Part 11:

'I love you. It's my fault. I was bluffing. Don't leave me, please. I can't live without you. I was bluffing.'

Sasuke groaned in his sleep and his clammy hands tightened around the covers. His eyes pinched tighter together as his neck twisted left and right.

'It's okay. You don't have to move away. Come.' This time it was his own voice that was murmuring strings of comfort.

His entire body suddenly filled with warmth and a soothing scent filled his nostrils. He had buried his face into the mysterious man's chest, sighing contently when their bodies fit perfectly together like a puzzle.

'You love me a lot, don't you?' It was Sasuke's voice again. The weight of those words hung in the air as a realization, filled to the brim with adoration, yet resignation.

Sasuke tossed and turned in his bed, the blankets pooling at his waist. A light sheen of sweat gathered at his hairline as his body adopted a strange, uncomfortable feeling from such a vivid dream.

'I… I love you more than anything,' the person croaked.

Sasuke had strained his ear that time to hear the heartfelt words. He couldn't see the person's face, but he knew that they were not stated lightly.

'I believe you, you big oaf,' he murmured, smiling.

Suddenly, the adoration in his voice turned into fright as the person withdrew, seemingly backing away from him at a pace too fast to be considered normal.

The warmth in his hands disappeared, replaced with an emptiness that surpassed his imagination. The figure began to fade in the background, growing transparent as it backed further away.

"Wait!" Sasuke gasped. "Where are you going? Don't leave! Don't leave me!"

In a split second, he was surrounded by nothingness.

He woke up with a gasp, body jerking against the mattress, only to be jostled back into reality when a set of large hands landed firmly on his shoulders.

"–uke! Sasuke! Hey, look at me! Come back to me!"

Sasuke sat up in bed, breathing so harshly that he began coughing. A panicked voice blared into his ears, and Sasuke focused his attention in that direction, gaze zoning in on Itachi's. As soon as he made eye contact, Sasuke was pulled into the man's chest.

"It's okay. It's okay. I'm here! Breathe. Just breathe. I'm here. I won't go anywhere. Why would I leave when you're here?"

Sasuke's chest heaved, his entire body drenched in cold sweat as he shut his eyes and grasped onto the man's T-shirt, digging his face into it to inhale Itachi's soothing scent. He knew the man was speaking to him, but he couldn't maintain his sanity enough to hear his words or take them in.

After what seemed like forever, he pulled back, cheeks suddenly red from embarrassment. Remnants of salty tears teased his tongue and he realized that he had unknowingly cried in front of Itachi.

What was odd was that he didn't even remember what he was crying about and hardly even recalled his dream anymore. As if he had never dreamed in the first place, any memory of it vanished into thin air.

"… Sorry," he mumbled, releasing his hold. Unable to meet Itachi's eyes, Sasuke stared at his tightly clasped hands in his lap. "Did I wake you?"

"Why would you worry about something like that?" Itachi sounded incredulous, if not offended.

Sasuke's cheeks were cupped by a warm pair of hands, which cradled him with the kind of gentle embrace reserved for a lover. Reluctantly, he looked up into Itachi's eyes and found the man inspecting him from head to toe.

For some reason, his aura reminded him of someone, but Sasuke couldn't put a finger on who. All he knew was that the warmth reflected back in his eyes made him feel like he wasn't alone.

"You were yelling in your sleep," Itachi murmured, the epitome of worry.

"Oh…. I'm sorry. I dream quite a bit, and sometimes, my dreams can get kind of intense."

Itachi's gaze softened. "You don't have to force yourself to explain yourself to me, Sasuke," the man said. "I'll be right here beside you no matter what."

"Ah, thanks."

"What's wrong? You look anxious."

Sasuke's gaze strayed to the bedspread again, "You treat me like I'm precious to you," Sasuke blurted out without thinking. When he realized what he'd said, he slapped a palm over his mouth.

Itachi appeared taken aback by his words, but chuckled and carefully pried his hand from his lips. He settled it back in Sasuke's lap, where he brushed his thumb across the back of his palm.

Sasuke found himself tracking the movement of Itachi's thumb as if transfixed.

"Do you hate it?"

He pried his gaze from the slow, circular motions. "Ah, well, no. But I guess you could say it's a bit baffling."

"How so?"

"People aren't nice to other people for no reason."

"Oh really?"

Sasuke nodded.

"So what do you think I get out of being nice to you then?" Itachi asked.

Sasuke's brows furrowed, unsure of how to answer the man's question. It struck him as an unanswerable one because he couldn't think of anything that Itachi would gain from treating him well.

"I'm glad you're having trouble coming up with a reason," Itachi murmured, his stroking thumb ceasing its motion in favor of setting his whole hand on top of Sasuke's.

For some reason, his touch, coupled with his soothing, low voice, made him blush.

"You're not used to people treating you well."

Itachi had hit the nail on the head.

"… No, I'm not," he said bashfully.

Eyes trained on the large hand, which had skirted underneath his balled up fist in his lap, Sasuke watched, mesmerized, as Itachi's fingertips danced along his skin, coaxing his digits to relax. When his fingers went lax, Itachi's palm splayed open and the man weaved his fingers through Sasuke's, entwining them together.

When Sasuke finally processed that they were holding hands, his cheeks reddened perceptibly. He could feel Itachi staring intently at him and that caused him to grow even more timid.

"Get used to it."

"What?"

H.J.

"I treat you well because I love you, Sasuke. I love you so much. You're incredibly important to me. So get used to being treated like you mean the world to me, because you do."

"You're coming off really strong again," Sasuke mumbled, the color in his cheeks not dissipating in the slightest.

Itachi's hand twitched and his hold loosened on his Otouto's hand, momentarily discouraged, before it returned with fervor. A fire burned in his eyes as he inched closer to the boy. "Do you hate it?" he murmured, cocking his head.

Sasuke bit his lip. "… N-No."

Satisfied and rather flattered by the blushing boy, a smile teased the corner of Itachi's mouth. He inched closer, leaving half an arm's span of space between their faces. "Then, do you hate it when I'm this close to you?"

His adorable boy shook his head vehemently, which caused Itachi's smile to grow wider.

He dropped his head a tad until he was peering at Sasuke at eye level. Under the length of his scrutiny, Sasuke turned his head to meet his gaze. Albeit shyly, when his Otouto's eyes made contact with his, Itachi felt like his breath was robbed from him and was replaced by his pounding heartbeat.

His voice dropped an octave, turning into a murmured drawl. "How about my kisses, Sasuke? Do you hate my kisses?" Unknowingly to Itachi, his tone had turned seductive in nature with every intention of drawing the boy into his snare.

Momentarily, his Otouto's eyes widened like an innocent doe's while his pink, wet tongue flickered out to lap once at his lower lip. He couldn't have done it intentionally. There was no way. It was more of a reflex, a natural happening. Besides, if Sasuke was aware of what kind of R-rated thoughts were taking over Itachi's brain, he would have sewn his lips shut to prevent any mishaps or misunderstandings than tempt him so.

"I… don't know."

Itachi was privy to Sasuke's nearly inaudible answer, but it didn't bother him much. Instead, his eyes settled onto the glistening lower lip his Otouto had just teased, and while eyeing it with an expression he could only hope was tamed and the opposite of terrifying, Itachi replied. "Shall we find out then? I can kiss away all of your bad dreams just like you kiss away all of my worries."

His breath cascaded across his Otouto's full lips whereas Sasuke's gasp tickled his ears. He was so close, yet so far away.

"Sasuke…" Itachi coaxed, pressing their entwined hands against his own chest. "Say yes. Let me kiss you. Please."

Even to his own ears, Itachi sounded like he was in pain. The last thing he wanted to do was scare the boy away, and judging by the nervousness in Sasuke's gaze, Itachi wasn't doing such a good job in terms of masking his desperation.

But what was he to do to restrain himself when all he wanted to do was lunge at the boy and devour him?

The five seconds after Itachi's plea felt like an eon, and within that time, his mind attacked itself.

'If he wanted to kiss you, he would have said yes right away. He hates you! HATES. Kiss your precious love goodbye.'

Itachi flinched. 'He's not used to this. He's not used to being loved. This is all new for him. Give him more time. He's not going anywhere.'

'You lovesick fool! Just who was he planning on calling the other day so he could leave this place, leave your side? He wants OUT. He wants to run away AGAIN.'

Itachi resisted the urge to dig his hands into his hair and tug it all out. 'NO. He just needs a minute. He's just thinking about it. He was staring at my lips. He liked our kisses. He's just too shy to say yes. He doesn't hate them. He… He doesn't hate… me."

'BWAHAHAHAHAHA. Do you even hear yourself? "Staring at your lips?" "Too shy to say yes?" He doesn't even know who you are. He's forgotten all about you. There's nothing tying him to you. If he wants to leave tomorrow, you will have no right to stop him.'

'LIES. Stop putting thoughts in my head!'

'Bwahahaha. You know I'm right. It starts with the rejection of a kiss and then, he'll hate your company. Then, he'll avoid you, deny your existence in his life, and by the time you've realized it, he would have gone incognito on the other side of the world. Wouldn't it be a hoot if he ran away from you in BOTH lifetimes? Talk about a track record.'

'STOP. Shut up. ShutupshutupshuttheFUCKup!"

'Uh-Ring-A-Ding-Ding! We have crazy on Aisle Four! Don't blame shit on others. You're putting your own thoughts inside your own head. Man, you can clearly smell the crazy in here.'

The taste of iron coated Itachi's taste buds. Without realizing it, his eyes pinched shut and his grip grew unrelenting around Sasuke's hand. "Please," he found himself panting erratically as if his lungs were punctured. He needed that voice to stop.

'He doesn't want you. If he's not going to love you anyway, you should just take what you want. Chain him to your side for life. Make him remember you. Tie him to your bed and–'

All of a sudden, that aggressive voice inside his head disappeared without a trace, replaced completely by a pair of warm, soft lips against his own.

Clumsy in nature, yet the warmest form of affection Itachi had ever received from the boy, tears sprang from his eyes after the initial shock dissipated. He released Sasuke's hand and tugged the boy into his embrace as if terrified that he would run away in a blink of an eye.

His Otouto's kisses tasted like warmth and affection, sweetness and everything that was good in the world. In the span of a single second, the boy removed every nasty, horrifying thought in his brain, wiped it clean like erasing a whiteboard.

Itachi breathed into the kiss, the physical need to be as close to Sasuke as possible usurping his remaining brain cells. His body moved to ensure just that by maneuvering their bodies until he was laying on top of the boy in bed. He squeezed his body as close as it could get without physically crushing his Otouto, and from there, Itachi morphed into the human version of a sloth.

When they broke for air, he dug his face into Sasuke's neck, hiding his guilt and shame for thinking such ugly thoughts. He hid his tears, which dribbled down both cheeks without reserve, and he did his best to make sure his voice was leveled when he mumbled strings of "I love yous" against Sasuke's neck as if the proximity of his words would allow for them to be absorbed better.

"… like…."

"Hmm?"

"I… like them," Sasuke's angelic voice murmured. "I like your kisses."

Itachi's chest was heaving and his thoughts were going a hundred miles an hour, but simultaneously, his mind was blank. So when he heard Sasuke's words, his response was "Huh?"

"Your kisses… they're sweet," the boy breathed.

Itachi could feel Sasuke's palms press against his chest, encouraging his heart to go wild, and he found himself incapable of normal speech. "Ah– you… huh…. What?"

And then, the boy released a small giggle that was so incredibly adorable that Itachi felt enraptured and flustered. Sasuke's arms wrapped around his neck and cradled him in a hug. Itachi allowed some of his weight to release comfortably on top of the boy and, when Sasuke huffed a laugh and played with his hair, Itachi dared not breathe or move a muscle lest Sasuke took that as an indication to stop.

"You're so cute," his Otouto cooed. It didn't sound like a teasing remark or an offhanded comment, but a genuine and fond thought.

"You're beautiful," Itachi breathed. "So beautiful that I want to–" He cut off his own words when he realized what he was going to say, which would only serve to scare the boy away.

Sasuke was eyeing him curiously. "You want to what?" he inquired, tilting his head.

Itachi's extremely hard cock twitched against Sasuke's thigh, where it had been pressing against, answering the boy's question with zeal. That traitor.

"Oh," his Otouto exclaimed softly.

"Not that," he said hurriedly, hoping Sasuke didn't think all he wanted from him was the deed. "No– I… you see, I–I…." Itachi's brows furrowed in frustration as he fumbled over his own words, making himself look like a fucking idiot in front of his beloved. That only served to tick him off even more.

"It's okay." Sasuke's hand caressed his cheek. "Take your time. Tell me when you're ready."

His Otouto was an angel. Even with the fewest of words and a patient look, he was always able to quell Itachi's negative emotions in a fraction of a second. He was truly a gift.

Itachi huffed a breath and regained his ability to speak in just a few short moments. "Sasuke, I… I won't do anything until you're ready, but I…." He bit onto his bottom lip, chewing with an anxious energy. The clear nonjudgmental look his Otouto bestowed upon him helped tremendously, reminding him of one of the reasons Itachi loved him so much. "I want to be closer to you."

His Otouto seemed to be mulling over his words before he replied, asking, "Do you mean closer physically or closer in our relationship?"

"Both," he responded a little too quickly, body a bit jerkier than normal. "I feel, um, a little… a-anxious right now, and being physically closer to you helps me reacclimate and ground myself."

Sasuke looked taken aback as if he didn't know he had that kind of power. "What did you have in mind?"

"I, ah, I want to ask for your permission to, um, d-do that again," Itachi said, words coming out rushed and stuck together. "I want to eat your hole again. Please."

As soon as his words registered, his Otouto blushed and sputtered, speechless.

"I promise I won't do anything you won't like! I'll pull back as soon as you don't like it anymore. If you feel like I'm a threat to you because of last time, l'll even tie my hands behind my back."

"Last time?"

Itachi hung his head guiltily. "I got a little carried away last time and didn't notice you had passed out. You were recovering from a fever and I wasn't very considerate when I ate you for longer than you could manage. I wanted to worship you and make you feel good, but I was overzealous."

Sasuke was staring at him wide-eyed, which made Itachi flounder and grasp at straws. He felt like he was on the brink of letting his Otouto down, and the picture he was painting of himself wasn't particularly great either.

"Why that?" Sasuke whispered finally.

"It helps me feel connected to you and worship you by making you feel good."

"But there are other things that we can do that would still feel good."

"Yes, but nothing as intimate as that. I want to be connected to your most private part, Sasuke."

He wanted to feast on the taste of his beloved, imprint the taste into his taste buds permanently so that he could keep a part of his Otouto with him in times of need.

It wasn't a secret to his Otouto that, in their previous lives, Itachi's libido and levels of perversion were quite off the charts. Itachi once spent two hours worshiping his Otouto's tight, little boy pussy by feasting on it until it was so sopping wet that he might as well have turned Sasuke into a girl. Following the episode, Sasuke refused to allow Itachi's mouth anywhere near his hole for at least a month, leaving behind a very sullen Itachi, who looked like a kicked puppy. His Otouto had only reluctantly allowed him to do so again when Itachi asked for it as a birthday gift that year.

"You like it that much?" His Otouto was looking at him like he was in between running away and pulling the blankets over his head so he wouldn't have to look at him.

Itachi balked, turning paler than snow. "You hate it?" he asked with a ghastly expression imprinted on his face. He looked like he was sucker punched in the gut, a pained expression marring his features.

"I… didn't say that." The boy looked away, unable to meet his stare.

Itachi deflated instantly, deterred by the torn expression plastered on Sasuke's face. "Did you… not like getting your ass eaten out by me?" he asked slowly, hoping he had kept his disappointment at bay.

Did his Otouto hate being intimate with him? Itachi would die.

Sasuke looked startled before he flushed even harder. "It was… scary," he whispered, causing Itachi's entire world to shut down. If he was a NPC, he would have glitched.

Scary?

Scary?!

He didn't understand. What had been scary about it? Did it feel gross to Sasuke? Did he not set the mood and make sure he was comfortable? Was it something he said or did that he hated? Or was it that he felt like Itachi forced himself on him when he was sick?

Itachi felt himself spiraling. Much, much faster this time.

"I'd never had that done to me before. When you did it, you had a weird look in your eyes and you were relentless. You kept going and going, and you kept saying weird things."

"I said weird things?" Itachi hid a scowl as he attempted to remember, but when he drew a blank, frustration whipped him in the face once again.

The problem was he didn't know if these "weird things" the boy referenced were things that he said prior to tongue-fucking him or during. If it was during… fuck. What had he said when he was too far gone to keep himself in check?

"Sasuke, baby," Itachi said, nuzzling the boy's neck. He place a chaste kiss there, breathing a sigh of relief when his Otouto did not pull away. "Tell me what I said. Tell me how I scared you." His voice was so small and feeble that he had a hard time recognizing it as his own. "I hate the thought of scaring you."

"U-Umm… you…."

Flashback: Chapter 9, but in Sasuke's POV:

Sasuke felt his cheeks being pried apart before, much to his horror, Itachi's nose was nestled against his hole and the man had taken in a long, deep inhale. He squeaked, attempting to twist away from the embarrassing position.

"You smell so sweet, Sasuke," he heard the man murmur in a voice that sounded nothing like himself. Itachi sounded like he had reverted back to his baser instincts, and his glazed-over eyes did not aid his caveman ways.

Itachi's nose knocked against his hole even further as if the man was attempting to shove it inside of him. "God, I want to drench myself in your scent. Fuck, you're twitching, my love. Do you like feeling my hot breath against your boy pussy? Do you like that you can get me as hard as a rock and dripping in precum from smelling your ass? Haaa, fuck, I'm in heaven."

Sasuke had long since covered his face with his palms. "W-What are you s-saying?!" he shrieked, doused in pure embarrassment from hearing such raunchy words.

"I'm going to worship your hole, baby."

Itachi's lips grazed the wrinkle of flesh, causing Sasuke to shudder wildly. One glance at his cock and it was pressed against his abdomen like a wanton slut, its slit dripping with shiny precum.

"Here comes the airplane," Itachi murmured breathlessly, and Sasuke felt a wet, incredibly warm sensation against his puckered hole. "Open wide."

The man's flat, yet soft muscle flattened against his hole, and Sasuke was granted the first dose of incredible pleasure he'd ever felt in his life. "A-Ah! Ahh! W-Wait, what is th-that? I– unnnhh!"

His scream was instantaneous, followed closely by his skyrocketing hips, which succeeded in allowing the man to press his tongue even further inside. His entire body spasmed, following no coordinated movements as Itachi's hot, persistent tongue fucked into him like a jackhammer.

"You taste unreal," came Itachi's muffled growl as he attempted to lick his inner walls. "Stay like this forever and let me eat my fill, baby."

"A-ah, fuck, w-wait! W-Wait, 'Tachi! It's too– too–" Sasuke's hands fisted the sheets so hard that his knuckles turned white. His lower abdomen tightened as cum sprayed out from his twitching erection, coating his chest.

Even though groans filtered through his lips, his body went limp after, and he stared through hazy eyes at the man eating away between his legs.

Much to Sasuke's initial horror, Itachi appeared to be having the time of his life doing unspeakable things to him. The man's cheeks were flushed a pale pink, eyes wavering between glazed over and startlingly focused, breaths coming out in excited and irregular bursts, and lips redder than Sasuke had ever seen him. Instead of slowing down, the man seemed to become more and more immersed in the act, growing less reachable by the minute.

"'Tachi," Sasuke moaned softly, "s-slow down just, ahh, a little, yeah? My hole feels like it's throbbing." He covered his face, having uttered those words for the first time in his life and not being able to live it down with such a voracious man between his legs.

Schluck. Schluck. Schluuuck.

The licking continued, but this time, he felt a pair of warm lips press against his wrinkled flesh. Itachi had succeeded in shoving his tongue deep inside, leaving his lips to graze the rim.

"Haaa, final…ly," Itachi mumbled, nearly unintelligibly due to his position. "Ish so good. I 'an 'aste errthing 'ow." ("I can taste everything now.").

"Stop, stop," Sasuke whispered in massive embarrassment. "I'm going to die if you keep saying those things."

Itachi blinked slowly as Sasuke's recollection of their first intimate time was divulged to him. He seemed to be in slight shock as he processed what his beloved had told him, fixated on the dirty words that Sasuke had the balls to repeat.

"Baby," he breathed, "remind me again. What did I say after that?"

Sasuke's face had surpassed the shade of a tomato. He squirmed, twisted and turned just to avoid looking at Itachi. "Y-You're doing this on purpose!" he shrieked in accusation.

Itachi was both apologetic and shameless. He nuzzled the boy's cheek with his nose and gave it a chu. Then, he pressed his lips to his ear and whispered another plea.

If he was being honest, Itachi was more focused on how adorable Sasuke was acting than frazzled over the fact that he had been so out of it that he didn't recall dirty talking his way through that session.

"Please tell me what I said after."

"You said… you said– urgh, I can't say it!"

A smile caressed Itachi's lips as he pressed small kisses to the boy's tightly shut eyelids, feeling the soft eyelashes flutter against his skin.

"Should I guess?"

"No!"

Itachi's shoulders shook as he placed a trail of butterfly kisses down the boy's right cheek. Knowing himself, he knew exactly what he would have said in that situation.

'Wait till you have a taste of my cock.'

Those likely words nudged at the forefront of his brain, giving him a bit of a head rush. Judging by the overly stimulated and embarrassed boy beneath him, Itachi decided to cut down on his teasing lest he scared him away. Speaking of scaring, the humor was shaved off his shoulders instantaneously.

He said, concern bleeding through his tone, "You know I would never do anything to hurt you. I would never betray your trust like that. You believe me, right, Sasuke? I'd rather cut off my own hands than do anything to hurt you."

To his utter relief, his Otouto nodded. "It's okay, 'Tachi. And you don't have to tie up your hands or cut them off or anything extreme. In fact, please never do something horrible like hurt yourself, okay?"

His precious Otouto's worried eyes gazed up at him ever so kind and angelic, causing a massive tsunami of guilt to flood Itachi's entire body.

His Otouto always advocated for his physical and mental well-being, getting upset with him when Itachi took his own health lightly. Which was why Itachi intended to keep his lips sealed forever about the events that transpired after his Otouto's passing. If Sasuke ever found out about it, Itachi didn't believe that groveling would do anything to get himself back into his Otouto's good graces.

"Did you hear me, Achi?" Sasuke asked, jostling him slightly.

"Yes," Itachi murmured, bending down to press a kiss to the boy's soft lips. "I love you, Sasuke," he said against them. "It feels like a dream that you're right here with me. Please stay with me forever."

His Otouto moaned under the flutter of kisses that Itachi bestowed upon him, never once pushing him away or denying them. In fact, the boy had laced his fingers behind Itachi's neck and allowed him free reign, reciprocating the kisses whenever Itachi's lips trailed back and pressed against his.

"Your kisses…."

"Hmm?" Itachi paused briefly and stared at Sasuke, who was panting lightly.

"Your kisses, they f-feel good," Sasuke answered as if mesmerized. His words came out in a drawl and his half-hooded gaze caused a pile of emotions to ignite from within.

Itachi's eyes softened, staring adoringly at his precious treasure. "I'm glad, my love. Can I give you more then?"

"Unn. Y-Yes, please."

Itachi gave his Otouto's bottom lip a languid lick before he whispered his next words. "Part your lips for me, my love. Let me in."

With Sasuke's permission, Itachi allowed himself to indulge in expressing his love for his beloved Otouto. He prayed that, with the inclusion of physical affection along with his around-the-clock care, Sasuke would come to see Itachi as someone to love and hold dear, but more importantly, as someone who he couldn't live without.

"I love you so much, baby," he whispered wholeheartedly against Sasuke's warm, plush lips.

He was glad his Otouto's eyes were pinched shut lest he caught a glimpse of whatever distorted possessive expression hung over his face like a stain that couldn't be removed. He didn't want to scare his Otouto away like that.

Finally, Itachi's eyes slid shut and he slipped his tongue between those parted lips, claiming what was rightfully his.