Can I Call You Mine

Chapter 2

Sai took a long drag of his cigarette, holding the smoke in for only a moment, before blowing it out slowly. He walked over to the bar in his study and poured himself a glass of whiskey. Taking a sip and lazily glancing at a young man with grey eyes and bushy black hair, the sides of which were shaven and dyed blonde in colour. Despite his gruff demeanor he was very handsome. The tattoo of the Roman numeral Ⅸ under his left eye, the pair of piercings on his right eyebrow, and studded earrings drew attention to his attractive features.

"So Kawaki you must know why you're here, don't you?" He asked, swirling the amber liquid that always left a bitter taste in his mouth. He didn't necessarily like the taste of the liquor but he relished how it calmed his nerves.

Keeping a bored gaze at the other man, Kawaki gave a small nod, not taking his eyes of Sai. The raven put his glass down and slowly walked over to the younger man. "Good. This will make my job easy." He said cooly pulling out his pocket knife and grabbing the man's hand, pinning it to the table that he was standing next to. Kawaki refused to scream, no matter how much his body protested to the pain. "One fucking job. One." He said in frustration, shaking his index finger to emphasize his statement. He aggressively walked over to where he left his drink and took a big gulp of the pungent beverage. He then angrily walked back to face the pained man, "I'm disappointed in you Kawaki. You're one of my best men," he spat, roughly patting the other man's wet cheek.

"It was an honest mistake Sir!" His voice faltering a little. "That 'honest mistake' almost cost me my relationship," he growled, straightening up and running a hand through his hair. "Here's the thing and I'm sure you know it by now," Sai leaned against the table, his back facing towards the open room with his arms crossed over his chest. "Naruto is innocent and does not know about...this," stretching his hand out to point at his surrounding. "But he's smart...very smart...and since I don't want him involved, that means he shouldn't have a clue about what 'gummy bear dearest' does behind hidden doors." He turned back to the dark haired man and lean toward his ear. "So if you pull that 'honest mistake' again, you'll suffer more than just a stab wound."

Kawaki hissed harshly when Sai pulled at the blade. "Get out of my sight," bellowed, watching Kawaki cradle his injured hand, leaving drops of blood as he walked out of the study.

.....

"-And the nerve of that boy to pull my hair! But I set him straight uncle Sasuke!"

The younger raven chuckled at to his adorable niece ranting on and on about some boy at her school. The same boy that always seemed to get Lilly on edge. "You talk about Stephen ALL the time. Humm, if I didn't know better I'd say that you like him," he teased, hiding his grin behind her blonde locks, keeping his face blank when she turned to look at him in bewilderment as if he'd grown a second head.

She scrunched up her face, her little tongue sticking out in disgust, "Ew! Boys are disgusting!"

Sasuke pretended to be hurt at the little girl's statement. "I'm disgusting?"

Lilly's black eyes went wide and she shook her head frantically. "No, no, you're not disgusting."

But Sasuke was having none of that, "Oh what has this world come to? My own little niece thinks I'm disgusting." He said dramatically, bringing his hand up to wipe a non existing tear. The little blonde was close to tears herself, trying her best to assure her uncle otherwise by squeezing his cheeks between her tiny hands. Sasuke suddenly opened his eyes. "I think being sad is making me turn into a tickle monster." He carefully tackled the little girl to the couch where they were sitting on, tickling her sides mercilessly. Lilium gasped, giggled and squealed. Her tears of sorrow long forgotten and turning into the ones of joy. "Noooo! Not the... not the tickle monster!" She said between squeals.

"That's what you get for saying your uncle is disgusting." Sasuke let her breathe for a moment. "You're not-" she took a deep breath. "You're not disgusting." Sasuke gasped dramatically for a second time. "You-you said it again. You said I'm disgusting." She shook her head in a fit of giggles. "I didn't say that!" The small child was a squealing mess when Sasuke tickled her sides again.

"Ahem...What's going on here?" The two turned to an amused looking long haired blonde man with Itachi walking up behind him. Lilly tried to make a quick escape towards her parents. "Mommy! Daddy!" As the raven tried to grab her but pretending to miss and voicing his displeasure. She hid herself behind her mother. "Uncle Sasuke turned into a tickle monster."

"Is that so?" Deidara asked, lovingly looking down at her with a small smile. "And why did he turn into a tickle monster?" Her father inquired raising an eyebrow.

"She said we're disgusting, smelly and ugly." Sasuke answered from the couch.

Lilium gasped at him, "He's lying! I didn't say that!"

"Now why would uncle Sasuke lie? He has never lied before." Deidara played along whilst watching Itachi grinning down at his daughter, the way he would when he was about to tickle her. She realized this a little to late as he grabbed her and tickled her, making his way towards his brother. "Let's tickle her until she pees herself." Lilly's eyes went wide. "Noo! Mommy help." She squirmed between her father and uncle, looking at her mother with pleading eyes.

"Alright, alright. Let her be. It's going to a pain to clean the couch if she really does have an accident." He exclaimed, gathering the little girl into his arms before placing her on his hip and pressing his forehead with the breathless girl. They shared a few quiet words then Lilium nodded to whatever her mommy was saying. Deidara giggled when she kissed his cheek and buried her face into the crook of his neck.

Sasuke gazed at their little secret exchange and couldn't help but wonder if things would be like this, if he shared this with Naruto.

"Deidara, put Lilly down. You're not supposed to carry anything heavy in your condition." Itachi scolded as he got up to pry his daughter out of his husband's arms. Deidara held her tight and glared up at his husband. "Stop being a worry wart. Besides she's not heavy, she's light as a feather. Aren't you baby?" He cooed at the little girl, giving her many kisses on her face causing him to smile in joy at the sound of her giggles.

Itachi smiled fondly placing one hand behind the blonde for support and the other over the bump that was already apparent at only three months along. He kissed the back of Lilium's head and then gently placed a kiss on Deidara's lips. Sasuke felt uncomfortable, but he couldn't look away, the loving affection they were sharing, fueled his fantasy of him and Naruto.

"So Sasuke. Are you staying for dinner?" Deidara inquired. This seemed to snap the young Uchiha out of his thoughts, "Uh... No.," he answered, clearing his throat. "I have to meet up with Suigetsu, Jūgo and Karin to discuss the new product that Kabuto introduced to us. I'm not sure I like it but I'm going to get the others' viewpoints."

Deidara was a little disappointed but smiled never the less. "Oh, ok then. Give my congratulations to Jūgo, he and Kimimaro must be very proud parents." He said whilst handing Lilium to her father and placing a hand into the small of his back. "...And Sasuke..." He walked over to the young Uchiha, who felt something dark surrounding the blonde. Deidara placed his hand on Sasuke's forearm, giving it a painfully tight squeeze. "Don't be a stranger. Itachi and I worry about you a lot and I can't afford to be worrying with a baby on the way, un!" He breathed out placing his other hand over his growing belly, gently rubbing at the area where the baby currently resides. "So it would be greatly appreciated if you spend some time with your family," he said in a low voice. "I mean it wouldn't kill you to do that, now would it?" His tone had a slight threatening edge to it.

Sasuke really wanted to beg to differ but he wisely kept his mouth shut because they all knew that an angry pregnant Deidara was never what you'd want to deal with. "Sure. If you insist. Sounds great." Sasuke gave a stiff smile. Deidara smiled happily, but the grip still remained. "Glade you see it my way," he winked at him and Sasuke glanced up at his brother who quickly looked away, suddenly finding Lilium's strands very interesting. They were Uchiha men, even feared, but they were smart enough to know their boundaries whenever it came to dealing with an irritable significant other, or a short tempered in-law.