Disclaimer: the act of disclaiming; the renouncing, repudiating, or denying of a claim. E.g. I don't own Naruto.

Summary: "Uchiha's do not grieve. They do not mourn. They move on. So move on. Find someone who can care for your son with you." When Sasuke said this to his brother, he didn't have his best friend in mind.

Pairings: ItaNaru

Warnings: YAOI, boyXboy, lemon, swearing etc.

Other: 'Thinking' Writing, Flashback/Dream

Moving On

By Tanuki-Mara

Beta'd by Imperial Mint.

Dedicated to Brera Sterne

With a soft sigh, the man hunched over his desk and set the piece of paper he was reviewing aside. He rubbed his eyes with the heels of his palms, allowing himself the brief display of weakness in his private study. A glance at the clock showed him it was past two am.

Uchiha Itachi wasn't surprised; he usually worked as late as three, only to wake up at seven the next morning to start all over again. He worked all day, from his home office, and, occasionally, the main office at Uchiha Inc, the family company he was president of. The only hours of the day that Itachi could relax and be himself were in the early hours of the morning when no one saw him, and the few hours in the afternoon he spent with his son, Shisui.

Itachi had been widowed and made a single parent when his wife had died giving birth to their son. He wasn't, however, mourning for the loss of the woman, whom he had only married for the sake of his company. Although, he had been using the death of the woman as an excuse to bury himself in paperwork and cut himself off from any social life. Despite Itachi's overwhelming love for his son, Itachi hardly knew how to care for him. For the past three years, since his wife's death, Itachi had hired various nannies to care for his beloved son.

"Itachi,"

Itachi's eyes widened and he looked up to see his younger brother standing in the doorway. Sasuke had recently moved back in on Itachi's request to take care of Shisui, while working at the family company, and had, by some chance, discovered Itachi's three-am-habit.

"What is it, Sasuke?" Itachi asked as he spun his chair to face his younger brother, "Did I wake you?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed and he stalked into the plain room. Itachi's face remained impassive as Sasuke's eyes tried to kill him. Itachi could read Sasuke easily; his little brother was always the more expressive one. Right now, Sasuke was angry and… exhausted?

"Itachi," Sasuke's voice was ice cold. Itachi was proud at the level of Uchiha in his brother. "Uchiha's do not grieve. They do not mourn. They move on. So move on. Find someone who can care for your son with you."

Itachi's eyes narrowed slowly as he realised his brother was trying to interfere with his life. Itachi was quite happy with the way things were; he didn't have to engage in social activities, he didn't have a woman nagging his ear off, and his life ran on his schedule. He didn't need to move on.

"Get out," Itachi's voice took ice to an entire new level. Sasuke's eyes narrowed further before he nodded, backing out of the room. Before he left, his eyes gave Itachi one last, hard look before he was gone. Itachi spun back to his work and picked up the first sheet on the stack. His eyes wandered over it without taking anything in and he let the paper fall with a sigh.

Find someone who can care for your son with you.

Itachi knew that it wasn't good for his son to grow up with only one parent, especially one who rarely saw him. Another parent would be good for Shisui, and Itachi did get lonely in the large house… perhaps… maybe…

No. Itachi wasn't thinking. He loved Shisui, but he couldn't handle the hassle of a relationship… perhaps he would just hire a new nanny. Yes. A new nanny might handle it.

Torn between the decisions, Itachi decided he would sleep on it. Once he was well rested he would be thinking better. No longer would he dwell on the nonsense of a relationship.

Itachi's footsteps lead him straight towards the living room.

He had no idea why he was heading there, but he had gotten the strangest need to see his son, who he had left with Sasuke while working. Damn… he needed to hire a new nanny.

Itachi passed the empty kitchen, the library and a couple of parlours in the large mansion before he reached the living room. To his surprise, not that it showed, Sasuke was reclining on a long lounge with a book, Shisui nowhere in sight.

"Sasuke," Itachi's voice was shockingly loud in the quiet room. "Where is Shisui?"

Sasuke looked up from his book, obviously annoyed with the interruption. "Hmm?" the book went down onto Sasuke's lap as the annoyance faded. "Oh, Naruto wanted to play with him."

"Naruto's here?" Itachi frowned. He vaguely remembered the bright blond from Sasuke's high school. They had been best friends, despite their differences. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, the dobe came over to see me," he growled. "Not like we don't see each other enough. He ended up with Shisui."

"Where?"

"The nursery."

Itachi strode quickly to the nursery. It wasn't that he didn't trust Sasuke's judgement at leaving Shisui with Naruto, but as a parent he still felt the need to double check on his son. After two flights of stairs and countless rooms, Itachi was at the plain oak door that led to the nursery, which was also connected to Shisui's room, and that was connected to the nanny's room.

Itachi opened the door quietly, his eyes widening as they fell upon the sight before him. It had been a couple of years since Itachi had last seen Uzumaki Naruto, and the years had been kind to the blond man. His perfectly tanned body, which had always been scrawny, had evened out to become slender and willowy, with the barest hint of muscle. His golden hair fell in the same spikes around his face as usual, but they were longer now and, if possible, even more golden. His bright blue eyes were still the perfect imitation of the sky, or were they sapphires? Either way, they were still the most incredible colour Itachi had ever seen. Three scratches marred his cheeks, their origins unknown, not subtracting from Naruto's looks, but more accenting them.

But what made the picture perfect was Shisui. Naruto was sprawled out on his back, Shisui seated on his chest. The young child was usually a picture perfect Uchiha, cold and stoic, but at that moment…

Shisui's eyes were alright with glee as he clapped his hands. A large smile covered his face as he giggled uncontrollably. He had lost all his 'Uchiha' in the presence of the blond. Itachi had never seen his son more alive.

As Itachi watched, Shisui leaned forward and grabbed Naruto's hair, tugging slightly with a giggle. Naruto winced but allowed the action, grinning up at the boy. Shisui was squawking something about a book he wanted to read. Naruto sat up, Shisui sliding down into his lap, still talking.

"-said he would, but Daddy's always busy. I don't mind though! Will you read it to me?"

"Aww, of course I will," Naruto hugged Shisui tightly. "Now, what was the book called?"

Itachi smiled softly as Shisui dashed over to a bookshelf. He began to scan the books quickly. Itachi was so proud of his son – he was very smart; a genius like Itachi and Sasuke. He didn't need anyone to read to him, he was perfectly capable of reading himself, but Itachi knew he loved being read to.

Another fact that Itachi was proud of was that his son was Uchiha through and through. His black hair held only the barest blue hint, like Sasuke's, and was styled in a simple cut that was not too outlandish like Sasuke's, but not as plain as Itachi's ponytail. It was a plain cut that fell to his neck, smaller locks flittering out all over in spikes. His black eyes held a red tinge that matched Itachi's. His pale skin was not unhealthy, but simply his natural skin colour.

Itachi's eyes drifted back to Naruto. He looked the man over, this time taking in how his slim body was almost girlish, yet it was obviously not a girls. As the man leaned back on his arms, tilting his head to the side with a smile, Itachi felt something stir deep within him that he had not felt since his High School days.

And his smile turned into a smirk.

"Naru! Naru! I found it!" Shisui chirped as he ran back to the blond with a book. He practically leapt onto Naruto's lap, giggling as he pushed the book against the blond's chest. Naruto took it with a grin before opening it and letting the small Uchiha nestle against his chest.

"What are you smirking at?"

Itachi turned to look down at his younger brother, his smirk growing. Sasuke didn't trust the way Itachi's eyes were glinting and how alive he looked.

"You were right, Sasuke," he murmured as his eyes swung back to the blond. "I need to move on."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed, before darting between Itachi and Naruto. He knew his blond friend was attractive, although he had never interested Sasuke, and he also knew Itachi was on the crooked side of straight… coupled with the obviously incredible interaction with Shisui…

"No,"

Itachi's smirk grew until it was almost a grin. It was one of the scariest sights Sasuke had seen in his life. Sasuke's hand shot out to grab Itachi's arm, and he quickly tugged his brother out into the hall, closing the door. That done, he spun back to his brother, eyes flashing.

"When I told you to move on," he growled. "I didn't mean on to my best friend!"

"Well, little brother, you should have been more specific."

And there we have the first chapter. I hope you like it.

And a big thank you to Imperial Mint who lowered herself to my level to Beta it!!!