"So…Naruto actually locked you out this time?"

Glaring at his brother, Sasuke tried to ignore him and shut the door so he could also change out of his cold clothes. Unfortunately, Itachi didn't seem fazed by this.

"Don't you have to go bother Kyuubi or something?"Sasuke seethed.

"In a minute…but I'm busy bothering you right now, little brother," Itachi informed. "Now…I hope you weren't jealous about me warming up the little fennec, but you should have done something if you were bothered by it."

Continuing his glare, Sasuke tried to keep his mouth shut. Ignoring Itachi was always the best choice out of all possible responses, or lack of.

"Ah…so you were jealous," his brother said while chuckling and walking away.

Maybe silence wasn't always best.

"Damn you, Itachi!"

Pushing his bedroom door a bit harder than necessary, Sasuke froze in place and bit down on his tongue when he realized, rather painfully, that the door didn't shut…instead it smashed his tail. Making sure that his tail was out of the way the second time, Sasuke slammed the door as hard as he could. Today was not a good day in his eyes.

Taking a deep breath, and making sure not to move his sore tail too much, Sasuke changed his clothes as quickly as possible before his mother wondered where he was. She always made sure to keep him from shutting himself away in his room…damn.

Once the youngest Uchiha finished his task, he slowly made his way downstairs, where he knew he would find various "winter treats" sitting in the room that his and Naruto's parents abandoned in order to move their party somewhere else in the house. Sasuke was somewhat annoyed that he had come to accept this as routine for the time of year, and to think it all started with an idiot who bit him over some stupid butterfly.

Speaking of the idiot….

Narrowing his eyes, Sasuke watched as Naruto's tail swished back and forth as he was scratched behind his furry ears by Itachi and Kyuubi.

"You're such a child," Sasuke scoffed.

That seemed to catch Naruto's attention, and the blonde glared at him. Not that Sasuke minded, he was just annoyed seeing Itachi trying to make him jealous when he definitely was not jealous, especially over the stupid fennec.

"You're just jealous," Naruto growled.

He was not jealous! How dare Itachi trick Naruto into thinking such a thing! Besides, wasn't Naruto on his side of the whole thing?!

"You just want your ears scratched too, don't you?"

Ah…trust Naruto to not understand the situation. Sasuke had calmed down once he realized that Naruto was not corrupted by their brothers; however, the youngest Uchiha did not have the good fortune to stay calm. As usual, Naruto ruined that calm, and he did this by rubbing the spot behind his ears, giving Sasuke a second of weakness and a quiet purr was released. It wasn't until Naruto paused suddenly that Sasuke even realized what he had done, and he was dreading his brother's and Kyuubi's reaction to such an embarrassing noise.

"Sasuke…did you just—"

"Just what?" Sasuke demanded while cutting Naruto off.

"Did your little brother just…purr while being petted by my little brother?" Kyuubi asked dumbfounded, and before Itachi could answer, he added, "Will you purr if I scratch behind your ears?"

Locking his gaze with Itachi's, the brothers quickly came to a silent agreement to quickly change the topic.

"Naruto," Itachi started, "your hot chocolate is getting cold."

"Eh?!"

The blonde quickly rushed over to his cooling beverage while Sasuke let out a relieved sigh. He hoped that he could blissfully deny any comment to suggest that he just purred like a kitten, and he would probably, conveniently, forget that he owed his brother for getting him out of the potential disaster, and blow to his pride, if Naruto continued on that subject.

Hopefully the rest of the night would pass by without any other mishaps.

~*~*~*~

Kyuubi watched in amusement as Naruto and Sasuke used each other as pillows while sleeping as they were sitting up. It was strange how much the two of them fought against being mates when it was just so obvious, but it wasn't like Itachi was helping any. When his younger brother had actually purred, it could have been a great moment for their little brothers to start realizing their relationship had never been normal, even from the very beginning.

Sending a glare in Itachi's direction, Kyuubi knew he would be annoyed at the white tiger for a while. He just couldn't see that their brother's belonged with each other.

"What?" Itachi asked.

Knowing that the older Uchiha brother had seen his glare, Kyuubi stuck his tongue out at him. Sure, it was childish, but what else could he do without waking up their brothers?

"You're an idiot. There was a perfect chance at getting these two together," Kyuubi stated while waving a hand at the boys leaning against each other in their sleep.

"Not that again."

"Yes, that again, Itachi," Kyuubi growled, quickly being angered. "If you're so against them being together, then say it. Although I am certain that these two belong together, I will make sure my little brother isn't hurt by the whole thing, and if that means keeping him away from Sasuke, then so be it. We'll both disappear from your lives if you're bothered by us so much. Our parents will allow us to stay at home since we've been old enough to take care of ourselves."

"Kyuu—"

"No, I'm not going to sit here and listen to you, you stupid feline."

"You're being ridiculous."

Kyuubi quickly got up and pried Naruto away from Sasuke, momentarily fighting the sleeping white tiger's tail that didn't want the mass of heat taken away. Once he accomplished that, he sent another glare toward Itachi, only to see him glaring back from a few inches away.

"You will not make decisions that are not yours to make. Let Naruto choose whether or not he wants to no longer see a friend of his before taking him away without explanation," Itachi hissed.

"What will it matter? As you said, they don't like each other like that anyway."

He managed to slip out of the room with his, still sleeping, little brother as he heard Itachi growling at him. However, after he shut the door, Kyuubi carefully placed his ear against the door.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke."

Frowning, Kyuubi was confused. Why would Itachi apologize to Sasuke for what just happened? Did the older white tiger see things the same way he did? If so, then he was being an ass about the whole thing, and just to spite Itachi, Kyuubi would stay away; however, he knew that he wouldn't be able to force Naruto away from Sasuke. The two were always together.

Walking away from the door, Naruto clinging to him only for his body heat, Kyuubi went off to find out when they would be going home.