A while ago, one morning I awoke after rereading my favorite stories...and this idea spawned. It's a series of oneshots IN chronological order, starting with this one when Itachi reunites with Sasuke, inspired thanks to "Penance" and "Throat" by waltz2. Also coming to mind are "Blood, Tears and Love" by VanillaResort" and "Between heaven and hell" by Zetai.

This series of shots is under the title which is from kuroi bara, translating to mean "black rose". The flower itself represents various meanings from death to hatred, as well as farewell, rejuvenation and rebirth, or drastic change. One may go on a long journey and never return. But it also can mean "true devotion", given pure black roses are hard to grow naturally like other roses in different colors. And whilst red roses are romantic loves, black roses represent tragic romance, related to sadness in the relationship.

Nothing belongs to me AT ALL. These shots all contain incest and yaoi. Don't like, don't read. NO FLAMES.

Chapter One

Weakness

The Third Hokage was dead.

Orochimaru had slipped into the ranks of Suna, killed its Kazekage and assumed his identity. Part of the destruction of the Leaf Village - HIS village. But he'd failed, and had his jutsu sealed away before Sarutobi sacrificed his life in the process.

He closed his eyes. Sarutobi...

The man he entrusted to watch over his little brother. The only one of the elders he truly trusted - the ones who knew the truth about that night he dropped the curtain on his entire clan, save for one he loved more than the rest of them - to guard Sasuke with his life to ensure Danzo wouldn't touch him. If the bastard who took Shisui's right eye broke his word, there would be promised hell to pay.

He didn't want to betray his entire village to enemy nations, but anything to keep Danzo quiet.

He joined the Akatsuki only because there was nowhere else to go - and to make sure they weren't after his beloved village. Jiraiya the Toad Sannin knew because Hiruzen had been his sensei, so he served as informant. Listed as tops in the Bingo Book or not, he was still protecting Konoha from the shadows. Even if his partner beside him was here because they had an order:

The capture of the Nine-Tails Jinchuuriki.

Naruto Uzumaki.

The legacy of the Fourth Hokage.

It was this morning when the mist was in place as he and Kisame arrived at the gates to the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

The boy had been protected at birth by Lord Third when his parents gave their lives for him and their village...but he had been abused verbally, physically and mentally by the entire village, those who didn't know the truth about the fact he was the son of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki, the previous Jinchuuriki who gave birth the night of the attack.

All Madara's doing.

The man who had ruined Naruto's life, Sasuke's - and even his own.

Itachi Uchiha despised the man with every fiber as much as he despised Danzo.

He put the guard at the gate under genjutsu so he and Kisame could slip through. There was a slight chance they would not be noticed...but he was counting someone could find them eventually. And it had happened when he happened to stop by the tea house with his partner. He had craved his favorite treats, and the shark man could really use it himself.

Coincidentally, Kakashi Hatake was just outside their spot, reading Icha Icha. He was...suspicious, so when Kurenai and Asuma came by, he silently asked them to keep an eye on him and his partner. He had no intentions of fighting, only to come for what they were ordered to do - but it seemed to not be the case. You never went anywhere without a fight.

He had no choice but to put Kakashi under the Tsukuyomi.

He could not kill his former captain and friend, fellow prodigy.

Besides Shisui, he once considered Hatake a real friend - even if the silver-haired man knew nothing about WHY he entered ANBU. All because of my father and the clan's plans. Everything was Madara's doing. The suspicions pointed toward the entire clan led to all of this.

His little brother would never know. He deserved to restore the honor of their clan - even if it was based on a lie. Few people hardly mattered compared to a vast entity.

He risked overusing his Mangekyo on Kakashi - the pain in his eyes was increasing with each time he used it. This level above average in his family's bloodline came with a great risk. It would render him incapable of defeating his brother himself, but it would also give Sasuke his chance.

However, he might see his brother again sooner than expected.

And he did.

Sasuke has grown.

His little brother...fierce and hateful, and with the Sharingan ablaze. But he had not yet awoken the Mangekyo; it could be activated with the death of his best friend. The Kyuubi child...I see it all. That is why he is here: to protect his friend, and he heard I was here. What topped the icing with the cherry was the fact Sasuke had learned the Chidori - from Kakashi. Lord Third had been wise to place him and the blond boy under his tutelage. Itachi smiled behind his collar before he let it drop when his brother dared to charge at him, screaming for his death...but he saw it all: Sasuke still was not strong enough.

Itachi grasped that hand with the Chidori like it was just a wooden kunai aimed for him not to kill. He broke that wrist, preventing Sasuke from weaving any more hand signs, because he and Kisame were here for Naruto, and that was final. Jiraiya had been distracted by the young woman placed under his genjutsu, disgusting as it made the Uchiha feel to do to the man. He prayed that the Toad Sage would pull out and come in time.

Just to prolong a little longer...even if it means Leader's anger. But he said there is no rush. And he is not the real leader, but the other like me...

Thankfully, Jiraiya arrived in time.

But Sasuke wasn't finished. He was so consumed by his emotions that he rushed ahead of his time. He was impatient. That brought the elder brother up to now when he held his younger sibling up by the throat against the wall.

The feel of Sasuke's skin beneath his made him burn in certain parts from his pulse points, his heart and even lower. He refused to think about it, but the seed had been planted with something as simple and forbidden as THAT.

"You're still too weak," he hissed in the younger's face. "You don't have enough hate. And you know something?" He leaned up to breathe hotly against that ear. "You never will."

He considered reusing their childhood home and the old memories of that night - what he could that had implanted the seed of hate - but something else seemed better, even if it would be as effective. Perhaps it stemmed from the way his body was responding to the knowledge that the younger brother he still loved so much was growing...and it was the way a brother should not.

If I do this, it should sever that.

Sasuke's dark eyes widened with the same horror it had that very first time he was pulled into the nightmare realm Tsukuyomi. His heartbeat palpitated once before stopping altogether...

~o~

Red, black and gold swirled before his eyes, taking him out of reality and into the familiar devil's realm. Then it turned into the familiar electrical post towering north towards the gray moon - where he knew he remembered seeing the shadowy form of the one who butchered their kin, before he found the corpses scattered across the streets...

...and then he found HIM standing over those of their parents.

He found himself floating endlessly down the sea of black which sucked him backwards into the vortex, to where he would experience the real kind of pain he remembered too well, which hardened him and had him awaken the first step of his Sharingan...

And now here he was.

"Where...am I?"

Looking down, he shivered audibly and physically, his legs frozen in the spot. He could not move, not only because HE was doing this, but because of his own fear as he recognized where he was.

"Yes..."

That damned voice...behind him...so velvety and rich, but so cold and callous, devoid of mercy. And before them both, there were the white forms of their parents. Kneeling, heads bowed - ready for execution. "It's our childhood home," Itachi's voice breathed behind him. "You see them again...you see them as they await for what came to them...and they accepted without a fight, unlike the others." A dark chuckle followed, and lips ghosted behind his ear.

"Our dear mother and father knew they would be saved for last, for you to come and see them..."

He wanted to yell that he was a savage. That he was playing with him again. He wanted to leap forward and save their parents, even if he was too late.

"You're weak, Sasuke. And twenty-four hours from now...you'll be weaker still."

His brother's clone appeared behind their parents, katana raised for the kill. Cold rumbles of laughter made his flesh crawl...and then something else changed.

He saw he was naked now. Completely. "Why are...what are you doing?!"

A hand reached up to caress the small, firm expanse of his lightly toned back. The simple touch was a great violation. "You will be seeing AND feeling more than before..."

At the same time, the katana struck down on its targets. Blood spattered across the floor, which thudded with bodies collapsing. He was gazing upon the corpses of his parents for a third time - in his own mind, but even if it was an illusion, it was as crystal clear as he'd seen them that night, with his young eyes even then.

That hand was still on his back, stroking him and then going down to cup his left ass cheek, making him flinch. "...is your hatred any stronger, foolish little brother?" Itachi purred, his lips returning to his ear again, then moved down to place a kiss on his cheek, and down to his neck. He quivered with disgust and...arousal! How...how DARE the bastard -!

"Hmmm...I see. You want me, otouto. I was intending for you to hate me...but this is a surprise, indeed." The other hand not touching his backside snaked up and over his thigh, going straight to the target itself which was his erection. Black-lacquered nails closed around the hard, developing member framed with a small patch of curls, tugging gently and bringing more blood through the pump. He squirmed in Itachi's touch; he did not want this! He knew the bastard was screwing with his mind, but why did his body respond against him?!

Itachi kissed him again, this forbidden touch of the lips, this time on his collarbone. "S-Stop it!"

"You won't get away from this, Sasuke. I feel and smell everything about you. You've grown, but you are still so WEAK -" He gave the erect flesh a harsh squeeze, making him cry out in pain. "- that you harbor a secret desire for your own brother."

The increasing strokes made him weak at the knees, but he was held in place.

The fire between his legs boiled enough lava that he heard himself moan, unable to form words no matter how much he wanted to. Itachi was the one doing all the talking as he controlled this world. "Mmmm..." He hummed deliciously against his skin, licking at the side of his face from behind. One hand still on his young manhood, the other left his small, plump ass and traveled around the other side to squeeze his hip and pelvis, then ghosted over his stomach which was slowly growing a six-pack; with more time, he might have the appearance of a grown man. His navel was poked into, the lines of his stomach traced, and his left nipple was pinched; its partner hardened from neglect.

"I feel like I should take your virginity here and now...but it is too extreme. However, maybe we can see how much of this will be unbearable instead..."

With that, the scene changed altogether.

He found he was still nude, standing straight up now, and his hands stretched out on either side of his head. He was held in place on a torii, his wrists tied to the posts. Itachi had been behind him - and now he appeared in front, wearing his cloak in place. The collar was buttoned all the way to hide his sinful mouth which continued to torment him. "We still have...twenty-three hours, fifty-nine minutes and fifty-nine seconds to go."

Only a minute and a single second passed?!

Around him, the scenery changed into black and red flames without an end, but that wasn't all. There were many Itachi clones in the background - and all were in a different carnal position that made his body boil if the raging inferno surrounding did not. One Itachi had another on all fours as he entered from behind, driving in and out doggy style; another couple had one on his knees as he sucked the standing one off like it was a delicious snack. There was also a threesome with the first driving into the second from behind, and the second doing the deed for the third with his mouth. This was a new kind of torture for him that burned him with unwanted desire as well as melted uncomfortably in the heat.

The real Itachi - the one who brought him here - smirked to one corner of his mouth; he'd popped open the first two buttons of his cloak down so he showed his entire face. "Do you like what you are seeing, Sasuke?" he purred, but he would get no satisfaction with a spoken answer. He hummed and continued to unbutton his coat until he reached the bottom...then opened it to show he was naked, just like his captive brother. He allowed the coat to fall around his feet. He stepped out and walked a couple steps towards Sasuke, never breaking eye contact with him. Even a foot away, the heat could still be radiated and exchanged between the brothers.

"I see I am making you weaker."

"Go to hell!" he finally spat, and onto the elder's face, which he wiped off with the back of his hand casually.

"We already are there."

Eyes glowed red with the pinwheels of the Sharingan - the same eyes which transported him to hell. This new place was heaven and hell combined - WHY did he enjoy it and hate it at the same time?

Itachi leaned forward, bringing both hands up to cup Sasuke's face, gently placing his lips against the younger's for a kiss, his sweet, devilish tongue tasting every inch of him. His hums made the teen shiver and try to pull away only to be tugged back into the other's mercy. "I don't normally beg, but please, Sasuke...give in. No one will know but you and I..."

Itachi's stronger body against his caused a leg of his own to come up and hook around his older brother's hip, bringing him close so their aroused genitals rubbed against each other.

Now Sasuke's body arched on its own, against Itachi's.

There was no going back now.

He wanted Itachi...but the elder had made it clear he wasn't going to take away his virginity. He thought Sasuke was too young for that, which frustrated him beyond measure. "Damn it, Itachi!"

His torturer - the one who used to be the light of his life before he became his darkness - chuckled as he deepened the kiss hungrily only to pull back. He didn't stop touching him, however, for his hands roamed over Sasuke's back and down to his buttocks, squeezing them before jerking his hips back into his own, rubbing the proof of their lust - and hate - together.

"My opinion of you has not changed, foolish little brother," he growled, taking his bottom lip between his teeth. He then reached between their bodies and went straight for the prize on his own, in which he began to stroke himself; the younger Uchiha grimaced that he had to see that: the hand going over his own member like that, unashamed. "You are weak as ever. You are pathetic with your emotions...and you are even more so like this. You can't even control your own body's needs and wants..."

~o~

He did enough to his brother that he had to release him from the jutsu, but as it had done to Kakashi, Sasuke had passed out with his eyes opened. He wouldn't recover for a week at most - unless you were a brilliant medical ninja. Itachi was on the verge of shattering inside. He still loved his brother, and this was his means to show it...even if it fueled his hatred and need to get stronger.

This was necessary.

Naruto lost his temper and was charging his way, when Kisame followed after him - and Jiraiya unleashed his Toad Art: Toad Mouth Trap, bringing them into the "belly of the beast". It was a surreal digestive system that would swallow them whole, but they had to go. They did not get Naruto today, but they would have to sooner or later.

On top of that, he was exhausted from using Tsukuyomi twice in two days - on Kakashi and then his brother - and now Amaterasu to create a fire escape for him and his partner. He needed to rest...and to relieve himself of this feeling he had from being in the illusion world he created for himself and Sasuke. He tried to banish this feeling and had failed miserably.

He had only made the forbidden longing for his own flesh and blood stronger than ever.

"Between heaven and hell" started out as a serious change of how Itachi used the genjutsu nightmare on his own brother, in which it was an artistic sexual manner of various copies of himself on Sasuke as means of preparation before it was the two of them - and it ended in crack which I will not repeat. XD It was the major one that inspired me to do this first shot in the first place, and for those familiar, you can see bits and pieces of it. In "Blood, Love and Tears", he whisked Sasuke away for a third time in Tsukuyomi, in which he made him watch clones of themselves engage in the act before he really took it to the next level.

Read and review. :D