Game changer

Pairings: A lot. You'll see lol. All I'm saying for now is Kurama (Kyubi) / Sasuke

Setting: Konoha, fictive Japanese town

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters.

Chapter 1

The orange accord drove away from the university campus in the pouring rain. Naruto Uzumaki was driving as he listened to his Machinae Supremacy album. That band was just so amazing; such a unique and progressive metal… Naruto could listen to it forever.

"Turn it off!" An annoying high pitched voice said. Shifting uncomfortably in the passenger seat, his girlfriend Sakura didn't seem to share his opinion.

Naruto rolled his blue eyes but he did as he was told. The silence filled the car as he stopped at a red light. The only sound was the rain and the traffic surrounding them.

"I'm sorry I'm just," she shook her head as she took out some sheets of paper from her red messenger bag, "not in the mood for music right now…"

How could anyone be not in the mood for music, like, ever? Naruto asked himself in disbelief. That girl was weird sometimes. He'd known her since the beginning of the spring semester, in April. But he hadn't really known her back then… he only thought she was pretty and smart therefore interesting.

Sakura had shoulder-length, pink dyed hair and pale green eyes, a beautiful smile and a slender body. She was a really sweet girl when she wanted to be, but ever since Naruto had started dating her a few months ago, he learned at his expense that she didn't in fact want to be sweet very often around him. To her, apparently, a boyfriend was a punching bag. An emotional and physical punching bag.

Naruto thought about this, shifting to second gear as he accelerated. As for Sakura, she entered a self-pity monologue.

"I'm just so depressed right now," she rubbed her temple as she looked at the exam sheets in her lap, "I mean I got a B… a B! Not even A- no… freakin' B. My parents… my parents are gonna freak. This is my worst nightmare…"

Yes, for straight A student Sakura Haruno, getting a B was apparently her worst nightmare. Naruto found himself hoping that the traffic would magically dissipate so he could drop her home sooner than later.

"It's not a big deal Sakura," he tried to make his voice sound comforting.

She hit his arm so harshly and suddenly that he turned the wheel inadvertently and the car almost changed lanes.

"What the fuck? Don't do that!" Naruto exclaimed angrily. Now his arm hurt. Not to mention they'd almost had a car accident because of her. Fucking bitch… Why the hell was he going out with a bitch like that? These days he was starting to forget the sweet side of her that he used to like so much…

"Sorry," she whined, "but don't you dare say that it's not a big deal! This is my future Naruto. Being in med school is a lot harder than psychology! You have no idea…"

He honestly didn't feel like listening to her comparing their two university programs. She seemed intent on letting him know just how superior she was to him – all the time. Really, right now he could understand she wasn't in a good mood, but that wasn't a reason to lash it all out on him. Naruto couldn't take it anymore.

"We're here," he finally sighed in relief as he parked in front of Sakura's house. She still lived with her parents but they often worked late so they couldn't drive her around. Naruto was nice enough to do it and this was the reward he got… A fucking bitchy attitude.

"Were you even listening to me?" She glared with the green eyes that he'd once found so pretty. Not so much now…

"Look Sakura I'm tired okay?" He scratched his semi-long blonde locks, keeping his eyes on the dashboard, "I know you think my program is a piece of cake or whatever but for me it's pretty tough, believe it or not…"

There was hurt in his voice but she didn't even seem to notice. Apparently she was pissed. She shoved the sheets of paper she'd been looking at in her red bag and stormed out of the car, running under the rain towards the front door to her house. Without one more glance at her Naruto checked the wing mirror then drove away.

Smiling, he switched on the music again and turned on the volume. Truth of tomorrow was playing and he just adored that song. He exited the residential area and entered the city center, waiting through the evening traffic. About fifteen minutes later he finally got home.

Naruto lived with his twin brother Kurama and foster parents, two men actually; Iruka and Kakashi. They were both amazing, not too strict, just enough, in Naruto's opinion. With his twin they were extremely lucky to get such awesome foster dads after their biological parents' death.

He entered the house, kicking off his black sneakers and dropping his keys and bag in the hall. The house was average size, with two floors, the bedrooms and master bathroom upstairs as well as a small living area. Downstairs was the main living room, dining room, kitchen and den. He'd been living here for six years now – the place was always rather messy but the four men inhabiting it were pretty much used to it.

Iruka and Kakashi were already back from work. They were in the kitchen cooking some sukiyaki apparently. It smelled really good and Naruto hummed his appreciation.

"Hey guys…" he called as he leaned onto the kitchen door frame. The room was such a mess. This was what happened when the two men tried to cook together.

"Hi Naruto," Iruka said before returning to the dinner preparations.

"Oh hey," Kakashi smiled, interrupting all other activities to take in Naruto's appearance, "you look tired."

"Thanks," he chuckled, "how was your day?"

"The usual I guess," the gray-haired man frowned as if trying to remember an anecdote in particular.

The two males were both the same age, thirty six years old, and they also had the same profession; teachers at Konoha University's literature department. Although Kakashi's specialty was erotic literature, otherwise known as pornography, whereas Iruka's courses were about classical literature. Somewhat of a difference.

"Well there was this guy who got a boner in my class... like I said the usual. What about you?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto opened the fridge and picked up some citrus juice, "It was pretty rough, I stayed a little late to work on a project… Plus my girlfriend was in bitchy mode today."

"Isn't she always?" The older male replied, amused.

"Touché," the blonde let out a short sigh.

"Kakashi!" Iruka suddenly yelled, "You were supposed to stir that," he exclaimed motioning at the sauce pan, "you said you wanted to help and now…"

"Ah, sorry, sorry…"

Naruto decided to leave them alone. If he tried to help he'd probably just get in the way – even more so than Kakashi. So instead he went to grab his bag, and made his way to his bedroom upstairs. As he passed his twin's bedroom he saw that it was empty. Kurama was probably at his best friend Kiba's place again. The two were always together.

The young man's bedroom was relatively big, with a double sized bed, navy sheets and comforter, matching curtains, and pale orange walls. The furniture was a little old because he'd had the same ever since he was a little kid but he didn't mind. He slouched on his computer chair and opened up his laptop.

He had a facebook message from Sakura… what the hell? She was his girlfriend she could just call or even text instead of writing a message like that.

Hey Naruto,

I'm sorry about earlier, my grades really pissed me off… Anyway, I wanted to know… Are you doing anything for your birthday? We could spend the evening together if you want, just the two of us. Also I wanted to know what you'd like as a gift. Anyway, let me know okay?

Wow, really, that girl… Naruto shook his head in disbelief. His birthday was in two days, which fell on Wednesday, but with his twin they were celebrating on the weekend. He wrote his reply.

I already told you, party at Sai and Shika's place on Friday, you're invited for sure. And I don't want any gift…

He opened up one of his school notebooks and started studying his messy notes for an upcoming exam as he chose some rock alternative music in his computer selection. He noticed that Sakura was currently on facebook therefore she continued their conversation.

Sakura: Why not? I'm your girlfriend it's only normal that I buy you a gift on your birthday.

Naruto: I just don't want you to spend your money on something silly.

Sakura: It's not silly! Damn it Naruto you can't even answer a simple question.

Why was she asking in the first place? Naruto thought, why couldn't she just buy something without asking him first if she wanted to so badly? This conversation was retarded so Naruto logged out. If she wanted to talk to him then she could call him on his mobile.

He continued studying while listening to his favorite type of music until Kakashi came knocking at his door to announce that dinner was ready. As Naruto ran down the stairs after the older man he heard a car pull in the driveway. A few instants later Kurama was bursting inside the house, dirtying the hall with his wet sneakers.

"What's up?" He smiled at Naruto.

"Y'know, school, oh and Sakura's being a pain in the ass…" He watched, hands in his jeans pockets as Kurama got rid of his shoes and jacket and walked up to him.

The two were identical twins. Kurama was the elder by just a few minutes. Both were lean and tall, 6'2 to be exact, and they had deep blue eyes, smooth tan skin, nice lips and an overall handsome appearance. The only difference was their hair. Kurama dyed his naturally blonde hair in a deep, bright red. Jokingly he said that he wanted people to be able to differentiate them. Naruto knew there was another reason; it reminded him of their adorable mother who had the very same beautiful bright shade of red. Besides it suited him.

"Not the good kind I take it," Kurama teased as he followed Kakashi and Naruto to the dining room. His mocking comment made Kakashi laugh.

"No," Naruto said, "and that's not even funny. You were at Kiba's?"

"Yup."

The four men sat around the table. Sundays and Mondays were Kurama's days off, the rest of the week he worked until 9 pm, so it was nice to be able to eat all together. Sometimes though, despite having his day off, Kurama spent his time and ate out with his colleague and best friend Kiba anyway.

"He only had some gross left-overs," he explained, "like, ugh... I didn't even want to ask how long it's been in his fridge you know?"

They started eating and Iruka asked, "So other than not eating the 'gross left-overs' what did you guys do?"

The red-head shifted in his seat, running his fingers through his hair which was slightly longer than Naruto's, "Well nothing much… we smoked some weed, watched some stupid movies…"

"You're kidding right?" Iruka asked pleadingly while the two others laughed.

"Of course he's not kidding 'Ruka," Kakashi nudged him, "everyone smokes weed at their age. Didn't you smoke weed when you were twenty one?"

"No," Iruka said firmly.

"We're not twenty one yet," Naruto pointed out.

"Two days," Kurama exchanged a smile with him. "Hey we should do something."

"No it's a school night," Iruka protested, "Naruto needs to study…"

"Give him a break old man," the red-head replied, speaking with his mouth full. He'd probably smoked weed indeed because he seemed to have even more appetite than usual. Naruto chuckled.

"Whatever I don't think I'll do anything I mean my girlfriend wanted to spend the evening with me but screw that…"

"You're supposed to want to spend time with her Naru. That's how relationships work. See our daddies, how they love each other?"

Iruka was currently glaring at Kakashi because he was reading a yaoi manga instead of eating his meal.

"Okay bad example," Kurama said thoughtfully.

"I think I'm gonna break up with her," Naruto said in a low voice, looking out the window at the rainy evening. October was kind of depressing so far.

"Yes," Kakashi looked up from his book to lock his brown eyes with Naruto's intensely, "you should! Try dating a boy instead. I'm sure you just haven't met the right one yet."

"Kakashi!" Iruka exclaimed in protest, "It doesn't matter if he's straight you have to accept him just the way he is!"

"But… Kura's gay, right?" The man threw a pleading glance at the red-head.

"Flaming homo," he nodded gravely.

Naruto laughed. Maybe not flaming… Kurama actually wasn't stereotypically gay at all. He was a tattoo artist, and he had many tattoos and piercings. He currently wore a simple white tee with a black button down shirt left open. The sleeves were rolled up at the elbows revealing the extremity of his left tattoo sleeve. It consisted mostly of gothic style designs such as black roses, skulls, and weapons. In the inside of his wrists he had their parents' names tattooed in kanji, Kushina on the left and Minato on the right.

"So," Kakashi continued, "Naruto should be gay too. They're identical twins."

"That doesn't mean anything," Iruka argued.

"Uh yeah it does I looked it up."

They continued their usual banter – arguing was the flame which kept their couple alive, seriously – and after eating the twins excused themselves and ran up to their bedrooms, well more specifically Naruto's bedroom.

The blonde let himself fall on his large bed, folding his arms under his head. He was so tired… It had been a long day at school.

Kurama sat in front of his computer and chose to put on some Symphony X. They had the exact same musical tastes so they never argued on that subject. Naruto closed his eyes for a moment, just enjoying the music.

"Sakura wrote you a facebook message," he mentioned, turning the chair to stare at Naruto.

"Not again," he sat up lazily, folding his legs.

"She says, I can't believe you just left like that. Oh my god she's such a drama queen sometimes…"

"Sometimes?" Naruto laughed.

"Maybe you really should break up with her," the red-head said thoughtfully.

"I used to really like her."

Naruto lay back down, clutching the navy comforter as well as a pillow in his arms. His t-shirt sleeve was lifted revealing the bruise on his arm.

"Holy shit," Kurama's blue eyes widened as he came to sit next to Naruto. He lifted tan fingers to caress the bruised skin and Naruto winced. "She's beating you up! Poor baby."

"Shut up," he chuckled, "it's not a big deal. She's just… I don't know she thinks I'm her punching bag or something. She wasn't like that this summer… I think school stresses her out."

"Doesn't mean she should take it out on you," his twin said.

"Yeah I know."

"How's the sex?"

Kurama still had his hand casually on Naruto's shoulder and he was rubbing it comfortingly. They barely even noticed what others might have found weird. They had always been extremely close and they didn't hesitate in comforting one another when needed. Light physical contact like this was something they were used to.

But the question took Naruto by surprise.

"Why would you want to know that?"

"Just curious."

Naruto threw the pillow at him quite lazily, "Then stop being curious."

"If you don't want to answer I take it, it's not very great," he laughed.

Naruto just growled, and it was followed by a moment of silence. Kurama returned to sit in front of Naruto's laptop and he went on youtube to watch some funny/stupid videos apparently. The blonde frowned.

"Just go to your own room unlike you I go to school and I need to study…"

"Oh, burn," Kurama teased him, rolling his eyes. "Hey look a new Death Note parody…"

"Seriously though I need to study."

"Just watch one with me," he pleaded. "Just one."

"Fine…" Secretly Naruto didn't want his twin to leave, as in, he didn't feel like studying.

When the funny video was finished Kurama clicked on some other one and they ended up watching youtube videos for like one hour. That website was way too addictive sometimes. And now Naruto felt sleepy.

"We should do something fun on Wednesday," Kurama said as he got up and stretched his tall, lean body. He fumbled absentmindedly with the silver studs in his ear as he looked down at his twin.

"We could…" Naruto shrugged, "Maybe just go out for drinks with a few friends, nothing big."

"I'll figure something out," the other smiled.

"Hey Kura?" He called, sitting cross-legged, before the other could leave his bedroom.

"Yeah?"

"How did you break up with Sai?"

"Fuck I…" Kurama thought, "that was like… last year… I don't even remember."

"Oh come on that's not something you just forget!"

The tall red-head leaned against the doorframe, shoving his hand in his black jeans pocket and bucking out his hips slightly.

"I think I did it like… over the phone."

"You were kind of a dick," he laughed.

"Oh please we were together what, a few weeks? No big deal… It's his fault for getting so attached."

"So cold," Naruto teased.

"I'm not the one constantly calling my girlfriend a bitch behind her back."

He did have a point there. Defeated, Naruto fell back on the bed. Kurama's expression softened.

"Don't worry too much about it okay? We'll go out for drinks on Wednesday it'll help you relax."

"Getting drunk to forget my problems' always been my favorite thing to do."

The red-head laughed, "All right whatever don't forget to study." He left the room.

Naruto's only reply was an annoyed grunt.

…

The next morning, Kurama Uzumaki moaned in protest as his cell alarm went off at 9 am. He would've gladly slept a little longer… He detangled himself from the pale gray sheets and jumped to his feet, yawning and rubbing his sleepy blue eyes. Pale sunlight welcomed him as he opened the blinds, illuminating the red painted room covered in tattoo and piercing themed posters. The male picked up his towel before making his way to the bathroom.

He did his morning ritual of taking a quick shower, brushing his teeth and trying to style his hair. The bright red locks pretty much fell messily, bangs framing his handsome face as the longest strands brushed his tan shoulders. He shrugged and returned to his bedroom. He was the only occupant of the house at the moment; the others were most likely at the university already.

Looking out his bedroom window, Kurama decided it didn't look too cold outside. And at least it wasn't raining today. So he put on black skinny jeans with a silver buckle belt and a pale green t-shirt that read in big black letters 'Demonic' with a gray tribal tattoo design as a background. The design had been made by his colleague Kiba and this was one of the t-shirts offered at their store. The owner Yahiko had the idea to sell these out for advertising.

After putting on his slim black hoodie and picking up his cell, keys and thin leather wallet Kurama made his way outside. He walked over to his red convertible Mazda mx5 and smiled to himself as he slipped inside. The biggest love story of his life was with his car so far. He adored the vehicle.

The roof wasn't opened at the moment, unfortunately summer was over and it was a little too cold for that now. He put on his sunglasses, opened the radio, choosing a rock alternative station and backed away from the driveway. As he drove he thought about bar possibilities for their very own little birthday party tomorrow… Nothing really came to mind for now.

He parked behind the store in the small lot, noticing that Yahiko's and Kiba's cars were already there, and then he went inside. The store was officially open now; the clock on the wall read 10:03. But it didn't matter if Kurama was a little late. He didn't have a customer until 11:30 today. Well it was important to be here anyway, just in case some random person spontaneously decided they wanted a tattoo, live. But nothing of the sort was happening right now.

Kiba was busy setting up his tattoo station because his first customer of the day would arrive any minute. Yahiko was sipping a to-go cup of coffee from the restaurant next door as he sat behind the cash counter. His girlfriend, and fellow piercer Konan stood right next to him, looking through their agenda book. Kiba's old dog Akamaru was already at his favorite spot, sleeping on the couch. Kiba always brought him to work, pretending he would be too bored and sad if he left him behind.

"What's up guys," Kurama leaned his arms across the cash counter, looking at the opened notebook before Konan.

"Mm tired," she said and Yahiko nodded.

"You guys," the Uzumaki shook his head with a teasing smile, "you were getting it on all night long weren't you? Was it good at least? Was it worth being so tired today?"

"You're such an idiot," his boss glared. "And hey don't put your hands on the glass…"

Kurama just laughed as he removed himself from the counter. Yahiko was 26 and had opened this store five years ago. Kurama admired him a lot although he didn't know his back story. Yahiko was rich he knew that much, so perhaps it hadn't been difficult at all to open up his own business.

The man had natural pale red hair, hazel eyes, fair skin and a lean built. He was shorter than Kurama, and had a lot more piercings. Yahiko was a bit extreme, but to each his own. As for Konan she just had ear piercings and one in her bottom lip. She had blue-dyed hair and amber contact lenses giving her quite a unique style. They were both pretty eccentric to say the least.

Demonic was an average sized store. Piercing displays ran over the sides and walls were plastered with tattoo designs made by the very own employees Kiba and Kurama. Both were very talented drawers. Kiba was twenty three years old and had been working here from the start. As for Kurama he'd started two years ago as the store became more popular.

He went to his tattoo station with every intention of getting ready for his customer but instead he just opened the computer and put on some music. He was the dj here, basically. He had a computer in his sort of mini office with low walls, and it was connected to speakers in each corner of the store. So he was in control. He was rather flattered to be trusted but at the same time he wasn't too modest; he knew he had awesome musical taste. So he put on some Craddle of filth to wake up everyone on this beautiful Tuesday morning and then he went to see what Kiba was doing.

"Who's the customer?" He leaned onto the short doors looking at the drawing on Kiba's desk. It was a flower, more precisely a lily.

"Some girl… it's her first tattoo and she's late so I hope she won't ditch…"

"Hmm… be patient it's still early."

Actually Kiba's customer walked in the store as he said those very words. Kurama shrugged and stepped away. The girl was cute and feminine, she looked to be in her late twenties. She was greeted enthusiastically by the brown-haired tattoo artist as she stepped in the booth. Kurama let him work and instead he went to change the music. Perhaps Craddle of filth was too intense for the girly girl who wanted a beautiful flower tattoo.

The first hour of work was pretty much uneventful for Kurama. All he accomplished was grab some breakfast at the restaurant next door with Yahiko's permission, help out Konan during a rush to explain some piercing-related matters, and change the musical playlist once in a while.

At 11 am his wolf tribal was all ready on his desk, and he was just waiting for his male customer to arrive. Kiba was still tattooing the girl while talking pleasantly with her to try to distract her from the pain.

After the rush of younglings wanting to get piercings only one customer was left hanging out with Yahiko while Konan cleaned up the piercing room in the back. The customer was a recurring one, he often hung out at Demonic. He was one of Yahiko's close friends from what Kurama understood. And by close friends he meant clients… not just for piercings. Yahiko sold drugs on the side; it wasn't a secret although they never talked about it.

Kurama went to sit on one of the couches, in between the piercing room and cash counter, and facing the tattoo stations. There were three couches surrounding a low table covered with tattoo design books. Yahiko's friend, Deidara, was glancing at some tattoo images absentmindedly as he petted the big white dog lying down next to him.

"It really sucks that I can't get tattoos with my job. I freakin' hate my boss sometimes…"

"You can get one as long as no one sees it right," Yahiko shrugged, crossing his legs.

Deidara flipped his long blonde ponytail behind his shoulder and let out a heavy sigh, "Ah man, if you saw the costumes I have to wear sometimes… I think no matter where I get it they'll see it."

"Ah yeah," Kurama laughed, entering the conversation, "you're some kind of drag queen right?"

"Unfortunately…" Deidara sighed again, "speaking of which I have to get going soon… I need to practice my routine for this weekend. I hate my life."

"If you hate it so much why not just quit?" Kurama asked, shrugging.

Deidara locked clear blue eyes with him as he said, "Cause I make loads of money."

"Makes sense," the tattoo artist nodded. Money ruled the world, didn't it?

He found himself thinking that Deidara probably didn't need to work very hard to look like a girl. He had very pretty traits, was of average height and he was very skinny and delicate. He had a few piercings in his ears, as well as a tiny ring around his bottom lip, on the left. It looked really cute on him.

"Where do you work again?" Kurama asked.

"Kawaiko," the small blonde explained, his eyes going back to contemplating random tattoo designs, "it's a new club in the gay village. The boss had the entire place renovated last year before the opening."

"Is it open like, tomorrow night?" the Uzumaki inquired. Yahiko was simply listening to their conversation as he leaned back into the couch. No new customers had entered yet.

"Yeah sure it's open everyday from nine to three," Deidara informed, "but the shows are only on Fridays and Saturdays."

"Is it a cool hang out spot during the week?"

"Yeah," he nodded, "the music's always good. The dj's insane. Even if there's no one dancing he'll go out of his way to play really good dance tunes so…"

"Interesting," Kurama nodded slowly. "Maybe I'm gonna go tomorrow with my brother, we were looking for a cool place to go out for drinks. You guys wanna come too?"

"Oh yeah it's your birthday tomorrow right?" Yahiko suddenly reentered the conversation.

"Yeah," Kurama smiled.

"I'm throwing this huge party at my place on Saturday night," his boss replied, "so if you want to come we could celebrate your birthday at the same time. Bring your brother and whoever you want."

"Cool thanks man, we'll be there for sure."

"What about you Dei?"

"I don't know I finish working at three in the morning…"

"Doesn't matter," Yahiko replied, "party starts at eleven, some people might arrive at midnight or maybe even later. If anything you'll be fashionably late, so how does that sound?"

"Pretty great," Deidara admitted, "I'll be there then. Anyway I have to go…" he checked the time on his cell.

"I'll see you on Saturday then!" Kurama grinned and the cute guy blushed lightly, his peachy cheeks darkening. Aw, Kurama thought, it was always fun to make cute guys all flustered with his sexiness.

After that Deidara left, and soon after a few customers arrived. Amongst them was the guy who wanted the wolf tribal so with a heart warming smile the red-headed tattoo artist got to work.

He couldn't wait to ask Naruto what he thought of this 'Kawaiko' idea. And so what if it was a gay hangout? His twin was very open-minded. In fact he was pretty sure that Naruto would be very enthusiastic with his idea.

...

A/N: Yes, Sasuke's in the next chapter ; )