Dancing with The Demon

Chapter One

(Read Dancing with the Angels first, this is a sequel.)

Sasuke Uchiha lay awake hours after the fox had been sealed within him, and Naruto had been laid to rest. He found it hard to sleep as his mind kept remembering Naruto's last moments, how difficult those moments had been for the fifteen-year old. Sasuke hadn't wanted things to end that way for the blonde-haired boy. Sasuke had wanted nothing more than for them to be happy together but that hadn't been in the cards for Naruto or Sasuke. Instead Sasuke had been a coward and had started sleeping with his female teammate in the hopes of forgetting about his desire for his male teammate. The only thing that had happened was Sakura had gotten pregnant and Sasuke had ended up with a wife that he hadn't wanted, and his blonde teammate had ended up dying after saving them all from an attack from another Jinchuuriki.

"Naruto is at peace now. There is no need to remember all the pain that Naruto suffered." Kurama stated from inside Sasuke's mind.

"It can't be helped." Sasuke murmured. "He didn't deserve to be put through all the villager's hatred and he didn't deserve what I done to him. I think chances are that he would still be alive if only I hadn't been so cruel to him. Perhaps he would have felt that he could have trusted us with the news about his health."

"There was a lot that Naruto went through that he never told anyone, he had to always live with the pain of remembering those memories. He's in a much happier place now, he's truly loved and probably the happiest that he has ever been in his life. Nothing that you done could have damaged him as much as the things that the villagers done to him." Kurama said. Sasuke sighed and frowned, he wondered what Naruto had gone through that no one knew about. And by that he wondered if Iruka knew about those things that had happened to Naruto, since Iruka was the only person that Naruto was ever really honest with.

"No. He never said anything, because he knew it would break Iruka's heart and Naruto didn't ever want to see his precious sensei in pain." Kurama replied. Sasuke blinked back tears, it hurt his already bleeding heart that Naruto had kept things to himself that he didn't want anyone to know because those things would hurt those that Naruto cared deeply for.

"Sasuke?" Sakura said, turning over in the bed and looking at him strangely. "Who are you talking too?"

"Kurama." Sasuke replied, before offering Sakura a small smile. "How are you feeling?"

"Not too bad. It's still too soon for morning sickness." Sakura said. "Are you talking about Naruto." Sasuke nodded, even the mention of Naruto's name sent a wave of pain through him. He didn't think he would ever be the same Sasuke he was before Naruto's heart failure had taken his life.

"It's going to be okay you know." She said softly. "I don't know when or how, but I know that Naruto wouldn't want to see you to hurt like this, he would want you to be happy."

"How the hell can I be happy?" Sasuke snapped. "He lost his life because of us. Because he didn't trust anyone enough to come to us with his health concerns. He died protecting the worthless people in this village, who would rather see him hurt or dead without giving any thought to the fact that Naruto was just as much a human as the rest of them and just as capable of having his feelings hurt just like them. Tell me why the hell I shouldn't go burn this village to the ground?"

"Because despite all that being true." Itachi said from the doorway. "Naruto always hoped for the opportunity to prove those people wrong. He never quit trying to prove that he wasn't the demon they thought he was. Some of their opinions he was able to change, then there are those like our father who the hatred is so deeply instilled that nothing can be done about it. Naruto had the kindest heart of anyone in this village, it's a shame that someone could so easily cause so much pain to someone who only wanted to make sure that they were safe."

"Therefore, they should all burn and die." Sasuke muttered, clinching his hands into fists. "Naruto suffered for nothing his entire life, none of that should have ever happened."

"Is this my brother talking or Kurama talking?" Itachi wondered. "You wouldn't ever hurt anyone normally no matter how much they angered you."

"I've never lost my best friend either." Sasuke replied bitterly. "I've never known the pain of this kind of loss before. I don't know who anything is going to be right again, especially after I treated him the way that I did."

"He forgave you." Itachi said, understanding that Sasuke was angrier at himself than he was at anyone else. He was blaming himself for what happened to Naruto. "Naruto would have forgiven you anything, no matter how angry you were at him or how bad that you treated him."

"Keep on saying that and maybe I will eventually believe it." Sasuke said.
"Besides Kurama told me that Naruto was put through some things that no one else knew about, not even Iruka knew about it and he had to live with the pain of those memories." Itachi frowned, he'd heard of rumors of things happening to a small Naruto. He just wasn't sure that any of the rumors were true.

"I've heard of somethings happening to him aside from the brain damage that he had." Itachi said. "I wasn't sure how much was true and how much were just fantasy."

"And nothing was done to help him?" Sasuke asked, his bitterness growing even deeper.

"All I heard was the rumors after it supposedly happened." Itachi said. "I was out of the village for a mission."

"Like what?" Sasuke asked. "Whatever was done, couldn't have been too serious, he didn't have many scars on him."

"Probably thanks to the nine tails." Itachi replied. "But rumors were that he was poisoned, and more than once. Some of the poison was incredibly painful that Naruto was left weakened and sick, and barely able to take care of himself. Then I've heard rumors where he was forced to do things that a child shouldn't ever have to do."

"Could the poison have some how caused Kurama's chakra to attack Naruto's heart?" Sasuke wondered. If it was possible who could have created just such a poison? Whomever it was Sasuke wanted to slit their throat.

"The problem with that theory is Gaara." Itachi said. "He would have had to have been poisoned too. Besides doesn't Kurama suspect that other Jinchuuriki are being affected?"

"Maybe" Kurama said. "I don't know for sure. But the poison could have been created by someone who knew all about Jinchuuriki's and then shared amongst the villagers that wanted the Jinchuuriki's dead."

"Kurama isn't for sure, but he said something could have been created and then shared among those that wanted the Jinchuuriki's dead." Sasuke said.

"I wish there was a way to tell for sure if that was the case." Itachi murmured. "With Naruto and Gaara both buried, finding anything out would be difficult."

"Tsunade can always have Naruto unburied." Sakura said and Sasuke turned and scowled at her.

"That's beyond disrespectful to Naruto. He deserves to be able to rest in peace without getting disturbed."

"He does. But we need to know the truth." Sakura said. "So that maybe we can stop this from happening to other Jinchuuriki's and perhaps keep it from happening to you. I know Tsunade wants you to come in regularly for checkups."

"Sakura has a point." Itachi said. "I would very much like to keep you alive for as long as possible and I'm sure Sakura would like for you to see your child born." Sasuke sighed, he didn't want to consider the poison being man made because it would have meant that Naruto would have been murdered and Sasuke couldn't accept that his best friend and brief lover had been stolen from him.

"Is there anybody in this village intelligent enough to create such a poison?" Sasuke asked. Itachi shrugged.

"Nin maybe," Itachi replied. "But not villagers, there shouldn't be anyone who knows how to do that kind of thing within the village walls that the Hokage didn't know about. So, it's very possible that if it is poison that someone smuggled it in. But who would risk getting into trouble to bring it in?"

"The only one that I think of that could hate Naruto that much that he would risk getting in trouble to do it, would be father." Sasuke said. "I never realized how deeply his hatred ran, but the more I think about it, the more I realize that he damn well could have brought in the poison."

"The problem also stands that he wouldn't have had time to poison him." Itachi said. "He's been busy with missions as well, besides just because father is a homophobe doesn't mean that he would betray his village like this. I would think very carefully before making such accusations. Besides, we need to know when he was dosed, it couldn't have lasted from when Naruto was so young. It would have had to have been an incredibly slow acting poison."

"Unless he was given small doses until recently when he would have been given a much larger dose, larger than normal." Sasuke said.

"Naruto would have grown accustomed to the poison by then." Sakura said. "It wouldn't have had much effect on him."

"Like I said." Sasuke murmured. "It would have had to slowly begin eating at Naruto's heart, surely Tsunade would have been able to find out when Naruto's heart trouble began? And then it would have had to continue to increase in dosage until it finally started to completely destroy Naruto's heart."

"I don't know." Itachi said. "It seems kind of impossible for a poison to react so slowly over so long. It doesn't seem possible that a poison could have done this at all actually."

"I wouldn't be surprised at it though." Sasuke said. "Anymore, nothing much surprises me. Nothing feels like it's ever going to be the same again."

"That's because it won't." Itachi said. "But that's not saying that it can't be better."

"What's better without that ramen loving idiot?" Sasuke wondered. "Who am I going to train with now? I can't really train with Sakura."

"I'll be able to help out when I can." Itachi said. "I would like to see how strong you are going to become with nine tails sealed in you."

"Not everything is about strength you know." Sasuke said. "Considering the strongest person that I knew died from heart failure."

"You have a point." Itachi said. "But you also have a choice, you can take up Naruto's will of fire and continue to protect the village. Or you could allow the people like our father, who are so full of hatred that they don't know what's good for them, dictate your own actions. Which choice will you make?"

"I would like to teach those assholes who hurt Naruto a lesson, but if I can't do that, I will stand up to those that think bullying someone because their different and make them see that no one is perfect but that no matter what they think, everyone is deserving of love no matter what sex it comes in." Sasuke said.

"Good." Itachi said. "But for the time being until you learn how to control the demon, I would avoid Father. I would rather you not end up in jail for murder."

"Then he should watch what he says about Naruto." Sasuke said. "He's lucky I didn't do more than punch him for dumping piss on Naruto, during his funeral."

"He's a very angry man." Itachi said. "I can't pretend to know why, but he's not worth wasting your time on." Sasuke sighed and turned to Sakura, who was sitting on the edge of the bed. Sasuke reached across the mattress and grabbed Sakura's hand.

"I'm sorry, I'm so grumpy." Sasuke murmured. "I'm not used to having that furball in my head, and at the same time I'm not used to Naruto being gone. I keep expecting to find him at his apartment devouring that ramen he loved so much."

"We're going to miss him for a while." Sakura said. "I don't think that things will ever feel normal for a while, but we can make sure that Naruto's memory lives on in us. We know that in keeping his memory alive, he won't really be gone."

"It just might take a while for that idea to catch up to my heart." Sasuke murmured, as he gently pulled Sakura down to him, and pulled her in tightly for a hug. His heart hurt so much that he wondered if the pain would ever go away. Would Sakura be able to fill that Naruto sized hole in his chest, or would Sakura just fade away like dust in the wind?

Thanks for reading and commenting! (There are mentions of yaoi, but it's not going to focus on that.) Hope you enjoy this! Due to working on some other stories I'm not sure how often I will be updating this one, because it started out as an idea in my head. But let me know what you think. Plus in a review on one of my other stories (I deleted review) I was told I needed to quit writing. This is my response to that.