A/N: Thank you for the reviews so far. I've made changes corresponding them since I've first posted this story. Please enjoy this chapter!

Warnings:

Graphic and dark content. Possible triggers.

Chapter 2

About a week after the incident with Sakura, Sai, and Yamato, Naruto was rudely woken up in the middle of the night by someone pinning him down to the bed. This put Naruto on red alert as he had been sleeping in a separate room down the hall from Sasuke. It was dark in his room, almost pitch black, so he couldn't see who was on top of him. Naruto immediately began to twist and turn his body, trying to toss off his attacker, but who ever it was on top of him was strong. Stronger than him. Then it clicked.

Naruto knew who was on top of him. He knew from the familiar feel of powerful chakra which was constantly hovering between light and darkness. The blonde relaxed his body and found himself smiling. "Sasuke," was the faint murmur that escaped Naruto's lips, voice deeper from sleep. Naruto was met with no vocal response, but instead the grip on his arms tightened considerably, causing Naruto to wince.

"Sasuke... What's wrong?"

Silence.

Naruto was roughly flipped over on the bed, now lying on his stomach, head turned to the side on his pillow, long blonde hair cascading messily around his face and upper back. He vaguely registered the feeling of several things slithering along his limbs, possibly snakes. One of them circled around his wrists and held them firmly together. The other two snakes wrapped themselves around his ankles and somehow tied him down to the bed. There was shuffling and then there was dim light coming from a sconce on the wall above his bed, the candle flickering from the draft within the room.

The sudden light in the room, although very dim, caused Naruto to briefly close his eyes and slowly open them, adjusting them to the light within the room. Looking through the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Sasuke's eyes which shone with intensity. The look within those bottomless depths chilled Naruto down to the bone, and left him with an uneasy feeling within his stomach. No matter how angry Naruto made Sasuke, the raven never looked at him like that. Like he absolutely hated Naruto.

There was a moment when neither of them moved or said anything, just stared into each others eyes as a sort of battle of wills. Their eye contact broke when Sasuke grabbed Naruto by the hair and wrenched his upper body painfully off the bed and held a kunai against his throat. The raven stilled his movements, listening to the blonde's panicked breathing before he leaned down and brought his lips next to Naruto's ear.

"My dearest Naruto," came the calm tone of Sasuke's voice. "Formerly known as the Leaf's Number One Unpredictable Ninja, now known as its enemy, a threat. You seem to have forgotten just who you are, so I'm going to do you a favor," the raven paused, jerking Naruto's head back further which made Naruto wince in pain. "I'm going to brand your identity upon your flesh so you'll never forget." With that, he trailed the tip of the kunai across his neck, not hard enough to break the skin. Sasuke then let go of Naruto's hair, allowing him to harshly fall back onto the bed.

A moment passed and Naruto's mind was reeling. Sasuke was snapping, and it was all because of Naruto. All his fault. The blonde was suddenly aware of soft caresses upon his bare back and for the briefest of seconds, Naruto thought that maybe Sasuke was toying with him. That thought died when he felt the kunai digging into the flesh of his right shoulder blade. He was all too aware of the short, quick, shallow cuts Sasuke was making.

Naruto's pained gasps filled the silence of the room, his body going limp by the time Sasuke had stopped cutting into his back. The blonde vaguely registered that he was no longer tied down to the bed, the snakes had vanished. He felt cold fingers tracing the bloody gashes on his back, smearing blood, causing Naruto to look back at Sasuke as best he could. What Naruto saw was worse than the hatred the raven showed earlier. Sasuke was sitting on top of Naruto with a glazed look in his eyes as he toyed with the blood, smearing it all over Naruto and himself.

It took a while for Naruto to find his voice but he finally managed to murmur a faint, "Sasuke?" and when he was met with no response, he somehow grew angry instead of worried. In a quick motion, Naruto twisted his body awkwardly and they both fell onto the cold stone floor. Naruto was now pinning Sasuke down, raising the blood stained kunai as if to strike. Naruto found himself growling at the seemingly unresponsive raven under him, hot tears Naruto didn't realize he was shedding plopped onto Sasuke's cheek, slowly rousing him from what ever mind-scape he was in.

Naruto watched as Sasuke's dark eyes seemed to light up again in the dim light that surrounded them. Sasuke brought up a hand to Naruto's tear stained cheek, a quizzical look in those dark eyes. The blonde froze at the contact, millions of questions dancing in his own mind. Dark eyes widened almost comically, and Sasuke averted his gaze to the blood all over Naruto and himself, and then to the kunai in Naruto's raised hand, the tip pointed at him.

"N-Naruto?" came the faint whisper.

Naruto didn't respond. He merely sat there frozen, watching and gauging the raven he was currently straddling.

Sasuke's eyes brimmed with tears as he grabbed Naruto's wrist and forced the blonde to bring the kunai down, pressing it firmly against his own neck. "Kill me... Please, Naruto. Do it," Sasuke said in a choked tone, sounding like he was on the edge, close to breaking.

Naruto stared down at him, wide eyed and momentarily confused before it clicked. Right here wasn't the Sasuke he had come to know over the past. This Sasuke before him was the naïve child locked deep within. A scared little boy traumatized by what his older brother did to their clan. An aspect of himself that he must have compartmentalized before he began to tread down the path of vengeance. Upon this realization, Naruto felt a pang of guilt stab right through his heart. His actions against Sasuke must have been the last straw.

Not too long ago, Naruto had begun to notice things within Sasuke, especially when Sasuke developed a habit of having sex with Naruto despite them not being romantically interested in each other. Sudden mood changes and his almost possessiveness over the blonde. Almost like he was trying to cling to the last bit of light within himself, that some where deep inside his subconscious, he was scared of succumbing to all the hatred he felt, the lust for vengeance and his own brother's blood. Sasuke was at a constant war within himself, Naruto was sure. Being stuck between pure malicious intent and blood lust that was Orochimaru, and someone like Naruto who was unflinchingly pure despite his life. He doubted the cursed mark helped Sasuke's mental state. Perhaps it was causing more harm to Sasuke with him around, though he'd be damned if he let that snake claim Sasuke.

Snapping out of his inner turmoil, Naruto relaxed his hold on Sasuke and let go of the kunai which clattered to the floor next to Sasuke's head. "Sasuke, listen to me. Everything will be alright. I won't let anything bad happen to you," Naruto murmured soothingly, cupping Sasuke's face with his free hand. He leaned down and pressed his forehead against the raven's. "I'm sorry for my actions before. I didn't mean to make you question my loyalty. I'm here, Sasuke. I'll always be by your side."

Sasuke's vice like grip on his wrist loosened and Naruto took the chance to situate them both so they were sitting up, Naruto straddling Sasuke's thighs. Blood, pain, and wounds long forgotten. Naruto held Sasuke's trembling form against him, his head under Naruto's chin. The room was silent except for the ragged breathing and occasional sniffle.

"Promise me..."

The blonde's brows knit together. "Hm?"

Sasuke took a deep, steadying breath before murmuring, "Promise me you'll never leave me. Promise me that you'll never lose that insufferable hero complex. Promise me that your light will never dim. Promise me, Naruto."

"I promise, Sasuke," came the immediate response. Naruto didn't need to think on it. To him, it was a no-brainer. Not that thinking was ever his forte.

Sasuke gave a satisfied 'hn' before he began to venture for something else he needed. Something he always sought from the blonde recently when ever he felt vulnerable much like he felt right now. The raven began to trail hot, wet kisses along Naruto's neck, arms snaking their way around the blonde's waist, careful to avoid the wounds that now littered Naruto's back. One more thing to put on the list of things Sasuke would never forgive himself of.

Before long they were both naked on the cold stone floor, Naruto straddling Sasuke as they had sex. It was slow, needy, and deliberate. Different when compared to all the other times they fucked. Once they both found release, Sasuke passed out cold.

Naruto sat there for a moment, hovering over Sasuke, his long blonde hair falling around his face. He studied the peaceful look upon the raven's face and found himself smiling. Naruto got up and looked around for the boxers he had worn to bed that night. Once he found them he put them on and went into the bathroom, wet a wash cloth, and went back into his room to clean up Sasuke of all the evidence of that night. It would be better if he woke up clean, like a fresh start. Once Naruto finished cleaning Sasuke, he picked up the raven bridal style and carried him to Sasuke's room as his bed wouldn't be blood stained.

Satisfied that Sasuke was taken care of as best as he was capable of, Naruto trudged back to his room, peeled off his boxers again, and went in the direction of the shower. He turned on the hot water and stood under the spray, not caring that the water was slightly too hot. Naruto hissed in pain caused by the too hot water coming in contact with the wounds. After a moment he grew used to it, or perhaps the wounds healed themselves as he began to feel less and less pain. Naruto watched as bloody water went down the drain with eyes that held a deep sadness. Resting his palms against the cool tile on the wall, Naruto leaned forwards and willed himself to think. He needed a strategy to get Sasuke away from this place and Orochimaru. It was that or kill the snake bastard, though challenging him could be a risk. Both would be inherently risky actually.

Naruto stood under the water for what seemed like hours trying to devise a plan, but nothing was coming to him. Out of frustration, he balled up his fists and punched the wall, cracking the tiles in the process. With a sigh, Naruto turned off the water and walked over to the large mirror within the room. After wiping the mirror clean of fog, and pulling up his long hair in a messy top knot, Naruto stared in the mirror before turning around to try and get a view of the damage Sasuke did to his back.

The wounds had healed, but what was left behind was angry red scars forming lines of kanji. As Naruto read them, he felt tightness in his chest. He felt sick. Sasuke had indeed branded Naruto with his identity. Naruto looked away when his eyes landed on the kanji for monster.

"Yeah... I suppose you're right, Sasuke."

It had been several weeks since that unfortunate breakdown, but everything seemed to be better after that. Well about as good as things could get when Orochimaru is growing weak and is now constantly testing Sasuke. Needless to say Naruto was feeling uneasy. Currently he was hidden within the forest surrounding a large clearing near their new hideout, watching Sasuke being "tested" by Orochimaru. Really the test was just Sasuke slicing up hordes of Orochimaru's failed experiments and rogue ninja he has no use for. Naruto didn't like the way Orochimaru was leering at Sasuke.

A noise caught Naruto's attention and so he averted his gaze to the direction from whence it came, only to be pulled into a genjutsu. Suddenly his surroundings became distorted and surreal, and stood in front of him was Itachi Uchiha. A man he had come to despise. Naruto immediately took an offensive stance, staring angrily into those red eyes, inwardly cursing himself for his lack of talent in anything genjutsu related.

"Calm down, Naruto."

"No! I'm not sure how you found me, but I'll be damned if I let you capture me without a fight."

"Technically, you already lost. I could do anything I wish while you're in the grasp of my genjutsu, Tsukuyomi," said Itachi in a calm yet bored tone that only pissed off Naruto more. "After all I'm aware that you have zero talent in genjutsu."

Naruto grit his teeth and charged forwards with insane speed. He grabbed Itachi by the front of his black cloak, surprised that the Akatsuki member didn't respond in kind, though his anger had won. Itachi simply stood there, staring down impassively into furious blue eyes.

"What are you up to, Itachi?"

Itachi regarded the blonde jinchuriki in front of him for a moment. "Thank you."

This caught Naruto off guard. A confused expression spreading across his features. "Excuse me?"

"I'm glad that someone is there for my little brother. You're here keeping an eye on him, trying to prevent Orochimaru from getting what he wants. For that I'm grateful. I thank you, Naruto Uzumaki."

"Your little brother? You're not Sasuke's brother. You have no right to speak like that, Itachi. Not after what you've done," Naruto said heatedly, his confusion long gone, anger taking its place.

Itachi inclined his head slightly. "You're right. It still doesn't change how I feel. I truly am grateful that Sasuke has someone like you by his side."

Naruto narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Itachi as he let go of the Uchiha and took several steps back. "Why are you telling me this? I thought you were after me. What are you playing at, Itachi?"

"Naruto, I'm not here to capture you. Truthfully that was never my goal, a mere pretense. I simply came here to talk to you and give you something."

"Give me something? Never your goal?" Naruto stared at Itachi warily. "How do you expect me to trust you and what you have to say or whatever?"

"I don't. Merely take a leap of faith. I mean you no harm. In fact I wish to give you information about Pain. He is the only Akatsuki member to fear. However, I have something else I wish to tell you... Or rather, show you, first."

"Show me?" was all Naruto was able to get out before he was pulled into a long series of memories that explained the truth behind Itachi's actions. He then went on about Pain and his partner. Once it was done, Naruto openly gawked at Itachi, his mouth slightly agape.

"I don't expect you to understand all of that fully. My loyalty has never strayed from the Leaf. I'm sorry to burden you with all of that. Perhaps one day you can tell Sasuke the truth. Though my original intentions were for him to never find out, to see me as the vile person I am. This leads me to what I wish to give you, Naruto." Itachi stepped forwards, and using his index and middle finger, he tapped Naruto's forehead above the blonde's left eye. Itachi watched as Naruto's left eye flashed red and black, forming the sharingan before fading. "I have found a way to transfer the sharingan and its unique abilities, though it's not limited to the Uchiha, or at least I wasn't sure until now. I'd explain it all to you, but I doubt you would understand."

An indignant look crossed Naruto's features before the blonde reached up and touched his left eye, panic clear in his countenance. "Wait... You just gave me the sharingan? How is that even possible? I'm not an Uchiha, and I doubt I'm a descendant of one."

"Hn," Itachi murmured. "I'm aware. It's not like I awoke the sharingan within you. I told you that I transferred it. Think of yourself as someone like Kakashi Hatake. How I did it is not important."

"Why would you go through the trouble of giving me the sharingan and telling me all this stuff?"

Itachi actually smiled at Naruto as he spoke. "I love my brother. I always will no matter what path he takes in life. I can see that you do, too. That sharingan is special, and it might come in handy later on. The reason I gave it to you is because you remind me of my best friend, the very person who gave that sharingan to me before he died. Take good care of it, and keep the sharingan a secret. Many would kill to have it, especially that one."

Naruto frowned, he felt so many questions bubbling up within leaving him unable to speak. The blonde sighed and rubbed his face tiredly with his hands. Naruto was about to finally speak but he felt fingers on his forehead once again.

"I do not have much time left. I'm going to be placing a seal on everything I've told you, to keep it hidden within your mind so you do not mess with everything. I am a dying man, Naruto. It is my wish to die by my brother's hands. You will not remember any of this until I die. I'm sorry, but I must do this. There will be a second seal that will reveal the secrets and nature of the sharingan you now possess after I die. Make sure Sasuke gets my eyes. Thank you and farewell, Naruto."

Anger was written all over the blonde before his blue eyes glazed over and he was released from the genjutsu. What had been possibly hours of conversation and such within the genjutsu was merely a minute. Naruto slumped against the tree he had been hiding behind while he observed Sasuke and Orochimaru. The blonde felt like he had just awoken and a dream was slipping away. He tried desperately to cling to it, but it was of no use. Naruto shook his head, trying to rid himself of that feeling before returning his attention back to Sasuke and Orochimaru who were still at it.

Once they were done, Sasuke rudely left Orochimaru in the middle of the clearing which was now full of injured and possibly dying individuals. Naruto had heard the comment Orochimaru made about Sasuke never hitting a vital spot and outright killing them, calling him soft. Naruto had suppressed a smile before turning and heading back to the underground hideout, not wanting to get caught spying by Sasuke.

Too bad as it happened anyways. "Seems you've taken to spying on me, hm, Naruto?"

Naruto stopped and turned around to face Sasuke. He began to scratch the back of his head with a big goofy grin plastered on his face. "You know me, Sasuke. Gotta check out the competition, eh?"

"Whatever, dumbass. Let's get going. I want to train with you, as you need help with that wind based ninjutsu," the raven said before roughly bumping into Naruto's shoulder as he passed the blonde. It was more of a playful gesture.

"Bastard," Naruto muttered, not missing the fondness in Sasuke's voice when he called him a dumbass.

That night Naruto was being rudely shaken awake. The blonde cracked one blue eye open to see Sasuke leaning over him. "Go away, Sasuke," muttered Naruto, his tone final. The blonde immediately fell back to sleep.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. This kid slept like the dead more often than not. Some shinobi. How on earth he was never killed in his sleep was beyond him. Sasuke had been trying to wake Naruto up for the past fifteen minutes and this is as far as he's gotten.

"Oi, Naruto! Wake the fuck up. We need to leave," Sasuke yelled as he kicked Naruto harshly in the ass.

That did it. Naruto sprang from his bed and started to wildly attack Sasuke. "What the fuck is so important that you had to wake me up, bastard?!"

Sasuke quickly restrained Naruto with a summoned snake. "Calm down, idiot. I killed Orochimaru. We need to leave now."

Hearing that sobered up Naruto completely and the snake vanished. "Y-you what?"

"Get dressed and pack what ever you wish to take. Be quick, we need to get going. I'll tell you all about it later," Sasuke said, pulling out a cuff bracelet made out of some weird ivory colored material with several seals etched into it. "Here, put this on when you're done."

Naruto examined it closely, a frown adorning his face. "What's this thing?"

"A bracelet."

"No shit, Sasuke. Why do I need to wear it?"

Sasuke sighed. "You need to wear it because we're going after Itachi now. He is after you, and possibly other Akatsuki members will be on the look out for you too. As much as you've changed over the past few years, you're still very much the loud Naruto that they know. Blonde hair, blue eyes, weird scars on your face. If they have a strong sensory type, they might even be able to tell you have the nine-tails within you. A simple transformation jutsu isn't going to hide you."

Naruto gave him a look. "Naruto, don't be difficult. I know you don't like hiding. Hell it took me months to get you to change your appearance so you weren't as easy to spot. Besides, what I have in mind for you will serve a crucial role within my plans. I'll tell you all about that later. For now I'll try and explain the bracelet to you."

Naruto, who was in the middle of pulling on his tight black shirt, paused and gave him another look. One that promised Sasuke a world of hurt, but Sasuke didn't seem to notice. "It took me about a year to research and create that thing. The right combination of seals. That bracelet will hide your chakra. I doubt even the most adept sensory type shinobi would be able to feel your chakra. It also contains a strong transformation jutsu, one that I designated. I will warn you, Naruto. If you lose yourself and the fox takes over, it will disrupt the seals and your identity will be exposed. Similarly, if something disrupts your chakra, the bracelet might fail for a moment. This thing isn't perfect as I am not adept in fuuinjutsu."

Naruto looked thoughtful for a moment. "You seem like you've tested this thing plenty," Naruto said as he eyed Sasuke suspiciously. "You've also kept this from me. This was your plan all along?"

Sasuke merely stared at him pointedly. "You sleep like the dead most nights, Naruto. It wasn't hard and yes."

"Sometimes you're scary, Sasuke."

Sasuke ignored the jibe, and gave Naruto an exasperated look. "Can you please hurry along? Oh, why not put on the bracelet and see what your new identity will be for a while? I'll go over the details of personality with you later on during our journey to gather up a few necessary individuals."

"Uh, ok," was all Naruto said. Once he was fully dressed in his usual garb and hair pulled up, he donned the bracelet on his left wrist before trudging into the bathroom to look in the mirror.

Naruto looked into the mirror and nearly jumped. Instead of seeing his sunny self, he was staring at a thin woman approximately the same height, pale skin, long, dark red brown hair, and amber eyes. Even with the shock written all over his face, the sharp features of his so called new identity still looked serious and anti-bullshit. Sasuke had included clothing within the transformation jutsu, so his clothing now looked like skin tight black leggings and a crimson tunic belted off at the hips, over which was a black high collared, sleeveless haori that came down to mid-thigh.

"Aw, man. Sasuke why-" Naruto paused in his complaint once he realized his voice. Deep and sultry. Naruto walked back into his room and stared at Sasuke with indignation. "I hate you."

Sasuke couldn't suppress the bit of laughter bubbling up within. "This is coming from the brat that developed the sexy jutsu. Please, Naruto. Don't pretend you don't like it. Oh, by the way. Your new name is Ko."

Naruto gave an unladylike snort at the name, finding it ironic as his new appearance didn't look a bit as happy as the name suggested before muttering something about bastards and always needing to make his life miserable.

A/N: Please feel free to ask questions regarding stuff within this chapter! I'll do my best to address them in the next chapter. Hopefully giving Naruto a sharingan wasn't too large of a stretch. I didn't like the whole crow thing as poor Naruto has enough large things in his mouth already. We'll find out about Naruto's Ko identity in the next chapter. It'll all be explained!

Ko or Kou means happiness in Japanese.