Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Broken ❯ deal ( Chapter 27 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: blackarora 
Anime/Manga: Naruto Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Psychological / Hentai / Action | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 07.13.2006 | Pages: 6 | Words: 6.6K | Visits: 1.1K | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Naruto Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Psychological / Hentai / Action | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 07.13.2006 | Pages: 6 | Words: 6.6K | Visits: 1.1K | Status: Work In Progress
Chapter 27
>< not the last chapter><
I just could not do it, I just could not sum it all up within my chapter page limitations. So I guess the next one will have to be.
And if you did know, I re did the last chapter, so you might want to take another look at it so you know what’s going on.
Deal
Iruka woke with a start as the solid door was opened without the precautionary knock of warning. The harsh overhead lights were flipped on and the teacher blinked owlishly in the florescent light as spots danced in his vision. On his feet and on guard immediately, ready to protect Kyuubi if he had to, the gentle man’s eyebrows shot up when he saw two of his former students walk into the room.
Sasuke looked pale and was being helped by Sakura who had his arm around her shoulders, supporting him. As the duo shuffled toward him, he could see the panting breath of raven haired teen, who really should still be resting and the embarrassed face of the pink haired one, who had orders not to let Sasuke down here.
New furniture had been brought in after Kyuubi had gone to sleep and the fox lay curled in the centre of the new bed, Iruka having dozed off in the armchair that had been placed beside it. The teacher watched over the demon as he slept, blond hair splayed out in imitation of a halo from Iruka running his hand through it before he had dozed off.
He dropped his fighting stance to watch as Sakura tried to keep Sasuke on his feet without having to resort to her fighting strength. Sasuke was oblivious to her efforts, the whole time staring at the sleeping form on the bed and making uncoordinated lurches in the direction of the bed that further strained Sakura’s ability to keep them off the floor.
To Sasuke, Naruto seemed to give off a sense of warmth, it was like a sunny day bottled into a person, the kind of day where just by looking out the window and seeing it, you felt better. Sasuke seemed to be drawn to that warmth like a moth to the flame, even if the demon was in control of the body, it still looked to him like perfection was sleeping on the bed. Not catatonic, lifeless sleep, but just resting up so he could have energy for the coming day. So intently was the raven haired teen staring at Naruto, Iruka had to look back to the blond as well.
Shaking off the silence that had engulfed the room, the teacher asked what they were doing down here. Sakura stopped walking toward the bed with the blond in it and started to explain in a rush. Too transfixed on the sleeping blond, Sasuke broke away from her, wobbling unsteadily on his feet, but making it to the bedside next to Iruka and leaned on the mattress to hold himself up.
"...and he said that he made a deal with the demon to get Naruto back. That Kyuubi would not return to the cage inside Naruto until he had kept up his part of the deal."
Sakura caught her breath and Iruka just looked at the panting girl who had managed to talk for a good three minutes having only taken something like a total of four gulps of air during her fast paced spiel.
Iruka, silently turned and looked to the teen standing next to him, so engrossed in the sleeping form that he probably did not hear a single word that Sakura just said.
Setting his hand on the teen’s shoulder and startling him, Iruka asked Sasuke to confirm what Sakura had just said.
Trying to hide the swelling heart that threatened to choke him from this wonderful news.
Sasuke felt the hand on his shoulder and looked up at Iruka trying to figure out what he had missed, what he was supposed to say. It was just, he could not look away from Naruto, the blonde’s presence seemed to swallow him and drowned out everything else around him. The blond that he wanted more than anything to be alright, to get up, yell, scream, joke, laugh, and mostly smile like he used to. He was here to find out if it was ever going to be possible. If Naruto could ever wake up from this catatonic state he had driven himself into, to get away from the horrors of life.
Sasuke remembered the lie he had told to get down here and that Iruka was still waiting for his answer. What should he say?
Looking away from the two sets of eager eyes to watch the sleeping face, he shook his head.
He was never fond of lying and did not want to get dragged down as it perpetuated. Sakura stuttered behind him and Iruka removed his hand from his shoulder.
"Sasuke, why did you say that then."
He did not have to look at the girl to know she was crying, he had used her and it hurt her feelings.
"I had to see him."
Sasuke was stunned at how soft his voice was, how distant and distracted it sounded, as he studied the sleeping face on the bed. The three broad lines that led him to a nose and soft pink lips that were partly open. How peaceful he looked, even if it was still the fox that was in control of this body, he would never get over how peaceful it looked while sleeping.
How much he just wanted to scoop him up and hold him. To feel that sunshine hair run through his fingers, to feel the warm tan skin flush under his touch. To feel the lips press against his own and know that the feelings behind the action was mutual.
Apparently his soft voice stunned the others because they did not say anything else and Sasuke reached out to cup the tan cheek. Feeling the warmth and smoothness of the skin and brushing his thumb across the lips. Wishing that he could kiss him like he had as the twilight faded past the balcony of the small village, where they had met up with Neji.
He wanted to hold him and love him and never let go of his blond moron.
The soft, gentle voice of his former sensei drifted out behind him, shaking him out of his reverie.
"But it is not Naruto, Sasuke. It’s not him."
He knew that, god, did he know that.
Running his hand down the tan neck to the tee shirt covered shoulder, he gently shook him.
He heard the gasp from Sakura and Iruka, but continued anyway.
He had to know and he would not give up until he knew. No matter what happened to him, he had to know, he had to do something.
Red eyes opened and his hand was slapped away. The blood red eyes staying locked with his own for a long moment before they turned to Iruka with a deep growl.
Kyuubi did not want to see him, the one he could not have, the one that made his chest hurt and feel good at the same time with the annoying love and knowledge that he would never be loved back. The fox turned to the blond brat’s father and growled, hoping that he would send them away. He was still tired, and if Sasuke was here, then his time was pretty much up.
The whelp would end the summons and send him back to the lonely cage inside his host. He did not want to go back, not for his normal reason of wanting to create more pain and suffering, but so that he could feel more emotions. Feel more of the happiness, joy and the thousand other things that made him feel good.
They would not understand that. They’d always had emotions and did not know what the rush of discovery felt like to them, they would only think that he wanted to kill and pillage. On the side perhaps, but not right now. Right now, he wanted the tightness in his chest to abate, wanted Sasuke to look at him the way he was looking right now, but for himself, not Naruto.
Growling again at Iruka and having the man’s hand reach out to run through his hair, he saw the odd look on Sasuke’s face and saw as the raven haired teen start to reach out to him, but stop. Letting his hand fall short to rest on the bed.
They both cared for Naruto, he knew that, knew they both loved the blond, but differently. Iruka would never mate with him, yet still loved him. Sasuke wanted to mate with Naruto and would if he could, but loved him for other reasons then just sex.
Love was annoyingly complicated.
Pulling himself closer to the edge of the bed, to the two men he loved, a second hand joined the first as it ran through his sun kissed locks. He wanted to feel this more.
Happiness, comfort, love, content.
All of it.
Sasuke’s voice cut through his rambling thoughts and made him look up at the pale face.
"Can Naruto come back, Kyuubi?"
Closing his red eyes for a moment, the fox took a deep breath.
Of course this was about Naruto, there was no other reason for Sasuke to come near him.
Roaring as he launched himself at Sasuke with enough force to send them both sliding on the tiled floor toward the far wall.
Kyuubi growling ferociously at the struggling teen under him, felt Iruka’s hands on his shoulders trying to pull him off of Sasuke and heard the calming voice trying to soothe him back into compliance, he lashed out. Clawing Iruka’s arm bad enough to send blood splattering to the floor in a crimson arc.
The pink haired wench screamed and went for the door and he let her. She would bring the big breasted wench to fix him up when he was done with the raven haired teen.
Iruka stepped back towards him and the fox let go of Sasuke long enough to throw the startled man across the room, wincing as the gentle teacher cried out in pain as he hit the solid part of the bed and lay still in a heap on the floor.
Snapping his attention back to the teen who was crawling backwards to get away from him, the great Kyuubi no Youkai grabbed Sasuke by the collar of the hospital shirt and slammed him back against the wall, that their slide had placed them within striking distance of.
He heard the pained gasp as Sasuke’s back connected with the wall, the demon let go, letting the raven haired teen to fall to the floor in a heap at his feet. Crouching down and grabbing Sasuke’s throat, the fox lifted and pushed so that the back of the Uchiha’s head hit the wall with a solid thunk.
Then the fox squeezed.
Why couldn’t he love him back? Why did it have to be about Naruto, why couldn’t he be the one the whelp wanted.
Hands reached up to wrap around his wrists, trying to push him away, always pushing him away.
Kyuubi saw the blue tint to the pale skin, the dark eyes that were starting to bulge and go red streaked from the lack of air.
He wanted this teen’s love, any way he could and he would never get it.
That just meant that no one should ever get it if he couldn’t.
The hands fell away and the eyes closed, Sasuke going limp in his grasp as he passed out.
The demon could feel something start to give inside of himself as the raven hair fell forward to hide the pale, blue face. The tightness in his chest, the lump in his throat and the soul crushing weight that had grabbed hold of his stomach, all of it teamed together to crack something inside the beast. Something intangible but so firmly rooted to his very core that he had to pull his hand away because anything more would break him.
Sasuke fell forward, his body automatically trying to pull air into his deprived lungs and started gasping in great gulps. Kyuubi felt the teen fall against his chest and wrapped his arms around Sasuke’s shoulders to hold him to his chest as he gasped and sputtered.
He could not do it.
Never in the existence of demons and humans had there been one he could not kill.
Until now.
Shoulders shaking in defeat, the fox set his cheek against the top of Sasuke’s head and breathed in the scent of his hair. Slowly sinking to his knees from the crouch he had been in, the demon sat over the Uchiha’s legs and held him. Holding him around the shoulders and slowly running his hand down his back.
Kyuubi was in love with him.
He loved him so much that it would break him, to kill Sasuke.
The fox would end up shattered like Naruto if he did, so all he could do was hold on.
Hold on to the teen and know that he could never have his love in return.
He hated this feeling, but there was not a damn thing he could do about it.
All at once the fox felt the presences of at least ten shinobi outside the solid door that had slammed closed behind Sakura, making his hackles raise. He regretted letting Sakura leave because now he wanted to spend more time alone with Sasuke and the shinobi would take him away.
Growling he sorted out some of the chakra signatures, the big teated woman was out there and he could sense that she was angry from her pulsing chakra. That was tolerable because Iruka still had not gotten back up and he knew that she could fix him. All the other chakra signatures were vaguely familiar to him as well.
Hearing a groan from behind him, the demon stopped concentrating on chakra and turned to watch Iruka get to his feet, putting pressure on the slash across his arm. That was good, because somehow, he felt that he might break if he died as well.
That was two, two men that he could not kill. Two men that he loved so much it would break him if he had to do it.
The love for the father as strong as his love for a person he wanted as his lover.
Pausing, the fox blinked repeatedly and looked down to the teen he held.
Maybe there was a way to get him to return his love.
Maybe.
That was better then continuing like this.
He could sense Iruka approaching him from the back and twisted around to look at the man. He looked startled and still managed to smile at him as he stepped towards him.
"Kyuubi, calm down."
He stared at the teacher as more of his plan fell into place.
He could have this man’s love as well.
Yes, and he could have everything he had realized he wanted. Love and companionship, trust and the feeling of belonging. He could have it all.
Sasuke coughed against his shoulder and the fox shifted so he was not perched over the teen, but more to the side. Supporting the teen as he hacked and coughed, Sasuke’s hand unconsciously grabbing the front of the demon’s shirt as the fox rubbed his back to soothe him.
Iruka knelt down next to him as soon as he figured the demon was not going to kill him and looked at Sasuke’s throat making a disapproving noise at the hand shaped bruise that was already forming. The coal black eyes opened and Sasuke pushed away from the demon that held him. Still breathing heavily, his eyes were clouded with mistrust for the fox that sat uncomfortably close to him.
Kyuubi growled and Sasuke flinched on reflex.
"Yes."
"What?"
Iruka was feeling Sasuke’s pulse and looked over to the beast to ask his one word question.
"To what he asked me."
Both humans looked at him with a sudden, intense interest and the fox grinned like mad.
Voice rough and scratchy, still uncomfortable with having the demon so damn close over him like this, Sasuke spoke.
"Then why are you still here, when will he come back, what’s holding him up?"
Kyuubi lifted his annoyingly human hand and placed it over the teen’s mouth, silencing him. He did not like the way Sasuke sounded talking about Naruto, but he guessed it could not be helped.
" He doesn’t want to remember all the things that happened to him. He’s stuck in them and each time he relives them, he sends himself back into the recesses of his mind to get away."
It was true enough and Naruto’s progress had slowed almost to a stop once he started to add in the memories of the Sound to his metal image. The blue form outside Kyuubi’s cage was only vaguely Naruto shaped and not getting any more defined.
Sasuke slapped the hand away from his mouth and Kyuubi smiled, he really did love this human’s spirit.
"Then how can he come back?"
The demons eyes lit up as his recently thought out plan fell in to the next step perfectly.
"I’ll block the worst part of the memories so he can get through them."
The pale face all at once beamed with hope, then closed off entirely.
"Why would you help him?"
"Because you’ll give me what I want."
"What do you want?"
The fox chuckled and leaned in close to the pale teen who lurched back, hitting his head against the wall. Pressing himself close to Sasuke and shifting so that he was straddling his hips, Kyuubi could feel the tensed muscles of the teen under him and snorted. Sending black strands of hair flying before he licked the side of the pale face.
Sasuke struggled against the fox and abruptly looked away from the startled teacher, whose blush took over his face. Bringing his hands up he pushed on the demon’s shoulders, so Kyuubi could no longer lick him and looked into the blood red eyes.
"If I let you do me again, will you help Naruto come back?"
As tempting as it was to just leave it at that and continue, Kyuubi knew that he had to tell them what he wanted in full, or else it might not work.
"No."
Sasuke’s eyes hardened and Iruka set his good hand on the fox’s shoulder.
"Then what do you want, Kyuubi?"
The demon was more a beast of action, than of words and it was hard to explain everything he had to, to get what he wanted.
"I want a new body, one just for me."
Just then the door imploded to crash against the wall opposite of the entrance and the Hokage stormed in followed by most of the people that had been waiting for Naruto under the tree just two days prior.
Kakashi and Gai flanked the fuming Hokage, with Lee right beside his beloved sensei in a fighting stance and Neji was a little farther back with byakyuugan activated. Shino stayed by the door with his bugs swarming and Kiba went to stand next to the bed with Akamaru, growling, Shikamaru already had his shadow ready to be extended and Chouji was clutching a pill in his meaty fist.
Kyuubi was more than annoyed by this interruption, growling so low that the shinobi could feel it more then hear it. Kakashi took a step towards his bleeding lover and the fox snarled, making the man freeze.
Kyuubi was still sitting practically on top of Sasuke, who had his hands on the fox’s shoulders pushing him away, with his face as red as a tomato to be caught in this position with the fox.
Moving so smoothly it was like he was made out of a fluid, the fox crawled off of Sasuke and fell in to a fighting crouch. He was still too tired to put on the full display of chakra that formed around his host’s body, but red cackling wisps did float up around him.
The tense atmosphere of the now crowded room, was so tangible that it could be cut with a knife.
Sasuke was still breathing oddly and his awkward pants were the loudest sound in the room. The bruise around his throat had turned a lively colour of purple and the blood from Iruka’s slashed arm, dripped on to the tiled floor.
The sudden, deafening sound of Kyuubi’s roar as the fox launched himself at the closest shinobi, Kakashi, was interrupted by a panicked shout of "Don’t" from Iruka.
The sickening crack that followed echoed in the room and Kakashi’s eyes widened as he saw Iruka standing in front of the beast, having jumped in front of the beast’s charge.
The gentle teacher lifted his good arm and ran his hand through the golden locks as he whispered hoarsely.
"They’re your friends, Kyuubi, don’t hurt them."
Iruka sank to his knees and a low whine escaped the demon’s lips, he had not meant to hit him.
Not him, not his father, not Iruka.
As soon as he saw the teacher lunge in front of his fist, Kyuubi had tried to avert it, he really had, but the momentum was too great. He could only take the chakra away so that it didn’t go through him, but it was still a powerful hit.
Iruka doubled over and coughed, it felt like someone just put his liver through his spinal column.
He had been hit in the gut before, but damn, never this hard.
Kyuubi whined again and knelt next to Iruka’s head, softly touching his father’s face as he coughed harshly. Looking over to the stunned Hokage, he gave a long whine, hoping she would get his meaning.
He had not meant to hit him, please help him.
Slowly she nodded, then slowly walked over to Iruka and never breaking eye contact with the demon, kneeled next to the hacking teacher. Kyuubi stepped back and Kakashi stepped forward to help lay Iruka on the floor so Tsunade could look at his stomach and arm which was still bleeding profusely.
Sasuke watched the exchange and climbed to his feet, watching as the demon started to back himself in to a corner. The other shinobi still looked like they were posed to attack and Kyuubi was still in fight or flight mode.
More accurately, since he was a demon, all he had was fight mode.
He reached out to grab the tan wrist as Kyuubi passed him to retreat into the corner and the blood red eyes fixed on him again with a questioning growl.
"You never said what you wanted in exchange for helping to bring Naruto back."
Kyuubi jerked his head away to look over the crowd that was watching him, putting him on edge.
"I said, I want a new body."
The people in the room seemed to be transfixed on their conversation now. Shikamaru’s hands sank a little in their seal posture, Neji, Chouji and Kiba all shifted to hear them better at the same time and Shino sent a bug to land on the wall next to Sasuke.
Tsunade looked up from healing Iruka’s arm, face ashen and stern.
"No, we will not sacrifice someone to give you a new body. That would make us as bad as Orochimaru."
Pulling his wrist away from Sasuke, the demon snorted.
"Not sacrifice, make me one. I don’t want another used body, I want my own."
There was a collective look of confusion on all of the shinobi’s faces and Kyuubi looked at Sasuke, a grin slowly forming that showed his long fangs. His plan’s execution had been delayed but he could still make this work.
Sasuke’s voice was still scratchy and all eyes were on him.
"How would we make you a new body?"
The demon stepped close to Sasuke and growled as he spoke, making the words seem ominous.
"You’ll make me one."
Sasuke took a step back, to get away from the fox that was still leaning towards him and grinning in a way that gave the words a new meaning.
Swallowing hard then wincing as it hurt his throat, Sasuke pressed on.
"How?"
Demons did not have modesty, nor did they have any tact, or consideration for others feelings. If they wanted to mate with something, they threw it down and did the dirty without a second thought about who was watching. So Kyuubi did not think for a second that Sasuke’s face would turn scarlet with his answer.
"I mate with you and you’ll have me."
Lee fell over and Kiba looked like his brain had started to play soccer with his eyeballs from how large they got, then he looked over to Akamaru to see if he knew what the hell the demon was talking about. Shino was still standing at the door with his collar up and dark sunglasses, but they could not hide the pink tint to his cheeks. Chouji dropped the pill that would let him perform multi-size and Neji’s jaw hit the floor. Even Tsunade paused in her healing of Iruka to look at the grinning beast. Gai was the first one to recover in true youthful, green spandex, spirit and loudly shouted.
"Men cannot get pregnant."
There was a peace sign and a flash of ultra bright teeth that momentarily stunned the demon with their brilliance.
Kakashi sweat dropped then added.
"Nor can a being mate with someone and be born from the union."
Gai now had rivers of tears running down his face and was babbling about how cool Kakashi was and not letting him finish.
There was a sigh and Shikamaru’s classic oath of "troublesome."
The wheels were turning in the Hokage’s head and she reached the same conclusion as Shikameru, but her cheeks tinted pink at the mental image it brought. She had insisted that the females stay out of the room because the fox had raped over 30 girls, boys or other when in the sound and she did not know how he would react to females, knowing that lust was always one of the strongest things a demon felt.
It turns out she should have banned the males from the room instead, but that was just her inner yaoi fangirl talking.
Neji picked his jaw up from the floor and stammered.
"It’s not possible."
Kyuubi grinned and pressed himself closer to Sasuke who tried to back away and met the wall with a thud.
Shikamaru sighed again and placed his hand behind his head.
"Demons breed parasitically and they don’t breed so much as they infect. Any living tissue could support a demon whelp because they feed on the chakra and do not rely on physical subsistence from the mother. I think he wants to infect Sasuke with himself, taking over the new whelp that forms."
Kyuubi growled, acknowledging Shikamaru’s assessment and leaning in to nip Sasuke’s collar bone. The bite broke the raven haired teen out of his shock.
"NO! I won’t do that."
Pushing away from the fox’s strong grip, then using the wall behind him as a support to get further away from the beast. After a few paces Sasuke stumbled on his weakened legs and Gai had to lunge to catch him before he fell. Bracing against the supporting arm, Sasuke turned back to the fox who had a snarl that seemed to cover his face.
"I won’t ever let you roam free, let alone do, do that, to give you a new body."
It was to horrible to even think about, him, get knocked up and birth a demon whelp.
No.
Just, NO.
Fucking him, he could live with. Impregnate him, no.
Kyuubi growled low, then laughed.
"Do you want Naruto back? Free from me so he will never have anyone trying to take hold of him again because they want to use me?"
"No, I won’t do it. You said he was stuck going through the memories of what he went through at the sound. He did it once he can do it again. I don’t need you."
Sasuke raise his hands and formed a seal, the seal that would send the demon back into the cage in Naruto and end this disturbing conversation. Before he could muster up the chakra to send him back, Kyuubi grabbed the bottom hem of his shirt and lifted. Removing it from his body and letting it hang in his hand. Showing everyone in the room all the scars that covered the tan chest. The cris-crossing white lines that covered him from collar bone to pant hem and further down no doubt.
Putting a hand to his chest and tracing a particularly thick scar, the demon sneered at him.
"Look at what he gets to relive Sasuke. All these scars from all the pain he went through. You were not in there when it was happening, you came around after the horrors to comfort him. He is not the Naruto you remember, that any of you remember. My offer is not to bring him back, he’ll eventually do that on his own, but to let him bring back the one you all remember."
The fox’s eyes turned to slits and he bared his fangs from the size of his grin.
"I can block the memories of the horrors and pain, so he would not be so traumatized. So he’d be the one you were friends with, instead of the scared little boy he is now."
Sasuke was trembling, he wanted his Naruto back and would do anything to see him like that again and here it was being presented to him on a silver platter.
But, the price was too high.
He could not, in good conscience let Kyuubi out to ravage as he did before. Naruto would not want that, would call him selfish if he did. And he did not want to get pregnant with a demon, or pregnant at all, for that matter.
"No."
The demon was looking at him, eyes bright and knowing that he had just told him he could have just what he wanted. That despite his response, he still wanted to see Naruto back the way he was.
"NO."
Sasuke activated the seal and the blond body fell limply to the floor. He could not agree to the terms of the deal. It was just too disturbing a price.
The room was silent and Sasuke’s head swam as colours blurred together, he did not use that much chakra, but he did not have all that much to begin with. Gai wrapped his arms around him and slowly lowered him down to the floor as Neji and Lee helped the once again catatonic body to the bed.
Kakashi helped Iruka up and Sasuke could see the tears in the man’s eyes.
Iruka wanted Naruto to come back as much as he did.
Sasuke felt a strange need to apologize for not letting his son come back, but he was consumed by darkness before he had the chance.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Birds were twittering outside the window in the twilight, he was not sure if the sun was setting or rising, but it looked pretty either way.
Two fresh flowers sat on the window still and the reds and purples of the sky reflected off the water in the small clear vase the flowers were in.
The window next to his bed was open an inch and a chill breeze blew through the slim opening. Shivering, the blonde pulled the standard woolen blanket up to his shoulders and continued to gaze out the window.
There was a tree just outside, whose leaves were starting to turn colours, it was in the middle of a nicely manicured lawn with flowerbeds and a bench under it. For some reason he thought he should remember it, but why exactly, eluded him.
Taking a deep breath and watching the sun slowly drift higher in the sky, he wondered what time it was.
It was not really that important, but it was a mild curiosity.
Turning away from the window and feeling a stiffness in his entire body, the blue eyes searched the drab white walls for a clock and spotted it mounted on the wall next to some cabinets.
A trickle of fear danced up his spine, as he recognized the all too familiar layout of the room. The cabinets filled with god knows what and the IV in his arm, the standard woolen blanket and the decent but not great bed, oh god, he was in a hospital.
He was trying to think against the rising tide of panic that threatened to drown him into mindless terror.
Why was he here, how long was he going to be in here for?
Dread washed over him when he could not answer either of the questions. He bit his fist to muffle his whimper, he did not want to let anyone know he was awake yet.
The sound of footsteps walking by his door, made his breath hitch and he froze, to afraid to move. He hated doctors, with their knives that cut into him and the sadistic smile as he screamed into the gag.
Shuddering against the horrible memories, the footsteps passed by without stopping.
He took a deep breath and grabbed the IV in his arm, it did not hurt, so how long had it been there?
He didn’t know that either.
Looking around again and seeing the nice tiles and feeling the soft bed under him. This was unlike any hospital he had ever been in. Where were the ropes to hold him down and the gags, or even the ratty doctor with the fake karate.
There was a chair next to the bed, just the right distance and placement for whoever sitting in it to hold his hand with the IV in it.
For a second he thought he remembered Iruka sitting there and talking to him. Stupid stuff mostly, what was going on with who and that Sasuke had started to train again.
He didn’t want to trust the memory, it might have been a dream because Iruka was dead, he had killed him.
But then there was the dream under the tree and Iruka was alright.
So that’s where he should know that tree from.
Yeah, he remembered now, that’s where he first got to see Iruka and then he panicked or something because it got real fuzzy afterwards.
You don’t dream in dreams, so it was real, wasn’t it?
Iruka was not dead. That was better then him still being dead, so the blond teen chose to believe it.
It felt like it should be more surprising, but oddly it felt like he had known that for months.
Where was Sasuke?
The prick had said that he would not leave him. So where was he?
It was bad enough to be in a hospital, but without the raven haired bastard around, it gave him the chills.
Stiffly bringing his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around them, the blond shuddered.
It was cold in here, he wanted another blanket.
Footsteps echoed in the hall and again he tensed as they approached. Holding his breath as they stopped in front of the door to his room and the door knob turned.
Looking over, panic stricken as the man walked in. His breath caught in his throat, then he let it out in a startled gasp, he recognized this man and knew that he would never do anything to hurt him, and apparently the dream of the tree was indeed a memory.
Iruka stepped in and stopped, eyes wide and heart thumping.
"Naruto!"
Rushing to the bed, he wrapped his arms around his son who had been in a catatonic state for three months.
A/N sorry if this last part was a tad odd, I was trying to get it to be like when you first wake up. Not to the scream of an alarm clock saying that you have to get up and go to work/ school/ whatever, but when you just wake up and lay there. Not really awake but not asleep either and you are content to just keep laying there.
I love those mornings.
>< not the last chapter><
I just could not do it, I just could not sum it all up within my chapter page limitations. So I guess the next one will have to be.
And if you did know, I re did the last chapter, so you might want to take another look at it so you know what’s going on.
Deal
Iruka woke with a start as the solid door was opened without the precautionary knock of warning. The harsh overhead lights were flipped on and the teacher blinked owlishly in the florescent light as spots danced in his vision. On his feet and on guard immediately, ready to protect Kyuubi if he had to, the gentle man’s eyebrows shot up when he saw two of his former students walk into the room.
Sasuke looked pale and was being helped by Sakura who had his arm around her shoulders, supporting him. As the duo shuffled toward him, he could see the panting breath of raven haired teen, who really should still be resting and the embarrassed face of the pink haired one, who had orders not to let Sasuke down here.
New furniture had been brought in after Kyuubi had gone to sleep and the fox lay curled in the centre of the new bed, Iruka having dozed off in the armchair that had been placed beside it. The teacher watched over the demon as he slept, blond hair splayed out in imitation of a halo from Iruka running his hand through it before he had dozed off.
He dropped his fighting stance to watch as Sakura tried to keep Sasuke on his feet without having to resort to her fighting strength. Sasuke was oblivious to her efforts, the whole time staring at the sleeping form on the bed and making uncoordinated lurches in the direction of the bed that further strained Sakura’s ability to keep them off the floor.
To Sasuke, Naruto seemed to give off a sense of warmth, it was like a sunny day bottled into a person, the kind of day where just by looking out the window and seeing it, you felt better. Sasuke seemed to be drawn to that warmth like a moth to the flame, even if the demon was in control of the body, it still looked to him like perfection was sleeping on the bed. Not catatonic, lifeless sleep, but just resting up so he could have energy for the coming day. So intently was the raven haired teen staring at Naruto, Iruka had to look back to the blond as well.
Shaking off the silence that had engulfed the room, the teacher asked what they were doing down here. Sakura stopped walking toward the bed with the blond in it and started to explain in a rush. Too transfixed on the sleeping blond, Sasuke broke away from her, wobbling unsteadily on his feet, but making it to the bedside next to Iruka and leaned on the mattress to hold himself up.
"...and he said that he made a deal with the demon to get Naruto back. That Kyuubi would not return to the cage inside Naruto until he had kept up his part of the deal."
Sakura caught her breath and Iruka just looked at the panting girl who had managed to talk for a good three minutes having only taken something like a total of four gulps of air during her fast paced spiel.
Iruka, silently turned and looked to the teen standing next to him, so engrossed in the sleeping form that he probably did not hear a single word that Sakura just said.
Setting his hand on the teen’s shoulder and startling him, Iruka asked Sasuke to confirm what Sakura had just said.
Trying to hide the swelling heart that threatened to choke him from this wonderful news.
Sasuke felt the hand on his shoulder and looked up at Iruka trying to figure out what he had missed, what he was supposed to say. It was just, he could not look away from Naruto, the blonde’s presence seemed to swallow him and drowned out everything else around him. The blond that he wanted more than anything to be alright, to get up, yell, scream, joke, laugh, and mostly smile like he used to. He was here to find out if it was ever going to be possible. If Naruto could ever wake up from this catatonic state he had driven himself into, to get away from the horrors of life.
Sasuke remembered the lie he had told to get down here and that Iruka was still waiting for his answer. What should he say?
Looking away from the two sets of eager eyes to watch the sleeping face, he shook his head.
He was never fond of lying and did not want to get dragged down as it perpetuated. Sakura stuttered behind him and Iruka removed his hand from his shoulder.
"Sasuke, why did you say that then."
He did not have to look at the girl to know she was crying, he had used her and it hurt her feelings.
"I had to see him."
Sasuke was stunned at how soft his voice was, how distant and distracted it sounded, as he studied the sleeping face on the bed. The three broad lines that led him to a nose and soft pink lips that were partly open. How peaceful he looked, even if it was still the fox that was in control of this body, he would never get over how peaceful it looked while sleeping.
How much he just wanted to scoop him up and hold him. To feel that sunshine hair run through his fingers, to feel the warm tan skin flush under his touch. To feel the lips press against his own and know that the feelings behind the action was mutual.
Apparently his soft voice stunned the others because they did not say anything else and Sasuke reached out to cup the tan cheek. Feeling the warmth and smoothness of the skin and brushing his thumb across the lips. Wishing that he could kiss him like he had as the twilight faded past the balcony of the small village, where they had met up with Neji.
He wanted to hold him and love him and never let go of his blond moron.
The soft, gentle voice of his former sensei drifted out behind him, shaking him out of his reverie.
"But it is not Naruto, Sasuke. It’s not him."
He knew that, god, did he know that.
Running his hand down the tan neck to the tee shirt covered shoulder, he gently shook him.
He heard the gasp from Sakura and Iruka, but continued anyway.
He had to know and he would not give up until he knew. No matter what happened to him, he had to know, he had to do something.
Red eyes opened and his hand was slapped away. The blood red eyes staying locked with his own for a long moment before they turned to Iruka with a deep growl.
Kyuubi did not want to see him, the one he could not have, the one that made his chest hurt and feel good at the same time with the annoying love and knowledge that he would never be loved back. The fox turned to the blond brat’s father and growled, hoping that he would send them away. He was still tired, and if Sasuke was here, then his time was pretty much up.
The whelp would end the summons and send him back to the lonely cage inside his host. He did not want to go back, not for his normal reason of wanting to create more pain and suffering, but so that he could feel more emotions. Feel more of the happiness, joy and the thousand other things that made him feel good.
They would not understand that. They’d always had emotions and did not know what the rush of discovery felt like to them, they would only think that he wanted to kill and pillage. On the side perhaps, but not right now. Right now, he wanted the tightness in his chest to abate, wanted Sasuke to look at him the way he was looking right now, but for himself, not Naruto.
Growling again at Iruka and having the man’s hand reach out to run through his hair, he saw the odd look on Sasuke’s face and saw as the raven haired teen start to reach out to him, but stop. Letting his hand fall short to rest on the bed.
They both cared for Naruto, he knew that, knew they both loved the blond, but differently. Iruka would never mate with him, yet still loved him. Sasuke wanted to mate with Naruto and would if he could, but loved him for other reasons then just sex.
Love was annoyingly complicated.
Pulling himself closer to the edge of the bed, to the two men he loved, a second hand joined the first as it ran through his sun kissed locks. He wanted to feel this more.
Happiness, comfort, love, content.
All of it.
Sasuke’s voice cut through his rambling thoughts and made him look up at the pale face.
"Can Naruto come back, Kyuubi?"
Closing his red eyes for a moment, the fox took a deep breath.
Of course this was about Naruto, there was no other reason for Sasuke to come near him.
Roaring as he launched himself at Sasuke with enough force to send them both sliding on the tiled floor toward the far wall.
Kyuubi growling ferociously at the struggling teen under him, felt Iruka’s hands on his shoulders trying to pull him off of Sasuke and heard the calming voice trying to soothe him back into compliance, he lashed out. Clawing Iruka’s arm bad enough to send blood splattering to the floor in a crimson arc.
The pink haired wench screamed and went for the door and he let her. She would bring the big breasted wench to fix him up when he was done with the raven haired teen.
Iruka stepped back towards him and the fox let go of Sasuke long enough to throw the startled man across the room, wincing as the gentle teacher cried out in pain as he hit the solid part of the bed and lay still in a heap on the floor.
Snapping his attention back to the teen who was crawling backwards to get away from him, the great Kyuubi no Youkai grabbed Sasuke by the collar of the hospital shirt and slammed him back against the wall, that their slide had placed them within striking distance of.
He heard the pained gasp as Sasuke’s back connected with the wall, the demon let go, letting the raven haired teen to fall to the floor in a heap at his feet. Crouching down and grabbing Sasuke’s throat, the fox lifted and pushed so that the back of the Uchiha’s head hit the wall with a solid thunk.
Then the fox squeezed.
Why couldn’t he love him back? Why did it have to be about Naruto, why couldn’t he be the one the whelp wanted.
Hands reached up to wrap around his wrists, trying to push him away, always pushing him away.
Kyuubi saw the blue tint to the pale skin, the dark eyes that were starting to bulge and go red streaked from the lack of air.
He wanted this teen’s love, any way he could and he would never get it.
That just meant that no one should ever get it if he couldn’t.
The hands fell away and the eyes closed, Sasuke going limp in his grasp as he passed out.
The demon could feel something start to give inside of himself as the raven hair fell forward to hide the pale, blue face. The tightness in his chest, the lump in his throat and the soul crushing weight that had grabbed hold of his stomach, all of it teamed together to crack something inside the beast. Something intangible but so firmly rooted to his very core that he had to pull his hand away because anything more would break him.
Sasuke fell forward, his body automatically trying to pull air into his deprived lungs and started gasping in great gulps. Kyuubi felt the teen fall against his chest and wrapped his arms around Sasuke’s shoulders to hold him to his chest as he gasped and sputtered.
He could not do it.
Never in the existence of demons and humans had there been one he could not kill.
Until now.
Shoulders shaking in defeat, the fox set his cheek against the top of Sasuke’s head and breathed in the scent of his hair. Slowly sinking to his knees from the crouch he had been in, the demon sat over the Uchiha’s legs and held him. Holding him around the shoulders and slowly running his hand down his back.
Kyuubi was in love with him.
He loved him so much that it would break him, to kill Sasuke.
The fox would end up shattered like Naruto if he did, so all he could do was hold on.
Hold on to the teen and know that he could never have his love in return.
He hated this feeling, but there was not a damn thing he could do about it.
All at once the fox felt the presences of at least ten shinobi outside the solid door that had slammed closed behind Sakura, making his hackles raise. He regretted letting Sakura leave because now he wanted to spend more time alone with Sasuke and the shinobi would take him away.
Growling he sorted out some of the chakra signatures, the big teated woman was out there and he could sense that she was angry from her pulsing chakra. That was tolerable because Iruka still had not gotten back up and he knew that she could fix him. All the other chakra signatures were vaguely familiar to him as well.
Hearing a groan from behind him, the demon stopped concentrating on chakra and turned to watch Iruka get to his feet, putting pressure on the slash across his arm. That was good, because somehow, he felt that he might break if he died as well.
That was two, two men that he could not kill. Two men that he loved so much it would break him if he had to do it.
The love for the father as strong as his love for a person he wanted as his lover.
Pausing, the fox blinked repeatedly and looked down to the teen he held.
Maybe there was a way to get him to return his love.
Maybe.
That was better then continuing like this.
He could sense Iruka approaching him from the back and twisted around to look at the man. He looked startled and still managed to smile at him as he stepped towards him.
"Kyuubi, calm down."
He stared at the teacher as more of his plan fell into place.
He could have this man’s love as well.
Yes, and he could have everything he had realized he wanted. Love and companionship, trust and the feeling of belonging. He could have it all.
Sasuke coughed against his shoulder and the fox shifted so he was not perched over the teen, but more to the side. Supporting the teen as he hacked and coughed, Sasuke’s hand unconsciously grabbing the front of the demon’s shirt as the fox rubbed his back to soothe him.
Iruka knelt down next to him as soon as he figured the demon was not going to kill him and looked at Sasuke’s throat making a disapproving noise at the hand shaped bruise that was already forming. The coal black eyes opened and Sasuke pushed away from the demon that held him. Still breathing heavily, his eyes were clouded with mistrust for the fox that sat uncomfortably close to him.
Kyuubi growled and Sasuke flinched on reflex.
"Yes."
"What?"
Iruka was feeling Sasuke’s pulse and looked over to the beast to ask his one word question.
"To what he asked me."
Both humans looked at him with a sudden, intense interest and the fox grinned like mad.
Voice rough and scratchy, still uncomfortable with having the demon so damn close over him like this, Sasuke spoke.
"Then why are you still here, when will he come back, what’s holding him up?"
Kyuubi lifted his annoyingly human hand and placed it over the teen’s mouth, silencing him. He did not like the way Sasuke sounded talking about Naruto, but he guessed it could not be helped.
" He doesn’t want to remember all the things that happened to him. He’s stuck in them and each time he relives them, he sends himself back into the recesses of his mind to get away."
It was true enough and Naruto’s progress had slowed almost to a stop once he started to add in the memories of the Sound to his metal image. The blue form outside Kyuubi’s cage was only vaguely Naruto shaped and not getting any more defined.
Sasuke slapped the hand away from his mouth and Kyuubi smiled, he really did love this human’s spirit.
"Then how can he come back?"
The demons eyes lit up as his recently thought out plan fell in to the next step perfectly.
"I’ll block the worst part of the memories so he can get through them."
The pale face all at once beamed with hope, then closed off entirely.
"Why would you help him?"
"Because you’ll give me what I want."
"What do you want?"
The fox chuckled and leaned in close to the pale teen who lurched back, hitting his head against the wall. Pressing himself close to Sasuke and shifting so that he was straddling his hips, Kyuubi could feel the tensed muscles of the teen under him and snorted. Sending black strands of hair flying before he licked the side of the pale face.
Sasuke struggled against the fox and abruptly looked away from the startled teacher, whose blush took over his face. Bringing his hands up he pushed on the demon’s shoulders, so Kyuubi could no longer lick him and looked into the blood red eyes.
"If I let you do me again, will you help Naruto come back?"
As tempting as it was to just leave it at that and continue, Kyuubi knew that he had to tell them what he wanted in full, or else it might not work.
"No."
Sasuke’s eyes hardened and Iruka set his good hand on the fox’s shoulder.
"Then what do you want, Kyuubi?"
The demon was more a beast of action, than of words and it was hard to explain everything he had to, to get what he wanted.
"I want a new body, one just for me."
Just then the door imploded to crash against the wall opposite of the entrance and the Hokage stormed in followed by most of the people that had been waiting for Naruto under the tree just two days prior.
Kakashi and Gai flanked the fuming Hokage, with Lee right beside his beloved sensei in a fighting stance and Neji was a little farther back with byakyuugan activated. Shino stayed by the door with his bugs swarming and Kiba went to stand next to the bed with Akamaru, growling, Shikamaru already had his shadow ready to be extended and Chouji was clutching a pill in his meaty fist.
Kyuubi was more than annoyed by this interruption, growling so low that the shinobi could feel it more then hear it. Kakashi took a step towards his bleeding lover and the fox snarled, making the man freeze.
Kyuubi was still sitting practically on top of Sasuke, who had his hands on the fox’s shoulders pushing him away, with his face as red as a tomato to be caught in this position with the fox.
Moving so smoothly it was like he was made out of a fluid, the fox crawled off of Sasuke and fell in to a fighting crouch. He was still too tired to put on the full display of chakra that formed around his host’s body, but red cackling wisps did float up around him.
The tense atmosphere of the now crowded room, was so tangible that it could be cut with a knife.
Sasuke was still breathing oddly and his awkward pants were the loudest sound in the room. The bruise around his throat had turned a lively colour of purple and the blood from Iruka’s slashed arm, dripped on to the tiled floor.
The sudden, deafening sound of Kyuubi’s roar as the fox launched himself at the closest shinobi, Kakashi, was interrupted by a panicked shout of "Don’t" from Iruka.
The sickening crack that followed echoed in the room and Kakashi’s eyes widened as he saw Iruka standing in front of the beast, having jumped in front of the beast’s charge.
The gentle teacher lifted his good arm and ran his hand through the golden locks as he whispered hoarsely.
"They’re your friends, Kyuubi, don’t hurt them."
Iruka sank to his knees and a low whine escaped the demon’s lips, he had not meant to hit him.
Not him, not his father, not Iruka.
As soon as he saw the teacher lunge in front of his fist, Kyuubi had tried to avert it, he really had, but the momentum was too great. He could only take the chakra away so that it didn’t go through him, but it was still a powerful hit.
Iruka doubled over and coughed, it felt like someone just put his liver through his spinal column.
He had been hit in the gut before, but damn, never this hard.
Kyuubi whined again and knelt next to Iruka’s head, softly touching his father’s face as he coughed harshly. Looking over to the stunned Hokage, he gave a long whine, hoping she would get his meaning.
He had not meant to hit him, please help him.
Slowly she nodded, then slowly walked over to Iruka and never breaking eye contact with the demon, kneeled next to the hacking teacher. Kyuubi stepped back and Kakashi stepped forward to help lay Iruka on the floor so Tsunade could look at his stomach and arm which was still bleeding profusely.
Sasuke watched the exchange and climbed to his feet, watching as the demon started to back himself in to a corner. The other shinobi still looked like they were posed to attack and Kyuubi was still in fight or flight mode.
More accurately, since he was a demon, all he had was fight mode.
He reached out to grab the tan wrist as Kyuubi passed him to retreat into the corner and the blood red eyes fixed on him again with a questioning growl.
"You never said what you wanted in exchange for helping to bring Naruto back."
Kyuubi jerked his head away to look over the crowd that was watching him, putting him on edge.
"I said, I want a new body."
The people in the room seemed to be transfixed on their conversation now. Shikamaru’s hands sank a little in their seal posture, Neji, Chouji and Kiba all shifted to hear them better at the same time and Shino sent a bug to land on the wall next to Sasuke.
Tsunade looked up from healing Iruka’s arm, face ashen and stern.
"No, we will not sacrifice someone to give you a new body. That would make us as bad as Orochimaru."
Pulling his wrist away from Sasuke, the demon snorted.
"Not sacrifice, make me one. I don’t want another used body, I want my own."
There was a collective look of confusion on all of the shinobi’s faces and Kyuubi looked at Sasuke, a grin slowly forming that showed his long fangs. His plan’s execution had been delayed but he could still make this work.
Sasuke’s voice was still scratchy and all eyes were on him.
"How would we make you a new body?"
The demon stepped close to Sasuke and growled as he spoke, making the words seem ominous.
"You’ll make me one."
Sasuke took a step back, to get away from the fox that was still leaning towards him and grinning in a way that gave the words a new meaning.
Swallowing hard then wincing as it hurt his throat, Sasuke pressed on.
"How?"
Demons did not have modesty, nor did they have any tact, or consideration for others feelings. If they wanted to mate with something, they threw it down and did the dirty without a second thought about who was watching. So Kyuubi did not think for a second that Sasuke’s face would turn scarlet with his answer.
"I mate with you and you’ll have me."
Lee fell over and Kiba looked like his brain had started to play soccer with his eyeballs from how large they got, then he looked over to Akamaru to see if he knew what the hell the demon was talking about. Shino was still standing at the door with his collar up and dark sunglasses, but they could not hide the pink tint to his cheeks. Chouji dropped the pill that would let him perform multi-size and Neji’s jaw hit the floor. Even Tsunade paused in her healing of Iruka to look at the grinning beast. Gai was the first one to recover in true youthful, green spandex, spirit and loudly shouted.
"Men cannot get pregnant."
There was a peace sign and a flash of ultra bright teeth that momentarily stunned the demon with their brilliance.
Kakashi sweat dropped then added.
"Nor can a being mate with someone and be born from the union."
Gai now had rivers of tears running down his face and was babbling about how cool Kakashi was and not letting him finish.
There was a sigh and Shikamaru’s classic oath of "troublesome."
The wheels were turning in the Hokage’s head and she reached the same conclusion as Shikameru, but her cheeks tinted pink at the mental image it brought. She had insisted that the females stay out of the room because the fox had raped over 30 girls, boys or other when in the sound and she did not know how he would react to females, knowing that lust was always one of the strongest things a demon felt.
It turns out she should have banned the males from the room instead, but that was just her inner yaoi fangirl talking.
Neji picked his jaw up from the floor and stammered.
"It’s not possible."
Kyuubi grinned and pressed himself closer to Sasuke who tried to back away and met the wall with a thud.
Shikamaru sighed again and placed his hand behind his head.
"Demons breed parasitically and they don’t breed so much as they infect. Any living tissue could support a demon whelp because they feed on the chakra and do not rely on physical subsistence from the mother. I think he wants to infect Sasuke with himself, taking over the new whelp that forms."
Kyuubi growled, acknowledging Shikamaru’s assessment and leaning in to nip Sasuke’s collar bone. The bite broke the raven haired teen out of his shock.
"NO! I won’t do that."
Pushing away from the fox’s strong grip, then using the wall behind him as a support to get further away from the beast. After a few paces Sasuke stumbled on his weakened legs and Gai had to lunge to catch him before he fell. Bracing against the supporting arm, Sasuke turned back to the fox who had a snarl that seemed to cover his face.
"I won’t ever let you roam free, let alone do, do that, to give you a new body."
It was to horrible to even think about, him, get knocked up and birth a demon whelp.
No.
Just, NO.
Fucking him, he could live with. Impregnate him, no.
Kyuubi growled low, then laughed.
"Do you want Naruto back? Free from me so he will never have anyone trying to take hold of him again because they want to use me?"
"No, I won’t do it. You said he was stuck going through the memories of what he went through at the sound. He did it once he can do it again. I don’t need you."
Sasuke raise his hands and formed a seal, the seal that would send the demon back into the cage in Naruto and end this disturbing conversation. Before he could muster up the chakra to send him back, Kyuubi grabbed the bottom hem of his shirt and lifted. Removing it from his body and letting it hang in his hand. Showing everyone in the room all the scars that covered the tan chest. The cris-crossing white lines that covered him from collar bone to pant hem and further down no doubt.
Putting a hand to his chest and tracing a particularly thick scar, the demon sneered at him.
"Look at what he gets to relive Sasuke. All these scars from all the pain he went through. You were not in there when it was happening, you came around after the horrors to comfort him. He is not the Naruto you remember, that any of you remember. My offer is not to bring him back, he’ll eventually do that on his own, but to let him bring back the one you all remember."
The fox’s eyes turned to slits and he bared his fangs from the size of his grin.
"I can block the memories of the horrors and pain, so he would not be so traumatized. So he’d be the one you were friends with, instead of the scared little boy he is now."
Sasuke was trembling, he wanted his Naruto back and would do anything to see him like that again and here it was being presented to him on a silver platter.
But, the price was too high.
He could not, in good conscience let Kyuubi out to ravage as he did before. Naruto would not want that, would call him selfish if he did. And he did not want to get pregnant with a demon, or pregnant at all, for that matter.
"No."
The demon was looking at him, eyes bright and knowing that he had just told him he could have just what he wanted. That despite his response, he still wanted to see Naruto back the way he was.
"NO."
Sasuke activated the seal and the blond body fell limply to the floor. He could not agree to the terms of the deal. It was just too disturbing a price.
The room was silent and Sasuke’s head swam as colours blurred together, he did not use that much chakra, but he did not have all that much to begin with. Gai wrapped his arms around him and slowly lowered him down to the floor as Neji and Lee helped the once again catatonic body to the bed.
Kakashi helped Iruka up and Sasuke could see the tears in the man’s eyes.
Iruka wanted Naruto to come back as much as he did.
Sasuke felt a strange need to apologize for not letting his son come back, but he was consumed by darkness before he had the chance.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Birds were twittering outside the window in the twilight, he was not sure if the sun was setting or rising, but it looked pretty either way.
Two fresh flowers sat on the window still and the reds and purples of the sky reflected off the water in the small clear vase the flowers were in.
The window next to his bed was open an inch and a chill breeze blew through the slim opening. Shivering, the blonde pulled the standard woolen blanket up to his shoulders and continued to gaze out the window.
There was a tree just outside, whose leaves were starting to turn colours, it was in the middle of a nicely manicured lawn with flowerbeds and a bench under it. For some reason he thought he should remember it, but why exactly, eluded him.
Taking a deep breath and watching the sun slowly drift higher in the sky, he wondered what time it was.
It was not really that important, but it was a mild curiosity.
Turning away from the window and feeling a stiffness in his entire body, the blue eyes searched the drab white walls for a clock and spotted it mounted on the wall next to some cabinets.
A trickle of fear danced up his spine, as he recognized the all too familiar layout of the room. The cabinets filled with god knows what and the IV in his arm, the standard woolen blanket and the decent but not great bed, oh god, he was in a hospital.
He was trying to think against the rising tide of panic that threatened to drown him into mindless terror.
Why was he here, how long was he going to be in here for?
Dread washed over him when he could not answer either of the questions. He bit his fist to muffle his whimper, he did not want to let anyone know he was awake yet.
The sound of footsteps walking by his door, made his breath hitch and he froze, to afraid to move. He hated doctors, with their knives that cut into him and the sadistic smile as he screamed into the gag.
Shuddering against the horrible memories, the footsteps passed by without stopping.
He took a deep breath and grabbed the IV in his arm, it did not hurt, so how long had it been there?
He didn’t know that either.
Looking around again and seeing the nice tiles and feeling the soft bed under him. This was unlike any hospital he had ever been in. Where were the ropes to hold him down and the gags, or even the ratty doctor with the fake karate.
There was a chair next to the bed, just the right distance and placement for whoever sitting in it to hold his hand with the IV in it.
For a second he thought he remembered Iruka sitting there and talking to him. Stupid stuff mostly, what was going on with who and that Sasuke had started to train again.
He didn’t want to trust the memory, it might have been a dream because Iruka was dead, he had killed him.
But then there was the dream under the tree and Iruka was alright.
So that’s where he should know that tree from.
Yeah, he remembered now, that’s where he first got to see Iruka and then he panicked or something because it got real fuzzy afterwards.
You don’t dream in dreams, so it was real, wasn’t it?
Iruka was not dead. That was better then him still being dead, so the blond teen chose to believe it.
It felt like it should be more surprising, but oddly it felt like he had known that for months.
Where was Sasuke?
The prick had said that he would not leave him. So where was he?
It was bad enough to be in a hospital, but without the raven haired bastard around, it gave him the chills.
Stiffly bringing his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around them, the blond shuddered.
It was cold in here, he wanted another blanket.
Footsteps echoed in the hall and again he tensed as they approached. Holding his breath as they stopped in front of the door to his room and the door knob turned.
Looking over, panic stricken as the man walked in. His breath caught in his throat, then he let it out in a startled gasp, he recognized this man and knew that he would never do anything to hurt him, and apparently the dream of the tree was indeed a memory.
Iruka stepped in and stopped, eyes wide and heart thumping.
"Naruto!"
Rushing to the bed, he wrapped his arms around his son who had been in a catatonic state for three months.
A/N sorry if this last part was a tad odd, I was trying to get it to be like when you first wake up. Not to the scream of an alarm clock saying that you have to get up and go to work/ school/ whatever, but when you just wake up and lay there. Not really awake but not asleep either and you are content to just keep laying there.
I love those mornings.