Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Emerald Key ❯ Chapter 6

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Two months later
During these past two months the angelic slave had spent recovering on the medical floor of Itachi’s enormous and multi-floored apartment. The raven haired CEO was constantly warring against his darker and possessive side. He kept telling himself over and over that Naruto’s feelings were just those of a concerned student for his former ‘teacher’, but that more emotional and passionate part of his being argued that that didn’t mean they never stopped being lovers.
‘Did they ever really break it up?’ sneered that hideous voice.
‘No, but surely Naruto must have forgotten those feelings by now. Absence does not always make the heart grow fonder.’
‘Really now?’ It had sneered again, ‘Then why does he spend every waking moment with that little whore? Of course, I really don’t blame him. This “Haku-sensei” does look like he’d be a lot of fun; so docile and submissive.’
‘He hasn’t seen the boy in over three years. It’s only natural for him to want to spend time with his friend.’
‘His friend you say? Hah! That’s a good one!’ came yet another jealous sneer, ‘You know as well as I do that they’re lovers. Why else would he spend almost two whole months with that harlot? Wake up and face the music Ita-kun. That angel hussy of his is going to wind up taking your precious kitsune away from you if you don’t. Now, we don’t want that do we?’
Itachi couldn’t deny that. He had known from the start; from the moment his beloved Naruto had begged him to save the other slave that there was the possibility of losing him to Haku. ‘You’re right,’ he had sighed, finally giving into that sneering voice.
‘I always am,’ it crowed in return. ‘So what are we going to do about darling Haku, hmm?’

“Haku-sensei!” the little blond ball of fluff and energy beamed as he burst into the recovery room. The winged teen smiled at his former ‘student’, Naruto would always greet him like this and it made him feel warm and tingly inside to be the attention of such love and devotion. It made him long for those two too short months he’d spent training the loveable kitsune to return. But he knew he shouldn’t think of such things. In his line of ‘work’, it was extremely unwise to develop any sort of affection or emotions towards customers or fellow ‘employees’.
Even though the fox boy had repeatedly told him that they were no longer ‘employees’ of ‘Elysium’ and were now guests of his beloved Itachi-sama, Haku just couldn’t shake the feeling that it was just one overly vivid dream of his. The raven haired man had seemed nice and genuinely concerned for the angelic teen’s health and well being, but there was an underlying coldness in the CEO’s crimson eyes that only he could sense. He didn’t know why Itachi had aimed that eerily icy gaze at him, but the raven haired angel did have some idea. After all, Naruto had been spending every moment of every day at his bedside while he had been recovering from the horrible injuries he’d suffered at the Master’s hands.
“You really don’t have to call me that anymore,” the older teen attempted to correct the blond for the hundredth time.
Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly a habit that had endeared the little blond to him so many years ago. “Yeah, I guess,” he said shyly. The fox boy was a little uncomfortable around his former trainer and lover now that he’d found someone else.
It was tearing at his heart now that Haku was back in his life. He knew he loved Itachi with all his heart, but there was that tiniest part of it that still loved the angelic teen. He was grateful to the CEO for saving him and the raven haired angel, but he couldn’t help feeling guilty for begging Itachi to do so. And now for some odd reason, his taller lover would become somewhat distant whenever Haku was brought up in their conversation. The blond could see that it was putting a strain on their relationship.
“So uh… how are you doing, Haku-sensei?”
“Tsunade-san says I’ll be able to leave this room in a couple days. She’s just waiting for a few test results.”
“Really?!” the fox boy cheered, “That’s great! I can’t wait to show you Itachi-sama’s garden! It’s soooo huge!”
“I’d love to see it, little kitsune,” Haku said, smiling glad to have cheered up the boy, “It also means I can finally be of some use to Itachi-sama as well.”
Naruto frowned slightly, he hated when his angelic friend spoke like that. He was more than just some tool to be discarded once it was all used up. He was sure the CEO had felt the same way.
“Indeed,” came the raven haired man’s voice, startling the blond. Haku smiled warmly, but it didn’t reach his bright chocolate eyes; he’d seen the hardness of those ruby depths. He desperately tried to keep down the shiver he felt making its way up his spine.
‘It’s for the best,’ Itachi’s darker side whispered, rearing its ugly head once more.
‘It’d hurt the beauty,’ the CEO protested in a vain attempt to talk himself out of what he had been planning to do once his ‘guest’ had been given a clean bill of health.
‘You know it’s the only way,’ the dark voice purred, ‘it’s either that or send him away and that’ll hurt the little kitsune more. We don’t want that now do we?’
‘…No,’ Itachi replied giving in. ‘I could put him to work at the firm, but he has no other skills,’ the CEO mused now that his darker self had been appeased. ‘If only my Naruto weren’t spending so much time with him... I pray that you can forgive one day, lovely one.’
“Why don’t you pay Tsunade a visit, little one? I need to talk to Haku for a bit,” the CEO said in a tone that left no room for objection.
“Sure Itachi-sama!” Naruto replied a bit nervously, but obeyed his lover’s command. “I’ll be right back, Haku-sensei!” he called over his shoulder. The angelic being gave a weak smile. “Don’t get in her way too much,” he called back.
“Hai!”
With that the fox boy was half way down the hall to the doctor’s office.
“What is it you wish to talk about, Itachi-sama?” the smaller of the brunets asked, feeling somewhat frightened by the man’s cold eyes.
“You are fully healed?” he asked, “No more pain?”
“Just the emotional pain, Itachi-sama,” Haku said, looking at his slender, almost feminine hands as they lay in his lap.
The taller and older brunet nodded solemnly. ‘And now I must add more to that pain,’ he added ruefully. “You must know by now that I cannot allow you to be with Naruto any longer.” The winged teen stiffened, but said nothing. He had known all along that this had been coming; ever since he first received this man’s icy glare. “I’d send you away if I could, but…”
“You do not wish to hurt the little one,” Haku finished for him. “So this is what this is about,” the teen muttered, realizing the cause of all those icy glares the past few weeks. Itachi was jealous of him. “I won’t lie, Itachi-sama, I do love Naruto, but it’s not the same as it once was.”
“Be as it may,” the CEO began; all business now, “It still does not change your relationship with him.”
The two remained in awkward silence for a few more minutes, neither wanting to go on with what was inevitably going to be extremely painful; either for one of them or both.
“You have no other skills than those you learned in that place am I correct?” Itachi finally said, getting impatient.
“Hai, Itachi-sama,” the teen’s voice was a pained whisper.
“Then you are to use those skills however and whenever I choose. No questions asked, otherwise I’d be forced to do something we’d both regret. You’re a bright person, Haku-kun. I’m sure you wouldn’t want to hurt him either.”
Crystalline tears began to fall from the angel’s beautiful eyes. “N-No Itachi-sama,” he answered, stifling the sobs as best as he could.
“Good, now let’s get those eyes dried. We can’t have Naruto worrying, can we?” Itachi said with mock gentleness. He reached to wipe away the smaller teen’s tears and Haku flinched. The angelic creature instantly regretted it when he came once again face to face with cold, hard rubies. “I’ll let that slide for now, Haku-kun. I’m sure this wasn’t easy on you either. I’ll let you have these last two days with my kitsune; however you are not to tell him of what we spoke.”
“A-As you wish Itachi-sama,” mumbled the heartbroken slave. He was stupid for letting Naruto get his hopes up like this. He had prayed every single night that the praises his little blond had sung about this man weren’t just a lie. And now they’ve been proven to be exactly that, a lie. He’d escaped one hell only to be placed into another.
“Oh yes, one more thing, if we are with anyone but Naruto, you are to address me as master.”
Haku bit his lip and hung his head, not trusting his voice any longer. He feared that if he spoke up now, he’d only make things worse or be unable to stop himself from sobbing his heart out. Itachi titled the angel’s head up, forcing him to look directly at him, an unspoken command in those horrid crimson depths. “H-Hai… master,” the teen obeyed brokenly.
“Good boy. I’ll see you in two days, Haku-kun.”
He then gracefully rose from his seat and left poor Haku to silently lament his fate. ‘Is this all I’ll ever be to anyone? A tool to be used and thrown away when I get too old?’ the raven winged teen inwardly sobbed. ‘Please Itachi-sama,’ he prayed, ‘Don’t ever hurt Naruto like this. Don’t throw him away, it’ll kill him.

Itachi really did feel sorry for what he’d done, to both Haku and to his beloved kitsune. But he had seen no other solution to the problem. That had been two weeks ago and now, he had all but exiled the angel; banishing him from his blond’s sight, but not his mind. Whenever Naruto had asked, begged, or cajoled to see his ‘Haku-sensei’, the raven haired CEO would come up with some excuse or other that the once slave was working on various jobs for his company and hadn’t been able to get away long enough to see him. He could only keep this up for so long before Naruto had gotten suspicious and demand he produce the other teen; there were only so many wonders that could hold the blond’s attention for so long.
But he’d carry this charade on as long as he could. He was determined to keep the two separated no matter what. He loved the utterly adorable fox boy too much to risk him being stolen. His reasoning had been, if he had fallen in love with Haku before, what was to stop him from doing so again? The best and only solution was to keep the angel boy confined to one floor and let Kisame and Deidara ‘look after him’. The mere idea of those two defiling such a pure beauty with their touch disgusted him, but he was more disgusted by his own possessive jealousy.
‘I just hope these two can ever forgive me,’ he had prayed every night before falling asleep next to the gorgeous blond. Sleep however wouldn’t come easy to the raven haired CEO, for his darker side would continuously whisper into his brain, reminding him of his blond’s former relationship with Haku and that what he had done was right in spite of the constant guilt he was feeling. ‘Should Naruto ever find out, not only would it kill him, but me as well. I just know he’ll hate me for the rest of his life. I’d rather die before I’d let that happen.’

Several floors away, very similar thoughts were running through the raven haired angel’s mind. He had accepted his fate of becoming Kisame’s whore – thankfully enough, Deidara had refused to touch an unwilling partner in spite of his earlier words to the CEO on the plane – despite the constant shattering of his heart each and every time he bedded him.
He had nowhere else to go, no one to turn to. He couldn’t even beg anyone to help him escape this new hell. He had no vocational skills, only those remedial ones – reading and writing – that Zabuza-sama had been kind enough to teach him during his ‘training.’
“But can I really go on like this?” Haku pondered as he aimlessly wandered through the halls, not daring to risk his new master’s wrath by disobeying the order of not two leave the floor no matter how much he yearned to. He missed his little student terribly, but he knew disobeying would mean more pain for the both of them if he did. “How much longer must I sacrifice my heart for Naruto’s happiness?” The winged teen immediately berated himself for his rather selfish thoughts. He knew that if he were to disappear from the blond’s life again, Naruto would never recover, never be happy again. That was one thing that he did not want. That was why he refused to give into despair.
Movement from the corner of his eye had caught his attention and he turned to find that he was passing one of the many tastefully designed mirrors lining the halls at various intervals. Dead and dull chocolate eyes widened in shock at what was reflected on that polished to perfection surface.
Standing before him was a raven haired, raven winged teen he had hardly recognized. The once warm and shining chocolate eyes were gone. In their place were the eyes of a person who had given up of ever finding joy again. He frowned at the dull and mirthless eyes that were now the color of dark mud, causing the figure in the mirror to do the same. He continued to frown disapprovingly at the dull feathered appendages that he once been glossy and shining with pride – Haku had always made sure his wings were in the best of shape. Now . . . ?
“I’ve really let myself go haven’t I?” he asked his reflection bitterly. The other Haku didn’t bother to reply, just stood there stoically and silent. “Maybe it is for the best,” he whispered mournfully. “Itachi-sama should never have saved me. I can only bring out the worst in people, not like the little one who brings out the best.”
Haku finally came to a decision; one he knew would harm his once beloved student and lover. But he was just so tired, so very tired. “I’ve lived far too long like this,” he whispered forlornly. “My presence here can only bring him more pain and suffering.”
Having made up his mind, the raven winged angel continued his trek down the hall, but he had a destination this time. Coming upon the door he’d been seeking, he cautiously and nervously knocked. When he received no answer, he let out a brief sigh of relief and opened the polished oak door.
Inside was an odd artist’s studio of sorts. On one side were a potter’s wheel and shelves laden with the arsonist’s sculptures – the non-explosive ones of course – and a few lumps of various types of clay. On the floor leaning against the wall and wheel were bags of more clay. On the other side was a high counter like structure laden with various types of chemical instruments along with a myriad of vials and test tubes filled with multicolored liquids and other nameless substances. Such was Deidara’s ‘office’.
Haku hadn’t come here for the taller manic blond. There was something he needed to retrieve in order to enact on his decision and end his and Naruto’s suffering.
Heading over to the potter’s wheel, he spotted what he had been searching for. Lying out in clear view and easy reach was a thin metal stick that had been filed down to a point at one end.
He smiled soon he’d finally be able to use the knowledge Zabuza-sama had imparted him with. It was true that he had needed to know everything about the human body in order to please his customers, but the taller trainer had also insisted that he’d learn self defense should a customer ever greatly endanger his life. He sent a silent thank you to his former trainer. He now had a way out of this mess. ‘It’d be quick, and there’d be no mess. Just trash to dispose of,’ he mused gazing solemnly at the tool, ‘One jab to the correct pressure point with this and I’d be out of Naruto and Itachi-sama’s way. They’ll be able to live the way they were meant to; a life full of happiness and love. They’d never have to worry about me ever again.’
“Oh no you don’t, un!” scolded an irate blond as he rushed over to the raven haired teen, snatching the stick from the delicate and slender fingers. “Not with my tools, un!”
“Dei-Deidara-san!” Haku gasped, having not realized that the ‘artist’ had come back. How long had he been standing there, contemplating? The blond frowned, narrowing his darker sapphire eyes in stern disapproval.
He’d been secretly watching the boy. He wouldn’t admit it, definitely not in front of Itachi, but he did find the slightly younger teen very attractive. Plus the blond did have a thing for birds. He didn’t know why, but he simply adored the creatures, how they would always sing even in captivity, how they would always soar so freely through the sky without a single care or worry. That was why he’d sculpted so many of the winged creatures and used most of those sculptures in his ‘art’.
Haku had reminded him of a bird with those lovely wings of his. In his mind, the teen was like a poor injured canary or perhaps a dove. Judging by the arsonist’s love of explosions, one wouldn’t think he had a softer side, but he did.
Deidara was one of those who would kill without remorse in one heartbeat and nurse an injured bird in the next. He had seen the growing sadness in the raven winged angel and took it upon himself to look after this poor suffering bird if no one else would. The mad bomber had figured Haku would try pulling something like this.
“Y’know,” he started, placing the tool – along with several other sharp looking ones – on a much higher shelf, “Throwing your life away like that won’t solve anything, un.”
“My being alive isn’t solving anything either,” Haku spat back, refusing to cry in front of this man.
He hurriedly headed back to the door only to have Deidara grab hold of one slender arm and yank him back inside. “You die, he wins, un.” The year younger brunet stared at him in confusion. “If you were to go ahead with whatever you were thinking just now, that bastard Uchiha will get blondie all to himself, un.”
Again, the shorter of the two said nothing. “You ok with that, un?” he asked in surprise. Deidara had seen how the shorter boy would get a mournful look on his face whenever the blond fox boy was mentioned and assumed that it was due to not being allowed to be with his lover. He’d feel the teeniest twinge of jealousy, having developed a crush on the angelic teen, but he did want the kid to be happy. So he said nothing.
“I want Naruto to be happy,” Haku replied with an eerie calm that almost reminded the taller blond of the ‘bastard Uchiha’. “So does Itachi-sama, but if I stay here, I’ll only drive a wedge between them. Naruto no doubt will be saddened by my death, but he would have Itachi-sama to help him heal.”
“Geez, kid get a hold of yourself will ya, un?! No one’s worth throwing your life away for!” Deidara shouted, on the verge of shaking some sense into the broken teen. “If you want to disappear, then just up and leave, I’ll even help, un!” he added, a mischievous glint in his gorgeous blue eyes, always eager for a chance to annoy the living hell out of the man who’d tricked him into a life of slavery.
“If only it were that easy,” the raven winged angel whispered.
“Nowhere to go, huh?” the older man prodded. The smaller one’s silence said it all. “Yeah, I got ya, un. I’m just as trapped here as you are, little bird.” He surprised them both by pulling Haku to his chest and wrapping his arms around him in a loose hug.
It was the first friendly and comforting embrace he’d had in years and that simple act of kindness had shattered whatever walls the angelic teen had built. He stood shaking and sobbing uncontrollably no longer caring if anyone saw him like that. Deidara said nothing as he let the boy release all the pent up despair he’d kept inside all his life. The blond didn’t need to; he knew this gentle soul would understand.
They remained like that for what seemed like hours, the winged teen sobbing and trembling while the slightly older one held onto him and stroked his long raven silk like hair.
Upon seeing that the poor kid had worn himself out and was now fast asleep, Deidara carefully picked him up and marveled at his scant weight. “I’m gonna have to get ya to eat more, un,” he whispered as he carried him from his ‘office’.
Minutes later, in the privacy of his small room only the beautiful carved bird statues saw the blond arsonist place his burden gently on his messy unmade bed. There was no way he was going to leave the teen on his own when he had been like that. “You’re gonna be a handful, un. But I’m not gonna let ya give up on me so easily, little bird. It’s the least I can do, for a fellow prisoner, un.”
In another burst of spontaneity, Deidara astonished himself by gently laying a tiny kiss on one alabaster cheek. He stared at the slumbering Haku in shock for a few moments before resigning himself to the emotions stirring inside his bombastic heart. There was just something about that angelic beauty of his that seemed to pull at the very soul of those whoever laid eyes on the raven haired angel.
Those gentle chocolate eyes that still held such innocence in spite of such a sinful life, that silky and luscious raven hair, those majestic raven’s wings that were in perfect proportion to the slender feminine like body they belonged to, that oh so smooth porcelain like skin, that angelic, yet elfin face; it all was sheer perfection.
The teen wasn’t art . . . not to him . . . not by a long shot . . . He was so much more. He couldn’t consider comparing him to something those idiotic fools hung on their walls or shelves to be stared at only in passing curiosity and collect dust. The boy was something much more valuable. Haku was a living, feeling, and sentient being in desperate need of love. Deidara suddenly felt a strong urge to mend the broken wings of this wounded boy’s heart.
“I’ve gone insane, un,” he muttered, shaking his head in dismay, “That’s what it is, un. There’s no way, I’d be falling for you, little bird, not if I wasn’t, un,” he whispered again before leaving and heading back to his ‘office’.

Sakura: Gomen, gomen, gomen Haku fans! I reeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaallllly didn’t want to do this, but I just can’t go against L-sama’s orders. T_T
Naruto: What the heck’s wrong with you?! Seriously! Haven’t you put Haku through enough already?!
Sakura: I know, I know! I’m reeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllyyyyyyyyy sorry Naru-chan. I’ve been beating myself up over this chapter the whole time I was writing it. T_T I promise I’ll make it up to him next chapter.
Naruto: Yeah, but Deidara?! I thought you hated that guy!
Sakura: Well, ya… I did. But…
Sasuke: Don’t tell me.
Naruto: She didn’t.
Sakura: He kinda grew on me. -.-‘
Sasuke: I knew it. Typical fangirl.
Sakura: Hey shut it brat! I can like whoever I want! 8P Anyhoo, lemme know what you think ppl. Should I go on with the Dei/Haku or drop it?
Naruto: Drop it!!!! That guy’s with the Akatsuki for crying out loud!!! And he…
Sakura: It happened only in the manga and show, Naru-chan. -_^