Chapter 11
"So that is what happened." Tsunade said. She had just finished the story of Itachi and the clan massacre. Itachi had insisted on bringing the people who had wanted their revenge on him together. A lot of people had come, but Tsunade had demanded Itachi she could tell his story. Now that she had, a silence fell over the room, with some people staring at the ground or at Tsunade or Itachi.
Itachi for once didn't have the guts to look at all those people.
"So.. he didn't want to kill all those people at all?" A man in the crowd carefully asked.
"No not at all. It was an order to prevent Konoha from falling." Tsunade answered and some people started to softly talk to each other. "So I ask you all, do you want your revenge? You can have it if you want."
Some people were asking each other if they wanted to take revenge, and finally, one man stepped forward.
"You killed my girlfriend." The man said with teeth clenched together, and tears in his eyes. He then hit Itachi hard on the cheek. Itachi stumbled, but didn't do something back.
"..I'm sorry." He then said, knowing he couldn't say any more.
Everyone kept silent now, some people even looked at Itachi sympathetically. Tsunade sighed. She just hoped this would give Itachi the chance to forgive himself as well.
"You really are sorry.." The man then said, looking at Itachi, who bit his lip. He actually started to have a really hard time now.
"I am." He then said.
"... I forgive him." A woman said, as she looked at Itachi. Tsunade smiled. She knew no one was able to punish Itachi.
"Me too." A man that stood next to her said, nodding.
"There's nothing to forgive him about." Another woman said. "He never did something wrong. He had no choice."
"We came here to take revenge, but there is really nothing to take revenge for." Another man said and a lot of others nodded.
"I think we all forgive you, Uchiha Itachi." The man standing close to Itachi said, and gave him a pat on his shoulder. "You're a good hearted man. You must have lived in hell when you got the order."
"We all know he did." A woman said and Tsunade nodded.
"Well I think that is settled then. Itachi, do you have anything else to say?" She asked.
"The only thing I can say I thank you for forgiving me." Itachi said, as he bowed to the others.
"It's fine lad." A man said, nodding in approval.
"You don't need to thank us for anything. We should thank you." Another man said and the entire group bowed back at Itachi.
"For telling us the truth." The man close to Itachi said, when he caught Itachi's confused look.
"And for saving Konoha of course." Tsunade said. "Now, I think Itachi knows enough and so do you. You are excused."
Everyone nodded, and after a few minutes, they had all left, after thanking Itachi some more or saying him it was ok. When they were all gone, Itachi allowed himself to let out the breath he had hold in.
Tsunade smiled at Itachi and patted him on the back.
"Now how do you feel?" She asked.
"Relieved." Itachi said. "...Really relieved."
"Good. I told you no one would want their revenge. There is no revenge." Tsunade said.
"I never expected them to forgive me." Itachi said. He then looked away for a second, to rub in his eye.
"Don't rub your eye Itachi." Tsunade said. "And you might not have expected it, but I did."
Itachi made sure that the few tears that had threatened to come out, were gone now, and then looked at Tsunade again.
"I know." He said.
"Good. You can go home now if you want. I'm sure you would like to celebrate being able to feel happy again." Tsunade said.
Itachi nodded now.
"I think I'm going to rest and drink a cup of tea." He said. "Thank you, Tsunade."
"You're welcome. And be here tomorrow morning. We need to train." Tsunade said and nodded back at Itachi.
"I will, see you tomorrow then, Hokage-sama." Itachi said. Not being able to get rid of the formalities, he bowed, before he left.
That same day, Sasuke came home from training and passed Itachi's house. He was sitting in the garden and Sasuke stopped to say hello.
"Hey, how did today go?" He asked.
"It went.. good." Itachi said. "They seemed to forgive me.. all of them."
"Good. They should, because you didn't do anything wrong." Sasuke said as he sat down beside Itachi.
Itachi nodded, as he drank some of his sake.
"Do you want some as well?" He asked Sasuke, mentioning to an empty glass and a bottle of sake.
Sasuke nodded and let Itachi fill the glass, then took a sip.
"Why pick two glasses when you're on your own?" He then asked.
"There could always be someone who wanted a drink as well." Itachi replied.
"Nobody but me and Neji comes here." Sasuke said frowning.
"It could be that people would come to me to talk, after today." Itachi said.
"Nobody comes here unless we invite them. They're still scared of me chopping their heads off." Sasuke said.
Itachi snorted.
"Did you threaten someone?" He asked.
"I used to do it all the time. I didn't want anyone coming here." Sasuke said. "Kakashi was the only one that didn't listen."
"As to be expected." Itachi said with a slight smile.
"Hey." A voice said and when they turned around, they saw Neji walking towards them.
"Hey, where have you been?" Sasuke asked. He thought Neji was at home.
"Training with Lee." Neji said, and now he came closer you could see Neji was covered in sweat. "How are you?" He nodded to Itachi.
"I'm doing fine Neji, thanks." Itachi said, nodding back. "You?"
"Good." Neji said. "Training was good."
"You look sweaty." Sasuke said. He would really like to take a shower with Neji right now.
"Yeah, I don't know how it got so hot all of a sudden, but the temperature really rose." Neji said, nodding, as he pulled off the black cloth around his waist and opened his shirt, leaving it like that. Some fresh air was welcome now.
"We're going home now Itachi. I'll talk to you later." Sasuke said and grabbed Neji by the arm, taking him with him.
Itachi waved, while Neji frowned at Sasuke.
"What's with you?" He asked.
"Nothing. You just look appealing." Sasuke said as he pulled Neji into their house, and pulled off Neji's clothes.
Neji pulled up an eyebrow, as he grabbed Sasuke's hands, which were so frantically trying to get all of his clothes off as soon as possible. Already standing there with a naked butt, Neji chose for this moment to kiss Sasuke. So he grabbed Sasuke's hands, pushed them onto a wall and kissed Sasuke deeply.
Sasuke gave out a low moan and then started kissing back. He pulled his hands free and then pulled the remainings of Neji's clothes off and pushed him to the bedroom.
Neji frowned as he noticed Sasuke had him completely naked. When he got a push of Sasuke and landed on the bed, he stopped his boyfriend when he wanted to claim his mouth hungrily.
"Hey.. calm down." He said.
"Why, don't you wanna have sex?" Sasuke asked, groaning because of Neji stopping him. He rested his hands on Neji's chest and looked at him.
"I'd like us to be intimate for once, instead of groping each other like hungry beasts." Neji said, as he looked back at Sasuke.
Sasuke was silent for a while, then pulled Neji's hands away and kissed his neck.
"I don't see what's so wrong about that." He said as he let his hands roam over Neji's body.
"We're a couple, we love each other, we're not just sexmates." Neji said, as he stroke over Sasuke's back tenderly.
"Sex is sex." Sasuke said. "I'm not gonna be all lovey-dovey while I'm doing it." He sounded a little annoyed.
"Why not?" Neji asked, frowning.
"Because sex is sex. It's not supposed to be loving." Sasuke said. Now he really 'was' becoming annoyed.
"You told me you thought couples should have sex." Neji said. "But if they do, it's because they love each other, not only because they love each other's bodies so much."
"Yeah but that doesn't mean we should be all loving while doing it. I just don't want it." Sasuke said, pushing himself up.
Neji sighed, a little annoyed.
"Ok, then don't." He said, as he leaned onto his elbows.
Sasuke groaned again and got off of Neji, crossing his arms and turning his back on him.
"It doesn't mean that I don't want sex anymore at all, moron." Neji said, rolling his eyes. He knew he could provoke his boyfriend with that, but it needed to be said, right? The toddler was sulking once more.
"I'm not a moron and you just don't get it." Sasuke snapped now, giving Neji an angry glare.
"I do get you, you think I'm stunning, beautiful and sexy, so you get horny and want to do whatever you like with me." Neji said, pulling up an eyebrow. "But you can also have sex together because you want to be as close as possible."
"Well I do want that, I just don't know 'how' ok." Sasuke snapped and stormed out of the room. He felt angry whenever he wasn't able to express himself.
Neji sat up now, annoyed.
"Sasuke get back here." He then said.
"Why?" Sasuke asked snapping. But he did come back and stood in the doorway, glaring at Neji.
"Come sit next to me." Neji said, as he patted on the spot next to him.
Sasuke groaned, then sighed and then finally sat down next to Neji. He looked the other way though, not wanting to meet Neji's eyes.
"Stop sulking." Neji then said.
"I am not sulking." Sasuke snapped and got up immediately. He only sat down, hoping Neji would have something useful to say.
"You are." Neji said as he just pulled Sasuke back. He then pushed Sasuke on the bed and kissed him on the lips. That would change Sasuke's mind.
Sasuke pulled his head away a little and then looked at Neji.
"I 'want' to be intimate, but I just don't know how." Sasuke said, wrapping his arms around Neji's waist.
"I don't think a code exists for being intimate." Neji said. "You just do it."
Sasuke looked at Neji.
"... I've been pushing these things away for too long to 'just do it'." He said.
"Why did you push them away?" Neji asked, frowning a little.
"...You want me to remind you what happened to my family and what my goal has been all these years?" Sasuke asked.
"But is that the reason why you pushed being intimate away?" Neji asked.
"You're the first I let come close you know. All I knew was hatred and revenge before that." Sasuke said.
Neji sighed.
"Alright, I got it." He then said.
"It doesn't mean I don't wanna try." Sasuke said, stroking Neji's cheek.
"I thought you didn't want to try it either." Neji said.
"I said I did. But I just don't know how." Sasuke said, looking Neji in the eyes.
"Then we'll try if we're in the mood again." Neji said, nodding to Sasuke, before getting up and getting his clothes.
Sasuke pushed himself up and then stared at the floor angry. He wished he could just act differently.
Neji put his clothes in the laundry bag now.
"I'm going to take a shower, can you make dinner?" He then asked.
Sasuke just silently walked to the kitchen and started grabbing the stuff to make some eggs.
After a while, Neji came walking back into the room.
"Thanks for cooking." He then said as he saw Sasuke standing at the stove and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
".. Yeah whatever." Sasuke simply said as he put two sets of baked eggs on plates and gave one to Neji.
"Thanks." Neji said as he accepted the plate. He then walked to the toaster. "Do you want toast with it too?" He asked, while grabbing some bread.
"Sure." Sasuke said and then sat down at the table, getting on his knees. He had already put two glasses down, one with water and one with milk and two sets of chopsticks. He just started eating.
Neji sighed as he waited for the toast to be done, and then walked to the table and sat down as well. He thanked for the food and started eating as well, not saying a word to Sasuke.
They ate silently, Sasuke becoming more and more annoyed. Once he was done eating, he finally had had it and threw a chopstick against Neji's head. He glared after that.
Neji shot Sasuke an annoyed look now.
"Now what do you want to do, throw things at each other because you don't know what to say?" Neji snapped. "Child." He then spat, before he stood and left the table. Sasuke really ruined his appetite with that action.
Sasuke got up and followed Neji, grabbing his hand.
"I want you to keep talking to me." He said, still glaring.
"Then start a conversation." Neji snapped as he snatched his hand loose. He then walked back to the table and got the dishes from there, and brought it to the kitchen.
"Fine." Sasuke said, thinking fast of something to talk about. He followed Neji into the kitchen again, then spoke up.
"That blonde Akatsuki guy is in love with Itachi." He had to say 'something' right?
Neji send Sasuke a frown now.
"What?" He asked, confused. What the fuck?
Sasuke shrugged.
"It was all I could think of." He said. "But it's true, Itachi told me."
"Do you really think I care about something like that right now?" Neji asked, annoyed, as he started to do the dishes.
"Well then what do you care about right now?" Sasuke asked frowning. He didn't get Neji right now.
"That you are so childish you keep throwing things to my head." Neji snapped.
"I barely ever do that, get over it." Sasuke snapped back immediately.
"But you 'do' do it." Neji said. "And it's seriously annoying."
Sasuke walked up to Neji now and pinned him between the sink and himself.
"Look I was just angry you were acting all normal after what I said." Sasuke said, still glaring a little.
"You are talented in getting angry because of everything I do." Neji coldly said, not even turning around to Sasuke.
"No I'm not." Sasuke snapped and then roughly turned Neji around himself.
Neji looked up to Sasuke and gave him a push.
"What do you want now?" He then asked.
Sasuke groaned and then glared at Neji some more. He then hit Neji in the face.
"I want you to appreciate what I just said in the bedroom!" He yelled.
"And who said I don't?" Neji asked, glaring at Sasuke, as he slightly held his cheek. "I thought you are a man now instead of a little child who always needs to be patted and praised when he did something good."
"Oh go fuck yourself." Sasuke snapped and then stormed to the bedroom, slamming the door closed so hard, it cracked in the middle. Sasuke could care less though.
"Pansy!" Neji yelled to the bedroom, before he continued washing the dishes, calming down a little after that yell. He sometimes wondered why on earth he had chosen Uchiha Sasuke out of all people to be his boyfriend.
It took two hours before Sasuke finally left the bedroom again. Neji was sitting on the couch and Sasuke sat down next to him.
"I'm sorry." He mumbled, crossing his arms.
Neji gave Sasuke a look now, before sighing and focusing himself on his book again.
"Don't worry about it." He then said, being used to Sasuke's anger attacks.
Sasuke pulled Neji's book away and placed it on the table before pulling Neji into a hug.
"Do you really think I act like a child?" He asked.
"You often do that yes." Neji said, not really being in the mood to be hugging right now, but he didn't show it. For some kind of reason, he was still a little pissed and felt like spending some time alone. And the now slightly stinging blue spot on his cheek underlined that wish even more.
Sasuke let go of Neji when he felt he didn't get anything back. He then sighed.
"Our fights are getting worse." He said.
"Are they?" Neji asked, pulling an eyebrow up, but he didn't really sound interested either.
Sasuke looked at Neji, then just got up and walked to the kitchen. They had been getting worse. And Sasuke was pretty sure it was because of him.
Neji just grabbed his book again and continued reading. He moved his eyes up for a moment to look at the kitchen, and when Sasuke looked at him as well, he focused his attention on the book again.
Sasuke grabbed something to drink now and then walked back into the living room, sitting down next to Neji.
"I think maybe we need a break." He then said.
"What makes you think that?" Neji asked
"Too many things have happened and I can't handle it and neither can you. Our fights have become worse and longer and you're always holding a grudge after them." Sasuke said. "Face it Neji, I can't be what you want me to be." He didn't look away, he just looked straight at Neji, hoping no emotion would cross his face.
Neji looked at Sasuke too now.
"So it seems." He then said. "I'm not really what you want me to be either."
"Oh you are." Sasuke said. "You shouldn't doubt that." He had been right, Neji did not seem him as the perfect guy at all. And who could blame him.
"You're not always yelling at me for nothing." Neji said as he looked away. "You're not hitting me for nothing."
"I'm yelling and hitting because that is all 'I' can do." Sasuke said. "I'm sorry."
"That's rubbish." Neji said. "And even if it's true, then put some effort in changing for once."
"I am. That's why I think we should take a break." Sasuke said, not liking the way Neji said this.
"Perhaps you're right, perhaps I have to take up the offer you give me at least every week for once and leave the Uchiha estate." Neji said.
Sasuke finally looked away now. He had been horrible to Neji and he felt guilty.
"Perhaps you do." He said.
Neji let out a sigh now, before he shook his head.
"I guess I'll go grab my stuff then." He said, as he stood from the couch and walked towards the bedroom.
Sasuke just sat on the couch now, folding his hands together. He didn't like doing this at all, but it had to be for the best. Neji would be better off and he could tackle some of his own problems.
After ten minutes, Neji came walking out of the bedroom, his face on emotionless.
"Good luck then." He said, managing to hide his emotions. Of course he didn't like this. He hated going. But he knew that this might be the best for both of them now.
All Sasuke could do was nod now.
"You too." He said, hoping his voice would not betray how he really felt. And he did feel horrible.
Neji looked at Sasuke a little longer, before he bit his lip and quickly walked out of the door, carrying his stuff with him. He hoped they would be alright after this break.
