Itachi groaned as he looked down at himself, under his sheets. Not again! He hated morning erections. Hated them. He was just glad nobody else got to see him in such a state. He had an image to maintain.

He threw his red cotton sheet away from his body, averting his eyes from his most hated appendage. He silently made it to the bathroom, intending to have a cold shower.

This had been the routine for the past week. Before that day, seven days ago, he'd only rarely had an erection – ever. But since then, they were a daily occurrence.

Growling to himself, he ran the shower with only a minimal amount of warm water, coldly washing his problems away.

Sasuke's eyes flitted open, squinting in the morning sun. He smiled to himself. Itachi has the day off, today! He quickly got out of bed and changed, ready to start his Sunday.

He ran down the stairs, into the kitchen and started to prepare himself and his big brother some breakfast. He'd heard the shower running, so knew Itachi was already up.

Humming to himself, he scrambled eggs in one pan and flipped bacon in the other. He buttered toast and set it all on the table just as Itachi made his entrance.

"Good morning, Aniki! Breakfast is ready!" Sasuke grinned, hugging his brother to him before politely pulling out a chair at the head of the table and placing a plate in front of him. He promptly filled both his and Itachi's glasses with fresh orange juice and sat down, on Itachi's right side. Itachi said nothing. His face remained stoic, his eyes blank. Sasuke's grin faltered.

"Would you like me to serve your breakfast?" He didn't think Itachi would appreciate him serving it, so he'd just laid everything out on the table. He was second-guessing himself now, as Itachi didn't look pleased. His answer was Itachi filling his own plate, not even looking at his little brother. Sasuke's smile faded completely. What does it take to get him to like me? He sadly filled his own plate, keeping his face down, not wanting his brother to see his disappointment.

"Mm, something smells wonderful!" Their mother popped her head around the doorway of the kitchen. She smiled, seeing the breakfast set out upon the table, her boys eating silently. "Is there enough for your father and me?" she asked, not noticing the sadness of her youngest, or the indifference of her eldest.

"Sure," was all Sasuke said before he left to get ready for the day. He didn't feel like spending time with his family at the moment.

"Something smells nice!" Fugaku smiled as he sat next to his wife, at the table, and stole a piece of bacon from her plate. He kissed her 'good-morning', leaving grease on her cheek.

"The boys made a wonderful breakfast." Mikoto said, wiping her cheek.

"Sasuke did it," said Itachi before he left. Fugaku and Mikoto stared at their son as he exited the room, thinking how unlike him it was to speak up about anything, let alone give Sasuke credit for breakfast.

"I think he's just trying to meet his word-quota early, for today. You know, our perfect son!" Fugaku teased, knowing Itachi could still hear him. He grabbed Sasuke's abandoned plate and used it as his own.

"Oh, hush! It was good of him to acknowledge Sasuke." Mikoto lightly reprimanded her husband with a gentle nudge to his shoulder with her own.

Sasuke sighed as he made his bed. Why can't I get Itachi's approval? No matter what I do, he seems as though he doesn't like me! What am I doing wrong? He screwed his eyes shut, willing away the tears that were beginning to prickle his eyes. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself before he set about deciding what he was going to do that day.

He decided that he'd try one more time to win Itachi's favour.

There was a gentle knock. Itachi marked his place in his book, sat it down on his desk, before gracefully rising from his chair and answering his bedroom door. He mentally sighed. It was Sasuke.

"Ano... can we hang out, today?" He looked nervous, but hopeful. Itachi said nothing. He closed his door in Sasuke's face.

Sasuke's bottom lip trembled. He turned around and went to his room. He shut the door, quietly and fished out his homework from his bag. Anything to take his mind off the heartbreak he felt. He didn't say anything. He just closed the door in my face! Why does he hate me so much? He wiped away the single tear that made its way down his left cheek, before tackling the algebra questions in his book.

Itachi sighed as he picked up his book again. He knew he'd been completely rude to his little brother, closing the door in his face; no explanation as to why he was being such an arsehole. He looked down at himself again. This was getting annoying. He'd already had a shower. Now he'd have to wait in his room until the painful bulge in his pants admitted defeat and retreated.

"Sasuke-kun, I'm going out. Would you like to come?" Mikoto stuck her head in Sasuke's doorway. It was an odd habit of hers. She poked her head around doorways before entering the room beyond. She frowned at the obvious sadness that was plaguing him. "Sasuke, what's wrong?" She came to kneel beside him, taking his hands in her own. She squeezed gently, rubbing her thumbs over the backs of his hands. His hands are already bigger than mine... he's growing up so quickly!

"Nothing. Where are we going?" He pulled his hands away and began tidying his desk, putting away his half-finished homework.

"Oh, just out and about... I felt like going somewhere. Do you have somewhere you'd like to go?" She tried to cheer him up. She knew he'd been wanting to go to the new restaurant in town. He'd been asking for weeks. Well, he'd been asking Itachi to go with him.

"No." She frowned. Something was definitely wrong with her baby. She stood up, took his hands in hers again and led him to the bed. She sat him down right next to her and smoothed away the hair hiding his face.

"What's wrong, my love?" She slid an arm around him and pulled him close, his head resting on her shoulder. She heard him sniff, trying to hold back tears.

"I-Itachi hates me!" He finally broke down, hugging her to him, burying his face in her neck.

"Oh, Sasuke... I'm sure he doesn't. Did he say that to you?" She asked, combing the fingers of her left hand through his spiky hair soothingly, her right hand rubbing his back.

"No! He doesn't speak to me at all. Ever!" He squeezed tighter. She rested her cheek on the top of his head and sighed.

"That doesn't mean he hates you," she pulled away from him a little to look him in the eye. "He's just not a talkative person."

"I asked him to spend today with me and he shut the door in my face without saying a word. He didn't even blink!" He wiped at the fresh tears, hating himself for 'crying to Kaa-san'. But he had no-one else to talk to. He felt so alone.

"That was rude of him..." Mikoto soothed Sasuke as much as she could, laying him down on his side, giving him a back-rub with one hand, wiping his tears away with her thumb of the other, tucking his bangs back behind his ears with her fingers.

The emotional toll drained him, sending him to sleep, curled up on his side. Mikoto decided to have a talk with her oldest son. Looks like I'll be on my own, today.

There was another knock on his door. He's so incorrigible! He scowled before schooling his features to be as blank as ever, before he stood to open his door. He'd just willed away his last erection five minutes ago!

"Itachi! Open up!" It was his mother. He silently opened his door, just as she was about to knock again. "You have some explaining to do, young man!" She was angry. He mentally groaned, frustrated. "Why was your brother crying?" She sat on his bed, watching him calmly close the door and sit at his desk again. She received a blank look and silence. "He said you hate him. He said you never speak to him. He said--" she was cut off by his hand being held in the air, bidding her to stop speaking. Normally, she would have considered this rude, but it was Itachi. He wasn't normally rude. Tell that to Sasuke... her mind snapped at her.

"I don't hate Sasuke-kun," was all he said. She waited for more but received nothing.

"You could try telling him that! He was so upset that he's just cried himself to sleep! How could you just close your door on him? He's your baby brother. Your only brother. One day, he might be the only person you have left, and you treat him like this? I'm disappointed in you, Itachi. I think you owe him an apology." She got up and left, knowing she'd get no more than a blank stare.

When she'd left, closing the door behind her again, Itachi frowned. He didn't think he'd affected his brother so bad. He'd never seen Sasuke cry. He'd only ever seen that stupid grin on his face. He scowled. I'm an arse. He got up and made his way to Sasuke's room.

The seventeen-year-old was curled up, asleep on his bed. He looked so peaceful. Even with the tear-streaks running down his cheeks. Itachi squeezed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and knuckle of his forefinger. He closed the door behind him, as he walked over to Sasuke.

He sat on the large bed, next to his brother. He stroked the boy's hair with his right hand as he watched the beautiful features relax even further in his sleep. He allowed himself a small smile at how cute Sasuke was. He lifted the boy up, under his arms, pulling the torso to himself, so they were back to chest.

He ran the bridge of his nose along Sasuke's jaw, taking in his smell. He wrapped his arms protectively around the sleeping boy's waist and held him tight. He waited patiently until Sasuke woke up.

Sasuke felt warm and safe. He felt something protectively wrap itself around him after lifting him, pressing him against something hard, but comfortable and warm. He could smell spices. He sighed contentedly, willing to stay like this forever. Unfortunately, he found he couldn't keep his eyes closed very much longer. He'd had enough sleep and his body was willing him to get up.

He slowly opened his eyes, noticing that he was, indeed, upright. He did, in fact, feel the protective embrace around him. And, he did smell spices. He blinked before looking down. Pale, strong-looking arms were around his waist. He looked back, over his shoulder. He locked gazes with his brother, briefly, before blushing and looking away quickly. He tried to move away.

"Don't." He immediately stilled at the quiet command. He didn't relax, though. He was too shocked that his brother was holding him; that his brother had actually spoken to him – even just that one word. It was the most he'd received from his big brother in a long time.

"Aniki?" He didn't know what to say. He didn't know what to do. He didn't know what to think.

Itachi tightened his hold, ever so slightly. He closed his eyes briefly, allowing himself to just feel his brother against him. He was praying to the kami that he'd not get an erection at such close contact.

"Otouto," he said after a few seconds of silence. He relaxed his hold again, letting Sasuke turn around fully, to look at him.

"What're you doing?" Sasuke looked confused, hopeful and yet, unbelieving all at the same time. He didn't receive an answer. He closed his eyes, sadness claiming his face again. He knew it was too good to be true. That is, until he felt something soft and gentle on his cheek. He opened his eyes to see Itachi in the middle of pulling away from his face. His brow creased in confusion, before he tentatively leaned forward and kissed Itachi's cheek in return. He rested his forehead on Itachi's neck and wrapped his arms around his torso, under his arms. Itachi hugged back. Sasuke smiled, pulled away slightly, kissing his brother's cheek again.

Itachi was sure he was about to have a heart attack. He could feel the persistent little muscle pounding away in his chest, seemingly trying to escape. He kissed Sasuke back, on his other cheek, closer to the side of his mouth.

Sasuke immediately returned the kiss, on the other cheek as well. He was almost on the corner of Itachi's mouth.

Itachi kissed Sasuke's lips, barely applying pressure before moving away. Itachi pulled away the smallest distance. He searched Sasuke's eyes for any sort of reaction; rejection, disgust, anything.

Sasuke grinned at their new game. He kissed Itachi's lips, lingering to suck at his bottom lip. He stroked Itachi's cheek, tucking back some loose strands of hair.

Itachi hesitated only for a second before leaning in again, kissing Sasuke's lips with a gentle passion. He nibbled his brother's bottom lip, seeking entrance for his tongue.

Sasuke gladly opened his mouth, relishing the feel of his brother's tongue massaging his own.

What he got shocked him, though he hid it well. Sasuke latched his mouth onto Itachi's neck, sucking and licking and nibbling his way to the elder's throat. He placed a chaste kiss on the Adam's apple before making his way back to the slightly reddened lips that were open half in hidden surprise, half in need of oxygen. He wrapped his arms around Itachi's neck, pulled out the hair tie and fisted the hair he loved so much. He moaned into the kiss, pressing himself as close to Itachi as possible. Itachi held him tight, arms wrapped around his waist, hands splayed on his back.

He let out a whimper of disappointment when Itachi pulled away, holding him back with strong hands to his hips.

"Why'd you stop?" Sasuke brought his hands around to cup Itachi's face, his thumbs tracing the lines on his brother's cheeks, his fingers splayed along the strong jaw and neck. He was afraid his brother was going to have second thoughts about this.

Itachi brought his hands to Sasuke's, taking them from his cheeks, to his lips. He kissed each thumb and finger before returning them to Sasuke's lap. He gently sat Sasuke back on his bed, before placing a finger on his lips, meaning for him to be quiet. Sasuke kissed the finger tip on his lips, meaning to suckle on it, but never got the chance, before Itachi pulled away and silently exited his room.

Itachi sat back at his desk, thinking he was finally going to get to finish his book. Alas, it was not to be. Another knock sounded on his door. As he went to place his book on the desk again, the door opened.