The Running Free

Chapter 21
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Itachi woke up a few hours after he fell asleep on the couch and sighed as he remembered how he got to be there the night before. It wasn’t as though he was opposed to Naruto and Sasuke having some time for themselves; it was the fact that it was starting to happen a bit more frequently than he would have liked. He got up from the couch and made his way to the bedroom and peered in. His two lovers were still cuddled together, asleep.

It saddened him to think that they were starting to grow apart from each other, but that’s just how Itachi was feeling at the moment. He was feeling as if his brother and Naruto were getting closer and he was just getting left behind. Oh sure, the love was still there; just not as strong as it used to be. Ever since Naruto became pregnant, Sasuke seemed a bit distant from Itachi and was mainly focusing all his time on the pregnant man. Itachi did understand that Naruto needed some extra love and comfort at this crucial time in his life, but it did put a damper on their relationship.

Itachi could tell that Naruto was trying to keep Itachi with them and making an effort to include him, but the older raven could tell that Naruto was a bit distracted due to Sasuke’s illness. Mind you, Sasuke had all the right to be fussed over and Naruto had every right to do just that; but Itachi wanted to be able to be there for his brother as well, but he felt like it had become less about the three of them and more about Naruto and Sasuke.

He decided that once the two woke up, he would have them all sit down and talk about it. He could tell that Sasuke and Naruto weren’t aware of what they were doing to Itachi, and he just wondered if it might be easier to just let them have each other. It would be a very hard thing to do, but if it had to be done; then he was willing to give up his feelings for the one’s he loved so that they could love each other to their fullest. With his mind made up, he left the bedroom doorway and made his way to the kitchen to prepare some coffee and breakfast.

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Naruto woke up yet again with the need to empty his bladder. God, he was really getting sick of it already. He looked over at Sasuke who was still sleeping and smiled softly at his lover. He turned over expecting to see Itachi on his other side and frowned when his older lover wasn’t there. Had he already gotten up? Itachi didn’t have class or work today. He shrugged it off, figuring that Itachi just got up early or something. He headed to the bathroom to relieve his bladder and headed back into the bedroom once he was done. He sat on the edge of the bed and looked at the still sleeping Sasuke. The blonde noticed that the light complexion was a bit paler than usual. He wondered if Sasuke was feeling alright. He jumped when he felt a hand on his and looked down to see Sasuke looking at him questioningly.

“Is something wrong? Are you feeling okay?” Sasuke asked as he looked into the cerulean eyes of his lover.

Naruto nodded a bit. “I’m fine. I was just thinking that…” he stopped, realizing that Sasuke hated it when either he or Itachi made a fuss over him. “…it’s nothing, never mind.”

Sasuke raised an eyebrow but nodded nonetheless. Sitting up he wrapped his arms around Naruto, giving him a small kiss before standing up. “Where’s Itachi?”

Naruto stood up as well and followed Sasuke to the dresser. “I don’t know. He wasn’t in bed when I woke up. He’s probably making breakfast or something.” Naruto looked down as he thought a bit more on his words. “Sasuke, I’m starting to feel like we’re kind of leaving Itachi out of our love life. I mean, we seem to be spending all our time with each other that we tend to kind of forget about him. I really hope we aren’t ruining anything.” He looked up at Sasuke again, looking for the brunette’s reaction.

Sasuke smiled gently and wrapped his arms around Naruto once more. “Don’t worry so much about that Naruto. Itachi knows that we both love him very much and if we are leaving him out, I’m sure he knows we’re not doing it intentionally. Now let’s get dressed and eat alright?”

Naruto nodded but still didn’t look too convinced. Nonetheless, he got dressed and headed to the living room with Sasuke right behind him.

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Itachi looked up from pouring the last cup of coffee as he heard his two lovers enter the kitchen. He mentally sighed, not wanting to cause any confrontation between the three of them, but it had to be done. “Good morning.” He said with a smile as he wrapped his arms around the two younger men. “Did you two sleep alright?”

They both nodded, feeling a bit awkward, realizing that something was a bit off with Itachi. Naruto was the one to speak up first. “Um, is everything alright Ita?”

Itachi sighed out loud this time and shook his head slightly. He shouldn’t try to hide it. He was the one who wanted to talk to his two younger lovers anyway. “I’ve just been having some mixed feeling about us lately. Why don’t we sit in the living room? I really need to talk to both of you.”

Sasuke knew it was coming. He could feel the tension between the three of them ever since he had gotten sick. He just didn’t want to worry Naruto. For some reason he felt that Itachi wasn’t feeling comfortable with the two of them anymore. He nodded nonetheless and followed Naruto and his brother to the living room, breakfast completely forgotten.

They sat quietly for a few minutes just lost in their own thoughts. Naruto worrying about what Itachi was going to say. Sasuke worrying about how drastic this will change their relationship. Itachi was worrying over what he was actually going to say.

Itachi finally cleared his throat, gaining Naruto and Sasuke’s attention. “You both know that I love you. I love the both of you more than anything I’ve ever loved in my life. I know it sounds sappy, but it’s just how I feel. But lately, I’ve been feeling like I’m just in the background that occasionally comes out when you two need me.” He raised a hand when Naruto sat up a bit, ready to speak. “Don’t say anything until I’m done. This is really hard for me, so just listen. I have no intensions of ending our relationship, but the way it’s going now, I think that it might be a possibility. I feel like I’m being taken for granted and that both of you rely heavily on me but yet you don’t realize how hard it is to take all of your burdens onto my shoulders and comfort you when I have problems of my own that I might need comfort for as well.”

Sasuke looked away, knowing that he was mostly to blame for this little part. He was so focused on himself, and the fact that he was sick and miserable, that he didn’t really consider how much of a strain it would put on Itachi’s emotions.

“Naruto,” Itachi continued. “I know that you love me. I know that you would do anything for me. But you being pregnant with Sasuke’s baby put you at a new emotional level with him. You two have created something very special and so naturally you will become more attached to the person who gave you that special thing in your life. I’m not blaming you for that at all. But it does make me sad to think that you, the one person who has always been able to give both Sasuke and myself equal attention, is not even giving me a second thought most of the time.”

Naruto couldn’t take it. It was all true, and yet, he just couldn’t help but deny it. “Shut up! What the fuck are you talking about?” he asked, tears already making themselves known to the blonde’s scarred cheeks. “How do you know what I feel and who I feel it for? Are you me? I would never do anything to hurt you Itachi! Just because Sasuke is the father of my baby, doesn’t mean I’m going to forget about you! How can you even say that?” He started to get up to head for the bedroom but was stopped by Sasuke’s hand on his shoulder. “What are you doing Sasuke, let me go!”

“Just stay here and listen to him Naruto.” Sasuke said with a quiet sigh. “Stop denying it. You know he’s right. I know he’s right about me too. Just let him finish.”


Naruto looked at Itachi and immediately stopped crying once he saw the pain stricken face of his older lover. That’s when the blond realized that it was hurting Itachi too, probably more than it was them. He sat down and wiped his eyes. “Sorry.” He said weakly.

Itachi was trying so hard not to let his tears fall. This was harder than he thought it would be. He hated making either one of his lovers upset. But he had to do it. The next part was going to be the hardest. “I think maybe, I should…leave for a while.”

This time it was Sasuke who jumped up. “What the fuck Itachi? You’re just going to abandon us! What? You don’t think we can work it out! Huh? Answer me God damn it!”

Itachi looked up at his enraged brother. “Sasuke, don’t be mad, please. I just want to be able to think about things for a while. I’m not doing this to hut either one of you in any way. I just think that I should give you two some time to yourselves. Maybe it’ll be the best thing for us if I go.”

Naruto couldn’t take it. He flung himself at Itachi, mindful of his swollen belly, and wrapped his arms around Itachi. “Please don’t leave. We can work this out I promise! I won’t ignore you anymore, please Itachi.” He buried his head in Itachi’s neck, sobbing out his frustration.

Itachi rubbed soothing circles on Naruto’s back as he looked nowhere in particular. “It’s not because you two are ignoring me Naruto. It’s just that I think the two of you might be enough to comfort each other. I’ll be fine. I can just stay with someone until I can work out my feelings. It’s not like I won’t ever see you again. Plus,” he lifted Naruto’s chin, and looked into his eyes. “You need to concentrate on your baby, and you need to be strong for Sasuke. You two are going to be parents. I would just feel like an intruder on your family anyway.”

Sasuke stepped forward and sat on the other side of his brother. “You wouldn’t be intruding. You’ve lived with me all my life. I don’t want you to go anywhere. You’re a part of this family too. Even if you didn’t have any part in Naruto’s pregnancy, you’re still important to us. “

Itachi shook his head and just smiled. “Sasuke, I don’t want you to argue about it. My mind’s not even made up yet. I just need to…be on my own for a bit. I’ll come back. I promise. That is, if you still want me to come back.”

Naruto had stopped crying at this point and just looked up at Itachi. “You promise you’ll come back? I don’t know if I can be away from you.”

Itachi nodded. “Yes, I’ll be back. Don’t worry about me, I’ll still call and check up on you two.”

Sasuke looked at Itachi. “You’re not going to come visit us?”

“The whole point of me leaving is to give you two some time to be together like you want. If I come over all the time, what’s the point?” Itachi kissed his brother gently, then Naruto. “I’ll call my friend and probably leave later today. Just know that I do love both of you and this is not in any way to hurt you. Alright?”

Sasuke and Naruto both nodded, knowing that Itachi’s mind was made up. Maybe a bit of distance would do them some good. But they both knew that they wanted Itachi to come back.

Itachi wrapped one arm around Naruto and the other around Sasuke. The three of them sat there for a bit until Itachi remembered about breakfast. “Are you two hungry?”

Both Naruto and Sasuke shook their heads. Neither was in the mood for food after this.

Itachi nodded and slowly stood up. “Alright.” He headed to the bedroom, phone in hand. “I love both of you. Very much.” With that, he shut the door quietly.

Naruto leaned into Sasuke, letting silent tears fall gently. “Why can’t we stop him Sasuke?”

Sasuke just stroked Naruto’s hair and sighed once more. “Because he’s right, baby. We’ve been neglecting him and we weren’t even aware of it. It’s kind of worse when you think about it that way. I think he just needs some time to himself. Maybe someone can give him more attention than we have.”

Naruto nodded, but the tears still fell. “I don’t want him to leave us.”

Sasuke held Naruto a bit more securely to his body. “He won’t leave us Naruto. He loves us, probably even more than we love him. He’ll come back, he promised he would.”

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In the bedroom, Itachi gripped the phone tightly in his hand. The phone was ringing and he was waiting for the person on the other end to pick up.

“Hello?”

After hearing that voice, he hung up and threw the phone down on the bed with a frustrated growl, finally letting the tears fall.

TBC

Didn’t expect that did ya! Next chapter coming soon!