The Running Free

The Running Free Chapter 22

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Itachi wiped the last remaining tears from his cheeks as he picked up the phone again. Leaving his two lovers was extremely hard, but he needed to do this. Some time apart would more than likely do a world of good to the three of them. Being together all day everyday can start to stir up feelings that Itachi would rather not think about. He didn’t want to say he was getting sick of his lovers, he just felt that a bit of time away was needed for all of them.

Putting the receiver to his ear, he waited patiently for the familiar voice to answer the phone once more.

“Hello?” the voice asked, not very much different from the previous time he answered.

Itachi hesitated for a moment and then spoke up finally. “Hey, it’s me. I need to stay with you for a while if that’s alright.”

The voice on the other line didn’t show too much change in emotion but the underlying concern was there. “Of course you can. What happened?”

Itachi sighed and ran a hand through his long hair. “It’s long and extremely complicated. I’ll tell you when I get over there. I’ll be taking the bus so I should be there within a couple hours; I still need to get some things together.”

“Alright, well I’ll be here all day so just whenever you get here…you get here…” the other male’s voice trailed off, not very used to the field of comforting others.

Itachi smiled faintly at his friend’s good natured attempt. “Thanks Sai, I’ll see you in a couple hours.” With that he hung up and proceeded to pack a few of his things for his time away.

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Sasuke and Naruto were still in the living room when Itachi came out, bag in hand and ready to leave. He could tell that they were still heavily saddened by his decision and he was starting to feel a tinge of regret and apprehension in the back of his mind. He willed it away however, knowing that this was all for the best.

The long haired raven put down his bag and walked over to the couch where his two lovers were warily looking at him. He sat down and pulled them both into his arms, making sure that both of them felt equal love and care from his embrace. “I love both of you. Please try not to be mad me or sad or anything. This is not because I don’t care about you anymore.” He wanted to reassure his lovers all he could, but he felt like it was falling on deaf ears.

Naruto was taking it the worst. He could understand where Itachi was coming from with his feeling neglected, but he couldn’t wrap his mind around the fact that Itachi wanted to be away from them, instead of letting them prove to him that they would include him more in their lives and not take him for granted. He snuggled into Itachi’s chest and let his tears fall for what seemed like the millionth time that day. “Please don’t go… I’ll do anything. I just don’t want to be away from you.”

Sasuke tried his best to be supportive of Itachi’s decision, but seeing Naruto all broken into little pieces over it was starting to make him a bit mad at his brother. He stood up and faced his older sibling. “This is ridiculous Itachi. You know that you’re hurting Naruto when he’s in such a difficult time in his life. I know that I’m the father of his baby, but you still mean a lot to him and frankly, I don’t think I can guarantee anything while you’re gone.”

Itachi knew exactly what Sasuke meant. It wasn’t a threat but a warning that his leaving would most likely put Naruto into a state of depression possibly putting himself and the baby in jeopardy. He was now at war with himself. If he left, it would be like the easy way out. But then again, it would give him time to think and come up with a compromise for his lovers on how they could be together and everyone be included.

He couldn’t handle it; the warring emotions, the possibility of something happening to Naruto, his own brother calling him a damn coward. He broke down, the tears fell once again, and this time he let them fall. He didn’t care if he was crying in front of his brother and Naruto; he was just too confused and distraught to care.

Sasuke stopped his rant and stared at Itachi. His older brother rarely cried, and when he did, it was usually something worth crying over. It was clear that the decision was weighing heavily on Itachi. The younger Uchiha softened his expression and sat down next to Itachi, wrapping his arms around the older man. “Just stay with us. We can work it out. I know that Naruto and I have been getting a lot closer lately, but that’s all it is. We may have been friends for a long time but we haven’t been together for very long and we’re really just starting to get to know each other. You’re my big brother. I’ve known you all my life and you’ve always been very close to me and you’ve always known everything thing about me. I just want Naruto to get the chance to know those things too.”

Itachi leaned his head against Sasuke’s shoulder, taking comfort in his little brother’s rare show of affection. It did make sense; Sasuke and Naruto had only been a couple for about a year. And if Itachi knew Sasuke at all, the smaller raven didn’t share too much of his life with his friends. Only those he deemed close enough to him.

Sitting up, Itachi realized how selfish and childish he was being. What was he thinking by leaving his two precious lovers? Thinking about it more with a clearer head and Sasuke’s point of view added to the mix, he realized that he couldn’t leave them and was about to make the biggest mistake of his life by doing so. He looked over at Naruto and pulled him into his chest once more. “I’ll stay. I’m sorry I’m being such a fucking ass. I didn’t mean to hurt you two.”

Naruto leaned up and kissed his older lover before resting his head on Itachi’s chest once more. “Thank you ‘Tachi. I love you so much and I would never even consider excluding you on purpose. I’m really sorry.”

Itachi stroked Naruto’s soft blond locks as he felt Sasuke join him on the other side. “Don’t apologize. It’s not your fault. I was just being a baby and overreacting about nothing.”

Sasuke didn’t say anything, he knew his part was over and now he just wanted to relax in the comfort of his brother’s presence and not have to worry about anything anymore. He was extremely tired and lethargic. Yelling at someone really took a lot out of a person. Either that or he was getting weaker, which was probably the case.

The three sat there for the longest time until Itachi’s cell phone rang. He cursed as he remembered that he told Sai that he was staying with him. He answered the phone quickly. “Hey Sai, I’m sorry for not calling you earlier, but it seems I won’t be leaving.”He paused for a moment as he listened to his friend’s inquiry. “No it’s alright, I’ll be ok.” He hung up quickly after that, not really wanting to talk on the phone anymore. He just wanted to be with his loved ones in peace.

Sasuke lifted his head up after Itachi hung up the phone. “You were going to stay with Sai? Do you know how many STD’s that guy probably has?”

Itachi glared at his brother. “Sasuke, Sai doesn’t have any STD’s and he doesn’t have promiscuous sex… well, maybe just a bit, but he’s clean.”

Sasuke looked away. “Whatever, he sure dresses like a slut…” he mumbled as an afterthought. It seemed like things were already getting back to semi-normal.

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Later that night Sasuke found himself with a pounding headache. All the emotion and stress of the day was finally catching up to him. He popped a few Motrin into his mouth and downed a glass of water, hoping the pain meds would help his head a bit. The raven turned around, about to say something to his blond lover when he noticed said blond was fast asleep in their bed. He smiled gently as he sat next to the sleeping Naruto and covered him up with the comforter. He’d let the pregnant man sleep for the time being.

Making his way to the living room, he sat on the couch next to his brother and couldn’t help but snuggle into the warmth his older sibling exuberated. He looked up at the older raven with his dark eyes. “’Tachi, make my headache go away.” Sasuke usually wasn’t so childish as to revert to begging, but in all respects, it was a pretty painful headache.

Itachi chuckled and wrapped his arms around his little brother and kissed the top of his head. “I know I’m amazing Sasuke, but I’m not that talented. Did you take something for it?” He wasn’t sure if he should be worried or not. Even though Sasuke was very sick, having a heading didn’t mean it had anything to do with that.

Sasuke nodded slightly. “Yeah; just a minute ago.”

They sat in comfortable silence for a bit until Itachi shifted. He was a bit worried about something and he wanted to tell Sasuke about it but he didn’t want to worry the boy anymore than he needed too. For all he knew, it could be nothing. “Sasuke, I think I might be losing my vision again.”

Sasuke sat up and looked at Itachi. “Are you sure?” He really hoped that Itachi’s surgery wasn’t failing him. If Itachi loses his eyesight, then that would just be another thing added to their family’s troubles. Not that Sasuke would hate Itachi for it. He just knew that Itachi would be taking it really hard if he ever went blind.

Itachi hesitated for a moment and then spoke. “I’m not sure, but I think so. I’m starting to get this blurry crap going on and my depth perception is starting to get worse again.”

“You should make another appointment with your doctor.” Sasuke suggested as he stood up.

Itachi stood up as well and followed Sasuke into the kitchen. “Yeah, I’m going to call him tomorrow. But don’t tell Naruto, I don’t want him to be worrying about something that could be nothing.” God knew the blond didn’t need anything else to stress over.

Sasuke nodded as he pulled out a box of cereal; the only thing that sounded the slightest bit appealing to him at the moment. “Yeah, but if it’s confirmed that you are losing your sight, then you need to tell him.”

“I know. Thanks Sasu.” He said as he kissed his brother softly on the lips. “Is Naruto asleep already?”

Sasuke nodded as he poured his cereal. As he poured, the food started to look less and less appealing until he grimaced at the bowl and poured it back into the box. “He was asleep when I left the room.”

Itachi frowned at Sasuke’s lack of appetite. “Sasuke, try to eat something okay? I’m going to go to bed.”

Sasuke sat down at the small island in the kitchen and buried his face in his hands. “I’ll try. ‘Night Aniki.”

Itachi gave Sasuke one last worried glance before he headed to bed and to his blond love.

When Sasuke was sure that he was alone, he let his tears of frustration fall for the first time over his illness. He always tried to be the strong one and not let it affect him too much. But there were moments when he just felt like it wasn’t even worth it. Of course he stuck it out for Naruto and his brother, and especially for his unborn child. If he could have a possibility to live long enough to see his baby at least once, then he would try to stay strong and not let his body beat him. He wiped his eyes and stood up. He managed to down a small bowl of cereal before heading off to bed himself.

Once in the bedroom, he climbed into bed in between Itachi and Naruto. He usually wasn’t one to be surrounded by the two, but tonight he felt like he needed it. He felt a hand on his check and he looked over into equally dark eyes.

“Did you eat?” was the question that left the older raven’s mouth.

Sasuke nodded. “Just a little, but at least it was something.”

Itachi smiled and kissed Sasuke’s lips gently. “Thanks for trying. Are you feeling okay?”

“No, I don’t know what’s wrong. I haven’t been able to eat properly in a few weeks and I feel really tired and weak. I just hope I’m not getting sick again.”

Itachi sighed. “If you do get sick, we know what to do.” He didn’t want to have to think about taking Sasuke to the hospital yet again, but that’s what would have to be done if Sasuke even has a hint of an infection. He had already gotten sick once and it was very easy for him to get sick again. He wrapped his arms around Sasuke and placed a hand on Naruto’s swollen belly. He fell asleep feeling loved for the first time in a few weeks and it felt damn good. Even with all the crap going on with Sasuke Naruto and himself, he took comfort in knowing that he was loved and cared for no matter what the situation.

TBC

Kind of a lame chapter, but I needed to lead up to something and I think I’ve done it. Can you guess what that something is? See ya all soon! Sorry for the delay…Comic-Con prep took a lot of my time. I might not update for a while cause now I have Yaoi-Con prep. But I assure you I will have another chapter within a month.
Xin