Naruto winced a little as he examined the cut on his forehead, gazing at it in the mirror and prodding it with his fingers.
He was always tripping into things, and getting a gash on his head was normal for him. Just… Not this big, you know, because it was a small rock he'd hit.
Then again, he supposed he deserved it. He'd been discreetly gazing at his crush while walking…
Most people at school knew he was gay. They hated him for it.
He was okay with that. He didn't have to deal with them for very long.
He wasn't okay with people bullying him for something he couldn't control. Not like the teachers did much to help - they weren't usually in sight when he was bullied for it.
Sure, he didn't care they hated him for being 'out of the closet'. He didn't like it when he had to wash small bloodstains out of his clothes or stay awake for hours on end because someone gave him a small concussion.
He sighed and dabbed at the cut on his head, his pet fox Kurama behind him and looking up at him with wide eyes.
Naruto didn't have a chance in hell with his crush, anyway, because he was the perfect, unobtainable, untouchable, straight, Itachi Uchiha.
He closed his eyes as he thought of Itachi. Perfect, pale skin, dark eyes, long hair that was in a ponytail…
His eyes snapped open and mortification swept over him.
"No," he thought aloud. "Don't think about him."
The scarred teen scowled to himself as he looked down at Kurama.
"Stupid me," he sighed. "He's straight, not gay."
Not like me.
Naruto sighed and exited the bathroom, stepping over Kurama and heading to his room.
~:~
Kurama felt like scratching his human's face.
Idiot, he chastised his human to himself. If you just told him how you felt, then you wouldn't be so miserable all the time.
He thought for a minute. If foxes could smile evilly, Kurama was doing it right.
You may not like it, but this is what's going to happen.
~:~
Naruto knew about Kurama being his 'heart'. His mother had explained it to him before she'd passed.
Humans, while having a physical heart in their body, also had their 'heart' animals. His mother had had a fox as well. Naruto's father? He'd had a toad as his 'heart'.
Some humans didn't have them - they were the ones whose 'heart' animals either didn't exist or died in some way.
Naruto was a fan of fanfiction, so he did write a lot - and he read a lot, contrary to popular belief.
'Heart' animals were, to Naruto, real-life soulmarks. Or soul-animals. Whichever. He knew they were important to those who had them.
At school, they were allowed only the first few years of school life, just because the bond between heart and human needed to cement. Everyone knew what everyone else's 'heart' was in the first few years, simply because it was normal to know.
The only taboo that existed was you couldn't kill a 'heart'. It was considered a heinous act; killing a 'heart' was like killing the human the 'heart' "belonged" to.
Naruto dumped his books and got onto his computer, tapping his hand impatiently as he waited for it to load. He and Kurama shared the trait of unable to stay still or focus on one thing at a time for too long, aka ADHD.
His worst ADHD episode was blurting out that he was gay and running off.
He checked his email and stories, and sighed when nothing of note came to his eyes.
He hung his head back and whistled.
Kurama trotted in obediently.
"Hungry, buddy?" Naruto thought of ramen that he had in the cupboard. "I have to go shopping afterschool," he mused aloud. "Tomorrow, I mean," he said hastily when Kurama huffed a little. "I can't go today and get back here before dark."
Kurama's eyes were understanding. Naruto hated the dark, and so did Kurama. He didn't fear it, but he didn't like it.
"Let's go eat," he said to Kurama. Kurama jumped up and ran to the kitchen.
~:~
"Kurama? Kurama?" Naruto called his fox heart's name as he got ready to leave, frowning when he saw nothing out of place in the empty home. Taking a glance at the time, he did a double take and swore.
He was going to be one of the last to arrive to Konoha Academy if he didn't hurry up.
He hissed out a breath. "Don't get hurt, Kurama," he moaned into the silence, mainly out of well-reasoned fear. If a heart got lost…
He tried to believe he'd find Kurama soon.
~:~
He made it, alright. In time to hide behind a bush as Itachi Uchiha walked behind him, his nose in a book.
Naruto took a deep breath, steadying himself and climbing the nearest tree to watch Itachi pass.
Somewhere deep in his mind, he knew this was probably stalkerish, but he'd seen girls do the same thing when Sasuke - Itachi's younger brother - had gone here and not to Oto Academy.
(Another reason why Naruto was bullied: Sasuke had made it clear that whoever was gay should be bullied. Whatever Sasuke did, everyone else did it too. Even a year after he'd left.)
Itachi was only a year older than Naruto and Sasuke, making him a senior to Naruto's junior. Itachi got steady grades, was in a private clique that almost everyone envied…
'Almost' because Naruto didn't care about them, he just cared about Itachi.
He sighed a little too loudly, for Itachi stopped. Naruto ducked behind a tree, taking a deep breath, then turned to peak over the tree again.
And froze, his heart seeming to become ice.
Kurama was here. Recognizable, fox Kurama. Recognizable to Itachi because Naruto had brought Kurama over to the Uchihas' house a few times when he and Sasuke were still friends.
Kurama was stealthily following Itachi.
Up the walkway into school.
Where hearts weren't allowed.
Naruto walked out of the bushes, pretending to just be walking as someone walked by - Ino, his mind oh-so-helpfully reminded him - and then going for Kurama in a mad dash, diving towards him, only to fall on the ground.
Kurama sprang up, knocking into Itachi, only for Naruto to grab Kurama and haul him off of the other man, his face red.
He dived into a trash as Itachi turned, squishing himself and Kurama into it for the time being.
Kurama growled.
"Shut up," Naruto hissed. "You're not supposed to be here!"
Public schools, yes. Private schools like Konoha Academy? No.
Kurama ignored him and jumped out, kicking Naruto in the face.
Naruto scrambled out, running out and into the school.
A horrifying sight met his eyes.
Kurama had a paw on Itachi's chest, and had licked him.
Mortification and anger were the two most prominent emotions.
Fear, too, because Itachi was looking at him with confusion.
He knew it was Kurama.
Naruto grabbed Kurama by the scruff of his neck, spotting the judgemental glares of the other students.
Itachi himself looked around, then looked at Naruto, his expression blank.
Hot tears collected in Naruto's eyes, and he dragged Kurama out, running out to the tree where he'd first spotted Itachi walking.
He remained there for a few minutes.
~:~
"You should go home, senpai," a girl said as Itachi sat there in the hallway, half stunned and half confused. "You might need to wash off that weirdo."
Uzumaki's 'heart' had just licked him. Which meant that Uzumaki-san liked him.
He didn't know how to deal with that, so he walked out, back down the steps, to his car, and started it.
~:~
Kurama perked up as he heard a sound he never forgot. Uchiha's car.
He had to be careful about this - if he died he knew Naruto wouldn't be as lovable as he was.
He just had to make the other idiot see.
He wriggled out of Naruto's firm grasp by biting him, breaking the skin. He usually wouldn't do that, of course, but if he didn't his fur would become gray from Naruto's broken heart.
And he would become mopey.
Kurama darted out, Naruto swearing and holding his arm and doing his best to keep up with Kurama. Kurama saw the car getting ready to back out and slowed, stopping at the optimal place as the Uchiha pressed the gas a little to the car.
The car hit Kurama with a thud.
~:~
Itachi was out of the car in a second, having heard a yell and a thud, his normally stoic features creased with worry.
Uzumaki-san was kneeling in the parking lot, looking horrified and shaky.
"Kurama, you stupid fox!"
Itachi cleared his throat, but Uzumaki-san refused to look at him.
"Do you need help?" he asked cautiously.
"I think you've done enough," the Uzumaki snapped, trying to gently pick up his heart.
His heart whined, and the Uzumaki's breath hitched.
Itachi knelt down and helped, settling the fox in Uzumaki-san's arms.
"Do you need me to call someone?" he questioned. The Uzumaki nodded, still only gazing at his fox.
"My godmother, Tsunade," the other rasped. He rattled off the numbers.
~:~
Tsunade Senju was on her lunch break when Shizune rushed in, her face set in worry.
"Tsunade-sama! Kurama's been hit!"
Tsunade abandoned the reprimand and nodded, standing. "What happened? How far is he?"
"I don't know, and the man on the phone said they'd be here in a few minutes." Shizune was clearly worried - as she should be.
Tsunade's heart was dead. Katsuyu had died as a result of Tsunade's heart being broken and failing to help her brother and lover, both of whom died after reaching Tsunade's operating table.
Tsunade had figured out that she could help the 'hearts' better than their humans; she took every job seriously ever since her own died.
Since Minato - a person whose 'heart' had been helped by her - had named her godmother in case something happened to him or Kushina, Naruto's mother, and Jiraiya - a friend of Tsunade's and Naruto's grandfather - Tsunade had been taking care of him.
Of course, Jiraiya was alive, so technically she shouldn't be taking care of him, but the moron preferred to travel the world. Tsunade was left with the relatively well-adjusted boy - and she couldn't have been happier.
But now, as Naruto walked in with Itachi Uchiha, Naruto's crush, with Naruto holding Kurama in his arms… Tsunade could see her pseudo-grandchild's face was lined with streaks from crying and his eyes were puffy. Itachi looked curious, almost overwhelmed - and Tsunade gathered what happened.
"Into the examination room," she barked. "Shizune, prep him. I need to make a quick call in my office."
She had someone to yell at.
~:~
Jiraiya was still rubbing his ears as he exited the taxi. He'd been on his way for a visit with his grandson when Tsunade had called, proceeding to yell at him for not being there with his grandson, telling him to go to the clinic she worked at, and then hung up.
The cab driver had snickered. Jiraiya didn't tip him.
The sight that greeted him was a shocking one. Naruto's face was filthy, his eyes were extremely puffy, and he was drawn into himself, not glancing at the man sitting next to him.
Jiraiya was one of the few who knew of Naruto being gay, and he didn't have a problem with that. Nor did Tsunade. Itachi Uchiha was practically the only thing Naruto talked about when he was at home with Jiraiya, so he knew a while before Naruto had told him.
Itachi himself was avoiding looking at Naruto, but he just seemed overwhelmed.
"What happened?" he barked, his toad Fukasaku on his shoulder.
Naruto glanced at Itachi furtively.
"I hit Kurama," Itachi said bluntly. "On accident."
"Kurama was only trying to help me out," Naruto blurted, his hands twisting in each other. "He… Basically licked Itachi's face and then - then he ran behind Itach- er, Uchiha-senpai's car and got hit!"
Jiraiya felt like facepalming.
That idiot fox just loved meddling.
~:~
Tsunade was fully prepared to have to give the fox everything from morphine to stitches.
The fox was fully aware and in some pain.
Not enough to have to be driven over to the clinic in a panic.
"You devious little trickster," she muttered to the fox with a smirk. "You're trying to match them up, aren't you?"
Kurama's teeth were revealed. If there was one thing that living with only Naruto had done for the fox, it was making him give more human-esque behavior at the same time of being wild.
Shizune appeared, taking out her earplugs. "Jiraiya's here and you've gotten fourteen calls, probably from every floor in this building and maybe some from next door."
Tsunade scowled minutely. "Please take Uchiha-san to my office. I need to speak with him."
Shizune swallowed. "You're not going to kill him, are you?"
"No," Tsunade said flatly, no matter how much she wanted to right then. "I'm going to get his medical insurance. That man better pray to whatever gods he believes in that he has enough money for this shit. No matter that Kurama only has a broken leg, you know it's nearly a criminal offense to injure a 'heart'."
Shizune shuddered. She didn't have a heart - not because she didn't have feelings, but because she just wasn't a person who bonded with an animal that became their heart.
"Say, Tsunade… Will you tell them that Kurama only has a broken leg?" Shizune questioned.
Tsunade wished she wasn't required by law to tell the truth about this.
"I have to," Tsunade sighed wearily. "It's not as if I can withhold the truth from them."
Especially not the kid.
~:~
Itachi sat in the chair opposite from Tsunade, guilt pounding in his chest in time with his heartbeat. Karasu would be fluttering nervously if she were here.
"You know that, in most cases, I'm required by law to cite the regular 'injure a heart three times you go to jail' thing. This time, I'm not going to cite that. Because if you injure a heart - whether it's your own or someone else's, like my godson out there's heart, you will be doing serious jail time." Tsunade stared at him seriously. "Furthermore, you already know he's my godson and you injured his heart. That would ordinarily put you in my bad books." She leaned forward, her eyes narrowing. "You're on my shit list, boy, and that's even worse. So. What are you going to do to fix this?"
Itachi swallowed. "I thought I would have to cover the insurance and medical bills for Uzumaki-san's fox."
That was a start, but Tsunade narrowed her eyes.
"...I don't know what else to say," Itachi admitted after a long silence. "He won't even look at me, and I don't know how to fix it…" He shrugged helplessly.
"Fix it by starting a conversation with him," Tsunade tightly suggested. "Grow a pair and ask him why his heart decided to jump on you." She'd already deduced what happened. "You will be covering Kurama's medical expenses. All," she stressed.
She slid the sheet over to him.
The sheer amount made his eyes widen in shock.
~:~
Naruto looked up to see Itachi coming out of the office, Tsunade exiting the office after him.
"Luckily, he only sustained a broken leg," Tsunade told him tiredly. "Don't take him up too many flights of stairs, don't let him put too much pressure on it… You should know how it goes," she told him. "And Jiraiya… I'll be having more than a few words with you when they're gone," she said menacingly to the white-haired man edging towards the door.
Naruto nodded gratefully. "How much do I owe you?" he asked, already wondering how long he'd have to work.
"None," Tsunade said simply. At his wide-eyed look, she shrugged. "You know the law when it comes to hurt 'hearts'."
Naruto swallowed and turned to Itachi. "Thank you, Uchiha-senpai."
Itachi shook his head. "Don't mention it," he said. "Do you need a ride home?"
Naruto winced a little. He couldn't drive, so… "Yes," he muttered. He wasn't ungrateful, just… Not too thrilled to be spending half an hour with his crush to his home. His crush who had pretty much just stomped on his heart in front of the school.
~:~
Itachi glanced at Naruto worriedly. "You're a bit silent." From when Naruto was over at his home when he was younger, he knew the blonde was hardly quiet.
Naruto jumped a little. "Yeah, just thinking I need a few groceries when I get home. I hate the dark, but I'll just -"
"You hate the dark?" Itachi was a little surprised. Younger Naruto loved the dark.
"Yeah," Naruto said, looking afraid for some reason. "I always hated the dark."
Had he?
"My house is really dark at night, though, and it's not too scary."
Kurama whined at the thought of the dark.
"My parents aren't home, but a few of my friends are at my place," Itachi said quickly, almost hoping that Naruto would say no. "You and Kurama could stay there for the night, if you want."
Naruto looked reluctant, but looked at Kurama, who looked half-perked up.
"Fine," Naruto said, sounding reluctant. "We'll take your offer. Jiraiya won't be home, anyway. Him and Tsunade have to go argue with each other."
Itachi did the classic Uchiha 'hn'.
~:~
Yahiko Uzumaki lit his cigarette, watching the animals of the self-named Akatsuki club mess around with one another.
His heart, a Lab named Naga, looked towards the door and barked, indicating someone new was coming. Karasu ruffled her feathers regally, choosing to watch from her perch as the door opened and a fox entered in front of the high school's pretty much only out of the closet gay kid enter the room and freeze.
Naga bounded over to him and licked him. No, it wasn't like how the other's fox had licked Itachi - Naga loved people, as did Yahiko.
Besides, distantly as they were, Yahiko and Naruto were related. It was okay, then.
"Naga, heel," Yahiko lazily ordered. Naga quit licking the other Uzumaki's face and bounded over to him, making sure to step over the fighting turtle and squirrel.
The other Uzumaki stood there, uncertainty in his face.
"Yo," Nagato said from Yahiko's side. "What's up, kid?"
Naruto's eyes popped when he saw how close Yahiko and Nagato were. Yahiko gave him an exaggerated wink.
"Gotta say, kid, your fox's actions were talk of the school," Yahiko said, amusement in his voice. "I wondered when you were going to find yourself a dude."
"Itachi, did you really just sit there?" Konan scolded as she walked in with the popcorn, scooping up her beloved turtle, Yagura.
"Pardon me for being shocked about his heart licking my face," Itachi deadpanned. "I've never been approached that way before. Most people go up and talk to people."
"I'm sorry," the other Uzumaki said, sitting up and drawing everyone's attention. "But… I'm really confused. You guys are the Akatsuki?"
Konan smirked. "Not what you expected?"
"No," the other teen admitted. "I thought you guys were…" He ducked his head. "Sorry."
"So what happened?" Nagato asked, tipping his head to the fox with the bandaged leg.
"I hit him," Itachi said, a flash of guilt coming across his face. Only his friends and little brother saw Itachi as a human being. "I hit Kurama."
There was a stunned silence.
"He's fine, only a broken leg!" Naruto said hastily. "Just… Hurt a bit."
"Damn," Yahiko whistled. "That shit costs a lot."
Itachi's answering wince answered that for him. "I paid it. Father's going to ground me for it."
If Fugaku grounded Itachi, or Itachi just knew, it must've been a pretty serious amount.
"It's Kurama's fault," Naruto grumbled, glaring at his heart for a moment. "He even bit me."
There was a scabbed bite mark. Naruto scowled at his fox before melting at the ears being laid back and the fox widening his eyes and walked over to his heart.
Konan sighed and flopped on Yahiko, who let out an 'oomph' at the suddenness.
"Speaking of, why did Naga lick Naruto-chan?" Nagato asked, looking over at Yahiko.
"We're really distantly related, so… That's probably why," shrugged Yahiko. "Anyway, we should probably get Yugito back to Hidan. Lord knows she's going crazy without him."
Everyone looked at the squirrel.
Nagato sighed and picked Konan up, then whistled sharply. "Yugito! Come on, we have to get you back to Hidan."
"Come on, Naga." Yahiko stood. "I'll be by later, Naruto, to make sure Kurama is okay."
The blonde looked up. "Thanks."
Yahiko tapped Itachi on the shoulder. "Just keep an open mind, bro." He nodded and offered a smile to Naruto.
~:~
Naruto and Itachi were left with Itachi's raven and Kurama.
"What's her name?" Naruto wondered, nodding towards Itachi's raven.
"Karasu," Itachi said quietly.
"...she is a raven, right?"
Itachi looked at Karasu. "The name was give to her by my grandfather. He's old and senile."
Naruto blinked. He didn't know what to say to that. He looked down at where he was brushing Kurama's hair with his fingers.
"Uzumaki-san, I… I truly am sorry. I did not mean to hurt you today," Itachi said seriously. "I hope you realize that."
"Now I do," Naruto said reluctantly. "I guess Kurama did help a little…"
He had a very bad feeling about school in the morning, though.
~:~
He left Kurama at Itachi's, heading to his house after writing a quick apology, and headed out to school, his hood drawn up, over his distinctive yellow hair.
As usual, it was nearing the bell time when he stopped at the gates, his nerves shooting up as he walked down the path to the building.
He let his hood down and opened the Academy doors, heart racing.
And there it was, the glares. Only this time they seemed unanimous, rather than having some people be embarrassed to be there and look away. The entire school seemed to be unified in its hatred of Naruto, and for once he felt extremely scared.
He walked down the hallway quickly, ignoring the egg that hit the side of his head and got to his locker.
Silence again reigned, but this time it was anticipatory.
Naruto opened it and closed his eyes, waiting for something to hit his face.
When nothing happened, he opened his eyes to see a pack of…
...was that pocky?
A note was taped to the side of the pocky box.
Some poor bastards thought they could put rancid meat in your locker. The janitor said otherwise.
Yahiko
PS: Itachi loves pocky. You can pay me back when you and him are together.
PPS: Yahiko…
PPPS: Konan, I'm giving him hope, okay? Jeez, it's his first time trying to get together with someone!
PPPPS: Sorry about the arguing Naruto, they're idiots and this was the only paper we had. -Nagato
Naruto wondered for a moment if he was dreaming.
He took the pocky out of his locker and put it in his bag, smiling to himself.
He wasn't afraid anymore.
~:~
Not until lunchtime, at least. A group of girls decided to gang up on him; some boys - their boyfriends - helping. In one of the teachers' bathrooms, they laid into him like they hadn't before, giving him a split lip and a bloody nose. He was on the verge of throwing up all over the jock who'd punched him in the stomach when the door opened and everyone froze.
A member of the Akatsuki waltzed in, whistling like he owned the place, and went in one of the stalls. Some girls left, gasping in disgust, while the boys waited to hear anything.
The door opened.
He was Deidara Akasuna, adopted brother of Sasori Akasuna.
"Okay, ladies," Deidara grinned, cracking his wrists, "I want to make somethin' very clear to ya'll." He spoke with a very pronounced drawl. "This kid here? Yeah, he's the newest member of the Akatsuki, you know?" Deidara shrugged, looking half-apologetic. "I'm sorry." He raised his fist.
"It's fine," one of the jocks holding Naruto said. Naruto squeezed his eyes shut, but what Deidara said next made his eyes shoot open.
Deidara gave a chuckle - no, wait. He giggled.
"Oh, honey." His tone became dark, his friendly drawl gone. "I wasn't speaking to you."
His fist shot out. Naruto expected Deidara to get his butt kicked, but Deidara was well-versed in martial arts and didn't get hit.
When it was over, Naruto had managed to crawl to the side and stare up at Deidara, who wrung his hand out.
The door opened a third time. Kakashi-sensei of Biology peeked in.
"Something happening here?" he asked, lowering his book. His eyes took in Deidara wringing his hands out and Naruto staring at him and the people on the floor.
"Nah, Teach. Just takin' out the trash," Deidara said in his cheerful drawl. "These guys got into a fight with poor Naruto here, who had to defend himself. I was just taking a leak when i was dragged out here."
Naruto looked at him disbelievingly.
"Oh," Kakashi-sensei smiled. "Okay, then."
Naruto was getting very confused.
~:~
"Okay, Akasuna-senpai, what's going on?" Naruto asked as Deidara placed an ice pack on his nose. "Everyone's acting weird since yesterday."
Deidara smirked at him. "You know we're all rooting for you and Uchiha-bastard, right?" Naruto's eyes widened. "Yep! I heard about it from Yahiko! You got the backing of the Akatsuki behind you now."
"...that's great, but I just killed your reputation," Naruto said flatly.
"Reputation, shmeputation," dismissed Deidara. "Nobody in the Akatsuki was brave enough to come out, and I'd bet that Itachi's willing to give ya a chance. He don't care what ya like."
There was a silence as Naruto tried to wrap his head around it.
Deidara looked at the clock.
"Your nose good?" Naruto nodded. "Good, because Itachi's coming out of fifth-period science to Kakashi's Bio class from a very fake page from Kakashi." Naruto frowned. "Get to Kakashi's bio class!"
Naruto was shoved out the door.
He scratched his head.
But Kakashi was supposed to be hosting a class for both Biology and Science today for some Oto and Konoha students…
~:~
Itachi was very bored in science class. Well, Science/Bio, today.
"Okay, class!" Kakashi said, interrupting himself. "I'll give you the next five minutes to do whatever you want!"
His little brother sat by himself, looking pale and deathlike. Itachi didn't want to hear his frigid voice; the last time Itachi had seen Sasuke with his so-called 'friends' he was so cold to Itachi that it stung.
For about four minutes, he did nothing but muse in his seat; then he, along with everyone else in the room, started violently when the door opened.
Something slammed onto his desk, and Naruto stood there, holding a dented box of pocky on the desk. Dried blood was on his face - while slightly gross, it kind of concerned the upperclassman.
"Itachi-senpai!" He boldly spoke Itachi's name. "Please go on a date with me!"
A gasp drew Itachi's eyes. Sasuke looked pale and horrified, as did most of the Konoha student body. Some were putting on forced faces.
Itachi gave the answer he actually wanted to give. "Sure."
~:~
Kurama and Karasu stayed with their humans.
Cute, Kurama mused as Naruto gave Itachi his first kiss, and Itachi chuckled deeply. Finally, they're happy.
Kurama could practically feel his fur lighten in color until it became a gold color.
In a heartbeat, they'd come together. Kurama was glad he'd helped.
Karasu settled herself on his head. Kurama largely ignored the raven heart.
Sure, the bullying had largely stopped at school, and the two tumbling around were together, but Kurama knew that with this type of relationship would come a lot of stress.
Both Karasu and Kurama agreed silently.
They would never abandon their humans.
