A/N: HAPPY BIRTHDAY ITACHISASUKESAMA!

You asked for me to update this fic for you, and I did! See? *accomplished grin* I know that where you are, it's already been your birthday for five hours, but it's just striking midnight where I am right now, so consider this your first birthday gift on the Eastern American Time Zone!

Enjoy!

How would one describe Sasuke's teasing? The slightly ticklish pain of the scratches as he ran his fangs ever-so-delicately across his brother's neck. Not hard enough to draw blood, but still forceful enough to break the top layer of skin. It was like gently grazing oneself with a blade. In Itachi's case, it would be like a heroine addict scraping the needle across their skin without ever actually injecting themselves with the delicious drug; and Sasuke knew that.

He knew that Itachi was desperate to be bitten, but he wouldn't give the elder that satisfaction. He would continue on with this mind-game, teasing himself just as much as he was teasing his brother. Forcing himself to resist the insistent urge to sink his teeth into Itachi's flesh and drink the heavenly wine called blood. Sasuke smirked to himself at the thought. If blood was wine then Itachi's was a very good year. The best of the best- probably much more expensive than anyone would ever be able to afford. Of course, Sasuke wouldn't have to worry about such trivial things. He'd always be allowed to drink it free of charge.

He bit down into Itachi's neck for just a moment, taking a sip of the sinfully delicious liquid, then immediately closing the wound. Not giving the weasel nearly enough time to experience the emotional pull of surrender.

Itachi sighed, instinctively leaning back even farther. The muscles in his neck strained and ached in protest, but he simply couldn't help it. Maybe if he could just expose one more inch of his venerable throat, Sasuke would give in and drink properly. Of course, it didn't work. Sasuke was torturing him for a cause, and until the child got what he wanted, he was highly unlikely to do what was wanted of him.

Instead of biting down on his brother's neck, Sasuke pulled away, leaning his own head back, exposing the soft milky flesh of his neck to Itachi. "Don't you even feel the slightest bit tempted?" he asked breathily.

"Tempted to touch." Itachi answered, running a finger straight down Sasuke's throat, tickling the twelve year old with the feeling of his nail running softly against his Adams-apple.

Sasuke trembled, feeling the elder's face get closer. Maybe this was it... this would be the day- but no. Of course not. He frowned as Itachi spoke the next words, forever stubborn.

"Tempted to kiss." the weasel continued, kissing softly at the nape of Sasuke's neck, and working his way up, flushing the boy's cheeks as he blushed from the arousing feeling of whisper-like kisses against his throat and shoulders.

"Tempted to mark." He added, Sasuke whimpered in pleasure as his brother sucked harshly at his neck, surely leaving a very prominent purple bruise when he backed away again.

"Never tempted to taste?" He asked in a quiet voice. He knew that Itachi felt a sexual tie to him because of the amount of blood that Sasuke himself had been drinking over the past years. However- he already felt a sexual tie to Itachi regardless of the blood exchange and therefore didn't understand why it was so important that Itachi never took any blood in return.

"Forever tempted to taste," Itachi answered honestly, leaning forward again to run his tongue across Sasuke's chin, leading him downwards to again lick at the pre-teen's neck. "But never tempted to harm." he continued sadly, pulling away from his little brother's reach and standing.

"It's still too soon, Otouto." He mumbled, walking across their room to lie down on Sasuke's bed. They took turns each night, over who had to roll around a little on Sasuke's bed in order to make it appear that someone actually slept in the long-abandoned thing. Sasuke had of course been sleeping with Itachi every day since before he was out of a crib, and therefore hadn't ever used the bed at all.

"No it's not! I'm ready. What makes you assume that I can't make my own choices, Aniki? You're treating me like a baby. Worse, you're treating me like a human baby."

At that, Itachi couldn't help but laugh, turning on his side in Sasuke's bed for a moment to disturb the sheets. A human baby? Yes, that was even worse. Vampires reached the maturity of a human young adult at around age eleven. However- that was still immature considering that an adult vampire would of course have more wisdom than any human could acquire in a lifetime. Vampires would have a mental growth spurt around age nine, and again around age fifteen- thus making them much more clever and adapt than a mere human.

So, yes- Sasuke was quite mature for a "normal" twelve year old. But compared to the level of maturity that he would reach in the future, he was still too young. "I don't mean to treat you unfairly, Otouto. But I can tell just by your methods of persuasion that you're not ready yet. Refusing to hunt or drink properly from me are useless. You're parched, you're thin, and you're weak. What's that going to accomplish?"

Sasuke pouted and rolled his eyes. "So what if I'm thin? You have seriously got to stop making major life choices based on my body weight."

Itachi thought that over. Did he do that? Well, when he'd first decided to let Sasuke have some of his blood, it was because he was fat. When he'd first decided that there was no harm in letting Sasuke bite him, it was because he was chubby, but not too fat. When he'd first realized that he had a sexual attraction to Sasuke, it was after catching a glimpse of the child's slim nude form- and now, he was deciding not to drink his blood because he was skinny. Hn. He did make a lot of major observations and choices based on Sasuke's body weight. That was interesting.

"Fine, take out thin. You're still parched and weak. Don't think that immortality means never dying. At this rate you'll be nothing but a bored mind stuck inside of a body that won't move any more. Who's to say that that's not death?"

"Okay, if you're really that concerned about it then I'll hunt."

"Good."

"On one condition."

"What?" Itachi asked with an exasperated sigh.

"Kiss me. Properly. On the lips. With tongue."

Kiss him? With tongue? What sort of absurd request was that? Of course, Itachi had considered it several times, but there was a reason that vampires didn't do too much kissing. Lips, cheeks, tongues, gums, all of it- filled with blood. It was too much of a temptation, unless you were trying to exchange blood, which brothers should not be trying to do.

Then again, brothers weren't supposed to be kissing either... or sleeping together with their limbs so entwined that there was actually a second every night when they woke up and neither of them were quite sure whose leg was whose. So, maybe they might as well just give up on the idea of behaving the way brothers were supposed to behave.

But to kiss Sasuke? There was almost zero chance that Itachi would be able to do it without biting the kid, even by accident. As soon as the pulsing of Sasuke's tongue entered his mouth his fangs would elongate and pierce the boy's lips whether he wanted them to or not. It was an instinct.

So the condition wasn't really just one- but two. Sasuke was asking for more with the kiss than he was originally. At first, he had simply wanted to be bitten. Now, he wanted to be bitten and kissed. Itachi had fallen into his trap perfectly. As usual, he'd followed blindly behind Sasuke and been led into a trap.

Then again, he wasn't really trying all that desperately to get out of this particular trap. He wanted it just as much as Sasuke did, he was just trying to be the bigger person and act as if he didn't.

The fact of the matter as this point, was that Sasuke was starving himself in order to attack Itachi. And it was working. "Fine. I'll kiss you."

Sasuke gave a very childish squeal of delight, and approached his brother slowly. He pressed his lips to Itachi's, trembling as he felt those plump lips against his. So full, so fresh... lips bled easily, just a single nick and he could taste Itachi's delicious essence, but no. This wasn't the time for Sasuke to drink. It was the other way around.

He slipped his tongue into Itachi's mouth, exploring the heated cavern expertly, and grinning as he felt the slow growth of Itachi's teeth. They could feel the heat of Sasuke's tongue, sense the pulse of his blood, it tempted them, no matter how much willpower Itachi still held on to.

The more tempted they were, the sharper and longer they got. Sasuke licked at his brother's fangs, teasing the sharp point, pressing against the back, and feeling a heat build in his stomach as Itachi hissed from his brother's teasing motions.

Sasuke curled his tongue around Itachi's elongated tooth, running it up and down up and down, adoring the way the tooth got longer, sharper, so sharp now that if Sasuke were only to touch the tip with his tongue, it would stab into him. So, of course, that's exactly what he did.

Itachi and Sasuke both moaned as the elder's teeth sank into his brother's tongue. Now that Itachi was started, it was hard for him to stop, and he drank greedily, almost forgetting that Sasuke hadn't fed in ages and couldn't afford to lose much without going into fatigue.

Sasuke was in a state of utter shock. He understood now, the way Itachi had tried to describe the feeling of giving your very life, body, and soul to someone else. It was a beautiful thing, and unable to resist, Sasuke bit down on Itachi's lip, and also began to drink.

Itachi almost choked, suddenly overwhelmed by the feeling of drinking from Sasuke while having Sasuke feed on him at the same time. He'd never felt more connected with his brother than he did at that moment. If someone had tickled Itachi's foot, Sasuke would have laughed. They were one body, one heart, one soul, one mind. Nothing was separate and nothing was limited. They had crushed all boundaries, overcome all difficulties, and ignored all sin.

And now that they'd done it, there was no way they'd ever be able to look back. Their path together had seemed so tattered and well-traveled before. But all that was lost now, they had been reborn within each other, and from that moment on, their story was only just beginning.

A/N: There we go. Finally we're done with all the pre-plot positioning... now it's time to get on with this fic, don't you think? Hope you enjoyed these past few chapters! Please grace me with a review and go take my poll!

Love you so very much for reading!

-Beloved