Chapter 9

It was too quiet in the compound. By now, the boy would have barged in three times over, twirled around in one of his office chairs while nibbling on treats, walked around his office with the excuse that it was part of his physical therapy time, or kicked up a storm somewhere in the mansion. But there was not a peep that morning.

Itachi wished he was exaggerating, but he was not. He once found Sasuke launching homemade rockets in his backyard from his newly paved floors. Another time, he found the boy releasing a bucket full of coy fish into one of the ponds in the garden, and when he had caught sight of Itachi, Sasuke had merely grinned innocently and scattered pellets of fish food into the water. When asked where all the fish came from, Sasuke, with a sly look on his face, responded in a mock whisper, "From the black market." Itachi still recalled just how red Naruto's and Neji's faces turned from their ill attempt at stifling their laughter. Even Itachi's lips had twitched that time.

And just the other day, the boy seemed to develop a newfound fascination for messing with the man. Itachi had stepped out of his office around lunch time and walked past the men guarding the hallway leading up to his office… except he stopped short when one of those men's composure was so poor that he was shaking like a leaf. Upon closer inspection (even though to his trained eye, it was incredibly evident), Itachi found Sasuke adorned in the signature attire attempting to pass himself off as a guard. Albeit poorly and beyond the brink of laughter, the boy stood ramrod straight and bursted into a ridiculous fit of laughter once Itachi stood before him and looked at him funny.

Whatever the case, Itachi did not fuss over those instances because he viewed them as safe and within reason for a twenty-one-year-old boy. Sasuke was good-natured, honest, and incredibly kind, and once he became comfortable, he was playful and light-hearted by nature, never stodgy nor malevolent. In fact, since his arrival, his personality had brightened up the entire compound's atmosphere.

Hence, it was strange that Itachi wasn't interrupted that morning. Instinct told him that something was off, and when he found an empty bedroom and no signs of Naruto or Neji anywhere nor their vehicle, distaste grew in his mouth as bitter as a mouthful of dark espresso beans.

He found his feet carrying him throughout the hallways, stopping by the locations that Sasuke frequented over the last few days. With no signs of the boy in sight, Itachi began his descent down the footsteps of his front door. That's when he caught sight of Neji's vehicle halfway up the driveway.

When the passenger door swung open while the vehicle was still in motion and the man caught sight of the boy hurtling out of his seat onto flat ground, his chest felt oddly uneasy.

Itachi had walked through a plethora of bloodbaths in his day, thwarted dozens of assassination attempts, tortured souls that deserved far worse than death, and survived more flesh wounds that delivered him to death's doorsteps, and not once did he ever feel uneasy. Yet, as he stood at the bottom of his steps and witnessed Sasuke throw himself out of a moving car, he learned that he was deeply disturbed.

The feeling only smoldered in his chest when Sasuke ran toward him with a frantic, terrified look etched on his face and jumped into his arms like he was running from the boogeyman. Instantaneously, the man found his arms catching the boy as if it was the most natural thing in the world, securing him in his embrace.

It was as if his embrace was a remote control that commanded tears from the boy, because as soon as Sasuke's arms were around him, he began sniffling and whimpering like a homeless puppy in the rain.

When he felt Sasuke trembling against him, Itachi's head lulled to the side, casting a hardened expression over the boy's shoulder. Struck with an impending sense of doom worse than lying on death's doorstep, Neji and Naruto came to a standstill a few meters away.

"'Tachi… 'Tachi," Sasuke mumbled, digging his face into Itachi's chest.

"Take a deep breath, Sasuke," he found himself saying. "Inhale… through your nose. Good. Now push it through your mouth. Exhale. Do that again. Inhale through your nose, and exhale through your mouth. Good boy. Once more."

With each rep, Sasuke's shaky breaths grew more grounded. Finally, when the shivers were quelled and color began to return to his face, Itachi grasped onto the boy's face and lifted his gaze to him. "Tell me what happened."

"A m-man at the c-conbini… he was- he was-" Sasuke shuddered as if he developed muscle memory from the encounter, which in turn increased the coldness in Itachi's gaze.

"Did he lay a finger on you?" The rumble of his voice seemed to help ground the boy, who jerked back from staring at nothing in space.

Sasuke shook his head vehemently. "N-no. Neji was there."

Itachi made eye contact with said brunette over Sasuke's spikes, and the boy must have noticed the unmoving, cold gaze plastered on his face that only grew more frightful as the seconds ticked by, because he jumped to Neji's defense.

"'T-Tachi! It wasn't Neji's fault. I made him take me! I-I'm sorry. Please don't blame him," the boy spoke rapidly, staring over his shoulder guiltily at the other man. However, the brunette's head remained bowed as if silently repenting.

Oddly enough, that only ticked Itachi off even more. With a guiding palm along the small of Sasuke's back, the man gave him a little push in the direction of the main doors.

"Sasuke, go wait in our room," Itachi stated, leaving no room for discussion.

Sasuke opened his mouth to protest, but it must have been the murderous expression on Itachi's face that deterred him from doing so. He bit at his bottom lip, casted a final glance at the three men, and resigned, trudging up the steps and into the mansion.

As soon as he was out of view, Neji's bow deepened. "It's my fault. I will accept all responsibility, Itachi-sama," he said evenly.

Just when Itachi thought these new emotions had reached the height of their rampage, fury burned in his chest when the brunette's words reached his ears.

"Were my instructions not clear, Neji?"

"They were very clear, sir."

"No hesitation in your response, yet your unfounded actions have created problems. I wish not to have problems, Neji."

Problems for the baby of the family, an amused voice tacked on in his mind.

Itachi's voice could have frozen over both hemispheres and started another Ice Age. Even Naruto dropped to his knees, slammed his forehead into the concrete, and silently begged for his forgiveness.

"I have no excuse."

"I never expected this from you."

"I am deeply sorry for betraying your trust in me, Itachi-sama. I will bear all responsibility."

"How will you have beared responsibility if an unsightly end had reached Sasuke?" This time, Itachi's words came out as a growl, and if he was honest with himself, he could not say he was surprised.

The boy was just so fragile, and he required the utmost care. Instead, he was dragged around like a porcelain doll up for auction just for other children to steal. Inexcusable.

Perhaps, a few dozen meetings with a barbed wire whip and some time recuperating underground would help him rethink his choices, but from the corner of his eye, Itachi detected movement in one of the upstairs bedroom windows. So when his eyes cooly flickered over and he set his sights on Sasuke's anxious, worried expression as he stared back and forth between them through the window, Itachi's hands, hidden in his pockets, flexed briefly and he rethought his course of action.

"Kneel."

Neji automatically obliged, knees slamming onto the ground without mercy for himself.

"I will leave the reflection to you. You will remain here however long you believe is tantamount to the weight of your actions and their incurred damages."

"Yes. Thank you, Uchiha-sama."

Itachi left without another word, walking at a brisk pace with one destination in mind. His footsteps fell louder along the floorboards than ever before, and everyone in the compound knew to steer clear of him.

Despite his bad mood, Itachi did knock on the door before entering. He found a ball of nerves sitting in the seat next to the gigantic bed, feet tapping in an uncoordinated fashion along the rug. When he stepped in, Sasuke was on his feet and running toward him instantly.

"'Tachi! 'Tachi!"

The boy sounded troubled.

Itachi extended his hand in his direction, poised his index and middle finger, and tapped it against the center of Sasuke's forehead, causing him to freeze with his eyes shut before he crashed heavily into him. He heard a resonating "Oww" before Sasuke's eyes snapped open. The man chastised him before he could blabber again.

"Quit scurrying around everywhere. It's not good for your injury," he commanded, earning him a pout.

Sasuke frowned. "But 'Tachi, this is important!" he insisted. "Why is Neji kneeling outside? It's not his fault. I made him take me."

"Did you put a gun to his head?"

Sasuke looked alarmed. "What? No!"

"Then, he made his own choices."

Itachi loosened his tie and tilted his neck to give it a stretch. How did a few hours into the day feel longer than a whole gang war?

"How could you say that?" the boy protested.

"You're right, Sasuke," Itachi relented. "Even if you had a gun to his head, the right choice would have been to get his head caved in."

Sasuke's mouth dropped and he stared at him incredulously, and it was then the man was reminded that Sasuke was not privy to the ways of their organization.

"Why are you being so… awful?" Sasuke whispered.

The question struck Itachi weirdly. Was that considered awful? He'd been so lenient with his punishment that the last oyabun would have rolled over in his grave. Why would it bother him what Sasuke thought of him anyway?

"Should you think that of me when you are my friend?"

Sasuke's frown deepened drastically. "My friends don't treat each other like that."

A hint of confusion flickered in Itachi's chest like a wisping candle enduring a winter's night air. "Did you not believe I had the traits of a friend after I did the same thing to the man at the store?"

"That was because he wasn't a good person!"

Itachi's head cocked to the side slightly. "I am not a good person, Sasuke," he stated as if he needed to explain this to the boy standing before him before he got other ideas. Knowing his trustworthy nature, it was impertinent that Itachi spelled it out for him.

"I know!" Sasuke nearly hissed. "But I thought you were at least someone who cared about the people around him."

"I don't understand."

Sasuke blew out a frustrated breath. "You're not supposed to treat people close to you like that, and say horrible things like that about them," he grounded out.

"Neji isn't a good person either."

Had Neji had his loyalties and priorities elsewhere, the brunette would have been in the top three on Itachi's watchlist of the most dangerous men in the world. That man had once been curious about the art of fileting a human being so much that he experimented on a hoard of clients, and once he figured it out, he got bored and wiped his hands clean of it with a yawn. Nevermind that the organization had a surefire way of disposing of trash, that man was also the one who insisted on figuring out what the most efficient disposal method was to decrease the amount of space that trash took up in the ground, and it took him less than a day to discover it. And he did it all with three meals a day, a pep to his step, and a grin on his face.

Itachi would never have welcomed such an individual into the organization if he wasn't the best of the best and was very capable of setting aside emotion to get the job done. It all panned out well as long as Neji was in charge of it. At least until today.

"At least he's nice. I mean, he can be an absolute dick and a total flirt, but he doesn't say heartless things like that."

Itachi was more befuddled than ever. What did he say that was heartless?

"Have I spoken words to convey heartlessness?"

Sasuke paused. He opened his mouth, then closed it as if hesitant to speak his mind. Itachi waited with a fixed stare as the boy waved an internal battle before he sighed and spoke.

"The fact that you don't know scares me a little," Sasuke admitted.

"I scare you?" Itachi repeated, more child-like than he realized. "Have I not been hospitable to you as a friend?"

"It's not about that," Sasuke said, lips remaining downturned. "When you casually speak about how people close to you should die, it makes me uneasy." The boy swallowed hard.

"Should they not die? Everyone dies, Sasuke."

"I know, but if you care for someone, the last thing you'd wish upon them is harm. Especially if they are your friend."

Itachi felt like he was a desktop computer hard drive being uploaded with too much new software, because this new information floating around in his brain was difficult to comprehend.

Finally, he spoke. "I do not wish harm upon you, Sasuke," he said. Those words were so simple and straightforward, yet he felt like they were uttered as an epiphany. "I do not wish it at all. Yet, you have been placed in harm's way."

Sasuke's eyes softened. "I know, 'Tachi."

The man nearly bristled. "How do you know? Have I spoken of such things?"

Sasuke snorted. "Because you act like you're my bodyguard, 'Tachi. And because you nag at me about all sorts of things." The boy lowered his voice to mimic a deeper tone. "'Eat your vegetables.' 'Come down from that tree.' 'Wear your slippers in the morning.' 'Go to bed.' 'Stop running around the room.' 'Stand next to me.'"

Itachi stared, unimpressed by the boy's impersonation of him.

Sasuke cleared his throat and straightened himself out. "So yeah. It'd be ridiculous if I didn't know."

"You've been placed in harm's way," Itachi repeated, not wavering from his original point.

Sasuke sighed. "It could have happened to anyone."

"You have been placed in harm's way."

H.J.

The man was like a boulder, firm and unmovable. If Sasuke did not know it was coming from a genuine soft spot, he would have rebutted with more fervor already.

"'Tachi." Sasuke's voice and eyes softened. "I'm okay. Thank you for worrying about me. See?"

He smiled sweetly at the man and closed his eyes as he spun around with his arms spread like an eagle, showcasing his pristine conditions. When he stopped, opened his eyes, and reoriented himself, he gasped, realizing that he was a hair's breadth away from digging his face into Itachi's chest.

Sasuke stumbled back, astonishment displaying itself on his face like a beacon, and he yelped as he tripped over the rug and tittered backwards.

"Ah!" he shrieked, hands fisted and eyes shut tightly.

But he never collided with the floor. Just before he was parallel with the ground, Itachi had, bless his terrific reflexes, shot forward with the grace of a thousand phoenixes and caught him in his arms.

When everything came to a standstill, Sasuke opened one eye as if to test the waters and then the other when Itachi's large body came into view and he was set back on his feet.

"Oops," he muttered good-naturedly. "Thank you, 'Tachi. See? You're like my bodyguard," he jested, patting the man's chest. It was only when Itachi's arms did not uncoil from his body when Sasuke was ready to move that the lightheartedness left his soul.

Carefully, Sasuke followed Itachi's broad chest all the way up to his face, and that's when he realized the man wasn't so fond of his cavalier behavior.

Itachi regarded him with a strict, overtly grumpy scowl. "Troublemaker," the man admonished with a growl.

Sasuke smiled in acquiescence as he pressed both palms against the man's chest, marveling at how the hard muscles beneath his touch flexed, as he finally took a step back. "I'm sorry," he murmured bashfully, and only then did Itachi let go. "But 'Tachi, since you know I'm a troublesome one, that means I had a part in leaving without telling you. So can you please forgive Neji this one time? Please?"

"I've left Neji to determine his own punishment."

"What does that mean? Are you saying he's kneeling out there on his own free will? Can he get up whenever he wants?"

Itachi stared pointedly at Sasuke, and it seemed like he was done speaking of the matter.

"But why? Naruto is no longer out there and the weather looks awful outside. It's going to rain. Why isn't he getting up?" Sasuke chattered on, concern seeping into his words as more questions came out of his mouth.

As if on cue, the wind picked up outside and the clouds grew impossibly gray. The sudden pecking against the windows from large raindrops echoed in the silent mansion.

Sasuke looked to Itachi for some sort of expression, but upon finding a nonchalant facade and seeing bright flashes of lightning outside, the boy grew frustrated.

"Fine," he said indignantly. "If you won't tell him to come in, then I will."

"Don't be reckless, Sasuke," Itachi stated, clearly displeased.

Well, too bad.

With a final harrowing stare, Sasuke turned and marched to the door before he threw it open and began running down the hallway. His footsteps thudded along the floorboards and the noise bounced off the pristine white walls, only stopping briefly when he rooted himself in place to swing open the double doors.

A massive downpour had replaced the original drizzle to a degree that it was difficult to see the man kneeling on the ground despite it being only midday. Sasuke squinted hard for a few seconds before he identified Neji, who kneeled traditionally with head bowed and palms flattened along his thighs, a few meters to his right passed the steps.

With a large frown, Sasuke cupped the perimeter of his mouth with both hands and yelled out. "Get inside, you idiot!"

The brunette had briefly tilted his attention in his direction, and with a small smile, nodded his head for Sasuke to go back in.

As if.

With a huff, he stomped out of the mansion, down the steps, and planted himself right in front of Neji. "Are you stupid? Get up!" Sasuke growled. When the brunette did not budge, he latched onto his arm and tugged.

It was at that moment that Sasuke actually realized how strong Neji was, because no amount of tugging did jack squat to move the man.

"Sasuke. I'm fine. I've had much worse. This is Itachi-same letting me off easy," Neji responded. "You don't know this, but in our family, betrayal is an automatic death sentence. But not only did he not draw blood, he did not strip me of my title nor duties."

"But that's no reason to have to endure this!" When he did not receive an answer, Sasuke growled. "Fine. If this is how you're going to be, then I'll kneel here with you. It's my fault to begin with anyway."

And just like that, his eyes lit stubbornly and his knees hit the ground.

Neji's shoulders shook slightly, and Sasuke realized the man was chuckling. "Does that mean you're an idiot now, too?"

"Hmph. No. It means I'm your companion now."

Neji blinked back his surprise. "Itachi-sama is going to lose his shit if he sees you out here."

"Well, too bad for him then. Maybe he should be nicer to people."

Another bout of Neji's laughter was drowned out by the rain. "You're a true partner in crime, Sasuke." The brunette turned to face forward and stared at the ripples before him. "Don't blame him too much. He didn't have the greatest childhood."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if I think mine sucked ass, his is worse tenfold."

Sasuke didn't like what he was hearing. "Is that why he's so… Itachi-like?"

"Mhmm. But he seems rather taken with you. I'd say I wonder why, but I already figured it out."

"What was that?" Sasuke said as a huge gust of wind blew past them. He squinted to read the brunette's face, but he gave up after more large droplets rained down on his eyes.

Sasuke didn't know how long he was outside with Neji, but it could not have been more than five minutes when Itachi's silhouette appeared at the top of the steps.

"Inside," Itachi said, his usual serious tone harder than steel as he directed the word to Neji. Despite being quite far away, Neji was clearly attuned to his voice, because with that singular command, the brunette was up on his feet and bowing low. "Yes, Boss. Thank you, Itachi-sama."

Before he left, he gestured behind him with his palm for Sasuke rise quickly, which the boy scurried to do.

Slowly, Itachi turned toward Sasuke and set his piercing gaze on the boy.

Sasuke blinked away the droplets of rain that continued to dribble down his now flattened spikes, jaw slightly unhinged from witnessing the unbelievably quick, yet simple exchange. His words did absolutely nothing to get the brunette to go inside, yet a single word from Itachi made Neji dance like a puppet.

"Tell me," Itachi said, voice booming over the heavy downpour. "What was it that I specifically warned you against?"

"Umm… don't be a troublemaker?" Sasuke responded sheepishly as he scurried up the steps toward the man.

Itachi's eyes narrowed. "Quit running around like you have nine lives."

Sasuke stood ramrod straight, a sudden bright smile on his face. "Sir, yes sir!" he yelled with a mock salute, delighted that the man had changed his mind.

Itachi looked like he wanted to smack him upside the head. "Inside," the man commanded with a sigh. "Go soak in the bath, or you'll get sick."

Sasuke grinned cheekily. "You're so sweet, 'Tachi," he chimed. He barreled forward and wrapped his arms around Itachi's midsection and pressed the side of his cheek to the man's chest so he could look up at him. "Thank you for being kind. You're a good friend."

A second later, the boy let go and skedaddled into the mansion, leaving a trail of wet puddles behind him.

H.J.

Itachi watched the boy go as he pinched the bridge of his nose. He couldn't bother to swipe at the large wet stain Sasuke left on the front of his suit. Neither could he bring himself to be rubbed the wrong way because of it.

Perhaps, it was due to his preoccupation toward being suddenly hugged by the boy that had thrown him for a loop. This was not the first time Sasuke had done something out of the blue like that, yet it came just as much of a surprise to Itachi.

However, despite being caught off guard, despite being touched without his verbal consent, despite the ridiculous water stain on his black dress shirt that seeped down to his skin, Itachi was able to discover that, on the contrary, those unfavorable conditions did not add up to any genuine disapproval of the being embraced by Sasuke.

It seemed Sasuke had hugged him because Itachi had relented and uplifted the punishment, thereby being "kind" as the boy put it. But did being kind always warrant an embrace? Was being "kind" the key to being a good friend? That was a riddle in itself.

Itachi stopped himself.

What nonsense was he thinking about now?

With a grunt, he returned to the mansion, coat billowing behind him when a particularly strong gust of wind hit. He flicked his wrist over his shoulder as he passed by the men guarding the entrance. "Lock the compound for the rest of the day," he instructed. "Accept any men who still need to make entry, but no one is allowed out for the remainder of the day."

"Kashikomarimashita, Uchiha-sama," the two men unanimously uttered.

When he returned to his room, the first thing he noticed was the trickle of steam that escaped through the ajar bathroom door. A glance at his watch and Itachi realized that the boy must have been in there for at least a few minutes now, but he heard not a peep.

Itachi found himself walking toward the bathroom. "Sasuke?" he called, allowing his knuckles to rap twice on the door. When the boy did not answer, Itachi gently pushed the door open and peered inside.

Sure enough, what he saw was exactly what he would expect from him. With a sigh, Itachi padded all the way to the bathtub, knelt down, and grazed Sasuke's shoulder with his hand. When the boy did not move, or even flinch at his touch, he had ascertained that he fell asleep in the bath.

"Troublemaker," Itachi muttered with zero heat.

This had happened once before. A week after Sasuke had first been injured, he had been able to take a shallow, warm bath. But he had been so exhausted that he fell asleep in it and, had it not been for Itachi who was in the other room, he could have exacerbated his wound or even drowned in there.

The man carefully slid his arms underneath Sasuke's back and legs to pick him up. He weighed as light as a feather in Itachi's arms, and that, in itself, made the man frown. He would need to reevaluate his meals later. The boy was too light for his liking.

Itachi laid the boy down on a chaise lounge chair next to the bathroom, toweled him off, dried his hair, and proceeded to dress him in a pair of pajamas. They sagged against his body and hung off of his frame, but Sasuke had never complained about them. In fact, he had once commented on how comfortable they were and seemed to favor them over the ones Itachi had purchased for his stay.

The troublemaker must have been tired if he did not open his eyes once. When Itachi was done, he cradled the boy against his chest until he could safely place him in bed. Instinctively, Sasuke curled into the mattress and pillow when he was set down, sighing gently when Itachi pulled the blankets over him.

However, just when Itachi turned to leave, his coattail had snagged onto something. Itachi tilted his head back at the boy, who had grasped onto it with a single hand. A set of bleary eyes stared up at him.

"'Tachi," Sasuke mumbled, eyelids fluttering closed again. "Dango…. In the car…. For you." Sasuke's grip fell, leaving his chest rising and falling at an even rate and Itachi baffled.

So as Sasuke slept, Itachi found himself walking steadfastly toward the car that Neji had driven. When he peered in, there it sat in a bag in the passenger seat. Along with tri-colored dango, there was strawberry and green tea daifuku and other sweet treats inside.

Itachi's brows creased in confusion. Had Sasuke picked all of these out just for him?

An unknown emotion began to swell in Itachi's chest.

"One of the men told me you were out here, Itachi-sama."

Neji.

Itachi gripped onto the handle of the bag of treats and straightened up.

"Sasuke insisted on buying you those snacks. He wanted to use his own money for them, too. We couldn't say no to that. I am sorry for the trouble."

Neji's voice was apologetic: a rare phenomenon.

"There will not be a next time."

"Understood, oyabun."

Itachi cradled the bag all the way to the kitchen, set the contents in the fridge, and returned to his bedroom, where Sasuke was snoozing peacefully. He took a seat in the large chair beside the bed with the intent of taking a break from work for a few hours.

He would stay posted next to Sasuke until the boy woke up. Then, they could eat the treats together.