Disclaimer: I don't own nor have I contributed to Naruto in any way! Nope! None!

Sky-eyed Kitsune: Oh jeez I've been gone a while, ne? Well thank you all for being so patient with me. I've found that I'll update one story alot, and then stop and move on. So I'm pausing for a bit with Unshed to focus on this story. Some veeeery unusual happenings in this chapter....

Chapter Nine: Confliction

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Sasuke sat at the table in his house, twirling three kunai around his fingers.

Night had long since fallen, and Naruto was no where to be found. Naruto knew well that he was being hunted by S-class ANBU from Konoha and just about every ninja in Otogakure, so why would he stay out so late to train?

Sasuke's fingers twitched, and the revolving kunai clanked against each other. Sasuke placed them on the table and ran a hand through his raven locks. He didn't want to think about anything unfortunate happening to Naruto; it would just make him more anxious than he already was.

Sasuke shot up from his seat as he heard the front door click open, and he swiftly threw the trio of knives in its direction. He heard no movement, and cautiously opened the swinging door to the kitchen to look out. He let out a relieved sigh when he saw the three kunai pinning a bewildered Naruto to the back of the door by his sleeves.

"Nice to see you too…" Naruto said nervously. Sasuke approached him without and word and swiftly removed the kunai.

"You said you'd be back around nightfall," he said stiffly.

"Heh, gomen," Naruto chuckled, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "It was just a guesstimate."

"Hn." Sasuke turned away and walked down the hall to their bedroom.

"You're mad," Naruto stated, following the raven.

"Hn."

"I'm sorry," Naruto sighed, sitting down heavily on the bed, making the mattress bounce a little with his weight.

"If you don't know when exactly you're going to be back then don't expect me to be waiting for you next time," Sasuke said apathetically as he removed his shirt and pants, and slipped under the covers with only his boxers.

Naruto sighed again, flopping backward.

Wait…Sasuke had stayed up waiting for him to return? Was he…?

Naruto shot up and turned over on his hands and knees to look at Sasuke in the bed.

"Were you worried?" he asked incredulously, and Sasuke hned at him. At first a small, but then wide grin erupted over Naruto's face, and Sasuke grunted as the blond pulled him up into a tight embrace.

"Thank you," Naruto said softly against Sasuke's neck, crossing his tan arms over his lover's chest, his palms gripping the raven's shoulders. "It's nice to know someone is thinking about me."

Sasuke's eyes molded from hard to gentle, and he placed his hand over Naruto's on one of his shoulders.

"Usuratonkachi," he grumbled, fighting down a pink flush of color across his pale cheeks. "…Orochimaru wants to see you."

"Eck. You sure know how to kill a mood," Naruto said flatly, releasing Sasuke and standing.

"Hn. Well this is kind of important dobe," Sasuke said. "He wants to meet you tomorrow night to evaluate you."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Great." He removed the clothing from his torso, leaving on his pants, and flopped onto the bed. "I'm so tired…"

Sasuke walked over and sat on the other side of the bed. "Why?"

"Kyuubi was practically whip-in-hand with me," Naruto sighed.

"Liar," Kyuubi said, and Naruto ignored him.

Sasuke took off his shirt and slipped into bed with Naruto.

"What are you learning?" Sasuke asked quietly. He knew that Naruto probably wouldn't answer, and he could understand that; demon techniques and secrecy went hand in hand.

"Right now he's just trying to get my body prepared for some big jutsu he plans to teach me."

"…hn," Sasuke said, rolling over to face his back to Naruto. He released a long wisp of a breath, filtering it through his lips like smoke, before closing his previously anxious eyes and drifting off into sleep. He shivered and his body jerked him awake as he felt a set of slightly sharp teeth graze his right ear, giving it a quick nibble to boot.

"Naruto," Sasuke growled lowly. "I'm tired."

"So am I," Naruto retaliated, grinning at his lover's backside. "But I always save some energy to expend on you."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Well I don't. Now get away."

"You're so cold," Naruto chuckled, licking the shell of the Uchiha's ear before seizing the raven's neck with gentle ferocity.

Sasuke felt his shoulders jerk slightly as a shiver racked his body, and his resolve crumbled.

The raven turned swiftly, pressing his lips against Naruto's needily before flipping the two of them over on the bed.

Sasuke smirked down at him, face predatory, and suddenly Itachi flashed through Naruto's mind with the same expression. Sasuke didn't even notice the flicker in Naruto's eyes as he leaned down, and Naruto was swept away in the pleasure.

Naruto watched as Sasuke's breath flowed in and out of those porcelain lips like satin, barely a wisp of a noise.

He placed a hand on the raven's bare milky chest, gliding his fingertips over the gentle dips and curves of the muscles chiseled there. He stopped when he grazed over a wound Naruto had inflicted on him from his frenzy. His eyes flickered up to Sasuke's face, but then closed immediately as his hand lingered on his lover's skin.

"What are you thinking of?" Kyuubi rumbled from within.

"You're inside of me. Shouldn't you know what I'm thinking?" Naruto replied silently back, not wanting to wake Sasuke.

"I only know as much as you want me to, and right now all of your thoughts are hidden away."

Naruto paused as his fingers slid their way up from Sasuke's chest to his face, caressing the smooth cheek there.

"Itachi made that same face."

"What?"

"That smirk…they both have that smirk."

"They are both brothers Naruto."

Naruto was silent.

"You can't expect them to be completely different, especially considering that they look so much alike."

Naruto shook his head in confusion.

"I'm too dangerous to be around Sasuke right now, but he won't let me leave his side."

"You make him sound as dominating as Itachi," Kyuubi chuckled, and Naruto suddenly grinned.

"Naruto, I don't like this," Kyuubi chided as the blond entered the Akatsuki lair, torches lighting automatically along the walls as he stepped into the blackness ahead.

"It's all under control," Naruto reassured. He stopped when his sensitive ears picked up the movement of a pebble, and he scanned the room with his night vision, courtesy of Kyuubi.

He calmed as a scent caught his nose, and cold metal pressed against the vulnerable flesh of his neck.

"Making the same kind of entrance twice? How boring," Naruto chuckled as Itachi's breath wafted through his hair from behind.

"I enjoy being consistent," the raven replied, and the liquid entrancement of his voice prickled Naruto's skin.

Naruto couldn't help himself from the knee-jerk reaction—Itachi and Sasuke were so much alike. Their voices, their temperament, their expressions; if Naruto wasn't able to see them in the flesh then he would surely confuse the two.

Naruto smirked as Itachi didn't remove the kunai.

"I see you don't trust me quite yet," he commented.

"Hn," Itachi said. Uchihas and their stupid "hn"'s. "It's very late for you to be here Naruto-kun, considering that you were just here very recently. I have a right to be suspicious."

Naruto grinned, his canines glistening in the dim light of the torches along the wall. He jerked himself away swiftly from Itachi, the kunai slicing across his neck and sending blood pattering to the ground.

Itachi's eyes examined Naruto's, and then the blood on the ground, and then back up to the smirking Naruto.

Naruto knew that Itachi was extremely intelligent and calculating, and he wouldn't need to explain anything to the raven. Itachi knew that Naruto could have escaped the kunai with injuring himself, but he chose not to. In other words, Naruto was at the lair for something that came at a cost, be it as valuable as his blood.

Itachi narrowed his eyes.

"What do you want?"

Naruto smirked again as the wound on his neck began to fizzle and heal itself automatically.

"I'm here to appeal to your better nature," he said, walking back up to Itachi until they were an arm's length apart.

Itachi's face remained calm but calculating, as Naruto expected.

"I realize that Pein has his hands full with the Akatsuki and that he may not fulfill his promise as quickly as I want him to. This wouldn't be a problem if there wasn't a danger lurking inside of me. When the council makes my chakra go haywire I turn into a ballistic demon. Here's my proposition: I want you to connect your chakra to mine so that the next time I go demon you'll be able to transport me here before I do anything drastic."

Itachi paused for a moment. "When are you going to make this sound appealing to me?"

"In return for monitoring my chakra, I'll give you what you desire that I can provide," Naruto said, crossing his arms.

Itachi took a step closer to Naruto. "I know why you're doing this," he said, taking yet another step. "You're very noble to try and protect my brother from your rampages." Naruto stood his ground, rooted to the spot as Itachi stepped closer and closer. "Rationally thinking about it I would be a fool to accept this offer. I'd be protecting my brother while wasting my own time and endangering myself by assisting you." Itachi smirked. "Then again, being promised what I desire makes the offer very tempting."

Naruto remained silent, digging a hole through Itacih's ink black eyes with his own.

"I accept," Itachi finally said.

"Fine. What is it you want now?" Naruto asked curtly.

"Well since I am physically protecting my brother by doing this, I can rather emotionally tear him down. And what better way than by taking the only thing he loves in the whole world?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes to Itachi. "You want me?"

Itachi nodded. "You will come to me when I call of you, and for the time you are with me, be devotedly mine and deny me nothing."

Naruto narrowed his eyes to Itachi.

"There really is, clearly, something wrong with you," he said. Itachi remained silent, and Naruto sighed and rolled his eyes up to the ceiling. "Fine." He held out his hand.

Itachi smirked and grabbed the offered hand with his own, and Naruto gasped a little in surprise as the raven tugged him forward, and their lips crashed together.

Naruto blinked several times, his body too in shock to realize just what was actually occurring. He had just sol himself to Uchiha Itachi…the Uchiha Itachi.

"Kit! What is wrong with you!?" Kyuubi practically screeched.

"I don't have a choice Kyuubi; Itachi is probably the only person strong enough to contain me during a rampage. I can't let myself hurt Sasuke again- not ever again."

Kyuubi bitterly stayed his tongue as Itachi parted from Naruto's lips with a soft smack. He smirked at the blond, swiping a tongue over his lips.

"Deal."

Sasuke stretched his legs out as light filtered through the windows onto his eyelids, and he flopped his body over, pulling Naruto close against him as he attempted to hide from the awakening sun.

Sasuke smiled as he buried his face into Naruto's sweet buttermilk hair, drinking in his scent as stray locks tickled his nose.

He hugged Naruto tightly to him, and the blond groaned a little.

Sasuke chuckled lightly and kissed the blond mop beneath his chin. He ran his hand up and down Naruto's golden naked back, and then stopped when a dark mark on Naruto's shoulder caught his eye.

A vertical black swirl tattoo—the mark of a Konoha ANBU.

Sasuke couldn't help but be reminded of the suffering Naruto underwent in that village, and yet still wondered if the blond regretted leaving at all. He had left behind Iruka, the closest thing he had ever possessed to a father. Tsunade was also no longer with him, and she was truly one of the few people who understood everything about Naruto. Even Sasuke still didn't entirely understand his lover sometimes.

Naruto's mind was an enigma, which only seemed fitting for such a complex person. It was that sort of mysterious mind that had the ability to draw others in to him.

And that's what worried Sasuke.

Naruto was a catch, as anyone could see. He could easily be stolen away by someone else if Sasuke's wasn't careful.

Sasuke turned his head up in the direction of the window as the sunlight filtering through became stronger, and he stood, knowing that he had two missions to prepare for that day.

Naruto hummed and blinked as he woke up, raising a hand so its shadow would cover his eyes from the sun spilling directly over them.

He sat up and held his head in his hand.

"Ugh…what happened last night?"

Naruto's eyes widened and he touched his lips as everything came back to him.

"So that wasn't a dream," he thought aloud. "I…I really made that deal with…" Naruto shook his head. He couldn't even say the man's name.

"I can't believe it either," Kyuubi commented. "You would go such lengths to keep Sasuke safe."

"Yea, I really would, and did."

Naruto stretched his arms out as he stood from the bed.

"Looks like Sasuke's already left for the day, which means we have a green light to go to Akatsuki."

"Joy of joys," Kyuubi grumbled.

"What a nice surprise," Pein said as Naruto appeared beside him in a wisp of smoke.

"I'm keeping my promise, so you'd better keep yours," Naruto replied coolly. He looked around the lair. "Where is everyone?"

"Outside the base, ready for training," Pein said. "The only ones not in need of any training are Itachi and Konan. And Kisame is out on a mission today."

"Of course Itachi doesn't," Naruto muttered under his breath, rolling his eyes as he walked out of the lair's exit.

"Naruto's hear!" Tobi practically screeched, and Deidara thwaped him over the head.

"Baka, un," he grunted. Itachi wasn't even paying attention to them, arms crossed as he leaned against a tree.

Naruto rolled his eyes all the way up to the sky. He thought his days of training stupid genin had been over, and yet he now had to deal with this.

"Ok," Naruto said, clapping his hands together. "Target practice first."

"We don't have any targets, un," Deidara said.

"No need," Naruto smirked. "Itachi and I will be your targets."

"Excuse me?" Itachi growled, lifting his head to glare at Naruto. Naruto just smiled back and Deidara laughed.

"Perfect!" he chortled. "Moving targets, un! What can we use for weapons?"

"Anything," Naruto replied simply. "You can even use each other if you like. The goal is to land one hit on either Itachi or I."

"Piece of cake," Deidara smirked. He swiftly pulled out a kunai and threw it, and it sunk into Naruto's chest. Deidara grinned, but then it slowly faded as Naruto's image disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Is it?" Deidara jumped as he heard Naruto's voice right beside his ear, and the blond laughed a little.

"When do we star?" Tobi asked, and Naruto and Itachi's images disappeared together.

"We already have," Naruto's voice echoed, and Deidara cursed under his breath as he and Tobi went into action.

Naruto had to admit, Deidara and Tobi weren't as bad as he had thought—they were worse.

An hour had passed and neither of the two of them had even come close to landing a hit on one of their targets, and Naruto was even going easy on them.

Naruto currently stood on a thick tree branch, leaning against its base, arms and legs crossed languidly. He tiltled his head back to look at the sky, knowing that he would need to return before Sasuke did from his mission, or else suspicion might arise. And then there was the meeting with Orochimaru. Naruto knew it would be a make or break moment for him, as the snake was very good with seeing past masquerades. Naruto would no doubt be walking on glass that evening.

Naruto's senses shuddered as a weakly hidden chakra approached him, and he figured he might as well just stand still and let the wild goose chase be over with.

Naruto didn't look when the tree branch bounced a little with a new weight. He rolled his eyes as he felt an arm snake its way around his neck, and cold metal pressed against the soft and vulnerable flesh there,

"Yea, you got me, bla blab la. Let's just end this already."

"It was your idea."

Naruto was surprised at the voice. "Itachi?"

The metal left his neck, but the arm did not.

"Hn." Naruto gasped a little as he was whipped around and pressed against the tree base he had previously been leaning on. Both his hands were captured behind him by Itachi's, and Naruto struggled to look over his shoulder at the man.

"What the hell are you doing?" Naruto hissed. His body tensed when he felt the body behind him press into his, and a leg stepped between his own two, spreading them slightly.

"We made an agreement," Itachi said. Naruto cursed himself when he shivered at the brush of Itachi's hair against his sensitive neck. "You aren't backing out now, are you?" Naruto turned around roughly, wrenching his hands from Itachi's grasp.

"No," he said, facing the stoic man. "I never go back on my word."

"I certainly hope not," Itachi said, smirking as he cocked an eyebrow. Naruto glared at him, but didn't struggle or fight back when Itachi flipped him around again and pinned him to the tree once more, his back facing the man.

"I didn't realize how obedient you could be," Itachi remarked sarcastically, before licking a hot trail up the back of Naruto's neck.

The blond couldn't help his body from responding as he was racked with a convulsion of shivers.

"A sensitive spot of yours? Does Sasuke even know about that?" Itachi asked, sliding an arm up Naruto's shirt and trailing the blond's spine with pale fingertips.

"Sasuke doesn't have to know everything," Naruto said surprisingly calmly, and Itachi couldn't help but feel surprised from the placid reaction.

"…oh?" he pried further, separating Naruto's legs once more with one of his own.

Naruto shook his head against the tree, his body limp as a doll. "I don't want him to know everything." Naruto grit his teeth when Itachi bit down on that sensitive spot again, and he could feel the hot arousal pouring into his abdomen.

"Why?" Itachi asked in the same monotone voice, despite what he was currently doing to Naruto.

"There are things that no one should know about me," Naruto said in an almost bitter tone. "There are things that have happened to me, and things that I've done that not one person should ever hear."

A lengthy but soft groan sifted through Naruto's lips as Itachi pressed his lean hips into the blond's backside.

Itachi would be lying if he had said that he wasn't truly intrigued by what Naruto was saying, and not to mention by the delicious noise he produced. Naruto, for the most part, was an enigma to Itachi, just as he was an enigma to others; it seemed to retain a sort of charm to it. Itachi had no intention to crack open such a rare quality in a person, yet his natural thirst for answers made him want to.

Naruto gasped a little when Itachi slid his hand into the front of his pants, grabbing something very alive at the moment.

"Itachi," Naruto growled, though he didn't resist, remembering their bargain. Itachi smirked in response and nibbled the blond's ear.

Naruto 's hands suddenly shuddered as they spread flush against the tree, and Itachi watched as Naruto's veins strained and black claws unsheathed from atop his fingernails.

Naruto dug them deep into the bark of the tree as he grit his teeth and the council's seal pulsed agonizingly.

"Seal…dammit," Naruto hissed through the pain. Itachi meanwhile didn't even regard the chaos unfolding within Naruto, although he obviously recognized it.

The raven gripped Naruto's hip with his free hand, the other coming alive on the blond's arousal.

Naruto didn't even have the strength to reprimand the man as he struggled to control himself in the face of the council's seal. His whole body felt hot and fatigued from the restrained chakra within him, and he panted as Itachi pleasured him at a new pace. The conflicting senses intertwined in their heat, pain, and ecstasy, and Naruto's claws began to rip several lines down the tree bark.

"'ta-a—" he gasped, trying to get out the raven's name. He hadn't realized until that moment that his body had been bucking forward against Itachi's hand. He would have felt disgusted with himself if it weren't for the mingling sensations inside of him making his cognitive skills less than functioning.

He groaned as his release washed over him, and the burn of the seal seemed to peel away like pencil shavings.

He took in a gulp of air, not even aware of having been holding his breath, and slumped forward some against the tree for support.

"That was easier and more enjoyable to prevent than I had imagined," Itachi smirked, removing his soiled hand from Naruto's pants. He watched appreciatively as Naruto rolled out the waves of his release.

"Why…" Naruto managed to croak. He bent his head forward until it bumped against the tree.

"Because it causes my brother emotional pain he isn't even aware of, and I quite enjoyed it." Itachi disappeared in a wisp of smoke, and Naruto crashed down to his knees on the thick under him.

The fact that Itachi had touched him in a sexually way hadn't perturbed him in the least, and he knew that he had to go behind Sasuke's back to keep him safe…so why did he feel so disgusted with himself? Was it because he had physically responded to the man? Or because he was able to break the seal's hold so easily?

…or was it because he knew the ugly truth—

He had enjoyed every second of it.

I've had writer's block with this for a while, and now that it's gone I decided to finally freaking update lol. Sorry for the wait! It was one hell of a writer's block.

Itachi and Naruto, or Sasuke? You decide! Go to my profile and vote in the available poll for whether you want it to be itanaru, sasunaru, one-sided sasu, or one-sided Itachi. Thanks for reading!

Sky-eyed Kitsune