Note: i'm truly sorry for those of you who took the time to read my first chapter, let alone favorite or comment, about the time it took for me to release a second chapter. I had a very sudden death in my family and it has taken me a while to summon the motivation to begin writing again. This chapter is on the short side and i hope to make other chapters longer. In general i'm not sure how fast i will update, but feel free to bitch at me if you want chapters. Comments and criticism are always welcome.
Holding On
It was as if the world had opened beneath his feet and swallowed him whole. He couldn't see, couldn't breathe. He stood as still as a statue, unable to move. There were many in Konoha who would doubt he possessed a heart, he'd sometimes doubted it himself. He didn't anymore, Naruto's smile had brought it stuttering to life, only to crush it. Fury blazed through him at the thought on Naruto writhing beneath another man's touch, he felt his eyes shift to a blazing red. Had his little fox forgotten to whom he had sworn himself? Did he think that just because he had been ordered to kill his family he would be opposed to crushing any man that touched his lover. Naruto wasn't that stupid, no matter what the village thought. Then again he had chosen the one man Itachi would hesitate to kill.
Sasuke. He'd been worried at first that Naruto felt more for him than friendship, but when he brought it up Naruto had just kissed him and chuckled, assuring him the idea was ridiculous. At that time, he'd been prepared to let him go. If Naruto had said yes, he would have let him go, or so he'd told himself. Could he walk away now, even if it was what Naruto wanted. Was it what he really wanted? The question lit something within him. There were times he would look at Itachi, just stare at him with this sorrowful look in his eyes, but then he would always crave to be touched. He would stretch out his arms and when Itachi embraced him he would hold him so tightly a normal man would have bruised. He would never say what upset him, so Itachi would make love to him until he forgot, until he smiled at him again.
Naruto smiled often, but for it to reach his eyes was something only Itachi would see. Naruto didn't know, but even before he had convinced Naruto to become his lover, he had watched him from afar. At first it had been to keep an eye on Sasuke, but at time passed the little blonde held more and more of his attention. He would smile and act like an idiot, and few looked beyond that part of him. He was loyal and headstrong, but he was also clever and pained. He had watched Naruto stumble home in the dark, silent tears running down his face because no one ever really looked at him.
When he'd first revealed himself to Naruto, he had been on his way back from a solo mission. He had yelled loudly and put up a tough front, so ready to fight him. He had to have known he didn't stand a chance, but that didn't stop him. Itachi had played with him for a few minutes and then when he got close enough, yanked him to his chest. His little fox had looked up at him with fear and determination. It been so hopelessly adorable he could do nothing but kiss him, and the look of shock that followed was just as endearing. He had been suspicious and closed off to Itachi's proposal at first, but Itachi had broken down the walls.
How could he let that go now? He couldn't. In that moment he made his decision. He wasn't sure if his little fox truly wanted to escape him or not, but it didn't matter. He was beyond being able to live without him now. It Naruto had found another, he would simply take him back, keep him closer. There were few things Itachi could live without, Naruto was no longer one of them. The red receded and he could breathe again. The world faded back in, he had no idea how long he had been standing there but the light had long since disappeared and Naruto was most likely back to Konoha, it was time to move.
