A/N: Hallo. Just so you know, Kei is just a character i developed to be the means to reach a goal in the story, as much as i like him, this is finally SasuNaru :3¨*, we're getting there i promise.

Chapter II. A family for the fox.

Keiichi had never seen Naruto behave so well. It was amazing to see the 180 degrees change in him. This was perfect, Andrew and Lana were very kind to him and Naru, and the blonde seemed to be happy with having a family at least, he even called them both mom and dad and encouraged him to do so. It was little harder for him since he had the memories from his real parents burned into his conscience and had been adopted once. But he would humor Naruto, it made things feel more family like.

Their new parents had taken them to the movies, Naruto couldn't stop saying how cool that was. Kei on his side had already been around a little bit. But the other boy was amazed by almost everything. The people from the orphanage had never took him out to do anything entertaining or funny, it was always cultural-educational stuff when they did allowed him to go.

Walking on the mall he stopped every two meters and Kei couldn't help but chuckling.

"What are you laughing of?" asked Naruto with his eyes reduced to thin lines.

"Naru, that's a fountain, it's called the siren of glory" said Kei instead of arguing with the blonde. He became distracted easily and was already looking it from every side with hyperactive energy, it was huge.

"I like it-"Naruto was saying when his eyes caught a place with thousands of lights and crawling with children.

"What is THAT?" said the blonde awestruck.

"You can play arcade games in there" answered Andrew for Keiichi. "You want to give it a try?" said the man ruffling Naruto's hair with a smile.

They spent the rest of the day destroying monsters and playing pump it up. Naruto was surprisingly good, who would have thought he had a talent for that.

Xxx

The blonde was bursting with energy, and now that he had stopped directing it towards his pranks he was happy to help Lana in anything she wanted to do. Cooking, cleaning, everything, it seemed to draw Andrews attention as well. Kei on his side was much less accustomed to do shores as he had lived with well to do families before. He was amazed at how quick the blond did everything and that he knew how to do it from starters. He was glad that in the end the blonde still had energy to go play outside, he was a little bit bored.

Naruto couldn't believe his life now. The bad looks had stopped, he wasn't ignored, he was even rewarded with a 'thank you' and congratulated if necessary. No adult had ever before directed those words to him, he felt all warm inside but he would not say it. That same afternoon Andrew had called him to give him an awesome mission, or that's what he thought. The man said it was very important, and that only he could do it. It would help their little family grow, and he would be very happy with Naruto.

The azure eyed boy couldn't contain his ecstatic expression. A mission only he could do?. He felt important for the first time in his short life, he would impress his father for sure. Kei was taking his usual nap when Andrew took him out. He was given three candy packages and left on the street with the promise that he would pick him up later, all he had to do was sell the candy to the people that came when he was standing there. It was a piece of cake.

The man had picked him up as he had promised. When they went home the boy gave him the money. Andrew took the money from his hands almost too quickly and started counting it. Naruto thought it was lots of money, dad had to be happy because they were going to be able to buy all kind of awesome stuff and eat fancy things as Lana used to say sometimes. To his surprise Andrew was so happy he kissed him on the forehead and gave him a tight hug. The man didn't see Naruto's reaction to that but if he had, he would have seen the blonde widen his eyes as he froze.

A hug. Naruto was shocked to find that this was the first time somebody hugged him like this, Naruto had a dad, and his dad wanted him enough to hug him. His eyes stung with tears welling into them. When the other man separated the blonde from him he stopped his happy rant. "Are you ok there?"

"Ye...yess" He answered and dedicated a sunny grin to his father wiping his tears. "Im just happy thats all" said Naruto. But he felt so exposed he ran away to his room. For the man however things were resulting just as he had planned them. This boy was all he could have asked for, he needed love badly and was thus easy to manipulate. He himself needed the boys help, so it was a win win situation, as long as the kid cooperated he would have his 'love'. The other boy was a problem though, he didn't seem to trust him as much as Naruto and was always behind the other boy. The only reason he still kept him was that the state paid him for having the both kids.

Xxx

It had been 6 months since Naruto was disappearing every afternoon. And 4 since he had convinced Andrew to let them go to the school of the neighborhood. He had hoped it would bring the blonde to his senses again, but it hardly did, if anything, he seemed much more avid to demonstrate he was good at something to his dad.

Kei had been worried since the very first day Naruto wasn't there when he got up from his nap, but the blonde would only say he was helping his dad with work. Kei woul then ask why couldn't he help him as well, but Naruto refused to keep talking about the issue and if pushed he became fed up with Kei and stopped talking to him altogether.

Months passed and passed and he couldn't take it anymore, he needed to know what was up with the blonde. On Naruto's 14th birthday Lana prepared a little fest for the 4 of them, Andrew was in a good mood and he took the chance to talk with him when the other boy wasn't looking. He told him he wanted to help with whatever it was his brother was doing, that it would be his gift and besides, he felt a little bit left out even if that was far from true. Naruto was needy and he knew it, it even hurt to accept the blonde was putting this people over their friendship, and he wasn't going to be taking that anymore.

"Dad, are we leaving?" asked Naruto getting into Andrews car. The man got onto the driver's seat, turned on the music and got himself comfortable. "Dad?" asked Naruto again, why aren't we going already?". And then the man said what felt like treason to him "Your brother is coming this time". Just then the other boy jumped into the back seat and Naruto turned to stare at him stunned. The other gave him an unreadable look and Naruto seemed to be holding a great internal fight at the moment. The whole way to their destination was silent.

"It's ok already. Say something!" said Naruto exploding stressed to his brother. He knew this day was coming sooner or later, but he hadn't even thought about what he'd do when it happened.

"What do you want me to say?, do you want me to shout at you for not trusting me enough to tell me something like this?"

Naruto looked hurt, but knew it was irrational to be mad when it was really the other boy who had a real reason to be mad at him. It was true, he hadn't trusted Kei because... he hadn't trust him because he was afraid Andrew would stop loving him. It was stupid he knew, but he needed his dad, he needed Lana, and he needed... Kei. He had been so selfish...

Kei was looking at the blondes face as realization hit him, and he himself now looked the saddest Naruto had seen him since they were at the orphanage. "Im, im..."

"Dont be sorry" said Kei looking at him in the eye. "Just, don't do this again ok?... i care about you"

"Im so stupid, so so stupid" said Naruto putting his head on his hands, he didn't have the face to look at the other boy anymore. "I don't deserve you Kei" whispered Naruto. And the blonde didn't expect the other boy to correct him. And he didn't. He knew he deserved it as it came. The other boy had all the right to break their promise if he wanted. But he didn't.

Xxx

Something wasn't right with this. Everything, from the places Andrew dropped them in, to the quantity of money they received for 'candy', was off. Even the people who bought them seemed, weird. He was thinking of this when Naruto was giving away one of the last candy for the day. And as the blonde was looking at the guy disappear Kei had taken the very last candy package in the box and opened it.

"What are you doing!?" exclaimed Naruto alarmed. "Kei, Dad said we should not open th-" But Naruto didn't finish his sentence because when he looked at the other boy he was really shaken up.

"Kei?, what is it?" said Naruto worried now about his brother. "Naruto, this is... this thing, i've seen it before, my... my dad, he had this stuff at home" The boy seemed to be remembering bad times as he held the item but looked at Naruto nonetheless and told him with trembling voice. "Naruto this are drugs... this is cocaine...". And who knew what was in the other multicolored packages.

"Drugs?, as in... what those guys at the orphanage said people took to feel better, but... killed them?". So the blonde actually put attention to their lessons back then, that was new. Kei could only nod to him.

Xxx

Naruto couldn't believe what he learned on that dreadful day. Not only had he discovered a horrible truth about his and Kei's dad, but what he was the most disturbed of, was that almost since the very start of his dad's assignment, he had walked the streets and found people lying around in the lanes or the alleys. He had once asked what was wrong with them, and was told they were mere junkies, there was no helping them because they would die soon anyway. But he hadn't pay any heed to that, he hide food into his bag and was always careful to give it to them when his dad left. So now it turned out... he himself, was helping people end up that way, he was killing them.

Kei begged Naruto to not confront Andrew as they didn't know how he was going to react. He didn't trust Naruto just yet when it came to the man, because he had been so attached to him all those months, he wouldn't question any of his intentions. Naruto however felt like he was dying inside, he didn't want to keep selling the stuff his dad gave him and Kei, he didn't want the man to hate him, and at the same time, his prescription for antidepressants had expired, the clinic wasn't giving them anymore. His nightmares were coming back, and most importantly, his feelings were also coming back.

Keiichi was so worried he couldn't sleep. He sported huge dark circles under his eyes. Naruto was getting worse, and he couldn't do a thing. He felt now tremendously guilty, he thought maybe he should have kept the truth to himself as Naruto was still dealing with who knows what, because even that, he still didn't know, and he didn't want to press the matter.

Naruto would still receive Andrews display of affection, and then would cry hushing his sobs on his pillow and make like nothing happened. Kei would hold him when it became too bad sometimes, but Naruto was now rejecting him saying he didn't have to go thought that with him. He asked his mother to talk Andrew into giving him a room for himself, and he did. Naruto was now sleeping into a little storage room arranged so he could use it.

As days passed one day suddenly he was back to being his old self. It was as if, nothing had ever happened. He looked cheery and started dragging Kei to go play outside again and challenged him. He was back to normal in anybody's eyes except Kei's. 'So he's back to his mask, he smiles a lot, but, it never reaches his eyes anymore'. Kei though this was better than a permanently sad Naruto. He knew the other boy would find the way of getting over his issues, he always did, what with the treatment he got in the orphanage? and he still had room to let Andrew and Lana in.

He on his side just couldn't, but he wasn't going to deny he and Naruto needed them or they would end up back at the orphanage or roaming the streets. There was only one thing, the drug dealing. Nothing good could come from that, see how his family ended up, they are now dead. And he should stop his musings because the teacher was giving him a stern look. He straightened and was relieved when the bell rang signaling the start of lunch period. He caught Naruto outside leaning against the wall looking dazed, they didn't cross a word until they had reached the cafeteria and were in line to get their food.

"You are deadly quiet today" said Naruto as he got his tray full and got off to the side waiting for Kei.

"Look who's talking" said the sand haired boy going to stand by the blonde. "It's more like i didn't want to disturb you. Everything alright?"

The blonde groaned at that. "My head hurts, that's all".

"That explains your mood Mr. Grumpy" Naruto said nothing, and Kei was getting back to his own thoughts when the boy walking in front of him went crashing down to the floor spilling the contents of his tray. Everybody in the vicinity bursted out laughing. Kei didn't lose a breath and went to help Naruto but the boy didn't even notice him.

"What the fuck is wrong with you!?" exclaimed the azure eyed boy looking to the offending appendage of the smirking boy it was attached to.

Said boy guffawed in response "Don't get your panties in a bunch emo boy, are you going to cry?" he finished with a derisive tone to it and imitating a crying baby for the public. What happened next Kei would have never imagined it in a million years. The blonde stood up so quickly Kei was left blinking in surprise, and throwed himself at the other boy dragging him down onto the floor and punching him for all he was worth.

"Naruto stop what are you doing!?" Kei called out to him in the middle of the commotion trying to grab him but he wouldn't budge. The cafeteria was a mess of people screaming and others cheering as they gathered around the two boys.

"Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight!" They were cheering. But there was really no fight, the blonde was using the offending boy as a punching bag, he seemed to be in a trance of rage and Kei could almost see it seeping out from his brother, he hated to admit it but he wasn't able to stop it... he felt killing intent and a goosebump went through his body in fright. What was wrong with him?, this is his brother he's talking about... Kei came down to his senses by pure will and took Naruto by the arms to restrain him with all the strength he could gather. The blonde was shorter than him and had never been this strong, but he didn't have much time to think about it as the guards approached them and took his place restraining Naruto.

His eyes looked glazed and he saw it now. The look in Naruto's eyes was no more of rage, but of terror. "NO YOU WONT!" he shouted repeatedly clawing at the guards "LET ME GO!" he said. As the teachers got all the people outside the cafeteria Kei was the only student left there standing beside the boy Naruto had just beaten. Teachers came to the boys help and were waiting for the paramedics.

"Someone do something about that kid for god's sake!" Shouted the woman holding the bleeding boy on the floor signaling towards the blonde boy who was still trashing and screaming nonsense. Kei got up and stood in front of the boy cupping his face in his hands but the other boy's eyes were unseeing.

"Naruto" he said firm "Naruto it's me, its Kei, your brother, please..." begged Kei hitting his cheeks lightly with his palms, but Naruto didn't look like he heard a thing. Next thing everybody was struck looking at the sand haired boy who had just slapped his brother hard on the face. There was silence, the blonde had stopped. "Who are you...?" he whispered to no one in particular.

Kei looked bewildered to the people around him and retracted his hand to his side. "Naruto, i'm sorry Naru, can you hear me?". But the younger boy didnt heard him at all as he had passed out into the guards arms.

Xxx

Whispering. There was whispering everywhere, he could barely hear his own thoughts in between the mess. He found himself lying down in the darkness. He couldn't remember what he had been doing before. 'What's this place?' It's so dark. The whispers were slowly receding and he heard a low growl followed by a deep guttural voice "At least". He could feel it, it was coming closer, but where from he didn't know, it was all over the place.

"This is your mind" began the voice. "Now listen up Naruto" demanded the voice slowly.

"Who are you...?" he whispered.

The voice gave a throaty chuckle. "I live inside of you". Suddenly he could see it, a gigantic red fox emerged from the shadows becoming his only light in the darkness. Naruto gaped at the sight. "I have a... i have a, huge, red fur ball inside of me?" he stuttered. The red fox scowled at the blonde and grumbled "I can't believe we have to go over this again".

'Again' he thought, he had never seen anything like him. "Something is seriously wrong with me if you're part of my imagination, the others are ok but you are..." "what are you, a fox? why are you so big?"

Said fox popped a vein in his head. "That's irrelevant. But yes, i am the great demon fox Kyuubi and am very real. Don't you ever wonder why people fears you out of the blue? you don't really believe it's because you are so terrifying, do you?"

Well yes he did, he had always thought there was something wrong with him. He used to think about it all the time. "Or why do they say i growl at them and want to kill them?, back at the orphanage..." Naruto grimaced at the memories. "What does this have to do with-" in that moment the blonde turned to see the fox in a new light staring with eyes wide open.

"You took your time" taunted the fox amused.

"You mean it has never been me but... it's just not possible" he said bewildered. "Even if that was true then it means that-" "It means that you made them hate me..." he ended with bitternes.

The fox lied down leaning his head on his paws giving him a stern look. "They are afraid of what they can't comprehend. I can't really conceal my presence within you, they feel it, and they are afraid of it."

The blonde looked very shaken up. How could something like this be real?. The fox could easily be something he made up, like Sasuke. But his whole life he had been looking for answers, and this didn't seem as crazy when you took everything into account. Maybe this was only a onetime thing, if so, he decided he should play along with the vision then...

Naruto tried to compose himself and finally asked "Why are you inside of me?". He was truly curious what his mind would come up with, but Kyuubi was apparently distracted by something he couldn't hear.

"That will have to be a story for another time Gaki". The blonde almost instantly knew what the fox meant, he felt as if he was being pulled by an unseen force.

"There's one more thing" Kyuubi noted "Don't take nothing from them"

"What are you talking about?"

"You'll know..."

A/N: I would love to read your comments, constructive criticism, or requests, whatever is on your mind, thank you. byebye ¨*=)