Serendipity

Chapter Twenty Seven

Five Years Later…

Orochimaru took a deep breath, his gaze set on Itachi's apartment with determination.

It had been a while since he'd last been here—about five years to be exact.

His recovery had taken a lot longer than he had anticipated. Itachi's blows hadn't been a joke. The raven haired demon had meant to kill him that day. He still remembered the pain that he'd suffered. How he was told that he would have to go through reconstructive surgery because the delicate bones on his face and chest had been obliterate and needed help healing.

Now you would think that'd put Orochimaru off wanting to make Uchiha Itachi his, but no, it had the opposite effect on him.

It was amazing- Itachi was amazing.

He wanted to own Uchiha Itachi that much more.

To break him the same way he'd been broken. To reconstruct him and mold him into whatever he wanted him to be. It was a dream that left him salivating each time he thought about it, but that was for later.

All in due time.

Yamato blinked, his eyes set where Orochimaru was harshly gripping the folder he was holding. He gulped, and looked to his face, which was set in a nasty grin. Orochimaru was vibrating with…excitement or fear, he couldn't be sure.

"Boss, I think what you are going to do is fucking idiotic," Yamato said, because he had to. His tone was deadpanned because he wanted him to stop. He truly didn't see the benefit to any of the new plans his boss had come up with since he'd been given the green light on life again.

"Oh posh, you think all my ideas are less than stellar," Orochimaru grinned sharply, "That's why I pay you to use your big muscles and not that pretty brain of yours," he got out of the car in a flourish of frills, and adjusted his newly acquired costume as well as his- assets.

Yamato rolled his eyes and gripped the steering wheel. The car was still running and ready in case they needed to make a hasty get away.

Because of Itachi's attack, Orochimaru had undergone a few body modifications. His face was more feminine now and his body slender and shapely. But his new pride, that he had gained, were the round, large, fluffy, breasts hanging off his chest.

When Itachi had started dating publicly it became clear that he had a taste for the female persuasion…or in other words, even liked feminine men. The women and men Itachi dated all had one thing in common.

It was their small delicate size.

Orochimaru was well aware that he wasn't fully going to meet all the criteria, so he worked on what he could. Large breast were never lost on a man who loved soft and curvy things. He was sure Itachi wouldn't be able to resist his knockers at the very least.

He'd also learned that Itachi and Kisame were looking to move into a larger place now that Kisame and Suigetsu had tied the knot and were an officially married couple. Neither Kisame or Suigetsu wanted to leave Itachi on his own so they were simply looking for a home now instead of the small apartment. They had called a few real estate agencies with their request for a large enough house that would easily allow for two families to live comfortably together. This taking into account that Itachi would be able to have his partner move in once he found one.

Now dressed as a very professional real estate woman, Orochimaru had come for the first consultation.

He had meticulously planned everything, and because Suigetsu was so stupid, the man had no idea who he had just set up a meeting with. Orochimaru had ensured that he would contact his fake agency, and he was savoring the moment.

His high heels clicked as he walked up the stairs. He opened the door and looked around for the main button. The new security was top notch, as they actually did their job, and Orochimaru had a hard time getting inside. Finally, Suigetsu had been reached and the man came to open the door for him, to ensure that no one but the real estate woman walked into the apartment building.

From there they walked the familiar path to Itachi's apartment.

"Is it just you that will be moving out?" he asked with feigned curiosity.

"Huh, oh no," Suigetsu toothily grinned, "My husband and his friend are also moving. I was hoping that you'd have a few places that we could choose from at a later time though, seeing as right now they are on an important mission,"

Suigetsu opened the apartment door and asked Orochimaru to step inside.

The snake demon faltered, hesitating as he looked around in breathless awe. It was like a dream. He was finally inside the apartment he'd been unable to breach. For a moment he was expecting that little spit fire of a child to attack him.

Or maybe the old lady to come up behind him and snatch him by the ear…

None of that happened.

"Please excuse my intrusion," he whispered under his breath.

"Come, please take a seat in the living room. Would you like some water?" Suigetsu asked as he gestured to the direct living room.

"Yes, please," he said as he walked over and gingerly took a seat on the couch. His eyes roved over everything and his heart clenched when he spotted nothing but framed pictures of the happily married couple. Meaningless little trinkets twinkled back at him and yet it was nothing that he was hoping to catch a glimpse of.

It felt almost like Itachi didn't live here.

Somehow that upset him.

"Slow down!" Deidara complained.

"There's no time for that right now, Deidara," Itachi responded causing the blond to groan and turn to his lover for some support. Sasori shook his head and sighed, knowing that there really was no point in stopping now that they had a clear lead.

Kisame for his part kept his mouth shut, fear coiling in his gut at the fact that they were about to break into what could potentially be the center of this mission.

It had taken a while for his friends to trust him, but Itachi was finally back to working full time. He wasn't allowed to work with just Kisame though, as his friends still wanted to ensure that he wouldn't run off and do something on his own.

Thankfully, that had not happened, but at the same time Itachi had become too serious and strict with their field missions.

Right at this moment they were in the middle of a theme park, investigating a new case of child trafficking scheme. There were reports of children going missing within the park and parents worry that normal police hadn't been able to find any traces of them. This case became high priority when there were reports of children facing modification to become cyborgs.

Children that had been recovered had said a few morbid things. How they were being modify to help in mining precious stones such as gold, diamond, and crystals of all kinds. They were forced to work relentlessly to the point of death.

These children never lasted long and usually died before they could be saved.

Dead by disease and because they'd been malnourished.

Making their way to the back of the haunted ride, they were able to find one of the hidden "Employee Only" door. This door was rumored to have been spotted by several part goers who found it strange, as it was placed in such an odd location.

Reaching the door, Itachi kicked it in. The other three jumped, disbelief painting their face at how Itachi didn't even consider that they might be seen.

"Hey, Itachi, I get wanting to hurry but how about we don't be reckless!" Deidara seethed, following the raven into the dark room.

"Well, how would you have suggested we get inside?" Itachi asked.

"I don't know, picked the lock maybe," Deidara growled.

"Enough, we're here now. we better find our way properly because, this place is a maze," Sasori cut in, not wanting to hear his lover fight. Itachi and Deidara turned around, noticing what Deidara had pointed out—even in the dark they could easily see like it was bright day light, just how complex the area was.

"Should we split up?" Kisame asked.

"No, they are probably expecting that," Itachi said, "I'll send a some of my crows down each path, they should be able to report instantly if they find anything,"

"I'll help out by sending some of my puppets," Sasori offered.

"I can send some of my clay spiders," Deidara added.

"Alright, let's send them in different directions and let's take the straight path," Itachi pointed to the most direct hall way. They all agreed, and sent off each of their familiars down each maze part. As they went, they realized that many of the paths led to dead ends. Other lead to doors that were broken, but held nothing.

Once they came to a halt at the end of their path, they found that only a few experiments and robotic body parts had been left behind in what was a hasty relocation job. Deidara cursed, angry that they had been lead to a dead end.

Itachi approached the computer, checking and finding that everything had been whipped from them.

"Let's take the computers and see if we can run a recovery program on them." Itachi said. They were too late, but he hoped at the very least, that they could recover the memory of the computer and find out where the next location of this mad scientist would be.

"I hate this, fuck!" Deidara roared.

"Hey calm down, we can't win everything," Sasori tried to placate his husband.

"I know,"

"I just sent a message to Pain, he said we need to urgently report back, he has some bad news for us," Kisame said. They all frowned, wondering what was going on. They finished their job, packed everything up, and headed back to their headquarters, back to Konoha.

It was graduation night.

Kaguya was filled with pride as she gazed at her student, the boy that had given her so much trouble but he was so worth it. Sasuke, was set to graduate, and she wasn't the only one that was happy. Kimimaro, Juugo, and that little gang of cats were all looking forward to celebrating tonight.

If only she could keep things going her way, sadly, she knew that wouldn't be the case.

The eighteen year old Sasuke was pouting and complaining about not wanting to go to any college. He was dead set on returning to Itachi as he felt enough time had passed by. Truly, it felt like a life time had passed them all by.

It had taken time, but Kaguya was sure that she had changed Sasuke's mind about attacking and getting revenge on Menma. It wouldn't be worth to attack a member of the Uzumaki family. Especially not now that Naruto had officially become Hokage. The family was favorably looked up to now that the whole nation of the Leaf was accepting of the blond. With that came new changes and Kaguya had been able to get Sasuke official papers, such as an official birth certificate, identification card, and passport.

"When are we going to get to meet Itachi?" Tayuya asked, her tail curling with excitement. "I want to meet him already!"

"Soon, mom promised." Kimimaro turned his head to Kaguya, wanting to confirm if he was saying the truth.

She offered a sad smile, "Yeah as soon as I return from my trip we will all go meet Sasuke's Itachi," She said. This caused so many cheers and happy kitty thrills.

"Oh right," Kimimaro turned to Sasuke who was sitting still for Juugo. His gentle giant was combing Sasuke's raven hair and styling it for the graduation. Kaguya had wanted diamonds to litter Sasuke's raven hair, saying that he had to shine tonight. "I forgot that you were leaving on a trip mother. is it important?"

"Uh-huh," Kaguya nodded, humming to herself as she fiddled with the camera. She wanted pictures to be able to show Itachi, as she too was set on meeting him. Not only did she want to brag and embarrass Sasuke, but she wanted to ensure that she had Itachi's word as a gentleman that he will care for Sasuke.

Sasuke looked up, impatient, "Just how long is the trip going to be?" he asked. He knew Kaguya often left for trips that took her away from home for weeks. He didn't think that he could handle spending even a month more away from his Itachi.

"If everything goes according to plan, then it should just be a couple of days, don't worry Sasuke. We will get to go to Itachi before you know it," She said with assurance.

Sasuke huffed out a breath, keeping the growing ache of his soul to himself. For a while now he had made contact with Shino and Kiba, after a dog creature had approached with news that he was being searched for. He had told them all about how Kiba wanted to contact them and if he wanted to send a message to him.

Sasuke had decided to write to them, remembering the address to Tamaki's home. He had been careful with his words in case she read the letter. It had worked, and Kiba had written back. He had provided Shino's address, as it would be safer to send the letters there as Tamaki had been suspicious and hounded Kiba about the letter.

Sasuke hoped that Tamaki didn't really think that some girl was writing to Kiba and that he had lost interest in her. He knew just how much Kiba loved and was loyal to only Tamaki. It would be a shame if that relationship didn't flourish.

"Are we ready?" Kimimaro asked when Juugo stood up.

"We're ready," he said.

"Come on Sasuke, stand up and show us how you look!" Kaguya urged, grabbing her camera in eagerness.

Sasuke glanced up and stood with a heavy sigh. He posed as she asked of him.

"So cute!" he heard Sakon, Ukon, Jirobo, and Kidomaru purr to themselves. They knew how much Sasuke hated to be called cute because he believed for some reason that he was cool. That was far from being the case.

"Alright, let's get going or we will be late" Kimimaro said once he noticed the time.

Kaguya lamented not being able to take more pictures, but they packed up and headed out to Sasuke's graduation ceremony. He was graduating ahead of his class, as number one, and Sasuke was so nervous, but he gave his speech and a heartfelt thanks to Kaguya, for everything that she'd done for him. Everyone cheered, happy that they were finally done with school and were moving on to better things.

Sasuke watched as everyone ran to hug loved one, how they smiled brightly to the night that they had anticipated most. He wished Itachi could have been here, to see him graduate and congratulate him as happily as they all did.

His eyes burned with tears, and for the first time, in those few years, Sasuke cried for Itachi.

It had taken a few days, but Kisame and his team had made it back.

They weren't even allowed to go home after they had submitted and evidence and were forced to stick around to make their reports. The day felt hot and long, but finally they were told that after the meeting they'd be able to go home.

During the meeting they became aware that they were the last to know of Pain's mandatory party.

"What do you mean by mandatory?" Deidara growled, clearly not happy with the news. He was frazzled, and overly irritated. Things had not gone his way and once he thought he'd have a break from the demanding freak Itachi had become—he came back to this mess.

"As I was saying, we are having some of our sponsors doubt that we can handle ourselves." Pain then turned his eyes sharply to Itachi, "Since Orochimaru has returned to the scene he has made it clear that he won't be playing fair and has started to tarnish our reputation by spreading rumors of why he was incapacitated for so long. He's not happy with what you did, Itachi, and he won't let it go,"

Itachi bristled, "Well, if I could have ended him…"

"Itachi," Konan gasped.

The other men in the room murmured with agreement to what Itachi had just said. She glared at all of them, clearly filled with disbelief that they all thought violence towards Orochimaru was the answer to their problems.

"Gentlemen, we are not to lower ourselves to such demeaning ways," she growled. "I will personally make your lives living hell if you so dare think that we can just kill that man,"

They bowed their heads in shame. They knew better than to anger Konan at the moment. She was so easy to anger at the moment.

"Anyways," Pain decided to intervene, placing a gentle hand on his wife's lower back and soothing her "We are all to attend the party that I will be hosting, please dress accordingly, and be on your best behavior." Pain shot them a glare that stopped them from complaining about it. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir," the chorused.

He passed out a packet, detailing how they should dress, and who was going to be attending. The names highlighted were people they had to suck up to, and they had no choice in the matter.

Kaguya's trip hadn't been planned, but it aligned perfectly with Sasuke's plans.

Once she said her goodbyes, he started to set things in motion. Kimimaro and Juugo were let in on the plan, as they were the only ones he could rely to help him. The others were kept in the dark about it and only thought that they were going to go away for a small trip to celebrate Sasuke's graduation further.

Now that Sasuke was considered an adult in the demon society, it would only make sense that he'd want to go and have some fun at a resort or something.

That wasn't the case.

While Sasuke had said to Kaguya that he wasn't going to pursue his revenge on his dad, Sasuke just couldn't let it go. He was still dead set on teaching the man a lesson. At the end of the day, he wasn't the only one that had been hurt that night. Long before that, this man had hurt their mother.

He wanted to do something that Menma would never forget.

Sasuke just couldn't forgive him.

Over the years, he had done his research.

Uzumaki Menma was a big shot in the world. He ran a company that sold all kinds of skin care products, promising people the best. It was such a saturated market and Menma's products were the most sought after.

They promised everlasting youth.

It was insane how people paid to their last penny just to get such a tiny bottle of lotion. Yet Menma and his team delivered. No one knew what they were using in their product, or if it was even properly approved by the human demon standards, but that was beside the point.

Sasuke, Kimimaro, and Juugo made it to their chosen hotel by midnight. It overlooked the Uzumaki tower, the one that Menma ran as his corporation.

"Are you sure you really want to do this, once we attack, we might not get off easy," Kimimaro worried.

"Yeah, I'm sure. I've been working to this goal for so long," Sasuke answered.

"I thought that you were working on getting back to Itachi as soon as possible," Juugo teased making Sasuke's face go beet red. This caused him and Kimimaro to laugh. Sasuke always grew easily flustered when it came to Itachi.

"Yeah well, one step at a time, this will be quick." Sasuke said. He turned to his friends and smirked. "It might not be full revenge but it will hurt him. We will destroy his fucking company and make him regret his life,"

"What exactly is your plan?" Kimimaro asked.

"Well, first I was thinking that we start by attacking these locations," Sasuke pulled out his phone, showing off several marked locations on his maps. Kimimaro and Juugo looked at them. Each of them would be an hour to three drive from where they were. "These are where they keep the products,"

"They're warehouses," Juugo muttered.

"Stealing the product will be the least of their worries as then we will also hit the manufacturing factories and ensure that the products being produced are all sabotaged," Sasuke explained phase two of his plan.

"Uh, and how do you plan to do that?" Kimimaro frowned.

"By stealing the secret ingredient, duh," Sasuke said. "I figured out from the plans that he keeps in his old room in the mansion that the source he uses are crystals grinded into fine powder, so I decided we could replace it with other powders like grinded peanuts,"

"People could be allergic…oh I see," Kimimaro blinked and made note of what Sasuke was saying.

"Yeah, once that product gets out he'll have a huge mess in his hands, but that's minor compare to the last spectacle I have for him," Sasuke turned to look back out the window, where their hotel room looked over the city and had a clear view of the Uzumaki tower.

Menma's pride and joy.

"I am going to blow up that tower to the ground, and make sure it can never be rebuilt the same." Sasuke hissed, his eyes flashing red.

Kimimaro and Juugo shared a look and sighed.

"You expect us to do all of this in three days?" Juugo asked, unsure if they truly had that much time.

"Just let's do the best we can," Sasuke crossed his arms, and looked at them with determination. "I have no doubts that it will be enough time," he said. Besides, if he was going to have to wait a few more days before he could see Itachi, he might as well do something fun.

Kimimaro and Juugo groaned, but decided they should go to bed. They had a long day ahead of them.

"Oh yeah, are you going to prank call Itachi?" Kimimaro asked.

"Not tonight…I think it's fine," Sasuke looked at his phone sadly, "I'll see him soon anyways, it should be fine," he assured himself, even when he wasn't sure. A part of him wanted to call Itachi, but he knew he might crumble if he heard his voice right now.

The night of Akatsuki's party had come sooner than they would have all liked.

Not that anything would stop such an important night from happening. Itachi knew all too well that escaping the passage of time was not something anyone could do. No matter how much you wished you could.

Time was a mistress that stopped for no one, not even him.

There were times when he wished that time would just stop, wishing that maybe if it did he could have more of it to search and find Kitty. That so much time wouldn't separate them…that when he closed his eyes the warmth he felt wasn't just an empty echo he was imagining.

But even he couldn't stop the thought that too much time had passed by. There was no doubt that Kitty would have already forgotten him. If he had found a new home and family—how easily time was capable of erasing him from Kitty's life. That was the biggest fear that plagued his mind and heart at the moment…

So much had changed since Kitty left.

Even Kisame and Suigetsu had made things official and gotten married. It had been a happy event, it truly had been. Their friends had all been happy and dare say, he was happy for them too. Pain and Konan were soon expecting a little one of their own. She was only starting her pregnancy but Itachi and the others had already noticed how her moods had changed and they couldn't fault her. They were excited to meet the newest member of their family.

Time was flowing and changing everything around him and Itachi was still here, stuck. Unable to move on although he pretended that he had.

The truth was that he didn't know how to.

How was he supposed to stop his heart from aching and longing for what was clearly no longer his. No one was pressuring him to get on with his life or find a mate. Not since his parents were cut out of his life, and not when his friends were scared that saying something might trigger something inside of him. They didn't want him running off on his own or hiding.

He wasn't a ticking landmine like they thought he was, but it was funny to see his friends trip over themselves at the thought.

Smiling to himself, Itachi reached for one of the champagne glasses that were being offered. He moved towards the darken hallway in search for the restrooms. He didn't need it, but it would be the excuse he would use if they asked him why he stepped out.

He just wanted to get away from all the chatter and bright lights. Maybe he just needed some fresh air to stop all his negative thoughts.

He had already spoken to their sponsors individually and embarrassed himself by delivering a speech to them in general, apologizing to people he didn't think he owed it to, but when they helped fund the company—well he had no choice.

"Stop it, I already said that we are over!" Someone shouted before they turned to smack right into Itachi's chest. His body tensed and he gasped, fear clearly in the way that his smaller body trembled.

Itachi's body didn't buckle at the impact, while the slightly shorter demon stumbled back, rubbing their redden nose. Their black eyes widened as they looked up at Itachi, who towered over him without a care in the world.

A taller, brusque guy, came from behind the shorter and suddenly snatched the smaller arm in what looked like a painful grip, pulling him closer to him.

"There is no way in hell that I am just letting you get away from me, Sa-!"

"Let go!" the shorter snatched his hand back, "This guy is my boyfriend," he screamed, running around to hide behind Itachi. He clutched onto the side of the unknown demon, not caring right now. It was better if this demon got to brunt of his ex's fists. All he needed was a chance to escape. Who cared who else got hurt, as long as it wasn't him.

The taller man was thick, a lot bulkier than Itachi. He eyed him, his gray eyes narrowed as anger doubled within him.

"I knew you had been cheating on me, you fucking skank." The man growled, his teeth bared. "Is this your little side piece, he isn't much. I'll fucking pummel him and then ill teach you what happens to those who play with me," he readied his fist.

"I never cheated on you! What part of we aren't together anymore don't you understand you ignoramus!" the shorter growled. He was definitely brave when he was hiding behind Itachi like he was.

Itachi, feeling like he was in the middle of some lover spat decided he had enough and it was time that he stepped away from this.

"Okay, that's enough," Itachi took a step forward only to be rudely blocked by the brown haired man in front of him. His hair was in the style of a mullet, and his gray eyes were narrowed dangerously with his anger. His hands were fisted on the front of Itachi's suit jacket.

Itachi scowled, his eyes set where those fat fingers had just wrinkled his nice clothing. He had made sure that he looked impeccable for tonight and this damned man had just ruined his hard work.

"You're not going anywhere fucker, how dare you think you can get away with stealing my boyfriend!" the demon growled, eyes flashing.

"Ugh, Dokan, let him go!" The shorter demon yelled, fear gripping his shaking legs that he didn't even think of his plan. He was supposed to be running away right now, not worrying about some demon he didn't even know. "He didn't do anything, just let him be!"

"Shut it, Saisu," Dokan roared, pulling his fist back so he could punch this annoying demon straight in the face. "If I can't have you then no one can, not even this loser!"

Saisu must have screamed like a little girl, because the sound pierced Itachi's ears painfully. Not that he cared as he easily caught Dokan's fist and twisted it all at once. For such a large guy, he sure buckled to the ground the moment that his fist had been broken and made useless. Itachi's eyes narrowed, he wasn't done. He twisted his body around and kicked the demon's face in, sending him flying down the hall and he only came to a halt at the wall—on the whole other side of the hall.

Itachi cursed under his breath when he remembered that the reason they were holding this mandatory party. It was to show that he was under control and he wasn't going to go around attacking the innocent. It wouldn't matter if Dokan had started the fight or not, Itachi had been brutal in his approach to it…

But the man had made him so angry Itachi just…

He slightly flinched as Dokan slid down to sit on his ass, his head twisted to the side, broken teeth and bloody mouth on display. By the looks of things the man had lost consciousness and if he was lucky, wouldn't remember who had knocked him out. Damn it though, Itachi's luck didn't exactly run that way.

Yeah, he'd gone too far, again.

Damn it.

Saisu behind him was still screaming, calling his boyfriends name or whatever, so Itachi had to think quick. He needed to shut him up before anyone came to check what was happening. Dumping his champagne cup to the side, he moved to grab the screaming demon and threw him over his shoulder.

They disappeared in a flurry of black feathers.

Saisu wasn't sure what had happened, but he was sobbing.

His tears wouldn't stop falling despite how raw they felt from crying or how sore his throat felt from all his screaming. His heart felt like it had been strangled all the way to his throat, and he wasn't all that sure of where his body was.

He was probably dead.

"Are you okay?" a deep, silken voice suddenly asked, and warmth pressed into his cheek. The shock of tha warmth grounded him and it was like his soul found his body again. Saisu blinked his eyes and looked up, his breath catching when he was met with deep red eyes. "Here, drink this. It will help you recover from the shock," the man spoke again, like a dark angel or something.

He noticed the can being offered and slowly reached for it with a slight nod. Nice hot coffee, in a can, warm at the perfect temperature—he needed this.

"…Thank you," he muttered.

"No problem," The man said, taking a seat next to him. He had a drink of his own, but Saisu wasn't interested in what he was drinking. He was fidgeting, welcoming the warmth onto his cold fingers as he kept peeking at his savior.

They must have sat there for a while, in complete silence. There was no telling how many seconds, or minutes had gone by, but that demon was finally done with his drink and looking like he was done with being here.

Saisu dropped his drink when he noted that the stranger was getting up to leave.

"Wait, no. Don't go!" he said, latching onto his suit jacket. The demon didn't turn to look at him, but he had stopped. He took a deep breath and let it out, happy that he wasn't leaving. "Thank you for helping me back there. He's been…abusive to me lately and I just…I just couldn't take it anymore,"

Oh no, he was crying again.

He didn't want to look pathetic in front of this demon, but the tears weren't stopping. His body wasn't listening and he was shaking again.

"It's fine, you don't have to thank me. You shouldn't have to deal with people like him," the demon said, turning to face him slightly. "You should go home."

Saisu released him and blushed a bit, looking down to his feet. "He didn't start out like that…" he muttered.

"Are you going to be okay?"

"Uh,.." Saisu shook his head. He didn't know. He whipped at his tears. "What's your name…if it's okay for me to ask…?"

The man seemed to hesitate, although Saisu couldn't know the reason. He didn't think about it too much anyways.

"Itachi," he answered, finally, but that was all he said.

"Itachi…" Saisu run his fingers through his long, spiky brown hair. He had to keep Itachi close. He couldn't just let him go. He didn't want to lose him. So he came up with a plan, as pathetic as it seemed, it wasn't the first time he thought of it. He acted cutely, fidgeting and looking up from his lashes. "I was wondering, if it's possible for you to continue to help me. Dokan has been so insistent with me going back to him and I'm scared…I… could I hire you to be my boyfriend?"

"What…" Itachi shook his head, "I don't think so." It had taken some time, but Itachi was able to say no to people, he truly was able to.

"Please, it's just pretending. It's nothing serious just until he gives up, please!" Saisu urged, his dark eyes going large and pleading.

"No," Itachi insisted, "There are services that will let you hire a boyfriend,"

"Damn it, did you see him!" Saisu snapped, unhappy that any of his cute acts weren't working. "He's so big no one is willing to take the roll and you…you're so strong. You took him down so easy, please, Itachi," Saisu dropped his head with a sob, "Please, please, I'm so scared."

Itachi felt himself fighting with himself.

He had a weak spot for helping those that he could. It was the reason he was in this job, but he'd also worked so hard to make sure that he was never taken advantage of.

"It won't be cheap, I have a full time job," he found himself saying before he caught himself.

Damn it.

"Really," Saisu brightened, "Money isn't but a thing, don't worry about that. Thank you Itachi!" the man smiled widely. He was already latching himself to Itachi's arm, trying his cute act once more.

Itachi groaned, looking away as he regretted agreeing already. He could still back out of this deal if he wanted. He pushed Saisu away from himself, ensuring that he kept his distance. Well, he had to think of this as just another mission. He'd never been anyone's boyfriend…was he going to be able to do this job?

Itachi glanced at his phone and noticed the missed messages from his friends asking where he was and if he was okay. If he knew anything about what had happened with Dokan, a man that came from one of their most loyal sponsors.

Damn it.

He was in deep shit.

"Alright then, Saisu," Itachi's eyes were narrowed and intense, making Saisu step back in surprise, "I'll take the job as your boyfriend but I also expect you have to cover for me for beating Dokan and your company better donate more than they already do."

Saisu nodded, eager.

He'd do anything to make this man his official boyfriend, even if it started out as fake, it was a step forward in his opinion.

"Of course Itachi, anything you want!" he said, shiver of delight running down his spine. He always loved a dominating male who told him what to do. It was one of his weaknesses, along with getting spoiled…

Itachi put his phone away and thought about what he should do next.

"So…let me walk you to your home?" he awkwardly said. Saisu nodded happily and started to lead the way. Itachi figured he must have done something right as he walked just a few steps behind him and a whole person away from him.

Saisu didn't comment on the distance, so it had to be okay.

Once he dropped him off, Itachi made his way back to the apartment. Kisame and Suigetsu didn't mention anything about what had happened, instead they welcomed him back and asked where he had gone.

"Oh…I think I got a boyfriend," Itachi said, and found himself being hounded for answers on this new development.

His friends just couldn't believe it.

Itachi was regretting things a lot more then before.

If you were to look at him, you'd say, oh, Menma has it all.

The truth was that he'd never gotten anything that he wanted in his life. He holds resentment towards his siblings. His damned older brother, who is half, always embarrassed him. His idiot twin brother always had everything that he has ever wanted and dreamed off—even the position of Hokage that he just to over.

Het here he is. In his company and nothing else to show but it.

Many don't know this about Menma, but he does have things that he misses and regrets. Things that he was sure no one would understand.

That night…he still thinks about it.

How happy he had been to hear the news that he had become a father. How his heart sank as he he learned that he'd been tricked by the one he gave his heart to. How she lied and manipulated him to have halflings.

Him, a person who so vocally advocated against creatures and demons spawning together.

He had let his anger get to him.

And finally how he lost it all to his own hands.

He still thinks about it…that night….

No worries, we are building up to Itachi and Sasuke meeting again! lol.