Part 10:

Following that morning's incident, Sasuke had been the recipient of Itachi's odd, sporadic questions all day.

In the car, Itachi asked, "Have you ever had a boyfriend?"

Sasuke shook his head and answered with a soft "no."

In the elevator, Itachi crowded him against the rails and whisper-asked, "Can I hug you?"

Sasuke reached his arms out and was rewarded with a large puppy.

In the middle of a video conference, Itachi poked his head out of his office and asked, "What do you think of me?"

To which, Sasuke stood with a sigh, placed his hands on Itachi's shoulders, and pushed him back into his office. "Meeting," he said sternly.

Itachi grunted in disdain, but he could not deny the boy.

When it was Sasuke's break time and he was fiddling with his phone, Itachi had ducked out of his office and asked, "If you've never had a boyfriend, then does that mean you've never dated anyone either?"

That stumped Sasuke a little so the words that came out of his mouth were as follows: "Um, define dating?"

Itachi's eyes had narrowed at that and he refused to say more. He stomped back to his office like a child who was denied dessert and remained there for the next few hours as if silently protesting Sasuke's answer.

Aside from the twenty questions, the day passed quickly, and in a blink of an eye it was nearing five in the late afternoon.

Sasuke stretched his arms out overhead, wincing as a few bones cracked and his muscles lengthened. Standing, he shut down his computer and began his usual routine of cleaning and organizing the floor. When he was finished, he knocked on his boss's door. "'Tachi? Are you all set?"

The man usually answered him quickly. In fact, Itachi would always be standing on the other side of the door as soon as Sasuke knocked at the end of the day. However, when the boy received no answer, he frowned. "I'm coming in," he informed, twisting the knob and pushing open the door.

When it shut behind him, Sasuke's frown grew. "'Tachi?"

He took a few steps forward, but the man was nowhere to be seen. He could not have slipped passed Sasuke without the boy knowing, and he wouldn't have left without notifying him either, so Sasuke was stumped.

Sasuke slowed the roaming of his eyes, taking in every little detail in the man's office until, finally, he set his gaze on a head of raven hair sticking out from behind one of the couches. "What are you doing behind there?" he asked.

When he made a full circle around the piece of furniture and cast his gaze on Itachi, Sasuke nearly let out a surprised shriek.

Itachi was sitting on the floor in a tucked position, his face hidden in his propped up knees and arms wrapped so tightly around his knees that his hands had grown white.

Sasuke's eyes grew wide. "'Tachi?" Sasuke called softly as if the man was a ticking time bomb. The man made no indication that he heard him, and a slow panic rose in his chest. "What happened? What's wrong?"

Sasuke knelt down next to the man, and that was when he noticed the slight tremble of his body. "Hey," he said, gently, coaxing the man out of the shell that he had built for himself. "Look at me. Please look at me."

When the man finally lifted his head and his unfocused eyes rested on Sasuke, a tragic whimper left his mouth. "Otouto?"

Sasuke frowned, a twist of pain prickling at his entire being. "It's me. It's Sasuke. What are you doing on the floor?"

Another grotesque whimper left Itachi's lips, creating a tension in the room that festered like mold in the winter. It was louder this time, almost as if he had been bottling it up for so long that it was ready to explode.

What bothered Sasuke the most wasn't the condition that Itachi was in, but rather the look on his face that foretold his state of mind.

H.J.

"Um, define dating?"

When he heard his Otouto's response, Itachi stumbled back a step as if he had been shot.

What the fuck did that mean?

Sasuke had said that he was never in a relationship, but that didn't mean he didn't date or sleep around. In fact, in his previous life, Itachi was someone who disregarded morals and indulged greatly in the pleasurable sins of society. Before Sasuke came into the picture, he was incorrigible. He dove into men like it was as easy as normal as drinking water.

So when his Otouto responded so cryptically, it sent Itachi in a tailspin of chaos. His thoughts swirled in his brain as he came up with numerous possibilities, each one worse and more profane than the last, until he was an absolute wreck on the floor.

He had always been faithful to his beloved. There was never a millisecond in time when he had any interest in anybody else. Sasuke was his entire world.

His Otouto would get jealous and give him the silent treatment every time another person, man or woman, would cozy up to him. It did not matter if Itachi ignored them or told them to fuck off; Sasuke would silent treatment his ass into the ground. Itachi had long known that the boy's jealousy was an indication of his affections. However, it was not worth experiencing it when Sasuke refused to look at him for the next 24 hours.

That's why Itachi hated it when people touched him. It felt disgusting and wrong. His body was only for his Otouto to touch, and anyone outside of Sasuke who did so was disrespecting the foundation of his loyalty.

When he was born with all of his previous memories, Itachi refused to touch anyone else. He refused to betray Sasuke in any way, which led him to be isolated for most of his life. He didn't care though, because if it wasn't Sasuke, he didn't want anything to do with it.

His attraction was only toward the boy, and anyone outside of that, did absolutely nothing for him. Itachi could only get hard when it was his Otouto.

He was Sasuke-sexual.

If Sasuke would only allow him, Itachi would tell him all of this, but the boy had verbally rejected him as a lover and told him point-blank that he hadn't been and wasn't the only one in his life.

The man wanted to retch. The hideous taste in his mouth and the ugly green-eyed monster in his chest spoke volumes about his current state of being.

Itachi felt like he was slowly being driven mad. First, he spent nearly three decades searching for his love. Then, when he found Sasuke, the boy did not remember him. Not even in the slightest. He treated Itachi kindly only because he was such a wreck, and Sasuke had and always will be the kindest and sweetest person.

After that, Itachi spent weeks inside his head, screaming at the universe for putting him in such a fucked up position. He was clawing at cement walls in his brain while releasing screams for no one, but his fragile self, to hear. If that wasn't enough, Sasuke had outright told him that he wasn't his family or lover or anything, cutting down any blossoming relationship Itachi believed they were building. The icing on the cake was his most recent response. As if the universe did not punish him enough, Itachi was hit with the cold reality that he was not Sasuke's first.

Frustration, fury, jealousy, and regret ate away at the core of his personality: the one he crafted carefully and sought his best to have for his Otouto. Logic left the room, and what remained was nothing short of nasty.

He picked up the 60-year-old bottle of scotch that a recent business venture had gifted him with, tore off the wrapper, popped off the corked cap, and guzzled down a third of it, only stopping when his throat burned in retaliation and his gag reflex kicked in, forcing him to spew the remainder of the amber liquid onto the carpet.

His eyes burned, a combination of the betrayal in his chest and the unfamiliarity of alcohol tag-teaming to distort his sense of reality and withdraw him from insurmountable pain.

"Who… Who did you do it with?" Itachi mumbled, the crazed look in his eyes growing more intense as the seconds ticked by. "Why wasn't it me? How could you forget… when I… It's not okay."

He fell to the ground and found himself tucked against the couch, a flurry of obnoxious thoughts invading his mind. He didn't know how long he sat there nor did he have a grasp of the time. It was only when somebody was tilting his chin up that he realized someone other than his pitiful self was in the room.

No one ever dared to approach him, much less touch him, so Itachi knew the person in front of him was none other than his angel. "Otouto?" he called blindly, head lulling slightly from the effects of the alcohol.

His cheeks felt sticky, and his lips had grown crimson from his relentless habit of chewing on them when he was off of his game. He was certain that his face didn't look so normal either, judging by the startling amount of concern in the boy's eyes.

Did he look upset? Sad? In distress? Angry? Hollow? Itachi wasn't sure.

The only thing he was certain of was the soothing sense of warmth and comfort, which wrapped itself around him like a cozy blanket on a winter night, in Sasuke's presence.

Suddenly, Sasuke's elbows were seized. His startled gaze met Itachi's over their crouched forms. A vibration ran through the man's body, and it was only after a few seconds that he realized he was growling at the boy.

"Who have you dated? Tell me!" he stated in a highly anxious and panicked tone.

The boy looked surprised, confused, and flabbergasted simultaneously. "What do you mean? What does that have to do with anything? Are you changing the subject?"

Him? Changing the subject? There was only ever one subject in his entire world, and that was anything regarding his precious Otouto.

"I want to know who you dated," he hissed, anger mixing into his words. His body jolted up from the ground and swayed, causing himself to nearly trip over his own feet as he glared, outraged, at the boy.

When his blurry gaze zoned in on Sasuke's face and he saw the boy flinch back, Itachi's brain short-circuited and his harsh stare faltered. His head hung between his shoulders and his white-knuckled hands fisted at his sides. His voice grew shaky. "I just… I just need to know," he explained, hoping his tone was less emotionally charged.

"Why?"

Itachi felt wronged. If it hadn't been for the softness that one curious word was uttered, he would have flipped his lid more than he did with his next words. Face pulled tight with tension, he said through gritted teeth, "I was the one you were intimate with. I was the one who ate your ass. It was consensual. You gave me your permission. You came so hard. You liked me touching you, so why can't I be anything to you? Why am I the stranger?"

Sasuke was silent for a minute, and Itachi wondered if he had fucked up in that moment so bad the boy would walk out that door and never return. He shifted, ready to block the exit if needed.

And then his Otouto's voice echoed in his ears.

"I grew up in an orphanage for a good portion of my childhood. When I was thirteen, one of the older boys in the home cornered me in a shed and tried to do things to me."

Itachi's head jerked in his direction just in time to see Sasuke pause and take in a shaky breath. Anger flared in his chest and burned through his core in two seconds flat

"Luckily, my only friend in the home heard my cries and stopped it. It was disgusting. I vomited immediately after. Then, I begged my friend to erase his touch. There was some light petting and kissing in places the other boy touched. I was hysterical and don't remember most of it, but when I came to, I was sleeping in his bed. I guess I refused to let him go. After that, I would get nightmares from time to time, and he helped me. To be honest, he was more of a brother to me, someone I could look up to. I guess when you mentioned the idea of dating, it made me think of that time."

Itachi pulled his precious Otouto to his chest before the boy finished his sentence, arms wrapped tightly around his neck and waist. He plastered him there and refused to let go, hands shaking in pure rage.

"I should have been there for you," he whispered, hoping that his lowered voice masked his fury. "I will protect you, my love. No one will ever hurt you again. No one will ever do anything to you that you don't like. No one will ever even dare to look at you funny. I will be everything that you need."

"You totally called me 'my love' this time," Sasuke whispered, resting his head on Itachi's chest without argument.

Itachi did not deny it this time or choose to talk his way out of it. His Otouto needed to know how important he was to Itachi anyway. It was the truth after all.

"You are the most important person in the world to me. You and only you," Itachi responded. "I will do anything for you, Sasuke. All you have to do is ask."

Sasuke was quiet.

Itachi let him be so that he could take in his words.

Then: "Why are you being so nice to me? Did I do something to receive your kindness?"

It's not kindness. It's love, Otouto. My love for you.

He wanted to shout it from the rooftops, tell everyone who Sasuke was to him.

Truly, Itachi's love for Sasuke had no conditions attached to it. Sasuke could go on a mass murder spree and Itachi would still welcome him with open arms. The boy could burn down his entire building and Itachi wouldn't even blink an eye. His Otouto could max out all of his credit cards and sink him so far in debt that loan sharks would be knocking on his door, and, still, Itachi would love him just the same.

His love for his Otouto was unconditional. Always had been and always will be.

So it was no wonder the man nearly snarled at the predicament he'd been placed in when he heard Sasuke question him. His Otouto in the past would have recognized that Itachi would do anything for him simply because he loved him, but this Sasuke, apparently, had no clue that Itachi cherished him deeply and loved him far more overwhelmingly and completely than the word implicated.

Hence, word vomit chose to escape.

"You're an angel, Sasuke." My beloved Otouto. "You deserve all the kindness in the world. You're kind, sweet, caring, thoughtful, and gentle. There is no one like you. I'm nice to you because I want you to be a part of my life. Permanently. So permanently that I will get on my knees and beg you to stay if you ever get tired of me. Your existence brings me joy, and being in your presence every day makes my heart feel so incredibly full." Itachi paused, a spark of pain igniting in his chest as the years he spent alone in this lifetime flitted through his mind. "I spent twenty-eight years waiting for you, Sasuke. I don't want to spend another second away from you."

Sasuke's brows furrowed, causing Itachi to suck in a harsh breath and grit his teeth as he braced himself for anything that was to come.

"That… sounds like a confession," his Otouto finally said. "It sounds like you're saying you can't live without me."

Itachi was flabbergasted. Was his Otouto doubting his words? What could he do and say so that Sasuke could understand?

He grasped onto Sasuke's shoulders, pressing him back to look into his eyes. "It's not a confession. It's the truth. There can only be you in my life, Sasuke. I have no ill intentions toward you; I would rather chop off my own hands than hurt you. Please believe me."

His Otouto's hands were suddenly cradling his face, and Itachi chased after them with his own, pressing them firmly to his cheeks as if he was telling himself that everything was real, that he wasn't just imagining things.

"Breathe, 'Achi," Sasuke said, thumbs brushing away the tears he didn't realize were cascading down his face. "Breathe. Shh. It's okay. Everything's okay."

He'd been out of his element more than usual lately to a degree he didn't even realize when he was exhibiting his episodes. His chest heaved and his entire body shook. His wild eyes darted between the soft hands in his grasp and his Otouto's face as each breath he sucked in made his lungs hurt. He failed miserably in containing his emotions.

"I'm not lying to you," Itachi cried. "I waited so long for you. You're my entire universe. There has never been anyone else. I was good and waited for you, Sasuke. I love only you. Please believe me."

Sasuke's eyes softened, and even though the concern was evident in them, there was no judgment. There was only kindness and appreciation for Itachi being comfortable enough to release his emotions in such a cathartic way.

He cradled Itachi's crying face in his hands like Itachi was a fragile thing, and that only made the man sob even more. Because the reality was that Itachi had been fragile ever since he reincarnated in a world without his beloved Otouto and every second, awake or sleeping, was filled to the brim with pure loneliness.

He waited and waited and waited until the loneliness mixed with sadness, then grew into frustration and anger, and usurped the last of his sanity. The misery he felt was unparalleled.

"It's okay to be sad, 'Achi," Sasuke said gently. "Just don't hide yourself away like earlier and bury your feelings inside."

"Believe me! Please believe me, Sasuke."

Itachi could not look past the desperation to fully take in his Otouto's words.

"You're such a loving soul, Itachi," Sasuke murmured. "You have so much to give, but it seems like, in the process of giving, you're forsaking yourself. I want to make sure you're also taking care of your needs and not just mine."

"What I need is you."

His Otouto looked startled for some reason, which caused Itachi's anxiety to spike even more until Sasuke looked at him in what Itachi could closely describe as fondly.

"Let's take this one step at a time, shall we?" he said in that sweet voice of his while his eyes smiled at Itachi.

"… Do you believe me?" Itachi croaked, leaning closer to the boy.

"I do believe you, so don't cry anymore over something that isn't true."

"You're… not just saying that?" Itachi asked in a near inaudible whisper.

"I don't have a knack for trusting people and I haven't known you long, but something deep inside of me tells me wholeheartedly that I can trust you. So yes, I believe you, 'Achi. Like I said, you haven't given me a reason not to."

Itachi dove at the boy, catching his Otouto by surprise as they both fell flat onto the rug. Sasuke laid underneath, back on the carpet, while Itachi dug his large body into his, embracing him with a kind of personable, breathtaking hug that was only meant for a lover.

After a while, his Otouto's sweet laughter rang in his ears and, with great joy, he felt the boy return his embrace.

"How did you manage to hide this puppy dog personality from me?" Sasuke asked. "You're basically twice my size and you're latching onto me like you're three years old. That's so cute."

Itachi didn't miss a beat.

"If I'm so cute, then keep me forever," he murmured seriously as he stubbornly cuddled closer to Sasuke's body.

Sasuke's laughter multiplied, his entire body shaking like a leaf. "You're no longer adverse to being called cute?" he wondered. "Because the last time I called you cute, you–"

Itachi siphoned off his beloved Otouto's words with his lips, pressing them firmly against Sasuke's in a way that sealed his mouth and stole his breath away. His no palms pressed into the ground next to Sasuke's face and he used the floor and his body to immediately deepen the kiss.

Itachi groaned into the kiss, his body coming alive in ways that only Sasuke could succeed in making happen. He could feel the boy's breath against his open-mouthed kisses as he pleaded for entry, his firm, warm tongue darting out to lick the seams of Sasuke's lips.

His Otouto had laid there frozen until that moment. Then, his small mouth slowly opened under Itachi's insistent ministrations, and their tongues glided gently over one another's. In that moment, Itachi grew even more smitten as a tingly sensation spread from his tongue to his entire body, lighting it on fire.

He swiped his tongue over the boy's again, noting how Sasuke shivered each time he did so and responded in kind. The hands around his waist tracked over his lats and climbed up his back until his Otouto was gripping the backs of his shoulders tightly and tilting his head to deepen the kiss.

"Nngh," Sasuke moaned against Itachi's persistent mouth, his breathing coming out harsher against the man's face.

Itachi decided to have mercy on the boy for a split second when he severed the kiss and grazed the shell of Sasuke's ears with his lips. "Kissed you," he murmured. His voice didn't sound like his own, roughened by the lust that drenched him to his core. "The last time you called me cute, I kissed you, my love."

That was all the time he allowed the boy to be without him. Itachi dove back into the kiss, reinserting his tongue into his Otouto's mouth, which garnered him another sultry moan.

"Mmph… you… nghh… you're calling… ahh… me that… again?"

The boy could hardly get a word in between Itachi's excited kisses. Their tongues tangled momentarily only for the man to guide them back into Sasuke's mouth, hunger ransacking his body for more of his sweet taste.

He heard what his beloved Otouto said, but this time, he refused to deny it. He'd already declared his love for Sasuke, so why hide the one thing he wanted to address him as the most?

"You taste so sweet, Sasuke," Itachi grunted, his periodic growls filling the office with the pleasure he was experiencing from being connected with Sasuke.

"Haaa, o-okay… okay," Sasuke gasped, palms gently nudging against the back of Itachi's head as he attempted to pry him off so he could breathe. "No m-more, 'Tachi…. Spare me."

Itachi latched on twice as hard for another few kisses before he begrudgingly pulled back, staring down at the panting boy under him. Their heaving chests brushed against each other's as Sasuke's slowly opening eyes met Itachi's.

A brief moment of silence passed before Itachi spoke. "The kindness you spoke of is my love for you, Sasuke. My love for you is not conditional. It is absolute. I will love you across all of our lifetimes. No matter who you or where you go, I will chase after you. No matter how much you don't want me, I will always be beside you. I will forever chase after you, Sasuke. You are the very sunshine that sits atop my dark world."

The boy didn't even flinch. He reached his hand up to caress Itachi's cheek. Perhaps it was the sincerity in Itachi's words or the serious expression on his face, but his Otouto looked at him quite fondly at that very moment.

"How is it that you're gorgeous and faithful?" Sasuke asked, almost teasingly.

Itachi bristled and was ready to defend his loyalty. He only managed to keep the rant forming on his lips at bay when a small smile, so sweet and warm, curved onto his Otouto's lips and left him starstruck.

"I feel very honored, 'Achi."

His Otouto's soft-spoken statement reached Itachi's ears, and he could not help but dive in for another soul-searing kiss.

H.J.

Sasuke wiped the condensation off of the bathroom mirror in the guest bedroom. When his reflection stared back at him, he found his hand reaching toward his lips. As soon as his fingers pressed against them, his entire body shuddered in a way that made the area between his legs twitch.

His eyes closed for a brief moment while the sensation took over his body. Kissing Itachi made him feel… loved.

And nostalgic.

The warmth of the kiss dug into his skin and bones as if ingraining itself into his memory, and it made him feel alive. It was such an odd feeling.

Sasuke had always been on his own. Growing up in an orphanage meant watching all kinds of kids come and go. If he was being honest, that bothered him less than the uncomfortable feeling deep-set in his bones as if he was missing a piece of himself.

He was bombarded by this feeling for as long as he could remember, and each time he felt it, the duration it lingered multiplied until all he could feel was a gaping hole in his chest. By the age of 13, it had become so bad that he would spend hours away from prying eyes in bed, in a nook or cranny he found, behind a bush, anywhere he could find privacy, crying out hysterically. The weight and depth of the emptiness inside was all-consuming. It manifested as physical pain even though there was no real threat.

He couldn't utter a word about it because people would look at him as if he'd lost his mind. Quite frankly, he couldn't even put into words why he was feeling the way he was and couldn't pinpoint the reason behind it. All he knew was that it crippled him in every way possible, and the longer it dragged on inside of him, the more crazy he felt.

Upon the brief flood of memories, Sasuke grasped onto his chest and waited for that debilitating feeling to usurp his entire being. He waited like a stone statue, but what he felt in his chest wasn't an empty void. Far from it.

In fact, he felt rather light and fluffy, and he wondered if he should thank Itachi for that.

Ever since he met the man, he'd been someone Sasuke could rely on. Itachi was caring, thoughtful, patient, and giving. He treated Sasuke like he was the most important thing in the world and catered to his every need as if on a mission, something the boy was not used to at all.

Itachi was the one stable thing he had ever felt in his life. Itachi never made him worry about where they stood, he always made sure Sasuke was comfortable and taken care of, and he was always consistent in everything that he said and did.

Itachi doted on Sasuke in a charming manner that was one part romantic and one part clumsy and reckless.

Sometimes, a negative thought would flit through his mind when thinking of the man. The idea that Itachi wanted him, that he loved Sasuke, was hard to swallow. It should be impossible, a scam, because Sasuke had nothing to offer, but if it was a scam, then Itachi was the world's best actor.

Sasuke tried not to think of those things. He'd rather look forward and not allow the weight of his past to hold him down.

All he knew was that Itachi was a blessing, and since meeting the man, Sasuke's heart felt incredibly full.