Fanning the Flames

A/N - I'm so sorry this latest update has taken so long. I got caught up in a rewrite of my latest book Shinobi (splitting it into two volumes at an agent's request - fingers crossed for me please ;)). On top of that we've been caught in a dreadful heat wave, culminating in a string of 100+ degree days which translated into the upper 100s in my cubbyhole of an office. To add insult to injury I pulled something in my back and can only sit or stand for very short periods. Fingers crossed - the next update should be MUCH quicker!! On a side note - I've decided to turn my story "Blacksmith" into an on-going serial on my website - check out the first three chapters at http://sesshabattousai.com under original fiction and, if you like them, please come back for more. I hope to be posting a new chapter each week. OR, follow me on twitter @SesshasWorld to find out when all my updates will be happening!!

Finally - thank you so much to everyone who has, or is, reading this story - I hope my delay hasn't chased you away. now, on to the good stuff!


Chapter Sixty

Hiashi kept his eyes glued to his furious lover as his mind backpedaled in an attempt to explain. He wished there was a way to tell what Shibi was thinking behind his ever-present dark glasses. “Well . . . I just . . .I mean . . .”

“I'm waiting,” the Aburame ground out.

“I'm sorry,” Hiashi blurted. “I couldn't help myself. Ever since he's moved in . . .”

“He WHAT?” Shibi bellowed. “And just when were you planning on telling me I'd been replaced?” He advanced on the startled Hyuuga, pinning his wrists in a fierce grip and leaning close to whisper huskily, “Seems to me you OWE me an explanation. Start talking.”

“It isn't like that. Hatake-san moved in with Neji until the baby is born.”

“I'm afraid that doesn't even come close to explaining what I just walked in on,” Shibi pointed out drily. “Now, are you going to elaborate or shall I leave?”

“I can't help myself,” Hiashi whispered. “It's like I'm obsessed.”

His lover pulled back as if he'd been burned. “I see,” he muttered. “Fine, I'll leave you to it then.”

“NO, no, please . . . let me explain.”

“What on earth is there to explain? You're obsessed with your nephew's lover. Why wouldn't you be? Hatake-san is very beautiful. Obviously I can't compete.”

“It isn't a competition,” Hiashi whispered. “I don't want to do this. It's been going on for so long, though, I don't know how to stop.”

“You're only digging a deeper hole,” Shibi insisted. “I could almost understand the temptation of having him here in your house. But, apparently this has been going on for a lot longer than the last few weeks.”

“It started with his father,” the Hyuuga admitted. “I saw him with Sandaime when I was still a teenager. I didn't want to watch, but I couldn't tear my eyes away. I followed Sakumo for months trying to get another look. It stopped when I married and then . . . well, after Sakumo-san's death I felt so guilty. Almost like it was my fault. After all, I'd known what was going on.”

“That doesn't make you responsible,” the Aburame assured him. “Besides, I'm not interested in any feelings you may have had for Sakumo. What does intrigue me are your feelings for his son. When did you start watching Kakashi, koi?”

“That's hard to say,” Hiashi hedged. “I've been aware of him since he made jounin.”

“What aren't you telling me?”

“I . . . it's embarrassing.”

“I'm sure. Being caught by your lover spying on another man should be embarrassing,” Shibi reminded him.

“No, I mean, when I started trying to . . . you know,” Hiashi mumbled.

“Stop mumbling and spit it out,” the Aburame demanded. He grasped deceptively frail wrists in an iron grip and yanked the startled Hyuuga to his feet. “Now talk.”

“No,” Hiashi insisted stubbornly. “I don't have to tell you this. Just go.”

Shibi glared at his so-called lover, although the effect was lost behind his dark glasses. “Tell me or pay the consequences.”

When the Hyuuga remained stubbornly silent the usually placid Aburame lost his temper. Never letting go of his captive, he quickly divested himself of his over-sized jacket before sitting down on the edge of the futon and yanking his startled lover into his lap. “Fine, we'll see if this loosens your tongue.”

Hiashi let out a surprisingly feminine shriek when a calloused hand smacked down on his exposed ass with a loud crack. “Itai,” he gasped.

“Of course it hurts,” Shibi confirmed. “You deserve it.” he continued to rain blows down on the helpless Hyuuga until his ass was glowing red and the stoic man was writhing uncontrollably. “So, are you ready to talk to me yet?”

* ^ * ^ *

“Hello, sweetheart.”

Kakashi studied his husband through narrowed eyes. “Don't call me that.”

The interrogator chose to ignore the slight. “How are you feeling?”

“Fat, awkward, useless, abandoned, take your pick.”

“You look wonderful,” Ibiki hastened to assure him. “How's your blood pressure?”

“Why are you here?” the copy-nin asked pointedly. “I thought you made it crystal clear at our last meeting how you felt.”

“I need to apologize. I know I hurt you, and I'm so very sorry. Ever since I got my memories back I've been trying to see you, but you'd already moved in here.”

“So, too embarrassed to air your dirty laundry in public?”

“I've been trying to get in to see you. Your new boy toy has had other ideas though,” the interrogator spat bitterly.

“Don't call him that,” the copy-nin shot back. “Neji has been very good to me.”

“I saw just how good he's been. I don't even know why I'm here. Obviously you'll choose him over me.”

“Of course, he actually wants to be with me.” Kakashi pointedly turned his back on the frustrated interrogator, bending over the crib to smile at his son.

“What did you name him?”

It took all of the copy-nin's training not to jump when the large body pressed so intimately against him, leaning over his shoulder to smile at the infant. “Itachi named him.”

“Fine, I'll bite,” Ibiki chuckled. “What did Itachi name your son?”

“Obito, his name is Obito,” the normally guarded elite replied shakily. He itched to move away, but refused to give his so-called husband the satisfaction.

“May I?”

Before Kakashi could answer burly arms reached around him and plucked the squirming baby from the crib. “Hello, Obito. Aren't you beautiful?” Ibiki cooed. “You look just like your father.”

“He has Itachi's eyes,” the copy-nin insisted. “His sharingan were present at birth.”

“Then I'm sure you'll be a formidable ninja one day, if that is what you wish,” the interrogator murmured to the raptly attentive infant. He bent his head and nuzzled the soft silvery tuft of hair. “You're a lucky boy to have a father who loves you so. Just know that I'll always be here for you, too. And your sister, of course.”

“It's time for his nap,” Kakashi insisted as he snatched the baby from his husband's arms. “I'm rather tired myself, so, if you'll excuse me.”

“No. We need to talk.”

“We have nothing to talk about.”

“Of course we do. I want to make things right between us. I want to be there for Katsumi once she's born.”

“You chose a name?” The copy-nin turned to gape at the grinning interrogator.

“Isn't that what you wanted, koi?” Ibiki retorted. “Now you can call her by name. She can hear us, you know. She'll know how much we both love her and how impatient we're getting to have her here with us.”

“I wanted a lot of things,” Kakashi whispered. “But they never turn out quite like I plan.”

“This can. I love you and I'm willing to spend the rest of my life proving it.” Ibiki reached out a tentative hand, stroking the rounded swell of the copy-nin's stomach. “I'm sorry I haven't been here 'sumi-chan. I was scared and confused. Please give me a chance to make it up to you.”

“I'm sure she will,” Kakashi assured him. “I'm just not sure I can.”

“Well, I'm not going to give up trying,” the interrogator insisted. “You'd better get used to me hanging around.”

“I would never keep you from your child. That is, of course, assuming she's yours. We still have to do the paternity test.”

“The genetics don't matter. You're my husband and these are my children. Like it or not you're going to be seeing a lot of me.”

“And if I don't want that?” the copy-nin pressed.

“Then I'll have to change your mind.” Ibiki traced the kanji of his name with a blunt nail, smiling at the shiver that raced through his husband at the touch. “The last time I saw you, you were clinging to this tattoo. Wouldn't you rather cling to me? I'd certainly prefer it.”

“As I recall you were demanding I have this tattoo removed.” Kakashi pulled the hand away from his throat, but didn't let it go, preferring to focus on it rather than the onyx eyes studying him so intently. “I don't think I'd be able to survive being abandoned again,” he admitted. “I can't trust you.”

“Oh, but you can trust a boy you hardly know.”

“Neji is hardly a boy,” the copy-nin retorted. “He's a talented jounin in his own right, and well past the age of majority, thank you.”

“He's also fifteen years younger than you are.”

“And your point is?” Kakashi practically snarled.

“He's too young to make a commitment like this. How will you feel when he decides he isn't ready to play stepfather to two small children? I could understand it if you chose to go stay with Itachi, or even Gaara and Raidou, but this is doomed from the start.”

“I think it's time for you to go,” the copy-nin gritted out. “I have to rest now.”

Rather than argue, Ibiki pulled his startled husband into his arms, sealing their lips together. Kakashi forgot to struggle, melting into the interrogator's broad chest as their tongues tangled.

When the copy-nin realized what he was doing he tried to pull back, but before he could launch into a rant Ibiki made the signs and disappeared, leaving his husband to fume alone.

* ^ * ^ *

Shibi's hand tightened around his lover's throat as he pushed into his unprepared entrance. “All you have to do is tell me and I'll stop,” he hissed.

Hiashi stubbornly refused to answer, gritting his teeth as he struggled to breathe. When his mouth fell open in an attempt to pull air through the blocked passage his lover finally relented, loosening his hold to allow the Hyuuga a small sip of air before tightening again.

“I can't believe I've wasted so much time on a prideful asshole like you,” the Aburame growled, glittering eyes pinning his lover – watching thousands of tiny Hiashi's struggle to free themselves. “I thought we had something real. Instead it's all just a sham.”

“Please,” the Hyuuga patriarch gasped when the hands once again loosened. “I love you.”

“Bullshit,” Shibi grunted, using his lover's long hair as a handle to slam him face first into the wall as his hips continued to raggedly thrust. “You don't know what love is. Selfish bastard. I risked everything for this and you can't even be honest with me. What else have you lied to me about?”

“Didn't lie,” Hiashi managed. “Please, let me explain.”

“You had your chance.” The Aburame picked up the pace, reaching around to squeeze his lover's rigid length roughly. “You're the one who didn't want to talk, remember? Now you've missed your chance.” He continued to plunge into the stoic clan head's clenching passage, smirking when blood began to flow and ease his strokes. “Just be glad I'm leaving you with something to remember me by.”

“So . . . sor . . . ry,” Hiashi gasped, before a hard hand once again robbed him of air. He stopped struggling, trying to relax into the punishing strokes, accepting the pain streaking through him as the inevitable result of his transgression.

Shibi was teetering on the edge, unwilling to release, knowing it would mark the end of this relationship. He gritted his teeth and tried to think of neutral things, hoping to prolong the inevitable, but it was not to be. He slammed into his lover's prostate head on and the frantic spasms around his engorged length tore his orgasm from him with a roar.

He immediately pulled out, yanking up his pants and grabbing his coat. The Aburame stopped in the doorway and cast one last glance at the crumpled figure before shutting the door firmly and moving on with his life.