Campaign of Distraction

Title: Campaign of Distraction
Authors(s): Collab with Xin and Geia
Rating: NC-17 or Mature
Warnings: Dark themes, incest, yaoi, male/male sex, shota, and a few other things that I may add later.

Pairing(s): ItaNaru (Main), ItaSasuNaru, ItaSasu, maybe some SasuNaru…and others that I can’t mention at the moment or else it would give the story away.

Summary: Sasuke and Itachi are finally able to live their own lives together away from their posh and uncaring parents. With the two being so young, how is Itachi going to be able to support his younger brother? Dark secrets are revealed and in consequence, delicate issues begin to surface.

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Dark eyes that were like the depths of space stared triumphantly at the letter he had just received in the mail. He had done it; he had finally gotten himself and his younger sibling away from that pompous world that their parents called home and normal society.

Being the son of the wealthiest family in New York had really taken a toll on Itachi Uchiha as of late. He had noticed that slowly but surely, his parents were spending less and less time at home; consequently leaving him to take care of his little brother Sasuke. Eventually Itachi figured; why stay in this damn place when I can take care of Sasuke on my own? He was smart enough after all; already able to go to college, having graduated early. He knew that with his status, and his mature demeanor, he would definitely be able to emancipated himself and take Sasuke out of that hell hole that they had called home. It wasn’t as if his parents would miss them or even care. And that was exactly what he did and after a lot of convincing and a few well placed marks of sympathy, he had accomplished his goal.

Itachi walked back into his moderately sized but very nice apartment and sat down on the couch next to his little brother who was currently watching some cartoon or other on TV. He faced the ten year old and put a hand on his shoulder to get his attention.

Sasuke looked up at his brother without muting the TV like he usually did and blinked. Nothing had really changed since before they moved here except for how big the place was, and the move had gone faster than the younger Uchiha sibling had thought. He still didn’t fully understand why they moved away. All his brother had told him was that his parents didn’t love them anymore and they would be happier if they left. Besides, who was Sasuke to question his Aniki? "What is it? I really want to see how the show ends..."

Itachi smiled down at the small child and brought him to sit on his lap. "In a minute; I have some really good news for us."

Sasuke snuggled up against his brother and tried to listen to his favorite TV show while looking at Itachi. It was one of the hardest things he’d ever done because he really wanted to watch the whole thing right now because it wouldn’t be the same if he watched it later. "What; did we win a contest or something? What did we win?" After that thought entered the small child’s head, Sasuke forgot all about his show with its transforming robots and brightly colored battle scenes in favor of this good thing his brother had mentioned. The little boy had spent weeks mailing entries to the contest he saw on one of his brother’s cereal boxes, one letter a day for a while now. Maybe they'd won!

Itachi chuckled at Sasuke's cuteness and ran gentle fingers through the baby soft hair. "Sorry, we haven't gotten anything related to that. But," He continued before Sasuke could plant the pout firmly on his face. "I got this." He held up the letter and continued. "It officially says that I can take care of you. And that we can live here together; just you and me."

Sasuke almost bounced on his brother’s lap. They'd be living together forever! Itachi had been really busy with boring things to make people let them live together away from their parents who didn't seem to love them that much. "You really mean it? We can stay here and no one will take me away? This is the best present you've gotten me and it isn’t even Christmas or my birthday at all!" The little kid wrapped his arms around his Aniki as far as he could and hugged him as hard as he could. It was almost like being the first in line for ice cream only better!

Itachi wrapped his arms around his excited sibling. It had taken months for him to convince the courts to emancipate himself from his parents. It was even more difficult to convince them that he was capable of taking care of Sasuke. At sixteen years old, the judge preceding his case was a little more than skeptical. But once Itachi got a job and made enough money for a decent apartment, provided food and shelter for Sasuke, the judge was still a bit on the skeptical side but had to admit that Itachi was a very dedicated brother to do all those things in such a short time just to take care and keep the little one.

Itachi did have one secret though that he kept from the courts. How he was able to make all his money was not from his full time job as a receptionist, but something much darker that he would never tell anyone about; not even Sasuke. He was not proud of what he did, but it gave him the opportunity to make his brother happy and buy him anything his little brain could conjure up. It was something that if word got out about it, he would most likely lose Sasuke forever and get a lot of people in trouble. Not wanting to think about that anymore, Itachi sat his brother back down on the couch and patted Sasuke's cute little head. "That reminds me, I need to work late tonight so you'll be staying with Kakashi for a little bit longer alright?"

The eight year old leaned back and crossed his arms like he'd seen his brother do sometimes when things turned out bad. On Itachi, the pose looked really impressive and made him look like a hero in the day and a bit scary at night but still really cool. Sasuke had been practicing to look that cool but he ended up looking a lot more like that stupid so-so in the TV show he was missing instead of the best brother in the world. "I don't want to see Kakashi again! He's boring and smells like coffee and a library all in one! Can’t I stay with you at work? I promise I'll be really quiet! You won’t even know I’m there, Please?" Sasuke stuck his bottom lip out a bit and started pleading with his brother with his black eyes. Girls did this a lot on TV and they got whatever they wanted so it should work for him right?

Itachi sighed and stood up. "Sasuke, we've gone over this... You can't go to work with me. You don't want me to get in trouble do you?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well no, but I don’t like Kakashi. He’s no fun and just wants me to do stupid things like help him with crossword puzzles. Do you know how boring that is? And he says that I’m so good at them, but he’s just trying to make me do them for him.”

Itachi chuckled. It was amazing how smart his brother was. Maybe not so much as street smart; but he was very intelligent for an eight year old. He already knew so much about the world and the reality of it that it was kind of scary. But then again, he figured he had a little part in that. Not wanting Sasuke to grow up sheltered and not know of anything other than his immediate surroundings. "Come on, he's not that bad. He takes you out at least once a day. Remember that book he bought you last week? You wouldn't stop talking about it." Itachi owed a lot to his neighbor Kakashi. The nineteen year old bachelor had let them stay with him in his apartment until the whole court situation had been dealt with and they were able to rent their own. Itachi had known Kakashi from his high school. The older man was a Junior when he had entered the school and they had become friends instantly. He knew he could turn to the man once he needed somewhere to stay. Itachi made sure to stay close by once he moved out of Kakashi’s place because he knew he would be able to count on Kakashi when he started work.

Sasuke cast his best pleading look up to his brother and tried to look as cute and in need of love as he could. Sasuke knew he'd been beaten but he still didn’t have to like it, Kakashi was really old with white hair and always trying to keep his place clean. And he drank that icky brown coffee stuff that Itachi drinks sometimes when he comes home late from work. But Itachi was right; the older man had always been good to him. "How long do you have to be gone tonight?"

The older raven kneeled down in front of his baby brother, who in his protests had hopped off the couch. "I don't know. But I'll call Kakashi and let you know sometime today alright?" He hated being away from Sasuke just as much as the other boy hated being away from him. But he had to keep making money if he wanted to keep Sasuke in his care. Once he turned eighteen, he could get a more respectable job and maybe even try to go back to school. He was smart enough to graduate at fifteen within the first try at the test. So he was sure he would be able to get into college no problem. After all, before he left his parent's world, he was a straight “A” student and at the top of his class.

Sasuke wrapped his arms around his brother’s shoulders and stayed there for a bit before talking again. "Promise you will be home for breakfast tomorrow?"

Itachi picked up the ten year old and placed him on the kitchen counter as he started to make breakfast for the two. "You're not spending the night there...I'm just going to be a bit later than when I usually pick you up."

Sasuke kicked his feet and watched Itachi make the meal. He was still too short to really reach anything on the counters so he couldn’t make anything for himself but he always loved to watch. Maybe one day when he was tall enough he could make something for his Aniki. "Do you think Kakashi will take me to the park today?"

Itachi smiled as he poured some milk into his brother's bowl of cereal. "I'm sure he will if you ask him. Just make sure not to be too much trouble for him. But you're a good kid and you wouldn't get into any trouble would you?" He asked as he put Sasuke back down on the floor and handed him his bowl of cereal.

"You know me! I won’t make any trouble for anyone!" Sasuke smiled radiantly at his brother before taking a seat at their little table and eating his cereal. He never really liked the ones that were so sweet it was like eating sugar from the container, but he never complained to having fruit thrown into his bowl on occasion, usually when Itachi wanted to make their mornings a little special.

Itachi sat down with his own cereal and the two ate in silence until Itachi finished his breakfast. "Once you're done, rinse your bowl out and get your shoes on. We'll be leaving in about ten minutes."

Sasuke pouted a bit but obediently hopped out of his chair and walked as fast he safely could on the tiled floor to rinse his bowl. He needed a small stepping block to turn the faucet on and get the sponge; something ten year old kind of resented, and put the rinsed bowl to the side where it would be washed later.

The older raven rinsed out his own bowl and headed toward the door and his shoes. Noting that Sasuke was ready to go, he grabbed his keys and his bag and walked out into the silent hall of their apartment complex. "Do you have everything you want to bring with you?" he asked the small boy distractedly as they walked down the hallway toward the end.

"I think so; do you think the pool’s open? I heard on the TV that it was going to be hot." Sasuke grabbed his brother’s hand and looked up at him. He'd never really admit it to anyone, but he liked pools. It was much more fun than getting a bath.

Itachi didn't answer for a bit, opting to get them to Kakashi's apartment. He really didn't want to be late. Once he knocked on the door, he turned to look down at the spiky haired youth. "If Kakashi has the key to the pool, I can't imagine why he wouldn't take you there if you asked him."

Sasuke smiled up at Itachi and leaned against his leg. No matter how boring Kakashi was he had always been nice to both of them. "I’ll ask. Oh, that's what I forgot; the sunscreen."

Itachi smiled down at Sasuke as he handed the boy the bottle of forgotten sun block just as the door opened.

Kakashi smiled first it Itachi who was almost as tall as he was, then down at Sasuke. In the beginning the white haired man hadn’t been sure he'd be up to the task of watching the ten year old but Sasuke had proven to be incredibly smart and just a little mature for his age; something Kakashi appreciated. "Hey there Itachi, and Sasuke of course. I just finished getting all my books in order, got some new ones, so I’ve got nothing but time on my hands for today!"

Itachi gently pushed Sasuke toward the door. "Thanks again for watching him. But I really have to go or I'll be late. You know how that is..." Even though no one knew of Itachi’s other job, he had confided to the silver haired man a few weeks prior about his less than respectful job. Kakashi had been surprised at first, but couldn’t really do anything about it, just telling the younger boy to be careful.

"I get it. Don’t worry about Sasuke, I haven’t lost him yet.” Kakashi stepped back to give the little Uchiha plenty of room to get past him and watched to make sure that Sasuke didn’t dart back out for one last hug with his brother, which he likely would. Sasuke always gave Itachi one last hug before he went to work. "I charged my phone so you can reach me if we go out."

Itachi nodded and kneeled down to give Sasuke the hug that the little boy so desired every day. "I'll be back before you know it. Try to have fun while I'm gone, ok?"

"I'll try." Sasuke watched his brother get up and walk away to work. It always hurt to watch him walk away, even if the boy knew he would come back like he always did. Behind him, the library smell beckoned with its aroma of coffee that you could almost taste. All the furniture matched inside and was a bit nicer than what he and his brother owned. That was one thing that puzzled Sasuke; Kakashi didn’t go to work like his brother did but he still did all the things you needed money for. He opted to forget about that for the moment and proceeded to ask Kakashi if they could go swimming.

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Sasuke sat on Kakashi's comfortable couch, feeling like he wanted to take a nap even though it was a little past dinner time. He had to admit, the day had been extremely fun. First they went swimming; Kakashi actually got in the pool with Sasuke. Something that Itachi rarely did. He always said that Sasuke would probably have just as much if not more fun by himself and opted to watch from a lounge chair, reading a book.

Next they went out to lunch. One of Sasuke's favorite Japanese restaurants. After the meal, they headed to the park where Sasuke was able to run around and do as he pleased while Kakashi conveniently flirted with a few girls...

All in all, the day had been eventful, and now Sasuke couldn't wait for his brother to come back so he could tell him all about it.

Kakashi sat down next to Sasuke with two drinks in hand, one for each of them. All the activity today had been great. Not to mention getting a date with a rather pretty young lady at the park. She had thought it adorable that he was watching a friend’s brother, not that he'd only gone to the park for a date. He’d never admit that it was for Sasuke because kids needed to run and play for a good night’s sleep. "I got us some tea while we wait for your brother to get back. I should get out with you more often. Seeing pretty women is much better than reading about them."

Sasuke took the tea with a small thanks. He looked over at the clock. It was almost seven thirty. He was getting a bit hungry, but he would wait until his Aniki came back. Speaking of which... He sat up as he heard a knock on the door.

Kakashi swore silently in his head about always being interrupted when taking a drink and leapt over the back of his couch to get to the door before Sasuke could open it; just to make sure it was Itachi on the other side and not, say, one of his other friends. "I'll get it!" Kakashi stopped just short of the door and looked out the peephole to see a slightly distorted view of Itachi.

Itachi started as the door was opened violently and a small body collided with him. He made sure to keep his balance and looked down at the little ball of energy. "Well, I guess someone missed me." he said fondly as he ran his fingers through Sasuke's hair. He looked up at Kakashi. "Thanks again for keeping him this late. I shouldn't have to work overtime in the near future."

Kakashi smiled at his little charge’s attempt to flatten his brother ended in failure and tousled that fine, soft hair. "It isn’t a problem watching him at all. He's much better behaved than other kids his age I’ve seen around the place. it makes me wish I had a little brother like him."

Saying a few more goodbyes, Itachi and Sasuke headed for their own apartment down the hall. “So how was your day? Did you have fun?” Itachi asked, already knowing the answer.

“I had so much fun Aniki! First we went swimming, then he took me out to lunch, and then we went to the park! I don’t think I ever did that much with Kakashi in my life.” Sasuke enthused with energy as he jumped through the open doorway of their apartment and took off his shoes.

Itachi smiled as he took off his own shoes. “I told you you’d have fun.” He headed into the kitchen, Sasuke right behind him. “Are you hungry?”

Sasuke nodded and got his step stool so he could sit on the counter and watch Itachi cook. “I’m starving. Can you make something with mushrooms in it?”

One thing about Sasuke that Itachi was amazed about was his lack of boundaries when it came to food. His little brother would try anything and he was very cultured in his tastes of cuisine. “Of course I can.” He said fondly as he got out the ingredients for a chicken sir fry.

Sasuke smiled happily as he swung his feet and hummed a nameless tune. He really hoped that it would be like this forever.

TBC

Well, new story is here! I know it doesn’t really tell anything now, but next chapter will reveal all sorts of truths and secrets. And you’ll find out what Itachi does.

Just a warning there will be about a three year time jump in the next chapter, just to get the story moving along. That’s when the real plot will thicken and unfold.

And don’t worry; Naruto will be in this fic…promise!
REVIEW!!!!!
Xin