Rivals For The Hokage's Love

A Fallen Hero Returns

"I'm glad to see Neji is fine again," Naruto said to Shikamaru as they returned to the Tower.

"Yeah," Shikamaru yawned in reply, sighing.

"Hey, when was he released?" Naruto queried.

"When was who released?" A soft voice purred, making the two of them stop once again.

A certain tall, long haired, smirking raven, flanked by two perspiring jonin who were quite frightened, stood before them, his hands tied, a blindfold over his eyes.

"Itachi-san!" Naruto exclaimed joyfully, then frowned. "Why are you all tied up?!"

"Ah~! These handsome shinobi of yours won't let me off without hearing your ... verdict about it," Itachi smiled. "So... what will you do with me?"

"Nothing," Naruto said calmly, his voice stern as he turned to the two jonin. "How dare you treat him like this? He is a hero of the Leaf, and he deserves to be honoured. Release him at once, and escort him to his brother, understood?"

Sweat formed on the two jonins' foreheads as they instantly complied with their orders. Once he was free from the restraints, Itachi opened his onyx eyes, cocking his head slightly at Naruto.

"May I have a word alone, ... Hokage-sama?" He smiled teasingly. Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Sure," he grinned. "Gimme a sec, Shikamaru."

"Troublesome..." Shikamaru muttered under his breath as he watched the blonde move away.

"Thanks for bringing me back, Naruto," Itachi said softly, once they were near a tree.

"It was only natural," Naruto replied sincerely. "Your advice helped me reach here too."

"I'm glad then," Itachi chuckled. "But I cannot live in your debt. I'm gonna give you something."

Shikamaru could hear what was going on, but it wasn't his place to interfere, and Naruto would get mad if he did. Naruto was single, anyway. And if it used to be a mystery who Kakashi liked, then it was more of a challenge to figure out who controlled the heart of the blonde Hokage.

"Okay." Shikamaru mentally facepalmed when he heard Naruto's gullible answer. Was this the man who had won against Uchiha Sasuke?!

"Close your eyes," Itachi said softly, smirking when Naruto complied without hesitating.

Itachi leaned in and kissed the blonde full on his lips, making him open his cerulean eyes wide in shock, a soft gasp escaping his mouth. The older man used the golden opportunity to enter the hot cavern of Naruto's mouth, his tongue exploring every corner, while Naruto had simply frozen.

Shikamaru sighed. Honestly, Naruto needed to wake up. People kept hitting on him, confessing and stalking, but while he never seemed to respond to such advances, he couldn't bring himself to push them away firmly either.

I shouldn't be doing this to him. He's the Hokage, and he wouldn't want something like this. And in any case, he is Sasuke's closest friend.

He isn't responding, I should take the hint! ... or should I? He isn't with anyone, right?

But ... this feels so... satisfying. It feels right. I feel complete like this... I want more... more of him...

"Ahem!!" Naruto and Itachi pulled away from each other as someone caught their attention.

"Sh-Shikamaru!" Naruto didn't know what to say.

"Uchiha-san," Shikamaru said formally, "please refrain from doing such things again, or I'm afraid I can't let you off quite so easily."

"As you wish, Nara," Itachi smirked as Naruto beat a hasty retreat to his friend's side.

"Seriously..." Shikamaru muttered, when the older raven was out of sight. "Try getting a clue."

Naruto shrugged. Ever since he became Hokage, Shikamaru muttered random stuff like that. He didn't mind though, he didn't consider it his place to be interfering with Shikamaru's thoughts.

In the other hand, Itachi was both glad and a bit unhappy that Shikamaru had intervened. He had never fallen in love with anyone in his previous life, and now when he did, it had to be with a boy. The Hokage, to boot. He sighed, knowing it was useless. Naruto wouldn't return such feelings.

He entered the empty Uchiha district, looking around somewhat sadly. It was his fault that there were no kids playing around, all the houses empty. He had killed them all twelve years ago. He stopped in front of his old home.

The two jonin stopped behind him, flinching when he turned to them.

"Are you sure Sasuke lives here?" He demanded.

"Err.... yes, Uchiha-san," one of the two replied.

So he didn't move on. I'm the one responsible for all of that hatred in what used to be a pure heart.

He knocked on the door, knocking louder when he wasn't answered on the first try.

"If that's you, Naruto, I swear I-" Sasuke stopped mid-sentence when he opened the door.

"Looks like it isn't your blonde friend," Itachi smirked, tapping his brother's forehead.

"N-Niisan!" Sasuke gaped. "Why... how did..."

Then, all of a sudden, he threw himself at the older raven, whose arms also wrapped around him tightly, as the two brothers met after months and years of being separated.

"I've missed you, Sasuke," Itachi whispered, his smirk finally disappearing as he looked up.

"Mm." Sasuke pulled out of the embrace. "Come on in. Still, how did you come back to life?"

"That chakra Naruto took from your left eye, or should I say Rinnegan," Itachi explained, as he shut the door behind them. "He amplified it to be able to do quite a few Gedo Art of Rinne Rebirth."

Sasuke only nodded, but he knew that he had never loved the blonde more than he did at that moment. Of course, he had always loved him, but since Naruto only considered him a rival...

Sasuke jumped when Itachi flicked at his temple again, smirking. "Why are you spacing out?"

"Just thinking. There haven't been any missions lately, and honestly... stuck with a crappy guy from ANBU Root in my team..." He sighed.

"Wasn't your team Naruto and Sakura?" Itachi asked, slightly confused by what happened.

"Yeah. But when I left, he was my replacement. And now that Naruto is Hokage, he stayed on." Sasuke made a face, and Itachi laughed.

I wonder what he'd say if he found out, that I'm in love with his best friend. Would he hate me?