Part 9: The Letter
The dropoff at school went as smooth as it could have given the circumstances.
Itachi had pulled Sasuke into an embrace over the mid-section of the car, refusing to release the boy for the life of him despite the squirms and whines to let go. In fact, the "I'm going to be late" and "Let go, Aniki" served as triggers for the man, reminding him of the times Sasuke wanted to run away from him and deny what they had.
He had not the faintest clue why his Otouto insisted on attending university. They were wealthy after all, and even if Sasuke didn't have a cent to his name, Itachi could easily make sure they lived a life free from monetary worries.
The more time they spent apart meant that the boy would encounter more beings that walked the Earth, bad influences that corrupted his clarity. Forces that sought to damage what they had.
He didn't know when this anxiety began. Perhaps, it was the moment he consciously laid sexual sights on his precious Otouto, kissed him for the first time, and confirmed that the boy was everything he wanted. Or maybe it had always been there, and he had chalked it up as concern for Sasuke's well-being as a guardian figure while he philandered and ignored his baser instincts.
Itachi recalled that, ever since Sasuke made the promise to him to not allow another soul to touch his lips, he had been anxiously waiting for Sasuke at home. His class had been over for hours and he had not said a peep to Itachi about returning. He had already known then that there was something wrong with him inside. The unease he felt was too prominent and came so easily that it was overwhelming, and his heart chased after it like a lovesick maniac.
It only goes to show that, once he found his precious jewel, separation was impossible. And then, he continued to search desperately for ways to ensure that Sasuke would remain beside him.
Of course, it crossed his mind that physically restraining the boy would be the surest method of accomplishing that. Hence those silver metal cuffs he always kept tucked under the fold of his pillow.
He didn't think he'd ever have to use them, but Sasuke had hurt Itachi's feelings that time. He felt like his feelings were being stomped on when his Otouto rejected him.
He lashed out because he was unbelievably hurt. Except for the night Sasuke ran away from him, that hurt he felt in that very moment was incomparable to anything he'd ever felt in his entire life.
Making love to his lover only to be interrupted by a half nude man's picture appearing on Sasuke's phone as it rang and rang had twisted his insides. Then, Sasuke panicked when the phone rang and wanted to leave him immediately. Of course, he felt like he was being tossed aside. In that moment, he had mentally stored that face away in his memory because, if he ever saw it again, he'd ruin it.
It was the kiss to the cheek, which left a very light saliva imprint, that startled Itachi and caused his arms to loosen reflexively, allowing the boy to slip from his iron embrace and make his way out of the vehicle.
The boy had the audacity to chirp a "Have a good day, Achi!" at him with a small wave as he hefted his backpack over one shoulder and shut his car door.
Itachi blinked, still in his stupor, but was adamant about waving back. He hated saying goodbye in any capacity, so he never did. Instead, because of his promise the night before, he forced himself to look away after his Otouto disappeared into the lecture hall and stepped on the gas pedal.
After they had slept together again, Itachi was beyond ecstatic. His elation was so severe that he had jitters throughout the night while Sasuke's sleeping figure was next to him in bed.
His beloved Otouto had fallen asleep a few hours after the bath, having finished his project, and crawled tiredly into bed without a word, so Itachi had no reason to feel unease.
However, this morning he could tell that Sasuke was avoiding his gaze and dodging his attempts at conversations. Hence, his astonishment when the boy actually kissed him before running off.
Maybe he was trying to be sweet so Itachi would listen better. Who knew what was going on inside Sasuke's pretty little head sometimes- ignoring him and refusing to look at him one minute and giving him such a cute kiss the next? Or maybe what he had witnessed was the leftover high from yesterday's activities. Or… it could be that he was trying to deny what they did with such a brotherly show of affection…
His fingers stopped their tapping on the steering wheel.
No, this wouldn't do.
He pulled out his phone immediately after pulling into the parking spot in front of the apartment complex and hammered out a text, sending it without a second thought.
Sasuke told Itachi that he could text him as much as he needed. So he expected a response.
H.J.
Vrrrz. Vrrrrzzz.
Sasuke's phone buzzed with incoming texts seconds after he and Naruto were called on to present the project. He had just enough time to confirm who the messages were from before he was ushered out of his seat to the podium by the blond.
He let his phone slide back into his pocket and set up his laptop instead, accepting the USB drive passed onto him by the blonde.
Those texts from Itachi would have to wait.
"Naruto and I were assigned chapters fourteen and fifteen in the Human Sexuality textbook, which covers the male and female sexual reproductive organs," he began. "Topics covered in today's presentation include how each organ functions, reproduction in humans compared to animals, and different forms of contraception."
He had absolutely no fucking clue how he kept such a straight face saying all that he did when, not even twelve hours ago, his Aniki had fucked him silly with zero forms of contraception. Ahem, condoms. Ahem. In fact, his insides still felt suspiciously wet.
"Naruto will discuss the female reproductive system and methods of contraception first, and I will talk about the male reproductive system and condom-use as well as some odd methods of male contraception that were used in the old days."
His ass still throbbed and his legs trembled slightly from being overused. Itachi was so sweet yesterday, both during and after, that he couldn't even say anything about it, fearing the man would fuss even more over him. The last thing he needed was his brother paying him even more attention.
Okay, that was only partially true. The main reason he couldn't say anything was because, in order to have a conversation, he had to look Itachi in his eyes, but every time he thought about the raunchy details his face became suspiciously warm.
Sasuke's frazzled state caused him to thwart all of Itachi's attempts to touch or caress him. He did so with such quick maneuvers and terrible excuses that it was impossible for Itachi not to catch on, but that morning he didn't want to revisit those details quite yet and running away wasn't an option. So he tried to lay low.
Yet, even then, the task was unbelievably difficult with his Aniki hovering over him, acting like Sasuke was a damsel in distress.
"Does it hurt anywhere? How are you feeling, Otouto?" Itachi had asked. Sasuke didn't know if it was the topic at hand or the genuine concern in his voice that made him shift in discomfort.
"I was gentle yesterday," the man had stated proudly as if he had received a trophy as the world's best lover.
Merely hearing those words caused Sasuke a crapload of second hand embarrassment, and along with that came shivers that slithered up his spine because the gentleness that his Aniki was referring to was addictive. The man had loved him, bathed him, fed him, and cuddled him in bed. He felt heard and treasured.
And that was a terrifying ordeal in itself. Raising hopes simply to crush them later… he didn't want to expect anything from such a nonexistent relationship.
When Sasuke checked his phone after he had sat back down, he had six unread texts and three miscalls. He inwardly cursed, rubbing at his temple in mild agitation as he opened the texts.
As expected, they were all from Itachi.
Patience. Patience. He chanted mentally. It's because he feels lonely. He's not doing it on purpose. Patience.
Aniki: 9:03AM: I wasn't rough, Otouto. You'd tell me if I was, right?
Aniki: 9:05AM: Otouto, I don't feel right like this. My chest hurts being this far away from you.
Aniki: 9:13AM: Did you regret it?
Aniki: 9:13AM: No. Don't answer that.
Aniki: 9:20AM: Otouto, what are you doing? Answer me.
Aniki: 9:22AM: What the hell are you doing, Sasuke? You said you'd answer me if I texted you. Did you lie to me again?
Sasuke flinched at that last word. "Again." So his brother did hold it against him.
The boy was just about to respond when his phone buzzed again in his hand, nearly scaring the crap out of him, and another text popped up at the bottom of his chain of messages.
Aniki: 9:25AM: Otouto.
That single word was more frightening than all the other texts combined, and his trembling hands flew over the keyboard as quickly as they could manage.
Sasuke: Aniki, sorry. I was presenting my project and didn't have time to check my phone.
He was about to hit send, but realized such a poor text would have been ill-received. So he very hesitantly, yet tactically added something at the end.
Miss you.
His shoulders sagged after he sent the text and shoved his phone away, too embarrassed to even read any replies to what he had said.
The boy sighed. Besides, he had caused all of this. Had he not run away, his brother wouldn't have been so attached to him and obsessed with keeping him beside him. Sasuke knew all too well how it felt to be abandoned. After all, one evening their parents were out for a date night and said they'd be back in a few hours, and next thing they knew, a few hours turned into a whole evening until they were finally told they would never be coming back.
Sasuke felt a nudge against his ribs and noticed Naruto eyeing him oddly. "You okay?" the blond mouthed.
He waved it off and felt his phone vibrate, but he remembered what he said and his cheeks turned hot. No way he was going to live down such a confession, no matter how much truth it held.
H.J.
Itachi's eyes ate the words on the screen greedily, roaming back and forth between those two little words with increasing elation. Sasuke… missed him? His eyes brightened, lighting up with a pleasant excitement that racked his core. How those two measly words made his heart beat.
He responded almost immediately.
I miss you so much. I love you.
No forethought was given. He sent the text and set the phone down next to the pillow as he snuggled deeper into blankets on Sasuke's bed. He had tucked himself in as soon as he had returned, breathing in his Otouto's scent as he tried to calm himself down lest he began to hyperventilate.
Sasuke hadn't been answering his texts nor his calls, and Itachi had to force himself to stay in bed- the one place closest to his Otouto.
When his phone remained silent, Itachi frowned. A zing shot through his chest, stretching diagonally down his right peck toward his diaphragm. He hated that feeling. It was always unpleasant, always a result of his hostile thoughts and deepest fears.
He picked up his phone again and stared at the last message he sent. Sasuke hadn't responded to it and Itachi wanted to unleash another stream of thoughts that were swirling around in his head, but his fingers clenched into a fist and he set it back down.
No, he thought, gritting his teeth. Otouto would hate it. He'd hate me. No more. No more for today. He willed himself to stop trembling and abruptly sat up.
He needed to do something else to take his mind off of it. Otherwise, his Otouto would grow to hate Itachi. He already knew Sasuke wasn't fond of texting. After all, he had asked him not to text him so often.
Itachi threw the covers off. Why not take the opportunity to see what kind of things his sweet baby had laying around? Maybe he'd stumble upon something interesting or embarrassing he could make use of later. If anything, he'd at least have the opportunity to learn something new about his Otouto. With newfound vigor, Itachi swung his legs off the bed and padded around the bedroom.
Always start with the most personal space, he thought while humming a tune.
The man rummaged through cabinets and drawers, scoured under the bed and even the mattress, and peeked into every crevice in the wall. He found common over-the-counter medication, school books, clothing and shoes, some electronics, but nothing out of the ordinary. In fact, there wasn't much laying around and it was times like these that Itachi was reminded of how minimalistic his Otouto was.
Except for one thing… and that happened to be the big treasure chest box he discovered underneath the bed. When Itachi had pulled it out from under, he noticed that it was quite hefty in size. The chest had dual latches to firmly seal the lid and had iron handles into its side, but it wasn't locked nor did it have a lock.
Honestly, the man didn't know what to expect when he pushed open the lid, and his heartbeat had quickened from something akin to dread or anxiety. What could have been so important that his Otouto went out specifically to buy a chest for it? What had the audacity to occupy the space beneath his bed so intimately?
Toys? Secret letters? Pornography? What else did 19-year-olds like nowadays?
His brows furrowed and he braced himself before looking down. When he laid eyes on the contents, his eyes widened and he couldn't help himself.
Itachi outright laughed, shoulders trembling nonstop as his chuckles filtered through his lips and echoed in the room. Without another word, he placed the latches down and pushed the box back underneath the bed.
His Otouto was too cute.
The smile was wiped off his face when he looked in the bathroom. Shoved toward the tail end of the bottom counter drawer, he found a half full prescription bottle. The label read: 1mg Lorazepam. Take one daily at bedtime or as needed.
Itachi frowned, but tucked the bottle back into its original location. Since when did his Otouto need such a sedative?
With a huff, he resigned to move to the living room, picking through the bookshelf that had quite a hefty load of books organized by authors.
He thumbed through the spines absent-mindedly, reveling in the soft velvet covers, until his index finger tapped on one that was hard as plastic. Itachi froze, not expecting such, before he pulled the book off the shelf.
What he initially thought was a book because it looked like a book and was mixed in with other books was actually not a book. He flipped it over, the title page clearly defining it as a dictionary, but when Itachi opened it, it didn't have any pages.
In fact, not only did it not possess any pages, but the entire thing wasn't even made out of paper. The sides were made of a plastic-like material and the inside was metal.
It was a safe.
A combo-lock safe that was disguised as an ordinary book. A dictionary.
Itachi's eyes narrowed. Why did his Otouto have such a thing? What was he trying to keep hidden away?
Hmm… but then again, it wasn't necessarily atypical to have a safe keeping location in one's home for valuables, right? His Otouto wasn't nearly as wealthy as he was, but he did receive hundreds of thousands from their parents' will. It could possibly be just emergency money.
He willed himself not to get too fixated on the four digit combo lock, but his brain was already compiling a list of possible numbers.
I'll just try the top two possibilities, he said to himself. I'll stop after.
He rolled through the numbers until the numbers 0723 were on display. Sasuke's birthday. He twisted the knob, but it didn't budge.
With somewhat of a shaky sigh, he tried again, this time arranging the digits to display 0609. When he turned the knob, it shrieked and whined against the metal and the sound of a lock unlatching rang in Itachi's ears.
No way.
Itachi exhaled harshly. He didn't know whether to be happy or moved. Sasuke had used Itachi's birthday as his password.
Without further adieu, he pulled open the cover, allowing his eyes to roam freely on its contents. There was, indeed, an envelope of cash inside, composed of all twenty dollar bills. If Itachi were to estimate the total, he'd say that there was about five grand there.
He rummaged past the money with little interest, itching to discover the remaining contents of that small safe. He found three other items.
The first was a three month prescription for Lorazepam, that drug he found in the bathroom drawer. What surprised Itachi wasn't what kind of prescription it was, but the person who prescribed it. He had originally thought it was a doctor, but the prescription before him clearly listed that the prescriber was the treating psychiatrist.
The second thing inside was an envelope the size of a letter. Itachi's name was written on the front in Sasuke's neat handwriting and the envelope was unsealed. However, when Itachi pulled out the folded paper from within, it was blank. The empty sheet gave him an unsettling feeling.
The third item was also a letter, but this time it was addressed to Sasuke's current address and had come from Japan. It was postmarked a week and a half after Sasuke had disappeared. A glance at the sender's name on the corner of the envelope made Itachi freeze.
No.
He'd never forget that name.
Itachi pulled out the letter, eyes darting through the words as if possessed. The more he read of the contents, the angrier he got, and the angrier he got, the more his body shook from unrepressed rage until he heard the jingling of the cage within his chest again.
No. No. No. Nonononono.
Stop. Just stop.
Itachi hadn't realized he had godforsaken tears trickling down his face until one hit the paper in his grip with a splat.
Hey, cutie,
How are you faring in the States? Just checking up on you since I haven't heard from you in a few days. Make sure you send me your new phone number. Otherwise, long distance will be tough. ;)
I heard some rumors that your brother went ballistic yesterday when someone asked about you. It was really bad. Are you sure we shouldn't tell him where you are? I know you guys had some disagreements, but flying overseas doesn't really resolve the problem, you know? What am I saying? Of course you know. I've been nagging you about it just last week.
Anyways, you're always welcome to bunk with me again if you return. I'll welcome you with open arms. Miss you. Don't forget to respond.
Happy thoughts,
Neji
The tears definitely were not ones of sadness. Rather, they came from the depths of rabid frustration and anger. He was crying out of pure anger.
The letter reeked of flirtation. The words danced on the page as if courting his Otouto. Every single word reached out to mock Itachi as if boasting in his face.
The letter fell from his hands when he reached his hands up to fist his head of hair. Long tresses cascaded between the crevices of his fingers, and at the root of his skull, Itachi's fingers flexed, yanking horrifyingly hard at them.
And he screamed.
It wasn't one of those screams you could hear down the hall. It was one of the ones that escaped as a whistling screech, having begun like an earthquake inside his head as an ear-piercing cry, and was suppressed as it was blown out of his mouth as if a banshee was wailing in the night. It was filled with a kind of raging hostility that Itachi had never felt toward another human being before.
It was excruciating. Worse than when Sasuke's school counselor suggested Sasuke leave Itachi and study abroad. Worse than the time he discovered that Sasuke had been felt up on the train beside him by a pervert. Worse than the time he discovered his baby brother had been subjected to another man's touch.
Because his Otouto, his first love and the boy that possessed his heart and soul, had run away from him, only to seek immediate solace in the arms of another man.. in the home of another man. He had run away from Itachi in favor of the man who had the audacity, in Itachi's absence, to mark his Otouto. The boy knew that Itachi was far from fond of this Neji character, yet he continued to remain in contact with him despite Itachi's previous warning.
Why did his Otouto give his new address to this stranger, this man who held no blood ties to him, yet Itachi was left in the dark? Why hadn't Itachi been privy to Sasuke's new address? Why was he so special?
Was Itachi not good enough? Did he not love Sasuke enough? Care for him better than a lover? Exist solely to make him happy?
He did everything to make his Otouto happy. He stopped sleeping around. He listened. He held back. He was gentle. He was being good. He didn't overtext. He made love to the boy sweetly. He didn't do anything to his Otouto when he slept in his arms. He dropped Sasuke off this morning and left without lingering around. He… He-fuck, he was being so good.
So why?
Was this the work of karma?
This slap in the face was more stifling and excruciating than anything he felt before, even worse than when he discovered Sasuke had left him.
Itachi felt his world shatter.
He didn't know if he felt more numb or cold inside.
He didn't know if he'd be able to survive this.
H.J.
When 4:15PM rolled around, Sasuke's eyes narrowed in suspicion.
Someone as anal as his Aniki would never be late to pick him up, especially not this late. He had even texted his brother ten minutes before leaving his class, yet Itachi did not respond. That was where the oddity began, because his brother always responded.
So when he gave up on waiting and began walking home, the more he considered the scenario, the faster he picked up his pace until he was dashing down the main street in the direction of his apartment.
The shower was running when he got home, which was odd because Itachi only showered in the morning or before bed. Sasuke set his backpack down on the couch, noticing with wide eyes the spilled contents of his safe on the living room floor.
The handwritten letter from Neji was laid open suspiciously on the ground, and Sasuke's brows furrowed in worry. He gulped, heartbeat quickening anxiously. There was a reason he sneakily locked that letter in the safe on the day Itachi showed up. It wasn't something that he'd typically hide from the common person, but even if the average person were to read it, they would misunderstand the intent.
Nothing good would have come from his Aniki reading it, so the possibility that Itachi had read it, made Sasuke's defenses go up.
When he opened the door, there was no steam that filtered out the room. In fact, a chill from the cold made Sasuke shiver.
"Aniki?" he called hesitantly when he saw the silhouette behind the curtain. Very slowly, Sasuke reached out to pull the shower curtain aside and, before his eyes, his brother stood under the shower, head bowed and fingers gripping tightly onto an empty Vodka bottle.
A glance inside the tub and Sasuke saw two other empty glass bottles of whiskey laying aimlessly by the shower drain. "Tachi?" Sasuke called softly, pushing his Aniki's hair over his shoulder.
His hand met ice cold water, and he shrieked, instantly alert. "What the hell are you doing?!" he cried hysterically, immediately shutting off the water. "How long have you been standing there?"
Sasuke ran to his room and grabbed two large towels, tossing one over Itachi's shoulders and wrapping the other around the man's waist. His fingers brushed against skin so cold that it made him shiver.
"Get out, Aniki," he demanded as he pried the bottle from Itachi's grip and set it on the floor.
The man's head was still bowed, eyes seemingly wide open and unblinking, and his skin appeared to grow paler by each passing second.
Sasuke grunted in exasperation and worry, manually moving the large man out of the tub so that he was standing on the bath mat instead. He had to raise himself on his tippy toes when he used the towel around his Aniki's shoulder to vigorously dry his hair. Simultaneously, he turned on the heater nearby.
Sasuke brows furrowed when Itachi did not acknowledge his presence. "What are you doing drinking that much and showering in frigid cold water?" he asked. There was a bite to his tone, yet it softened out of sympathy when the man lifted his head to look at him. He left the towel hanging on Itachi's head and cupped the man's face in his warm palms, eyes searching Itachi's for some sign of life. "Are you okay?" he asked. "Let's get you under the covers and I'll bring you some more blankets and some tea, okay?"
Sasuke didn't know what startled him more: the immediate flow of tears he received from his Aniki or the man's crushing embrace.
The boy let Itachi press him against his body and wrapped his arms around his body, so at the very least, he could transfer some of his body heat to him. Sasuke's gaze softened considerably as he rubbed soothing circles on Itachi's back. "I'm sorry. Don't cry, Aniki," he murmured. "Was I gone for a long time? Were you lonely?"
Sasuke felt tears trickle along the nape of his neck and, aside from the occasional sniffle and whimper, Itachi did not make any noise. "Let's go to bed, yeah? You're going to get sick."
Itachi did not budge an inch until Sasuke latched onto his hand and dragged him out of the bathroom and sat him down on the bed. He wrapped the man up in three blankets and hopped up behind him so that he would blow dry his hair.
His Aniki remained alarmingly silent throughout the exchange as if he was a ragged doll. When Sasuke was done, he boiled some hot water and made some lemon ginger green tea and set it on the nightstand.
"What's wrong?" he asked gently, having taken a seat next to the unmoving man. "Are you mad at me?"
Sasuke's eyes flickered to Itachi's hands. The man's grip hand tightened around the blankets just now, yet his face remained scarily blank.
Ah, so he was. He wondered how much it had to do with the contents of his safe, yet Sasuke did not think it was the time to bring up such matters.
"Do you want to lay down with me?" he beckoned softly, patting the mattress with his palm.
His Aniki made something akin to a grunt, and Sasuke's lips twitched. "If you drink this tea, I'll lay down with you." He offered the mug to his Aniki, waiting for the man to part his lips before tilting it slowly.
Itachi took small gulps until the entire mug was empty.
"Good Aniki," Sasuke hummed with a smile.
He set the cup aside and laid down first on his back, waiting patiently for Itachi to do the same. Before the man laid down, he unwrapped the blankets and tossed them over Sasuke's smaller figure first before he laid down on his side facing the boy.
Sasuke's heart warmed. Even when he was angry, his Aniki cared for him tenderly, afraid that he'd get cold.
Without a second thought, the boy grabbed Itachi's arm and draped it over his waist. Simultaneously, he rolled to his side facing away, so the man could spoon him.
Their bodies fit perfectly against one another, the warmth from Sasuke's back seeping into Itachi's chest. The boy felt Itachi's arm tighten around him. He heard some shuffling behind him before he felt the man lay his cool cheek against the dip between his neck and collarbone, digging his face against his flesh.
Wetness pooled along his skin, and the arms around his waist trembled along with it.
"Shhh… it's okay, Achi," Sasuke murmured, stroking the palm resting on his belly. "Everything's okay. I'm not going anywhere, okay?"
Sasuke did not get a response, and the shaking did not stop. He frowned, but cuddled a little closer.
H.J.
It must have been in the dead of the night when Itachi propped himself up in bed and climbed on top of his Otouto.
The man couldn't tell what kind of expression was on his face, or if there was any to begin with, as he stared down at Sasuke's peaceful slumbering face. All he felt was a hole in his chest, dark and empty. It rapidly grew into a void of numbness so severe that his facial muscles were dead.
Even his eyes, which held a foreign dullness, looked at the boy differently.
The glaring reality of look, but don't touch echoed in his mind continuously, and Itachi stopped himself from leaning down for a kiss. Instead, he sat back with knees pressed into the mattress on either side of Sasuke's hips.
With one hand, he bunched up his Otouto's shirt and pushed it upward, exposing the boy's bare chest. He dipped his other hand underneath the waistband of his sweats to untuck his half hard cock.
Itachi jerked himself off above the boy in that position, never once uttering a single sound. While his hand did the deed, his heart was elsewhere and his brain could only work overtime to process how he currently felt.
Why did he have to do such a thing to his innocent baby? Why couldn't things just be smooth-sailing for him just this once?
His grip on himself was tight and punishing, nowhere close to pleasurable as the act tended to do.
Why?
Why was it so hard to make one person love him? Why was he abandoned? Why did he have to suffer silently like this? Why wasn't he good enough? Just why?
Tears of frustration gathered in his eyes again, but this time, the man refused to let them fall. When he came, he aimed at the exposed skin and held steady until all of it belonged to Sasuke. For a better measure, he even dragged the head of his cock along Sasuke's abdomen to make sure not a drop was left.
His listless eyes grew possessive, narrowing heavily on the cum he had splashed all over the sleeping boy's chest, and he immediately spread a palm over it and began rubbing it all over every inch of skin he was privy to. The boy twitched lightly in his sleep with a 'Mm', but otherwise did not wake up.
Like lotion, it glistened along the skin before it dried up and faded as if it didn't exist to begin with.
For a fraction of a second, Itachi felt a tiny bit better. But then, he was flooded with that feeling again- the zing through his chest that spread like wildfire and made him ache in unimaginable ways, and he gritted his teeth.
He tucked himself back in and lowered Sasuke's shirt, coaxing the sleeping boy on his side facing away. At the center of the back of Sasuke's neck, where pale unmarred skin beckoned to him, Itachi bit down hard.