SN : Hello! Welcome to my new fanfic, and if you're new to my writings feel free to read my other works.

Anyways, these past months were really depressing and unproductive, save for a few days, for me.. It was not until my muse decided to shake me up, literally, that I broke out of that funk. I think Windflower was the wake up call, but I'm so glad to have such useful shadow.

But I digress. I'll pass the reins to Shade now, as he's the one in-charge of this fic.

Shade : Hola, espero que estés bien. As you know, my name is Shade.

One of its meaning is 'a spirit' (of someone who has died, but that's unnecessary detail). Which is quite unoriginal in my opinion, but it sounds cool so I'm not that upset about it.

What you don't know however, is that I'm SN's shadow (I do have cat-like eyes en passant), conscience, muse, the other half, whatever you want to call. But that's besides the point.

So, this fic here, was inspired by one of Konosuna Lori-san's fanfic, 'Chibi-san'. We do have the official permission to use the idea by Lori-san, so it isn't plagiarism. Even though it's based on that fic, it is by no means very similar to it. In fact, if you've read that one, you'd find it's vastly different from it. The idea was actually sitting at the back of our mind for months now, but we has a really bad habit of procrastination... so yeah

Moving on, Lori-san, I like you. You're a nice person. So, I'm not trying to be offensive or anything, but really... how could you?! How could you forget Sai of all people? That guy is ignored enough as it is. But oh well, I decided to give him a more active role here. And you may have noticed that the title is somewhat different.. I think this one fits the story better.

That being said, writing his POV was very difficult. It may not be the best... but we tried! Plus, it's also our first time trying to write something close to a haiku, so don't be too harsh okay?

I think that's all, hope we meet next time.

SN : Thanks Shade! -waves-

So that was that. On the other hand, I can't believe it's already new year now... -sigh- But anyway, I'm at the house so I was able to write it, otherwise it'd be left uncompleted. I wrote most of it during the evening however, seeing as I still had much work to do cause my parents aren't at home.

They said something about picnic, I didn't pay attention, so I have to cook as well. (And I burned my fingers.. I never said I was pro at cooking, but typing is becoming a pain. Literally.) What ticks me off though, is my mother's attitude. Cause it's new year and all she had to say was, "You better do the laundry." Because yes, that's what parents say to their child on this occasion. -note the sarcasm- I really shouldn't expect any less of them.

I still haven't folded them though. Small rebellions... like really, small.

-sigh- But no matter, I'll leave you read the actual chapter now. And it's close to midnight here, but Happy New Year folks!

Warning(s) : AU. Slight gender-bend. Angst. Shonnen-ai, implied. I don't care if you don't like it, I already warned you, so keep your flames to yourself.

Pairing(s) : None. [For now]

A Blessed Curse

Curse One : The Mistress of Misfortune

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Author — Codename-SN

Beta — EverythingwillbeDaijoubu

The beating of wings,

Created the quietest of whirlwinds...

With a cry, a young raven took flight.

. . .

Nature was still, comatose even.

Anything living was, literally, immobile. There was an uncommon absence of melodic chirps, the other miscellaneous creatures were not going on and about with their day, and the leaves were breathlessly frozen in their descent. Not even the wind itself dared to disturb the unnatural stiffness that painted the area in such depressing shades. It was as if they were holding their breath in anticipation, waiting for some unknown mystery, a supernatural occurrence, to unfold. The very meaning of which, hid the secrets of the very world, not willing to pass them onto just anyone or anything.

However, this silence, comatose state nature lay in, will not be for much longer.

The change was sudden, and certainly unexpected. As if the slightly ungraceful stumble of an unlucky butterfly was, perhaps, some kind of signal for the life to return to its original state, to wake up from its period of scattered silence and be at peace once again.

The smell of rain soaked the earth, tinted with hard work and determination, mingled with a crisp, cooling breeze as the once frozen dark leaves melted; spinning a light-hearted tune, soothing in a way only the nature can be. A sharp cry drew the attention of all towards a golden-crowned hawk circling the sky. The same sky which was quickly bleeding hues of crimson and violet, the scarce rays of sunlight defiantly peeking through the darkening clouds. In contrast, the long blades of vibrant green grass only had an air of carefree laughter around them.

That scenery could almost be called something akin to perfection. Almost. If not for a distinct fact, which presented itself in a bleached, bone-white anomaly.

Nearly blending in with the shadows of a tree, the figure seemed to be peacefully slumbering. There was contemplative pause and the atmosphere once again grew tense as the varying shades anxiously waited to be called upon to douse the unsuspecting target. There was not some sort of signal, this time, but they moved in a harmonious symphony as a cheerful mixture was dumped on the ignorant male.

Just enough to be considered nigh overbearing, but—

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.

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A sharp rapping noise could be heard through the cacophony of nature as a particularly harsh wind rattled the half-open binds of the window, causing the sheets of paper to flutter around the brightly lit room. The darkly dressed teenager, who was sitting at the middle of the said room, repeatedly blinked in hopes of restarting his brain. His outstretched hand had stopped midway in a downward stroke when the knock broke him out of his trance. Dark eyes, that had snapped open and towards the direction of the door, strayed back to the painting, unfinished as it was.

With an inaudible sigh, not that there was anyone to hear it, he set down the palette and brush before making his way towards the door.

The figure standing outside, was not exactly unexpected, or unwelcome for that matter. He distantly mused, as he stepped aside to let the blond Uzumaki in after responding to his greeting, that he should have been more surprised by the visit than he actually was. Recently though, it had become quite common to find the cheerful youth spending more and more time with the other male, especially after the blond had, finally, achieved the Chunin rank and had started going on separate missions from his so-called team.

They both held doubts that they were missed in any case.

When the, now former, ROOT agent had first joined the Team as a spy, he had to make himself acquainted with the norms of social interactions. It was, admittedly, harder than he had presumed. With the help of those odd books however, he had been considered somewhat 'normal'. Well, as normal as a shinobi could be anyway. They were quite famous, or infamous, depending on whom you asked, for having weird quirks. So, he supposed, he was not abnormal at least.

Still, the one thing that just went over his head, was the pink-haired female's attitude towards the younger blond. He had assumed it was normal in their interactions, and really, sometimes Naruto could be a total idiot, but he had really been confused. And rightly so. After all, were they not supposed to be friends? Even if he did not know what 'being friends' entailed, it was certainly not that. Moreover, what kind of Iryo-nin deliberately hurts a fellow comrade? Even if they were not on good terms, it should go against their very professional-code.

He may have thought himself to be utterly emotionless, but emotions were something impossible to completely erase from a human's mind and, at that moment, his curiosity had peaked. To satiate the said curiosity, the following weeks were spent on searching for information regarding that topic in any and every book he could find about social interactions and behaviors. Much to his disappointment however, he could not find something that answered his questions; even after he had finished reading his accumulated collection, which was practically every book Konoha had to offer about social norms.

All he found were a few paragraphs, which only had negative input on the duo's interactions. 'Abusive.' The way she harshly smacked him around, as if he were a rag-doll, for the simplest of things. 'Demeaning.' The way her comments portrayed the blond only as a failure of a Shinobi, and as a person. 'Degrading', 'unkind', 'not friendly', or any other synonyms he could think of. Some of the books had also talked about a few related personalities to that of Sakura's. The most similar, he found, were 'Tsundere' and 'Yandere'.

How weird, he could not help but comment internally upon reading those terms.

The latter was out of the question, since he was sure that she definitely did not have romantic feelings for the blond. Rumors and gossips are, after all, the easiest way to obtain information. He would have considered the former, if not for certain differences. The most prominent was that a person who is Tsundere, is not abusive. They may claim to feel the opposite of their true feelings, and sometimes may come off as rude or irritated, but they are actually quite shy and would never hurt someone they actually care about intentionally.

So... no, he did not think that was the case. He also could not fathom, why other people thought they were friends. He was not sure that they could even be called comrades. There were, of course, other people with similar attitude towards the blond shinobi, but it was understandable. Most of the civilian citizens were, after all, too narrow-minded to understand the immensely complicated art that is Fūinjutsu. He had read about the unfair treatment towards Jinchūriki's, which was mostly caused by fear, so it was expected. What he did not understand however, was why someone who claimed to be a friend, would act like that towards him.

The other members of the group, unofficially dubbed as 'Konoha Twelve', were quite nice to the blond after all.

On one hand he really wanted answers, but on the other, the pale teen had never expected the answer to, literally, walk up to him; in the form of Uzumaki Naruto no less. It was the first time he thought that there may be more to the infamous 'knucklehead', than what people initially assumed. That, was only the start of an interesting friendship.

"Ne, Sai? You remember I was talking about taking a mission for this week?" The blond casually prompted.

The black-haired teen hummed in acknowledgment as he tidied his working area, before going to prepare some tea. Naruto continued, as he made himself comfortable on one of the couches in the living room after a few moments of thoughtful silence. "Well, 'baa-chan finally got us a mission which would last for a whole week! She still won't give us anything higher than a C-rank mission though. Can you believe it? That's like, sooo... lame."

The older of the two could almost hear the pout in that whiny tone, and he could not stop his lips twitching upwards in amusement. "Hm... Perhaps she wants to celebrate your birthday this time around? You know how she didn't get the chance to before," Sai replied thoughtfully.

The sour expression on the blonds face did not hide his opinion on that matter. Sai would have almost missed the following words, had he not just entered the room with the tea.

"I'd rather not..."

The silence stretched between them for a while before the dark-haired artist nodded in understanding, getting a smile in response, and leaving him alone to prepare for the mission.

It may not be possible to completely erase one's emotions, but that did not mean he would immediately understand or know how to act on them after years of living, basically, as a puppet. Although he was learning, not to mention that Naruto's empathy was a big help, it was actually very slow. He would get there, someday, but for now, he still did not know how to comfort anyone. It was a blessing that the blond understood him as much as he did.

Truthfully, it was slightly bewildering for the teen, how Naruto seemed to always know what he was feeling. Even when he, himself, could not tell. However, in their short time together, he had come to accept that if the Uzumaki was something, it was definitely not 'normal'. He was different, everyone is he knew or rather read but that's a separate matter altogether, a special kind of different. He was also an extremely difficult person to understand. The dark-eyed teen found that he did not mind that fact too much.

After all, Uzumaki Naruto was... —what was that word the blonde female had used..? Oh, yeah— interesting.

He wondered, sometimes, what he could have possibly done to deserve this person as a friend, he had honestly never been more grateful to someone for just existing. If it were not for the blond, he would have continued living as he had most of his life. Like a machine, a thoughtless robot whose emotions were drained out from him without any real consent.

He appreciated their friendship, more than Naruto could ever guess.

As the artistic Shinobi made his way back into the living room, he was greeted by a loud exclamation coming from his guest, the blond standing before his latest piece with wide-eyes.

"Woah!" He excitedly exclaimed. "This is-! Actually... just how many paintings did you make, with me in it, this month?"

"Three." Sai replied, not understanding why it would even matter.

"Really? That's like... seven in just two months! Maybe I should be worried..!" There was a mischievous twinkle in Naruto's eyes as he said that.

'Why would he be worried?'

"Worried?" He continued after a brief pause, wanting to know what it was all about even though he doubted the helpfulness of any answer he could receive. "... Are you?"

The laughter that followed was, indeed, as confusing as it was curious an answer. With the up-lifted mood, they set out to travel that day.

It was a calm evening.

The bustling village carried a cheerful atmosphere, as people went about minding their business. Some stopping to chatter with their friends or neighbors, and some quietly doing their work. Among them, a somber teenager aimlessly strolled, his semi-long, vibrant hair swaying with the wind. It has been six days since the pair had taken the mission, which was nothing special despite it being a B-rank. As Naruto had said, rather bluntly, it was B-rank only because the Fire Lord had personally requested it. In all actuality, the mission was almost around a high D-rank.

According to mission parameters, they had to fix the problems within a power plant which supplied electricity to the Capital. It was no wonder why the mission came directly from the Lord. Though it was not like there were any technical problems... more like repairing work. It was quite a mess due to the previous storm. Of course, the factor that no worker would dare to go near the dam also played a role in increasing their work. Apparently, one of the panels had been slowly cracking due to pressure, and there was a risk that it could break anytime. Civilians being oblivious to chakra usage could not stay on top of the water surface, unlike Shinobi. So, there was not much of an argument. Even then, they had completed it under five days, the work being finished around late-afternoon. Thus, the duo would be leaving the next day, which left ample time for the blond to enjoy some peace.

It was kind of nice, he thought wistfully, to walk down the street without the awful glares following his every step. Without the horrible whispers trailing behind him like an invisible phantom. What he would not give, to be able to walk around like this in the village he called 'home'. He had always hated, been afraid of, ghosts in any case.

In his musings, the blue-eyed teen forgot to pay attention to his surroundings, and unfortunately, it was not until he almost ran over a pair of red raccoons, did he finally come to his senses. With a surprised yelp he jumped over the small rodents as they scrambled away from him. The blond took a second to compose himself, before gazing at the rouge twins. His eyes only widened further however, when he recognized the creatures. After all, to find not one but a pair of animals, said to be nigh extinct, was astonishing.

"Wow. Uh…You guys aren't hurt, are you?" Naruto hesitantly questioned. Talking to animals now, he could not stop the thought that came unbidden in his mind, as if an alter-ego was not enough. He expertly ignored it as if doing it not for the first time, which was essentially true.

A cold nose pressed against his palm as the bigger of the two sniffed, trying to discern if the blond was a friend or foe. The raccoon, apparently, seemed to regard him a friend, as it climbed on his arm looking as curious as an animal could. Naruto had a half-mind to actually keep it, but realized that it would really not be a wise choice. So, he settled for petting its red fur. The black-ringed creature had a different idea however, as it snatched the necklace from his neck, with a swiftness that all animals seem to possess, before dashing away with its partner. It took a while for his brain to register the happenings, as cobalt eyes blinked slowly. When it did however... even people from a mile away could hear the voice that roared with righteous fury.

"… Come back here, you little shit! That stuff ain't just anybody's property!"

After chasing those devious raccoons for a couple of hours, the blond finally managed to corner them with his bunshins. That piece of jewelry was one of the most precious gifts he had ever received, right along with his frog-shaped wallet. It also did not hurt to say that it belonged to the Shodaime Hokage, also his 'baa-chan's' grandfather. Quite naturally, he would be upset if anything happened to it. Not to mention he did not even want to imagine what the current Hokage would do if she found out. He really did not want to upset her. So, with his one-track determination, he silently vowed to get it back unscathed.

If he was not so focused on getting that emerald necklace back he would have noticed the change in scenery. Or the fact that they were very deep inside forest and that he had, unknowingly, just passed an ominous board. As it stood, he was too absorbed in his task to pay attention to anything else. Even his gut instincts, which was trying to warn him about something. That would be the reason for his downfall.

However, he did not know that... yet.

A smirk crept upon the whiskered face, unaware of the fate that awaited him, and his eyes glinted with resolve. With a sharp battle cry, the original blond dove for their target as his clones made a semi-circle around them. Although trapped, the pair of red were fast enough to dodge sideways, letting their attacker fly past them and straight into one of the bunshin. Both blonds, unable to stop or even lessen the momentum, quickly fell off the slope. Naruto could only helplessly watch as they fell, a fearful cry escaping his lips as he splashed face-first into the hot water with his copy.

"Gah! Shi-..!"

It took him some flailing seconds to remember that he could stand on water. With a groan, he coughed out the water invading his lungs, simultaneously rubbing his eyes to clear his vision. After the blond Uzumaki had pulled himself out of the natural hot-spring, he was surprised to find himself standing on a land that was full of them. He had never seen so many in one place. However, that was least of his worries at that moment. Not when that rodent was still out there with his, Shodai's, necklace. He swore that the raccoon would find himself without fur if it was not returned by the end of the day.

Surprisingly, as he was about to chase after them, again, he found the jewelry not far from where he had cornered the pair. He thought it was odd, but maybe they had dropped it when trying to get away from the clones, which was a high possibility. He would have given it more of a thought, if not for a disturbing realization. In that moment all coherent thoughts fled his mind, as he became aware of things that should not be possible.

'Whaa..? Are those-... aren't they supposed to be like… not on a male's chest? What the hell happened?!' He hysterically thought, panic increasing by the second.

Indeed, according to logic, it was not possible for a female's anatomical parts to suddenly appear on a male's body. That is, if he was even a male now. His already sickly pallor seemed to turn various shades of mortification as a swift check-up revealed his current gender…. Which was definitely not male. The ghostly Chunin was quick to lose consciousness after that.

. . .

When he came back to the land of living, his first coherent thoughts were spared on convincing himself that the whole mishap had been just a dream. That illusion was shattered however, when another check brought the reality crashing down on him. He could not believe what he was experiencing. Thus, the next few hours were solely dedicated to trying to break a Genjutsu that was not there. He finally admitted defeat, when even tiring himself out to break the illusion did not work. So, with a sigh, he made the hand-signs for Henge, as he made his way back to their temporary housing. It was kind of ironic, in a way, since it was the first time he would use that Jutsu to transform into his original-self while stuck in a female body.

Telling Sai was going to be a pain... he almost groaned at that thought, and it was, when the immediate reaction he received was; "So, you're really dick-less now?" He was not in the mood for his nonsense and endless teasing, and it seemed that the pale artist was quick to pick up on that. It may have been something to do with his dark glare, but he could care less. What he was not prepared to hear however, was his next thought on the situation.

"I don't see why you're so worried. I think it's actually better than your female henge." The pale teen muttered thoughtfully.

"Sai... I swear, if this is some kind of messed up effort to make me feel better abo-..." The blond's speech was abruptly cut off as Sai voiced his protest.

"But it isn't. I was saying what I thought. Besides, you'll always be Naruto no matter how you look."

As if the random switching of a male, into a female was perfectly normal. Sometimes, it was hard to tell just what went into his emotionally-stunted mind. He denied feeling warm inside by the honesty though. "Hmph… whatever. I'll just talk to 'baa-chan about it," Naruto half-heartedly grumbled.

Thus, the next day, early in the morning, one could see two figures walking on the deserted road. One highly disgruntled, while the other was somewhat contemplative. The air was slightly crisp, and a thin film of mist hovered in the atmosphere. Not thick enough to impair someone's sight, but cold enough to make people shiver. A companionable silence settled around them, as they walked. Enjoying the morning for the moment, before they would speed up to make the journey less long.

The dark-haired Jounin had taken upon himself to sort things out with the village leader, as well as inform them of their departure, while the blond was exploring the area. Which, admittedly, did not go as planned. There was only slight comfort in the knowledge that there was not a problem on his counterpart's side. He was already stressed enough as it was. The fact that warm water reverted him back into a male was not as amazing as he thought it would be, when he found that cold water seemed to do the opposite. Instead, it actually increased his worries. What if he changed into a female in the middle of the street? It was not as if there was any shortage of people who threw cold water 'accidentally' on his person. Not to mention it was dirty more often than not. Moreover, he knew that Tsunade would never allow him to continuously take missions outside the village for long durations.

All this thinking was only making him depressed.

The orange-loving shinobi was broken out of his musings when he felt a soft tug on his jacket. As if a small child was trying to get his attention.

'What in the Shodai's name-..?'

Looking down, his blue gaze fell on a child. He contemplated the reasons as to why a kid would even be out this early, as he crouched down to his level. "Um... Hello there. What's a kid like you doing out at this hour?" The blond shinobi took the initiative to ask. His only response was silence. He would not be deterred though, it was not exactly safe for children to be out alone, especially when the roads were so deserted. What were his parents doing anyway?

"Errm... where are your parents?" He tried again, albeit with no positive results. The child was young, possibly around four to five years old, and with quite forgettable looks consisting of dark hair and eyes. He could swear, however, that the kid looked really familiar somehow. When the child shook his head, Naruto was not sure if it meant that the kid was an orphan or that he would not answer.

"Okaay... So how about your name, kiddo?" He did not know why, but there was an inexplicable sense of dread pooling in his stomach as he asked that question. Which was odd. He merely shook it off, not seeing how asking a kid's name could be bad.

"Uchiha Itachi," The black haired kid mumbled.

Oh... maybe he should learn not to dismiss his instincts so readily from now on.

[01-14-2016] EDIT : I just added a few paragraphs since Sai's POV seemed pretty short, not to mention.. empty. And others are minor changes you shouldn't worry about too much.

P.S. If you're wondering about bashing... well, it is not really 'bashing' when I'm stating facts. You understand what that means right?

[04/29/2016] BETA-ED!

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つづく

| Tsudzuku |