Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. This non-profit, non-copyright infringing fanfiction belongs to me under international copyright laws and taking it is plagiarism. Don't steal and don't sue. Thank you *Phantomness bows*

Warnings: SasuIta, ItaSasu, possession

Chapter 8: Discovery

Sakura had not slept well that night at all. Despite the power granted by the Wind Card she was now in possession of, she was still somewhat terrified and sleep-deprived and so, trying to concentrate at training was terrible. After an hour, Sasuke dismissed her and sent her home to sleep. Then, on her way home, she had the misfortune of running into a civilian possessed by the Knife Card and almost got skewered before she remembered she was a kunoichi and had kunai on her. She finally disarmed the man and figured out how to work the wand Bunny-chan had given her before staggering home and falling asleep. When she woke up, it was to the discovery that the Hail Card had almost completely destroyed her bedroom and she was buried neck-deep in ice, and at least the Wind Card was strong enough to beat it up. Her life absolutely sucked.

I need to talk to someone about this, she thought desperately. Naruto was still in the hospital, so that left Sasuke. Bunny-chan had told her not to let her family know about it and they were civilians. She couldn't even talk to them about ninja matters, but maybe Sasuke would understand? At the very least, he wouldn't laugh at her, right? Sakura cleaned up her room as best as she could and then walked to the Uchiha compound. She hesitated, before she knocked on the door. Itachi met her there.

"Itachi-san, is Sasuke-kun in?" She asked hopefully.

"Yes," Itachi replied. "I'll go get him."

"Thank you," Sakura replied, taking off her sandals. Bunny-chan hovered at her side. "I still think this is a bad idea," She said.

"Quiet, you," Sakura glared at her.

Sasuke met Sakura at the door and welcomed him inside with his summon Cerberus on his shoulder. As soon as Bunny-chan saw him, she tensed. Cerberus didn't look too happy either.

"So it was you, Sakura," Sasuke said coldly. "Come in."

Sakura blinked in surprise. Itachi looked puzzled. Bunny-chan suddenly launched herself, hissing and spitting, at Cerberus. To Sakura's astonishment, Cerberus transformed from winged lion cub to full-grown winged lion, flattening Bunny-chan beneath one large paw.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Sasuke stated. "Cerberus doesn't have the best temper when he runs into cheap imitations. And, as you can see, he's not limited to his false form."

Bunny-chan said something that sounded remarkably like 'You bastard'.

"Tea," Sasuke asked, leading Sakura to the dining room.

"Ah… yes please," Sakura still wasn't quite sure what was going on. Itachi followed, leaving Cerberus and Bunny-chan to their one-sided fight. A few minutes later, Cerberus, in winged lion cub form again, came in dragging a limp, bedraggled Bunny-chan.

"I assume Bunny-chan here," Sasuke had a cruel smile on his face, "Already told you the basics of being a Card Captor."

Itachi's eyes sharpened. Sakura blushed. "How did you know?"

"I suspected," Sasuke replied. "Because that would have been what I would have had to go through, had I not already bound the Clow Cards with my blood when Cerberus appeared to me."

"Y-You cheater!" Bunny-chan leapt at Sasuke, who simply put a finger to his lips. Bunny-chan's mouth kept opening and closing, but no sounds were coming up and she was frozen in place.

"Ah, Silent… so useful, and underappreciated at times." Sasuke continued speaking, as though he had not been disturbed. "Where was I?"

"The Clow Cards," Itachi prompted.

"Thank you, niisan…" Sasuke took a sip of his tea. "Clow Reed was once the most powerful magician in the world. He created a set of fifty-two magical Cards, known as Clow Cards, and two guardians for them. One, Cerberus, you are already familiar with. The other, Yue, shall remain a mystery for now. He had his rivals and imitators, of course, as you have found out firsthand, Sakura, with the Clon Reid Cards, speaking of which, Clon Reid's second guardian is in the hospital at this very moment. Bunny-chan, Clon must have been desperate indeed, to use the Kyuubi's chakra to create his second guardian… whose power does not even compare to that of a single Clow Card…"

"So that's what Tousan and Kaasan were," Itachi spoke quietly. "Card spirits…"

Sasuke nodded.

"Sasuke-kun, is there any way you can help me?" Sakura asked.

"Technically, Bunny-chan chose you to capture the Clon Reid Cards. They're really not my problem," Sasuke told her. "But, you're also my teammate, and those who abandon their teammates are worse than trash. And the faster we work together to catch them, the faster Naruto wakes up and gets out of the hospital, so I'll help you. Who knows, I may find something I want."

"You can have all of the Cards." She told him.

"I don't want all of them," Sasuke said patiently. "Besides, they'll come in handy once you know how to use them. I promise. It'll add elemental techniques you don't normally have, at least."

Sakura had to admit he had a point.

"You can't do this!" Bunny-chan yelled at Sakura once the silencing spell wore off after a quiet dinner. The two of them were walking home together, and Sasuke had given Sakura a few spell tags that she could use to alert him if any danger happened. "He's the enemy!"

"He's my teammate," Sakura snapped back. "Do you know how close I came to dying twice already?"

"You weren't in any real danger," Bunny-chan defended. "You're still alive, aren't you?"

Sakura kind of wished Cerberus had beaten her guardian up some more. At least, she thought, it explained why Naruto, who usually healed so fast, was in the hospital. It made her hate this Clon Reid person even more. How dare he experiment on her other teammate like this! Yes, Naruto was dumb and annoying sometimes, but he was still her teammate!

Itachi watched as Sasuke laid the Cards out on the bed, every single one of them. Gently, he traced the design on each with his fingertips. There were so many…

"Your family," He said quietly.

"Our family," Sasuke corrected, holding him closely from behind.

The day after he had gotten out of the hospital, Sasuke had said. Itachi shivered a little at the thought of fifty-two inhuman spirits taking care of his brother on a daily basis for four years. Never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined something like this happening to his beloved, precious little brother. It all made a terrible sort of sense now. Gods and demons, what had he done?

"Niisan," Sasuke asked, tightening his grip. "Are you all right?"

"S-Sasuke," He shivered. "They didn't hurt you, did they?"

"Of course not," Sasuke reassured him. "Our family would never hurt me."

He kissed the back of Itachi's neck, gently, waited as he patiently finished his examination, before he gathered up their family and placed them back in his belt pouch. "Now let's go to bed," He crooned.

Sasuke didn't understand why Itachi was so worried about their family hurting him. He held him close and made love to him, deep and slow, just the way he liked it, wanting him to relax. Aniki was too tense sometimes. It would be all right. He would help Sakura with the Clon Reid Cards, and then Naruto would wake up, and they could go take the Chuunin Exams together.

Sakura was on edge all day while they trained, but nothing untoward happened. Itachi found himself practicing taijutsu against the Fight Card, which worked out about as well as he had thought it would, which was not very. As Fight had explained to him before the match, she really was proficient in just about every type of taijutsu there was. Itachi groaned as he got up. And Sasuke had put up with this when he was only eight?

"There is no way you got that strong in only four years," Itachi accused him when they soaked in the furo together that night.

"Who said it was only four years?" Sasuke replied. "I lost count of how many it was already. With Loop and Time, I could literally relive one day over and over an infinite number of times."

Itachi stared at him.

"Does it frighten you, niisan, that I'm stronger than you?" Sasuke looked at him, eyes Sharingan red. "Are you afraid that I'll hurt you? I would never hurt you. I love you." He shifted a little, moved so he could sit in Itachi's lap, tucked his head under Itachi's chin and snuggled closer. "Hold me."

Itachi did, taking deep breaths as he stroked Sasuke's hair, still twelve years old in a fifteen year old body. "I believe you," He told Sasuke truthfully. "I know you won't hurt me."

"Good," Sasuke closed his eyes, wriggled a little closer. "I love you, niisan." He repeated.

Itachi swallowed. He didn't trust himself to speak, so he just kept moving his hand, slowly, from Sasuke's spiky locks down the nape of his neck, his back and shoulder blades. Sasuke purred deep in his throat, arched against his brother. A quiet whimper of need escaped his lips. "Niisan…"

Itachi knew it was wrong, and he shouldn't take advantage of Sasuke like this, but at the same time, he needed… "Sasuke…"

"You can take me this time," Sasuke gazed at him through half-lidded eyes. "I don't mind. Just be gentle, please?"

So Itachi did.

He loved Sasuke, his beautiful, broken little brother, but that was not the only reason. In a sense, Sasuke was the only protection he had from those fifty-odd, inhuman entities that lived with them, the rest of their family. And Itachi knew he had to protect himself, as well. He hadn't survived so long without taking the necessary precautions.

Sasuke sighed and snuggled closer against his chest. Itachi kissed his soft lips, brushed a strand of hair out of his face. He closed his eyes, and pulled the sheet and blankets over both of them. Tomorrow was another day.

Two days later, Sakura woke up when she realized that her house was on fire. The fact that Bunny-chan was screaming in her ear was also helpful. She threw on her clothing and rushed to her parents' room to wake them up. They stumbled outside, coughing and choking. Sakura activated one of the alarm seals Sasuke had given her immediately, noticing that at least someone had already called a few ninja and they were attempting water jutsu, but the flames were still blazing merrily.

Sasuke flickered to her side less than a minute later, with a frown on his face. Within minutes, a sudden downpour had doused the fire, and he had yanked Sakura into her own shadow where she had managed to summon her wand and capture the Fire Card. The incident did not make her any happier with Bunny-chan. Also, now that her house was mostly missing a roof, Sasuke had invited her to sleep over at his place, but not in any romantic way. Still, Sakura thought, take that, Ino-pig!

"I've got space, and most of the houses in the Uchiha district are abandoned." Sasuke explained as he showed Sakura into an empty guest bedroom. "Make yourself comfortable."

"Thank you, Sasuke-kun." Sakura said, still a little shocked that he had invited her to live with him.

"Well, maybe if you catch the Water Card soon, Naruto will wake up. Wind and Water should be his elements," Sasuke pointed out. "Just like Fire and… hmm, you don't have an Earth Card in your set, do you?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," Bunny-chan said rudely.

"If I remember correctly, Clon had Tree and Metal." Cerberus said. "He didn't have Earth. He used the Five Element Eastern system instead of the Four Element Western one."

"Ah," Sasuke replied. "Either way, my tracking spells haven't found any other Clon Reid Cards yet, but we'll keep an eye out."

"Thank you, Sasuke-kun." Sakura replied gratefully.

Bunny-chan growled and spat a miniature fireball at Cerberus. Cerberus opened his mouth and absorbed it.

"No fighting, please," Sasuke said. "Itachi's still sleeping and I don't want to wake him up. He had a pretty long night."

Bunny-chan glared at Sasuke, who narrowed his eyes. Sasuke went to make breakfast. He was just setting the plates on the table when he felt Itachi's presence behind him. That was different. Itachi nuzzled the junction between neck and shoulder, nipping lightly. Sasuke smirked inwardly. He'd never expected his brother to be so…playful before. Playful was good, except for that odd compulsion magic which suggested that Itachi was not fully in control of himself. Sasuke sighed inwardly. It seemed as though the Clon Cards were not as innocent as the Clow Cards. Well, it would hardly be fair to subject Sakura to the effects of this one so he had better capture it himself.

"Ah… aniki…" He whimpered. "Not here… please…"

"Sasuke…" Itachi purred seductively, and Sasuke groaned as that went straight to his cock. A quick body flicker and they were both in his bed. He gave Itachi a pleading look, Itachi chuckled and pulled his pants and boxers down. "Don't worry," He chuckled. "I'll take good care of you…"

"I'm sure you will niisan…" Sasuke replied, hissing only slightly as Itachi thrust into him without any preparation. Itachi wanted to scream in frustration. Was Sasuke truly oblivious to the fact that he was being controlled by an outside force, or did he just not care? The Lust Card gasped as he sank his borrowed body's cock into the boy's tight, wet, heat. It felt so good… He dug his teeth into the black haired child's shoulder, biting down hard enough to draw blood, not seeing Sasuke's lips curve up in a triumphant smile.

"Fuck…" Itachi groaned, lapping at the wound he had made, feeling his mind starting to clear, as the Lust Card's eyes widened in sudden panic.

"Oh, I agree…" Sasuke slid off of Itachi's length, pushing his brother down onto the bed and pulling his pants and boxers down to expose him. He was kind enough to explain what had happened as he thoughtfully prepared his brother, using his fingers and plenty of lubricant.

"You see, Card," Sasuke said, as he cruelly ground his fingertips against Itachi's prostate, hearing both of them groan. "My binding spells are woven into my blood, as well as my body. You can't take both without consequences." He hummed as he scissored his fingers, hearing them pant harder. "You're mine now." He gently kissed Itachi on the lips, mounting him. "Return to your true form."

Itachi cried out in pleasure as Sasuke entered him, his body glowed, and then a Card formed, appeared on his chest. Sasuke picked it up, studied the image of a well-endowed hermaphrodite, amused.

"The Lust Card… I see." He laid it aside, and then kissed his brother again. Itachi cried out as Sasuke rode him, harder and faster, until both of them spiraled over the edge of pleasure. Afterwards, Itachi panted, as Sasuke gave him little kisses, stroked his hair.

"Breakfast is going to get cold, niisan," Sasuke told him. "I'm going to take a quick shower. See you soon?"

Itachi nodded, watching as Sasuke slid the new Card into his deck pouch. He definitely needed a shower as well. On one hand, that Card had violated him, stolen his body, but what Sasuke had done to him afterwards… He shivered.

He was doomed.

End Chapter

Started 3/26/16

Completed 3/26/16

In the anime, Time can rewind (at minimum) one day over and over. Loop can loop space. And Sasuke can be a bastard~