Chapter Ten: Of Kisses, Hisses, and Remisses
The party had been going as well as Sasori had hoped. From his midway point on the stairs, he got a great view of the living room guests and could even look into the kitchen.
A group of Sasuke's friends were gathered on the carpet playing spin-the-bottle; girls giggled, boys smirked. The low beating of music echoed throughout the house, drowning the noise. Everyone was happy, or so Sasori had perceived until he noticed Sasuke getting up from next to Itachi with his phone in his grasp.
Not surprisingly, Sasori noticed that Itachi had inconspicuously trailed after him, stopping short of the frame that divided the living room from the kitchen. The redhead shook his head; although many things were questionable when it came to Sasuke, he had never pegged the man as a nosy one.
Splaying his elbows against the beautifully crafted railings of the stairs, Sasori leaned over for a better view of the kitchen when Sasuke reached a hand to open the back door of their house. "Huh," he murmured, resting his chin on an arm he had propped up, as he saw Naruto enter with an interesting look on his face. It was one that Sasori couldn't pinpoint straight away, but he was certain he'd seen it before.
Naruto had looked left and right, scouting out the place, before he leaned over to kiss his best friend; it was a short, chaste one, but it nevertheless made Sasori arch a brow. Sasuke had done a double take before grinning and shoving him away playfully.
Sasori, who was watching Itachi watch the interaction, was impressed with Itachi's self-restraint despite knowing that he desired nothing more than to punch the shit out of Naruto from the white-knuckled fists he was sporting.
It was clever, though, the way he dug his fingernails into the thigh of his dark-washed jeans, a tactic that Sasori admitted to have done a few times to ease, if not abate, his anger.
The redhead was forced to tear away from the scene seconds later to the consistent knocking on the door that, it seemed, no one but he could hear. Everyone that Sasori could think of was already at the party, so when he leaped down the stairway and swung open the door, he managed to school his surprise when he met the guest.
Neji, who stood on the porch in black slacks and a long-sleeved, lavender dress shirt that was rolled up to his elbows, was quick to grin at the redhead. "Sasori," he said, "you look like you haven't aged a day." Stepping through the threshold, he outstretched his hand and gripped Sasori's quite fondly. As an afterthought, he leaned forward and whispered, "Still just as sexy as I remember," smirking as his friend pushed him away.
"And I see you're still as much of a flirt, Neji," was Sasori's response, but the brunette with compelling eyes detected a hint of playfulness hidden beneath the monotonic reply and had to laugh silently inside for being the agent that provoked such a tone.
"Since you've already invited yourself in, Sasuke is in the kitchen with Naruto," Sasori said.
"Oh?"
Sasori hummed in response. "I imagine Sasuke spoke to you about him?" he asked.
"Of course he has," Neji said proudly as the door was closed behind him. "Sasuke dearest tells me everything. He tells me so much that it's like I'm his husband, and he's my bickering wife. Besides, I can always expect to hear from Itachi if Sasuke is too occupied."
Sasori didn't comment on that and believed that the brunette would have spoken much, much more if he had not spotted the older Uchiha across the room.
- H.J.-
It wasn't everyday that someone felt up Uchiha Itachi. Sure, many people have thought about it and even attempted it, but no one ever that Itachi didn't want touching him ever succeeded in doing so. But from where he stood peering into the kitchen, the Uchiha felt two strong hands gliding from his hips up to his torso. They were wandering hands, firm but casual in their kneading of every stretch of muscle they came across.
Immediately, Itachi gripped onto them in a vice, ceasing the movement, and pushed them backwards to their owner. Swiveling around, he had full intentions to pummel the brat who dared to touch him, but when he laid eyes on a familiar smug smile and glimmering, milky white eyes, he felt his anger dissipate as quickly as the touches were sprung upon him.
"My, my, my," Neji commented ruggedly, eyes slowly gliding up the length of Itachi's body until they came to rest upon his sharp, handsome features. "You look positively dashing, Itachi."
The mask cracked and Itachi chuckled at the teenager's antics to rile up his drive. "What did you expect?" Moving away from the wall, the Uchiha gripped onto Neji's hand in a shake and reached his other arm under the pit of his arm and pulled him in for an embrace.
"And such a powerful handshake," flirted the brunette, hot breath flourishing against Itachi's neck. "I must be in heaven."
The light trembling that racked down Itachi's chest indicated that he was laughing, and as he let go of Neji's hand and retrieved his other arm, the rumbling stopped and he placed a peck on his cheek.
"Such a delight as always, Neji. Good to know you didn't leave that behind in the States."
The brunette pouted. "Don't I get the grownup kiss, Itachi?" he asked, to which the Uchiha arched a brow and crossed his arms. "You know, the hot, messy one that will, quite possibly, steal my breath away?" As he asked this, Neji brushed his thumb along the ravenette's plump, lower lip and stretched his left arm so his hand was able to curve against the dip of Itachi's waist. While doing so, he seemed genuinely dismissive of Sasori's amusement evaporating from his position at the end of the stairway.
"I don't think that would be wise," Itachi said, although he didn't physically object to the brunette's advances.
"You're right," concurred Neji seconds later with a sigh, dropping his hands. "I'd rather not walk around here with a raging hard-on anyway. That would be most unwise."
The Uchiha smiled a small smile, seemingly aware of the effect he had on others. He used to receive such strong attention from people all around him before he was placed in an institution that forbade sexual advances. Except for Pein who had an issue with following the rules, he lived mostly away from public affection.
Not that Itachi minded the attention. He just preferred getting most, if not all, of it from Sasuke. But obviously that wasn't quite possible at the moment, as his Otouto had occupied his time by socializing with the blonde in the other room.
When Itachi returned from his reminiscing, Neji was no longer in front of him. The exclamation of "Hello, Sasuke!" caught his attention, and he, swiftly moving to the kitchen, was followed closely behind by Sasori.
-H.J.-
There was definitely a high-pitched shriek that echoed against the walls of the kitchen as Naruto rushed to put a vast amount of space between Sasuke and himself.
Sasuke blinked once and again, a clear look of confusion directed at the odd behavior written on his face, before it was smoothed out by Neji's action of placing eight kisses on his left cheek and seven on his right. Each kiss made a small smacking sound, akin to a "muah", and the boy laughed in glee. "You're leaving saliva on my face!" he exclaimed as he brought his sleeve up to wipe at his pale, soft cheeks.
"All given with love, my dear Sasuke," declared the brunette. Then, he whispered in the young Uchiha's ear, "Unless you want birthday licks instead… I'd be happy to oblige in an undisclosed location."
A blush rose upon Sasuke's face in embarrassment and lightly shoved the chuckling brunette away. "Quit it!" Sasuke whined. "Aniki, tell him to stop doing that all the time!"
Itachi chuckled and shrugged his shoulders as Neji raised his hands in surrender and smiled softly at the boy who could no longer meet his eyes. "Sorry, Sasuke. Sometimes, even I can't control what he does."
A small pout formed upon the Uchiha's lips, and he shoved his hands into his pockets in defeat. Maybe Neji's teasing was a bit too much for him. He was still a growing boy, innocent despite his past encounters.
Silence followed thereafter, and it was only broken when Naruto reached to tugged at the back of Sasuke's shirt, an indication that he was ready to run away. Making his way around the boy, Neji swung an arm around Naruto's shoulders, purposefully landing it heavily on him before Sasuke could let him dash off. "And what might you be doing sneaking around here?" he asked, tone changing from playful to serious.
Naruto swallowed, attempting to clear his throat, before he answered. "I-I just wanted to say Happy Birthday to Sasuke," he said, twitching in an attempt to shake the arm off of him.
"Couldn't you have just done that through a text or phone call?"
Sasori intercepted the question, speaking up for the first time since they all entered the room. "Neji, play nice," he warned.
Neji's eyes flickered briefly to Sasori's before registering the authoritative tone in his words. His eyes narrowed back on Naruto, and he smiled a tight-lipped, unpleasantly grim smile. "So tactically played," he commented. "What did you do to win Sasori's favor?"
It was Sasori's turn to narrow his eyes. "You're speaking as though he did something heinous."
"Well," Neji murmured in speculation, gripping at the boy's collar and tugging him towards him in a deceptively calm manner, "I do suppose that's another way to approach the situation: obscuring the facts from Sasuke's guardian." Ignoring Sasuke's widened eyes at his spontaneous aggression and attempt to pry him away, his eyes zoomed in on the struggling teen. "Don't get me wrong; I have the power to end you. I just haven't done it because that sweet boy begged me not to."
"What is going on here?" Sasori demanded, riled when his silent inquiry had not been answered.
"Why don't you ask him?" Neji grunted, shoving the blond before the redhead, whose eyes narrowed on him.
The brunette had successfully placed Naruto in between Sasori and an extremely irate Itachi. He backed up against the counter, thereby making sure his back wasn't against the guardian or the older brother.
"What is he talking about, Naruto?" Sasori asked, obscuring his thoughts with monotone words.
Naruto was made speechless at the question, prompting a response from Itachi.
"Yes, Naruto. Why don't you enlighten us about what you did?" Itachi was one step away from decapitating him limb from limb, but he held back. It was inconsiderate to kill Naruto on Sasuke's birthday.
Knowing that Naruto was tongue-tied, Sasori tilted his head in the younger Uchiha's direction. "Sasuke?" he asked, expecting an answer.
"It was just an incident in the past," Sasuke said, looking down at his fiddling fingers and avoiding his brother's increasingly intense stare. It scared him that Itachi said and done so little. Two years ago, he probably would have strangled Naruto to death or gone into the kitchen to select a sharp knife among other ones. But not now, no; now, Itachi was rigid as if unresponsive to outside triggers. It should have been a good thing; it would have meant that the institution did him some good, but Sasuke knew his brother. He could see the gritted teeth, hard eyes, and the white knuckles that Itachi tried to conceal beneath the pit of his arms.
"What kind of incident?"
No one opened their mouth, making an impatient Sasori more irritated by the second. The silence was broken by Neji who, by the second, was becoming more hostile.
"Rape." He spat the word out in disgust and, for the first time in his life, he noticed Sasori's enlarged eyes as anger and guilt were displayed openly on his countenance.
"It was a mistake!" cried Naruto, fearful of the foreign look on the redhead's face. "I'm so sorry, Sasuke!"
With those words, Neji lashed out. "You think that a simple apology will undo what you've done?" he growled. "I may have gone overseas, but I'm not ignorant. Sasuke tells me everything, and your despicable act didn't escape the conversation."
Naruto's features hardened as the yelling continued, and he tried to come to his own defense. "Obviously something did escape the conversation if he didn't tell you that Itachi became psychotic and raped him!"
Neji grunted, having known that the blonde would choose such a route. "Playing the blame game now, are we? So inconsiderate of you, to blame Itachi on Sasuke's birthday. What makes you think that Itachi didn't tell me his story, too? What makes you think I wasn't in Japan when I heard of it? But since you haven't had the nerve to do so since you noticed him, take a good look at Itachi," commanded the brunette. "Doesn't he look perfectly stable?"
Naruto was quiet.
"In fact, I think that I might be the psychotic one right now because I can't help but imagine the many scenarios in which you would die," said Neji, a wicked smile spreading across his face. It disappeared as quickly as it came, and the brunette pulled Naruto against him and whispered gravely in his ear, "You're a constant, living reminder of the pain he went through, and I don't want to ever see you around him again."
The blonde slumped down to the floor, and with his head bowed down, tears began streaming down his face. Despite this, Sasori, who had taken it all in, took deep breaths and pointed towards the door.
"Get out of my house."
The blonde pushed himself onto his feet, weaved around Itachi, and ran out through the back.
-H.J.-
When all was said and done, Sasuke was no longer in the kitchen. In fact, he had ran out as the argument became more heated and Itachi was brought into the mix. No one realized this, as the boy was light on his feet, until Naruto was gone.
"Where's Sasuke?" Neji asked, frowning.
"Probably in his room," Sasori replied, rubbing at his temple. "I think it's time to dismiss everyone and have a little talk with Sasuke."
"I'll do it," Itachi and Neji answered at once, but the redhead shook his head.
"It will be better if you two don't," he said, as he made his way to the living room to excuse Sasuke's friends.
Once the front door closed and they heard Sasori being let into Sasuke's room, Neji hoisted himself up one of the counters and Itachi did the same.
A tense atmosphere, the aftermath of facing the past, surrounded the both of them, but Neji gripped onto Itachi's shoulder in comfort.
"For an older brother and lover, you were quite mute," he said, knowing that Itachi had heard the silent question.
"It happens."
"Not with Sasuke."
"I know," Itachi sighed, head tilted downwards to admire the tiles.
"I can see the wheels turning in your head," the white-eyed teenager commented. "But you know what's the difference between him and you?"
The older Uchiha didn't bat an eye; he didn't even bother to respond, causing Neji to hop off the counter and stand before him. With two hands on each side of Itachi's face, he created eye contact. "The difference is Sasuke was in pain the entire time with him. With you, he said that, although there were moments of pain, he felt as though he was loved and wanted."
Itachi perked up at the news.
"Oh, and I believe the word he used to refer to how he felt was 'good," said Neji, smirking and adding a wink.
Itachi smiled at that. "You're quite the prince charming," he murmured, idly tracing the scar on his lower neck where Sasuke had bit him the first time they made love. It still ached, but Itachi loved the feeling- it made him feel warm and happy.
Neji grinned as Itachi hopped off the counter. "Does that mean I can have that kiss now?"
The older Uchiha tugged the brunette's and wrestled him until his back was flat against the refridgerator. With a smirk and eyes glittering in amusement, he leaned forward, arms on either side of the teen's head, till his lips were lingering right in front of Neji's.
"Remember the last conversation we had before you left?" As he murmured those words, his eyes flickered to Neji's and the two remained in eye contact.
Neji nodded, frowning lightly at the thought.
"I fucked up."
"Yes, I can certainly see that," was the taut reply.
Neji was mad at Itachi. Itachi knew. The tone of his voice was completely different from his normal playfulness.
"I accused Otouto of sleeping with you and choosing you over me."
"You're really going to do this now, Itachi? Take away Sasuke's only reassurance in the world? God, man," ranted the Hyuga, rubbing vigorously at his temple. "Why did you have to do it days before I am scheduled to leave Japan? What happened to waiting?"
"I'm sorry."
Neji sighed. It wasn't often that Itachi apologized or admitted his mistakes.
"I tried. I could have waited another five years, but with what Naruto did… I couldn't stand the thought of it. The pain just festered and grew."
"What support is he going to have when you're locked up with Clement?" Combing a hand through his hair, Neji, for the first time in his life, looked ruffled and less professional in his rumpled shirt and unwashed jeans. When he didn't receive an answer, another sigh escaped his lips. "I'm fifteen, Itachi. It doesn't matter that I've graduated high school or will be attending college soon. You know what that means? I can't file to be Sasuke's legal guardian, which means someone else will be assigned to him."
Itachi's head whipped towards Neji's direction. "You can't do that!" he argued. "He's mine. I need him with me. Other people will hurt him!"
"Not if Sasori accepts guardianship."
Itachi bit his lip, eyes wet with unshed tears. The thought of losing Sasuke to anyone else made him crazy.
The Hyuga exhaled, feeling the Uchiha's pain. Having been with the brothers for so long, he didn't hesitate to hug the older Uchiha. "He'll be alright," he murmured, placing a small kiss on his lips. "I'll be sure to check up on him daily."
"Why bring that up?"
"Well," whispered Itachi with a small smile, "I'm returning that kiss." With that said, he crashed their lips together, kneading and molding and quite positively stealing the Hyuga's breath away.
-H.J.-
"Sasuke," Sasori called out, catching a glimpse of the raven hair poorly hidden beneath the covers. Sitting down on the side of the bed, he laid a hand on the boy's head and patted down his hair. A pair of onyx eyes popped out from beneath the blanket and blinked up at him, prompting him to smile. "You're adorable."
Although half of Sasuke's face was still covered, Sasori could tell he was blushing. That speculation was confirmed when Sasuke sat up, allowing the covers to pool around his lap.
"Why didn't you tell me about Naruto?" asked a concern Sasori.
The ravenette played with his fingers and shrugged. "Everyone in the past who knew treated me differently, like I was fragile or something. Itachi and Neji got overprotective and became scary when I talked to others. I didn't really like it."
"I see. I can't say I wouldn't have done the same. You're a kind and special person, Sasuke. Forgiving has always been hard for many of us."
Sasuke laughed lightly. "Yeah," he agreed, "I thought as much. I mean, why can't the past be the past? Can't I just be happy that Aniki and Neji are back, and we three can be together again?"
"I understand. Grudges can be cumbersome," he remarked.
"I wish Aniki and Neji thought that way," sighed Sasuke. "I don't want them living with a grudge because of something that happened to me two years ago. It can get quite heavy after a while. What's the point of holding one if it'll end up hurting yourself, too, right?"
An unconfirmed "right" hung in the air as Sasori thought about how the young boy had grown. Sasori was over 20 years old and never had he arrived at such a conclusion, but the fact that Sasuke did was impressive.
"I'm happy that you've grown to be such an understanding young man, Sasuke. I'm proud of you," Sasori said, placing a hand on top of Sasuke's.
And the young Uchiha smiled sweetly in return.