A/N: About Sasuke and the caffeine thing in the last chapter... well, when I first thought it up, it was supposed to turn out funny, but somehow ended up being a little sad, instead. o_O Sasuke's uncontrollable shaking got to me a little bit.

That aside, Sasuke's becoming a bit of a nervous wreck, ne? I guess Naruto was right about him not being able to handle emotional overload.

.:Things_Wanted_Taken:.

"I never got your hoodie back, did I?" Sasuke mused the next morning over breakfast ramen. Seeing as it was an unspoken deal that Naruto would be hanging around with Sasuke a lot in the next few days, they had grabbed more ramen than needed the night before while at said Uzumaki's apartment. As expected, the blonde dobe's kitchen cabinets had been crammed full with a colorful rainbow of different flavor ramen cups, and so taking about a week's worth of them was not a problem. However, seeing that, when it came to ramen, Naruto ate an ungodly amount more than any normal human being should - and Sasuke blamed it on the Kyuubi - they would probably have to go back after school this day to get some more.

And yes, they were actually going to school today. As much as Sasuke despised the place, it at least gave him something to do and an excuse to keep an eye on Naruto for a while longer.

Naruto blinked in surprise, running a light blue towel through his shower-wet hair, and laughed suddenly. "That's alright," he replied. "I don't think I'll miss it." He sat down at the table to slurp up his instant noodles, and grinned widely. "And to think this whole mess started with that damn hoodie." Though Naruto was nauseatingly talking with his mouth full again, Sasuke had to admit that the dobe made a fine point. If not for the hoodie, Sasuke wouldn't have accidentally blurted out that he'd been with Itachi.

It was actually kind of convenient that Naruto and Sasuke's apartments were so near to one another. It made the fangirls less suspicious whenever the two rivals ended up walking to school together. Not to mention the fact that, if Naruto were going to be staying with Sasuke for a little while (damn him and the never ending bad luck of the Uchiha) it would be a relief not to have to walk such long distances, because they'd probably be running back and fourth a lot.

All in all, as Sasuke had been surprised to discover the night before, Naruto was actually not such a terrible housemate. He randomly laughed at some of the strangest moments, but that had only been because he was on the couch reading manga. Since Sasuke had decided to crack open a book of his own - yes, he did like to read, thank you very much - Naruto had followed suit. The guy hadn't even turned on the TV, or put on loud music. He hadn't complained either, when Sasuke had retrieved an old blanket from a closet, sacrificed one of his own pillows, and dumped them onto the couch for him. Naruto just grinned, and even managed a polite, "Thank you Sasuke-teme."

However, it wasn't until halfway to the school that next morning when Sasuke's plans for the day were abruptly changed. Itachi's car pulled up next to him, slowed, and stopped at the curb. "Get in Sasuke," he said once he had the window down. It reminded Sasuke eerily of that day Itachi had shown up at school, to pick him up for the first time.

Nervously, the younger Uchiha glanced between Naruto - who was already a few paces away and staring - and his brother. "You didn't tell... the others... that Naruto knows about you being here, right?" he asked in a low voice, eyes to the ground.

"No."

Sasuke looked up into his brother's red eyes for some hint that he might be lying. Still Sasuke knew that it was no good - if Itachi wanted to lie, he could do so with perfect ease, right to his face, and Sasuke would never know. That's what made Sasuke nervous sometimes.

"Sasuke," Itachi said with impatient calm. "I'm telling the truth. I didn't say anything about Naruto to the others. Now please, get in." Sasuke hesitated for a moment longer, and suddenly decided that he believed him. He didn't think Itachi would lie to him.... Or at least, he hoped that he wouldn't.

Sasuke turned to Naruto, shrugged, and walked over to the passenger's side to get in. It should be alright, he told himself. Naruto would be at school during the day, around plenty of people, so there was no chance of him getting murdered there, right? Not to mention, if Sasuke stuck to his brother's side, and kept an eye on him, Naruto would be perfectly safe. Because only Itachi had reason to want to kill Naruto right? Itachi was the only one who knew that Naruto knew....

And as they drove slowly by, Sasuke watched Naruto's worry-filled face as those blue eyes of his followed the car. Naruto watched as if it were some sort of imminent doom crashing down upon him, and despite the fact that Sasuke wanted so much to hate the dobe, he felt a small pang of guilt in his gut at leaving him behind.

By the time that Sasuke finally came to his senses again, Itachi was glaring so hard at the windshield that Sasuke thought the glass might crack. "Itachi?" he asked quietly. The morning sounds of the waking world were cut off by the solitude of the inside of his brother's car.

Itachi's glare softened immediately at the sound of his name on Sasuke's lips. "Yes?" he asked, and his voice was smooth like butter. He certainly didn't sound angry, but that might have been part of a clever act. After a moment, when the silence stretched, Itachi said, "If you're wondering whether or not I saw that kiss yesterday, Sasuke, I did."

And the conversation was already turning unpleasant. Shit.

Sasuke couldn't think of a suitable reply for that, so he just stayed quiet again. His brother glanced over at him and smirked. "Don't worry about it," he said, and judging by his tone, Sasuke didn't know whether to follow his advice or to be even more worried.

Probably, at that moment, Sasuke should have rushed to defend himself. He should have said that the kiss was all Naruto's fault (which, it actually had been) and that he himself had only acted on automatic reaction by kissing him back. The whole thing had been a complete and idiotic accident, and therefore not Sasuke's fault.

Instead all he said was, "S-so you're not mad about it?" Whatever his brother had to say about it, there was a crackling tension hovering in the air around him. Sasuke could feel it.

After a moment, Itachi shrugged, and grinned - but the smile had a touch of bitterness to it, and didn't touch his eyes. "All's fair in love and war," he said. "Although it's a bit more literal in our case, don't you think?" Considering Naruto and his brother caught up in the terms of "love and war," it was enough for Sasuke to nearly break out into a nervous sweat.

There was something different on this day. Itachi took Sasuke to the big Akatsuki mansion like always, but the place seemed even more unusually empty than it normally did. And then, Sasuke's brother dragged him by the arm through the course of hallways - which Sasuke was finally beginning to remember - and straight to what had somehow become "their" bedroom. Once inside with the door shut, Itachi didn't hesitate.

"Itachi," Sasuke gasped as his brother grabbed him up into his arms. For a moment, his mouth was otherwise occupied, and therefore he could not talk. "Itachi," he said again, breaking the kiss. "What are you doing?"

Itachi had him completely pinned up against the wall again - he seemed to enjoy having Sasuke there, to press his younger brother to a place that made him higher than him. Itachi smoothly wrapped Sasuke's legs around his waist, and applied more pressure against him, to which Sasuke gasped lightly again. Itachi slid Sasuke downward until his lips could reach his younger brother's ear. "Love and war," Itachi whispered, repeating their earlier said words. He smirked quietly. "Naruto Uzumaki can't have you."

From that point on, Sasuke was too lost within his brother's grasp to really concentrate on anything else.

Naruto really couldn't believe that Sasuke had just ditched him like that. How lame.

Then again, it was probably foolish wishful thinking to imagine that Sasuke would actually stick by his side for so long. Would Sasuke really keep Naruto around just for the sake of making sure he didn't get killed? It sounded awful when put that way, but still, Naruto was feeling enough low self-esteem at the moment to wonder.

Or maybe Sasuke had gone along with Itachi to ensure Naruto's safety somehow -- but more than likely, that was just wishful thinking again. And was Itachi aware that Naruto had kissed Sasuke the day before? ...Would Sasuke tell him? In that case, Naruto would really be screwed. Not only did Itachi want his blood already, now Naruto could probably expect swift retribution for kissing Itachi's young... lover.

Placing the word "lover" with Itachi and Sasuke's faces made Naruto shudder inwardly. To tell the truth, he had been able to so easily shrug off the things that he saw because he did not want to believe in it. Naruto didn't want to think about those things, so... he just didn't. Now was a different matter. Now, he had nothing better to do, because he was alone again. Sasuke... his greatest rival and best friend... was probably off somewhere getting shagged by Itachi at this very moment.

The sun was setting now. Being in the middle of autumn as it was, days were growing shorter, and the orange glow of the sunset mocked Naruto as he finally headed for home. School had been nothing out of the ordinary, except for the fact that Sasuke hadn't been there. Naruto was kind of getting used to the other guy's absence though, seeing as Sasuke skipped often these days. Oh yeah, and Naruto had also finally, officially "broken up with" Sakura. Needless to say, she hadn't been too heartbroken - although, she had questioned him on the goings on of his "real" love life, in hopes of hearing some good piece of gossip. For a while, Naruto had contemplated recounting his passionate kiss with Sasuke for her - in great detail - but in the end had ultimately decided against it, seeing as Sasuke probably wouldn't appreciate the entire school knowing he was gay by the time he came back.

After school had let out, Naruto had wondered for the first time what he was supposed to do with the rest of his day. It was kind of strange, how he'd been so sure that he'd be spending the next few days with Sasuke, at his apartment. And now Naruto had nowhere left to go but his own, lonely place. Maybe he was being overdramatic, but he didn't really care. So, Naruto had gone to the ramen shop, which had overall been a bad idea. Ramen was always good of course, but Naruto had more than enough instant noodles at home, and going to the shop had only reminded him of that day spent there with Sasuke. The day that Naruto had learned Sasuke's secret about Itachi.

Still, he'd lingered at the place for longer than really necessary, chatting with the man behind the bar without really putting any thought into the conversation. At one point, the man had roused him from his thoughts. "This is certainly a first," Teuchi Ichiraku with a little huff.

"That's right," the guy's daughter, Ayame, said with a laugh. "I don't recall Naruto ever hesitating to eat his ramen before."

Naruto had smiled at them a bit unwillingly. The two had always been unreasonably nice to him, and their fun personalities clashing with his own made it impossible to not be friendly. "Sorry guys," Naruto apologized. "I've just got stuff on my mind today." And so, Naruto had taken that as his cue to leave. He'd slurped up his ramen and paid his tab, and now here he was, walking home. Naruto wondered if Sasuke would get back sometime later that night, or if he would even show up at school the next day.

So, it was just an ordinary walk home. Boring, and lonely, and so very sadly normal. He was nearly at his apartment now -- as it was with Sasuke's apartment, Naruto didn't live very far away from the ramen shop either. It was definitely a plus, being who he was. He was just pulling his house key out from his wallet when it happened.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Twice in one day (and counting...?). That was something new.

As usually happened whenever the two of them had sex (because it really was just that - having sex, not making love) Itachi and Sasuke had sort of just collapsed into an exhausted sleep earlier. It was impossible to imagine that either one of them had enough stamina to do it again, especially after they had just woken up from having said intercourse.

However, the moment that Sasuke's eyes slid open, and he saw Itachi looking at him with such seriousness, he knew right then that he was ready for another round. Because he didn't want to think right now. Sasuke... he just wanted to forget. He wanted to sink into his brother's arms, and forget it all.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

The first thing that came to Naruto's mind when he felt the rough fingers grabbing at his shirt, was that maybe Sasuke had come back. And that hope had instantly melted away into unadulterated fear when he saw that he had been snatched into some out-of-the-way place... so near his apartment door. That was when he realized that there was more than just one pair of hands on him. Naruto reached out and clawed desperately at the edge of the brick wall, while his captors continued to sink him into the shadows. An unexpectedly soft hand was holding over his lips, keeping him quiet.

Naruto's head cracked against the brick and his breath left his lungs in a great whoosh as he was suddenly slammed up against the wall of his own apartment building. Hazily he could see people, pedestrians, out on the streets, walking idly by, some of them with smiling faces in the light of the disappearing sun. Naruto reached toward them, but they could not see him there.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

The one most convenient thing about getting caught up in the act of passion twice in one day, was the fact that all articles of clothing had already been discarded, and therefore were not so annoyingly in the way. Itachi held Sasuke's wrists - seeming so small and fragile in his larger, stronger hands - tightly to the bed, as he lowered himself for a breathy kiss. Sasuke relented, and reveled in the feel of Itachi's tongue burning it's way around the inside of his mouth. It was always like this. Every time. Sasuke lost himself here, and that's exactly what he wanted.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

A heavily wetted, funny smelling cloth was pressed to Naruto's face... not that he needed much more encouragement to slip into unconsciousness - the blow to his head a second ago had been a nasty one, and he was already seeing stars. Still, he tried to fight them off; but his fingers, his movements, they were all weak from shock and pain. His captors pushed away his efforts easily enough, and Naruto got the sense that they were not so much taking pleasure out of this as they were just getting the job done. It felt like they were working from a list of set instructions - they did things so orderly, and their promptness reminded Naruto faintly of Itachi.

But this could not be Itachi, no. For some reason... Naruto honestly believed that Itachi were not among the ones taking him down. So why were these people doing this to him? He could think of only one possible reason -- that it had something to do with the Kyuubi. And Naruto was too weak, his thoughts moving too sluggishly, for him to think of calling upon the demon for the strength he needed. He could not see the faces of his captors. He couldn't even count how many they were, because his eyesight was quickly failing, and they blended into the shadows besides.

If there had not been so many hands on him - and there seemed an infinite amount to the half-conscious Naruto - he would have fallen to his knees then. Naruto's vision faded to complete darkness, as the sun sank it's last few inches beneath the horizon, and somewhere else in this ill-fated twilight, Sasuke Uchiha was allowing his deceiving older brother to enter and explore the deepest hiding places of his soul.

A/N: Was the switching back and fourth thing annoying? It was supposed to show that the two things were happening at the same time, but things like that always looks different on Word than they do on the internet....