Archive of Our Own ^beta

Hate To Love You

The hospital was quiet except for the shuffle of paperwork and the low voices of a few healers discussing patients. The silence only made the bellowed “Sasuke!” sound more like the first tremors of an earthquake than the worried cry of a best friend. Only those who knew him recognized the blonde blur barreling down the hallway and they quickly got out of the way—they knew better than to try and stop him from finding the one he sought.

Uzumaki Naruto had grown, tall and muscular, though the muscles were hidden by his lanky form. He had come into his own slowly, but surely, and had finally succeeded in winning the villager’s praise and acceptance through sheer perseverance. Kakashi had appointed him the next Hokage and set him quickly on the course to learn as much as possible in as little time as possible. That wasn’t too difficult for him since he knew how to use his shadow clones to his advantage, but the headaches that came with the sudden influx of information often left him with a splitting headache.

He was pretty sure the only reason Kakashi was pushing him that hard was so he could retire faster.

Of course, his clones were all well and good, but they couldn’t be used in every situation, much to Naruto’s annoyance. And it was why he had been in Suna while Sasuke had been sent on a recon mission alone—a mission he should’ve been on. And if only he’d been there…if he hadn’t been playing diplomat to the stuck-up council members in Suna, then Sasuke wouldn’t be lying in a hospital bed right now.

He didn’t need someone to tell him where Sasuke was, they always put him in the same room anyways whenever he was injured due to Naruto’s cyclonic ways whenever Sasuke so much as got a papercut, but even if they put him elsewhere, he’d be able to find him. Because he could always feel Sasuke. It was a buzzing in the back of his mind, a bond link that he could feel pull taut the further they moved away from each other and one that would send a searing pain through his mind whenever Sasuke was hurt. It was the same way for Sasuke, but usually, his injuries were healed by Kurama before he even had the chance to visit a hospital.

But this time…

This time, the bond link just went slack. Not gone, so he knew Sasuke wasn’t dead, but it feel him with dread all the same. Even with all the distance between them, the years of chasing after Sasuke, and all the pain they put each other through, he’d never felt this and it scared him. He’d barely stammered his excuses to the dignitaries before he was full-out running toward Suna and was halfway there when a messenger intercepted him with a message—Sasuke had been gravely injured while on his recon mission and was at the hospital for treatment.

Naruto slammed the door open, stumbling into the room where Sasuke lay prone in the bed, covered in bandages. “Sasuke!” he hollered only to be immediately shushed by Sakura. He ducked his head, effectively chastised, and moved to the other side of the bed where he could watch his old teammate run her hands over Sasuke’s body. “What happened? How badly is he injured? I told Kakashi-sensei not to send him alone!”

“Shut up, Naruto,” Sakura hissed, eyebrows knitting together as she focused the chakra into her hands and scanned his body. “I’m almost done and then I’ll tell you what I know.” She knew it was hard for Naruto to be quiet for more than a minute at a time, but she really needed all her attention focused on the flow of chakra in Sasuke’s system as well as checking his organs and bones. It was too difficult to do with Naruto chattering worriedly in her ear.

Sasuke didn’t move, if it wasn’t for the slight rise and fall of his chest, Naruto would’ve thought he was dead. He was already so pale that he looked like walking death on a good day, and even though he wasn’t the most talkative, it was still hard for Naruto to see him so still. Normally when this happened, he’d burst into the room and Sasuke would be upright and rolling his eyes at his antics, so to see him like this shook him to his core. It was unnatural, it was wrong, and he didn’t like it. But he reined in the questions that wanted to be asked until Sakura finished her examination.

The chakra faded from her hands as she let out a sigh of relief and smiled at Naruto, “He’s going to be okay, Naruto, he’s just suffering from chakra exhaustion, but it’s severe. He’s almost completely out of chakra.” Her attention shifted to the corner of the room behind Naruto before she continued, “It’s going to take time for him to regain consciousness, he did almost die, I think he used the last of his chakra to use the Rinnegan to transport him here to the hospital. We were able to stabilize him and stop the bleeding, but he has no broken bones, and his chakra pathways aren’t too badly damaged.”

Naruto looked over his shoulder to see who she was talking about before his body tensed and he scowled at the man sitting quietly in a corner chair. “What the hell are you doing here?” he spat, meeting fathomless black eyes that were so similar to Sasuke’s and yet so different.

“I’m his brother,” Itachi said quietly, unbothered by Naruto’s anger. He’d been on the receiving end of it enough to know to avoid the blonde whenever he could, but he wasn’t about to leave Sasuke’s bedside when his little brother had been so severely hurt.

“You gave that up when you killed your clan.”

“Naruto!” Sakura admonished, coming around the bedside and grabbing Naruto none too gently by the elbow to drag him out of the room. She flashed Itachi a small smile, “I’ll be right back, let me just talk to my old teammate for a minute.”

“What? You’re kicking me out of the room?” he complained, putting up a mediocre fight that Sakura easily manhandled him through before she slammed the door shut.

“What do you think you’re doing?” she hissed at him quietly, shoving him against the wall and pinning him there with a glare. “That’s Uchiha Itachi in there, in case you forgot—”

“I didn’t forget, that’s why I said what I said!”

“—and even if he’s no longer an active ninja, he still has the skills of one, not to mention the genjutsu of the Uchiha clan. Do you really want to piss him off?”

Naruto huffed, crossing his arms over his chest, “His genjutsu is sealed along with his chakra, so it's not like he can beat me in a fight. But he doesn’t have the right to call Sasuke his brother! I’m his brother, and the only one he needs.”

“I know you and Sasuke are brothers in all but blood, but Itachi is still his biological brother and Sasuke is the one who wants him in his life," she said, trying her best to placate him. She heard the complaint enough times to know that Itachi was a sore subject from the blonde, but she couldn't bar Itachi from visiting, not when he was the only family Sasuke had left. "You know that. You were the one who helped Sasuke bring Itachi back home!”

“Where he was supposed to be punished, not pardoned.”

Sakura sighed softly, shaking her head, “That’s not fair, Naruto, and you know it.” She shuffled forward a step and hugged her old teammate tightly, “Look, Sasuke’s not dying, he just needs some rest—well, a lot of rest—so why don’t you go home tonight and come back tomorrow when Itachi isn’t here?”

“Can’t I just…give him some of my chakra?” he asked, returning the hug.

She shook her head and pulled away, “His chakra pathways aren’t collapsing, but they are damaged. You could do more harm trying to feed him your chakra in this state. We’re just going to have to wait for them to heal on their own and for his chakra pools to refill.” She pushed him toward the entrance of the hospital, “Go home. Get some rest and I’ll fill you in on everything tomorrow.”

“Itachi gets to stay though,” he said quietly, pained, “doesn’t he?”

“He’s family, Naruto,” she answered just as softly before slipping back into the room.

It hurt to hear those words even though he knew they were true, but he thought of Sasuke as his family. It hurt that he wasn’t thought of the same way. At one point, he had been. He had been the closest person to Sasuke, they were brothers in every single way except blood, and to the hospital, it seemed like that was the only way they considered. That empty place next to Sasuke used to be his to fill—a place left by Itachi—but when Itachi came back to Konoha, he usurped that spot from him. He didn’t know that he would lose that with Sasuke until it had already happened, though most of the time he could almost forget about Itachi’s existence.

It was true that he helped Sasuke bring Itachi home after the two brothers had met to fight, and had helped save his life too by pleading with Tsunade to heal him. It was quite the sight to see him burst into the Hokage’s office with two wanted nin in toe, but he had promised Sasuke that if they came back to Konoha, he’d convince Tsunade to save him—and he never lied. It took a lot more cajoling than he expected, but in the end, Tsunade couldn’t say no to him and while she couldn’t heal Itachi completely, she was able to at least heal the damage done and slow the disease that was killing him.

Unfortunately, he would most likely die of old age before the disease at this rate, though it would worsen with time.

And, as the next Hokage and Sasuke’s best friend, he was there to hear the truth about the Uchiha Massacre, he knew that Itachi had been ordered by the Council to kill his own family. As someone who desperately wanted a family all his life, he couldn’t fathom following the order and so while he stood behind Itachi receiving an official pardon, he didn’t stand behind Sasuke welcoming Itachi back into his life. In fact, he hated it. The place he had carved out in Sasuke’s heart seemed to shrink with Itachi now taking up room.

And it’s when he began to resent Itachi’s return to Konoha. He thought he’d be happy for Sasuke to be reunited with his brother, but instead, he hated how much of Sasuke’s attention Itachi got. He hated seeing Itachi beside Sasuke and the reminder that no matter how much he called himself Sasuke’s brother, in the end, he was just an inferior copy of one. Even eight years later, he still couldn’t get past his inferiority complex when it came to Itachi.

The man was perfect, everything he was not—a genius, hardworking, loyal to Konoha even to the point of spending eight years in exile, and beautiful, even more beautiful than Sasuke. He glided when he walked, he was soft-spoken and concise when he talked, had impeccable manners when he ate, and was beloved by all who worked with him. It felt like he was the only one who hated the man most days, and with the pardon and the few facts released stating Itachi’s involvement at Konoha’s behest, it was likely true.

Naruto cast one last lingering glance at the door to Sasuke’s room and then turned to leave. It would be better if they just avoided each other, like they usually did, and so he’d do as Sakura suggested and come tomorrow when Itachi wasn’t there.

“You’re here today too?”

Naruto couldn’t keep the disgust off his face at seeing Itachi again, though this time he was sitting right next to Sasuke with a book in hand.

Mysterious black eyes that he couldn’t read looked at him over the rim of his book, “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Because you were here yesterday!”

“I never left,” Itachi murmured, returning his attention to the book at hand.

He sputtered, “Never left…?” Maybe if he wore something different, he would’ve been able to tell, but he wore the same black clothes daily, though now that he looked closer, they did look rather rumpled for Itachi, “Why didn’t you go home?”

Itachi closed his book and set it on the knee of his crossed leg, “Sasuke has never been as injured as this, I thought it best to remain by his side until he wakes up this time.”

“You can’t be here all the time, you have to go home at some point,” Naruto said, balling his hands into fists as he worked to control his annoyance. “To shower and stuff…right?”

“Hn.”

He snorted, a smile cracking at the similar grunt that Sasuke always gave him. They were so similar in some ways and so different in others—Sasuke got angry a lot easier, for one, and at least smiled sometimes. Itachi never smiled, never got angry, he just watched and spoke when spoken to. Otherwise, he was practically a ghost. There would be times where he wouldn’t even see Itachi for weeks or even months on end with the former shinobi being relegated to the Archives Department to file paperwork.

Silence fell over them as Naruto stared at Itachi for another minute, but when Itachi opened his book and became steadfastly engrossed in it, Naruto moved to the other side of the bed. He noisily moved the flimsy chair nearby and sat down right next to Sasuke’s head, taking in the bruising on his friend’s face and the split lip.

“What the hell happened to you?” he asked as he leaned over to fluff Sasuke’s pillow. “I told you I should’ve gone on this mission with you, you bastard. Just you wait, as soon as you wake up, I’m gonna kick your ass for going solo.”

Itachi glanced at him, dark eyes flickering with bewilderment before returning to the book.

“And after I do that, you’re gonna treat me to ramen for making me worry so much,” he adjusted the blanket, smoothing it out even though there were no wrinkles in it. Sasuke didn’t respond, not like he expected him to, but he still watched for any signs of movement—even a twitch of his fingers. “You better wake up soon because I’m going to add a bowl every day you don’t, you hear me, Sasuke?”

Itachi couldn’t help but watch as Naruto fussed over his brother. He tried to be discreet, watching from over the rim of his book as Naruto tucked the blanket around Sasuke and then leaned close enough to feel Sasuke’s breath on his cheek.

He ignored the glance the first time, but when Itachi continued to watch him, he raised a brow, “Got something to say?”

“He can’t hear you,” Itachi said after a moment, “so why do you talk to him like he can?”

“Well, he might hear me, or he might not. I’d rather talk to him and he not hear me than just sit here in silence while he can. It doesn’t hurt anything, and it might help,” he shrugged, “so why not?”

Itachi stared at him again, uncertain of how to answer that, and then looked at his book again. Naruto was unpredictable to him, the blonde never acted how he expected him to. When everyone had given up on Sasuke, he didn’t, and fulfilled his promise to bring Sasuke back to Konoha—a promise that everyone thought was empty. He had only talked to Naruto twice prior to being pardoned, and both times was impressed with his tenacity. But since returning, he had found that being around someone like Naruto was tiring. He had so much energy and radiance that it was blinding, and being around him too long would often make him feel strange, feel things he wasn’t quite certain of what to do with. There was no doubt he had grown fond of his otouto's friend, and he had at one time hoped to become closer to Naruto, but when it became clear that his presence only caused Naruto upset, he tried to limit his time around him.

“So, what did Sakura say?” Naruto asked, trying to keep his tone neutral. Normally, whenever Sasuke was in the hospital, it was for minor injuries or just a cursory checkup and the two of them never crossed paths. Despite Itachi being a productive member of society again, he kept to himself and didn’t really interact with anyone outside of Sasuke. And Sasuke rarely talked about Itachi around him because he knew the two of them didn’t get along. Sasuke never asked why, and he never offered to explain it either, he might want Itachi to go away again, but he wouldn’t make Sasuke choose between them—he was afraid to find out who Sasuke would choose.

“We won’t know exactly what happened until Sasuke regains consciousness,” he said, closing his book once again. It was rather pointless trying to read it with Naruto there it seemed. “She took some blood samples this morning, she suspects he might have been exposed to a neurotoxin or poison that attacks the chakra in the body.”

His furrowed his brow, “But I thought he was stable and just needed rest.”

“He is not in danger of dying, but she said he should’ve regained some chakra, even if it is minute. She’s running tests and will let us know the results once she has them.” He stared at his otouto’s still form, his gut twisting at not being there to protect his little brother, but part of his pardon was agreeing to have his chakra blocked and retiring from active duty. He wasn’t allowed to participate in missions and while he was more relieved than not, there were times like this that made him regret that decision. Though it wasn't like he had much of a choice. “If he was poisoned, then the point was to incapacitate the person, not kill them.”

“Incapacitate?”

“It means the mission was a ruse to capture someone,” he paused, uncertain if he should continue, but steadily met those vibrant blue eyes, “someone with an abundance of chakra.”

Naruto might be dense, but even he could read between the lines when it was practically spelled out for him, “You mean it was supposed to be me lying in the bed, not Sasuke.” He wanted to angrily refute that accusation, but it was all too plausible to just deny it. He was supposed to go on that mission with Sasuke, he was supposed to be there when Sasuke was ambushed by something, but he was sent to Suna instead. As the two strongest ninjas in the village, the two of them were often paired up and everyone knew that. Though, a recon mission was supposed to be something just one of them could go on alone, but because it meant sneaking into Kirigakure, it was supposed to be a two-man mission. Sasuke insisted he could do it alone and refused to wait due to the pertinent information they could gain.

“Possibly.”

He tilted his head, confusion evident as he asked, “Why aren’t you blaming me then?”

Everyone else does—it might not have been said, but Itachi heard it just as loudly as if it had been spoken. He knew what kind of life Naruto had lived, he’d heard a lot about his otouto’s best friend from Sasuke and the insurmountable hatred and apathy he had overcome to get to where he was. Despite his treatment by the villagers at large, he continued to smile and laugh and push forward until he was surrounded by friends and accepted. Though Itachi had never been on the receiving end of one of those smiles or that laugh, he only ever received contempt and angry glances.

Though, he couldn’t blame the blonde. Even if it was under the orders of infiltrating the Akatsuki, he had threatened Naruto’s life and tried to bring him to the Akatsuki. He disliked thinking about what he would’ve done if they had been successful in kidnapping Naruto—the choice between sacrificing his brother whom he had given everything up for or sacrificing the Nine-Tails jinchuuriki which would be disloyal to Konoha wasn’t one he liked to dwell on. He had assumed correctly that the Sandaime wouldn’t allow him to leave with Naruto and was able to retreat without revealing that he was a plant to the Akatsuki.

And Naruto still seemed to be wary of him, even after living quietly in Konoha for eight years. He shifted in the stiff chair but kept the discomfort off his face, “Sasuke knew the risks of going alone. It isn’t your fault he was attacked, that is the life of a shinobi—to carry out missions that you will either fail, complete, or die trying.”

Naruto pressed his lips together into a thin line, but didn’t say anything else. The two fell into silence once again, but it wasn’t quite as stifling as it had been earlier. Both were lost in their own thoughts as they listened to Sasuke’s quiet breathing and waited for their brother to wake up.

A week passed with the two of them meeting daily during visiting hours. Every day, Naruto left once visiting hours were over and Itachi stayed, because he was family. It galled him and he didn’t try to even hide his disdain for the older Uchiha who had the relationship he wanted with Sasuke without even trying. Hell, Itachi had done everything possible to destroy that relationship and yet he was the one who got to stay with Sasuke through the night, even though he was the one who saved his life on more than one occasion and was the one who brought him back home.

Brought them back home.

Not that Itachi ever thanked him for it. For all he knew, Itachi wasn’t happy to be back home and would rather be a missing-nin still. But if that’s what he wanted, he ignored it and stayed in Konoha, refusing to cause any more problems. He did as he was ordered without question and worked in the archives without complaint, spending his days in relative silence and surrounded by the records of Konohagakure. It sounded boring as hell to Naruto, he would go stir crazy if he never had anyone to talk to for weeks on end, he was going crazy enough as it was with Sasuke unable to talk and Itachi almost just as quiet. He usually only spoke when spoken to or when Sakura made her rounds to check on Sasuke’s progress.

It wasn’t until nine days had passed that Sakura had an answer to what Sasuke had been exposed to, but while it was news, it wasn’t good. While Sasuke was stable and still breathing on his own, he still hadn’t shown any signs of regaining consciousness. She had been right that he had been exposed to a neurotoxin that attacked the chakra system, but it was unlike any they had seen before. It damaged the pathways enough that they couldn’t pour chakra into Sasuke without possibly collapsing his pathways, but it wasn’t meant to kill the person either, just incapacitate them.

“For lack of a better term, it eats the chakra so that he’s in a constant state of chakra exhaustion,” Sakura said, clucking her tongue in annoyance as she addressed the two men sitting on either side of Sasuke’s bed. “We’ve never seen anything like it and so it’s going to take us time to create an antidote, but at least we know it’s not killing him.”

"And if it had been me who got hit with this?” Naruto asked, it was the question that kept him up at night in his little apartment. Would they have been fine if he had been there?

She shook her head, “We don’t know, Naruto. You’re different, you have two chakra systems and you have a lot more chakra than most people. Maybe it would’ve hurt you, but not like this or maybe it would’ve drained both you and the Kyuubi of chakra and it would be you in that bed instead of Sasuke. Or maybe you both would be comatose. We just don’t know enough about it to know how it interacts with the body.”

“Then test it out on me,” he said, standing up, “you can replicate the neurotoxin, can’t you?”

“Are you crazy?” Sakura snapped, cuffing him on the side of the head, “Did you not hear me when I said maybe you’d still be conscious or maybe you’d be lying in that bed? We can’t have both of you in a coma, Naruto, and especially not when everyone knows you’re going to be the next Hokage.”

“But you might be able to figure out how it works and how to fix it if you got to watch it happen!”

“No. It’s too dangerous. Firstly, we don’t even have enough of the neurotoxin to use on you, and secondly, who’s to say if we use too much it won’t kill you!” She felt tears welling up at the corners of her eyes and sniffed angrily as glared at Naruto, “You have got to stop being so careless with your own life, Naruto.”

He winced as Sakura left the room. Her tears always made him feel guilty for things, even if he had nothing to feel guilty about, but he hated feeling useless like this too. He wanted to do something that would help Sasuke heal and if he couldn’t feed his chakra to him, then he could at least act as a guinea pig so she could figure out an antidote. He wasn’t trying to be careless with his life, but no one had ever cared enough about him to make him be careful and now it was just as much a habit as it was his personality to offer himself up.

“She’s right,” Itachi said, nose buried in a new book, “you shouldn’t be so reckless.”

“Like I need to hear that from you,” Naruto snapped, the anger he’d been constantly stamping down bubbling over. It was easy to give over to the resentment he harbored toward Itachi, the man made an easy enough target for it, and all the self-loathing he’d been feeling only fueled his mouth to turn his anger toward him.

He lowered his book, every movement elegant and poised in a way Naruto would never be able to replicate, “Maybe you do.”

“I don’t need to hear anything from someone like you, you have no idea what you did to Sasuke and yet you sit here next to him like you didn’t destroy his whole world.” He knew he was crossing a line neither of them had dared cross over the past week, but the lack of sleep and concern was starting to get to him. Not to mention all the energy he was expending using his clones to do all his studying so he could stay with Sasuke all day. He was waking up daily after getting a few hours of sleep with a splitting headache only to visit his best friend and see him already there, his mere presence rubbing in that he was Sasuke's real brother.

“I know what I did, Naruto-kun,” he said softly, “and I know why I did it.”

“Yeah, I know why too, but you can’t tell me that you couldn’t find another way. You were one of the youngest Anbu captains ever appointed, a prodigy not just to Konoha, but to the Uchiha clan, and you were Sasuke’s hero. I might know why, but I can’t understand why. Why couldn’t you have found another option, huh? Why did you have to torture Sasuke, why did you have to kill everyone? You’re telling me with all your smarts, you couldn’t figure out any other option?

“Do you even know just how much Sasuke suffered after? He shut everyone else out, he was orphaned and pitied. But he hated their pity and so he grew cold and callous, his every thought was consumed with hatred for you,” Naruto continued, mouth drawn into an angry sneer as he pointed at Itachi. “He called himself an avenger, his only thought was about how to kill you and avenge his clan—the clan you killed. You took everything away from him, he lost his family, his home, his clan, and his brother in a single night and yet you come in here, parading about that you’re his only family. What gives you the right?”

Itachi was silent, his stoicism hiding what his true thoughts were. He didn’t try to deny anything Naruto said, didn’t try to defend himself, he just let Naruto rail against him until he was satisfied. But some of those barbs landed and Itachi held the book in a white-knuckled grip. How to make another understand his mind when he didn’t understand it himself was beyond his abilities. At the time, it felt like he had no other choice, he could either kill his clan and leave the possibility of a revival through Sasuke or he could help in the coup that would either be crushed to the very last person or leave Konoha severely crippled.

“He went to Orochimaru because of you, he had to bear that damned curse mark and all the pain that came with it because he was power-hungry. Everything he did was for you and even in the end…” Naruto dug his nails into the palms of his hands as he glared angrily at a corner in the room. “He came back to Konoha for you. Not for me, not for Sakura or Kakashi-sensei or anyone else. But you. Why do you get so much of his devotion? Because you’re blood relatives? Why does that matter so much more than bonds we forged through pain and suffering?”

“Stay tonight,” Itachi said abruptly, standing up and tucking the book beneath his arm. “Your grievances are valid, and you have just as much a right, if not more, to stay with Sasuke.”

“Wait, what?” he stuttered, taken aback by Itachi’s sudden retreat. He thought Itachi would defend himself or throw some insults back—like Sasuke would do—but he didn’t even try to deny anything he said. “But I’m not family, they won’t let me stay. I’m…I’m not his brother, like you.”

“I forfeited that title when I destroyed Sasuke’s life.” He stopped at the door, looking over his shoulder at Naruto for a moment before inclining his head and stepping out of the room, “Good night.”

Naruto remained there, slack-jawed, as he tried to understand just what happened. Had he won an argument against Itachi? But could it really be called an argument when he was the only one yelling? He didn’t understand the elder Uchiha, he thought of him as the evil older brother of his best friend when he was younger, then later as their mutual enemy even if they were on opposite sides of the war, and now he was his rival for Sasuke’s affections, but Itachi just accepted all the horrible things he said in silence. Only an idiot would do that.

He sat back down in the chair and set his elbows on his knees before dropping his head into his hands, raking back his hair on either side. He knew Sakura and Itachi were right, he couldn’t just jump head-first into being tested with something they didn’t understand. But he hated feeling so useless. It had been years since he felt this helpless, it reminded him of when Sasuke had sacrificed himself when they were fighting Haku and he could only watch as Sasuke almost died at his feet. He had promised himself that Sasuke would never do that again, and yet he had—even if it was unknowingly.

And now Itachi was sacrificing himself in a different way, leaving Sasuke’s side so Naruto could have a little piece of this brotherly experience to himself. He looked at Sasuke’s sleeping face and sighed, “You’re going to have to explain this brother of yours to me when you wake up.”

Sasuke hadn’t shown any changes as they passed the one-month mark, but something had changed between Itachi and Naruto after Naruto’s outburst. Whether it was that Itachi began leaving Sasuke in his care at night or because Naruto was feeling sheepish for everything he said, it was a change everyone could see. No longer did Naruto shoot Itachi hostile glares as soon as he came in and while Itachi seemed exactly the same—bringing a new book daily to read—there was a slight relaxation of his shoulders that wasn’t there before.

“Hey bastard,” Naruto greeted cheerfully as he set down a vase of flowers from Ino, “Ino says you need to get well soon because she needs new pictures for the Uchiha Sasuke fan club and your pasty ass face in a hospital bed isn’t going to cut it.”

Itachi snorted softly as he raised a brow, he knew the Yamanaka girl could be rather loud and crass when she wanted to be, but he highly doubted she would say pasty ass face.

“Okay, so I might’ve embellished a little,” he chortled, scratching the side of his cheek, “but that’s about the gist of it.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“You were thinking it though,” he retorted, eyes sparkling mirthfully even though he kept the smile off his face. He still wasn’t comfortable around Itachi, the man was as mysterious as he was murderous—or had been murderous, either way, the point was even with everything he heard from Sasuke about Itachi, he still really didn’t know anything about the man. He had learned more in the month of visiting Sasuke than he had since Itachi returned to Konoha eight years ago, though he had never really been interested in learning about him before.

Itachi returned his attention to his book, but watched from the corner of his eye as Naruto went through his usual routine of insulting Sasuke for being lazy and fluffing the pillow before tucking the sheets around him. He would touch his hand at times or push the bangs out of his face while commenting that Sasuke needed a haircut before he’d settle into the chair next to him and start talking about anything that came to mind, even the most mundane of things. How he could find new subjects to talk about every day, for hours on end, baffled him to the point that he began wondering if it was some special jutsu Naruto possessed.

“I saw this cat on the way over here, it was black with gold and red and these wide golden eyes, but it was mean as hell—you’d probably get along with it,” Naruto said, almost rambling. “I tried to give it a piece of fish and would you know, it stuck its nose up at it! I never knew a cat to be so picky about free food, though I guess all food is free food to cats. It’s not like they pay for it, right? They just take whatever they want and then scratch you when they’ve had enough pets from you. If I was a cat, I’d never treat someone like that, I’d stay in their lap all day and eat anything they gave me…but if I was a cat, I wouldn’t get ramen, and that would suck.”

“Do you like cats?” Itachi asked, shocking them both as Naruto looked across the bed at him. He wanted to take the words back, they had been cordial toward each other and he didn’t want to ruin that, it was much more comfortable like this than having vitriolic truths spit at him, but he couldn’t swallow what had already been uttered. Unlike Naruto, he had enjoyed the other man's presence and didn't want to return to being on the receiving end of those resentful glares.

Naruto crossed his arms and leaned back in the seat, humming softly as he thought about the question, “I guess I do, I’ve never owned a pet before, my landlord won’t allow it, but I like to play with them when I can. But I hate it when they claw at me.”

“I thought you’d prefer dogs.” He certainly seemed to embody a lovestruck puppy, Itachi thought as he watched Naruto. He practically followed Sasuke around and here he was fussing over his little brother like a dog waiting for his master to wake up.

He shrugged, “I don’t think I’d really care what kind of pet I had if I could have one. Coming home to someone, even if it was a stuck-up old cat like the one today, would be nice. Having someone there… well, that’s not something I really know anything about.”

Itachi dropped his gaze, pain stinging at his heart as memories of his mother and little brother greeting him when he came home surfaced. Memories that he would much rather keep buried. He knew exactly what he stole from Sasuke and that there was no way he could ever make it up to him, no matter how much he tried. He had left a gaping, mortal wound in Sasuke that he wasn’t capable of ever filling. “It’s nice,” he said, sorrow coloring his words.

“I’m sorry,” Naruto suddenly blurted out, grimacing at how insincere he sounded, but the shadows that shuttered Itachi's face pulled the words from his throat. “I, um, I shouldn’t have said anything about the Massacre. If Sasuke forgave you and Konoha pardoned you, then I shouldn’t hold it against you.” He rubbed the back of his head vigorously, “I’ve been meaning to apologize for a while now but the longer I didn’t, the harder it was to say it, but I really mean it. I am sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologize.”

“If I don’t, your brother is going to kick my ass,” he jerked his thumb toward Sasuke, “he’s a little protective of you, ya’know.”

Itachi slowly slid his gaze to Sasuke and then back to Naruto, “He has no reason to be.”

“Well, I think he does,” he snorted with a slight roll of his eyes. “I mean, look at how you acted when I spouted a bunch of stupid stuff. Why didn’t you defend yourself when I was ranting against you? Anyone else would’ve, but you just let me yell at you and then left. If that’s what you do, then it’s no wonder Sasuke is so protective over you.”

“Nothing you said was untrue, so what is there for me to object?”

“Nothing? Come on, I’m training to be the next Hokage, and I’m Sasuke’s best friend, I know the truth about the Uchiha Massacre. I know what Danzo did and what he ordered you to do.”

“I knew something wasn’t right with the command," Itachi said, inflectionless but his expression one of haunted pain, "but I listened anyway because my superior ordered me to do it. I knew the cost, but I paid it anyway. I sacrificed everything for the village, and I may have been pardoned, but what I did can never be forgiven, it’s a curse I must bear until my death and I’ve accepted that.” He stood up, inclining his head respectfully, and moved toward the door to leave once again—something Naruto was noticing he did whenever the conversation moved into uncomfortable territory for him. “I need to report to work today, so I’ll take my leave now.”

Naruto watched him leave, his gaze lingering on Itachi’s back until it was no longer in view, and let out a sigh of frustration as he sagged in the chair. “I really don’t understand your brother, Sasuke.”

“Why do you work in the archives?”

It took Itachi a few seconds to realize that Naruto was talking to him, and he looked up from his book. Naruto’s constant prattling had quickly become a background noise for him, it was almost comforting to hear him talking about the different types of ramen that when it was just him and Sasuke, the silence felt almost stifling. It was strange for him, silence used to feel like solace to him, but now that rasping voice and animated movements put him at ease.

Naruto leaned against the bed to wave his hand in front of Itachi’s face, “Hello? You there, Itachi?”

It was the first time Naruto hadn’t called him ‘you’ since he had come back to Konoha and he ignored the aching tightness it caused in his chest. “It’s where I was assigned,” he answered stoically, leaning back into his chair to put some distance between them. He, thankfully, had control over his face so that the heat he felt rising beneath his collar didn't appear on his cheeks. Naruto always made a point of staying away from him, so he wasn't used to this closeness, and he was afraid his feelings toward Naruto would bleed through his impassivity.

“That’s it?”

“I enjoy my work, Naruto-kun, that is enough for me.”

“But, I mean, I thought with your skills and everything, you’d be given something more demanding than filing records.”

“And what do you think a clans-killer and ex-Akatsuki member should be trusted with?” Itachi asked, keeping his finger between the pages of his book as he set it against his knee. “Certainly not the training of the next generation of ninjas, it wouldn’t be returning to the Anbu, and not in handling any sensitive information that could be leaked. Additionally, my chakra has been sealed, I’m not much more than a civilian anymore, just with more training in taijutsu than most.” There was no bitterness in his tone, just sedated acceptance of his new station in life. “My job allows me a way to earn a living and be active while keeping me out of sight of most people, there are only two other people and neither seem bothered to work beside me.”

Naruto furrowed his brow, “What do you mean to keep you out of sight?”

He held Naruto’s stare for nearly a minute before picking up his book again, and answered softly, “I’m sure you understand the hatred that can be directed at a common enemy.”

He did. All too well. He spent the first thirteen years of his life being hated or ignored by everyone and it wasn’t easy letting that go even after he was accepted. It still felt like a dream that he was appointed as the next Hokage, a dream he was terrified to wake up from and discover that he was still that little boy who was so hated. Even worse, he didn’t even know for the first twelve years why he was so hated, just that no one wanted him and no one wanted to be his friend. It was why he craved a family so much, why having his place as Sasuke’s brother stolen from him hurt so much, and why he resented Itachi so much.

But he hadn’t thought Itachi would experience the same thing, those who worked with him loved him and so he just assumed it was the same throughout the village. It was rather stupid of him to think the three other people who worked in the Archives was enough to equal the rest of Konoha, but he only used it to make his resentment feel rational. He never asked anyone what they thought of Itachi, or thought about how being ostracized must feel to someone who had originally been so revered by the village. To see the people who had at one time smiled and preened around him to now sneer and insult him would be difficult for anyone—Naruto wasn’t sure what he’d do if everyone suddenly turned against him again. It would be agonizing, possibly enough to actually break him. And it didn’t help that while the village was informed that Sasuke and Itachi were pardoned, the details about why were sparse and more gossip than fact. He’d fought enough people over it on Sasuke’s behalf, though he usually let any slights against Itachi slide, but they were practically identical anyway with the most damning reason being to repopulate the clan.

“You don’t deserve that,” Naruto said, but Itachi didn’t respond back, letting them lapse into silence and putting an end to the conversation.

Itachi glanced up at the amber-colored liquid hanging in an IV bag before following the line to where it was affixed to his otouto’s hand. Sakura had come in two days ago, saying her team figured out an antidote and could start treating Sasuke right away, but that it would be a slow process. They had to slowly feed it into Sasuke’s body in case it made him worse because there wasn’t enough time to properly test it. The longer Sasuke was in a coma, the harder it would be for him to wake up from it.

It also meant he didn’t feel comfortable leaving Sasuke’s side, which left him rather sleep-deprived as of late. Naruto had been sent on a mission after six weeks of moping around Sasuke’s room, with the Hokage ordering it himself so Naruto couldn’t refuse—though he did try. But with Sasuke still fighting off the neurotoxin, Naruto was the best one for the mission and he couldn’t keep refusing just because Sasuke wasn’t conscious.

But the silence was beginning to gnaw at him.

It had been three days since Naruto left, and three days since he got little more than half-hour naps. It was much harder to push through sleep deprivation without his chakra available to him, but he had failed Sasuke so many times in his life, he wasn’t about to fail him now. So he pushed through it and watched for any sign—even a twitch of a finger—that Sasuke was regaining consciousness. They had too many enemies for him to trust anyone outside of Sakura and Naruto with his dear otouto. Sasuke was more accepted, but he was still given the cold shoulder more often than Itachi liked, but he understood it.

Sasuke had abandoned the village, had chased the fastest route to power, and hurt countless people who cared about him in the process. He had been young and immature though and that had worked in his favor once he returned. People were more willing to forgive a young shinobi leaving than forgiving the one who wiped out an entire clan.

His conversations with Naruto had been more interaction with another person in one month than with anyone else in his eight years since returning to Konoha—save Sasuke. His dear little brother made sure to talk to him whenever he wasn’t on a mission, though most of those conversations were about how he should try and be reinstated as a shinobi. But Sasuke didn’t seem to understand that he didn’t want to be a ninja anymore, he might be a gifted shinobi, but he loathed it. He was content to work in the archives, something Naruto seemed to accept.

Naruto had filled his days with entertainment and contentment, even when the Hokage-to-be was doing nothing more than looking over paperwork, just his presence was relaxing to Itachi. It didn't help that his fondness only grew for the blonde shinobi the longer they were around each other. His gaze always seemed to find Naruto, where he could admire his good looks from behind a book, but he made sure to stay far from crossing the line of bare acquaintances. He would forever be in Naruto's debt for bringing Sauske back from the path of destruction he was on, and while he might long for something more between them, he knew better than to seek it. Not only was he almost six years older than the blonde, but Naruto had made it abundantly clear that he did not like him. So he would enjoy this momentary reprieve while Sasuke was healing and accept it when it was over.

He rubbed his eyes tiredly and looked back at his book of the day, but he couldn’t focus with only Sasuke’s soft breathing filling the room. He flicked his eyes to the door and then to Sasuke before he looked at the book again. Naruto had always done all the talking, but now it was going on three days without anyone talking, and Naruto’s words kept coming to mind—that maybe talking would help Sasuke, and even if it didn’t, it certainly didn’t harm him.

“Shin-Chūnagon Tomomori-no-Kyō, who was in command at Ikuta no mori, after all his men had either fled or been slain, rode off toward the beach with his son Musashi-no-kami Tomoakira and a faithful retainer named Kenmotsu Tarō Yorikata,” he read softly, keeping his voice soothing and low as he turned the page. “When ten horsemen of the Kodama clan, carrying a fan as their standard, put their steeds to a gallop and gave chase. Kenmotsu Tarō, a famous archer, turned and let fly an arrow at the standard-bearer who rode in front, and pierced him through neck and backbone so that he fell dead from his horse.

“Then the leader of the band bore down on Tomomori to come to close quarters, but his son Tomoakira, anxious to save his father, sprang in between them and grappled with the enemy, throwing him to the ground and then springing down on him and cutting off his head. No sooner had he done this, however, than his opponent's page sprang down also, and taking him at a disadvantage, succeeded in despatching

him. Then Kenmotsu Tarō, falling in his turn on the retainer who had slain Musashi-no-kami, killed him also, after which, having shot away all his arrows, he drew his sword to continue the conflict, but, after being severely wounded in the left knee' by an arrow, unable to stand up any longer, he was overcome and killed…”

Naruto stood outside the door, listening as Itachi softly read to Sasuke, and debated opening it. He had come straight to the hospital as soon as he finished his debriefing, stopping only to talk to Sakura and be filled in on the newest developments, but as excited as he was to check Sasuke over for any signs of improvement, he couldn’t intrude. He had a feeling if he interrupted them now, it would embarrass Itachi that he wouldn't read to Sasuke again. A few weeks before and he wouldn’t have cared, but as much as part of him wanted to see what expression Itachi would have on his face, the rest of him wanted Itachi to keep reading.

Besides, he thought as he moved to lean against the wall next to Sasuke’s door so he could hear that soft baritone voice better, Itachi’s voice sounds nice like this.

Naruto breathed out slowly, he really shouldn’t be nervous, but for some reason he was. It was almost two months since Sasuke had fallen into a coma, but Sakura was confident he’d be coming out of it soon. The treatment was working and his chakra was beginning to replenish, though very slowly. It looked like Sasuke wouldn’t be back in the field for a few months even after he regained consciousness, not until they were sure his chakra was stabilized, but so far, the odds looked good that he’d be back to normal soon.

He pulled the door open and stepped inside, flashing a crooked smile that might’ve looked more like a grimace at Itachi. “Hey,” he said, hating how awkward he sounded, and quickly shoved the cup of tea toward Itachi, “I, uh, thought you might be cold.”

Itachi arched a brow but took the tea gingerly, their fingers brushing against each other. “Thank you.” He didn't point out that he was in a short-sleeved shirt or the fact that he never mentioned he was cold before, it was a gift and he wasn't about to question it.

“Yeah, no problem, I mean, I stopped to get some myself and thought I should get one for you too because you might be cold—I already said that, didn’t I?” he rambled, tittering nervously as he held up his own cup as if he had to prove he did stop for his own. He groaned under his breath as he turned and moved to his side of the bed, dropping the satchel of scrolls onto the chair. Kakashi—through Shikamaru—had told him he had to stop slacking off and if he was going to insist on sitting with Sasuke all day, then he could at least study. He hated studying, no one told him he would have to be smart to be Hokage, just strong. The Hokage was always the strongest ninja in the village, so why he needed to study the politics of the other countries and their history was beyond him.

But if he had to study in his office or study in Sasuke’s room, then he was going to choose Sasuke’s room. That Itachi just happened to be there too was just a bonus. When exactly Itachi became a bonus was beyond him, at some point the resentment he felt toward the elder Uchiha had changed to endearment. He had begun looking forward to seeing Itachi and talking with him, whether those conversations were just about simplistic things like his favorite food or in to deeper, heavier subjects like what Sasuke’s childhood was like. He had always thought Itachi was cold and detached, but he was beginning to see that he was just reserved and cautious.

He was quiet, but when he spoke, every word had meaning. He didn’t waste his breath just spouting anything that came to mind like Naruto did, though he also didn’t seem to mind it when Naruto did chatter on about nothing. He was always reading something, usually history books or philosophical pieces that were certainly more sophisticated than the porn he would proofread for Jiraiya. Not like he couldn’t read that stuff, but he doubted he’d make much sense of it and he had enough reading to do for his training that he wasn’t much interested either. But something about watching Itachi read was soothing.

Maybe it was in the way he sat in the chair, or the way he held the book, everything about it looked graceful and refined. The way he sat with his legs crossed and his back straight, his hair swept back in a low ponytail and yet a few strands continued to fall into his face anyway. And those dark eyes that would slowly move along, line by line, while flicking up every few minutes to look at Sasuke or Naruto. Sometimes their eyes would meet and Itachi would quickly divert his gaze and sometimes he’d hold it, like he was daring Naruto to speak up, to mention that something had changed between them.

And this was one of those times, though Itachi had set the book aside to drink his tea, tenebrous depths staring at him over the rim of the cup. Naruto cleared his throat and set his own cup down so he could fluff Sasuke’s pillow, turning his attention toward his best friend. “How you doing today, Sasuke? Sorry I’m late today, Kakashi-sensei made me fill out all the paperwork he didn’t want to do, the lazy ass, but at least you’re not too far from the Hokage Tower. But don’t you think it’s about time you woke up? I’m pretty sure if the roles were reversed, you’d have already kicked my ass out of bed, but you’ve got Itachi here to make sure I don’t do that to you.” He pushed Sasuke’s bags out of his face and gave his cheek a little pat, “Come on, bastard, wakey-wakey!”

Sasuke didn’t open his eyes and glare at him like he hoped, and Naruto sighed as he tucked the sheets in like usual before dropping into the seat. He didn’t feel the same need to fill the silence like before, though now it felt even more awkward for some reason and that made him want to babble just to cover up his nerves. And it was ridiculous that he felt nervous around Itachi now, but he couldn’t figure it out either. Nothing had really changed between them, Itachi was just as quiet as always and never did much except sit there and read. Sometimes he’d converse with him, but usually only if Naruto asked a question first, otherwise Itachi seemed content to just sit beside Sasuke and read.

Though not out loud, at least not when Naruto was in the room too.

“Sakura already came by,” Itachi said, knowing that would be Naruto’s next question. “Sasuke’s chakra reserves are still increasing, though slowly, but she said they are holding steady. The antidote seems to be a success. There is still concern about the purpose of it though.”

Naruto sighed, “Yeah, we were discussing how quickly the antidote could be distributed to our medic nins so that if anyone is attacked with it again, they can possibly treat before their chakra levels are critically low. Though it doesn’t seem to be a fast-acting antidote, it took two days to give Sasuke that whole bag.”

“But Sasuke’s chakra pathways were damaged as well.”

“Yeah, but we don’t know if that’s from the neurotoxin itself or if that was from using the Rinnegan while his chakra was already dangerously low,” he raked back his hair agitatedly. “It’s another reason we need Sasuke to wake up, so he can tell us just what the hell happened on that mission. We still don’t know who was behind the attack or if someone tipped Kirigakure off that we were sending someone to spy on them.”

Itachi canted his head, “Should you be sharing this information with me?”

“Well, as you already pointed out, your chakra is sealed. And you’re here all the time, or in the archives if you do leave, what are you going to do with it? Plus,” he shifted in his seat, clearing his throat as he tried to cover the slight blush on his cheeks, “I trust you.”

“Is that wise?” he asked after a pregnant pause. He didn’t need to expand on what he meant, Naruto knew the hatred directed toward Itachi and how not only was there hatred, but there was distrust throughout the ranks of the ninjas. Naruto already got enough flak for aligning himself with Sasuke, but to align himself with both Uchiha brothers…it was asking for trouble.

He shrugged, “Probably not, but the council already doesn’t like me, so what’s adding another reason to the pile?”

“Sasuke would tell me about how once you made up your mind about something, you couldn’t be dissuaded from it,” Itachi said as he gently shook his head. “I thought you hated me though, was I wrong?”

Naruto ducked his head guiltily as his cheeks turned scarlet, “I didn’t know you well enough to hate you, not really. I just knew you hurt Sasuke and what Sasuke went through because of you, but Sasuke was as much at fault for his actions as you were. It wasn’t right to blame you for all of it. And…I was the reason Sasuke left the village in the first place, if I hadn’t been the jinchuuriki, I probably wouldn’t have been stronger than him and therefore wouldn’t have made him feel threatened.”

“If you hadn’t been the jinchuuriki, you wouldn’t have been hated and spurned by the village. You would have been properly trained and possibly stronger than my otouto anyway. There are too many possibilities of what could have happened when you begin following ‘what-if’ paths.”

“Yeah, you’re right, though it’s hard not to do it,” he fiddled with the hem of his shirt and met Itachi’s unwavering gaze, “Do you ever go down those paths?”

“Yes.”

He didn’t expound and Naruto didn’t ask, no matter how much he wanted to. Instead, he nodded and picked up his satchel to dig out the history of Kumogakure. He opened it, trying to read the long records, but found he couldn’t concentrate on it at all, not with Itachi sitting across from him and watching him. He didn’t want to admit it to himself, this thing growing between them, but he was becoming harder and harder to ignore it. He wouldn’t say it was love, there was no way it was love—yet—but he liked Itachi, more than he thought he would. He could admit that to himself, something had changed between them and at some point, he began watching Itachi because he wanted to and looking forward to seeing him. “Um…” he started, crushing the scroll into his lap as he licked his lips nervously, “do you think maybe, if you had the time, I mean. I’m sure you’re busy doing…things, but if you could find some time, maybe you’d want to—”

A groaning sound interrupted him as Sasuke cracked his eyes open into little slits, “Why is the first thing I always hear is your rambling, dobe?”

“Sasuke!” Naruto exclaimed, jumping up to grab his friend by the shoulders, “Damn it, teme, it’s been almost two months since you’ve heard me rambling and you’re still complaining about it?”

“Two months?” he croaked in surprise, closing his eyes against the bright lights above.

“Stop talking,” Itachi admonished softly as he stood up. “I’ll find the doctor and some water, but until then don’t talk.”

Sasuke tried to move his arms, but they refused to respond, the muscles so weakened that they felt like immovable stone slabs. He instead settled for looking at Naruto, the idiot’s face split into a wide smile and his vibrant hair almost just as blinding as the lights above. He took in his surroundings, noticing the two chairs and that one was obviously Naruto’s, before looking curiously at his friend, “You’re in the same room as my brother?”

Naruto worked his jaw, but nothing wanted to come out. Sasuke knew he didn’t like Itachi, he had made it abundantly clear on more than one occasion, so he knew how strange it was that he was willingly around Itachi. But he wasn’t quite sure how to explain it to him just yet, not before he had even admitted his feelings out loud to the person they were toward. “Shut up, bastard, you were told no talking.”

Maybe now that Sasuke was awake, these strange feelings would fade and life would go back to normal. He could admit to enjoying Itachi’s company now, but that didn’t mean he liked him…he had just been rushing things because they had been together almost every day for almost two months.

Things did go back to normal, Sasuke was released from the hospital two weeks later and was already training again so he could return to active duty. Itachi returned to his own duties in the archives and Naruto was swamped once more with lessons and dignitary meetings. Within the blink of an eye, another month had passed and Naruto was missing those quiet days in Sasuke’s hospital room.

The only thing that didn’t go back to normal was his heart. If he hadn’t been sure before, he was now. He liked Uchiha Itachi, something about the man just drew his attention and made him want to know more about the enigmatic older brother of his best friend. But he still wasn’t sure how he liked him, whether it was friendship, comradeship, or something more.

Which was why he was waiting outside of the Hokage Tower for Itachi to leave.

It had taken him more time than he’d like to admit to gather up the courage, it was rather ludicrous to even pursue a relationship with the one who was his rival, but he also couldn’t get Itachi out of his mind. Once he saw past his own self-loathing and resentment, he realized just how amazing Itachi was and he found himself constantly thinking about what Itachi was doing or what he would think about a certain subject. His thoughts used to be filled with Sasuke and his well-being, but now they were about his best friend’s elder brother.

It was taking him a bit just to process that.

But now he was ready to find out what Itachi thought, for all he knew, he was a thorn in his side and nothing more than an annoyance he was happy to get rid of. He really hoped not, but he couldn’t stand not knowing either. He never was one to be patient and, as Sasuke pointed out more than once, once he made up his mind, he didn’t deviate. He wanted to know and he was going to find out—tonight. Or, at least he hoped to. He didn't even know when Itachi would be finished working, but he was at the main entrance, so the chances of missing him were pretty low.

“Naruto-kun?”

Naruto straightened up as he looked to his right where Itachi stood, head cocked to the side as if that would help him understand why Naruto was loitering outside the building. “Hey, Itachi,” he said, quickly closing the distance between them until he was standing next to him, “can I talk to you for a couple of minutes?”

He frowned, but nodded, following slowly as Naruto led them to a secluded area, “Is there a concern with Sasuke?”

“What, no!” he quickly said, turning on his heel to face Itachi, “No, that’s not why I wanted to talk to you. Though, how is Sasuke doing? I haven’t seen him in more than a week now,” he rolled his eyes, “he doesn’t see the reason to see me daily now that he’s conscious of it. He probably enjoys your company more than mine anyway, and with you around, there's not much of a reason to see me.”

Itachi stopped, “I have never tried to interfere with your relationship with my otouto, Naruto-kun. I wouldn’t do that, not when you are the reason he found another reason to live.”

"I wasn't trying to say you were interfering," he said with a sigh, old habits were hard to break. Even though he was confused about what kind of relationship he wanted with Itachi, he was still quick to let that inferiority get the better of him. "Sorry, I didn't ask to talk to you to make you feel guilty for doing nothing wrong. And I wouldn’t say I'm the reason Sasuke came back home, I just showed him there was another option.” It was strange, three months ago, he would’ve been crowing over what Itachi just said, but now he didn’t want to stomp over what Itachi and Sasuke had. “And I don’t think he’d be as happy as he is now if you weren’t here.”

“I’m sure he’ll be happier once you ask him out.”

“Yeah, I’m—w-what?” Naruto choked, staring incredulously at Itachi, “You think I want to date Sasuke? Where the hell did you get that idea from?”

Itachi frowned, “You two are always together. You came rushing back from Suna as soon as you found out he was in the hospital. You’ve admitted you love him and he loves you. Isn’t the next logical step dating?”

“No, definitely not. We might love each other, but we’d also kill each other if we were in a relationship. We're both too stubborn for our own good and would fight all the time. Even more, I don’t see him in a romantic light, and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t either. I meant it when I said he’s my brother too. I always resented the fact that you were his brother, I thought you were going to take my place because there’s no way in hell I’m going to ever be his lover.”

“Ah, that is why you disliked me.”

“Yeah, but I don’t anymore,” Naruto said, hurriedly as he stepped a little closer to Itachi. “We can share him, can’t we? You might be his blood brother, but I’m his soul brother and that's gotta count for something.”

Itachi fell silent, thinking over Naruto’s words carefully before giving a minute nod, “Yes, we can.”

“But, I…uh…I don’t want you to see me as a brother.” Why was it so hard to put his feelings into words? He knew without a doubt what he felt toward Sasuke wasn’t the same as what he felt toward Itachi, even if their features were similar. He had never thought that Sasuke was beautiful in the moonlight, but the way it danced across Itachi’s pale skin and cast an ethereal glow around him made Naruto want to kiss him. “I like you,” he blurted out, nervously chewing on his bottom lip before continuing, “romantically. I think, at least.”

“You think?”

He rubbed the back of his head with a small chuckle, “Well, I’ve never really been in a relationship before and so I don’t know for sure. But I know I want to kiss you, and I’m hoping you might not mind that…or maybe even feel the same way?” It was more of a statement than a question, but the hope he felt that Itachi didn't look disgusted by what he said had him boldly stepping closer.

“You do understand that I am not well liked, and that I am your best friend’s brother,” Itachi deadpanned, amused at the way Naruto nodded his head vigorously. He knew his feelings toward Naruto already, had for quite a while, but he had tried to ignore them because he knew Naruto couldn’t stand him. But if Naruto's feelings had changed…

“I know!” Naruto groaned, “And I’m sure Sasuke is either going to congratulate me or kill me, but I’m hoping that maybe I can figure out whether I want to date you or just be friends first.”

"The easiest way to discover that is to try kissing," he said softly, his gaze dropping to Naruto's lips. "If you don't feel anything, then you will have you answer."

He nervously glanced from those tenebrous depths to those sinful lips, "You're okay kissing me?"

Itachi leaned forward and pressed his lips against Naruto’s, letting them linger long enough for Naruto to grab him by the shoulders and bruise their lips together. He slowly pulled away, staring into the bright blue of Naruto’s eyes as Naruto licked his lips as if chasing after his taste, “Does this help you decide how you like me?”

“Yeah…yeah, it does,” he said breathily, letting his hands slide down until they were holding Itachi’s. “Would you like to get some ramen with me?”

“Dango after?”

Naruto smiled, brilliantly shining, and interlaced their fingers as he pulled Itachi toward his favorite ramen stand, “Absolutely.”