Colors

I've been away for a long while because business was busy. Its quieter now and I managed to take some time out for this. Unfortunately, I read the whole thing right through to the end and decided, I wanted a plot change for the second half. Don't ask me why, I don't particularly get how my fickle head works either. Its just that when you get to the mid section of any story a thousand different pathways turn up and you're pressed to make the right decision.

So here's the next chapter and I really hope I did make the right choice.

Thanks for the reviews I've been getting so far and though excuses and apologies don't work, I'll still say I'm so sorry for leaving this alone for so long.

Cheers,

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Chapter 22

“Okay, I think we’re done for today and I’m sure you must be tired,” said Naruto after he had finished sketching and coloring the main areas to Sasuke’s nude portrait. All that was left was the background, which he preferred to complete on another day due to his crumbling mental state. He had exerted as much self control as he could to remain poised and was finally at the end of his limits. Although Sasuke had to put up with being stiff for over 4 hours and only one break in between, it was clear to him that the one who was tired was Naruto and not him. Sasuke had had the luxury of averting his gaze by staring out the window whilst Naruto was made to take every inch of him into grave detail. He got up slowly as he wondered whether he would have the strength to tolerate the vicious taunting Naruto had just been made to go through. He picked up the blue yukata and covered himself quickly.

“Are we done already?” Itachi looked up from the book he was reading whilst laying down on the couch. He had gotten bored of his little game seeing how the two showed almost no interaction throughout the session. He was expecting more spunk from the unpolished blonde but was disappointed at how little retaliation had been displayed. If anything, he had developed an unwanted respect for how well Naruto managed to stand up to his ploy and thought that he should definitely elevate his future executions.

“We’re done for today, Itachi-san. I just need to add in the background details, which I can come by to finish tomorrow.” Naruto answered as he closed the caps on some bottles and dabbed his brushes onto a wet rag to clean off any excess paint.

“I don’t think Sasuke’s schedule is free. You have an appointment with Sand Technologies don’t you?” Itachi cocked his head towards Sasuke as if giving him permission to speak.

“Well…”

“It’s not necessary for him to be around.” Naruto interrupted the young Uchiha. “I can finish it up without having him here. But to do that it’s best I return tomorrow while the memory’s still fresh.” Naruto wanted to finish his sentence at that. But it occurred to him that he might have been a little too eager to avoid Sasuke and not wanting to give in he added, “.. or I can wait till your schedules are free. Either way’s fine.” He smiled to wrap up his remaining grouses.

“Very well, we’ll let you know.”

“Here’s the invoice for my charges this session. There will be additional charges for a second session, which I’ll hand you after that. I assume that it’s not a problem?” Itachi accepted the envelope with Naruto’s bill in it and nodded in response although he hadn’t looked at the sum.

“I’ll make sure a cheque is delivered to your gallery for the amount.”

Sasuke watched as Naruto zipped his bag forcefully, the last stretch of his restraint obvious in his movements. The blonde bid curt farewells to his clients and dashed out the door. It wasn’t clear whether Itachi or Naruto had won this battle but Sasuke was sure that he had felt a great loss.

“Now then dear brother, where were we?”

“Well, I was having my portrait painted...” Sasuke retorted, not bothering to hide his sarcasm.

“He is rather good at what he does,” said Itachi as he admired the painting; Naruto’s intricate brush strokes and choice of skin shades matching Sasuke’s sculpted abdomen precisely. Possessing the talent to breathe life into his paintings the blonde had also managed to capture Sasuke’s silent aggressiveness blanketed in an elegant aura. In fact, the portrait was so tantalizing that Itachi decided it would have to be out of sight from anyone to prevent them from tearing at his brother’s form. The older Uchiha felt his body shiver as his eyes traced the portrait’s lith body and took in its sun-bathed features.

“Whatever.” Sasuke replied, his anger seeping through.

“Your attitude, brother, it worries me. Did the blonde aggrevate you that much?”

Sasuke was struck cold by his brother’s deduction. He had been too absorbed by a raging anger over his sadism for the past week and failed to notice that Naruto was merely inches away from Itachi’s grasp - the planned gallery visit and the requested paint job baring obvious proof.

“No, it’s you having me stand there naked in front of some stranger that’s fucked up.”

“Stranger? Really?”

It occurred to Sasuke that Itachi was on to his affair. If anything he had already found out about their little interlude from a reliable source, which meant that he would have to quickly think of a way to get Naruto as far away as possible from his brother. But what should his next move be? He wasn’t sure that Itachi knew everything in absolute and if he suddenly lashed out at him, it might be seen as pure defiance and Sasuke knew where being rebellious would take him. But there was still the small hope of Itachi not knowing that he had slept with the blonde. His behavior was much too docile for that. With quick thinking he strode up to his brother and wrapped him in a fierce hug, masking his anxieties in the form of a desperate need for Itachi’s touch.

“I thought I was precious to you and yet you wish to parade me. Why?”

Itachi was caught off guard. Coupled with the portrait and the knowledge of Sasuke’s nakedness under that yukata he gave into the younger’s tease and his knees buckled with the weight. Not wanting to deviate too much from his usual behavior, Sasuke slowly stood up and as he was about to move away, he let Itachi pull him back down to drown him in a flood of deep passionate kisses. Sasuke surrendered and let Itachi ravage his body; licking him, sucking him, nipping his skin and ensuring he was marked, that the dark angel was his and not some trophy on public display. Sasuke closed his eyes and felt guilt rush through him, but he consoled himself with the thought that this was for Naruto, that it was the only way to ensure his brother’s insanity was satiated enough to buy him more time. Another stab of guilt hit him as he moaned and shuddered in ecstacy with Itachi licking his sack and probing his anus with his tongue. He was panting hard now, his cock throbbing with his desires. Then, feeling all contact withdrawn he opened his eyes to watch as Itachi unbuttoned his jeans to free his own swollen flesh. It was then that Sasuke once again felt the wrong, the humiliation that all this carried and he closed his eyes again, being unable to face his own filth.

He let Itachi position his body and as he expected Itachi’s raw need was merciless as he penetrated him swiftly. Sasuke’s legs tightened around Itachi’s waist straddling him in a mix of pleasure and pain. His hands clawed into him in anger, wanting his brother to fade away and yet wanting the release he promised him as he pounded his entrance. The two moaned as their bodies tightened, their pace quickened with each thrust. Then Itachi shifted into a siting position, lifting Sasuke so that he could pleasure himself as he decended forcefully onto Itachi’s hard shaft. The young Uchiha was now lost in rhythm as he rose up and landed hard on Itachi, each riding motion centred on massaging his sensitive pod. He was so close now and all he wanted was to have his release, to have this nightmare end. Then Itachi reached out to massage his brother’s leaking cock and with only a few strokes Sasuke’s body trembled, his moans causing Itachi to reach his own fulfillment.

Itachi continued to hold Sasuke close, the smell of cum and sweaty sex filling their nostrils; Itachi’s white shirt now soaked in the younger’s essence. The two remained there as they waited for their shallow breaths to ease with Sasuke letting the endorphins shut out the guilt that he knew would overwhelm him later.

“My dear Sasuke,” Itachi broke the silence. “If only I could stay merged with you like this, my life and my head wouldn’t be in such a mess.”

The only way Sasuke knew how to interpret Itachi’s words was that sex kept him sane and he was his whore. He opened his eyes slowly, but he kept it downcast for fear that his older brother would notice the sadness in them.

“If I could keep you locked up I would but you’re much more attractive if I allow you to be just the way you are. However…” Itachi emphasized, “this cumbersome friend of yours is threatening to steal you away from me and I can’t have that now can I?”

“Steal me?” Sasuke answered, playing dumb.

“He’s starting to get too close to you and I can see how much he wants you. Who wouldn’t want you?”

“Well, the only reason why he was here today was that you invited him.” Sasuke freed himself from his brother’s embrace as gently as he could and got up, the trickling cum between his thighs serving to remind him of his place. “I didn’t and don’t want to have anything to do with him.” He added while staring straight into Itachi’s eyes.

“I see. Well if you say so then I suppose it was wrong of me to be over suspicious.”

Sasuke felt a slight relief knowing that he had been successful in subduing his brother for now. But he was careful not to let any of it show. “We had better clean up this mess. I don’t think Deidara would appreciate seeing unidentified cum on his floor.”

“Oh and Sasuke, I’ll be away for the next two weeks or so, some new business in London.”

“Oh? When do you leave?”

“Tonight actually. I haven’t said anything because I wanted to see how today would go and since nothing out of the ordinary happened, I’ll be leaving you in the hands of Deidara and Kisame. Of course I’d expect no contact with that idiot. Do you understand?”

“Yes, brother,” Sasuke’s tone was gloomy, a complete opposite to his actual feelings. But he knew Itachi’s lenience was short lived and thus he spent the rest of the day thinking about how best to ensure Naruto’s safety.

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Naruto arrived at his apartment, not really knowing how he got there. He placed his hand lazily on the door to his unit, opened it and stepped in. As soon as the door had closed behind him, he felt the last bit of his remaining strength fade and with his back on the door he slid down into a loose sitting position. He wondered why it was so hard for him to breathe, why he had to even think about breathing at all. He knew there was a huge pile of bricks on top of him but somehow, he couldn’t see them. He tried his best to focus on a particular thought but as soon as one was picked it would be replaced by another; the process repeating itself murderously until everything was a complete blank. How long he sat there he did not know but soon, a familiar scent of fear filled his senses. Before he could fathom what was happening, Naruto watched himself as he picked his almost lifeless body off the floor and sauntered to his bathroom. His physical self was in a hypnotic daze and no matter how much he wanted to wake from this chilling psychosis he couldn’t.

Once at the bathroom, he turned to face the mirror and Naruto felt the anxiety rip through his body like a bladed tornado. It was as it once had been when he suffered his first break down; where all he could do was watch – he was looking at the mirror, at himself but at the same time, he was staring past it from somewhere above his body. Then slowly, he raised his hand and in one fluent move, he landed a harsh blow squarely on his image. His mirrored self shattered into a thousand flying pieces and the smell of iron filled the air. Then pain, so much pain that it forced Naruto to re-enter his body and regain his senses. He backed towards the toilet seat and slumped onto it.

“Fuck!” his agonized cries bounced off the bathroom tiles as he held the wrist of his right hand; shards of glass protruding from his knuckles and dripping with blood. Squinting with the sharp pains radiating throughout his right arm, he could barely make out the damage but could tell from the volume of blood that the cuts were deep. Slowly, he laid his right hand to rest on his lap while his other fumbled around for his mobile phone. Finding it, he maneuvered his clumsy left hand to scan his call list looking for anyone who could help. The scroll bar landed on Neji’s name but deciding against worrying him he moved past it and arrived at Shikamaru’s number.

“Hello?”

“Shika, what are you doing?” Naruto tried his best to sound casual but failed as he was short of breath from fighting the pains.

“Naruto, where are you and what’s wrong?”

“Can you get over here for a sec? I might have done something really stupid.”

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Shikamaru glanced over at his friend who was now staring out his car window. It had taken the doctors a grueling three hours to pluck out every bit of glass lodged into Naruto’s flesh and quite a few stitches to close the wounds up. Judging by his actions and the state he found his friend in, something very wrong must have happened and he was half wondering if Naruto needed a session to speak to his therapist again. Finally, he decided to see if providing a listening ear would be helpful.

“Well, are you going to say anything or are you just gonna shut yourself up?”

His friend remained silent.

“You know, not talking is only gonna make it worse.”

There was still no answer from Naruto, which made Shikamaru decide that he’d had enough. He spotted an empty parking lot to the side of the road and swerved his car in. It wasn’t till he switched his engine off did Naruto turn to look at him.

“What are we doing here?”

“I’m not moving till you say something about this.”

“Look, I know I was stupid to do what I did. I’m tired, so can you just take me back?”

“No! Look at yourself. We leave you for a couple of days and then you smash a mirror and nearly bleed yourself to death. How the heck do you expect me to just take you back home and leave you there alone?”

“Well I don’t want to fucking talk about it!” Naruto turned away, almost folding his arms but restrained himself at the last moment as a dull ache reminded him of his injuries.

“Naruto, just give him up. He’s way too much trouble and you know he is so why don’t you just wake up already.

“What do you expect me to do? Just forget everything that happened the last couple of weeks?”

“No, I don’t expect you to forget. I expect you to accept things for what they are.”

“It’s not like I haven’t thought about giving up. But I can’t!”

“Why not? Your life was good without him. Why can’t it go back to the way it was and if you’re gay, why not Neji??!” Shikamaru raised his voice to match Naruto’s.

“I don’t know!” Naruto shouted, his amplified tone in the car’s confines making him aware how abrasive his tone had been. “I don’t know, Shika,” he continued, softer. “I mean, how do you forget someone who’s been your purpose to live, who’s been your purpose to do better, who’s been the reason for you to just… be.”

Shikamaru sighed. It was the second time he was lost without an answer and the only other time he had felt this way was when he first realized his feelings for Temari. Letting a heavy silence rule them, Shikamaru reviewed the past. Naruto was right in saying that all this time, his actions had been for the purpose to show Sasuke off, to win his acknowledgement and to simply just get him to look at the blonde. Putting the past weeks and Naruto’s past together, he could almost understand why the idiot was stupid enough to defy logic just to pursue the one dream he had and that was because, for a long time, this dream was the only thing he had. Since his younger days he had picked the number one student from school to be his nemesis and it was because of his determination that Shikamaru and the rest had warmed up to him in the first place. In fact, the blonde’s tenacity and undying will to try inspired his friends more than he would ever know. He wondered if giving Naruto other reasons to live, namely the friends he had now, would help pull him back on course.

“Aren’t we good enough for you to just ‘be’?” Shika was careful not to sound angry.

Naruto turned to look up at Shika for a lingering moment, but then reverted back to staring out the window.

“Sigh… forget it.” Shika spoke only to have his friend intervene.

“Shika, I’m sorry. I know I am insane. I’ve always had this side of me and I’ve tried so hard to change. If I didn’t see him that day, things would have been different. But I did and now all I can do is to keep moving forward in the direction I’ve chosen to go.”

“Ahh…. So troublesome.” Shikamaru said as he shifted his gear in reverse and drove out of the parking lot.

“You’re mad aren’t you?”

“I’m worried Naruto, not mad.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Stop apologizing. If you’ve made a choice and you’re sure of it then you shouldn’t apologize.”

“Thanks.”

“So are you going to tell me what happened that led to this?”

Naruto thought about the consequences of letting his friend in on the whole incident. He knew he would be asking for another lecture session but then again, he had already just gone through round one with Shikamaru. Also, with a madman like Itachi hot on his trail he knew that he could no longer go without help.

“Sasuke and Itachi appeared at my gallery the other day.”

“They what??” Shikamaru exclaimed.

“Yup, a surprise visit.”

“For what?”

“Basically Itachi wanted to shop. So, I did the proper thing and treated him like any other customer that came in.”

“Then what happened?”

“He said he didn’t like anything in the gallery except for the fox and when he asked who painted it I said I did. It was then that he decided that I should paint a portrait of Sasuke for him seeing how I had the skills to do so. That’s how I ended up at their friend’s studio today, with Itachi watching while I painted Sasuke… nude.”

Shikamaru’s eyes nearly popped out of his sockets but despite the distraction, he managed to jam his breaks at a traffic light that had just turned red. “He made you paint him nude?”

“Yes, that is what I said.”

“And you were stupid enough to go to their friend’s… I can’t even believe they have friends… Anyway, you went to their friend’s place?”

“Yes, I did. But there was a reason for that.”

“You do realize you could have been killed irregardless of what the reason was.”

“I know but seriously, if you saw those paintings in my gallery right now you’d agree to me going.”

“What paintings?”

“Those new Jane Doe ones. They just arrived and I’m telling you someone other than the Uchiha’s and you guys know about me and Sasuke.”

“I don’t get what you’re saying and tying up Jane Doe with this bloody mess is like way over my standards of comprehension.”

“Sigh… Just come by my gallery tomorrow and I’ll show you.”

“Fine, on a more important note, the fucker really is on to you.”

“Yup, I’m in deep.”

Shikamaru thought about Itachi’s actions and realized what had pushed the blonde over. He had been utterly humiliated by the older Uchiha’s devices and he suddenly had an urge to pummel the demon’s head into a concrete surface until it was unrecognizably rearranged.

Wiping the image away he continued his lecture. “You better be more careful Naruto and I think you might wanna tell Neji or Hinata about this. If anyone can provide you some form of protection, they can.”

“I know… but…”

“No buts. You need their help, bad.”

Naruto nodded and the two continued the rest of their journey in silence. As they turned the corner Naruto spotted a familiar car parked in front of his building. Recognizing it he yelled out, “Shika stop!” and the car skidded to a halt.

“Naruto! What the fuck? Don’t scream like that while I’m driving. I could have hit something or someone!”

“Heh, err… sorry. The convenient store is here and I kinda need to get some stuff before I head up.”

“You need any help?”

“No! I mean, I still have one good hand and I’m not getting much.”

“You sure? I may have an early conference tomorrow but I can stay over if you need me to.”

“What? You want a piece of my ass too?” Naruto joked as he unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the car.

“Oh gawds, no!” said Shikamaru as a mental image of Naruto’s perky flesh appeared in his head.

“Then there’s no need. I’ll make sure to update you and Neji if anything. Thanks again for tonight.” He said before closing the door and rushing through the automatic glass doors.

Thinking nothing of Naruto’s behavior Shikamaru drove off not knowing that blue eyes were watching from inside the store and waiting for his car to leave.

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TBC : Might be some delays. I'll be going to China for some stuff >_< Sigh... work work work....