Fine Lines

Fine Lines Ch. 5
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The next morning found Naruto still curled tightly against Itachi. A small moan left him as he began to wake up and after a few minutes his blue eyes blinked open. He was bewildered at first, having no clue what was going on or what he was seeing through his bleary eyes. He was brought back by the intense comforting warmth surrounding him. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and glanced up to see the peaceful sleeping face of Itachi.

A small smile lit his face with the realization that the older man had indeed spent the night with him and more importantly, had stayed through the night. Reaching upwards, he let his fingers gently trail over a pale cheek and after hesitating for a moment, he leaned up to place a soft kiss against the sleeping lips.

Itachi's mind was fuzzy as he came out of his delicious dream involving one Naruto Uzumaki... He felt something press against his lips and slowly his eyes opened and were held by the blue gaze of the person he had just been dreaming about. He smiled at Naruto and tightened his grip around the blonde's waist as he pulled the boy closer to him. "Morning." he said sleepily, kissing Naruto again. "How did you sleep?"

The younger blond was a bit embarrassed at having been caught but quickly pushed it out of his mind as his gaze raked over Itachi. His hair was mussed, his features still laced with sleep... it was the best thing he had ever seen. “I slept better than I normally do,” he admitted, cheeks flushing a bit. “You?”

"Same." was the raven's simple answer as he pulled the blonde fully against him. "It feels so good to just to lay here with you. It's comforting."

“Yeah,” the blond agreed, laying his head back down on Itachi. He couldn’t help but think that the older man had to leave him sometime soon, a thought that made him sad. He wished he could sleep in his arms every night. He tried to push that thought away as well and he snuggled against the raven.

They lay together for about an hour more just basking in each other’s presence and loving the feel of one another. Itachi ran his hands along Naruto’s back and kissed the blonde from time to time anywhere he could reach. "Would you like me to make breakfast?" he asked between kisses to the blonde's shoulder.

With the thought of food, Naruto’s stomach growled loudly and he placed a hand over it, blushing. “If you don’t mind.” Reluctantly, he pulled away from Itachi’s warmth and sat up, shivering from the sudden coolness that enveloped his body.

He glanced warily at the large pile of clothes, most of them dirty but he thought some clean ones were strewn about in it. He made a mental note that he would have to do laundry again as he moved towards it.

Itachi sat up as well and made his way out to the kitchen, letting Naruto get dressed in private. He knew the blonde would be a bit uncomfortable upon waking and decided to give the teen as much space as he needed.

Entering the kitchen, Itachi opened the fridge and pulled out eggs and milk and then pulled some bread out of the cupboard. If Naruto hadn't eaten a real dinner like last night in a long time... he probably hadn't had a good breakfast in a while either. With this in mind, Itachi set up his ingredients for French toast and got to work.

After he dressed in his last pair of clean pants, jeans that were a tad too small for him and hugged his body, and a white t-shirt, Naruto padded softly into the kitchen. His stomach growled again at the enticing smell and he perched against the counter behind Itachi, just wanting to be near him. He felt stupid and clingy, a bit confused, but he couldn’t deny it and he just hoped that the older man wouldn’t mind.

Itachi noticed Naruto approach him and thought it was too cute that he wanted to be near him. Frankly Itachi wouldn't have had it any other way and rather loved the boy’s desire to be close to him. "I hope you like French toast." he said conversationally as he took a pair of tongs and flipped one of the pieces of bread over showing the golden brown side that had just been face down on the pan.

“Yeah, I do,” the teen replied. His mouth was watering to the point that he thought he might start to drool soon. It was one of his favorite foods and he found that he had sorely missed it. He couldn’t wait to eat.

Crossing his arms over his chest, he watched the way Itachi’s back flexed as he moved, working on the food. The way his hair spilled down over the creamy flesh of his shoulders and back made him shiver. He longed to reach out and run his fingers through the raven hair that he found himself smitten with.

Itachi finally finished the last piece of toast and placed it atop the large mound of squares already adorning a large platter he had found in Naruto's cupboard. He grabbed two paper plates and placed two pieces of toast on each plate before scooping a spatula full of scrambled eggs mixed with ham and cheese onto the plates next to the toast. He took both plates to the table and set them down before heading back to the refrigerator to get the milk out again along with the syrup he had bought the night before.

Taking two glasses down from the shelf closest to the sink, Itachi poured himself and Naruto a glass of milk before setting those down on the table as well as the syrup. Forks and knives were next and Itachi finally looked at the blonde. "I haven't made this in so long." he admitted as he sat down at the table. "I used to make this for Sasuke when he was younger... Guess he grew out of it... me making me breakfast I mean." He gazed sadly down at his plate, remembering the times when his brother actually wanted to be around him.

Naruto took his seat and let his eyes roam over the table full of food. He didn’t even remember the last time he had had so much food in front of him. It was exciting to him. As soon as Itachi was seated at the table, he poured the syrup over his food and then began to eat with gusto.

He felt bad after Itachi had finished talking. As much as he loathed Sasuke, it increased right then when he saw the sad look on the older man’s face. He didn’t know what to do, he’d never comforted anyone before, so he did the only thing he could think of.

He slowly reached a hand across the table and grasped Itachi’s, blushing at the contact. He felt stupid, but he just didn’t want the raven to feel down.

Itachi smiled and shook his head at Naruto. "It's no big deal really. I guess he had to grow up sometime. Not like he turned out that pleasant. I give him hell all the time for the way he treats you." He laced his fingers with Naruto's and gazed into the electrifying blue eyes. "You're worth so much more than that."

The blonds’ heart sped up at the words and he found that he couldn’t look away from the other’s dark gaze. He was so confused, had no idea what he felt for the older man anymore. It had started out as a crush but it had quickly intensified in the last few days. He found himself falling deeper and deeper under Itachi’s spell and in truth; he didn’t want it to end.

He knew if things kept going as they were that he would fall for him soon enough and that was dangerous. He was positive that the older raven couldn’t love him back.

His fingers squeezed Itachi’s in response and his eyes began to waver slightly at the sweet words, so he quickly averted his gaze.

The raven let it go and let Naruto continue to eat. He wouldn’t force Naruto to admit anything, wanting the boy to come to him when the time was right.

They ate in silence for a few minutes before Itachi spoke once more. "I'm going to have to go soon after we're done. I don’t want to, but..." he let the sentence drop, knowing Naruto would understand him.

The blonde teen sighed and set down his fork, finding he was no longer hungry. He had known it was coming, but he couldn’t help stop the sadness from filling him, as well as dread at being alone. “I know,” he said, a fake smile on his face. He hoped Itachi wouldn’t see though it, but knew he probably would.

The teacher's heart broke at seeing the false confidence in his student's eyes and couldn't help wishing he could stay with the boy forever. But reality was a bitch and he'd stayed longer than he really should have. "I’ll come over again, I promise. And you still have my number."

“Okay,” he murmured. He knew he probably wouldn’t call Itachi unless it was an emergency. He wasn’t one to call people up to chat or when he was lonely. He was a 'suffer in silence' type of guy. “Well, I can do the dishes this time,” he offered. It would keep him busy for awhile; a welcome distraction.

Itachi nodded knowing that the blonde wanted the task to shield himself from the thought of him having to leave. He rose from his seat and headed into the living room to gather up his clothing and put them on. The raven pulled back his long hair and tried to make it presentable in his customary ponytail and managed somehow.

Heading back into the kitchen, he saw the look of determination on Naruto's face as the boy did the dishes. Itachi knew the determination wasn't on his task but something else. Itachi wrapped his arms around the blonde's waist from behind and gently held him there. "Please call." he begged as he kissed Naruto's neck gently. "Don't think you have you be alone. I'll come over whenever you need me."

Naruto didn’t say anything as he leaned back into the other’s arms, unable to commit to the call. He didn’t want to say yes and then have Itachi angry with him when he didn’t...because he knew he wouldn’t.

The raven sighed and turned the blonde's head slightly so he could reach the supple lips and gently kissed the boy before letting go. "I'll see you on Monday then." he said as he slowly turned and headed out the front door feeling like a piece of him was left there with Naruto.

After Naruto finished with the dishes, he moved into the living room and flopped onto the couch, feeling more alone than ever before. Lying out on the couch, he rested his head against his shoulder and closed his eyes wearily. The fabric still smelled like Itachi.

The rest of the day seemed to tick by ever so slowly. Each minute felt like an hour, and he spent the majority of his time spread out on the couch watching TV. He wasn’t hungry, so he didn’t even bother with lunch, not that he could cook anything had he been anyway.

By the time night rolled around, he was pretty down. It didn’t help that he felt extremely stupid for being upset, which only served to worsen his mood. Not even bothering to move to his bed, he flicked off the TV and fell asleep on the couch not long afterwards.

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Itachi arrived home around mid-morning and walked in just in time to see his brother sitting down to breakfast at the dining room table. He ignored the boy as he walked through the kitchen and headed to his room to put his stuff away. He hadn’t gone home before heading to Naruto’s house before and had all of his school papers and junk with him still.

After taking a quick shower, Itachi made his way back into the kitchen to fix himself some tea and saw the smaller raven still at the table, a look of disgust on his face. “What?” Itachi asked a bit irritably as he pulled down a glass.

“Did you fuck him?” Sasuke’s face was anything but pleasant, a scowl marring the handsome features.

“Who? And watch your language.” Itachi knew exactly what Sasuke was talking about, but he couldn’t say too much or he may give away who he was with.

“You know who… your ‘date’ or should I say Naruto….” Sasuke’s expression didn’t change. He had a feeling something else was going on than what his brother was telling him. He knew Naruto had a thing for Itachi… who didn’t? But with the blonde it was obvious and it wasn’t like Itachi was saying no either… the two of them giving each other knowing smiles... Sasuke wasn’t stupid.

Itachi stiffened for a fraction of a second then turned around, the epitome of calm. “Naruto? Why would I go out with Naruto, he’s my student. That would be illegal... you know all about that.”

Sasuke flinched at his brother’s harsh words. “At least I’m doing it in the house and not out on the street.” Sasuke knew his brother would bring up the pot… but really it was just a cry for attention. “And anyway, I see the way you two look at each other….”

The older raven set down his glass and walked over to his brother, pulling the boy out of his chair and into an embrace. “Sasuke, don’t’ worry… Nothing is going on. You can trust me; I’m your big brother… right?”

Sasuke breathed in his brother’s intoxicating scent and seemed to calm down a fraction. He wrapped his arms around the man’s waist and snuggled into him… a lot like they used to do when Sasuke was younger. “Yeah… I trust you.” he murmured, getting lost in the feel of his brother’s arms around him.

Itachi shook his head and kissed the top of Sasuke’s head before letting go. “Good. But speaking of Naruto, I want you to start being nicer to him… he doesn’t deserve you bullying him all the time.”

Sasuke’s demeanor changed suddenly at that and he glared at Itachi. “Fuck, why do you always tell me what to do… I can do what the fuck I want so shut up!” He pulled away from his brother and made his way to his room, slamming the door behind him and blasting his music for the world to hear.

Itachi sighed, knowing that those tender moments only lasted about as long as that one had and grabbed his tea. Heading out to the living room to read.

Sunday went by too slowly for Itachi's liking. Sasuke was being his brooding self as usual and was locked up in his room doing god knows what. He hadn't felt so... sad in a long time. First he couldn't be with the one person that he wants to be with due to society’s stigmas and now he was starting to realize how far away his brother had drifted from him as well.

He knew that Naruto wouldn't call. He had known when the blonde hadn't agreed to call him the day before. He would just have to see the boy on Monday.

The rest of his day was spent grading papers that he had neglected due to being with the blonde the previous day and finally got sick of the whole thing, and put the papers in his bag to grade Monday morning.

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Naruto had awoken extremely early on Sunday morning. Before the sun early. He had slept fitfully the night before and as a result he was even more down than the previous day.

There was nothing for him to do in his apartment except watch TV, so that’s what he spent the day doing. He had planned on cleaning and he really needed to do laundry as he had no clean clothes left but he wasn’t in the mood for it all. He had no appetite either, which only served to make him even more upset

Itachi had bought all that wonderful food for him, but he couldn’t cook and knew a lot of it would go to waste. It was probably one of the nicest things anyone had ever done for him, and because he couldn’t do anything for himself, it was wasted on him.

By early evening, he was dead tired. He wanted nothing more than to sleep. This time, he managed to pull himself from the couch and made it to his room, collapsing on the bed. It took him a long while to fall asleep, and the same as the previous night, it was fitful.

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Monday morning came and went and there was no sign of Naruto. Itachi had gone to school earlier than normal to finish grading papers and was looking forward to seeing his blonde student again.

His class rolled around and... No Naruto. He thought the blonde may be late like he had been on Friday but... nothing. Itachi's lesson suffered from lack of concentration as he thought about where Naruto could be and why he hadn’t come to school. He didn't have the boy's number so he couldn’t call him, but all the same, he decided to drive down to the blonde's apartment after school was over.

The raven let his students go outside to read while he wrote out his lesson plan for the following week, the day was going to go by so slow, he could already tell.

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Naruto’s alarm clock woke him up early the next day but he couldn’t bring himself to move from bed. Oddly enough, Sasuke’s words kept running through his head and he became angry. Why should he go to school? What was the point? He couldn’t think of any reason, except for Itachi.

Mind made up, he turned his alarm off and settled into his bed once more. He managed to sleep for a couple more hours before he awoke once more and pulled himself from bed. Pulling on some dirty clothes, he gathered the rest of them into a garbage bag and hefted it downstairs to the small, dirty laundry room.

It took him a few hours to complete it all. Once he was back in his apartment, he took a long shower and then dressed in a pair of clean jeans and a t-shirt before sitting in front of the TV yet again.

Glancing at the clock, he noted that it was nearing the end of school. He had to wonder if Itachi would be angry with him for not showing up but quickly brushed the thought aside and decided to take another nap.

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The final bell rang at last and Itachi was almost out of the room before any of his students. He slowed down, taking his time to clean up and answered any questions his students had for him before he made his way swiftly out of his class and through the halls and out of the building.

Getting into his car the long haired raven started it up and slowly exited the school parking lot, mindful of the stupid kids running around. It didn’t' take long for him to arrive at the now familiar building and he exited the car after turning it off and headed up the stairs.

He knocked a couple times and waited patiently. He heard the TV inside so he knew the blonde was in there, maybe he was asleep, or what if he was sick?

Naruto was deeply asleep on the couch and didn’t hear the first set of knocks. Eventually the banging got through to him and he groaned as he sat up, wondering what the noise had been. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and then heard more knocking on his door.

Pulling himself from the couch, he moved to the door but didn’t open it right away. “Who is it?” he called out, his voice husky with sleep.

"It's Itachi." The raven relaxed marginally at hearing Naruto's voice. "I was worried when you didn't come to school... can I come in?" He felt a bit stupid talking to the door and so waited patiently for Naruto to decide to let him in or not.
“Yeah,” the blond replied before unlocking the door and letting Itachi in. He closed the door as soon as he was through it and locked it. He had considered sending Itachi away but in the end he couldn’t bring himself to say the words. Without looking at the older man, or saying anything, he moved to the couch he had been spending way too much time on lately and sat down once again.

Itachi entered the room further and noticed that the blonde didn't look too much like a mess, but the smell of laundry detergent filled the apartment so he guessed Naruto did some laundry. "Why didn't you come to school... are you not feeling well?" The raven sat down next to the blonde and wrapped an arm around Naruto's shoulders. He felt the boy stiffen under his touch and quickly removed his arm and looked at nothing in particular, waiting for Naruto to answer.

“I feel fine,” Naruto shrugged. He was silent for a few moments, staring blankly at the TV screen. Pulling his knees up to his chest, he wrapped his arms around them to keep them in place. “There’s just no point in going to school anymore,” he finally mumbled.

Itachi sighed and stood up before turning off the TV manually and returning to the couch. "I understand you want to drop out. I can't stop you even though I wish you wouldn't. But it's your decision. Have you considered looking for a job? Maybe you won’t' feel so bored all the time." He tried to wrap his arms around Naruto again but again the blonde moved away a little bit. Itachi frowned at this. "Did I do something?" he asked, trying not to let his irritation show. Naruto was perfectly fine and clingy a couple days ago.

“Not really...” Naruto admitted. “I just...” His brows furrowed as he tried to think of what to say, but he had no idea. He felt so confused. A part of him just wanted to launch himself into Itachi’s arms but the other wanted to run far away.

He knew the former was winning; just being near the older man had him relaxing a bit. “I don’t know,” he mumbled, his head leaning forward, his face hiding against his legs.

Itachi instantly and firmly wrapped his arms around Naruto, glad when the blonde didn't struggle away this time. He soothed the distraught teen and whispered words of comfort to the boy, hoping it would help even a little. He ran his fingers through blonde locks as he gently rocked Naruto in his arms, he felt wetness on his shirt and knew the blonde was crying but said nothing. Not wanting Naruto to be embarrassed. He just let his now ex-student get all his emotions out in the open; he knew Naruto would feel better afterward.

Naruto felt ridiculous but he couldn’t seem to stop the tears from flowing. His hands clutched weakly at Itachi’s shirt as he let himself go, crying his heart out to the older man.

After awhile he felt himself calm down a little. The tears stopped and he sniffed, his chest heaving from the exertion. His face flushed, totally embarrassed at his breakdown and he couldn’t quite bring himself to look at Itachi, he didn’t know what to say to him either.

The raven kissed the top of the golden head and rested against the back of the couch, Naruto's head on his chest. "Feel better?" he asked softly as he ran fingertips up and down the teen's arm.

“Yeah. Sorry...” he whispered. His voice rough as he snuggled against Itachi. He idly smoothed out the older man’s shirt, frowning when he saw the large wet spot.

"Don't be sorry. There's nothing wrong with releasing your emotions once in a while." Itachi sat in silence for a moment, letting his thoughts wonder about the situation with Naruto and school. It was true he had said that it was ultimately the blonde's choice whether he wanted to return or not; Since Naruto’s uncle seemed to be away more often than not... It wasn't like Itachi could make him; he had no legal rights to do so.

With his mind made up, he decided for a persuasive approach. "You know... You still have your senior year. I can maybe do something to help you pass this year with the bare minimum and then help you out next year to pass and graduate. It would make me so proud of you if you finished school."

The younger blond was silent as he thought it over. It wasn’t like he wanted to fail; if there was a chance, he would rather graduate. He didn’t stand a chance if left on his own, but if Itachi helped him...

A shaky sigh left him and he wiped his eyes with the back of his hand before pulling away to look at Itachi. “Okay, but...won’t that be a lot of extra work for you? I don’t want to...to be a burden. Well, more than I already am...”
Itachi lifted Naruto's head with a finger under his chin. "Don't ever think I wouldn’t do anything for you. I already told you that you can trust me. I know it’s hard but I haven't let you down so far have I?" He saw Naruto shake his head. "It may be a bit of extra work for me, but I want to do it. There's nothing that would make me happier than to see you graduate." Well there was one other thing that would make him happy, the raven thought to himself how good it would feel once the blonde finally trusted him fully and told him he loved him... that would be a wonderful day.

The corners of Naruto’s lips lifted in a small smile and then his arms wound around Itachi’s neck and he hugged him tightly. He felt so grateful to the older man and he wished he could portray how much everything the raven had done for him meant, but there were no words. “Thank you,” he whispered against the skin of Itachi’s neck. It sounded lame even to him, but it was the best he had.

The raven haired teacher pressed his lips against Naruto's in a sign of love as he too wrapped his arms around the boy. After he separated from Naruto again, he looked around the blonde's living room. "I'm guessing you haven't eaten yet, considering all you’re pent up feelings I wouldn’t be hungry either."

“No...I haven’t really eaten since you left,” Naruto admitted sheepishly. His hands were itching to reach up and free Itachi’s hair but he didn’t since he had no idea how long the older man would be staying.

Itachi smiled and shook his head. "I wish you'd eat more. I can teach you how to cook a few simple dishes if you want so you can make something on your own."

He headed into the kitchen and opened the fridge, figuring out what simple thing he could teach his student. "How about a grilled cheese sandwich? That's easy enough."

A cooking lesson? Naruto shook his head in amusement before he followed Itachi into the kitchen. He leaned heavily against the counter, close enough to the older man that he was brushing against him, and watched intently as the lesson began.

Itachi spent the next half hour showing the blonde how to make a grilled cheese sandwich. He never imagined how hard it was to teach someone how to cook and was glad he picked History.

Two burnt sandwiches later, Naruto had finally made a perfectly golden brown sandwich for both of them. Itachi smiled in amusement and they began to eat. "That was pretty good for your second try. It'll get easier the more you do it."

Naruto only shrugged, concentrating on eating the first edible thing he had ever made. It was good and he couldn’t help but be a tad proud of himself, even though he had burnt two.

The more time he spent with Itachi, the more he liked him. He was amazing and seemed to have endless patience, something he was glad of. He still couldn’t quite figure out why the older man had chosen him but he grew more grateful each time he was around him. “Thanks,” he said when he finished the sandwich. He flashed a lopsided grin at the older man, a special smile reserved for only him, it seemed.

Itachi shook his head, dismissing the thanks before he got up. "I have to get home... But you'll be in school tomorrow?" He eyed Naruto with a look that strongly recommended he come.

“Yeah, I’ll be there,” he assured Itachi as he walked him to the door. He leaned up against the wall beside the door, chewing on his lip as his gaze raked over the raven, stopping on his lips.

The long haired man leaned down to give Naruto what he wanted and pressed his lips to the blonde's gently as he slowly ran his tongue along the boy's bottom lip before breaking away as he slipped a piece of paper into his student's hand. "Homework." was his one word explanation as he left the apartment, closing the door slowly and making his way back to his car.

Naruto groaned and slid down against the wall, looking over the paper that had been slipped into his hand. He hadn’t done homework in so long; it was like a foreign concept to him.

After a few moments he got up and locked the door before moving into the living room. He figured he might as well get started on it, since it would probably take him most of the night.

TBC

Yay! Naru’s not quitting school!!!! Of course Itachi would convince him XD Thanks for reading!!!! Review please?? XD