Shisui stretches out on the sofa in the winter morning, contentedly looking at Itachi who is taking a nap on the couch placed at a ninety degree angle to the sofa. The large windows let in a bright white light that went perfectly with Itachi's almost blueish black hair. They prefer sleeping and cuddling next to each other, but this morning Shisui had felt the urge to look at Itachi from a slight distance, to see him in his entirety. Both were in their robes, but when they went out of bed that morning, Itachi had put on Shisui's light blue one instead of his own, which was why Shisui was now clad in Itachi's burgundy one. They had had a disagreement the night before, and had slept not touching. Not apart though; they never went to separate rooms no matter how upset they were. That was their way of showing each other that everything was still okay; that no matter how badly they fought they were still okay, and belonged to each other. But the mornings after, and they were rare, thank God, Itachi always donned Shisui's robe, carefully threading around barefoot, sniffing it throughout the morning. Shisui's heart melted each time, and he always ended up holding his arms open, Itachi walking into them, and they would talk about what had happened and solve the dispute. But this morning, that hadn't happened. The fight last night had been particularly bad, so Shisui felt he needed more time. So after breakfast , whenItachi had silently laid on the sofa to catch up some lost sleeping hours, Shisui didn't cuddle him, but he sat on the couch to observe. 

Itachi's tear lines had deepened with the years; at twenty-five, they were quite prominent and gave his face a depth, as if someone had sculpted him. His eyelashes also seemed to grow, became more dense, and now cast long shadows on Itachi's pale, relaxed cheeks. Itachi rested his hands on his stomach, his black-and-gold engagement ring shining in the pale morning light, the golden wedding band glistening. Shisui felt so protective over this sleeping figure that he felt he might burst. Ten years... Shisui had known early on that he had feelings for Itachi. It had been an innocent childhood crush that had become more problematic when he came of age while Itachi yet hadn't. He still sometimes felt bad about their first intimate night, on a mission, when Shisui had jerked Itachi off. He had been so aroused that he had to go out to finish himself off three times in a row before heading back. After that, he had vowed not to touch Itachi until he came of age. Something that had proved incredibly hard to fulfill...

After that night... Nothing. 

After Shisui had helped releasing Itachi that night together in the cabin, everything had been the same between them. Although in reality, nothing was the same between them. They kept training together, hanging out together, talking together, planning the future of Konoha and the clan together. They didn't touch much, and Shisui's teasing and Itachi's discomfort with it continued. On the surface, everything was the same. But inside Shisui, something had started boiling. 

He felt an incredible guilt over it, seeing as he was of age, whereas Itachi wasn't. From that night, he always thought about Itachi when jerking off. He did before, too, from time to time, but now it was constant. And afterwards, he felt so much guilt he leaned his head against the bathroom tiles, biting his knuckles until they bled. But still, he kept coming back to those same thoughts. 

And he had to confess to himself that he had feelings for Itachi.

Those feelings went far deeper than the physical desire. Those feeling went all the way through his bones, pierced his inner organs and etched themself into his blood, enabling them to spread to his entire body. He knew living without the physical release Itachi gave him, in his thoughts, would be difficult, but living without the emotional connection between them would be impossible. But the thing was, no matter how certain he was in his own feelings, he had no idea if they were reciprocated by Itachi. He had screamed so loudly that night in the cabin, though...

So it became that the week before Itachi's fifteenth birthday, they sat on the cliff above the Nakano river, discussing the clan. And Shisui turned to him.

"Itachi, about your birthday..." Itachi looked at him quizzically, and Shisui suddenly became nervous. Wow, what a different situation compared to that night... Itachi radiated calm, control, whereas Shisui's inside were a turmoil. "Do you want to spend it with me, in my home?"

Itachi was quiet for a long, long time, just staring. Shisui swallowed. What have I done? Then, Itachi shifted over to Shisui and leaned his head on his shoulder. Shisui just stared at the top of Itachi's head, his breath caught in his throat. Then, he relaxed, smiled warmly and leaned his head against Itachi's, and they watched the sun set together. 

Itachi's birthday came, and Shisui walked back and forth over the floorboards like a madman. For hours before Itachi came. The wait was agony, and he walked and walked, cluttering and decluttering, until finally he heart Itachi's soft knock on the door.

He looked lovely, in a kimono-like jacket and loose trousers. Shisui only wore a black T-shirt and lounge trousers. 

"Wow, Itachi, you- Just- Just, wow, I mean, I need... I need to get changed, I'm far too underdressed for your birthday." 

And as he turned to leave, he felt a soft hand on his arm. A soft laugh. A mild voice. "Shisui, don't, I like you this way."

It was such a simple sentence, but it shifted the world underneath them, tilted the earth under their feet as Shisui turned back around and locked eyes with Itachi, and Itachi looked back, not taking his soft fingers off the flesh of Shisui's strong underarm. Maybe it was that moment that created the path for the rest of their evening together, because soon they found themselves next to each other, on their backs, in Shisui's bed. Shisui had his arm out, and Itachi had his head on it. And they talked. They just talked. But they had never before showed each other such casual affection. Shisui was in the middle of a sentence of the politics between the Uchiha clan and Konoha when Itachi suddenly turned to him.

"Shisui, that night... That night in the cabin..."

Shisui turned to him and just stared. He didn't know why he was so surprised at the mention of it. It was so long ago, with nothing to rekindle it since, that he'd sort of lived in a world where he had conjured it up. So hearing Itachi talk about it made him realise how real that night must have been to him. He looked Itachi in his eyes, and he saw something there that he had never seen; a hunger, a lust, a desire.

And Shisui leaned in, put a finger underneath Itachi's chin and kissed him. And Itachi kissed him back. Slowly at first, then deeper, hungrier, sloppier. Itachi gasped when he felt the tip of Shisui's tongue on his lower lip and immediately opened his mouth for him, putting a light hand on Shisui's cheek. He stroke it, felt his gentle stubble underneath his fingers. And Shisui put two strong arms around him and pulled him on top of him, hugging him close, desperately deepening the kiss more and more God, Itachi was so small in his arms, he couldn't help but think, but he loved it. He loved the contrast between them. He loved this situation. He loved Itachi, period. And he couldn't believe this was happening, that it was finally happening, all of his fantasies manifesting in this one man above him, kissing him like there was no tomorrow, him fifteen now, while Shisui was eighteen, but still equals in so many ways that were more important than their ages. 

Itachi pulled out the band in his hair and sent a tumbling, velvety black cascade of hair over his shoulders so it spilled onto Shisui, and Shisui entwined his fingers in them. Itachi started grinding himself against Shisui's erection, causing Shisui to grunt. Itachi thought it was the sexiest sound in the world.

"Shisui..." he whispered in Shisui's ear. Shisui was so aroused, he could only purr in response. "I want you. I want you so much..." 

And in a frenzy of cast-off clothes, they soon found themselves naked against each other, skin to skin, Itachi nuzzling Shisui's chest, Shisui still with his strong arms around Itachi. 

"Itachi, are you sure..."

"Yes", he said, looking up at Shisui with eyes so adorably pleasing, it made every last bit of worry in Shisui sizzle out and evaporate. "Yes!"

Shisui sat up and pulled Itachi into his lap, then took his finger and started touching the sensitive part of Itachi's tip.

"Ahh!" Itachi exclaimed in surprise, shivering as Shisui's finger stroke back and forth, back and forth. But he soon understood why; he used it as a lub, for soon the same finger was at his opening. And with eyes locked on each other, Shisui's digit pushed in, causing Itachi to moan softly. Shisui stretched Itachi carefully, first with one finger, then with tho, kissing him sloppily meanwhile, massaging Itachi's lips, nibbling his neck, biting his ear. And Itachi made the cutest little mewls and moans, beyond Shisui's wildest imaginations. 

"God, Itachi, I won't-" He had to swallow. "I won't be able to stop myself."

At this, Itachi grabbed Shisui's cock and guided it towards his opening. "Then don't" he whispered against Shisui's lips, and sat down on his length. 

Shisui grunted in pleasure while Itachi crumpled up his face and moaned. And Shisui leaned over and put Itachi on his back, his legs on Shisui's shoulders. He sat up so he was on his knees, grabbed Itachi's slender waist and started thrusting.

"Ahh! Ahh! Ahh!" Itachi went with each movement Shisui made, and it blinded Shisui with pleasure, lit something hot-white within him that made him unable to see as he thrusted, increasing his pace to an obscene level and he started talking, saying incomprehensible words of nothing as all of his fantasies came tumbling down over him all at once as he spilled himself inside his lover, his lover spilling warm seeds over Shisui's abdomen as they came down together, free-falling for second after second until Shisui was spent, exhausted, and had to put his hands on either side of Itachi on the bed and just breathe. 

He looked at Itachi as his vision slowly came back, panting, seeing sweat drops from his forehead landing on Itachi's cheeks. And Itachi looked up at him, seemingly awestruck, so much adoration in his eyes it made Shisui's heart hurt. Itachi lifted a hand that was trembling with sexual exhaustion and stroke Shisui's cheek. 

"I love you, Shisui", he whispered. "I love you so much."

"Oh, God, Itachi, if you only knew- If you only knew-" he had to bite down and look away to prevent himself from crying. But Itachi forced his face back towards him.

"Am I your partner?" he asked. "I mean, am I your boyfriend now?" 

Shisui let the tears fall from his eyes, create a path on his cheek, land on Itachi's skin as Itachi dried his tears away one by one. He bent down and hugged Itachi close, oh so close to his body. He was unable to speak, so he just nodded. 

Itachi closed his eyes, put a hand on Shisui's neck and breathed his scent in. 

And that all came back to Shisui now when he sat o the couch, watching his snoozing husband. He smiled warmly. Ten years... More than ten years ago. And his love for him hadn't diminished in the slightest. It wasn't the same, mind, but very different; it was deeper, more mature, more anchored in the earth. But the passion was still there. 

Suddenly, he couldn't take a second more of the silence that had loomed over them since their fight. He went to the sofa and laid down beside Itachi, his belly to Itachi's back, and hugged Itachi close to him. Itachi hummed happily in his sleep, turned round and placed an arm around Shisui's neck, a timid smile on his face. Shisui smiled, and the tears from that first time they had sex came back to him, dripping down from his cheeks one by one. 

He was so lucky. So incredibly lucky. And grateful.

And in the winter morning, he lay down beside his husband and slowly felt himself doze off to sleep, thinking they could make amends when they both woke up. And he would wake up with a beautiful Itachi watching over him, having woken up half an hour before him but staying put, stroking his cheek, feeling his stubble underneath his fingertips, playing with the wedding band around Shisui's finger as snow had begun to fall outside once more, covering everything in an even thicker white blanket than before. 

And everything would be okay with the world.