His dreams were haunted by a face.

A face Sasuke desperately wished to forget.

Memories that nipped at his mind.

He wanted it to stop...

Parties with a bunch of Shinobi were...interesting. Teenagers and adults were everywhere. Guy was well into a drunken state along with Lee who was trying to stay composed to impress Sakura. Gemna was quickly handing drinks out, Ino was well onto her fourth and was grinning lecherously at Sai. Hinata was sitting perched by Naruto and Kiba, watching as the brunette stared sadly at his empty glass.

Sasuke was standing at the wall with Itachi, watching as his brother tried the drink Gemna handed him. Itachi drank it easily and without making a nearly puffed his chest out in pride.

'Yes, look at my tiny brother drink alcohol better than you losers. Ignore the fact that Uchiha's breathe fire for a hobby. Bask in the Uchiha superiority.'

"Okay, so I'm still curious," Sasuke called over the noise of the room, his arm flung over Itachi's shoulder. "Why did Itachi wear a dress?" Itachi sighed, nudging Sasuke with his elbow as Genma snickered. The man lifted his hand and scratched his chin thoughtfully. Then he grinned and lifted his hand as if to usher everyone close.

"Okay, so we were all talking about how nothing can get Ibiki flustered. And Shisui started joking about cross dressers and shit. So we figured, why not. We were going to have Guy wear a dress but couldn't find anything in his size." Genma glanced towards Guy who was sitting with Lee and made a face. "Plus he wouldn't be very pretty."

"Rude." Guy called back, while Lee looked offended. Itachi sipped from his beer, fighting the urge to roll his eyes.

"So we decided that Itachi was drunk enough to go through with it. We found him a dress, made his hair all frilly, slapped his ass and sent him towards Ibiki's." Sasuke scowled slightly but Itachi seemed to find this amusing. Sasuke caught Kakashi scowling at Genma and realized it was because Kakashi was listening closely.

"Oh please, I was the only one who did not have horrendously hairy legs." Itachi replied.

"Or any." Kakashi waggled his brows.

"That too."

"Did it work?" Sasuke asked. Itachi sighed as Genma released a laugh.

"We never got the chance. Your dad was on patrol and nearly caught us." Genma shrugged as Sasuke glanced towards Itachi, who settled in his chair. "Hence, Kakashi throwing a drunk Itachi in drag over his shoulder and running as fast as he could, while Shisui tried to distract Fugaku." Sasuke snickered at the thought while Itachi's lips curled into a slight smile. His eyes were glassy and from the way he was leaning slightly against Sasuke, indicated that he was getting drunk.

"I think he caught on." Itachi stated, voice clear despite his eyes. Genma laughed, finally able to pour his own drink.

"No doubt."

They would not stop...

"Will we stay together?" Sasuke whispered in the night, watching Itachi shift in his bed, bleary eyed. The room was cold and like a child, Sasuke could not fall asleep alone. Like a child he sought out his brother to chase away the monsters that bit at his heels. He watched Itachi push his blankets away, suddenly alert. He could faintly make out his form in the dark as his brother looked at him.

"Of course." Itachi replied, reaching out and grasping his brother's hand. He offered Sasuke a small smile, eyes kind. Age was just a number. Itachi would always be his Aniki. "Always."

Dark eyes flew open and a choked groan passed dry lips. Sasuke scowled at the roof of the cave, teeth gritting in frustration. He could hear his team still asleep. For him however, sleep evaded or was plagued with dreams and a face he did not want to ever see again. Knowing that he had no chance of falling back asleep, Sasuke pulled himself up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

An eerie silence fell over the small room and Kisame fought not to fidget in discomfort. Instead he sat very still, still mesmerized by his naked lover standing before him, obviously oblivious to the fact that he was in fact very naked and very wet. His dark hair clung to his neck and chest, the towel laying forgotten at his feet.

Itachi did not move, continuing to stare at Kisame. His face had slipped back into his usual neutral expression and Kisame did not doubt he was trying to hide. Kisame stood up and slowly approached his lover. Itachi took a step back. Kisame fought the urge to reach forward and just grab him. The Kiri nin grabbed a blanket from Itachi's bed and held it out to him. It was a silent peace offering. The Uchiha stared at the blanket for a long moment before hesitantly reaching for it and wrapping it around his naked body. His eyes quickly returned to Kisame, looking him up and down, expression pinched slightly as he tried to take in Kisame's appearance with his weak eyes.

"You're real?" He questioned slowly and Kisame rubbed the back of his head, grinning sheepishly.

"Surprise?"

"You're dead." Itachi stated coolly. "Why are you here?"

"Kabuto brought a bunch of us back to life with some jutsu of his." Kisame explained and watched Itachi's neutral expression shift into clinical curiosity.

"Are you even Kisame? Or do you merely wear his skin?"

"Well I was torn apart by sharks so I didn't actually have a body to come back to." Kisame pointed out watching Itachi's mouth tighten at the mention of his lover's death. The Kiri nin awkwardly sat down on his bed, unsure on what to say next. Itachi did not move, the blanket wrapped around his body tightly, his knuckles white as they gripped the fabric close.

"Shimura was looking for you." Kisame began, voice suddenly soft. "I was so desperate to protect you...and I knew I was going to die there. One way or another, but I didn't want to give him the pleasure. He would have used it against you. You know I would die for you, Itachi. No matter your age or memories. I died remembering our first meeting. You remember at the docks...and I remembered your words...I died knowing who I was. And it wasn't as some mindless monster. It was as myself, protecting the one person in this fucking place that I care about. The one thing anywhere that I would put above some mission or even Samehada. You were my mission, Itachi. You have always been my mission." He lifted his eyes to look at the Uchiha who stared back, face unreadable. Kisame released a long breath and stood awkwardly.

"I'll let you get dressed...I-" The rest of his words were cut off by Itachi moving forward. Itachi was unsure on what made his feet move. His mind cursed at him for his weakness yet his feet kept moving. Suddenly, he wanted...needed to touch Kisame. To assure himself that the man was real.

Itachi darted forward, throwing himself into Kisame's lap as the Kiri nin released a surprised yelp. Thin arms wrapped around Kisame's neck as the Uchiha clung desperately to his lover. Kisame quickly gathered Itachi close, burying his face into the younger man's neck.

"Don't you leave," Itachi breathed against Kisame. His tone soft but desperate. "Don't you leave me ever again." His slender fingers gripped at his partner without care.

Kisame laughed softly, kissing the side of Itachi's head. He could almost feel how wildly Itachi's heart was beating. He had no doubt that if he still had a heart that it too would be matching the Uchiha's. Instead he just held Itachi,

"I'm here, Itachi-san." He assured his lover. "Always."

Sasuke moved down the road silently. He ignored his teammates, focusing more on returning to the Hokage's office. Shikamaru did not seem concerned by this, and walked with relaxed gait. Shino was ahead of them, hands stuffed in pockets and his sunglasses low on his nose. It was definitely a preferred group to travel with. No unneeded or unwanted talk.

It made for better missions than when Sasuke was with Naruto or fucking forbid...Lee.

The building was just ahead and Sasuke quickened his pace. Shikamaru glanced at him from the corner of his eye. Both were eager to give their reports and go on their way. Shino opened the door and ushered the other two in. The halls were scarce, only a few employees lingering as the work day drew to a close. Sasuke barely focused as they gave Tsunade their report, although he could feel her eyes staring him down throughout the meeting.

"I'm pleased that you managed this so well. Suna is pleased. These peace talks might actually work out..." Tsunade uttered, honey eyes lost in thought. Shino nodded at what she was saying while Shikamaru and Sasuke merely watched her. Shikamaru no doubt had enjoyed going to Suna...that meant seeing a certain someone. Tsunade's lips quirked at the lazy genius before glancing towards Sasuke. His expression was cold. As it had been for weeks now.

Since Itachi...

There was no sign of the boy. It was as if Uchiha Itachi had vanished into thin air. And it was not just Sasuke who felt the sharp sting of betrayal. Naruto missed the boy. He was angry that Itachi would leave Sasuke alone after everything they had been through. The search parties had long since given up. Kakashi, no longer had the stomach to search. Tsunade was often baffled by how alike Kakashi and Sasuke really were.

Both would rather move on and pretend everything was fine. Both were excellent at playing stoic. Sasuke had years of practice and Kakashi did not seem to know how else to be.

Itachi ran to allow Sasuke a chance to live but perhaps he only damned him...

As soon as she dismissed them, he was gone. He did not look at anyone as he swiftly made his way out of the building, barely noticing that the sun was shining brightly. He had not spoken to Naruto or Sakura in weeks. Each time the blonde tried to see him, Sasuke would find any excuse to get away. Missions or outings, it did not matter. He itched to leave the village and just go. To where he was not sure, he just wanted to get out of the filth. This village was toxic. It sucked everything out of a person and left them a husk. How people still managed to go about their day to day lives and not smell the rotting flesh of the village was beyond him.

The Uchiha approached the compound, the usual dread rising in his chest. He hated it here. He hated these abandoned streets which at one point had been alive and busting and then at another saturated in blood. He hated the houses where ghosts lingered. He could not look at the lake where he trained tirelessly. There were too many memories here and Sasuke only wanted to forget. Where a year ago he strove to keep the memories alive to drive him in revenge, now he just wanted it to end.

He was alone now. Karin, Juugo and Suigetsu were off on missions for the month. Sasuke did not mind. The silence was both comforting and stifling. His feet scuffed through the dirt, watching as it puffed up around his sandals.

When he felt a flare of chakra quickly approach, Sasuke lifted his head, eyes narrowing. That chakra was familiar...

"Oi, brat!" A loud voice called out from above. The Sharingan activated as Sasuke lifted his gaze to the roofs. His scowl quickly faded away as he stared uncomprehendingly at the figure above him.

Sasuke recognized that blonde freak. He had battled him over a year ago...this guy was suppose to be dead. Sasuke blinked, hand slowly reaching to grasp at his katana as Deidara leaped from the roof and landed on the dirt below, a grin spreading across his face.

"Uchiha." The blonde greeted. Sasuke regarded him closely, taking in his appearance. There was something...off about Deidara. Well...more off than usual. Another nin landed beside Deidara and Sasuke nearly leaped forward to attack him. His eyes blazed as he stared at the man who ruined everything Sasuke had fought for. Sasuke breathed deeply through his nose and quickly school his expression. He could give them nothing.

Tobi...Obito waggled his fingers in greeting as Sasuke stared at him in boredom. Deidara glanced over his shoulder at his former partner, still unused to the sudden calm that radiated off the once rambunctious man.

"Why are you here?" Sasuke coldly asked, gripping his katana. Obito tilted his head, arms crossed over his chest as he regarded the Uchiha in obvious amusement. The boy look unkempt in a way. There were bags under his eyes and his skin looked ashen. Obito could have laughed at the irony...

So much for keeping your brother safe, Itachi...

Obito walked by Deidara, approaching Sasuke at a relaxed pace. The younger Uchiha could nearly feel the smirk that the man was wearing under his mask.

"You've been hiding here far too long, brat."

Sorry for the wait! Reviews would make me smile :)