Chapter 5: A Break
Sasuke and Itachi sat in the older's office discussing a new upcoming project. The younger could tell there was something on his brother's mind that he wasn't telling him and it was clearly distracting the other man. He sighed, wondering why Kisame and Shukaku weren't part of the meeting. "Soma, can you close the door?" Sasuke called to the bodyguard waiting just outside of the room. He was annoyed that Itachi and Naruto felt he needed them there even when he was just in the office.
"Would you like me to stay in the room?" he asked.
Sasuke turned to him, raising an eyebrow, "I think I'll be fine alone with my brother. We need to have a personal conversation."
The bodyguard appeared unsettled, but didn't argue as he closed the door. "I'm telling you there's something off about that man," Itachi told him once the door was closed. He knew Sasuke only needed one bodyguard at the office, but he wasn't going to trust Soma alone with his brother and he wanted to keep an eye on the man for suspicious behavior so he wouldn't suggest just Jona being around either.
"There's something off about you," Sasuke countered. "I thought you were just stressed with the whole bodyguard thing but now I can tell there's something else and I'm assuming it's the reason Kisame and Shukaku aren't in the room."
Itachi leaned back in his chair, "Someone feels like being observant today. Can't I just be like you and not talk about it?"
Sasuke shook his head. He understood the desire to pretend everything was okay when it wasn't, he excelled at it, "You're one of the people who have told me repeatedly that doing that isn't healthy, so tell me what's going on."
"Me and Kisame are just having some relationship problems," he tried to act like it was no big deal, but Sasuke could tell it bothered him. "He feels like he's not a priority, or whatever," the oldest mumbled. There was much more to the story, but he wasn't going to bring up his potential feelings for Kurama, that'd just cause more problems.
"Well, do you?" Sasuke asked. He felt bad for his brother, but in a way it had been coming for a while. The stress of Orochimaru being out certainly couldn't't be helping their already strained relationship. "How long has this been going on?" he asked, though he knew the answer.
"Months," Itachi admitted. "I honestly don't even know when it started. Now it fees like I'm losing my best friend just because we decided to date," he had started wondering if them dating was a mistake.
Sasuke scoffed, "You two were never just friends. You know damn well he liked you from the beginning. If you hadn't dated, you would have ended up in this awkward friendship that inevitability would have fallen apart anyway because his feelings didn't seem like they were going to just disappear."
"He was the one that didn't want to admit them in the first place," Itachi deflected. Sasuke was right, the tension between the two men was bound to have burst at some point.
"Maybe that's your problem, your relationship started because you made him jealous with Kurama," Sasuke reminded him. "You say I'm bad at feelings, you flirted with Kurama just so Kisame would finally break then stopped talking to Kurama when Kisame got jealous of your friendship. It's been a shit show from the start." Sasuke understood what it was like to have a jealous boyfriend, it wasn't healthy for a relationship, which is why it was one of the things they were working on in therapy.
"If I knew how to handle a romantic relationship like an adult I wouldn't be much of an Uchiha," Itachi joked. He could tell by the look on his face that Sasuke didn't find it very funny. "You know how it is, the more someone demands your time, the less you want to give it to them. Hearing him whine about how much I focus on you and work gets old," he felt a little awkward talking to Sasuke about his relationship problems. He was supposed to be the older brother who had everything together, not getting a lecture about healthy relationships from his brother.
"Me and Naruto are going to couple's therapy," Sasuke told him, knowing it was something Itachi and Kisame desperately needed if their relationship was going to last.
"I thought everything was going well," Itachi was now concerned that maybe Sasuke was unhappy in his own relationship. "What'd Naruto do?"
Sasuke chuckled, "Naruto didn't do anything. Everything is going well, but we're working on trust and communication. I think it's actually helped." As much as he dreaded therapy and talking about his feelings and what he could work on, he couldn't deny the results. "We each go on our own and as a couple," he told him. The more he went to therapy, the more he had to admit that he was wrong to believe the stigma behind going to therapy. "You guys should try it."
"I'll talk to him about it," Itachi promised.
"Now, do you want to tell me what's going on with Kurama? I know there's nothing with Shukaku yet you didn't invite him to our meeting. He's usually in here taking all of your notes and adding his oh so lovely commentary," Sasuke knew he probably wouldn't get an answer.
"Nothing to talk about, let's get back to the project," Itachi sat up straight, clearly lying.
"Sure there isn't," Sasuke rolled his eyes, but he didn't push for more. He just hoped it would all work out.
After an hour long discussion, there was a knock on the door. "Come in," Itachi called. Both brothers turned to see Kisame walk in.
"Well, I think we've got a good start. I have work I need to finish," Sasuke got up, wanting to get as far away as possible. He could feel Itachi glare at him as he left. "You two should talk," he walked past Itachi, closing the door on his way out so the two might actually talk.
"What was that about?" Kisame asked, noticing Sasuke's odd behavior.
Itachi signaled for the other man to sit down, "We need to talk."
"Now you want to talk," Kisame grumbled as he sat across from the other man. "Should have known it'd be at work, that's the only place you are these days."
Itachi sighed, remembering exactly why he hadn't wanted to talk, "Can you act like an adult for a minute? I'm serious."
"Are you breaking up with me?" Kisame asked, feeling as if that was where the conversation was going. "You claim we're fine, so what's going on?" there was a condescending undertone to his voice.
"We both know it feels like we're drifting apart," Itachi leaned forward on the desk, trying to find a way to feel less awkward.
"You're so focused on Sasuke and work that you can't focus on our relationship," Kisame snapped as he clenched his fists.
"Don't bring my brother into this, we both know this has been a problem for a while," Itachi hissed. It was one thing to blame him, but to somehow blame Sasuke was unacceptable. "I think we should go to couple's therapy."
"Therapy?" Kisame asked in disbelief. "We don't need that shit. We can work it out ourselves," the man didn't even want to entertain the thought of paying to talk to someone else about their problems. They could work it out between them, no one else's opinion mattered.
"How about this, if you don't want to go the therapy, then I think we should take a break," Itachi gave him an ultimatum. "The choice is yours."
"This is your bother's doing, isn't it?" Kisame gripped the arm of the chair, ready to break it.
Itachi frowns, "I got the idea from him to go. Me saying we should take a break if we don't is solely my idea. Stop trying to make our problems about him."
"Well, if he didn't," Kisame started just to be cut off by Itachi.
"I'm going to suggest you don't even think of finishing that sentence," Itachi seethed. "Get out of my office," he couldn't stand to look at the man just thinking of how he might have finished that sentence. "We should take a break."
Kisame could barely contain his anger, "Fine, we're done and I'm done here."
"You're quitting because we're taking a break?" Itachi should have seen it coming. It wasn't like he really wanted to see Kisame. "Fine, it'll give you time to clear out your things and find a new place to stay," Itachi retorted. He hadn't been planning to kick the other man out of their shared home, but if he wanted to quit then he could find somewhere else to live.
"Just kicking me out on the street, huh?" Kisame got up from his chair. "Fine, I have people I can stay with." He didn't give Itachi any more time to respond before opening the door and leaving the office, slamming the door behind him.
Kisame couldn't help but storm down the hall to Sasuke's open office. Soma and Jona looked at each other as they watched the angry man walk into Sasuke's office. He hadn't been seen as a threat, but they were both carefully paying attention due to the other man's aggressive posture. "This is your fault!" Kisame yelled.
He seemed ready to jump over the desk, but Jona quickly moved in and grabbed the enraged man. "I think you should go," the bodyguard told him as Soma grabbed Kisame's other arm.
"What's my fault?" Sasuke let out a sigh, having a feeling he knew exactly what happened.
"You made your brother break up with me all because you couldn't handle yourself," he blamed Sasuke for his relationship falling apart.
"I couldn't handle myself?" Sasuke was ready to have the two men toss Kisame out. "What is that supposed to me?"
Kisame resisted against the two men, "You know exactly what I mean."
"Get him out of my sight," he ordered the two men.
"I'll leave on my own," Kisame told him. Sasuke nodded and the two men remained guarded as the reluctantly let go of Kisame.
Sasuke watched as the man left his office, presumably to leave the building. "This stays between us," he told them, not wanting Itachi to find out. "Don't give me that look, it's for the best," he told Jona, who was looking like he was ready to argue. "Kisame is harmless, he's just hurt."
Soma remained silent as he looked at the door, wondering if he had a new ally. "We just want to be cautious," Soma told him. "I'm going to go make sure he left."
Soma walked in the direction he'd seen Kisame leave and found him aggressively packing up his office, "I believe you were supposed to leave the premises."
Kisame rolled his eyes, "Don't worry, I don't plan to hurt precious Sasuke. I may not like him, but I don't want him hurt." He locked eyes with Soma, "I'm pretty sure anyone that hurts Sasuke is just asking to disappear without a trace. You think Orochimaru knows people, it's nothing compared to the people Itachi could contact. The only reason Orochimaru is alive is because Sasuke doesn't want Itachi to do anything that could get him in trouble. If Sasuke's gone, it's over for anyone involved," he warned as if he knew Soma was an inside man for Orochimaru. "Hell, he might just send someone to teach me a lesson just for talking to him like that. You might want to keep that in mind because he already doesn't trust you."
"If you know so much, couldn't you take Itachi down and not have to worry about it?" he made a mental note to figure out a way to make Itachi trust him. He didn't want to talk to Orochimaru about it, knowing he was no use to him if he were compromised in some way.
Kisame laughed, "If you think I could take down the Uchihas you are out of your mind. I want to be alive more than I want revenge. I'm not a public figure like Orochimaru, if I do something it'd be easy to make me disappear with no questions." Kisame grabbed his things, leaving without any further disruption.
Soma walked back to Sasuke's office, "He's gone. I don't think he will cause any more issues." He wasn't sure if Sasuke really thought the man was harmless or if he knew that his older brother would take action if he tried anything. Either way, it was pretty clear that Kisame would not be any help to him. "Are you leaving?" he asked as he saw Sasuke gather his things.
"I'm going to finish this at home," Sasuke informed him, not saying why. He didn't think it was necessary for Soma to know that Kisame's words had affected him. He just wanted to get home and talk to Naruto about the incident.
He got home to find Naruto on the couch over a stack of papers. "I thought I'm the one that's supposed to bring home work?" he teased as he tossed his suit jacket over a chair.
"I have to grade some time," Naruto told him as he put the papers aside. "What's wrong? You're never home this early."
Sasuke sighed as he started to take off his tie, "Kisame and Itachi broke up and now Kisame blames me for it because I couldn't handle myself." He placed the tie on top of his jacket before busying himself with unbuttoning the buttons on his dress shirt.
Naruto got up and grabbed Sasuke's hands, "Look at me." Sasuke looked up, letting himself be pulled into the other man's arms. "It's not your fault. None of this is your fault."
"I know," Sasuke assured him. "He's just frustrated, but you know how my mind is," he buried his face in Naruto's neck, closing his eyes as he felt Naruto wrap his arms around him.
The blond pulled back, "You go change and I'll make dinner. Then we can cuddle on the couch or bed, whatever you want."
Sasuke shook his head, "Can we just go lay in bed now?"
Naruto wanted to argue that they should eat something, but decided against it. He could make the man eat later when he was hopefully feeling a little better. "Of course," he smiled a little as Sasuke let out a surprised squeak as Naruto picked him up bridal style.
"Put me down!" Sasuke demanded, but wrapped his arms around Naruto's neck when the blond started walking towards the bed. "I can walk myself to the bedroom," he groaned.
"I'll put you down when we get to the bed," he told him. "Then you'll be a good boy and let me take care of you." Sasuke knew there was no point in arguing with a determined Naruto so he just let himself be carried to the room. He placed Sasuke on the bed before he finished unbuttoning Sasuke's shirt, "Do you want to change into something else or just relax in your boxers?"
Sasuke smiled a little, "I am perfectly capable of doing this myself."
Naruto nodded, "Just humor me and let me do it." The smile on Sasuke's face let the blond know that he had made the right choice. No matter how much Sasuke wanted to deny it, everyone needed to be taken care of sometimes. "So just tell me, do you want something to change into?"
"One of your shirts would be great," Sasuke told him, watching as the blond walked to the drawer to grab one of his comfortable shirts. He didn't know why there was just something comforting about wearing Naruto's clothes when he was feeling upset. Soon enough Sasuke was changed and they were cuddled up under the covers in comfortable silence. Sasuke closed his eyes, letting himself relax in Naruto's arms as they spooned. "I love you," he told him quietly.
"I love you, too," Naruto placed light kisses to the back of his neck. "Always."