Shadow-hunter: Here is the next chapter of Eternal, this time I would like to thank all of those who added my story to their favorite/alert lists it really makes my day. Special thanks to:
PurpleDemon22: it's nice to know that you like my story so much and that theory you have is not that far of so good job on that one.
Itachisgirl88: I'm not sure Naruto would agree with you on that if you judge by his reaction.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my computer, my own imagination and the plot I add to this story. The Naruto characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto I just borrow them.
Warnings: This story includes Yaoi in other words boyxboy if you don't like it then stop right here. SasuNaru. Lemon in later chapters
And also; my mom read my story! When she had finished chapter 2 she was a little stunned as my sister pointed out it was to guys going at it. After that she said "At the very least you've learned about 'the birds and the bees'" amazing huh?
"speech"
"speech on phone"
'thoughts'
- Flashback-
~~~ = Scene change or dreams
A glimpse of a shadow
Sasuke wandered down the halls and spotted Naruto in the crowd where he stood by his locker seemingly deep in thought. "Incredible, didn't know you were capable of thinking." he said with a smirk, Naruto jumped before turning towards him and shouting "Teme!" if Sasuke hadn't been standing next to him he wouldn't have heard it over the other students. "Naruto could I have a word with you?" both boys turned and came face to face with Iruka, even though he phrased it as a question the tone he used left no room for discussion. "Sure Iruka-sensei." Naruto followed him to the office without noticing a certain raven tailing behind him, mind set on learning more about the blond.
~~~Irukas office~~~
"How are you doing these days..." he was cut short by Narutos "Knock it off, we both know what you really want to know." Sasuke was leaning against the wall outside, stoic expression in place to keep fan-girls away. 'I think I can guess it to or at least I know what I would ask' "Why did you change your mind about the readings?" 'Bingo' unknowingly both Naruto and Sasuke thought that word at the same time. "I just thought I'd give it a go." 'Yeah right' this time it was all three of them. "Naruto we both know that you under normal circumstances would never on a life time have done it, not since..." Iruka left the sentence unfinished since both of the rooms occupants already knew why.
'Damn it! I was so close!' Sasuke was frustrated by how near he had been to learn about Narutos past. "It's just that... well, you saw how they looked, it was as if someone had kicked their puppy and laughed in his face about it and I just couldn't let them down." 'That's his reason? Not because he wanted to but because the others, who doesn't even speak to him, looked sad?' Sasuke couldn't believe it, here Naruto is about to do something he wanted the least just so his classmates wouldn't feel bad about ONE charity case. "I guessed it would be something like that, you never want to see any of your friends look sad." 'Friends? They don't even speak to him!' "Even though they don't speak with you." 'At least some sense in that..' "I don't want them to speak with me, to me or interact with me so it's not their fault." 'What?' "You know that already Iruka." "Yes but I'm just trying to figure out why." "Because it's better that way, if that was all I'm heading home." His tone of voice made it clear that he wouldn't stay either way. "Okay then, see you tomorrow Naruto." "See you tomorrow Iruka-sensei."
Sasuke moved away from the door before Naruto came out and walked away, pretending like he hadn't just eavesdropped. 'Okay, this is obviously related to what happened all those years ago. The question is just: What could possibly have affected him this greatly?' As he came to a halt outside he heard the blond who had been occupying his mind lately mutter to himself. "I don't really want to, but with the precautions I've made it should be fine. Now I just need to by some stuff to a costume so I can get at least some fun out of this." Naruto walked to his car and drove off. 'I'll unravel the secrets that surrounds you and get to the bottom of your misery. Then you will be mine my dobe"(AN: possessive much, this is just his way of admitting worry for Naruto)
~~~Random occult and effects shop~~~
The sound of the little bell above the door echoed through the shop as Naruto entered, "Hey, it's my number one customer!" Naruto smiled as Kabuto rounded the corner of a bookshelf (AN: To everyone who's screaming WTF! Or: Naruto get the hell out of there! at this moment: relax in this story Kabuto is friendly and is not out to get Naruto) "I'm the only customer you can't scare out with a few effects and 'well chosen' words. But that's not why I'm here, I need some stuff for a cool costume. Oh and some scary props." "What's the occasion?" Kabuto still remembered the first time Naruto had come to the store.
- Flashback-
Kabuto looked up as he heard someone enter the store 'Guess who' and sure enough in walked Kyuubi. This time however he brought company "Who's this Kyuubi?" before he got to answer the little blond had disappeared from his(Kyuubi) side and reappeared on top of the counter "Hi, I'm Naruto Uzumaki. Who are you? Why is your hair white? Are you old?" The blonds face had gone from happy to curios in a matter of seconds and he was now looking at Kabuto waiting for an answer. 'I'm surprised he's not panting after such a sentence in one breath' "I'm sorry he gets that way when he meets new people." Kyuubi smiled at the antics of his nephew. "It's okay he actually reminds me of you when we were younger." Kyuubi grinned at some of the memories that brought, "We came because Naruto was begging me to get some books." "I wasn't begging, mommy asked if you could help daddy with some of the chores, but you told her you had promised to take me here so you wouldn't have to." Naruto stood upon the counter arms crossed and a cheeky grin, Kyuubi blushed lightly, cough in his fist and looked away. It didn't get better when Kabuto started laughing out loud.
"You're never gonna change are you?" "Doesn't look like it." came Kyuubis reply as he too began to laugh. "You still owe me for playing along on your bluff uncle Kyuubi." Narutos remark sobered Kyuubi right up "This isn't gonna be cheap is it." he already had a feeling what the answer would be, Narutos grin widened "No way." Kabuto couldn't hold back a chuckle "More traits from your side?" "You noticed huh?" "It's impossible not to notice, what are you looking for then Naruto-kun?" "Tarot books, and other things you might need." "Come with me and we'll find the things you'll need." "Thank you Kabuto-niisan." Kabuto froze and looked down on the little boy next to him "Niisan?" It was obvious that Naruto thought Kabuto was offended because his eyes started to tear-up with his lower lip shaking. "You don't like being called that?" Kabuto nearly panicked as he quickly said "No that's not it, I was just surprised. I don't mind it." Naruto sniffled a bit "Really?" he gave his best puppy eyes 'Damn, those eyes could look through your soul' "Really." That word seemed to flip the proverbial switch, he had a huge grin on and the tears were gone as if they had never been there. "Thank you!" and then he took off to look for tarot books. Kabuto looked towards Kyuubi in hope of an answer "Don't look at me I don't know why he does that. He just does, and leave you with a feeling of wanting to protect him from anything that would take away his smile." "You don't say."
Moments later Naruto was back, his arms so fully loaded that he couldn't look over the stack. 'How does he avoid crashing into things?' Both adults was impressed by this accomplishment until Narutos sentence had Kyuubi paling and Kabuto doubled over in laughter "I'm done uncle Kyuubi, can you pay so we can leave?" Naruto poked his head around the tiny mountain of objects trying to see what had Kabuto laughing so hard.
- End flashback-
"My class is putting up a haunted house, andI'mgonnadoreadings." "Like last yea..." Kabutos mind had finally registered the mumbled part. "What was that last bit?" he was sure he had heard wrong "I'm gonna do readings." okay he hadn't heard wrong. "I thought you never gave other people readings... Something happened that made them feel down in the dumps and it was visible on their faces?" that's the only thing he could think of that would make Naruto brake his vow to never do readings for others again. "Those snobbish seniors who think their all that are putting up one too and they have their parents to pay for the damn thing!" Naruto had to catch his breath after that little outburst. "Naru-chan I thought we talked about self-destructive actions." Kabuto said in a mock scolding tone. "You know I don't like that nickname, and this is not self-destructive... It's an act of selflessness." he said in his most serious tone. Needles to say they both started to laugh, Kabuto shock his head in defeat and started walking towards the back. "Let's find something that will blow the minds out of the snobs." Naruto grinned and followed Kabuto to the back. "So, tell me what you had in mind Naruto."
~~~Sasukes apartment~~~
Sasuke grabbed the cellphone and looked at the caller-ID 'Itachi? Why is he calling me? Could it be...' he pressed the answer button and held the phone up to his ear. "What do you want?" "Can't a brother call to check if his younger brother is okay?" "Yeah a normal brother." He sighed at his brother attempt at sounding innocent "Can't argue against that one." came the reply with a small chuckle "Did you find the information I asked about? And what other motives do you have for calling?" "Answering in order would be yes and no, I'm also calling to make sure that you take regular meals." "What do you mean yes and no? Either you have the information or you don't." "I found out his parents name and the fact that his only uncle also lived with them. Then it dries out as if someone with connections covered something up." "That doesn't help me." "Well excuse me, how is your hunt for knowledge going?" The silenced that followed told Itachi all he needed to know. "What's so special about this one kid anyway?" "I don't know, it's just something that pulls me towards him." "...okay just be careful, okay?" "It's me, when have I ever been reckless?" he spoke before his mind had a chance to warn him. "I have a list actually, do you want it in alphabetical or chronological order?" Oh how he(Itachi) loved these moments. "Screw you!" then Sasuke ended the call and threw the phone on the couch.
~~~With Naruto~~~
"Kabuto always manages to cheer me up again, and the costume is gonna be awesome!" Naruto fished out his keys, unlocked his apartment and walked in. 'I haven't felt one single touch today, maybe I imagined it after all' then he spotted the roses 'or not? Damn it what's going on' "First Sasuke is prying into my past(AN: He still is Naruto you just don't know it) and somehow someone is getting into my apartment without leaving any marks apart from two roses!" Putting the things he had gotten at 'Kabutos cursed artifacts' (AN: The place Kabuto owns, if I had told you sooner you wouldn't have been shocked when he came!) he proceeded to put the roses with the two others before making some food. Later when he'd cleaned up and was done reading on the bed for tonight, he turned the lights off and the last coherent thought before sleep claimed him 'It is a bit nice though, that someone cares enough to leave them for me.'
~~~Narutos dream~~~
"Look mommy! Uncle Kyuubi got me lots of things!" a 10 year old Naruto raised in through the front door giant pile still in his arms. "Did you use puppy eyes to get all that? And how come you're not crashing into anything?" Minato just waited for his son to answer Kushinas question already guessing the answer on the first one. "I don't crash because I listen to my gut feeling like you always tell me to do. I didn't use puppy eyes to get this." Kushina and Minato was a bit doubtful to the second answer. Naruto put down the pile and got that gleam in his eyes that spelled mischief, "I used blackmailing." Kyuubi walked in only to try and sneak out when he heard that sentence. "Kyuubi." he froze and turned around to come face to face with an annoyed Kushina and Minato trying to hold his laughter.
Minato laughing he could handle but a ticked off Kushina was a force to be reckoned with. There's a reason why no one dared to push her around when they were kids, she would take them down. 'One of them ended up in the hospital, the poor guy didn't know what hit him.' "Did you lie to me earlier when I asked you to help Minato?" 'If I'm gonna stand a chance on surviving this I better come clean now.' "Ok, so maybe I hadn't exactly promised Naruto beforehand of your question." "In that case: Naruto your grounded for three days and Kyuubi you can do the dishes for a week." "What he blackmailed me?" "You are the one who caved to a ten year old. Since you offered it to him in the first place it's bribe, so you can do the dishes for two weeks" "But, but.." "Would you rather have a month?" Kyuubi lowered his head in defeat while Minato and Naruto laughed at his expenses.
When Kushina had dragged Minato out the door to get groceries Kyuubi looked up at Naruto who was still giggling. "Oh ,Naruto." Kyuubi said in a sing-song voice. Said boy looked up while in his head planning routes of escape, he knew what that tone meant. However Kyuubi was quicker than him and before Naruto could blink he (Kyuubi) had pounced him. "Please don't!" "You know the drill Naruto." and just like that Kyuubi began to tickle him all over. "Hahaha stop... stop it." after about two minutes Kyuubi let him go. "No fair, you didn't give me a warning." Kyuubi just chuckled "Where would the fun be in that?" Then Kyuubi made the mistake of closing his eyes, "Gotcha!" and with that shout Naruto tackled him and returned the tickling. He had an unfair advantage since Kyuubi was extremely ticklish. "Hahaha Naruto stop... knock it off twister." Naruto got off of him so he could catch his breath.
"Are you hungry Naruto?" "Yeah." Kyuubi got up off the floor and helped Naruto stand up too. "Come on then, I'll make some onigiri." "Great!" Naruto turned into a yellow streak as he ran into the kitchen. 'It's as if he's on a constant sugar-high.' Naruto poked his head out of the kitchen door with a begging look "Can we booby-trap the house later?" Kyuubi let out a laugh, the two of them were partners in crime when it came to things like that. "Sure Kit, just don't blame me when we're both doing dishes for the next few months." Naruto grinned a full-blown grin that always made him look like a fox before disappearing into the kitchen again.
~~~End of Narutos dream~~~
Narutos hand subconsciously moved towards the other pillow and sure enough there was two new roses laying there. 'Who's leaving them there anyway? A better question, how do they get in.' he picked them up and put them with the others. "Better get going, wouldn't want to be late." he grabbed his bag, locked the door and headed towards school. Again he failed to notice the shadow following him.
~~~Classroom~~~
Naruto entered the classroom and noticed that the rest of the class was already there "Why are all of you so early? Or is it me who's late?" Ino gave a little laugh before replying "Relax we're early, you're on time. We just wanted to get the planning done as quickly as possible." Naruto breathed a sigh of relief "We're currently in the middle of deciding who's doing what and where to have the house." she continued. "Yeah which is troublesome because there is next to no locations that's close enough." Shikamaru said, filling his vocal quota for the day. "I think I might know somewhere." every head in the room turned towards Naruto. "I got to ask first but it's worth a shoot." "Great everyone will find at look for possibilities in case it doesn't work out. Oh and we managed to get everything from your list!" this time it was Sakura who spoke while Hinata lifted up a bag and handed it to Naruto. "Next point on the agenda: who's gonna set up what part of the house?" Kiba threw his line in to not be left out. The rest of the day went to laying down plans and splitting the chores. "Okay so everyone knows what to do?" "Yeah." was the collective reply, "Well then, class dismissed see you tomorrow."
~~~Random street~~~
"Hey, dobe! Wait up!" Naruto turned with an angry frown "What do you want teme?" "I thought I could join you to the location you mentioned in class to give a second opinion on it." 'This way I could also learn something new about you' "Fine. but one, and I mean it one rude comment or snide remark and you're gone. Have I mad myself clear?" "Crystal." They walked down the streets in silence until Naruto signaled to Sasuke that they had reached the place. 'This is the place? Screw the decorations, this thing already looks haunted!' (AN: anybody want to take a guess?) Naruto entered and held the door open for Sasuke, as he walked in he noted that it looked a bit creepier inside than outside. He turned to Naruto only to find him gone 'How the hell did I not notice him walking off?' he wandered deeper into the shop trying to find the blond. "Can I help you?" Sasuke nearly jumped at the voice from behind, nearly, and turned around only to actually jump. Before him stood a guy with long dark hair and a cold gaze, "I'm just looking for someone." 'Damn, this guy could use some sun' just as he was about to leave he heard two voices talking. "So what do you say, it would be great publicity for the place. Who knows after people have seen this place even spookier they might not turn in the doorway on a regular day!" that voice could only belong to Naruto "Fine, but if they brake or spill anything their out." "Thanks a bunch! You're the best!" "The things I do for you."
Sasuke followed the sound of the voices and soon found a backroom where Naruto was talking with a guy Sasuke had never seen before. "Oh there you are, Sasuke this is the owner of the store: Kabuto. Kabuto this is Sasuke; the teme I told you about."(AN: Who thinks there's something of about this setting?) "Hi, nice to meet you." "Nice to meet you too. Finally I can put a face to Narutos stories about the bastard in his class." 'Naruto talks about me? This might make things easier... Wait a minute? Bastard?' "Oh really." he sent a glare Narutos way "Wish I could say the same but he has never mentioned you before." "Not that surprising, he rarely does." Sasuke suddenly remembered something that had been bugging him "Who's the other guy working here?" both Naruto and Kabuto looked at him with confused faces. "What do you mean? I'm the only one working here. Well, Naruto helps out from time to time but that's it." All three looked at each other before running out to the main part of the store. "Are you sure you saw someone Sasuke? 'cause there's no one here." "I'm positive."
"Talking about me?" all three turned around and both Naruto and Kabuto froze before Naruto shouted "Holy shit! What are you doing here!"
Shadow-hunter: My first cliffhanger! So what did you think? Feel free to guess who the mystery guy is. So anyway I forgot the translations in the previous chapter so here they are this time. Please review so I'll know if anything could use improvement, or if it's fine the way it is. Until next time.
Sensei – Teacher
Dobe – Idiot, moron
-Kun – A formal suffix you put at the end of someones name (boys)
Niisan – Older brother, big brother
-Chan – A suffix you put at the end of a kids name (or girls)
Onigiri – Rice balls
