After what I said about Sasuke and Sakura, I suddenly found my inspiration and just put up the first couple chapters, the fic called "The Beast's Flower". Anybody interested is more than welcome to check it out. :D

Chapter Ten

"Sasuke...I'm with child."

He was at a loss; he was more than aware that his expression was that of mortified surprise. Itachi...he was...is this happening?! Did I hear right, or am I still asleep and dreaming?

But the pressure applied to the back of his hand against his older brother's flat, toned stomach was proof that he was wide awake. The ridged surface beneath the fabric didn't show anything yet, so Sasuke was on the verge of assuming this was all a sick joke. He wasn't a medical ninja, so he couldn't tell from this way, and if word got out at the nearest village they would soon make way for, then this was bound to end downhill. Looking into Itachi's eyes, he saw no trace of deception.

"H-how?" he uttered, pulling his hand back, Itachi's warmth lingering in his skin. The Yokusuki, his mind whispered. The potion they fed us...was it more than just...? Or was it a seal that I never knew about? His brother seemed to read his mind.

"The seal released upon us," Itachi said softly, monotoned, "it was designed to ensure that we would bear children from one another. When we were finished, and you lost consciousness, I was still awake for them to explain the details. Remember they said they would take the Sharingan by force if necessary? Their other means would be to force two individuals upon the other to bring forth children who would carry the bloodline. They happened to consider inbreds, full-blooded, with the greater capability to shoulder the legacy of the Mangekyo Sharingan."

He felt his stomach lurch. Quickly, he sat up and bowed his head, heaving heavily, breathing through his nose. Kami...these sick bastards...they used us for their sick schemes, wanted us to be the vessels to bring forth full-blooded Sharingan users! He reached up and tugged at his hair out of frustration and pure loathing, disgusted with both himself and them - and at Itachi who was pregnant with his brother's child.

It was the thought alone that made Sasuke aware of their present situation. The child is ours...we conceived it together.

Reality kicked back in as quickly as it had gone. "Itachi," he muttered, raising his head and looking ahead at the fire pit that had died during the night, "how can this be? We're males; we don't have what women do, so how is this even possible?" He wanted this to be a dream, but seeing the hard look on his brother's face told him it wasn't.

"I'm afraid it's possible." Itachi's hands were still on his stomach, like he was protecting it.

"What's possible, gentlemen?"

Kisame looked down at them both with a raised eyebrow, having gone off to scout before he came back for them. He'd heard, but how much? And then the realization dawned on the shark man's face. "Oh, don't tell me that those bastards were right all along..." He slapped his forehead in dismay.

Itachi sighed. "I'm afraid so, Kisame." He then looked at his younger brother again, but Sasuke couldn't bear to look at him. Just one more problem to add to his list of recent troubles: what are we going to do now, now that a baby is coming into the picture?

One thing was certain: this child was made as a part of the Yokusuki's twisted, depraved schemes which matched those of Orochimaru's. Worse: the child was conceived through drug-induced incest. Even more: it was with his own brother, the one he swore to kill in hate and revenge for the slaughter of their entire clan.

Now it seemed another person - actually, group - was on the revenge agenda. Right now, it seemed he couldn't kill Itachi no matter how much he wanted to. But that did NOT mean he was forgiving him for the pain he caused Sasuke.

But he's carrying my child now.

He found himself looking at both hands caressing his covered abdomen - and he WAS talking about Itachi doing that habit. He was having an equally hard time as much as the younger was. Neither of them wanted this, but look now...Sasuke found himself thinking maybe this could be an alternative for them both. They needed this child; they could expand the Uchiha clan like this.

But the biggest question of all was HOW they were even going to make this work.

~o~

Sasuke didn't say another word to him when they both made their way towards the river together that morning. Itachi knew why; he was having difficulty processing the fact that they were having a child together.

He found himself looking down at his flat stomach as he pulled his shirt over his head. Sighing, he watched Sasuke begin to undress, turning his back to face his brother. The wrong time to look at him, especially after...but why can't I stop what I am feeling? The feeling in his stomach had to be more than just the newly formed baby; it fluttered and made him feel light. It had to be more than just the natural love he had for his baby brother while they were growing up.

Itachi looked down at the ground just as he was unbuttoning the front of his pants. This is wrong, but why can't I help it?

"Enjoying the sight, are you, Itachi?"

Sasuke didn't look at him when he spoke, standing tall and keeping his back - rather, halfway to him - to his brother. He'd seen him in their drug-induced haze, seeing scattered parts, only feeling, which was wonderful, but this time was crystal clear before his eyes that the Sharingan imprinted in its resting state.

"I'm seeing what I didn't entirely glimpse back at the Yokusuki hideout, which the Sharingan didn't see. I see what a man my little brother has become," he answered smoothly, finishing undressing and tossing the last of his garments off to the side so he matched Sasuke.

He took in every inch of his otouto, from the lean but defined muscles of his arms, down his back and his buttocks, thighs, and because of the angle Sasuke turned to regard him halfway, the elder glimpsed a tuft of the dark pubic hair between Sasuke's legs. He remembered before their lives fell apart - by his hand and Madara's - his little brother's structure was small and lightly plump, almost baby-like in appearance, devoid of pubes unlike his aniki, but nevertheless...beautiful. Then and now. Sasuke...my precious brother. Foolish and precious in one. His heart began to pick up the pace the longer he continued to look at Sasuke - before his throat was cleared.

"Are we going to bathe, or are you going to spend all day staring at me?" Sasuke asked irritably, turning all the way around and sauntering towards the flowing body of water before them. Offering the view of his shapely, firm backside which made Itachi smirk and follow.

Once inside, he relished the cleansing cold on his flesh. From the corner of his eye, Sasuke had the brief glance at his own body but gave no indication on the outside how he felt - but the Sharingan saw that he was wrestling with the pleasing sight. Hn, it seems I'm not completely wrong. Sasuke just won't admit it so easily.

However, a tiny part of his heart began to crack with knowing that Sasuke continued to hate him. But wasn't it Itachi who told him to, for his own good?

Another tear slid down his cheek, and he was aware of it. This time he wanted Sasuke to see. When the younger spotted, he went rigid in midst of splashing water over the front of his beautiful, well-toned body. "Itachi?"

He lowered his gaze to the water, glimpsing his face and the front of his own body. "Sasuke," he answered, choking now beyond his control, "I know you hate me for all of this, but I have yet to tell you the truth. I did everything to protect you...but now is a good time to tell you." I must; it's gone on long enough. Sooner or later, Madara will catch on. I've run away long enough, and I see now that if Sasuke does kill me, he will become far worse than I have. He turned his entire body to face Sasuke now, determined.

"I must tell you why I slaughtered our clan, little brother...why I wanted you to hate and kill me...why we must protect our child..." He put his hands back over his stomach once more, then stepped forward, surrounded by purity when inside both he and his otouto were far from it.

The look in Sasuke's eyes was no longer hard with denial, but eager to welcome what he had waited to hear from his big brother. It was about time, and they would face what it was together now.

~o~

Finally, they arrived at a village. He was beyond relieved to finally rest, even though he didn't really want to. Though it seemed Itachi was the one more relieved than he was. Sasuke snorted; he was barely a week pregnant and was already suffering the symptoms of extreme fatigue. What else was next? The younger had little experience with pregnancy.

And it begged how to deal with it involving his older brother of all people. And I'm the one who fathered it...

Sasuke Uchiha sighed and bowed his head. A great responsibility was on his shoulders now. He couldn't go back to the Leaf Village, where he was labeled just like his brother, broke off his trust and bonds, so Itachi was all he had left. And Kisame who was grinning as always; he was their lapdog now, was he not?

Akatsuki uniforms on his brother's part as well as his partner's were discarded for now, stashed away just to not give away who they were. Hopefully no one knew about the Akatsuki here in these parts, but this village might be some distances away from the Hidden Rain Village; if anyone knew them, then they wouldn't dare to cross them. There was also enough money in their pouches to last a month at most; Sasuke knew that they had to find work in here. What choice was there?

"Staying in one place long enough," Kisame was saying to the brothers casually, but his face was far from it, "isn't going to be good for our agenda, boys. Our only option is to keep moving when we sense trouble approach, capiche?"

"Like you need to remind us, Fish-Face," Sasuke muttered.

Said Fish-Face chuckled. "Keep talking like that, you feisty little runt, and Samehada will have your chakra as the next main course."

Not if I get to that sword first. He found himself looking over at his brother, one hand over his back while the other was still caressing his belly, causing him to roll his eyes. "Itachi, really, that baby isn't going anywhere."

Red eyes glared back. "It gives me immense pride, little brother," he said coolly, setting him off inside. "This is ours, remember? I never thought I would feel something like this."

Bastard, that child was conceived against our wills. I'm allowing it to live to expand our clan. How can we get married to females with our wanted statuses? This is only for the sake of rebuilding our clan, nothing more. He did not say those words, and since Itachi saw it all in his eyes, he said nothing as well. But the deeper Sasuke looked, he caught one such emotion.

Pain.

When had Itachi become sensitive? The building hormones. Who ever thought they would occur within a male?

"Oh, Sasuke, you really hit a nerve," the shark man sneered, snickering, but he ignored him.

The pain in those eyes...just like when he told me about the "truth"...

To learn it all that morning when Itachi told him he was pregnant with his brother's child hit him with a far greater impact than he remembered, or maybe he wasn't sure anymore which was worse than what anymore. Our father led the clan in a plot to overthrow the Third Hokage and Village Elders - he didn't know what to believe anymore, or even FEEL. All these years of...

Anger...

Rage...

Hatred...

Swearing to kill his brother for what he did, only to find out his duty had been to the village itself - no, he's a murderer! He tried to kill me as he killed our family; he took away everything I LOVED! He doesn't deserve...

But when WHY had Father conspired to do such a thing, enact a coup likely to throw the balance off, even though their numbers were about, the chances of winning fifty-fifty. Kami, I don't know anymore - and I still don't know how I can believe Itachi about Madara Uchiha.

And Itachi's story:

"He's an immortal man who is both my mentor and my comrade, Sasuke. He awoke the rare, special Mangekyo Sharingan. Long ago when he and his younger brother made themselves notorious for their fighting and visual prowess, awakening that power within by sacrificing those near and dear to them - but the more it is used, the quicker it seals and shuts off the light in your eyes forever. In other words: blindness. Madara himself endured the physical symptoms, confiding in his younger brother to help him, desperate for the light. He took both eyes from his brother and never again was at risk of the darkness he would have endured for the rest of his life.

"Not long after that did he begin his crusade to conquer one ninja clan after the other. He eventually allied himself with Hashirama Senju and his forest clan, the man himself later becoming the First Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village. Although Madara Uchiha clashed with his ally and was banished; some time later, he established an organization in the shadows now known as the Akatsuki. He's been plotting something far greater ever since then..."

Sasuke spited everything more than ever. But he pushed it all aside just to focus on getting himself, his brother and the shark a place to live. They found an inn in the village and allowed his pregnant brother to get them all in under aliases, but Sasuke didn't care what it was - for now - and wanted to just pass out, escape reality until it was just him and Itachi.

"Well, good thing that I got my own room across the hall, boys," Kisame said, bidding them both a good day before leaving them alone. Now Sasuke had the "peace and quiet" with his brother, but the air was far from peaceful when he found himself looking at the long-haired man who dropped his weapons and everything on the table and made way to sit at the windowsill, overlooking the land with a blank but content expression, both hands over his stomach which he never got tired of. Irritation forgotten, Sasuke realized it had been so long since he ever saw his big brother like this.

We're going to have a baby.

His body acted on its own, distancing his mind and rational thought altogether, and moved to stand behind Itachi who turned halfway and offered a slight, innocent smile. Onyx eyes met with his own, but no words were spoken. Suddenly, Sasuke found the urge to reach out and place his hand on Itachi's strong shoulder, and the other's came up to rest atop. Warmth coursed through their flesh and nerves, igniting the connection between them into something far greater than before.

But somehow, Sasuke was no longer afraid. For now.