This is an Itasasu fic, which means incest.
In this fic there are also dom/subbish dynamics, power play, blood play and so on. Read at your own risk.
I wrote this oneshot for the Uchihaweek on Tumblr, one of the prompts was "Desire".
I prefer writing longer fics where I can lay a context and background for characters' actions and motivations and I can let their feelings evolve, but it's cool to write oneshots too. Here there is no politics, no context, just Itasasu. But, for those who like a context like I do, I wrote it keeping in mind the Hokage Itachi AU I imagined for the manga manips/edits I made on Tumblr.
I don't write all the details of their actions because that's not my style, even when I write sex scenes I focus on how they're representative of their dynamic, on the meaning of the actions and their repercussions on their feelings. So I don't like to write realistic details like lube, because they break the flow. My writing is not a documentary. But unless the opposite is specified, you can fill in the blanks however you like on that.
The title comes from a song by Ikon. Not the k-pop band, but the gothic Australian band.
More notes below.
"Death is pure - life is not
So ask yourself, what do you want?
As for me, well I want you
So pick the black rose and let its thorns cut you" (Tiger Army, Rose Of The Devil's Garden)
Because of his farsighted politics, his loyalty towards his allies as well as his iron fist against his enemies, Itachi quickly became one of the most respected leaders in the shinobi world, and because of his unequaled diplomatic skills, along with his vast culture, impeccable manners and refined appearance, he became popular among nobles, including the Daimyo, whose official visits increased since the Uchiha rose to power.
The most recent of these visits would have gone smoothly as usual, if not for a black spot that the nobleman and his entourage named 'the roses incident'.
Every shinobi, no matter their rank, has an extensive knowledge of possible dangers and security measures, unlike noblemen, who are completely oblivious to them. Thus when the day of their departure, the Daimyo's daughter left her group and headed to the Hokage's office -the most guarded building in Konoha- demanding to be let inside because she wanted to give Itachi a bouquet of flowers, she didn't take rejection well.
Especially because Sasuke, the Hokage's personal guard, brusquely insisted that she handed him the flowers, as they had to be examined for hidden weapons or poisons.
When, alerted by the ruckus, Itachi came downstairs, he found the flowers on the ground and the young woman alternatively sobbing in her father's arms and yelling at Sasuke.
The Daimyo condemned the disrespectful action, that by extension insulted him as well, and requested the guard to be immediately demoted from his role.
No matter who he was, he added, well knowing his identity.
Sasuke was right there, standing behind the Kage, one step to the left, biting his tongue not to talk back and clenching his fists so not to involuntarily activating chidori on them, obviously not wanting to make the situation worse.
"My guard has nothing to apologize for and certainly he won't be demoted for doing his duty."
Itachi spoke, his voice calm yet firm, just like his stance.
His guard, not his brother. Maybe he'd ashamed of him, Sasuke can't help but fear.
"If you want to blame someone, blame me: as the leader of Konohagakure I approve all the rules, including security procedures."
His words leaving no space for discussion, the Daimyo tried to intimidate the young Kage by threatening to not provide the previously promised extra funds.
Itachi didn't budge, even though Sasuke knew that he counted on those funds to build a civilian school, for children who didn't want to become shinobi.
His head tilted downwards, towards the slightly shorter man -he always had the habit of looking down at people that way, no matter their height- he nonchalantly replied that albeit not honorable, breaking a promise was within his rights to which he certainly had no objections. The only unpleasant consequence would be that his village would have to take on more missions to make up for the lost money, thus the quality of their services to his noble household would no longer be as excellent.
With the same indifferent attitude he added that luckily the Fire Country was stable, so they didn't have to fear a new war, only the usual political rivalries, the kind that often ended with assassination attempts. But the Daimyo was surely more knowledgeable than him on this, he mused out loud, his presence intimidating even though he never activated his sharingan.
Not wanting to make an enemy of the forces that protected him from dangers, the Daimyo dropped all accusations, only demanding a formal apology.
Before Itachi even replied, Sasuke surprised him when he sprang forward and bowed low, his head touching the ground.
He didn't give a damn about the old man and his daughter, but the sooner he gave in to that farce, the sooner they would leave, so it was an easy choice, even though he hated to submit to an authority he didn't respect.
Even though he hated to submit to an authority that wasn't Itachi.
When Sasuke returns to the Hokage's office it's been hours since the court left.
"Stand guard outside the gates," the Hokage commanded, discreetly pulling him aside while the Daimyo and his court were about to leave.
"Shouldn't I stay beside you?" Sasuke asked, as his role required him to stand by his side.
"I said stand guard outside the gates" Itachi repeated, in a deathly low tone that made Sasuke shiver.
Itachi is standing by the side of the table, arranging the flowers in a lacquered vase.
The boy removes his mask at the elder nod to acknowledge his arrival.
"I'm sorry, I…"
He opens his mouth to speak but Itachi cuts him short.
"You should have been more diplomatic with the Daimyo's daughter, but there's nothing to apologize for."
His voice is still detached, cold even, Sasuke notices. After all that it's his fault if he had to choose between him and the most innocent part of the village.
"You almost lost the fundings for the new school..."
"I did. But I got them back," the elder replies, devoid of emotion. He turns towards the boy, distractedly removing his arm guards, his piercing gaze making him freeze, as if he were doing something wrong.
"Unlike time...but no one can get time back."
He says, and Sasuke waits for him to explain, and when the other doesn't, he goes back to the previous events to find the answer by himself but nothing comes to his mind -beside that fact that he wasted his time, and the thought is heavy on his chest- so he waits, watching the other gracefully arranging the roses by their color, his fingers not even once stung by their thorns.
"It's a pity that they were discarded," he comments, observing a few flowers that sustained more damages, "The least I can do is not let them go to waste."
Itachi knows that his brother doesn't like unnecessary violence, including cutting off flowers.
"These particular roses only grow in the Daimyo's gardens." Itachi explains, his long fingers plucking out a few ripped leaves from one, before carefully placing it in the vase.
"I like them very much," Itachi continues, "They remind me of someone".
He gestures Sasuke to come closer, like he did when he was just a child. He doesn't poke his forehead though, instead he removes his long gloves.
"They remind me of his hair," he says, picking a rose with black petals, and placing it close to confront it with Sasuke's hair.
"They remind me of his skin," he says, picking a white rose and brushing Sasuke's cheeks with it.
"They remind me of his heart," he says, taking Sasuke's shirt off, then picking a red rose and pointing at his chest -making him shiver- before taking his hand.
"So misunderstood. So fierce..."
Itachi puts the stem in his open palm, then he encircles Sasuke's hand with his bigger one, coaxing Sasuke to close it around the rose. The boy hisses, the thorns sting like little needles.
He endured far worse, yet there's something about the way his brother looks at him, the way his hand encircles his around the thorny stem, that makes him shiver in fear and anticipation.
"...So sensitive."
The elder examines Sasuke's hand and the tiny holes littering it; he brings it to his mouth and laps at each of them, licking the blood away.
The boy shivers at the contact, both soothing and exciting, and at Itachi's look, dangerous despite his soft words, and intoxicating, like the smell of those flowers.
The older Uchiha puts the bloodied rose in the vase and takes a black one. Without diverting his gaze from Sasuke he closes his fingers around it.
He doesn't hiss, he doesn't show any reaction, as becoming of the strongest shinobi.
When he reopens it Sasuke kneels down before him.
He kisses the hand that his brother extends to him, slowly and reverently, drinking the blood like the sacred offering of a superior being.
Itachi is much more than the strongest shinobi in Sasuke's eyes: he's the embodiment of perfection, he's a god, above anything low and human, like pain.
When there's no trace of blood on the elder's hand, Sasuke bows deep, his head touching Itachi's feet, in a similar way he did to the Daimyo, yet this time he puts all his heart and soul into his gesture.
Itachi is the only authority he recognizes. Itachi is the only one he wants to submit.
He straightens his back, while his hands travel from Itachi's calves to the sensitive area in the back of his knee, just like he did as a child, pretending to give his big brother a massage after a mission.
"Niisan...are you still angry about the Daimyo's daughter?"
Sasuke asks, his voice uncertain.
"I was never angry about that."
Itachi replies, lifting an eyebrow.
"But then why…"
Sasuke stutters, visibly confused and mortified.
Why did you push me away, sending me to the gates instead of keeping me with you?
Why did you act so coldly when I entered this room?
Why is your look so dangerous and why am I so drawn to it?
"I was never angry about the Daimyo's daughter," Itachi explains.
"I sent you to the gates because I wanted to spare you from dealing with them anymore, as it was my responsibility, not yours."
I wanted to protect you. I wanted to keep you away from hypocrites and vain people.
Since Sasuke was born Itachi swore to protect him with his life, yet since he became Hokage the younger's job became protecting him.
He took his role seriously, as for him it was an honor to protect his older brother, his leader, the most important person in the village, the most important person in his life.
Nevertheless, no matter how strong and capable he has become, no matter how confident and impassive the elder is, he's often anxious, because his little brother must shield him and fight to keep him safe in case of danger, when it should be his job to keep him safe.
Still on his knees, Sasuke get closer to the elder.
"Those people want to be respected, they think they have power but they're just spoiled and weak."
He mutters, looking up at his brother, the strongest of their clan, the Hokage, his thoughts transparent even if he doesn't voice them all.
They're nothing like you, my perfect, beloved brother, my god, my everything.
"And you don't respect weak people," Itachi pets the boy's head.
It wasn't the first time Sasuke got in trouble with some powerful guest; Itachi always downplayed the incidents, inwardly proud that Sasuke only respected him. That Sasuke only acknowledged his authority. That Sasuke would do anything only for him.
Sasuke's love and admiration make him feel like a god.
That's why seeing his pure, beautiful brother bowing before those vain people -bowing to someone who wasn't him- filled him with cold anger, and shame at himself for feeling this way, because he knew why Sasuke was doing it, selflessly denying himself and his pride to protect him, but he couldn't accept it, and he wished he knew a forbidden jutsu to turn back time, so that he wouldn't have to see it happen.
"And yet you bowed to the Daimyo."
His hand stop stroking the younger, his tone lowers. Again, Sasuke shivers involuntarily.
I was never angry about the Daimyo's daughter. I was angry about the Daimyo.
I was angry because I want you to bow before me and no one else.
The boy looks confused.
"Do you remember the first rule of the Hokage's personal guards, Sasuke?"
Itachi's tone reminds him of Fugaku's, when he examined his Academy reports.
"The Hokage's personal guard must always obey to the Hokage."
Sasuke repeats the lesson by heart.
"When he demanded an apology you didn't wait for my order; you just did it."
Itachi explains, leaning with his back on the table.
"I didn't want you to get in trouble because of me…"
Sasuke replies, looking away.
The Hokage's advisors, Kakashi and Shikamaru, told him to learn to fake respect and deference as every other Anbu, otherwise one day he might put Itachi in a difficult position.
"I understand," he puts his hands against the sides of the boy's head, tilting it towards him, "But you should have let me handle the situation. You should have let me handle everything."
I wouldn't have let you bow to that unworthy man.
I wouldn't have let you bow to anyone else but me.
"You should always let me handle everything," he reiterates, fingers tangling in Sasuke's hair.
"From now on you'll only bow on my command. Do you understand?"
"Yes...I do."
Sasuke whispers, hands lightly brush the Hokage's thighs, his head leaning very, very close to his groin, his mouth brushing Itachi's clothed manhood, a sigh escaping the elder's lip, before he grabs a fistful of his hair.
The young Uchiha takes him in his mouth, his tongue slowly swirling around him, not at all minding the way the elder's fingers are clawing at his skull.
He loves to be completely at his mercy.
He loves to give himself to the one he loves and worships.
With a low growl Itachi pulls him away, not wanting things to end so quickly, yet it's hard to keep his resolve and steady his breath, at the sight of the beautiful boy kneeling before him, half naked, panting, his mouth wet, his cheeks flushed, his eyes completely focused on him.
He's ashamed to admit it, for a shinobi, and a Kage nonetheless, should control his mind and body, but he loves to see the power he has on his little brother; he loves to see how eager he is to please him, how attentive he is to his tone and body language, how a single word coming from his mouth can lift him up or drag him down.
He holds out his hand to lift Sasuke. Then he takes off his Hokage coat, his shirt and mesh shirt, even his hairband.
Sasuke's pupils dilate at the sight of his powerful brother who doesn't need to raise his voice or activate his sharingan to scare people, no matter who they are.
Their bare chests touching, Itachi kisses him hard and passionately, his hands buried in his hair then descending to his back, grabbing his hips to pull him closer. Their mouths locked, their tongues intertwined, Itachi pushes him back until his legs hit the Hokage table.
"Since you bowed to the Daimyo without waiting for my order, you need to be punished."
His voice isn't as firm as usual, yet it's commanding enough for Sasuke to tilt his head on the side, baring his throat to him, gasping both as he attacks it with his teeth and when he stops.
He makes no resistance when Itachi shoves him on the table, the sudden impact knocking the wind out of him.
When he recovers his breath, the elder runs a white rose over his taut chest, stomach and hips, watching as the boy arches and squirms, as if the flower were an extension of his finger, with their same ability to burn him with the lightest touch.
Licking his lips in anticipation, he roughly takes the boy's pants off and places himself between his legs, still purposely ignoring their erections.
Holding the rose by its blossom, he runs it again over the boy's body, this time applying more pressure, this time using the stem instead of the petals, the thorns scratching and grazing his skin, eliciting hisses and moans, all the while the elder's other hand on his hip keeps him still.
"Beautiful roses, but you were right in not allowing them inside..."
Itachi says casually, as if he weren't tracing thin bloody paths over his little brother's body.
"Their thorns are dangerous...as sharp as needles, aren't they?"
He grazes Sasuke's thighs, his rhythm slow, almost lazy, despite the spark of lust in his eyes. He grabs the rose by the stem again, using the flower as a brush, to smear the blood all around, admiring how it colors both the paleness of both boy's skin and petals.
"Nii...san.." Sasuke moans, in need of something whatever might it be.
Whatever his brother wants it to be.
"You're so much like a rose…"
Itachi whispers, bringing the blood smeared rose to his lips, tasting the boy's essence again, before descending unto him, crushing their bodies together, hands and tongue and lips on his throat and chest and stomach, licking and biting and ravishing him, nails digging into hipbones and thighs, as the boy arches and moans beneath him.
"This is going to hurt…"
Itachi announces, rising up from Sasuke's pliant body, the contours of his mouth, smeared with blood, giving him a feral appearance.
Sasuke doesn't reply, he just arches his back and spreads his legs. The elder covers his mouth before entering him in one swift thrust.
His strangled scream is muffled by Itachi's hand. The older Uchiha stays still, slowly removing his hand, slowly stroking his cheek, until the younger shakingly moves his hip, his pained expression softening, until he urges him to go on, to thrust harder, to fill him deeper, and so Itachi does, moving deeply and slowly at first, then increasing his pace, almost frantically so, then slows down and deep again, one hand firmly holding Sasuke's hips, as if he could reach deeper inside him, the other pumping him, until they both climax.
There's something primal, something addictive in the sight of the blood and semen on Sasuke's body, Itachi muses as his brother lazily rungs a rag over his upper body to clean himself up.
All over him there are still a few white petals, now closer to a pinkish shade; they make it look less animalistic and lustful, more innocent, just like Sasuke.
"You truly remind me of this rose…"
Pure and delicate and utterly beautiful.
He mutters, almost distractedly, picking up the stained rose and putting it back on the vase, making a mental note to change the water.
"What about you?"
The boy asks, as innocently as he did when he was a child asking him all sorts of questions.
Even though he's still naked and lying on the Hokage table.
"Are you like the black one maybe?"
Rare and mysterious and utterly beautiful.
"No…"
Itachi replies. In a heartbeat he appears over the younger, straddling his waist, looming over him like a predator on his prey.
Even though the prey offered himself to the predator.
Even though he offered himself to his god.
"I'm not a rose. I'm not a flower…"
He lowers towards him, his voice low, his look dangerous.
"I'm more like a vine…"
Indestructible, crushing, forever tangled to him.
"My love it is a black rose
Held out to you by the hand of fate
And as this dark romance grows...
It's not from the sun, but the starlight that's so far away" (Tiger Army, Rose Of The Devil's Garden)
A/N:
The idea of the roses is old. I noted a few lines down about it right after What He Wanted, it was supposed to be a sort of outtake, as I always wanted to write oneshots set in the universes of my fics but I never did it yet, as I'm too busy with other projects.
The way Sasuke admires Itachi's power and sees him like a God is a recurring theme, I just wrote a whole chapter about it in my fic Victim Of Peace, it's part of all my writing and it will always be because this is how I see Sasuke's feelings towards Itachi, he puts him on a pedestal, he sees him as perfection so his love has a mystical quality. Itachi's love for Sasuke puts him on a pedestal too, although a different kind of pedestal, where he doesn't want him to deal with things that would taint him or put him in danger, because he wants to decide for him, since Itachi is a controlling person. Not a jealous one, as in basic stupid jealousy, which is something Sasuke isn't either. But still Itachi controlled Sasuke's life, and I think it's something he would always do, although differently according to the context, in other AUs.
Sasuke admires and respects strength and power, and him being the Hokage's personal Anbu is one of my favourite scenarios, no matter the Hokage (I wrote a Narusasu with it, and I wouldn't mind a Kakasasu…) but Itachi, whom he loves more than anyone, is even more special, so his admiration and love and respect for his authority takes a worshipping quality, with him letting Itachi do whatever he wants and not "just" passively taking it, but taking everything like the offering of a god.
Itachi is obviously a good diplomat, being so good at manipulating people, but he's also threatening and he knows when to use manipulation and when to use force. As a result he's mostly unreadable to other people.
Here in the beginning he sort of has to choose between Sasuke and the village, and he chooses Sasuke, like in canon. But he does it in a way that Sasuke doesn't perceive, as it looks like he's pushing him away, to protect him.
On the other hand, despite how protective he is, how much he loved Sasuke, the love he gives him is complex and dangerous, suffocating even. I love their relationship, their strong mutual feelings and I love their dark sides, like how obsessioned they are with each other, how ready they are to sacrifice everything for the other, and my writing reflects this, dark sides included. I don't want to write them as a cute happy couple, even in a simple oneshot, because to me they're much more. Itachi's dangerous love, Sasuke's adoration, that makes him accept anything his brother gives him, this is Itasasu for me.
I'm a fan of scenarios where Itachi and Sasuke are forced by some noble ot whatever else, to do nasty things "for the village" or something, like in Tosyoen's doujinshi Aishiteru Kara Wasuremashou, always a favourite of mine, but in this particular story I'm more inspired by Maco's doujinshi Akame Shirohebi Kurogarasu. Maco's characterization of Itachi, protective and threatening, is a favourite.
I headcanon Sasuke and Itachi as vegetarian/vegan in canon universe, as Sasuke saw too many bloody corpses butchered like animals, and meat would make him think of them, also he's an animal lover and he hates unnecessary violence, and Itachi had to butcher them himself so he refuses to eat corpses either, and he also doesn't eat anything animal, while since in the OVA he cooks eggs for Sasuke, I guess he's ok cooking them for his little brother. After all there are no mass production or battery cages in Konoha. Anyway, back to the story, cutting off flowers is another form of unnecessary violence.