Taking a deep breath he got out of the cab, gripping the handle of his suitcase tightly as he took one tentative step onto the pavement. It wasn't a particularly big suitcase; in truth he hadn't many possessions to fill it anymore. Practicality over sentimentality every time; especially for someone constantly on the move.

He glanced over at the row of shops that stood before him. An Italian bistro, a chemist, a vintage clothes shop, and there on the very end, tucked away in the corner, he spotted his destination.

As he drew nearer he could just about read the words on the sign. Unlike the establishments next to it, it didn't have the name across the front, but instead on an overhanging wooden sign, dangling from a chain so it blew gently on the breeze. Carved into it was an unusual shape he could only assume was a… leaf?

Café Hidden In The Corner. When he had rung to confirm where his brother was staying he hadn't known quite what to expect, but never had he imagined that he'd be living above a café. A café he had decided to run for a living. The mere idea would have had their parents turning in their graves, but right now he was more focused on the impending reunion.

He opened the door and stepped inside, immediately hit with the strong smell of coffee and chai tea. The generous amount of windows let the spring sun cast its rays through the front and right-hand side. Tables made of mismatched oak and pine with random coloured napkins dotted about. The use of tablecloths seemed to vary depending on where he looked. Practically dancing around the room with grace was a pretty yet altogether unfamiliar girl with shoulder length pink hair, who appeared to be the only employee in sight so far. For some unexplainable reason there was an easel set up beside one window, and in the surrounding area an array of brightly coloured paints. Over on the far side, spanning the entire back wall, was a large chalkboard with order on it in a cutesy scrawl that made him almost sick to the stomach. This had to be a mistake. His brother would never run somewhere this...homely. Right?

"Sasuke?"

He'd been so absorbed in the sights that he hadn't heard the distinct sound of footsteps echoing from the back, until he turned his head to be met by the familiar face of his elder sibling. He hadn't changed much in the two years since Sasuke had gone away. Despite his kitsch surroundings the outfit he sported was still vaguely Itachi. A deep charcoal jumper and dark jeans not unlike Sasuke's own pair. Those same deep set eyes, chiselled features framed with that stupidly long dark hair, pulled back into a loose ponytail. He'd never say it aloud, but there was no place that felt more like home to the younger Uchiha. This face before him, he thought. This was home.

"Really?" he began, gesturing around the haphazard environment "Please tell me this is a joke. Or Deidara's idea."

"Did somebody say my-SASUKE!"

"Oh God."

Shooting out of the back room, and throwing his arms around Sasuke with a level of energy only the blonde could be capable of, was none other than Deidara. Tangled in slender limbs and more hair than Sasuke had ever seen on a person, Sasuke's formerly neutral features settled into a familiar scowl.

"Get off, Dei," he growled.

"Oh Sasuke!" crooned Deidara, ignoring the warning tone and showering him in little kisses, "How I've missed my little princess!"

"Oi!" snapped Sasuke, grabbing Deidara's waist and prising the two of them apart. Deidara sized him up with his wide blue eyes, and smirked.

"Looking good, kid," he said, considerably less fluttery than before "How was boarding school then?"

Deidara had changed a little from Sasuke's memory. Ripped jeans, an oversized tank top unsurprisingly adorned with the words 'King Bitch', and covered in more necklaces and leather bracelets than Sasuke bothered to count. He still wore the same signature eyeliner, that had been a staple in the blonde's daily life for all the time Sasuke had known him. He didn't know what to make of this punk rock image he had going on, but one thing he was certain of: it was very, very Deidara.

As the blonde bombshell stepped back in line with Itachi, arm looped around his waist to sate the couple's insistence on constant intimacy, Sasuke was loathe to admit how good they looked together.

"Now that you can breathe again," Itachi says with an amused glance over at Deidara "Tell us about how you've been."

"Okay. Boarding school was fine," Sasuke says with a simple shrug, his thoughts more focused on whether or not he should hug Itachi. He certainly wanted to, but it somehow didn't feel right. Things were different now. He hadn't been in contact with his older brother in almost 3 years, and when he'd left they hadn't been in the best place. There'd been an aching space between them, and for a moment Sasuke descended into panic mode. What if he was intruding on his brother's life? Perhaps there was no place for him there anymore. These thoughts were quick to disperse as Itachi gave him a smile. The smile. Sasuke felt himself calm almost instantaneously.

"Welcome home, little brother," said Itachi "I'm glad you're back."

After Sasuke was settled at one of the empty tables with a steaming pot of tea, Itachi addressed him from the seat opposite, a look on his face that Sasuke couldn't quite place the meaning of

"Sasuke. Now that you're staying here for the meantime, there's something you should know.."

It was at that moment that a tinkling sound issued from the bell above the café door, accompanied by the hurried footsteps of a boy who seemed to be very much out of breath, face bearing a broad goofy grin that Sasuke found almost sickeningly sincere.

"I'm back! Itachi, where do you want these to-" he began to ask as he wrestled with the precarious stack of boxes in his grasp, words ceasing as soon as his eyes met Sasuke's confused gaze.

He couldn't be much older than himself, Sasuke thought as he eyed him scornfully. He had the brightest blue eyes, that held a flash of something Sasuke struggled to place. Recognition, perhaps? Coupled with that, hair blonde enough to rival the resident blonde's; only unlike the long curtain of locks that cascaded down around Deidara, the stranger's hair was arranged into wild spikes all across his head, seemingly unfamiliar with the laws of gravity. Tied around his waist was a forest green apron that bore the same leaf symbol that hung outside. From the corner of his eyeline Sasuke noticed a matching pinny on the pink-haired girl. Then it all clicked.

"Tell me, tell me this kid isn't one of your employees here, Itachi," Sasuke deadpanned, unaware of the deep shade of pink the tips of the boys ears were rapidly turning as he tried not to react to these words, made somehow all the more insulting spoken the third person.

Itachi simply sighed, standing up to move an equal distance between the two. Ever the diplomat, Sasuke thought with a scoff. "I should have mentioned something earlier, Sasuke, but I didn't want to put you off visiting…" he starts, glancing from the blushing blonde to his own sullen brother "This here is Naruto, and he is more than my employee. He's my roommate."

This was the last thing Sasuke had wanted to hear. His own brother, lodging with someone so...so… stupid? Once again Sasuke's brows knitted into a disapproving frown. If Itachi had hoped for some discretion, Sasuke was not about to follow through.

"I said I was coming to stay with you, Itachi, not some weird kid who can't match up his shirt buttons properly!" he hisses angrily, standing and abandoning the mug in front of him, still full to the brim.

"Sasuke be reasonable, Naruto is the son of someone who was very dear to me once," Itachi explained, the infinite patience in his tone speaking volumes about his nature "He needed a place to stay, and I had a spare room to let-"

"You're telling me I don't even get the spare room?!" Sasuke asks in disbelief, voicing rising in pitch and volume. He'd only just reunited with his brother, and now some old acquaintance had muscled in on his living space. On his Itachi.

"Sasuke, behave!" chides Deidara with a tut "Naruto here is a lifesaver for the shop, plus with a face that cute he's bound to bring in customers. I mean, someone has to when I'm not around." he adds with a little hair flick, earning himself another one of the young Uchiha's fierce scowls.

Throughout this exchange Naruto was visibly shrinking in on himself more and more, Sasuke noting with cruel satisfaction the absence of that idiotic grin as an embarrassed frown took its place. After a good few minutes of back and forth between the two brothers, he'd had enough. He plastered a smile back onto his face, if you could call it that, and spoke loudly enough to let his voice carry over the heated exchange.

"I'll have my stuff cleared out of the room by tonight. You won't have long to wait, I haven't got a lot of stuff. Sticking to the essentials; practicality and all," he adds with a warm laugh.

"But Naruto," begins Itachi, only to be cut off again.

"I'll be fine on the sofa, probably even comfier. Finally Dei's army of throw cushions will serve a purpose," he adds with another little laugh.

Before Sasuke had time to form a response, Naruto had dropped the boxes down and scaled the spiral staircase, leaving behind him an uneasy silence. Sasuke huffed irritably, any remorse he felt quick to fade back out of existence.

He may have won this first round, if only by default, but he still had plenty of fight left in him. He wasn't about to let anyone try and share in his happiness.

Sasuke Uchiha didn't do sharing.