Jealousy is a funny thing... (for eyes_that_burn)

[sanzengarasu]

When they finally did leave Konoha, he thought things would get quieter and he would have the time and space to just figure things out. At first, it did feel that way. After some small exercises and tuning into what the crows would inform him of, he managed to navigate the forest paths for travel with the minimal of stumbling. Falling into a pace of just walking with one partner felt familiar...

Then they would come upon towns or villages. The people unnerved him, but they didn't bother him. The noise level even started to get easier to discern unlike in Konoha. But then he started to realize what they were saying instead of how loud people were. The whispered words became easier to hear the more he relied on his ears instead of his eyes to keep 'watch' of his surroundings.

"Oh wow, did you see him? Isn't he gorgeous?"

"That's the same Sasuke from before? Aaah... he's even more handsome now."

Itachi didn't think it bothered him that much at first. Then he realized it got more detailed. Descriptions he knew came after his loss of sight. From comments on his brother's hair to the supposed placid look on his face. Some even spoke of how utterly entrancing his brother looked when he took care of him. A notion that made him walk a little stiffer than before even going so far as to trip when he normally wouldn't over things he could have avoided.

It irritated him. Like a burn under the skin. Like how it felt when his lungs informed him enough was enough. It burned and itched under the surface causing his jaw to tighten and unnecessary glares to be cast in the general direction of the voices. When had he started to react that way? Why did it even bother him so much his hearing automatically honed in on the pointless prattle of the women fawning and cooing over his little brother?

It wasn't like none of those comments weren't said about himself. He just felt utterly deaf to them. The only ones that caught his attention were those meant for Sasuke. None of it really clicked till he stumbled one time when he was making his way toward the room they were occupying, his eyes narrowed as he had to grab the railing while going up the stairs.

"Are you alright, Itachi-san?" Turning his head, he placed that voice with the innkeepers daughter and let out a sigh. He couldn't turn his ire on her even if she was part of the current uprising of whispers about Sasuke.

"I'm fine... thank you." The polite gratitude was forced out in the last, even if he knew she didn't deserve the glare he knew he was boring into the floor.

"Can I help you get to your room? Since Sasuke-san is not here with you? Did he leave you behind today? That doesn't seem like him... he's so sweet looking when you walk together and he helps." Itachi could almost hear the breathy sigh or the look of adoration that might be on her face. "Did you know his face completely changes when he looks at you?"

Itachi went still. His foot had been poised to go to the next step without answering her... when the realization hit him. One hand gripped mercilessly at the railing making the wood creak as that knowledge hit hard. "I can't see him."

The girl must have realized her error in that moment as she gasped and went silent. Without looking back at her, he continued up the stairs to their room. Instead of counting steps, he ran his hand along the wall and counted the doors instead. His mind was too full of irritation that knotted up in his chest and made it a little harder to breathe. A problem he'd not had to deal with in quite a while.

I can't see him.

Throwing the door open, he took no time to slam it shut like a child having a tantrum. In like fashion, he tugged off his cloak and dropped it by the door before marching into the room toward the bed. He found his bag near his side of the bed and pulled it out. His actions felt automatic, unplanned but methodical. In the end, he'd thought he wanted to just sleep it off. Curl up and rest while Sasuke took care of errands and supplies they might need.

Instead, Itachi only made it so far as to put on a traditional sleeping kimono and sit down in a chair near the window that he purposely faced toward the door. The time that passed should have cooled him off. He should have found the ability to organize and soothe the feelings in his head... but all he could do was think about what he couldn't do. Itachi wanted to see Sasuke. Up until this point, he'd been fine with this penance. He could deal with this one loss just to be with him. So why? Why did it bother him so much?

Crossing one leg over the other, he placed an elbow on the chair so he could set his chin on his palm. The motion caused the material to slide away, gliding down his legs with a soft hiss. The other hand then tugged the tie out of his hair and he played with it over his fingers thoughtfully. The feeling of the rope like material gave him ideas... ideas he should never have about his little brother and should make him ashamed of himself. But the roiling emotions under the surface told him he couldn't and wouldn't let it go that easily... not until he did something about it.

"What would you do... otouto... if I asked you to trust me that much?" He asked the words to no one in particular, full well knowing that Sasuke would be back soon.

Comments

[eyes_that_burn]

For most of his life, Sasuke straddled a line between not noticing and not caring. He had managed to perfect this tightrope walk over the years, sometimes letting the two bleed into one another, muddying the waters until there was nothing but a mixture left over. People stared. People talked.; they had since he had been a child. Sometimes, it was about his past, others for his traits, and the idle chatter of the female persuasion was the last thing he ever registered. It hadn’t mattered.

None of it ever had. None of it ever would.

Their looks crawled over his skin, and he wondered if they would be as curious if they could see the scarring on his missing arm, the way it ended and the skin looked tender, new. He wondered if they would think anything of him if they knew that it took longer to get dressed or that he still struggled with his hair.

It didn’t matter. Let them talk, let them fawn; he had other things on his mind. Leaving Konoha had been harder than he thought, and he had kept the routine the same: in the middle of the night under a moon, he and his brother had departed the same way he had when he had gone in search of Orochimaru. Only this time, no one was following them.

And the villages and small towns were okay, more often than not casting nothing more than a passing glance at them as they walked by; a blind man and someone with one arm hardly sparked worry or fear. He was content with that in the way that all shinobi would be: being unnoticeable was an asset, regardless of what Naruto and his loud orange thought.

The hotel today was suitable, neither too flashy nor something of a slums, and he was fetching dinner and other supplies while his brother rested back at the room. Okonomiyaki was grabbed for the both of them, along with some dango, water, and tea, all of it precariously balanced in a bag clutched in his hand. A woman brushed against him in a way that he didn’t think was accidental, and she might have cooed over the strong lines of his body.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, fighting the urge to let them flicker to the rinnegan and sharingan. He hoped his brother was having better luck.

The rest of the way was without incident, and he entered the establishment to make his way towards the door. The bag was shifted up his wrist, his hand free to use the key, and he managed to do it almost seamlessly, as if he had been doing it for years. The door cracked open as he was about to step inside, only to a voice behind him, high-pitched, nervous, but with the underlying flirtation that had become commonplace.

“Um, excuse me? Sir?” She approached, a cute younger woman with her hair pulled back into a tight little bun at the nape of her neck. Sasuke looked over his shoulder but didn’t turn around. “Do…do you need anything? T-towels? Help with dinner? Tu-turn down service?”

The innuendo went over his head. “I have dinner here.” His arm raised with the bag in question.

“O-oh.” The disappointment was tangible in the air. “Well, if you need anything, like company for a drink--?”

“I have company already.” And with that he stepped inside, the door slowly closing behind him. The bag was set down before he even looked up at his brother and—

He…looked beautiful. Elegant and long and painted from an artist. The flash of his legs, the way is hair fell…he straddled the line of androgyny so perfectly that he could hardly believe that someone like that was real. Why did people even look at him when Itachi was…was…

“I brought dinner, nii-san,” he murmured, fighting down the blush. He shouldn’t even be thinking this, anything at all.

[sanzengarasu]

He heard the keys in the door, but he didn't move. Vacant eyes flicked in that direction and he waited patiently. Itachi figured he could manage a level and normal conversation even with his brother at this point. Things could fall back into that easy, comfortable pattern and he could just bury that question and desire he wanted to ask.

He could have.

Until Sasuke stopped and a voice drifted through the door. Her offer hit him in such a way that his fingers coiled sharply around the tie and his knuckles whitened with that sharp bloodless feeling. Normally he missed such... implied meanings... but he had heard them enough both from his partners when they boasted of their own activities and from women that approached himself. This time, it didn't escape him and he didn't ignore it.

Eyes narrowing, he had no doubt that his brother would decline... but it didn't make him feel better. It made that horrible irritation flare up under the skin again. Even sightless, the black hues of his eyes burned with an old feeling that would have dyed them red with their intensity.

The door closed as he shifted his head to rest his cheek on his palm in such a way his hair slid across his cheek and into his eyes unnoticed. A soft huff left him, rustling the ebony bangs in such a way they tickled his skin of his lips and chin. "Welcome home."

The word home had so many implications. It could mean a place. It could mean where you were from. For Itachi... it was a person. Pushing to his feet, he brushed his hair back over his shoulders and took slow deliberate steps toward his brother. He stopped right at the end of the bed, or rather, where that spot should be. A hand rose and he beckoned the younger to him. "Sasuke... come here."

Breathe. Just breathe and don't give in to this burning. If he repeated it enough, maybe his better sense would listen. But he felt poised for flight... to move in an instant. He wanted to touch Sasuke. Wanted to map out every line of the one person that meant the world to him. "The innkeeper's daughter stopped me on the way here... she said something... and I couldn't quite get it out of my head." He chose his words carefully as he softly swept some of his hair behind one ear.

"I need to know something..."

[eyes_that_burn]

There was a tension in the air, one Sasuke wasn’t expecting, one that hadn’t been there that morning before he had left. It was curious, strange, something different and he watched with fascination as Itachi climbed to his feet. His brother had tripped earlier, but none of that seemed possible now with that grace, that strength. This felt more like the old Uchiha, the one he had admired, idolized, the one that had seemingly been in control of everything and everyone; Sasuke felt an anticipation slip through him.

The food was moved to the nightstand, forgotten and left to get cold. The biting remarks that would have spilled from his throat at the other’s demand to go there never was born; he went compliantly, carefully, standing between him and the bed.

Innkeeper’s daughter. Sasuke vaguely remembered her, would have been able to pick her out of a lineup only because his job was to be aware of people but not what they thought of him. She might have mooned over him. She might have mooned over Itachi. Those that did the latter… those were the ones that stuck with him, annoyed him, pissed him off. What right did they have when they hadn’t been there for the worst? What right did they have when they would have killed him for the notoriety and money just a few years prior?

No one had a right to look at Itachi other than him, and even he was questionable.

“Hm?” Because it was short and sweet and he tried not to look at the sleeping kimono or the way his hair fell so beautifully around his shoulders, his neck. He was pale, like Sasuke was, and it was like the moon itself was shining in the room, shining on him. He was glad his brother couldn’t see his flush.

“What did she want?” And it was maybe a little bitter, belying a few more emotions than he cared to admit.

[sanzengarasu]

Tracing Sasuke's direction and movements, his eyes followed even if they couldn't see him. And before he heard the change of course to approach him, a small pang of guilt slid up his spine. Breathing in slowly, he told himself he shouldn't do anything too much, but then he felt Sasuke so close and he asked about what started this flare up of...

Jealousy.

The word hit him like a knife between the eyes. His eyes widened a little and he reached up to rub the bridge of his nose for a second before he found some words, wrong or right, to say. "She asked me if I knew what you looked like... when you looked at me."

And now... he really wanted to know.

Lifting his head again, he noted suddenly that Sasuke was quite literally where his original less than innocent desire wanted him to be. Reaching out, he let his hand rest softly along the line of his brother's neck just at the junction where it met his shoulder. Lashes lowered as he felt the warmth of his brother's body, nearly brushing the skin of his cheeks before he let his hand slide lower. "I didn't know... how much I wanted to see you until that moment."

His words came out softly, almost a purred whisper as he pressed his palm against the younger's chest. No. He shouldn't do this. But the more he fought off that desire to move, the more the whispers grated like sandpaper on his skin. Tightening his jaw, he pushed Sasuke back on the bed, following after him in one fluid movement. Nothing was absolute force other than the collapse onto the bed itself...

Rather his hand on Sasuke's chest was firm, but not hard... and the other hand that caught his brother's smoothed up from his forearm, over his wrist and then pressed palm to palm. Long slender fingers slipped between Sasuke's, intertwining them together elegantly before pushing that one limb over his brother's head against the bed. A fall of silken raven colored hair slipped past his shoulders as he leaned down over the younger Uchiha only partially shadowing the flush of red that heated his cheeks...

Somehow his knees moved to bracket either side of his brother's hips, the dark material of the sleeping kimono slipping with a ticklish sensation off of his thighs that made him realize how little he let anything touch his own skin. A shiver ran up his spine as he lowered down and pressed his forehead to Sasuke's gently. "I want to know how you look at me... and I can only do that by touching you."

A line creased his brow as he gave his brother a hopeful look. "Do you trust me enough to allow me to do that? Even if it is just this once?"

[eyes_that_burn]

When…Sasuke looked at him.

The blush was immediate, swallowing, a sort of devouring of him so deeply that he could feel it in his neck, his chest. Did it show? Did the ideas and wonders on his mind show as deeply on his face? He had spent so much time making himself express nothing that to know he was failing in that duty now…

Tch. Passerbys. They knew. They saw, they recognized and he was left wondering what they assumed. “Nii-san, I--“

But he had no words, no excuses; he wanted to tell Itachi that they were lies, tales from foolish girls who had no sense, but…his brother was touching him. Could he feel the heat swarming under Sasuke’s skin? Could he count the hurried rush of that racing pulse? Would he know?

It didn’t matter, though, because Itachi wanted to see him. Itachi wanted to see how Sasuke looked at him, and he felt both afraid and excited. His breath caught like logs in his throat, fingers twitching at his side. He was whispering, but it sounded…sensual? The hand was at his chest, and he knew there was no avoiding his stampeding heart now; he would feel it. It would be impossible to avoid.

There was pressure, and almost too late he realized he was falling backwards, just as much his brother’s fault as it was his own. The bed was waiting to catch him, soft; he bounced against it before he felt the weight of Itachi’s familiar body over him. Close. He was so close; he made up all of Sasuke’s world. “Nii-san, what--?” But the hand was moving, up, over, and the fingers were in his own. He squeezed them a little, trying not to let himself become overwhelmed by the ticklish ghost of that dark, long hair over his skin.

This…wasn’t what he had planned. Was this a dream? Was it real? His brother’s legs were on either side of him, and they were warm. The curious desire to see what was under that kimono nearly drowned him, but he wasn’t…he wasn’t supposed to…

Trust. A year ago, he would have said no.

A year ago, he was another person.

“Mm.” Because the word yes was frightening, even though mm meant the same thing. His thumb ran over the other’s knuckle, heartbeat in his head. Maybe he was misconstruing it. Maybe…he was reading it out of context. “But…you already touch my face. How is this going to be different?”

[sanzengarasu]

Itachi's gaze moved to his hand where it rested on the younger's chest. He felt the sudden quickening of his pulse and he frowned just a little. Was Sasuke afraid? Did he think Itachi would hurt him? Even if he asked, he knew the younger wouldn't answer that one honestly if he was afraid.

So... he simply wanted to try and soothe it somehow.

The squeeze on his hand pulled the smile back out of him as he drew his gaze back up to Sasuke's face. No matter how much he willed it to be so, he wouldn't see him again. The delicate lines and angles or the dark hair against pale skin... All of those things were frozen in time in his mind. All he had was touch to see what changes he could find. "I don't know..." His brow furrowed as he took a long breath. "But it's not... just..."

The words came in halting fashion as the heat increased in his face even slipping into the tips of his ears and a little down his throat. The blush felt like fire running over his skin as he hesitated to say the words that burned on his tongue. "I want to see all of you." The word was used so incorrectly... but it felt safer... less obtrusive than saying he wanted to touch every part of Sasuke.

Sitting up a little, he made up his mind. This made him officially, the worst older brother in likely the history of siblings. But that driving need might drive them further apart at a point that would hurt far worse if he let it continue to simmer under the surface. "You can stop me... I won't fight you..." He paused as he shifted to pull Sasuke's hand to his lips and kissed the back of it airily. "I will never hurt you again." He would sooner run himself through than do that again.

Itachi was done hurting his brother.

Slowly untangling their fingers, he kissed his palm then sat up, settling down across his brother's hips and pelvis, he moved his hands to the tie around his waist. It had to work for now... he didn't think he would actually do this. Not really.

Pulling it free, the material went loose, parting further along his chest as he recaptured his brother's hand and moved to slide it over his head once more. He tried not to think about his brother's eyes on him or how his own body, so easily seen in t his moment, hovered over Sasuke while he carefully tied his wrist to the head board. The knot wasn't tight and if Sasuke really did want free, he could easily wriggle away if he tried.

Drifting back down, one set of fingertips slipped down his arm while the other set carded through his brother's soft hair. It occurred to him that it was different. Less wild and buoyant and a little longer.

One last try... Leaning down, he drew his lips from his brother's forehead to the right temple softly. Pressing a kiss there, he drifted lower, the petal soft tiers smoothing over the skin of his cheek before moving to his ear. "You can tell me to stop, Sasuke."

[eyes_that_burn]

It wasn't fear. He wasn't afraid of his brother, not anymore.

He was afraid of himself. Of what this meant, of what he was construing, of what was being so delicately laid out before him. Was he seeing it properly without rose-colored glasses? Was he right in that--

But Sasuke was hearing it correctly, was taking it as it was being laid down before him because everything was starting to fall into place like puzzle pieces, like keys to unlock all of the doors. Itachi was blushing; even lying in his shadow, Sasuke could see the color, could see the hints of pinks in his face. He meant it in the way Sasuke thought it, and it made his own face heat to impossible levels.

All of him. All of him.

The lips were soft against the back of his hand, and he almost felt tied by his brother's presence more than he ever had by ropes and bonds and genjutsus. Stop him? If he was more in control of himself, he might have; not for the lack of desire, no, but because he didn't want to disgrace him, taint him, wrong him.

Sasuke didn't feel exactly strong in the moment. When his palm was kissed, his fingers curled, brushing down that cheek before he was out of reach. Sasuke watched with curiosity until he went for that tie, and he realized....realized...what he was going to see.

"Nii-san..." Are you sure? But he was, wasn't he? As he tied the wrist blindly, Sasuke realized that he was. Had Itachi planned on this? Was this impromptu? How long had he wanted it? How long had Sasuke not been the only one thinking of these things?

There was a sigh, an almost contented gasp of air as he leaned into the hand in his hair. A weakness. It made him shiver under the other's touch, lips parting as he whispered his brother's name. Good. It felt good. As good as the kiss on his temple, as the breath against his ear.

"I want..." He trailed off for a moment, before he sighed and licked his lips. "I won't fight you, but I want to see what you do. I want--"

It was so difficult to speak the words; what he was going to ask was difficult for any Uchiha, nearly impossible, went against every instinct. But...he wanted to know. He wanted to feel what his brother did. He wanted--

"Blindfold me. I want to know what you feel." What you miss.

[sanzengarasu]

His eyes closed at the feeling of Sasuke's fingers against his cheek no matter how fleeting the touch might have been. Tipping his head a little, he let that tone run over him, the question and unspoken thoughts in between them that neither really wanted to ask. Asking almost felt like it would disrupt this moment, the air around them as it pulled him in.

Smoothing his fingers through the raven hair, he let his fingers tangle and curl through the strands affectionately as he memorized the texture and feel of it. Patience. He needed to wait... he needed to hear Sasuke's answer. No matter the soft sighs and slight movements into his touch, he needed to hear something clearer.

Even if hearing his name said like that made him tremble slightly. Exhaling a shaking breath, he tipped his head a little to nip his brother's ear softly before moving back but not too far away. He didn't know he would like his name on his brother's tongue said in that way... or how it would roll down his spine like webs of electricity over his nerves until he found it nearly hard to breathe.

But the spell his brother had over him shifted, scattered in disarray when Sasuke spoke of wanting to see like he did. The incorrect use of the word before came to mind, but his mind seemed to go white for a blinding moment at that request. Eyes wide, he stared without seeing, lips parted in surprise at that simple but weighted desire.

"Sasuke.." He breathed his name and tried to pull his thoughts back together. Tried to put them in some orderly fashion didn't make him feel so fragile suddenly or want his brother close so desperately... "Are you sure?"

His hands slipped down his brother's neck and over his chest, palms flat against the warmth he could still feel through his clothing. He had a painful notion that he didn't know what color any of it was, how it looked on him or if they made him look more grown up. A fleeting smile pulled at his lips as he lowered his head. Fingertips trailed down the line of buttons until he met a second layer of clothing he vaguely recalled when he helped Sasuke sometimes with the buttons. All touches he kept light and quick before out of fear of letting it show just how much he wanted to be closer.

Breathing out slowly, he tried to recall little details of his outfit from helping if there was even anything he could use to fulfill Sasuke's one wish. His hand slipped down to his brother's waist and let his fingers splay over the fabric as he suddenly sighed. "I don't know if..." That's when he felt fingers brush something that made him stop.

A curious look flit over his face as he shifted to run his fingers over thin metal and fabric before finding the etch of a familiar design in the metal that gave him pause. His pinkie slipped along the slash through the design and it brought images to mind of his own forehead protector and how he drug the kunai through the leaf so many years ago.

"If that's honestly what you want... will this work?" The words came soft after the shock of that discovery wore off. A sudden smile pulled at his lips as he finally lifted his head to look at his brother regardless if he could see him. A sudden sense of pride and adoration hit him that left his heart beating sharply like millions of butterflies in his chest. He only hoped... that his face conveyed half of what he felt in that moment for the younger. Especially those three words that jumped to the forefront of his mind each time he felt his brother close to him or when he listened to him talk... and now more than ever...

I love you.

[eyes_that_burn]

Sure didn't seem like a powerful enough word. Certain. Certain seemed far more definite, far more...logical. He was certain he wanted to be blindfolded. He was certain he wanted to feel and see in the same way Itachi would, wanted to take stock and appreciate each touch, each kiss. He wanted to feel them more with his four other senses than the one he took for granted.

I could memorize it with the sharingan if I can see.

but

I can live it and memorize it with my skin if I can't.

He wanted to be vulnerable in the same way, strong in the same way. Being blind as an Uchiha was different than if they were made of other clans; this was the deepest form of surrender. This was the sweetest and most dangerous gift and only Itachi would understand the complexity that came with it. Uchiha understood Uchiha.

"Mm." Because the word was hard, every word was hard when Itachi's hands were roaming over him like that. His eyes closed for a moment, breath shaking under that questing hand, before it stopedp. His eyes opened at that, curious, before he saw what was being offered. That. The hitai-ate. Well...it seemed fitting.

The village had torn them apart. The village had brought them back together. Every stitch in the fabric, the jagged line in the metal, all of it was a tale of them, linked together. Some would say it was a story of him and Naruto, but...the things he had done, the steps and movements he had made throughout his life had been due to the man over him.

"Yeah." Had Itachi ever seen it before? That scratched headband? The proof of his abandonment, of his loss, of his pain, of his madness? Was this the first time he had ever touched it, even if he knew it existed? The tip of his tongue licked his lips, and he lifted his head a little. Itachi...seemed proud of him, judging from the look on his face; was it because he had it? Because he carried it?

Because he had overcome that curse of hatred and turned...into the man beneath him today?

"I'll let you know when I can't see. My head is up."

[sanzengarasu]

The warmth in his chest felt all consuming. It covered him and tingled down his spine to his toes and fingertips. It made him feel oddly alive. For all the pain and suffering he put Sasuke through. For all the village had done poorly... his brother, still in some fashion, felt attached to the village he loved.

Of his own accord.

It wasn't just that. No. Itachi also realized something else that he only recently realized in that fight with Kabuto. Sasuke had become an adult. One that Itachi was proud of no matter the struggles that brought them here. Smiling a little more, he coiled the hitai-ate from it's spot on his waist and slipped back up Sasuke's form with his hand mapping the journey up his abdomen.

When his fingertips found the hollow at the base of his brother's throat, he leaned in and allowed slender fingers to catch his brother's chin softly. It gave him a guiding line to do what he truly had been wanting to do for a long time.

Their lips brushed softly, a slide of velvety warmth that he never wanted to forget. Even if he shouldn't want it so badly, he desperately wanted to repeat that kiss from the hospital room that night when Sasuke had been under the influence of his medication. Now... there was nothing between them that could be used as an excuse. Just the press of lips and to soft flick of his tongue along the line of Sasuke's lower lip before he smiled against them. "I hope... you realize I don't plan to hurry myself with this."

A last warning. His offering his brother another chance to pull out. Not that his fingers stilled. They softly traced and danced along the younger's cheeks and the frame of his face until he could carefully lie the hitai-ate against the warm skin of his forehead after hair was brushed lovingly away. Soon after, his index and ring finger of his right hand softly smoothed his brother's eyes closed with an airy touch, followed by soft butterfly kisses against the eyelids in a near reverent fashion.

As his lips retreated, the other hand slipped the headband down to cover his eyes. Itachi traced the item, noted the edges of metal and how they pressed against his brother's face, ever so careful to make sure he wouldn't be uncomfortable at all. Only then did he wind the ends around his head and carefully tie a knot amongst the fall of dark hair. Another kiss pressed to his temple and then into his hairline softly. Using the tip of his nose, he helped himself follow the trails his fingertips traced across the warm skin... a sweeping kiss to the crossed out leaf, a soft pecks against the smooth cheek, a lingering kiss to the corner of his brother's lips.

The pad of a thumb brushed soothingly from the other corner to the elegant cheek bone. Sasuke was growing up in every way. The rounded features of childhood were replaced with elegant angles and longer features. Itachi could almost paint a picture in his mind as he bumped his nose against his brother's adoringly. So close... he hovered so close he could feel his own breath against his brother's skin reflected back up into his face. But not yet. His fingertips smoothed over plush lips, simply feeling them for each little detail as a sigh escaped him. "Sasuke..."

His brother's name escaped him with a note of awe and deep love. This. This closeness and being so near to the one he loved more than anything... Fingertips lightly dragged down the lower lip, pulling it down just a little to part his brother's lips. "I am... the worst kind of brother." He huffed a small, self-deprecating sound that might have been a laugh if he were anyone else. But the sound is caught somewhere between happy and sad. "I want to be closer to you. Closer than I should be. Will you let me?"

Because the kind of a kiss he had in mind in that moment couldn't be described as anything less than a kiss from a lover. Not a brother.

[eyes_that_burn]

Every time he touched him, Sasuke grew excited. When had things transitioned from idol to jealousy to enemy to martyr to...this? What was this? It was more than what they had been born as. It was more than what he had died as. This was a different track all together and navigation was difficult at best.

What was this?

But fingers were grabbing his chin and he felt that brush of lips and suddenly names didn't matter. Titles didn't matter. Nothing mattered other than the touch of a mouth against his and the promise that it would last and last and last.

"Good." He breathed the word, a whisper, because he didn't trust himself with any other syllables than one. He didn't pull back, didn't fight it, didn't have second thoughts; this was what he wanted. This was what they both wanted. And maybe he hadn't realized it until he had walked in and his brother had been beautiful, elegant and wrapped up in some sort of possessive streak, but that hardly mattered. That didn't make it any less real.

The touch of the fingers against his eyelids let him close them, only after seeing Itach's face for the last time. He sighed again, soft, as he felt those kisses there, and it was darkness. Even if he wanted to open his eyes, he couldn't. There was only trust. There was only what his brother let him see.

And there were so many kisses, some he could feel, others he couldn't. Slowly, he laid his head back down against the bed, the slim bulge of the knot reminding him it was there at the back. The urge to move, to touch him, was there, and he could do nothing...nothing at all. His arm tugged on the tie experimentally, and when those fingers brushed his lips, they parted. The tip of his tongue slid out, brushing against the tips of those questing digits.

It was easier to be brazen when he wasn't seeing judgment on his brother's face.

"Am I any better?" If Itachi was the worst, what did that make Sasuke? He wasn't innocent; he wasn't corruptible. He wanted this as much as the other, and that made him just as guilty, an accomplice to this crime. Still, Itachi asked, and Sasuke... Sasuke found his lips quirking in a light response.

"I wouldn't be here if I didn't." And his teeth scraped the finger lightly.

[sanzengarasu]

Something like pure electric excitement ran through his veins at that one breathy word. Sasuke wanted him to take his time. The thought made him close his eyes and take a stuttering breath. He exhaled the younger's name as he momentarily placed his forehead against his brother's and just soaked in the nearness of his body and the warmth of his form.

"Nn..." The sound escaped him when he felt the warmth of his brother's tongue against his fingertips. A tiny sound that if they hadn't been so close, Sasuke wouldn't have heard it. But having only his sense of touch amplified it a hundred fold. The slender digits trembled ever so slightly against his skin as he tried to get his heart to calm down.

A look of wonder and awe filled his face, his hold on his expressions loosening with the knowledge that Sasuke wasn't looking at him. It felt slightly freeing not to have that concern right in that moment. Right when he felt like everything inside melted as his brother conceded in his own way to having similar feelings to his own. Brotherly or not, the feelings were real... and right now they were suffocatingly tangible.

Huffing a soft sound, it mixed his amusement with the rush of heat through his body at the feeling of Sasuke's teeth on his finger. It felt like some sort of silent go ahead... an okay to proceed forward even if the younger hadn't said those words.

Shifting his hands to cup his brother's face, he moved in touching their lips again. Nothing would ever be enough again. Not when he could feel this right here and right now.

A thought fluttered through his mind that maybe he should say something... but in the end, he found himself moving instead. Catching his brother's lips in a full kiss, he licked softly at his lips before curling fingers about the back of his neck to tangle in dark hair. Slightly pulling the younger closer, he took his time to lick into his mouth, starting with a soft swipe at his teeth. The feeling overwhelmed him, the taste, the texture and being filled with the scent that he found as undeniably Sasuke...

The other hand danced down the arch of his neck, catching at the collar of his shirt where the fingers nimbly undid the first button, the second... Each button he loosened from a hole let him smooth the fabric apart to allow him touch. For now, just light grazing touches as he put most of his focus into that kiss. A kiss he had no desire to relinquish as he delved into his brother's mouth memorizing ever detail of the wet heat there in, almost as though he was starving for it.

It pulled the breath out of him. A dizzying feeling filled his head as he finally pulled back with the catch of teeth to his brother's upper lip and let them drag over the lightly swollen flesh. It felt utterly intoxicating. Enough so that he murmured softly against heated tiers a worried but rough purr of words. "I don't think... I will ever tire of that."

Releasing his hand from the tangle of hair, it moved to join it's match in freeing all of the buttons of Sasuke's shirt and vest so he could push the material aside and splay his hands palms down on the bare skin of his brother's chest. Silken smooth pulled taut over well toned muscles...

How could people not look at him?

A furrow creased his brow as he thought that. The jealousy flaring as he nipped at his brother's lower lip. "I shouldn't dislike them..." His nails pressed into his brother's skin just enough to sting but not quite leave marks just yet. "But I do. I dislike how I imagine they look at you. How they have no right to look at you." His voice strained a little as he took another shaking breath. "And I want to see you." But I don't deserve to. "But I don't need to... not to know they know nothing about you... about what makes you truly beautiful."

His hands stirred into movement, tracing the pectorals and the line of his sternum. The thumbs caught on his brother's nipples and rolled them softly. A curious after thought of motion as he kissed him again tenderly before catching the lower lip in his teeth to suck on it softly. The moment it slipped away, he kissed him again, claiming his mouth once more.

[eyes_that_burn]

Fingers were away from his lips, his mouth, and Sasuke felt the emptiness of having no purpose, nothing to do. At the base, he could only focus on the moments between that touch and the nothingness until Itachi decided to make the next move. He hung in limbo, effortlessly swinging, waiting for his brother to give him attention once more.

He didn't have to wait long. The warmth of those hands against his face was nothing compared to that against his lips. There was a small sound given over, a sacrifice, and he opened his mouth against the one at his lips. He tried to taste the tongue while fingers tangled in his hair. The teeth elicited a moan.

Everything was enhanced while he was blind: his taste, smells, the feel of skin, the sound of clothes rustling. The buttons were unfastened and he found he was tilting his face up, head back, as if to give him more room. There was nothing to fear here. There was nothing but this.

Teeth. It kept going back to teeth, and he loved their sharpness, their temptation. He wanted more. He wanted more teeth, wanted more lips, wanted more touching, wanted more of Itachi against him. He smirked at his brother's admittance that he wouldn't tire of it, and a little, "Mm," slipped free, a Me, either if there ever was one.

Cool air brushed over his skin as the shift and vest was parted and his chest was laid open. With any one else, there would have been discomfort, worry; here, it was safe. Accepting. His back arched a little, curving off the bed as he felt those nails press against him. The jealousy was another entity in the room, another person.

Sasuke had no idea it ran so deep.

"It shouldn't matter if they look at me," he hissed. "Just as long as I don't look at them."

But it wasn't about the looking; it was about the seeing. It was about them doing something that Itachi couldn't, especially with Sasuke. And that...that he understood. But they would only see his face; they wouldn't ever touch his body, wouldn't ever know what was under his clothes, couldn't trace the inside of his mouth and taste him.

"But you're the only one doing this."

One of his legs rose up off the bed, brushing against his brother's body, feeling it since his hand couldn't. And that, that would have to do for now.

[sanzengarasu]

Each sound Sasuke made, reverberated down his spine. Itachi didn't think any sound could have such an effect on him. Not one that made every nerve feel like it came to life in an eruption like fire in his veins. Turning his head, he kissed at the line of his brother's jaw, letting his lips linger against the skin.

Beautiful.

Everything about his brother was beautiful. Not just the exotically exquisite ivory skin and raven hair or his sharp eyes. None of that would have truly broken through him like this. Itachi had seen the younger at his best and his worst. He knew his heart and accepted all of him. The poor choices, the anger, the hate... just as he accepted his kindness and forgiving heart. Just as Sasuke accepted him. No one alive knew Itachi the way Sasuke did and no one else ever would.

Smoothing his hands down his brother's stomach, he smiled against his skin as he felt an index finger dip into his brother's navel. A smile that only grew as the younger arched into his hands. Dropping lower, he started to undo the fastening of his pants and pressed his hands inside the confines of the material slowly... taking his time to feel the heated skin under his hands while he listened to his brother's words.

"Oh? And how would I know if you were looking at them, otouto?" His rich voice deepened to a teasing purr as he inched the material down over his hips. Long elegant fingers caught at the curve and his thumbs swept slowly along the line of his pelvis where the skin seemed even softer. Almost velvety to the touch. He exhaled as his lips moved down into the hollow of Sasuke's neck, spilling the warm air over his throat softly. He knew his brother didn't look at them. He didn't have to see him to know this.

Swiping the tip of his tongue tenderly against the fluttering pulse in Sasuke's neck, he turned his head and nipped suggestively, warning his brother of what he wanted to do. A desire that flared even brighter in his mind at those words. "Does that mean you're mine, Sasuke?" Quiet, gentle words edged in hope. His lips pressed a kiss a little lower and into the hollow near the collarbone before moving to rest against the place where neck and shoulder met. Whispering against the skin, let his lips sweep over his skin sweetly with each richly intoned word. "I am yours. Only yours."

He had been Sasuke's since as far back as he could remember. Since his brother showed him why life was precious and must be protected. And above all else, his brother was first and foremost among those lives he felt should always be protected. This time though, his whisper almost couldn't be heard as he pressed his hands under his brother and along the rise of his rear, both lifting his hips and feeling him as he pushes his clothing further down. "I love you."

He had to say it. He rarely said it. He could count the times on one hand that he had. And right now... Itachi knew he must say it to make sure his brother realized what drove him to this. Why he was reveling so much in the slow stripping of clothing and the lingering touches of hands and lips.

Closing his lips over the heated skin, he bit down hard enough to leave a mark. He sucked on the skin sharply, his tongue swiping at the slowly bruising skin that he refused to release. Not yet. Not till he was absolutely sure he left a mark on his brother's flawless skin. A mark that didn't come from Orochimaru... A mark he would gladly make again and again so it never left Sasuke's flesh. A mark placed in just the right spot that it would peek just a little over his collar for those that stared too hard at the younger...

A mark that proved Sasuke was his alone.