Dusk Till Dawn

43

"Naruto, wake up."

Jerking upright, a blond mass of hair fell into Naruto's eyes and he stared ahead with blank eyes, eyelids threatening to droop back down. Itachi was standing in front of him, a hand on his hip and his hair free of the usual pony tail. Naruto would have commented on how much Itachi looked like a woman if it hadn't been for the fact that the Uchiha was clothed in nothing but a towel, and water droplets were accepting gravity and trailing down his chest.

Naruto gulped as he tore his gaze away from Itachi's muscular abdomen (secretly wishing Itachi's hand would spasm and let go of the towel) and decided that he was definitely awake now.

"Bathroom's free. You have a council meeting in an hour, Sakura called me out of the shower for it. You might want to check on her as well... her face became awfully red when I opened the door."

Naruto's mouth opened to a small 'o' and he muttered,

"Were you just in that towel?"

Itachi looked down, as if only noticing that he was wearing just a towel.

"Oh..."

Naruto nodded, eyes closing as he fought to control specific urges that would end up making them late for the meeting with Konoha's council. His own pleasures could wait for Konoha, the village was torn down and they needed guidance about how to recover.

"I'll be back in a minute."

Itachi walked out of the room, blue eyes focusing on thigh muscles as they contracted with walking. A light chuckle escaped Naruto's chest as he marvelled on how, such a short time ago it was, Itachi had been hidden to him behind that ghastly Akatsuki cloak. Never had he imagined that such a body lay beneath it.

"Great," Naruto muttered, "I sound like a pervert now."

Shaking his head, Naruto swung his legs out from under the covers and sat upright, adjusting to the sudden movement as the world danced behind his eyelids. The air felt cool on his skin as Naruto pulled his boxers up, just so that he wouldn't be revealing anything upon standing up. Sleeping tended to cause his clothing to slip and it became a second nature to pull clothing back to normal after missions with Sakura.

After all, waking up to receive a punch to the cheek was never the best morning starter. Then hearing a rant about how indecent men were, and then being punched again for some 'inappropriate' comment never made those days fun; it had been mandatory to learn.

Just as he was standing, Itachi walked back in with a hair dryer. He looked at Naruto with an impassive face and looked to the power socket near the mirror. Naruto shrugged his shoulders, passing Itachi as he was setting up for what the Hokage liked to call his 'cosmetic time'.

"I'll see you in a bit."

Itachi smiled and Naruto's stomach did a belly flop. He would never be able to get over how beautiful Itachi looked when he let his restraints go. He was perfect.

The water was pleasantly warm when he first turned the tap on, obviously courtesy of Itachi's time spent in the tub, which he was thankful of as it usually took a good minute or two for the pipes to warm up in this house.

It was the little things that the Uchiha did, such as taking a shower first, using the cold water and letting Naruto sleep in a little more, that made his chest tingle with affection and love. There was no doubt about it now; Naruto was sure he loved Itachi. The time they had spent apart had left him sour in the sense that part of him had been taken when Itachi had gone.

Seeing him return, with full glory, might he add, had set all senses alight. He was a powerful Shinobi, a beautiful fighter and Naruto knew that he was the only one Itachi would willingly spend the rest of his life with.