WHISPERS OF DARK DESIRES || ITASASU

Chapter 1: What lies beneath the Surface needs to stay buried

The wind was sharper outside, cutting through the night like a blade. It carried the scent of the forest—a mix of damp earth and the crisp bite of cold air, tinged with the faintest trace of something metallic. The lanterns inside the hideout cast a soft glow that spilled out into the surrounding darkness, but Sasuke stood just beyond their reach, his form a silhouette against the shadows. The noise from within, the laughter, the clinking of cups, the murmured conversations, faded to a dull hum as he put distance between himself and the others.

He needed to breathe.

The night was meant to be a celebration, but for Sasuke, it had been nothing more than a cage, tightening around him with every passing hour. The sake, the forced smiles, and the stares—Itachi's in particular—had all been suffocating. Out here, under the wide-open sky, he could at least pretend to be free. But even here, the weight of his thoughts bore down on him, heavy and unrelenting.

He didn't hear Itachi approach, but he felt his presence—like a chill in the air, creeping up his spine. Itachi moved with the kind of silence that came only from years of training, his steps light, his breath barely a whisper. Even now, after all these years, Sasuke could never quite predict him. Itachi was a shadow, always just out of reach, always one step ahead.

"Sasuke," Itachi's voice broke the silence, smooth and quiet, almost lost to the wind. Sasuke didn't turn around immediately. Instead, he kept his eyes on the treeline, where the darkness seemed to stretch on forever.

"Itachi," Sasuke acknowledged after a moment, his tone flat, betraying nothing of the storm raging inside him.

For a while, neither spoke. The silence between them was thick, a tangible thing, filled with everything they could never say and everything they didn't need to. It was a silence that had defined their relationship for years—one born from shared blood, from a past drenched in tragedy and betrayal, from the endless, twisted bond that tied them together.

"Why did you come out here?" Itachi finally asked, his voice as inscrutable as ever. He stood a few paces behind Sasuke, his gaze fixed on his younger brother's back.

Sasuke clenched his fists, feeling the familiar sting of frustration. "I needed to get away," he replied, his words clipped. He hated how vulnerable he sounded, how easily Itachi could pull the truth from him with just a simple question.

"From what?" Itachi pressed, taking a step closer, his presence looming like a shadow over Sasuke's thoughts.

"From all of it," Sasuke said, his voice hardening. "The noise. The people. The expectations." He hesitated, his next words sticking in his throat before he forced them out. "From you."

Itachi's expression didn't change, but Sasuke could feel the shift in the air, a subtle tension that thickened between them. "And what is it about me that drives you away, little brother?"

Sasuke turned then, his dark eyes meeting Itachi's with a mix of defiance and something else—something raw and unspoken. "You know exactly what it is, Itachi," he said, his voice low and edged with a frustration he could barely contain. "You always know."

A flicker of something passed through Itachi's gaze, so brief that Sasuke almost missed it. But it was there, and it unsettled him. "You're right," Itachi said softly, his tone almost gentle, as if he were speaking to a child. "I do know. But I want to hear it from you."

Sasuke's breath hitched, his heart pounding in his chest. He could feel the heat building within him again, that strange, terrifying warmth that had been haunting him for months now. It was a fire he couldn't control, one that burned hotter every time Itachi was near. "What happened to us, Itachi?" Sasuke asked, his voice trembling with a mixture of anger and something far more dangerous. "What happened to me? To you? What are we now?"