Н‘¾Ð‘¯Ð‘¬Ð‘Μ Ð‘»Ð‘¯Ð‘¬ Н‘¾Ð‘°Ð‘Μ𝑫 Н‘©Ð‘³Ð‘¶Ð‘¾Ð‘º €¢Ð’Ƒ𝒙Н’Ƒ• Can’t take my eyes off you

Time passed as the two of them roamed the world together. They never stayed in one place for more than a day, or two at most, before moving on to their next location.

October crept up to Akashi and he almost didn’t realise it. His birthday was in a few days, and so was Naruto’s. It was a shame they were too far away, all the way out in the deserts near Suna.

His Flying Thunder God couldn’t reach that far away, so he asked Sasuke for a favour. The raven-haired boy summoned his hawk and Akashi wrote a small note to Naruto.

Dear Naru,

It’s been a while since I’ve used that nickname, eh?

I apologise for I am not able to come to Konoha for this occasion. Seems like we’ll be celebrating another birthday away from each other.

Don’t worry about Sasuke and I, we’re fine… More than fine, actually.

We’re constantly on move and I find myself not minding that. Everything is fine as long as he and I are together. That sounds so cheesy, doesn’t it? I bet you’re grimacing as you’re reading that.

Don’t worry, you’ll fine someone for yourself and you will understand the feeling perfectly. I can’t wait to see little Naruto’s running around! I’m going to be such a cool uncle, aren’t I?”

Also, there are a few things I couldn’t tell you in person, so I will be writing them in this letter.

Thank you for never giving up on me. Thank you for never doubting in me. Thank you for being persistent. Thank you for being the little brother you’ve always been. Thank you for everything.

Thank you for being you.

Happy birthday, otouto, I love you.

As Akashi sealed the letter up, the hawk Sasuke summoned had landed in front of him and waited until Akashi offered the letter to it. A brief moment later, after it secured the letter in its talons, it flew up and away, heading towards Konoha.

“Those come in handy.” Akashi commented, watching as the bird soon disappeared from his sight.

Sasuke stood by his side, looking up at the dark sky, “Your birthday is tomorrow… Is there anything you want?” The boy asked, peering at him from the corner of his eye.

“Not really… You being by my side is more than enough for me.” Akashi whispered, trailing his eyes over the numerous stars above them. There was an uncountable amount lighting up the night sky. Something cold touched his hand and he glanced down just to see Sasuke intertwining their fingers. Slowly looking up at the said boy, Akashi noticed he was also looking up at the sky. Feeling his heart throb at the sight of him, Akashi gripped Sasuke’s fingers a little tighter.

Sasuke said nothing as they stood still in a comfortable silence.

_

As the sun peeked through the window and dawn was finally upon them, arms embraced him from behind and Akashi found himself leaning against a warm chest, “Happy birthday, Akashi.” Sasuke’s hold tightened as the he said those words.

Warmth spread through him and Akashi turned around, coming face to face with the raven-haired boy. Without a warning, he leaned forward, brushing his lips over Sasuke’s own in a light peck, “Thank you.” He whispered against his skin and pulled away.

“You’re welcome.” Sasuke replied, nuzzling into the bandage which had a permanent place over his neck.

Somehow, it seemed fitting to talk about that now… It has been so long since they started travelling together and Akashi could see that Sasuke was holding back in asking why he constantly had it around his neck.

“What are you thinking about? You seem lost in thought.” Sasuke shifted, taking the covers in his hand and pulling them a little more up their shoulders. Even though it was early October, the weather had turned a bit chilly.

Akashi inched closer to Sasuke and placed his palms onto his bare chest, “You once asked me how I knew it was easy to steal stuff,” Akashi averted his eyes, staring at the other boy’s uncovered shoulder, “I told you I’d tell you one day… This is that day.”

“It doesn’t have to be today… It’s your birthday,” Sasuke pulled Akashi even closer and pressed his lips onto his forehead, “We have all the time in the world for that.” He mumbled against his skin and Akashi tensed up.

“I want to tell you this.” Still, he continued, not at all discouraged by what Sasuke was telling him.

Not that the said boy was surprised at Akashi’s insistence, “Okay.”

“Naruto and I grew up without parents, as you know, and our childhood was rough… Very rough. Since we didn’t have an adult in our family, our money income came purely from the Hokage. The villagers knew that Kurama was sealed within us and they saw us as demons, instead of helpless, little kids. Knowing that, a lot of them constantly broke into our apartment and stole stuff or just broke everything. The little money we had was either stolen or used on repairs,” Sasuke’s grip on him tightened and that made it easier for Akashi, “So, as to survive, I, as the older sibling, decided to carry the burden of feeding us. I hated going to the Hokage to ask for money, even thought I knew he would give it to us. It wouldn’t take long for someone to hear I visited him and our apartment would just get broken into again. We had nothing left to do, except to steal. I stole from the stores and it took a while of getting caught for me to manage and steal something without getting caught. It didn’t take long for me to get used to doing that and stealing soon became a second habit. That’s why I said it wasn’t hard to steal something. I’ve been doing it since early childhood.” The first part of the story was finished.

He peered up at Sasuke, wanting to know his reaction to all of that and was surprised to see him gritting his teeth. He didn’t say anything as Akashi was pulled towards him and Sasuke rested his chin atop his head. That was enough. He didn’t have to say anything… Akashi knew how he was feeling.

Both anger and sorrow radiated off his being.

“As for why I wear this bandage… It’s an even worse story. I can go ahead and say you already guessed what happened, right?” He felt Sasuke lightly nod his head, “It was in the middle of winter and Naruto and I had just gotten ready for bed, it was already very late, but I guess we were lucky to not have gone to sleep already. If we had, we probably wouldn’t have noticed the men in time after they silently pick-locked our front door. I guess I can thank Naruto for that, he decided he would eat ramen that late. He and his ramen…” Akashi lightly shook his head at the thought of Naruto’s obsession with ramen saving their lives, “The men got inside, two of them, and Naruto and I somehow slipped past them. I pulled him outside and we ran through the freezing snow in just our pyjamas. But, the men caught up since Naruto and I were kids. Our little legs were too small for us to outrun two adult men,” an involuntary shiver ran through him, “They caught us and I was forced into the snow. It was so, so cold,” another shiver racked his body and he lightly curled into himself, “The man who forced me down wanted to violate me and I probably wouldn’t have done anything to stop it from happening if I hadn’t heard Naruto cry out as the other man tried to do the same thing to him.”

“Tell me those bastards are dead…” Sasuke growled out through grit teeth, “If not…” There was something akin to promise in his tone. If not? Would he had gone back to Konoha to personally make sure they weren’t breathing?

“They’re gone, I killed them,” Akashi said, “But not before one of them managed to cut my throat open… That was the first time Kurama helped me and I will forever be grateful for that.”

You’re welcome, little one. Kurama whispered within his mind.

“The fox has my thanks.” Sasuke whispered, shifting down so he and Akashi were nose-to-nose.

Tell the Uchiha brat that I have a name. Kurama tried to sound threatening, but it didn’t quite work out.

“Kurama called you an ‘Uchiha brat’ and said that his name isn’t ‘fox’.” Akashi said and Sasuke rolled his eyes at his words, making Akashi laugh at the rare action.

“And mine isn’t ‘Uchiha brat’.” Sasuke bit out, his tone lacking the anger he wanted to portray. Akashi couldn’t help but laugh once more. The situation was hilarious to him.

That little… Kurama trailed off, grumbling something Akashi didn’t manage to catch.

“It’s nice to see you two getting along.” There was an immediate reaction from both of them.

We’re not getting along! Kurama growled out, annoyed.

“We’re not getting along!” Sasuke forced out, averting his eyes.

As if on cue, Akashi pushed away from Sasuke as laughter bubbled out of his lips. His voice resounded through the room and he closed his eyes as he rolled atop the futon, “Oh my, you’re even in sync!” He exclaimed.

Sasuke sighed and also grumbled something Akashi didn’t manage to catch.

As Akashi laid on his back, a smile still on his face, he blinked his eyes open as a shadow loomed over him, “You find this funny?” Sasuke asked from above him.

“Yep!” He popped the ‘p’. He watched as Sasuke’s eyes glinted and immediately regretted his decision, “Wait, no, I don’t!” He made move to shuffle away, but fingers dug into his ribs and he let out a choked out sound at the feeling, “No! Wait! Don’t!” Sasuke didn’t wait. His fingers dug into various parts of Akashi’s torso and the boy couldn’t hold his laughter in.

“Let’s see if this is funny!” Sasuke exclaimed, lips curling up into a grin.

“Please! Stop! I beg you!” Akashi somehow managed to roll off the futon and away from Sasuke. He almost stumbled as he got to his feet, but managed to keep his balance. The chilly air washed over his uncovered skin and he was glad they at least had their undergarments on. He quickly turned around and bolted towards the bathroom, but before he could close the door, Sasuke pushed at it, “Sasuke!” Akashi whined out and pushed back. The two of them struggled to overpower one another and Akashi heard the door let out a crack.

Not wishing to break the door, he jumped back, allowing Sasuke inside. Not expecting that, Sasuke stumbled inside and slammed into Akashi, making the both of them trip and fall into the bathtub right behind Akashi.

Immediate groans left their lips as they made contact with the hard surface. They tried to shift and move out of the bathtub, but it just made things worse. Sasuke’s knee poked Akashi in the ribs, just as Akashi’s elbow dug into Sasuke’s shoulder, “Stop shuffling around!” Sasuke barked out, hissing each time their bones collided, “Akashi!” He forced out, but it did nothing to salvage the situation.

“Me?! You’re thrashing like crazy!” It took them a few minutes to untangle their limbs and as soon as that happened, they just fell limp, legs hanging over the side of the bathtub.

Humans… Kurama mumbled out and Akashi could practically imagine him shaking his head in disappointment.

“Hey…” Sasuke whispered, staring up at the bathroom ceiling, “Doesn’t this remind you of something?” He asked and Akashi leaned his head back onto the wall behind them.

Now that he mentioned it, it did bring back some memories. Right before the final matches of the Chunnin Exam and atop the Hokage Mountain. The two of them, young and dense as heck, had been in the same situation as they were now. Except…

“This time, it’s your fault.” Akashi said, biting back a smile.

“Oh? So you admit that time was your fault?” Sasuke tilted his head, staring at him with a hint of amusement in his dark irises, “You were insisting it wasn’t your fault and blamed a rock,” he shook his head, his lips stretching out into a smile, “A rock.” He repeated.

Akashi groaned and closed his eyes, “Ugh.” That was all he said and Sasuke laughed at his reply.

Somehow, they didn’t make any motion to get out of the bathtub. They sat still, their shoulders touching as soft breaths left their lips. Their combined body heat stopped them from feeling the effects of the chilly air.

“For once in my life, I don’t have to try to be happy,” the words left him as soon as he thought of them, “When I’m with you, it just happens.” He peered to the side, watching as Sasuke froze at the sound of his words.

The boy slowly turned to look at him, eyes wide as he stared at him in wonder, “You…” He whispered, as if he didn’t know what to say as an answer to that.

Reaching his hand towards him, Akashi leaned to the side and placed his palm atop Sasuke’s shoulder. The said boy didn’t move an inch as Akashi shifted and managed to move himself atop him, lips curling into a fond smile, “I’d like to spend the rest of my life by your side and I’m wondering if you’d like the same?” He asked, placing his other palm atop Sasuke’s other shoulder.

“I’d like that.” Sasuke mumbled out as he stared up at Akashi, not able to tear his gaze away from those violet eyes of his.

Akashi smiled a full-blown smile, teeth and all, as he pressed their foreheads together, “You know… If I could marry you, I would.”

To say Sasuke’s heart had soared at those words would be an understatement. He harshly swallowed, nervous all of a sudden, “As would I.” He whispered, not being able to hold his own words back.

The smile which graced Akashi’s features in that moment would forever be etched into his memory.