"Naruto sat in a shopping cart and you pushed him?" Itachi asked for maybe 5th time tonight, looking completely stunned.

"Maybe we should drop the subject now," Sasuke irritatedly cried as he poked his fried chicken with his fork while his other arm rested on the table, a hand covering the left half of his face. The three were eating together in peace until Naruto had decided to bring up how he'd 'bribed' Sasuke with watermelon flavored lube to have 'fun' with him. Sure, it hadn't been boring. Maybe a little bit exciting. But now that Naruto was urging Itachi to tease Sasuke about it, and Itachi was complying his wish gladly with sardonic remarks, Sasuke was trying his best not to roll his eyes at the two grown man talking about lubing the wheels of a cart to make it slide. His gaze roamed over Naruto's bare right foot resting on a chair and the blond's laughing form which shook uncontrollably as he shoved a ridiculously big piece of chicken in his mouth.

"Sasuke's right. Now tell me Naruto, how are you planning to work tomorrow with this sprained ankle of yours?"

"S'alright. I'll just find the lotion Aunt Tsunade gave me and it'll heal in no time. Doesn't hurt much anyway. Are you eating that?" Naruto pointed to the chicken Sasuke was still throwing daggers at like his problems were its fault.

"No."

"Great," Naruto stabbed his fork into it without asking for permission, bit a piece and started chewing it. "Itachi, are you coming on Friday? To the graduation?" He asked with a full mouth. Sasuke rolled his eyes and fixed them on his empty plate this time. Manners. That's what he needed to teach Naruto before he could call him a 'teacher' without cringing at the thought.

"I'm afraid not. I have a meeting I'm expected to attend to. Maybe next time," said Itachi and offered a small smile as an apology.

"Ah. Sasuke said he's coming. I'll pick him up then. Unless he wants to walk." He tilted his head and raised his brow in a questioning manner.

Sasuke shrugged. "I'm fine with walking. Besides, aren't you supposed to pay attention to that friend of yours? The singer one."

"You mean TenTen?" Naruto exchanged glances with Itachi. "Nah, she knows this town like the back of her hand. She might be a singer and wear dresses now but she was such a tomboy back in middle school." He pushed himself off from the table with his good foot and started to rock the chair back and forth. "She lightly punched me once and I swear my arm hurt for two weeks straight."

"TenTen? That's an interesting name."

"That's not her stage name, I assure you. She had weird parents is all."

Sasuke scoffed at this. "Better than having none."

A heavy silence fell upon the room. Naruto stopped rocking the chair, only to start playing with his half full glass, pushing it to make it slide on the brown kitchen table and leave wet traces on the polished surface.

"Did Naruto tell you that we used to live together?" Itachi rested his elbow on the table. It was very obvious that he was just trying to change the subject to make Sasuke feel better.

Sasuke gulped down the remaining water in his glass to calm himself. He knew Naruto and Itachi were close, but he'd never guessed they were living together at some point. "I believe not."

"I wasn't sure if that was okay," Naruto scratched his neck in earnest.

"It is. After… you were given away, I was 10 and they had to find me a guardian. Naruto's mother was kind enough to take me into her house."

Sasuke only nodded to not interrupt the story. So that had happened when they were much younger. That explained why they saw each other like brothers. Growing up together must've affected both of them.

"I don't really remember him coming in. He was always there as far as I remember." Naruto shrugged nonchalantly. His eyes were focused, no amusement in sight.

"You're at the same age with Sasuke. Of course you both don't remember anything."

"But I'm pretty sure you left me and grandad when I was 12."

Sasuke couldn't stop himself and stopped them. "Wait. Grandad? I thought you were living with your mother."

Itachi's gaze wandered over Sasuke, then Naruto. He let out a soft sigh. "This is a touchy subject for all of us, and the conversation's getting heavy. Are you sure you want to continue?"

"Let me tell the rest," Naruto spoke in a low voice. Itachi rubbed his lips together as a deep crease appeared between his dark and thin brows, but he nodded in approval anyway. He looked worried about Naruto.

Naruto cleared his throat. "Mom died when I was 9. She got, uh, sick. Jiraiya moved in with me. You know him, the one that my aunt-"

Sasuke raised a hand, stuck between wanting to grimace at the image of what Naruto had told him about his aunt and feeling sorry about Naruto's mother. "I remember her."

Naruto looked taken aback for a moment before shaking his head and looking at Itachi for him to continue.

Itachi hummed. "Well, basically what happened after that is I moved for college and Naruto lived with Jiraiya until he turned 18 and Jiraiya moved out."

Sasuke tapped his fingers on a clean part of the table. "Sorry about your mom."

"Heh. It's okay." His actions didn't say the same thing, how he started to pick at his nails and the annoying sound of the chair starting to move back and forth again. Back. Forth. Back. Forth.

"What was living like together?" Sasuke spoke to block the obnoxious noise. It was starting to get on his nerves.

"Great!" Naruto answered. His eyes were suddenly all sparkly in a way that Sasuke found awkward because, well, he had been sulking 30 seconds ago. "Itachi was the best roommate ever. I was the hyperactive brat that kept trying to distract him from his homework. He would play with me until I was bored of that too," A goofy and nostalgic smile spread across his face. "I would sneak into his room. Mostly to steal the green dinosaur he slept with. He never once yelled at me for that, let alone hitting. He just gently pried my hands away from it and took it back." He rubbed his forehead in confusion. "I'm pretty sure I've seen it in his bedroom when I slept over last month. I swear he has a fixation on that."

Sasuke's eyes widened and a silent gasp escaped his open lips. Naruto was talking about the dinosaur. His eyes tried to catch Itachi's onyx eyes. Itachi averted his gaze.

After coming here, Sasuke had had moments when he blamed Itachi in his mind for various stuff. Why hadn't he tried to find Sasuke sooner? Why hadn't he made an effort? Why did he forget about him? Why?

This… pretty much explained everything. The dinosaur wasn't in the attic like Itachi had told him, at least all the time. It was in his fricking bedroom. Itachi remembered him. Itachi cared when he wasn't here. There was no way Itachi wouldn't look for him.

"I'll be right back," Itachi suddenly got up and left without another word.

Naruto must've sensed something was wrong. He was friends with Itachi for years, after all. Sasuke eyed him as Naruto knitted his brows. "You think I said something wrong?"

"No. I'll go check on him." He put a reassuring hand on Naruto's shoulder before following Itachi, feeling Naruto's heavy gaze on his back. He checked the bathroom to see if he was there, and seeing no one, he figured the older man was in his room.

A muffled answer came when he knocked on the door thrice. He slowly pushed the door open and looked around the tidy room, closing the door gently.

"Itachi?"

"Over here," Itachi's low voice reached him from the closet room. He took hesitant steps to see what his brother was up to in the small room full of… clothes?

"What are you doing here?" The light was on, faintly illuminating its surroundings.

"I was… looking for something." He looked very off, his gaze insistent on not finding Sasuke's.

"Looking for what?" He inquired with narrowed eyes.

"Nevermind. Couldn't find it anyway," he pushed the light switch off and closed the door behind himself. "Let's go. Naruto must be waiting for us."

"Itachi."

"Hm?"

"Are you blaming yourself for what had happened?"

"…No."

"Look at me."

Itachi breathed out and looked at Sasuke, an indistinct smile playing on his lips. "You're worried about me."

"You told me the dinosaur was in the attic."

"It is. I moved it there when you informed me about moving here."

"You were keeping that by your side for what, 19 years? Why, Itachi?"

Itachi ran a hand through his long hair without messing his ponytail. His distressed appearance made Sasuke feel odd. Itachi was his older brother. He felt like Itachi was the strong, protective person that wouldn't show his true feelings, and he knew that he was partially right. But apparently, the wall would go thin when he was with Sasuke. Seeing him like this felt half good –because he knew they were really close- and half bad because… it sort of hurt.

"Because you're my brother. Because I missed you."

Sasuke realized his hands were trembling and sweating. He blinked a few times. The knot forming in his throat was making it hard for him to breathe. He repeated Itachi's words with a weak voice: "Because I'm your brother."

Itachi's smile widened in spite of his sad, tired eyes. He pulled Sasuke to himself and wrapped his arms around the boy, trying to calm Sasuke with the soothing movements of his hands. "It's all in the past now."

Sasuke hugged back even tighter than he intended to. He nuzzled Itachi's neck. Physical contact was never his favorite thing, but this calmed him to his core. It felt right. The 'walls breaking down' thing was mutual. "Thank you… brother."

It felt good to finally get that off his chest.

He felt Itachi press his lips to the skin of his temple. Itachi pulled back and connected their foreheads together, his hands resting loosely on Sasuke's shoulders for support; both giving and receiving. His eyes were glossy with tears of both his happiness and pain. "You're my little brother."

"Yes," Sasuke briefly nodded. "I'm your little brother."

Itachi didn't strike him as a person who would break down in front of other people, but if he was, Sasuke was absolutely sure he would about… right now. Just how much had the older man been through? Now he felt like an ass for blaming him earlier. And this was just the beginning.

Itachi parted them and sniffed twice before closing his eyes, just breathing in and out, calming himself. Sasuke was standing before him and watching his features intently, trying to get a hint of Itachi's pain he had to endure in the past.

"Enough sentimental moments for a night. Let's go." Itachi suggested after what felt like a minute. He had a faint yet genuine smile on his lips.

"Hn."

XxX

Naruto was texting with someone on his phone when they strolled down to the living room. TV was on, a cooking show starring a white-haired man with an unusual appetite played on the screen. Naruto looked up when he heard two brothers' footsteps.

"You okay?" He asked Itachi worriedly. He looked at Sasuke for some kind of an answer, then back at Itachi.

Itachi nodded. "U-huh. Now put that injured foot of yours up before it gets worse so I won't have to take care of you for the next week."

"Since when did you start taking care of me?" Naruto muttered. The expressions on both their faces revealed that the answer was 'for a long time'. Using both his hands for support, he gingerly raised his leg and placed his foot on the pillow standing on the coffee table.

Sasuke sat in his dark green armchair. It had become like his territory by now. Not like an obsession, though. That was for stupid people. "What now? We're gonna sit down and watch this guy eat a family's daily food in one bite?"

"Actually, his name is Guy." Naruto beamed. "I know another Guy. He's the P.E. teacher. He taught Itachi as well. Right?"

"He did. I didn't know he still taught."

"Let me tell you, the 'guy' is obsessed with training. What is he? 50? He still runs better than I do." He snickered. "I prefer weights. Look at mah muscles," he flexed his arm and touched the upper part of his arm where the muscles were straining against the thin fabric of his sweatshirt.

Sasuke shrugged. "It looks ordinary to me." Maybe not entirely, but he wasn't gonna compliment Naruto every time he had the chance.

"Of course it isn't! I worked my ass off for these!"

"Then you might need to find a better trainer."

"Maybe you're saying that because you wanna train me," he wiggled his eyelashes. Sasuke lightly kicked his damaged foot.

"Ow! That hurt,"

"That was the point."

"Whatever bastard."

Itachi chose that moment to join the conversation. "Naruto. Do you want me to help you go home? It's getting late."

Naruto scratched his cheek. He didn't look like he wanted to go home. In fact, Sasuke was almost sure he would start begging to stay for 5 more minutes like a kid not wanting to part from his playmate. "I was thinking maybe I should stay here tonight?"

That was not what Sasuke was expecting.

"Okay. I'm going to bed." Itachi simply said and pet both their heads affectionately before leaving the room.

"You… stay here frequently?" Sasuke inquired. Itachi's reaction to Naruto's request was too calm to be considered as the first time, or the second.

"Not frequent. But sometimes, yeah. Since we're both living alone, he lets me stick around when I need it." He stated in earnest.

"You need it?"

Naruto stiffened, possibly because he realized what he'd said. "Errgh, I mean. When I want to. That covers it better. Anyway, you wanna do somethin'? Unless you need to get up early."

"I don't. I thought you did?" He raised an eyebrow.

Naruto started to move his good leg. God, did he have some sort of hyperactivity disorder?

"I do. But I don't feel like sleeping now. Hey, how about we watch somethin'?"

"Sure," he ran a hand through his hair. "Have anything in mind?"

"Umm. I know! We should watch that movie that you don't get any shit if you don't watch more than 3 times."

"How explanatory," Sasuke mocked. "Have you thought about majoring in English?"

"Shut up!" He hurled the small pillow he'd been resting his elbow on toward Sasuke's face. Sasuke caught it effortlessly before it could touch his face. Instead of throwing it back, he put it behind his back for more support.

"Fine. We can watch Inception. That's the title of the movie, by the way." He smirked relentlessly, ignoring the blond's leering. "I'm gonna change first. Come with me. I'll lend you some clothes."

"Ah, there's no need for that," he put his hand on the armrest to get up. "I have mine."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Where?"

"In the guest room?"

"…Oh."

"Maybe you should consider helping me—Ow," Naruto grimaced in pain when he accidentally used his injured foot to walk. "Instead of standing there."

"Hn." Sasuke walked over to Naruto's side and waited for him to put his arm on his shoulder for support. Quickly getting the message, Naruto extended his arm and threw it around Sasuke's shoulders, practically half-hugging Sasuke. However, Sasuke resisted the urge to say something about this. Good or bad. Anything.

They started to climb the stairs at an agonizingly slow pace. The injury hadn't seemed that severe when Sasuke had first checked it, but it was possible that the skin seemed fine because the accident had just happened. He figured it was better to check it once they were upstairs, which meant around 20 minutes later.

"Damn. It was fine half an hour ago. What is wrong with my leg?!" Naruto winced and loaded his weight on Sasuke to take another step.

"Maybe I should go and find that lotion—"

Before they realized what was going on, Naruto tripped and took Sasuke with him as he went down. How they managed to get in that position on the narrow staircase was a mystery, but somehow Naruto had ended up falling on his back and pulling Sasuke above him during the fall.

"Shit. Now I'm gonna be disabled for a week," Naruto grumbled in pain, making Sasuke realize how close their faces were in the darkness when Naruto's warm breath touched his lips. He wished he hadn't turned off the lights. It was a stupid move.

"Let go of me, idiot," he growled and desperately pushed Naruto away to put some distance between their faces.

"Right. Sorry." Naruto retreated his arm from Sasuke's back to let the man get up. Sasuke checked the steps with his foot first so he wouldn't tumble down the stairs. When he decided he was secure on his feet, he reached for Naruto's hand and very slowly, pulled Naruto up.

"Don't you dare make us fall again. I don't think my body can tolerate any more physical activities tonight." He added after Naruto returned to his previous position.

"Any? What about the hot sex you promised?" However impossible it was, Sasuke could swear that he saw Naruto wiggling his eyebrows amusedly.

"I suggest you shut that wide mouth of yours if you don't want to be disabled for months."

"My wide mouth? Are you sure you're not trying to seduce me to—" Sasuke pushed Naruto back, not enough to make him fall but enough to make him lose his balance. "SASUKE!"

"This was my last warning. And you're disturbing Itachi with that obnoxiously loud yelling of yours."

"Eh, fine. I'll shut up."

Magically, Naruto kept his word and didn't say anything stupid to danger his own life while they gradually kept climbing the stairs.

When they finally made it upstairs, they both sucked in a breath with relief. "That was painful."

"Painful for your mind, painful for both my mind and body. I can feel a bruise appearing on my back. Dammit," he practically walked into the room bouncing with Sasuke supporting him. "Wow. Itachi really had someone redo this room. And I gotta say, this version looks so much better."

"Thanks?" Sasuke answered after sitting Naruto on the bed. "You want me to go and get that lotion you were talking about?"

"Aww, look at you. Being so sweet," he made a stupid face, trying to look cute. "Nah. I'm a fast healer. I just need some rest."

"Hmm. At least let me put some Vaseline on."

"If you insist. Sure."

Sasuke started to look for the Vaseline he'd brought along from California. Just as he suspected, it was in the top drawer of the dresser.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm doing this because I don't want you moping here tomorrow," he crawled onto the bed next to Naruto. "Take off your shirt."

Naruto blinked weirdly before he started to do as he was told without questioning or making a remark. He raised his arms and pulled the sweatshirt off, showing the tan skin and clear-cut muscles under. Hell, he was in a much better shape than Sasuke had thought. "Like what you see?" He haughtily commented.

Sasuke wanted to smack him for saying that but it'd been a long day. He would save it for later. The blond was not short on stupid comments anyway so he would definitely need it sometime.

"Turn around."

"Bossy. I like it."

He sighed, opened the lid easily and took some of the gel on his fingers. Without warming up, he started to rub it on the slightly red side of Naruto's back. "It really does look like it's gonna bruise." His other hand was casually resting on the lower part of Naruto's back; the tan, smooth skin under the tips of his fingers. He proceeded to put some more Vaseline on the not-so-red parts, just in case if they would get worse too.

"Ugh. Yeah. You can stop now." Naruto started to fidget uncomfortably.

"Why? Am I applying too much pressure?"

"No. It's fine." He quickly turned around and put on his sweatshirt back on.

"You could've waited for the skin to absorb it a bit," Sasuke said and shook his head, not bothering to say anymore. "Put some on your ankle. I won't do it."

Naruto snatched the Vaseline away and dipped his finger in the cup, taking enough of the substance to cover his whole ankle. He carefully rubbed it into the bruised skin that looked way worse than how it'd looked when Sasuke took a look at it at the supermarket. Sasuke watched Naruto as blue eyes concentrated on not hurting himself.

When Naruto finished, he gave the bottle to Sasuke and stood up on one foot. Sasuke skeptically roamed his eyes over him before he opened the drawer and put the Vaseline back to its place.

"Why did you stand up? You're gonna harm it more."

"S'fine. I'm going to my room."

Sasuke turned around to face Naruto and put his hands on the dresser. "What about the movie?"

"Heh. Sorry. Maybe next time. I'm suddenly feeling too tired for that." He rubbed his eye with the back of his hand.

"Hn. Let me help you go—"

"No. I mean, I'm fine. I can go. G'night," he let out a nervous chuckle and looked around like he wanted to say something before awkwardly hopping on his good foot and leaving the room. Sasuke just stood there for a moment, trying to process what the hell just happened. Did he say something wrong? Naruto didn't look offended, though. He looked more like… startled. Well, if something was making him feel uneasy, he should've just told him. It wasn't Sasuke's job to squeeze it out.

The day had been hectic but Sasuke didn't feel tired enough to sleep yet. He heard Naruto shut the door of his room while he was searching for clean pajama pants to wear after taking a bath. A bubble bath, that's what he was going for. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had one of those, but it sounded relaxing and quite tempting right now to just lie down in a tub and smell the vanilla flavored bubbles while he soundlessly contemplated his life.

He turned the tap on after placing the stopper over the drain and checked the temperature of the water with a finger. The heat was almost scorching, but the warmer it was, the better it is.

He found the necessary bottle in the cabinet that held soaps and towels and poured a generous amount of it into the slowly filling tub. The water immediately started to create bubbles that spread across the whole surface. He left the bottle near the sink and started to take his clothes off. Just when he was about to take off his jeans, he heard a knock on the door. The bathroom door was ajar, so he realized it was the door of his room.

"Come in," he raised his voice enough for the person outside to hear.

"Ergh. Sasuke?" Naruto's voice was heard in the room.

"In the bathroom." He turned the water off and waited for Naruto to walk over. It took more than usual but given Naruto's unlucky state, it was pretty normal.

"I was looking for—" Naruto stopped talking when he saw Sasuke. Or to be exact, Sasuke shirtless. His eyes roamed over Sasuke's pale chest for… almost a minute. Sasuke felt his skin tingling under Naruto's gaze.

"Looking for what?" Sasuke had to snap his fingers to get Naruto out of his hypnotized state.

A visible blush was over Naruto's cheeks and the steam rising from the tub was making the room uncomfortably hot for both of them.

"…A clean shirt." Naruto let out when his eyes finally managed to find Sasuke's.

Sasuke had no idea why Naruto was acting this way. Especially when things were just fine. Was that about him being shirtless? Was that somehow distracting? Sasuke figured it had to be, but understanding why was kind of a challenge. Sasuke had seen countless shirtless people working at Macy's, women asking him to see if their bikini tops were looking good in the small dressing room. Of course, Sasuke knew what they were trying to do, but it still never had distracted him from kindly rejecting being alone with them and just doing his job.

Then why Naruto was being this way?

"Second drawer." He uttered when Naruto backed and started to look around the room uncomfortably. The guy seemed like he was suffering from Sasuke's nakedness.

"Thanks." Naruto left the bathroom instantly after this.

"Wait," Sasuke followed him suit. The room was chilly compared to the bathroom, leaving Sasuke with a slight shiver. "What's wrong with you?"

"What do you mean what's wrong with me?" Naruto's back was facing Sasuke. He was looking through Sasuke's large collection of t-shirts. The oily gel had left visible stains on Naruto's red sweatshirt.

"You're acting weird. Is this about me being shirtless?" He started to approach Naruto.

"I'm not acting weird. You're delusional." He pushed the drawer shut, making it slam against the wood. He took a step to leave but Sasuke reached out a hand and gripped his shoulder to stop him.

"Look at me."

"Let go."

"I will if you look at me," Sasuke demanded.

Naruto turned around and put a hand on the dresser for support. "Stop teasing me." His voice was harsh and warning.

"Teasing? What?" Sasuke knitted his eyebrows in annoyance. Naruto really thought he was doing this on purpose? "I was gonna take a bath and you came in. Stop acting like I deliberately took off my shirt to make you see me half naked."

"You can get off with this. What about all the rubbing and touching you did on my back?" Naruto was getting angry. Like he had any right to when Sasuke was just being normal.

"Oh, now you're saying I molested you when all I did was helping you?!" Sasuke's voice was louder than he had intended. Naruto deserved a good slap for thinking Sasuke was interested in him. Stupid moron.

"Do you have any common sense?" Naruto yelled. "You said you had gay friends but it's like you have no boundaries at all."

Sasuke threw a confused glance at Naruto. "What boundaries?"

"No unnecessary touching. No intimate stuff. And no shirtless-ness if not absolutely necessary." Naruto seemed like he was calming down now, realizing that Sasuke really did not have an idea about what he was talking about.

Sasuke took a deep breath. "So I made you uncomfortable."

"…Not exactly, but try to be careful. You don't wanna give me false hope, y'know?" Naruto said and let a goofy smile spread on his face.

Sasuke still was confused, but he nodded anyway. He listened to Naruto's sentence that was resounding in his head again, and—

"Wait. Are you saying you'd want to get intimate with me if I was gay?"

"Umm. I guess so. I mean, you're not bad to look at?" Naruto joked lamely. Sasuke punched his shoulder lightly for that.

"That's… flattering. At least I know you're sincere. Most people who compliment are just trying to earn a favor or get into my pants," said Sasuke.

"How do you know I'm not trying to get into your pants?" Said Naruto as he wiggled his eyebrows in a way that made it so hard for Sasuke to not burst out laughing. He still managed to keep his cool, though.

"My brother's next door?" He smirked. "Besides, you were just yelling at me for being shirtless in front of you."

A rather loud thunder was heard, and the sounds of raindrops falling on the windows afterward.

Naruto smiled, but his eyes were telling something else. They looked almost sad. "Your bath is getting cold. I better leave. Goodnight, Sasuke."

Sasuke blinked, not following what Naruto was implying completely. He ended up nodding and watching the blond limp his way out. He would've offered to help but he wasn't sure if it would be appropriate when his chest was bare, especially after the conversation they'd just had.

The water was not as warm as he wanted, but it was still good. He let the bubbles cover his body and breathed in the heavy scent of vanilla. His thoughts drifted to Naruto and their small conversation, but he couldn't come up with anything and decided to just relax and enjoy his bath.

xXx

Sounds. Disturbing sounds filling his ears. They sound like rather loud sobs.

After spending an indefinite amount of time between being asleep and conscious, Sasuke roused, a grunt unconsciously coming out of his throat. The sobbing voice was now gone, replaced with a deep speaking voice that resembled…

Itachi.

Sasuke threw the duvet off and got out of the room immediately, narrowing his eyes to adjust them to the faint light of the hallway. Itachi's door was wide open. But the voices were coming from the guest room. Trying not to make any noise, he slowly paced toward the slightly open door.

He squinted even more to see what was going on. Itachi was sitting on the bed with Naruto, holding him and speaking words that made no sense softly.

"Ssh. It's alright. I'm here, Naruto."

He ran a hand through his disheveled hair and gripped the ends of it tightly. So, the sobbing sounds was not a dream. Naruto was crying.

The question was; why?

He absently stood there for a couple of minutes, realizing he was still prying only when Itachi got out of the room and closed the door softly.

"What's going on?" He'd meant to ask if Naruto was fine, but his brain was not functioning properly.

Itachi beckoned Sasuke to his room and turned off the light. He looked tranquil except for the thoughtful expression on his face.

Itachi shut the door and practically threw himself on the bed. He was very tired and considering he had to wake up early today, Sasuke debated if he should put this off for now.

"Come over here." Itachi murmured. So, Itachi was willing to talk. Sasuke hoped he wouldn't fall asleep in the middle of their conversation.

He quietly sat next to Itachi. Normally the bed wouldn't allow for both of them to lie down comfortably, but Itachi scooted over enough for Sasuke to lay next to him.

"How is he?" Sasuke whispered after making himself comfortable. Itachi sighed, pulled the duvet that was bent under their feet and covered their lower bodies with it. The warmth it provided them felt nice.

"He's fine. I'm sure it looks out of the way for you, but this happens every once in a while. Try not to think too much about it." Sasuke heard the sheets rustle. A moment later, Itachi's hand was stroking Sasuke's hair affectionately. He wouldn't normally let anyone do this kind of thing, but when it was with Itachi, he realized he never found it bothersome. How fast he'd gotten used to the fact that he had a brother was still a riddle.

Sasuke closed his lids and scooted a little closer to Itachi, making sides of their bodies brush. "Did he have some sort of trauma?"

"Hm. I guess you could say that." Itachi's voice was deep and rough. "I don't want to tell you things that he wouldn't want me to, but I guess I can enlighten you a bit. He already told you he was living with his mother as a child. Kushina. She was a very kind and down-to-earth person."

"Naruto said she got sick."

Itachi rolled to his side. "She was already sick. After her husband died, she…" he stopped to think for an instant. "Let's just say she weakened. Incredibly so."

Sasuke rolled over too, so he was facing Itachi. "Why did her husband die?"

"That is a topic for another night. I know these all sound like from a story to you. But those were hard times. For both me and Naruto," his voice cracked slightly, making Sasuke realize that this was a weighty matter for Itachi. He wondered if he was somehow included in all this; if he was a part of their previous life. "What are you thinking?" Itachi asked as he set his palm on Sasuke's forehead. The gesture made Sasuke relax.

"Just things. About your life before I came."

"Trust me when I say this, Sasuke. My life is so much better now that you're here."

The hand on his forehead disappeared, leaving its place to soft lips that lightly pecked before withdrawing.

"I should let you sleep now." He sensed Itachi was about to sleep and it sounded like a horrible idea to force the poor man to tell him more.

"Mhm," Itachi purred. It wasn't his fault that he was too tired to even answer now.

Sasuke got out of the bed, trying not to move it too much. He pulled the duvet completely over him so Itachi wouldn't feel cold. "Good night, brother." He whispered before leaving the room in silence.

XxX

Sasuke was pissed.

He'd spent the last 20 minutes staring at the contents of his closet, and another 20 minutes trying to pick a decent shirt, which had ended with just a white, simple shirt over basic black jeans. When he'd asked Naruto what he was supposed to wear through text, the answer he had gotten was 'whatever you like :p'. There had to be a dress code and the idiot obviously didn't know this or was having fun torturing Sasuke. If he wore a suit dress, it could be too much. But if the dress code was formal, his daily clothes could make him look like a douche. The safest option was shirt and jeans, he presumed. Black Rolex watch found its place on his wrist. It was his 21st birthday present. Today was his seventh day here and he'd talked to his foster parents only once since his departure and maybe he was being a selfish bastard to the couple who raised him, but he was sure they'd understand. He quickly sent a text to his mother to let her know that he was doing well.

He checked the time after that, seeing he had only 20 minutes left before the event would start. He quickly found the black trench coat that looked spectacular with everything and put it on after using some cologne.

Itachi was at a meeting like he'd said he would so he locked the door, sneering at the yoga mat that caught his eye in the process. The weather was still too cold for April, or that was what he thought. As his footprints made thudding sounds on the sidewalk, he breathed in the fresh scent of pine trees around. This was a very relaxing thing to do, especially before you were about to throw yourself among a bunch of middle school students and an idiot of a friend who probably had friends as lively as him. He had considered if he should find an excuse to stay home, but lying was not Sasuke's thing.

The lights and sounds of laughter started to reach his ears as he walked closer and closer to the school building. Two boys were sitting on a bench nearby, talking about God knows what, and the irritating sight of two girls watching them afar and giggling was enough to remind Sasuke of his own childhood. Or teenage years. Or last year.

He always had fangirls.

As he neared the entrance, he realized this was even more of a terrible idea than he'd thought. Girls were wearing stupid amounts of makeup for the age of 14, a group of horny idiots was undressing the girls with their eyes. Teachers were speaking amongst themselves vigorously. Two morons were talking about how they'd sneaked some alcohol, earning impressed looks from their buddies and scolding from the man that was wearing a dark green bodysuit. This scene only could win the Best Horror Movie award in Oscars.

"Sasuke!" A very cheerful Naruto called to him somewhere. He looked around to see the source.

"Behind you," Naruto yelled again. Sasuke turned around to greet his friend. Naruto was wearing blue jeans, light cream shirt and a blue cotton blazer. He looked really good. Sasuke noticed his eyes were the same color as his blazer, which only increased his appreciation for Naruto's taste of fashion.

He shoved his hands in his pockets. "I was hoping you'd forget my existence and I could sneak out."

"I knew you'd say that," Naruto laughed and brushed his bright yellow colored bangs away from his face. "Let's go somewhere else. My friends all want to meet you!"

"You told them about me?" He arched his brow.

"Of course! They know Itachi since we're friends, and they want to meet his brother. Especially the girls," he giggled lamely.

"Fantastic. Lead the way, teacher." He offered Naruto a smirk and started to follow him.

XxX

"Sakura, Sasuke. Sasuke, Sakura." Naruto lolled in his seat, happy that he had completed the task of introducing Sasuke to everyone.

Sasuke politely nodded in acknowledgment. The pink-haired woman was wearing a strapless black dress that was in great contrast with her pale skin, and her makeup was very professionally done.

The teacher's room Naruto had brought Sasuke was very modern, had seats with cushions and several office chairs that were lined up around the big, rectangular table covered with files and papers. A dark haired, pale man was sitting at the far edge of the table. The blinds were drawn but the ceiling that held fluorescent lights was making a terrific job at lighting up.

He sat next to Naruto, who was engaged in a conversation with Kiba now. Naruto hadn't told what Kiba's major was, but Sasuke had the foresight that it had nothing to do with literature from the way he talked.

"So, Sasuke," Kiba addressed to him. He rolled the office chair he was sitting on closer to them. "What do you do for a living?"

"I'm a freelance writer." Sasuke politely answered the question.

"He has a diploma in Architecture," Naruto chimed in. "This guy's as talented as Itachi. It runs in the blood."

"Is drawing a hobby of yours?" Sai looked up from his laptop. He was the one sitting on the other side of the room, but he was obviously listening to their conversation.

"Yes. I don't work as an architect, but I'd say I like drawing."

"I know! You can draw me sometime!" Naruto nudged Sasuke with his elbow, a perpetual grin plastered on his face.

Sai cleared his throat. "I offered to do that. You refused, dickless."

"I refused because you said you'd only draw me naked. And stop sayin' that!" Naruto scowled. "You're making Sasuke uncomfortable."

"Whatever, dickless."

"Sasuke, tell him to stop!"

Sakura shook her head disapprovingly and brushed her hair behind her ears. "Don't mind them, Sasuke. This is how they communicate," she smiled graciously. A small smile tugged on Sasuke's lips as response.

The door opened and a dark-haired woman with a lavender dress walked in. "Naruto. We should get started soon."

"Right," Naruto stood up and adjusted his blazer. "Oh, Hinata. Would you mind accompanying Sasuke to his seat? I told ya about him, remember?"

"Of course," Hinata made her way toward them and offered her hand for Sasuke to shake. "Nice to meet you."

Sasuke shook her hand gently. "Nice to meet you too."

"Alright. Kiba, let's go. Sakura, TenTen will be here shortly. Greeting her is your job."

"Got it," Sakura nodded.

"Shino, Konohamaru's team is yours. Make sure they don't screw up."

Sasuke squinted to see the man sitting in the shadows. He hadn't even realized his existence.

Naruto clapped his hands twice when Shino made a thumbs up and announced with a chipper voice, "Let's get this thing started!"