Naruto took a deep breath and steadied himself. Itachi, asleep in a heap on one branch of the tree, suddenly looked vulnerable and very tempting. The blonde cocked his head to one side and watched the Uchiha's chest rise and fall. Itachi's eyes were closed. Naruto had never seen Itachi sleep. He looked so peaceful, so strangely content, nothing like he was when he was awake. Naruto moved to his side, nose almost touching Itachi's. The Uchiha wake up and scramble backwards like he should've. His cruel red eyes didn't flash open, angry at anything he could see. He didn't flinch or yawn or move. He just breathed hot sweet air on Naruto's face, the warm breath caressing the bridge of Naruto's nose and making his eyes stretch wide. The younger boy's eyes skimmed lightly, interestedly, over Itachi's slumbering figure. The Uzamaki felt his breath catch when his faze flickered over Itachi's smooth, slender ankle. Under his cloak he was quite feminine, slim, just a tangle of lean legs and flat abs. He wasn't very muscled—somewhat, but not very bulked—and Naruto's brow furrowed as he recalled being shoved against the tree, his head slamming against the rough bark. He scowled. Who did that Itachi guy think he was?

That damn Uchiha was not going to uke Naruto out. It just wasn't happening.

Itachi was still asleep when Naruto eased him out of his Akatsuki cloak, took all his weapons, and tossed them down from the tree. Itachi's breathing only jolted slightly when Naruto picked him up and leaped from the branch. He only shifted a little in his sleep when Naruto's lips hit his and the Uchiha was torn from all else of his clothes. Naruto stared down, amused, at the man lying there, blinking, yawning, almost awake. Naruto knew if he was quick and got going soon, he would be able to convince Itachi that it was a dream and make him just lay back and enjoy it. He grinned a sharp-toothed grin and ran his tongue around the edge of Itachi's lips. The Uchiha smiled callousedly, still looking oblivious and drowsy, and put his hands on Naruto's bare, slim shoulders. Itachi was so cute when he slept…and when he dreamed…and sleep-walked…

That was all it took.

A ragged cry told the rest of the Akatsuki that Naruto and Itachi were at it again, and judging from the loud, heavy breathing, and Itachi's barely audible voice whining and pleading, all fingers were pointing towards the possibility of Naruto getting the best of the raven-haired man.

Blue, blue eyes stared hungrily down at their prey. Itachi's surprised sharingan danced in his own eyes from behind half-lidded, black-lashed sleep spells. Naruto leaned down and left a fluttering kiss on Itachi's neck, making the barely-conscious missing nin aching for more. Itachi's fingers clutched at the back of Naruto's neck as they kissed again. Suddenly Naruto had Itachi pinned and was quickly finding his strengths against Itachi's body.

"Feminine bitch," Naruto grinned, and Itachi growled an angry warning at the boy straddling him from behind. Itachi's face slammed into the dust as he miserably let Naruto have it. He hated, hated, hated being uke, but struggling was more trouble than it was worth. Let Naruto have his damn screw, he'd regain his dignity later. He was barely awake and the blonde was already driving him insane with exhaustion. He just wanted to get it over with and go back to sleep. The blonde pumped and pumped, his breath ragged from exertion by Itachi's ear, and the raven-haired had to admit that Naruto wasn't terrible at this…The boy was a natural. Obviously. Itachi grimaced but bit back his cries. He refused to act like an uke, even if he was forced to play the role completely against his will. You can only shove an Uchiha's nose into the ground so many times.

Naruto's sexy voice laughed distantly somewhere around the area of Itachi's neck.

Wait a second—sexy? Since when was Itachi having these thoughts? Since when did he think Naruto was sexy, or charming, or even just attractive? His standards were obviously lowering. But when Naruto's teeth raked along Itachi's bare shoulder and then sank into the high of his arm, Itachi started having second thoughts. He was talented, and good-looking, and cute…Dammit, he'd just thought the word cute. Stupid fucking Naruto.

The blonde-haired teen was turning Itachi inside-out.

Itachi's breath hitched as his lover's ankle slid along the inside of his thigh, and the raven-haired closed his eyes and let his heart batter his stomach. He felt every muscle tense and then relax every time Naruto moved. He was a surprisingly good lover, and there was no denying that. Itachi wasn't the kind of guy who would stay with the Uzamaki, but if Sasuke got him, he ought to spend a night with the boy too. He could make one night feel like a hundred, and he could make you believe you were drowning. The Uzamaki brought out emotions you didn't know you had in you. Itachi's chin jutted up as Naruto bit his ear, hard.

Really hard.

"Feels spectacular, eh, Itachi?" Naruto snickered in his ear.

"What?" Itachi choked, gasping for breath.

"The ear."

Itachi could barely manage to nod. He shoved his face into the grass and decided to play the game, too. He wanted the friction. He wouldn't let his own damn brother be running against him in the race for Naruto's affection.

Challenges made Itachi overly competitive. When he decided he wanted to win, he would win. Either triumph or die. Even though he didn't care…about Naruto.

Naruto's hot breath on the Uchiha's neck made Itachi gasp. He shuddered as the skin there prickled. Naruto was such a tease. Itachi's nose hit the ground and he started to swear under his breath, telling himself over and over this was a one-night stand. As a whimper escaped against his will, he found himself praying Naruto would finish what he started. The blonde chuckled and his fingers crept along Itachi's chest. He slipped out, leaving Itachi feeling devastatingly empty, and threw his head over the Uchiha's shoulder. He sucked on Itachi's nipple, waiting for a response, waiting until he heard frantic heavy breathing quicken times two. Naruto ignored the fact that he felt like his ribs were being shattered by a sledgehammer every time his heart beat, which was faster by usual. Besides, he thought, grinning and grinning and nibbling the nipple and sucking on it masterfully between his slightly puckered lips, at this rate his heart would be dead by the end of the night.

It was a frightening but exhilarating thought.

He swirled Itachi's nipple around with his tongue, pursed his lips, and nibbled the edge. Itachi bucked his hips and grabbed Naruto's wrist, his face deathly serious, his grip firm and cold. He wanted this badly.

Naruto would make him wait, though. It was fun to make him wait. It was fun to play games. He tipped his head back and looked at the sky. It was gorgeous. Star-speckled midnight blue. Captivating. A sliver of dancing moonlight. The silhouette of a tree, and the faraway blinking lights of a spaceship. The distant, disconnected growl of a plane finding its way across the night sky. The twittering of a bat, watching them curiously. The Uzamaki smiled a little, because he loved being out here in the night, the dark, almost by himself when he thought about it. Loving was tragically but beautifully isolated.

His lips graced Itachi's skin with a fluttering kiss, leaving the Uchiha aching for more. Naruto wouldn't oblige, but he lay there with his lover, thinking about what might happen next. Deep down Sasuke was the largest thing on their minds, but neither his brother nor his lover wanted to think that far ahead. It was painful, almost, to imagine the look on Sasuke's face if he found out. Puzzled, amused, uncaring, angry, upset, frustrated, betrayed, confused. How he took it was up to him. That scared the hell out of both Itachi and Naruto; what would he do? What would he say? What would the strangled look in his eyes betray, would he purse his lips and cock his head to one side? Would he stare at them breathlessly, at a loss for words, or would he shrug and walk away? Itachi and Naruto were both the kind of people who always wanted to be control, and when fate took the wheel they were constantly nervous, restless, hands quivering over something they meant to pick up. When they lost control of the world around them in the miniscule box they managed to keep a hold on, they wouldn't be able to sleep. No matter how oblivious Naruto acted or how cool Itachi came off as, they wouldn't rest well until they were back behind the wheel.

And God had taken the wheel from them.

Tonight you will see the face of God.

A struggle for control, grasping at power…that was just how it worked. Always.

Naruto fell back, a cool breath escaping his lips like his soul was leaving with it, and his eyes closed. The eyelashes fell against his high, slim cheekbones. He was getting thinner every day. Naruto was never heavy, not at all. Sasuke was nimble and catlike, and Naruto was always skinny. He'd gotten slinkier as the years slipped by. The pounds melted off and eventually you could see a hint of ribs here and there. He wasn't paying much attention to himself lately. Itachi's elegant fingers closed around Naruto's thin waist, his hands stretching across the boy's chest, holding him in place. So Naruto's eyes stayed closed and they lay there feeling one another's heartbeats, through skin and bone, and they never saw the sun dot the sky with splotches of red and peach; they never watched the sunrise splatter the horizon with traces of watercolor paintings; they never saw the orchard colors spill dapples of orange and pink that might have reminded Naruto of sweet homemade orange juice on a tree's breath. That hazy scent drifting thick everywhere. Naruto's eyes were open now, and all the reminders were coming back. The Uzamaki swore under his breath. For some reason he always seemed to be thinking of one Uchiha or the other. Something flared up in his eyes, and he scowled. Itachi was already asleep again, his mouth gently open on Naruto's shoulder, his warm chest pressed against the Uzamaki's back, his arm draped lazily over Naruto's thin frame.

Naruto tried to ease his way out of Itachi's touch, but the Uchiha mirrored the blonde's movements, his warm pulsing skin falling against Naruto's body wherever the Uzamaki tried to escape. Naruto felt cloth smother his face, and realized he was inside Itachi's Akatsuki cloak. He and the Uchiha fell asleep, forgetting the battles they'd always fought in the dark warm spaces of the cloak…The teen and the raven-haired faded out of the sun then, pressed lightly together under the black and red cloth, as if they would melt in the daylight. It didn't make much difference they could hardly breathe, and the sun was coming up, and the night was far gone, and there was Sasuke to think about, and they were only a heaving, living, breathing lump in the middle of the field, and it was morning now, and they were barely clothed.

It didn't matter anymore, like everything else.