Fox Magic : Chapter 11 (Heat) Part I
Voices swept through the room, jarring the relative silence with unnaturally loud exclamations and music. With a jolt, Sasuke peeled open his surprisingly heavy eyelids and glared at the source of the noise. The TV was still playing, quiet aside from the occasionally blaring commercial. Eyeing the black box distastefully, Sasuke fumbled for the remote at his side, found it, and shut the TV off. The resulting silence soothed his battered ears, and the Uchiha heir relaxed subconsciously.
Sasuke stifled a yawn with the back of his left hand, shifting on the couch uncomfortably. His head felt like it’d been stuffed full of cotton, and he shook his head lightly in an attempt to clear it. His eyes felt gummy, his back was protesting mildly, and overall he felt like he’d been hit by a train.
Or rather, he felt like a train had just barely missed him.
Truth be told, Sasuke couldn’t even remember falling asleep. He’d been ignoring the TV, idly petting Kyuubi, and then…nothing. The brunet frowned grumpily, scratching his chest. He hated falling asleep when he hadn’t planned on it-it always left him confused when he woke up, like he’d had several hours stolen from him without his consent. Yawning again, he started to straighten up.
The warm weight on his lap muttered quietly, shifted, and resettled on top of him. Sasuke froze, glancing down.
Kyuubi lay curled up, half on his lap and half off it, hind legs splayed behind him and his tails spilling off the couch. The fox’s head was tucked into the furrow between Sasuke’s waist and his right leg, his long ears tickling the brunet’s hip. One front paw was tucked up underneath Kyuubi’s chest, but the other gripped Sasuke’s right thigh with surprising strength. In fact, Kyuubi looked remarkably like a small child cuddling his favorite teddy. All he lacked was a finger in his mouth.
Despite himself, Sasuke smiled wearily down at the fox demon in his lap. Kyuubi put up a big fuss, as he did with everything, but between the demon cuddling up to Sasuke every night and the way he’d more or less demanded to be pet when they first settled on the couch, it was obvious that the fox adored the attention. Adored it, and maybe even needed it in some way. Everything about him, from his yellow hair to his abrasive attitude, screamed, “Look at me!” It was amazing that such an attention hound had managed to survive this long in captivity, much less the complete isolation he’d suffered through over the last century and a half. Sasuke found himself imagining Kyuubi curled up in a corner of that mini shrine, lost in darkness for decade after decade. In some small, unacknowledged part of his heart, the image caused a brief, sharp pain, like he’d been pricked with a needle. Uncomfortably, Sasuke tried to shrug the feeling off.
“You’re the first one who hasn’t tried to lock me up like an animal…”
The crystal on his chest warmed at the memory, casting a faint glow over Sasuke’s chest. Eyebrows furrowed contemplatively, he reached up and closed his fingers over the pendant. According to Naruto, the deceptively simple necklace held the power to override his enslavement ring, bringing relief or pain as Sasuke saw fit. After all the demon had been through, how could he give his trust so easily?
And what would happen if Sasuke, for some reason, broke that trust?
Pressure accumulated on his temples, forcing Sasuke to close his eyes and rub his forehead tiredly. He’d never been given trust of this magnitude, nor had the weight of someone’s entire life in his hands before. What if he failed, just as he had with everything else in his life? According to his father, Itachi, and anyone else Sasuke had ever looked up to, Sasuke had never been good enough, never strong enough, smart enough, or fast enough to do what needed to be done. And now he had a demon’s life (a demon who’d already had the chance to kill him and implausibly decided to pass on it) literally hanging about his neck.
Taking a deep breath, Sasuke fought the swarm of doubts with a spark of grim determination. Someone, somewhere, had decided that he was good enough to handle the most powerful demon on Earth. All he had to do was grow stronger.
The light from the crystal pulsed and faded, leaving only the still lit lamps to chase away the shadows in the room. Suddenly hit with a fresh wave of exhaustion, Sasuke lifted his left hand and nudged the fox on his lap.
“Oi, Kyuubi,” he murmured softly. The fox failed to respond, breathing slowly and deeply. Sasuke nudged him again, with a bit more force. “Kyuubi. Wake up.”
No response, aside from a quiet snore.
Frowning, Sasuke shifted his legs, jostling the demon. “Kyuubi!”
Slowly, the eye nearest him began to peel open, revealing a slice of pale blue. Kyuubi blinked once, exhaustedly, and then let the eye slide shut again. Rolling his eyes, Sasuke placed a hand on the fox’s back and shook him.
“Kyuubi, I’m not sleeping out here all night. Come on. We need to go to bed.”
Kyuubi grumbled under his breath, lifting his head as though it weighed a hundred kilos. He hunched his shoulders, stretching his paws out in front of him and nearly gouging Sasuke’s leg as he curled them. Sasuke scowled and batted him on the head.
“Hey! Watch those claws, moron,” he chastised half-heartedly. The fox ignored him in favor of nearly cracking his face in two with a mighty yawn.
Waking routine finally done, Kyuubi looked up at him with his eyes narrowed to tiny slits. Sasuke hit him softly on the flank, jostling his legs deliberately. Kyuubi’s eyes opened a bit more to fire a deadly glare at him, but with his rumpled fur, the glare lost all effect. Amused, the Uchiha heir smirked.
“Come on, get up. You’re heavier than you look,” Sasuke teased. He could feel Kyuubi’s growl reverberating through his legs, and he found his smirk widening to a small smile. “Up, fox legs. Let’s go.”
With a world-weary sigh that would have made the Oscar committee proud, Kyuubi finally rose to his feet and dropped to the floor with a semi-graceless thud. Sasuke snorted, leaning forward to look down at the fox. Kyuubi glared up at him in return.
“Bast’rd Uch’ha,” Kyuubi muttered, rubbing a paw over his eyes. “‘Was havin’ a good dream, too.”
Sasuke desperately smothered a smile, rising to his feet. “I’m sure you were. Now come on.”
When Sasuke made his way towards the bedroom, Kyuubi obediently followed, though he dragged his feet and muttered to himself the entire time. Sasuke ignored him, heading straight to his dresser and tugging tiredly at his shirt. Feeling the irregularly soft material, he glanced down at himself and blinked in mild surprise. Sasuke was actually still in his sleepwear from the previous night. Despite his best efforts, a pale flush lit his cheeks. Even if no one had seen him all day except Naruto, running around for a day in his pajamas, dignified as they were in black cotton, was more than a little humiliating. Clearing his throat, he pulled out his sleepwear drawer and began to change.
A low whine from the foot of his bed caught Sasuke’s attention just as he was settling a clean shirt over his head. He turned, absently tugging on the necklace’s chain to pull it out from under his shirt. Red ears drooped pathetically, Kyuubi was gazing forlornly at the bed from his position on the floor. One paw lifted to weakly grip the comforter, but it soon fell away, followed by a low sigh. Sasuke frowned at him.
“What’s the matter with you?” he questioned roughly. One ear twitched in his direction, and Kyuubi lowered his head.
Eventually, Sasuke heard a muttered, “…I can’t get up.”
The brunet blinked. “You can’t get onto the bed?”
Kyuubi’s shoulders hunched defensively, and the fox grudgingly shook his head. Sasuke’s lips twitched, a smile threatening. Coughing, Sasuke walked over to the demon.
“Do you need help?” His voice wavered slightly on the last word, amusement coloring his tone. Kyuubi grumbled, ears pressing back against his head. Sasuke lost the battle with his lips, allowing a small grin to cross his face. “What was that?”
Kyuubi glared at him balefully, his eyes still pale blue with exhaustion. “‘Said ‘m too tired. I ca-” A yawn interrupted him. “Can’t jumpup.”
Ruthlessly squashing the part of him that found Kyuubi absolutely adorable-which was probably the same part that had always wanted a dog-Sasuke quickly moved forward, scooped the fox up, and deposited him on the bed. He folded his arms and gazed down at him, lifting an eyebrow. “Happy now?”
“Mm.” Kyuubi curled up immediately, burrowing his face in his tails. Within seconds, a soft snore emanated from the giant clump of fur. Sasuke shook his head.
“If the trip took that much out of you, you should have said something,” the brunet admonished quietly. When no reply came, he returned to the dresser, pulled out a fresh pair of pants, and changed quickly. A sharp flick of the nearby switch plunged the room into darkness. Sighing, Sasuke rounded the bed and climbed in, careful not to jostle the sleeping demon. To his surprise, Kyuubi didn’t even twitch at the bed’s movement, and his ever-moving tails were still. Eyes drooping, Sasuke found himself watching the demon for a moment. From the very first night, Kyuubi had been burrowed against Sasuke whenever they slept, and for a brief second, Sasuke wondered if he’d be able to sleep without the fox next to him.
In the next instant, exhaustion answered his question for him, and his consciousness spiraled away into obscurity.
* * *
Unnoticed in the darkness, the blue crystal slid off the Uchiha heir’s chest as the man shifted onto his side. The crystal hit the soft mattress, inches away from the young man’s arm. Seconds later, it began to glow a deep, violent red, chakra spilling off it in tiny, unnoticeable waves.
At the foot of the bed, Kyuubi twitched, his breathing growing shallow and rapid. The golden band about the base of his center tail tightened painfully. He whimpered.
In the window, the moon hung low and full, bathing the bedroom in light and shadow.
* * *
Long, dark hallways taunted him, leading him everywhere but where he wanted to be. Leading anywhere but to freedom. His breath rasped in the unnaturally silent halls, and he was running, running desperately. He needed to escape. It had all been a lie. Orochimaru didn’t want to make him stronger, of course he didn’t. He wanted his eyes. The snake bastard wanted his eyes, and he was going to take them from him, and Sasuke couldn’t allow that, so he was running, running…
And with a gasp, Sasuke woke. He stared blindly out the window, resting on his left side on an arm that was starting to go numb. Letting out a low breath, he lifted his right arm and ran a hand through his hair, shifting onto his back. The glowing necklace he had yet to notice landed on his chest.
Chakra screamed through him, digging into his mind with stunning force. Sasuke opened his mouth to cry out, but before he could make a sound, his mind clouded over and he felt himself being whisked away. A spinning world of red surrounded him, voices and ghostly hands reaching out to touch him as he passed. Naruto’s blue crystal hovered in front of him, burning its way through the strange world.
Sasuke came to a hasty stop, dropping heavily onto a tatami floor. He scrambled to his feet and looked around, one hand rising instinctively to clasp the crystal hanging from his neck. Sasuke was standing in a small enclosed room, one with only a tiny window towards the ceiling to let in the least possible air and light. Instead of the normal paper sliding doors, this room was guarded by a heavy wooden door and a thick metal lock.
And in the center, his arms tied behind him with a length of rope, sat Naruto with a vicious scowl on his face. His eyes burned red and his cheeks were flushed with anger, shoulders hunched within a plain white yukata as he growled at the door. He hadn’t seemed to notice Sasuke yet, caught up in his barely contained rage. Sasuke’s grip on the crystal tightened involuntarily.
Where are we? Are we back at the main house from the past? Sasuke cautiously moved towards the blond man, eyes flipping automatically into Sharingan. How could we get back here? Naruto was too tired to jump onto my bed, let alone time travel!
Sasuke had barely completed that thought when he noticed something wrong with his eyes. The Sharingan wasn’t activating. A bead of sweat slid down his temple as he tried again, but his vision remained unchanged.
What the hell is going on? Attempting to calm himself, Sasuke reached out with his free hand to touch Naruto’s shoulder. Before he could make contact, Sasuke’s hand turned translucent.
His hand passed right through Naruto’s shoulder.
The blond didn’t seem to notice.
Thoroughly disturbed, Sasuke pulled away and stared incredulously at his hand. After a moment, it regained its normal color. Sasuke’s breath sped up, and he clenched his jaw firmly. In his fist, the crystal burned so brightly that red light spilled out between his fingers.
Alright. Calm the fuck down, Sasuke told himself, taking a few deep breaths. Naruto’s crystal is doing something weird, but chances are good that whatever this is, it isn’t real. His breathing slowed, courtesy of having been in several strange positions before in his work as a ninja, but his heart continued to race in alarm. His entire body was screaming at him, telling him that nothing was as it should be and that he should get the fuck out of there.
He couldn’t calm down.
Palms damp, the Uchiha heir tried his normal tricks for maintaining control over his emotions: gritting his teeth for five seconds, releasing them, and gritting for another five seconds; pressing his fingers rhythmically into his sweating palms; and stretching out his toes so that they tapped, one by one, on the floor. Any one of those methods, in the past, would allow him to focus on something other than his emotions for a moment and regain his equilibrium.
None of them worked.
It was as though Sasuke was present without his body being fully attached to his mind. Like he was-
Sasuke inhaled sharply through his nose, eyes widening.
Like I’m dreaming. It’s like I’m dreaming, but it’s not my dream. The scent of the tatami mats, the sounds outside the room, all of the sensory output he should be receiving aside from sight…were missing. That was why his body was panicking. He couldn’t tell where he was, because he wasn’t really there. Swallowing with difficulty, Sasuke reached up with his free hand and swiped sweat from his brow. His fingers trembled.
If he were right, then after all of his fussing about the fox demon peeking into his own head, he was about to find out what it was like inside Naruto’s when the demon was unaware.
Fire everywhere, a deep, menacing voice that shook him to his core, and blood red eyes waiting to consume him. Pain. So much pain.
Sasuke shuddered, trying to shake away the memory of his last, unfortunate foray into the demon’s head. A wave of nausea rose within him, but he fought it back determinedly, moving to crouch beside the blond man. Naruto, of course, ignored him. Taking a deep breath, Sasuke leaned close to the oblivious demon’s ear.
“Naruto. Can you hear me?” he whispered. The blond’s ear twitched imperceptibly. Encouraged, Sasuke moved closer and began to try again.
Unexpectedly, the iron lock turned with a loud clang, and the heavy door swung open. Madara Uchiha, several years older than the version Sasuke had “met,” stepped into the room, eyeing Naruto with a mix of distaste and smug, dark pleasure. Deliberately silent, Madara closed the door behind him and fixed Naruto with an unflinching stare. The lock turned audibly again, ostensibly operated from someone outside. They had been sealed in.
“Creature,” Madara acknowledged in a low, mocking tone. Lips twisting upward, the man drew closer to Naruto. “Have you learned your lesson?”
Naruto spat on the floor, arms tensing as they strained at the rope bindings. “Fuck you.”
“I see you haven’t,” Madara replied conversationally. His Sharingan-lit eyes swept appraisingly over Naruto’s body, and he shook his head in a parody of wistfulness. “Still so defiant.”
Naruto’s legs rasped over the dry tatami mats as the demon pulled them in towards himself. He snarled at his master, ducking his head and hunching his shoulders. “Better defiant than sick, you bastard,” he shot back.
Madara’s eyes narrowed sharply, false amusement fleeing in the face of his ire. Within moments, the dark expression was gone, replaced by cool consideration. He moved closer, crouching down before Naruto and gazing at him intensely. Naruto gave a low growl, leaning backwards.
“Such a pretty face,” Madara commented idly, his voice bland. A small, disturbing smile grew on his pale cheeks, and he reached out to stroke a hand leisurely across the blond’s cheek. With a disgusted noise, Naruto swung his head away.
“Keep your hands to yourself,” Naruto spat, eyes shielded by his unruly blond hair. “Or I’ll make sure you lose them.”
Madara chuckled softly, the dark sound echoing in an unnaturally quiet room. “Petty threats from a petty creature. You never cease to entertain me.” Without warning, Madara’s eyes darkened, and the man reached out to fist his hand in Naruto’s hair. He leaned forward until their noses were centimeters apart, fingers tightening until Naruto’s head was forced back. A pink tongue darted out to wet cruelly smirking lips. “Though you know that your defiance, as pathetic as it is, only makes me want to crush your spirit. It makes me wonder what it will take…”
Madara lifted his free hand, trailing a finger down Naruto’s throat. The demon’s growl grew louder, but he didn’t fight back. Madara smiled.
“What will it take to break you, oh mighty demon?” he continued, his low voice slithering across Sasuke’s ears like crushed velvet. “You were so…obedient towards the end of Grandfather’s life. I wonder, what did he do to make you submit to him? What will I have to do? What will I have to take from you, to make you follow me as blindly as you did him?”
Sasuke stared at his ancestor in horror, watching as the man leaned forward to swipe his tongue across Naruto’s cheek. The demon shuddered in revulsion, twisting sharply in Madara’s grasp. Chuckling, Madara moved to lick him again.
In a burst of red chakra, Madara was flung across the room, hitting the door with a painful thud. Naruto hissed in pain, doubling over as his enslavement ring visibly burned against his skin. Through the curtain of his blond hair, he hissed, “If you think I’ll let you try out your twisted perversions on me, Madara, you’re mad. Consequences or no, I will kill you if you lay a hand on me.”
Venom dripped from every harsh word, filling the room with remembered hatred. The barely contained fury-along with a healthy dose of fear and helplessness-rose up, pounding the walls in wave after crashing wave and warping the very air. Gasping, Sasuke found himself on his knees behind the demon, fighting the sensation of drowning in Naruto’s emotions. His throat closed involuntarily, tightening as though surrounded by a merciless, bloodthirsty grip. He clawed desperately at his neck with trembling fingers.
Can’t breathe, I can’t…
Vision blurring, Sasuke watched in pain as Madara carefully picked himself up, baring his teeth at Naruto in a mockery of a smile. “Will you? Don’t pretend to courage you don’t have, monster.” He laughed harshly. “You will bow before my will, and do as you are told. Just as you always do.”
Naruto’s lips turned up in a wry smirk. “Everyone has a breaking point. You don’t even realize what you’re dealing with, Madara.” He lifted his head, red eyes burning into Madara’s. “Eventually, I’ll get the better of you. If, of course, your family doesn’t beat me to it.”
Madara’s eyes flashed, and his lips twisted down into a scowl. “Watch your tongue, creature,” he hissed. “The family already knows not to cross me, and for reasons you would do well to remember.”
Naruto laughed in reply, a short bark of air that held no humor. “You’re a fool. Do you really think they’ll just keep following you like mindless sheep?” Naruto smiled grimly. “You think you’re the first master of mine to try and beat the Uchiha family into submission? Don’t make me laugh. They’ll most likely kill you, and I’ll have one less problem to deal with.”
In a flash, Madara was in front of Naruto again, eyes glowing with rage.
“Don’t speak such filth to me!” He backhanded Naruto, forcing the demon’s head to snap to the side. “They will give me the respect I deserve, and you-” He slapped him again, then hit him with a closed fist. “You will worship the ground I walk on, you pathetic, filthy vermin!”
Both men were breathing hard, filling the thick air with murderous tension. The invisible hand about Sasuke’s throat tightened further, and he found himself bracing his hands on the tatami floor as he struggled to breathe. The men’s hatred coursed through his body, amplified by the swinging necklace that dangled in front of him. Its red light shone like a beacon.
“If they respect you so much…” Naruto replied quietly. With a low chuckle, He lifted his head defiantly and smirked with bloodied lips.
“Then why are you locked in here with me, Madara-sama?”
The man in question froze, Sharingan spinning crazily in his eyes. Hissing in a sharp breath, he flung his right hand towards Naruto and spoke several words in quick succession. Naruto’s smirk dropped off his lips, replaced by a howl of pain. The skin on his neck and face began to shudder and stretch, tearing in bloody gashes. Madara watched for a moment, then gave a sinister laugh.
“You’ll pay for your disrespect, demon,” he stated in a smug, hate-filled voice. “You’ll learn. By the time I’m done with you, you’ll learn.” He folded his arms over his chest, and his eyes grew distant. “You all will.”
Naruto was writhing on the ground in pain, smearing blood all over the tatami mats. Through gritted, bloody teeth, he managed to grind out, “F-Fuck you! F-fuck you, y-your anc-cestors, and all your d-descendants, too!”
Smirking, Madara bent down and ran a finger along Naruto’s cheek. The flesh parted as he touched it, eliciting further screams from the fox demon. Madara smiled, lifted his bloodied finger, and licked it clean. His eyes glinted.
“Yes, you will, creature. You will.”
As Naruto’s screams tore through the air, the senseless pressure around Sasuke’s throat abruptly eased, and the young man gulped in air. Without thought, he clambered to Naruto’s side and bent down to scream into his ear.
“Naruto!! Naruto, wake up! It’s a dream!” Another hand motion from Madara had Naruto arching his back, a scream catching in his throat. Panicking, Sasuke tried vainly to grab Naruto’s shoulders and shake the demon, but his hands continued to pass through him. “Wake up!!”
In a strange sort of sixth-sense, Sasuke could feel the covers of his bed sliding against his skin as his body struggled, and a warm spot at his feet-most likely Kyuubi-twisted violently. The real world overlapped the dream world he was trapped in, resonating with a faint hum from the vibrating crystal on his chest. Sweat streaming down his face, he screamed at the senseless blond.
“NARUTO!! Can you hear me?? Naruto, you idiot, WAKE UP!”
The blond’s eyes snapped open.
The crystal faded to blue.
The world went black.
* * *
Kyuubi startled awake, fur standing on end. His breathing came fast and harsh in the darkened room, and for one terrifying moment, he had no idea where he was. He leapt to his feet with difficulty, tails swirling and teeth bared, ready to fight.
Madara, he…he…!
“Naruto!!”
A burst of sound and movement above him scared the crap out of Kyuubi, making him leap into the air and spin about, lashing out with his claws. He heard a sharp ripping sound and froze, heart speeding wildly in his chest. A crazed growl poured from his throat.
Sasuke stared at him, eyes wide and hair wild, his chest heaving as he sat up and clutched the comforter in his fists. The scents of fear and anxiety poured off him in waves, taunting Kyuubi’s frazzled nerves. He could practically smell the blood coursing furiously through the Uchiha heir’s veins, and if he tried anything, Kyuubi could spill it all over the fucking sheets, and…
And…
Blinking, Kyuubi felt his panic and rage abruptly subside, and he found himself staring dumbly at his master. Sasuke. Not Madara. Sasuke. The one who’d sworn he wasn’t going to hurt Naruto, that he wanted the fox demon as a partner instead of a slave. Sasuke.
The one he’d nearly torn the throat out of a second ago.
Legs trembling violently, Kyuubi lay down on the slashed comforter and placed his head upon his front paws. He closed his eyes.
God. Seeing that bastard again today… I’d hoped to never lay eyes on him again. The things he made me do… His stomach churned unpleasantly, bombarded with memories of people screaming as his magic choked the life out of them. He could still see their faces, each and every one. Madara had been so fucking bloodthirsty, and he hadn’t cared who got in his way. Even his own family…
Sasuke made a sudden movement, startling Kyuubi back into alarm mode. The fur on his tails puffed up instinctively. Sasuke glared down at him furiously.
“Naruto, what the fuck was that just now??” he snarled. The scent of fear spiked, mingling with anger. Kyuubi’s breath grew ragged, his nose telling him to either lash out or back away, anything to ease this tension. Sasuke continued, “Do you realize I was there? In your fucking dream just now? What the hell is going on?”
“I…” Kyuubi had to clear his throat before he could continue. “What are you talking about?”
Sasuke slammed a fist into the bed. “I was there! Your damn necklace pulled me headfirst into your dream, and I had to watch what Madara did to you. Why didn’t you tell me that would happen?? Fuck!”
Oh. Well now, isn’t that thoroughly humiliating. Kyuubi shut his eyes in shame and anger. Now he’s seen how weak I am, the so-called “greatest demon alive.” Fuck.
It was bad enough to have lived through it once, and to have relived it a million times since, but having Sasuke see it made Kyuubi want to curl in on himself. Now Sasuke had seen him helpless, at the mercy of a sadistic fucktard who’d managed to ruin so many lives, and Kyuubi hadn’t been able to do anything to stop him.
Kyuubi ground his teeth, fighting his instinctive reactions to Sasuke’s distress. Smelling that much fear around the scent of an Uchiha, especially on the heels of the memory he’d just relived, was enough to make his blood boil.
“Sasuke, I’ve never had anyone wear my necklace before,” he stated in as patient a tone as he could manage. “I don’t know how it pulled you into my dream, but I’m fairly sure I didn’t give it to you with the intention of making my head a fun house.” He took a deep, shuddering breath, trying to reign in the sudden spike of temper. “So I’d really appreciate it if you, you know, stopped trying to make EVERYTHING my fucking fault!”
Sasuke exhaled sharply, closing his eyes and running a hand through his hair. “So are you telling me that you don’t even know what this thing can do?” he questioned incredulously. “How do you know it will even work against that ring of yours? Dammit, Naruto, what the hell did you get us into?”
Kyuubi couldn’t help it, he growled. He was tired, so sick and tired of taking the blame for things he couldn’t control. “First off, I didn’t get us into anything. If you weren’t so damn different from everyone and everything I’ve dealt with before, maybe this wouldn’t be happening!” His legs practically vibrated with energy, so he began to pace along the foot of the bed. “You want to know how I granted that wish of yours when you didn’t even say it aloud? Well, so do I! You want to know how my necklace dragged you into my head while I was dreaming? SO DO I! I don’t fucking know, Sasuke! Every day with you is new fucking ground for me, and I’ve been doing this job a real long fucking time.”
Kyuubi’s trembling knees suddenly buckled, weighed down with anxiety, an adrenaline crash, and magical exhaustion. He sat down heavily, tails swirling behind him. Shoulders shaking, he took a deep breath.
“That necklace…” The fox trailed off, unsure of how to explain himself. How could he put into words the soul-deep connection he’d felt when he first laid eyes on the small blue crystal? How could he explain the rush he’d felt when he first slipped the chain over his head, like he’d gained a piece of himself that had been lost? He and the crystal resonated with each other; they were parts of the same whole. He couldn’t possibly expect Sasuke to understand that.
After a long, tense pause, he continued, “I’m…connected to it. I can feel it even when I’m not wearing it, and I know it can…feel me, in return. When you asked to feel my pain, I knew that the crystal could make that possible.”
Sasuke’s eyes narrowed. “Just like that? You just ‘knew’?”
The fox shrugged awkwardly. “It sounds strange, but it’s true. I just…knew it could do it.”
“Hn.” The Uchiha heir fell silent, pale fingers sliding up to warily toy with the silver chain. He frowned at the pale crystal, and slowly began to lean back against the pillows. Kyuubi watched him, a strange feeling growing with his chest. The fox demon had always been reluctant to even show the crystal to anyone, feeling it too personal to share, and yet with barely a second thought, he’d given it away to Sasuke. Eyes narrowed, he stared at the puzzling young man.
What IS it about him that makes him so damn different from everyone else?
With a sigh, Kyuubi settled himself on the torn comforter. Occasionally, a small tremor shot through him. His ring still twinged painfully. He’d feel better if he could lie next to Sasuke and transfer chakra like he’d been doing every night, but with the two of them being so emotionally stressed, he didn’t think it wise. Kyuubi would rather wait out the night awake, glaring at the moon, than risk having Sasuke backhand him right off the bed.
“The ring is hurting you, isn’t it?” Sasuke suddenly asked, his voice hushed. His onyx eyes remained on the crystal, which had begun to glow a faint pink. When Kyuubi looked at him questioningly, the boy seemed to sense it, and Sasuke glanced up with an unreadable expression. “You were right. I can feel it.”
In a strange way, Kyuubi could tell. There was a tiny, phantom pain in his chest that had nothing to do with anything else that was happening. Uncomfortable, Kyuubi shrugged and turned away.
“…What do I have to do?”
The quietly voiced question startled the fox demon. His ears twitched as he turned back to face the brunet, but Sasuke wasn’t looking at him anymore. The boy seemed to be lost in his own thoughts, a faint frown pulling at his pretty lips. Kyuubi tilted his head to the side.
“Well,” he replied reluctantly, “a chakra exchange usually soothes it, but…”
Sasuke’s eyes swung to meet his. “Is that why you cuddle with me every night?”
When he put it that way, it was a little embarrassing. Kyuubi’s ears turned back, and the fox glowered. “…Maybe.”
The Uchiha heir sighed listlessly. “Then come here. I don’t think either of us can handle another trip down memory lane from you.” He tugged the covers down and patted the mattress beside him. “Come on.”
After a moment’s hesitation, Kyuubi complied, rising to his feet. His legs shook uncontrollably. With some difficulty, he forced them to work, climbing carefully over Sasuke’s legs until he stood beside the young man’s chest. Sasuke silently shifted to the side, and Kyuubi obligingly curled up beside him. The brunet awkwardly tucked the sheets around him, causing the fox to smirk weakly.
“What’s with this? You’re going to mother me now?” he teased feebly. Sasuke glared at him, but his heart clearly wasn’t in it. Ill-hidden storm clouds of worry filled his dark eyes, a fact that, frankly, amazed the fox demon. Words were one thing, but actually seeing a hardass like Sasuke worry over him…
It felt surprisingly…good.
Sasuke carefully settled down next to him, watching him with a curious expression on his face. One hand lifted to scratch gently behind Kyuubi’s ear, and as always, the fox melted. It felt so heavenly, like someone was massaging his chakra and feeding him ambrosia-or better yet, ramen-on top of it. Sighing, he leaned against Sasuke’s side. Their chakra began to transfer between them, soothing Kyuubi’s still throbbing ring. Kyuubi felt his tightly wound muscles begin to relax.
“Naruto, are you…” He hesitated, running his fingers over the base of Kyuubi’s skull and pulling them away. “Are you alright?”
The stiffly asked question made Kyuubi’s lips twitch up into a tiny smile. Without replying, he pressed closer to Sasuke’s side. One tail flipped up to curl loosely-and maybe a little possessively-around Sasuke’s waist. The young man relaxed, settling a hand upon Kyuubi’s middle and stroking it idly with his thumb. His breath tickled the tips of Kyuubi’s ears. Their chakra continued to flow back and forth, replenishing Kyuubi’s depleted strength.
In the wake of Sasuke’s awkward (but appreciated) comforting, the pair fell asleep. Neither noticed the heavy moon being quickly obscured by thick, dark storm clouds.
Shielded from the pale light, their room plunged into darkness.
* * *
Continue to Part II
Previous Chapters:
Chapter 1: In The Beginning
Chapter 2: Useless
Chapter 3: Adjustments
Chapter 4: What's In A Name
Chapter 5: Pain
Chapter 6: Idiocy
Chapter 7: The Spotless Mind
Chapter 8: Interference
Chapter 9: History
Chapter 10: In The Beginning
Sasuke stifled a yawn with the back of his left hand, shifting on the couch uncomfortably. His head felt like it’d been stuffed full of cotton, and he shook his head lightly in an attempt to clear it. His eyes felt gummy, his back was protesting mildly, and overall he felt like he’d been hit by a train.
Or rather, he felt like a train had just barely missed him.
Truth be told, Sasuke couldn’t even remember falling asleep. He’d been ignoring the TV, idly petting Kyuubi, and then…nothing. The brunet frowned grumpily, scratching his chest. He hated falling asleep when he hadn’t planned on it-it always left him confused when he woke up, like he’d had several hours stolen from him without his consent. Yawning again, he started to straighten up.
The warm weight on his lap muttered quietly, shifted, and resettled on top of him. Sasuke froze, glancing down.
Kyuubi lay curled up, half on his lap and half off it, hind legs splayed behind him and his tails spilling off the couch. The fox’s head was tucked into the furrow between Sasuke’s waist and his right leg, his long ears tickling the brunet’s hip. One front paw was tucked up underneath Kyuubi’s chest, but the other gripped Sasuke’s right thigh with surprising strength. In fact, Kyuubi looked remarkably like a small child cuddling his favorite teddy. All he lacked was a finger in his mouth.
Despite himself, Sasuke smiled wearily down at the fox demon in his lap. Kyuubi put up a big fuss, as he did with everything, but between the demon cuddling up to Sasuke every night and the way he’d more or less demanded to be pet when they first settled on the couch, it was obvious that the fox adored the attention. Adored it, and maybe even needed it in some way. Everything about him, from his yellow hair to his abrasive attitude, screamed, “Look at me!” It was amazing that such an attention hound had managed to survive this long in captivity, much less the complete isolation he’d suffered through over the last century and a half. Sasuke found himself imagining Kyuubi curled up in a corner of that mini shrine, lost in darkness for decade after decade. In some small, unacknowledged part of his heart, the image caused a brief, sharp pain, like he’d been pricked with a needle. Uncomfortably, Sasuke tried to shrug the feeling off.
“You’re the first one who hasn’t tried to lock me up like an animal…”
The crystal on his chest warmed at the memory, casting a faint glow over Sasuke’s chest. Eyebrows furrowed contemplatively, he reached up and closed his fingers over the pendant. According to Naruto, the deceptively simple necklace held the power to override his enslavement ring, bringing relief or pain as Sasuke saw fit. After all the demon had been through, how could he give his trust so easily?
And what would happen if Sasuke, for some reason, broke that trust?
Pressure accumulated on his temples, forcing Sasuke to close his eyes and rub his forehead tiredly. He’d never been given trust of this magnitude, nor had the weight of someone’s entire life in his hands before. What if he failed, just as he had with everything else in his life? According to his father, Itachi, and anyone else Sasuke had ever looked up to, Sasuke had never been good enough, never strong enough, smart enough, or fast enough to do what needed to be done. And now he had a demon’s life (a demon who’d already had the chance to kill him and implausibly decided to pass on it) literally hanging about his neck.
Taking a deep breath, Sasuke fought the swarm of doubts with a spark of grim determination. Someone, somewhere, had decided that he was good enough to handle the most powerful demon on Earth. All he had to do was grow stronger.
The light from the crystal pulsed and faded, leaving only the still lit lamps to chase away the shadows in the room. Suddenly hit with a fresh wave of exhaustion, Sasuke lifted his left hand and nudged the fox on his lap.
“Oi, Kyuubi,” he murmured softly. The fox failed to respond, breathing slowly and deeply. Sasuke nudged him again, with a bit more force. “Kyuubi. Wake up.”
No response, aside from a quiet snore.
Frowning, Sasuke shifted his legs, jostling the demon. “Kyuubi!”
Slowly, the eye nearest him began to peel open, revealing a slice of pale blue. Kyuubi blinked once, exhaustedly, and then let the eye slide shut again. Rolling his eyes, Sasuke placed a hand on the fox’s back and shook him.
“Kyuubi, I’m not sleeping out here all night. Come on. We need to go to bed.”
Kyuubi grumbled under his breath, lifting his head as though it weighed a hundred kilos. He hunched his shoulders, stretching his paws out in front of him and nearly gouging Sasuke’s leg as he curled them. Sasuke scowled and batted him on the head.
“Hey! Watch those claws, moron,” he chastised half-heartedly. The fox ignored him in favor of nearly cracking his face in two with a mighty yawn.
Waking routine finally done, Kyuubi looked up at him with his eyes narrowed to tiny slits. Sasuke hit him softly on the flank, jostling his legs deliberately. Kyuubi’s eyes opened a bit more to fire a deadly glare at him, but with his rumpled fur, the glare lost all effect. Amused, the Uchiha heir smirked.
“Come on, get up. You’re heavier than you look,” Sasuke teased. He could feel Kyuubi’s growl reverberating through his legs, and he found his smirk widening to a small smile. “Up, fox legs. Let’s go.”
With a world-weary sigh that would have made the Oscar committee proud, Kyuubi finally rose to his feet and dropped to the floor with a semi-graceless thud. Sasuke snorted, leaning forward to look down at the fox. Kyuubi glared up at him in return.
“Bast’rd Uch’ha,” Kyuubi muttered, rubbing a paw over his eyes. “‘Was havin’ a good dream, too.”
Sasuke desperately smothered a smile, rising to his feet. “I’m sure you were. Now come on.”
When Sasuke made his way towards the bedroom, Kyuubi obediently followed, though he dragged his feet and muttered to himself the entire time. Sasuke ignored him, heading straight to his dresser and tugging tiredly at his shirt. Feeling the irregularly soft material, he glanced down at himself and blinked in mild surprise. Sasuke was actually still in his sleepwear from the previous night. Despite his best efforts, a pale flush lit his cheeks. Even if no one had seen him all day except Naruto, running around for a day in his pajamas, dignified as they were in black cotton, was more than a little humiliating. Clearing his throat, he pulled out his sleepwear drawer and began to change.
A low whine from the foot of his bed caught Sasuke’s attention just as he was settling a clean shirt over his head. He turned, absently tugging on the necklace’s chain to pull it out from under his shirt. Red ears drooped pathetically, Kyuubi was gazing forlornly at the bed from his position on the floor. One paw lifted to weakly grip the comforter, but it soon fell away, followed by a low sigh. Sasuke frowned at him.
“What’s the matter with you?” he questioned roughly. One ear twitched in his direction, and Kyuubi lowered his head.
Eventually, Sasuke heard a muttered, “…I can’t get up.”
The brunet blinked. “You can’t get onto the bed?”
Kyuubi’s shoulders hunched defensively, and the fox grudgingly shook his head. Sasuke’s lips twitched, a smile threatening. Coughing, Sasuke walked over to the demon.
“Do you need help?” His voice wavered slightly on the last word, amusement coloring his tone. Kyuubi grumbled, ears pressing back against his head. Sasuke lost the battle with his lips, allowing a small grin to cross his face. “What was that?”
Kyuubi glared at him balefully, his eyes still pale blue with exhaustion. “‘Said ‘m too tired. I ca-” A yawn interrupted him. “Can’t jumpup.”
Ruthlessly squashing the part of him that found Kyuubi absolutely adorable-which was probably the same part that had always wanted a dog-Sasuke quickly moved forward, scooped the fox up, and deposited him on the bed. He folded his arms and gazed down at him, lifting an eyebrow. “Happy now?”
“Mm.” Kyuubi curled up immediately, burrowing his face in his tails. Within seconds, a soft snore emanated from the giant clump of fur. Sasuke shook his head.
“If the trip took that much out of you, you should have said something,” the brunet admonished quietly. When no reply came, he returned to the dresser, pulled out a fresh pair of pants, and changed quickly. A sharp flick of the nearby switch plunged the room into darkness. Sighing, Sasuke rounded the bed and climbed in, careful not to jostle the sleeping demon. To his surprise, Kyuubi didn’t even twitch at the bed’s movement, and his ever-moving tails were still. Eyes drooping, Sasuke found himself watching the demon for a moment. From the very first night, Kyuubi had been burrowed against Sasuke whenever they slept, and for a brief second, Sasuke wondered if he’d be able to sleep without the fox next to him.
In the next instant, exhaustion answered his question for him, and his consciousness spiraled away into obscurity.
* * *
Unnoticed in the darkness, the blue crystal slid off the Uchiha heir’s chest as the man shifted onto his side. The crystal hit the soft mattress, inches away from the young man’s arm. Seconds later, it began to glow a deep, violent red, chakra spilling off it in tiny, unnoticeable waves.
At the foot of the bed, Kyuubi twitched, his breathing growing shallow and rapid. The golden band about the base of his center tail tightened painfully. He whimpered.
In the window, the moon hung low and full, bathing the bedroom in light and shadow.
* * *
Long, dark hallways taunted him, leading him everywhere but where he wanted to be. Leading anywhere but to freedom. His breath rasped in the unnaturally silent halls, and he was running, running desperately. He needed to escape. It had all been a lie. Orochimaru didn’t want to make him stronger, of course he didn’t. He wanted his eyes. The snake bastard wanted his eyes, and he was going to take them from him, and Sasuke couldn’t allow that, so he was running, running…
And with a gasp, Sasuke woke. He stared blindly out the window, resting on his left side on an arm that was starting to go numb. Letting out a low breath, he lifted his right arm and ran a hand through his hair, shifting onto his back. The glowing necklace he had yet to notice landed on his chest.
Chakra screamed through him, digging into his mind with stunning force. Sasuke opened his mouth to cry out, but before he could make a sound, his mind clouded over and he felt himself being whisked away. A spinning world of red surrounded him, voices and ghostly hands reaching out to touch him as he passed. Naruto’s blue crystal hovered in front of him, burning its way through the strange world.
Sasuke came to a hasty stop, dropping heavily onto a tatami floor. He scrambled to his feet and looked around, one hand rising instinctively to clasp the crystal hanging from his neck. Sasuke was standing in a small enclosed room, one with only a tiny window towards the ceiling to let in the least possible air and light. Instead of the normal paper sliding doors, this room was guarded by a heavy wooden door and a thick metal lock.
And in the center, his arms tied behind him with a length of rope, sat Naruto with a vicious scowl on his face. His eyes burned red and his cheeks were flushed with anger, shoulders hunched within a plain white yukata as he growled at the door. He hadn’t seemed to notice Sasuke yet, caught up in his barely contained rage. Sasuke’s grip on the crystal tightened involuntarily.
Where are we? Are we back at the main house from the past? Sasuke cautiously moved towards the blond man, eyes flipping automatically into Sharingan. How could we get back here? Naruto was too tired to jump onto my bed, let alone time travel!
Sasuke had barely completed that thought when he noticed something wrong with his eyes. The Sharingan wasn’t activating. A bead of sweat slid down his temple as he tried again, but his vision remained unchanged.
What the hell is going on? Attempting to calm himself, Sasuke reached out with his free hand to touch Naruto’s shoulder. Before he could make contact, Sasuke’s hand turned translucent.
His hand passed right through Naruto’s shoulder.
The blond didn’t seem to notice.
Thoroughly disturbed, Sasuke pulled away and stared incredulously at his hand. After a moment, it regained its normal color. Sasuke’s breath sped up, and he clenched his jaw firmly. In his fist, the crystal burned so brightly that red light spilled out between his fingers.
Alright. Calm the fuck down, Sasuke told himself, taking a few deep breaths. Naruto’s crystal is doing something weird, but chances are good that whatever this is, it isn’t real. His breathing slowed, courtesy of having been in several strange positions before in his work as a ninja, but his heart continued to race in alarm. His entire body was screaming at him, telling him that nothing was as it should be and that he should get the fuck out of there.
He couldn’t calm down.
Palms damp, the Uchiha heir tried his normal tricks for maintaining control over his emotions: gritting his teeth for five seconds, releasing them, and gritting for another five seconds; pressing his fingers rhythmically into his sweating palms; and stretching out his toes so that they tapped, one by one, on the floor. Any one of those methods, in the past, would allow him to focus on something other than his emotions for a moment and regain his equilibrium.
None of them worked.
It was as though Sasuke was present without his body being fully attached to his mind. Like he was-
Sasuke inhaled sharply through his nose, eyes widening.
Like I’m dreaming. It’s like I’m dreaming, but it’s not my dream. The scent of the tatami mats, the sounds outside the room, all of the sensory output he should be receiving aside from sight…were missing. That was why his body was panicking. He couldn’t tell where he was, because he wasn’t really there. Swallowing with difficulty, Sasuke reached up with his free hand and swiped sweat from his brow. His fingers trembled.
If he were right, then after all of his fussing about the fox demon peeking into his own head, he was about to find out what it was like inside Naruto’s when the demon was unaware.
Fire everywhere, a deep, menacing voice that shook him to his core, and blood red eyes waiting to consume him. Pain. So much pain.
Sasuke shuddered, trying to shake away the memory of his last, unfortunate foray into the demon’s head. A wave of nausea rose within him, but he fought it back determinedly, moving to crouch beside the blond man. Naruto, of course, ignored him. Taking a deep breath, Sasuke leaned close to the oblivious demon’s ear.
“Naruto. Can you hear me?” he whispered. The blond’s ear twitched imperceptibly. Encouraged, Sasuke moved closer and began to try again.
Unexpectedly, the iron lock turned with a loud clang, and the heavy door swung open. Madara Uchiha, several years older than the version Sasuke had “met,” stepped into the room, eyeing Naruto with a mix of distaste and smug, dark pleasure. Deliberately silent, Madara closed the door behind him and fixed Naruto with an unflinching stare. The lock turned audibly again, ostensibly operated from someone outside. They had been sealed in.
“Creature,” Madara acknowledged in a low, mocking tone. Lips twisting upward, the man drew closer to Naruto. “Have you learned your lesson?”
Naruto spat on the floor, arms tensing as they strained at the rope bindings. “Fuck you.”
“I see you haven’t,” Madara replied conversationally. His Sharingan-lit eyes swept appraisingly over Naruto’s body, and he shook his head in a parody of wistfulness. “Still so defiant.”
Naruto’s legs rasped over the dry tatami mats as the demon pulled them in towards himself. He snarled at his master, ducking his head and hunching his shoulders. “Better defiant than sick, you bastard,” he shot back.
Madara’s eyes narrowed sharply, false amusement fleeing in the face of his ire. Within moments, the dark expression was gone, replaced by cool consideration. He moved closer, crouching down before Naruto and gazing at him intensely. Naruto gave a low growl, leaning backwards.
“Such a pretty face,” Madara commented idly, his voice bland. A small, disturbing smile grew on his pale cheeks, and he reached out to stroke a hand leisurely across the blond’s cheek. With a disgusted noise, Naruto swung his head away.
“Keep your hands to yourself,” Naruto spat, eyes shielded by his unruly blond hair. “Or I’ll make sure you lose them.”
Madara chuckled softly, the dark sound echoing in an unnaturally quiet room. “Petty threats from a petty creature. You never cease to entertain me.” Without warning, Madara’s eyes darkened, and the man reached out to fist his hand in Naruto’s hair. He leaned forward until their noses were centimeters apart, fingers tightening until Naruto’s head was forced back. A pink tongue darted out to wet cruelly smirking lips. “Though you know that your defiance, as pathetic as it is, only makes me want to crush your spirit. It makes me wonder what it will take…”
Madara lifted his free hand, trailing a finger down Naruto’s throat. The demon’s growl grew louder, but he didn’t fight back. Madara smiled.
“What will it take to break you, oh mighty demon?” he continued, his low voice slithering across Sasuke’s ears like crushed velvet. “You were so…obedient towards the end of Grandfather’s life. I wonder, what did he do to make you submit to him? What will I have to do? What will I have to take from you, to make you follow me as blindly as you did him?”
Sasuke stared at his ancestor in horror, watching as the man leaned forward to swipe his tongue across Naruto’s cheek. The demon shuddered in revulsion, twisting sharply in Madara’s grasp. Chuckling, Madara moved to lick him again.
In a burst of red chakra, Madara was flung across the room, hitting the door with a painful thud. Naruto hissed in pain, doubling over as his enslavement ring visibly burned against his skin. Through the curtain of his blond hair, he hissed, “If you think I’ll let you try out your twisted perversions on me, Madara, you’re mad. Consequences or no, I will kill you if you lay a hand on me.”
Venom dripped from every harsh word, filling the room with remembered hatred. The barely contained fury-along with a healthy dose of fear and helplessness-rose up, pounding the walls in wave after crashing wave and warping the very air. Gasping, Sasuke found himself on his knees behind the demon, fighting the sensation of drowning in Naruto’s emotions. His throat closed involuntarily, tightening as though surrounded by a merciless, bloodthirsty grip. He clawed desperately at his neck with trembling fingers.
Can’t breathe, I can’t…
Vision blurring, Sasuke watched in pain as Madara carefully picked himself up, baring his teeth at Naruto in a mockery of a smile. “Will you? Don’t pretend to courage you don’t have, monster.” He laughed harshly. “You will bow before my will, and do as you are told. Just as you always do.”
Naruto’s lips turned up in a wry smirk. “Everyone has a breaking point. You don’t even realize what you’re dealing with, Madara.” He lifted his head, red eyes burning into Madara’s. “Eventually, I’ll get the better of you. If, of course, your family doesn’t beat me to it.”
Madara’s eyes flashed, and his lips twisted down into a scowl. “Watch your tongue, creature,” he hissed. “The family already knows not to cross me, and for reasons you would do well to remember.”
Naruto laughed in reply, a short bark of air that held no humor. “You’re a fool. Do you really think they’ll just keep following you like mindless sheep?” Naruto smiled grimly. “You think you’re the first master of mine to try and beat the Uchiha family into submission? Don’t make me laugh. They’ll most likely kill you, and I’ll have one less problem to deal with.”
In a flash, Madara was in front of Naruto again, eyes glowing with rage.
“Don’t speak such filth to me!” He backhanded Naruto, forcing the demon’s head to snap to the side. “They will give me the respect I deserve, and you-” He slapped him again, then hit him with a closed fist. “You will worship the ground I walk on, you pathetic, filthy vermin!”
Both men were breathing hard, filling the thick air with murderous tension. The invisible hand about Sasuke’s throat tightened further, and he found himself bracing his hands on the tatami floor as he struggled to breathe. The men’s hatred coursed through his body, amplified by the swinging necklace that dangled in front of him. Its red light shone like a beacon.
“If they respect you so much…” Naruto replied quietly. With a low chuckle, He lifted his head defiantly and smirked with bloodied lips.
“Then why are you locked in here with me, Madara-sama?”
The man in question froze, Sharingan spinning crazily in his eyes. Hissing in a sharp breath, he flung his right hand towards Naruto and spoke several words in quick succession. Naruto’s smirk dropped off his lips, replaced by a howl of pain. The skin on his neck and face began to shudder and stretch, tearing in bloody gashes. Madara watched for a moment, then gave a sinister laugh.
“You’ll pay for your disrespect, demon,” he stated in a smug, hate-filled voice. “You’ll learn. By the time I’m done with you, you’ll learn.” He folded his arms over his chest, and his eyes grew distant. “You all will.”
Naruto was writhing on the ground in pain, smearing blood all over the tatami mats. Through gritted, bloody teeth, he managed to grind out, “F-Fuck you! F-fuck you, y-your anc-cestors, and all your d-descendants, too!”
Smirking, Madara bent down and ran a finger along Naruto’s cheek. The flesh parted as he touched it, eliciting further screams from the fox demon. Madara smiled, lifted his bloodied finger, and licked it clean. His eyes glinted.
“Yes, you will, creature. You will.”
As Naruto’s screams tore through the air, the senseless pressure around Sasuke’s throat abruptly eased, and the young man gulped in air. Without thought, he clambered to Naruto’s side and bent down to scream into his ear.
“Naruto!! Naruto, wake up! It’s a dream!” Another hand motion from Madara had Naruto arching his back, a scream catching in his throat. Panicking, Sasuke tried vainly to grab Naruto’s shoulders and shake the demon, but his hands continued to pass through him. “Wake up!!”
In a strange sort of sixth-sense, Sasuke could feel the covers of his bed sliding against his skin as his body struggled, and a warm spot at his feet-most likely Kyuubi-twisted violently. The real world overlapped the dream world he was trapped in, resonating with a faint hum from the vibrating crystal on his chest. Sweat streaming down his face, he screamed at the senseless blond.
“NARUTO!! Can you hear me?? Naruto, you idiot, WAKE UP!”
The blond’s eyes snapped open.
The crystal faded to blue.
The world went black.
* * *
Kyuubi startled awake, fur standing on end. His breathing came fast and harsh in the darkened room, and for one terrifying moment, he had no idea where he was. He leapt to his feet with difficulty, tails swirling and teeth bared, ready to fight.
Madara, he…he…!
“Naruto!!”
A burst of sound and movement above him scared the crap out of Kyuubi, making him leap into the air and spin about, lashing out with his claws. He heard a sharp ripping sound and froze, heart speeding wildly in his chest. A crazed growl poured from his throat.
Sasuke stared at him, eyes wide and hair wild, his chest heaving as he sat up and clutched the comforter in his fists. The scents of fear and anxiety poured off him in waves, taunting Kyuubi’s frazzled nerves. He could practically smell the blood coursing furiously through the Uchiha heir’s veins, and if he tried anything, Kyuubi could spill it all over the fucking sheets, and…
And…
Blinking, Kyuubi felt his panic and rage abruptly subside, and he found himself staring dumbly at his master. Sasuke. Not Madara. Sasuke. The one who’d sworn he wasn’t going to hurt Naruto, that he wanted the fox demon as a partner instead of a slave. Sasuke.
The one he’d nearly torn the throat out of a second ago.
Legs trembling violently, Kyuubi lay down on the slashed comforter and placed his head upon his front paws. He closed his eyes.
God. Seeing that bastard again today… I’d hoped to never lay eyes on him again. The things he made me do… His stomach churned unpleasantly, bombarded with memories of people screaming as his magic choked the life out of them. He could still see their faces, each and every one. Madara had been so fucking bloodthirsty, and he hadn’t cared who got in his way. Even his own family…
Sasuke made a sudden movement, startling Kyuubi back into alarm mode. The fur on his tails puffed up instinctively. Sasuke glared down at him furiously.
“Naruto, what the fuck was that just now??” he snarled. The scent of fear spiked, mingling with anger. Kyuubi’s breath grew ragged, his nose telling him to either lash out or back away, anything to ease this tension. Sasuke continued, “Do you realize I was there? In your fucking dream just now? What the hell is going on?”
“I…” Kyuubi had to clear his throat before he could continue. “What are you talking about?”
Sasuke slammed a fist into the bed. “I was there! Your damn necklace pulled me headfirst into your dream, and I had to watch what Madara did to you. Why didn’t you tell me that would happen?? Fuck!”
Oh. Well now, isn’t that thoroughly humiliating. Kyuubi shut his eyes in shame and anger. Now he’s seen how weak I am, the so-called “greatest demon alive.” Fuck.
It was bad enough to have lived through it once, and to have relived it a million times since, but having Sasuke see it made Kyuubi want to curl in on himself. Now Sasuke had seen him helpless, at the mercy of a sadistic fucktard who’d managed to ruin so many lives, and Kyuubi hadn’t been able to do anything to stop him.
Kyuubi ground his teeth, fighting his instinctive reactions to Sasuke’s distress. Smelling that much fear around the scent of an Uchiha, especially on the heels of the memory he’d just relived, was enough to make his blood boil.
“Sasuke, I’ve never had anyone wear my necklace before,” he stated in as patient a tone as he could manage. “I don’t know how it pulled you into my dream, but I’m fairly sure I didn’t give it to you with the intention of making my head a fun house.” He took a deep, shuddering breath, trying to reign in the sudden spike of temper. “So I’d really appreciate it if you, you know, stopped trying to make EVERYTHING my fucking fault!”
Sasuke exhaled sharply, closing his eyes and running a hand through his hair. “So are you telling me that you don’t even know what this thing can do?” he questioned incredulously. “How do you know it will even work against that ring of yours? Dammit, Naruto, what the hell did you get us into?”
Kyuubi couldn’t help it, he growled. He was tired, so sick and tired of taking the blame for things he couldn’t control. “First off, I didn’t get us into anything. If you weren’t so damn different from everyone and everything I’ve dealt with before, maybe this wouldn’t be happening!” His legs practically vibrated with energy, so he began to pace along the foot of the bed. “You want to know how I granted that wish of yours when you didn’t even say it aloud? Well, so do I! You want to know how my necklace dragged you into my head while I was dreaming? SO DO I! I don’t fucking know, Sasuke! Every day with you is new fucking ground for me, and I’ve been doing this job a real long fucking time.”
Kyuubi’s trembling knees suddenly buckled, weighed down with anxiety, an adrenaline crash, and magical exhaustion. He sat down heavily, tails swirling behind him. Shoulders shaking, he took a deep breath.
“That necklace…” The fox trailed off, unsure of how to explain himself. How could he put into words the soul-deep connection he’d felt when he first laid eyes on the small blue crystal? How could he explain the rush he’d felt when he first slipped the chain over his head, like he’d gained a piece of himself that had been lost? He and the crystal resonated with each other; they were parts of the same whole. He couldn’t possibly expect Sasuke to understand that.
After a long, tense pause, he continued, “I’m…connected to it. I can feel it even when I’m not wearing it, and I know it can…feel me, in return. When you asked to feel my pain, I knew that the crystal could make that possible.”
Sasuke’s eyes narrowed. “Just like that? You just ‘knew’?”
The fox shrugged awkwardly. “It sounds strange, but it’s true. I just…knew it could do it.”
“Hn.” The Uchiha heir fell silent, pale fingers sliding up to warily toy with the silver chain. He frowned at the pale crystal, and slowly began to lean back against the pillows. Kyuubi watched him, a strange feeling growing with his chest. The fox demon had always been reluctant to even show the crystal to anyone, feeling it too personal to share, and yet with barely a second thought, he’d given it away to Sasuke. Eyes narrowed, he stared at the puzzling young man.
What IS it about him that makes him so damn different from everyone else?
With a sigh, Kyuubi settled himself on the torn comforter. Occasionally, a small tremor shot through him. His ring still twinged painfully. He’d feel better if he could lie next to Sasuke and transfer chakra like he’d been doing every night, but with the two of them being so emotionally stressed, he didn’t think it wise. Kyuubi would rather wait out the night awake, glaring at the moon, than risk having Sasuke backhand him right off the bed.
“The ring is hurting you, isn’t it?” Sasuke suddenly asked, his voice hushed. His onyx eyes remained on the crystal, which had begun to glow a faint pink. When Kyuubi looked at him questioningly, the boy seemed to sense it, and Sasuke glanced up with an unreadable expression. “You were right. I can feel it.”
In a strange way, Kyuubi could tell. There was a tiny, phantom pain in his chest that had nothing to do with anything else that was happening. Uncomfortable, Kyuubi shrugged and turned away.
“…What do I have to do?”
The quietly voiced question startled the fox demon. His ears twitched as he turned back to face the brunet, but Sasuke wasn’t looking at him anymore. The boy seemed to be lost in his own thoughts, a faint frown pulling at his pretty lips. Kyuubi tilted his head to the side.
“Well,” he replied reluctantly, “a chakra exchange usually soothes it, but…”
Sasuke’s eyes swung to meet his. “Is that why you cuddle with me every night?”
When he put it that way, it was a little embarrassing. Kyuubi’s ears turned back, and the fox glowered. “…Maybe.”
The Uchiha heir sighed listlessly. “Then come here. I don’t think either of us can handle another trip down memory lane from you.” He tugged the covers down and patted the mattress beside him. “Come on.”
After a moment’s hesitation, Kyuubi complied, rising to his feet. His legs shook uncontrollably. With some difficulty, he forced them to work, climbing carefully over Sasuke’s legs until he stood beside the young man’s chest. Sasuke silently shifted to the side, and Kyuubi obligingly curled up beside him. The brunet awkwardly tucked the sheets around him, causing the fox to smirk weakly.
“What’s with this? You’re going to mother me now?” he teased feebly. Sasuke glared at him, but his heart clearly wasn’t in it. Ill-hidden storm clouds of worry filled his dark eyes, a fact that, frankly, amazed the fox demon. Words were one thing, but actually seeing a hardass like Sasuke worry over him…
It felt surprisingly…good.
Sasuke carefully settled down next to him, watching him with a curious expression on his face. One hand lifted to scratch gently behind Kyuubi’s ear, and as always, the fox melted. It felt so heavenly, like someone was massaging his chakra and feeding him ambrosia-or better yet, ramen-on top of it. Sighing, he leaned against Sasuke’s side. Their chakra began to transfer between them, soothing Kyuubi’s still throbbing ring. Kyuubi felt his tightly wound muscles begin to relax.
“Naruto, are you…” He hesitated, running his fingers over the base of Kyuubi’s skull and pulling them away. “Are you alright?”
The stiffly asked question made Kyuubi’s lips twitch up into a tiny smile. Without replying, he pressed closer to Sasuke’s side. One tail flipped up to curl loosely-and maybe a little possessively-around Sasuke’s waist. The young man relaxed, settling a hand upon Kyuubi’s middle and stroking it idly with his thumb. His breath tickled the tips of Kyuubi’s ears. Their chakra continued to flow back and forth, replenishing Kyuubi’s depleted strength.
In the wake of Sasuke’s awkward (but appreciated) comforting, the pair fell asleep. Neither noticed the heavy moon being quickly obscured by thick, dark storm clouds.
Shielded from the pale light, their room plunged into darkness.
* * *
Continue to Part II
Previous Chapters:
Chapter 1: In The Beginning
Chapter 2: Useless
Chapter 3: Adjustments
Chapter 4: What's In A Name
Chapter 5: Pain
Chapter 6: Idiocy
Chapter 7: The Spotless Mind
Chapter 8: Interference
Chapter 9: History
Chapter 10: In The Beginning