Kyousuke moves quickly through the village, trying to not let his imagination run away with him. He didn't know what was going on, and thinking of the worst wouldn't help matters any. All he could do was concentrate on catching up with his friend and calming him down enough to get the whole story out of him. Shaking his head, he sighs, trying to squelch frustration. He'd been wanting Itachi to talk to Sasuke, to tell him the truth so he didn't have to keep this secret from his friend any longer, and to help both of the men heal those soul deep wounds they carried around, but the timing couldn't have been worse. He didn't want it to happen in Konoha, because the longer Itachi stayed in the village, the greater his chances of being caught. Blushing faintly, Kyousuke ignores the fact that he'd have rather Sasuke not interrupted that first kiss more than anything else.
Pushing thought aside, Kyousuke runs out onto the practice field. He looks around, peering into all the shadows, looking for Sasuke. Finally, he looks up into the tree where Sasuke had had his own first kiss with the man he loved, and there he sat. Knees drawn up to his chest, arms wrapped around his legs, Sasuke looked more like a little boy than he ever had in the time Kyousuke had known him. Feeling his heart breaking at the sight, Kyousuke moves over to the tree and looks up at Sasuke. He wasn't going to move into the tree until he was sure it was ok with Sasuke. Clearing his throat, he calls out gently to his friend, trying not to startle him.
"Sasuke? Sasuke, can we talk?"
Sasuke jumps slightly at the sound of the voice from below him. He'd been so absorbed in his own misery, and his own thoughts that he hadn't even heard Kyousuke's approach. Lifting his head, he peers down out of the tree, picking out the darker shape in the darkness of the shadows below. Looking around quickly through the shadows, Sasuke determines that his friend had come alone and he relaxes slightly. At that moment he was torn between running from his closest friend, and throwing himself out of the tree and into Kyousuke's arms. He was terrified for Kakashi, and he needed to be soothed, to hear all of those comforting lies. But, he couldn't forget what he'd walked in on. His closest friend kissing his older brother. The man that had butchered their clan, leaving him a terrified mess. It all seemed so unreal to him. Tightening his arms around his legs, he drops his chin to his knees, saying nothing to Kyousuke, but trusting his friend to read his body language and know the invitation had been made. He needed some answers.
Kyousuke jumps up into the tree. He stands looking at his friend for a moment, unsure what to do. He wanted to comfort Sasuke and find out what was going on with Kakashi, but he knew that he couldn't until they at least partially cleared the air about Itachi. Taking a deep breath, Kyousuke settles himself on the branch near Sasuke, letting his legs dangle off the edge. He sits quietly, staring off into the dark trees around them as he thinks carefully about how best to handle this situation. He knew he had to tell the truth like he should have done from the very start, but there was so much of the truth now wrapped up in the story of what happened that night ten years ago that wasn't his story to tell, he had to be careful.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you Sasuke. I wanted to, I really did, but I was afraid I'd lose your friendship if you knew I was in love with your brother. I fell in love with your brother when I was quite young, and the years never dimmed those feelings. Even after that horrible night ten years ago, my feelings didn't change. For a long time I lived in denial about what had happened, but once I accepted it, nothing changed. I still loved him more than anything. Part of me died when he left me that last night, and that part of me stayed dead until he walked back into my life a few weeks ago. You remember that night? When you came to help me the way I helped you? I think that was the beginning of the downward slide to my lowest point. It was a few weeks later that Itachi came back again, finding me at my lowest point."
Kyousuke pauses, remembering how bad things had been that night, and how they'd only gotten worse as he heard Itachi's story, the truth hurting more that the reality everyone had been led to believe. Pushing these thoughts aside, Kyousuke glances at Sasuke, and seeing that his friend was listening carefully, he continued his story. "He told me he'd come back to correct the mistake he'd made when he left me all those years ago and a few weeks before when he came by my room to tell me to stop looking for him." Kyousuke pauses and looks down at the ground, not really seeing it. Shaking his head slowly, he resumes his story. "I'd seen him. In the village. I was out running errands one afternoon. I saw you and Kakashi walking along, so happy together and so oblivious of everyone and everything around you. I sank into memory after that. I was remembering the day Itachi came to me to tell me he had to leave Konoha. That was the first time I told him I loved him. That was the night your clan was killed.
"I caught sight of something from the corner of my eye that drew me out of my thoughts. I wasn't sure what I'd seen. Looking around the crowd I didn't see anything, so I delved into memory, and that's when I realized I'd seen Itachi. I was so shocked, for a time I thought maybe I was going crazy, but I didn't let myself dwell on that. Instead, I set out to find Itachi. I knew I'd seen him, I just knew it, and I was going to find him. After about a month, I gave up the search. It was clear that if he had been in the village, he wasn't anymore. Then one night he came to my room. I was so shocked, I couldn't think, didn't know what to do. He explained to me that I had seen him in the village, that he'd been coming back every so often over the years to keep an eye on you. He wanted to know you were ok. He told me that night that I had to stop trying to find him. He was afraid I'd draw attention to him. You know what happened after that. I told you when you came to see me that night.
"He came back after that, to make things right he said. And he explained to me why he had to leave me all those years ago. He told me the whole story about what happened with your clan. The truth, not what is commonly known. Sasuke, you've got to give him the chance to explain. Again, if you can't trust him, please trust me. Give him a chance. Just listen. That's all you have to do. Then, if you don't want to change anything, that's your decision and we'll both respect it, but Sasuke, I love your brother, and he loves me. That's not going to change. I hope that won't end our friendship, but if it does, then that's the way it will have to be."
Kyousuke falls silent and gives Sasuke time to think. That was a lot to go over, and he knew it. The younger man was already stressed out anyway, so it had to all be even harder on him. In the end, he knew Sasuke would make the right choice, he was a very intelligent man. Standing up on the branch, Kyousuke stretches himself, twisting and bending to work the kinks out of his body that sitting for so long on that tree branch in one position had caused. When he sits back down, Sasuke is looking at him sadly, but Kyousuke could tell that Sasuke had accepted the story and was going to allow Itachi to tell his story as well. Feeling himself almost sagging with relief, he moved over to his friend and wrapped an arm around his shoulders.
"Now, what's this about Kakashi? I've been worried sick since I realized what you'd said, but I knew you needed to be told the truth before I could try to be your friend, or try to find out anything about what was happening."
"Well, you know his team has been slightly over due on their return for the past couple of weeks. They expected them home by now, but no one really worried because the mission was so far away and was so intricate there was always the possibility that it would run longer than expected. But, tonight word came back to the village that the team Kakashi had gone out with had been found dead." Sasuke pauses, giving himself a few moments to allow the quaver in his voice to fade before he continues. "Kakashi is the only one they couldn't find, but there was so much blood, and the slaughter was so horrific that they don't expect he could have survived the attack. It was even suggested that he might actually be there with the rest of his team, but they just can't tell because... because..."
Kyousuke tightens his arm around his friend and shakes his head. "Stop. Don't think like that. Kakashi is strong. I don't think for a moment that he could be that easily dispatched. He is very likely hurt, but I'm positive he's still alive, and he'll return to you as soon as he can. You've got to be positive Sasuke. You can't allow yourself to give in to despair and negative thinking. Kakashi deserves better than that from you."
Sasuke nods his head, allowing himself only a moment more of self-pity and abject fear. He knew his friend was right. He'd known this all along, but he just needed to hear it to convince his heart and to silence his thoughts. Sitting up straighter, Sasuke squares his shoulders. Pushing aside his fears for his lover, Sasuke turns his attention to something equally as frightening. Chewing at his bottom lip, he allows himself only a few moments of doubt before reminding himself that he trusted Kyousuke with his life. He didn't miss the irony of that fact that at that moment he was doing exactly that. Taking a deep breath he looks over at his older friend.
"He's still at your place? He's waiting for me isn't he?"
"Yeah, he is. I told him to wait there. You both need to talk. Go to him Sasuke, and listen. It'll be hard to hear, but you need to hear it, and he needs to tell it."
Sasuke stares at his friend curiously for a few moments more, then just nods and jumps down from the tree. He stretches briefly, then sets off in the direction of the village. Kyousuke sits in the tree for a few moments longer until he realizes just how long he'd sat talking to his friend. It was nearly time for the sun to rise. Smiling to himself, Kyousuke jumps down from the tree and heads off to his favorite spot on the wall surrounding the village to watch the sun rise. For once he wasn't going there because he was troubled, but just to enjoy the beauty. There was too much ugly in the world right now, and he needed this simple beauty. Chuckling softly, Kyousuke admits to himself that he also needed to have something to do to give his friend and his love the time they needed to talk. Kyousuke thought that after tonight, things could only get better, not knowing just how wrong he was.