Disclaimer: I don't own nor have I contributed to Naruto in any way! Nope! None!-
Sky-eyed Kitsune: Well our sequel is finally here now on the day promised, so I don't want to hear any complaints! ;p
Pairings: sasunarusasu, peinnaru (these are our main pairings that we will be focusing on but there are also other little side pairings as well.)
Warnings: shounen-ai, fluff, violence, strong language, sexual themes, lemon and lime (lemon explained in profile), yaoi (malexmale), drugs
Let it be known that for the beginning of this story I will be replying to reviews that have more than one sentence. But again, the problem is that I tend to get so many that I don't have the time to respond thoughtfully to them all. So I'll be replying to any feedback while the number of them are still small ^^
Replies:
To bluegirlami21: Thank you once more for one of your ever so lovely reviews! Hmm yes, Naruto being with Pein could actually hurt more than help. And how real could such a love possibly be when Naruto's identity is a lie? Pein is most certainly being fooled by loving a shadow, but what if he met the real Naruto? Would it be possible for him to love the real him? Itachi is very complicated right now and I applaud you for trying to make sense of him, but at this point I'm leaving alot to the imagination for special reasons...thank you! I really try to keep Sasuke in character throughout the fic. Perhaps Naruto's self-destructive behavior will catch up with him? It's true, he really does need to man up, but perhaps that's a stretch for him in his given broken state? You flatter me so! I adore your reviews and hope to keep receiving them!
To EnnaGirl: Yep! You got it! Aw, I'm so honored for your praise! Oh thank you so much- I try very hard to keep everyone in character! I also fantasize about Itachi and Naruto in my own fic...I've flip-flopped the thought around in my mind, but unfortunately they are just not meant to be in this fic...but I do love itanaru to death!
To The Ice Mistress: Thank you so much, I know it is sad, but I promise a happy ending!
To Petite Pixie524: I couldn't resist the tempting cliffhanger, I'm so sorry!
To Uchiha Sasaki-chan: You got it right, it's Sasuke!
To Misuki Miko: ((whimpers))
To StellaLuna4: Read! Read to your heart's content!
Thank you to everyone else that reviewed! I am so honored!
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Chapter Seven: Pinned
"If you stay, I would even wait all night
Or until my heart explodes. How long?
Until we find our way in the dark and out of harm
You can run away with me anytime you want."
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.
.
Stupid Itachi. Stupid, stupid Itachi being so calm and collected, even when Arashi had trashed Naruto in front of everyone.
Sasuke ripped his paintbrush across the canvas harshly, carving an inky black slash into the stark white background. He wasn't even painting anymore- he was blowing off some steam lest he escape and murder Arashi in his sleep.
He was beyond livid from the man's words. Sasuke knew that Naruto must have been turning in his grave at the harsh words spat about him.
"Ah!" Sasuke finally growled, throwing his palette and brush at the chaotic canvas, paint glopping everywhere.
He quietly seethed, balling up his fists to keep from shouting, and stormed from his room.
Stupid Itachi. Stupid Arashi. Stupid paint.
Sasuke's walk stilled as he heard voices from his brother's room, and upon looking behind him noticed the door opened a crack.
Sasuke weighed his options and, deciding he had nothing better to do, approached the door where the voices leaked from.
Sasuke felt bile curl in his throat as he saw Arashi sitting on his brother's bed, wearing Itachi's dark blue silk pajamas. Itachi stood in front of him, holding a bowl and spoon.
Sasuke inched forward for a better look.
A towel was draped on Arashi's head, water droplets clinging to his tan skin. Sasuke squinted a little as he noticed how loosely the pajamas hung off of Arashi's frame. The Uchihas were naturally well built with lithe but firm bodies; Itachi may have been taller than Arashi which accounted for the long sleeves and pants, but not for the way the fabric sagged on him like a skeleton.
"You keep eating. You'll starve to death otherwise," he heard Itachi say, and Sasuke felt his eyes widen a little.
Arashi turned his head away and Sasuke saw his brother grimace. "Eat!" he urged. "I can't let you die!"
"Why not? Nothing would change. Life would go on. Pein would get over it. Why not just let me?" Arashi said. "It's what I want. If I can't be with him, then none of this is worth it."
"Don't say that."
Sasuke had never seen Itachi fight so hard for someone, but why Arashi? Why was he so important?
"Besides…" Arashi chuckled, "…you wouldn't care."
Sasuke jumped a little where he stood as Itachi suddenly struck the man in front of him across the face, a sharp clap resounding throughout the room.
Arashi's head turned from the impact, but Sasuke could make out a sliver of a smile on his lips.
"Do you think you have some kind of obligation to keep me alive? Is it eating you away inside that you're keeping such a dirty little secret from him? From everyone?"
"Him?" Sasuke thought silently.
Sasuke could tell from Itachi's curled fists at his sides that he was loosing patience. Uchihas had never been good with patience, and his brother's was depleting rapidly. And when it hit zero sometimes things happened.
Violent things.
"You dumped me on Pein like garbage, just to hide the thing you were afraid of."
"I did not!" Itachi shouted, glaring at the floor. "I put you with them to keep you safe!"
"Because you didn't want to burden anyone else with me. I'm just some emotional baggage in the corner of your mind that you're trying to toss. You want me to just disappear, and I've done my best, but it isn't enough, is it Itachi?"
Sasuke flinched and cursed as the wooden floorboard creaked under his feet, Itachi grabbing Arashi and pinning him against the wall.
"Don't do this," Itachi said, Sasuke unable to identify his tone as desperate or deadly.
"I'm not your friend anymore," Arahi replied simply, and Sasuke could practically see the gears turning in his brother's head as he stood stock still. "Blame me, hate me, kill me; do whatever you need to look at me as who I am now, not what I was. If you want to pin Naruto's death on someone, then pin it on me."
Sasuke felt his breath catch in his throat.
Naruto's death was Arashi's fault?
"You can't help me, Itachi. I need to forget you." Arashi pulled Itachi's hands off of his pajamas. "Maybe it will make forgetting him easier for me too."
As Arashi turned towards the door Itachi caught him by his thin wrist.
Arashi looked back as Itachi glared at him heatedly.
"Let me go, Itachi," he said. "Let me, let Naruto, let everything go."
Itachi was taken aback a bit. He swallowed the lump in his throat and regained his footing. "I can't."
Sasuke also felt himself swallow what felt like a tennis ball. Itachi had never shown signs of mourning towards Naruto, never any regret or loss like everyone else had. Was he hanging on to Naruto's memory for a totally different reason?
Arashi pulled his wrist from Itachi's loose hold nonetheless.
"You think you're doing this because it's something that you have to. You feel that you need to hold on to the memory of Naruto for Sasuke, but those are the very memories, the very person you hate. Naruto is the one that buried Sasuke under a suffocating mountain of lost memories. Naruto is the one who you hide your hatred for under a mask of insincere concern."
Arashi turned his head to the door, and Sasuke felt himself gasp a little under his breath as their eyes connected.
He knew that Sasuke had been listening.
His eyes were cautioning, almost like a warning. If Sasuke didn't know better he would have thought that Arashi knew that something was about to snap.
"Naruto is the one who stole your brother from you."
Itachi lunged with an in distinguishable shout as the door slammed open.
"Itachi!"
Itachi felt a pang against his stomach as a pocket of air was pushed out, and he lost his breath as he slammed against the wall.
"Sasuke?" he coughed, realized that his bother had just punched him in the gut.
Sasuke stood in front of Arashi, quivering slightly from adrenaline but anchoring himself strongly to the ground.
"Sasuke?" Itachi murmured with surprise. Sasuke didn't respond. He quickly grabbed Arashi's wrist and pulled him roughly out the door, slamming it quickly behind him.
Naruto stood in silence as Sasuke locked them into his room, the raven panting from the sudden burst of energy.
Sasuke leaned his head down against the door as he caught his breath, his dark bangs hovering downward in his line of sight.
He finally stood after a minute of quiet, and turned his head to look at Arashi. The man's eyes were glued to Sasuke's many paintings in progress.
They were stacked messily on his desk and against the wall. Some were still indistinguishable, but others were nearly finished.
Half of them were paintings of Naruto.
"Itachi…how did you meet him?" Sasuke finally said, and Arashi turned. Sasuke noticed that he still had the towel his brother had given him laying over his head and guessed that the brunette's hair must have been wet.
"Why does it matter?" Arashi responded slowly, and Sasuke felt something snap within him. He tackled the man before him, taking him by surprise. Sasuke placed his legs on either side of Arashi to box him in, and pinned his tanned wrists down to the carpeted floor.
"Somebody fucking tell me something!" he shouted to Arashi, the towel halfway on and off his head, his dark, wet hair splaying over it messily.
Arashi blinked up at Sasuke, not even attempting to struggle. Sasuke couldn't understand how this man could just stare him in the eye and look right through him, as if he wasn't even real.
As if he were a ghost.
Sasuke adjusted his fingers that gripped the man's wrists and held him down, realizing just how thin they were.
He let his eyes wander further down the brunette's body, following the dips and ridges his ribs made under his brother's silky nightshirt.
Sasuke felt Arashi's hip bones dig up into his legs, and he couldn't help but soften his hold over the man.
"So, this is how you grieve," he murmured, and Arashi continued to stare back with empty eyes. Sasuke narrowed his own to him. "Tell me what's happening."
It wasn't a question, but a demand.
Arashi flicked his eyes up to the ceiling, blinking slowly. "Sometimes ignorance really is bliss, Sasuke." His gaze returned to the raven. "Some things are better left untouched."
"I need to know," Sasuke urged.
"Why?"
Sasuke paused, unsure of what to say. Why did he? What Itachi did with his free time wasn't his business, and Arashi's life didn't need to be explained in every little detail to him…why did he care?
"I…" Sasuke sighed. "I don't know," he said truthfully. "I just need to."
There was a brief moment of silence where Sasuke thought the world had never been so still. Arashi's eyes had closed and he remained motionless. So much so, that Sasuke questioned if the man was even breathing.
"After Naruto died," he finally murmured softly, his eyes remaining shut. "I met Itachi after Naruto died. I…needed help. I lost something, and a part of me didn't want to keep going anymore."
Sasuke stared down at Arashi's impassive face, his grip on the brunette's wrists falling away completely until his hands rested palm down on the floor. He hovered over the man, searching his face for…something, anything. A flicker of emotion. But it didn't come.
"Hold on…yea, that's what Itachi said." His lips curved up in a bitter smile and he shook his head lightly. "I told him that I didn't have anything to hold on to, so he found me something to." He opened his eyes and blinked up at the ceiling. "Akatsuki…Pein, Deidara, and Hidan. A dysfunctional family for me, I guess."
"Where was yours?" Sasuke asked quietly, and Arashi stared at him. His face portrayed nothing, but Sasuke could see all the pain and misery swirling in those emerald eyes. Years of being alone, of being lost, of people walking away.
The same eyes Sasuke saw when he looked in the mirror every day.
"I lost the closest thing to it," Arashi said.
"Naruto," Sasuke thought to himself.
"Itachi sent me off with them, and I never looked back."
"Why return now?" Sasuke said, his voice low and expectant.
"Because Naruto wanted me to take over his father's company. That's all I'm here for."
Sasuke's eyes suddenly turned harsh. "What was your connection to Naruto? What kind of relationship did you have?"
Arashi was quiet for a moment before shifting his eyes to the side. "It's complicated." He jerked a little in surprise was Sasuke suddenly gripped his wrists with a vengeance, hovering directly over him with an intense glare.
Arashi smirked a little. "You can be a little scary sometimes, Uchiha."
Sasuke felt a growl rise up in his throat but pushed it down.
"Were you lovers?"
Arashi snorted and chuckled dryly.
"Guess that means no," Sasuke figured. "Then what? You were obviously more than friends. You aren't…brothers, are you?"
"I guess that's close enough," Arashi sighed. "I'm tiring of this, Uchiha. Let me up."
"What's your last name?" Sasuke continued as if he hadn't even heard the man.
"Namikaze. Now get your fat ass off me." Arashi seethed a little as he repeated his demand.
"My fat ass, huh?" Sasuke said, and without warning moved his legs forward and plopped said bottom down on the brunette.
Arashi wheezed as all his breath was forced from his stomach to his cheeks.
"Uchiha," Arashi hissed dangerously, narrowing his eyes. "Get. Off."
Sasuke crossed his arms. "I know from that day we met at Naruto's grave that you can fight, and probably be a good match against me."
"So?" Arashi grumbled, frustrated.
"So, make me get off you," Sasuke extended the challenge blatantly.
Sasuke could practically see Arashi sizzle beneath him in irritation, and he felt himself smirk.
Arashi raised his arms and pushed Sasuke's shoulders, but Sasuke pressed himself downward and stuck fast to his position.
Arashi huffed as he released Sasuke's shoulders, and switched to moving his legs under the raven.
Sasuke felt like he was on some kind of deranged pony ride as he sprung and bounced on Arashi's stomach and said man thrashed beneath him, the towel on his head swaying with his movement. Sasuke almost wanted to laugh.
"Dammit!" Arashi growled in annoyance, his body going limp and head resting on the floor once more.
"Aw c'mon now tough guy," Sasuke cooed, thoroughly enjoying himself. "Can't do it?"
Arashi turned his head to the side and looked away from Sasuke.
"…no."
"Huh?" Sasuke said, expecting it to be a joke.
Arashi whipped his head back to glare at Sasuke.
"I can't."
Sasuke raised his eyebrows at the severity in his tone.
"You're kidding me, right?" His eyebrows shot higher as he saw a faint pink tinge creep over Arashi's face.
Sasuke would have normally laughed his ass off at the big bad Arashi and how pathetic he looked then, but he couldn't help but see the shame the brunette felt swirling in his green eyes.
Sasuke was broken from his thinking as the man he sat on coughed and Sasuke felt his stomach jump beneath him.
"You're emaciated," he concluded aloud, and Arashi didn't meet his stare. "You don't even have the energy to kick me off of you?"
"No, ok!" Arashi suddenly shouted, and Sasuke flinched a little in surprise. He stared down at the man he had pinned to the floor, his green eyes closed in embarrassment. Sasuke's eyes widened as the man's face came closer, his own body leaning forward.
Naruto opened his eyes as he felt something hovering close to his face, and he jolted a little when Sasuke's lips connected to his own.
Immediately he ached to fall into the sensation of those familiar, addictive, poisonous lips and make up for all the lost years…
Sasuke twinged in pain and fell back as Arashi kicked him harshly in the stomach. Sasuke's mouth hung open in disbelief as Arashi stood and gathered himself, unlocking Sasuke's door and flinging it open.
"Wa…wait!" Sasuke called, finally finding his voice as he scrambled to his feet and followed the brunette down the stairs.
"Arashi! I'm sorry I—my body just—" Sasuke was stopped short as the front door was slammed an inch from his face, Arashi's pained stare the last thing he saw.
We're moving along now! Hmm, could Sasuke be falling for Arashi? Or does a part of him see the Naruto in him instead? And what does this mean for Pein and Arashi's relationship? Tell me what you think!
Sky-eyed Kitsune