Pet

By: Chibi

Notes: The SasuNaru part of the fic begins to show up in this chapter. Thanks for the good comments for the last chapter. Hope you all enjoy this one.

flashbacks

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"You got another pet, oniisan?" Sasuke gave his brother an almost wary look when the older man nodded his head. Not that he minded the animals or anything but Itachi was pretty obsessed. Obsessed to the point that soon his office would look like a zoo and not an office. Obsessed to the point that all his money seemed to be going into getting these pets from Haku's shop. How did his brother manage to run a business and take care of all these animals at the same time? And these weren't ordinary animals either. Sasuke had heard of people who had maybe two dogs, or maybe a few too many cats, perhaps tons of fish scattered in bowls or tanks all around their house. But Itachi... the animals he brought back were simply unheard of. A sand colored panther? And keeping a shark? What about those loverbirds, what the hell was a loverbird anyway? Did such a thing exist?

"I guess I can't help myself. Do you want to see him, Sasuke?"

"Sure. What did you get this time?" Trying to talk Itachi out of buying so many animals was impossible. It wasn't like he didn't have the money or the means to do such a thing. Sasuke had heard that wealthy people all possessed something they couldn't live without, something they just kept buying and buying ridiculous amounts of. Some had a large number of cars, so many that they'd have a different vehicle to drive depending on what day of the week it was. Some took risks with their money, gambling in casinos, betting on horses, able to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars in less than twenty-four hours and just laugh it off.

Buying expensive, exotic animals was what Uchiha Itachi did with his money. And he was so wealthy and so good at his job that whatever he lost from buying something like a shark could be earned back and tripled overnight.

"I bought something I have never, ever seen before." Of course Itachi always said this before he showed off one of his new pets. Every animal that came from Haku's shop was something never, ever seen before. "Come on out, Naruto."

And before Sasuke's eyes a fire colored fox emerged from underneath Itachi's desk. Bright blue eyes locked onto Sasuke's and pulled the boy in deep, not letting him go. Nine, not one or two but nine tails wagged behind the creature, and Sasuke could do nothing but stare. All of his brother's pets were different, rare, captivating, beautiful in their own way but this one, this Naruto...

"He's... breathtaking." Naruto's eyes widened when he heard that. He had been called breathtaking so many times but this time... for some reason... that boy...

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Yume

"What did you think you were doing tonight?" Naruto blinked and glanced over at Itachi, wincing at the look that was on his master's face. He knew that Itachi would be upset with him. He had actually said no to him, refused to do something. And... he almost attacked a customer. Even if that customer was a slimy snake like Orochimaru that didn't excuse what Naruto had done.

"I... I didn't want him to... touch me..." Naruto lowered his head as Itachi drove them home. His tails were wrapped around him, as always, like a blanket. Itachi never let Naruto wear clothes for they were a useless thing for someone who looked much better when naked. With black tinted windows no one could look inside to see something strange like a naked fox creature, and in the off chance that someone did look inside the car Naruto could shift back to his fox form.

"You didn't want?" Itachi stopped the car at a stoplight then reached over, forcing Naruto to look up at him by grabbing onto his chin. Naruto cried out in protest and for a second thought about pulling away but remembered that Itachi was his master. It was bad enough that he didn't do as the man had asked, but to actually resist him? That would only make things ten million times worse. "Now, what's wrong with that sentence?"

"I... but I didn't want him touching me!" Perhaps if he screamed it loud enough Itachi would understand. Perhaps he'd understand how disgusting Naruto felt when that Orochimaru snake put his hands, his lips, his anything on him. Perhaps he'd understand that Naruto really didn't want to be near that thing, that Naruto was an obedient pet really but Orochimaru was the limit to his obedience.

"Naruto." Itachi's eyes narrowed dangerously and absorbed the fear coming off of the pet's body. "If you ever yell at me, ever disobey me, then I won't hesitate to let Orochimaru have you for at least one night."

"Wh-what?" Naruto's eyes widened in horror. "You... you can't do that..."

"I can't? Are you telling me what to do now?"

"No... no I'm not... I..." Naruto swallowed and closed his eyes. "... I won't... disobey you again, Itachi-sama."

"Very good." Itachi pulled Naruto close for a harsh, hard kiss to emphasize his point. Itachi was serious, dead serious, and Naruto could taste that on his master's lips. Mess up again and I'll be sure you suffer. Naruto closed his eyes and did what any good, frightened pet did in a situation like this.

He returned Itachi's kiss with waves of submission. I understand, I do as you say with no questions asked. What I want doesn't matter as long as you're happy.

It was a kiss that made the Uchiha man weak in the knees. He completely ignored the cars beeping behind him since the light was now green and instead placed both of his hands against the sides of Naruto's face, holding the fox's head in place as he greedily devoured his lips. Naruto didn't pull back, didn't stop the kiss even if it was hard to breathe. He had learned long ago how to breathe through his nose during these hard, heart-pounding kisses Itachi gave him. He had learned long ago that the best thing to do was to return the kiss, to whimper and whine into it. To kiss his master with a desperate excitement that always turned Itachi on so much that all they had to do was kiss for him to completely lose his mind.

It was Itachi who broke the kiss, panting softly for air and licking his lips to try and savor the kiss. At that point the cars drove around him and he received the occasional flick of the middle finger for not moving during a green light. Itachi reached for the steering wheel so he could drive off but was taken completely off guard when Naruto climbed into his lap and kissed him again.

Itachi wasn't the type to protest something so delicious. He simply wrapped his arms around Naruto's waist and pulled him impossibly close and returned his kiss without question. Naruto knew all the right buttons to push, knew what kind of sound to make when Itachi deepened the kiss and sensually pushed his tongue past Naruto's lips. He knew how slowly to move his tongue against Itachi's to drive the man nuts, to arouse him, and knew how to imitate the movements they made during sex with just his lips and nothing else.

Naruto knew what to do to make Itachi happy after he got mad at him. He had learned long ago to never, ever let Itachi go home upset with him.

The consequences for that had left Naruto scared and close to tears many nights.

So Naruto learned, learned how to steal Itachi's ability to think with just a kiss in the car. Learned that he didn't have to touch his master at all to get him to tremble in pleasure like he was doing now. Learned that kissing could be the most sexual act done to a person, and if there was one thing Naruto knew how to do it was how to kiss a person. Learned that kissing was much better to do when Itachi was mad, because it would calm him down to the point that he'd forget what he was mad about. And Naruto had become so damn good at it that it not only calmed him down, it turned him on. And Naruto had become so damn good at it that there was no need to go any further than kissing.

Just what Naruto wanted. Because going any further with Itachi when he was mad...

... the consequences for that... had left Naruto scared... and close to tears... many nights.

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Naruto couldn't help but smile at the sight of his master sleeping. The man had been asleep for a total of three hours and twenty-seven minutes, Naruto knew this because he had been watching Itachi sleeping ever since he closed his eyes.

Itachi always looked best when he was asleep.

When he was asleep he looked peaceful and surprisingly sweet, almost innocent. Maybe it was because those piercing eyes were closed, or because that frown he always wore had been put to rest. Itachi, when he slept, didn't look like the kind of man who auctioned animals off to creepy things like Orochimaru, didn't look like the kind of man who could scare you with just the right look or just the right tone of voice.

Itachi, when he slept, looked like the kind of person you could fall in love with.

Naruto curled up against Itachi more, a small frown on his face. Why was it like that only when Itachi slept? Why couldn't he be like that when he was awake. Itachi was his master and that fact alone made Naruto love him. Pets always loved the one who finally gave them a home, right? At least that's what Naruto use to think.

Ino and Sakura certainly wouldn't love their new masters.

As for Naruto loving Itachi... love? Well, he was grateful that Itachi gave him a home. And yes, when Itachi wasn't scaring him or being mean he did love the moments they had together even if those moments were usually, if not always, sex. Not that the sex wasn't great, that wasn't the problem at all, but... "Oh, little Naruto. Don't you realize how beautiful you are? One day, I can't say when, but one day... someone will want you... who you will want in return. But, I suppose this is enough for now." Was it... no longer enough?

Watching Itachi when he was sleeping... was that not enough anymore? How could that be? Naruto was a pet and pets were supposed to please their masters no matter what. It wasn't supposed to matter if it was enough or not, no matter what Haku had told him before.

Right?

Naruto watched Itachi for a few more minutes before he sat up and stared out of the window. As carefully as he could he slipped out of the bed so he could get a better look at the moon and the stars. A small smile crossed Naruto's face and he waved at the stars winking at him, his tails wagging behind him. He remembered days in the pet shop when Haku would laugh at him because he always waved to the stars as if they were alive and he could grab onto them. Those were very happy times and at times, selfishly, Naruto would wish to be returned to the pet shop. But then he'd rethink it because Itachi was his master now. He'd rethink it because of the look of Itachi's sleeping face, that damn heart-melting look. It was hard to believe, so damn hard to believe that that same person was able to shatter Naruto completely with just a flick of the wrist.

Maybe that was why...

"Yes, he is quite breathtaking isn't he?" Itachi sounded as if he were presenting the best of prizes, something along the lines of a trophy made of the most expensive gold.

"Is he friendly? Will he let me pet him?" Naruto looked up at... was Sasuke his name? His master's little brother. He was... asking for permission to pet him? From the amount of time he had known Itachi, permission was not a thing Uchiha men asked for. But here this guy was, this almost exact copy of his master only younger, asking to pet him.

"He should." Itachi looked down at Naruto. "Go on. He won't hurt you." Naruto moved over to Sasuke until he was standing right in front of him. Once he did that the younger Uchiha kneeled down and held his hand out. Naruto stared at the hand then back up at Sasuke, waiting for something to happen.

Nothing did.

What was he doing holding his hand out like that? He had seen Haku do that to him when they first met him. The beautiful man had kneeled down and held his hand out until Naruto walked over and...

... Naruto leaned forward and sniffed at Sasuke's hand and couldn't help the soft, purring sound that left his lips. Sasuke... his scent... gods it smelled so deliciously good and sweet that Naruto couldn't stop himself from rubbing his nose against Sasuke's hand. A small smile crossed Sasuke's face in response and he took his other hand and began to do the most desired thing one could do to a fox.

He pet Naruto behind his ears.

And after that... Naruto closed his eyes and shivered from the memory, hugging himself tightly. After that... Sasuke had been a reason to stay.

At first it started off small. Sasuke paid so much attention to him what animal wouldn't like that? Then it grew a bit more.

Too much more.

Naruto had realized that Sasuke looked so dangerously close to Itachi that maybe... if he closed his eyes and pretended enough... Sasuke could be Itachi. Sasuke could be his master, could be the one he answered to. And Naruto wouldn't mind, wouldn't think thoughts like returning to the shop. Thinking of Sasuke as Itachi made things better, at least, it did for a while.

"Only for a while, because..." Naruto's eyes widened and he looked towards the door when he heard footsteps. He stood perfectly still and just listened, a small smile growing that he didn't even realize had appeared on his face.

Sasuke was going to sleep.

Without even thinking about what he was doing Naruto walked out of the room, careful not to wake Itachi. He didn't realize that this was cutting into his watching Itachi sleep time. He didn't realize that he didn't really need to go and see Sasuke's face to get his reminder of a nice Itachi, because Itachi was asleep and that was the best time to watch the older man. He didn't realize that his mind had clicked right to Sasuke... and not Itachi.

He didn't even think about it, instead Naruto quietly poked his head into Sasuke's room just in time to see him sink into the bed and fall asleep. Sasuke had one of those beds that put you to sleep as soon as you laid down in it. Naruto had snuck into his room several times when Itachi wasn't around and found himself lulled to sleep by ridiculously soft covers and a boy who had a fascination with petting his fur. Sasuke would start with the ears and move his hand down to the nine tails, petting each and every one of them, and he wouldn't stop until Naruto had become a mass of sleeping fox.

Then Sasuke would kiss the top of his head, whisper goodnight into his ear, and curl up with him and fall asleep. And Naruto treasured those times more than he should. In fact at times he'd wondered when Itachi's next business trip was so he could sneak into Sasuke's room and experience things like that again.

Sasuke. Each time... each moment they spent together Naruto would forget. He'd forget that Sasuke was his Itachi and instead he'd remember that this was Sasuke. Sasuke was Sasuke, and Sasuke was kind to him. Sasuke was beautiful and Sasuke was the one who took such good care of him that many times Naruto felt like he was walking on clouds and not the ground.

"Sasuke..." Naruto wanted to tell him all this so badly. He wanted to tell this boy what he had done for him. This boy who started out as his Itachi but had become...

"Sasuke..." Naruto walked into the room once he was sure that Sasuke was sleeping. He had never ever come into this room in his human form, tails wagging nervously behind him as he watched Sasuke sleep. Sasuke could wake up and see him like this but wasn't that what Naruto wanted? So he could talk to him, for the first time have a conversation with this boy. "Sasu..." Sasuke rolled over, onto his back, his lips parted slightly as he continued to sleep. Naruto smiled as a stray strand of black moved to rest in between Sasuke's eyes, close to tickling his nose.

What happened next, Naruto decided, was something that couldn't be helped.

Naruto climbed on top of Sasuke as he usually did in his fox form when the younger Uchiha slept and Itachi was away. He moved the strand of hair away from Sasuke's face and watched his eyes flutter open. Naruto's first instinct was to turn into a fox again but his heart shut that idea up. Because... one day, I can't say when, but one day... "Wh-what?" Sasuke rubbed his eyes and looked up, trying to wake up and fully comprehend what he was seeing.

A boy? With ears and a tail? Several tails?

Naruto watched him silently, looked into those dark eyes that weren't red, that didn't scare him when they were open, that if they wanted to could make him fall in love with them and cherish them more than anything in this world. Sasuke's eyes were something Naruto begged to the gods to have Itachi's eyes look like but his prayers were never answered. Itachi was his master, a master with eyes that terrified Naruto more than half the time, but... pretending that this boy was Itachi... was he even playing pretend anymore? Someone will want you... who you will want in return. "I... want..."

But he interrupted him. "This is a dream, right?" Sasuke asked, his voice much softer than he expected it to be. The creature straddling his hips giggled, a beautiful sound that actually caused Sasuke to shiver as if in pleasure.

"You can call it a dream if you want, Sasuke." The creature leaned forward and without warning licked very slowly at Sasuke's lips in a fox's imitation of a kiss. Sasuke's eyes widened and only one thing came to mind when he felt that kiss. He had a kiss like that before, several times when his brother's pet fox jumped into his arms in a bundle of fur and tails and attacked his face with his tongue.

"Na-Naruto?"

"That's right." Naruto smiled down at Sasuke. "I'm... Naruto."

"This... this can't be right. This can't be real. I have to be dreaming, I have to be." Naruto's face fell. He didn't believe it, didn't believe him. He could easily turn back into a fox to prove it but... how would Sasuke react to the truth? Would he believe it, would he call it a dream again?

Yume... but if he did would that be so bad? This wasn't supposed to be happening anyway, was it? Itachi was still his master. So... this was a dream, wasn't it? Because tomorrow Naruto would be in Itachi's lap and things would be back to normal.

Did Naruto really want that?

"Sasuke..." Naruto closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Look at me."

"What? I am looking at you."

"No. I mean... look at me. Really look at me. I want your eyes on me, all over me." Sasuke just stared at Naruto, not really knowing how to respond. What in the seven hells was going on? This creature who claimed to be his brother's fox, this... beautiful...

... and just like that, Sasuke's eyes moved. Moved all over Naruto's body, caressed it and made love to it so sweetly that Naruto just had to shiver in response. And then he did the most desired thing he could do for Naruto, to Naruto, with Naruto.

He said his name.

"Naruto."

He said his name... and for a moment he believed. For a moment Naruto wasn't Itachi's. For a moment Sasuke wasn't a pretend decoy of Itachi. For a moment Sasuke looked at him so intensely that Naruto felt as if the boy had wrapped his arms around him and kissed him so good that the world shifted off course to some other galaxy from the pleasure, the passion, the everything about a kiss. Tasted like a handful of exotic colors and felt like an enormous amount of moans and cries for more.

Gods... "Sasuke." Kiss me, kiss me please. Sasuke could read the look in this creature's eyes because it mirrored his own. Was this really the fox his brother got from Haku? That fox who ran to him and loved him to death with small little licks to his face and cute snuggling against his chest? Could this really be possible?

For a moment... it didn't even matter. Dream or not, real or not, Sasuke knew what he saw, knew what he looked at.

"Naruto."

"Hm?"

"Look at me." Naruto's eyes widen and he stared at Sasuke, not knowing what to say to that. "Look at me, and tell me right now what you see."

"I... I see that... you want..."

"Want?" Sasuke reached his hand up and rested it against the side of Naruto's face. He was surprised that he wasn't hesitant about touching this creature that logically couldn't be real, but... he looked at him. Looked at him and saw that at least in this moment... he was real. "Look at me, Naruto." Sasuke's voice dropped down into a tone that actually made Naruto moan helplessly in pleasure. "Look at me, Naruto, and tell me right now what you see."

"I... I see..." Something wonderful. Something that he couldn't begin to describe even if he tried. He saw his master's face staring back at him, only Itachi's face always held something dangerous, something that was meant to stay away from. Sasuke... Sasuke's face only held something beautiful, maybe a bit mysterious but eternally enchanting and desired. He had thought that only Haku's animals could be this appealing. "I see... something amazing..."

"Really?" Sasuke sat up, Naruto still sitting in his lap and watching him. "I see the same thing." Naruto gasped softly when he felt Sasuke's hand move behind his head to gently pull him closer, so close that their lips were almost touching. "I see something simply amazing, so amazing that I just have to..."

"Sa-Sasuke..." What was happening? Was he really about to kiss him? He knew that he started out playing pretend, pretending that this young man was his master, his Itachi. But kissing him... wasn't that going a bit far? "Sasuke, I can't kis-mmph!"

Sasuke could be just like his brother if he wanted to be. Just like Itachi, Sasuke got what he wanted when he really, truly wanted it. You could say no, you could say can't, you could say don't but those words never applied to any Uchiha when they wanted something. Sasuke had no idea if this was real or not. If it was one of those too damn realistic dreams or if it really was as real as this feeling he was getting from kissing this creature.

No, not a creature.

Naruto.

Naruto who had lips so soft and kissed so slowly that he made it impossible to think, to breathe. To see straight, to hear correctly. Sasuke caressed Naruto's face with both of his hands, gently guiding him closer, close enough to taste the silk and feel the honey of his lips. Naruto did his best to return the kiss but he felt deliciously dizzy and was scared to open his eyes in fear of the room spinning and collapsing under his feet. This... this was not the boy he envisioned as his Itachi.

This was simply Sasuke.

Sasuke who had lips that burned into Naruto's soul, heated his skin and entire body. Sasuke who had the kind of lips that made your toes curl and made you purr like a kitten being fed fresh fish with the most delicate of fingers while being petted nonstop. Itachi's lips were not like Sasuke's, no not at all. They both could kiss you senseless and make you forget your own name, but Itachi had lips that were hard and demanded attention, lips that were sexy and intimidating all at once. But Sasuke... Sasuke had lips that made you feel blessed to even have them brush against yours. And when he kissed you, gods... Naruto thought he was the only one who knew how to kiss slowly and pleasurably. But here Sasuke was, kissing him just as slowly, if not slower! With plenty of time to breathe in between kisses so they could do it for years if they wanted. They could have conversations during these types of kisses, whisper secrets to each other and spice the kisses up with words.

"Sasuke..." Kiss. "... pl-please." Kiss. Longer, slower. Deeper, gods too damn deep! Naruto could feel the sugar of Sasuke's lips, not taste it, but feel it! It drove him crazy, absolutely mad.

"Please what?" Kiss.

"Stop." Kiss.

"Why?" Kiss. Foreheads resting together. Sasuke began to trail tiny kisses over Naruto's cheeks, all over his face to make his skin tingle. "Why should I stop?"

"I..."

"... look at me, Naruto."

"Wh-what?" He couldn't do it. If Naruto looked at him Sasuke would be able to see that the last thing on his mind was stopping. "I... I can't."

"Why?" Kiss.

"Be-because..." Kiss.

"Look at me." He couldn't do it! If he did...

"N-no..."

"Why?"

"Because if I do I'd fall in love with you!" They both stared at each other and couldn't find the right things to say.

He'd fall in love, simple as that.

He had already fallen for him when he began to play pretend, began to pretend that Sasuke was his Itachi. He began to love him like he wished he could've loved Itachi, loved him like he knew he couldn't love Itachi. He loved Itachi like any pet loved their master, loved him obediently and because he was supposed to. But he loved Sasuke, loved his Itachi like any pet loved, truly loved their master.

Because master was the first thing you thought of in the morning, the one you rushed to and jumped into the bed with to wake him up so you could see that smile. When you truly loved your master you didn't lie on the ground in the hallway and wait for him to come out, you ran to him as soon as you woke up. Ran to the door when you heard him coming up the driveway. Sat by his side when he ate, brushed his teeth, you did anything and everything to be near him and whined when he was away.

Naruto wasn't like that with Itachi. He was like that with his Itachi. But... after that kiss... probably sometime before that when Naruto couldn't identify what it was...

... his Itachi had died, and Sasuke had been born into his heart. And now Naruto went to Itachi's office patiently awaiting Sasuke's visit upstairs. And now Naruto whined when Sasuke left.

And now Naruto had shared his kiss with Sasuke and actually... because if I do I'd fall in love with you! Naruto broke the silence between them by getting out of the bed and heading to the door.

"Wait." Sasuke hesitated for a moment, then spoke again. "Naruto?" Naruto stopped at the door but didn't look back. "Was this... really a dream?"

"You can call it a dream if you want, Sasuke" Naruto reached for the doorknob but was stopped when Sasuke spoke again.

"Why?"

"What?"

"Why is it... up to me? Why is it... if I call it a dream?"

And Naruto said something that told Sasuke all the truth, all the difference between dream and reality that he needed to know. "Because... I'm a pet."

And just like that, the dream, yume, was gone.

End Yume

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Next Chapter: Truth

Preview:

Haku stood by the door, an unreadable expression on his face.

So... that was the reason why Itachi bought all those animals.

Not only that, but he had the nerve to touch what was his.

Itachi was lucky enough to convince Haku to sell him Naruto. That was something the pet shop owner had been hesitant to do. Naruto was still young and there was a great chance that he couldn't handle a man like Itachi. That was what his training had really been for.

"I... tachi..." But for Itachi to even think about touching his most precious animal, his most precious...

"Relax... Gaara."

"N-no... I'm not... supposed to..."

"Supposed to what? You belong to me, Gaara, and you do as I say." ... for Itachi to even think, to even fucking think about touching Gaara...

Haku's unreadable expression changed, changed into something so cold and so deadly that if he wanted to he could open the door and shatter Itachi completely if he wanted to by simply raising an eyebrow at him. But this was Haku and he played the game in a much more... deliciously sadistic way. Itachi was nothing but an eager child who had made the mistake of playing with the wrong man.

After that, Haku smirked at the door and listened to Itachi and Gaara. Listened so closely that he was able to see every part of Gaara that was being touched. He knew Gaara's sounds that well while Itachi was simply learning them for the first time. Haku knew it was the first time, because Gaara was his and he knew immediately when his Gaara had been touched.

This was Itachi's first time playing with fire. What he didn't know was that Haku controlled the flames he was playing with.