Title: Hesitation

Author: SBX

Pairing: Uchihacest, slight sasunaru, mentioned Yondaime x Naruto, several others mentioned

Warnings: AU, incest, yaoi

Disclaimer: all characters belong to Kishimoto-sama

Summary: Itachi and Sasuke have been in a relationship for months, and Itachi's insecurity over it comes to light after a strange encounter with his brother's best friend.

Uchiha Itachi was torn from his sound sleep by Hoobastank's "Pieces" blasting from the alarm clack/CD player. He laid in bed a few minutes with his eyes still closed, just listening to the song play. Itachi hated that song with a passion. It was too much of a reminder of what his life had been like before he had found Sasuke again. Being separated by your only living family by 'well-meaning' (Or at least that is what Sasuke calls them. Itachi's phrase for them is a bit ruder) social workers for twelve years had not been what he would call fun.

The brothers had lost the rest of their family in a fire that razed the whole neighborhood. After being separated from his little brother, Itachi withdrew into himself, becoming very anti-social. He never talked unless spoken to. He never made any friends. He didn't even really live, but merely existed.

Apparently, fate decided it had had enough of watching Itachi suffer and gave him a break. This 'break' was in the form of an intelligent, albeit mischievous, college student with black hair, a rooster tail, and the darkest, deepest black eyes that Itachi had ever seen. There was something vaguely familiar about the young man but Itachi had been too drunk at the time to care. It wasn't until the next morning that Itachi had found out that he had slept with his little brother. Horrified and ashamed, Itachi took off and locked himself in his apartment for two days. Fortunately, Sasuke was able to track him down and straighten him out. Once Sasuke had assured his older brother that no, he did not hate his guts and no, he did not regret what they had done and yes, he wouldn't mind doing it again and in fact, right now would be a pretty good time, they once again made wild, passionate love. It was better than the first time for the simple reason that they were both sober this time. Two weeks later Sasuke moved in with Itachi and they lived happily ever after. But I digress.

Now, back to the song. Itachi hated that song. And his brother/lover, being the sadistic little bastard that he is, played it every damn morning! Of coarse, Sasuke didn't actually know that the song irritated Itachi so much because the idiot never told him, but it still made Itachi a little miffed at him in the mornings. Sasuke, however, being the clever little shit that he is, always found a way to put his brother in a better mood. These methods always ended in either one or both of them needing a second shower, but neither brother complained much.

Somebody was standing beside the bed. Itachi could tell because they were blocking the sunlight from shining on his face, for which he has ridiculously grateful. Itachi rolled onto his back and opened his eyes. He was fully expecting to meet the warm, mischievous eyes of his brother. Instead, he was looking into the curious blue eyes of some blond-haired stranger. Itachi stared back at the young man before saying the only thing that seemed appropriate.

"Who the fuck are you!"

Sasuke winced at his brother's outburst. Itachi only ever swore when he was extremely angry or extremely unnerved. He was probably a little bit of both by the sound of it. The younger Uchiha set down the plate of pancakes that he had been carrying and went to rescue his guest. He entered the bedroom to find Itachi by the bed with a bat in his hands and the blond cowering near the window.

"Love, put the bat down! He's a friend of mine." Sasuke said, stepping between them. The blond made a relieved sound and quickly hid behind his human shield. The elder of the brothers gave them both a funny look before doing as he was told. Sasuke, satisfied that a fatality had been avoided, walked back out the door. He paused just out side the room. "Better get some clothes on, love. Breakfast is ready." He tossed over his shoulder, a smirk obvious in his voice.

It was then that Itachi realized that he wasn't wearing anything. He also noticed that the blond was shamelessly checking him out. The poor guy had to turn away to hide his bright red face. "Do you mind?" The blond's response made Itachi blush brighter. "Not at all!" Luckily, Sasuke re-entered the room just then. This time he came to Itachi's rescue. "Come on, Naruto. Quit giving my brother a hard time and help me set the table." The blond immediately assented, and this time followed his friend out of the bedroom.

Itachi was left staring after the two younger men, feeling a little stunned. He had never met anybody as blatantly lascivious as that Naruto guy before. It made him uncomfortable. But, that wasn't what really had him so startled. What confused him, and even worried him a little, was the fact that Sasuke had openly admitted to them being brothers as well as lovers.

When Itachi finally entered the kitchen, Sasuke and Naruto had already started eating and were animatedly talking. The dark haired young man smiled at the elder when he took his seat. The blond flashed him what Itachi could only describe as a fox grin before continuing the conversation with his friend. Itachi started on his pancakes and sipped from the coffee that Sasuke had prepared while he listened to the two friends catch up.

"So Sakura and Lee are finally tying the knot?"

"Yep. As are Neji and Ten Ten. Also, Kiba and Hinata are now in a very steady relationship. Kiba will probably pop the question any day now."

"That's great! I hope I'm invited to the weddings."

"Don't worry, you are. And it's going to be a double wedding, what with Neji and Lee being best friends and all."

"That's an excellent idea! What else have I missed since I've been away?"

"Do you remember Iruka-sensei and Kakashi-sensei?"

"How could I forget them? Iruka-sensei was always giving us detention and Kakashi-sensei was always bailing us out."

"Well, you're not going to believe this but last summer they went to San Fran and got hitched."

"You're kidding! I didn't even know they were an item."

"Nobody did until after the damn honeymoon. They came back and dropped the bomb, 'We're married.' Shocked the hell out of everybody."

"They didn't even seem like they could stand each other."

"Tell me about it. When Sarutobi-san found out, he blew a gasket."

"He didn't approve of the relationship?"

"Had nothing to do with that. He was just pissed that they kept it a secret. You know how he sees Iruka-sensei as a son."

"That's true. Jeeze, it seems that everyone I used to know is getting married."

"I'm not."

"You can't get married. Not if you stick with Arashi."

"I'm not going to leave Arashi."

"I didn't say you were, and I didn't say you should. I'm just saying that you two couldn't get married if you wanted to."

"But I don't want to get married!"

"That's fine, dobe. You don't have to if you don't want to."

"Don't call me dobe, you bastard!"

"I'll call you whatever I want to, usurukontachi."

"Why you…!"

Itachi watched in amazement as the friendly conversation quickly become angry bickering. Worried that the two would end up getting into a fistfight with as heated as the insults were getting, he opened his mouth to intervene. His mouth ended up hanging open when Naruto suddenly grabbed the front of Sasuke's shirt and pulled him into a hard kiss. Sasuke grabbed Naruto by the shoulders to steady himself, but didn't pull away. Itachi stood up and left the kitchen, unsure of what to feel at seeing his lover kissing someone else. He knew he should be angry, but all he could feel was the numbness that had consumed him when he had been separated from his brother so many years ago.

The dumbstruck man stopped in the doorway to the bedroom that the two lovers shared and just stared unseeingly at the bed. He absently listened as the front door opened and closed. He didn't acknowledge the footsteps that approached him from behind. He didn't budge when Sasuke wrapped his arms around his waist from behind, or when he pressed his tear-streaked face into the space on Itachi's back between the shoulder blades.

"Itachi…Itachi, I can explain. Please, please let me explain." Sasuke begged, his voice breaking. The elder of the two didn't say anything, just gave an almost unperceivable node. The younger took a shaky breath, and then tried to explain himself as best as he could.

"What happened with Naruto…It was a habit. One that we acquired in high school. When…when you and I were separated, I was sent to a foster home with two other kids. Naruto and Arashi were orphans just like us. They were bounced from one foster home to another until they finally ended up in Tsunade-san's home with me. I guess it was some kind of fate. Naruto and Arashi helped me stay sane while I was away from you. The separation left such a horrible gap in my heart, and it hurt so much. Then I met them, and they filled the gap just enough for me to be able to ignore it. Naruto became my best friend, but we always got into these horrible arguments that sometimes ended with fistfights. We probably would have killed each other a few times if Arashi hadn't always been there to intervene. Around 9th grade, Arashi finally grew tired of it all. He told us that we needed to find an alternate form of 'anger management.' I don't think he meant what we ended up picking."

Sasuke paused in his story, his face still pressed to Itachi's back. He didn't think he could bear to see that emotionless mask directed at him. When Itachi finally spoke, there was an incredulous note in his voice. "You chose making out as a form of anger management?" Sasuke gave a weak laugh at that. "Naruto's idea. All the more unusual ideas were his. You wouldn't believe some of the strange things he could think up."

Itachi considered everything for a moment. "How far?" It was a vague question, but his little brother understood it. "Nothing sexual. We never went past making out. It never meant anything. We always remained best friends only." "And Arashi?" Sasuke smiled at this. "Arashi is Naruto's older brother. They've been in love with each other since Naruto was 16. They couldn't do anything about it until he was 18, though. The wait nearly killed them both." Itachi's next words were so soft that Sasuke almost didn't hear them. "So that's why this doesn't bother you. It seems normal to you."

The elder of the two was startled when the younger suddenly spun him around so they were face to face. Sasuke's angry glare kept Itachi from voicing any protests. "Don't you ever say that this is wrong! We've been through this before! We love each other, and that is all that matters! The gap is gone now, and it was you that filled it! Nobody else could have done that." The last part was whispered, the anger gone and replaced by tears.

Itachi instinctively pulled Sasuke into his embrace and tried to sooth his brother's, his lover's, sorrow. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I just… have a lot of trouble accepting this as right. It goes against everything I was raised to believe. I wish I could accept it as easily as you. I truly do.

"Someday," Sasuke whispered, desperately clinging to his brother, his lover. "Someday you will. And there will be no more doubts or hesitations." Itachi sincerely hoped so.

The next morning, Itachi woke to the usual blaring of music, but something was different. It took his sleep-fogged mind a moment to finally realize what was different. Instead in Hoobastank's "Pieces," another song was playing. It took until the second chorus for Itachi to recognize the song. It was SHeDAISY's "Good Together." Somebody was beside the bed, and he hoped it was Sasuke this time. He opened his eyes and was relieved to meet warm eyes that held a spark of amusement. "Like the change?" Sasuke asked while trying, and failing miserably to hide a grin. Itachi smiled back. "I could get used to it."

Author's notes: This is my first Naruto fic, so excuse me if it's a bit crappy. The idea for this story came while listening to the song "Pieces." I wrote the first half of the story while listening to that song. Then I wrote the last half while listening to "Good Together." So this is sorta a songfic, but not really. Also, this was the type of fic in which while one is writing it, you don't know where it's going until the end. I originally intended this to be a PWP Itachi/Sasuke/Naruto threesome fic, but that wasn't what ended up happening. Pity.

I'm sure everyone is wondering about Arashi. Arashi is supposed to be Yondaime. The name came from the AU Sasunaru fic called "Spartan Ninjas." The authors are convinced that Arashi is Yondaime's real name, and who am I, a lowly mortal before two yaoi goddesses, to argue with them? Also, I know the general opinion is that Yondaime is Naruto's father, but father-son incest irks me something awful and I really wanted to put the two hot, male blonds together. Sooooo, I went with another existing theory about Yondaime and Naruto's connection to each other and made them brothers in this fic. I rather enjoy sibcest.

If there are any more questions, feel free to ask. Comments and constructive criticism are welcome too.