Full Moon

It was going to happen tonight. He didn't know it yet but it was. Sasuke watched his brother listen to Tsunade with hungry eyes, hungering for something he'd once thought he'd never get, and now he was going to take it. He just didn't know it yet.

He didn't know how long he'd craved his brother in this unnatural way. He just knew that once he recognized it, it consumed his being. He pawned it off as hate to all those around him, a carnal desire to know his brother intimately.

Instead of focusing on the details of the mission, Sasuke ate up the lazy position his brother was sprawled in. The loose ponytail hung over his shoulder, a heel on the edge of the chair positioning his knee to be just visible over the edge of the table, the opposite leg stretched out. Hands rested, folded together, over his knee. His beautiful eyes were not red, as usual. Sakura kept his eyesight perfect with regular treatments.

No one really knew what had overcome Uchiha Itachi over a year ago. He'd shown up in Konoha one night with Sasuke over his shoulder. The next day he returned to Akatsuki, this time as a spy. Six months later an enormous battle ensued, tragic losses on both sides. Naruto had somehow miraculously survived. The same could not be said for Rock Lee, Shikamaru, Chouji, Shino, and Ino.

Now Tsunade wanted Itachi and Sasuke to scan the area for more Akatsuki activity. Yes, leave him alone with his brother, wave what he couldn't have in front of him and wait to see what happened. Only Naruto knew about Sasuke's secret. He used to help, transforming into Itachi to serve Sasuke's pleasure. It worked for a while but Naruto couldn't capture the beauty of Itachi's eyes.

Eyes which were now turned towards him; their gaze met and matched for a moment. Sasuke knew he could stare into his brother's eyes for all eternity, the empty cold pools of illicit darkness. He longed to claim those eyes for his own, to trace those frowning lips, to see them part in frustration and ecstasy.

They both stood and headed for the door and Sasuke was very glad he was still wearing the long tunic he wore in the Sound village. He wondered briefly what his brother was equipped with. Then his brother brushed past him into the hallway.

That brief skin to skin contact, the barest brush of one arm against another, froze Sasuke in his tracks and he watched his brother walk no…glide down the hallway. The spell was broken when Kakashi stepped out of a random door and the two stopped to talk. Kakashi had been the first to accept Itachi back and it was at Kakashi's apartment that Itachi was staying.

Sasuke wished he had the nerve to offer his own apartment, hell, his own bed.

Kakashi placed an arm around Itachi's shoulders and said something that made the side of his brother's mouth quirk up a bit. Then the two were gone, turned the corner of the hallway out of sight.

It took an act of Amaterasu for Sasuke not to growl audibly.

For the fifth time, Sakura checked the supplies he'd packed then hugged him briefly before he left. It was early afternoon and Itachi was waiting down by the gate, staring off into the land beyond the village. Sakura had followed him and now she placed her hands on Itachi's temples, the healing glow of her chakra surrounding them. Itachi calmly turned towards her and closed his eyes.

"You'll be fine." She said and waved them both good-bye.

Itachi had not spoken to him since returning to the village. This was the first time they'd been alone together.

Passive, Itachi let him set the pace. His gaze never turned to Sasuke though Sasuke's often turned to him. Sasuke would give anything to know what thoughts graced his brother's mind, what passed behind the orbs of his obsession.

Night fell and the full moon rose in the sky. Itachi made no protest to their campsite nor said a word when Sasuke built a fire and cooked something for them both to eat. Their fingers brushed when Sasuke passed a portion to Itachi and he noted the surprise in Itachi's eyes when he saw that Sasuke had fixed for them both.

Still, Itachi barely ate and fell asleep with his back to a tree, his hands behind his head.

Sasuke couldn't sleep. He sat by the fire watching the coals fade away into darkness. Even in shadow he could see his brother's beauty. He couldn't take it anymore. His body was screaming for attention, demanding it.

His brother's breathing and position said he was in the deepest stage of sleep, the hardest to wake from. As a precaution, Sasuke carefully and gently bound his hands to the tree he slept on though he should die for what he was about to do.

He was gentle now that the decision had been made. A tender hand released the ponytail Itachi wore, letting the obsidian silk flow over his shoulders, over Sasuke's hand, like water. He traced the high cheekbones and worn frown lines with butterfly caresses. He waited until Itachi's eyes flickered in dreams before pressing his lips gently to those forbidden.

The delicate flesh barely reacted to the foreign invader, Sasuke delicately coaxing the warm lips of his brother with his own. Parting just a bit, he breathed softly onto the now wet flesh, pulling his brother out of sleep ever so patiently.

Itachi didn't say a word when their eyes met, so close. Ever more he waited for Sasuke to come to him and Sasuke was tired of it. Delicacy forgotten, Sasuke grabbed a handful of Itachi's hair, wrapping the onyx locks around his hand and jerking backwards, forcing Itachi to look dead at him.

"Itachi," he breathed.

Those beautiful eyes softened a minute amount, so sultry. Expecting death.

"I knew you wouldn't trust me."

Sasuke smiled and then laughed much to his brother's confusion.

"OH, aniki, you still think it's about them don't you! Sometimes I wish I'd been there to help you."

He chuckled. "Kakashi told me you were masochistic."

He watched the beautiful little frown appear on his brother's face. "I'd rather feel pain than nothing at all."

Sasuke chuckled. He could tell what just the minute pain of pulling his hair did, sending shivers through Itachi's body, straight down through him.

"I hope you brought extra clothes, aniki."

The kunai flicked out and cut a seamless line down his brother's shirt, revealing his perfect chest.

Perfect no more.

A long pink scar lay across his chest from their last battle, still new and healing. It wiped the smile from Sasuke's face as he knew that he, yes, he had marred his beautiful brother.

Then he dipped his head down and ran his tongue along the length of the new, tender flesh. He felt his brother tremble and hoped it was in pleasure, not revulsion. He traced a trail up his chest to the sensitive area above Itachi's jugular, nibbling gently on his pulse, feeling it quicken in his very teeth, before digging his fangs into the vein, not holding back, grinding down until sweet blood gushed into his mouth.

And he find out Kakashi had been right as Itachi gave a cry somewhere between a yelp and a scream and his hips jabbed up involuntarily.

Sasuke lapped up the blood and nibbled his way to the space between Itachi's neck and shoulder where he buried his canines once again. This time a low moan escaped Itachi's lips and he felt Itachi try to shove him away, upon doing so finding he was bound.

He licked his brother's earlobe before whispering.

"Do you want me to stop, aniki?"

He felt his brother's indecision and he hesitated before a heel connected with his stomach, sending him backwards. Itachi glared roughly at him but it lost its power by the lust so visible in those once empty eyes.

"Brothers shouldn't do this."

Sasuke laughed. "Brothers shouldn't try to kill each other either but we've done that."

As Sasuke shifted, he realized a chunk of his brother's hair had come with him. He sighed in regret. He was destroying his brother's beauty. He slid over to his brother, straddling his lap. He cupped Itachi's face in his hands. His brother's glare fizzled and died.

"This is so wrong." Itachi said softly before a smile broke decades of frowns. Sasuke smiled. He felt a strange satisfaction at beating Kakashi to making Itachi smile. He met his brother's begging lips with his own, biting the tender flesh, rolling it between his teeth before forcing his way into his brother's mouth, their battle now condensed to the war between their tongues.

Sasuke drew back and Itachi lunged in immediately, capturing his neck and biting down, not quite as hard as Sasuke had bit him. It was almost as if he was testing his capacity and the irony almost made Sasuke chuckle. He understood why Itachi loved this. The sensation of pain was so similar to that of pleasure that they could fuse and become one.

The kunai cut the rest of Itachi's shirt away and Sasuke nearly jumped when he found that Itachi had slipped the ropes and pulled his own shirt over his head. He trembled at Itachi's hands on his waist and was just as suddenly on his back as Itachi crushed his lips with his own, a hand over his throat and the other working at his pants.

A few hours later, drenched in sweat, blood, and other things, they sat and watched the full moon peak in the sky, wrapped in a blanket. Itachi chuckled, the sound alerting Sasuke who was almost asleep on his chest.

"What?" Sasuke asked.

Itachi smiled, watching the full moon.

"Some people believe that the full moon brings out unknown desires, the savagery of man."

Sasuke smiled, resting against his brother.

"I can believe that."