Work Text:
“Naruto. You agreed-”
“I can’t ,” Naruto whined, turning over to bury his head in his Sasuke’s shoulder. “I don’t get why you’re making me do this. I mean, isn’t an alive boyfriend better than a dead one?”
Naruto couldn’t tell you the first time he ever met Sasuke, it felt like the other boy had always been in his life. Their mothers - before Sasuke’s parents passed away - were friends and determined that their sons would be friends to, so the two of them had been fighting and playing together since they’d learned to walk. He couldn’t really remember a time before Sasuke.
Itachi however, was a different story.
Naruto could tell you the exact moment he met Sasuke’s older brother.
They were six at the time, and it was their first sleepover at Sasuke’s house, the two of them had gotten into an argument over one of Sasuke’s toys or another (they both liked to pretend that they didn’t remember which toy it was, but they did. It was Sasuke’s stuffed dinosaur.) It took 0.3 seconds of Sasuke crying before Itachi showed up in the doorway of Sasuke’s bedroom, in all his eleven year old fury.
And from that moment on, Naruto was convinced that Sasuke’s big brother was the scariest person in the world.
And Itachi did nothing to disprove that notion. Over the 10 years of friendship after that first sleepover, Naruto avoided Itachi like the plague, because the minute Sasuke was out of earshot, Itachi would make sure Naruto knew just how much he disapproved of him.
“Stop being so dramatic.” Sasuke said, elbowing Naruto in the ribs in an attempt to push the blonde boy off him. “I met your parents. And godparents. And basically your entire extended family. You have to meet mine. And you’re lucky that’s just one person.”
“But I’ve met him already! Lots of times! But Itachi hates me! And he’s gonna hate me even more once he finds out that we’re dating.”
The two of them were lying on Sasuke’s bed, late afternoon sunlight filtering in through the window. Sasuke threw a glance back at Naruto, who was sprawled out, half on top of him, and raised an eyebrow. Naruto pouted at him but Sasuke just rolled his eyes and turned back to his textbook, propping his head up on his free hand.
“Itachi has no say in who I date.” Sasuke said, not looking up at Naruto. “So I don’t see a reason why it matters.”
“It matters if he murders me !” He shouted, and Sasuke winced at the sudden noise. “And it should matter to you too if he does that. Or if he cuts my dick off because we all know that you’re not -”
Naruto was cut off when a book collided sharply with his face and Sasuke sat up, pushing Naruto off him.
“Naruto.” Sasuke said seriously and turned to face Naruto. (You had to know Sasuke incredibly well to tell when he was being very serious, since everything he said came across that way anyways, but Naruto prided himself on his ability to speak Sasuke.) “Itachi doesn’t hate you. He’s important to me. And so are you. We’re going to tell him that we’re dating. Please.”
Naruto paused for a second with his mouth hanging open, processing what he’d just said. Their relationship, though inevitable, was still relatively new, and neither of them had told the other i love you yet, but Naruto could hear it in Sasuke’s words.
“You’re important to me too!” Naruto grabbed Sasuke’s waist and pulling him in for a kiss. He could feel Sasuke smile against his lips and pulled him in closer, lifting the dark haired boy up to sit in his lap. Naruto pulled back, smiling at his boyfriend’s little pout at the loss of contact. “And when you put it that way, you’re right. I mean we gotta tell your brother eventually-”
“Tell me what?”
Naruto practically threw Sasuke out of his lap and tumbled back across the bed. Sasuke looked equally mortified, the tips of his ears flushed a bright pink. Itachi was standing in the doorway, his signature amused smile playing across his face.
“Sorry to interrupt you boys,” Itachi continued. “I was just wondering what you wanted for dinner, Sasuke. Is Naruto staying too?”
“Naruto and I are dating.” Sasuke blurted, eyes trained on the wall above Itachi’s head.
“So...is that a yes to dinner?”
The two boys stared blankly at Itachi. Then each other.
“Did - did you hear me?” Sasuke tried again. “I’m dating Naruto. We’ve been dating for a few weeks.”
“Congratulations.” Itachi said, expression still unreadable. “Sasuke, why don’t you set a place for Naruto, then.”
Sasuke nodded, still staring suspiciously at his brother as he rolled off the bed and gestured for Naruto to follow him past Itachi and out the bedroom door. All hope Naruto had of Itachi just being surprisingly chill with them was dashed, though, when an arm flew up between Naruto and Sasuke, trapping the blonde inside the room.
“We’ll be right out, Sasuke.” Itachi turned to smile at Sasuke. “Naruto and I just have some things to chat about first.”
Naruto felt all the blood drain from his face as he locked eyes with his boyfriend, who just mouthed I’m sorry at him before Itachi slammed the door behind him.
“So...uh...Itachi…” Naruto stammered, shifting awkwardly from foot to foot. “What did you want to talk to me about?”
“If you hurt my brother, sorry, if you hurt my brother again , then I will demonstrate to you every single way I know how to kill a man.” Itachi was still smiling at him, the unbothered, serene look he always wore, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “I don’t need to tell you this, but you’re Sasuke’s first boyfriend.”
“Y-yes. I mean - I won’t hurt him.” Naruto flushed bright red, unsure of the right thing to say. “I uh. I really like Sasuke. Ya know?”
“Just like him?” Itachi raised an eyebrow and Naruto, if possible, blushed even darker. “Now Naruto, I don’t know if Sasuke has come out and said it yet, but if if you don’t feel as strongly as Sasuke does about you then I might as well just -”
“Please don’t kill me.” Naruto cut him off, hands coming up to cover his face instinctively. “I love him, okay? I just...you know, we’ve only been dating for a few weeks and I didn’t wanna freak him out or anything but if he...if he also…”
“That’s what I’ve been waiting to hear.” Itachi smiled again, a real smile, this time. He reached out and ruffled Naruto’s hair. “Naruto, thank you.”
“I- what?”
“You make Sasuke happy. You always have.” He continued. “He really does love you. And that’s very important to me. So...thank you.”
Naruto blinked once, twice, digesting what Itachi just said, then he broke out into a bright smile and hugged a very surprised Itachi.
“Man I was so scared to tell you because I thought you hated me since forever . And you’re really important to Sasuke so obviously it’s really important that you like me or at least don’t want to kill me-”
“Naruto.”
“Huh?”
Itachi detangled himself from Naruto, but kept a hand on his shoulder in a vice grip. He was still smiling at Naruto, but when he opened his eyes, Naruto would have jumped back in fear if Itachi hadn’t been holding him in place.
“C-can I go now?” Naruto asked, nervously. “I mean, I’m sure he’s waiting up for me-”
“Don’t think I didn’t see what you two were doing in here.”
“Homework?” Naruto squeaked, and Itachi’s nails dug into Naruto’s shoulder even more.
“And as much as I may like you, Naruto. If you ever pressure my baby brother into anything, there won’t be enough of you left for your family to bury.” With that, Itachi released him and opened the door. “Now run along. Sasuke’s probably wondering where you been.”
Naruto didn’t wait for Itachi to finish his sentence before he took off out the door, racing through the apartment to find Sasuke in the kitchen.
“How’d it go?” Sasuke asked, he was leaning up against the counter, flipping through a cookbook. When Naruto didn’t respond, he glanced over his shoulder to take in his boyfriend’s appearance. “That bad, huh?”
“Oh, no it was fine! Really! Itachi doesn’t hate me, I’m pretty sure. And he said that you -” Naruto cut off abruptly, blushing.
“What did Itachi say about me?” Sasuke squinted at him suspiciously and shut the cookbook.
“Nothing bad ,” Naruto said, taking a spot on the counter next to Sasuke and tipping his head onto his boyfriend’s shoulder. “Well. Besides telling me he’d murder me if I deflowered you-”
“If you what? ”