Heya guys! I've got some other stuff on the way, but this little niblet popped into my head when I woke up this morning, so I thought I'd give it to you guys to enjoy!

BP

Just… Why?

Here, the Kyuubi purred, my own birthday gift – it may keep you alive.

Naruto huffed, ears twitching on his head, and his tail patting the bed in irritation. 'Stupid Ero-Sennin. It's just a pretty girl – why do you have to be such a perv?' A knock on the hotel door interrupted his thoughts – or rather, his sulking. Thinking it was Jiraiya, perhaps drunk or otherwise incapable of using his bloody room key, he went to the door and answered it without checking to see who it was. It was only after he opened it that he realised that he could hear two heartbeats, not one. And, as he gazed up, sure enough, there were two people wearing cloaks, looking rather imposing, standing in front of him.

"Hello, Naruto-ku –" Itachi stopped mid-sentence, staring at the blond jinchuuriki. Kisame glanced at his partner, wondering why he had cut himself off. Ignoring the oddity for now, KIsame grinned, showing off his teeth to the frozen blond.

"To think that this little boy has the Kyuubi within him," Naruto's ears perked, facing forwards and twitching slightly in alertness.

Itachi blinked several times and then continued, "Naruto-kun, you're coming with us." His eyes flicked down, to where Naruto's tail went from swinging behind him to wrapping itself around his waist, supposedly to allow for greater movement. His hand rose, aiming for Naruto's collar…

When Sasuke came careening around the corner, he was expecting to see one of two things: Itachi trying to capture Naruto, or an empty corridor, whereupon he would proceed to find Naruto.

Instead, he was seeing this.

Itachi was sitting cross-legged on the floor against the wall, with a very familiar lump of orange and yellow in his lap, purring loudly as Itachi – with a rarely-seen expression of wondrous delight – rubbed his ears. The boy's tail was limp on the floor, shifting from side to side intermittently. Naruto's face was free of any tension, and his eyes were glazed and heavy-lidded. His hands were clenched in Itachi's Akatsuki cloak and he would now and again push his head into Itachi's hands, purring louder, when his hands rubbed just right.

As to how this happened… well…

Itachi's hand rose, reaching for Naruto's collar, when he simply couldn't resist the temptation any longer. He changed course, instead going for the jinchuuriki's soft-looking fox ears, sitting there, twitching on his head, and looking so damn pet-able. Naruto's ear flicked at the first touch, as his expression went from scared to wary, but he stayed in place, allowing the touch. Itachi gently rubbed the ear, inwardly grinning when the blonde's shoulders loosened.

"Anou…. Itachi-san?" Kisame ventured, utterly confused by his partner's behaviour. Itachi didn't stop rubbing their target's ear, actually rubbing firmer, as he turned to look at him with blank, fake-innocent eyes. "What… what are you -?" Naruto chose this moment to start purring as Itachi rubbed a verrrry nice spot on his ear, tail falling from his waist and a content smile on his face. Kisame himself will never admit that the immediate widening of Itachi's eyes, filling them with delight, scared and worried him far more than a full-on Mangekyou Sharingan Uchiha Glare did.

Naruto's tail swished, drawing Itachi's attention. Kisame took a few steps back as the Uchiha reached out with his other hand and stroked through the soft, sleek fur – just the once. The purring didn't stop, and Naruto moaned at the sheer pleasure of the petting, his knees buckling. Itachi caught him and settled against a wall before pulling a pliant Naruto into his lap.

Itachi looked up and observed at his brother, who merely looked between him and the teen in his lap with bewilderment.

"Nii-san?" Sasuke looked so confused and unsure of himself, Itachi couldn't have stopped his next words if he tried.

"Would you like a go?" There was a pause, where Sasuke just looked at his elder brother uncomprehendingly, before he turned his gaze to the still-purring boy in his lap, who apparently hadn't noticed the appearance of his teammate. His hands twitched…

Those ears did look soft.

He shrugged, letting go of his avenger-mindset for the moment, and moved to kneel next to Itachi, who had already turned his attention back to Naruto. He rubbed softly at the ear Itachi had left, and took on almost the exact same expression of stoic-ish 'oh-my-god-that-is-just-so-cute' that his brother wore.

The sound of Kisame's palm meeting his face echoed through the corridor.

Jiraiya's palm meeting his face joined the party soon after.

I was debating making this sort of thing at some point anyway... but I just want to ask, would you like this as a full length story? It would doubtlessly be darker than this, and this scene would probably play out a little differently - and yes it would be Ita/Naru, screw anyone who doesn't like it. Please do let me know! If I did do it, the first chapter wouldn't probably be up until the middle of June or so (essays month at uni :( I hate it, no time for writing stories), but it would be done if you would like it.

Anyway, let me know what you think of this, and I'll see you soon :D

BP