Dedicated to : Akira Nishikawa for being my first reviewer in my return to this story, Welcome back.

What Ever It Takes

Chapter Forty-Two

It was morning. Too early, and still a bit hazy outside, but it was morning nonetheless. Itachi's mind was in a strange state of calm that he couldn't really explain, but could offer a reason for it. That was that Sasuke was peacefully sleeping next to him, curled into his side. Soft, warm, the weight of his little brother against him was nothing short of bliss and comfort. Yesterday had been amazing. He couldn't even keep count as to how many times Sasuke and he had joined their bodies and made love with each other. Letting out a small yawn, Itachi blinked his eyes slowly as he tried not to let himself be lulled back to sleep.

Itachi's thumb circled over Sasuke's hip, gently slipping under his sleeping otouto's shirt. His fingers ran over the satin warm skin, despite the lean muscle found there, and pressed his fingers towards that muscled belly. Sasuke sighed into his neck, snuggling further into him. Itachi smirked slightly, closing his eyes as he tried to feel what Sasuke had mentioned to him a few weeks ago. Could there be a possibility that right now a child was sleeping under Sasuke's heart. Here, somehow, in his belly. He knew that Sasuke had his doubts, but Itachi had felt that flutter and ever since he had been wanting to see if he could feel it again.

His fingers ran on that flat belly, his senses focusing until what had been a flutter before now seemed to be a shallow, but steady heartbeat. There was no mistaking it, that was their child's life making itself known deep within Sasuke. Itachi opened his eyes, red and eerily glowing, but full with wonder and curiosity instead of ill intent. Itachi felt so happy right now. Everything that he thought he could never have, what he thought he didn't deserve, was right here in his arms. A beautiful fiancé that soon would be his husband, and on top of that, the blessing of a child that was all their own. Life seemed so perfect right now in this moment, away from everyone else. Itachi wanted to stay in this moment forever.

Sasuke yawned softly, his eyes blinking open slowly. He smiled once his eyes focused on Itachi's face. His lover was awake, and Sasuke's heart danced with the joy he was currently feeling. "Good morning," he groaned softly, stretching his body against Itachi's. Itachi returned the smile, moving to nuzzle his nose against Sasuke's, greeting him a quiet good morning in return. Sasuke tilted his head, his lips brushing Itachi's when suddenly the door to their room was being loudly and rudely knocked.

"Time to get up," Itachi sighed, moving to leave the bed. He had half a mind to kill whoever had disturbed their morning. Sasuke wanted to stop him, tell him to ignore the knocking but he knew that it wasn't going to go away. As much as he wanted to tussle and snuggle in bed with Itachi, the potential of that door being opened was much higher, and moments with Itachi were to sacred to be interrupted in such a way. Itachi stretched as he moved to the door, opening it to find Tsunade and Suigetsu standing in the other side. Suigetsu looked like he was trying to stop the woman from barging into the room, but it was futile.

"It's already late, I didn't peg you both to being lazy," Tsunade made the snide remark, flipping her blond hair as she walked into the room. Sasuke rolled his eyes as he shuffled out of bed, annoyed at the woman already. It felt like it was too early for this.

Itachi glared at her, "We already get so little time to sleep seeing as you don't want to leave us alone," he remarked back to her, his tone condescending.

"I left you alone yesterday, didn't I?" She said, and then sighed, "I figure that you have heard the news about the death of Kidomaru. The king wants us to be extra careful, so you and Sasuke should have someone guarding you both at all times." There was concerned etched into her face as she said the next words, "We can't help but think that the target is either one of you, Itachi or Sasuke,"

"We can take care of ourselves." Itachi remarked, quick without missing a beat. "And as long as Sasuke is with me, he will remain perfectly safe."

Tsunade's eye twitched at Itachi's claim. Who did this little boy think he was, thinking that he could deal with everything and protect not only himself, but Sasuke as well? There was no way that Itachi could manage that. The king also wouldn't be pacified by such words. "Please, don't make this any harder than it has to be." Tsunade seethed, she took a deep breath to relax herself and then added, "You two will be guarded by Suigetsu here, and Juugo." She gestured for a tall man, with orange hair, and piercing eyes to enter the room.

"Juugo?" Sasuke questioned, shocked to see him. "When did you get here?" He asked, he, like Suigetsu was one of the guards that had been in Sound. He had served Sasuke just like Suigetsu, but he had never suspected that he would ever see the man again.

Juugo smiled softly, "Around the same time that Suigetsu asked to be transferred from being in Sound to be here with you, I did as well. I was finally approved by the king to be able to guard you, Prince Sasuke." Juugo bowed at his waist, ready to serve Sasuke and show his loyalty. Juugo was a giant, in his own right, but gentle in every way. He loved prince Sasuke simply and naturally, his respect for him ran deep and he had wanted to keep serving under him. It had been a long fight, but he was finally here.

Sasuke smiled, amazed that people he had consider friends and thought he would never see again had decided to come and be with him. All this time, all the bitterness that he had was directed to everything in his life being screwed up. He was the bastard prince that no one wanted and had nowhere to belong, and yet here he was. He had friends, and best of all he had an amazing fiancée and brother that loved him.

Over all, Sasuke was feeling incredibly lucky.

"Juugo, I want you to meet my fiancée, Uchiha Itachi!" Sasuke rushed to introduce said fiancée. "Itachi, this is Juugo, he was one of my guards back when I lived in Sound."

Itachi and Juugo shook hands, and shared pleasantries.

"I will love to serve you as well, Itachi," Juugo bowed his head to Itachi. Anyone important to Sasuke was important to him as well.

"Thank you, Juugo." Itachi felt odd, he didn't feel like he needed guarding, but at the same time found himself allowing this. He didn't sense much danger from this man, but he also knew that his gentleness was deceptive. Not in a bad way, but you could tell that this man was strong in his own right. If Sasuke trusted him, then Itachi will as well.

"Alright, now that we're all acquainted, how about you two dress and meet us down for breakfast, the king has some things to discuss with everyone in regards to the lock down,"

"Lock down?" Sasuke questioned once Tsunade had left, turning his focus to Suigetsu who was cleaning his teeth while looking into the vanity mirror on the dresser.

"Oh yeah, full lock down and investigation of everyone here in the palace, the king wants to end what is happening once and for all," Suigetsu shrugged, nonchalant about the whole thing.

"You mentioned that his body was burned," Itachi said, "He was in the kitchen and more than likely servants are being suspected. Did anyone mention if they had something against him?"

"Nope, no one," Suigetsu turned, worry flashing in his eyes, "But I'm being suspected of being a jilted lover, that I might have killed him in revenge because he stole Kisame from me, but I would never! My goal has always to get over him, fuck it I don't care for him anymore!" Absolutely no one looked like they believed him on being over Kisame. Not even Juugo believed him, and he had no clue as to who this Kisame was or what he had to do with anything.

"You wouldn't have killed him, I'd be more likely to attempt that than you," Sasuke muttered, crossing his arms. Itachi raised an eyebrow at that, and Sasuke gave him a shy smile when he noticed the look. Suigetsu looked back and forth between the two, and smirked. Ah, Sasuke had not confessed about his little tantrum, huh.

"He nearly killed Erin when you were taken away Itachi, he wanted someone to blame, and she was the cause of it all," Suigetsu commented. "Of course, all she got was transferred and sent far away from him,"

Itachi sighed as Sasuke's face went completely red, and he rushed to the bathroom, saying that he would go and change. That was something Sasuke had not told him, and it was obvious it was something he had wanted to avoid mentioning. But he could understand, because he could still remember the heart wrenching sight of Sasuke running after him, begging him to please stay, not to leave him. He had always wondered what had happened then, always worried. He was just glad that Sasuke was fine.

Excusing himself, he moved to go into the bathroom as well, locking the door behind him. Suigetsu sighed, pulling out Sasuke's desk chair and sat down. "Get comfortable, Juugo, it's going to be a while with those two lovey dovey birds,"

Juugo smiled softly and nodded, he was no expert but he could clearly see how happy Sasuke and Itachi were with each other. He had no issues waiting on them to be ready to head down stairs.

Of course, that was not the case for everyone.

Minato, on the other hand, was livid when he had been forced to wait. Breakfast was already half way finished when his nephew and Itachi came down stairs to eat. "The two of you sure took your time," he commented. Sasuke shrugged, looking like he could care less that his uncle was angry.

"It's kinda early, what did we miss?" He asked, reaching for a slice of toast. Itachi fixed their plates of eggs, and pancakes as Sasuke buttered up the toast. He placed the first toast onto Itachi's plate, his mind going to how he had yet to cook something for his beloved. Soon, Sasuke thought, he'd surprise Itachi once all of this was taken care of.

Minato quietly watched his nephew and how domestic he seemed with Itachi. It was as if the two of them were already a married couple. By Gods, the two of them made an adorable sight. His eyes turned to Naruto and Kyuubi who were fussing over Nakoru. It hit hard, to realize that now both Naruto and Sasuke were all grown up and leading lives on their own. "We're in lockdown," he said, closing his eyes as he thought of just getting his speech out of the way. "For the next few days, we're going to investigate everyone, and I have to ask that you wisely do the same with your guard Sasuke,"

Sasuke blinked, turning to his uncle, "You mean with Suigetsu." Minato nodded his head. Sasuke frowned, "I can assure you, Suigetsu is innocent and not the one that killed Kidomaru. In fact, you should be suspecting those that had keys to his cell if anything." Sasuke waved his fork around to emphasize his point.

"Wasn't Orochimaru upset that he had learned that Kidomaru killed Kabuto?" Itachi asked. "Has he been investigated?"

"Yes he was upset, we all know he was but Orochimaru was discharged some time ago, so he could take time to grieve, he left to his lands in Sound," Minato frowned, "That leaves little else as to who it could have been,"

"Wait, you discharged Orochimaru?" Naruto asked, frowning. He had not heard that his father had done such a thing. Come to think of it, he had not seen the man.

"Not I, apparently it was self-imposed. I asked some of the guards and they claimed that they thought I had let him go. It was a shock to me to learn that he had left." That suddenly didn't bode well with anyone. Orochimaru really had not taken well to Kabuto's death and it seemed like no one knew what he was thinking. Still, that made it impossible to place him at fault to this crime.

"That doesn't seem right, for him to suddenly just leave," Itachi commented.

"You should recall him back and question him," Kyuubi suggested.

"I've tried reaching out to him, but the estate that he has in Sound has remained silent. I can't get an answer from anyone!" Something was definitely up. Sasuke stabbed the egg in his plate, wishing that he had an answer, he already didn't like that one of his guards was being questioned. Suigetsu shifted where he stood, and looked away. He trusted that Sasuke believed him, but at this point things weren't adding up.

"Like I said, Suigetsu has nothing to do with this. By all means, conduct a better investigation on everyone uncle," Sasuke wasn't budging. Itachi was of course on his side, but he would also be conducting his own personal investigation. For one reason or the other, things felt out of his control, and he needed to get a semblance of control here.

"I think someone should go and see if they can find Orochimaru, and he should be forcefully be brought in for questioning." Itachi suggested. Minato frowned at the idea, but in the end agreed with him, and decided he would do just that.

A week later, Itachi was frustrated that he had yield no results as to what was going on and King Minato had no choice but to lift the lockdown and allow the flow of the palace to start again. In his own investigation, Itachi had collected any and every key made that lead to Sasuke's room. He had questioned everyone, and even created a few allies he had not realized he had in Deidara and Sasori, both who were not only determined to solve this, but pledge their loyalty to Itachi as well.

He had listened to their theories, and even now Itachi found himself thinking that Hyuuga Neji was behind the deaths. The man was manipulative; he must have someone here doing things for him. There was no doubt about that, but at the same time it would be hard to prove. Either way, Deidara and Sasori agreed to keep tabs on every one of the servants, hoping to catch the suspicious one. Itachi since then felt more careful as he watched anyone of the guards that he suspected. The ones he suspected the most were the ones that were charged with staying close to the royal family.

The Hyuuga could have anyone working for him on the inside, that Itachi did not doubt. On the other hand, news about Orochimaru had reach them and it seemed the man had evaded the guards the king had sent to retrieve him. He not only attacked royal guards, but it made him look even more guilty now that he was running. THe man was now a criminal, stripped of all his lands and titles. Minato had asked all his allies in other countries to please keep and eye for him and capture him if seen. Needless to say, Orochimaru was in deep trouble now. The king was not going to rest until he had his answers from the snake like man.

Other than that, nothing had made itself known, but Itachi was a patient man. He was like a tiger waiting to pounce. He was just waiting to see when they would slip up. For now, he made sure that Sasuke remained where he could keep an eye on him at all times.

With everything quiet and back at peace in the palace, Sasuke and Itachi found themselves that afternoon, comfortably lounging in the living room of the palace. Itachi was silently reading a book while Sasuke dosed off beside him, his entire body smashed against Itachi's side. On the other side of the living room were Kyuubi and Naruto who were reading to Nakoru. The baby every now and then cooed, obviously not understanding anything as he was still very young, but undoubtedly enjoying the attention his parents were giving him.

The faces Naruto made as he pretended to read in the voice of the character in the book were hilarious. Kyuubi was not much better, twisting his own face to look like the villain in the book. Nakoru would fall into fits of laughter whenever he caught the expressions, his little hands wiggling in the air as he seemed to coax his parents to continue making those silly faces for him.

Itachi found himself glancing at them every now and then, wondering if he and Sasuke would be the same once they had their own child. Just as Itachi was imagining himself and Sasuke doting on their own child, said raven shifted against him with a low groan, sounding bored. "'Tachi, can't we go and spar outside, I wanna do something. Please?"

"Are you sure you want to spar Sasuke?" Itachi asked, teasingly. Sasuke nodded his head; it had been a while since he had sparred with Itachi. Besides, he was feeling restless. He missed how he and Itachi would train. He wanted that normalcy right now.

"Yes, please" Sasuke begged, his face finding its way to Itachi's neck, making the older raven haired male shiver pleasurably. Itachi smelled so good, his scent caused many other ideas to run through his head, things that they could do together after they spared.

"Okay" Itachi muttered, easily giving into Sasuke's whims, gesturing for Sasuke to stand. Sasuke jumped to his feet, taking Itachi's hand and dragging him outside.

"Where are they going?" Naruto asked when he saw both of them run off outside. Kyuubi shrugged his shoulders and gasped when Nakoru sneezed, drawing both his parents attention back to him and forgetting about Sasuke and Itachi.

Once outside, Sasuke and Itachi talked about what had changed in their fighting, and decided that they would go for something light. Not only because it was the first time in a long time that they were sparring again, but because obviously their levels had change drastically. There could be a complete disadvantage if both tried to go all out.

Instead, this was going to be something that would give them a work out without actually testing the other, not yet at least, Itachi had decided. He wanted to make sure that Sasuke was comfortable in his movements, and that he didn't strain himself, especially with Sasuke carrying their child. It was still early on, and if Sasuke was feeling okay, Itachi was confident that things would be fine.

Sasuke and Itachi got into their fighting stance, both of them staring each other down. There was a sort of nervous energy as to how they would go about starting their spar. Neither wanted to hurt the other, and they had to trust themselves and each other. Itachi's fingers curled, and to Sasuke that was his cue to make the first move. It was like Itachi was calling him, and he moved, fist close to try and aim for Itachi's face. Itachi dodged, easily making Sasuke lose his balance, and Itachi tapped him on the side.

Sasuke huffed, that would be the hit. He let his guard down! Twisting his body from where he stood, he made to touch Itachi once more. Itachi looked a bit startled at the sudden turn and flexibility in his body. Sasuke though, still failed to land his own hit on Itachi, who once more tapped him. Tapped on his back, on his side, on his stomach, all places Sasuke realized he was leaving open.

No, those were mistakes he didn't usually make, he needed to show Itachi he had improved. Concentrate, he snapped at himself inside his head. He had to focus.

Panting hard, he told himself to relax, and concentrate once more, before deciding his next move. He had done it before, he had trained, and although he knew Itachi had gotten better as well, he couldn't say that he hadn't either. Just one tap! He decided, working hard as he did his best to keep up with Itachi's moves. It was a split second, not noticeable by any means, but Sasuke managed it, getting a tap on Itachi's shoulder.

It was barely even a tap, only the tips of his fingers managed to grace Itachi before the man was out of his reach again. But it was a tap nonetheless.

He sighed, halting his moves. Itachi blinked, startled once more by Sasuke, and then smiled. "Good job," he praised, and Sasuke grinned.

"You've gotten even better Itachi, you're so amazing. I got lucky just now,"

"Not really, you've gotten better as well, not many would have caught that slight opening." Itachi reached to run his fingers through Sasuke's soft hair. Sasuke leaned into the touch, practically purring at Itachi's touch. Itachi worriedly watched as Sasuke struggled to catch his breath, looking more drained than usual. Had he gone too far? Had he gone to hard on Sasuke? Maybe they should have not sparred…

Of course, after a few minutes, that was the least of Itachi's worries, when Sasuke attacked him with a kiss, and the two tumbled down, making out. The fact that they were out in the open where they could be seen briefly crossed his mind, before he got lost in the feeling. There was nothing to worry about anymore, the two of them were officially engaged. He had to remember that he was allowed to do this, that Sasuke was no longer out of his reach.

"I have something for you," Sasuke whispered once they broke the kiss, panting to catch their breath. Itachi arched an eyebrow, wondering what Sasuke wanted to give him but glad to see that Sasuke wasn't looking as winded as he had been before.

Sasuke blushed slightly as he pulled something out of his pocket. It was a silver necklace, with two red circled rubies balancing each side. Sasuke shifted where he stood, smiling softly. "I had this made for you, I've been wanting to give it to you but with everything that has happened, I didn't know when the right time was…" he trailed off, hoping Itachi liked it. It wasn't much, in fact it was simple, but that was what he though suited Itachi.

Itachi reached for it, gently, taking the necklace in his hands. The chain wasn't long, and would fit nicely around his neck. It also had a slight weight to it that felt nice along his fingers, the chain tightly pressed in criss cross, looking extremely gorgeous. But what made this even more precious, meaningful, priceless, and breathtaking was the fact that it was a gift he was receiving from Sasuke. "Sasuke, this is beautiful," He said, caressing it. Besides his own jewelry, he had never had anything like it gifted to him before. Sasuke reached for it once more, and motioned for Itachi to allow him to put it on him.

Itachi moved his hair out of the way, and allowed Sasuke to clasp it close around his neck. Both of them admired how good it looked on Itachi. Sasuke admired the necklace proudly, rubbing his hands over Itachi's shoulders. "Itachi, you're mine forever," Sasuke said with such determination, "Absolutely no one is going to separate us, ever again. I refuse!"

Itachi smirked, "I agree whole heartedly, Sasuke, no one will ever come between us again," Itachi's words were filled with conviction. He leaned in and kissed Sasuke hard, making the small raven melt against him. Sasuke's hands slowly caressed a path up on each side of Itachi's neck, his fingers teasing his earlobes before settling on his nape, gently digging into his hair. Itachi pulled Sasuke closer, his left hands squeezing his hips as he aligned him to his arousal. Sasuke gasped, moaning headily into Itachi's mouth at the feel of him.

"Itachi, bedroom, now,"

"Yes," Itachi gasped, picking Sasuke up bridal style and causing him to yelp in slight surprise. He was about to carry him away when suddenly a loud commotion caught their attention. At the gate, which was across from the training area, there was yelling and proclamations of youthful deceptions and atrocities. The screaming was incredibly loud that even they could hear it all the way from where they were. Sighing, Itachi gently placed Sasuke back on his feet, and the two of them walked closer to the gate.

"What's going on?" Sasuke asked to flustered guards who looked relieved to see him and Itachi both. But neither got to respond, because of the scream of the person standing just outside the gate.

Standing on the other side was a furious looking Rock Lee, at least that was the name that they recalled for him. Because when the man saw them, he hissed in anger and snapped, "YOU! Prince Sasuke, I Hyuuga Lee want to know where my wayward husband is and your youth has certainly dragged him back here, I know it!" The man dressed in green robes made of silk and golden jewelry snapped at Sasuke in anger. His round eyes never weaver and he looked completely sure that his husband was here, cheating on him it seemed.

Sasuke took a step back, shocked but mostly repulsed.

Itachi turned to the guards, this was getting interesting. He told them to allow the man to enter, and to get the king. A smirk crossed his lips, this would explain some things and he couldn't wait to set the puzzle into place. Something told him soon they would have the one responsible for not only Kidomaru's death, but also every incident that has happened in the castle.

Inside the castle, the queen and king were distracted.

"Kushina, how does that feel," Minato looked up at his beautiful wife, gently working his fingers over her feet. She had been complaining about pain, and he wanted nothing more than to make her relax and feel good. Kushina let out a small, sultry moan of approval as his fingers worked out the sore spots on her feet.

"That feels so good, don't stop, I need more," she softly begged, hoping that she got her meaning. Minato shivered in anticipation, he didn't need to be told twice. He was already moving over his wife's pliant and welcoming body, his fingers caressing her hips and thighs as his mouth met hers. That was when there was a knock at their chamber door. Minato immediately yelled for them to go away, but when the knock persisted and the voice of one of his guards called that it was urgent, Minato growled.

Why, why did the urgent things always come when he all he wanted was to enjoy his wife, his queen. Groaning, he planted several kisses over her face, wishing that she wouldn't be out of the mood. He could deal with this quick, it probably wasn't that urgent anyways.

"Wait here, don't move. I'll deal with this quick," he promised Kushina who rolled her eyes, moving to make herself look decent before he opened the door. It had been many times that Minato had promised that, but as King she knew there were certain thing he couldn't put off. It seemed like this was going to be one of them. She of course didn't blame him, but she was already determined that at least by tonight they would share something intimate.

Waiting always did make things all that much sweeter, and rewarding.

Minato on the other hand, angrily jerked the door open, a glare on his face as he asked, "What!" to the suddenly cowering guard. The guard cleared his throat, knowing he had caught the king at a bad time but proceeded with his news.

"My king, It would seem an angry Hyuuga Lee is here to get some answers about the whereabouts of his husband," As the guard finished talking, Minato stared as he tried to process what he had just been told.

"What" he asked, because he really wasn't sure if he understood.

"A Hyuuga Lee is here for his husband,"

Minato was furious, "Tell him I'll be right there," he snapped, rushing back in to go change. Kushina watched her husband curiously as he threw on a shirt and his robes, and then ran out of there without even looking back at her. She got to her feet, and rushed after him, trying to figure out what had gotten him so angry.

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I'll try to update again soon,. Pls Review