This story starts out as Sasunaru and ends in Itanaru. After the first few chapters, there will be a lot of Sasuke bashing. Sakura gets bashed too but not as bad. This will be a definite Itanaru fic; but the Itanaru part will evolve gradually. In the end, Itanau triumphs!

HOW YOU LOVE AND LOOSE AND LOVE AGAIN

No one knew. That was how Sasuke wanted it to be. No one knew of the relationship between the two male members of Team 7. To the rest of the world, they looked like two shinobis who genuinely despised one another. To Sakura and Kakashi, they looked like two individuals who found it difficult to admit the closeness of their friendship. Too much pride in the both of them, thought the female and the eldest member of Team 7.

But to Naruto and Sasuke, they were lovers. Had been for the past 7 months. It was a year since Naruto had returned from his 3 year long training trip with Jiraiya and 9 months since Sasuke had killed Orochimaru and returned to the Leaf. The members of Team 7 were all chuunins now. Naruto had been promoted immediately after his return and Sakura in the chuunin exams held 2 years ago.

When Uchiha Sasuke first returned, he was confined to prison for 2 months. His chakra had been sealed and he had been subjected to repeated torture and interrogation by Konoha's elite jounin, Morino Ibiki. To the question as to why he returned, Sasuke had one answer. Itachi would be after Naruto for the Kyuubi. This was a concrete fact as the Kyuubi was an integral to the Akatsuki's final goal. Sasuke told Ibiki he simply figured that if he stayed close enough to Naruto, he could not only protect the Jinchuriki from his brother, but also kill off said brother at the same time. He also reminded the Council, that he had, in fact – done them a favour by killing Orochimaru. Was the snake not the one who invaded Konoha and attacked the Sandaime?

Sasuke's theories and defense stood the test of 2 months. It also helped that he was the last carrier of the Sharingan that was loyal to Konoha. Sakura and Naruto; and to a certain extent Kakashi vouched for Sasuke – and the Uchiha prodigy was back in his hometown.

For Sasuke, the past six months had been good. The transition from Oto Society to Konoha Society was smoother than expected, with the noted similarity that he was treated like the greatest thing since sliced bread on both sides. He had a blonde body in his bed and the general adulation of most of the civilian and shinobi populace. The only people who disliked him were Kiba, Chouji, Shikamaru, Neji and Shino. However, those 5 had always been more of Naruto's friends than his, he mused.

Sasuke and Naruto had gotten together quite simply. It had been a week after Sasuke's discharge from the prison and he was resting that the Uchiha mansion. It had to be expected that the first knock on the door, the first person to enter his house would be Naruto. As he served his visitor and best friend tea, Sasuke mused on how Naruto had changed. Taller he most definitely was. Naruto had lost most of his baby fat and was now a lean, well-built ninja. However, one thing the years could not change was the blue in his eyes. Sasuke remembered how often he had tried to hunt for the same blue in his years at Sound – searching the eyes of men and women alike. He had never found it. However he had found a similar shade in the eyes of another blonde shinobi. Sasuke had promptly taken in this shinobi as his lover. Orochimaru evinced no disagreement; on the contrary he had seemed to be amused.

It had been a minor matter to dispose of his lover when he left Oto.

Sasuke couldn't recall the look of horror on his lover's face, nor the pained look with which he died. In fact, in a rare moment of self-evaluation – Sasuke admitted to himself that the only reason he had taken this lover was because of his similarity to Naruto. His personality and mannerisms were none of Sasuke's interest – he did not even know if his lover had a family or what his favorite color was. All he remembered was how he would climax inside the man and wonder if Naruto was as tight as he was.

Their first meeting after he returned was awkward; both Sasuke and Naruto concurred. Similarities and dissimilarities were taken note of and an aura of tension persisted. Naruto was nervous and Sasuke was cool. It all changed when Sasuke called his friend by their once childhood name of dobe; and Naruto started yelling in outrage. At this, things had gotten somehow back to normal and they continued insulting each other – as if Sasuke hadn't left in the first place. Naruto asked Sasuke why he returned and Sasuke gave him the same answer he gave Ibiki and the Council. At this, a fleeting look of disappointment passed across Naruto's face but was immediately replaced with yet another insult. Hiding behind a veil of normalcy was sad, Sasuke thought.

Their second meeting was a bit more public – in Ichirakus. The entire Rookie 9, Team Gai and all of their senseis were around.

All of them had changed yet Sakura and Ino had not lost their old affliction for Sasuke. Sakura was noticeably nicer to Naruto and he had quite obviously gotten over his crush on her. They seemed to be good friends, them and the guy Sai whom Sasuke immediately hated. He hated the idea that he had been replaced so easily and that Naruto seemed to treat his replacement much the same way he treated Sasuke himself. Shikamaru and Neji were noticeably hostile to Sasuke and seemed somewhat protective of Naruto. Sasuke understood that they could discern his predatory gaze on Naruto and didn't like it one bit. Everything else seemed to be normal – Kakashi had his usual orange book, however his smiles at Sasuke didn't seem to reach his eyes; Gai and Lee droned on about youth; Chouji munched on his chips and Shino just sat without saying anything. As Rookie 9 and Team Gai meetings go, it went reasonably well.

Sasuke went home and trained in the privacy of the Uchiha town. Another reason to return was the wealth of Uchiha jutsus in the library that Orochimaru could definitely not have thought him.

After a hot shower and a quite dinner, Sasuke slept, plotting on how he could make the move on Naruto.

FLASHBACK:

It was nighttime in Oto – and Sasuke had just finished learning how to summon. Manda had appeared before him and officially accepted him as his subordinate. He trudged off towards his chambers after commanding Kabuto to send in Yuki.

As Yuki waltzed in, Sasuke grabbed him and placed a passionate kiss on his lips. There was no love in the kiss, just a fierce demand and a hungry need. Tongues interlocked as Sasuke dominated and plundered the blonde's mouth. He explored the cavern as if searching for something yet not knowing what the thing was.

"Strip" commanded Sasuke as he threw off his own clothes.

Yuki stripped and Sasuke brought his hands up to the naked body that lay before him. He roughly pinched Yuki's nipples and took one of them in his mouth. His hand snaked down to the blonde's erection and pumped it a few times. He threw the bottle of lube towards Yuki and watched the other man finger himself; the process only turning him on a lot more. After Yuki was fully prepared Sasuke mounted him. A few quick thrusts aimed at Yuki's prostate and both of them reached oblivion.

He immediately pulled himself out and ordered his lover to leave.

FLASHBACK ENDS

Now Sasuke wanted only one thing; Naruto. And he was sure he was going to get it. He had always gotten what he wanted in life and Naruto would be no exception.