Warnings: Shonen-ai, blood, guts, gore, fun fun….oh yeah… and language…
Pairings: NaruSasu… maybe others later.
Summary: Orochimaru wants Sasuke as his new vessel and will stop at nothing to get him. Naruto made a promise to protect his friends, no matter what happens.
Information:
Forgot to add one thing in the last chapter. Sasuke and Sakura and the other genin don't know about the Kyuubi no Kitsune in Naruto. K?
Arigato – Thank you
Hai – Yes
Iie – No
Doushite – Why?
Nani – What?
Dobe – Dead-Last
Baka – Idiot/Moron
Teme – Bastard
Kuso – Shit/Fuck
Kitsune – Fox
Shimatta – Dammit
Itai - Ow
Title: I Can't Be Born Again
Recap of Prologue:
"Ah, good," he said. "Both of you are here. You have to come with me."
"Doushite?" Naruto snarled.
"Orochimaru is back. He wants Sasuke."
End Recap
Chapter One: A New Roommate
By Kyuubi-chan
"NANI?" Naruto and Sasuke yell at the same time. For once, they didn't glare at each other when their thoughts were on the same wavelength.
Kakashi nodded, his eye serious as he looked at the two. "Yes," he continued. "Orochimaru has been spotted at a village not too far from here. We need to get Sasuke to someplace safe."
"Where would that be?" Naruto asked. For once, he was completely serious. Not even a hint of the humor he normally had showed through. He was concerned. Kakashi inwardly smiled at that thought.
"Your apartment," he answered with no hesitation.
"Are you shitting me?" Sasuke asked. "Why the fuck would I want to stay at Dobe's apartment."
"Don't call me 'dobe', Teme," Naruto shot back. The two glared at each other. One could feel the electricity run through the air.
"Its only temporary," Kakashi told them seriously.
"Still… my apartment isn't big enough for more than one person," Naruto retorted, hopefully.
"It's been modified."
"NANI?" Naruto yelled. Who had messed with his living space? Who had dared enter his home without his knowledge? When he voiced the questions, Kakashi smiled.
"Tsunade-sama," he replied.
"The old hag did it?" Naruto asked.
Kakashi sweatdropped at Naruto's nickname for the current Hokage, but looked past it. "We have to leave, now," Kakashi remined them. "Sasuke get your stuff."
Sasuke nodded, too angry to reply anymore and went to his room. He packed his things in his backpack and returned a short while later. This idea did not appeal to him at all.
"Ne… Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto was asking as Sasuke walked back in. "How long is 'temporary'?"
"At least three months," the jounin replied with a grin.
Both Sasuke and Naruto's mouths dropped.
"THREE MONTHS?" they yelled.
"Hai, hai," Kakashi replied. "Now, come on… I trust you two want to get settled before sundown."
The two genin nodded, both planning ways to kill their sensei in their minds. They followed the jounin through Konoha until they reached Naruto's apartment. Kakashi turned to them.
"I trust that I can leave you two here?" he asked.
Naruto nodded.
"Good, well, see you," he said and vanished with a poof
As soon as he was gone, Sasuke turned to Naruto. "So, Dobe, care to show me around?" he asked.
Naruto nodded meekly. He showed the boy around his apartment. "This is the bathroom… and this is the living room… and this is the kitchen… this is my bedroom… and this is the closet…"
After showing his rival around, Naruto decided to get himself some cup ramen. After all, nothing could cheer the boy up more than cup ramen. Therefore… well… he'd cheer up after the long, torturing three minutes it took to make the ramen.
Sasuke just watched him sullenly from the table, not really caring anymore. He had seen how small Naruto's apartment was, and had been wondering where he was going to sleep. But that was a question for after Naruto got his food. Something told Sasuke that he needed the food right now.
It took him a moment to realize that Naruto was trying to talk to him.
"Hn?" he questioned, snapping out of his reverie.
"Do you want anything to eat, teme?" Naruto asked, casually dropping the insult into his sentence.
Sasuke nodded slowly. He might as well get used to this, although he didn't really want to.
"All right, then," Naruto replied. He put more ramen on the stove and as soon as it was done, set two bowls on the table, one in front of Sasuke and then other in front of himself.
"Itadakimasu!" the two said in unison before digging in.
Sasuke was halfway done when Naruto was completely finished. "So, Dobe," the blue-haired boy asked. "Where do I sleep?"
"You can have my bed," Naruto replied. "I'll sleep on the couch."
Sasuke nodded slightly, looking angrily at his ramen. Why did he have to mooch off of Naruto for crying out loud. Anyone else was okay – but Naruto? That's just wrong. It was cruel and unusual punishment and the two would be living together… for a long time, it seemed.
What's Kakashi getting at? Sasuke wondered as he ate another mouthful of Ramen. Shaking his head, he looked up to see Naruto staring at him intently.
"What is it, Dobe?" Sasuke snapped, without even realizing that perhaps he should be nice to his new host. After all, Naruto wasn't enjoying this predicament either.
Naruto looked at him, startled, before staring at his lap. A faint blush crept over his features as he stood up. "Well, I'm gonna go set up the couch for me to sleep on," he finally spoke up after what seemed like an eternity.
Naruto stood up and went to his bedroom. He re-emerged with his pillow and a blanket. Setting up camp on the couch, he sat on top of it, testing it for comfort. It would be the first time he slept on his couch. Thinking back, he wondered why he had a couch. It wasn't something that he needed. Shaking off the feeling, he lay back down, looking at the ceiling.
Sasuke, after trying to finish the bowl of ramen, and realizing that he couldn't, gave up and took the bowl to the sink. He set it down and began to wash it when he heard Naruto's voice from the adjoining kitchen.
"Don't bother, I'll get to the dishes later," the blonde told him.
"I'll do them," Sasuke retorted. He didn't like the idea of doing nothing for his host while he was here. Even if his host was his obnoxious, but oh-so-cute rival.
Wait a moment.
Did he just think 'oh-so-cute'?
Shaking his head, he continued to do the dishes, almost in a frenzy. He didn't even realize that Naruto had come up next to him until the boy's hand caught his wrist.
"I said don't bother," the boy growled.
Sasuke scowled back at Naruto. "Whatever, Dobe, I might as well do them since they're half done already," he snapped back.
Naruto glared and then shrugged. "Suit yourself," he responded and then walked away.
Sasuke stared after him. He could have sworn that his rival would have made a bigger deal out of it, like they always did when training. Sighing, he finished the dishes and walked past the couch to get back to Naruto's bedroom. The blonde was already fast asleep.
Sasuke paused, looking at his new roommate. Naruto seemed so peaceful when he slept, not at all like the idiot he was when the fox-boy was awake. He made his way to the bedroom, opening it and looking around.
It was mostly bare. The only pieces of furniture was the bed, the bedside table and a desk. Looking on the bedside table, Sasuke noticed a picture of Team Seven when they had just started out, and a more recent picture next to it. He looked closer, smiling to himself as he saw the poses.
The first picture had Sakura in the middle with a broad grin on her face with Naruto on the right and Sasuke on the left. Kakashi stood behind them with his half-moon eye grin they had come to know so well. He had a hand on each of the boys. Naruto was giving his charming-yet annoying – grin whilst Sasuke was just glaring.
The second frame was a more recent photo shot. Sakura was glomping Sasuke from behind, her grin on her face whilst Kakshi just stood by and watched. His nose was in Icha Icha Paradise, the perverted book he had read a thousand times. Naruto was grinning, with his normal happiness whilst Sasuke was glaring – yet again.
This produced a small laugh from Sasuke, though he didn't realize it. The pictures made Team Seven look almost like a screwed-up, yet close family. Sasuke didn't know when he had first thought of his team like that – but he knew that they were his family now. And he didn't want to lose them to anyway.
Slowly undressing, while his thoughts whirled in his head around Itachi, Orochimaru, Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi and his duty as an Avenger, Sasuke finally got into his pajamas… or should I say what he used to sleep in. He was in a pair of flannel boxers.
Placing his forehead protector on his bedside table, Sasuke slipped inbetween the covers. He was just about to go to sleep when he heard a yell from the living room.
Jumping up, and grabbing a few kunai, Sasuke went to investigate the noise. Allowing his eyes to adjust to the darkness of the room, he saw that there was no intruder. However, Naruto was thrashing about in his sleep, giving off whimpers and strangled yells alternatively.
"GET AWAY!" Naruto screamed. He was tangled up in the blanket, struggling for freedom. "GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!!"
Sasuke, startled, watching his teammate thrash about a bit more before reality struck him. He ran over to his rival's side and tried to detangle the boy's limbs from the blanket.
"Doushite… iie!" the boy shouted. His voice was hoarse, as though the screams were taking a lot out of him. "SASUKE! NO!"
Sasuke's arms dropped to his sides at the sound of his name being called out. He looked at Naruto, eyes wide with surprise. He was tempted to let Naruto stay like this and find out why his name had been screamed out, but he couldn't just leave the boy like this – frightened and all.
Sasuke gripped Naruto's shoulders, shaking the boy awake. "Naruto!" he shouted. "It's just a dream… wake up!"
Naruto's baby blue eyes flew open. He looked at Sasuke and a flash of fear entered his face. He snuggled further into the couch, as though to escape the boy.
This was definitely not the response that Sasuke had been expecting from the boy. He looked at Naruto with concern as the boy got his composure back.
"Sasuke, what are you doing out here?" Naruto snapped. "You should be asleep."
"I would be if you hadn't been screaming in your sleep!" Sasuke snarled.
"I wasn't screaming," Naruto mumbled, his cheeks reddening.
Sasuke glowered. "What were you dreaming about?" he asked.
Naruto turned his back to the boy. "Nothin' of your concern," he muttered.
"Fine, dobe," Sasuke said. "Just don't scream anymore. I need to get some kind of sleep if I'm gonna train tomorrow."
Naruto didn't reply.
Giving up on the boy – for now – Sasuke went back to Naruto's bedroom. He slid inbetween the covers and this time, went to sleep with no problem.
Back in the living, Naruto wasn't having as much luck. He sat up, curling his legs under him and balling his fists. He hoped the boy hadn't heard anything about his dream. Hoped to any god there was that Sasuke didn't know about what plagued him so much.
He scratched the back of his head. The dream had been bothering him for weeks now. He wasn't getting as much sleep as normal, but he felt that the entire thing would pass with time. Shaking slightly, Naruto looked up at the darkness, trying to peer through it to make out the ceiling.
Something told him the nightmares weren't going to go away anytime soon.
Okay, that's all for Chapter One of I Can't Be Born Again. If anyone wants to know where the title came from, its from the Fruits Basket Opening Theme Song. It's a great Song… anyway… the lyrics are (in Japanese):
Totemo ureshiikatta yo
Kimi ga warai kaketeta
Subete o tokasu hohoemi de
Haru wa mada tookute
Tsumetai tsuchi nunakatte
Me buka toki o matte tanda
Tatoeba kurushii kyou datoshitemo
Kinou no kizu o nokoshite itemo
Shinjitai kokoro hadaite yukeruto
Umarekawaru koto wa dekinaiyo
Dakedo kabatte wa yukerukara
Let's Stay Together
Itsumo
And in English its:
I was so happy
When you smiled at me
With a smile that melts everything away
Spring is yet far away
And the earth is still cold
Was waiting for the first sprout to come out
Although today is hard to bear
Even when yesterday's scars remain
If I work it out with a heart that wants to trust
I can't be born again
But I can change as I go on
Let's Stay Together
Forever
So yeah, that's where the title comes from. I love this song so much. I can sing it too. And it sounds half-decent, neh?
Pairings: NaruSasu… maybe others later.
Summary: Orochimaru wants Sasuke as his new vessel and will stop at nothing to get him. Naruto made a promise to protect his friends, no matter what happens.
Information:
Forgot to add one thing in the last chapter. Sasuke and Sakura and the other genin don't know about the Kyuubi no Kitsune in Naruto. K?
Arigato – Thank you
Hai – Yes
Iie – No
Doushite – Why?
Nani – What?
Dobe – Dead-Last
Baka – Idiot/Moron
Teme – Bastard
Kuso – Shit/Fuck
Kitsune – Fox
Shimatta – Dammit
Itai - Ow
Title: I Can't Be Born Again
Recap of Prologue:
"Ah, good," he said. "Both of you are here. You have to come with me."
"Doushite?" Naruto snarled.
"Orochimaru is back. He wants Sasuke."
End Recap
Chapter One: A New Roommate
By Kyuubi-chan
"NANI?" Naruto and Sasuke yell at the same time. For once, they didn't glare at each other when their thoughts were on the same wavelength.
Kakashi nodded, his eye serious as he looked at the two. "Yes," he continued. "Orochimaru has been spotted at a village not too far from here. We need to get Sasuke to someplace safe."
"Where would that be?" Naruto asked. For once, he was completely serious. Not even a hint of the humor he normally had showed through. He was concerned. Kakashi inwardly smiled at that thought.
"Your apartment," he answered with no hesitation.
"Are you shitting me?" Sasuke asked. "Why the fuck would I want to stay at Dobe's apartment."
"Don't call me 'dobe', Teme," Naruto shot back. The two glared at each other. One could feel the electricity run through the air.
"Its only temporary," Kakashi told them seriously.
"Still… my apartment isn't big enough for more than one person," Naruto retorted, hopefully.
"It's been modified."
"NANI?" Naruto yelled. Who had messed with his living space? Who had dared enter his home without his knowledge? When he voiced the questions, Kakashi smiled.
"Tsunade-sama," he replied.
"The old hag did it?" Naruto asked.
Kakashi sweatdropped at Naruto's nickname for the current Hokage, but looked past it. "We have to leave, now," Kakashi remined them. "Sasuke get your stuff."
Sasuke nodded, too angry to reply anymore and went to his room. He packed his things in his backpack and returned a short while later. This idea did not appeal to him at all.
"Ne… Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto was asking as Sasuke walked back in. "How long is 'temporary'?"
"At least three months," the jounin replied with a grin.
Both Sasuke and Naruto's mouths dropped.
"THREE MONTHS?" they yelled.
"Hai, hai," Kakashi replied. "Now, come on… I trust you two want to get settled before sundown."
The two genin nodded, both planning ways to kill their sensei in their minds. They followed the jounin through Konoha until they reached Naruto's apartment. Kakashi turned to them.
"I trust that I can leave you two here?" he asked.
Naruto nodded.
"Good, well, see you," he said and vanished with a poof
As soon as he was gone, Sasuke turned to Naruto. "So, Dobe, care to show me around?" he asked.
Naruto nodded meekly. He showed the boy around his apartment. "This is the bathroom… and this is the living room… and this is the kitchen… this is my bedroom… and this is the closet…"
After showing his rival around, Naruto decided to get himself some cup ramen. After all, nothing could cheer the boy up more than cup ramen. Therefore… well… he'd cheer up after the long, torturing three minutes it took to make the ramen.
Sasuke just watched him sullenly from the table, not really caring anymore. He had seen how small Naruto's apartment was, and had been wondering where he was going to sleep. But that was a question for after Naruto got his food. Something told Sasuke that he needed the food right now.
It took him a moment to realize that Naruto was trying to talk to him.
"Hn?" he questioned, snapping out of his reverie.
"Do you want anything to eat, teme?" Naruto asked, casually dropping the insult into his sentence.
Sasuke nodded slowly. He might as well get used to this, although he didn't really want to.
"All right, then," Naruto replied. He put more ramen on the stove and as soon as it was done, set two bowls on the table, one in front of Sasuke and then other in front of himself.
"Itadakimasu!" the two said in unison before digging in.
Sasuke was halfway done when Naruto was completely finished. "So, Dobe," the blue-haired boy asked. "Where do I sleep?"
"You can have my bed," Naruto replied. "I'll sleep on the couch."
Sasuke nodded slightly, looking angrily at his ramen. Why did he have to mooch off of Naruto for crying out loud. Anyone else was okay – but Naruto? That's just wrong. It was cruel and unusual punishment and the two would be living together… for a long time, it seemed.
What's Kakashi getting at? Sasuke wondered as he ate another mouthful of Ramen. Shaking his head, he looked up to see Naruto staring at him intently.
"What is it, Dobe?" Sasuke snapped, without even realizing that perhaps he should be nice to his new host. After all, Naruto wasn't enjoying this predicament either.
Naruto looked at him, startled, before staring at his lap. A faint blush crept over his features as he stood up. "Well, I'm gonna go set up the couch for me to sleep on," he finally spoke up after what seemed like an eternity.
Naruto stood up and went to his bedroom. He re-emerged with his pillow and a blanket. Setting up camp on the couch, he sat on top of it, testing it for comfort. It would be the first time he slept on his couch. Thinking back, he wondered why he had a couch. It wasn't something that he needed. Shaking off the feeling, he lay back down, looking at the ceiling.
Sasuke, after trying to finish the bowl of ramen, and realizing that he couldn't, gave up and took the bowl to the sink. He set it down and began to wash it when he heard Naruto's voice from the adjoining kitchen.
"Don't bother, I'll get to the dishes later," the blonde told him.
"I'll do them," Sasuke retorted. He didn't like the idea of doing nothing for his host while he was here. Even if his host was his obnoxious, but oh-so-cute rival.
Wait a moment.
Did he just think 'oh-so-cute'?
Shaking his head, he continued to do the dishes, almost in a frenzy. He didn't even realize that Naruto had come up next to him until the boy's hand caught his wrist.
"I said don't bother," the boy growled.
Sasuke scowled back at Naruto. "Whatever, Dobe, I might as well do them since they're half done already," he snapped back.
Naruto glared and then shrugged. "Suit yourself," he responded and then walked away.
Sasuke stared after him. He could have sworn that his rival would have made a bigger deal out of it, like they always did when training. Sighing, he finished the dishes and walked past the couch to get back to Naruto's bedroom. The blonde was already fast asleep.
Sasuke paused, looking at his new roommate. Naruto seemed so peaceful when he slept, not at all like the idiot he was when the fox-boy was awake. He made his way to the bedroom, opening it and looking around.
It was mostly bare. The only pieces of furniture was the bed, the bedside table and a desk. Looking on the bedside table, Sasuke noticed a picture of Team Seven when they had just started out, and a more recent picture next to it. He looked closer, smiling to himself as he saw the poses.
The first picture had Sakura in the middle with a broad grin on her face with Naruto on the right and Sasuke on the left. Kakashi stood behind them with his half-moon eye grin they had come to know so well. He had a hand on each of the boys. Naruto was giving his charming-yet annoying – grin whilst Sasuke was just glaring.
The second frame was a more recent photo shot. Sakura was glomping Sasuke from behind, her grin on her face whilst Kakshi just stood by and watched. His nose was in Icha Icha Paradise, the perverted book he had read a thousand times. Naruto was grinning, with his normal happiness whilst Sasuke was glaring – yet again.
This produced a small laugh from Sasuke, though he didn't realize it. The pictures made Team Seven look almost like a screwed-up, yet close family. Sasuke didn't know when he had first thought of his team like that – but he knew that they were his family now. And he didn't want to lose them to anyway.
Slowly undressing, while his thoughts whirled in his head around Itachi, Orochimaru, Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi and his duty as an Avenger, Sasuke finally got into his pajamas… or should I say what he used to sleep in. He was in a pair of flannel boxers.
Placing his forehead protector on his bedside table, Sasuke slipped inbetween the covers. He was just about to go to sleep when he heard a yell from the living room.
Jumping up, and grabbing a few kunai, Sasuke went to investigate the noise. Allowing his eyes to adjust to the darkness of the room, he saw that there was no intruder. However, Naruto was thrashing about in his sleep, giving off whimpers and strangled yells alternatively.
"GET AWAY!" Naruto screamed. He was tangled up in the blanket, struggling for freedom. "GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!!"
Sasuke, startled, watching his teammate thrash about a bit more before reality struck him. He ran over to his rival's side and tried to detangle the boy's limbs from the blanket.
"Doushite… iie!" the boy shouted. His voice was hoarse, as though the screams were taking a lot out of him. "SASUKE! NO!"
Sasuke's arms dropped to his sides at the sound of his name being called out. He looked at Naruto, eyes wide with surprise. He was tempted to let Naruto stay like this and find out why his name had been screamed out, but he couldn't just leave the boy like this – frightened and all.
Sasuke gripped Naruto's shoulders, shaking the boy awake. "Naruto!" he shouted. "It's just a dream… wake up!"
Naruto's baby blue eyes flew open. He looked at Sasuke and a flash of fear entered his face. He snuggled further into the couch, as though to escape the boy.
This was definitely not the response that Sasuke had been expecting from the boy. He looked at Naruto with concern as the boy got his composure back.
"Sasuke, what are you doing out here?" Naruto snapped. "You should be asleep."
"I would be if you hadn't been screaming in your sleep!" Sasuke snarled.
"I wasn't screaming," Naruto mumbled, his cheeks reddening.
Sasuke glowered. "What were you dreaming about?" he asked.
Naruto turned his back to the boy. "Nothin' of your concern," he muttered.
"Fine, dobe," Sasuke said. "Just don't scream anymore. I need to get some kind of sleep if I'm gonna train tomorrow."
Naruto didn't reply.
Giving up on the boy – for now – Sasuke went back to Naruto's bedroom. He slid inbetween the covers and this time, went to sleep with no problem.
Back in the living, Naruto wasn't having as much luck. He sat up, curling his legs under him and balling his fists. He hoped the boy hadn't heard anything about his dream. Hoped to any god there was that Sasuke didn't know about what plagued him so much.
He scratched the back of his head. The dream had been bothering him for weeks now. He wasn't getting as much sleep as normal, but he felt that the entire thing would pass with time. Shaking slightly, Naruto looked up at the darkness, trying to peer through it to make out the ceiling.
Something told him the nightmares weren't going to go away anytime soon.
Okay, that's all for Chapter One of I Can't Be Born Again. If anyone wants to know where the title came from, its from the Fruits Basket Opening Theme Song. It's a great Song… anyway… the lyrics are (in Japanese):
Totemo ureshiikatta yo
Kimi ga warai kaketeta
Subete o tokasu hohoemi de
Haru wa mada tookute
Tsumetai tsuchi nunakatte
Me buka toki o matte tanda
Tatoeba kurushii kyou datoshitemo
Kinou no kizu o nokoshite itemo
Shinjitai kokoro hadaite yukeruto
Umarekawaru koto wa dekinaiyo
Dakedo kabatte wa yukerukara
Let's Stay Together
Itsumo
And in English its:
I was so happy
When you smiled at me
With a smile that melts everything away
Spring is yet far away
And the earth is still cold
Was waiting for the first sprout to come out
Although today is hard to bear
Even when yesterday's scars remain
If I work it out with a heart that wants to trust
I can't be born again
But I can change as I go on
Let's Stay Together
Forever
So yeah, that's where the title comes from. I love this song so much. I can sing it too. And it sounds half-decent, neh?
