The Sweetest Sin

Author's Note: This is a Sasuke x Itachi x Naruto story. That means it is a YAOI. Male x male x male pairing. Sasuke and Itachi's cannon relationship stays. That means Uchihacest. If yaoi or that bothers you, you might want to turn back now. A couple of my Winter's Embrace reviewers gave me some pretty positive feedback for this pairing, so I figured I'll give it a try. Anyway, all reviews appreciated. I hope you guys like it. Your reviews will determine if it continues or gets taken down.

Chapter Notation: Set after the War with Madara. I looked up Itachi's favorite food for this chapter. It focuses mostly on Naruto's attraction for Sasuke and Itachi, Naruto/Sasuke, and Itachi/Sasuke than Itachi/Naruto. But it will become more balanced later. Itachi hasn't really known Naruto that long and this his feelings for Naruto are still blooming. But they will bloom ^^.

Disclaimer: I own nothing and make no profit off of any of my stories.

Chapter One

Beautiful. Naruto knew wasn't usually a word applied to men, but there was just no denying it. Sasuke and Itachi Uchiha were beautiful. Far more beautiful than any women that the blonde had ever seen. That was a fact that should have disturbed him. They were MEN. But it didn't.

"Thank you, for helping us with the repairs. I'm afraid that I'm not up to producing shadow clones just yet and Sasuke has his hands full with cleaning the insides of the buildings." Itachi says.

Itachi was like a fallen angel or something. There was a tragic, otherworldly beautiful about him. It might have been those markings on his face that always made him look so forlorn or serious.

"Yeah! No problem! I'm just really happy he's back, you know? And that you're okay." Naruto says happily.

Like Sasuke, he was all sleek muscle. Both Uchiha brothers had a certain feline grace to everything they did. Maybe that was why their clan was associated with ninja cats.

"Yes, all thanks to you." Itachi says with a smile as he works on some building repairs.

His hair was somewhat less spiky than Sasuke's and grew down instead of out in the back. Naruto wasn't sure how Itachi got his hair to blow in the wind like that. He knew girls everywhere envied that man's hair. His skin was a shade or two darker than Sasuke's, but still fair. Idly he wondered if every Uchiha had been that attractive or if Itachi and Sasuke had just won the genetic lottery.

"No. You two decided to…listen. If you hadn't done that, me running my mouth wouldn't have done anything." He says with a cheerful smile.

Sasuke was a completely different animal than his brother. Whereas Itachi was Mysterious Sexy, Sasuke was Fuck You Sexy. His bangs were longer now, framing the sides of his face, which only just served to accentuate his already elegant and aristocratic features. Naruto was sure while girls would have killed for Itachi's hair, they definitely would have killed for Sasuke's bone structure and ivory cream skin.

"I think I'll just leave that one alone." Sasuke says as he walks out of the building.

Sasuke was graceful like Itachi. It was a different kind of grace though. Sasuke reminded Naruto of a tiger or a panther. His movements somehow conveyed, If you even think about touching me, I will murder you.

"Why?" Itachi asks.

Instead of scaring Naruto off, the blonde had always seen this as an unspoken challenge. He knew it probably wasn't healthy. Naruto needed fSasuke's attention. It didn't matter how much pain the other man put him through. He was addicted to it. The blue eyed ninja didn't care if it was positive or negative, just as long as Sasuke acknowledged him.

"Some stray dog moved in. She has puppies. It'd be cruel to move them. He says with a shrug.

"Wow. I never figured you the type to have a soft spot for animals." Naruto muses.

"We have dozens of buildings in the district. So far it's only Itachi and I living here. If they want one, might as well let them have it. Besides, Itachi always wanted a dog." Sasuke adds as an afterthought.

"That's true. We couldn't get one. Father was allergic." Itachi states.

"Oh well cool then. So how bad are the insides of the buildings?" He asks.

"Bad. They aren't going to be fit for habitation for…a few weeks at least." Sasuke says with a sigh.

Itachi places his hand on Sasuke's shoulder consolingly. Naruto wasn't sure if he was imagining it, but Itachi seemed to touch Sasuke more than was strictly necessary. Then again they had been separated for so long, maybe it was only natural he'd be touchy feely. Sasuke didn't seem to mind. Which was weird because Sasuke normally avoided being touched if it wasn't during a fight or a medical exam.

"That's alright. The Main House is fine." He says.

"Itachi, you should probably go get some rest. You're still recovering from your surgery. Sasuke, you should as well. You haven't been using your new arm yet, right? You just got it attached a couple weeks ago." Naruto says.

"I haven't been using it." Sasuke says and the blonde notes he adjusted the bandages slightly around his arm, self-consciously.

"Good. I would be forced to punish you if you had." Itachi says.

"Itachi, you would barely win a fight with those newborn puppies at this point. You're still too weak from your treatments." Sasuke counters.

"For now. But I won't stay that way, foolish little brother." He warns him and Sasuke looks slightly concerned about that declaration.

"Well I'm starving!" Naruto says.

"Well I suppose we could break for lunch. Sasuke can prepare us something." Itachi states cheerfully.

Sasuke glowers at Itachi. He did not need Naruto to know that he could cook. The blonde would never let him hear the end of it!

"The bastard cooks?!" Naruto asks.

Sasuke sighs. Dammit. He heads back into the Main House. Let Itachi explain THAT. Besides, Naruto could barely handle ramen. Itachi was too weak right now to cook.

Sasuke had to prepare the meal by default, if they wanted anything that wasn't ramen. The youngest Uchiha was SICK of ramen. He wanted REAL food.

"Sasuke is an excellent cook. He'll make such a good little housewife someday." Itachi remarks as they head into the kitchen and he dodges the frying pan that Sasuke chucked at him.

"Itachi!" Sasuke growls.

"If only he would learn to control his temper that is. Sasuke used to spend many hours in the kitchen, helping mother. That is where he learned to cook. I unfortunately, spent most of my time on ANBU missions during this period." Itachi states.

"Oh. He never mentioned that." Naruto says.

"It never came up." Sasuke says as he opens the cupboards and looks to see what they had.

It was a rare opportunity to get Naruto actually eat something healthy. The youngest Uchiha had no idea how Naruto was able to successfully defeat Madera (along with some help, of course), when he had such a poor diet.

Itachi watches with some amusement. His little brother's facial expressions might have been unreadable to most, but to him they were clear as day. He was determined to make Naruto eat something healthy. The elder Uchiha found himself agreeing with Sasuke. The blonde really did need to take better care of himself.

"Yeah. I guess. But if you ever want to talk about things like that, you know I'm here…right?" The blonde asks.

"I know." Sasuke says and gives Naruto a small smile, before returning his attention back to preparing their lunch.

Itachi wasn't sure what was more amusing. He could enjoy watching Sasuke cook or watching Naruto watch Sasuke cook. The blonde was not subtle in his admiration of his younger brother in the slightest

. Naruto was fortunate that the Sharingan lacked the nearly 360 degree vision of the Byakugan. Otherwise, Sasuke probably would have murdered the blue eyed ninja for looking at his ass so much. In Naruto's defense, Sasuke did have a rather well sculpted backside.

"Good. So Itachi, I know that Sasuke has a tomato fetish. What about you?" Naruto asks curiously.

"Cabbage and rice balls with seaweed." He answers.

Naruto blinks. That made Sasuke sound almost…normal. Uchiha's had strange tastes when it came to food, he decided.

"Yes, loser some people actually prefer to eat healthy food." Sasuke says.

"It's just kinda weird. Seriously, cabbage?" He asks.

Itachi shrugs. He was used to such reactions when he told anyone what his favorite food was. It had ceased to bother him.

A few minutes later, Sasuke produced some cabbage soup for Itachi and steaks for himself and Naruto. Though Sasuke made himself a tomato salad to go with it.

"That was fast." Naruto says.

"I told you, he'll make a fine little housewife." Itachi says with a smirk and lets out a small cry of pain when Sasuke kicks him in the shin underneath the table for that remark.

"Well I guess you two have kissed and made up. Look at you guys, teasing each other like normal brothers and everything." Naruto says.

Sasuke feels his face heat up slightly. Kiss and made up? Itachi was his brother for Godsakes! That thought should have disgusted him.

Instead he found his body responding to the idea with…interest. He mentally slapped himself. There was something seriously wrong with him.

It was one thing to occasionally think of Naruto that way. Naruto was another man. It was strange, but not as strange as having such thoughts about his brother.

"I suppose you could say that." Itachi says.

"We're trying to put the past behind us." Sasuke agrees.

Sasuke was ignorant about sexuality. He just hadn't chosen to focus on the topic much before. For most of his life he was either too young or too obsessed with killing Itachi to think about it. Now that he knew the truth about the massacre and the war was over, well…he could actually begin to ponder it more.

"Well that's good." Naruto says.

He was aware that sexuality existed on a spectrum. Most people would classify themselves as heterosexual. But homosexuality wasn't unheard of in the ninja world.

"Yeah. I'm happy to have my brother back." Sasuke affirms and Itachi pokes his forehead affectionately.

To a certain extent, it was encouraged in a way. You couldn't get pregnant naturally from sex with someone of your own gender. So it was a way to satisfy your physical needs without risking becoming pregnant or getting someone pregnant.

"I don't get the forehead thing." Naruto muses.

It was stress relief, mostly. Though it was unheard of for such partnerships to develop into real relationships. Sasuke as almost positive that Kabuto and Orochimaru had been…together.

"I never did either. It's just Itachi's way of expressing affection." Sasuke says with a shrug.

The thought made him sick. Not because they were both men, but because well it was Orochimaru. The thought of Orochimaru in such a fashion was enough to make him want to vomit up his salad.

"It annoys him. That's why I do it. Sasuke are you alright? You are looking a little ill?" Itachi asks.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Just…a bad flashback to my time at the Sound." He answers truthfully, but vaguely.

This Sasuke learned was the best way to deal with Itachi. If you lied to Itachi at all, he would know. Half the time Sasuke truly believed his elder brother could read minds. But if you could sometimes get away with "lying by omission." He didn't specify which flashback made him feel sick. Itachi probably wouldn't push him on this. There was an unspoken rule that they wouldn't talk about what happened while Sasuke was at the Sound or Itachi was in the Akatsuki.

"I see." Itachi mutters softly.

"Loser, don't. Don't you dare look at me like that!" Sasuke growls at Naruto when he saw that look.

It was the look that he hated the most. The look of pity. Naruto would turn those sad blue eyes on him and Sasuke would feel like he'd been punched in the gut. How he hated being pitied!

"Like what?" Naruto demands to know.

"With pity! With those sad blue eyes of yours. I won't fucking put up with it. It's nothing. It's over now." Sasuke states firmly.

"It's not pity. I'm just sad that you had to go through all that. Whatever it was." Naruto says.

"Sasuke, why don't change your bandages. Tsunade said they had to be changed three times a day." Itachi suggests.

"Yeah. You're right." Sasuke says and heads off to the bathroom, where they kept all the medicines and bandages.

"Thanks for the save." Naruto mutters.

"Sasuke loathes being pitied. Even if that was not your intention, nothing will drive him to a rage faster than that. I wouldn't like for our house to be destroyed while you two fight, especially not before any of the others are fit to live in." Itachi says in a teasing way.

"Yeah. Good point. I guess we kinda do get carried away sometimes." Naruto admits.

"If you make love as hard as you fight, I don't expect there will be any furniture in this household that won't need to be replaced." Itachi observes.

"WHAT?!" Naruto chokes on the steak he was currently chewing on.

"I apologize. Was I not supposed to notice that you are in love with my brother?" Itachi asks.

"I d-on't love him THAT way. I love him like you do!" Naruto says.

"You love him as a lover." Itachi states.

"I do not! I just said that I love him like you do!" The blonde says.

"Exactly." Itachi replies.

"…" Naruto is left speechless.

Was Itachi saying what he thought he was? Did the elder Uchiha brother just admit that he was in love with Sasuke? That couldn't be possible. Could it? They were brothers!

"To my knowledge he is unaware that my feelings for him go beyond those of a "normal" familial bond. I think it would be best to keep it that way. I want him to be happy. You make him happy." Itachi continues as if they were discussing trading missions, instead of love!

"Wait. You're serious…you really…love him THAT way?" Naruto asks.

"Does it disgust you?" The older ninja inquires.

"…Well no. I mean…it shocks me. But not really. We don't chose who we love. If we did, I'd be with Hinata now. God knows she'd be easier to deal with." Naruto mutters.

"Hinata. The Hyuga girl? She is pretty and kind. She'd also be a very socially acceptable choice." Itachi offers.

"Yeah. She loves me. I hate that I hurt her. But I just…I tried but I don't feel that way towards her. There's no spark." The blonde confesses.

"It's not your fault. Just because someone loves you, doesn't mean you are required to love you back in the same way. Look at me and Sasuke." He says consolingly.

"How long have you…you know?" Naruto asks.

"Oh I've always loved him intensely. At first I thought it was just a brotherly affection. He's five years younger than me, so I think that made it easier to rationalize. He's my baby brother. He needed me to protect him." Itachi begins.

"Yeah. I guess it is a fairly big age gap. Five years is a lifetime sometimes. When I thought about how I was as a Genin compared to now, I barely feel like the same person." Naruto offers.

"Precisely. That and father almost always ignored him. This just gave me further justification to play the role of the protector. It was never…romantic until just before my death. I realized when I told him that I would always love him, I didn't just mean platonically." Itachi says and Naruto got the impression the elder Uchiha was relieved to be able to discuss this with someone.

"Ohhh. Well um good." Naruto says.

"I confess myself rather fond of you as well. I do believe I could grow to love you. You and Sasuke are such opposites. The Sun and the Moon. There is something rather…beautifully poetic about the thought of you both together." He continues.

"Itachi…I don't know what's weirder. The fact that you are gay, that you are in love with Sasuke, or the fact that you are telling me to pursue Sasuke when you are in love with him. You are kinda insane." Naruto observes.

"Insanity is just another word for genius when the public doesn't understand it." Itachi says with a shrug.

"Uh huh." Naruto says.

Meanwhile Sasuke changes his bandages. He curses Naruto under his breath. Damn him! He was always making him lose control like that.

There were really only two people that mattered to Sasuke at this point. Naruto and Itachi. He'd scoff or ignore pity from ANYONE who wasn't them. But he couldn't handle it from Naruto. It was those damn blue eyes of his.

"It's his fault I have to change bandages in the first place." He mutters.

He acknowledged that his bond with Naruto definitely wasn't healthy. They had certainly almost killed each other more times than he cared to count. Their fight had cost them both an arm.

Naruto had almost immediately taken the transplant offered to him. Sasuke hadn't wanted to. He deserved to suffer for what he had put the blonde through and for wanting to kill his brother. (Even if he hadn't known the truth, he still felt incredible guilt about how easily he had bought Itachi's deception.)

"Stupid loser." He grumbles as he changes the bandages with care.

Sasuke didn't know why he bothered fighting with Naruto about anything really. He knew that he was extremely stubborn. But Naruto put him to shame. The man had chased him for years across the Five Nations, after Sasuke made it perfectly clear he had no intention of going back to the Leaf. So why Sasuke thought that he would ever out stubborn Naruto over a mere limb, he didn't know. He supposed it was the principle of the thing.

"Because you're my friend!" Naruto's words rang in his ears.

Once Sasuke had asked Naruto why the blonde was so obsessed with him. That had been his answer. Friendship. Really? That was why Naruto was willing to put his dream of becoming Hokage on hold and his own life at risk, for just friendship? That was it.

"Idiot." He mutters.

He touches his lips. They had "kissed" twice. Sasuke didn't really count them. Neither had been on purpose. The first had been at the Academy. Sasuke had been completely naïve back then. The very idea that two men could be attracted each other, had never entered his mind. So he hadn't been faking his reaction.

The second kiss? Well He hadn't been much older during the second kiss. It had been when they were both falling down that damn waterfall. By this point, Sasuke at least had an inkling that homosexuality existed.

"I wonder if he even knows that gay people exist?" Sasuke mutters to himself.

Sasuke had once stolen one of Kakashi's books to find out what was so damn fascinating. A gay couple had been mentioned briefly in the novel. Yeah apparently Jirayia was all about equality. Who knew?

He only described lesbian and heterosexual relationships in graphic detail. Clearly Jirayia appreciated the female form more than the male form. Still it was nice that he had acknowledged the existence of such relationships, however briefly.

"Probably not." Sasuke snorted at the idea.

Naruto despite having two perverted teachers, looked like he would forever have a halo hovering over his head. He'd gone out with Hinata briefly. Sasuke assumed Naruto was as a straight as an arrow. He remembered Naruto having a major crush on Sakura at once point and a celebrity crush on that Snow Actress.

Well once he was pretty sure he caught the blonde checking out Haku's ass. But Sasuke didn't count that. Haku LOOKED like a girl.

Haku was prettier than Sakura. It was a little freaky actually. So yeah, Naruto's straight credentials, if there was such a thing, checked out.

"I need professional help." Sasuke mutters.

He was attracted to two men. One who was unavailable because he was "straight." The other because was unavailable because he was Sasuke's brother. Maybe, he was just attracted to what he couldn't have.

That made sense. Women generally threw themselves at him. Mei had even called him too handsome to kill and she was a Kage! Women just generally presented no challenge to Sasuke. More often than not, they threw themselves at him. It was probably the challenge that attracted him more than anything else! Yes, that was it. He wasn't sick.

"He's taking longer than expected. You should check on him." Itachi states.

"Yeah. I guess." Naruto says, heads to the bathroom, and knocks.

"Hey, bastard! You okay?" He asks.

"Yeah. Fine." Sasuke says, coming out.

"You aren't still mad, are you?" The blonde inquires a bit warily.

Sasuke was a volcano. He let his rage build and build underneath the surface. Eventually it would burst forth in a terrifying beautiful display. Naruto thought that Sasuke must have gotten all the temper in that family. Nothing seemed to make Itachi mad.

"No. You can't help that you are an idiot." Sasuke says with a small smile.

"You are such a bastard." Naruto grins and he knew just like that, that he was "forgiven."

"Sasuke, did you get more pillows for the bed?" Itachi calls out.

"Yeah." He answers.

"Pillows?" Naruto asks in confusion.

"We share a room for now. Itachi is still recovering from his surgery. So I don't really want to leave him alone, in case something happens." Sasuke explains.

"Ohhh. Well that makes sense." Naruto says.

"To my knowledge he is unaware that my feelings for him go beyond those of a "normal" familial bond. I think it would be best to keep it that way. I want him to be happy. You make him happy." Itachi's words echo in Naruto's ears.

The blonde was just hit with a realization. Itachi might be pretending to be having a harder recovery than he actually was. He was in love with Sasuke. If Sasuke thought he was still weak and would share a room with him until he was recovered, than in a twisted way…it made sense that Itachi would fake being sick.

"Loser? You alright. You're gaping like a fish." Sasuke says.

"Oh yeah! I'm fine. Um I just remembered that Kakashi wanted me to help him with some paperwork. So I'm gonna go." The blonde says.

"You're volunteering to help with paperwork. Are you sick?" Sasuke asks and places his hand to Naruto's forehead as if checking his temperature.

"Haha. Very funny, bastard. I'm going to be Hokage someday. So I guess I might as well get used to all the aspects of the job, even the boring ones." He says.

"That's very mature of you." Itachi offers.

"Thanks! So I'll see you guys later!" He says and darts off.

"Something's up. He never volunteers for paperwork. Do you think it was the fact that we are sharing a room?" He asks Itachi.

"I doubt it. Naruto understands medical necessity as much as anyone else." His brother assures him.

"Yeah. Guess so." Sasuke agrees.

"Let me massage your arm. It will help increase the blood and chakra flow. That way you can get used to it faster." Itachi suggests.

"Alright." Sasuke says, deciding that was sound logic, and he sits on the couch.

Itachi smiles and sits on the couch. He knew the odds of Sasuke returning his affections were almost non-existent. Still Naruto was a good choice. His brother could be happy with someone, even if it wasn't himself. Perhaps he could nudge Sasuke in the right direction.

"Good." He says and starts running his hand over the bandages.

A few minutes later, Sasuke had his eyes closed and to Itachi was acting like an adorable kitten. Of course he would never tell the younger man that. He was very proud and likely would never look so…cute again. Now that he was nice and relaxed, Itachi say his chance.

"I haven't seen you with any women since our return to this village. That does make clan restoration rather difficult." Itachi muses.

"I haven't seen you with any either." Sasuke counters.

"Perhaps you just prefer more…exotic women?" The elder Uchiha offers.

"Doesn't really matter where they are from. But no one here's caught my eye. Besides, your recovery is more important than finding a lover." He states.

"That is touching." Itachi says and rubs his arm more.

"It's the least I can do after everything. I was so stupid. I bought it completely. I should have known you'd never betray us over nothing." Sasuke says and leans back against Itachi.

"You were seven. You saw dead bodies. Anyone would have believed it. Don't blame yourself." He says soothingly.

"Maybe." He mutters.

"You know there is really no shame in it. Madara preferred men as well. Besides, it's a relatively simple matter to restore the clan in this era. You don't even need to touch a woman to do it. There are many who would be glad to be a surrogate." He states.

"…" Sasuke was speechless.

Itachi knew? How the fuck did he know that Sasuke was gay? Nevermind. This was Itachi. Itachi apparently knew everything. It was like some law of the universe or something!

"I'll take your silence as confirmation. You really should tell Naruto how you feel about him. Most ninjas never make it to thirty. You should latch onto whatever happiness you can find and not let go." He says.

"Naruto only likes women." Sasuke states.

"That's what you think. You don't have eyes in the back of your head. So I don't expect you to have notice how his eyes followed you in the kitchen, particularly your backside." He replies smoothly.

"You're making that up." Sasuke says.

"I'm not. I have no reason to lie to you…anymore." Itachi says.

Itachi hadn't been lying when he said he could grow to love Naruto. If he was being completely honest with himself, he probably already was. The blonde's determination, his honesty, and his loyalty were all incredibly appealing. That and well Itachi was as much a sucker for a pair of beautiful blue eyes as anyone.

There were also other things to factor into his attraction. Naruto was highly energetic and could produce many clones. That did raise some rather interesting erotic possibilities. He wondered if Naruto could be persuaded to use them in the bedroom? (Or any other location, Itachi was not picky.)

"I'll think about it." Sasuke says.

"Good. You know I only want you to be happy. You deserve it after everything that you've been through. You both do." He says.

"I know. I love you." Sasuke says.

"I love you too." Itachi says with a smile and truer words had never been spoken.