A/N: Usually I don't write my reviews replies here, but here we have some things I think everyone should know:

MeiMeiaru8: Sorry! My bad! It's confusing sometimes, with not being a native English speaker and such. So as you wish: To all the people from America: Rubber means Eraser! (I had no idea of any other meaning - I'm completely innocent! *cough cough* x3)

LadyMartel4000: Yes, there will be ItaSasu – so technically there will be incest. But no yaoi/exciplit things in this story though! More like 'bromance' and such, but I can't reveal more now. I can promise a lot of gayness, though ^^

To everyone: Thank you so much for your reviews! It means a lot!
On with the story:

Chapter 7: What Are You To Me?


Kankuro took a deep breath and passed his cigarette to Temari. She adjusted her four mini ponytails for a moment before she nonchalantly received it.

"What is that fly doing here?" she asked as a little boy who barely reached to her waist approached them.

"Smoking is strictly prohibited", little Konohamaru announced with a scared, high-pitched voice. "Please quit at once or I'll have to report you to the principal."

Kankuro snorted scornfully and sent him an annoyed glance. "I'm not afraid of the principal, you little shit."

His sister calmly took another breath and inhaled the smoke deeply. "Go back to kindergarten, kiddo."

"I'm not in kindergarten! I'm in third grade! If you don't quit smoking I'll have to report you", Konohamaru yelled. "I'm the grandchild of the president, so it's my duty –"

The older boy swiftly reached out and grabbed Konohamaru's shirt and lifted him up. "I don't care if you're the grandchild of God; I smoke as much as I fucking want. Don't act cocky or I'll crush you like a fly. Do you know who I am? I'm Kankuro of the beaten brats and I rule this schoolyard."

The blonde girl rolled her eyes. "If we get caught, remember that I had nothing with this to do."

"Put me down!" little Konohamaru yelled. "I'm the grandchild of the –"

Kankuro laughed whole-heartedly.

"Stop it! HOLD IT RIGHT THERE! DON'T YOU DARE–" Naruto shouted as he came running towards them, closely followed by Konohamaru's two friends. Suigetsu and Karin followed soon after and last Sasuke.

"Look, reinforcements", Kankuro scorned. "Now the kids can get together and play."

"Konohamaru is like a little brother to me! If you hurt him, you're screwing with me!" Naruto announced and rushed over to them.

Karin started up a glare competition against Temari. Sasuke stood in the background, bored, with his hands in his pockets and nothing else to do.

"Let go of him!" Naruto repeated angrily. He hurried forward but the large boy in front of him pulled his fist back and raised it to punch Konohamaru, who was wriggling like a scared bunny in his grip.

"Do you understand!?" Naruto shouted. "If you hurt my friend, the war has begun!"

"Your friend?" Kankuro laughed and lowered his hand, distracted by the people in front of him. "You mean your pet? He looks like a little hamster, crouching in fear for its predator!"

"Even if he was a hamster, I wouldn't let you touch him! I mean–"

"I'm not interested in listening to your rambling. When I'm done with you guys, you won't be able to speak anymore."

Realizing that it was a hopeless cause, Sasuke picked up a stone in the next moment and threw it at the older boy. Kankuro froze when it hit his hand and dropped Konohamaru.

"Disappear from our school." Sasuke's voice was cold.

As the youngest boy was helped to his feet by Naruto, the black-haired boy received many glares for his little "rescue action." Suigetsu sent him a somewhat annoyed glance as Karin started to squeal in the next moment: "You're so cool, Sasuke!"

"Naruto nii-chan, you're not as cool as Sasuke nii-chan. He always scares the bad guys away!" Konohamaru yelled to a rather pissed-off blonde.

Kankuro wasn't pleased either. He took a malicious step forward and glared daggers at the black-haired boy. "'Disappear from our school'", he imitated Sasuke angrily. "Who do you think you are, you foolish little prick? To mock me… Kankuro…"

Sasuke didn't feel an ounce of fear, though. Maybe his arrogance had gotten the best of him, but he just wasn't the one to fear anyone. He just pulled his hand out from his pockets and measured Kankuro with his eyes. He was not into physical fights, but apparently this boy was not going to accept any battle based on only cold words.

"Why do we always have to kick the hot guys' asses?" Temari asked carelessly and put out her cigarette. "Remember, I'm not going to take the blame when that kid is lying in the hospital with a crushed spleen and poison in his veins."

Kankuro pulled his sleeves back, slowly and dramatically. "I'm going to punch you until you're nothing but a lifeless doll", he snarled to Sasuke. "Then comes the poison."

"He sounds like Sasori-sensei", Moegi whispered as she and Udon together with their friend Konohamaru crouched behind Naruto, who looked as he himself was about to piss his pants.

"Take it easy, okay? There's no need to -" Suigetsu tried nervously and stood in front of Karin. Sasuke was the only one unmoving.

"You've got nothing on us!" Karin hissed and glared at Kankuro and his sister behind her boyfriend's shoulder. Then her gaze turned to Temari. "I've got a bigger chest than you anyway."

Rage flashed in the blonde girl's eyes for a moment, but she outwardly kept her cool. "You wish", she said nonchalantly and examined Karin, who literally was about to explode with anger.

They were interrupted by the call that told everyone that the next class was starting. They started to withdraw from the schoolyard, relieved. Kankuro stood right in front of Sasuke and grabbed his shirt threateningly. The younger boy still didn't react as he was shaken rather roughly.

"Next break, you're dead. I rule this schoolyard, got it?"

Sasuke didn't move his gaze away and he still didn't show a single emotion. Kankuro finally let go of him and angrily watched as the younger students made their way back to the school.

"That annoying brat", he muttered. "But I will make him pay."

Suddenly something heavy hit him from behind. He was barely aware of Temari's scared gasp. Kankuro saw stars and as he hit the concrete, he could feel another hit to his face that made his mouth fill with blood. Automatically he spat it out and then without thinking wiped his mouth with his sleeve. As he struggled to get on his feet, he realized with an ice-cold feeling that was creeping down his spine that they were not alone.

The voice he heard next was not angry, but it held a confidence and a threat that was both intimidating and aggravating. "If you're interested in keeping your life…"

Kankuro received the final blow with open eyes, and all he saw was two dots of glowing red in a pale face surrounded by black hair.

"Stay away from Sasuke."

xxx

Kakuzu dragged his aggravated and blood-soaked partner across the school-yard. Moreover, Hidan had a sword driven through his chest but that didn't seem to affect the Jashinist.

"For the last motherfucking time Kakuzu, I'm not fucking unfaithful with Jashin!"

"Why do you always bring this up whenever we need to discuss something?"

"Not my fault, you dickhead. Here I was, trying to sacrifice myself for Jashin's sake, but apparently he didn't like the amount of people I sacrificed before to make Him happy."

"You're starting to sound like Deidara. Why don't you go together and blow people up to please your 'God?"

"Personally, I can't stand that motherfucking blonde whore. And I fucking love pleasing Jashin, you know that."

"Which proves you're unfaithful!" Kakuzu snarled.

"For Satan's sake, Kakuzu! Cut that fucking shit out – how am I supposed to fuck my own God? – and you know that I'm–"

"You're what?"

"Never fucking mind." Hidan suddenly spotted Itachi on his way back into the school.

"Hey you! Hottie, are you a guy or a chick? I don't mind either though–"

The black-haired man didn't turn around. "I'm not in the mood, Hidan" he said, supporting the statement by seeming prepared to kill everybody within a ten yards radius. "Save your death for another day."

"Well, you look damn similar to a gurl!" Hidan shouted after him. Kakuzu put his hand over his mouth. "Last time you said that to him, you ended up in a hospital with every bone in your body broken", he grumped. "Can't you be careful even for once?"

Hidan struggled to pull his hand away and let out a flood of muffled curses. "Well, the only fucking bone he didn't break was my boner."

"Shut up or I'll kiss you."

"What… did you fucking say, you motherfucker?"

"Er… I said 'shut up or I'll kill you.'"

"Well, it didn't fucking sound like that, 'Kuzu."

.

"Do you know a bit better now how this works?" Itachi asked kindly. Sasuke nodded. "Yeah. I've learnt so much these… how many times have we been having these kinds of lessons?"

"Only three times", Itachi replied instantly. "I'm expecting to teach you some more, though."

Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Am I below average?"

Itachi smiled and swept one of his bangs out of his face. "No, not at all. I'm rather thinking about helping you out some extra so you can deepen your knowledge."

After a moment he added sincerely: "I like teaching you; you learn so fast."

It was late afternoon and they sat side by side in their empty Math classroom with Sasuke's Math book and his writing pad as the only company. Sasuke didn't think it was uncomfortable to be so close to Itachi anymore. He stared at his teacher's slender hand and reached out before he could stop himself.

"Your hands–" he began.

The man looked at him with slight surprise. "What about them?"

Sasuke didn't answer. Silently he let his own pale hand rest beside Itachi's. The silence seemed to vibrate in the room as they stared at the desk in front of them.

Their hands were identical. The only difference was Itachi's slight darker skin color, but it was hardly noticeable. Everything – from every single curve of their nails, from the form and the slimness of their fingers, the way their fingers spread – it was the same.

Sasuke could feel that the man was looking at him, but suddenly he couldn't turn his head to read his face. Maybe he didn't dare to.

It must not mean anything, he thought. Hands look very similar in general. But this similarity… it was as if someone had limned Itachi's hands and then given the same features to Sasuke.

Sasuke sat next to the elder, and he was dying inside. Dying to touch his teacher's hand, to feel that smoothness against his own skin… dying to look into his eyes again. But he was ashamed. Itachi must realize how sick he was to feel this kind of twisted attraction towards his own teacher. Maybe he already knew.

But how could it feel so familiar to be by his side?

I have met you somewhere before… I could swear on it. In the deepest depths of my mind, far away, somewhere in the dusty corners of my blurry memories… maybe even before I was thrown into this world… before I had seen the light of the day…. You were there. It feels like… I've known you for all eternity, and beyond that. Long before I knew myself, before I got my life… it feels like you were there, protecting me… even when I was so small that one would need a microscope to see me.

And yet, I know that it's impossible. It's absurd.

"What are you thinking about?"

Sasuke looked up and – damn it – his cheeks just had to choose that moment to glow like a traffic light. In the light falling in from the window Itachi was glowing more than he had ever seen him do before. The younger boy shook his head in a fruitless attempt to clear his mind.

"It's impossible", he spoke out, knowing that Itachi didn't understand what he meant. "It can't be." How can I have met you before? I didn't even know about your existence a month ago.

The man smiled and his hand, still resting on Sasuke's bench, came dangerously close to the younger boy's fingers. "Things that you thought was impossible can turn out to be more possible than you think."

Sasuke leaned closer, spell-bound by the man's voice. "I don't know why I'm spending time with you, when I don't have to. But I just want to. And I don't know why. Mom would kill me if she knew. I mean, I don't know you and you're so much older, but still it feels like… I've known you for my whole life."

He silenced and looked at Itachi. "Is something wrong?" Dammit, I shouldn't have said anything at all. He probably thinks I need to go to a mental hospital.

"Sasuke" - the young teen loved how he said his name - "how is your mother doing?"

Sasuke froze inside. What kind of question was that, out of nowhere?

"She's fine", he answered when he had recovered a bit from the surprise.

Itachi sent him a gentle smile. "That is good to know."

Sasuke tilted his head to the side, confused. "Why?"

Itachi chuckled. "How forthright you are. You're rather foolish, Sasuke. But I guess it's a part of your charm."

A part of Sasuke was glowing inside with happiness. The one that had fantasized about something like that for so long wasn't even shocked. While that happy part of him couldn't understand that Itachi had said something like that – "It's a part of your charm" – it must have meant that Itachi felt something for him too, right?

The other part was a bit pissed – to be called blunt like that. He pouted instinctively, like he always did when he was huffy. He did not understand why Itachi said so strange, unexpected things all the time. And he could never seem to answer Sasuke's questions.

But when he saw the man's tender smile he forgot to sulk. Itachi must see the two parts inside the younger boy colliding in his eyes, but yet he just smiled. Sasuke leaned closer, not knowing why he felt so strong feelings towards the other.

"Just answer one question of mine, Itachi."

"What do you want to know?"

"Why do you treat me like this? You never talk with any of the other students, and you never smile at anyone besides me. But you …"

Itachi reached out and carefully touched Sasuke's hair. The younger was frozen, shocked, and he could feel his body react with heat and tension as well as dizziness.

"I'm… fond of you, Sasuke."

The younger boy watched the warm, caring expression on the man's face and he couldn't even reach a higher happiness. He couldn't believe it actually was happening, but the almost painful feeling of his heartbeat all the way up in his head reminded him well enough that it was. He hardly dared to breathe as Itachi carefully cupped his chin in his hand. He loved this moment, but somewhere inside of him he knew it wasn't moral. They were two boys, to begin with…

What he felt right now could only be pure attraction. Could such strong feelings really exist? But after all, he was the living evidence. He took a deep breath and Itachi's unique scent filled his heart. He leaned up, not wanting to wait any longer. Fuck morals.

"No, Sasuke", came the soft but firm reply. Itachi's eyes were strained and he lowered his hand again.

"What…? Why not?" the younger boy asked angrily. His pout returned unconsciously.

"We can't… I can't. And it's rather late. Now you should go home before your mother becomes worried."

"I'm not a kid, goddamn it!"

Suddenly Itachi looked very amused. He leaned over until his lips were right at Sasuke's ear. "Yes you are", he teased. The younger boy was frozen and he felt how his whole body was drenched in tingling feelings. "A rather foolish one, moreover."

Sasuke angrily took his bag and left the room.

.

Itachi stood up and leaned against the wall. He pictured Sasuke in his mind, how he made his way out of the school in that adorable huffy mood.

Sasuke… his sweet little Sasuke. His heart was strained but it did what he forced it to do; to suppress his own feelings. He lifted one of his hands and carefully caressed it with his other, pretending that he could finally get to touch Sasuke for more than a moment… to be able to touch him, just touch his hand or stroke his hair, without having any reason to. All these years of longing… of yearning, of dying, of suffering… Sasuke was his light and would forever be. He never would have known it was possible to get so attached to another being, if he hadn't been for these past weeks.

The past years Sasuke had only existed as a far away goal, a mirage, a dream. And now he was here… he had taken shape and Itachi's attachment to him had almost turned to some kind of obsession. And his mother... Words couldn't describe how much he missed her. Her unconditional love and care, something he had been living without for what seemed an eternity. But at least, Sasuke had it.

Itachi closed his eyes and let out a slightly trembling breath.

Fugaku was furious; he was red in his face and he glared daggers at his family members. Sasuke sat on the floor, helpless and scared, when the man advanced on him and roughly lifted him up. The baby yelled to high heaven and Itachi rushed forward to save him while Mikoto continued to beg and plead, crying. Fugaku shook Sasuke roughly while the baby continued to scream. Itachi was white in his face from anger.

Don't you dare…to touch him!

Sasuke squirmed wildly and his little face was covered with tears, but he stood no chance against his father's strong arms. Itachi didn't know what happened, at first he was only rushing towards them, a second later he had Sasuke in his arms and Fugaku took a step back, shocked, with blood running from his mouth. It soon turned to mad rage however, and Itachi had no choice but to flee. Sasuke clung to him with almost suffocating force, terrified.

Itachi rushed to the bathroom and locked the door; the only safe destination he had right now. He could hear his father's heavy steps following, and a heavy pounding on the door. But he knew that he was safe – for the moment. He sank down on the floor and realized that the two-year-old had wet himself from fear. The front of Itachi's shirt was wet and warm. He hugged Sasuke tightly anyway and tried to calm him down. He kissed some tears away from his brother's little face but it wasn't doing any good, because he himself felt the need to just cry his eyes out.

Kill me, anyone. Right now I just want to die.
I can't take any more fighting. There's always something that comes between. Why does it have to be like this? Why can't we be an ordinary, happy family?

Why can't it be like that?
This is supposed to be love, but it's tearing us all apart. And Mom is out there with him -

Realizing that he had let his guard down for some moments, Itachi was yanked back to reality when he heard a cheerful voice: "Earth to Itachi! Hello, watcha doing?"

Grief was clouding the black-haired man's eyes as he slowly opened them. He took a deep breath to collect himself and then turned his empty gaze towards Kisame.

"You know, this school is really creepy! I met a really weird French guy on my way here, and he immediately assumed I was Norwegian or something because of my skin color, but when I tried to explain that fish is actually known in other places of the world too, he started talking about preys and predators during the Second World War! I can only say one thing – if I were his pupil, I'd run away faster than anyone can say the world 'baguette'."

Itachi was in his own thoughts, completely absorbed by one person. Sasuke… I know you're confused. And you'll be hurt when you find out. But I won't lie to you anymore. You deserve to know.

Kisame looked around in the room and grinned. "My, my. I must say I'm surprised. I thought you'd be the one to not give a shit if your students lived or died, and yet you're having so many private lessons with them that you don't even have time to hang out with me anymore. "

Itachi kept his emotionless façade as he collected his things. "Only one", he said. "And in the current situation, hanging out with you is not my top priority."

"Hey, not like you to be so mean. I thought we were buddies, man."

"Things can change."

Kisame chuckled, unfazed. "I know you far too well to get hurt by that, Itachi. And you should really work less; you look like you haven't slept for days."

True. "Thanks for the concern, mother." Not even Kisame could miss that sarcasm in his tone. The tall, shark-like man shrugged.

"You know, your mother should really have taught you better than treating your friends like this. Here I came to ask you if you wanted to go out and drink, like old times, but all I get is this time-of-the-month behavior."

Itachi looked at him for the first time this evening but it was not a friendly glance. He chuckled dryly without any humor and picked up his bag. "You should know, Kisame, I never had a mother", he said and left the room.

.

Sasuke walked home, feeling both dizzy and overwhelmingly happy, and his grumpiness was soon forgotten. He replayed it all in his mind over and over again, how Itachi had cupped his cheek so tenderly… and how close they had got all of a sudden.
When his mother asked him how school had been, he actually cared to give her a little bit more information than usual. When she hugged him he hugged her back, for once not feeling suffocated by her presence.

He lay in his bed, feeling so strangely happy. It felt as he had been waiting for Itachi all of his life. Suddenly, tomorrow couldn't come fast enough. Itachi must touch him again!

I'm fond of you, Sasuke….

He remembered what happened earlier today, before his private lesson.

The blue-haired woman left Pein's office with a dazzled expression. Then she noticed Sasuke, who was sitting in the couch in the waiting room, distractedly skimming through 'God News'."

"Do you want to speak with the head-master?" she asked warily. Sasuke shook his head. "I just need somewhere to be right now", he muttered.

Her amber gaze lit up a bit when she recognized him and she got a motherly expression on her face. Konan sat down beside him although he tried to show her through his facial expression that he wanted to be alone.

"Is everything alright?" she asked.

Sasuke barely glanced at her and continued to clutch his head. "What does it look like?"

She sighed. "You look like you know what you're feeling, but you don't know what to do with it."

He stared at her. "How –"

"It was the same thing when I fell in love with Naga- I mean Pein", she told him. "I was so lost until we realized what we felt for each other."
"You – and the headmaster?" God, Naruto and Suigetsu would kill to get their hands on that classified information.

Konan just nodded.

"You're not asking who it is?"

"That won't help", she answered simply. "But remember that you can't wait forever. That special 'someone' won't wait either. 'If Moses cannot come to the mountain, the mountain will come to Moses' does not apply here. You have to get moving."

"Wow, that really made me feel better", he muttered sarcastically.

She smiled a bit. "I think you should let that someone know how you feel. Show it. What can you lose?"

"You mean, what can I lose if I don't tell… that someone?"

"Only your mind. And happy sleep… peaceful nights with your love…"

"I'm only thirteen, cut it out!"

"Sorry", she laughed. He had never seen her so filled with emotions before. "It's worth it, Sasuke. You need someone to love you and take care of you, and I can only wish that person luck for making such a good choice."

Sasuke soon fell asleep with a smile on his face. He slept better than he had done for months. He breathed slowly, crouched up to a small ball under his blanket as usual. Right now he dreamed that Itachi was by his side, slowly caressing his forehead as he leaned protectively over him.

The air smelled like love and Itachi's strong, yet kind energy had filled his heart. How long he had waited to find someone like that… to feel this way. Konan was right. Sasuke needed someone to love, and Itachi was the right one for that purpose.


Please tell me what you think!

Many thanks to my beta Bonnie-san for this and the following chapters! ^^