Hooollyyy fuuuuck. I'm alive?

Well, shit. I have no excuses. I'm just a lazy and unmotivated little shit. On the bright side, though, I got my GED! I've also gone vegan and gotten weirdly spiritual within the past few months. So yeah. Real-life things. Now to work on college and getting a real job and writing more often. ;-;

This chapter was completed in stages, and it's a little jumpy, AND YOU GUYS KNOW HOW SELF-DEPRECATING I AM, BUT FUCK IT. FUCK IT. I'M POSTING THIS THING.

Reviews are beautiful and I'm sorry that I haven't responded to a lot of them! :c Things have gotten a little backed up; it's been so long since I've sifted through things. Gaaaaah. But reviews. I like that shit. I also enjoy favorites and follows and stuff~ *insert heart*

Enjoy!

"Sasuke!"

Within seconds of Sasuke walking through the school doors, Sakura sprinted over and flung herself at him, barely giving him a moment to prepare for the onslaught of extra weight. Already more than used to this behavior from years upon years of childhood friendship, Sasuke quickly opened his arms, catching her before she had a chance to fall. She giggled girlishly and nuzzled against his chest, and Sasuke's lips pulled into a smirk as his heart gave the smallest tug.

"Good morning, Sakura."

"'Morning," she said, pulling away and beaming at Sasuke. She stared at him for an extended moment, her eyes flitting downwards then back to his eyes a few times before Naruto finally trudged over, backpack slung lazily over one shoulder, quickly shattering their little 'moment.'

"You guys are gross," Naruto said, gagging slightly as he held his hand out in a fist. He shot a pointed look at Sakura, and she, with a loud groan, pulled herself away from Sasuke and faced the opposite wall. Her long pink hair fanned out behind her as she turned, stealing Sasuke's attention for an extra moment as he found himself wondering for the thousandth time if that color really was natural.

"Loser," Sasuke smirked. He took another second to stare at Sakura's mysterious hair before he held his fist out as well. Naruto bumped their fists together, grinning like the idiot he was, then bounced on the balls of his feet as his hands folded behind his mess of blond hair.

"You can look now, Sakura," he chirped. With another loud groan, she turned around, called Naruto a moron and said their 'secret handshake' was lame and wasn't even a handshake, then promptly re-attached herself to Sasuke's waist. Somehow she managed to do all of this within a couple of seconds, rendering Sasuke completely unprepared for another of her somewhat suffocating hugs. He nearly groaned, but settled for a gruesome wince, not wanting to offend his new girlfriend by insulting her over-enthusiastic display of affection. That was what girlfriends were supposed to do, right? Hug you until it hurt?

"I missed you, Sasuke," she said, giving a small sigh as Sasuke's arms wound around her waist once he caught his breath. Naruto shot Sasuke a smug look that spoke volumes of his opinion of Sakura's couple-y words, but Sasuke shot him a glare that promised certain death if he chose to voice his thoughts.

"I missed you, too." Even though we saw each other yesterday and your hugs fucking hurt.

Sakura giggled and Naruto gagged, but the bell then chimed through the halls, signaling the beginning of another long and boring school day. Sakura sighed sadly and stepped away from Sasuke, but held out her hand for him to take. He did so, and then the trio began their practiced walk towards the eighth grade hall.

"Hey, Sasuke," Naruto said, "did you do last night's math homework?"

"I'm not letting you copy off of me."

Naruto groaned melodramatically and slumped against Sasuke's Sakura-free arm, clinging to it as though he'd die if he let go. Sasuke waved his arm with an annoyed "tch," trying to get the idiot off him, but Naruto had latched on pretty well. He was like a leech sometimes, in more than one aspect.

"Come on, Sasuke!" Naruto whined, winding his arms tighter around Sasuke's arm. "I'd do it for you!"

"You never do your homework, unlike me, and I wouldn't trust your answers even if you did," Sasuke hissed. "Now let go."

"You're such a bastard!"

"Don't insult Sasuke!" Sakura whined, her fingers squeezing Sasuke's hand tighter. A small noise of pain slipped past Sasuke's gritted teeth as he felt—and heard—his knuckles crack. But, thankfully, Naruto finally let go of his arm, causing Sakura's grip on his fingers to loosen as well. He took a small breath of relief. Naruto mumbled something aimed towards one or the other, but Sasuke paid him no heed; his attention was taken by the dull throb of his fingers.

Within the next couple of steps lied Sakura's homeroom class, and Sasuke found he'd never been more grateful for the sight of it. Aside from his fingers hurting, Sakura's hand was rather cold and a little bit sweaty—their hand-holding was beginning to feel unpleasant, the total opposite of how holding Itachi's hand had felt the day before.

Itachi...

Sakura tilted her head as they came to a stop in front of her homeroom, looking mildly curious. Sasuke wondered why she was looking at him oddly, when he noticed how hot his cheeks felt and the way his stomach was beginning to twist in on itself, almost making him feel nauseous.

Am I...blushing?

"I'll see you at lunch," he said. He cleared his throat, then stared into Sakura's seafoam-green eyes, his thoughts straying between her and Itachi in a way that was more than mildly weird. (They were brothers, for Christ's sake!) Once again, he noticed her eyes flitting downwards then venturing up to meet his, though he began to feel a little awkward when she didn't respond. It seemed like she expected him to do something, but hadn't the smallest clue what.

A few more seconds passed before Sakura, disappointment plain on her face, pulled her hand away and gave a small smile.

"See you."

And with that she turned away from Sasuke and stepped through the open door of her classroom, her shoulders slightly slumped.

"Why won't you just kiss her already?" Naruto piped up once she was out of earshot. Sasuke jerked his head towards Naruto, his eyes just a fraction wider than usual.

So that's what she wanted me to do?

Suddenly, Sasuke felt ridiculously stupid. This didn't help his blushing situation in the slightest.

"I-I just want to time it right," he said quickly. "I'll do it at lunch or...something." He looked back to Naruto and shrugged, hoping to drop the topic while some of his pride was still intact. He never could have imagined he'd be this clueless about girls and their...needs. Had Itachi been this way once?

Naruto's face scrunched up into the look he usually gave when he was confused, before he shook his head.

"Whatever you say, Sasuke."

Lunch came far too quickly for Sasuke's liking.

As the three of them sat in the courtyard under the big oak tree they'd frequented since sixth grade, Sasuke felt trapped. Sakura sat to his right, cuddled under his arm, and Naruto sat to his left, smiling in a way that made Sasuke want to hit him. He had no escape, and couldn't even enjoy the nice weather they'd been gifted with that day.

Naruto stared straight at Sasuke, his scarred cheeks twitching as his smile grew. Sasuke narrowed his eyes and bit his tongue, swallowing down the barrage of insults begging to be said. Naruto was definitely up to something.

"Hey, Sasuke," Naruto began, his sly smile growing. He looked like a mischievous fox. "Wasn't there something you wanted to do at lunch? Something important?"

Sasuke made a mental note to go to Naruto's house later and kick his ass. Sakura shifted, and Sasuke didn't have to turn to know the expectant look she was giving him.

"What did you want to do, Sasuke?"

Sasuke glared daggers at Naruto for a second longer. He didn't want to admit it, but he was definitely stalling.

It's now or never.

With the angry fire in the pit of his stomach (which Naruto was the sole cause of) spurring his decision, Sasuke (gently) freed his arm from Sakura's clingy hold and scooted his body until they were awkwardly facing each other, her back slumped against the tree and him sitting across. His heart began to thump louder as she looked at him, her eyes flashing with surprise, and he gently cupped her face with his right hand. He tried his hardest to remember what Itachi had told him to do—be gentle, don't rush…

Slowly, before he had a chance to chicken out, he leaned forward. He nearly gagged on a huge whiff of Sakura's cherry blossom perfume before their lips even touched, but pushed through it, just wanting to get his 'official' first kiss out of the way and shut Naruto up. (Keeping Sakura happy was important too, of course.) Once their lips pressed together, Sasuke wasn't met with warmth and softness as he'd expected; stickiness was what greeted him, and as he pulled away, he licked his lips.

Lipgloss. He grimaced before he could stop himself. He'd never enjoyed sweet things, and this tasted like the most sugary cotton candy known to man. Typical of Sakura.

Once he got over his slight disgust, Sasuke noticed that the rosiness on Sakura's cheeks was a few shades darker than her hair, and she seemed entirely dazed—in a good way, he was happy to note. He inwardly praised himself for doing a good job.

But only thanks to Itachi.

Again, his cheeks warmed, and within seconds he was sure his blush could rival Sakura's. His hand quickly dropped from Sakura's face, and he stared at the ground, submerged under a flood of yesterday's memories.

"Took you long enough!"

Sasuke snapped out of his daze quickly and so did Sakura. Both shot Naruto a similar, withering look, though Sakura was the only one who decided to act on the urge to hurt the blond. One loud 'thwack!' and an 'ouch!' later, Sakura turned her attention back to Sasuke, smiling and blushing like the love-struck girl she so obviously was. Her hands grasped Sasuke's, and Sasuke quickly remembered that he'd forgotten to hold her hand while he kissed her—points off for him. He frowned and scrunched his eyebrows, disappointed with himself, but Sakura's head against his chest was enough to inform him that yes, she'd definitely liked it. His frown was quickly replaced by the barest hint of a smile.

He stared at the top of Sakura's head for a minute or so, trying to discover if any blonde, black, or brown roots took residence there, but eventually this proved tedious and boring. Either her hair was naturally pink, or it was dyed freakishly well. Sasuke's eyes drifted in Naruto's general direction, where the blond sat cupping the side of his bruising face and murmuring unpleasant-sounding things under his breath. Sasuke gave him his usual smirk when their eyes met, and Naruto flipped him off with his free hand. Expected.

"I like you a lot, Sasuke," a soft voice said. Sasuke's attention was drawn away from Naruto, and he looked back down at the top of Sakura's pink head.

She's cute when she isn't hurting people.

"I like you, too."

And Naruto began to gag.

Sasuke was stuck again—except this time, it was far, far worse than lunch. During their one class together, English, they hadn't had a chance to be very couple-y—but waiting to get picked up in the carpool lot, it was practically required. He could feel expectation radiating off of Sakura, who, like earlier, sat to his right, almost too close for comfort. (You'd think she wanted to become part of Sasuke, the way she clung to him.) Naruto stood slightly to the left as the bench only had room for two people to sit comfortably, and seemed intent on staring at something off in the distance. He also seemed to have grown bored of teasing them, thankfully enough.

"Sasuke?"

Sasuke took a deep breath then let it out slowly. He knew what Sakura wanted—just the tone of her voice alone was enough of a hint.

He faced her, trying to keep any and all annoyance from showing, and met a pout so deep and eyes so wide they were almost scary. She gave a little smile, and he tried to return it—but before he had a chance to respond or do anything else, she pressed her lips against his. His eyes bulged but he collected himself quickly and closed his eyes, as good boyfriends should. But, as the seconds ticked on, Sakura didn't pull away. His eyes cracked open and his lips tried to keep up, but the urge to pull away was growing stronger by the second, as was the urge to wipe that sticky lipgloss off his lips before it crusted over or something.

But it would seem Sakura had a different plan, because her fingers were wound so tightly through Sasuke's hair he couldn't move even if his life depended on it.

And maybe it did, 'cause he was starting to have trouble breathing.

What am I supposed to do?! he thought frantically, black dots beginning to dance in front of his opened eyes. He couldn't seem to get a single breath in through his nose, even though he was trying. Maybe he was panicking. Itachi didn't teach me about this!

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! PDA!" Naruto shouted. Sakura broke away quickly, allowing Sasuke to finally swallow a few deep breaths. He shot Naruto a grateful look, hardly aware of what he was doing; he was too dizzy to care about his "Uchiha pride."

"You're such an idiot!" she grumbled, her face darkening. But her mood lifted quickly and she faced Sasuke again. He could have sworn he saw her pucker up.

A car horn beeped from somewhere down the line of vehicles wrapped around the school building before Sakura's lips had a chance to attack again, and she sighed.

"That's my parents," she mumbled, slinging her pink backpack over one shoulder as she stood. "I'll see you tomorrow, Sasuke, Naruto." She gave a wry smile to Naruto and a huge one to Sasuke, then walked away.

Naruto gawked at Sasuke as he plopped next to him on the stone bench now that the seat was freed. "What the hell was that?" he said. "You looked like you were dying or something."

Sasuke blinked for a couple of seconds as the oxygen levels in his brain slowly returned to normal.

"I-I…" For once in his life, Sasuke was at a loss for words. Wasn't kissing your girlfriend supposed to be nice? He had a nagging feeling that this wasn't what it was supposed to feel like to be in your first relationship. He was starting to like seeing Sakura less and less, and her kisses were a little...unpleasant. And sticky. They were almost as bad as her hugs.

Embarrassed and confused, Sasuke did all he could think to do: take it out on Naruto.

"I was fine, loser," he hissed. "You're just jealous 'cause you don't have a girlfriend. Hop off."

Naruto sputtered, his cheeks turning tomato-red in no time flat. "Where the hell did that come from?!"

But Sasuke just turned away silently, his emotions practically in turmoil and the indignant screeching of his friend the least of his worries.

Sasuke rubbed his face with both hands.

Well, the least he could do was learn how to really make out, right? That way he could avoid passing out or dying the next time Sakura decided to kiss him. Or, y'know, avoid disappointing her.

He sank onto Itachi's bed, then stood up, then sat down again.

Itachi said Sasuke could come to him if he needed any more help, so why was Sasuke so...nervous?

Because it's weird to kiss your brother. And it's even weirder to ask to kiss your brother.

Sasuke froze.

...But it's not like I actually want to kiss him. I just need...lessons. Yeah. Lessons. To make Sakura happy and keep me breathing.

"Damn it!" Sasuke swore, burying his face in his hands. Middle school relationships weren't supposed to be this complicated, were they?

The seconds ticked on, and Sasuke kept glancing at Itachi's bedside clock, eagerly awaiting his elder brother's arrival. It was nearly 4:30—way past the time Itachi was usually home. Sasuke sighed and laid back, staring at the white ceiling.

It wasn't long before he drifted off, over-tired from a full day at school, and of course Sakura somehow managed to worm her way into his dream.

It started off surprisingly nice—they were outside where they usually sat at lunch, the sun was shining, and Naruto wasn't in sight. That in itself was a huge improvement. Sakura was snuggled under Sasuke's arm, as per usual, but then she looked up with that damned expectant look on her face again.

Ah, Sakura wants me to kiss her…

So Sasuke leaned forward, and they kissed. But it was nicer than he remembered—almost like kissing Itachi. Their lips seemed to find a perfect rhythm, and he was able to breathe shallowly through his nose to avoid feeling suffocated. The kiss was gentle, soft, warm, lipgloss-free, and…

Painful?

He opened his eyes, and with that odd detachment that usually comes with dreams, also noted that she'd begun to suck his face clean off. And it hurt. A lot.

And all he could taste was blood and lipgloss.

"Sasuke?"

Sasuke bolted upright, his eyes focusing in on Itachi's blurred form a couple steps away from the bed. How long had he been asleep? It was nearly dark out; but Itachi was finally home, meaning they could—

"We need to make out," Sasuke blurted.

Even with blurry eyes, Sasuke could see Itachi's shocked expression. (Which, on anyone else, would only look like mild surprise.)

"Come again?"

"I-I didn't mean, didn't mean it like that!" Sasuke slurred, his mind still tingling with the aftereffects of his nap. He covered his eyes with one hand. God, Sakura sucking his face off? Him saying something like that? What the hell was his mind doing?

A deep chuckle sounded from Itachi's direction, and Sasuke groaned.

"I just mean…" He took a deep breath. "Sakura tried to make out with me, and I kind of felt like I was gonna pass out, and I didn't know what to do. I-I need help...again." He uncovered his eyes, chancing a peek at his older brother.

Itachi sank onto his bed, his face suddenly unreadable—and Itachi's face was never unreadable to Sasuke. Not completely. Years of living together made sure of that.

Was...Itachi mad at him?

"It's fine if you don't want to help me. I know it's weird," Sasuke said, embarrassed. He shifted until his feet touched the floor, ready to sprint out of Itachi's room and wallow in self-pity in his own. He was a failure as a boyfriend and a little brother.

Itachi laid a hand on Sasuke's arm, causing him to pause. There was even a little smile on his lips, Sasuke noticed. Sasuke practically went limp with relief—maybe Itachi wasn't mad at him!

"I offered to help you if you needed it, Sasuke," Itachi said. "You're fine. But tell me exactly what it is you need help with. What happened, again?"

With a nod, Sasuke began.

"Well, like I said, Sakura—my girlfriend—tried to make out with me. Uh...I couldn't really breathe, and I've never kissed anyone for that long, and I...I don't know." Sasuke shrugged. "I just need help."

Itachi's face was unreadable again, and Sasuke looked longingly toward Itachi's open door, trying to formulate a plan for escape. But then a hand lightly brushed against his cheek, turning his face towards Itachi's again.

"Alright."

And that was all the warning Sasuke got before his lips were enveloped by warmth. Something exploded inside his chest, then that same something clenched painfully and he let out a loud gasp into Itachi's mouth. He really hoped Itachi hadn't noticed, but he was taken by surprise!

They kissed for a few moments, Sasuke fumbling along in his sleepy surprise, before Itachi pulled away.

"You're too stiff again," he said, his voice hardly above a whisper. Sasuke could feel the puffs of breath against his lips, smell his light and spicy cologne...

"S-Sorry," Sasuke whispered back. It was almost like speaking loudly would break something between them; he was too scared to do it. What was this feeling that came on so suddenly? His chest clenched again.

Slowly, their lips met again, without a single shred of urgency. Sasuke made a conscious effort to move his lips, which, in turn, made Itachi sigh in a way that Sasuke had never heard before. It made his stomach do painful flips, and he shifted on the bed, trying to get closer to Itachi.

Itachi began to push a little harder against Sasuke's mouth, and Sasuke felt his heart flutter as he bunched handfuls of Itachi's blanket between his fingers. Why didn't he feel like this when he kissed Sakura? Was this...how it was supposed to feel? He cleared his head of these thoughts and tried to focus on Itachi's mouth, but he couldn't seem to chase away the feeling that yes, yes it was.

Sasuke could feel Itachi beginning to pull away and in an act of inexplicable panic, his fingers found purchase in Itachi's long hair (which was thankfully loose that day), winding through the strands and holding Itachi's mouth against his own. He had a short-lived flashback to Sakura doing the exact same thing earlier that day, but when Itachi's hands wound around his waist and his mouth pressed harder against Sasuke's, Sasuke's worries fled.

With another sigh, Itachi once again tried to pull away, and Sasuke's heart sank. Although he didn't remove his fingers from Itachi's hair, he allowed their lips to break away.

"Though you're a little young for this," Itachi's voice, breathless as Sasuke felt, whispered, "you should know how to French kiss. Do you know what that is?"

Sasuke nodded slowly, his heart hammering even harder than it had been before.

Itachi's mouth covered Sasuke's again, closely followed by a tongue sliding against his lips and hands running down his back. Sasuke shivered and opened his mouth wider, and couldn't suppress the lightest moan when Itachi's tongue touched his. This felt much more intimate than the kisses they'd shared before; Sasuke found his mind swimming with a heaviness he quite liked, and couldn't imagine feeling with Sakura and her sticky lips.

The sound of their parents' car pulling into the driveway was probably the only force in existence strong enough to break them apart. But as Itachi stood, muttering something about helping their parents with groceries and running his fingers through his tangled hair, Sasuke could hardly hear a word he said.

I don't even know why I ended it like that. I think I just really like writing cliffhangers and torturing my readers. :D Ayy.

So hopefully I'll update some other stuff soon - God knows I need to. ;-; Thank you so much for reading! Please favorite/follow/review for more~ c: