Sasuke…well, he couldn't help but follow Itachi into the kitchen. He stayed by the fridge, leaning against it, while his brother took forever to wash the plate and teacup. If Sasuke didn't know better, he would have thought his brother was stalling. "Were you joking?" he asked, careful to keep his tone neutral.
Itachi glanced at him, his hands turning off the faucet. His face, much like always, was unreadable, except for a tiny smile. "No, of course not, otouto. I won't attack you again, unless it's during training, I suppose."
"About Kakashi," Sasuke clarified.
"He's concerned about my sleeping habits." Itachi placed the dishes to dry, "and sometimes, it helps to have another warm body in the room. Terribly inconvenient, but nevertheless…helpful. Does it bother you?"
Sasuke stared. Maybe his luck was finally improving because his brain, thankfully, did not provide a single image of Kakashi and his brother cuddling on the same bed. Still, for all intents and purposes, he had moved into Kakashi's apartment and he'd been sleeping on his uncomfortably small bed with Naruto for days . Maybe even weeks, Sasuke had lost track of time and he wasn't stupid enough to think about it. He was even wearing Kakashi's clothes, largely because he was a coward who hadn't managed to brave his brother, but still, getting bothered would make him a hypocrite.
"That's the advisor's job, isn't it? Kakashi said he had to make sure you were at your best."
Itachi…hummed. "Yes, he's mentioned that to me, as well."
So…that wasn't his job? Not that it mattered. It probably was, but Itachi was someone who wouldn't be used to that sort of support, right? Sasuke wouldn't know. Even the memories he had of their parents were with Itachi acting, and being treated, like an adult. Sasuke…if he thought for a moment, his old memories did include cuddles from their mom, and even from his brother, and maybe when Itachi was very young–before Sasuke was born–their mom cuddled him, too. But Sasuke couldn't remember a single instance in which anyone, except for himself, gave Itachi anything more than half-pat-half-hug affection. And yeah, Sasuke hadn't been in his brother's life for almost a decade, but he doubted Itachi would have gotten close enough to anyone in Akatsuki to receive physical affection from them–that thought alone was completely ludicrous.
Very carefully, he kept those thoughts away from his face. "Is it hard for you to have someone hover over you now?"
Itachi seemed to pause at that. His eyes glazed over for a quick moment. "Not as difficult as you might expect," he said, softly. "I imagine it would be harder if it was someone other than Kakashi." He turned his attention back to the dishes, "I was under his command before I became captain for a while." For a brief moment, it looked like Itachi was going to say something else, but he pressed his lips tight instead.
Sasuke hesitated. The smart thing was to cut his losses and leave the conversation. Obviously. That was always the smart choice–but it was his brother and Sasuke…he really needed to be better. Even if the continued conversation quickened his pulse, it didn't matter. He hadn't talked to his brother in forever. "Do you feel bad for putting him in a coma?"
"Otouto, you can safely assume that I feel bad about everything I did as an Akatsuki member." He tilted his head to the side, "except preventing them from attacking Konoha and Danzo from going after you, while you remained in the village."
After a moment, he nodded. Nothing to say to that. It was messed up that he had to do those things, for his little brother, and it was even more messed up that Itachi was now dealing with the aftermath. And even more messed up than Sasuke was making everything worse for him. He bit back a sigh. "I'm sorry too. For trying to kill you."
"You've mentioned. It's alright, it wasn't your fault."
It was, though. Sasuke was just always a little too stupid. Nothing he'd say out loud; it would just make his brother feel worse, again . He managed to offer a small smile, which his brother also managed to return. "Do you like him?"
"Kakashi?" Itachi asked, and at Sasuke nod, he continued, "of course. That's why I asked him to be–"
"I like Naruto," Sasuke cut him off. Before his brain processed what he uttered out loud, he continued, diligently ignoring the warming cheeks exactly like someone might ignore everything after becoming a seasoned shinobi in Sound. "Is that how you like him?"
Itachi's eyes were wider than usual. It might have been Sasuke's imagination, but it looked like the question made him think–actually think. About what? Impossible to say, but at least the question stomped him, which was…an accomplishment for Sasuke, if they had a normal sibling relationship, because it was probably awesome to ask something that the older brother couldn't answer right away. So what if Sasuke's cheeks were burning hot, still? It was absolutely worth it. If he wasn't scared that the Sharingan would refuse to fade away, as it had before, he would have activated it just to burn the image in his memory.
"I'm not convinced anyone could like anyone as much as you and Naruto-kun like each other," Itachi said, slowly.
Sasuke's cheeks felt warmer with those words, but his brain knew exactly what his brother was doing. Mostly because deflecting was also one of Sasuke's best skills. He used to think he learned it from Orochimaru and Kabuto, but…now that he thought about it, there was a strong case for it to be a heritable skill. "You're avoiding the question."
Itachi smiled. Sasuke was an idiot, but even he could detect the bittersweetness behind it. "Kakashi-san is burdened with his title already–"
"Yes or no."
A small huff. "His company is pleasant and I appreciate knowing he's strong enough to survive a fight against the majority of shinobi."
Sasuke crossed his arms. Itachi was obviously still avoiding the question. But that response…implied some stuff that–
"Do…do you think I'm strong enough to defend myself from most attacks, too?"
Itachi tilted his head to the side, presumably a little confused at the change of topic, but probably grateful that it came. Sasuke didn't have the heart to let him know that he wasn't dropping the subject, just pausing it for a few minutes.
"Are you asking for my opinion as a fellow shinobi, brother, or Hokage?"
The earlier conversation with Kakashi came to mind, but Sasuke shoved it away. "All of them. They–they should give the same answer."
Itachi shook his head. "As a fellow shinobi, I've seen that you have strong observational skills that help you create and execute a plan to lead a successful mission with a variety of resources, or lack thereof. Your short run as a member of Team 7 suggests that you can identify your teammates' strengths and weaknesses and plan accordingly. Genuinely, I think that's one of the reasons you've taught two, soon to be three, eight-year-olds to climb trees in a considerably short amount of time despite their limited amount of chakra and natural talent. Furthermore, you appreciate the…element of surprise more than many shinobi from Konoha. As a Hokage, I'd be foolish to think that you can go on any A or S-rank missions because you'd be an excellent hostage, though capturing might prove difficult. I believe that the risk to capture you is lesser than the benefit for capturing you and if given the opportunity, some people would try. Lastly, as your brother…Sasuke, you're my little brother; even if you were the strongest person in the world, I would still worry about you, but that's not a reflection on your own strength. Logically, I know that you can take care of yourself."
That was…a lot to process. It was entirely possible that Itachi had done it on purpose. "You think I'd make a good hostage?" he asked, ignoring the way his throat constricted. The question was stupid, obviously, considering that he had already been a hostage and…if a good hostage meant someone who endured and survived, then, yes, he was probably a good hostage, but the fact that he survived…had more to do with Orochimaru holding him captive than his innate resiliency.
"Well, yes." Itachi shrugged, "like I said, I think it would be exceedingly difficult to capture you, but yes. You have a high pain tolerance, you're the Hokage's little brother, you're one of three people with a precious bloodline–honestly, I always worried that someone was going to kidnap you when you were younger because of the Sharingan– and if word ever got out about you and Naruto…I think someone could do enormous amounts of damage with that information. I mean…when shinobi are captured, one of the safest options is to…commit suicide, but you wouldn't. That's ignoring the fact that you were also one of the Legendary Sannin's students; I imagine at least a couple of villages might be interested in whatever they think you learnt from him. I think some people might also want to take out their frustrations regarding Orochimaru on you, but that feels like one of my irrational fears, rather than something based on reality."
Sasuke stayed quiet for a moment. For some reason, it felt like it was the first time that Itachi was being honest with him, but he couldn't understand why it felt that way or even if it was true. "I think less people knew about me and him than you would think," he said. Sound shinobi, certainly. His spies, absolutely. But high-ranking members of the other great villages? Doubtful. "And he was careful to ensure that the people he hurt directly were weaker than him, and me, and to be honest, I would be surprised if other villages know the extent of his spy network." He crossed his arms, "you haven't answered any of my questions, by the way. Do you think I'm strong enough to make it safe for you to care about me? Yes or no?"
Itachi stared at him. "Logically, yes. Emotionally, no."
Weird, as Sasuke knew Itachi was emotionless. Nothing he was stupid enough to point out, though. So, it basically meant yes , which was honestly surprising considering that Sasuke had never won against Orochimaru, and Itachi beat him when he was fourteen. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. "And Kakashi? Do you like him, yes or no?"
"He's an important person and I'd be saddened if he died."
'Saddened if he died' probably meant that he was absolutely in love with Kakashi, then, considering those words were spoken by the person who murdered an entire clan, his clan specifically. Obviously, Sasuke didn't say that part out loud, though. "I don't mind," he said. "I think Kakashi is a walking idiot, but I don't think less of you for liking him."
Itachi turned around, but it was apparently only to grab two bento boxes, which he spent an entire minute looking for in the cabinet, despite the fact they were right in front of his face. Did the reading glasses need to become everyday glasses now? The boxes were right in front of his nose. He set them down on the counter, one on top of the other. "Will you make us lunch today?" The question was soft, almost like Itachi hadn't wanted to ask.
As if Sasuke would say anything other than 'yes'. He turned to the fridge, opening it. The donated food from the Academy students was slowly dwindling. Technically, Itachi and Kakashi could eat that for lunch, but it felt like the first time that his brother asked him to cook. "Of course. I'll prepare it while you get ready."
"Thank you," Itachi said.
Sasuke heard fading footsteps, but his attention was fixed on the vegetables squeezed on the very back of the refrigerator. Very carefully, so nothing would tumble out, he took it out and got to work. As it happened, by the time that he was done, Itachi was putting on his sandals. Sasuke handed him the packed lunch, his and Kakashi's, and Itachi thanked him with a smile. The smile was nice. The rest of the expression was…indescribable. Nothing that Sasuke had ever seen on his brother's face.
But Sasuke needed to make it to school, so he pushed that to the back of his mind.
The last thing he put on before leaving the apartment was the Chunin vest, which again, felt…gross, but that was because he was an asshole. He was, thankfully, assigned to the Academy, and there was…
Well, if truth be told, there was a lot of…moral issues regarding his active participation in teaching little children the importance of throwing knives to assassinate people because a person told them to do so, but–
Anyway, the students, and presumably their parents, were well-aware of that, and Sasuke's job was actually to train them well enough for them to be the killers rather than the killed. Obviously, he wanted to do a good job at that.
He made it to the Academy five minutes before class started.
And the morning went by fast, despite the fact that it took forty minutes for everyone to settle down after loud cheers and hugs and high fives and dancing that his promotion, apparently, warranted. Iruka-sensei's cake probably made the celebration longer than it would have been, but the students did promise to do their best during the lessons for the rest of the week and frankly, the cake was a great bargaining tool.
Maybe if Sasuke managed to become a Jounin, they would promise to work hard for the rest of the year–or at least a month.
Either way, the vest was good enough to get Kenji to hit the target, both with kunai and shuriken, with one hundred percent accuracy, Riku and Ren to throw three kunai at the same time, all of which stuck to the post, though admittedly missed the target, Himari and Akane to beat their personal running record by more than two seconds, and Hikari to make a clone as good as Megumi's.
In the afternoon, Asuka, Kaito, and Sayumi received the three highest scores on the history test, while Makoto and Satoshi's taijutsu match was stopped by Iruka-sensei, a full whole five minutes after it started, because neither kid was willing to concede.
By the end of the day, Sasuke had again, received far too many hugs and high fives to count them.
"Thank you for the cake, Iruka-sensei," Sasuke said, once the classroom was empty of children.
"You're welcome," Iruka-sensei replied, an easy smile on his face. "And congratulations again."
It was easy to return Iruka-sensei's smile. "Have a good rest of your day. See you tomorrow."
Iruka-sensei waved and Sasuke left through the window. Chunin or not, he was still not ready to engage in after-school conversations with parents. He landed in front of Kakashi's door, unlocking it because, yeah, okay, breaking into the apartment had become considerably easier with the increased practice. The apartment was clean, but empty. Sasuke placed the vest on the bed, and locked the door behind him.
A minute or so later, he was knocking on Naruto's door.
It opened.
"Where's Naruto?" Sasuke asked Karin. Who looked fine. Of course she would look fine. She was wearing long sleeves, though, so it was entirely possible that she wasn't fine. But Sasuke kept that away from his face.
"The Hokage summoned him about thirty minutes ago." She narrowed her eyes, much like she did when she was concentrating on a chakra signature. "He's still there."
Sasuke…his stomach was tight, for some reason. But he nodded. Bit back a sigh, willing his chest to rise and fall in a steady pattern. It was fine. Honestly–honestly, the worst that Itachi could do would be to tell Naruto that…about the promotions.
Or about the…morning conversation.
Which–
With a nod, Sasuke reached for the door, ignoring the confused look on Karin's face, and closed it, in front of his face.
It was fine.
It was fine.
It was, it really was–if he thought about it for a moment while breathing deeply, which obviously he would do as soon as he stopped running, Itachi telling Naruto either of those things was still better than Itachi…doing anything else. He sped up, towards the Hokage's tower. Which of course, Itachi wouldn't do because he wasn't like that, Sasuke knew that. Although, Itachi had just promised not to use the Tsukuyomi on Sasuke, not Naruto, so technically–no. No, he needed to stop it.
He landed in front of the Hokage's door, which was obviously guarded by Anbu, but frankly, Sasuke could absolutely take them out. Pushing chakra to his eyes, the Sharingan caught the Anbus shifting to an offensive stance, though they remained rooted on the–
The door opened.
Naruto.
Sadness and disappointment and resignation, all sketched into Sasuke's memory in the instant before those emotions faded from his eyes, replaced by a grin. Sasuke wasn't an idiot, despite recent evidence, and even he understood that maybe, Naruto's energy would have been better spent not chasing after him for almost three years, and knew that obviously, that Naruto enjoyed spending time with him–despite the fact that Sasuke had almost killed him more than once.
But there was no way that Sasuke's mere presence could make him happy enough to warrant the grin, especially after his stupid face looked devastated only a few seconds before. And Naruto was so annoying about wanting to be there for Sasuke and whatever else, though he clearly didn't think he deserved the same. Which was bullshit. The audacity. As if Sasuke had even had a chance to hide everything–the majority–that Orochimaru did to them.
"Hey–"
Sasuke drove his fist into Naruto's jaw. He heard his own snap. Felt the demon's chakra patching the busted lip. He hesitated for a moment, but Naruto didn't launch at him, so Sasuke pushed him to the ground. With enough force to knock the air out of their lungs. He landed three hits before someone–his brother was dragging him away. Kakashi helped Naruto up, whose face didn't have a trace of anger, just sadness and disappointment and resignation and confusion.
His brother was holding him by the cuff of his neck, quite like someone might hold a cat, but Sasuke couldn't direct his attention anywhere else besides Naruto's cracked smile, as he rubbed the back of his neck, while telling Kakashi that he was fine and everything was fine. Without looking at Sasuke, he practically launched himself out of the building through the nearest window.
He let himself be dragged into the office. Kakashi was the last one to enter, closing the door after him.
"What did you tell him?"
He caught the shared glance. With the context from the morning, it made a lot more sense why they always seemed to have matching expressions, but it was something that he wasn't going to think about at the moment.
"It's classified," Itachi replied.
"Why did you punch him?"
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "It's classified," he muttered. He shrugged Itachi's hold off of him, fully aware that his brother had simply released him, moving closer to the window, keeping his attention on Kakashi, who kind of looked like he was two seconds away from lifting the forehead protector.
"Sasuke."
Biting back a sigh, he turned to look at his brother. "What did you tell him?"
"It's–"
"Look at us! We feel everything, did you not just see my own lip burst open when I punched him? Yeah, I get it, I'm a hypocrite, but I deserve to know what made him look so upset."
"It's classified," Itachi repeated. His tone and face devoid of anything that might betray the conversation he must have had with Naruto a few minutes ago.
He rolled his eyes again. The Sharingan remained activated, but that didn't matter. The window was opened.
Ichiraku was empty–well, not empty. The stools were full, but none of the people eating were recognizable.
Kakashi's apartment was empty. No one had come in, as his vest remained in the same place on the bed.
When he made it to his apartment, Karin opened the door, telling him to head to the training grounds.
Sasuke did.
He spotted Naruto with his back pressed against a tree, his shoulders hunched over, looking down, presumably at his hand. There was a pen on the other hand. Naruto wiped his face. Sasuke walked up to him, standing in front of him, but there was no indication that Naruto would return the punch from earlier.
"Did Jiraiya die?" he asked.
The question got Naruto to look up. His stupid blue eyes looked sadder than when he left the Hokage's office. But he shook his head. "Not that I know of."
Carefully, Sasuke sat next to him, their shoulders brushing. "What made you so upset, then?"
Naruto's attention was on their hands. The drawings from before the final exam were fading, but there was a new frog that was apparently jumping onto a waterfall that ran from their index finger to their wrist. "Don't worry, it doesn't have anything to do with you."
Sasuke clenched his fists, but he spotted Hana running down the clearing, still carrying her backpack. Naruto also seemed to sense her, because he looked up, and was obviously planning to ditch. So, instead of punching him, Sasuke grabbed his sleeve, preventing him from disappearing into the trees, just in time for Hana to pause in front of them.
"Hi Sasuke-sensei," she said. Maybe it was because Megumi had made first contact with Naruto already, but Hana didn't look as scared as her friend did. In fact, she had the…frankly, guts to flop on Sasuke's lap. Not that Sasuke was scary to her, but a week or so ago, Naruto had been terrifying to them. "I'm Hana!" She introduced herself. "You must be Naruto…san? I'm one of Sasuke-sensei's favorite students!"
Sasuke obviously didn't correct her. Having favorites was a little unethical, but yes, he didn't see himself privately training any other of the Academy students. Honestly, he couldn't remember why he started doing it for them three, but he didn't.
Naruto seemed a bit taken back by being called Naruto-san by someone, but Hana seemed oblivious to that. Her attention was clearly fixed on Naruto's doodles. "Nice to meet you," Naruto said. He sounded happy. Sasuke really had never paid attention to his outstanding ability to pretend. He would have punched him, again, but Hana was there. "Thank you for the frog!"
"Yay!" She clapped her hands, excitedly. "You're welcome! Makoto told us that you were the biggest winner, so we had to get you the biggest frog."
For some reason, those words appear to upset Naruto. Nothing Hana, thankfully, noticed, though.
"Thank you! It's great for cuddles."
Hana's attention remained on the doodles, even as Sasuke poked her shoulder. "Where are the other two?"
"Megumi had a doctor's appointment. Actually, she thought it was for her sister, otherwise she would have mentioned something at school," she said, making a face at the mention of Hikari. "Makoto…umm, sensei, I don't think you saw, but Makoto and Satoshi got into a fight on the way home today. So, he got in trouble. It's just me tonight, is that okay?"
"Of course it is," Sasuke said. "Why were they fighting?"
"Well," she sighed, half her body leaning towards Naruto, who had started to doodle something on their forearm. "Hikari said something to Megumi and then Makoto heard and Satoshi did too. Anyway, they got upset at each other. Iruka-sensei separated them, though, and also walked them home, too. But you know, I was hugging Megumi because she was really sad, but if I hadn't, I would have gotten in there, too!"
"To hold back Makoto, of course," Sasuke said. Not at all surprised when he saw the way that Hana's lips were pushed into a pout, clearly displeased. "What did Hikari say?"
"She said that now that she got a clone down, then Megumi was an extra loser again!" Hana crossed her arm. "And also said other mean things my dad says I can't say."
How weird to hear Hana say that she wouldn't say words because her dad told her not to, which was great, but very clearly, she was sitting centimeters away from someone her dad told her not to, as well.
"Makoto probably won't join us for a few days," Hana said, still staring at Naruto. She was now closer to Naruto's lap than Sasuke's, but she seemed oblivious to the fact. Naruto clearly was not, but he had the decency to remain put. Good. "I like drawing, too!" She shifted to grab her backpack, practically ripping it open in her hurry to take out a notebook and a pencil case, clearly full. "Look, Naruto-san! This is Makoto and Megumi, my friends. They're on top of the trees already since they can climb up them and they're cheering me on since I can't yet." She pointed at a girl on the ground, with a smile, quite literally, larger than the drawn face, "this is me. I'm still on the ground, but I'm real happy because I'll be able to join them soon!" She flipped the page, "and this is Sasuke-sensei helping me climb up the tree." Another page, "and then over here, I'm going to draw the tree and everyone up it, including me. But I haven't drawn it yet, though, since it hasn't happened."
Naruto's smile was hurting Sasuke, but he wouldn't be able to explain why. "Your drawings are nice."
"Thank you!"
Gently, Sasuke nudged her. "We better get to work, then."
Surprisingly, they did. Sasuke couldn't tell if it was because Hana was on her own and she wanted to bring good news to Megumi and Makoto, or maybe because she had an audience, now, despite the fact that Naruto really was mostly still doodling off to the side, but by the end of two hours, Hana managed to climb twelve steps on her own. And she would have continued to train, if not for the fact that she was practically falling asleep on her feet, and Sasuke would have to be both an idiot and asshole to let her continue. Thankfully, she didn't have a fever, and the exhaustion wasn't so much chakra exhaustion as it was a toddler working hard all day.
Sasuke picked her up. "I'll take you home tonight, okay?"
Hana nodded against his shoulder. "Goodnight, Naruto-san."
"Goodnight," Naruto said. "Thanks again for the gift! Tell your friends, too."
"Of course!" Hana said, clearly putting some effort to sound excited, despite her clearly sleepy state. She shifted a little, presumably to get more comfortable. "I live five minutes from school, sensei."
"I'll wake you up when we get there, so you can give me instructions." A thank you was mumbled into his neck, but Hana was clearly asleep a second later, becoming heavier in a way that indicated she wasn't keeping track of her limbs anymore, much like Sasuke might have done once or twice to his brother. He turned to look at Naruto, their left forearm covered in ink. "I told my brother I was sleeping in the apartment tonight. I'll make dinner. See you then."
Before Naruto had time to respond to any of that, Sasuke turned around. He wouldn't say he ran , per se, but he definitely quickened his pace. Naruto didn't need to respond to that and Sasuke, well, he also didn't need to stay in the same place thinking about what he told Naruto. Okay, it wasn't out of the ordinary. They've been sharing a bed, practically ever since Sasuke returned from Sound, but it's not like Sasuke had ever said it out loud.
If he was being honest, he was a little annoyed with Naruto for clearly feeling terrible, for a reason related to the Hokage, and not telling him about it, so Sasuke had to spell out to him that he should show up to the apartment for dinner and sleep.
Sasuke was about to make it to the Academy, when Hana stirred awake. "We're almost there."
"Sensei, you see how good I was tonight?"
"You were great."
"Thank you!" She yawned, "can't wait to tell my friends."
Sasuke hummed. "They'll be happy for you."
"Yeah. What comes after tree walking, sensei?"
"Tree running," Sasuke replied, without missing a beat. What? Sasuke wasn't stupid enough to get them on water before they had enough control to run up the trees. And telling her that they were going to figure out chakra affinity would keep her awake the rest of the night, and probably the following nights until it happened, from excitement. Besides, Sasuke still hadn't bought the chakra paper. Nor had he talked to Kakashi about potentially teaching him different chakra-affinity jutsus because odds were that they wouldn't all have fire and lightning as their affinity. That also meant that–
"To the right," Hana said.
Sasuke turned. It was one of the nicer neighborhoods in Konoha. He also, of course, had to perfect whatever jutsu Kakashi taught him, otherwise, he had no chance to teach it to toddlers.
When they got to the end of the street, Hana pointed towards the right.
At the end of the street, she shifted, "I can walk from here, sensei."
"Are you sure?"
Hana nodded. "If mom sees you, she'll be really nervous and also, she'll say 'Hana-chan why did you get Sasuke-sensei to carry you home! You're so lazy!' so I'd rather walk from here."
Sasuke set her down on the ground. "You're not lazy," he said, as seriously as he could without sounding like he was angry at her mom. It was entirely possible that Hana was exaggerating, as kids sometimes did, but if she was not, then her mom was…mean. "And it was a pleasure to walk you home."
Hana beamed at him and gave him a tight hug. "See you tomorrow, sensei! Goodnight!"
Sasuke waved at her as she rushed down the street. She stopped at the second to last house, going on her tiptoes to ring the bell. He waited until she entered and then disappeared.
To his credit, Sasuke only stared at the apartment door for five minutes–barely five minutes. It wasn't his fault, he quite literally couldn't remember the last time that he stayed the night in his own bedroom. He wasn't even sure if Naruto was going to show up and if he didn't, then Sasuke was going to have to beat them up, which he actually didn't want to do. But would do, if Naruto wasn't inside the apartment, too. With a quiet sigh, he picked the lock, turned the doorknob, and pushed the door open.
He heard the shower and saw Kakashi and his brother sitting on the couch, a scroll spread between them. It looked like they were crossing out things. Kakashi's forehead protector was pushed up and his brother's Sharingan was activated, but even when Sasuke walked closer, both of their attentions were clearly on the scroll.
It took a moment for his brother to look up, but when he did, the Sharingan was gone, and Sasuke…he appreciated it. "Welcome back."
Sasuke smiled and gave a nod, staring at the scroll. It had names, his included, with lightning written next to it, and right underneath fire. Kakashi rolled it up, but…Sasuke caught Sakura's and Ino's name, even Karin's, but no mention of Naruto anywhere. When Kakashi looked up at him, the recent conversations with him floated into his mind, and the conversation with his brother in the morning, and Naruto getting more upset when Hana mentioned him winning, and him walking out of the Hokage's office crushed, and suddenly the scroll without Naruto's name made sense and chakra was rushing to his eyes, and he was glaring at his brother.
"You can't do this to him." The back of his mind registered the sound of the shower turning off. It might have been Naruto, but that was even more reason to rush the conversation.
"We're doing the best–"
"Stay out of it!" He turned to glare at Kakashi, "what the fuck? The fact that he likes you suddenly makes you incapable of standing up for your student? You are a fucking–"
His torso disappeared and Sasuke landed on his back, the air knocked out of his lungs from the impact. On a box. Below another box. He swallowed a scream. He rolled on his stomach, the Sharingan activated, but there was nothing to see except boxes and more boxes and more boxes. Fucking Kakashi. He swallowed a scream, driving his fist into the box. Hard enough to make their knuckles bleed. But…Naruto was already having a shit day, so once the orange chakra patched him up, Sasuke simply went on his side, staring at their arms, which incidentally were empty. The doodles from earlier were gone. It definitely had been Naruto in the shower, then.
The last time his skin was untouched was when he was with Orochimaru and…that was messed up.
Five minutes.
He wiped his cheeks.
Fifteen minutes.
At least there were no hallucinations this time around.
Twenty minutes.
Thirty minutes.
Kakashi-sensei says your time out is over and to tell us when you're ready to come back.
Sasuke stared at the message on his hand. Blinked. He wiped his stupid cheeks and scrambled to grab his pen from his pouch, his jaw clenched tight.
Tell him he's a fucking idiot and that I'm going to shove a chidori up his ass if he doesn't take me out now.
It was a long message, but thankfully he managed to squeeze it in underneath Naruto's, dutifully ignoring the fact that the intelligent move was to lie, obviously, but clearly, he was a little pissed off at the moment. Maybe upset, too. But while his emotions were obviously completely irrational most of the time, this time…he should be a little upset. The Fifth had sent Naruto on plenty of missions, so why wouldn't his brother? Especially after Naruto had become a better shinobi? Why wouldn't Itachi even have him on a list of Chunin and Jounin? It didn't make sense. It couldn't make sense. It was messed up.
He says you're not ready to come back and you've added another thirty minutes to the timer.
If their skin was paper, Sasuke would have crumbled it up, burnt it, and tossed the ashes to the abyss. But it wasn't, so he didn't, and the only thing that he did was push more chakra into his eyes until he felt the Sharingan spinning, imprinting the flawless texture of the floating box passing by his vision range.
The first five minutes dragged on.
The next ten were longer.
At the twenty minute mark, he was obviously losing his bearings because, from the corner of his vision, he caught a red cape, exactly like the one Itachi wore when he put him in a coma, black clouds and all, and the temperature dropped, but it disappeared in a second.
It was obviously his mind playing tricks on him.
Sasuke rubbed his eyes. And deactivated the Sharingan. After a few minutes of trying. Which was a win for him, considering the fact that he'd been having trouble deactivating the Sharingan willfully, almost like it was taking a life of its own, lately.
I'm hungry.
Those words were heavy on his chest. He'd been the asshole that told Naruto to meet him at his and Itachi's apartment so he could make dinner, after all. By this point, Naruto could have easily inhaled five ramen bowls.
Tell them I won't attack anyone.
A minute.
There's three minutes left.
Wild, Kakashi suddenly caring about time and punctuality. But Sasuke, obviously, kept that to himself.
What do you want for dinner?
Meat with that weird dish on the side!
That weird side dish was roasted eggplant and pickled carrots. Sasuke was pretty sure that Naruto didn't know it was vegetables, though, and wasn't sure he'd like it if he knew.
You have to eat everything.
I will!
Still messed up what his brother and Kakashi were doing to Naruto. Also messed up that Naruto tried to hide it from him, except that…maybe he understood why Naruto would feel inclined to do that. Messed up that Sasuke made him feel inclined to do that. He bit back a sigh, considering counting down the last minutes, but that would just slow down time.
Naruto, though, started to draw.
Thankfully.
It was the face of a cat, on his palm. The whiskers were pointed downward, along with its mouth. There was a single tooth sticking out of his mouth, and two horizontal lines, presumably its eyes, with wavy lines falling down from them. Tears, apparently. Its ears were flopped down. Naruto drew a box around the cat…presumably a cell, judging by the vertical lines going from top to bottom. Naruto started drawing a bigger cat, one eye hidden behind a handkerchief, with a speech bubble that said 'you need to work on your cattitude'. A second speech bubble, this one for the jailed cat said 'that's a paw-sibility'. Near the wrist, there were tiny frogs, and right over them, there was a 'hopping for justice' banner.
It looked like Naruto was starting to draw a tree, when Sasuke felt a chakra spike coming from behind him.
Kakashi sat down, panting lightly, one elbow resting on his knee. Clearly in no state to defend from an attack.
But…Sasuke glanced down at the drawing. Underneath the cherry blossom tree, there was a tiny fox, looking down sadly at his stomach.
"You don't have enough strength to take me out yet, do you?" he asked, biting back a sigh.
Kakashi shook his head. "Give me five minutes."
At least he sounded like that part wasn't on purpose.
"Naruto's hungry."
Kakashi sighed. "We're all hungry."
For a brief second, he entertained the idea of not making Kakashi, and maybe his brother, food. But…he wasn't that heartless. "You know, my brother was the one who benched Naruto. Why isn't he on time out?"
Kakashi sighed. "Honestly? I was worried that you were going to say something regarding the Chunin exams and Naruto was going to overhear. Plus, you were clearly pissed off and needed a moment to cool down." Before Sasuke could say anything to that, he continued, "look, it's not like many villages let their jinchuriki go out on missions, and Naruto's seal has been weakening–"
"The Third and Fifth let him go–"
"Yes. The Third was trying to give him normal shinobi experiences and the Fifth has believed in Naruto's strength since they met–"
"Naruto convinced Itachi to stop pretending to be a missing ninja, shouldn't he also have faith in him?"
"You're not listening, Sasuke," Kakasi said, clearly counting to ten in his mind to boost his patience. "His seal is weakening. Itachi is the only one able to suppress the nine tails and he is the Hokage, so he needs to stay in the village. That means Naruto needs to stay in the village, as well."
"I could–"
"You passed out for days after suppressing him. What do you think would happen if you were out on a mission? Absolutely not," Kakashi's chest rose with a deep inhale. "I thought your brother told you that he wasn't going to send you out on missions again?"
"A or S rank missions," Sasuke mumbled. Itachi hadn't exactly made it sound like it was definite, either.
"If you're not going on those, why would he bother sending you to lower ranked missions?" Kakashi shook his head. "Look, Sasuke, we all know you're a little…skittish around Itachi. He feels the same way about something happening to you that you feel about him doing something to you or Naruto."
Or Kakashi, his mind added, rather unhelpfully, considering that Kakashi had dared put him on time out. Like he was a child. The fucking idiot.
"Even if his seal wasn't weakening, our forces would need to be considerably low for Itachi to risk sending him out somewhere in fear of having you get hurt."
"He said he knows I can take care of myself," Sasuke mumbled. It was easier to point that out than to think about Kakashi implying that Naruto's career was practically dead because he was connected to Sasuke.
"You can," Kakashi said, softly, as if he knew what Sasuke was thinking. "He told you it was an irrational fear. Like I said, it's exactly how you feel around him."
"I'm working on it and–"
"Look me in the eye and tell me that you didn't rush to the office today because you were scared that Itachi was going to harm Naruto with the Mangekyou."
Instead of lying, Sasuke crawled closer to Kakashi. He laid on his back, watching another box float above. It was messed up, but yes, he had. For a second, that fear had made it impossible to breathe. His body was so scared that he actually hallucinated his brother about half an hour ago, Akatsuki robe and all. It was pathetic. And Kakashi putting it like that, it made…a little sense why Naruto was in the current position. "Why was my name on the scroll then?"
"You're at the Academy," Kakashi said. After a moment, he added, more quietly, "Naruto…won't do that."
"Because the parents hate him for no reason and Itachi won't do anything to make it better."
Kakashi sighed. "We've talked about this already, Sasuke."
"It's wrong."
"Of course it is."
Sasuke bit back a sigh, sending a halfhearted glare to Kakashi. "Shouldn't the advisor make sure the Hokage is making the right choices? You could at least convince him to send him on C-rank missions."
Kakashi glanced at him. His Sharingan was uncovered, looking more exhausted than it had when Kakashi entered the place. He reached to brush Sasuke's bangs back, at least having the decency to not comment on the way that Sasuke might have leaned closer. "I know it's wrong, but…I'm also scared of something happening to you and Naruto again."
Sasuke obviously didn't want anything to happen to Naruto again, either, so he kept quiet. Even if he had already told Kakashi a thousand times that he shouldn't care about him. But…maybe he only cared about him because he cared about Naruto and that, at least, made some sense. "I'm a Chunin now."
"I lied," Kakashi said, without missing a beat, apparently able to read his mind. "You're still my student. And so is Naruto. Sakura is too, but she's, thankfully, working in the hospital full time and the only thing she's in danger of is a patient throwing up on her. And Sasuke?" The hand through his hair paused and it took a whole minute for Sasuke to realize that Kakashi was waiting for him to physically look at him. "Don't give Naruto a hard time. He didn't want you to know–"
"Well, he's a hypocrite!" He sat up, crossing his arms. "It's not right that he thinks that he should always be there for me, but apparently doesn't think that I should be there for him, too! What the fuck is wrong with him? I want to be there for him and he should fucking let me! It's not like I had a choice on whether or not I wanted his help, or to hide what–what…what Orochimaru did to us!" For the record, if Sasuke had been given the choice, he also would have hid it from Naruto, from everyone, actually, but he wasn't given the choice, and Naruto shouldn't either. "Why wouldn't he tell me?"
"The Hokage is your brother."
"I know," he said, lowering his voice, suddenly feeling exhausted. "And I don't like to be in the middle of them, but…Naruto not trusting me sucks even more."
"Are you going to punch him again?"
The look that Kakashi sent him told him that if he said 'yes', he would remain stuck there for another thirty minutes. "No."
Expectantly, Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "If you do, I'm going to bring you back here."
"I know," he sighed, somewhat surprised at himself that there was no indication of indignation anywhere at being threatened with another time out. "I won't."
A minute later, the boxes disappeared, and Sasuke–and Kakashi–were standing in the living room, again. Kakashi sat on the couch, clearly tired, again. He did have enough energy to pull down the forehead protector and lay down, so good for him. Without another word, Sasuke made his way to the kitchen. When he looked down to grab a pan, he caught fifty 'I'm hungry's written all over the back of his hands.
Sasuke took out his pen, but before he could write a message, he heard incoming footsteps, felt a shoulder brushing against his own, which was clearly Naruto's. "It'll be done soon."
"Thanks."
Sasuke glanced at Naruto, who still had the same stupid, sad smile, which…he turned back to the pan. But he did pick up the pace. Until the food was done. Sasuke handed two plates to Naruto and took another two to the living room.
"Go wake up Kakashi," Sasuke said, nodding in the direction of the couch, where Kakashi remained, a book covering his face. "Do you know where Itachi is?"
"Bedroom," Naruto said, barely above a whisper.
Sasuke told himself that it was only because he didn't want to wake Kakashi up yet. And not because of anything else. Biting back a sigh, he turned around, walking down the hallway. He stared at his brother's closed door for a second, but it was way past dinner time. He knocked once. Twice. Three times. Then, turned the knob, slipping inside the bedroom. Itachi was sitting on the bed, his straight back facing away from the door, twirling a kunai in his index finger. Sasuke peeked outside the door, spotting Naruto hovering in front of the couch, presumably waking Kakashi up. Then, turned his attention back to Itachi, who was now facing him, still sitting cross legged on the bed.
"Are…you also on time out?" Sasuke asked, a little incredulous. Could Kakashi really be that idiotic? There was no way, but–
"No," Itachi said, softly. He set the kunai next to him, "just thinking."
"About what?"
Itachi shook his head. Sasuke should have expected it, obviously, because it's not like Itachi ever really told him anything important, but he kept that away from his face. "Can you close the door for a second? For privacy."
His heart skipped a beat, but he obeyed. He shoved his hands in the pants' pockets. It helped that his brother's eyes remained obsidian, rather than bloody red and that was nice. And the trembles in his hands were felt, but not seen, so it was extra nice that he thought ahead this time. "Yeah?" he prompted, congratulating himself for not sounding as sick as he suddenly felt.
"I'm sorry for Naruto's current position."
Suddenly, it was easier to breathe. It might be faint anger crawling up his throat. "It's messed up."
"I know."
Sasuke lowered his voice, "he can handle missions, at least C-rank missions."
"I know he can," Itachi said. "But I can't."
"The Fifth allowed him to go on–"
"Tsunade-sama actually doesn't like you very much, Sasuke. She wasn't exactly invested in your well-being, as I am, not to mention the weakening seal. I'm going to stand up," he said, and did just that. Sasuke hoped that the relief he felt at the fact that his brother had announced his movement before he moved remained away from his face. "I'm not changing my mind, Sasuke. I might revisit the topic once we figure out how to strengthen the seal, but that is, unfortunately, not happening anytime soon. I just wanted to apologize to you and let you know that I do know it's messed up."
For some reason, Sasuke's jaw was clenched tight. His mind continued to scream that 'it wasn't fair' and he knew it was right, but…he didn't know what to do. In a sense, he might have made the situation worse by hijacking the promotions. If…Naruto hadn't passed, because Sasuke absolutely forced his brother's hand, he would still be a Genin, and at least it would make some sort of sense if he remained in the village carrying out stupid D-rank missions. His chest, sadly, rose with a deep inhale, and he nodded. "Dinner is ready," he said. After a moment, he added, "thank you for the apology."
Naruto and Kakashi were already sitting at the table, though their food remained untouched. Sasuke took the seat next to Naruto because that's where the plate with the smallest portions was.
Dinner was quiet. Sasuke was too busy moving the food from his plate to Naruto's plate, only to accept it from his chopsticks. Until he wasn't hungry anymore, but somehow, without him having to shake his head or turn away, Naruto stopped bringing the chopsticks up to his lips. Instead, just finished their food, occasionally making pleased sounds, almost like he was enjoying it as much as he enjoyed Ichiraku's ramen.
"Thank you for dinner, otouto, we'll clean the dishes," Itachi said, pushing the chair back. Kakashi did the same, and both of them took the plates back to the kitchen.
"Come on," Sasuke said.
Naruto and he walked to the bedroom. Sasuke wasn't sure what he'd expected, but it looked the same as the last time he'd been there. The bed was made. The floor was clear. The bedside table had a pen. He closed the door as he watched Naruto sit on the floor, his back against the bed, reaching for the pen–Sasuke had no idea where he was going to draw considering their hands were filled, but he didn't care. Not right now, at least.
He was such a fucking asshole for everything he'd done lately, including forcing Naruto to come over and eat dinner with the people who refused to treat him fairly.
With a sigh, he turned his attention to the closet, rummaging through it for something that could pass for sleepwear. After finding a blue, long-sleeve shirt, he tugged the one he was wearing and shoved it in the dirty laundry.
"Can I draw on our back?"
"As long as it's appropriate," Sasuke responded. It was the least he could do for him. He waited, but didn't feel the spike of chakra from a shadow clone. Weird. Maybe Naruto found an empty patch of skin on their arms instead. He was about to put on the shirt when Naruto grabbed his arm and tugged him in the direction of the bed. He pushed Sasuke face down. "What are you–"
"You said it was fine," Naruto responded, as if Sasuke hadn't meant he could use a clone to draw on his back, as if Sasuke had instead meant for Naruto to draw on his back, sitting on his lower back, one knee on each side of Sasuke. "It won't be inappropriate, I promise."
Sasuke…well, Naruto had a shitty day. And the other option was for them to erase their hands so he could draw there, and Sasuke actually liked the stupid doodles from earlier. He did shift a little to be more comfortable with his chin resting on his hands, but stopped moving when he felt the pen on his skin.
It was a weird sensation. Naruto had, obviously, spent forever writing and drawing on their skin, but Sasuke had never felt the pen drag across it except when he was writing on himself. It felt different than that. It didn't feel bad, except near his shoulder, almost where Orochimaru's mark used to be. The second one, not the first one. It didn't feel bad, but it did feel…weird. He didn't hate it, but he didn't love it, either.
"Your back is pretty."
What? He glanced around–or tried to, as Naruto shoved his hand in his face before he really could get a look at him.
"Don't move," Naruto mumbled.
He went back to his original position. "Did you just call my back pretty?"
"Yeah," Naruto cleared his throat. "I just meant the back muscles. Your back muscles are pretty."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing! It's a compliment, idiot." He felt the pen poking him in the middle of his shoulder blades once. Twice. Three times. Sasuke, like an idiot, squirmed a little, until Naruto stopped, after the fifth poke. "I've looked at tons of anatomy books for drawing and yours looks like one of them. Like the pictures of examples of perfect backs."
Uh. Maybe Orochimaru being a little too invested in his physical…well-being finally had a harmless side effect. Though, Sasuke had been under the impression that he'd been losing muscle mass, again, since returning from Sound, again. The only thing he could hope for was that Orochimaru didn't–didn't–didn't come back–which obviously wouldn't happen, because his brother killed him, and Itachi was a genius and obviously would have done a better job at killing Orochimaru than Sasuke ever could have–and put him in a training regimen like the last one. He should probably start training properly again so that–
"And…wait! I'm going to run home to get some pens and markers with colors. Don't move!" The bed shifted. Only for Naruto to move back to his original position less than a second later. "Wait, I can just send a clone!"
This time, Sasuke did feel the chakra spike from a clone. The clone ran out of the bedroom, forgetting to close the door. Sasuke heard the front door closing and opening, too. And then, felt the pen again, moving down his spine, leaving goosebumps in its wake.
"What…are you drawing?"
Okay, a more intelligent person would have kept track of the pen's strokes, but…anyway. Sasuke hadn't. He was too busy trying to stay still and keeping his breathing steady.
"A surprise," Naruto replied.
"I don't like surprises."
The response took a long time, as Naruto was clearly focused, again, on whatever he was doing to their back. "Maybe you'll like this one."
Maybe he would.
Doubtful.
But he didn't move, except for the brief tensing of his shoulders anytime Naruto's fingers brushed anywhere near his shoulder. For the record, though, Sasuke was doing a perfectly great job, honestly, especially in such a vulnerable position. If Naruto really wanted, he could just stab him–it's not like Sasuke had eyes on the back of his head. But Naruto wouldn't do that. Obviously.
From the corner of his vision, he saw the clone coming in, closing the door, and setting the markers on the bed, next to them, and then disappearing in a cloud of smoke.
Forty-five minutes later, there was a knock on the door. Sasuke tried to move away, but Naruto shoved him back down, and thankfully, the door remained closed, and it was just Kakashi and Itachi wishing them goodnight. The front door, very obviously, remained closed, though. And Naruto was clearly too preoccupied to make the realization that Kakashi was sleeping over, in a different bedroom, too.
Half an hour after that, Naruto made another clone, but that one was only to turn the lights on, as any trace of sunlight had officially disappeared.
Almost four hours after that, Naruto crawled over his back, to stand up. "All done! You want to see?"
Sasuke nodded as he sat up. "You took hours, obviously I want to see. It better not look ugly because if it does, I'm going to make you wash it off tonight, I don't care if you used permanent markers."
Naruto turned around, slipping his shirt off. Sasuke would have said something about leaving it on the floor, but he was staring at their back.
There were trees, mostly in black ink, with some patches of green and red on their leaves. The trees opened up a path, almost exactly down their spine, lined with ridiculously detailed rocks. There was a black cat, with a long, elegant tail, walking down the path, presumably heading to the other side of the forest. Almost at a forty-five degree angle down from the cat in the path, there was another–or maybe the same cat, it had the same red collar on, climbing on a tree that seemed to have a little more color than the rest. Across that cat, across the path, on their lower back, almost where Naruto had been sitting on him, was the same cat again, this time colored in with splashes of orange, blue, and pink. The cat was leaving paw prints behind it, the paw prints closest to that cat getting more colorful, leaving behind the black color.
It looked nice.
"Keep in mind the colors look better on you because you're much paler than I am," Naruto mumbled, turning around. He kind of looked like he was expecting Sasuke to punch their face. "Do you hate it?"
Sasuke stared, "it's not the worst thing I've seen."
It looked like Naruto was going to smile at that, but Sasuke…wasn't ready to see more smiles from him today, even if he was sure that this one wouldn't be attempting to hide awful things. Instead, he let his attention drift downward, spotting Naruto's seal. It was pulsating, fading in and out. It must be his imagination, but it felt synchronized with his own heartbeat.
"Jiraiya couldn't fix it?" he heard himself ask before he could stop himself.
"A little," Naruto mumbled. He poked it. Hard enough for Sasuke to feel it, too. Maybe it was his imagination, too, but he felt Naruto's anger towards it. "It started getting worse again a few days back." Another, harsher poke.
Sasuke grabbed Naruto's wrist when he saw him ready to deliver another finger stab. "When?" he asked, doing his best to stare at–at–at…literally anything else. For some reason, though, he couldn't pry his attention away. He inhaled as it appeared, exhaled when it disappeared. Inhaled, exhaled. Faded in, faded out.
"Around the third stage. Maybe right after it, actually. I don't know."
Sasuke bit back a sigh, his other hand reaching to…brush his fingers on the seal. The seal was warm.
The Sharingan activated.
Suddenly, the conversation with the demon, in Naruto's mind, came forth, but Sasuke didn't pay it any mind, pushed it away, mostly because he was a little preoccupied trying to stop the stupid chakra from rushing to his eyes, so the bedroom could lose the ominous bloody tint. He rubbed his eyes and ignored the poke on his shoulder as he went on his side, laying down on the bed, closing his eyes.
"Are you okay?" Naruto probably looked as devastated as he did earlier in the day, if the cracked voice was any indication.
"Just tired," Sasuke mumbled. Even with his eyes shut tight, he could feel the chakra behind them. "Aren't you?"
"I guess."
Sasuke opened his eyes, biting back a sigh. Still red. The Sharingan remained. "Well, lay down," he said.
What was wrong with him? Even when he had the curse seals, he didn't have an issue deactivating his bloodline. The bed shifted with Naruto's weight. Sasuke scooted back, but he was sure that Naruto was also scooting forward because he was leaning on his chest quicker than he may have anticipated.
The Sharingan faded.
Something coiled tightly in his stomach. But that was probably the fact that he had only a few hours before he had to wake up and head to the Academy again. That was it. He took a deep breath and, when Naruto's leg hooked over his waist, closed his eyes.