Itachi stood before the elders of Konoha, his eyes holding a very defiant look in them. Almost as soon as Itachi had handed Kakashi over to the hospital workers, a messenger had come to take him before the council. He now waited for what they had to say, not that he really cared what they had to say. The only thing that interested him in the whole proceeding was the fact that Tsunade was not present, nor was her counterpart Shizune.
"Uchiha Itachi…it seems you didn't understand the restrictions that were placed upon you when you had reentered the country of Konoha," the oldest of the council said.
"I understood the restrictions perfectly, I just chose to break them." Itachi said defiantly.
"Perhaps you don't understand the consequences of your actions then."
Itachi gave a rare smirk, "I understand those as well."
It was obvious that the elder was growing irritated with the whole conversation very quickly, "Then why did you do it?"
"I did it so that Kakashi understood the consequences of the actions that HE decided to take in dealing with Uchiha Sasuke," Itachi said, offering no further explanation.
"I don't understand what your brother has to do with any of this. Please explain the situation so that we might know whether your actions are founded or if disciplinary measures need to be accessed."
"All I will say to the matter is; I will not tolerate anyone who brings tears to my little brother's eyes. So do what you must, but I will not explain myself any further." With that said Itachi turned and headed towards the door, not feeling any need to linger before the council when it would make no difference what he said. The outcome would be the same.
"Uchiha Itachi, this meeting is not yet over," the female elder said roughly.
Itachi turned to look over his shoulder at them, "On the contrary, I'm quite finished." Without another word he left the room, leaving the elders in an angry and stunned silence. Itachi left the council area, curious as to why Tsunade had not been present. He wondered if she had already gone to care for the fallen Kakashi. He considered heading back to the hospital to find out but then decided he should return home to mend the broken heart of his younger brother.
Sasuke had crawled into his brother's bed and hidden beneath the covers. When he had first gotten back to the cottage he had contemplated what exactly he should do. He wasn't nearly as angry as he was depressed at what his brother had said to him. He also wasn't 100 percent sure that it was the truth. With Itachi you could never really tell. Sasuke had started to tremble with the effort it took to hold in his tears every time he thought about it. It hurt so much to see Kakashi laying helplessly in his arms, and yet what hurt more was the thought that he might have actually laughed at Sasuke for crying over him.
He hadn't actually meant to wander into Itachi's bedroom, but the fact that he felt so tired from all the emotional ups and downs he had gone through today had pushed him into crawling into someplace warm and comfortable. He had tried to sleep but seemed to fail at it miserably so instead he just covered his head with the covers and breathed in the scent of his brother. It was a strangely comforting thing to be wrapped up in this place.
Sasuke gave a start when the bed suddenly moved beside him as someone sat down. He almost flew out from beneath the covers in surprise. He pulled the blanket from his head and immediately stopped his flight when he saw it was his brother. Itachi had an amused expression on his face, one that Sasuke hadn't seen since he was a small child and his brother had actually shown care for him.
"What are you doing in my bed?" Itachi asked softly. He was amused at the sight of his brother's tousled hair and crumbled appearance. He apparently had been in bed almost the entire time Itachi had been with the elders. He thought his brother looked positively adorable and hadn't chanced a bit since Itachi had left the village.
"I…I.." Sasuke blushed a bit as he realized he didn't really have a good answer to this. "I was tired…and didn't want to sleep on the couch…it was comfortable here."
Itachi laughed a little and raised his finger to poke Sasuke right in the middle of his forehead, just as he had done when they were younger. "Silly little brother…"
Sasuke pouted a bit and rubbed his forehead. His protector had long been forgotten in the events of the day and even his clothes had been left in a pile in the living room. He smiled a little as he stopped rubbing his head, but left his hand there as he looked down at the blanket. "You haven't done that in a long time…"
"I've been gone a long time." Itachi reached out and caressed Sasuke's cheek. Sasuke leaned into the feeling of his brother's hand and closed his eyes. His eyes weren't closed long however when he felt the pressure of someone's lips against his own. They flew open and he looked into the dark eyes of his brother, who had leaned down and was killing him full on the lips. Sasuke gasped and backed his face away a little.
"What are you doing?" He asked confused. His head was a whirl of activity as he fought to figure out if it was right to be kissing his own brother like that.
Without answering Itachi gripped Sasuke's chin and brought his face closer again. This time Itachi's kiss was a little more forceful as his free arm wrapped around the slender waist of his younger brother. Sasuke's mind went blank and all he knew was how good this felt. Without thinking he leaned into his brothers kiss. Taking this as a cue, Itachi leaned forward, gently pushing Sasuke back onto the bed, moving his body so that he was straddling him. When they broke for air, Sasuke looked up at his brother a little breathlessly. Something inside him told him this just wasn't right, but there was another part of him that longed for this kind of attention, no matter who it came from. As Itachi's mouth continued to explore Sasuke's body he didn't fight him. He closed his eyes and let all thoughts leave his mind.
When Sasuke awoke he noticed that the sun was raising and he could see it trying to peek through the dark curtains of the one window in Itachi's bedroom. He sat up a little groggily and rubbed his eyes for a moment before dropping his hand and looking around. He was the only one in there, much to his dismay. His clothes were laying on the floor in a pile and so he got up and pulled on his shorts and shirt, not caring that they were rumpled and dirty. It was the only pair of clothes he had here. He sat back down on the bed and thought back to the activity of the night before, a blush coming to his cheeks as he remembered the details and the more he thought about it the more his body started to react. He quickly shook his head to keep himself from getting too worked up.
Sasuke wondered where his brother had gone off to and decided to go to the living room to see if he had left a note. As he exited the bedroom he thought he heard voices coming from outside. Some of the voices seemed familiar and he immediately recognized one as his brother's. The conversation sounded heated so he crouched down and inched his way closer so that he might be able to hear what was being said. Sasuke knelt by the window and just listened quietly to the conversation outside.
"You weren't supposed to hurt any of our guys. That was part of the deal." Sasuke didn't recognize the voice so he lifted his head a little to peek outside at the intruders. They were not familiar to him at all, but they seemed to know his brother.
"The deal was broken when you targeted my brother." Itachi said coolly. He was outside in just a pair of pants and his hair was loose and laying long down his back. Itachi had his back to the house but Sasuke knew from the tone of voice his brother had that he was not pleased with being visited by these people. Sasuke ducked back down below the window sil, but kept listening to the conversation.
"We had to use him to get to Kakashi! We agreed to use any means necessary to hurt Kakashi, and to do so we targeted the one thing he cared about most." Sasuke grit his teeth as the conversation started to sink in a little. He had been used to get to Kakashi…Kakashi told him to leave so that he would be protected from these people. That was why Kakashi was hurt that day…Sasuke closed his eyes and laid his head against the wall as the pieces of the puzzle slowly fell into place.
"That was unnecessary. Only I am allowed to control Sasuke's life and possible death in such a way. You broke the deal first." This comment from Itachi almost made Sasuke snarl with disgust. The feelings of hatred and betrayal he had always felt when he thought of his brother now returned. Itachi hadn't changed at all.
"We never planned to kill your dumb brother unless he got in our way. We just wanted to scare Kakashi. You had no reason to go as far as you did." Sasuke couldn't remember much of the fight. He had been so overwhelmed with the events that followed it that the details had just seemed to blur all together. He had thought Itachi had just been near enough to help him, now he figured it was all a part of their plan to get to Kakashi.
"Their deaths were inevitable. Kakashi is now out of your way. Your mission is complete and our alliance is over." Sasuke couldn't see what was going on, but he heard some movement and knew that Itachi was headed back towards the door of the house. He apparently felt the conversation was over.
"You're a bastard Itachi! Since Kakashi is taken care of we are going to avenge those that you killed!" More movement was heard and Sasuke knew that the men outside were doomed if they tried to do anything to Itachi. Sasuke started to move away from the window slowly, not wanting to attract any attention, but needing to get away before Itachi got back inside and knew that he had heard everything.
"I wouldn't do anything stupid if I were you." Itachi's voice had a threatening tone to it and Sasuke knew that the men's lives were in danger, but because of what they had done to Kakashi, he felt no remorse for what was about to happen to them.
"Don't tell us what to do! Prepare yourself." This was the last thing he heard as Sasuke scurried away from the window, not bothering to wipe the tears from his face. He knew that Kakashi hadn't meant it when he broke up with him. He had been stupid enough to believe it though and then even stupider to run to his brother for support. He wouldn't even think about what he had just done. Sasuke crawled until he got back to the bedroom and then he got to his feet and went to the window. He climbed out the window and as soon as his feet hit the ground he took off running towards the town. He never slowed, even when he heard the screams of the men Itachi was brutally murdering.
I will be posting the lake scene and probably the Itachi scene soon for those that are interested in reading them. I'll let you know with the next chapter just how to get to them. Thanks for reading!
