A/N added 6-5-12: All MA content has been deleted from this story. Please see the links in my profile to find the full version. If you see this: *inappropriate content has been deleted* it is because that section has been deleted. I hope it doesn't take too much away from the story.

Just something I thought up between the land of sleep and wake yesterday morn... afternoon, heh heh. A little warning though, Itachi is sorta, maybe A LOT OOC. You'll understand why after you read it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor do I make any profit from the writing of this story. It's just for fun.

After Itachi had seen the last guest to the door, he returned to the kitchen to begin putting away the leftover food. He could have let the maids do it but he'd given the entire staff the day off. Sasuke was the one who depended on the help.

Sasuke… He wiped his sleeve across his eyes as tears threatened to fall. Not now, he could let himself cry when he was alone in his room later that night. Right now, he had to be strong for the blonde man sitting at the table, staring at nothing.

"Do you want any of this, Naruto?" Itachi asked softly as he started covering the half full dishes with plastic wrap.

"Not hungry." He whispered in reply. That was the closest thing to a sentence the usually loud and obnoxious man had said in the past few days. Mostly it was just garbled versions of Sasuke or crying.

It was silent for a few minutes as Itachi continued cleaning up the kitchen. "It's my fault." He suddenly heard right behind him and he jumped so bad that he dropped the dish he had been holding. It smashed on the counter, sending its contents flying.

Itachi ignored the mess in favor of turning to the distraught man behind him. He could see Naruto was on the verge of fully breaking down so he quickly wrapped the shorter man in a tight hug.

"It's not your fault, Naruto." He said quietly.

Naruto choked back a sob. "I was the one driving the car, wasn't I?" He asked, tightly gripping the front of the Uchiha's shirt.

"Yes you were." Itachi agreed. "But you weren't the one who was drunk driving. You weren't the one who ran a stop sign and t-boned another vehicle. The bastard who did is going to prison for a very long time."

"That won't bring Sasuke back." Naruto's knees shook as he continued to cry so Itachi lowered them to the floor.

"No, it won't." Itachi whispered to himself. He felt tears forming in his eyes again and vigorously fought against them. Not in front of Naruto. Not in front of the only person hurting more than he was; his brother's best friend and lover.

Itachi knew he had never been the best brother in the world but Sasuke had made him promise that if anything ever happened to him, he'd take care of Naruto. He accepted the responsibility without hesitation, thinking that nothing was going to happen anytime soon to make him fulfill his promise.

The devastated men sat holding each other until Naruto's crying finally died out. It was silent until Naruto pulled himself out of the older man's embrace and wiped his face on his sleeve.

"I-Itachi?" He quietly asked, not looking the raven in the eye.

"Hmm?"

"Will… will you do something for me?" Naruto asked next.

"What?" Itachi asked back.

Naruto stood up as he replied, "Meet me in Sasuke's room in ten minutes." Then without waiting for a reply, he turned and left the room.

A small frown marred Itachi's face as something plopped onto the top of his head. He stood up and regarded the mess on the counter. Deciding he'd leave it for later or for a maid to clean up tomorrow, he made his way to his bathroom for a quick shower.

He didn't really have any idea what the blonde man wanted him in Sasuke's room for. The only thing he could think of was that Naruto wanted to go through his stuff. Itachi didn't think either of them were ready for that yet.

Itachi paused outside the closed door of his little brother's bedroom. He wasn't sure he was ready but Naruto had seemed adamant. And now that he thought about it, Itachi hoped he wasn't going to open the door to see Naruto dead on the other side. There was no way he could survive the death of two of his precious people so close together.

The room on the other side was dark except for a single lamp on the desk across from the bed and Itachi's breath hitched from what the small amount of light allowed him to see.

Naruto was standing, naked, with one foot propped on the bed, three fingers working himself open. His eyes were closed and his head was thrown back.

Itachi felt his pants tighten as his cock hardened, despite the situation. He would be lying if he said he'd never thought about what sex with Naruto would be like. But this was not a way he would have wanted it to happen.

"Naruto?" Itachi asked, his voice sounding extremely loud in his ears.

Blue eyes flew open and met black. There was a wet pop as the younger man pulled the digits from his ass before covering the distance between them.

"Please, just once." Naruto begged.

Itachi knew what Naruto was asking of him. He wasn't asking for Itachi to fuck him or even make love to him. The Uchiha brothers had been enough alike and if Itachi took him from behind, Naruto could easily pretend he was with Sasuke one more time.

They both knew it was a bad idea. They knew it would probably make it harder for either of them to heal. But the pleading look in Naruto's eyes had Itachi nodding. Both of them were consenting adults and he could feel bad about it later.

"Get on the bed on your hands and knees." Itachi said as he stepped fully into the room and shut the door behind him.

Naruto turned and did as he was asked, listening to the rustling sounds of Itachi removing his suit.

"Is there anything you need me to do?" Itachi asked as he grabbed the lube from the nightstand and crawled onto the bed.

"Don't talk. Sasuke was always quiet in bed." Whether or not it was true, Itachi didn't know. But he did know that his own voice was quite a bit deeper than his brother's had been and if he made too much noise, he'd ruin the illusion for Naruto.

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Without waiting to hear if Naruto wanted him to stay or not, Itachi left the room, butt naked. His own bedroom was only a few doors down and he doubted he would run into anyone.

A few hours later, Itachi went back to Sasuke's room to check on Naruto but the young man was nowhere to be found. He figured it was for the best.

~!~

Naruto had asked for one time, just one last time. But that one time quickly turned into once a week.

After a month of that, Naruto started showing up every other day, stretched and ready. If Itachi wasn't home, he'd wait until he was. And it was always in Sasuke's room. It wasn't always doggie style but it was always from behind.

At first, Naruto would get up and leave minutes after they finished. But the longer it went on, the longer he would stay and they would talk, while spooning. Well, Naruto did most of the talking, but it was kind of nice. They never talked about Sasuke though.

If Itachi did something that was un-Sasuke, like take his hair down and let it fall over Naruto, the blonde would immediately get dressed and leave because his illusion was broken.

Six months after Sasuke's funeral found Itachi in the same position as the first time. His nerves were wearing thin. Naruto always promised it was the last time but he'd show up again two days later. Itachi was making this the last time. He couldn't take it anymore.

In spite of the fact that Naruto was just using him, Itachi realized that he was falling for the younger man. He couldn't help it; the blonde was just so damn lovable, even though he hadn't been himself at all since the accident.

Itachi felt like he'd broken his promise to Sasuke. He promised he'd take care of the blonde, keep him happy, but neither of them were very happy with this farce of a relationship.

"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted as he came without his dick being touched. Itachi's grip on his hips suddenly tightened and he stopped moving. He couldn't do it anymore. He wanted Naruto to be screaming his name, not his dead brother's.

Naruto felt his little bubble of peace burst as Itachi pulled his softening member out without having come yet. That was something Sasuke had never done.

"I have to go." Naruto mumbled when Itachi had let go of him. A hand grabbed his wrist before he could do anything more than sit up though.

"Naruto, we have to talk about this." Itachi stated, his grip tightening when he felt Naruto try and pull away.

"No." Naruto said forcefully as he tried to yank his arm out of the other's hold.

"Sasuke is gone. He's not coming back."

"Don't say that! If you say it, it'll make it real!" The blonde yelled as he tried again to pull away from the Uchiha. Itachi let go this time and Naruto tumbled backward onto the bed.

"Sasuke is dead."

Naruto sat back up and sobbed, "But I love him."

Itachi pulled him to his chest and held him tightly. "I do too. He's my brother. If I know him as well as I think I do, he wouldn't want you to keep this up. He'd want you to move on and be happy, find someone else to love." Itachi whispered.

"I don't want to."

With a sigh Itachi said, "I know you don't. I can't imagine how hard it must be to lose a lover. But don't you think you owe it to Sasuke to try? I miss the old Naruto, the happy ball of sunshine. I want him back."

"You do?" Naruto asked with a sniffle.

"Yeah. You were the only person I saw as much as Sasuke. It's been so hard without either of you here." He replied.

"Why though? I thought you think I'm annoying." The blonde mumbled.

Itachi lifted Naruto's chin so they were looking at each. He gave the younger man a small smile and replied, "You are annoying, sometimes. But I guess, despite everything, I find myself falling in love with you."

Naruto was silent as he gave this piece of information some thought. "No one's ever loved me like Sasuke and I've never loved anyone the way I loved him." He whispered.

"I don't want to love you like Sasuke did. I want to love you as Itachi and I want you to love me for being Itachi, if you can." Itachi responded just as quietly.

Naruto gave him a watery smile, a real smile. "I can try."

"That's all I ask." Itachi pulled Naruto forward with the hand still on his chin and brought their lips together.

Kissing was something they had never done before and Naruto noticed that it didn't bother him as much as he thought it would that Itachi's kissing was nothing like Sasuke's.

Sasuke had always been more demanding and wanting to be in control. That had been something Naruto had liked about him. But Itachi was slower, almost lazy. Neither of them were really controlling the kiss at all and Naruto found that he enjoyed it.

The kiss broke after just a few seconds and they just stared at each other. Itachi shifted a bit and his hand landed in a drying puddle of come.

"Maybe we should move to my room. I haven't exactly washed the sheets in here." He said as he glanced around at all the stains on the bed. They both jumped up when they realized just how gross it was that they kept having sex there.

They picked up their clothing and made their way down the hall to Itachi's room. Itachi dropped his clothes in a hamper and Naruto put his on the floor near the foot of the bed.

Itachi pulled the covers back and climbed in. He held the blanket up for the blonde and they cuddled up together, facing each other for the first time.

For hours they talked about Sasuke, laughing and crying. Itachi told Naruto that he knew the blonde had been calling him "bastard-lite" behind his back for years because he thought they were both bastards but Sasuke was worse.

As the first rays of light started shining through the blinds on the window, an alarm clock went off. Itachi reached over and turned it off before grabbing his phone. He sent a text to his assistant saying he wouldn't be coming to work that day and shut it off.

"Itachi." Naruto started once they were settled again. "I was thinking… maybe we could go through Sasuke's stuff soon."

"I think we're ready for that now." He replied.

"And maybe… we could visit him and bring flowers… or something like that."

Itachi pulled the blonde close and kissed his temple. "Good idea. I think he'd like that."

Naruto turned his head and pressed his lips to the older man's. It quickly turned from chaste to heated as a tongue slipped into his mouth. He wrapped his arms around the raven's neck and pulled the hair tie out so he could run his fingers through it.

"Your hair is softer than Sasuke's." He said as he pulled away. "He always put too much gel in it." He smiled at the memory.

Itachi moved so he was lying on top of the blonde and returned to plundering his mouth, mapping out every inch of it.

By the time they parted for air, Itachi could feel Naruto's arousal against his thigh and he was sure his was felt by the other as well.

"Naruto, do you think I could make love to you as Itachi, instead of Sasuke?" He asked as he slid a hand down the blonde's chest to a pert nipple and gave it a pinch.

Naruto nodded as his breath hitched. A rare, full blown smile graced Itachi's lips.

"I like it when you smile." Naruto said as he ran his thumb over the Uchiha's lower lip. The smile turned into a smirk.

"Stick around and maybe I'll be inclined to do it more often." He sucked the thumb into his mouth and gave it a little nip.

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Itachi collapsed on top of the blonde and buried his face against his neck as he tried to slow his breathing. He felt his hair being released from its confines and arms wrap around his back.

"That… was so much better… than…" Naruto trailed off, feeling that the past months didn't need to be spoken of any longer. Itachi nodded in agreement and sucked the patch of skin in front of him.

"Tomorrow." Itachi said after a few minutes of sated silence.

"Hmm?" Naruto asked, turning his head to get a better look at the other man's face.

"Tomorrow we'll go visit Sasuke." He elaborated and shifted over so he wasn't crushing the smaller man.

"Ok. But sleep now, I think." The blonde said with a wide yawn.

Itachi lifted his head to look at his clock and saw that it was almost 9am. "Definitely." He agreed and pulled the blanket over them. They snuggled up until they were comfortable before drifting off into a peaceful sleep.

So, near the end of this, I started thinking about the possibility of more. It always happens, no matter how badly I'd like it to be a one-shot. I was thinking of a second part in which it turns out Sasuke isn't dead and this turns into a SIN. Good or bad idea?