Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, or the pairings (narusasu and such) but I do own the plotline. Please comment--no flames please!

The wind shifted a little, blowing Sasuke's red and yellow scarf over his shoulder, the braided tassels brushing his cheek like fingertips. He looked up at the fiery orange harvest moon and let out a long sigh. Autumn was a bad time for the Uchiha. It was cold, the air was crisp, the leaves were gold and orange, the wind was always blowing or the clouds raining. Sasuke hated the fall. But this fall was different. This was the fall he'd spent with Naruto, this was the fall the obnoxious blonde kid suddenly looked really good in the orange jacket and pants he had to wear for the Chunin Exams. Not that he ever wore anything else, the crazy bitch. But offer him a cup of ramen and you can coax him into a building hot and humid enough to sweat him out of several layers of his clothes. Sasuke chuckled. Naruto was pretty easy. He believed anything, and was a hell of a lot too trusting for his own good. Nosy, though. Really nosy.

"Sasuke. I have a surprise for you."

Sasuke jumped about two feet as Naruto crept up behind him, slipping his arms around the raven-haired boy's waist and whispering hotly in his ear. Sasuke shivered as Naruto kissed the side of his neck, sucking, hard. If Sasuke showed up the next day with a hangover, a fit of exhaustion, and a neck full of hickeys, it wouldn't be good. But the special bottles of sake Naruto had bought were not going to go to waste. And Sasuke could survive one little sleepless night. But the red marks on his neck would probably let people know what exactly went on that night. Not that it mattered. The ninja couldn't care less.

"So, Sasuke," he purred in his lover's ear. "Did you miss me?"

Naruto slipped around in front of Sasuke, hands sliding with him. He flipped up Sasuke's collar and looked, with a smirk, into the black intense eyes.

"Mmm. Naruto." Sasuke walked slowly backwards as Naruto pushed him until the Uchiha's back was pressed against a tree. The blond-headed boy smoothly unzipped his orange jacket, slipping it off to reveal a plain black t-shirt.

"Oh."

And suddenly there were no more clothes. Piles of jackets, shirts, and pants lay on the ground. Naruto grinned at a weak-looking Sasuke, who was panting and beaded with sweat. They hadn't even done anything yet, and the guy was already a train wreck.

"Hey Sasuke?" Naruto said, arching an eyebrow cockily, sliding his finger gently under Sasuke's chin and lifting it to look at him.

"Y-yes, Naruto?"

"I see why your name is Sas-uke."

"Ugh. Naruto!"

"Okay, okay. That's not what I was gonna say."

"Then what were you gonna say?" Sasuke snarled.

"Can you be strong for a minute?" Suddenly the raven-haired boy melted, his face draining of any color Naruto's comment had brought to his cheeks.

"I….uh…."

"Sasuke?" asked a bewildered voice. Sasuke looked up, petrified, not wanting to remember that voice.

"My little Uchiha brother? The last of my family? With this Uzamaki scum?" Itachi narrowed his eyes. "You've sunk lower than I would've thought, bro."

"Itachi." Sasuke glared.

"Itachi? Doesn't that mean weasel?" Naruto was looking from one Uchiha to the other, and then to the creepy-looking plant guy behind Sasuke's older brother.

"Why him?" Itachi asked, almost amused, glancing at the blonde teen, eyes skimming over him; strong legs, navy boxers, almost-six-pack, strong chest, slight build, with his gracefully muscled arms and fair skin, electric blue eyes, spiked gold hair, and those infamous under-eye catscratches. "Sure, he's the nine tails, but isn't he a whiny annoying little thing who's always bitching about wanting to be Hokage?"

Sasuke's fists clenched. Every muscle in his body tensed, coiled, ready, angry as a disturbed nest full of fire ants. Naruto helped Sasuke back into his clothes, but still looked puzzled, not getting the picture, not fully seeing the hate between these two. He backed up a few steps, confidence drained, and watched frantically as the two brothers stared heatedly at each other.

"You killed our family."

"That was years ago, Sasuke."

"But you were never the same."

"It just gave me a reason to leave. I was the same before."

"I looked up to you!"

"You were seven. You were just a little brother."

Sasuke sank to his knees, surprising everyone, including the strange man with the Venus fly trap enclosing a shadowy emerald head.

"Itachi," Sasuke breathed. "Why didn't you kill me too?"

Itachi turned away, perturbed. Naruto crept forward a little, clutching at Sasuke's shoulder.

"Who is he? What's he want?"

"Stay out of it, Naruto."

Looking hurt, Naruto's grip loosened on Sasuke's shoulder. Sasuke let out a heavy sigh and turned a bit so he could look at Naruto.

"I didn't mean it like that. It's just….a personal thing. I don't want you getting involved. Once you're part of it, there's no backing out. It's nothing you'd want to be caught up in."

Naruto let out a shaky laugh.

"Like it matters at this point."

Sasuke muttered something under his breath and turned back to his older brother, leaving Naruto somewhat dazed.

"Listen, Weasel, what the hell do you want?"

"Well, Little Brother, maybe I came to finish you off."

Sasuke glowered.

"Well. Do it now then."

"Ah, you're impatient," said Itachi, licking a bit of blood off the edge of a throwing star that he had just neatly sliced open his finger with.

"Clumsy," hissed Sasuke, "nicking yourself on your own weapon."

"Hardly," Itachi replied absentmindedly, lazily, pressing his bleeding thumb onto the center of the shuriken.

"What the—"

Sasuke was cut off when the Akatsuki hurled the shuriken, marked with his fingerprint in blood, eyes widening as he realized Itachi was recreating a more modern version of an old Fire Village technique—something very rare and violent. The technique was buried a long time ago, hundreds of years, probably, because it was risky and brutal. It sucked chakra like a black hole, but it sure as hell was worth it. Itachi's face was about two shades lighter and he looked like he'd just been strangled, but he was grinning like a maniac. Sasuke was too slow to react with a block or a counterattack, and all he could think to do was try to protect his face with his arms.

The shuriken suddenly veered upwards, as if it had hit a wall, and cloned itself—making fifty more throwing stars—and doubled back with its new army of weapons, falling straight down in slashes of silver and steel. Suddenly it was hours later, and the Akatsuki members were gone. Sasuke was lying, pained and distraughtly exhausted, in a sheer puddle of his own deep scarlet blood. Naruto was lying beside him, looking up at the sky with a frustrated expression that reached deep into his eyes.

"Hey," Naruto said quietly as he noticed Sasuke was stirring.

"How long've I been out?" Sasuke said, glancing up at the gradually lowering position of the sun in the sky.

"Couple hours."

"Dammit, Itachi."

"Aw, Sasuke. Anyway, who the hell is that guy? He's got some serious problems. And who were you saying he killed?"

"He's….someone I used to think I knew."

"Is that all?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"You guys seemed….Oh, I dunno. But he called you 'little brother,' which sorta tipped me off."

"Dammit." Sasuke rolled over so his back was to Naruto, wincing sharply at the violent bursts of pain that shot up from his injuries. His arms, his legs; all coated in a sticky film of alarmingly red blood. His shoulder and his side especially. Right below the last rib was a deep gash. He crossed his arms, clutching at the shuriken slash. It would need stitches to close it, or it would never heal. There was something about this that was deeply depressing to Sasuke. So, naturally, he didn't want Naruto to see it.

"Don't be like that," whispered Naruto, slipping an arm over his lover and leaning over Sasuke's shoulder to kiss him.

"No, Naruto. Not now." Sasuke tried to suppress the urge to groan at the biting pain from his wounds. But Naruto, being Naruto, wouldn't give up that easily. Obviously.

"Aw, Sasuke," he said, grinning smugly, slinking over so he was face to face with Sasuke Uchiha. "Don't you want to finish what we started?"

Sasuke squeezed his eyes shut, doing anything to avoid Naruto. Finally he obliged, after much poking and prodding, and a bit of kissing to seal the deal. Leaning into it, Naruto slid his tongue along the inside of Sasuke's lip, hearing a groan in response. His teeth came down lightly on the Uchiha's lower lip, and feeling Sasuke shudder against him, knew he was doing pretty well. The two of them lay there in the October grass, under a crooked, spindly, beautiful cherry tree and a moonlit, star-speckled sky.

"Sasuke?"

"Yes Naruto?"

"Who did Itachi kill?"

After a long silence, Sasuke said heavily, "My family."

"Oh."

It was hours before Sasuke came up with anything to say. So by the time he started to mention how tomorrow was Sunday and what did he want to do, the blonde Uzamaki was asleep.