The room was pitch black, and Sasuke was drenched in a cold sweat, huffing and throwing his covers off. He touched his cheek, feeling the heat even before he grazed skin, only to wipe off the excess sweat from his brow. He was breathing heavily, his mind awry with memories he thought he had thrown away and forgotten, much less wanted coming to the surface now. Closing his eyes, he curled up against his knees, his face hidden beneath his hair as he sat there for a moment, trying to calm down.

It was just a nightmare. Fantasy, not memory. It didn't really happen. He was normal. It didn't happen.

He jumped when a pair of arms tentatively came around his form, and when his head whipped toward the direction they came from, the arms retreated quickly. Through the darkness, Sasuke managed to see a spiky haired outline sitting next to him, and what looked like an almost defensive position.

Right... the boy. At least the boy hadn't surprised him this time; his actions had, but it was just a realization of him being there again. Then again, it was the sudden realization that the boy had tried to comfort him from his nightmare that arched his brows. Wondering what exactly was going on in that mind of his, Sasuke tried his best to look through the darkness, but was still only able to see the boy's outline. Admittedly, focusing on the boy was rapidly pushing the unwanted memories back where they belonged, and Sasuke was thankful for that.

They stared at each other for a few minutes, neither willing to say a word or make a move before Sasuke finally sighed, and kicked what covers had lingered around his feet off the bed.

"Are you hungry?"

The boy froze, as if the question itself was a trick, but whatever war he was facing with himself, hunger must have won out. Only a few moments after the question was asked, the boy gave a defeated nod of his head. Strange, Sasuke thought, but tried not to give any more thought to it. He turned to leap from the bed, but his foot came down on something that crinkled loudly, startling him. When he reached down for it, it was that same piece of paper he'd told the boy to write his name on.

Suddenly a little more enthusiastic about moving, Sasuke shuffled over toward the light switch, giving a short call of,

"Lights coming on," to anounce the sudden brightness in the room that made even himself squint and flinch.

But his gaze was drawn quickly to the paper, where three words were scrawled in printed letters,

'Go Fuck Yourself.'

Sasuke stared at the page for a few moments, shocked into silence as he read the words over and over again. No slave... had ever done anything like this, to his knowledge. They were slaves for a reason; there to obey. ... Go fuck yourself? Where the hell did he find the nerve to write this, when he had sacrificed time and effort to make sure his father thought the boy was screaming his head off while he was actually sleeping in Sasuke's bed?!

Outraged, he turned his gaze back on the boy, who seemed to be watching Sasuke with a small hint of a smirk on his lips, and a mischievous glint in his blue eyes. Sasuke took a few steps forward, waving the sheet of paper at him.

"What the hell is this? I told you to write your name down. I 'Tried' to spare your vocal cords, since you seem so unwilling to use them, but this is ridiculous. Tell me your name, now."

He tossed the paper to the side, staring the boy down, trying to reproduce Fugaku's stare everytime Sasuke had pissed him off. Either he had failed, or it didn't matter to the boy, who's smirk became a little wider. The boy then folded his legs in front of him, and mimed having a bowl in his hands, sipping from it. 'Food first', the motions said.

Sasuke could already feel a headache coming on, but still he pushed the issue, going so far as to growl quietly when he said, dangerously low,

"Food after."

The boy's motions didn't stop for a few seconds, but when they did, he stretched and yawned, and began patting his 'full' belly, lying back in the middle of Sasuke's bed as if it were his. It was Sasuke who threw up his hands, huffing and turning back toward the door without another word to the boy. There was no point; this was too much work. So once he had exited the door, he slammed it for good measure, and stood just outside it, strangely curious if he'd hear anything from the room.

While he didn't hear anything from his room, a quiet creaking noise seemed to fill the hallway, making Sasuke wander down the hall, only to stop in front of his brother's bedroom door. Yes, this was definitely the source of the creaking, and now that he was here, he was sure he could hear breathy moans and low voices coming from inside, too. Suddenly, the anger at his own pet was beginning to be overshadowed by the curiosity of Itachi's pet.

So he actually did have one. The idea was almost startling to Sasuke, since he'd never actually seen this pet, even though Itachi had supposedly had it for going on five years now. Either that, or Itachi had just pulled in one of their father's slaves, which was really not the best of ideas. Unable to help it, Sasuke had his hand raised and poised over the door to knock before he could stop himself, and rapped three times. From within the room, the noises stopped instantly, and Sasuke could hear scrambling, which only piqued his interest further. There was the closing of a door, footsteps, a click of the door's lock, and suddenly the door swung open, a very disheveled Itachi glancing at him with wide eyes before relaxing.

"Oh, Sasuke. What is it?"

Speechless. Sasuke had to admit he was completely shocked and speechless. Never in his life had he seen his brother so flustered, so out of place, so... used? The idea just kind of floated around in his head after it was thought, but the signs Itachi had weren't helping. His lips were swollen and there was a tiny bite mark on the left side of his lower lip. His hair was down for once, crumpled and tangled and knotted with a few shorter strands sticking up toward the ceiling. His pupils were dilated heavily, to where there was hardly any color left in his already dark eyes, and there were red marks on his neck that looked oddly like the starting of hickeys.

Without responding, Sasuke tried to lean to the side, looking around Itachi into his dark room, but he wasn't able to make out any other figure before Itachi leaned back into the way, blocking his view with his body. He tried to hide it by simply pushing his shoulder against the door frame and pulling the door slightly more closed behind him, but Sasuke was aware he didn't want him to see what was going on in the room.

With a sigh, Sasuke arched his brow at Itachi, watching the man's cool demeanor slowly begin to piece itself back together.

"I heard noises. I'll imagine it's this 'pet' father still thinks you have? If not, you're lucky, because as far as I know, mother and father went out for a breakfast luncheon with the rest of father's company. You've probably got a few hours until they get home."

For a moment, Sasuke watched Itachi fighting off a blush from his cheeks before the older man finally sighed, shaking his head and reaching out to press his hand firmly on Sasuke's shoulder. That knowing smile/smirk was back, and it seemed like Itachi was looking through him and at him at the same time somehow when he spoke softly,

"Soon enough, you'll understand. Then we'll talk, but not until then. Okay?"

The hand retreated from his shoulder, but it only raised suspicions and curiosity, so much so that when Itachi tried to retreat back into the room, Sasuke's hand came out to the door, trying to keep it open.

"Wait, what do you mean? When are we going to talk, and about what?"

When the door finally closed, Sasuke heard,

"You'll know when."

With the door now closed, and no sounds coming from the room behind it, Sasuke found himself sighing and grumbling. Cryptic words. That's all Itachi was ever good for. He guessed he'd inherited that trait from their father; the ability to word things to broker no argument from clients.

Or little brothers, it seemed. Ugh.

After about thirty minutes, Sasuke kicked the door to his room shut, two full bowls of beef stew in his hands. The blonde was still sat atop the bed, but he seemed to be flipping through Sasuke's medical study book, looking at the pages with a very confused expression. Sighing, Sasuke brought the boy's attention to the food, and within seconds the book was closed and abandoned to the foot of the bed.

He handed the boy his bowl and chopsticks, and by the time he had turned around to bring his office chair closer to the bed, he could already hear animalistic slurping noises coming from the boy. Trying not to roll his eyes, Sasuke sat down and took a bite of his own food, unable to help watching the boy as he ate. He was animalistic, yes, but it seemed as though this was his first meal in a few days, from the way he ate.

Of course, the boy was thin and shrunken in some places, especially his face, so it probably wasn't much of a stretch to say he was malnourished. Unbidden, a very small smile lifted Sasuke's lips upward as his mind traveled back in time, replacing the boy with his blue eyed blonde beauty. Yes, this was how it had started for them, too, wasn't it? He'd picked her up off the streets, instead of having to go to the auction house later. He'd been in trouble for that one, too, but he hadn't really cared.

He'd sat in this very chair, and watched her eat through several plates of food before she finally could hold no more. It was only then that she'd looked up at him with this lovely smile that made her eyes light up, making the entire room seem brighter than before. She'd thanked him, and they'd talked all night, to the point where morning came with no sleep. She had been the best thing to ever happen in his life. His first and only love... his...

"You're not like the other masters."

Sasuke jumped at the sudden noise, his unforgotten meal almost escaping the bowl as his eyes flew to the blonde boy on the bed. He had set aside his empty bowl, and was leaning forward with his legs crossed underneath him, watching Sasuke intently. It took that moment of silence for the boy's stomach to gurgle again, and with a sigh, Sasuke simply held out his bowl to the boy, not feeling that hungry anyway. Once the boy took it, Sasuke let his arms drop to his knees as he said quietly,

"So you can speak."

Between bites, and horrifyingly enough -With his mouth Full- the boy spoke again.

"Yeah. But not speaking makes people angry. Lets me know who I'm dealing with at the start instead of later."

Sasuke guessed he could see the logic in that answer, and that understanding was what kept him relatively quiet for the few minutes it took the boy to finish the second bowl and put it aside. Then once again, his assessing gaze was back, and baring into Sasuke even as Sasuke observed the boy. Neither one seemed to want to break the tension building, but for Sasuke the tension was... odd, at best. He'd never had someone staring at him so intently. Everyone knew him, knew his seat of power, knew the consequences of getting on his bad side.

No one had ever just openly, brazenly stared at him. It made him uncomfortable. It was only when he switched positions in the chair, trying to hide his want to fidget under the boy's stare, that the blonde finally grinned a little, and spoke up.

"I see. You know, the richest masters always tend to be the most fucked up ones."

Sasuke could feel an immediate headache coming on, and with a glare, he stood out of his chair.

"Really now. So you call it fucked up that I spared you from being tortured last night? You call it fucked up tha-"

Sasuke had gone to point at his door, only to gasp mid-sentence as his hand was caught in the air and he was yanked forward, his side slamming into the bed and his body bouncing from the force before he landed on his back. Utter surprise froze his entire body, and it was all the boy needed to smoothly swing his leg over Sasuke's stomach, sitting down even as his other hand came out to grip Sasuke's remaining free wrist, both of his arms pinned out, away from his body.

Sasuke couldn't help the widening of his eyes; never before in his life had he been treated like this. It made him wonder if he should have just taken the boy to the dungeon last night, and not bothered to go out of his way to save him. It made him wonder where a slave of all things had the nerve to attack its owner. Mostly though, it just made him wonder what the hell the boy was thinking.

He learned the later only seconds later, as the boy leaned down and took one of Sasuke's ear lobes into his mouth. The sensation startled him, and he held his breath as the tongue gently laved over the soft skin, bringing it further into the boy's mouth before he began to suckle on it. Sasuke could feel the heat rising to his cheeks, and prayed that same heat wasn't raising anything else as he acutely felt the boy's tongue slip downward from his ear lobe, leaving a trail of hot breath and shivers down his neck before teeth grazed the sensitive flesh right above his shoulder.

He felt the boy above him shift, and a white hot jolt shot through his entire body as he realized his body had betrayed him anyway. The blonde only seemed to use this to his advantage, his hips shifting side to side, using just enough pressure to drive Sasuke wild without getting much out of it. Sasuke knew his breath was hitching in his throat, coming quicker and quicker, but he couldn't stop it. He'd never felt like this before. Such an intense heat, the sudden, almost mind blowing desire... even with his beauty he'd never felt such lust.

It took hands around his waist, delicate fingers shifting his shirt up his body for his mind to finally kick start, and his now free hands to come up to shove the boy off him. The blonde stumbled backward before plopping down in Sasuke's office chair, leaving Sasuke to shoot into a sitting position, fumbling with his shirt and trying to cover his erection while gasping for breath. His mind was a mess, and all he could see was the boy just staring at him, watching him with a somewhat measured look that only served to frustrate Sasuke. What the hell was he thinking...?!

Without thinking about it himself, Sasuke jumped from the bed, somewhat startling the blonde, even as he roughly reached for his wrist and tugged him out of the chair, sending the chair spinning. Whether the boy gave very little resistance, or was as Sasuke had been, frozen in shock, Sasuke had no problem leading the blonde and tossing him into the walk in closet, slamming the door behind him. Leaning against the door for support, Sasuke fiddled with the handle until the door locked, and he slid down the door into a heap of sexual tension. His entire body was still thrumming with the sensations the boy had managed to elicit, his mind still whirling with images he didn't want.

He heard nothing more from behind the door, and he said nothing himself; he simply laid his head on his knees and tried to will his erection away.

It took him maybe thirty minutes before he frustratedly shot up, and toward the bathroom, unwilling to let the boy hear of Sasuke's defeat.