As promised a while back... The chapter that comes after chapter 38 in the main story! The moment where the family notices Sasuke's fresh hickey! Just a family moment which I enjoyed writing, so I hope you'll enjoy reading it!

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The furnace was on in the kitchen, a pan sizzling as the meat was being prepared for dinner. Another pot was boiling with water, rice ready to be added to it. Rolling a spatula around in the pot was Fugaku, it being his turn to cook today. Which he actually enjoyed doing. Fugaku cooked more often than their mother did. She had already set the table with the plates with the nice blue motive on it, because now that they had a guest over, they would need to make a good image of course. But so far Sasuke hadn't even come home yet, so who mother was trying to impress, was beyond Itachi at this point. It had happened before that Sasuke simply wouldn't come home for dinner, even after having promised to do so.

Now Mikoto was sitting on the couch, legs propped up in a more comfortable position, eyes glued to a rerun of Masterchef Australia. Something their family always loved to watch, no matter how often they had seen the episode before. Even Sasuke would join them to watch this. Pick favourites and learn new things about cooking. Not that they would ever be this good or care that much about cooking. It was just a nice family ritual.

The swinging door opened as Fugaku pushed his way through it, finding dinner done enough to spend some time with his family. They would wait fifteen minutes until they would start eating without Sasuke and Naruto. That's how much time they usually gave Sasuke now, because it meant he would be an hour late already. The Uchihas were a patient family, but not that patient. With Naruto there they did want to leave a different kind of impression of course, but at some point it was enough. The look his parents shared, told Itachi they didn't have much faith in Sasuke's return.

Even if they didn't really speak about it, this did kind of spoil the mood. Naruto had been nice company and they would like to spend some time with the guy as well, since he was staying in their house. But it was also understandable that Sasuke wanted to keep Naruto all to himself, because this was only one week and how much was that really on how long they had already been talking? Itachi understood this and could make his peace with it, but his parents were less forgiving.

Wanting to escape the uncomfortable Itachi got up from his position on the couch and went to the hallway, finding a small bathroom break just what he needed. Who would've thought that right as he got out of the toilet, Sasuke and Naruto would walk in, still making the fifteen minute mark.

The first thing Itachi did was send a confused look Sasuke's and Naruto's way, because honestly, he hadn't expected them back on time either. Naruto's flushed face did say they had actually hurried home. Something Sasuke rarely did, because he was a little spoiled and couldn't really care less. But here they both were, trying to catch their breaths in the middle of the hallway.

'God, I hope we made it in time,' Naruto muttered, sounding completely out of breath as he straightened his back again and then finally both men noticed that they were not alone in the hallway. That was when Naruto started ranting about being late and other things, apologising profusely, but Itachi didn't catch everything the guy said. His English really wasn't that great and when someone started speaking fast, then it was just over. At least Sasuke got everything Naruto was saying and was simply sending him a glare, telling him silently to shut up already.

'Welcome home,' Itachi muttered in his best English, accent far too obvious it was even painful for him to hear. The two males now busied themselves with hanging up their coats now, not uttering a word, because apparently having Itachi there was a little awkward. And Itachi soon found out why.

Right as Itachi was about to push open the door to the living room to let the two others through, his eyes landed on something on Sasuke's neck. At first he blamed the thick glasses for making him see things, but it was the glasses that had improved his sight. So there really was no denying it. That was a hickey blooming purple right above Sasuke's collarbone, the skin around flushed an angry red. What did those two do when they were out in Amsterdam? A lot could happen there, but Naruto seemed like a decent fellow and even if Sasuke had had a crazy phase, he had been behaving appropriately again. So where would those two even have the opportunity to do such a thing?

At least Sasuke could be happy with having a nice brother. One who would not point out the obvious and not make comments that would leave everyone embarrassed. Of course he still needed to address it in some way and Itachi did this by reaching for Sasuke's collar and folding the flaps up to hide the purple bruise as best as he could. If Sasuke wouldn't move his head too much, then their parents wouldn't notice. No, that was wrong. If Sasuke didn't move his head too much, their parents would be polite enough to ignore it, because they were not blind either and this hickey was a really bad one.

At first Sasuke looked a little confused as to why Itachi actually pulled up the collar. That was until Naruto let out an awkward squeak, giving away something was wrong. Naruto had already flushed a few shades pinker and even if Sasuke did his best to stay collected and act like nothing was amiss, his cheeks did gain a nice pink hue. How easy it was to torture little brothers silently, even if Itachi didn't intend on doing so. 'Dinner is ready,' Itachi then muttered with his amazing accent, forcing himself not to cringe at the sound of it. He could see Sasuke shoot him a look that clearly judged his English abilities, but Naruto only smiled kindly, understanding exactly what he had been talking about. That was what mattered in the end.

This time really opening the door, Itachi stepped into the living room, meeting his father's bored look that seemed to be questioning why he had been on the bathroom for so long. That was until Sasuke and Naruto followed suit, red blushes still very present on their faces. It could be blamed on the hurried ride home, but Fugaku was not dumb and it really was hard to miss the bruise on Sasuke's neck. No matter how well Itachi had tried to cover it up. He could've given Sasuke a scarf, but that would raise even more suspicion, because when had Sasuke ever worn a scarf?

Thick eyebrows rose as soon as Fugaku's eyes landed on the hickey on Sasuke's neck. And Itachi had to give it to his father, because Fugaku did his best to pull his eyes away and act normal, pretend it wasn't there. Naruto awkwardly pulling at his clothes didn't help at all though. It only made Mikoto curious, because something was definitely up.

Having those two together certainly wasn't helping them, because they only made it worse. Sasuke nudged Naruto in the side, making the blond flinch and cower away a little. And right when Itachi's little brother jerked his head to the side, he uncovered the biggest hickey Itachi had ever laid eyes on. The gasp that rose from his mother's lip was eventually his undoing. It started out with a soft chuckle that soon was joined in by his father's laughter, and only a few seconds later they roared with laughter. Their mother had tears streaming down their faces as they made inaudible noises, pointing at the two boys. Scenarios were described where this could've happened, only forcing a fresh amount of chuckles out of Itachi's longs.

Sasuke regretted hurrying home for dinner.

In the middle of it all stood Naruto, not understanding a word of what everyone was saying, though he did have a pretty good clue on what they were laughing about. Beside him Sasuke was actually pouting, trying to be angry at his family for laughing at them, but even he could not deny that it had been a dumb move, and he rather not tell where he had actually gotten the bruise.

Slowly the laughter started to die out and Fugaku let out one last short laugh as he finally turned to Naruto. 'Welcome to the family!' he announced with a smile, and then it quickly disappeared. Itachi instantly got ready, because his father was very good at this. Getting under someone's skin with his acting job. And Naruto did seem like the gullible type. 'But if I ever see you putting some kind of filthy mark on my son again, I'll have your head!'

The fake English accent was awful, but the line had been perfect. They all tried their best to keep a straight face and it seemed Fugaku's line was working perfectly, because Naruto looked like he was about to shit his pants.

Mikoto then actually joined in, trying her best to come up with a quick reply that had to do the trick. 'Don't scare this one too,' she pointed out, shooting a stern look at her husband. This was honestly perfect.

'What happened to the last one?' Naruto instantly shot in, pulling at Sasuke's sleeve to get some kind of answer out of him. And even Sasuke had joined into the teasing party now, doing his best to avoid looking at Naruto, because he would start laughing then. Naruto really was on his own in this and Itachi expected him to actually make a run for it soon.

Tapping the hand on his arm, Sasuke did a fake job at comforting Naruto, still avoiding eye contact with his friend while forcing out the best tease after that. His English was sufficient enough to actually make a move. 'We don't really like talking about it. It was kind of traumatic and I haven't dared dating anyone ever since then, but I am glad you are willing to give it a try and stand up against my father. I am sure you will be able to defeat him and win my heart.'

At first Naruto's eyes had gone wider and wider, actually stepping behind Sasuke to get away from their father. Until Sasuke let out his last sentence, giving away the obvious joke they had been playing. Naruto gave Sasuke a slap against his arm as a small punishment and pointed a fake angry finger at the entire family. 'Mean!' he called out. 'You are all mean!'

The laughter started right from the beginning again, this time joined by the two fresh lovers, even if Naruto had been made fun of, twice. It was just this nice comfortable family moment for them. One Itachi held so dear. This was what family was about to him. These shared moments of joy that could brighten a room instantly. Jokes only shared between them that created this special bond. Sasuke had fought it for quite some time, but couldn't deny that he belonged here. This was his place to be. They fitted together like puzzle pieces and it seemed Naruto actually perfectly fitted on Sasuke's side.

To Itachi they were one happy family.

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Characters © Masashi Kishimoto

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Is there another scene you would like to see still? A POV from which you'd like to read?