Warnings: A.U; Yaoi; Incest; ItaSasu; Shota; Non-Con

If you don't like it, don't read.

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

AN: There was a small detail that bothered me when I reread the previous chapters: Sasuke didn't use uniform. This has been fixed and now he does. No major changes were done.

oOo

The boy splashed water over his face. As he grabbed a towel, he glanced in the mirror. His features were refreshed by the peaceful night. The slight bags under his eyes had vanished, and the purple marks on his wrists, arms and the rest of his body were fading. The lighter marks had already acquired yellowed shades and within a day should be erased altogether. Other marks still had a sickening blue and hurt when touched. Hopefully, soon they would be gone as well.

In the previous night, Sasuke had taken utmost care to keep most of his body hidden. Once more he had chosen trousers and a long-sleeved shirt to wear during the night. Maybe it was just out of habit, but Sasuke didn't feel bothered by those kinds of clothes. Naruto, on the other hand, preferred shirts with no sleeves at all—sometimes no shirt whatsoever—and always frowned upon his choice for the long-sleeved ones.

Sasuke put on the school uniform, left the bathroom and entered Naruto's bedroom again. Naruto was sprawled on the bed soundlessly asleep with the ridiculous cap still on his head, a handheld console near his hand, and the blanket almost falling from the mattress.

"Naruto!" Sasuke called, but the other didn't move. "Naruto!" Sasuke shook him. Only then the boy answered with an incomprehensible groan. "Wake up already, dobe!"

Naruto turned to the other side and briskly pulled the blanket over his face. The sound of something falling to the ground didn't faze him. That is, in the first moment. He sat up in an instant after realizing what had fallen. After the mini heart attack, a wave of relief took over him. The handheld console was intact.

"Heh," he grinned sheepishly at Sasuke.

"Get ready. I don't want to be late because of you."

Naruto yawned, scratched his head and looked catatonic while fought an inner battle to leave the bed. He was having such a good dream where Sakura was being nice to him, not that she treated him badly in real life, but in his dream, she was acting all clumsy the way she did when Sasuke was around. Too bad he had to wake up...

Besides, the burning sensation in his eyes every time he closed them made him irritated. It reminded him that in the middle of the night he had to pee and when got back to bed he couldn't sleep anymore. The bright solution he found was to play just a little until he felt his eyelids heavy again. Most times he was already snoring the second his body touched the mattress, but other times he needed the help of his games. So he killed some zombies for a while, then some more, and his eyes became drier; meanwhile, outside the window, the first sun rays began to lighten the day. But alas, his strategy was not a failure once the goal was accomplished. He did sleep. For almost an entire hour.

"Did you not sleep well?" Sasuke asked. That had been a stupid question because he didn't need to be a Sherlock to figure out that answer.

"I was playing," Sasuke heard the boy murmuring. Naruto was not usually the most enthusiastic person right after opening his eyes. His brain took some time to load, so it was like he wasn't even there. During those moments he made everything on autopilot, but once the machine was properly working he became... well, Naruto.

"Naruto!" Tsunade called out suddenly bursting the door open. "Oh, you're awake. Good. Get ready, boys. After breakfast, I'll drive you to school."

"Fine." Naruto stood up as soon as the door closed, resigned he wouldn't have at least more five minutes. He just wished to go back to that dream with Sakura-chan...

"Hey, Naruto..." Sasuke had been pondering if he should ask him to stay there for another night. It was still Wednesday, Fugaku had said he would be back by Friday morning or afternoon, which meant he would have two nights alone with Itachi. But... Although he was sure his friend wouldn't deny, he just couldn't bring himself to make the question. "Can I use your charger?"

"Sure." Naruto pointed to a bunch of wires from chargers, earphones and USB cables thrown over his desk, "Is somewhere right there."

Sasuke went to untangle the charger he needed from that mess. The battery of his cellphone was very low, so that question to stray from what he intended hadn't been a complete lie.

The day was grey. A noiseless drizzle fell over the city in the morning but ceased shortly after noon. By the time Sasuke left school, new clouds were threatening to pour its raindrops over Konoha, and he had no umbrella with him. Nonetheless, he began his stroll with nowhere in mind. He kept going wherever his feet decided to drag him. People rushed, cars passed by, thunders sounded far away. When he realized, he was in front of that place. Sasuke stared at the other side of the street.

The walls were painted black, and the crimson letters in the façade formed the name 'Akatsuki'. The drawings on the vinyl adhesive covering the whole windows display were peculiar, not the kind one would expect to see in a tattoo studio because they were quite simple, just red clouds in a dark background.

From the spot where Sasuke was standing, he could see nothing inside. He wondered why he got the habit of everyday walking by, even though there was nothing else in that place that could be useful for him. Curiosity, perhaps? It could be. Yet, he never felt inclined to get closer and learn more about them. He didn't know what he expected. The only thing he did was to stare at the building as he passed by, any other action seemed pointless.

This time, however, the boy went to the sidewalk border, looked both sides, and crossed the street. He peeked inside through the glass door and saw only the reception where a blue-haired woman sitting behind a desk covered with stylish items was distracted with something on the computer screen. The walls had many pictures of finished tattoos exhibiting their customers' appreciation.

"Excuse me." Sasuke almost jumped when someone spoke close to him. He stepped aside so the man could open the door. He hadn't noticed him approaching.

That man, by the way, was the strangest guy he had ever seen. The green hair and green eyes made him look like a plant. The skin colour was as pale as a paper, that is, the parts which were not covered by ink. The right side of his face, down to his neck—and probably his torso as well once Sasuke saw that the man's hand had drawings—were completely covered by tattoos. It split his figure in two with unsettling precision. If one took a glance at him from a distance would swear he had been painted black and white. The man eyed him and gave an awkward polite smile as entered the shop.

Sasuke left his trance and began to walk again. He vaguely wondered how, based on that brief encounter, the strange man considering that bold appearance had transmitted him a somewhat shy attitude. It reminded him of that story about Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. The good and the evil... Was this the concept behind that art on his body? Well... Whatever. He was not that interested.

His phone vibrated announcing he had a message. It was from Itachi.

'Go straight home.'

Sasuke scowled. That was the last thing he wanted to do. It led him to think of where he should go. A manga cafe didn't sound too appealing because Itachi somehow often managed to find him when he tried to escape on one of those places. Being underage limited his actions on a considerable degree.

As he went through his scarce options, it became clear that Naruto was his only reasonable choice. But Sasuke didn't want to go back there either, not now at least. He was supposed to have asked sooner once he had many chances during the morning. Now the timing was lost.

He clenched his fist. This looked like a never-ending chess game where he had to calculate his every action. It infuriated him.

His surroundings were becoming more familiar until he found himself in front of his house. He entered.

Sasuke went to his bedroom, sat on the bed, and considered what else he could do. He knew that besides Naruto there was another person who he could call. He fumbled with the phone and stared at the name in the contact list. He didn't expect to be rewarded with an affirmative answer to his question and knew he would have to explain himself regardless of the outcome.

The boy hesitated with the phone in hand, but before he could back down, he had already called. He would make up some story.

"Hello, Sasuke."

"Hi."

"What is it?"

"Can I spend the night at your place?" he threw up the words sounding as calm as ever, but influenced by the lack of response on the other side he added, "Or if you know somewhere else..."

"What's going on?"

"Nothing."

Again the awkward silence made him uneasy. Now as Sasuke's palms became sweaty, he doubted he had done the right thing. And yet, he was already in the middle of the call and still felt tempted on insisting because Kakashi inspired trust on him. "So... Can I?"

"At least explain to me what's the reason for this."

"I can't tell you now."

"How can I help if you don't tell me?"

"And how can I tell you if I don't know you'll help?"

"Then we've come to a deadlock."

Sasuke's nervousness subdued and annoyance began to take place. "Okay. Forget about it."

"Fine, fine." The boy wouldn't open up. Kakashi sighed. "You don't like making things easy, do you?"

"Why would I?"

"I'll leave around eight tonight. Anyway, I'll call you when I'm done."

"Okay. Just... Don't mention this to Itachi."

"I understand."

Sasuke laid down. He hated asking for help, it felt like he was being weak. He was sure he could take care of himself without anyone's intervention. Besides, the warning he needed to give to Kakashi only aggravated his irritation because what kind of connections he could make with that detail in mind Sasuke was far from predicting. He gripped his hair in frustration.

Well, now it couldn't be undone. He angrily stood up and put his charger and a change of clothes in his backpack, just for precaution. Was he overreacting? The worst case was Itachi discovering he talked to Kakashi. Then, he would have some great problem. Nonetheless, it would not be the first time. He could endure.

Once he was alone, he stayed there for a while and left by the time he knew Itachi would be home.

Not long after Sasuke left, he received a call. At first, he thought it was Kakashi, but as he looked at the screen, he saw his brother's name instead. The boy answered, his feet splashing on small puddles of water caused by the light rain. One hand with the phone and the other holding the umbrella.

"I told you to come home," Itachi coldly reminded.

"And I went."

"While our father is not here, I'm responsible for you."

"As if you were concerned about my well being."

"Where are you?"

Sasuke smirked. "Who knows?"

He hung up and Itachi tried again. The boy rejected the call. Kakashi called shortly after and Sasuke almost rejected him as well.

He found a shelter where he gathered with some other people to temporarily escape from the rain and waited. Soon the grey-haired man picked him up.

"What do you want to eat?" Kakashi asked when they stopped at the traffic light, and without waiting for an answer started suggesting, "two blocks ahead there's a nice restaurant, their steamed fish is quite good. If you're not into it, ther—"

"Ramen is fine."

"It's been a while I don't eat ramen..." he commented noticing the rain. "In this weather, a hot bowl of ramen sounds good. Let's go to Ichiraku."

Something was going on. Kakashi just knew. He could only guess what it might be but decided to question the boy to be sure. Now he would let it pass, but when they arrive home he would talk to Sasuke.

The ramen shop was nearby. Thus, Kakashi only drove for a few more minutes. As soon as they entered, Kakashi spotted a couple at one table and nodded at them. Sasuke noticed it was the blue-haired woman from the Akatsuki, and a man with orange hair and a considerable amount of piercings on his face, who probably worked there as well. Sasuke was almost sure he had seen that guy around Akatsuki a few days before.

When they reached the nearest empty table a muscled man wearing a green shirt spoke, "Kakashi!"

"Hello, Sasuke-kun." Lee, who was wearing a green shirt identical to the man's, waved and smiled widely.

"Hi," both Kakashi and Sasuke answered at the same time. That place was full of acquaintances, it seemed...

Sasuke was surprised when turned to them. He knew Lee's father had a dojo and that, according to Lee, he trained every single day, but he was still taken aback for a second by the man's appearance. He did look strong.

"How you've been, Gai?" Kakashi greeted.

"Great. The flame of youth still burns," the man replied giving a positive sign with his thumb. "And you, Kakashi? You've disappeared."

"Sit with us?" Kakashi asked before answering.

"Sure. Thank you."

"I've been working on a new project and it has taken all my time, but now things are getting better. I'll have some time to practice with you."

Soon a waiter came to get their orders. The chit chat went on and on, and Sasuke hoped it didn't get worse. He even looked around to certify he wouldn't find another of his classmates there. He was only grateful Gai postponed Kakashi's inquiries. However, as the meal slowly came to an end, as he heard the 'goodnights' being said, and during the whole way to the apartment, Sasuke debated with himself what he was supposed to tell Kakashi.

"I'll take a shower now, be right back," said the grey-haired man throwing his keys over the coffee table.

He sank in the couch and let his head rest in his hands, and his elbows supported by his knees. He kept his eyes shut for a moment but then opened them and stared at the floor, then at the coffee table, then at the other couch in front of him. Afterwards, his eyes were drawn to a portrait containing a picture of a teenage Kakashi and what he supposed was a teenage Obito wearing school uniform. Besides them, there were also a brown-haired girl, most likely their classmate, and a man who looked like their teacher. Sasuke didn't know whether he had spent too much time daydreaming or whether Kakashi was that fast in showering because soon the man reappeared wearing sweatpants and a black shirt, a towel was thrown over his neck while the mask still covered his face.

As he sat on the couch before Sasuke and noticed the surprised expression the boy had. "What?"

"You look younger," Sasuke said. "In casual attires, I mean."

"I may have grey hair but I'm not much older than your brother, you know? Now, can you explain to me what happened? That's the second time you contact me in less than a week, I'm getting worried."

Was that sarcasm or was he serious?

"I had an argument with Itachi."

"What kind of argument?"

"About trivialities."

"Elaborate, please."

"We argued, and I don't want to go home. The reason I asked to spend the night here is that if go to Naruto's Itachi will find me there."

Kakashi was thoughtful for a moment and voiced his suspicions, "Did he do something to you?"

"No." He had rehearsed this in his mind, but actually answering those questions seemed difficult as hell to him.

"Then, what's going on?"

He breathed heavily at the solution he found to get out of that interrogation without looking he had been doing something wrong.

"You know my father is not in Konoha. And..." He felt the irritation growing. "Itachi takes care of me, but all the time he's telling me what to do, and I don't like him bossing me around."

Kakashi nodded. The feeling he had been dragged into a family issue made him uncomfortable. "Well, according to what I'm hearing from you, your brother is just being overprotective. You should try to understand his side. Maybe he's trying to compensate. Once Fugaku has a major part of his time focused on work, Itachi may be thinking he must fulfil this role."

Sasuke felt like grimacing, but commented flatly, "This doesn't change the fact it pisses me off."

"I can imagine."

"Well, I think... that's all." Sasuke tried to put an end to the conversation. However, he felt Kakashi still had something to say. The man seemed to be struggling with his own thoughts.

"Actually..." Kakashi began. "There's something I want to ask you."

"What is it?"

"I may sound like I'm intruding on a personal matter. But... it wouldn't be the first time." He sighed. That talk was being a burden to him as well. "Anyway, you seem to be through a difficult phase... And I don't mean only regarding your father and brother. But growing up may be proving itself a hard time for you. Many changes happening all at once. I'm close to you and your family, but what I'm saying here is from an outsider point of view, of course."

What was his point with all that?

"Less than a week ago you were making questions about Obito. Now, you argued with your brother and considering that both of you have an amicable relationship, this is out of place. But I'm sure Itachi is in no way like Fugaku," this last part he seemed to be saying to himself rather than Sasuke. "I may be wrong on my assumptions, but in this case, you can correct me. With those things in mind, Sasuke, what I want to ask you is: are you gay?"

What?

Sasuke's mouth only opened and closed without uttering a sound. He was taken aback by what Kakashi was thinking. The moment the man mentioned Itachi, Sasuke tensed. In his mind, the possibility that Kakashi could suspect the real relationship between him and his brother was far worse than anything. But this outcome... Was it good or bad? Had he understood it correctly?

"Well, don't need to answer." Kakashi stood up. Smiling under his mask, he ruffled Sasuke's hair. "Now, I must show you the guest room."