hands that now held his in reassurance. “It’s our moment and I don’t want other people having part in it. Plus, despite what you say, this spot has to be visible otherwise you would never have found it.”


Itachi sighed in defeat. “Fine. When you say it like that, I can’t argue.” He smiled and dropped the hands he held. “Come on. You said you needed a new pair of jeans, right?” His brother happily followed after him. He had given up, but only for now. Surely he could convince Sasuke in a more private location…


Once they were in the appropriate store and Sasuke had picked out two different styles to try on, he sought a dressing room but was only able to locate one in the back corner, where the three nearest ones were labeled ‘out of order.’ Though how a room can be out of order was beyond him.


“I’ll wait out here, Sasuke.” The boy nodded went in. To Itachi the silence felt a little awkward, so he attempted a trivial conversation. “Do you think it’ll—” a peal of thunder interrupted him and practically shook the walls. “I suppose it won’t be ending so soon. The storm must really be—“ this time the power interrupted him as the lights flickered and went out.


“Itachi?” Sasuke called out childishly. Not that he was afraid of the dark, but it was sudden and startling. The door cracked open and in the light of otouto’s cell phone he saw his brother motioning him in. Itachi sensed his chance to retry semi-public sex and ducked in. “That’s a good pair. Did you try the other ones on?”


“Yeah. I don’t know which is better. And since you’re using your share of the money I figured you could choose.”


“How about since I’m the one who sees your ass in them, I get to choose which one makes it look better?” Sasuke blushed but couldn’t quite object.


The manager called out, “we’ve been advised to keep everyone in the store until the power comes back on. This is an effort to prevent shoplifting while the electronic antitheft sensors are out. If you would like to leave, you may put any unpurchased merchandise on the counter and wait for a mall cop to scan than escort you from the building. Thank you for your compliance.” A few groans were heard, but since no one wanted to make a fuss and be accused of shoplifting, the customers and coworkers began talking amongst themselves.


“Hmm.” Itachi kept his voice down. “Since we’re stuck here, you don’t suppose you want to continue?” He reached out to the bulge in his brother’s pants. “You seem to be up for it.”


Sasuke flushed, and then peeked out the door again. The dim light afforded him enough sight to see that most customers were in the main part of the store, and a check for feet under the stall proved that they were the only ones in the dressing room area. “If we keep it quiet and make it quick, then I suppose we—” he wasn’t allowed another word as his mouth was once again dominated by his forceful aniki.


He traced the outline of Sasuke’s lips to tease him then delved in as his hands worked on unbuttoning his jeans. He reveled in the moans he received and the feel of Sasuke’s fingertips gently running across his stomach in a blind attempt to find his belt buckle. Yanking down the zipper, he shoved the jeans as far as he could without leaving his brother’s hot mouth.


The younger moaned and left off undoing his brother’s pants to get his own down far enough to kick them off. He heard a faint ripping sound and pulled back to mutter “hope that wasn’t the tag.” He licked at his brother’s open mouth and sucked in the warm, wet muscle that responded in kind.


“Doesn’t matter.” He replied and kissed his way along his neck, using his grip in the short black hair to pull his head to the side. “You’re not getting them. They’re too tight on you.” He whispered between sucks on his neck. “I don’t want other people seeing you look so sexy.” The heat from Sasuke's blush was unmistakable. Plus the newly formed hickeys were nice to look at.


Itachi’s breath on his neck tickled in an arousing way and he shivered as he finished getting his brother’s pants open. He went to the boxers next and tugged them until his brother’s cock and balls were clearly visible. “Ah!” The sharp bite at his neck hurt just enough to feel good but it startled him and he stuffed his hand in his mouth to muffle the noise while the other hand clenched into his brother’s shirt.


“How do you want to do this?” there was no sight in the world as alluring as Sasuke, panting with red lips and cheeks doused in a blush, neck stained with the dark mark of ownership, bare white legs quivering in excitement and cock hard as stone—*all for Itachi*. “I don’t have lube,” he said regretfully. “You want me to spit or do you…?”


Sasuke got the message and dropped to his knees, licking all over his brother’s head. He knew he could make his brother slicker than Itachi’s hand-spit combo would; he put his mouth around him, gently but hastily moving his tongue around the sides to get him slick. A barely restrained thrust surprised him and he moved his hands to grasp around his brother’s hips. As a reward for Itachi’s uncharacteristic restraint, he pulled his cock further into his mouth and pushed his tongue over the head and onto the roof of his mouth. Itachi grunted and tried to resist thrusting at the feel of his sensitive head under Sasuke’s tongue; his bottom teeth brushed the underside of his shaft, igniting the tiniest bit of pleasurable pain.


Sasuke slipped his cock back out of his mouth and coated the top, sucking and licking so he was slick, even giving a teasing kiss at the base when he felt his brother pulse in his hand. Then he pushed Itachi’s cock up until it was almost touching his stomach and licked down in fast, wet strokes of tongue that left him shining with saliva. His brother groaned softly, and Sasuke almost couldn’t help himself as he swirled his tongue around his balls one by one.


Sasuke pulled away with a wet sound. He wanted to say something smart, because Itachi hadn’t looked this aroused in a while, but his brother yanked him up and devoured his mouth again. He moaned and bucked his hips against his older brother’s when Itachi grabbed his ass firmly with both hands, spread the cheeks, and slipped in a pointer finger from each hand. They slid in easily, so he must have wet them when Sasuke wasn’t looking, but he didn’t care. He wanted his brother, and wanted him *right now.*


The stretching went too quickly to be fully effective, but after the third finger was in Sasuke hooked his leg around his brother’s hips urgently. “Come on,” he mumbled against the hot mouth still moving against his. “Put it in already!”


Wrapping an arm around Sasuke’s waist, Itachi lifted him so he could use both his legs and his arms to latch onto him. After encouraging Sasuke with gentle pressure on the back of his head to muffle his mouth in his neck, he lined himself up with his hole with his spare hand.


The first thrust only pushed the head in and Itachi paused, wanting desperately to get in, just not at the cost of tearing his Sasuke. A few moments passed and Sasuke worked his own hips down a bit, then back up. Down a little, up a little, and again, until the rhythm began. The lovers worked together until Itachi’s pelvis was hitting Sasuke’s ass and his entire length was in.


Itachi thrust as fast as he could, gravity and Sasuke working to drive his ass back down. The tight heat enveloping his cock was unbelievable. Sasuke was being driven crazy, and any effort not used to get his brother deeper in was used to keep himself hushed. They were too turned on to take their time; any moment now the lights could turn back on and the rush to release and heightened anticipation brought them to a quicker climax than usual.


Itachi bit down where he’d left marks on Sasuke’s neck before at the same time otouto groaned, vibrating his neck, at the pressure relieved. He giggled into aniki’s ear. “My vision’s kind of blurry, but I think the lights are back on.”


Itachi cautiously slipped himself out of his brother and made sure he could stand on his own before releasing him to find the napkins he’d hid in his pockets earlier. “That’s the power of love. They say it burns brightest in the dark.” Sasuke blushed but the ridiculous toothy smile on his face outshone it. He ignored the napkin his brother tried to hand to him to clean himself off and hugged him instead. “I love you too, Itachi.”


Though five minutes later as he limped past a mirror in the store, he rethought his words and punched his brother’s shoulder. “Go find me a scarf now!” He hissed. “I can’t walk around with hickeys that ‘mysteriously’ appeared when the lights were out!” Itachi laughed at otouto’s use of air quotes, retrieving the item unaware of the loving smile glued to his face.
]

Damn! Now he was hopelessly turned on without hope of relief. He shifted and subtly glanced towards his lap. Yup. The hard-on was visible through his jeans, though he could probably readjust them to hide it. At best, there were ten more minutes until class ended if the professor let them out early. Except he rarely did, so it that meant fifteen minutes remained in which he could un-arouse himself, or hold off taking care of it in the bathroom.


And he missed Sasuke even more now.


His only consolation, as he sat in class and ached for Sasuke in every way one human can crave another, was that at least his brother was better without him. That memory was sweet; one of the few times they’d finished so quickly. Plus… it was hard to put into words, even in his thoughts, but their connection had felt so strong since they’d become lovers. The time at the mall stood out as the first time he’d considered their bond almost supernatural. It was unnatural in the first place, he knew, so the familial element combined with their status as lovers most likely contributed. But.


He wanted Sasuke back. Anyone else, less skilled in the art of self-sacrifice would have caved to the ceaseless temptation. Very little was required to reach his brother. A short ride to his high school, a mere telephone call…


The phone in his pocket felt heavy suddenly, tempting him to text his brother and take back every harsh word, every rough treatment, every wrong move and beg him to forget all he’d said that day. Yet the temptation was only that, temptation, and the second his hand touched the phone to actually follow through he remembered the other conversations that day—Naruto, concerned for his mistreated friend, and Orochimaru, who had put them on the same level.


‘You can do so much better than me, Sasuke.’ He thought and sighed. ‘But as long as I know you’re not hurting anymore, I will not inflict myself on you.’


Kisame suddenly snored loudly next to him, startling Itachi and catching the professor’s attention. He stopped his lecture and pointed at the student who interrupted him. “Itachi, wake that moron up, please.” Professor Madara said. Ever the kind and caring friend, he thwacked Kisame on the head with his notebook. It earned a few laughs but more importantly woke the lazy student. Once he was fully awakened and aware of the whole class staring at him, he reddened and apologized. “Sorry, Professor! It was a crazy weekend. There was all this homework to do and football practice—”


“Shut it.” Those girls in the front row giggled, whispering not-so-silently how hot their professor’s irritated expression was. Madara was a favorite among the students, as he was generally laidback and funny, though he also taught well and was a not unreasonable grader; he never put up with bullshit and seemed to have a special grudge against the blue-haired man. “Your friendship with my nephew doesn’t mean you can slack off in my class. If I catch you again, you’re out.” Kisame nodded, clearly intimidated by the man a little more than half his size.


Madara went to change the PowerPoint slide, then looked at Itachi. “And I know you weren’t paying attention either, Itachi, so don’t think you’ve outsmarted me.” Itachi nodded, stoic as ever but a little embarrassed he’d gotten caught. By the time Madara finished teaching the lesson class ended. His hard-on was mostly willed away. Itachi put his materials away and carefully stood, positioning the bag in front of his groin to hide the issue that had arisen… literally. Just in case anyone looked too closely.


“Itachi, come here please.” Uncle Madara called over. With a shrug at Kisame Itachi darted away, thankful for the excuse to dodge the ‘hang out with me’ conversation with the football player, yet apprehensive for there was an undeniably odd expression on Madara’s face as he watched his nephew climb down the stairs through the gap between rows of seats. Madara waited until Itachi was standing next to him before smiling as he usually would.


“Sorry I missed hanging out the other weekend; however I’ve heard you all haven’t done anything in a while because of homework. You should take a break with me,” he paused their conversation to accept a paper from a student, reminding her of the late penalty to her grade. She didn’t seem to mind; she flipped her dark brown hair over her shoulder while her eyes danced between the professor and his nephew. They looked alike, even their hair was a similar length, though Itachi’s was longer and he stood a few inches taller.


Madara was Itachi’s dad’s younger brother by a few years, so he was in his early forties. Fortunately for him (or his reputation, anyway) he was still young enough to fall into the category of ‘hot older man’ with the added ‘forbidden’ of being a professor. This girl, like many others who watched longingly from the front row, entertained far too many fantasies involving themselves, Professor Madara, and (more often than not) his attractive young nephew.


Madara rolled his eyes as she strutted away like she thought she was everything he wanted. “So you want to grab lunch?” He packed his bag. “My treat.”


“Actually, I have to go to class.” Honestly he liked his uncle. Just that lately he wasn’t in the mood to hang out with anyone.


The frown Itachi was met with in return reminded him of a flaw in his lie. “Itachi, I know your schedule. So either I’m going senile or you’re lying to me.” The professor’s textbook disappeared into his bag, followed by his laptop. “I don’t like those options, even assuming you have a good reason.” He looked Itachi straight in the eye, giving him a moment to say something but since Itachi couldn’t deny the lie and knew his uncle wouldn’t appreciate being called crazy, he kept silent.


His uncle nodded like he understood something, then slipped into his coat. “I’ll drive.” Itachi went with him, slightly ashamed that he had lied. If he’d been truthful, he might’ve gotten out of it. Telling his uncle he didn’t want to hang out, for any reason, would hurt the man’s feelings unnecessarily. And after their rocky relationship—in the aftermath of Mikoto’s and Fugaku’s deaths, Itachi had been utterly convinced Madara was after the inheritance money, which led to a couple fights and an exchange of words that had taken years to remedy—he didn’t want to risk messing up their friendship.


* *


The restaurant was nice and at this time of day quiet, but Uncle Madara requested a private room nonetheless. Itachi felt apprehensive though he couldn’t pinpoint why. Naturally Uncle was unaffected by the tension and perused the menu before deciding on an old favorite.


“Order whatever you want.” Uncle told him, to which Itachi raised an eyebrow. “I told you we have something to discuss, but it’ll go better if you relax.” Itachi raised his other eyebrow. “I don’t care if you don’t feel like it. Just eat something.”


Itachi picked the first thing he saw on the menu, not caring about the food at all. He idly played with his drink, poking the ice cubes with his straw. Usually he’d distract himself with thoughts of his brother, but what was he supposed to do when it came to distracting himself from his distraction?


“This conversation will be more difficult if you remain all worked up.” Itachi’s suspicions rose immediately at that; why else would Madara ask for a private room at a restaurant other than to tell him he knew about him and Sasuke? It was the perfect setup. Itachi would never yell or scream at him—certainly not in *public*— but the private room insured Madara had just enough privacy to scold him for screwing his brother. And then to tell him he was taking Sasuke away.


His fists clenched up more and Madara couldn’t help but notice. “Tell me about school. Are you doing well in your other classes? You’re nearly acing mine.”


His nephew subconsciously loosened up at the mundane question, and launched into a full description of the recent projects he was working on. By the time he was done, their food and arrived and they were well into the meal. “Sounds like you’ve been busy. How are all your friends?”


That was an unusual question. What kind of uncle would ask about his friends before inquiring into the well-being of his other nephew? Which could mean he didn’t need to ask because he knew—because maybe last night after dinner, before bed when he and Sasuke had playfully fought over the toothpaste like the good brother he was pretending to be, maybe that was the last time he would be allowed to see his baby brother. Was Sasuke already at Uncle Madara’s house?


“I suppose they’re fine. Like you said earlier, we’ve had a lot of homework over the past couple weeks so we haven’t met.”


“Is that the real reason?”


A less wary opponent probably would have choked on his broccoli. “What makes you think it isn’t?” Damn, could he be any more obvious that he was hiding something? Though his gut told him Uncle did know exactly what he was hiding.


Madara carefully put down his silverware and wiped his mouth with his napkin before speaking. “Itachi, I received a very interesting phone call from a friend of yours. I wasn’t inclined to believe the story he told me, but upon… investigation these claims appear to be true.” Itachi flinched, as Uncle looked sufficiently angry. It wasn’t a violent anger, more a seething, boiling one that would not explode but completely annihilate the target it was aimed at. Itachi had a feeling he was the target. “Even more interesting was the phone call I got this morning from one of Sasuke’s friends, which helped me realize I cannot ignore what you have been up to.” Itachi braced himself for it.


“I know about your unbrotherly relationship with Sasuke, Itachi. And I don’t like it one little bit.”

* * *

So I feel like this chapter wasn't as good as the last, but I'll leave that up to you. I figured putting some sex in might save me from your hatred cause they're still not back together, though I originally planned the flashback for the next (and last) chapter. The loose ends will be wrapped up in the next chapter, which will also be the last.

Thank you for reading!