Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto & Co.
Chapter eight: The Unexpected
The light made his eyes hurt, but he finally managed to open them, although rather shyly, still with no control over the rest of his body. Kay snatched her hand out of Itachi's grip and stuck her tongue at him, her sharingan now deactivated. Sasuke didn't want his brother to see him like that, looking so... weak. But it was already too late. Itachi glared at him for one second, then he walked back from where he came from, Kay following him closely, growling angrily. Sasuke felt like nothing more than a tiny grain of sand in their eyes...
He only wanted to get back in his room without actually getting up to do it. If he hadn't known there was someone there who could comfort him he would have wished nothing more than death, but the thought of being greeted by Gaara, who happened to be in a very good mood that morning, no matter how cold and distant he was, was enough to chase that thought away. How much would it take him to get back to his room? Less than five minutes, hoping he wouldn't get lost on his way there, mostly because the first floor was not less than a labirinth of corridors.
If his mind had been working without any physical reaction of his body until then, now his feet moved without him, staggering towards the entrance as if he were drunk. His mind made no connection to the rest of the body he was supposed to control. What had affected him more? The fact that she was an Uchiha, that she had almost used her mangekyo on him to prove that he was nothing more than the shadow of a true ninja, his brother, or that he had lost the battle against what he had wanted so much to achieve?
Suprisingly, he didn't get lost and he was taken aback to see himself right in front of the door to his only shelter. And the knight in shining armour would come on his white horse to protect him? How silly he felt thinking about Gaara being the knight... Sasuke pushed the door open and closed it, going straight to the window to pull the curtains over it for the darkness much needed, then he threw himself on the bed and curled up in a shuddering ball of flesh and feelings. Both his flesh and his feelings hurt like hell.
The slight click of the bathroom door didn't even make him wink. The silence was so deep that if he had paid attention he could have heard Gaara's muffled steps approaching. The dark-haired boy didn't have time to realise that he was doing it on purpose, because Gaara's walking was always as soundless as if he were floating inches from the ground. A warm hand touched Sasuke's cheek, slender fingers playing with black strands of hair, exploring along the skin of his neck. He only closed his eyes: numbness had taken over him again. The air moved, bringing some warmth, which he recognised as his partner's steady breathing without actually thinking about it. Wet lips met his temple, a weak shiver rippling through his body in reply. The lips seemed to curve in a smile and Sasuke knew he had felt that shiver as well, that he was somewhat pleased about it. A strong arm sneaked over his chest like a snake, but didn't force him to turn around. The lips moved on his cheek. It was a nice way of persuading him to cooperate... but Sasuke felt himself too weak for that. It was not until Gaara's hand went under his shirt that Sasuke finally decided he was clever enough not to let those touches go away when he needed them so much. He could still feel the smile on the sand ninja's lips when he kissed him. He had probably been expecting him to give up so easily, but Sasuke knew he was like an open book to him.
"Well, that took long enough." Gaara sighed, when they broke the kiss for air, but Sasuke knew he wasn't talking about the kiss. "Guess that spar with Kay was a little more than you expected?"
"Yeah... sort of... I was right about her being an Uchiha."
"Then why are you so... not you?"
"You won't believe this... I have no idea."
Gaara shook his head with a sigh and leaned in to kiss him again, lovingly. It was Sasuke's turn to smile with a slight blush, thankful that it was dark enough for his lover not so see. He felt Gaara's chakra twist violently and the sand ninja made a sudden move to push Sasuke away.
"Are you okay?" he asked in confusion. "I felt..."
"I'm fine." Gaara replied coldly.
"Don't lie to me. You're not fine!"
"Shut up." he muttered under his breath, looking away. "You don't know anything about me."
"What's with this sudden change of attitude?" Sasuke frowned. "Wait... is it Shukaku? Is he..."
"No!" he hissed threateningly. "I'm okay."
"So, you're hiding something from me just like those two relatives of mine! I thought I could trust you!"
Gaara glared at him.
"I thought I told you before, stubborn he-goat. I'm going to tell you one more time so make sure you listen this time: you cannot trust me. If I should have to chose between your life and completing a mission you'd better start praying. I might not hesitate."
"Oh, you might not... I think I could get used to that. No one ever cared about me anyway."
"That's not going to impress me you know."
"Maybe I can't trust you, but you can trust me. You lied to me, right? It was Shukaku. What did he tell you this time?"
"None of your business."
"C'mon! You've just admitted it was Shukaku! Tell me the rest of it! It can't be that hard!"
"Shut up... or I'll kill you. You're wasting my time."
"I seem to be the one wasting everybody else's time around here!"
"Sometimes, you really are."
Sasuke glared at him, then sighed and went back to his bed, waving a hand at Gaara:
"Whatever... just don't pull those curtains, okay? I'm starting to have a headache..."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"You can let go of me now, Itachi. I'm not going anywhere." Kay sighed, making one last attempt to free her wrist from the man's tight grip. "You know I wouldn't have hurt him."
"Mangekyo, huh?" he hissed, turning around to face her. "I don't care about what you could have done to that foolish little brother of ours. At least he has finally learned his lesson."
"Then what's the problem?"
"Don't waste your sight and chakra on him. He's not worth it."
"I could heal your eyes if you'd let me to!" she protested, trying to snatch her wrist from his ferm grip again, but with no result. He only pulled her closer, his eyes piercing hers even if his sight was severely deterriorated and he probably couldn't see too much. "But... but you said you wouldn't let me... don't tell me you've changed your mind, 'cause I don't believe you."
"No, I haven't changed my mind. I still don't trust you."
"Oh, then what should I do to make you trust me before it's too late and your sight goes 'bye-bye'?"
"Spar with me."
"WHAT??? Are you nuts?!? All right, who are you and what have you done with Itachi?"
"Then don't do it. It's your choice."
She lowered her head and his grip suddenly softened a little.
"Listen... I do care about you. Whatever happened in the past should be forgotten. I don't want to be accepted by your clan anymore and I'm not trying to get closer to you for that... but we still have the same blood. I am your sister... or half of a sister... or... even less, but that doesn't really matter. I don't like to see you or that kid suffer. You don't deserve it and I know it. Why didn't you tell him the truth? He's old enough to know."
"He'll never be too old enough to accept it."
"I'm sorry, but I think you're wrong about him. He has the right to know! C'mon, give the kid a chance! I know he's a little scared now because of the mangekyo, but he'll get over it soon. I'm sure he'll be able to achieve it as well."
"By killing Naruto? Or worst, by killing his partner? I doubt that will ever happen. He's not like us. He doesn't really want the mangekyo or the truth he's supposed to be old enough to know. And... I don't want to remember the truth either."
"Okay, enough is enough: where's the real Itachi?" she smirked.
"I don't want to tell you."
"Is there anything you do want?"
"Yeah..."
She noticed the look in his eyes and a sudden feeling of guilt struck her. She should have told him she had the magekyo sharingan earlier. It could have been too late already. Kay didn't know why she wanted so much to heal his sight, but she was determined to do anything for the chance he was willing to give her. But something else was hiding behind that look.
"Fine I'll do it. I'll spar with you. Ready to do it now?" she asked and he finally released her wrist, giving her a slight nod. "Okay then. Let's go."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sasuke cried out with his face buried in the pillow and Gaara had to roll him over without being either kicked or punched and slap him over the face to be able to wake him up from whatever nightmare (daymare actually...) he was having.
"What the fuck-" Sasuke snapped, jolting in pain.
Gaara cursed under his breath, somehow letting him w he was already pissed off. The dark-haired ninja sat up, staring at him, breathing heavily while clunching to his shirt as if he wanted to tear his heart out of his chest.
"I..." he panted, managing to stand without staggering like a drunk man "... I feel... something's going on!"
"Things are going on all the time, Sasuke." Gaara told him in a low voice.
"No... something..." he muttered, striding towards the door.
"Where are you going?"
"Are you coming?"
Gaara let out a sigh of irritation, but followed his partner out of the room and eventually out of the headquarters, apparently heading towards the huge Akatsuki training hall, an impressive building dominating the training grounds. It wasn't a very nice weather for sparring outside so whoever decided they needed to relax by killing each other had to do it inside. Gaara stopped for a moment in the rain, feeling Shukaku growing impatient for some reason he didn't know yet.
Sasuke stopped, ignoring the amazing building which was very much the same with the one in which the chunin preliminaries had taken place. The two ninja facing each other in the middle of the huge hall were not fighting yet, but their chakras were twisting violently, almost visible around their bodies. He had never seen his brother like this, he seemed to have lost most of his inner composure, although his face was as expressionless as always. Kay wasn't smiling, like she used to when she was about to start another fight, she was simply gazing at Itachi with a fierce look in her eyes, no sharingan burning scarlet in their eyes.
"If you want to watch this, let's watch it from above. It will be much more interesting." Gaara told him, pulling him upstairs, from where they had a better view of the fight.
"Omfg... what are they fighting for?" Sasuke asked his partner, who merely shrugged, looking at the two with his arms crossed.
"Judging by their personalities, it's a miracle that they haven't killed each other yet. It was about time they had a serious fight."
"But what if one of them really dies tonight?!"
"Look at their faces. None of them is willing to give up easily."
The two chakras were now like two dragons biting at each other. Sasuke couldn't even control his breathing and he could feel Gaara's excitement bursting out in little sparkles of chakra and sand racing against his skin madly. He didn't know for how long he could stay there and watch his siblings gazing at each other like that. It was overwhelming.
