37Disclaimer: The Naruto Characters and themes are the property of Masashi Kishimoto.
Warning: YAOI
A/N: This is another comp between me and ItachiSasukeSama. Originally this was to be the second chapter, but I finished this one WAY before she started the first, so we've decided to flip them since it works either way with this plot.
The title is inspired by the song "We Stitch These Wounds" by Black Veil Brides. We weren't basing this fic off of that song, but we realized that the song really does represent this fic pretty well...
Enjoy!
"It's late." Shisui commented as he opened the door to his shitty studio apartment. He received no reply as his guest simply stepped around him and walked inside. "I wasn't expecting you. If I'd known you were coming, I would have cleaned the place up... or at least put up the futon into a couch... or something." He added with a quiet sigh, as he shut the door and waited for some sort of acknowledgement.
Again, Shisui's words got no response. He studied his younger cousin carefully as the man walked over to the tight kitchenette and browsed through the cabinets. Dark eyes scanned quickly through each shelf, desperately looking for something that they knew they'd never find. With a sigh, the long haired man opened the mini-fridge and glared angrily at it's contents.
"Just beer?" It was the first thing he'd said since coming in, but Shisui wasn't one to complain.
"You know I don't keep hard liquor at home."
Defeated, the younger man took out a cold beer from the fridge and walked back into the living area- that also doubled as a bedroom. He pushed aside some dirty laundry and sat himself on the futon. He opened the bottle on the edge of the end table and took several long gulps before speaking again.
"Why?" He asked.
"Why what?" Shisui answered his question with a question.
"Why nothing realto drink."
The elder sighed. "Because my lover is an alcoholic, and I'm trying to be supportive." He hissed.
"I'm not an alcoholic. I enjoy the effects of alcohol often - there's a big difference." The younger replied flatly, before taking another brief swig from his bottle.
Shisui frowned. "Itachi, every time you come over lately, the first thing you look for is a stiff drink. It's not like you to be in denial. How much are you drinking when you're at home?"
The weasel looked blankly at his cousin for a short while before answering. "I don't."
Shisui crinkled his eyebrows in confusion. He could tell when Itachi was lying to him- and this wasn't one of those times. "Why not?"
"It would upset Sasuke. He'd rush to an inaccurate conclusions, just like you did- but instead of talking to me about it, he'd let it eat away at him inside without saying anything." Itachi watched as his companion grimaced at his words.
"You and your brother are certainly quite close, aren't you?" The man asked bitterly.
"Careful, cousin. I might misread your words and think you're jealous."
Shisui glared, earning a small upturn of the lips from Itachi. In a good mood, they were very different men- but in anger they were quite similar, even in fighting style if things got that far.
"Should I have reasonto be jealous, Itachi?"
The weasel let out a deep breath, and nursed his beer for a minute before finishing it off. He then leaned back so that he was flat on his back, laying on the futon. "I love you." He whispered quietly, closing his eyes and shuffling against some smelly t-shirts that were now a make-shift pillow for him.
"I know you love me, Itachi. That's not what I asked. Obviously you're not against incest or we wouldn't have the relationship we have. How close are you with Sasuke?" Shisui asked, with an edge of uncertainty in his tone. He watched his cousin carefully, though the younger showed no signs of moving any time soon - he just continued to lay on the futon with his eyes closed. Shisui sighed, turning to head into the kitchen and thinking he wasn't going to get an answer.
"I wasn't expressing my love for you as a meaningless tool for distraction. I was choosing to tell you want you want to hear- in lieu of what you don't want to know." Shisui turned back to his cousin at the quiet words that he heard the younger utter to him. Heopened his mouth to speak, but changed his mind and instead walked over to the futon and sat on the edge, with his back to his lover. "You're right. I don't want to know about you and Sasuke. I already know... having you confirm it would only take me farther down a path of hatred."
Itachi opened one eye and looked up at the soft curls of Shisui's hair. They were so lovely. Shisui was probably the only person in the family to have little curls. Everyone else had spikes or straight hair. "Do you hate Sasuke?"
The question was directed to the back of his head, but Shisui could still feel the intensity of the other man's gaze. It was an important question- and his answer was also important. The only problem was that he didn't know howhe felt about Sasuke- and even worse, he didn't know how Itachi wantedhim to feel about Sasuke.
But hate was a very strong word... he didn't hate Sasuke. He barely even knew Sasuke. Well, that wasn't exactly true, but he only knew Sasuke as his little kid cousin - his lovers beloved little brother. They'd never had the friendship that he had with Itachi, and had certainly never shared the raw passion and lovethat he felt for Itachi.
"I don't hate Sasuke. He's like your pet fish or something, of course I don't hate him. I don't even know him well enough to hate him."
Itachi closed his eye again and reached forward- blindly grabbing hold of his cousin's arm and pulling the older man down forcefully onto the massive heap of laundry. Shisui yawned and scooted close to the warm body beside him. "Okay, let me revise my previous statement a bit- I don't hate Sasuke. However, I dohate sharing you with him." He said in a quiet sulky voice, closing his eyes briefly as he inhaled Itachi's scent. Despite the fact he was annoyed with the younger male, he still couldn't resist being close to him.
"Why?" Itachi asked tiredly. He sat up, and threw his legs off of the futon, lifting the now empty beer bottle to his lips for a second before remembering that he'd already drained the whole thing. With a slightly annoyed glance at the not-quite-clear pathway leading to the kitchenette he tossed the bottle towards the general direction of the trashcan- where it landed on a tattered and ratty old duvet with a soft thud. He then made his way to the refrigerator and helped himself to another beer. This time, he stood still and gulped down the bottle in it's entirety, then reached for another. As he did all this, Shisui ranted.
"The hell do you mean why?It's not fair!" He spat, sitting up on the futon and glaring at his cousin/lover with a hard and icy gleam in his eyes. "I've known you longer. I know you better. I've loved you longer. I've done more for you. I understand what it's like to live in this fucking world for some time, I mean for god's sake, Itachi - Sasuke just turned eighteen this summer! He can't possibly know how to please you! He hasn't even had enough time to experiment with his own sexuality yet! He's a baby! And you've made your relationship with him painfully obvious, but you never came out and told me - and I bet you've never told him about useither!" Shisui ceased his rambling for a moment to frown as Itachi finished off the beer and reached for the next.
"Really, Sweetie, you've gotta stop drinking."
The weasel merely gave his lover a gentle smile. It fell away though, as he coughed a little into his hand and then looked down at it with a barely hidden, slightly worried frown - turning to the sink to wash up a bit before making the journey back to the futon.
"It's not like I'm getting drunk. I'm drinking just exactly as much as I'm meaning to... don't think I'm losing control or something Shisui." Itachi said without looking at his cousin, already knowing the older male was watching him avidly and narrowing his eyes at him.
"Don't use your drinking problem to change the subject. We were talking about Sasuke."
Itachi nodded, grabbing handfuls of the clothes that were laid all over the futon and throwing them to the even bigger pile of laundry that was building up in the middle of the floor.
"No, actually youwere talking about Sasuke. Aren't you done yet?" He asked with a tired sigh.
Shisui glared, in truth quite hurt that Itachi didn't want to hear the rest of his anti-Sasuke speech. "Just fucking tell me then! What percentage of your heart do I get to claim then, huh? Fifty percent, right? Or is it split sixty forty. Do I have forty percent of your heart, then?"
Itachi ignored his cousin until he finished up with his disposal of the mess and climbed into the futon. He immediately pulled Shisui close to his chest and hovered his lips over the elders ear. "When I'm with you, you have one hundred and ten percent of my heart, my body, my soul, and my mind. When I'm with you- you are my onlypriority. I'm not a good enough man to actually be able to make a list in order. When I'm yours, I'm forever yours - and when I'm not, then I'm not." He said quietly, pressing a soft kiss to Shisui's temple once he was done before pulling away slightly to look at his cousin with a composed, blank expression.
Shisui nodded, not sure how he was going to process that information. He'd always suspected that Itachi's beloved little brother was a bit more belovedthan little brother.Still, it was almost offensive that the man talked about it so casually.
"If you're sleeping here then be a good boy and turn out the lights, please." Itachi reached for the light switch next to where they were lying.
"That switch doesn't work, you have to actually get up and flick off each lamp separately."
Itachi growled in annoyance and rose again. This meant he'd now have to climb over all the shit he'd justmoved off of the futon.
"This place is a fucking wreck. I know you won't accept any of our grandfather's inheritance from me while I'm still around to offer it- but I'll remember to will you a better home when I die." He muttered darkly, as he simply kicked the laundry aside - his annoyance making his indifferent to causing more mess in the tiny apartment.
"Shut up, Itachi. By the time you're dead I'll definitely be out of this shitty apartment."
Itachi flicked off the last light and managed to maneuver back to his lover's side once more. "I certainly hope so. I worry a lot about what'll become of you after my time is done on this earth." Itachi mumbled in concern, pulling Shisui's body in closer and pecking him on the temple.
"Don't trouble your mind about thoughts like that right now. Just go to sleep, okay?"
Itachi nodded somewhat obediently and scrunched up his toes a little until he heard a satisfying crack. He'd have to do the same with his back soon. He fucking hatedfutons- but he loved Shisui... and at that moment, that's what mattered the most.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Please bless us with reviews! We have two other chapter fics in progress together, one titled "Watching Them Watching Us" on my profile and one called "Konoha High School Host Club" on hers. Please check out both, and take our polls.
Love you for reading!
-Beloved and ItachiSasukeSama