Excruciating pain radiated through his body, pulling from his back. bullets of sweat dripped from the exertion it took to get to his car. He wiped his forehead, barely able to move his arm. Engaging the car, he drove himself to the hospital. 'Till the end, a stubborn force to be reckon with. Praying that this wasn't a heart attack, he prepared himself for the news. But nothing could have prepared him. It was the end.

Goodbye, Mon Ami.

1-3-24

Serendipity

Chapter Thirty-Four

Just because Pain had hired Sasuke and enrolled him into the program, didn't mean that things would be easy for him. Nor that he would suddenly be any closer to Itachi. Which was fine. He hadn't lied when he said that he was serious about this being his career. He wanted to not only succeed in this chosen field, but a part of him wanted to wow and make Itachi proud of him. There was so much he wanted to prove.

For now, phase one of his plan has been completed.

He was sure that if he worked hard, soon he'd be able to stand next to Itachi as an equal. Giddiness filled him at the thought of replacing Kisame and becoming Itachi's partner. What he had not expected was to see Kiba and Shino attending the same university as his, much less be enrolled in the same program.

"We applied," Kiba said when Sasuke confronted them.

"To what?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"We...to Akatsuki," Shino shook his head and let out a breath. He had no way of explaining to Sasuke why he was here at all. Honestly, neither of them had a goal or plan for their future. When they had been helping Sasuke fill out an application, they had decided to do the same. The benefits promised by this line of work had piqued their interest and they had nothing to lose. If they didn't like it, they could always walk away. "We're your future coworkers."

"Really..." Sasuke crossed his arms.

Amazingly, they had been accepted. Kiba and Shino who dreaded how the working world would treat them and how they didn't belong, were left in amazement to be welcomed somewhere. School was one thing, teachers were forced to tolerate them and protect them. Such rules didn't fully apply everywhere else.

"Yeah really, got a problem?" Kiba bared his fangs.

Sasuke huffed, "No. Well whatever," he muttered. He didn't have a problem with it. He just didn't understand why they hadn't mentioned being interested in this field of work as well. Maybe he wouldn't have been as nervous going into it if he knew his friends were going to be doing the same.

The two-week orientation had been completed. Sasuke had chosen for field work and thus had to be instructed and enrolled into different classes mandated by Akatsuki. Kiba and Shino had opted for being research specialists. Their line of work would require them to do a lot of research and write reports, thus they had to take a whole other set of classes. They would still get trained to battle. Afterall, they had to be ready for anything, but their class would be different from Sasuke and more specialized in self-defense.

The only reason they had crossed paths was because despite having field work, Sasuke too would be writing reports and he needed to complete the course on it, similar to them.

"You know, I would have thought that you would go for field work," Sasuke said to Kiba as the three started to walk out of their classroom and towards the center of campus. They were hungry after their lesson and wanted to get a bite before they had to separate and attend their next round of classes.

Kiba lowered his head, "I did think of it, I mean I know I have the strength to do most things but at the same time, I felt like my skill might be more in the gathering information, as well as it keeps me safe,"

"Tamaki expressed worry for such a dangerous line of work," Shino clarified what Kiba had so obviously danced around with his words.

"That explains it," Sasuke said. "Then again you could always change your mind,"

"I'm not too worried, and I don't think I will." Kiba said with slight annoyance, "They are all evaluating us to make sure that they place us where we are needed, so it should be okay,"

They entered the food court and headed to a stall selling hamburgers and fries. The line was shorter and allowed them to grab food faster.

"You know, Kaguya says that it isn't good to let others tell you what decision to make, you should always choose for yourself," Sasuke said.

Kiba shot him a glare.

"Keep your opinions to yourself Sasuke, this is my life, I live it like I want to," Kiba growled. Sasuke bared his fangs, glaring right back at him. The two of them had high opinions, but hopefully they wouldn't fight over it.

Shino hummed, cutting into their little spat. "Speaking of which, Sasuke, I have gathered some information on what you asked," he said, choosing a table for them to sit down. Shino sat first taking the left seat, Kiba took the middle, and Sasuke the right.

Interest perked the small raven. "What did you find out?" Sasuke asked. Kiba licked his lips and loudly shuffled about, dressing his burger in ketchup.

"Oh, right, you were stalking Itachi's boyfriend," Kiba chewed his food while talking, nearly splattering ketchup around the table.

"Don't call him that," Sasuke growled, snatching a napkin to clean off his area. His nose scrunched up in disgust when he shot the dog a glare.

"It's what he is." Kiba challenged.

Sasuke huffed, deciding to ignore Kiba and how annoying he was being. "What did you find out Shino?" he asked.

"I found out that his name is Kamano Saisu. He is the only son of the Kamano corporation that funds and sponsors Akatsuski. He was dating a man named Dokan, someone that Itachi recently helped place behind bars for his illegal work. There were rumors that he was abusive to Saisu but it's just that, rumors, no one knows for sure,"

Sasuke hummed, thinking it over. "So Saisu was potentially in an abusive relationship," Sasuke shook his head, "Sounds like my Itachi swooped in and became this guy's knight and shining armor," he took the first bite of his burger.

"Seems like it, if it's true," Kiba muttered. "But there is no knowing for sure, for all we know Itachi did fall in love with him and is just protecting his man."

Sasuke shot him another glare, "I'm the one that knows Itachi best," he growled. He would never admit that the thought had crossed his mind. There was a possibility, Kiba was right.

"Well, aside from that I got the basic information you wanted." Shino cut in, "Kamano is around Itachi's age, what is that, twenty-six?" Gathering information on Itachi had been harder, so for this part, Shino relied on the knowledge Sasuke had.

"If Itachi was twenty-one when I met him, then just about," Sasuke remembered Kisame remarking that Itachi was too young to give up on love at such an age.

"I see, I wonder when he stopped aging," Shino muttered, curious.

"He doesn't look much older his early twenties," Kiba said. "Not that he looks any different from five years ago either way," Kiba silently admited to himself that Itachi looked good.

Sasuke didn't say anything. He hated that there were things about Itachi he didn't know anything about. Age and the time you stopped aging was information that was shared with those close to you. Itachi had no need to share that with a cat. Why would he?

"Well, Saisu was announced to have met his age cap at twenty-five, so he only recently stopped aging," Shino said. He divulged the information of what school Saisu had attended, who his friends are, and what he did for his company. When he was done, he took a bite of his food.

Sasuke frowned, "He doesn't sound like the type that Itachi would date,"

"Who knows, maybe Itachi wanted to try out someone outside of his typical." Kiba grinned. Clearly, he was teasing Sasuke, but his words inspired dread.

It was a possibility.

"Anyways, knowing this information won't really help you get with Itachi, so what do you plan to do? There are rumors flying about that Itachi might just be the person that Saisu marries," Shino said, using a napkin to cover his mouth as he spoke.

Sasuke paused, taking a moment to think. The fry between his fingers was held in his ketchup container, drowning while the raven stared off.

Kiba and Shino glanced at each other, but quietly continued to eat, waiting on their friend. Sasuke had so many thoughts running through his head. From questioning why it was important to know the age you stopped aging, to the age you truly were. Sasuke found it hard to understand. Kaguya had said that aging was a fundamental in their world, one that would reveal something about the person.

Besides the aging, the fact that Itachi was still dating this guy posed a problem. Dokan, the probable abusive ex was already out of the picture, so if Itachi was just being nice—why was he still dating Saisu?

That meant having to seduce him away from Saisu then. Damn it, Sasuke didn't know the first thing about what to do when asking a person out, much less one that was taken. Things could get tricky if that was the case. Did Itachi really swoop in to save Saisu, for real, like he cared about him.

Does Itachi care about Saisu a lot?

What if Itachi had replaced him-Kitty- with Saisu?

What if he no longer cared to find him- Kitty?

No that couldn't be, otherwise, why would Itachi still answer the prank calls?

The thoughts ran through his head and he came to only one conclusion.

"I don't know," he sighed, dropping his fry. He grabbed at his head and tried hard not to pull at his hair. Kiba and Shino glanced at each other and then back to Sasuke.

"What do you mean you don't know? What happened to your plan to seduce Itachi?" Kiba asked.

"I don't know the first thing about seducing anyone, besides if Itachi is truly in love with Saisu...can it truly be my place to separate them?" Sasuke asked. "I'm just going to end up looking ridiculous,"

"Nice to know you have some sense," Shino smiled. Sasuke's head shot up to glare at him. "Look, there are a lot of things we don't know. That doesn't mean that you hold yourself back from at least becoming Itachi's friend,"

"But I..." Want more.

"And if," Shino cut him off, "You two are meant to be then things will fall into place, of course, you have to do your part,"

Sasuke pursed his lips.

"Listen Sasuke, Itachi is a demon with feelings, no one can control that, not even Saisu. Whatever is going on there, you will figure it out once you talk to him," Kiba said. "I know it's hard, there are times that I lose faith that Tamaki takes my feelings for her seriously, but at the end, it is me whom she cares about. It is me she spends her nights with!"

Sasuke let out a heavy breath. "You're lucky that Tamaki knows who you are, Itachi doesn't know anything," he knocked his food back, no longer feeling hungry.

"You could always come clean and tell him," Kiba gave Sasuke a look, "Let him know the whole truth about just who you truly are."

Sasuke's eyes widened as his heart raced, "He might hate me," he whispered, shaking his head. There was no way that he could ever let Itachi know.

"Or he might be glad to know you are safe and sound and that he doesn't have to keep worrying about finding you." Shino said.

"What?" Sasuke said.

"Itachi might be a bit angry, but I doubt that he would hate you. After all Kitty is still important to him," Kiba said, "You are important to him,"

"Part of the information I got proved that they are still looking for you. Itachi is still looking for you," Shino reached into his coat and produced a flyer of a missing cat. Sasuke took it, and read through the information.

RAMEN

LOST

Please Contact AKATSUKI at XXX-XXX- XXXX if found. Cash Reward will be given.

"This isn't Itachi looking for me..." Sasuke muttered, shocked.

"It's not? But that's you," Kiba said, "I'd recognize you anywhere,"

Sasuke sighed, "Yes, it's me, but this picture and this name. They were the ones given to me when I was living with the Uzumaki's. That means they are looking for me and have gotten this far," Sasuke bit his lower lip.

He had to be careful. It had been a while since the flyer was produced, about a day of being here in Konoha to be exact. Kaguya had been upset and mentioned that the Uzumaki's were suspicious, but he hadn't realized just how aware they were. Sasuke wasn't going to let them find him. More than ever, he couldn't ever come out to Itachi as Kitty.

They might mistake him for Ramen...well, he was Ramen, but he only cared about being Kitty. He didn't want the Uzumaki's to find him.

"Don't you owe them," Kiba suddenly said. "They did take you in and raised you the rest of the way. They should know that you are now an adult and are going to be looking after yourself,"

Sasuke froze.

Yet again, people who had saved and cared for him, and they didn't know who he truly was. Would they hate him the moment they found out that he wasn't just a cat. Sasuke groaned, planting his face down on the table.

Why did his life suck.

What should he do?

After lunch, Sasuke attended his last two classes before taking the provided transportation back to Akatsuki Headquarters, where he would complete the last task of the day—his combat training.

Juzo Biwa was his assigned instructor.

He had heard rumors that the man was one of the best when he was out on the field, but had decided to quit after a few years. Sasuke wondered why that was, but no one seemed to really know. Some said it was because of his controlling husband. Others said he got badly injured on the job. And others said that he had made a mistake and had been demoted to instead training others on never repeating that same mistake.

Regardless, Sasuke chose not to take those words at face value. If Juzo had his reasons for changing his career path, they were all his own. Although, ever so curious, Sasuke wondered if the man would tell them during class. Not that it was necessary. It didn't matter either way the reason that he had the job that he did.

"Welcome to the first day of training, my name is Biwa Juzo, and I will be one of the many trainers that you will have through this program. I am here to lead you through the basics, that doesn't mean it's going to be easy," Juzo lowered his eyes on them, making the rookies gulp at the sharp intensity found there, "You can't get past me, you're out. No second chances, when you're out on the field, there is no such luxury," he said.

Some students fidgeted. Others straightened with determination. Juzo glanced down at the list on his clip board.

"I'll call your name, please respond that you are here." The man roll called everyone. There were thirty of them. Sasuke was the last person called, seeing that he had no discernible last name. "I won't bother learning your names, not until you get past the first week. So, let's get started."

The class of thirty got their first look at the field they would be training in for the next few years, if they could get past this week.

"I hope none of you expected to have a boring first day of class with syllabuses and introductions. I don't care who you are, I just want to know your skill level," He gestured through a set up course, "You will show me your speed and wit by going through this course, you will climb, jump, get on your hands and knees, anything that will get you to the finish line. And I do mean use any means at your arsenal,"

The first person to go onto the course was a tomboyish girl. She prepared herself and once the cue was given she ran. She had an easy time through the climbing and jumping challenges, but struggled when she had to drop to the ground and drag herself under some vines. She ended up with a scratched up back and ripped clothing as she huffed through the finish line. The traps she had triggered, the attacks that had come out of no where—it left the others scared.

Juzo chuckled, "Nicely done," he said as the girl collapsed. "NEXT!"

The others jumped.

It became clear that this challenge was going to be different for everyone.

It continued in the same fashion, with each person showing weakness in either one or both areas. Sasuke took a deep breath as his name was called and he stepped up to the racecourse. His heart was hammering in his chest, a bit scared, but also excited.

"Sasuke, you're last. Like the ones that went after the first person, I will be heavily judging your ability to retain information, go," Juzo reminded, and issued the order.

Sasuke rushed forward, his body sprinting before his brain fully caught on. The first obstacle needed him to jump, easy. He climbed and dropped, his small body and ability to run on four legs quickly got him through the vines. He avoided all known traps, and dodged any random attacks that were sent his way. He avoided the pit falls that the others had revealed as they had gone through the final leg of the course, and slid out the finish line, narrowly avoiding the large boulder that had squashed a few others for either being slow or forgetting about its existence.

Juzo smirked, glad to see that this boy, who had been highly praised by Pain, was able to complete the course perfectly. So, it wasn't all talk. But, flicking his wrist, he released a barrage of throwing knives. Sasuke gasped, clearly not having expected the final attack.

A little surprise no one else had had.

Sasuke pulled his blade out, blocking the knives. He then jumped back and fell on his bum at the aftershocks of explosion that followed. The boy hissed, frazzled. Juzo raised an eyebrow, realizing that Sasuke hadn't disclosed that he was part creature.

Interesting.

Jotting down the new information, Juzo decided he was going to let Sasuke explain himself in time. There had to be a reason why he hid such vital information. His training would have to be made special based on what creature he was.

There was no doubt that the boy may have been forced to hide that side of him, but here, it was something that he wouldn't be shamed for. It was important that all their members felt welcomed and safe in their environment.

"Well done everyone, now let's continue,"

Several groans answered him and Juzo hid his grin. It was music to his ears.

Several hours later, the doors to the training room opened, allowing the drained new trainees to exit. Everyone was so fast to leave and not look back after that training from hell.

Sasuke let out a defeated sigh.

The program was going to be tougher than he thought. He was exhausted and the thought of having to do this again tomorrow made him feel discouraged. He wasn't expecting to be so bad at this. He had never had a teacher yell, much less call him out the way that Juzo had.

Fuck he had messed up.

The pricks of tears threated to fall from his eyes, but Sasuke sucked in his breath and stubbornly refused to let them fall. He had thought he had built up enough endurance to be able to keep up, now he wasn't so sure. Damn it, he couldn't fail at this.

It was okay, he would get it next time.

"No. I meant that you should come with us tonight,"

Sasuke glanced up, curious and thankful for the sudden distraction. He paused and looked around. He was by the entrance, and a bit ahead of him was Itachi and his friends. Deidara was talking loudly, stomping his feet towards Itachi and Kisame who didn't look all that plussed with him.

"This is important to us!" Deidara huffed.

Sasuke's heart leaped into his throat. Itachi was standing there, in a simple black shirt and black jeans. A red sweater was tied around his waist. His arms crossed, subtle muscle lines stretched over taunt skin, looking hard, strong. He swallowed, nervous to approach.

He was a mess, there was no way that he could walk by them.

"You and Sasori?" Itachi asked.

"Duh," Deidara replied. "Look, it might not seem all that important to you Itachi, but it is to us. It is important for all of you to share with us."

"I didn't say-" Itachi raised both his hands in defense. He hadn't meant to offend Deidara, but the blond shot a glare that said he wasn't going to listen to anything that he had to say. There was no excuse.

"Look we had things planned already, it's not that we wouldn't hang out with you to...to..." Kisame had come in trying to defend them but fell short when Deidara turned his glare to him. There was hurt in those eyes that made him feel guilty.

"Celebrate our anniversary with us," Deidara crossed his arms, eyes narrowed. It wasn't uncommon for him to want to include the demons that had witnessed his and Sasori's union on an anniversary. This was because they had become close to each other, as family. It already was hard on the blond since Pain and the others had said they weren't able to today but would another time.

That only left Kisame and Itachi, the only two others that had nothing important going on.

Kisame had the right to say that he had plans with his husband already, but Itachi didn't have that luxury.

The raven haired turned to Kisame with a sharp look that said he'd take this on his own. Kisame deflated, unable to let his friend take the brunt of this. They were family after all.

"Okay," Itachi said, "What did you have in mind?"

Deidara blushed and lowered his head. Sasori wrapped his arm around his shoulders and smirked. It was only now that the blond was feeling embarrassed from acting so overdramatic.

"Just hang with us and smoke something, it doesn't have to be a big deal," Sasori said, "We could hang at the park for a bit,"

"Yeah, we can do that," Kisame nodded.

"Hey there,"

Everyone blinked and turned to Deidara. The man was looking towards the entrance of their building where Sasuke was standing by. The small raven-haired boy blinked up at them with wide innocent black eyes, tittering back and forth looking like he wanted to run away.

Cute, they all thought.

"Well, if it isn't the troublemaker that Itachi found," Deidara teased.

"H-hey," Sasuke stumbled forward. "Hi,"

"Congratulations," Deidara reached towards the raven, wrapping his arm around his shoulder, "I heard pain let you into the program,"

"With his resume, there was no doubts he would get in," Itachi proudly said, smiling at Sasuke.

Sasuke's face went red at the compliment.

Everyone chuckled at how easy the boy was to read. There was no doubts in their minds that Sasuke liked Itachi a little too much. The question was, did Itachi realize how the boy felt?

"Today was your first official day, how'd it go?" Sasori asked.

Sasuke shrugged, "It was okay," he muttered.

"Juzo is the trainer. There is no way things are just okay," Kisame snickered. "That man will do anything to drill lessons into you, so prepare yourself."

"Hey, don't scare him!" Deidara chided, feeling an odd kinship to this kid. "Say, why don't you join us! Come on everyone" Deidara pushed Sasuke towards Sasori. Sasori grabbed one of Sasuke's wrists, while Deidara kept hold of the other.

"Um," Itachi hesitated, wanting to tell them to let Sasuke go. The boy probably had to get home to his grandmother.

"Great, now they're dragging Sasuke into this, come on Itachi," Kisame rushed after them, leaving Itachi no choice but to follow.

Deidara pushed Sasuke into the backseat of his and Sasori's car and they drove off. Kisame and Itachi followed in the Jeep. They stopped at a restaurant to pick up some food before they went to the park. It was already sundown when they found a bench and sat down. Sasuke was shoved to sit between Deidara and Sasori.

"Let's celebrate, to Sasuke's accomplishment!" Deidara cheered while Sasori passed out the food, large containers of hot fries slathered in cheese, avocado, cream, diced tomato, onion, and asada meat. In the center there was a plate of street tacos.

"I thought we were celebrating your anniversary," Kisame complained, digging his fork into his food.

"We can do both," Deidara pouted, "So Sasuke, tell us about yourself."

"Um..." Sasuke glanced up and looked down when he noticed that Itachi was looking his way. Itachi raised an eyebrow, but then looked down at his food. He was sure that he was making Sasuke nervous. "I...uh, what do you want to know,"

"How old are you?" Deidara asked.

"Eighteen," Sasuke easily answered, a bit surprised that he liked the food.

"Ah so young," Deidara said.

"I'm grown enough," Sasuke haughtily said, taking another bite of his food.

"You're still a baby," Kisame rolled his eyes, "You have no idea what you are about to go through. I might consider you grown up if you can deal with Juzo's training,"

Sasuke gulped, "I know it's not going to be easy, but I don't plan on giving up,"

"That's good," Sasori said.

"I think that we should be the ones that should be concerned, Juzo isn't only training the new recruits, he's also going to go hard on us," Itachi reminded his friends. All of them gave sheepish looks, knowing full well that they would have it rougher. Having to be taught the basics again wasn't something that Juzo was all that happy about.

"Is it really difficult to pass?" Sasuke asked.

"It's not, you won't be failed, just relocated." Itachi answered him. Sasuke raised his head, tilting it a bit in question, "Juzo isn't trying to fail you, he's evaluating to see what your strengths are. Some of the people that go into wanting to do field work aren't well suited for it and they get reassigned to something better for them,"

"That's right, my Dana and me only do specialize field work. Or better said, we assist in field work, but we're rarely the ones leading the investigation," Deidara said.

"Itachi and I are one of the key teams that take on all kinds of work," Kisame proudly said, "We often work together as a two-man group, but we've led some teams when needed. Specially now, it's needed more than ever,"

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked.

"We can't say much about it," Itachi said.

"But we can say that it has become dangerous, the closer that we get to figuring out who leads trafficking rings or who are behind some high-class disappearance, the more careful we have to be," Sasori said.

"I see," Sasuke said.

"Don't get scared. Pain will be sure that everyone is properly trained before he decides to send anyone new out," Deidara quickly added. The last thing he wanted to do was put Sasuke off and make the boy run away. Not when he was sure things would get interesting if Itachi gave this boy a chance.

"But all of you are currently being sent out to do these jobs," Sasuke said.

"Not at the moment," Itachi snorted, taking a bite of his food.

Sasuke blinked, "What?"

"We're being punished is what he means. We fucked up at the job, rookie mistake," Kisame clarified.

"We're banned for the next few months, can you believe it Sasuke," Deidara teared up.

"It's not so bad, I get to go home to my precious husband, and he gets to pamper me," Kisame gloated.

"Precious husband?" Sasuke asked, a bit surprised, because no way.

"He's married to this guy named Suigetsu and the man babies him," Deidara rolled his eyes, but it was in a strange fond way. "Just ignore him and his happily married ass,"

"Hey no, my story is revolutionary. I was about to give up on love, but he came into my life like...like, um." Kisame wasn't sure how to describe the way that Suigetsu had just come and completed his life.

"A wrecking ball?" Sasori helpfully said, chuckling when Kisame spluttered in denial of that. This caused the others to laugh. They talked about some of the assignments that they had, sharing with Sasuke stories of when they had messed things up as well as their accomplishments when first starting out in Akatsuki.

Sasuke felt so happy to be able to talk with them. When he had been Kitty he could never join any of the conversations. This was like one of his dreams coming true.

He even got to joke with them.

Best of all, he interacted with Itachi!

Once they were done eating and the trash had been thrown away, Deidara lit up a joint. He took a hit before passing it to Sasori who grabbed the blond by the back of the neck and pulled him closed, opening his mouth over, shot gunning the smoke. The two ended up making out, plastered against each other.

Kisame stole the joint from them and took a hit. "Oh yeah," he whispered, closing his eyes. It had been some time. "You want some Itachi?" he asked, turning to the long-haired raven.

"Nah, I'm good,' Itachi denied it. He was discreetly watching Sasuke, who was sitting on his own sipping on water.

"Your loss," Kisame took another hit before Deidara snatched the joint away. The blond scooted over to Sasuke.

"Hey Sasuke, you ever tried some of this?" Deidara asked.

Sasuke blinked, "What is it?" he asked. He discreetly sniffed the air and scrunched up his nose. The smell wasn't at all pleasant and it was hard to describe one way or the other.

"Some little MJ, it will mellow you out, here, give it a try," Deidara took a hit, and opened his mouth, grabbing Sasuke close. The raven blinked, not knowing what he should do.

"Open your mouth Sasuke," Sasori instructed.

Before Sasuke could decide whether to turn his head or open his mouth, he was snatched away from both men. Sasuke found himself in Itachi's arms, his face tucked into his chest.

"Okay, that's enough, I'm going to take Sasuke home," Itachi said.

"Oh come on, let the boy have a little fun,"

"He doesn't even know what it is," Itachi growled, eyes glowing red. Sasuke shivered, enthralled by the anger in Itachi's tone.

"Fine, chill," Deidara and Sasori let it go, turning back to each other.

"Come on Sasuke," Itachi gently guided Sasuke over to the jeep. The short haired raven looked over his shoulder to see that Deidara and Sasori were back to making out with each other. Kisame stole one last hit before he ran after them.

There was no telling whether Sasuke wanted to try the drug or not. Deidara and Sasori made it seem fun, if not a bit sexy how they shared with each other. Maybe if he could share a moment like that with Itachi, he wouldn't mind trying it. Right now, his heart was jumping in his chest, relieved, excited, a bit tired.

"You're allowed to try it, if you want," Itachi suddenly said, and Sasuke turned to look up at him, "Just first inform yourself on the effects it can have on you and if then you still are curious, sure, go ahead."

"Okay," Sasuke said, with a nod.

Kisame rolled his eyes, "Lighten up Itachi, it just makes you feel light like a feather and free of stress, man you're going to need it, Sasuke. Juzo is about to give a week of hell,"

"No, Itachi is right. I have to remain focus and this drug could affect that," Sasuke took a deep breath. "I gotta be ready for anything,"

Reaching the Jeep, Itachi took the driver seat and Kisame urged Sasuke to take the passenger side. He jumped in the back, eyes sparkling as he glanced between both ravens. Sasuke buckled up, relaxing against the seat as he turned to look at Itachi. The way his hands moved to turn on the engine, flick the lights, and shift into gear, all of it, had him hyper aware.

When he shivered from the cold, Itachi turned on the heater, attentive to him. Sasuke softly thanked him, blushing lightly when Itachi simply gave him a warm smile. Damn it, he was falling in love all over again.

It didn't take long for them to reach Chiyo's apartment. It was a familiar route to Itachi and Kisame. They parked outside, a bit away, since they no longer had access to the underground parking lot. The street was barely lit by the light posts outside, making it look dark and ominous.

There was no way they were letting Sasuke walk on his own.

"You two don't have to walk me, I'm not a child," Sasuke pouted. He got out of the car and followed the two men, urging them to go back. "Seriously, I can do this on my own,'

"We just want to ensure you make it home safe," Itachi said, opening the door to the front entrance. "Do you have your code?" he asked. Sasuke hung back, refusing to say anything.

No, he didn't have a code. He usually jumped the fence, but if he said something like that it would make him look suspicious. The last thing he needed was Itachi to think that he was strange or something. On top of meeting Kaguya, or Kimimaro, or Juugo before Sasuke was ready to introduce them. There was so much he wanted to keep away from Itachi before the right time.

Damn it, what if they embarrassed him Infront of Itachi!

"Just try ours," Kisame moved in to try the old code he and Itachi had. They rarely used it honestly, but it worked like a charm.

"Okay, I got it from here," Sasuke reached out to wrap his arms around Itachi's left arm. The man was steel or something, a solid mass that dragged him along. Sasuke couldn't stop him. Sasuke complained all the way to Chiyo's door. "I'm not a child, I am capable of taking care of myself I can prove it, Itachi you owe me a date, take me on a date!" The boy ranted.

"Stop, okay, okay," Itachi who had been trying to calm Sasuke just simply agreed without thinking.

"Really, you'll take me on a date?" Sasuke asked, just to clarify.

"Yeah sure," Itachi absently answered, wanting to get to the door. The faster he got Sasuke home, the faster he got to go to his and hide away in his room.

Kisame knocked on the door. Chiyo opened it with a smile.

"Hello, Itachi darling," She batted her eyelashes, acting flirty as she looked Itachi over. The piece of eye candy that she missed dearly now. Sasuke jumped, pulling her back inside. "It's so nice to see you again, it's been a while- don't be a stranger, ouch Sasuke!"

"Okay bye, Itachi I'll see you on our date!" Sasuke slammed the door closed.

Itachi blinked, realization hitting him last minute as he recalled sort of agreeing to go on a date with Sasuke. His eyes widened and he wanted to knock on the door and call it off. Kisame laughed under his breath, highly amused at the way Sasuke had just scored himself a date.

"I think I just got played" Itachi muttered.

"I think you just got played" Kisame laughed. "Jinx" he added.

Itachi shot Kisame a murderous glare. Kisame raised his hands up in defense and Itachi decided to just walk away from the grinning man. Just looking at his dumb face reminded him of the huge mistake he had just made.

"Come on Itachi," Kisame followed his friend. "Lighten up a bit. It's not that bad."

Not that bad, Kisame says.

Why did Itachi not think of it that way.

Instead, Itachi felt conflicted. Sure he liked Sasuke but the boy was too young for him. There's no way that he should be dating him. Yet, he had been unable to reject him. There was a burning inside of him telling him that Sasuke is his and that scares him. He was looking forward to a date with Sasuke.

But then there was Saisu...and his stomach knotted up.

He had to fix this mess.

Sasuke called his goodnights and went to shower and brush his teeth. No one knew what was going on, but Sasuke seemed happy, so they let him be. The boy was happy until he got into bed and realization hit him.

He might have asked Itachi out on a date, but they hadn't set a date, nor time, nor meeting place. He didn't even have Itachi's number.

"Fuck. how is this date supposed to work out?" Sasuke sat up in bed, sleep evading him as he thought about his mistake.

He had messed up big time!

Sorry for the wait, I know it's been a while and life decides to be unexpected sometimes.