Steam billows onto Sasuke's face as the waiter serves him food. Like always, Itachi requests a side of dango with his ramen. Sasuke bores holes into his older brother's face, unintentionally staring for a bit too long. He notices the stress lines digging deeper into Itachi's face, proving his brother is stressed despite the bright smile he adorns.

Sasuke meets the eyes of Itachi before casting them elsewhere.

"Whatcha staring at?" Itachi jokes while reaching for chopsticks.

Sasuke huffs, placing a fist beneath his chin. "Your face---it looks unflattering in this lighting."

Itachi gives a glance at the yellow light above the table and shrugs. He settles the chopsticks between his fingers, and before he digs in, he says, "So, Naruto. You really like him this time?"

"Tch." Sasuke clicks his tongue, moving to grab chopsticks as well. "Why does it matter if I like him or not."

Itachi slurps up noodles and bean sprouts, the hot meal stinging his tongue and inner cheek. He raises his shoulders to his ears, showing Sasuke that he's genuinely just asking a question. "Well, if you don't like him, then why did you invite me here? We both know that you hate me."

Eyebrows pinch and an incredibly deep scowl turn Sasuke's neutral face, sour. "Yeah, I do."

Although Sasuke has confirmed his hatred for Itachi time and time again, it still stings for him to hear it. Nevertheless, Itachi learned to roll it off his back, brush it off, and make it seem like he's unaffected by it. 

"That means you care for him," Itachi says. "It means you want me to stay away from him. I know you."

Sasuke grinds his teeth together. "You don't know-"

"You think I'm competition."

This sentence alone burns a fire brighter than any other in Sasuke's chest. The thought of Itachi making moves on Naruto makes his eyes fill with tears that feel like poison. His throat dries up, making his words sound like steel scraping against gravel.

"Stay away from Naruto."

Sasuke doesn't mean to say it, but it comes out. 

Itachi doesn't say a word and instead peers into Sasuke's teary eyes. In that moment, Itachi feels a buzzing in his pocket and hears the familiar jingle of his phone. With ease, he slips it out. Sasuke catches a glimpse of the caller ID and his muscles tense.

Speak of the devil,  Sasuke muses bitterly. And he will come.

Itachi raises the phone to his ear after answering. "Hello?"

The conversation goes like this:

"Hey! Itachi! What're you doing right now? Can I come over? I'm hella bored, and Sasuke isn't here."

"No, you can't come over cause I'm not at home. I'm at Ichiraku's-"

"Ichiraku's Ramen! I love that place! Wait, hold on! I'm coming over there!"

"Naruto, wai-"

"I can't wait to see you, Itachi! I haven't had ramen in forever!"

Click.

Sasuke stares down at his food, wondering if Naruto joining them is either a good thing or a bad thing.

On the positives, I get to see Naruto, Sasuke mulls it over. But, he'll probably pay more attention to Itachi than me.

Itachi laughs, the nervousness creeping up his spine as Sasuke deepens his glare. "He talks loud, doesn't he? Haha!"

Sasuke nods, huffing hard enough to let his bangs fly up into the air and out of his face. All he could do is agree and wait for Naruto to arrive.

...

Naruto arrives after twenty-seven minutes. Sasuke knows this cause he counted the seconds until Naruto bursts through the door. Naruto's wide smile brightens the room and lessens the heartburn Sasuke feels.

He swallows, hesitantly lifting his hand to call to him. Without missing a beat, Naruto scans the area and perks up at the sight of Sasuke.

"Sasuke!"

If Sasuke never felt love before, then he's feeling it now. The sensations that burst forth throughout his body ease ever muscle, smooth out every scowlish wrinkle, and put a goofy little smile on his face. 

Sasuke waves him over, even though his heart is hammering in his chest, and his brain is telling him to flee to the bathroom to puke up the butterflies.

"What're you---"

Naruto spots Itachi across from Sasuke, and realization crosses his face. "Oh! Am I interrupting?"

Sasuke shakes his head. "No, please sit down. Order something. I'll pay!"

"No. I'm the oldest, so I'll pay for everything," Itachi says, scooting over so Naruto can sit down. He continues to mutter, "It's like I'm chaperoning a date."

Sasuke steadies his face to keep from scowling. He doesn't want to look bad in front of Naruto. So, he waves a waitress over and asks for another menu for Naruto.

"So, how's everything going?" Naruto asks, after receiving the menu. Sasuke shrugs, and so does Itachi. After a couple of seconds, Naruto says, "I feel like I've just made this whole situation more awkward."

"You're fine, Naruto," Itachi reassures the teen. "In fact, we were just talking about you."

Naruto looks at Sasuke, his blue eyes boring holes into him. "I hope whatever was said was good."

Sasuke's inclined to answer. "Yeah! I was going to tell Itachi what a great friend you are."

Naruto hums, not really believing him, and proceeds to order food. Sasuke notices how uncharacteristically silent Itachi is; his eyes staring out the window, his food barely touched, hand under his chin. Sasuke doesn't ask if he's okay because he doesn't care. Though it does raise Sasuke's suspicions. 

Whenever Itachi and Sasuke are together, Itachi talks Sasuke's ears off. Not once has Sasuke ever seen Itachi quiet. 

"Are you okay, Itachi?" Naruto asks. His hand rests on Itachi's shoulder, rubbing lightly in circles. It's a kindness Itachi never received from Sasuke, and it makes him smile. 

"I'm fine, Naruto," he says, picking up his dango. "I was lost in thought for a second. Thank you, though."

Naruto grins, an emotion akin to free-floating bubbles fill his heart. His teenage mind thinks about how utterly handsome Itachi is and how his attractiveness only grows because of the age difference.

Sasuke clears his throat, gaining both of their attention. He doesn't want Naruto tending to his older brother any longer than a second. Sasuke tries starting up a conversation with Naruto, but the only thing he can talk about is school.

It never occurs to Sasuke that he has poor conversational skills. With only sex and homework on his mind for years, it's the only thing he can speak about without putting any additional effort. It's his default.

Naruto quickly becomes bored with the conversation and tells them both he's going to the bathroom. Once he's out of sight, Itachi becomes lively again and leans into the table.

"You're so fucking boring. I almost fell asleep," Itachi whispers, causing Sasuke to sneer at him. "Pick a different topic, talk about him, talk about anything besides school."

"I am talking about him!" Comes Sasuke's angered, hushed voice. "I just asked him if he finished the math homework!"

"No, you idiot!" Itachi sighs and slumps in his seat. "So you're telling me that you don't know anything about Naruto beside his name? You don't know his aspirations? Dreams? Passions or hobbies?"

"Well, I," Sasuke sighs and mimics his slouching brother. "No."

"And you say you love him," Itachi scoffs. He spots Naruto walking back towards the table and says, "Watch this. Join in whenever you're ready."

Naruto returns to the table and slides into the booth next to Itachi. The older man wraps his arm around Naruto's shoulders and says, "You know Naruto, I don't know the first thing about you, and yet, we're best friends. What're your hobbies?"

"Pfft. Eating," Naruto replies without missing a beat. At that moment, his large bowl of ramen arrives. "I like cooking too, but I usually go for instant stuff cause it's easier."

"Anything else?"

"I like watering plants too and taking care of them, but the school won't let us have anything like that in our rooms," Naruto continues. He looks to Sasuke as realization hits him again. "Oh! Gaara told me about his huge greenhouse full of cacti and succulents! Have you seen it before?"

Sasuke shakes his head, earning a pout from Naruto. He breaks his chopsticks and digs in. "Well, I thought since you and Gaara fucked before that, he would invite you to his house on break."

"Nope. Gaara isn't a nice guy if you haven't noticed," Sasuke mutters while picking at his food. Sasuke makes a quick glance at Itachi, who's gesturing to him to continue. "B-But uh, I could nag Gaara about letting us visit so you can see it."

Naruto, with his mouth full, says, "We should go next weekend!"

The corners of Sasuke's mouth turn upwards, gracing Naruto with a genuine smile. "That sounds lovely. The tricky part is making Gaara agree."

Sasuke meets Itachi's eyes again. His brother gives him a thumbs-up, and it's at this time Sasuke notices Itachi is trying to help him. He clicks his tongue, looking away with a roll of his eyes. The words lodge in his throat, and his heart hammers in his chest.

Sasuke pays no attention to his older brother and tries to learn everything about Naruto in one sitting.

Thank you, Itachi.

...

A/N: whoops I did it again.